Yes, a new fic! I know, need to work on my others! But swear to god, this one HAD HAD HAD HAD HAD to come out. Now hopefully it'll be as successful as I hope. This is another Taito. This is an AU. I can't really think of any warnings for this chapter. For now, the rating will be PG-13, may have some R rated parts though as the story moves on. It's going to start out at first in present time. Then the boys are going to tell a story so all of the chapters except for ½ of this one and the last one will be set in the past. Um, ok, here we go!
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the Digimon characters, but I do own the OCs and the plotline.
Warnings: Cussing (like in a lot of my fics) and AU.
"And the winner for best new artist is…The Teenage Wolves!" The MC announced upon opening the envelope. Five young men arose from their seats at the 2004 Grammy Awards in Hollywood, California and approached the stage. They walked up the stairs and stood on the stage, the youngest one with wild brown hair making a grab for the award. The blonde lead singer approached the microphone to give their acceptance speech.
"Good evening, everybody," the blonde said, smiling to the crowd as cheers flared through the air, along with the occasional, "We Love You, Matt!" sign.
"Well, I must say, we are fully honored to have been nominated, much less win the award for Best New Artist," he continued. The wild-haired boy roughly moved him out of the way and grinned.
"Oh come on, Matt. You know we totally deserved this. I mean, just look at all this love right here, am I right?" The brunet boy focused his grin on the crowd, causing more cheers from the audience. The blonde rolled his eyes and moved the exuberant young boy out of the way.
"But still, thank you all. We love all our fans out there and it's great to know they love us." Matt smiled again.
"It's all about the love, baby!" the brunet stole the microphone again. Matt grabbed the younger boy by the collar and dragged him off the stage while the rest of his band followed and more people applauded. The five boys returned to their seats and sat through the rest of the award ceremony, accepting two more awards: one for Best Record of the Year, and the other for Best Male Pop Performance on Matt's part. After the Grammys were all given out, the boys ran back to their hotel and crashed into their room before any crazy fan girls could catch up to them.
"You do realize that most of those fan girls are chasing after you two," the boy with spiky blue hair and tired blue eyes said as he sank onto the bed, directing his comment to the blonde and brunet who were on the other bed.
"Oh come off it, Arial. You've got a few chasing after you too." the boy with messy black hair and green eyes grinned and lightly whacked his comrade on the head as he sat down next to him.
"Shut up, Jetaryane," Arial shot back with a yawn, using the other boy's full name.
"Hey, it's Ryan. You know I can't stand going by my full name," Ryan whined, wrapping his arms around the slightly smaller boy. Arial shook his head and snuggled up into Ryan's lap.
"Are you sure you two aren't together?" the last boy asked, running a hand through his burgundy-colored hair, gazing at the pair on the bed through his cinnamon eyes.
"Positive, Dai. Don't worry about it. Besides, you know Ry's straight." Arial pouted, playing with the other boy's fingers.
"Not to mention has a girlfriend, thanks so much. Speaking of which, shouldn't you two tell your fan club that you two are dating each other?" Ryan asked, directing his comment to the other two boys. Matt shrugged and looked down to the brunet.
"Maybe we should come out into the open tomorrow during the interview?" Matt suggested. The other nodded and yawned.
"Sure, whatever," he said almost inaudibly, curling up and closing his eyes. Matt ran his hand through the wild mass of brown hair and kissed the boy on the forehead.
"Good night, babe," he whispered.
"What happened to his sugar high?" Daisuke asked, flopping down onto the couch they had in their suite.
"He's still young, whether he wants to admit it or not. Let him sleep," Matt replied, watching the younger boy sleep contently.
"I vote we follow his example then," Arial said, not bothering to even get undressed as he crawled under the covers. Ryan nodded and got up, rummaging through his drawers and walking into one of the bathrooms to change. Daisuke dragged himself into the other bathroom and shut the door behind him. Matt smiled at his bandmates' actions and yawned. Carefully, he moved the boy in his lap under the covers and got undressed. He slipped in next to him and turned off the bedside lamp.
"Holy shit, we're late!" Ryan shot straight up as he looked at the clock. Matt slowly opened his eyes and blinked.
"Wha're you yelling about?" he mumbled sleepily.
"Guys, we're going to be late for our interview!" Ryan exclaimed and attempted to untangle himself from the sheets, kicking Arial in the stomach in the process.
