The Gun and the Guitar

Final Chapter 15: He Shoots, He Scores!

K woke up as stiff as a board. When he moved his head he grimaced. He'd acquired an awful kink and rubbed the back of his neck and stood to climb out of the bathtub. Glaring back at the damn thing, he padded to the door just as it flew open before he could handle the knob. Jumping back in sudden surprise, his eyes landed on a disheveled, groggy looking Hiro.

The brunette groaned like an injured animal.

"The princess awakes," K mused, only Hiro grunted his response and went to use the washroom.

K ran the faucet and splashed cold water on his face. That helped a little bit, but it did nothing for his aching, stiff body. He peered over at Hiro who stood in front of the toilet, eyes wavering closed, appearing to be falling asleep on his feet.

K sighed, poor guy. "Hiro!" he called to him to wake him up before he fell or something.

Hiro snapped open his eyes and groaned, "I think I have died…"

"No, you haven't died. You're just hung-over," replied K, smirking at his lover's misfortune and hunted down a bottle of aspirin near the sink. He opened it and handed two to Hiro and filled a glass with water, "Here," he offered.

Hiro took the aspirin and drank the entire glass. He held it back out, "More water," he asked hoarsely.

K filled the glass again and watched Hiro guzzle the water down like some kind of human sponge. The trick to not having such a bad hangover was to drink lots of water before you went to bed. But obviously Hiro couldn't get himself to bed all by himself last night since he'd already passed out.

"Just go back to bed," K told him and leaned over to kiss his cheek softly. Even if Hiro did drive him crazy with snoring, seeing him like this made him concerned.

Hiro smiled faintly at him and trotted off back to bed. K watched Hiro bury himself under the covers, pulling them over his head, hiding his eyes from the morning light.

The bed looked so inviting…

K was beckoned to it by its pledge of softness. Desperately in need of some real rest, K found himself snuggling up beside Hiro, sighing with comfort.

"Mmm…" K sighed again when he felt the brunette place a welcoming hand on his thigh. He fell asleep in seconds.

Hours later K and Hiro woke to a loud knocking at their door.

"Get up already, its noon!"

It was Shuichi.

Hiro groaned, "Go away!"

"We have to prepare for tonight Hiro," whined Shuichi through the heavy door. "Sakano is ripping out his hair!"

K opened his eyes, his face warmly buried in Hiro's hair. Then it hit him, "Noon?!" he cried, sitting up. Then he relaxed, he didn't have any meetings today, he reminded himself and the hockey game wasn't starting until seven o'clock.

Heh, a case of over-worked manager syndrome, he thought dryly and flopped back down on the pillow. They'd get the lyrics down pact by then.

"We'll be down shortly, Shuichi!" hollered K and turned his attention to Hiro. "How are you feeling now?" he asked his lover.

"I feel like shit," Hiro said plain and simple, "but…a tiny bit better than earlier." If he talked to loud his head bonged. He turned around to face K, laying his head on his arm.

"I guess that's good…but I think you really drank too much. Do you remember anything?" K said, laughing lightly and feeling much better after getting a few more hours sleep outside of the confounded bathtub.

"I vaguely recall a blanket and a pillow in the washroom this morning. Was I dreaming?" Hiro asked, watching K.

K wasn't sure he wanted to embarrass the man and hesitated.

"Oh no, don't tell me I had booze breath or something?" Hiro cried and covered his mouth, scrambling out of bed. He ran to the washroom to brush his teeth.

K laughed at his silly paranoid lover and turned to his other side to watch Hiro as he brushed. He stated, "No that's not it, but, err…you snore when you drink my friend. I just needed somewhere…quiet." K watched Hiro squeeze his eyes shut in awkwardness, he sighed.

Hiro didn't feel any better knowing that K had slept in the tub because of his snoring, rather than having bad breath. He rinsed his brush and went to sit on the end of the bed, "How embarrassing, I'm sorry," he said.

"Are you kidding? Forget about it," K waved his hand at Hiroshi, "I'm sure I do sometimes too," K shrugged. "Come back to bed and let me hold you for a minute or two…or three."

