Shuichi and Hiro set up for their sound check with the help of their appointed manager, Sakano. Shu clumsily tried to help Hiro with his equipment.

"What are you doing, Shuichi?" Hiro said. "Do you even know where everything goes?"

Shuichi lowered his head. "Not really," he said, frowning. "But I just need something to do, Hiro!"

"Really, what's going on with you lately?"

Shuichi hugged himself. At that moment, he looked so much smaller than normal. Hiro put down what he was doing and walked over to him, pulling him in close. "Tell me what happened. You know you can always tell me."

"I… I did it… You know, my first—first time." Shuichi's shaken voice was close to a whisper.

"Really? Was she not nice to you?" Hiro said as if talking to a baby and rubbing his back.

"He," Shuichi hiccupped. "It was a he—Yuki. His name…Yuki."

"Oh," Hiro paused. A sly grin settled across his face. "I had no idea."

Silence.

A change in tone. "But what's wrong? Was it… bad?"

Shuichi returned the hug, holding onto his friend tightly. "I don't think he wants me anymore. He kicked me out," Shuichi's voice broke as a sob forced its way out of him.

"Shuichi." Hiro gently stroked the hair away from his face. "I'm so sorry."

Shuichi stayed in his arms for a few minutes, sobbing into his shoulder. When he pulled away, he said, "We're giving it all we got tonight. They're going to love us." A grin wrinkled his tear-stained cheeks. Feeling stickiness, he wiped at his face with his sleeve. Hiro's shirt was soaked.

"You always have this way of bouncing back," Hiro said, returning the grin.

Shuichi's own grin softened, his eyes intensifying. "Bad Luck," he said.

Hiro mirrored the expression. "Bad Luck." They clapped each other on the back and went to go get changed.

The crowds seemed less than pleased when Shuichi announced that they would be playing before ASK. The vocalist talked happily over the "boos" and told them that they wouldn't be disappointed.

Shuichi and Hiro owned the ground they stood on. Shu with his swaying hips and vocal spirit, Hiro with his measured movements and careful timing. Starting out as only a garage band, the two had been playing together for over five years. Tonight, it showed. They had never felt more in sync than in that moment.

Tohma sat on the balcony with his former bandmate, Ryuichi. They both looked on in awe as Shuichi drove the crowd to new volumes. Tohma had decided that he quite liked this new guy's stage voice. Even more powerful in person than on recording. Ryuichi caught him smiling and the two exchanged wondered glances.

Tohma's gaze was fixed in the direction of the stage. Ryuichi had always possessed quite an affinity for it. And yet, this voice… it was so steady and spontaneous, all at the same time. The sound gripped his whole body and held him in place. He was unable to move. It was actually a little annoying. He could feel a steady release from the invisible straitjacket as the number came to a close. By the time it was all over, a sharp feeling of dissatisfaction swept over him. Tohma had always resented this sort of thing. He brushed off all negative inklings and searched for the right one. He settled for determination.

Shuichi practically jumped off the stage in a rush of adrenaline. "Thank you!" he and Hiro both yelled as they made their way out.

It had been a while since they played together, and Shuichi's confidence was surging. As soon as they were backstage, he said, "Hey, Hiro! I'll see you later, okay? Thanks for the best show ever!" He high-fived him and Hiro nodded, giving him a noogie before watching him run out.

Yuki heard a loud knock and sighed. He slowly got up from his chair and when he finally opened the door, he was pounced by a mess of pink hair and slender limbs. He looked up at the intruder with wide eyes and tried desperately to find his voice. The vocalist leaned down and placed a kiss on his lips. "Thought you could get rid of me that easily, did ya?" Shuichi said in a cutesy tone. The blonde made no movement to get up.

Composing himself, he said, "Since when did I invite you over, you damn brat?"

"I'm no brat," Shuichi said back. "And you like me. I know it."

Yuki shook his head. "How could I ever like someone as annoying as you?"

Shuichi giggled. "You're the only one that knows the answer to that one, mister. All I know is you like me. Admit it."

