disclaimer: see all previous disclaimers


            Soft, chocolate hair fell upon a downy pillow as the NG singer turned his head to gaze at the bundle of bright, nearly fluorescent flowers Shuichi had effervescently given him this morning. He could still remember the beams of sunshine that little kid had opened up in his eyes when he came to visit him that day—for the first time in a while now, he felt like there were people actually there for him, people to hug when he was sad, or people to glomp when he was happy. It felt...very nice.

            "Sakuma-san, you have a visitor." The nurse opened the door a crack and smiled cheerfully at Ryuichi. "Another one, that is."

            "Nn?" Ryuichi's eyes brightened as a jovial grin laced his pale cheeks. "Wahh, sankyuu~ Nurse-Lady!!" He lifted a hand to wave at her, the brightness in his face rivaling even that of the flowers.

            The nurse smiled at him and opened the door, revealing a tall blonde man squinting as he removed his dark sunglasses. Eiri stepped into the room, blinking slightly at the brightness, and greeted Ryuichi with a nod of his head. "Eh." He was dressed impeccably as usual, stuffing the sunglasses into his jacket pocket and resisting the urge to pull out a cigarette. Under his arm was a small, flat, rectangular package wrapped in brown paper.

            "EIRI-SAAN~~!" Ryuichi beamed broadly, waving to the blonde... and then noticed the package. "WAH~! Who's that package for, Eiri-san?" Eiri strode in and tossed the package on the bed. "You, baka. Do you see anyone else here?" His fingers twitched, again resisting the urge to light up. Eyes flickered around the room. "Nice place." He seemed slightly uncomfortable, out of his element; but he truly wanted to be there.

            "Sankyuu!!!!!" Ryuichi was a-bubble with life again, motioning to the chair beside the table with the flowers for Eiri to sit down. If one were to look at him, they couldn't even tell what he'd been through or what he'd endured. "Please, please sit down, Eiri-san~!"

            "Nhn." Eiri grunted his thanks as he took a seat, eyeing the flowers. "That particular garish shade can only have come from Shuichi."

            "Yup~! Aren't they pretty?" Ryuichi's eyes glinted as he turned from the flowers to Eiri-san. "It's really nice to see you, Eiri-san, I'm so glad you stopped by~~" Truly, the word 'happiness' would inadequately describe the emotion the boy was feeling right now. He had been hoping that Eiri-san would visit him... and he was rather ecstatic about the present, too, because while Nori-chan and Seguchi-san had each brought their own presents, things coming from Eiri-san took on a much greater value to Ryuichi.

            Eiri sniffed softly at the flowers and leaned back in the chair, staring out the window. "Eh. I didn't have anything else to do." At first, it seemed as if he wiould stop there, but he continued after only a short pause. "...Advance printing is done, and I've finished my next proposal." This was probably the most information Eiri had ever volunteered, unasked, about his life—even if it was just about his career.

            "Ah! What's this book about?" Ryuichi turned his whole body to the side, the sheet moving with him and creating white tiers through the stretch of the fabric and the shape of the singer's legs.

            Eiri waved a negligent hand. "The same drivel as all the rest. It's really not that exciting." He seemed pleased, though, that Ryuichi would ask. "I'll begin working on it as soon as the publisher clears the budget drain it'll cost them."

            "Well, still—it must be nice to know that all your fans are waiting for your book." Ryuichi smiled genuinely, and gestured to one of Eiri's recent novels sitting half-open upon the bed. "They're really good, you know. I started reading them once I got into the hospital, and I really admire your style."

            Eiri actually cracked a slight smile. "Mmmnh" was all he said, but he was oddly touched by the singer's praise. "Well... I had better go." His eyes softened into something approaching fondness as he glanced at the flowers again. "That baka whines like hell when I'm late." He stood, rather abruptly, and turned towards the door, then seemed to hesitate. He looked back as he reached it. "Maybe I'll stop by tomorrow."

            "Yeah! That would be wonderful!!" Another grin from Ryuichi, as his eyes openly showed the thousands of 'thank you's that he could never bring himself to say to Eiri for visiting him. The writer quirked another tiny smile, then disappeared through the door, leaving the singer and the package behind him.

            Even though Eiri's back was turned, the singer waved goodbye to him, and paused for a moment, eyes lingering upon the doorway. His attention was suddenly rechanneled towards the enigmatic package sitting on the bed where Eiri had left it. "Ara..." Ryuichi grinned happily as he sat up and settled the present in his lap, beginning to unwrap it gingerly.

            The brown paper was easy to rip off, peeling away to reveal... a book. It was hardcover, weighty and thick, with elegant kanji on the cover spelling out 'FAITH.' Slightly smaller, below the title, 'Yuki Eiri' is picked out in muted silver. A small, intricate mark on the top right-hand corner of the cover revealed this to be part of the first printing; only 10 or so copies exist in this fashion.

            Ryuichi could only stare at the book in a state of shock, cerulean eyes wide as they took in the shining treasure their owner held in his hands. "Ah..." Ryuichi took a quick glance to the door again, and then he tore open his window and leaned outside into the blowing wind, searching for a sign of Eiri Yuki on the ground below.

            The novelist was barely visible outside the window, smoking a much-needed cigarette as he headed for his expensive car. The singer opened his mouth to say something, but instead, merely smiled as he caught a glimpse of the blonde. He closed the window carefully and sat back down upon the bed, staring at the book in wonder. Finally, after about a minute or so of silence, he opened the front cover.

            Inside, in Eiri's angular penmanship, a note was inscribed: Had to pull more strings than I care to mention to change the title so late before printing. Bureaucrats make me ill. Then, a line below: Here's that autograph you wanted. Finally, at the bottom of the page, Yuki Eiri was scrawled and underlined.

            The book quaked from Ryuichi's hands as tears fell from his eyes—although this time, they weren't tears of sadness. He hugged the book to his chest and flopped back down upon his bed, crying and hugging the book to him as if it were his dear Kumagorou. A nurse who had been standing in the doorway looked rather nonplussed as she viewed the crying boy in his bed. "...Sakuma-san? Are you alright? What happened?" Ryuichi opened his tear filled eyes, smiling so wide the edges of his smile seemed to run off the corners of his face. He hugged the book even tighter to him, opening his mouth to speak. Only one word came out, as golden as the title upon the book:

            "Faith."


and that, folks, is that.

hope you liked it! been a long time coming, i know. anyway, i would like to thank the wonderful and amazing Midori-chan for being an amazing co-author, a wonderful friend, and an all-around great person; Calliopeoracle for support, roleplaying, friendship, and sweet sweet lovin'; Kyvanna for squees, encouragement, friendship, interest, and hours of ddr; Savi for impetus; the entire cast of Faith in Gravity for making it, while it lasted, the best damn Gravitation rp there ever was; and most of all, you, the readers. this story would never have existed without your encouragement and interest. thank you one and all.

now please, let us know what you thought of the ending, the characters, the story as a whole—all of it! the fact that there's nothing left to tell about this story doesn't mean that i couldn't be persuaded to do more, if the readership were willing (hint hint wink wink nudge nudge). and also, i love knowing when people add this story to their favourite stories list or myself and midori-chan to their favourite authors list. if you do so, please let me know! thank you so much to everyone who already has!

signing off,

vethia & midori-chan