Disclaimer-Gravitation does not belong to me.
Standing By the Bay by Charlottlette
I was a fool to think that I could melt through his icy facade. I had held such foolish thoughts in my head for so long, encouraged somehow by the melting chocolate brown depths of his eyes. He told me many times that I was a fool to love him, and I should have listened. The heart only knows what it wants, it seems, and I had wanted to only be with him.
That need had blinded me to what was in front of me all along. It had kept me from seeing the one person who was truly right for me, who had been there for me all along.
I smiled, thinking of this, thinking of all the good times we had shared. We had been childhood best friends, the stereotypical hyper, mischivious child and his more mature, but outgoing best friend.
From the moment we met, we instantly clicked. Neither of us were really into sports. We prefered quieter times, just chilling in the backyard, talking the day away. It seemed like he was the only one who could put up with my short attention span, encouraging me to concentrate on my studies. That was the way my best friend Hiroshi was.
As nice as he was to me, he also liked to mess with me, teasing me for my short stature, my shoulder length red hair and dark eyes. I never felt awkward for some reason whenever he would lean in close to me and twirl my hair between his fingers.
"You know, you're going to make someone a beautiful bride someday, Shindou- san." he teased.
My eyes widened. "Bride? No way! I'm a guy!" I exclaimed.
Hiro snickered. "You sure about that? With that long hair of yours, you look more like a girl to me." he teased.
I blew off his comments, knwing he was only trying to get me riled up. He always told me that I took things that people said too seriously, that I was too sensitive for my own good. In that way, I was grateful for his friendship.
We were able to provide for each other what we could not find within ourselves. As protective as he was of me from others, I tried to be the best companion he could ask for. He told me that I never failed in that aspect, that I was always there for him the way he was for me.
The boys in school envied our close friendship, as much as they scorned us for hanging out so much. Our female schoolmates were a completely different story. While most of them thought I was a nerd and a loner, they all swooned over Hiro.
It was easy to see why. He was taller than most, with longish dark brown hair and dark eyes like mine. He was quiet and serious, but always cheerful. His popularity only rose as we got older and he decided he wanted to learn how to play guitar.
I followed him into his musical interest, dabbling in writing music and lyrics. We idolized a band called Nittle Grasper, a cutting edge rock group that practically reinvented the music industry.
They were groundbreaking in the fact they had no guitarist, just two keyboardists and their stunning lead singer, my rock god Ryuuichi Sakuma. I idolized him so much in fact that he was the reason that I styled my hair in the shaggy hairstyle he wore. Hiro let his hair grow long over time as well, his hair like a mane that flowed neatly just past his shoulders.
It was my obsession with Ryuuichi that changed my life as I knew it. Whenever Hiro and I would camp out and watch Nittle Grasper videos or listen to their CD's, he would tease me, saying that it seemed as though I had a crush on my hero.
"A crush? That's silly. Only girls get crushes." I scoffed.
"Not always. You admitted it yourself that Ryuuichi personifies everything you look for in a mate, attractive, funny and with talent to spare. Maybe you're just attracted to guys instead of girls. There's nothing wrong with that." Hiro said.
There was a part of me that thought hard about Hiro's words after that, wondering if he might be right. I had never been interested in dating that much, even if a girl had showed interest in me.
I was always too busy composing music on the computer my parents bought for me when I had turned fourteen, thrilled that I had taken an interest in something productive. The rest of the time I spent with Hiro, writing song lyrics and hanging out.
As for Hiro, he never dated as far as I knew. He would always tell me with a smile that he prefered my company, even as highstrung and flighty as I was. I accepted that he was probably dead on about his perception of me, and he accepted me despite that.
My sister, however, was a completely different story. Tall, blonde and spunky, it was hard to tell that we were fraternal twins, except for our matching attitudes. Even though she wasn't privately ashamed of her gay brother, she cringed whenever she would see Hiro and I together at school.
"Don't hassle me, okay? Everybody knows that Hiro and I are best friends. We have been pratically since we were born. We're going to start a band someday too and be as famous as Nittle Grasper." I told her.
She snorted. "You are such a dreamer, Shuichi, I swear!" she told me.
I think what really made me decide that I was serious about becoming a rock star was the day I heard the news that Nittle Grasper had decided to disband. You had to imagine that I was pretty devastated. My sister and Hiro were there for me through the whole ordeal as I went through at least four facial tissue boxes in my despair. Hiro pratically held my hand as we watched the press conferences together, led by their lead keyboardist, Touma Seguchi.
"It was just bad luck as far as Nittle Grasper is concerned. Circumstances out of our control have led us to this decision for now, and I cannot say for sure what the future will hold." he told reporters.
