Chiyoku says: Hey eveyone! I'm really shocked that I was able to bring myself to update after just a week! But I really put myself up for it...Tuesday has become the only day when I really have access to a working computer with internet for more than three hours...so expect a possible update every tuesday afternoon! Okay?

Well, I really have nothing much to say so I've decided to answer some reviews! Yay! I love you all! Please keep enjoying my story! And keep reviewing!

Princess of Kumai: I don't really know what I'm gonna do with Yuki once he finds out, if he ever finds out...well Touma will probably tell him as soon as he can get a hold of him, so yeah...he'll probably be mad...really mad...but this is Yuki we're talking about, so I don't really know...

Ryuichi koi-chan: Yes! I know...Seth and I are lovers, I guess in a way we were always lovers...I was just a little slow to realize that...Heh...But please don't hate Tatsuha! He's just a dumb teenage boy after all! Teenage boys always follow their hormones more than their brains...wait a minute...O.O I'm a teenage boy! Oh well...I guess it's true thou...My Seth can really get me going with those crazy hormones of us...(And I'll just leave you to figure out exactly what that means! heh. I'm so evil!)

And to the rest...(sorry I can answer personally, I sorta in a hurry right now...)

1) Amadeo's not a bad person!

2) I won't tell you yet how I came up with the name, but there's some Venus clues in there to help you figure it out. So many books to read...so little time...

3) I don't know when Yuki and Shuichi will meet up yet, but an idea I had yesterday while I took a shower. Heh. was that maybe I'll have both of them go into different things...like..mmhh...meet up with different characters and stuff, maybe have a fling or two or three...just so I can please the readers and everyone will get a little taste of different pairings, and then maybe in the end they could figure out that they can't be with anyone else...but That's just an idea! It's not a sure thing! Not sure thing at all!

Well, that's it.

Enjoy!

When the cold takes its toll

A fanfiction by Chiyoku Shibata

Chapter 10: The Venus, the wisdom and the shock

Dark green was the prominent color of the room. The walls and the potted house plants were dark green, and so was the leather couch against the wall. A wooden coffee table and a small onyx-marble fireplace. Another wooden table was located on a corner of the room with a few chairs around it. Three bookcases stood near the couch, every row completely filled with leather-bound books. A couple of boxes stood stacked on top of each other on an otherwise empty corner. Shuichi was impressed with his surroundings. Everything about the place, that he had seen so far, seemed to give off whispers of wisdom. There was an air about the place that he had never felt at Yuki's place. It was a room that seemed to demand respect, and Shuichi couldn't help but be compelled to give it. He walked a few steps further and looked about again. There was a painting hanging just above the fireplace and it took Shuichi's breath away. There was a beautifully nude woman on it, standing gracefully on a giant seashell, long golden hair torn by faint breezes, she was staring ahead as a man, who stood beside her, seemed to create the breezes for her. This woman, who seemed to be coming down from the skies, and a nymph as beautiful as her stood on the shore as if in a welcoming gesture.

"Who is she?" asked Shuichi, in a whisper, as he continued to gaze at the painting. "That's Venus. She's a Goddess." answered Amadeo in a gentle voice. The young man had seen Shuichi fall into a sort of trance by the painting. He didn't want to startle him out of it.

"She's beautiful." whispered Shuichi.

"Yes, she is."

Shuichi then seemed to bring himself back to the room as he turned to Amadeo and blushed feeling flustered. "Sorry...it's just that I've never seen anything like it before."

Amadeo chuckled and looked at the painting. "That's okay. Botticelli's art has that impression on people. Especially the first time they see it." Shuichi looked confused. "Sandro Botticelli. He was a great master in painting. A florentine of ancient Italy. The maker of this painting."

Understanding dawned on Shuichi as a bright glitter filler his eyes. "The Venus of Botticelli. I don't think I'll ever forget the name, Amadeo."

"I'm sure you won't. Now, have about I show you the bathroom?"

