A/N: Do I enjoy torturing Tohma… No. Tohma happens to be my all time favorite character. I love him AND his clothes. I just wanted to change the story pace, and he's the best character to help me. Sorry Tohma.

Thanks: cryearthstearsfalltou, Azez--Sage's Soul, Dark-Pheonix-Empress, Alana-Star/SugarCat, clueless97, Stepher-chan39, Guren.

Chapter VII

"Yes, little Blossom?"

Her beloved oji-san tried his hardest to hide the pain that was in his heart, but he could not fool Ichigo. Not for a minute. She was very good at that; reading people's emotion. She had a very special gift Tohma Seguchi had once said. "I-I…" Ichi could not get the words out that she wanted to speak. Her tongue seemed tied. "Well, I-that is…" She scratched her head and cursed to herself. Damn it why couldn't she find the words. "I was just coming to see if you needed anything, Oji-san!" Her voice was bright. She was a terrible liar. He smiled his best 'fake' smile and shook his head. "No, I'm quite all right, little Blossom." "Nothing I can file for you?" "No, I have a secretary for that." She slowly made her way to him. "Oji-san… We're family, right?" "Of course…" He folded his hands. 'Then we can tell each other stuff, right?" "Of course. What is it that you have done?" Tohma knew where this was leading. "Not me, Uncle Tohma. You." "Me?" "Yes. If there's something that's hurting you….inside…" She bressed her fingertips to her breast bone. "You tell your little Blossom. I'm family, Oji-san. Okaa-san always said, if theirs a problem in your family one should fix it…"

Tohma didn't say anything for awhile.

"Right?"

Her oji-san sighed heavily. "Ichigo…"

"Oji-san?"

His eyes became very sad and he shook his head negatively. "It's nothing, young one. It's something I must deal with on my own." "Oji-san…" The pain in his voice pierced her heart strongly, making it ache. "Anything else? I really am quite busy…" He picked up a folder and looked at the document inside. "You may go." He returned to the astute business man once again. He acted like everything was all right, but she knew different. She knew her oji-san was hurting, and she was pretty sure it had everything to do with Aunt Mika. "I've got to find her…" She murmured, closing the large door quietly behind her.

Tohma Seguchi sighed heavily, placing his face in his hands. The tears flowed from his cerulean eyes. "Oh, Mika-san…."

"Hello, Tohma…" Her voice was emotionless.

"Where are you?"

"That's not important right now…"

"What do you mean!? Of course it's important! Mika-san, where are you!?" Tohma's voice became frantic.

"I can't say right now… Not now."

"When are you…coming home?"

"I can't say that either."

He gulped. "Will you ever be coming home?"

"I don't know. I need to think about things, Tohma…"

He lifted his face from his hands, tears staining his cheeks. His heart felt like it had been smashed into a million unfixable pieces. He hid his hands in his face once more, hoping to get all the tears out of his system before confronting N-G's newest label. He, Tohma Seguchi, had to maintain his image.

Searching through silence, trying to find my future.

all I seem to grasp are broken bits of light. Cutting

myself upon the glass of ultimate reality. Bleeding

out my life.

I'm crawling, crying, dying on the floor. my memory drowning, going down...through a blood red haze

Tohma leaned against the doorjamb, watching the lithe female vocalist croon out her painful song into the microphone. Her body swayed slightly to the music her back up band played out. The tune was morbid. He recognized it as her debut single. Red Haze. Her fans called her Rumiko Saori. She was a stunning young beauty with vivacious magenta eyes and silky straight silver hair which seemed to always be pulled up in a high ponytail. She wore black halter top that exposed much of her flat stomach and tight dark blue jeans, riding low on her hips. Her neck was swan-like and she had the face and body of a goddess. Rumikoi-san was one of the most talented female vocalist's Tohma had ever had the pleasure to sign on. She was a sight to see!

Pain is like a sweet song,. a sharp knife grazing my memory.

Metallic shiny pain. It's tearing out the fragments of my soul

While, waltzing on the fragile glass of life...

