A/N: This story was written as a secret santa project a few years back, I figured that enough time has past that I could share it with the rest of you as a christmas present! I hope you enjoy it!

-THE FIRST SNOW OF WINTER-

Some people call me cold but really, I'm just one of those sappy hopeless romantics. They just don't see it because I only have eyes for one person, Daisuke Niwa. We are best friends by fate because he's the only one who could ever understand what I go through on a daily basis. I have an angel inside me just as he has a thief inside him. Most of the time Krad seems like the bad guy, but people don't understand his feelings and impulses like I do, seeing as how he lives inside me. He's driven by the curse between two families just like I'm pushed to love someone because of it. Even if it's not the kind of person my ancestors had planned.

'What do you plan to do to the boy once you get him alone huh Satoshi?' Krad mused inside my head. 'Get him drunk, pin him down, and take him like a wild animal or be gentleman like and seduce him with your suave personality?'

"Well the seducing him sounds more likely to work without having the police being called, however neither of those scenarios is what I have planned. I know Niwa doesn't return my feelings so why should I plan for something that's never going to be?"

'Well I'm just saying anything is possible with a little… magic in the air' Krad smirked flashing the image of one of his white feathers in my mind.

"Krad no!" I shrieked at him with deadly finality. "You're not coming out at all while Niwa is around and that's final."

'Very well I'll give you some pleasurable alone time but remember this Satoshi: You owe me now.'

After stepping up to his door and knocking, I only had to wait a moment before his mother opened the door and offered a hesitant greeting. She never liked me much, I've hoped it's only because I have Krad inside of me. It seems funny that a statement such as that one can carry an 'only' in it.

"Hello Satoshi, Dai said you were coming over. He's up in his room, go on up if you'd like!"

"Thank you Mrs. Niwa."

Heading up to his room and opening his door I saw him sitting on his cute two seat couch, which is something I've always liked about his room. He looked a little down today though. It was a sharp contrast to his usually energetic self. I can't stand to see my Niwa hurting. My Niwa…

"Daisuke, you look down. Is something bothering you?"

"Hmph. Am I that easy to read?" Daisuke looked almost angry at me but I couldn't really think of anything to say. I may be a genius but my social skills leave much to be desired.

"I don't mean to snap at you you're just trying to help. I'm just a bit bitter since Riku broke up with me last night. The only thing she said when I asked why was how predictable I am and I'm getting boring and… well other things too but I'd rather not talk about it right now."

"Don't worry about her Niwa," I said as I sat next to him, "I'm sure she'll come around. You're quite a catch after all!" Oh god that came out wrong! Please don't catch it Niwa!

"Ooh Hiwatari are you in looooove with me now?" Daisuke asked as he rubbed provocatively against me making my usually cool demeanor snap like a twig as I sputtered a bit for a response.

"N- no of course not it's just, well, you're a really nice person!"

"Yeah that's probably why she dumped me. 'Nice guys finish last', isn't that the saying?" Wrong move, from playful to down in the dumps in one comment is probably a personal record for me.

"Ok that's it Daisuke," I had to stop myself from yelling it. I have to fix this. Right now. "You're coming over for the night, we're having fun, and you're not going to think about Riku, or love, or anything else like that and that's final." I just prayed he thought of it as final also…

"But Hiwatari, it's Christmas eve! You know my mother, she wouldn't like me leaving tonight and… well… certainly not with you and Krad."

"Well it can't hurt to ask her right?"

"All right I suppose not. Well here goes nothing" Yeah and let's hope our nothing turns into something great!

"Mooooooom! Oh there you are, I want to go over to Hiwatari's house tonight… could I go?" Tentative as he was in asking, he made sure she knew what he wanted. So far so good.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! Christmas is tomorrow in case you have forgotten!" Or not.

"But mom I really want to go! I just need to get away for a bit, and I know that tomorrow is Christmas but I'll just ruin everything for you all if I stay here. I don't want to bring you all down."

"Oh but you don't mind bringing that Hikari boy down huh? What if Krad comes out and you get hurt huh? Who is going to be blamed but me for letting you go? And Christmas of all the days, what on earth could you be thinking? And another thing!"

