R.P.G. (Rock Playin' Gangsta)

"You forgot her birthday?!" Takeru yelled, a frightened look came about his face. "How could you forget her birthday?!" Shinpei winced as Takeru continued to yell. Yes, he had completely forgotten about his girlfriend's birthday, but with the schedule they were following lately, he could barely recall the day of the week, much less what exactly was going on that day. They were now in a PSC staff room, waiting on an opinion on Takeru's newest idea for an upcoming album cover.

"Dude, she's going to break up with you." Chiyu spoke, shaking his head. "I wouldn't dare forget a girl's birthday, it always has disastrous consequences." he finished and looked at Yuji for a further explanation.

"I got nothin'", he shrugged. "But you should really be more careful about breaking a girl's heart..." he looked at Masato for even further words.

"You know you're probably going to get an earfull from Hitomi..." he said quietly. "She looks out for Aiko like a big sister, after all..."

"You mean like a little sister, don't you?" Yuji asked. The three others completely cracked up. It was true, Aiko had almost 20 centimeters on Hitomi, but was quiet and reserved, whereas Hitomi could be anything but.

Shinpei looked at all four with an annoyed look. "I wouldn't have forgotten her birthday, if it wasn't for our schedule.."

"Maybe you should make it up to her~" Yuji spoke, as a pervy grin slide across his face.

"What?! Ugh, please don't allude to something like that..." Takeru said, making a face. "I don't wanna think about Pei getting busy with anyone...!" he closed his eyes tightly and shook his head trying to get rid of the thought.

"Seriously, will you just please be quiet about that?!" Shinpei snapped. His face was red; a telltale sign that it hadn't happened. Not even once.

"What, what? Is that an indication that.. It hasn't happened yet..?" Yuji had found yet another thing to tease the poor drummer about. Shinpei only lowered his head.

"It's not something you just jump into..." he muttered audibly.

"Well you do jump into a bed..." Chiyu said, thoughtfully. Masato and Yuji nodded, Takeru placed his hands over his ears to drown out the pervasive conversation. Suddenly Takeru's eyes lit up, and the four others shut their mouths, afraid to ask what the vocalist had been thinking about... An idea (probably not a bright one..) of course. Taking Shinpei by the hand. he shot out of the room, and down the hallway.

"Keru!! What are you doing?!" cried Shinpei. The vocalist all but ignored his words and continued towards another hallway, and off to another room that wasn't exactly familiar with the drummer. Shinpei's face paled. "DUDE!! I DON'T SWING THAT WAY!!! THE ONLY REASON WHY AIKO AND I HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING IS CAUSE--"

"Will you shut up?" Takeru half-whispered. "I have an idea of how you can make it up to her~" he said, finally letting go of Shinpei's hand. "Follow me~" he said, opening the door of a wardrobe closet.

"What do you mean by idea..?" Shinpei was anxious, afraid, and a little apprehensive of what the idea might be. Then he heard familiar words... and shuddered.

"You'll see~"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Aiko~" Hitomi sang into her cell phone. "Cheer up, okay? I'm sure he didn't forget your birthday on purpose... You know how his type is." the girl spoke soothingly into the phone, but clenched her fist at her side. How DARE he make, of all people, Aiko cry?!

"But i-it's not like him t-to forget anything..!" the voice on the other end stammered. Hitomi pictured her best friend with a tear-stained face, which only irked the brunette further.

"Well you know who would never forget a birthday? Yasuno wouldn't!" she said, trying once more to get Aiko to give Yasuno, the drummer from Kra a chance. Aiko sighed with deep contempt.

"I told you I'm not interested in him... Thank you for looking out for me, though. It means a lot." the voice spoke quietly. Hitomi muttered under her breath and hung up her phone.

"I'll get something together somehow... He's going to pay for ruining Ai-chan's birthday...!" Hitomi seethed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Come on out, Pei-kun~" Takeru sang at the door. There was a silence and he understood what he had to do. "COME ON, PEI-KUN!!!" he shouted. "This is all for Aiko, isn't it?? You don't look stupid at all!!" he grinned. This was too good to be true, he had finally successfully gotten Shinpei to agree to a makeover.

"FINE, FINE...!" a voice from behind the door grumbled. The door opened slightly.

"Ah come on!! You look awesome like that! A true PINK MASQUERADER!!" Takeru offered, cracking up over his own joke.

"Are you serious...?" Shinpei muttered as he finally walked through the wardrobe department door.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Geez... You'd think he'd be a little worried about how a meeting would go, wouldn't you?" Masato sat back in his chair. Takeru, being the kind of ... random.. individual that he was, probably took Shinpei off to grab a last-minute (and therefore probably expensive...) present for his girlfriend. Not a word to anyone else.. NOTHING. The other two members of SuG sighed at the same time.