"Hey, watch it!" Arial whined and rolled over, going back to sleep. Ryan sighed in exasperation and grabbed the bluenette by the shoulders.
"Come on Ari, don't do this right now! We gotta get up and going," he said, shaking his best friend around. Arial once again opened his eyes and sat up. He blinked and squinted at the clock.
"Fuck, we are late!" Arial yelled as his eyes popped wide open.
"Dude, watch the language," Daisuke said from somewhere on the floor, finally awakening also. Then again, it was kind of hard to sleep with all of the commotion.
"Come on guys, get dressed and let's get going," Matt ordered them and turned to wake up his boyfriend.
"Tai, come on. We have to get up and go to that stupid interview," he said quietly, shaking the brunette gently. Tai mumbled something indecipherable and didn't move.
"Come on, wake up," Matt urged him. Tai slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Matt.
"What?" he yawned, wiping the sleep from his mud-colored eyes.
"Go get dressed, we're going to be late," Matt said, pulling Tai out of bed by the arm.
"I don't wanna go," the younger boy groaned, nearly tripping over the bedding.
"Well, that's too damn bad. We're forced to go," his lover replied, kissing him on the cheek. Tai blinked and opened his drawers.
"This is so dumb," he muttered to himself and grabbed his clothes, walking into the nearest bathroom to change. Matt, who didn't care about where he changed, slipped his shirt up over his head and pulled on a clean one, along with a different pair of jeans. He reached over to his left and grabbed a hairbrush that was left lying on the table.
"Ugh, Ari, next time you use my hairbrush, kindly remove your blue hair from it," Matt said to no one in particular, picking out the blue pieces of hair.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Arial voiced from behind him, causing the blonde to jump and whirl around. He was wearing a navy blue long-sleeved shirt with a yellow flame design on the front and left sleeve and dark grey cargo pants.
"Don't sneak up on me like that!" Matt scolded as he ran the hairbrush through his spiky locks a few times.
"Sorry. Where are the others?" Arial asked as he sat on the couch.
"They should get out here soon," Matt replied. With perfect timing, all three of the other boys came tumbling out of the different bathrooms. Ryan was patting down his black hair and Daisuke and Tai were busy trying to untangle themselves.
"Ry, your shirt fits you so well," Arial teased his companion. Ryan was wearing a bright red shirt that said "Slut" across the front of it in black, bold letters, along with a pair of khaki cargo bungee pants.
"Yes, but it fits you better since you go both ways," Ryan shot back skillfully.
"Ooh, touché." Arial smirked. Daisuke got to his feet, fixing the collar of his black short-sleeved button-down shirt. He was also wearing a white tank top under the shirt along with regular blue jeans. He pulled the last member of the band up to his feet.
"That hurt," Tai stated bluntly, rubbing the back of his head. He was wearing a dark green T-shirt with a black star in the center, outlined in red.
"Hey you, those are my pants," Matt said to him, wrapping his arms around Tai.
"Why do you think I'm wearing a belt?" the brunet stuck his tongue out playfully. He had on Matt's baggy khaki pants held up with a black double-row pyramid belt.
"Are you implying that I'm fat?" Matt answered him with another question, pretending to be offended.
"No, of course not, Yama," Tai smiled innocently.
"Come on guys, save the lovey-dovey crap for later. We gotta go," Daisuke interrupted them, dragging the other four members out into the hall of the hotel.
"Are you out to make my life miserable, Dai?" Tai questioned as they headed for the elevator.
"Of course. After all, what would your mother say if she knew you were dating such an older man?" Daisuke teased him. Tai thumped him on the head lightly.
"More like what would she say if she knew I was dating a man, period." Tai rolled his eyes. The group piled into the elevator and headed to the ground floor. They were supposed to meet a reporter for YM magazine in one of the conference rooms. The five boys walked into the closest one and found a young woman with brown skin sitting in an office chair. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans with many pockets and a navy blue shirt with a picture of a cat that read "Purrfect Paws Nail Salon. Manicure-$25.00 Pedicure-$30 Acrylics-$20 Polish-$15." in pink letters. She had a pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head and a small recorder and notepad.
"I'm willing to bet that you're the Teenage Wolves?" she asked them, standing up upon their arrival.
"That's us," Matt spoke up, one arm still wrapped around Tai's waist while shaking hands with the girl using his other hand.
