Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation or the characters portrayed within it. I only own this story and a couple of characters in it :D
Hello again! Just like I promised, I came back with the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!
Glossary of Japanese terms used
*Yume: Dream, hence Shuichi no Yume = Shuichi's Dream
Yose-nabe: Yose-nabe or one-pot cooking is normally cooked at the table on a portable grill. In Japan, dishes that are cooked at the dining table symbolize more than just a dinner but an event of good times shared with friends.
Baka: Fool/idiot/jerk. The harshness of the word depends on the context it is used in, it doesn't have to be that bad/offensive, in this case it isn't meant to be harsh.
Doushite: Why
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I'm wrapped up in the warmth
of an unforgiving mind
I'm on vacation in another time
I'm wrapped up in the warmth
of an unforgiving game
I'm on vacation in the land of shame
Verses from Land of Shame by Vast
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Chapter 5
Shuichi no Yume *
On the other side of town one Yuki Eiri sat at his laptop reading and re-reading the last chapter of his book. He must have read it about three times now and still not a word of it had actually been registered by the neurons in his brain. He looked at the clock on the bottom right hand corner of the task bar: 03:59 am. Why was he feeling uneasy and unable to concentrate?
He got up suddenly, causing the leather chair to skid on its wheels along the highly polished floorboards and hit the wall behind him. Leaving everything as it was, he quietly opened the door of his studio and padded towards the kitchen. The enigmatic blonde crossed the lounge on his way and stopped by the kitchen entrance. Resting one hand on the wooden frame, he tilted his head and looked behind him. The couch was empty; a neatly folded blanket laid atop the armrest. The writer flicked the kitchen light switch on and got out a beer from the barren fridge, which he gulped down in one swift move. As he walked towards his studio, second beer can in hand, he glanced at the bedroom door. His smooth forehead creased with a furrow as the blonde opened it sparingly. Had that baka fallen asleep in the toilet? Why was he always so insistent in staying up just to see him? It was not like they didn't see each other enough. God knows there was only so much of Shuichi's blabber a sane person could take in one day! Why did that baka. care so much? Couldn't he see that Yuki didn't appreciate that constant assault of his private space? That he was used to living alone, isolated, not caring? They've been "together", as Shuichi liked to say, for months now, yet Yuki simply couldn't grasp what went on in the singer's mind. What did a free spirit, such as Shuichi, see in someone as apathetic as himself? He would soon realize his mistake and leave him. A stab of something he couldn't describe shot through him, leaving him more somber than usual. His mind pictured the young man sitting up on the cold floor tiles of the bathroom. A little, miniscule, trace of guilt surfaced in his hardened heart which he dismissed immediately. Damn it if he was going to start caring now! Nevertheless he went and stood by the bathroom; the light was off and no sound was coming through. The writer hesitated for a moment and then turned the handle: nothing.
~*~*~*~
Most people had already left. Even if they didn't have to go to work the next day, all the rehearsals done prior to the concert had taken their toll.
"Tohma, Mika, thank you for a lovely evening. You've been great hosts as ever." Hatori nodded at Tohma and hugged Mika, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.
"You sure you don't want a ride Hatori-san? It'll only be a few minutes until I see everybody off. I can take you to your hotel then." Tohma waved at two men leaving the club and looked back at Hatori.
"No thank you. The hotel is only a few streets away and I could do with some fresh air. Really, walking will be fine." The photographer clinched up the top two buttons of his black cashmere overcoat.
"As you wish. Please do come by the office in the afternoon and I'll arrange for you to develop the pictures. I know you like to do everything yourself." Tohma smiled that soft smile of his.
"Hatori, you'll be better off going out the fire exit door. You'll save yourself sometime." Mika was putting her stylish green gabardine and matching hat on. "It's at the back there. Can you see it?" She pointed at a door a bit to the left of the restroom's door.
"Yes, thank you."
"Come back home with Tohma tomorrow and join us for dinner, ne?" She pulled her right leather glove over her slender hand.
"Only if you make Yose-nabe." The blonde grinned.
"Deal."
"See you tomorrow then." Hatori tucked his hands in his pockets and his friends left to bid their goodbyes and settle the tab with the owner.