"Hiro?" I asked him through my sobbing.
He smiled weakly at me. "Yeah? What's up?" he asked.
"I think...I think we should call our band Bad Luck, in honor of Nittle Grasper. What do you think?" I asked.
He smiled, a honest smile this time. "I think you may have something there, Shindou-san." he told me.
After that day, Bad Luck became my lifeline, mine and Hiro's. Together we dedicated ourselves to our cause, working tirelessly on song lyrics and composing music. I admired Hiro's talent. He had really become a master of his guitar, making all the girls in school fall even more in love with him.
He never showed much interest in them though, dedicated more to our band and to his studies. He really was smart, talented and had a great sense of humor. My sister always told me that the girls liked him because he was a bad boy, someone who could make her classmates swoon just by smiling.
I thought he had a great smile and great eyes, but I had never thought of him in that way, even though we teased each other sometimes about that. We used our close friendship to amuse the nerdy science room girls, who couldn't be convinced we weren't a couple.
We worked that angle for their amusement, embracing affectionately and whatnot. I even caught myself shivering against my will once when he upped the ante by licking my ear for them. The girls had eaten it up, of course, and Hiro had grinned at me when he caught me blushing from what he had done.
"For having come out, you sure aren't getting interested in other guys. What's up with that?" Hiro asked me.
"I'm not in a hurry. When the right person comes along, I'll know it. What a prize he'll be getting when I become a rock star, huh?" I asked him.
He beeped my nose affectionately. "I don't think that's it. I think you're just shy. Is it because you're nervous about your kissing technique? You pay me enough, I'll give you lessons. I'll even put my tongue in your mouth for a thousand dollars." Hiro teased.
I blew off his teasing again, flopping down amongst my sheet music on my bed. "No thanks." I told him.
He stood up and leaned over me on the bed, close enough that I could feel the heat of his body against mine. "I know what it is then. You enjoy my company so much, it relieves you of the need for anyone else, right?" he teased again.
"I just do it out of pity really." I teased back.
He grinned at my words. "Is that a fact? Pity, huh? I'll show you pity!" he exclaimed.
There was no way Hiro could have muffled my shriek as he attacked me, he and I tickling each other senseless. My sister burst into the room in a blinding rage at all the noise we were amking, catching Hiro and I in what would look like to an outsider as a provacative pose. Our rough horseplay had caused his hair to get all wild and messy and his face pink from exhaustion.
I was the worse off by far, Hiro's relentless tickling and squirming having loosened my already baggy shorts to rest above my thighs. My entire lower anatomy was exposed and I blushed furiously to cover myself up again.
"You loverboys need to knock it off. Dinner's ready. The 'rents will be mad if you stay up here all night, doing whatever it is that you do." she told me, making a face.
Hiro straightened himself up, smacking her hard on her backside. "Tell them we'll be right down." he said.
She giggled from the unexpected action and left, us following shortly behind her. After dinner, I commanded myself, I am going ot focus on my studies and on my soon to be famous rock band Bad Luck...
"I swear, you can be such an ungrateful snot sometimes, Shuichi. You'd think you'd be thanking me for getting you a last minute slot in the school talent show. I mean, it's not like anybody cares about this band of yours anyway." Maiko, my sister, said.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Says you. If that was true, we wouldn't have a paying gig opening for Ask, would we? You don't know what you're talking about, so be quiet." I told her.
Hiro smirked, walking over to my sister, moving an arm to rest around her waist. "I'm grateful, Shindou-san's sis. I can show you how much if you want." he teased.
She pushed him away. "You're all talk. Everybody knows your loyalty lies with my idiot brother." she said.
I glared at her, refusing to give in to her taunts. Hiro just shrugged. "What can I say? Bad Luck is such an insatiable mistress, but oh so satisfying." he laughed.
Maiko rolled her eyes in defeat. "You two are just hopeless." she said, walking away.
I had always lived by the concept that if you worked for something hard enough for something, you would succeed no matter what. My faith in the success of Bad Luck, my self proclaimed soon to be most famous band in the world, had paid off in more ways than one.
It was still Hiro and I against the world as it had always been, but now people were actually paying us to perform in clubs and such.
We owed a lot to a talent scount that fell in love with our sound at one of our shows. He admitted to us himself that he had very clout where he worked, but together the three of us could be huge if we were willing to take the risk of him being our manager.
His name was Sakano, a young businessman not much older than us himself who suffered from the worse kinds of paranoia and nervousness. He worried that his anxiety would scare us away, but he made up for it by scheduling us with well paid, high profile shows. The talent show that Maiko was putting together was a step down for Hiro and I, but he convinced me we should go for it anyway.
