Halloween Sleepover
Disclaimer: I do not own the wonderfulness that is Gravitation and all its characters. T.T I don't even own any merchandise, so there's no point suing.
"What??"
"You heard me. I said I'm going away for the weekend," Yuki Eiri replied. He disconnected his laptop, which contained his latest novel-in-progress, and zipped it into its black case.
"B-but Yukiii… How am I going to survive without you??" wailed Shuichi, trailing after his blonde-haired lover as he walked into the bedroom to finish packing his suitcase. "I'll be all alone! For a whole weekend!! Yuki, why didn't you tell me earlieeeeer??"
Yuki said nothing as he closed his suitcase and padlocked it. This was exactly why he hadn't mentioned it earlier: the less warning Shuichi got, the less time he had to complain. Right now, he only had to endure half an hour more of the pink-haired singer's whining before he had to leave.
"How could you be so heartless and cruel??" Shuichi moaned, still following Yuki as he moved around the house. "What am I going to do?? Wait-" He stood still in the middle of the living room, and Yuki could almost see the lightbulb appear above his head. "I'll come with you!!"
"No."
"WHAAAAT?? Why nooooot?" cried Shuichi. Yuki glanced at his watch; twenty minutes to go. "Come oon, Yuki… I'll hardly take up any room-" he curled up small on the floor to demonstrate, "-and I don't have much luggage… Pleeease, Yuki?" Shuichi straightened up and did his best puppy-dog eyes.
"No. It's a writers' conference I'm going to. You'd have nothing to do all day and I don't want you tagging along with me the whole time."
"You're so cold!! How can you abandon me at this time?! With a huge concert in less than a week, I need all the moral support I can get…" For the next ten minutes, Shuichi continued on this theme, alternating between bemoaning his fate at being left alone for two whole days – days! – and begging Yuki not to leave him. Yuki tuned him out as he made last-minute checks around the house; finally, when he had ascertained that everything was in order and that even Shuichi's best efforts couldn't mess the place up, he walked towards the door.
"…and you could at least have stayed one more night and left in the morn-" Shuichi broke off as he saw where Yuki was headed. "Yuki? Where are you going?"
"Where does it look like, idiot?" growled Yuki. "I'm leaving."
"B-but…" Shuichi's eyes began to well up with tears. Yuki sighed mentally; why was it that Shuichi was allowed to rant for twenty minutes straight at him and yet as soon as he did something wrong, Shuichi would start crying? Yuki checked the time again; if he didn't leave now, he would miss his plane. There was only one thing to do.
He took a step forward and cut Shuichi off with a forceful kiss. Shuichi froze and his eyes widened; as soon as he came to his senses and began enjoying it, Yuki had pulled away and was opening the door.
"Yuk…i…" Shuichi managed to say. Yuki glanced back at him.
"There's enough food in the fridge for two days. Don't break anything," he instructed, then left, shutting the door behind him.
Hiro reclined on the sofa in his apartment, idly plucking the strings of his guitar. He had begun picking out the tune of Shuichi's latest song when suddenly, the phone rang. Hiro set his guitar aside and leaned over to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hiro!!" Hiro recognised his best friend's frantic voice immediately.
"Oh, hey, Shuichi. What's u-"
"YUKI LEFT MEEEE!" Hiro flinched at Shuichi's loud tone and held the phone a little way away from his ear.
"Really?" he asked, worried but bearing in mind Shuichi's tendency to overreact about small things, especially where Yuki was concerned.
"YES! For a whole weekend!" Shuichi moaned. Hiro breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is that all?"
"ALL?? What am I going to do?! I'm going to be so looonelyyy… unless… Hiro, can you please come over and stay the night? Or maybe two nights? Or even three?"
Hiro sighed again, this time in frustration. "I don't know, Shuichi, I was going to have Ayaka-chan over for-"
"PLEASE!" Shuichi begged. Hiro grimaced and rubbed his sore ear. One phone call from Shuichi was worse than a Bad Luck rehearsal for making his ears ring.
"All right, all right, I'll come over. At least for tonight."
"Thank yoooou! It'll be fun, I have some new anime DVDs and Yuki left some ramen and other nice food…"
"Yeah, yeah. See you soon." Hiro put the phone down and cast about for a backpack to put some clothes and a toothbrush in. Within a few minutes, he had packed enough essentials to last him a night or two (knowing Shuichi, he'd end up staying longer than he'd planned). He picked up his guitar as well, so that he wouldn't need to come back to the apartment for it, and then left, turning out the light as he went.
Shuichi was sitting in the middle of the floor, twiddling his thumbs, when the doorbell rang. Eagerly, he jumped up and ran to answer it.
"Hiro! You caaaame!" he exclaimed, upon opening the door to reveal the auburn-haired guitarist standing outside. He seized Hiro by the wrist and dragged him inside. "Come on, come on! What would you like to eat?"
"Whatever you're having is fine by me," Hiro replied, setting his guitar down in the hallway before allowing Shuichi to lead him into the living room.
"Okay! Ramen it is!" Shuichi declared. "We can eat it while watching anime." He whirled around the kitchen, grabbing bowls and chopsticks and piling them up on the counter.
"What anime are we watching?"
"Fruits Basket!" Shuichi replied happily. "One of the characters is named Yuki!! But he's not nearly as cool as my Yuki. Hehehehe…" He laughed to himself, obviously reliving a particular memory. Hiro rolled his eyes.
"Isn't that the one where the guys turn into animals?"
"It's not just guys!" Shuichi corrected him. "There are girls who do, too!"
"Right…"
Minutes later, the two of them were seated in front of the television, eating ramen and watching Yuki and Kyo fight it out for the umpteenth time. Occasionally, Shuichi would make a comment such as, "Eh, Kyo's so cool, I don't understand why Yuki hates him," or, "If that Yuki is a prince, then my Yuki is a king!"
