I've returned! So sorry for the wait! I typed myself out...I'm honestly working on too many fics at once...but that can't be helped, can't just up and stop writing any of them, just means updates will have longer intervals in-between I guess.
Itty bitty fact about this story... it's part of a 3 part series,
Nittle Grasper: Beginnings Part 1. This story will cover everything that happens until Tohma and Eiri go to New York.
Burgundy: A New York Experience Part 2. Will begin to be posted after Nittle Grasper: Beginnings is complete. This covers the entire New York experience, as well as Tohma and Eiri's lives from there after until the original Gravitation plot begins. *Note: I follow the manga rather than the show*
Bad Luck: Understandings Part 3. The gravitation manga series comes before this. I dive right into new plot after manga #12. I ignore EX's existence. This is life after volume 12. Very Dramatic.
For now, you may concentrate on the story at hand. I decided to split my Gravitation plot in 3 bits to make writing more manageable. I hope to see you all until the end :)
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Tohma sighed, shifting in the bed as he lay beside Ryuichi.
Ryuichi had been asleep for over an hour now, but his own head was too filled with worry to sleep. He couldn't just lay down and forget what had gone down the previous night... He'd probably have nightmares about a bloody Ryuichi falling into his arms for the rest of his life...
But what could he do?
This wasn't something he was used to... He wasn't informed about how to deal with abusive parents or guardians... It had never been a problem for him.
Tohma sighed once more. It was becoming a habit...
There was only one thing he really could do, and that was to confront the man...
He carefully slid out from underneath the brunette and out from the blankets, earning a groan of protest from the sleeping teen. Making sure he hadn't woken him up in retreating, he paused momentarily until Ryuichi's breathing evened out again.
Tohma then slipped his jacket back on, and silently snuck out the door, making his way towards his car.
Tohma didn't know what to expect from this man, but he was prepared for anything...or so he hoped...
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"I can't stand him sometimes! I can't help it Noriko! He just really GETS to me, and I can't stand it...The nerve of him...showing up at our school and not even saying hello to me! As if I don't exist anymore!" Mika growled to her best friend that sat in front of her.
Noriko sighed.
"But... well, that's Tohma for you. He can be scary, strange, and annoying all at the same time. That's how he's always been. He's just been a little stressed out over the past few weeks because of his father...all the work that man expects him to do, on top of managing a few classes...and then the band... And then we had to throw the loss of Shinya on top of all that? Give him time. We just got a new vocalist. Give him some time to settle down and teach the guy the ropes, and he'll be back to how he was before! Hopefully..." Noriko winced. "He's been worrying me too, but that's not the point... He does stupid things when you're not with him, so you two need to hurry up and make up! He gets all weird when you're not around to push him in the right direction." Noriko laughed and smiled slightly at the confused look on Mika's face.
Mika blinked and shook her head, bringing her hand up to rub her temples.
"Maybe I don't want to know... but I'm not going to calm down so easily. He can wait. He always does... He can calm down first... Then we'll see what happens..." She sighed heavily and took a bite of her ramen.
After all, it was lunch time... might as well take advantage of the situation...
Noriko slouched in her chair at this but decided to give up. There was never any way to pressure Mika into anything.
"Okay... I trust that you know what you're doing, but I still think he needs some guidance right now... But you do what you want. It's your life. I'm just trying to look out for both of my friends. You know how it goes..." Noriko laughed and threw her wrappers and cartons in the garbage behind them.
Mika smiled weakly.
"Thank you... At least with you I have an opinion."
Noriko could only give her a sad look.
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Tohma groaned as he continued to drive towards the house that was Ryuichi's.
Just thinking about how far he had, had to run to get to his apartment made him sick.. He had been in way too bad of condition to have run so far...especially in the rain. It was no wonder that he'd fainted once finally getting to him
He took a deep breath, thankful that he had gotten both the address of the school, and the address of Ryuichi's home early on in the day... Just in case... he ended up needing it after all. Maybe he had a sixth sense for knowing when he'd need certain bits of information, even if he didn't need it at the time of finding it?
Though he'd have preferred to have NOT needed his address...it would have been a much more pleasant situation...
Tohma finally managed to come down the block where Ryuichi's home was. He gave a weak smile when all parking was already taken, meaning that Ryuichi's step father had to be home. Saved him the trouble of either having to track the man down, or waste hours waiting for him to show up.
He exited the car, taking a deep breath before starting towards the building. Amazingly, as he got to the front door to the house, the door was conveniently unlocked.
Naturally, he let himself in...
Big Mistake...
The man he had come to confront must have heard the door open and shut, because he began to scream throughout the house immediately.
