Ruki’s senses were hazy and distant; it was similar to being drunk. But he didn’t have the vacant buzz in his head, or the nauseating feeling of throwing up any second that accompanied the drunken state.

Ruki couldn’t see anything clearly, and he couldn’t hear anything clearly. His heart, pounding like thunder, echoed through his head, muffling any other nearby sounds. The darkness was relentless, like a blanket intending to suffocate him.

Everything felt so hot. His veins were imbued with fire, his face felt like it was burnt severely, and every part of his body twitched with the insatiable spark of lust.

It was as if he were stuck in the ocean, the waves battering him and pulling him under the crushing water. He felt helpless in the situation, but the warm pulsing in his body conveyed something to be gained.

Ruki reached out, and inhaled sharply. His hands grazed something soft. Ruki ran his hands over the softness again, and quickly realized it was skin. It was hot and sweaty, just like his.

“Ruki,” a low, husky voice murmured from the darkness.

Ruki felt shivers crawl along his skin, and that lust that had been hovering inside him suddenly took over. He put his lips against the skin, at the same time realizing it was a leg, and ran his tongue along the pleading flesh.

A moan came from the mouth above, and Ruki suddenly felt a craving to kiss that mouth.

He started to stand up, and as he rose, hands cupped his face and snaked into his hair. At his full height, Ruki leaned closer, still unable to see the person. Sweet breath tickled his face as he panted in impatience.

“RUKI-KUN!!”

Ruki jolted upright, falling out of the chair he’d been sleeping in. Laughter filled the room as he moved to stand up. A hand appeared in his face, offering to help him.

Ruki took it without looking to see who it was, and thanked Uruha when he was back on his feet.

Aoi smirked, the look of devilish glee on his face tempting Ruki to punch him. “Have a nice dream, Ruki-chan?”

Ruki narrowed his eyes. “Fuck off. I was tired.”

“I’m sure Uru-chan wants to know about it. After all, you did say his name several times,” Aoi mocked. The guitarist was grinning so widely his face could break in half. Ruki wished it would.

“Shut the hell up,” Ruki growled, turning away from Aoi. Reita, Kai, and Uruha were watching him, biting back their laughter.

Ruki sighed in defeat. He went to leave, but Kai stopped him.

“Come on Ruki, let’s go through the song once more,” he pleaded.

“Was it a wet dream, Ruki-chan?” Aoi called.

Ruki clenched his fist, his urge to kill Aoi mounting. “One more time,” he drawled. “But dammit Aoi, if you say one more thing I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Aoi didn’t appear impressed with his threat, but he didn’t say anything more.

As they moved over to their proper places and prepared their instruments, Ruki caught Uruha’s eye. The guitarist smiled at him, and winked.

Ruki looked away, scowling. It was obvious his dream had been about Uruha without knowing he’d said his name aloud. Why wasn’t Uruha disturbed, or disgusted that Ruki was having dirty dreams about him? Ruki was disturbed with himself.

He tried to forget what he knew about dreams. It was never proved anyways. Dreams can’t be your subconscious wishes. No way.

Kai started the song with a two-beat note on the drums, and Uruha and Reita entered with a quick trill of notes. Ruki sang the words as the band played the song. It was a fast-beat song with most of the words in English.

The first idea Uruha and Ruki had come up with for the album was the idea of forbidden love. Ruki didn’t want to consider it had anything to do with Aoi’s teasing about him and Uruha, so he didn’t think of it too deeply. Kai and the rest of the band had liked the idea, and then they had tweaked it into something darker.

The band added a new ingredient to the theme: going mad and doing stupid things because the world won’t accept that you’re different.

The song they’d practiced for a week, titled Kinmotsu, was purely about someone loving another who was forbidden. The world scorns them for loving each other, and they almost start doubting their love because of what others are saying.

They’d started a rough outline to a second song about someone killing the people who got in the way of their forbidden love, but it wasn’t tuned enough to their liking.

As the band packed up for the night, Ruki yawned. He hadn’t been getting a lot of sleep lately due to the band’s late night rehearsals.

He said goodbye to Uruha and Reita, who were still left putting their guitar and bass away. Ruki walked down the hall, yawning again.

Ruki made it to the first floor, and almost jumped in surprise when he heard a thump. It came from behind one of the doors to the right of the exit. Curious, he pressed his ear against it in hopes of hearing something.