"What gives them the right to just desert us like this..?" Yuji muttered under his breath. "This stupid meeting was Keru's idea, after all..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Just give me a good reason why I have to ask Yasu that...? He's probably enjoying the single life anyways.. And all you bring up lately is getting ... your friend.. and him together.." Keiyuu stated. He had walked over to Hitomi's apartment to check up on her. She wasn't answering her phone or texts, so something was either angering her or depressing her, once again. Why he even bothered with it half the time was a complete mystery to him.

"Because you said that he was single and she does like him..." Hitomi pouted her lips slightly. Keiyuu rolled his eyes.

"I'm not setting my drummer up with some fangirl that has a stupid crush on him." he stated, crossing his arms.

"Please...?"

"No."

"Pleeeeease...?"

"Nooooo."

"Well I told her that he would meet with her at least once.. She's my best friend, you don't want her to be upset with.. you... do you..?" she spoke victoriously as Keiyuu started showing signs of giving in; He furrowed his brow and uncrossed his arms, dropping them at his sides.

"... I'll see what I can work out.. I guess." he was starting to become annoyed with the girl. Once more, he wondered why he put up with her childishness and scheming personality. He looked down at Hitomi's attire, a floral-patterned dress with ties for straps that hit her about mid-thigh. Suddenly, it all came back to him how Hitomi was able to get him to do whatever she wanted... Because of his hope that she would finally give in to what HE wanted from her.

"Of course~" she smirked. "I'll call Aiko right now and tell her what I have planned."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Oh no, hell no!!" Shinpei started to protest as Takeru dragged him back to the staff meeting room from before. "I don't want to face those idiots' commentary about this!!"

"Calm down, you look fine... just.. a little colorful.." Takeru said with a smirk.

"I look like a rainbow threw up on me...." Shinpei muttered, but followed Takeru into the room anyways. Laughter erupted almost immediately as Chiyu exclaimed, "NICE PANTS!!" Shinpei turned red with embarassment.

"Shut up!!" He didn't know who to be more upset with; Takeru's fashion sense or his bandmates insistence on teasing him about every little thing they could possibly find to tease him about; From his taller-than-he-was girlfriend to his passive-aggressive personality lately, and Chiyu's incessant teasing always seemed to agitate him the most.

"Well the rest of your clothes don't exactly help!!" Masato said, joining in on the commentary. "You look like someone else completely!" he stated, pointing at the electric blue fedora on Shinpei's head. "Don't lose the headphones, man.. It's not a good look for you." Yuji said, snickering. "What are you, some kind of chibi gangster?"

"Yes, he is!" Takeru beamed, not letting Shinpei speak for himself. "Don't you think he looks soooo gangsta~~?" The bassist and two guitarists erupted in uncontrollable laughter; Shinpei's complexion completely reddened. He hoped that the tormenting would end soon...

"So this is for... What's her name again..? Ai~ko~?" Chiyu inquired, taking a good look at the rest of Shinpei's attire; A lime-green long-sleeved shirt with a t-shirt over it, proclaiming 'True test of skill: HUNTER' in a bold script. There was a padded vest over it in a dark grey hue, but his powder pink sarouel pants (PARACHUTE PANTS!!) stood out the most. Chiyu burst out laughing once more and the two others followed suit.

"Of course!" Takeru finally said. "He's gonna get on her good side again, and it's all thanks to me!" he gloated. Shinpei nodded and smiled sheepishly.

"Maybe you'll finally get lucky, Pei-kun~" Yuji sang as the other two struggled to keep a straight face.

'Geez... Can't they for once think about something else..?' Shinpei muttered under his breath.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Just don't worry about it, Ai-chan!" Hitomi spoke cheerfully in the phone. Keiyuu had held his promise to help the girl out and set up a phone call from Yasuno to Aiko, on the grounds that if they hit it off, he would agree to one... (AND JUST ONE!) date. Keiyuu watched as Hitomi spoke so giddily into the phone; She looked innocent, but very clearly was not... Perhaps they had the same thought process and that was why he was so willing to do her bidding?

"Looking innocent does not equal being innocent." he muttered. True words to live by for someone that had done his share of using others in order to get his own wishes fulfilled.

She finally got off the phone, and smirked. "Well then~" she whispered, "Now that pathetic excuse for Aiko's boyfriend won't stand a chance."

"So now you won't resist, like you promised..?" Keiyuu said with a sly grin forming at his lips. Hitomi made a face.

"I guess I'll play Monster Hunter with you, since you kept your word..." she spoke, crossing her arms and walking off down the apartment hallway. Keiyuu followed the brunette closely. Finally someone to party with in-game besides Yuura!

"So where are we going..?" he asked suddenly. He had noticed that they were now on the way toward the main door of the apartment housing; Wait, did that mean she was going to go to his apartment..?! His mind raced frantically.

