Words from the authoress:
Haha. Hey, everybody! Thanks for coming back to read chapter two! I've really happy to finally be writing this story. I just love breathing a little life into the less-used characters—there's so much opportunity. Who knows—maybe Maiko will even get a little romance in this story.
While I've read all but the last book of the manga series, I have only seen the first DVD of the anime—therefore, I'm not even sure if Maiko makes an appearance. So as far as description, I'm not sure what Maiko look like—I've only seen her in black and white. So I hope you don't mind if I take a few liberties with her description.
And thanks to all my reviewers! You guys sure know how to give an amateur writer a much-needed ego boost.
So, if you actually took the time to read that, I congratulate you—if you can withstand my incoherent babble you can survive anything—even K-san. If you skipped down to here, good for you. This should be more interesting anyway. On with the story!
Three to Tango
By Akaru
Chapter One
Yuki sighed contentedly as the morning light filtered through the open window. A gentle breeze caused the crisp muslin curtains to sway stiffly. Yuki smiled contentedly as his eyes fluttered open. He had slept well that night, despite the mysterious disappearance of his little lover.
Yuki looked up as his vision came into focus, and he found himself staring into a familiar pair of violet eyes. They twinkled vibrantly with such loving adoration. Yuki smirked as he met those eyes with a coy glance of his own. "G'morning," he mumbled sleepily.
"Good morning, Yuki-san." The violet eyes lit up happily.
Yuki's smirk grew as he brushed an errant lock of hair from his lover's face. The honey blonde curl slipped silkily from his fingers as he—
Wait… blonde?
Yuki bolted upright in bed, his eyes roving frantically over the person he had mistaken for his lover. The young girl who strangely had his Shuichi's eyes was perched beside him on the bed, hovering closely over his face with a giddy smile. She giggled cutely as she brushed the long hair from her face and continued to stare intently. Yuki, in return, did the only thing he could think of.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Yuki yelled hysterically. Immediately following was the pounding of footsteps as Shuichi burst into the room.
"Yuki! What happened?" Shuichi skidded to a stop as he saw the girl on Yuki's bed. "Maiko! What are you doing? Get down from there this instant!"
Maiko pouted but complied. Yuki shuffled off of the bed, left unstable by his shock. He turned his glare to Shuichi and his female. . .doppelganger. "You know this psycho, Shuichi?"
"I-I can explain everything, Yuki—well, except why she was in here in the first place," He turned a glare of his own to his sister, who shrank back with a sheepish smile. "This is my sister Maiko."
"I… see." Yuki grunted. "Tell me all about it over breakfast, Both of you, out, so I can put some clothes on."
"…and she just showed up last night, Yuki, and I didn't want to bother you while you were working." Shuichi concluded his retelling of the previous night's events. "We went over to Hiro's for a while, but he had his girlfriend over and didn't have room for Maiko. So I let her stay here for a night." Shuichi bowed his head. "Gomen, Yuki. I hope you're not too mad."
Yuki looked pensively at his lover a moment "Well, at least you didn't interrupt my writing," he commented in a rare moment of understanding. He looked back as the younger Shindou. "Do your parents know where you are?"
Maiko looked sheepish, but she smiled. "Well…. They do now. Mom was pretty upset that I had run off, but when I mentioned that I was spending time with Shuichi she was okay with it. She even said I could stay with you for a week!" Maiko said happily.
Shuichi balked. "Um, Maiko, is that such a good idea? I mean…" He glanced between Maiko and Yuki nervously before deciding on the safest way to speak. "I mean, shouldn't you be asking Yuki before you announce that you're staying in his apartment for a whole week?"
Maiko tilted her head. "Oh yeah!" She giggled and turned to the novelist. "Is it all right with you, Yuki-san?"
"Well…" Yuki paused uncertainly.
Maiko dawned a girlish pout, bringing a few tears to her eyes for an added effect. Inwardly, she smirked. Who could resist this look? "I never get to spend any time with my beloved brother anymore," she sniffed. "Pleeease? I'd really appreciate it."
Yuki knew he was perfectly capable of resisting the girl's childish flirts. He had walked away unscathed from some of the most determined and clever temptresses Japan had to offer. So why had he chosen that exact moment to compare the younger Shindou to his pink haired lover? It seemed all his brain was capable of in the spur of the moment was to muse how much the girl resembled his Shuichi—what with that adorable mouth of full pink lips, that cute pert nose and the slight rosy flush over her cheeks, not to mention those gorgeous violet eyes… hey, even the Great Eiri Yuki could be a shmuck once in a while.