There weren’t any distinct sounds, so he slowly cracked it open until there was enough space for him to peer through.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Aoi and Kai inside. Aoi had Kai backed up against a wall, their bodies pressed tightly together, with their lips locked in a passionate kiss.

Ruki almost tumbled backwards in shock. How long has that been going on?

He closed the door and ran to his car, trying to shove the image of Kai and Aoi from his mind. It wasn’t possible!

Flustered, Ruki got into the driver’s side of his car and started the engine. After all of Aoi’s galling mockery, he went and fucked Kai behind everyone’s back.

Ruki jumped when Uruha knocked on the passenger window. Ruki rolled the window down, his heart beating ferociously.

“Hey Ruki-kun, I wanted to know if you’d give me a ride home. It’s too late to take the train,” he pouted.

Ruki glanced at the clock. It was just after midnight.

Ruki nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

He popped the trunk for Uruha to put his guitar away. As Uruha settled into the passenger seat, Ruki was reminded of the daydream he’d had of the guitarist. His face grew hot as he turned out onto the street.

Ruki’s frazzled mind, preoccupied with his daydream and what he’d seen between Aoi and Kai, made it hard to concentrate on the road. He nearly ran two red lights.

Uruha grew tense. “Ruki-kun, are you alright? You’re never this bad at driving.”

“What? Oh, uh. Yeah, fine, fine.” Uruha gave him a skeptic look.

Ruki battled over whether he should tell Uruha about Aoi and Kai?

Ruki parked along the curb in front of Uruha’s apartment. He smiled lightly at Uruha, regret knotting in his stomach. He’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t spoken very much to him.

Uruha started to get out, thanking him for the ride. “Try to get some sleep Ruki-kun. Our flight leaves in less than eight hours,” Uruha said, leaning into the open window. He stared intensely at Ruki. “Have you packed yet?”

“Yeah, it’s all in the back ready to go.”

Uruha laughed. “I still have to pack all of my stuff.”

The guitarist said goodnight, but Ruki stopped him.

“Uru-chan…I can help you pack if you want,” he said somewhat hesitantly. He wanted to make up for the silent trip from the studio.

Uruha cocked his head. “Are you sure? You really should get some sleep.”

Ruki cut the engine and got out. He smiled crookedly. “I’m sure.”

He locked the car and followed Uruha inside. It had been a while since Ruki had been to his house, and he realized he’d never been inside alone.

Ruki swallowed hard, hoping Uruha didn’t remember his daydream from earlier. Ruki wished he couldn’t remember.

Anytime something awkward about their relationship surfaced, Uruha just laughed and took it as a joke. Ruki hoped he considered it all a joke, because he didn’t want to be giving him false hope. But Ruki had never thought of Uruha as a guy who liked men, so there wasn’t anything to give false hope to.

Then again, Kai and Aoi had fooled him too easily. Maybe Uruha did want something from him... Ruki couldn’t decide if he’d be completely against the idea, either.

They went up to Uruha’s room where the guitarist had several empty suitcases strewn across his bed. Ruki almost laughed at the sight.

Uruha showed him a couple of his drawers and what he wanted packed. Ruki nodded, and Uruha went into the bathroom to collect the stuff he’d need on tour.

Ruki started taking a few items from the drawer at a time and neatly putting them into the suitcase, but he quickly got tired of walking back and forth between the bed and dresser.

Ruki grabbed everything from the two drawers at once, not caring if they unfolded, and piled them onto the bed next to the suitcase.

Uruha came from the bathroom, and raised his eyebrows when he saw the pile of clothing.

Ruki chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll refold it all.”

He started folding the clothes and putting them into the suitcase, while humming the words to their new song.

Uruha grinned at him. “I think our fans will really like the new song.”

Ruki nodded. “I hope so.”

“Your English has improved a lot,” Uruha added.

Ruki smiled softly. “Thank you. I’ve been trying to sing better in English.”

“I like it when you write songs in English. I just wish I was as good as you,” Uruha sighed.

“Uru-chan, your English is great. You just need to practice it more. Maybe I should speak more English around you,” Ruki suggested.

Uruha nodded excitedly. “That sounds like a smart idea.”

They went back to their tasks, eager for sleep. Ruki finished the suitcase, and then demanded another to fill.

However, as he started on the second one, he felt sleep hit him like a brick wall. He fell back onto Uruha’s bed, unconscious when he hit the pillow.

Wee~! Comment please?