Disclaimer: I do not own any gravitation characters

Warning: Tohma is out of character! Considering that he's 9 years younger that makes sense for him to be that way. There is no accurate information that could justify him being otherwise so please be nice other than that I hope you all enjoy chapter 1!

And sorry I don't have a beta reader yet so there maybe a few mistakes I overlooked.

Chapter 1: Turmoil

Tohma Seguchi groaned loudly at the sound of the incessant pounding at his apartment's front door. He had been trying to ignore it for the past five minutes, but it was obvious that his band mate wasn't close to giving up. He wanted to go back to bed and forget the plans of the whole day but Noriko was persistent in aggravating him until he let her in. While he knew that she had her reasons for wanting to force her way in so that she could speak to him. He felt that she should let him work out his issues on his own. Although he knew that his issues weren't just his, but also his band. He knew he had to get his temper in tune before he could face anyone right now.

Last night Tohma had reached his limit with Taku. Just remembering the incident caused the blonde to seethe excessively. He was always the type to keep his cool but when it came to Nittle Grasper's lead singer, Tohma could do anything but.

He sat up on his bed as he positioned his legs in Indian style form while he hugged his pillow. Taku was far more than he expected his old college buddy to be. He was strident, demanding, self-centered and looked at him as the band without Tohma and Noriko inclusion.

"You guys just provide my music, I am the band."

Tohma growled loudly as he threw his pillow at the wall. It was no way he could continue this band with the likes of him.

"Tohma if you grit your teeth too much you'll need braces," he heard a voice state sternly from his bedroom doorway.

The blonde looked up to find himself staring at his long time friend and band mate. He knew he was going to get an earful from her for not letting her in but that was the least of his troubles currently. Lying back down, he pulled the covers over him so that she couldn't see his face.

"Tohma its okay to show how annoyed you are with Taku," Noriko said casually as she sat down on the bed next to him. Tohma could feel himself relaxing a bit at the sound of her gentleness.

"I will say I didn't expect him to be this way once we were able to score a development deal. It's like he became a diva within a matter of weeks and we don't even have a single out yet." Noriko said as she let out a sigh. "Also I'm more surprise that you kept your cool for this long. It was a matter of time before you blew up."

Tohma inhaled deeply as he lifted the lilac comforter from over his head. His blue eyes gazed at his band mate as he moved himself to a sitting position. He knew that he had no reason to act so immature but holding your anger in for so long could do that to a person. He wasn't just angry at the fact that their lead singer wasn't cooperating. He was angry at the fact that Nittle Grasper, his baby was falling apart in front of his very own eyes.

It wasn't easy getting his idea of the band in full motion and now things were being ripped apart bit by bit by the heart of the group, the vocalist. Still, he knew things weren't going to be easy. That factor had been accepted and the hard work of getting things together had shown that. Even so to have a vindictive front man like Taku was beyond the calculations that he predicted could go wrong.

"What happened to him? He use to be so easy to get along with." Tohma asked as he sat and moved himself to the edge of his bed next to Noriko.

"The thought of fame has happened to him, and I don't think that Nittle Grasper can survive if he keeps this up. But this was our dream right? And we've worked so hard to get to this position. Let's not let Taku's diva complex ruin that for us okay? Things will work themselves out."

Tohma sighed as he rolled his eyes. Things would work out? He wanted to laugh at Noriko's logic. Things only worked out when the person forced them to. Watching his dad over the years made Tohma realize that small aspect in life. Though becoming like his dad was the last thing that he wanted. He knew that if he didn't remove Taku from the band as soon as possible, Nittle Grasper was going to sink faster than his relationship with is parents. He had sacrificed so much in order to make this band and he wasn't going to prove his father right by failing because of a blood-thirsty would be celebrity. He would just have to sit back and smile while biding his time. He didn't want to act out of malevolent behavior and ruin the band. He would just have to go out and find himself a new lead singer. A person that he and Noriko could naturally hit it off with and not feel a tinge of regret for booting Taku in favor of. While that was the plan, he knew that it would be harder than it sounded.

A few hours later, the duo arrived at the studio to find their "favorite" vocalist already at work. While his hard work was admirable, Tohma couldn't help but to feel a bit infuriated that he'd went right to work without the rest of his band mates. It was as if Tohma and Noriko didn't exist and this was his own solo project.

"So you two finally showed up," the studio direct said as he smiled at the two warmly.

Tohma's bitterness ceased slightly at the warm welcome. Kazuma knew exactly how they felt working with Taku since he had witness everything over the past few weeks. So when there were days that the two were late or in a bad mood, he was completely understanding of it and let it go.

