Unchained Memories *complete*

Author: JadeHeart
Fandom: Gravitation
Warnings: some bad language and a little sexuality
Author’s Note: Thanks for taking the time to review, dracoqueen22. I know this wouldn’t appeal to everyone but it was still a little thought I had in wanting to determine how not only how Jim and Tohma met originally, but also what would have been happening with Nittle Grasper during that time. For some reason I have always felt that the incident with Eiri in New York was the beginning of the end of Nittle Grasper, and I just had some thoughts about Ryuichi’s character and how Kumagoro might have become so very important to him. So I’m just exploring a few ideas for myself - and if anyone else can find some enjoyment in reading it also then I’m really pleased. So thank you.
Summary:. The bonds that tie Tohma and Jim Harris together – and introducing Kumagoro. (Side story to ‘The Key to My Heart’)
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this, apart from Jim Harris and Kerryn Middleton, they belong to the creators of ‘Gravitation’.


Unchained Memories - Chapter 5


“Tohma, tell him!”

He stopped short, hand still on the handle as the force of Noriko’s cry was almost enough to prevent him from taking a step any further. She was standing in the centre of their dressing room, hands on hips, clenched in fists, still dressed in stage clothes, with her hair in disarray. Ryuichi sat in a chair before her, feet propped up on the counter before him, frowning up at the woman towering over him. He had obviously come in on the end of a rather heated discussion between the two of them.

“And what is it I’m supposed to be telling him?” Tohma asked calmly, mopping the stray droplets of water dripping down his face with the towel around his neck. The door swung shut behind him as he continued on his aborted way into the room. He had just returned from taking a much welcome shower after the show had finished. It was always a relief to be able to strip off the sweaty clothes and wash away the streaked stage make-up. Noriko hadn’t commandeered the shower first this time which was most unusual but he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to be the first to feel like a human again. He had stood under the water luxuriating in the steam and warmth, feeling the water wash away the itchiness of the drying sweat. It was so good to be clean again.

“He’s got to go to the police!” Tohma’s head snapped round to stare at his two friends, caught completely off-guard by her statement. Police? What was going on here?!

“Noriko, what are you talking about?”

“Nothing!” Ryuichi growled from his seated position, glaring at Noriko and refusing to look at Tohma. “It’s nothing for you to worry about!”

Noriko turned on him, reaching out a hand and swinging at him with enough force that Tohma could see that if she connected it wouldn’t be any love pat. Ryuichi’s arm came up quickly to intercept, capturing her wrist. They glared at each other, neither backing down. Tohma could see the muscles in Noriko’s arm bulging, evidence of the force she was maintaining in trying to finish her swipe, and Ryuichi’s knuckles were whitening, showing clearly the effort he was making to prevent her.

Tohma couldn’t speak or act for a moment, completely frozen in place by the tableau playing out before him. The times that any of the three of them had lost their tempers with one another could be counted on one hand in their time together. That one of them would physically try to hurt the other – that was unheard of.

Finally the full impact of what was going on between two of the people he loved most in this world hit him fully and propelled him into action. He stepped forward and laid a hand over the point of joining between Noriko and Ryuichi.

“That is enough,” he said quietly, leaving his hand there. Neither acknowledged him, making no move to show they were even aware of his presence.

“Enough!” he barked at them sharply and this time they released their grip quickly in response to his command. He rarely ever raised his voice to anyone and certainly not to either of them. That he did now was enough to penetrate their intense focus on each other and break the impasse.

Tohma looked first at Noriko and then at Ryuichi who still continued to glare at each other. However, he could now see the added brightness in Noriko’s eyes, past the anger, that denoted a deep-seated worry which was directed at Ryuichi. No, not at Ryuichi - for him. What was going on?, he wondered.

“Very well,” he said, remaining where he was as a buffer zone between the two combatants. “Who is going to tell me what is going on?”

“I told you,” Ryuichi said, turning his head away, “It’s nothing.”

“Really?” Tohma replied, “Then why don’t you look me in the eye and tell me that?”

Ryuichi refused to turn around, which was evidence enough that he was lying. He could never lie straight to Tohma’s face, or to Noriko’s, not when it really mattered. It was that level of trust that the three of them had for each other that they couldn’t, and wouldn’t, break.

