Disclaimers: Gravitation does not belong to me. Only Michael and Aiko do.
Notes: Whee! Back to Michael's point of view!
This chapter is MUCH longer than the others, so beware
~*The Bible of Kumagoro—Getting Closer to Your God*~
I sighed as we all waited for the bell to ring. The finals for our last class that day had taken less time than any of us had needed, and we were to sit quietly until the bell rang, that way the other classes could finish. It seemed like a fair deal, except that I'd been sitting silently for the last 20 minutes, and I still had a while to go.
Today was the last day of school, the glorious day before vacation, littered with final exams and other such tortures. Also, it was the last full day I'd be spending here in Japan. I was supposed to leave early tomorrow for home. This was the last day I'd ever get to see Tatsuha and Aiko. I couldn't stand the thought of leaving them, but I wanted to go home as well. I wished that the two of them could come back with me, but that would be pulling them away from their loved ones, and that was selfish. I didn't want to do something like that to my friends.
I sighed again and looked over at Tatsuha's desk, blushing slightly as I waved at him. He smiled slightly in return, waving back. I was used to the fact that he and Ryuichi were going out now; it had stopped bothering me a long time ago. Tatsuha was still my best friend, and Ryuichi was fun to hang out with as well. I'd miss him, too.
Finally the bell rang and I stood up and stretched, flinching as I both felt and heard my back crack at the motion. Tatsuha, Aiko, Ryuichi, and I were all going to go somewhere today to celebrate the coming of the end of our sophomore year. I wasn't sure where we were going yet; they all wanted it to be a surprise. There was a big Nittle Grasper concert that night, so Ryuichi was only going to be hanging out with us for a little bit, but he said he'd at least stay until dinner so we could all eat at his favorite restaurant.
"That's sick…" Aiko commented as she walked over to me, flinching. "I mean, I could HEAR it!" she announced in disgust, hands digging into her jean pockets. Last day of school at our high school was a $1 dress down day (pay a dollar and you can dress in normal clothes). They figured with the stress of final exams it would help some to at least dress somewhat relaxed. Tatsuha said that they'd had enough people drop out due to stress that they figured it would be better to do things that way. Also, it provided more money for the school, since most kids were willing to pay to get out of their uniforms for a day.
"Leave him alone, I'm sure you've done it before." Aiko glared up at Tatsuha as he appeared next to her. He'd dressed down, too. We all had. He was wearing a loose black top and dark jeans. It looked good on him, and just about everyone had noticed it. "So, you ready to go? I bugged my brother into giving us a ride to Ryuichi's place. He'll leave if we're not out there quickly." I frowned a little bit at that. I wasn't really sure what I thought about Tatsuha's brother. He was…confusing.
"We can't just walk? It's a nice day," Aiko commented, motioning to the window. The teacher had opened the windows after we had all finished our exams, and we could hear the birds outside clearly. I wouldn't mind walking, either.
"Yeah, we could, but Ryuichi has to leave early so we want to be there as soon as possible, right?" Aiko and I nodded and followed Tatsuha out of the school. I guess I must have looked depressed because Tatsuha slowed down to walk next to me and smiled. "Just try and have fun today, okay? I don't want you to be sad, especially since I won't see you again for a while." I nodded and smiled slightly. I knew I was blushing, but I couldn't help myself! Tatsuha was so close to me and he looked so good in those clothes, and…and…I was a lost cause. I think I'd started liking him more after I'd told him how I felt.
"Okay," I managed with a smile and Tatsuha nodded. He was right; I should make the most out of my last day here with them all.
There was a crowd around Tatsuha's brother's car when we got outside, and Tatsuha laughed. I guess we all should have seen that coming. It wasn't every day there was a Mercedes parked in front of your high school. I wondered what would become of Tatsuha next year, after everyone found out that was his ride home. It was too bad I wasn't going to be there to see it.
We all three pushed our way through the crowd to get into the car, piling into the backseat.
"Drive, drive!" Tatsuha shouted through laughter, and Aiko shut the door behind us. I was stuck in the middle by a matter of chance, crowded between Tatsuha and Aiko. Tatsuha instinctively wrapped an arm around me as I fell against him as we sped off, all three of us falling over at the turn.
