Waiiii! (sobs) I'm so happy with all of your reviews. It really feels like this story is not 'talking' alone. Thank you sooooo much, everyone! If you have time, check out also my new Gravi fic, 'Solitude Chronicles'.
kriziamoon:
Wow… I rendered someone speechless!
i love athrun:
Done.
Shirubaa Kitsune: O.o… Surprised?
ichigo-chan:
You do? I'm glad. And about Aoshi suggestion thing… Deary, did
you read my mind? Will do! And the mean guy… Kuroi, huh? I'm
still not saying anything. Mwahahaha!
Fuyuko-chan: 10
points out of 10 for you! Yes, you got the hint right!
Kitty
in the Box: Tatsuha and Ryuichi… (drools) Yep, I just lurve
them.
MonkeyGurL: Track 11's up! I hope you like
Shuichi's past.
LilBlue-Hedggie: 10 points for you too!
You got the hint right (wink). Let's laugh at Taki and Arashi
together. (cackles evilly)
Hyper Chef: Actually, I wasn't
aware that the previous chapter has two cliffies. Haha… Shuichi is
a Sakuma alright. Read on, dear!
sakura blossoms4:
Updated!
Bram: (sobs) Oh, please don't hate me! And NO!
Don't die! I'm saving you right now. See? Track 11!
Xazenru:
Thank you for the favs!
Kolie: I'm SO glad that you like
the TatsuhaxRyuichi part! I almost ran out of ideas for that scene.
I swear, my English is getting worse everyday (sigh).
Mizuky:
Brave Shu is amazing. TRUE! TRUE! Anyway, umm, did you say 'lemon'?
I don't know. I never wrote one. I don't know if I can but if I
ever have the courage to do one, I'll announce it. Besides, this
fic is rated PG-13. So… Lemme think.
elf-princess4: How
could I stop there? Because I could, hahahaha!
BeybladeAthene:
Glad that you love the fact XD
Yukichi: Truth be told,
genki Eiri scares me too. Sorry for not updating soon enough,
though!
Anna-Angel: Okay! I promise it will be
good.
sakurastar-63: And you'll get more
XD.
0oXxSakuraxXo0: It does? Thank you!
B Wanted:
Suspense? That's new… Here's an update!
AND HERE'S THE START OF THE SECRET! YAY!
Keep in mind that for at least a couple of upcoming chapters, you won't find Eiri, Tatsuha, Hiro, Mika, Suguru and Sakano. This chapter lacks dialogue and is basically a narration of the past. I think it's quite… lame. I'm sorry if this chapter is too short. I have to find time for SC, filling forms and sorting through college and uni offers I got.
And I'm terribly SORRY for the delay. For some demented reasons (and I'm blaming my ISP for it), I couldn't get online at home so now, I'm posting this from a Cyber Café. Gosh, I feel so bad!
Fragments of memory
in
TRACK 11: INNOCENCE RETOLD
Shuichi tried very hard not to look at Eiri and Hiro. The hurt in their eyes was so apparent that it hurt. Sakano being Sakano fainted on the spot at the shocking revelation. For once, K's hands fell to his sides and looked surprised. Tatsuha was looking back and forth from Ryuichi to Shuichi. Mika gaped, looking at Ryuichi, Noriko and Tohma for confirmation. Ryuichi looked away, Noriko stared at her feet and Tohma smiled sadly. "I only know his real name and who he is but I don't know why he changed it," said Noriko in almost a whisper. Shuichi was a Sakuma, which meant that…
"Sakuma… Shuichi…" Eiri stammered. His heart constricted in his chest. Never once did Shuichi mention it to him. "Then… you and Ryuichi-san are…"
"Brothers? Yes, we are," Ryuichi answered the question for Eiri. The crowd gasped again. The always thought the resemblance between Shuichi and Ryuichi was coincidence. After all, Shuichi did mention that his idol was Ryuichi. They all thought he wanted to be like his idol and childhood friend – also a mentor, tutor, and a companion. They never thought they were really related by blood. Shuichi took a picture out of his wallet and showed it to them. It was of a smiling couple. The man had chestnut brown hair while the woman had pink hair much like Shuichi's. Mika gasped. "They're Ryuichi's parents." She remembered a picture of little Ryuichi Tohma showed her once. Ryuichi shook his head at that. "They're mine and Shuichi's parents. I have our father's hair and Shuichi has our mother's. We both have our mother's eye colour." Indeed, the woman in the picture had a bright pair of violet eyes. Hiro was still speechless. He was trying to accept the fact that Shuichi had lied to him for three years since the moment they met each other.
