Disclaimers: Gravitation is not mine.
Notes: Whee! Back to Tatsuha's point of view! ^_^
~*The Bible of Kumagoro—Getting Closer to Your God*~
"Yuki, you're the greatest!" Shuichi cheered as my brother pulled up in his car, opening the front door from him. He glared at me from his seat and I glared back, opening the back door and allowing Ryuichi to hop inside before I followed.
"I can't believe you need a whole support team just to talk to a friend of yours," Eiri snapped as I sat down, and I glared at him through his rearview mirror, slamming the door behind me on purpose. He spun around and glared at me for that. "Don't do that! Grow up, dammit!" I stuck my tongue out at him, crossing my arms stubbornly and glaring at him as I leaned back in my seat. I knew how precious my brother's car was to him, and how quickly he would kill me if I were to make even a single scratch on it.
"Two nights," I heard Shuichi reassure him quietly, trying to pull him out of our glaring contest. Shuichi won, of course. Shuichi always won when it came to fights with my brother. I wasn't sure whether Shuichi was aware how much my brother cared about him. Knowing him, the answer was probably no. I doubted my brother would be able to say 'I was worried about you' to Shuichi even if he got kidnapped and dragged off to Mexico or some place far away like that. Probably just a 'where the hell have you been? I can't believe you were stupid enough to get kidnapped. What are you, twelve?' followed by lots of kissing, hugging, and general 'sap time.' I knew my brother better than he thought I did.
"Tatsuha, don't be so mean to your brother na no da. I'm sure he's just trying to help, right?" Ryuichi offered from next to me, scooting to sit in the middle seat so we were right next to each other. He leaned his head against my shoulder and sat Kumagoro in my lap happily. "Even if he IS just being a big jerk, than at least you know that me, Shuichi, and Kumagoro are here for you, right? I'm sure he wants to help, too, though. I mean, he IS your big brother na no da," he offered sympathetically and I sighed. I knew that Eiri hadn't meant it, but couldn't he afford to be nice to me every once in a while? Especially now. I didn't need his insults at the moment; I was scared enough as it was.
The entire car trip there was made in almost pure silence, and Ryuichi clasped my hand gently halfway there. The only sound was me offering directions to Aiko's house and the collective breathing of us all in the car. Eiri didn't even have the radio on. It was quiet and uncomfortable. I felt like I was slowly marching to my death. Okay, technically driving…and a lot of people wouldn't think driving to your death in a Mercedes was all that bad, but I was used to the 'fancy foreign car' by now. It was nothing special to me. I lived in a family littered in money. True, my father and I didn't have any of it, but I was used to getting rides in fancy cars and eating at the best restaurants from my visits to my siblings.
"This it?" Eiri asked as we stopped in front of Aiko's house and I nodded slowly. Ryuichi's hand tightened on mine and he brought it up to his face, kissing my palm softly.
"It won't be so bad. Trust me na no da." I smiled and picked up Kumagoro, handing him to me.
"Somehow I feel more reassured when Kumagoro tells me that." Ryuichi smiled brightly and took Kumagoro from me, dropping my hand back down to my side so he could hold Kumagoro up to my face.
"Don't worry Tatsuha. Everything will be all right. Ryuichi and I know Michael will understand. He's nice na no da!" Kumagoro reassured me happily, hugging me tightly afterwards. Ryuichi was too adorable sometimes; you couldn't help but fall in love with him. I was sure Michael would understand where I was coming from if he really got to know Ryuichi.
"Are you two coming or not?" I jumped and spun around to face my brother and Shuichi. Shuichi was smiling happily, leaning gently against the open door. My brother was standing a couple inches behind him, and he sharply pulled Shuichi away from the door. "You're going to break it," he demanded harshly and I laughed. I couldn't help it. Sometimes my brother was cute in his own way, in his almost addiction to his car. I had to wonder if Shuichi had been aware of Eiri's protectiveness of his car when they'd first gotten together. A lot of the other people he'd gone out with had called his obsession 'freaky' and had vowed never to get inside it for fear he might kill them for getting dirt on the floor.
"Of course," I managed, pulling myself out of Ryuichi's grasp as gently as I could, keeping a hold of his hand and helping him out of the car. I was sure Ryuichi wasn't aware of the car obsession, and I didn't want to risk loosing my boyfriend over something as trivial as…I don't know. Anything remotely damaging to the appearance of the car could cost you your life.
Eiri shut the door quietly behind us, glaring at me as he obviously 'demonstrated' how to shut the door properly. I would love to watch his reaction if ever he crashed the damn thing. He'd probably hole himself up in his room for a week or so and cry like a baby. How sad. The one thing that could REALLY affect my brother was the death of his beloved car. Sad thing was…I wouldn't be surprised if he DID lock himself in his room for a week afterwards.
"Umm…did you bring a hat and sunglasses or something like that?" I asked Shuichi as Eiri knocked on the door. I had forgotten that most people weren't used to having Japan's most popular novelist and two just-as-popular rock stars standing at their front door. Shuichi made a face and choke his head. I should have figured he wouldn't have anything on him, he hadn't been expecting to go any place where people wouldn't know him. This was going to be interesting.
"Tatsuha-san?" I laughed nervously as Aiko opened the door, looking around at the group I had brought along with me. "Oh. My. God," she managed softly, stepping back from the door slowly, carefully. "Come…inside…" I laughed and let go of Ryuichi's hand (I hadn't even been aware I'd still been holding it), running over to Aiko's side and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Aiko, this is my big brother Eiri, I'm pretty sure you know the rest of them, right?" Aiko nodded slowly, and I could feel her leaning back on my arm as we all stood there. Ryuichi giggled happily, walking over to the two of us and smiling at Aiko.
