Hi again!! Thanks for the sparse reviews, I do really like them! (Who doesn't?) Okay, I'm not going to lie, this chapter is quite a bit slow and typical, but everything escalates after this.

In the most simple of speak, the next three weeks were hell, on both sides of that break-up.

Shuichi didn't swallow his pride and go to Hiro's that night. Instead, he began staying in a nice hotel with a hot tub in the bathroom, top-notch room service, spa treatments down stairs, and many other features to keep all guests (with the proper amount of money) satisfied. However, all the hours in bubbling, hot water and tension-release massages could not ease Shuichi's uneasiness. He wanted to go back to Yuki's home. He was sick of sleeping alone, but the separation was like being shanked with the eraser side of a pencil, and the wound was still too open and raw, bleeding out if aggravated.

His peers as NG were all aware of the new living arrangements. At first it was rumored that Shuichi was just going on a short vacation and Yuki declined going along, but after awhile, it became clear that this temporary home was going to be rented longer then suspected, and it was not because Yuki didn't want to come along.

Hiro had asked Shuichi why he didn't just, "Come to my house instead of wasting all that money in a hotel."

And Shuichi said honestly, though with too much vagueness to really justify, that he needed, "to be on his own for awhile."

And so things went on like that.

Yuki was no better off.

At first, he was smoking over a pack a day, then he gave up smoking completely only to pick it back up with a fury that included getting more then buzzed most nights. And after a swirl of hangovers and coughing fits, he stopped the drinking, except for the occasional beer and smoking two or three sticks a day.

He wasn't writing stories, though he spent more time in front of the laptop then ever. Usually he would allow himself to get a few hours of sleep every night and he would take some time to eat a nice meal or watch some TV. Now, though, he would let the hours pile into days of just sitting in that black chair, staring at the cursor that laughed menacingly at him with every blink, until eventually, it popped right out of the screen and would slice away at Yuki's scalp, over and over, then he would wake up, slumped against his desk.

One minute he hated Shuichi, then loved him, then hated him again. Love hate love hate love hate. He couldn't help it. There were too many emotions boiling inside him, for just the trouble of one pink-haired brat. He had fallen as low as calling Shuichi and hanging up when the voice mail would answer and freak Yuki out.

Shuichi would stare at his phone during these calls, he would feel is heart rate pick up and his palms begin to sweat, but, he swore to himself that he would be the strong this one time. And he would do just that.

This carried on. Well, barely carried. More or less, things were dragged on by their hair and fingernail tips. And it strained everybody.

Hiro, K, and Suguru would send each other looks during rehearsal. For somebody who was sulking so thoroughly, Shuichi could use his voice at full-force as soon as the beat got going. From dead-seeming to creating such beautiful music in a matter of seconds, It was shocking to all of them. And they could see Shuichi was really more miserable then he was letting on.

"Today is the day," Hiro informed enthusiastically, grabbing Shuichi by the shoulder and shaking him.

Shuichi forced a grin, even though Hiro pulled him out of his thoughts, "Sure is. We are going to do good."

"Good?!" Hiro teased, pulling on Shuichi's hair and then tickling him, "Try great. We are going to rock the pants right off of Seguchi!"

"Knock it off!" Shuichi hollered, trying to suppress a laugh as he kicked Hiro in the stomach.

"We aren't going to impress anybody if you two don't stop goofing around." Suguru sighed.

"That's right," K said, pointing at both of them, "we've got ten minutes. Get yourselves together."

"Now this might be our only shot for awhile, oh god! We could be releasing singles for the rest of my career! Don't screw this up, do you hear me, Shindo?!" Sakano fretted, trying to rip his hair out.

"Yes, yes, don't worry. We've got this," Shuichi reassured, stretching his arms above his head carelessly.

Bad Luck was having Tohma come into the studio that afternoon to listen to them sample a few songs for a new CD. If Tohma was pleased with it, then they could start putting together a new album. If he was not, however, they would have to wait another three months before they could try again. And they were all on bad terms with Tohma as it was, because the boss does not appreciate one of his most promising leading men dumping his unstable brother-in-law.

"Hey K," Hiro asked, "where's the guns?" He motioned to all the places where K could be carrying some kind of weapon, but was not. "On a day like this, I'd expect some seriously heavy artillery."

"I've got all the power I need right here!" He exclaimed, flexing his arms and showing his muscles with a certain spark of pride in his eyes. "And I'm having all my good stuff being polished today. Don't worry, Hiro," he cooed. "It will all be back tonight. All of it."

"Fantastic," Suguru murmured.

"Everybody take a seat!" Sakano squealed, clapping his hands together.

Shuichi plopped down in one of the uncomfortable, plastic chairs. His band mates, as well as the other two, joined him.

Tohma entered a few minutes later, "I hope you don't mind," he greeted, "But I've brought a few friends to tag along." And cue the smile. The "you do anything I say or you end up in a considerable hell" smile.

And in after Tohma came Ryuichi and Yuki.

Shuichi's eyes widened. He quickly darted his view down to his feet.

"You are all familiar with Ryuichi and Eiri," Tohma said. You could feel the joy he had at causing these waves.

Yuki didn't pretend to not be staring at Shuichi, who didn't look up at all.

Hiro put a discreet hand on Shuichi's shoulder and sent Yuki a very dirty look. Yuki smirked at this and raised his eyebrows challengingly.

There was an awkward silence for only a minute, before Ryuichi (sensing what was going on) intervened. He pounced into Shuichi's lap and gave him a hug around the neck, "Maybe when you are done we could sing together! Kumagoro really wants too!" He pulled the pink bunny out of his back pocket and waved it in Shuichi's face.

"Of coarse!" Shuichi laughed, always cheered up by his idols presence.

"Then, lets start. If that is okay with you, Mr. President." Sakano suggested nervously, motioning at the chairs where the band members were sitting.

"Yes, lets begin," Tohma agreed.

Suguru, Hiro, and Shuichi all got up and went to take their spots behind their instruments.

Yuki made a point to take the chair where Shuichi had been sitting, he took care to brush against Shuichi as he went past. Shuichi didn't look up then, either.

And he kept his eyes focused on the wall in front of him, when he stood behind the microphone.

Shuichi introduced the song, Suguru started the beat, Hiro joined in on the guitar, and they played onward. The songs went smoothly like this for over an hour.

Yuki never looked away from his ex-lover. He had asked Tohma if he could go along to the recording at the studio, because he was supposedly writing a piece on Bad Luck, and though it was a blatant lie, neither called it out.

"So cool! Can I sing with you now, Shuichi!" Ryuichi giggled hysterically, bounding over to Shuichi and hugging him around the neck again.

"Sure, Saku- Ryuichi." Shuichi said, correcting himself from calling Ryuichi by his last name, which he knew Ryuichi didn't like.

And so they sang a song together.

Half way through the second duet, one of the company phones (there was one hooked up to in every room as a communication system) rang. Tohma sighed and gave the phone a bad look, but got up and answered it all the same. It was one of his duties as president.

"Tohma here," he said.

Almost a cliffhanger? I'm sorry if you see it that way, I don't like cliffhangers.

Anyways, yeah, this will be dramatically be picking up after this. As always...REVIEW! Knowing what you guys think can only make this better.

Thank you for sticking around. Expect more...tonight, probably. :D