Try not to look at the songs I choose by who sings them. I've picked them based on their lyrics and how they fit the various relationships in this fic. It shouldn't matter that I picked an Avril Lavinge song, but the lyrics suited Eiri and Shuichi's relationship!

Also, I start school again tomorrow, my summer break just finished, which is why I've had so much time to update lately. Because I'm starting year 11 this year I've got to really work hard so please bear with me if it takes me a while to update!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation. Ancient Curse are mine.

Missing Amethyst Eyes

Chapter Five

Hiro had the day off, they'd wrapped up their preparation for their new single which was being released today so, as their song hit the stores, so did they. He was meeting his band mates for a celebratory dinner before the Ancient Curse concert that night.

He rounded the corner and practically crashed into Suguru. "Oh, hey Nakano!" the younger boy said cheerfully.

"Hi Suguru." Hiro answered equally as cheerful. "Fancy meeting you here!"

The boy grinned. "Indeed, what a coincidence!" he joked.

Suguru checked his watch. "We're a little early, and Shindou-san will probably be late, wanna check out the CD shop across the street?" he asked.

"Okay, good idea. And you know, you can call us by our first names." Hiro replied with a smile.

Suguru smiled back. "I'll try and remember that." He said wryly.

They crossed over to the CD shop and went inside, they were checking out the Top Ten Singles, and there they were at no. 1 already.

"Nice going!" Hiro said with a grin, he hi-fived Suguru.

"Totally!" Suguru answered with a laugh.

Sitting at no. 2 on the list though, was Ancient Curse's new single Summer Rain; it had been at the top of this store's list until today.

"You know, I wouldn't mind their album." Suguru said quietly.

"Yeah, and you probably wouldn't mind their lead singer either." Hiro teased him; Suguru blushed and glared at his friend.

"Do you mind? I don't even know her, so how can you say that?" he demanded, embarrassed.

"Nope, but it is true isn't it? And you've seen the album covers, you're just going tonight so you can meet her right?" Hiro prodded.

"That's not the point!"

"Oh, so you do like her!" Hiro laughed. Suguru merely glared and remained silent.

Chuckling, Hiro crossed to the appropriate section and sought out the album. "Holy shit!" Suguru heard him say.

He went over and looked over his shoulder at the cover of the CD. "What's the matter?"

Hiro was grinning from ear to ear. "Remember the chick who gave us the passes?" Suguru nodded. "That's her!" Hiro pointed to the dark haired girl on the case. "That's Kaede. I can't believe I didn't recognise them!"

Suguru looked puzzled. "I thought you said she won a radio competition?"

"Nah, I guess she didn't want to be recognised. People treat you differently when you're famous remember?"

"That's true, will we tell Shuichi?" Suguru asked.

Hiro thought for a moment. "Nah lets not. I want to see the look on his face when he realises who she really is!" he laughed.

Suguru did end up buying the album. After he did so, they made their way to meet Shuichi, taking the time to browse through the shops in the mall on their way down to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet their lead singer.


Eiri too was heading to the concert. To be quite honest, he didn't really want to go. He had a terrible feeling that Kaede and Akito were up to something. He hadn't actually wanted to go in the first place, and since his encounter with Shuichi in the elevator, he really didn't want to go. He wouldn't put it past Kaede to invite him too, and he really didn't think he had the strength to see him again.

The whole elevator thing was doing his head in. he kept replaying it over and over in his mind, he couldn't escape it.

"When are you coming back?"

"You'll have to do better than that Yuki, a lot better!"

He stood and grabbed Shuichi's shirt, pulling him up with him. He pushed the teen against the wall and crushed his mouth against Shuichi's. Before he could stop himself, Shuichi kissed him back just as hard. Eiri slid his hand inside Shuichi's shirt and the pink-haired boy moaned into the taller man's mouth.

Eiri shook his head, trying to clear it of the longing thoughts that were running through it. He wanted Shuichi back more than anything. Perhaps now was the time to finally listen to his older sister, and work to bring him back… some serious sucking up was in order. He shuddered, sucking up wasn't exactly his strong point; it meant swallowing his ego… something else he wasn't particularly good at, and admitting he was wrong. Not so good at that either. He sighed and headed out the door, grabbing the car keys as he left.

