Disclaimer: (Once again) Gravitation is not mine.
Thank you to all who have reviewed and emailed! Your reviews inspire me to keep going with this odd pairing. By the way.. I wrote this at 4am, so I hope it's not terrible. My writing skills aren't exactly at their peak here......
Crayon Maps
Chapter Three - "Violet"
***************
The studio hallways were full of life, so much unlike last night. What had been at one point a quiet, solitary building, was now a noisy meeting place, bustling with activity. Phones could be heard ringing from the open office doorways, people could be heard discussing the weather, and Shuichi, above all, could be heard shouting.
"Hiro? Hiro?!"
The pink haired singer stood in the middle of the active place, searching each and every person who even looked remotely like his best friend. However, seeing as he was unsuccessful with his hunt, Shuichi let out a loud wail.
"HIROOOOOOOOO??"
The voice echoed through the whole building causing everyone to stop and look at the source of all the ruckus, but Shuichi stood unaware of the attention. He was worried about his best friend. To be late was so unlike Hiro! He was the backbone of the band! If things were left up to Shuichi nothing would get done at all! The pink haired boy's eyes grew large and flooded with tears at the thought.
"HIROOOOOOOOO YOU HAVE TO COME AND HELP MEEEEEEEEE! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!" The cry came from a flurry of pink running laps around the building.
Distracted by the noise, a tall blonde American and a smaller Japanese man looked up.
"Shuichi, what's wrong?" It was Ryuichi who spoke.
The tornado paused in front of them and a soggy eyed Shuichi looked up.
"Hiro's LATE!"
K raised an eyebrow and spoke in a rather unconcerned voice. "Don't worry, Shuichi, I'm sure Hiro has a good reason."
The pink haired boy cut him off. "No, NO! Hiro's never late. Something's wrong! Maybe he's in trouble! Or.or...OH NO HE'S DEAD!" Shuichi slumped to the floor and sobbed.
K looked down at the odd scene.
"Shuichi," it was K again, "Hiro's not dead. He's just late."
Two watery blue orbs looked up. "Really?"
K nodded. "Really."
The Bad Luck singer paused for a moment as if considering K's words, but responded rather harshly.
"THEN WHY ISN'T HE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?"
And K would have responded to the question if he didn't feel as if his eardrums had burst. Shuichi could be so loud sometimes. The blond man sighed and looked up. Hm? Something was missing.
"Hey, where'd Sakuma-san go?" A confused K questioned the pink haired singer.
"Huh? I didn't even see him go..."
K paused for a moment. "Ryuichi has been acting so odd this morning..." He let the thought drift as a voice called from behind them.
"Shuichi, shouldn't you be finishing off the new song?"
Shuichi turned to see a tall boy wearing a black leather jacket and dark jeans. Two blank eyes studied the source of the comment until finally accepting the boy as the actual Hiroshi Nakano. Success at last!
"HIROO!! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Shuichi leapt into the guitarist's arms.
"And you're heavy," Hiro groaned, losing his grip and dropping the small boy on the floor.
"Owww!" Shuichi stood up and looked at his friend. "Huh? Hiro, you don't look so good today. Are you sick?" A concerned Shuichi inquired.
Hiro's eyes looked up at the ceiling. "Um, no, I just didn't sleep well." At this particular moment Hiro wanted to hit himself for never being a good liar. However, with the bags under his eyes it probably wasn't so hard to believe that he had a sleepless night. He crossed his fingers and hoped that his best friend wouldn't see right through him.
Shuichi furrowed his eyebrows. "No, that's not it."
Hiro redirected an annoyed gaze towards Shuichi. "It's not?"
The pink haired one looked at his friend. "No, it's something else." A chibi sized Shuichi hugged his friend and, in his saddest and most innocent voice asked, "are you trying to hide something from your best friend?"
Hiro tried to walk off with Shuichi still pulling on his jacket. "It's nothing Shuichi, I just had a bad night. I don't want to talk about it."
