Warnings: Au, x-over, yaoi, definite violence as the story progresses, random moments of humor and/or angst

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or Weiss Kreuz. I take no credit for anything except my own characters and the plotline. I make no money off of this. Or anything else that I do. That is why I write fan fiction, after all, because I can't afford to buy the manga and anime.

Graue Herzen

"Look, Noriko is getting married, and you're starting your own business. I think, I should go solo with my music for a while, is all." Ryuichi turned to flash a smile at him. But it wasn't a Ryuichi smile, it was a plastic fake smile that could make his own seem fuzzy by comparison.

"Yes but, in America?" Tohma was positively distressed at the suggestion. Why on earth would Ryuichi want to go over there? Why couldn't he tour solo in Japan?

"Ah don't worry so much, Tohma, I'd be fine. You'll hire some big bad man to be my bodyguard, and take me around so you don't have to worry about babysitting me. Nori-chan will be happily settled down and married. And I'll get to learn English the proper way; social-immersion."

Is it because the therapist said that he didn't need the toy dog anymore and suggested getting rid of it? Was he upset about that? Tohma wondered wildly.

"Well," he answered calmly, despite his inward turmoil. "You may be right. I'll see if I can't find someone qualified to be your manager while you try to sing in America."

'Why Ryuichi?'

"Seguchi-san? Was there something you needed?"

"Ah, Sakano. Thank you for coming so quickly." Tohma pulled himself back from his thoughts to address his manager.

"Sachou-san," the man peered at Tohma quizzically from behind the thick frames of his black glasses. His tone was very respectful, almost bordering on worshipful. "Of course I came as soon as I found out that you wanted to see me."

"Of course," Tohma murmured back with a faint but gentle smile. The expression always seemed to reassure other people and it cost him nothing to give one to the other man. Seguchi propped his chin on his hand as his eyes roamed over the familiar face of one of his oldest employees. "I would have expected nothing less of you."

His dark haired manager flushed slightly and dropped his gaze, pleased with the praise.

"Sakano…"

"Uh, yeah!" the other man stuttered as he looked at his boss's face. Seguchi now had his eyes closed, his expression thoughtful.

"How long have you been working as my manager?" Tohma wondered out loud.

"Uh…" The dark haired manager stuttered and began to nervously pat his face with a handkerchief, trying to decide whether or not he was meant to answer what sounded like a rhetorical question. The gorgeous blond peeked at him expectantly, his cue to go ahead and answer. Sakanao's eyes screwed up in dutiful concentration for a second before he answered with an uneasy smile, "Well, let's see… About three and a half years."

Tohma closed his eyes again. "I see. Thank you for all of your hard work."

"What?" the other man asked blankly, his eyes as big as saucers as he tried to process the implications of his boss's words. If Sakano hadn't been so busy freaking out then he would have noticed the amusement in Tohma's eyes, not completely hidden by his fake smile. Honestly, Tohma had a mental vision of wires popping out of Sakano's ears as the man's brain insisted, 'Does not compute.' Seguchi barely managed to keep his smile from turning into a wicked grin at the poor man's obvious distress.

"When we're finished with ASK you can go back to Japan." Tohma pointed his finger at his poor manager for emphasis, and just in case Sakano hadn't drawn the proper conclusions from his earlier statement, "You're fired."

With that he stood up, giving the man his patented Seguchi smile and strolled out of the studio, humming Sleepless Beauty beneath his breath. Idly he wondered how long it would take before Sakano would regain the ability to speak, but he decided it didn't matter. He had much more important things to demand his attention right now.

Several hours later found him in his New York office staring at the skyscrapers outside his windows. He'd just finished tying up the loose ends of his business so he'd be free for just about the whole weekend once he was back in Japan. Tohma walked over to his office door and flicked the lock closed, so no one would bother him since he was expecting a private call very soon.

Ring!

