Sweet Emotion

Author: LadyMonarchDragon

Summary: On a routine trip to the grocery store, Shindou Shuichi finds a kid in an alley. His memory is gone, and everyone has some serious sorting out to do.

Chap. Rating: Ummm.. Not sure…

" Get up, you lazy brat! Move it!" Shuichi woke slowly to the sound of Yuki yelling at Kaito. Kaito was bargaining with Yuki for more sleeping time. He started at an hour, then 45 minutes, then a half-hour, to 20 minutes, to 15, to 10, and he was now at 5 minutes. Yuki wasn't amused.

" Get off the couch, before I punt you across the room like a little runty football!" Kaito grunted, and a crash could be heard. " You overgrown lizard! Let go of me!" yelled Kaito in response. "Get off the goddamn furniture and take a shower! You still smell like shit!"

" Well, excuse me for not smelling like a rose like yourself!"

"You're asking for it, you little…"

" Little what? Huh? You hack writer!"

Shuichi's eyebrows shot up. No one insults Yuki's writing ability. He had experience in that area. The living room became deathly quiet. Shuichi could feel the tension. He sat up, prepared to bolt out of the bedroom before things got ugly. The silence was broken by Yuki's scarily quiet raspy whisper.

" What…did…you…just…say?" said Yuki, and Shuichi could hear a cough and a groan and had suspicions that Yuki had picked Kaito up either by his shirt or throat. "I…said…that…you're…a hack…WRITER!" Kaito spat out, and then Yuki got really angry. Shuichi ran out to the living room.

"Yuki, put him down! You'll hurt him!" Shuichi begged. He was right; Yuki was holding him by the collar of his shirt. Kaito was fighting to either tear or stretch the collar enough so he could breathe. He was kicking and flailing to get free, but Yuki had his collar in a death grip. Shuichi's words finally got to the enraged author. He dropped the boy, and Kaito began to cough.

" C'mon, Kaito, you do need to shower again. We're gonna go meet Suguru and Hiro and some other friends." Kaito was glaring at Yuki, but went along anyway. Shuichi watched Kaito. He was acting kind of strange. When he went to bed last night, he was perfectly fine. It's probably just the encounter with Yuki…

" Shuichi?" Kaito's words made Shuichi jump. " Yeah, Kaito-san?" said Shuichi, his lavender hair a holy mess. " D'ya… d'ya think your friends will like me?" the brunette looked sad. " I hope they do, because I already know that Yuki doesn't like me…" Shuichi sat down beside him on the side of the bathtub. The blue-eyed boy looked exceedingly guilty and upset. " Kaito, how could someone not like you? Yuki's just slow to warm up to." Kaito sniffed, making him seem very vulnerable. " I feel like a huge burden and intrusion."

The singer felt really bad. He had just taken Kaito out of nowhere, and introduced him into his life. He could hardly imagine the frustration that came from that. "I'm sure you'll have tons of fun! Hiro's a guitarist,…and Suguru's a keyboard player and…" Kaito was still looking really down. He was staring at the floor, and a few tears dripped down his flushed cheeks. " …Kai-kun, there's no way that they won't like you, ok?"

Kaito lifted his head. He looked right into Shuichi's eyes. " R-really?" Shuichi gave the depressed kid a hug. " Really." Whispered Shuichi into Kai's ear. Kaito got into the shower and Shuichi left the bathroom.

" Hey, brat, think you could make me a sandwich?" said Yuki, as he continued type away. "Sure, Yuki." Shuichi got up and made Yuki a sandwich, on just his whim. "Ugh, this is chicken salad! Make me another one." Yuki threw the sandwich on the table and continued to type. "Yes, Yuki." Shuichi made another one, this sandwich with salami. " Thanks, Shu." That was the most civil thing Yuki had said to Shuichi all day.

Kaito got out of the shower, was dried off, and dressed for the day. In Kaito's place, Shuichi got into the shower. He was wearing one of Shuichi's sleeveless hoodies, a baggy pair of Yuki's pants, and an old pair of Yuki's shoes. " Um, thanks for the use of your clothes, Yuki-chan." All he got from the novelist in response was a grunt. Kaito was watching Yuki type.

"Here, watch this." Kaito snagged the author's prized laptop right out of his hands. He began to type, and his hands seemed to fly over the keyboard. "Hey…what…" was all Yuki could say before the younger boy began to type.

