Who: Hiro and Sakano What: Hiro talks to Sakano When: Business day, before people come in. Rating: G
Hiro sighed, practically pacing back and forth in the studio. He was nervous and had shown up about an hour early, hoping that somehow, his producer, the ever-vigilant top-notch employee, would show up early. For what? Who knew? He ran a hand through his hair and finally sat down to fiddle with his guitar, his brain buzzing too much to actually play anything, really
Sakano arrived early, as usual. Though sometimes he wondered why he bothered, when many times the rest of the band showed up late. He hurried up the steps to Bad Luck's studio, and opened the door. Of course he hadn't been expecting to see someone in there before him and it startled him, causing him to jump back a bit. "O-oh, hello.."
Hiro actually jumped a little when he heard the door click open. Maybe Hiro's assumption wasn't so bad after all. "Sorry.. Did I scare you?" he asked, setting his instrument aside. He didn't mean to startle the poor guy.
"A little, I wasn't expecting anyone to be here this early." He laughed, still sounding somewhat jittery. He closed the door behind him and set his suitcase down on a table. "But...what are you doing here so early anyway? Not that I'm complaining, everyone usually turns up late!"
He laughed a bit and nodded, "well... just wanted to get here early.. get a jump on things..." actually, that was a lie, and he knew it. He frowned and shifted in his seat, "Actually, Sakano-san.. I wanted to talk to you. Something personal and professional.."
He frowned as well, worried. "Oh, sure." He went to sit down across from him. "What is it?" What if he was quitting the band? What if he was joining another band? He wouldn't do that, right? Right? He fidgeted, trying not to get hysterical at the idea.
"Well..." Hiro sighed a bit and lowered his voice, just in case someone happened to be listening in, despite the fact that they were alone. "I've... found a boyfriend," he said with a nod, "And.. as of right now at least, I kind of want to keep it quiet."
"Oh." He relaxed a little. "Congratulations." He smiled a little. "But you know how the media is when it comes to these things, right? It will be hard to keep it private if you're out in public with him."
"Well.. that's kind of where it gets a little easy," He said with a laugh, "because we see each other a lot anyway..." he dropped his voice, embarrassed, "at... work.."
"...At work?" He tried to think of who it could be. "Would you mind telling me who it is?"
He nodded and smiled softly. "It's.. Suguru. He's been staying with me since New Year's, actually,"
"Suguru?!" He definitely wasn't very pleased to hear that. "Well...I hope this won't affect your work. What would happen if the two of you get into a fight?"
Hiro could see the other's disapproval on his face and smiled awkwardly, "well.. We've thought about that," he said, "We're both adults... We know how to conduct ourselves in the workplace and know that any personal vendettas are best left outside the studio and away from the stage." He took a deep breath and let it out, "I'm just.. a little scared to tell K. Knowing him, he'd see it as an opportunity to get a boost in sales. And we really, really don't want that right now. At least, not until we figure everything out."
"Yes, it all sounds good in theory, but in practice, you might find it hard to seperate your work life from your personal life. Romantic drama can ruin a band." He sighed, but decided to leave it at that for now. "You're right about K-san though. It might be best if you waited to tell him..."
Hiro frowned, now slightly regretting telling him. But maybe it was for the best... Though that still had yet to be seen. "Yeah... we figured as much. I mean.. we're taking things slowly, so we don't get tired of one another right off the bat and make things sour. But.." He shrugged, "It's been nice so far. He's a lot less stuffy than I always thought he was, at least." he laughed softly and tucked a bit of hair behind his ear, "I guess... I dunno, I figured you'd be the best person to tell who wouldn't ruin things. I trust you, Sakano-san"
He smiled again. "Well, thank you. I'm always here for you if you ever need to talk to me. And I trust you too, so I'm going to trust that you'll make responsible decisions." Even though it might be unwise to do so.
He nodded and looked away, "God.. I feel like I'm talking to my parents or something..but I guess that's a testament to you, right?" He grinned playfully, "I'm a good boy. Promise. I'm not really one to take big risks that might really endanger the band.."
He laughed a little at that remark, he did sound rather parental. "Good, good." He nodded. "Because if you do cause trouble...I might just be fired and then I would have to live under a bridge! You wouldn't want that on your hands, would you?" Now he was just teasing.
"I don't think you'd be bold enough to fire your only guitarist," Hiro replied with a laugh, "After all, what would Seguchi think?"
"...Good point." He gave a defeated shrug, laughing a bit again.
He nodded and then slowly frowned, "... I.. don't know what I should tell Shuichi.."
"You don't think he'll take it well?" He was a bit surprised he hadn't already told. "If you don't think he will, maybe you should hold off on telling him, too. He tends to get overly emotional about these things.."
Hiro shook his head. "You're the first person I've told... I'm worried he'll get mad at me. Like... I'm abandoning him or something. I think he still sees Suguru as an 'outsider', even though we've all been together for this long, he wasn't with us when we first started the band and.. I think he still resents him for that." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. But.. I don't really know." He looked up to his producer. "What would you do?"
