Disclaimer: I don't own these characters…mwah. Doesn't mean I can't write about and torment them…*cackles and runs away*
Notes: Kinda getting OOC, trying to keep the characters in check as much as possible though.
And yesh, it was TaTu Shuichi was listening to in the first chapter ^.^;
WARNING: Shounen-ai, hints of yaoi…maybe even some yaoi later. This means maleXmale partnerships. If you happen to disagree with this, the turn back now by hitting the "back" button. *Happens to wonder why you're reading Gravitation fanfiction*

Key-desu!:
'…' = speech
blahblah = flash back

And so…we continue with the tale of angst so Emily (x.x) can survive Vay's wrath…

----

'I got a call last night,' Shuichi mumbled through a mouthful of sticky strawberry pocky.
'That's nice. Lots of people get calls,' Hiro said absently, continuing to channel surf.
'From Tatsuha.'
'Oh, yeah? What does he want?'
'Hiro, you don't need to sound so mean!' Shuichi exclaimed. Hiro rolled his eyes.
'Anyway,' Shuichi continued, 'He said he's coming to stay in Tokyo for a while.'
'Huh. What for?'
Shuichi shrugged, and dropped down into a seat opposite Hiro. The afternoon was rainy and dull, and the two men were chilling out on their time off while Ayaka had gone out clothes shopping.
'Just wants something to do I guess. That big place in Kyoto must be pretty lonely when your living there by yourself.'
'Hn, I guess,' was the quiet reply, as Hiro became engrossed in some show or other.
Shuichi continued, unaware no one was listening. 'Well, he said he needed a place to stay. I said you two probably would put him up but he said you didn't like him, Hiro -whatever gave him that impression, I don't know- so, I said I'd asked my sister, she gets on with him well, but then there's the whole fact she wants her privacy now -girls are so fussy- and that's why I can't hang out there anymore. So, I figured I might as well let him stay, although my sofa bed really needs a new cushiony thing, but he said that was fine. I hope he's not gonna do anything-weird…Hiro, OI, Hiro. You're not listening.'
Hiro nodded vaguely; 'Sounds good.'
'Gyah,' Shuichi whined, shoving another stick of pocky in his mouth, sulking.
Hiro took a sidelong glance at Shuichi, 'So you're gonna let Uesugi Tatsuha stay at your place. Hm, won't that be kinda difficult seeing as he looks so much like…'
Shuichi chewed on his pocky. 'Its fine! Sure, Tatsuha looks a lot like Yuki; they are brothers after all. But I'm over Yuki,' he poked Hiro in the ribs with a fresh piece of his candy, 'I thought everyone knew that.'
Hiro said nothing, just nodded in consideration of his friends comment and pinched the piece of pocky dangling between Shuichi's fingers.
'Ew, its all sticky.'
'Hiro! That's mine! And its sticky cuz I left it on the window ledge above the heater,' he made a swipe for the candied treat, but Hiro moved his hand and devoured the strawberry-ness.
'Hmph, that was my last one too. I'm gonna go get more.' With a glare at Hiro, Shuichi dashed off to scavenge for any more boxes of his favourite snack in his apartment.
'You can say what you want, Shuichi. But despite what you say or do, you're far from over Yuki Eiri,' Hiro muttered sadly.
'Aha! Found a box!'

*

Yuki woke up a day later, his lack of sleep finally catching up with him with a vengeance. He sat up, feeling light headed. He leaned back against his headboard on the bed and let his head drop softly back against the wall.
In his almost delirious state, he was driven to look to the other side of the bed…Shuichi's side. Or, what had been. But even now, when he slept with others, he didn't let anyone take Shuichi's side, preferring the partners to take his side.
He looked over and could almost see the boy tucked up tight, twisted in the blankets.
He blinked a few times and the image wouldn't leave him.

The boy rolled over, eyes shut in sleep, a happy smile on his face as he snuggled up to Yuki.

In the present time; the man could feel the phantom warmth of his ex-lover and began mimicking movements from the past.

Yuki looked down at Shuichi as the boy wrapped an arm around his waist, possessively.
'Ne…Yuki?' came a sleep-ridden voice.
'What baka?'
There was no response, and Yuki figured the boy was just speaking in his sleep. There was silence for a while, as his just watched Shuichi sleep, hand place awkwardly on the other side of the boy. 'Yuki…Yuki, aren't you cold…Yuki?' Shuichi said, shifting slightly, pushing the covers he was tangled in towards the blonde man.
The blankets balled up in Yuki's lap, leaving Shuichi partly exposed to the air.
'Is Yuki cold?'