He met Tohma and Mika outside the Palladium and they walked around to the side door, where they found Tatsuha and Ryuichi waiting for them. Eiri glared at Ryuichi, resenting his presence. The Nittle Grasper star just grinned cheerfully and jumped up and down on the spot.

They showed the guards at the door their passes and went inside. Tohma and Ryuichi were greeted frequently as they passed through the crowd of backstage staff. Eiri growled, just being in Tohma and Ryuichi's company was pissing him off, and he could see Tatsuha watching Ryuichi's every move as they passed through the throng of people.

Sure enough, as they continued their path through the throng of people, Eiri saw Shuichi, and Shuichi saw Eiri too. The met each other's eyes for an instant, then looked away.

"I don't want to be here!" Eiri muttered.

"Yes you do!" A cheerful voice said behind him. He turned and came face to face with a grinning Kaede.

"What makes you think that?" he demanded.

"Because you love me, that's why!" she answered brightly. Eiri muttered something about obnoxious teenagers.

Ryuichi came bounding up to her. "Me! Me! Do you remember me?" he asked excitedly, jumping up and down in front of her, his eyes wide.

She smiled at him. "Of course I remember you Sakuma-san. We met at Mika and Tohma's wedding, I came with Tatsuha."

"YAY!! You do remember me!" Ryuichi capered around happily.

"How could she forget?" Tohma quipped. "As I recall, you two almost put the hired musicians out of a nights work, what was it again? High-jacking the microphones and singing a Capella karaoke?"

Kaede grinned, "True, and it was so much fun too!" She replied. "It's been a while Tohma, Mika. How are you?"

Tohma ruffled her hair, which already looked as if a bird had nested in it. "I'm good thanks Kaede-chan, how about you?"

"Great! I'm really looking forward to this concert!" she said excitedly.

"So are we." Mika said with a smile.

Ryuichi cut into the conversation again. "Kaede-chan, don't call me Sakuma-san, call me Ryu-chan!" he pleaded. "Being called by my last name makes me feel old!" he whined.

"Okay Ryu-chan, I'll try and remember that." Kaede told him.

At that moment, Noriko arrived, "Hi, sorry I'm late, I had trouble getting my husband and daughter organised before I left the house!" she panted.

She looked at Kaede and gasped. "You can't honestly be wearing that on stage girl! Oh, I'm Noriko by the way."

"I believe we met briefly at Tohma and Mika's wedding." Kaede informed her.

Noriko studied her closely for a minute. "Oh, so we have! Sorry about that… but you can't really be wearing that on stage!" she sounded horrified at the mere thought.

"No, she's not!" Akito arrived behind his friend as she kissed Tatsuha on the cheek. Akito shook his hand and grinned at him. "Hey Tatsuha."

"Hey." The younger teen replied with a smile.

"Kaede you're meant to be in wardrobe!" Akito reprimanded her.

"Oh, I don't know, it's not so bad." Kaede said to her friend, looking down at her attire. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans with holes in them and a loose fitting t-shirt with the word 'Whatever' written across it. Her long hair was tied into a loose ponytail.

"No, it's not bad, it's terrible!" Akito answered, "You're putting us all behind!" as he dragged her away, she waved goodbye to everyone.

"Ooowww! Akii, you're pulling my arm out of its socket!"

"Awww, poor baby… You'll get over it!"

Shuichi was looking around the place with interest. He saw Akito pull Kaede away from the others, and watched them go towards the wardrobe department.

"There's Akito and Kaede, but what are they doing in wardrobe?" he asked Hiro and Suguru.

Suguru grinned and Hiro laughed. "You'll find out soon enough!" Hiro told his best friend, winking knowingly at Suguru.

They could hear Kaede pleading in the background. "Please Saki! Please! You'll look really good in it, I promise!"

"No I won't! I don't have the body for that sort of get up! Not like you do Kaede-chan!"

"Bullshit Saki! Complete bullshit! Now put… it… on!"

"No!"

"Kai! Help me out here would you?"

"All right, all right! I'll put it on, just quit bugging me already!"

"Kaede! You're needed in makeup as of five minutes ago!" Haru yelled from the makeup department.

"Coming!" Kaede screamed out of the wardrobe department at one hundred miles an hour.

