Basically, I have no imagination and am incapable of coming up with my own plots or OCs and love to create extremely niche fanfiction that no one will read lmao. Most of the OCs as well as some plot devices were granted to me from the wonderful Spark Plug X's fanfiction Kiss Kiss Leave Me Alone (that you should totally check out because it's so amazing and perfect and just ahhh). Me and my friend read it literally two years ago and became obsessed with it and had super lame emo crushes on Xavier and we also loved Starstruck and just really lame Disney Channel movies in general so I wrote her this as a joke/present but now its become this like 100k+ word monster and is also really precious to me and I wanted to post it here for some sense of validation for all the time I spent on it lmao.

Disclaimer: this whole fanfiction was written under the premise that ouran academy was located in a made up Japanese town somewhere not in Tokyo, but apparently it totally is in Tokyo so let's just pretend its not for now alright.


Chapter 1: When the Day Met the Night

Hikaru can remember the first time he heard Xavier sing.

It was a couple months before the end of his freshman year, and he was sitting in homeroom with his twin brother, Kaoru, waiting for class to start. There were many things looming in his mind at the moment: his senpais Honey's and Mori's graduation, the uncertainty of the future of the host club, his anxiousness towards his attempt to be more independent from his twin, but most of all his impending crush on Haruhi. He glanced at the girl sitting obliviously in the seat next to him, biting her lip in concentration as she scribbled something down in her notebook. His heart leapt just looking at her, the new weird mix of uncertainty and nervousness that was suddenly always associated with her taking him off guard.

He didn't even hear the music initially, to be honest. Haruhi noticed it first, and glanced up at the crowd of students gathering around one of the desks, and Hikaru, in his staring, followed her gaze to the group. The music was rough, and muffled slightly from the speakers, but he could still tell it was fast paced and a smooth male voice accompanied the beat with a matching quickness. When he noticed Kaoru standing among the group as well, his interest finally peaked enough for him to stand up and join them.

"What's going on?" He asked his twin as he came up next to him. He craned his neck around the group and noticed a girl sitting at the desk in the middle holding a tablet in her hand. There was a video playing on it with bright flashing colors pulsating quickly, and he realized it was the source of the music he was hearing. Hikaru squinted his eyes to focus on the screen and saw it was showing a concert, and the camera fixated on the band on stage.

"It's a new band that just debuted yesterday." Kaoru filled in as the video zoomed in on the singer, a tall, pale man with a blonde mohawk and dark leather jacket. He gripped the mic and sang into it, more like yelled actually, with a passion and intensity that rolled off of him in waves with each lyric he belted out. It was so encompassing that Hikaru barely registered he was singing in English.

"They're all anyone's talking about right now. People are saying they're going to be the next big thing in Japan." The girl holding the tablet added, turning to the twins at overhearing their conversation. The man on the screen looked straight at the camera at that moment, wearing an expression like he hadn't realized it was there at first, but then smirked smugly and winked.

The group around them squealed at the gesture, responding instantly, and Hikaru realized they were mostly girls and scoffed. He dealt with enough fangirls in the Host Club, and he felt his interest waning quickly when he realized that this man was just taking his fans' attention away from him.

The camera zoomed away to reveal the rest of the band, and Hikaru's attention was instantly drawn to the girl in the back. She had bright pink hair and was banging on the drums with excitement and enthusiasm, screaming along to the song even though no one could hear her. Although she was small and at the back, she could still draw so much attention to herself, and he could tell she probably had a loud and vibrant personality, almost like another blonde senpai he knew.

There were two other men flanking the singer on either side, one more reserved and casual and the other jumping around with a gleeful and eager expression. Hikaru couldn't help but smile slightly at the attitude.

"What are they called?" Kaoru asked the girl, considering her the expert on the band. Hikaru jumped at the question, confused at his twin's interest in this group that was literally just reemploying the same tactics they use in the Host Club to make girls swoon over them. Kaoru should be able to see through the smoke screens and fake schematics, not falling for them.

"Lost in Translation." The girl answered immediately, obviously a little excited at the twin's interest in her, or her video to be more specific.

"What? You're not into this, are you?" Hikaru questioned in disbelief under his breath so only his twin would hear him.

"I don't know, I think it's kind of cool." Kaoru shrugged, brushing off his brother and not taking his eyes off the screen.

"And that's Xavier Labelle." The girl piped up again, drawing Hikaru's attention back to the video as it focused onto the singer, Xavier apparently, an obviously not Japanese name.

"What is that? French?" Hikaru questioned, finding himself becoming more irritated with the band the more Kaoru's interest grew.

"Yeah, he's actually half French and half Japanese. I think the rest of the band is either American or French, though." A different girl contributed this time, excited to display her own knowledge of the new group. "I think his dad is that huge business tycoon, Akio Hoshakuji?"

"Oh, I think my mom does business with him!" A different girl exclaimed, and suddenly Hikaru understood a little bit more of who this man was. He was high class, but just pretending to be all rough and rebellious for the aesthetic. Deep down, however, he was one of them.

"Why are they here then? Why not debut in America or France?" Hikaru wondered, and he mentally kicked himself for asking so many questions over the group he was supposed to be disinterested in, but it just didn't make sense.

"I think they were having trouble finding a record label in America because they were so young or something? But this Japanese record company wanted a group with a more Western style." The first girl explained, and Hikaru snorted. It's one thing to be looking for a "western style," but this group was literally the West just packaged and sealed for Japan.

Hikaru glanced back at the screen as the sound shifted when the song hit the bridge and the camera turned to the enthusiastic boy as he played a guitar solo. With the camera closer to him now, Hikaru could see the subtle curls of his short brown hair, the light freckles that dusted his cheekbones, and the muscles in his tanned arm that danced as he strummed his guitar. Then, out of nowhere, Xavier walked into the shot and pressed his entire body up to the other man's back to whisper something in his ear. The guitarist glanced over and nodded, unfazed by the intimacy, but it was like he was grinding up on him and Hikaru felt a tingling somewhere he shouldn't.

Meanwhile, Kaoru's jaw was hanging wide as he observed the scene in ultimate HD, leaned in over the girl's shoulder to watch from as close as possible. The girls around them screeched at the intimate gesture, and he could already hear them murmuring about shipping them and texting and calling their friends in excitement.

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat loudly across the room and all heads whipped up to see their teacher glaring back at them from the front of the classroom. They instantly dispersed, the video hastily clicking off, and filed into their seats as if nothing happened. The teacher only spared them one last stern look before turning to the board and beginning the lecture, and Hikaru let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding.


The next time Hikaru heard Xavier was the following day. And then the day after that, and the day after that, and suddenly it was every day that he heard his band somewhere. It was either from another classmate at school, on TV, or on the radio, and it didn't help that Kaoru had also looked the band up after getting home that day and now listened to them religiously. Hikaru couldn't escape the group even in his own home.

He wasn't sure why he was so irritated with them when he first saw them. Maybe it was because they were trying to seem Japanese even though they were so clearly not. Maybe it was because they were singlehandedly and unknowingly capturing the attention of everyone around him and taking it away from Hikaru himself. Or maybe it was because Xavier was cool and attractive and all around flawless and it irritated Hikaru beyond belief. But, whatever the reason, Hikaru quickly decided he hated them and filed that under things he wouldn't change his mind about no matter how clueless or wrong he might be about them, which was unsurprisingly something he was really good at.

Each week that passed however, Kaoru became more and more obsessed with them until he had completely descended into fanboy hell with the other Lost in Translation fans, and all Kaoru spoke, thought, and breathed about was that band. Hikaru loved his brother, but it drove him up the wall. And, even though he tried to avoid exposure to the band as much as possible, he couldn't help learning their names, songs, and other random facts about them thanks to his brother's as well as the rest of Japan's obsession with them.

