A/N: Wow, I haven't done anything on this story since July of 2005. Boy do I feel bad... I guess it just got lost in the shuffle and to tell the truth, I haven't been in much of a Gravi mood lately what with all these new games and such coming out. I got myself distracted for... Well, for about nine months... Bad me!

So, without further ado... ON WITH THE STORY!


We last left off with Suguru's startling outburst. Well, if you want to nitpick the technicalities, we left off at Hiro's stunned yell. I think it went something like this:

"WHAT?"

Though it might have been lower case and the punctuation could have been switched around. The sentiment remains the same however. He was confused, a little paranoid at the moment, and asking him to leave a band he founded probably was a little shocking.

Okay, it was earthshattering shocking especially seeing as it was Suguru, the world's youngest work-a-holic who was doing the suggesting.

"Yeah, I mean, think about it seriously for a second. Shuichi is being hailed as the next Ryuichi Sakuma, true, and we do owe most of our fame to his insane antics, but why can't we pull our own stunts and create our own loyal fan base. I know we each have our own independent bases since we get letters from fan club heads at least once a week." Suguru took a deep breath. "And we wouldn't have to deal with all the insanity and stress this band has heaped upon our shoulders."

"But... but..." Hiro stammered. "There's a good reason not to in here somewhere, give me a second."

Suguru waited a second and true to his word, Hiro managed to pull something out of his ass in the small time frame given. "Loyalty! We signed a contract and I promised Shuichi I would never even lightly joke about leaving the band ever gain. Plus, we're indebted to N-G and K-san for all the things they've done for us. We can't just pick up and leave without so much a 'How do you do?' That's not fair for all involved."

"Man, I didn't even think about that." Suguru sighed. "Well, we might as well prepare to be tarred, feathered, boiled in oil, have our remains dipped in acid, and, if there's anything left, stomped on by a pair of spiked logger's boots come the third."

"You forgot burnt to a delightful crisp."

"Darn."

So we now leave the two to their own devices, and we most likely will not be back to them for a few weeks at least. Say "Bye, bye!" Hiro and Suguru! Bye! I'm sure the audience can guess what you're going to do locked in an apartment for two weeks all by your lonesome. Too bad this site won't allow for explicit content.

Okay, this time for real... BYE!


Awwww. Since we now have no outlet for Hiro/Suguru humor, I think its best if we focus on another couple's reunion. Okay, so they've been separated for a little over half an hour. That's a long time to some people!

"Ryuichi? Are you home?" Tatsuha had found out from the receptionist and a gaggle of news personnel that his lover had chosen to take a cab rather than stick around amidst the media bloodhounds for half and hour in order to wait for him to come down from his impromptu meeting. How Ryuichi knew he was going to take so long was still a mystery to him.

But, as some know better than others, nothing is ever what it seems when Ryuichi Sakuma was involved. Or when Kumagoro was present, but that's an entirely different story.

"In the kitchen, Tatsuha-kun." Uh oh. Ryuichi rarely, if ever used someone's full name once he'd given them a nickname, and when he did, it normally meant something was afoot. "You want something to drink?"

Tatsuha hesitated in the hallway for a moment before calling back. "Er... No thanks. I'll be in the bathroom if you need me then..."

"No. I want to talk to you." There was no mistaking it this time. That was Ryuichi's stage voice. His serious voice. It was also his sexiest voice, but for once in his life, Tatsuha wasn't thinking about trying to score with Ryuichi. Nope, he was trying to think of something he did that would make his precious singer irritated enough that he would revert to using his stage and contract signing persona in order to deal with it.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that Yuki is still out for blood? Well, he is.

Slowly, the teenager dragged himself through the hall and into the living room, pausing once level with the couch to suppress the overwhelming urge to run like crazy. He mumbled encouraging words to himself and continued on into the kitchen where he had to squint in order to see the shadow that was Ryuichi through the darkened room.

"Why are the lights off?" He inquired. The shadow shifted and the lights clicked on, momentarily blinding the room's occupants.

"I didn't feel like turning them on." Ryuichi shrugged, no sign of the goofy grin him normally sported. Tatsuha scanned the kitchen. A flash of pink in the corner by the fridge. Ryuichi had hidden his Kumagoro. What was going on around here?

Ryuichi stood shaking in his boots while Ryuichi languidly rose to his feet, taking his sweet time to get to the point. "You're in a lot of trouble with a lot of people, aren't you Tatsuha-kun?"

Tatsuha shrugged. It was true after all. "Yeah, you should be, too."

"But I'm not, and that is what this is all about in the end."Ryuichi smirked and Tatsuha felt his heart picked up the pace in his chest. When Ryuichi smirked, it was like heaven on Earth. That sexy mouth, the slight crinkles around his gorgeous eyes, and the way his voice flowed over his words like oil. A shiver went up his spine and he almost smacked himself. Bad! Pay attention! Can't get distracted.

"I want you to go back home until this whole thing blows over. It shouldn't be more than a month or so."

Tatsuha felt like his world was shattering into a thousand tiny pieces.

"But... Why?" He told himself sternly that he wasn't going to cry. He was going to act like an adult and get to the bottom of this quickly and rationally.

He was probably going to start bawling in a second, but that's just between us.

"Because you are a main target. I am concerned, and I do not want you to have to go through all the nasty publicity that it going to go hand in hand with this." Tatsuha gave him a blank look and then began to laugh. "Did I say something funny?"

"No, no." Tatsuha whipped the tears from his eyes. "I'm happy that you're concerned for me, but I'm not going anywhere. I refuse to let my brother intimidate me. Oh, and by the way, Tohma, Noriko, and Sakano-san are plotting your downfall as we speak."

"Are they really?"


And they really were...

"Wouldn't that be career suicide on our parts?" Noriko inquired. "Face it, in the public's eye, Ryuichi is untouchable. We'd be the ones to take the fall and he'd get off scot free once more."

"And I hear they like that kind of bad guy rockers in America. He's already got a fan base there, we'd just be fueling the American's fire." Sakano sighed. Noriko was right. The guy was untouchable. Everything he did was bound to be liked by someone in the world. Sabotaging Ryuichi was more trouble for the conspirators than it was for the man himself.

Tohma looked pensively into his rapidly cooling tea. "Then we don't make it public. There has to be a way to get back at all of them without dragging all of Japan into the fray to act as one giant peanut gallery." He reached for his laptop.

"I think this should go a bit beyond petty tricks, Tohma." Noriko huffed. Eiri is a formidable foe on a good day, and this most certainly wasn't a good day for him. Hell, it wasn't a good day for any of us and it's Christmas. I'm not going to be satisfied by putting mud in his coffee every morning or something like that."

"He doesn't even drink coffee, Noriko." Tohma pointed out.

"Why not?" Sakano asked, completely forgetting the fact that it was Ryuichi they were talking about. His own star wasn't allowed to drink coffee either, for obvious reasons. All he knew was that caffeine sounded like a good thing to have right about now, and he wished he had himself a cup.

"Because he'll go insane and bounce around like a hyperactive bouncy ball." Noriko said, tapping her foot lightly against the ground in irritation. "The last time that happened, he accidentally insulted a fan and then stepped on her, refusing to apologize until the sugar high had worn off hours later... Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

All three of their eyes met and evil grins slowly crept across their respective faces as Tohma opened his e-mail program...

"We're gonna need some help..."

And somewhere across the city, a smirk rolled across Yuki's face as well as he swore he heard the producer's anguished creams all the way from his hotel room.

"GOD DAMN IT YUKI!"