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: "Walk away" Christina Aguilera, DDR, and some Gravitation Japanese techno.

WARNINGS!: Same as ever before. ::Sigh:: This story confuses even me. I don't know how best to describe it or how to classify it and I don't even have time to write it! (I hate school.)

DISCLAIMER: ::In monotone:: Not mine. Damn.

So, I'm finally on the third chapter. Ah, this chapter is… a necessary evil. I don't want to write it. It's just a lot of complaining, fights and mushy angst. But hey, I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Go.

Track Three - Walk Away

Yuki stormed out of the bar, nearly blind with rage and pent-up frustration. He angrily held back the tears that fought fervently to surface. Pacing for several seconds, he decided to go to his car. Home, that was where he wanted to be. In the comfort of his own home, far from sluttish blondes or stupid pink-haired singers!

Speaking of, as Yuki reached for the car door handle he heard a shrill voice call his name.

"Yuki! Wait up Yuki!"

The vocalist was running up to him, clearly desperate to talk. But talking was really one of the last things he wanted to do at the moment. It was nestled right there between painting his fingernails flamboyant green, moving back into his father's house, and going on romantic date with Tohma. Choosing to ignore Shuichi, he yanked the door open and slid inside, slamming the car door beside him. But his little lover was not so easily defeated, and proved so by bouncing into the seat beside Yuki, demanding to know what was wrong. (Although demanding might have been a bit strong a word for such a person.)

The author responded with a low grunt and mean glance. He turned his eyes to the front, avoiding Shuichi and hoping he might go away. But Shuichi didn't go away; nor did he stop talking. He was, as usual, vocal with fervent concern for the way Yuki had been acting. "Yuki, what's wrong? Why did you run out back there? Why are you ignoring me? What did I do? Are you alright?"

Ignoring the annoying boy beside him wasn't working. Annoyed, Yuki lashed out at Shuichi rudely. "What is wrong with you, you annoying brat?! Don't you understand that I want to be alone? I don't want to talk to you!" All the same, even if the singer had planned on giving in and letting Yuki alone, he couldn't have; the car was speeding down the road, dodging pedestrians like road-kill in South Georgia, all the while his eyes half on the object of his outburst.

As much as this worried Shuichi, it also angered him. For once he really hadn't done anything, he was sure, and yet Yuki was acting as if it was the end of the world! And what exactly was he so upset about anyway? His confusion made him scared and angry, and instead of backing down and sitting quietly (which would have been the smart choice, what with Yuki driving crazily as he was), Shuichi rose to the challenge.

"Yuki, I don't understand why you always have to be so mean to me! I never do anything to hurt you and you're still always so angry! I don't get it. Don't you want to be with me anymore?" Shuichi's eyes were welling up with salty tears, making his eyes sting. He sat sideways on the seat, gazing hopefully at his lover, waiting expectantly for an answer, maybe an apology.

The author's face twitched in agitation. He tried to control his rampant emotions, but he felt them spilling quickly over the edges of the high icy walls he put up around him. Making use of his common sense, he jerked over to the side of the road and stopped the car. By now he was shaking with rage, his feelings having been pent up for too long. He faced he boy beside him. "How dare you act like you don't know what I'm talking about?! Where do you get off playing the victim all the time?! You act like you're the only one who ever has problems, and you say you're always true to me. But you're nothing more than a liar! And you don't even have the decency to hide it! You really -" He caught himself, about to say more than he meant to. Already, he'd said too much, but it was too late to take it all back, and even if he could he wouldn't. What he said was true and there was no denying it.

Shuichi stared helplessly while Yuki yelled at him, tears dripping down his face, forgotten in the shock of his lover's outburst. Yuki hardly ever yelled, hardly ever said more than a consecutive few sentences. Shuichi took in all that was said, and it slowly registered in his brain.

Victim? Liar? Hide? Hide what? There was nothing to hide. All of the singer's emotions were out in the open, exposed for the whole world to see. Still, Yuki thought he was concealing something. He didn't trust him.

Both men were in hysterics, the writer writhing in anger and the vocalist shaking with confused tears. The two tried to make sense of the other, but they only confused each other more. Neither would listen, as stubborn as they were. They would believe what they would. And right now they both believed that they had been forgotten in their lover's heart, though it wasn't what they wished.

