Authoress here.

Phoosh. (And for the time being, phoosh is a real word.)

School has been hectic. Friends have been hectic. (No! I wanna go to the mall, mommy!) Parents have been hectic. (No! You can't!)

Pep band has been hectic. Band in general has been hectic. My riding (of horses, guys...yeah, I thought I saw those nasty grins crossing some of your faces...) Boyfriend has been hectic. Just all hectic in general.

And that is my excuse for the absences between chapters. (Bows) My utmost apology.

Just a reminder- A character's name in Italics means the following text is in the afore mentioned character's POV. When Gravitation is in Italics, then it switches to third person.

And heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Chapter Four!

Three-Way Tie
Chapter Four: And When It All Comes Back to Bite


Shuichi Shindou

Yuki was pissed. Really pissed. He threatened to throw me out, and Aoyou got angry, saying Yuki was being too harsh on me and then Yuki threatened to throw HER out as well. He made the comment she was more of a squatter than I was and perhaps he'd call the cops to haul her away.

Then she suggested that she'd just leave and rent out a hotel room and then said I was welcome to come if I wanted to.

And then Yuki got even more pissed. He said if I went along (and I quote) "to that horny bitch's" hotel room I forget ever sleeping with him again. And here's where Aoyou quite slyly says if I came along with her I would NEED to sleep with Yuki again.

So that left Yuki storming off to his office fuming, Aoyou making herself comfortable in the guest room, and me hiding from both of them.

The rest of the day was spent with Aoyou and Yuki either yelling at one another or pointedly ignoring each other. Dinner was one example of THAT little escapade:

"Shuichi-san, please ask Yuki-san to pass me the milk."

"Shuichi-kun, please tell Aoyou-bitch that she can fucking well get the damn milk herself."

"Shuichi-san, please tell Yuki-san that his manners are lacking, and that swearing at the table is impolite."

"Shuichi-kun, please tell that fucking whore I don't give a fucking damn in hell what she has to say."

Needless to say, I was sweating bullets, caught between a rock and a hard place. I gave up after dinner (tacos, home-made by Aoyou...she can really cook! Maybe even better than Yuki...MAYBE) and just went to bed.

The next morning, after three helpings of delicious chocolate-chip blueberry pancakes, Aoyou shipped me out the door and to work I had to wonder when she had time to go grocery shopping for the batter, blueberries and chocolate chips, but then again I went to bed early.

Meaning Yuki must have given her a ride to the store after I went to sleep! I chewed on my lip as I slipped inside the front door of N-G studios. Meaning they were alone in the car together! They better not of touched one another in any way, shape or form!

Hiro was waiting for me when the escalator doors opened at the third floor of the studio.

"Oh, hey, Hiro."

"What the hell, Shuichi?" Hiro demanded. He shook a magazine in my face.

"Whoa!" I grabbed it from his hand to study it. It was a popular magazine, Watashi to Tokyo, one that just about every teen-to-twenty female reads religiously. And on the front page, glossy and large as life, was a photo of me and Aoyou kissing. I had one arm around her, and the other hand was tilting her chin up. Her eyes were half closed seductively, and our lips were just touching.

"That's a good photo."

"What about Yuki!" Hiro raged. "You man-whore!"

I decided to ignore his last comment. "Listen, Hiro, buddy 'ole pal." I held up the magazine to punctuate my point. "Aoyou may of single-handedly saved the future of Bad Luck!"

"Oh, so the chick has a name now." Hiro retorted. "So tell me, how did she "single-handedly" save the band?"

"I was mobbed." I said simply. "And Yuki almost came barging in to rescue me."

"That sure don't sound like Yuki's style." Hiro said.

"No, it doesn't." I scratched my chin, but continued my story. "But like I said, I couldn't get away, and the crowd was starting to go stir-crazy."

I flipped through the magazine to the article mentioned below our picture on the front. "So then Aoyou comes in, proves my manliness by telling the press she's my girlfriend, saves the band's female friends and...Me and Yuki are still safe."

Hiro crossed his arms, frowning. "And how's Yuki doing with this?"

I laughed. "Oh, he's fine with it."

"And where's lover girl Aoyou now?"

"Most likely she's washing dishes, screaming at Yuki." "Huh?"