"Nice to finally meet you all. I'm Neesha Davis. Welcome." she smiled. Everyone sat down around the oval-shaped table.
"So, how were the Grammys last night, guys?" she inquired, tucking some of her black and pink hair behind her ear.
"They were so awesome!" Tai exclaimed abruptly. Matt elbowed him in the ribs slightly while the other three laughed. Neesha smiled at his enthusiasm and turned on the recorder.
"Well boys, here's the deal. Our whole Star section is dedicated to you this month. So we wanted to get the whole story all about you," she explained.
"Okay. What would you like to know?" Ryan asked.
"Let's start with the stats. Full names?" she countered, letting the recorder pick up the entire conversation.
"Yamato Ishida and most people call me Matt."
"Arial Natsaki. Sometimes I go by Ari."
"Jetaryane Kinomita and I strictly go by Ryan."
"Daisuke Motamiya. Just Daisuke works."
"Taichi Yagami. I go by Tai."
"Okay, ages?" Neesha moved onto the next question.
"Arial, Ryan and I are all 19, Daisuke is 18 and Tai is almost 17," Matt answered for all of them.
"Matt, we can talk ya know," Ryan reprimanded the other boy.
"Status?" Neesha asked.
"What do you mean by status?"
"Are you dating anybody?" she clarified. Tai and Matt looked at each other and grinned.
"Tai and Matt are together," Daisuke explained for them.
"Aw, that's so cute!" Neesha exclaimed. "What about the rest of you?" she inquired.
"Well, Ari's a little slut," Ryan said playfully.
"Am not!" Arial stuck his tongue out. He turned to Neesha and shook his head.
"I'm attached as well," he told her.
"And Bi," Daisuke added.
"Tell the whole world Dais." Arial rolled his eyes.
"Well, it's true isn't it? And you don't even care. Besides, you have a boyfriend. Might as well clear the air," Daisuke argued.
"True." Neesha laughed at their antics and shook her head.
"All right, now down to the big things. How did you all become a band? Like, the entire story of what has happened over the past year," she said, declaring what she wanted.
"It's a long story," Matt retorted.
"And I have plenty of time and tapes," Neesha countered back. Matt nodded and started to tell his story.
"It all started about this time last year when we needed an extra guitarist..."
Matt Ishida was sitting in a recliner in the living room of the apartment he lived in, along with three other guys. Two of them were home with him, and the other was still at school, seeing as how he was finishing up his last year. He glanced over to the couch where the other two boys were sitting, playing a racing game on the Playstation 2.
"Have either of you had any luck finding an extra guitarist?" he asked his friends. The blue-haired boy just shook his head and didn't say anything. The black-haired boy also shook his head no.
"Sorry, Matt. Just can't seem to find somebody. I mean, we have, but you remember how badly all those auditions turned out." the black-haired boy, Ryan, shuddered. Matt grimaced and nodded.
"Yeah. Maybe Daisuke will be able to find somebody good." he shrugged and doodled on the notepad he had in front of him.
"Oh come now, ye of little faith. We'll find somebody," the bluenette, Arial, finally spoke.
"Hope so," Matt replied just as the front door opened.
"Hey Daisuke," all three of them hollered over their shoulders.
"Hey guys, guess what?" Daisuke asked rhetorically as he dashed into the living room.
"You're finally out of high school so we can take this band seriously?" Matt guessed anyway.
"No, even better. I think I found your extra guitarist!" Daisuke beamed.
"Where is he?" Matt sat up, suddenly very interested. Daisuke walked out to the front hall and came back several moments later with another boy. The boy ran a hand through his wild, bushy brown hair and blinked at them with his chocolate-amber eyes.
"Guys, this is Tai," Daisuke introduced them.
"Hey Tai," Ryan greeted him and shut the game off.
"Hey, I was playing that!" Arial shouted and turned around, suddenly spotting Tai.
"Oh, hi." Arial grinned at him. Tai nodded a hello and stared at Matt. Matt stared right back at him.
"Daisuke…" Matt trailed off.
"Don't praise me until later, Matt," Daisuke said confidently. Matt shook his head and glared at Daisuke.
"I asked you to bring me a guitarist, and you bring me a kid," Matt growled at the 18-year-old.
"Who you calling a kid?" Tai suddenly spoke up, fire glowing in his eyes.