"Don't squish me too tight, my tummy hurts," Hiro murmured, shrugging off the snoring revelations.

"Gentle love for my gentle lover," K delivered and smiled when Hiro crawled over to him.

Evil glares were cast their way as K and Hiro enlightened everyone with their presence. So they took an hour to come down to the coffee shop next door to the hotel after Shuichi called on them. No big deal.

Hiro sat down and ordered two coffees for himself.

"Shuichi, sing me the both anthems back to back," demanded K, in good spirits. It was never a bad time for a little joke now and then.

Shuichi looked at his manager strangely.

K laughed only to himself.

Shuichi sighed at K's crazy sense of humor and said, "I do have the songs mostly memorized, it's easy. But there are a lot of verses in the American anthem; do I have to sing them all? And aren't we going to have a rehearsal?"

"They won't ask you to sing the entire American anthem, just a few verses. And no, no rehearsal really. Not to worry, they promised me everything will work properly," K explained.

"You didn't give us anytime to prepare!" Suguru cried. "This is last minute. Are we just going to go out there and…" he gulped, "…improvise?"

K blinked in thought. "Yup," he answered.

"K…." Hiro said irritably, feeling a bit of the tension now that everyone was talking about this.

Sipping a coffee casually, K looked around at everyone. "Look, the notes are simple. No fuss. If you want to improvise, go for it. Just try it. We'll head over there now and you guys can get your shit together. They might let you warm up, trust me, ok?"

Reluctantly everyone nodded.

Yuki stayed behind to work on his novel and told Shuichi he'd see him later at the game. When they arrived at the huge arena, very close to the CN Tower, Bad Luck felt apprehensive. Security was tight around this building; K had to show the persnickety guard, authentic credentials and the whole nine yards.

They walked through cinder block hallways all painted with glorious, colourful hockey figures. But finally reaching a set of double doors they pulled them open to find themselves between the stands. Entering, they walked up to the glass boards surrounding the ice rink. The building was empty, except for crew workers that were preparing for tonight's game. A big machine roared by and made the ice shine like glass, but only momentarily as the water froze over the ice.

"A Zambonie," K told them.

"What a funny name for a machine," Hiro said wonderingly, trying to whisper the name over his tongue.

After the huge machine went off in another direction a coordinator came in search for them. He was a younger guy in charge of the itinerary for each game. He was the man that made sure things went as planned.

But first he asked, "Hey, have you guys ever been on an ice rink before?"

K explained what he asked.

Bad Luck shook their heads 'no'.

"Go on then, give it a whirl. We're headed for that door over there anyways. We can show you the equipment you'll be using tonight," he said, smiling friendly like and expertly slid over the ice to the door in question.

They slid their feet over the ice carefully.

"Weee!" Shuichi sang and glided over the ice playfully. Hiro joined in, unable to resist a little fun. Suguru couldn't help himself either and played along.

K laughed at them. "We're not here to put on an ice-capade show guys," he teased.

The fun was short lived; it didn't take very long to get to the other side. They followed the coordinator and inspected their equipment…all top of the line stuff. There was no room for complaint and each took some time to get a feel for it. K asked the man if everything was ready to roll and the coordinator nodded. He told them they could also warm up if they wanted to.

Suguru nodded. "Yes let's do that. I have an idea to make these anthems a little more fun."

Sakano beamed and looked at K.

"Sure, why the hell not," the blonde said, smiling like a million yen.

Bad Luck had no trouble playing the anthems. Hiro and Suguru were comfortable and Shuichi sung beautifully. He did however, find that he needed to read the words every now and again. But that was no problem, a few more tries and he got it down pact. It took about two hours of their time, which wasn't very long, but they were beginning to feel the excitement so it didn't feel that bad. When they realized that K was right, this gig wasn't like a concert, they relaxed. They couldn't wait to sing for an entirely new nation of people.

And the game itself wasn't going to start until seven. The coordinator told them if they wanted a break, to do it now.

"Be back by six o'clock, that gives you one hour," he said.

"Don't loose your passes and meet back here," Sakano explained. "Don't wander off to far, stay in the building."

