Disclaimer: Gravi isn't mine. It belongs to the great, the wonderful, Maki Murakami. I just borrow her characters for a while to torture. ^_~ Also, in this chapter, Yukari isn't mine. She's my friend's char that I kind of modified. Instead of a waitress, she's now a nurse, lol. Although, Miyaka is my char, so no using her without my permission. She's one of my favorite chars.
A/N: Oops, big cliffie this time. Sorry all. Well, at least the tiger is let out of the bag (it's too big to be called just a cat)
Dedication: KrissKittie and Burned Vamp. Kriss for writing me a monster review and giving me an a link to an awesome LOTR fanfic archive. And Burned Vamp for always making me laugh with their reviews. 'Bad Yuki, go to my room!' lol, that was great!
Disillusionment
Chapter 8-Disillusionment (Part 3)
Chapter 8
Shuichi blinked up at the nurse, who looked so contradicting at the moment. He noticed her hair, a pink color that was a few shades lighter than his own and her large, bright eyes that should have been twinkling with laughter. They looked like they usually were. But now they were shimmering with tears. How could one who looked so cheerful be so sad?
It wasn't right.
And then he realized that that was how he looked. His usual cheerfulness marred by a completely emotionless expression. Blank.
Then all of a sudden, Shuichi inner thoughts were broken as Hiro began to yell at the terrified nurse. His words were irrelevant, but the anger in his tone made her slowly back away and she quickly left the room, tremblingly pushing the door close behind her, leaving Shuichi and his best friend alone to digest the news.
Hiro had abruptly become silent after Yukari left. He was staring at the vase of dusty cloth flowers on Shuichi's bedside table as if he couldn't bear to look directly at his friend. But then again, Shuichi wasn't very intent on meeting Hiro's eyes at the moment either. Neither spoke.
The loud clatter of the door opening and the rubber shoes that squeaked in on the white tile floors alarmed both of them while they tried to summon the courage to speak. A doctor entered. Unlike Yukari, she was indifferent, cold, and precise. Her entire manner down to the thin wire glasses and short-cropped black hair matched the aura of a hospital completely.
Adjusting her glasses in a tiny display of the smallest trace of nervousness, she walked over to them, sifting through the papers on the clipboard she held easily in the crook of one arm.
Shuichi and Hiro waited for a few moments as she silently browsed through some documents until she finally looked up, her startling warm brown eyes going from one to the other,
"I'm Dr. Kobayashi Miyaka, and I presume you are Shindou Shuichi?" At a blank blink from the singer, she turned to Hiro with a little smile,
"And you are Nakano Hiroshi?"
Hiro started, not expecting her to know his name. He nodded, then,
"Yeah, I am."
The doctor smiled again, holding out her free hand for a handshake. First to Shuichi, then to Hiro,
"My daughters are big fans of Bad Luck." She explained with one last smile at the pair, who relaxed slightly. Then, she became the down-to-business woman who had walked into the room and tonelessly explained Shuichi's condition to the speechless duo,
"Shindou-san, as you can see on the x-ray and as Yukari has told you, you have lung cancer." She paused, indicating the x-ray that the nurse had brought in earlier,
"Since all the blood in the body travels through the lungs in the oxygenation process, by the time lung cancer can be detected, the disease has already spread in fifteen to thirty percent of cases. By the time it can be detected on x-ray, the cancer cells have most likely already entered the bloodstream and traveled to other parts of the body…as in your case." A slight pause again as she looked over her glasses at the young boy who was seemingly calmly digesting the news,
"The survival rate is usually twelve percent," another pause, "however, in your case…"
Finally, she stopped and swallowed, showing signs of the weakening of her impassiveness,
"Although there is a slight chance that chemotherapy will…kill the cancer…" her brown eyes met Shuichi's surprisingly dry violet ones and she realized that he understood fully, "the chance is very small and you should probably take some time to consider the benefits of a delay versus the side effects of chemotherapy." She finally finished her speech and took a few deep breaths as she waited for Shuichi's long-haired friend to finish thinking. It seemed to take him a lot longer to come to terms with this.
Trying to take their minds off the depressing new information, she switched topics,
"I would suggest giving up smoking, Shindou-san. Although it won't do much, it will still help a little."
At that, Hiro suddenly stood up, clutching his coat with white knuckles. With an obviously forced smile at the doctor and a curt nod, he murmured a quick 'thank you' and 'goodbye' and taking Shuichi's wrist, gently but firmly tugged his friend to the door.