Tohma turned then to Noriko. “Nori?” he questioned. Now however, for all that she had obviously been wanting to say something, now she seemed reluctant to do so. Evidently Ryuichi’s reasons for wanting to keep what ever it was a secret warred inside her between her wanting to respect his wishes and her worry about whatever he was trying to hide.

“Nori, you’ve dragged me into this between you two. Now it’s time you both,” and he stressed the last word to include Ryuichi, “told me what is going on.”

Noriko took a deep breath and chewed on her lip, one hand nervously pushing her sweat-dried hair from her forehead. “Ryu’s been getting some,” she paused, flicking a glance towards the person in question who was still steadfastly refusing to look at either of them and her mouth tightened in suppressed anger, “He’s been getting threat letters.”

Tohma blinked a couple of times as his mind tried to assimilate the information that her words were telling him but he just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “He’s been getting…what?” He had to clarify this. Surely he had misheard!

Noriko straightened where she stood as though defying him to ignore what she was saying. “Ryuichi’s been getting hate mail, threats.”

Tohma was left in no doubt now about her sincerity and he now turned to his other friend. “Ryu?”

“What?” was the surly reply.

“Is this true?” Ryuichi was obviously trying to be difficult.

“It’s no big deal!” was Ryu’s noncommittal reply.

“So it is true.” Ryu couldn’t make himself deny it completely so he was trying to hedge around it. “Where is it?”

“What?”

Tohma didn’t bother saying anything more, just simply held out his hand over Ryuichi’s shoulder. Ryu still refused to turn around but looked up to met Tohma’s eyes in the mirror before him. His face was set in a stubborn pout but Tohma was having none of that this time. Obviously his seriousness showed, for with a frown and a snort Ryuichi slapped a piece of paper into his open hand. Tohma drew it back to read the simple words pasted on the paper. It was short, and very to the point. It didn’t seem too bad though. Tohma had been expecting much worse.

“We need to let someone know about this,” Noriko insisted.

“I’m not sure the police will be particularly interested,” Tohma replied evenly. He was sure that the police would just laugh this letter off as a prank or a hoax. One letter wasn’t going to make them particularly concerned.

“But they’re really freaky!” Noriko said plaintively.

Tohma paused in mid-turn. “They?” he repeated, “Just how many of these are there?” He was getting a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Show him, Ryu,” Noriko now spoke directly to Ryuichi. “Please, Ryu, show Tohma. Please!” Noriko was pleading now, something Tohma had never seen her do.

Not even Ryuichi could refuse that plea, for with a sigh his head dropped and his shoulders slumped. “Okay,” and he reached towards the sports bag kicked under the dressing table, drawing it out to sit it on his lap.

Tohma drew closer as did Noriko, the two of them huddled around the seated figure of Ryuichi as they watched him draw out a wad of papers that spilled from his fingers to flutter to the floor. He slapped them down on the bench and Tohma reached out to pick up the top most one, then reaching with his other hand for the second.

He scanned the pages, picking up the next, then the next and so on. The words were simple, the drawings crude, but the intent was more than clear, alternating between hero worship and idolization, to hatred and insanity. Their message was only too real and too easy to read for all their simplicity, which made them all the more frightening in one way.

Tohma felt his eyes beginning to glaze as his mind tried to catch up with what was unfolding before him, and no matter how many papers he picked up it seemed that the pile was getting no smaller.

“Why..” he began and then had to try again as his throat closed up, “Why didn’t I know about this?” he asked quietly, not looking at either of the others.

“I didn’t want to worry you.” Ryuichi said, still not looking at him.

“Yet you told Noriko,” he said, feeling hurt at his exclusion and not able to hide the touch of bitterness in his tone.

Ryuichi flinched, “She found out by accident. I had my hands covered in ice-cream one day and we were in the middle of opening mail so I told her to go ahead and open mine as well. One of them was in that. So I didn’t actually tell her anything.” He sounded a little defensive, trying to justify his silence.

“When did you find out?” Tohma’s question was obviously directed to Noriko.

“Last tour.”

That long, thought Tohma. The two of them had kept this from him for that long. “Is that when this started?” he asked calmly.

“Not really,” Ryuichi confessed.

Tohma just raised an eyebrow at his evasiveness. “So when?” he asked, not letting him squirm away.

“Not long after we made it big over here.” Ryuichi answered grudgingly.

Almost two years ago then, Tohma thought, calculating it out roughly. Ryuichi had known about it for about two years, Noriko for abut one. And he was only just finding out about it now.

