There were times when people would have an off day, when it was best to just leave them be because you knew it would pass. After all, it was just an off day. Then there were times when someone seemed so out of it and upset that you just knew something was wrong - something that would not simply 'just pass'. They say when people respond with an 'it's nothing' is when it's worst of all. It's so bad that they don't even bother talking about it; they accept the fact that whatever they're down about won't simply go away with a nice chat with a friend.

Suguru was always an observant person. He could tell when those around him displayed even the most minuscule signs of being uncomfortable or upset, and was almost always correct about those observations. Precisely why when he spoke to Ken, he knew something was wrong.

He had not been distant; he went out of his way to stop by Bad Luck's studio in order to give Suguru the spare apartment keys he had forgot to take as he left in the morning. He had even given him a kiss on the cheek, which is not something he does often in front of people, much less Suguru's band mates. However, Suguru noticed something was slightly off about him - about the way he moved. From the manner in which he addressed the room down to the way he kissed Suguru on the cheek; it was all different.

He had normally taken to saying 'hello' to everyone in the studio before making his way to Suguru, but instead he gave everyone a small - barely noticeable - nod. Instead of looking down and smiling at Suguru after giving him a light kiss, he merely placed the keys in his hands and turned away. It was as if he were trying to mask his bad mood by trying to act normal, but instead came off as robotic. Suguru saw how unnatural his movements were. He seemed defeated - a body moving out of habit as opposed to being driven by some sort of emotion.

Suguru had made the decision to speak with him later, when they were both done with work. And now here he stood, arms crossed, eyes boring holes into his boyfriend's face, waiting for him to say something - anything.

"I'm fine," he said. His gaze lingered on Suguru for a moment, eyes unreadable behind his shades, before going back to the sheet music he had in his hands.

The simple reply made Suguru feel uneasy. When Ken did not want to be confronted about something, he would get angry - sometimes so angry he would yell. That's what Suguru had been expecting. Instead, he received this simple 'I'm fine' suggesting that maybe he just didn't care. He was not fine - he knew it.

After Ken gathered all his sheet music he tucked it away in a red folder, which he then tucked under his arm. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked down at him. "I'll see you at home. Okay?" He seemed to want conformation that the conversation was over.

Suguru was not ready to end said conversation, though. "You don't look fine at all, Ken-chan. I'm not trying to be your psychologist or anything - I just want to know what's wrong." He spoke sternly, trying to relay through words how serious he was being.

Ken sighed lightly. "I'll see you at home," he said as he brushed passed Suguru. The younger male was so speechless and frustrated that he could do nothing but stare as Ken walked out the door.

'What the hell was that?' Arms still crossed, his fingers dug into the sleeves of his dress shirt. 'He's always doing this'. Every so often Ken would be in a bad mood, just like everyone else, but his moods were just depressing to witness. Some days he would stare out the window or off into space, or sometimes he would just disappear as if avoiding everyone else. He would never talk about it, and when confronted he would change the subject or act infuriatingly calm. It now finally reached the work place; Suguru only wanted what was best for Ken - if he let it get to him at work it could mean serious trouble for him. He was only trying to help, but he swore Ken didn't want it.

'Fuck him, then'. Suguru shook his head of the thought before taking a seat in front of Ken's keyboard. He hadn't even bothered to take it with him like he always did.

He played a few random notes in an attempt to calm himself down, but his thoughts continued to drift back to Ken, and how he constantly blew him off whenever he asked him what was wrong. Suguru tried so hard to make him happy, but it seemed as if Ken was only happy being miserable. "Fuck him!" He slammed his fist against his lap, having avoided the keyboard at the last second.

Suguru took a deep breath as he stared down at his closed fist, surprised by his outburst. He rarely lost his composure because he always felt stronger when he controlled himself, but he had to admit that it felt good to let out that bit of steam. More importantly, he was not as angry as he had been a second ago.

"Someone's having a bad day."

