The Live Performance [Blaez]

It seems nobody there liked airplanes, it's almost funny"At least it's over."He replied, Blaez can't picture himself sleeping in the conditions they described him, he is used to the city noise so maybe the aircraft's noises wouldn't bother him as much... actually he has a hard time trying to sleep without the city noise, it's weird, but it just works.


When Mae asked if he was serious, he'd simply look back at her with a serious expression, he was having more fun with that than he expected he would, he wasn't expecting Mae to say that he'd make an interesting partner though, it made him blush, but he was able to keep his composure this time, then he'd look away and pretend that nothing happened. Honestly, Mae is cute and she is kind, but he is not close enough to her to have those feelings for her.

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That took a while, and it was tiring, but the results were satisfactory, the stage was set and ready for use... well almost, Lou asked for the trio to set up the chairs, he was super tired, but that task wasn't that hard."Argh, i'm all sweaty..."He said to himself, at first it didn't bothered him but it was starting to annoy him, without thinking twice Blaez took his shirt off"Much better..."He sighed, his shirt was getting all sticky, it was much more comfortable without the shirt.

"I think i will need a bath after this."He said as he wiped some of the sweat from his face"Aren't you two tired?"He asked, that task wasn't that hard, but it was so boring, he had to entertain himself somehow, and making small talk was the first thing that came to his mind.

"Yeah... I feel bad for the flight attendants who have to work in those conditions..." It sounded really bad, but maybe it was just something they had to get used to. But before one reached that point, having that job sounded like a living hell... "Like seriously, How do they sleep through that noise?" Ayane crossed her arms for a second with a contemplative expression on her face. "Earplugs, maybe?" Too bad it didn't help with sleeping while sitting up... Earplugs could only get you so far, after all.

"Aww, that's cute. Heh, I can see where Ayane's coming from now." Mae chuckled with a bright smile. "Would you actually want her? Ayane, that is?" She would then ask, somewhat curiously. Of course, she would keep it a secret from Ayane if he wanted her to. "Regardless, if you wish to know her better, now would be a good time to do so."

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"Yeah, that was exhausting..." Mae nodded, still somewhat lightheaded after the physical strain. Not that the weather was dong them any favours either. The sun was un-relenting like usual. Ayane eventually made her way over to Mae and Blaez, with a couple of water bottles.


Ayane froze stiff when Blaez took off his shirt, blushing vividly at the sight. "ter..." After finishing said sentence, she quickly handed over the two bottles over to Mae and Blaez. Then she proceeded to cover her face with her hands. "Ehm... Ayane? Are you okay?" Mae asked somewhat worriedly. It honestly didn't bother Mae at all. But then again, she didn't exactly harbour any feelings towards Blaez like Ayane did, so maybe that's why.

"Am I tired? You bet I am! This heat isn't making things any better." Mae sighed deeply, as she put down two of the folding chairs next to eachother. Ayane was still vividly blushing, casting awkward gazes at Blaez every now and again as she worked. "It's gonna be worth it though." Mae smiled brightly. "I've been looking forward to this for quite some time now." Ayane merely nodded in response to Blaez's question. She probably was too flustered to say anything at the moment. Not that Mae blamed her...

"...W-what do you mean?"Blaez had a light blush on his face, when he is joking he can't say whatever he wants without getting flustered, but when it get serious he gets red like a tomato in a few seconds"She is cute but... it's too early to say, Mae."He folded his arms with a thoughtful expression, that conversation took a serious turn... he was not expecting that... at all"She is going back to Japan, right?Long distance relationships are complicated from what i heard."He didn't wanted to get in a relationship and then break up after a few months.

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"Hm?"Blaez quickly grabbed a water bottle and took a long sip without noticing that Ayane was flustered"Oh..."It took a while, but he noticed it in the end"Thanks."He gave Ayane a small smile, he could tease her a bit, but she was flustered enough already.

"Me too... i don't know if ever told you but, i never went to a concert before."He said as he looked around, that place was huge, and soon it would be full of people, he tend to avoid crowded places, but this time he going to make an exception"...I had other chances before, but i always refused, i didn't wanted to come to a crowded place... it's kinda stupid, i know."

"Hehe. That." Mae poked Blaez' Cheek with a warm smile on her face. "Usually I'm the first one to blush, you know." That seemed to be the case recently. But it was nice to see the opposite happen every now and again. "Yeah. I guess you're right. It is a bit early still. But who knows, if she might just stay if she finds a reason to. She IS 19 after all. She could move here whenever she wants, basically." Of course, it wouldn't be that simple, but she could theoretically do that, and start going to Zela Full Time... "Long distance is tough... But if the two parts really love eachother, they will find a way to make it work out. Somehow."

