This was another one of those surprise fics that snuck up on me during moments of writer's block.
I do not own Gravitation. Maki Murakami owns these wonderful characters, not I. Normally I don't bother with disclaimers, but as a chunk of the dialogue is taken straight from the manga, I feel the need to make things clear... like crystal...
Rated for language really... nothing graphic will be in this fic.
Damn... I finished this at 4 am... I'm soooo not going to get much sleep...
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
She woke up KNOWING it was going to be one of those days...
The alarm clock had failed to go off... or at least... she thought it did...she could have turned it off a drifted back to sleep. Who knew?
Regardless, being woken up by a seven-year-old was a poor way to start the day. For a boy so very silent most of the time, he sure had a set of vocal cords when he absolutely needed them.
He'd woken her just in time to announce his departure to school. The bus would be at the corner in mear minutes. Thoughtful of the child to let her sleep in, but inconvenient... but try explaining to a seven-year-old boy that 'Auntie' NEEDED to be up at the crack of dawn to soak in a vat of Nair for a few, to prevent the onslaught of unwanted surprise hairs that wouldn't obey the unnatural levels of estrogen pumping through the body.
Yes, that conversation could give the child nightmares... well, more of them anyway...
The boy may not have grown up with as rough of a past as her, but it had been enough for the young child. The past year had been hell, raising such a young child when she herself was only nineteen... but it was preferable to where he COULD and still would be had she not taken him in. It had been hell to dress 'proper' and that vest had fucking hurt... but in the end, it was all worth it. The stress, the lack of sleep... her change in hours with her many odd jobs. She loved the little tyke, even though he was not her own.
It was quite possible that he'd be the only child she'd ever have... and that meant something.
She sighed, and started on her day, late, but not too drastically. She showered, lathering up her chestnut hair, scrubbing her thin built body. Upon completion, she threw a towel around herself, and ran about the apartment, throwing her day's future outfit together, out upon the bed.
She tossed her hair up loosely in another towel, rummaging through the linen closet. She pulled out several small towels, and a large pink bottle. Sprawling out on the cold bathroom tile, she rubbed herself down, carefully inspecting herself as she went, sure to cover every inch of herself besides her toweled up hair, and her eyebrows.
Nair was expensive, but a godsend. Long gone were the days of razor burn, the unwelcome stubble, and that god awful 5pm shadow... it was worth the price. She still longed for the day she could afford to fix that problem... and the obvious problem lingering below.
Her breasts had come at a price, years ago, but it had been worth a few nights with some old fart to finally make her clothes fit right, and her feel more like the person she wanted to be.
After rinsing off the cream in the tub, and tossing the small towels into the hamper, she attacked her hair with the blow dryer, brushing it straight. She'd let her hair dry naturally only under extreme circumstances... her thick, multiracial hair felt the need to defy gravity if not tamed first thing out of the shower. She hated the days that wearing her hair up in a sloppy mess was the only solution to a morning mistake in waking.
With hair dry, and the child gone, she shed the towel, and walked back into the bedroom. She stretched lazily, before slipping her bra on. She sighed, adjusting her bosom, making sure everything sat properly within the bra. She picked up her panties, and glared down at herself as she slipped them on, properly tucking things away so they wouldn't show when walking. The rest of her clothes required no effort past the basics. She yanked her cotton tank over her head, and sat on the bed as she pulled on her black jeans, zipping them, and closing the button. She glanced at the clock.
It was only just past 8am... she was barely off schedule. She could get to work by nine...
She did her makeup rather quickly. She was lucky to have nice clear skin, it made things easier. Most days, she could get away with only eye makeup, and some lip gloss. Today was one of those pleasant days.
She quickly forced her shoes on, and sought out her purse before grabbing her coat and dashing out the door, careful to lock up as she went.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
She'd been fired.
Again.
What was wrong with the world? Why did most guys have to be sleaze balls?
