Fic: Cover Art [Ruki X Shou, NC-17]

[puss_nd_boots]

Title: Cover Art
Chapter: Sequel to Shall We Deadly Dance With, but can be read as a standalone
Author: Boots
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Smut, romance, some humor
Warnings: Male/male sex, toys, dirty talk
Pairing: Ruki X Shou
Disclaimer: Boys belong to PS Company, I own the story only.
Summary: Shou is stuck for an idea for Alice Nine’s new CD cover. Ruki is having a bad day. Inspiration is about to strike in an odd and unexpected way.
Comments: Shou’s Tweet about him being the person on the cover of the Daybreak normal edition, but he didn’t want to talk about why he had a cloth over his face, was just handing it to me on a silver platter. XD

Shou was having a very good day. The photoshoot for the CD cover was going swimmingly. They'd taken full-group shots, then individual pictures for the five "special" editions of the single - hey, it was their first release in more than 12 months, which was more than an eternity in visual kei time. They had to go all out.

"So, then," the photographer said to him, "that will cover the limited edition and the special editions. Now, what do you want to do for the normal edition?"

Oh, heck. Shou hadn't really given any thought to that one. "I'm not quite sure," he said.

"Mr. Ideas doesn't have something brilliant off the top of his head?" Saga said as he packed up his carry bag - the other band members were done with their part, they were getting ready to move on to other tasks. "That's a first."

"I was so busy coming up with the other shots . . . and the PV . . ." Shou had a lot on his plate right now. He not only was continuing as the band's artistic director, he was Leader-san as well - a position he felt he was still growing into, after more than a year.

"We'll cut you a break," Tora said, slapping him on the back. "This time," he added, teasingly.

"Just give me a few minutes," Shou said. "You guys do whatever else you have to do, and I'll come up with it."

"Should we put a timer on you?" Saga said, pulling his bag on his shoulder.

"Give Shou a chance," Nao told him, walking toward the door along with Saga. They both were going to be meeting with the fan club staff. "Has he ever let us down before?"

"Depends on what he's letting us down at," Saga said.

Shou sat down at the table in front of him, starting to flip through the photos they'd just taken. They could always use another pose from the group session, couldn't they? They'd done that sort of thing before.

But this wasn't just any single. This was their relaunch with a new label. The debut of a new musical direction. In many ways, a rebirth. They couldn't just use any old cover. It had to be . . . distinctive.

"Shou?" It was Hiroto's voice, from behind him. "Need any help?"

He turned to his bandmate with a smile. "No, that's okay. Besides, you have a meeting with the merchandise people, don't you?"

Hiroto nodded. "Buzz my cell if you want to talk, though," he said.

"Thanks," Shou said, "but I'll be okay. Really."

Except 20 minutes later, he wasn't okay. No ideas were coming. None at all. He kept flipping through the pictures, and running through the lyrics in his head, and trying to think of the concepts that had inspired the song, the images he'd had in his mind . . .

Nothing. He was drawing a total blank.

He put his hands on the table and stood up, slowly, drawing a long breath. It was time to ask someone else, to seek the advice of an expert, the one person he always knew he could count on - because he was a brilliant designer of CD packaging himself.

Of course, he was also Shou's lover and roommate of three years, but that was beside the point.

* * *

Ruki was having a very bad day. He felt like he'd been fighting with people from the moment he'd arrived at PSC headquarters. Today was supposed to be dedicated to getting things in line for Melt - the merchandise, the pamphlet, the clothing. And it seemed that the goods department was fighting him on everything.

Not that this was anything unusual for him, of course. He'd clashed with PSC's design department from the day he proposed the velvet cover for NIL. "Your designs are too expensive, Ruki." "Too odd - nothing else looks like this." (Never mind that he repeatedly told them that they were distinctive, that people would know instantly they had a GazettE CD or piece of merchandise in their hands). And, of course, "Are you SURE this fits in with your image?"

