Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Never did.
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter too.
Morning found Yuki curled up on the couch. He had cried himself to sleep last night, something he hadn't done in years, and even while he slept, he had been restless. His dreams, nightmares, really, had been filled with his memory of the fight with Shuichi, and Yuki had had to suffer seeing Shuichi leave him, again and again, before disappearing into thin air like he had never existed.
Never existed.
Yuki had shot awake countless times because of it, and then he would look around the empty apartment frantically, hoping it was all some horrible dream.
But it wasn't.
The apartment remained empty. Quiet. Lifeless.
And the sobs would come again, and Yuki would curl back up on the couch – the couch he made his Shuichi sleep in so often – and cry himself back to sleep, his hands holding his lighter and the tiny picture to his chest like a vicegrip. It was all he had left of his brat.
Yuki awoke to sounds coming from the kitchen in the morning, and at once, his heart leapt. Shuichi was back!
The novelist was on his feet and striding towards the kitchen within seconds. He could already see how this was going to go…
"Oi, brat, stop making a mess of my kitchen." Harsh words, but with an underlying fondness and affection.
"Huh? Oh, Yuuukkkkiiii!" Huge glomp as the small, pink-haired brat attached himself to his person.
"Argh, get off me, brat." Feigned annoyance.
"I'm sorry for that stupid prank, Yuki. Please forgive me. Look, I'm even making breakfast to try to make it up to you." A glance at the frying pan would prove that his attempt at cooking was once again a horrible failure, and then those big purple eyes would grow large and teary. "I'm sorry, Yuki, I messed up. I'm sorry. Sorrysorrysorrysorry…"
"Just shut up, brat." A deep kiss to those soft lips before gazing directly into bright violet eyes. "I'm sorry too."
Yes, it was cliché, and it sounded like a scene out of one of his romance novels, but Yuki couldn't care less. Shuichi was back!
The fond but caustic remark he had prepared died on his lips, and his heart tore in two again, when he saw who was really in the kitchen.
Yes, it was someone with Shuichi's height and stature, but instead of bright pink hair, it was pale blonde that greeted him instead.
Tohma.
Yuki felt his face arranging itself automatically into a scowl as bitter disappointment filled him. "What the hell are you doing here, Tohma?" he growled at the former keyboardist.
"Ah, Eiri-san, ohayo," Tohma said pleasantly as he turned away from the breakfast he was making. "Would you like some breakfast?"
"No, I bloody do not want some breakfast. I want to know what you're doing here."
"I was worried about you after that call last night, Eiri-san, so I came looking for you." Yuki hated the mild, patronizing way Tohma said that, as if he were a little boy, as if it were New York all over again. He absolutely hated it.
"I'm fine."
Tohma didn't seem to have heard him, because he had turned back to the frying pan and was continuing to talk. "You were crying all night. I was really worried about you, but you didn't seem to notice I was there whenever you woke up. You kept crying for this Shuichi and how you were sorry. Now, I've scheduled a meeting for you with Minami-san…"
"Shut up!" Yuki roared. "I told you, I don't need to see my fucking shrink!"
"But, Eiri-san, this is a serious problem. You're talking about people who don't exist -"
"He exists! He exists, damn it! People just forgot about him! But he exists!"
"I'm sure he does, Eiri-san -"
"Stop that!" His brother-in-law sounded like an indulgent parent telling a child that, yes, Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy all existed. "I know you don't believe me, but I know he exists! I've got proof!"
At last, interest flickered on Tohma's face. "Really?"
"Yes!" Yuki fumbled for his precious lighter and practically shoved the tiny picture in Tohma's face, though he didn't relinquish the lighter to the older man.
Tohma blinked a few times before he realized what he was seeing, and then a few more as he focused on the small pink blob next to Yuki in the picture. Yuki could practically see the memories flowing back into his brother-in-law as he studied the image.
"Shindou-kun…" Tohma whispered.
"See, you do remember him after all!" Yuki said triumphantly.
Tohma looked up at him, new/old memories swirling in his eyes as he frowned at Yuki. "How did this happen? Why didn't I remember?"
Yuki was silent, guilt welling up in him again. It was his fault. He knew it had to be his fault. If he hadn't made that stupid wish…if he hadn't said those things…
"We…we had a fight," he started slowly, his eyes focused on the lighter and the tiny picture.
Tohma just nodded, as if to say, 'So what else is new?' Yuki would've scowled if he could, but he knew that no one was exactly surprised nowadays when Shuichi arrived at work, depressed and whiny because he had fought with Yuki again. It was a far too common occurrence. Yuki had no right to be angry that Tohma wasn't even the least bit distressed by this news.
"It was a pretty normal one. At least, I think it was -" Yuki was frowning. What exactly had been different between that fight and all the others that they'd had. "I was yelling at him, but he – he wasn't crying like he normally did. He just looked – blank. And then – then -" Yuki's throat threatened to close up at the memory of those harsh words.
"I told him I wanted him to disappear. He didn't even react. He only asked if I meant it. So I said – I said -" Tears welled up in his golden eyes, and Yuki looked away. He wasn't going to cry in front of Tohma. He was not that weak little boy who had needed Tohma for everything anymore.
