The Gun and The Guitar
Chapter 6: Kumagoro Knows a Secret
Morning sunlight came bursting through the window, streaming its bright warm rays over Hiro's face. The brunette stirred and blinked, shielding his eyes from the harsh burning sun on his sleepy eyes. He palmed the left side of the bed, hoping to find K there, sure enough he was, stroking his arm and he watching him lazily. Hiro smiled, partly because he was embarrassed over screaming 'I love you!' last night, and because he was so happy.
"Do you always smile first thing in the morning, Hiroshi?" K asked in a hushed tone, letting his hand travel over the ridge of Hiro's slender hip.
Hiro chuckled and shifted to face K.
"I have only woken up twice around you," Hiro said, reaching out to twirl a lock of wet blond hair around his fingers. He inhaled K's fresh scent, he'd already showered. "Wow, you're efficient," he muttered.
"The early bird catches the worm, Hiro." But K wasn't in a rush as he rest his head on his hand, elbow propped on a fluffy pillow, grinning.
Hiro's response was a large yawn.
K chuckled, raking his fingers gently over Hiro's bed-covered thigh. "I wish I could tell you all the details, but I've been sworn to secrecy until after the concert tonight. But I will tell you this; NG has major plans for us after this gig."
Hiro arched a brow at K's hint about 'major plans'. "Really?" he asked a little intrigued now, but just then his stomach growled loudly.
"Someone's tank is on empty," K said and ran a palm over Hiro's stomach. "I wonder why," he offered deviously.
A devilish thought came to Hiro's mind. He thought of having K for breakfast, but refrained, he was truly starving! "I take coffee with my cream," Hiro purred naughtily.
K's stomach twitched with laughter at that remark. He laid there, eyes closed, utterly content with Hiro. "And I…love the smell of napalm in the morning."
Grey eyes lit up, "That American movie! Um…oh! Don't tell me, I know this..." Hiro paused with thought and almost raised a hand as if in school. "Apocalypse Now," he claimed happily.
K could have squealed like a girl as he stared at Hiro with an utterly surprised look.
"Hey, don't look so shocked. I'm a pretty knowledgeable guy, you know," Hiro said a little indignantly and pushed himself out of bed.
K chuckled at Hiro's pretty scowling face. "I just wouldn't have thought that you would have watched that kind of a movie. There's so much I don't know about you, Hiroshi," he told him, "It is a very popular movie quote."
"And of course you'd like it." It seemed like something right up K's alley. Hiro went into the bathroom, but left the door slightly ajar.
"Well, I used to be a part of that world once, sort of."
A moment later Hiro opened the door and looked out as he washed his hands, "Oh?" Was K going to actually talk to him about himself?!
"Heh, by the time I was your age I had already been through six months of boot camp. Now that's something no man can forget," K spoke thoughtfully, watching Hiro closely with cool blue eyes. "I even had to tour a little, fight in strange countries…"
Hiro wasn't sure if he should move or stay right where he was. He didn't want K to stop talking; he wanted to hear everything! No one in Bad Luck knew that much about K before he became a manager.
"I don't think I could ever do that sorta thing. Was it hard?" Hiro asked, pulling on a pair of boxers. Then he dug in his pants on the floor for a cigarette and a lighter and sat on the edge of the bed.
"Hard? Damn, it was brutal. Fifty kilometre runs in the rain with a loaded pack, helmet, steel toed boots and your weapon. 'Never drop your weapon soldier!' they said so often it became words you heard in your dreams at night. Then, it was the foreign countries and the violence…I watched a lot of innocents get killed…it wasn't pretty," K explained, reaching over and stealing the smoke from Hiro. He puffed on it hard and passed it back to him thankfully.
"I'm sorry," Hiro said quietly. He wasn't sure what else to say, so he tried to lighten the mood. "Did they call you maggot? I heard that's what they say to American's," Hiro asked earnestly, taking a drag from his cigarette.
