Authoress here.

BAD AUTHORESS! I haven't posted in what seems like forever, gomen, gomen!

(Whacks head) It figures that I would give the "villain" in this story, Alex DuFrense, the same name as my bishie. I started the story before we started seeing one another, and now I'm really glad he doesn't read fanfiction. I SERIOUSLY DIDN'T MEAN FOR THIS TO OCCUR!

Heh heh….on with the chapter…

A Three Way Tie
Chapter Sixteen: Time and Space


Gravitation

Tsumaru home

"Aoyou!" A red-haired woman flew out of the doorway and smothered her daughter in a tight hug. Aoyou let her suitcase hit the ground as she hugged her mother back.

"Hey, Mom." Aoyou murmured into her mother's shoulder.

"What brings you back to the States?" Rosemary Tsumaru released her daughter, wiping misting eyes.

"Just some stuff." Aoyou said feebly. "Home sick, really."

"Well, don't stand out on the doorstep like some stranger!" Rosemary declared. "Oh, wait until your father gets home, he'll be so thrilled to see you! As a matter of fact, we were just talking about you yesterday…"

Aoyou let her mother babble on as she followed her into the familiar rambler she had lived in for the early part of her life. The old white shutters were still in need of paint, and the organized chaos of her mother's famous garden sprawled over the compact front lawn. It felt good to be home, no matter the circumstance of her return.

"We tried to keep your room the same for times like these, when you came to visit." Rosemary said over her shoulder. She opened the door to Aoyou's old room and stepped in. Aside from a few boxes pushed against the wall, it was exactly the way Aoyou remembered it.

"I'll let you settle in, dear, then come on out and we'll have some tea." Rosemary beamed at Aoyou, and sniffled a little. "Oh, your father and I have missed you."

"I missed you too, Mom." Aoyou gave her mother's cheek a kiss before turning to her suitcase. She frowned. She was unsure of just how long she would be staying in America; maybe a week or two, or maybe she would rent out her old apartment and continue school.

Aoyou pushed the suitcase under her bed, unwilling to face the reason she had come back to America. I'll deal with it when I need too, she decided.

Aoyou walked down the hallway to the kitchen, were Rosemary was putting a kettle on the stovetop.

"Earl Gray or Amonatsu?" Rosemary held up two boxes of teabags for her daughter's inspection.

"Um, I think I've had enough Japanese tea for right now." Aoyou said carefully. "I'll take the Earl Gray."

"How long are you visiting for?" Rosemary bustled around the kitchen, getting two old mugs from the cupboard.

"Not sure." Aoyou cringed a little at the question, but managed to evade really answering. "My job really doesn't designate where I have to live, Miss Mizuki agreed to send me all the editing and translating work she needed via email."

"How exciting!" Rosemary smiled. "A real translating job, just like you dreamed! Tell me, how was it, living back in Japan?"

"Interesting." Aoyou accepted the mug her mother extended to her, dipping the teabag into the hot water. "Everyone was really friendly; I didn't feel like a niguen at all."

"Remind me what a niguen is," Rosemary furrowed her brow. "After all those years of taking Japanese and having your father try to teach me, I can hardly remember a thing."

"It's a foreigner." Aoyou explained. "My first night there, though..." She stopped with a grin, remembering how naively she had been walking down a dark street, clutching directions and a suitcase. Her grin faded; however, as she remembered the house she had gone up to in an attempt to dissuade the thugs following her.

Yuki's eyes had been so cold, his voice so alluring, his kiss so forceful. Aoyou stared at her mug, chewing on her lower lip a little.

"Dear, is something wrong?"

"No!" Aoyou looked up. "It's just…well, my first night, I couldn't find Himoru's home. I was being followed, so I just went up to a random house and hoped they'd let me in."

"Did they?"

"Yes." Aoyou sighed. "A single guy lived there, and I found out he was a romance novelist. I actually am the assistant to his editor, now. He sort of helped me get the job."

"Single, hmm?" Rosemary's eyes twinkled in amusement. "How did that turn out?"

"Not like you think." Aoyou said truthfully. "There was an attraction, yes, but then there was his…friend."

"Oh?"

"Yuki-san was friends with this famous J-pop singer, Shuichi Shindou." Aoyou felt herself going a little red as she doctored the actual story. "And Shuichi was very kind as well."

"Shuichi Shindou." Rosemary said thoughtfully. "I do believe I've heard that name before….He's in Omichi, isn't he?"

Aoyou started at the name of the band. "Omichi" was Bad Luck in Japanese. "How d'you know about Bad Luck, Mom?"

