Chapter 13: Final Distance

I never thought I'd say this, but…it's coming toward the time to put this story to rest.

That's right: this will the second-to-last chapter in this story. I realized what a clichéd, unoriginal idea this is; and have decided to begin the path to the (unfortunately, a rather hastily-done) ending of this fic. Not only that, but I have so many other fan fiction ideas I'd like to pursue. And this fic has been in suspension for FAR too long for me to NOT finish it off with some kind of fanfare.

But for people who still like this story, (after that LONG, unexpected hiatus, which I must insanely, honestly, whole-heartedly apologize for; and I really AM sorry!!), never fear. A sequel will be put up after this story ends—unnamed as of late—focusing mainly on what Yuki and Shuichi's relationship will be like after Shuichi has been assaulted. It will also hone in on many, MANY subplots, (which are most fun for me, because I love experimenting with characters like this), involving—but not limited to—Tatsuha, Ryuichi, Tohma, Mika, and Hiro. And that's just the tip of the iceberg, folks.

Many, MANY thanks to all who have reviewed this story so far—deppfan1016, your review was the 100th, so please send in your request for a fic of your choice soon!—and as for all the others who have been patient with me. I know I'm such a bad authoress, so…I should beg for forgiveness right about now. –Begs and grovels- I'M SORRY, EVERYONE! PLEASE FORGIVE THIS UNWORTHY AUTHORESS, NYAA!

Okay, I'm done blabbering. Enjoy.
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I wanna be with you now

Itsu no hi ka distance mo

Dakishimerareru you ni nareru yo

We can start sooner

Yappari I wanna be with you…

I wanna be with you now

Someday even this distance,

We'll be able to embrace

We can start sooner,

After all, I wanna be with you…

--From Utada Hikaru's, "Final Distance."

It wouldn't have been so shocking to wake up in silence and solitude, and, perhaps, not as disconcerting; but the first sensation Shuichi could be consciously aware of upon waking up that morning was distant conversation. Rather loud, cheerful conversation, too. While one might call it far too pleasant for a morning liker this, the slender male found the sounds comforting—satisfying, even. It was just fine to pretend things had gone back to normal, however misleading such sentiments may be.

Softly, he trotted past the living area into a spare bedroom; one that, usually, Yuki would keep for boxes of junk and could be deemed the unofficial, "Miscellaneous Closet." Chattering and almost yelling, Shuichi watched from the partially opened doorway as Hiro and Tatsuha were carrying parcel after parcel of items from one side of the room to the other, obediently as though being directed. Their pacing would have made Shuichi's throbbing head ache even more—a morning hangover as the result of last night's drinking escapades with Ryuichi, Tatsuha, and Hiroshi—had he not decided to turn away and kneeling beside the door, head leaning against the wood.

Their happiness and laughter is almost patronizing…it almost seems as though if I walked in there, I wouldn't be able to fit in. Not anymore, anyway…

He heard Ryuichi squeal in delight, and had to suppress a sardonic grin, despite the fondness thinking of the older singer created.

It's not as though anyone would want me…no one wants, 'damaged goods…' None of them need me to be happy…

"Brat, your sitting out in the middle of the hallway, you know. At least move over a little bit so I can get through."

Startled by the sudden baritone growl spilt from Yuki's lips, Shuichi immediately rose, looking quite abashed. "O-Okay…sorry about that, Yuki…"

The blonde internally berated himself for the hostile remark from before, hating his lover's hands, which slowly tugged at long pants as if humiliated by his very presence; hated those downcast violet-blue spheres, once so alive and vibrant though now looking so lost and frightened; hated those tiny, perfect lips curled into a disappointed, disheartened frown, and not the smile that so frequently graced round cheeks. Hating that expression. Hating his actions. Even hating the sorry excuse of a person Tachi had transformed him into.

But never once hating Shuichi, because even the cold Yuki Eiri could not—would not—bring himself to do that.

"Look, you…" Sometimes, this kid's gonna be the end of me, I swear… "…I didn't mean it like that, okay? Just go and see your friends before I kick them out. I'm only letting those noisy bastards stay because you hadn't woken up yet…and I would've if you were feeling better. So…you'd better be grateful, you hear?"

The tiniest hint of a real smile twitched the end of the boy's mouth, dismissing any further doubts on Yuki's part that the boy would not recover. "Arigatou, Yuki. Hontou ni."

And by the time Shuichi had walked away, heading for the, "Miscellaneous Closet," Yuki was smiling, too; though rather begrudgingly. "Kuso gaki…as long as your happy, I am. If you couldn't figure that much out, then you really are a moron."

