Rin looked over at Haru as they both continued to sing the second chorus.
How does he know how to sing harmony?
Haru quickly looked up at Rin- he could feel his eyes on him. Rin gave him an encouraging nod and grinned as he continued to sing.
He likes it.
Haru let out a sigh of relief after they finished the chorus. It had felt like time slowed down for them as they both adjusted to this unexpected yet thrilling experience of singing together.
Rin continued on with the song and they approached the third and final time to sing the chorus. He motioned for Haru to come closer and sing into the mic with him.
Haru blushed slightly as he accepted his friend's invitation to join him, albeit not as close as he needed to be heard at an optimal level. He just wasn't sure how to handle being so close to Rin while singing- it seemed the intimacy of the moment would distract his playing. He wanted to finish the song with a solid ending and wasn't about to mess with the progress made so far.
They finished their vocals and played the final part of the song.
After finishing Rin looked at Haru as his eyes widened with wonder and surprise. Haru continued staring at his bass, hesitant to look up at his friend.
Rin gave Haru a playful shove in the shoulder. "Haru! What the heck was that?" Haru quickly looked up at Rin. His expressionless face was overcome with worry as he considered a dreadful fact. Maybe I was imagining things...maybe I didn't sound as good as I thought.
"I'm sorry...I wanted to try-"
"That was...AWESOME!" Rin's face beamed with joy. "Haru, how..." he shook his head. He was both ecstatic and confused at the same time. "I didn't know you could sing, let alone harmonize!"
Slightly embarrassed from the praise, Haru lowered his gaze, looking at Rin's guitar. "Well...I already knew how to sing on tune." He nervously shifted his gaze down at Rin's shoes, oblivious to the continuing study of objects on his friend's body. "I had heard more than one voice in the song, so I thought I'd try to learn the harmony."
Rin bent his knees a little and tilted his head to the side as he tried to see Haru's eyes, which were half covered by his silky black hair. Eventually his gaze slowly moved up to meet Rin.
Rin stood up straight in response to Haru finally looking at him. Those bashful eyes of the deep blue sea...
He did a quick yet nervous glance to the side as he deeply in/exhaled. "I really like your voice," his eyes met Haru's once again. "I'm just shocked you practiced enough to play the song AND learned to sing harmony. I mean...wow!"
There was a short pause before Haru spoke. His eyes shifted to a point in the distance. "I guess I really wanted to sing with you, and I knew this was the only way."
"Oh man...Haru," Rin put his hand on top of his maroon head of hair and moved it down the side of his face, cupping his chin in the palm of his hand. "I'm a just little speechless..."
After a brief silence, Rin looked into Haru's eyes, piercing him straight on. He put his hand at chest level and shook his pointer finger side to side. "This will not be the last time you sing."
With a wave of determination Haru's stare pierced right back at Rin.
"Ok."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It had almost been a month since Haru debuted his voice.
Eventually schedules became crowded with other priorities but that didn't stop the boys from squeezing in a practice from time to time. Their passion to create music together only continued to grow. They both anticipated their practice time which had brought on another level of joy and excitement in their everyday lives.
Rin inquired his friends and acquaintances about joining the band. He really desired the full effect with drums and a lead guitarist. Haru offered to ask around his social network as well. It was only after a few weeks that they were able to find all the members they needed. It was as if there was a magical, enticing aura whenever they presented the invitation to someone.
They were surprised to find friends that were excited and eager to practice songs in their spare time. It would be several months before they finally gathered at a place they could rehearse together.
Meanwhile Rin had been working on creating his first song. While the other band mates were learning and practicing solo, Rin and Haru continued to meet at Rin's place to practice together.
Rin always found Haru very easy going to work with. He was surprised to see Haru perk up with interest when he shared some ideas about the song he was writing.
"I found myself writing a song with a slower tempo. It'll get heavy at some points, but overall it's definitely slower and...," Rin looked up as he thought of a word to further describe his song.
"I guess the feeling is deeper, with more emotion than other songs we've played." He looked at Haru and teased him with a sly grin. "Think you can handle that?"
Haru gave him a nod.
"Show me what you got," Haru said, lifting his head up as he gave him a look as if to challenge him.
Rin's body became slightly tense as he hesitated to share his next idea with Haru.
"The thing is, we've been practicing songs where you sing with me usually only during the chorus." He stared at Haru's fingers as he played with his pick.
"Haru, I think we have a unique connection when we sing together. So I started imagining if you sang an entire song with me...and not just the chorus." Rin raised his eyes to look at Haru, who had already been looking at him with interest.
"And not harmony, but rather the same notes. Well...except they'll be an octave* apart. In a sense, I think it will feel like we're holding the song together...not just me doing most of the singing."
He paused and took a deep breath. "I think with this song we might experie-"
"Which octave will I sing?" Haru hadn't even realized he cut him off until after it was said and done.
Rin didn't mind. He wasn't even sure how he was about to tell Haru that he thinks this song will bring about a deeper connection with each other, although he wasn't exactly sure where the desire had come from.
But...he could feel it lingering. This yearning to experience Haru surrender to emotion and see him get lost in singing.
Getting lost in the song together...
"I'll sing low and you'll sing the higher octave," Rin chuckled and reassured Haru that it wouldn't be too high and out of his range.
"Oh, I don't mind. I think your voice sounds good singing lower. That's why I asked." Haru's eyes traveled to the edge of Rin's sleeve, gracing the curve of his bicep.
He felt an ache in his soul.
"Oh...thanks." Rin grinned and a slight blush crept up his cheeks. He reached over and grabbed a paper with lyrics written down. He placed it in front of them and grabbed his guitar. "So I'll just play a small part just to give you a feel." He then proceeded to play a chunk of his song that he'd been working on, beginning with the intro.
The intro was his favorite part because he wouldn't have to wait long to hear Haru's voice once he learned the song.
It's slower...
Rin slowly started to sing. His voice was deeper than the other songs he'd been singing.
Haru looked away to hide his face. The more Rin sang like that, the more Haru became weak in the knees. The lyrics expressed mysterious and almost bizarre feelings of...love.
What is he singing about...
Haru couldn't quite understand exactly what these lyrics were about. But the tenderness of Rin's voice with the melodic notes came across as a sweet sadness. There was some kind of longing that could be felt in these verses. The beauty of it was making it hard to breathe.
After playing several verses of a slow and drawn out intro, Rin slowly stopped playing. "What do you think? My lyrics are probably confusing...I'm not even sure exactly what I'm trying to say..." He glanced over at Haru.
Haru opened his mouth slowly, a little blown away by Rin's creation.
"Rin..." Haru was looking down. His face was holding the ache of a boy who just heard the most beautiful, tender sounds. He continued looking down as he added softly,
"...it's beautiful."
Rin bent over a little to see Haru's face and slightly gasped in shock to the reaction before him.
Haru looked up at Rin as a tear slowly fell down each cheek.
*for those who would like to hear voices singing an octave apart, please take a moment to listen to the song that inspired Rin's song in this scene (and my drawing on the cover)- "Bund" by Old Codex. Trust me when I say you can literally imagine Rin singing the lower octave and Haru singing the higher. This will do wonders for the imagination as you read the next chapter!