Chapter 3: The Truth Behind the Pretty Face: Part II

Starlite: I don't own Gravitation or it's characters but I do own Aiko and any other character you don't see in the manga.

Hiro knew what he needed to do. He had to confront Eiri Yuki if he wanted to know the truth about Aiko. She told him to go to Yuki if he wanted to know, so if he found out something he wasn't supposed to then it's her fault, right?

As he approached the door to Yuki's apartment, he started to wonder what that dirty little secret might be. Maybe it was something huge that if anyone else found out she would have to become a wanderer, swear never to kill anyone again, and walk around saying "Oro?". Maybe it could be something very small and insignificant, but soon it wouldn't matter. He was going to find out for sure what was going on.

He knocked on the door...No answer. He knocked again. Still no answer...he knocked again....

"WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!?!?!?! I'M BUSY!!! Oh, it's just you, Hiro."

"Hello, Yuki-san. Can I come in?"

"Sure."

When he walked in he saw Tetsuha and Mika sitting on the couch. He sat beside Mika.

"Lemme guess. You're hear to talk about Aiko's past." Yuki remarked.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Shuichi told me. That's why I invited them here. "

"Oh."

"Let's see, where to start? I guess at the basics. First, as you know, she hates Ryuichi Sakuma. All of the problems in her life revolve around the fact that Ryuichi screwed things up for her. It all started when she was about 16. She was a junior in high school and after Tohma married Mika, we had a little family get together to get to know Tohma better. Needless to say, Aiko came to talk to me and much to her surprise, because she missed the whole dating and wedding thing, the great Tohma Seguchi of Nittle Grasper was sitting beside me. I thought she was going to die on the spot. You know how Ryuichi has all the crazy, stupid fan-girls after him?"

"Yes."

"Aiko used to be a crazy, stupid Ryuichi Sakuma fan-girl. Anyway, Tohma saw how charismatic she was and knew automatically she had talent and so he told her to get a small group together and he would get them a job with N-G. She was ecstatic! She couldn't imagine working in the same building as so many famous people including her idol Ryuichi. After a few records and concerts later Ryuichi admits to Tohma that he is attracted to Aiko's constant energy and charm and the next thing you know, Aiko and Ryuichi are inseparable. During this time, Aiko's album goes platinum and her relationship with Ryuichi helps her record sales go through the roof. Then something I found quite disturbing happened, I knew it would just lead to trouble. She told me that her and Ryuichi had started sleeping together. This wouldn't bother me if she weren't just barely 17 years old and he being 27 years old. The ten year difference thing was slowly eating me away, that and I had just came back to Japan 'cause I killed a guy...But hey! I did what had to be done."

".....Aiko's older than me?"

"Yeah, and she got to sleep with MY Ryuichi..." Tetsuha chimed in although nobody was listening to him.

"You didn't know that? She's just a year younger than I am."

".....................She's two years older than me?"

"Yes. On with the story...Soon everyone's record sales started to drop off, people just weren't into music at the time. Tainted had to open for Nittle Grasper or both of them wouldn't get to have a concert for a while. Then it hit them! Every new generation needs a twist and they had hired Aiko for her voice not her band, so they decided to ditch Tetsuo and the keyboard player and let her go up on stage with Ryuichi. To make things more interesting, they sing Sleepless Beauty and somehow, I'm not exactly sure how, they manage to sing and make out at the same time. It was a good show, but the short attention span of the crowd had to be constantly taken care of. They said that Aiko was doing fine, but they kept pushing Ryu. They told him that because he was the best he needed to be pushed to stay the best. They overworked him and he started to become less and less enjoyable to be around. Poor Aiko was oblivious to the situation he was in and was confused when he came off stage as the serious no-nonsense Ryu she knew. She made the mistake of telling him something he didn't want to hear at the time and she paid dearly for it. At first she acted fine, like nothing was bothering her, but then she got quieter and she wouldn't go around Ryuichi. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but I knew I had to find out, so I headed over to her apartment. I knocked on the door, but I accidentally twisted the handle and found that the door was open, one huge sign that something was wrong 'cause she was a very safety conscious person. Then after countless attempts at calling her name, I stumbled onto her in her room. She was sitting in the middle of her floor and she was holding her wrist and mumbling. I called her name once more and she turned around realizing that I was there and said "Oh shit!" and took the razor that she had been holding and tried to slit her wrists. Luckily I grabbed her and she didn't cut deep enough to hurt her. It was a dull razor, thank God. I asked her what was going on and she didn't beat around the bush, she told me the flat-out truth.