'Ohhh, shit!! I left clean clothes on the couch, she's going to see how messy I am..!! At least part of the apartment is clean.. I think... I hope I cleaned well enough to suit her...!!' but his thoughts were interrupted by Hitomi's voice.

"I don't own that game. You're going to go buy it for me." she stated. The man's face completely faultered.

"You're lucky I can't say no to you..." Keiyuu muttered under his breath.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Aiko wasn't exactly looking forward to the prospect that the drummer of Kra had said he would call her.. Well, that's what she heard from Hitomi. "Just relax, okay? He's just another guy... Give him a chance, please?" the shorter girl had spoken over the phone a few minutes ago. Aiko looked at her phone in high disgust.

"I don't want to deal with him... I have enough problems of my own, and I haven't broken up with Shinpei either.. Gods, Hitomi-chan... You're so pushy!!" she spoke aloud in contempt, grabbing her light blonde hair at the ends and tugging gently in frustration. Her phone vibrated at her side, and her mood went from enraged to slightly nervous. She grabbed for it and placed it to her ear. Waiting for a raspy male voice to speak to her, she was quite surprised to hear her own mother's kind voice instead.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Now you gotta go buy her something nice and expensive~!" Takeru called out, walking backwards facing Shinpei. Stares were coming from all over the street, straight at the poor little drummer boy. The pair were walking around toward one of the nicest boutiques in Shibuya. "I'll help you pick out something amazing and fashionable~!" Takeru grinned and turned around, half-skipping along the sidewalk. It wasn't enough that Shinpei was dressed so oddly; Takeru's overly-cheerful demeanor didn't help the stares one bit. "Hurry up, Pei~!"

"Fine..." Shinpei sighed and slumped to hide his face. "Let's just get this over with, please..."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So what are you waiting on, hm?" Keiyuu spoke quickly into the phone. Yasuno was on the other line... Trying to get out of calling the girl. Yasuno had resolved that if it was something that Keiyuu wanted him to do.. As a favor for a girl that HE knew.. He just shouldn't even bother with it because the situation would probably bite him in the ass later on.

"I just.. I like being single, I don't want to go out with this girl. I don't even know what she looks like.." the deeper voice spoke. "There's no reason to get her hopes up, right? It's not that I don't like her.. It's that I don't even know her.." Keiyuu's eyes darkened slightly.

"Look, if you don't want to do this, I'll tell Yuura that YOU chipped his bass!" Keiyuu said, not really knowing what else to threaten. Hitomi wasn't within earshot, and he didn't want to disappoint the girl by telling her that something just wasn't going to happen because his stupid drummer didn't want to meet her friend; Scratch that... her BEST friend.

"... Tell him, I don't care." Yasu spoke and then the line went dead. Keiyuu sighed frustratedly and looked up as Hitomi finally came back carrying a bag. What she had bought didn't interest the vocalist at that moment. Hitomi looked at Keiyuu, and tilted her head.

"Who was it you were on the phone with?" She asked.

"Oh, it was Yasuno... he was just really excited about calling your friend.." he lied through his teeth. What Hitomi didn't know wouldn't hurt her...

"Oh, that's good!" she gushed. "We should celebrate if they actually do become a couple, shouldn't we??" she said, with a beaming smile.

"Yes, of course we should..." the man said, sneakily draping his arm around Hitomi's shoulder. "But for now, we should go back, hm?" he asked, slightly smirking at the brunette. Hitomi handed Keiyuu the bag.

"Help me set up the game and we'll talk about what OUR next step is." she stated, walking a bit quicker than the vocalist. Keiyuu's arm fell off her shoulder as she did. He watched as she walked in front of him.

"Dammit, Hitomi-chan... You always do this to me...!" he muttered under his breath, trying to catch up to the girl.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Mom, I'm glad you called, really, but I have to go.. I'm expecting a call..." Aiko spoke quickly into the receiver. An hour and a half of talking to her mother and the woman showed no sign of letting up with the questions of what her daughter was up to, how she was getting along, and if she had met someone. Before her mother could ask who the call was from, Aiko had hung up, and sat back on the couch in her living room. A rather empty living room at the moment....

"Maybe I should call Shinpei..." she thought to herself. The phone rang once more. "Fine... I'll talk to you for a little longer..." she said, picking up the phone again. A deep voice spoke:

"Hello, is this Aiko...?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Shinpei and Takeru had finally finished with their mission to find something suitable for the surprise event.

"I guess I should say thank you..." Shinpei mumbled, grasping a small, white wrapped box in his hand. The box was tied with a hot pink ribbon; Aiko's favorite color. He hoped she would like what he picked out.. Well, with Takeru's help.. Even though the vocalist was less than helpful about helping him and got distracted by a rack of shirts. Takeru carried a very large shopping bag in his own hands.

