Track 02 - Cassis

WARNINGS: Mild coarse language

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December 24th, 2006

A Sunday afternoon and also Christmas Eve, and two black vans followed by a long truck were heading along the Highway bound for Eifuku, Suginami, Tokyo. Even though it was afternoon it could easily have passed for dusk - the thick clouds in the sky were almost ready to burst open with showers of snow. It was already lightly snowing right now. The Highway itself was almost deserted because it had been forecast that mild to heavy snow was on the way sometime between afternoon and evening. Four weary musicians and their staff were taking a well-deserved nap in their van on the way back home - however, drummer Kai was still awake and keeping the driver company with light conversation. Yes Kai was sleepy as well but he couldn't sleep sitting up right ... he longed for his own bed for once.

Each one of the guys were anticipating finally going home for Christmas break and having a week to relax before getting back to work. Ruki was especially waiting to get home because the memory on his phone with just about used up from taking photos for the last month for Mika. He could care less about his phone bill though - he'd only got to call Mika once a week, so he always made it a long conversation on purpose. Just like the time he'd called her on the first day of the Tour, like clockwork she was talking to him at 8:30am every Monday morning for the last few weeks. On the Monday before Christmas, seeing all of the girls had finished with work for the year, they had all gathered at Kira's house and had a major group conversation.

It had been quite entertaining - with Mika's phone sitting on Kira's coffee table on loudspeaker, all five of them were sitting around it. Meanwhile, Ruki's phone had also been on loudspeaker and all five of the guys surrounded Ruki's phone as he held it up. Much of the conversation had been about what the guys had seen and how the Tour was going. Of course the guys had a lot of positive things to say about it, except for a few technical glitches here and there ... but that's bound to happen no matter what. On the girl's side of things, nothing had really happened to them, like the guys feared might happen. With the constant travelling too and from work the girls didn't really encounter people or fans that recognised them from the newspaper ... or if people had recognised them, they hadn't said anything.

However the girls had mentioned that when it came time to go to the music store and buy Gazette's new single, there was a chance something might happen. It was then that the guys suggested not going to the store and they would send a copy to the girls as a gift. But the girls refused because it wasn't fair to the fans that had to buy their own copy. After a rather short debate between them, they finally agreed to drop the subject. It had then slipped out that between the Christmas break, the release of the new single, 'meet & great' appearances and the second half of the Tour, the band would start composing new songs for a new album. Well that set off a chain reaction of 'Oh-My-God's from the girls and then a round of 'Nice going!' from the guys to Reita - he'd been so excited about it that he forgot to keep it secret.

That phone call was the last one Ruki would have with Mika, before he had to really focus on the last week. So once the group conversation had ended, both him and Mika had taken their phones off loudspeaker so they could have one last private chat. When Ruki asked if they'd get to talk Christmas Day, she claimed it wouldn't be a problem and that she would call him instead when it was safe too. Then Mika had asked him if she would get to see him Christmas Day as well, after spending time with her parents of course. Sadly he had said it wouldn't be a good idea because he'd most likely be spending the day sleeping - and probably giving his family a quick call to say Happy Christmas. Mika realised he probably just wanted to spend a whole day to himself for a change.

But when he suggested her visiting him New Years Eve instead, that actually made Mika even more excited. Especially when he said he had a Christmas gift for her. She hadn't expected it but that worked out perfectly for her - she had her own gift for Ruki. He was probably going to kill her when he found out what it was because it was expensive but she didn't mind ... especially because he liked the brand. However she hoped he wouldn't go out of his way to find out just how much it was because then he'd kill her twice or even three times. Of course Mika hadn't given him any hint as to what it was so she was safe for now. And to unwillingly end the call for another week, Ruki and Mika kept saying 'Aishiteru' over and over to each other, which made the other guys and girls increasingly sick.

That was the last time any of the girls heard anything from the band, but now they were finally on their way home. They felt satisfied and accomplished at completing the first half of the Tour successfully. Now all they cared about was making it home in one piece and sleeping for the next couple of days.

