Here we go! Chapter five… finally. After pulling out the short story I finished this one because I promised I would. Lol…. I had said that I would be working on this one weeks ago, remember? Oh well, school corrupted my schedule. This chapter is a bit longer than my last one, so I hope you like it.

Standard disclaimers apply

Warnings: Use of the word Ass. Isn't that a lovely word?

Chapter 5

"I'm sorry, Shu-chan! Ryuichi didn't mean to be late!" For the thousandth time, Shuichi rolled his eyes and smiled. "Tatsuha had met me at the door as I got there. He wanted to talk. I lost time, I didn't mean to!"

"Ryu!"

"Yeah, Shu-chan?"

"Quit! I forgave you the first time you asked! You don't need to keep asking." Pulling Ryuichi from the floor Shuichi hugged him. "You have a life Ryu. You don't have to ALWAYS be with me. Besides, we have to hurry, the others are still waiting."

"Ok. Ryuichi is happy that Shu-chan is happy."

"Kumagoro is happy too!"

"YAY!"

As they left the studio, Ryu started up a conversation with Kumagoro, who sat on his head, about hat Tatsuha had been up to. Shuichi smiled and listened in. It's been awhile since he had seen the teen and it was good to know that he was all right.

"And he said that he wanted to visit with Shu-chan too! He's missed us all. He'll be at Bad Luck's next concert. Cool huh?"

Shuichi didn't reply, even though the question had been directed at him. He had stopped walking as well, staring into space. Ryuichi stopped and looked back.

"Shu-chan?"

"Uh… why don't we go this way, Ryu? I wanna stop at the pet store for a moment." Grabbing Ryuichi's arm he pulled him in the opposite direction. Turning his head back to the first direction, the older vocalist saw Eiri Yuki standing on the other side of the street, glaring at him.

scenechange!

A week later, Shuichi was teetering on a kitchen stool, a pencil between his fingertips. The paper before him was blank, though he'd been thinking for a good hour. K had ordered him to make a new song by their next concert, which was only in another week, but the vocalist couldn't think of a word for the life of him.

Ever since that last recording session, he'd been seeing Yuki everywhere: On the streets, in the mall, at work. He'd say that the man was stalking him, but he just wasn't like that.

Sighing he set down the pencil and got up to get something to drink. He was alone in the house right now. Ryuichi was out buying groceries or something along those lines. Shuichi didn't really care though. He had to get inspiration from somewhere or he was dead.

Spotting a picture flat on the mantel above the bar he tilted his head. "Now that's odd, I wonder why I never noticed before…" He picked it up and his eyes widened.

Staring up at him from the mahogany frame was Yuki and himself at the studio. He was laughing at something and had his arm around Yuki's waist. The novelist was rolling his eyes and had his arm around the younger man's shoulders.

He was smiling.

Hearing the phone ring shocked him out of his daze, making his drop the frame. The glass broke but he ignored it as he picked up the cordless phone. Taking a deep breath he answered.

"Hello?"

"Shuichi."

scenechange!

Ryuichi opened the door for Tatsuha. "I know! Isn't that really weird?"

"Kinda. I never noticed that thing before."

"Shuichi showed it to me the day Yuki got released."

Tatsuha smirked. "Interesting." He followed Ryuichi into the kitchen and they both dropped their bags onto the counter. Stepping around to the sink, Tatsuha's shoe crunched over something on the ground. He looked down. "Ryuichi! Glass!"

"What?" The vocalist came around, gave one look to the mess and went to fetch the dustbin. It was only after he cleaned up the broken picture that he noticed the lyrics on the table. Picking them up he read through the words. "These must be the lyrics for his new song. Well written, to be completely honest."

"I wanna see!" The teen pouted.

Ryuichi smiled. "Nope. You get to wait until the concert. Let's find Shuichi though. He should be around here somewhere."

Tatsuha continued pouting as they searched the house, but stopped once he came to the bedroom. Shuichi lay asleep on the bed, dried tears streaking his face. It was obvious that he'd been like that for quite some time.

Ryuichi came up behind him and watched the younger vocalist sadly. Shuichi rolled slightly and mouthed a name. The two looked at each other and closed the door, returning to the kitchen.

