Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation, or any of the characters. Nope, I sure don't. They belong to the great Maki Murakami.

Warnings: This is a yaoi fict. Well, duh, right? It's Gravitation-based!

Summary: Tatsuha is getting a lot of stress from the people around him. Uesugi-san wants him to be more responsible, Mika wants him to show more respect, Yuki wants him to go away, and everyone in between just can't help but to put in their own two cents. Will Tatsuha ever find peace? Can the love for a certain someone help him? Or will it make things worse? Read and find out!...o.k, summary not so great, but that's o.k.

Notes: For definitions or information in this chapter, there is a short word list at the end. This story is just something I came up with when I had a lot of time on my hands. It'll have some drama, and a great deal of romance. That's the plan anyway. As for couples, you should probably expect many...but mostly Tat/Ryu. This is my first fict. ever! Yay! Please review. I'd love to hear your opinions. Just don't be mean please. I'd also love any crtisism or tips to make my writing better! I only ask that you don't give them in a nasty or rude way. Thanks!

(Chapter 1: happy place and angry face.)

Yuku Kawa no nagare wa taezushte

shikamo moto no mizu ni arazu

yodomi ni ukabu utakata wa

katsukie katsu musubite

hisashiku todomaritaru tameshi nashi

yononaka ni aru hito to sumika to

mata kaku no gotoshi

The flowing river

never stops

and yet the water

never stays

the same.

Foam floats

upon the pools,

scattering, re-forming,

never lingering long.

So it is with man

and all his dwelling places

here on earth.

- Kamo-no-Chomei (1)

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The water felt cool against the lower half of his legs. He slowly moved them back and forth as the current pushed on them with a rhythmic but steady force. Every once and a while his foot would shift and brush against the dark mud that layered the bottom of the stream. And he would continue to sit there, bent over a rail of slightly decaying wood, staring at his reflection in the foggy-blue water.

The stream led to a lake down past a dirt pathway in the forest, and persimmon trees (2) decorated the entire area. About halfway up the stream was where the bridge, upon which Tatsuha sat, crossed over to connect the two parts of aged land that surrounded him. And to the back of him, at the uppermost part of the stream, was where the old ruins of a once major temple lay.

Mika used to tell him about this place, back when he was little and she still lived at the Uesugi house with him. She would say that this temple was once a beautiful structure to behold, and that its purity and spiritual healing abilities would attract people from all over Japan and even Hong Kong. Tatsuha learned from her that many major events took place here and that back when the water was like crystal, when the scenery and colors were like that of an artist's canvas, and when the temple was whole and strong, she would come here regularly with their father and Eiri.

But now the old temple was closed and condemned. He really didn't know why, it just was. And the only bit of usefulness it had left was that it allowed him to be alone when he wanted to be.

This temple was closed not too long after he was born, and ever since he was a child he often came here. When he was little he would pretend that he was an emperor and that all had to obey him because his word was law. The temple was his palace and all of his loyal servants dwelled within it. If he were ever happy all of his kingdom would rejoice, and if he were ever sad then the entire world would know it and join him in his sadness. Sometimes the temple would be his hide out. Sometimes it would be his place for meditation or reflection on actions, events, or memories that would trouble him. In any case, he adopted it as a place of his own and began calling it "Rei-Ookawa" temple which meant "Cool River". Once or twice he'd thought of bringing a girl there with him (You know, to have a little fun -wink-). But then the thought of her knowing where to find him and her following him around would pop into his mind. To him, that would be a real pain in the ass.

Every so often Keisatsukan (3) would come to patrol the area and perform inspections to make sure that no one was in the abandoned temple. Tatsuha did a pretty good job of avoiding them and on the occasions that he did get caught wondering around, he simply came up with this "monk crap" about him expelling demons and praying against evil auras that surrounded the area….and they believed him every time.(Obviously, they didn't know much about Buddhist monk practices.)

For the most part though, the temple was a very quiet place, except for the sounds coming from nature. And the scenery, though ghastly at times, was always tranquil.

"(Gasp!) Wha…..!"

Tatsuha's thoughts had been interrupted by a fish that had swam up to one of his toes on his left foot and, mistaking it for food, nibbled it. After a moment of realization, it stopped nibbling and swam away.

He stood back up and heard the squish sound of his wet feet meeting with the dry, old wooden planks of the bridge. The water dripped from his legs leaving moist dark circles on the ground upon which it fell and as he began to move forward towards where land and the bridge's end met, wet footprints appeared behind him, one by one.

"Monk"….that very word sent doubt through his mind. He picked up a couple of rocks and began throwing them into the stream, and each one made a deep 'clunk' sound. He looked around. Over past some rocks with moss on it and a patch of tall grass with weeds in it, there was a broken wall that was part of the temple. It had a window with red paint flaking off of it and under it was his collection of discarded beer cans that had piled up over a course of months. Not too far from it was where an old lotus pond and a broken statue were placed. Noticing his surroundings made him think of how much time he had spent there on that day.

