Disclaimer
I don't own Gravitation.
Chapter 10 – A New Beginning
Considering all that they had gone through, life had truly never been closer to perfect than this.
Perhaps a little too perfect to be honest.
Considering all that they had gone through how "perfect" could they really expect life to be? How long could it last before it would all go wrong again? Just over an hour in fact; the Metro journey between Champs de Mars and the hotel at Gare D'Austerlitz. Things started to fall apart again.
Waiting for the train on the platform. The sun had set; not that that mattered underground. Nothing seemed to matter anymore, not the sun, not the moon, not the stars. Because the universe was trivial to their love. The only stars they saw were in each other's eyes and everything became fireworks, bubbles in champagne, giggling cupids, floating pink marshmallow hearts…it doesn't fit, does it? A novelist and a rock star? You've got to be kidding!
The platform was crowded but quiet as the rush-hour traffic accumulated and people shifted apologetically past each-other to find an open space. Tired business men and women longing to see their families at the weekend.
Unexpectedly, a young boy darted through the crowd, around six or seven years old, jostling past the other passengers. He tripped and stumbled falling to his knees next to Shuichi's rucksack which was resting on the ground by his feet. "Woah, Slow down kid!" Cried Shuichi suddenly surprised. "Are you OK? Where's your Mum?" he continued, forgetting that the boy was French and it was very unlikely he would understand Japanese. The boy turned his blonde head to face him with a curious look; he took Shuichi's hand to pull himself to his feet; brushed the grit off his knees and ran off again down the platform without a word.
"Pierre!" cried a panicked young woman as her footsteps clicked on the concrete steps down into the station. "Pierre!" She shouted again as she approached them. She was dressed in a short skirt and stiletto heels with a designer handbag swinging from one shoulder which looked cheap alongside her outfit and was almost certainly a fake. She pushed through the crowd and collided with Eiri and Shuichi.
"Pardon Monsieur, J'ai perdu mon fils!". She looked away from their blank expressions and glanced frantically up and down the platform finally catching sight of her son, the blonde boy, skulking by a litter bin a few metres away. She took a firm hold on his shoulder and began to scold him furiously under her breath. The commotion their antics had caused amongst the crowd began to settle back to its lethargic torpor as Shuichi and Eiri grinned at each other, contented.
"Excuse-moi? Pleeze monsieur, I beleeve zat theis belongs to you?" Shuichi turned round to look at the boy's mother. She spoke in English with a strong French accent hoping that he could understand. He looked at her confused and at the wallet which she held out to him. He took it cautiously and flipped open the cover to look inside. It was his.
"What? But h-…How? How did you get this?" He stammered astounded. She pushed the boy towards him.
"Je suis désolé, monsieur" he said stiffly and grudgingly. His mother nudged him to prompt him to continue. "Pour voler votre pochette". Shuichi understood enough to realise - even without any knowledge of French - that the boy had stolen his wallet from his rucksack when he had fallen next to it, and yet, he couldn't help but be amused and impressed by such cunning skill demonstrated by such a young child. He ruffled the boy's blonde locks warmly as he stared sulkily up at him. His mother gave them a sympathetic look, regretful of her son's behaviour and appreciative of Shuichi's good-natured temperament, but her gaze lingered on Eiri's tall figure longer than she seemed to notice.
"Thank-you" She said quietly and averted her gaze quickly as the metal tracks began to rumble like a tap running underwater and a thunderous wind rose to announce the arrival of the train.
They boarded the train and stood in the packed gangway squeezed uncomfortably between the cold windows and sweaty bodies of the other passengers. The woman from earlier was stood close to them with one red finger nailed hand gripping a chrome railing and the other tightly clasped around her sons wrist. Shuichi pushed his sunglasses up onto his head and grinned at the sullen faced boy. The kid continued to look sulkily at the floor of the compartment.
The train plunged upwards across an over ground section of track as though to snatch a breath of the glittering Parisian nightlife before soaring back underground. The city lights slashed repeatedly through the carriage like flickering lightning until they came to each station which was lit by the same harsh, static, fluorescent bulbs.
Shuichi saw the boy's mother shift her feet uncomfortably and he looked up to see that she was staring intently at Eiri. To his surprise, Eiri had apparently noticed this but rather than sweet-talking with her, he looked uneasy and was trying awkwardly to turn his face away and avoid eye-contact although this was difficult in the crowded carriage. Leaping to conclusions: Was she trying to hit on him? Evidently she hadn't noticed they were together. Then again, she was already a mother, married perhaps? Her expression did look more curious than flirtatious now that he really looked at her.
Perhaps she was a fan. Eiri used to be recognised all the time on the street. But why wasn't she shouting out and asking for autographs like all the others? Did she recognise him? Who was she? Who did she think she was? With a huff he turned away and watched her son who was picking crumbs of foam out of a hole in the synthetic leather seat cover with his free hand. His blond hair and moody expression seemed slightly familiar to Shuichi. The boy's mother shuffled her feet again. He came to his senses and looked up abruptly; he was tired and dismissed his thoughts as an idol daydream.
She spoke up: "Yuki Eiri?". Shuichi was shocked; she knew his name! But Eiri looked back at her with a guilty sigh as though resigned to accept the consequences. "Yuki. You are…You are the-" she spoke slowly and intently as she struggled to find the words to say, particularly as she was speaking in a foreign language.
"I know. I know!" He interrupted, sharp and indignant. He ran his fingers through his hair and held his head desperately in his hands.
"We must talk about thies, Yuki, pleeze?"
Shuichi, completely lost in their English exchanges, found himself wishing for the first time ever that he had paid the slightest bit of attention in school so he would have a clue what they were talking about.
"Yes, I know!" Eiri said tensely. "But not now. I would rather Shuichi did not hear this."
A/N: ooooooh, cliff-hanger hey? Sorry again for taking so long but I don't expect things to get any quicker in the near future as I'm coming up to end-of-year exams and, as much as I love writing this, they really must take priority :-( I suggest that if you want to read the next chapter you put this on alert (or your favourites list ;-) I don't mind!) so you don't forget about it. Thanks again to everyone.
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