Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own Gravitation, Murakami Maki has that honor.

AU My take on what might have happened if Shuichi had not managed to get there in time to save Reiji from Yuki. Manga Vol. 9.

I want to apologize to everyone for the kinda late update--It was a bad weekend.

Chapter 16

"Who does he think he is? Who the hell is that little punkwho thinks he can protect Eiri better than I can?"

Seguchi Tohma's hand almost instinctively began searching the under side of his seat. He knew if he looked hard enough there would be a surprise waiting for him. As soon as he leaned over his hat fell from his lap. When he sat up again, he had his surprise hidden under his hat.

He really wanted to play with his surprise now and let another giggle escape. Now wasn't the right time. His playmate wasn't close enough yet. He didn't want the other man to miss the surprise. He decided they could wait to play, he was a patient man after all.

Yuki could only stare as Seguchi aimed the gun and he was staring into cold metal. Mika began to scream and the direction of the gun shifted to her head. Seguchi's face seemed to spasm.

He couldn't even make himself move as he heard three shots fire which were immediately followed by two more. To his horror his eyes were glued to the sight of Shuichi falling backwards. The sight of the small body hitting the floor finally galvanized him into movement. Cursing his leg he tried to get around the bench. A loud scream of "NO!" met his ears over the rest of the general chaos in the room.

The scream drew his attention to Sakuma who was vaulting benches to get to Shuichi's side. The aisle was currently full of people pushing and trying to escape the room. Shoving everyone out of his way he finally managed to reached the crumpled form. His leg was screaming with pain when he dropped to the floor. Sakuma was cradling Shu's head on his lap and the tears were falling freely.

With a possessive growl he could scarcely believe coming from his own throat he pulled the small body from the other singer's arms. Even over the noise in the courtroom he was able to hear the groan that came from Shu. He felt his own eyes filling with tears as he looked down to meet Shu's eyes.

"Yuki," his name came out in a pained gasp, "what did you do to your leg?" With those insane words his baka's eyes slid closed. He was howling like a madman as he clutched Shu's body to his chest. He fought as Sakuma tried to pullthe bodyaway from him.

"Yuki-san, please let him go, he can't breathe."

"Breathe! What the hell do you mean breathe? He's dead Sakuma!" The thought 'he died in my arms' kept circling in his head.

"No, Mr. Yuki," another voice drew his eyes from Sakuma's, "you do need to release him." He looked up to see the russet-haired officer who earlier had been acting as an escort. With the man's calm assurance he allowed the body to be pulled away.

"I'm Detective McClean Mr. Yuki everything is going to be all right."

As soon as Shu was lying on the floor, the detective began stripping off his clothes. Sakuma was gently stroking the lifeless face and singing softly. At first he didn't understand what he was seeing, Shuichi had been shot three times at fairly close range, but there was no blood. He allowed the tears to come again as he recognized the bulletproof vest under Shu's clothes.

"He's just had the wind knocked out of him Mr. Yuki. He should come to shortly. We were afraid something like this might happen so we prepared for it. We are going to need to take him to the hospital just in case, but he really should be fine."

Reaching to take hold of a small pale hand he glanced up to see that Sakuma was holding the other and deep blue eyes locked with his gold, "Let go of him Sakuma." The eyes dropped but the singer only shook his head and refused to release the hand.

"Is he all right?" He was distracted from Sakuma's presence by the question and looked up to see the other officer standing over them. He turned back to just at look at Shu's still features; the question was not directed at him.

"He's just knocked out Dee, is there an ambulance coming?"

"It's on the way."

Suddenly remembering the cause of all the problems, Yuki jerked his eyes up, "What about Seguchi?" He was surprised he didn't think to ask sooner.

The dark-haired officer, Dee (?) gave him a grimace, "I needed to use excessive force Mr. Yuki; I had to take him out."

"He…he's dead?" In that one instant he felt a flash of grief which was quickly suppressed as memories once again flooded his mind.

"Yes, Mr. Yuki I am sorry, it was necessary."

Ryuichi was sick on his stomach by the time he climbed into the back of a police car to follow Shu's ambulance to the hospital. He had easily read the emotions in Yuki's eyes when he was gazing at the fallen form: panic, fear, grief, and hope. But, the emotion that scared him the most was the love.