"I've been here for the longest time now. Let's see…ummm…about… six hours! Oh man! How boring! How could anyone spend six whole hours at some old temple?" After a long pause, Tatsuha answered his own question. "…Well, I guess it wouldn't be too hard to waste that much time. In Kyoto there's not much to keep you occupied…especially if you're a teenager."

So far during the summer, he had spent everyday thinking of new and more interesting ways to avoid his monk duties. At first they were just excuses, but then his old man started catching on. He thought it was after he told him that he was actually going off to study downtown….on the same day that Sakuma Ryuichi's new concert D.V.D was being sold. The old man caught on quickly. He told Tatsuha he was so much like his aniki.

Well, since his father didn't believe his excuses anymore, he decided to resort to plan B. He'd just skip. He didn't show up to the temple when he was supposed to. He knew it pissed his father off, but in his defense he kept telling him he wasn't cut out for that job! He just didn't listen….no one listened to him.

Tatsuha lifted his head towards the sky and a deep sigh escaped from his mouth.

The sun was beginning to set. He guessed that meant it was time for him to start the lengthy tread home. He began to look for his shoes which were under his black bag with the Nittle Grasper logo on it. After rolling his pant legs back down, he put his shoes on and grabbed his NG bag. Then he started to walk and as he passed through the empty temple he heard the echoes of his footsteps. He walked through the entrance, down the stone steps, and through the forest that surrounded everything. It was starting to get darker. He wasn't worried though, He just kept walking.

At that very moment…

"No Uesugi-san, Tatsuha-kun hasn't been over to my house today. In fact, I haven't seen him since last week."

"Hmmm…I see…well then, if you hear from him anytime soon, please notify me at once."

"Will do. G'night Uesugi-san", said the young man's voice on the other line. "Good night", a much, much older voice replied. 'Click'.

With a long dial tone playing in his ear Uesugi-san continued to hold the phone up to his face, his old, wrinkled, and now shaking hand squeezing it tighter and tighter.

"Arragh! That boy!" he mumbled in a very angry tone.

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Tatsuha was still walking home. "It's really dark now", he thought to himself, "I wonder how late it is? Damn! I shouldn't have stopped at those two c.d. shops. I ended up spending way too much time in those stores, but I just couldn't help it! My honey Ryuichi's posters were in the windows! I wonder what they said? They had writing at the bottom, but I was too taken in by his beautiful icy-blue eyes and lovely skin tone and pouty lips and perfect body to read. Oh, how wonderful he truly is to grace the music industry with his beauty and charm! Oh, how un-worthy we all are to look upon him! Heh, while I was there I even looked for some Bad Luck c.d.s. Bad Luck is a pretty good band. Not as great as Nittle Grasper, there's just no comparison, but they're still pretty good. Shu-chan's a pretty cool guy to hang out with too. He's funny, and talented…, and there's that uncanny resemblance to my Ryuichi. How did Shu-chan end up with my dork of a brother anyway?"

His house was coming up just around the corner. All the neighbors were probably just getting to sleep, at least that was his guess seeing how they were all old and had no purpose in life other than to call his house and complain to his father about how loud he was playing his Nittle Grasper c.d.s. They just didn't appreciate true art.

"Uh-oh". There was a light on downstairs. Normally one might see that as a good thing, but in Tatsuha's case it meant that he needed to brace himself before walking through the door for harsh words and possibly other things that might start flying at him.

"Uesugi, Tatsuha!" "Uh-oh, my whole name, this can't be good," Tatsuha thought to himself "Do you know what time it is? Where have you been?". The old man appeared in front of him and started to raise his voice, his face was turning red.

Tatsuha began to take his shoes off and then he headed towards the kitchen, with his old man on his back the whole time. He started munching on random bits of food that he found in the fridge. Then he saw an ice cold beer and without thinking he grabbed it and started to drink, as if it were instincts. Almost immediately the old man snatched it out of his hands. "Are you crazy! You're under age! Skipping your duties, disrespecting me, and now this! I've had it! I've had it! I've had it, Tatsuha! You're out of control! You don't tell me where you're going and you show up late at night! This isn't the first time you've done this!"

"Oh good, you're paying attention", Tatsuha thought to himself.

"And those parties you go to! I get all types of calls about your behavior at them!"

"That's one thing that sucks about living in a small city. Word gets around, fast. (sigh) Why can't everyone just mind their own business?"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call!" the old man continued, "You're sixteen years old, not an adult! You can't go and come as you please! You must be more responsible. Do you know how many of your friends I had to call?"