Upon hearing the hinges of the creaking door open, Hiro immediately whirled around to face a somewhat cheerful Shuichi. "Hey, Shu! You're just in time; Prince Ryuichi's making us play his loyal servants, so maybe you can convince him to let us go for the moment…"

"Tell me about it, Hiro!" Tatsuha affirmed. "I've been SOOOO hungry for the past hour! Ryuichi! Can't we just take off for one minute?!"

"Not yet!" The olive-haired adult argued back. "Kumagorou and I wanna play some more…! 'Sides, we haven't even built the castle yet!"

Hiro slumped over, appearing quite overcome. "Well, we would work faster if you were feeding us, Ryuichi…"

Despite the fact that he did feel a bit sympathetic to the working pair, Shuichi giggled at the mere sight of one still-disgruntled Hiro, one still-slaving Tatsuha, and one still-cheerful Ryuichi. What a trio they were, hovering about the cardboard, shuffling back and forth with Ryuichi's spontaneous directing, yelling again and again for his, 'servants,' to get to work. If the sight from before hadn't cheered Shuichi up even more than his small-talk with Yuki had, then now would have been the perfect scenery of jovialness that worked perfectly, duly, and just as imagined.

The emotion felt was so foreign and wonderful, in fact, that Shuichi's eyes suddenly welled up with tears; real, honest tears, bittersweet and painfully stinging. Watery droplets, luminescent under bright fluorescent lighting from above; those tears held inside for three days since the incident; symbolizing every emotion felt in that time. Recurring pain; unexplainable relief; a recognizable weakness, tugging at his heartstrings and causing the sobs to escape, unbidden.

What else am I supposed to do? Shuichi thought exhaustedly. Everything's happened so fast, yet the people I took for granted before had still stood by me, never giving up…

How could I have been so…so selfish to not realize it before? Ryuichi ordering everyone around just now…Hiro, who seemed just as amused as he did annoyed… Tatsuha trying to help Ryuichi so honestly...

It's as though their actions made all the troubles inside of me float far away; distantly traveling to some other place and time. Back in time, actually…yes, back when a certain pink-haired singer didn't know anything about kindness or gentleness; nor about devotion, honesty, brotherhood, or even the real concept of friendship. Everyone's done that for me…and I owe so much to them that I…

This mystifying, intense show of feelings naturally frightened everyone in the room, and they all began crowding around him worriedly.

"Shu-chan?!" Ryuichi asked animatedly, running to his abruptly crying friend. "Shu-chan, don't cry! You get hungry when you cry, no da…!" He turned to both of the other startled teens, blue gaze turning darkly severe. "Tatsuha-kun, would you mind getting some tissues? Shuichi could really use them."

Tentatively glancing from the apparently disconsolate Shuichi, to an equally awkward Hiroshi, Tatsuha sprinted out of the Closet, heading for the living area.

"Just wait there, then! I'll get the tissues in a sec!"

Ryuichi nodded appreciatively, to no one, really, while wrapping his arms around his trembling companion. "Shh…it's alright, Shu-chan...everything's okay now. What're you crying for?"

"Y-You're all such great friends to me…" Shuichi hiccupped, wiping the still-flowing tears with the back of his palm. "It's relieving…I just realized how lucky and fortunate I am to have so many great people around me…so…so…"

He might have broken into another fit of sadness, if Tatsuha had not just then come back with a box of tissues in hand. Grinning self-consciously, the dark-haired male held it out to the wide-eyed Shuichi.

"Here. Ryuichi said you might need it, so here it is! Not sure if it'll help much, but…"

Blowing noisily into the accepted cloth, Shuichi made do with the tiniest, frailest, smile, though it was surely his trademark one. "…Thanks. I-I'm sorry about that, everybody…"

"Hey, it's not like you to apologize over stuff like that." Hiro smirked, ruffling the boy's pink locks fondly. "Do us a favor, and start acting like the Shuichi we know—the one that's always hyperactive and never thinks about other peoples' feelings."

Ryuichi broke into a beaming expression, clinging ecstatically from the other vocalist's arm. "Hiroshi-san's right, no da! Let's be happy like always, no matter what! 'Sides, Ryuichi LOVES having somebody to sing with, na no da!"

Playful and cheerful as always… Shuichi's expression took a slightly happier turn for the better. "Right! Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper forever, right?"

His friend nodded elatedly, beaming as brightly as he could. "Yup! That's right!"

"You can count on me, too!" Tatsuha added without hesitation, jumping into the pseudo group-hug the foursome had somehow created. "You just let me know if you need ANYTHING, 'k? I may be going back to Kyoto in a few weeks, but I'm sticking with Aniki for now. I'll kick his ass into gear if he needs it, don't you worry!"

A fist came down hard on the younger Usuegi brother's head, rumpled shirtsleeves accompanying it.

