Shuichi Shindou skipped into the N-G studios, humming merrily. A light trail of sparkles followed him closely behind and he had a bright, shining smile on his face. "La li hooooooo!" He giggled and twirled around the room before sitting down in his chair. Hiroshi Nakano glanced at him and shook his head slightly before turning his attention back on tuning his guitar.
Shuichi glanced at Hiro expectantly, then at the ground. He glanced at him again and then at the ground. And then again. And again. His cheeks began to puff out in irritation.
"Can I help you?"
Shuichi's face light up and he gasped with joy as Hiro finally acknowledged him. He bounced around in his seat and giggled again. "I had a really good night last night."
"Oh yeah? What did you do?" Hiro looked up from his guitar, unable to stop the small smile that was creeping up onto his face. Shuichi was an idiot, that much was true, but at least he was innocent, and definitely sweet and endearing.
"Guess!" His head had swelled up like a bubble, taking on a semi-transparent base, and his eyes had formed into ocean green hearts, glittering around.
Hiro's smile widened but his eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't know…could you have possibly finished the song finally?"
Blink, blink.
"Was I really the obvious?"
Hiro laughed softly as Shuichi's head quickly returned to normal. Damn, I wanted to pop it. Oh well. "No, I just know you. And we also need it so we can record the CD, remember?"
Shuichi laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Right…But no, I still haven't finished that. I meant I had a date last night, silly! And you thought you knew me." He reached over and tweaked Hiro's nose playfully. "I got a girlfriend, see? I took your advice."
Despite his slight annoyance, Hiro smiled. "I'm glad. It's about time you focused on something." With that, he resumed his tuning session, completely ignoring Shuichi as his jaw dropped.
"Hiro, what do you mean by that? Hiro, I don't get it, what are you saying? Hiro, answer me! Hirooo!" Turning chibi, he began weeping and bouncing around the room, crashing around the walls and into various items throughout the room. Hiro sighed and shook his head, smiling softly.
Suguru Fujisaki walked in just then, interrupting Shuchi in mid-bounce. "Hey, guys. Mr. K told me to tell you all that we have an interview in a day that we have to get ready for. They want us to sing Rage Beat live."
Shuichi blinked a few times, taken aback by these news. "Really?" His eyes widened and began to twinkle as he smiled, clearly overjoyed. "Oh my god, Hiro, our first live interview. We get to b—"
"Second."
"Eh—huh?"
Hiro smiled and looked up at his two band members. "This is our second. Our first one was yesterday, remember?"
Suguru shook his head. "No, Shindou-san is right. That interview yesterday was recorded three hours before the actual show. This is the real deal." He smiled at Hiro and Shuichi, who in his excitement, began bouncing around the room yet again. He sat down next to Hiro and began talking to him about composing a melody on the keyboard that would complement the guitar.
Shuichi in the meantime calmed down and walked over to the window, smiling softly. This is actually happening. My dream to be a famous singer just like Sakuma-san is coming true. I'm so lu—huh? His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed a tall, blonde man walking by. He was wearing black slacks and a wine-colored shirt, holding his black jacket over his shoulder. The man adjusted his sunglasses and Shuichi could have sworn that—did he pause for a moment? His eyes contracted in curiosity as the man kept walking, but something about him unnerved the pink-haired boy. Had he imagined that the man purposefully stopped in front of him? Why though? I haven't done anything wrong, have I? Oh god, maybe I'm in trouble with the government somehow. I didn't turn in my library book in time. Oh god!
Shuichi felt the color draining from his face but he shook his head. No, wait…he had turned it in on time. He laughed nervously to himself, brushing off the awkward moment aside. It couldn't possibly have been anything. Just coincidence. Oh, well! He grinned and whirled around to face Hiro and Suguru, who were both in mid-sentence.
"Well," he sang out, skipping over to them merrily. "We should practice! We need it. Hiro, your guitar playing is horrible!"
Hiro looked up at him slowly, his head turning robotically, making the boy go into sketch form. "What about my playing?"
