Chapter 1: His first 20 BAD years.

When Kamenashi Kazuya was born, everybody knew he’s special. From the first day strange things were happening around him. A nurse that was previously holding the child, slipped on the wet floor. It was unusual, normally floors were cleaned at night, when there were less people walking around. Of course, nobody expected it to be something more than just a plain accident. Everybody soon forgot about it.

A few years later the family decided that something’s not right. Accidents were increasing. When Kazuya was about two, Kamenashi family bought a dog. To this day they were thankful that the dog lived up to a great age. A week after they got a dog, they left Kazuya in the kitchen for five minutes. When they came back, the child was sitting on the floor happily munching a piece of watermelon. It might have been a sweet picture but seeing a whole floor, the child and the dog covered in flour and fruits shocked them. Apparently Kazuya caught a glimpse of a big watermelon and confused the fruit with a ball. He climbed on a kitchen cupboard, accidently knocking down a packet of flour. When he reached the fruit, Kazuya tried to pick it up but it was too heavy and he wobbled, falling down with the fruit. The only thing that didn’t let him injure himself was an old, thick and fluffy blanket that his mom had laid out on the floor for him to sit on. The watermelon smashed into pieces just next to the dog. Poor animal hardly avoided it.

From that moment, Kazuya’s parents kept an eye on him. Accidents got even more frequent. At the age of seven, Kazuya couldn’t survive without getting injured more than two weeks. The family started to worry. Kazuya didn’t have many friends. Other parents were afraid that something bad might happen to their children. They kept them away from him. Then came the day all Kamenashi were thankful for. Kazuya found a friend that wag going to stick to him for the rest of his life. The only kid that wasn’t scared by things that happened around the boy.

It was a sunny day. A teacher at Kazuya’s school decided that it would be good idea to take kids outside. Also today was a day when a new kid came to school. The new kid was a girl. Mitsui Yue, a daughter of a well-known traveler and a famous stylist. Since her father went for another trip to Africa and mother took her younger sister and the youngest brother to Los Angeles, she was staying with her father’s brother. Her older sister and two other brothers were staying with their aunt from mom’s side. Yes, she had two sisters and three brothers. It’s a lot for a family that’s almost never together. Maybe that was why she didn’t smile or talked with other kids in class.

Kazuya was sitting in the sandpit. He was playing alone. Suddenly a group of kids came to him.

“Go away. We want to play here.” The tallest boy stepped ahead apparently being a leader. Kazuya looked up.

“But I was here first. Besides there's lot of place here. You can play here too.”

“But you’re unlucky. We can’t play with you. You will hurt us!” A small girl spoke up. She was barely visible from behind of the group. You could only see big red ribbon on top of her head.

“Exactly! You’re a jinx!” Of course kids being kids immediately liked the idea of their leader and before anyone could react, children started making fun of the poor unlucky boy.

“Jinx! Jinx! Jinx!” he could hear other kids chanting hurtful words and laughing at him. Kazuya started crying but the teacher didn’t do anything. She was too scared to come closer to the boy. Suddenly the group’s leader fell down on the sand. Everyone went silent. The new girl shoved the boy and was glaring at him.

“It’s not nice to call someone names.”

“But it’s true! He will bring us bad luck! You shouldn’t be near him either.” The smallest girl said.

“I don’t care. It doesn’t matter if he has bad luck. It’s not a reason to call him that way!” the boy that got up from the sand, stopped in front of the new girl. He tried to scare her with his height but the girl’s stare was intimidating. The girl made a step forward.

“Leave him alone and stop saying bad things about him.” The boy only nodded quickly and all the kids went away. Everybody went back to their activities. Kazuya so was shocked by what happened that he stopped crying. He came to his senses when he heard a voice next to him.

“Are you okay?” Kazuya flinched but looked at the girl and shook his head.

“You’re not afraid of me?”

“No. Why should I be?” Kazuya hung his head sadly.

“They are right. I bring bad luck to everyone.” When he said that a soccer ball hit the poor boy in the back. He fell down, head in the sand. The girl quickly grabbed him by the hand and helped him stand up and he spited out sand. The girl was also dirty because when he fell, the sand found its way towards the girl’s clothes.

“You see? Your clothes are dirty because of me. I am a jinx.” Tears formed in his eyes and he looked down. Then his eyes went wide when he felt a weak hit on the back of his head.

