Missing Amethyst Eyes
Chapter 2
The next day
"So, it's come to this huh?" Hiro said to Shuichi as he plucked at his guitar.
"Yeah." Was all Shuichi could bring himself to say. He wanted nothing more than to run home to Yuki, and had in fact already tried. That had resulted in Hiro strait jacketing him, although where he got the jacket from, nobody knows. (Just one of those unexplainable Gravitation things!)
"Don't worry; it'll be okay Shu-chan." Hiro said, trying to comfort his best friend.
"Yeah, I know." Shuichi nodded. "At least, I hope so."
There was a knock at the door. "Ah, that'll be Mika and Tohma." Hiro put his guitar down. Sure enough, the two of them walked through the door.
"I'm sorry Shuichi." Tohma said kindly. He shifted his gaze to Hiro. "You guys still want to do this?" he asked.
Hiro nodded. "Yeah, we have to, but I've been thinking." He said.
"Uh-oh," Shuichi quipped, receiving a clip in the ear for his troubles.
"As I was saying, maybe I'm not the best person for the act." Hiro continued.
"Oh? And why is that?" Tohma queried.
"I have a girlfriend. And even if Ayaka didn't mind, people would talk, and Yuki would know something was wrong."
"Hmmm. You've got a point there. Is there someone you've got in mind?" Tohma asked.
Hiro nodded. "Ask Ryuichi." He replied.
Tohma stared. "Ryu-chan?" he asked, "Why him?"
"Well, Tatsuha-kun really likes him, and I mean really likes him. Why not kill to birds with one stone, so to speak." Hiro answered.
Mika suddenly laughed. "Corrupting the good son huh? Actually, I like this idea, lets try it!" She nudged her husband.
He grinned. "I'll call him." He said, reaching for his phone.
"Hmmm, jealousy huh?" Ryuichi asked, his eyes shining.
"That's the plan." Tohma told him.
"Tell Shuichi I'll do it! I'll be right over!"
"Okay, see you soon." Tohma hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. "He's on his way."
The doorbell rang about half an hour later. Hiro once again put down his guitar and went to open the door, standing back to let the Nittle Grasper star inside.
"Hey Shu-chan!" Ryuichi carolled happily. Seeing the boy's sad face, he became serious. He sat beside Shuichi and put an arm around his shoulder. "Cheer up Shu-chan, it'll all work out eventually." He said.
Shuichi gave his idol a weak smile and nodded. "Thanks Sakuma-san." He replied softly.
Ryuichi grinned. "Uh, uh, uh! Please call me Ryu-chan!" he begged, brightening up again and bouncing up and down on the couch.
This made Shuichi smile. "Okay, Ryu-chan. Arigatou." He answered, Ryuichi's hyperness was catching.
As Shuichi began to liven up, Hiro had another thought. "Someone had better warn Sakano." He said. "And K-san and Suguru."
Tohma nodded. "Yes, Sakano will have a coronary if we spring this on him… he'll probably have a coronary anyway. I'll call him now."
"I'll call K--san and Suguru." Hiro added, leaving the room yelling to his older brother, "Yuji! Where's the phone?"
Once again the doorbell rang, and Mika answered it this time. She was greeted with a booming "Hey, Mrs. Seguchi!" from K and polite hellos from Sakano and Suguru. Sakano looked like he'd rammed his head through a brick wall and Suguru was extremely pale, but that was a frequent occurrence. It cam from being in a band with Shuichi.
Once the plan had been thoroughly explained, Suguru regained most of his colour, understanding that this needed to happed, as much for the band as for Eiri and Shuichi. Sakano however, wound up in a corner muttering about the end of a career; whose career nobody really knew.
"I actually think this may work. Eiri needs this to help him get his act together." Suguru said thoughtfully.
"That's the idea," Hiro replied.
Mika suddenly grinned. "There's one more person who will totally freak if she's not in on this!" she said to her husband.
Tohma laughed as he and Ryuichi said together; "Noriko-chan!"
"This is the sort of thing she thrives on." Tohma admitted.
Ryuichi leapt off the couch. "I'll call!" he squealed.
It wasn't long before Noriko arrived, carrying a stack of party equipment. "Let's get smashed!!" she called happily. "I've got booze and music, what more could we want?" when they all looked at her blankly, Noriko rolled her eyes at them.
"Well, I figured you'd all be sitting around like a bunch of sad-sacks, and I was right, so I decided to forego my all work and no play philosophy…" Tohma snorted.
Noriko glared at him and continued, "And throw a party to cheer everyone up!" she finished. She spotted Sakano still muttering in the corner and sighed. "I think we'll be needing more booze." She said to Hiro, gesturing at Bad Luck's producer.
Hiro laughed as his brother came out of the kitchen with a slab of beer. "Did someone express the need for alcohol?" he asked amid cheers from Noriko.
"One rule though" Noriko added. "No Bad Luck or Nittle Grasper songs. The last thing we need is for our idiot lead singers to start a 'who's better' argument."