Along with that, the weeks also passed until suddenly school dwindled down to summer, Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai graduated in the spring, and they all unanimously decided to continue the Host Club for one last year with just the four of them. Haruhi had mentioned ideas of recruitment, but the others still felt uneasy about it, not sure if they were willing to trust anyone else with even a small piece of the club they all cherished so much. Hikaru found himself sitting on the couch in his living room the first day of summer vacation with these thoughts plaguing his mind, the heat seeping through the walls and windows even with the AC unit blasting in the corner. He was lazy, and bored, and quickly losing interest in the TV playing reruns of old 90s sitcoms across the room.

As if on cue, his brother walked in and promptly ignored his lazing twin, stealing the remote from his unsuspecting hand and changing the channel.

"Hey, I was watching that." Hikaru protested, even though he actually didn't care that much, his interest on the show he was watching having been lost a while ago.

"Dude, you've seen that episode of Friends like a hundred times." Kaoru retorted, flipping through a few channels before stopping on an unfamiliar talk show. "Besides, this is more important." Hikaru was confused for a couple seconds before the shot changed to a stage and Hikaru saw Xavier standing at its center. He outwardly groaned his annoyance.

"There are literally like seven other TVs in this house, you realize?" Hikaru argued, reflexively protesting anything to do with the band even though he was actually a little glad for the slight distraction.

"We both know this is the best TV and the only one with surround sound." Kaoru countered, hastily raising the volume to catch whatever Xavier was saying in his stupid French accent, which Hikaru was pretty sure was fake by the way. "I still don't understand why you hate them so much, they're really good." Kaoru wondered out loud, not taking his eyes off the screen, but Hikaru could tell he had seen right through him. Nothing he did ever got past his twin.

Hikaru opened his mouth to answer, a curt reply on how terrible, annoying, and overrated they were ready on his lips, when suddenly the first chords rang out and Hikaru was interrupted by an explosion of sound. Kaoru sat two feet in front of the TV, hugging his knees to his chest in excited anticipation, completely forgetting his question once the band started playing.

The music was upbeat and loud (courtesy of Kaoru), and the chorus was fast and in English but Hikaru didn't care enough to translate the lyrics in his head to understand them. The band was performing in the same set up as when Hikaru had first seen them play on that small tablet before homeroom a couple months ago. Xavier was in the center singing with a guitar slung across his back, and he gripped the microphone with both hands as he sang out the lyrics with that same passion he had from the first time Hikaru had seen him sing, only stopping during instrumental breaks to jump and stomp around with his bandmates. To his right was Isaac, a quiet childhood friend of Xavier's from France and the bass player of the band, and to his left was Vinny, the outgoing and notoriously flirty lead guitarist who they had met in music school in America and Xavier's closest friend in the band. Hikaru knew too well about how many people "shipped" Xavier and Vinny from the amount of times he had overheard his classmates talking about them, especially to his brother since they knew he was also a fan. Lastly was Stella, the drummer in the back, and she was known for having a friendly and bubbly personality while also singlehandedly upholding the band's social media presence. Hikaru hated himself for knowing so much about them, and he groaned again but at irritation with himself this time.

The camera refocused on Xavier as the song hit the bridge and Vinny walked into the shot, enthusiastically strumming a complicated guitar riff for his solo, and Xavier mimicked him with his own air guitar as the two brightly smiled at each other. Kaoru was beaming warmly at the sight, and Hikaru could tell he slightly shipped the two even if he wouldn't admit it out loud. But then Vinny's expression turned mischievous and he winked at his friend, making a kissy face at him, and Xavier pretended to swoon before laughing and turning back to the mic to finish the song.

It was obvious just playful fanservice, literally the naïve version of what him and his brother do almost every day in the Host Club. Kaoru however was wide-eyed and gaping openly as he stared at the scene in front of him in disbelief, a scream dying on his lips has he tried to comprehend what he had just seen. Hikaru scoffed at his brother, disappointed in him for falling for the same schtick they pull all the time.

"Why are you so gay?" He wondered out loud instead. He loved his twin of course, but this fanboy side of him was getting more than a little irritating.

"Bi, actually." Kaoru corrected, not taking his eyes off the screen.

Xavier took that moment to bite his lip and wink at the camera as it swept past him, a gesture that was becoming almost a signature move of his, and Kaoru screamed along with the rest of the audience on the TV before falling over into a fetal position on the floor.

Finally, the song came to an end and the hostess walked back onto the stage to say a couple more words before cutting to commercial break. Kaoru was already on his phone, typing away on some social media site, and Hikaru assumed it had something to do with the band's performance he had just seen.

"I can't believe we're going to the city where they live tomorrow!" Kaoru exclaimed from the floor, not slowing down in his hasty typing as he voiced his excitement to his brother. "Like imagine if I met Xavier. I would actually die, okay."

"You know we're going to Tokyo to visit grandma, right? Not to achieve some lame, star struck fantasy of yours." Hikaru responded teasingly, but inwardly sighed as he remembered the impromptu trip their mom had forced upon them last minute. The initial proposal for the trip was just to visit their grandma who they hadn't seen in almost six years now, but their mom had decided to make them stay for the entire summer under the premise of gaining a new perspective on life, modestly living for once, stepping out of their bubble, becoming more independent, and a list of other morale-building clichés that Hikaru couldn't remember at the moment. He speculated that the real reason behind it though was because their grandmother had broken her hip last summer trying to do repairs on the house alone, and their mother was probably hoping that with the twins there to give her a helping hand she wouldn't need to put herself at such a risk again. However, they knew their mother would never admit to offering up her sons for free labor, and their grandmother would never agree to such a notion anyway, so everyone settled on the clichés instead.

"I thought it was something about 'priceless brotherly bonding' and 'building an indispensable new perspective on life.'" Kaoru joked, bringing his voice up an octave in an attempt to mimic their mother's words from earlier. They both laughed at the impression before the talk show flickered on again, and Kaoru's attention was sucked back into the hostess interviewing the band.

Hikaru wouldn't admit it out loud, but he was nervous about the trip and emerging into unfamiliar territory. Although he had visited Tokyo countless times before, he knew that living there would be an entirely different story, and he didn't remember his grandmother well enough to gage what kind of women she actually was. He glanced at his brother in his anxiousness, a habit he was trying to break, but he felt reassured at least in knowing that Kaoru would be there.

As long as he had his twin by his side, he was sure he could get through anything.


Xavier sank into the couch in the small green room with a huff of exhaustion after the set had ended. Vinny, one of his best friends and bandmates lumped into the couch next to him, falling against him in his own bout of exhaustion, and the rest of the band also settled into comfortable seating around the room. There was a long table next to the couch with a plethora of food stacked on top of it and Xavier's stomach growled just at the site of it. He took a doughnut and plopped it into his mouth with a pleasant sigh. It was the first thing he had eaten all day.

"Damn, that looks so good. Can you pass me one?" Vinny asked from where he was practically drooling on Xavier's shoulder. Xavier was about to reach out to comply when Jackal walked in and stole his attention.

"That was great guys! That was probably the highest viewer rate we've had so far." He began "Now, don't forget tomorrow you have the photoshoot for that magazine in the morning and we have a meeting with the record company tomorrow afternoon. Friday you have off, but I want all of you guys in the studio working on that new song. You know we have to drop a single by the end of the summer and it needs to be perfect."

