On the Street of Dreams

Chapter summary: Noriko wiggled herself to the edge of the chair. “You can’t mean for all of us to move to Tokyo.”

***

Tohma’s Big News


The study was shrouded in shadow. The shades were closed, the blackout curtains drawn. The sounds of traffic and chatter filtered into the room from the open window. The air stank with the scent of stale cigarette smoke.

A wisp of smoke shot into the air and the butt was crushed out in the ashtray along with its brethren.

The man sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. Clasping his hands behind his head, he stretched out on the sofa in his study and stared blankly at the ceiling.

The sudden shrill ringing of his phone echoed through the house. His gaze flicked to the extension on the desk, but other wise ignored it.

He had been an hour late to his meeting this morning and to say the least, Mizuki had been just a wee bit ticked. She quickly forgave him when he presented his latest novel to her, a week early.

“Don’t get used to it,” he warned.

What she had not been too pleased about was his request to reschedule the interview she had planned next weekend without his knowledge.

“I’ll see what I can do, Mr. Yuki, but I’m not promising anything,” Kanna Mizuki told him.

How had he gotten her to agree to the rescheduling, when otherwise she would have pulled a major guilt trip or a hissy fit to get him to go? He laid on a thick guilt trip on her and then added just a little blackmail to the mix, seeing as he had not been consulted when she arranged the meeting in the first place. She owed him. Though, if he did not want to go, then he would not go. Simple as that.

Dropping his hands, Eiri sat up and swung his legs to the floor. He rubbed his hands over his face, dreading having to leave the relative coolness of the study.

When he returned from his meeting with Mizuki, he entered an apartment that felt hotter than hell. A quick check told him the air conditioner was broken. Instead of taking the thing in to be repaired, he decided to just toss it out and get a new one. So, a quick search on the net and he had a new one to be delivered and installed sometime tomorrow. Until then, he was hiding out in the study, the coolest room in the house.

Standing up, he stepped into the hallway and the humidity hit him like a slap upside the head. Eiri winced. He walked to the kitchen, propping open the door on the way. He noticed the light on the answering machine was blinking. He pressed the play button as he walked to the fridge for a beer.

“You have one new message. Message one, Friday, July 1, two-forty-five pm,” the mechanical voice stated. There was a beep and a familiar voice filled the kitchen. “Hey, Yuki. I called Mr. Takabayashi and it’s a no go. He said next Saturday at three-thirty or nothing. Give me a call. Bye.” There was another beep, then silence.

Eiri leaned against the counter and popped open the top of his beer. So he had to choose, huh? Either being thrown to the head wolf or spend the evening with Satan. Hmmm. That was a hard decision.

He took a long swig of his beer, deep in thought.

Mr. Yusuke Takabayashi was one of the most respected people in the business, more so than all the various media personnel put together. Apparently, not just anybody was given the chance to sit down with him. He was The Man. Well, whoop-dee-freaking-doo. He felt so honored. You must excuse him if he did not leap for joy. Bad back, you know. Eiri would prefer not to have this bozo pry into his affairs but it was better than visiting his spawn of the devil father, whose only purpose in having a family dinner was to pester him about his so-called responsibility to the family. Meaning, finding a wife and producing an heir.

Whatever. If his father wanted an heir so badly, he could produce his own.

A picture of a small, lithe boy with spiky pink hair and intense violet eye flashed through his mind.

Shaking his head, he pushed away from the counter and dumped his untouched beer in the sink.

As he passed the phone, it rang. Again, he ignored it. In his study, he grabbed his wallet, sunglasses and keys. The answering machine was just clicking on when he stepped into the hall.

“Eiri,” snapped a female voice. “Eiri, I know you’re there! Pick up!”

Eiri snorted and slipped into his shoes by the front door. “Not in this life time,” he muttered.

“Fine, be that way, but Father wanted me to remind you about dinner next week. Six sharp. Be there.” The sound of buzzing filled the apartment before a beep was heard.

It really was a shame he would not be attending the prestigious family dinner. He would be, unfortunately, in Tokyo all weekend. Damn! And he had so wanted to see and spend some time with his dear ol’ Daddy.

He had no plans of going to visit his father until he gave up on this marriage crap. It was his life and he was going to live it the way he damn well wanted.

He stormed out of the apartment, shutting and locking the door behind him.

*

Hiro had no idea why Tohma Seguchi decided to have this meeting with the members of Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck…and in a gay night club to boot. There must be other, better, locations for a meeting.

