Sometimes it takes an outside force to help you finally realize things. Gravitation is strong, but some emotions are overpowering…

Stripped - by Kloudy Reignfall

Summary: As the band Nittle Grasper begins to fade into the background, new competition arises for Bad Luck. And its name is - Christina Aguilera?! She and her music are having a strange effect on the Gravitation cast, bringing to light doubts and forgotten emotions. It seems like trouble, but perhaps it's just what is needed to help them finally realize…

Today's music: "Can't hold us down" Christina Aguilera, "Californication" RHCP, "This love" Maroon 5

WARNINGS!: This is probably turning out to be quite a bit angsty-er than I had imagined. And dramatic. ::Sigh:: Maybe I'll change the category to Drama/Angst? But still, it's Christina Aguilera, how can I not have it as humor? Maybe Drama/Humor? But it's romance too! Romance/Angst? I don't know. Damn, they need a "Just read it" category.

DISCLAIMER: Do I really have to go through this?

Ha, I'm so proud of myself for having finished the first chapter! I dunno, maybe it wasn't so great, but you must have thought it was alright at least?

Continue!

Track Two - Can't hold us down!

Shuichi had a pain in his neck from sleeping on the couch again. He should have been used to it, since that's where he slept at least 5 days out of the week, but it always bothered him in the morning. Especially when he had to get up and go to work.

'Ugh, work,' was his only thought as he dragged himself out of bed (or rather, off of the couch) and searched around for something to wear. Many thoughts were running around in his mind, but they were all pushed way back where they wouldn't bother him. Really, there wasn't enough room in his head for all these thoughts.

He found a shirt and a pair of shorts and pulled them on, not caring enough to do anything with his hair, or not being awake enough to notice it. Shuichi was about to walk out the door when a voice stopped him.

"I'm going with you," Yuki told him in a voice that was dangerously blank. He'd actually made an effort to look presentable today, combed his hair and changed clothes, and he looked pretty good.

'I always think he looks good anyway,' Shuichi thought. 'Especially when he's just wearing sweatpants.' He mentally kicked himself for having thought that. 'No, stupid Shuichi! I'm mad at him! Stop thinking like that!' But it was much harder for him to hold a grudge than it was for Yuki.

Without a word more they grabbed their coats and headed silently out the door toward Yuki's car. (He only had one now; he'd sold the others because they were in his way. That's what he said anyway, but people wondered if it wasn't perhaps for another reason, whatever that might be.)

It started to rain on the way. It seemed like the perfect weather to match their moods. They were both too far into their thoughts to worry about the rain though. Shuichi was deep in deliberation about why Yuki had come with him. Yuki never wanted to go anywhere with him, least of all to see him sing. And it wasn't as if they were having a particularly good day with each other. After that …thing last night, Shuichi was amazed that he'd been allowed to stay the night at all. Why had the moody author been so angry with him anyway?

'For once I didn't actually do anything to deserve it,' Shuichi mused as the car sped through the rainy downtown streets. He risked a glance at his lover. Yuki's gaze was cold and distant, and it chilled him more than the droplets of rain, which were coming down harder with every moment.

Shuichi got quickly out of the car as soon as Yuki parked it in front of the bar. He wanted to get inside the warm room where he didn't have to endure the cold stares anymore. He wanted to sing and drown his worries in the music.

Not thinking to hold the door, Shuichi let it slam right into Yuki's face.

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry, Yuki! I didn't think you were there. I just…I…" Shuichi was silenced by another stare. This one wasn't cold, it was burning with poorly restrained anger, but it was definitely worse than the former. With a nervous laugh he scuttled to the stage and left Yuki to find a corner where he could brood.

Up on the stage Hiroshi was looking at Shuichi curiously. "What was that about?" he asked, meaning the obvious tension between Shuichi and his other half.

Shuichi's shoulders drooped and he sighed. "I don't know. He's mad at me for some reason. And I didn't even do anything this time, really!"

Hiro's eyes narrowed in the direction of Yuki's table. "Hmm…." But he shook his head and hopped back upstage to finish tuning his guitar.