"I thought you were cute the other night. But that was then. Now, you're getting on my nerves." But his small ghost of a smile betrayed him.

"Aww, Yuki! You should smile more often." Shuichi got off of him and Yuki scoffed. He nearly sputtered when he saw his attacker heading for the living room.

"What are you doing?" he said, as the pink intruder reached for the television remote.

"Taking my spot, silly. What do you wanna watch?"

Yuki scratched his head, unable to come up with a retort. He settled for taking a seat on the opposite side. Shuichi closed the distance anyway and leaned his head on the blonde's shoulder. At first, Yuki couldn't move. In an effort to get more comfortable, his arm somehow managed to find a way around a shoulder. Just as he started to think he might be encouraging his intruder too much, something else caught his attention.

"Sources have informed us that things have been shaky between Tohma Seguchi, the president of NG Records, and his wife."

"In an unexpected turn, the two are alleged to be getting a divorce soon. No word as to what exactly the cause—"

The newscaster was interrupted by the TV flickering off. Yuki looked at Shuichi in surprise, who was fidgeting with remote. "I just started working for him," he said. "He also used to be a member of my favorite band! I don't want to hear them talk about him like that." Not much was known about the former members of Nittle Grasper. As a die-hard fanatic, Shuichi assumed whatever he heard from the media wasn't true.

For a second time that night, Yuki was in complete shock. "Tohma Seguchi… is your boss?"

"Yup! My band just did our first show as part of their label tonight." He grinned proudly.

Yuki started to head toward the bedroom. When Shu got up to follow, the blonde turned around to look him in the eye. "This," he said gesturing to the door, "is my room. That," he said, pointing to the couch, "is where you can sleep."

"What's in here?" Shuichi said, quickly walking into a room behind another door.

Before Yuki could answer, Shuichi said, "Is this your office? Oh wow, these books all have your name on them! Are you a writer, Yuki?"

"Go to sleep."

For a brief moment, Shuichi looked down at the floor. But before Yuki could feel too satisfied, Shu lifted his head up and flashed him a winning smile. "Okay! Oh, by the way, where's my backpack?"

"I threw it out. Didn't really expect you to come back."

Seeing the look on the vocalist's face, Yuki spoke quickly, still keeping his dismissive tone, "Never mind… It's in here," he pointed. Shuichi lit back up and dug into the hall closet, jumping at the sound of Yuki's bedroom door closing. Finding the bag, he eagerly extracted his blanket. It had never been big enough to cover him completely, but that didn't matter.

Shu woke up to the sound of three light taps toward the front of the apartment. Jumping out of bed perhaps faster than he ever had, he hollered, "Coming!"

Before him stood a tall, beautiful woman with brown hair and a scrunched-up face. Before either could say anything, Yuki appeared behind Shuichi, scowling. "Who said you could answer my door?" He pulled the human obstruction out of the way, allowing the woman inside.

"Just what is he doing, answering your door, Eiri?"

"Eiri? I thought your name was Yuki," Shuichi said, looking back and forth between the two of them. Yuki only closed his eyes. "Wait… Yuki Eiri? My sister reads your books!"

"What are you doing here, Mika?" Yuki said coldly.

"Mika? Well, hello there! I'm Shuichi Shin—." He started to bow.

"Just for the weekend. Please, Eiri. Come home and see Father. You should spend—" Her eyes were pleading.

"I keep telling you… it's not a good idea," Yuki said plainly.

"Eiri—"

"You're not going to change my mind," he snapped.

As quickly as she'd come, she was out the door. Mika.

"Should I call you Eiri? And who was sh—" Shuichi started to say.

"Don't. It's Yuki," he said, pursing his lips. "Just my sister, moron."

"Why did you have to be so mean?" Shuichi said sadly. "I want to know people who are special to my Yuki," he sang.

"Good luck with that," Yuki said, walking into his office and all but slamming the door behind him.

