Gravitation belongs to Murakami Maki, I only wish I owned Ryuichi.
Another AU (Alternate Universe/Timeline). What if Seguchi had been there to save Yuki after the Kitazawa incident? How would the Gravi lives be different? Contains considerable Fake crossover. I find Ryo and Dee convenient when I need New York police.
Everything Changes
Chapter 6
When Shu awoke it was much later than usual for him. It didn't matter nothing could worry him today not even K and his guns. He felt safe and secure wrapped in warm arms and there was a leg thrown over his, lightly pinning him to the bed. Yuki's breath was rustling the hair on the back of his neck and he could feel the light brush of the other man's chest with each intake of air.
He turned slowly to face the blonde lying next to him and gently brushed the hair out of his eyes. As soon as he lowered his hand Yuki's eyes opened and those odd amber eyes were staring into his. With a smile he let Yuki know that everything was still okay.
"Morning Yuki," Shu sighed resting his head on the man's chest, "I like waking up in your arms, I feel safe here."
Yuki didn't say anything he only tightened his arms drawing Shu in closer. He was able to feel the hitch in Yuki's chest and the shuddering breath told him that his new lover was crying. He tried to pull away which caused the arms to tighten even more.
"Yuki what's wrong?" He was starting to get scared. Yuki's entire body was now shuddering and he could hear the muffled sobs.
"Are you sorry?" Shu blurted out, not knowing what else to say, "Because I'm not, nothing has changed, except that I love you more."
Yuki finally took a deep breath to get his emotions back under some control. After a few minutes the he pulled back enough to meet Shu's eyes, the tearsstill glistened on his.
"No Shu, I'm not sorry, never that. I just never thought this would happen to me. I'm really pretty much of an asshole. I don't let people get close to me, ever. Then I see you, and I don't know if you know it or not but I was watching you yesterday, practicing. The dance you were doing drove me nuts. I didn't even know who you were and I wanted you then. Then you came up and our eyes met. Shu, I felt a shock all the way to my toes."
Hereached up to wipe the remaining tears fromgolden lashes, "I felt it too."
"I think I fell in love with you right then and there." Yuki couldn't hold in his laugh, "I felt really stupid too with us both being guys. If it seemed that I was being mean, it was only because I was covering. I didn't even know if you were interested in men." Yuki relaxed and brought an arm up to rest his head on, "After what you did at that concert I decided that I did not care what your preferences were, I was going to try to seduce you."
Yuki gave him one of the sweetest smiles he had ever seen and ran a finger down his nose, "But, you came to me. You told me you loved me. I love you so much, it hurts. So, don't worry, the crying is a good thing."
"Then don't cry anymore, please. Just kiss me instead, hold me and don't ever let go."
Yuki was leaning over to do just as he requested and once again they were interrupted by the doorbell, ringing constantly. Yuki went ahead and stole a small kiss before sighing and rolling over, "We're cursed."
Shu giggled, "It's probably just K. I'm late. I was supposed to be at the studio half and hour ago. I'm surprised that he doesn't just break the door down and drag me out by the hair waving his guns. Maybe he's being nice today because you're here and doesn't want it to end up in print." Shu sat up on the edge of the bed, "You go ahead and stay in bed I'll be back in a couple of hours."
Shu quickly pulled on boxers, loose shorts, and hoodie sweatshirt. He stuck a hat on his head and tucked all the recognizable pink hair under the brim, "Love you Yuki, I'll be back soon," he called before running to open the door.
Yuki closed his eyes truly intending on getting a little more sleep. They flew open again almost immediately when he heard a loud squeal "Shu-chan!" followed by the sound of bodies hitting the floor. He was out of the bed and opening the door before he remembered he was naked and unarmed. Peeking out the door he saw a breathless Shu sitting on the floor with a man sitting on top of him. The other man looked like he could be Shu's brother and he appeared to be threatening Shu with a fuzzy pink bunny. He didn't see any real danger there so he went back to bed with a smile on his face.
"Shu, you would leave without saying goodbye to Kumagarou?"
"Ryuichi, get up. I can't breathe!"
"Na no da Shu, not until you tell Kuma you're sorry."
In self defense he quickly plucked the bunny out of Ryu's hands, "Kuma-chan I am very sorry I didn't call you earlier." He handed the rabbit back, "Now get off me!"
Ryuichi pouted but did finally get up and sat next to him with his lower lip stuck out.
"I was going to call you before I left, I swear. I wouldn't leave without saying goodbye."
Looking serious for once, the older singer put the bunny aside. Shu knew just how hard being serious was for Ryuichi.
"I heard about your break-up with Hiro. I was really hoping you would call me. But, I can see by this," Ryu's finger ran lightly over the bruise on his neck, "that I'm too late."
Shu's hand instinctively rose up to cover the hickey, "I forgot about that."