* * *
The two make-up girls were asleep in their seats and leaning against each other. The four guards had their heads resting against the back of their seats, while a couple snored lightly. Uruha, who sat by a window, had the curtain drawn and his head propped up against the window, sunglasses hiding his closed eyes. Ruki was pretty much in the same position as Uruha seeing he sat by the window too, except his had his arms crossed tightly over his body. Sunglasses also hid his closed eyes. Aoi was like the guards and had his head resting against the back of his seat, but drooped slightly to the right. Reita was slouched uncomfortably between Kai and the driver, with his head drooped to the right and a faint snore coming from him.

Kai had his legs crossed, an elbow up on the windowsill and that hand propped his head up as he watched the road in front. The driver didn't appear to be tired but Kai guessed he couldn't wait to get home too. The driver had mentioned a couple of times that he missed his wife and daughter, but being on the trip with the band meant he had great stories to tell them when he got back. It made Kai smile at how fondly the guy thought of his family, much the same as Kai thought of his family. He even thought of himself in the driver's shoes - to go home after a long day of working in the studio to a wife and maybe a child. Suddenly Kai shook his head and wondered where that had come from - he never had the time to think about things like that, so why now? The driver noticed Kai's confused expression.

"Kai-san, are you okay?"

Kai looked at the driver blankly and then shook his head with a little smile.

"Hmm ... nothing".

The driver nodded slowly and then went back to focusing on the road. Kai went back to resting his head in his hand and looking thoughtful. It couldn't possibly have anything to do with meeting Megumi would it? After all they'd never been alone to talk with just the two of them. Kai rubbed his eyes firmly ... he couldn't think about these things now, he was too tired. Suddenly he heard someone stirring behind him and he glanced over his shoulder - Aoi was waking up. The guitarist rubbed his face with both hands and blinked a few times so his eyes could adjust. When he saw Kai looking at him, he smiled and sat up straight.

"We're almost back. We're on the Highway now".

Kai said softly and Aoi frowned as he rubbed one eye.

"The Highway? How long have I been asleep?"

"Hmm, I don't know ... maybe three or four hours or so".

Aoi's eyebrows shot up in surprise - he'd been asleep pretty much since they started on the trip home. Aoi glanced around him to see that Reita, Ruki, Uruha and the other staff were asleep too. With all of the movement from Aoi going on, Ruki twitched and sat up quickly out of surprise. Kai laughed quietly at the singer as Ruki bent forward to lean on his knees, pulling his sunglasses off and throwing them to the floor so he could rub his face.

"Kai just said we're almost back. We're on the Highway".

Aoi relayed softly to Ruki. The singer let out a soft and short 'hmm' sound before leaning back in his seat. He closed his eyes and slouched, frowning deeply as he placed a hand over his eyes.

"I've got a fucking headache ... I'm never sleeping in cars again ..."

Ruki whispered as he massaged his temple. Aoi let out a short and quiet laugh, which made Uruha stir from his sleep now. Uruha yawned widely and sat up right slowly, gazing around the van lazily before he took off his glasses to see. With the dark clouds, it made it bearably to see without the sunglasses. Uruha found Kai and Aoi looking at him, and Ruki was moving in his seat so he was awake.

"Are we home yet?"

Uruha said in a raspy morning voice. Aoi and Kai nodded before Uruha opened his curtain a little to watch the scenery go by. It was then that the van began to make an ascent, which Kai noticed was the Exit ramp near their management building. Because of the ascent of the van, Reita was startled out of his sleep at the sudden change in his angle of sleeping. Reita looked around him with the eyes of a frightened animal. Kai touched his shoulder; realising Reita was really tensed up.

"Reita it's okay, we're in the van. We've just come up the ramp to our management building, so we can all go home soon".

"Huh? ... Oh right ..."

Reita said and Kai dropped his hand from Reita's shoulder when he felt the bass player loosen up. Reita leaned forward so he could get a good look at the dark clouds - it was definitely going to snow; they were getting thicker by the minute. Then the van made a turn to the right at the top of the Exit ramp, in the direction of the PSC building. Again there was no one around, so that made it easier for the vans and the truck to get there. As the building came into view, the driver slowed down and then turned right into the driveway. The guard by the gate must have been told the guys would be returning because he didn't hesitate in opening the gate. While the first van drove through to the car park, the second van followed close behind and the truck driver was left to guide his vehicle slowly through the gate, concentrating on not hitting anything.