"Oh just let him go." This time it was Daisuke's father cutting his wife off mid sentence. I always liked him, he's been nothing but kind to me. "He's a grown boy, if he can be out there stealing then he can go over to a friend's house and if he wants to go over there on a holiday then that's his choice. Let him be his own man and take his own path, he'll be all the better for it." Emiko could only bite her lip, and after a moment of deliberation nodded before adding, "You'd better not hurt him or for every single tiny scratch you put on my precious baby boy I'll make sure to hurt you a thousand times worse, you got that Hikari?"

"I'll take good care of him Mrs. Niwa." I promised. And I meant it.

We had finally managed to escape and were walking down the street towards my mansion when out of nowhere snow started falling! There had been a good amount laid across the ground already, but the forecasters didn't say anything about it falling today! Some good they are… Daisuke had noticed and ran forward then spun around with his arms outstretched like he was a helicopter trying to take off up into the sky. Now that's more like my Niwa. There it is again, my Niwa. What do I mean when I say that? Not even I know. Probably just wishful thinking hoping that some day I can say he's mine and have it be true.

"Hiwatari? Is something the matter?" By this time I had been so enmeshed in my thoughts I didn't even notice him come close to stare at my face with a worried expression. "Why do you ask?"

"You just seemed out of it all of a sudden. Oh that's right you don't like snow do you? I remember you saying when we were at the park during the first snowfall." He tried to make his voice a bit deeper and more flat which I assumed is what he took to be an imitation of my voice, "'I don't like the snow because it takes all the color and warmth from the world' is what you said!" Changing back to his normal voice. "I still don't agree with you on that one, I mean don't look at individual buildings or anything just look out into the distance at the bigger picture. It's beautiful Satoshi! Nothing else can replace the sight in this world" Looking back at me and then blushing and looking away I just cocked my head to the side and asked, "What? Do I have something on my face or something?" I tried wiping my cheek with the side of my glove and pulled it back to find nothing on it.

"No, no it's not that, Dark is just being an ass." He said smirking to let me know he was just being embarrassed by the thief.

"Oh and what is he embarrassing you with?" Daisuke blushed even deeper at this question and looked away to try to hide it without success. "Ooh it's something about me isn't it? It was right after you looked at me when you were finished talking wasn't it? So spill, c'mon!" Going up to him I nudged his side trying to jar the truth out of him laughing all the while.

"Nothing, it's just that when I looked at you with the snow falling around you, you looked like a picture and I had the sudden urge to draw you. Dark just thinks it's because I'm infatuated with you!" He said, blush faded and replaced by a content smile on his face.

"If that were true I'm sure you would have made a move on me by now." This was one of the biggest reasons that I thought for sure Daisuke didn't like me: Because if he did he just wasn't showing it to me or to anyone else for that matter.

What happened next was completely unexpected, he kissed me saying, "Well maybe it's about time I did then." After he broke away I just stood there shocked, still, and staring. My mind was racing, a problem with being a genius is that when something big happens you can't just react you have to consider every possible outcome from that incident out of instinct… It's not a good thing after someone has just confessed their love to you.

"H-Hiwatari? I'm sorry I shouldn't have been so forward with everyting just now, I should have given you time to think instead of just diving right in and making a fool out of myself like that,"

He's talking too much.

"I mean of course you're not going to feel the same way I do, after all we've been best friends for so long now and best friends don't just all of a sudden fall for each other,"

It's distracting.

"Well one for the other obviously but not each other, that only happens in the movies and fairy tales. I feel so stupid now I'm sorry Hiwatari."

I need to shut him up so I can think.

"The only thing I can say I guess is can you forgi—"

And the only surefire way to do that is to kiss him.

By the time we broke apart again, Niwa was blushing and I was finally done figuring out the meaning of the universe, I had come to the conclusion that I've wanted this just as much as he has so, lets ask him if, "Niwa, do you really like me like that or is this another one of Saehara's bad jokes?"

"Of course not, you think I'd do something like that? And I doubt even Saehara could get me to do that if I didn't actually want to." I wasn't too sure about that. Saehara was fairly persuasive, especially when holding pictures of Risa Harada. But I didn't think Daisuke would do this to me knowing how awkward this could make it for us.

"Ok I believe you. But why didn't you do anything sooner?" The one final unsolved question that I was dying to know the answer to.

"Because, I just didn't want you to hate me for being a faggot or something. I know you don't feel that way about me but I just had to tell you how I felt because it was so hard, especially with Dark pestering me at every turn." But I just kissed him. How can he think I don't like him after something like that? I knew he was thick headed but really. Can someone really be that dense? I forget who I'm speaking to… The obvious answer is yes!