He leaned against the wall and studied the others. Tatsuha, who had driven both Ryuichi and Shuichi, had his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. The two of them snuggled together on the couch, talking to a very pregnant Noriko besides them. Suguru was sitting in one arm chair and Shuichi in the other. The lead singer had a vacant, far away look on his face. He stared blankly at the floor, a frown on his face. The man of the hour stood in the doorway of the private VIP room, a smile on his face. The only person not present was Yuji. He was supposed to have come so they could go directly to Entertainment Records for their meetings, but unfortunately, his brother was not feeling well and had to bail out on the whole thing. Hiro only hoped that Ryuichi agreed to come otherwise they were screwed.

Tohma cleared his throat, calling them to attention. Immediately, silence descended upon the room and all eyes turned towards the small man in his black bowl hat. Hiro had always been in awe of the way Tohma could command an audience like that.

“Thank you all for coming.”

“What’s this about, Tohma?” Noriko asked her fellow keyboardist, a hand on her swollen stomach.

“Is this gonna take long?” Suguru asked his cousin. “Cause we have a meeting-“

“That’s why I called this meeting,” Tohma explained.

Hiro and Suguru exchanged mystified glances. Hiro turned towards Shuichi but the pink haired singer was still off in his own world. He was not even paying attention to anything going on around him. Hiro frowned and caught Suguru’s questioning glance. He could only shrug in answer. He had no idea what was wrong with his friend, but whatever it was, he had better snap out of it.

“That makes no sense, Tohma,” Ryuichi said, bringing the two boys back to the present.

“Patience, Ryu,” Tohma told his friend. He glanced around at the others, studying each one. “I’m sure you heard the rumors about the trouble Entertainment Records has been facing these past few months.”

While the others glanced at one another in confusion, Suguru searched his brain. He could remember hearing about something Entertainment Records, but he could not quite remember what. “Was it…Did it have something to do with…management, or something?” He scratched his head in confusion.

“Something like that.”

Entertainment Records, America, where the company was first started in the mid sixties had gone through several upheavals in the last two months. The founder and CEO, Mr. Ashley Burns, had been arrested for fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion and charged with the mysterious disappearance and suspected murder of the record company’s biggest star, Anita, who was rumored to have been his mistress.

Mr. Burns had been fired and the company restructured itself, but it was no good. In a matter of weeks, the American based record company had gone belly up and filed for bankruptcy. Most of its artist left for greener pastures. The disruption sent shocks waves around the world and forced the various other branches to clamor and secure their investments. Entertainment Records, Japan was hit the hardest and was sinking faster then the Titanic. To help themselves stay a float, they decided to hire some fresh new faces, but Tohma had had his doubts. Just bringing in some new blood was not going to help the record company. They needed more money than they had in order to produce these news artists. They would be spending more money then they were bringing in. If something did not change, Entertainment Records would close their doors for good in a matter of months and that was not something Tohma would allow. He, Ryuichi and Noriko had worked too long and too hard to see it all circle the drain. Yes, any record company would be ready and willing to take them on. Any demands they made would be granted just so that company could get them on their label, but that was not what Tohma wanted. No, he decided it was time for Nittle Grasper to break away and put their future in their own hands.

“Well, all morning I was in a meeting with the various board members and investors and as of two-thirty this afternoon, Entertainment Records has officially become known as NG Pro, under the direct control of Nittle Grasper,” Tohma told them.

Blank faces stared back at him. Expressions of disbelief filled the room.

“Yeah, right,” Noriko laughed. “You bought Entertainment Records… and in one day.”

“I did.”

Noriko’s laughter stopped short, like a switch had been flicked. “A-are you serious?” she asked in disbelief. “You…”

“We are now in direct control of our careers. We can make the music we’ve always wanted to make, without having the suits breathing down our neck.”

Ryuichi jumped up from the couch with a cry and bounded over towards his friend. Laughing, he flung himself at Tohma, hugging him. “That’s great Tohma! Congratulations!”

Tohma patted Ryuichi’s back. “Thank you, Ryu.”

The others crowded around the new CEO, echoing Ryuichi’s sentiments. They all talked at once, wanting to know every detail, smiling and laughing, but Noriko stared at the group, frowning. It was not like she was not happy for her friend. Just the opposite, she was ecstatic. This was something they had been striving for ever since they were signed, but still…

“Tohma,” she called softly. “What’re you trying to pull?”

Tohma smiled at her. “I am not trying to pull anything, Noriko.”

“If Tohma wouldn’t have bought out your record company, you guys would be out of a job,” Suguru told the older woman.

“Is that true?” Ryuichi asked Tohma in surprise, hanging from the man’s neck.

“So, it seems,” Tohma told him.

