Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever, nor will I ever own any part of Gravitation. Characters such as Yuki Eiri, Shuichi Shindou, Hiroshi Nakano, Touma Seguchi, Ryuichi Sakuma, or any other character created by Maki Murakami is just that – owned and created by Maki Murakami. I take no funding, or payment of any kind for the writing of this story, nor will I in the future. This fan fiction is written and designed for the entertainment of myself and other fans of Gravitation. I take no credit for any of Maki Murakami's published, unpublished or any other works. Sole credit should be given to her, for if not for her, I would not write this story. So I should give all credit for the plot-line of which I write here to her, as well. (For which I do not mind. She deserves it. She is a genius. :3)
Author's Note 1: This story is taking place at the end of, and between, Gravitation and its sequel. However, I have not had the chance to read the sequel. As well, I have only seen the anime of Gravitation, and read the first volume of the manga. From reading the first volume, I know that the anime is a little different from the manga – as is with most transformations from book to screen, in any style. What you are about to read within this story is from the dark recesses of my deviant mind. Some of the plot lines you read here will be the recreations of my old role-playing days this, though only few of you know I was intending to copy our role-plays. The base plot line for this story will be taken from mostly a singular role-play that one of my friends and I shared. To you, my friend, I give the most thanks. You know who you are, and I miss the days with you, creating this horrid tale of drama, romance, and just plain slapstick humor. The whole two years we spent, role-playing in this story, was some of the best time I ever spent.
Author's Note 2: The pairing for this is as it should be, Yuki and Shuichi, but there will be a few surprises in store for you. As I said in the previous A/N, my mind is deranged and horrid, but not in the way that those words are defined. If you read this story, you will understand what I mean. It is with in the genre you will understand. It is mainly going to be very dramatic. I hope to keep as close to the personalities of the characters as I can, as dear Maki Murakami intended them to be, but I am a man, and I am only human – therefore I am nowhere near being perfect, but I promise to try.
Author's Note 3: Finally, to those who are about to read this story, I thank you for taking the time out of your day, your schedule and your life to dwell in to the dark abyss of my mind and read my fanfic. As it were, I suspect you're tired of my whimsical nonsense in these A/Ns, so - LET'S GET IT ON!
For All Time – Prologue – There are Times...
Yuki's P.O.V.
Hn. The brat had done it again; irritated him beyond all belief. Yuki sat at his desk, staring at his laptop screen with a blank spot in his mind. How was he supposed to meet his deadlines with the idiot always blathering about, making nonsense about something to do or other to do with his band, or whatever his latest ranting and raving was about? He didn't know. He sighed and shut the screen to his laptop after saving the little bit of work he'd just completed.
Yuki couldn't contemplate, or count on all of his fingers, all of the emotions the young vocalist had. One minute he was happy, joyful; the next sad and downtrodden. It was all so confusing, the way the boy acted. Yuki thought that if he had all those emotions, he would die of a heart attack. And this episode? Apparently it was over something to do at the studio. NG Production Records had a high profile, as it should, to be run by Seguchi Touma, former keyboardist for the band to which the company was named, Nittle Grasper. Seguchi also had a more annoying and irreversible side. He was Yuki's brother-in-law. Seguchi had the tendency to be protective over Yuki, like he was emotionally unstable, or a child. It angered Yuki more than his lover did.
Yuki sighed, resigned. That's how it was, though. Shuichi was his lover. And though at times it seemed like Yuki hated him, it was quite the opposite. He loved Shuichi more than he could put in to words, as per why he hardly ever told the pink haired artist. Shuichi was the only one, more than Seguchi or Yuki's sister, or any of the other Eiri clan, that could look in to his soul, read it like one of Yuki's books front to back, and not be bothered by the audacity of it. Before the boy, Yuki felt like he didn't even harbor a soul. He'd felt as an empty shell, used, broken, abandoned. Shuichi saved him. It was partially pride that denied him the ability to tell the brat how he truly felt about him. Pride, arrogance… And a slight pang of fear. Fear of Shuichi, finding out who he was. But he does know, Eiri thought to himself. The novelist had told Shuichi the truth of everything. Of his past, his nightmares, his mental problems, and still Shuichi proceeded on, like it bothered him naught. How could the boy, so sweet and innocent, caring for all things living and in life, cherish this being; this shell of disaster and torment that had murdered, that was violent and cruel – cruel to the few people that cared for him most. He wondered if he'd ever have the ability to tell Shuichi, tell anyone, how much he honestly cared for them, and appreciated them for sticking by him when he was such a prick.
