It's been three days since Yuki Eiri had found Kumagoro in the small park nearby. Three days in his apartment waiting for Shuichi to come back.
But nothing came. No letter, no call, no Shuichi.
'So we're past then, ne?!'
He sat thinking once again on his black leather couch where Shuichi used to sleep at the beginning of their relationship. After finding the bunny in the park he had been searching and calling for what seemed for hours. But he couldn't find a trace of his missing lover.
Finally he went back home hoping that Tohma would call. Yuki didn't have to wait long for the call. Tohma Seguchi kept it short simply informing him that Shuichi was staying with Hiro.
Yuki felt relieved. Relieved that his little baka was up and well but he was also disappointed that Shuichi was rather with Hiro than with him.
The novelist sighed. Somehow always everything went wrong in his life. And just when he thought their relationship was going somewhere. He had shared his dirty secrets of his past with Shuichi, he even started to trust and believe in Shuichi's love and then the little baka had to mess everything up by running away from him.
Leaving Yuki Eiri behind with endless doubts.
'Although like usual it wasn't really Shuichi's fault, wasn't it?!'
The novelist sighed, his thoughts were running wild.
But of course one day it had to end like this. How could he fool himself into believing that Shuichi would always stay with him if he kept his cold attitude up? A bitter smile played on his lips.
"How am I able to be such a good writer if I can't even tell him how much he means to me?" He thought aloud.
Yuki stood up walking over to the window remembering what Shuichi had said almost a year ago.
'You are mine.'
'Yes, I will be his and Shuichi will be mine forever as well.
I won't loose him.' He clang to that thought because if he wouldn't believe in it that would mean he would give up the best thing what ever had happened to him in life.
So with that settled he had only to figure out how to convince Shuichi of coming back to him. Another frustrated sigh escaped his lips.
'Looks like this is going to be more difficult than I thought.'
Yuki Eiri groaned.
Running his hand through his hair he turned to look at the watch.
'Damn, I totally forgot that I'm supposed to meet Tohma for lunch. Hopefully he has some news about Shuichi.'
He took his coat and left his apartment.
******
It was already almost 1 p.m. Tohma was already waiting for him. The blond smiled slightly gesturing for him to take the seat opposite of him.
"You don't look too good Eiri. You should take better care of yourself." Tohma Seguchi greeted him.
Yuki frowned but let it slide. Tohma was an old friend and he knew him better than anybody else.
Well, Shuichi was a different matter though...
He turned his attention back to the blond before him. Tohma had been talking about Shuichi's and his relationship. He never agreed with them being together in the first way. Of course Tohma thought that now was the perfect time to convince him of forgetting about Shuichi.
"Like I said before it was supposed to end like that. It shouldn't have been from the beginning. It would be better if you would forget about him. It saves you worry and Shuichi could concentrate on his carrier. It's the best for both of you."
Yuki shook his head. Sighing he tried to make himself understood and he wasn't really too good at expressing his feelings about a certain someone. But he would try nonetheless.
"How can I forget everything? Act as if nothing had happened?"
Yuki searched for words and tried to explain.
"During the last year a lot happened. I never thought about where this relationship would actually lead. Shuichi is clumsy, chaotic and way too loud. He messed up my life a lot but because of me he had to endure a lot of pain. And this is my fault. This time I hurt him again and he left me. But I won't run away this time, he's mine and I will get him back." His own determination left him stunned and a glance to Tohma let him knew that the head of NG was shocked as well.
'Well,' Yuki thought, 'that was probably the longest time I ever talked about my feelings. Not bad. I should keep that dialog for my book in mind.'
As he watched the very startled Tohma Seguchi he felt slightly amused. Moments passed as his usually reserved brother-in-law regained his composure.
Tohma Seguchi carefully observed Yuki Eiri's face. He knew him since they were kids and he knew as well that Shuichi stirred something in his friend what everybody thought died long ago. Back then he promised himself not to let Eiri get hurt again. Now Eiri couldn't see that it would be best for him to let Shuichi go as long as it was still possible before it would end in a disaster.