“Hmm, I see,” He let the papers in his hand slip through them and drift down to join the pile still resting there, before turning away and making his way to the modesty screen. He needed to dry himself off properly, he was feeling chilled all over.

“Tohma!” Noriko’s cry stopped him in his path. “Aren’t you going to do anything? Can’t you do something to help?”

“Why would you require me to do anything? The two of you obviously don’t think you need me?” and he slipped behind the screen, hiding himself from their view. He wiped his face down, ignoring the fact that the water being absorbed had a slightly salty tang. He pulled his clean clothes down and quickly dressed. There was still the after-tour party to go to and the guests of honour did have to attend.

“Tohma, please, we do need you! How could you think that we don’t?”

He didn’t try and reply to that. No, this time they were on their own. That is obviously what they wanted. He slipped away from the screen on the other side to head for the door.

“Tohma,” Two arms wrapped tightly around him, imprisoning his arms in place by his sides and pinning him where he stood. “Tohma, please, I’m sorry,” he heard Ryuichi whisper in his ear. He could feel the strength in the other’s arms and knew that he could fight him off but they would both suffer for it, although he was quite confident that he would win but he didn’t see much point to it. It wouldn’t remove the hurt he was feeling.

So he remained where he stood, silent and still. Ryuichi dropped his chin onto Tohma’s shoulder, not relaxing his grip. “I know you’re angry, Tohma, and I’m truly sorry. I didn’t want either you or Noriko to worry about it. I didn’t think it was anything to be stressed about at the start.”

“And now?” Tohma said quietly. There was silence.

“I don’t know,” Ryuichi admitted softly. “I still don’t think it’s anything more than a twisted fan. We’ve all run across those before and nothing’s ever come of it. I just didn’t want to drag either of you into any of this.”

“So you ignored your friends. Aren’t we good enough for you?”

“That’s not it!” Ryuichi said passionately, releasing Tohma only enough to swing him round to face him and holding him tightly by the shoulders. “That’s not it at all! I didn’t want to think that anything would happen to either of you. I wanted to take care of this by myself!”

“You idiot!” Noriko all but screeched launching herself at Ryuichi, arms flailing as tear ran down her cheeks, forcing him to release his grip on Tohma to fend her blows off. “How dare you do this on your own?! How dare you not tell us and let us help you? How dare you cut us off like we don’t mean anything to you?!”

She was crying in earnest now so her blows were no longer focused and Ryuichi had no trouble in pinning her arms and pulling her gently into his embrace so she could cry against his chest. He looked at Tohma over the top of her weeping head. “I’m sorry, Tohma. I’m sorry.”

Tohma felt his own eyes filling with tears. He had felt so hurt that both of them had left him out. They had always done everything together, been everything to each other no matter if there were other people in their lives, what they shared was something very special. Or so he had thought. Now he wasn’t so sure. He turned away again. He couldn’t remain here. It hurt too much to think that he didn’t mean as much to them as he had thought - or as he had believed.

“Tohma, you can’t leave us!” Noriko called out, between sobs. “Don’t leave us!”

“You kept all of this hidden from me,” he said quietly, not turning. “You didn’t want me to know any of this. You didn’t think to talk to me about it, or try and discuss it with me at all. I don’t know why you wanted to keep it a secret from me. I didn’t think we had any between us.”

“Of course we do,” Noriko said, her voice stronger now and steadier. “We all do. We’re not going to tell each other everything all the time. You know that as well as I do,”

“But we’ve always told each other the important things.”

“That’s right, usually we do, but again, not all the time. Sometimes we need time to ourselves to try and sort things out; but if we can’t do it by ourselves we have always gone to each other, haven’t we?”

“That’s right, Tohma,” Ryuichi said, and Tohma felt him draw closer to stand by his side. “We always come to each other when we have to.”

“And we are always there to help each other, even if we don’t know each other’s secrets.” Noriko said, standing by his other side. “It’s because we trust each other. And we’ll never abandon one another.”

Tohma felt a tear escape and slide down his cheek.

“Tohma,” Ryuichi said softly, laying a hand lightly on his shoulder and pressing against his side. “Tohma, I need your help. Don’t leave me.”

“Don’t leave us,” Noriko said just as softly and reaching up a long slender finger to wipe the tear away.