Getting up from the desk, Yuki removed his glasses and sat them near the closed laptop before pushing the chair under the desk. Oh well, he thought, giving the laptop a last look before walking away. His editor would just have to bitch and complain if he was late again. He had more important things to attend to. Shuichi needed his ears to listen to, and he'd made a silent, unvoiced promise to the boy that he'd try to be more understanding, to be there more, and Yuki was sincere. He would try, only for the baka – his baka. He smiled a little, on the inside at the thought as he went to the kitchen for a beer while lighting a cigarette. "Shuichi!"-
Shuichi's P.O.V.
Shuichi sat at the edge of their bed, paper and pen tucked in to a clipboard. He was supposed to be working. Seguchi-san had mentioned it was almost due time for a new album from Bad Luck, that the public and fans were awaiting with anticipation. That wasn't happening here. Yuki had seemed upset when Shuichi got home, when he told Yuki about the days happenings, why the vocalist was unhappy.
Shuichi stared down at the top page on the clipboard, two words emblazoned from top to bottom, right to left, over and over. Eiri Yuki. The novelist's name was plastered there. Shuichi didn't recall the girlish, high school fantasy scribbling. The pen was still tucked under the metal spring-loaded hinge, where he swore he remembered putting it when the page was blank. When had he gotten so lost in thought? He looked at the clock on Yuki's bed-side nightstand. He'd only been here about thirty minutes. He wondered if what everyone said was true, if he really was an airhead… It probably was true, but he couldn't help it. Yuki was his life, his partner, his soul. Whenever Shuichi thought of him, his body drifted around on autopilot. There'd been times, after coming out of a deep, Yuki-laced trance, that he'd been somewhere completely different from when he'd started. One time he'd been in one, he was leaving the studio, he'd ended up in the park near his and Yuki's apartment, where they'd met.
Where they'd met... Yuki had been so… Cruel, but no more than usual, he supposed. "Did you write this? You write like you're at a third-grade reading level. Is this drivel your idea of a love song? Are you nuts? If I were you, I'd consider learning a reliable trade." Shuichi smiled at the thought. Little had he known then that his lover was Japan's current favorite romance author. If he'd known, he might've not been so hurt by the statement. But how was he to have known? He was a high school kid, not really interested in romance novels. He still wasn't, except where Yuki was concerned. Of course, he hurt the novelist's writing more than he helped it. He couldn't help himself though. Yuki was his lover; he was supposed to drop everything for concern for Shuichi, wasn't he? Shuichi did. He would do anything to make Yuki happy, but it was like everything he did was wrong. Reverse effects of what he was trying to do. Was Shuichi really that much of a burden on the author?
Pulling the piece of paper from the top of the clipboard, he crumpled it and tossed it into the trash bin and readied his pen to write more. He needed to work, to stop dwelling on matters. If Yuki were honestly pissed, he'd throw Shuichi out of the house for the day. He did so normally, but Yuki hadn't. Maybe he wasn't as irate as Shuichi thought. He shook his head, Enough! Work!
Shuichi touched pen to paper, slowly thinking and starting to write-
Your words, oh how they whisper to me.
Your tantalizing touch sends teases through me.
Targeting in on my heart,
Your love gives my body a kick start.
Through time and space,
Your hate cannot erase the way I feel.
Like a drugged needle in my veins,
Your secrets I forever conceal.
Though our love binds me to you,
My thoughts of you seem to elude.
How can you love me,
When I danger you so?
You have the power to release me,
But you never do.
Like a knife through my heart,
A killing curiosity ensues.
You seem to hate me,
But instead you save me-
The sound of Yuki's voice calling his name made him jump, causing his hand to guide the pen right through the lyrics he'd just written. He sighed, giving his hand a flat stare. He wadded and wasted another piece of paper, throwing it to the pile in the bin before getting up and dropping the clipboard to the bed. "Coming!" he yelled in response. Yuki sounded a bit angered. He wondered if he was wrong, if Yuki was indeed upset about interrupting his writing a while ago. He gritted his teeth for a moment before putting his best smile on and heading out of the bedroom doorway, ready to pounce his lover and attack with love bites if the case was so, his usual antics. Yuki seemed to forgive him easier the more he acted an idiot.
When Shuichi's feet hit the floor of the living room, Yuki was sitting on the couch, a cigarette stuck between his lips and a cold can of beer in his hand. "La-Li-Ho!" screamed Shuichi, and it what seemed like a flash to Yuki, Shuichi was on the couch, sitting on his feet and his whole body turned to Yuki. "Hai~, Yuki?" the pink haired boy asked. His face grew softer and a bit more worried when his lover turned his amber eyes on him in one of his seemingly evil glares.
Yuki's P.O.V.
