Kaoru looked up as Toshiya walked into the studio, his face appearing grim and somewhat disheartened as he passed Die who had Sarah sitting in his lap, whispering things in her ear and making the American giggle. Toshiya put on a fake smile as he walked past Kaoru and grabbed his bass, staring at it for a moment as though it were something foreign. He picked it up and sat down, glancing up when he heard Sara giggle again and scowled, then he looked back down at the four strings of his bass and sighed, trying to focus. Something was bugging him and Kaoru knew when Toshiya was bothered or upset he wouldn't be able to focus.

"You alright?" Kaoru asked, setting down his guitar and moving beside Toshiya.

"Yeah, I haven't been sleeping well the past few nights and I guess it's catching up to me," he said, setting down his instrument as well.

"Something bugging you?" Kaoru asked, feeling as though there was more to it than what was revealed.

Toshiya bit his lip nervously. "Kind of," he said; Kaoru gave him a look that showed he was listening. "You see, there's this…girl that I really like and I know I can't be with her, and it's been bothering me for the longest time, I just don't know what to do."

"Have you told her how you felt?" Kaoru asked.

"No, I can't, she's already dating someone and she's strai—not interested in a guy like me," Toshiya sighed and looked away, feeling Kaoru's ever suspicious eyes on him. He was nervous that Kaoru might see through his lie and realize that "she" was actually Die. He looked over at Die and Sara and saw them still messing around on the couch. "Can you stop that?" he asked in an agitated tone. "We're supposed to be practicing not making out!"

Die gave him a disbelieving look and sighed, nodding to Sara to tell her to move beside him instead of in his lap. "As soon as Shinya and Kyo get here we'll practice, if that's what you want to do so badly, Toshiya," he said and grabbed his guitar.

"Wait, Die get your acoustic, let practice an oldie," Kaoru said with a smile.

Toshiya looked at Kaoru strangely, only when he was in a good mood would they practice old songs. "Which song?" he asked.

"Hmm…304 goushitsu, hakushi no sakura!"

Die walked over and grabbed his acoustic guitar. "It feels heavier," he said as lifted it up to play. "Probably because we've gone without playing for so long—" the sound of screeching tires filled the air and loud impact. Die set the guitar down, as did Toshiya and Kaoru. They rushed out of the studio and stared in shock at the accident.

Shinya's car was smashed all in the front; lying on its side where the driver would have been, smoke pouring from it. Die was first to rush forward and looked through the smashed windshield, seeing Kyo in the passenger's seat. Kyo was bleeding profusely from a large gash in his head, the piece of shrapnel that hit him protruding from the wound. He was leaning far the side, unmoving still strapped in by his seat belt. Shinya was lying against the smashed window, strapped in as well, small bit of glass in his cheek and his white shirt had a growing red stain in the shoulder.

"Shinya! Kyo!" Kaoru called out as he moved over to the car.

"Kaoru…"Shinya gasped. "Get Kyo, get him!"

Kaoru stepped out onto the car, reached up and unbuckled Kyo's seat belt. He caught Kyo as he fell from his seat and dragged him from the wreckage. Toshiya moved over to check him and saw that he was still breathing. He pulled out his cell phone and decided he needed to call an ambulance.

"Shinya, can you get out?" Die called. He watched Shinya try to move but wince and cry out.

"The wheel…it…my legs are stuck!" he cried. Kaoru climbed back over the wreckage and unbuckled Shinya's seatbelt, grabbing his arms and pulling him up. Shinya screamed in pain and Kaoru instantly released him. He grabbed the wheel and tried to pull it up, but it was stuck, it wouldn't budge.

"I'm sorry, but there is no other way Shinya," he bit his lip. "Are you ready?" He watched the drummer nod and tugged on him, his hand on his shoulders. Shinya screamed out in pain and Kaoru drew back a bit, the sound of Shinya in pain a very unpleasant one, and he tried to brace him. Kaoru tugged hard on him, falling back as Shinya came loose and free from the car. They crawled away from the car and Kaoru helped him stand.

"Ambulance is on the way," Toshiya said, shutting his cell phone. He glanced back at the studio. "I'm going to go get my car keys." He began walk towards it and a giant boom sounded from deep inside it and almost instinctively he dropped the ground. 'What on earth?' he thought. He began to smell smoke and a sudden wave of intense heat above him. After a few seconds he called out, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah," he heard Die mutter. "Holy shit—the studio!"