"Brat! Where the hell have you been!" Tohma flinched as the man's loud, angered voice echoed through the building. "How dare you run out like that! You should take things like a man should! How many times do I have to tell your pansy ass to suck it up and be a man-" Tohma had to fight his sudden burst of anger as the man rounded the corner into the living room ,where he spotted Tohma.
The man froze, a look of angry confusion apparent on his face.
"Well... I'll say that, that proves that you're definitely the culprit in the situation... Doesn't it?" Tohma glared at the shocked man who dropped his cigarette in the moment of confusion.
He didn't bother to retrieve it.
"Who the Hell are you? And what makes you think that you can just walk into my house and begin to rag on me? You don't even know me!" He snarled, stepping on the cigarette to put it out, leaving a melted circle in its place.
Tohma frowned.
"I am a friend of your son-" Tohma began.
Unfortunately, Tohma was not to get another word in yet as a snarl ripped loose from the other man's throat and he stormed over to the blonde.
" That... thing, is not my son!" Tohma jumped as the man began to yell once more, his voice booming loudly mere feet from Tohma's ears. "It's his poor lunatic mother's spawn! Don't EVER try to relate me to him! Besides, you're not REALLY a friend, are you? You're some young pathetic queer sugar-daddy that stupidly chose that worthless brat as a whore. And now, you're upset that I roughed him up a bit! Am I right?" He smirked at Tohma's look of horror and shook his head as he laughed.
Tohma was shocked.
He had never heard anyone speak so crudely about anyone or anything! And no one had ever even had the thought of speaking to him like that cross their poor pathetic minds...
He was already extremely pissed, but now?
Now he was furious...
Tohma regained his composure and straightened himself before speaking
"I don't know what makes you think that you can speak to me like that, but you are very much in the wrong!" Tohma growled, trying extremely hard not to begin waling on the man before him.
He could easily get sued for it, and he didn't feel like court...
Manipulation, yes...
Beating the crap out of someone was definitely a no...
The man grunted, unamused with Tohma's sudden display of anger, and walked even closer to the blonde.
"I'm wrong am I?" he raised an eyebrow, smirking at Tohma who was a decent bit shorter than him. " I don't think so. You're one of those rich pretty boys that just don't want their property touched by anyone other then them! I can tell. You don't spend to much time outside, you're too pale. Your obviously mixed, your hair couldn't possibly be so light otherwise...one of your parents a damn Gaijin! You're wearing a black and grey, feathered trench coat, and you're defending someone you probably don't even really know." Tohma's eyes widened, unable to believe that Ryuichi had been living with this man... "What? Did he fly out of the house like a bat outta hell to you? Did he want you to comfort his pitiful body, make him feel better about himself-"
"THAT IS QUITE ENOUGH!" Tohma screamed as he stomped towards the idiotic man in anger, putting them only inches apart.
The man laughed, and shoved Tohma in the chest forcing him backwards.
"Did I hit a sore spot? It's all true. I know. Otherwise you wouldn't be so flustered. Hitting me will only do you harm, so I suggest that you refrain from doing so, and if you care about that brat so much, keep him! Then I won't have to listen to his indecent whining 24/7... It's fucking annoy-"
Tohma was now fuming...and felt no hesitation in interrupting the man before him.
"I suggest that you shut your mouth immediately! You have NO idea what I am capable of! Do not underestimate me! A few dials of the phone, and your whole life goes down the drain!" Tohma growled
By this point, he was shaking. By this point, Tohma wasn't even sure if any of his threats would be of use. with rage, and it only irked him more that the man before him could care less about the whole situation. Tohma was sure he had NEVER been so angry before...
"Really?" The man snorted, causing Tohma to twitch. " What are you? Yakuza? There's no possible way that you could effect me other wise, and if so... you could easily be arrested. You've already broken and entered, and they'd be glad to get another blackmailing delinquent off the streets."
Tohma's hand suddenly shot up and grabbed the collar of the man's shirt
"No... I'm not, and I have no intentions of getting arrested! You, however, I'm not too sure about! You could easily be thrown into jail for what you did to him! You can't beat the crap out of someone like that! What would you have done if I had, had to send him to the hospital?" Tohma fought the urge to spit in the man's face...
That sort of thing would get him nowhere, and likely make the situation worse. If the man decided to lash out at him...well...he wasn't exactly the most athletic...and he'd never been forced into a situation where he had to defend himself. Things could easily go badly for him, and he didn't want to chance it.
The man smirked, tearing away from Tohma's grasp.
