Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Gravitation.

Warnings: This story contains SLASH (male/male relationships). If this offends or bothers anyone, do not read this story.

Summary: This is the story of how Harry and Hiro fell in love before the beginning of "Withering Rose"

Crystal Flowers

Chapter Six

Harry stared at the man sitting across from him with a look that promised a painful death. How dare that bottle-blonde sit there and tell him that he's adding him to a band! Harry had signed on as a solo artist, not to be in some band! Tohma had really stepped in it this time.

"No," he refused stubbornly, his arms crossed over his chest.

The blonde-haired man steeped his fingers together under his chin and met the singer's glare with equal force. "I don't believe I gave you a choice, Mr. Potter."

"I don't care if you did or not, Blondie! I'm not joining a fucking band!"

Tohma's face hardened at the small singer's words. He really hated the nickname Ryuichi's cousin had given him. "Mr. Potter, I will ask you," he stressed the word 'asked', letting Harry know that it was an order and not a request, "once again to stop referring to me by that name."

Harry gave him the finger.

Tohma had had enough and slammed his hands hard against his desk as he quickly stood up from his chair. "I've had quite enough of your emo-boy-piss-everyone-off attitude!" he snapped. "You're not the only person in this world who has problems," he hissed at the combative teen, who stared at the man with wide eyes for his outburst. However, Harry's shock didn't last long.

Eyes frosting over, he had done had enough of the blonde's power trips. "I don't know who you think you are, but you can't and won't throw your power around me and get your way." The blonde opened his mouth to argue with the singer, but Harry cut him off before he could utter a single word. "Yes, you are my cousin's best friend. Yes, you are my boss. Yes, you are my best friend's cousin. But you are not God, nor are you in as much control of the world as you think." His voice lowered to a deadly whisper as he continued. "There's too much in this world that you know absolutely nothing about."

Tohma stared at the singer with slightly widened eyes, completely surprised by the singer's calm, dangerous attitude. Only Mika and Eiri had ever spoken to him in such a way.

Slowly composing himself, Tohma's face hardened into his usual cold mask. "Get out of my office, Mr. Potter." His voice was low but firm.

The singer did as instructed, pivoted on his heel, and headed toward the door. Looking back after he reached the door, he couldn't help but think he had crossed the line this time. After all Tohma had done for him, no matter how shady he had gone about it, Harry had pretty much slapped him in the face. Tohma was not that bad of a guy, really. He was family to both his cousin and his best friend and he had bent over backwards to help Harry, especially with his Japanese lessons. Oh, he did not understand the language fluently, but he knew enough to get by now.

Knowing he screwed up, Harry whispered a soft and quick, "I'm sorry," as he exited the room, softly shutting the wooden door behind him.

Tohma sat at his desk in a state of shock at the young man's whispered apology. He knew Harry made it a point to never apologize for anything. When the blonde-haired president had asked why, the singer had responded that apologies were empty unless the person was truly regretful. Harry claimed that he never regretted things he did. Until now, apparently.


Suguru watched worriedly as his friend dragged himself into the studio, everything about his demeanor screaming that he was upset. Honestly, he was not sure what to do for the singer. The only person he knew that got emotional as much as Harry was Shindo, and Nakano dealt with him. Shooting a meaningful look at his red-haired band mate, Suguru silently begged the guitarist for help. The red-haired man must have understood, because he nodded and rose from his seat and started in the singer's direction.

The keyboardist wondered if Nakano had gotten any further in his English studies. The moment he confessed that Harry didn't know Japanese and only spoke English, both Shindo and Nakano had been learning English. Honestly, the idiots should have realized that when his friend stared blankly at them whenever they spoke to him. Then again, he always said those two shared a brain. Nakano had, luckily enough, inherited the genius portion of it. Still, he lacked common sense at times.

'No,' he scolded himself, 'Most people just don't realize that there are other languages spoken besides one's one.' It was true. If you lived in Japan, people assumed you knew the language. It was the same where Harry was from, too. 'Thank heavens for strict, overbearing parents that made me learn several languages,' he found himself thinking.

"Are you alright?" Harry's head snapped up at the thick accent, his eyes narrowing at the unfamiliar voice. Hiro automatically threw his hands up in defense. "I'm sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

Harry sighed, almost wishing Suguru hadn't spilled his secret. He almost liked people thinking he was just stuck-up and cold. "No, it's alright." he waved off the older man's apology and waved his hand at the empty seat next to him. "You might as well sit down."

