Author note: And another one! I'm on a roll! For anyone who didn't notice, there's another new chapter before this one. Read that before you read this!
Warning: Contains a distinct shonen tilt. Don't like? Don't read.
Pair: Hiro and K
Disclaimer: If I owned Gravitation, the series would probably never get around to ending. Mind you...our update patterns aren't too dissimilar...

The club was full, and Hiro was watching passively as Shuichi went into hyperactive mode. He was glad the singer was fired up, but he couldn't quite get in the mood for the concert himself. Suguru sat next to him, watching as the red-head tuned his guitar.

"This is the one, Hiro." The keyboardist patted his arm. "We finally made it." Hiro nodded tightly.

There was no warm up, no 'beer snack' band, just Bad Luck. Hiro and Suguru set up quietly as Shuichi moved to the front of the stage with a microphone.

"Hey guys!" he called. The audience cheered and he waved for silence. "I know you all came expecting an amazing concert, and you'll get one, but this is gonna be a little different." The hall was quiet. "As you all probably know, we recently lost a much loved member of our team: our manager, K. This gig is dedicated to him, as is the new album."

Hiro bit his lip as the video screen behind them started a slideshow of photos of K: band photos, images of K with Bad Luck from publicity shots and frames from the security cameras in their studio (cameras they didn't know existed until Tohma had donated the images); personal pictures of days out they'd all had together, collected from their own albums; and one or two from his army days which had been donated by Ark. The sight of the American, blond hair pulled into a high ponytail, dressed in black and carrying several weapons, but sticking his tongue out and shooting a peace sign at the camera, made more than a few of the audience laugh. Hiro almost broke down then.

Shuichi smiled slightly and handed the microphone to Suguru, setting up an expectant murmur. Up until now, he'd been nearly silent on stage, speaking only to the other members of the band. Aside from the infamous press conference when Hiro had almost left and Suguru had ended up screaming furiously at Shuichi, overturning the table and knocking over several reporters until Hiro had arrived and put a stop to the keyboardist's rampage, the public had hardly ever heard his voice.

"Hi, I know I'm usually pretty quiet, but this is a special occasion." He took a deep breath. "I don't know how many people know this, but I was never an original member of Bad Luck. I was added to the line up later on, just after the band's debut. It was K who finally settled me into the group, mainly because he wouldn't let me leave." A photo of K holding a sobbing Suguru at gunpoint appeared, making everyone laugh. Hiro choked on a sob, and Shuichi patted his arm comfortingly. "This band is like our family, and to each of us, K was a friend, a father, and a lover, as we each needed him to be."

The concert hall was filled with a low muttering again. Lover? Hiro took the mike, as a photo of him, K and Michael flashed onto the screen. Hiro bit his lip. It was the photograph from their coffee table. After swallowing back more tears, he stepped forward.

"None of you are really aware of this, but K and I were dating for three months before he...um..." a tear escaped and trickled down his cheek, but went unnoticed in the general murmuring. "K was my best friend outside of the band, my soul mate, and my lover. We had just moved in together. Ever since we got to know each other, even before we started dating, we supported each other through ups and downs, from my family squabbles, to his divorce. I'll always remember every day he was with us, but the first time we met will always stand out in my mind, if only because we were all scared shitless by this crazy American holding us a gunpoint." More laughter. "K wouldn't want us to mourn him; he'd want us to celebrate his life. And that's what this album is about."

American Idiot.

It's My Life.

Summer of '69.

Crazy, Crazy Nights.

Hiro cried as he played the older, rockish songs that K had loved, even with Shuichi butchering the English, or Yuki having already translated them to Japanese. They weren't quite the usual sounds Bad Luck went with, and some of the others they played were old fan favourites, or new ones from the album more like their usual techno songs.

Living on a Prayer.

Hiro was so engrossed in his playing, in the music he and his lover and his lover's son had sung and danced to in their kitchen, that he didn't notice the ruckus amongst the security team, or the slight falter in Shuichi's vocals.

He didn't even really register the tall figure in the scruffy coat and hat climbing onto the stage not four feet from him.

TBC