I can't believe how long it's been since I posted to this story! I had a few life changes interrupt my writing, not to mention losing half this chapter to the computer gremlins! Thank Heaven for my dear friend that saves practically every word I write… it is because of her that this chapter was able to be finished, edited and finalized to my satisfaction…and hopefully yours as well! If you know or look up the song First Snow by BoA, please keep an open mind… I know she is a girl, and Shuichi is a guy, but the song spoke to me. I never actually intended for this to be a songfic, but that's how these things sometimes work out. Please review and let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I own no rights, nor make any profit from Gravitation; it's characters, or the telling of this story. The same holds true for "First Snow". All rights of the song belong to BoA Kwon and her various affiliations.

Chapter 4

Shuichi sat before the mirror in the small dressing room. After two years of playing arenas and concert halls, this room seemed more like a closet, but, being Shindo Shuichi, he didn't notice, much less care. He'd heard of performers who had outrageous demands that must be met before they would even consider agreeing to an engagement. Bad Luck, however, didn't care about any of that. Their mission had always been to play their music, put on a great show for their fans and have fun!

The only stipulation he ever made was to have ten minutes alone before each performance and a bottle of spring water. It had become a ritual over the years; at first he would spend the time getting in the 'zone'. These days, however, he used it as a time to reflect on his life, his career and where he would go next. Although his appearance may not have changed very much since they had debuted, the various experiences he'd lived through had brought on a certain maturity, a wisdom that no twenty year-old should possess.

If given the choice, there was very little that the singer would have changed. Sure, he still had the same vibrancy that had initially carried him to the top, but he had learned to temper it somewhat in his everyday life. After the nearly disastrous events when he'd chased Eiri all the way to New York, he'd worked very hard to be able to recognize his lover's various – and often volatile – mood swings, which had led to them becoming a stronger and much more stable couple. The most recent change in living arrangements had been a testament to the fact that Eiri was no longer frightened of committing to their relationship.

Shuichi had his eyes closed as he softly hummed along with the gentle piano melody that resonated through the ear buds that were attached to his MP3 player. He didn't hear the door open and close behind him, but somehow he knew he was no longer alone in the small room. A soft smile graced his features as he reached over his shoulder and started singing the last chorus of the new single.

Eiri bypassed the hand that was held out to him and wrapped his arms around Shuichi from behind, letting himself drown in the beauty of the boy's voice. When the last note hung in the air, he plucked the ear bud out and whispered, "Zero talent as always."

Shuichi couldn't help but giggle; this had become a long running game between them. "You always say that, but you never offer to help me get better."

Tugging gently on the singer's lobe he muttered, "That's because your voice makes everything sound better, even your own god-awful lyrics."

"Eiri…" Shuichi shivered at the delicious warmth that spread from that sensitive appendage to his groin as Eiri dipped his teasing tongue sensuously into his ear. "Stop that…" he breathed.

"Can I help it if you taste so good? Maybe you should stop using all that fruity shit in the shower." He emphasized his point by slowly sucking on the tender skin of Shuichi's neck.

Shu shot from the chair and examined the spot in the mirror. "Yuki, you bastard! Will you quit leaving marks like that?"

Eiri gave his partner a nonchalant shrug in the mirror. "I'm simply reminding them that you belong to me."

"Because this," he scoffed while wiggling the silver band on his finger, "isn't enough proof?"

Refusing to comment, Eiri grabbed that same hand and began to walk from the room. "Your time is up, Brat. The others are waiting for you."

Okay, something's wrong… "What happened, Eiri?"

"Nothing," he bit out.

Shuichi jerked his hand back, causing the blonde to look back. "I'm not moving until you tell me what's got you so upset."

"I'm not upset!"

"Bullshit," he accused.

Stuffing a cigarette between his lips, Eiri took the extra few seconds to school his features and bring his temper under control. Expelling the smoke with a harsh breath, he finally said, "I overheard some of those damn reporters…"

"They were talking about us?"