"Ha! Don't expect me to know!", his mind snapped back.

"It's like you disappear everyday! If only you knew how much you worry me!...Tatsuha? Are you listening!"

The old man was right to ask that question because his assumptions were correct, he wasn't. After a while Tatsuha got tired of his father's ranting and decided that it was time for him to tune him out. So he did. And for what seemed like 10 minutes, he stared at him with a blank face while counting the wrinkles on his forehead (there were many) and hearing nothing but "Blah, blah, blah" coming from his mouth. He imagined that if his father had kept going without knowing how distracted he was, then he would have gotten bored with looking at his wrinkles and would begin to daydream about he and Ryuichi getting married and buying a nice little white house on the country-side with birds chirping and flowers growing all over their love garden that they would create together. "Oh sweet bliss!"

"Tatsuha!" Uesugi-san yelled, and suddenly Tatsuha snapped out of his trance and found himself looking directly into his father's eyes. With a defeated sigh, the older monk put his head down and covered half his face with his left hand, leaving one of his eyes uncovered so he could look up at his youngest son. In a very annoyed tone he whispered, "You're just like your brother."

After hearing that comment, Tatsuha decided to end the "conversation" and he turned toward the hallway and headed towards the stairs.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To my room", he replied.

"Don't walk away from me! We're not through yet. I haven't ended this discussion." He said firmly.

Tatsuha stopped in his tracks at the entrance of the hallway and looked back at him. By now, his father's face was really red and his antics seemed to have only added more wrinkles to the stressed Uesugi's visage. In a mocking tone of voice Tatsuha asked, "You mean….we're NOT done talking?"

That seemed to be enough to push his father over the edge. And one of these days, he knew he'd pay for his sarcasm. But at that very moment, he didn't care.

"OF COURSE WE'RE NOT THROUGH! THIS CONVERSATION IS'NT OVER UNTIL I SAY IT IS!"- Immediately Uesugi-san began to cough and hack, and then he cleared his throat. Unfortunately, Tatsuha's last question had him so flustered, that he couldn't think of anything else to say. After a long pause and a moment of silence, the old man decided that that was the time for the conversation to end. "Go to your room, Tatsuha. I'll deal with you later."

The young Uesugi turned back towards the hallway. "Gladly", he whispered softly and he began walking. On his way to the stairs he passed their large living room. It was probably the biggest room in the house. They used it to entertain guest. It had a wooden floor and a large blue couch. In addition to the medium-sized TV, (The only one in the house), the room had many other fixtures, family pictures, and plants that made it very cozy. The lights were turned off but the TV was still on. "The old man must have been watching the news and, after hearing me walk through the door, ran out of the living room while forgetting to turn the TV off", he thought to himself.

Not really caring, he kept walking towards the stairs and no sooner did he place his foot on the first step did he hear a glorious sound.

"… hai ni natte mo kiseki ni mada meguriaeru(4)…"

It was Ryuichi! Ryuichi's voice echoing from the TV! He ran towards the dark living room and there on the TV was a young, female reporter showing clips of one of Nittle Grasper's concerts.

"And in other news the superstar group Nittle Grasper is going to perform the last concert of their tour this weekend at the Tokyo Dome! There's no confirmation of what the musical sensation will be planning to do afterwards yet, and some fans are planning to"-…

He just stood there in the dark, with the glow of the television's light reflecting off of him.

"Oh my god. Ryuichi? Concert? In Tokyo? I have to go! I just have to!"

A sudden noise coming from the kitchen startled him.

"No, Hiroshima-san, everything is fine. No, you don't have to do that. That's right."

It was his father. No doubt he was on the phone with one of their nosey neighbors. They probably heard the yelling earlier.

He quickly turned the TV off and ran up the stairs. After a quick bath, he went to his room and lied on his futon. "I must go to that concert! I must!". He thought of Ryuichi, he thought of his smile, he thought of them meeting, and soon he was fast asleep.

So that's chap. 1! Ryuichi, Tohma, and Mika make their appearance in the next chapter.The temple I made up will play a big part in this story too, eventually. Sorry if it was a complete waste of your time to read. I tried (sweatdrops and smiles nervously) oh well. Until next chapter, later!

(1) Kamo-no-Chomei: he was a buddhist priest from Kyoto during the late12th century. The short opening to this chapter is actually a prelude to one of his great written works entitled "Hojoki".(Quick disclaimer: I do not own "Hojoki" or that prelude)

(2) Persimmon trees: they are beautiful trees that are commonly found in Japan. There are some in America too. Some of them have blossoms.

(3) Keisatsukan: it is a Japanese word for "policemen".

(4) "...hai ni natte mo kiseki ni mada meguriaeru..." : these are lyrics taken from Nittle Grasper's "Sleepless Beauty"...which (sigh) I also do not own.