“Don’t call yourself that! We’re in the sandpit. If I sat down in the sand I would be dirty anyway.” She said with a full conviction.

“But…” The girl didn’t let him finish.

“No ‘but’. Dad says that everybody needs a friend and you can make a friend only when he’s in need. You may be unlucky but I think you a nice person and I want to be your friend.” She smiled to him and stretched out her hand. “I’m Mitsui Yue, you can call me Yue.” The boy was surprised by the girl's behaviour but shook her hand.

“Kamenashi Kazuya, you can call me Kazuya. Nice to meet you.”

“Now, that we know our names we have to take care of your elbow, it’s scratched.”

Before Kazuya could react, Yue pulled him towards their school. She was his first friend. Even though it took her no more than a week to see a full power of Kazuya’s bad luck, she didn’t care. She was with him all the time to help him. Kazuya’s parents were afraid that girl’s uncle might oppose this friendship but once they met him, he said that Yue is a really stubborn and strong girl. She never takes back her words and her judgments are always right. If she says that Kazuya is a good kid and she wants be his friend, then he can’t do anything about it.

When Kazuya turned twelve, being injured once a week was perfectly normal. The only thing that changed from his past was that he and Yue learnt how to deal with his bad luck and they could easily say what might happen. Kazuya was very thankful for having Yue with him. She was a rough and quite hot-headed girl when they were still little but with years passing by, she became more patient. There was only one thing that could immediately upset her, and it was Kazuya and his low self-esteem.

“Do I have to go there? I don’t want to ruin everything.” whined Kazuya, dragged by his best friend.

“Yes, you have to be there. It’s my birthday and you’re my friend. I want my friend to be there with me.”

“But, I’m bringing bad luck. What if I set fire to the house by accident or destroy a table and everything will end up on the floor or…” Yue stopped abruptly and turned around. She was eyeing him angrily and he couldn’t help but to swallow hard.

“Shut up, Kamenashi Kazuya! You might be the biggest failure of the world but I wouldn’t care anyway! You’re neither a jinx nor a failure! You’re my best friend!” She closed her eyes and sighed heavily. “Listen, Kazuya. I know that you’re afraid but you’re a great person. You should accept who you are and stop caring. We’ve been friends for so long that I will tell you something. You’re bad luck mostly affects you. I’ve never been seriously hurt. In other words, you won’t hurt anyone. It more looks like harmless pranks.” Kazuya looked at her unconvinced.

“What if it will change? I don’t want anyone to be unhappy because of me.”

“You won’t, I promise. When people care for someone, they will be happy just with being by his or her side. I enjoy playing with you. Your family loves you. The same goes to people that you will meet in the future. If they will be your true friends, they won’t care about your bad luck. You can count on me, I won’t stop being your friend no matter what.”

“Really?”

“Really. Pinky promise.” When she said it, they sealed their promise. Kazuya was happy and didn’t mind when the girl grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her house.

Unfortunately, Kazuya’s good mood slowly disappeared. During the party, the boy’s lack of luck caused a disaster. The table collapsed, the cake smashed into a wall when Yue’s aunt tripped on a baseball ball, Kazuya hit the cupboard with his head and every wineglass crashed on the floor. He also poured out his juice and fell down after stepping on it. And it’s just a peak of what happened. The party was a total catastrophe.

Later that day Yue and Kazuya were sitting on the bench in the nearby park. The boy was sad. He knew what might happen and yet, he let himself be led there by his friend. On the other hand, the girl was looking at the stars with sparkling eyes. Finally she looked at the boy next to her and frowned. She didn’t know that he was this upset about her birthday.

“What is it Kazuya? Is something wrong?” She was concerned.

“Why? Why did you take me there? It was a disaster.” The girl sighed already tired of her friend’s uncertainty. The next second she smiled brightly at him. Her weird behavior really startled the poor boy.

“You know what, Kamenashi Kazuya? Your name really suits you. You’re slow like a turtle. I’ve told you before. You’re my friend, you had to be on my birthday and you know what? It was one of the best birthdays I’ve had.”

“How is it possible?”

“Don’t you know how I love my family, especially my younger sister?” she said ironically. “Your bad luck stole attention from her. At least for once she wasn’t in the spotlight. Also, seeing my brothers wiping a floor with their faces when they slipped on juice you spilled was really amusing. They looked like they were about to go and take a bath without my aunt’s nagging. They HATE bathing, you know that.” Her smile widened when she remembered shocked faces of people at the party.