"Eiri-kun, Ryuichi raped me the other night. I didn't do anything but tell him-(Can't say this part without her permission)-and he did that. He has been acting funny lately, but I didn't think he would react like that!" She cried on my shoulder 'cause I was restraining her. I couldn't believe it! He was in a bad mood and took it out on her for something that was his fault in the first place. I went to N-G the next day to tell Tohma that Aiko had a doctor's appointment and wouldn't be to work that day and the first person I ended up seeing was Ryuichi Sakuma. I couldn't hold myself back, because I was in a bad mood over a couple of other things and him raping a girl that was as close to me as a sister didn't help much. All he had to do was look at me funny and I grabbed him and beat the living Hell out of him. I literally beat him until he couldn't stand up straight. I kinda wish I hadn't done that, because he was out of his bad mood and was back to the toddler-like Ryu and had forgot about the whole thing. A few weeks later Aiko put a restraining order against Ryu and Ryu put one against me. Tainted fell apart because it was either them or Nittle Grasper and even Aiko agreed that it made more sense to keep Nittle Grasper going, Aiko couldn't sing on stage for a while anyway 'cause of some personal issues that were going on in her life at the time."

"Ryuichi really raped her ? And then she tried to commit suicide?"

"That's pretty much it and....."

-----At the lake-----

"Ok, Michael. Are you ready to learn the secrets of midnight fishing?" K smiled.

"Daddy, can't we learn the secrets of noon fishing?" his young son complained.

"No, 'cause then your mother would know and you know what happens to Daddy when Mommy gets mad."

"I know, I know. Daddy doesn't get dessert for a week." the little boy said in a monotone voice.

"Good boy! Now put your line in the water and wait for a fishie to come by and pull on the hook."

"Daddy.................................................................................................DADDY! I GOT SOMETHING!!! Nah, just kidding." he laughed making a game out of the boring sport.

"That's not funny. I thought that my son had inherited my great fishing intelligence."

"Oh...........................................................................................DADDY! I GOT A REAL BITE THIS TIME!!!" he yelled.

"Really?!"

"No."

"Stop that, Michael. You might make Daddy fall off of the boat." K scolded.

"Sorry, Daddy..................................................................Ummmm, Daddy?"

"What, Michael?"

"I think I got a bite."

"I don't believe you."

"I really did, Daddy. Help me reel it in, please!"

"Ok, I'll at least look at it. You sound sincere." K said as looked over the side of the boat at Michael's 'catch'.

"HOLY SHIT!"

-----At Yuki's apartment-----

"I can't believe that someone as innocent looking as Ryu would be a rapist."

"And a child molester. Aiko was considered a youth while Ryu was a grown man. He was lucky she let the charges drop, cause he would be in jail for regular rape, statutory rape, and child molestation." Yuki added.

"Not good."

"Nope..."

-silence-

Suddenly the door busts open with K standing in the debris holding a wet blanket.

"Ummm...K-san are you feeling ok?" Hiro asked.

"Yuki-san, look what I caught tonight when I tried to take my son fishing. I thought you might want it." K said as he opened the top of the blanket. It was Aiko all wrapped up and she was unconscious.

"You 'caught' her?"

"Yeah, Michael's hook got attached to her shirt and I reeled her in."

"Do you think she started 'it' again?"

"Honestly, yes. But once again she has failed. She coughed up all kinds of water on the way over here."

"What do you mean 'it' and 'failed again'?" Hiro puzzled.

"Oh yes. I forgot to tell you. Hiro, Aiko is what her doctor called chronically suicidal. So far since she was raped by Ryu she had tried to do it exactly two times a year. No more, no less. Just two, and this trying to drown thing was her first attempt this year. She is bad at committing suicide although she has tried nine times counting tonight. When she tried to hang herself the rope came undone, when she tried to shoot herself she ran out of bullets, when she tried to overdose she didn't take enough, when she tried to drown she was saved by K, when she tried to slit her wrists she didn't cut deep enough, when she tried to poison herself she used the wrong kind and ended up making herself stronger, when she tried to suffocate herself she accidentally put a hole in the bag, when she tried to electrocute herself the power went out and when she tried to starve herself, I (purposely) served her favorite dessert in the entire world and she cleaned the plate. That is the one thing she is truly terrible at."

"(sigh) I guess everyone's bad at something..." Hiro yawned.

"I guess it's a good thing. To be bad at committing suicide..." Yuki said.

"Well, I'm going to leave and go to bed. I have to get up early in the morning to go to work. Thank you for telling me the truth about the situation, Yuki-san. You wouldn't mind taking care of Aiko until tomorrow, would you?"

"I intended to..."

"Thank you. Bye."

"Bye."

Starlite: YAY! More twists! I love twists, but expect more than just that. This will be twistier that any fic you have ever read! REVIEW!!!!!! Please...I'll give you a dollar!

Ryuichi: Do you really think I'm a rapist/pedophile?

Starlite: ................