#I've don't think I've seen another write pull what he did in B&R

[chidori-mint]

Undercover Mission [Obito Uchiha x Reader]

Pairing: Obito Uchiha x Reader

Warnings: Just angst and FLUFF, swear words

WC: 3.6k

A/N: This is my contribution for the first server collab of Konoha Simps. The theme used was Fireworks. They said that fireworks symbolizes the release of suppressed feelings. A huge thanks to my amazing wifey, @bakubabes-hatake​ for always, always motivating me to write.😘 This song inspired me to write this piece. Find all the wonderful works here! Apology in advance, English isn't my first language but I do hope you enjoy this one! ❤ 

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You can't help but stare at his smile. This man, the one and only man, who can give you this weird feeling, a blissful feeling whenever you're together. This inexplicable joy when he's around. The feeling of love and contentment.

You feel your heart racing as he leans closer to you.

"Obito... I --"

"Y/n?"

That shivering feeling when he uttered your name.

"Y/N?!" You woke up from the loud knock from your door. You knew that voice. Another knock and it made you jump from your bed.

"Y/nnnnnn?! It's me!" Someone hollered outside your door.

With sleepy eyes, you dragged yourself out of the bed to answer the door. The man's eyes grew wide seeing you in your sleep wear -- a white tank top that hugs your perfect curves matched with black tight shorts.

Rubbing your eyes, you asked him "Obito? What are you doing here?"

"Y-you wear that to sleep?!" he stammered as his eyes were still glued at you as you noticed him shaking and sweaty.

"Uhh. Yeah?" you wondered and yawned.

He turned to look away, but his blushing cheeks are still evident.

"Uh, I-I see. Uhm. B-bakashi asked us to meet him in the Hokage's office." stuttering as he kept his eyes away from you.

"Oh, did he say why?" The three of you have been best friends since you can remember. So this is new to you, knowing Kakashi, he hates early morning meetings.

"He just said that it's important. So we gotta head there now, Y/n." He gave a half-smile as he threw his arms to the back of his head.

"You wanna come in while you wait for me?"

He blushed again at your question, "Uhm, you sure it's okay?"

You nodded as you let him in your apartment. "I'm gonna make us coffee, please make yourself comfortable."

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You entered the Hokage's office and both of you were surprised to see that Kakashi was already waiting at this early hour.

"Sorry for the short notice, but I have a mission for the two of you," he said as he tucked his hands in his pockets.

"Mission? You, idiot! Did they officially make you the sixth Hokage for you to give out missions?!" Obito complained.

"Obito, I am already the sixth Hokage. The Recognition day is just for formality." Kakashi boasted, he really knows how to annoy his best friend. "And anyway this mission is urgent." He declared.

"What kind of mission?" you ask.

Kakashi crossed his arms as he leaned on the desk, "An ancient Scroll of Seals was stolen from the Kazekage. Gaara specifically asked for a skilled shinobi from our village, and he believes that it was an inside job. They already have a suspect actually." He explained.

"You have to go undercover. You can't let anyone recognize you as shinobis." He handed out a brown envelope and Obito took it. "The details about the suspect are all there. Oh, and by the way, you have to go to the Sand Village and act as civilians, more specifically, as husband and wife."

"AS WHAT?!" you both yelled in unison.

"Kakashi, is there a specific reason why we need to go undercover as husband and wife?!" you blurted.

"Y/n's right!" Obito objected, but as you turned to look at him, you noticed him blushing again. "I mean -- we can go as normal civilians, r-right?"

"The Kazekage and three of us are the only ones who are aware of this mission. You can’t speak about this to anyone. He can't seem to trust his subordinates. We still don't know if the suspect works alone or if he has allies within their village. If you go there as a married couple, it'll be less suspicious."

"You idiot --"

"It's okay, Obito. Kakashi's right." You cut him. "I just hope we can make it back before your recognition day."

"Y/n, are you sure you're okay with this?" Obito implored.

"Obito, we've done thousands of deadly missions before." You smiled at him. Yes, you did missions with Obito and Kakashi. This is just a retrieval mission. This is nothing compared to the missions given by the previous Hokages. But this one is different. 