"Don't you three look comfortable!" Shindo-san announced, turning around in the seat to smile at the three of us. I hadn't been aware he was there, and I'm sure no one else had been either. Almost immediately I buried my face in Tatsuha's chest, trying to hide as best I could. I was sure I was all different shades of red by now, and Tatsuha arm around my waist wasn't helping.
"Michael, come on. Sit up," Tatsuha offered softly, arms on my shoulders now. "Come on," I shook my head stubbornly. I know I seemed like a selfish, spoiled little jerk but the truth was that I was so embarrassed that I really didn't want to look at anyone. I'd rather stay where I was and remain embarrassed than face them all and let it die away eventually. I'd probably never live this down either way.
Tatsuha sighed and gave up, one hand resting on my back and keeping me from rolling off on the drive there. It was really comfortable, but I knew that I'd have to get up eventually. Ryuichi wouldn't be too happy I'd been lying on Tatsuha the entire way to his house. After a while I finally sat up, looking at the back of Shuichi's seat as if it were interesting.
"Feel better?" I blinked and looked over at Tatsuha as he spoke. It was habit. I looked at people as they spoke, it was a subconscious reaction. He was still lying down, hair spread all over the seat as he smiled up at me. He was perfect. Gorgeous and nice. I wish I could have been with him even for a little bit. I would kill for a chance with him. I nodded slowly and Tatsuha nodded in return, still lying down.
"We're there," Tatsuha's brother announced as was stopped in front of the apartment complex that I guessed Ryuichi lived in. I'd never been over to his house before.
"Thanks Eiri!" Tatsuha cheered happily, sitting up and practically bumping into me. I fell back as he sat up and Aiko laughed, catching me from falling onto her.
"Not this again!" We all laughed at that, except Tatsuha's brother. I don't think in the two times I'd met him he'd ever really laughed. Barely smiled, I remember that much. "Ah!" Aiko fell out of the car as she opened the door, staring up at the two of us before laughing at herself. "I fell out of the car," she stated between giggles. It was quite obvious she fell out of the car, but it needed to be stated somehow. We all laughed at her for that, and eventually she collected herself and stood up.
"Why was Aiko-san on the ground na no ka?" We all blinked and looked up to find Ryuichi staring down at us curiously.
"She fell out of the car," Tatsuha and I answered at the same time, climbing out of the car. Aiko nodded, still laughing. She was quite red herself, by now. "You look nice Ryuichi. Is that what you're wearing at the concert?" Ryuichi blushed and shook his head, finger reaching up to fasten around his necklace.
"You know I never let anyone see my concert outfits before I wear them for concert…except you, of course." I couldn't help but feel a little bit jealous of Ryuichi. Tatsuha was pulling his hand away from his necklace gently, smiling so very sweetly.
"Oh, that outfit, huh?" Ryuichi nodded happily, looking past Tatsuha to look at me and smile.
"Hi Michael-san! Were your finals hard?" he asked conversationally, leaning to the side to look past Tatsuha at me. I shook my head and Ryuichi smiled brighter. "I envy you. I can hardly read Japanese. I don't think I could pass your finals, or did they write them out in English for you?"
"It was in Japanese," I answered softly, blushing a little bit. Ryuichi was too nice for someone to dislike. I felt sort of bad being jealous of him, since he was always so motivational. "It wasn't that hard."
"I can barely read kanji na no da, so you did better than I would have done," he responded happily, walking past Tatsuha to stand in front of me. "So, what do you want to do? Today is Michael's fun day!" he cheered happily, twirling around once to show his excitement.
"I don't know." I'd never made the choices before; I'd just followed along with what other people wanted to do. I didn't want to spend my last day with them all watching a movie, I wanted to do something where we could talk and actually hang out. "How about we hang out at the mall or something," I offered softly, staring down at the fun.
"Yeah! That's a great idea! We can all buy something there that Michael can remember us by, too!" Aiko cheered happily, bouncing. So…I'd come up with a good idea?
"I agree, it sounds fun na no da! Huh, Kumagoro?" Ryuichi asked his bunny friend, eyes lighting up. Sometimes it was really hard for me to remember that he was so very famous. He acted so much like a kid…
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Isn't there a mall close by?" Ryuichi thought a bit before nodding happily. "I thought so."
