"God damn that was a great one!"

I took off my jacket, drapping it over a chair as we walked into our green room. The sound of cheers were still ringing in my ears as I watched Jun rub a towel all over his face. My eyes drifted to the other side of the room as Seiya unclipped his bass from its strap, his face glistening from sweat. 

"Ami, mind passing my bag over"

I had my arm outstretched as Ami leaned her guitar on the wall next to her and threw my bag from the couch. She plopped herself on the couch where my bag was, her hands busy tying her hair up into a ponytail. 

"God it felt so good to be back on the stage! Did you see all the girls screaming for me?"

Ami's laughter brought a round of cheers from the guys, as though in agreement. 

"Man,it might just be the adrenaline in me, but the crowd felt so different this time. It was on fire!"

"You think our lucks finally coming back on track?"

"Who knows man but don;t jinx it!"

Jun's towel flew across the room, smacking Seiya in the face. Their bickering replaced the laughter and soon towels and wet T-shirts were flying all over the room. I couldn't help grinning, feeling somewhat relieved, I rummaged through my bag, looking for what i needed. 

"I'll be back. Gonna take a break"

I waved my hand as I walked to the door, side stepping Jun along the way.

"Don't take too long. And don't take too much!"

I walked out into the cramped corridor, hands full. I draped a towel over my head, hiding my face. I used the ends of the towel, wiping the small beads of sweat on my face. The intense heat from the performance was slowly fading away and cold airy weather chilled my skin, my wet singlet sticking to my body. Despite the cold chilling me to the bone, it was soothing, remedying the aches on my body. 

"Oh sorry excuse me..."

As i turned the corner, I collided with someone just standing there, by the toilet. I gave her a slight bow, still spaced out from the impact. She returned the bow, although much lower than mine. Clasping my hands together, i stuck myself to the wall, trying to squeeze my way past her to the back door. In that cramped hallway, she too had to stick herself to her end of the wall. With my towel over my head, I couldn't see properly, only the clothes on her body. I couldn't help smiling despite the fact that she won't be able to see it. I figured she was just as dazed about the whole situation. Guess i was right since i could hear a small chuckle escape her lips. 

As I opened the back door of the pub, I couldn't help turning around, wanting at least a look. 

"Mina! Over here!"

I was left with the image of her back, her black shoulder-length hair tied up in a ponytail, exposing the smooth white skin on her nape. She left without turning around, her figure turning round the bend as the slight glimpse of her side profile evaded me. The cold gust of night breeze stung my cheeks. I let out a long slow breath of air, exhaling the slight disappointment out of my system. Mina. Nice name.

***********

"Good job back there. You guys blew the roof off tonight."

I looked up, as the back door swung open. The Pub Manager stepped out, a cigarette in mouth. He took out a lighter, flicking it a couple of times with no success. I took out my own, tossing it over to him.

"Well, all thanks to you sir. Thanks for booking us a slot. We really needed that. And helping us book a couple of gigs for the kyoto tour. Really helping my here, specially after all that happened."

"Stop beating yourself over it. You made a good choice by leaving those guys."

"Yeah well by leaving those guys, I killed the band's momentum."

I took a puff of my own cigarette, the taste of tobacco filling my mouth. I exhaled a puff of smoke filled with regrets. It felt heavy, bearing down on my lungs. 

"Guess being agentless is really proving to be a bigger pain in the than you thought"

I could only chuckle, plumes of smoke gathering in front of my face. Another puff and the burning sensation coursed down my chest, warming my body up against the brick wall i was leaning on. 

"Well your luck might be picking up.Now go back to your bandmates. A couple of guests came down to see you guys. A bunch of idol stars apparently. Who knows, you might be able to pull something off there."

A throathy chortle left his mouth, as he his cigarette on the wall and flicking it by my feet. I watched as the last few embers flickered away, the cold wind extinguishing its light.