Changing the theme he tried another option.
"You look worn out. How about we just enjoy lunch for now okay?!"
They fell into silence as they ordered their meals. After lunch Yuki lit a cigarette both sitting in comfortable silence as Tohma again advanced Yuki.
"Mika told me she's going to visit your parents over Christmas. Your mother wishes to see you as well. It would be a nice little family reunion. And you certainly look like you could use a vacation. It'd be quite nice and you could gather your thoughts for your writing."
Yuki didn't reply right away. He knew what Tohma had in mind. But he was still surprised that his parents tagged along after the mess with Ayaka. But the concept of visiting his family wasn't new to him. His sister already tried to bring him back to his family for a while now. His mother would surely be very happy. But his father was a different matter after they had parted in anger the last time.
Still it seemed like a good idea to leave Tokyo. He would have a chance to clear his head.
But still there was Shuichi. First, he had to put things straight between them. If not he couldn't relax for a minute. Yuki knew that already from experience. Nobody else, especially not Shuichi knew about this. Whenever his little lover was upset he felt bad. And he would do everything to make Shuichi happy again. Just too bad that most of the time it didn't really work out that way. Usually he would end up say something carelessly so Shuichi would start crying and running over to Hiro bawling his eyes out and then come back to him. End of story.
'Well, it used to be like that.'
He looked up to Tohma who had been watching him. Indifferently the novelist answered.
"I will think about it. When do you need my answer?"
Tohma smiled. 'That's good enough for a start.'
We will be leaving on the 24th with my private plane. I still have some work to do on that day so we will be leaving around seven in the evening. You can call me if you wish to join us. Your parents as well as your sister and I would be very happy."
Yuki looked thoughtful but nodded.
"So then that's settled. I'm quite sorry but I have to leave now. I'll be expected for a very important meeting shortly."
The blond stood up bowing slightly.
"Take good care of yourself and call me if you have made up your mind. Good-bye!"
Yuki didn't reply but nodded in reply. Left alone at the table he thought about what to do concerning his relationship with Shuichi. He wasn't sure how to handle this. Usually Shuichi made the first move after a mess like this. With a sigh he dropped his head on his hands. This was going to be much tougher than he thought. He had no idea how his characters always managed to make up. For once his creative mind was very empty.
******
A loud crash was audible from the kitchen. Followed by a loud yell and a second later a very much black Shuichi stood in the frame to Hiro's living room. Holding up a pulsing glowing red hand he bounded over to a quite scared looking Hiro wailing loudly over his burnt hand.
"Whaaaa, Hiro it hurts so much. Pleeeease, you have to make it better! Whaaaaaa!"
By now Shuichi had jumped on Hiro bubbling and crying at the same time. Hiro carefully freed himself of Shuichi putting the black bundle of energy on the couch.
"Calm down. Calm down. I'll get some stuff from the first aid kit."
He breathed before racing into the bathroom. Shuichi was always good for a heart attack. Hiro had no idea how he and his apartment were supposed to survive him for the time being. Probably Ayaka would kill him once she returned from her trip if anything would be ruined. That wasn't exactly what he had been looking forward to. He shook his head and hurriedly ran over to a still loudly wailing Shuichi.
Gently he applied something of the cooling creme he had found in the first aid kit. Carefully he massaged it in circles on Shuichi's hand which actually wasn't burnt too badly. Luckily, it was a rather mild case.
But Shuichi was hurting nonetheless maybe not so much from the burn but somehow Shuichi couldn't stop the tears from spilling out of his eyes. So Hiro wrapped up the burnt hand and gently hugged his friend in a comfortingly way. Hiro knew that Shuichi did his best to not let him dragged down by his sorrow but being an emotional person like Shuichi it was very hard for him.
Being his best friend he understood.
Two days before Shuichi had shown up at his door saying that he made up his mind and left Yuki Eiri - for real.
He didn't say anything more and just asked if he could stay with him for a while because he didn't feel like moving back to his parents. Shuichi was unusually cheerful for just breaking up with Yuki. It was almost scary if sometimes Hiro wouldn't have caught him staring off sadly into nothingness. Despite everything the singer held up pretty well. Shuichi was as energetic as ever at the rehearsals for the upcoming tour and fooling around as always.
