Hyde returned to the table with a considerably larger bounce in his step than had been there when he left. Gackt only gave him a momentary glance as he reclaimed his seat between the taller pop star and his violinist again.
. "Hyde san, I hope you don't mind but I ordered for you. You like pork curry right?"
Ren nudged Masa. "Don't be so shy Gacchan, you didn't just order for him, you ordered for ALL of us!" he laughed. "We didn't even get a chance to set down our menus before you told that lady "We'll have eight bowls of pork curry please!" and sent her scurrying off like a frightened bird." Masa shook his head with a smile.
Gackt glanced back over at him, eyebrow cocked slightly, before questioning "ANYway, as I was saying, Hyde I hope you don't mind?"

"Why Gacchan, I have the utmost faith in your judgement… besides, I know you know what I like." He said sweet enough to induce spontaneous cavities in anyone who may have overheard him. There was a strange thumping noise from Masa's end of the table. Hyde looked up, and could have sworn he had seen a frighteningly evil scowl on the man's face. But if he had, it certainly disappeared quickly enough for him to disregard it, as it was replaced by that "come hither" smile he had been giving Hyde since he first walked in. Hyde looked away. But it would seem Masa wasn't going to have it.
"So Hyde san, this IS the first time we're meeting. Which is a shame since you've known Gackt for such a VERY long time. I mean, you guys must be pretty close hmmm?" he said. The sugar content in Masa's voice matched that of Hyde's own "Oh I assure you were not as close as people like to think. I prefer to think of us as being, oh, just a bit more than casual acquaintances." Gackt laughed and took Hyde's hand, holding it close to his chest. "Oh Haido dear there's no need to be so modest. I'd say we were MUCH more than THAT." he said, simply beaming. It seemed everyone at the table was just exploding in sugary sweetness today. Hyde laughed and pulled his hand away, the way he always did when Gackt hit on him in public. Turning away to see You with a rather distant smile on his face. Perfectly happy to change the subject he was about to ask the tall man what was so captivating it had him smiling in such a way when Masa interjected. "But Hyde san, I was really surprised to see you looking the way you did when you first sat down. In fact I wasn't even sure if was truly you or not."

"E-…excuse me, there was an… incident on the way over here you see." He laughed nervously, preferring to let that memory fester somewhere unseen in the bowels of his mind, until he had a psychiatrist who was well paid for their silence to sit on the listening end of this conversation.
"An incident indeed, I couldn't help but think to myself 'my-my, Hyde san's hair is CERTAINLY messy, and his clothes, goodness it looks like someone was trying to rip them off of him, and he smells oddly of alcohol and sweat. I DO wonder what he had been DOING directly before honoring us with his presence here today." His eyes darted momentarily to Gackt, then back to him. Hyde blinked. Also looked at Gackt, then looked back at Masa. He didn't think… DID he think? No he couldn't.
"I'm sorry?" he squeaked, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
"I was just wondering what exciting activities you and Gackt had been participating in together is all." Masa said, picking up his spoon from the table and sucking gently on it. Hyde looked off in search of help, being as this conversation wasn't hesitant to turn quite uncomfortable.
Luckily for him, right then the waitress came out with a tray carrying eight bowels of curry. (And only then did it occur to Hyde how odd it was to go to a five-star-restaurant and order pork curry. For breakfast no less. But then, it was breakfast with Gackt. Not too much could honestly be considered weird anymore when around him, including his consuming his "breakfast" meal around one thirty in the afternoon. )

The waitress set the tray on a stand and handed out the bowls to each of the performers individually, smiling at Hyde as she handed Gackt his bowl. Hyde couldn't help but give her a big beaming million-watt grin right back. This was going to be so wonderful.
"Please enjoy your meals sir's," she said politely, bowing and taking the tray away. Hyde's grin was as set in his face as a stone carving when everyone began to eat.