Never once in the all the time he had known Shuichi had he believed that Yuki could have real feelings for the other singer. He now knew that he had been wrong. There was no way he was going to give up now, love or no love. He had finally gotten what he had been wanting for a long time, he wouldn't lose him now.

As soon as they arrived at the hospital he leapt from the car and ran into the Emergency Room. Shu continued to lay still and quiet on the hospital bed. As soon as he walked over and once again grasped a small hand violet eyes opened and a huge smile covered Shu's face.

"We did it Ryu." The voice was breathy as if it hurt to speak, it probably did.

"No, you did it Shu." Now he couldn't hold back his own smile.

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" The smile faded and was quickly replaced by a grim look. Only Shu could change moods so fast. "What about Seguchi?"

"He's dead, Detective Laytner was forced to shoot him. I really am sorry I was hoping that wouldn't have to happen and I know you didn't want it either. Tohma and I were friends for many years."

Trying to think of the best way to tell Shu about Yuki, Ryu hopped onto the side of the bed and let his feet dangle.

"There's something else isn't there." The younger singer must have read his nervousness.

Staring at the tips of his swinging toes he considered getting out Kumagorou and letting him tell the tale but he didn't want hide this time. "Yuki," was all he was able to choke out.

"Yuki! He's all right isn't he? Seguchi didn't shoot him too?" The panic in Shu's voice wasn't doing anything to make him feel any better.

"No, he's fine Shu." Ryu was quick to reassure, "But, there are some things you should know."

With a groan his love tried to rise up from the bed. "No, please stay down." With a sigh he let it out in a rush, "You need to know that Yuki does love you, I could see it in his eyes."

Shu was quiet for a while, his face expressionless. He quiet was making him extremely anxious but he needed to continue. "There is more. Friday night Yuki was attacked in the jail, he was beaten and…raped, repeatedly." He had closed his eyes while telling the last part, not really wanting to see the reaction.

His breath caught when he felt his hand being squeezed back tightly.

"Ryu," the voice was soft and full of pain, "thank you for being honest, but it really doesn't matter, not anymore."

He forced his eyes back open to see there was a slight smile lingering onthat sweetface.

"I have already made my choice, I love you. I am in-love with you. It isn't just a matter of forgiving Yuki, it's also a matter of trust. I can't trust him to stay with me. And, you may have been able to see love there, but I need to be told."

The X-Ray technician arrived before anything else could happen, before he could steal the kiss he was planning. Instead what he got was a scowl for sitting on the bed. Blushing slightly he quickly hopped to the floor. He felt happier than he had in a long time and wanted to share with someone. Kumagorou magically appeared from a pocket and he began telling him what the future was going to be like while he waited.

Yuki boarded the plane with a police escort. Detectives McClean and Laytner actually boarded the plane with him and did not remove his cuffs until he was in his seat. Even after all the events of today the judge did not want a continuance. He was given his sentence in the judge's chambers.

There was no longer a need for him to stay in New York since Shuichi had reappeared and Seguchi was dead so he had chosen the six month ban in Japan. There was no chance for him to ask but he was sure that since Shuichi was out of danger he would also be returning to Japan.

He was forced to remain at the courthouse until the two detectives returned before he was released. They had gone to the hospital with Shu's ambulance in order to get a statement. As soon as they arrived he was remanded into their custody for the temporary deportation.

As soon as they arrived he nearly pounced on McClean, "Is he all right?"

Both of the detectives seemed to be giving him odd looks but it was Laytner who finally spoke, "Mr. Yuki what exactly is your relationship with Mr. Shindou?"

The question stunned him a little, it was a bit personal. The first response that was on the tip of his tongue was 'none of your damn business' but he managed to hold it back. Instead he told the truth, "We live together. He's my…lover." Yuki finished with a sigh.

Once again the two detectives glanced at each other. "He just has some bruised ribs, but otherwise he was unharmed."

Once the cuffs had been released he settled into his seat, not even looking back as the officers left the plane. He had been brought aboard first to avoid any press and to maintain his dignity.It was a fairlylong wait before the other passengers started to board and he had nearly fallen asleep.

There wasn't much hope that he would know anyone on the plane and even if he did they probably wouldn't be in his section. With his eyes slightly cracked open, he pretended to sleep as he secretly watched the other passengers board.

