The crowd was quiet the whole time Shuichi was singing. It was as if they shared the feeling of heartache the singer was trying to convey to the song and decided to drown themselves in it. It was only after the said song was finished that the whole stadium was roaring from the screams it brought.
Shuichi bowed and then left for the backstage. From there he heard Touya give his exit remarks. He couldn't believe it was finally over. It was heaven while it lasted, definitely, but now that it was over, he found that he could hardly breathe. It's been quite a while since he kept his breath that long at his body is no longer giving him the energy he once was able to derive from it. He was too preoccupied with his trying to keep his breathing steady hat he had hardly noticed most of the crew around him.
The backstage, unlike the front, was quiet, too quiet, it seemed, yet everyone seems to be thinking of the same thing.
Yuki was standing far away from he crowd that had gathered around Shuichi. Unlike the fangirls outside, he crowd was soundlessly marveling at the singer. He wanted to just run and have Shuichi back in his arms, tell him those three words the singer had wanted to hear, but his feet, and his whole body for that matter, just didn't want to move from the safe location he's in right now.
"Wow Shuichi that was awesome!" Hiro, who came in to finally break the tensional silence, screeched like an excited kid. "You sure had me surprised!"
"Shuichi Shuichi shining shiny!" Sakuma arrived hopping like the rabbit he was carrying; right beside him was K and Suguru agreeing silently.
Everyone expected Shuichi to look up with his big eyes shining and scream his lungs out a remark like we did it people or something like that, but he merely giggled and kept his stare on his foot.
When Shining Glory Days entered, the crew went wild and congratulated them for a job well done.
When Shuichi was sure that the attention was completely diverted to the band (even Hiro, Sakuma, K and Suguru were shoved off somewhere by a big man in a black tight shirt), he walked away looking for a vending machine. He hoped that drinking something, anything, right now would help ease his difficulty in breathing, if only just temporarily.
Yuki saw Shuichi walking away from the crowd, wavering slightly. Perfect chance to finally have some private moments with him, he thought. Just when he was about to walk forward, Shuichi stumbled and totally fell shoulder first on the floor.
The writer watched in horror as Shuichi's body slowly came in contact with he concrete ground, bouncing slightly once before he lay on his side, unmoving. Quickly, Yuki made his way to the boy and held him in his arms trying to calm himself saying Shuichi just passed out from being tired. But when he felt cold skin on his touch, he looked at the singer and found him turning blue. It seemed like a while when he realized that the boy wasn't breathing at all.
"Shuichi! Shuichi!" he called out slightly shaking the singer. Remembering that you shouldn't move somebody unconscious, Yuki forced his mind to think rationally.
The others in the hallway stopped marveling on the band and finally realized that there was somebody lying dead unconscious right behind them. Somebody screamed followed by chaos.
Hiro and K managed not to let them circle while Yuki performed first aid resuscitation on the bluing Shuichi.
Yuki gave him a mouth-to-mouth before pressing on the boy's chest several times.
First time… no response Damn it! Okay, don't panic…
Second time… no response Shuichi wake up now!
Third time… no response Shuichi Damn it wake up this instant and I'll kiss you so hard you'll wish you never had lips!
Still, nothing happened. Yuki was madly shaking Shuichi's body, giving up rationality, and was at the verge of crying when Shuichi coughed for the firs time… then for the second time…
"Shit Shuichi! What's wrong with you!" Yuki cried out almost unknowingly when he pulled Shuichi to his chest, "I thought you were going to die you idiot!"
When Shuichi didn't respond, he looked at the singer and noticed that his breathing was still irregular. "Somebody, call an ambulance!" he shouted but was greeted by a siren. Apparently, somebody who had a common sense already did and he assumed that that somebody must be Seguchi's cousin.
Yuki waited impatiently outside the emergency room along with the others. Worried as he was, he was still totally clueless, and he hated it. Shuichi's been acting weird ever since he came back, that being said with the image of the normal Shuichi as basis. The singer acted more mature, too mature actually, and nobody really grows up that much in two years, nobody. It was as if something happened that forced the transformation, and damn hell Yuki wanted to know what that something is.
Finally, the door opened and the doctor told them that they could see Shuichi in the room, but two at a time.
"What's wrong with him?" Yuki asked frantically.
"I'm sorry, but only relatives should be given-"
"Cut the bullshit, Doctor!" the writer almost shouted, totally pissed off. He was going to find out what's wrong with Shuichi right now and no damn doctor's going to tell him otherwise.
There was a gunshot that made everyone in the hallway ducked. Yuki looked behind him and K was pointing his revolver at the doctor, "what's wrong with him…" the manager said.
Yuki, even though he detested admitting it or even taking the thought of it, almost wanted to bow and thank that insane man because right then and there, the doctor started babbling a million words per second. Yuki wouldn't have understood anything from it hadn't his hearing adjusted to Shuichi's way of speaking a long time ago.
However, fast as his mind was able to take it all in, none of his comprehensive abilities wanted to acknowledge what he had just heard.
Shuichi has been suffering from emphysema. Basically, that means his lungs are no longer letting enough residual carbon dioxide exit, giving him the effect that he's drowning out of water. It seems like he's in the last stage of it, he's been diagnosed about two years ago and I have no idea whether or not he's been taking proper medications since I've had no contact with him since the day I told him he had it. Right now, I'm actually surprised that he's not under any means of artificial respiration; breathing as it is must be extremely hard for him right now.
Emphysema? Yuki repeated in his mind. Two years ago?
Two years ago Shuichi started to act a little differently. Two years ago, on that day, Shuichi wanted to tell him something, something important, the singer said. Two years ago, he completely ignored Shuichi's plea and shoved him out of the room so he could resume to his writing. Two years ago, Shuichi left him and everything else in the world that Yuki knows.
Eiri, you bastard. You disregarded him like he was a blasted piece of shit and you left him alone. You left him alone with a disease that's taking away his life. Bullshit! He mentally cursed himself.
Shuichi's crowd of known people was dumfounded. Yuki could feel the change in the formerly cheerful air. How were they supposed to handle that situation? How was he going to handle the situation?