Tornado: Hiya peeps! We're getting ready for yet another chapter. Thanks to those people that read the last one and an even more thanks to those that reviewed. For all of you who may be wondering, this is an Eiri/Shu fic, but it just has past references to Tora/Eiri. With that said, on with the fic.
Trips Down Memory Lane
Eiri collapsed on the leather sofa in Tohma's house. Tohma sat opposite him, eyes scrutinizing his tired form. A sigh escaped the younger blonde's lips, and he began fiddling with one of the innumerable pillows.
"It is oh so obvious that you're married. No sane guy would have throw pillows."
"Mika's convinced that it's not a home unless there's no room to sit. I can't even lay on my own damn couch!"
"I suppose she's trying to make some show room model house, but it's not like anyone is ever going to photograph it and put it in a magazine."
"You know women. Was Tora's place that way?"
"Nah. Her place looked like any other bachelor's pad. Sophisticated, homey, and a place to do some serious drinking."
They laughed, both knowing that the girl would center her entire house on booze. Tohma rose and ventured into the kitchen, retrieving a beer for both himself and Eiri. The two blondes could have been mistaken for brothers as they sat in the living room, sipping the intoxicated drink. Another sigh disturbed the air.
"What should I do about Shuichi? I mean, if it was Mika, what would you do?" Eiri questioned.
"Well, then I wouldn't have to worry because I know that she wouldn't be bitching, but if I was in your situation, I'd call and apologize. Now, I know that's your favorite activity, but I think that if you really care about the kid that you should. It will help you in the end."
"What do I say? C'mon, you know how hard it is for me to do something like that."
"You'd be well advised to tell him the truth. Of course, I'm assuming that you didn't explain what exactly Tora was to you."
Silence emerged, conquering the room and confirming the elder's suspicions. Eiri battled himself to reach a decision and take a course of action. His eyes clouded over and stared blankly off into space. For once, perhaps he should retire his pride and do something that was right, but the thought was nearly impossible to make a reality.
"How can I? Tohma, even if I was able to subdue my pride it wouldn't take much to revive it. You know how I hate being in positions in which I don't have complete control."
"Eiri, no one can make this decision for you, but if he's causing you that much pain, maybe you should forget about him."
"Don't start that again! We were doing fine until you interfered the first time! Things are already bad enough as it is!"
"Do you thin Tora would want you to handle it any other way?"
"At least Tora would butt out when she saw that I didn't need her help! In the end, Tohma, it's my life that's affected, not yours. You never seem to get that. Just like when Tora was cutting. It wasn't hurting you, and she needed to feel alive. That's the reason that I didn't stop her. She never opposed you because she knew that you wouldn't let it go."
"In the end, it would hurt me. Seeing either one of you hurting that way, it tears me up inside."
"Tohma, please, for Tora and my sake, stop trying to play God."
Tora closed the door of her apartment. It was empty just as it was every other time she came home. She was already starting to miss Eiri. The door to her den was ajar, giving outsiders a small view of her sanctuary. The walls were black as night. There were many dragon shaped lamps strategically placed around the room to give minimum amount of light. Figures of mythical animals presided over the dark haven. Stacks of CD's and a myriad of fantasy novels were also among the numerous trinkets.
She ventured into her asylum, booting up the computer. The phone rang, and she decided to ignore it after checking the caller ID. The mood that controlled her was not one that would allow for dealings with her editor, who would waste her precious time babbling about how she needed to finish her novel on time. As if to justify her actions, she turned the stereo on as loud as she could tolerate and began to lose herself in her make believe world.
Nearly four hours had passed since she began her creating. There had been no other interruptions to distract her from the matter at hand. There was proof of this in the ache in her eyes and head. She groaned, realizing that there would be no more productiveness tonight.
Staring around the room, she spotted a lone picture perched on a bookshelf by the door. Memory provided the image of a young Tohma and Eiri, laughing gaily at some antic. It was the only photograph displayed in the room of fantasy, and it was also the only public indication in the house that she even knew the boys. A sudden urge caused her to go searching for the other remnants of her past.
