Disclaimer- gravitation is not mine.
Warnings-same.
Notes- Hi! I'm back! Sorry its been so long! It seems that I've gotten into the habit of splitting my chapters up. I'll try to break it. Also, I was worried that I might've dissapointed a lot of people with my last chapter, 'cause Tatsuha did'nt get into the concert. But I knew people would expect him to get in and I wanted it to be different. I hope this chapter makes up for it. Enjoy!
(Chapter 5: What's in a name?)
The light of a new day should have warmed and melted any lingering cold and lonely thoughts in his mind, however everything was dark. All Tatsuha could see was black. His eyes were no longer of any use to him, but his ears still heard everything loud and clear. The streets were busy and the people around him were going about their daily lives. In every direction there was sound. Shouts, laughter, crying, talking,…he could hear all types of conversations. The cars on the street were very noisy, and the sidewalk he walked on was crowded. Life was zooming past him as usual, he just couldn't see it.
Tatsuha was afraid of stumbling, so he held one of his arms out in front of him to keep from bumping into anything. His other arm was being pulled by Shuichi.
"I'm sorry about what happened last night, Tatsuha."
Tatsuha heard Shuichi's voice from amongst several others, and realized how sincere it was.
"Shu-chan, please. None of what happened was your fault. You have no reason to apologize,…I …I was careless and lost my ticket." A sharp pain shot through his chest when the memories of the previous night that he had tried so hard to forget came rushing back to him. It pained him to think that he might've lost his only chance of being close to his idol, and he felt himself being pulled towards a monk's life that he wasn't ready for. He almost stopped walking, but Shuichi kept pulling him.
"I know it wasn't my fault, but I can't help but feel a little bad about you not getting in. Maybe if I had asked K, he could've gotten Seguchi-san to--."
"No," Tatsuha interrupted, "It wouldn't have worked. Tohma and I don't get along too well. He wouldn't have gotten me in. Really, Shuichi, I'm okay with it." He took a deep breath and lied to himself, "I didn't really want to go to that concert anyway."
The grip tightened on Tatsuha's arm, and Shuichi carefully maneuvered him down the sidewalk and through the crowds of people. The sharp turns he was guided through made him a little nervous. He couldn't see anything but, judging from the commotion around him, he sensed that they were attracting attention. He began to feel really silly walking around in a blindfold.
"Shuichi, is this blindfold really necessary? Can I take it off now?"
"Not yet!" he laughed, "We're almost there."
"Where are you taking me?"
"It's a surprise! I can't wait 'till you see!" Shuichi sounded excited. Tatsuha could hear him humming and laughing, and there was no doubt left in his mind. Shuichi and his brother definitely had a good night together, as he suspected, and the way Shuichi laughed made him even more curious about where they were going. He appreciated his friend's efforts to cheer him up, but at that moment he didn't feel like being surprised. He wouldn't have even left the house if Shuichi hadn't been so insistent. Good thing he brought his backpack along, and filled it with Nittle Grasper C.D.s.
"Stop here." Shuichi commanded. He positioned Tatsuha so that he would be facing the surprise and reached up to untie the blindfold. He tried to build up the suspense. Tatsuha could feel the long piece of cloth wrapped around his eyes slowly loosening.
"Okay, Tats-chan, on the count of three," he laughed, "1…2…"
Tatsuha suddenly became anxious and excited. He had one last shred of hope left, and it was that Ryuichi Sakuma would be standing in front of him when the darkness of his blindfold faded.
"3!"
The cloth was taken away and Shuichi gave Tatsuha his vision back. His eyes adjusted to the light only to be disappointed.
They were standing in front of the N-G Building.
"…N-G?"
"Yep!" Shuichi grinned, "Today, you can spend time with Bad Luck!"
It was definitely not what Tatsuha had in mind. N-G? Why? Why not an open bar? Or karaoke? Hell, why not a landfill? Anything but N-G! So many questions raced through his mind, but he was so stunned he could barely speak.
"…Shu-chan, this is…great… and all but…why here, of all places?"
"It's not like you've got some place better to go, right? It's your day off and you don't have to go to the temple today. Yuki's working, and I know you don't want to stay in that house all day long doing nothing, right?"
"Well…"
"That's what I thought!" Shuichi smiled, "And today, we're recording a special song. It'll be fun. You're gonna love it!"
Tatsuha could hardly see hanging around N-G as "fun", but in an effort to not seem ungrateful, he smiled.
"Thank you, Shuichi."
"You're welcome," he grinned back, "Now let's go inside."
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N-G's boardroom was just as luxurious as the one at Wani, where the last meeting was held. It was not as big, but what it lacked in size it made up for in style and comfort. The walls were a beige color and at one end of the room there was a very sophisticated stereo system used to play demo C.D.s. A table was in the middle of the room and it had several comfortable chairs surrounding it. One of the walls had an N-G logo on it, and in one of the corners there was a telephone on top of a much smaller table. Tohma stood next to it, trying to contact Ryuichi.