Shuichi let go of his death grip and looked at his the auburn haired boy who was walking down the hallway. Hiro was acting strange. There was never a time when Hiro kept something from his best friend. Frowning now, Shuichi followed behind while carefully studying the guitarist. Yep. There was definitely something wrong. Now, one way or another, he just had to find out what.
*******************
The sounds of a practicing Bad Luck filled the studio, and, after about an hour and a half, it was due time for a break. In all that time the band had made very little progress. Someone wasn't quite keeping up.
Hiro looked down at his feet as his band mates rose to take their well needed rest.
"Hiro," Shuichi called, "aren't you going to come?"
Shaking his head no, Hiro responded. "I've got to catch up for lost time. We don't have a song at all if I can't finish it."
"Hiro...," the singer hesitated, "you stayed last night to work on it, you don't need to stay now."
A sigh escaped from a slightly irritated boy. "I'd like to work on it, Shuichi, it's all right."
Perhaps sensing the tension, Shuichi nodded and left Hiro to his desires. There really was no point in arguing. Hiro would tell him what was wrong eventually, right? For now, at least, there was no point in making Hiro feel worse.
******************
Thankful for the quiet time, Hiro sat alone in the studio again. The door was slightly ajar and the grey walls - those same grey walls - were mocking him once more.
He fiddled with the guitar strings while his mind drifted.
It wasn't as if he wanted to alienate his best friend. But, honestly, Hiro wasn't sure if he should tell Shuichi anything at all. At least not yet. He had given it some thought this morning as he rode his motorcycle to work. If he told Shuichi that he had a crush on Ryuichi, what would the singer think? What would he think about all those times they had slept over at each others houses? Would he suddenly realize that Hiro had been watching him? Staring at him? Would he finally realize that Hiro had liked him more than any girl? And then what? That could ruin everything.
Okay maybe he was blowing it out of proportion a little, but his concerns held *some* logic. He was afraid (again with the fears) that Shuichi might respond to this situation poorly. Besides, Shuichi didn't need to know for now, and Hiro didn't need to let his friend into every detail of his life.
Thinking back to the song now, Hiro let his fingers strum the guitar strings. He felt so stiff lately. Maybe the musician needed some distractions in his life. He remembered when he had told Shuichi to meet a girl, and, though the singer hadn't taken the advice word for word, it seemed to have made a difference. And Ryuichi was so cute with his big innocent eyes and vulnerable qualities...
Hiro nearly slapped himself. He couldn't fall in love with the famed singer. He had just walked out on the guy, and then he had walked out on him! (Oh it was such a mess!) Although, he thought for a moment, maybe he shouldn't have. Maybe he should have accepted the advances and swallowed his fears. Why did he have to be so weak? So scared? And Ryuichi, with those eyes, Hiro nearly drooled at the thought of those eyes which had looked at him so seductively, so.....
Oh dear Lord. He was doing it again. His mind wanted so desperately to focus on the small body that Hiro had spent a rather awkward night with. If only he could touch him again.. His lips had been so soft...
Hiro sighed and mentally told his thoughts to shut up. He had a song to finish.
******************
Ryuichi Sakuma strode lightly down the well lit hall with a small pink bunny along side him. It felt good to get out of the cramped quarters where he had been scribbling out a new song. He really wasn't in the mood to do his usual favourite things, like colouring and drawing. On a normal day that would make him happy, but today was hardly normal.
Today his mind kept drifting to a certain someone. It frequently had, really, at least ever since the day he had seen Hiro playing guitar alongside his best friend on stage, but today his mind had replaced his usual fantasies with the depressing reality. Hiro could never be his. Why would Hiro like him, when he was barely anything more than a child most of the time? Ryuichi would just be a burden to someone who was always busy trying to improve things. He would just be in the way.
Ryuichi's hand gripped tighter around Kumagorou's arm. He really wanted to apologize to Hiro for the mess he had caused, but he was uncertain if he could gather the courage. And it would take so much courage!
As the Nittle Grasper singer came closer to Bad Luck's practice room, he began to hear a familiar tune as it swept across the hallway. Hiro was playing the song again - the one he and Kumagorou had listened to and enjoyed last night without permission. The one he had imagined Hiro playing for him.
