Disclaimer: If you are assuming I own this delightful anime/manga... I question your sanity.
-- Patience Is A Virtue --
"Shit. Everyone knows that Shuichi's planet revolves around Yuki-san."
He remembered thinking, as he spoke that sentence, how he wished with every fiber of his being that it wasn't true. From first glance his comment would seem offhand, not at all unusual, but if you delved deeper than the surface, you would find carefully concealed anguish and desperation. That kind of turmoil could only grow from the roots of unrequited love and a gradually breaking heart.
Yet Hiroshi Nakano had always prided himself in being practical and he was certainly no fool. The only cases in which he lost reign of his emotion were when they were dealing with...Shuichi. Nevertheless, anyone could admit that Hiro was quite the sensible figure. Except when it came to falling in love with Shuichi Shindou. There, the guitarist knew that he had been a fool. The only comfort he had was that no one else knew (and certainly not the pink-haired singer himself) that piece of information.
Shuichi was an easy person to love, simply stated. Most that have met him could acknowledge that his boundless energy, vibrant and passionate personality, and that certain altruism that he possessed was a force that quickly drew them in. Hiro was no exception. In fact, Shuichi's gravitational pull was probably stronger with him because Hiro had known him longer than anyone besides the singer's family. The guitarist had been right there to watch the pink-haired pixie grow up and share with him the joys and sorrows of adolescence. Hiro had been there to comfort the naïve boy when pain and distress had found him and to praise and encourage Shuichi when no one else did. He had been there during all those years gently and gradually falling in love...
Hiro longed to know what it felt like to be loved by Shuichi. He knew that his friend's love would be unconditional, selfless, and utmost strong. When Shuichi falls in love, he instinctively puts his beloved first and foremost and not even the most loyal guard dog could rival his devotion. However, Hiro was not the one chosen to be loved by Shuichi. Eiri Yuki was that lucky bastard.
The cold novelist was surprisingly the one Shuichi had managed to fall in love with. The singer was completely head over heels in love to the point that he never cared about himself, only Yuki. And the damn bastard didn't even realize what a treasure he held in his hands. That was what angered Hiro the most. He couldn't stand when Shuichi came to him in tears because of what Yuki had said or done. His heart received a stab of pain whenever that sorrowful and grief-filled expression appeared on the normally cheerful singer's face. Yuki didn't deserve Shuichi...
"Will you be havin' another one?"
Dark eyes widened as Hiro glanced up at the source of the voice. He had been startled out of his thoughts by the burly looking bartender who was currently pointing out the guitarist's empty glass.
"Yeah... sure," Hiro murmured vaguely, pushing the glass toward the other man. He watched the bartender leave with his glass then gazed around the small bar that only him and a few others occupied. He was surprised that he had been so caught up in his thoughts to forget where he was.
'I suppose it's the alcohol...I can't even remember how many glasses I've had.' Hiro sighed and ran a hand through his silky length of auburn hair. He probably hadn't had that many for he was still producing coherent thoughts. Well... somewhat coherent at least.
"Sometimes I wonder how I fell in love... The brat is such a headache," Hiro chuckled, his fond tone of voice betraying his words. Though he admitted that it was rather pathetic to come to a bar hoping to forget about his problems merely to dwell upon them with such diligence.
"Gods... where is that drink?" The guitarist frowned and massaged his forehead. Suddenly a full glass was pushed in front of him. Hiro gazed at it for a moment before taking a sip.
"Thanks," he sighed, putting the glass down with a small clink.
"No problem."
Hiro jumped at the sound of a soft, familiar voice and turned to look at the person who spoke while out of the corner of his eye saw the bartender with his own glass on the other side of the room.
' What the hell...?'
"Fujisaki-kun...?" Hiro was, to say the least, startled to find the polite keyboardist sitting on the bar stool beside him, smiling gently.
"Hello, Nakano-kun," Suguru replied, waving away the bartender that had arrived seeing as Hiro already the glass he gave him.
"What are you doing here?" The guitarist's tone was rather blunt, but he found that he was too weary to churn out polite greetings and casual conversation. The state that he had fallen into wouldn't allow it.
Suguru, however, didn't seem fazed with Hiro's abnormal rudeness. He simply replied calmly, "What one usually does when coming to a bar."
Hiro shrugged his shoulders and nodded, accepting the answer. Then he switched his attention (or lack of) to the thin ripples swirling in his drink as silence crept up and surrounded the two men. It wasn't an uncomfortable or awkward silence, but rather a composed silence in which they could either choose to leave alone or break.