"Is that what that word means?" Rosemary laughed. "You've got to be very brave to name your band "Bad Luck," hmm? Oh, your father's been bringing home strange CDs again, like when you were smaller. He's currently debating with work friends who is the hottest music item over in Japan- They're stuck over this Omichi band, a man named Gackt or something, and this woman, Utada Hikaru."

"Dad's at it again?" Aoyou set her mug down, grinning. In the basement, Shigurutsu Tsumaru had a room dedicated to his Japanese collection. He loved buying touristy things from Japan, including some more expensive items, like the three piece samurai sword set. On one wall he had his Japanese CD collection, which expanded every time he visited his homeland.

"Yes." Rosemary rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "But back to your story, dear, did you have relations with either?"

"Sort of." Aoyou fidgeted a little before telling her mother a highly altered version of the events that led to a full color photo of Shuichi and herself kissing on Watoshi no Tokyo's front cover.

"How exciting!" Rosemary got up to pour some more warm water into their mugs. "That was some quick thinking, dear."

"I really wasn't thinking." Aoyou confessed. "But that's as far as anything ever went." The lie caught in her throat briefly, and she took a sip of tea to avoid the uncomfortable passion alighting in her stomach.

The lines of light on the wall from the setting sun through the blinds.

The warm breath on her neck, her shoulder.

The irresistible press of warm, sweaty flesh.

The bursts of pain, followed by immense relief and satisfaction.

Aoyou couldn't help but turn the event longingly over in her mind, remembering the bittersweet evening and the cruel realities of morning. She bit back a sob, and blinked furiously to keep her eyes from watering.

"Dear?" Her mother's voice was concerned. "You don't look so well."

"Jet-lag." Aoyou managed out. "I think I oughta lay down for a bit."

"Alright, dear. Anytime you want me to wake you?"

"No, I won't be sleeping long."

"Okay then, dear." Rosemary gave her daughter a swift kiss on the cheek. "Sleep well."

That evening

Aoyou Tsumaru

I slept so soundly, I was surprised I didn't sleep through the night. I woke up with a Post-It note stuck to my forehead, my father's trademark move when he left notes.

Hey kiddo,

Nice to have you back home! I hope you wake up from your coma, for I have some friends coming tonight to join us in a welcome home FEAST for you.

Baka-Papa-chan

I grinned, and slipped out of bed. It was only five or so, too early for dinner. I decided to risk a shower before going downstairs.

Five minutes later I had wound my hair up into a wet bun, not wanting to bother with blow-drying it. Slipping on jeans and a modernized haori, I pounded down the stairs.

"Konichiwa, mesume-chan!" A large, bald someone barreled into me as I reached the bottom of the stairs, hugging me so tightly I could hardly breathe.

"BAKA!" I roared. "Are you trying to kill your only daughter!"

"Aoyou-chan, you just returned from Japan, I had expected you to be stuck in the language!" Shigurutsu Tsumaru, my father, released me and frowned in mock anger. "I was looking forewords to a lively conversation!"

"Fine." I stuck my tongue out. "Irasshaimase, marutamago atama ahou." Roughly translating to "Good meeting, you egg-headed fool."

"Marumotto uyauyashii tame marukorou." You should be more respectful to your elders.

"Korou shisan waizu, kaimu chichikusai!" Elder implies wiser, not more immature!

"Okay, you two, stop fighting when I can't understand what profanities you're using!" Mom bustled into the hall, shaking her head as we fell over ourselves laughing. The doorbell rang, and she turned on her heel to go answer it.

"Who exactly did you invite?" I questioned Dad in English. He only grinned mysteriously, mussing up my hair.

"You'll see."

That was never good.

I followed him into the kitchen, where Mom was leading our guests.

"Aoyou!"

For the second time in five minutes, someone ran hell bent for leather into me, only this time whoever it was brought their lips crushing down onto mine.

Oh. It was Alex. How fun.

Then, as he released me, it hit me. He thought that Yuki, Shuichi and I were having an orgy! And now, the story was partially true! If he spilled anything to my parents-!

"Hello, Alex." I gave him a week grin, massaging my poor lip.

"Aoyou?" I stiffened in shock as another familiar voice sounded. Peering over Alex's shoulder, I saw the old man from the plane standing in my mother's kitchen!

"Aoyou, I can't believe you've never met! This is my father, James DuFresne." Alex gave me a huge grin, but I was lost for words. The old man, the one who I had confessed everything to, was the father of the boyfriend I had, in essence, cheated on with two gay men!

End Chapter


Heh. Heh. Oh, what fun it is to authoress such stories!

Review, please!