Chapter Three.
"You want to do what?" Hiro exclaimed, staring at Shuichi in shock. Shaking his head, he reached out and placed the back of his hand on Shuichi's forehead.
"What are you doing?" Shuichi asked, a little puzzled by Hiro's actions.
"I'm checking to see whether you have completely lost it." Hiro replied, when he was satisfied that Shuichi was not suffering from any sort of fever. "Now explain to me again, what you are going to do. I can't get it through my head."
"I'm leaving Yuki. Will you help me carry my stuff back to my apartment?" Shuichi repeated, watching as Hiro shook his head in disbelief.
"What the-, Why? What happened to needing Yuki all through the night?" Hiro questioned. "I thought you couldn't live without him?"
Shuichi sank into a couch and leaned his head back. They were in their office/conference room at the NG building waiting on Suguru Fujisaki, the third member of Bad Luck, Mr. K, the manager and Sakano, the band's producer. For the first time in his whole career, Shuichi had actually shown up to work before everyone else. Bored to death, he had called Hiro, and afraid that Shuichi was ill, Hiro had shown up within minutes. Shuichi being at work so early, especially the morning after he had returned home to Yuki was just too surprising.
"Hiro, what happened in Osaka, -it hurt-, Yuki really hurt me. I did not realize how much until when I called him afterwards before the tour ended. All he did was hung up and remain unconcerned. I can't handle it. I keep thinking he is just going to turn around and send me away again."
I'm tired of waiting, Shuichi thought. Yuki had given up Kitazawa, which had been a very important step. But after that, things had come to a stand still. They argued and talked, laughed and shared a home, but Yuki was still able to let Shuichi go without a single kind word. Yuki used his feelings as though they were a game. He accepted them when it suited him; he rejected them when they didn't. Osaka had just served as an eye opener. Was this what he wanted for the rest of his life? Did loving someone as much as he did Yuki include countless hours of longing and wishing that Yuki would care for him the same way? Ah! He was tired of thinking about it.
"I can't be with him anymore." Shuichi said quietly. Closing his eyes, tears slid down his cheeks and he lifted his hand to wipe them away. The more he did, the more tears fell, so he stopped trying to stop them.
Hiro sighed and moved to sit next to Shuichi. Letting out a slow sigh, he reached out and pulled Shuichi into his arms, comforting him. He had not seen this coming. But in someway, he had figured that the incident in Osaka would have its repercussions. Before when they had been in high school, it had been so easy to read Shuichi. His feelings had been written all over his face. But lately, actually since Osaka, every time Shuichi had called Yuki, whenever they asked him what he said, he would answer with a little smile that everything was Okay. Obviously it had all been a lie, which meant that Shuichi was learning the fine art of practising deceptive emotions.
Shaking his head, he wondered how it had come to this. Yuki and Shuichi had seemed so happy.
"Does Yuki know?", Hiro asked quietly, holding Shuichi tightly.
"No." Shuichi replied, "I don't want him to. Not that he'll stop me, it's just that I don't want to see that glare."
Hiro nodded in understanding and patted Shuichi's head, "Fine. What time to do we do this?"
Shuichi pulled away from Hiro and looked up with a small smile, "How about when we're done here? Then we can invite Suguru and go out for a drink."
"Okay." Hiro said thinking that this was going to shock the masses. The public had just gotten used to having Shuichi and Yuki pictures plastered on the front page. What was going to happen next? Oh, who cared, as long as Shuichi was happy? That's all that mattered.
"Tohma," Ryuichi Sakuma, lead singer for the band Nittle Grasper, said lazily, leaning back in his seat, "Shuichi didn't seem happy today."
They were in a black Mercedes headed for a late afternoon interview. They had spent the whole morning and lunchtime at NG productions going over reports and all sorts of things that Tohma expected his shareholders to know about.
"Ryuichi-kun, I don't care to discuss Shindou-san unless it's business related. His personal life is his own." Tohma replied staring out the window. His mind was occupied with Eiri and how he was going to react to the coming news. It was going to be a job to break the news to that man. Why did Ryuichi have to talk about that boy? Didn't he understand how much he disliked Shuichi at the moment?
Ryuichi frowned and slanted his head so that he could see Tohma's blond head. "Really? Is that the reason or is it because he's close to Yuki-san?"
Tohma shrugged and continued to look out the window.
"Tsk, tsk, you're married to Mika-chan. I don't understand you." Ryuichi shook his head and closing his eyes.
Tohma turned to look at Ryuichi and wondered why such a man, with zillions of fans that loved him for his charisma could be so annoying.
"It's not what you're thinking." Tohma said quietly. "Really, Ryuichi, the only reason I worry about Eiri is because I feel responsible for his past experiences. I want him to be happy."
"And you're a fool to think that what Kitazawa did to Yuki-san has anything to do with you. If it were up to me, I'd say pay more attention to Mika-chan. She needs you more. Leave Yuki-san to Shuichi, and stop your antics. What happened in Osaka was unforgivable, even for a man of your low standards." Ryuichi said, his gaze stead on Tohma's.
Tohma sighed and turned his head away to look out the window again. "Please bring back the ridiculous side of you, I can't deal with the serious side this evening.'
"Everyone at NG knows what happened in Osaka." Ryuichi said sharply, "Can you imagine what that is like for Shu-chan. I suspect that is the reason why Shuichi is so sad."
Tohma shrugged and sighed, and then he said with an observant tone, "Ryuichi-kun, you should take your own advice. It certainly doesn't make sense why you're so worried about Shindou-san yourself. Could it be you're more concerned than you let on?"
Ryuichi scoffed and this time closed his eyes, turning his head away from Tohma. No, you could never understand why I'm concerned, he thought. Shu-chan, why aren't you shining anymore?