“So,” Noriko said as she gritted her teeth and pushing herself up off the couch with a stop and go movement, “you think you can do for the company what Mr. Matsusaki and the others could not?”

“Yes, I do.”

Noriko studied Tohma as she waddled her way across the room. What she saw was confidence and determination. It reassured her and soothed her doubts. “I’m counting on you, Tohma.”

As the conversation flowed around him, Hiro was suddenly hit with a realization. If Tohma Seguchi bought out Entertainment Records and was the new CEO, that meant the contract the old CEO offered them just last night was null and void. Disappointment flooded through Hiro. Just when they thought all their hard work was about to pay off. He grabbed Suguru’s arm.

“Hiro, what-“

He steered the younger man away from the gathered group towards where Shuichi still sat on the couch.

“Hiro, what’s wrong?”

Shuichi looked up and watched his two friends with a blank look.

“Don’t you understand? Tohma bought out Entertainment Records, right?”

“Yeah, we all just heard him.”

Hiro was exasperated that his friends were this thick. “And that means that the people we talked to last night are no longer employed at the record company.” He stared down at Shuichi. The pink haired singer was looking at him, but Hiro was not sure if he actually heard him.

Suguru blinked, not quite sure what Hiro was getting at. Then it hit him. “Ah!” How could he have let something this huge slip past unnoticed? “Damn!” He and Hiro turned back towards the others, a panicked look on his face. “Tohma! Last night, at the battle, we-“

Tohma nodded, holding up his hand. “I know.”

“What?” Suguru glanced at Hiro in confusion. “You know?” he asked, turning back.

“Yes, and I plan to honor Bad Luck’s contract.”

“What? Really? Yes!” He threw his hands in the air and shouted.

“Thank you, Tohma,” Hiro bowed, grinning.

“Oh, man, Hiro! Did you hear?” Suguru flung himself at Hiro, laughing. “I can’t believe it! We did it!”

Their excitement was contagious. The others clapped and whistled, giving the boys their best wishes.

“Ha, ha! Congratulations,” Ryuichi cried. “I can’t believe it! You guys finally did it!”

“Yeah, you guys deserve it,” Noriko said smiling.

Suguru let go of his friend and turned still smiling towards the others. “You’ll not regret it, Tohma!”

“I hope not, Suguru,” Tohma cautioned him.

As the others crowded the smaller man, congratulating him, Hiro turned towards their lead singer. “Shuichi isn’t it great,” Hiro asked, still grinning. Their dream was coming true! His smile faltered. “Shuichi?”

The only one not taking part in all the excitement was Shuichi. He sat in the armchair staring at the others blankly. He did not take part in the impromptu congratulatory celebration. Their laughter and excitement over these new turn of events washed over him.

When he heard that Entertainment Records had been bought out, he should have been freaked out at the possibility that what he and his bandmates sought so long and hard to achieve was going to be taken from them just as they reached their goal. He should be shouting and jumping for joy.

Should’ve.

Could’ve.

Would’ve.

Isn’t.

The only thing Shuichi could think about was one Eiri Uesugi, his forbidden lover, and the fact that if it got out they had slept together, especially seeing as Eiri was a hotshot, famous romance writer and a prominent citizen in the community…Shuichi did not want to cause Eiri any trouble.

Last night, it seemed as if the writer did not care about the fact that Shuichi was underage. He claimed it was because he was horny. It could be because he was some sicko pervert, or something, but once they were in that hotel room...Shuichi was not sure how he knew, but he had a feeling there was more to the mysterious romance writer then met the eye. If Eiri had been some perverted freak preying on boys, or just some horny guy looking for a quick fuck, then why would he have been so gentle, so kind and loving? Why would he have taken him to one of the area’s swankiest hotels? Then there was the ring he left behind.

Shuichi clutched the silver ring hidden under his shirt.

A picture of a tall, pale man with yellow blond hair and golden eyes flashed through his mind. An overwhelming urge to see his forbidden lover came over him. They may have just met, but Shuichi missed his writer so much, it was pathetic. He wanted to be wrapped in his strong embrace, feel those lush lips and gentle touch. He wanted to taste his cigarette flavored mouth…

Shuichi took in a shuttering breath and slowly let it out, trying to calm himself down.

He wanted to, needed to see Eiri, but he had no idea where to even start looking. Shuichi glanced at Tatsuha who was talking to Ryuichi and Tohma. Both men were laughing and smiling. Noriko sat in the other armchair, listening to their conversation. Huddled together, whispering and taking poignant glances at him were Hiro and Suguru. He ignored them and swung his gaze back towards Tatsuha.