Yuki jumped, snapping out of his daydream. 'God, I need a cigarette.' He slipped off the bed and padded into the living room, wondering where he had left the box and his lighter. His flash from the past still haunted him as he lit up a cigarette and inhaled deeply.
This was yet another thing that reminded him of Shuichi, Goddamit. The constant nagging to quit, on and on and on.

Its bad for your lungs! Yuki might die! Lung cancer Yuki! LUNG CANCER!

Then when he had quit…Yuki smiled in appreciation, then he had had to find something else to be addicted too.
'I'm losing my mind,' he said to himself, and then as if to prove his point, 'I'm even fucking talking to myself now.'
He had nothing to do with himself; he reasoned. He didn't want to work anymore, he didn't want to sleep, nor did he want to go out. He looked to his TV, and picked up the remote to turn it on, only to throw it down again, changing his mind. There was nothing on the television apart from boring drivel.
In a fit of restlessness, he turned to his answer machine and pressed play. The tape was always full, he never answered the phone and tended to wipe messages before listening to the. Phones were the bane of his existence.
The tape clicked, and rewound the beginning and a high-pitched beep emitted from the small speaker.
Ah, the lovely editor, reminding him of his deadline. Delete.
Some telemarketer trying to sell him beauty products. Delete.
The taped whirred again, and Tohma's voice began speaking, crackling from slight interference from the cell phone.
"Eiri-san, you should come out to lunch with Mika and I today, we haven't seen you in a while. It would be nice to-," the signal had apparently faltered at that point and Tohma had been cut off. Yuki looked at the clock. Too late for lunch. And the message was over a day old. Delete.
The machine went through its motions once more, and began playing a message recorded two hours previously.
"Aniki. Sorry to bug you, just figured I'd inform you that I'm coming down to visit you all till you send me packing. Anyway, don't get all prissy, I'm not expecting to stay with you," Tatsuha's voice said, pausing to talk to someone in the background. "I'm gonna stay with Shuichi! Wasn't it nice of him to put me up, when my family can't be bothered? That goes for Mika too. I'll be there in a day or two though, so if you wanna move to Guam, now would be the time, ne? No hard fee---" The tape had cut him off there. Yuki rolled his eyes; his brother did have a tendency to ramble on sometimes. And then his little brother had been hinting at the lack of good family bonds. Well, they had never really been close in the first place.
He wiped the rest of the messages off the tape, deciding he'd rather not listen anymore and promising himself he'd never listen to it again. Maybe he'd just get rid of his phone.
Still feeling restless, Yuki decided to go for a walk. Anywhere to get him out of the static air of his apartment.

*

Tohma looked up suddenly from his book, turning to his wife. 'I'm worried about Eiri-san,' he said.
Mika looked at him, surprised. 'That was sudden,' she commented, 'but I can see why. I'm worried about my little brother too.'
Tohma smiled softly, sadly. 'He hasn't answered my calls.'
'Tohma,' Mika moved over to sit next to him and leaned in to look closely at her husband, 'when does Eiri ever answer your calls? Or mine, for that matter?'
'He's distant-'
Mika interrupted, 'He's always been distant, Tohma,' she leant back in her seat. 'All that's changed is that he works more, sleeps and eats less, and his health has taken a plummet. But he won't let us help him.'
The blonde man balled his fists; 'Its not just that. He's hurting, from the mistake he made.'
'He has to be left to make his own decisions. He's not a child. He doesn't appreciate us butting into his life,' Mika reasoned, although she was deeply worried for her brother too. Especially after talking to Tatsuha after his last visit.
Tohma stood. 'I'm going to see him,' he said, and without another word, left.
Mika slumped forward, forever stuck with the realisation that her husband loved her brother more than he loved her.

