Disclaimer: Nope, still not mine. Darn. *pout*

Chapter 6

Yuki had just finished murdering his heroine with a golden chopstick through the heart and was just about to have her foolish lover discover her body when a knock at the door snapped his concentration. Frowning, he ignored the sound and reached for his coffee. His hand met empty air where his cup should have been. Damn. He grabbed a cigarette and lit it, sucking the nicotine deep into his system. More knocking.

Quick taps on his computer saved his work, then he headed for the kitchen. Now a fist pounded on the door, followed by a muffled "Yuki! C'mon, aniki, I know you're home!"

Yuki paused and pressed a hand against the ominous twinge of pain in his temple. The pounding and pleading from the door was beginning to echo in his brain and he knew that damned brother of his wouldn't leave until he at least opened the door.

The moment he did, however, every sarcastic, scathing remark he'd prepared to make blanked from his brain and he had to clamp his jaw tight to keep it from dropping and losing his cigarette. He was seeing things. His caffeine-deprived brain had to be conjuring up this hallucination because no way did his brother actually bring that bright-eyed, bouncing, freakishly childlike pop idol to his home.

"Hello Yuki-san! Wow, Tat-chan, you would look good with blonde hair!"

Oh God, the hallucination was talking now. He slammed the door, but it caught on his brother's boot.

"Ow! Wait, Eiri, wait!" Tatsuha grunted and pushed back at the door his brother was desperately trying to close.

"Ooh, Yuki-san you have nice place. Very shiny! That picture is so colorful!"

Yuki whirled around, staring slack jawed at the singer suddenly bouncing around his living room. What-? How-?

The door flew open behind him and Tatsuha nimbly picked up the fallen cigarette before it burned his brother's precious wood floor. He watched with part amusement at Ryuichi's antics and part trepidation at the scowl on his brother's face that was becoming rather scary.

"Tatsuha…" Yuki growled low in his throat.

Tatsuha felt a chill run down his neck and took a careful step away. "Listen, Eiri, I—"

"Is this the kitchen? Hey, look Tat-chan, Yuki-san and I have the same coffee pot! This is—"

CRASH!

Silence.

No one moved, no one breathed for a very long moment. Then…

"Oops!" Ryuichi exclaimed brightly from the kitchen.

Tatsuha winced and glanced over at his brother. Uh oh, his left eye was twitching. Bad sign. Very bad sign.

Yuki pressed a shaking hand to his left temple, took a deep breath and said around clenched teeth, "You have five seconds to get that thing out of my house or someone will die."

Oh yeah, time to go. Tatsuha sprinted into the next room and grabbed his lover, knowing very well his brother was doing a mental countdown.

"Gomen nasai, Yuki-san! I will get you a new one right away. Come on Tat-chan, let's go shopping and find Yuki-san the shiniest coffee machine ever! Maybe a pink one with sparkles, or maybe—"

The door shut, cutting off the ear-piercing chatter. Yuki shoved his hands through his hair and took several of the deep cleansing breaths his therapist had taught him to help manage his migraine pain. When that didn't work he stumbled into the bathroom and almost ripped the door off the medicine cabinet to get to his pills. He swallowed them down with water from the sink, not wanting to go anywhere near the kitchen and see the condition of his coffee pot. He cursed his brother savagely and swore if anything pink and sparkly materialized in his kitchen, his brother would die. Slowly. Painfully. Hmm, there was an idea…

Grabbing his cellphone, he dialed and barked out an order to the shop down the street for five tall, black, dark roast coffees to be delivered immediately, then went back to his computer and set about poisoning his foolish hero's asinine brother.

Hikari waited around the corner from Seguchi Tohma's office, nervously gripping the leather folder in her hands. The folder contained one very important document.