Suguru chose to break it. "You've been pondering over your situation with Shindou-kun," he spoke with decisiveness lacing his soft voice and his intelligent eyes gleamed calculatingly.
Hiro's pose stiffened considerably. He turned sharply to face his band member, a stoic expression gracing his features. But when the guitarist saw the slight smirk on Suguru's lips, an apprehensive look crept over his face.
"How did you..." Hiro stopped then began again with a resigned sigh. "Am I that obvious?"
Suguru's smirk softened a bit as he caught the flash of pain in the other man's eyes. "Not particularly. In fact, you hide it quite well. I'm just rather..."
"Observant?" Hiro filled in, quirking a wry grin.
The young keyboardist returned the grin, nodding. Hiro fell silent after that, his eyes growing cloudy and his expression harshly thoughtful. Suguru soon began to wonder whether the guitarist's brooding silence was an indication that the conversation was over when Hiro abruptly spoke,
"You know... when Shuichi falls in love, he loves that person with everything has. He loves them with all his heart and soul. Can...can you imagine being loved so fully like that?" These wistfully spoken words were hardened by a short, cynical laugh.
Suguru didn't answer. A shadow of some unreadable emotion flickered across his face, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. He instead propped his chin up in his hand, elbow on the bar counter and patiently waited for Hiro to continue.
"And you know what irritates me? All that love is being wasted on that damn novelist," The redhead scowled slightly.
The smirk was once again painted on Suguru's full lips. "I agree with you there. As I've said before, at best all Shindou-kun is to Yuki is a pet."
"The bastard doesn't even care that Shu-chan would probably sell his own soul if he thought that would make Yuki happy," Hiro spat out, taking a large sip of his drink.
"So you love Shindou-kun... and you want him to love you like he loves Eiri-san," Suguru summed it all up in one simple sentence.
Hiro sighed and flicked a strand of hair out of his face. He turned to stare directly into Suguru's eyes, pain and misery etched upon his features like realistic wooden carving.
"Shuichi's one of the most faithful people I know. Even though Yuki keeps rejecting him, the idiot is going to keep chasing him. He thinks that if he just waits long enough and doesn't give up, Yuki will finally welcome him with open arms."
Hiro took a deep breath then barreled on. "But that's not going to happen. No matter how much Shu loves him, no matter how many ways he tries, Yuki will only continue to hurt him, break his heart. But I love him and I would never intentionally hurt him. So why shouldn't I want him to be with...with me?"
Suguru shifted his gaze away from Hiro's own penetrating one. Instead of answering the other man's question, he asked one of his own. "But what will happen if Eiri-san rejects Shindou-kun for the last time? What will happen if he finally gets the message, but is still so deeply in love with Eiri-san?"
"I don't know."
Suguru was surprised at the tone of vulnerability and desperation in Hiro's voice. "What do you mean by that...?"
"It scares me how intensely Shuichi loves Yuki. What will happen when his heart can take no more abuse? His world will crumble into a million pieces, I suppose," Hiro whispered. "Somebody will have to be there to pick up the pieces. And hopefully fit them back into place."
"And that somebody will be you?" The keyboardist surmised.
Hiro smiled emptily. "Exactly."
"But that time hasn't come yet. Eiri-san is still letting Shindou-kun hope. And for you know he might actually fall in love with the kid. What are you going to do then?" Suguru motioned toward him with one hand, a resolute light dancing in his eyes.
"What I've been doing all this time," Hiro abruptly stood up and placed some money on the bar counter. "I'll be waiting patiently." He flashed Suguru one more weak grin then grabbed his coat and went to the bar exit.
"Good night, Fujisaki-kun," The sound of the bar door swinging shut echoed loudly in the almost empty bar.
Suguru lowered his head, frowning regretfully. "You might be waiting for a while yet, Hiro-kun. Knowing Shuichi's stubbornness," After all, he himself had been waiting for a certain someone for a rather long time. And they still haven't realized it yet.
"I'll be here waiting for you...my Hiro."
-- Fin --
Side notes: This one-shot didn't flow as well as I would have liked it to, but truthfully I don't feel comfortable changing it too much because it was written at a rather emotional time and I don't want to lose that raw touch to the story. Anyway, tell me if you enjoyed it and if I managed to write Suguru's character at least decently well. Gods... I need some caffeine. yawns