"You can go start packing now if you wanna be back before the recognition day. I want my best friends to be with me on that special day. After all, I'm the Hokage. Right, Obito?" He bragged.

"Whatever you say, you idiot." Obito retorted, "Let's get going, y/n."

"Hey uhm, you go, I still have questions regarding the mission. I'll meet you at the gates?" you asked.

"Oh, okay. I'll meet you there." Obito slowly walked out of the room. You turned to Kakashi as the door shut.

"Kakashi. What was that?" You sounded worried and anxious.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" He walked around the large wooden desk. He turned his swiveling chair and sat lazily on it.

"You know, you can count on me on S rank missions, right? But this? This is just a simple retrieval mission! Why don't you send someone else? Why does it have to be Obito and me? And are you serious with that married couple bullshit?"

Kakashi sighed as you bugged him with your questions.

"You just told Obito you were okay with it, didn't you?"

"I only agreed because I don't want him to think I'm not comfortable doing this with him!" You snapped.

"It's just a cover, y/n. What could possibly go wrong? As you said, this is just a simple mission."

"This is far different from the missions I’ve handled before. You know what could happen if I go on this mission with him! I can't keep pretending, Kakashi. These feelings I have just get stronger every goddamn day." You sighed.

"Then why don't you just tell him the truth?" He asked.

"You think that's easy?" He doesn't understand.

 You give up. You can never win against Kakashi. "Nevermind. See you when I get back."

You headed to the door and left him.

As you walk home, you try to convince yourself that everything will be just fine. As you reach your apartment, you gather all your essentials.

"Two days tops. Finish the job in two days. Then that's it!" you thought.

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Your journey to the Sand Village was rather quiet. You are not used to this. Obito is usually cheerful, loud, and always giving random compliments about you. But today, he didn't even utter a single word to you. As you reach the Sand Village at past midnight, you both try to look for a place to settle in for the night. You entered an old looking inn and let Obito do the inquiry. Your legs feel numb, your shoulders stiff, you’ve been leaping from tree to tree the whole day. And as you reach the outskirts of the Sand Village, you change from your ninja uniforms to civilian outfits and Obito did the same. He has been awkwardly quiet the whole time.

“We only have one vacant room left, are you going to take it?” asked the young lady from the front desk.

“As long as it has two beds, we’ll take it,” you said, your exhaustion painted in your face.

“I’m sorry, maam but the room has only one bed.” The lady smiled at Obito and it made your eyes narrowed at the young lady.

Unexpectedly, you felt his arms wrapped around your waist as he pulled you closer to him, “Doll, it’s okay, there’s no need for two beds.” he whispered in your ear. He's so close you can feel his warm breath on your cheeks. He gave out a chuckle.

You forgot you were still undercover, “Oh yes, so silly of me. Miss, we’ll take the room.”

“Okay, then. Please enjoy your stay!” She handed the room keys.

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Obito unlocked the door and turned the knob. You followed him as he entered your shared room. You stared at the bed.

“It’s okay, y/n you can take the bed. I can sleep on the floor.” His voice was tight and serious. You study him as he drops his bag on the floor. You felt the cold rush of the wind blowing as he opened the windows. He has been giving you the silent treatment, you so decided to break the ice.

"Obito. Is there something wrong? You've been awfully quiet since we left the village. Are you okay?" You approached him.

"Wrong? No Y/n, nothing's wrong" He denied.

"I'm your best friend. You can't lie to me. I know something's bothering you." You insisted.

"Best friend, huh? Of course. I'm just your best friend. That's why you have the guts to lie to my face. I heard you and Kakashi." He ruled as he turned to face you.

His words shocked you, freezing your body in place. You swallow the building lump in your throat as you pressed your lips together. There's no more point in lying. He knew it. He knew everything.

"Obito, I've been meaning to tell you. Believe me. I have always loved --"

"Just save it, Y/n, please. Let's just get it over with this mission." He walked towards the door.

"I thought you --"

"Well, you thought wrong, princess." He slammed the door shut. Leaving you alone in the dark room.