Ryuichi paused beside the doorway to listen once more. Hiro's guitar playing was really fantastic. He had created such an intricate melody for Shuichi's song, and the singer really couldn't understand how Hiro was unsatisfied with it. Some mild cursing came from within the room. "This has been such a horrible week!" Hiro exclaimed.
Poor Hiro. He really was having trouble with things. And those words. 'A horrible week'. Ryuichi was a part of that horrible week. Probably the part that had made it so horrible to begin with. The slender singer frowned.
The music stopped and started, and stopped again as Hiro aggravated himself by fumbling over the strings. The man waiting outside the door wasn't very willing to enter the room while Hiro was in such an unhappy state. "This is awful." Ryuichi muttered while taking a deep breath. "He is upset with me."
Hiro is so sexy while he plays the guitar though...
The singer quickly snapped out of his daze when a voice started calling him. Thank goodness he hadn't started drooling.
"Sakuma-san!" A perky Shuichi called, waving at his friend.
The singer in question just stared at the pink haired boy calling out his name. It would mean death (or something close to it) if Hiro found out he had been waiting here! And Shuichi was making so much noise!
Waving nothing more than a quick hello, Ryuichi turned and ran off, leaving a pack of confused onlookers.
*********************
"K was right, Sakuma-san sure is acting odd today," Shuichi commented, re- entering the studio where Hiro had been playing.
The previously solemn Hiro perked up at the words and asked, "Sakuma-san?"
Shuichi nodded, but was surprised as Hiro dashed to the open doorway.
Hiro took a deep breath. He hadn't noticed anyone there. Had Ryuichi been listening?
Hiro frowned as a near empty hallway stared back at him.
Pausing for a moment, the guitarist asked his confused band mates, "do you mind if I take a short break?"
Shuichi smiled. "No, go right ahead Hiro, you've been working hard."
Hiro hadn't even waited for the response. He set his guitar down and left the room as the others looked on with confused faces.
*****************
He remembered this hallway from last night. In fact, it felt like it was last night all over again. Well, sort of, at least. This time he knew what he wanted to see. Or rather, who he needed to see.
Hiro reached the room where Nittle Grasper was supposed to have been practicing and stuck his head in the doorway. Unfortunately, the only person in the room was Noriko, the female keyboardist for Ryuichi's band. Not quite who he was looking for.
Noriko looked up. "Hiya Hiro," she waved.
Hiro nodded a hello. "Is Sakuma-san around?
The purple haired girl shook her head, indicating a no. "Ryuichi went to take a break. He'll probably be back sometime soon if you want to sit down for a bit."
Taking the invitation Hiro sat on a plush leather sofa and stared around the room. Those bare walls again. The colour grey was really starting to get to him.
Desperately trying to calm his nerves, Hiro picked up a pile of sheets on the table a head of him.
Songs?
Noriko looked up as if reading Hiro's mind. "Those are the lyrics to Ryuichi's newest song. Believe it or not he wrote the whole thing this morning." She paused. "To be honest, I've never seen him write so quickly..."
Reading the lyrics Hiro suddenly felt sick with nervousness.
It was clear now that he couldn't stay. Looking up at the scantily clad woman, Hiro asked, "will you please tell him I stopped by? I have some things to do, and I'd rather not wait..."
If she had heard him, or nodded, or made any sort of gesture Hiro didn't notice, because he had to get out of that room. The butterflies had made another appearance.
"I can't chicken out again," Hiro muttered aloud. "But I can't sit in that room and wait either. I'm going to go crazy!"
Hiro approached the men's washroom and breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking forward to a splash of cold water, Hiro pushed open the door. He stopped short of entering, though, when a familiar voice filled the air.
Hiro froze the second he heard it.
"Kumagorou." It was Ryuichi.
The boy continued, unaware of the young man listening. "I'm stupid to like him aren't I? I'm stupid to think that he would want me too. I'm such a nuisance."
A small pause.
"So, I promise, from this day forward I will stop thinking about him...."
Hiro nearly choked.