Jackal was their manager and his connections were half the reason they had managed such huge success so quickly, the other half being their talent of course. Jackal was also Xavier's uncle on his mom's side, the French side, and he could tell living in such a foreign country was wearing on him. It was wearing on all of them actually, since none of them had any connection to Japan other than Xavier. And even Xavier was getting a little bit antsy since his memories of Japan and his father's side of the family specifically were always slightly traumatic. They were all itching for their Japanese contract to end at the end of the summer so they could ride their success and finally debut in America.

"Why do we have to do so much?" Stella complained with a groan, sinking further into her seat and using her drumsticks to make over exaggerated gesturing motions. "We're already super popular as it is."

"And if you want to stay popular you have to keep working and keep things interesting or people will get bored. That's how the entertainment industry is." Jackal lectured before turning to Xavier. "And don't forget that all of you need to stay out of the press until Xavier's movie deal is landed Monday. This is extremely important for your career, Xavier, so I don't need you especially doing anything not business related until then. Any bad press could completely ruin this opportunity for you." This caught his attention and he straightened up, causing Vinny to slide off of him and groan. He had completely forgotten about that.

"But Friday night is Monique's birthday party and I already promised her I would perform." Xavier argued as he tried to dodge Vinny's hand reaching past him to grab his own damn doughnut, which Xavier had also forgotten about. Monique was his girlfriend and childhood friend from France. She had just received some bad news and wanted to get away so had shown up at Xavier's doorstep a couple of days ago for an impromptu visit.

"Xavier, you have to understand that this movie deal is more important than a birthday party." Jackal tried to reason. Xavier knew he was right, even though he could honestly care less about anything that didn't directly relate to his music. But, his mom and uncle had pulled a lot of strings to get him this "opportunity," as they had put it, and he didn't want to disappoint them, so he nodded earning the older man's satisfaction. "Okay, so you guys have to make an appearance at the end of the show again so you have about thirty minutes or so to relax and eat. I'll come back and get you when it's time." Jackal instructed as he pulled out his phone to answer a call and left the room speaking fluent French into the device.

"Monique's going to kill me." Xavier groaned, already pulling out his phone to deliver the bad news. This wasn't the first time he had to break a promise to her because of a band related issue, and he knew she would understand but would also be disappointed. And, if it wasn't obvious by now, disappointment was not something he handled very well. Vinny put his hand over the phone though, and pushed it back down, barring him from sending the text.

"No, she won't." Vinny said with a smirk. "We can make this work.


Their private plane landed in Haneda Airport in Tokyo the next day. The twins walked down the stairs out of the aircraft in style with their mother following behind, already tapping away and answering emails on her phone. A chauffeur from the Tokyo branch of her company was waiting for them at the bottom, and they slipped into the sleek black limo without a hitch, accustomed to the extravagance of even domestic trips like this

Hikaru tried to shake off his anxious nerves as they rolled through the urban landscape of Tokyo, the buildings flying by as familiar to him as they were foreign. A part of him was excited, wondering what new adventures might ensue from a summer in such a bustling, global city. Another part of him was nervous of having to navigate the new environment, physically as well as emotionally, and worried about anything that might go wrong along the way.

Hikaru glanced at his brother sitting next to him at the back of the limo and noticed him scrolling through Xavier's Twitter feed. He rolled his eyes, realizing his brother was probably already searching for the celebrity's whereabouts in the city. He figured it was probably in vain, considering the celbrity was only one person in a city of millions, but he was pretty sure mentioning it for the tenth time probably wouldn't make a difference.

After navigating out of the city and settling around the much more modest outskirts, the car finally stopped in front of a small, two-story house. Both boys automatically turned to their mother, assuming she had given the driver the wrong address, but the woman was already making her way out of the car. The twins only gave each other one more confused and panicked glance before scrambling after her.

"This is it?" Hikaru wondered out loud after he had gotten out, the hot summer air hitting him like he had just walked into an oven. The house was a small, white but dirty, two story building, but he could tell by the two signs on the door that his grandma only actually inhabited the first floor while someone else lived upstairs. There was a patch of dirt in front of the house that looked like a garden had belonged there, but no vegetation grew anymore. He also noticed a stone path leading around the corner, probably to a garage or back door, and wind chimes dangling from an overhanging roof sang with an oncoming breeze. It was basically the very definition of commoner's housing and he had never been confined to such tight living quarters before in his life.

"How are we going to fit?" Kaoru asked once he had exited the vehicle as well and took in the small building. Their mom ignored them to thank the driver and ushered them towards the front door.

"Welcome to the real world boys." Their mother announced as they made their way up the stiff, yellow lawn. "You know I built my company from scratch. This was how I grew up before my wealth, and it's time you boys experienced a new perspective. And your grandmother was always one for modestly living, so it might prove a nice change of pace." She explained as they reached the entrance, even though they had already heard this spiel more than a couple of times. They didn't realize however, that part of this "new experience" included commoner's living, and the already bleak proposition suddenly seemed that much more unappealing.

She lightly knocked on the door but, after about a minute of no response, resorted to banging, forgetting that her mother was losing her hearing. They heard the lock click before a small woman with the same face as their mother but with grey hair and wrinkles answered the door. A surprised smile flashed on her face as she realized who they were, almost like she forgot they were coming, which she probably did in all honesty.

"Hi, mom." Their mother greeted as she gave the old woman a hug before letting herself in.

"Oh, boys, it's been so long!" Their grandma exclaimed as she turned her attention to them. "Hikaru you've gotten so tall" she pointed out as she ruffled Kaoru's hair and then patted Hikaru's shoulder and told him "Kaoru, you look so handsome." Her smile was so sincere that they didn't have the nerve to tell her she had gotten them mixed up.


Later that night, after they had settled in and their grandma had fed them multiple times, Hikaru was trying to watch television on the much smaller and older TV in the cramped room he was sharing with his brother, but Kaoru was keeping that from happening. His twin was pacing back and forth in front of the screen, frequently interrupting Hikaru's line of site, and babbling loudly on his cellphone with their senpai Tamaki, also a Lost in Translation fan, and covering up the sounds from the show. Finally, Hikaru had had enough and threw an embroidered pillow at his younger brother, knocking the phone out of his unsuspecting hand.

"Do you mind, Hikaru? This is really important." Kaoru reasoned as he picked the small device off the ground and apologized to the boy on the other end.

"Yeah, I do mind, actually. You're blocking the TV." Hikaru retorted as he prepared another pillow to launch at his twin if he didn't comply soon.

"Hikaru, this is so important." Kaoru repeated with a new aura of excitement. He said a quick goodbye before he hung up the phone and ran over to his still unpacked suitcase to rummage through the clothing inside. "Tamaki just told me that he just had a chat about a text quoting a blog about Xavier Labelle! Apparently, he's singing tonight at a club in Tokyo for his girlfriend's birthday party!" He exclaimed without missing a beat as he kicked off his pajama pants and tugged on a pair of jeans.

"And what, you're going?" Hikaru questioned, suddenly losing interest in his TV show. "You know mom won't let you run around an unfamiliar city all by yourself in the middle of the night. This isn't like the Host Club where we have Kyoya's private police force looking out for us."

"Yeah, that's why you're coming." He stated and threw a shirt at his brother, like somehow Hikaru had already agreed to this insane plan.

"Why the hell would I do that? I'm tired and I don't give a damn about your lame fanboy fantasies." Hikaru argued, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back on the bed, closing his eyes as if he was getting ready to sleep. Normally he would have complied to going out just to be able to explore the fun nightlife of the city with his brother, but he hated Kaoru's obsession with that band and he didn't want to indulge it any further.