Everyone went off to do their own separate things until that time.

K and Hiro grabbed some coffee and sat in the bleachers—tenth row up from the ice.

"I can't believe I'm sitting so close the ice," K said with awe.

Hiro smiled over at K, "You really like this stuff, eh?"

"Yeah, I haven't been to a real sporting event in ages. I miss it."

Sipping his coffee, Hiro asked, "Will we get to stay and watch the game?"

"Oh, yeah!" K exclaimed.

Shivering a little the guitarist added contemplatively, "You know, I liked this city despite being attacked." He placed his hand in K's.

The tall blonde smiled warmly at the gesture and gave Hiro's hand a little squeeze, "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was skeptical at first, new surroundings, new everything. It can be quite a shock to tour in a new country."

Hiro nodded, "Must have been how you felt when you came to Japan, huh?" he wondered aloud.

"Yeah a little, it's like night and day when you compare the two countries. But you see, when I was in the Secret Service, I was also assigned to foreign affairs. I wonder if it was a coincidence that I choose to learn Japanese when we had to pick a language when I was in school." K chuffed softly. "There were all kinds of languages to learn, but I choose the hardest."

"Because you're stubborn," Hiro teased lightly.

K laughed.

"I was a fast learner when it came to language, never knew I had a knack for it," K explained.

"I always wondered about how you came to know Japanese." Hiro had a thought. "Do you think you could, you know, help me learn more English?" he asked earnestly.

K's face lit up, "Really? Sure, I'll give you a new word everyday. But first you have to learn how to say the basics, like introductions and then stuff like, 'Where's the toilet?'"

Hiro laughed, he guessed that would be an important thing to be able to say. But he wanted to learn something else right away.

"Can you tell me how to say," he blushed and looked away before uttering, "I love you."

How sweet, K thought and smiled warmly at Hiro. Slowly, he pronounced it for the brunette, saying it like he meant it as well.

Hiro couldn't help but blush more.

Their whole hour was spent going over the English basics. Hiro found he was very eager to learn, and K was a great teacher. When he said something correctly, K awarded him with a kiss. By the time they got back to the meeting place, Hiro was saying, "I love you" and "Hello, my name is, Hiroshi Nakano".

Truthfully, Hiro had a hidden agenda for wanting to learn some English. Really, he wanted to be able to talk to Michael a little when he met him. It was something he'd been thinking a lot about lately. It would suck if K had to translate for him all the time.

Laughing, K was imagining Hiro walking up to a stranger going, 'Hello my name is Hiroshi, I love you'.

"What's so funny?" Hiro looked at K perplexed.

"Oh nothing…" K waved his hand and smiled to himself with his silly thoughts.

Hiro chuckled at K as Shuichi ran over to them, "Guess what?"

"What?" Hiro asked, watching Suguru returning with Sakano as well.

"Ok, I walked into a room full of guys, hockey players, anyways, they thought I was some crazy fan and almost beat me up…"

"What?!" Hiro blasted.

"But I tried to explain that I was here to sing the anthems and that I'm with Bad Luck. So, I started to sing the American anthem and they almost beat me up again, heh, I guess it was the wrong team, so I sang the other one. Then one of them recognized me and they told me to get you guys," Shuichi said excitedly and grabbed Hiro's arm, hauling him in the direction of the change rooms. "Come on this way!"

The group followed them and they stumbled into some sweaty locker room filled with half naked hockey players. Most had on their skates and shin pads, knee pads, socks, and their heavy suspender-styled hockey pants.

The room looked like a tornado had gone off in it, equipment was everywhere—naked chests.

Bad Luck blinked.

"Hey, it's the little Asian guy with pink hair again," one of the men claimed.

"So, you're the ones here to play our Canadian anthem in Japanese tonight," said another big burly looking hockey player.

Bad Luck nodded, even though they didn't fully understand what the guy said.

"Well, isn't that something," another stated, lacing up his skate.

"Too bad you can't slip in that Toronto is going to kick L.A's ass," went another.

The locker room broke out in hilarity.