Well, everyone but Gackt. Damn him, it seemed he had started up some sort of conversation with Ju-Ken while Hyde was suffering some insufferable embarrassment at the hands of Masa.
"You know what? I'm going to buy you a KNIFE shaped guitar, with all kinds of sharp edges and make you play it at the next live!" Gackt said smiling, spoonful of the offending curry in hand.
"I wouldn't use it! Besides how am I supposed to play a guitar if it cuts off one of my limbs every time I touch it?" Ju-ken laughed, shoveling a spoon into his own mouth.
"At least it would keep you from acting like you're getting OFF playing the thing. The way you TOUCH your instruments on stage is SHAMEful!"
"Oh please Gacchan, like you don't do the same thing with your Piano!" interjected Chacha.
"Not JUST his piano, you see the way he strokes his microphone stand too right? Hah! And he has the nerve to pick on US! When WE do that to our guitars, it at least sounds good! What is all that touching doing for your MICROPHONE Bro G? Hmm?"
"That's different. It's EXPECTED of me! You hear the way the fans shriek when I do that. They love it; it's part of the rock star terms of service. Once you've made so much money you sign this nice sheet of paper that says you aren't allowed onstage unless you're touching some one or something in an inappropriate way." The spoon still hung limply in his hand. Hyde could feel his heart pumping harder with every second it swung there. Sweet, sweet revenge was only inches away! Why? So close!

"It's still the same thing we do! The reason you do it doesn't matter, if you stop stroking your microphone Me and Cha will both stop jerking off our guitars." He said matter-of-factly. Gackt laughed. "Okay, well I'll give up fan service entirely if you would just WASH your CLOTHES."
"Hey! That was a STAIN! I told you!"
"Whatever, I just hope that girl isn't WEARING that shirt you gave her, she might catch the black death or Ebola! Who KNOWS what kinds of diseases are running rampant through your house! You and your dog are fine; you've developed immunity to everything! But I know now that shirt should never have been released to the public! It's not even fit to use as a WASH rag!"
"You know what? You can take your wash rag and-"
"Uh Gacchan? I think if you let your food hang there any longer a fly will get to it before you can."
Gackt glanced at Hyde, and then back at his spoon, and with a laugh took a bite.
"Sorry, I tend to get carried away when dealing with these wild beasts." He snickered.
Hyde nodded smiling, and watching, with ultimate amusement shining bright on his face.
"Anyway, so what is this I hear about you going to an… ANIME convention in France hmm? Can't get enough of otaku's here and so you had to go see the foreign ones too?"
Another bite.
"Hey, it was happening, we were there, so we were like 'what the hell' you know? Don't be so cynical, you gundam freak!"
"HEY! Gundam is a VERY well animated work of ART."
Another bite.
"Gundam is anime CRAP! You know you only like it because there's huge guns. You know I STILL laugh when I think of that metamorphose PV you did."
Gackt took another bite "You're just jealous I didn't let YOU ride in my Gundam!"
"That WASN'T a real Gundam you fool! Everyone knows it was CG'd"
"That's just what I WANTED them to think. So that no one tries to find my underground Gundam launch site!"
Another bite.
"UNDERGROUND launch site hmm? Where you keep your gundam's? Good gosh it's no wonder you hit it off so well with Takanori san. You're both the biggest anime geeks I've ever met that can function in the real world. Oh wait… scratch that, you DON'T function in the real world. You're a rock star." Ju-Ken smirked.
Gackt took another bite and snickered. Then looked at his bowl. "Wow, is it just me or is this curry REALLY good? We should make this the new spot or something. I love it!"
Hyde's jaw dropped.
What. The. Hell.
He stared at that bowl, and then looked around at everyone else. All eating, (except for Masa, who's eyes were still set on him determinedly) and no one was running about screaming in pain. So they couldn't have gotten the spicy bowl by mistake. What went wrong?
"Um, Gacchan… mind if I have a bite of your curry?" he said, cautiously reaching his spoon over to Gackt's bowl. He pushed it towards him happily. "Be my guest!" came his reply. Hyde kept his eyes on the much too pleased man as he tentatively reached his spoon into the bowl and extracted a small amount of this so-called "delicious" concoction.
And it was good. It was really good! At least that's what was going through his mind as he licked his spoon clean, until he felt like Satan took a dump in his mouth.
"Oh my gawd!" came the rather bestial scream, ripping it's way forth from the singers throat as he jumped up from the table, fell over backwards on his chair, scrambled back to his feet, and sprinted again towards the bathroom. The others watched him, amusement written on almost everyone's face.

