A/N: Now I'm back with a couple new chapters again! And I'm currently writing on more, I have loads of things in store for our dear characters. (hehe) Yaaay! I found Touma his own hunk! I was skimming through the first two or three volumes of Gravitation and found... (dun-dun-dun)... Nakano Yuji, Hiro's older brother! Yaaay! Somehow he seemed perfect. Sorry about making another guy in the story gay, though... or at least bi. Now, to celebrate the fact that I have actually managed to get more than 100 reviews now (unbelievable and freakish) I will answer the ones for the most recent chapter individually/personally. ;)

Leprechaun reborn: Gaah! I can really only say one thing: I love you! Thank you so, so much for all those lovely reviews! I feel like I know you now, after all those things you wrote about yourself... And thank you so much for all the cookies – they were delicious, haha. :) Gaah, I have so much I want to say/write to you in answer to your reviews and comments, but I really shouldn't do it like this. Arigatou! (And sorry for keeping you waiting!)

SpiritSealedSlumber: Thank you so much, you really made my day when I read your review. Just to think that someone actually thinks my little story is unique and one of the best Gravi-fics that person's read... I am honored. And I know! I am a huge fan of Shu-chan too! He is the greatest. I will never do anything to ruin things between him and Yuki, nuh-uh. :) Now I'm going to concentrate on making his life better, and to give him (and everyone else) their revenge. Matane.

Kuma-chan: Thank you for your review, and for your concern. I feel much better now, although not entirely myself yet. But there's nothing wrong with my creative juices, haha. They're once again flowing freely through my brain, and I will use them wisely to create the scenes that I know everyone's waiting for. Hai! Watashi wa genki desu yo!

BabyDragon848: You can bet on it! Aizawa will get more than he deserves, the bastard... (grinds teeth) I'll send K to track him down, I promise. ;)

Heroin Girl: Thank you, tomodachi! That made me really happy. It's so absurd to think that anyone out there would be proud of me because of some story I'm writing, but of course it makes me really happy when people say so. :) If it weren't for all the people who read and review, this story probably would have died a long time ago... :p


A Kind Stranger

¤¤¤4 HOURS RUNNING¤¤¤

He did not know where he wanted to go, just that he had to get as far away from the source of his pain as possible. It was not fair to bother Eiri-kun with this; it was not his fault. How stupid of him to deliberately keep his hopes up even after Eiri-kun had found his lover – his husband! – thinking that something might still go wrong. That Eiri-kun would somehow change his mind about spending the rest of his life with Shindou-san and decide that he would rather have Touma for a husband.

Oh, how pathetic and utterly childish of him! Whatever had got in to him?!

I am so selfish, he thought miserably. Shindou-san has been kept locked up in an apartment with fucking Aizawa Taki and been abused both physically and sexually for eight whole months! He's been forced into prostitution and drug addiction, and you're fucking hoping that HIS HUSBAND, the only person in the world that he has to rely on right now, will choose YOU? What are you, a moron? Fucking straight your feelings out, Touma! Forget about Uesugi Eiri! Forget about him...

As he hurriedly stepped out of the main hospital doors he had to steer clear of a group of German tourists that passed on the sidewalk. They looked lost. But in doing so he completely overlooked another pedestrian that came from the other direction and unintentionally backed into him.

Acting on instinct rather than logic, he bowed courteously (the Asian way) and said, "Gomen-nasai, mimasen deshita." (I'm sorry, I didn't see you.)

"Iie (Don't mention it)," the stranger said with a pleasant smile, and bowed too.

Touma was so taken aback that he unconsciously blocked the man's way. "Anata wa Nihon no kata desu ka?" (You're Japanese?) he wondered, stunned.

"Hai, even though I've lived in America for three years I'm still Japanese," the man replied with the same pleasant tone of voice as before. He seemed to be in his late twenties, wore jeans and a brown corduroy jacket, and had a couple of sunglasses poised atop his head. His black hair had been dyed an orange-tinted brown; he wore it semi-long, so it just reached his earlobes. "Have you come to America to visit some relatives of yours, sir?"

Touma did not know what to answer. "Um... well, yeah, I guess... sort of, yeah. Uh, and you?"