Tears start to pool in your eyes, your chest feels heavy, it's like the air has been sucked out of the room. Warm tears had started to roll down your cheeks as you slowly sat down at the edge of the bed. You covered your face with your cold hands trying to muffle your cries. You laid yourself in the bed, staring at the ceiling. Blaming yourself for falling hard for your best friend. So this was the price you have to pay. Hopeless love in exchange of friendship. You covered and curled yourself under the sheets. This is just a bad dream. Just. A. Bad. Dream.

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You stretched your numb arms only to feel that the bed was cold and empty. You slowly opened your heavy and swollen eyes, you searched for Obito, but there was no trace of him.

If it wasn't for the mission, you wouldn't have the reason to get up from the bed.

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After taking a shower and putting on a nice sundress, you went down to look for Obito. The young lady from last night was back in the front desk.

"Hi! Good morning, uhm have you seen my… husband?" You asked her politely.

"Oh you mean, him?" She giggled.

"Hello, wife." As you face him, he holds your chin and kisses you. As soon as his lips parted from yours, it left you dumbstruck and speechless.

"Shall we?" He winked and held out his hand but you can't help but stare at him. "Y/n?"

"Oh… Yes. We should go." You took his hand as he bid goodbye to the young lady.

"You could at least do your part and act like my wife, y/n." He whispered as both of you exited the inn. "You're good at pretending anyway." He grunted.

You felt another pang of guilt.

"Obito, about last night…"

"Forget it. Not interested, anyway."

You felt embarrassed and hurt. You just want to finish this stupid mission, get back to the village and punch Kakashi right in the face.

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"I think that's our guy." He signaled. After hours of surveillance, you finally confirmed the suspect.

You both were sitting on a bench, while your guy was eating his ramen not too far away from your position. You both settled on the bench waiting for the man to move. You try to focus on the mission but the flashing images of last night's incident kept replaying on your mind on loop.

"So… How long have you been hiding that from me?" his voice brought you back to your senses as he gazed at you.

"I… pretty much a long time." You confessed. "I wanted to tell you but," You clenched your jaw, trying to hold back the tears from falling "I can't risk our friendship. And, I’m not sure how you’re gonna feel about it."

There was another odd silence between the two of you.

"This mission is important; we can't let our personal issues get in the way." He sounded stern.

This sudden change from his behavior made it clear to you that he's really not into you. And it rips your heart apart. You sat right next to each other but he still feels like he’s so far away from you. You’ve been dying to grab him right now, to hold him close, to kiss him, and to make him yours.

You get his point, "Of course," you agreed.

The man stood up from his seat and paid the ramen guy.

"Come on, we have to follow him." You complied quietly as you let Obito lead the mission. He rose up and stretched out his arms, "Let's go, princess."

"Wait, does he really have the scroll?" 

You watched him as he activated his Sharingan. "He has the scroll. But wait a minute," he sounded intrigued. "His chakra. It's… weird. It's… familiar."

He tried to study the man. “I mean look at him, who would wear a coat and a hat on a hot day like this?" he muttered as he expressed his disbelief.

The man started walking casually along the busy street of the Sand Village. You both tailed on him while keeping a safe distance. You slowly grabbed Obito's arms, you noticed he became stiff and surprised as you clung on him. "Relax, Obito. Husband and wife, remember?" you quietly reminded him. The least you could do, is to focus and make sure you accomplish this mission. 

“So, Kakashi mentioned that this mission is exclusive for us, right? And that nobody knows about it. Just us and the Kazekage?” he sounded unsure as he kept his eyes fixed on your target.

“Well, that’s what he said,” you confirmed. “Why?”

“I know that this may sound weird but, I have a feeling that we know this guy.” he stated.

Hearing Obito’s theory made you anxious. You both halted when you saw the man turn and entered an inn. 

“Is he luring us in?” you asked. "Why do I have a feeling that he already knows he's being followed?" 

“There's only one way to find out."

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You both entered the building and started searching for the man. You have combed all the rooms in the first floor, but he was nowhere to be found.You both climbed up the stairs as quietly as possible. You reached the first room on the second floor, just when you're about to open the door, Obito clasped your arm and pulled you closer to him. When you looked up at him, he put an index finger to his lips, "Let me," he whispered. 

He grabbed the door handle and slid it open only to reveal a very familiar man.

“YAMATO?!” you both screamed his name. 