"Oh-god-oh-god-oh-god-oh-god-oh-god-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-hot-what-the-hell-is-WRONG-with-that-man-does-he-not-have-taste-buds-or-has-all-that-hair-bleach-just-fried-his-brain-cells-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-HOT"
Hyde kept his open mouth under the running water faucet, willing it to wash away every last trace of the devil's shit from his tongue. When he heard the door click open and shut again, and footsteps came up behind him.
"Was Gackt's plate a little much for you Hyde san?" Came Masa's sultry voice from some area near his nether regions. Hyde pried his mouth away from the faucet and looked at him. "Ah. Masa san… I'm sorry to run out of there like that… it, eh, Masa. Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"You know Hyde san, you really ARE an attractive man. It is as he says. You are JUST Gackt's type…" came his low voice, as he intruded further on Hyde's personal bubble. Hyde backed into the sink, butt bumping against porcelain with a painful thump.

"Masa I think you misunderstand my relationship with Gackt." He laughed nervously. Masa gabs Hyde by the wrist, and yanks him forward into his arms. Dark eyes glaring down at him lustfully.
"Oh no, I understand everything Hyde san." He whispers, hands slipping down around Hyde's waist and pulling him tight against him, before taking a few steps away from the sink. Hyde's hands immediately grabbed at Masa's which clung to his jeans like an iron vice, in attempt to pull him off. Unfortunately for him, splashing water on one's face does not do wonders for one's grip, and he was unable to rip them off.
"Masa what the hell! Get off of me you freak! I don't even KNOW you!" he cried, attempting to shove Masa off of him. Masa tumbled back a few steps into a bathroom stall, arms still firmly wrapped about Hyde's waist, as he swung him around so that his back was against the door and Hyde had no means of escape. Aside from dropping to the floor and crawling under the stalls. Which, as soon as Masa released him, he did his best to do.

But Masa was quick, and grabbed him by the shirt collar as soon as he was on his knees. Hyde's eyes widened, and he did his best to wriggle away, turning around and grabbing hold of the toilet like some sort of comfort blanket. "OH my sweet Jesus you're INSANE! PLEASE don't do this! I-I have a WIFE! I have a SON! I have FANGIRLS that will COME AFTER you and all your loved ones! Think about it! God why does everyone insist on writing me as the uke in EVERY situation? Maybe I would like to be on top every once in a while!" he cried in a panic, tears budding in the corners of his eyes. Masa quirked an eyebrow.
"Uh… excuse me?" he said, twisting Hyde's shirt in one hand, and leaning the other one on the toilet lid, so he could lean over the slightly smaller singer and look at his face.
"Please, please, I-I'm not as hot as you think I am! It's not worth it! I have… uh… I'm short! I'm so short! And I'm skinny! And my TEETH are kinda' CROOKED! It's so disgusting I swear…. Uh, besides, I'm a terrible lay! Don't DO this!"
"I don't think we're on the same wavelength dear…" Masa couldn't help but sigh. Hyde looked up at him in confusion.

"Wait… so this isn't the part of the story where Gackt's old best friend violently rapes me in the bathroom while Gackt is right outside, and turns everything angsty and tear-filled?"
Masa let go of Hyde's shirt and narrowed his eyes.
"Uh… no." he stated flatly. A thick an uncomfortable silence ensued for three seconds that lasted forever.
"Oh… well… then…" Hyde started to get back up to his feet when Masa's hand shot forward and snatched a hand full of Hyde's hair, twisting it between his fingers.
"This is the part of the story where Gackt's bitchy ex-band mate gives Gackt's new slutty lover just what he has COMING to him!" he snarled, and Hyde somehow noticed before panic took hold of him again, his eyes weren't clouded over with lust, but with malice. Masa flipped the toilet lip up and pulled Hyde up by his hair, shoving his head into the nasty-poo-bathroom-water.

