Title: Reunion of Friends: Part 1
Author: Kyatsuki Ora
Notes: Chapter two. Not much going on except for the rising action and bits of tension. Since I didn't update last week, this chapter would be a little longer. I do not own Gravitation.
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Life was good.
Life was so good that Tsuki wanted to tear her hair out in despair. It's been two weeks since she has decided to stay. During the first week, she visited every single relative she ever had, visited her old friends, and generally had a good time. The second week: general mayhem. Either she was super active or suffering a severe depression. The result of diagnose: she missed her work.
Many people would welcome the chance of a free vacation. Undoubtedly, she does welcome it. But she also misses talking to the people about the finer points in prose and plotlines. She wanted to read the drafts of a novel she knows that will be fabulous after it is finished and dressed to perfection. Simply, she missed her books and her author-friends.
So now Miyu find herself with a moody sister who still hasn't figure out the cause of her symptoms yet. She realized that if nothing's done soon, the situation is going to get worse. Who knew that people would love their work so much? Finally, having enough of the furrowed eyebrows, Miyu slammed her portfolio down. "That's it. Get up and get out of the house. While you're at it, go run an errand for me."
She glared, one of the few moments that she can. "What?"
"Eiri Yuki's draft for his latest installment is due today. I need you to go get -"
"I'll be back at lunch!" Her cheerful voice called out to Miyu as she ran out of the house like a whirlwind.
Miyu shook her head, silently laughing at herself. She should have thought of that idea days ago. At least Tsuki's out of her hands for a while. Now, she just needs to explain the situation to the editor that was supposed to go…
She signed and snapped her briefcase together. What we do for our family.
-.-
Yuki loves coffee. Actually, every author loves coffee to a certain degree. Perhaps it's the taste that inspires the imagination, or maybe it's just the caffeine that is required to carry you through the day. For Yuki, it's the taste. He revels in the rich aroma and the bitter taste of gourmet coffee. He always takes time to grind the coffee beans and brew a pot everyday. Besides, it keeps him awake when he's working night shifts. Finally, after 10 o'clock in the morning, he had the house by himself. Everything is quiet except for the humming of the computer and the whirring of the printer churning out the pages to his new novel. Everything is the way he wanted. So why does he feel so damn edgy?
Shrugging the feeling off, he picked up the newspaper and went to the sofa to read it. Halfway through a report on suicides over a losing team, someone knocked on his door. Growling slightly, he stood up with the rolled-up newspaper and stalked to the door. He hates it when somebody interrupted his leisure time. Wrenching the door open unceremoniously, he was prepared to beat the hell out of the unfortunate salesman that was ringing his door. The torrent of words he prepared was suddenly choked at his throat. Salesmen don't wear fashionable clothes to go knock on people's doors. And they certainly don't wear sunglasses.
Putting every feeling of contempt and degradingness into his voice, Yuki said coldly, "What do you want?"
"Now, now Yuki-san," she signed, her tone sad and forlorn. The girl, looked only 18 or 19, tilted her hat back, allowing the sun to fall on the glasses and revealing her bright ember eyes. "Just because I didn't come and visit you for such a long time doesn't mean I'm eligible for this hostility."
A full-blown smirk was on her face now. Tsuki was totally enjoying the shocked expression on his face. It's not often she gets to scare the man out of his wits. After a good amount of time passed to gather himself together, Yuki replied, "Why the hell are you doing here?"
She signed again. He is another person who hasn't changed. "Why don't you invite me inside and I'll tell you all about it? It's rather rude to force your guest to stand outside." Without waiting for a word, she breezed past him and walked into the living room. Everything is neat and orderly, something she still find surprising.
"You're still as neat as ever," She muttered, removing her hat and tossed it beside her.
"And you're still as cocky as ever." Yuki, crossing his arms, leaned against the door frame. "and you haven't answered my question yet."
Tsuki signed, meeting his eyes. No wonder his fan base covets his looks as much as his books. The melancholy that always lingers in his eyes and the beautiful face that never seems to change will catch anyone's eyes. Unfortunately, they caught something that's far more deadly than it should. She felt sympathy for him, at first. Now she just wants him to get over it. It's not healthy and definitely makes you a sore loser type. "Why don't you just get over him?" She asked out loud, following her line of thought. The resulting silence caused her to inwardly curse at herself. Someday she is going to get into trouble for her daydreaming.
But the effects of the words are certainly interesting. For one, it made Eiri Yuki nostalgic. By her previous knowledge of the post traumatic disorder, severe emotional management problem guy, he is not the sort to get nostalgic. Even the barest mentioning of his ex-tutor sends him to the deepest bowel of hell. Not to mention that Tohma will send the person saying the name to the deepest bowel of hell. The fact that he's actually thinking about something in the past that involves Yuki Kitazawa means something.
Two, Eiri Yuki is controlling himself rather well. Usually, he would be shocked and dazed and won't come out of it until much, much later. Or he will just tell you to get the hell out of his house or else daggers will be buried in your throat. Now, he's rather calm. Really calm. Extremely calm. And his lips have a ghost of a smile on it.
Interesting…
"Your girlfriend must be really nice to you." She mused. Seeing that he's about to speak, she added. "Or boyfriend. Who knows? You seem the type anyway." She said it teasingly, not thinking about a word of it until something passed on Yuki's face. "You are not serious." She stared openly, not believing what she saw. People make mistakes, and this could be the time that she did.
So she hasn't heard? Oddly, that amuses Yuki. Miss Know-it-all isn't so knowledgeable anymore. "Where have you been lately?" Yuki mocked her, a smirk on his face.
