Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation... but Cliff is my own character. Thank youuuu! :D
"Bye Hiro! See you tomorrow!" Shuichi shouted as he waved at Hiro. They separated on their way home.
Shuichi walked faster than usual. He felt strangely nervous- as if something bad had happened. He tried to shrug it off but still, the feeling pestered him.
He finally reached the door. He placed his hand on it, but it suddenly turned. Shuichi jumped back in surprise.
"Thanks, Eiri-kun!" Tohma said as he walked out of the door, smiling. He stopped as he noticed Shuichi, standing in front of him with his mouth practically reaching the floor.
"Oh, it's you, Shindou-san." Tohma said, smiling once more.
"Ah, ahah, ahhha... Hello Tohma!" Shuichi waved mechanically.
"I'm so happy to hear that you've volunteered to babysit for your cousin. That's really nice. But make sure that doesn't get in the way of your work, Shindou-san." Tohma tilted his head, still smiling.
"Oh, ohhh, ohhhohohohoo... I won't!" Shuichi smiled like a robot.
"Well then, I'll be seeing you!" Tohma waved and walked away.
As soon as Shuichi lost sight of Tohma's shadow, he panicked and stormed into the house.
"YUKIIIII!!!!!" He screamed as he rushed into Yuki's room.
"SHHHH!!!" Yuki hissed, placing his finger on his mouth. "You'll wake the baby!"
"Ah, ah... ahhh...," Shuichi looked at the slumbering baby, and shook his head, "What did you tell Tohma??? Does he know???!!"
"Calm down... he knows about Cliff... But not everything. Stop panicking." Yuki then continued his typing.
Shuichi did a dance as he couldn't control the nervousness he felt. "What if- what if---"
Yuki stood up, walked towards the disturbed Shu, and placed his hands on Shu's shoulders. Shuichi just looked up, suddenly forgetting his nervousness.
"Don't worry... I'll take care of it. Just finish your album." Yuki comforted.
"Y-Yuki..." Shu looked up at him. "What did Tohma do to you?! Why are you so nice all of a sudden?"
~~WHAM!~~
Shuichi rubbed his head. "owwww..."
"Does it have to be so weird whenever I act a little nicer?" Yuki said irritably once again.
"Aa, aaa, aaa... no Yuki!!! It's just..." Shu hugged him back. " It's just that... I wish you were always like this..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Stop giving that cold look
I know you have something to sayyyyyyy
Don't keep it from meeeeee~~!!!
Just try me oh yeahhhh!!!
hey hey heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!"
Shuichi sang as he they continued their recording. They all watched as Shu sang with even more energy than the other day. As soon as he was done, everybody congratulated him. Shuichi smiled, and gave them all a thumbs-up to show his appreciation.
"Shuichi-kun, you're wonderful! If only you could keep that motivation, hehehe!" Sakano chuckled, more stable by now.
"Only two songs to go, and that includes Yuki's composition." Fujisaki added, "By the way, Shuichi-kun, is that 10th song done yet???"
"I'm still finishing the melody, but... It's halfway done." Shuichi smiled triumphantly.
"I can't believe that we finished this all in just two weeks!" Hiro said, smiling widely.
"Me neither..." Shuichi added, looking a little disappointed.
"What's wrong Shu?" K asked.
"It's just that. I don't know... Yuki has grown more attached to Cliff and now he hasn't even noticed me when I come home. It's just..."
"oh, jealous...?" K smiled.
"Well... I really am happy that Yuki is taking care of him for me... but Yuki never looked so happy... Maybe I AM jealous." Shuchi whined.
"Don't worry, Shu-kun!" Fujisaki patted him on the back. "On the bright side, you can finish the album a lot faster! And you don't have to worry about Cliff."
"ehe, thanks..." Shu smiled.
:::A little later:::
"Okay, it's a wrap-up!" K-san announced.
"Okay Shu, nice work! Let's continue this tomorrow." Hiro smiled.
They all said goodbye as they left for home.
Hiro and Shuichi walked the same path going home. Hiro couldn't help notice Shu's sad expression.
"Shu, what's up?" Hiro asked.
Shuichi looked up.
"Oh... it's nothing.." He shook his head.
"hmmm... I don' think so..." Hiro said, with a smirk.
"Ahhhh~! Hirooooo!" Shu said in a whiny voice.
"So... it wasn't jealousy, was it? What really happened?"
Shu paused a while.
"Last week..." He started. "When I got to Yuki's apartment, I bumped into Tohma. He was on his way out of Yuki's apartment..."
"Hm?" Hiro looked with a eyebrow raised.