It was amazing how much alike they were. Take away the black hair and eyes and you would have Eiri. Just having his brother-in-law in the same room with him intensified the need to see Eiri.

He could always ask Tatsuha were his brother lived, but that would bring unwanted questions.

All talk suddenly stopped when something Tohma said sunk in.

“Moving,” Ryuichi repeated, as if he needed to be assured he had not been hearing things. He glanced at Tatsuha, gripping his hand.

Noriko wiggled herself to the edge of the chair. “You can’t mean for all of us to move to Tokyo.”

Shuichi glanced from her to Tohma, waiting with batted breath along with the others.

“Yes, I am,” Tohma said confidently.

Gasps and startled whispers followed this statement.

Shuichi slumped back in the chair, pale faced and in total shock. Tokyo? Tohma wanted to move the record company from Kyoto to Tokyo? Was he serious? A picture of Eiri flashed through his mind. Tokyo? Shuichi groaned. He leaned his head back against the top of the chair and stared blankly at the black tiled ceiling. This was not happening! Why did things always have to come in two’s? Why did good news always come with bad news? Was he cursed?

He had no idea what to do. He really wanted to do this, not just for himself but for the guys. They have all worked so hard to get to this point and he did not want to be the one to spoil it for them. He could not let Hiro and Suguru down, but what about Eiri? On one hand, this move would ensure that the writer would not get into any trouble by having an underaged lover. On the other hand, Shuichi felt the strong urge to be selfish for once and tell Tohma to hell with the damned contract. He wanted to flick off the law and flaunt his and Eiri’s relationship in their faces. He had never done something just for him. Everything had been to please his friends and family. Just this once, he wanted to be selfish. He wanted Eiri.

“I have a meeting with several contractors to go over possible locations for the headquarters of NG in the morning,” Tohma was saying. “I am not sure if a new building will be built or if we can find a suitable building we can remodel. Whatever we decide, the move will not happen for at least a year. Until then we will continue to use the Entertainment Records building.”

Shuichi sighed in relief. So, they had a year, huh?

Noriko shook her head. “Tohma. You can’t just decide something like this! We all have lives, family here! And you just expect us to just up and leave?”

Tohma nodded. “Yes, I am.”

“What about Mika,” she pressed. “Do you really think your wife would appreciate moving five hours away from her family?”

“I already talked to her. She has no qualms about it.”

“Tohma,” Noriko sighed, shaking her head. “My husband-“

“I have taken care of all of it, Noriko. Do not worry.” He checked his watch. “But I have to cut this short. I have dinner plans with Mika and then I have to drive down to Tokyo for the meeting tomorrow.”

“But Tohma!”

Tohma turned towards the members of Bad Luck. “I will call and set up a dinner meeting where I can talk with all of your parents and go over the contract and discuss the problems you may have about this relocation.”

“Okay,” Suguru nodded.

“Sure,” Hiro shrugged.

Shuichi looked away from Tohma’s penetrating eyes.

Tohma then turned to address his fellow bandmates. “I will set up a meeting with you and your husband when I return,” he told Noriko.

“Tohma.”

“Ryu-“

“I really don’t want to move to Tokyo, Tohma,” Ryuichi told his friend. His and Tatsuha’s family were here. Besides, Tatsuha was a monk and helped at his family’s temple on holidays. If he had to move, then his lover might not be forced to stay behind. Ryuichi was not sure if he could handle that. He wrapped Tatsuha’s arms around himself and forced back his tears.

Tatsuha hugged his lover tight and kissed the back of his head, knowing exactly what the slightly older man was thinking. “I think it would be great to move to Tokyo. I’ve always wanted to go there.”

Ryuichi blinked and turned to face Tatsuha. “Really? You’d come with me?”

Tatsuha rolled his eyes. “Duh! You’re mine, Ryu and I won’t let you go.”

“Tatsu,” Ryuichi cried, flinging himself at the other man.

Tohma continued to smile. “Now that that’s settled…” He turned towards Bad Luck. “I will try to set up the meeting for next weekend so keep your calendars free. Noriko, I will contact you when I return.”

“So, we’re done,” Shuichi assumed.

“Yes, Shuichi. We are.”

Sighing, Shuichi grabbed his backpack off the floor next to the chair and fled from the club like a demon was hot on his heels.

Hiro, with Suguru not far behind, raced after Shuichi. As he ran down the metal staircase and across the dance floor, he felt the pill bottle he had placed in the front pocket of his sleeveless hoodie bounce against him. The pills rattled and clanked. Even if he had to beat his best friend upside the head, he would find out what these pills were and what the hell was going on with him.

