Disclaimers: Oh gods I wish it were mine, but it isn't.

Notes: Okay! Back to your typical ShuichixYuki interlude…less sap-filled than others, up until the end, but that's okay! …right? It will be…

~~~~~flashback~~~~~

~*The Bible of Kumagoro—Getting Closer to Your God*~

            I sighed as I watched the small trail of smoke from my cigarette ascend slowly into the air, dangling for a second before disappearing, littering the air with its chemicals. Did I care? Hell no. Why should I? I had been writing all day long, I needed this cigarette. I was seriously starting to tire of it. I wasn't suffering from writer's block or anything like that, I was just sick of sitting on my ass and typing word after word. Especially since Shuichi was home. It had been around a month since our 'date' but I still couldn't stop thinking about it, so we rarely saw each other.

            This was one of his days off. He was working harder now than he used to, and hardly ever stayed home even on his days off. Even when he did I tended to ignore him for all or most of the day. It was my nature. However, he had actually felt the need to stay home. I could tell he was still here by the sounds outside. They were faint, but they were there. However, faint noise in my office meant ear-bursting loud noise outside. I'd managed so that my door muted all noises outside. Not quite to the point where I couldn't hear it anymore, but to where Shuichi's music couldn't interrupt me when he played it.
            Sighing once again I closed my latest work and got up, walking over to the door. Wrapping my hand around the door handle I took one last drag on my cigarette and crushed it in the nearby ashtray, which was littered with cigarettes from the last couple weeks.  Shuichi would surely strangle me if he saw that. Upon opening the door carefully I was immediately hit with the full force of the music. It was loud, it was catchy, and it wasn't coming from the stereo. It was familiar…somehow, although I knew it wasn't one of Shuichi's songs (it wasn't THAT familiar).

            I finally looked around and caught sight of Shuichi, mouthing the words to the song as he danced. Ah. So that was where I'd heard that music before. That hell machine from the arcade. I didn't know they actually sold the damn thing, and I didn't have…okay, hadn't HAD…any sort of machine to play it on. Apparently Shuichi'd gone out and bought it himself.

            I made my way over to the couch slowly, sitting down and watching him play. It was scary, how he could make something that looked so very insane and random on the screen look so easy. It was like he'd been born for it, almost. After he finished I clapped softly, and he jumped, turning around quickly to stare at me. He ended up on the floor however, staring up at me with wide eyes.

            "Yuki! You scared me!" I couldn't help a small smile at that and Shuichi stood back up, smiling back at me. "You want to try? I went out and bought it last night on my way home from work. I just hooked it up this morning." I shook my head and he pouted at me, running over to where I was sitting and dropping to his knees. "Please?" He was giving me the most pitiful look he could manage, which was actually pretty damn good.

            Sighing I stood up, pulling him up with me. He smiled up at me hopefully, clinging to my arms as we stared at each other. God, he was almost making me WANT to do it. However, I still had a sense of dignity. I didn't feel the need to show Shuichi how absolutely horrible I was at dancing. He hadn't found any of my other features worthy of insults (his pink hair and violet eyes made him no different than me), but he could surely dance without thinking while I could hardly count beats.

            "There's no way you're getting me on that thing," I whispered softly before kissing him. I couldn't help it. He was adorable when hopeful. His eyes shone lighter, and he made himself seem so much shorter than he really was. I don't know how he achieved it, but somehow he made himself look smaller and even more innocent. He would have been really popular with the ladies if I hadn't gotten to him first. There were two types of guys they really liked: Smooth talking playboy (gee, guess who that applies to…) and the cute, innocent, and stupid. For some reason they seemed to find them utterly adorable.

            "Please?" he tried again as we separated, staring up at me with half-lidded eyes. Dammit! I should have figured he'd find a way to use everything to his advantage. Sighing I gave in and pulled his hands off my shirt, holding onto one gently.

            "Will it make you happy if I try once?" I was going to make a fool out of myself, and I was well aware of it. However, Shuichi seemed determined to get me on that machine, and at least there was no one else around this time. The reporters would have had fun writing about my inabilities. Hell, I think they'd be amused enough that I actually did it. Shuichi nodded happily and pulled me towards the machine by my hand determinedly.