Shuichi got up, confused at Hiro's rush to leave, but decided to just go without argument and waved goodbye to the doctor, grabbing his clothes. They stopped at a bathroom so Shuichi could change from the flimsy hospital gown into his normal clothes. The black turtleneck and grey pants seemed depressingly fitting now.
As they wound through the hallways, Shuichi didn't see Yukari even though he was searching for a glimpse of pink hair.
Slightly disappointed, the boy slid onto Hiro's bike behind his friend and wrapped his arms around Hiro's warm waist as they took off away from the hospital with Hiro driving at a breakneck speed like always.
After a little bit, the pop star noticed they were heading to Hiro's house and protested, yelling over the noise of the motorcycle engine to his friend,
"Hey Hiro? Why are we going to your apartment?" he was met with silence and squeezed his arms tighter around Hiro's waist to get his attention,
"Hiro?" finally, he received a strained reply,
"You're not going back to live with that-that bastard." Hiro finally ground out, his barely controlled irritation obvious even over the noise of the bike. Shuichi was stunned speechless. He had always had a feeling that Hiro didn't completely approve of Yuki. Especially since everything the blond man hurt his friend, he was left to put Shuichi back together only for another fall.
Biting his lip, Shuichi tried to put some authority into his voice,
"Hiro, I'm living with Yuki," he paused, chewing on his lip a little more before he ventured ahead, a little more cautiously this time, "That's final. And, I-I don't see why you won't let me."
The only sound was the motorcycle and the clamber of the busy city around them as Hiro swerved around some slow moving cars a little too quickly,
"Shuichi, you're not living with him anymore. Do I make myself clear?" There was finality in Hiro's usually mild voice and it annoyed Shuichi. He hated being told what to do and it irked him that Hiro was being so dominating even though he was his best friend,
"Stop the bike, Hiro," Shuichi said, releasing his hold around his friend's waist, "Stop!"
Sighing impatiently, Hiro glanced over his shoulder behind them a couple of times before crossing the street and pulling in between two parked cars. Stopping his bike, he took his helmet off and shook his long hair out a little before glaring at Shuichi, who had opened his mouth to protest,
"Shuichi, this is all his fault. You heard what that doctor said yourself. I know for a fact that there's no way in hell you smoke." He stared into Shuichi violet eyes, since the other boy had taken his stuffy helmet off too and was now cradling it in his arms, picking at the strap,
"Hiro…it's not really all Yuki's fault…" Shuichi drifted off, trying to put up a good argument while not thinking too much about his…condition. It was the only way that he had even lasted the trip from the hospital so far without breaking out into tears or fainting or something. It seemed so…unreal. He was only 19. How could…
Seeing Shuichi pale considerably, Hiro's anger started to simmer down a little and he pulled his friend into a gentle hug again. But then Shuichi spoke up, surprising the guitarist with his courage,
"No. Hiro, I'm going to Yu--…I'm going home. Take me home, please?" staring up into Hiro's brown eyes in his friend's arms, Shuichi pleaded with his own amethyst ones, hoping that Hiro would do it. He couldn't explain why he wanted to go to Yuki's. He wasn't sure himself. But for some reason, he felt the need to be home. And since home was where the heart lies, he would go to his heart: Yuki.
Struggling with whether to allow Shuichi to go back to that bastard or forcefully taking his friend to his own apartment, Hiro released Shuichi and stood back a little to think. Finally, he set his helmet over his head again and jerked his head towards the bike. His voice was a little muffled by the helmet, but it seemed strained,
"C'mon. I'll take you there."
Smiling for the first time in a couple of hours, Shuichi eagerly leapt on the bike behind Hiro, his arms wrapping around the brown-haired man's waist again and his head leaned on Hiro's strong back,
"Thanks…" he murmured to his best friend as they took off into traffic again.
~*~
Meanwhile, the blond sat in his car impatiently, his left arm resting on the car door where the window was rolled down all the way. Not that he actually rolled it down. Power windows on a Mercedes, of course. A cool breeze came in that ruffled through his golden strands lightly.
It was a pleasant fall day. Not hot, not cold. Nice amount of sunshine and nice humidity too. It was much dryer than the stifling summer heat, which was good. But even with the near perfect fall weather, Yuki glared at the little red car in front of him as if the whole traffic jam was its fault. The fine weather went unnoticed.