"Yeah! It's a really big one, too! It's a little farther than the restaurant na no da!" Ryuichi cheered, running past me to the car and peering inside. I guessed he was saying hello to Shuichi, it seemed like they were really good friends. "Come on, I want to eat by 4:30!" Ryuichi cheered happily, waving us all into the car as he hopped inside.
Once again I was stuck crammed between Aiko and Tatsuha. Not that I minded, or course. It was a bit uncomfortable being squashed like that, but I could live with it. Tatsuha and Ryuichi were chatting happily in whispers about something or other, and I sighed. Everyone else was happy with his or her boyfriends, except for me.
"Alright, get out," Tatsuha's brother demanded as we reached the mall, and we all piled out quickly. I wasn't sure about the others, but I really didn't want to make Tatsuha's brother mad at me. He didn't seem friendly even when he was in an 'everyday' mood.
"Alright na no da! Let's go!" Ryuichi cheered happily, latching onto Tatsuha and my hands. "This should be fun!" he cheered again, skipping towards the mall and dragging Tatsuha and me along with him. Aiko followed behind us at her own pace, laughing at the scene we were all making. Everyone else was staring at us but for some reason I couldn't explain I wasn't embarrassed about it. I was having fun, eventually skipping next to Ryuichi, who smiled over at me happily.
We spent quite a while in the mall, running from store to store, playing around with this or that. Everyone bought me something nice, something they saw me playing with in one store or another. Ryuichi bought me a CD player and a Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck CD, autographing the player and NG CD. Tatsuha bought me a copy of the movie we'd all gone to see when I'd first met Ryuichi and signed it. Aiko bought me a beautiful little mold of a shrine, for when we both went over to Tatsuha's place, and signed the bottom carefully. Something to remind me of the fun I'd had with all of them.
We must have spent at least an hour in the mall itself, and Ryuichi practically ran to the restaurant, making the three of us run to keep up with him. I was a bit weighed down with my gifts, but Tatsuha was holding onto them as we ran so the bottom wouldn't break. I wouldn't want to loose my precious little gifts, after all.
"You guys are so slow na no da!" Ryuichi taunted as we caught up with him outside, hands on his hips as if he were scolding the three of us. We all apologized and he smiled again, nodding. "That's better. Come on, I bet you Sakura's working today!" he cheered happily and we all followed him inside.
"Ryuichi! How are you darling?" one of the waitresses asked as we walked inside, looking around the divider at the four of us and smiling happily. "Afternoon Tatsuha," she added, nodding towards Tatsuha as well."
"Hi Shizue! These are my friends Aiko-san and Michael-san! Michael-san's from America, and he has to go back tomorrow, so I wanted to take him here to meet you all!" Shizue (I guessed that was her name) nodded and smiled happily.
"Nice to meet you, Michael-san, Aiko-san. Sakura should be over to wait on the two of you soon. It seems you always end up with her. Do you not like the rest of us Ryuichi?" Ryuichi shook his head quickly, pulling Kumagoro out of his pocket.
"Not at all! Please don't think Ryuichi hates you or Kumagoro'll be sad!" Shizue laughed and left, and Ryuichi smiled happily. "All the girls that work here are really nice na no da! You'll like them Michael-san, Aiko-san!" Ryuichi assured us happily, waving as a young girl came over to great us, leading us to our seat.
"Ryuichi, it's been a while. Who are your new friends?" she asked as she handed out menus, smiling brightly.
"Michael-san and Aiko-san. I brought them here to meet all of you!" The girl smiled and nodded.
"Nice to meet you both, my name's Sakura. It seems you just have a thing for attracting cuties to you, Ryuichi," she offered as I nodded and blushed slightly, causing me to slide down farther in my chair and hide behind my menu. "Oh! You're an absolute darling!" she cheered happily, and I sunk down even farther. I could hear Aiko laughing at me, and she elbowed me in my side painfully.
"Michael's really shy. He doesn't like being complimented in public," she offered in my defense, and I looked over at her from around the corner of my menu slightly. I could hear Sakura laughing as well. "You think he'd be used to it, huh?
"That's what I was thinking," Sakura commented. "Well, I'll give you a minute to decide. You want anything to drink?" She took down all of our drink orders and left, and I sat back up. I REALLY hated it when people paid extra special attention to me. It made me feel…different. I just had a thing for running into open-opinionated people, didn't I? I was surprised they were still friends with me. I hardly ever gave my opinions on things.