"She's living with us...temporarily, or something. I'm not too sure." I skimmed the article. "Hey, listen t'this! 'If anyone had doubts about Bad Luck lead singer Shuichi Shindou's masculinity, they should think again! Everyone's favorite band's singer was seen passionately embracing four month old girlfriend Aoyou Tsumaru.' See, Hiro? This article says we're everyone's favorite band!"

Hiro grudgingly took the magazine to read for himself. "Yeah..."

I took it back once he had finished reading to study the cover again. Hiro peered over my shoulder to reassess the photo. "She is pretty hott, Shu."

"Yeah." I sighed. "But I think she likes Yuki."

Hiro gave me a sidelong glance, concerned. "Why do ya say that?"

"I heard them talking yesterday morning before the whole mob incident. Yuki delivered a pickup line and she took it." I stared at the photo glumly. "In fact, they've probably stopped fighting by now and are screwing one another on the kitchen table."

Hiro patted my arm. "Just don't think about it. Besides, who's the one she kissed?"

"She's kissed us both."

"Whoa... Do I even wanna know?"

"Probably not. It's long, confusing, and not half as dirty as it sounds."

"Then let's get goring, Shuichi. We got a song to record, and K wants to see if we can maybe start a second one."

I glanced at Hiro. "What song is first?

"The 'Cheating Eyes' one."

I groaned. "How appropriate."

Gravitation

Yuki slammed on the brakes. "Get out."

Aoyou stared at him contemptuously. "Gladly."

Aoyou and Yuki hadn't stopped their squabbling. After Shuichi had gone to bed, Aoyou had announced she was going to the grocery store. Another fight had erupted between her and Yuki, this time questioning her competency for grocery shopping. That had ended in a tense ride to and from the nearby supermarket.

The next morning after Shuichi had left, Aoyou had started out the door to find the address on the piece of paper she had when she first arrived in Tokyo. Yuki had stopped her, and after another vicious fight, ("An airhead like you will only end up getting raped, and it'll get blamed on me!") Yuki had ended up driving her there. They had been bickering the entire way.

Pushing the release on her seatbelt, Aoyou haughtily turned to him. "Thanks for the ride."

"Whatever. Just hurry up." Yuki tapped the steering wheel impatiently.

Aoyou looked at him in disbelief, mingled with disgust. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? Nothing." Yuki said, bored.

"You're not human, I swear! How does Shuichi-san put UP with you?"

"Don't you dare bring Shuichi into this." Yuki's voice was dangerous.

"Don't YOU dare threaten me! And I didn't bring Shuichi-san into th-MMPH!"

Yuki had clapped a hand to her mouth. "Will you ever cease that infernal noise? Tell me, does your jaw ever tire from never staying shut!"

Aoyou forced his hand away. "Don't you touch me!"

Yuki kept a firm grasp on the hand Aoyou had used to push him away. "And tell me...Why not?"

"Just-just don't, you hear me!" Aoyou tried to squirm away. He took her other hand and slowly drew her in, a smirk on his face.

"Are you frightened of me?"

"NO!" Aoyou stopped fighting briefly and glared at him. "Whatever gave you that idiotic notion?"

"Well," Yuki (who hadn't bothered with seatbelts) moved so that his left leg and Aoyou's knee were being pressed together. He leaned over and nuzzled into Aoyou's neck. "You're trembling."

He kissed her skin, and she stiffened. He shifted again, so now he knelt on the passenger seat, straddling Aoyou's legs. He ran his lips along her neck and up to her cheekbone.

"W-What the hell are y-you doing?" Aoyou managed out.

"Whatever will shut you the fuck up." Yuki rasped, lips smoothing over her cheek. "Now, will you get out of the car like a good little girl or do I have to start biting you?"

Aoyou wrenched her hands out of his and pushed on his chest, hard. "Get off of me-OUCH!"

True to his word, Yuki had found her earlobe and had given it a sharp nip. "Well?"

"Lemmie get out, you perv!" Aoyou said softly. Her breath was coming too quickly to say it any louder.

"Alrighty, since you asked so nicely." Yuki pushed himself back into his own seat. "I'll pick you up in two hours. Don't leave alone; your shit is still at my house. I don't want to haul it out when you get yourself kidnapped."

Aoyou got out of the car and slammed the door, shaken and annoyed. Yuki was too good. He knew exactly how to get anything her wanted: sex. By using a smoky charm and that forcible passion, he had bent Aoyou to his will. He had sent her heart fluttering without missing a beat himself.

Yuki watched her flounce up to the door of the apartment, the one with the address on the paper. Apparently she had a friend who lived here that was going to help her find a job.

