Disclaimer: It's Gravitation and so obviously shonen-ai. PG-13 mostly for that reason plus some language. Also obvious; it doesn't belong to me. Gravitation and its characters are the property of Maki Murakami. I am simply a devotee. I appreciate all the criticism: please read, enjoy, and review. Thanks! Authors Have Parties Too? Part 5: Blackmail

Friday morning

Eiri happened to be getting coffee when the phone rang, so he answered it. When he did, he saw the message light blinking. The little digital message alert said he had six messages. He frowned. He must have been deeply involved in his writing to be able to ignore the phone six times. This morning, he had finally gained the focus he needed to work. True, he'd had a lot on his mind this week, and the majority of it still wasn't resolved, but his focus probably had more to do with early-morning wake-up sex than any thing else. He smiled, self-satisfied. He hadn't produced as much writing during the rest of the week as he had this morning.

"Eiri speaking." It had become necessary to identify himself first, since he had been on the receiving end of some disturbing, one-sided conversations with Sakuma Ryuichi.

"Finally!" Mizuki's voice was full of relieved triumph. "I have to warn you: since you stopped that book, Miyamoto's been on the rampage. He was about half-finished with his book, according to his editor, Tsuzuki-san. He took the news badly and he's really pissed."

"Why should I care?" He said, coolly.

". . . Well, he can't cause you any trouble on the book-end of things, but . . . he has a reputation for having quite a temper. Tsuzuki-san told me that most of the book was being done from source-research; facts on public record, old interviews and TV appearances, pulling together information from articles other people had written— that kind of thing. However, an entire chapter of his material must have come from someone close to you, Yuki-san. It . . . wasn't very flattering."

". . . I see." If Tatsuha is responsible for this, I'm going to throttle him, Eiri thought.

"I thought you should know as soon as possible."

"Yes, thank you, Mizuki. Good day."

"You're welcome. Good day." Was there a hint of surprise in her voice? Was it so rare he was civil to her? Naw.

Eiri still didn't know the real story about his publisher's new book division. When he and Mizuki had met on Wednesday evening, his editor's description of the company meeting sounded more like a pep-rally than anything professional. The executive had spent most of his time handing out new business cards and a bunch of pens and paraphernalia sporting the new division's logo. There hadn't been any constructive answers to the motives behind 'Never Ending Dream'. Eiri was still planning to deal with this mystery— just not right now.

He kept the handset and touched the phone hang-up lever. He started to dial Tatsuha's cell phone when the front door slammed, jarringly. A second later, his sister waltzed into the living room, banging that door open, too. "EIRI!!" Mika hollered.

With a grimace, Eiri practically threw the handset into its cradle. He stepped into the kitchen doorway, and growled, "What do you want?"

"Eiri." She smiled evilly and slipped off her sunglasses, stowing them in her designer hand-bag. That was the smile she gave him when she achieved a rare check-mate against him. "Father would like you to visit him." She made a casual, graceful gesture to brush her long hair back over her shoulder.

He narrowed his eyes at his sister. She was always playing errand-runner for their father. Trying to get him to visit the family temple was not normally a cause for her to smile, though. Pull teeth and hair, maybe, but not smile. She had no reason to look at him like that unless he didn't have a choice. "Coffee?" He asked gruffly.

"That would be nice." She kept up her evil smile and settled on his couch, keeping her knees together tightly in her very short, black mini-skirt. Her high-heeled black boots left stab-wounds on his rug. He grimaced at her rudeness for not removing her shoes at the door and he went back into the kitchen, filling his mug and another with coffee. What kind of blackmail did she think she had on him this time? He brought Mika the second coffee mug and sprawled next to her on the couch. He set his own mug on the end table and scooped up his lighter, while locating cigarettes in his shirt pocket. Like asking her to show her poker hand, he said, "What have you got?" He lit a cigarette and dropped the lighter into his pocket with the rest of the pack.

She sipped the coffee, still smiling. "Father won't let Tatsuha come to Tokyo until you visit."

"Pffft. And why should I care?" He exhaled smoke and set his right ankle on his left knee. What kind of lame threat was that? "The old geezer couldn't keep Tatsuha home if he wanted to, anyway."