By the time the vans had been parked in their designated spots, and the guys and the staff were gathering themselves together to get out, the truck had successfully made it through the gate. The driver was now making his way past the vans and to the loading area ... then the loading staff had the oh-so-pleasant task of UN-loading everything again. While the band and their staff were gradually filing out of their van one at a time, the guys manager came out from the back double doors - the same doors the band had gone through to get to the eating area on Day 1.

"Welcome back, everyone. I see you made it through the first month in one piece. I can imagine your anxious to have your Christmas break to rest up?"

"Yes ... I think we're going to need it".

Kai answered for his band mates and he approached the old guy to stand with him, while he waited for the other. Reita got out of the front with no trouble, then shouldering his backpack to join Kai and their manager. Aoi and Uruha were standing in front of the side-door to the van as they adjusted their own bags. Ruki was on his hands and knees inside the van so he could retrieve his sunglasses and bag from under his seat. As you can imagine they still felt half asleep having just woken up. The make-up girls and guards had already left to report to the front desk inside, so that it was known they had returned.

"Well congratulations boys, on a fantastic first half. By all means get out of here; you'll need the week off. We'll have everything organised for you when you come back after New Years".

"Thank-you sir ... you have a good Christmas and New Year".

Kai replied with a smile and he bowed at the same time as their manager. So with that the man left and headed back inside to get on with his work. It was then that Aoi, Ruki and Uruha joined Kai and Reita. Aoi, Ruki and Uruha all had their big sunglasses on again, even though the dark snow-filled clouds was completely blocking the sun. Kai smiled.

"Well I guess we might as well go home. There's nothing else we need to do here, our manager knows we're back".

"Yeah, I've had enough for one day; I'm going straight home to bed".

Reita said and he scratched the back of his head roughly. Aoi and Uruha nodded while Ruki just pushed his sunglasses further up his nose. Ruki then looked up at Aoi.

"Hey are you going to be alright riding your motorcycle? Just that it's still snowing lightly but you might get caught in a heavy fall".

"No I'll be fine. I'm not really that far ... being half-way between here and Tokyo station".

"I'll follow you, I'm only just up the road from your place".

Uruha offered as he now pulled car-keys from his bag. On that note Ruki, Aoi, Reita and Kai managed to find their own keys as the group made their way over to the staff car park. Four cars and a motorcycle that was covered with a blanket were waiting for the guys - a black Suzuki GSX-R 1000 motorcycle for Aoi, a red Mitsubishi Lancer for Reita, a black Mazda3 Hatchback for Ruki, a silver Toyota Camry for Kai, and a royal blue Subaru STI for Uruha. Yes they certainly had fancy vehicles but it came with being famous. When Aoi got around to it and got his car licence, he had his eyes on a black Honda S2000 because 'It has a retractable roof!' he once said.

"I guess we'll probably see each other sometime during the week or over New Years Eve? What's everyone doing on the Eve?"

Uruha asked as he unlocked his car and threw his bag into the passenger seat. Kai got straight into his car to turn it on and get the engine warmed up, but he kept the door open. Reita was doing the same but he stood up again to lean against his car. Aoi strapped his bag to the back of the cycle and then hoisted a leg over, then turning the motor on. Ruki had just reached in to turn the ignition on, and using one foot to pump the accelerator to get it going.

"Hmm I don't know, I want to talk to Mika tomorrow and see what she's doing first".

"We should all gather at one of our places for a New Years Eve party. Just us and the girls if they want to join in. It would be fun considering we haven't seen them for a month".

Aoi suggested as he reached forward and turned the handle to rev the motor a couple of times. Kai smiled as he stood up out of his car.

"That's sounds great. Ruki can you ask Mika-chan if we can have her friends phone numbers? Then it saves her calling them".

"Alright, I'll ask tomorrow. Now I don't know about you guys but I'm out of here, before I fall asleep standing up. We'll see each other later".

With one last little wave and the others returned it, Ruki ducked into his car and slammed the door. He slowly backed around to the right and drove past the others, honking the horn a couple of times. Kai, Reita, Aoi and Uruha said their goodbyes before Reita backed out and took off towards the exit. Kai followed suit, also honking the horn to Aoi and Uruha. Uruha got into his car and backed around to the right then sat to wait for Aoi. He pulled the helmet over his head and slowly circled his bike around in front of Uruha, then both of them made their way to the exit as well. By the time Aoi and Uruha were out on the street, Ruki was long gone towards the highway and they could just see Reita and Kai a little way ahead. The snowfall was just a little heavier than before but with any luck each of the guys would be home long before the heavy fall started. They couldn't wait to be home again ...