"Err, Shuichi how did this happen?" asked K, looking over players. He looked stunned when it hit him that he was actually standing in the Toronto Maple Leafs locker room! Squeee! He eyed many of NHL's famous players. There was Mats Sundin! Darcy Tucker and Mark Bell! Awesome!

"I thought this was the door to the washroom," Shuichi said embarrassed, "But hey! I know a few English words, I'm sure they told me to get you guys and come back…so I did."

K palmed a hand over his face, he explained in English, "I'm sorry about Shuichi here. I think he misunderstood, we'll be leaving now." He wanted to be cool and professional, but he couldn't stop himself, K dug out a pen and the only piece of paper he had, a business card, "Can I please have your autograph?" he asked Mats Sundin, "I'm a big fan!"

Bad Luck gaped at their manager, and then they all chuckled.

Smiling coyly, the blonde hockey player happily signed K's card. K was beaming like a child, holding his autograph with pure joy. "Thanks…" he breathed.

Another big hockey player, with his hair tied back, stood up and claimed, "Actually, your buddy didn't make a mistake, I did tell him to go get his friends and come back. I'm surprised he understood. If you want, you can come out and warm up with us on the ice."

"This is the guy that asked me," Shuichi explained happily to K.

"For real?" K questioned, he couldn't believe it.

A few players laughed at K and handed him a pair of skates. They handed everyone some skates.

"I hope you find a pair that fits," one of them said.

K didn't care if he had to squish his foot into the skate like Cinderella and her glass slipper! He wasn't missing out on this. As K laced up his skates, he whispered to Hiro who sat next to him, "I think I have died and gone to heaven."

"You're hilarious," the brunette said and chuckled.

Shuichi wobbled when he stood up on his skates. He nearly fell and grabbed onto Suguru for support, almost hauling him down too.

"Shuichi!" the musician whined.

But Shuichi didn't let go of Suguru as they followed the hockey team all the way to the ice. He looked over at Hiro who didn't seem to keen about being in a pair of ice skates either. K was practically holding him up by his jacket.

They got to the ice and at first contact; Hiro and Shuichi went down like a ton of bricks.

K hauled them both up. "Stay close to the boards and hold on," he explained before he zoomed off.

Both stood watching incredulously, "How'd he do that?"

"Dunno," Hiro muttered and clung to the side board.

Still, skating with the hockey players was extremely fun, even if it hurt a few times. The ice was so hard. K and Sakano were the most confident of them all on skates. They helped Shuichi, Hiro and Suguru a little.

Shuichi wished Yuki was here to try this out as he picked himself up off the ice for the hundredth time. His arse was gonna be sore later, he thought and rubbed his wet bottom. Maybe Yuki would kiss it better for him later, he mused.

But Hiro felt himself become a teensy more comfortable on the thin blades of steel, able to move forward and without holding onto the boards. Of course he stayed close to them, but at least he could move without holding on. He admired the speed these athletes got on these things. He stared down at his skates in wonder. Deciding to stay still, he opted to watch the hockey players and his friends rather than skate.

And how they stopped on the ice! Shaving sheets of ice flying into the air was amazing.

At the moment, he watched K with a hockey stick in his hands, taking a few shots at the goal tender that stopped every single one. Hiro enjoyed seeing K like this. His face was all pink from the cold air and he was clearly enjoying himself. He could hear his laughter and jokes right from where he was. And K could stop just like the hockey players and he did so as he came back over to him, spraying ice all over his pant legs.

"Isn't this just sooo cool!" the blonde shouted and spanked Hiro's butt gleefully and tore off again.

"Whoa!" Hiro wobbled and crashed to the ice again. His groan turned into a laugh, he just sat there.

"I suck at this," whined Shuichi who managed to reach his best friend.

"Me too," commented Hiro but nodded after Sakano and K, "But, they love it."

Shuichi helped Hiro up. Suguru joined them too, he puffed out of breath and the three of them stood by watching K and Sakano play around until it was time to get off the ice. That big machine that cleaned the ice was coming out again at the other end. Even some people were filling the seats, getting ready to watch the game.

