"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are very happy to see that you all followed our invitation to attend our yearly Christmas party."
Tohma stood on the small stage greeting his guests. He scanned the crowd and noted with satisfaction that all indeed had come. Although it wasn't really a big surprise since he had a lot of influence and contacts were easily made at this kind of gathering together.
He went on to inform his guests that dinner would be served in the adjacent hall in about half in hour and till then they should use the time to drink a welcome drink and get acquainted with each other. Tohma could see Mika nodding in the direction to the entrance where just Bad Luck had entered with Sakano and K in tow. He finished his short speech with gallant words and nobody was surprised that he was a very good songwriter.
"....Well then I hope you enjoy this evening."
Applause was heard as he left the stage to greet his current top project. Mika joined him silently as they met up with Bad Luck.
"Good evening everybody." He smiled slightly at everyone. He exchanged a look with Ryuichi who grinned in return. Nittle Grasper's singer could be very mature when he wanted to be and tonight it was his job to keep Shuichi out of trouble. Actually it was K's job but just as he predicted Shuichi would find trust in Ryuichi easily. And that was a plus on Shindou-san's safety.
Ever since Yuki and Shuichi had broken up and the singer tried to convince them that the bruising he had afterwards were frost bites he knew something was wrong. It was a good idea to have Shuichi move in with Ryuichi. Still he felt not very good about not knowing what really happened back then. And all what he knew were the pieces he could put together from listening to Eiri and watching Shuichi who behaved way too sensible and careful since their break up. Usually Shuichi recovered quickly from an arguement with Yuki since he had a happy nature but Tohma still had a bad feeling.
The others sensed that something wasn't exactly right with Shuichi as well but weren't quite sure how to approach Shuichi so they just let it be. Maybe Hiro was the only one to know Shuichi good enough that his unusual slips in his carefree attitude was only partly Yuki's fault but somehow even Shuichi's best friend couldn't pull up the nerve to confront the pink haired boy.
Mika was now chatting with Suguru. K had scanned the area and you could see that he was feeling uncomfortable without his gun which he had to leave at the entrance. Sakano had pulled his guts together and was now talking to some agents from important commercial companies. Tohma smiled he knew that Sakano did a good job besides his frail nerves. Hiro was already being dragged by Ryuichi and Shuichi across the room to get some snacks.
On the inside he was relieved that Hiro was getting along with Ryuichi just fine and not being jealous of him. It wouldn't be good for Bad Luck. But since he was more the mature type and being friends with Shuichi for so long he could easily put up with Ryuichi's behavior.
Tohma could see Noriko and her husband enter the hall and he went to greet him. So far there was no sign of Yuki Eiri. He didn't know if it was a good or bad sign.
******
Shuichi felt giddy with excitement. He couldn't hold still for a minute and happily dragged Hiro and Ryuichi from crowd to crowd chatting with the people. Tohma had told them it was important to leave a good impression on the guests and it seemed as if Shuichi won their hearts in a row. Well, it wasn't so easy to resist his sparkling blue eyes and his a bit childish behavior. Tohma would be proud of him and he knew it was important to have a lot of business acquaintances. Shuichi had high hopes of seeing Yuki tonight although he didn't know for sure if he would attend or not. But at the moment he was happy and content with being rewarded with so much attention. He loved that. Ryuichi stayed at his side until a gong was heard announcing that dinner was about to be served so everyone should go into the dining hall.
Shuichi decided to wait for a bit. Maybe he could see then if Yuki was already here but after waiting for the hall to empty the novelist was nowhere to be seen. Disappointed he took a seat watching the last people disappear through the big doors. The others had already gone ahead not knowing that Shuichi didn't follow them.
He let out a heavy sigh. It had been fun so far but he had been hoping he would get to see Yuki. He dropped his head into his hands.
'Great Shuichi, now you're being miserable because you got your hopes up high again. Guess I'm not that strong after all.'
Thinking back he had almost laugh about himself. His inability to break up with Yuki physically and psychically was a joke.
'Even if I managed to break up with him and move out, I can't stop thinking about him and wishing to be near him. Why do I have to miss him so much? It's not fair that I have to suffer so much and he can shake me off so easily.'
He paused in mid thought and slapped his forehead.
'You idiot. That's why I broke up with him in the first place. His careless attitude towards me. God, I'm hopeless. If he should still show up today I just hope I'm not doing anything stupid. It would be already enough if we could settle for friends. I hate it if we have to avoid each other and last time I met him he wasn't so comfortable with this arrangement either.'
Shuichi's thoughts rambled on in his head and so he was too distracted to notice that Ryuichi had come back to look for him. Now he stood a couple of meters away watching Shuichi. His face was contorted as if in pain. Ryuichi could feel what his friend was going through. Self-accusation, doubts, worry, hope flashed on Shuichi's face. All feelings he was familiar with himself.