"Who's going to be kicking who's ass? If I'm not mistaken, I just caught you painfully off-guard, Tatsuha."

Whining pathetically from his spot on the ground, Tatsuha held in injured cranium. "Jeez, Aniki! You're such a violent guy! I'm seriously gonna go back to Kyoto if you're going to insist on abusing your poor little brother like this!"

Unsurprisingly, Yuki didn't seem phased at all by the threat. "And this is supposed to bother me because…?"

However, it made both Ryuichi and Kumagorou's red and pink hearts respectively to nearly stop, as both man and bunny latched on to a rather shell-shocked Tatsuha.

"W-What're you DOING, Ryuichi?!" Tatsuha blushed, waving his arms around restlessly as the smaller male squeezed his waistline.

"Ryu-chan doesn't want Taa-chan to leave him, no daaaaaa! If you go back to Kyoto, Kuma-san and I'll be really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really—"

"That's probably enough, 'reallys,' Ryuichi." Hiro teasingly grinned. "And weren't you calling Tatsuha, 'Tatsuha-kun,' just before? What's with the new nickname all of a sudden?"

Shuichi almost started laughing, until the dangerous aura around his irate lover alerted him of the imminent threat. Naturally, he knew it was important to at least let Hiro know. He would listen to him, right?

"Erm…Hiro, do you think you can tell Ryuichi and Tatsuha-san to tone it down a little…?"

"Hiro, it's not like that, dammit! Ryuichi and I aren't—"

"Wait, so now you're admitting that you know what I'm talking about? Then you DO want there to be somethin' between you both?"

"T-That's not what I'm saying! Ryuichi, get off of me, NOW!"

"Nooo! Not until Tatsuha promises not to leave Tokyo yet, no da!"

"You're gonna piss him off even more by talking like that, you know."

"I'm not mad at HIM! You're the one that pissing me off, Hiro!"

"Oh? So suddenly I'M the bad guy? Need I remind you that I'm not the one who started this whole thing?"

Unfortunately for those three, Yuki had enough of their incessant shouting and threw them out of the Miscellaneous Closet, promptly locking both he and Shuichi inside.

"…Bunch of fucking idiots." Yuki groused, holding his forehead as though a terrible migraine—either physically alive or mentally so, Shuichi could not say for certain--had been plaguing him. "If they start banging on the door in a few seconds, we're going to ignore them, got it?"

"Right!" Shuichi chirped, and while sounding a bit hoarse, he was certainly no worse for the wear outwardly. "So…forgetting about what just happened before…you wanted to talk to me about something?"

The blonde appeared quite embarrassed, just then—or was it not possible for Yuki Eiri to be shamefaced?—leaning against one of the many fallen boxes around them. "I thought that with how much has been going on lately, you might want to take a day off tomorrow and go to the beach or something…only if you wanted to, though."

The workings of Shuichi's mind began to turn, as the thought process began. A day off equals no work at NG Studios for most of tomorrow. Going to the beach equals a peaceful summer day. Going to the beach with YUKI equals…

Holy shit. A date. A DATE. With Yuki. Just the two of us. Together. Alone. This means…

"YAHOO!!"

Glomping the surprised Yuki, with his practiced, customary Shuichi-grin plastered on his face. It was fake, plastic; so much that the older man almost had the urge to smack the boy for it—but the pulsating glimmer in those indigo hues said otherwise. Shuichi's grateful look spoke wonders; more than enough for what needed to be said, and for a moment, he was awestruck.

"Thank you so, SO much, Yuki!" Cheering, wildly excited, Shuichi dashed to unlock the Closet door, key dangling suspended from his index finger. "I'm gonna tell everyone about it right now! Yeah, I know, you told me not to let 'em in, but…aaaii! I just HAVE to tell Hiro, at least! Oh, this is gonna be the best date EVER!"

Slapping a hand to his forehead, the renowned author shook his head exasperatedly. "Whoever said it was a date, you damn brat?"

But his visage contradicted what his eyes said as well—and there simply wasn't any better way to describe this countenance than delightfully pleased. Yuki knew that the headache tomorrow would be even worse than the chronic one developed ever since Shuichi's friends had woken up.

Some things, however, he knew were worth sacrificing his well-being for. And one of these—or rather, them, as it was a certain individual who was being treated in this case—was Shindou Shuichi.

Shit…then again, when did I turn into such a sap? The only time I thought I'd be thinking lines like that were in the brainstorming for the second-rate romance novel I've been writing lately. Either I'm going soft or…

For the first time in years, Yuki Eiri smiled.

…Either that…or Shuichi's just that good.

Epilogue to come after this chapter, folks. Please read and review to let me know what you thought!