It was a fine day Monday. Everybody thought so as the sun was high in the skies with the occasional fluffy white clouds hiding it. Birds were singing at the trees in the park and the gentle breeze was swiftly fluttering amongst the busy business people in the metropolis. It was a fine day alright but it wasn't a normal day by all means. Oh no. You would definitely see it in the people's actions.
People were edgy that fine day Monday. The men and women had been stingier than usual. Their kids have been more rambunctious than ever before. The business people were more stressed than expected. Their minions felt more harassed than they could have imagined. Even the gods and goddesses have abandoned their posts – at who knows where – and that's because all have felt the boiling hot tension in the air. Oh yes. That's because the epic showdown between one Aizawa Tachi and Yuki Eiri has begun.
Yuki Eiri had been terribly put down after the whole dating fiasco with Shindou Shuichi. It had cost him one nasty temper tantrum and a lengthy pep talk with his brother Uesugi Tatsuha before he cooled off and recharged. The chunk of self confidence he lost after the fiasco has been restored and more so because of the promised help from none other than the love guru himself, Tatsuha.
So on that fine day Monday, Yuki Eiri had been woken quite rudely from his peaceful slumber by his ever genki brother, Tatsuha.
"Rise and shine aniki!!" Tatsuha greeted happily and loudly as he entered the room without permission. But instead of answering, Yuki threw him a pillow that hit him hard in the face. Tatsuha growled in annoyance as he tossed the pillow aside. Yuki continued on ignoring him and snuggled deeper into the covers while trying to cover his ears up to block the noise. Whoever woke up at 7:00 am anyway?!
"Hey!! Wake up!! The early bird gets Shindou Shuichi so get up!!" Tatsuha persisted as he reached for the blankets and tried tug it out of Yuki's frame. Finally snapping and suddenly wide awake with anger, Yuki sat up.
"It's freakin' 7:00 in the morning!! What do you want?!!" Yuki said calmly but as venomously as he could. Instead of flinching as Yuki would want him to be, Tatsuha just grinned slyly.
"Today is my first official day of helping you out! So being the great brother that I am I'm going to teach you a few pointers before we go and woo our dear Shuichi out."
"Pointers?" Yuki asked dumbly. See? It's still early!! Even the great Yuki Eiri's brain isn't functioning well.
"Yes. Pointers, dummy. You know, how to be polite, how to impress etcetera."
"I don't need them." Of course Yuki knew that he needed them but - will he ever admit that out loud?! Hell no. But Tatsuha wasn't listening at all. It seems that the little brother had adapted a few Yuki Eiri traits of his own due to the occasional sleep overs at his brother's unit. And one of the traits he had deftly acquired was the selective-hearing-trait, much to Yuki's dismay.
"First off, you go and take a shower and then dress nicely. We'll be shopping for flowers and maybe chocolates... I haven't decided which, and then we'll go to NG Corps... Shuichi's got an interview there at noon." Tatsuha said as he stated the information he got from his own private network of groupie spies in his fingers one by one. He looked back at Yuki who still haven't moved an inch from his sitting position and at present was glaring at him irritably.
"What?! I thought you wanted my help! I'm the best there is!! So go take a shower now... Shoo!!" Tatsuha ordered his elder brother as he himself run away from the room. He wasn't fast enough as another pillow hit his back side.
Tatsuha stopped outside his brother's door and listened for some movement in the room and let out a sigh of relief when he heard Yuki grumbling to himself about little brothers gone bad but had obviously followed him nonetheless.
Tatsuha proceeded to the living room and plopped on the couch. He drummed his fingers on the arm rest while trying to figure out which of his plans would be the best course of action for today. He reached for the cue cards in the glass topped side table and shuffled through them. He reached to a decision just as Yuki appeared in the hallway looking fresh and a little wet, which startled the younger brother slightly. Tatsuha smiled amiably at his brother.
"Sit here and we'll begin the crash course lessons for courting!!" Tatsuha said as he patted an empty space next to him. Yuki glared harder if that was possible but seated himself opposite Tatsuha instead. Tatsuha shrugged.
"So okay. Let's start!!" Tatsuha paused as if waiting for a cheer or something. But with Yuki Eiri as his only audience, it most won't likely happen. He shrugged again.
"I'm going to make this quick so listen carefully." Yuki didn't answer. So Tatsuha ploughed on ahead.
"Lesson no. 1: A little compliment goes a long, long way."
"What if I don't find anything to compliment on?" Yuki asked his brother as his brows creased in question.
"That's lesson no. 2: A little white lie never hurts."
"So I'm going to make one up?"
"Of course! No matter how ghastly you might think of something on him, you say good things about that anyway. After all it's just polite to keep the insults away tucked in your mind."