As he watched her, he found himself remembering to the day he'd discovered her. He'd been dragged along by Noriko-chan and Ryuichi to a popular Japanese karaoke bar called the Silver Dragon, set in the heart of downtown Tokyo. She'd walked on to the stage confidently, wearing tight leather pants and shiny silver tube top, her hair loose to her shoulders, a sparkly barrette in it. He lips had worn a slight coat of lip gloss and she spoke sexily as she'd told the DJ to play Nittle Grasper's Sleepless Beauty. She'd sung Ryuichi Sakuma's part with great finesse, her body moving, hips gyrating, full lips singing the words perfectly. He had sat stunned, while Ryuichi's eyes had lit up. The vocalist had pumped his fist in the air, cheering on the young woman. "Isn't she great, Tohma!?" Ryu-chan had asked excitedly. Tohma had nodded back in confirmation. "Yes, she is rather good." Noriko admitted, looking at her friend through the corner of her light eyes.

Tohma had stared, entranced, he knew he could make something of her. She could be something, if she excepted his business proposal. "Tohma…." Noriko had poked him. "Tohma?" He had shaken his head. "Huh?" "Your staring. What are you thinking in that diabolical brain of yours?" He had laughed. "Hardly diabolical." "Whatever. I repeat, what are you thinking of?" "I'm…thinking of offering her a record deal…." Ryuichi had perked up at this. "A record deal for Saori-san!?" Kumagoro had perched on his right shoulder. "Yes." He had watched her end the song, hanging her head low. "I'm going to do it!" He had gotten up and started towards the stage. "Let's give a round applause for Rumiko Saori-san!" The announcer had said, Tohma's eye still fixed on the rising music princess. "Rumiko-san…" "Huh?" Tohma had looked up and stared into the woman's brilliant magenta eyes, he hadn't been able to speak. "Ummm.." It was very few times he, Tohma Seguchi was at a loss for words. "Did you wish to speak with me?" Her voice had been…bouncy, he'd never truly known what hid behind those eyes of hers as they'd bore into his.

"I'd like to offer you the deal of a lifetime…" He'd finaly said, offering Rumiko Saori his business card.

Tohma sighed coming back to reality.

"Oi! Seguchi-san!" Rumiko's voice broke through his musings.

He brought his head up looking into the legend's eyes. They were dancing with excitement. "Didn't hear you come in! What brings the "great" Seguchi-san to see little ol' me?" She laughed. "I doubt very much that…" He laughed too. "Don't sell yourself short, Saori-san." She smiled and motioned for her boss to come in, picking up a soda from a nearby table. "Anything you wanted, Seguchi-san?" "Just to check your progress…." He watched her delicately sip at her beverage. "I see, you are back to singing old songs again." Rumiko brought the can down from her lips with a smile. "Oh, it's not old to me…. Red Haze always will be new, it's a part of my past. It's what I feel, Seguchi-san…" Her voice and eyes took on a sad tone. Tohma's heart seemed to ache as he thought of what he had brought up for her, and what it was bringing up for him. They both were sharing painful thoughts. He sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, Saori-san…" She pepped up immidiatenly, shoving a strand of silver hair from her eyes. "That's all right, Segichi-san. You'd think I'd put it behind me all ready…" She set the soda down. "I doubt any of us truly put our pain behind us…."

She looked up to face her boss once more.