His face was as white as the snow, his eyes grew wide as you guys barged in his door. 

“What are you doing here?” Obito asked.

“Did Kakashi send you?” you interrogated him. You rushed towards Yamato as he nervously stepped back.

“Well, I’m on a separate mission actually.” he chuckled nervously as he scratched his head. 

“Separate mission? What mission? I thought Kakashi said that this mission was exclusive for us.” Obito was puzzled.

“Well, uh yes. But you see, Kakashi sent me here to make uh sure that uhm..” he was avoiding any eye contact and was already stuttering. 

“To make sure that what? Spill it now, Yamato before I slit your throat!” you said furiously as you took out one of your Kunai and pointed it at him.

“Kakashi’s gonna kill me...” he muttered under his breath, beads of sweat were already forming on his forehead and upper lip.

“What does Kakashi have to do with this?” asked Obito, who seemed like he still was not getting the point to all of this. Your eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

“I will kill you now even before he gets his chance! Start talking now, you tree man!” you demanded as you inclined your head and gave him a death glare. You are fuming right now, something in your guts are telling you that this was all Kakashi’s stupid idea! 

“Well, you see, Kakashi asked me to help him finish his last mission before he could officially accept the responsibilities for being the Sixth Hokage,” Yamato said, trying his best to stay as calm as possible.

“His last mission?” you repeated as you exchanged glances with Obito.

“He said that both of you were uh…  giving him endless headaches. That you guys should just…” he paused as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Just what?!” you both exclaimed.

“Just date already!” he declared. You froze. How could Kakashi tell Yamato about your secrets? 

“Tch,” Obito snorted. “How would I date her if she likes Kakashi?” He crossed his arms over his chest as he looked away, his words left you bewildered.

“Wait up, you said you heard us talking in the Hokage’s office?” 

“Well, weren’t you referring to Kakashi?” he questioned.

“You idiot! So that’s why you were avoiding me the whole day when we left the village? Because you assumed that I liked Kakashi? You dumb ass! I was trying to confess to you last night but you won’t let me finish!” you cried. 

Your words struck him, his cheeks were blushing crimson again. “Y-you mean --?” swallowing the forming lump in his throat, “the mission was… fake?” he asked, giving you a perplexed look.

“Oh God. You really are the dumbest of all the Uchihas, aren’t you?!” you sighed in exasperation as you pinched the bridge of your nose.

“Obito,” Yamato butted in, “Y/n just admitted her feelings for you and you’re asking if the mission was fake?” he facepalmed. “Y/n, please enlighten me -- what did he do to make you swoon over him?” he teased.

“Me? Swoon over him?!” a flush crept up your face. 

“For heaven’s sake. You both are dumb, you know? I can’t believe this is what Kakashi has to deal with everyday. You guys are so exhausting. Work this out, you two.” he retorted in annoyance. He collected his things and headed to the door.

Yamato shut the door behind him and Obito did not make any effort to come closer to you and you were frozen from where you’re standing. No one talked. You could cut through the tension with a knife.

“I’m sorry about last night, Y/n. For driving you away…” Obito finally said. “I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“Okay… How else would you have?” you smiled dryly.

“Princess please, I need you to just listen to me, okay?” he bit down on his lip.

He grabbed both of your hands and brought them to his chest. You could feel his heart pounding below the skin, a very similar tempo to yours. “I like you, wait, no. I love you. The only thing that kept holding me back was that I really thought you liked Kakashi. I confronted him. But he said that you liked someone else, not him. That Bakashi, he should have told me the truth! Y/n, I can’t keep pretending anymore. I can’t pretend that I don’t want to hold you or that I’m not falling in love with you. I can’t and I won’t, not anymore.”

“What?!” Your jaw was on the floor. “You like… me? But last night --”

“Last night was a mistake.” He held both of your wrists in one hand and cupped your cheek with the other. Everything that he had said last night was starting to make sense a lot more sense now. It was heartbreaking, but now it made sense. 

“You were so infuriating, I was trying to tell you that I love you last night,” you said as you leaned into his palm.

“I am not infuriating!’ he denied.

“Okay but you’re dumb!” you jested.

“Okay, I’ll take that. But I know you love me.” his thumb traced your bottom lip, and he moved even closer to you.