* * *
Close to half an hour away from Eifuku and Ruki was just arriving back at his own apartment. The closest station to him was Shibuya, as a rough idea on where he lived. He slowed down and turned left off the street and into a small six-space car-park - the apartment building only kept six apartments, of fairly decent size, two on the ground level, two on the second level and another two on the third level. It was comfortable for Ruki because so far only three other people lived there - one person each in the two ground level apartments and the last person had one of the second level places. Ruki was lucky to have a third level place, so he was mostly out of sight. Once Ruki parked his car in the space designated for his apartment number 'Six', he took his bag from the front passenger seat and got out. While Ruki locked up, he noticed the snow starting to fall more frequently and walked quickly to the enclosed grey brick building.

The building was nicer than the place he had to share with his band mates because the doorways weren't exposed to the elements. So at least you could stand where it was undercover while you tried to unlock the door. Probably the only downside to living on the very top was the three flights of stairs, and with no elevator it was certainly good exercise. Ruki got his exercise everyday just walking up and down them, but he didn't care. When he finally got to the third level and to his door, Ruki leaned his head against it and sighed with relief ... finally, his own space again. He quickly unlocked the door and rushed inside, leaning back against the door to shut it as he kicked off his black and white check converses. He also noticed the bag that was brought back for him was sitting out of the way beside his sofa.

The apartment was dark but what little light was left of the dismal afternoon came through his living room window. Ruki's place was like a bachelor pad minus the posters of half naked women on the walls - the living room stretched out from the front door with a three-seater sofa and a decent size flat screen TV in front of the sofa. Across from the sofa to the left was the small kitchen, big enough for just him with the usual stove, fridge and pantries. Directly across the room from the front door was a double sliding door that opened onto a small under-cover veranda with a large sofa chair, which he sat in while enjoying nicer days than today. On the right side of the living room on the right side of the TV was a doorway leading to his bedroom and en-suite bathroom. Ruki had a double bed but the mattress just sat in what looked like a large wooden box, so it was basically on the floor. From the door way, to the right was the entrance of Ruki's bathroom while to the left his bed was in the farthest corner beside a floor-to-ceiling window. The window was covered by heavy looking curtains and at the foot of his bed was another TV but smaller than the main one. A small lamp also sat beside his bed and built into the wall opposite the bedroom door was a three-panel sliding-door wardrobe - three-quarters of the wardrobe was full of his normal clothes, while the rest were his old costumes from the band that dated back to when they first started up until now.

Ruki walked over to the entrance of the kitchen and turned the living room light on - the place looked so bare now that he wasn't sharing with the other guys. It was then that Ruki really missed Mika and felt like breaking rules just to call her a day earlier. But he swallowed his pride and approached his answering machine sitting on a small table by the veranda doors. Considering how long he'd been away there was only two messages flashing. In pressing the 'Play' button he crouched down to lean against the wall while he listened.

"First Message received ... 27th of November at 6pm ..."

The day before we left, Ruki thought, but I haven't been here for weeks.

"Taka-chan, it's your mother, darling. I know you said to call your cell-phone because your not there, but I thought this would be a nice message to come back home too. I just want to say I'm very proud of you and you know how stubborn your father is with your music thing but he's also proud of you. Show those fans of yours what you're made of, honey ... and ... Welcome home".

Ruki smiled and lowered his head - she was right, it was a nice message to come home too. The machine beeped and before Ruki could get too emotional the second message started.

"Second Message received ... Today at 2pm ..."

Ruki frowned and looked up - he'd practically only just missed that phone call.

"Taka-chan, your mother again. This is the day you come home isn't it? Just in time for Christmas, honey. Your probably very tired after your big Tour so we won't visit you Christmas day, okay? Just be sure to give us a call so we know your doing all right. Oh, and little Mitsu is missing you very much, you should let us know when we can bring him back to you. Speak to you soon ..."

