disclaimer: blah blah blah, no gravitation rights for me. see ch. 1 for full statement.
Ryuichi beamed in gratitude to the driver of the BMW before digging into one of his pockets to retrieve a cell phone adorned with a small plushie of his beloved Kumagorou. He began to press buttons, filling the car with a mechanical bleeping. After a few seconds, the boy pressed the phone to his ear. "Hiro-kun?" A pause. "Ah, yes, I'm great, you? Ah... listen. I need to know where was the last time you saw Shuu-chan." He paused again, presumably to listen to the other party=s answer. AWhy? Eh, no reason, I want to see if K-san can locate him...@ He began to weave his delicately threaded web of lies, pausing every so often to add another falsehood to his complex story as he extracted information from the Bad Luck guitarist. His plush bunny slid farther down from his warm lap, falling on the floor and mirroring almost exactly what had happened between it and Ryuichi in Eiri-san's apartment.
The driver's eyes seemed, at first glance, to be entirely on the road. This was not, of course, the case. Eiri flipped a pair of dark sunglasses out of a pocket and settled them on his face, though whether or not this was meant to hide the sideways glances he continues to bestow upon his passenger is unclear. He noted the position of the pink plushie with a purely mental sniff of acknowledgement, letting his foot ride heavily on the gas pedal. Sweeping around curves and darting between other cars, he listened with at least half his attention. Probably not be the best idea when driving, but Eiri did it anyway. At that moment, knowing exactly what Sakuma-san was telling Shuichi's best friend was distinctly more important.
"Ummhmm..." The boy's voice seemed to drift languidly across the passenger seat as the bunny came to a flopping halt upon the carpeted floor of the vehicle. His eyes were fixed on the road ahead, ear pressed to the speakerphone of his cell as he listened intently. "How about the time? ...yeah, it'll help with things..." 'Things' being a rather broad subject, he thought to himself, adding a half-hearted 'na no da' to make it seem as if he were sincere.
The guitarist=s speech was suddenly interrupted by a quiet beep from the phone. Ryuichi blinked for a moment as he tilted his head and gazed at the device curiously. "Ah, Hiro-kun... there's someone on the other line...hold on." He clicked over to the other call and listened for mere moments before his eyes widened in recognition, color beginning to drain from his once rosy cheeks. "Ano....Seguchi-san..."
Tohma is calling Ryuichi...? Eyes which had drifted back to the asphalt before him jerked up at the mention of this name. Eiri didn't make a sound, but the deadly look in his eyes was more than enough to convey the snarl which he would certainly voice if not for the proximity of the phone. Nearly all his attention drew in to focus on the conversation. The man's driving style became almost absent; Eiri only narrowly avoided several collisions as the beamer's speed continued to increase.
Ryuichi's gaze drifted helplessly over to the blonde-haired driver. His face was that of a ghost, his trembling lips fumbling to form words. "Hi...how are you? F-fine...? Good, that's good to know..." His eyes became even more desperate, pleading with the driver. "Where...where am I?"
Eyes narrowed, one trained on Sakuma-san, one keeping an eye on the other cars, Eiri mouthed, "Going out."
"I'm going out!" Ryuichi nodded effervescently, almost as if he were talking to Tohma face to face. "Where?" He paled again in reaction to the voice on the other line. "Out... with Kumagorou!" The singer grinned hopefully into the phone, hoping the person on the other end would accept his lie. "Alright, I won't be out too late...heh..." The last sentence was exhaled in a single breath—"Sankyuu, Seguchi-san..."—and quickly, he clicked back to Hiro.
Eiri exhaled as Tohma apparently believed the lie—or, at any rate, caused no more trouble—grateful that he wouldn't have to think up anything else. His eyes returned, in part, to the road, though he was still listening quite carefully to Ryuichi's conversation.
"Hiro? Hi, sorry that took so long..." Though the phone undoubtedly did not benefit, Ryuichi bowed his head kind of in apology. "Yes. You say the last time you saw him was around a concert hall in London...after the concert. Okay... Hey, Hiro? If Tohma asks you about anything, just say I have everything under control, ok? Okay. Thanks."
He clicked the phone off, almost uninterestedly, and turned to Eiri as if the writer were his partner-in-crime. "I was the last person Shuichi messaged before he went missing. Hiro's just re-stating things I already know." The singer glanced down to see his K-chan staring up at him through silent glassy eyes and 'kee'ed in happiness as he hugged the doll to his chest. "Does this mean we're gonna be detectives?! Like Sherlock Holmes and Watson?? Who do you wanna be?" He grinned innocently up at Eiri, demeanor completely altered.
Eiri growled out loud this time, the dangerous phone now safely tucked away. "No games, Sakuma-san." His eyes narrowed in irritation, though whether this was due to the other, to himself, or was a mask altogether is impossible to say. "Tohma will find out where you are. Do you still insist on coming?"
The boy grinned, almost as if Eiri had told him a funny joke. "Yep yep! Because I know, someone has to keep you company when Shuu-chan's not around, coz you get lonely…" He bounced in the comfortable passenger seat, eyes glittering with a thousand smiles. Eiri bit back a sharp denial, knowing full well that it would do no good whatsoever. He snarled silently at the mirror-eyes. It was a different approach, to be sure, to shine so brightly that no-one could see what was on the inside... he preferred to put up a blank wall, but to each his own. Without further comment, he turned off of the highway, heading for the airport.
As the car glided onto the exit ramp, an electronic tone cut through the air and Eiri reached for his phone with an expression of irritation. Checking the caller ID seemed only to anger him further, and he flipped the phone open and snarled, "What do you want?"