Today, though, it seemed that everyone had it in for everything he presented. They didn't like the jewelry prototypes he'd laid our carefully on folded white towels. They scoffed at the mockups of the pamphlet - "Shouldn't we do a different shoot for Kai? Do the fans REALLY want to see him covered in muck like this?" (Ruki tried to tell them that they didn't know their fans very well).

And finally, they said they had to meet with Hiroto, and they'd come back and discuss this more with him later - leaving Ruki to fume. Why the hell did they have to go through this shit, over and over again? Why had the packaging for Division meant an epic battle with everyone at the label and then some? After all this time, why couldn't they have a little faith in him?

He pulled out his iPod and stuck the buds in his ears, still trying to calm himself down. But the more he thought of it, the more annoyed he got. His fingers curled around the towel still on the table.

If any of them walked in and gave him more shit, so help him, he'd throw this at them so hard . . .

* * *

Shou knew which room Ruki said he was going to be in. He tapped lightly on the door. "Ruki? Are you still in there? Listen, I need a favor. Can you please give me an idea for our cover? The normal type? I want something, well, unique. Something that doesn't look like anything else out there. If you're busy, I understand . . ."

He tapped again. No answer. Well, he'd just peek in the room. If Ruki was still in a meeting, he'd just back right out.

* * *

Ruki didn't hear Shou's voice over the music. He did hear the tapping - barely. Those bastards were back.

The door swung open - and before he even knew it, he'd acted on what he'd been thinking before. His arm shot out, flinging the towel in the direction of the door. He heard a muffled "oof" as it hit whoever it was . . .

And then, he turned his head, and an "oh, shit" froze in his mouth, nearly gagging him.

He'd thrown that towel at his own lover. Shou was standing there with the thing across his face.

* * *

The last thing Shou expected when the door was thrown open was a towel flying at him. It hit his face, and he staggered a couple of steps . . .

Why the hell did Ruki do that? He heard what he said, didn't he? He knew Shou was there, and what he wanted. It wasn't like him to do something like this. If he wanted Shou to go away, he'd say he was busy, wouldn't . . .

Then, it occurred to him that this was brilliant. A face with a towel, or some other cloth, being thrown across it? It was distinctive - it wouldn't look like any other Alice Nine single. It was surreal - sort of Magritte-esque. It was something that would make people browsing in Tower Records and Like an Edison stop in their tracks, and take a second look, and say, "Hey, Alice Nine? I didn't know they had a new single out! Well, hey, I'm going to check it out!"

Shou found his heart swelling with pride, and love. Ruki had come up with an amazing idea. So what if his delivery of it was unconventional? This man was a genius. And he was sharing this idea with Shou, nobody else.

He turned around and sprinted back down the hall - he had to do this while the photographer was still here.

* * *

Oh, fuck, Ruki thought as he watched Shou turn and run down the hall. Oh, FUCK. He thought his day couldn't get any worse. It just did.

Now he was going to have to make it up to Shou. He never lost his temper to that extent. He might get grumpy, but throwing thing, especially at his lover? No. No wonder Shou just ran away from him.

Even when the merchandising people came back in the room, and told him they'd reconsidered, and that he could have his way on all the merchandise, it didn't brighten his demeanor any. If they'd told him that an hour ago, he wouldn't have thrown a towel at Shou.

And now, he had to report the results of the merchandise meeting to the rest of the band. They were arriving, one by one, for their regular meeting. "What's up with you?" Aoi said. "You look like someone force-fed you strawberries."

"Let's just say I'm having a shitty day and leave it at that," Ruki told him.

"Uh-oh," said Reita, who was walking in the room carrying a bag of some sort of sugary garbage. "Someone have a fight with the boyfriend?"

"No!" said Ruki quickly, then, "Maybe. Not yet."

"He catch you looking at someone else?" said Aoi, leaning over toward Ruki. "Maybe some hot piece of ass from another band?"

"I was not looking at any pieces of ass!" Ruki snapped. "It was nothing like that at all! It was . . ."

