Tatsuha grabbed his jacket that hung up near the door, quickly slid it over him, while his face stayed stern, and up heated with anger. MUSICFAN was still on the television, talking about how much of a wonderful surprise that Bad Lucks vocalist would be dining with Nittle Graspers vocalist. His main objective was to confront Shuichi about this. His mind was indeterminable but his body knew what to do and it was not a good result for Shuichi.

           He walked out of the house and to the small plaster of rocks where his motorcycle was parked, and took no time to straddle himself on the top of the bike. He injected the keys and started up the machine, letting it warm up with its monstrous, growling vibrations. He kicked down on the peddles and squeezed the handles to take off, ignoring the cool breeze that scattered him in the face.

          The wind felt good, actually. It took his mind off the eventuality events that would occur once he saw Shuichi. Kyoto was not very active and all the much quiet. As he went into the city life of Tokyo, he found himself bustled up in traffic of people. They were all walking to destinations such as work or some ones house, even shopping. Tatsuha stopped his bike as he waited for the hustling people to pass though he was eager to get where he needed to be.

        "Have you heard lately," a student whispered to a group of her friends just loud enough for Tatsuha to over-hear, though he was paying more attention to their skirts, "Nittle Grasper is having a huge tour coming up, and they say the most prominent and outstanding performance is going to be in Tokyo."

"Really? I thought they were done with their music," one of her friends replied with the smuggest expression, "Oh well, I am attending that concert and will be the first one to get tickets."

      Tatsuha was a little suspicious of the news she had just spoken of, unaware of this announcement. He knows all about Sakuma Ryuichis life yet did not hear about this. But then again, he did not know about the raffle contest either. He watched the group of students walk off until he came in attentiveness of the fact he could continue riding, and darted off before more traffic came.

                      The smoke from the motorcycle finally cleared as Tatsuha parked it, and headed for his brothers abode. He felt a bit of a stingy fear in his bones, knowing his brother more or less would not let him talk to Shuichi alone. Alternatively, it could be better, and his brother will not even find him welcome into his house. He reached the door with a gulp of anxiety, and without knowing, his fear and worry seemed to have slipped right out of his mind and he knocked on the door. To no avail, no answer so he knocked again with more force.

      "God damn, hold on," it was Eiris voice, in his normal tone of voice and mood. He opened the door, letting his head lie on the side of the door, cigarette in his mouth and study glasses on. He looked at Tatsuha with the most uninterested expression, "What do you want?"

"Is Shuichi here," Tatsuha asked, trying not to show his nervous side, unknowing to what his brother might think of him trying to find his boyfriend. However, once he said the energetic teen's name, a swift of wind seemed to come his way, and a short, happy figure stood between the two brothers.

   "Tatsuha?" the boy asked, surprised to see him. He turned his head with a bit of confusion, but his smile never faded from his face, "What are you doing here?" and by the looks of Yukis face, he wondered the same thing.

Tatsuha tried to search for words, but could not think of anything to say because his brothers was standing right there, watching every movement of the both of them. He wanted to say something though. Say something to Shuichi about the contests, why he never told him of the event, and why he gets to dine with Sakuma Ryuichi while he just stays at home in Kyoto. He just looked at Shuichi with the utmost anger until he just let it out, "you bastard."

                        By his reaction, Shuichi was very lost in the whole conversation. His smile finally turned to a curl of confusion and he turned to look at Yuki with saddened eyes, which in fact, he seemed to be enjoying the conversation so far and seemed interested to see a fight between the two. Tatsuha did not care anymore if Yuki was there are not, to his eyes he could only see Shuichi. His head burned teeth clenched, and hands into a form of a perfect fist.  "You entered a Nittle Grasper contest, didn't you?" Tatsuha yelled at him, overcoming all worries of what may happen, "And you won, too. How could you have not told me about it? Now you are going to be having dinner with my God! I swear, you will never be able to attend that dinner because I am going to kill you first, you little faggot! You will regret ever entering the contest I should have won!"

   "I won?" was his only response as a spark went off in his eyes, "I really won?" he tugged at Yukis shirt in the utmost happiness, "Yuki, I won the contest to have dinner with Ryuichi!"

           Tatsuhas anger grew even more and the urge to punch Shuichi was threatening his senses. He seemed to not even notice how angry Tatsuha was about the whole situation.