"Never mind, it doesn't matter, well maybe it does to me." Ryu looked quickly away but when he turned back that oh so serious look was gone, "Tell me, just who is that man hiding in your bedroom? I saw him at the door a few minutes ago, he's gorgeous. And, is it serious?"
"His name is Yuki Eiri and he's a journalist for the States. Yes, he's gorgeous. It is early yet, but yes it's serious. At least I am very serious."
"You don't think he's serious too?" Ryu was frowning now and it just didn't look right on that usually happy face.
"Yes, I think he is. If anything he's worse that I am. But, we only met yesterday and the feelings were so intense, so fast, for both of us. It's kind of scary."
"It happens that way sometimes Shu. It doesn't mean its bad or anything. If you think that he is the one to make you happy, then I wish you luck." Ryu's little boy grin suddenly reappeared, "If it doesn't work out promise me that you will give me a call."
"All right, I promise. But, I really do hope this works out because I am already in love with him."
Ryu truly looked sad when he got to his feet but the smile was back quickly when he reached to helphim off the floor.
In typical Ryuichi fashion, he had not bothered to close the door after he came bursting in. Shu pouncing was one of his favorite past times and he never missed a chance. Of course, since the door was already open, K came bursting in.
He turned to see K looming over him, "I was on my way out…" K interrupted any excuses by grabbing his chin and carefully examining the mark on his neck. The man's face turned nearly purple with anger, Shu had never seen him look so angry.
"Get to the studio Shindou, now. Ryu you go with him, and don't forget Kumagarou. I need to speak with your guest."
Shu and Ryu both hurried out of the apartment, Ryu only stopping to pick up Kuma-chan.
"Kuma-chan has never seen him that pissed before."
K took a seat on Shindou's sofa. He needed to get himself under control; he could not afford any mistakes now. It was obvious that Yuki had slept with his singer, the hickey was proof enough. K had learned enough from asking Ma to repeat the phone call word for word that Yuki had been directly ordered not to have not to have sex with the boy.
Now, he couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. The only person that was going to have the answers was laying in the bedroom only a few steps away. Moving quietly, K pulled his gun, ready to shoot at any wrong move. Quickly opening the door he slipped into the bedroom.
Yuki had heard Shu and the other man, Ryu'?' leave the apartment. But, he could hear soft movement and knew someone was still here. Heguesses it had to be K. He continued to lie on the bed pretending to be asleep until he heard the door open and close again. At the first sound of a footstep in the room he spoke.
"I would ask you not to point that gun at me K, but I for some reason I don't think you would listen." Yuki kept his voice calm and level, "Have a seat, we need to talk."
"TALK! I should be shooting you through the head. I know everything Mr. Yuki or Mr. Thomas or whatever you are calling yourself today. What I don't know is why you slept with him? I even know that you were directly ordered not to have sex with him. Just answer that one question then I'll kill you."
"That doesn't really give me any incentive to answer you know. But, I'm going to tell you anyway then you can decide whether or not to shoot me. I slept with him because I'm in love with him." Yuki heard K's breath release in the darkness.
K couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Turn on the light Yuki, I want to see your eyes when you tell me this." When the light came on K saw that Yuki was lying on the bed hugging a pillow to his chest with tears in his eyes. K was shocked.
"Come on K, kill me. Believe it or not, I want you to. I don't ever want Shu to find out what I am, or what I had planned to do to him."
K took a step forward and placed the barrel of the gun to Yuki's head and watched the shiver pass through the man's body. When he cocked the gun, Yuki's entire body began to tremble.
"K" Yuki managed through chattering teeth, "Sometime, in the future, let Shu know that I really did love him…Now please just get it over with."
K's finger slowly depressed the trigger and he could feel sweat begin to trickle down his forehead. His mind was screaming that this wasn't right.
"Shit!" He threw the gun down in disgust, "Christ, you really mean it." The thought would leave his head as he watched Yuki continue to shiver on the bed. It was several minutes beforethe manwas able to speak again.
"Why?" Was all he could manage to say.
"Because Mr. Yuki, I am going to assume that Shindou has fallen for you also. I also refuse to leave a large blood stain in his bed. There is also the fact that Shindou is a very determined individual, even though he might not seem like it. If you were to just disappear he would look for you and ask questions that I might not want to answer."
"I guess that wasn't such a good idea. It was a way out for me, but not for Shu. My life was forfeit from the moment I saw him. I'm not stupid; I knew I couldn't go through with it. I just didn't know what else to do."
"Horse shit, you were copping out!"
"Maybe I was. I'm a dead may no matter what. The problem is that this hit is a personal matter. Even if I'm dead there will be others coming after him. He still wouldn't be safe."
"I'm working on making Shindou safe, through the source. For you, I might have another way, if you are willing to try. All I need is some time."
"Time is something I don't have a lot of; they are pressuring me to hurry the hit. They want it done within a week of our arrival in New York. Where is the chance for me?"
