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

Party from Hell
By: Nanaki BH

"Wow" was my first thought when I first stepped inside the building. It was a manor catering to the party. According to Yuki it was one of those that were too expensive for "the common folk". At first I didn't believe him. It looked really ordinary outside. I mean, here and there you'd see a pretty fountain or something, but inside… it was unreal. It was like something straight out of one of those fancy movies where every girl wears a gorgeous dress and all the guys wear tuxedos; something a little like the ball in Cinderella. Yeah, just like that in fact. There were people all over, talking animatedly with each other, even by the door. It was like they all knew each other and couldn't even wait to get into the party to talk.

I felt my cheeks grow hot… I didn't know any of these people and already some of them were staring at me! What was it? Did I have food on my face or something? No… I didn't eat anything after I changed for the party and I was sure that I looked perfect. I watched their eyes and noticed what they were looking at. Oh, God. My hair! They were looking at… my hair? It didn't seem that odd to me, but then again, having pink hair for so long gets you used to it. Everybody there was Japanese. Okay, except for that lady… and that guy she's with… and those people over there. So maybe they're from America, but most of the people were pure Japanese.

Eventually they turned their gazes from me and continued to chat among themselves. I hoped my hair wouldn't become the highlight of the party. I looked around, wondering what had become of Yuki. Maybe he just wanted to get away from me. I don't mind much, I guess. Later, he'll get all romantic and that makes everything fine. He always does that; "be mean to Shuichi now and have sex with him later". It sounds like a cruel concept, but it's really not. It's like he wants to impress everybody else and he doesn't want even the smallest chance of me screwing up. I can't blame him for being like that. I'd do the same thing if I were him!

I grinned when I spotted the food. It was so beautiful! Near the center of the room (Maybe not the real center, seeing as how there was a dance floor too, but it was close.) they had a whole table set up with food. There was some Japanese food, like some small special rolls of sushi, but there was a lot of American food. They were probably trying to cater to the Americans of the party; get them on their good side. Well whatever, I like American food. Oh, and what delicious food it looked like.

If there was a stronger word than "temptation" I would have used it for what I felt because it was the strongest feeling of temptation I'd ever had. So I'll just let you know that I was extremely tempted to take a piece of cake. If I took a piece though, I'd probably look like a pig. Even one piece of cake would have made me look bad. When I looked around me, it seemed that nobody was eating. How was that possible? Half the people there were obese! I ground my teeth, very disappointed. Yuki had brought me to this place just to aggravate me, huh?

Then I had to remind myself what was promised to me if I didn't make a scene: a romantic dinner with Yuki.

Wow… so what was there for me to do? Nobody here knew me apparently. The most they knew about me was that I had funny colored hair. I was sure that if I stood there any longer staring at that cake I would go insane, so I moved away, trying my best not to walk in between somebody's conversation. Well, food wasn't fun and neither were the people it seemed.

Stopping for a moment, I listened in on a nearby conversation. It took me a while to get in on it. Because there were so many people here talking, and with that band playing music, it was hard to hear them. It soon became apparent that all these people cared about was books. What's so special about books? I sighed. I guess it would have been a good idea to read more since I hooked up with Yuki, but no I haven't read a book in forever. Wait! I knew what book they were talking about! It was a made into a movie. The movie, so I've heard, was ten times better than the book. I saw it. It was much more interesting than reading some stupid book.

Confident that books didn't matter, I kept walking around the party. I spotted a young girl sitting by her lonesome at one of the tables. It was surprising, when you consider that the tables were so big. Why wasn't anybody else sitting with her? I shrugged to myself, deciding that there was nothing better to do.

"Bored?" I asked her, giving a casual smile.

She looked up at me oddly, hesitating with an answer. She was a cute young lady; Japanese with a round baby face. Timidly, she straightened her red dress before giving me an answer. "I guess so," she said hesitantly.

I pull a chair out from the table and sat myself down. "How old are you?" I asked her. Hey, I was bored. I might as well make a new pal while I'm at it.

"I'm sixteen," she said, still not wanting to meet my eyes.