"That's right…"

"Each of us has our own weight to bear, Saori-san…" He sighed. "You have yours and I have mine…... But today that is not important! What is important is the fact you'll be performing with Nittle Grasper as the opening act for Bad Luck's farewell concert." She nodded. "I know." "So, you must keep yourself in tip top shape." Right, I will. You can count on me, Seguchi-san." He nodded, getting back to business. "That's what I like to hear. Carry on, Saori-san." "Will do, boss!" She chirped back, watching as Tohma Seguchi closed the door behind him. Her back musician, a drummer by the name of Akira entered the room at that time and smiled. "That was great, Rumiko!" "Yeah, you're going to knock them dead at Shindou-san's farewell concert!" Another man chimed in. Rumiko nodded. "I thought so too…" She returned to her soda, taking a long deep drink from the aluminum can. "Sooo…" Akira spoke up again, his hazel eyes piercing hers. "Are we going to start it off with Red Haze or…" He flipped through the book. "….Full Moon?" The female vocalist didn't say anything at first, just took another gulp of her drink. "Rumi-chan?" Takashi, the guitarist started in. "Neither." "Neither!?" "No…" She set it down. "Well start the opening number with Damned and finish with Full Moon."

"Sure. What ever you say, hon."

She nodded.

"Good."

Kari Seguchi rose from her desk and crossed over to her beside table, picking up the ringing cordless phone. "Hello, this is Seguchi." She answered it exactly like her father. "Kari-san." "Yes." The line was silent for a moment longer. "I have the information you requested. It's not much…." "As long as it's something!" "Where should I meet you, Kari-san? Your house?" "No! Too close to home…Too risky…" She bit her lip and thought about this, blue eyes narrowing in concentration. "Oshida-san." "Yes, Kari-san!" "Meet me at the cultural bookstore at the corner of Nagasaki & Hokkaido." "Yes, Kari-san." "Very good…" She hung up the phone and graced her lips with a tight smile. "Well, some news is better than no news." Kari brushed her hair behind her back and paused for a moment then reached over to pick up the cordless again. She began to dial her cousin's cell phone number. "Pick up, Ichigo." She waited awhile. "Yes, this is Ichigo speaking. Talk to me!" Her cousin said upon answering. "Ichigo, this is Kari." Her voice was serious. "Hey, Kari-chan, what's up!?" "You sound awfully chipper for someone who found out her own uncle is trying to break up her happy home." The older girl didn't say anything for a moment. "I'm sure it wasn't intentional, Kari…" "Really?" "Well-I-uh…" "You really don't know what to think do you?" "Well..no…not really…." She sighed on the other end. "I didn't think so." Kari paused. "I have some news that might be useful to us though. It will perhaps ease the mystery and help this family reassemble."

"Really?" Her cousin sounded both anxious and fearful at the same time.

"Yes." She looked to her clock. "Meet me at the cultural bookstore on…"

"I know where it is."

"Good. Meet me there in twenty minutes, that's where my informant will be. We'll handle it from there as soon as we get the information he has."

"All right! Ja ne!"

The phone on the other end clicked off and Kari gathered her things, preparing to make her way to the meeting place.

Ichigo clicked off her cell phone, her fingers slightly trembling. Did she really want to know the truth of the matter? What was between their fathers? Did Eiri Yuki and Tohma Seguchi have that kind of relationship? She gulped thinking about the shounen-ai anime she'd watched in the past weeks. Ichi shook her head. No. She wouldn't think about that! The best thing to think about was fixing her family if anything else. If she did have to deal with their relationship, well she'd cross the bridge when she got to it! She picked up the pace on her bike and started off towards the bookstore. It would take her some time, seeing as how it was halfway across town. For now, it was one step at a time.

"Yuki!!!!!!!!!" Shuichi hollered from the upstairs bedroom.

The novelist, irritated, stopped typing and ground his teeth loudly. "Damn it what does that brat want!" He stormed out of the room and shouted up the stairs. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!? AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HOME ANYWAY!?" He listened as his koibito no baka made his way down the stairs. "I threw up all over K's shoes today, and-and…" He sounded as if he was going to cry, rubbing the back of his hand over his eyes, lower lip trembling. "He yelled at me and threatened to blow my brains out over the ceiling if I didn't sing! He was being mean!" Yuki groaned and held his head, the pounding starting. This was what he had dreaded; the symptoms of eminent pregnancy. First, came the mood swings and the incessant crying. One would think that was normal for Shuichi but this was more than usual. He began to wail long and loud. Damn it! His head continued to throb mercilessly as his young lover's crying went on. It started to hurt immeasurably. Yuki gripped his head and gritted his teeth once more, making a beeline for the kitchen and the aspirin. "Yuki?" Shuichi voice stopped whining just a bit. "Are you listening?" He came through the swinging door.