"Only you find lying to be polite."
"It's not like it's going to hurt him. Ever wondered why it's called white lie in the first place?" Tatsuha snapped at his brother who, he suddenly realized, was just working him up. Yuki smirked triumphantly at the slip up of the supposed to be patient love guru Tatsuha.
"So can I go ahead and teach?" Tatsuha asked haughtily after rolling his eyes at the antic of his elder brother. Only aniki finds tormenting cute, little, helpful brothers amusing, Tatsuha thought to himself sadly. Yuki waved his hand motioning for him to continue.
"So where were we? Oh yes, lesson no. 3: Always hold a conversation. Never leave annoying, tense silence in your midst. It really ruins the atmosphere, I tell you." Yuki shrugged as if saying: 'that's no biggie'. Tatsuha scrutinized his brother and then frowned when he remembered that Yuki had a word limit to his sentences.
"Do you think you can handle that aniki? You barely talk..."
"Hn." Yuki grunted somewhat indignantly.
"I mean seriously... Do you think you can hold a conversation for longer than 10 seconds?"
"Hn." Once again the elder brother grunted but then it didn't sound as indignant as the last one.
"Uh, could you really hold a conversation and like... look interested?"
"Hn." This grunt sounded pathetic. Tatsuha knew that Yuki wouldn't be able to fill this lesson well. But never fear!! The love guru has a back up plan in any case!! Tatsuha perked up as he gathered the cue card to his side and grinned at his blonde haired brother.
"And lesson no. 4: Learn how to read." Tatsuha smirked as Yuki suddenly looked like he was going to murder him.
"Excuse me!! Of course I know how to read!!"
"Just checking aniki!! Cause you're gong to need those skills." Yuki for once in his life looked like he was curious that he forgot to murder his brother for so inconveniently insulting him.
"Why?"
"Because!!" Tatsuha answered sloppily as he took the cue cards and placed them on his lap.
"Because what?"
"Because I know how you totally suck at conversations and since I'm an all around helper... I'm going to hold some cue cards to help you think of a reply, or how to start a conversation or whatever..."
"Cue cards?" Now Yuki looked plain horrified.
"Yeah, like this one." Tatsuha held one up; it was the size of a legal yellow pad, as an example. This cue card said: 'Nittle Grasper is da bomb!!'
"Huh?" Yuki asked as he stared at the cue card stupidly. No way in hell was he going to say those words!! That's just so freakin' creepy!!
"Didn't you know that Shindou Shuichi is a fan of Nittle Grasper such as myself?" Yuki shook his head. He still looked bewildered. He's probably thinking if he and Tatsuha were really brothers. How could Tatsuha be so... Unsavory?!
"You are hopeless. But don't worry. Just stick by me and everything's going to be handy-dandy." Tatsuha misinterpreted the bewildered gaze as a look of total confusion. He really pitied his brother. Such poor people-skills...
"Yeah, whatever." Yuki said as he rolled his eyes, recovering from the harrowing ordeal of finding out that his brother is a total lunatic on the loose. Cue cards?! That's just so pathetic!!
Yuki brought up a hand to massage his temples, all the while thinking on what kind of drug was he on yesterday. Surely there was something in his system which altered his thinking process. If he was in his right mind, he wouldn't have asked Tatsuha for help. But alas, he was stuck.
"Well, now that the crash course is over, we shop for flowers!!" Tatsuha stood up and waited for Yuki to follow. Said older brother didn't move an inch. It looked like he was chickening out with the whole courting idea with him as the love guide. Tatsuha sighed but immediately glowed when he remembered the top-of-the-line-information he received from his very capable spies.
"So I see you don't want to get a move on... That's just too bad. Aizawa Tachi of ASK is going to woo Shuichi-kun today too... " Yuki feigned disinterest. Tatsuha raised his brows.
"And I heard that Shuichi-kun has taken an interest with this Aizawa guy... Oh well, when you decide you want him after all... Shuichi's going to be already steady with that Aizawa guy..." Tatsuha saw Yuki flinch. He started a count down in his head, 3, 2, 1...
"Let's go." Was all Yuki said as he stood up and grabbed Tatsuha by the collar who was looking smug as ever.
Aizawa Tachi wanted nothing more in the world but fame and success. Ever since he could remember all he wanted was to be a rock star. He worked long and hard for it. He even went as far as to have voice lessons to better his abilities. But hard as tried he couldn't get any gig on his own. Fame seems so far away from grasp then. But then he met Maki-kun and Ken-chan. They were great musicians and most importantly they have high dreams as he. They were an instant hit. And so ASK was born. That's when Aizawa Tachi realized that stardom wasn't as far as he thought it would be.
