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

'Yo Yohji,

Any luck yet?

If not, no worries. Just keep me posted, 'kay?

Love,

Omi'

Shuichi hurried up the front steps to the NG building. He was there earlier than he'd ever been before because he wanted to catch Suguru and try and explain last night to him.

It was very important that Suguru understand that Yohji wasn't a threat to Tohma, and that they both wanted Tohma proved innocent. But he couldn't do that if he couldn't catch Suguru alone.

Now where was he?

Shuichi knew for a fact that the other boy always showed up heinously early for some obscure reason. You'd figure that would make him easy to find, but no. Shuichi finally decided to go wait in the main lobby so he could watch for Suguru coming in. From his perch on one of the arm chairs available he'd be able to keep an eye on the elevators, the front doors and the hallways leading deeper inside the recording studio. It was the best place in the building to lay an ambush.

Omi observed the people coming and going with interest while he waited for Suguru to show up. Any one of them could be Esset agents, he remembered, as he had still been unable to hack the employee data of NG. He wasn't sitting there very long when the skin between his shoulder blades began to itch with the feeling of being stared at. Shuichi shrugged uneasily and shifted back in his seat. His eyes casually swept around, searching for whoever was watching him.

Finally he noticed a man in jeans and a matching jacket standing on the balcony overlooking the main lobby. Omi's gaze drifted easily past him, as casually as he had observed the other employees coming and going. He tilted his pink head back against his chair so he could stare at the man with lidded eyes, watching him back without seeming to. Despite the large shades and baseball cap pulled low on his head Omi could feel the weight of the man's gaze. The man was staring right at him, and even with the disguise Omi could tell he wasn't bothering to hide his loathing. He wasn't worried that the man would see him watching him back, Omi knew that the pose made him look like he was starting to doze off. He was, however, worried that the stranger seemed to hate his guts.

"Shuichi!" a voice called to him, jerking him upright and wrenching his attention from the man standing above him. Shuichi sat up, cheerful smile in place. It was an effort. He'd barely gotten any sleep the past few nights and he really wasn't in the mood to be cheerful.

"Hey Michiru! How are you doing today?" he chirped cheerily.

Michiru moved toward him with a swirl of skirt, a bright red folder in hand. He could tell by the look on her face that what she wanted was important, because she had that 'on a mission' expression. He rose to greet her. They hugged quickly as was their habit and Michiru took the opportunity to whisper into his ear that she needed to speak with him somewhere privately.

"Of course. Of course." Shuichi smiled at her. Guarded violet eyes flicked back up to the balcony, but the man there was gone. Omi stared for a second before he turned to follow Michiru with a bright smile. The young woman led him to a deserted room, chattering happily the entire time of inconsequential things like the movie that was coming out and suggesting that they get together to see it.

"Sounds like fun, I'll have to invite some friends so you can finally meet them ya know?" Shuichi agreed happily, his mind drifting back to the balcony guy. As soon as the door closed behind them Michiru turned to face him with a serious expression. She pressed the folder she had been carrying into his hands.

"You didn't get this from me okay?" Michiru insisted, as Omi flipped open the folder and started skimming the files inside.

"Of course I didn't. What is it you're not giving me?" he raised a brow, trying to figure out what the initials and abbreviations and time slots on the page stood for.

"I don't know why you want this information, but I'm trusting you because you asked me to get it. The papers are just band schedules to show who's slotted to play where so we can get help organize events. The disk inside the front pocket matches the papers. It's coded and has all of the employee data you said you needed."

"You're brilliant Michiru!" Omi snatched the disk and slid it into a zipper pocket of his cargo pants so he wouldn't be able to loose it.

"Damn straight I am. And I nearly fried my computer getting all of that even with the passwords I managed to get."

"I know that feeling. I managed to hack through and get a partial list a couple of months ago, but they blocked me almost immediately after that and I haven't been able to get back in. I don't know who designed the new system, but they deserve to be shot."

"Prodigy Systems."

"What?" he asked uncomprehendingly.

"Prodigy Systems designs alarms and secure computer networks."

It took a second for that statement to sink in and then Omi began to swear softly, but with feeling. 'When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna-' he cut that thought short. Michiru was looking at him curiously. He took a deep breath. "What all do you know about this Prodigy Systems?"