"Uh—hehe—nothing! It's beautiful! Let's go." Shuichi laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head with his left hand. Suguru laughed softly and stood up, pulling Hiro up with him and they went to rehearse.
Eiri Yuki glanced down at the ground as he walked slowly, inhaling another puff of his cigarette then blew it out expertly. His hands clenched in his pockets. It's for the best. You two weren't supposed to meet anyway. He looks much happier without you.
~/~/~/~
Shuichi sipped from his glass of wine as he looked around the after-party for ASK. A few days had passed since he had seen that odd man, but for some reason, he couldn't shake the weird feeling of nostalgia that he felt once he got past his initial freak out. Hiro was off socializing with a girl, making her giggle and swat his shoulder gently in a playful manner. Shuichi had to smile. Maybe this time, she'll be the one for him. It's about time Hiro-kun got a girlfriend too.
He felt a gentle yet firm hand on suddenly place itself on his shoulder and he jumped, spilling some of the wine on the floor. "Ack—Don't do that, look what you made me do—Tohma-san?" He stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw who had touched him and bowed to him quickly. Tohma laughed, his blue eyes glittering in the somewhat dim light of the room. He raised his voice slightly so he could be heard over the dull hum of the room.
"No need to apologize, Shindou-kun. Congratulations on your interview. You made N-G Productions proud."
Shuichi's eyes sparkled as pride filled every corner of his insides. "Oh, wow, it really was nothing, I couldn't have done it alone, but thank you."
Tohma bowed his head out of respect and took a sip of his wine. "Oh, I'd like you to meet my wife, Mika Seguchi, and her brother Eiri Yuki." He presented them both to him and Shuichi froze. It was the man—the man he had seen the other day. But what is he doing here of all places? Oh wait, he just said it's his brother-in-law. Right.
He smiled and bowed respectfully then glanced up. "It's nice to mee—uh…" He blinked a few times. The blonde man—Yuki—was looking at him as if he was the sheer plague. "Uh…Hello, nice to meet you, I'm—"
Yuki scoffed and looked away in disgust, leaving Shuichi standing there, dumbfounded.
Tohma smiled kindly at Shuichi. "I'm sorry…Eiri-kun, please do try to be civil. After all, you are at one of my parties." He nudged Mika's side and she nodded slyly, quietly retreating away. "Well, I must attend to the rest of my guests. I trust you'll be all right on your own?" Without waiting for a response, he slipped away, leaving a dumbfounded Shuichi and a disgruntled Yuki facing each other.
Damn it. Why is he here? So much for avoiding him. Yuki scowled to himself, digging the toe of his shoe onto the floor in irritation. Every fiber of his being was screaming to escape outside and light a cigarette, but he refrained, knowing the boy would either follow him, or burst into tears. Either way, it wasn't going to be pretty. He stayed put, purposefully looking away from Shuichi, attempting to push down the butterflies he received from just being around him.
Shuichi on the other hand was eyeing the man carefully. Something about him raised up his curiosity unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. He cocked his head to the side, blinking in confusion. "Um…Did I do something to off—"
"Shut up."
"W-what?"
Yuki turned his gaze on him, making him recoil inwardly.
"I said 'shut up'. I'm not in the mood for some whiny temperamental artist talking to me. Save your breath and leave me alone." He rolled his eyes and walked off, leaving Shuichi there, once again dumbfounded. He glanced down at the ground as he walked, trying to shake off the look of hurt his lover—well…former lover had on his face. It wasn't something he really wanted to see again, but if it was for the best of both of them, he would. It's for the best. It is.
Shuichi felt tears brim in his eyes, but he forced them down. Temperamental artist? What the hell? What did he know about him? Anger flared up inside him and his eyes flashed dangerously. His hands balled into fists and he looked down at the ground, glaring at it. Go fuck yourself, you don't know anything about me and I'll prove it to you.
A/N: Sooo yes, here is the third chapter! I hope you all liked it. I certainly had fun writing it. Thank you all for the reviews, they mean a lot! Tell me what you think. :3