"Hi!" He cheered happily, making Kumagoro wave at her. She waved slowly in response and Ryuichi smiled brighter. "You're friends with Tatsuha, right na no ka?" he asked happily, hugging Kumagoro tightly as he waited for a response. Aiko nodded slowly, reaching a hand up to cling to my hand.
"Your big brother…is really…Yuki Eiri, right? I'm not crazy. Shindo-san, Sakuma-san, and Yuki-san are really here, right?" I laughed and nodded. I'd never had to deal with anything like this before. Aiko was the first of my friends to find out about my family. "You…never told me…that you knew anyone famous," she accused me, voice shaking slightly as she spoke.
"Yep, and you're still missing one. Seguchi Tohma's my brother-in-law. Almost my entire family's famous." Aiko pinched my hand and turned around to glare at me accusingly, tears hanging in the corner of her eyes. I guess I'd really freaked her out, huh? "Sorry, I didn't remember how strange this would be," I apologized, and Aiko nodded once, firmly.
"She reminds me of Mika," Yuki muttered under his breath, and Shuichi laughed, covering his mouth suddenly so not to seem rude. He was still laughing, though.
"She does," he managed in return and Ryuichi nodded, making Kumagoro nod as well.
"Seriously, look at her. She's got Tatsuha completely under her control." Shuichi nodded his agreement, smiling happily. Ryuichi laughed this time, turning Aiko to face him.
"She doesn't look much like Mika-san, though." Aiko's eyes were huge as Ryuichi checked for a likeness between them. "Nope, not Mika-san na no da." With all the introducing and playing around I almost forgot what I was at Aiko's house for in the first place. It sure as hell made things a lot more comfortable.
"What, did you think she was Mika-san in disguise or something?" Shuichi asked mockingly.
"You never know," Eiri and I responded at the same time and Shuichi and Ryuichi laughed. "Actually, Aiko-san, we were wondering if we could all see Michael. I…I wanted to talk to him," I offered as Shuichi and Ryuichi stopped laughing, and the room was serious again. Aiko nodded and started towards Michael's room. I followed her, clinging to Ryuichi's hand as he followed behind me. Eiri and Shuichi were behind us as well, talking softly amongst themselves.
"Michael, can I come in?" Aiko asked as she knocked on Michael's door softly, turning to face us all as she waited for an answer.
"Leave me alone and let me suffer," Michael offered from the other side of the door in English. I knew at least that much. However, Shuichi and Aiko were pretty much lost. Aiko sighed and motioned for me to try. I knocked on the door gently, and sighed, gathering my courage. I could feel my heart racing as I opened my mouth so speak.
"Michael, please let me inside. I want to talk." There, I'd said something. Hopefully he'd let us inside now.
"Tatsuha-san…I don't want to talk about it," he offered quickly from the other side of the door and I sighed again.
"Come on Michael, I'm really sorry. I'm serious; I'd definitely go out with you if I weren't already seeing Ryuichi. Cross my heart and hope to die. I wouldn't lie about something like that, honestly. Because, if ever, for some reason, Ryuichi and I split up, then I'd be expected to go out with you, and that's exactly what I'd do. Please let us inside." There was a long silence from the other side of the door and I was about to give up when the door opened slowly and Michael peered around it shyly, face red and raw from tears.
"You mean i…who're they?" he asked softly, blushing a little bit. Well, at least I was assured he wouldn't over-react due to meeting them. To him they were just a bunch of people that were hanging around with me. "I know Ryuichi, but the other two…" I smiled and stepped to the side so Michael could better see Shuichi and Eiri.
"This is my big brother Eiri and his boyfriend Shuichi." Michael nodded slowly and pointed towards Shuichi.
"Aiko listens to your music and talks about you all the time." Shuichi smiled brightly and Michael opened the door fully, one hand clenching tightly to the bottom of his shirt.
"Thanks. Tatsuha talks about you a lot, too," Shuichi offered in return and Michael blushed an even deeper shade. "Ah, not in a bad way, of course!" Shuichi blurted out, running over to Michael and trying to reassure him that he hadn't meant it as anything bad. Poor Shuichi, he wasn't used to hanging around people so shy. He probably thought he'd offended him or something.
"Michael, I'm sorry, too," Ryuichi blurted out quickly in English, staring at the ground. He was blushing a little bit, too. Stupid Tatsuha, I had forgotten to think how awkward this would be for the both of them.
"That's okay." I couldn't understand the rest of what they said, but Michael smiled brightly after a while, nodding quickly. Ryuichi laughed and tossed Kumagoro over to him. Michael hugged Kumagoro happily, kissing its forehead. "Kumagoro can't hate me now," he scolded in Japanese, smiling a little bit. He was still blushing a bit, but you could tell he was more relaxed now.
"Isn't the hallway a little cramped for all of us? Want to go to the living room?" Aiko asked after a while, and she grabbed my wrist as I turned to leave. "You guys can't leave yet. We've barely just met. Please?" I laughed and nodded, turning to beg my brother silently. He sighed and held a finger up, moving it to point at his wrist. Right, one hour. That was asking a lot out of my brother, actually, and I smiled thankfully, turning to face Aiko and Michael again. Michael smiled awkwardly at me as I looked over at him, making Kumagoro wave at me, and I waved back.
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The most anti-climatic BS I've ever written, but for some reason I'm attached to it. I dunno. This is probably one of those chapters no one else will like; it's strange how that works out. People always seem to like the chapters I hate the most. Hm…
PLEASE review, they really do make me write faster!