"Because Yuukio Kingsley is going to be there." Kaoru replied with a smug smile that he could hear without having to see his brother's face. Hikaru cracked an eye open, his interest peaked at the mention of one of the models that worked for their mom. "It's common knowledge that she and Xavier are good friends. They've been spotted hanging out together tons of times; almost more than his actual girlfriend." Kaoru added with a chuckle.

"So, what? Why would I care about her?" Hikaru argued even though he knew exactly what Kaoru was going to say.

"So, she's super hot and you always flirt with her whenever she does photoshoots for mom." Kaoru responded. It's true, she was really attractive and Hikaru did try to talk to her whenever he saw her, but he never really felt attracted to her in the way Kaoru was implying. Plus, he always thought Kaoru had a small crush on her anyway, so he mostly was just trying to get in his way to annoy him. He didn't know why, but he just had a feeling she wouldn't be good for him. Now that he knew that both Yuukio and Xavier would be there, he felt even more uneasy. Maybe he should go just in case…

"Fine." He finally agreed and sat up while Kaoru cheered in the background. He couldn't shake the feeling that this was a bad idea though.


Xavier sat in the passenger seat of one of their smaller vans as Vinny drove and Isaac and Stella sat in the back. Music was blasting through the speakers, the bass vibrating the entire car, and Stella was singing at the top of her lungs. The windows were rolled down and Xavier was trying to relax and enjoy the warm breeze of the summer air flying by, but he knew that this was a bad idea. Yes, Monique was important to him, and yes, he felt bad breaking another promise to her, but there was so much riding on this movie deal that if any paparazzi showed up at this party it could be the end of it easily. In all honesty, he didn't really care about it. Music was his passion, his life, not acting, but Jackal and his mom worked so hard to get him this movie deal that him screwing it up like this would just be the biggest "fuck you" to them.

His life had suddenly become this. Every day was full of tough decisions, everywhere he went he had to be careful, and everything he did was watched over. It was stressful and frustrating. He missed the time he spent in music school in America and France where all that mattered was the music: playing it, making it, and getting better at it. Now there was so much more. So many details, formalities, interviews, photoshoots, press, and meetings that there was only a fraction of time spent on the actual music. And Xavier had been assumed the leader of the band because he was the front man so it all fell on his shoulders.

He reflexively grabbed a cigarette from the case he always kept on him and lit it as he felt the creeping of his anxiety crawling up in the back of his mind. He took a long drag, feeling the comforting scratch of the smoke down his throat, before he exhaled it out of his window in a sigh, already feeling a little of its relief.

"Are you alright, man?" Vinny asked when he noticed the cigarette, always worried whenever his friend reached for a smoke.

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine." Xavier answered, being pulled back to reality.

"Good! This party is going to be fucking awesome!" Stella exclaimed from her seat in the back and she also hit Xavier's shoulder for good measure.

"Ow!" he complained, rubbing the now sore spot. Stella always got excited too easily.

"Hey, we can't stay too long. Just a couple of songs and then we're out of there, understand?" Isaac, the voice of reason in the group, reminded them from his spot next to Stella. He had always been the only collected and responsible one. "The longer we stay, the bigger the chances are of our absence being discovered."

"Ah, stop being such a hard ass all the time, Isaac." Stella teased as they rolled into an alley where the back door of the venue was situated. There were a lot of people lined up out front, trying in vain to get in, and they didn't want to risk getting caught by the paparazzi. Isaac just rolled his eyes and ignored her remark, used to those kinds of comments by now.

"Come on, we don't have much time." Vinny announced as he turned the engine off and hopped out. The others followed and made their way to the back doors of the van and took out their guitars and some minimal equipment. Xavier really hoped the drum kit and all of the other electrical stuff was already set up for them as they rushed into the building.


It was already well into the night when the twins' Uber arrived at the venue the party was at. There was a group of paparazzi and a line of people at the doors trying to get in, and tons of other oblivious bystanders were littering the sidewalk wondering what all the commotion was. Hikaru felt a sinking feeling in his stomach and he wanted nothing more than to turn around and, for once, go back to his grandmother's house. He could tell this was going to take more effort than it was worth.

"Hikaru, don't back out now!" Kaoru whined, reading his twin like a book. "At least give it a chance. You know how important this is too me."

Hikaru was well aware of that. His brother had spent two hours after Hikaru finally agreed, deciding on an outfit and styling his hair in weird and different ways. He had ultimately decided on casual jeans and a short-sleeved button up, an outfit he had worn multiple times before, and styled his hair normally. Hikaru was already a little peeved about that, and this commotion was just making his mood worsen even more.

"I don't know…" Hikaru trailed off, trying to look everywhere except at Kaoru's pouty face. Kaoru was about to retaliate when there was suddenly loud screaming coming from inside the building followed by a blast of music. Kaoru's head whipped around toward the noise.

"Oh my God, they're here." He whispered to no one before sprinting off to join the crowd of people pushing on the doors. Hikaru cursed to himself, unsure what to do now. He couldn't go back without Kaoru, and he wasn't about to leave his brother alone in the middle of Tokyo at night anyway, but he didn't want to face the mob to retrieve him either.

With a sigh he sat on the curb and pulled his phone out to distract himself. He figured in ten or fifteen minutes the crowd would realize that they weren't going to be able to get in and would disperse. However, after thirty minutes the doors opened and he saw Kaoru slip in. God damnit Kaoru. Hikaru tried to calculate how long it might take for the performance to end. Concerts usually last for an hour, right? Maybe two? He hadn't been to one since middle school, so he wasn't entirely sure. He did know though that his ass hurt and Kaoru had his cell phone on him, so he decided to wander around and find a cafe or restaurant to wait at instead.

Hikaru stood up and assessed his surroundings in the dimly lit street in front of the building. He didn't want to walk around too much because he was worried of getting lost, but he recalled a small cafe they had passed on their way here. Looking around, he noticed an alley to the right of the building that seemed to end on the next street and Hikaru realized it was a shortcut to the street where that cafe was.

Making his decision, he started heading down the alley. It was completely abandoned, especially compared to the street he was just on, but there was a suspicious van parked in the middle of it. And by suspicious he means a white, unmarked van with blacked-out windows that looked like the perfect tool for a kidnapping. Hikaru was hesitant to approach it, but the narrow walls of the alley meant he would have to walk right past the driver's side. Among closer inspection, he determined it was empty and not a threat so he tried to quickly walk past it. He was interrupted however by a door he hadn't noticed before opening from the building to his left and hitting him in the head. Hard.

"Fuck!" he exclaimed as he lost his balance and fell to the ground. His vision went black for a second but, when it came back, he noticed a figure slouching over him and yelling something that was muffled from the aftershock of the impact. He suddenly remembered the van and panicked.

"Pervert!" He yelled as he tried, and failed, to push and kick his kidnapper away because of what he blamed on his dizziness. His senses were slowly returning however, and Hikaru was starting to become aware of his situation. His head was still throbbing and his right forearm stung from where it had probably scraped the concrete, but he realized his attacker was actually a really attractive young man that looked even more scared than Hikaru did.

"No, no I'm not a pervert! Please stop screaming!" The other man exclaimed from his crouched position next to Hikaru, obviously unsure of what to do. Wait, his voice was extremely familiar… Where did he know it from?

"Oh my God! You're Xavier Labelle!" Hikaru yelled, sitting up and almost hitting his head, again, with the other man's. He could recognize that weird French accent anywhere from the amount of times Kaoru played his songs around him.

"Shh! Not so loud." Xavier shushed him, clamping his hand over the twin's mouth. "I'll give you backstage passes to our next concert if you please stop screaming."

"I don't want to go to your stupid concert." Hikaru complained, pushing his hand away. Xavier looked surprised, obviously not expecting that reaction from someone he assumed to be a fan, and there was a pause between the two.