"You. You are a kid," Matt stated simply. Tai's fist curled into a ball and Daisuke stepped in between the two before a fight could break out.
"Um, yeah, he's a kid. But he plays really great, Matt. Just let him play and see what you think," Daisuke pleaded him. Tai looked at him expectedly, almost challenging.
"All right, whatever." Matt shrugged. Daisuke grinned again and turned to Tai.
"Knock yourself out," he said cheekily. Tai rolled his eyes and took his guitar bag off of his shoulder. He unzipped it to reveal a slightly-battered black and white electric guitar.
"Where'd you get that guitar from?" Matt questioned him, going into his critical judgment mode.
"Used to belong to my dad," Tai simply replied as he tuned it a bit. "What do you want me to play?" he then asked, glaring at Matt once more.
"Anything you find worthy," Matt shot back. The pair of them stared into each other's eyes, fire clashing with ice, trying to burn the other's soul. The other three bystanders didn't say anything as they watched the whole scene in front of them. Tai sniffed and reached back into his bag.
"Fine. Do you want slow or fast guitaring? Also, do you need to hear my singing, or just guitar?" he asked, shifting through some papers.
"Whichever you feel will show your skill more. And yes, singing is required," Matt said back. Tai stood up to his full height and nodded.
"Fine," he said. "Let me know when you're ready," he added as an afterthought.
"Anytime you are," Matt said back. Tai nodded and took a deep breath, starting to play and sing with his eyes closed.
"This is who I am and this is what I like, GC, Sum and Blink, and MXPX rockin' my room," the brunet sang and swiftly moved his fingers across the strings. Four pairs of eyes watched him as he sang his song about never wanting to change and staying immature forever. It seemed to suit him perfectly in fact. A guitar solo in the middle of the song showed off his skills, although the notes were slightly repetitive. He finished it off with the chorus a few more times.
"Cause I'm not gonna change, I don't wanna grow up!" Tai finished it off with a strong guitar ending and came to a halt, opening his eyes and focusing on the group.
"Well, what did you think?" he asked, a bit breathless from singing. Ryan nudged Arial in the chest, who was still humming the song. Matt looked at the others and nodded.
"All of you, my room now," he said monotonously to the other three members of the band. Ryan and Arial ran into Matt's room, both fighting over who got to sit on the bed and Matt followed them, yelling that it was his bed. Daisuke turned to Tai and smiled.
"I think you did great," he said truthfully.
"Thanks, Daisuke." Tai gave him a lopsided grin.
"Just wait out here until we decide what to do," he instructed, pointing to the couch. Tai nodded and sat down, organizing his lyrics and music he had with him. Daisuke turned and walked into Matt's room, shutting the door behind him.
"So, what did you guys think?" he asked looking at the other three members, all of who were on Matt's bed.
"He's got some major skill. And he can even write lyrics. That's incredible!" Ryan exclaimed amazedly.
"He's hot," Arial said dreamily from his position in Ryan's lap.
"Ari, keep your sack where it belong," Matt snorted his response. Arial pouted and made a rude gesture at the blonde.
"How old is this kid, Dais?" Matt questioned, completely ignoring Arial.
"He just turned 16 a few weeks ago," Daisuke answered in a low voice, already knowing that it wasn't a good response.
"Holy shit! He's still a kid!" Matt exclaimed.
"That's puts him where school-wise?" Ryan asked.
"Tenth year," Daisuke replied.
"Damn, he's good." Ryan let out a low whistle. He turned to Matt and nodded to back up his point. "You have to admit, Matt, he is the best we've seen so far. Even better then Roshi before he quit."
"He's hot," Arial repeated himself.
"Ari, shut up."
"No, I mean not just looks. He's good. He's young. People will love him," Arial pointed out. Matt shrugged and didn't say anything.
"Matt, come on. If you let him go, we most likely won't find anybody else like him," Daisuke said. Matt again didn't reply as he sat thinking.
"He's so young though," he finally voiced his thoughts.
"That doesn't matter. He's still pretty damn good, spectacular even," Ryan reminded him. Arial nodded and looked at their leader.
"Matt, he's got the eyes of a rock star. Give him a chance," he begged him.
"Eyes of a rock star, huh?" Matt said doubtfully. Arial nodded again and beamed.
"Besides, it'd be fun having him around!" he said cheerfully.
"Yeah, someone on the same maturity level as Arial," Ryan cut in.