Haru came over to Shuichi and the others; he looked exasperated and slightly angry. "I swear she does it every time!" he muttered, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I guess that's just the way she is." Shuichi said with a grin. "You look great by the way Haru." He still hadn't realised what was going on.

The boy grinned, and looked down at his attire. He was wearing a deep green, loose fitting shirt and tight leather pants. "Thanks, but wait til' you see Saki, she always looks fantastic on stage, but she's so self conscious she hates wearing tight stuff. No doubt you heard the yelling match her and Kaede were having over it?"

"Yes, we heard it." Hiro replied, watching Shuichi 'Man, he really is dense; I can't believe he hasn't figured it out yet!'

Haru rolled his eyes. "I can't believe she tried to pull Kai into it again. Poor guy, he takes it all and ignores them both." The other boys looked at him questioningly. "Saki's got a huge crush on Kai, and although he doesn't show it, we're all pretty sure he likes her too. Kaede uses Kai to bully Saki into doing stuff she's uncomfortable with. Kaede keeps telling her it's good for her self esteem."

"Poor Kai, how does he take it?" Hiro asked with a grin.

Haru shrugged. "I dunno, how do any of us take it?" he replied.

Sano sauntered over, "Is Kasey running late again?" he asked. Haru nodded. Sano sighed. "Damn her, I can't get into makeup until she's finished, and they're still trying to get that birds nest out of her hair! Oh well, at least everyone else is done, I'm the last one, so we're almost good to go. Have you tuned up yet?"

"No, not yet." Haru answered. "I'd better go and do that now; I'll see you all after the show, at the after party yeah?" he waved and hurried away.

"Who's Kasey?" Shuichi asked, still missing the fact of who his new friends were.

"Kaede-chan; it's her nickname." Sano explained. "Her middle name is Cecilia, and the pronunciation sounds like her initials."

At that moment, the girl in question came tearing over, "Sano, you're needed over yonder!" she panted, bent double trying to regain her breath and pointing back the way she came.

"Finally, you are so slow Kasey!" He answered. He too waved at the others and disappeared.

When she straightened, Suguru turned an impressive shade of pink. She was wearing a tight red mini skirt and a red midriff halter top. Her hair was loose and floating around her face. "You – you look great." He stammered and Kaede grinned. "Thanks." She replied.

"I'm Suguru Fujisaki." He introduced himself, regaining some of his composure, but still blushing furiously.

"Kaede Kurasawa." Kaede replied, also slightly flushed.

"How are you guys?" she asked.

"We're all right." The three boys answered in unison.

"Great! You are coming to the after party right?" Kaede said cheerfully.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Shuichi told her with a happy smile; the happiest smile Hiro had seen on his face since this whole problem with Yuki had started the week before.

Haru came over from where he and Kai had been tuning their guitars. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yep! Let's go!" she replied with a happy grin. "Bye everyone!" she called.

"Bye!" a chorus of voices answered her.

"Isn't this exciting Shu-chan?" Ryuichi squealed hyperactively.

"Totally!" Shuichi answered excitedly.

The announcement came over the PR system "Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting… Ancient Curse!!!!!" Shuichi stared as Kaede walked onto the stage, followed by her friends, amid the screams of hundreds of fans.

"Huh? I don't get it! Why is she going on stage?" Shuichi asked.

"Isn't it obvious dumbass, Kaede and the others are Ancient Curse! Honestly!" Eiri drawled from behind him.

Shuichi spun to face him. "I never asked you Yuki!" he snapped, and then he blushed as he remembered the other day in the elevator, as did Eiri. Hurriedly, they turned away from each other again.

"I just didn't know. They never said anything!" he murmured.

"They like to be treated normally when they can." Reiji appeared behind them. "The boys get chased a lot, so when they're not noticed, they don't complain, and they don't say anything… the girls have their fair share of fans as well, although they don't get chased as much."

"We know the feeling!" Shuichi, Hiro and Suguru said together.

"Uh-huh!" Tohma, Noriko and Ryuichi nodded in agreement.

Their attention turned to the concert. "Hey everyone! Thanks for coming out! I'm Kaede and these are my friends Akito, Kai, Sanosuke, Hatsuharu and Saki… together, we are Ancient Curse!"

The crowd went wild, all six of them waved before striking up the introduction to their first single. The crowd was singing at the top of their lungs. The atmosphere was electric.

