We'd passed by the hurried streets of Shibuya in a cab to reach Fleeting World. I'd been inside before, to have meetings about Summer lives with Keitaro. In the lobby, we were met with the structure of hundreds of birds hanging from the ceiling in a pattern that went all the way down the hallway, a kind of "living" sculpture. A machine made them shift, looking like they were flying in the air, like a school of birds would in the wild. Flying birds were a symbol of Fleeting World, a picture of freedom.

Sana stared up at the sculpture, watching the ripples as the birds played. I couldn't get over how perfect he looks now. He really was here this whole time, just the same. I could never let him get how he looked again, with his roots showing so much. We'd make it a priority. Maybe Ren could come to my parents' house and fix his hair there. Anything to make him feel better.

And he had felt better. I saw the difference at the zoo. It was like a fresh breeze. We sat together on a bench, watching the animals, holding hands. So peaceful. Sawai-san kept her distance, but still close by just in case. It was a date this way. It felt so much like last year, even if that idea was an illusion. Just the taste of it. That made all the difference. I saw he was getting tired by the end, and we went to eat somewhere quiet. During the cab ride to Fleeting World, he'd fallen asleep on my shoulder.

The receptionist saw us at the end of the long hallway. She straightened up immediately, leaving her post to rush toward us. I recognized her, but didn't remember her name.

"It's so nice to see you! I've been reading your blog. Nice to meet you, Sana-san. How are you doing today?"

I remembered her name. Akiko-san.

"Nice to meet you, too. I'm doing well, thank you," he said, bowing his head a little.

"It's nice to see you again, Akiko-san. How are things?" I asked.

"Wah, you remember my name? We only met twice! That was over a year ago." She noticed Sawai-san at the end of the hall, still staring up at the birds, her mouth open. "Ah! Ma'am! Nice to meet you!" She called out.

"Of course I remember your name. You remember mine." I became distracted by Sawai-san, who made a kind of twirl, peering upwards. "Sawai-san! Come meet Akiko-san!" I called to her.

"Oh! Oops!" She replied, hurrying up the hallway to us.

"Do you like our sculpture?" Akiko-san asked her. "It's called 'Cooperation Brings Freedom'. It's our philosophy at Fleeting World."

"Yes, I like it very much. The name is very appropriate. It's an honor to be here. It's nice to meet you." She bowed a bit to Akiko-san.

She gestured to the left, starting to walk. "Come with me. I'll show you to the meeting room. Your friend, Yuuhi Sawai is already here."

"Oh! That's my son," Sawai-san said. "He's always early. It's typical that he'd be early for this."

"Oh, that's great to know! Yes, he's been here for several hours."

Hours? I started chuckling at the same time as Sana. His laughs surprised me. His knuckle went on his bottom lip, so adorable. We began following her, and gathered in the elevator.

"The meeting room is on the seventh floor. I believe Kentaro-san is also here. I saw him come in early in the morning. He should still be here, if he didn't leave through a back entrance."

"Who's Kentaro-san?" Sawai-san asked.

"That's Keitaro," I said, nodding my head. "He uses a false name for music activities. I call him Keitaro, because that's how I most know him. He used to mostly call me Aurelia, but lately that's changed. Since I left my previous company."

"I'm going to get so confused," Sawai-san said, under her breath.

We went down a long hallway with frosted glass doors with name plaques on them. This was familiar to me. I'd been in such meeting rooms before. There were offices up here, too. At the end of the hallway, we turned to the right. Akiko-san opened the double doors of the meeting room for us, and Sawai-san immediately supported the other door. Memories flooded me, and I almost expected to see all of Yellow Lizard at the long meeting table, their manager, and some of their staff who were there year after year. It was typically the time of year where we'd meet, too. I blinked in mild confusion, wheeling Sana inside. However, one familiar face was there, sitting on a chair at the far end of the table.

Keitaro got up, spreading his arms wide. His hair was done in a visual kei style, half of it in corn rows to give a side shave effect. It was moussed in place and teased within an inch of its life. No doubt he'd been promoting today. A photo shoot, maybe? A paid video for fans? A video interview? I was intensely curious. As I got closer, I saw his nails were a sparkly purple. He embraced me, holding me longer.