After Shuichi had left, Yuki had gone out intending to make a quick cigarette trip. He had gotten to the store uneventfully but now traffic was at a standstill and he was trapped in a crowd of cars stretching far down each side of him. For some reason, Yuki felt claustrophobic. Then again, he always felt claustrophobic easily.
Rolling his eyes at a crazy guy who had started honking, Yuki reached to turn on the radio for lack of anything better to do. It was just finishing up some random new girly pop hit and Yuki quirked an eyebrow at the radio as a hyper teenage girl announcer came on, rambling about the song.
About to turn it off, he heard the opening notes of an upbeat song and hesitated, getting an incredibly familiar feeling from it. Yuki was distracted from the song as he tried to figure it out. But then the most beautiful, sweetest voice began singing and his attention was immediately drawn back to the music now flowing out of his car speakers. And he was glad he had such good speakers.
Turning the sound up even more, he listened to the young man sing. The lyrics faded away and it was just that voice. With a little smirk, he thought about his young lover and Shuichi's voice. That one concert he had been to…well, the 'Yuki's mine!' had been sweet but the singing was mediocre.
Now, if Shuichi had this person's voice instead of the amateur one he had…well, then Yuki might give him some of the credit he wanted so much from his love. But he doubted dear Shu-chan could ever sound like him. Whoever the person was.
Lost in the music, Yuki jerked when he heard the soft roar of a motorcycle steadily increase and it came closer. It was coming from behind. The serenity from the song had been broken and Yuki glared around to try and find this motorcycle that was zipping through traffic while he was stuck.
As it sped past him, Yuki almost swore he had seen a flash of pink hair…'The brat?'
As Yuki watched the motorcycle turn off on his street, the song sung by the angel on the radio was interrupted by a scratchy-voiced old man and Yuki winced, wanting his vocalist back,
"Moments ago at NG Corporation, President Seguchi Tohma declared the gunshot heard by passersbys hours ago did indeed come from the building. A gun belonging to a manager accidentally went off,"
Yuki's eyes widened, as his mind showed him a picture of a long, blond-haired man who visited his apartment in the morning to drag Shuichi off when he was particularly late. But…it couldn't possibly have been Shuichi. No. Not with a whole building full of people. No chance it was,
"Shindou Shuichi, vocalist of the hot new band Bad Luck, was taken by ambulance from the building. Witnesses say that he was motionless on the stretcher as paramedics carried him off."
Yuki sat unblinking as his cigarette he had been fumbling with dropped into his lap. Good thing he hadn't lit it yet. He was stunned. No, more than stunned considering he had just spent the last couple of moments reassuring himself that the boy was alright,
"Shit." He said as he looked around at the crowd of cars all still around him, trapping him. But his street, the one the motorcycle had turned down. He had reached it.
Cutting through the gas station on the corner, he sped down the road and pulled into the garage at breakneck speed. Stopping, Yuki quickly jumped out, locked the car and was running to the stairs when he stopped, receiving a second shock.
It was Hiro's bike. Fumbling for another cigarette, needing the calming, numbing nicotine, he headed towards the elevator. In the elevator, he lit his cigarette while glaring at the terrified new elevator boy in a challenge to protest. The boy stayed silent and quickly looked away.
As the doors dinged open, Yuki stepped out, much to the relief of the poor elevator boy.
But as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, Yuki could hear banging and the yells of Hiro from down the hall. Raising an eyebrow as he brought his cigarette to his lips again, the blond walked towards the guitarist, who hadn't even noticed the owner of the apartment who's door he was trying to bang down was there,
"Damnit Shuichi, open this frickin' door! Shuichi! Can you hear me?! Let me in!" pausing, Hiro rammed his shoulder into the door a few more times before trying again, "Shuichi, open the door!"
"What are you doing?" Yuki asked calmly, his previous nervousness all repressed with the help of his cigarette as he stared down with piercing cat-like gold eyes down at the young man who didn't stop trying to break down his door.
But slowly, Hiro stopped and turned to face Yuki, his body visibly trembling. He wanted to punch the bastard so much for Shuichi. But also for Shuichi, he needed his help. And he wouldn't get it if Yuki was unconscious,
"Open the damn door!" Hiro growled out as civilly as he could manage,
Arching an eyebrow, Yuki silently brushed past Hiro, hiding his relief that Shuichi had to be okay if they released him from the hospital. Taking out his key, Yuki swiftly unlocked the door and looked around the peaceful apartment. It was silent. Hiro pushed past him, looking into rooms in a whirlwind.
