A/N: So Shuichi popped the pill last time. And when I say 'the pill' I don't mean birth control… anyway. I know you all want to find out what the results of this drug will be, so this chapter explains it all!

Well, school work has died down a bit, so I have more time to update nowadays. Lucky you! My chapters will come up more frequently! YAY! We're learning Christmas music in band right now, and it's entertaining. I REALLY hope we do well at UIL competition! That's the most important band thing of the year! Please cheer us on, kay?

Alright, here's ch. 6 of Looks Can Kill. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Shocking Results!

"Hey, Shuichi… have you lost weight?" Hiro inquired the next day at practice.

"Huh?" The pop star perked up at that question after having drank a ton of water from singing so much. "You… you can tell?"

"Well, since you've been working out so hard these days, I thought I might mention it just in case you actually have." The guitarist smirked.

"Hiiiiroooo! I don't want people to just SAY I look good. I want them to actually say it and MEAN it!" He whined.

"Well, it's hard to tell if you have or not. I mean, when you're as skinny as you are right now, the only way I could definitely see results is if your ribs were jutting out of your sides.

"Eeew! Hiro that's gross! I want to look thinner, not like a skeleton!" He cringed at the thought of skeleton Shuichi clanking around like a kabuki theatre puppet on stage.

"Yeah. Yuki-san would be horrified if he saw you in that state." The red head laughed.

"I wouldn't doubt it…" The singer sank down into a chair to rest and gulped down more water. In a diet you always had to drink twice as much water as you usually do. That's what he learned on-line.

"…… Seriously Shuichi… have you lost weight?" His best friend sounded more concerned now for some reason.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I have over time. Otherwise, all my exercising would be in vain!" He cried, dramatically crumpling to the floor.

"So, when will you be satisfied with how you look for the shoot?" He asked curiously.

"…" The boy had to think of this for the moment.

'He really doesn't KNOW?'

"I don't know." He answered. "I guess whenever I feel like it's exactly how I want it!" He smiled and headed out of the recording room.

"Shuichi-"

"I'm going to the bathroom." He waved without looking back.

"…" Hiro stared at the door mindlessly. He was worried about his friend. Shuichi had never been this dedicated to doing something since he started singing. Didn't the world and his fans already think he looked good?

In the bathroom

Shuichi splashed some water on his face and shook his head roughly. The vocalist gazed at himself in the mirror, squinted, lifted up his shirt, and checked his belly flab. It was still the same as before he took the pill. Why wasn't the darn thing working? He KNEW he should have gotten two bottles of this. The one he had taken was probably a defect. But the directions on the container said it would take up to a day or two for the medicine to take affect. So the boy would wait patiently for the drug to work, hoping that grams of fat were being burned off by the second.

Meanwhile, Hiro was beginning to worry about him, when the guy really didn't have a thing to worry ABOUT. People go on diets every day, why was Shuichi's any different? The guitarist had always been protective of his best friend, but that was usually from Yuki. Maybe the red head was taking it too far this time. Well, whatever the reason, Shuichi wouldn't give up his diet. Not until he lost those extra pounds… uh, how many pounds had he decided to lose again?… oh well. He'd remember soon enough.

Back in the studio

"Hey, Nakano-san. What's up with Shuichi lately? He always seems to be preoccupied with something in his mind." Suguru pointed out.

"…"

"Nakano-san?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry. What about Shuichi?" He smiled.

"… Nevermind." The keyboardist waved it off and went back to testing out some sounds on his synthesizer. Now BOTH of his band mates were acting strange.

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Yuki sat on the plush blue couch in his living room, drinking some dark coffee and doing nothing in particular. Today just didn't feel like a work day to him. Taking a break like this every once in a while calmed his muscles at times. Half the weight of stress on his shoulders was lifted, and at the moment the novelist didn't seem to have a care in the world. His lover would be happy to know that he was taking a day off from his constant typing on the lap top.

Speaking of the baka, Shuichi hadn't pulled out anything odd from his package last night, which was a relief.

