Disclaimers: Gravitation still doesn't belong to me, but I'm having my Dilandau chibis work on it.
Notes: We're back to Tatsuha's point of view. Fast forwarding time a bit here.
~*The Bible of Kumagoro—Getting Closer to Your God*~
I sighed as I parked the car in front of Eiri's apartment. The car had been a graduation present from Mika, and the money for my license a birthday present from Shuichi. Nice presents, I must say. It was nice having a rich family sometimes. Eiri had called not too long after I'd returned to Ryuichi's place to say he had something he wanted to give me as well. I was absolutely starving (it had to be around 7 by now) but Ryuichi had said we could stop for food after we saw what my brother wanted. I'd spent all day being pushed from house to house getting graduation presents and being congratulated and being asked that same damned question over and over again: Now what?
However, I severely doubted that was what I was here for. Eiri probably wanted Shuichi to stay with Ryuichi tonight or something, and didn't have the energy to drive him over there. It was their way of resolving writing conflicts. Shuichi would stay with someone else and let Eiri write whenever he was being too annoying.
"Come on, let's go see what he wants from me," I managed with a smile, pulling the keys out of the car and shoving them in my pocket. Ryuichi leaned over suddenly and kissed me, pulling away shortly after and smiling.
"I haven't gotten a chance to kiss Tatsuha today na no da," he explained, sitting up and exiting the car. We'd been together two years now and I was starting to doubt this was all really happening. I'd moved in with him back in early March, and nothing had really gone wrong since the whole thing with Michael. Hell, the reporters didn't even bother to make a scene out of my moving in. there had really only been one major change in my life since that time.
I leaned against the wall as we waited for the elevator to reach Eiri's floor. Ryuichi chatted with Kumagoro happily as we waited, making Kumagoro dance happily as he talked. He was so very childishly cute at times. As the elevator doors opened Ryuichi hopped out happily and turned to offer a hand to me as I stepped out. I smiled and took it, and we both walked to my brother's apartment hand-in-hand, Ryuichi swinging Kumagoro next to him happily as we walked.
I knocked on the door carefully as we reached his apartment; having left my spare keys at Ryuichi's…our place. I hadn't had the time to run back and get them, and if Eiri really was just dumping Shuichi on me, I didn't want to aggravate him any more. Pissing off my brother wasn't a very good idea, sometimes.
"Tatsuha, congratulations!" I almost fell over as Shuichi attached himself to me, cheering happily. Eiri was standing in the doorway looking rather displeased. Ryuichi let go of my hand and stared at me a while in confusion before smiling brightly as well.
"Shuichi!" he screamed as he hugged the both of us, not wanting to be left out of the action. He was never one to stay out of anything very long. Shuichi laughed and hugged him as well before finally detangling himself from the whole mess with some trouble. Ryuichi wasn't going to let go of either of us for anything. He still had a hold on Shuichi's shirt as he pulled away, while still holding Kumagoro's hand tightly.
"Hey Eiri, what's up?" I asked after a short while, looking past Ryuichi and Shuichi to my brother. He shrugged, and Shuichi tried to latch onto him as Ryuichi was to me, but Ryuichi's hand in his shirt kept him from being able to get to him. I laughed at that, stepping closer to Shuichi could at least grab onto Eiri's hand. "I should have expected an answer like that."
"Tatsuha-san?" I blinked as a familiar voice sounded from next to me and I turned to face Aiko, looking absolutely confused. She smiled slightly and bowed. "It's nice to see you again," she offered softly, hands clasping behind her back as she smiled at Ryuichi and me. We hadn't been in classes together after our sophomore year. Although we'd still hung out every weekend of our junior year, we both had so many things to do over senior year that we'd lost touch. Only occasionally did I see her in the hallways, and that was the only time we had the opportunity to talk.
"Nice to see you again. Congratulations. You look really nice today, Aiko-san," I offered with a smile as well. I would have bowed had Ryuichi not been attached to me. Aiko blushed slightly and her smile widened. Her hair was longer now, and done into fancy loops at the top of her head, covered in glitter and flowers. It worked perfectly with the dress she was wearing, a pale pink with darker pink flowers decorating it.