*

Yuki was sat on a bench in a park, the only park he went to, the place he had met Shuichi.
His head was tilted backwards, and he was looking at the drab grey sky. It was threatening to rain again, but he didn't care. The fresh air felt good and cool on his skin.
He took another drag from his cigarette, his fifth since he had got to the park, and just sat, taking in what was around him. Because of the dismal weather, there weren't many people about, and he was, as usual, left alone with his thoughts. The clouds drifted aimlessly overhead, and Yuki attempted desperately to clear his head, so he could go home and focus on work.
The quiet patter of rain filled his senses suddenly, and Yuki looked back up to the sky. The heavens had opened once more, and it had started spitting rain.
The fine drops of water soon soaked into his shirt, and soaked pretty much everything else. With a resentful sigh, he urged himself back to his feet, stubbing his cigarette out on the bench, and hurried as quickly as he could against the crowds back to his apartment.
He rounded the corner and started down the hallway to his apartment, and immediately wished he'd stayed sitting in the rain. It appeared that his dear brother in law had decided to pay him a visit, and the man was currently hammering on Yuki's door in what seemed like desperate worry.
'Eiri-san!' Seguchi Tohma was saying, as he knocked.
Yuki rolled his eyes. Tohma, along with Mika, didn't know when to stay away.
'What do you want?' he asked, walking up to the door, leaning over Tohma to open it.
'Ah, Eiri-san, you're okay? You're not ill? Look at you, your soaking wet, you should wear a coat when you go out in the rain.'
Yuki ignored Tohma's comments and questions, and slipped past him into his apartment. He went to close the door firmly before the other man could enter, but it was too late.
Yuki groaned.
'Why are you here, Tohma?' He wandered into his bedroom to change his shirt, leaving the older man to stand in the living room awkwardly.
'I came to see if you were okay, Eiri-san. You've been ignoring Mika's calls and mine. You didn't come to lunch yesterday…you've become more distant.'
Yuki exited his bedroom, buttoning the last few buttons on a well-worn blue shirt. 'Congratulations, you've accomplished your task of seeing me. And I am okay. Now leave.'
'Eiri-san…'
'Is there more?'
Tohma sighed, unable to communicate properly with Yuki. Instead he sat down, and looked up at Yuki.
'What have you been up to?' He asked pleasantly.
'Working, eating, sleeping. The usual…' Yuki said, adding silently, thinking of him.
'Oh! Work. How's the new novel?'
'Tohma, the small talk is nice, but not for me,' Yuki attempted to say as nicely as possible, eager to get the man out of his inner sanctum.
Yuki sat down opposite to Tohma, putting a few metres of distance between them. As soon as he was settled, he lit up another cigarette, noting mentally that this was his fifteenth today and that he needed to cut down.
'Eiri-san, you really should attempt to stop that nasty habit.' 'Don't want to.'
Tohma sighed, 'Sometimes, you're like a stubborn child. Honestly, you quit once…it's not good for you.'

It's not good for you.

That's what Shuichi always said. The constant whining and worrying from Shuichi's part had caused Yuki to give up his nicotine addiction in the first place.
'Eiri-san, talk to me, please.'
'I don't have time for talking. Leave, I have work to do.' Yuki got up from his seat, and stalked into his office, closing the door heavily behind him.
Tohma looked sadly at the division between them, before gathering himself together.
'As you wish, Eiri-san, I'll leave.'

***

'WAI! Yuki's giving up smoking! With a bit of hard work, you'll never have to touch a cigarette again!' Shuichi grinned insanely over the table at his lover, before continuing to stuff himself with over-sugared breakfast cereal.
It had officially been an hour since Yuki had thrown his last box of cigarettes in the bin (but not before Shuichi had shredded them into non-smokable pieces; 'Can't let you slip while I'm at work' he had said cheerfully), and he was dying for a nicotine fix.
He found it impossible to see why Shuichi was so damn bouncy and happy.
'Yuuuuuu-ki! Eat your breakfast, you'll feel lots better!' Another spoonful of something-o's (these thing all had the same names; it didn't matter) was shoved into Shuichi's mouth. Yuki watched him eat. The boy was bouncing in his seat; he seemed more hyper than usual.
'Whats with you?' Yuki managed, almost civilly.
Shuichi grinned; 'Finish early today. Sooner I get to work, sooner I can come home and spend time with you!'
'I'll be working.'
'YUKI! You promised last night that you'd spend time with me!' 'Last night, I was preoccupied with other things,' Yuki said, almost leering.
Shuichi blushed.
'Eh-heh, I guess, but Yuki, please?' He asked, sad look and puppy-dog eye mode in play.
Yuki waved a hand absently as a "yes".
'WAI!' The pink haired young man bounced out of the room, but popped his head back around the doorframe, 'Yuki, eat something. You'll get cranky otherwise.'
Yuki rolled his eyes, and started picking at his food, an idea beginning to slowly formulate in his mind.
When Shuichi finally emerged ready for work, Yuki had moved to the living room, and was twirling a pen between his fingers. 'I need something to take my mind off smoking,' he mumbled.
Shuichi blinked. 'Suck on a straw or something?' he offered, 'Go buy some of those nicotine patch things. They're meant to work,' the boy wandered over to Yuki and gave him a kiss. 'I'll be back soon. Don't eat lunch without me.'
Yuki caught his arm and pulled Shuichi towards him.
'Yuki-?'
'That won't work. I need someone to take my mind off it.'
The boy looked down innocently. 'Huh? Wha-? YUKI!' the realisation dawned on him after a few minutes, and he squirmed to free his arm from his lovers grasp. 'NOOOO! I have to go to work!'
But Yuki had already pounced. Needless to say, work was forgotten.

