Taking Up Residence
series: Gravitation
warnings: boys love, sap, slight angst, spoilers for the anime
notes: For Mina. Shuichi's lyrics are actually a twist on a repeated phrase from the yaoi manga Love Mode.

The apartment was empty.

There had been a moment of hesitation, a fleeting paranoia, wrought by emotions Yuki still didn't comprehend. The key curled inside his palm had suddenly felt too heavy and unfamiliar, the metal much too warm against his fingertips. He had been afraid to try the door, afraid that Shuichi might've given him the wrong key, changed the locks, moved out-

-But the key had clicked home, and Yuki had breathed deep.

And now, as the darkness of the apartment lured him inward, he was painfully aware of just how empty his apartment was. The lock slid into place behind, and Yuki was home.

He didn't flip the lights, and the only evidence of his return was a glossy pair of shoes cluttering the threshold. No suitcases because his baggage could never be checked, and no souvenirs because he could never begin to forget.

The living room was quiet, dead, and the city diffused dirty light through the balcony drapes. Everything was as he left it, and Yuki had a moment to consider if Shuichi had even set foot inside the apartment since-

A white slip of paper winked at Yuki from the coffee table, and he reassessed his observations. Red ink, dulled rust in the darkness, gave testament to Shuichi's sleeping arrangements. The de-capped pen was teetering on the corner of the table's smooth surface, mocking Yuki, as its bloody tip pointed straight at him.

Wish you can forgi-

Yuki tossed his apartment key atop the white stationery, and the pen rolled to the floor with a noise of protest. The sound seemed to resonate throughout the room with the unnatural strength of a metal pipe. His glare rested upon the uncapped menace.

Music magazines littered the table's surface- Arena 37C, Pati Pati, Rock 'n Roll Newsmaker- but Yuki couldn't remember if they had been there before he fled to New York. One was open to an article on Bad Luck, its corner obscuring the white leaf with red writing.

Wish you can forgi-

Shuichi's angry script dirtied the paper's cleanliness. The symbols were messily scrawled, and random strokes seemed to have bled with water.

Yuki shrugged out of his coat and collapsed onto the sofa.

It seemed that all his things, everything he left behind, was still here; yet, the apartment was empty.

Everything he left behind was not here.

Wish you can forgi-

Shuichi was expecting Yuki's return, but no date had ever been laid out. Certainly, thought Yuki, it was even a little surprising to himself that he would take a flight the very next day. He had missed the kick-off to Bad Luck's tour, but there were yet a few days until Shuichi would begin to travel across Japan. Shuichi would come back tonight.

Shuichi would come home.

Wish you can forgi-

Yuki crashed his foot over the coffee table, music magazines scattering in a flutter of paper. A faint smirk was the only betrayal of his intentions as Shuichi's lyrics floated to the hardwood floor. He cocked his head, leaned down between his parted knees.

Wish you can forgive your yesterdays
Hope you can love your tomorrows

In the night, and the darkness, and the quiet of an empty apartment… Uesugi Eiri smiled.

The apartment was empty-

Eiri could hear a key turning in the lock.

-but it would never be empty again.