Ah, there it was. A glance at the Rolex on his wrist showed the call was exactly on time.
Tohma slipped into his chair and picked up the phone, glad that at least the most inconvenient tasks of the day were dispensed with. Ryuichi was free of his American contract, and Sakano was fired. Sakano would be upset once he realized that Tohma had been serious, but he would just have to get over it. Ryuichi would be happy, but would be whiny that he wasn't free to sing again yet.

"Seguchi!" A voice boomed from the other end of the line as soon as he placed the receiver to his ear.

"It's good to hear from you K-san. Ryuichi and Suguru are behaving I presume?" Seguchi's smile widened into a real one. He'd finally managed to gain custody of his young cousin, could now make sure that no one would threaten his family. And his best friend was staying with him until they made his return public.

"Of course. Of course. Did you give your manager the news yet?" K rumbled at him.

"Well, yes… and no. I told him some of the news, but I'm having Mika meet him at the airport so he doesn't wander off. After all, I have other plans for Sakano. But enough about that. Have you turned up anything new about Fujisaki's death yet?"

"I only know what my sources in the police department have been able to confirm. And that hasn't been much. Hanae is being a closed mouth bitch, and she's threatened to slap anyone who talks about the case with a 'permanent suspension'. Most cops aren't gonna want to lose their badge over some dead guy that no one really misses."

Hanae, Ha-nae. Hm. Usually he was better with names than this, but he was drawing a blank. "Hanae…?" he prompted the American on the other end of the line.

"Kitada-san."

Seguchi flipped through his mental dossiers until he pulled up an image of an attractive red head who favored wearing a bright red skirt and jacket suit. The woman also had an unfortunate tendency to wear lavender socks with said favorite outfit; a fact that absolutely made Tohma's fashion sense cringe. She'd had close ties to the former police commissioner, and had in turn eventually moved through the ranks until she herself took over his role. If that blasted woman was putting her steel tipped stiletto heel down then there was very little that even K would be able to do to get information on the investigation.

Although at the rate that the investigation was turning up a whole lot of nothing it was entirely possible that the case would be considered unsolved and the police would call it closed very soon. And Tohma wasn't overly worried about keeping it open if he wasn't going to be gaining any information from their efforts.

"And she would normally be more amenable to helping you?" Tohma inquired.

"Actually, yeah. But she's keeping this one sealed up tight. Between the two of you, even the media hasn't gotten hold of it."

"What a peculiar stance to take with an old friend, wouldn't you say?" the blonde president mused.

"I know, I've thought of that too. There's not a damn thing I can do about it though if she's going to be stubborn. But don't worry, man. I'll find out what's going on at NG, and I'll find out who's behind it too."

"Thank you K," Tohma murmured.

"No prob. Are you coming back soon?"

"My flight doesn't leave for a few hours yet."

"Call when you're about to land. I'll have someone waiting with a car for you at the airport then. Hey, uh I gotta go… I think Ryuichi is trying to redecorate your living room." Before Tohma could respond he heard K yowling something to the effect of, "NooO! Put that spray can down!"

There was a sharp click as the connection was cut.

Tohma stared at the earpiece in his hand bemusedly, wondering if he should be more worried about his house. After a few seconds of debate he decided if anything seriously bad happened his insurance would probably cover it, and pushed the thought from his mind. With a shrug he placed the receiver back in its cradle and stared around his small room.

All of his boring paperwork was out of the way; there was nothing left for him to but rest until he had to leave for his flight. So that decided he set his cell phone to go off in three hours. That would still leave him plenty of time to get to the airport, even accounting for the hellish traffic of downtown. With that he unbuttoned his shirt. He paused for a moment debating where to put it before finally settling on hanging it over the lamp shade on his desk so it wouldn't wrinkle. Then he curled up on the long couch that dominated the corner of his office and promptly fell asleep.

Tohma woke to an irritating 'bleep' noise three hours later as planned. He had to pry his face from the sofa. He made a mental note to add some pillows to his office at some point because leather was inconvenient to sleep on. Pulling himself upright he stretched, trying to get the kinks out. Sleeping on a couch, no matter how expensive was not the most comfortable thing in the world.