"Yes… No… They were betting that one of them could lay you before you took the stage."

It was an old problem that never failed to upset the writer. "Eiri, you know I would never—"

"I know, I know! Why you haven't still amazes me…"

"Because I know how it feels and I would never intentionally put you through that!" he cried in exasperation. "I love you! I am happy with you! You are all I ever wanted! They only want me for my image." He wrapped his arms around Eiri's waist and leaned his head on the man's chest, reveling in the steady rhythm of his lover's beating heart. "When are you going to finally believe that?"

"When you give up singing?" he rejoined in a soft tone.

"Not gonna happen," Shu said with a slight chuckle. "Although I might consider it the day you stop tapping out those novels." He gave the man one last squeeze and reached for the door. "Let's go, Yuki. My public awaits!"

"Are you actually nervous, Shu?" Hiro asked as they waited for their cue to take the stage.

"It's weird; I was fine until Eiri left to go sit with Seguchi-san. I mean, he's heard the song before but…" Shuichi nervously pulled at the hem of his shirt.

"You're being stupid," Suguru inserted. "Why should you care about what Yuki-san thinks about this song? He hates all of them, doesn't he?"

Shuichi glared at the keyboardist. "He doesn't hate them! He just says that to piss me off so I'll try harder!" At his band mate's skeptical look, he took a deep breath and explained, "All the others were things I felt. This song is about a shared and cherished memory. I just don't want to embarrass him by telling the rest of the world about it…"

"I think that he would have said something about it before now," Hiro assured the anxious singer while patting him on the head. "Yuki-san wouldn't keep something like that to himself, would he?"

"Well, no…" Just then the house lights dimmed. "I guess it's too late to change it now."

"That's right, so let's go out there and blow them away with Bad Luck's most heart wrenching ballad so far!" Hiro clapped his friends on the back and shoved them out onto the stage.

Eiri watched Shuichi's transformation as soon as he hit the stage. It was almost as though the energetic boy became a different person; gone was the hyperactive child that he lived with. In his place was a man that fairly hummed with a seductive aura that never failed to captivate the audience. It was a change that always stirred mixed emotions in the writer.

"I wonder," Tohma murmured from beside Yuki, "how the fans will react to this song."

"Why?"

"Well, Shindo-san made such a big deal about the band needing Nakano-san and his guitar, yet here they are, about to perform a song that doesn't have a single guitar chord in it."

Eiri rolled his eyes. "I seriously doubt anyone will care, Tohma. Those three could perform with a bunch of toddlers banging on pots and their fans would love it."

Shuichi looked out on the small audience and took a deep breath. This was a closed concert that was simply for the benefit of the press that had been asked to attend the Junket. There would be no screaming fans here today, only professional reporters and photographers. Normally, it would be that enthusiastic energy that would feed his performance. The fact that this show would lack that excitement made the singer even more nervous. His eyes frantically searched out the blonde head of his partner for some sign of support. Finally spotting Eiri where he sat between Seguchi-san and Sakano-san at the back of the room, he gave the writer a small smile. He saw Eiri return the gesture and knew that everything would be fine.

Suguru took his seat at the huge, black grand piano after showing Hiro what needed to be done to cue up the rest of the 'computerized' arrangement. The man was a veritable genius when it came to making the trio of musicians sound like a full orchestra was sharing the stage with them! The real challenge had been separating everything except the piano from the track's original version to a separate CD for live performances like this one. He'd insisted that a 'recorded' piano track would have less impact on the audience and had loathed the idea of bringing in a less-than-adequate keyboardist to assist him.

Shuichi had swallowed his pride and offered to ask Seguchi-san to play the synthesizer arrangement, but Suguru Fujisaki flatly and emphatically refused. "I don't know about you, Shindo-san, but I for one would rather scrap the whole thing than have people believe it was my cousin's genius that came up with the arrangement!" That had been the end of that argument, which Shuichi was secretly grateful for.