The blonde took out a cigarette and opened the fire exit door, lighting the precious stick as he stepped into the cold night air. On his left was a dead end and to his right he could see the main street a good thirty metres away. A lonely taxi drove by. Big cities never sleep, but on this area of Tokyo, all was empty and quite at this hour. The dimly lit passage that stretched before him was full of containers, scattered garbage bags and cardboard boxes. He walked along, his steps echoing against the orange bricks of the buildings. The photographer swerved around a large trash can and avoided a heap of boxes on the right when something caught his attention out of the corner of his jade green eye. Turning around, he squinted, there seemed to be something, well someone, lying on top of the boxes.
'Probably some drunkard or a vagabond after some shelter.' Hatori turned around and took a couple of hesitant steps towards the street.
'He may be injured,' his conscience reasoned. 'I'll check to see if he's ok.' Retracing his steps once again and swinging the camera bag over his back, he squatted down on the floor. He stretched his arm and shook the body lying on his face.
'Maybe he's dead. Either that or he's so boozed up he won't even know he's uncomfortable.' He got up and just as he was about to leave for good, the lying form made some sort of muffled noise. An attempt to say something with your face buried in cardboard, he guessed.
"Hey buddy, are you alright?" he asked nonchalantly.
He received another muffled sound in response. Hatori took one last drag of his cigarette and threw it on the floor, his patience starting to wear a bit thin now. He bent down again and started to turn the limp body over.
"If you don't get your sorry face out of there I can't understand what you are saying. Besides, what kind of---" He stopped short as he recognized the "sorry face" facing him now, seemingly attempting to crack his eyes open and failing. He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his left hand. "You are full of surprises, you know that, kid?" He spoke out loud to no one, the young man lying beside him immobile and completely oblivious to the world. The blonde bit his lower lip and picked up the body effortlessly; he was surprisingly light. As he stood up, some light shone on them both and Hatori could now see the mop of pink hair across the singer's face perfectly. His face was a little dirty and he had some pieces of paper tangled up in his unruly locks. Other than that, he slept peacefully.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with you, eh?" Strangely enough the singer seemed to understand, or maybe it was just coincidence for he spoke.
"Must go home," he slurred and then fell back asleep.
"Home, huh? I'm afraid I haven't the faintest where you live so, whether you like it or not, you are coming with me." He shifted the weight in his arms and started to walk.
After a few minutes he arrived at the front door of his hotel, the body in his arms had somehow grown immensely heavy and his arms ached. The photographer went into the hotel and made his way across the empty and classy hall, all the while undisturbed. Pressing the button to the third floor, he let out a sigh and looked down at Shuichi's face. The singer's breathing was restful and he was smiling faintly.
"Yeah, I bet you are enjoying this, baka." Shuichi's face suddenly lifted up and the singer nuzzled his nose against the blonde's neck.
"I love it when you call me baka." The twenty year-old managed the sentence pretty well, considering his state. Hatori was about to retort when a 'bing' announced that they had reached the third floor.
'What kind of twisted person would say something like that? And who the heck does he think he's speaking to?' The photographer dismissed it as the alcohol talking and took the room key out of his pocket, not without some difficulty, and placed it in the door lock.
Shuichi's numbed mind registered the click of a door being unlocked and then felt as he was carried across the threshold, the door shutting behind him.
'So warm.' He snuggled closer to the blonde carrying him. 'Yuki waited up for me and is even carrying me in his arms.' Shuichi's mind wasn't working logically or coherently at this point. He didn't bother worrying over the fact that if indeed they were at his apartment, how had Yuki found him? And where? Why was he even being carried in the first place anyway?? All these thoughts simply didn't enter the vocalist's mind; Yuki was there and he was being ever so gentle. Then an even more ludicrous thought entered his mind. 'I know why everything feels so unfamiliar. I'm dreaming. That's right. I'm dreaming and in my dream everything is perfect and Yuki loves me so.' With a Herculean effort, he pulled his eyes open and managed to catch a blurry glimpse of the man holding him before they fell closed again. This was definitely a dream, and a very good one to boot.
"I knew you cared about me," the singer whispered in his melodic voice.
At this Hatori cocked one fine eyebrow. "What are you talking about, baka? I don't even know you." 'This guy is in la-la land!'
He laid him down carefully onto the double bed and proceeded to remove the singer's sneakers.