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"Hehe. Thanks Ayane." Mae smiled back the nervous girl, patting her back before taking a sip of the water. "Y-You're welcome..." She eventually managed to say after what seemed to be a long internal struggle. "Relax, Ayane." Mae said in a calming voice, trying to cool off her friend's nerves. It took a couple of minutes of convincing to make her remove her hands from her face willingly. "Thanks, Mae..." Mae smiled at her warmly before she started working again.

"Oh? Then this is extra special for you, huh?" Mae raised both of her eyebrows, as she sat down on a chair to catch her breath. The work was rather exhausting... But in reality, it was the sun that was taking the biggest toll on her. And she couldn't just toss off her shirt like Blaez. Oh, the woe's of being a girl. "It's not stupid. I can get behind that. Concerts get rather noisy... But it's a great deal of fun as well. Just tell me if the crowd becomes too much for you, and I can take you backstage." Being Kinaku's daughter had it's perks. Like Backstage access, for instance. So if things got too rowdy, she could always bring Blaez and Ayane there. The music could still be heard along with the crowd, by at least it would just be the three of them there...

"..."Blaez didn't knew what to say, he just moved away from Mae's hand when she poked his cheek"Let's just see how it goes, love is not something you can control... I wish i could though..."He'd shrug, that topic already ran it's course... though there was something he was curious about"Are you and Charles...dating?"Those two looked really close at the meeting, not that he stayed too long there, but it was enough to notice it.


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"Alright..."He took a deep breath, there were just a few chairs left"I want to give it a try first... are you ok with that Ayane?"They were in a group, so they should consult everyone before making a decision.

"Yeah. It's not something that can be forced... nor should it be." Forcing something like that just meant trouble nowadays... Especially at their age. "Well, at least you have control over whether or not to act on your feelings. So there's that" Mae shrugged lightly. Not that you had complete control over that either. There were so many factors playing in whether a relationship between two people would blossom or not. "Y-Yeah... We are. I... guess that was pretty obvious given how we acted during the meeting earlier." She was still a bit curious as to why Blaez had left like that. But she wouldn't pry too much into that. If he wished to let her in on that little secret was all up to him, really.

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"Hehe, glad to see that you're willing to give it a shot, Blaez." Mae smiled at him as she placed down the last chair. "I won't blame you if you decide to go backstage later on. It can get rather rowdy at times with the crowd." Ayane seemed to be lost in thought, for she almost jumped up when Blaez had adressed her. "W-What? Of course I'm okay with that." A good opportunity for them to get to know eachother would most likely arise soon. "Well, the concert doesn't start until 6 PM, so... Would you guys wanna go grab something to drink before the show starts? There's a small snack shop not too far away from here." She could certainly use it.

"I guess you're right."Blaez considered himself a emotionally stable, he had his problems, but nothing he couldn't keep to himself, most people would consider that unhealthy, but Blaez would rather be lonely than burden people"I see... he doesn't understand certain social norms so you better be careful, he might get in an embarrassing situation."Blaez never gave it much attention, but emotionally Charles is like a kid... which makes Blaez question how he got in a romantic relationship in the first place, Charles romantic life was nothing of his concern, but it was intriguing.

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"Sure, i will treat you two, pick whatever you want and i will pay."It was the least he could do for the ticket. Blaez would ignore any objections and pay for the drinks regardless of what they said, Blaez brought himself a coke and waited for the two girls to pick"Hm... what do you guys think about a meritocracy?"Blaez never cared about what people think about his opinions, but recently he has been questioning himself a bit, it might be a good idea to listen to other people sometimes, he picked a bad topic though.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about you finding someone... It takes time and patience." Indeed. Just look at Kinaku. She was still single as a matter of fact. Although, Mae had her suspicions that her step-mom secretly had feelings for Lou... And Mae was not the only one thinking that either. Ayane did so as well. As for why she hadn't asked Lou out yet... Mae had an idea. She didn't wanna jeapordize the band integrity. What if Lou took it the wrong way, and left the band? That would be all sorts of bad news... But eventually, Kinaku would have to confess, whether she wanted to or not, as Lou would eventually find things out on his own.

