Part 3

"The Light Is Green"

I was in no rush to go see Tohma about whatever he wanted to talk to me about and I planned on avoiding him as long as possible. That meant avoiding my office, cause then I could claim my cell phone battery died or something, well, that's if he tried to call me. I figured I'd finish this coffee first before I take care of business about Club Citta. Though, I couldn't help but notice that Hiro keeps looking at me, as if he's scrutinizing.

"Don't you have somewhere to go, or, are you going to hang out with Shuichi here?" I questioned him as he took a seat on one of the leather chairs in the studio, his gaze nowhere in particular now. He leaned back folding his arms over his soft yellow t-shirt; it seemed as if he was chewing on a thought.

"K…" he started quietly, "…is everything, ok? With you, that is."

Huh? Hiro's question caught me completely off guard. Was I wrong in my assumption that no one noticed my odd behaviour lately? Did I have dark circles under my eyes too? Did my guilt march around me like a soldier shouting all about what I'd done last night? There were technicians in the room and I didn't really want to have a heart-to-heart with Hiro right now. So all I said was, "Everything is hunky dory," as convincingly as possible.

"You don't seem yourself. I was just concerned," Hiro said undeterred, reaching for a cup of coffee of his own from the small table between the chairs.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "I could say the same about you. You're always tired looking lately, something up?" I countered with my own question.

Hiro looked away then. "I…err, no, nothing's up. Just a couple late nights I suppose."

"You should take better care of yourself then," I told him straight-up and watched him sip his coffee and sigh pleasurably, his eye lids fluttering closed, a splayed hand on his thigh.

"Mmm, that's good," Hiro murmured almost, erotically.

I found myself almost transfixed on him now.

But then Shuichi began to sing. I was released from Hiro's tiny sensual act and looked back over at Shuichi...his voice was better than ever. I was sure this single was going to be a hit. At least Tohma couldn't be giving me trouble for any band related reasons I figured. Then what...? Fuck it...I needed to get out of here, go deal with that Club Citta issue. It'd buy me a few hours to think about what Tohma wanted, what he'd 'discovered'. I knew Shuichi was going to be fine.

"Well, I'm going to take care of business. I'll see you later," I told Hiro and turned around. "Thanks again," I held up the coffee cup in gratitude and reached for the door.

"Wait. Can I come with you?"

I turned back around to face Hiroshi. "Eh?" I was clearly surprised, Hiro come and do manager work with me? Why? Since when, was he seriously that bored? I dared to ask, "Aren't you dying to go see your girlfriend or something?"

The brunette or was it redhead? Really, depending on the light Hiro's long hair shone in many spectrums I noticed. Right now it looked brunette...it made me touch my hair thoughtfully as I watched him stuff his hands into his jeans pockets. Did I ask a bad question?

Surprisingly, though, Hiro started to chuckle. "We don't date anymore, says long distant relationships never work. Whatever, I guess it wasn't meant to be," he said and shrugged.

The last thing I imagined was Hiroshi laughing off a break-up. But it was apparent that he wasn't too worried about it, which made me wonder if I was brooding too much over my ended marriage. Either way, Hiro was a very calm and collected sort of guy. Except when he was truly pissed off then it was best to steer clear of his path at those times, because he got so stubborn. I'd never tell him, but I enjoyed the tougher side of Hiroshi.

"I see…well, if you want to come along, sure I guess," I told him. Why the hell not?

Now Hiroshi was grinning at me, and for some silly reason I grinned back.

The redhead stood up, grabbed his dark jean jacket and waved bye-bye at Shuichi. "I'll be back soon!" he told him, "I'm going to run errands with K-san!" Then Hiro patted my shoulder and said, "Well let's go big guy, let's see our manager in action."

I scoffed at that—'in action', huh? Hiroshi really had no idea... If I was going to do some 'convincing' via the sniper rifle, I'd most definitely not bring Hiro along. Hmm, what would he say then about that kind of 'action'? I mused over that for a moment with utter glee, imagining Hiro scared shitless. But my mission today was fairly straight forward and having Hiro around could be nice for a change, fun even. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why I felt so happy about that, like I was going on a field trip or something.

We finished our coffees and left the studio and rode the elevator down in silence. I waved cheerily at the security guard on the way out.

