Title: Maybe, This Time

Disclaimer: …I don't even draw. How could I own this unless I did?

Summary: (sequel to "Bye Bye Baby") In America Suguru tried to leave everything behind. In Japan Hiro couldn't let go of what had been. What happens when Suguru returns to Bad Luck?

Author's Notes: And here, everybody, is the song/chapter that inspired this whole crazy thing. Love it. LOVE IT.

Chapter 4: Don't Ask Me

"Quit acting so friendly. Don't nod, don't laugh all nicely. Don't think you'll upend me."

Suguru left his house earlier than he would have usually. He had the stuff Tohma had given him (that list of all those people who tried to take his place and failed), the Bad Luck albums that had been produced while he had been gone (which, admittedly, were not the best stuff Bad Luck had ever done), and stuff with which he could write out notes or start composing. Maybe, with all that stuff and the calm he was trying to gather from his early walk, he would be able to handle his first meeting with Hiro in a year.

…It was worth a try, he figured, though his stomach was already jumping nervously about.

He got to NG Studios and hunted down the room Bad Luck was using, completely ignoring the coy smiles he got from the secretaries he asked. Eyes seemed to follow him as he walked through the building and it made his skin prickle, but he simply continued to ignore the attention. There, there was the room the secretary had named off. It was a simple little conference room and it would have absolutely nothing in it but the members of a band he had left behind. He opened the door…and it was like a punch to the stomach.

Shuichi was sprawled in one chair, feet kicked up onto the table. His hands were flailing about as he chattered on inanely about something or other, eyes bright and grin wide. His hair seemed a lighter shade of pink than before, but what did Suguru really know? Sakano was sitting a few chairs away from the singer, nodding to whatever Shuichi was saying and taking notes every few seconds on the papers in front of him. He was still the same prim and proper man from before, but now the grey in his hair was actually visible.

And then there was Hiro. His hair was longer than before, but his smile was still the same. However, he looked tired and there was something shadowed about his expression. Despite everything that had happened, despite the pain of heartbreak (or maybe because of it), Suguru just wanted to go over there and wash away whatever worries Hiro had; that desire was fierce, an almost physical need.

Sakano was the one that looked up to him. "Ah, Fujisaki-san," he said, a slight smile on his face. "It's a pleasure that you're rejoining Bad Luck once more."

"Good to see you too," Suguru murmured and hesitantly glanced over to his colleagues.

Shuichi looked just about ready to launch himself out of his chair. Hiro's smile was brighter, the shadowed expression vanished in the happiness present, a fact that made his face warm. K, however, choose just that moment to kick in the door and shoot. Out of pure conditioning, all three band members froze in their place.

The maniacal grin K wore widened when he saw Suguru. "Good thing that you're here, Fujisaki! We need to get going!" Gun cocked, K said, "Let's go you three, to the car! We have a slot at ten!"

Ushering them out with the threat of being shot, Sakano was the one who actually turned and said, "K-san, what are you talking about?"

"Television!" K shouted as they walked through the building, his gun shining threateningly in the light. "For the reunion of the true Bad Luck!" Sakano didn't even try to protest; he simply sighed and allowed them all to be pushed to the car.

Unfortunately, it was K that took the driver's seat, Sakano in the passenger's. The members of Bad Luck were pushed into the back seat, Suguru somehow getting wedged into the middle. As K sped away from NG Studios, Shuichi wrapped Suguru into a bone-crushing hug. "Fujisaki! How was America? You didn't get stuck with anybody crazy right?"

Suguru actually smiled at his idiot of a colleague. "I have all the crazy here. Nobody in America can beat it."

Shuichi laughed. "You should have seen some of the people we had to deal with. None of them were as good as you."

"Thanks. I listened to some of the stuff and…" Suguru paused, took in Shuichi's expectant expression. "The synthesizer work was…not good."

Shuichi blew out a sigh. "I know what you mean. Tohma would give us someone and they would just suck or be scared of K or something."

"Be scared of K?" Suguru's laugh was edging on insane. "Who would be like that?"

Snickering into his hand, Shuichi said, "Someone sane?" They laughed together, and it was as if they had somehow finally understood each other.

Then K did a crazy swerve and Suguru was thrown to the side—into Hiro. Hiro was broad and warm against him and it was so wonderfully familiar that Suguru didn't even want to move. However, he had to move. He tried to push away, but Hiro's hands were low on his back, holding him safe.

Suguru swallowed and looked up. "Hello, Hiroshi-san." There. Formality was a good thing; it would keep him distant.

There was the flash of a frown, but then a nervous smile was there, taking its place. "It's Hiro, Suguru. You know that." And, damn him, there were emotions in those dark eyes, keeping hold of Suguru.

Suguru pushed himself firmly away and got out of that enticing hold. "Of course, Hiroshi-san." The irritated look that graced Hiro's face soothed some still hurt part of him.

"So you liked working for XMR?" Hiro asked.

Suguru wanted to lie, see what saying he loved XMR and hated coming back to NG did to Hiro. Instead, he told the truth. "It was okay. The people were nice enough, but none could match the challenge of trying to decipher Shindou-san's scribbles."

Hiro grinned and it sent a flutter of warmth through Suguru. "Yeah, I know what you mean. The new people we got had no idea what to do when faced with that." He laughed, low under his breath.