"I don't understand it."
Tohma held the phone close to his ear and dialed the phone number, again. It rang six times, and then a phone message began to play.
Hi, na no da! This is Ryu-chan! I can't answer the phone right now. Kuma-chan and I are probably busy. If you're some gossip magazine reporter, than I have no comment to whatever question you have! Otherwise leave your name and number after the beep, and Kuma-chan and I might get back to you. No promises. Beeeeep!
"I don't understand," he repeated, "Why isn't he picking up?"
Tohma decided to try again.
Noriko sat at the table with Komako. She was chewing gum and slouching in her chair. She propped her head up with both of her arms, and both of her elbows were on the table's surface. She wore her hair in two long pigtails, and popped her gum every once in a while when she thought the room was too quiet.
Komako sat next to Noriko, but she did not slouch. She had been well-trained in proper etiquette, and carried herself with an amount of grace and poise that contradicted her age. "Young ladies do not slouch", she thought, so she kept her back straight and her head up the entire time. She ignored Noriko's constant gum popping and focused more on doing everything she had been taught to do. She must present herself as a responsible young lady, if she's ever going to be taken seriously as her father's replacement one day. That is what she had to accomplish if she ever wanted to be successful. That is what she was taught to think.
Tohma turned to the two ladies still sitting at the table and sighed. "He's still not picking up. I'm going to try a different number now."
Both Noriko and Komako nodded to him, as if giving him permission, and then went back to waiting patiently. All three of them had been there for a few hours, and they were still waiting for the meeting to start. The only one missing was Ryuichi.
"I can't believe this. Still no answer. Why doesn't he pick up?" Tohma hung up the phone and turned back towards his band mate and Komako.
Noriko popped her gum again and then spoke, "Well, it was a long night, Tohma. He's probably resting after singing all night," Noriko's eyes narrowed and she glared at Tohma, "Which is what we should be doing too, by the way!"
The same smile he usually wore appeared again as he began to plead his case. "I know, I know. Please don't be upset. But I just couldn't think of any other time we could have done this. All of our schedules conflict with each other, it had to be today."
Tohma sat down in the chair across from Noriko and sat up straight. Noriko looked at him, and then glanced over at Komako. Their postures were almost exactly the same, only Tohma's was more natural. Komako's was robotic, as if she'd been programmed to sit that way. Noriko thought it was a little creepy.
"I don't understand his actions," Tohma continued, "I told him last night after the concert to be here. I know it was last minute, but he seemed to be fine with it. He did say that he had made plans to do some type of recording with Shindou-san today, but then he said he'd cancel it."
Noriko sat up in her chair and began to reassure him. "You and I know him best. He probably completely forgot about both of the plans he made for today. He's probably in his room right now, in his bed, sleeping the night off….so let him sleep, Tohma."
"Hmmm…I suppose you're right, but there's no reason for us not to go on ahead with this meeting." Tohma turned to Komako, "I'm very sorry for the wait, Komako-san."
"Young ladies do not speak unless they are spoken to", she thought, so when Tohma spoke directly to her she felt relieved. She could finally break her silence.
"It's not a problem at all, Seguchi-san, I assure you. Father…I mean, Kannagi-san has sent me here in his place in the hopes that I would learn something about business relationships between partners." The young girl opened the purse she brought with her and pulled out a sheet of paper with information written on it, "My father,…Kannagi-san wanted me to give this to you directly. He also wanted me to discuss some ideas that Wani has for both companies. Our meeting really shouldn't last too long."
"Good!" Noriko yawned, " 'cause I'm beat! I can't wait to go home and take a nap!"
She looked over at Komako, who was smiling politely back at her. She began to feel a little sorry for the girl. "So young, with so many responsibilities. The poor girl must feel pressured," she thought to herself, and then she had an idea.
"Hey, I know what you should do!" she said cheerfully. Komako and Tohma gave her their full attention. "Listen," she continued, "Why don't you and Tohma have a look around N-G? Tohma could give you a tour! You can see what kind of work happens here. What better way to learn about business is there?"
Tohma nodded in agreement, "That's an excellent idea. We should do that after the meeting, if Komako-san has no other engagements."
"I don't," she replied, "and I'd love to know more about N-G. Will you join us, Ukai-san?"
"No. Sorry, but I have to leave immediately after this. You two go ahead."
"Okay then, it's decided," Tohma smiled, "Now on to our first order of business…"
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"You guys! Please! Can we please get something done before K shows up?!" Suguru Fujisaki shouted in the middle of the recording studio, but no one seemed to be paying any attention to him at all.