As he disappeared down the hall, Yuki followed. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise, something like a strangled yell or …sob?
The bathroom door was open and Yuki could hear water running. Stepping into the doorway, Yuki's heart stopped as he took in the horrible scene in front of him and everything froze.
~*~
Ooh, I love that last part where 'everything froze'. I meant that both ways, in that time seemed to stand still and everything was cold.
Anyway, the next chapter might be somewhat...hm, how should I say this? Well, it won't be everyone's cup of tea. Although most of you can probably already guess what's gonna happen, right? Well, I planned out a whole bunch more during boring ole math today, so it'll be fun!
By the way, the song Yuki was listening to on the radio?? Who do ya think it is?? ^_~ Pretty obvious
REVIEWS:
Kadzuki Fuchoin: Hehe, well, this chapter's longer! Hope that makes up for it a little. ^_^
Pato San: T-T Sorry about making you feel bad... Hm...what will Yuki do? lol, I'll have to ask him later!
Shaynie: Nevermind, inside joke thing, lol. Omi? Um...isn't that from Weiss Kreuz or something? I dunno. Well, the whole Yuki-smoking-getting-lung-cancer thing is predictable, since he smokes. But one boring day in math class, I started wondering what'd happen if it wasn't Yuki but Shuichi...and this fic came from that! ^_^; And the Hiro/Suguru thing will be random. This fic is YuShu centric, but I like little sideplots. I'm not really used to the pairing either, lol. I just have fun with it!
izumi: Well...read and find out! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing
fweek: Nuh uh! That's not the most evil cliffie. ^_~ This one is. Do you agree? hehe
hwangsara (hwangsara@hotmail.com): Thanks for offering and I'll definitely take you up on that, but I don't have the intention to revolve the fic around that. The main focus will still be Shuichi and Yuki's bumpy relationship, etc. etc. But I'll e-mail ya if I have questions and you can be my advisor for this! ^_^ Thanks
mirai aria: ooh, yay! I'm a sadist too! hehehe, the whole torturing the wonderful Gravi chars thing.... Suguru? Well, it looks like Hiro...^_~
rynn: lol, sure! ^_^
Burned Vamp: wow, rofl! Bad Yuki, go to YOUR room? lol, I like that! *blush* You're putting all sorts of pictures in my head about Hiro and Suguru now! You're gonna be the one to blame if I start writing some of those down! ^_~
kawaiidark: Despite the cliffies, lol. Well, I sometimes get, uh, addicted to doing cliffies. Hehe, but I'm glad the goodness makes up for it! ^_^ Thanks!
firedraygon97: ^_^ Thank you!! I really appreciate that!
Black Dios: eep. he's not gonna die yet!! well, actually I dunno if this'll be a death fic...Im trying not to make it be one!!!
Krisskittie: Yes, slash/yaoi is an addiction for me too. Ooh, I'll bet it's hard to keep up with fics and anime in college. Well, remember your priorities: Manga, anime, then homework. ^_^; I'm kicking Yuki when he's down?? T-T Sorry, don't mean to! ...oh wait, I do mean to! D Hehehe, I'm such a sadistical author! I wanna buy the anime of Gravi too, but it's only fansubbed right now, I think. I don't know about any real dubs coming out, but if you do let me know! Gravi fanfic sites...well, I'm not that sure. I've been reading them from ff.net or mm.org mostly. Hm, thanks for reminding me, I'm gonna have to bring Tohma back in soon. Maybe next chapter... And I'll try making Yuki give up smoking. But hey, he's his own person. Doesn't like me ordering him around just because I'm the author. lol, well, thanks so much for the HUGE review!! I loved it!
AISH a.k.a. Kitty in the Box: oops, hope I didn't falsely lead you to believe it was going to be Hiro/Shu! I'm sorry, but it's a YuShu ficcy. Hiro's just gonna be a very protective and loving best friend. ^_^
GoldenWings: lol, don't we all love Shu-chan?
Ikari Shinji-kun: Yes, poor Shuichi, I wonder what's gonna happen to him myself? hehe, thanks for reviewing!!