K took another maniacal turn and Suguru was thrown once more into Hiro. They were so close; here Suguru could see every shade of dark brown in those expressive eyes, see the flicker of every passionate emotion in that face, see the curve of lush mouth. If he just leaned up the slightest bit…

Frantically, Suguru scrambled away from Hiro. He wasn't going to go down that road again. One broken heart was enough, wasn't it? Shouldn't he have learned his lesson?

The car screeched to a stop. K pulled them out of the car and dragged them into the building.

Hiro was pushed from the room into the hallway by the madly grinning make-up artist. Outside the door K rolled his eyes and pulled him down the hallway, Shuichi and Suguru following them. Sakano was still talking, going on about what exactly they could tell the interviewer "Just Call Me Aiko-san".

Subtly, Hiro tried to look behind him at Suguru. They had been doing well enough in the car; Suguru had been actually talking to him without any sort of qualm. And then Suguru had fallen against him and completely freaked, it seemed. Did Suguru just hate him that much? It seemed so, especially with how he was once more "Hiroshi-san". At least it wasn't Nakano-san anymore, he figured.

Aiko-san, a woman with dyed hair, way too much make-up, and a too-bright smile, pulled them from K. Grinning, K cocked his gun and held it high from offstage, Sakano sweating behind him. A few aides arranged them in the chairs next to Aiko-san's, a person made a few hand signals behind the camera, and then they were rolling.

Aiko-san smiled cheerily at the camera. "Good morning, Japan. Today I'm here with one of the most famous pop/rock groups of today: Bad Luck!" There was a swell of applause from the audience. Another fake, syrupy-sweet smile from Aiko-san. "And today we get to talk to the band about the loss and comeback of their synth-player, Fujisaki Suguru."

Hiro glanced over enough to see Suguru's paper-thin smile.

Lacing her fingers, Aiko-san shifted so she was facing them. It was Shuichi that was closest to her. "Shindou-san, what can you tell us about your past year without Fujisaki-san?"

Shuichi pulled a face. "The people we got to be the keyboardist were crazy." As Aiko-san's smile froze, there was a roll of laughter from the audience. "And they weren't as good as Fujisaki here."

Aiko-san gulped and licked her made-up lips. "As we can all see by your descent in the charts." She pulled a serious expression on, though it was very exaggerated. "Does a band really depend that much on a keyboardist?"

Appropriately, Shuichi looked horrified. "Of course. Everyone counts!" He pointed a finger triumphantly. "Everyone needs to work in a band or else it fails!" And, yep, he was standing, one arm akimbo, the other raised defiantly.

Aiko-san, the poor woman, twitched and let out a soft titter. "Of course," she repeated faintly. Then she turned her eyes to Hiro. "And you, Nakano-san? What do you say about that?"

As Shuichi glared at her, Hiro answered. "Well, Shuichi's right. Every part of a band needs to work together. A band is like a machine. One part fails and the product doesn't come out right."

Nodding, Aiko-san turned to Suguru. Hiro almost wanted to shake her from the predatory look she fixed on Suguru. "Fujisaki-san, what can you tell us about your leaving from Bad Luck a year ago? There are a lot of rumors out there…" and she trailed off with a slight giggle.

Suguru raised one eyebrow at her. He did not look pleased, and that made Hiro hold back laughter. "I was offered a transfer to XMR. It seemed like a good idea at the time." Suguru was skilled at this, offering the truth without really saying anything. He must have learned it from Tohma.

Aiko-san, however, looked frustrated. "What made you think it seemed like a good idea?"

Suguru's mouth tipped down in a frown. "Personal issues," he bit out and gave her a razor-sharp smile. Any laughter Hiro had died. Had…had the break-up had anything to do with those "personal issues"? Did Hiro have any chance at all at furthering anything with Suguru? Was friendship even a possibility anymore?

Aiko-san pursed her mouth and narrowed her eyes. "And why decide to come back to Bad Luck then?"

"XMR, while a good company, just wasn't right for me. Seguchi-san offered me my old position back and I accepted." Another thin-lipped smile from Suguru.

Aiko-san forced on a bright smile. "Of course." She turned her gaze back to the camera. "And that's all the time we have for today. Keep an eye out for Bad Luck's new music. Have a good day, Japan!" And people started moving and shouting as they stopped rolling.

The bright smile on Aiko-san's face died as she turned to Suguru. "'Personal issues'?" she hissed, stalking up to him.

Rage spun lightening quick through Hiro. Suguru took care of the problem however. "That was my answer," he said calmly. "It's none of your business why I left. It is none of Japan's business why I left. Deal with it."

Aiko-san looked ready to kill. She also looked ready to open her stupid mouth and say something else, but Hiro actually stepped forward. "He answered you, didn't he? Leave him alone."

Hiro caught the glance Suguru threw at him, but then people moved and Suguru disappeared. K sidled up to them, gun gleaming brightly under the studio lights. "Now, now, Aiko-san, we won't have a problem, will we?" The gun cocked and Aiko-san paled. She stuttered out apologies and quickly backed away, vanishing in the crowd.

K started ushering them away from the stage. Shuichi glanced around. "Hey," he called. "Where's Fujisaki?"

Hiro looked. Suguru was still gone. K twirled his gun. "Tohma was here to see the segment. He wanted to talk to Fujisaki, I think." There was a moment of panic, but Suguru was well-equipped to deal with his family. At least, Hiro hoped he was.