TITLE: Words + Guitar PART: 5/? AUTHOR: black rainbow DISCLAIMERS: Slam Dunk and all of the characters do not belong to me. This fic is AU, and OOC-ness will probably ensue.

NOTE: This fic is also unedited, un-betaed, etc etc. and there are probably a million of mistakes in here that would make me wish I didn't post it so fast when I read it again later. But right now I just finished this and I'm lazy, so.. Here it is..

Does anyone even remembers this fic anymore, anyway? I haven't updated in AGES. anyway, I hope that you guys are still reading this..

About pairings. I'm figuring out the story as I write (well, I HAD a basic storyline but I decided to scrap it sometime around chapter three) so I'm not sure what will happen in future chapters, ok? I was reading some of my old fics and realized two things - one, that they're crappy. and two, that I've never written a RuHana before. Isn't that weird? (ok, not so weird considering they're not really my favorite pairing, but still. )

CHAPTER FIVE

Sendoh Akira was missing. Again.

According to Maki, who told him (and the rest of the band) what they were doing that day, he was supposed to be in an exclusive party at a club named Liquid - or at least that was what he thought. Sendoh was used to never listening to Jin, and now he wasn't listening to Maki. So instead, he found himself in a completely different place.

Sendoh wasn't sure that he was going to enjoy the show when Kogure (Hemlock's "Tour Manager", a.k.a. Roadie) told him about it.

"There's a show tonight, at that street with the row of shophouses. what was the name of the place again?" Kogure asked during breakfast.

Mitsui, who was sitting next to him, replied, "how would I know?" and went back to picking at the weird /thing/ that was supposed to be his breakfast. Sendoh watched him, looking vaguely sick.

"I think I know which street you mean," he said to Kogure. "I don't know the name, though. Is it the one with the 24-hour bookstore?"

"Black Cat Books! Yeah, that's it... the show starts at eight and goes on until midnight -"

"Korean pop," Mitsui muttered disgustedly.

"Iie! My friend said it's mostly experimental and noise bands, and a couple of punk bands."

"Yeah, right. The last time -"

Sendoh had tuned out right after that. He wasn't sure that he would enjoy music he didn't understand. But then Maki had came over and told them that Hemlock was scheduled to go to some lame party thing and figured that a Korean-pop-or-experimental-or-whatever-it-was show would be a good place to disappear into.

And that was how he ended up with his back to the wall, drunk on music, his heart beating fast in rhythm to the drums, feeling that rush that he thought he would never feel again, the one he felt the first time he played with the rest of his band. He wanted to go deeper into the crowd and further lose himself in the music, but he had noticed a couple of people in the crowd wearing Hemlock t-shirts. He didn't want to be recognized. His hair wasn't spiked up like he usually wore it in shows and at Hemlock's public appearances but he knew all it would take was for one fan to recognize him for him to mobbed. Especially in a crowd like tonight, where the general mood of the crowd was wild anyway.

So he stayed in the shadows and just enjoyed the music.

"I should have known that you'd be here."

Sendoh was so startled by the voice that he almost jumped. It wasn't the fact that the voice was so near - it was that it belonged to one of the very people he was hiding from.

"Maki. -san." He blinked at the other man in confusion, determined not to panic. "What are you doing here?"

"That was what I was supposed to ask you," Maki replied dryly. "I thought I have made it clear that while I am your band's manager, you shall follow the schedule I've set for Hemlock. And -"

The rest of Maki's words were lost amidst the loud cheering and whistles that ensued as a band finished their last song. Sendoh wondered briefly if he would have a chance of escaping into the crowd. Somehow, the thought of being mobbed seemed more bearable than Maki's wrath. Although, he supposed, Maki didn't seem /that/ angry.

Just as he thought that, Maki's hands circled around his right wrist. He looked away from the crowd and back at Maki. "What?"

"Don't think I don't know what you were thinking."

"I just -" he paused to take a deep breath, and realized that it was harder to do so. /Maybe if I get away from the music for a while my heart would stop beating so fast. Yes. That must be it./ As it was, his heartbeat seemed so loud that he could hardly hear himself say, "Maybe we should go to a more quiet place to talk."

Maki just looked at him. "Just tell me why you found it necessary to disappear every time there is a party, or an autograph-signing, or." he let his words trail off as he narrowed his eyes at Sendoh.

"Ah. that. well, I always found these things boring anyway, and it's not like ALL of us have to be at the party, right? I mean, when we were with Jin-san he always. hey, Maki-san, can we please go somewhere else to talk? It's - Jin always said -"

What Jin always said would never be known, because Sendoh suddenly found that he couldn't talk. The reason he couldn't talk was that someone else's lips was pressed firmly against his. It felt warm. and nice. and. /wait a minute. Am I being kissed? I think I'm being kissed!/

Almost as soon as he realized it, whoever it was that kissed him had pulled away. He blinked at Maki, who was suddenly just inches away from him.

"Did. /you/ do that - that. did you just kiss me?" Sendoh asked incredulously.

Maki gave him a strange look, as if he just asked a very stupid question. "Yes," he finally answered, when he realized that Sendoh was serious.

"Why?"

Bemused, Maki answered, "Because I felt like it."

})i({

When Sendoh got back home, he went out to the balcony and stared up at the stars - or rather, the absence of stars. He moved towards a nearby chair, intending to sit down, but stilled when he heard footsteps coming his way. /Please please please please don't let it be -/

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sliding door open. He turned, and smiled.