"Oh shit, you're bleeding." Xavier noticed, coming back to his senses as a red line trickled from Hikaru's hairline down his forehead. Hikaru could feel it and instinctively tried to wipe the blood away, but more just followed. "Fuck" Xavier muttered, searching around for something to put on it before realizing what he had to do. He looked down at his new, black t-shirt with a frown before reluctantly pulling it off and wadding it up.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Hikaru questioned, trying to seem appalled but he honestly couldn't stop looking at Xavier's toned stomach. Did this man have any flaws? It was actually just making Hikaru hate him even more. Said man didn't notice, distracted as he put the shirt onto the source of the bleeding.

"Here, hold this and apply pressure." Xavier said, taking Hikaru's hand before guiding it in place and gently pushing down on it himself. Hikaru noticed that he was shaking.

"Hey, are you okay, man?" Hikaru asked, suddenly worrying more about his attacker's well being than his own.

"Wha-" Xavier started, but he was interrupted when the door flew open again, this time hitting Xavier in the shin, and three people filed out followed by loud music and Stella's high-pitched voice.

"Ow! Damit!" Xavier cried, letting go of Hikaru's hand to clutch his now injured leg.

"Holy shit, man! What the fuck are you doing?" Vinny screamed, noticing the pair sitting on the ground. The dim lighting and the angle they were at and also the fact that Xavier wasn't wearing a shirt probably made their position look a little more compromising than it actually was.

"You hit my fucking shin with that goddamn door!" Xavier spit back in his rush for accusation before remembering the real problem at hand. "Oh, and I also hit this guy in the head when I opened the door to come out."

"Oh my God, he's bleeding." Stella pointed out, gasping.

"Yeah, we need to get him to a hospital." Xavier said, as he started getting up and helped Hikaru stand with him.

"I'll go get Monique." Stella announced turning to run back into the building.

"No!" Xavier protested, stopping the drummer in her tracks. "Don't bother her at her birthday party… get Yuukio. She'll know what to do." Stella nodded before continuing into the building. Hikaru groaned, remembering Yuukio and suddenly feeling really embarrassed about her seeing him this way. This earned him worried glances from the other three males, thinking it was from pain.

"I'm going to look for a first aid kit. I think I saw one in the bathroom earlier." Isaac suggested, following the path of his bandmate back into the small venue.

Vinny helped Xavier get Hikaru to a standing position and they leaned him against the van. The sudden change in altitude had him feeling dizzy again and he felt bile crawling up his throat. After a second of fighting it, he finally leaned over and threw up his grandmother's dinner all over Vinny's shoes.

"Oh, are you fucking kidding me, man?" Vinny cried in disbelief. "I literally got these Docs yesterday. That's just fucking amazing."

Hikaru ignored his complaining and tried to rub his mouth clean before straightening up again.

"Fuck, we really need to get him to a hospital." Xavier told Vinny, worried that the injury was more serious than he had first assumed. "Vinny, help me get him into the van."

They started making their way around the white vehicle, each of the older men supporting Hikaru on either side, when Stella and Yuukio came out. Yuukio looked exactly the same as he remembered from when he last saw her almost a year ago. She had long, straight black hair that was currently pulled in a tight ponytail and her fitted, white dress showed off her perfect figure. Basically, she was really attractive, but that was to be expected of one of Japan's most famous models. Hikaru immediately turned his head down and groaned at seeing her and Xavier glanced at him, probably worried he was going to throw up again.

"Xavier, what happened?" Yuukio asked as she made her way over to them, her heels clicking on the cold cement. "And why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"I hit this guy in the head with that fucking door when I was walking out to the van. I gave him my shirt because it started bleeding and I didn't know what else to do." Xavier explained. "We need to get him to a hospital. He just threw up and I'm worried he has a concussion."

There was a pause when the clicking stopped and Hikaru could tell the model had stopped in front of them. Hikaru finally looked up at the girl and Yuukio gasped when she saw him.

"Hey, Yuukio, how you've been?" Hikaru greeted with a smirk, his usual confident tone a little slurred, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Oh my God! What are you doing here?" She wondered, suddenly a lot more worried. Hikaru realized that she didn't know which twin he was and he decided not to inform her. It was entertaining watching her squirm in confusion.

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Vinny asked, looking between the two.

"I work for his mom. She's like the biggest fashion designer in Japan. Shit, she's going to kill me if she finds out this happened to you here." She sighed. "Wait, where's your brother?" She asked knowing that the twins were notorious for being practically inseparable.

"He's the reason I'm here. He's a huge fan of yours, by the way." He mentioned sarcastically, looking up at Xavier before continuing. "Anyway, he's probably looking for me right now. I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I don't need to go to the hospital. I just want to go home, please." Hikaru begged to the small group.

"No way in Hell." Xavier protested. "The last thing I need is you dying because of this and it ending up on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow morning."

"Oh, is that all you care about? Some bad press ruining your perfect little image?" Hikaru mocked getting really sick of this man pushing him around.

"Right now, yeah." Xavier spit back, also getting irritated with him.

"Enough arguing you two, I have a plan." Yuukio announced, earning everyone's attention.
"I'll go find your brother since I know him and give him a ride home. Xavier, you take him to a private doctor that you can trust to be quiet about this because you did this so now he's your responsibility. The rest of you, take a cab and get home as quickly and quietly as possible and cover for Xavier if you can. Everyone understand?" They all nodded, honestly a little afraid to protest Yuukio when she gets like this. "Good. Text me in ten with updates." She instructed before pulling out her phone and making her way out of the alley and onto the busy street.

"Are you going to be okay?" Vinny asked Xavier. They were currently trying to get a protesting Hikaru into the passenger seat of the van and Stella went back into the building to find Isaac.

"Yeah, I'll call Renge and ask her for a private doctor. She knows Japan better than we do and I'm sure she has connections somewhere." Xavier reassured his friend as they finally got Hikaru buckled in.

"No man, I mean, you're shaking."

Hikaru looked at the singer's hands and noticed their not so subtle movement. Xavier glanced at Hikaru, nervous that he had heard too much. The two held eye contact for a second too long before Xavier quickly shut the passenger's side door, cutting Hikaru off from the conversation.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine. It's just adrenaline from everything happening all at once." Xavier lied as he made his way to the other side of the van. The last thing he needed was someone else worrying about him right now. Vinny squinted at him, seeing straight through his lie, but didn't protest.

"Fine, but take this." He said, shrugging off the flannel he had layered over his plain white t-shirt and throwing it to Xavier. Xavier caught it, momentarily forgetting that he was still shirtless, and pulled it over his arms.

"Thanks man!" He exclaimed while buttoning up the shirt, noticing the concern still clouding his friend's expression. Xavier ignored him and climbed into the driver's seat. "I'll see you later!" he called before turning the engine on and quickly driving out of the alley. Hikaru noticed the little cafe he had been attempting to reach that had caused this huge mess as they turned into the street. He finally sighed in defeat, giving into his current situation.

"I literally hate you, you realize?" Hikaru told the celebrity, being his usual blunt and incredibly rude self.

"It's nice to meet you, too, uh? I'm sorry, what's your name?" Xavier asked, not sounding apologetic at all honestly. Hikaru snorted at his response. He was definitely not the super charming and charismatic it boy that appeared on TV.

"It's Hikaru, actually. I can understand why you'd have trouble with that considering no one has ever forgotten your name." Hikaru retorted, glaring at his window but ignoring the city passing by.

"You know, you're such a little shit. You don't know the first thing about me." Xavier argued back. The more time he spent with this guy, the more he disliked him.

