This part is dedicated to Nicolaya, who liked the idea 'ever-so' much.
Part Two: Meeting New And Old Friends
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"Allow me to properly introduce myself," Hikaru offered once things had calmed down.
The group of them, not including K, Sakano and Noriko, were lounging around the dressing room after the electricity had been restored. Hikaru stood near the door, and Ryuichi sat on the ground next to her with Kumagoro in his arms.
"Watashi wa Asakura Hikaru desu. Hajimemashite, minna-san(1)," she said, smiling and bowing deeply.
Yuki sat on the opposite side of the room with Shuichi snuggled cutely in his arms. He held onto him possessively, staring down Hikaru even though she wasn't paying much attention to him. Questions danced about his mind, like 'Who is she to Shuichi?' and 'What was this 'Kone-chan' to Shuichi where suddenly I no longer come first?'
"Nee(2), Hiro, Shuichi, how do you guys know one another?" Suguru asked curiously.
"She's the younger sister of an old friend of ours," Hiroshi explained. "So I don't really see how Shu-chan could have mixed them up. Hikaru's about eight years younger."
At that, Shuichi fell silent. His face fell and his gaze turned to the floor. It wasn't the fact that he'd mistaken Hikaru for her elder sister, it was Katsui herself that troubled him. But Hikaru looked just like Katsui when he'd last seen her, sort of. The last time he'd seen her before the accident, at least. Her hair was died the same colors and she was wearing the same color eye-contacts. Even in the time that had passed, he refused to forgive himself. He was the one who had lied to Katsui and gone behind her back. Whether it was an actual accident or she'd done it purposely, it was still his fault.
"Element of Fire... aren't you guys an American band?" Suguru came up with yet another question.
"Haihai!(3)" She giglged, and slipped down to Ryuichi. "All of us are Japanese-Americans, in one way or another. We moved to America after the accident, and started up the band a short while later."
"That's where I know you from," Tohma said, resting his chin on his hands. "You're Katsui's younger sister - their backup member. It's good to see you without a camera attached to your face."
"Mottomo(4). A rare sight," K agreed, nodding once.
"Oh, you know I think I heard about that on the news. Pretty freak," Noriko connented. "She was lucky."
"We grew up with both of them, Kat and Hikaru-chan," Hiroshi yawned. "Only I remember you had pretty lavender eyes, not blue like Kat's."
"You're such a flirt, Hiroshi!" she squealed.
He grinned at her. "Always fun, kid."
"From what I heard, it was a strange accident. That girl, Katsui, was driving late at night. It was during that bad storm just the other year. The accident supposedly happened just after the storm ended," Noriko explained loudly. She sighed. "From what the papaers and stuff said, she ended up in a coma and lost an eye. Kinda freaky. No broken bones, almost no bruises or scratches. Just that."
"Juat?" Suguru laughed half-heartedly. "A coma and an eye?"
"She got a beautiful voice. Strong but it faulters once she's singing on stage, in public," Tohma stated. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "Still, she's rather amazing on the synth either way. She's a key memebr of Element of Fire."
"She's awake?!" Shuichi perked up, eyes wide.
"Such high praise, Tohma?" Yuki mocked, pulling Shuichi closer with a growl. "Either you're softening up or you've lost your mind."
Tohma chuckled softly. "Maa, Yuki, she reminds me of myself at her age. She's very dedicated and talented."
"Hikaru-chan, why didn't you ever tell me that Kone-chan's awake?!" Shuichi struggled against Yuki's grip, to no avail. "Why didn't you?!"
Hikaru laughed amd Ryuichi pushed himself to his feet with a wide gron, as if knowing something that the others didn't. He placed Kumagoro atop his head, laughed, then glomped(5) Hikaru.
"Something's gotten Sakuma-san excited," Suguru observed. He yawned, then glanced towards Hiroshi. "Ayaka-chan hasn't shown up yet? Was she going straight home after the performance?"
"She seems to have," Hiroshi sighed. "But havin' two cute girls around makes up for her."
Noriko and Hikaru giggled flirtaciously; Hikaru blushed.
"Hikaru, why didn't you tell me?!" Shuichi persisted, finally wriggling out of Yuki's grasp and leaping across the table to glare into her face. "Why not?"
"Shuichi, calm down!" Sakano chided, pulling Shuichi away from Hikaru. He and K were silently watching everyone.
"Shindou-senpai," she sang. "It wasn't my place. When she woke, she remembered just about everything. She even asked about you, almost right away. When she found out, she'd decided that she wanted to surprise you."
"How long ago did she wake?" Shuichi asked wit ha hint of sorrow in his voice.
"Little over four months-"
"That long ago?!" Shuichi whined. "How... but... why couldn't you just..."
