A/N: I've been through literal computer HELL. Bottom line was: It couldn't be fixed! The motherboard was burned out. My relative showed me the circuitry, and it was MELTED. He said it wasn't my fault, because the CPU was old. (Hell, I didn't care, it was a free computer, you know?) So, he got me a new CPU, and miraculously saved my hard drive and lo, here I am again! But I have totally learned my lesson, and I am forever more backing up EVERY thing on disks even if they're not finished. I couldn't stand not being able to write on this for a month. Sure, I could write on the other computer in the house, but it's the internet only comp for me (it's not mine, so therefore, I can't save bunches of junk on it.). It was… as I said, computer hell. So here I return, with the newest installment of Ricochet! I hope it was worth waiting for. Oh, and the next Dry Iced Coffee will be out soon, no worries.

ANYWAY, about this chapter. Don't flame me after you read it, because if you go read the last chapter, you'll realize that this was planned to happen. No worries, there's still at least four more chapters ahead. Besides, I've put it as a YukixShu story, so. Yes, I am aware that I ripped that one scene from Gravitation 10; it fit, and that's my favorite scene from that book. It's been reworded and stuff, but the original idea belongs to Maki Murakami-sensei. And I am aware that this chapter's patchy. I intended for it to be this way.

The first song is "Breath" by, whom else? Breaking Benjamin! (Love them, their new CD, Phobia is what made me think of this story!) I have tweaked and rearranged the lyrics for literary purposes. Moro-moro makes no money off of them.


Chapter Five: Drummer

Tsuki frowned, staring at Shuichi through the tinted glass in the recording studio. "He… really does write those songs for that man?"

Hiro looked up from his magazine. They were the only two in there, Reiji and K were in some big meeting, and Fujisaki was laying down tracks in another room. Some mixer they didn't know was doing the sound. "Yeah, he does. Most of them, anyway. Every now and again, some bigwig tells him to do a song, and he does 'em. He loves to sing, and he'd jump for the chance to be heard," Hiro said.

Tsuki frowned, eyes locked on Shuichi, who was still pouring his heart out onto his song… literally. He was shaking and silent tears ran down his cheeks as he sang song after song. "I ran into that Eiri Yuki person in the lobby… did Shuichi give him that bruise?"

Hiro smiled. "Yes…Yes, he did." Hiro seemed to be slightly proud of his friend.

"May I ask… what happened between those two? They were all the rage when I visited Japan four years ago."

Hiro sighed. "In a nutshell… Shuichi was head-over-heels in love with Yuki… Yuki apparently didn't give a rat's ass; he broke up with Shuichi when our old boss told him to. Shuichi came here, and he thought Yuki'd come back for him, so he didn't take the XMR contract very seriously. Over in Japan, our old boss resigned and put our old producer on as the president, while he went and lived it up with Yuki everyday. SO it seemed. Eventually me and Fujisaki came over here, and Shuichi realized that Yuki was never going to come back for him. …For awhile, he gave up, but then he threw himself into his music. And so it goes until yesterday." The guitarist frowned. "I always thought that Yuki really did love Shuichi deep down, but… I'm not so sure anymore."

Tsuki frowned. "That's not right!" he turned his attention to Shuichi, who was still recording for the concert CD. This song seemed to be just a bit more emotional for the boy, because it looked like he was ready to just sob. But that's what made Bad Luck so great; they all put forth a bazillion-and-one percent effort on all their songs.

"…I'm going all the way!

Get away, please!

You take the breath right out of me

You left a hole where my heart should be

You gotta fight just to make it through,

'Cause I will be the death of you!

This will be all over soon,

Pour the salt into the open wound.

Is it over yet?!

Let me in!

So sacrifice yourself

And let me have what's left…

I'm waiting

I'm praying

Realize…"

Hiro shrugged. "Life's not always what's right and what's wrong, there's a lot of grey in-between…" he mumbled remorsefully.

"I want… I want to make him better!"

Hiro surveyed the boy next to him. "You love him, don't you?"

Tsuki blushed. "I… yeah… I saw heard a live broadcast of a concert on the radio, and… I fell in love with his voice… Later, I actually got to see a concert, and… I… loved him even more. For the longest time, I didn't even know his name," he mumbled with a sheepish smile.

Oh, god… it's a repeat! This is what happened to Shuichi! The redhead thought in horror. "… I don't think you have a chance," Hiro whispered. He felt sorry for the boy. "He won't let anyone—"

"Ahem! Hiro! Did the great rock god Shuichi every say you were worthy enough to talk about him?" Shuichi said, haughtily crossing his arms. "I demand that you apologize and lick my boots!" the young man demanded, raising a foot.

Hiro frowned, struggling to keep a straight face. "I'm so sorry, your majesty! How dare I let your name fall from my common lips?"

Tsuki looked back and forth between the two, then burst into laughter; Shuichi had a way of creating, then completely breaking a tense moment. Hiro followed suit.

Shuichi smiled. "That's better. I can't stand tense atmospheres," he whined, waving his arms about. "It was so heavy in here I almost was crushed when I left the booth!"

Hiro chuckled. "I've gotta go, Shu," he said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "More phone calls."

Shuichi smirked. "Hiroshi, you dog!" he exclaimed. He turned to Tsuki. "Then it leaves you and me for dinner, then Tsu-chan?"