He lifted a shaking hand and buried his face in it as further tears slipped from his eyes. No, he couldn’t leave them. He had been a fool to even think that he could pretend that he could. Two sets of arms wrapped around him and he snaked an arm around each waist, drawing them in closer.

He closed his eyes as he took a deep breath that shook a little. “I’m sorry also,” he said quietly, squeezing them to convey the depths of his regret. “I’ve behaved abominably to you both. I’m sorry. Forgive me?”

“It’s okay,” Noriko said, looking up at him with a small smile, tears in her eyes. “It’s nice to see the great and almighty Tohma Seguchi fall flat on his face every now and then. That doesn’t happen every day!”

He smiled crookedly at her in response. Ryuichi ruffled his hair, tucking some stray strands behind his ear, smiling himself. “And I’m sorry for acting like a jerk,” he said. “I should have told you, told you both right from the start but I honestly did think that it would just go away. I never thought it would still be going on like this.” He shrugged a little. “Then, the more time that passed the harder it became because I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“So what are we going to do?” Noriko asked turning practical again.

“Firstly,” Tohma said, reaching up a hand with a clean handkerchief in it to gently wipe her tear streaked face, “You both are going to have showers and clean up because we have a party to go to.”

“But…”

“No buts,” he said firmly. “You have asked me to help, so leave it to me now. I’ll think about it and we’ll talk later.” He pushed Noriko towards the door. “Go and get ready. There is nothing we can do at this time so let’s leave it and address it later.”

Noriko didn’t look convinced and still hesitated. Tohma smiled at her. “Go. It will be all right, you’ll see.”

“Okay,” she said, turning with reluctance. “You’ll both be here when I get back?”

“Of course we will,” Tohma assured her. “We’re your escorts for the party; we could hardly leave you stranded!” She gave a quick nod and then left.

Tohma then turned to Ryuichi. “So what do you want to do?” he asked. Ryuichi looked at him, leaning back on the bench top, arms crossed over his bare chest. Tohma could see his skin raised in goosebumps and snagged a discarded jacket from where it had been thrown carelessly over the back of a chair and walked forward to flip it around the singer’s shoulders. Ryu gave him a wordless smile of thanks.

“So?” Tohma repeated as he arranged the collar carefully around Ryu’s neck and pulling it closer across his chest.

“What do you suggest?” Ryu queried, reaching up a hand to close it around one of his.

Tohma looked into his friend’s eyes, feeling the warmth of that hand around his. “I think we might have to speak to the authorities.” he said straight forwardly. “I don’t have any experience in this sort of thing to know if it is something we should be worried about or not. They are the experts, not me.”

Ryuichi grimaced. “I don’t really want a lot of publicity or anything,” he said. “That’s why I didn’t say anything to anyone.”

“I’m sure we can do something to keep it quiet,” Tohma assured him. “I have no intention of letting this leak to the press. That would only fuel the writers of such things and probably encourage numerous copy-cats.”

“You’re probably right,” Ryuichi released his hand and Tohma leant back a little to sit on the arm rest looking at his friend seriously.

“Ryu, I think we do need to take this seriously, so let’s make sure to be careful from now on, okay?”

“Sure,” Ryu agreed. “We’d better talk to Nori as well. She’ll get mad at us otherwise.”

“Yes, she will. We all need to know what is gong on with this. None of us can be left in the dark about it.”

“I really am sorry about that, Tohma,” Ryuichi apologized again. “I never meant to hurt you.”

Tohma smiled weakly back at him. “I know, but please, don’t ever shut me out again will you?”

Ryu smiled back and reached out to gently pat Tohma’s cheek. “I won’t,” he promised. “Never again.”

“Thank you.”

“I’d better go and get cleaned up.”

“Hadn’t you better wait for Noriko to return?”

Ryuichi grinned at Tohma in a lascivious manner. “It’ll be so much more fun to surprise her!”

“In the shower?” Tohma just raised an eyebrow at his friend’s audacity.

Ryuichi smirked as he stepped out the door. “It will be a surprise!”

Tohma chuckled. “Well, don’t be shocked at the reception you receive,” he warned, “And I’m not patching up any broken bones!”

“No fear of that!” Ryu said with a laugh. “I can dodge faster than she can throw!”

“Be it on your head then.” Tohma muttered under his breathe.

He waited for about five minutes and then winced at the loud scream that reverberated down the corridor beyond the door. Ryuichi had obviously surprised Noriko.