K laughed loudly at this question, making the brunette smile. "Yes they did call us that and they still do," claimed K, snickering with mirth.
"I bet you looked pretty hot in your green clothes and those uniforms." Hiro eyed K, imagining what he might have looked like in army gear at age nineteen. He bet that K was just as full of spunk then as he was now. Uniforms were always kind of sexy.
"You mean fatigue's, not 'green clothes', and gee, I dunno," K retorted blushing, no one ever asked him that before. "Anyways, I didn't stay in the Army for long I got trained for intelligence, furthered my education. It was a lot of fun I got to play with high tech stuff…I got into the…" K trailed off and waved his hand, "…well, you don't want to hear the rest, I'm just rambling here."
"Aww, of course I want to hear more," Hiro said, saddened to hear K stop. He bet K had been some kind of spy or something dangerous—Hiro's imagination went wild.
K smiled at the younger man and pulled him in close for a hug, he hadn't forgotten what Hiro said in the throes of passion. I love you. He wondered if Hiro meant it. "Maybe after this gig, when we have more time…I will tell you more if you want. It'd be nice if we could, I dunno, go out for dinner or something," K suggested.
Hiro beamed. A date! "Alright, and then will you tell me about your kid, too?"
K groaned, he thought of his ex-wife Judy but smiled about his son Michael, "It's complicated…good and bad memories. If I told you everything…I'd have to kill you," K claimed nonchalantly.
Hiro sat blinking at K's twisted sense of humour. "There's no rush," Hiro explained, he could wait.
K loved that about Hiro too, his patience, he was a good listener. "Seriously though, there are some things that I have done in the past that have to stay confidential, I can't tell a soul. Its nothing I want to remember anyways," K said with a shrug, taking Hiro's cigarette and crushing it out in the ashtray. He pulled the man close and kissed him.
Hiro revelled in the kiss, tasting K's soft smoky lips. He wouldn't force K to tell him anything that he couldn't. He murmured over the kiss, "How did you get in my room last night?"
"Your balcony is attached to mine and I picked open your patio door," K mumbled over Hiro's lips, smirking. He pulled away and brushed a thumb over Hiro's bottom lip, just watching the younger man.
Hiro shook his head, "You could have fallen."
"Nah, I only fell into your arms," whispered K sweetly.
"My crazy, K"
"My sweet, Hiro"
They kissed again briefly.
"And what happened to Shuichi?" Hiro asked curious.
"Funny, just after you left, Yuki came to get him," K replied, "I waited a bit, took a shower and then snuck over." He noticed the blood drain from Hiro's face. "What's wrong?"
"Yuki knows about us…"
K chuckled, "So what, he won't say anything to Shuichi."
"He saw me naked…you should have seen his face. All I had was my pants to cover myself!" Hiro got up and headed to the bathroom for a shower, he could hear K's laughter.
"I just hope, that no one overheard us last night," the blond pointed out.
"Us? You mean you, don'tcha?" Hiro reminded, peeking his head out of the bathroom, remembering how loudly K was calling out his name.
K shrugged. "And I'd do it all over again, so nyah," he said and chucked a pillow at Hiro, who dodged it by quickly closing the bathroom door.
Later, after K snuck back to his own room to wash up, Hiro got ready. They really had a lot of work to do today. And when he left his room, Shuichi was standing there waiting for him, knuckles poised for knocking. He was wearing a very large grin and practically bouncing on his heels.
"You look happy this morning," Hiro said.
"Oh, Hiro!" Shuichi exclaimed at Hiro's good timing. "Yuki wrote me a song!" cried Shuichi dramatically, and sang "A song! A song! A song!"
"Whoa, slow down," Hiro cut in, "What song?"
Shuichi stopped singing with glee. "Actually, he improvised a song I had half written. It's like we wrote a song together." The pink-haired singer sighed happily.
Hiro's eyes shot open and he clamped two hands on Shuichi's shoulders. "This is awesome! Let's go work on it now. Do you think we can add it to our set list? Do we have time?" Hiro asked eager to try out this new tune. It wasn't like they were in recording, they could track it later.