"Ever since then... I don't know... Yuki seemed different."
"How different?"
"He's really nice to Cliff and all but to me..."
"Wha???"
"Once I caught him playing with Cliff. He was smiling. But then when he saw me... he suddenly turned cold. I don't understand. Maybe I'm just wishing that I could make him smile like that. But I never able to do it... it's kind of... sad, really..."
Hiro placed his hand on Shu's shoulder. Shu looked up at his brown-haired friend.
"Maybe Yuki is just getting his fatherly instinct going... but I bet that you can make him smile too. Why don't you just try?"
Shu smiled and nodded. His eyes had determination in them.
"I will..."
The two waved as they separated at the intersection.
Shuichi jogged faster, suddenly feeling the tinge of nervousness once more-- just like the time he bumped into Tohma.
He finally reached the front door. He stopped, and stared.
He was waiting for someone to come out.
After about 5 minutes, he decided to go in. Shuichi went into his stealth-neko form and began to sneak quietly through the apartment.
"mmm... I sense dangerrr..." He purred to himself.
He went through the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, the guest room... which left only one room...
"YUKI!!!!" Shuichi screamed as he stormed into Yuki's sanctuary.
He jumped high up, and was falling down, spreading out his arms to Yuki.
Yuki dodged, not even looking up.
::CRRRraaaaAAAASHHHHH!!!!!!!::
Shuichi felt like a pancake. "Yukiiii~..." He groaned, letting Yuki know that he was -still- okay.
In one blink, Shuichi was up again, and holding his fist up to Yuki.
"YUKI!!!" He screamed in anger. "Why didn't you even say anything?!! Here I am working hard all day to finish the album and then I come home to see that no one's here and it's perfect for me and you and then I try to pounce on you and then what do you do??? You dodge me!!! Do you know how painful that is not only since I hit the floor but my heart is practically bleeding in sorrow and then you just---"
"Shhh..." Yuki placed his index finger on Shu's mouth.
"Y-Yuki..." Shuichi answered, surprised and his cheeks blushing.
"The baby's sleeping..."
Shu's blush of happiness was immediately replaced by a furious expression.
"What's with the face?" Yuki asked coldly.
Shu suddenly changed to his puppy-dog eyes and started to cry.
"Y-yuki..." he whined, "Don't you even care about me? Why don't you act the same way anymore? I hate to say this but... why do you care more about Cliff?"
"I thought you liked Cliff."
"W-wait..." Shuichi stammered. "What did you say?"
"I thought you liked Cliff." Yuki emotionlessly repeated.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!!!" Shuichi shouted, pointing his finger at Yuki, "It took you months before you called me by my name and then Cliff comes here for just two weeks and you're already calling him by his name?!?!?!?!?"
"That's the purpose of having a name..." Yuki coldly answered once more. "And I thought that you wanted us to have a happy little home..."
"I do!!! It's just... you've been acting different around him." Shuichi sniffed.
"Don't tell me you're jealous." Yuki teased.
"W-wait..." Shuichi paused, suddenly realizing Yuki's statement, "You said... I thought I wanted to have a happy little home... does that mean that you..."
Yuki stared at Shuichi with his golden eyes.
"Does that mean..." Shuichi gulped, "We're keeping him?!"
Yuki paused a bit. He pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth without lighting it.
"If you put it that way..." Yuki closed his eyes, "Yes."
"UHhhhhhhh~!"
::::THUDDDD!!!:::
Shuichi fainted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Look at me with that golden gaze
It sets me on fire
my soul's ablaze
it's my desirreeeee!!! OhhhhHHHHHH!!!
Everyone at the studio was silent. There was a heavy feeling all over the studio.
"Wow... Shuichi's really on fire today." Hiro mumbled.
"He's really determined about Cliff."
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAHHHHAAAAA!!!!!!!" Shuichi yelled as the song neared its finale.
K-san flipped through Shuichi's lyric sheets. He shook his head.
"He made those lines up." He said in a low tone.
"WHAT?!" Fujisaki yelled, suddenly looking up from the table.
"Something's wrong with Shu... and if we don't find out what it is... this album is no longer going to be in the pop genre."
"OhohoOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! YEAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" Shuichi screamed in a monstrous voice as everybody was thrown against the wall because of the intensity.
"Ughhhh..." Sakano fainted once more.
"Don't tell me... Shu's going to make this a rock genre album..." Hiro asked, leaning against the wall.
"I think you should ask him, hehehe." K chuckled, his hair completely 'windswept'.
Everybody paused as Shuichi stomped out of the recording studio. He was in his Godzilla costume. Everybody blinked to see if they were seeing right.