Thanks big time to all my wonderful reviewers!! I read all your reviews many times over and I love them all! Keep reviewing! (little button right down there. You know you wanna review! Come on, you must have SOME commment that you're just dying to make! Tell me! Review!)
A/N: Oops, big cliffie this time. Sorry all. Well, at least the tiger is let out of the bag (it's too big to be called just a cat)
Dedication: KrissKittie and Burned Vamp. Kriss for writing me a monster review and giving me an a link to an awesome LOTR fanfic archive. And Burned Vamp for always making me laugh with their reviews. 'Bad Yuki, go to my room!' lol, that was great!
Disillusionment
Chapter 8-Disillusionment (Part 3)
Chapter 8
Shuichi blinked up at the nurse, who looked so contradicting at the moment. He noticed her hair, a pink color that was a few shades lighter than his own and her large, bright eyes that should have been twinkling with laughter. They looked like they usually were. But now they were shimmering with tears. How could one who looked so cheerful be so sad?
It wasn't right.
And then he realized that that was how he looked. His usual cheerfulness marred by a completely emotionless expression. Blank.
Then all of a sudden, Shuichi inner thoughts were broken as Hiro began to yell at the terrified nurse. His words were irrelevant, but the anger in his tone made her slowly back away and she quickly left the room, tremblingly pushing the door close behind her, leaving Shuichi and his best friend alone to digest the news.
Hiro had abruptly become silent after Yukari left. He was staring at the vase of dusty cloth flowers on Shuichi's bedside table as if he couldn't bear to look directly at his friend. But then again, Shuichi wasn't very intent on meeting Hiro's eyes at the moment either. Neither spoke.
The loud clatter of the door opening and the rubber shoes that squeaked in on the white tile floors alarmed both of them while they tried to summon the courage to speak. A doctor entered. Unlike Yukari, she was indifferent, cold, and precise. Her entire manner down to the thin wire glasses and short-cropped black hair matched the aura of a hospital completely.
Adjusting her glasses in a tiny display of the smallest trace of nervousness, she walked over to them, sifting through the papers on the clipboard she held easily in the crook of one arm.
Shuichi and Hiro waited for a few moments as she silently browsed through some documents until she finally looked up, her startling warm brown eyes going from one to the other,
"I'm Dr. Kobayashi Miyaka, and I presume you are Shindou Shuichi?" At a blank blink from the singer, she turned to Hiro with a little smile,
"And you are Nakano Hiroshi?"
Hiro started, not expecting her to know his name. He nodded, then,
"Yeah, I am."
The doctor smiled again, holding out her free hand for a handshake. First to Shuichi, then to Hiro,
"My daughters are big fans of Bad Luck." She explained with one last smile at the pair, who relaxed slightly. Then, she became the down-to-business woman who had walked into the room and tonelessly explained Shuichi's condition to the speechless duo,
"Shindou-san, as you can see on the x-ray and as Yukari has told you, you have lung cancer." She paused, indicating the x-ray that the nurse had brought in earlier,
"Since all the blood in the body travels through the lungs in the oxygenation process, by the time lung cancer can be detected, the disease has already spread in fifteen to thirty percent of cases. By the time it can be detected on x-ray, the cancer cells have most likely already entered the bloodstream and traveled to other parts of the body…as in your case." A slight pause again as she looked over her glasses at the young boy who was seemingly calmly digesting the news,
"The survival rate is usually twelve percent," another pause, "however, in your case…"
Finally, she stopped and swallowed, showing signs of the weakening of her impassiveness,
"Although there is a slight chance that chemotherapy will…kill the cancer…" her brown eyes met Shuichi's surprisingly dry violet ones and she realized that he understood fully, "the chance is very small and you should probably take some time to consider the benefits of a delay versus the side effects of chemotherapy." She finally finished her speech and took a few deep breaths as she waited for Shuichi's long-haired friend to finish thinking. It seemed to take him a lot longer to come to terms with this.
Trying to take their minds off the depressing new information, she switched topics,
"I would suggest giving up smoking, Shindou-san. Although it won't do much, it will still help a little."
At that, Hiro suddenly stood up, clutching his coat with white knuckles. With an obviously forced smile at the doctor and a curt nod, he murmured a quick 'thank you' and 'goodbye' and taking Shuichi's wrist, gently but firmly tugged his friend to the door.