"Yea sorry about this I had a hard time getting Tohma out of bed this morning," Noriko said as she followed it with a giggle while walking over to the chair next to Kazuma.

Tohma smiled softly as he looked over into the booth at Taku. Their eyes met as they glared at each other intensely. Blue eyes met brown eyes as the two men tried to intimidate each other without the need of words. It was hard to believe that they use to be close friends only a few weeks ago, but now there was not a single trace of that past between them.

"Tohma will you stop staring at him like a 15 year old and pretend for once that you're 21." Noriko said as he looked at him with a slight scowl. The blond sighed heavily as he walked over to the couch at the back of the room and flopped down onto it. He knew he was being childish but he wasn't exactly use to not getting his way. He had been the only child and he always got what he wanted. Unlike most siblings who had to resort to trickery and temper tantrums to get their way, Tohma just asked and it was given. This was something he wasn't quite use to. Of course to Noriko this was typical behavior to a certain degree. He had always appeared to be a bit spoiled but this was overkill compared to the latter.

"Tohma in fifteen minutes we need your synthesizer part recorded." Kazuma yelled back to him without turning around.

"Sure," Tohma said as he stared through the glass and at Taku bitterly, he had to get this guy out of here. If not for everyone else, for himself before he quit this band himself.

"That's the third shot you've downed, are you sure you want another one Seguchi san?" the bartender asked as he looked at the man with concern. Tohma nodded as he slid his shot glass towards the man. Another session had ended and while everyone else went home, the blond felt like drowning his frustrations in a bit of alcohol. How was he supposed to continue working with that guy? He wanted so badly to just give him the boot but he knew he couldn't do that for his own personal desires. He had a band to think about and it wouldn't be one of the best decisions that he would make.

"I'm fine just give me another one, I won't go overboard," he reassured the man across him who let out a sigh before filling his glass up with another hit of sake. Tohma pulled his glass towards him when a soft but familiar melody suddenly flooded the room. Around this time he was ready to flee the scene because the last thing he wanted to hear was some drunkard on the mic singing terribly to another sad love song. Although he was annoying it was a bit nice to hear that someone was more miserable than he was.

"My heart has been taken, or maybe I surrendered."

Tohma stopped lifting his glass at the sound of voice that was coming from the stage. It was different from the others in more ways than one. Sitting down his glasses he began to turn around gradually.

"Your touch was all it took, to put my heart in remission."

"Wow he's finally back," the bartender said in a whisper.

Tohma turned around and looked at the man curiously. "I've never seen him around here."

"That's because he only comes here when he gets dumped. Every time he comes he sings a few love songs and has more than a few drinks. This time it was a record, he was gone for four months." He said as he chuckled.

"That's kind of pitiful," Tohma said as he looked back over at the stage.

"That may be so but every time he comes back, he has a hand full of poems he's willing to sing to everyone here. We like having him around, he even has a small fanclub here."

"Really?..." Tohma said as his attention became centered on the man on the stage. With each soulful tone he sung, the blonde could sense the pain within each phrase. His heart went out to the man to know that this was most likely a poem that he'd written when he and his lover were happily in love.

"The pain that I had known is now in the past. I'm ready to give up and become yours at last."

Tohma's heart soared as he took in the lyrics. It felt as if the song was being sung to him than to someone else. The raw emotion of each word that dripped seductively out of the man's mouth made his senses go crazy. The way he swayed his hips and ran his hands through his hair, signified all of the left over passion that his lover had left him with that was dying to burst out of him any moment.

"I put up a fight, but it wasn't strong enough. The warm loving you presented was just too much."

"What's this guy's name?" Tohma whispered to the bartender not looking back at him. He was mesmerized by the lyrics and the man on the stage. He'd always felt that Taku was a fantastic vocalist, but he wasn't nearly on par with the guy standing before him.

"Sakuma Ryuichi," the bartender whispered back.

"So I'm giving you my heart, lock it in your sanctuary. Keep your promise and never betray me."

"Sakuma san huh? I think I found a new vocalist for Nittle grasper." Tohma said as his eyes stayed glued to the figure on the stage. He was completely taken in by the performance and he knew that he wouldn't be able to take his eyes away when suddenly they connected.

"Lost in love is one way to describe it. I'm drowning in your kindness, your passion and desires. I'm drunk off of your love, this is more gratifying than I imagined."