It was NOT her fault that he'd groped her... had she been any other woman, she'd by rights be able to file a sexual harassment claim against the bastard... and to think, she thought she was safe working as a book store cashier, but again, she'd been proven wrong. Did all male bosses feel the need to come onto their young, desperate for work employees?
Three times in one month was ridiculous, and weeding out the places she'd left due to her 'condition' from her resume was counter productive, to say the least.
So yes, it continued to be 'one of those days'.
If she had been smart, she'd have called it a day and gone home, sulking about having to go out in search of yet another job. But of course, she didn't follow her gut instincts, and instead, she went out to wonder the town.
Perhaps she could find a new place of employment on her journey? It wasn't likely, but it would be wise to try. If SHE didn't eat, there was no loss. She wanted to stay thin, so a skipped meal or two was fine, so long as she managed to eat at least once a day. But she had to worry about the child now... and he could skip no meals if she wanted him to stay healthy... and that boy could pack it away, despite his short and petite size. After all, he was a growing six year old. He had a long way to go.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Her search had come up short...
Sure, she'd only been out a few hours, and hit only four stores, but it was exhausting...
Again, her day had still been no good... most places were not currently hiring... and the four that had, seemed to have no interest in her. She was never able to tell what exactly people were looking for in their specific employees. Job hunting had never been easy for her.
It was nearly 1pm... Riku would be at school for another two hours. Four, if she called him in for aftercare... plenty enough time to stop in somewhere for a drink, and damn could she use one...
She settled in at the nearest bar/restaurant in her own booth, leaning into the soft leather seat. Within no time, a bouncy waitress came to take her order.
"Would you like anything to eat, or drink Miss?" She smiled.
With a heavy sigh, she returned the smile.
"Schnapps... rootbeer."
The woman's eyes narrowed.
She rolled her eyes.
This was why fake IDs were necessary in life...not only could she be twenty one instead of nineteen, but those job applications actually got looked at past the comparison of her legal gender and how she looked...
She pulled out her wallet, and with a grin, flashed the waitress her New York ID. The waitress looked at the small card intensely, but deemed it legit, and left with a rather confused look.
She'd paid big bucks for that ID... but when she'd left home, she'd been far too young to get any decent job, without fibbing. It had served her well over the years.
Everything always came down to money... she'd be screwed in no time if she failed to replace the lost job, and the last thing she wanted to do was regress back to the things she'd done when she'd first run away. Pick pocketing was no easy game, and standing on the corner was a thousand times worse... she might as well have stayed in that awful house if she was going to put up with that...
She shuddered at the thought.
The waitress was slow... either due to incompetence, or to the mass influx of customers that seemed to roll in with the hour.
She closed her eyes, and listened to the witty banter, and the mindless conversation going on around her.
"So like, I totally caught him! But he denied it!-"
"Yes, yes, I'll have those documents on your desk, first thing tomorrow morning...-"
"Yes Dear, I promise to be home for dinner..-"
It was all the same, all the time. So very boring...
She breathed a sigh of relief as the waitress finally returned to her, placing the small glass down on the table. Her thoughts were elsewhere though. She gazed with half glazed eyes off at the end of the row of booths, a smirk slowly slipping onto her face.
"Wow, a total hotty..." She murmured, mostly to herself.
Yoshiki ignored the woman as she bounded off, and just swigged at her drink.
"Hey there handsome... Two of you huh?" The waitress's bubbly voice was suddenly in the air along with the rest of the chit-chat.
"Bourbon, on the rocks." A deep voice answered, a hint of an accent, barely noticeable.
Common thing around the city.
Yoshiki swirled her glass around, and sipped at the drink once more.
"Okay!" A giggle sounded from said waitress.
"Uh...uh..." A nervous, unprepared stutter seemed to come from the same table, but Yoshiki still faced the other way.
She could almost imagine the unamused look on the waitress' face, when waiting on the guy...