            "Do you understand how to do it?" he asked as he plugged in a second controller and stepped on the start button of it, setting it next to his. I shook my head slowly and he sighed. "Watch me then, okay? It's really simple."

            "I have watched you. You look like a fish out of water." Shuichi laughed and stuck his tongue out at me, jumping on one of his arrows a while before stepping onto the middle of the pad.

            "Sit out and I'll play an easy song. Just watch, okay? I only had one song left on this game, anyway." I nodded and stepped back, crossing my arms and watching as Shuichi danced slower this time. The arrows were spaced far enough apart that I could actually tell between one and the other. "See, when the arrow reaches here," Shuichi pointed to an area on the screen at that, "you step on that arrow. Whether it's up, down, left, right, front-back jump, left-right jump, front-right jump, front-left jump, back-right jump, or back-left jump. Got it?" That was a whole eleven different things at once. How the hell did he expect me to understand that?

            However, as the song finished he turned around and motioned for me to try it. I sighed as did as I was told. Anything to keep him from whining like he had been earlier. He smiled as we waited for the machine to load, picking a character quickly as the screen showed up. "Hit the start button," he demanded and did so for me, anyway. Afterwards he hit his own circle button and waited for me to choose someone. Heh, they were all girls.

            "She's hot," I commented as I chose one, following Shuichi and stepping on the circle on my mat. Shuichi glared at me and I offered him one of my trademark smiles. He went right back to pouting and started shifting through songs.

            "Do you want me to play on easy with you, or can I play on hard mode?" I shrugged and he sighed in return. "I'll play easy…" he offered dejectedly and I glared over at him.

            "I'm doing YOU a favor here. Nice to know it's appreciated." Shuichi laughed softly and stopped shifting through songs long enough for me to listen to it. "Is this what we're playing?" Shuichi nodded happily, waiting. "It's tacky." Shuichi laughed again and pressed the circle button, finally selecting the song. "Tacky, tacky, tacky."

            "You going to actually play or just call it tacky?"

            "Are you seriously giving me the option?" Shuichi shook his head and I watched the screen for those damn annoying little arrows. Sighing I moved to press an arrow as it appeared, hitting it with an 'almost.' Great, the machine was capable of mocking me all by itself. All I'd seen from the idiot had been 'perfect' I didn't know it was capable of lowering my self-esteem. It continued on like that, and eventually I got lost enough that I just stopped. Shuichi smiled and glanced over at me.

            "Come on, at least try Yuki." I sighed and tried again, concentrating on the screen until the arrows started to make my head spin. The damn things were moving faster than I could move one foot back and the other there. How the hell did Shuichi manage this shit? As the song ended Shuichi laughed happily and I glared at him, jerking my controller out of the system and sitting down on the couch. Great, just what I'd wanted!

            Shuichi turned and blinked at me from where he had caught the falling system, eyes wide and questioning. I glared at him a great deal before the pain in those eyes made me close my own and look away. Dammit. I knew I'd suck at it. He probably found it hilarious that I couldn't dance, just like all the kids when I was little. I heard the TV shut off and a couple seconds later Shuichi's hands were on my knees.

            "Yuki, what's wrong?" he asked softly, hands running up and down my legs slightly in a comforting gesture. I opened my eyes enough to glare at him, staring once again and his wounded eyes. "Yuki…" he looked like he was going to cry. What the hell was wrong with him? I was the one who'd just had every shred of dignity I possessed shredded and had my boyfriend (the one person I really trusted in this world) laugh at me. What the hell was he crying for?

            "What! What the hell do you want!" I snapped after a while of him staring at me, tears still hanging in the corners of his eyes. He jumped and the tears slid down his face at that. "So I don't feel like being made fun of by you, okay! Is that really that bad!" Shuichi's eyes widened slightly before a small smile made itself known on his face. I closed my eyes again, not wanting him to smile at me.

            He made a sort of disappointed clicking sound I couldn't help but think of my mother. She always used to do that when I was upset. "Yuki…" cold fingers brushed against my cheek softly.