They returned to the change room and thanked the players for giving them an opportunity of a life time. They removed their skates and Shuichi dramatically fell to his knees and kissed the floor.

"Oh thank you for being here, floor. Thank you!" he cried.

Laughter broke out in the change room.

Suddenly that coordinator guy came in. "You guys are on in fifteen minutes. Go get dressed if you have to and your equipment is out there now. Good luck guys," he said and asked them to follow him.

The Toronto Maple Leafs said goodbye.

K eagerly waved back at them before he left.

Fifteen minutes went by quickly and before they knew it, they found themselves walking down a red carpet to the center of the ice rink. On either side of the carpet were the L.A Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. They stood in a row, joining the fans for the national anthems. Looking over the vastness of the crowd, they realized thousands of people were watching them. Television camera's were aimed in their direction…the whole world was watching them!

The lights were dimmed and the adrenaline flowed within their veins. The arena went dark and only a spotlight shined down on them. Bad Luck heard the announcer introduce them and the audience watched in silence.

First Shuichi had to sing the away team's anthem first, which was the American one.

K and Sakano watched from the penalty box at the end of the carpet. Shuichi sang his heart out and Hiro played a more hip version of the country's national anthem. Suguru emphasized it on his synthesizer. When it came time to sing the home team's anthem, the crowd stood up and sang the song along with Shuichi in patriotic unison.

And when it ended there was an empty silence…Bad Luck waited with trepidation.

But the audience cheered with a deafening roar and gave them a standing ovation.

Phew!

"That was awesome!" cried Shuichi and bowed as the audience clapped…some gave piercing whistles.

Bad Luck bowed again and turned to leave the ice so the hockey game could begin.

They met up with K and Sakano.

"You guys are going to love this," K started, "The coordinator asked if you guys would sing a song during intermission. Of course, I told them you would."

"All right!" Shuichi cried throwing a fist into the air.

"So we get to play our own stuff?" Suguru exclaimed.

K and Sakano nodded triumphantly.

"Excellent!" Hiro and Shuichi cried, giving each other a high five.

This was a nice way to end their tour in Toronto, thought Hiro. Millions of people were going to watch them between here and television. It was so exciting! Hiro cast a look at K as they all sat in the front row, seats that were reserved for them. He wondered for a moment if K somehow convinced someone to let them play. But K only winked at him and that was enough of an answer for Hiro.

Players crashed into the boards in front of them and Shuichi, who was pressed up to the glass, screamed. Hiro snickered at his friend, even though the crash had scared him a little too. Shuichi stuck his tongue out at him.

Yuki was here.

He'd shown up just as they started to sing the anthem. He pulled Shuichi away from the glass, "You'll get hurt." Hiro overheard him say. He smiled at the sweet way Yuki talked to his best friend. That was the kind of thing he wanted to hear. It made him feel good and he intertwined his foot on the inside of K's.

"Enjoying the game?" K asked, feeling Hiro's movement. His lover seemed in thought rather than watching.

"It's alright," he murmured but found himself distracted. He didn't think he liked hockey that much and he felt a little bored.

K just smiled, Hiro didn't have to like the sport just because he did. "Don't worry, it's almost time for you guys to play again and then there's only one more period," he said.

Hiro continued to watch, the game wasn't totally boring. He imagined watching it live like now was better than watching it on TV. He just didn't see the point about chasing a rubber puck around. And he couldn't believe how rough this game was. Two players had tossed their gloves to the ice and got into a fight, one pulled the others sweater over his head and pummeled his face. They got put in something called the penalty box for that.

"Geesh," Hiro said, astounded.

"I know, isn't it a great game!" K cheered.

Hiro had to smirk at K's enthusiasm. This game was rough and fast, just up K's alley, thought Hiro. Well, as long as he was happy.

Second period ended and Bad Luck went back to a thunderous applause again. This was a good sign. They waved to the crowd and knew which song they would sing, Smashing Blue.

"Sing your heart out, Shuichi!" yelled a familiar voice from nearby.