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"Thanks, Blaez. That's really kind of you." Mae said with a bright smile. Ayane looked like she wanted to say something, but she ended up staying quiet... After a lot of internal struggle however, she managed to squeak out a timid "T-Thank you, Blaez-kun..." as she smiled somewhat awkwardly back at him. Mae would grab hold of her friend's hand, trying to calm her nerves. "Meritocracy?" That was... sort of random... Wasn't that an old political philosophy devised by the greeks? "You're talking about a land ruled by the individuals own efforts, right?" If she remembered correctly, that was indeed what Meritocracy stood for. Then it clicked for Mae... She connected the dots. Had... Blaez forged a bond with another angel? One that Mae hadn't met yet? That's all she could think of. Meritocracy was a very old, and quite frankly, foreign concept to most people... Mae had studied it briefly in her school project about Greece. "I dunno... I really can't form much of an opinion on it due to the fact that I've never seen or heard of a scenario where Meritocracy is relevant at all... But like all forms of systems, it looks good on paper. But like everything else, it has it's flaws." Meritocracy huh? Interesting...

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When the three teens returned, customers were already standing in a long line waiting to be let in. Mae and the rest had VIP tickets, so naturally, they passed by the long queue without a hitch, and found their seats before anyone else had entered. A couple of minutes later, and the area was filled with people, anxiously waiting for the show to start.

Once everyone had taken their seats, the spotlights lit up, highlighting Kinaku with her microphone. Everyone was looking at her, taken completely by her serene beauty.


Her voice echoed through the speakers, followed by a loud cheer from the audience. "That's the SPIRIT! Let's hit it boys!"

And then the concert had officially begun...

"I'm not worried about that, i can be happy on my own."He even considered saying that he was better off without someone, but he was young, there was no way he could know what's ahead, he could fall for someone in the near future, though he'd probably just try to bottle up his feelings until they went away.

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"Don't mention it, it's the least i could do."Ayane didn't got over it yet... oh well, there is not much he could do about, if he stood too close to her she'd get too flustered to say anything, he couldn't understand why she felt like that about him, he wasn't judging her, far from it, he just never saw someone acting like that just because they were close to their loved one... it was kinda cute."I guess...it would be nice if it could work, no?"She wasn't wrong, but democracy is also flawed, yet people praise it like it was the best thing ever... He didn't had much time to decide what is better, he was just doing what feels right... but was it really the right thing to do?Regardless, he had to find an answer soon, or there wouldn't be a world to fight for.

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"Whoa..."Blaez was mesmerized, that whole setup, and that music... he wasn't expecting it to be that good"She is really good..."They probably didn't heard him, but he felt like he should say it out loud... he saw some videos of her on the internet before but it wasn't the same as watching the show in person, he was glad that he accepted Mae's offer.

"True. Single life does have it's perks, after all." Mae couldn't tell Blaez how to live his life, after all. She had no right, or intention, to do so. "So... what plans do you have once you're done with school?" Mae asked curiously. What kind of things could he see himself being occupied with as an adult? An interesting prospect...

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"Well... I guess the show is about to start soon." Ayane said, regaining some of her composure. Mae being there, supporting her gave the girl all the strength she needed to keep going. "Yeah. It would be interesting if it actually ended up working..." Every philosophy had it's flaws, that was an undeniable fact. Nothing was ever perfect when it came to that stuff, so you'd have to compromise... But she was far from a politician. She rarely every talked to anyone about this stuff to begin with... Not saying that it wasn't an interesting topic, because it was.

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"I know, right?! She's amazing!" Ayane said, looking at the stage in awe. Her nervousness had blown off apparently. Which was good. Usually, Kinaku's music did have a positive effect on people. "Hehe, that's my step-mom for you. She goes above and beyond trying to make people smile, using her music. I... inherited that will, I suppose." Mae felt the same way as her step-mother regarding the subject. It was undeniable that Kinaku had been a big role-model for Mae. She looked up to the woman on stage. That's who she wanted to be. That... Was Mae's future.

"Uh..."Blaez was considering to drop school due his condition... that question made he realize something, he couldn't leave Azores without risking his life, it took a while but he finally understood it, he was stuck there for the rest of his life"I don't want to talk about it..."It would require time for Blaez to open up to Mae, she didn't looked like a bad person, it's just that Blaez is slow to trust, but once he gets attached to someone, he is loyal to the person until the end... unless they break his trust, if betrayed Blaez won't forgive the person that easily.

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"So you want to follow her steps?That's cool Mae, it probably requires a lot of dedication, but if that's you want, go for it."It seems Mae admires her step-mother a lot, and he could see why, Kinaku was beautiful and talented, it's no surprise that Mae wants to be like her.The show was amazing, even after all that time singing and dancing, Kinaku never lost her composure, it was impressive. Blaez enjoyed it while it lasted, but now it was time to leave"That was fun, once again thanks for the invite Mae."He gave her a small smile"...So, what now?'He asked the two, maybe they wanted to hang around a little longer.