"It's a new and elite company that specializes in security. The big draw of it is that every single security system is original and uniquely designed with the individual or company's needs in mind. So even assuming someone did manage to breech one company's defenses they wouldn't necessarily be able to figure out the system for another company. Problem is very few companies can afford to hire Prodigy Systems. As I said though, it's very elite and very expensive. Actually I'm surprised NGR was able to. I wouldn't have thought the company was quite that well off."

"Maybe Seguchi-san managed to get his hands on a coupon," Omi managed through gritted teeth. He was irritated beyond words to find out that Nagi was the reason he hadn't been able to get his hands on the employee records when it should have been so simple.

"Are you okay, Shu?" Michiru asked in concern.

"I'm fine. I just don't like surprises." He waved a hand dismissively. "Hey I should get going to the studio now. I'll see you later okay? And thanks for the info Michiru!" He gave her a quick hug.

"I have to get back to work too," she agreed, hugging him back. "I'll see you later."

With that Shuichi made his way toward where the other were probably already waiting for him so they could begin. It figured, even on a day he showed up insanely early he was going to end up being late. He passed through the hallways and made his way upstairs to the second level of the building where they usually worked on recordings.

He was so caught up in his thoughts about Prodigy and the employees at NGR that he didn't even notice the hand until it wrapped around his shoulder and pulled him into an empty break room. The pink haired boy twisted himself out of his attacker's grip and jerked around to face them, automatically shifting into a defensive stance.

Omi found himself looking at the casually chic President of NG Records.

A platinum blonde brow raised at his response to being grabbed, and intense interest showed for an instant before his polite mask fell back into place. For all that his lips were smiling, Omi recognized the calculation in the other man's gaze for what it was. That look alone let him know that the other man had seen something that he didn't want anyone else to be aware of.

Omi immediately dropped the stance and concentrated on making himself look as small and harmless as possible. His expression became shiny and happy, all darkness sliding away from his eyes. See? Nothing dangerous here. Maybe if he thought it hard enough the other man would believe it.

Shuichi was positively glowing when he exclaimed, "Seguchi-san! I'm honored sir." It was to his benefit that he was sincerely a fan of Nittle Grasper as that made the words true. After all, it truly was an honor for him to be in the presence of such greatness. For all that he worshipped Ryuichi Sakuma's, there was no way he could ever dream of denying Tohma's skill on the synthesizer. Although as happy as he was to get the chance to speak with him, he was just a touch worried about what the man could possibly have to say to him.

The president smiled reassuringly back at him. Part of him was impressed at the naturalness the older man radiated. He either was a sincerely kind hearted soul, or a very good actor. The first was possible, but as successful a business man as Tohma was turning out to be, the latter seemed much more likely. A playful voice of cynicism inside him wondered which of them was the bigger fake. That thought made the skin around his eyes crinkle, his smile growing wider.

"Ah, Shindou-san," Tohma spoke in his soft and pleasant voice. "Tell me, how is the recording going?"

"It's going well, sir." This time little acting was required, he was excited to talk about the music. "We've gotten the first tracks down. We're still working on the last couple of songs, but we'll have the tape on your desk by Monday."

"Excellent. I'm happy to hear it," the other man seemed honestly pleased by the response. No acting necessary on this score for him either it would seem. Shuichi managed not to laugh at his own thoughts. "But there is something else that I wished to speak with you about that has been concerning me."

Violet eyes snapped up to meet ocean green ones, and he regarded the man warily.

"And that would be sir?" he inquired politely.

"Fujisaki-san."

"Is something wrong with Sugar?" he asked in alarm. Definitely no acting this time.

"Nothing that I'm aware of. However, I can't help but notice that his playing is… not of the quality that I have come to expect. Having been the one who taught him how to play, I have come to expect a great deal from him. Yet something seems to be holding him back from performing at his customary skill level. It greatly pains me to see him operating at half his true potential."

Half his potential? Shuichi raised an eyebrow at that. It would seem that even on a bad day Suguru was incredible then because he'd never heard the boy play better than he was right now. Shuichi's mind skirted around the implications inherent in the thought that Suguru had been trained by Seguchi-san himself. That would mean that this man had known Suguru for far longer than he had, and would recognize every subtle nuance of his playing in a way that Shuichi would never likely be able compete with. It also meant that something was seriously bothering Suguru, and had been for some time if it was effecting his playing enough for Seguchi-san to comment on it. If he'd never seen anything different from Suguru then that meant the problem was related to his presence in Suguru's life and he was the one holding Suguru back.