It was nearly midnight when she found what her rescue mission had been searching for. The cardboard box was nestled safely away in the linen closet, patiently waiting to be unpacked. She transported the box to the living room, which had the ample space that she needed to operate on her patient. Her surgery table was a coffee table that she had cleared specially for the activity, and she began the pre-surgical tradition of preparing the mind for the things that would be discovered in the routine. With shaking hands, she commenced.
There were Nittle Grasper albums lying on top. All those that had been released to be factual. Each one had a total of three signatures, courtesy of Tohma. It had been ages since she listened to their music. She fiddled with a bright green colored one, sighing as she rose to place it in the stereo system. A slight jump arose when Ryuichi's voice blared from the speakers.
She flipped the cover, discovering that she had selected the one in which the only two songs that Tohma had ever authored were recorded. Tohma had never been one to inscribe his thoughts and feelings the way songwriters and musicians were fabled to. Once in a blue moon, Tohma would devote himself entirely to perfecting a single song. Most times he would get frustrated and give up, but there were times that he could finish one.
Sighing again, Tora continued sifting through the rubble of her prior life. There were two shoeboxes full of pictures. She took them out and set them to the side. There was also a ton of letters. Letters that she had meant to send to Tohma. Letters that Tohma had sent her. There were a few letters, she saw, that had Eiri's signature at the bottom. From a quick scan over the letters, she saw that they had been sent a month after he had left New York. There were also letters that she had meant to send in reply to him, but had thought better of it and stored them in this box with her other memorabilia. She began to read.
After nearly two hours of reading, she figured the task would be a lot better with alcohol. She knew that she was probably addicted, but she only drank at night when there was nothing else to do. She rose to venture to the kitchen where she was sure that bliss awaited her.
Her mind flipped back to the night before when she and Eiri sat in her living room, conversing about what had been and what could have been. It was nice spending the night with him, hearing his soft breathing as he fell asleep. It was a much-needed flash back to what had occurred eight years prior. She had been surprised that talk of Tohma had been as scarce as it was.
A large mouthful of horrible tasting liquid flowed smoothly down her throat. She hated whiskey and almost always had, but her ex had taught her how to drink it. He usually drank at least two glasses after work. It was then that she learned of the miracles that it could bring. After two glasses of the awful concoction, one could be more of him or herself in the face of stress.
She forced her mind to veer from another subject that caused her pain. Her ex, the last steady one she had, was always accompanied by sorrow when he entered her thoughts. It was ironic that the same end that the two of them had incurred was the same thing that Eiri had just done. Get in a fight with your lover; sleep with someone from your past. She was going to try her damnedest to make sure that the final result was not another control factor in the cases.
She polished off a second glass of whiskey, returning to the living room. She placed one of the shoeboxes on her lap. The alcohol helped calm her nerves enough that she wasn't shaking when she opened the lid. She removed a handful of pictures. Most were of the cityscape (Twin Towers, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, ect.) Then she began to tour the school that she had been attending at the time. That was when the real pictures began, evoking images that were recorded nowhere else but the mind's eye. She continued her gaze into the past until she fell asleep.
Eiri was awake at dawn. He scribbled a note to Tohma stating that he'd be going and thanking him for the hospitality. He made coffee and stole one of Tohma's travel mugs. He didn't bother adding it in the note.
It was a little after seven when he walked out of his brother-in-law's house. He wanted to go home. It had been two nights since he had spent the night in his own bed. He half-hoped that Shuichi would still be there. He wasn't sure why, but he just wanted to set the record straight between the two of them.
Shuichi's car was still in the driveway when he arrived. Relief washed over him as he unloaded the trunk and scurried into the house. The smell of eggs and the clanking of a spatula greeted him. As he ventured into the kitchen, he discovered that there was no longer a magenta haired idiot in the house, but rather a blonde one.
"You dyed your hair again," he whispered to the man.
"Yeah, well, blonde is my color of choice when I get my heart broken," came the harsh reply.
Eiri watched sadly as his lover continued to ignore his presence. He stood in the doorway, knowing that any further intrusion would cause the man to go into fits of… something. He could tell that his companion was trying desperately to keep a cap on all the emotions that he was feeling, hopefully preventing him from "injuring" the other man.