Ryuichi blinked in curiosity and hid his face behind his Kumagorou. "Who is it?" A quick sideways glare cautioned the singer to be silent as Eiri spoke. "I don't have time to talk, Mika..." He moved to hang up, but was stopped by words from the phone. "No. No. Yes. I haven't seen him. ...No, I don't care. You are wasting my time." His words were accompanied by a snarl of disgust. A pause gave the other party time to speak, then; "I have things to do. I'm hanging up now." He shut the phone with a snap, shoving it back into his pocket.
Ryuichi's eyes suddenly became large and starry and he produced a pad of paper and pencil from nowhere. "KAWAAAIII!! That was neat!! So mean!! Can I have your autograph, Eiri-san?!!?"
The exasperated Eiri growled angrily. "No! ...We're almost there." He turned off at last, speeding into the airport and heading straight for valet parking. Ryuichi, however, was not to be dissuaded.
"Waaaah..." All of a sudden, the boy's eyes sported large teardrops where none had been before. He began to offer Eiri his jewelry as a barter for the novelist's autograph. "No? If I give you my ring, will you give me your autograph?" Eiri pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car, annoyed glare following Ryuichi as he tendered his keys to the valet. "Later. We are busy now."
With a sniff, the boy acquiesced and stashed his pad and paper away. He followed Eiri out of the car, hugging his Kumagorou protectively to his chest. "Alright. But you have to promise, you'll give me an autograph...pleeaaaseee...."
The novelist rolled his eyes behind dark glasses. "Later. And don't be so damn loud. We'll get mobbed." His tone was acidic, probably due at least in part to the wide, starry eyes of the valet as he filled out the paperwork to have the BMW stored indefinitely. The form was signed with reluctance, and Eiri was not pleased to see that the valet took the papers back as if they were made of spun gold. Turning abruptly on his heel, the man headed inside, leaving Sakuma-san to follow or not as he chose.
Ryuichi turned to the valet parking lot attendant, grinning as he waves sporadically to him with a chirpy 'hiiiiiiiiii!!!' reverberating in the hallways of the concrete lot. He donned his green sunglasses and bounced off, waving a happy hello to a group of teens passing by him to get to their car.
Big mistake. The teens were obviously aware of both Eiri's and Sakuma-san's professions and were now hurling at them in a screaming mob. Eiri set his face to a completely blank expression, shoved his hands into his pockets, and continued on his way. Sakuma-san could deal with his own fans in his own way. With any luck, Eiri would be able to lose the musician and continue on his way without further interference.
Ryuichi, by contrast, at first seemed enthralled with his mob of fans, but after some loud screaming and rather inappropriate touching he zoomed away from the crowd and clung to the retreating novelist instead. "Eiiiiiriiiii-saaaannnn...." He wailed out Eiri's name petulantly, and the mob had chosen its new target.
Yuki's scowl became visible as the mob careened towards him, following closely on Sakuma-san's heels. He kept walking, allowing both crowd and celebrity to catch up with him, wading through the starry-eyed fans in an attempt to make it to the door. From there, security would doubtless handle the situation... or so he hoped.
Answering Eiri's prayers, large, burly men held back the crowd, whose members hissed in protest like a basket of angry snakes as they were restrained. With the aid of this intervention the two men attained passage into the airport. Ryuichi heaved a sigh and glomped himself onto Eiri even more, staring back at the scene of their narrow escape with wide eyes. "Skeery..."
Eiri managed to keep a fairly calm expression until the two passed out of sight of the frustrated crowd, slipping behind a corner. As soon as made it out of the fans' view, however, his shoulders slumped in a rare moment of weakness and he scowled, readjusting his sunglasses. Turning to Sakuma-san, he growled, "Do that again... and I will leave you behind. For good." The sincerity of his tone was unequivocally echoed in his flashing, narrowed eyes.
Ryuichi cowered backwards, frightened by the penetrating ice of Eiri's stare, and nodded rather sedately, lips forming a slight pout. He turned his sapphire eyes up to cowardly meet Eiri's and asked in a rather suppressed tone, "Ma...do you like it better when I'm serious?"
The subject of this address lifted his sunglasses to peer at the subdued form before him, blinking in something which, in another man, might have resembled confusion. Could Ryuichi actually be... admitting to his violent mood shifts? Do I like it better when he's serious...? After a moment's blank stare, he allowed the dark shades to fall down over his eyes again and spoke. "I meant that you should not draw attention to us." He turned on his heel, neatly sidestepping the question, but leaving a glaring hole where an affirmation might have fallen.
The green sunglasses slipped further down the boy's nose in despair. His eyes shifted to the floor and K-chan began to droop in his arms. He only nodded, seeming to understand although it also seemed like he wasn't all there, either. "Right......."
Eiri turned at this, just the barest backwards glance over his shoulder, and frowned—though the expression was admirably hidden by his own shades. After a brief moment of hesitation, he spoke again, though this time with an ever-so-slightly softer tone. "Come on, or...." He completed the sentence almost grudgingly, well-hidden compassion warring with well-worn masks, "...we will miss our flight."
When he saw the expression Eiri wore, Ryuichi's face lifted nearly five inches from the position it had absentmindedly settled into. He grinned, eyes sparkling—perhaps slightly duller than they had been before—as he captured the sliding glasses and pushed them proudly upon the bridge of his nose. "Okay," he laughed, holding Kumagorou close to him like a security blanket—or a security bunny, if one were inclined to be so literal. "Okay, Eiri-san."
well, there you have it… chapter 2. ^^ more forthcoming, of course. next chapter: trials and tribulations with ticket counters and airport security. eiri discovers the joys of counting to ten, and there may even be a clue as to shuichi's whereabouts. stay tuned! *grin*
-vethia & midori-chan