Hiro and I decided to pass the time by reviewing the songs we had written for our set list, including a new one I had started writing that had no title as of yet.
"Is this supposed to be a song or a poem, Shindou-san? Honestly, I can't tell." Hiro said.
I snatched it out of his hands. "It's not finished yet. I'm still tweaking it." I told him.
He watched me as I pulled a strawberry pocky stick out of it's box to eat. "You've been in some mood lately, Shindou-san. You really need to get laid." Hiro said.
My eyes widened as I blushed furiously from his comment. "I can't believe you would something like that to me, Hiroshi. You know that I've never even kissed someone yet." I told him.
"I haven't either, but I'm not the one that's frustrated here. Hey, you know it's all love between us, Shuichi. You just can't expect our music to fullfill all your needs, that's all." Hiro said.
I sighed. "I probably just need some rest. Let's call it a night. I'll meet you in homeroom tomorrow morning, okay?" I asked.
Hiro nodded with a smile. "Okay, buddy. See ya." he said.
Slumping down on my bed with a heavy sigh, I barely glanced out of the corner of my eyes as Maiko barged into my room unannounced.
"What the hell's the matter with you? I didn't invite you into my room." I told her.
She shook her head angerily at me, her hands defiantly on her hips. "I couldn't help but overhear yours and Hiro's conversation, and I have to say, I have to agree with Hiro. You need to get a life outside of your band." she told me.
"You don't understand, Maiko. Bad Luck is my life. You're both probably right that I've been letting it affect my moods lately, but I accept that as my cross to bear as an artist. As far as my love life goes, I admit that I'd like to meet someone, male or female, I don't care. It would just be nice to have someone to talk to besides Hiro, but I've accepted that he's the only one that wants anything to do with me." I told her.
"That's not fair to Hiro though. I mean, all the girls in school are in love with him. It's selfish to keep him all to yourself." she told me.
"I never forced Hiro to give up his social life for me. He's the one that made that decision. He supports me in everything I do, and I do the same for him. It would be nice if you were there for me too, Maiko." I said.
Her eyes softened and she took me into her arms for an embrace. "Of course I support you, Shuichi. It's not easy having a crazy brother like you, but I love you anyway." she said.
I returned her embrace with a weary, but grateful smile. "Thanks." I said.
Standing By the Bay by Charlottlette
I was a fool to think that I could melt through his icy facade. I had held such foolish thoughts in my head for so long, encouraged somehow by the melting chocolate brown depths of his eyes. He told me many times that I was a fool to love him, and I should have listened. The heart only knows what it wants, it seems, and I had wanted to only be with him.
That need had blinded me to what was in front of me all along. It had kept me from seeing the one person who was truly right for me, who had been there for me all along.
I smiled, thinking of this, thinking of all the good times we had shared. We had been childhood best friends, the stereotypical hyper, mischivious child and his more mature, but outgoing best friend.
From the moment we met, we instantly clicked. Neither of us were really into sports. We prefered quieter times, just chilling in the backyard, talking the day away. It seemed like he was the only one who could put up with my short attention span, encouraging me to concentrate on my studies. That was the way my best friend Hiroshi was.
As nice as he was to me, he also liked to mess with me, teasing me for my short stature, my shoulder length red hair and dark eyes. I never felt awkward for some reason whenever he would lean in close to me and twirl my hair between his fingers.
"You know, you're going to make someone a beautiful bride someday, Shindou- san." he teased.
My eyes widened. "Bride? No way! I'm a guy!" I exclaimed.
Hiro snickered. "You sure about that? With that long hair of yours, you look more like a girl to me." he teased.
I blew off his comments, knwing he was only trying to get me riled up. He always told me that I took things that people said too seriously, that I was too sensitive for my own good. In that way, I was grateful for his friendship.
We were able to provide for each other what we could not find within ourselves. As protective as he was of me from others, I tried to be the best companion he could ask for. He told me that I never failed in that aspect, that I was always there for him the way he was for me.
The boys in school envied our close friendship, as much as they scorned us for hanging out so much. Our female schoolmates were a completely different story. While most of them thought I was a nerd and a loner, they all swooned over Hiro.
It was easy to see why. He was taller than most, with longish dark brown hair and dark eyes like mine. He was quiet and serious, but always cheerful. His popularity only rose as we got older and he decided he wanted to learn how to play guitar.
I followed him into his musical interest, dabbling in writing music and lyrics. We idolized a band called Nittle Grasper, a cutting edge rock group that practically reinvented the music industry.