"Shuichi tells me nightmares about your driving, try not to kill me," Hiroshi pleaded with a genuine look of concern on his face.

We got into my ash grey Mazda and I laughed at his comment. "Shuichi is exaggerating. What's wrong with being an aggressive driver?"

"Nothing, as long as you don't give your passengers a heart attack," Hiro claimed and winked at me. Then he laughed, chortled even, the sound filled the car...it was so pleasant to listen to. Hiro had such a carefree laugh, which made his whole face light up.

I shook my head and backed out, headed for the highway, but the traffic was already congested...this could take awhile.

"For a person concerned about heart attacks—you should be wearing your seat belt," I pointed out, a bemused smile on my face.

"Point taken," Hiro murmured and yanked on the buckle by his right shoulder and pulled it across his front. It clicked into place.

There was silence for several minutes...I just wasn't sure what to say. When I glanced over at Hiro, he seemed content gazing out of window, his fingers tapping out a tune on his lap. He seemed so relaxed, I was jealous...I didn't feel that relaxed. I had to admit that Hiro's company was making me tense, but at the same time I was pleased he was here, glad that I wasn't alone. I don't understand it.

But there was something I was curious about and I broke the silence. "So, what's been keeping you up so late at night that has put luggage under your eyes?"

Hiro turned to look at me with devilment written all over his face, "Just an interesting new hobby."

I waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't. I guess he didn't want to share what his new 'hobby' was, so I wasn't going to pry further.

"Can I smoke in the car?" Hiro asked.

"Sure"

I opened his window a crack.

"So, do anything interesting lately?" Hiro asked casually, flicking some ash out the window.

Oh sure, I peep-tommed, went to a red-light district, played a little S&M with a guy that called himself a Watcher...the usual. "Err, not really," I fibbed.

"Hmm, maybe you should get out more," Hiro offered, "Be a little reckless. I bet you could use some recklessness in your life. I bet you spend most of your evenings at work."

"You're telling me to be reckless?" I gawked at Hiro for a second, "This coming from the guy that calls me a 'crazy American'." I laughed genuinely.

Hiro was laughing too. "I have not!" he joked and pretended to look hard done-by.

I looked over at Hiro amusedly, he was teasing me. Maybe bringing him along was a good thing, because he was making me laugh and distracting me from the depressing things. I didn't even feel as tired as I did twenty minutes ago.

So I teased back, "Careful there Hiroshi or you might end up looking down the barrel of my gun." I gave him a smug look.

"Oh reeeally? And which 'gun' would that be…K?" Hiro mused, his voice on the verge of naughtiness.

Wha?! I looked at Hiro sharply, taking my eyes off the road. We were at a stop so I found myself gaping at the guitarist and his very suggestive remark. My cock twitched involuntary. Was Hiro flirting with me? Don't be ridiculous, I thought, he's just joking around. It wasn't like Hiro and Shuichi never joked around like that, I heard them do it all the time, but...this was the first time Hiro had ever joked with me like that.

Car horns were honking at me from behind.

"Um, the light is green," Hiro said humorously.

Crap, I floored it through the intersection and kept my eyes on the road. We never said another word till we got to the club.

I parked the car and opened the door. "I just need to find out who the contractor is, wait here, it should only take a second," I told Hiro, who nodded and leaned over to fiddle with the radio dials.

"Sure no problem," he answered and gave me a tiny salute.

Heh, I smiled weakly and shut the door to my still running car. I walked towards the club; every nerve inside of me was alive like a hydro wire. And for the first time ever, I thought of Hiro in a sexual way. Like, what a kiss with him would feel like, if he slept naked or in PJ's—his lips wrapped around my cock.

Ack! What's wrong with me these days?!

I chewed on that question as I pulled open the big, heavy club door. I forced myself to focus, and looked for some kind of information about the upcoming renovation. On a bulletin board, littered with concert posters and event listings, I saw a notice about it. All I needed was the construction company name that would be doing the job here—I had no intention of dealing with Club Citta themselves. I memorized the name and number then returned to the car, which was now thumping with rock music.

"Find what you're looking for?" Hiro asked me loudly over the tunes.

"Yeah, I did," I said and got in, turning down the music. I pulled out my cell phone and dialled the number I found inside the club. "Could you please tell me where your main office located?" I asked customer service. I got the directions for Keiko Construction's main office. I thanked them and hung up. Then I reached over and turned the music back up.