He waited until someone answered the door and let her inside. He felt relieved upon seeing it was a woman, and upon realizing the cause of his relief he squealed away from the curb. Aoyou had been wrong when she had assumed he hadn't been shaken by their close encounter. His forehead was slightly damp from sweat, and he cursed silently.

He drove around aimlessly, not wanting to return home just yet. His eyes flicked from one mirror to the next, purely out of habit. There was nothing to do; Mizuki was busy editing his latest book chapters and he had no errands to run or chores to finish.

He blew out air sharply, still a little hot from his argument with Aoyou. She was so vivacious, so quick.

Quick to a bitchload of anger, that is. Yuki thought sourly. Flipping on his signal, he turned the steering wheel deftly and turned onto a familiar side street. He was at the back entrance of N-G.

"Shit," He swore softly, groaning. Even his subconscious was against him today! He parked his car and sat in the seat for a few seconds. Might as well, as long as I'm already here.

He got out and walked to the door, giving it an experimental tug. It was locked, per expectation, but Yuki dug around in a shrub a few feet away from the door. He came out of the greenery with a spare key in hand. Having connections with Seguchi did come in handy, though Yuki thoroughly believed that the benefits were dismally small compared to the drawbacks.

He slipped inside and started up the elevators to the recording studio. Seeing Shuichi fall over himself in transports of joy would lift Yuki's mood. Although he would hardly admit it, just being around such innocent stupidity that Shuichi radiated made Yuki feel better.

He barely had stepped off the elevator into the lobby when the door to the studio opened and Shuichi's American manager K walked out. "Yuki-san?

"Where's Shuichi?" Yuki drawled.

"He's recording." K said shortly. "Somethin' lit a fire under his butt; the band's managed to start in on their second song for today."

"Can I see him?" Yuki asked impatiently.

"Sure, but he can't see you." K replied. "I like getting things done, and you, my friend, are the exact opposite of getting things done."

"We aren't friends." Yuki scowled.

"Whatever. "K shrugged. "C'mon, I'll get you into the glass wall."

"What glass wall?" Yuki frowned.

"A glass wall is a room where the major sound altering is performed. "K explained, while turning on one heel, waving for Yuki to follow. "We can see and hear the performers, but they can't see or hear us. Too distracting. If we wanna talk to 'em, then, we go through their headphones, otherwise, it's like there's a brick wall between us."

"Oh."

Yuki followed K into the glass wall room. What K had said was true; there was Shuichi singing sweetly into a microphone extending down from the ceiling. Hiro was plucking the strings of his guitar, and Suguru was manning the soft tisk-tisk-tisk-tap of the synth's drums and playing a small harmony on the synth's piano to accompany Shuichi's voice. The three didn't give any sign of noticing they had a new observer.

Yuki listened for a moment. Shuichi had obviously taken part in writing the words he was currently singing, but Yuki had never heard him sing them before. "What's this one called?"

K sniggered a little. "Something Shuichi and Hiro wrote jointly. They're called it 'Borealis Mystery' for reasons only those two crazy bastards know."

Yuki listened harder, covertly grateful to see this side of Shuichi he never really could uncover fully. It was the side of the boy that only emerged through the sweet enchantment of music.

"Just like the Northern lights,

Beautiful and fleeting,

For just one shining second,

Like the time of our meeting...

The strangest things happen when we least expect them to,

And honesty's policy means I should tell you,

But churning, burning, searing, clashing

Feelings mean I'll never do...

Strange as the Northern lights

When I'm loving you..."

End Chapter


Authoress here.

Please overlook all the detail about Yuki's driving. I'm undergoing a hell more formerly known as Driver's Ed, even though I'm technically late in taking it, for my age. Feh! I say. I can drive just fine, permit or no. Heh...I mean...never mind. It's been rubbing off on my writing, especially since I wrote half of this on notebook paper during the instructor's drone-fest on parking spots or something.

The song bit at the end was purely fictional gibberish concocted by me. I just saw my first ever real live honest to goodness Aurora Borealis show earlier this evening, and what a display! I thought I should have given such beautiful events homage.

As for the whole "glass wall' thing, that really is a technical term. Just something your liddle ole Authoress picked up when she was doing a bit of voice-over shit for a really stupid TV show. Don't ask. If you do, I will pointedly ignore you in order to keep the memories supressed.

Review please!