"Congratulations. You look really nice, too. Nice to see you two again as well, Sakuma-san, Shindo-san, and I'm guessing Yuki-san is inside somewhere?" she offered happily, waving to Ryuichi and Shuichi.
"Congratulations Aiko-san. Yuki's right here but he's being a grump like always," Shuichi offered with a smile, tugging on Eiri's hand to prove his point.
"Congratulations!" Ryuichi echoed, finally letting go of Shuichi and me. He walked over to Aiko happily and hugged her, and I followed him, doing the same. "So, what did Yuki-san want us all here for na no ka?" he asked, turning to face the door again. Shuichi smiled and motioned for us all to follow him inside and we did, Ryuichi attached to both Aiko's and my hands.
"Congratulations you two!" I jumped as I caught sight of the room full of people, and Ryuichi was immediately attached to my arm. It was all my family and friends, minus dad. He wouldn't have come for anything, I bet. After a little while (when the room grew less quiet and people started to relax and talk) Ryuichi finally calmed down and let go of me.
"Well…I wasn't expecting that," I admitted with a laugh, resting a hand on Ryuichi's head. Aiko punched my arm playfully, glaring up at me even though a smile was shining on her face happily. Even Eiri was smiling slightly, holding Sakura and leaning against the doorframe. Sakura was the only really big change in my life since Michael. She was Mika and Tohma's daughter, and the cutest little thing you could ever imagine.
"Ta!" I smiled as she reached out for me, taking her from Eiri carefully. She'd always just referred to me as Ta. It was cute. I'd probably let her do it for the rest of her life. She smiled and waved at me before leaning against me and clinging to my shirt.
"Aw! She's so adorable!" Aiko gushed as Sakura clung to me, eyes lighting up in that way that only girl's can when faced with an adorable little baby.
"Aw, Yuki, you look so sad now that she's gone," Shuichi pointed out with a sly smile on his face, curling up against Eiri and smiling up at him.
"Don't say it."
"I think that's why we should get one." Shuichi was promptly smacked aside the head for that, and he left Eiri alone, pouting miserably as he walked over to Ryuichi and me. "You agree with me, don't you Tatsuha? Yuki should let me adopt a baby. It's not his choice what I do, right?" I laughed and Ryuichi let go of me and walked over to hug Shuichi in sympathy.
"It's my choice whether you live here or not," he offered coldly, yet he was smiling ever so slightly. Shuichi just shook his head and let it go, patting Ryuichi's back as he found he wasn't going to let go. Unlike Ryuichi, both Shuichi and Eiri were well aware that the other one wasn't serious. Shuichi wouldn't do anything like that without my brother's permission, and Eiri wouldn't kick Shuichi out permanently for anything.
"So, I'm well aware you've heard this before, but what are you going to do now Tatsuha?" Shuichi asked as Ryuichi and his conversation seemed to stop, reaching up to take one of Sakura's hands in his. He and Ryuichi had both grown very attached to the little ball of energy, being hyper enough themselves.
"I'm not sure. I'd never really thought about it until a couple months ago, and then it was a little too late," I answered truthfully and Shuichi nodded, still playing with Sakura's hand. She turned to smile at him, shaking his finger happily and laughing. Aiko sighed and crossed her arms, leaning onto her back foot as she stared at the ceiling.
"I wish Michael was here. He'd have so much fun, you know?" I nodded and Ryuichi immediately reached out to latch onto my hand. He and Michael had been friends and all, but he was still a little jumpy whenever the subject came up. I think he was afraid that I might like Michael more now that he was gone. I wished I could assure him that that wasn't going to happen.
"Yeah, he would. Even though he probably wouldn't do anything, he'd enjoy being around everyone again. You miss him, don't you?" Aiko jumped suddenly, and turned to stare at me, eyes wide. "Everyone could tell you liked him, Aiko. Besides, there's no one for you to tease just down the hall anymore." Aiko laughed and nodded.
"That's true. Well, enough about that! We'll just have to write him and tell him about it, right?" I nodded and she nodded as well, turning to chat with Shuichi. Shuichi seemed glad someone was paying attention to him and talked with her happily, and I passed Sakura onto him before he could figure out what was going on.