Toshiya sat up and stared in shock at the flames that consumed the building, the door appearing on fire and as though it had been blown almost completely off the hinges. Flames licked at the outer walls of the studio through the broken windows. He brought himself to his feet and stared for moment longer at the intense flames that were already appearing through the roof of the building.

"Sara!" Die suddenly remembered, not having seen her come out of the building with anyone else.

"I here!" he heard a call as she stumbled away from the side of the studio, coughing, her eyes watering with a large scorch mark across the back of her hand. "I not know what happen…it…it…" she began to ramble on in English.

"Relax, everyone's out," Die said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"What happen Kyo?" she asked wide-eyed, seeing him on the ground, blood trickling from the cut on his forehead.

"Car accident," Shinya groaned, rubbing his sore legs. He turned his head as he heard sirens in the distance and sighed with relief. He moved over and knelt beside Kyo, staring at his peaceful face, appearing so innocent and beautiful when he rested. He bit his lip as he stared at the large piece of glass protruding from his forehead. That was his fault. Why didn't the car stop, why did their speed only increase? He slammed on the breaks repetitively and for some reason it didn't stop, it just kept going, remaining unchanged to the constant slamming of his foot into the break pedal.

As the ambulance pulled up, took Kyo's hand in his, rubbing it vigorously to try and wake him. "Help has come," he whispered. He looked back and saw the paramedics jump from the back of the ambulance, pulling out a stretcher and moving it over to where Kyo lie. Shinya sighed as they put him in it and loaded him into the back of the ambulance. He wished he could do more for Kyo.

One paramedic came back over to him, walkie-talkie in hand. "We need a fire truck down here A.S.A.P., 67890 Kusari road," he said into it. He looked up at Shinya. "How did this fire start?" he asked.

Shinya shook his head, looked at the others for some sort of explanation, but they shook their heads as well, just as puzzled as he was by the whole ordeal. "Alright, well, the authorities should be here to get everyone's statement, if you would please come with us," the paramedic said.

"Why?" Shinya asked curiously.

"You're injured and you may need stitches, please come in the ambulance with us."

"Oh!" Shinya said, having forgotten about the pain in the side of his face and in his legs. He followed the paramedic into the back of the ambulance and waved goodbye to the rest of the band.

Toshiya watched the flames lick at the studio, lamenting the fact that he had left his bass in there. It was probably on fire at the moment and such a thought made him somewhat uneasy. He looked back at the others, Kaoru tapping his foot impatiently as the sound of police sirens came near, Sara staring at her burnt hand somewhat emotionlessly and Die staring at the fire as well.

He moved over to Die and sighed. "At least practice was cancelled," Die mumbled half in humor half in sadness.

"Yeah," Toshiya sighed. His face turned bright red as Die wrapped one arm around his shoulders and sighed as well, still staring out at the fire.

"Lots of great times in there over the years," he said. 'There could have been better,' Toshiya thought to himself. "A shame to see it go, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah. Hey, did you hear the same boom I did before the fire?" Toshiya asked curiously.

"Hm? Yeah, like the sound of a plane breaking the sound barrier or something," Die said.

"Why do you ask?"

"What do you think that was?"

Die thought for a moment and Toshiya had to stifle his giggles. The look Die would get when he was thinking seriously was so incredibly adorable yet ridiculous one couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "Maybe we had a busted gas pipe in the kitchen and something sparked…" he thought aloud.

"Or a bomb," Toshiya mumbled.

"A bomb? Why would anyone boom—" Die's eyes turned wide and took a step back from Toshiya. "Not this again! Do not start with this, she had nothing to do with it!"

"It's a possibility!" Toshiya said, his eyes darting to Sara quickly to see if she had been listening or comprehending the conversation, yet she showed no signs that she understood nor a sign of interest in what they spoke of.

"How?" Die demanded.

"The blast from whatever it was nearly knocked the door of the hinges, don't you think it odd that she was the last one out and only got a little burn on the back of her hand? If she was still in there she would be dead or pretty damn close to it, wouldn't you agree?" Toshiya said in an agitated tone.

"Have you thought that she may have gone out the back door just at the blast happened?" Die retaliated. He was so sick on Toshiya's accusations against his girlfriend, their argument always made him think more about the bass player and he was still trying to push away those thoughts and fantasies, not welcome more in.

"Then she would be pretty beat up, the glass exploded with the blast and the door almost blew off the hinges. Any other ways she could've escaped with only a burn or are you going to accept the fact that there is something strange about Sara Lowrand?" Toshiya demanded.

