After being asked to continue this story by two different people, I decided that I will since I had more ideas and had writers block. I'm going into a different point of view, but we will be returning to Tasuha and Eiri. They can be emotionally taxing to write to.

BTW: I hate the formatting on this, how it eats it up when it looks good in Microsoft Word.

The next day, Shuichi had gotten up and was not surprised to find out that Eiri had retreated to his writing room for the day. Despite that they had made love several times the night before, Shuichi could not help but think that something else was bugging the novelist. He had overheard part of the conversation with Tasuha and Eiri, cracking the door open to listen. He never mentioned anything to Eiri, since he knew he would evade the subject.

But what he did hear was enough to scare him, or confirm his worst fears. He definitely did not want Tasuha to be his new lover. Or his lover at all. That was Eiri's place. And Shuichi kept that in his head as he walked into N-G Studios to begin his work day.

"Hey guys!" Shuichi called as he opened the door, seeing Fujisaki and Hiro glaring at him once again from where they were sitting. This happened every morning that Shuichi was late, and the teenager glanced at his watch. "It's only three minutes late this time," Shuichi whined. "I'm really sorry."

The black haired boy stood up from his seat at the table. "We have an interview this morning at 11:00, Mr. Shindo! Can't you be more punctual?" Sighing, Fujisaki sat down and glanced at Mr. Sanako, who was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room with K, their manager. "Can't you do something about him?"

"I'm afraid I can't," Mr. Sanako said softly. "After all, I'm not your manager anymore. Mr. Seguchi wanted me to help him with some other project, so I'm afraid I won't be able to help you for the time being." As he got two glares of death from Fujisaki and Hiro, Mr. Sakano pushed his glasses on his nose, smiling a bit. "But don't worry. I'm sure K will keep him in line in my place."

As Shuichi sat down, he had a feeling that this would be a long day. "Great, I get K's friendly wake up calls by evading bullets and trying to not get killed in the first thirty seconds of the morning." He sighed heavily as he threw his bag on the ground.

"I think Mr. Yuki's been getting to you again," Hiro said, glancing at his friend. "Or was it something else that's irritating you this morning, Shuichi?"

How can I tell them what I overheard? In this business, K would leak out the scandal, or supposed scandal, and Yuki would have my head. And I don't want Yuki to worry over me anymore. "No, I'm alright. I just didn't get much sleep last night, that's all."

Fujisaki rolled his brown eyes and sat back down. "I assume we're just going to go to the interview and nothing else will get done then?"

"Speaking of which, we need to get there fast if we're going to make it there on time. We only have a half hour to make it to the studio," K informed them, grabbing his magnum. "And if no one moves, I'm putting some slugs into your head!"

"When you put it that way," Shuichi said softly, "I suppose we have no choice." He stood up and, pushing his chair in, walked out the door before K could interject.

"Do you suppose something's wrong with Mr. Shindo?" Mr. Sakano asked Hiro. "He's acting a little differently then normal." Standing up, he scratched his head as the rest of the members of Bad Luck stood up as well. "Maybe we shouldn't have let Mr. Yuki write that song after all."

Hiro shrugged. "I don't think it's the song that's bothering him. We still have to record it, but that can wait till tomorrow. We have two weeks until the album comes out, right?" He went to grab his jacket that was behind him and sitting on the back of the metal chair.

"It's ONLY TWO WEEKS!" Fujisaki cried. "For god's sake, I could have worked better with Nittle Grasper!" Taking another breath, he sighed. "Sorry. I'm trying to cope, Hiro, but it makes me think you're the only sane one in this mess."

Hiro smiled and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Don't worry. No one can deal with Shuichi easily. Sometimes, even my patience wears thin. But if this keeps up much longer, I'm afraid we might have to visit Mr. Yuki himself."

"I can do it!" K said, excited. "I could put a few more slugs into his wall!"

The three others in the room looked at him, shocked that he had even said that. "You did what!" It was unanimously said.

"Oh, well…it was nothing," K muttered, walking toward the door and glancing at his watch. "It's now…10:39. Twenty minutes to get to the studio, guys!" With that, K fired a round at Hiro's head.

"SHIT! ALRIGHT, WE'RE GOING!" Hiro and Fujisaki screamed as they ran to the door, covering their heads. Mr. Sakano followed suit, but ran for the elevator and pressed it to the 24th floor, where Tohma's office was. His work was done, after all.

And K's work was just beginning.

Tasuha saw Shuichi coming out of the N-G Studios building and smiled. Stuffing his hands in his jacket, he moved his way over to the younger boy. He liked that he had the pink hair again, and that he was moving to his own pace in the music industry. It had to be hard to be the heir of the legacy of Nittle Grasper, but he knew Shuichi could handle it.

But that was not why he was here.

"Shu," Tasuha called. "Hey, Shuichi."

He saw his head poke up and at seeing Tasuha, gulped. Tasuha suspected he overheard the conversation the previous night between Eiri and sighed. "Hi, Tasuha. Funny that you're here, isn't it?" he asked.

Tasuha laughed. "Well, Eiri told me to tell you that he won't be able to pick you up from work tonight. Apparently his editor needed to meet with him as soon as he could, so he asked me to pick you up for him." It's a good enough lie. I just want to talk to Shuichi alone, that's all. Is that so much to ask?

Shuichi glanced away, looking at the ground. "Yuki would have called me. Just why are you here? Is it about last night?" Glancing at him, Shuichi said, "If you are trying to tell me you—"

"SHUICHI! HURRY YOUR ASS UP OR WE'RE LEAVING YOU BEHIND!" K screamed from the van they had all piled into while the conversation was going on. Someone had already started the van and Shuichi looked to Tasuha.

"Shu, please," Tasuha pleaded. "Just let me do something nice for once. I won't—"

"MR. SHINDO!" Fujisaki called. "COME ON!"

"Sorry, Tasuha, but I gotta go," Shuichi said as he ran off, jumping into the van and shutting the door.

Damn it! Is it too much to ask, to just get Shuichi alone? Tasuha wiped a tear away from his eyes. I think God really hates me. I don't think I was ever supposed to be gay.