Halfway through the episode, the doorbell sounded once again, accompanied by a call of, "Trick or treatu na no da!!" Shuichi and Hiro glanced at each other in bemusement.
"I'll get it," said Shuichi, pausing the DVD. 'Na no da'… that almost sounded like… but nah, it couldn't be Ryuichi-san…
"Hello, how can I help…" began Shuichi as he opened the door. His jaw dropped as he beheld the person before him. "Ry… Ryuichi-san??"
"SHUICHI!!" Shuichi found himself enveloped in a black cape as Ryuichi launched himself at the younger singer.
"Ryuichi-san…! What are you… what are you wearing?" Shuichi managed to ask. His idol was dressed from head to foot in black, with a large black cape tied around his neck. Two plastic fangs protruded over his bottom lip, and his lower jaw had been decorated with trails of what looked like red lipstick. Kumagorou, Ryuichi's faithful pink rabbit, was balanced atop his head as usual, a pair of black bat wings affixed to his furry back.
"I'm a vampire na no da!" Ryuichi explained, still hugging Shuichi. He turned his head and pretended to bite Shuichi's neck, smearing him with lipstick in the process. "I'm sucking your bloood! Yum, yum!!"
"Shuichi, what- oh, hello, Sakuma-san," said Hiro in surprise from behind Shuichi. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm trick-or-treat-ing no da!" said Ryuichi, finally letting go of Shuichi. Shuichi massaged his neck as he was released.
"Trick-or-treat-ing?"
"Yeah! It's an American thing. K told me about it, na no da. You can get loads of candy from strangers on this night, the 31st of October! They call it Halloweeeeen!" Ryuichi triumphantly held up a bulging sack full of chocolate, pocky, and other sweet delights. Shuichi's eyes grew round.
"Wow, Ryuichi-san, that's amazing!"
"Yeah!! Would Shuichi and Hiro like some candy?" offered Ryuichi. "If Kumagorou eats too much, he will get sick no da."
"Sure! Uh, would you like to come in, Ryuichi-san?"
"Yeah!" Ryuichi bounded inside. Upon entering the living room and seeing the frozen TV screen, his eyes lit up. "Fruits Baskeeeeeeet!" He wasted no time in jumping onto the couch and hunting for the remote.
"Ah, you like Fruits Basket, Ryuichi-san?" asked Shuichi as he sat down next to him. Hiro followed suit.
"Yeah! Momiji is the coolest because he turns into a rabbit no da. And wears girls' clothes!"
Shuichi pressed 'play' and soon enough, Ryuichi was rewarded with a glimpse of Momiji. "Yay! Momiji, Momiji!" He leaned forward, hands clasped and eyes starry. Then, in the middle of a quiet moment in the anime, his stomach rumbled loudly.
"Ah… Ryuichi-san, are you hungry? I'm sorry, I should have offered you food…"
"Nope, I'm not hungry na no da," replied Ryuichi.
"Huh…?"
"But Kumagorou says he is hungry no da," Ryuichi continued. "He would like some ramen."
"I see!" Shuichi jumped up from the sofa. "I'll get some for him."
Just as he had put one foot over the kitchen threshold, there was complete darkness. Shuichi jumped in surprise, wondering if he'd accidentally stepped on a wire or something.
"Why is it dark, na no da?" Ryuichi was the first to break the silence.
"Hiro, did you turn out the lights?" asked Shuichi, wheeling round. As his eyes adjusted, he could just make out Hiro and Ryuichi's silhouettes on the sofa.
"Nope. The TV's gone off, too. Must be a power cut." Hiro rose from the sofa and went over to the window, looking out over the city. "Yeah, all the street lights and neighbouring buildings have lost power."
"Dammit!" muttered Shuichi. "I wonder if Yuki keeps any candles in the kitchen…" He turned back around and walked into the doorframe. "Ow ow ow…" Carefully, Shuichi felt his way into the kitchen, then began opening drawers and feeling their contents. Several times, he pricked himself on knives or other sharp utensils, until his fingers were bleeding considerably. Still he found no candles.
"I can't find anything…" he said, feeling his way back out of the kitchen and sucking two of his sore fingers. "…Hiro? Ryuichi-san?" The living room was empty.
"Guys, don't play jokes…" Shuichi walked forwards and then tripped over something, falling flat on his face. It was Ryuichi's sack of candy.
"Ryuichi-san? Hiro? Where are you?"
There was a creak from the direction of Yuki's bedroom. Shuichi whirled around, but saw only a dark, empty doorway. Cautiously, he approached the bedroom, one hand stretched out in front of him. He stopped in the doorway and peered around the corner – and screamed.
"AAAAAAAAH! A GHOST!!!"
He stumbled backwards as the ghostly figure approached him, until suddenly he came into contact with the back of the couch and his escape was impeded. "Please don't hurt me!" he begged.
"Shuichi, you are so silly na no da!" said the ghost in a muffled voice. Shuichi blinked.
"Ry…Ryuichi-san?"
Ryuichi threw off the white bedsheet he'd found in Yuki's room. "Surprise, no da!!"
Shuichi almost fainted with relief. The sound of a toilet flushing was heard, and seconds later Hiro emerged from the bathroom.
"Shuichi, what were you yelling about?"
"Nothing… Hiro, you went to the toilet in the dark?" said Shuichi in some disbelief.
"Yeah. So, what'll we do now?" Hiro sat down on the couch. "We can't watch anime, and we've got no light…"
There was a pause, before Ryuichi spoke up. "I know!" He switched on a torch that he'd found in the bedroom and held it under his chin. It turned his mouth and eyes into shadowy holes and gave the impression that he had no body. "Let's tell hairy-scary stories na no da!"