~~~~~'Eiri, Eiri, Eiri. What's wrong? What'd they do this time?' a soft, gentle voice; warn fingers combing hair out from where they'd been trapped under my fingers. Warm hands pulling my own away from my face so I'd look at her through tear-filled eyes. 'Come on, you can tell me. I promise you I won't make fun of you.' I sobbed and threw myself against her, crying and telling her everything. About how they called me a talentless freak. How they told me I looked like a dying fish when I tried to dance, about how they told me I'd never get someone to like me.

There went that clicking noise again. She always made that noise. 'Don't let what they say get to you, okay? I'm sure you'll find someone who won't care how you dance, one day, okay? Besides, what's so important about dancing?' I shrugged and I felt her pull me away from her so we could see one another. 'Next time they make fun of you for something stupid like your looks or how you dance, tell them that none of that matters. What matters is how you feel and act, right?' I nodded happily, and she nodded once in return. 'Good. Now, let's go inside. Your sister wanted you to go play with her.'~~~~~

            "Yuki, I wasn't making fun of you. I swear it. It was just…you were concentrating so hard. You looked all serious and you're supposed to just have fun with it. I was having fun, playing with Yuki, that's all. I was so happy you played with me, and I thought it was…I guess cute…the way you were staring at the screen so intensely." I opened my eyes slowly and looked over him. Old tears still marked his face, but he was smiling happily now, sitting up so we were near eye-level. "I'm sorry if it seemed like I was making fun of you. I wasn't." I smiled slightly at him, and he nodded happily. "Come on, I'll help you get it!" he cheered happily, standing up and offering to help me as well. I took his offered hands and stood up, following him back to the machine.

            He pushed me onto the pad he'd been on earlier and turned the machine back on, picking my character for me quickly. "Okay, just don't pay attention to the screen, and do like I do, okay?" I nodded slowly and he latched onto my hand. "Trust me. You might not pick up right away, but just follow my movements and eventually you'll get it." I nodded and he selected a song, making sure I was looking at him first.

            At first he was right, I didn't get it at all. I was always a little behind him, but eventually as his hand moved I realized he was going to as well, and depending on where, he'd move differently. Back=back, forward=forward, tighter=left, tug=right. Shuichi smiled happily as I followed him. I noticed he didn't return to the center as he danced, and followed his footsteps exactly. I couldn't help but smile myself, Shuichi was dancing along without a second thought, and eventually it just became a pattern of knowing Shuichi's movements.

            Afterwards he laughed and let go of my hand, turning to smile at me happily. "See! I told you you could do it! You just have to relax and have fun! You got a C!" I smiled and held him tightly. In that moment, he just looked so encouraging and loving. I didn't care about my score, but that look Shuichi was giving me over it. As much as I was afraid of dancing I'd do it over and over if he'd stick by me and encourage me like that again. "I'm really proud of you Yuki, I got a D first time I really tried it!" He cheered happily, wrapping his own arms around me.

            "Shuichi?" Shuichi moved slightly, resting his cheek against my chest and relaxing.

            "Yeah?"

            "I love you," I offered softly, kissing the top of his head. It was a thoughtless action, truly. Like it wasn't the first time I'd ever said it in my life. Like it wasn't the first time I'd ever given Shuichi even the slightest hint of how I felt about him. Like it was something completely normal. Shuichi seemed to stop breathing for a while, before laughing softly.

            "Love you, too," he managed softly before he buried his face into my shirt and cried, still laughing softly. His arms were shaking as he held me and I tightened my hold on him. "I…I didn't think you'd ever really say anything," he managed after a while, and I smiled, running a hand up and down his back comfortingly.

I didn't know what I expected if ever I did tell him how I felt, but this hadn't been it. Maybe a happy smile and his cheery energetic babbling, I wasn't quite sure. Somehow, though, I was sure that I preferred this outcome. It was…it…it made me feel truly loved. I didn't know why, but it did.

            "Neither did I." Shuichi managed to stand upright slowly, smiling up at me ecstatically; eyes wide even with his tears still falling quickly from them.

            "I can't believe…a stupid video game…brought it up," he managed between small laughs, before wiping his eyes dry and managing a much more day-to-day smile. "So, do you wanna play again then?" He asked happily, reaching behind him to take my hands in his.

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ACK!!! I HATED THAT ENDING! But, I write things better the first time through, so I'm not going back and rewriting it. Besides, most people tend to like what I hate more than what I like. Strange…

Okay! Now to answer sauron's question from their review:

…but when kuma was unleashed, wouldn't he know that ryuu-chan was nittle g's ryuu-chan? cuz the bunny is like the mascot or something?…

Okay. To clear things up since I was sure someone was going to ask me this eventually.

Michael had only just heard of Nittle Grasper back in chapter 13 when Tatsuha introduced NG to him, and he's only seen a few pictures of Ryuichi. I doubt he's sporting Kumagoro on the CD case or any of Tatsuha's posters (since Tatsuha went more for sex-symbol Ryuichi before meeting him), and he'd look in his early 20's or so (That's how I old I think he looks when he's singing).

…michael didn't mention anything about ryuu-chan's age and that didn't seem very likely.

I never thought to have him question Ryuichi's age for a couple reasons.

All he knew about Ryuichi when he met him was that he was Tatsuha's friend. I'm doubting Michael guessed he'd be very old at all Also, looking at Ryuichi the first time I thought he was somewhere between the ages of 15 and 19, so Michael would have no reason to guess he was much older then he and Tatsuha were.

Now that that's taken care of…

PLEASE REVIEW!!! Even if you hated the ending, the plot, whatever, I thrive off your feedback. So long as you're not mean about it…