"You're welcome~" he sang, and began skipping down the sidewalk. 'Here we go with the stares, again..' Shinpei thought to himself, quietly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"So what's the point of those... clothes, Takeru..?" Yuji asked. The amusement with Shinpei's attire had finally died out, and the two guitarists and bassist were more than annoyed at Takeru's split-second decision to kidnap Shinpei and go off shopping... Chiyu eyed the shopping bags at Takeru's side carefully. "And what the hell is that?" he pointed.

"OH! Those are for someone for letting us 'borrow' their clothes!" Takeru said with a grin.

Masato looked at the vocalist suspiciously. "You said 'borrow' like you aren't really borrowing them... Where did you get those from..?" He thought he already knew the answer but was curious of what Takeru might come up with as an excuse.

"Wardrobe~ One of the rooms was open so we took advantage of it~!" Takeru spoke, enthusiastically. Shinpei nodded and looked around. He grasped the box in his hands tightly.

"You never said what the point of those clothes are, Keru..." Yuji asked,once again. A thick silence plagued the room, then Takeru finally spoke.

"I forgot what the term is... but.. he's... ... um.... ...'pheasanting'...?" More silence followed as the two guitarists and bassist looked Shinpei over in confusion. "You know, like he wants attention from his girlfriend!" The other three erupted in laughter.

"You mean 'peacocking' don't you, Keru???" Chiyu spoke between bursts of laughter. Masato shook his head. "The point is to be sexy, not blinding..."

"Well Alice Nine's wardrobe closet wasn't exactly open..." Takeru said,thoughtfully. "Besides, Pon's stuff probably would barely fit Pei.", Takeru spoke of Hiroto, one of Alice Nine's guitarists. Shinpei shrunk away from the group, completely embarassed.

"So where's the party going to be at?", Chiyu asked, changing course of the entire conversation.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"So... would you like to go out sometime..?, the voice on the other end of the line asked Aiko. It sounded like he was dragged to the phone in order to make the call... No enthusiasm whatsoever! She sighed. trying to think of an excuse was hard... Then, she remembered her friend Hitomi's bitching about going through all the trouble to make such a meeting happen...

"I don't think..." she began, "Well, that is...", she let out a deep sigh out of frustration. "...
Sure.. ", she breathed into the phone. She could have smacked herself, hard for saying that.

She had a boyfriend, after all!! ... Didn't she still..?

"Good... I guess.. meet me by Hachiko.", the unenthusiasm had gotten worse in Yasuno's voice. "Yea, later..." He hung up quickly. Aiko sat back in the chair in her living room. "Great..." she muttered, sighing once more.

'I guess it wasn't meant to work out between us...'

~*~*~*~*~*~*

"...Can't I just suggest...?", Shinpei started to speak, off on his seemingly own little island of a chair in the hotel room.

"No!", all the rest of the band yelled in unison.

"But Aiko-chan won't like--"

"Eh? You hear that, Yuji-kun~?", Chiyu spoke, cutting the drummer off.

"Hmm~? I hear a whiny voice, but not it's source~", Yuji replied, looking all around the room in mock confusion. Shinpei fumed slightly and kicked his foot out as Chiyu walked by with a box. The bassist was smacked in the shin and winced. Shinpei couldn't help but smirk at his own misdeed.

"Damn it!!", Chiyu yelled out, turning around to glare at the pint-sized drummer. He then quickly turned and walked off, muttering under his breath about some form of revenge...

"Where do you want this, Keru-kun?", the bassist asked. Takeru was most enthusiastic about the idea of a party, and he was fluttering all around the room making sure everyone (with the exception of Shinpei) was doing their parts. "Oh! Just put that on the table in the corner~", he sang out, giddily.

"You should be thanking us, Pei-kun~", Masato stated, hanging hot pink and silver streamers from the wall. Shinpei in turn, grumbled and crossed his arms. To both Yuji and Chiyu's amusements, his feet dangled over the edge of the chair as he leaned back.

Neither of them called attention to it, but quietly chuckled to themselves.

"So... What do we have here? Möet & Chandon...?? Is this for....Ai~ko~chan~?", Chiyu smirked. Phase one of getting back at the drummer. Shinpei could only mutter curses to the bassist under his breath in return.

"Really...?", asked Masato. He had the most surprised look on his face of all of the men in the room.

"Really~", Chiyu smirked, holding up a bottle with the words 'Möet & Chandon' scripted across it. "I think Pei-kun has a classy girlfriend~" Yuji couldn't help but add to Chiyu's words.

"Make-up party, make-up gift, make-up champagne...", he began. "I'm sensing a pattern of what other 'make-ups' might happen after the party~"

Shinpei clenched both fists tightly. "Shut up!!" he yelled loudly, adding to the amusement of the two.

Takeru stood there for a minute with a perplexed look on his face; Then it hit him...

"...EWWWW!!!", he cried, making the comedy duo crack up even more. Masato only shook his head. "Ignore them, Pei-kun, they're being idiots..."