And before any of them knew what hit them, they were discovered and were signed instantly by none other than NG Corp's president Seguchi Tohma. Aizawa Tachi was never happier in his life then. In signing those contracts that state that they were now recording artists had been the best moment in his life. They were on a roll. Or so he thought.
Everything would have been picture perfect for ASK if it wasn't for Bad Luck. They were introduced to the masses first and they instantly clicked. Their debut song went straight to number 2 in the chart list. A lot of critics said that it would probably go to number 1 if it wasn't competing with Nittle Grasper's recent release. And as Japan's gossip circle says, Bad Luck was the next Nittle Grasper in the making. It didn't help either that Bad Luck's vocalist had enough charm to rival that of Sakuma Ryuichi's.
So Seguchi Tohma decided to put ASK on hold. He said he would introduce ASK to the media once Bad Luck's popularity starts to wane. Only problem is, Bad Luck's popularity didn't want to seem to wane. In fact, over the weeks they started to gain more and more following. Aizawa Tachi knew that if things like these continue, their big break was never coming to them. So he knew he had to take matter in his own hands.
So he thought: What better way to get attention?! Play the media of course. And since he was still practically a nobody in the show business scene he needed to do some coattail riding. So he put two and two together and came up with Shindou Shuichi. Oh yes. He wasn't that ambitious and optimistic enough to aim for Sakuma Ryuichi. That would be nice but near impossible. And besides, he reasoned with himself, Shindou Shuichi is the hottest new happening in the j-rock scene. He would do just fine.
And now Aizawa Tachi's dilemma comes. He wasn't supposed to get any strings attached on this. This was all a ploy to gain some attention. But no. He just had to find the pink haired idiot attractive and take a liking to him. Everyone knew that career and romance doesn't mix. Now heaven help him if he forgets his true goal after courting Shuichi. He's got a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he probably will.
So now here he was standing just outside Shindou Shuichi's dressing room door deciding if he should do this or not. He was about to chicken out when Maki-kun and Ken-chan offered him whistling cat calls and victory signs from the hallway, that he sighs and fidgets with the bouquet of long stemmed red roses he was holding. Why did he ever let those two in on the plan anyway? What was he thinking? For sure the two will tease him to death when they find out that he suddenly turned serious about the whole courting thing.
Aizawa Tachi raised his knuckles to rap at the door when it burst open. He was met with the sight of Shindou Shuichi with all his adorable glory. And being the smooth guy Aizawa Tachi is, he smiled, twirled the bouquet of roses and bowed deeply.
"So we meet again, Shuichi-kun." He said in a drawling voice. He raised himself to tower over Shuichi's petite form and offered the flowers to him. The vocalist of Bad Luck reluctantly accepted the flowers and looked up to him in curiosity.
"What's this for?" He asked in a confused voice.
"Do I need a reason to give it to you?" Tachi asks in a mock hurt voice as he puts his hand over his chest in a show of hurt. Shuichi shook his head.
"I guess not..." Shuichi says as Tachi notices a blush creep on the latter's cheeks as he reverts his gaze down. Tachi smiled.
"And in case you're wondering... I'm Aizawa Tachi." He said as he offered his hand for a handshake. Shuichi lifted his gaze again to offer Tachi a genuine smile.
"Hmmp. And so you have a name! I thought I would be forever referring to you as the raven haired guy!!" Shuichi said as he grasped Tachi's outstretched hand. They shook hands for a moment but Tachi held onto the pink haired's hand for longer than necessary.
"Uh, I'd go put this in a vase." Shuichi said as he stole his hand back and went back in the dressing room. As soon as the Bad Luck's vocalist back was turned Tachi smiled satisfactorily and went in after.
Aizawa Tachi watched as Shuichi sloppily placed the flowers within the already overflowing vase. He struggled for awhile before saying success. Shuichi turned back to face Tachi to ask a few questions.
"Are you working here at NG Corps? I never saw you before."
"You could say that..." Tachi answered somewhat slyly.
"Huh? So what do you do?"
"Well, I'm actually a recording artist here at NG Corps, along with my band mates."
"Really?!! Well that's good!! Are you going to be released soon? What's the name of your band?" Shuichi asked in one breath. Tachi shook his head in amazement. So it is true. Bad Luck's vocalist is indeed a loud mouthed fool but nonetheless a lovable fool.
"Pretty soon I guess. Our producer says that he's just waiting for the right time to release us. And our band's name is ASK." At the word ASK Shuichi's eyes widened with surprise.
"You're the lead vocalist aren't you?" Shuichi asked him in an awe struck voice.
"I am."
"Oh wow. And I thought you were a janitor here or something..." Shindou said with a chuckle as Tachi threw him a half hearted glare.