"I think that you and I need to talk about what's going on here. Please, you really need to hear me out," Eiri stated, having his fill of the silence that had fallen over them.
"I think I understand perfectly. You got drunk and fucked some girl from your past. It's starting to remind me of the situation with Tohma. You remember that one, don't you?"
"Dammit, Shuichi!" he cried angrily, slamming down one of his fists. "You don't have the story straight! You only think that you do! Now, if you'll quit your useless whining and listen to a goddamned word that I'm saying, you'll get your fucking story straight!"
The younger man glared for several minutes before complying with his wishes. He took a seat in the head chair at the kitchen table, the seat that Eiri traditionally held. The writer smothered a growl that was threatening to escape. There were a few things that eh had learned in his relationship with the boy. One of those things was that he was no longer inclined to accept the harsh treatment that the man had once shed upon him. Calming himself, he took a seat next to his lover and began his tale.
"What happened that night was not intentional and will never happen again. I know that you're thinking promises, promises, promises, but for once it's the truth. Both Tora and I agree that it was not supposed to happen."
"The fact remains that it did. You're right, I am thinking promises, promises, promises."
"It's not like I took an oath to be faithful to you! I used to screw around all the time when we just started going out. You never really complained then."
"Well, I certainly hope that we've advanced from that point. It's been two years, Eiri. "Hell, Rage has said that she loves me more times than you have."
"I know you did not just compare me to that psycho bitch that tries to kill you every time that she sees you. Besides, we've already established that what Kitaziwa did to me has affected me in the worst way."
"We've also established that you were 'cured' when his broth…er…sister did that lil' thing with the impression-thingy, need I remind you. You're just using it as an excuse because you're afraid of commitment."
"Well, whatever, anyway, you wanted to know about Tora, right? Ok, well as I had told you earlier, we were good friends growing up. In the end we turned into more than just friends."
"Was that before or after you and Tohma were a couple?"
"Neither, it was during. That's where the whole thing gets complicated. When the whole thing 'began', we were three sets of couples, and one night we just kinda decided to combine all of them."
"Ok, I don't understand, and I don't know if I want to, but anyway. So, the other night was what? A mistake? A reawakening? What was it?"
"A little bit of both. It was the reawakening of old feelings that led us to the point that we went to, but it was a mistake to have done so. Trust me, it's not going anywhere. She won't let it."
"She didn't seem to have a problem that night. How do I know that she won't rape you or something? Or maybe she'll miss you so much that she'll tempt you into her house and then cast a spell on you to make you stay?" the boy babbled ridiculously, signaling to Eiri that he was back to his old self.
The blonde man shook his head incredulously. The boy had allowed the anger to be released, restoring the entropy in the household. A small smile played on his lips, contentment displaying itself proudly. The young one smiled as well upon the sight of his achievement, but soon gave him a look that said that he expected an answer.
"You remember how I said that there were three couples? Well, the third partner in this whole affair was Tohma, and ever since he and Mika lost the baby, things haven't been real great between them. If she needs a blast from the past that badly, I guarantee you that, even if I wanted to, Tohma wouldn't let me get within ten feet of her. He cared about her more than I did. Although there is the whole factor that since Tohma got married, she has barely even seen him, let alone allow her morals to bend enough to fuck him."
"How do I know that you won't try to get back in her bed? I mean you said you used to care for her a lot right?"
"I used to love her, but again she wouldn't let it happen. She fucked up once, I'm pretty sure that she won't do it again. Is there something that you're not telling me?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you've been acting awfully strange, and you're very careful with your questions. You're never this word conscious about anything."
"Ok, so she stopped by yesterday and convinced me to wait until you got home today before leaving cause I was packing my shit and heading to Hiro's."
"Would Ayaka have appreciated that? You just showing up on their doorstep? God only knows what you could have interrupted."
"And to think that she's the daughter of a family that runs a temple, and that she was engaged to you."
"I'm glad Hiro took her off my back. That bitch can get really annoying."
Shuichi laughed and threw himself onto Eiri's lap. The man put his arm around him. He made a mental note to do something for Tora to repay his debt.
Tornado: whew that took a long time to type. Sorry for the delay. R&R.