"Welcome, everyone! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for coming out here today, on such short notice, to talk with us and hear our newest single. I know that a lot of you asked about the background on this song during our interviews. I told you that I didn't want to keep repeating myself and I apologize for making you all wait for your answer.

"This song is a bit different from all of our others thus far. The first change is that Hiro will not be playing his guitar." He waited a moment for the surprised murmuring to stop. "Don't worry; it's only for this particular song. We decided to focus more on his singing. He really does have an amazing voice!" The audience laughed and applauded, causing the guitarist to blush a bit. "Second, and more importantly, this ballad is a bit more…personal than most of the others. As most of you know, I write my lyrics from my heart, but this one is based on a special moment in my life." Shimmering amethyst eyes met gold across the room; in that brief second, all the love and devotion the two shared was expressed without a single word being spoken. Tearing his eyes away from Eiri, Shuichi smiled beguilingly at his rapt audience and said, "So, without any further delay, here is 'First Snow'"

He nodded to Hiro, who keyed in the sequence on the laptop that was hooked up to the synthesizer before moving to stand beside Shuichi. Suguru's fingers slid gracefully over the ivories, the soft introduction wafting through the room over the hushed audience.

Hiro and Shuichi grinned at each other as they began to snap the slow tempo. At the slight pause, Shuichi raised his mouth to the microphone and closed his eyes as the beautiful memory of that long ago winter evening floated through his mind.

Hajimete no deeto mita eiga
Fuyu no machi de au shiin
Nanigenai koe de itte kureta
Hatsuyuki no hi wa kitto aou to

(In the movie we saw on our first date
There's a scene where two people meet in a winter town
You said casually
Let's make sure we meet up on the day of the first snow)

Joudan demo ureshikatta yakusoku ne

(Even though you were kidding, I was so happy – I promise)

Ai ga yobu kono hatsuyuki no hi wa
Futari dake ni wa wakariaeru no
Shiroku somatteku machi ni ai no ato wo
Kimi to egakou, zutto

(Only the two of us know
How love summoned this first snow
As the town is painted in white, let's draw
Marks of our love, forever)

The crowd gazed in awe at the sheer magnificence of his voice. There was a haunting serenity as Shuichi poured all that he had into the lyrics. It was obvious that the singer had pulled from deep within to produce such touching words and be able to sing them with such soul-deep intensity.

No one could deny that there was something stirring about watching Shuichi on stage and Eiri was no more immune to it than anyone else in the room. The petite performer possessed a presence that was all encompassing and inescapable. But there was a difference this time from all the others; Shuichi's beautiful voice resonated with all the love and devotion that Yuki alone had witnessed that cold winter night. He smiled at the pleasure that wrapped around him, knowing that while all the others may fall in love with one part of the pop star or another, only he knew the joy of loving all of him. Better yet was the knowledge of knowing that Shuichi loved him just as much – if not more – in return.

Shuichi opened his eyes to that angelic and oh-so-rare smile. The music ebbed and flowed around him while everything else disappeared. Those golden, leonine eyes watched him from afar, but the singer had never felt closer to his beloved than at this moment.

Deaeta koro kara
Ichinen wo sugoshita ne
Tama ni wa kenka mo shita kedo
Ano yakusoku
Saisho no kimochi modoreta

(We've spent a year together
Since we first met
Sometimes we fought
But that promise
Brought back the way we felt in the beginning)

Naze yuki wa fuyu shika furanai no?

(Why does snow only fall in the winter?)

Fuwafuwa shiroi hana mai ochiru
Futari wo terasu tiara ni naru yo
Negai wa hitotsu
Kawaranai kimochi de
Iraremasu you ni, kimi to

(Soft white snow floats down
And forms glittering tiaras on our heads
I have only one wish
That I can have a feeling that never changes
With you)

Hiro and Suguru shared a quick, questioning glance at the trance-like state of their vocalist. They'd been through hundreds of performances, both with and without Eiri in attendance. But never had they seen Shuichi so engrossed with his partner's presence. It was as though they were the only two people in the room.

