Title: Spin

Author: Hawk Clowd

Disclaimer: so far as I know, I own nothing.  Gravitation belongs to Maki Murakami and I wouldn't take it away from her for anything in the world.  I just like to play.  ^_^

Blood Type: I don't care...  Something flammable, like hairspray.  Simply because you could light a match and Ryuichi would be on fire.

Warnings: very few.  Yaoi, which is a fairly obvious one, considering the fandom, random smut, and possible angst.

Archived: all of the usual places.

Part: Five

Author's Notes: if it's a big bit in italics with asterisks on either end, it's not really happening.  There's only one section like that, so it's nothing major.

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Tatsuha was digging through his pants pockets that evening, trying to locate a piece of gum, when he came across the phone number Eiri had given him earlier.  His fruitless quest for gum was temporarily postponed as he considered the number, wondering whose it was and why Eiri had given it to him.  Curiosity eventually won out over caution and so, after making sure that Eiri and Shuichi were asleep in their bedroom (if this was a joke, Tatsuha didn't want Eiri deriving any sort of satisfaction from it), Tatsuha went to the living room to locate the phone.  And, all the while, he wondered why Eiri had bothered giving him this mystery number.  It wasn't exactly characteristic of the writer, after all.

Eiri had never been much of a big brother, in the strict sense of the word.  Growing up, it had often seemed to Tatsuha that it was his brother who needed the support and advice from Tatsuha, not the other way around.  Eiri had always had a rough time as a kid, granted, but he'd also been pretty distant and aloof, so he hadn't liked to get involved with Tatsuha's problems.  The two siblings had been more like distant friends than anything else and that had always suited them just fine.  It wasn't often that Eiri to actually tried to be a brother.  The conversation they'd had the other day, for instance, was a rarity on Eiri's part, and the number he'd given Tatsuha earlier hadn't exactly been expected, either.  What did Eiri care if Tatsuha was happy or not?

Thinking that over, Tatsuha looked in the mirror and gave himself a half-hearted smile.  Maybe Shuichi had been a better influence on Eiri than the writer wanted to believe...

Tatsuha, when he finally found the phone, couldn't stop himself from hoping that maybe, just maybe, this was Sakuma Ryuichi's phone number.  Eiri had his connections, didn't he?  Surely he could find a little insignificant thing like a phone number for his needy and pathetic little brother?  Right?  He could just imagine it...

***  "Hello?" Ryuichi would ask, answering the phone.

Tatsuha would be suave and collected when he responded.  "Hey, it's me."

"Tatsuha-kun?" the singer would say, alarmed.  "I...  I wasn't expecting you to call me!"

Tatsuha, of course, would falter.  "Oh...  Well, you don't have to--"

"NO!  I was actually going to call you, Tatsuha-kun.  I wanted to apologize for not being more considerate of your feelings that one time a couple weeks ago.  I was scared that you'd laugh at me and..."

"I would never laugh at you, Sakuma-san!"

Ryuichi would laugh then.  "Please, Tatsuha-kun, call me Ryuichi!"

"Aa...  Yes!  Whatever you say Sa--Ryuichi."

"Anyway, I'd like to make it up to you.  How does a romantic dinner and a night of love sound to you?  Tomorrow night?"

"It sounds great!  I'll see you then!"  And then they'd hang up.  ***

Tatsuha wiped the smile of his face.  Yeah, right.  Like that was going to happen.  There was no way Eiri had Sakuma Ryuichi's phone number on file (although it was apparently listed in Shuichi's cell phone) and chances were that Ryuichi had no idea how Tatsuha felt about what had happened.  With Tatsuha's luck, Ryuichi probably didn't even remember it...  Damn.

Sighing to himself, Tatsuha dialed the number on the paper and waited.  The phone rang.  Once.  Twice.  Three--

"Shinsetsuna residence.  How may I be of service to you?"

Shinsetsuna?  Tatsuha furrowed his brow, trying to think.  Did he know a Shinsetsuna?  The popular vote said no.  And the person on the other end was a man (or at least sounded like a man), so Tatsuha was pretty sure it wasn't one of Eiri's many ex-sex-toys or anything like that.  What was this supposed to be, exactly?"

Tatsuha considered hanging up, but he didn't.  "My brother told me to call this number and he didn't--"

"Aa, you're Eiri Yuki's brother.  Of course.  If you'll hang on for one moment, I'll connect you to Benri Maki and she will help you from there on out.  Please hold."

"Hey, hang on!" Tatsuha protested.  "I'm not trying to go on a scavenger hunt here!  Why did Eiri give me your number?  Is this some kind--"

The tinkling of classical music began to play.

"...of joke?" Tatsuha finished weakly.  This was so not fair.  Seeing that he really had no other choice, he stayed on the line, waiting for someone--anyone to pick up.  He stared blankly at the wall in front of him, trying desperately to figure out what was going on.  If Shinsetsuna was just going to connect him to someone else, why hadn't Eiri given him that person's phone number in the first place?  God, what was this?  If it was a joke, Eiri really had a terrible sense of humor, that son of a--

"Uesugi-san, if you'd please hang on for just one more moment, I'll connect you up to room 416," a woman (Benri Maki?) said, forcing Tatsuha out of his reverie.  "Please hold.  It will only take a moment."

Tatsuha sighed.  "All right," he said.  He didn't even care anymore, he really didn't.  This was stupid--really stupid---but he just couldn't bring himself to care.

