SHURYU: More than Rivals?

A/N: Hello everyone, sorry that I haven't updated in so long, but I've been insufferably busy with work, the not so recent holidays, and finding a new job that's actually in 'my field'.Other than that, there's some great news! First, I have 3 wonderful Beta-readers now to help me with my stories. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart: Guren-san (who everyone should recognize from when I used to post my reviewer responses), Touei-san, and Tatchan. Thanks, guys.

Speaking of reviews: I am happy to announce (albeit however late) that I will now be using FF(dot)net's review system which will free up a lot of space and allow me to personalize my responses more. Thank you, also, everyone who has reviewed!

Chapter 21: No matter what, I will want to find you…

It was the advent of yet another morning, this sunrise marking the fifth day in which the young Shuichi Shindo had spent in the hospital under the name "Shu Ueda". The pink haired singer had realized that enough was enough and decided that today would be the day he would get his answers, regardless of what means he would need to implement to get them.

Turning on his side, Shuichi looked though the window and awaited the nurse's hourly visit. The sky was a dusky painting of blue-green eager to mix and blend with the beautiful golden orange still sleeping upon the horizon. The scene was the perfect inspiration for lyrics that even Eiri Yuki would be jealous of, but sadly, music was the last thing on the young singer's mind. For the two and a half days in which the singer had been conscious, it seemed like everyone he had come in contact with was doing their best to be vague. Although most of the doctors and nurses had been successful in that feat, one young Okinawan nurse named Mihou Kazumi had let a description of his so-called "brother" slip. Apparently, the man had been quite serious with sapphire blue eyes and shaggy chin-length hair. She had gone as far as to say he had looked quite familiar. Naturally, this had lead Shuichi to ponder the matter even more and go as far as to try bribing some of the nurses with promises of money, free VIP concert tickets, and even Hiro's hand in marriage for more information. Even his location was still a mystery to him…

But, no more! Determined, Shuichi stood up, ignoring the sudden dizzy feeling, and prepared to put his plans into action. Surely, there was someone, somewhere, who could tell him what the hell was going on and he was going to find that person and make them tell, regardless of what he had to do! With that in mind, along with the fact that there were two burly male nurses stationed right outside his door, Shuichi made his way to the window and opened it. Throwing his leg over the ledge, and grabbing one end of his bed-sheet rope, Shuichi prepared himself for his escape. Goodbye boring hospital room and hello freedom! Too bad he forgot to tie the other end of his rope to something….

"So, nothing then?" Hiro summarized the conversation with a defeated three words and ended it after a moment with a beep as he hit the disconnect button on his cellular phone. He then looked at his comrade, who sat across the table with his elbows propped up against the back of the adjoining dinner booth. "So, care to explain again what you were saying in the car?"

Although Hiro considered himself an intelligent individual, even he had trouble wrapping his mind around what Yuki had explained while they were in his car. It seemed that by their visit to Sakuma's living arrangements, Yuki had been lead to believe the singer had something planned.

With a sigh, the blonde brought and hand to his head, ran it though his bangs, and tried to figure out the simplest way to explain what he wanted to say. So much for the red-head being the intelligent one…

"Look, Sakuma's the only one who knows where the damn brat is. It's probably somewhere he thinks we would never suspect."

Hiro put his drink down and stared the blonde in the eye. "A place he thinks only he knows about…."

Yuki acknowledged the statement with a nod.

"Then why was everything such a mess when we went to his apartment?"

"Either he's a complete slob, or he was clearing out anything he thought that could lead us to him. Birth certificate, maybe some old photos, something like that."

"Okay, so…" Hiro was beginning to understand. Silently, the red head nodded and motioned for the blonde to continue with a tilt of the drink in his hand.

"He never intended to come back."

The silence in the air hung like a fifty kilo weight just waiting to crush them. Something about the blonde's voice and how he had said those five so causally made Hiro more than a little nervous. There was no anger, no sadness, nothing except a cold detachment which made the words seem as though it was something Yuki understood well. But that wasn't what frightened Hiro, no; it was how finalizing the sentence sounded. It was almost as though the blonde was giving up and resigning himself to an untrue fact that he had lost, and Sakuma had won and he would never see Shuichi again.

Hiro had always thought the blonde author would react in one of two ways if the pair had ever broken apart. Hiro had always thought the blonde would be either dangerously angry or incredibly uncaring, but now he wasn't so sure. There were a lot of assumptions that had been proven wrong since he began the search for the two singers with the blonde.

"Trouble is," Hiro began, carefully wording his sentence while at the same time trying to change the subject. "No one but Seguchi-san and Noriko know anything in-depth about him."

At the blonde's lack of participation of the conversation, Hiro continued. "And if that's the case, why haven't they found either one of them yet? I would think it would be simple for Seguchi, considering he knows about almost everything else…"

"He is trying." Hiro looked up in surprise. "I never thought I'd say this, but…"

"What'cha doing way down there, Shuichi?"

Slowly, the pink haired singer opened his eyes and just as quickly closed them. What the hell happened? First he was climbing over the window sill and next he had a slitting headache and couldn't feel his right arm. Did he fall? Something like that would happen to him.

"Shuichi, you okay?"

This time, the familiar voice was laced with concern. Again, the singer opened his eyes a tiny bit. This time, he saw a blur of brown, blue, and green, which was surrounded by an intense white light. Did he die from the fall!

"Shuichi, did you hit your head again?"

"Hmn?"

"Shuichi, wait right here. I'll go get someone to…"

"Nhn, I'm… I'll be alright… I think."

"But the doctor…"

"I'm fine. Just…" The pink haired singer struggled to sit up, but settled for being propped up on his elbows. "Just turn off the damn lights."

"Sorry, Shuichi, but I don't think that even I could turn off the sun." This time the voice was slightly deeper and filled with a little amusement. Focusing on the voice, Shuichi closed his eyes and willed them to work right the next time he opened them.