“You’re really weird, you know?”

“Yep, you realized it just now?” She kept smiling. It was unusual for the girl but Kazuya could see that it was genuine. She was happy. “Thank you, Kazuya.”

The boy’s eyes widened when Yue hugged him.

“You’re welcome.” He hugged her back, relaxing and finally understanding what she meant. You have to be yourself for people to accept you. She broke a hug but a hint of amusement was still evident on her face.

“You know, I think I will call you Kame. You’re terribly slow when it comes to being happy with who you are.” She said with a smirk and Kazuya looked at her pouting. “But you always do your best and finally you’re able to realize that you’re great as you are. You like to make people be happy even with your bad luck.” She hugged him again and added. “But try to think more about yourself sometimes, ne? Let’s go, I hid some cupcakes in my room.” She winked and pulled him up. Kazuya couldn’t stop smiling. Yue has accepted him. It was her birthday but the boy felt like it was him that got the best present.

Another four years have passed. Kazuya became a high school student and like every teenager, he started having crushes. It’s probably unnecessary to tell that his first love didn’t end with happy ending. It was a girl from the upper class. She was pretty but self-centered. Typical school queen. It was also the first time for Kazuya and Yue to have a fight.

“Kame, how many times I have to tell you that she’s evil! Okay, you like her but she won’t like you back!”

“How can you know?! Besides it was you who was always telling me to not give up and be myself!” She was dumbfounded. He was right. She never let him be down and encouraged him to do things he was afraid of and now she was trying to talk him out of asking out a girl.

“…I’m sorry, Kazuya.” She sat on his bed. “I think I’m just worried about you.”

“You? Worried?” She glared at him and he sat next to her. “Sorry. I know that it will be hard but I want to try. Will you help me?” She sighed looking at him.

“Fine.”

Of course nothing went like it was supposed to. At first attempt to impress the girl Kazuya landed up in a trash can. Yue had to pulled him out of it and then go to the store to buy some good and strong bath foam. At second attempt he was sprayed with a sprinkler. You can actually guess where exactly water hit him. Luckily, Kazuya have been carrying a backpack with different stuff for a few years now. Yue knew he had a towel with him and she quickly tied it around his waist. Third time was the worst in Yue’s opinion. Kazuya decided to just normally go to his crush and ask her out on a date.

“I like you. Please, go out with me.” He bowed low in front of the girl. Yue was standing a few meters away talking with her classmate but when she heard her best friend, she turned her head towards him. She was shocked. She knew about his plan but she thought that he will do it after school and not during a lunch break when everybody is watching him.

“Me? Go out with you? You must be joking! I would never go out with you! You’re a jinx! I would catch your bad luck! The only girl that would go out with you, is Mitsui-chan.” You don’t have to be a genius to know that everyone was laughing at the poor boy. Kazuya was crashed but before Yue could do anything, the boy got a grip of himself.

“Yue was right, you’re just a shallow girl. You’re pretty outside but empty inside. Sorry that I bothered you, it was meaningless.” He bowed with respect and his heels. His eyes were slightly wet but when he saw how proud Yue is of him, he felt happy.

“Nice, Kame. Really nice.” She was smirking. Yue patted his shoulder. The boy was slightly smiling but when Yue went by him, he was surprised. The girl stopped in front of his crush with a hard glare.

“For you, it’s Mitsui-SAN, Mei-senpai. Now, better go before your face will urge me to make something I will regret later.” She said darkly.

Yue was scary and the only person that was able to speak up to her was Kazuya. Mei, her friends and rest of people in the corridor, went away quickly. Some of them were even running. Kazuya scolded her later for being rude but the girl was satisfied. She could see how her friend became a strong person. Of course, forgetting about his first crush took a while but eating ice-cream and hanging out together helped a lot. Not even his bad luck could change how happy he was.

Finally came the hardest day of Kazuya’s life - saying goodbye. Yue became a university student. They both loved music but Yue wanted to know more about the industry, modern ways of creating notes and how to be responsible for musicians. Kazuya was a freelance writer. He was writing for the local newspaper. They didn’t pay much but it was enough for him to save some money. Sometimes, when he was in the mood, he was writing songs.

There came the day before Yue’s departure. Both friends were sitting on the bench in the park. It was the same place they were sitting years ago on the girl’s birthday. It was a peaceful night. The sky was full of shining stars. Suddenly Yue broke the silence.

