A/N: Here's the third chappie. Sorry it took forever. My AP Euro Exam is TOMORROW and Finals are the week after next... ugh. I'm so screwed for tomorrow's exam... four frikking hours of being locked in a test room with three essays and a multiple choice test... Someone pray for me... really...
Please note that this chapter was written completely on a whim, randomly, and is not revised or edited. So if you see something, feel free to point it out. Just don't be a bitch about it. Seriously. And this chapter is short. Only three and a half pages in Word Document, so I'm not proud of this chapter in the slightest.
Recommended listening: Sleepless Beauty Sweet Dream Air Mix
Naze, Koi?
Chapter Three – Mini Confrontation
He felt empty inside. He could sing, of course, and his voice did not reflect the sadness he held, but that empty feeling seemed to weigh him down. His voice would occasionally drop a notch or two, most likely unnoticed by Hiro or Suguru, but Shuichi knew that Ryuichi could probably detect it as he felt the singer watch him through the glass with Noriko and Touma behind him. Sakano was recording the whole thing with K, so the two probably hadn't noticed either. Maybe K did, because he seemed good at that, but definitely not Sakano.
Shuuichi felt a little uncomfortable singing, which was odd for him. He tried to convince himself that it was just because he had recently had shock and that it would go away. But it didn't. It was following him, plaguing him with every word he sung as he tried his hardest to sound normal. It was all right; that was what he tried telling himself. But it didn't work. Nothing worked.
And suddenly Shuuichi stopped singing, right in the middle of the song. Suddenly not hearing the vocalist like normal, Hiro's hand over his guitar strings immediately stopped and Suguru's hands over his keys paused as he glanced over to the pink-haired teenager. Shuuichi hadn't noticed he'd stopped.
"Shuuichi?" Hiro walked over and put a hand on the vocalist's shoulder.
Shuuichi blinked and snapped his head back, looking back at Hiro with a confused expression. Hiro caught the lost look in the vocalist's eyes and resisted the urge to sigh. "Are you all right?"
Shuuichi took a few moments to answer. "H-hai. I'm just... tired, I guess..."
There was a look on the Bad Luck vocalist's face that Hiro couldn't identify, but it made his eyes widen a little and he let his hand drop from the singer's shoulder. Suguru sighed, switching off the power for his synthesizer. They had been at it all morning and he'd noticed there was some things that were different this day than any other. There wasn't any joy or determination or even the slightest hint of enthusiasm today that reflected in Shuuichi's voice as he sang. And they were only an hour and a half in. He sighed again before heading towards the door.
"I'm going to get a coffee," the teen muttered as he left.
"Us, too," Hiro agreed and steered the now silent Shuuichi out of the room, despite Sakano's protests and K's threatening guns.
Ryuichi watched this from on the other side of the glass, frowning slightly. The song hadn't been good at all through the morning. Ryuichi noticed Shuuichi's voice kept going up and down, bouncing around the singer's scale, not set on his normal scale with the enthusiasm he had during concerts and alley performances. Kumaguro shifted in Ryuichi's arms and the singer turned the pink bunny to look into the screen, despite that there was no now one there to look at.
Noriko sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "He doesn't seem to have his fire today, does he?"
"It appears that way," Touma agreed lightly, but his tone was detached somehow; he wasn't paying much attention. Ryuichi glanced over, his eyes suddenly sharp and almost glaring as he regarded Touma carefully, which went unnoticed as the musician looked over his own sheets of music. Noriko looked at the singer's eyes before she sighed and hopped up. "I'm going to get some coffee, too, come to think of it. Do you guys want anything little Nori can bring ya?"
Ryuichi suddenly perked up, all seriousness gone. "Oh! Cocoa! Please Noriko!? You can get that, right?" The look on the singer's face was positively adorable.
Noriko laughed. "All right, little Ryu-chan. Touma?"
Touma smiled, a gentle little half-smile. "No thanks, Noriko."
Noriko tapped her chin. "So a white chocolate mocha for me and a hot chocolate for little Ryu, ne?"
Ryuichi nodded enthusiastically. "Hai!"
Noriko nodded, smiled, and walked out and down the hall. As soon as the door shut behind her, Ryuichi's eyes turned serious again, narrowing and the bright blue color darkened into pools of sapphire as the orbs shifted to look back at Touma. Ryuichi's hands tightened their grip on Kumaguro in his arms. He was probably wrong, but after what had happened... "Touma?"
