Aikyou
Summary: AU Shuichi Shindou, unwanted by his parents, was raised in America. Now nineteen he returns with Bad Luck to Japan where he meets a gorgeous, bad-tempered blonde…
Disclaimer: Not mine. Gravitation belongs to Maki Murakami.
"bold" – English
"normal" – Japanese
"italic" – lyrics
Chapter One
"Ryuichi, you just got back to Japan this afternoon. How would you know any of the local bands, much less how good they are?"
Ryuichi Sakuma beamed at his long-time friend and ex-band mate Tohma Seguchi, his stuffed bunny cradled to his chest. "I'm not telling, na no da!"
Tohma rolled his eyes in exasperation. Sometimes dealing with the child-like man could be frustrating enough to make him want to jump off of a bridge. Ryuichi Sakuma had just returned to Japan after spending four years in Los Angeles working on his solo career. He and the thirty-one year old singer were going out to catch up, along with K, Ryuichi's manager, and Eiri Yuki (due to hours of cajoling and blackmail on Seguchi's part). They were just about to go to The Jasmine Room, a favorite bar of Tohma and Ryuichi's, when the singer suddenly announced that he wanted to go see a local band at The Scarlet Lounge that he knew was very good.
"Why don't we just continue to the Jasmine Room, and you can catch this band of yours another time…"
"No!" Ryuichi said stubbornly, shaking his head for emphasis. "I want you to see this band. They are good friends of mine, na no da, and I know you'd like them, Tohma! Please?" The brown-haired man looked upon his friend with watery puppy-dog eyes.
"Oh, fine," Seguchi sighed, unable to resist Ryuichi's puppy-dog expression.
"Yay!" Ryuichi cheered. K just smirked and looked out the window, knowing that Ryuichi always got what he wanted one way or another. The seemingly innocent and slow man was actually quite intelligent and cunning.
"Remind me why I'm coming along on this little adventure? Especially with nutcase over there?" Yuki grumbled.
"Because you need to get out more. And you want to spend time with your loving brother-in-law," Seguchi told the light-haired man sweetly.
"And hell is an ice-skating rink."
"You know, Mika still wants those baby pictures of you after the ones at your father's house have mysteriously disappeared…"
"I get it, I get it," Yuki said hastily. "Jesus, your incessant meddling is going to send me to an early grave, you know that?" Tohma merely gave him an angelic little smile and said nothing.
"Cheer up, Yuki!" Ryuichi told the novelist brightly. "You'll like this band, I promise! They're called Bad Luck…"
"Hiro, remind me again why we're doing this!" Shuichi asked his best friend, his voice high-pitched and panicky.
"Because we wanted to get signed to a Japanese recording label before launching our career in the U.S., like Ryuichi Sakuma did." Hiroshi Nakano told his best friend patiently. "Now let me tune my guitar."
Shuichi chewed his lip worriedly. He and Hiro had formed Bad Luck back in Los Angeles, almost five years ago. That was where he had met Ryuichi, his idol. Shuichi had almost died of pure bliss when Nittle Grasper's vocalist had offered to give him lessons in voice control because the pink-haired boy had "potential". Now he, Hiro, and Yoshiki Kitazawa, their keyboardist, had returned to Japan because they had all decided that they wanted to start their musical career in their native country. Unfortunately, Shuichi had underestimated the nervousness he would feel at being on stage in what he had always considered to be home, despite spending most of his life in America.
"Shuichi, don't stress so much," Hiro told his best friend affectionately after noticing that the pink-haired singer was chewing his lower lip so hard he nearly drew blood. "We've performed on stage before. Not to mention, if you can't do this, how do you expect to become a famous rock star?" Shuichi mulled over Hiro's words for a second, then nodded.
"You're right," Shuichi conceded, flashing a smile at Hiro that nearly stopped his heart. A long time ago he had wanted to be Shuichi's lover, and even though he had gotten over those feelings, there were still times where he found his best friend almost painfully attractive.
"I'm always right, baka," Hiro smirked, drawing an indignant noise from the younger boy. "Ow!" He exclaimed as something hit him in the side of the head.
"I know my hair tie did not hurt you," Shuichi sad dryly. His silky strawberry-colored hair fell just short of his shoulders, relieved of the stretchy ring of fabric that now lay innocuously at the feet of the long-haired guitarist.
"It's the principle of the thing," Hiro said, glaring at his best friend.
"Hey guys," Yoshiki interrupted. "Stop fooling around. We're on in five minutes. How do I look?" She twirled around, showing off her hot pink top that left her shoulder and midriff bare, showing the back straps of her sports bra underneath. She also wore skintight black pant that ended just below her knees and lace up black sandals.
"Amazing!" Shuichi commented. "What about me?" he demanded, gesturing to his own clothes. The small teenager wore a long-sleeved fishnet shirt underneath a tiny black tank top, tiny black shorts and knee high leather boots. The outfit complimented his slim, almost girlish build nicely.
"Anyone else would look ridiculous, but you pull it off nicely," the male transvestite told him with a smile.
"Now that you're done boosting each other's egos…" Hiro broke in, grinning. Shuichi attacked him, throwing his arms around the taller boy's neck.
"Oh, but you look wonderful too, Hiiiiiro!" the pinkhaired singer exclaimed.
"Get off of me!" Hiro said laughing. "Let's get this show on the road."
So how do you like it? r/r, pretty please…