"I told him I wished I'd never met him. And then he just left, just like that." Yuki tried hard to swallow past the lump in his throat. "I thought he would come back. He always comes back. But…I woke up in the morning and I didn't remember him. It wasn't until I saw the picture that it all came back. But it's as if he's not here anymore. And it's all my fault. It's my fault for making that wish, and now it's come true, and – and – and I want him back!"
It was official. Yuki Eiri was crying despite his promise to himself not to. But it just hurt so badly. His chest, his heart, everything felt like it had been torn in two and half of it had been stolen away, and he could never get it back because what he had lost was irreplaceable.
"Eiri-san," Tohma stepped closer to him, his arms held wide as if inviting Yuki into an embrace. Soon, the blonde novelist was sobbing against the older man's chest, his legs failing him again as he dropped to the floor.
"I want him back…I want him to be here, and whining and laughing and making those stupid puppy dog eyes whenever I won't listen to him… I want his loud music blasting out of my TV, and the Pocky littering all over the floor… I want my brat back…"
Tohma, for once, didn't seem to have any words of comfort for Yuki. How could he? He couldn't bring Shuichi back, and telling him it'd be all right was a damned lie because Shuichi was gone, and nothing would ever be right again.
Nothing.
Yuki Eiri, cold-hearted bastard, now found himself crying his eyes out at the thought of his lost love, whom he had driven away and cursed out of existence with his thoughtless words.
Be careful what you wish for indeed.
If he made a wish now to take it all back, would it happen? Would that come true?
No, it wouldn't, because he'd been wishing for it all night and it hadn't come true yet.
Shuichi wasn't coming back. He couldn't come back, because he no longer existed except in his – and Tohma's – memories.
"Be careful what you wish for, it just might come true," a light voice quoted the famous saying from the doorway.
Yuki quickly dashed the tears away and turned furious, if a little disturbed that someone had come upon him at this particular moment, eyes upon this new intruder. He felt Tohma's arms tighten protectively around him.
There was a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. Or rather, leaning casually against the doorframe. Yuki could see no details besides a silhouette, and that was ambiguous at best. The figure was lean, slender, like Shuichi but taller, and had short hair.
"Who are you?" he growled at the intruder.
"Is that any way to speak to the one who just made your wish come true?" the figure spoke teasingly.
Golden eyes narrowed. "What are you talking about?"
"You wished for it, didn't you?" Yuki had the distinct feeling that the figure was smirking at him.
"Just stop bothering me and disappear already!" The figure imitated his own voice with eerie accuracy, and Yuki flinched at the harsh words. "I wish I'd never met you, you overbearing pink eyesore!"
"So you see, Yuki-san, this was exactly what you wished for, isn't it?" The figure's voice was taunting.
His grief and sorrow forgotten in favor of his rage at this mysterious figure, Yuki snarled, "Who the hell are you and what did you do with Shuichi?"
Yuki had the feeling the smirk he had sensed earlier just grew wider. In a voice dripping with mock innocence, the figure said, "You didn't want him, Yuki-san. You said so yourself. So I took him. Shindou Shuichi no longer exists. He never did."
"You bastard…" Yuki growled as he struggled to stand, to get to whoever this stranger was and punch the daylights out of the self-satisfied ass. Tohma, however, held him fast with strength that Yuki would not have believed possible of a person as short as the former keyboardist.
"Eiri-san, wait," Tohma whispered before he turned his gaze on the figure. "Who are you, exactly?" His voice was cold and vaguely threatening. Yuki recognized it as the same tone Tohma usually used to make even seasoned and ruthless businessmen sweat bullets.
The figure, however, appeared to be entirely unfazed. Instead, Tohma's question was answered in an almost taunting voice. "Me? I might be a spirit whose soul can be saved from eternal damnation by fulfilling random wishes, or I could be a genie, finding mischief in causing chaos in the lives of mortals...what do you think?"
"Stop fucking around with me!" Yuki snarled. "Where is Shuichi? What did you do to him?"
"Weren't you listening, Yuki-san? He doesn't exist anymore. That's what you wanted, isn't it? You wished for it, after all. I would've thought you would be happy now that I've granted your wish."
"How can I be happy? Give him back, damn you!"
The figure actually seemed to consider that, but then, in true childish fashion with tongue sticking out and everything, said, "Nah. I don't think so."
Yuki broke free of Tohma and lunged for the figure. Incredibly, the dark shadow just seemed to drift to one side, dodging Yuki's attack entirely. The figure laughed merrily.
"Now, that wasn't very nice, Yuki-san," the figure said, as if reprimanding a child for stealing cookies before dinner. There was even a finger wagging teasingly in his direction.
Tohma leaped for the figure this time, but the figure seemed to be made of smoke as the man grasped nothing but thin air. Yuki tried to punch the shadow again, but the figure only drifted sideways or else the blows had about as much effect as hitting mist.
"What the hell are you?" Yuki snarled.
"I'd be an idiot to reveal all my secrets, Yuki-san," the figure laughed.
"What do you want?" Tohma frowned at the figure. "What do you want so that you will give Shindou-kun back?"
The figure stopped, striking a thoughtful pose with a tilted head and a single finger pressed to the chin. "Well, let's see…" Yuki could almost see the predatory grin on the figure's face, despite the person being completely in shadow. It was odd how, despite moving around like that, the figure remained completely black…
"Play with me."
That's it for now. What could my strange spirit/thief be up to, I wonder...