He gagged and coughed and took in what seemed like a lung full of water before Masa pressed the flush and Hyde could hear, if only barely over the loud noise of running water all about his head.
"If it wasn't for you and your damn MOON CHILD me and Gackt could have been PERFECTLY happy together! But NO! Mister "If-I-Was-A-Woman-then-I-would-be-the-perfect-girl-for-him-but-that-doesn't-stop-me-from-banging-him-behind-the-scenes-even-though-he-already-has-a-boyfriend-who-he-was-damn-near-ready-to-come-out-of-the-closet-for!" decides to go on site to TAIWAN with him and shake his Sweet little rock-star singer butt in front of his-" water filled the bowel back up and Hyde was again deaf. Flailing about the way he did back when he was a high school kid getting swirleys from the schools designated asshole. Who, it turned out, only had a crush on him and was angered by his homosexual tendencies. What the hell, talk about dragging up some bad memories. That guy would rant and rant and RANT. Kind of like-

-FLUSH-
"You think it's okay to just go flaunting it around that you're sleeping with him? Did you think it would be funny to see my reaction when you came in stinking and messy and out of breath HM? At least Gackt had the decency to not be so OBVIOUS about it! You're such an ASS! Do you know that? You're a total ASS! You don't DESERVE him! I deserve him! No I deserve better than BOTH of you! You can BOTH kiss my Ass! Do you hear that? Kiss MY PALE SKINNY-"

More water surrounded Hyde's head. He tried to push his head out of the bowl but his hands were inconveniently VERY slippery, and from his thrashing about, water had sloshed all over the floor so he couldn't get any leverage using his legs either. DAMN it! He was going to kick this skinny kids ASS when he got out of this! Masa was seriously going to regret this by the time he was done with him. He could just change his clothes and take a towel to his hair and bury this memory, but Masa was going to have to go through three cases of foundation a day to cover up the bruises Hyde was planning on leaving.
-FLUSH-

"-Probably thought it would be REALLY funny to make a fool of me in front of all my old friends didn't you? You KNEW it was the first time I'd seen Gackt in MONTHS and you wanted to rub it in my FACE didn't you? Well I bet you regret it NOW don't you? HM? HMMMM! Oh yeah it's going to be REAL fun explaining why you're whole outfit is soaked THIS time isn't it? You short Bas-HEY!"
Masa's hand was yanked off and Hyde's head pulled from the toilet bowl. He turned around heaving up toilet water, and catching his breath as he planned just how best to lunge at the man who insisted on making him relive his high school days. A gentle hand patted him on his back concernedly.
"What the hell! Go AWAY don't you have CURRY to eat? Go back out there with your FRIENDS!" Masa yelled bitterly.

"Gackt what the FUCK is wrong with your inSANE ex? Why the hell did you invite him?" Hyde spat. He turned to face Masa on the ground outside the stall, and You with a worried expression on his face as he made sure Hyde could breath properly.
What the hell? You? Where was Gackt?
"Masa you need to stop overreacting! Hyde didn't do anything for gods' sake! I thought you were OVER that whole Moon child thing?" You cried in a rather exhausted voice.
"It's not MY fault! You should tell THAT ass to stop acting like he's hot shit around town! I see him! In all his photo shoots, MOCKING me! Laughing like "I-took-your-MAN" you are SUCH a pig!" Masa screeched. Hyde felt the urge to jump at the man and beat his head against the porcelain sinks on the wall. But it would seem You felt this urge too, and his comforting hand-on-his-back became a please-don't-strangle-him grip holding him where he sat on the wet floor.
"YOU my friend are ONE SICK CHICK!" Hyde yelled at him.
"WHORE!"
"PSYCHO!"
"SLUT!"
"INSANE BITCH!"
"CHEAP LAY!"
"Girls, girls PLEASE!" You interrupted, trying to laugh the situation away. It wasn't working. So he helped Hyde to his feet and, shooting a death glare at Masa, said politely "Masa, the others are going to come in here soon if you don't go back out and tell them everything's okay, Gackt wouldn't be very happy what with you bullying his friend."
Hyde flushed at the childish terms You used, Masa flipped him off as he climbed to his feet and straightened his hair in the mirror. "I don't care WHAT Gackt thinks. Gackt can go get screwed with a broom handle!" he announced, fingers tracing his mascara, smudging it Just-so, then fluffing his hair a bit more and straightening his shirt. Somehow, he had managed not to get a drop of water on him.