"Just kidding!! Geez... Don't do that!! I receive enough glares to last me a life time you know!!" Shindou says as he waves his hand around. The pink haired vocalist happened to glance at the wall clock and shrieked when he found out that he was 20 minutes late for the interview!! K-san will skin him alive when he came!!
"Uh, I have to go Aizawa-kun! It's nice meeting you though!" Shindou says as he jogs outside. Tachi caught up with him in the doorway and stopped Shuichi from going any farther by clamping a hand on his shoulder.
"Yes? What is it? I'm really in a hurry..."
"That's Tachi for you... And I was wondering if you'd go out with me?" Shuichi looked at Tachi with surprise.
"But I don't even know you..."
"That's what dates are for Shuichi-kun." Aizawa drawled as his face loomed closer to Shuichi's astonished one. Shuichi blinked as he tried to come up with a conclusion. And when he reached a decision he smiled the smile that lit his whole features up.
"Sure. I'd love that." Tachi smiled and leaned ever closer to Shuichi. Shuichi's whole face was heating up at the thought and the possibility that Aizawa Tachi was going to kiss him. But before their lips could touch, a coughing noise startled the both of them that they practically flew off each other. When they raised their heads to see who made that rude interjection they found themselves face to face with a very murderous looking yet still picture perfect Yuki Eiri.
"Yuki-san!! What brings you here?" Shindou asked the blonde darkly, a frown marring his features. The pink haired vocalist did not, obviously, forget about the dating fiasco with the ice prince. Said blonde guy didn't say anything but clutched the bouquet of flowers he was holding tighter. Aizawa Tachi noticed that the bouquet was the exact same one he gave Shuichi a while ago. With jerking motions the blonde guy held the flowers to Shuichi's face and grumbled.
"What did you say?" Shuichi asked Yuki-san as Bad Luck's vocalist took the flowers from the guy's hand somewhat hesitantly.
"I said I'm sorry for yesterday." Yuki-san said so quietly still. Shindou blinked a couple of times as if he thought he must've heard wrong. But at the look of sincerity in Yuki's eyes said it all. Shindou sighed.
"That's all right. I was at fault too." He looked back and forth between the two and sighed.
"I really should get moving. I have this interview and I'm already..."
"SHUICHI-KUN!!" K-san's loud, booming voice floated through the hallways that made the Aizawa Tachi and Yuki Eiri cringe. Shuichi meanwhile was starting to hyperventilate at K-san's angry voice.
"There you are you little..." K-san abruptly stopped his lecture when he noticed that his charge was holding flowers and was standing between his prospects. The manager, momentarily forgetting about Shuichi's tardiness had grinned evilly.
"Sorry to interrupt you boys, but Shuichi-kun has some interview to attend." K-san said amiably as he waved his hand at the two gentlemen and grabbed Shuichi's elbow and started dragging him to who knows where. Shuichi turned back to the two as he vainly tried to wave.
"It's really nice meeting you Tachi-kun!! And Yuki-san don't worry!! You're forgiven!!" The duo consisting of K-san and Shuichi disappeared at the corner the latter laughing that genial but insane laughter of his all the way. The parting words of the pink haired idiot landed on deaf ears as Yuki and Tachi were already engaged in a glare down.
"What are you doing in Shuichi's dressing room?" Yuki Eiri asked venomously as he tried his best to glare daggers. Aizawa Tachi was not to be intimidated as he glared right back.
"It's none of your business what I do."
"Shuichi-kun is my business so that makes you my business." Yuki Eiri spat angrily. Aizawa Tachi just smirked.
"Well, well, well. How about that? Shuichi-kun's my business too! What are we supposed to do now?" Yuki Eiri faltered for a bit but recovered just as quickly with a smirk adorning his smooth, handsome features.
"Oh I don't know. But you can fuck yourself for all I care but Shuichi's going to be mine. Mark my words." This time, it was Aizawa Tachi who cracked as he felt his temper rise. He was not a patient person and most importantly he was possessive.
"Oh yeah? Says who?!"
"Says me." The two inched closer together and was on the brink on throwing punches on each other's too arrogant faces when the fellows hiding in the shadows stepped out.
"Woah. Break it up!! Break it up!!" One Uesugi Tatsuha said loudly as he reached for his brother to restrain him. At the same time Maki-kun and Ken- chan grabbed their vocalist to restrain him too.
The two didn't struggle from their restraints and let themselves be taken away by their respective captors. They were quickly pulled away in different directions before they get the chance to decide that they want to brawl after all. The two didn't break glare contact with each other and both held dirty fingers for the other one to see before they disappeared from their respective corners.
"HE'S MINE!!!" A resounding vehement was heard from both ends of the hallways as the two declared rivals finally left the vicinity of NG Corps. Meanwhile in the interview room, one Shindou Shuichi sneezed.
t.b.c