They were groundbreaking in the fact they had no guitarist, just two keyboardists and their stunning lead singer, my rock god Ryuuichi Sakuma. I idolized him so much in fact that he was the reason that I styled my hair in the shaggy hairstyle he wore. Hiro let his hair grow long over time as well, his hair like a mane that flowed neatly just past his shoulders.
It was my obsession with Ryuuichi that changed my life as I knew it. Whenever Hiro and I would camp out and watch Nittle Grasper videos or listen to their CD's, he would tease me, saying that it seemed as though I had a crush on my hero.
"A crush? That's silly. Only girls get crushes." I scoffed.
"Not always. You admitted it yourself that Ryuuichi personifies everything you look for in a mate, attractive, funny and with talent to spare. Maybe you're just attracted to guys instead of girls. There's nothing wrong with that." Hiro said.
There was a part of me that thought hard about Hiro's words after that, wondering if he might be right. I had never been interested in dating that much, even if a girl had showed interest in me.
I was always too busy composing music on the computer my parents bought for me when I had turned fourteen, thrilled that I had taken an interest in something productive. The rest of the time I spent with Hiro, writing song lyrics and hanging out.
As for Hiro, he never dated as far as I knew. He would always tell me with a smile that he prefered my company, even as highstrung and flighty as I was. I accepted that he was probably dead on about his perception of me, and he accepted me despite that.
My sister, however, was a completely different story. Tall, blonde and spunky, it was hard to tell that we were fraternal twins, except for our matching attitudes. Even though she wasn't privately ashamed of her gay brother, she cringed whenever she would see Hiro and I together at school.
"Don't hassle me, okay? Everybody knows that Hiro and I are best friends. We have been pratically since we were born. We're going to start a band someday too and be as famous as Nittle Grasper." I told her.
She snorted. "You are such a dreamer, Shuichi, I swear!" she told me.
I think what really made me decide that I was serious about becoming a rock star was the day I heard the news that Nittle Grasper had decided to disband. You had to imagine that I was pretty devastated. My sister and Hiro were there for me through the whole ordeal as I went through at least four facial tissue boxes in my despair. Hiro pratically held my hand as we watched the press conferences together, led by their lead keyboardist, Touma Seguchi.
"It was just bad luck as far as Nittle Grasper is concerned. Circumstances out of our control have led us to this decision for now, and I cannot say for sure what the future will hold." he told reporters.
"Hiro?" I asked him through my sobbing.
He smiled weakly at me. "Yeah? What's up?" he asked.
"I think...I think we should call our band Bad Luck, in honor of Nittle Grasper. What do you think?" I asked.
He smiled, a honest smile this time. "I think you may have something there, Shindou-san." he told me.
After that day, Bad Luck became my lifeline, mine and Hiro's. Together we dedicated ourselves to our cause, working tirelessly on song lyrics and composing music. I admired Hiro's talent. He had really become a master of his guitar, making all the girls in school fall even more in love with him.
He never showed much interest in them though, dedicated more to our band and to his studies. He really was smart, talented and had a great sense of humor. My sister always told me that the girls liked him because he was a bad boy, someone who could make her classmates swoon just by smiling.
I thought he had a great smile and great eyes, but I had never thought of him in that way, even though we teased each other sometimes about that. We used our close friendship to amuse the nerdy science room girls, who couldn't be convinced we weren't a couple.
We worked that angle for their amusement, embracing affectionately and whatnot. I even caught myself shivering against my will once when he upped the ante by licking my ear for them. The girls had eaten it up, of course, and Hiro had grinned at me when he caught me blushing from what he had done.
"For having come out, you sure aren't getting interested in other guys. What's up with that?" Hiro asked me.
"I'm not in a hurry. When the right person comes along, I'll know it. What a prize he'll be getting when I become a rock star, huh?" I asked him.
He beeped my nose affectionately. "I don't think that's it. I think you're just shy. Is it because you're nervous about your kissing technique? You pay me enough, I'll give you lessons. I'll even put my tongue in your mouth for a thousand dollars." Hiro teased.
I blew off his teasing again, flopping down amongst my sheet music on my bed. "No thanks." I told him.
He stood up and leaned over me on the bed, close enough that I could feel the heat of his body against mine. "I know what it is then. You enjoy my company so much, it relieves you of the need for anyone else, right?" he teased again.
"I just do it out of pity really." I teased back.
He grinned at my words. "Is that a fact? Pity, huh? I'll show you pity!" he exclaimed.
There was no way Hiro could have muffled my shriek as he attacked me, he and I tickling each other senseless. My sister burst into the room in a blinding rage at all the noise we were amking, catching Hiro and I in what would look like to an outsider as a provacative pose. Our rough horseplay had caused his hair to get all wild and messy and his face pink from exhaustion.
