I just went back and fixed the grammar and stuff from chapter 1-5. Also, I made a reference to the OVA's I hope it doesn't bother anyone. Just in case you haven't seen them. Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper perform together at the Tokyo Music Fest. I really love it because Bad Luck is playing 'In the Moonlight' supposedly raw. That is my favorite song from the entire series…. But, well I don't know Sleepless Beauty and Shining Collection are awesome too! Also, if you haven't read the manga Noriko has a totally interesting husband. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to put him in the next chapter or not… it depends on a few things but… just thought I'd tell you so that if I do you know.

I love the Ova's. They are well worth watching. Even if it is just to see Ryuichi do his Kumaguro bomb attack… he sounds so like Inuyasha for a moment… wait it's the same Voice Actor. Then the gundam-Shuichi… 'I so love it'

Chapter 9: Pearl White Intentions

Oh no. This was definitely bad.

She ran past Ryuichi and snatched up the phone and dialed her brother's phone number. There was no answer. She tried again and again, and he just wouldn't pick up the phone!

"Narumi-chan?"

Why did Touya have to pull this right now? Things were already complicated enough as it was.

"Naruumi-chaan." Ryuichi was doing his best to get her attention. Eventually, it worked.

He was holding out a videocassette to her with a gentle smile.

Somehow the gentle smile seemed to reassure her, and she couldn't help but wonder how many faces did this one man have? She had seen so many sides of him in the last two… no now it was three days, that she couldn't help but wonder… which face was his real one?

Narumi took the video from him with a thank you, and went upstairs into her room alone. She didn't have a clue what was on it but she put it into her VCR anyway, and watched it.

Ryuichi wondered if everything was all right or not. Touya-san had said that he was Narumi-chan's older brother, why wasn't she happy at him visiting tomorrow?

He didn't know if the video he had given her would cheer her up or not but he hoped it would. That video of Bad Luck, and Nittle Grasper playing side by side that night at the Tokyo Music Fest always made him happy. That was a good night, for both bands, but especially for Shindo-san.

Ryuichi considered Shindo a friend. Sure they were from rival bands, but…

Maybe… did Narumi-chan have any friends? He hadn't seen anything or heard anything that said she did. Perhaps he was her first friend here in Tokyo. Now that made Ryuichi happy.

He could remember her brother sputtering on the phone saying that he was heading from Oosaka to Tokyo on the train tomorrow.

She must be from Oosaka then… I must be her first friend! He was glad that he could be there for her as that, but it made him kind of sad too. If he was her first friend in Tokyo she must have been alone for quite a while…

He didn't like that thought at all.

"Shindo-san!!!" Ryuichi was running down the halls like a mad man screaming his friend's name. "Shiindoo-saan!"

Hiroshi didn't even pay it any attention. If it wasn't Shuichi than it was usually Sakuma-san. He merely yawned and went back to tuning his guitar.

"Shiindoo-saan!"

Ryuichi zoomed right past Tohma's office. The walls seemed to shake as though there had just been a small earthquake. A framed poster of Nittle Grasper slid so that it was hanging crookedly on the wall. Tohma got up to put to adjust it back.

"Shiindoo-saan!"

Shuichi thought he had heard his name being called but he was too absorbed in his memories of Yuki the night before to notice Ryuichi running down the hall on a collision course with him and only him.

Ryuichi gleefully tackled his friend who was still staring into space with heart shaped eyes.

"Shindo-san, I got you! Huh?" Shindo hadn't even budged; he was still staring at air.

Ryuichi thought for a moment and tried to get his attention. He was making funny faces at Shindo when Noriko walked down the hall. She couldn't help but smile at the spectacle he was making. It would take more than those silly faces to pull Shindo-san out of one of his daydreams.

"Yo!"

"Noriko-san! Morning!" Ryuichi chimed. Kuma was also waving hello to Noriko-san.

Both Kuma and Ryuichi stared hard at Shindo, who FINALLY noticed that he wasn't alone.

"Sakuma-san. Good Morning!"

It had been quite a while since Bad Luck began to work at the same location that Nittle Grasper did, but it still felt strange to say 'Good Morning' to the man who had been his idol since… well… almost forever.

Ryuichi had a big smile on his face, when he explained that he was inviting both Eiri-san and Shindo-san over for dinner that night, and that they were more than welcome to bring friends. He made sure to extend the invitation to both Noriko and her husband as well.

"That's right you did just move into a new house didn't you?" Noriko mused. "Now that I think about it Tohma did say something about that. I wonder what kind of person your roommate is? Tohma said she was an elementary school teacher at that school we are doing that concert at next week."

Ryuichi was gushing like a happy child. "She's really nice! She's letting me stay at her home! Her name's Narumi-chan! She fixed Kumaguro for me."

Noriko couldn't help but notice how happy he was when he spoke about this woman. She couldn't help but think it might be interesting to meet her, and see what she was like for herself.

Shindo was laughing happily with Sakuma. The two of them were already making plans for the evening and whom they were going to invite. Noriko stood back and watched. She hoped that this Narumi-san knew what was going on. She wondered if it might be a good idea to call and let her know that Ryuichi was up to this, but she was getting pretty interested in meeting the woman herself.

Well, for that matter she might already know everything Ryuichi was up to.

"I'll come. I don't know if my husband will be able to go as well, but I'm free."

"Yeah!" Ryuichi exclaimed. "Narumi-chan's big brother is going to be coming in from Oosaka so he'll be there too! This is going to be fun!"

Shindo was smiling happily. "I'm going to go tell the rest of the band! I wonder if Yuki will come?" He was already starting to slip back in his dreaming mode.

Ryuichi smiled happily this was going to be fun, and Narumi-chan would get lots of new friends.

Chapter 10