Shinpei looked at Masato with deep concern and sighed. "I just hope she accepts this as an apology..." he admitted.

"Well, with this huuuuuuuuuge bottle of champagne, she'll have to accept something~", Chiyu interjected with a chuckle. A look of disapproval covered Masato's face, but Shinpei was too lost in his own thoughts to respond.

'Please... Just let this go well...!'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I can't believe I'm doing this...", Aiko muttered softly to herself. She was clad in a dark blue dress, black leather boots, and her hair was down and flowing. Her thoughts seemed to drift a bit...

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF--", Aiko fumed. The record stores occupancy level for safety was completely compromised by the stream of people that kept flowing in. There was no end to it!! The bassist and one of the guitarists of the band that was doing a signing and in-store event was making sure everyone working was working three times harder than usual.
"Form an organized line!!", Aiko cried. No one was listening; They kept coming in and watching the so-called comedy act that was taking place!!

"Heeeey, Chiyuuu!!" the vocalist spoke up. "Tell that joke you told before we got here!!" he beamed.

Takeru was the worst of the three others, encouraging the duo to no end.

"Alright, alright...", Chiyu began. "What's the difference between Takeru-kun and Masato-kun?"

"This is gonna be good~", Yuji murmured.

The crowd clamored with mutters. "Eh?? There's a lot of differences between those two!!" one woman cried out. Many nodded. Chiyu smirked to himself, and revealed the answer.

"One's a P!NK masquerader, and one masquerades in pink!!",he spoke, hitting the correct answer buzzer on the game show-like prop in his hand.There were a few groans, but most of the people in the store laughed along with it. Masato looked down at his hot pink shirt and smiled embarrassed. "Good one, Chiyu-kun!!", Takeru sang, cracking up with laughter.

"It wasn't that funny..", Aiko muttered to herself. She noticed that one of the band members had began staring off into the crowd. For a split second, she thought their eyes had met, because he turned his head quickly to look out the window beside himself.

"Thank you, thank you...", Chiyu yelled out, appreciatively. "And now... for a song and dance, created for this occasion by... YUUUUUUJIIIIIII-KUUUUUN!!!", he announced, pointing to Yuji. The guitarist obliged by standing up quickly. "He's available for most parties, provided that he's paid by his weight in cheesecake~" Chiyu grinned. The growing crowd cheered as poor Aiko tried her damnedest to get order in the store.

"PLEASE FORM A STRAIGHT AND ORGANIZED LINE!! THANK YOU!!" she cried out in frustration.

"Sheesh, we're just having fun...", Takeru pouted. "...Maybe this is going a little far...", Masato resolved. "Oi! 'Downtown'!! Settle down a bit, the crowd in here is getting worse!!"

"I have to clean this place up after you leave... So please, keep it down..?", Aiko spoke directly to Takeru. It seemed like if she was to get any order, it would have to be through the small, bleached blond man. It was after everyone had finally settled down (to the urging of the vocalist: "Be quiet or we're gonna have to leave!!") that their first meeting actually happened.

After everything had died down, and most of the people at the event had left, Only the employees of the store and a few of the guys remained. Cleaning up after the mob of people that had just stampeded into the store proved to be quite a daunting task..

Especially because Aiko had somehow lost her phone in the confusion of the day's event. Shinpei and Masato collected fliers from the ground. "It's a good thing that Chiyu-kun and Yuji-kun aren't here to mess this up even more... Good idea, making them take Keru to get ice cream." Masato chuckled. Shinpei only smiled a bit and continued cleaning the area.

Suddenly, he reached in his back pocket; He remembered that a phone had fallen to the ground, most likely a fan's, so he wasn't about to ask if someone had dropped it, with all the confusion that had been taking place. He stood up and dusted off his pants, looking for the nearest store worker. "Excuse me!", he shouted. "I think someone left this...", he spoke to a particularly tall girl. Her eyes widened.

"My phone!! I thought for sure someone had taken it!!", the girl cried, snatching the phone from the drummer's grasp.

"It was nothin'...", he muttered, shoving his hands into his pockets. He listened for a bit as the tall girl went on and on:

"My whole life is in this phone!! It would have sucked if I never saw it again...", he waited for Aiko to finish her sentence and once more, spoke.

"Once again, it was nothin'...", he muttered. Shinpei looked up slightly to see somewhat of a smile on the girl's face. "Is there some way that I could repay you..?", she looked like she was asking it out of obligation, nothing more. He declined almost immediately, and walked off. The girl sighed in relief. "Well that worked out...", she thought to herself, and walked off to count the money in the register, as well as wrapping up her other closing duties.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Masato walked over to Shinpei. "Are you crazy??"

"Eh?? What..?"

Masato mentally face-palmed. "She said that phone was valuable to her, and you found it! She's indebted to you! The least you could get is a date..!", he whispered. Shinpei looked over at Aiko. She wasn't exactly his type... .. Well, if he had a type.. He didn't really think about that kind of thing too much.. Isn't it the soul of a person that counts more than looks...?