"I see where you're going with this," Hiro divulged, smiling wryly at me.

I winked at him. Hiro was quick on the uptake.

We drove for about twenty minutes in silence, just listening to the music and occasionally glancing at each other. I spied a smirk on Hiro's face; he looked to be in his own thoughts. At that very moment I thought I'd pay anything to get a tiny glimpse inside of Hiro's mind.

Finally we arrived at Keiko Construction.

"You coming?" I asked Hiro and he looked over at me in surprise.

"I thought you were going to make me wait in the car again," he murmured and exited the car. He slipped on a pair of silver-rimmed shades from his inside pocket and followed me inside the building.

It was a relatively small office, one floor with a subtle front sign. We walked up to a cheerful looking receptionist and I asked for the person in charge of the renovation at Club Citta. It only took five minutes before we were being directed to one Mr. Mai's office. I opened the light wooden door briskly and entered a small office. The walls had corkboards with pinned-on sheets of developments and jobs on the go. But my eyes landed on the bulky man, with slight balding on the crown of his head, sitting behind a big desk. He stood to greet us, his face friendly; we bowed our hello and shook hands too.

The man told us to take a seat, so we did.

"I'll get to the point. I'm the manager of a band called Bad Luck. You can call me K," I told him.

"Bad Luck did you say? My daughter loves that band!" Mr. Mai exclaimed excitedly and looked at Hiroshi and gaped. "I know who you are!"

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Mai-san," Hiro said and chuckled softly.

I smiled at Hiro, who was looking like the rock star he was in his cool shades. Mr. Mai blinked and returned his eyes to me. "Well Mr. K, what brings you here?" he continued looking perplexed now.

"You're doing a renovation for Club Citta, I was hoping I could convince you to push back your start date to the second week June instead of the end of May," I explained and sat back to watch the man.

Mr, Mai's eyebrows rose with enquiry, "Push back the date…what for?"

"I need to have Bad Luck perform at Club Citta during the first week of June, it's crucial, you know meeting the target sale point and all that jazz, my boss will be breathing down my neck," I exaggerated and hoped he'd see things my way. But I had my magnum ready and waiting if necessary. Yes Claude, work your magic or feed him a bullet. My own thoughts amused me greatly.

"Sir, we're talking about a high profile customer here, I have a reputation to keep." Mr. Mai told me justifiably.

"Of course, I completely understand." Time to pull out the big guns I guess. "What if...I gave you tickets for your daughter and four of her closest friends to go to the concert?" I grinned like the Cheshire cat and cast a glance at Hiro. He was watching the interaction quietly, a smile playing over his lips. Feeling confident that I'd caught the attention of the fish, I looked back to Mr. Mai and to the task at hand.

"R-really?! I…I…well, it is her birthday in a few days," the balding man paused as he thought it over, but it didn't take long. "Oh, she'd be so thrilled. Hmm, well, I could just push a smaller job ahead of Club Citta and tell them there's a short delay and I'm short of labour. Heh, construction is notorious for delays and going past deadlines."

"So we have a deal then?" I questioned.

Mr. Mai nodded and like usual I always carried tickets to an upcoming concert on me. I handed the man all five of my tickets. The foreman stood up with glee and shook my hand powerfully this time.

"Thank you so much and V.I.P's! What luck! I have to call to my wife!" he clamoured, reaching for his phone.

Hiro piped up then, "Excuse me, what's your daughter's name?"

Mr. Mai looked over at Hiro. "Airi," he replied.

Hiroshi stood up. "Well, you can tell Airi-chan, that Hiroshi Nakano says 'Hi' and that Bad Luck looks forward to meeting her and her friends backstage at the concert. Will you tell her that for me?"

Mr. Mai just nodded dumbly and murmured, "Oh, I will."

I laughed, what Hiro just did was serious fan service, but he'd just made one young girl's entire day, that I was sure. I was feeling pretty good myself. Meh, what are a few tickets when the concert shockwave would boast sales for the new album?

"Well thanks again sir. And seeing as we are both busy men, I'll leave you with a good day," I said and turned to leave. On our way out, I could hear him chatting excitedly to his wife.