So his friends at work didn't suspect a thing and Hiro thought it wasn't his job to fill them in. If Shuichi would want to he'd tell them himself.
Although Hiro figured so much that Tohma Seguchi knew what had happened between the singer and the novelist being Yuki Eiri's closest 'friend'. Hiro was at a loss about the situation and that only made him more angry at the careless novelist who had broken his promise to never make Shuichi cry again. Shuichi was his best friend he would make sure that this was the last time Yuki Eiri did something like this to poor little Shu-san. Maybe Shuichi was a bit naive for his own good but he was kind and cared about the cold novelist a lot. But what did he got in return? A bunch of harsh words that would only destroy another piece of his innocence.
Maybe it was good that everything is over now.
It would be a painful progress for Shuichi but hopefully time would heal his wounds and the tour would help him to take his mind of Yuki. He gently stroked Shuichis blackened hair.
"Come on now. Let's get cleaned up and head to the studio. Tohma called and said he has a surprise for us."
He smiled encouragingly. Promptly Shuichi who had only sniffling by now sat up straight and curiously blinked back at him getting all round puppy eyes.
"A surprise???!!! Yay!!"
A smile was back on his lips as he jumped up and raced into the bathroom and was ready in less than 15 minutes.
"Come on you slowpoke! I'm gonna be there first."
The pink haired boy flashed him a smile and raced out of the door. Hiro smiled softly, shook his head and darted after his friend.
The worries were forgotten - for now.
*******
At the studio they met K, Sakano and Suguru who were waiting already in Tohma's office. The president himself was absent.
"Geez. What took you so long?"
Shaking his head Suguru greeted his friends. He was almost knocked over by Shuichi's enthusiastic greeting who then started to bounce around the room demanding to get to know the surprise.
A smile crept over his lips. Shuichi was really an energetic person.
Sakano was nervously pacing up and down throwing up his hands over his head from time to time muttering to himself. Hiro kept hearing things like "I'm dead." - "He'll fire me." - "Oh good lord help me." And so on.
K was reloading his gun - just in case.
And Suguru just rolled his eyes at the usual scene questioning himself how he could end up with them in the first place. Nobody noticed that Tohma Seguchi had entered through a side door in the meantime and had been watching the scene with a bemused smile.
Although he was slightly surprised about Shuichi's behavior he didn't show it. He had been expecting a shaken quiet boy but not this bundle bursting with energy. He coughed drawing the attention of the others.
Everybody was startled turning their heads to the young president of NG. Tohma Seguchi smiled as he took a seat behind his desk.
"I have good news for you. Due to the America tour upcoming in January the fans keep demanding a final concert before you leave."
The group drew their breath waiting with anticipation for what was to come. Sakano was at the point of fainting but he still managed to focos on Tohma's words.
"That means we will have a special Christmas concert for all the fans out there on December 24th. It's going to be in the Tokyo City Hall. It will start at 7 p.m. NG will announce the concert tomorrow. We will have about two weeks left. Everything will be ready by then. Any comments?"
He looked around. Everybody stared at him before chaos broke loose. Shuichi was dancing with Hiro through the office. K was busy shooting holes into the ceiling and Suguru tried to get Sakano who fainted during Tohma's last speech back to the living. The blond grinned at the group.
"Looks like everything is settled then. By the way on December 20th we will have a Christmas party here in the company. A lot of important person will be here on that day so be sure to show off your chocolate side."
By now Sakano was back among the living eagerly bowing and assuring that everything will be going just fine. Before they finally left the office Tohma called out to Shuichi. The pink haired singer turned back.
"Yeah, what is it? I'm really looking forward to the concert and the tour."
Shuichi smiled happily.
"That's good. I just wanted to let you know that Ryuichi is waiting for you in the lobby. He wanted to talk to you."
"Really???!!! Wahhoo. I'm going to meet Ryuichi-san."