"Just give him warm milk.." The deep voice answered instead.
The waitress let out a pleased huff.
"Hey handsome, I'm off at midnight, how 'bout some action?" she purred.
Oh yes...as if you couldn't guess her 'night' job...psh...
How bad off did you have to be to waitress all day, then still whore yourself out at night? With your day time customers?
The man's deep voice seemed to flat-line.
"We're in love, so don't disturb us, ok?" He was blunt, and clearly sounded unamused.
To be a fly on the wall over at that table...she'd have like to have seen the look on her slow waitress' face with that one...
And as if the woman just KNEW she'd been curious, she walked right past, muttering to herself.
"All the cute ones are..."
A long moment of silence followed as a few people up and left the building all together. Evidently, a large group of them had come in from their jobs on break. Lucky them... jobs with suits, and high pay, with a decent lunch break. Joy for them...
" Fucking Seguchi... how did he know I was going to be here?"
The deep voice suddenly rejoined the room, and Yoshiki nearly tipped her glass over.
Japanese?
"W-What?" The nervous man perked up again, also forgoing the English language, and slipping into Japanese.
Yoshiki was now interested enough to turn and face the other way in the booth. She could barely make out the back of a blonde's head, and a raven haired man with glasses sitting in front of him.
"I know that Seguchi sicced you on me, he's the only one whose even heard of this place." The deep voice, belonging to the blonde man, was clearly displeased. " Forgive me for saying this, but I don't feel comfortable drinking here with a stranger. If you have business with me, get to the point." the man grumbled.
"I'm sorry, I'm getting the feeling I'm not welcome here..." The dark haired man, clearly Japanese, seemed to fidget with a napkin.
Seguchi? Why did that name sound familiar?
"Something like that." The man snorted. "Anyway, this is the second time we have met, isn't it? So how do you intend on propositioning me this time?" he asked, curiously.
Yoshiki blinked.
Proposition? Was this blonde an escort? Hadn't he told the waitress that they were in love?
The dark haired man sighed.
"If you're already aware of what I'm after, let's cut to the chase..." The man paused. " I want you to convince Shindou-kun to come back to Tokyo with me."
Tokyo? So they were from Japan after all... visiting? No... retrieving someone...so not an escort then? Perhaps like herself, they hadn't been too fond of their waitress...
"Nah, he already turned me down..." The blonde snapped.
Oh... so he'd gotten dumped... while on vacation here?
"No Shindou-kun still loves you! Are you really too stupid to see it?" the man gasped.
Shindou...Shindou... yes, she was sure she'd heard that name before too...perhaps she'd have been able to think better had she not been so exhausted. But noooo... her day had to be so off...
Should have stayed in bed...
"You think so?"
The blonde clearly didn't think so himself...
Yoshiki downed the last of her schnapps, and continued to observe the pair from afar.
"He was just being stubborn when he said he wouldn't go back!" Then panicky man protested. " Since you've arrived in New York, it's the only thing he talks about. You haunt him. In his heart, he's already decided to return to you."
Yoshiki's eyes widened.
So... his man had run away from Japan, to New York of all places? And they followed him?
She groaned.
She really wished she could place those names now...
"I don't know..." The blonde sighed.
A tinkle of ice hitting glass sounded, and the blonde took a large gulp of his drink.
"You just need to show him how much you care. If you ask him properly, I promise you Shindou-kun will.
"But he already turned me down.."
Yoshiki pitied the blonde man... he was clearly lacking in self confidence. She'd have been tickled pink if someone had traveled half way across the globe just to win her back... his boy friend out to be impressed too...
The dark haired man pounded on the table.
"No he did not! You just didn't push him hard enough, you barely tried! You have to prove your love!"
She really wished she could see this other guy's face...and that she had another drink. Maybe some popcorn...
":I still don't know..."
This guy was such a downer! Total Emo...
The other man looked on the verge of tears due to his frustration.