Shuichi got up, confused at Hiro's rush to leave, but decided to just go without argument and waved goodbye to the doctor, grabbing his clothes. They stopped at a bathroom so Shuichi could change from the flimsy hospital gown into his normal clothes. The black turtleneck and grey pants seemed depressingly fitting now.
As they wound through the hallways, Shuichi didn't see Yukari even though he was searching for a glimpse of pink hair.
Slightly disappointed, the boy slid onto Hiro's bike behind his friend and wrapped his arms around Hiro's warm waist as they took off away from the hospital with Hiro driving at a breakneck speed like always.
After a little bit, the pop star noticed they were heading to Hiro's house and protested, yelling over the noise of the motorcycle engine to his friend,
"Hey Hiro? Why are we going to your apartment?" he was met with silence and squeezed his arms tighter around Hiro's waist to get his attention,
"Hiro?" finally, he received a strained reply,
"You're not going back to live with that-that bastard." Hiro finally ground out, his barely controlled irritation obvious even over the noise of the bike. Shuichi was stunned speechless. He had always had a feeling that Hiro didn't completely approve of Yuki. Especially since everything the blond man hurt his friend, he was left to put Shuichi back together only for another fall.
Biting his lip, Shuichi tried to put some authority into his voice,
"Hiro, I'm living with Yuki," he paused, chewing on his lip a little more before he ventured ahead, a little more cautiously this time, "That's final. And, I-I don't see why you won't let me."
The only sound was the motorcycle and the clamber of the busy city around them as Hiro swerved around some slow moving cars a little too quickly,
"Shuichi, you're not living with him anymore. Do I make myself clear?" There was finality in Hiro's usually mild voice and it annoyed Shuichi. He hated being told what to do and it irked him that Hiro was being so dominating even though he was his best friend,
"Stop the bike, Hiro," Shuichi said, releasing his hold around his friend's waist, "Stop!"
Sighing impatiently, Hiro glanced over his shoulder behind them a couple of times before crossing the street and pulling in between two parked cars. Stopping his bike, he took his helmet off and shook his long hair out a little before glaring at Shuichi, who had opened his mouth to protest,
"Shuichi, this is all his fault. You heard what that doctor said yourself. I know for a fact that there's no way in hell you smoke." He stared into Shuichi violet eyes, since the other boy had taken his stuffy helmet off too and was now cradling it in his arms, picking at the strap,
"Hiro…it's not really all Yuki's fault…" Shuichi drifted off, trying to put up a good argument while not thinking too much about his…condition. It was the only way that he had even lasted the trip from the hospital so far without breaking out into tears or fainting or something. It seemed so…unreal. He was only 19. How could…
Seeing Shuichi pale considerably, Hiro's anger started to simmer down a little and he pulled his friend into a gentle hug again. But then Shuichi spoke up, surprising the guitarist with his courage,
"No. Hiro, I'm going to Yu--…I'm going home. Take me home, please?" staring up into Hiro's brown eyes in his friend's arms, Shuichi pleaded with his own amethyst ones, hoping that Hiro would do it. He couldn't explain why he wanted to go to Yuki's. He wasn't sure himself. But for some reason, he felt the need to be home. And since home was where the heart lies, he would go to his heart: Yuki.
Struggling with whether to allow Shuichi to go back to that bastard or forcefully taking his friend to his own apartment, Hiro released Shuichi and stood back a little to think. Finally, he set his helmet over his head again and jerked his head towards the bike. His voice was a little muffled by the helmet, but it seemed strained,
"C'mon. I'll take you there."
Smiling for the first time in a couple of hours, Shuichi eagerly leapt on the bike behind Hiro, his arms wrapping around the brown-haired man's waist again and his head leaned on Hiro's strong back,
"Thanks…" he murmured to his best friend as they took off into traffic again.
~*~
Meanwhile, the blond sat in his car impatiently, his left arm resting on the car door where the window was rolled down all the way. Not that he actually rolled it down. Power windows on a Mercedes, of course. A cool breeze came in that ruffled through his golden strands lightly.
It was a pleasant fall day. Not hot, not cold. Nice amount of sunshine and nice humidity too. It was much dryer than the stifling summer heat, which was good. But even with the near perfect fall weather, Yuki glared at the little red car in front of him as if the whole traffic jam was its fault. The fine weather went unnoticed.