Well. Who needs cold water?...
****************************
Thank you to all who have reviewed and emailed! Your reviews inspire me to keep going with this odd pairing. By the way.. I wrote this at 4am, so I hope it's not terrible. My writing skills aren't exactly at their peak here......
Crayon Maps
Chapter Three - "Violet"
***************
The studio hallways were full of life, so much unlike last night. What had been at one point a quiet, solitary building, was now a noisy meeting place, bustling with activity. Phones could be heard ringing from the open office doorways, people could be heard discussing the weather, and Shuichi, above all, could be heard shouting.
"Hiro? Hiro?!"
The pink haired singer stood in the middle of the active place, searching each and every person who even looked remotely like his best friend. However, seeing as he was unsuccessful with his hunt, Shuichi let out a loud wail.
"HIROOOOOOOOO??"
The voice echoed through the whole building causing everyone to stop and look at the source of all the ruckus, but Shuichi stood unaware of the attention. He was worried about his best friend. To be late was so unlike Hiro! He was the backbone of the band! If things were left up to Shuichi nothing would get done at all! The pink haired boy's eyes grew large and flooded with tears at the thought.
"HIROOOOOOOOO YOU HAVE TO COME AND HELP MEEEEEEEEE! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!" The cry came from a flurry of pink running laps around the building.
Distracted by the noise, a tall blonde American and a smaller Japanese man looked up.
"Shuichi, what's wrong?" It was Ryuichi who spoke.
The tornado paused in front of them and a soggy eyed Shuichi looked up.
"Hiro's LATE!"
K raised an eyebrow and spoke in a rather unconcerned voice. "Don't worry, Shuichi, I'm sure Hiro has a good reason."
The pink haired boy cut him off. "No, NO! Hiro's never late. Something's wrong! Maybe he's in trouble! Or.or...OH NO HE'S DEAD!" Shuichi slumped to the floor and sobbed.
K looked down at the odd scene.
"Shuichi," it was K again, "Hiro's not dead. He's just late."
Two watery blue orbs looked up. "Really?"
K nodded. "Really."
The Bad Luck singer paused for a moment as if considering K's words, but responded rather harshly.
"THEN WHY ISN'T HE HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?"
And K would have responded to the question if he didn't feel as if his eardrums had burst. Shuichi could be so loud sometimes. The blond man sighed and looked up. Hm? Something was missing.
"Hey, where'd Sakuma-san go?" A confused K questioned the pink haired singer.
"Huh? I didn't even see him go..."
K paused for a moment. "Ryuichi has been acting so odd this morning..." He let the thought drift as a voice called from behind them.
"Shuichi, shouldn't you be finishing off the new song?"
Shuichi turned to see a tall boy wearing a black leather jacket and dark jeans. Two blank eyes studied the source of the comment until finally accepting the boy as the actual Hiroshi Nakano. Success at last!
"HIROO!! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Shuichi leapt into the guitarist's arms.
"And you're heavy," Hiro groaned, losing his grip and dropping the small boy on the floor.
"Owww!" Shuichi stood up and looked at his friend. "Huh? Hiro, you don't look so good today. Are you sick?" A concerned Shuichi inquired.
Hiro's eyes looked up at the ceiling. "Um, no, I just didn't sleep well." At this particular moment Hiro wanted to hit himself for never being a good liar. However, with the bags under his eyes it probably wasn't so hard to believe that he had a sleepless night. He crossed his fingers and hoped that his best friend wouldn't see right through him.
Shuichi furrowed his eyebrows. "No, that's not it."
Hiro redirected an annoyed gaze towards Shuichi. "It's not?"
The pink haired one looked at his friend. "No, it's something else." A chibi sized Shuichi hugged his friend and, in his saddest and most innocent voice asked, "are you trying to hide something from your best friend?"
Hiro tried to walk off with Shuichi still pulling on his jacket. "It's nothing Shuichi, I just had a bad night. I don't want to talk about it."