Shuichi flinched visibly. Maybe this wasn't a dream after all. 'Don't. don't even know me? I guess he doesn't really.' His intoxicated mind sent him spiraling down into a rollercoaster of emotions, and he passed from absolute bliss to utter despair.
"Why are you so mean? I love you so much and yet, yet." His body quailed on the bed as he broke down into uncontrollable sobs.
"Doushite? Doushite? Why can't you love me even if just a little? Do you really not care for me at all?" His crying became louder ripping the silent air in the room much like a sharp blade would through frail feathers.
"I don't know who you take me for, but whoever it is, it's not me." The photographer spoke matter-of-factly, convinced in fact, that his words fell on empty ears. He was sure his voice sounded masculine enough, and here was a GUY declaring his undying love! However, the person lying in his bed intrigued him very much, he had made him feel awfully awkward earlier that evening, and his sobs were beginning to stir something within him again.
"You must hate me, but I can't let you go. I'd die. My-my chest hurts-I." Shuichi choked on his own words. "Godammit! It hurts! It hurts! Always.It hurts because I love you so much, I love you." Shuichi bawled at this point, grasping the bed sheets tightly, making his knuckles turn white. The combination of salty tears cascading down his face and mouth ajar against the pillow stained the quilt.
Gods, the boy sounded so hurt! Hatori sat himself by the singer and his hands pulled back outrageous pink tresses off his face.
"Sshhhh, I don't hate you," he said soothingly, settling for something that he thought might make the boy feel better. He didn't even have to lie. Why would anyone hate this harmless person anyway? "I don't hate you, I don't hate you," the photographer chanted as he caressed Shuichi's soft fluff of hair.
It seemed to work for Shuichi fell silent, although tears kept escaping from his closed eyelids. The photographer wiped those away with his thumb. Shuichi's face was warm and smooth like silk under his touch. It sent shivers down his spine and his heartbeat quickened. He found himself staring at the younger man. His tear stricken face was serene, and his porcelain-like skin glowed like diamond dust in the moonlight, leaving Hatori completely mesmerized.
There was no denying it now. The boy was absolutely beautiful.
It was okay to find another man 'beautiful,' Hatori reasoned. Especially for someone whose work relied on capturing the beauty, the horror, and ultimately, the soul of things in an image. He was extremely perceptive to all of these things. The only difficulty arose when he tried to catch them on film, just at the right moment and under the right circumstances to allow others to see what showed itself to him so readily.
And he thought Shuichi to be the most beautiful creature he'd ever laid his eyes upon.
Not just because he was physically flawless, but because there was an aura that flowed from him that was so pure and innocent. How someone as ethereal as this young man had managed to go unharmed from the monstrosities of the world was a mystery.
Hatori was entranced by his vision and captivated by his touch -the supple skin under his fingertips, the velvety locks entwined in his hand, the full rosy lips. He didn't notice as he lowered himself further onto the singer's face, 'I just want to get a closer look.' By now their faces were mere millimeters apart and he could feel the warmth and sweet breath of the man lying beneath him. Closing his eyes, he let his body rejoice in the wonderful proximity.
He wanted more.
He breathed in the youth's delicate scent deeply, as if trying to drink it somehow. Strawberries, a blossomed cherry tree in the summer breeze, almonds, plump peaches basking in the sun . the dizziness came back and hit him full force again.
The slightest of touches of their noses together made him shudder and brought him back to reality. He quickly scrambled off the bed, falling unceremoniously on his ass with a loud thud.
He covered his mouth with a trembling hand. 'What the fuck has gotten into me?' His chest heaved up and down, and the sound of his rushing blood pumping in his temples resounded very loud in his ears. He shakily got up and glanced at the lying form. He was afraid to look at him directly; Shuichi slept soundly.
The blonde went to the bathroom and washed his face with cold water. When he was done, he sat himself down on the little sofa. He was deeply confused. Why was his heart beating so fast?
He tried to relax and get some much needed sleep, but he couldn't. The photographer brought his hands up and covered the void on his face with the still cold palm of his hands. This action seemed to calm him down somewhat.
It had been a long and exhausting day. He'd had a few drinks and gone without a woman for longer than he was used to.
That was it. His cursed body was betraying him. That's why he felt the way he did. That had to be it.
He couldn't possibly, by any means, be attracted to another man. could he? Even if the man in question was pure and beautiful, at the end of the day, he was still a man.