We left the small building and walked back to the car.

"So, now I know your secret, how you manage to convince people to do your biddings and all that. You give them free concert tickets," Hiro taunted and chuckled.

I snickered. "Actually, I rarely give out free tickets, but one has to use what weapon is at their disposal at the time. Don't you think?"

"You and your warfare philosophy," Hiro chimed and I rolled my eyes. He went on, "It was a really nice thing to do, K. And you got our concert back on track, you're the man."

"All in a day's work," I bragged and started the car.

"I'm hungry. How about we stop for lunch?" the guitarist suggested.

Hmm, it was almost noon after all this running around. "Okay," I agreed. Besides, I was in no rush to visit Tohm and I hadn't eaten breakfast. I decided to let Hiro pick the place since it was his idea. I followed his directions into an eerily familiar part of town. I blinked when I realized it was near that place. The place I have tried to forget about all morning, until now...

I could feel that room, smell the burning candle smell—hear his voice, that touch of his hand

The watcher.

Violets...

I was gripping the steering wheel like a vice without realizing it.

"K, what's the matter? You look as pale as a ghost."

I snapped out of it when I heard Hiro speak. "N-nothing, I...don't worry about it. Um…why are we in this part of town?" I wondered totally baffled, keeping my eyes on the road so Hiro couldn't see my guilty expression.

"There's a place here with the best sushi that's not so far from work...I come here on the way home sometimes," Hiro explained easily.

I looked over at Hiro then. "I see, well, what were you doing around here in the first place?" I heard myself ask even before I could stop myself. I sighed. I had no right to ask Hiro that.

I could feel Hiro's eyes on me, searching, daunting. I felt the heat warm my face before I could turn my head away fast enough. I felt prickles on my skin, as if Hiro was reading my dirty mind. Reading my memories of last night, as if he could see me strapped to that old wooden chair.

"K, why are you getting all worked up? I don't care if you've ever been around here and you shouldn't care if I was either. I'm not your enemy and I'm not going to judge you. I'm your friend…I'll listen if you ever need to talk."

I blinked at Hiro. Talk? How did that come up when all I'd asked was why he was in this area in the first place. And 'worked up', was it so obvious that I was worked up? I was failing miserably at keeping appearances these days, wasn't I? But Hiro was right; I shouldn't care what he did on his own time that was his business!

Hiro sighed. "If you must know why I was down here, well, I found a cheap, used book store down here."

I faced Hiro now with my pink cheeks and all, "Of course books, why else would you be around here? Heh...I apologize for being rude." I felt really foolish now.

"Well, there aren't too many other reasons to be in this neighbourhood other than books, or…you know, sex," Hiro whispered dashingly, a glint in his eye.

"Or sushi!" I clamoured, trying to pretend I didn't hear that last part at all.

Hiro gave an amused scoff at that and said, "Yes, and for the sushi too."

After finding the sushi joint and taking a seat, we sat down to enjoy our lunch. My hunger won over the weird conversation in my car with Hiro. "Hey this is great...I never would have thought to come here for sushi. I love this deep fried nori roll, and this Japanese mayo with it, wow," I said in the midst of devouring another piece. It was pleasantly spicy and creamy, with a tiny crunch.

"I'm glad you enjoying it," Hiro offered and reached for a napkin and as he did his hand brushed over my hand.

I froze mid-chew and set my blue eyes on him. Again my body came alive like lightening bursting across the sky. It was the same feeling I had when Hiro was talking about my 'gun' earlier. But Hiro only apologized. I didn't realize it but I was watching him the whole time. Hiro brought the napkin to his perfect soft lips, pink tongue wetting them afterwards, lips moving over one another to spread the moisture...I felt my toes curl in my shoes.

"K…K? Hellooo?"

I blinked and focused on Hiro's steely grey eyes. I gave a feeble smile and swallowed with a gulp. Boy, Hiro must think I'm insane and that's not because Bad Luck tells me that on a regular basis. But like seriously off my rocker this time. When in doubt and strife I went to the one thing that distracts me at times like this, my gun. I decided I was finished eating, and started to meticulously clean my magnum with fine, lint-less cloth from my pocket.

"I'm stuffed, that was a great lunch. Thanks for suggesting the idea, Hiroshi," I said nicely.