"Well, there's a small catch. And I think it's sorta cool…I want Ryuichi to sing it with me," Shuichi offered to a now surprised best friend. "I know he will!"
"Really?" Hiro scratched his head. "But, I thought we wanted to kick their butts? Well, if it's what you really want, then I'm all for it!"
Immediately, they began babbling about how the song will fit to Suguru's new music.
"What's with the racket?"
Shuichi and Hiro turned to see K coming out of his room.
"Yuki wrote me a song I had half done and Ryuichi is going to sing a duet with me!" Shuichi fired barely taking a breath.
K soaked this up. This was something he hadn't seen coming. "Um, does Ryuichi know this, or have you all gone behind my managerial prowess to cook this up?" He would have rather seen Bad Luck get their full solo final-act coverage, but with Ryuichi and Shuichi singing together it was always good publicity.
Shuichi grinned mischievously and stated, "It was my idea actually, I read the lyrics and I just know that we both have to sing it. I know he'll do it, because he wanted to sing with me yesterday. Fun, fun, fun!"
"How do you figure that? I mean about the lyrics," Hiro asked, a little confused.
"Well, Yuki left my half of the song and he added a new chorus. It's like he's singing his part to meeee…sooo romantic!" Shuichi gushed and began to slump to the floor. "Catch me Hiro, I'm so happy I think could faint…please tell me I'm not dreaming."
Hiro caught his friend as Shuichi began pinching him in random places.
"You're not supposed to be pinching me! It's your dream!" Hiro wailed and pushed Shuichi off of him. But he laughed and said, "Shuichi, you're not dreaming. Come on, let's go find Ryuichi."
Shuichi lit up, "He's at the concert hall already…" He paused and looked thoughtful for a moment, "You know last night we all thought we heard a commotion, but it must have only been Ryuichi, playing in the hallway with Kumagoro. And when we saw him he ran to his room singing "Kuma loves Hiro" last night." He looked at Hiro and then K who wore blank expressions, "Didn't you guys hear it?"
Hiro and K looked at each other.
"Nope, didn't hear it," K said.
Hiro shook his head, "Me either."
Shuichi shrugged and led the way to the elevator.
K played with the lint in his pocket nervously. Gee, were they really that loud last night, he wondered and tossed Hiro a sheepish grin. The brunette wore the same expression on his face and shrugged—time to change the topic.
"I'll take you guys to the concert hall, and then I'll go get breakfast…I know Hiro's starved," K mentioned.
Hiro shot K a look.
"What, I heard you're stomach growl just now, relax, it's a common human disposition," K recovered quickly and grinned. "Tell me what you guys want or I'll just pick anything."
Shuichi happily started his order on the way to the concert hall.
"Kumagoro knows a secret," sang Ryuichi mischievously in K's ear, he perched the plushie on his former manager's shoulder.
K turned his attention away from the practice with the new lyrics, to peer nonplussed at Kumagoro on his shoulder. What the heck did Ryuichi mean? "I'm sure he does," was all K said coolly.
Everyone was watching them.
Ryuichi giggled in a sneaky sort of manner and bounced over to Shuichi, to continue their work on their duet.
Oh no… It dawned on K, Ryuichi knows. He must have overheard and that's why he was singing "Kuma loves Hiro" last night at the hotel! K couldn't stop the hot wave that washed over his cheeks. Normally he liked to keep his sex life private, he couldn't believe he'd been so loud to be overheard. He had to leave the room for a moment before everyone noticed him blushing with embarrassment. Slipping out of the room, he strolled over to the pop machine and got a cold drink. Just as he popped open the can, he felt someone watching him.
"You left so suddenly," Hiro said rather concerned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing to worry your sweet self over," K said easily as he watched Hiro. "You know they're going to wonder why you are so concerned about the 'Crazy American'." It wasn't like he didn't know they said that. But reading Hiro's face, he could tell he was really concerned. He looked down at his pop can.