"They certainly know how to work an audience." Shuichi commented.

"Indeed they do?" Tohma answered with a smile.

You have no idea…

That I'm walking the clouds when you're looking at me.

I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.

I am shaking like a leaf, when you move beside me,

And you're all that I see, but it's no good for me.

Ryuichi snuck up next to Shuichi and put his arm around the boy's waist. Shuichi jumped about three feet in the air, but relaxed when he realised what was going on. Ryuichi looked at him with big puppy dog eyes and grinned at him. Shuichi smiled back softly, he would never get used to this… never.

Eiri growled; this SUCKED!!! He had to do something about this, fast!

"Oi, brat, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked testily.

Shuichi glanced at Tohma and Mika, who nodded slightly.

"All right, but this had better be good." Shuichi said agitatedly, he wanted to watch the concert in peace! But still, his heart was racing at the thought of being alone with Yuki, he was nervous about what his lover would say to him.

Eiri pulled him into a dark corner. "Look, I've been an idiot." He began. Shuichi snorted, but let him continue. "But I want to apologise for the way I've treated you. I don't know what went wrong, but I'm sorry."

Inside Shuichi was glowing happily, at last they were getting somewhere, but Yuki still had some major grovelling to do. He wasn't going to get out of it quite this easily.

"Thank you Yuki, it means a lot to me, to hear you say that. But I'm afraid that it's going to take more than an apology this time. This time, you have to work for it." He said, before turning on his heel and rejoining the others.

"Dammit!" Eiri swore to himself. Still, it was no less than he had expected; and he was prepared to take whatever action was necessary.

As Shuichi returned to his friends, he winked at Tohma and gave a thumbs up. Tohma grinned, as did Hiro, who had seen the silent exchange.

As Eiri came back, Ryuichi leapt forward and kissed Shuichi lightly, and you could almost see the steam coming out of the novelist's ears. And, to add insult to injury, Shuichi looked as if he liked it. Eiri heard a sharp intake of breath from Tatsuha and he thought briefly how much this must be hurting him as well. And there wasn't a single bloody thing either one of them could do about it.

Every night and every day now,

Though I know you've gone anyway.

Somewhere in my heart I'm always,

Dancing with you in the summer rain.

Oh my love, it's you that I dream of,

Oh my love, since that day.

Somewhere in my heart I'm always,

Dancing with you in the summer rain.

Doesn't matter what I do now,

Doesn't matter what I say.

Somewhere in my heart I'm always,

Dancing with you in the summer rain.

On stage, Kaede was watching them out of the corner of her eye. They'd picked their repertoire with the hope of influencing Eiri and Shuichi, and by the looks of it, it had worked… to a degree. She shot Akito a satisfied look and he grinned at her from behind his keyboards. She focused her attention back on the audience, trying to keep her eyes away from Suguru, to whom, although this was the first time she'd met him, (she'd seen him on Bad Luck's album cases) she was rather attracted to.

Suguru, from the side of the stage, wasn't doing as good a job as she was at averting his gaze. He could barely take his eyes off of her. He did have to admit that Haru was right; Saki looked great in the short, tight black dress Kaede had bullied her into wearing, but still, Kaede herself was, to Suguru, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

This didn't go unnoticed of course; Hiro had been watching the boy closely. He knew that look Suguru was wearing all too well; it was the same look he wore whenever he saw Ayaka. He decided not to say anything yet though, there was still time for Suguru to make a move on his own.

The teen's behaviour also caught Tohma's attention. He leant down slightly so he could whisper in Hiro's ear. "Suguru may have met Kaede briefly at my wedding, but she looks a lot different now than she did three years ago; she's lost a lot of weight since I last saw her, amongst other things. She's also gained a lot of confidence." He said. "I doubt Suguru even recognises her as the same girl."

Tatsuha overheard their whispered conversation and joined in. "I don't think Kasey and Suguru ever crossed paths at your wedding actually; she spent the entire day with me as I recall, until she and Ryuichi stole the microphones." He grinned slightly. "This is interesting, very interesting indeed!"

His voice trailed off when he noticed Ryuichi kissing Shuichi again. He growled softly and turned his attention back to the concert.

Ryuichi broke away from Shuichi and winked. "Oh, this is so much fun! The look on Yuki's face was priceless! We'll have him begging you to come home by the end of the week!" he said delightedly.