"Who ever said that I didn't like you back? Of course I do, we're the only people who can understand each other, if we're not meant for each other I don't know how I could ever be with anyone else. I like you Niwa, a lot! So I guess the last thing to say now is… Daisuke, will you go out with me?"

Opening up the doors to the inside of one of the most well decorated buildings I've ever seen we walked into the bar to find a live band playing hard rock to our right while people mashed and danced together out in front of the stage. Must be a popular band to pack this many people in here. Maybe coming to this place wasn't such a good idea, although I had to admit, the atmosphere was kinda nice and Daisuke seemed to be enjoying it! He looked so interested, it seemed like he was trying to take the room in all at once without blinking!

"Is this your first time at this bar Daisuke?"

"It's my first time going to any bar at all! You never asked to go to one with me and I don't hang out with many other people besides you that I'd care to go to one with so I've just never gotten the chance."

"Well then does that mean you've never had a drink before either?"

"I've had one of my mom's wine coolers before! They're delicious! And some of my grandpas sake… it's all right I suppose. Ohh and dad's whisky! I'm never trying that stuff again, tasted absolutely horrid!" I couldn't help but start laughing at his lack of experience in drinking. "What are you laughing for huh Hiwatari? At least I'm not an alcoholic hmm?"

"I suppose you're right, I'm sorry it's just that I drink enough that it's somewhat humorous to think about someone only ever having tried three drinks before in their life. I'll just have to expand your horizons a bit before the night is over!"

-Unbeknownst to the two boys there was a third creeping up behind them from the entrance that took this exact opportunity to jump on top of the red head and tackle him to the ground before saying merrily, "Hey there Daisuke! And Satoshi too? My, my, what a surprise this is seeing you two here together!"

"Takeshi, what are you doing here?" Daisuke grunted with Saehara still on top of him once he forced some air back into his lungs. "I thought you said you were working tonight!"

"I am working idiot! A rock band like that playing live right here in our own hometown, what self respecting reporter wouldn't want to be the first to get the story on these guys? Especially when they draw in such a big crowd. I might just make front page this week!"

"Ahaha Takeshi on the front page of the newspaper huh?" I started laughing, "Now this is something I just gotta see."

"I'm sure he could make the front page easily if he wanted!" Daisuke put in his two cents defending his childhood friend.

"See, your new boyfriend has faith in me, why not you hmm Satoshi?" He said smirking hoping obviously to get a rise out of one of us by calling us a couple. Daisuke blushed and I was taken slightly aback by his bluntness but said nothing against it. Takeshi's smirk slowly melted away to a strange mix of horror and glee. "OH MY GOD! YOU REALLY ARE A COUPLE AREN'T YOU?" He practically screamed it hopping up and down before running over to Daisuke and putting an arm around his neck saying none to quietly, "Bout time you finally got laid Daisuke, though are you sure you don't want someone a little less… creepy?" He asked making a jab at me and causing Daisuke to blush ten times a deeper shade of red than he was before.

"It's really none of your business what this couple does is it? After all you're here to report on this band aren't you? They're playing now so go shoo and cover them!" I said in posh tones that were more playful than actually rude.

Takeshi seemed to pick up on that saying, "You still doubt my reporting skills? All right, then care to make a wager on whether or not my next story will make the front page?

"You know I don't need any money and I could pay you without even breaking a sweat so either way I don't get anything. I'm sure that you don't need any money either with all the money you make from reporting so a bet is rather trivial."

"True, true, which is why I have something more fun planned to bet on. If I win, then I get to write a story about the newest gay couple in our school! And I want a picture of you two together also. Just to make sure people understand I'm not making this up.

"Saehara, I really don't think that story is going to get any attention, I mean who would care about me and Satoshi doing anything?" Daisuke said lamely, trying desperately to find some way out of the bet.

"All right I accept your offer. But if I win you have to dance ballet in a pink frilly tutu for the school talent show next month, deal?" I really had no desire to see Takeshi in a pink frilly tutu, but I did however have the desire, as I always do, to see him publicly humiliated. Think of it as a pastime if you will!

"DEAL!"

