Daitenji knows that other people will think he poached Rei Kon from the other record company, and on paper that is what it looked like, he can’t deny it. Rei had left his first band to sign with BBA Records out of the blue, had even moved country to do so under Daitenji’s guidance. Other people would say that was poaching.
What Daitenji knew other people hadn’t seen, was that underneath his musical skills Rei was a young man on the verge of cracking, like a marble under someone’s shoe.
They hadn’t seen him pleading with his management in dressing rooms, resisting intrusive photographers and flinching when he was pushed towards his female bandmate. They hadn’t seen the furrow in his brow when he was placed centre stage or the tension in his frame when speaking with his guitarist afterwards. They hadn’t discovered him hiding in the top row of a music hall, head in hands, taking a moment to breathe.
They certainly had never received a call from him in the middle of the night, trying to keep his voice steady through obvious tears.
“If you still need a bassist, sir, I’d like to take you up on your offer.”
Headcanons under the cut!
Rei leaves Baihuzu after having a huge argument about their management. Their new contract would boost the band’s circumstances but it’s restrictive, messes with the dynamics of the band by compelling Rei to be the lead instead of Rai and takes an inappropriate amount of interest in a relationship between Rei and Mao, which Rei was already feeling pressured into. Rei refuses to sign it.
This erupts into a highly charged argument. Rai and Mao misunderstand what the problem is and both berate him. Rai is angry that he’s endangering the band’s position, by not being willing to sacrifice and do what’s necessary for Baihuzu’s survival (with a healthy dose of ‘I would have if I were you’). Mao is also angry with him for being hesitant and unsettled about their relationship, when clearly everything should be full steam ahead if management are giving their approval. Rei gets overwhelmed in the confrontation with them so nothing gets settled and everyone goes to bed angry.
He flees in the middle of the night, refusing to be forced into something he doesn’t want. He sneaks out of the hotel to call Producer Daitenji for help from a telephone box, having been given his contact after one of their shows. Baihuzu wake the next morning to find him gone, having taken nothing but his bass Byakko, his passport and worse, the songs he’d been writing.
Rai is immediately furious. Leaving them without a bassist and songwriter leaves the band high and dry, so he takes over Rei’s role as well as playing the lead guitar. Its a lot of pressure all at once, added into the feeling of being second-best and picking up the pieces of what he thinks Rei should have been grateful for. Kiki starts practicing to fill in so they can at least play their regular songs, but he’s younger and not at Rei’s level yet so everyone finds this a bit frustrating. Gaou has to intervene in many an argument.
Mao is also furious, but occasionally anxiety surfaces instead. When Rai notices, she plays it off as being anxious about the band but really she’s anxious that their oldest friend took off with only the clothes on his back and vanished off the face of the earth. They had been close, close enough to be in a budding relationship before, though she worries now that the enthusiasm she had shown for the couple’s photoshoots and dates was not as reciprocated as she’d thought. She remembered him on that last evening, angry or maybe scared, saying there was too much pressure, that he felt he couldn’t say no. She replays the argument in her head more often than she cares to admit, and sometimes fears that they’re as at fault for chasing him out as much as he is for leaving.
They hear nothing from him for a year. Then there’s buzz on the musical circuit about a new band taking part in this year’s music festival, The BladeBreakers, their EP is playing on the radio everywhere you go. They play Rock music so this is irrelevant to Baihuzu until they hear that the bassist is handsome with long dark hair. And a white tiger on his bass guitar.
More Band AU! Though I guess this could be Rei running away from home in any universe if you ignore the guitar case. Poor Rei gets put under way too much pressure and cracks, burns his life down to its lowest and has to build new.
I like making Rei and Baihuzu's storyline as emotionally complicated as possible. Everyone is sad and angry, right and wrong. You can love your family and still want a completely different life to them.
I have the outline for this AU all the way through to the end of the first tournament, and I've been writing snippets though I'm not sure I'd be able to write it entirely? I like to write fanfiction to go with my art, so I'll probably just build it up that way. This AU is fun because I get to pick the music to go with all the story beats!
I haven't fully decided what type of band each team is. Team BBA is Rock because that's my favourite, Baihuzu are Folk/Classic Rock? Team Euro would have to use some classical instruments and they aren't originally a team so it makes sense for them to be soloists? Team USA are Pop/Rock, with a big production company behind them to emulate the scientists in canon?
Based a bit on how more feline they are in the manga, but if you are wondering if that pose is achievable.. the answer is yes, made my back crack like a glowstick but yes.