"Is this something you do after lunch on a regular basis?" Hiro asked peculiarly, glancing around at the funny looks other patrons were casting our way. There were gasps even.

I ignored the funny looks, the murmurs. Really, who was going to mess with me while I was the one holding the gun? "I like to keep it clean; you never know when I might find the need to use it."

"Right... Are you edgy about something?" Hiro drilled.

"Nope," I said quickly. Like hell, my life is in shambles and my body is conspiring against me. It's not so bad to like a guy, is it Claude? Hiro is kind of cute. No way! I began a cheerful whistle as I cleaned the gun, taking it apart piece by piece.

"So how's Judy?" Hiro coolly asked.

I stopped cleaning and stared at him, my eyes glazing over as a deadpan look came over my face. I hadn't told Bad Luck about my divorce, didn't want to bother them with shit like that. But now, I felt my composure turn into a heaping pile of goo, "She left me."

I watched Hiro's expression at my revelation. I don't know why I told him, but I did. Hiro's face took on a slight surprised look, saddened, but not as surprised as I thought he would be though.

"I'm sorry," he says.

I shrugged and added, "I'm a lousy husband. I don't blame her, I was never around." I continued to polish my gun, careful to get in the grooves around the trigger.

"You're the most reliable person I know," Hiro says to me softly, "I doubt very much that you'd be a lousy husband."

Again I paused polishing and looked back up at Hiro. "I suppose."

"Don't 'suppose' me, it's true. Any man…I mean, woman, would be lucky to have you." Hiro tells me.

I smiled at that, his words made me feel a tiny bit better. "Ha, ha you almost said 'man' there, Hiro," I put in playfully. Hiro blushed this time and I looked on curiously.

"Can't help who you fall in love with, right?" Hiro says thoughtfully, taking a sip of his drink.

"No…I guess not," I heard myself murmur but I wondered what Hiro is getting at. The tension was getting a little intense, all this talk about love and reliability. I decided it was time to jet. "Come on let's get back to NG. Besides, I have a meeting with Tohma."

"Oh, well, you better not keep him waiting, huh?"

"As much as I'd like to, no, that wouldn't be a good idea. I can only avoid him for so long." I laughed and so did Hiro.

The trip back was quick and painless. No embarrassing comments or questions. I told Hiro that he was welcome to tag along with me anytime he wanted. It was like we built a tiny bond between us today. I even heard myself invite him to my place if he ever felt the need arise.

The gonging in my head was almost deafening as I thought about it. I invited Hiro to my place! What was I thinking?! The intriguing part, though, was he accepted. The gonging got louder and I almost clamped my hands over my ears to quell it. Argh! We parted ways on the elevator, Hiro went back to the recording room to see Shuichi and I went to the top floor, dredging off to Tohma's office.

I knocked.

"Come in," went the president of NG, clearly.

I opened the door and stepped inside the grand office à la boss and watched the smaller man with hair more blonde than mine, stand up behind his desk.

"Good afternoon, boss," I say.

"Hello K, please do have a seat," he offered me.

I sat down and looked across at Tohma. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" I asked without hesitation. I just wanted to get this over with A.S.A.P.

"Actually, K, I must apologize to you for being so remiss. I didn't realize you were having issues and..." He paused and I swallowed hard, I was getting a bad feeling here. He didn't know about last night in the recording studio, did he? My trigger finger began to twitch, but he continued, "I can tell you are not yourself lately."

I was speechless. It really was that obvious? The thought made me angry. I always figured I had more control of myself. "I…err..." I didn't know what to say for once.

"It's alright, everyone has hard times. I have dealt with a huge share myself, which is why I'm ordering you to take a break—for one month," Tohma said firmly, facing me with a careful stare.

"A vacation?! What, I don't need a break. Bad Luck is my life," I bemoaned.

"That's great and all, but that's exactly why I'm ordering you to take a vacation. You're overworked and until recently, I didn't know about Judy. I wish you had come to talk to me... But, I understand you need your space, and I'm giving it to you now. Go on, you deserve it. You're the best thing that's ever happened to Bad Luck, we all know that. But everyone needs a break," he finished.

"You...you can't do this…" I whined. I know it was pitiful but what would I do with myself for a whole month?!

"I can and I will. This is not a suggestion it's an order," Tohma said unyielding.