They practiced that day much the same as they did any other day, much the same as they did the day before, except Ryuichi wasn't there, and Shuichi kept glancing nervously at Yuki's corner. He couldn't see Yuki's face and tried to forget about him. 'Let him be mad if he wants!' he thought, but at the same time he couldn't help checking to make sure the writer was still there.

………………………………............................................................................................................

Eight O' Clock was drawing nearer and Shuichi was about to have a nervous fit. He tried to sing to calm himself down, but his voice kept cracking and he forgot the words. Seeing Shuichi like this seemed to make everyone else nervous too. True, things were always bothering Shuichi. He cried more than anyone that any of them had ever met. But hardly ever did he get nervous. So they sat around unable to do anything except wait.

Tohma and Mika showed up not long after Shuichi started hyperventilating. Mika cast her husband a look, practically pleading him to go deal with the panicky teenager and went to talk to her brother, who was still brooding in a dark corner.

"What are you doing here?" she asked conversationally. "Surely not to see a beautiful woman sing?"

Yuki's eyebrows closed together and he shot a mean look at Mika. He sighed and closed his eyes. "I really don't want to talk about it."

Mika sat down beside him and crossed her arms. "Little brother, you are a real pain in the ass sometimes, you know that? Will you please tell me what's going on? It pisses me off to see you in such a foul mood."

The author's gaze unconsciously wandered to Shuichi, who was sitting on the stage, balling. Tohma was kneeling beside him and shaking him by the shoulders. "Shuichi! Calm down! And somebody please tell me, who was the idiot who agreed to have some random girl come sing here tonight?"

"It was Ryuichi," Shu managed to choke out convincingly between sobs. At the moment, Ryuichi was still absent, so he was a logical choice to take the blame.

Mika followed her brother's line of sight. "Ooh! Problems with your little pink girly-boy then?"

Yuki was about to retort with some smart-ass answer when his train of thought was interrupted by a loud voice.

"WE'RE HERE!!!!!"

Ryuichi burst in through the bar door, followed shortly by Christina Aguilera, looking as beautiful as ever. One look made Shuichi sob even harder. Everyone was glaring daggers at the singer girl, but she didn't notice, or didn't care. She just smiled coyly around the room. Her smile widened upon seeing Tohma, who had stood and made toward her. She walked forward and met him halfway.

She stuck out her hand. "Hi, I'm Christina. And you are…?"

He cocked his head at her. "Tohma," he responded. "Bad Luck's producer." But before he could take her hand he was shoved out of the way.

"I'm Mika," she said plainly as she roughly took Christina's hand. "Tohma's wife."

It was like a silent fight for dominance. The two women traded matching looks of contempt before Christina broke off and sauntered upstage to see to her "band" which had hurried in while she mingled. They were a very professional group, but they didn't look like they knew each other very well, let alone as if they were happy with their jobs. They were just paid to be there.

But something caught her eye that was more interesting than anything going on onstage. She stepped down and crossed the room to introduce herself to another new face.

Yuki had been watching her movements with narrowed eyes since she had walked into the room. And now she was coming towards him. He straightened up as she approached.

Leaning on the table, Christina smiled at her prey. "I don't think I've met you before," she said.

"No, you haven't," Yuki replied icily.

"You must be…" Christina stared at him for a moment, and then noticed his averted eyes. She followed their gaze to the stage where Shuichi was gathering something up. "Ah. You must be Yuki."

Their visual duel was much like the one with Mika, but this time Christina won. Yuki turned his head, trying to suppress a shiver. Christina smirked and walked away, satisfied with her victory. It was only one small battle, but it would be imperative to the war she quietly began.

Yuki shook his head, trying to clear his mind. Why had he looked away from her? It should have been the other way around! He was well known amongst this crowd for his iron death glare, one that very few people could stand for long. But he'd not been able to look into the eyes of this girl. He'd been beat! By a woman! And a slutty whore at that! And she was short! Shorter even than Shuichi. And the clothes she wore! They would have looked better on his lover too. And… With every passing moment he hated this girl more. He hated her passionately, with every fiber in his body! Yet, there was something strange about her. Something abnormal. She was up to something, and she had told him so with her mischievous gaze. But he couldn't figure it out, not for the life of him. And it left him with an incomplete feeling.