Tohma had asked him to take care of Shuichi since he was going through tough times. He expected him probably to distract him with his cheerful attitude not knowing that he could relate to Shuichi's situation and comfort him. Tohma knew him well that's for sure but every person has secrets and his were securely hidden behind childish happiness. He felt safer this way. The child in him kept him seeing the good things in life. It was his way to deal with the fact that most people only wanted to see the sexy rock star. He still hoped that someday someone would like this side of him first and not the other way round. It tended to end badly.
Ryuichi took a couple of steps forward making himself known to Shuichi. The pink haired young man who rather looked like a lost small boy right now tried to smile at him. Ryuichi shook his head.
"You don't have to pretend with me."
He said softly taking the empty seat beside him.
"I thought I made that clear to you."
Ryuichi sounded a bit hurt and Shuichi didn't want to make his friend sad as well.
"I'm sorry. Guess I'm just used to it so everybody stops worrying about me. Sometimes they make me feel as if I'm a small boy not being able to handle my own life."
'Ouch. That sounded bitter. Way to go, Ryuichi. You're supposed to cheer him up not to make it worse.'
"Nah, Shu-san, take it easy no na da. No need to be sorry."
He grinned assuringly at Shuichi.
"And the other guys are your friends. That's why they're so concerned. Even if you're showing them that your happy they still feel that something isn't perfectly right. I mean take Hiro. He's your friend since when? Since school? You didn't really think you could fool him then, ne?"
Shuichi thought about it then and shook his head.
"No, he knows me too good. It's just that I always rely on him and he always has to fix the mess I make. I don't really feel as if I have been a good friend to him."
Ryuichi shook his head.
"And so you just shut him out? And the others at well? Just because of a bad conscience you give up on your friendship? Believe me that's just making you feel worse."
Shuichi thought about that.
"I don't want to give up anything. I just simply can't deal with them right now, you know explaining what's going on."
Ryuichi nodded.
"'kay. Let's leave it at that."
Both sat in silence for awhile hanging after their own thoughts.
"You're waiting for him, ne?!" Ryuichi stated.
A blush crept up Shuichi's cheeks. He only nodded.
"Don't worry if he figures what you mean to him he'll come."
He assured his friend.
"You think so?" Came the doubting reply.
"Yeah, he's not stupid you know."
Ryuichi flashed Shuichi an encouraging smile.
"Common let's grab some food, no an da."
He pulled Shuichi up and pushed him towards the dining hall. Before he followed him he threw a last glance at the door Shuichi had starring for so long.
'I just hope he'll figures it out in time'.
******
Dinner went by uneventful. Shuichi had regained his composure and was now chatting with the others at the table. He had fun with his friends and if it was just for a moment he could forget about Yuki.
Ryuichi was satisfied although he felt restless. It was already past 8.30pm. Yuki should have been here by now. Tohma had told him that Yuki would attend but he shouldn't tell Shuichi in case Yuki changed his mind. Ryuichi groaned inwardly. This guy was really unpredictable. Sometimes he had the urge to just kick his ass so he would finally realize what he did to so many people with his selfish behavior.
The first people started getting up from the table moving on to the next hall where music would be played and later small gifts would be exchanged. Ryuichi watched Tohma who had organized the evening very well just like everything else. Ryuichi admired Tohma for this ability. He could make people do things without forcing them. This way he had ended up looking over Shuichi - not that he minded it one bit. He felt drawn to Shuichi since they had first met. His friends attitude was so very similar to his own and only in his presence he felt content with being and acting like himself. Neither being constantly the child nor the famous singer thousands out there craved.
Just himself.
He really hoped that this evening would end uneventful but he had the weird feeling that trouble was just about to get started as he could make out a silent figure at the entrance.
******
He was late. Very late. Damn his unpredictable body. He had fallen asleep in front of his laptop and as he finally woke up it was dark outside and almost 8pm. Since he was in such a hurry he couldn't even think about what he was going to do when he finally arrived at the party. Now Yuki Eiri stood in the door feeling suddenly insecure exposed to the public.
'God damn, get a grip on yourself, Eiri.'
He mentally kicked himself into action. Yuki strode over where he had spotted Tohma who was guiding his guests into another hall where music was playing. As he walked over to him he couldn't help himself to look for a certain pink haired head. Tohma had noticed him and went to greet him.
"Eiri, I'm glad you made it. Well, you missed dinner but if you like you can still have something. Come let's take a seat."
Tohma ushered him over to a table not waiting for his response. He almost seemed too eager but Yuki let it slide. He just nodded and took a seat. After he had started to eat Tohma motioned with his head over to an older man sitting to their right side a few seats down the table.
"Do you know who that man is?"
Yuki looked up over to the gray haired man in a black smoking. He swallowed before answering.
"Hm, I do think he looks familiar."
He shrugged scanning the tables once more.
"Is he here?" He suddenly asked.
"Who?"
Tohma was a bit startled by the sudden switch of themes. Yuki raised his eyebrow. Tohma looked over to an table on the other side of the room where all kinds of groups and singers employed by NG where seated.