"Party's over?" he asked Mitsui.

Mitsui just raised his eyebrows. "And where the hell were you?"

Sendoh just shrugged. He thought back about the show he just went to, while trying to forget what happened later. "Ano. Hisashi?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think about Maki-san?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's not like Jin-san."

"He seems to know what he's doing." Mitsui raised his shoulder in a quick shrug. "I don't know. It's too early to tell."

"Jin never /makes/ us go to all the stupid parties."

"Heh. Well, maybe Maki is right, maybe this is good for the band."

"We haven't been in a studio in a while."

"Yeah, Jin said he'd go over some things with Maki first, before we start on something new."

". What sort of things?" Sendoh frowned. He haven't heard anyone mentioning any "thing" that need sorting out.

"Nothing important," Mitsui murmured, almost evasively. "Anyway, we're going to be busy anyway; we have a bunch of shows and appearances and other shit to keep us busy the whole of next month, I should think."

"But we're not going into the studio," Sendoh said flatly.

"No." Mitsui didn't seem as frustrated as Sendoh over the issue. He sat down on the chair that Sendoh was still hovering over. "Oh, yeah. one thing. Jin said for me to tell you to not piss Maki off, whatever you do, okay?"

"Isn't it Kenji that you're supposed to say that to?" Sendoh looked away. /Was Maki mad at me?/ he wondered. /He wouldn't have kissed me if he was mad, right? Why did he kiss me, anyway?/ He shook off his thoughts, and asked, "Speaking of Kenji, where is he?"

"Don't know. He said there was something he wanted to do so he didn't come back with Kaede and me. Actually, I think Kaede left the house again a few minutes ago, so I'm not sure where either of them are. It's weird; they're almost always home around this time." Mitsui frowned as he suddenly thought of something. "I hope that they don't do anything stupid."

})i({

"Sakuragi-kun?"

Hanamichi turned towards the studio entrance, surprised. He thought everyone else had left. "Who is it?" He was slightly taken aback when he saw the figure that walked in. "Fujima-san."

"You can call me Kenji if you want," Fujima said graciously. "Oh, are you practicing still?" he asked as he perched on a nearby stool.

"Ah. yeah." Hanamichi's eyes narrowed. Why was Fujima Kenji being so friendly to him? "Do you want something?"

"I just want to apologize for my rudeness the other day." Fujima murmured, his eyes trained on the redhead.

"Huh? Oh! It's okay, I don't even remember it anymore." Hanamichi said somewhat sheepishly. That much was true. Ever since Jin had called him back to say that the label definitely want to sign on False Opus, he haven't had much time to think about anything else.

"Akira said that you went on a couple of dates with him."

"DATE?" Hanamichi went red. "Iie! That's not true! I mean, he came over to see us practice now and then, and sometimes I go out for lunch with him. but they're not like real /dates/ or anything."

Fujima smiled. "Are you sure? He /does/ like you a lot, you know." he trailed off and watched Hanamichi turn even redder, amused.

"Is. that true?"

"Why would I lie? I have an idea, let's -"

"Kenji."

Both Fujima and Hanamichi turned abruptly towards the voice, surprised. Neither of them had heard someone else coming in. They both stared for a while, but Hanamichi was the first who spoke.

"Baka kitsune, what are you doing here?"

"." Rukawa just raised an eyebrow at Hanamichi's insult and turned back to Fujima, who looked irritated to see him there.

"Did Hisashi send you to fetch me?"

Rukawa ignored the question, saying, "Let's go back, Kenji."

"Why should I?" Fujima asked petulantly.

"Hisashi got a call from Maki-san after you left. Akira's been at some gig Kogure told him about. Maki-san is taking him home. /So let's go./"

Fujima stared at Rukawa for a few minutes, and then said, "Whatever." He shrugged apologetically at Hanamichi. "Talk to you later, then?"

Hanamichi nodded vaguely, not quite sure what was going on. He watched Rukawa and Fujima walk out the door, and decided that he had practiced enough for the day.

Outside, Fujima was seething. "No wonder no one likes you," he muttered to Rukawa. "Can't you see I was having a /nice/ conversation with that Sakuragi kid? You could have just /called/ me to tell me about Akira." He walked quickly to keep in step with Rukawa.

"."

Rukawa still showed no reaction to indicate that he heard anything Fujima had said at all. Annoyed, Fujima continued, "and I don't care where he was, because /that kid/ -"

"Stay away from him."

"Huh?" Fujima stopped suddenly, not sure if he heard Rukawa right.

Rukawa stopped, too, and turned to gaze at Fujima, making him feel uncomfortable. Rukawa had never looked at him like that before. As far as he knew, Rukawa had never looked at /anyone/ like that before. "I said," Rukawa repeated, enunciating clearly, "stay away from Hanamichi."

Fujima stayed rooted to where he was standing when Rukawa continued to walk away. He blinked a couple of times, replaying what he just heard in his head.

/Well/, he thought. /This ought to be interesting./

*tsuzuku*

A/N: so. how was it? I hope it's not too bad, lol. Anyway, please review, okies?

Currently reading: textbooks! Y__Y I have two quizzes tomorrow.. Currently listening to: THE POSTAL SERVICE - Brand New Colony