"Shuichi really does miss him, Yuki I mean." Ryuichi said, sitting at the table. "He's been thinking about him all this week., though he tries not to. Maybe things will really clear up at the concert."

Tatsuha nodded. "I sure hope so. It's kind of creepy to see my brother like this. Shuichi's like that, but Eiri… no. He just doesn't DO that kind of stuff."

"I know. Well, here's hoping."

scenechange!

Tohma placed the office phone back onto its hook and gave a look to K. The American was staring out the window, frowning. It's been hard to deal with Shuichi this last week, because all the boy could think about was Yuki. It wasn't intentional, well, not on the vocalist's part, so they couldn't really tell him to snap out of it and sing.

Tohma, however, thought things were going along rather well.

"I hope you're happy sir." K stated, still looking out the window. "There's a very good chance that this could destroy Shindou forever. All that talent wasted."

"Yes, K. I know. But do you really disbelieve in our Mr. Shindou that much? The boy is strong, as strong as Ryuichi was at his age, if not more. I think he'll pull through."

K turned on him. "Yes, but also remember that Ryuichi was the type who wouldn't let anyone rule his life! If Shuichi turns out the same way, he could end up turning Yuki down!"

"That holds truth as well."

"Then why won't you do anything about it!"

"Because, it's more fun this way."

K twitched at stared at the president. "More…. Fun?"

"Nah, I'm joking." Tohma smiled at him. "The look on your face was priceless though. You should look at yourself." He looked out the window then and frowned. "I don't think that I could do anything, even if I knew what I should do. Shuichi always finds a loophole that I had looked over, even if I recheck my plan. So far we've been going good, but I think it'd be wise not to interfere any more. Besides, he'll sing better when he has Eiri behind him."

"I knew it!" K exclaimed, pointing at the other man in triumph. "You're getting something out of this!"

"I never denied it."

K muttered as soon as he left the room. "Manipulative bastard."

scenechange!

The nest day at practice, Hiro and Suguru sat at the computer, thinking about the new music. Shuichi had arrived with the lyrics, gave a run down on his idea for a beat, and then requested leave. Now it was up to them to use his idea, and the basic notes he scribbled down (for Hiro), and turn it into something resembling a song. All before the weekend.

"Man, he sure came up with those lyrics late. It shouldn't be too hard though. It seems something similar to Glaring Dream."

Hiro frowned, then smirked. "Ha… well, now I can see where he got his inspiration from."

"Wha?"

"Yuki. Can't you tell? Our friend misses him more than he'll admit."

"I see." Suguru reread the lyrics. "You're right!" He smiled. "Then we have to give this our all. We want Yuki to get the message, don't we?"

The two shared a grin and returned to their work. For the rest of that week, they hauled ass. They were at the studio every morning, and didn't leave until late at night. They were finished with the song by Thursday.

When Thursday morning came around, they were up and ready. Arriving early, Suguru rechecked the lyrics and music notes. Hiro and Shuichi arrived about an hour later and they got to work.

Hiro watched his friend as he sang. It was amazing that he memorized the lyrics so quickly, but then again, they needed it for their concert. He was still surprised considering the other man's nerves lately. Today he sang like he hasn't had for quite a while. The guitarist knew that, if Shuichi sang like that at the concert, he'd have women throwing themselves at him.

And maybe one man, if they were lucky.

scenechange!

The day of the concert finally came. Shuichi's alarm went off, blaring into his dream. Two minutes later his hand shot out from under the cover and slapped the sleep button.

It went off again five minutes later, to the same effect. Ryuichi was in the kitchen, drinking out of a cup the third time it went off. He sighed and picked up the phone.

"Hello? K, manager of Bad Luck speaking."

"K, Shuichi isn't waking up."

"I'm on my way."

The doorbell rang as soon as he put the phone down. He opened the door for the crazy man and returned to the kitchen, snippets of their conversation reaching his ears. Today was the day, he thought, that either everything is solved, or that everything we've worked for up to this point is lost.