"She's much taller than I am..", he said to the guitarist. Masato sighed, "Most girls are taller than you... Besides, it would be quite a lovely complex~", he joked. Shinpei groaned. Everyone had jokes today.

"Great...", he mumbled, looking up at the girl. On her name badge, the hiragana of "Aiko" was scripted onto it. 'Aiko..', he thought. 'A cute name...', he obliviously walked toward the blonde... .. brunette..? He noticed that there was two tones in her hair; A very light blonde on top, and most likely her natural darker color on the bottom. Hazel eyes.. Not brown... not black, but hazel eyes looked back at him. He couldn't just turn back now.

"Can I help you..?", Aiko asked. Those contemplative hazel eyes peered at the drummer.

"Oh, um... .. I guess... you could let me take you out after all... after your shift ends..?", he spoke. Shinpei felt his face grow warmer. The girl looked down at the short man and sighed.

"I guess.. That would be fine...", she said with a slight smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Aiko never thought to give him much of a chance, but to her surprise, she enjoyed that first date; They both did.

"kono henya chin cherii yarou ga, yoku mo maa ieta monda wa ne~", her message tone went off. She reached into her purse, grabbed her phone and flipped it open.

Meet me at the hotel we talked about before... I want to talk to you. -Pei

~*~*~*~*~*~

Aiko looked up at the hotel that Shinpei had talked about a few weeks back. She didn't know if she really wanted to go into the building yet.
"Ugh.. I must be crazy..! This better not be some... booty-call either..!", she muttered to herself. Her message tone went off once more, and Miyavi's voice flowed through her phone's speakers, until she grabbed the phone and flipped it open.

Has Yasuno showed up yet?? You said you'd call me when he did... -Hitomi

"I'm sorry, Hitomi-chan..", Aiko spoke softly as she text back to her friend and pressed send. Not even a minute later, her ringtone went off once more.

What do you mean you can't do it?? I arranged this out of the goodness of my heart, so you wouldn't be upset over your breakup, and this is the thanks I get?? UGH!! -Hitomi

Aiko sighed as she read the text on her phone. She began to enter her response, and moments later, her text tone went off again.

Following your heart isn't going to do any good... Wait, what you you mean?! Are you going to go meet Shinpei?!! -Hitomi

She didn't bother with a response, but turned off her phone and threw it in her purse. Looking up at the hotel one more time, the girl finally gathered enough courage to walk inside.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Shinpei looked at the wrapped gift in his hands. He was sitting on the lone bed in the room, letting his mind wander as he waited for his girlfriend to walk into the room. There were specific instructions for the hotel lobby to give her the room key.

The others had hidden themselves from view in the hotel room; Takeru was behind the bed, Chiyu had opted for the bathroom, Yuji was in the closet, and Masato was under the only table in the room.

"Wow, she's taking her time!", Takeru whispered. The group looked at him, disapprovingly. "Shut up, Keru..."

The room went silent once more for a few minutes, then there were footsteps outside of the room. A slight, muffled knock broke through Shinpei's thoughts. "Shinpei? Pei-kun..? Are you in there?", a feminine voice asked.

"Yes, I'm in here, Aiko-chan...", he called out his reply, tightening his grip on the small box in his hands. The door unlocking was the only other sound that he heard as Aiko walked into the room. "It's been a while, hasn't it..?", she spoke.

"It has...", Shinpei replied. His gaze met with Aiko's, but the look on her face couldn't be less perplexed. "What the... hell are you wearing...?"

Shinpei's face turned a reddish hue. "It was Takeru's idea.. Not mine...", he stated with a nervous smile.

"Pei-kun.. you look...!", the girl began to say, but couldn't finish the sentence for the start of her uproarous laughter.

"I know... You need shades to even look at me, ne?", he muttered. Aiko shook her head. "You look ridiculous! Is this what you wanted me to come over for??"

"N-not exactly--"

"HAPPY BIIIIRTH-DAY!!", Takeru yelled excitedly as he came out from his hiding spot, unable to contain his enthusiasm. Aiko screeched and took a step back, holding onto the door handle for support. "What the hell?!!", she yelled, clutching her hand to her chest.

"... Happy Birthday...?", Shinpei repeated for Takeru with a nervous laugh. "Oi, Keru!! Didn't we tell you not to yell so loudly?", Chiyu's voice called out as he slipped out of the bathroom door.

"You killed it...", Masato muttered, and looked at Aiko. "Happy Birthday, Aiko...", he said with a half-smile. Yuji appeared behind Shinpei. "...Happy Baa...", he muttered.

"Th... Thanks... I think...", the girl spoke, looking all around the room. 'There must have been a lot of work put into this...', she thought to herself.