Shuichi let go of his death grip and looked at his the auburn haired boy who was walking down the hallway. Hiro was acting strange. There was never a time when Hiro kept something from his best friend. Frowning now, Shuichi followed behind while carefully studying the guitarist. Yep. There was definitely something wrong. Now, one way or another, he just had to find out what.
*******************
The sounds of a practicing Bad Luck filled the studio, and, after about an hour and a half, it was due time for a break. In all that time the band had made very little progress. Someone wasn't quite keeping up.
Hiro looked down at his feet as his band mates rose to take their well needed rest.
"Hiro," Shuichi called, "aren't you going to come?"
Shaking his head no, Hiro responded. "I've got to catch up for lost time. We don't have a song at all if I can't finish it."
"Hiro...," the singer hesitated, "you stayed last night to work on it, you don't need to stay now."
A sigh escaped from a slightly irritated boy. "I'd like to work on it, Shuichi, it's all right."
Perhaps sensing the tension, Shuichi nodded and left Hiro to his desires. There really was no point in arguing. Hiro would tell him what was wrong eventually, right? For now, at least, there was no point in making Hiro feel worse.
******************
Thankful for the quiet time, Hiro sat alone in the studio again. The door was slightly ajar and the grey walls - those same grey walls - were mocking him once more.
He fiddled with the guitar strings while his mind drifted.
It wasn't as if he wanted to alienate his best friend. But, honestly, Hiro wasn't sure if he should tell Shuichi anything at all. At least not yet. He had given it some thought this morning as he rode his motorcycle to work. If he told Shuichi that he had a crush on Ryuichi, what would the singer think? What would he think about all those times they had slept over at each others houses? Would he suddenly realize that Hiro had been watching him? Staring at him? Would he finally realize that Hiro had liked him more than any girl? And then what? That could ruin everything.
Okay maybe he was blowing it out of proportion a little, but his concerns held *some* logic. He was afraid (again with the fears) that Shuichi might respond to this situation poorly. Besides, Shuichi didn't need to know for now, and Hiro didn't need to let his friend into every detail of his life.
Thinking back to the song now, Hiro let his fingers strum the guitar strings. He felt so stiff lately. Maybe the musician needed some distractions in his life. He remembered when he had told Shuichi to meet a girl, and, though the singer hadn't taken the advice word for word, it seemed to have made a difference. And Ryuichi was so cute with his big innocent eyes and vulnerable qualities...
Hiro nearly slapped himself. He couldn't fall in love with the famed singer. He had just walked out on the guy, and then he had walked out on him! (Oh it was such a mess!) Although, he thought for a moment, maybe he shouldn't have. Maybe he should have accepted the advances and swallowed his fears. Why did he have to be so weak? So scared? And Ryuichi, with those eyes, Hiro nearly drooled at the thought of those eyes which had looked at him so seductively, so.....
Oh dear Lord. He was doing it again. His mind wanted so desperately to focus on the small body that Hiro had spent a rather awkward night with. If only he could touch him again.. His lips had been so soft...
Hiro sighed and mentally told his thoughts to shut up. He had a song to finish.
******************
Ryuichi Sakuma strode lightly down the well lit hall with a small pink bunny along side him. It felt good to get out of the cramped quarters where he had been scribbling out a new song. He really wasn't in the mood to do his usual favourite things, like colouring and drawing. On a normal day that would make him happy, but today was hardly normal.
Today his mind kept drifting to a certain someone. It frequently had, really, at least ever since the day he had seen Hiro playing guitar alongside his best friend on stage, but today his mind had replaced his usual fantasies with the depressing reality. Hiro could never be his. Why would Hiro like him, when he was barely anything more than a child most of the time? Ryuichi would just be a burden to someone who was always busy trying to improve things. He would just be in the way.
Ryuichi's hand gripped tighter around Kumagorou's arm. He really wanted to apologize to Hiro for the mess he had caused, but he was uncertain if he could gather the courage. And it would take so much courage!
As the Nittle Grasper singer came closer to Bad Luck's practice room, he began to hear a familiar tune as it swept across the hallway. Hiro was playing the song again - the one he and Kumagorou had listened to and enjoyed last night without permission. The one he had imagined Hiro playing for him.