"It's done." Shuichi said in a low tone, pulling up the hood that served as the costume's head.
"I'm happy about that, Shu..." Sakano wearily said, finally gaining consciousness. A river of tears flowed down from his eyes.
"Not yet!" K-san suddenly interrupted as he held out his pistol and suddenly grabbed and head-locked Shuichi.
"EEEEEEKKKKKK!!!!' Shuichi yelped as he tried to pry out of K's hold, "What's wrong with you K?!?!?"
"That's my line," K answered, grinning, "Tell me why you're making Bad Luck a rock band all of a sudden or I'll shoot!!!"
"K-K!!!" Fujisaki cried out nervously.
"K-san... I-I..." Shuichi stuttered, then started to sniff.
K realized that Shuichi was crying once more; and as much as he was used to that, he suddenly realized that Shu was actually serious this time. He loosened his grip.
"What's wrong, Shu?" Hiro asked, walking towards Shuichi, who bowed his head.
"I-I'm sorry..." Shuichi stammered.
"About what?" K asked.
"I... realized that... that I don't want Cliff to come in between me and Yuki!"
Everyone's jaw dropped to the floor.
"So what's the connection of that to you acting the way you are now?", Hiro shook his head, " Shu, I thought that you wanted to have a --"
"I do!!!" Shu cut him off, "I swear I did..." He clenched his fist, "But I can't take it anymore!!! The sooner I finish this album, the sooner I can find a way to find Cliff's mother! I don't care what it takes!..."
"Shu..." Fujisaki looked sadly.
"I understand Yuki now..." Shuichi tried to smile, "This child has no room in our world. He'll get into more trouble than he was supposed to avoid... And I realize that I didn't listen to Yuki. And because of that, I actually lost Yuki to him. I hate this!! I hate it!!! I hate this jealousy! I don't want to think that I'm jealous of that baby but--- but Yuki... Yuki is my world!!! He's mine!!!"
"He sounds like he's fighting over a new toy..." K whispered as he shook his head.
"I don't care anymore! I'm doing my best to finish this album... and as soon as I do, I'm going to end this!" Shuichi whined, his soul burning.
"There, there, Shuichi-kun..." Fujisaki patted him on the back, "I'm sure you and Eiri can work things out."
Shuichi sniffed, and pulled Godzilla hood over his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
:::That night:::
"Yuki!!! I'm home!!!" Shu shouted as he entered Yuki's apartment. He was still in his Godzilla costume.
No one answered, as always.
Shuichi walked slowly towards the kitchen, as he heard a familiar voice-- only there was something wrong. He peeped, and saw Cliff seated in a new high chair, laughing hysterically. Shuichi shifted his gaze towards what Cliff was looking at.
He held his mouth as he gasped.
Yuki was laughing! He was cooking a sumptuous meal, and he was laughing as Shu had never seen him before. It was a very hearty laugh, and Yuki laughed so much that Shuichi saw his tonsils.
"Y-Yuki..." Shuichi whispered as he walked into the kitchen.
Cliff and Yuki paused as they looked at the green-costumed Shuichi.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Cliff broke out into tears.
Yuki quickly ran towards him, and lifted him from the chair and cradled him in his arms. Then, he shot out a soul-piercing look at Shuichi, who had no idea what he had done wrong.
"What's wrong with you, Shuichi?!" Yuki yelled.
"What's... what's wrong with me?!" Shuichi said once more, breaking into tears, "What's wrong... with ME?!" Shuichi screamed as the baby slowly stopped crying.
Shuichi clenched his fist, then turned around and ran out of the kitchen, covering his tear-stained face with his hand. He left the apartment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shuichi walked around town, finally removing the Godzilla costume he was carrying around the whole day- it was starting to smell funny and grabbed more attention that way.
He sniffled. His head was bowed as he dragged his feet. He tried to understand what he saw. It was nice to see Eiri laugh like that for the first time. But he couldn't understand why he was so disappointed. And though he knew the answer to that, he didn't want to accept it.
"I'm jealous?" He mumbled to himself.
He continued to drift into his thoughts, trying to remember at least one moment when he made Yuki laugh.... but he couldn't remember anything at all. He started to sob once more.
He decided to stop by a ramen shop, and drown himself in beer.
"What'll it be, sir?" The man asked as Shuichi sat at the counter.
"Just a beer..." Shuichi sadly answered.
"Oh... I'm sorry" The man said, disappointed, "We've run out of beer. The last case was consumed by those guys over there." He pointed to a table.
Shuichi pouted, turned his head towards the table the man pointed. There were a couple of circus clowns happily drinking and toasting.