"I dunno about that, but Tatsuha looks pretty pissed." Shuichi replied.

"Why is that, do you think?" Ryuichi asked, surprised.

Shuichi looked at the older man in wonder. 'Is he really that blind? Everyone knows that Tatsuha's totally in love with him!'

"I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready." Shuichi reassured him simply.

"Yeah, but now, Eiri's looking this way!" Ryuichi grinned and pressed his lips to Shuichi's.

Don't you think it's weird?

Weirder then weird?

That's what you are, that's what you wanna be,

What I like about you is what you like about me.

Don't you think it's… 1! 2!

I wanna make some changes; I want my money back,

I wanna start up again, yeah.

I wanna talk to strangers; I wanna be with you,

But I just don't know where or when.

Kaede was still watching from the stage, and she saw Ryuichi and Shuichi lock lips and frowned slightly, but smiled widely when she saw the look on Eiri and Tatsuha's faces. Now she waspositive that she knew what was going on.

One thing was for sure, the after party was going to be a lot of fun…


"How come you never told us Kaede?" Shuichi whined.

"Because we liked being normal too much, we didn't wanna wreck the experience!" Kaede replied with a wink. The starlet had come off stage looking tired but happy about ten minutes earlier and had already downed two bottles of water.

She looked at Akito. "Where did you plan the after party to be?" she asked him.

He grinned. "Reiji and I decided that it would be easier to have it at our place." We've got enough room for everyone." He answered.

So everyone piled into their cars and drove to Ancient Curse's home base; a rather large house on the outskirts of the city.

By the time everyone arrived, the band themselves had got there, brought out obscene amounts of alcohol and a lot of loud music.

"WOO HOO!! Party on!" Akito crowed, a beer in hand.

He offered one to Eiri, who took it with a grateful sigh. "Thought you'd never ask!" he said tiredly.

He tensed when Shuichi and Ryuichi entered the room, holding hands. Tatsuha came to stand next to him with a similar expression in his face. "Is this killing you as much as it's killing me?" his younger brother asked him softly.

"Yes, probably." Eiri replied simply.

Someone offered Kaede a wine and she shook her head. "No thanks. It wreaks havoc with my vocal chords… plus, I hate the taste of it." Saki, Mika and Suguru also declined the alcohol, claiming underage or, in Mika's case, pregnancy. Sano also declined for reasons known to none but his band mates.

The boys were having a lot of fun, just dancing and socializing; while Kaede was running around hyperactively trying to convince Suguru to dance with her.

"That girl doesn't need alcohol to act drunk!" Eiri grumbled.

"She's always been like that." Akito answered, his words were slightly slurred. "Why do you think she's the designated driver, between her and Sano, we can't go wrong most of the time. Saki can't drive until her sixteenth birthday in August though."

Suguru finally agreed to dance with Kaede after much bullying and pleading. She was still wearing the red skirt and top that she'd worn on stage back at the Palladium. To be honest, he'd found it rather hard to resist.

"So, tell me," she said, looking up at him. "This thing between Ryuichi and Shuichi, it's a set up isn't it? A plan to get Eiri and Tatsuha jealous."

Suguru looked around to see if they were listening. "Yeah, we were mainly focusing on Yuki… Tatsuha's just an added bonus."

"I thought as much, and may I say it's working incredibly well. Now, what can we do to help?" she asked with a wicked grin.

Suguru grinned back, "I dunno, I'm sure you'll think of something, how about we leave Tatsuha to you." He said with a laugh.

She smiled up at him. "Okay!" she chirped. She was silent for a moment, before she said, "Come with me!" she took his hand and pulled him from the room.

Ryuichi and Shuichi seemed to be in their own little world, and Tatsuha didn't like it any more than Eiri. The teen was jealously watching his idol and only love kiss his brother's lover.

Shuichi on the other hand, would never get used to being kissed by Ryuichi, and was glad that nothing was really going on between them past this little prank. He felt so… so awkward.

At least Ryuichi was having fun. Yuki walked past as they were standing in the corner simply chatting. Ryuichi spotted him and tugged on his sleeve. Shuichi sighed. 'Here we go again!' he thought although this time it was him that kissed the older star, just to see Yuki's reaction to the fact.