"I can't believe you are letting Saehara write an entire article about us! I mean, why is it that after only one hour of being officially together you have to go around giving people permission to publish something in the school paper about us Hiwatari?" He was obviously fuming with me, no doubt egged on by the fairly large amount of alcohol he had consumed in the few hours we'd been there. I was surprised to find, after a beer, a shot of tequila, shot of vodka, and two bottles of rum which, surprisingly, he liked a lot, that he was no light weight.

"Why don't you ever call me by my first name? We're a couple now after all, it seems only fitting that the names we call each other get more personal. Anyways the reasons for me letting him write that article are: one, he's never going to make front page, and therefore never going to write the article, and two, if he did somehow, magically manages to make the front page, I love you enough that I wouldn't care if the world knew we were together!"

His anger snuffed out slightly, but by no means gone; he just sat silently beside me the limo I had called to pick us up. As we were both currently drunkards and had no sense left in us – besides the obvious ability to call someone to pick us up - I thought it best we not walk the mile back to my mansion. The people living in the houses that lined our path home would, without a doubt, not take kindly to two boys screaming at each other at 10:30 at night. The police would be called which would rouse more neighbors from their homes, things would intensify, and then I'm sure Niwa's night wouldn't be made any better by that. The whole point of having him over after all was for him to forget his problems and have fun, not get sent to jail.

Stepping out of the car we turned and walked inside together, leaving the biting cold and stepping into the warm entry hall that lead to all the other many rooms in the house. Going up the stairs and into my room, we stepped inside and I locked the door behind us. Sometimes I was glad I had a big house, it meant that you didn't have to be bothered because all the workers had something else to do somewhere else and I didn't have to run into family every time I stepped outside my door.

"Wow Satoshi! I don't remember your room being so… Clean. I mean it's just totally spotless… and huge too! I mean I know it's a mansion and all but seriously, how can you have all this space here and not feel like you're just gonna be pulled apart by everything or something. Walk a mile to get from your window to your door. I prefer cozy to ginormous!" Slurring while saying all this I couldn't help but giggle slightly at his ramblings. They weren't compliments, by far but they weren't exactly things he hated either.

Suddenly I realized something by standing in one place for a long time… I reaked! The whole place was so energetic from the band playing that it was hot and stuffy causing me and everyone else there to sweat. Dripping alcohol down your front in a beer chugging contest probably wasn't a great way to improve my scent either I suppose. "Daisuke, I'm going to go take a shower, if I can find my freaking pajamas, one bad thing about being rich, Daisuke, is that you have too many clothes to look through when you need some."

After finding the blue stretchy pajama bottoms I liked, and a plain white t-shirt to go with it, I started off towards the door, looking back I saw Daisuke looking at me expectantly through lusty eyes, hoping for something. I knew exactly what he wanted too but I wasn't going to have sex with him in the shower because I knew he was drunk and not thinking straight. I don't want to take advantage of him after all and have him regret it later.

"Oh don't worry, you can take one once I'm done and I'll let you borrow some of my pajama's, I know you didn't bring any spare clothing with you!" I said trying not to make him feel too down without making me feel like an insensitive asshole.

Unlocking and heading out the door I headed over to the bathroom and scrubbed myself off, trying to make sure I was as clean as possible. Once that was finished, I got out and brushed my teeth, bad breath certainly wasn't a turn on for most anyone. Once finished with all my grooming I went out and informed Daisuke that it was his turn in the bathroom. Once he was in there and I heard the water running I headed to my bedroom and flipped on the TV waiting for him to get out I didn't know how long it would take Daisuke to finish with his shower but I wasn't planning on standing around doing nothing while I found out…

Needless to say, after 40 minutes of Daisuke not returning I started to fear for his wellbeing, 'maybe he had a little much to drink and passed out in the shower!' or 'Did he get lost on the way back to my room?' So after deciding that enough was enough I went to go check up on him. The water was still running in the bathroom so my first thought must be the correct one.

I stepped into the bathroom calling for Daisuke, after not receiving an answer I flung open the curtains only to be shoved into the tub from behind by a pair of thin arms and a sopping wet body. When taking a shower on your own you're prepared for the water, and not fully clothed for that matter also, however when you're thrown in against your will it can be quite a shocking experience. The person behind me obviously thought that I would be in a more comfortable situation if I didn't have any clothes on also as they started to tug at my clothes to get them off so that they wouldn't get wet from the water pouring down on them.

"What the—Daisuke is that you?" I was asked much louder than I intended, fortunately my mansion is nearly sound proof so that disturbances such as this don't wake up the entire home.