***

Yuki tapped his fingers on the desk, ability to write eluding him and his restlessness back.
He couldn't concentrate, too focused on the past and what he had let go.
Crazy to get his mind off Shuichi; he picked up the phone and called Tohma, to ask if lunch could be arranged.

*

'Hello, Shuichi!'
'Tatsuha?'
'Aw, damn, how'd you guess?'
Maiko appeared behind her brother in the doorway to his apartment. 'Well, I know my brother's not the smartest of people, but that wig is very obviously fake.'
Tatsuha's happy grin failed and he pulled off the wig sadly, 'I guess my cunning plan could never fool you.'
'Nope.'
Shuichi sweatdropped. 'Erm,' he waved his hands, 'Come in!'
Wig incident forgotten, the younger boy of the Uesugi family bounced into Shindou Shuichi's apartment.
'So, Tatsuha, what brings you to Tokyo?' Maiko said, sitting down on the beaten couch in the living room area.
The dark haired man shrugged, 'Whats wrong with just coming here to visit my friends? Everyone lives in Tokyo now. You've all abandoned me.' He mock cried, hand thrown across his eyes.
Maiko snorted. Shuichi looked sympathetic towards Tatsuha, but returned to studying the wig Tatsuha had abandoned.
'Actually, I just figured I'd catch up with you all. And Ayaka-chan's baby's due soon. So I'm taking a vacation.'
'You're always on vacation,' Shuichi's little sister said absently, flicking a page over in her magazine.
'Ta-dah!' Shuichi spread his arms out, now wearing the long, blonde wig.
'Its suits you, Onii-chan,' Maiko said, not looking up. 'You're not even looking,' Shuichi pouted, prodding at his sister. Tatsuha chuckled.
'How long do you intend to stay?'
Shuichi prodded his sister once more, and she turned and pushed him off the arm of the couch.
'ITAI!' Shuichi hopped back to his feet, and glared at Maiko. 'What was that for?'
She ignored him, and re-iterated her earlier question.
'Oh, I dunno…' Tatsuha slung an arm round Shuichi's shoulders and pulled the other man towards him, 'as long as Shu-chan here can stand my ugly face for.'
Shuichi blinked up at Tatsuha…and went to respond; "You're face isn't ugly…its just like Yuki's…beautiful…" His eyes widened as his thoughts became apparent in his head. His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly felt guilty. He had lied to Hiro earlier.
He was nowhere near over Yuki, never would be. And it was going to be difficult having Tatsuha around, a constant reminder, almost, of what he had lost.

***

'Its over.'

Yuki had given his ultimatum. He wanted Shuichi out of his home and out of his life.
The pain in the young pink haired man's chest was indescribable; it was almost as if…as if his heart really was breaking.
The apartment was quiet, and Shuichi was packing his belongings. Yuki had long since vanished, his only words as he left being 'I want you gone by the time I'm back.'
The reality of what was going on was permeating slowly into Shuichi's senses, and he was finding it hard to try and keep back his tears. For some strange reason, he didn't want to cry. He didn't want to acknowledge the reality.
'Why? Why?' Was all he mumbled as his packed his clothes into his backpack. It was funny, when people moved, they usually found they had more stuff than they had started with when they moved in, but Shuichi found that his belongings seemed to of depleted, as if some power that be wanted him out of the apartment as soon as possibly.
Shuichi choked out a sob. On top of all this heartache, where did he have to go? What was he supposed to do? Why was Yuki doing this?

To Be Continued…