"I'm Shuichi, Shindou Shuichi."
It was a lie, a complete lie. Tatsuha decided not to say anything as he saw the guilt clearly written on Shuichi's face. K cleared his throat to bring all attention towards him. Shuichi stared at his manager with unreadable expression. Sakano, who had just woken up, looked as if he was glued to the ground. "I have to say that this is the most shocking news I've ever heard in my life. The first time Ryuichi introduced me and to you five years ago, he told me you were the son of his late father's friend. Tohma, as I recalled, said the same thing. Why would someone as young as you change his family name?"
Shuichi sighed audibly, grabbing a stool and sat down facing his friends. Taking a deep breath, Shuichi began his story with Tohma, Ryuichi, Akai and Koori backing him up.
- 18 YEARS AGO… -
13-year-old Ryuichi and 14-year-old Tohma tore down the white hallway towards their destination. The two ignored the yelling and all those people telling them not to run in the corridors. They could not care less about that. It was not time to ponder the consequences of disobeying orders. Tohma and Ryuichi were thinking about the same thing: 'Why must the first class wards be the hardest and the longest to reach?' In a matter of five minutes, they stood panting at the door of a room marked 'Room A-001'. "Darn," Ryuichi swore. "This is the third time we have to run like this today." Tohma nodded in agreement, still trying to catch his breath. "At least we have a pretty good reason this time."
"You're right."
Tohma and Ryuichi were with a school camping trip to the mountains in Toyama when their fathers called. Ryuichi's mother had gone into labour. They took the train with only their wallets with them. Mind you, the trip from Toyama to Tokyo was not short. Then they had to catch a taxi to the hospital. Imagine two frantic teenage boys in a taxi… Oh, the horror! During the ride, Tohma had had to comfort Ryuichi, who almost broke down out of anxiety. The traffic jam did not help either.
Straightening up, Ryuichi and Tohma pushed the door open to reveal a crowd of people scattered around the room. Tenshi Murakami, Tenshi Midori and Hino Sakura were standing next to the bed currently occupied by a pink-haired woman – Sakuma Natsumi. In her arm was a small bundle in which she was smiling down at with pride. Seguchi Tohru and Seguchi Hikari, Tohma's parents, motioned for their son to stand by them. Sitting on the bed beside the pink-haired woman was Sakuma Kenichi. Ryuichi approached the bed with caution. He let his father, Kenichi, pulled his arms to get a closer look at the bundle of joy in his mother's arms. "Ryuichi, meet your brother Shuichi," his mother said softly and held the baby out to him. Kenichi helped to balance the baby in Ryuichi's trembling arms.
Ryuichi looked at the baby for the longest time. He had never held a newborn before. The little thing was so tiny. His flushed cheek made him look so angelic. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Ryuichi was almost shocked to his skin when the small bundle squirmed lightly. Only then did he notice that the baby was trying to snuggle closer to him. Was such move possible for a baby? Or, was the boy special? "He's so… tiny." Murakami, Tohru and Kenichi chuckled. Ryuichi didn't notice them. His eyes was fixed at the little baby – his baby brother. Ryuichi blinked a couple of times before breaking into a large grin. "Hi, Shuichi! I'm Ryuichi, your brother. Welcome to our life, Chibi-chan. I'll love you and take care of you."