"What's going on here?" And now, we had the arrival of Leader-san, with Leader-san Consort (Uruha) in tow. Kai's eyes moved from Ruki to Aoi and back again.

"We don't know," Reita said. "Just that Ruki has some sort of boyfriend trouble . ."

"I don't!" Ruki said. "At least, not yet!"

". . . and that it's not related to ogling any pieces of ass," Aoi added.

Kai and Uruha exchanged puzzled glances. Something weird was going on here, that was for sure. "Maybe it would help," Kai said, "if I made a nice dinner? You know, enough to give half to you and Shou, and Uruha and I will keep the other half?"

"None for the rest of us?" Aoi said.

"Maybe when you have a fight with Kazuki, he'll cook for you," Reita said.

Ruki let out a deep sigh. "Yeah," he said. "Thanks." Well, it was a start. Shou loved Kai's cooking, and Lord knew Ruki wasn't very effective in that department.

And he'd keep making it up to him from there.

* * *

Shou was very tired by the time he made his way home. It was a good tired, though. He'd put on a new shirt and necklace for the final shoot. The photographers had been pumped when he explained the concept, and one of their staffers gladly threw the cloth at him - over and over, until it looked just right.

The end result was fabulous - artistic and powerful. Just the thing to adorn the single that marked their rebirth.

He knew Ruki had gone home before him and would be at the apartment already when he walked in the door. Koron ran toward him, yipping happily. He leaned over to scratch the dog's head - yes, even a confirmed cat lover could turn to the other side for love.

Something definitely smelled good. He headed toward the kitchen, where he saw Ruki leaning over a pot of something.

"Oh, hi," Shou said. "You cooked?"

"Kai made it," Ruki said. "I asked him to."

"You did?" Well, that made Shou perk up from his tiredness a little. Ruki must have known he'd been working hard.

"I know you like his cooking," Ruki said, starting to dish out a delicious-looking concoction of noodles and vegetables. "Just sit back and relax."

Shou did, letting out a long sigh. He knew he'd feel more energetic after eating - he usually did. But now, he wasn't in much of a mood to talk. He wanted to . . . rest.

* * *

Great, Ruki thought, he's not talking. He still must be pissed. He went and got a glass, pouring Shou's soymilk into it and bringing it to the table. "Here," he said, setting it beside his lover, and going off to get his own Orangina.

Maybe he should set more of a mood. Candles, dimming the lights, that kind of thing. No, that would seem obvious - and cheesy. Ruki didn't do cheesy. Not in the slightest. He'd just deliver him the dinner, and then the lovely cake he had in the fridge for dessert, and then a dessert of another kind.

"Everyone I talked to is looking forward to your single," he said as he sat at the table across from Shou. "I've had a lot of people asking me when it's coming out."

That just brought a smile. Great, it looked forced. Or maybe it was just weary. Ruki suspected, though, that it was the former.

"And I told them," he said, "that it's the April single that they really want to look out for. But I didn't tell them why." Ruki was, at this point, one of the very few people outside the band who knew that the lead song, Shadowplay, was written entirely by his lover - music and lyrics.

"Thank you," Shou said. And there was another of those small smiles. Dammit, what did Ruki have to do to get through to him? He was in danger of his beautiful devil on the bed banishing him to the couch at this point. Fine, all right, he'd flat out apologize for what he did . . .

Except Shou wasn't paying attention to him at all at the moment. He was too busy devouring the food like it was going out of style.

* * *

Shou hadn't realized how hungry he was until the first mouthful of food had passed his lips. And then, two thoughts hit his mind at once. The first was that this food was delicious, even better than Kai's usual creations.

The second was he hadn't eaten since breakfast. He'd just plain forgotten - which happened with him a lot.

And so, he kept eating the food. And eating. And thinking, as he did so, that Ruki was wonderful for doing this for him. How could that man know him so well? He paused only to take sips of the soymilk (which Ruki had so thoughtfully brought him as well), and dove right back in. Before he knew it, the bowl was empty.