"Nothing. They'd do absolutely nothing. He's been there before. Each time it's the same thing. They think he got into another fight with those boys at school. Hell! They're younger than him and he still gets the shit kicked out of him! How pathetic can you get?" He laughed lightly as Tohma continued to glare at him. "Hey, you just going to give me dirty looks all night? Or are you going to get his crap outta my house and leave me the hell alone?" He coughed and raised an eyebrow at Tohma, who had lost all patience, but had manage to shove all thoughts of killing the man out of his head.
Tohma's eyes turned to slits.
"Gladly. I came here to see what had happened, and to see how you acted... This home is obviously not suited to have Ryuichi in it as long as you are here, so I am removing him. Count yourself lucky that I do not report you to authorities." he growled between clenched teeth.
The man waved him away.
"You couldn't do anything if you tried! Anyway, the bastard's room is straight down the hall. He doesn't have much, so you won't need to come here multiple times and annoy the fuck out of me." He grumbled as he walked into the kitchen to get himself a beer.
Tohma watched him walk away, and couldn't help letting loose a frustrated yell. He could hear Ryuichi's step father chuckling to himself as he rummaged through the fridge. Tohma bit into his cheek to keep his mouth shut, as he slowly walked towards what where Ryuichi's room was said to be. He didn't know what he'd be presented with when he opened the door. Nothing would surprise him at this point. He was livid...
How anyone could treat someone so cruelly, he'd never know... The man thought he could do nothing to him, huh?
He'd see...
Tohma took a deep breath, and turned the knob, letting the door swing open. Tohma let his tensed up shoulder sag in sadness. The man had been telling the truth... The room WAS pretty bare. Just some clothes, far less than a person as old as Ryuichi should have, most of which were bits belonging to school uniforms, a few CDs, a CD player, a photo album, and a backpack... There was no dresser, just a small laundry bin, and there was a mattress, no frame or box spring.
It was quite sad, seeing that someone had so little even though their guardian could easily afford so much more...
He immediately felt bad that Ryuichi had been brought into his home, which held expensive items, whether for recreation, or even just the furniture...it was amazing how much he took advantage of just because he had the money. Seeing What Ryuichi lived with had definitely given him a sudden new perspective on a lot of things...
He sighed and sat on the bed to calm himself momentarily.
What was next? If Ryuichi wasn't going to live with his stepfather anymore, he'd have to stay with him. Tohma wasn't sure he could have it any other way after this...The guy clearly needed some close companionship and some loving care. There was no way he could have him live on his own, and with them currently being together, there was no reason to.
But currently, his apartment was way too small, meaning that he'd have to get a new, larger one...
Tohma groaned...he was never fond of moving. He liked knowing where all of his things were, and he was never fond of others, whim he did not know, touching his personal belongings, but packing and moving himself was far too much of a hassle...
But, of course, all of that could be arranged later...
Tohma groaned and lifted himself off of the bed, then shakily picked up the one large box that held all of the brunette's belongings.
One box...
He quietly shut the bedroom door and stepped out into the hall. He paused, glancing at a pile of papers on the desk against the far wall.
"Bingo..." Tohma grinned.
As he finally re-reached the living room, Tohma became aware that Ryuichi's step-father had returned. He had seated himself on the threadbare couch, and currently had a basketball game on the television. He ignored Tohma's presence...but not for long...
Tohma sighed and stopped directly in front of the man, blocking his view of the T.V. This earned him a nasty look from the man. Before he could voice his opinion though, Tohma smiled at the disgusting man.
It was HIS 'smile'.
"What the hell's that look for fairy boy?" He growled as he glared angrily at the blonde.
Tohma chuckled.
"I hope you have a GOOD day at work later. I'm sure that you'll have a nice 'chat' with your boss... " his voice dripped with sarcasm. "I noticed that you work at a construction company...There were papers in the hall near the rooms. You work for Shinai Taira. He just happens to be a contractor under my father, Tenshu Seguchi." Tohma's 'smile' grew larger as he watched the man pale.
He chuckled while he walked towards the door and then opened it. He then turned to face the pitiful man behind him.
"One more thing... If I find out that anytime in the future that you have tried to hurt Ryu again, even just by contacting him without him contacting you first, you'll find yourself in laying in a gutter... this is not a threat, but an honest fact. Good day..."
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Well, another shortish chapter, but I have to cut things off.
I will update shortly, whenever This story ends up on my agenda. I hope I won't keep you waiting long!
I know...I keep making Ryuichi's life before the band a nightmare, but I feel it explains some of his personality quirks. Things will get better for him...soon...
If this chapter had more spelling/grammar issues, I apologize...I've finished it at 3am after most of my basement got half an inch of flooding due to the window sealants busting...soooo much water to push towards the drain... and it's a finished basement...so I had to quickly move furniture to dry spots to avoid them getting wet... so I'm only half coherent..lol...