The musicians weren't the only ones to notice the strange phenomena; every member of the audience was turning in their seats to see what had captured the attention of the singer so completely. Once they saw who sat in the invisible spotlight, reporters began scribbling frantically on their note pads. Seguchi sighed regretfully at the shift he knew they would take on reporting the new single and prayed that he would be able to keep Eiri's involvement minimal.

That desire was given a very quick death when the blonde stood at the same moment Shuichi took the microphone from its stand. Every eye watched as Eiri walked up to the stage, climbed the steps with ease and took Shuichi's outstretched hand in his own.

Ai ga yobu kono hatsuyuki ni hi wa
Futari dake ni wa wakariaeru no
Shiroku somatteku machi ni ai no ato wo
Kimi to egakou sa rang hae

Only the two of us know
How love summoned this first snow
As the town is painted in white, let's draw
Marks of our love, sa rang hae*

Amethyst eyes sparkled with unshed tears as they gazed into Eiri's golden orbs. The last three words were sung barely above a whisper; Shuichi was simply overwhelmed by the onslaught of love for this beautiful, impossibly infuriating man. While the line was truly part of the song, in that moment it was a reaffirmation of the promise he'd made that night as they lay side by side in the snow, watching the large white flakes float down from heaven.

"I'll never leave you, Eiri."

Eiri gently cupped his hand at the nape of the singer's neck and pulled him into a bone-crushing embrace. "I love you, too, you damn brat," he whispered fiercely. "Thank you for saving my life."

Neither of them took heed of the strobe-like effects of the photographer's cameras or the frantically scribbling reporters. Shuichi's ring glinted as he clung to Eiri's shoulders, causing a low murmur among the crowd, one long, low moan from NG Productions president, a gleeful cackle from the band's manager and a distinct THUNK as Bad Luck's neurotic producer hit the floor in a dead faint.

The seven men sat around a low table at one of Tokyo's best high-end sushi restaurants, discussing the success – and possible disaster – of Bad Luck's first Press Junket. "Honestly, we should do these more often," Shuichi suggested around a spicy shrimp roll.

Suguru inserted, "Maybe not all the time, but definitely before the release of our albums. It was much easier than a press conference and I think the reporters were pleased at the prospect of not having to wait until it was old news before we could do the one-on-one interviews."

Seguchi looked at each of the group's members, taking in the relaxed postures and easy smiles. He gave them all a genuine smile and said, "While I agree that it went better than I anticipated, I still worry that your little stunt will have serious ramifications, Shindo-san."

Shuichi waved his chopsticks in a dismissive gesture while leaning against his lover's shoulder. "Yuki and I are old news," he said. "I doubt it will be more than a comment about how amazing it is we've been together for so long."

"Well, they wouldn't be the only ones amazed by it," Hiro laughed. "I applaud Yuki-san for putting up with you for all these years!" Easily dodging the shove Shuichi directed at him, he locked an arm around the singer's neck and ruffled his hair. "I'm just teasing, Shu!"

Sakano looked nervously at his boss and said nervously, "While that may be true here, what about those reporters from America? What if they only print what happened at the end of the song? What if we're banned from America?"

"Relax, Sakano," K sighed. "You'll find American's don't care much about that. There have been several foreign artists that had a huge success rate in the States, regardless of the fact that they had – how do I put this? – questionable sexual preferences."

"Really?" Shuichi asked as he squirmed away from Hiro's relentless noogies. "Like who?"

"Elton John, Freddy Mercury, and David Bowie to name a few," K informed him.

"Never heard of them." Shuichi shrugged and dug into his spring rolls.

Chuckling softly, Seguchi cast sympathetic eyes on the American. "Makes one feel old, ne?"

K merely grinned and said, "Not old; just extremely educated."