***********

He felt like his face would crack. He didn’t want to be here, amongst the bright lights, smiles and laughter. In fact, this party was the last place he wanted to be right now.

He continued on his way, moving quickly without seeming to hurry, passing people in a manner that prevented them from halting his progress yet didn’t make them feel that he was giving them the brush off. He had learnt to develop this technique a while ago, yet rarely used it. Generally he was quite happy to stop at various times to see what he could glean from the less wary of the participants, though this particular gathering was more for people to just have a good time and wind down than one he could use as a fact finding mission. Still, even at these events he could generally find out one juicy tidbit of news.

However, tonight he wasn’t trying to. All he wanted was to ensure that his presence was noted so there was no tongues wagging at his absence, and wishing that it was all over with.

The false smile he wore obviously fooled everyone, except of course, Noriko and Ryuichi. He had passed by closely to both of them at various times during the evening, and in passing, bare hands had unobtrusively brushed against his, fingers winding around his and squeezing gently before releasing as they continued on their separate ways. No words were said, none were needed but this constant reaffirmation of their friendship was comforting to him and helped ease the ache he had experienced earlier. He still felt a small tendril of insecurity, a feeling he was not accustomed to having but it was slowly fading in the face of this continuous contact.

He picked up a glass from the tray that seemed to magically appear before him, before being whisked away. The caterers were very efficient and well versed in serving such functions as this. They moved with a graceful skill through the crowd, never bumping anyone, no drink spilling, no hors-d’oeuvre sliding off a plate to smear a guest. They were quite a wonder to watch actually.

He felt a presence at his side and turned to see Noriko there. She smiled at him, not saying a word but her fingers threaded between his, holding him tightly.

“Where’s Ukai?” he asked.

She scanned the people around her and nodded her head, with a smile. “Over there.”

Sure enough, Tetsuya Ukai stood unobtrusively by a pillar, glass in hand, looking completely out of place. Tohma often wondered if the man actually enjoyed these events or only attended to please Noriko. He glanced back at his friend to see her lift her other hand and wiggle her fingers in a small wave in Tetsuya’s direction, noticing the return gesture, which looked very odd coming from a man twice Noriko’s age.

Tohma continued to watch the woman by his side. There was something different about her tonight; and not just due to the…unpleasantness of earlier. Now she was no longer worrying about Ryuichi, there seemed to be a …glow about her. What could it be?, he wondered, trying to see if there was anything physical about her to explain the change.

“Ah, Nori,” he began.

“Hmm?” she murmured absently, dragging her attention away from Ukai and turning to look up at him. Yes, she definitely looked different. She looked …satisfied? “Yes?”

“Noriko, has something happened?” he finally asked outright.

Her eyes widened a little before she attempted to school her expression to calm once more. “What do you mean?” she said a little too hurriedly that only lead him to believe that something was definitely going on.

“Nori,” he said indicating to her that he wasn’t about to be put off. “Didn’t we just say we weren’t going to keep important secrets from each other? What’s happened? You’re looking so…happy.”

“Am I?” Surprisingly she flushed, which surprised him. Noriko wasn’t one to blush over just anything. He was becoming more and more intrigued. “It’s nothing really.”

“That’s what Ryuichi tried to say,” he said flatly.

“Oh,” she said with a small frown. “Yes, I guess he did.” She swung her head round to look at him. “But it’s nothing bad like that. Honestly.”

“If it’s nothing bad, why can’t you tell me?” he wanted to know, that feeling of insecurity beginning to build again.

She sighed. “Okay, I was going to tell you and Ryu later but I guess I may as well tell you now. Tetsuya has asked me to marry him.”

Tohma remained staring at her, not even blinking as her words crashed over him. Noriko….Ukai….married? Noriko….a bride. Now that he could picture. Noriko….a wife? That one he was having trouble with!

“Ah, Tohma?” Noriko’s voice broke through his contemplations and he focused back on the present. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”

“Uhmm, congratulations?”

She frowned at him and squeezed his captured hand hard enough to grind the bones in her frustration. “You could at least pretend to be pleased for me!” she said sharply with a toss of her head. “Try putting a little enthusiasm in it!”

“Ah, sorry, Nori,” He tried to apologise. “I was just …surprised, that’s all.”

