The noise of the city was cut off abruptly as the doors to NG slid shut behind the pair of young men that entered in off the street. The smaller pink haired man kept up his stream of chatter as his larger red haired companion just shook his head as he half listened to his long time friend and half thought about what could be waiting for them in the studio, half dreading what he would find. Last week had been an eventful week to say the least, what with the lead singer of one of their competitor groups having taken out the keyboardist of their own, even if it was an accident. It was made even more stressful as the following days were spent going over keyboardists, in an attempt to find a temporary replacement for Suguru as his wrist was healing. He had been adamant that he could play their upcoming concerts and finish out the record they were currently working on, but that idea had been quickly halted when first Sakano then K had put a stop to his plans.
He still wasn't entirely positive how it had even started, one minute he and Suguru had been talking, walking down the hall to the studio after a short break and the next thing he knew, they were being bowled over by a hyperactive man-child as he dragged along the pink haired vocalist for their band. Hiroshi had sat up, rubbing his shoulder from where it had hit the ground to find himself in a dog pile of musicians consisting of himself, Suguru Fujisaki, Ryuichi Sakuma and Shuichi Shindou. Shuichi and Ryuichi were both starting to sit up, the younger pink haired vocalist was rubbing his knees where he had skidded on the floor while Ryuichi had been rubbing his head, the large red mark on his forehead giving an indication as to where he had hit during the collision. Grey eyes moved to the last person let unaccounted for and found the young green haired male curled as much into himself from where he was still partially trapped under Ryuichi, holding his wrist close to his chest, brown eyes clenched shut. It had been a flurry of activity after that, with K and Sakano rounding the corner just a few seconds later, also on their way back to the studio to continue the recording session, both their eyes widening as they took in the pile of bodies in sprawled in the middle of the hallway. Sakano immediately started freaking out while Ks blue eyes moved swiftly over them all before landing on the young keyboardist, his brow furrowing slightly as he moved forward, quickly but carefully moving him out from under the older vocalist and getting him to his feet before leading him down the hall, presumably to seek medical attention. Hiro watched him go silently before turning grey eyes onto their producer, whose own grey eyes were comically wide as he surveyed the mess before him, form beginning to lightly shake as the panic about what to do started to hit him. Hiroshi let out a sigh as he pushed himself up, he had a feeling this was going to be long day as he ignored the trembling man for now to make his way to the two vocalists in front of him to check that they were ok.
He was broken from his thoughts by Shuichi tugging on his sleeve, a frown marring his face as amethyst eyes looked at him from under a furrowed brow. " Ne, Hiro, were you even listening to me? " he asked with a pout.
"Sorry, I was, I just got lost in thought, what were you saying? " he asked with a slight chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I was asking who you thought was going to be picked as our temporary replacement while Suguru is out. I mean, we had a couple days and couldn't settle on one, he just kept finding something wrong with all of them. I mean, he even almost got into a fight with that one, remember Hiro, remember?! " Shuichi said, his voice rising as he gestured excitedly.
Hiro winced, remembering that one very well. The man in question had been bigger than Surguru by a good foot at least, his bright green hair pulled back in a pony tail and trailing down his back, black eyes flashing in growing anger as he listened to the younger male listing the reasons he felt the man wouldn't work for them to K and Sakano. The man, Maiko Mori, had finally snapped after a particularly harsh comment from Suguru, who had been getting progressively more surly as the day wore on, rubbing over the dark green casing on the cast enveloping his wrist between listening to potential keyboardists. The man crossed the room in two quick, long strides and had Suguru up against the wall, fist bunched in his shirt collar as he held the other dangling off the floor by a few inches. Maiko had just opened his mouth, probably to rip the younger man a new one, when he blanched, face completely draining of both color and anger as he felt a cold pressure settle against his neck under his ponytail, hearing an ominous click echo through the room.
"Put him down. Now" K said, his voice eerily calm, despite the anger that had been flashing in his blue eyes. His gun was held steady, finger resting on the trigger as he waited for his order to be complied with. The others shaking hand lowered the young keyboardist to the floor, loosening his grip and raising his hands and taking a step back, well aware of the gun still pressed against him. "Now, get out of here, and don't let me catch you anywhere near here again" K said, lowering his gun as the shaking man made a beeline for the door, steps faltering before darting around the blonde that had been standing in the doorway unnoticed, frown looking out of place as green eyes followed his retreat. When the man's hurried steps could no longer be heard echoing down the hall, the visitor had turned, his smile once more on his face as he took in the room. K, standing there with his gun drawn, blue eyes stormy with anger, Sakano standing in the corner, practically vibrating with nerves, Hiro and Shuichi both staring wide eyed at where their band mate was glaring down at the ground, though Sugurus angry brown eyes quickly rose to meet his own when he stepped fully into the room and cleared his throat.