Ruki couldn't help but laugh when his mother mentioned Mitsu - 'Mitsu' was the name he gave to his two-year-old white and brown Papillon. Yes it was a strange name for a male dog; calling it by the Japanese word for 'honey', but it suited the little dog nicely. Once the machine said 'No more messages' Ruki pressed the 'Stop' button to delete them - he would call home tomorrow like his mother asked. It was a quarter to six now and there really wasn't much else he wanted or needed to do. So he turned the living room light off again and walked through to his bedroom. Ruki was still holding his bag so he just threw it gently into the corner of the room near the wardrobe. His bed had been neatly made with crisp white sheets and white covers before he had to move into the shared apartment with the band - all that he had to do was crawl under them. Ruki didn't worry about changing; he just removed his jacket and threw it across the end of his bed. Lastly he pulled his black long sleeve shirt over his head so he was just in his black skinny jeans. Then he bent down to pull back the thick doona cover and he practically fell onto the mattress, pulling the cover back over him and covering his head. With a combination of dark room and exhaustion, Ruki didn't have much trouble getting to sleep ... the last thing he thought of was being able to talk to Mika the next day.

* * *
A little further across from Ruki, Reita had arrived home probably a couple of minutes after Ruki got to his place. Reita of course had his own apartment probably about the same size as Ruki's, well enough for just him. He was also near a station; Shinjuku to be exact but now very close to it like Ruki was with Shibuya station. The building he lived in was similar to Ruki's but it had eight apartments instead of just six and had only two levels - so that meant four apartments per level. Reita was on the second level and six other people shared the building. Three of them were elderly people and they had the ground level. On the second level two of the last three people were mid thirties and kept to themselves so Reita didn't see them much, while the last person was about Reita's age, male and was hardly ever home anyway. So just like Ruki, Reita was comfortable.

Right now Reita was in the middle of unpacking the bag that had been returned for him on the day they left. He wanted to get it out of the way so then he didn't have to do it later. Reita apartment was like a mirror image of Ruki's place - where the kitchen would have been was the bedroom, and where the bedroom would have been was the kitchen. The living room had a three-seater sofa and an extra armchair beside it, with a large flat-screen TV as well. Reita also had double sliding doors across the living room from the front door was the was no veranda - just a hip-height guard-rail so he could still sit by the doors and have his smoke-break. Reita's bedroom was different to Ruki's - he had a large futon instead of a thick mattress and there was no en suite bathroom. That room was located next to the kitchen. He still had the build-in wardrobe but with only two sliding doors where his normal clothes also shared the space with his old costumes from the band.

Once Reita was done with un-packing he stepped back from the wardrobe and slid the door shut. In glancing absentmindedly around his room, there was nothing else he had to do so Reita decided to sleep for a while. Though he knew he'd be awake again for dinner, at least get an hour or so of sleep and he would be fine again. His bed had also been freshly made before he left so all he did was undress down to his shorts and then burrowed under the thick covers. The fabric softener smell was comforting as he snuggled into the pillow, and before he closed his eyes, Reita lifted his head and glanced at a photo stuck on the wall above his pillow. It was the group photo taken at the after party with the girls. He squinted to focus on Kira's grinning face and smiled slightly before lowered his head again - he really couldn't wait to see her soon.

* * *
Not long after Reita was home, Kai had driven up to his own place situated between Shinagawa and Tamachi stations. Unlike Reita and Ruki, Kai's place wasn't exactly an apartment. More like a two-story house but it was small and suitable for one or two people - on the ground level were the living area, kitchen, a small eating area and even a small sitting area out the back. Then upstairs on the second level was Kai's 'master' bedroom, a spare bedroom mainly used as a study, and also a decent size bathroom. He even had a small front yard with a few plants and even a carport to protect his car from the weather. Kai didn't actually own this place because his parents bought it for him, so he was close to work. But in the future he hoped to buy it from them and live there permanently without his parents having to worry about maintaining it. In previous circumstances because they owned the house, if anything needed to be done to it his parents always obliged. But because they were getting older and wouldn't be travelling as much anymore, he wanted to make sure they didn't have to do anything.