The blonde novelist saw the pain in his lover's eyes when he looked at him. He tried to smile, but with a stony face so used to making only evil shapes, it probably looked worse; like he was a psychopath about to go on rampage, or a horny man about to devour his young prey. The latter thought sent a goofy mental smile into his brain, for it was probably that thought that crossed Shuichi's mind to make him blush like he was now.
"I wanted to know what was so important to interrupt me a while ago," he stated, trying to get on a serious thought process. To that order, however, the boy's blush and smile faded again, but his eyes still smiled. Yuki wondered when Shuichi had started maturing… Used to, Yuki saying that would have sent Shuichi into teary, loud and obnoxious crying. But his lover didn't look hurt now, just a little let down. Yuki so dearly wished he could read into Shuichi's mind, to see what Shuichi saw in his head, and through those beautiful amethyst eyes, to see what he saw in Yuki. What he wouldn't give…
"Seguchi-san called me into his office, told me that if I didn't start writing soon and quick, he would drop Bad Luck from the label," he explained, looking worse as each word left his mouth. "Then K-san chased me out of the studio with his gun and told me, 'Get home, take a day off and get to work or I will kill you myself for killing your band!'," Shuichi finished, in what Yuki would guess was his best Americanized K voice, which for being a talented voice, wasn't all that great.
"That's it?" Yuki asked, a bit perturbed as to why that was fuss enough to storm in on his writing earlier. "Baka ne, you should have known that, anyway." Yuki took a deep breath, exhaled. "Shuichi, listen; you should know that you need to write your songs more often than you do. You're a star in high demand. And, if you want to amount to anything next to Ryuichi, you're going to have to push yourself harder than you do," the blonde explained, hoping he wasn't coming across hateful or angry. He was just telling the truth. He looked again to his lovers eyes, and they had a look of resignation in them. A cluster of anger, happiness and sadness formed on the lyricist's face.
"Hey… I try, okay? You need to realize that I'm in that small recording box all day, and you know as well as I do it is hard to write and speak at the same time. Try doing it while singing! Secondly, Yuki -kun," the punctuation on his name added with a flare of Shuichi's upset voice, "after sitting in said booth all day, I come home and clean your messes, cook for you, just to clean the mess up again after dinner. Then, you get so frustrated with me that we have a big ol' fight about the same old shit as we always do which makes you get writers block, which frustrates you, so we fight more. Then we make up, and you take your frustrations out on me by taking advantage of my feelings for you and having sex with me! When do I have the time to write songs? Okay, I get it… It might help if I took a break from thinking of you all the time, but that's just something I can't help. Trust me, I would if I could." Shuichi finished, his frustration punctuating words which sent a guilty stab to Yuki's heart. "I appreciate your advice, Uesegi. Thanks for backing me up." After that tirade, Shuichi got up and left the room, leaving Yuki a little stunned sitting on the couch, mouth and eyes forming a stunned and shocked expression.
To Be Continued
La-Li-Ho indeed… Short chapter, I know. But it's only a prologue, right? What do you guys think? Too much angst? I think so, but… For what I have planned, I needed a small fight for them, and I needed Shuichi to be the angry one this time. But it's really hard to keep close to Shuichi's personality and have him angry at the same time… I only remember seeing him angry once or twice the whole series. But it's been forever since I watched the show. So maybe I need to brush up on it as soon as I can. Let me know what you guys think! I take all forms of criticism and suggestions, as well as posts for any grammar or spelling screw-ups! Just, ~please~, no flamers. If you don't like something about my story, but then again you like some of it, tell me! I'm writing this for all Gravi's fans, so I wanna try and make you all happy! But I have to deal with the fact I can't please everyone, too, so… All I can do is try!
Side note, sorry about my crappy lyric writing! The one thing I failed in music class! –bows over and over- Please don't hang me for ruining Shuichi's lyric skills! I just wanted to try my hand at it, and I'm trying to add as much detail as possible to the story! So please forgive me!
Also, for you fans of song fics, I was thinking of doing a couple of chapters of this as a song fic, not many, but some. Maybe two or three. I have a few songs picked out for a couple of chapters in my head that I think will go really well. Like part of this prologue, I was listening to the song Behind Blue Eyes, while I was writing one of the Yuki p.o.v.s, and it kinda inspired something in me, so, take a reread if you like while listening to the song to see if you can guess what it inspired, and to see if you like the idea. As I said, I'm here to serve you, and I wanna try as I might to make all of you happy!
And, at the very last; I have no internet at home except for phone, so all my uploading will be done at the library or at friends' houses. But, through my phones' net, I can keep you all updated, and I promise to log in daily to check your reviews! I have to, I'm on the site everyday, anyway, reading all the other good stories out there!
Until later, arigatou gozaimasu!
-Switch MacGavin
January 11, 2011