Your heart skipped.

“So what are we doing then?” you asked, distracted by his touch on you. “Are we… together? Like, together together?”

“Well if you’ll have me, yes,” he said as his eyes flickered. “I want you, Y/n. Just as you are.” 

“I want you too,” your smile grew along with his.

“I meant what I said, princess. I love you.” his forehead pressed to yours, as you close your eyes in relief.

“I love you too, dumb ass.” you pressed your lips onto his and he took you gladly.

His arms slid around your waist, while the other went back to the back of your neck, to hold you in place as he kissed you like it was his last.

“I’m really sorry about last night, for being an asshole,” he told you through the kiss. It was mostly tongue and teeth, desperate and messy. “ Let me make it up to you, Y/n.”

He was intoxicating and all you could do was nod, your eyelashes fluttering as his lips travelled down your neck, sucking on your skin.

“MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!” Yamato appeared in the window making Obito’s posture straightened. He kept his hands on you, pulling you close to his chest like you were in danger.

“Maybe that’s why Bakashi and this tree boy get along so much,” he murmured.

“Huh, why?” you asked.

“They’re both cockblockers.” he whispered.

“Hey! I heard that!” Yamato narrowed his eyes. “So are we getting back to the village?”

“Uh, we’ll stay a little longer.” Obito replied, as he smirked at you. “I have to make it up to her. We might miss Bakashi’s recognition day though. I plan to ravish my princess and we have to make up for all the times we should have been together.”

[faint-waves-music]

Discussing Far East Winter.

My new EP, Far East Winter has been a very interesting EP to make and because of that, I wanted to write something of an article in regards to it. So, here we are! I'm going to discuss the background of this EP, my influences, inspirations, some of the ideas I had with this record, a short run through of each track, and a few things I learned along the way. Hopefully this is an informative and interesting read and hopefully you enjoy the record, too.

I had contemplated doing an EP of this nature for some time, in fact, you can hear my earliest inclinations toward this idea on my "Cherry Blossom" single from 2017. I've always been a lover and admirer of sounds from all over the world, but music and sounds from the East and the far East have always really caught my ear. I think so many of the instruments and the scales/notation they tend to use are absolutely beautiful. The only reason I hadn't done this sooner, is because I didn't want to do this just to do it and because I'm not sure I was totally ready to. If I was going to do it, I wanted to do it some semblance of justice. If "Cherry Blossom" was me seeing if I could pull it off at all, "Far East Winter" is the more refined, realized vision of incorporating these elements into my music.

As far as who/what inspired and influenced this record, I'd say it was a good mixture of eastern and non-eastern artists. Many of my ideas were informed by Roxy Music, Prefab Sprout, Tears For Fears, Vangelis, Hiroshima, Kitaro, Hiromitsu Agatsuma, and Himekami, just to name a few. I was in a creative space where I also wanted to kind of continue the easy listening/downtempo/adult contemporary-inspired direction I've been taking Faint Waves since 2017, but I had to do something interesting to really change the pace a bit and since I wanted to do a winter release, I knew the sound couldn't just be sunshine and ocean waves. The result is a more winter-into-spring sounding EP, not necessarily dark or discordant sounding, but a bit more bittersweet and melancholy in places. That's not to say there aren't hopeful moments, as the first and final tracks on the EP are a bit more optimistic than the rest, indicating glimmers of hope amongst the moodier parts of the record.

Much of the record I think has a very soft rock and sophistipop vibe, but there are few moments that are a bit more downtempo, new age, or experimental. I also made some stylistic choices on this EP that kind of set it apart from other things I've done, namely with the drums and bass. I've often relied on a fretless bass emulation for many (the vast majority, actually) of my songs, it's been a tried and true element and staple in the music I've made. However, I felt this record warranted something different, so I've switched things up and used a finger style bass emulation. It has a much deeper sound and I think has given the record a bit more of a soft rock or vintage R&B vibe. As for the drums, I made a similar stylistic decision to go after more of an organic feel. So, rather than using solely Roland and Linn samples as I have in the past, I opted to use more live sounds. That doesn't mean I haven't used those Roland and Linn samples at all, as they're still in the mix. Many of the songs feature a live kick drum layered with a Linn kick and on "Lovers In The Cold", you can very clearly hear the use of a CR-78 hat sample alongside the rest of the drums. Small changes in the grand scheme of things but I think they've made a big difference in the overall feel of the EP.