She glared back at him. “That’s why I was going to wait to tell the two of you but, no, you had to know right this minute!” She turned her head away but he could hear her soft words. “I know you don’t like Tetsuya much, but could you try and be just a little happy for me?”

She sounded so lost that his heart broke and he pulled her back again his chest, slipping an arm around her waist to hold her. “I am happy for you, Nori, if it is what makes you happy.” He placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “It’s not that I don’t like Ukai, I just want to know that this is really what you want.”

Noriko looked up at him seriously. “It is, Tohma. He makes me happy, truly he does.”

“And the age difference doesn’t bother you?” He felt he had to ask, however indelicately it seemed.

Noriko smiled at him and patted his cheek gently. “No, it doesn’t. Satisfied?”

He shrugged. “It’s not up to me, is it?”

Noriko tilted her head to one side with a smile. “Actually, no, it’s not. But I did think of asking you and Ryuichi to be my bridesmaids.”

Tohma blinked away the disturbing mental image of Ryuichi in a frilly dress, and completely ignored the mirrored image of himself in a like style. “That would probably be considered a little….odd.” he finally managed to say. They had obviously been spending far too much time in America.

“Oh, not really,” Noriko said breezily. “Apparently it is done quite regularly now days; guys are bridesmaids, girls are groomsmen. I don’t see a problem. You know I would pick a colour to suit both you and Ryu.”

“That is not the issue,” Tohma said firmly. There was no way he was getting into a dress. He might dress flamboyantly and Ryuichi might dress seductively – but dresses were definitely out!

Noriko stuck her tongue out at him, though she was still smiling. “You’re no fun!” she said with a small laugh.

He smiled back at her, releasing his hold around her waist. “Well, I had better be careful how I behave around you now,” he said. “I don’t want a jealous husband knocking on my door sometime.”

Noriko just laughed louder. “Jealous? Tetsuya? You’ve got to be kidding!”

“Don’t under estimate your appeal,” he told his feminine band-mate. “And don’t under estimate a husband’s protectiveness. I’m sure you’ll be surprised just how passionate he’ll become once you are married.”

“Maybe,” Noriko said with a small shrug and a small pleased smile, “But he knows I can look after myself.”

“That he probably does,” Tohma agreed.

“But you and Ryuichi will help me with the wedding, won’t you?”

“Of course we will. Did you really need to ask?” he replied.

Her smile was touched with relief. “Thank you. I’m really excited, Tohma,” and indeed her eyes were sparkling brightly. “This is just what I wanted.”

“I’m pleased for you,” he said with complete sincerity, his own happiness building in response to hers. It was truly wonderful to see Noriko looking so vibrant and full of life.

She turned to take a few steps away from him when she stopped once more and Tohma followed her gaze through the crowd to see a couple making their way towards them.

Now it was time for the other shoe to drop, he couldn’t help but think as he watched Jim Harris and his fiancée, Kerryn Middleton, draw closer.

“Well, well, well,” Jim greeted them heartily, holding out a hand towards Tohma, as Kerryn and Noriko greeted each other with a hug and kiss. “I have to admit that you really know how to rock a stadium.”

Tohma nodded his acceptance of the praise. “That is our job,” he said. “And that’s what the people pay for.”

“Yeah, well, the only thing I can say is that it’s taken me the past nearly two hours for the ringing in my ears to disappear!”

“The noise levels are within acceptable occupational health requirements as per the legislation in this State.”

“Which is a fancy way of saying that you have it as loud as you possibly can and get away with it.”

“Something like that.” Tohma acknowledged.

“Are you two boys going to play nice?” Noriko interrupted them. They both looked over to her in surprise. She just frowned back. “Kerryn and I are going to mingle a little so both of you try to behave yourselves. We don’t want to be interrupted and have to come over here to separate a catfight.”

“Only women have cat fights. Guys have brawls.” Jim said lazily.

“Whatever,” Noriko said with a flick of her hair. “Just don’t do anything you shouldn’t.” she waned.

“But that takes all the fun out of life,” a seductive voice said and Ryuichi suddenly sidled from behind Noriko to stand on the other side of Kerryn. He bestowed one of his one hundred watt smiles on her and she flushed brightly. Both Jim and Tohma saw the shiver that she couldn’t control at the intensity of Ryuichi’s look.

“Ryuichi,” Tohma said warningly.

Ryu flicked a glance at him but his expression didn’t change.

“Ryu,” he repeated.