            "Don't you see the guy all the time? I thought you knew him," Tatsuha gasped and looked up to see his brother looking down at Shuichi as he inhaled some of his cigarette. Tatsuha was surprised to hear his brother say just what he was thinking. He felt like thanking his brother more then anything but he probably just said that out of common sense.

   "I know," Shuichis spirit seemed to fade and Tatsuha could see victory in the distance, "but it isn't every day that I get to have dinner with him!"

   "What?" Tatsuha shrieked, "You just don't get it do you? You know the guy, you are his damn friend! Somebody else should deserve that prize, somebody who doesn't even know him!"

"Which would exclude you, am I right?" Yuki directed, "It seems your argument is pretty pointless if you are trying to get that prize."

                Tatsuha could not think of anything to say about that. He had taken him to the zoo and talked to him at a bar before, but that still does not compare to how much Shuichi knew him.

         "Maybe Tatsuha is right," Shuichi finally gave in, shocking both brothers, "someone less fortunate deserves the prize. Not people like Tatsuha and I who have already met him before. Maybe I was just being selfish."

Tatsuha felt a shiver down his spine at his words, "Wait..." he murmured, wanting to save his objective of just seeing Ryuichi for one night. His eyes wandered, searching for something to say.

            "So I guess you are right, Tatsuha." Shuichi smiles and turned to walk back into the house, "I'm going to call Thouma right now and tell him that they need to find a new winner!" he started to pick up speed until he felt a hand latch onto his arm, "Oro?"

There was Tatsuha, looking up at him with the biggest, helpful eyes that he could throw at him, "Could you… uhh, tell Tohma that I will take your place?"

"But," Shuichi cocked his head, "you said someone else should get the prize."

 "I know, I know," Tatsuha shook his head and gave the biggest, corkiest smile, "But wouldn't this be a lot easier on Thouma and everyone? I mean, if you think about it, finding a new winner would take a lot of different preparations and stress for them, right. It would be a lot easier to just have me go, letting them have less things to worry about."

Yuki gave a slight glance at his brother from the corner of his eyes, "Chasing ass?"

       "Shut up."

"Well," Shuichi rubbed the back of his head, puzzling the whole situation, "I guess that could work out."

Tatsuha smiles and gave Shuichi a small pat on his shoulder, "Of course it would."

            Shuichi gave a usual smile to Tatsuha, "I will call him tonight." And after that, Tatsuha knew heaven was on his way and all would be glorious. Nothing could go wrong now, and nothing would ruin his spirit!

            "Go home." Were the last words spoken and his brother's door slammed in his face, making the ground underneath his feet vibrate. Yet, he was still in a dream as he walked off to his bike, murmuring something about Sakuma Ryuichi and the date they would be having.

         "Next week, next week… I can't wait until next week," Tatsuha purred as he drove off on his motorcycle, causing crashes all about without even noticing. At that moment, for once in his life, he was in true bliss.

                            "Okay, I understand that you can not make it. No, do not feel sorry. I know how it can be when you are busy with your band and everything. Yes, we will just take him instead, I suppose. Thank you for telling me before hand. All right, give a hello to Sakano for me. Good bye," and the blond haired man hung up the phone. Tohma sighed about the conversation over the phone he just had with Shuichi.

        Noriko looked at him with curious eyes, "What was that about?"

 "Shindou-san will not be making it," he said in the plainest voice, showing that he did not really mind much.

     "Huh?"  a voice off to the side spoke, almost inaudible. Ryuichi stood in the small room, the only thing blocking him from the others was some wall and large glass windows. He was holding onto a pair of large headphones and stood before a microphone, "What about Shuichi? He isn't coming for dinner?"

Tohma sighed, "Afraid not. But do not worry; we already have someone else in line to be at your company for dinner."

      "Yes, so get back to work Ryu-chan!" Noriko hissed, throwing a pencil at the glass window, which was good enough to scare the 31 year old and get him back to recording their new song. She smiled at the attentiveness he was giving today, "Do you think he minds?"

 "I'm actually surprised to see him not mind as much," Tohma smiled sweetly at Noriko, "I thought he would be angered to not see Shindou-san for a night."

Noriko giggled, throwing back her hair and watched the man sing to his full content, "Nothing dampers his spirit."

            The two watched as Ryuichi continued to sing, holding the headphone near his ear to hear the music of the song they were producing. The voice he reflected was nothing but perfect and this song would be perfect for the tour coming up.

