Things were slowly going back to normal in the Yuki and Shuichi household. Shuichi have been attending nonstop promotions and meetings the whole week before the scheduled departure for the national tour. Yuki has began laboring on his drafts and working on his normally erratic schedule. Sometimes Shuichi did not come home but he always called Yuki to let him know where he was. Yuki did not want to state the obvious but he could hardly sleep himself without the pink haired bundle of joy beside him but he was worried that Shuichi was hardly getting enough sleep since he would leave messages at such unholy hours.

Today was different. Shuichi was home the whole day. Two days from now Shuichi was going to be leaving for the tour. This time Yuki barely slept. He tried to be productive by working on the first chapter of his book but he could not keep himself rooted to his office as he would check on Shuichi every now and then to see if he was all right. Shuichi was asleep most of the time and Yuki did not have the heart to wake him up much as he wanted to and would end up reheating his food just in case he would get up. Shuichi slept for hours. He was obviously exhausted and fatigued. This made Yuki's forehead twitch. He already called Touma and K and gave a piece of his mind to both of them regarding Shuichi's condition.

7:00 p.m.

Yuki was now almost at the end of chapter one when he heard a faint sound from the living room. He saved his work and squished his cigarette on the ashtray and stoop up. Shuichi was no longer in the bedroom. He wasn't in the living room either. Bathroom? No. Then he heard some noise coming from the kitchen and he pushed the door a bit to take a peak.

Shuichi with his pink hair in total disarray. He was scratching his oversized D&G shirt and sat on the dining room chair with his legs swinging. He then slumped on the table and rhythmically tapping the table.

"Oi!"

Shuichi sat upright and turned to look at Yuki who was smirking at him. He managed a sleepy smile back at him.

"I'm hungry." He pointed at the stovetop with the small casserole heated on low fire.

"Have you eaten, Yuki?"

"Yes and no." Yuki took a seat.

"Let's eat then." Shuichi turned off the stove and began to set the table.

"How are you feeling?" Yuki looked at him as he put his drinking glass down.

"I'm okay, I think." Shuichi was obviously starved as he added more rice to his bowl.

Yuki had finished his meal and Shuichi was still eating. He stood up and took a canned beer and drank slowly as he watched Shuichi stuffing himself and was too hungry for chatter.

Two hours later.

A loud burp.

Shuichi's cheeks were blushed and he looked heavy and sated. He could not move from the table immediately and Yuki has entered the living room and was watching cable. He put the dishes in the sink and mentally reminded himself to take care of it if he did not feel too heavy anymore.

"Yuki?"

Yuki merely gave him a glance and returned to watching a talk show. He stretched his arms on the long sofa and took a drag from his cigarette. Shuichi sat beside him and grabbed a throw pillow and stretched his legs to accommodate his full stomach. He burped again which earned a frown from Yuki and Shuichi grinned.

A few minutes later both of them are engrossed on the program. Shuichi is leaning on Yuki's shoulder while his fingers fiddled with Shuichi's pink locks.

"Ne, Yuki?"

"What?"

"I'll be packing my bags."

"Yeah?"

Shuichi nodded and stood up and entered the bedroom and pulled out a wheeled suitcase from the closet.

Yuki was now staring blankly at the screen. All of a sudden what seemed so interesting onscreen a while ago appeared mindless to him now. He felt an impending anxiety building up inside him. He turned the television off and took one more drag with his cigarette before squishing it into the ashtray. He did not want to enter the room. Instead entered his office and stared at the bookshelves. He did not feel like writing and he did not feel like talking either. He dreaded to see Shuichi packing his suitcase.

In all his experience with hectic touring schedules, Shuichi has mastered the art of packing. He remembered the time he first moved in with Yuki where he just hauled everything he owned in a large blanket. He could not help smile as he recalled the time. Yuki so annoyed and forcing him out of the door and there he was persistent and teary-eyed forcing himself inside the unit. This time it was different,

By the time he got out of the bedroom, he noticed Yuki was no longer in the living room. The door to his office was closed and he assumed he was inside. He walked to the kitchen and began to wash the dishes in the sink. After his chore he opened the fridge and took two cans of strawberry iced tea and left the kitchen.

He knocked softly at Yuki's office. Yuki was dozing on his seat. His laptop off. His reading glasses on the table beside the ashtray. Few papers on the desk. He settled the can of strawberry iced tea on top of a coaster. He stood behind Yuki's chair and began to massage Yuki's forehead and slowly moving his hands to his shoulders, which elicited a soft moan from the writer. The hands moved upwards to the blonde hair tugging it carefully with his fingers.

