Rated: K

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters within this piece of writing. Unfortunately, they belong to Maki Murakami.

The sun shone brightly outside on a chilly October morning as a large cream colored van made its way on a leaf scattered dirt road. Peering through the front passenger window was eighteen year old Shuichi Shindo, lead vocalist of NG production studio's new hit band Bad Luck. The bubbly pink haired vocalist stared intently out the window, eyes wide and mouth agape as he watched the many colors from the changing trees fly past them.

"Hey Shu, close your mouth, will ya? I don't feel like cleaning up your drool." A young man by the name Hiroshi Nakano chuckled slightly at the amusing sight. He was the band's guitarist and Shuichi's best friend since middle school. His dark read hair was past shoulder length and today he decided to put it in a loose ponytail. "You act like some kind of mutt! I swear if that window were open, you'd have your head sticking out of it!" The vocalist immediately shut his mouth and turned in his seat to face the long dark redhead.

"Hiro, why do you have to be so mean?" Shuichi whined. Big, oddly purple colored eyes filled up with tears. The pink haired boy was known for being overly emotional. The guitarist shrugged, smirking.

"Because it's fun."

"Enough, Hiro." The driver said calmly, but a certain severity coated his voice. The driver was known as K, Bad Luck's band manager. No one knew much about him except that he was married to a movie star named Judy Winchester and he had a son named Michael. It took them months to find that his real name was Claude, but it just didn't fit him like 'K' did. He had Shuichi's bubbly personality, but he owned something that the pink haired young man didn't own; a gun. It wasn't unusual to find K pointing his pistol at unsuspecting citizens if they just so happened to tick him off. Under Japanese law, no one except law enforcement was allowed to carry one, but somehow the long blonde haired blue eyed American was an exception. The band mates never quite understood it. "This is not the time to upset Shuichi, understood?"

"Yeah, the only reason we're out here is to make Mr. Shindo more relaxed and give him inspiration to write us some new lyrics, isn't that right Mr. Nakano?" The youngest member, Suguru Fujisaki, added quickly. At the tender age of sixteen, Fujisaki was actually the most mature of the group. His raven hair was short and well kept. People who knew him believed his hair style fit his strict personality. He played the keyboard and was added to the band by a decision made by NG's company president and his cousin Tohma Seguchi.

"Wow, did you just speak? I think that's the first time you've said anything this whole trip!" Shuichi laughed unnecessarily.

Hiroshi strummed a few chords on his acoustic guitar that rested comfortably on his lap. The deep red color of the wood matched his hair perfectly. The few chords became a soothing melody that left a relaxing blanket of sound to cover the band mates in the van. "What do you expect? He's a quiet kid."

"Yeah, but he's sixteen. He should act a bit more childish and not think about our music so much. Maybe he should get a girlfriend." The keyboardist gave him a look of 'Hey, I'm in the damn van, you know.' He let out a sarcastic laugh.

"That's pretty funny coming from you who is in love with a novelist that hates your guts." He retorted.

Shuichi huffed and gave him a warning glare. "Don't talk about my Yuki like that."

"I'm not that much younger than you. And really, what would you want me to say? 'Are we there yet'?" As the words passed through his lips, the van stopped abruptly with a hideous screech. The next thing poor Fujisaki knew he was staring into the barrel of K's treasured pistol.

"Say that one more time and Bad Luck will have to find another keyboardist." There was a maniacal glint in his eye, signaling he meant what he said.

Fujisaki nodded frantically, still not quite used to having a gun pointed at him. Nakano slowly pushed K's hand away from Fujisaki's face and spoke quietly.

"K-san, put the gun away. I'll make sure he doesn't say it again. Let's get back on the road, okay?" As he spoke, Shuichi snickered in the front passenger chair at the face Fujisaki made, which was obviously from the sheer terror of being shot. For once, the gun was not pointed at him.

He grabbed his coffee which sat untouched in the cup holder as he tried to keep his laughter under control and breathed the French vanilla aroma in. Normally, the coffee would have tasted bitter, but Shuichi made it his mission to make it as sweet as possible. He brought the coffee cup to his lips and took a small sip, careful to not burn his tongue. To his surprise, the flavored drink was already cold. He cursed under his breath and sat the caffeinated drink down in disgust. Figures. He wasn't very religious, but he believed in karma, and this was karmas little way of getting him back. The vocalist could have sworn he heard a snicker from Fujisaki's seat. Then again, Shuichi was also known to be a bit paranoid.

K took a deep breath and nodded, removing the gun from in front of the young boy's face. The low roar of the van filled the air once again and they sped off, leaving yet another odd moment behind.

Looking through the not too clean window, Fujisaki wondered what was going to happen at the small cabin they were to stay at for a few days. If he knew anything about the weird happenings that seemed to plague Shuichi wherever he went, the days would not be as relaxing as K planned. He let out a deep sigh which signaled his stress and rested his head against his chair's headrest.

The quiet melody still passed through the air as Hiroshi strummed on, hoping his music would keep things peaceful. Slow minutes passed by and finally the vocalist graced the passengers with a small tune he made up to go along with the melody.

"Hey guys."

"What?" the passengers replied somewhat lazily. The incredibly long drive and Hiroshi's music was making everyone tired.

"I think I have an idea for a new song."

A.N. This was something I wrote for my writing workshop class. I don't think I'll write a second chapter…maybe I will. I don't know. Well, thanks for readin'!