Eiri was so busy watching them that he ran slap bang into his brother. "DAMN this sucks!" Tatsuha growled through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, but it looks like they're serious!" Eiri answered. He stormed over to them. "If you two are gonna fall all over each other like that, get a bloody room!"

I wanna take you for granted,

Drift while you're talking, bathe while you're downstairs.

And chat on the phone.

Fall asleep before bedtime, pass in the hallway, forget your birthday

And shrink all your clothes.

Shuichi broke his kiss with Ryuichi to glare at Eiri. "What's the matter? Jealous?" he asked triumphantly, barely keeping it from his voice.

'Yes, very. It's driving me insane!' Eiri was tempted to shout, but instead he said coolly. "You wish, as far as I'm concerned, Sakuma can have you."

'Ouch. That's a little harsh!' Tatsuha thought to himself.

Ryuichi had an idea. Smugly, he looked up at Eiri. "I intend to." He said, and without further ado, he leaned across and kissed Shuichi, rather more passionately that he had previously.

Neither Tatsuha nor Eiri could take any more. They had to get out of there before the sight of the two guys that they loved being together became unbearable. It was an almost simultaneous action as they went into the entrance hall and grabbed their coats, keys and, in Tatsuha's case, motorbike helmet.

They didn't get to the front door before there was a scream from the other end of the room.

Tatsuha, having an alarming idea on what had happened, immediately put his stuff down and ran back inside. Eiri, recalling a particular incident ten years ago, when he was thirteen, the boys eight and the girls and Tatsuha six, was hot on his heels.

Kaede had taken Suguru into their studio; where Ancient Curse practiced almost every day. The boy had no idea why she'd brought him there, and when he asked her, she was vague. "I thought you'd be interested is all." She answered. 'There is no way I'm going to tell you it's because I wanted to be alone with you.' She thought.

Suguru stared in amazement at the Rogue's Gallery on the walls. Amongst the AC posters there were pictures of the six friends when they were kids, holding guitars that were way to big for them and grinning madly into the camera. (Except Kai, who hardly ever smiled even then!)

Suguru stopped and stared at a photo of a ten year old Tatsuha with Kaede and Saki, and then another of Eiri at age fourteen with a seven year old Kaede, seemingly trying to convince her that the violin she was holding was the wrong way up. He grinned slightly, before his eyes moved to the poster of the band.

Kaede appeared beside him. "They did a good job with the air brush." She quipped. Suguru looked at her questioningly and she grinned. "I'm not really that skinny you know!" she informed him.

She looked around the room with a reminiscent smile gracing her features. "We used to have so much fun with Eiri. He's a lot different to what he used to be like, he's so cold now. To be honest, Shuichi could've done much better than the Eiri of today, but if all that crap had never happened when Eiri moved to New York, they would've been perfect for each other." She looked sad. "He was like a big brother to me, to all of us." She looked at the ground, her hair falling in her face. "This room is really special to all of us; it holds all our happy memories; which is why we practice in here."

Suguru pushed a piece of her hair out of her face, and she looked up at him, startled. He leant down to kiss her, his face inches from hers. He could hardly breathe and could scarcely believe what he was about to do. Her eyes widened and she smiled slightly. Their lips had just touched when there was a shout. "Kaede! Come quick!"

She tensed and pulled away from Suguru, a faint blush stained her cheeks. "Uh-oh, that can't be good." She murmured. "Is it Sano?" she called.

"Yes! Hurry up!" Saki called urgently.

Kaede broke into a run, Suguru hot on her heels. "What's wrong? Sano couldn't be drunk, he wasn't drinking." He panted.

"And with good reason; Sano's anaemic, so he doesn't drink in case he collapses, alcohol in his blood system can make things even worse that they already are. It's already life threatening enough."

When they reached the others, they found Sano on the floor surrounded by everybody else, frozen with shock. Saki was kneeling beside him.

Kaede checked his pulse. "He'll be all right if we get help now." She looked around; everyone was rooted to the spot. "Dammit! Suguru, call an ambulance! There's a phone in the kitchen!" she ordered the only person who was composed enough to listen. He nodded and ran for the phone.