Yuki followed his gaze and his eyes settled on Shuichi's face. He looked gorgeous tonight it struck him. In favor of this more formal gathering he had chosen deep blue pants, a matching jacket with a white shirt beneath. The material of the pants and mid thigh long jacket looked close to something like leather. Surely nobody could expect a rock star to appear with a suit even on a formal occasion he grinned inwardly. It suited him well and it accented his bright pink hair and the color matched his sparkling eyes.
It seemed like he was having fun with his friends around him. Yuki felt a pang of jealousy seeing that his friends could make him happy so easily where he only made him cry.
Tohma could see the expression on the face of his friend darken. Knowing what kind of thought probably occupied Yuki's mind he tried again to bring his attention back to the prior topic. He cleared his throat bringing Yuki out of his thoughts.
"You should keep his name in mind. Ryan Springer. He owns the biggest publishing agency in the States. I invited him because he was interested in you. Actually your manager called me up because of it. She said you were too busy..."
Yuki rolled his eyes. His manager couldn't reach him because he had switched of his cell phone and he never bothered to pick up his phone in his apartment anyway. Well, the woman was clever. But not more than him, he promised himself. Well, he could still listen what Tohma had to say about this man.
"Go on."
He nodded to Tohma who had watched him intently.
"I already talked to him and if you are willing I will introduce you to him. He knows that you are very successful and he's interested in publishing your books in the States. As far as I know now would be the perfect opportunity to have a private talk with him since most of the guests are already in the music hall."
"Sounds not bad."
Yuki didn't really care about gaining more money and fame but his writer's block was unnerving him so it wouldn't be too bad to have a wider market explored for his books. Tohma took his answer as approval and motioned to follow him. They went over to where Mr. Springer was seated and after a short introduction Tohma left excusing himself to be looking for his wife.
Now it was up to Yuki. After several seconds of silence the older man began to talk.
"Well, you seem most definitely meet the content of all the articles about you."
Yuki felt a blush creeping up his cheeks. Did he just heard right?
"Excuse me?"
He turned to look at Ryan to see him smiling slightly.
"I read your books in chronological order. Do you know what I realized?"
Yuki felt uncomfortable under the knowing gaze of that man. He had the feeling he knew something he didn't and he didn't like that at all.
"Well, I guess you would tell me anyway."
He answered smugly. He wasn't somebody to be fooled.
"You are a writer by heart even if you don't think so. Writers tend to mend their feelings into what they write. Even unconsciously."
He waited to see a reaction on the face of the young man beside him but his face remained cold.
"Since I read them in the right order I could see a progress forming most people probably didn't realize. The longer you wrote the more the feelings of your characters became real and the more the people loved your books. Simply because of that. Now it's easy to guess why that is so, isn't it?!"
Yuki was shocked. How could this stranger analyze his writing style this good. He didn't realized it then but that's why the guy was the head of the most successful chain book stores in America.
Nevertheless Yuki was stubborn and he didn't intend to admit something he wasn't clear with himself. He turned his head to his side answering sarcastically.
"You tell me."
To his amazement the man only nodded and Yuki once more felt like a child. Ryan motioned with his head to the table opposite of them.
"Let's just say since you entered this hall all your thoughts were on him."
He nodded towards Shuichi. Yuki froze. Since when was he so easily to read. Tohma could pull that off but he knew him since he was a boy. That was the first time he met this guy and he felt like he was an open book to read.
"Don't worry. It's only me who can see what's going on inside you."
Ryan tried to calm the novelist beside him.
"I had this talent since I was small and I always liked to analyze people."
He could feel the tension ease a bit in the body beside him. Yuki was still looking at Shuichi but managed to say,
"Maybe you missed your true profession then."
"Maybe." Came the reply and you could here the smile in it.
Just then Shuichi looked up locking eyes with Yuki. Both of them felt as if the time stood still. The noises vanished to a quiet background mumble and both forgot that they're engaged in conversation. Surprise was obvious on Shuichi's face but there was something else something close to longing.
'Longing?!' Yuki thought perplex. 'Longing for me?'
He blinked and broke off the eye contact. His heart was racing in his chest and pulse and breathing had quickened unconsciously. As he glanced at Shuichi again he saw him looking his way but he turned his gaze back onto the others who were now getting up to follow most of the people into the music hall.
Yuki then remembered Ryan Springer but as he looked beside him he realized the man was gone. But he had left a business card leaning against his cup. He picked it up twirling it in his fingers.
'What a strange guy.'
But he didn't felt dislike against the older man to his amazement. Yuki sighted.
'Maybe there was some truth in what he had said.'
Suddenly his gaze came to rest on the card again. Something was written on the back of it. In neat writing there stood.
'You should go and talk to him.'
Yuki shook his head.
'That guy really is weird.'
He stood up in time to see a head with pink hair vanish through the doors.
*****************************************************
Hi guys, another chapter: introducing Ryan Springer. Don't worry he is just a minor character just for Yuki ass kicking. Geez, he's just a slow poke. Guess Ryuichi was pretty important too in this chapter, poor guy. Who knows what he has been through? Anyway Yuki and Shuichi are still my main charas so stay tuned....