At a more leisurely pace, Tohma, Noriko, Ryuichi and Tatsuha made their way down the wide metal staircase. They looked up as the sound of a door clunked open and closed.

“Did Shu seem…I don’t know…kinda quite?” Ryuichi asked out loud.

“Ryu,” Noriko scolded.

Tohma chuckled. “Ryuichi, you really need to stop mothering Shuichi.”

Tatsuha poked his boyfriend in the side with his free hand. “Told ya,” he whispered in Ryu’s ear.

Ryuichi giggled and wiggled away from Tatsuha’s idle hand. “Stop that,” he scolded.

“He’s sixteen years old, Ryu,” Noriko was saying. “He can take care of himself. He doesn’t need you to hold his hand anymore, but he did seem a bit quiet. But I’m sure whatever is bothering him, he can handle and if he can’t then hopefully he’ll come to us for help.” She shrugged.

Tatsuha frowned as he followed Tohma and Noriko up the staircase to the club’s front door. He was not sure if Shuichi would feel comfortable coming to them for help in this situation.

“Hey, Tohma,” Noriko said as soon as they stepped into the late afternoon sun. “Why did you have us meet here instead of at, say, your house, or something?”

Tohma locked the heavy steel door and then pocketed the keys. “I thought it would be nice to start the next chapter of our lives by returning to where it all started,” he said as he turned towards them.

“What?” Noriko and Ryuichi glanced at each other in confusion. “Tohma, we never played here.”

Tatsuha turned to study the front of the building. He had not paid attention when they first arrived, but now that he took the time to think about it, the place did seem familiar. Or maybe it was just that this club reminded him of another one.

“It’s had a change of ownership and has been gutted and remodeled, but we have been here before,” Tohma corrected.

Noriko studied her friend closely through squinted eyes. She placed her hands on her hips, centering her bulbous weight and glared at the man. She reminded Ryuichi of a teacher he had in elementary school that looked like that when she reprimanding her rowdy students.

“You own this place, don’t you,” she accused.

“What?” Tatsuha and Ryuichi turned stunned faces to Tohma. “You own the newest, hottest gay club in Kyoto,” Tatsuha accused.

“Yes.”

“Why? When did this happen?” Noriko asked.

“When Koshoku went bankrupt several months ago, I decided to buy it as an investment piece. To say the least, it has paid off.”

‘Koshoku’? Why did…?

Ryuichi’s eyes widened. “We played our first gig here!”

“What? Is that true?” Noriko asked in disbelief.

Before he could answer, Tohma’s cellphone rang. He excused himself and answered it. A couple seconds later, he returned. “Sorry, guys. I really must go.”

A honk from behind them had them turning. A bright smile lit Noriko’s face. “It looks like my rides here,” she told them. Saying her goodbyes, the pregnant keyboardist waddled her way to the white car idling by the curb. With a final wave, she hopped in and the car sped off down the street, vanishing into the late afternoon traffic.

Tohma turned towards Tatsuha and Ryuichi and bowed. “Until later.” He darted across the street and vanished into the crowd.

Tatsuha sighed. “Let’s collect Shu and go home,” he suggested.

“Good idea.”

Both men looked around for the pink haired singer, only to discover, he was nowhere in sight. What they did see were a breathless Hiro and Suguru at the corner, their faces red from excursion and dripping with sweat.

Frantic with worry, Ryuichi bolted towards the boys. “Hiro! Suguru! Where’s Shuichi? What happened?”

Hiro exchanged a look with Suguru. “Uh, well, ya se…”

“We lost him,” Suguru confessed.

Ryuichi blinked uncomprehendingly. “You…lost him,” he stared calmly.

Hiro scratched his head. “I wanted to talk to him about a few things, but when I called out to him, he just darted out into the street and hopped into this black foreign car.”

“You lost him,” Ryuichi accused angrily. “How could you let him get into a stranger’s car?” he shouted.

Passersby turned and stared at them curiously.

A black foreign car? That made Tatsuha wonder.

“See, that’s the thing,” Hiro told his best friend’s brother quickly.

“It seemed as if he knew the driver,” Suguru finished.

While Ryuichi looked angry at the boys for letting Shuichi run off and confused as he thought about who Shuichi might know that owned a foreign car, Tatsuha on the other hand had a very good feeling he knew who Shuichi was with. But he was unsure if he should tell Ryuichi. How do you go about telling someone their baby brother was with an older man? Beat the hell out of him.

***

A/N: Guess, I should clarify something. In case you haven’t figured it out, this story takes place in Kyoto. The sequel will be in Tokyo.