Shuichi stuttered, making one last attempt at reconciling their relationship. "Yuki, I-" But Yuki's eyes hardened, still miraculously free of the tears that still threatened to run freely. He grabbed the boy by the wrist to stop his fidgeting.

"I'm done talking to you. Go. I don't want to hear from you again!" And with that he shoved Shuichi hard against the door of the car. The boy pulled accidentally on the handle and fell roughly onto the curb of the sidewalk. Without a second glance, Yuki slammed the passenger side door and drove off, leaving his lover to stare after him, sobbing and begging to wake up from this horrible dream.

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

Not long after Yuki and Shuichi stormed out the door people had begun to regain their senses. Christina's powerful voice faded and Hiro had shook his head, wondering what had just happened. Yuki had run out the door, looking impossibly angry as usual, and Shuichi had followed him. Hiro sighed. This was getting to be a common thing. Not the pretty female singers of course, but Yuki and Shu's arguments. It was amazing that they put up with each other.

Anyway, after the two drama queens left it had seemed that the party was over. Paying no attention to Christina, and forgetting the spell-like trance he had just been in, Hiro had gathered up his stuff to go home.

So now he was back at his apartment, rummaging in the kitchen for a drink. "Hey," he called to the living room. "You want something to drink?"

A calm voice floated in from off the couch. "Sure," Tatsuha yelled back.

Hiro grabbed up two cold drinks from the fridge and walked back into the living room. The monk was sprawled casually on his sofa, stretched out comfortably. He sat up and moved a little to the side to make room for Hiro, who sat down carefully and handed Tatsuha a drink.

Tatsuha smiled in thanks, took the drink, set it down on the table beside him, and turned to Hiro, looking at him curiously.

"What's wrong?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

Hiro blinked and shook his head. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing…"

The young monk smirked, looking far too knowledgeable for someone so young. Hiro wondered at that, how Tatsuha, who was only seventeen, always seemed to know what was going on. Not just in the world around him, but in others' minds. "Something's not bothering you?"

Lying to him didn't sound like a good idea, Hiro thought. He'd always know he was lying. But to answer his question truthfully was difficult. Something definitely was bothering him. A multitude of things, actually. His work, as usual, was a tick in his mind. And the typical annoyance of Shuichi's mental instability, although he was used to that by now. Along with those and the other things he had to contend with in his daily life were the fights he'd been having with his family lately. And of course there was Tatsuha…

But how to explain this all without giving too much away?

His silence prompted an all-knowing sigh from Tatsuha, a whisper of frustration. "If you want to do something about your problems, you have to admit them first," he told the long haired guitarist.

Hiro gnawed thoughtfully on his lip. Perhaps he should open up to Tatsuha. After all, the boy had been a good friend lately, very cordial and open since he first began talking to him. He always had something smart or comforting to say about Hiro's problems. Not to mention the fact that he was frighteningly intuitive. Maybe he really could tell Tatsuha about these problems. And he didn't have to say all that was on his mind. He could conveniently leave out anything having to do with the monk himself. Which, Hiro admitted to himself, was a rather large part of his problems. And yet he couldn't bring himself to that topic yet.

That having been said, Hiro was no farther along in his dilemma than before. He'd been about to excuse himself to the bathroom or something, just to get away from Tatsuha's stares, when the doorbell rang. Hiro sighed with relief at such a suitable distraction, one that wasn't even suspicious.

He stood up to answer the door, wondering who would be calling on him so late at night, because by now it was already past 11. He wasn't surprised when he found Shuichi on the other side.

Wordlessly he greeted the singer and steered him over to the couch he'd been occupying moments ago. Tatsuha had seated himself in a chair across the room.

Shuichi was very pale and soaking wet. Hiro only just noticed that it was storming outside. The street below them was silver with dancing rain. How far had Shuichi walked in this? The pink haired boy was shivering violently and sniffling. He sat down beside him.

"Shuichi? What happened?" he asked in a calming tone. Although he was sure he knew already. What else could it have been beside another fight with his lover? This happened pretty regularly. At least once a month he'd come crying to Hiro's door, sobbing about how Yuki had kicked him out, called him distracting or annoying. How this was going to be the last time. It was always going to be the last time…

The boy beside Hiro sniffled again, either from the wetness or his crying. It was hard to tell if he really had been crying or not, since his cheeks were damp with rainwater. But knowing him, there definitely had been some waterworks. Shuichi coughed and looked up at Hiro with pitiful violet eyes.