"Before you freak out over that, Shindou-senpai... that was after the accident," she finished her sentence with a bit of a hiss. "So, it was over a year ago that she woke, almost two."
"And in your emails... I never guessed. Not once did you even hint to me that she had..." Shuichi mumbled.
Yuki suddenly pushed himself to his feet with a stern expression; everyone turned to him, surprised by his actions. There was something in his eyes, deep inside, that only Tohma and Shuichi could see, letting them identify his emotion. Both had studied him for hours to be able to see them.
"Yuki?" Shuichi questioned, stepping back.
"Let's go home, Shuichi. I have a dealine. I don't have time to waste sitting around this dump," he growled, then walked out of the room without another word.
The others watched in unsure silence, glancing amongst one another. Ryuichi still hadn't let go of Hikaru and Kumagoro still clung to his head. There was a satisfied glint in Tohma's eyes, and shock written all over Shuichi's face. The others just looked confused or disinterested. Shuichi sighed, then smiled and waved goodbye to everyone in the room.
He stopped near Hikaru and looked down at her, still smiling happily.
"I'll see you on Saturday, I guess, Hikaru-chan. Say hi to your sister for me."
"Un... baibai!" She grinned.
With that, Shuichi bolted out of the door after Yuki. An eerie silence hung over the occupants of the room for a few minutes after, until Hikaru suddenly leapt to her feet.
"I should be going too! Ryu-chan! I'll say hi to Onei-chan for you as well?" she offered.
"Sakuma-san and your sister know one another?" Suguru asked.
"Oh, yeah. They're close!" she exclaimed with a laugh. "Very clo-"
"KUMAGORO BEAM!"
In a flash of pink bunny Hikaru was sent through the wall, and the wall across the hallway. Ryuichi's face had gone a light shade of red as he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head with his fist.
"Don't exaggerate, Imouto-chan."
"heh, Ryu-chan's blushing?" Noriko teased.
"Am not!"
"You are so!" She giggled, then turned to Tohma with a grin. "Our Ryu-chan's growing up! He's got a crush!"
"He's had them before."
"You're so mean!"
"I'm keeping Kumagoro now! Minna-san, ja ne!"
"No!" he screeched, bolting through the hole in the wall and down the hall after her. "Give him back!"
The others watched in silence, then glanced around knowingly.
"She's as bad as both of them!"
"Yu~ Ki~!" Shuichi called as he hopped after his lover. He laughed and wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. "Yuki, you've been so quiet since we left the others. Is something wrong?"
They were standing outside of their apartment door. Yuki had the key in the lock but had stopped just short of unlocking the door. Shuichi, ever sensitive to his beloved's needs, decided to give him the biggest hug he could. It wasn;t much, but at least Yuki didn't push him away or give him another talk about PDA.
"Nan demo nai, Shu-chan. Daijoubu," he assured him, gently placing a hand over Shuichi's. They stood like that a bit longer, and Shuichi held him with all of his might. "Let's just go to bed now."
"Together? In the same bed?" Shuichi asked, still not letting go of Yuki.
"Don't be such an idiot. Of course together. Why anyone else?" He sounded a bit offended.
Shuichi had such skinny arms but a tight grip. He was being silly, wasn't he? Shuichi wouldn't really let go, not emotionally at least. And not for that girl, or for the one he'd thought she was.
He finally turned the key, listening for the solid click which told him that the door was unlocked. Shuichi still clung to him as they walked inside. No matter what happened, Shuichi would stand at his side. His love was blind. He didn't care about what had happened in the past, or how cold a cruel he could he to him. He knew that he took advantage of the younger man's love, of his dedication to him. No amount of verbal abuse would drive him away.
The immediate darkness of the apartment was blinding. At least the apartment wasn't cluttered and they walked through safely. The entire time Shuichi didn't let go of him. Though he wouldn't admin it to anyone except for himself, he enjoyed his obnoxious, selfish and needy behaviour.
"Yuki, you don't seem to be yourself. Did something happen to you earlier?" he questioned. He let go of Yuki and blocked the way to the door. Even in the darkness he could see the shock reflected in Yuki's eyes at his actions. "Yuki, tell me."
Pushing. Shuchi always pushed for answers. It didn't matter if he wanted to share them or not. He had his resolve to find out more about his love. It had taken a year, if not longer, before he could finally let go of the darkness which had consumed him and he'd actually let in Shuichi.
"Just trouble writing," he brushed him off. His first instinct. Sure he'd come a long way from the Yuki he was a whle ago, but many of those old habits still remained. "And I'm tired so let me go to bed."
Shuichi sighed, "Geez, Yuki. Don't be so cold to me. I only want to love the real Eiri."
"Shuichi..."