At this point, Shuichi dared to approach his lover. He walked over and carefully sat beside Yuki, apprehensive for fear of being snapped at. But the blonde said nothing, his eyes downcast and a look of consternation on his face. The pink-haired singer decided to be brave. "Yuki? Are you ok?" he asked concernedly, only to be answered by one of the novelist's famous death glares. Shuichi tensed and stuttered, "Um, ok…" and looked away.

Luckily, at that moment, several people entered the bar, and Shuichi took this opportunity to escape the awkward silence.

The three people turned out to have come separately, but he knew them all anyway: Maiko, Noriko, and Tatsuha. He was surprised to see them, since none of them had been expected. Then again, he hadn't been expecting Yuki to come with him, or for Tohma and Mika to arrive. Maybe word got out and they were here for moral support! He greeted them. "Hey. Why are you guys here?"

Tatsuha simply blinked, disinterested, and gave the shortest possible answer ("Hiro told me.") before wandering off.

Noriko was a bit more excited, although that wouldn't have been difficult. "Well, I came for the show of course!" she said with a smile. "I saw Ryuichi following that Christina girl around today and he told me about it." With that, she too walked off, leaving Shuichi with his sister.

She, of course, was hysteric with excitement. "I can't believe Christina Aguilera, my idol, is here! And you know what? She called our house! She wanted to talk to you, but I told her that you pretty much live at Yuki's house now. She told me that she was singing here tonight and that I should come, so I did!" She made a squealing noise like a kitten being stepped on, except it was more pleasant, and less messy. After that she scampered off, more like a squirrel, to the edge of the stage to watch her idol with shojo eyes.

Shuichi shook his head and headed back to Yuki's table, just as depressed as ever. He sat down heavily on one of the cold metal chairs and glanced at his lover. Yuki was staring at the blonde woman upstage with pure untainted hatred, and this much was obvious to Shuichi. That look… it ran a chill down his spine, it was that powerful.

"…Yuki." Shuichi whispered the author's name, trying to catch his attention. Yuki turned his head to meet the pink-haired boy, his eyes almost softening, but before he could say anything a powerfully eerie noise overtook their senses.

The artificial band struck at cords and keys beautifully, and the music was soon accompanied by a sound unlike they had ever heard. Christina, eyes closed and head raised, released a whispering senseless song from her over-glossed lips. She vocalized wordlessly, her voice raising and falling in a waterfall of emotion.

The spectators watched silently, eyes wide, mouths slightly agape. This music was unearthly, unheard of, and surely could not have come from a mere mortal? It was…

Yuki snapped out of the trance, and glanced sidelong at his little lover. Shuichi's eyes, full of unbound emotion, were glued to the blonde singer. A slight murmur escaped his lips. "She's so… beautiful, and perfect," he said with a tiny sigh.

Yuki's eyes narrowed once again in anger at the boy beside him. He… had Shuichi really just said that? Hurt danced with the anger. Yes, he had. Horrible tears threatened to run free, a lovechild of the anger and hurt that leapt about his mind. But he held them back with a scowl and pained glance at his… lover. He rose quickly from his seat and jostled past Shuichi as Christina's vocalizing became an upbeat song, wordy and with a clear message.

So what, am I not supposed to say what I'm saying?
Are you offended with the message I'm bringing?
Call me whatever 'cause your words don't mean a thing.
Guess you ain't even a man enough to handle what I sing!

Take a deep breathe and say it loud,
Never can, never will,
Can't hold me down!

And at the absence of the eerie vocals, and the slam of the door as Yuki left, the various watchers came back to consciousness. Shuichi looked around frantically, not quite sure what had happened, why or where Yuki had gone. A small gasp and he bounded out the door after him.

End Track Two

Ahh, leaving on another sad note. That seems to be the best way to leave it. I'll try to stop with the semi-cliffies.

So, that chapter wasn't so bad. It was a lot shorter than chapter one though! ::cries:: So did you like it? Please please please review for me! I swear, not getting reviews makes me just want to stop writing… ::sob:: Well, I'm in a rather dramatic mood at the moment, aren't I?

Anyway, review please, and give me suggestions and comments and all that. (Really, I love suggestions!)

Hope you all come back for the next chapter! Write more Gravi fics! Leave more reviews! Tell all your friends! Yay!