After Shuichi had left, Yuki had gone out intending to make a quick cigarette trip. He had gotten to the store uneventfully but now traffic was at a standstill and he was trapped in a crowd of cars stretching far down each side of him. For some reason, Yuki felt claustrophobic. Then again, he always felt claustrophobic easily.
Rolling his eyes at a crazy guy who had started honking, Yuki reached to turn on the radio for lack of anything better to do. It was just finishing up some random new girly pop hit and Yuki quirked an eyebrow at the radio as a hyper teenage girl announcer came on, rambling about the song.
About to turn it off, he heard the opening notes of an upbeat song and hesitated, getting an incredibly familiar feeling from it. Yuki was distracted from the song as he tried to figure it out. But then the most beautiful, sweetest voice began singing and his attention was immediately drawn back to the music now flowing out of his car speakers. And he was glad he had such good speakers.
Turning the sound up even more, he listened to the young man sing. The lyrics faded away and it was just that voice. With a little smirk, he thought about his young lover and Shuichi's voice. That one concert he had been to…well, the 'Yuki's mine!' had been sweet but the singing was mediocre.
Now, if Shuichi had this person's voice instead of the amateur one he had…well, then Yuki might give him some of the credit he wanted so much from his love. But he doubted dear Shu-chan could ever sound like him. Whoever the person was.
Lost in the music, Yuki jerked when he heard the soft roar of a motorcycle steadily increase and it came closer. It was coming from behind. The serenity from the song had been broken and Yuki glared around to try and find this motorcycle that was zipping through traffic while he was stuck.
As it sped past him, Yuki almost swore he had seen a flash of pink hair…'The brat?'
As Yuki watched the motorcycle turn off on his street, the song sung by the angel on the radio was interrupted by a scratchy-voiced old man and Yuki winced, wanting his vocalist back,
"Moments ago at NG Corporation, President Seguchi Tohma declared the gunshot heard by passersbys hours ago did indeed come from the building. A gun belonging to a manager accidentally went off,"
Yuki's eyes widened, as his mind showed him a picture of a long, blond-haired man who visited his apartment in the morning to drag Shuichi off when he was particularly late. But…it couldn't possibly have been Shuichi. No. Not with a whole building full of people. No chance it was,
"Shindou Shuichi, vocalist of the hot new band Bad Luck, was taken by ambulance from the building. Witnesses say that he was motionless on the stretcher as paramedics carried him off."
Yuki sat unblinking as his cigarette he had been fumbling with dropped into his lap. Good thing he hadn't lit it yet. He was stunned. No, more than stunned considering he had just spent the last couple of moments reassuring himself that the boy was alright,
"Shit." He said as he looked around at the crowd of cars all still around him, trapping him. But his street, the one the motorcycle had turned down. He had reached it.
Cutting through the gas station on the corner, he sped down the road and pulled into the garage at breakneck speed. Stopping, Yuki quickly jumped out, locked the car and was running to the stairs when he stopped, receiving a second shock.
It was Hiro's bike. Fumbling for another cigarette, needing the calming, numbing nicotine, he headed towards the elevator. In the elevator, he lit his cigarette while glaring at the terrified new elevator boy in a challenge to protest. The boy stayed silent and quickly looked away.
As the doors dinged open, Yuki stepped out, much to the relief of the poor elevator boy.
But as soon as he stepped out of the elevator, Yuki could hear banging and the yells of Hiro from down the hall. Raising an eyebrow as he brought his cigarette to his lips again, the blond walked towards the guitarist, who hadn't even noticed the owner of the apartment who's door he was trying to bang down was there,
"Damnit Shuichi, open this frickin' door! Shuichi! Can you hear me?! Let me in!" pausing, Hiro rammed his shoulder into the door a few more times before trying again, "Shuichi, open the door!"
"What are you doing?" Yuki asked calmly, his previous nervousness all repressed with the help of his cigarette as he stared down with piercing cat-like gold eyes down at the young man who didn't stop trying to break down his door.
But slowly, Hiro stopped and turned to face Yuki, his body visibly trembling. He wanted to punch the bastard so much for Shuichi. But also for Shuichi, he needed his help. And he wouldn't get it if Yuki was unconscious,
"Open the damn door!" Hiro growled out as civilly as he could manage,
Arching an eyebrow, Yuki silently brushed past Hiro, hiding his relief that Shuichi had to be okay if they released him from the hospital. Taking out his key, Yuki swiftly unlocked the door and looked around the peaceful apartment. It was silent. Hiro pushed past him, looking into rooms in a whirlwind.