Dinner was strange, to say the least. All the waitresses kept on coming up to me and giving me hugs and saying good-bye. It was like they'd known me all my life and I was leaving for college or something. It was really strange. Ryuichi was smiling happily the whole time, humming a little song and playing with Kumagoro even as he ate.
"Well, I gotta go na no da!" Ryuichi cheered as he stood up. He hugged Tatsuha, Aiko, and me good-bye before running off with Kumagoro, leaving the three of us standing outside the restaurant.
"Well, now that Ryuichi's gone it's surprise time for you two. I have a great idea for something fun the three of us can do without Ryuichi in our group." I blushed as Tatsuha wrapped an arm around Aiko and my shoulders, speaking softly. "You wanna know what it is? Do you?" I nodded slowly, and Aiko shoved his arm off of her.
"Stop teasing us and just tell us already!" she demanded and Tatsuha laughed, pulling two blindfolds out of his pocket. "What the hell are those for Uesugi Tatsuha!" She screamed, hands on her hips as she glared at them.
"I surprise is a surprise," he offered with a smile, motioning for Aiko to turn around. He tied the blindfold onto her eyes and did the same for me. "I promise you guys you'll have fun," he offered, and we just stood and talked for a long time. I could tell Aiko was getting upset with Tatsuha before we heard a car pull up and Tatsuha led us both inside, sitting down next to me. "I promise you guys you'll have fun." We were in the car for what had to be an hour of constant driving. After a while we stopped, and Tatsuha reached over to cover my ears as we stepped outside, leading me that way.
"Tatsuha! Don't leave me behind you big jerk!" I could barely hear Aiko screaming as we walked, especially over the noise around us. I was bumping into people left and right at first, but eventually it cleared out. We must have been walking for at least 20 minutes when Tatsuha stopped. After that it was another five minutes of no sight or sounds. I couldn't understand it, where the hell were we? I could hear people all around me from Tatsuha's hands, were we at another mall or something?
"Alright! Surprise!" he cheered happily, pulling the blindfold off quickly. I heard Aiko shriek from next to him, jumping up and down happily. We were…in front of a stage. No wonder I could hear people all around me.
"Tatsuha, you're the greatest!" she cheered happily, latching onto him as she continued to jump up and down happily. "I can't believe you got us all first row tickets!" I smiled and glanced over at Tatsuha, who smiled back at me, ignoring the bouncing girl attached to his arm.
"Ryuichi wanted you to see him sing before you left, so he had Tohma call a concert to make up for their rained out one," he explained and I smiled happily. I was definitely going to miss this when I went back to America. "Oh yeah, he has all your stuff with him, in case you were wondering where it was. I had Shuichi run it to him. He said he'd get Tohma and Ukai-san to sign your NG stuff." I felt like I was going to cry, I was so happy. I couldn't believe I'd grown to be such good friends with someone so famous and caring.
"Good evening everyone!" I blinked and turned to the stage as Ryuichi's voice carried over the stadium loudly. "I hope you all had fun today!" There was a loud scream from the crowd at that, and Ryuichi's smile brightened. "That's what I thought na no da! Sorry for making you all wait!" he cheered once more before walking back into the shadows. I could see why he was voted one of Japan's sexiest. He looked good in his concert uniform.
Ryuichi was absolutely amazing; I could hardly believe he was the same person as I watched him perform. He seemed so very lost in his music as he sang, and he was smiling like I hadn't seen him smile before, even around Tatsuha when they thought I wasn't looking. Singing seemed to mean everything to him in those moments.
"I'm sorry to say it, but the concerts almost over everyone." Ryuichi waited for the crowd to die down before he continued again, smiling the whole time. "I'm sure you've all heard about my relationship over TV, right?" The screams from the crowd were enough to confirm his answer and he smiled brightly. "Well, I want you to all to know he's here right now. I'm not going to tell you where he is…heck, I don't even know that," he offered with a laugh, brushing bangs back from his face. "But, wherever you are out there, I wanted to say I love you. I know it's a bad time and it seems really odd since I'm so much older than you, but I wanted everyone to hear it," he finished softly, and Aiko jumped up and down happily, pulling on Tatsuha's sleeve. Tatsuha didn't even move as she jumped around happily, just stared at Ryuichi. He really did belong to Ryuichi, and I couldn't be sad about it.