Within ten minutes, an ambulance was parked outside the house and paramedics were loading Sano into it. Saki was really shaken and worried, as was everyone else. So Kaede and Mika drove everyone to the hospital, following the ambulance, Saki went with Sano.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a doctor who had some rather unpleasant news for them. "The hospital is experiencing blood shortages and we don't have any of Sanosuke's blood type. He needs a transfusion as soon as possible and it'll take forty-eight hours for one to arrive from another hospital. Do any of you have blood type AB?"

"I do." Shuichi said softly. Eiri stared at him, scarcely believing what he was hearing. Would he give his blood to someone he hardly knew?

"Would you be willing to give Sanosuke a blood transfusion?" the doctor asked him.

Shuichi nodded his affirmative. Eiri grabbed him. "But you hate needles!" he said pathetically. Shuichi ignored him and followed the doctor and a nurse into a private room.

Kaede swung around to face Eiri. "What Shuichi's doing is an amazing act of kindness! You would've done it yourself once."

"Well, yeah but…" Eiri protested.

"Listen to me!" Kaede snapped, her patience running out. "Sano has a girlfriend back home in Kyoto. If you want to be the one who tells Ichigo, not to mention his parents and little sister Yurika that he died because you wouldn't let Shuichi give him blood, then by all means, stop him now!" she raged.

Haru came up and put his hand over her mouth. "That's enough Kasey, be quiet." He said softly.

Eiri said nothing, what could he say? He was being pathetic and over protective… irrational even. He couldn't stop Shuichi from giving Sano his blood. Besides, Kaede was right; if he could've given his, he would've. But he couldn't help but worry about his brat.

Minutes later, Shuichi emerged with a bandage around his right arm. Eiri really wanted to rush over and see if he was all right, but Ryuichi beat him to it. The chibi Nittle Grasper star raced over to the pink haired teen and attached himself to the younger boy's waist. He tugged on his uninjured arm, helping him over to the nearest chair. "Does it hurt Shu-chan?" he asked.

Shuichi grimaced. "Like hell, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to how Sano feels right now."

They waited for what seemed like hours, Ryuichi spent the time fawning over Shuichi and complying with his every whim (Which included a few kisses; which really pissed off Eiri and Tatsuha, if it were possible for them to be any angrier.) and worrying over him as if he was going to die.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor returned and told them that Sano was going to be fine.

"You can go and see him now." The doctor informed them.

The group trooped into Sano's room, and he grinned tiredly at them. "Hey guys. Phew! That was a close one!" he said cheerfully.

"Too close! Don't scare us like that Sano!" Kaede rebuked him gently.

"I'm sorry, I really am." Sano looked across to Shuichi. "Thanks for the transfusion, you saved my life!" he said earnestly. "I'm indebted to you."

Shuichi turned a shade of pink that rivalled his hair. "It's nothing really, I'm glad I could help!" he replied.

The doctor entered the room to see to Sano and to check Shuichi's arm. He looked at the teen. "I'm sorry we had to take your blood Shindou-kun. But this hospital's low on funds, particularly when it comes to things like transfusions; people just don't donate their blood anymore." He apologised.

"It's all right, really. I didn't mind." Shuichi repeated.

The doctor left again, and the friends remained and just talked amongst themselves.

Suddenly, Ryuichi stalled any further talk when he began to jump around happily. "I know! I know what we should do!!" he cried happily.

"Do?" Noriko asked him. "What are you on about Ryu-chan?" she demanded.

"We can hold a benefit concert for the hospital!" the chibi Nittle Grasper singer said excitedly. "All proceeds can go towards funding the hospital, and we can petition the audience to give blood for the blood bank!"

Tohma looked thoughtful. "Y'know, that's actually not a bad idea. Of course, in order to get the audience to giver theirs, we'd have to donate as well… we can use what happened to Sano tonight as an example. All his fangirls will be clamouring to donate if they think they can help him out somehow." He said.

Kaede looked down at Sano. "What do you think?" she asked him.

He smiled. "I think it's a great idea. But you'd better check with the doctor in charge." He answered.

Wordlessly, but with a slight smile on her face, Saki got out of the chair she'd been sitting in and went in search of the doctor. Akito promptly sank into the chair she had vacated. "Phew, what a night! I'm exhausted!" he said.

"Yeah, and you're also very drunk!" Kaede reminded him. He grinned at her.

"Why is it always me who's gotta fix everything? Why can't you be sober for a change? Then I might be able to enjoy myself!"

