Tabloid Romance

by: Magnificent Meow

Disclaimer: Mags Meow does not own Gravitation or anything associated with it.



Note: Please note that this story makes no mention of Yuki. None. Nothing. No reference whatsoever. Please don't ask what happened to him, he's just not there.

************

"This is going to be another long day at the studio," Hiro sighed.



The day had barely began, but already Hiro could tell things weren't going to go well. Shuichi had been late, as usual, and the song that the pink haired one had been working on for the past two weeks was still far from completion. He sipped at his glass of iced tea and watched his friend mull over the lyrics. Shuichi didn't look like he was about to write a song. He wasn't even holding the pen.



"Shuichi," Hiro began, a hint of frustration in his voice. "You are the slowest songwriter in the world."



Shuichi made no response.



"Shuichi." Hiro waved his hand in front of Shuichi's glossed orbs. "Shuuu.iii..chiii."



Not even a twitch. Hiro sighed. "Yep. Definitely a long day ahead." The auburn haired boy leaned back in his chair.



Hiro barely had enough time to get comfortable when suddenly the mass of pink hair opposite from him gave in to gravity and sprawled across the wooden surface with a thud. Hiro leapt at the sound and stared as his friend moved for the first time in about an hour.



"OWWWWWWWWW," Shuichi cried. "That hurt!" he said, rubbing his forehead.



Even with widened eyes, Hiro couldn't believe the sight in front of him. "Shuichi, at this rate you're going to destroy yourself trying to write that song. There's no point in forcing it, take a break," he said, waving his hands towards the door in hopes that Shuichi would understand.



"Hiro," Shuichi looked confused. "When did you get here?"



Hiro nearly fell to the floor. "I've been here ever since you have, baka!"



Shuichi smiled his cutest smile and shut his eyes. "I guess I didn't notice."



Hiro could only shake his head. "Maybe you should have stayed in bed longer."



***************



Meanwhile, K and Sakano stood before a large desk where a small, disarming looking blond man named Touma was positioned. Clearly the one in charge, he sat in silence reading over what appeared to be a magazine article, but his eyes showed much concern.



Breaking the silence he spoke in a low voice. "It looks like we have a situation here."



K nodded quietly at Touma's words but Sakano wasn't taking things so lightly. The black haired man who was dressed neatly in a dark business suit was going insane. It was nothing much different than his usual self though. Sakano never was very stable.



"Waah! What are we going to do?" he cried, running in circles as tears streamed down his cheeks. "This is awful! We're not ready to deal with something like this. We're finished! This is going to ruin Bad Luck forever!"



Tired of the wailing, a not amused K grabbed the smaller man by the collar and stuffed him on to a chair. It might not stop the man from crying, but at least it would keep him from moving. Speaking now, K adopted a pleasant voice in his attempt to calm the other man down. "No publicity is bad publicity, right? Everything will be fine."



Touma nodded from behind his desk. "There is still part of me that worries though, K. We need to discuss things with Ryuichi and Shuichi before we make our first move. Call them into my office."

*****************

Shuichi stepped out of the small room and walked over to the vending machine. "I think I need something to wake me up," he muttered. "I'm so tired." After putting his change in the little slot he pushed the button for his desired drink and, like magic, a small can found it's way to Shuichi's hand. Shuichi opened the container and took a deep breath, but he didn't even have a moment to taste the dark liquid that it held.



"Shuuuuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiichiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!"



Something had clung to Shuichi, and it wasn't just the soda which had spilled all over his shirt.



"OH NO! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO sorry! I didn't mean to make you spill, will you pretty please forgive Ryuichi?"



Two big round tearful eyes looked up into Shuichi's expecting the younger boy to be upset, but the pink haired singer just smiled. "Ryuichi, you really have to stop springing on me like that. And what's with the puppy eyes? You didn't really think I'd be mad did you?" Shuichi mused.



An overwhelmingly hyper Ryuichi replied, "No!" and smiled a huge smile. Ryuichi never failed to brighten a dull moment.



Hopping around like an energetic puppy, the lead singer of Nittle Grasper pawed at Shuichi's clothes. "Ryuichi was told to get Shuichi! Touma has news for us both so we have to go to his office." He paused as a slightly more serious look crossed his face, indicating that this presidential visit might not be a good thing.