The producer thought about it. "I would wait a little while and then tell him. Wait until you're more comfortable and established as a couple, if you're not already. But you probably should tell him eventually, you don't want him to find out on his own."
"Yeah. that would be..." Hiro could feel his heart sink somewhere below his stomach at just the thought of Shuichi somehow finding out on his own... that would be... "Terrible.." He shook his head, "but.. I mean.. he's my best friend. Have you ever had to deal with something like that, Sakano-san?"
He shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I can't say I've ever been in a situation like this before. But...if he's your best friend, he should understand eventually, even if he's mad at first."
"I hope so.." he said sadly, wringing his hands in his lap. "...are you mad?"
He shook his head. "No. Just a little concerned, that's all. I'm glad you told me."
"Me...me too." He gave a little smile up at him, "You shouldn't have anything to worry about... I'll keep everything under control. I'm good at that, you know."
"Yes, I know." He smiled back. "Does Fujisaki-kun know that you were going to tell me?"
"We talked about who we'd tell. We agreed you'd be the best candidate." He thought for a moment, "I'm not sure if Seguchi knows yet. I mean.. he housed Suguru while I thought things over but I don't know if Suguru told him what was going on.."
He nodded. "It would make things easier if he knew, that way we wouldn't have to worry about how he would react if he found out on his own, either."
"I'm more worried about what would happen if things didn't work out... Seguchi.. he's scary sometimes. I know he seems harmless enough but... the way he gets to Shuichi just makes me wonder what he's really like.. you know?" He looked up at him, "You know him better than anyone, right?"
"He can be hard to read sometimes, even for someone who's worked with him for a while." He admitted, thinking. But he moved off the topic. "That is something else you have to be worried about though. If he was just another band member, that would be one thing...but he is the owner's cousin. So if you break up, you'll probably gent the brunt of the blame."
"Probably... even if it's not my fault, you can't convince family of that." He sighed heavily and then sank down into the couch. "What've I gotten myself into?"
"Well, you said yourself that you don't know if Fujisaki-kun told him or not. Maybe he didn't, that would make it easier on you if you broke up." He tried to encourage him. "And you're not planning on breaking up any time soon, right?"
"Not really.. I mean, we just started dating well... last night, really." He laughed softly and grabbed his guitar and striking a chord, "So how am I supposed to know how things will turn out?"
"That's true. You two might stay together forever!" He said, cheerful. It would be nice if they were worrying for nothing.
"Well it would be nice, for sure," he said, "I like being wrong sometimes. Particularly in cases like this." He smiled over at him, "It's kind of nice... I've missed dating, really. Do you date?"
"Not really. There's no time, I'm too busy to date." He shrugged, smiling so that he wouldn't seem so pathetic. "Maybe some day."
Well, however he must have tried... it still sounded pathetic. really pathetic. Wasn't he in his 30's now? Sad. "Yeah, maybe. but you know what? Today's a day. So's tomorrow."
Sakano laughed a little. "I doubt I'm going to meet someone today, or tomorrow. But I suppose you never know."
"Well do you like.. go out?" he asked, curious now, "I mean, go to the bar with someone other than Seguchi, anyway?"
He nodded. "Um, occassionally. I'm just not a very social person. Plus, I'm usually tired after work. But I do go out sometimes! Just..not a lot."
"Well that's not cool. We've gotta get you some, man. It's just sad that a man your age feels like he has to be alone all the time because of work. I mean, talk like that is for old men." Hiro put on a big smile for him, "You're not an old man yet, are you?"
He smiled and shook his head. "No, I'm not."
"Exactly." He gave a wag of his finger, as if he were actually in a position to scold him, "So why confine yourself to that. You know that phrase 'you're only as old as you feel'? Well it works with young people too."
"I suppose you're right. Maybe I should go out more." He had been over working himself. "Hm..maybe I'll go out this weekend."
"There you go! That's the spirit!" Hiro seemed to have perked up quite a bit at that. "Maybe if you're lucky you'll find someone good enough to take you home, hm?"
"Now..let's not get ahead of ourselves!" He said, waving his hands. "I'm just going out! I don't think anything like that will happen."
"You never know. Besides," He leaned forward with a playful grin. "Isn't half the point of going out is so you don't have to go to your own bed?"
That caused him to blush and laugh a little, nervously. "I..I suppose." Then he cleared his throat. "Ahem. I think this conversation is heading in a decidedly unprofessional direction."
Making the producer uncomfortable was always a fun pasttime. "Yeah. I guess. I guess I should excuse myself before you start turning other weird colors." He got up from his seat and smiled down at him. "A few beers might do you some good, you know
He smiled back. "I think you're right. Anyway, I have to start setting up for today. You can come back in.." he checked his watch. "About an hour. Hopefully everyone else will be here by then." He stood up and stretched.
"That'd be nice. I'm gonna go get some coffee and stuff. Maybe some breakfast." He started for the door, "Oh.. Sakano-san? ..Thanks for understanding.."
He nodded. "You're welcome. I hope things work out well for you two."
"Me too." He smiled and gave a small laugh before excusing himself to go find something for his hungry tummy.