Shou looked up at Ruki with a smile, and said, "Is there more of this?"

"Oh, oh, sure," Ruki said, looking up for his own plate - which he'd barely picked at.

"Ruki!" Shou said. "You haven't eaten!" He poked at the plate with his own chopsticks. "Go on. It's delicious."

He went into the kitchen to get more. The food was working - he was starting to feel a bit human again.

* * *

Ruki sighed with relief as Shou headed back into the kitchen. Well, the food was putting him in a better mood, it seemed. It was up to him to make sure that mood stayed good.

He picked up some of the noodles and tasted them. Kai really had outdone himself - well, that didn't surprise Ruki at all. He knew the situation. He knew how much Shou meant to him.

And he found himself hungrily eating the noodles as Shou dove into his second bowl, eating like a man who'd been starving for weeks. Like the main character in one of those animes he loved so much -didn't they always have bottomless pit stomachs?

He felt more relief when the other man put down his chopsticks, stretching his long arms above his head. "Thank you," he said. "That was delicious. I appreciated it."

Ruki grabbed one of those hands on the way down. Okay, the dinner had done the trick, hadn't it? Shou had put it out of his mind, right? "I'm glad," he said. "You don't know how much."

* * *

Well, that was odd - the way Ruki grabbed his hand like that, rather. He didn't do things like that. Oh, he could be touchy-feely sometimes, but this . . .

Plus, there was an odd look in his eyes. Almost . . . pained. Did he have a bad day? He knew he was meeting with the merchandise people, and they'd given him a hard time in the past. Was that it? It had to be. Well, it was up to him to make his lover feel better, right?

He brought Ruki's hand to his lips and kissed it. "Let's stack the dishes in the washer really quick, and then . . ."

"And then?" Ruki said.

"You know." Shou inclined his head toward their bedroom.

Ruki suddenly threw his arms around him, pulling him close, and Shou brought his mouth to the other man's, kissing him hard They stood there like that for a long moment, mouths caressing one another, tongues starting to press together, to gently rub and caress.

It was an erotic dance they'd performed together many times since their first encounter, back when they were both at an "artists' retreat" PSC had arranged for them.

When they eased back, Ruki said, "I'll take care of the dishes. You go get ready."

Shou kissed him again and nearly ran into their bedroom, already unbuttoning his shirt on the way.

* * *

Ruki found himself trembling a little as he rinsed the dishes and stacked them in the washer. A heavy dose of Shou's passion never ceased to do that for him.

Fine, so this was his next, last and best shot at making him forget all about the towel incident. He intended to make that man writhe and moan and call his name out over and over.

Fortunately, Ruki was very good at that.

He was unfastening his own shirt as he left the kitchen, and paused in the hallway to rid himself of the rest of his clothing. They were all going in the hamper in the bathing room anyway, might as well do it on the way.

Ruki walked into the bedroom, and there, he beheld a vision - Shou completely naked, draped across their bed, candles flickering on both bedside tables. Yes, he had even lit all the candles.

You would think that Shou was the one who had been a dumbass, and now had to impress his lover.

"Fuck, but you're beautiful," Ruki said, sitting down next to him, gently running his hand over tawny hair. "I don't know sometimes what I've done to deserve you."

Shou reached up to gently pull Ruki down to the bed with him. "It's simple," he said. "You loved me." And then, their lips came together again.

Ruki lost himself in the kiss, in the feel of the other man's tongue sliding gently against his, of those long, graceful hands running over his shoulders, down to his chest. He leaned toward his lover, anticipating the touch on his nipple, the shock of pleasure.

When it came, he moaned into Shou's mouth, wrapping a leg around the other man's hip, using it to pull their bodies together, to rub against Shou, grind into him.

"Ohh, yes," Shou moaned, his lips kissing a wet trail along Ruki's neck, making the smaller vocalist arch his head back, exposing his throat to him like a willing victim offering himself up to a vampire.

Maybe Shou picked up on that thought, because the next thing Ruki felt was sharp teeth nipping at him, right over the pulse line. He arched upward and cried out.

