Warnings: Au, x-over, yaoi, possible violence as the story progresses, random moments of humor and/or fluff
Disclaimer: I own it all!
…Shyeah right.
Weiss Geräusche
'Prodigy,
Something is up with Shu. It's kind of starting to worry me. He's been distant like this every since he had lunch with that Michiru girl the other day. And I've seen them talking a couple of times since then. It's really frustrating and I don't know what to do about it. I just wish I knew what it is, but he won't tell me anything. He keeps insisting it's nothing. Any ideas about how to deal with this?
Saki'
"Shuichi!" Suguru growled in frustration, "What is wrong with you? All you have to do is sing the stupid song, the same way you did at the concert!"
"I'm sorry Sugar," Shuichi hung his head. "I just can't seem to find my rhythm today."
This had been the fifth time in a row where Shuichi had fumbled the lyrics to the Rage Beat. He knew the words by heart, and had performed it flawlessly under other circumstances, but something seemed to be keeping him from getting it right.
The keyboardist was frustrated beyond imagining by the singer's flightiness that day. Shuichi kept whining about he 'wanted a break', and 'couldn't they do this later'? Hiro simply watched them both, steel gray eyes flicking back and forth between the two. Suguru was even more upset that Hiro seemed to have an idea of what was wrong with their leader and wasn't doing anything to fix it.
"Try it again!" the American manager Tohma had sent to help them out commanded with his gun pointed at a head of pink hair. Shuichi tensed at the presence of the gun, but complied.
After the sixth time Shu messed up, Suguru cast a pleading look at the guitarist, silently begging him to find out exactly what was wrong. The dangerous blonde guy was getting angry and they were wasting so much time. They had to have their tracks down by the beginning of next week, and only had three days left. Admittedly he and Hiro had accomplished a lot the day before, but that wasn't going to make any difference if Shuichi wasn't going to do his part.
Sakano was having a panic attack off in the corner. K-san, the crazy American in their midst, was loading an even bigger gun. Shuichi looked ready to cry from distress and Hiro looked thoughtful. Suguru was seriously contemplating chunking his keyboard at one of them.
"Maybe we should take a break. We've been here since seven and it's already after three. We're not really accomplishing anything by forcing Shuichi to perform when he's not feeling the music. So why don't we chill for a bit and then come back when we all aren't feeling so tense, hm?" Hiro finally stepped in.
"That might be for the best," Sakano agreed. "So we'll all take a break and come back in an hour. How does that sound?"
"It sounds like you're going too easily on these punks! We'll never get anything done if you let them have their way every time one of them is having a bad day."
"And we'll never get anything done while the lead singer isn't able to sing," Sakano responded. His voice was firm, but his hands fluttered over his tie, straightening it needlessly. His pale face, and the unconscious gesture gave away his nervousness around the new manager they were having to deal with.
"Tch, fine. One hour. If you guys aren't back in the meeting room and ready to perform then I'm going to track you down. And you won't like it when I find you!" K said threateningly while he waved his gun. Suguru checked his watch to see what time it was. He had a feeling the big guy meant exactly what he said.
Suguru caught Hiro's eye and flashed a meaningful glance at Shuichi. He didn't know what was bothering the other boy, and he was hoping the guitarist would be able to fix the problem. Hiro gave a slight nod in return. The red head plastered a big grin on his face and flung an arm around Shuichi's shoulder. He lead the smaller boy out of the room, chatting about what they could do with the hour of freedom Sakano had been so kind as to argue for them. Their new manager and the producer that Tohma had assigned them were heading out as well, already arguing about their differences in 'dealing with the band' techniques.
It was great that they had the break because something was up with Shu, but it kind of sucked too. It meant that Suguru was left to himself for the duration and he had nothing else to do for the next hour that Hiro and Sakano had managed to score them. He cut the power to his keyboard, and stood up. He sighed.
With nothing else to occupy him, he found himself wandering to his cousin's office. Tohma had recently had to refurnish his office when a small bomb had gone off inside it. Luckily no one had been hurt, but it was still somewhat bare. Tohma was very particular about his decorations and he was taking his time rebuilding his collection to replace the pieces that had been lost.