"Yeah, someone-hey!" Arial whacked his friend in the chest.
"Ow!" Ryan whimpered, massaging where Arial hit him. Matt stood up and walked back out into the living room with the others not far behind. Matt sat down across from Tai and examined him.
"How long have you been playing kid?" he questioned him.
"About two years I'm guessing," Tai replied, not breaking eye contact with Matt.
"And you just turned 16," Matt voiced as a statement rather than a question.
"Yes, about three weeks ago," Tai spoke again. Matt sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair.
"You're still a kid," Matt said, more to himself then to Tai.
"Not really." Tai shrugged in response.
"You are compared to me."
"Why? How old are you?" Tai questioned him.
"19."
"Oh," the brown-eyed boy said quietly. Matt sighed again and shook his head.
"You're sure you would commit to this, huh?"
"Yes sir." Tai nodded. Matt nodded back and stood up.
"Guys, get him moved in here by tonight. I don't care how you do it; somebody's going to have to share a room. Just get it done," Matt commanded, walking into his own bedroom and shutting the door behind him. Tai just blinked at the retreating figure from his spot on the couch. Daisuke grinned and hauled Tai to his feet.
"Well, how are we going to do this guys?" he asked, looking at the other two.
"I suppose he could have my room and I'll bunk with Arial." Ryan shrugged.
"That'll work. Okay, you two work on getting Ryan's crap into Arial's room and Tai and I will go and get his stuff. Ari, you have a bunk bed don't you?" Daisuke questioned while he grabbed his car keys.
"Yeah, why?" Arial countered back with another question, resting his hand on the doorknob to his room.
"Because that way Tai can keep Ryan's bed," Daisuke replied as he opened the front door and dragged Tai out through it.
"Think this'll really work?" Arial asked Ryan as they walked to Ryan's room.
"Hope so." Ryan shrugged and swung the door open. Arial peered inside and wrinkled his nose.
"Ugh, when was the last time you cleaned your room, Ry?" he inquired, cautiously stepping inside.
"Um, seven months ago, maybe?" Ryan replied sheepishly.
"Gross." Arial shuddered and started to get to work.
After many hours of cleaning out Ryan's junk and transporting it to Arial's room, the room was empty for Tai's belongings. Tai and Daisuke came back about two hours later with two suitcases.
"Room's all yours, kid," Ryan said as a greeting. Tai nodded and opened the door, Daisuke right behind him.
"Wow, it's bigger then my room at my own house," Tai chuckled.
"Wow, Ryan actually cleaned it," Daisuke teased his friend, who was now glaring at him.
"Funny, Dais." The black-haired boy rolled his eyes. All four boys piled into Tai's new room and helped him unpack, which wasn't much.
"This is all you brought with you?" Arial asked him, gesturing to the closet that was only about a fourth full.
"That's pretty much all I had." Tai shrugged. Arial was about to ask another question when Daisuke sent him a look saying to drop it.
"Well, seems pretty good," Daisuke said just as the doorbell rang.
"Pizza's here!" Ryan shouted and raced to the door. Daisuke and Tai both raised an eyebrow.
"Uh…" Tai started to say.
"Yeah…" Daisuke trailed off.
"We ordered pizza while you guys were at Tai's house," Arial explained and pulled the two boys out into the living room. Ryan was holding two boxes of pizza while trying to clear off space on the coffee table with his foot. Suddenly he lost balance and dropped both boxes. Yet Tai caught them both before they could hit the ground.
"Smooth reflexes," Ryan commented as he cleared away enough space with his empty hands. Tai merely shrugged and set the boxes down.
"I played soccer and baseball up until this year," he said, flopping down on the couch.
"Why'd you stop?" Arial asked him, grabbing some Cokes from the fridge and rejoining them.
"Just because," Tai skirted the question. The two boys just nodded and started eating.
"Well, it's official," Ryan said, drinking some of the pop in front of him.
"What is, Ry?" Daisuke asked.
"We're a band. We've got five now," he replied. Daisuke nodded and clapped Tai on the shoulder.
"Tai, welcome to the band. Be prepared for the time of your life." he grinned at the younger brunet.
"Oh don't worry Dais. I am." Tai grinned back.
Totally edited, thank you very much! Few notes,
Song is Grow Up by Simple Plan if you didn't know. Go listen to it, great song. Anyway, onto chapter 2!