"It will work Yuki-san! You just have to try!" he whined.
Y-Yuki-san!
Yuki?
Couldn't be...
Her brother was dead...sure, she'd never seen a body, but he had to be, as there was a grave, right?
Right?
Yes, she could definitely use that second drink.
Badly.
She stood up abruptly, and the one man caught sight of her, as she stormed down the row of booths.
"Uh..." he struggled to find the words as she approached.
"Which one of you is Yuki-san?" She murmured, turning to finally get a good look at the blonde's face.
No...she'd been so stupid... it was not her brother. How could she have even had the thought? The man was long dead, and this one's voice was deeper than her brother's had ever been. Not to mention the blonde hair...
Both men stared at her for a long moment saying nothing, not even moving.
Perhaps it had been because she'd spoken to them in Japanese...maybe they hadn't been expecting that...
"If you don't want to be noticed, you shouldn't yell like that..." Her cheeks flamed.
She'd never been so embarrassed... however, the dark haired man seemed no better off, and that was a slight comfort.
"I'm sorry... I-I mean...uh...oh" he fumbled with his glasses, attempting to push them farther up the bridge of his nose, only they slide back down once more.
The blonde seemed partially amused with the situation. Although, Yoshiki suspected that it was perhaps the change in topic that had the man perked up.
"Hello, I'm Yuki young lady, what's shakin'?" He smiled warmly, a sexy edge to it.
And then it hit her...
Her eyes bulged with recognition.
"I… I'm sorry. I've made a mistake..." she murmured in awe.
The two seemed to not notice.
"Nothing to apologize for darling…" The smile shifted to a smirk. "Well, then on that fine note, I'm out of here..." He rose from the booth, and moved around the table.
What...what should she do? Just leave things be? Confront the man?
She didn't have time to process her thoughts, as the glasses clad man leapt out of his own seat, stopping the man.
"PLEASE WAIT, YUKI-SAN! DON'T GIVE UP ON SHINDOU! TRY AGAIN!" He begged frantically.
The blonde... 'Yuki', was no longer amused, and glared at the man.
"Forget it." he grumbled, still trying to push past the man.
"But… why?" he gasped, outraged. " You came here to bring Shindou-kun back. Don't you want him to be with you? Don't you love him? Is that ALL the effort you're willing to give it? Do you love Shindou-kun? Or not? Do you even know? For a romance novelist, you haven't a clue what boys want! You seem to be making decisions merely on a whim… I feel sorry for Shindou-kun. He's at the mercy of your thoughtlessness. It's no wonder he feels so utterly defeated. Shindou-kun is in love with you. Does that mean ANYTHING to you? No matter what you do to him, he keeps loving you. If you have any humanity in you… then surely you have to understand how he feels?" The poor man seemed to be at his wit's end, and Yoshiki dare not interrupt him at this point.
No matter, it gave her time to think, if only just a few moments.
The blonde froze, and the glare intensified tenfold.
If Yoshiki could feel the hair on the back of her neck rise with that look, it was nothing compared to what the other man felt, she was sure.
"So, I guess I'm utterly inhuman. Who knows? This all sounds like bullshit..."
And with that, the blonde stormed away, leaving the other man to stand in shocked silence.
Well...
Before he fainted...
"Damn... there he goes again..." one of the other waitress' sighed in disappointment.
Yoshiki blinked.
"He's been in here before?" She asked the woman.
She nodded, and sighed again.
"Yes... he's been in here quite a few times the last few days."
Yoshiki grinned, and dashed off into the direction the man had left in.
She slammed into the door, making her way outside, and she was relieve to see him still there, seemingly catching his bearings for a moment, before walking off in no particular hurry.
"Uh, excuse me…" She called after him.
He paused for a moment, allowing her to catch up some.
