October 14th 2014

“Alright guys,” The trainer began, staring at the four members in front of him. “Firstly, we’re going to be working on vocals for today’s training session. All three of you, barring Aiko, need to try and strengthen your voices before your debut. So today, we’re going to be working on your range, checking what it is already and seeing how we can add to it and improve. Aiko, I want to work on your piano and composing.”

At the four nods he received in reply, the trainer smiled. “Awesome, let’s get started then.”

Airi went and stood as close to Aiko as she could get without getting in trouble before she began to sing a scale, nervous as the trainer ahead of them listened carefully. “Hm,” he hummed, “Your range is good, but we may need to work on making your voice softer. For your concept, you’ll be doing mostly ballads, and although your voice is strong and that’s great most of the time, we need it to be softer to set the correct tone.” He moved on to Hatake. “Go on,” he urged to the young boy with a smile. As Hatake sang his scale, the trainer nodded in approval. “Perfect.” He said, before walking over to Rose. “Now you.”

Rose glanced around the room nervously. She was used to one-on-one sessions with her normal vocal trainer, not one where people could watch her. Taking a deep breath, Rose allowed herself to sing a scale. She winced when the trainer shook his head. “No, Rose, that was completely flat, I’m sorry but it was hardly in tune.” Rose bowed her head to stare at the floor in embarrassment, trying to focus on anything but the trainer ahead of her. Closing her eyes, she imagined everyone in the room was probably smirking and laughing at her terrible voice.

“Hey,” The trainer spoke, trying to snap her out of her thoughts. “I didn’t mean to upset you, it just means we have to work on your voice a little. Remember, you’re not a main vocalist, so it isn’t too much of a problem, you’re mainly sub vocals because your talent lies else where. Your voice not being as good as the other two isn’t a problem and you shouldn’t be ashamed.”

Rose nodded a little in response, taking a deep breath and lifting her head. Subconsciously, her fingers began to play with the end of the ribbon Jiao Long had given her. “Okay, I’ll try again…” With that said, she began to sing a scale again, attempting to be better this time.

“Okay,” The trainer said with a sigh. “That was better in tune, but it was still a little flat.”

So for the next hour, the trainer stuck with Airi and Rose, using Airi’s voice to try and match Rose’s to it. Rose could feel the embarrassment bubbling up inside of her, despite her attempted to quell it. She almost sighed in relief when the trainer announced that it was time for them to have a break.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose watched as Aiko beckoned Airi over, turning to watch the taller, stronger twin approach her brother with worry. He whispered to her for a few seconds, before she nodded and hurried out of the room.

Rose turned to Aiko, approaching him slowly. She’d only been the boy’s leader for 4 days, but they’d still hardly spoken. “Hey, Aiko-kun,” She said to him with a smile. He appeared to be trembling and wheezing, sending bolts of concern through her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Rose-sama,” He responded, smiling weakly back. “I’m just feeling a little bit weak right now, that’s all, I’ll be okay…”

“Please, just chan or san is okay, you don’t have to call me sama… Are you sure you’re okay? Do you want me to get you anything?”

He shook his head. “No, it’s okay Rose-san… Airi has gone to get me my chair, so I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sorry to ask but…has it always been this bad?” She stood beside him, resisting the urge to motherly run her fingers through his hair.

“No,” he shook his head again, almost sadly. “It hasn’t… it’s been progressing since I was young, it started off mild, but it’s getting worse as I get older.”

“Will…” Rose hesitated, not knowing how to find her words. “Will you be okay in the future?”

Aiko just responded with a small shrug. “I have no idea.”

Airi then ran into the room, pushing a wheelchair in front of her. “Here you go, Ai-kun.” She grinned, pushing the chair behind him and forcefully shoving her brother into the chair. “Lazy bum, is that better?”

He grinned at his older sister, nodding. “Yeah, that’s better, thanks Ai-chan…”

Rose smiled slightly at the siblings, turning at the trainer made his way back into the practice room. “Okay guys, let’s get back to it. Aiko, I want to continue with you now, if you don’t mind?”

The said boy shook his head slightly with a smile. “No, I don’t mind.” He then expertly rolled himself over to the grand piano in the corner of the room, shakily getting to his feet and sitting down on the stool in front of it. The trainer beckoned the other three members over to watch him.

“Now, Aiko, how long have you been playing piano?”

“I guess…” Aiko trailed off, furrowing his brow slightly. “I guess I’ve always been playing, my parents had one in the main room at home, so I’ve been playing it as long as I remember. I think I had my first official lesson when I was 5 years old.”