He hated himself for being so impolite, but his brain did not seem to work properly around this guy.

"Me?" the stranger said and laughed heartily. "No, no, I'm not here to visit anyone. Actually, I just got back from LA a week ago. Tried to get into the movie business, but obviously my accent was a big no-no, so I came back to New York to have a try at Broadway instead." He gazed up and down the street and shifted his feet impatiently. "Um, are we going in the same direction?" he wondered.

Touma shrugged. "I'm not going anywhere in particular – just needed a walk. I guess I could go the same way as you... Some company might do me good right now." He glanced back at the hospital doors with a vacant expression.

The stranger followed his gaze. "You got someone you know in there?"

"Yeah. He's... he's recuperating."

"Bad disease or something?"

"Yeah, something."

"I understand how you must be feeling right now, sir. Well, if you need to clear your head a bit a walk might do you good. I'm heading back to my apartment, but that's about ten blocks away. You can walk me if you want to."

Touma only hesitated for a second. "All right," he said, and offered the stranger his hand. "I'm Seguchi Touma."

"Nakano Yuji. Pleased to meet you, Seguchi-san."

Touma almost stumbled over his own feet. "Excuse me, did you just say your name was Nakano?"

"Uh-huh. What of it?"

"You don't happen to be related to Nakano Hiroshi, do you?"

"Yeah, that's my little brother."

What were the odds?

"What? You know him?" Nakano asked, somewhat astonished.

Touma could not help but laugh at it all. "Yes, I'm his boss."

Now it was Nakano-san's turn to almost stumble over his own feet. "You're the shacho of N-G Productions?" he stated in mild disbelief. "That's fucking amazing! Oh, excuse my foul language, Seguchi-san, you just caught me by surprise. Can you imagine me running into my little brother's boss in New York of all places? What a paradox!"

"Yes, I was just thinking the same thing about running into you like this," Touma told him. "But please, call me Touma. I've tired with all the titles and pleasantries. In a sense I'm glad to be back in New York... Here I'm not 'shacho' – I'm Touma. Back in Japan I'm 'shacho' to everyone but two people."

Nakano barked out a loud, boisterous laughter. "I'm guessing Hiro's not one of them," he stated with amusement.

They turned the corner ahead and started up another street. They kept a steady pace, moving along on the sidewalk only a foot apart, their gazes fixed on a spot far from the noisy street in front of them. The cool night air was doing the president good; he was beginning to feel lighter at heart. And he was happy to have found someone to talk to without having to explain himself. Someone who was a stranger and would not judge him for his past actions.

Someone who did not know about Eiri-kun and the emotions that were hidden deep inside Touma's heart.

Touma laughed, too. "No, he certainly is not. He probably sees me as a stiff, cold-hearted man who only cares about what's best for his company, just like everyone else seems to do. And what is worse is... they're probably right. I have been kind of indifferent and narrow-minded, but it was all in the best interest of the person I cared about. I never meant any harm, never wanted to destroy anything, so I kept everything inside, you know. I regret that now, of course."

They walked in silence for a while until they finally came to a stop outside an apartment building. The president glanced up at the dark windows and felt his heart sinking again. Soon he would have to say goodbye to Nakano, and that meant walking back to the hospital. He still was not ready to face Eiri-kun, but he could not just wander around New York at this late hour; eventually he would get mugged and/or killed.

Nakano shifted his feet with impatience and cast a glance up at the building, too. "Well... this is me," he said, and looked somewhat pondering.

A sad smile broke through Touma's defenses. "Un... (Yeah...)"

Then, all of a sudden, the other man lit up like a torch and slapped his hand down on the shacho's shoulder in a friendly manner. "Hey, you wanna come up for a cup of sake? I just bought some yesterday and it would be a shame to drink it alone. Such a good brand..."

Touma blinked at him in bafflement. This man actually wanted him to come up with him? Never before in his life had he been invited to somebody's apartment so quickly. No one had ever bothered trying to invite him in because of his external indifference; most people seemed to believe that he was uninterested in social acquaintances. Therefore he could not quite find any reply to Nakano.

The younger man studied him with enigmatic eyes. "You really don't want to go back to that hospital, do you?" he stated clear-sightedly.

