Disclaimer: Gravitation is all Maki Murakami's brainchild. I'm just playing in the sandbox with no profit to myself other than joy.

A/N: This belongs, technically, with my "Between the Lines" series, but it has long since gone beyond a oneshot, so I'm giving it its own slot. As there seems to have been some confusion, my "Between the Lines" series is a series of one shots designed to expand upon, not to rewrite, the anime or manga. "Cutting room floor scenes," if you will. "Dream Date" is based on that same concept. There are differences, obviously, between this and the anime, but I'm sticking as closely as I can without cramping "Dream Date's" own integrity.

It also, as turns out, serves as something of a prequel to my "Yushu."

For "Yushu" and my other "original" Gravi stories, please check my profile.

Now...on with the story!

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Sparkling
by Vindaloo
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Shuuchi was happy for Hiro and Ayaka, really.

And if he kept repeating that simple fact in his head long enough, the hurt might even go away.

Shuuichi tried, as he wandered the streets, not really knowing where he was headed, not really caring, but it was hard not to compare his situation to his best friend's. Love had burst unexpectedly into his life, overwhelming his senses, changing him forever. He'd had no choice in the matter; none at all. He belonged to Yuki Eiri, in every way, now and forever.

Hiro's relationship with Ayaka had just slowly developed, the two of them sharing the fringes of the Yuki/Shu fireworks. Hiro, the rock-steady force in Shuuichi's own life, found his own peace and support in the young woman who had once been engaged to Yuki.

Hiro deserved that refuge. He didn't deserve a selfish best friend who was ruining the greatest chance of their lives.

If only he could figure what was wrong. Yes, his voice had vanished at the same moment Sakuma-san had snubbed him so openly, so...derisively. It was almost as if...

Shuuichi stopped and stared at the tall building in front of him, not really seeing the building, but a hallway, the panther-like Ryuichi striding past him, head down, eyes shaded beneath his hat's curved brim.

...it was almost as if Sakuma Ryuichi had cursed him.

Kami-sama, that was an attractive notion, to think that his performing god had all the answers. Sakuma-san was downright spooky at times, for all Shuuichi idolized him. Sometimes, he seemed as mindless as a child, at others...he seemed to hold the wisdom of the ages in the palm of his expensively manicured hand.

And he, Shindou Shuuichi, Yuki Eiri's card-carrying, certifiable pet moron, had dared to challenge him.

Ryuichi hated him now, he was certain of it. Was Ryu afraid of comparison, as Hiro had suggested? He didn't think so. Certainly not enough to rob him of his voice.

But if it wasn't Ryu...was it him? Hiro had asked did he want to go after Yuki. Of course he did, but...

Enough to cause his voice to vanish? Had he done this to himself?

That...he could almost believe. He didn't want to believe it, didn't want to think he'd put his aching desire for Yuki ahead of his band and the tour and the future of so many people, that he'd be so selfish as to freeze his own voice, but if he had, if that was the reason, Hiro was right. He had to find Yuki.

But...where? He suspected Yuki had gone to New York and that it had something to do with Kitazawa, but New York was a big city. He couldn't just...

That building. It was NG studios.

His feet had just automatically brought him here.

Suddenly, every muscle in his body was tired. He should call Hiro. Ask him to come pick him up. He pulled out his cell phone, only to realize he couldn't speak to tell Hiro where to come pick him up.

He slumped to the step, staring at the useless mechanism...

Yuki's face stared back at him, repeated a half-dozen times in the photo-stickers. His beautiful face, the gorgeous eyes with the hint of a smile. A smile he wouldn't allow to touch his mouth.

Kami-sama, he loved...

He bent his head into his crossed arms sobbing silently. It was gone. Everything was gone. Yuki, his music, Sakuma-san's friendship. Even, thanks to his useless cell phone, Hiro.

Except, it wasn't useless.

Baka! He berated himself, and flipped the phone open. Text message...

The battery was dead.

Dammit. He dropped his head back into his arms, the useless cell phone cradled in his lax hand.

There was nothing for it. He'd have to go inside and get someone to call Hiro for him.