I was the worse off by far, Hiro's relentless tickling and squirming having loosened my already baggy shorts to rest above my thighs. My entire lower anatomy was exposed and I blushed furiously to cover myself up again.
"You loverboys need to knock it off. Dinner's ready. The 'rents will be mad if you stay up here all night, doing whatever it is that you do." she told me, making a face.
Hiro straightened himself up, smacking her hard on her backside. "Tell them we'll be right down." he said.
She giggled from the unexpected action and left, us following shortly behind her. After dinner, I commanded myself, I am going ot focus on my studies and on my soon to be famous rock band Bad Luck...
"I swear, you can be such an ungrateful snot sometimes, Shuichi. You'd think you'd be thanking me for getting you a last minute slot in the school talent show. I mean, it's not like anybody cares about this band of yours anyway." Maiko, my sister, said.
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Says you. If that was true, we wouldn't have a paying gig opening for Ask, would we? You don't know what you're talking about, so be quiet." I told her.
Hiro smirked, walking over to my sister, moving an arm to rest around her waist. "I'm grateful, Shindou-san's sis. I can show you how much if you want." he teased.
She pushed him away. "You're all talk. Everybody knows your loyalty lies with my idiot brother." she said.
I glared at her, refusing to give in to her taunts. Hiro just shrugged. "What can I say? Bad Luck is such an insatiable mistress, but oh so satisfying." he laughed.
Maiko rolled her eyes in defeat. "You two are just hopeless." she said, walking away.
I had always lived by the concept that if you worked for something hard enough for something, you would succeed no matter what. My faith in the success of Bad Luck, my self proclaimed soon to be most famous band in the world, had paid off in more ways than one.
It was still Hiro and I against the world as it had always been, but now people were actually paying us to perform in clubs and such.
We owed a lot to a talent scount that fell in love with our sound at one of our shows. He admitted to us himself that he had very clout where he worked, but together the three of us could be huge if we were willing to take the risk of him being our manager.
His name was Sakano, a young businessman not much older than us himself who suffered from the worse kinds of paranoia and nervousness. He worried that his anxiety would scare us away, but he made up for it by scheduling us with well paid, high profile shows. The talent show that Maiko was putting together was a step down for Hiro and I, but he convinced me we should go for it anyway.
Hiro and I decided to pass the time by reviewing the songs we had written for our set list, including a new one I had started writing that had no title as of yet.
"Is this supposed to be a song or a poem, Shindou-san? Honestly, I can't tell." Hiro said.
I snatched it out of his hands. "It's not finished yet. I'm still tweaking it." I told him.
He watched me as I pulled a strawberry pocky stick out of it's box to eat. "You've been in some mood lately, Shindou-san. You really need to get laid." Hiro said.
My eyes widened as I blushed furiously from his comment. "I can't believe you would something like that to me, Hiroshi. You know that I've never even kissed someone yet." I told him.
"I haven't either, but I'm not the one that's frustrated here. Hey, you know it's all love between us, Shuichi. You just can't expect our music to fullfill all your needs, that's all." Hiro said.
I sighed. "I probably just need some rest. Let's call it a night. I'll meet you in homeroom tomorrow morning, okay?" I asked.
Hiro nodded with a smile. "Okay, buddy. See ya." he said.
Slumping down on my bed with a heavy sigh, I barely glanced out of the corner of my eyes as Maiko barged into my room unannounced.
"What the hell's the matter with you? I didn't invite you into my room." I told her.
She shook her head angerily at me, her hands defiantly on her hips. "I couldn't help but overhear yours and Hiro's conversation, and I have to say, I have to agree with Hiro. You need to get a life outside of your band." she told me.
"You don't understand, Maiko. Bad Luck is my life. You're both probably right that I've been letting it affect my moods lately, but I accept that as my cross to bear as an artist. As far as my love life goes, I admit that I'd like to meet someone, male or female, I don't care. It would just be nice to have someone to talk to besides Hiro, but I've accepted that he's the only one that wants anything to do with me." I told her.
"That's not fair to Hiro though. I mean, all the girls in school are in love with him. It's selfish to keep him all to yourself." she told me.
"I never forced Hiro to give up his social life for me. He's the one that made that decision. He supports me in everything I do, and I do the same for him. It would be nice if you were there for me too, Maiko." I said.
Her eyes softened and she took me into her arms for an embrace. "Of course I support you, Shuichi. It's not easy having a crazy brother like you, but I love you anyway." she said.
I returned her embrace with a weary, but grateful smile. "Thanks." I said.