Die let out a frustrated cry. "I'm not going to deal with this now, Toshiya," he growled and stormed away. He pushed past Kaoru and police officer that was getting his eyewitness and statement about the fire.

"Wait, Die, we need your statement," Kaoru called.

"Here's my statement: Fuck off," Die growled, pulling his car keys from his pocket and hitting 'unlock' on the control. He opened the door and slammed it shut after he got in. He put the keys in the ignition and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, not caring about the officer who stood there and watched him in disbelief.

"God dammit Toshiya why do you have to keep doing this!" he said in a frustrated tone, slamming his hand on the leather encased steering wheel. "We've been friends for so god damn long and now you're going to let a girl come between us!"

It made no sense, Die had dated women and Toshiya had no problem with it. Was it because she was American? No, Toshiya didn't seem the type to be a racist, he had dated Americans before as well. So what made him dislike Sara so much? She never had anything bad to say about him, she never did anything to arouse suspicions or anything that would require scrutiny. He just didn't understand why Toshiya so suspicious of her.
Wait, could Toshiya be jealous off him? It had been over a year since Toshiya had been seeing anyone, was he jealous that Die had Sara? Or possibly…that Sara had Die—

"No!" Die scolded himself. It wasn't going to happen, he wasn't going to allow himself to think about him and Toshiya, he had promised himself he wouldn't do it again. He had to stop these feelings, and last time he did he was forced to break up with his girlfriend, but Die didn't want to break up with Sara. Not until he was sure he couldn't force away the feelings would he take such drastic measures. All he had to do was stay away from Toshiya, avoid talking to him outside of things to do with the band. Maybe if he could avoid seeing and speaking to Toshiya long enough he'd be able to push away the feeling for good and he could just go backs to being friend with him.

Yes, that seemed to be the best route. And despite how much it would hurt both of them, it had to be done to save their friendship. What if Toshiya found out about these terribly feelings, any friendship they ever had would be destroyed in an instant.

Die took a turn at the stop light, realizing he had forgotten about Kyo and Shinya's ordeal. He needed to go see them at the hospital and find out what happened. It wasn't like Shinya to be a reckless driver; so what made them crash?

Kaoru stood beside the officer as he took down the license plate number and condition of the car. He looked at Toshiya as he walked up the car, getting dangerously close to the unstable vehicle, seeming upset by something other than the demolished car. "What were you and Die arguing about?" he asked as Toshiya stared at the underside of the car.
"Nothing, just something stupid," Toshiya mumbled, trying to hide his hurt. He hated getting into such fierce argument with Die every time something seemed to be looking up, but he absolutely didn't trust Die's girlfriend, and it wasn't because of the ordeal with Seth, it was more than that. There was something vile and ominous about her.

"A stupid argument like what?" Kaoru asked with exceeding curiosity

"Just private affairs that only concern the parties involved," Toshiya grinned back and Kaoru, who merely shook his head and dismissed the questioning all together. The bass player breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Kaoru had not pushed further into the matter or he may have discovered the tension that was growing between his two best friends.

As he stared at the smashed and battered car something caught his eye. A broken cord. He reached out nimbly and grabbed it, slowly pulling it away from the car slowly.

"Kaoru, come here," he said, motioning for him to come over. He glanced back and saw the officer follow as well; come near to the tipped car. "Do you see what I see?"

"Um…a broken cable thing?" Kaoru asked, unsure of what to make of the discovery.

"Clearly you and father didn't spend much time together," Toshiya mumbled. "This is the break cable and it should be attached to another part of the car, its what makes the car stop when –"

"I know what it does," Kaoru snapped. "This would explain why they crashed, but why would it be broken?"

"Someone could have cut it, someone who wanted them to crash," Toshiya glanced at Sara, who saw him and waved happily, still having no clue as to what they were saying. He scowled and turned back to the officer. "Can you have someone investigate that charge?"

"Yes, but it looks as though an animal chewed on it," the officer said. "Nonetheless, I'll hire so mechanics to take a look at it and get some people to investigate the fire, if that is all you have, you three and free to go."

Kaoru nodded. "Sara, get in my car, we're going to see Kyo and Shinya," he said, motioning for her to follow.

"Where Die?" she asked as she joined them.

"We don't know, but he'll turn up," Toshiya said, not bothering to check if she understood what he said or not. Really, he didn't care one bit. He got in the car with Kaoru and Sara and they took off down the road to go check up on Kyo and Shinya in the hospital.