"Did I surprise you?" Shou said, a mischievous tone in his voice, before his tongue gently traced the area he'd just bitten, as if trying to heal it.

"What do you think?" Ruki panted, hoarsely. It was one thing when a guy like Aoi or Reita bit you - someone darkly sensual, somebody you'd expect something like that from. With Shou, who was all sweet innocence on the surface, it was twice as hot.

"Maybe I should do it again?" Another nip, making Ruki cry out again. "But it's not a surprise anymore than."

"Keep that up," Ruki panted, "and I'll . . ."

"Spank me?" Shou said.

"More like have you put on a show for me." Ruki reached over, opened the nighttable drawer, and felt around for what he needed. He'd put that line about "tempt me by masturbation" in My Devil On The Bed for good reason. It was one of his favorite things to do, watching Shou play with one of their collection of toys . . .

"There," he said, handing the other man something that looked like it was made of a stack of glass beads on a stick, glowing purple in the candlelight, each one bigger than the one above it. "This will do nicely."

Shou gave him a sly smile. "Get me ready first?"

"Did you think I wasn't going to?" Ruki grabbed their bottle of liquid lube, poured some on his fingers and leaned over, bringing his mouth to a tempting pink nipple as his index finger pressed against the man's entrance.

Shou never took his shirt off for the cameras. Neither did Ruki. The sight of their full bare chests was reserved only for each other - which added an extra layer of intimacy to Ruki tonguing the bud slowly, wrapping his lips around it.

"Oh, yes," Shou moaned as the finger slipped into and out of him (and he had described Ruki doing this in his own lyrics, hadn't he? "The lewd finger moves . . .") "More . . ."

A second finger slipped into him as Ruki sucked harder, beautiful lips wrapped tightly around the hard nipple, tongue flicking at it. A third digit pushed in shortly after - Ruki's hands were small, so he had to work to open up his lover.

Not that Shou minded. He'd sometimes had four fingers inside him. It was an unspoken belief between them that one day, when they were feeling very adventurous, and Shou was very relaxed, he was going to try getting his whole hand in there.

"So good," Shou moaned, hips thrusting downward, fucking himself on his lover's fingers, arching up against the hotly sucking mouth. "Oh, Ruki . . ."

"Are you ready for the toy now?" Ruki said, raising his head.

"Yes . . . yes, please . . ."

"Good boy," Ruki said, reaching for the lube again. He took the toy, poured the slick fluid over it, and brought it to his lover's entrance . . .

And then watched the other man's beautiful face as the glass beads slipped into him, each one stimulating him more than the one before. His eyes were closed, his mouth open as he panted, softly and gently. He was an angel and a whore. He was sweetly beautiful and the very embodiment of hot lust.

He was a million fucking wet dreams come to life all at once, and he was all Ruki's. Any anxiety and bad feelings regarding the towel-throwing incident were way in the distance.

"You love this," Ruki said. It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes," Shou moaned.

"Go on," Ruki said. "Move your hips. Fuck yourself on it, all you want."

Shou obeyed, thrusting downward, then pulling up, and Ruki looked down so he could watch the thing disappear into that beautiful ass, bit by bit. The sight was making him harder than the glass.

It would be an endurance test as to how long he could hold out before he took the toy's place.

"You do this when we're separated, don't you?" Ruki murmured, hotly. "You fuck yourself with toys and think about me."

"Yes," Shou moaned, thrusting down hard on the object inside him, grinding his hips.

"I want you to put a camera on yourself when you do it," Ruki whispered. "I want to watch you. I want to see you play with your own nipples . . ."

Shou lifted his hand up and did just that, squeezing the bud, making sure Ruki could see it harden between his fingers. He leaned back his head, moaning.

"Like that," Ruki said, voice getting hoarse with desire. "And I want to watch you push the toy in yourself. I want to see it filling you. I want to see your face when it hits the right spot and you writhe and cry out."