In one swift movement Yuki wrapped his arms around Shuichi and drew him close. He'd always promised himself never to appear vulnerable to him again, but when he saw that woman, everything fell apart. Shuichi's reaction to her was so sudden, so excited... he was jealous of her. Of her older sister whom he'd mistaken her for. Even as he knew how silly he was being over her, that moment when Shuichi pushed away from him his heart skipped a beat, and not in a good way.
"Suichi, I love you so much..."
"Yu... Yuki..." he mumbled, returning the embrace. "I love you too."
"This way! This way!" Ryuichi laughed as he led the way to the destined concert hall. Tohma, kind as ever, offered them a sneak peak of Element of Fire's opening performance. Both Ryuichi and Shuichi seemed to have more energy than usual. "I can jusr barely hear her voice! She's singing the first song as when we met!"
"You seem to really like her, Sakuma-san," Suguru noted quietly. He walked alongside Hiroshi, between K and Sakano, and Ryuichi and Shuichi. "Ayaka-chan, it's nice to see you again."
"Oh, it's nothing, really," she said in a gentle voice, then decided to cling to Hiroshi's arm. "Since I live so far away Hiro-kun and I don't get to spend too much time together, so I come as often as I can. And besides that, I got to see Element of Fire on T.V. once, and they were really good. I think that girl Hiro-kun told me about is the back-up."
"I haven't seen Ktasui and the others for a while," K mentioned to Sakano.
"Oh?"
"Un." He grinned. "Oi, Ryuichi! How long has it been since we last saw them?"
"Too long!" Ryuichi whined, hugging the life out of poor Kumagoro. "One year, three months and sixteen days, plus!"
Shuichi watched his idol closely. Ryuichi was probably more excited to see Katsui than he was himself. Not that he could blame him, either. It had been one year longer for him than it had been for Ryuichi, and his heart was racing. For two years he'd kept his thoughts of her in the back of his mind, as did Hiroshi. That night seemed so fuzzy and dark. Everything happened too fast.
Those were the times when he'd been unsure of himself and what he wanted. But he was sure that he liked her.
"Nee, Shuichi, Kat really likes you. She's always talking about what great friends you and Hiro and her were," Ryuichi rambled.
"This job takes you places," Sakano sighed.
"You mean it?"
"Don't act so tired, Sakano," K scolded.
"How did you two meet?" Suguru asked as they came to a stop outside of the door to the concert hall. "You seem like you're pretty close."
Ryuichi placed Kumagoro on his head, turned around and grinned at the entire group. He bounced from foot to foot and continued his wide grin. Shuichi watched expectantly. He wanted answers, too. Hiroshi wrapped an arm around Ayaka and held her against his side.
"Tehre was a large benifit concert that both of them performed at," K spoke up after he realized that Ryuichi wouldn't be answering on his own. "He first saw her at their band's practice. She's not the lead singer, but she was singing lead then. Ryuichi couldn't be turned away."
Ryuichi blushed deeply. He'd admired Katsui when he first met her, and when he found out her band's cause for getting together. And so what if he'd spent a lot of time with her after that?
"Yuki didn't come because he has another deadline for his novel." Shuichi pouted. "I really wanted him to meet Kone-chan, too."
"Segushi-san's inside, isn't he?" Sakano asked.
"I think I can encourage her to sing for tomorrow's performance That girl is going to amaze her Japanese crowd instead of making us all listen to that American boy," K declared, pulling out his magnum for what had to be the hundreth time that day and examined it. "It's so beautiful!"
Ryuichi bounded through the swinging doors, laughing as he did so, and Shuichi was quick to follow. As soon as he entered the rom he was bombarded by the powerful beat of Shining Collection. They were in the back of the concert hall but the sound was still good. There was a man singing on stage, in what was originally Ryuichi's place when Nittle Grasper first performed it. It felt wierd, to Shuichi, to watch someone else sing a song that was written about him.
But...
"Aw, man! That's terrible!" the first words out of Hiroshi in the past hour. "The music rivals Nittle Grasper... but that singer!"
Noriko and tohma stood a short distance away, also in the back, watching the performance. Both looked over; Noriko smiled but Tohma seemed disappointed.
"Aki isn't used to singing this quickly," Noriko excused the singer. "He was singing just fine when they did the other song, but now... poor american boy. Not used to singing in Japanese yet."
"Kat's not singing...?" Ryuichi sounded disappoited.
Shuichi scanned the stage for Katsui. There were two woman on stage that, form his point of view, looked enough alike to be sisters. One was on the keyboard, that one was definitely Hikaru; the other was the drummer with dyed blond hair with black tips. That confused him. Katsui wasn't a drummer, she was a synth player. The last member on stage could have gone either way, the bass player; 'it' had long, soft pink hair. The singer had short, deep red hair. Each member in the band wore black leather outfits, each different from the other.