Maiko squealed gleefully and Shuichi stared as if his lover had grown another head when Yuki answered, "Well, I suppose we could set up a spare futon in the living room."
Maiko trotted happily alongside Shuichi, chattering questions toward her older brother. Things like… what type of tea did Yuki drink? What type of toilet paper did Yuki buy? Did Yuki wear boxers or briefs? Did Yuki prefer white or dark chocolate? … and all of the things that are important to teenage girls.
Shuichi yawned sleepily as he trudged in the general direction of NG Records. In truth, the only place he much wanted to go was back to bed. The morning had been exhausting, chasing his sister around the apartment, keeping her out of Yuki's office, Yuki's bedroom, Yuki's shower, Yuki's closet, Yuki's car…
Which explained why Maiko was accompanying him to work today. Shuichi did quite trust Maiko to leave Yuki alone. Of course, not that Yuki had noticed. The older man had been oblivious to the girl's assault on his apartment all morning. By the time Shuichi dragged his sister from the apartment, he had locked himself in his office as always.
"Wow…" Maiko stared up breathlessly, dragging Shuichi from his reverie. He realized they had arrived at NG Records—an impressively tall building with huge glass windows. Even from here he could see the massive planes of glass separating Seguchi's office from the lovely horizon of Tokyo.
"You work here?" Maiko asked, awestruck, as they stepped through the sliding glass doors into the marble hallway. Their footsteps echoed through the silent expanse of stone.
Shuichi just shrugged, not seeing what was so impressive about the oversized brownstone monstrosity. "This is the NG studios—come on, this way." Shuichi led Maiko to the elevator, which slid open immediately. Shuichi punched in the number for Bad Luck's floor, and the elevator glided upward soundlessly before it deposited them in yet another marble hall.
Thick planes of glass granted a view into a few of the recording boxes, and Maiko took a moment to peer through each one. But what truly grabbed her attention was the row of gold and platinum records lined up along the wall. Maiko stared at each of them intently as they made their way through the hall. "There sure are a lot of these albums dedicated to Nittle Grasper, Shuichi."
Shuichi threw an indulgent smile over his shoulder. "Well, of course. They're only legends. Not to mention the boss's band." He glanced over his shoulder, only to find he had left Maiko a good ten paces behind him, where she was staring with rapt attention at one of the platinum albums.
"Shuichi… this is… Bad Luck."
Shuichi nodded. "That was Gravity. Hiro and I were so excited when he finally hit a million sales." Shuichi decided not to mention that the real reason for their excitement was that it had resulted in a date for both of them. "Come on, now. We're late as it is."
Maiko sighed for the umpteenth time as she strolled the same hallway she had strolled for an hour. She had been enraptured by the place when they arrived, but now Shuichi was too busy to hang out with her, and had forbidden her from roaming the building freely.
Maiko huffed. Well, what did he expect her to do? She re-entered the studio designated to her brother's band quietly, and was relieved to see that Hiro, at least, had finally emerged from the soundproofed glass recording enclosure. He now stood, watching as Shuichi went over his vocals once more.
"Hi, Hiro!" She kept her voice down, but was unable to contain her excitement. At last, someone to talk to!
Hiro turned. "Oh, hey, little Shindou sis." He watched as Maiko came up to stand beside him "What's wrong?"
Maiko shook her head. "Nothing, I'm just boooored." She accompanied the sentiment with a dull look. "There's nothing to do here."
Hiro grinned. "The break room's down at the end of the hall. They've got magazines and free coffee there. Maybe something edible, too."
Maiko left Hiro once again. Time to go explore the break room.
The break room proved to be rather unexciting. She helped herself to the pot of coffee and a brownie from a platter on the table, and glanced around. Aside from a few magazines, a small television and the strange presence of numerous board games and crayons, there wasn't much to the place. The walls held a couple of band posters, and a few absurd crayon doodles in one corner. Maiko settled down at the table and snatched up another brownie, clicking on the TV.
She clicked through a few uninteresting channels. Game show, soap, another soap, cartoon, televangelist, another soap, music videos—no one interesting—reality show, another soap. Maiko chucked her empty paper coffee cup at the TV and got up to retrieve a new one.
She poured another cup of the bitter substance, taking her time in administering a liberal amount of sugar and cream. She blew softly over the liquid and watched the steam billow, before she put it to her lips and turned back to the table.
