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Missing Beat by Insert New Name Here
Anime » Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン Rated: T, English, Drama & Romance, Kirito/Kazuto K., Words: 16k+, Favs: 66, Follows: 93, Published: Nov 9, 2013 Updated: Feb 14, 2014
24 Chapter 1: Prologue: Nothing but Trouble
Missing Beat

Prologue: Nothing but Trouble

A/N:

Dammit! I'm supposed to be writing for NaNoWriMo! What am I doing?! Well... I guess all I can do is hope that I'll be able to get back to that before the deadline, huh?

Anyone notice that my pen name is no longer Infinity Moment? Well, I like this one better. End. Of. Story. :P

Anyway, you guys realize that this'll keep happening until I find another story that sticks like TKC and FESR, right? I just keep coming up with new stories left and right, and there really isn't any way to stop the flow without getting it down on my word processor.

So, I'm making my second standalone harem fic, aren't I? (Shattered Memories doesn't count, as it's the sequel to something else)

As you may have guessed, this is a music-related fic. (Oh my glob! It doesn't have swords in it!) I have no idea how many of these there are in the SAO archive, but I'm doing one anyway. To tell the truth, I came up with another fic of this name about a month back, but it was so full of swearing, I just couldn't post it. This one won't be as vulgar as the original one was, as this one is set in... you guessed it— high school!

Well, that's enough explaining. I'll let the prologue do the rest of that!

See ya at the bottom!

I bolted upright in bed, panting heavily. When I tried to remember my dream, my head started throbbing in pain... again.

"I guess you had that dream again, huh?" someone said from the bed next to mine.

"Yeah... Sorry for waking you up, Sachi," I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Want to get up and get something to drink?" Sachi asked me, sitting up in her bed. "My parents just got some herbal tea that's supposed to calm you down."

She got up, took my hand, and led me to her kitchen. As always, its size intimidated me. Compared to my own kitchen, hers looked fit for a king... no, a god.

Sachi opened the cabinet to the far left, pulling out some teabags.

"They look exotic," I whispered.

"You know, my parents aren't home tonight," Sachi said, making my heart start to pound at the implications. "You don't have to whisper."

Oh, thank god. That just about killed my heart.

"Whatever," I told her, my perfect façade protecting my nervousness from exposure... or so I thought.

Unfortunately for me, she knew me well enough to see right through it.

"You were totally freaking out back there!" she said, cracking up. "I've no intention of losing it this early on. Besides, we're not even in a relationship. Remember the belief we share?"

"Love is nothing but trouble," we said unanimously.

But sadly, I'm starting to experience firsthand just how true that is.

Until recently, I had believed I would never fall in love, and that people who did were destined to get hurt by heartbreak. And of course, of all the people I could fall for, it just had to be...

"Hey, you all right?" Sachi asked me.

"Y-yeah, just thinking..."

"Well, let's drink some tea and get back to bed."

I could tell she didn't want to push the matter, and I felt glad that she had the decency to not try to pry.

Once we finished drinking the tea, (which proved to be very good) we went back to our beds, falling asleep as soon as we lay down on the soft, plushy mattresses.

When I woke up, I heard the shower running from across the hall, and I instantly knew that Sachi was taking one of her signature hour-long showers.

"Great... the last thing I need is to get nothing but cold water in my shower," I muttered to myself.

I looked at the clock, trying to gage when she would emerge from the shower, finally meeting her standards of "clean".

Well, it's six thirty now, and she usually gets in at five forty-five, so I've got some time to prepare breakfast.

Back in the kitchen, I let my thoughts run wild as I prepared a simple dish for us.

It sure was nice of Sachi's parents to let me stay with her while my family is on vacation. It's pretty cool that they trust me around her while they're away on a business trip.

Despite me no paying attention in the slightest to the dish I was cooking, when I finally looked at it, I noticed that it was just about ready.

It's amazing how lucky I am with cooking.

Sachi walked into the kitchen, nothing but a towel covering her body, and her natural midnight-blue hair shined lustrously in the soft light coming from the window. (I had been cooking without the lights on.)

We had grown accustomed to seeing each other like this long ago, when we realized that neither of us would make a move on the other. We shared a trust that went deeper than any other emotion could.

"Love is nothing but trouble."

We had decided this on the same night, when I was helping her get over a devastating breakup. On that very night, we had both sworn never to fall in love again. Of course, a promise such as that is not one so easily kept.

"Hey," she said. "Smells nice. What're you cooking?"

"Pancakes. Nothing special," I said nonchalantly.

"Still, you're one of the best cooks I know. You don't cook much, though, so anything you make is special."

When we finished eating, I decided to take a shower.

"I'll be out in time for us to walk to school!" I shouted from the bathroom.

"Okay!"

I walked into the bedroom, gathering some clothes and heading to the bathroom.

When I turned the water on and stepped in the shower, I found the water to be pleasantly warm, much to my surprise.

Strange... she doesn't usually take cold showers, and the warm water doesn't normally last this long here. Well, whatever.

I began to think of the time we swore never to fall in love.