"Ta-iki wa somaru... akaku, nureta yubisaki ni... habatakenu, chou no namida... Subete wa suna-ni aru... Shining, make you cry!"*
"Ara! There's his wonderful voice!" Ayaka gushed, clapping her hands together. At the slowest part of the song he suddenly picked up. "He really does sound great when he sings at his own pace. Aki Makukishu is such a wonderful singer when it's like that! It's like when he sung Super Drive at the benifit, and when Katsui sung New Future it was magical!"
"Did you see when we performed together?" Ruichi grinned.
"That was amazing too!"
"I missed that performance," Tohma said casually. He watched disinterestedly as the four began to perform Super Drive.
"Katsui's not at practice today?" Ryuichi sounded disappointed.
"The one on the druns isn't her?" Shuichi sighed. "I guess that's not like her. She always wanted to be as great a synth player as Nittle Grasper's. But that's not her playing it..."
"I take one little break and everyone acts like it's end end of the world! It's not like we just started five minutes ago, we've been practicing for hours!"
"Welcome back, Kat," Noriko greeted.
"Katsui..." Ryuichi held Kumagoro against his chest.
"Ryuichi..." she gasped. Her eyes watered. "Ryu-kun!"
She threw herself to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He returned the actions and rested his hands at the small of her back. The others watched in confusion. The twenty-four year old and thirty year olds shared a sweet, slow kiss between them.
"They're...?" Shuichi couldn't finish his thought.
"He never told us?" Noriko pouted. "How rude."
"He's been so happy to see her and was nervous talking about her the other day," Hiroshi commented, running a hand through his hair. "Somewhat ironic. She with the idol of her old crush."
"Nani?!"
"Oh, uh... nothing."
"No, Hiro! Speak up! I can't hear you past the music!" Shuichi complained.
"Shuichi, Hiro," Katsui called to them, her face burried in Ryuichi's chest. "Ryuichi and I wanted to surprise everyone, so we waited until now to tell you..."
"I thought you said she only has one eye?" Suguru questioned, noting something he was sure he'd seen a moment ago.
She pulled away from Ryuichi and faced them. She had one eye, her left, closed. The scarring around it didn't seem to be very bad, if at all. For that, Shuichi let out a very relieved sigh. Yet, as much as he wanted to run up to her and hug her and tell her how much he missed her, he couldn't bring himself to. She was missing that eye because of him.
"Katsui, I'm so sorry!" He bowed deeply.
She brushed the bangs out of her face, giving them a quick view of her face. There was barely even a scar anymore. It almost looked as though the accident had neevr happened.
"Well, if you hadn't guessed by Ryu-kun's and my 'moment', we're dating." He stood behind her, one of his rare serious expressions on his face as she spoke. "As a parting gift, when he was going to return to Japan, he..."
She trailed off and bit her bottom lip, blushing deeply.
"He what?" Shuichi asked after she was quiet a moment too long.
"He made the sweetest gesture to his loved one that he could," K spoke for her. The others looked to him. He knew. Of course he knew. He was Ryuichi's manager at the time.
"Either a marriage proposal or love making," Hiroshi said as if it were nothing.
There was an awkward silence and now both Ryuichi and Katsui were blushing. Tohma and Noriko looked shocked, th others looked uncomfortable, except for Hiroshi, who had mentioned it, and Shuichi had the most unique, indescribable expression planted on his face.
"Nothing like that at all!" Ryuichi assured them, nuzzling her neck and wrapping his arms around her. "I just offered to pay the medical bills for her surgery."
"Her surgery?" Tohma blinked.
"Yeah, the hospital found a match... and with all the advances in technology and all... and in medicinal technology... Surprise."
She opened her left eye and smiled.
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1. watashi wa Asakura Hikaru desu. hajimemashite, minna-san :: I am Hikaru Asakura. It's a
pleasure to meet all of you.
2. nee :: Hey or Say
3. haihai :: yes, yes ; she's just saying it quickly so it's runs together
4. mottomo :: indeed ; of course
5. glomp :: if you didn't know, a glomp is generally defined as a great big hug, usually done out
of excitement.
6. imouto :: little sister
7. minna-san, ja ne :: See you all later
-- * Lyrics from Shining Collection
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Okay, before you decide to write an very angry review about me pairing Ryuichi and Katsui together, keep in mind that he was never paired up with anyone in the series, and well, his 'preference' was never revealed either (unless he's too much in love with Kumagoro, but that's kinda too weird for me). Well, by this point there's supposed to be some confusion, so if you're someone who feels confused, don't worry.
Maybe people who review can give me ideas as to what they want to happen? I'm pretty flexable
(and killing off Katsui isn't an option). Mostly I like angsty stuff *really likes to emotionally
torture the characters in her fics*.
So, until I have the next part done, Ja Ne.
- Nekura