He sighed, and pushed himself to his feet and headed for the front entrance, tucking his phone into his pocket. The guard recognized him and had the door open for him when he got there. Once in, he took his drawing tablet out of his backpack to write out the note, but instead of asking for help phoning Hiro, somehow he wrote out that he wanted to go work on lyrics in the studio, and once he wrote it, a sense of peace came over him.

That's what he needed. He needed to write. He needed to sort out all these feelings that had been building in him for weeks.

The door to studio two was open, though the lights were off. Shuuichi moved hesitantly into the room and paused, waiting for his eyes to adjust, not wanting to interrupt if someone was working. Some of the mixers preferred working in the dark and after hours, insisting vision was distracting to their ears.

There was someone there, all right, but not working. A slim figure, hunched over, his foot tapping in time with the music apparently blaring in his earphones. And in the silence, a faint sound reached his ears.

A familiar faint sound.

The Rage Beat. Bad Luck's first hit single. And from the sound, the original mix. When Bad Luck had been just Hiro and an idiot wannabe named Shuuichi.

Eyes gleamed up at him from under the baseball cap, unblinking, red spots in the light from the corridor.

Ryuichi.

Shuuichi started, clutched his drawing tablet to his chest and bowed low, shaking in every muscle. Why was he here? Why was he listening to his song?

That one wild speculation flared. Had Ryu cursed him? Was this...ritual... part of keeping him silent?

Moron! He could hear Yuki's voice chiding the stupid notion. And it was stupid. Ryu had more right than anyone to be here. Ryu's talent had built NG Pro. Probably he was listening to that old tape trying to figure what he'd ever seen in Bad Luck in the first place.

He was a fool ever to have compared himself with Ryu. He'd never have a fraction of Ryu's stage presence, that fascinating blend of mystery and pure, unadulterated sex appeal.

Still bent, he began to back out the door, eyes glued to the floor, seeking to escape that feral gaze.

"Shuuichi!"

He never saw the human bowling ball that sent him tumbling to the floor.

"Why are you running away?"

He scrambled across the floor, out from under the mass that was Ryuichi. Ryuichi rolled up to his knees, and stared at him, his eyes big and bright and innocent for the first time in weeks.

Big, bright, innocent...and welcoming. Something shattered inside Shuuichi at that look. He hadn't realized...or hadn't let himself realize... how much Ryu's rejection of him had hurt. He'd tried so hard to be adult about Yuki's desertion. Had tried to do the right thing. To do his job and not let down those who were counting on him—Hiro, Suguru all the NG crew, all the fans who bought those million CDs—and the harder he'd worked, the more distant and disapproving his musical god had become.

And now that god, that idol...that friend...was asking him why he was running away.

And he had no answer, no voice to tell him, if he had.

Ryu's head tipped, his shoulders heaved in a huge sigh and his hypnotic gaze released Shuuichi at last, looking about, zeroing in on the drawing tablet and backpack Shuuichi had shed in his frantic escape.

"Drawing!" Ryu hopped to his feet, tablet clutched in his arms. One hand left the tablet to grab Shuuichi's wrist and pulling Shuuichi to his feet, Ryu hauled him into studio two, where, dropping to the floor, he began digging into the backpack. Another drawing tablet emerged (backup for the nearly full one Ryu had taken) crayons for the concept sketches Shuuichi played with constantly. CD slips, ads, costumes . . . what had been fun once had become a constant pressure to produce.

Just like his lyrics.

When had it all become ... so hard?

Parking himself on his knees in the middle of the polished hardwood floor, Ryu began drawing, seemingly oblivious to everything else, screaming out sound effects to accompany whatever he was drawing.

Shuuichi, feeling more lost than ever, knowing better than to counter Ryu's crazed notions, eased himself to the floor as well and began working on a costume idea. Purple and blue. He liked purple and blue, but he couldn't wear purple because of his hair. The designers said it 'clashed.'

So ... he'd change his hair. To blond.

Blond hair. Not that K would let him. Not yet. He had to become an 'icon' first. Once all the kids were pink, then he could change it.

And he wanted to, though Hiro would object. Hiro would say he just wanted it because it made him think of Yuki.

Well, he thought defiantly, scribbling the yellow into the odd little figure's hair, keeping carefully within the lines, maybe it did. What was so wrong with that? Golden hair...maybe even a golden microphone. Why not? He was going to be a star, right?

