Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Break Through ❯ Rage Beat ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or any manga/anime mentioned within this story.

Many thanks to Ember for her insightful and speedy beta efforts^^

NC-17 for language, adult themes, Yaoi and sexual situations.

Chapter Three: Rage Beat

"Oh my fucking god! Tohma Seguchi bumped into you and gave you his business card?" Shuichi shouted almost passing out from the emotion.

"Calm down, dude. Let's think this through. The guy who bumped into me looked WAY too young to be Seguchi-san, he looked barely sixteen, it was definitely a prank" Hiro reasoned, his initial shock gone.

"Shut up,dude! You mean to tell me that you are a musician and don't know how the most powerful man in the industry looks like? He was in `Grasper' for crying out loud!" Shuichi screamed hysterically.

"I don't listen to "Grasper"" Hiro said making quotation marks.

"You don't read mags either?" Shu asked with a mixture of sarcasm and anger.

"Not ones that might feature him. I read American magazines, Japan has no decent Heavy Metal bands other than X-Japan." Hiro let out matter-of-factly.

"Fuck you!" Shuichi ran out of the room only to return a few minutes later carrying a stack of magazines in his hands. "I fucking tell you, why can't things like this happen to me! You must be the only moron who doesn't know what Seguchi Tohma looks like." The hysterical boy rummaged through the magazines like a mad man, until he came up to a shot of the genius producer, former member of the best band to walk the earth `Nittle Grasper. "Is this the guy?" Shu put the picture on Hiro's face and waited not very patiently for an answer. Hiro looked at the picture and although the man in it was not wearing glasses or a hat, he was sure they were the same. Again that inexplicable blush graced Hiro's cheeks, he only hoped Shuichi didn't notice.

Well?" Shu shouted.

"Yes… that's him." Hiro nodded still blushing.

"Call him!"

"No fucking way!" Hiro shouted as well.

"What? You can't be serious!"

"Of course I am. I wasn't planning to call him to begin with, why would him being a big time producer matter at all?"

"You're fucking joking right? This is no coincidence, Hiro, this was preordained, don't you see? This is an omen, a sign that things will start to look up for us." Shuichi was almost crying.

"Shut up, you watch way too many movies Shuichi, I said I will not call, and I will not do it, no matter what you say."

"Why?" Shuichi calmed down.

"Because…" Hiro sobered up as well and thought for a moment.

"You don't even have a reason?"

"I do! I don't want him to think that all I'm after is his influence." Hiro let out solemnly, for some reason he didn't want the man thinking that. Shu just glared at him incredulously.

"So what if that's all your after, he owes you!" Shu countered.

"He owes me a pair of sunglasses, not a record deal." Hiro insisted.

"Well tell him to hear us out and forget about the glasses." Shu begged.

"No!"

"Please!" Shuichi got on his knees.

"Stop it man! I said `no' and that's final." Shuichi began to crawl towards Hiro, and when he was about a foot away, he dashed in the hopes to snatch the card from his unreasonable so-called best friend. If Hiro didn't realize what an opportunity this was, someone had to take advantage of it. If it was so damn important to Hiro that Seguchi-san didn't think ill of him Shu could always say Hiro had nothing to do with it. Not that Shuichi understood why it mattered so damn much, but he at least owed Hiro that much.

Shuichi was not fast enough. Hiro knew him better than he knew himself, and it was impossible to pull that kind of trick on the longhaired metal head. Hiro held the card above his head with both hands; Shuichi just shook his head, and with his hands in prayer, feared the worst.

"One more step and I'll tear it apart."

Shu's eyes went wide with horror. "No man! Think about it, please."

"If this is preordained like you said, somehow Seguchi-san will find his way to us." And with this said, Hiro tore the small card into tiny bits.

+++

"As you can see, concentrating all our efforts on ASK will prove to be the wiser decision." Tohma spoke firmly to the other members of the board. He felt as though he were teaching algebra to first graders - none of these idiots knew a thing about music, and frankly he had no patience for them, especially these days.

"Excuse me Seguchi-sama, you have a very important phone call on line one," his personal assistant, Usagi, interrupted. Tohma felt a little relieved for the chance to be out of there, but worried at the same time. Usagi never interrupted him unless there was a real emergency, or it was something that he had asked her to do beforehand. The only things that came to mind were Mika, but she wouldn't be calling on a regular line, besides his wife never called. Mika Costa, but then again, Usagi wouldn't interrupt a meeting because of her… unless she had been in an accident- he chuckled at that one- Eiri was not known to be so lucky. Eiri? But Tohma had a cell phone exclusively for his calls, so that only left. Nakano Hiroshi. He had told Usagi to transfer his call no matter what.

"If you will all excuse me." Tohma got to his feet. "Sakano-san, please take over for me." And then he exited, going to his office to get the call.

It had been five days since the incident at the record store and Tohma was beginning to wonder what was taking the boy so long - that, and his inexplicable obsession with the longhaired youth. He had not been able to get him out of his mind, hard as he might try. The way he talked, looked, and the fact that he didn't seemed to know who Tohma Seguchi was. It was very rare that he would obsess over anything like this, but he had to admit that it felt - refreshing. The anticipation of seeing him again, and the chase that would come soon afterreminded him of those long ago days when he had been just as obsessed with Eiri Yuki-kun.

"Hello, this is Seguchi." He spoke softly into the mouthpiece.

"Is that how you answer the phone nisan? All sexy like that, no wonder you're so popular." Tohma rolled his eyes and sank in his chair.

+

Tatsuha Uesugi: The youngest ever to become a monk in the very old and conservative Uesugi family lineage. He had his older brother to thank for that. Since childhood he felt the weight of his responsibilities and what was expected of him. He couldn't say he had a very happy childhood, or any sort of childhood for that matter. Tatsuha was always training, studying the old scriptures and trying his best to live up to everyone's expectations. He envied both his brother and sister - nothing was expected of either of them other than not to bring shame to the family.

He especially resented his brother, but was ironically thankful to him at the same time. After all, he was the reason he was even born.

From an early age he had a vague understanding of what was going on around him. Eiri was cast aside because of the way he looked, and Mika was expected to marry someone important .So he really couldn't hate them all that much. On the contrary, Tatsuha always looked for ways to get close to them. Mika for the most part always treated him like a real size doll, ready to play with him one minute, and forgetting him the next. And of course the elusive eldest brother wouldn't even try to get along. In fact, more than once he told him how much he hated Tatsuha and the whole family. So in order to keep himself occupied and out of everyone's way, Tatsuha began "dating" at a very early age. Being as tall and handsome as his brother, it was very easy to make himself look older than he really was.

It wasn't until his brother, Eiri, began attending High School, that for some reason he began allowing young Tatsuha to come around and watch him draw, and so he became Tatsuha's god. Sometimes Eiri would ask him what he thought of this or that panel, or a certain twist to the plot. To the young Uesugi, he was finally starting to have a relationship with his older brother. Little did he know that to Eiri, he was nothing more than an outside opinion for his work.

One afternoon Eiri came home from school and announced he was going to become a professional mangaka. Their parents were horrified, and utilized every resource available to throw those wishes to dust. But Tatsuha secretly admired him for his determination and wanted nothing more than for Eiri to succeed.

So…Not very long after that, with Mika's boyfriend's help- Seguchi Tohma, - Eiri's first issue of NeoGenesis Evangelion was released… And all hell broke lose thereafter.

+++

"What is it Tatsuha?" Tohma asked in a monotone. "I've asked you not to call me at the office, is your father alright?"

"No," the voice at the other side of the line replied. "But that's more of a mental issue isn't it?"

"Then?"

"Did you get what I asked for?"

"Which is?" Tohma said rolling his eyes again, cursing the day he gave the boy his business card.

"The DVD I asked you to get. C'mon nisan, you're in it! I know you must have dozens of them stashed away!" Tatsuha begged.

"No I do not, listen, we'll talk about this later, and about you calling me out of meetings for nonsense."

"Nisan, please you know how much this means to me!"

"Tatsuha," Tohma said sternly. "I'm in no mood to play with you." And he hung up before the teen could get another word in. The only reason Tohma put up with him was because he was Eiri's brother, lately though, the oversexed teenager and Mika -both of them- were getting on his nerves. NG's president pressed the intercom button to call Usagi. As soon as she came in she bowed apologizing profusely.

"I have told you not to transfer my brother-in-law to me." He said none too pleased.

"I am so sorry Seguchi-sama, he said it was an emergency."

"To him, a Nittle Grasper DVD is an emergency." Tohma replied in the same stern voice. I expect you to be smarter than that from now on. Understood?"

"Of course Seguchi-sama." Again Usagi bowed deeply. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"No, you may go." She turned to leave.

"Wait, there is," Tohma said hesitantly.

"I need you to search for a certain person."

"Yes,"

"Nakano Hiroshi," Tohma said after hesitating for a few seconds. What was the matter with him? Why was he going to such extremes? "He's about twenty-years-old."

"Yes Seguchi-sama, I will have that information as soon as possible." Usagi left, and he went back to that tedious meeting.

+++

"C'mon man, are you still not talking to me?" Hiro teased Shuichi as they sat on a bench at the park.

"I'll never forgive you." Shu sulked.

"Aw c'mon, its not a big deal. We'll make it, you'll see." Hiro smiled putting a hand on Shuichi's head

"Fuck you!"

"Ooh I love it when you talk dirty!" Hiro joked.

"Shut up!" Shuichi pushed Hiro, making him fall on his side.

"Anyways, did you finish the new song?" Hiro asked as he got up.

"What is it to you? This band clearly doesn't mean anything to your pretty head!"

"You know it does - so did you?"

"Yes your majesty," Shu said bowing, "and I gave you plenty of guitar exposure like you requested."

"Awesome! We'll kick major ass this weekend."

"Yeah whatever. I do all the work and you take the glory, meeting all the big shots."

"Stop complaining, you know you want to."

"Fuck you!"

"If you want me all that bad, all you have to do is ask, you don't have to insinuate that much, Shu-i-chi-kun." Hiro said pinching his friend's nose.

"I hate you, Hiro, you know that?" Shuichi responded pushing him again.

"Yeah, yeah I love you too."

+++

"Excuse me Seguchi-sama." Usagi came in and Tohma held a hand, halting her as he spoke on the phone.

"Right… I'll be sure to tell him… of course… I love you too, bye." He ended his call and put his cell phone away.

"Is everything alright, Seguchi-sama?" Usagi asked.

"Yes, well my father-in-law just had another seizure and they can't find Eiri. Elusive little fellow don't you think, Usagi-chan?"

"I am very sorry to hear that."

Tohma smiled making her blush. "What is it Usagi-chan?"

"Oh, yes, sorry for the interruption, only, I have the information you requested." Usagi came closer to the desk. She had two manila folders. "There are two people under that name in this city, one is a computer engineer from the IBM company, and the other does not have a job currently, he does however play in a band at an underground club on Friday and Saturday nights. I assumed this is the person you meant, so I took the liberty to get all the information I could on him."

"Thank You Usagi-chan." Tohma smiled and she bowed, setting the folder down on the desk.

"Will you be needing anything?"

"No, that's all." Tohma smiled pointing at the door. Usagi left. He stared at the folder for a full minute, then took it and opened it slowly. There was even a picture of the boy, a high school yearbook shot. Tohma took it from the paper clip that held it, and looked at it carefully. Not a very old picture he noticed, the hair was a little shorter, but no other difference that he could see. He read the file, set down the folder once done, then sank back on his chair deep in thought.

"You are a musician, I am the president of a recording label and a producer, yet you have not called me - why?" Tohma asked to the empty office. A slow easy grin eased on his face. "Interesting… very interesting." He shot up and looked at his watch. It was 6:30 pm on Friday night, and according to that file he played at around 9:00 pm. "First things first," he said aloud, taking a phone out of his pocket and dialing a number he knew only too well.

"Eiri-kun," Tohma said warmly as soon as the deep voice answered. "I have good news and bad news."

"What… who's this?" the sleepy voice said.

"You answered the phone without knowing who it is… very un-celebrity like." Tohma joked.

"Huh, Tohma. What is it? This has better be important. I worked all night and I'm tired," Eiri grouched.

"I said I have good and bad news."

"What's the bad news?" Tohma smiled, how typical of him to say that.

"Your father had another seizure. They're expecting you. The good news is that I arranged a mini tour for Mika starting in about two weeks."

"Two weeks! Why that long, can't you get her on the road sooner?" Eiri complained.

"That's as fast as I could manage. Don't worry; in the mean time I am already arranging her summer tour, that should get her off your back for a while. You'll owe me another one," Tohma smiled

"Yeah, come get your payment," Yuki snapped. Tohma smiled again and shock his head."About you, are you going to Kyoto tonight, I'm not going by myself, I don't understand. Why the sudden love for their first born?"

"I was going to, but something came up. I will see you tomorrow morning though, as early as I can manage, I promise."

There was a pause on the other end. "Fine, but I'm only doing this out of charity."

"See you tomorrow Eiri-kun."

+++

"Alright! The club is fuller than usual, Hiro. All the better to hear my ass kicking song!" Shuichi said excitedly as he looked at the crowd outside. Hiro was polishing his guitar and seemed to be miles away. "Are you listening?"
"Huh, what?" Hiro looked at Shu absently.

"What's the matter with you? You have been acting weird all day." Shuichi walked to his best friend and took the guitar away. Hiro didn't even look up -bad sign- he never allowed anyone to touch his Jackson.

"Sorry man, I just don't feel up to it tonight." Hiro replied.

"Well, you better get "up" to it soon, we're next."

"I know I'll be alright."

"You want to talk about it?" Shuichi asked concerned.

"Is nothing, I just had an argument with my folks, that's all." It must have been a very bad argument, Shuichi thought; Hiro rarely even paid attention to them, let alone worried like this.

"Let's go, man. Let your lover make you feel better." Shuichi said handing Hiro his guitar. The longhaired man smiled bitterly as he took it.

"It'll be alright," Shu said and they went on the stage as the DJ introduced them.

+

"HEY EVERYBODY!" Shu yelled over the mike and turned around to look at Hiro. His friend was already smiling and waiving at the chicks at the front, he looked up and gave him the thumbs up. "HOW ABOUT A NEW SONG TONIGHT!" The crowd went wild. They were very well known at this club and, unbeknownst to them, many just came to see them play.

"YEAH! SHUICHI GOT OFF LAZY ASS AND WROTE A NEW ONE FOR Y'ALL!" Hiro cut in, and the crowd went wild again.

"YEAH WHATEVER, MAN! AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, WE"LL BRING YOU"

"RAGE BEAT!!!" They both yelled and began playing their sweet music.

+++

A/N: Well, well, well, Tohma seems a little too into Hiro to me… would there be ulterior motives… let's hope not! I mean the man is married for crying out loud!!

Next stop: Blind Game Again: Let the can o' Lemonade rip open!!! Oh yes, there will be some action… but not who you think ^_~

+++

I am kind of disappointed by the lack of reviews… but oh well what can I do ne?

Phoebe: I'm so glad I saved your day^^ I hope you like this one as well.

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