Wandering over to his desk he snagged his shirt and slid his arms in the sleeves. He was just putting on his jacket and the baseball cap he had hanging by the door when he heard the knock. Tohma bent over to pick up his briefcase. The knob rattled.

When the door didn't open a muffled voice called out from the other side, "Mr. Seguchi? We need to leave soon if we're going to make your flight on time, Sir."

Tohma unlocked the door with his briefcase in hand. Outside his door was an American man in a nondescript gray business suit that was the uniform for business men and bodyguards the world over, waiting to drive him to the airport. One of K's former associates, Tohma didn't question the actual purpose of his presence.

"Thank you Daryl-san. I'm ready right now if it's convenient for you," he gave his friendly smile. The man almost cracked a smile back, but whatever form of military training the man had kept him from relaxing that much. Tohma nearly pouted. Honestly, the men K hired were always so serious when they were on duty. While he appreciated their devotion, he also appreciated the fact that it made his trips far more boring than they needed to be. Then he nearly winced at his own thoughts. He was sounding far too much like Ryuichi for his own peace of mind. He'd just have to forget that he thought that.

"Alright, let's go."

The tall American led the way from his American studio to a waiting black limo. Tohma slid in the back seat while Daryl slipped in the front. The drive to the airport was silent and, as predicted, boring. So was the plane ride home. A call before the flight attendant requested that they not use any electronics for the remaining portion of the flight ensured that there was a car waiting for him when he got off the plane. His luggage would arrive at his house later.

"Yoshimura-san," Tohma smiled at his driver. He was relieved to see it was one of his own personal drivers rather than someone K had hired. Yoshimura had black hair and smiling eyes, and looked barely old enough to be out of school. "Can you swing by the office before you take me home? I have something I need to take care of there."

"Absolutely, Seguchi-sama," the man agreed easily, used to Seguchi's casually changing K's instructions.

Tohma leaned back in his seat, exhausted from the trip. Thankfully, it was a weekend, and he'd be able to sleep as much as he wanted the next day. The only thing standing between him and his kingsized bed was the newest installment of his computer security. Sure he could have anyone do it for him, but Tohma was kind of touchy about organizing things the way he liked them himself. A couple of weeks ago his computer had been hacked (and subsequently mangled) by some supposed computer genius trying to get into his files. Luckily his little cousin was there that night or whoever it was would have gotten whatever it was they were looking for.

But that didn't change the fact that his computer was fried in the process. And he'd had to buy a replacement, along with a more advanced firewall than the last had been. The disk he had in his pocket was a patch to correct a small error in the system that could be exploited by determined hackers. Once that was done he could head home.

"Seguchi-sama. We're here," Yoshimura informed him from the front. Tohma opened his eyes,

"Okay, I'll be back in a little while. I'll try not to keep you waiting too long."

"Don't worry about me, Seguchi-sama. I've got a real good book, so feel free to take as long as you want," the young man informed him, flashing a smile, and holding up the book as proof.

"Is that Eiri Yuki's new novel?" Tohma paused in the act of getting out to take a closer look. "I didn't know he had a new one out. I didn't know you read romance if it came to that," Tohma raised a brow at the back of his driver's head. Was that a blush on the back of Yoshi's neck?

"Uhm, well I don't read romance novels… Ijustkindaliketheauthor," the man mumbled.

The blonde president paused to work that one out in his head. 'I just kinda like the author.' How adorable. The man had a crush on his brother-in-law.

"I'm sorry, Yoshimura, but what was that?" he asked teasingly, having understood exactly what the man had said but wanting to hear it again anyway. He got a nasty look for his effort, one that kept him laughing all the way past security and well on his way through several winding hallways.

"Ah, Eiri," he spoke aloud to his absent brother-in-law as he rode the elevator up to his office. "Another conquest for you. If you could only see some of the people who love you."