"I wanted to make it up to you... I didn't mean to miss your birthday... Surprise...", the drummer boy muttered, looking down at the carpeted floor. Aiko's line of sight went toward the box in Shinpei's hands. "For.. me...?", she asked. To conceal her smile, she looked down also.

"Yes... I'm sorry...", he spoke. The other four men in the room shifted and figeted nervously. Shinpei handed the box to Aiko.

"Close some distance...!", Masato coughed. The nudge toward his girl was enough already. Shinpei hesitantly walked closer to Aiko.

"Ne, ne!! We should eat the cake now!", Takeru cried. Both Aiko and Shinpei shuddered; One moment ruined..

"Good idea! Who brought the cake??", Yuji asked, looking all around with a smile.

"Eh?", Chiyu interrupted the glee. ".. That was you.. remember?? The cheesecake.."

"Oh, no way!! We trusted Yuji with cheesecake??", Takeru asked. His face had faltered into a horrible grimace. Yuji's cheeks turned a slight pinkish color. "Oh... right.. yeah, that's gone...", he spoke, smiling sheepishly.

"Wow...", Aiko said with a smile. Her eyes met with Shinpei's as the drummer boy looked up and smiled warmly at her.

"I have an idea, then!!", Takeru said with yet another bright smile. "We should all go and get a new cake, ne!!"

"...Yes... We should ALL go, ne~?", Chiyu agreed, raising his eyebrow at the couple. Shinpei continued to smile. "we could go get another cake.. and makre sure that it isn't cheesecake.", he said with a slight chuckle.

"Yes! Everyone, let's go!", Masato concurred as he walked toward the door. Takeru looked at the couple once more and turned to Yuji. "...Ne, are they coming, or what?? Pei's like... stuck to the floor.." Yuji grinned. "You two..." he began, "Stay here, got it?"

Both broke their gazes from each other and nodded in agreement. Chiyu walked over and opened the door. "Let's go~", he sang, leaving the room, hurriedly. Masato and Yuji followed quickly behind him. "WAIT FOR ME!!!", Takeru called, running after the other three. Shinpei closed the door as they left. Aiko shook her head.

"Sorry...", Shinpei said with a sigh. "I thought it would go better than it did.."

"It's fine..", Aiko said with a smile. "I guess that was what the text was about..?" The short man nodded.

"What did you think it was about?", Aiko blushed in response. "Nothing... Important..", she said, looking at the box still in Shinpei's hands. "For me, ne?"

"Yes...", he replied. "I hope you like it..."

Aiko took the box in her hand and unwrapped the satin ribbon around it. "You still look funny...", she said with a smile.

"Takeru got birds mixed up and I ended up looking like a rainbow cupcake... Nothing new to me...", he said with a chuckle. The girl took another good look at her boyfriend. "Couldn't find any matching headphones?", she said with a giggle as she took the lid off the small box.

"There weren't any in the wardrobe closet, so I got a fedora instead.", he announced, taking the hat off his own head, and reaching up to place it on Aiko's. She rolled her eyes and looked in the box; The coveted Vivienne Westwood bracelet that she had wanted for years was in the box. Aiko's eyes widened. "You can't be serious...!"

"Do you.. like it..?", Shinpei asked, wringing his hands with the questioning words.

"It's...", she started to say. Her fingers touched the silver metal. "How dod you even get one??", she asked, holding up the saturn-shaped charm.

"Thank Takeru for that...", he answered, scratching his head nervously. Aiko handed him the bracelet. "I don't think I could accept it... It's totally too expensive. I'd probably lose or break it..!", her voice was plagued with concern.

"Eh?? But, it's for your birthday.. And I owe you something.. Please, take it..", he stated, pushing the girls hand away gently.

"But..", she muttered, biting her lip, "Okay... I accept.. Thank you, Pei-kun..", she bent down slightly and kissed his cheek. "Will you put it on for me?", she whispered in his ear. The drummer boy blushed and nodded. He took the bracelet in his hands and placed it around his girlfriend's wrist, fastening the clasp securely. "There..." Aiko smiled. "Do you have something to drink?", she asked.

"Well...", Shinpei answered slowly, "Möet... If you want, but there's other stuff to drink..." The girl blinked. "You bought champagne..?", she asked, walking toward the table and picking up the bottle. Her eyes widened as she examined the label. "Damn... it is real!!"

"Chiyu's idea... he asked what you might want to drink...", Shinpei said, walking over to the table also."Well its not in my usual budget...you don't just waste this stuff...", she resolved.

"... So we shouldn't waste it... right?", he smiled.

"Sounds good~", Aiko sang, popping the cork off of the bottle.

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

Takeru didn't understand why Masato, Chiyu, and Yuji weren't worried about the cake. "Oh, come on!! Pei-kun and his girl are probably wondering where we are!!", he cried. Yuji and Chiyu snickered, knowingly.