"I see yet another keyboardist has failed to make the cut, though perhaps this one was for the best. " Tohma Seguchi said with a light chuckle as the attention in the room shifted to him. I know I gave you a deadline to find a replacement, or I would be finding one for you, but after that little display, I am afraid your time is up. Now, as it is Friday, why don't you all just go home for the day, you won't be able to get any work done today anyhow, so there is no need to stay, but I want you all here at 9 am, on Monday morning, ready to start work. I'll have your temporary keyboardist waiting for you here. Now Fujisaki-san, I need a word with you before you leave. " he said, gesturing for his cousin to follow him as he turned and left the room, the younger giving a huff as he followed the older man out the door.
The weekend had flown by, and the young vocalist had been trying to guess who the blonde president might choose, bouncing different ideas at the guitarist, and progressively getting more outlandish as he went.
"You know, I honestly don't know Shu," He said, He could choose anyone, it doesn't even need to be someone on the list you know, or even someone that was even employed by NG originally. Hell, maybe since Nittle Grasper is currently on break, he will have Noriko help us out again. " Shuichi looked at him thoughtfully, before nodding, he was right after all, this was Tohma Seguchi they were talking about, one could never truly account for what he would do. Though, whoever the man chose, it would be someone that would benefit the band, and therefore the company. He would never risk causing NG a monetary loss by putting someone in that fans would outright object to, especially with a handful of live performances only a couple weeks away. Whoever it is, it can't be any worse than that Maiko guy, at least. " he said with a chuckle.
They were stopped from their musing on the possibilities of who the new player could be by a hand settling heavily on the vocalist's shoulder, Shuichi tilting his head so he was looking upside down at his manager, wide amethyst eyes meeting blue before the blondes eyes closed in a smile as he tilted his head slightly.
"As you seem so eager to know who our new keyboardist will be, I suggest we get up to the studio and get to work. " K said, using his hand on the singers shoulder to steer him forward as they headed towards the elevator. "Now I expect no nonsense today, do you understand that Shindou, we are already behind schedule, and we will make headway today, do you understand me? " he asked with a big grin, running his free hand over the butt of his gun, grin widening when he saw amethyst eyes follow his hand and widen before the vocalist nodded frantically. "Good. " he said with a laugh, patting his head as they reached the elevator. The ride up to their floor was mostly silent, with only some quiet chatter between Sakano and K to break the silence. When the elevator dinged and the doors slid open, the small group got off, making their way to the small studio at the end of the hall. Shuichi hesitated a step when he heard the faint strains of music drifting down the hall, the notes moving smoothly together before being hit with a small hesitation, like the player had to think about the notes they were playing, before moving together smoothly once more.
"It sounds like the new keyboardist is already here and working," Sakano said, surprise tingeing his voice, as they approached the room, finding the door ajar, the music getting louder the closer they got. K stepped forward, pushing the door all the way open and walking in quietly, his footsteps covered by the music coming from the synthesizer. It was one of Bad Lucks newest songs, one that they were currently working on recording for the upcoming album. The other three followed the producer into the studio, pausing when their eyes landed on the man behind the keyboard, green eyes narrowed in concentration behind thin glasses that were perched on the end of his nose, thin, nimble fingers flying over the keys without taking his eyes from the sheet music in front of him, blonde strands swaying slightly with his movements. Shuichi turned to look at Hiro, seeing the other had his eyes fixed on the familiar figure before them. He turned back to watch as the other was finishing up the song, fingers falling still as he reached the end of the written notes. Raising one hand up, be pushed his glasses back up, picking up the sheet to look more closely at it, squinting his eyes to see the hand written notes that Suguru had left on the paper, if the familiar writing they could see from where they stood was anything to go by.
"Seguchi-san?" Sakano asked when the other man had stopped reading and glanced up at the group standing before him, confused at seeing the blonde man.
"Ah, Sakano-san, I'm glad to see you guys have made it on time." Tohma said with a smile, stepping out from behind the keyboard. Now that he was looking, he noticed that it wasn't Suguru's keyboard that normally occupied the studio, but rather a more complex, if slightly older model, one he had only seen up close when they had been on that show that one time and had performed right before Nittle Grasper. " Are you ready to get to work? "
" You mean you are going to be acting as the keyboardist for Bad Luck sir? " Sakano asked, confusion evident in his voice as he took a step forward.
" Yes, I have the time now with Grasper on break, and I figure, since it was our vocalist that took out your Keyboardist for a bit, the least I could do was fill in for him until he could play again. " Tohma said with smile firmly in place. " It also seemed to be the only way my cousin would agree to having a replacement, since he knows I have no desire to take his spot on a permanent basis, as Sakuma-san can be a handful himself, without adding Shindou-san here in as well. "
Shuichi started to open his mouth, probably to make a comeback at the thinly veiled dig, but Hiro placed a sharp elbow in his side, stopping the vocalist from voicing the complaint.
" Well then, it's best we get started then I guess, Seguchi san, as I'm sure you are a busy man. The sooner we are done here, the sooner you will be able to get back to your other work. " Hiro said, stepping over to his guitar and slinging the strap over his shoulder. He watched as the pink haired male glared at the older blonde for a second, before he nodded and moved to the microphone, noticing the way green eyes studied him before their owner stepped back behind his keyboard. It looked like he was wrong, they might have been better off with that Maiko fellow, at least he couldn't fire them if Shuichi said something dumb.