"Tatsuha! That's so sweet! Aren't you going to say anything!" she screamed as the rest of the crowd went into their own cheers. Tatsuha blinked a couple times before looking over at her, shaking his head. She sighed and let go of him, leaning back on the railing happily.
"Also, I wanted to take this time to say goodbye to one of my friends. He's leaving tomorrow and I'm REALLY sad he has to leave na no da!" he cheered, eyes traveling over the crowd. "I'm not going to point him out if I find him, as much as I want him to come up here with me. If you want to, go on ahead, but I won't make you. I just wanted to say good-bye na no da!" Ryuichi cheered once more and I smiled brightly, waving at him from where I was standing. "Okay! Now that that's done and over with, let's go on with the concert! The last song for this evening will be Sleepless Beauty!" he announced, raising the mike above his head as Tohma and Noriko started. He was so full of energy; I could hardly believe he was real.
The next morning I woke up reluctantly at 3 AM. My flight left at 4:45, and I still had to get there. I was dead tired, though. The concert had lasted until around 10:30 or 11, and I hadn't gotten to sleep until probably around midnight. I didn't see why I'd bothered going to sleep at all. However, I needed even the smallest bit of sleep, right?
I was ready by 3:30 and out the door. Aiko's parents had said they'd be waiting for me in the car. My things had been packed in there earlier, so all I had to worry about was getting ready. Aiko was half-awake as she stumbled into the car next to me, sleeping on my shoulder on the drive to the airport. I told her she could have staid home and slept, but she'd been as stubborn as always. She said she wanted to say good-bye enough that she could deal with the lack of sleep.
"Michael!" I blinked as I stepped out of the car, looking over to see Tatsuha and Ryuichi waving at me happily. Geeze, they sure were energetic for this hour of day. I grabbed my things (most of them. Aiko took the rest) and walked over to them, smiling happily. "Morning!" Ryuichi cheered happily, making Kumagoro wave at me.
"Morning Ryuichi, Kumagoro, Tatsuha," I greeted, and Tatsuha took a bag from Aiko and me as we talked. "Come on, I want to get rid of this stuff," I offered and everyone followed me, chatting as if it were an average time of day. Surprising how much you could ignore your lack-of sleep when your friends were around.
I sighed as they called my flight, standing up slowly. "Well, I guess I'll see you later, everyone," I managed softly. I hadn't though I would cry, but I could feel the tears in my eyes as I said goodbye, and they all came up to hug me, saying their own goodbyes.
"Tatsuha!" Ryuichi pulled Tatsuha away before he could hug me; pulling him so he could whisper something in his ear.
"Are you sure?" Ryuichi nodded happily, smiling. Tatsuha sighed and pushed a bang from his face.
"You were going to anyway."
"Not without asking you," he offered before walking up to me, resting a hand on my shoulder. "You won't be sad or anything if I do this?" he asked and I shook my head slowly. I didn't think I could be any worse off than I already was anyway. "Promise?" I nodded and Tatsuha nodded in return, brushing a bang back from my face. I barely had time to register what was going on before he leaned over and kissed me softly. I felt the tears run down my cheeks at that and Tatsuha wiped them away. This was exactly what I'd been hoping would happen, what I'd dreamed would happen. I couldn't believe it was actually happening, that he was kissing me even when he had Ryuichi. "We'll all really miss you," he whispered as he pulled away, eyes half-open. I nodded slowly, still dazed. "Don't cry, or everyone else will be sad," he whispered again, wiping the tears from my cheeks.
"Sorry, I…I guess I just can't help it. I…I guess I'll see you around then," I offered with a small smile, grabbing my bag and running onto the plane. I didn't want to leave them all behind. They were the best friends I'd ever had.
"Don't forget to write us na no da!" I heard Ryuichi cheer as I ran off and I nodded, turning around to wave quickly, watching the three of them wave back at me. I guess things would be okay somehow. It wasn't like I'd never talk to them again, right?
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YES! Done! Wow, that was a LOT longer than any of my other chapters. Oh well, I had a lot I wanted to do. I mean, Michael's last day couldn't be uneventful, right? Well, everyone say good-bye to Michael! *waves bye-bye*
Ugh. I might not update for a while after this, I need to write chapter 2 of my Yu-Gi-Oh fanfic.
Remember, reviews make the authoress fonder. Your reviews have been SO inspiring for me!