Right?

Ryu's singing had achieved a chanting rhythm. Shuuichi glanced up and realized in horror that Ryu had left the drawing tablet far behind and was drawing all over the expensive, hardwood floor. He was darting right and left, adding details to a cartoon figure that was somehow bursting with life. Suddenly, he stood up, threw his head back and screamed: "I'm going to reach out to the Earth, to the universe! Sparkling!"

He spun around, his bright, innocent eyes seeking Shuuichi's, fully expecting some sort of answer. Shuuichi, feeling suddenly very old, could only stare back.

Ryu tipped his head, looking puzzled. His deep blue eyes fell to Shuuichi's drawing, and widened in disbelief.

"What the heck, Shuuichi, that's so small! It's not sparkly at all!" He dropped down and grabbed a crayon and Shuuichi's tablet, turning his back. His chanting took on a new cadence: "Sparkly Shuuichi, Shuuichi sparkling..."

And as he drew and chanted, Shuuichi felt a warmth inside, a warmth that had been missing. . . for a very long time. Curious, he edged over to see, only to have Ryu round on him, the picture forming a wall between them. His awkward little sketch had come alive with a sunburst of energy exploding from the little figure and filling the page.

And above the picture, eyes no longer innocent but containing the wisdom of the ages caught and held his. "Shuuichi, this is singing."

The tablet disappeared and Ryu's warm hands cupped and held his face steady as Ryu's lips touched his forehead.

"Sing, Shuuichi," Ryu murmured. "Reach out to the universe."

And then, he was gone. Giggling and chanting, as if that magical moment had never happened.

He didn't understand Ryu at all, not in his head. But deep inside, somewhere beyond logic, he knew him, in a way he'd never known anyone else. Ryu never just came out and said anything. He couldn't. Ryu expressed himself through his lyrics. Through poetry and innuendo and lilting metaphor in ways he, Shuuichi, never would.

Or so Yuki always insisted, even as his tone made the insult into a challenge, daring Shuuichi to try harder. To look deeper. All the way to his heart and beyond.

He looked now, seeking the answers...but all he saw was darkness.

Shuuichi sighed, and slowly pushed himself to his feet. Lifting his backpack to one shoulder, he bowed to the oblivious Ryu, and hugging his drawing tablet once more to his chest, he left the building, without calling Hiro. He'd go home. He had to go home. To the place he'd shared with Yuki. K didn't belong there. He did. As long as no other obligations drew him away, it was his job, his...place in the world.

TBC

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Next up: Silhouettes and Shadows: Shuuichi has a lightbulb moment.

Reviews: Gabrielle Angelique: Can't say this will give you much insight into the manga. The manga has its own extreme charm, but this is my take on the anime, which I saw long before I read the manga. Frankly, she never really explains the Kitazawa situation in the manga either, at least not as it's been translated. Lots of vague allusions, but nothing very concrete. Yuki's American Adventure is all mine. I wish I had time to write the whole thing. He's such a fun viewpoint! I don't think I could get tired of Gravi, what I have to do is get back to real life, now that you all have invigorated me. I have a novel half-finished which HAS to get done in the next few months! I do have a few stories up my sleeve that have been rough drafted that I'll try to get posted over that period. Also...I'm really getting the urge to do the outtakes and cutting room floor scenes for Dream Date.

Daxemon: Tabasco sauce...Sheesh...those who love it use it like some people use ketchup! I like a bit of it sometimes...mostly the green kind...and I like spicy foods! But seeing him just loading it onto the pizza made an indelible impression on me (as I think you can tell.) :D I think he uses it in the manga as well. Amazing worldwide success for a little company from the South! Hiro...oh, yeah. Agree TOTALLY. He's got such soothing body language, too.