"Welcome home," he said.

His words made me relax completely. All the familiarity. It was true. Walking these halls, seeing the birds at the entrance. It washed over me, this realization.

"This is my new home now, isn't it? As soon as I sign the contract," I whispered to him, only wanting him to hear.

"It was always your home. They've just offered you the keys, that's all."

Warmth rushed over me, so content. At the corner of my eye, another figure emerged from the same wall as the doors. Yami came into view, and crouched in front of Sana.

"You hair looks amazing," he breathed, lifting up Sana's flipped bangs carefully. "Did you get it done today? And your makeup. You look really good." He hugged him, and Sana hugged him back.

Keitaro's eyebrow went up, watching them. "Sana-chan, what happened to your hand? Are you okay? That's definitely new..."

Sana looked a bit nervous at this question, his mouth opening a little, gazing downward. I intervened. "He fell down yesterday, but it's only a sprain. He'll be better in no time." I smiled at him, and he gave me a grateful smile back. Sawai-san came over from closing the doors.

"Still, that seems a bit-"

"Keitaro-san, can you tell me more about the mini-album? It's so exciting, isn't it? What does it entail, and how will Lyra be involved? I've been wanting to know," Sawai-san interrupted him. I saw why immediately. Sana was giving her the same grateful look. He didn't want anyone to ask about his injury. Was he insecure about it?

Very carefully, Yami started getting Sana up from his chair, helping him sit in a regular one. Everyone jumped into action in an instant. Sawai-san pulled out the chair nearest to us, Keitaro went to the side of Sana's wheelchair and held out his hands, ready to catch him if he fell. I supported Sana's back, just in case. Like this, we made the very short trek to his seat. I could tell Keitaro was on high alert, because he'd just heard about Sana's fall. His face said it all. How much he cared. It touched my heart so much. He pushed the chair to the table, patting the back of it, to make sure it was in place.

I sat next to Sana, and Keitaro sat next to me. Yami sat next to Sana, and his mom sat next to him. This arrangement immediately worried me. It looked like we were a united front. That was a problem. Would Lyra think we were ganging up on them?

"Yes, the mini-album," Keitaro said, settling in. "It's very exciting. Fleeting World is willing to give complete creative control over to us. We can do what we want with it. Tetsu and I have worked together a lot in the past, and they've always been very impressed. With me as producer, it was a sure thing. They know they'll get a good product, because I know the kind of quality they expect."

"Ooh, I see. How does Lyra fit in?" Sawai-san went on. I watched Yami poke Sana's wrist gently on the table, as if testing it. He winced a little, and Yami rubbed his shoulder and arm, as if to say sorry. I took his other hand under the table, and his fingers clenched mine.

"It's a collaboration. Tetsu is the singer, and they are the band. An 'Aurelia featuring Lyra' kind of collaboration, if you will. At least, that's as far as I know. I'm sure it will be decided further on down the line. First, we need to get the other members to agree. What kinds of negotiations do you have in store?"

Yami looked a little caught. My eyes widened. Not the reaction I expected.

"Um, well," he said. He cleared his throat. Not good.

Voices started up in the hallway. Familiar ones. My head turned to them. Uh oh. Sudden dread filled my belly. Was there no plan at all? Is that what Yami had been hinting at with that throat clearing? My eyes glanced at the clock at the head of the table on the wall.

Exactly 7pm.

"Right in here," Akiko-san's voice came from the hallway. "We will bring refreshments soon. Tea, soft drinks, and light snacks."

"Make sure some of that is sugar free," Shizue's voice said. We could see their silhouettes traveling up through the glass, but they couldn't yet see us.

"Certainly," Akiko-san replied.

The door opened, and I held Sana's hand a little too hard.

Nobu stood in the doorway, next to Akiko-san who was holding open the door. He paused, staring at us. No. At Yami. His face turned sour.

Not good.

"Bye," he said, turning on his heel. My stomach sank to my toes. My hand went up a little bit, but before I had a chance to say anything, Masaki came up from behind him, pushing him forward with his hands on his back. He looked exasperated already. His eyes overly tired.

He pushed Nobu into the room, and Shizue came in behind him. To my surprise and delight, Hikaru poked his head into the room, too. Upon seeing me, he broke into a smile. Relief sank into me.