"Oh, trust me; I know more than I care to. My brother hasn't shut up about you and your lame band for the past month." Hikaru countered. Xavier was about to respond with his own mean comment when Hikaru's phone began to vibrate again and he shushed the singer to answer. Xavier glared at the twin for not being allowed to give his two cents, but instead checked his own phone for the information on the location of the doctor he was supposed to go to. He did not condone texting and driving usually, but he considered this an emergency. Although an irritating one at that.

"What's up?" Hikaru said as he answered the phone call.

"Thank God! Hikaru, where have you been? I've been calling and texting you like crazy and you haven't answered. And now Yuukio just showed up trying to tell me everything's alright and she's taking me home? I'm not leaving without you so you better get your ass over here!" Kaoru ranted in what Hikaru believed was all one breath. He was touched by his brother's loyalty, but a little peeved that he would end up spending time with Yuukio alone because of this.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but you need to go with Yuukio." Hikaru said reluctantly, and he nervously glanced at the teen rock sensation and object of his brother's crazed affections sitting in the seat next to him before continuing. "You know me, super clumsy. I totally fell during all the commotion and hit my head, but it was honestly no big deal. These security guys want me to go to the hospital to make sure everything checks out so there's no bad rep for their club." he lied while glaring at Xavier and he was satisfied when the other man fidgeted a bit under his gaze. "I should be home soon. Don't freak out okay?"

"Fine, but just keep your phone on you and actually answer me when I call this time, okay?" Kaoru gave in, but Hikaru could feel the doubt in his voice.

"Yeah, of course. See you soon!" He said before hanging up.

"Why'd you lie to him?" Xavier questioned, almost immediately after the call ended.

"Huh?" Hikaru wondered, taken off guard by the sudden question.

"You said your brother was a fan, but you lied and didn't tell him you met me. Wouldn't you want him to know that?" Xavier asked, his eyes glancing between Hikaru and the road in what had to be an unsafe manner of driving.

"Yeah, I guess I just didn't want him to be disappointed by the truth." Hikaru told him, not making eye contact even though he could feel the other man's gaze on him.

"Oh." Xavier whispered. Hikaru could tell he had hit a nerve in the blonde and he wondered if he had crossed a line. The mood in the van suddenly felt raw from a still tension hanging in the air, and Hikaru turned further away and stared out his window, too stubborn to admit fault or apologize.

There was an uncomfortable silence between the two, neither knowing what else to say. The next fifteen minutes seemed to draw on for hours before they finally reached the hospital and parked in a secluded back area. Xavier reached past Hikaru in a seemingly awkward gesture and into the glove compartment where he pulled out black ray-bans and a matching black baseball hat and threw them on in a trained fashion. He then glanced around frantically before reaching into the back seat and grabbing white-framed glasses and a black leather jacket that looked strangely familiar and threw them onto Hikaru's lap.

"Put those on." He instructed before hopping out of the van. Hikaru reluctantly did as he was told and followed suit, entering the fluorescent building right behind his new acquaintance. Xavier pulled his hat further down before approaching the receptionist and whispering to her. She then gestured to a waiting nurse they hadn't noticed before who led the pair through a side door opening into a stairwell with concrete walls and floors. The group headed up two flights of stairs before reaching another door at the top which led to a much nicer hallway with dark carpeted floors, pastel yellow walls, and fogged glass doors lining either side. They went through one of the doors on their right into an average looking commoner's checkup room where a tall and dark-skinned man with a bald head and long white coat waited for them. The nurse closed the door and left without a single word.

"You must be Xavier." The doctor presumed, sticking his hand out to the singer and Xavier shook it. "You can call me Sanjay. Renge informed me of your situation. This will stay between us, okay?" He said in a well-practiced grin.

"Thank you, sir." Xavier responded. "My uh… friend here hit his head on a door. I just want you to check to make sure he's okay and doesn't have a concussion or anything." He explained, gesturing to his now "friend" standing beside him. Hikaru inwardly snorted at Xavier still trying to maintain his perfect reputation even to a doctor sworn to secrecy.

Sanjay looked at Hikaru and gestured towards the elevated exam table in the middle of the room and Hikaru walked over and hopped onto it. The doctor proceeded to examine the injury and asked Hikaru questions while he checked the twins sight, hearing, and coordination. Xavier, who was intensely watching the scene from a chair in the corner and wringing his hands nervously, jumped when his phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?" Xavier answered and Hikaru couldn't help but glance over at the man as he tried to decipher the one-sided conversation. "Shit!... I know, I'm sorry… I'm really sorry…Yeah, I know… I'm sorry… No, nobody saw me… I'll be there as soon as I can… Thanks, bye." With that, he hung up and gave out a long, tired sigh. Hikaru could tell he had just gotten lectured by someone over the phone and he briefly wondered why it was taking such an emotional toll on Xavier.

"Good news," Sanjay began, interrupting Hikaru's thoughts. "It's not a concussion. I do recommend you ice it when you get home however to reduce the swelling, and if it hurts too much take an aspirin or two. Call me if you feel any more nausea or lingering pain." Hikaru nodded along as the doctor went through his instructions.

"So, he's good?" Xavier asked, jumping from his chair to stand next to Sanjay and looked Hikaru up and down. "We can go?"

"Yes, but make sure to take the stairwell and leave through the back exit again. The photographers are already in the waiting room." He informed them.

"Damn it! Okay." Xavier exclaimed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Alright, well thank you so much Sanjay," he said, and Hikaru's eyes widened as the singer gave a deep bow. "We really owe you."

"Oh, it's really no problem!" The doctor assured, waving his hands flustered and ushering for the boy in front of him to stand up. "You don't need to bow."

"It's fine." He affirmed, straightening up and giving one last nod towards the doctor before glancing at Hikaru. "Let's go."

Hikaru rolled his eyes, annoyed about the whole display, but jumped down from the table. He said one last thank you to Sanjay before following the singer out of the room. As the door closed behind them, the sounds of commotion reached them from the waiting room down the hall.

"Shit." Xavier cursed under his breath and instinctively put back on the cap and sunglasses he had removed in the examination room. He glanced at Hikaru and pulled up the hoody on his jacket and ducked the twin's head down as he led them through the hallway. "Put the glasses on." He told him, too distracted by not getting caught to notice the glare on Hikaru's face. When the two finally got down the stairwell, slipped out the back, and tiptoed to the van, Xavier let himself breathe again.

"Okay, we're going to make a quick stop and then I'll take you home." Xavier stated as he turned on the engine.

"Are you kidding me?" Hikaru groaned, just wanting this night to be over. He remembered how he had just been planning on watching television and falling asleep before his brother had dragged him out and unknowingly into this mess. "I didn't want any of this to happen."

"Yeah me neither, princess." Xavier snapped back, obviously starting to get frustrated with Hikaru's attitude. "But this is a little bit more important than your beauty rest."

Hikaru swore that if the other man hadn't started driving already, he would've reached out and strangled him.

"Right, my bad. I forgot that being some big rockstar makes all your problems way more important than some little nobody like me." Hikaru retorted with sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Aghhh!" Xavier shouted, words failing to describe how extremely frustrated he was at the redhead. "You can't even say that! Your mom is like, one of the biggest fashion designers in Japan!"

"That doesn't mean my face is plastered on every billboard and TV show in the country and I have a bunch of rabid fans and crazy paparazzi following me around on a daily basis!" Hikaru yelled back, his own frustration of having his night involuntarily consumed by the other man seeping into his words.

"Why are you like this?" Xavier questioned, his tone changing as his focus shifted while he attempted to switch lanes. "You don't even know me."

"I know too much, if you ask me." Hikaru complained, pointedly staring out his window to ignore the other man.