"I don't think we have to bother with the cake anymore, Keru.", Masato finally said. The vocalist looked at the taller man in confusion. "But we said we'd get the cake..."

"Alright, this is where I leave the happy party~", Chiyu said with a grin. He took off toward a cross walk. "Eh?! But the cake!!", Takeru continued. Yuji parted ways with the other two soon after.

"Wow, Takeru.. You shouldn't worry about something like that. How about we get the cake tomorrow, hm?", Masato said with a smile. He patted the vocalist's shoulder, and Takeru's face lit up with a huge, beaming smile. "Until then.. Just go home and forget about the cake..", Masato said with a chuckle as he walked off from the vocalist. Takeru waved him off as he continued down the sidewalk.

A particular apartment building somewhat jumped out at him. Why was the building so familiar.. Wasn't that where Keiyuu resided..? And why.. He looked at his side.

"AH!! The bag!! I completely forgot about it!!", he cried, taking off toward the hotel that the group had left.

~*~*~*~*~*~

At that particular moment, things were starting to heat up between Aiko and Shinpei, thanks to the champagne that they didn't want to waste.

"Maybe this... We shouldn't'--", Shinpei started to say. Aiko only pressed her lips to his in an intoxicating kiss.

"What was that..?", she asked, pulling away slightly. "Never mind...", he muttered, drawing her in for another round of kisses. The girl obliged, laying back on the bed, as they continued their affections. Shinpei's hand grazed the skin at the neckline of Aiko's low-cut dress as the kisses the couple exchanged deepened. She shivered, blissfully unaware of anything else besides Shinpei's gentle touch.

"Your hands are cold..!", she gasped. "So warm them up for me.", he muttered, drawing his fingertips under the material. She pulled away suddenly. "Is there something wrong..?", the drummer boy asked breathlessly. She shook her head and whispered. "I love you."

Shinpei's heart raced as he heard the words escape her lips. "I-I love you", he stuttered. It was enough to make the tall girl smile. "Then... What are you waiting for?", she asked. He looked at the girl, dumbstruck. "What do you mean, what am I waiting for..?", he asked sheepishly. The girl sighed. Of course he didn't know... He was just so innocent..!

"Just... Come here, Pei-kun..", she whispered. There was only a ten centimeter space in between the two, but for the moment it might as well have been ten kilometers. She leaned in at once and brushed her lips against his own, parting hers slightly as an invitation for the drummer boy. Finally getting the idea, his tongue slipped into Aiko's mouth. A gentle, tickling feeling coursed through her. "Ah...", she moaned into Shinpei's kiss. He pulled away. "Did I hurt you??", he asked, clueless. "Of course not..", she was flush at her cheeks and stared up at him with lusty eyes. Shinpei gulped; If Aiko wasn't hard to resist before, she most definitely was at that moment.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Pei-chaaaaan! I forgot my--", Takeru waltzed into the room and took one looks around; He saw the borrowed clothing thrown haphazardly around the room and heard the sound of a shower running. "Oh! He must have gotten tired of wearing that stuff!", the vocalist resolved to himself. "I shouldn't disturb him..." He looked around for the bag of clothing to make up to the vocalist of Kra for taking his things from the wardrobe closet.

For at least ten minutes, Takeru searched the room over; from underneath the bed, to even behind the large flat-screen television, there was just no sign of the damn bag.

"Peeeeeeei-chaaaaan!! Do you know what happened to the bag of stuff for Keiyuu??"

There was no answer. The vocalist of SuG walked toward the bathroom and knocked at the door. No answer, just the sound of water running. Takeru began feeling a little creeped out.

"Sh-Shinpei...??", his voice tightened. "Are you in here..?", he knocked at the door again.

"Ah!! I'm in h-here, you don't have to come in..!!", Shinpei yelled out. A nervous laugh followed suit.

"Where's that bag of clothes?? Those aren't yours, remember?? Those are Keiyuu's!", he cried. There were footsteps toward the door as it slightly opened and the bag was shoved out of the bathroom by a feminine-looking hand, which then disappeared as the door shut once more.

"Thank you~", Takeru cried. "I'm taking what's here too!! You have your spare clothes in your bag like always, don't you?? I'll be leaving now!!"

He waited for a few minutes, but there was no answer.

"Shinpei..? Pei-kun....?", Takeru called out. He listened closely, and to his gross distaste, he heard something he never wanted to hear in his life.

"Ai-Aiko...", Shinpei's voice was muffled. Takeru wondered why the drummer was on the phone in the shower.

"Shinpeiiiiiii!!!", A girl's voice cried out. The vocalist completely facefaulted.

'Oh my god... I just heard ...', Takeru quickly grabbed the bag and what he could shove into it as he ran out of the hotel room door and slammed it behind himself. He resolved that it would be the very last time that he helped a bandmate with their love life. His ears just couldn't take that much scarring.

~*~*~*~*~