Bad Luck turned around and spotted Ryuichi and the rest of Nittle Grasper standing with K and Sakano. Cool! They had come to watch them perform as well. Shuichi waved at Ryuichi. But then a light bulb lit up above head! He had an idea and called Ryuichi to come out with him on the ice.

Ryuichi didn't hesitate; he ran out on the red carpet and joined Shuichi with pleasure.

Murmurs flitted throughout the crowd.

"We're going to sing—"

"Doesn't matter what you sing, Shuichi," Ryuichi stated, "I know the lyrics to all of your songs. Just start."

Shuichi gaped at his idol. That was so cool!

Bad Luck began their song. But at the other end of the carpet the coordinator hollered, "Hey, who is that new guy…security!" the man cried and held up his walkie-talkie to his mouth.

"Excuse me…" K said coolly and stuck his gun up the man's nose, "…but history being made here."

The man shut up and gulped.

"That's a boy, put the radio back in your pocket and enjoy the show," demanded the tall blonde.

The man did so and Bad Luck rocked the building. Even the hockey players had come to watch instead of taking a break in their locker rooms. Ryuichi and Shuichi sang so well together, and the foreign crowd before them loved it. When they finished, the stadium was vibrating from the cheers and banging on the chairs that the crowd initiated. Bad Luck and Ryuichi bowed, waving to the people.

And when it was over, they began to make their way off the ice. Except…

Hiro looked back at the microphone that still stood there. He didn't realize it, but his feet drove him back to it. He wanted to say something and the perfect thing came to mind.

Shuichi, Suguru and Ryuichi stopped and looked back.

"I love you Toronto!" Hiro told the crowd in English.

The crowd cheered even more. But then he did something really bold, he turned around to face K, microphone in hand. The blonde was watching him intently.

"Hiro, what are you doing?!" hissed Sakano.

Hiro ignored the producer. Instead he smiled and spoke Japanese into the mic, "I have the chance to tell the world how I feel, and…I couldn't pass that up." He stared at K, "I love you…" he said loud enough for everyone to hear in English.

He replaced the microphone back to the stand and walked off the ice. Many people in the crowd went, "Awww…"

Shuichi almost tackled Hiro when they got off the ice. "Hiro! That was awesome and romantic and awesome….and so romantic!" he gushed foolishly, his violet eyes shinning at his friend.

"Yeah, I know," Hiro said roguishly. Ok, maybe he had lost his mind, but he felt great! Casting a careful look at K, he wondered if he was mad at him. But it was a spur of the moment type thing…he shrugged innocently.

K just stared at him, a big silly grin spread across his face. He walked over, forgetting everyone else, his gun still stuck up the coordinator's nose. "Hiroshi…" he murmured looking down at his lover, "I don't know what to say." K spoke his voice thick with surprise. He was taken aback; no one had ever done anything like that for him before. It made him think back to the time he got Ayaka to show up at Bad Luck's concert, and it made Shuichi so jealous that he yelled: "Yuki is mine!" It made K chuckle now, he-he, he'd been so devious doing that. But this wasn't something easily done for Hiro, K knew. For him to do this, meant everything!

There wasn't anything to say really, and K swept Hiro up in a big hug. And then, in front of everyone—the world, he kissed Hiro with everything he had, every piece of himself.

Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper looked on, each smiling goofily at each other. The two didn't realize it but they were being starred kissing on the stadium's jumbo-sized screen.

"LOOK!" screeched Shuichi, tapping on Hiro's shoulder, "You guys are on T.V!"

Hiro and K pulled back and their eyes followed to where Shuichi was pointing. Oh my god! They were on the big screen!

K gave the camera a triumphant thumb's up and pulled Hiro tightly to him again. Staring into those cool grey eyes, K leaned in and kissed Hiro again, for the whole world to see…

A/N: Well that's all she wrote XD The end of Part 1. I will post the second part as soon as I can edit the first chapter. I had a little fun with this chapter, doing the whole hockey thing. I really wanted Hiro to have a moment, so I did it with the microphone and a televised kiss LOL! I really hoped you enjoyed this and thanks for anyone that took the time to read it. The second part becomes a whole new ball game.

Thanks again! Much love!