"Ruki," Shou moaned, and he thrust harder on the toy, trying to take as much of it in himself at once as he could, trying to make it hit the sweet spot, like Ruki said . . .

And oh, was he a lovely display. Skin flushed, sweaty, nipples hard, his fingers still brushing one, cock hard as a rock and leaking a few drops, face wearing an expression of tortured bliss, of satisfaction and hunger all at once . . .

Endless fucking showtime, indeed. Or, more accurately, endless fucking Shou time. (Nobody but him knew he'd buried his true lover's name in that song with that pun. He wasn't even sure if his bandmates had figured it out).

"Tell me what it feels like," Ruki murmured.

"It's hard," Shou moaned. "So hard, and the balls . . . they're rubbing inside me . . ."

"Does it make you want my cock?"

"Yes," Shou moaned. "Oh, God, yes . . ."

Ruki slid the toy out, slowly. "Then come sit on it," he said. "Fuck yourself on my cock, Shou."

Shou grabbed the lube, and poured it over Ruki's erection. Ruki lay back, arms held out to the other man, and Shou straddled him, moving downward until the tip of Ruki's erection pressed against him.

And then, he pushed down, and Ruki sucked in a breath. No matter how many times they did this, the feeling of that tight ass encasing him little by little was still the most pleasant shock to his system he could imagine.

"Oh, you feel good," Shou moaned as he moved, so opened up by the toy that it was an easy process, and the two men paused, breathing hard.

"I still can't get over how fucking beautiful you are," Ruki said, hands gripping Shou's thighs.

"So are you," Shou said, reaching down to caress the other man's face. "You're the most beautiful man I've ever seen."

Ruki didn't want to tell him that there was a time he didn't think of himself that way, that he'd buried himself in grotesque makeup because he thought he would never be as beautiful as the musicians who surrounded him. It was finding himself through his music that made him discover his own beauty - but Shou made him feel even more so.

"You know what talk like that is going to get you, don't you?" he said.

"This?" Shou replied, and he began to move his hips, hands planted flat on Ruki's chest to brace himself, starting a slow thrust.

"God, yes," Ruki moaned, raising his own hips to match what Shou was doing, keeping his eyes on the other man all the time. "Go on, keep doing that. Make yourself feel good."

"Baby, yes . . ." Shou murmured, starting to move faster, his hips pumping as the rode his lover, taking more and more of Ruki's cock with every downthrust. Ruki reached up, wrapping his fingers around the other man'/s hardness . . . oh, it felt good in his hand, long and shapely, just like the rest of him . . .

"I want to hear you moan for me," Ruki said, fingers sliding up and down Shou's erection, thumb rubbing over the tip, smearing the drops of precome. "Come on . . . I want to hear your pleasure."

And moan Shou did, a series of deep, long sounds that went straight to Ruki's cock, making him even harder, making him thrust his hips forward faster, burying himself in the other man, claiming him entirely . . .

They were moving together now, hips churning, both letting out moans and gasps, Shou's sheath tightening around Ruki's hardness, trying to drive each other that last little bit to orgasm . . .

Shou thrust down hard, hitting the sweet spot in him directly, and he cried out all of a sudden, tightening around Ruki so hard it brought the other man over the edge as well, and they moaned loudly in tandem as their climaxes roared through them, their bodies trembling, a stream of white pouring down Ruki's fingers, still wrapped around Shou.

Shou collapsed atop Ruki, their arms coming around each other, sharing a long kiss. They snuggled together, purring, Shou nestling his face into the crook of Ruki's shoulder. The lovers lay there quietly for a long moment, still panting, basking in the afterglow.

Then, Shou ran his fingers over Ruki's hair. "Thank you," he said. "This was such a great day - productive in the studio, and now this."

"Everything?" Ruki murmured. Wait, something had happened that wasn't so good, wasn't it? What was it? Oh, yeah, towel thrown over his face. Stupid shit.

"Never so sure of anything, ever," Shou said, wrapping his arms around Ruki. "I love you so much. You're so good to me."

