Disclaimer: I'm sure we are all aware of the fact that I don not own Gravitation. Let's move along. (shoos)
Three to Tango
By Akaru
Prologue
Shuichi sighed happily. Life was good. He was sitting on the carpet in Yuki's living room, with a box of strawberry pocky and a CD with Nittle Grasper's newest single. Ryuichi Sakuma's powerful voice reverberated through the headphones, and Shuichi squealed as he hit a particularly impressive note.
"Sugoi! Sakuma-san is so cool. I wish I could sing like that!" Shuichi quieted down again to focus on the lyrics, memorizing them the instant they entered his ear. A notebook lay ignored on the floor in front of him—he was supposed to be working on his own lyrics. But the blank notebook had long since been forgotten.
Through the heavy beat of the music, Shuichi could vaguely make out the sound of a door being unlocked and opened. The familiar sound dragged him from his music-induced reverie, and he leapt to his feet, leaving the CD player discarded on the floor as he raced to the door.
"YUKI! Yukiyukiyukiyuki…" Shuichi trailed off as he latched onto the first part of his lover's body that presented itself, which happened to be his right arm. The novelist glared down at him, and made a feeble attempt to shake Shuichi from his appendage.
"Oi, brat, let go. I have enough to carry as it is." Yuki grumbled.
"I don't wannaaa…" Shuichi whined, but he released the captive arm anyway. He took one of the bags of groceries from Yuki's hands, and headed toward the kitchen.
Ten minutes later, Yuki stepped through the living room and down the hall. Then he stopped, turning to glare at his lover. "I have work to do, so don't bother me, brat." Yuki turned into his office and shut the door with a resounding slam.
Shuichi pouted, but he quickly recovered. Yuki was home, he still had a new Nittle Grasper release, and now he had more strawberry pocky. Life was still good.
Then of course, the phone rang.
The shrill yell of the house phone echoed in the spacious apartment. Shuichi stared at it a moment. It rang again.
"Answer the damn phone, you idiot!" Yuki bellowed from the office.
Shuichi scooped up the device holding it to his ear. "Moshi-moshi! Shindou Shuichi answering! La-li-ho!"
A strangled sob came over the receiver. Shuichi looked down at it confusedly. "Eh? Who is there? What's wrong?"
Thecaller responded once again with a couple of sniffs, followed by the ear-splitting wail.
"I HATE MOM AND DAD!"
"Maiko!" Shuichi exclaimed when he was able to return the receiver to his ear. He quickly switched it to the other ear, since that one was still buzzing. "What's the matter, little sis? Tell your aniki what's wrong."
And boy, did she. Twenty minutes later, Shuichi had a good idea of what had gone awry. At least, he thought he did.
"So…Mr. Student Body President broke up with you, and them mom wouldn't let you go to the store to get any ice cream?"
Maiko sniffed. "Every broken heart needs ice cream," she stated matter-of-factly.
"…and then Dad came in and lectured you about screaming at you mother, and so you bit him…."
"And he GROUNDED me! Can you believe it?"
Shuichi blinked rapidly. And they called him the family nutcase…
"Gee, I'm…sure sorry for you, Maiko, I--"
"You are?" Maiko interrupted, her voice hopeful.
"Of course I am. I'm your brother. I sure wish there was something I could do…"
"—you do? Really?" Maiko exclaimed again.
"Um…yes?" Shuichi responded, thoroughly flustered.
Maiko squealed. "I love you, big brother! I'll be right over!"
"Oh, um….you will?" Shuichi's head spun. She'll be right over where? Unfortunately, the dial tone didn't relay any further information.
Wait… was Maiko on her way over here? Uh oh, she should probably go tell Yuki. He walked down the hall and tapped on the office door.
"I told you not to bother me, idiot! Go away!"
"Demo….Yuki…."
The door flew open, and an irate Yuki glared down at him. "Listen, brat. I have a deadline to make, and if I get interrupted ONE more time before I finish this chapter, they'll find your body tethered to a rock in the middle of the goddamn ocean!" The door closed again.
"O-okay…" As dense as Shuichi was, he got the message.
Oh, dear. If Maiko was coming here, she would want to see Yuki. And then she would make noise, and noise would disrupt Yuki, and Yuki would turn Shuichi into fish food.