"How are you feeling?"

Yuki nodded. His eyes closed.

Shuichi smiled. Yuki was obviously pleased and relaxed. He began to massage his temples.

"I've packed what I needed and I'll be calling the driver to pick them up before I leave." Shuichi momentarily halted massaging Yuki's head and took a sip from his iced tea and took a seat beside him.

Yuki watched him as Shuichi sipped his iced tea and looking down. A million thoughts came rushing to his brain. He remembered the many times Shuichi would whine endlessly whenever he was going off on tour. How he would prattle about his activities in NG. Or lounge at the sofa across this desk and "quietly" read his manga collection. And he remembered propping him on this same desk and kissing him breathless. But time was running out now. It was already late. He didn't want to look at the time but was quite sure it was late. They both shared abnormal waking and sleeping hours. Several hours from now this pink haired boy won't be sitting contentedly beside him enjoying his strawberry iced tea. Several hours from now he would be alone. Several hours from now the condominium would be terribly quiet.

"Yuki?"

"Huh?" Yuki realized he had been staring intently at Shuichi.

"Aren't you going to drink that?" Shuichi pointed at the other can of strawberry iced tea.

"No." He felt he was already drowning with his anxious thoughts. Shuichi grinned and opened the can and gulped the tea.

"Shuichi?"

"Hai?" Shuichi's looks at him as he licks his pink lips reddened and moist from the now empty can of iced tea. Yuki swallowed.

"Let's go to bed."

They did not make love. Yuki merely embraced him from behind. Shuichi was spooned to him and pulled Yuki's hands to his chest so he could kiss them. He tried to turn around to look at Yuki but Yuki held him firmly. He could only feel Yuki's face close to his nape and felt his warm breath, which calmed and saddened him at the same time. Maybe it was better this way for now. Later he can turn around and kiss Yuki's face.

Unbeknownst to Shuichi was Yuki trying to keep his tears at bay. He feared that if he let Shuichi see his face, the tears would really fall and he didn't want to worry him. He just wanted to feel him in his arms. His scent. The touch. Feel his presence but he didn't want to see his face tonight. He did not want to remember his cute face staring back at him. Even if it was dark in the room he could still see Shuichi. He did not want that now. I just want to hold you.

THE NEXT DAY…

10:00 a.m.

Yuki woke up ahead. The first thing he noticed was the suitcase inside the closet when he pulled out a sweatshirt from the hanger. A few more hours to go and he decided he would go out for a while.

Shuichi woke up much later to find no one beside him. He moved out of the bed and took a quick shower. He noticed a note on the fridge from Yuki.

"BE BACK LATER."

Shuichi shrugged and cooked some instant ramen. He made some calls at NG confirming his departure. He called Hiro who was busy packing. He called Suguru but was told by his personal assistant that he wasn't home at the moment. Mr. K called him at home and reminded him that they will all meet at the NG before going to the airport. Sakano reminded him to be a little earlier since they will be expecting some press on the way. Shuichi wanted to chat with Ryuichi after talking with Sakano but he realized his idol was not in Japan at the time since he was filming a series of short films in France. He smiled at the thought. His idol was definitely an all-around entertainer and a true artist. Ryuichi has returned to his solo career and would only reunite with Nittle Grasper for charity functions or annual world music festivals. Touma was balancing work and home life since he and Mika had their children, a boy and a girl. They recently appeared in the Japanese Home Life magazine cover last week. A happy and gorgeous couple with equally adorable children. Touma and Mika clearly adored their children, The 4-year-old boy who inherited his mother's eyes is named Junno and the little girl aged two who is her father's female version is named Hoshi. Hoshi would usually be on Touma's shoulders playing with his hair or asleep in his arms sucking on her thumb. In order to be near with their children they had a large playroom furnished in the building, which also functioned like a daycare facility for the other children of the employees of NG. Ukai Noriko is managing a rock band all the way from Hokkaido. She and her businessman husband settled in Osaka and she put up a recording studio at their home. Their daughter is now in a prestigious junior high school.

Shuichi entered the bedroom and checked his small blue backpack when he heard the doorbell and he sprinted to the living room. Yuki murmured, "Tadaima" and took off his shoes.

'OKAERI, YUKI!" Shuichi gave him a big smile and a hug. His arms were still around Yuki's waist as he asked, "Where did you go, Yuki? I made ramen. Do you want some? I can get it for you."

"Get it ready then." Yuki was not particularly hungry. He just needed Shuichi to leave him for a while as he entered the room and carefully pulled out a small package from his coat pocket.

my heartfelt thanks to my wonderful reviewers...

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