The president nodded.

Nakano put his arm around Touma's shoulders and began to lead him up the stairs to the front door of the building. "Don't worry, pal, you won't have to. Just come inside with me and have a cup of sake, relax for a while, and then decide whether you want to return to the hospital and see your friend or not. It'll be alright. Your friend will understand, trust me."

The apartment was rather small, but cosy. It had a sparsely furnitured living room, one bedroom and a small kitchen. But even though it was evident that Nakano-san did not have much money you could really tell that he was a happy man, living the kind of life that every human being should be living. Touma actually envied him and wished that he could be as carefree and light at heart.

Nakano invited him into the kitchen, where he collected a bottle of fine sake from one of the cabinets and almost magically conjured up two cups. Touma laughed as he sat down opposite Nakano at the table, slowly shaking his head at the scene.

It felt weird to be in someone else's abode like that, but strangely comfortable as well. Even though he did not know Hiroshi's brother at all, he felt surprisingly calm and at peace in his company. The only other person who had ever made him feel like that was Eiri-kun (when in one of his better moods), and that confused him. What did it mean?

Nakano poured them generous cups and put the bottle down on the table with a thud. "Touma, I don't mean to pry, but... This person you were talking about... this person that you cared about and wished to protect... is he the guy you visited at the hospital?" he asked cautiously, not looking at the president as he did so out of fear that it might offend him.

Touma laughed bitterly. "Oh, no, that's his husband," he explained, and for the first time realized that he was resentful toward Shuichi. That shocked him. He had told Eiri-kun that he loved Shuichi as a son, and that was true, but at the same time he resented him for being with the novelist. The kid obstructed his imaginary future with Eiri.

Oh, my God, I'm an awful person, he thought miserably.

Then he realized what their recent exchange of words had meant. He looked up at Nakano with bafflement. "How did you know it was a man? Am I really that obvious?"

His host burst out laughing. "Yeah, you are! I mean, look at the way you dress, man! That coat is just too much... ha, ha, ha, ha..." When he had calmed down, he smiled pleasantly and put his hand on Touma's. "But that's okay, pal. I have my fancies, too."

At first the president just blinked stupidly at him, the words just would not sink in, but then he relaxed and smiled back. "Arigatou, Nakano-kun."

The other man shook his head. "No, call me Yuji. That's my name. Now, what do you say we make a toast to our new budding friendship, Touma?"

One toast became two, and two became many; soon they had emptied the bottle and opened a second one. Apparently Yuji had a liking for really strong sake, because they were soon slurring and declaring their deep friendship to each other even though the bottles were really small.

Halfway into the second bottle, Touma told him about his troublesome, unrequited love for Eiri. It was the first time that he had spoken his heart on the matter, the first time ever that he confessed everything. He also spoke of the pain it gave him to watch Eiri be reunited with his husband after mourning his death for eight months. Once he had opened up, he felt somewhat better and more at ease with himself.

Yuji squeezed his hand compassionately. "I'm zorry, Touma, I really am, I can't imagine how you muzt feel right now... it muzt be awful for you... Do you need more sssake?"

"Give me," Touma ordered and held up his small cup.

Since he could not hold his hand still most of the booze ended up on the table, but that did not stop him. He held up his free hand and said, "Izz okay, I got it." And so he bent over the table and began to lick up the liquid.

When Yuji had just opened their third bottle (or at least Touma thought it was the third), he decided that he was ready to go back to the hospital and pushed the chair back from the table. "I'm outta here, I'm 'onna show him I'm a man... hiccup... and that I don't care anymore. He can... he can have his husband and... you know... whatever..."

But when he rose to get up he completely lost his balance and fell down to the floor. Puzzled, he gazed around at his surroundings, sitting with his back to the wall, and could not for his life understand how he had wound up down there.

At the table, Yuji was laughing violently at him, his finger unsteadily pointed at him. "Touma, you're fucking hilarious!" he exclaimed, and then he passed out.

He looked so funny that the president started to laugh, too. "No, you're hilarious, Yuji!" he protested. The next moment he felt sick. Really sick. Scrambling up to his feet, he put his hand over his mouth. "Uuugghhh, I'm 'onna puke..."