Suguru's heart skipped a beat at the sudden intrusion of another presence in the room. Aizawa Taki stood at the other side of the room, a jacket slung over his shoulder. He could have sworn he had seen that same black jacket upon first entering the room, and the door behind him was closed. Just how long had he been there?

Suguru tapped a couple of keys on the instrument and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, trying to appear aloof. "Everyone is bound to have at least one. Aren't you done for the day?"

"Left my jacket," he replied simply.

A loud crackling sound resonated outside right before the room lit up brighter than it was before. Shortly after, the sounds of heavy raindrops was heard pelting the sides of the windows.

Aizawa sighed. "Fuck, I hate rain." Suguru's eyes shifted to the vocalist as he made his way to the other side of the room, grabbing an umbrella that had been stashed away in an umbrella stand. After making his way back to the front room, he glanced back at Suguru, who failed to realize he had been watching him the whole time. "You'll get used to it," he said.

Suguru arched a brow, wondering where that statement came from. "Pardon?"

"Ken-chan being this way."

Suguru's fingers halted over the keyboard. "You noticed?" He had known something was wrong only because he was simply good at reading people. In anyone else's eyes, Ken was acting perfectly normal, if only a bit off. At least, he thought so.

Aizawa laughed wryly as he slipped his arms into his jacket. "Of course I noticed. I've known him since high-school."

Hastily, Suguru asked, "What the hell is wrong with him?"

Aizawa shrugged after getting his jacket on. "I don't know, honestly."

Suguru's shoulders slumped. He had hoped that his best friend would at least know. He considered seeking out Ma-kun and asking him if he knew. "Have you tried asking him?"

Aizawa's brows furrowed. "Have you tried asking him?"

Suguru could not help but laugh sardonically. Apparently, he was not the only one to suffer Ken's wrath for trying to find out what was going through his head. The laughing ended with a light sigh, his lips pulling downward into a frown. "I just...if something's wrong then he should say so."

"Ma-kun and I thought you would be the one to finally get him to open up about these...off days."

Suguru looked up at Aizawa, surprised by the admission. He always got the impression that Aizawa thought their relationship would not last. He did not speak to him often as he did Ma-kun - he guessed because he was a member of Bad Luck - but whenever they did he always felt as if he were waiting for the two to break up. Maybe he was just acting as if he did not care?

"You what?"

The older male buttoned up his jacket before pulling out a pair of gloves from the pockets. He slipped them on one after the other. "It's been a few months and the only change I see is that he has yet to show up on my doorstep at one in the morning smashed out of his mind. Maybe you're actually doing something."

Suguru stood up from behind the keyboard, his eyes not leaving Aizawa. His brain was working now, piecing together events in his head along with what he was hearing at the moment. Then it hit him, along with a wave of dread at the possibility of what he was thinking. "Do you think - maybe he's depressed?"

Aizawa looked mildly surprised. Suguru guessed that he never once came to that conclusion. "I...guess so. I always just assumed he let the pressure of the band get to him more often but-"

"I need to go home and talk to him." He knew he would catch hell from K for leaving work without so much as a warning, but he had to talk to Ken. If there was even the slightest chance that something was bothering him so much that he would get depressed, he had to know as soon as possible. Maybe he could get him to see someone?

The room was silent as the two stood there, the only sounds being the storm coming from outside. Eventually, Aizawa spoke.

"Uh...look, you don't drive or anything, right? I'll give you a ride."

Aizawa was just full of surprises today. First he bothered to stop and 'comfort' him, in his own way, and now he was offering him a ride. "You don't have-"

"Ken-chan's place is only a few blocks from Ma-kun's and I promised that idiot I'd give him a ride anyway. It's faster." He nodded his head towards the door. "Come on."

Suguru gave in. He wanted to get home as soon as possible, and riding with ASK was faster than taking two buses and a train in this storm. As Suguru followed Aizawa out the door, the older man added, "Besides, I know how much relationships can suck."