"I guess, it wasn't anything threatening to my pride. Probable pocky or something…" But he knew well enough that the boy wouldn't be catch himself dead eating the delectable candy, for it might 'expand his thighs to the size of an elephants', or so the younger man said himself. So, if it wasn't food, or fan mail, or a sex toy… what could it have been?

After five minutes of pondering over the subject, Yuki shook his head and grunted. Why should he be wasting time thinking of what mail the brat receives? It was most likely something childish and stupid… like him. Instead of dwelling on the matter anymore, the author turned his attention to the coffee table in front of him, noticing a certain magazine resting on the surface. The blonde picked it up and immediately recognized the name that was in big bold letters… The ONE…

So this was the infamous teen idolized magazine that his genki little companion had been raving about for the past two weeks, huh? On this week's issue, there was a girl on the front with hair like two broomsticks, eyes that looked like they were about to sink back into her head from all the eyeliner and eye shadow, a showy, tattered top, and spotted pants barely revealing her combat boots underneath. But through all that useless clutter, the woman had a GREAT body figure and full luscious lips that pouted out into a mean scowl. In her hands was a bright red guitar, ready for stringing. No wonder Shuichi wanted to look tip-top shape for the shoot. People like this on the front cover were definitely competition compared to other local groups of bands and movie stars out there. Yuki had seen this particular girl's ad posted everywhere outside of Tokyo's buildings and on TV. She obviously was a very popular singer this year. BAD LUCK was also a well talked about group too, but for them to get a gig on The ONE must be a big deal for their image.

While Yuki supported the lovable singer in situations like these, there was something about this one gig that he didn't like. Shuichi was a little TOO obsessed with this shoot. He had never gone so far as to try and get skinnier for modelling like this. What scared the writer the most was that Shuichi was already skinny as it was, and he didn't think the brat knew that. This diet didn't seem like a good idea from the beginning and at first Yuki was just playing around with the vocalist about everything being automatic fat boosters. But now the whole thing was going a little too far. And so, in conclusion, Yuki was going to cease this nonsense of dieting from Shuichi and order him to quick the program. It wasn't working for him anyway, so why continue?

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Shuichi had arrived home early that day and brought some seafood okinomiyaki for dinner. The two lovers were currently sitting in their respectable seats and eating the rare Okinawa delicacy. They didn't get much of this kind of food in Tokyo since they weren't beside the ocean like other Japanese cities were, but a vender was selling them, so the boy decided to buy a few for tonight's meal.

"Mmmmm… I LOVE this stuff! I haven't had it since I was little." The vocalist hummed happily.

"Hm. It's good." Yuki kept forking in small bites ten seconds at a time, while Shuichi was shovelling slices of the treat into his gaping den of a mouth at 0.1 seconds a bite. Though it was an enjoyable evening for the both of them, the author knew he had to break the ice to his companion sooner or later. So once they were done washing the dishes… together… Yuki got the younger man's attention.

"Hey. Brat."

"……"

"Hey… hey!"

"……"

Sigh… "Shuichi."

"Yes?" The singer turned around cheerfully like his name had just been called. Did he plan that?

"I need to talk to you about something." He finally said straight out.

"Really? What about?" The boy blinked thoughtfully at the novelist and laced his hands together obediently at his front.

"Well… it's about-"

DING-DONG!

"Hold that thought Yuki!" Shuichi scurried over to the front door and opened it. An excited squeal emitted from the boy as a woman handed him a box and left. Shuichi came tumbling back in with the package and set it on the kitchen counter. Great… not another box…

"Yay! Look, Yuki!" The pop star beckoned the man over to his side and shredded open the parcel. Inside lay a least a dozen magazines… all issues of The ONE…

"See? Look at all the pretty people on the covers and stuff! That's where I'm gonna be Yuki!" He grinned until he could grin no more.

"Hm."

"Men and women are allowed in the shots, and the best part about it is how the magazine talks a LOT about bands, upcoming music, movies… and this weeks issue will be about BAD LUCK!" He cheered.

"…"

"Sigh… they're all so skinny." He rested his chin on his wrist and outlined the figure of a famous super model.

"You are too." The blonde attempted to save his little baka by complimenting him.