Masaki took a seat opposite us, and the rest filed in and sat down, too. Nobu was left with the seat facing Yami. Not good at all. He stared at him with daggers in his eyes.

"I knew you would be here," he said. That was the opening? This was off to a terrible start. "It was written all over everyone's words. Asking if we'd be fine if you played drums, defending you, everything. I hoped you wouldn't be here, and that all of you would have listened to us. But, here we are."

Yami nodded as he was speaking, staring at the table.

Shizue pointed at Sana's wrist, her face in concern. He shrank a little bit in his seat. Masaki interrupted Nobu suddenly, almost making me jump.

"Sana, what happened to your hand?" Almost a scared voice, quiet and searching.

Nobu was staring at Yami like he had something to do with it.

"He had a small accident yesterday," I tried to explain, saving Sana the strain. "It wasn't a big deal. It's a mild sprain. Better in two weeks." He squeezed my hand under the table.

"We took him to the hospital. Nothing's broken. He'll make a full recovery," Yami finished for me.

"'We'?" Nobu asked. He fell back in his seat, his anger coming out. "That's great. You've been seeing each other, huh? Is that what this is about? You're friends again? Sana, I told you to forget about him. That he'll only bring you trouble. Didn't I say that? Now you're injured. That's just-"

I jumped a mile out of my seat as Yami's hand crashed onto the table. My arm went around Sana, pressing him to my shoulder, as Yami rocketed out of his seat. Nobu got up, too, challenging. They stared each other down.

It wasn't working at all. All the plans we thought we had in place. They won't yell if Sawai-san and Keitaro are here. What a lie. It was all falling apart, minutes after starting.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Yami shouted. "You don't know shit! I've been helping take care of him for the past week!"

"Some job you've been doing! I'd never allow one of my residents to get injured! How the hell did you allow Sana to get injured?!" He took half a breath. "Based on what you did to me, did you lose your temper and-!"

"You motherfucker! You dare think that I'd ever-!"

"Boys! Holy shit! Stop it! We talked about this!" Shizue grabbed Nobu's hand, but he threw it to the side.

"Touch my girlfriend like that again, you asshole!" Hikaru yelled in a way that I didn't know he had. I hugged Sana to me more, and saw his eyes were wide in fear.

The yelling. Oh no, the yelling. Sana was terrified of yelling.

He was saying something quietly, and I put my ear to his mouth, struggling as three people shouted around us.

"I want to go home," he whispered. "I don't care anymore. I want to go home. Take me home. It's all my fault." In an instant, he was crying, small tears like tiny, round pieces of glass rolling down his cheeks.

That was it. They weren't going to ruin this. This mini-album was about Sana and I. Aurelia featuring Lyra? What a joke. If they couldn't be in the same room together for a few minutes without having an all out brawl, how in the world would we make a mini-album together?

I smacked my hand on the table and felt Sana jump on my shoulder. I stood up quickly, and Nobu and Yami didn't even notice, too much into screaming at each other.

"You-!" I began.

The worst sound in the world filled the room. My heart fell eight stories into the basement. A rush of silence like a wind overcame the room, like something had taken all of our voices, replaced with this awful sound.

Sana's face was in agony, a long, high wail coming from him, sobbing with abandon.

We were all silent for several seconds. Frozen, in shock.

"It's all ruined," he whimpered, going even higher. "Our dream, it's all gone. You hate each other, and it's all my fault. It's all gone. We're never going to achieve it. I did it again. We had this second opportunity, and now it's all- it's all go- gone..." The last word was drawn out in his terrible sob. He covered his face, his injured wrist so apparent in this as we stared at him.

"It's not gone," Nobu said, so much more calm. He carefully sat down in his seat. "I'm sorry, I... I'm sorry."

Hikaru sat down, too, and Shizue took his hand. They looked at each other, and turned very sorry faces at Sana. Masaki shook his head, sighing.

Nobu sighed, too. "You know me, Sana. You call me the dog star, right? It's my personality. I'll defend when I feel attacked, especially when those I love are attacked. But, I shouldn't have come in with attack mode. That was wrong."