Kai was now sitting quietly on the sofa in his living room and sipping a cup of herbal tea. He didn't have the TV or a radio on and just sat in silence for a change. He decided on having the tea to relax him before going to bed - he planned on sleeping until the morning, seeing he couldn't sleep in the van. Like Reita, Kai also had a copy of the after party group photo in a frame that sat on top of his TV. Kai glanced up from his tea and at the photo - there was Megumi standing next to him and smiling brightly. Kai went to take another sip but paused because he found himself smiling ... his feelings for Megumi were starting to develop. Then he finished the last little mouthful of tea and stood to walk into the kitchen, where he set the cup in the sink. As Kai walked back through the living area and towards the stairs, he glanced once more at the photo. He smiled again as he walked up the stairs, turning left at the top towards his bedroom.

Kai's room was very neat - a normal double bed with legs rather than a futon, a bedside table with lamp, also a build-in sliding-door wardrobe with wooden screens for the doors. The only window in his room was knee-height and stretched up to just above his head; with glass panels could also slide open when needed. Kai walked over to sit on the edge of his neatly made bed and looked down at it even though he was in the dark - he could finally do something he wasn't able to do for a long time. He undressed completely down to nothing and slid under the covers where he stretched out in the middle of the bed. Something he could only do when he was alone was to sleep naked with no constricting clothes. The other guys used to tease him about it because that was something that Ruki or Reita would do, not 'Kai, the nice guy'. But Kai didn't care; he just preferred to sleep that way.

* * *
Over towards the Mejiro station, Aoi drove up to his own place around about the same time Reita got home. Seeing Uruha was following him to make sure no heavy snow came down on Aoi, he honked the horn at Aoi to say goodbye and then continued on home. Aoi waved and directed his bike up the driveway of his home. Like Kai he also had a house instead of an apartment but it was only a single-story. And Aoi actually owned his place; he had bought it on his own after getting sick of renting an apartment. Naturally his parents were very proud of him ... now all they had to nag him about was to start making grandchildren for them. The automatic door of the garage was where Aoi kept his bike and one day a nice new Honda S2000. His house also had a nice front yard with a stone trail leading from the garage to the front door.

Inside, from the front door, the living area stretched out to the left, the eating area to the right and from the eating area the kitchen was towards the back of the house. From the living area a hallway stretched towards the back of the house and along the hallway were three doors - one led to Aoi's bedroom, the second led to a spare room used by guests and the third led to yet another spare room used for guitar practice. At the very end of the hallway was the back door, which led outside to a small backyard with a little pond and waterfall in the far left corner. Aoi was also lucky enough to have the en suite bathroom plus an extra bathroom in the guest room - you can only imagine how much he would have paid for that house.

Aoi didn't take much notice of anything in his house because everything was as he'd left it a couple of months ago. The only difference being the bag that was dropped off for him was sitting against the sofa in his living room. Aoi contemplated taking it to his room and unpacking it before going to bed but he just groaned and walked straight past it - he'd do it in the morning. As Aoi walked through the living room he set his helmet up on the coat-rack that sat behind the sofa, then continued on to his bedroom. When Aoi pushed his bedroom door open he smiled as seeing his own bed - a neatly made regular bed and it was about to be messed up. Aoi shrugged his jacket off, let it fall to the floor and then jumped onto his bed, rubbing his face into the pillows. Lying there for a moment he decided to actually get under the covers. So he rolled over and lifted his butt up off the mattress so he could remove his jeans; he'd just sleep in his t-shirt and shorts.

Using his feet he pushed the covers down far enough so he could get in and then he pulled them back up to cover his shoulders. Aoi snuggled down and scrunched into a tight ball, relishing in the comfort of the soft covers. He opened his eyes for a second and happened to notice his own copy of the group photo. Aoi looked directly at Ai and just stared at her face for a moment - he honestly thought she was very pretty and for the first time in years he was surprised that he found himself attracted to her. It wasn't an overwhelming attraction but they'd never been alone yet so there was no telling what could happen. Aoi closed his eyes again and buried his face into the pillows again, sighing deeply ... eight years he was quite happy to go without a girlfriend; half of that time being too focused on the band. Now here he was thinking of Ai and they'd only met three times for a short amount of time ... Aoi rolled over and tried not to think about it, at least until he got some decent sleep.