The first song I had completed and the one that really solidified the fact that I was doing this, was "Lovers In The Cold", which ironically became the last track on the EP. "Lovers In The Cold" is a bit of a sophistipop track with both western and eastern instrumentation, including a Xylophone, Sax, an Erhu (a violin-like instrument of Chinese origin), and a brilliant emulation of the Ruan (a plucked instrument of Chinese origin). I'd say the sound and structure were most influenced by acts like Hiroshima and Roxy Music, while the blocky pad chords remind me more of Prefab Sprout. It's definitely a pretty layered track for me, lots of moving parts. The way I've always seen the song, structurally, is as an argument between two lovers. Xylophone is one party, while the Erhu is another. The Xylophone is very quick moving and aggressive but the Erhu is more relaxed and to the point. They have this back and forth, but every other time the Erhu comes in, there's one extra note that wasn't played the previous time. So, it's almost like someone is getting the last word in there. Then, you have this kind of breakdown in the song where everything slows down a bit and rather than them playing separately, you have the Xylophone and the Erhu playing simultaneously. Going along with the two lovers metaphor, that part of the song could be them reconciling, working together to make things work before everything falls apart again.

There were a lot of demos with this EP, more than maybe any other EP I've ever made. A lot of stuff didn't make the cut or just plain didn't get finished. The next track that saw completion after "Lovers In The Cold" was probably the fourth song I had made overall and it's a tracked called "Only Tonight", which was loosely inspired by "Advice For The Young At Heart" by Tears For Fears. This track was one that definitely went through a lot of changes before it became what it was. It started out very synthpop, with these big electronic strings, before I transitioned to a more organ-centric sound. It took quite a few demos for it to start to take shape as it is now, a piano ballad. I think after the organ became integral to the song, the drums were what really started to make it take shape. Those drums, at least where they start initially, have a very Burt Bacharach feel. That shaker-sidestick combo he's so fond of. It starts in that kind of Bacharach-like place but as the track goes on, the drums get a little more aggressive and eventually the sidestick is replaced with a snare. For the piano, I didn't want a big sound because the organ/bass combo was already doing that for me, so it's pretty much this continuous riff of single notes. Then the piano is accompanied by a Shamisen (a stringed instrument of Japanese origin) and later on, a sax. The track also features a Vibraphone and a Gong sample. The Vibraphone is this kind of arpeggiated-sounding series of a few notes, it really gives the track an underlying sense of movement and urgency. "Only Tonight" is an interesting one because I feel like it became what it is very naturally, but it did take some time to get there. Glad I didn't give up on it though, as it's a favorite of mine.

After that, I think came "Snow Summit", which also went through a lot of changes as it went on. It's kind of a weird one. It doesn't sound like it at all, but it was pretty Vangelis inspired. Vangelis, Yello, and Kitaro are the big inspirations for that one. It went through a lot of changes and I don't think I was ever really sure the track "worked", so to speak. Once I laid down the bass for it, I feel like it all clicked a bit better, but it's still by far one of the most oddball tracks I've ever produced. It was inspired by a Yello song called "Homer Hossa", which if you aren't familiar with, is basically just a lot of sound effects, percussion, and little actual melody. "Snow Summit" is kind of that way, except it basically has this big brass backing track accompanying all these weird sounds. I think my intention with it, is that I wanted it to be as foreboding and endless feeling as the summit of a mountain would be. You're cold, the wind is blowing, there's snow everywhere, and you can see for literally miles. That kind of thing is intimidating and I think I wanted to convey that with this noisy, aimless kind of a track. It's probably the most "experimental" thing I've done. Huge brass, eastern percussion, simulated wind, white noise stabs, and huge bass drops. That's "Snow Summit" in a nutshell.