Natsumi was touched by the sincerity in Ryuichi's words. She weakly reached for his eldest son's forehead to give it a loving kiss. Ryuichi giggled, still looking at his newborn brother. Natsumi looked up and called for Tohma. The blond teen took small paces towards the bed and looked at the baby. His dark eyes were wide with wonder. "Hi, Shuichi," whispered Tohma. "My name is Tohma. I'm your brother's best friend. From now on, I'll be yours too." Tohma was delighted when he was allowed to hold the baby. "He's so beautiful, Natsu-obaasan!" Ryuichi agreed with Tohma. "He's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in this world!" They gently kissed the infant's head, earning a light baby-snore from the sleeping Shuichi.
Four months later found Tohma and Ryuichi babysitting Shuichi as their parents attended a business party out of town.
"That's not fair," Ryuichi pouted. A frown marred his feature. "Why is it that he only falls asleep in your arms but not mine?"
Tohma laughed softly, rocking the sleeping baby with great caution. "Maybe it's because I handle him better than you or maybe it's just because I'm more handsome than you."
"Yeah, right. More handsome than me, huh? I never knew looking girlish makes one looks handsome," Ryuichi said with a teasing grin.
Tohma rolled his eyes. "I'm not girlish."
"You are."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm not!"
"You are!"
"Waaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
Oops! Looked like they woke little Shuichi up.
Suddenly, the front door swung open with a bang and hurried footsteps followed the sound of the wailing baby. Tohma and Ryuichi stared gaping at the sight of 14-year-old Koori and 16-year-old Akai approaching them. "Alright, hands up guys! Who's guilty of making the angel cry?" said Koori with a glare. Tohma and Ryuichi sweatdropped. Miraculously, Shuichi stopped wailing when Akai held out his hand to the boy. Shuichi started to gurgle gleefully and squirmed in Tohma's arms to reach Akai's outstretched hand. With a happy smile reserved for the baby, Akai took Shuichi into his arms and cooed. Akai smirked at the glaring trio in the room and brought Shuichi to the kitchen. It was time for food!
"What are you doing here, Koori?" asked a curious Ryuichi.
Koori beamed. "To visit my favourite baby cousin, of course! Oh, mom says hi, by the way. Kuro and Shiro wanted to come along but Aoki stopped them. Those two still haven't finish their homework, it seems."
Ever since Akai and Koori saw Shuichi in the hospital four months ago, they had taken an instant liking towards Shuichi. Now, after four months, the baby looked even more angelic than before. With flushed chubby cheeks and a mop pink hair, baby Shuichi melted everyone's heart. Aoki always turned into his hyper-genki mode when he was around Shuichi.
The laughter was shared among them as the years rolled by. The Sakumas, mainly Ryuichi and Shuichi were the one who helped Tohma picked up the pieces of his shattered heart when the blond's parents died. With Shuichi's constant chanting of 'na no da!', everything was alright. No one knew where he learned the words, though. They soon became a suffix to Shuichi's sentences when the boy was able to talk.
Enter Kumagorou…
Ryuichi and Tohma stared at the three-year-old Shuichi in confusion. "Kumagorou?" they gasped simultaneously. Shuichi vigorously nodded his head. "Hai! His name is Kumagorou, na no da!"
Ryuichi tilted his head and frowned. "But Chibi-chan, it's a bunny, not a bear. Shouldn't his name be something along the lines of Usako instead? And it's pink. Are you sure it's a 'boy'?"
Shuichi pouted cutely. "Shuichi is sure, na no da! Kuma-chan is a boy because he wears a bow tie. Shuichi is not naming him Usako! Usako is a girl, na no da!"
Again, Tohma and Ryuichi's gaze fell onto the object of their current conversation. In Shuichi's arms was a pink, medium-sized stuff bunny wearing a red bow tie. Although the toy looked pretty plain, it cost a fortune since it was one-of-a-kind. It was specially made for Shuichi for his third birthday. For some unfathomable reasons, Shuichi decided to name the bunny 'Kumagorou'. Ryuichi and Tohma managed to save enough money to get the high-priced bunny for their cute Shuichi. The two gave up trying to convince Shuichi to change his mind about naming the bunny 'Kumagorou' – Kuma-chan for short. As Shuichi ran to his parents, Tohma and Ryuichi went to talk with the Koori and Akai. They congratulated Akai for graduating with flying colours. Koori swore he was going to beat his cousin's record since they studied in the same school. Akai had decided to enrol into the Police Academy to pursue a job as a police officer. Once again, Koori told them he was going to beat Akai's reputation when he caught up with him.