"I hope you weren't offended… I'm sorry about what just happened… please come again, Yuki-san!" His eyes narrowed at her. "You're turning into a semi-regular customer, dropping by every once in a while aren't you? I recognized you… It's hard to forget that face." She smiled sweetly, hoping he wouldn't go off on her.
It seemed that she did well with herself nowadays...
Even though she hadn't recognized him at first, she herself looked so much like her brother, they could have been twins. It was amazing what a good hair style and make up could do to one's looks...
"Shut up."
Yoshiki froze.
So she HAD managed to piss him off, even without him recognizing her... so much for her people skills...
" I'm sorry... I made you mad, didn't I? I mistook you for someone else and now you're offended." She murmured.
This was soooo not the way she'd wanted to start things off between them...
"Yeah, I'm mad. I'm fucking pissed." He grumbled, glaring at her, in much the same way he'd done to the man he'd been with.
So he was angry already... why not chance it? If she let things slide, and let him walk away, then she's quite possibly never see him again. This could very well be her only chance to ever meet 'Eiri-kun' herself... talk to the boy, now a man, who'd spent so much time with her late brother...
And had taken his life...
"I'm really sorry…" She paused, taking n a deep breath. " It's just… my older brother was named Yuki…" she murmured, gazing up at him, watching for any reaction.
There was none...
Perhaps this was not indeed Eiri-kun?
"Listen, I'm in a really bad mood, and I know its not your fault, but you're the only one here. If you don't hurry up and get lost… I'm gonna fuck you up." His glare faltered.
She could now see how tired he really looked, and suddenly felt bad that she was doing what she was doing...
"But… You're GAY right? That's what you told the waitress isn't it?" She raised an eyebrow. "Hmmmm... Now that I'm getting a good look at you… you really are beautiful. Why are all the cute ones gay? It's good to know I'm not why you're mad. But still as an apology for making it worse… let me buy you a drink next time." She let a pouty smile slip onto her face.
As expected, that seemed to do it, and the blonde's eye twitched.
Perhaps she'd been right after all?
The similarities between her and her brother didn't just end in looks... their facial expressions...even their voices were the same.
All in the family, she supposed...
"Wait, did you say… that your brother's name was Yuki?"
She could hear his voice crack, and she could see that the already fair skinned man had grown a sickly pale color.
"Hm…?" She feigned surprise. " Yeah. His name was Yuki Kitazawa."
At this, the man's breath hitched in his throat, and his eyes grew wide as saucers.
She knew she shouldn't...oh, she REALLY, really shouldn't...
"Ki-Kit—" The blonde swayed on his feet.
But she could not resist...
"That's right. Do you remember me? Eiri-kun? Of course, how could you forget? After all… Didn't you love me once upon a time?" she murmured, tilting his chin, feminine voice now completely gone, her true voice slipping into place.
And with that, one Eiri 'Yuki' Uesugi, fainted.
Yoshiki blinked, and paled.
She hadn't expected sure a severe reaction...
Perhaps she HAD gone a little overboard after all...
It was DEFINITELY one of those days...
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
I figured that it would be nice to know what had gone on behind the scenes, as Yoshiki didn't get much air time in the manga, even though she's such an interesting character. Yes, I choose to represent her as a she, as she intends herself to be acknowledged as a woman, rather than a man. I can respect that.
Regardless, I love Yoshiki as a character, but there are oh so few fics that are Yoshiki-centric. She plays a much larger role in one of my future fics. Just label this as another in-manga-prequal I guess.
This will be a multi-chapter short fic, covering all that went on with Yoshiki Kitazawa up to manga 12. I did add Riku Kitazawa to the mix... even though I don't support any of EX in my fics, I still find the little kid adorable, and a great plot twist, but as Murakami can't seem to finish the series, I'm ignoring almost everything from the 2nd series. Just not the kid :3
I guess that I perhaps portray Yoshiki differently than most... I suppose it would be me going by my own plot-line, and not necessarily the proper one... oh well, let me know what you think!