Shuichi nodded, recognizing the look of caution in his friend's eyes, and followed him down the hall.



**************



"WHAT?!" Shuichi cried. "But that's not even true! How could they print that?!" The pink haired boy questioned in alarm, arms flailing at his sides.



A large eyed Ryuichi thought it over for a moment. "Well, tabloids are the workings of evil geniuses out to destroy the world. They can do anything." He smiled, seemingly amused by the accusations being thrown at them.



"Ryuichi, how can you stay so calm? They just accused us, US - AS IN YOU AND ME, of. of." he trailed off.



Touma interrupted Shuichi's frustrated gestures. "Shuichi, Ryuichi has had much more experience with tabloid garbage than you have. In time you'll be accustomed to media bombardment over false allegations, but for now we need to deal with the situation at hand. We will hold a press conference this afternoon at three thirty to deal with the claims, and you two will set the record straight."



The singers nodded at the president's words and turned to leave. Outside the office Shuichi stared at his friend.



"Ryuichi, what do we do?"



Ryuichi didn't seem to be in the mood for a media extravaganza either, that much was obvious, but he smiled anyway.



"Don't worry, Shuichi! Ryuichi will take care of everything." He patted the smaller boy's shoulder, somehow proving to Shuichi that he had meant his words. "I'll see you at three thirty." With that, Ryuichi left, but not before giving a quick wink to his pink haired friend.

***************

Hiro found Shuichi banging his head lightly against the wall of the small room they had been in earlier.



"What is it with you and your forehead today?" he joked, hoping for a reaction.



"HIIROO." Shuichi howled. "I'm having a bad day." The presence of his friend did nothing to stop Shuichi from his previous, but unnecessary, activity of forehead banging. It took Hiro a fair bit of strength to pull the singer away from the wall.



"Banging your head won't do you any good," Hiro replied in a steady voice, "if you keep doing that you'll lose your mind."



Shuichi looked up at the boy with long auburn hair with oversized puppy dog eyes. "Why are they so cruel Hiro? I didn't do anything. Even the picture is a fake!" Shuichi continued his rant, but not with words, more like incoherent sounds and mild sobbing. Hiro picked the smaller one up, stood him on his feet and looked him in the eye, or at least he tried to. Shuichi was dazed. Again.



"Well," he said, "it's not like it's true, is it?"



Shuichi looked up.



************



The air in the conference room was cool, Ryuichi could feel it when he walked in.



"Brrr, I'm gonna need a blanket!" He took his seat.



Shuichi entered not too long after, and sat down beside his friend. They turned away from the microphones and spoke a few words before addressing the restless crowd of journalists and photographers.



Ryuichi, much to Shuichi's appreciation, began.



"Ladies and gentlemen, we have called you here today to discuss a recent bit of gossip that has been going around. That of course being the idea that Shuichi Shindo, lead singer of Bad Luck, and myself, Ryuichi Sakuma, lead singer of Nittle Grasper, are lovers." He paused looking at the crowd.



Ryuichi continued. "Well, I hate to inform all of you, but it isn't true. Shuichi and I are just friends who have been the bait for some sort of media scandal."



The crowd hummed over Ryuichi's words. Shuichi sat and stared blankly before realizing that a hand was pulling him away.



"Ryuichi?" he asked. "Don't you want to answer their questions?"



Ryuichi said nothing and kept moving, pulling Shuichi all the while.



Finally away from the media, the two boys stopped. "We don't have to answer them, Shuichi, we gave them what they wanted to know." He spoke with a smile on his face and pulled Shuichi into a private lounge. "Besides," he continued. "I was having trouble keeping a straight face."



Shuichi smiled and wrapped his arms around Ryuichi. "After all this acting we've been doing I was beginning to think you forgot that I was your lover."



"You're not my lover, Shuichi," the older man grinned. "We haven't gone that far yet," he said with a flirtatious wink. Ryuichi leaned over and passionately kissed the pink haired boy on the lips. "And I'm not planning to tell anyone just yet. No one needs to know for now. We'll keep our romance for the tabloids, at least no one will believe it there."



End. I haven't decided if I should continue this or not. Feel free to add your thoughts!