Eventually he made it to his office and flicked on the lights. Taking a look around the room he studied it thoughtfully. He wondered if it wasn't time to redecorate in here. But then he always wondered that after returning from his American office; he considered that one downside of returning from America. The other downside was one of the likely arguments he'd have with his lovely wife on his return, but that really wasn't going to be an issue with Mika still in Kyoto. And the redecorating never happened anyways so there really was no point in dwelling on it. No matter how many times he contemplated it he sincerely doubted there was anything that could make him decide to actually redecorate.

With that thought settled in his mind, he made his way to his desk and booted his computer up, and pulled the disk from his pocket. He studied the disk while he waited. A pale silver disk with the words Prodigy Security Patch 0.1 in a dark blue and black font. Once his computer was running he slipped the disk in and waited until a user agreement screen popped up. He actually wasted ten minutes of his life reading and processing the conditions and terms before finally highlighting the 'I accept' and pressing the download. Following all the prompts he was about to click on the finish button when the door to his office slammed open.

Seguchi blinked at the kid, he couldn't have been more than his late teens early twenties, standing in his doorway… with a gun trained on him.

Tohma raked his eyes over the kid's clothes; (name brand) jeans that were as crisp as if they'd just been purchased, a tie-dye shirt in glaring colors, and a black windbreaker jacket with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. A baseball cap advertising a popular video game covered short camel brown hair. The (also name brand) sunglasses and converse shoes completed the not quite street punk ensemble.

"Are you Seguchi? Tohma Seguchi?" the boy demanded.

Mentally Tohma blessed K for his irritating habit to point guns at people on a regular basis. All he had to do was pretend the boy was a psychotic American. And considering the way the boy spoke he half suspected that the boy was, in fact, a psychotic American. The way he pronounced his words was very similar to the way K spoke, subtly heavier than a native would.

Tohma clicked the finish button that set his computer to restart itself and folded his hands on the desk in front of him. His mind raced wildly, trying to figure out exactly how this kid had gotten past his security, and after hours at that.

"Well I've legally filed to have my name changed, but as I don't know if that's gone through yet, I suppose I have to say yes. Bureaucrats can be an incompetent lot after all." Tohma tried to be as inconspicuous as possible when he raised his knee and felt along the underside of his desk for the alarm button that would silently summon the police. He kept his hands in plane sight, hoping the boy wouldn't notice his subtle shifting. "And you are?"

"Not a big fan, but I don't really guess I want you to die either."

And there it was! Tohma pushed the button with his knee.

He forced himself to smile widely, charmingly at the boy. His voice was mild. "Well that's a relief. But if that's the case may I enquire what you want from me? And why you feel the need to hold me at gunpoint to ask?"

"I want your attention." Did Tohma really need to point out that the gun just about guaranteed that? "Because I'm going to need you to come with me."

"You're kidnapping me?" Tohma managed to keep his voice even. "I thought you said you weren't a fan."

"Heh, I'm not. I also said I don't really want you to die. But if you're going to be difficult about this and waste a lot of time then my reasons for keeping you alive become rather shaky. I could always save myself the trouble and just shoot you outright if you'd prefer." The kid offered with a slight wave of the gun in his hand.

"Well when you put it that way then I have nothing to lose by coming with you." The blonde president stood up and smoothed his clothes. Sheer force of will kept his hands from trembling. Then he walked around his desk toward his waiting… captor, he supposed was the term. Impatience radiated off the youth.

"C'mon already. We don't have all night. Seriously. I'm missing my shows here," the strange kid practically whined.

Tohma stared. Honestly, the boy was acting like somehow getting past his security to threaten him was nothing more than an inconvenience for him. It was something to think about.

"I'm sorry that taking me hostage isn't nearly as exciting for you as it's turning out to be for me," Tohma's voice was overly blasé.

The boy grinned at him.