"I'm going to have to get Maiko out of here..."
Shuichi sat on the sofa, slowly nibbling at the corner of his fingernail. He glanced toward the door, then to Yuki's office, then back to the door again.
After what seemed to be hours, a knock finally came at the door. Shuichi bolted for the door, hoping Yuki hadn't heard. He listened a moment, and when nothing stirred in Yuki's office, he released the breath of air he realized he had been holding. Okay, maybe he was being a little silly…
Shuichi opened the door and was immediately pulled into his sister's embrace. "Hi there, cutie-pie! I haven't seen you in so long! Oh, I've missed you—where is he?"
Shuichi blinked. "Where is…?"
Maiko rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Yuki-san! Who else?" She peered anxiously over Shuichi's shoulder. "Where is Eiri Yuki-san?"
Shuichi gulped. "Ano, Maiko, we can't bother Yuki right now. He's very busy working on his latest novel."
"But-"
"You want his novel to come out on time, don't you?" Shuichi asked. Maiko nodded, but still glanced uncertainly over his shoulder. "Um, how about this. Let's go over to Hiro's for a little while, and then you can meet Yuki in—well, in the morning," Shuichi said, noting that Maiko had a bag with her. She apparently was intending to stay. "And I'll get you the very first copy of Yuki's new novel the instant it's in print."
That had Maiko's interest. "Okay!" She chirped, dropping the bag by the couch and skipping toward the door. "Let's go, Shu-chan!" Maiko then proceeded to drag Shuichi from the apartment.
Yuki emerged from the office a moment later, needing a refill on his coffee. He glanced around the living room, finding it strangely devoid of noise and…pink.
"Shuichi?" He stepped further into the living room after procuring the aforementioned caffeine. Sure enough, his little lover was nowhere to be seen.
However, an unfamiliar blue bag was positioned at the end of the couch. He stared at the object a moment, wondering why he didn't recognize it. Then he shrugged, and decided it was probably just Shuichi's. And with that, he threw the object into the pile of Shuichi's possessions, and headed back into his office.
It was nearly midnight when the two siblings once again stumbled into the living room of the Yuki residence. Shuichi was sure to quickly shush Maiko, lest she make any noise that would rouse Yuki, who was surely asleep.
"Where is my bag?" Maiko asked, glancing around. "Oh, here it is. Did you move it?" Maiko scooped up the handles of her blue duffel.
Shuichi shook his head. "I didn't touch it. Yuki must have moved it."
Maiko dropped it immediately, her eyes wide. "Y-you mean Eiri Yuki-san touched my bag…with his hand…and…and ..." Maiko nearly squealed but remembered to keep quiet. Shuichi simply rolled his eyes at his sister's fangirl antics.
Maiko knelt by the couch as she rifled through her belongings. "Since I'm pretty sure you don't have a guest room, I'll just sleep here on the couch." She smiled up at her brother.
It then dawned on Shuichi that they didn't really have room for a third resident, seeing as Shuichi generally slept on the sofa himself. "But—" he started, but trailed off. Maybe that wasn't the sort of thing to tell his sister. He bit his lip.
Maiko got up and squeezed her brother in a hug. "Don't worry about me, Shuichi. I'll be fine sleeping on the couch," she assured him, unaware that she has misunderstood his concern. Maiko then promptly curled up onto said sofa, snuggling beneath Shuichi's blankets warmly. "Thank you for letting me come see you, Shuichi," she murmured sleepily. "…missed you…" she trailed off as her breathing became even and gentle, a sure sign that she had fallen asleep.
Shuichi couldn't help but smile. Who was he to be upset when his only sister had come all this way just to visit him? He could give up his sofa for a night.
Shuichi pulled a spare blanket from the linen closet and padded down the hallway. He peeked into the bedroom where Yuki lay sleeping as well. Then he slipped into the office, wondering how he intended to explain all of this to Yuki in the morning.
Nyaha. Please review, and I promise the next chapters will be longer. Prologues are allowed to be short, ne?
And please let me know if I use any Japanese terminology you don't understand, and I'll include a translation. My Japanese is meager at best, and I generally only use common terms, but I still manage to confuse people on an occasion.
I'd also like to thank the readers who reviewed my recently released one-shot, Wherever You Go. Thanks, everyone, for your support!
Akaru-
