AN: Ugh... not too happy with this chapter... But, yay I get to start developing the plot now! And yeah, I'm sort of taking liberty with inferring things from the anime... My take on it was that Hiro and Shuichi were living together before Shuichi moved in with Yuki, but that was just what I got from it, so yeah...
Wai! *gives pocky to Chibi-chan and Sparda219* Sankyuu! ^-^
Warnings: None for this chap
Translations: Maa maa - In this case just something said to help calm someone down.
Hontou ni? - Really?
Aa. - Yeah
Hontou no hontou? - Really really?
Maji de hontou na no ka? - Really completely?
(Actually have the same conversation in the anime ^-^... a couple of times actually if I remember correctly)
Konnichiwa - Hello/Good afternoon
Moshi moshi - Hello (For answering the telephone only)
Anything in caps is in 'Engrish' ^-^
Posted: April 27, 2003


Lost Memories - Hidden Emotions
Part Four

Hiro sighed happily as he pulled on a pair of his own clothes, glad to be out of the hospital robes he had been forced to wear until now. He glanced into the small bathroom mirror, fixing his hair so that the three stitches on the side of his forehead were hidden before he turned to leave the room, finding Shuichi waiting for him in the hallway.

He still didn't quite know what to think about Shuichi and Yuki. Shuichi had told him about Yuki the night before. Obviously they had been living together for a while, but to Hiro it still seemed like yesterday that he and the pink haired boy had been roommates.

He was a happy that his friend had finally found someone, even if he was a little jealous. Of course, Shuichi had told him about Ayaka, but he didn't even remember her. To him, it was just a name; he wasn't sure how to feel about her.

Shuichi jumped up off the chair he had been sitting in with a grin. "Ne, Hiro, hurry up. We still need to drop by the studio."

Hiro looked at him with a small pout. "Here I am, just getting out of the hospital, and all you can do is tell me to hurry up?" He sighed sadly. "I'm hurt, Shu-chan..."

Shuichi's eyes welled up and he got huge tears in the corners of them. "I'm sorry, Hiro~!" he cried.

Hiro sweat-dropped and patted the air in front of him. "Maa maa, Shuichi, I was kidding!"

Shuichi blinked and looked at him. "Hontou ni?" he asked with a sniffle.

"Aa."

"Hontou no hontou?"

"Aa."

"Maji de hontou na no ka?"

Hiro reached over and smacked him upside the head. "Aa!"

Shuichi grinned. "OK! Let's go then!"

Hiro shook his head with a sigh and followed his friend to the nurse's station so he could check out. He should have been released the day before, but the doctor had asked that he stay just one more night. He had to admit that it had helped; he felt a lot better than he had the previous day.

"Nakano-kun!"

He glanced up to see the young nurse that had occasionally been the one to check on him waving at him from the counter. He smiled and raised a hand to give a brief wave back. "Hello, Nami-san," he said as they approached.

"Finally leaving us are you?" she asked, giving a small pout.

He laughed and rubbed the back of his head, a barely-perceptible blush colouring his cheeks. "H-hai! I guess so!"

She sighed sadly and pulled out his chart. "I guess I'll sign your release papers then... Even though I hate to let such a cute young man go..." she added.

"I appreciate it," he replied, his blush more noticeable.

She laughed and signed a form before sliding it over to him. "Please sign here, Nakano-kun," she said, pointing to a line with a small x beside it. After he did, she took it back and placed it in a file. "Ok, you're free to go! Oh and here's your prescription," she added, handing him a small pink slip of paper. They nodded their thanks and turned to leave. "Don't forget to come back in a few days to get those stitches removed," she called after them.

Hiro gave a wave over his shoulder. "I won't!" he called back.

Shuichi grinned and elbowed him lightly in the side once they were in the elevator. "Get yourself a girlfriend while you were sick?" he teased.

Hiro rubbed his side and glared mildly at his friend. "No, why?"

Shuichi rolled his eyes. "Come on Hiro, it was obvious she likes you." He clasped his hands together and put them under his chin, his eyes big and watery. "Oh Nakano-ku~n!" he cried in a girly voice. "Please go out with me, Nakano-sama~."