"Yuki!"

He'd spoke too soon.

Kuso!

"Yuki…"

"What….?"

"Would you make me some green tea?"

The novelist stayed silent.

"Yuki?"

He sighed. "I heard you." He filled the kettle with water and set it on top of the stove. "So…how long will you be gracing our home THIS time?" "Oh, you know the usual. Nine months." "I see…" Shuichi frowned He approached his 'spouse'. "Yuki, you're acting really strange today." The blonde leaned over. "We're having another baby…" He spoke and said this as if it had just dawned on him. "Yes, I know, Yuki…" "I better hurry up and finish my book so I can start on another one." He picked his head up and looked around the kitchen. "I wonder if this will be big enough for one more person." Shuichi smiled brightly "Of course it wil, Yuki! And unlike last time, I don't plan to spend my whole time here with you…well just till the concert that is. I'm going to go into the studio this time." Yuki turned to look at him, amber eyes boring in. "Really!" He went to the cupboard and fetched a package of sodium crackers. "Then when the concert is over, I'll be a full time mother." He smiled happily. "Again." Yuki slowly smiled. If Shuichi was happy, then so was he.

His young lover gave a tiny laugh. "Wow. It's good thing this happened when it did."

"Huh?"

"I mean this way I can still perform."

"Hn.."

"Yuki, shouldn't you set the tea on?"

"Huh… Oh yeah". He turned to the kettle and started the task briskly. Shuichi hummed brightly to himself. "Things will be great, Yuki!" He touched his belly. "You'll see!"

Kari accepted the large manila envelope from her informant, looking up at the brown eyed man in the grey suit. "Thank you, Oshida-san. Expect a little extra something in your paycheck next week." The man bowed to Tohma Seguchi's daughter. "Yes, Kari-san…" "You are dismissed." Oshida left and passed her cousin, Ichigo Uesugi as he turned the corner. "I thought you might be back here." Ichigo approached her with a look of anticipation, casting a backward glance where the man had gone. "Who was that?" Kari shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She hefted the folder to her cousin's view. "This is what matters." The older girl reached out to touch it. "Is it…" "It's not much, but it's something start with…" She reached for the flap of the envelope. "Do you….want to do it or should I?" "We-I-um…" She became tongue-tied. Her young cousin waited. "It shouldn't matter who opens it, right?" She finally said. "No, it shouldn't." A pause. "I'll ask again, Ichigo, you or me…" Kari was very calm for what was a life-shattering moment. Ichigo bit her lip, heart and eyes filled with limitless worries. She pushed the envelope back to the young girl. "You do it!"

Kari nodded somberly and undid the tie holding down the flap. After she had done this, without hesitation she opened it and reached in. When she did this she drew out a single piece of white computer paper. She placed the envelope on a shelf next to her and leaned against it, scanning the page intently. "Well?" Ichigo was clearly on edge. "What does it say?" She edged closer to her cousin, anxious. The chestnut haired girl's eyes were still scanning the page. "Kari-chan?" "One second." "Kari!" The other girl read for a few more seconds, not missing a single detail "Kari!" "I'm finished." She brought the paper down from her face and looked her cousin straight in the eye. "Well, what does it say!? Does it help us!?" "To some extent…" "Well?" "We only have a name to go by…." "A name?" "Yes, a name…" "Well?" "Well what?" Ichigo gave an irritated look. "What's the name?"

"The name…"

Her cousin held her breath.

"It's….Kitazawa."

Next Chapter: The Path to Take

TA DA! I bet you're happy I finally sent this in, ne!? So am I! And I'm happy with it! Please review, okay!?

A/N: Did you notice the street names I listed are acutally cities in Japan? lol I couldn't think of anything else. So sue me. lol