"Tsu-chan?" Tsuki asked, wide-eyed.

"You've gotta have a nickname!" Shuichi declared, slinging his bag over his shoulder, waving at the mix-master. He pulled the bewildered Tsuki out the door, grinning stupidly. "Since we're the cute ones in the band, we have to have cute nicknames! I'm Shu-chan, and your Tsu-chan! We match!" he giggled.

Tsuki couldn't stand it. "Uhm, Shuichi, h-how much did you hear?"

Shuichi sighed. "… don't fall in love with me," he mumbled, shaking his head. He had hoped this conversation wouldn't take place.

"But I'm already in love with you! I fell in love at first sight!" Tsuki protested weakly, grief sinking into the pit of his stomach. He hadn't even confessed yet, and Shuichi was rejecting him.

"There's no such thing as love at first sight, kid!" Shuichi snapped, looking at Tsuki brazenly. "Trust me, I, if anyone does at all, know that!"

"It's different than what happened with you! I'd never do that to you, and you'd never do to me what that writer creep did you! I love you!" The purple haired drummer blurted.

Shuichi blinked, a heart-wrenching sadness creeping onto his face. "… Do you mean that?" he whispered.

"Yes! I do!" Tsuki said, tears threatening to fall down the boy's face.

Shuichi was silent for a long while. Slowly, he reached out and laid a hand on the new drummer's face, leaning forward. "Maybe if someone says that they love me… I can love them in time," he whispered, laying his lips against Tsuki's.

Tsuki blinked, turning the brightest shade of red imaginable. But through his euphoria of being kissed by Shuichi, he realized blankly that there was something wrong…


Eiri Yuki was pissed. He had never been this angry in his life. He, in fact, was so mad, that you could probably roast marshmallows off of the aura he was emitting.

The still rational side of his mind reasoned that Shuichi had every right to be kissing some brat, son-of-a-bitch drummer in the middle of a hallway in the middle of working hours…Where he could be found.

Yuki cracked his knuckles dangerously, pounding on the keys of his laptop as he furiously tried to write the next chapter of his newest novel.

"Oh, screw it!" Yuki hissed, slamming his laptop shut as he realized he was typing the same thing over and over again. "I'm going to…"

Yuki sank, sighing heavily. He had no right to do anything anymore. It wasn't like Shuichi was cheating on him…

But he was still mad.

Or was it jealousy that burned so fiercely inside of him?


Shuichi smiled, placing a dumpling on his lips, licking the soy sauce off of it. "Sorry that was all so sudden on you, Tsu-chan. You looked like you were going to die in the cab."

Tsuki shook his head. "I'm fine!" Shuichi raised an eyebrow at the boy, and he shook his head furiously. "Really!"

Shuichi smiled. "I really would like to go out with you Tsuki. I mean, you are in love with me!" he exclaimed. "And I did kiss you, after all!"

Tsuki blushed, staring down into his rice. "Well… I… okay," he mumbled shyly.

"Yay!" Shuichi chimed. He leaned over the table and placed sticky lips to Tsuki's cheek. "This will be our first date!"

Tsuki nodded, dumbstruck.


"What the hell do you mean bumped?" Shuichi hissed, staring down Reiji dangerously.

Reiji sighed angrily. "Don't take it out on me," she snapped, whacking Shuichi out of her space with a nearby phonebook. "Somebody overbooked on us."

"We're the bigger label!"

"Yeah, but that company's doing a fundraiser," K said with a shrug. "That's how it works in America."

Shuichi sank back into his seat with a frustrated groan. "I can't believe that they're screwing with our music like that!"

"That's a rotten attitude to have, Shu," Tsuki mumbled, looking over at his boyfriend of one week.

Shuichi blinked, then gave a sweet smile. "I guess you're right," he laughed. "Sorry."

The black-haired singer rose. "Let's practice our asses off until next month!"

Everyone laughed.


"But tell me again, Eiri-san, why are you staying in America? Normally you'd be back as soon as possible," Tohma commented dryly. One could almost hear his smile across the international phone lines.

Yuki gave an irritated sigh. "I told you. Things over here have gone crazy, they need me to stay."

Tohma chuckled. "No, no, XMR's contacted me to say everything has run smoothly… though, I have heard that a certain idol's concert has been postponed…"

Yuki hung up on his brother-in-law then and there.

The novelist lay back on his hotel bed, sighing. He wanted to go to Shuichi's concert; it was something he should have done a long time ago.

He knew that Shuichi would never know he was there at all, but… he still wanted to hear what the kid had to say.


The next month passed slowly for Shuichi. He found himself seeing Yuki more and more around XMR, which was odd, Tsuki had told him that the novelist's contract was over.

He wrote through sleepless nights, and he sang through the days, stress building up on the singer.

It became habitual for Shuichi to pop three or more pain killers every hour or so. When asked, he shrugged, saying he had a migraine.

"Hey, Nakano… don't you think there's something odd about Shuichi right now?" Suguru said, leaning against the wall.

Hiro sighed, lighting a cigarette. "In which area?"

"Tsuki."

"Hmn…" Hiro shook his head. "Well… I think it's a little less than sincere there…"

Suguru sighed and shrugged. "He's way too strung out right now…"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he collapsed at the concert tomorrow night," Hiro said darkly, flicking the ash of the end of his cigarette.