Yay! I finally update! I wrote this in about four accumulated hours, too! Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'!

Er, no more song references... :S

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Warnings: Use of Really Bad Words. Maybe a bit o' OOC? I'm trying to get them out of it!

Notes: Still an alternate-ish timeline. Will remain forever so, unless I deem fit to throw in some references to the series. Which, btw, I now have the first four manga volumes of, yay! I hope to get more this holiday season!

Also, this chapter is almost entirely one scene. I hope it isn't tedious or boring! But it's crucial interaction, and it didn't feel right to break it up, like I usually do.

Disclaimers: 'Gravitation', its characters, songs, themes, rights, titles, and all etc., are not mine, have never been mine, and never will be mine unless I am one lucky little heiress - not likely. I make absolutely no profit from this, except for emotional and egotistical satisfaction. All legal rights and copyrights and everything else belong to Murakami Maki and those ppl who license and use it with her permission. I'm not them. DON'T SUE ME!

Moonbeams and Heartsrings

Ch. 4

Shuichi loved the stage. The only thing he loved more than the stage was Yuki, and Hiro, too, and, well, he supposed his sister and his parents, and-

Well, anyway, he loved the stage a great deal, and was known to do anything that would keep him atop it. Thus, not only was he a terrific singer (as evidenced by the fact it was now his career), but he was also a pretty good actor. He had to be, after all, to get all those parts in the high school's drama productions! He had even been the lead in "Rodger's and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella'," for God's sake! Okay, so he'd had the lead male role, the handsome Prince Charming, whatever his name was. Though that guy didn't get to sing as much as Cinderella did. He was much better than that... that fwipsie they chose! (1) Stupid school and their ideas about "proper gender roles"!

The point here being, Shuichi had some experience in portraying a false front, and he utilized those mad skills in the face of Tohma's accusatory declaration.

He raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Uh, sir? Is this a joke?"

Seguchi Tohma's eyes narrowed more. "Do not play games with me, Shindou-san." He kept his voice stern but polite.

Okay, go for the innocent eyes! "What? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Shindou, this charade is irritating. I already know. Now, listen to me, because it is important-"

"What the hell are you talking about, Tohma!" Shuichi shouted as he slammed his palms down on the desk before him. "You're accusing me of being a werewolf! Have you lost your mind! You have NO right to say such things to me! It... It's prejudice! And I don't have to put up with any of it!" With that, the singer spun around and marched his way back to the door, seething, but inwardly startled at the revelation, that Seguchi knew.

How the hell could he know! Nobody even really believed in werewolves anymore, right? And he and Hiro and Maiko, they'd all been so careful, not to let anybody see them, and...

And he was doing the right thing by trying to deny it, right? After all, he didn't want to be carted off to a looney bin, or abducted by the government to have them perform tests on him! He wanted to keep it just this little oddity between the three of them - and maybe, someday, Yuki - that they enjoyed together once a month.

All of these thoughts flew through his mind at light speed as he traveled the fifteen steps to the large doors. His hand was just reaching for the handle when Tohma's voice, soft and tired-sounding, but threatening, floated up to his ears.

"If you walk out that door, Shindou, you and your band will be looking for a new label."

He hesitated. Well, that would be bad. Bad Luck was high on the charts, sure, but they weren't that big a name yet. Surely whatever Tohma had to say wouldn't lead to government abduction, right? Anything to keep from being dropped, right?

Well...

But, really, his curiosity had already gotten the better hand over whatever logic was trying to play its way through his head. He turned and looked at Seguchi distrustfully, hoping to retain a veneer of incredulousness about the situation, and really hoping he wasn't showing his fear.

He saw that Seguchi was holding his head in his right hand, as though to ward off a headache. It seemed like people did that a lot around him, didn't it?

"Shindou-san, please come here, and sit down." Tohma's voice sounded exasperated. Slowly, Shuichi complied.

"Now, please look at these photos." The thirty-something man pushed a small stack that Shuichi had not previously noticed forward.

Hesitantly, Shuichi looked down at the first photo.

Wow.

Well, wow. Damn.

He didn't know his ass was actually that cute.

And Hiro! The camera sure seemed to love Hiro!

Maiko... er... ew. He didn't need to see his sister's... that!

"Ahem." Shuichi jumped at the noise, glancing up briefly, before he looked back down and moved to the next photo.

Well, um...

Then the next.

Err...

And the next.

Damn. Shitshitshitshitshit!

"These... these must have been... they must be forgeries, Seguchi-san!" He looked up brightly.

Meeting Tohma's flat stare, however, he looked back down. The photos were those typical, black-and-white, spy-movie types of photos. He studied them. They were clear, perfect images, from even skin-tones to consistent fur-texture. They looked real. Well, duh, of course they were real, he remembered that scene from just last night!