"Whatever," Xavier grumbled, deciding to turn his attention to driving instead of idle arguing. Hikaru, for once, agreed with this unspoken notion, and let the Tokyo skyline distract him as it passed his window. The thought of sleep was still in the back of his mind and the lulling of the van was soothing and soon Hikaru felt his eyelids drooping. By the time they pulled into a small underground parking garage, the twin was drifting in and out of sleep, his head bobbing slightly. "Hey, we're here."

Hikaru glanced up sleepily and nodded, still not knowing where "here" was, and tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes as he scrambled out of the car. Hikaru noticed that the garage was small, obviously privately owned, and packed with high-end luxury brand cars. Instantly, Hikaru spotted a Porsche, BMW, and Lamborghini, and he reevaluated whatever pity he had started to feel towards Xavier and his 'being famous is hard' problems.

"Where exactly is 'here'?" Hikaru questioned, as Xavier led him through a door and up a set of stairs.

"My house." Xavier replied as they went through another door at the top of the stairs that led to a hallway in the main house. They turned the corner into a large living room with sleek and modern, western-styled furnishings and a monochromatic color palette. It looked straight out of a high-end furniture magazine, everything arranged to be picture perfect but like nobody actually lived there yet. Hikaru, being extremely wealthy himself, was not shocked at the extravagance of the other man's house and didn't comment, but he did mentally try to calculate the retail value of a house like this in Tokyo and compare it to his own. A glass wall on the other side of the room revealed an elegant party occurring in the backyard beyond it around a small pool and dimly lit patio.

"What's going on?" Hikaru questioned as he further surveyed the crowd. "Some kind of event?"

"Kind of." Xavier replied, and he ducked Hikaru's head and pulled him into another hallway before anyone noticed their arrival.

"What? Scared your friends will see you with someone not up to your ridiculous level of stardom." Hikaru mocked as he let the other teen lead him up a spiral staircase.

"Look, I wasn't supposed to go out tonight and my uncle is really mad at me because he found out." He began to explain as they walked up to a large black door. "And if he figures out about what happened with you too he's going to get even more pissed at me." Hikaru was actually kind of surprised at how normal the problem was for a teenager their age, and not something he thought a famous rockstar would have to worry about, but he didn't comment on it. Xavier dug through his pocket before pulling out a small, silver key and unlocking the door.

"You lock your room?" Hikaru wondered.

"Yeah, I have problems with people going through my stuff." He explained, glancing at the redhead over his shoulder while opening the door for them. "So, don't go through my stuff." He warned as he allowed the stranger into his room.

"Why would I even want to?" Hikaru retorted, more to anger the entitled teenager than anything, as he walked past him.

The room was massive, with walls alternating between black and white covered in posters, a huge fluffy rug that matched the color scheme, and a large floor to ceiling window encompassing half of the far wall. The unmade king-sized bed was low to the ground and framed by a large bookcase filled with more CD's and records than he had ever seen in his life. In the corner, a desk was overflowing in what looked like sheet music and a row of guitars and a keyboard were lined up next to it. The floor was messy, littered with clothes making the space look a lot more cluttered, and on the adjoining wall he spotted two more doors which he assumed lead to a bathroom and a closet while a huge plasma screen TV hung in the space between them. Hikaru wasn't sure what he was expecting, but seeing a room so well-worn and personal, especially compared to the rest of the house, felt like overstepping a boundary.

"Sorry its messy." Xavier apologized, interpreting the twin's surprised expression the wrong way. "I have to go make an appearance downstairs and talk to some guests but I'll be back as soon as I can to take you home." He explained and walked back to the open doorway. "Please, just don't leave this room." He begged as he backed out, one hand on the door knob. "And for the love of God, please don't touch my stuff." He didn't give the twin a chance to respond before he closed the door and left Hikaru alone in the room.

Hikaru stood there for a second, absorbing the extremely personal side of Xavier's life he had just been exposed to, before the sound of distant music and chatter led him to the large window on the opposite wall. Below, he could see the party in full swing in the backyard. Palm trees lined the perimeter and the pool was the centerpiece to the event, being illuminated in different colors by a changing underwater light. The partygoers were dressed in cocktail dresses and button ups, with waiters carrying food buzzing around them, and Xavier instantly stuck out in his ripped jeans and flannel.

He watched the blonde mohawk make its way across the backyard, being stopped numerous times by other guests along the way, before approaching a group of four people consisting of two older men and two young girls. One man seemed familiar with Xavier, patting him on the shoulder in greeting, and Hikaru speculated that he was his uncle with similar blonde hair, while the other man only offered him a stern handshake. Hikaru briefly wondered if that man was the reason why coming back here had been so important, but he dismissed it once he saw Xavier quickly walk away after only chatting with them for about a minute or so. Xavier made his way back into the house, and Hikaru thought he was going to come back up to the room, when he reemerged moments later with an acoustic guitar clutched in his hands.

At that moment, Hikaru noticed that the other side of the window was actually a sliding door leading onto a small balcony, and he fumbled with it before quickly opening it and making his way into the night air. Even though it was summer, a chilly breeze sent a shiver through him, and he subconsciously gripped the leather jacket he was still wearing. By the time he refocused on Xavier, the singer was sitting on a stool in front of the pool, his guitar nestled in his lap, and everyone's attention was on him.

"This is something I've been working on for my new album." Xavier announced to the crowd and silence fell across the backyard. "It's not meant to be played on guitar, but I can adjust it a little." He explained. With that, the singer strummed the first chord of the song and Hikaru leaned onto the railing in anticipation.

"When the moon fell in love with the sun, all was golden in the sky, all was golden when the day met the night."

Hikaru gasped when he made eye contact with the other man, surprised at being caught watching him, but Xavier just smiled slightly and continued without a hitch.

"When the sun found the moon, she was drinking tea in a garden, under the green umbrella trees in the middle of summer. When the moon found the sun, he looked like he was barely hanging on, but her eyes saved his life in the middle of summer" Suddenly, the song picked up and Xavier closed his eyes, belting out the chorus. "In the middle of summer, all was golden in the sky, all was golden when the day met the night."

Hikaru relaxed into the song, listening to Xavier's voice laid bare, stripped of all the instrumentation and production of his usual music. The rawness of his pure voice accompanied by just the guitar allowed an emotional exposure that resonated within Hikaru. He could tellXavier was pouring every ounce of his soul into his singing and he could feel the fluttering excitement of the summer love he was describing. It was captivating.

"So he said, 'Would it be all right if we just sat and talked for a little while. if in exchange for your time I give you this smile?' So she said, 'That's okay as long as you can make a promise not to break my little heart or leave me all alone in the summer.'" He continued, and Hikaru couldn't help but smile along with the narrative. There was something innocent and playful about the love story Xavier was proposing, something new and exciting while also being nostalgic and innocent, and for a moment Hikaru couldn't help but follow along and be swept away in the charming lyrics.

"Well he was just hanging around, then he fell in love, and he didn't know how but he couldn't get out. Just hanging around, then he fell in love."

With one last glance at the blonde, Hikaru pushed away from the ledge and made his way back into the room. He could still hear the muffled song even after he slid the glass door shut, and he found his feet taking him towards the bed. It was late, and the fatigue he had felt earlier returned to him all at once. He tucked himself in, replacing the sheets as best as he could, and was intoxicated by a sweet, musty smell. He realized that this must be Xavier's scent and he took one last inhale of it before he felt his eyelids droop and the last chords of the song echoed through the room.


"Hikaru, you need to wake up." Hikaru heard distantly as his shoulders were shaken.