“So around 9 years then?”The trainer commented, noting it down on his notes once Aiko nodded. “Brilliant, do you have any grades in it?” Aiko nodded again. “Number?”

“I’ve got my grade 7, sir.”

“Lovely to hear, now, can you read sheet music?”

Aiko nodded. “I can, I can also write sheet music. I’ve been writing my own pieces for a few years now. My parents encouraged I write my own music to distract myself from my hospital treatment is all, so it’s just something I’ve always done…”

The trainer smiled at him. “Okay, that’s enough questions for now, would you mind playing me something?”

“Anything in specific?” Aiko questioned, fingers placed over the keys.

“Anything you feel like playing.”

Aiko nodded a little, before letting his fingers dance over the key’s in a familiar rhythm. Only a few seconds in, Airi blushed, turning away from her brother.

“What?” Rose asked with a frown, watching her fellow female member.

“He’s playing Yiruma’s The River Flows in You…”

“And?” Rose prompted, still confused.

“I forced him to watch Twilight with me last night…”

“Okay…”

“That song is Bella’s Lullabye… he knows it’s my favourite song. Silly brother…”

Rose grinned. “Oh, I get it now..” She turned back to where Aiko was playing. “He’s amazing at it.”

“He is,” Airi agreed, turning back to smile at her twin. “It keeps him happy when he doesn’t feel good. Trust me, waking up to beautiful piano music every day is an amazing feeling. Best alarm clock in the world.”

“I bet it is…” As Aiko played the last few notes, the room began to applaud the small boy. Hatake ran up to the older male, grinning.

“Aiko-sama!” He exclaimed, grabbing hold of Aiko’s cold hand. “That was amazing, you’re so good!”

“T-thank you..” Aiko responded, in shock at the reaction he’d gotten. When he was in school, people mocked him for his love of classical music, calling him a nerd and telling him his love for the piano was unnatural for a boy his age. He was so used to being berated for his talent that it shocked him to get support from anyone other than his sister.

“Alright,” Their trained clapped, getting everyone’s attention. “I want to try something, I have some sheet music here. Aiko, I’d like you to play the song while the other three sing. Don’t worry about getting the lyrics right, just focus on getting in time with each other and synchronising your voices.” He walked over to his bag, pulling out a few pieces of paper. One with piano music on, 3 with Japanese lyrics written on. Handing them out to their respective artists, he stood back and watched as realisation dawned on their faces.

“Is this SHINee’s 1000 Years Always By Your Side?” Airi asked with a frown, looking up at the trainer.

“It is,” He confirmed with a smile. “I’m giving you this song because this ballad is the type of concept you guys are going to have when you debut, I’d like to see how well your voices harmonise with each other and the piano music. Aiko, whenever you’re ready.”

The boy nodded as he secured his sheet music in front of him, scanning over it before beginning to play the beginning notes. The vocalists soon joined in with the Japanese ballad, trying to harmonise their voices as they went.

Once the song finished, the trainer gave them a nod of approval. “This could work.”

------

The next day, Rose trudged through the school hallways. She hated still being a minor, but it was so much worse for her other three members.

After all, she was almost done with school; Hatake had at least another 4 years, the poor soul.

Training and school pretty much swallowed up an idols life for a good few years, and even more so once the group you were training with debuted, because then you still had to attend school, along with your practices and schedules… Rose knew that life was about to get busy for them all.

A lightbulb overhead suddenly exploded, startling Rose from her thoughts.

“Meoki?” A familiar voice asked, forcing the now on edge girl to turn towards it. At the end of the corridor, Jiao-Long stood, frowning slightly. “Are you okay? Down here on your own in the lunch break?”

Rose sighed slightly, relaxing. “I’m fine, the lightbulb just startled me… I was actually looking for Aiko and Airi, have you seen them?”

“The twins from your group?” Rose nodded. “Yeah, they’re sat by the fountain eating bentos.”

She smiled, bowing to her old friend. “Thank you, Jiao-Long-kun. See you around, okay?”

“Okay, stay safe, Meoki, and good luck.”

She grinned a her friend before hurrying off down the hall and into the yard of the school, scanning ahead of her until she saw the familiar fountain. Hurrying over, she spotted the twins, sitting down beside them.

“Hey there,” she commented, noticing the shock on Airi’s face, she laughed a little. “We’re friends now, right? Friends hand out together in school.”

The smile of pure joy that pasted itself onto Aiko’s face would be remembered by their leader for years.

----

EDIT: Huge thank you to Shynamite for making a poster for me! Look at that thing! They look amazing!