I heard a knocking at my door, and when I opened it, I saw Sachi standing on my doorstep, soaked by the pouring rain.

"God, you're soaked! Here, let's get you in some dry clothes," I said frantically, pulling her inside.

As soon as she got out of the bathroom, dressed in the spare clothes I loaned her, she came running over to me. She buried her head into my chest, crying profusely.

"What's wrong?"

"Keita... why...?" Sachi cried, her tears soaking my shirt.

Not believing my ears, I said, "So that's what this is about..."

Keita broke up with Sachi? But they looked like they were made for each other! I thought... I thought she had finally found someone who wouldn't do this to her like all the rest did!

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. But at the same time, I knew that she was in the stage where if I did anything to him, she'd be even more upset with me than she would be with him. And so, I knew that all I could do was comfort her in her time of grief.

"Shhh... it'll be okay, Sachi."

"I finally thought... that I had found someone who wouldn't care... that I'm so close... to you!" she said in between sobs.

"Wh... what? What do you mean?" I asked nervously.

"All the guys I date... when they learn how close I am with you, the lead guitarist of a famous band, they all think I'm cheating on them with you!"

That's right... Infinity Moment is pretty a well-known band, isn't it? I thought wryly, looking down.

"Sorry, Sachi. I didn't know that was why... maybe if I was out of the picture—"

"No!" she shouted into my chest, startling me. "It's not your fault. If anything, it's their fault for not trusting me enough!"

I stood there, shocked.

"I just have the worst luck with dating men..."

"Then don't date."

"What?"

The statement I made shocked even myself, but I kept going. "Love is nothing but trouble anyway. Why fall in love if it only ends in heartbreak?"

She looked up at me, and I smiled down at her. Then, she started giggling uncontrollably.

"What?"

When she finally calmed down, she said, "It's just that... only you would say something like that. Most guys in your position would've tried to make a move on me, but you... you're above that. And that, my friend," she flicked my head with her left index finger. "Is what makes you unique."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, rubbing my forehead.

She flicks hard!

"But you know what?" Sachi said, moving away to smile at me.

"What?"

"You're right," she told me. Before I could ask what she meant, she elaborated. "Love has been nothing but trouble for me. I'd say it's time to stop trying."

"Is that a promise?" I teased.

"Only if you promise with me."

I looked at her serious expression, and despite my better judgment, I found myself giving in.

"I swear never to fall in love again."

"And I swear never to fall in love... period."

I turned the water off, having somehow washed while I was lost in thought.

That was a year ago.

"Well, I guess I'd better start walking to school. I've got a gig in a few days, and I've got practice this morning," I muttered to myself.

Walking into Sachi's room, I went to the second bed and pulled my guitar case out from under it. Opening it up, I found my most important possession: my electric guitar, a Gibson Les Paul.

I closed the case again, having made sure that no one had taken it during the night.

You can never be too paranoid when you have an expensive electric guitar.

"Why don't you play something? We have some time before we have to get going?" Sachi suggested.

"Well... I guess I need to practice for my gig coming up. We may only be a local band, but Infinity Moment is gaining a huge fanbase, even in other cities. We might go pro if it gets big enough."

I sighed. "And I guess I need to work on my part for Critical Phase. That song's pretty much all me and the vocalist, and I feel like there's something missing."

I got my guitar out, started to tune it, and then I started playing.

I started to zone out, feeling the music. It was just me... and my guitar. Nothing else mattered.

I started to imagine everyone else in the band playing along with me, even the ones who weren't going to be art of Critical Phase.

Wait, I've got it! That's perfect!

Having figured out what had been missing, I stopped playing. "Sachi! I just figured out what's missing in the song! I gotta go and tell my bandmates!" I shouted, putting my

"Wait for me!"

When we got out of the house and started to walk to school, Sachi dropped something I had dreaded for the past month.

"You know our promise... right?"

Does she know...?

"Yeah... the one from a year ago, right?"

"Yeah. The thing is... about a month back... I kind of... broke it," she said, looking down.

I thought about telling her the truth, that I had broken the promise as well, but I decided against it.

It's too risky. She might figure out who I love.

"Don't worry about it," I reassured her. "I figured it would happen eventually. No human can live without love forever."

"What about you?"

I decided to joke around a bit. "I'm a guitarist, not a human. We don't fall in love with other people."

She looked down, and I feared that I had said something to upset her. "Hey, you okay? Wait... is the guy you fell for... a guitarist?"

"Who knows?"

The rest of the walk to school was spent in uncomfortable silence.

Well, I must have screwed up somewhere...

Just before we had to head to our separate classes, I remembered something.

"Hey, Sachi?"

"Yeah?"

I could hear the uncertainty in her voice. Still, I felt I should go through with it.

"I've got some tickets to a concert of mine coming up. If you want, you could invite the guy you like."

She looked at me, a sad smile on her face. "Thanks..."

She took the tickets, walking to her class.

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A/N: So here is part one of Missing Beat. As of now the original author has made 4 parts all of which I will update today. I hope you like it!