Disclaimer: ...do I really have to put this? I don't own Gravitation.

Clear the runway, make another pass
Try one more approach
Before you're out of gas

Friends are getting fatter
Hairs on your head are getting thinner
Feel like a clean up batter
On a team that ain't a winner

Don't freak out, don't strike out
Can't fight it, like city halls
At least you're not alone
Your friends are there, too

-Jonathan Larson's "tick, tick...BOOM!"

Really, there had been a reason that Nittle Grasper chose to have a reunion right then.

Yes, they had missed each other. Yes, they had gotten over all the fights that had broken them up in the first place...or at least, had gotten to the point for they could ignore the little tensions that remained. Yes, they had missed performing. But none of those were the real reason. Well, none of those were the real reason for the timing. In all actuality, Noriko at least would have wanted a bit more time. Just a few more years, just enough to bury all the hatchets that she still had against her boys and remember how amazing every second (well, most seconds before the incident, a few seconds after it) had been. Why, then, had she agreed to rejoin the band?

It was simple: she did not know that she would get another chance.

Of course, in the 21st century, age almost did not matter, 60 was the new 40, 90 year olds were getting married, having children (um...okay, she did not have to hear that), and living life just the same as anyone else, and all of that other crap that she had heard, but she knew that she had to face the facts: she, Ryuichi, and Tohma were old. (Well, the boys were old. She was still in her twenties, thank you very much. Her body would attest to that. She was just way too sexy to be mistaken for a thirty-something, unlike the boys. Of course, she had always been the attractive one, but...stop it, Nori-chan! she scolded herself. That's all very true, but the band! Remember the band!) They were still talented, and they all looked about sixteen, but the truth was that they were old. They got their first record deal when she was nineteen. Nineteen. As in, twenty-eight minus nine. As in, nine years ago. As in, almost a third of her lifetime ago. As in, long before she got married. As in, long before her gorgeous, perfect, amazing little girl was born. As in...did she really have to go on?

Here was a clarification of one point: they were all good. Tohma was a genius when it came to original compositions and arrangements (and business agreements, when it came down to it, but that was another story); Ryuichi had to have vocal cords of steel or something of the like, and those lyrics were incredible, and she...well, she was piko piko Noriko-chan! What more qualifications did she need? But anyway, they were all talented. Nittle Grasper had changed the shape of music forever. But she had always had a sinking suspicion that their popularity was based more off of her short skirts and how Ryu looked in leather pants than any musical ability. No, that was not fair at all. She was sure that many, even the majority, of their fans actually appreciated the music. However, did she think that the fact that when she bowed after a concert, it was not exactly difficult to see down her shirt was a disadvantage? Not at all.

So that was the root of the problem. Nittle Grasper was getting older. Ryuichi would still have screaming fangirls going home with wet panties, but for how long? People would still imagine that she and Ryuichi, or that she and Tohma, or that Ryuichi and Tohma, or hell, that all three of them were in a...more than friendly relationship (even though two of the three were married. Oh well; she had always had the feeling actually, the knowledge that her best friend, however much she loved him, was not quite everything that a husband was supposed to be to Mika-san. Rather, she always knew that he did not feel what a husband was supposed to feel for his wife; no one could dispute the fact that he was a model husband in his actions...or that she was getting off-topic again bad Noriko! Bad!), but how much interest would all of the never-ending fanzines get? And worse, just when would those never-ending fanzines...end?

None of this was to say that she did not think they would be successful. She knew that they would be. She knew that all of the fans would be excited by their reunion, and that they would still be producing hit singles, and still be able to kill old standards. Hell, she was not stupid, not by any means: she knew why Tohma wanted a reunion. Correction: she knew why Seguchi-san, president of NG Studios, wanted a reunion. NG had been doing...surprisingly badly in recent years. There just seemed to be a very disturbing lack of originality these days. When Nittle Grasper blazed onto the scene all that time ago (nine years), they were new. They were different. They were exciting, and refreshing. They were the Yellow Magic Orchestra for the 90's. In the past few years, the only new things that came by were...less talented Nittle Grasper imitators (hello, Bad Luck. She ought to know. The music she played for them? Strange; it had a marked similarity to other music she had played in her life). Seguchi-san, the business man, had recognized this decreased supply of talent and increased demand for music, and decided to fill that need with a previously established marketable product. Tohma-san, the keyboardist, had missed performing. Tohma-kun, the best friend a girl or a...Ryuichi (how else could you describe him?) could ask for (well...maybe not quite the best friend. He was a bit stiff sometimes. Okay, he was a bit stiff most of the time), had missed his friends. So what Seguchi Tohma do but arrange a reunion?

As for Ryuichi...Sakuma-san's solo career was not as profitable as he could wish it to be. Ryuichi-san missed the fame and recognition he once had. Ryu-chan missed Tohma-Tohma and Nori-chan. What could he do but accept?

As for herself...why had she agreed? As a career woman, she was happy. She made a decent amount of money, and of course, Tetsuya made a ridiculous amount (she had always heard that teachers got lousy salaries. His salary...almost put hers back in the old days to shame. Not quite. But almost). As a musician, she was satisfied. She had loved music all her life, and although being a studio keyboardist was not exactly like being a member of the hottest band in Japan, it was fulfilling. As a person, she missed her boys desperately, but she did not want to get back together with them, not yet at least. Anyway, she had Tetsuya and Saki in the meantime. She could have gone on. So why had she agreed? Sure, she might never get to reform the band if she refused the chance, but would that be so bad? She knew that she would not get replaced; Nittle Grasper was Seguchi Tohma, Sakuma Ryuichi, and Tanaka, later Ukai, Noriko. Period. End of story. Not "...Ryuichi and/or Tanaka..." She was an integral part of the band.

She knew why she agreed. She knew all along.

Nittle Grasper was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She registered it as being odd, and probably not in a good way, that she ranked her time with her husband below her time with two other boys, but the band was more important. The thought of going back...it was intoxicating.

Of course, she should have known better. There is no going back, only forward. In the beginning, they had been twenty-somethings (well, she had been a teenager, but same thing) playing to twenty-somethings and teenagers. They had been rebellious; Tohma was supposed to be a businessman; she was supposed to be a perfect, traditional Japanese wife for some rich old man, and Ryuichi...was supposed to do something, no doubt. Parents had not been exactly sure that they approved. Some parents were sure that they did not approve.

Nowadays, they were the middle aged (okay, exaggeration. The more than quarter aged) generation, playing for thirty-somethings. They were "the way they did it back in the old days". They were retro. They were respectable. Sure, they had some younger fans (example: Tohma's creepy brother-in-law), but the vintage Graspers were those disapproving parents now.

Still...she had some consolation. The boys were in the same position. And she knew they felt the same way.

A/N: Odd little idea I had while angsting about the fact that I won't get to go to the Broadway's Greatest Showstoppers concert and was consoling myself by listening to all of the Raúl Esparza that I had, including tick, tick...BOOM! I'm probably going to do two more, one for Ryuichi and one for Tohma, with the next two parts of 30/90. I don't know if anyone's reading this, but if you are, please review. Thank you.