He saw his friend roll his eyes and then his smile altered so the extreme charisma was almost completely dampened and his countenance took on a more normal appearance. “It’s good to see you again,” he said in a fairly normal tone to Kerryn.

“Ah…thank you. You too,” she managed to get out without stuttering. ‘You were really….exceptional tonight.”

Ryuichi laughed at her expression.

“Don’t you mean slutty?!” Noriko put in sharply, glaring at first Ryuichi and then Tohma. “Just what did the two of you think you were doing up there, getting it on like that?! Honestly,” she snorted indelicately, “You’re lucky you weren’t arrested for that behaviour!”

“They wouldn’t have dared,” Ryuichi said, still smiling.

“If we had,” Jim put in dryly, “We would have had a riot on our hands.”

Jim was probably right, Tohma thought. When Ryuichi had sidled up to him during one of their last songs it was nothing unusual. However, he had seen the almost fey light in his friend’s eyes and it had seemed to trigger something similar deep inside himself, so he knew that things were going to be different this time.

Ryuichi had been at his peak, despite this being the last concert of a very grueling tour. He showed no signs of flagging or of exhaustion, instead he seemed to be burning even brighter. He literally seemed to feed on the emotions and energy their fans gave them; the more there was, the brighter he shone as though he was some kind of solar battery storing up energy from the sun. This had been an excellent tour, with audiences that had responded intensely to all that Nittle Grasper did, so that by the end of this tour Ryuichi absolutely sparkled.

It was hot under the blazing stage lights. Tohma had felt the sweat beading his brow, sliding down his back, his open gauzy shirt not quite sticking to his slick skin but sliding across it sensually. Ryuichi had foregone his shirt completely by this time, wearing nothing more than low slung leather pants and a choker. His bare chest gleamed from his exertions, the lights flickering across the sheen of moisture and making the singer literally glow. The singer wasn’t particularly muscular but he was slim and lean and there was no fat over the firm muscles. Every motion he made showed every movement of those muscles, especially across the rippling abdomen. The fans just loved it - and Ryuichi was playing up to it.

When playing on stage, when being up there just the three of them in their own separate world no matter how much they were sharing with the crowd, it was easy to get caught up in the moment. They all poured everything they had into their performances, every part of their essences spilled into their music which they wove with a passion bordering on obsession. The music, overlaid with those emotions, would wrap around them, pulling at their minds and senses.

So when Ryuichi suddenly stood by his side, the bare skin of his stomach brushing against Tohma’s bare arm as his played it had felt like an electric shock, sparks shooting between them, threatening to engulf them in figurative flames. He had continued to play as Ryuichi had turned and pressed in close against his back, hands circling around his waist, crawling higher, slipping under his loose, half open shirt, caressing bare skin. He had felt himself gasp at the first contact, a pool of desire building in his groin immediately as Ryu’s hands slid lightly over his already erect nipples.

His head had fallen back then to rest on the other’s shoulder, dark head nestled in close against his blond one, even whilst his hands still played on autonomously. He felt Ryu’s lips nuzzle in against his neck, hot even against his already heated flesh. He felt the absence of material across his chest and realized that his friend had divested his attire of its last few buttons so the shirt now hung completely open, baring his body to the crowd whose voice had risen to a screaming frenzy.

He had opened his eyes to find himself staring into Ryuichi’s dark ones, seeing the desire and excitement burning brightly in their depths. He was certain such a light could be seen in his at this moment also. He wasn’t thinking of anything beyond the man behind him, the body pressed against his, the erection pushed hard against his buttocks, and his own straining the front of his tight trousers. If the right signal was given he would have thrown them both to the floor and either fucked Ryuichi or allowed himself to be fucked, he didn’t know which, nor did he care. There was only the passion, the heat and the music.

The music played on, encompassing them in its embrace just as they encompassed each other, bodies sliding against each other, hands touching, stroking, tweaking, legs pressed between each others as pelvises ground harder creating ecstatic friction that drove them to greater heights.

The last chords were struck just as he reached climax, feeling like his body was going to burst, and feeling the thrust from behind that signaled Ryuichi had also passed the point of no return. He almost slumped forward over his now silent keyboards as Noriko held that final chord to allow the music to drown out their heavy panting.