Shuichi seemed startled as he looked down and stared at himself. For a few moments he had completely forgotten about his situation. He blushed in embarrassment and gave out a weak laugh as he scratched the nape of his neck with his right hand. "Okay. Lead the way!" he exclaimed.

Amadeo laughed a bit as he walked into the apartment, thru a hallway, and he stopped at the first door.

"Here you go. I think everything you'll need is in here. But if anything...just yell out for me. I'll be in the kitchen heating something up, okay?"

Shuichi entered the pristine bathroom and turned back to Amadeo. "Thanks for everything, Amadeo!"

"No problem, Shuichi."

The young man walked back into the first room and disappeared thru an entryway without a door. Shuichi closed the bathroom door and immediately turned on the shower. Moments later he stripped of his dirty clothes and gave out a cry of glee as he got under the warm water.

Meanwhile, Amadeo was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Moments later he remembered something and left quickly to his bedroom. Shuichi was enjoying the shower immensely. Besides getting cleaned by the water, the warmth was really helping him feel better. He really hadn't noticed how cold he was. The water really was relaxing, it was as if he could fall asleep standing under it.

But before he had a chance to ponder the thought of sleep for very long, the door opened and Shuichi tensed. "Sorry for bursting in, Shuichi." It was Amadeo.

"Wha...what's wrong..." asked Shuichi, feeling a little scared and vulnerable. After all, he was naked in the shower of a stranger. What was Amadeo planning on doing with Shuichi now? Why didn't Shuichi lock the door?

Scenes of torture and rape ran thru his mind as he heard the shuffled footsteps of Amadeo, as the young man walked into the bathroom.

"I totally forgot to leave you a change of clothes...that's all. You okay, Shuichi?" Amadeo had obviously noticed the boy's sudden tense demeanor. "Oh! How stupid! I'm sorry, Shuichi. I didn't mean to scare you...I should have knocked...that was thoughtless of me..."

Shuichi's heart was racing, but he felt slightly relieved and accepted the apology. "That's okay...I guess I'm just too jumpy, for some reason..."

' of course you feel jumpy! ' thought Amadeo, ' Your lover hit you and his brother raped you! How could you not feel jumpy! '

But he couldn't say any of these things, because Amadeo was just too polite. He had just met the boy, he couldn't come out and just say that. It would be too much. First, he scares the boy by bursting in on him taking a shower, and the to top it off, he starts berating him, and trying to justify the boy's jumpy behavior by reminding him of his problems...how much help would that be? The thought was just purely ridiculous.

"Well, I'll just leave the clothes here and I'll take your dirty ones to the washer, all right? I'm not sure about the size though...I brought you the smallest clothes I could find...and I eh...I brought you a pair of underware...ahem...they're new, don't worry...a friend of mine gave it to me as a birthday present. Obviously he was trying to embarrass me...it worked though...I'm sorry, really, but it's the smallest thing I can give you... It's okay if you don't want to wear them...and the clothes, too. I can give you something else, anything else...it'll be bigger on you but...normal...I guess...just tell me if it bothers you. Don't hesitate to tell me, okay, Shuichi?"

"I think you're babbling, Amadeo!" exclaimed Shuichi as he laughed. Amadeo blushed. "Don't worry. I'm sure it's not as bad as you're making it seem! I'll wear anything! Just relax! It's okay!"

Shuichi went on with his shower. Now he was completely relaxed and he didn't even mind that Amadeo was still standing in the bathroom.

After a few seconds though, Shuichi remembered something.

"By the way, didn't you say you were going to cook something?"

Amadeo came back out of his thoughts, slightly dazed. "Yeah, I...Oh, Shit! The food!"

Shuichi laughed as Amadeo slammed the door and ran to the kitchen, just in time before it burned badly. But it really wasn't that bad. Mostly it just came out crispy. A nice touch for the fried rice he had been cooking.