It turned out his assumption was wrong, he knew several of the people taking seats in his section of the plane. The first to enter was Mika, her doctor friend, and the baby. She only gave him one sad smile before taking her seat in the front of his section.

The section was rapidly filling when Nakano, Tatsuha, Sakuma, and K all came strolling in. K was seated in a row ahead of him with Tatsuha and Nakano. Sakuma sat in the window seat in his row. He received only a brief glance before Sakuma pulled his hat over his eyes and settled down into his seat. The only person he hadn't seen yet was Shuichi.

Pretending to sleep didn't work for very long and it was only moments before Tatsuha turned and started firing questions at him. He didn't fell like answering anything right now and waved his brother off.

They were starting to close the doors and still no Shuichi. Atthe very last secondone man came rushing in just before the door was actually closed. Yuki dismissed the punk immediately. He felt keen disappointment that Shu wasn't on the plane, or at least not in this section. As the plane started to taxi he finally accepted that his Baka wasn't here.

The punk had taken the seat between him and Sakuma and as soon as the plane started down the runway he felt a hand grasp his tightly. Putting on his best glare, he turned to give the leather clad idiot a piece of his mind. "How dare you!" He growled attempting to jerk his hand back. When the man only held on tighter he lifted his patented stare only to see a very familiar grin. The man lowered his sunglasses and he was gazing into violet eyes.

"Hello Yuki." Shu spoke quietly.

He couldn't seem to make any words come out of his mouth and knew that he was catching flies.

"It's me Yuki, this is how I look now." Shu's voice was still quiet and grin hadn't left his face.

Instead of speaking, he couldn't get any words out anyways, he wrapped an arm around a leather clad shoulder and pulled Shu close

.

He and Shu had agreed they would keep things quiet until got back to Japan. Shuichi had not wanted any scenes on the plane or at the airport.Which is why they had entered separately. It was just bad luck that Yuki had ended up not only on the same plane, but in the same section, same row.

He could see that Shu was really trying to be cool but he could tell the other singer was nervous as hell. The hand on the armrest next to him was shaking badly. Right at first Yuki wasn't paying attention and Ryu took the opportunity to give the hand a small squeeze, nervous eyes met his for an encouraging smile.

He had thought that he would be fine, he could handle this, but the moment Yuki realized who Shu was and pulled him into his arms he nearly lost it. Only by quickly shoving Kumagorou into his mouth was he able to cover the sob. Turning his head to the window and pulling his hat lower he let a few tears flow. He closed his eyes and prayed that sleep would come soon.

A hand running down his arm awake him froma dozehe didn't realize he had fallen into. His eyes were nearly glued shut from his earlier tears. Quickly rubbing the grit away he turned to see a familiar smile. Shu took his face into his hands and kissed him sweetly. He couldn't help himself and started crying again.

"I'm sorry love," Shu whispered, "he's asleep now."

"It hurts Shu. I knew we were going to need to do this, but knowing doesn't make it feel any better."

"Only for a short while, I promise. There are some things that we both need to get settled. Neither one of us expected him to be going home anytime soon."

"Do you have any idea when? I don't know how long I can stand this. Right now I'm ready to break the agreement and tell him myself."

"As soon as we get back to Japan, I promise. I am not going to go home with him. I am going to go to a hotel for a few days at the most."

Ryu was comforted when Shu's head came to rest on his shoulder with a soft sigh. He turned to place a kiss on the dark head only to catch a set of amber eyes glaring daggers at them. He was acutely aware of where Shu was resting and that their hands were visibly clasped together.

"Shu," he quickly released the hand and gave his shoulder a small shake, "Yuki's watching us."

He felt the small body tense slightly and Shu raised his head and blinked sleepy eyes. Yuki reached out a hand and pulledhim back. In the darkened cabin he could barely read the blonde's lips. "Stay away from him!" was the obvious command.

Instead of allowing himself to be tugged to Yuki's side, Shu sat firmly in the middle of his seat and actually glared back at the author before putting his sunglasses back on and lying his own seat back. It was the only way to prevent any sort of confrontation here on the plane.

Well, the story is drawing to close please remember to let me know what you think. I would like to thank all of my reviewers:

catmum56, animegirl12182, Summoner of Suzaku, buff200020002002, xxxLet's Forever Dreamxxx, Aki Kotasho, Ryu, and DeMoN4EvA