He let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. 'Everything will go back to normal in the morning,' he told himself. 'Everything will go back to normal.'
tbc
What will happen when Shu wakes up? How will Hatori deal with these surfacing feelings? And more importantly, what will Yuki make of Shuichi's absence? The answers and loads more on the next chapter! Stay tuned!
Please R&R
Ok, to all the people that have been asking to see more on Yuki, I promise you will in the next chapter, which is already written and typed out and in the chapter manager folder! I already have the story figured out (more or less) so please be patient and try to enjoy it as it comes. Just felt I needed to introduce Hatori fully as to have all the characters personalities on equal footing. I hope you continue to read the story and keep the reviews coming, they are my fountain of inspiration!
BIG THANKS to my lovely beta reader Animegirl9, she is the best! She is a wonderful writer and her fic The Opposite of Gravity really is out there in the top three best fics at the moment, you all go and read it! It's about to get really engaging and her skills with the words, the scenes and the characters are just to die for. I bow down to you, take my hat off and grovel at your feet! You are brilliant! And I've read up to chapter 8, it gets better and better I have no idea how she does it!
Thank you all for your reviews
Mirai Aria: My first reviewer yet again! Thanks for you kind words and keep working on Yuki, I wish you the best of luck with chapter 12, I'm sure it will be just as awesome as the others. And that AU fic you are working on, can't wait to read it! You are my God, lol.
lilyleia: Hello! I'm very happy that you decided to read and review my fic, it's pretty long, for the moment it will keep going and going, I love long stories best too!
Black Dios: Thanks for your review, you always review and make me really happy :D Sorry I haven't reviewed your updates yet, I'm kinda busy _ but I will soon, promise!
firedraygon97: I'm glad you think Shuichi is awesome, I think so too! Welcome to my weird web of romance, I hope you continue to like it, Yuki will appear more soon, fear not!
Princess of Mirrors: Thank you for reviewing again, Yuki will suffer don't worry! Be patient please, at least I update regularly, ne?
Authormichals: You rooting for Hatori/Shu even though you are a Yuki/Shu fan?! That's great because that means you like him, and I don't want him to be hated, he's cute in his own way. (*whispers*: I'm a Yuki/Shu fan too! :O But am I twisted enough to break them apart? You'll have to keep reading to find out!)
Anime Earth: You are here yet again! I'm glad you keep coming back despite lack of Yuki-goodness, promise he'll be in a lot more, he's one of the main characters after all, even though so far he's only been with us in spirit, he'll make a more tangible appearance soon!
CPV-Phantoms-CTFA: You guys are really something else. I really enjoy your reviews especially, but it'll be kind of unfair to give you the award every week, as much as I'd like to. However your reviews are highly valued and cherished, keep them coming! LOL, you make me laugh so much.
Phoenix 3:16: Thanks for reviewing and enjoying my story. As you can see Hatori has more or less started to put the moves on Shu. what will happen next? How's Yuki going to react? Fear not, it's all master planned by my muses in my brain, wait for it!
justxme: Sorry if you haven't seen Yuki enough yet again, but now that the story is set and rolling he'll be appearing a lot more, it's all part of my master plan. lol!
Dark Kagome 2: Welcome to my fic! I take it this is the first time you read it, and probably read the whole 4 chapters at once. Sorry for my grammar, I'm trying hard to improve. I am really glad you like it so far, I hope it continues to satisfy! Let me now how you like it! Thank you!
Jen: I've inspired you along with Xmass is a Time???? That's one of my fave fics ever! How can you put me next to such a masterpiece? I'm far too flattered, I think I'm going to faint! Thank you, I'm not worthy! I can only try my hardest and I will. I'll try not to disappoint!
wyrd2Burfrnd, Bisexual Pygmy, god_damned , Joan Mistress of Magic, Hikaru Itsuko, AISH a.k.a. Kitty in the Box : thank you all for your comments!! *HUGGLES YOU ALL* I've updated quickly like I said I would. I can only hope it was to your standards, please keep giving your opinions, they are most appreciated!!
Ok, this week, the "Award of the Week" goes to:
Risukii-chan: Your words were really uplifting and encouraging! I'm really glad you have enjoyed everything so far. You made me want to go and update straight away! It was that powerful! Thank you so much *glomps* You get the cookies this week. Here: *cookies* and I'll throw in a Kumagorou too ^_^