"Hey, I think I kinda like you mister. Remind me to actually listen to one of your cds when this is all over. Now if you'd please get moving," the boy gestured ahead of himself with his gun. Tohma reluctantly moved in front of him, not really seeing any choice but to humor the obviously demented non-fan with the gun. They walked downstairs, the boy staunchly refusing his suggestion that taking an elevator would be quicker. Eventually they reached the garage where the boy paused to toss some keys and a hat at Tohma.

"Put that on and get in the car," the boy instructed. Tohma got behind the wheel of a dark brown car with the new hat in place. He waited for the boy to tell him what to do next. Kidnapper boy got in on the passenger side, never taking his gun or his eyes off the blonde producer. "Okay, now drive."

"Where?"

"Pfft, like it matters. Just out of the building, away from here. Jeez, do I have to come up with everything myself?" the boy began to mutter to himself.

"Has anyone told you lately that you are a very peculiar criminal?" Tohma asked curiously. Oddly enough, he wasn't worried that the boy was going to shoot him anymore. His kidnapper really did seem irritated with the whole situation.

"Seguchi-san, you don't know the half of it," the boy flashed him a wicked smile. "Besides, you may not see it yet, but this is for your own good."

"Do tell," Tohma invited as he fired up the ignition of the slightly battered up car. His kidnapper tapped one finger against his lips, the gun not even wavering from him. If he was getting tired of holding the gun he wasn't showing it at all. Tohma tensed when he reached that free hand he'd been tapping against his lips into his jacket and pulled out what looked like a small remote.

"Hm, nope. I think I'll let you figure it out on your own."

"What is that!" Tohma asked in a dreading tone. His eyes kept shifting from the road to the little remote with a sense of fascinated horror.

"Eyes on the road, man. I'm tripping your alarms your fire alarms so your employees can get out."

"Why do my employees need to get out of the building?" he drew the question out slowly, turning to look directly at the boy, no longer even pretending to pay attention to his driving.

"Dude, watch the friggen road! You trying to get us killed!" the statement came out in a harsh spattering of English, confirming that he was, in fact, American. "Fucking kamikaze Japanese drivers I swear! Look. Pull over! Pull the fuck over!"

When the car was safely parked at the side of the road, his American kidnapper pushed the rearview mirror around so Tohma would have a clear view of NG Studios. Before Tohma even got the chance to ask what was going on, the windows to his office shattered outward in an engulfing ball of flame and roiling black smoke. A second explosion rocked the building, this time taking out what he knew to be the security surveillance room.

'NG Studios… My business… My baby…' Tohma gaped.

"Wow. We really cut that one close," the young man whistled silently. The he shrugged. "Oh well, at least I got you out of there before you got creamed, so I still get paid."

Tohma continued to goggle at his flaming building, making incoherent choking noises. 'I had been thinking about redecorating, but… shit. My office…'

He didn't notice when a set of headlights pulled up along the room behind them. But the boy beside him did, and he perked up. When the boy turned to him he was speaking Japanese again.

"Hey, here's your ride, Seguchi."

"Ughhn?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of the mirror.

"Your ride. You didn't think I was going to drive you home tonight did you? Now get your pimp ass out of my car before someone sees us and gets the wrong idea," the boy made 'shooing' motions with his gun. "Seriously. Out."

When Tohma didn't move, the boy rolled his eyes, and leaned over Tohma to open the door. He shoved the blonde's shoulder until Tohma was standing in the middle of the street. He turned to watch his precious building being surrounded by fire trucks and police cars. Next to him another young man stepped out of the passenger side of his limo. Tohma barely spared him a glance, he was too busy watching the flames lick at the sky.

"What the hell took you so long?" the boy in the brown car demanded, but he was talking to the new guy who took Tohma's recently vacated seat The door closed behind him and they peeled out, racing away in a blur of red tail lights.

Yoshimura could be seen through the still open door. He was shivering and gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Tohma continued to stand in the street, trying to absorb the reality of what he was seeing. His eyes narrowed in sudden rage as it began to sink in.

Someone was going to pay.

I know it's kinda random, but... Hehe, I actually had fun with this chapter. I think I'm going to be channeling Tohma for the duration of this fic.