Another few moments later, we find Shuichi as he made his way to the kitchen. He went inside and stood at the doorway as he stared at Amadeo, whom was just finishing up with the cooking.

"How do I look?" asked Shuichi.

Amadeo turned around and almost dropped the plates he was carrying.

Shuichi was simply dressed in a clubbing dressup. The typical black leather pants, with a blood red shirt. His bright pink haircolor clashed a little with the blood red shirt. But the boy really looked appealing. He was barefoot and wearing nothing other than the pants and the shirt. But what made him look the best was his fresh out the shower look. The clothes was a few sizes bigger than him. And that made him look even better.

"Are you wearing the underware I left you?"

"yeah...but it's not too bad! I usually wear black thongs when I perform, since the clothes is always at least a size smaller than me." Shuichi responded and explained.

"Perform?" asked Amadeo.

"uh...yeah, I'm in a band."

"really? what's the name?"

"Bad Luck."

"Bad Luck? That sounds familiar, somehow...but I wouldn't really know...I'm not very into all those things."

"Yeah...I sorta noticed when you didn't recognize me when I came into your shop..."

"Should I have...recognized you? Are you really that famous?"

Shuichi blushed. "Well, I'm not sure...I guess so...I mean...usually people always recognize me if I'm not in disguise..."

Amadeo seemed amazed. "If you have to hide, then I guess you really are famous...mmhh...this is weird...I mean...you're so use to being famous, and having everyone recognize you, you must be used to better things than these."

Shuichi blushed, and he seemed shocked. "No! Please don't feel like that! I'm a really stupid person! I'm not really used to any of those things you say! I just love to sing! And performing in front of an audience makes me feel like I'm floating in the skies, but other than that I'm very normal! I'm not that smart at all...oh! Thank you again for all your help, and stuff..."

"Sure, you're welcome...wanna have dinner, now?"

"Yeah! I'm starving! Great!"

Soon, they had put the table and they were both sitting, and eating, chatting comfortably.

"So, yeah..." Amadeo was saying, "My father just got tired of it all, and went back to Italy. The coffee shop and this place were his, but he left them to me. Honestly, I just moved in a couple of weeks ago..."

"Well, I really like what you've done with the place. it's so sophisticated." answered Shuichi.

"Yeah...thanks. But, I'm still in the process of fixing it up. I have so many things left to unpack, yet...but I haven't had much time...what with running the coffee shop, and the book deadline...I'm swamped..."

Shuichi's eyes widened. "Book...? Deadline...?"

"Oh! Right! Yeah, I'm a novelist!" he explained.

Shuichi looked shocked. "No way..."

"Yeah, modesty aside, my books really sell a lot. But thankfully, nobody knows who I am, since I always use a penname and I don't put my picture on my books. I just like it that people read my books, you know. It's always been my dream to publish. And...what wrong? You okay?"

Shuichi had been stunned silent.

"Did I say something wrong? I really would have guessed that with the way my apartment is and all that, I figured it kinda screamed 'Novelist!' You know? But I guess it came as a shock..."

Shuichi couldn't speak for a little while as he drank more tea to help his suddenly dry throat.

"My Lover's a novelist, too..."

"Oh...I ehm...I'm sorry...what's his name?" Amadeo asked as he felt so stupid that he had made Shuichi feel bad again.

"Eiri Yuki"

Amadeo's eyes widened in shock and he chocked a bit on his tea as soon as he heard the name come out of Shuichi's lips.

"No way! Him?"

Next Chapter: No idea what's gonna happen, yet, cuz I haven't written it...we'll all just have to wait and see. heh.

By the way, I still don't know what to do with K-san...so if you think of something, feel free to suggest! Okay? Oh, sorry I couldn't go over the chapter once I finished writting it, so I'm sorry for any mistakes you find and feel free to point them out.

Now review Please! I need to know what you think!

While you Review, I think I'll go to starbucks...mmhh coooffeeee.