"Hmph..." He pouted. "So that's why they're always happy."
"There's coffee." The man reassured Shuichi.
"Okay... I'll have that."
:::After 5 cups of coffee:::
"Wow! I feel great!" Shuichi sang happily as he stretched out his arms. "Can I have another cup please?!"
The man looked up drowsily from the counter. "I'm sorry sir, I hate to say this but, the shop was supposed to close 3 hours ago..."
Shuichi paused, he looked up at the wall clock. "2 AM?!" He gasped.
"Thanks!!! Keep the change!!!" Shuichi said as he left a generous amount of money in the hand of the slumbering man. He quickly sped out of the restaurant.
Shuichi ran and ran, letting his feet take him anywhere they could. He felt so strong, so energetic, so great, so---
"Oh... what do we have here?" Shuichi stopped as he heard the voice and saw two, big figures blocking his path.
"A deeply depressed individual who just had too much of a caffeine dosage!!!" Shuichi shot out. The two burly men just stared at him, obviously not understanding what he just said.
"WHERE THE HECK DID THAT COME FROM?!" Shuichi thought to himself.
"Blah!" One holding a shiny object blurted out, "Looks like someone who can give us a good time, hehehe!"
The way the man smiled gave Shuichi goosebumps.
"Hey... isn't he... Isn't he Shindou Shuichi?!" The other one suddenly shouted.
"WHOA! You mean the singer?!" The other one said in disbelief, then suddenly looked once more at Shuchi with such an intensity that made Shu want to crawl out of his skin.
"Hehe, too bad.. It seems we can't take any chances..." The man with a knife grimaced, slowly inching towards Shuichi. Shuichi walked back, turned around and tried to run, but something pulled him back- the man held on to his collar.
The two chuckled devilishly as Shuichi struggled and yelled, "NO!!!! LET GOOO!!! I'll make K-san kill you!!!"
But the two didn't listen.
Shuichi felt the knife as it slowly inched towards his neck. He could feel the heavy, and stinky breath of the man. He wanted to escape, but didn't know how. He shut his eyes as he screamed one more time.
"YUKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!"
"YAHHHH!!!" He heard someone scream, then he saw a flying trashcan, which hit the man above him at point blank range. The man helplessly toppled, unconscious.
His companion quickly turned around, screaming, "WHAT THE?!" Shuichi felt relieved, but still a bit scared, since he saw no familiar face.
"Who the hell is there?!" The other man shouted, fear evident in his tone. Shuichi could not find himself to get up, he felt paralyzed by the fear as well.
Suddenly, out of the darkness, two red dots appeared, gleaming amidst the darkness.
"I am the goodness that crushes all evillllll!!!" A voice shouted out.
"That voice..." Shuichi mumbled, as he tried to remember whose was the familiar voice he heard.
"What the hell?! GET AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT HIM TO GET HURT!!!" The man tried to threaten, suddenly picking up the knife from his companion's hands. He grabbed on to Shuichi's shirt, and held the knife up his neck. Shuichi gasped, and blinked as he felt a cold feeling rush down his spine.
~~WHAMMMM~!!!
The man suddenly loosened his grip, and Shuichi was shocked to see him falling, apparently hit by something straight on the head.
"KUMAGORO BEAMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!"
"R-Ryu?!" Shuichi gasped, as he saw a familiar figure and heard the familiar voice. It was Ryuichi! His eyes were a glowing red and he was holding kumagoro and hitting the man at point blank range, making him drop unconscious.
Everything was silent once more as the two burly men lay inanimate on the cold street, and Ryu was standing like a comic book superhero, his eyes aglow.
His face suddenly changed as he gave out a cat-like smile and looked at Shuichi He gave out a hearty chuckle.
"Ahahaha! Shu!!! Hello!!!" He waved, smiling with kumagoro in hand.
Shu was dumbfounded, but suddenly woke up as Ryu grabbed his hand and helped him stand.
"Let's go, Shu... before these evil people wake up!" He said in a comical tone, still smiling.
Shuichi didn't know what to say- he was still in shock over what had happened. He unconsciously ran as he felt Ryu's pull, watching Ryu run ahead of him as he followed like a puppet- still in a daze.
Author's note: Thanks so very much for those who reviewed the last chapter!!! Oh, and This chapter has been revised; sorry for all the grammatical errors!!! *bows head in embarrassment* But it's okay now, It's all fixed up!!! *holds a victory pose*. Thanks once againnnnn!!! thanks for the cookie, Dead Insomniac!!! *takes a bite out of a cookie* :3~
