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 Three

Shuichi collapsed in a chair backstage. He had kept himself from shaking out there from pure will alone, and had put his all into his voice. He'd given it the best that he could, and believed that they had done pretty well from the audience's reaction.

"That was awesome!" Yoshiki punched the air in her excitement.

"It really was," Hiro agreed a wide smile on his face. The adrenaline, the cheers of the crowd, the blending of his guitar, Yoshi's keyboard, and Shuichi's voice out there had been amazing. There wasn't anything like it. "You were amazing, Shu-chan."

Having managed to calm down, Shuichi stood and threw his arms around his band mates.

"Thank you!" Shuichi said with flushed cheeks as he pulled away. "That was the most awesome experience in my life… you guys rocked!" They all looked at each other and laughed, giddy from the adrenaline of their performance.

"Shu-chan?" a voice called from the hallway outside. Shuichi's eyes lit up as he recognized that voice. He threw the door open to reveal his mentor and friend, Ryuichi Sakuma.

"RYU-KUN!" Shuichi exclaimed and jumped on the shorter man, wrapping his legs around his waist and squeezing the life out of him in a hug. He didn't even notice the three guys come up behind the other singer.

"Shu… chan…" Ryuichi gasped. "Can't… breathe…" Shuichi hopped off of him, beet red.

"Sorry, Ryu-kun," Shuichi apologized. "It's just that I'm so excited! It was amazing out there!" Having regained his normal breathing pattern, Ryuichi beamed at the younger vocalist.

"You were amazing out there! The last song was so sad I started crying…" Ryuichi's eyes teared up again at the memory.

"I'm sorry," Shuichi said, his eyes tearing up as well. "I didn't mean to make you cry…"

Seguchi stared at the two singers crying on each other's shoulders in something akin to horror and disbelief.

"They're like twins, aren't they?" an amused, composed voice said from behind the two sobbing singers. A tall young man with long auburn hair and handsome features stepped around the two vocalists and made a quick bow. "I'm Nakano Hiroshi."

"Seguchi Tohma," the blonde replied, shaken out of his daze. Hiroshi's eyes widened, and then narrowed, before relaxing into a smile.

"Nice to meet you."

"Are they always like this?" Seguchi enquired curiously as Ryuichi and Shuichi continued to cry.

"Sometimes. Ryuichi usually is, as you know," Hiro said, studying N-G's president. "But Shuichi only is sometimes. I guess he's still hyped up from the performance. He also gets like this after eating strawberry pocky, too," he added, grinning wryly. "It happens to be his favorite food."

"Nakano-san," an accented voice greeted from behind Seguchi. "Long time no see."

"It's only been two days," Hiro retorted. "And I think we've known each other long enough that you can call me by my first name, K." The blonde man grinned before drawing the younger man into a hug.

"And you are?" Hiro asked, turning to the third man. The light-haired man surveyed the guitarist with cold brown eyes.

"Yuki Eiri," he said finally, and shortly. Recognition flashed in Hiro's eyes for a minute before he nodded curtly, just as rude as Yuki had been.

"Shuichi," Hiro called, turning his attention from the three. "Stop crying. You too, Ryuichi-san."

"O - okay, Hiro," Shuichi sniffled, straightening and dashing tears from his violet eyes. Ryuichi did the same.

"Hiro, na no da! I didn't see you! How are you? You were really good!" Ryuichi chattered, bounding over to Shuichi's best friend. Hiro laughed before replying to the older singer's question.

"Hello, I'm Seguchi Tohma," the shorter blonde said to the pink-haired vocalist, making a shirt formal bow. Shuichi's eyes widened until the resembled miniature saucers.

"The Tohma Seguchi?" Shuichi whispered in awe. The other man chuckled and nodded. Shuichi stood in a daze for a second before bowing respectfully.

"I'm Shindou Shuchi! It's a pleasure to meet you sir," the boy said excitedly. Seguchi laughed, thinking privately, it's a little scary how alike they are.

"And I'm Kitazawa Yoshiki," a female voice piped up from behind Shuichi as their keyboardist joined them. She tilted her head as Tohma's eyes widened at the sight of her, and at the pale face of the light-haired man leaning against the wall near K-san. "You," she said, pointing at Yuki. "I know you. Uesugi Eiri, right? Here, let's go have a chat, shall we?"

"Huh?" Shuichi said, expressing his confusion as his keyboardist walked off with a seemingly random stranger.

"They're… old acquaintances," Seguchi explained vaguely. "From New York. But that's not important right now. How would you like Bad Luck to work with N-G Productions?"

Shuichi's jaw dropped, and his eyes lit up.

"You're… you're serious?"

"Perfectly."

"We'd love to!" Shuichi told the N-G company president excitedly, not even needing to discuss it with Bad Luck's other band members. This was the opportunity that they had been waiting for, after all.

"Wonderful," Seguchi said, smiling at the younger man. "Come by my office around noon tomorrow with your band mates, okay?"

"Of course, no problem!" Shuichi said, stars in his eyes.

"I'll tell Yoshi, Shu-chan," Hiro told him, having been listening to their conversation after Yoshi and Yuki had walked off together. "But it's already nine o'clock."

"Damn! I'm late! I'll call you at ten tomorrow, Hiro! Okay?"

"Sure thing. Don't forget to change!" The pink-haired man began to curse as he dashed backstage once more to collect his things and hurriedly change. He dashed out in dark jeans, a white t-shirt and a dark grey long sleeved button up shirt over it. His shoes were in his hand and a large backpack was slung over his shoulder.

"Bye Ryu-chan, Hiro, and K-san! Nice meeting you Seguchi-san!" Shuichi called over his shoulder as he dashed down the hallway towards the exit.

"Good luck!" Hiro called after him.

"Where is he going?" Seguchi said, a little shocked at Shuichi's amazingly swift departure. Hiro's eyes darkened and Ryuichi's normally cheerful face became serious at the guitarist's reply.

"His parents' house."

I'm sure you're wondering why Yuki and Shuichi haven't really met yet, even though they were both there… Shu was busy, and Yoshi is very important to Yuki's past and since Shuichi and Yuki don't really know each other yet, Yoshi takes precedent. I promise they'll meet soon though!

I'm not too impressed with this chapter, but tell me what you think! Thanks to Ashley for editing Aikyou for cultural errors!