Bad Luck's singer turned and almost flew down the stairs to meet his idol.
******
In the lobby Shuichi almost ran over Ryuichi Sakuma the singer of Nittle Grasper and his idol ever since he came into high school. The brown haired man with the ever present pink bunny was quite a bit older and even being a star as Nittle Grasper's singer he acted like a three year old most of the time. But on stage Ryuichi Sakuma changed into a shining star moving millions with his voice.
At the beginning Shuichi wanted to be exactly like him until he realized that he had his own style and his fans loved him for it. Nevertheless, Ryuichi was one of his best friends and he still adored him a lot.
Like always Kumagoro greeted him first.
"Hija Shuichi-san. You finally came. I've been waiting a whole hour."
He could hear the pouting in the cute voice. He instantly felt sorry for the little bunny and knelt before him.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Do you think if I would treat you to ice cream you wouldn't be sad anymore?"
Inwardly grinning he added. "It'd be really fun and I have great news, too. It's really too bad that Ryuichi isn't here. I was really looking forward to see him."
Promptly a shout came from behind the bench Shuichi had been standing before.
"Whoaaa waaaiit, Kumagoro, Shuichi-san hold it. I'm right here. I wanna go to. Pretty please??!!!"
A head poked from behind the bench looking with pleading puppy dog eyes at a grinning Shuichi. He loved that game, it always made him feel better.
Shuichi then took both Ryuichi and Kumagoro to a nearby ice cream parlor where they each a huge cup of ice cream.
"So what are the news you were talking about Shuichi?"
The brown haired man wanted to know.
"Oh, I almost forgot. We're having a Christmas concert on December 24th. Do you wanna come? It's gonna be really cool."
Enthusiastically both started talking about music, the America tour and Ryuichi provided him with tips about the foreign country. Suddenly Shuichi remembered something.
"Ano, Ryuichi. Tohma said you wanted to talk to me."
Curious he looked at the older man.
"Yeah that's right. Well, it's like that. I heard that you moved out of Yuki's apartment."
At this a flash of pain crossed Shuichi's face but was gone as quickly as it came but Ryuichi caught it nevertheless. Carefully he explained.
"You know since I'm back in Japan I had only lived in hotels or in an apartment at NG headquarters while moving back and forth to the US and Japan. But now I intend on staying on a long time period in Japan and I thought it'd be nicer if Kumagoro and I could live in an own apartment. You know Kumagoro doesn't really like hotel rooms that much."
The pinkish little bunny nodded his head in agreement.
"So we want to rent our own apartment and well, I wanted to ask you if you want to tag along. I could use a room mate. And with you being my friend and also looking for a place to stay..."
Hopefully he looked at a surprised Shuichi. The singer of Bad Luck was very surprised. A lot of things had happened in the past three days. Hiro would let him stay as long as he wanted to but it wasn't a solution. Hiro had a girlfriend and when Ayaka came back from her trip to Kyoto it surely would be a little small for the three of them.
'So why not take up the offer? Geez, I could live together with Ryuichi Sakuma. I could learn a lot from him and it would be most definitely a lot of fun.'
And Ryuichi wanted him to be his room mate. Smiling he looked at Ryuichi replying that they should start right away to look for a suitable apartment.
"Yay, let's go."
Ryuichi jumped up and grabbed Shuichi's hand dragging him out to the street and together they bounced through the crowd enjoying themselves.
*************************************************************
Hi everybody, sorry that it took me longer to update this time. We had off on October 3rd (national day) so I went to my parents house and stayed there over the weekend. I only wrote the basics for chapter 4 & 5. And having so much time between chapter 3 and 4 I really hope I'm not too off track by now. I also was quite pissed off at work as well and didn't feel like writing. Our British secretary told me not too use "okay" on the phone when speaking English or German. It's too American. How stupid is that? It really annoys me that some people keep insisting that I use and pronounce the word (in) British. I do like the British accent but habit is habit. Anyway I should stop sulking about that stupid ....... .
Please tell me what'd you think maybe it cheers me up a bit.
Take care, everybody. ^_^