"Do you remember when I told you that I had seen you before? That was true, I wasn't bluffing. On one of your very first hits you were assigned a rival crime boss. You were still pretty young. After you had made your shot, which was pretty amazing by the way, there was another man standing there watching you. You didn't kill him, you just walked away."
K watched the look of wonder spread across Yuki's face.
"Yeah, that was me. You let me live when you could have easily killed me too. I wasn't even armed. The point here is, I turned State's evidence in the confusion that followed and brought down the rest of the organization. I won't go into any details now, but I was not put into a witness protection program, it was something different. I was able to get out. I can help you too."
"I don't give a shit about me, what do I need to do about Shu?"
"Very simple Mr. Yuki, you're good, I've seen it; you just need to rethink your position. Use your skills to protect him. If you can keep Shindou alive, I'll help you get out."
"Thank you K."
"Don't thank me yet, you'll likely be cussing me later. Now get up and get dressed."
Yuki got up with the sheet pulled tightly around his waist. Grabbing whatever clothes were lying on the top of his suitcase he went into the bathroom. Once inside he had to sit down for a few minutes. He was still weak in the knees. His strength gradually returned and managed another quick shower before pulling his clothes on. Feeling slightly better he was ready to face K again.
Yuki found K going through his luggage when he reentered the bedroom.
"You don't even have any weapons with you?"
"Wouldn't have needed any until I got back."
"I do plan on helping you Mr. Yuki…"
"Just Yuki please, or even Eiri. Eiri is really my name you know."
"Eiri what?"
"That would be what Eiri. I am Japanese, I was born here. My real name is Uesugi Eiri."
"No! Shit! I don't believe it."
"You know the name?"
"I don't know why I didn't see it. Your brother-in-law is my boss. You're Mika's brother, right?" You disappeared in and were presumed dead in New York."
"I do have an older sister named Mika. But, I don't want to talk about what happened to me, at least not now. K, please don't tell them that you've seen me."
"Fine, I'll let it go, for now. Also, there is one more thing you need to know. You were followed here by two NYPD detectives. One of which is very intuitive, he followed you all the way here on a hunch. These men are willing to help too, to a point. They will be on the plane ride back with us. I will introduce you then. The only condition is that when this is all over, they will arrest you. You will be charged with several murders."
"So, I'm fucked no matter what I do. Great K, give me some hope and then take it away."
"You're just going to have to trust me, everything should be okay. Now, go and get your things packed. It would be nice if you had lunch ready when Shindou gets back. I know he ran out without any breakfast this morning."
"You really do care, don't you?"
"Yeah, I really do care."
Ma thought he had actually gotten somewhere with Tachi. He did not come right out and say what he knew, he only mad vague hints and comments. He believed that he had gotten Tachi thinking differently about Shindou by the end of the night. Tachi was at least agreeing that Shindou was a true idiot and that he really didn't have a clue of what was going on in the real world. They had also agreed that the kid was completely incapable of controlling himself.
Ma had admitted that Shindou did use sex to try to sell himself to the public. But, to that idiot sex was nothing more that a game and meant nothing. Tachi was actually laughing. Tonight he was planning on pressing a little harder. He might even begin to tell him that he knew the secret.
He was so deep in thought he did not see or hear the car careening towards him at high speed. The impact was a shock. He felt his hips crunch under the impact and his head flew towards the windshield. As his head made contact, he heard his own neck snap. To him it was a sudden relief, at least now he couldn't feel the pain in his hips anymore.
The rest became surreal as he suddenly took flight. He felt like if he lifted his arms, he would become some kind of superhero. But, his arms wouldn't move; and he met the ground soon enough. It was strange that he didn't feel that either.
Ma was laughing when the ambulance arrived. He never lost consciousness.
Ma-chan had left over two hours ago and Tachi was still sitting there thinking about all that Ma had said. Somehow, without even trying, Ma had managed to make him feel cheap and dirty about what he was doing to Shindou. The funniest thing was, he didn't feel anything for Shindou any more. His thoughts were consumed with Ma.
A sudden jolt hit him and he almost laughed, somewhere along the line he had fallen in love. There was no way that Ma was going to approve of what he had done. Ma would probably leave him and Tachi wouldn't blame him if he did. He was going to have to have the hit called off then he could get on with his life, with Ma.
Tachi had reached for the phone to call his uncle when it rang under his hand.
"Aizawa here."
"Tachi, its Ken."
"Hey Ken, I'll be at the studio in about an hour. I have some things I need to take care of this morning."
"Listen Tachi, I have some bad news. I got a call from Ma's mother a few minutes ago. I'm sorry Tachi, but Ma was hit by a drunk driver this morning on his was to the studio. I don't know all the details, but I do know that he is badly injured." Tachi clearly heard the hitch in Ma's voice, "And, Tachi, he is not expected to survive."
"Which hospital Ken?"
"They won't let you in. