A Ghost Story by Hoshiko and silvershadeus - Part 2

The next morning I met Shuuichi at the park on our way to work. We both held down jobs at NG recording studios, mostly doing gofer work for the bands under the label. 'Go for this', 'go for that...' 

Sometimes I was called in to fill in for a sick musician who couldn't make it to the studio for a recording. Shuuichi was somewhat of a special case, I suppose. He and Hiroshi had wanted to start a band - Bad Luck, I think they wanted to call it - but when Hiroshi died, so did their dream. Shuuichi just didn't see the point in fulfilling their dream if Hiroshi wasn't there to share in it.

Then a year ago Shuuichi ran into his biggest hero - Sakuma Ryuichi. I'm not sure what it was he saw in him. At the time Shuuichi was little more than a glorified office secretary, but somehow Ryuichi knew that he had potential. And even though there was no way anyone could get Shuuichi to sing, Ryuichi got him interested in making music again. Or perhaps more the unseen, far from glorified side of it.

Shuuichi is more like Ryuichi's personal assisant than anything else. He makes sure Ryuichi always has his favorite brand of bottle water and that he actually eats something instead of skipping meals as he tends to do while working on a new song. He also makes sure that Ryuichi has plenty of paper and crayons so that he doesn't feel compelled to draw a mural on the staff room wall anymore because he 'ran out of paper.' There are other things that Shuuichi does for Ryuichi as well that K, his manager, doesn't have the time to see to with everything else that he does. 

Ryuichi is trying in his own way to get Shuuichi singing again. He lets him listen in on recordings in the sound engineer's booth. And last summer Shuuichi went on tour with Nittle Grasper - as Ryuichi's assistant of course. I heard from my uncle that Shuuichi is the reason that Ryuichi wanted to start singing with Nittle Grasper again instead of pursuing his solo career. Something about wanting to give Shuuichi a reason to sing again the way he'd given Ryuichi one.

It's a start, I suppose. After the accident there wasn't much that Shuuichi was interested in. His family was getting worried, and so were the rest of us. I think we all thought that if Ryuichi worked at him long enough he might be able to get Shuuichi to sing again. I'd heard him sing once - before the accident - and it was nothing I'd ever heard before. Shuuichi put so much of himself into his singing that it was amazing to listen to. Mesmerizing. 

When I saw him that morning he looked...dreadful is the only word that comes to mind at the moment. He had dark circles under his eyes, which were so bloodshot that they hurt to look at. They were red-rimmed and puffy from all the crying he'd done the previous night. His hair was sticking up at odd angles and his clothes were wrinkled and...frumpy looking. One corner of his shirt wasn't tucked in and his shoes didn't match. Neither did his socks.

He looked as though either he'd slept in his clothes or a train had hit him. Since I remembered him wearing that orange sweatshirt the day before when we'd gone to the movies I was betting on the former. He tended to do that a lot when the anniversary of Hiroshi's death rolled around. Which was odd, as that wouldn't be for another six months. 

The dream then. Or whatever it had been that Shuuichi had seen...or thought he'd seen.

"Shuuichi? Did you get any sleep last night?" I asked, giving him a worried look as he fell into step beside me.

He smiled a little, but it was clearly nothing more than a token effort. I could see that he was exhausted and from the look of it still thinking about what had happened the night before. It was a miracle that he had managed to make it to the park under his own power. Getting to the NG building was beginning to look like it was going to be a problem. 

"Ryuichi's not going to be happy when he sees you like this, you know. He'll pull Kumagorou out and then - " 

I stopped when I realized that I was talking to myself. Shuuichi had just sort of...stopped...where he was. Turning to look at him, I felt something in my heart clench at the sight. He looked like one of those robots from some anime that had just had its power switch flipped to 'off.' His arms dangled at his side, his head bowed. The mass of pink shag that served as his hair hid his face from view. Moving closer, I heard a tiny little snore.

Shuuichi is the only person I have ever met that is capable of falling asleep not only standing up - but walking as well. If it hadn't been for the fact that we were in danger of being late for work, I might have given him time to catch up on the rest he'd so obviously missed the night before. As it was, it took nearly ten minutes of me poking and prodding him and calling his name before he woke up. 

When he did, he looked confused. As thought he hadn't had the faintest clue as to where he was or even who I was. Having him looking at me as though I was a complete and total stranger was frightening. I've known him for five years and I consider him to be one of my best friends. 

"Shuuichi?" 

Funny, how I seemed to be saying his name a lot back then. It seemed like it was the only thing I was able to say, I suppose. I was worried for him. Afraid that something had happened and I didn't really know what to do. 

He blinked a couple of times, his eyes watering a little. 

"Suguru?"

I was so relieved that he remembered who I was that I hugged him. Something that must have startled him badly because he just stood there staring at me. I guess that was understandable as I'm usually not very demonstrative with my emotions like that. It's another form of admitting weakness.

"Are you okay, Suguru?"

It's just like him to be more concerned about someone else's feelings than his own. When I first met him I couldn't understand how someone could be so giving - so generous - with their heart. I tried to avoid him, but somehow we kept running into each other...almost like we were supposed to for some reason. Eventually I gave up trying to avoid him and it turned out to be one of the smartest decisions I've ever made in my life. I hate to think what I would be like now if I had never met him. 

"I'm fine, Shuuichi. I'm fine. You're the one who had me worried. Are you all right?" I asked, stepping back to get a good look at him.

He shook his head and nodded...and then he glanced at his wristwatch.

"Oh no! We're going to be late!" He cried, slapping his forehead. "Come on, Suguru! Your uncle will fire us for sure if we're late one more time!"

He wouldn't, really. As much as I hate to admit to it, nepotism does play a part in the fact that I have a job working at NG - but the rest was due to my personal skills and ability. I may have been given a hand getting my foot in the door at NG, but I've worked my way up to where I am now entirely on my own merit. 

And as for Shuuichi? Ryuichi likes him too much for my uncle to risk firing him. An annoyed Sakuma Ryuichi is not something anyone would want to see - or deal with. It's much easier to hang the threat of being fired over Shuuichi's head than it would be to actually fire him. And besides, my uncle likes him too...in his own way. He thinks Shuuichi is good for Ryuichi.

He's a friend with Ryuichi, probably more so than Ryuichi ever lets anyone else be. Shuuichi gets to see a side of Ryuichi that not many other people get to see that only a handful of people have ever seen. And I would have to say that Ryuichi is good for Shuuichi as well. They...compliment each other, in a way. Or maybe it's more that they balance each other out...it's hard to say for certain with them.

Even with Shuuichi's 'shortcut' through the business district, we managed to get to work just in time. I left him at the first floor elevators promising to meet for lunch if our schedules allowed. Working in the music industry with jobs like ours we often worked well past lunchtime without getting a break. Sometimes we worked only an hour or two and had the rest of the day off. There was no telling what day would be which.

Shuuichi waved to me one last time before the elevator doors slid shut. I had to smile as I caught sight of Ryuichi walking towards him with a familiar bundle of pink in his arms. Kumagorou, of course.

If anyone would be able to cheer Shuuichi out of his funk it would have to be Sakuma Ryuichi. There were a number of reasons for that. First and foremost was the fact that Shuuichi thought of him as some major deity come down to Earth. In his eyes, Ryuichi could do no wrong. Second was the fact that Ryuichi genuinely liked and cared for Shuuichi - they're friends. And third - there's no resisting Ryuichi when he goes all fluff-brained with Kumagorou being the voice of reason. 

I knew I could trust Ryuichi to cheer Shuuichi up while I was working upstairs. Or failing that, he could at the very least be sure to keep a watchful eye on him. Not to mention K would be there as well. Normally I think I would have been worried about leaving Shuuichi alone with an American with as many guns as K - but there's something about him that makes you want to trust him. K, I mean. Despite the fact that he takes a sort of unholy glee in waving his weapons around, you just know that he's a trustworthy sort of person. Don't ask me how, he just is.

Shuuichi seems to like him well enough at least, and that's good enough for me. In spite of all his...eccentricities...Shuuichi shares a trait in common with Ryuichi - they are both excellent judges of character. If either of them told me that they did not like a person based on a feeling they had, I would believe them. I have never seen someone one of them has said was trustworthy turn out to be anything but. And if they say K is all right, then I believe them.

If I could have I would have taken Shuuichi aside and talked to him about whatever had happened the night before, but we both had work to do. Ryuichi needed Shuuichi for some kind of project that day that would most likely take until lunch. I was needed in one of the recording studios to fill in for a keyboardist that had dropped out at the last minute for a recording session.

While I don't mind playing other people's music, I guess that what I would like most would be to come up with my own arrangements someday. To make music that would be all...mine. Not some other recording artist's, but mine. Until then, it was enough to get to work with different musicians and different bands. Doing so has broadened my horizons and given me experience that I would never have been able to get otherwise. And most musicians are rather pleasant people to deal with.

The morning passed quickly enough. I was given the sheet music and given a little time to play through it and become familiar with the song. The lead vocalist of the band was on hand to tell me exactly how he wanted the music played and he was actually quite pleasant about the whole situation. Most people in his position tended to be irritable and a bit...defensive dealing with someone who wasn't a member of his band. Understandable, if a bit...unprofessional.

When it comes to their musical creations musicians can be amazingly critical about the way they want things done. Part of the reason I didn't like filling in for a band member sometimes. More than once I was stuck in the recording studio for nearly the whole day without a break working on a song with them. I suppose I can understand how they would want their music to be as perfect as humanly possible. I would do the same if I were in their position. Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

As it was, we broke for lunch an hour earlier than I had anticipated. To make matters even better, the vocalist and sound engineer were pleased with the way things had gone and decided that we had worked enough for the day. Aside from filling out a little paperwork I had the rest of the day off. Glancing at the wall clock as I made my way out of the studio, I hoped it would be enough time to get to the root of the problem with Shuuichi and the reason he'd called me the night before.

 To be continued...

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