"Oh!" Maiko exclaimed, spilling a few slashes of the coffee on the floor by her shoes. Another person had somehow managed to enter the room without her knowing. Said person was now generously helping himself to the brownies. He glanced up, sharp blue eyes focusing intently on her a moment, before he broke out with a goofy grin.
"Hello! Na no na no da!" The stranger proclaimed.
Maiko narrowed her eyes. Where had she seen this person before? He must be a musician. He was…
Maiko's mind shifted to the countless posters smothering the wall of Shuichi's bedroom at home. Each of them had his face on it, so that made him the lead singer of Nittle Grasper. He was…
"Ryuichi… Sakuma-san… right?"
The smiling man popped up in front of Maiko face, causing her to step back. "Hi there, Shu-chan. Whatcha doin'? What did you do to your hair? Why are ya dressed like that—oh, for a video, right? I had to dress like a girl for a video once, too. That was in the United States. Have you ever—"
"Whoa, slow down there." Maiko interrupted with a laugh. "I'm not Shuichi. I'm Maiko, Shuichi's sister."
Ryuichi paused a moment, studying the girl's face. "Hey!" he shouted with sudden epiphany. "You're not Shuichi!"
Maiko reared back, baffled. "That's what I just said."
"Are you a musician here?"
"Maiko shook her head. "Not hardly. I'm just visiting my brother."
"Who's your brother?"
"Shuichi Shindou. The person you mistook me for—somehow."
"Oh, you're Shuichi's little sister. What are you doing here?"
Maiko nearly fell to the floor. Didn't she just explain that? "I'm visiting my brother. I'm Maiko Shindou, and my brother is Shuichi Shindou. He's a singer here, not me," she reiterated. "Any more questions?"
"What are we talking about?"
Maiko leapt to her feet. "Are you even listening to me?" She shouted.
"I don't think so!"
Maiko stepped toward the childlike pop idol menacingly. "Why you, I oughta…."
"Aw, don't get mad, Shu-chan's little sister Maiko Shindou. Here, I'll even let you hold Kumagoro." Ryuichi shoved the pink rabbit into Maiko's arms.
Maiko was too shocked to refuse the bunny. Instead, she found herself cradling the worn bundle of pink fuzz. She looked over the stuffed rabbit, from the beady eyes to the floppy ears…was that a drool stain?
She looked up to find Ryuichi looking at her sharply. "How rude. You haven't said hello to Kuma-san."
Maiko blinked. "Um…he never said hello to me, either…"
"He didn't!" Ryuichi pounced. "Kuma-san! Remember your manners!" He paused a moment, glaring at the rabbit, then he smiled brilliantly. "There, that's much better." He looked at Maiko expectantly.
"Oh, um, nice to meet you…Kuma-san." Maiko looked up at the man for confirmation.
"Yay!" Ryuichi exploded again. "Now Maiko-chan and Kuma-chan are bestest friends! And Ryu too!" He glomped onto Maiko, who yelped and nearly dropped Kumagoro. "Come on, let's go see if Shu-chan or K want to play!"
Before Maiko had a chance to respond, Ryuichi had seized her hand was already tugging her down the hall.
Tohma Seguchi scrutinized the situation in the hallway carefully. His childish friend was currently tormenting another poor soul—one that looked surprisingly similar to Bad Luck's vocalist. He was currently dragging the young female down the hall towards Bad Luck's studio.
"Ryuichi," he intervened, partly out of curiosity and partly out of pity for the young woman. "…what are you doing?"
"Ah, Tohma! Whatcha doin? Na no da!"
"Mind if I ask who this is?" Tohma crossed his arms, and Maiko shrank back despite his seemingly pleasant smile.
"This is Shuichi's-little-sister-Maiko-Shindou! She's our new friend!"
"Oh, I see. Are you here visiting Shuichi?"
Maiko could only nod.
"Well, I believe Shuichi is busy at work at the moment. And Ryuichi, you should be getting back to your studio, too." Ryuichi responded with an 'aw' and quickly disappeared down the hall. "Now then," Seguchi turned his smile back toward Maiko. "What do you say to a tour of NG Records, Miss Shindou?"
Maiko gulped audibly and nodded. As she followed Tohma to the elevator, she wondered why she had an ominous feeling about this…
"Dammit!" Taki Aizawa slammed his fist against the table in the break room. Immediately Ma-kun and Ken-kun ran in.
"What's wrong, Taki?" Ma-kun asked breathlessly.
Taki turned a murderous glare towards his two coworkers. "Someone ate all my damn brownies!"
TBC….
AN: Nyaha. I want brownies now.