As he disappeared down the hall, Yuki followed. Suddenly, he heard a strange noise, something like a strangled yell or …sob?
The bathroom door was open and Yuki could hear water running. Stepping into the doorway, Yuki's heart stopped as he took in the horrible scene in front of him and everything froze.
~*~
Ooh, I love that last part where 'everything froze'. I meant that both ways, in that time seemed to stand still and everything was cold.
Anyway, the next chapter might be somewhat...hm, how should I say this? Well, it won't be everyone's cup of tea. Although most of you can probably already guess what's gonna happen, right? Well, I planned out a whole bunch more during boring ole math today, so it'll be fun!
By the way, the song Yuki was listening to on the radio?? Who do ya think it is?? ^_~ Pretty obvious
REVIEWS:
Kadzuki Fuchoin: Hehe, well, this chapter's longer! Hope that makes up for it a little. ^_^
Pato San: T-T Sorry about making you feel bad... Hm...what will Yuki do? lol, I'll have to ask him later!
Shaynie: Nevermind, inside joke thing, lol. Omi? Um...isn't that from Weiss Kreuz or something? I dunno. Well, the whole Yuki-smoking-getting-lung-cancer thing is predictable, since he smokes. But one boring day in math class, I started wondering what'd happen if it wasn't Yuki but Shuichi...and this fic came from that! ^_^; And the Hiro/Suguru thing will be random. This fic is YuShu centric, but I like little sideplots. I'm not really used to the pairing either, lol. I just have fun with it!
izumi: Well...read and find out! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing
fweek: Nuh uh! That's not the most evil cliffie. ^_~ This one is. Do you agree? hehe
hwangsara (hwangsara@hotmail.com): Thanks for offering and I'll definitely take you up on that, but I don't have the intention to revolve the fic around that. The main focus will still be Shuichi and Yuki's bumpy relationship, etc. etc. But I'll e-mail ya if I have questions and you can be my advisor for this! ^_^ Thanks
mirai aria: ooh, yay! I'm a sadist too! hehehe, the whole torturing the wonderful Gravi chars thing.... Suguru? Well, it looks like Hiro...^_~
rynn: lol, sure! ^_^
Burned Vamp: wow, rofl! Bad Yuki, go to YOUR room? lol, I like that! *blush* You're putting all sorts of pictures in my head about Hiro and Suguru now! You're gonna be the one to blame if I start writing some of those down! ^_~
kawaiidark: Despite the cliffies, lol. Well, I sometimes get, uh, addicted to doing cliffies. Hehe, but I'm glad the goodness makes up for it! ^_^ Thanks!
firedraygon97: ^_^ Thank you!! I really appreciate that!
Black Dios: eep. he's not gonna die yet!! well, actually I dunno if this'll be a death fic...Im trying not to make it be one!!!
Krisskittie: Yes, slash/yaoi is an addiction for me too. Ooh, I'll bet it's hard to keep up with fics and anime in college. Well, remember your priorities: Manga, anime, then homework. ^_^; I'm kicking Yuki when he's down?? T-T Sorry, don't mean to! ...oh wait, I do mean to! D Hehehe, I'm such a sadistical author! I wanna buy the anime of Gravi too, but it's only fansubbed right now, I think. I don't know about any real dubs coming out, but if you do let me know! Gravi fanfic sites...well, I'm not that sure. I've been reading them from ff.net or mm.org mostly. Hm, thanks for reminding me, I'm gonna have to bring Tohma back in soon. Maybe next chapter... And I'll try making Yuki give up smoking. But hey, he's his own person. Doesn't like me ordering him around just because I'm the author. lol, well, thanks so much for the HUGE review!! I loved it!
AISH a.k.a. Kitty in the Box: oops, hope I didn't falsely lead you to believe it was going to be Hiro/Shu! I'm sorry, but it's a YuShu ficcy. Hiro's just gonna be a very protective and loving best friend. ^_^
GoldenWings: lol, don't we all love Shu-chan?
Ikari Shinji-kun: Yes, poor Shuichi, I wonder what's gonna happen to him myself? hehe, thanks for reviewing!!
Thanks big time to all my wonderful reviewers!! I read all your reviews many times over and I love them all! Keep reviewing! (little button right down there. You know you wanna review! Come on, you must have SOME commment that you're just dying to make! Tell me! Review!)