'Good news for me.' I thought as he removed my shirt and started with my pajama bottoms which I had tightly fastened around my hips.

"Come on Satoshi, you said you loved me right? Well let's take our love one step further, I want you now so please, won't you let me have you?" Without giving me time for an answer the man tilted my head to the side and surrounded my lips with his. At this time I caught a glimpse of red hair which confirmed exactly who it was.

"Daisuke, what are you doing this for?" I called out to him.

"What Sato, you don't want me anymore? Aren't I your lover still?" He crawled backwards off of me, very obviously upset.

A bit sad that I had caused Daisuke to become upset I looked at him sitting there in the tub to come up with something to comfort him. Seeing the water splash over his naked body, all sense went out the window. "No I didn't want you right then! But I do want you right now!" I pounced on him straddling his waist and kissing him, long and passionately. "I love you Daisuke so I'm gonna ask you this once, are you sure you want to go through with this right now?"

"Of course I want you, we're meant for each other, it's felt right since the beginning but I was just too afraid to say anything about it. Please Satoshi, take me!" He begged, grinding an erection I hadn't noticed before up against mine causing a small sound to escape my lips. He was so huge, I never would have guessed for being such a small boy, and his skin! It was just so pure, untouched, and spared of any blemishes, just like the first snow of winter. Taking all of this in at once I couldn't help but get rock hard and suddenly my pajama's felt a few sizes too small. Tearing them off of my hips I tossed the sopping mass to the floor and returned my attention to Daisuke.

Starting to suck on his neck I worked my way down, slowly - inch by tasty, beautiful inch - until I was over his right nipple, taking care not to hurt him I started to suck on it, running my tongue over it and causing it to harden and Daisuke to squirm a bit. I stopped immediately. "Daisuke, did I hurt you?" I was very concerned I had hurt him somehow, after all I didn't want to do anything to put him off from sex forever.

"No, it felt good. Please go, don't stop!" Doing as I was told, I moved over to his left nipple and continued my previous actions. Once Daisuke started squirming with what I now viewed as pleasure I started to go lower, kissing and nipping at his skin until I ended up above his navel. Never having done something like this before I experimentally dipped my tongue inside of it causing Daisuke to make a strange noise that seemed like a mix of a squeal and whimper. Amused by the odd outburst I looked up at him giggling.

"And now just what was that supposed to be?" I teased.

"It was just the strangest sensation. I'll have to let you experience it sometime." He winked at me.

"Yes, I'm sure you will." I said eyeing him greedily as I started down again getting to the sparse, soft trail of hair leading to his groin which he promptly reminded me was there by grinding it up against whatever was in front of it, which at that moment happened to be me.

"A bit eager now are we?" I mused aloud. "Well we'll just have to satisfy you soon won't we."

"Please, keep going Satoshi. I need you to do something quick. I'm losing it!" Not one to deny a request I kept on going, moving lower and lower until I was looking down at his VERY prominent erection. Not quite sure how to approach the situation, as I had never been in one such as that, I experimented by darting my tongue out to taste the tip of it. Immediately, even after such a simple touch, Daisuke shivered and urged me to continue.

Wanting to go farther, I took in everything I could into my mouth and went down on it, then brought my head back up. Down again and up, this time purposefully scraping my teeth against the top ever so lightly causing Daisuke to moan throatily and hump forward into my mouth. Since it was a fairly uncomfortable feeling, I had to pin his hips down to keep his hips where they were. He whimpered slightly at this but said no more. I continued my steady head bobs above him. I felt something about him change suddenly and he started panting harder, predicting the inevitable I pulled back causing his breath to hitch at the sudden loss of contact.

"Satoshi, why did you stop? I was so close!" He whined in a cute childish voice full of aggravation.

"Exactly why I stopped, you don't want this to be over too quickly, do you? We haven't even gotten to the best stuff yet!"

"No, I suppose you're right. Go ahead Satoshi, I'm ready to keep going."

Who would have thought that Niwa would ever be this receptive to something as intimate as this?

"All right well… how do you want to, erm, you know… Do this? I've not really given it so much thought." I was quite cautious, I didn't want to do anything to make him uncomfortable or hurt him and make him not want to do it anymore.

"Well let's just start out by having you lie down on your back, just let me take care of you for a bit Satoshi!" He had a sort of evil glint in his eye and I knew trouble was brewing for making him stop just before orgasm.

