DISCLAIMER: AT THIS TIME, I DO NOT OWN SHUUHEI...I NEED TO FIX THAT. ALSO I DO NOT OWN ANY SONG BY AVRIL LAVIGNE.

...

"Close your eyes. I have something for you."

She obeyed, wondering what Shuuhei would have for her. It wasn't her birthday or anything.

He hesitated, thinking that things could go very wrong or very right after this. He was hoping for very right. After all, she had started it all those weeks ago.

...

"Which one of these poor saps are you going to torture tonight?"

Her smile was sly as she pretended to scan the crowd. She'd already chosen him. In fact, she had suggested he bring his date there. "How about that one?"

The manager, a burly man, looked out over the crowd. "You sure? Looks like a punk."

"It'll be fine. I can take care of myself." With that, she headed down to finish preparing for her performance. No one here knew she was a shinigami although they might suspect it. None of her fellow shinigami knew she also worked here. She had wanted to tell them, especially Shuuhei, but she didn't know how. He was more than the vice captain of her division; he was one of her closest friends.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Megumi knew he wouldn't recognize her. Her green eyes were covered by contacts to turn her eyes a golden color. Her pale blonde hair that normally fell past her shoulders was piled under a two tone wig of chestnut with pink highlights. She sighed. Shinigami were supposed to be brave yet here she was hiding behind a mask and telling him how she felt. They were friends yet she couldn't never been able to tell him either of these things. Taking a deep breath, she could only hope Shuuhei would get her message.

Shuuhei wasn't sure why he had been chosen to stand on stage for the performance. His girlfriend, Hatsu, hadn't liked it. She'd pouted; but then again, Hatsu pouted about everything. He was trying to make things work between them, but it felt like so much work that he wasn't sure that he wanted to continue trying. There were times he was grateful for his friends. He didn't have to act less intelligent around them. He'd postponed this date several times claiming that he had to work late. That wasn't the reason Shuuhei didn't want to be around her. He wondered if it was time, or past time, to break up with her.

He thought about inviting his friends to come here some time. Megumi had been right about the music. He enjoyed it but he wasn't sure if Hatsu was enjoying herself. He thought that Megumi would enjoy the club.

It all happened simultaneously: the stage lit up with bright lights; music filled his ears with a hard, fast beat; someone shoved him from behind and shouted at him.

Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your girlfriend!
No way! No way! I think you need a new one.

Shuuhei stared at her. How did she know what he was thinking?

Hey! Hey! You! You! I could be your girlfriend.
Hey! Hey! You! You! I know that you like me.
No way! No way! I know it's not a secret.
Hey! Hey! You! You! I want to be your girlfriend.

'If only you'd see the real me under here," Megumi thought. She didn't know that he was looking at her. It was hard not to. She wore a tight black leather skirt that stopped mid-thigh and a strapless top that showed off her bare shoulders and her midriff. Black leather thigh high boots made her almost as tall as he was. There wasn't a microphone in her hands. She needed them free to batter him. Instead, she wore a small sleek headset.

In a second you'll be wrapped around my finger
'cause I can, 'cause I can do it better

She sang, wrapping her arms around him from behind.

There's no other. So when's it gonna sink in?
She's so stupid. What the hell were you thinking?

She gave him a playful shove again. All Shuuhei could do was wonder how right she was.

Hey! Hey! You! You! I could be your girlfriend.
Hey! Hey! You! You! I know that you like me.
No way! No way! I know it's not a secret.
Hey! Hey! You! You! I want to be your girlfriend.

Hey! Hey!

Gathering a fistful of his uniform, she pulled him to her and kissed him. She hadn't planned it. It just seemed right. The lights went out around them and the curtain fell. It opened back up for the next band but not as far. They were still embraced, hidden in the shadows.

Shuuhei was shocked by the kiss, but he felt more with this woman he didn't know than he did with the woman he'd been dating for the past few months. His arms came around her, pulling her closer to him. The next band was halfway through their song when she pulled away from him.

She licked her lips. That wasn't a taste she was likely to forget. "Thanks for being cooperative out there." Shuuhei nodded in reply, wondering if she'd kiss him again or if he could kiss her. Guilt settled in as he remembered Hatsu had been watching. He wondered if she'd believe he hadn't known the singer was going to kiss him.