Mika's smile got wider, and toothier. "He can and he will." She hummed a little. Ooooo, she's really pleased with herself over this one, he thought. He watched her sip the coffee some more. "What would happen if Ryuichi-kun couldn't see Tatsuha?" She asked, rhetorically, silky-sweet.

He frowned. "Make your friggin' point." He guessed where she was going with this. It would be a new low for her. She hadn't had this kind of leverage against him before Shuichi came into his life, but she had always excelled at exploiting his few weaknesses.

"Fine. If Ryu-kun can't see Tatsuha, he'll start driving everyone crazy. Tohma's out of town--" That explains why he's not taking calls, Eiri thought. "—So he'll have plenty of extra time to visit with his friends . . . " Like Shuichi; Eiri silently finished her implication. She took another sip of coffee, humming again. Oh, she was in a fine mood. He could feel his jaw tightening. "Poor Ryu-kun," she said mockingly, "he doesn't like to be alone. Did you know that? Hmm. Who would he spend his time with, when Tatsuha's not available to play with him?" She tapped her long, red-lacquered fingernails against her jawbone in fake contemplation.

Mika and Tohma suit each other, he thought, they're both sharks. He blew smoke in a long sigh. It was check mate. He didn't want Ryuichi taking up Shu's time; especially right before another goddamned Bad Luck concert tour. He didn't want that monster in his house, either. The last time Shu had invited him over, he'd colored on the wood floors with marker. Damn, damn, damn! Oh, there were a few ways around it but in most circumstances, it would be less painful to visit Kyoto.

He would have to go there for at least a day. Shuichi probably would not be able to get time off, since everyone was working hard to set up for the concert. NG had hired a choreographer this time around and Shu had been bitching about it. That probably meant the kid still needed a lot of work, as far as the choreographer was concerned. Shuichi was scheduled to visit the Shindou family after work tomorrow, anyway. Eiri had planned to go with him, but considering today's visit from his sister, plans would have to be changed. Damnit! I am going to kill Tatsuha for this, he thought.

"What does the old man want, anyway?" Eiri was defeated. He may as well accept it.

"He didn't say," Mika said flatly. She finished off the coffee and placed the mug on the table. She really didn't know? Odd.

Eiri raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Are you planning to be there, too?"

Her evil smile turned into a full-blown grin. "Of course I am! Both of my brothers and my dear father at the family temple, while my loving husband is away . . . " Her laugh is just as black as her twisted heart, Eiri thought. He snorted. She may as well admit that she just wants to watch the show . . . and the fireworks that are certain to follow, he thought, ruefully.

Saturday afternoon

Shuichi had not been happy about the change in plans. Eiri wasn't, either. Shu wanted to go with him. He couldn't get out of work, and when he'd tried to cancel dinner with his folks, his mother had laid a thick guilt trip on him and he'd caved in. He promised Eiri he would be in Kyoto by Sunday. Neither one of them thought that Eiri would get away from family before then.

Now he was on his own in Kyoto. He wasn't going to change into a kimono— just to emphasize his interest in making this visit temporary— until Mika had informed him that his father would not see him unless he did. He's getting a lot of mileage out of this one, Eiri thought as he reluctantly dressed in his traditional under kimono, kuro-kimono and haori 1, setting aside the Western-style clothes he preferred. Afterward, he went to find his father.

To Eiri's great surprise, his father was at the back of the house, sitting and drinking tea with . . . Miyamoto! The shoji 2 had been opened so the two men could look over the garden. They were chatting like old friends about temple architecture. At that moment, several isolated bits of information fell into place. Apparently, Tatsuha wasn't the one who needed killing.

1 Kuro black. This is the kimono Eiri wears when he's home. The haori is the men's half-jacket worn over the kimono on formal occasions or bad weather. Eiri's kimono looks to me like the men's version of a tomesode— which married women wear. It is black with small family crests on it— but I couldn't find any special name for the men's version. The under kimono has a special name, too, but it's essentially the short, plain white kimono that is worn under the outer kimono and typically slept in.

2 Shoji are the door/walls of wood and covered with rice paper in a traditional Japanese home.