"Oh? Okay... I understand." It was up to him of course. Mae respected his choice of not telling her why. They weren't super close yet, so it only made sense. Perhaps one day he would tell her, but before then, All she could do was wait... She nodded in confirmation. "Just know that I'm here for you, in case there's anything bothering you. Friends help eachother out, after all." Mae smiled widely at him before they entered the park. Ayane seemed to agree with that as well. "Yeah, Blaez. I can vouch for that. She's a good friend to have." Looks like she finally had gotten over her shyness completely. But She couldn't hide the longing gazes she sent at Blaez when he wasn't looking. Poor Ayane... If she would actually get something with Blaez, it would end up becoming a long-distance relationship, and those were difficult to maintain...

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"Yeah. It does take a lot of dedication. But you know the saying: 'If there's a will, there's a way.' And trust me, there is a will." Mae chuckled lightly. That sounded corny. Like... really corny, but it was the truth. "Hehe, thanks for coming. I'm glad you could make it." Mae returned Blaez's smile. Ayane... seemed to have something to say. "Umm... Blaez... Do you have access to Skype, by any chance? As you know, I'm going home to Japan in a couple of weeks... I just want to keep in touch with some of the people I've met here." That was... really sweet of her. Ayane held out a small note to Blaez with her Skype name and such. Her eyes was looking directly into his. Maybe she realised it too that a long-distance relationship wasn't going to work... but that didn't stop Ayane from at least becoming friends with him. She really was a good girl when she wanted to be. "Hm... Well, I dunno. What do you wanna do? Maybe we can ask Lou of he can teach you how to play guitar?" Mae said casually, with a light shrug. It was just an idea. Maybe he would actually like it.

"...I'm glad you understand."He smiled back at Mae, most people would just be pushy and question it even further, Mae was patient, he appreciated that, Mae just earned a lot of points with Blaez just for respecting his personal space"I know she is... i just need to think about it."Ayane and Mae were such good friends, always backing up each other... such a shame that Ayane had to go... it would be safer for Ayane if she was far away from Azores due it's current condition.

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"Is that so?I have to listen to you singing someday."He replied"Huh?"He grabbed the note and stared at for a few second and then he replied"Sure, i will contact you as often as i can, it's a promise."He gave Ayane a wide smile, Blaez really meant it and he wasn't going back on it"... I guess i could give it a try..."That reminded him of the time Hyde said that Blaez looked like a rebel musician, it was funny"So... where is he?"Blaez asked as he looked around trying to find Lou.

"No problem, Blaez." Mae smiled warmly at him. Looks like he apprechiated that as well, which was exactly what Mae had hoped for too. Some people didn't exactly show that they were apprechiative of someone's action. "Hehe. I guess I'm a bit nosier than Mae." Ayane said sheepishly. It was true for the most part. She liked to know who she hung out with for the most part... Sometimes, Ayane could however step out of line. It didn't happen too often though. She could be a bit physically intrusive though.

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"O-Oh... Sheesh. Sure... If you want to. Ehehe." Mae said timidly. She still wasn't used to that kind of attention, but she smiled at him regardless, although somewhat sheepishly.


Ayane's face lit up as she gave Blaez a quick, friendly hug, with Mae looking at the two with a bright smile on the side. It was nice seeing them get along so well. Hopefully that hug wasn't too much on Ayane's part. She could be a bit impulsive... okay, a bit impulsive is an understatement. "Oooh. Alright, let's go find him then. I'm sure he's backstage currently." If she knew Lou as well as she thought, that's where he'd be, in his room with a guitar. The trio hurried over to the backstage as quickly as their legs could carry them. Not that Lou was going anywhere, but Blaez probably couldn't stay out here forever.

"You can't shy out, Mae... You want to be just like her, right?"Mae looked a bit unsure about singing in front of Blaez"So be more confident, alright?I'm sure you're just as good as her."He tried to encourage the pinkette, Mae was an interesting person, Blaez should hangout with her more often with her, they might not have much time left to do it.

A hug?That was an unexpected and rather exaggerated reaction, but Blaez returned the hug"Don't even mention it, Ayane."She might have her quirks, but it doesn't make Blaez like her less... as a friend of course, it was surprising how quickly they became friends, Blaez usually takes a lot of time to trust someone in the slightest.

"Alright."Both Ayane and Mae walked as fast as they could, Blaez wondered why they were in such a hurry, but he tried to match their pace anyways"...Hey."He said once they reached Lou"So... could you teach me how to play the guitar?"Blaez went straight to the point, he might be more friendly than he used to be, but he still blunt as ever... certain things never change.