"But you don't drink anyway!" Akito protested.

Kaede glared at him. "That's not the point!" she snapped, turning slightly red and glancing quickly at Suguru, who coloured too. Akito stared at her for a moment, watching the exchange with interest.

The doctor came back in, Saki trailing behind him. "I think your idea is wonderful! Thankyou!" he said.

"YAY!!!" Ryuichi squealed joyfully. He capered around like a hyperactive puppy.

"I'd like to keep Sanosuke in overnight for observation, just as a precaution. But he should be fine by morning." The doctor continued.

"That's wonderful, but I think we should be going now." Reiji replied. "One of us will come and get him tomorrow, but this has been a trying night for all of us." She smiled wryly. "And most of you'll have hangovers in the morning

Kaede nodded. "Yeah, she's right. We'll see you tomorrow Sano." She said, she kissed him lightly on the forehead, and Saki did likewise, the boys, Tatsuha and Eiri each clasped his arm as they went past, while the members of the other bands waved and wished him well.

Eiri swept out of room after saying his goodbyes. "Eiri, are you catching a cab back to our place?"

"Nah, I'll catch a lift back with Mika and then go home. Don't worry, I'm still pretty sober." He reassured her.

Only Kaede saw a small piece of paper fall out of his wallet as he pulled it out to buy a coffee on his way out.

The girl picked it up and studied it. It was a print club photo of Eiri and Shuichi, taken not that long ago.

An idea suddenly stuck itself in her head and she grinned wickedly. She pocketed the photo and went to find Hiro.

"I've got an idea." She said and whispered her plan in his ear. A slow smile spread over Hiro's face and by the time she'd finished he was grinning madly.

"I like it!" he told her. He ruffled her hair, "You're a genius!" he informed her.

"Don't you forget it!" she joked.

"Care to let me in on whatever it is you're on about?" K asked them cheerfully. Kaede explained her idea to him.

"Hey Tohma, Suguru, come over here! I think you'll like this!" he called.

They did. They liked it a lot. Tohma grinned widely and Suguru agreed that it would be heaps of fun to watch Eiri squirm.

"This'll be so much more interesting than the elevator!" Tohma said gleefully.

"Elevator?" Kaede queried.

"We locked them in an elevator together! It was hilarious." K told her.

She giggled. "I'd love to have seen that!" she said.

"That can be arranged. I kept the surveillance tape!" Tohma reassured her.

"Excellent!" Kaede giggled harder.

The group left Sano to enjoy the peace and quiet. As they reached the main entrance of the hospital, Suguru grabbed Kaede's hand. "I – I'm sorry about earlier, when I…"

"When you kissed me?" she finished for him with a smile. Hiro's ears perked up and he listened intently.

Suguru flushed. "Yeah. I don't know what came over me. Can you forgive me?" he asked.

"Of course I can! There's not really anything to forgive!" she answered. She reached up so she could whisper in his ear. "It never happened, right?" she smiled, waved and walked away.

"Right." Suguru smiled back and returned her wave.

But neither of them could really deny it happened, neither of them wanted to deny it happened. It was just easier this way right?

"Su-chan you moron!" Hiro hit him lightly over the head. "What are you thinking, letting a chick that hot get away?"

"Nothing, I was stupid to kiss her in the first place!" Suguru said.

"Maybe, maybe not." Akito came up to them. "I thought she was acting strangely."

"Sure, whatever." Suguru said glumly and began to walk towards the car.

Akito and Hiro watched him leave. "I know she likes him. We'll just have to do something about this, now won't we my friend!" Akito murmured delightedly.

"Indeed. This is getting very interesting." Hiro replied. "Hey Suguru! You wanna come with me to get some photos for Kaede's plan?"

"All right!" the boy called.

"Later Akito."

"Later." He replied as Hiro followed Suguru.

Hiro was right about one thing. Things we getting interesting. Very interesting indeed.


What is Kaede's plan? You'll have to read and find out! Please R&R!

By the way, I made a mistake; I said that Kaede's father was European, but that can't be right if her last name's Kurasawa. Not many Japanese people have blue eyes; therefore it must be her mother that is European, just ignore the previous information and take this to be true instead! Thankyou! I'm such a dumbass ne? Wait… don't answer that…