Hiro sat in his chair, strumming the strings of his guitar and concentrating solely on the new guitar solo they were supposed to be recording. Shuichi couldn't hear Suguru's pleas for co-operation either. He was too love struck. He spent the entire time talking about how wonderful his night with Yuki was to anyone who would listen. Suguru tried again, "Everyone! Stay focused we have work to do!" When he failed to get their attention the second time, he sat over by his keyboard and put his head down.
Tatsuha just sat in a corner of the room and watched. After the first hour he got bored with their arguing, and pulled his C.D. player out from his bag. He listened to a C.D., and hoped that Bad Luck would be recording something sometime before the songs finished. Two more hours passed, and Tatsuha had listened to almost every Nittle Grasper song he could get his hands on. Bad Luck still hadn't gotten much of anything done, and Tatsuha was almost as frustrated as Suguru. It was like they were all just waiting around for someone to show up. Who knew? Shuichi certainly wouldn't tell him anything. He'd just say, "It's a surprise!", and then go back to talking about Yuki.
Yuki this…and concert that. Tatsuha was starting to get annoyed. Shuichi's stories about last night's concert weren't helping his mood at all. By the time Tatsuha was listening to his fifth C.D., he was tired of waiting and quietly snuck out of the room without any of the three musicians noticing. He took his stuff with him.
The hallway outside of the recording studio was empty. There were people earlier, but they left soon after he had arrived. Tatsuha found it to be the perfect opportunity for some alone time. He walked down the hall until he reached the end. After dropping his bag on the floor, he leaned against the wall and held his C.D. player close to him. The music was still playing.
It was loud…and then soft…and then softer. The sound of Ryuichi's voice quickly faded away through his earphones until he could barely hear any music at all.
"Damn it, the batteries are dying."
He tapped on it with his hand to see if he could get it working again. It didn't work, they died. He was denied the music he needed to drown everything out. Frustrated, he sighed and relaxed his body. The only thing holding him up now was the wall he leaned on.
He was quiet for a while...and he had had enough. At that point, he told himself that he had a decision to make…and he had to make it then and there. He could stay there for the rest of the summer, unhappy…or….he could give up, go home, and accept the life his father planned for him without a fight, and still be unhappy.
"……..I don't want to be here anymore."
He was going to leave, and as he bent over to pick up his things he heard the sound of fast footsteps coming from around the corner. Someone was running. The sound was getting louder and closer, and it was headed straight towards him. Tatsuha didn't know who it was but as soon as he turned around to find out, he got the wind knocked out of him.
It happened so fast.
Two bodies collided with an incredible amount of force, and Tatsuha fell backwards. His C.D. player slipped from his grasp and flew through the air, hitting the ground next to him almost instantly. On impact it broke into two pieces.
He lay on the ground and the back of his head was throbbing. It was a dull pain and he wanted to rub it, but he couldn't. He tried to get up, but he couldn't. He couldn't move at all. His body was weighed down to the floor.
There was a heartbeat, but it wasn't his. He could feel it beating against his chest.
He could feel another body, a slender one, pressed against his. Someone was lying on top of him, and they both didn't move for awhile. He opened his eyes slightly, and found himself staring directly into one of the lights in the ceiling. The bright light stung his eyes and forced him to close them again.
…Now he could hear shallow breathing. The other person's head rested next to his, and their hair gently brushed against his cheek. He felt movement by his ear and soft gusts of warm breath on his neck. The person on top of him was starting to move, and Tatsuha could feel a pair of soft lips at the edge of his ear. A soft, deep-throated groan was whispered into it. It was a little weak. "Mmmm…Ouch…that hurt, kuma-chan."
That voice…his voice. The voice that could make ice melt. Only this time, it wasn't on a C.D. It was the voice that he had wanted to hear for so long.
Tatsuha tried opening his eyes again. And there he was, Ryuichi Sakuma, sitting on top of him and staring down at him. The lead vocalist had straddled his body. His hair fell over his face as he looked down at him. Ryu brushed it out of the way with his hand, and Tatsuha stared directly into his deep-blue eyes. He could feel himself being pulled into them, they were so hypnotizing.
Ryuichi smiled at him, "Sorry!"
Tatsuha couldn't believe it. He wanted to grab Ryu right then and give him a tight squeeze. But instead, he suppressed his urge and quickly closed his eyes. He laid there, eyes shut, with a huge grin on his face.
"Hey, I said I was sorry." Ryuichi still sat on top of him, and he leaned in a little closer. He gently tapped the boy's forehead to see if he'd respond, "Hey? Are you okay? Do you need help?"
Tatsuha was still grinning. "No", he answered, "I just don't want to wake up from this dream."
"Dream? You're not dreaming!" Ryuichi laughed. He thought the boy was funny, even if he did seem a bit strange. "How can you dream if you're still wide awake?"
"Oh, but this is a dream," he replied, "Because there's no way you're really real."