The red head nodded and smiled gratefully, glad that the singer wasn't sending him away. It was well known around NG that Ryuichi's cousin didn't associate with anyone but Ryuichi, Suguru, Noriko and Tohma. He had even seen the singer with Mika, Tohma's wife, on occasion. They acted as if they were close, but he learned long ago that you couldn't judge a book by its cover.

"Did Suguru send you to deal with me?" Harry asked as soon as the guitarist's bottom hit the chair.

Hiro snorted and nodded his head. "How did you know?"

"Because he hates dealing with emotional people," the singer answered, pushing a stray curl out of his eyes. "He's a good friend, but he doesn't know how to handle people when they're being emotional."

"Oh."

Hiro took a moment to study the younger man. He knew from what Fujisaki had told him that Harry was three years younger than him and Shuichi. He was Fujisaki's age, which made him eighteen. The singer barely stood five foot tall, had a thin and lithe body, emerald green eyes, a head of dark, messy curls and an odd scar on his forehead. He asked Fujisaki about it, and the keyboardist nearly ripped his head off for asking. Sakuma-san had been a bit less volatile when he asked him. His cousin's parents were murdered when Harry was young. The murderer gave him that scar. That's all the older singer would tell him.

Harry's thoughts were along the same but very different lines as Hiro's were. He couldn't keep his eyes off the guitarist's sapphire blue eyes or his deep auburn hair that hung passed his shoulders in waves. Hiro was quite a bit taller than he was. The man towered a good ten inches over him. In a way, it made him feel a bit insecure. He hated being so tiny. 'But malnutrition will do that to you,' he grumbled.

"So," Harry blinked and blushed when he realized he'd been staring. Hiro smirked, glad that he caught the singer checking him out. "Will you reconsider going out with me?" the red head asked.

Harry frowned at the man. Ever since Hiro began learning English, he'd taken to asking Harry out on dates. Harry had told him time and time again that he didn't want to date anyone, but he just didn't seem to get it. 'Damn you, Suguru!" his mind screamed. That damn, backstabbing jerk must've blabbed that he had a crush on Hiro. He felt touched that Hiro was learning English just to communicate with him, but that didn't mean he had to date the man.

"I'm sorry, but no." he finally answered and turned his head toward the wall.

"Why?" the red head demanded stubbornly.

Harry honestly did not have a reason. He simply didn't want any becoming involved in his hectic and secretive life. Ryuichi had found out his secrets because of an accident.

"Why?" Hiro repeated, snapping the singer from his thoughts.

Turning around to face the guitarist, Harry's eyes softened at the confusion he saw in his eyes. "Because I'm just not ready to date again," admitted softly. "The last time I dated, things didn't end well." Okay, so it was a white lie, but Hiro had no need to know that Cedric died because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"So you won't date anyone because you're afraid things will end badly?" Hiro asked in a low tone. Harry nodded slowly, confused. "You're an idiot."

"What?!" the singer asked stupidly before his lips dropped into a scowl. "What gives you the right to call me an idiot?" he snapped, glaring at the taller man.

Instead of answering the question, Hiro got up and began walking away, but Harry followed quickly behind him.

"Don't think you can insult me and then just walk away, you fucking asshole!" he screamed, causing Shuichi and Suguru to stop their work and take notice of the two.

Hiro stopped and turned to face the singer. "I didn't insult you, midget. I simply told the truth."

"M-Midget! How dare you!"

"Yes, how dare I." Hiro mocked. "I'm terribly sorry for insulting your below average, midget size."

Hiro never saw it coming, until the slap connected with the side of his face. "Don't EVER insult my intelligence or my height again," Harry hissed dangerously. "If you suffered the things I have, then you would understand."

Hiro stood holding his cheek, his shocked eyes trained on the shorter man. Shuichi had punched him in the face before, but somehow, Harry's slap hurt a lot more. It was more than the insult against his height, Hiro was sure. Hiro could almost physically feel the pain radiating from the singer. 'I really fucked up this time,' he thought. 'Good job, Hiro! What a way to make someone date you.'