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines

He wrote a poem

And he called it "Chops"

Because that was the name of his dog

And that was what it was all about

And his teacher gave him an A

And a gold star

And his mother hung it on the kitchen door

And read it to his aunts

That was the year that Father Tracy

Took all the kids to the zoo

And he let them sing on the bus

And his little sister was born

With tiny toenails and no hair

And his mother and father kissed a lot

And the girl around the corner sent him a

Valentine signed with a row of X's

And he had to ask his father what the X's meant

And his father always tucked him into bed at night

And he was always there to do it

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines

He wrote a poem

And it was called "Autumn"

Because that was the name of the season

And that's what it was all about

And his teacher gave him an A

And asked him to write more clearly

And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door

Because of its new paint

And the kids told him

That Father Tracy smoked cigars

And left butts on the pews

And sometimes they would burn holes

That was the year his sister got glasses

With thick lenses and black frames

And the girl around the corner laughed

When he asked he to go see Santa Claus

And the kids told him why

His mother and father kissed a lot

And his father never tucked him in at night

And his father got mad

When he cried for him to do it

Once on a piece of paper torn from his notebook

He wrote a poem

And he called it "Innocence: A Question"

Because that was the question about his girl

And that's what it was all about

And his professor gave him an A

And a strange steady look

And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door

Because he never showed her

That was the year Father Tracy died

And he forgot how the end of the Apostle's Creed went

And he caught his sister

Making out on the back porch

And his mother and father never kissed

Or even talked

And the girl around the corner

Wore too much makeup

That made him cough when he kissed her

But he kissed her anyway

Because that was the thing to do

And at 3 A.M. he tucked himself into bed

His father snoring soundly

That's why on the back of a brown paper bag

He tried another poem

And he called it "Absolutely Nothing"

Because that's what it was all about

And he gave himself and A

And a slash on each damned wrist

And he hung it on the bathroom door

Because this time he didn't think

He could reach the kitchen. (1)

Yuki read the poem. It was beautiful. "Did…did you write this poem, Kaito?" Kaito looked into Yuki's honey colored eyes. "No, I didn't. I don't know who wrote it." Yuki became frustrated. " Well, did someone tell it to you?" Kaito never looked away from Yuki's eyes. "Yes."

"Well then, who!"

"Who?"

"Yes!"

Kaito got up, gave Yuki his laptop back, and turned to leave before he looked back at the writer. "Shuichi told it to me. Last night, I had trouble sleeping, and he came in and talked to me and told me that poem. I just thought you should hear it."

Kaito went to the kitchen, and soon Shuichi walked out, wearing traditional Shuichi clothes. "Kaito-kun, are you ready?" Kaito walked out of the kitchen, eating a sandwich. " Yes! Oh Boy!" The pink haired singer turned to the novelist.

" Are you sure you don't wanna come, Yuki-kun?" Yuki glared at him. "Quite."

The two young men were walking down the street, observing the sights. Kaito was unusually quiet. Shuichi tried to read what was wrong from just his face, but it was impossible. Kaito could really hide his emotions. "Kaito, are you ok?" said Shuichi, concerned. Kaito didn't answer for a second.

" Shuichi, I need to tell you something" unfortunately whatever was needed to be said was cut off when Hiro ran outside to greet the two guys. "Hey Shu! Is this amnesia kid that I've heard so much about?" Kaito was noticeably uncomfortable now. Shucihi wished that Hiro hadn't come on so strong.

" Yeah, Hiro, this is Kaito. Kaito, Hiro." Hiro gave him a hearty handshake. "How's it goin', pal?" Kaito forced a smile. "Uh…good…" Shuichi glared slightly at Hiro. He always forces himself onto people, in a manner of speaking.

All of Shuichi's worries were for naught. Soon, Kaito was laughing and messing around with Suguru and Hiro. Shuichi was sitting at the kitchen table with K, just hanging out. " Kaito sure fits in perfectly with those two." K laughed a little, then asked, " So, where'd you find him again, and why did you name him Kaito?" Shuichi looked at the chocolate haired boy. " I found him unconscious in an alley outside the grocery store, but you know what I don't understand? Why no one else saw him. I'm sure everyone wouldn't ignore him…" Kaito was laughing now, as Hiro told a joke.

" Maybe you were meant to find him. It's possible, you know." Said K, considering the theory. "One thing's for sure, he's no ordinary kid."

(1) This is my all-time favorite poem. I'm not sure who its by, but in the book I got it from, The Perks of being a Wallflower, it says it's a kid's suicide note. I thought it might show a new side of Shuichi. Oh, by the way, I highly recommend The Perks of being a Wallflower. You'll love it!

So, whaddya think? I thought the first chapter wuz better.

/LadyMonarchDragon/