"So, what's up with you?" I asked, leaning against the wall next to my brother, hand still attached to Ryuichi's. "You don't seem as grumpy as usual, you know?" Eiri shrugged and I leaned my head back against the wall. It was hard to get Eiri to talk at all, some times. I opened my mouth to speak but Eiri cut me off.
"I should have expected that." I laughed and nodded, pulling Ryuichi closer to me and wrapping an arm around his waist. I didn't know why, but I wanted him close to me. Especially after he had been acting so jumpy while Aiko and I were talking about Michael. "So, how have things been going for you two?" I smiled and ran my hand absently over Ryuichi's back.
"Great. You?" Eiri sighed and waved towards Shuichi dismissively. He was currently sitting on the couch and playing with Sakura with Aiko. I couldn't help but laugh at the picture they made. "You know he's not going to leave you alone about the baby," I offered as Shuichi turned to look over at us, making Sakura wave at us both. Eiri reached a hand up as a lazy sort of wave, rolling his eyes.
"I'm aware." Ryuichi laughed as well and curled up against me, wrapping his arms around me waist as he rested his head against my shoulder. I sighed and reached a hand up to run fingers through his hair.
"What's wrong? You haven't talked to me in a while now," I asked softly. There were times Ryuichi truly did act like a little child. It was cute in a way, but sometimes it was a little difficult to deal with. I mean, how can you kiss someone who's staring up at you with 'I want that toy for Christmas daddy,' eyes and playing with the edge of his shirt like a shy seven-year-old without feeling sick to your stomach? It was hard to do.
"Tatsuha talks to Ryuichi all the time, he should talk with some other people while he's here. You haven't seen Aiko in a while, talk to her, or your brother like you were," he offered with a smile, staring up at me. I couldn't believe we'd really lasted this long. He was so perfect, so absolutely perfect.
"Hey, where's Kumagoro?" I asked as Eiri obviously got sick of hanging around and finally disappeared back into his office. Ryuichi blinked a couple times before smiling again and giggling a little bit.
"I gave him to Sakura-chan to play with. I told Shuichi to take care of him, so he'll be okay na no da. I trust you and Shuichi with Kumagoro." I smiled happily and kissed his forehead softly.
"I feel so loved." Ryuichi giggled, reaching up to pull me back down for a real kiss, pressing his forehead against mine and smiling as we separated.
"You should." It wasn't too long after that when Ryuichi and I decided it wasn't doing us any good to stay where we were and we moved to sit next to Aiko and Shuichi, Ryuichi talking with Shuichi happily as I talked to Aiko, who was currently holding Sakura.
Unfortunately Aiko had to leave for her own family get-together by eight thirty and Sakura had fallen asleep on me about that time, signaling for Mika and Tohma to leave. Everyone else sort of disappeared after that. Rather than stay around I figured it was about time I got something to eat and went home. Shuichi would probably be upset I was leaving, but Ryuichi was starting to look like he wanted to go home, too.
"Ryuichi, do you want Kumagoro want to go back home now?" I asked softly as I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him away from his conversation with Shuichi. He blinked a couple times before nodding, making Kumagoro cover his hands as I kissed his neck softly. "Well then, I guess we'll be leaving. See you later Shuichi," I offered happily, letting go of Ryuichi so we could both stand up.
"Aw….bye-bye you two. Come by every once in a while. We never get to talk anymore Tatsuha," he whined, jumping up to hug me. Shuichi was almost family, by now, we all just referred to him as such, even though he and Eiri weren't technically 'married.' Well, all of us except father, of course.
"I'll see you later Shuichi," I offered again and Ryuichi went about saying his goodbyes as I peered into my brother's office quietly. "Ei~ri." Eiri jumped before turning to glare at me, deleting the letters he'd accidentally typed when I'd surprised him without even looking. "Me and Ryuichi are leaving now. I thought you might want to know." Eiri nodded and I ran inside to hug him quickly. "I'll see you later," I offered and I felt Eiri hug me back softly. It was sort of awkward, but it'd been so long since last I'd seen him. Despite the changes he'd gone through upon his return from New York, I had always tried to be as close to him as I had been before. I'd sort of lost touch recently.