From the side, Shuichi and Suguru stood in shock at what had just happened. Suguru knew his friend was volatile and emotional, but he'd never seen him act this way before now. He didn't understand why Harry had gone off like that either. He teased Harry about his height all the time. Ryuichi did as well. There was something he was missing, and he didn't like it. And what had Harry meant when he said Nakano had insulted his intelligence? He hadn't heard anything of the sort. Still, Harry wouldn't have resorted to physical violence unless he'd been provoked. Suguru didn't know the reason, but he knew his friend hated violence in any manner.

Shuichi, on the other hand, thought he'd just met his new best friend. Only he'd ever smacked Hiro like that and gotten away with it. Harry was one hell of a firecracker, that was for sure. He liked him. Shuichi thought Harry and Hiro would make a good couple, if they'd both get over themselves and go on a date. He didn't know why, but Harry constantly turned his friend down whenever he asked him out. And Hiro pushed too hard whenever there was something he wanted. He needed to let up a bit and let things happen on their own. Like when he met Eiri three years ago. Their relationship had been extremely rocky at first, but they made it through. Eiri had tried pushing him away so many times, but the writer soon learned that he wasn't going anywhere. Still, even the antisocial singer had to admit that learning English just to communicate with him was sweet.

Another thing concerning Harry that awed Shuichi was that he was more talented than his older cousin, and that was saying something. Ryuichi was his god, but Harry had ten times more talent. His voice was enchanting and dark but soft and light all at once. He made you feel every emotion he felt whenever he performed. It'd only been a few months since 'Missing' hit the music front, and the fans couldn't get enough of it.

Even though I'm the sacrifice,

You won't try for me, not now.

Though I'd die to know you love me,

I'm all alone.

Isn't someone missing me?

That song had been the reason Shuichi began learning English better. He wanted to know what the singer meant. He knew he drove Eiri insane by playing the single over and over, but he loved the song. Harry's voice entrapped him and made him listen to the song. He couldn't wait to hear what songs Harry had on his first official album. No matter what the singer recorded, Shuichi knew he'd buy it. 'Hehehe... or just have Eiri get me a free copy from Tohma,' he giggled to himself.

Redirecting his attention toward his best friend and Harry, Shuichi wondered how Hiro would get himself out of this new mess. It even pissed him off when Hiro insulted his height or intelligence. He could see Harry's mouth moving, but he couldn't hear the words coming out of his mouth. They seemed very harsh, because Hiro cringed several times and eventually hung his head before the singer stormed out of the room. Shuichi sighed heavily. 'Time for damage control.' Honestly, and people thought he was clueless at times!

"Hiro, you really fucked up this time," he said as soon as he reached his friend's side.

Hiro shot him a look at that. "You're not helping, Shu."

The pink-haired singer shrugged innocently. "Then you shouldn't have insulted him."

"That's the thing, though. I didn't mean to."

"Well, what did you say?" the singer asked.

"I asked him why he wouldn't go out with me and he said that things didn't work out with his last boyfriend. So, I said he was an idiot," Hiro explained and began to worry at the look Shuichi gave him.

"Hiro, for being a genius, you sure are an idiot at times." The singer sighed and shook his head. "Maybe he's still not over him?" he tried.

Hiro's face fell at his friend's words. "You know, I didn't even think of that," he moaned. "God, I'm such an ass!"

Shuichi reached up and patted his friend's shoulder in sympathy. "It's alright, Hiro. I'm sure he'll calm down and give you chance to explain yourself."

"You think so?" Hiro asked hopefully.

A/N: Hey, guys! I'm sorry that this chapter is short, but I'm working two full-time jobs, so I barely have time to write anymore. I'm hoping to have the next chapter done in a couple of weeks, but no promises. For all of you that read the sequel, you'll notice that I changed a couple of things. I never specified in the sequel how Harry and Hiro overcame their language barrier, so you can't flame me for that one. Harry did seem a bit violent in this chapter, but bite me! It's my story, so I don't care! I need to make something perfectly clear to all of you. I write to relieve stress and for fun. Whenever writing becomes more stressful than my everyday life, then that's the day I stop writing for good. That's a warning to all of you that e-mail me to ask when I'm updating a certain story or to bitch that I haven't updated a certain story yet. I write as time allows. Like I stated earlier, I work two full-time jobs and I do have a life outside of writing. I have friends and family that need my attention, as well. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Until next we meet; cheers!