"Of course I'm real, na no da! I'd know it if I were a dream…wouldn't I?" Ryuichi stopped to ponder his own existence, and Tatsuha opened his eyes and laughed.
Ryuichi's smile grew wider. He liked the boy's laugh. It sounded like music. "Hey, what's you're name?" he asked.
"Tatsuha Uesugi. And I already know who you are. It's nice to meet you, Sakuma-san."
"Call me Ryuichi."
Ryuichi leaned in even closer for a better look. His face was so close it made Tatsuha blush a little.
"Hmmm, Tatsu…Uesugi? Are you the kid who's staying at Tohma's place?"
Tatsuha resented the word "kid", but he answered anyway, "Yes, I am."
"Oh, I've already heard about you too."
Tatsuha felt nervous. He was happy that his idol had already heard of him, but he knew that whatever it was he heard probably came from Tohma and that made him worried.
Ryu got off of Tatsuha, stood up, and stretched his hand out towards him. Tatsuha grabbed it, and Ryu helped him up off the floor. When Tatsuha stood on his feet, he winced and rubbed the back of his head.
"Are you alright? Does your head hurt? I hurt you, didn't I?"
"I'm fine. It's nothing." Tatsuha assured him.
Ryuichi didn't believe him for a second. He reached up and placed his hand on the spot Tatsuha was rubbing. "Should I kiss it and make it better?"
"Wha? Um, I,…"
"Just kiddin'."
Ryu bent back over to pick up his bunny, and then he picked up both pieces of the C.D player. "I'm sorry. I broke it." He looked sad and he had a cute pout on his face. There was no way Tatsuha could be mad at him, not with that face.
"No problem! I'll just get a new one later. Give me the pieces, I'll throw them away."
"Hey! Tatsuha! Where are you?!"
Shuichi had just realized that Tatsuha was missing, and he was now in the hallway looking for him. He yelled, and the hallways were filled with the loud sound of his voice.
"Shindou-san, be quiet!" Suguru's voice followed immediately after his, "People are working! You shouldn't disturb them!"
Shuichi spotted Tatsuha from down the hall and he ran up to him. As he got closer, he recognized Ryuichi standing next to him.
"Sakuma-san! You're finally here!" he cheered.
"Shuichi, you knew he was coming?" Tatsuha asked as he turned towards him.
"Yes. He's the surprise! He's gonna record a song with us today! Isn't that--"
"Actually Shuichi," Ryu interrupted, "I was just coming to tell you that I'm late for a meeting I have to go to with Tohma, and I'm gonna have to…"
He trailed off in his sentence and looked at Tatsuha. He was going to cancel the recording, but then he suddenly changed his mind, "…but I'm gonna skip it. Things seem a lot more interesting here."
Shuichi looked down and saw Tatsuha carrying his bag in his hand, "Hey, Tatsuha, you weren't thinking about leaving were you?"
Ryuichi still hadn't taken his eyes off the boy. There was something different about Tatsuha, something he'd never seen before, "Yeah…the fun hasn't even started yet." Ryu had a look in his eyes, and Tatsuha smirked at him.
"Leave? Now why the hell would I do that?"
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Tohma was being a very good tour guide. He walked side by side with Komako through the halls of N-G, showing her around the building and telling her about all the different types of tasks his company performed.
He motioned towards the hallway to his left, "Down this hall is the department in charge of marketing and promotion." They walked further down until they reached another corridor to their right. "Here is where the departments of copyright and distribution are located."
Komako listened attentively to everything Tohma said, taking notes in her head as if preparing for a major exam. She didn't care if what she learned was boring or interesting. None of that mattered. The only thing that did matter was putting herself ahead of any competition and winning the respect of Tohma Seguchi. That was the most important thing.
Tohma continued on with his tour, "Alright, Komako-san, next we'll stop by the recording studios and then I'll show you where the music is produced."
Bring! Bring! A loud ringing sound came from the cell phone in his pocket. "Excuse me for a moment. I must take this." Tohma stood away from Komako and answered his phone. He stood only a short distance away, and Komako was still able to hear bits and pieces of the conversation… even if she didn't really want to.
"What? You saw him? …Are you sure it was Ryuichi-san? Really? Where? Okay, okay…I'm coming."
Tohma hung up the phone and turned back towards Komako. He smiled and apologized, "I'm very sorry, Komako-san, but something's come up and I must take care of it immediately. Do you think you could make it to the recording studios on your own? I can meet you there when I'm finished."
"Sure, that's fine," she answered, "I'm sure I'll be able to find them by myself."
"Good. Then I will be back shortly. Go to the elevators and read the sign for directions. You'll find them." Tohma turned and walked away.
After watching him leave, Komako faced forward and headed straight for the elevators.
Okay! That's the end of part 1! Next is part 2!