* * *
Meanwhile not far away from Aoi's place, Uruha finally arrived home. Uruha was also close to Mejiro station, half the reason why he followed Aoi home. He slowed down and turned right into a rather fancy looking grey building that was five-stories high and easily provided ten apartments. The car park was big enough to allow at least ten cars and thick rows of immaculately cut rose bushes were planted in front of the building. The lot could have passed for a Hotel if it wasn't for a sign reading 'Mejiro-Dori Apartment Complex' on the front of the building. Uruha parked his car in his own space near the front door and ran around it to quickly go inside, as it was now starting to rain a little. The door was glass panel with ornate silver handles and from the doorway to the left was a small office where an elderly woman sat reading the newspaper. When she glanced up and saw Uruha she smiled.

"Welcome Home, Takashima-san. Your parents were here just last week to clean the place up for you".

"Oh, Arigatou ne".

Uruha said with a little bow of his head. He then walked further into the little hall way to where two elevators were located - yep, Uruha had elevators in his building. Now here's the kicker - his place was like a normal size house in the third floor; it was almost like a pent-house and it belonged to him. When the other guys first saw his place they were overwhelmed - it looked more like a place a rich bachelor would live in. Though surprisingly for how it looked, it hadn't been that expensive. So rather than renting an apartment, he owned one. Uruha took the closest elevator and pressed the 'Up' button, only waiting a few seconds before the door slid aside.

After the short elevator ride, Uruha stepped out into another hall that stretched to the left and right. Uruha walked to the left and shuffled his keys to find the one for his door. Once found and had unlocked the door, Uruha retreated into his apartment and pushed the door shut. Uruha didn't really hesitate to look around the large living area - it was still the same. In the middle of the room was a square coffee table and on opposite sides of the table sat two three-seater sofas. Opposite the table and sofas was his flat-screen TV and stereo system. Behind the TV set-up were glass panel sliding doors that led onto a little under-cover veranda. Through a wide archway to the left of the living area was a decent size kitchen and eating area. To the right of the living area another doorway led to his bedroom.

His bed was like Ruki's; a mattress set into a wooden frame that lifted it off the floor a little. And because of Uruha's height, it was a king-size. He also had a TV at the end of his bed, while his laptop was still sitting where it normally was - right beside his bed next to the lamp. His wardrobe was also built-in with two sliding doors that doubled as mirrors. And of course an en suite bathroom that gave him his own spa and shower combination. He was certainly well off in that place but he was starting to wonder if it was too big for just him. If the other guys or his family weren't there, it was very quiet. And he didn't see the point in pets because he was always busy; he always wondered how Ruki coped with his little dog.

And not really worrying about doing anything around the place, seeing his parents had already been through, he walked straight through to the bedroom. During the short trip to the edge of his bed, Uruha removed clothing after clothing until he was down to his shorts, pieces of clothing leaving a trail from his bedroom to the mattress. Uruha pulled back the covers and slid into bed, where he lay for a second with his eyes closed, before pulling the covers up. He was just going to sleep when he pulled something out from under his pillow - yep, the group photo. He glanced at himself with Kikyo, noticing how lovely and petite she was compared to him ... she was no taller than Ruki. Her hair looked so shiny and that was what attracted him to her - she obviously looked after herself. Uruha pushed the photo back under his pillow and snuggled into it, listening to the rain as it started to get heavier ... he thought once more of Kikyo just before falling asleep.

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NOTES:
1) Flash forward: The reason a did a major jump forward in time to after the first half of the Tour is because it would take up a little too much time in the story and besides, the only things that would be happening is the guys performing and the girls working ... nothing much else. However I tried to make up the time in a short description of what happened between the start and the finish of part 1
2) On the way home: I'm assuming the boys would have paused the Tour to do 'Hyena' promotion and stuff so I think that would mean they got to go home
3) Boys Toys: As far as we know, a couple of the guys probably don't even have cars. But the GazeBoys are cool and they deserve cool vehicles (by the way, they are real models, so check them out!)
4) Living arrangements: Again, we don't know how the boys would live so I just thought of something. If your wondering why I chose these places for them -
- Ruki: I imagine he'd live simple, where it's like his little domain
- Reita: I think he'd live simple too, but with enough space for at least one more person
- Kai: He seems like a small-home type person.
- Aoi: Being already 27/28 at this time, he might have his own little house as well?
- Uruha: It's probably the complete opposite of Uruha's real personality but I think he'd suit a nice snazzy place like this.
So I hope it doesn't seem like I'm favouring Uruha because of his fancy living, I just thought of anything for all of them

Please read & review :-)