What is it with these people? Is there something scary about pink hair? I certainly don't look like the threatening kind. "You look older than sixteen," I said. I wanted her to lighten up. I mean, there I was, bored out of my mind; the least I could do was cheer up somebody else in need, right? She wasn't even looking at me!

Slowly, she turned to look at me. Quietly, she muttered, "You look familiar."

Then I realized who I'd been talking to: a sixteen year old Japanese girl. No wonder why she was looking at me odd. She knew who I was! "What's your name?" I asked. "I'm Shuichi Shindou," I said, extending a hand.

Immediately, her face brightened. She stared somewhat incredulously at my hand. When she saw the equally friendly look on my face, she took my hand, shaking it firmly. "I'm Mina," she said, grinning broadly. "I'm one of your biggest fans!"

Just as I was about to reply, a woman walked by and put a hand on Mina's shoulder. "Who are you talking to, Mina?" she asked. She was tall and thin; very frail looking… but severe. Mina looked a little uncomfortable; I could see that much. I figured that the woman must have been her mother. Mina looked at me, earnestly beseeching me to do something.

"I'm uh…" Her mother looked up from her daughter, glaring at me (what I could describe only as) with the eyes of Satan. Sweet Lord, it was like she wanted to tear me apart for even talking to her daughter. "I'm… Shuichi Shindou," I said, trying my best to sound calm. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I extended my hand to her.

"The singer?" she asked, still eyeing me warily.

"Yes, ma'am, the singer," I said.

It was like somebody stole her face then. Somehow she went from deadly she-devil to innocent partygoer. She walked around her daughter, practically ignoring her presence and put a hand on my shoulder. "Why didn't you say that sooner?" she asked sweetly. "You're the one living with Eiri Yuki, aren't you?"

Oh, that was a bad question… I knew that if Yuki heard that question he would have danced around it with the grace of a ballerina. Unfortunately, I'm only good at club dancing and choreography. "Y-yeah," I stuttered, feeling myself blush. "Living with Eiri Yuki." What a backhanded way of saying "In his bed".

Before I even had time to really notice what was going on, a bunch of people were crowded around me, asking me questions. I felt swamped. It wasn't like being swarmed by fans, this was different… I was being swarmed by book geeks. I willed myself to stop thinking so I could just listen to what some of them were asking me. For some reason, it sounded like they all wanted to know about… Yuki?They wanted to know about Yuki?

I looked down at Mina who was still sitting at the table. Her face was contorted in concern for me. I stepped forward and held my hand out to her. Gratefully, she took it, standing. "I'll be right back," I said, thinking fast. "We're… um… going to get drinks." With her hand tightly gripped in mine, I made my way through the group of people, muttering "excuse me" when necessary.

Once we were safely outside the mini-mob, I looked back and saw that they were all just staring at me. (They seemed to be the nonviolent types. Heaven knows they wouldn't come after me.) They all looked terribly disappointed that I would run away from them like that, but I was doing it for Mina's sake… right? Okay, so maybe I was doing it for Yuki, or even just to save my own neck. I guess Yuki's popularity standings go hand in hand with mine, so maybe it was both at the same time. Either way, I knew by instinct that I had to get away from those people before things got ugly.

Beside me, Mina tugged at my suit sleeve. I looked at her questioningly. She nodded her head forward and I realized we'd reached the bar. "Oh!" I gasped embarrassedly. "I forgot where we were going for a second there."

We sat ourselves down at the bar and ordered drinks. I had to make sure we didn't order anything alcoholic. Though I looked old enough, I was only 19… one year under legal drinking age in Japan. Yuki would have killed me if he found me drinking. I sighed, resting my head down on marble counter top. Mina looked calm and actually kind of happy as she sat there with her elbows up on the counter.

"You're really cool," she said. After hearing that from fans all the time, it got a little old, but from her it sounded different somehow. When she said it, it was like she was thanking me for something. I smiled a little, looking up at her. I really had done something good, I guess. I'd taken her away from the boring monotony of the party. It must have been really cool to all of a sudden see her favorite pop star too. See, Yuki, I thought, I told you I'd fit right in!