After that, came "Hatsukoi". Hatsukoi translates to first love, if you're curious. I knew I wanted a beautiful opening song for the EP and after drawing a blank for a long time, this is what materialized. Inspired by Kitaro and to a lesser extent Himekami, "Hatsukoi" is a bit of a new age jaunt. It's basically comprised of strings, a few different kinds of percussion (both eastern and western), a Celeste, a Pipa (a four stringed instrument of Chinese origin), a Xylophone, wave sfx, and bird sfx. This track doesn't really develop beyond the first couple minutes, but I found it very lovely and relaxing and didn't feel the need to add to it. I had a few demos where a flute came in the second half but it was just overkill in my opinion. It's a bit more hopeful and warm than everything else on the EP. It's very much in line with some of the more atmospheric, new age inspired things I've done. It's very much Kitaro by way of Faint Waves, in my opinion. I'd love to explore that kind of sound more in the future, to the degree of acts like Kitaro or Himekami. That kind of Electronica-meets-New Age-and-Classical sound is always brilliant. Exploring that sort of thing could be an EP or album in it's own right, but for this release, I wanted a balance of downtempo/chilled vignettes with more deliberate/aggressive songs.

The next song that came to be was actually an older, unfinished demo that I had lying around. "Tao Of Knowing" originally started as "Charm", a new wave/sophistipop song inspired by Johnny Hates Jazz and Tango In The Night-era Fleetwood Mac. "Charm" was originally much more electronic and instead of a Koto (a stringed instrument of Japanese origin) carrying the song, it was a piano. I revisited this song during my time producing Far East Winter and I found, with a few changes, that it would fit the record. I changed quite a few things; the key changed, the chiffer lead at the beginning of the song became a Shakuhachi (a flute-like instrument of Japanese origin, derived from the Chinese bamboo flute), the main piano riff became a Koto, the poppy drum samples were replaced with the ones I was using for this EP, and I wound up writing a new pad for it as well. Once I had made those changes, the song still went through a few more permutations before it became the song you hear on Far East Winter. The song has a very mystical feel and I think that sets it apart on the EP, in a good way. The original demo had a very new wave feel to it and I think a little bit of that is still intact, particularly in the drums. This one may also be one of the more aggressive sounding songs in the Faint Waves canon, too. Very in your face at times.

The last song to be completed was "City Street". I knew from the beginning that "City Street" was going to be a short interlude kind of a song. My general vision for it from the get go was very similar to how it came to be, I knew I wanted to be very ambient and atmospheric, and to feature a Rhodes. That's exactly how it turned out but I just couldn't seem to get it to materialize. At first, I tried to make the song quicker and more urban sounding, to coincide with the name. It just wasn't working, so I scrapped almost everything except the percussion I had. The percussion I did have, I wound up changing quite a bit, leaving pretty much the bare minimum. Once I was happy with the percussion, I layered a few different sound effects. One was of nighttime ambience (crickets/frogs/etc.), another was just general city noise, and the final was of a little bit of traffic. After that came the Rhodes, which I pretty much treated almost as a pad as I wrote and produced it. I applied a lot of effects to it, reverb and delay mostly, so it would kind of linger well beyond the length of the notes would allow. On top of that, I used a Pipa again, I actually recycled a melody from another song of mine ("Congo") for that and adjusted the notes accordingly. The end result is a very soundscapey interlude that's heavy on ambiance, maybe slightly reminiscent of Kenji Kawai. Good for falling asleep to maybe, as much of my catalogue is.

In conclusion, I learned a lot going into this EP and coming out of it. I did a lot of reading and listening, trying to understand what they were doing as far as Eastern instrumentation and notation were concerned. Reading and learning about scales like the Japanese In Sen scale, as well as putting them to use, was incredibly challenging and fun. I made more songs for this one EP, than I have any release before, and it's because of what I was working with. There's a real beauty and true uniqueness to the music and culture on that side of the world that we don't often see. They do things in music that the West never has and likely, never will. I think my research and desire to understand, is what made this EP so special to me, as well as what has made the EP sound so unique in comparison to the rest of my material. I might have done some familiar things but I don't think I've ever made anything similar to what I've made here. In many ways, I feel like I needed to do a project like this, just to stretch my legs a bit and get out of my comfort zone. This record is a sign of things to come, not in the sense that I'll necessarily be making another record like this, but in the sense that my next record will be just as different. So, stay on your toes and enjoy.

- Faint Waves.