Eiri couldn't help but smile. He easily anticipated Shuichi's response to the blonde American's jibe and placed a firm, restraining hand on his lover's shoulder just before he was able to lunge across the table.

"Did you just call me stupid?"

Fearing a public scene in such a well-respected place, Sakano quickly asked, "So where do you plan on going for your vacation, Shindo-san?"

Shuichi blinked and turned questioning eyes to his partner. "Where are we going, Yuki?"

"You'll find out when we get there," he replied in a non-committal voice. Taking a moment to glare across the table at K and Tohma, he informed them in a warning tone, "We won't be taking our phones. I'd better not spot anyone following us, either."

"You won't," Tohma assured his brother-in-law. "Just so long as Shindo-san reports back to the studio by ten o'clock Monday morning, there won't be any problems."

The members of Bad Luck gaped at their boss in shock. "Six days? We get six days off? In a row?" Shuichi asked in shock.

"Hot damn! Kyoto, here I come!" Hiro shouted.

Suguru smiled serenely. "Sleep…I can sleep! And finally unpack my apartment!"

Glancing at his watch, Eiri stood and threw some bills down on the table. "Let's go, Brat. Our flight leaves in five hours and we have things to…do."

Shuichi couldn't mistake the glint of lust in the blonde's eyes and smiled. He stood and bowed to his friends and superiors before taking Yuki's hand. "Let's go home, Yuki."

"Hey Yuki," Shuichi called from the bedroom, "What should I pack?"

Eiri sighed as he made his way to the room they shared. "I don't remember saying you would need any clothes, Shu."

"Oh, har-har…" Shuichi started rifling through his closet, pulling out a few of his favorite jeans and t-shirts before throwing them on the bed. "Does that mean we're going shopping while we're there?"

"Nice try, Kid," Eiri scoffed. "I'm not telling you where we're going until we are on the plane."

"Meanie," he pouted while pulling out two of his favorite hoodies. "Do I need to bring a suit?"

"Yeah, your birthday suit should be more than enough," the blonde quipped as he threw some clothes into a small case. He looked up in time to see Shuichi's pink tongue retreat into his mouth. "Do I need to arrange a later flight?"

Gulping at the lustful gleam in Eiri's eyes, Shuichi shook his head and gathered a few more necessities from his dresser. "I don't understand what all the secrecy is about, Eiri. The taxi will be here in an hour and then we'll be all alone for six…whole…days…" Shuichi's voice faded as his eyes glazed over dreamily.

Before the boy could melt into a puddle of Shu-goo on his floor, Eiri thunked him on the head. "Wake up! I don't trust you to open your mouth before we get on the plane! The last thing we need is for some reporter or crazed fan to follow us! Worse yet, I don't want Tohma to know where we are!"

Shuichi continued to pout as he gathered his stuff from the bathroom. He hated not knowing what he would need and dreaded that Eiri wouldn't let him go out to get whatever he hadn't brought with him. But the thought of spending six days locked in a room with the god-like man wasn't such a bad prospect, either. Dumping the various bottles, cans and styling tools into his bag before zipping it shut, he declared. "I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be!"

"Good, I'll take the bags to the door; you make sure everything's locked up." He leaned down to capture the singer's lips in a brief kiss, but to his surprise, Shuichi took command of the exchange. Eiri dropped his case to the floor as his petite lover dominated his mouth in an uncharacteristic display of aggression. Moaning softly, he wrapped his arms around Shuichi and waited to see how far he'd take this.

Shuichi didn't know where the courage came from to all but attack Yuki's mouth, but sensing that the writer was willing to allow it, he became even more emboldened and rubbed his pelvis suggestively against him. He mentally smirked at the immediate response of his lover and broke the kiss. "Just a little something to hold you over until we get wherever we're going…" he panted while trailing love-bites along the blonde's tender neck.

Eiri chuckled and said, "Didn't I mention we were taking a private plane?"

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