The secretary outside informed him that Tohma was in a meeting with a very important client at the moment. Suguru informed her that he was going to use his cousin's computer while the blond was otherwise occupied. The woman fluttered around behind him, making noises about how he probably shouldn't do that without permission. Suguru ignored her protests, putting the door to the president's office between them, and locking it for good measure. There was no point in explaining to her that he was Tohma's cousin and already had his permission.
He still couldn't get over how different the room looked without all the previous furniture it had held. Shrugging, he dismissed the thought. The teen sat down at the new desk and loaded a messenger program. He typed in his id and his password at the prompt and waited for it to log him in. Almost as soon as it showed he was signed in a window popped up with an instant message.
'Saki?'
'Hey Prod,' he typed back.
'You aren't normally on this time of day. Something new come up with your band?'
'Kinda.' Suguru debated with himself how much he wanted to share with his net friend.
'Want to talk about it?' the guy on the other end wanted to know.
'It's not that important, but I guess so.'
'I'm outside if you want to come visit.'
'Outside where?'
'NGR, of course.'
"What!" Suguru gaped at the screen. He had been trying to meet his online friend forever now and every time something always came up. Now Prod was outside?
'I'll be right down.'
'I'll be waiting.'
Suguru quickly logged out, excitement bubbling in his chest. Now a apart of him was secretly glad that they had an hour off. He was finally going to meet the friend he'd been speaking online with for over two years in person.
He jerked the office door open and rushed past the startled secretary. Within minutes he was racing out the front doors. He paused at the top of the steps leading up the NGR building. He stared around trying to figure out who among the people walking by might be his friend.
"That was quicker than I had anticipated, Fujisaki-san." The musician spun around to find the owner of the low melodic voice leaning against the wall to the side of the front doors.
His eyes landed on a teenager who looked about his own age. Simple blue jeans that looked soft from wear. The dark black shirt made his white skin look glowing. There was a lap top peaking from the backpack that rested against his leg.
Suguru stared in fascination.
The other boy's face wasn't just handsome, it was pretty. Scarily pretty. Soft locks of chocolate brown hair fell around a delicate face, perfectly framing eyes of an incredible midnight blue. But he also seemed quiet. Creepy quiet. Something told Suguru that Prod was the kind of kid who sat in the back of class and made everyone nervous because you knew that underneath that quiet exterior was a mind that was secretly plotting a way to blow everyone else up.
Of course, when he had gone to school, the other kids had probably felt the same way about him, so who was he to comment on the still air of mystery surrounding the slender male who stared back at him? Probably the most unnerving thing about him was the utter lack of expression on his face. That was most likely where the sense of creepiness came from.
"Prod?" he asked, raising his eyebrows in question.
The other boy tilted his head in acknowledgement, his own eyes finally showing some interest as they roved over him curiously. He started at Suguru's head and allowed his eyes to trail downward, taking in everything. Then his eyes trailed back up in the same way, evenly without lingering on any part of his body until he was staring him in the face again.
A small smile tugged at his lips. "I knew logically how tall you were before now, but somehow I expected you to be taller."
Suguru shyly smiled back. "I know what you mean. Well not about the height, but… you're really nothing like I had expected."
"You were expecting someone older." It was a statement rather than a question.
"I suppose I was," Suguru agreed with a laugh. "I always got such good advice from you, I somehow pictured someone, well… yeah, older."
They stared at each other in silence for a moment longer.
"Why are you here?" Suguru finally blurted out when it became apparent the other boy was perfectly content to let the silence reign.
"I need a favor," the other boy admitted quietly. Then he grinned, "And I wanted to talk to you in person for a change."
"Sounds fair. I've asked you for plenty of favors over the years. What exactly were you needing?" Suguru asked, intrigued.
"Well you see, it's like this," Prodigy began. Suguru listened intently, his eyes going wide as he realized what the boy was asking. "Well what do you think?" the blue eyed boy asked nervously.
"I think… that I'm going to have to think about a way to help you. That is so unreal… I'm not even sure I'm the best person to ask help for, but I'll do what I can. Look, can I get back to you on it?"