Hyde stood up and wrung out the front of his dripping wet shirt. "No WONDER Gackt kicked you out of the band!" he yelled. Masa turned and glared at him, eyes aflame. "For YOUR information, I was the one to leave the band you sweat sack! Get your FACTS right!" he yelled, storming from the bathroom and slamming the door shut. Hyde went over to the paper towel dispenser and pulled out a good six feet of it then immediately began to work on drying his hair. Muttering in justified anger about insane ex lovers, or whatever Masa was supposed to be at this point. You stood up and helped him use up the entirety of the paper towels. "I really do apologize… Gackt and Masa are… REALLY touchy about that whole "leaving-the-band" thing… it REALLY gets to him. It might be best not to mention this. I'll make sure to let Masa have it later. I swear." You said, his face stricken with a look so ashamed Hyde couldn't force himself to be angry no matter HOW bad he wanted to. And you can TRUST that he wanted to. But he still muttered.

"You better… that ass is lucky I don't charge him with assault. I mean honestly what the HELL is wrong with him?" You looked at the floor and wrung his hands together, eyes darting off to the side. Causing Hyde to wonder how this fully-grown six-foot-something-towering example of a man could come across so huggabley adorable.
"Well, and I'm not trying to defend him or anything… but I suppose I can see how he would be jealous. I mean, Gackt certainly does like to talk about how much fun you guys have together. Not that I would every do something like what he did, but, it's pretty easy to get jealous of the attention he showers you with Hyde san. And he always seems really happy with you, it's different than the kind of happy he gets from us you know. And, I always thought WE were supposed to be his best friends…" there was a rather disheartened sigh, and You ran his fingers through his hair. "I suppose that all my fourteen years by his side doesn't equal up to that natural magnetism of yours hmm…?"

Hyde stopped rubbing the paper towels against his head as You said those soft words. They kind of trickled out like a sparse rain. Then seemed to almost melt to nothing as they hit the air. If the bathroom weren't completely empty except for the two, Hyde probably would have missed it. But as he didn't, he couldn't help but look up at him. You met his gaze for only a split moment before his eyes turned away, a gentle blush gracing his features. He scratched his head and coughed then with another smile, that warmed the room. "I suppose Gackt should have warned you he adores hot food before you took a bite. Ah well, I'm going back now… see you at the table Hyde san." He said, quickly making his way through the bathroom door. Hyde was again alone in the bathroom. But soaking wet this time. He threw the flooded paper towels into the trash bin with a sigh. "At least the toilet water washed the taste of that curry out of my mouth."

Hyde saunters back to the table. Still sopping wet, and quite obviously not happy about it. He plopped down in his chair, his ears greeted with the embarrassing sound of his wet backside splatting against wood. He glared at his bowl, feeling ever so much less hungry than he was when he first arrived, only to have his personal moping time cut in by Gackt's laughter.
"Hot enough for you?" he snickered, not bothering to cover his ASS-HOLE-ish annoying wide "look-at-the-wet-midget-wasn't-his-evil-plot-just-so-adorable?" smile from Hyde's sight. Hyde grabbed the knife next to his bowl and was about to shove it through Gackt's throat when, luckily for Gackt, You touched his shoulder gently. Hyde looked over at him with a "Can-you-believe-this-guy?" expression, only to be greeted by You's melt your heart and want to give him chocolate "Just-grin-and-bear-it" smile. Once again, Hyde's anger kind of melted away.

"Hoo boy was it funny, the guy had his whole head dunked in the toilet, he was drinking out of it like a DOG! It took both You AND me to pull him out of it. Lord knows how the rest of him got so wet though." Masa laughed giddily. His posture becomes that of a flirty schoolgirl. Hyde could have swore he felt a vein in his forehead twitch. "It was the water on the floor." He growled lowly. Leading Masa to smirk at him in a holier-than-thou kind of way that made him wish he could just rip his face off. Gackt was cracking up; obviously just picturing Hyde leaned over the toilet lapping like a dog was nearly enough to almost send him sprawling out of his chair onto the floor. And this of course gave Masa the utmost pleasure. Hyde grit his teeth, when a rather fun idea struck him.