Hiro slammed his fist down on the top of Shuichi's head with an eye twitch. Shuichi laughed, picking himself up from the floor when the doors opened a moment later and rushing out to meet Sakano, who was waiting for them in the car.

Hiro paused outside the doors, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath of fresh air before climbing into the backseat with Shuichi. He stared out the window at the passing buildings as they sped towards the studio. He was excited about being able to pick up his guitar; Shuichi had told him he had gotten a new one a few weeks ago, but he wouldn't tell him what it looked like.

He wondered if K would be there, secretly hoping he wouldn't be. He had met K the night before and had asked why he thought of guns when he saw him. K had replied with a maniacal laugh before the nurse asked him to leave for disturbing the patients.

The car stopped a short while later and Shuichi practically leaped over him and out the door. Hiro blinked, shaking his head with a small smile as he got out to follow the hyperactive boy. Walking through the door he stopped to look around.

"Hi~ro~!" called Shuichi. "Hurry u~p!" he called impatiently.

"Hai!" he called back with a laugh. Shuichi led him through a series of confusing hallways and finally to a door to what looked like a recording room. "Shuichi... are you sure this is where my guitar is?"

"Hai! Positive!" the pink haired boy replied. He turned to look up at Hiro with a grin before pushing the door open. "Kon~ni~chiwa~!" he called. He stopped with a sweat-drop as a gun appeared in front of his head. "Eheh, guess I'm late?"

"BINGO," replied K in heavily accented English. His blue eyes moved to glance behind Shuichi as he put his gun away. "Ah, Hiroshi, welcome back!"

"Thanks..." he replied, stepping in behind his friend, eyeing K warily as if he expected to have a gun drawn on him too.

"Ready to practise?"

"Actually, we just came to pick up Hiro's guitar before I took him home."

"OH I see..."

Shuichi gave a nervous laugh. "Is that okay?"

K shrugged, holding his hands out to his side. "OF COURSE." He looked up at Hiro. "Do you think you can manage to practise for a while the day after tomorrow?"

Hiro nodded. "Sure, I'll be here."

"Well, then it's settled!" cried Shuichi, running over and picking up a guitar case. He stopped and looked around. "Ne, where's Fujisaki?"

"He left just before you got here."

"Ah. Ok, Hiro, let's go get your medicine and the ice-cream I promised, ne?!"

"Hai, hai," he replied, letting himself be dragged out. He sighed somewhat disappointedly as Shuichi gave his guitar to Sakano, telling him to drop it off at Hiro's place, before turning off and heading down the street to a near-by café which happened to be next to a drugstore.

After getting the prescription filled, they headed to the café and ordered their ice-cream, settling into a booth in the corner. Hiro glanced out the window, surprised to see how late it was. He glanced at his watch and realised he had only been out of the hospital for a little over an hour and a half. He must have taken longer getting out of there than he thought.

"Ne, Hiro, you okay?" asked Shuichi, pausing with his spoon halfway to his mouth.

Hiro glanced back at him and gave a small smile. "Just tired... Guess the doctor wasn't kidding when she said to make sure and rest," he laughed.

Shuichi's eyes got big. "Gomen!" he cried. "I should have waited before dragging you all over the place!"

"Maa, maa, Shuichi, I'm fine!" he replied, patting the air in front of him. Shuichi looked doubtful but went back to his ice-cream. "So, when am I going to get to meet this Yuki of yours?" he asked a few minutes later. He raised an eyebrow when the pink haired boy blushed.

Shuichi looked up with a grin. "How about..." He paused and shrugged. "Well, I don't think it'd be a good idea if you came over..."

Hiro blinked at him, both his eyebrows going up. "Why not?"

The smaller boy sweat-dropped. "I dunno... he's not really a people person?"

"Yet you still live with him." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah..." Shuichi started poking at the rest of his dessert. "It's like... I'm a moth being drawn to a flame... The only difference is, the flame gives life instead of takes it, you know what I mean...?" He blushed and gave a laugh. "I suck at poetry, just forget I said that, ne?" He started polishing off the rest of his ice-cream. Hiro gave a small smile before finishing his own.