“I’ll miss it.” Kazuya looked at her. She was visibly sad but yet, she was smiling. He turned again.

“What will you miss?”

“The stars. I heard you can’t see stars in Tokyo. This park, the bench, cakes from Kawasaki-san, my family… you.” She faced him. “Are you sure you don’t want to go with me? You can always find a job in Tokyo.”

“Don’t worry Yue-chan, I’ll be alright. You taught me how to defend myself.” He spoke with a grin which she returned.

“Yeah… Remember, when someone is attacking you straight ahead, you’re ducking and hitting him on the stomach with your head and then you’re running away.” They started laughing at her joke. It was weird for her. She still could remember a silent, uncertain child who cried a lot but now she was only seeing a young, strong man with pure heart and a lot of confidence. It was a happy sight. It was hard to believe that this happy man has the worst luck on Earth – from last year accidents were happening on a daily basis and yet, she really wasn’t that worried about him.

“Hey, Kame, can I fortune tell you?”

“Fortune tell? You know how to do it?”

"Yeah, my grandma was a really good fortune teller. Okay, let me shuffle the cards.” She pulled out the tarot cards and set them on the bench. “Choose one. Don’t rush.” Kame was warily eyeing pieces of paper. His hand stopped above one of the cards and he was about to take it, when he hesitated. He pulled his hand and grabbed the card on his right and gave it to Yue. The girl looked at it thoughtfully. She found the card really interesting and… unexpected.

“Hm… It’s a rare card, I can’t tell you much. I think it’s a good one. Something good will happen, something… mysterious. Fate will bring you a new person in your life.”

“Do you think it’s true?”

“Well… I dunno. I hardly believe in my skills.”

“You believe in fate then? It’s so not like you?”

“I’m weird, you know that already. For me, if not fate, I wouldn’t meet you.”

"Huh? What do you mean?”

“You see… when I was like four, my grandma told me that I should be self-reliant and don’t listen to other people - I mostly listened to my mother. I didn’t believe my grandma but she started to fortune tell me every day and every day, she was right but… on the last day she said something I didn’t like at all. It was the only time I refused to do what I was told and… I was right. She told me later that you have to know what’s good, what’s not and just do things that you think are right. It was a great lesson.”

“Wow, you’ve never told me that before.”

“You’ve never asked. Anyway, I hope we will see each other soon. Come to visit me sometime… But don’t open umbrella in the house, don’t cross the road when no one’s around and avoid parking lots, hydrants, animals and trees.” She with a smirk.

“Haha, sure. Call me from time to time and come back on summer vacation.” They hugged each other and went back home together for a last time for a long time.

At the end they weren’t able to see each other much. Yue was busy with her school projects and new job, when Kazuya decided to focus on writing songs. His dream was to become a well-known songwriter and work with famous musicians. To achieve that, two years from Yue’s departure, Kazuya decided to move to Tokyo. Money from his job was enough to rent a small 6-tatami apartment for three months.

Once he came to the city, he visited Yue. She was happy seeing her friend and yet angry at him for wandering around the city without her. Kazuya, being who he was, lost himself in Tokyo, got robbed, splashed with puddle’s water, and pooped by birds. The girl considered it lucky that Kame also tripped and landed in the mud. If not, would be added to his bad luck events. Yes, Kazuya was unlucky but nobody could say that he’s not pretty. Yue, knowing it, ordered Kame to not be too friendly with unknown people in the big city, but the boy claimed that his bad luck would easily scare evil people away. Not having any other choice, Yue made him wear thick glasses outside his flat.

Kazuya was determined. Every day he tried to find someone interested in his songs. He was unsuccessful. Yue was watching over him. They talked a lot, especially about her job. Kazuya couldn’t believe that his best friend became a manager to some new band. They were about to debut but people already talked a lot about them. Kame smiled brightly and congratulated the girl. One day he jokingly asked if she wouldn’t buy his song for her band. At that time they both didn’t consider that Kazuya’s teasing words might actually be a good idea.

Three month almost passed. Yue’s new band, AT-TUN, debuted and became one of the most listened to in the country – 10^th place on Oricon chart. She started earning money in a big style and other artists were often asking for her but she would decline every offer. For Kazuya things weren’t that good. Well, it’s not a secret that he got himself injured on a daily basis and didn’t sell even one song. It was his last day in Tokyo. Next day he would pack his belongings and leave the city.