I found myself, and sat down. My arm went around Sana again, hugging him to me. He looked at me with eyes of fear. My heart descended the eighteen levels of hell. His eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I didn't mean to lose my temper. I'm sorry." I kissed his ear, and a small tear came from his eye. I wiped it away, and his face went into my neck, sending relief through me. My other arm wrapped around him, and he sobbed quietly into me for a while.

After many minutes, Masaki spoke again. I was rubbing Sana's back as he calmed down a bit.

"We talked about this throughout the week. All of us. It definitely sounded like you wanted Yami involved, and personally, I don't have much of a problem with that. Shizue doesn't, either. What we want is an apology. Nobu, do you care to explain it? Without yelling?"

"No, I really can't," Nobu sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"As you can see, there's still upset feelings," Masaki said. His tone was a very formal one. Respectful. "From what we've discussed, we want an apology from Yami for all the shit he's put us, and Sana, through. All of it. There's so many instances. So many things we want explanations for. Mostly, and I think it's the reason why Nobu went off and correct me if I'm wrong, we want an apology for how he's treated Sana in particular. We're surprised you'd want to work with him again. I know you two have a long history, but we feel that some of things we've witnessed have been downright abusive. What was the term you used, Nobu?"

"Disability abuse," Nobu said. It made my eyes open wide. Disability abuse?

"That is some bullshit," Yami retorted immediately. "Nobody's cared more about him than me. Abuse based on his disability? You make me sick."

Sawai-san's hand collided with Yami's chest. He stopped speaking.

"Surely there's some mistake," she said, interrupting them. "I've watched them since the beginning. My son would never do such a thing."

"We can list off instances, if you like. You can apologize for every single one. Even Shizue brought some up that we didn't know about, from before it was known Sana was this sick. Him pushing Sana when he was clearly at his limits, yelling in his face when Sana said he felt like he couldn't perform, going to his apartment and being aggressive when Sana didn't show up for practice? Should I go on? How about when he'd police Sana about what he could eat, and get mad at him for making a mistake?" Masaki went on and on.

"This is what I was talking about that day where it got violent," Yami said. "All the things you don't know. My love for him. If you'd have just shut up, I could have told you."

"Tell me about that day," Shizue said. "I wasn't there. I want to know."

Yami sighed deeply. "Okay, fine." Sana's face emerged, looking at Lyra now. I squeezed him a little bit. Yami cleared his throat, nervous. "That day, I admit it. I was mad that Tetsu was in Sana's apartment. I didn't know him well at all, and I was worried he wasn't going to be sensitive enough to Sana being sick. That he wasn't going to take care of Sana. I see now that I was wrong about that." He gestured to me in a giving way, and I nodded. "But, I was very upset, because I wanted to protect Sana, and I didn't know how. I've been protecting him from himself this whole time. He told me to."

"Told you? That's very interesting," Masaki said, folding his hands on the table formally.

"Masaki, don't interrupt him," Shizue said.

"How exactly, is yelling at him and making him feel like shit 'protecting' him, Yami?" Nobu asked, his tone becoming borderline aggressive. Crap. It was going bad again. Shizue put her hand over her face, breathing out.

Sana turned his face completely to them, surprising me.

"I told him to do it," he said, still weak from his crying. "Don't blame him. What he's saying is the truth. I told him to promise me he'd encourage me to keep going. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it was between us. I got..." He looked down at the table. He stopped speaking.

"Sana, you don't have to tell them that," Yami soothed him, rubbing down his arm again. "It's okay. We don't need to go in depth."

"Maybe we do," Nobu said. "You 'got' what?"

Yami shook his head at Nobu, an expression on his face that I'd never seen. A quiet desperation.

Shizue straightened up, seeing this. "That's enough. That's all the explanation we need. I know I'm willing to go ahead and work with Yami. I've been wanting to work with Sana again for years. My viola and I are eager. Hikaru and I have been practicing together-"

"It's not enough," Nobu interrupted. "This still hits me the wrong way."

"You're such a stubborn asshole," Masaki sighed. "You can't see it's personal? He apologized. Sana told us what happened. That's all we need."

"I didn't hear an apology."

"Yeah, what do you want me to do? Get down on my hands and knees? Put my head on the floor?" Yami made a dismissive noise with his mouth. An aggressive noise.