"See you later," he offered as I let go, waving and running back outside and practically running into Ryuichi. Ryuichi laughed and stepped back a little, giving me room to shut the door behind him. Shuichi was on his toes and looking over his shoulder, smiling happily.
"You and Yuki are so cute together sometimes, you know?" Shuichi asked innocently and I laughed, pulling Ryuichi away from Shuichi and watching as Shuichi wavered a little bit before regaining his balance and standing normally.
"Bye-bye Shuichi!" Ryuichi cheered happily as we left, waving until the elevator doors closed and we could no longer see Shuichi. As the elevator descended Ryuichi hummed a little song to himself happily, playing with Kumagoro like he had been when we had first arrived at my brother's house.
I sighed as we finally made it out of the drive through on our way back home, setting the bag between Ryuichi and me. I was starving, I needed food REALLY soon. Thankfully it wasn't that long until we were back at the house, and as soon as I parked and shut off the car we ate, not even bothering to go back into the house. I felt like I was going to be sick if I didn't eat sometime soon. I hadn't eaten lunch today, so I was running on hardly anything at all. I had been too busy talking with Aiko and my brother to grab anything to eat there.
"Tatsuha, when we get upstairs I wanna give you a present, too," Ryuichi offered happily as he dropped his trash into the bag and leaned back in his seat, waiting for me to finish. Unlike me he'd gotten a chance to eat on the way home. I envied him for always riding passenger sometimes, although it was also sort of nice to drive. I smiled to myself happily as I finished, dropping my own trash into the bag.
"Really, now? Will I enjoy it?" I asked as I folded the top of the bag and handed it to Ryuichi. I drove him there; he could at least take the trash up with him. Besides, I was too busy wondering over what little delight my present could be. Probably something highly enjoyable, seeing as my darling Ryuichi was giving it to me. Believe it or not I'd actually managed a full two years with Ryuichi without once ever having sex. No one believed me when I told them that, but that was their problem. I don't think Ryuichi would let me even if I tried. I'd only been 18 for a while now, and things had been so hectic the last couple of months that I hadn't felt the necessity for it, with everything else that was going on in my life. However, I was definitely interested again, now that school was out.
"Come on, come on! Hurry, hurry!" he cheered as he pulled me through the front door, dropping the bag in the kitchen trash before running me into his room and motioning for me to sit down on the bed. "Close your eyes and don't open them," he demanded, looking cute and childishly demanding, and I did what I was told. I wasn't about to go against darling little Ryuichi. He immediately tied something over my eyes and I heard him skip out. Sighing I lied down and prepared to wait. Unlike Shuichi Ryuichi took a while getting things ready, always wanting to make sure that they looked perfect. I could be waiting for an hour for all I knew.
I felt the bed shift a few minutes later and I was well aware that Ryuichi was back. I was surprised it had been such a short wait, actually. Not to be rude but it was just Ryuichi's way, to be perfectionist about things.
"Do you like na no ka?" he asked as he undid the blindfold, a happy yet confused look on his face. He was wearing a tiny, tight black shirt (sort of made like Shuichi's) and short jean shorts, necklaces dangling from his neck and resting on my chest gently. A small strip of cloth was tied around his right forearm. He looked absolutely beautiful, more so than that day he'd performed for me, even. I was so very glad he was mine.
"Of course. Is this my present?" I asked as I reached a hand up to caress his cheek, and a sly smile drew over that pretty little face of his.
"Not all of it," he answered softly, leaning forward to kiss me softly. I had the slightest feeling that Ryuichi was going to be making this a VERY memorable graduation.
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Whee! Okay, I'm done with part one of this. I should be done with part two by the end of the week, but I am DEAD tired right now and I want to get this half of it up at least. If you want the second part (lemon) just e-mail me about it and I'll try to send it to you as soon as I get it done. It might be a long wait, it might not be. You never know with me.
The chapters are getting longer and longer as we draw to the end, whereas they were short-ish in the beginning.
PLEASE review! This took a long time for me to write, I've actually been working on it since about a day after I posted chapter 25, whenever that was, but it seems like FOREVER to me! I'll be eternally grateful to all you people who can take time out to review this. They really do make me write tons faster.