"Maybe we can meet again tonight and discuss it further?" the blue eyed boy offered.
"That sounds like a plan. I'll try and come up with something between now and then to try and get things rolling on this end. Hey I have to get back now before that crazy guy comes running out with his gun. Where do you want to meet?"
"Why don't we meet at the café on the corner when you get off work. We can grab a bite and head somewhere more private from there."
"See you then, Prod."
"Nagi. My name is Nagi Naoe," the brunette corrected. "Of course we've known each other so long, you can call me Nagi-kun."
"In that case call me Su-kun. Listen I'll see you this evening when we wrap things up."
"I'll be waiting."
With that settled, Suguru waved goodbye and headed back inside still shaking his head in amazement over the other boy's request.
"What are you looking so pleased about?" Hiro asked when Suguru walked back into the studio. The hour was now almost up and Suguru had to get back to work. But he was still happy with the way his past hour had passed. He had finally met with Prodigy, or Nagi-kun as the other boy had offered to let Suguru call him. They were going to meet for dinner tonight and discuss the particulars of Nagi's request and Suguru was rather looking forward to spending more time with the other boy.
The guitarist was the only one in the room at the moment. Suguru was confused by the fact that the other members of their group were all MIA. Then he shrugged counting it as to his benefit since he'd be able to ask Hiro what he needed to without worrying about anyone else being there.
"Nothing important." He answered Hiro's earlier question before asking his own. "Is everything alright with Shu?"
"Eh, not really, but there's nothing that can be done about what's worrying him just yet, so…" Hiro shrugged. "We're probably going to have to work around him for a bit."
"Can we afford to do that?" Suguru's good mood plummeted at the thought of Shuichi not being ready when Tohma was expecting big things from them.
"Do we have a choice? He has other things than the music to demand his attention right now in case you've forgotten. Besides, we can probably take a few hits if it means keeping everyone happy and healthy around here," Hiro was sitting at a table in the meeting room that was right next to the studio they were recording in.
Suguru paused at that.
It was true. They were good enough that even if they fucked up their position here with NGR that they'd still be able to get a job somewhere else. And fussing about a record did seem rather silly when people could die if Shuichi wasn't there to protect them. Especially since one of them was his own cousin.
Suguru was about to respond to that when the door burst open and in trooped Shuichi, arms laden with the booty from a successful vending machine raid. He even had a couple of bags of candy dangling from between his teeth since his hands were too full to carry it all. He dropped all the stuff on the long table in the center of the room. One bottle attempted to escape but Shu caught it before it could roll of the table. He straightened up with a triumphant grin.
"There we go! Fuel for the recording session of death!"
"Are we ready to record?" Suguru asked doubtfully eyeing the small mountain of food. Then he eyed the smiling singer who was twisting the cap off of a bottle.
"Sure, sure! I talked to Hiro, and he knocked everything back into perspective. He's right, as usual. We'll focus on the recording right now since nothing else can be done about my other problem. I know that I was worrying you, and I'm sorry for that. No more worries, we'll get it done right this time!" the pink boy struck a playful pose. The remaining two band mates shared a look at that.
"Hard to argue with that," Hiro leaned forward to grab a bottle of his own and started to dig through the munchies for something to eat.
"You have a point I suppose," Suguru agreed, gingerly digging through the stack to see if there was anything edible inside.
"Hey Sugar, what movies do you want to see?" Shuichi asked him, after plopping down in his chair with his own selections. The pocky was already open and a stick halfway to the singer's mouth when Suguru registered what he had asked.
"Movies?"
That's right, it was movie night. It was almost a sacred rule that they would drop everything and just chill out for a few hours every once a week. This had somehow evolved into movie night. The three of them got together and watched movies every Friday at Shu's place, and had since they had first started to hang out. Announcing suddenly that he might not make it was almost sacrilegious, especially when it was his own night to choose the movies. But he had promised Prod that he would meet him tonight and he honestly didn't know how long it would take them to work everything out.
"Oh, um… actually, I think I'm going to be late for the movies tonight. In fact I don't know how long it's going to take so I might not even make it. I have something I need to take care of."