She looked up sharply when she heard Sakano-san's footsteps coming from down the hall and smiled to herself. She would recognize that hurried shuffle anywhere and the sound always made her heart beat a little faster. She listened as he said goodnight to Seguchi-san's secretary and waited until she heard the woman's heels clicking down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Slipping quickly into the office, she shut the door behind her and silently watched him as he tidied up the president's desk. Quick, efficient hands untangled a phone cord here, polished a picture frame there, making sure it was tilted at a precise angle. Pens were tested for ink, pencils sharpened to perfect points and all placed back in their container, which was shifted one centimeter to the right. He was oblivious to her presence by the door as he tidied and dusted and generally puttered around the office. It occurred to her that she'd never seen him so relaxed and the slight smile on his face made her wonder if he was humming a tune in his mind as she often did when absorbed in the details of an enjoyable task. A light, fluttery feeling came over her and she hugged the folder tightly to her chest. She'd never imagined he could be so meticulous and knowing they shared something so basic in their nature delighted her.

As he sorted and filed away some papers, she blinked and mentally shook herself out of her musings. She gently cleared her throat and bit back a grin when he jumped and the papers went flying. "Kimura-san, what are you doing here?"

Softly apologizing, she helped him gather them up. He took the papers she handed him and fumbled as he tried to shuffle them back into order.

"I know I should not be here, but I needed to speak to you. Wait, please, before you put those away." Hikari opened her folder and showed him the document inside. "I have spoken to the president of the Atsui company and have made an arrangement with him. If Seguchi-san will sign this agreement for Bad Luck to play at his company gala in April, and promise front row tickets for his two daughters for any concert in the foreseeable future, then he will put a special rush on the order."

Sakano paled and began to blink rapidly. "Bu-but-but, how-? When-? And tickets? Who-?"

Hikari set her folder down and tugged his sleeves down before he could start pulling at his hair. "I have that all arranged, Sakano-san. If you can schedule Bad Luck's appearances around the date of the gala, I am certain they will agree to a one-night performance. And I have arranged for the president, Soto-san, to send any ticket requests directly to you, as you are their manager."

Sweat began to bead on his forehead as looked down at the open folder and shook his head, "But the signature, Kimura-san…"

Hikari nodded, "You have a stack of papers ready for Seguchi-san to sign every morning. If we slip it in among the larger contracts and rush him a little, it may be sufficient distraction to get his signature."

Sakano slumped, "I don't see how this can work. If anything goes wrong... if Seguchi-san should find out--"

Hikari reached up and sharply pulled down on his tie, bringing his face downs to hers.

"I am aware of the risks if we do this, Sakano-san, but think of the risks if we do not." Her eyes were serious, her voice calm as she began to explain. "If we cannot get this mug for Shindo-san, he will broken-hearted, he will not be able to write or sing, Bad Luck will decline and you will be fired as their manager. This is our best chance of saving Bad Luck and your career. We can do this, Sakano-san."

Sakano's eyes began to clear listening to Hikiari's calm logic, her confidence helping to build his own. He blinked rapidly, suddenly realizing how close her face was to his and the thought of how lovely her eyes were made his face burn. He swallowed thickly and managed to nod his head. Hikari smiled up at him and he had to lock his knees to keep them from buckling.

Hikari released his tie and smoothed it down his chest with a sweep of her hand. Turning to the desk, she took the document from her folder and looked through the stack of papers he'd prepared and flipped through them to find an appropriate contract to slip it into.

"I think this construction contract for the new wing of sound booths will do nicely. What do you think?" She looked back and noticed he hadn't moved, just stood there with a hand pressed against his tie. "Sakano-san?"

Sakano snapped to attention and leaned over to see the contract she mentioned and nodded, not trusting his voice and praying his nose wouldn't start to bleed. He was relieved when she just nodded back and swiftly put the papers into a neat stack on the corner of the desk. That done, they started to leave the office, but stopped in their tracks when they saw the doorknob rattle and turn from the outside.

Fear of being caught where she had no business being and knowing all her plans were about to be ruined froze Hikari to the point where she couldn't move or think. Sakano's panic at the very same thoughts, however, spurred him into action. As the door swung open, he did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed Hikari by her shoulders, pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

To Be Continued…

A/N: It's been a long wait, so I made the chapter extra long for all my lovely readers. I hope it's not too OOC. Comments are very helpful, so please click the button!