"Was it something Ryuichi said?"
K looked up again. "I told you not to worry," he said.
So, Ryuichi knows too, so much for keeping secrets. "He won't say anything, Ryuichi's cool that way," Hiro replied.
Hiro was too smart for his own good. But he was right, Ryuichi wouldn't say anything. "You should get back to work…we don't have time to piss around today. It'll be a miracle if we get that new song ready for tonight," K told him.
Was that so? Hiro didn't really care. "Relax. I've got my part down pact. I'm just having a break, so what?" Hiro said and went to get himself a cold drink as well. They'd been messing with that new song for hours now and he was thirsty. Only, K wouldn't move from the vending machine and Hiro had to nudge him over.
K began to snicker playfully; it was fun to tease Hiro. He made sure to grab the can that dropped down after Hiro made his selection and held it up high.
"You think this is funny?" Hiro commented, "Picking on the little guy…" He'd show him little all right and pinned K to the vending machine, causing the whole thing to rattle and shake.
It had surprised K, he looked down at Hiro, "All over a can of soda," he chirped, clutching his own drink making the can kink and snap.
The guitarist narrowed his eyes at K playfully and rose up on his toes, pressing his lips to K's. The blonde gasped in surprise but melted into the kiss like a moth to a flame.
"You love birds sure know how to keep a low cover," spoke a familiar sarcastic voice.
Hiro dropped flat to his feet and jerked his head towards Yuki. K flashed Hiro the, it-was-all-your-fault kind of look before he dared to look at Yuki as well.
"Anyways, I came to see Shuichi," Yuki explained, smirking at them as he disappeared into the rehearsal room.
"I swear, that guy has a habit of silently showing up on you," Hiro alleged.
"Indeed, but even he has a fear of guns," K noted, "Trust me, I know."
Hiro blinked wondering what K meant, but followed his manager back into the studio.
For the rest of the day Shuichi and Ryuichi fine tuned their duet. It was tiring, but everything was going perfect, no need to continue until tonight. Shuichi and Ryuichi needed to rest their voices and relax.
It was down to the final hours—a time when everyone found their peace of mind, their Zen, their drive for their performance tonight. And everyone went about their own thing, doing whatever they did before a main event.
Shuichi took off with Yuki to their hotel room. Sakano decided he would try to relax after K slipped their hotel spa business card in his pocket. Suguru stayed where he was happiest, which was with his electronic equipment at the concert hall. Noriko went to get her hair done. And Ryuichi hung out with Tohma backstage, playing with Kumagoro and talking.
K and Hiro stood outside the sound room.
"I have to take care of some stuff; you know pressing manager business…it's endless," K said, "You could come with me if you want."
It was tempting, but the concert loomed in his mind and something else…Ayaka. She knew he was here in Kyoto, yet she hadn't even called him. In a way he'd like to find out where they stand, or perhaps even let her know that he couldn't see her anymore. He was thinking about it. But he wouldn't do something like that in a text, or an e-mail—that wasn't his style.
"I'm just going to go have a hot bath, chill for a bit, have a beer," Hiro told him honestly.
"That sounds like a good plan. Have one for me too," K said, smiling softly. "You'll be great tonight," he added and pet over Hiro's cheek with his hand.
Hiro wished K could have hung out in the bath with him. "I know I've never said this before, but…you do good things for us, K…Claude," Hiro added in sneakily. It was neat that he was one of the few that knew K's real name now.
"You're too cute, Hiroshi Nakano," K said in such a sweet way. Alone for a brief moment, he slowly descended on Hiro's lips to give him a soft kiss.
Hiro sighed and closed his eyes, but as quickly as the kiss started, it stopped, leaving him breathless. He opened his eyes and watched K strolling down the hall, leaving him wanting more.
A/N: After this chapter some dramatic events will occur and take the story to a whole new place. Thanks again for reading!