"Umm…well, let's see now. It's called New York with no news but suicides and celebrity rumors you dumb –" She shot back, only to bit of her insult. "The news?" Twice in a day she has missed important information she should have picked up. Instead of letting Yuki have the satisfaction of being "smarter" than her, she frowned. "Your man persuaded you?"
"Nope." Laughing inwardly, he let the smirk spread a little bit more on his face. It's finally time to teach her a lesson. "All by myself."
He watched her face slowly fell as his publisher thought about the facts. It must have been a huge blown on her ego. Being the youngest CEO in the world made her work harder than anyone else. It also made her having more of a pride than anyone else. If not for the fact that he knows the arrogance is used to hide her weaknesses, he would have done this a long time ago. And not spend a sliver of thought on it.
"Dammit. I was wrong three times in a row." Tsuki mumbled. The "old age" is finally catching up with her, she thought, kicking her feet up to the coffee table. She mentally traced the patterns of the lace on the soft leather boots, calming her mind. Looking up after her exercise was done, she saw Yuki's eyes looking at her intently, waiting for something to happen. Since when is Yuki patient? She'll have to meet this person soon. In fact, she couldn't wait for that day. For someone to influence the Mr. Ice-man so much, that guy must be pretty incredible himself.
Still finding that patient look on her face, she grudgingly said, "Fine. I'm not perfect. You happy?"
"Moderately." Yuki laughed quietly, and went to pick up the finished stack.
"Ugh. I prefer the old you sometimes." Tsuki leaned back, letting the sun shine on her face.
"Could you repeat that?" Yuki shouted. He knew that he's pushing the limit, but he didn't care. He is too damn happy to care about that except it will be hilarious fun.
"That's it." Tsuki grumble, her eyes dangerously narrow. "Get yourself back here you little rat before I send you straight back to your personal hell!"
"I'LL SAVE YOU, YUKI!!!"
A projectile that looked remotely human hurled past Tsuki with such a force that it blown off her sunglasses. The various incoherent shouting emitted from the hole left behind signified that Yuki, at least, knew the person.
"Wow. He is pretty incredible." Tsuki murmured, gaped at the hole.
"That pretty much sums him up."
She looked back; a trill of delight ran down her spin. "Noriko-chan!" She jumped at the blonde girl wearing assorted rock star clothing. Noriko Ukai, the guitarist (?) for Nittle Grasper, hugged the miniature person back. "Hey yourself. How come you didn't visit?" Noriko pouted, questioning. Tsuki is always the type to look up her friends and family no matter how long she's been away.
"Oh, you know," She waved her hand in a off-hand fashion. "It took a bit of time to pay my respect to the elders and other family members." She wished, more than ever, to tell Noriko what happened that horrible day, to get the ugly feelings off of her chest, at least. But, of course, that's never going to happen.
"Then you're coming tomorrow or something, right?" Noriko peered under the slightly bowed head, her forehead creased with worry. Before she left for the States, Noriko knew that her best friend was hiding something. Apparently, something happened to cause her to leave. She didn't ask, and Tsuki never bother to come with an explanation. The same thing was still bothering her now, Noriko was sure of it. She'll pry it out of that tight mouth of hers, that's for sure.
Shifting slightly under Noriko's piercing glare, Tsuki bit her tongue. As if she could still walk freely inside the N-G Pro building anymore! "Tohma, if you don't bail me out of this one, I swear that you'll regret this." She swore silently while her mind tries to find a good way out.
As if he heard her threats, Tohma asked, smiling slightly. "She could come over today, if that's alright with you."
For the umpteenth time in the weeks, she was puzzled again. Tohma often acted against everyone's expectation, that's for sure, but now the man's more contradicting than ever. What in the world do you think you're doing, Tohma?!
"Unfortunately, Ryuichi left on a short vacation today, so you won't get to see him." He continued to smile in that all knowing fashion, causing her anger to flare again. Tohma Seguchi will find something very squishy in his bed by the time he gets home. Preferably several squishy and nasty things.
"Of course, today would be fine," She replied, a dazzling smile of her own on her face. She'll never allow the anger to boil over, no matter how much she wanted to thrash the man in front of her.
Noriko allowed a nervous sign to escape her. Watching the two play mind games with each other is almost as fun as watching pit bulls fight each other: highly amusing and extremely dangerous. "Your taste is still as expensive as ever." She switched the topic quickly to avoid further battles.
Tsuki shrugged nonchalantly, "Oh, that's nothing. And who's the person arguing with Yuki-san?"
"Um…" Noriko glanced at the holes in the wall and the wall beyond it, ignoring the approaching footsteps. "I can tell you the name, but that probably doesn't explain much. He's Shindou Shuichi, Bad Luck's lead singer."
"Bad Luck… That new band with the album you sent me?" Tsuki frowned, thinking of the music. "Hmm. Didn't expects this much…energy."
"You'll see much more of it than you'll want." Another voice spoke behind her, causing her to turn around. Two more arrivals stood at the doorway. One was wearing a bandana on his forehead and had a nice smile. "I know I've seen more than I wanted."
"I wish he would just stay still for at least a little while!" The young man that was with the other one said exasperatedly, signing. This person seemed more formal, with the dress shirt and dark pants. His face resembled Tohma a little bit.
Seeing her frown at the sudden intruders, Noriko introduced the newcomers. "This is Hiroshi Nakano and Suguru Fujisaki. They belong in the band Bad Luck"
"Sometimes I wish I haven't joined this craziness." Suguru covered his eyes.
"You're Tohma-san's cousin, right?" Tsuki suddenly asked.
"Yes."
"Thought you two looked familiar." She smiled, looking at the wonderful people around her that makes up the band and the company. This little trip is going to be fun.
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Sorry for possible grammar errors and reviews are always appreciated.