In the bedroom, K shoved the barrel of his semi-automatic into Shuichi's hair. "Shindou, you have to the count of five to wake up. 1……2……3……fo-"

"All right! I'm up!" Came the garbled reply as the blankets were tossed aside. Well, he attempted to toss them aside, K being in the way. He sat up and glared, his eyes red and his hair everywhere. K picked up the bucket of water beside the bed and dumped it over the vocalist. "K!"

Ryuichi smiled from the kitchen. "This WILL work. It has to."

scenechange!

Shuichi peeked out at the large crowd waiting for him and his friends. It WAS rather large, larger than any other normal crowd. Then again, this was a BIG concert. The two newest songs, a few of the old favorites, and the one they just put together. He sighed. "Man, I hope I remember all the lyrics."

Hiro came up behind him and punched him in the shoulder. "You'll do fine. Just sing like you did during practice."

"Of course I will. I have to."

Hiro didn't bother asking why. "Then quit worrying. Hey, I heard Tatsuha was out there. Did you see him?" He peeked out and a wild grin appeared. "Ayaka's here!"

Shuichi followed his gaze. The young woman was standing there next to Tohma, Mika and Tatsuha. Ryuichi was behind stage, helping set up.

Hiro, still grinning, patted Shuichi's back, then left to go make sure all the equipment was in place.

Shuichi resumed his sweep of the audience. He couldn't see many familiar faces out there. It was a giant throng of fans that likes him for what he was on TV. He wasn't really like that, was he? He just put up the cheery front so no one would worry. It wasn't always like that, he thought. When it was just Hiro and me that was how I really was. What happened to me?

Ryuichi bounced on stage a minute later and addressed the audience.

"Welcome!" He grinned, the fans cheered at him from every angle. "Now now, you have to save most of that for Bad Luck!" More cheering. "Today is a very special day for you all: A live performance, with all of your favorite songs. Plus, just especially for you, a new hit that wasn't previously heard before." The cheering became so loud so as to be deafening. "Oh well, I'm sure since you'll all excited you'll want the show to start now, so, presenting Shuichi Shindou, the vocalist of Bad Luck!"

Shuichi took a deep breath and went over to Ryuichi. "Hi." With that one word the whole stadium erupted and he waved his hands. "Please, I'm not that good. Um… This isn't my first concert, so I don't know why I'm worried. But I guess I'm just afraid I'll forget the words." Laughter bubbled from the fans. "There's not much to say. Our new song was just recently completed, so you all will be the first to hear it. Hope you enjoy the show!" The curtain went up behind him and the lighting shifted to concert lighting. Hiro hit the first chord and Shuichi took his stance.

In the audience, Tohma smiled. He was down here among the populace because he gave his brother-in-law his box seat. It wasn't so bad down here though. As the audience sang to the Rage Beat he wondered how the said brother was doing. He couldn't watch him from down here, but he did need his privacy. He smiled again.

"I guess Mr. Shindou will decide his own fate. Will Eiri get the message? Time will tell."

Tatsuha looked at him. "WHAT?" With the music so loud, it was impossible to hear ones own thoughts, so Tohma just shook his head. The teen just shrugged and turned his attention back.

"Only time will tell."

To be continued…

Aww… I is so sad. No one wanted to review my chapter. I know people are busy with school and stuff, but I was still hoping chapter four would get a little better results than it did. Oh well, it did kinda suck. Poor Tatsuha. Everyone ignored his big debut.

Tatsuha: "Yeah, poor me." Is playing video games.

…… Jerk. Oh well. I think this chapter was a little better. Care to review? BTW, Wonder Chef's Cupcake would like you to read her story. Eet's cute, I'm in it.

REVIEWERS! (I love you all)

Wonder Chef's Cupcake: YOU REVIEWED AT LAST! So glad you got to get on. Will do my friend. Six people in no time. yeah right, I WISH I'd be that lucky…

Kylara Ishida/Breifs: Yeah, the scene changes thing sucks…. I bet this is no better. It's sad.

Dark Metal Angel of Destruction: Thankies for keeping with me. I tried to make this one longer.

Rae Charlove: Woot! Thankies… it was still short though.

Spiritsflame: Well, short chapters are good sometimes.

See ya soon!