Shuichi jumped a little but smiled after him. "I'm going out!" he said, grabbing a key from the wall and testing it on the door. "I'm taking the spare key!" he called out, in a loose way of asking for permission. He couldn't hear Yuki's response.

He made his way to Hiro's and knocked rhythmically on the door. "You're up early. What's up, Shu?"

"Yuki and I are living together!" Shuichi said, jumping up and down. Hiro raised both eyebrows.

Shuichi twirled inside until he reached the kitchen, where he proceeded to tell him everything that had happened since they last saw each other. Everything from his perspective, that is. "He really likes me, actually. And he said I could live with him."

"That's quite the turnaround from what you told me last night." Hiro was not convinced.

"That was last night," Shuichi said, smirking. "This is now."

"Whatever you say, Shu," he rolled his eyes.

—

The NG building was all but empty, and Tohma Seguchi sat in his office, watching the door as intently as he watched the clock. As soon as the second hand hit the 12 for exactly 8:00PM, the door swung open. A tall brunette woman walked in, stack of papers in hand, sullen facial expression.

"Mika," he said weakly.

Saying nothing in return, she approached the desk and handed him half of the stack. The papers were littered with tabs. Each went through and signed for their part, trading halves when they were through. They worked in complete silence. When they were finished, Mika flipped through every page.

"Tohma," she said. The man opened his eyes to look at her. "Did you know that someone is living with Eiri?"

Tohma's face remained unchanged. "Eiri has guests all the time. They always leave soon enough."

"He answered the door when I knocked. The boy." Her eyebrows were lifted up and together, creating a slight crinkle. "I think he said his name was Shuichi."

Tohma's silky expression flickered. "Shuichi… Shindou?"

"I'm not really sure. Why? Do you happen to know him?"

"What did he look like?" Tohma asked.

"He had bright pink hair and his eyes were a very… interesting color."

"Violet."

"Oh, so you do know him. You've known the whole time, and you haven't said anything?" She was looking directly at him.

"No." He measured his tone carefully. "He works here. His band has a contract with NG."

Mika's eyes widened and then narrowed again. "I'll see to it that these are filed tomorrow," she said, pushing her chair back and heading for the door.

"Thank you… Mika," he said her name quietly.

Without looking back, she nodded stiffly and walked out.

Tohma turned in his chair to face the windows. One of his favorite views was muddled relentlessly as tears streamed down his face in waves.

The next morning, Sakano greeted them at the studio and said, "President Seguchi is out of the office today." Their neurotic manager bagan pacing. "Oh, I hope nothing urgent comes up!"

"I just hope he's okay," Shuichi said. "Oh no! Maybe he came down with something at our concert. That would mean it's our fault!"

"Calm down. I'm sure he's fine," Hiro said. Shuichi nodded sadly.

—

"What do you want?" Yuki said to the ashen blonde standing in his doorway.

"I want to talk to you about the boy," Tohma said politely.

"Oh, so Mika talked to you. Interesting how that works. You talk to each other, yet I have to find out about you from some trashy news station. Not that it matters. It's your life." Yuki shook his head. "What did you do, Tohma?"

"I don't think that Shuichi will be good for you," Tohma said.

"And I don't think that the person who hurt my sister has any place here, unless he can talk to me like a man." Yuki looked angry. More than angry.

"She wanted children. I didn't," he said calmly and swiftly.

"There's more to it than that, and you know it."

Tohma looked down at the ground, his expression unfaltering. Glancing back up, he said, "I simply didn't love her. I thought I did once. But when she brought up children… that's when I knew."

"You bastard. Since when?"

"Always, I think," Tohma looked into Yuki's eyes. "Think about what I said. You seem to be going about this a little rashly. Be careful, Yuki. You know I don't want to see you get hurt."

Yuki scoffed. "You? Worried about others getting hurt?" His eyes shifted. "Just drop it."

Tohma slowly lowered his hands to his sides. Yuki's smirk threatened to stretch itself into a smile. "Is that all you came for?" he said in triumph.

"For now."