"Mhm, five more minutes." He grumbled, turning away from the intruder and sinking his face deeper into the comforter. He inhaled the now familiar scent of the sheets once again and hummed at how comfortable he felt surrounded by it now. The smell reminded him of the breeze on a summer night or the sound of an acoustic guitar or a song about the moon and the sun.

"No, you can't sleep here, Hikaru. It'll be worse if I tried to sneak you out tomorrow morning than if I did tonight." Xavier explained, still trying to shake the other boy out of his slumber.

"Why do you care so much about what people think of you?" Hikaru wondered out loud. It was supposed to be a tease but his muffled brain wasn't sure if it registered as one. The hands at his shoulders tensed suddenly and if Hikaru hadn't been so tired, he would've opened his eyes to see what expression the other man was wearing. They sat like that for a second, frozen in silence, and Hikaru had almost nodded off again when Xavier finally sighed in defeat.

"You're a stubborn ass, you know that?" Xavier complained, and Hikaru felt strong hands pushing underneath him and wrapping around his body. With a grunt, he was lifted off the mattress and into Xavier's arms. Hikaru was too tired to protest, already feeling himself drifting off in the gentle embrace. They took a second to readjust themselves before the blonde began to carry him out of the room. At some point on their way down the stairs, Hikaru leaned his head against Xavier's chest and that familiar smell of suns, and moons, and summer lulled him back to sleep.


When Hikaru woke up again, he had a painful crick in his neck and a thin line of drool creeping out of the corner of his mouth. He blinked a couple times, trying to take in his surroundings through his sleepy haze. It was dark, and he was in the passenger seat of a car he didn't recognize, and through the window he saw the Tokyo skyline glittering in the distance, the sky behind it painted in a deep purple that foreshadowed the upcoming sunrise. It was at that moment that he realized he didn't know where he was and he lurched forward, the seat belt stopping him and quickly tugging him back.

"Well it's about fucking time, sleeping beauty." Announced an irritating French accent from his left and Hikaru inwardly groaned when he slowly recalled the events of the previous night and glanced at his companion. Xavier had his eyes on the empty road ahead of them, one hand on the steering wheel and the other dangling out the open window, a cigarette lazily burning in his grip.

"Why the fuck am I still with you?" Hikaru complained. "And what time is it?" he asked, gesturing toward the incoming sunrise.

"You fell asleep on my bed during the party and wouldn't wake up so I had to carry you to the car. Apparently, you're just as stubborn as you are annoying." Xavier began to explain, and Hikaru turned away to hide his blush as he remembered that part. "But then I realized I didn't know where you lived, and I was scared that if I woke you up you would just be even grumpier than before and yell at me, so I just drove around waiting for you to wake up." Hikaru felt his blush deepen and he put a hand over his face in another attempt to hide it.

"I am not grumpy!" He exclaimed "And that is the worst excuse ever like who the hell does that?"

"I have trouble sleeping anyway and go on drives like this to relax sometimes," Xavier told him, too tired to snap back at his arguing as they pulled up to a stop light. "So, adding your ugly drooling face to the picture wasn't much of an issue." He joked turning to look at the twin. Hikaru didn't think it was possible for his blush to deepen any more, but he felt the flush spread down his neck and up his ears as he realized the singer had seen him drooling. He glanced at the chuckling blonde beside him and realized he had noticed the blush.

"Fuck off." Hikaru mumbled, blaming his sleep deprived mind on why he couldn't come up with a better comeback but feeling very much awake anyway. Xavier took a long drag of his cigarette before craning his neck to blow the smoke through the window and out of the car. Hikaru watched the cloud of smoke swirl in the summer breeze before being swept away by it, disappearing into the early morning air. It was beautiful, but in some tragic way that Hikaru couldn't quite place. "Smoking's bad for you, you know." Hikaru stated, not knowing what else to say.

"Trust me, Vinny makes sure I'm extremely aware of that." Xavier told him with a chuckle, but the noise fell flat in his ears. "I need it to relax or else I'm just a big mess of stress and anxiety." He explained. Hikaru stared back at him, not exactly sure how to respond. His mind told him to break the moment with some snarky comment, but his gut stopped him.

The car rolled forward when the light turned green, and Xavier took one last drag before reaching the end of the cigarette and throwing it onto the road outside. Hikaru noticed a sign labeling the area where his grandma lived and finally spoke up.

"Take this exit." He instructed and Xavier turned in response, crossing over into the exit lane. He quietly directed the other man for the rest of the drive and within twenty minutes they were parked in front of the small apartment building.

"Isn't it going to be hard sneaking back into your house now that it's almost morning." Hikaru asked as he unbuckled his seatbelt and gestured towards the deep reds and oranges that had appeared in the sky. He wasn't really sure why he asked, but the question had been out of his mouth before he had completely processed it.

"Nah, I'm going to crash at Yuukio's place probably. Or maybe the band house if she already left for work." Xavier explained and he could see the other man forming a plan for his day in his head from the way he squinted his eyes and looked off slightly. Hikaru felt a new wave of embarrassment at Yuukio's name and remembered the state the beautiful model had last seen him in.

"You don't live with your bandmates?" Hikaru asked, trying to ignore that feeling but mentally kicked himself for asking another useless question. His hand was on the door, but he looked at the other man instead of opening it.

"Yeah, it's kind of complicated. I just-" Xavier began, but glanced at the redhead and hesitated. Hikaru could see the different emotions passing over the singer's eyes as he worked through his response and Hikaru wondered what he was hiding. "I just need my own space." He finally settled on. Hikaru raised an eyebrow but didn't pester anymore, finally content to open the door and slip out.

"Thanks for the ride." He said over his shoulder, in lieu of a goodbye, and closed the door firmly behind him.

"Hikaru-" The blonde called out to him, and Hikaru turned back, staring at him through the rolled down window. Xavier paused and looked into his eyes, as if searching for the right words to say. Hikaru stared right back, noticing for the first time the piercing light blue of Xavier's tired eyes, framed by streaks of dark purple underneath them. The moment dragged on for a couple seconds, and Hikaru found himself starting to lean forward in anticipation, before the realization of what they were doing dawned on him and he jolted out of it.

"Dude, are you gay?" Hikaru joked, trying to brush off the awkwardness of the moment. The other man practically jumped in his seat, shock written in his expression and Hikaru noticed his grip on the steering wheel tighten.

"What?! No!" The man exclaimed, his eyes looking at everything but Hikaru as he flustered for an answer. "I don't-" He began "I mean, I would never-"

"Oh my God, you totally are!" Hikaru realized, and he couldn't suppress a laugh.

"No! I-" Xavier's eyes widened as he stumbled over his words, which just made the twin laugh harder. "Ugh whatever," Xavier admitted with a sigh, accepting defeat. "It's not like I'll ever see you again anyway." Hikaru's head shot up at this, cutting off his laughter. "Goodbye, Hikaru." Xavier said, sparing one last glance at him before driving away.

Hikaru watched the car recede, and didn't look away until it turned a corner and out of his view. He didn't let his thoughts linger on what Xavier said, and instead focused on quietly slipping past the front door. It was still really early, so he knew no one would be awake for a couple more hours. He tiptoed to the room he was sharing with his twin and peeled off his clothes before slipping underneath the covers, the entire time extremely careful not to wake up the light sleeper quietly snoring on the bed across from him.

The window at the foot of their beds danced with color as light from the sunrise poured between the dusty blinds and into the small room. Hikaru's body was practically buzzing as he replayed the events of the night over and over in his head, all sense of sleep completely gone. After a while, he gave up on that and focused on watching the sun as it broke the horizon in a sweep of dazzling yellows and oranges and rose into a golden sky.