Tohma felt frozen, Sakuma san was looking dead at him. Their eyes were locked as he continued to sing his song and the blonde knew that he couldn't just look away. As a matter of fact he didn't want to look away. His was completely taken in by every inch of the man as he continued to sing. The more he sang, the more sexual his body movements became. It was as if he was being turned on by Tohma's gaze only as he continued to run his slender fingers through his long brown hair. His violet colored eyes gazed intensely into his azure orbs as if he was trying to swallow up every inch of attention that Tohma was giving to him. It felt like they were staring at each other for hours when, as quickly as the song began, it was over.

The man on stage went from the serious, sexually charged singer to a happy go lucky teenager within an instantly.

"I see you're impressed," the bartender said as he poured Tohma another shot.

"Uh, yea…" Tohma trailed off as he turned back to the bar counter. He was good, but obviously a guy like that couldn't possibly want to go professional could he?"

"Sorry about that," a voice called out from behind Tohma in a sing song matter.

Tohma looked over to his left as the man on stage sat down beside him and smiled widely. The blond looked at the man in surprise as he cleared his throat. He wasn't expecting for him to come over and speak to him so casually.

"What will it be Sakuma san?" the bartender asked with a smile.

"I told you Taka Chan call me Ryu Chan!" Ryuichi responded chirpily. "But as for what I'll have, give me a fruit punch," he said as he looked over at Tohma and smiled.

Tohma on the other hand found it hard to believe that this was just the same man who was singing his heart out on stage. He seemed a bit different than before and Tohma couldn't quite touch it because it was an interesting sight.

"One fruit punch coming right up," Takashi said from behind the bar.

Ryuichi nodded as he continued to eye Tohma, "you aren't mad at me are you? I'm sorry if you got offended." Ryuichi said as he began to look a bit down. "But when I sing I have to find a person I can focus on and you seemed more of a better target than most out there." He said as he looked away as if he'd said something else wrong.

"Ryuichi are you hitting on another customer?" Takashi said as he slid Ryuichi his glass of fruit punch.

"No, I'm just trying to explain my behavior that's all," Ryuichi said as looked over at Tohma. "I wasn't trying to hit on you; I just thought you were…"

"No need to explain, I was fine with it." Tohma said cutting Ryuichi off.

"Really?" he asked needing reassurance.

"Really," Tohma said shooting him a warm smile.

"Wow that's a relief no da," Ryuichi replied back to his lively self. "I didn't want to offend you or anything…" He trailed off not sure of what to call him.

"Seguchi Tohma," Tohma answered a few seconds later.

"Toh-chan!" Ryuichi said as he broke out in a fit of giggles.

Tohma was taken back by that name as he coughed loudly. He had been taking a sip of his sake when the name he'd heard came out of Ryuichi mouth.

Looking over in alarm, Ryuichi began to pat Tohma's back gently as he apologized over and over again for the name. After Tohma regained his composure he looked over at Ryuichi, who now once again looked a bit upset.

"I'm sorry Tohma, I shouldn't have called you that."

Tohma couldn't help but to crack a smile, while he was a bit emotional he found himself becoming quickly fond of the man beside him. If it were anyone else who'd called him by his first name so quickly, he would have told them straight. But for some reason right now he didn't seem to mind.

"It's okay Sakuma san."

"Call me Ryu-Chan."

"Wow so this guy is that good?" Noriko asked as she took a bite of her onigiri that she'd just unraveled.

"Yea, he was that good," Tohma said recalling last night. After he'd left the bar he couldn't sleep when he'd gotten home. All he could think about was how great of a singer he'd just met. Not only was he a great singer, but he had an easy going personality though he was a tad bit emotional. But it was better having someone like that around than having Taku here any day.

"If he was that good why didn't you ask him if he wanted to join up with us?" Noriko asked as she leaned back in her chair and propped her legs up on the table.

The two had arrived at the studio two hours early to discuss Tohma's encounter with Ryuichi. He had been thinking long and hard last night and he wanted Ryuichi to join the band. But it wasn't like he could just walk up to him and ask him, he wouldn't seem professional if he did it that way.

"I couldn't just ask right then and there," Tohma protested.

"Why not?" Noriko asked as she looked at the blond.

"Because…"

"Because?"

"I can't say, but it's just something about him. He's a really nice person, and he may seem a bit childish but he's smart. He wouldn't just say yes to anything."

"Is that so…" Noriko trailed off as she started at the ceiling while continuing to nibble on her onigiri. "Well I'll come with you tonight, maybe with the both of us there we could work something out."

Tohma nodded as he continued to think, about the man. He hoped they could work something out. It was either that or way Nittle Grasper meet its maker.

End Chapter

A/N: Onigiri is a rice ball