Taking complete control of the situation Daisuke pushed me onto my back and started to kiss me all over, running his hands all over up and down my chest and the rest of my body before gripping something hard beneath my boxers. I made a noise that was a cross between a whimper and a yelp at the sudden rough touch. He may not have been gentle but he sure knew what to do to get a rise out of me. Starting to run his hand up and down along my clothed arousal, he finally decided enough was enough and stopped the sucking and biting of my neck to edge down lower and rip off my boxers, tossing them to the side and engulfing my erection with his mouth.

Not being able to help myself I arched my body up into him, just wanting more and more of that glorious friction to come between us. Now I knew why Daisuke was so disappointed when I had stopped, who knew that something like this could feel so good? He pinned my thin hips down with his hands to stop me from moving and continued going up and down my length, licking it from the side and sucking on the tip at an agonizingly slow pace. I knew this was the payback I had expected from not letting him finish.

"Daisuke, I'm ready, to go on. I want to know what it's like, to be inside you. I love you"

"I know, I'm ready too."

Positioning himself over my hips he started to line himself up with my dick. Then he placed his hands on my shoulders and moved his hips down, ever so slowly, starting with the tip and then going down, down, down further until I had gone completely inside of him to the hilt.

My god he was tight, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before it felt so damn good! And the heat! Everything just felt so intense and wonderful!

He made a low grunting noise that made me look up into his eyes. He looked like he was in discomfort, maybe even slight pain but kept his eyes open, staring at me the entire time, taking in every aspect of my appearance before starting to move back up my arousal.

"Daisuke, are you ok? Is there anything I can do?" I asked him just as he was going back down onto me pushing me back, deep into him.

"No, you're fine. The water is kind of like lube, it doesn't hurt as bad as I had expected." I had almost forgotten the shower was still on spraying us with warm water and keeping us from getting cold.

Daisuke started getting steadily faster, and faster knowing how hard it must be for me to not lose all control and thrust into him. Then I remembered something important... Daisuke is a guy! With that in mind I reached up and grabbed his member, starting to pump it up and down in time with his movements.

We started to build up a fast pace but it wasn't enough for me, about this point instinct had taken over so I stopped playing with him and grabbed him around his side and flipped the both of us over in the tub to give me better access to him. Thrusting harder and deeper into him it felt so good!

Daisuke obviously thought it felt good as well because he was lifting his hips up for me to get better access to him and rocking himself back and forth trying to get me inside him as far as I could go.

After a few minutes of this, both of us were getting dangerously close to release, me thrusting in and out of Daisuke and him gasping and writhing beneath me. I couldn't help myself any longer, I thrust in one last time as hard and deep as I could triggering something in Daisuke that caused him to scream out my name in complete ecstasy.

"SATOSHIII! OH GODS!"

"DAISUKE!"

He clamped up around me as he came across the both of us causing me even more pleasure as I spilled my seed inside of him.

We lay there like that for a long while until I realized that he must have fallen asleep beside me in the tub with the water raining down on us, dead tired from the entire night's activities.

I wiped off all the traces of the experience we just shared off of our bodies and carried him out of the shower, turning it off and grabbing a towel from the rack on the wall. Drying his limp body down as best I could I then dressed him in the pajama's I brought him and wrapped a towel around my waist as I carried him out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. Laying him down on the bed I got out another pair of pajamas and slipped them on before crawling into bed beside Daisuke.

"Thank you for the wonderful night Daisuke, I hope we have many more to come." Looking at the clock I realized the time, 12:43. "Merry Christmas Dai."

"Nghh…."

-EPILOGUE-

"'He'll never make the front page Daisuke,' 'Has he ever once made the front page Daisuke?' That's what you said right? THEN HOW IN THE WORLD DID WE END UP ON THE FRONT PAGE?"

After returning back to school we had both gotten pulled into an empty classroom by an overly excited Takeshi. When asking what this was all about he couldn't say anything but thrust a newspaper in our face with the headline 'BIG TIME BAND IN SMALL TOWN BAR' by Saehara Takeshi.

We could only stare at it before looking at each other both of us telepathically communicating our plot for Takeshi's downfall. He seemed to realize this and stopped our planning saying "Come on now guys, a deal is a deal right? And you DID make a deal! So… Lets get down to business, shall we?"