"I'm sorry, Hiro," he whispered. "I shouldn't have come here. I'm always bothering you…"

Hiro pat his friend's back reassuringly as a silent sign that it was alright.

"It's just that… Yuki…" Shuichi began to cry again, little quiet sobs that were really far more pathetic than his usual loud cries. Perhaps because normally his crying was so annoying, you could learn to ignore it quickly, brushing it off with little sympathy for the singer. But the silent little gasps that came from him now were so unlike normal that it pained Hiro to see them come from his little friend.

Shuichi took a deep breath. "I don't know what to do, Hiro. It's always like this! He'll snap at me, I'll cry, and I'll end up here. But… it was different this time! I think he really meant it this time…"

The vocalist choked on a cough and sniffled miserably. Hiro reached out to push his friend down onto the couch, hoping he could get him to rest a bit; it sounded like he was catching cold. But Shuichi looked straight up into Hiro's eyes, an intensity in them much different from his usually vividness, and he stopped dead.

Shuichi spoke with a slightly raspy voice, tears still streaming from his eyes, though they were wide and bright, not full of sorrow but a self-degrading confusion. "He said… he called me a liar. He said I was untrue, that I was hiding things from him. But I'd never do that! Hiro, you know I'd never do that! I love Yuki!"

He coughed again and drew his knees up into his chest. "He seemed so angry. It was like he wouldn't listen to anything I said. I made him so angry… I have to apologize. I have to go back to him." Shuichi said this but made no move to get up from his fetal position on the couch. "But I can't go back to him 'cause it's always the same, and I'm so tired. Hiro, what am I gonna do? I can't live without Yuki, but I can't go back to him. I'll die Hiro. Hiro, what am I going to do…?" He managed to yawn and cough at the same time as he reached out to Hiro and snuggled into the sofa cushions, his nonsensical mumbling growing quieter.

Hiro took Shuichi's small hand in his own. It was so cold. He rubbed it gently and patted the boy's head. "It's ok Shuichi. Just go to sleep, ok? I'll fix everything." He went into the hallway and came back with a thick blanket to cover his friend. He tucked it around him protectively.

"I'm wondering if I should be jealous." Tatsuha spoke from the other ride of the room.

Hiro had actually forgotten about him in the midst of Shuichi's drama. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just, Shuichi, you know, he…-"

"It's okay." Tatsuha smiled knowingly. "I understand."

Laughing at his good luck, Hiro glanced around distractedly for his keys. "I… I have to go out for a while. Get him some medicine… Are you staying here?"

Tatsuha nodded. "I'll watch him."

Flashing a grateful smile, Hiro grabbed his wallet and keys from the table, stuffed them in his jacket and hurried out the door.

After getting over the initial shock of seeing Shuichi somber instead of crying hysterically, Hiro became increasingly angry. Yuki had hurt Shuichi yet again. He'd hurt him over and over, countless times before. But this was going to be the last time. Shuichi should never have to take that kind of mental abuse. And he was going to make sure that Yuki knew it.

Nobody had the right to do that to his honest, innocent Shuichi.

End Track Three

Dude, I am so done! So-o-o-o-o done! It took me forever to write that! And although I surely could have written more and/or made that last part a heck of a lot better, there's just no way in Hell I'm writing more for this chapter. Nope, no way.
Ah, damn. The next chapter's gonna suck too. Wah! I want to get to the good stuff! Chapter six will be ok. I'll like eleven for sure. Absolutely dying to write chapter fifteen! But up next is chapter four… Hopefully it won't take me as long to write that one.
Whew! You don't know how wonderful it feels to finally be done with that! Maybe I can go work on that Demon Diary fic that everyone seems to like so much. Or maybe my DNAngel fic. Yeah, that should be fun. God, it's finally over!
If you can't tell, I'm not too fond of this chapter. So, how 'bout you review and make me feel better! Even if it sucked, and even if you happen to agree with me, it's ok. I neeeeeeeeed reviews! ::Grin::
(::Thinks:: Okay, so I did like a few things about this chapter. I think the first half was eloquent enough, since I wrote it all in one night. And I rather like Hiro in mother-hen mode Yes, it's just protectiveness. He's not in love with Shu, as much as I happen to like that pairing lately. And we have Tatsuha! Yay! And he's being helpful! Imagine that! …Wow, it's late. Time to go to bed. ::yawn:: )

-Kloudy Reignfall