I pushed myself up from the counter when the bartender came back with our drinks. I gave him quick thanks, and swiveled my chair around so I could face her. "This party really sucks," I said in all seriousness.

A brilliant smile burst onto her face. It was refreshing to see such a smile on a strict Japanese girl. "Yeah, it does. My mom and dad brought me here… my mom writes books. My dad's into construction. I don't think he likes being here either but she's having the time of her life and she's making us miserable while she's at it."

"Sounds a little like Yuki," I said, taking a sip from my cola. "He goes to these things all the time. I never like to go but he drags me along anyway. I'm not really sure why… he thinks I'm a nuisance, but maybe he takes me for the company."

"What kind of a person is he?" she asked. "My mom says she's stuck up."

I didn't feel awkward answering her question. She wasn't like her mother or those other people. "He's nice, really. He acts a bit stiff to people he doesn't know. It's sort of like a defense mechanism."

She laughed, her cheeks turning a cute shade of pink. "I told her that she had to be wrong, but she didn't believe me. You're Shuichi Shindou, after all. Why would you stick with a guy if he were mean?" She was right, to tell the truth. If Yuki were really mean like all of those people thought, I wouldn't have stayed with him. I'm too free of a spirit to be chained down!

The strangest look swept across Mina's face then; like she'd seen a ghost. She swallowed hard and lifted a shaking hand to point somewhere above my head. I leaned back in my chair, letting my head fall back to rest against the top of the chair, rolling my eyes all the way back to see. "Heh… Yuki… I didn't see ya there!"

A small growl emitted from his throat. "You said you wouldn't do anything to embarrass me."

What? What did I do that embarrassed him? It's not my fault that strange situations follow me. "Yuki, I didn't do anything," I tried to tell him. "I saw this girl, right, so I started talking to her. Her name is Mina and she's really nice." Yuki didn't look like he was convinced that I was innocent yet, so I continued desperately. "Her mom came by and she knew who I was so she started asking me about you. Before I knew it, all these people showed up and… you aren't mad at me, are you?" I asked him quietly.

He sighed and sat down at one of the bar stools. "No, actually. I was just wondering why everyone was so interested in you for a second there." He laughed softly, eyes turning soft too. "I should have known that they would try to get you to talk about me."

How conceited is he, I thought to myself. "Right," I muttered, giving him my best disapproving stare. "So are we leaving yet?"

"Yeah, yeah," he sighed, resting back in the chair. I was surprised he didn't take out one of his cigarettes. He was probably trying to appeal to the public. "I guess we can leave. I showed up and that's all that really matters; just as long as they all know I'm still better than them." Yuki laughed; though somewhat snidely.

I turned back around to Mina and, apparently to her surprise, gave her a hug. "Want an autograph?" I asked her.

She looked rather flushed. It was unexpected considering that all my female fans knew by now that I was with a guy. I guess the Shindou charm works best on the ladies. "S-sure," she stuttered, still blushing hard. Quickly, I grabbed one of the cocktail napkins from the counter and whipped out the pen I kept in my pocket. You know, "just in case" I ran into a situation like this. I scribbled down my name (like all rock stars do) and proudly handed it over.

"Sell that on eBay," I said, "and buy yourself something nice!"

I was rewarded with one of those rare laughs of hers. Then, a little tentatively, she gave me a hug of her own. "Thank you!" she said happily, hopping from the bar stool. "You guys are the coolest!" I watched her leave then, going to join her mother again.

"So, Yuki…" I tried to sound calm, though I knew he'd probably find something incriminating that would make me lose my bet. "Did I win?"

He stood, placing a hand on my head. "You did fine, kid," he muttered. He's so stubborn… but I guess that means I won! He walked away, heading for the door. I made sure I caught up though. There was no way I was going to lose the offer!

"Yuki! Wait!"

Author's Notes: Well, there's a full five pages of solid reading for your enjoyment. I had to finish this thing one way or another, so here's what you have. It surprisingly turned out with less romance than I expected. That's okay though, because it's a nice POV from Shuichi. I'm considering editing chapter one too, seeing as how I wrote that a long time ago… and it's crap. So, tell me what you think. I hope you liked it!