Well, except when he was throwing towels at him. But that didn't matter now, did it? "I love you, too," Ruki replied.

Shou kissed him. "Just you wait until you see the CD cover. The normal type, I mean. You're going to love it to death."

"Really?" Ruki said. "I am?"

"Of course, silly," Shou said. "You inspired it, after all."

Ruki snuggled against him, starting to drift off himself - but a curious thought kept running through his head. Inspired it? Him? What the fuck?

* * *

"You fucking threw a TOWEL at him?" Aoi said to Ruki the next day, as they sat in yet another meeting room. Pre-tour get-together this time. They were about to leave on the final leg of Groan of Diplosomia, culminating in the Melt final. Yes, he was going to be separated from Shou for days on end yet again.

Ruki was never so glad that they'd made up. Wait, there had never really been a fight, had there?

"I didn't know he was there!" Ruki said. "He just opened the door, and I threw the towel, and it . . ."

"Landed on his face?" Reita said. "At least you have good aim."

"Whatever," Ruki said. "At least it's blown over now." He looked at the time on his phone. "Where the fuck is Kai? We were supposed to start ten minutes ago."

"He has Uruha with him, remember?" Aoi said.

"That, and he probably forgot his wallet. Or his keys. Or his phone," Reita added.

"Or all of them," Aoi noted - just as the door flung open, much as it had the day before. There stood Shou, beaming, holding an iPad as reverently as Moses holding the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

"We finished the design," he said. "I have to show you. I just HAVE to."

"Design of what?" Aoi said.

"Is this the normal type single you were talking about?" Ruki said.

"Yes!" Shou was so excited that he damn near hopped when he said it. No wonder his bandmates called him a rabbit. "Take a look!"

He turned it around, and there was an image of Shou's head . . . being hit in the face with a flying towel.

"Isn't it wonderful?" Shou said. "And it's the idea YOU gave me, Ruki, so it means twice as much!"

Ruki just stood there, mouth open. He . . . thought . . . I . . . gave . . .him . . .on . . . purpose . . .

On either side of him, Reita and Aoi were starting to laugh. Between them, Ruki was starting to splutter.

All the angst . . . all that thinking Shou was mad at him . .. all that worrying that throwing the towel at him was a huge mistake . . .

Shou looked puzzled. "Why are they laughing?"

"Private joke," Ruki said, pushing his two bandmates toward the corner, hissing at them, "I'm glad you bastards think it's so funny!"

"Ruki?" Shou said. "Are you blushing?"

Turning every color in the rainbow from all the emotions running through him, more like it. He'd hit plaid pretty soon.

"There's no need to be modest," Shou said. "It was a brilliant idea - and YOU are brilliant." That brought about a fresh torrent of laughter from the two in the corner, causing Ruki to glare daggers at them.

"We'll talk about it later, okay?" Ruki said.

"Oh," Shou said. "You . . . don't like how it came out?"

"No, not that," Ruki said. "I love it. I love everything about it."

And suddenly, he knew it was the truth. He loved it. He loved that it was a silly, stupid thing that happened between them. He loved that Shou took his screw-up and made art out of it. He loved the evening that resulted, and he loved the fact that something this crazy could only happen with THEM.

And that last part was probably the best part of all.

He threw his arms around Shou, and murmured, "It's the best cover you ever came up with."

"That WE ever came up with," Shou said. "It's OURS."

And then, there was a voice saying, politely, "Um, excuse me?" Shou and Ruki both raised their heads - it was Kai and Uruha. Well, how about that, they were blocking the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Shou said, bowing very low. "I was going anyway. But thank you for the dinner last night!" He gathered up his iPad and scurried back down the hall.

Reita and Aoi were still laughing as the rest of the band entered the room. "What's with them?" Kai said.

"Long story," Ruki replied. "I'll tell you later."

Yes, it was a long story, he thought, but at least it had a happy ending, right?

Or did it? Shou had two more singles to put out in two more months . . .