He risked another glance up to find Tohma studiously staring at him, in a rather intimidating way, then lowered his eyes again. His hands nervously twisted together in his lap, and he gulped.

"All right," he said softly. "I admit it, secret's out. What's it to you?" He tried to feign an air of indifference.

Silence ruled for a moment before Tohma spoke again.

"First of all, I hold great concern for Eiri's well-being in this matter, of course."

Shuichi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Of course. Of course his God-damn-fucking-rival would be "concerned" about his lover! He brought a baleful glare up to meet Seguchi's gaze.

"What? Are you worried I'll infect him?" he sneered.

The man's eye ticked. "To an extent, yes. I also worry about the emotional impact this could have on him."

"Emotional impact ? What the hell do you mean by that!"

"I mean, his reaction if he finds out-"

"He's not gonna' find out!"

"I thought you wanted to 'share' it with him."

"I... err..."

Smiling wickedly, Seguchi continued. "Though, I applaud your sincerity. You don't want Eiri to be 'emotionally wounded,' was that it? Because he is a "delicate soul?'"

"How did you-"

"So you see, Shindou-san, we have the same goals here. Try to be a bit more cooperative, all right?"

Dammit! That Seguchi was throwing everything he'd said in the car this morning back at him! What was going on! Was there some sort of conspiracy? How on Earth could he have known those things! Had he wired the car? How could he have wired Hiro's mother's car!

"Did you wire the car!"

Seguchi smirked, but blinked in a falsely innocent matter. "Whatever do you mean, Shindou-san?"

Shuichi lunged forward. "Why, you!" He was prevented from strangling the older man by the large desk that sat heavily between them.

The moment of amusement was over, however, as Tohma spoke up. "You would do well not to threaten your superiors, Shindou-san," he said icily.

Shuichi reseated himself, but remained leaning forward in a menacing matter. "You're only my boss as far as work, and this conversation has been about anything but that!"

Tohma raised a delicate blonde brow. "You think that, do you?"

"You're certainly not my superior in terms of love! Yuki's living with me, after all!" Shuichi retorted vehemently.

"Are those the only categories your brain can come up with?" the older man asked almost boredly.

"Age doesn't count here!"

"Oh?"

"Neither does talent!"

Seguchi laughed. "You admit I'm better than you?"

"Only at playing the keyboard!" Shuichi shouted furiously.

"My, you're excited. I do suggest that you calm down, Shindou-san." Tohma spoke placatingly, yet still in such a manner that Shuichi did not truly feel as though he were being treated as a child.

Damn that manipulative bastard!

"You shouldn't bait me like that," he muttered.

"Who said I was?" Seguchi remarked flippantly, but before the young singer's ire could rise again, he continued. "I am superior in other ways, Shindou-san, and as such, I insist that you take all care to ensure that Eiri does not find out about your condition nor comes to any harm by it. I am fully prepared to take whatever action necessary to guarantee these specifications are met."

He leaned forward, to enunciate his last point. "Even if that means removing you from Eiri's life."

Shuichi glared for all he was worth. He took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, thoughts racing through his head. "As you said, Seguchi-san, our goals are the same. So you have nothing to worry about. But," he, too, leaned forward, still glaring. "What power do you think you have that you could use to take me, a werewolf by your own admission, away from Yuki?" He smiled a grim little victory grin.

Tohma rested his elbows on the desk and folded his hands together slightly below his chin. A positively evil smirk grew upon his lips, his whole face hovering just inches above those pale, delicate hands, lending an eerie tingle to the air about him.

It all served to make Shuichi suddenly very uncomfortable. At this moment, Seguchi seemed almost... feral.

"My power, young man, comes from the fact that I am the leader of the pack that you, and your fellow pups, should belong to."

Shuichi gulped. That didn't sound good. "Which means...?"

The room seemed to darken, serving to dramatize the moment, and in the midst of it Seguchi's eyes seemed to almost glow with a menacing light.

"That means you owe me your allegiance, and if you refuse, I can tear you apart with my own fangs and claws."

While sitting in his study, typing away at his latest story, Yuki Eiri was suddenly overcome by a sneezing fit. He sneezed so hard, so many times, that he nearly fell out of his chair.

"Damn brat," he muttered, rubbing absently at his nose with his sleeve. "He probably gave me some damn cold virus he picked up on that damn trip last night."

He sneezed again.

"Dammit, Shu-chan!"

1. Fwipsie is a made-up word. I made it up. HOWEVER, Shu-chan seems the type who would make up his own word for something he's trying to express, when he can't think of the actual term. Let's be honest, guys, he's not the smartest apple ever fell from the tree.

A/N: No, Yuki has not caught the werewolf 'virus'! He's sneezing because Shu and Tohma are talking about him!