None of them was aware of the fact that Shuichi never reached Natsumi and Kenichi. He was distracted by the grand piano in one corner of the hall instead. Voices and laughter came to a halt when the hall was suddenly filled with happy melody of a piano. Tohma immediately recognised it as his own creation. Standing on the black chair and playing the piano was Shuichi, who seemed unaware of the effect he had on the audiences. The birthday boy played the melody until it ended. Shuichi only returned to reality when the hall roared with applause. He blinked and looked around, jumping off the chair and running towards Ryuichi. Tohma was gaping at the little boy. "How'd you do that, Shu-chan?" asked the awed blond.
"Do what, Tohma-oniichan?"
"Play the piano like that."
Shuichi hugged Kumagorou tightly to his chest and beamed. "Shuichi heard Tohma-oniichan play the song once, na no da! Shuichi just play it like Shuichi remember it, no da!"
Tohma gasped at the reply. Ryuichi was stunned beyond words. The same was true in the rest of the audience's case. Aoki, Akai and Koori stared silently at their favourite cousin. Shiroi and Kuroi were also rendered speechless. Tohma cleared his throat and frowned. "You heard me play once and you can already play the rest of it?"
Shuichi nodded his head vigorously.
Their conversation was interrupted when Sakuma Natsumi came running towards her youngest son to swing him around. "Oh, my darling Shuichi! Okaa-san is so proud of you!" She proceeded to shower the little boy with sweet little kisses, making the boy giggled in response. Kenichi and Murakami were talking in the farthest corner of the hall about God-Knows-What. The night was a new beginning for Shuichi. They no longer saw him as the normal, cute, boy but a cute little boy with natural talent. Ryuichi never got tired of teaching Shuichi all he knew about art and music. Tohma did the same. When Nittle Grasper was formed, their new career did not stop them from taking care of Shuichi. When Shuichi was seven, however, the two found themselves spending less time with the little angel than before.
It had been only two years since Nittle Grasper started rocking Japan with their extraordinary talent but Ryuichi and Tohma could already feel the heat. With time spent on tour, little Shuichi had no one to guide him.
On one sunny day, Tohma and Ryuichi took a small walk in the park with their disguises on. They couldn't risk being seen by the crowd. "Ne, Tohma."
"Hmm?"
"I'm worried about Shuichi."
Tohma's eyes saddened at that. "I am too, Ryuichi. I'm afraid Shuichi would think we don't want to spend time with him anymore. At this rate, I won't have much time to teach him keyboard anymore," he ended his words with a heavy sigh. A few days before, Shuichi refused to talk to them on the phone. His exact words when Natsumi gave him the phone were "Tohma-oniichan and Ryuichi-oniichan have been away for a month and only called Shuichi now. Shuichi and Kuma-chan don't want to talk to them, na no da!" The two Graspers' hearts sunk at that. When they returned home later, they had to spend a good two-hour-grovelling-session to get Shuichi to speak to them again. Koori, who was there with his mother Sakura at that time, laughed himself sick. They deserved it, anyway. Frustrated, Ryuichi kicked a small rock and sent it flying into the air.
KNOCK!
"Ouch!"