"Not NEARLY as skinny as these people are. I bought these so I could hopefully get some tips on future advertising for out band, and how to handle interviews. Our last public displays have been… kind of outrageous… so maybe I can learn from these guys in here!" He started flipping through the pages of one of the issues and marvelled at the heavy makeup one woman was wearing.

"You don't need to look thin to be popular."

"True, but what if you were BOTH, huh? We'd get twice the publicity!" Shuichi chirped.

"Shuichi, I really don't think you should-"

"Oh, I'm so pumped, Yuki! In a few days, I'll be on one of the most popular magazine covers in all of Japan! BAD LUCK will soar through the roof at the rate we're going. And those fruit and vegetables I eat during lunch at the studio are actually helping me with my energy for singing! I'm so glad that I decided to go on this diet. And it's partly thanks to you, Yuki!" He smiled brightly up at the writer.

He didn't know what to say. His brain was all out of tactics. And what the boy just said about him encouraging the process of going on a diet… he didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Thank you Yuki!" The pink-haired singer hugged his older lover tightly. Yuki didn't know what else to do but embrace him back. Shuichi seemed so happy… he couldn't let him down by telling him to forget the diet. This was much too important to him. Maybe the blonde was just paranoid. Shuichi may have been irresponsible at some times, but he wouldn't go so far as to starve himself or anything. Yuki knew that the kid couldn't live without food, so he had nothing to worry about… right?

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The next morning, Yuki awoke to the high pitched squeal of a particular singer.

Lazily, he dragged himself out of bed, and trudged toward the bathroom where the noise came from. Inside he was Shuichi patting his stomach with glee, like a child petting his new puppy.

"What are you doing?" The slightly annoyed author grumbled, still in a state of grogginess.

"LOOK! See Yuki! I've gotten thinner! My diet is working!" He pointed to his figure and turned sideways for the novelist to get a batter perspective.

"Huh? I don't see anything different." The older man scratched the back of his head and yawned.

"No! Look closer Yuki!" Shuichi pointed more stubbornly toward the line of flab below his navel… which was nowhere in sight. He was right. He had lost some tissue fat. But that fast? In a few days? How! It was there yesterday, wasn't it!

"And I think I lost some weight on my hips too!" He poked his thighs and giggled. "This is working out great!"

"What's working out great?"

"Huh?… Uhhhh… just… the exercising, ya know? And the diet itself! I mean, look how many pounds I've shed!" He almost let info. About the pill slip. Phew!

"Hm." Yuki couldn't believe it. How did the brat manage to lose that much fat in just, like, four days! Maybe some new dieting food he bought? Or a different work out program? Whatever it was, the author sure as hell didn't see this dramatic change coming!

"Yay! I have a flat stomach, Yuki!" He patted it.

"Uh, wasn't your stomach already flat?"

"Well, not enough." He smiled.

Geez, not enough of this, not enough of that… NOTHING was enough for this little punk! Now he was really starting to sound like a snobbish rock star.

"Eeeek! I'm so excited! I'm gonna call Hiro about it!" The boy leaped over to the phone and dialled his friend's numner, walking into the kitchen all the while.

Yuki just stared at the floor, still in mild shock. After a few more minutes of contemplating, the man sat back on the couch and picked up a book to read. Hoping to get his mind off the puzzling subject, he began pretending to read, the concept of Shuichi losing that much weight in so little time still orbiting around his head.

A/N: Okay, that was a boring chapter. At least to me it was. But hopefully the next ones will be more interesting. YAY! Tomorrow is Fair Day! I'm going with lots of my friends (including DatenshiBlue39) to ride rides, eat a LOT of food, play a few games, look at exhibits, watch shows, and try a deep-fried oreo for the first time! I hope it tastes good. It sure sounds good! I wonder if anyone reviewing my story here lives in Texas and will be at the fair without me even knowing it… O.O It's kind of a neat concept to consider… has anyone here ever thought of that? That one day you mat be looking at or talking to someone who has read your fan fictions? That'd be cool. Well… I'm tired! And since it'll be a big day tomorrow, I think I'll head off to bed. I hope you at least mildly enjoyed this boring chapter… see ya!