“Damn, can’t your parents help you?” Yue was leaning against the wall with crossed arms, watching Kame in the kitchen.

“Maybe they can but I won’t ask them. I don’t want to be a problem to them.”

Kazuya put a bowl with steaming food in the center of the table. Surprisingly, he was a very good cook, even his bad luck couldn’t stop him from cooking. They both sat at the table and started eating. Even though she knew him for so many years, she couldn’t believe that her clumsy, always injured friend, never got hurt in the kitchen or burnt anything. His food was delicious.

“Then maybe I will give you some money? You need it and I would be happy having you around.” She said before taking a bite of a piece of meat.

“Yeah, you just want to have a free meal every day, haha. No, thanks, I appreciate your offer but you’re my friend. I can’t use you.” He said with a smile.

“You won’t. We can call it a… loan. You will give it back later.”

“No. I can’t and I won’t. I tried and I can be proud of myself. I will try again when I will be able to pay for a flat in Tokyo.” He took their empty plates and put them in the sink.

“Eh… okay. Leave it. I will do it, you will only break them.” She started washing up dishes. “It’s a shame that you didn’t find a buyer. The only thing I can do is to give you a loan or let you live in my apartment. I would be more peaceful knowing that you’re actually fine in my place.” She muttered last sentence to herself.

“Well, it’s not like not selling songs will hurt me.” Yue snorted at that, Kazuya would be hurt from everything but cooking. “Can you bring me a bottle of water?”

She heard him calling from his bedroom which was also his living room. She wiped her hands in the towel and grabbed the bottle from the fridge. She quickly checked it for any possible danger, even smelling and tasting it to make sure Kazuya won’t end up in hospital. She gave him the bottle and sat on his bed. He was emptying his only closet and put everything on the sheets. Yue leaned back and propped herself on her arms watching him. After a while she was bored and started looking through his things. There wasn’t anything interesting but suddenly her eyes caught a glimpse of a sheet of paper. She took it and read it briefly. It was one of Kazuya’s songs. She hadn’t seen any before and was quite surprised. Lyrics were nice. She asked the boy about it and he hummed the melody for her to hear. It was good. Really good.

The girl swallowed hard and then looked at the boy’s back only to look back to the paper a few second later. She didn’t know what to do. The boy needed help and she could actually give him a hand by buying the song. The problem was that her band, and especially the main vocalist, was only singing their own songs. They would never buy any and she would get scold for buying one. She had to choose.

Her professionalism won. She left the sheet on the bed and got up from the bed. She bid him a quick goodbye, saying that she will see him off tomorrow and went home. It wasn’t the best night sleep for her. The song sank deep into her mind. She caught herself humming it every now and then. It was driving her crazy. It was too good of a song. When she thought that somebody else, not AT-TUN will have, will sing it… it was pissing her off! She had to have that song no matter what.

The next day the girl made her way towards a train station. When she saw Kazuya, she ran to him and dragged him away from other people. Of course, before the boy could say anything she ordered him to shut up and checked for any injuries. Then she straightened and looked into his eyes seriously. She was in her working mood.

“Kamenashi-san, I won’t let you go.” He was dumbstruck by her behavior and couldn’t digest what made her so serious. “I want to buy your song.”

“Huh?” He asked surprised by these sudden words.

“I want to buy your song, the one I asked you about yesterday. Just name the price, I need to have it.”

“Wait… You want to buy ‘Butterfly’? Why?”

“I want AT-TUN to sing it.” She shrugged her shoulders and he kept looking at her with wide eyes.

“But AT-TUN sings pop songs. ‘Butterfly’ is a… hard song.” He said skeptically.

“I know but I want it and YOU will sell it to me if you like it or not.”

Kazuya couldn’t believe his ears. His best friend wanted his song, really wanted and wouldn’t take a ‘no’. It was strange but if that’s what she wants who was he to complain. They quickly went to her apartment and signed a contract. The money she gave him was enough to live in Tokyo for a long time. It’s hard to tell who was more pleased. Kazuya that he could stay and try to achieve his dream or Yue for getting what she wanted.

From that day on the young man could push ahead without a rush, slowly making his dreams come true and yet from that tiny moment when he signed the contract he could remember only one sentence Yue told him patting his back with a smirk.

“You’re getting a new apartment, the old one is dangerous and I want my best songwriter with all his fingers."