"You fucking know what?" Shizue said, sighing even more than Masaki. "Yeah. If that'll make this all better, yeah. Is that what you want, Nobu? See him cower to you? Would that make it better?"

Sana's mouth fell into my ear again. Small whispers.

"What, baby?" I asked. "Can you say it again?"

"Fight," he whispered, just barely. "I told you. Boys need violence. Nobu needs to hit Yami. They need to fight."

"No, baby. I don't think that's what this needs."

"What doesn't this need?" Nobu asked. "What'd he say?"

"Um..." I eyed Sana. He nodded. I sighed, too. I put my hands on the table. "He said you two need to fight. Nobu needs to punch Yami."

Keitaro made a sound like a sneeze and a laugh beside me.

"I mean," Shizue said, looking at Hikaru and then at Yami. "Would that solve it? Nobu, would you feel better? I think it's barbaric, but. What do you think?"

Nobu was quiet. He looked at the ceiling, clearly thinking. Yami looked at Sana, and Sana stared at him back.

"Whatever, Nobu's a weakling anyway," Yami shrugged.

Nobu's fist smacked on the table. "That's fucking it. I'm decking the shit out of you. I've wanted to for years."

"Do we really need to do this?" Sawai-san asked. "You're adults. Nobu, you're almost forty. You're all acting like children."

"Boys are children," Sana said quietly. I burst into laughter. Shizue laughed behind her hand, and Hikaru rolled his eyes.

"Meet me outside in five minutes. Let's go. I'm so ready." Nobu was already getting out of his chair. Yami got up, too, sliding his chair in after himself, so eager.

"You need five minutes to get ready, you weakling?" Yami asked, smiling.

My hand went over my face, but a smile was there. Sana had been right all along.

With a new shiner, Yami stood in line behind Nobu fifteen minutes later. We were in the meeting room again, and there was a large stack of contracts on the table. Shizue accepted hers, and bowed a bit to Keitaro. "I'll have it back to you soon. I'm going to go over it with my father. He's a lawyer," she said. "I trust it's all correct, but you understand."

"Of course I understand. I expect all of you to get legal counsel on this. It's the responsible thing to do. You can add and remove things that you think are fair."

She nodded and bowed again.

Nobu was next. He accepted the contract, and took a pen to sign it immediately. He went through it without reading it, signing and initialing. At the very end, with a last looping motion, he turned around and a pen flew past my head. I ducked. Another pen flew in the air, and hit Yami squarely in the forehead.

"I'm not lawn darts, you know," Yami said, kindly, smiling at Nobu.

"Let me get out my anger. You're a giant asshole. I'll work with you, but that doesn't mean I have to like you."

"Thanks, I hate you, too."

Shizue sighed. "You can go outside again, if you like."

"I don't need that," Yami said, stepping up to Keitaro. He took one of the remaining pens on the table and signed his contract, too. "I trust it's all in order. I've been wanting to sign one of these for twelve years. I don't really care what's in there."

Sawai-san looked so proud, just welling with joy, like she could cry. Yami bowed deeply to Keitaro, and Keitaro bowed to him in kind. He went to stand to the side with everyone else. Shizue hugged her contract to herself, and Masaki held his reverently in his hands. Hikaru had signed it already, over eager like Yami and Nobu.

I wheeled Sana up to the table, and he looked down demurely. A blush was on his face. Keitaro put our two contracts on the table. I gathered them up, and we bowed to him, too. Showing all the respect in the world.

"It's not typical that it happens like this, I know you know that," Keitaro said. "But, I wanted to make this special. Ceremonial, in a way. It's been a long time coming, for both of you. I can't believe the day is here where you get to join Fleeting World. We'll take care of you. We're not like any other company."

I gave him a wink. "Let's wait and see how the mini-album does before any congratulations. We have to do our part, too."

"Always so into the business part of things. Relax! Let's all go out. There's a nice pub that I know in the neighborhood. That is, if these two can keep their fists off each other. It was quite a show." He gestured his thumb at Nobu and Yami.

I chuckled a little. "Even if they can't behave, we can go. We'll celebrate."

Keitaro's hand found my shoulder and squeezed it, the most proud look of all on his face. I took it humbly, feeling for all the world like I was crossing a finish line.