Disclaimer: Gravitation and all associated materials belong to their respective owners.

Party from Hell

By: Nanaki BH

I stood in front of our bathroom mirror. I licked my finger tentatively, hoping not to taste any hair gel. I slicked down the strand of hair at the back of my head that was driving me crazy… and it popped up again. Stay down, dammit! It was testing me, it seemed. Maybe this is what the party would be like; a whole bunch of tests to set me off. People there will bug me and bug me to try to make me do something embarrassing, just so I'd lose my bet to Yuki. It's not going to happen. I've got this one in the bag. He's going to be so surprised when everyone at the party loves me because I'm such an angel.

I left out a small chuckle under my breath and stood there confidently with my hands on my hips, admiring my grand appearance. So what if that piece of hair wouldn't stay down? I couldn't make it. Yeah, that's how I'll be at the party. So what if people want to get on my nerves? They won't bother me, the great superstar Shuichi! I leaned forward and kissed my reflection in the mirror. Oh, I'm so cute. Then I knew what I was missing… lip gloss; something to make me… I don't know… shiny. You know what I mean. I have to have an "aura". I'm a rockstar. We all have auras.

There was a knock on the bathroom door. "Hurry it up," came Yuki's usual bored tone of voice. "I want to leave in five minutes. Faster is better, you know."

"Alright!" I shouted. I rummaged through my bag of various cosmetics and hair products until I came up with a tube of sparkly pink lip gloss; strawberry, my favorite. I applied it with expertise and puckered my lips at my reflection playfully. You're so brilliant, Shuichi, I told myself.

Once I was (beyond) satisfied with how I looked, I waltzed out of the bathroom. "How do I look, Yuki?" I asked.

He was handsome himself, sitting at the living room couch, legs crossed, and reading a book. He had on a suit I picked out with him. "Gorgeous" wasn't even a good enough word to describe him. There, he's mumbling. God, he can't even look at me. What an asshole. "It's crap," I heard him mutter.

"What?" I cried, immediately disheartened.

He looked up from his book. He squinted his eyes at me, looking puzzled. "Oh, I meant the book," he said. "The author's going to be there. I just thought I should get to know their work before I go saying how much I loved it."

I sighed; relieved he wasn't talking about me. "Well, what if they ask you? If you hated it, what would you say to them?"

He shrugged and leaned forward to place the book (now with a bookmark snuggly placed between its pages) onto the table. "I don't know. I usually think of something. 'I'm not a fan of the genre' usually works. If it's a romance novel then I really have to think of something," he laughed. It wasn't that kind of "wow, that's so funny" laugh. It was more like the "wow, people at parties will think I'm amusing in small talk" kind of laugh. Maybe his humor is only useful for small talk… I guess that explains it.

"Sorry," he said (didn't get that one much), "what did you ask me before?"

I blushed. "I wanted to know if I looked good." That's when he looked me over. My blush must have deepened ten shades. I could tell he wasn't critiquing my outfit. He was seeing right through it. Not that I minded… it just made me a little uncomfortable. Not in a bad way either, of course… if it's possible to feel 'pleasantly uncomfortable'.

"You look nice," he said. It makes my heart flutter when he gives me compliments. A compliment from him is like an early Christmas present. "You look cute in suits."

I grinned. "Thank you, Yuki. You look good too." I came before him at the couch and offered him a hand. He didn't bother to take it and stood up on his own.

"At least it's not a dress."

Oh, how can he turn around everything good! I pouted and smacked his shoulder in annoyance. I heard him snigger. Maybe he just likes getting me flustered or something. He's a big perv like that anyway.

"We're supposed to be there at eight. It's already seven thirty and if we want to get there on time we'll have to hurry now. You take forever."

I growled and balled my fists. "Yuki! You're so mean!" He gave another laugh that made my blood boil. He stood at the door ready to leave, turned around, and gave me the strangest look. It was the look a hungry lion gets when it spots a gazelle. You know what I mean. It was that look of "I know what I want and I'm ready for the challenge". I wasn't sure if I should be frightened or intrigued. I decided the latter was best because I myself was up for the challenge. He was going down! "Just be quiet, Yuki," I said. "Tonight you're going to lose to me."

"Oh contraire, Shuichi. You don't stand a chance."

Author's Notes: I'd be surprised if this is longer than the other chapters. I usually don't like multichapteral things, so maybe that's why this has taken me so long to get back to. I kind of fell out of the Gravitation fandom for a while anyway. Not that I'm back in it… I just decided that since people liked this, I might as well finish it. It wasn't that bad to start with. I think I write better now, so hopefully you'll agree. Tell me what you think! Review!