                      "I still don't see why you just go and buy a car for yourself," Noriko growled under her breath as she drove up to Ryuichis house and parked, waiting for him to get out.

 "It would be hard to travel overseas that way Noriko-chan," he pointed out to his friend, and hugged onto his pink rabbit stuffed toy, Kumagorou.

  Noriko grumbled and patted the man on his head, grabbed a small piece of his red headband, pulled it out and let go, making it snap onto his forehead, "Idiot. You can drive to the airport, drive to work and drive home. You can't rely on others for the rest of your life."

 "But it is fun being able to drive with a friend!" he grinned and bounced in his seat playfully. Ryuichi stooped his behavior and searched around the car, his attitude changing as he went into deeper thought, "Noriko-chan.."

   "Hmm?"

He saw her anxious behavior of wanting him to go so she could get home. The question he wanted to ask had been bothering him for a while now and he could finally ask someone who may have a good answer, "Am I… just a prize?" He held on tightly to Kumagorou, scared of a negative answer as he looked at Noriko, who was looking at him with baffled eyes.

    "Ryu-chan," Noriko tried to reassure him in a sweet voice that came out much like a whisper. He most of really thought about the whole contest and noticed how he was being treated. Well, no one really asked him to do it in the first place. She was a little speechless of him to think so deeply about it and she couldn't really think of anything to say. She then smiled and grabbed Kumagorou out of his arms and hanged it in front of him.

            "Ah! Kumagorou!" Ryuichis eyes almost took the size of round plates as the bunny was suddenly taken away from him, "Give him back!"

 "Why?" Noriko questioned him, smiling nonetheless, "Why do you want Kumagorou back so much?

Ryuichi crossed his arms as if he was ten years old and kept watch on Kumagorou, "Because he is mine."

"What?" Noriko gasped, "Is Kumagorou just some kind of prize to you? That would be awfully mean for you to say." She giggled when she saw his face; he looked like a fool that had just been accused of being a hypocrite.

"No," Ryuichi growled and stared up at Noriko, "he isn't a prize. Kumagorou is my friend."

           She smiled lovingly at him as they made progress and she played with a strand of hair from his bangs, "Exactly. He is not a prize but a prized possession to you, something you adore and hold dearly." She put her arms on her legs and let her chin rest in her hands as she gawked at her friend, "That is your answer."

             "But I was talking about me," Ryuichi whined, still confused about himself, "not Kumagorou."

Noriko giggled in the cutest way possible, "But it is about you, as well. You are a prized possession, not a prize to many people. That is why so many people want to take the chance to be with you to even have dinner with you. Millions of people adore you, Ryu-chan. It is not about wanting to win you, but about wanting to be acknowledged by you. They just see the wonderful person that I know and want to get to know him."

             Ryuichi looked at Noriko with the most abundant, speechless look. He was so taken aback by her answer. He looked down at Kumagorou and smiled, then jumped at Noriko to give her a hug. "Thank you, Noriko-chan!"

"No problem, no problem." She patted him on the back, glad to see him back to normal. "No go on out, I need to go home to my daughter and husband." She smiled at Ryuichi to receive a smile back from him.

         Ryuichi stood at his door, waving as Noriko drove off after beeping at him. He reached in his pocket to take out his keys and unlocked the door to his home. He opened the wooden door and walked in the rather large house, which was neat and tidy. He turned on the lights and sighed as he walked into the family room. It was rather quiet in the large abode he lived in, and the ringing of silence nagged at him. He softly and firmly placed Kumagorou down on a soft cushion of the chair that sat near the entrance of the family room. He took of his coat and laid it down behind the chair, "Even so," he said in a much deeper, serious voice then usual as he stopped in front of a large mirror in the hall way. He looked up at the mirror to see his reflection; his eyes were cold and serious and his face was plain and intimidating. He glared at himself, with a stare that would kill a man in fear, "I am still just a prize."

AN:

KumagorouBeam: Man, sorry for the long delay for an update. I hate slumps. Not sure what to really think of this chapter. Ryuichi was not even supposed to show until the next chapter, but he squeezed his way into this one. Surprisingly he does not say 'na no da' as much as people thinks he does. I go by the manga and there was about only two or more times he said that. In the anime… that's a different story. Heh.

Whatever, hopefully by the next chapter Tatsuha will finally meet up with Ryuichi. I don't know. Anyone have a suggestion on what should happen next? Hmm.. I need to use my brain.

Please review!!