Then Ryuichi gave a final unseen caress and stepped away, bounding over to centre stage and calling out to the loudly screaming audience, asking them if they had enjoyed that. The increase in volume was deafening, making the floor vibrate under his feet as the crowd showed their appreciation. They would be able to play up the belief that it was all just simulated and no-one would be any the wiser. What they didn’t know couldn’t hurt them.

“Besides,” Ryuichi’s voice dragged Tohma from that memory as he continued to speak, “the fans loved it. Didn’t you?”

Kerryn blushed harder at Ryuichi’s direct question and she took a deep calming breath. “It certainly was a….highlight.” she managed to say. Jim rolled his eyes and one corner of his mouth twitched, whether in amusement or distaste it was a little hard to say.

“Well, you two had better be careful next time,” Noriko said firmly, waggling a finger at Ryuichi who grasped it and brought it to his lips to drop a light kiss to the tip. Noriko snatched her hand back and scowled at him, though Tohma could see there was no real animosity there. “Don’t you try and sweet talk me, Ryuichi Sakuma!” she said tartly. “You behave yourself from now on!”

“Yes, mama,” Ryuichi said, trying to appear meek and failing miserably. He always managed to look more like a satanic cherub, or a demented angel.

“Come on, Kerryn,” Noriko turned her back on them all, giving them up as a lost cause. “I’ll introduce you to my fiancée.”

“You’re engaged?” Kerryn all but squealed with excitement.

Noriko’s smile grew broader and held a hint of shyness as well. “Just recently,” she admitted.

“Oh, that’s just wonderful!” Kerryn grabbed her in a hug and there was no doubting the warmth of her tone.

Noriko returned the hug with relish, obviously happy to have the understanding of another female as to the importance of this event. “Come on then and I’ll tell you about it.”

“Hey!” Ryuichi said, latching onto the other side of Noriko, “You never told me this! How come you’re telling a stranger before me?” He sounded quite mournful.

“Because you can’t keep a single thought straight in your head for more than five minutes, so I was going to wait until there was nothing else around to distract you!” Noriko replied, walking away.

“Aw, Nori, don’t be mean!” Ryuichi almost wailed, trailing after the two girls.

Tohma watched them go with a smile.

“So is it true?” Jim said.

“What?” Tohma asked turning to look at him.

“That she’s getting married?”

“So it would seem.”

“So you knew?”

“Yes,” Tohma wasn’t going to enlighten him that he had only just found out himself.

“What’s that going to do to the band?”

“That is something we have yet to discuss fully.”

“Hmm, it would be a pity to break things up now, just when you seem to be doing so well. You’ve certainly been making your mark over here lately.”

“That’s what we were aiming to do.”

“You take this pretty seriously, don’t you?” Jim said, leaning back and lighting a cigarette. He offered one to Tohma who declined.

“It’s our job,” Tohma answered.

“Well, yeah, I suppose,” Jim exhaled slowly. “I guess I just never really gave it much thought before. I mean all these bands and singers; it seems like something they just do, you know for kicks or something. I’ve never really thought about the amount of work that might be needed to do it. Or of how serious they might have to be about it to make it to the top.”

“There’s always a lot more beyond what the public sees.” Tohma responded.

“Hmm, so there seems to be.”

“Isn’t that a bit like your own job?” Tohma queried. “The public only see the reports in the newspapers, but there must be a great deal more that happens beyond that.”

“Yeah, there is,” Jim exhaled again. “The public sees and hears about nothing more than a drop of what really goes on. There’s a lot more to the investigation than just getting the culprit.”

Tohma suddenly had a thought, but held it back for a moment to assess it carefully. Should he do this?, he wondered. The opportunity was here and not likely to come again, but this would mean continuing to have this man close by for sometime to come and that made Tohma uneasy. Though perhaps this new matter would distract Jim from his thoughts about that incident? He wasn’t sure that he was willing to trust that assumption. Jim Harris seemed far too intelligent to be so easily side-tracked.

But for Ryuichi’s sake, he couldn’t just let things stand. He had promised both Ryu and Noriko that he would take care of things. And Tohma Seguichi never broke a promise.

He pushed away from the wall that he was leaning against and motioned Jim to follow him as they made their way to a quieter corner of the room, each snagging a glass from a tray that floated by. When they reached the location Tohma had been heading for, he glanced around to ensure that they were not likely to be overheard and then turned to face Jim.

“I have a favour to ask,” he said, seeing Jim’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “I need your help.”