ANKuma: Now...I'm nervous. Hope the coloring scene lived up to expectations. The other half...Shu's awakening in the park, will be up in a day or two. I agree...that scene is crucial. I'm thinking of doing an alt-version of it for the outtakes from Ryu's POV. I needed this to be in Shu's VP for the purposes of the story, but I think it c/b really interesting from Ryu's. I love (in case you can't tell) psychological stories. It's the true driving force in all my novels. What c/b really interesting for your college thesis is to do an honest examination of both the anime and the manga and compare what's actually written with what people have extrapolated from it. You've a huge resource for that in the fanfiction. The fact is, a story is a very two sided equation. There's what the writer writes and what the reader reads, and no matter how exact you try to be as an author, you can never completely control that second half. That's one reason these scene by scene reviews absolutely fascinate me.

OneFalseMove: First time reviewer! Thanks. And I'm so glad you've enjoyed the whole lot. Shu hugs!

R-HP: This is definitely the dark part of the story. Hope this chap was at least a bit of fun. Next time...no, chap after next, but hopefully up the weekend...I promise a much lighter Ryu moment!

BlooDy-MaY: Yay! Glad you're feeling better. Look for at least one more chap this weekend; hopefully two.

Saint Germain: I had a great deal of fun allowing Yuki to waste time. I almost didn't write the scene in the bar, as it's alluded to in the upcoming NY scenes, but I just couldn't imagine Yuki surviving complete sans computer and once I realized that, the image of the key flying across the barroom floor just had to be written. :D I'm glad it asks to be reread. I admit, that's one reason I tend to post such short chaps. Thanks to my first publisher-editor, whose only input was a blanket statement to make my novel shorter, I tend to write fairly densely and if you just skim, you will probably miss some things I hoped you'd get. :D At the cost of books these days, I try to make stories that beg to be reread. :D:D

scorch66: I think the whole Ayaka/Hiro thing is charming. It's such a ... normal relationship compared to the roller coaster ride of the Shu/Yuki pairing. You can easily see it developing into something romantic, platonic, or simply dissolving quietly.

FraisesPasteque: Haven't seen the anime? Ooo, I heartily recommend it. It's both charming and a superb condensation of the essential story line. Watch it, oh, a dozen times, for enjoyment, then again to compare it to the manga. Oh, and it's interesting as well to run it with the English dub and the subtitles at the same time to see the subtle, but significant, differences. Fascinating. Have you ever been tested for H. pylori bacteria? If you haven't, might be worth your while. That can be treated. Apple juice, huh? Interesting...It's not, I think, acidic. OJ would be...citric acid and all. Hmmm...intrustin'... And I'm no expert, but I think alcohol isn't inclined to make the ulcer flare, but rather to compromise the stomach lining further. Fortunately, that's one ailment I've avoided...though not for lack of stress:D Sun Drop, eh? Do you know which states? I've got to make a trip soon and I'll look for some.

Sayuri-girl: Again, I heartily recommend both, if you ever get the chance. The manga is quite different, so be prepared. Totally, charmingly over-the-top through parts, but worth the ride. My writing buddy and I have spent hours discussing the possible interpretations of the anime, and a lot of those are reflected here. I don't know if this is really what was intended, but it's at least (hopefully) a coherent reading. Oh...if you get the manga, there are some online scanlations still available which have some interesting and significant differences from the official TokyoPop translation. Of particular note is Yuki's comment when he goes to Shu's first concert. If anyone is fluent in Japanese and has the manga, I'd love to hear how they interpret that comment (regarding Shu's poetic ability)

Lady Karai: the whole sumo thing had me stumped as well. Had to do some fast footwork to figure what the heck they thought to accomplish. Glad the footwork ...er...worked.

Supershu-chan: I use what is called "intense third person" which is very much like first, but more flexible, because it leave you with more options for effect. I'm glad you like it. Poor Shu, lugging that silly laptop all over. Snortle...great word! Knew exactly what you meant. I'm soooo lucky...I have a Hiro-type best friend. She knows me like no one else and is always there for me. (And vice versa) As for dialogue, I love it when the characters just run with a scene and you can't type fast enough. That's almost always dialogue and I frequently have to go back in and fill in the pointers and action. One trick I've learned is to let a scene like that sit a day or two before filling those in. Helps you to read it like a reader and know where it needs the pointers (a trick which doesn't always work, as witness an earlier confusing scene:D) Annnnnd...we're back to the coloring scene. Oh...I hope this lived up to expectations.

Big Shu hugs to everyone! —Vin