Ryuichi paused beside the doorway to listen once more. Hiro's guitar playing was really fantastic. He had created such an intricate melody for Shuichi's song, and the singer really couldn't understand how Hiro was unsatisfied with it. Some mild cursing came from within the room. "This has been such a horrible week!" Hiro exclaimed.
Poor Hiro. He really was having trouble with things. And those words. 'A horrible week'. Ryuichi was a part of that horrible week. Probably the part that had made it so horrible to begin with. The slender singer frowned.
The music stopped and started, and stopped again as Hiro aggravated himself by fumbling over the strings. The man waiting outside the door wasn't very willing to enter the room while Hiro was in such an unhappy state. "This is awful." Ryuichi muttered while taking a deep breath. "He is upset with me."
Hiro is so sexy while he plays the guitar though...
The singer quickly snapped out of his daze when a voice started calling him. Thank goodness he hadn't started drooling.
"Sakuma-san!" A perky Shuichi called, waving at his friend.
The singer in question just stared at the pink haired boy calling out his name. It would mean death (or something close to it) if Hiro found out he had been waiting here! And Shuichi was making so much noise!
Waving nothing more than a quick hello, Ryuichi turned and ran off, leaving a pack of confused onlookers.
*********************
"K was right, Sakuma-san sure is acting odd today," Shuichi commented, re- entering the studio where Hiro had been playing.
The previously solemn Hiro perked up at the words and asked, "Sakuma-san?"
Shuichi nodded, but was surprised as Hiro dashed to the open doorway.
Hiro took a deep breath. He hadn't noticed anyone there. Had Ryuichi been listening?
Hiro frowned as a near empty hallway stared back at him.
Pausing for a moment, the guitarist asked his confused band mates, "do you mind if I take a short break?"
Shuichi smiled. "No, go right ahead Hiro, you've been working hard."
Hiro hadn't even waited for the response. He set his guitar down and left the room as the others looked on with confused faces.
*****************
He remembered this hallway from last night. In fact, it felt like it was last night all over again. Well, sort of, at least. This time he knew what he wanted to see. Or rather, who he needed to see.
Hiro reached the room where Nittle Grasper was supposed to have been practicing and stuck his head in the doorway. Unfortunately, the only person in the room was Noriko, the female keyboardist for Ryuichi's band. Not quite who he was looking for.
Noriko looked up. "Hiya Hiro," she waved.
Hiro nodded a hello. "Is Sakuma-san around?
The purple haired girl shook her head, indicating a no. "Ryuichi went to take a break. He'll probably be back sometime soon if you want to sit down for a bit."
Taking the invitation Hiro sat on a plush leather sofa and stared around the room. Those bare walls again. The colour grey was really starting to get to him.
Desperately trying to calm his nerves, Hiro picked up a pile of sheets on the table a head of him.
Songs?
Noriko looked up as if reading Hiro's mind. "Those are the lyrics to Ryuichi's newest song. Believe it or not he wrote the whole thing this morning." She paused. "To be honest, I've never seen him write so quickly..."
Reading the lyrics Hiro suddenly felt sick with nervousness.
It was clear now that he couldn't stay. Looking up at the scantily clad woman, Hiro asked, "will you please tell him I stopped by? I have some things to do, and I'd rather not wait..."
If she had heard him, or nodded, or made any sort of gesture Hiro didn't notice, because he had to get out of that room. The butterflies had made another appearance.
"I can't chicken out again," Hiro muttered aloud. "But I can't sit in that room and wait either. I'm going to go crazy!"
Hiro approached the men's washroom and breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking forward to a splash of cold water, Hiro pushed open the door. He stopped short of entering, though, when a familiar voice filled the air.
Hiro froze the second he heard it.
"Kumagorou." It was Ryuichi.
The boy continued, unaware of the young man listening. "I'm stupid to like him aren't I? I'm stupid to think that he would want me too. I'm such a nuisance."
A small pause.
"So, I promise, from this day forward I will stop thinking about him...."
Hiro nearly choked.
Well. Who needs cold water?...
****************************