"Yes, yes we've all had a lovely laugh on my behalf, now if you don't mind can we move on to a pleasant subject? Oh, yes, Masa!" he said, smiling brightly. Masa narrowed his eyes at Hyde for a moment, but soon caught himself and smiled back. "Yes Hyde san?"
"How has everything been going since you left the band Masa san?" Hyde said with a smile. He noticed everyone at the table stop eating and all eyes were drawn to him, with some panic in each face.
Masa looked left, then right, at nothing in particular, before returning his attention to Hyde. "Excuse me? I'm afraid I have NO idea what you're talking about." He said quickly. His eyes narrowing visciously.

"I heard after you left you started a new band." He continued. He could hear You clear his throat next to him and almost everyone at the table began to give him looks that stated clearer than words "Do-NOT-continue-this-line-of-conversation." But he didn't care. In fact, it made him quite happy to imagine what Masa might do with the proper prodding. Perhaps jumping to his feet and calling him all kinds of whores. Which would result in him only making a fool of himself. Or even better, what if he turned the table over and tried to start a fight with him right here in the middle of the restaurant? If he did, this time Hyde would be ready for him. And not only would he beat this skinny kid's ass, he would press charges, and have the entirety of this restaurants' patrons AND workers as witnesses. His eyes smiled back at Masa, as he thought 'come on pretty boy. BRING it!'

"Yeah, I heard you started a new band, and yet I've never heard anything from them, or seen them around anywhere. Are things not working out as you planned? I sure hope you don't have to work a second job to keep your bills paid do you Masa san?"
"Masa san hasn't left the band, I have no idea what you're talking about." Gackt said flatly, taking another spoonful of curry into his mouth. Hyde quirked an eyebrow at him.
"I'm sorry? Heh, but if Masa's still in the band then why doesn't he perform with you onstage anymore? And why doesn't his name go on the GacktJob section of your CD's?"
"Masa hasn't been performing with us because I decided it would be best if he took a vacation. I bought him some tickets and he's currently skiing the alps in south Africa." Gackt said matter of factly. Hyde stared at him for a minute.
"Ne Gacchan… there are no Alps in Africa… and Masa is sitting right HERE eating with us." He said slowly. Gackt looked up from his bowl.
"He's skiing in Africa, he never left the band, he's just on vacation and will be back soon." He insisted slowly. His face and voice were the essence of calm seriousness.
"Gacchan… Masa left the band YEARS ago… he's gotten a new one now hasn't he? Ditzy High or something along those lines?"
Gackt stood up, sighing and running a hand through his hair. Then reached down to the table for the fork that sat unused next to his knife, and in a slick fluid motion sent it flying just past Hyde's head, and through the air, lodging itself into the wall on the other side of the restaurant by the prongs.

But only after whizzing by three other people, two innocent diners who never noticed it except for the pleasant breeze that whizzed by their faces and one waiter who saw it coming and dodged it at the last second. Unfortunately, the waiter was carrying a flambé and in the midst of his matrix style-bending he dropped the flaming meal on the second innocent patron, who stood up screaming bloody murder and began running and flailing his arms about wildly. Causing the first innocent patron to scream at them to stop drop and roll and grab the nearest liquid to douse them with. Unfortunately this liquid was a drink off the tray of another waiter passing by, and this drink happened to be a tall glass of alcohol. And we all know how well alcohol puts out fires. Soon enough the man was screaming and ripping off his clothes, still running around wildly, causing nearby tables and other people to go up in flame. Catching the curtains on the windows and the lovely oak chairs and the beautiful redwood door.

GacktJob was all out of their chairs and running for the back door as though they had all undergone training for this particular situation and were just WAITING for it to happen. Hyde unfortunately, had NOT planned on being trapped in a building with flaming walls and all visible means of escape lit up like fireworks and was, to say the least, a bit taken aback. You quickly grabbed Hyde by the arm and tugged him out of his seat, almost dragging him through the kitchen and out the workers exit. Meanwhile, Gackt sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets to search for his wallet, before he lit a cigarette on a burning flower arrangement and made his way calmly towards the kitchen, hoping he could give his compliments to the chef before he actually had to exit the building.

After all.
That was some DAMN good curry.
again, crit's are muchly appreciated