Said person looked up from the papers he had in his hands, sparkling teal eyes carrying their normal innocent nature – so odd how much Touma was like Ryuichi sometimes – but the look vanished as soon as he saw the look in the singer's eyes. "What is it, Ryuichi?"
The words came out easier than Ryuichi ever expected. "Why did you hurt Shuuichi?"
Teal met azure. Musician met vocalist. Complexity met enigma. A tense silence fell between them before it was shattered into ruins.
"What are you talking about?"
Ryuichi frowned. His eyes deepened, if possible. "You know what I mean, Touma."
Touma sighed. Damn. He knew Ryuichi was smart and perceptive, but figuring out things within a day was truly amazing. Touma had greatly underestimated the singer. "Ryuichi-san—"
"I knew there was something going on when you suddenly left me," Ryuichi interrupted, a slight childish tone reflecting in his voice as he tried to keep it even to express his emotion on the matter. He was sad. Extremely sad. "He was crying, Touma... really crying."
Touma sighed again, putting down the sheet music on the table and he leaned forward, folding his fingers together. "This wasn't intentionally aimed at Shindo."
"But you knew he'd find out sooner or later and you still let it happen like this."
This was ironic. Normally, it was Touma who was lecturing Ryuichi, not the other way around. It was strange to hear the singer attempt to tell him he had done something wrong. Yet, Touma didn't feel as if he had done anything wrong. He felt a little bit of guilt, yes, but not at not telling Shuuichi he and Eiri had gotten together behind the scenes; rather, it was guilt over leaving Ryuichi with little word of their break-up after going on so many dates right after they reformed Nittle Grasper.
Ryuichi frowned and played with one of Kumaguro's ears. "Touma... why?"
Touma tilted his head, looking up at the vocalist. "You knew about my feelings for Eiri."
"Yes, but I'm not talking about that," Ryuichi muttered. His puerile qualities flooded back into his eyes. He wasn't angry; he could never actually be angry at anyone. His eyes were sad; sadness so deep you could almost drown yourself into it, a sadness one could only see in children's eyes. By no means did that mean Ryuichi was a child. Far from it. Bu the look would always remind Touma of a lost child, a child trying to understand something that it felt involved in, a child in the darkness who just wanted to find that light of reason. This was the one look only Ryuichi could pull off; the one look that made himself practically vulnerable to other peoples' preying eyes. The look that made his emotions more bare.
The one look that always stole away every one of Touma's excuses.
The blonde gave in and leaned back in his seat. "Ryuichi, just listen to what I have to say. I had planned to tell him – or even have Eiri tell him if I couldn't – but we didn't. I don't even know why." There was an expression on Touma's face that screamed guilt and regret. "We just didn't. But understand that we didn't plan this. You know I'm not so cruel as to do something like that to Shindo."
Ryuichi frowned and his 'look' vanished as he nodded a little, remembering that yes, Touma was a human just as he was. They both had the same personality – though Touma's was slightly twisted in a sense – and while having never killed someone – as far as Ryuichi knew, anyway – and despite having the means to blackmail, Touma wouldn't do any such thing unless necessary for success financially. Ryuichi's frown deepened. Yes, he remember that now. But the situation still bugged him. He had the ability to suddenly forgive people for whatever they do, but this time around, Ryuichi didn't find himself immediately apologizing to Touma for his accusations.
"And I know about your feelings for Shindo, Ryuichi."
"It's not about me right now," Ryuichi replied, attempting to dodge the accusation.
"I beg to differ."
Ryuichi turned from serious to his normal childish self. "Awww, Touma, why do you have to be so mean!"
Before Touma could even register the change in attitude – never mind coming up with a reply – Noriko walked back into the room carrying two cups of hot liquid. Her eyes gazed across Touma's struck expression and Ryuichi, who was fake-crying while chewing on the top of Kumaguro's head, looking as cute as ever. Noriko attempted a smile, holding up the cup. "Ryu-chan, your cocoa."
"Uwaa! Thank you, Noriko!" Ryuichi took the cup and quickly took a long swig of it, grinning as he did so, the same way he did when Noriko gave him cherries. Touma shook his head and went back to his papers.
Noriko plopped back down in her chair and took a small sip of her white chocolate mocha. "So..." He let out a breath and fixed Touma and Ryuichi with her intense gaze. "What did you two talk about while I was gone?"
