This disclaimer, being amply redundant, shall stand for all chapters from this chapter forward:
I do not own Gravitation. I do, however, own the cute Kumagoro plushy sitting on my desk right now. Kawaii!
Warning: Contains Shounen ai and Yaoi. Don't like? What the heck are you doing in this fandom?
Summary: Shuichi Shindou's parents have put their foot's down: If Shuichi wants to tour Japan then he will have to finish High School. Pressing deadlines and nosey, love sick classmates abound. Can our favorite rock star go back to school amid the cameras of the press and the pressures of his job? To bad that Hiro already got his GED. It looks like he's going it alone this time.
Notes: I don't know what the Japanese equivalent of a GED is so I'm just leaving it as that for now.
Graduation Song: Anti-Nostalgic
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"Yuki, I'm home," called Shuichi as he burst into the house. After a moment's silence, Shuichi remembered that Yuki was meeting with his editor, Mizuki-san, today and would most likely be gone for another hour. These days Yuki would at least yell that he was making too much noise so Shuichi was almost certain that he was alone in the house.
Shuichi sighed and moved to the kitchen to make himself some tea. It had been a long day in the recording studio and it promised to be an even longer week as Bad Luck was now heading to announce their latest tour. The Tokyo Bay Music Festival had been four weeks ago but his song was still at the top of the charts and Mr. K was adamant that they continue on while the ball was rolling. Their new tour would be a showcase of all of the songs from their new album and some of their old. Shuichi grinned when he thought of the lyrics that he had written, on the spot, at the festival. Despite Yuki's insistence that Shuichi had still had zero talent, he had been caught more then once listening to the song. Shuichi knew that it was just Yuki's way of showing affection and so he didn't take Yuki's jabs to heart. The tea was finally ready and Shuichi was sitting himself down on the couch to enjoy it when the phone rang. Shuichi groaned and set the cup aside to answer. If that was K telling him to come back to the studio then he was going to hang up on him, guns be damned.
"Moshi moshi," he said into the phone. A female's voice answered.
"Shuichi honey, this is your mother." Shuichi gasped softly and unconsciously sat up straighter.
"Hello, mother," he responded dutifully. He groaned inside and got ready for another argument. His parents had not wanted him to go into music and his mother had hoped that he would go to college to study for a medical career. She had been sorely disappointed when he dropped out of high school the moment that he had turned seventeen. His graduating class would be walking across the stage in just a month's time and he was already a rich and successful star. That was very impressive for someone who had already clinched 'most likely to end up flipping burgers' at the beginning of his junior year. It was the best result, in his opinion, since he had never enjoyed school and had only Hiro as a friend. Most of the students at his school were jerks who said that his hyper personality was juvenile and bothersome. Once Hiro graduated early there was no reason for him to stay. Even finishing high school would have been hell, never mind college.
"Shuichi," his mother said brightly, "I got a call yesterday from dear old Yamanaka-san. You remember your old principal, of course? He was just calling to ask if you would want to speak to the graduating class for their ceremony. They are your old peers after all." She plowed on before he could respond. "Naturally, I reminded him that you never graduated yourself and so that might not send the best message but he had the most wonderful idea! If you agree to attend the rest of term, give a few kind words that they can use in recruiting, and speak at the graduation then he'll allow you to graduate as well! Oh, my baby can still have a chance at that diploma!" Shuichi sighed and waited for her to stop gushing.
"Mother, I really don't have the time to be doing that. Bad Luck has a new album that we need to be promoting and we have a national tour coming up! I can't just abandon my job for a month."
"Nonsense," cried his mother as she cut him off. "I've already spoken to your boss. Seguchi-san was it? In any case, he said that he thinks that this is a great idea. You can go to school in the morning and do your job in the afternoon to evenings. This way you can even say that your band promotes education and use that for extra good public relations."
"Tohma said that," gasped Shuichi? He groaned internally. That seemed like just the kind of thing that his scheming boss would do.
"Yes, he did dear. He should be phoning you soon to arrange everything. In fact, I'd better get off the line in case he's trying to call now. Oh, I just can't believe it. My baby's going to graduate!"
"Wait!" called Shuichi but he was met only with a dial tone. Shuichi sighed and took in a mouthful of his tea only to spit it out: The cup was already stone cold and undrinkable. Shuichi gave a frustrated cry and tossed himself face first onto the couch.
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Yuki entered his apartment only to find it dark and silent. He glanced at his wristwatch in confusion. Seven o'clock meant that Shuichi should have been home by now. He snapped on the lights and noticed that his lover's shoes were haphazardly stacked in the entrance. "Shuichi, I swear that I'll trip over your shoes if you keep leaving them like this," he called out, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.
"Gomen, Yuki," called Shuichi's tired voice. Yuki calmed and went to find his lover lying quietly on the couch.
"Baka," he murmured lovingly. "What's wrong now?" Shuichi sat up and recounted his mother's call to the blonde.
"And Tohma called after that," he announced afterwards. "He says that I have tomorrow to get my supplies and that I have to report to school Monday! I don't want to go back Yuki! It was bad enough when I had Hiro there. This time I'll be all alone." Yuki smiled.
"You make to much noise about it. Fujisaki is still in school and he's just fine." Shuichi frowned.
"No, he's home tutored by a private sempai and only has to worry about it three evenings out of the week and on the weekends!"
"It's only for a month, baka, and I'm sure that everyone will be cheering you on. You can do it."
"Honto? You really think I can do it Yuki?" The blonde nodded and drew his lover to his feet. Yuki led him to his study and to the wall where his certificates were displayed. Carefully, he drove a nail into the wall, next to his own graduation certificate, and stepped back to pull Shuichi into his arms.
"When you get your certificate I'll put it in that spot so that I can see it and be proud of you." Shuichi dove into his lover's arms and happily kissed him. If it meant that Yuki would be proud of him then Shuichi would definitely put his all into it. Yuki just gathered him into his arms and quickly led him into the bedroom. Dinner would have to wait an hour or two.
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Happy Birthday To Me! That's all for this chapter folks. I'm planning on doing this as a multi-chapter fic but I haven't figured out exactly how many yet. Let me know what you think of it so far and remember to check out my other Gravitation fic, A Fractured Mind. It's a nice one shot about why Ryuichi is the way he is.