They stood to leave and headed towards Hiro's apartment.

"You should make that into a song," Hiro said as they walked down the street. Shuichi blinked and looked at him in confusion, obviously already have taken his own advice. Hiro smirked. "About the moth and flame."

Shuichi tilted his head before looking back to watch where he was going. "You think so?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Aa," he replied.

A lazy silence fell between them and lasted until they approached the door to Hiro's apartment.

"Ja, I'll stop by tomorrow, ok?" asked Shuichi once Hiro had found his key and opened the door.

Hiro gave a wave and stepped through, turning and watching until the smaller boy disappeared from his sight. With a quiet sigh he shut and locked the door before kicking off his shoes and flipping on the lights. The sun was already beginning its descent towards the western horizon so the room was growing dim. He glanced over at his phone, the blinking red light catching his attention.

He pulled over a chair to sit down before hitting the play button.

You have two new messages the recording pronounced.

He blinked, somewhat surprised. Only two? He figured it was because everyone had found out shortly after about his accident, so of course no one would be calling to see where he was. He shook his head and rested his chin on his palm when it beeped and began playing the first message.

"Nakano-san!" came a young woman's voice. "I heard what happened, I'm sorry that I couldn't come and visit you! I hope you get to listen to this soon and that you're well. Please call when you get the chance."

The recording beeped, ending the message. He figured it was Ayaka-chan, what other girls would be calling him? He pressed a button to play the next message.

"Hi, it's me again," came her voice again, accompanied by a small laugh. "I guess our date for Friday is cancelled. Anyway, call me! I'll call again on Saturday to see what's going on. Baibai!"

Hiro sighed quietly and shut the machine off as he got up. He decided to wait till she called back the next day, since he didn't have her number and was too tired to look for it. He went to the kitchen to get a glass of water before taking one of the mild painkillers the doctor had prescribed for his shoulder.

He peeled off his shirt and tossed it over a chair before climbing into bed, quickly falling fast asleep.



He was awakened by the shrill ringing of the telephone. He cracked an eye open as he sat up, glancing out the window to see it was midmorning. He rubbed at his eyes as he half stumbled, half walked over to pick up the telephone.

"Moshi moshi," he said sleepily, stifling a yawn.

"Nakano-san!"

He blinked, recognising the voice as Ayaka's. "Hai."

"I'm so glad you're okay! When did you get back?"

"Last night... Sorry for not calling you, I went straight to bed. I got your messages though..." he said, sitting down and feeling a little awkward.

"That's okay. How are you feeling? What happened?"

Like I should be able to carry on a decent conversation with you for one, he thought. "I was in an accident with my motorcycle..."

"But you're okay now?" She sounded worried.

"I... They say I have amnesia..." he replied quietly.

"Oh..." There was a short silence. "So... you don't remember me?"

"No... I don't even remember Bad Luck going big... I'm sorry, Ayaka-chan..." He didn't know why he called her that, it just seemed natural.

"That's okay, you can't help it after all," she replied with a small laugh. It sounded strained to his ears.

"How about we meet sometime?" he asked. He felt bad, this was his supposed girlfriend after all.

"Sure, but I won't be able to visit for a while. We're leaving to visit some relatives the day after tomorrow."

"I see... Well, call when you get back, okay?"

"Hai, I will. Ja, I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah..." he replied quietly, hanging up the phone when he heard the line close. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he went to take a shower. When he came back out, he found his guitar case propped against the wall where he had missed it the night before.

He gave a small grin and went over to open it, eyes widening slightly at the sleek black and dark red guitar he found lying inside. Bad Luck must have made it big for him to have been able to afford it. He pulled it out, noticing a piece of paper lying in the bottom. He picked it up as well before sitting down on his bed and throwing the strap around his shoulders.

Unfolding the paper he found a rough sketch of the beginning of a song. Feeling excited he quickly tuned his guitar and started playing, finding himself remembering the next notes before he even looked at them. This was his element and he felt himself fully relaxing.

He reached the end of the composition and frowned slightly, not able find a note that sounded right after the last one. He sighed and decided to spend the day playing through it until he came up with something.