Ryuichi winced. He'd hit someone! A few metres ahead, a young man wearing a red cap fell to his knees and rubbed his aching head where the small rock hit. Ryuichi and Tohma ran towards the fallen man. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry, mister! It was my fault! I didn't see you there!" Ryuichi became frantic. How could he be so careless? The man laughed lightly. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt that much, anyway." He looked up and met Ryuichi's eyes – and froze. "Ryuichi-san? Tohma-san?" Ryuichi and Tohma blinked a few times. They studied the man as he got to his knees. When the aforementioned man took his cap off, Ryuichi and Tohma immediately recognised him. "Aoshi! It's you!" they both shouted. They would have been embarrassed if there were people around but luckily, there was none. Shindou Aoshi nodded and bowed sheepishly. Tohma and Ryuichi were his senior back then in high school. They were in the same club and were quite good friends. The young man graduated only a few months ago. For some reasons, Aoshi was also a friend of Akai and Koori since the brown-haired man was Koori's neighbour. Since Akai spent plenty of time at the Hinos with his cousin and best friend, you get the picture. Aoshi was also a big fan of Nittle Grasper.
They shook hands, smiling all the while. "It's been a while," said Aoshi. The other two nodded in agreement. "I'm still a big fan of your band, you know? When you guys left, our school practically went into mourning. But we're very proud of you, sempai." Ryuichi and Tohma had to laugh at that. They walked alongside each other and sat on a wooden bench nearby. "Mourning, huh? What about you, Aoshi? I heard you won every competition you entered. You've got a great sense of creativity too, you know? You just chose to lay low and not be seen in public. I swear, you're too shy for your own good," Tohma said with a warm smile. Aoshi blushed. "Shindou Aoshi and a crowd of people do not mix."
The three talked for a while. Ryuichi facefaulted when Aoshi told him he was working as an office boy in Sakuma Holding. He was trying to earn extra money to enrol in Tokyo University of Art and Music. His father died a few months back and his mother was not well enough to work. So, Aoshi had to work to support his family. It was then that an idea hit Tohma and Ryuichi. "You said something about supporting your family and saving money for your education, right? How about you work for us?"
"Work… for you?"
Tohma nodded. "Yes. You have a great talent in art and music, Aoshi. It would be great if you could teach our Kawaii Chibi-chan."
"Kawaii Chibi-chan?"
"My younger brother's nickname," Ryuichi provided. "His name is Sakuma Shuichi. Tohma and I have been teaching him music since he was four. But these past few months, we've been too busy with Nittle Grasper and all. We would like to hire you to be his tutor. We'll pay you ¥600,00 a month. How's that?"
Aoshi's eyes went wide at that. ¥600,00 a month! Okay, he knew Ryuichi and Tohma were from rich families, and Nittle Grasper probably profited millions a month but to pay him ¥600,00… Tohma raised an eyebrow at Aoshi's perplexed expression. "We could raise the pay a bit if you think that's not enough."
"Wha NO! That's not necessary. Yes, of course I'd love to work for you but 600,00 is a bit too much… don't you think?"
Tohma and Ryuichi grinned. "You'd be surprised at how far we're willing to go for our Shuichi," they both said proudly.
A few days later, Aoshi understood completely why Tohma and Ryuichi were willing to do anything for one Sakuma Shuichi. Aoshi found himself gazing into the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He found himself enthralled in the biggest, truest smile ever given his way. The little boy standing in front of him was a cherub, not a mere mortal. Aoshi was thoroughly captivated by the purest picture of innocence the boy represented. Said boy held a hand out to him, his other hand clutching a pink stuff bunny.
"Hello, mister. My name is Sakuma Shuichi."
The boy had to be the sweetest human being Aoshi had ever encountered. As he took the boy's hand, he decided he would have tutored Shuichi all the same even if Tohma and Ryuichi did not pay for his services.
Aoshi took a deep breath and exhaled. He summoned the truest smile he could muster and took the boy's hand. "Hello, Shuichi. My name is Aoshi - Shindou Aoshi."
To Be Continued in Track 12: Cold Hearts
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Extra
OCs:
Sakuma Kenichi – Shuichi and Ryuichi's
father
Sakuma Natsumi – Shuichi and Ryuichi's mother
Seguchi
Tohru – Tohma's father
Seguchi Hikari – Tohma's mother
You'll get to see more of Aoshi in the next chapter. For now, please be kind and REVIEW!