Suguru nodded wearily. "I agree. So what've you got?" he asked.
She threw him the case of the CD she was putting in the player. "They're a newbie band from Kyoto. I heard their first hit single on the radio the other day and I had to go and buy their album, these guys have real talent!"
Suguru studied the case. It featured the members of the band; two girls and four boys. "Ancient Curse huh?" he mused.
"Yeah, they do a pretty wide variety of stuff too. It's kind of refreshing." Noriko replied.
"Can I have a look?" Mika asked Suguru, who wordlessly passed the case over.
Mika looked at it for a moment, and then grinned. "Look," she said to her husband. "Looks like our little starlets made the big time."
Tohma glanced over her shoulder and grinned. "Well, they always did have more than the right amount of talent. Good luck to them!" he replied with a smile.
"I bet everyone back home is really proud of them." Mika added.
Receiving an enquiring look from Suguru, she explained; "They've all lived in our neighbourhood ever since they were born. They all attended the local school, in fact, the girls still do and they all came to my family's temple every week. I think their lead singer's the only girl in the neighbourhood he hasn't slept with, except for the other girl on there." She indicated the other girl on the CD case.
Noriko popped up beside them. "Their single debut at number 5 on the charts. Wine?" she asked, offering a bottle.
"No thanks, I'm with Suguru on the alcohol free thing." Mika said ruefully, patting her stomach and smiling up at Tohma, who smiled back softly.
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Noriko answered, already a little tipsy. She stopped suddenly, "Oh, this is it, their single!" the music began to play, and everybody seemed to like what they heard.
I see a home in a quiet place
I see myself in a strong embrace
I feel protection from the human race
It's not parental.
But it's a fantasy, not a reality
And it's no good, no, no good for me
That you have no idea.
That I'm walking through the clouds
When you're looking at me
I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.
I am shaking like a leaf
If you move beside me
And you're all that I see,
But it's no good for me
You have a home in a quiet place
And someone else feels your strong embrace
She is protected and she needs no chase
Until you love her
You're a mystery, you are the heart if intrigue
You're no good, no, no good for me
But you have no idea.
That I'm walking through the clouds
When you're looking at me
I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.
I am shaking like a leaf
If you move beside me
And you're all that I see,
But it's no good for me
No it's no good for me, yeah, no good for me.
It's a make believe, you have no idea,
That I'm walking through the clouds
When you're looking at me
I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.
I am shaking like a leaf
If you move close to me
And you're all that I see,
But it's no good for me
It's just no good, no good
Through the clouds when you're looking at me
I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.
I am shaking
Like a leaf
If you move beside me
And you're all that I see,
But it's no good for me
It's just no good for me.
"Noriko wasn't kidding when she said they were good." Suguru said to Mika as they watched a very drunk Sakano cry on Tohma's shoulder.
"Mmmm." Mika agreed. "They must be, Noriko's pretty hard to please music wise."
"That's certainly true." Suguru replied, helping Tohma lay the now unconscious Sakano on the couch.
As the party continued, only Mika saw Tohma sneak away. She followed him, "Tohma, don't do anything stupid." She warned him. "I don't want either Eiri or Shuichi hurt, if I can help it. This is already going to hurt them enough."
"I'll be careful." Tohma promised, kissing his wife before getting into the car and heading towards Eiri's apartment.
Eiri, beer in hand and cigarette in his mouth, opened the door, scowling at the ever-smiling Tohma Seguchi. "Have you got any idea what time it is?" he growled.
Tohma grinned. "About 11:30 pm, if I'm not mistaken." He replied.
"Shut up." Eiri snapped, and received the unfathomable smile in return. Tohma held up a 6 pack and a strawberry shortcake he had filched from the party. "I stole these from the party at Hiro's for you."
"Nakano had a party?" Eiri asked, and Tohma did not miss the unspoken question in his voice.
"Yeah," keeping his promise to his wife, he added; "Kind of a 'cheer up Shuichi' party, he's pretty depressed. It was Noriko-chan's idea." Eiri grunted and Tohma looked at him slyly. "And by the looks of you, he's not the only one who's depressed."
Eiri groaned and slumped on to the couch, a piece of cake hanging from his mouth, "I don't know what's come over me, I feel kinda… lonely… without him." He said, sounding almost sad. "I don't know what to think."
"I think, my friend that you care about the kid more than even you yourself realise." Tohma sounded bitter.
"I doubt that." Eiri retorted.
"It's been a while since you've been apart this long. I guess you're not used to it." Tohma teased.
"Shut up!" was the best Eiri could come up with. "It's only been one night."
"Yeah, twice in one week." Tohma answered wryly.
"He'll come back eventually. He always does."
"Don't be so sure." Tohma cautioned.
"Go home." Eiri told him bluntly.
Tohma got to his feet with a laugh. "All right, I'm leaving. But come and meet me for lunch, say…12:30 at that Italian place you like so much." He coaxed.
"Fine, just leave me alone." Eiri agreed. Great, lunch with Seguchi was just what he needed. Not.