I knew this was one battle I could not win. I stood wearing a frown, but I nodded with reserve. "So after today I guess?"

"As of right this instant you're on vacation. Isn't that swell?" Tohma beamed at me all happy and cheerful. He seemed like such a laid back person. But really he was a shark, laying in wait for the unexpected swimmer to dangle their legs in front of his maw. I knew something was up when I bumped into him this morning, I just knew it!

"Yeah…swell," I repeated forlornly and walked out the office sort of dazed. I guess my next stop was the recording studio, to tell Bad Luck that I was officially MIA as of now.

I wandered into the recording studio, were Shuichi and Hiro were seated and chatting. They both stopped and looked in my direction when I walked in.

"Heya," Hiro said pleasantly, an easy smile set upon his lips, "How'd your meeting with Tohma go?"

"Meeting with Tohma?" Shuichi repeated as if the very idea gave him shivers. I completely understood.

Sighing, I told them, "I'm being ordered to take a vacation for a whole month."

"You're playing another one of your jokes on us, right?" Shuichi started but the look on my face must have told him I was not joking this time. "He's not joking."

"Nope," I assured.

"When does it start, tomorrow?" Hiro asked, surprise all over his face.

"As of this instant," I said mocking Tohma's words.

"But why?" Shuichi wondered.

Hiro and I shared a fleeting look, but I cast my eyes away first and muttered, "The boss says I work too much, heh."

Shuichi just looked puzzled by that.

"Well, we don't have too much stuff planned since we have this album to do," the guitarist said, raking his fingers through his lustrous hair.

"True," I said, "But I still expect to be kept updated."

Hiro winked at me.

For some reason that made me blush and I twisted away deciding a little knob on the recording equipment was suddenly fascinating. I twirled it with my finger and a high-pitched noise screeched over the speakers.

"K!" Shuichi and Hiro cried, covering their ears.

I felt like I grew a pair of donkey ears, "Opps, sorry..."

Shuichi started giggling gleefully, "This means you won't be picking me up randomly in the morning for a whole month threatening to shoot me! Wooo!"

I smirked menacingly at Shuichi then. "Well, if you miss it that much it can still be arranged." Drat, that was one thing I was going to miss. I loved mornings showing up unannounced and pretending to be the Shuichi's alarm clock. The look of the singer's face was always priceless.

Laughing at us Hiro said, "I'm sure a month will fly by so just relax, have some fun...try something new."

"Heh, yeah, something new…" I trailed off and stopped, recalling where I heard those words before. Hrmph, new things had brought me nightmares. I smiled faintly remembering Violet had said those very same words to me.

"Don't worry we won't let you turn into a vegetable, K. I'll make sure we come to harass you," promised Shuichi, patting me on the arm.

I chuckled at his words. I found I could almost look him in the eye, almost. "Thanks, I guess." I sighed. "Well, see ya guys later. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"That means all normal things...then, I'm sure we'll be fine," Shuichi joked.

I sniffed at that.

"Take care, K..." Hiro said to me earnestly.

"Thanks..." I said half-heartedly and broke the gaze. Normally, I wouldn't mind a vacation, but with the way I felt, I didn't want to be alone. Work was a good distraction and I figured I'd get over my problem in time.

I left the studio feeling like an outcast.

Reviewers:

kayakun: Yay! Thanks for the comments and I'm thrilled you're enjoying this!

secret25: Oh don't worry K will end up back at Violet's place, he just has to figure things out. This is a short story so it won't take very long lol! As for Hiro working there, well, there is no real purpose other than he's discovered a kinky side, perhaps a little OOC'ness and fanservice for us fangirls, or boys -winks- As I mentioned, this was an odd fic on my roster haha! Thanks for reading hun!

bitbyboth: LOL! Yes, the first person thing really works for this fic. I wrote it so long ago, but I recall trying to figure out how it should sound. K as first person was intimidating at first, but it fell into place once I warmed up XD A lot of this fic could be classified as OOC, but it was fun to write and strange. I love strange. Thanks hun for the review!

Nanamii-chan: HA! I'm glad you're liking this strange facking tale LOL! It really is different in a twisted way XD I hope you continue to enjoy this short fic. It's only 6 chapters. Your comments are always appreciated -hugs-