"Is she that bad?" he muttered. He hadn't meant to ask the question out loud.

"If the shoe fits," she shrugged. "I gotta go. Thanks again." She walked away from him because the urge to kiss him again was too strong, along with the urge to throw herself on him.

...

It had been a long sleepless night, but Megumi wasn't the only one who had suffered. Someone else spent most of their night tossing and turning as she had. She had wondered all night if she should tell Shuuhei that it had been her onstage. She was afraid of how he would react and she didn't want to risk their friendship.

"Hey," Shuuhei greeted as he walked over to her desk.

"Hey," she replied, not looking at him.

"Are you free for lunch?"

"Something wrong?"

"No. I just need your opinion on something."

"You want my opinion rather than your girlfriend's?"

Shuuhei hesitated. "I need a friend's opinion."

"Sure. We can have lunch. When?"

"Are you free now?"

Megumi looked up at him and saw his eyes. She saw the restlessness, the confusion and the sadness that she rarely saw in him. She felt guilty for putting that look in his eyes. "I can be free now."

They were halfway through their meal before he started telling her about it.

"I was out last night with my girlfriend. We went to that place you recommended."

"Did you like it?"

"I did. We should go sometime. All of us." He meant 'all of us' as in their circle of friends and Megumi knew that his girlfriend hadn't been included in the circle.

"That'd be fun."

He nodded. "So they asked me to go onstage for this one performance. I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm standing there in the dark thinking... thinking negative things about Hatsu. Then all of a sudden, the lights come on and there's this woman, telling me that I need a new girlfriend."

"Telling you?"

"Singing. But yeah." He paused and looked at her.

"And?"

"At first, I wondered how she knew what I was thinking."

"I'd say it was coincidence."

"Maybe but as I thought about the lyrics, I kept thinking that she was right. At least about Hatsu."

Megumi shrugged. "Well if the shoe fits."

Shuuhei stared at her. It was the exact same thing the singer had said. "What do you honestly think of Hatsu?"

Megumi shook her head. "I was always told if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. I try to stick with that."

"She's that bad?"

"Shuuhei, you could do so much better." She paused; startled that she was quoting her lyrics. She didn't think he caught it. "I don't think she's right for you but if you're happy, that's what matters. It doesn't matter what I think." Megumi didn't think he was happy. She had seen the way he had postponed dates and how he rarely talked about her. She knew him well enough to read his moods most of the time.

"I don't know if I am happy. I spent the remainder of my evening explaining to Hatsu that I had no idea it was going to happen."

"She complained about you being onstage?"

"Well that too. While I was onstage, the singer kissed me," he said quietly. He'd let Hatsu believe that the kiss ended when the curtain went down. Shuuhei wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Megumi that it had lasted as long as it had.

"Did you like it?" She hadn't meant to ask him that.

"That's not the point," he replied, dodging the question. He couldn't tell her that he hadn't kissed Hatsu goodnight. He wasn't ready to admit to himself that he'd liked it but he'd have preferred it if someone else he knew had kissed him. "I spent all night convincing Hatsu not to leave when I think it's what I really want. Why can't I just let her go?"

"Do you love her?"

Shuuhei nearly choked. "No. I don't."

"Is the sex good?" she asked quietly, not wanting to think about Shuuhei having sex with another woman.

"We haven't had sex." The thought of sex brought an image in his mind of long legs in thigh high boots and bare shoulders. Her face blurred but another one took its place. Shuuhei shook the thought away. "Why did I start dating Hatsu?"

Megumi laughed. "Because she asked you and you felt like you were in a slump." She looked at him and thought, 'Because you have no idea about what I feel for you.'

"Right."

"Shuuhei, relationships are work but they shouldn't have to be like work. You work hard enough as it is." She took a breath and continued. "I hate to see you work so hard on something that's not worth your time."

"You're right," he sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I think I knew from the beginning that it wouldn't last. I'm surprised I let it go this long." He knew his future held another long night with his soon to be ex-girlfriend. He hated to hurt her but he couldn't keep pretending he was interested in her anymore.