There was no music this time, just silence, but even that was better than the corny hold music he'd had to sit through before.  And it didn't last as long, either, as a phone soon began to ring.  On the fourth ring, someone picked up the receiver.

"Good evening, Tatsuha-kun.  I've been expecting your call."  It was a woman and, suddenly, Tatsuha knew who it was, too.  He took a deep breath.

"Ukai-san."

"Oh, please, call me Noriko.  I'm your sister's best friend, you know, so it isn't as though you don't know me at all.  All right?"

Tatsuha paused.  "Um...  Sure."

"Wonderful!  I'm so glad you remembered me, dear.  In any case, I remember that you were such a nice boy--a touch lecherous and horny, but still nice--and I was told that you'd met up with Ryuichi not too long ago."

"Who told you that?" Tatsuha asked suspiciously.  If Eiri had blabbed to anyone, the writer was going to be waking up with no hair left on his head.  Shuichi would be upset, of course, but he'd eventually learn to live with a bald lover.  And Eiri would probably be furious, but it would grow back sooner or later.  After all, their father, as a monk, had to shave his head on a regular basis and it always grew back, whether the old fart liked it or not.  Male pattern baldness did not run in their family, thank goodness.

"Ryuichi.  Who else?" asked Noriko.  "He didn't really give me any specifics as to what happened between the two of you, but I know him well enough to venture a guess.  And after I came into contact with your brother, I guessed I'd guessed right."

"You..."  Tatsuha furrowed his brow in confusion and then shook his head.  "Whatever.  How did Eiri--"

"Is that really important, Tatsuha-kun?" Noriko asked.  "Let's just say that he had to work with my husband not too long ago so he could garner some research for a book of his and then leave it at that, all right?"

"So why did I have to--"

"Stay on hold for so long?  Privacy, dear.  Shinsetsuna is my husband's current aid--you know, a student who basically gets to run errands in return for the opportunity to teach a few classes--and Maki is my daughter's nanny, as well as one of the few people outside of my family who know my private number.  My darling hubby thought it would be wise if your brother gave you a more circuitous route to follow and I agreed."

"But why--"

"Don't ask questions, dear.  Right now I like you better with your mouth closed.  Why don't you just keep quiet and let me do the talking, hm?"

"But--"

"Do you want my help or not?  This is a one-time-only offer, you know."

Tatsuha hesitated.  "Your help with what, exactly?"

Noriko laughed.  "I like you, Tatsuha-kun, so I'm going to offer you the chance of a lifetime: a never-before-seen glimpse into Sakuma Ryuichi's messed up little brain.  Are you game?"

"So you want to help me do what?"

"Get Ryuichi, of course!  You want him, don't you?"

"Yeah, but..."  Tatsuha took a deep breath.  "But I don't want your help.  I want to do this on my own, y'know?  If I'd wanted someone to do it for me, I would have begged Tohma.  I may be desperate, but I've got standards."

"Oh, good!" Noriko said.  "If you'd said yes, I would have had ended this conversation right then and there!  And I do like you, Tatsuha-kun, so I'd hate to have to do that.  Especially since Ryuichi has been all alone for a very long time now.  Tohma and I both grew up years ago and had lives beyond Nittle Grasper, but Ryuichi...  He's stuck in the past, I guess.  You see, lots of things happened to him a long time ago and he--"

"Please, Noriko-san, it's late and I'm tired," Tatsuha interrupted.  "Can you get to the point here?"

"Of course.  Ryuichi likes you, Tatsuha, and I can't help but thing that maybe it's not just as a friend.  I'd like to think that maybe you're the guy who can help Ryuichi get his life on track again--help him grow up a little.  And so I'm going to give you a little bit of advice, all right?"

Tatsuha hesitated.  "I guess that would be okay."

"Great.  When you're dealing with Ryuichi, sometimes you really do just have to underestimate him. "

"What do you mean?" Tatsuha asked, confused.

"I mean that maybe you should try a different approach if Ryuichi really is what you want.  Understand?"

"Not really."

Noriko laughed.  "And that's why I'm letting you go after Ryuichi like this; I wouldn't let just anybody do it, you know.  Anyway, I gave you Ryuichi's digits once upon a time, didn't I?  That day Shindou-san went on that cooking show [1]?"

Tatsuha thought back.  She had, hadn't she?  "Yeah, you did.  I have it memorized."

"Obsessive much?"  Noriko sighed.  "Well, why not try calling him?"

"He probably won't remember me," Tatsuha mumbled.

Noriko snorted.  It was a very unlady like thing to do, but Noriko wasn't exactly anyone's idea of a typical woman.  "I know I told you that you have to underestimate him every once in a while, but maybe that's a little too much.  No one is going to force you to call him, dear, but wouldn't you rather know what could happen if you did see him again than spend the rest of forever wondering 'what if'?"  She paused; Tatsuha could hear someone speaking to her in the background.  Her husband?  "Look, dear, I have to hang up.  It was nice talking to you again, darling and...  Well, good luck!"

"Thanks.  I think."

"Any time," she replied cheerfully, and then she hung up.

Tatsuha set down the receiver and bit his lip.  "So," he asked himself, "what now?"

---to be continued---

[1]: Manga volume six, track three.  Bad Luck goes on a cooking show in order to win tickets to Tokyo Disney and, in order to inspire him, Hiro pays Tatsuha to pretend to be Eiri.  Noriko finds out about this and promises to give Tatsuha Ryuichi's home phone number if he continues the façade.