He really didn't want to think about that.

"As his friend, I was wondering if you knew anything about what could be disturbing him? And if there was anything that I could do to help?"

His mind began racing over possible reactions, even as he opened his mouth. An immediate list of several things to say sprang to mind starting with "Tell me you aren't an Esset agent and make it believable because I think my killing you would really stress Suguru out." and "Let him know there's never going to be anything between the two of you so I can have a chance." Finally he settled with a nice neutral, "Actually something seemed to upset him last night. I haven't had a chance to speak with him about it yet today. If there's anything else that he's been bothering him, then I couldn't really say."

'Really, I couldn't. Because that would place us all at a crime scene,' Shuichi managed not to wince as he thought about that night. For several reasons he didn't want to think about. "But I'll try to find out what's wrong with him."

"He's seemed to have lost some of his passion since his father's death. I believe he needs friends who understand him right now. I would appreciate it if you would try and help him."

Shuichi felt guilty. He really should have put more effort into making sure Suguru was okay. Just because he never seemed to want to talk about that night didn't mean that the green haired teen was over it. And Shuichi should have known that better than anyone. It was three years after the fact and he still wasn't completely over seeing his own father's death. Or his cousin's, or his brothers', or-

Shuichi put a halt to that line of thought before he could become insanely depressed.

"Of course I will," Shuichi agreed solemnly.

"Well then, I'm glad to have had this little chat with you Shindou-san. I'll be eagerly awaiting the results of your efforts this week."

Somehow Shuichi got the feeling the President wasn't speaking about Bad Luck's music.

"Of course sir," he murmured in acknowledgement. Shuichi found himself alone in the break room, the slightly taller blonde having quietly slipped out. He waited a couple of minutes until he was sure he'd have his face completely under control. Then he made his way to Studio 2 and walked inside.

Only to find himself staring down the barrel of an AK-47. Well wasn't that just nice? He didn't normally do moody, but today seemed the day for it. Fist spending all night worried about Suguru and whether or not Yohji would be able to get any information. Since he hadn't been able to sleep he'd tried to put the restless energy to good use by hacking Kritiker's files, but he'd hit a major roadblock. Then getting at work early only to get a speech from his boss. Underneath it all was the lingering unease from the man in the jean jacket, who'd been staring at him earlier. It hadn't been a friendly stare, whoever he was. The pink haired singer scowled at the American on the other side of the gun in irritation, not in the mood to act like a scared civilian at the moment.

"I'm here already, so unless you're planning on shooting me, get the gun out of my face," he snapped, lack of sleep and stress finally getting the better of him. He stomped over to his position behind the microphone and grabbed the headphones. He ignored the shocked looks from K, Sakano and Suguru. Hiro was watching him closely, asking without saying a word.

He stiffened when he noticed the stranger who was quietly sitting in the corner playing with a pink stuffed rabbit. The man was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but a quick glance showed him that it wasn't who he'd been worried it was. Spiky brown hair peeked from beneath the bandanna and orange rimmed shades he wore and his jeans were ripped, much too faded to match the ones that the other guy wore. That and the lack of hostility from the man allowed him to relax. He thought that the man looked familiar but he dismissed the stranger in the corner for now. He'd ask later when he wasn't in such a pissy mood. His eyes lingered briefly on the pink rabbit that the man seemed to be speaking to.

"A-are you okay Shu?" Suguru asked cautiously. Shuichi gave him a flat look that made him take a step back.

Shuichi closed his eyes, reigning in his sudden irrational frustration with the world in general. He opened his eyes again. He took a deep breathe and tried to smile at his keyboardist. "Sorry. I'm sorry. Everything's fine Sugar. I'm just a little-" he cut himself off, shaking his head. He couldn't explain that he was suddenly certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that something bad was going to happen soon. Not without sounding totally stupid, and/or suspicious. There was just something about that guy from the balcony…Every instinct he had was screaming at him that he shouldn't be here in the studio, that he should be tracking down the cause of his unease. He needed to eliminate the source so he could feel safe and be able to concentrate on the music.

The other boy looked anxious. And Shuichi could see Hiro over his shoulder with an almost identical expression.

"Never mind. Let's just… get to work." This time he managed a smile at his band mates and it almost reached his eyes.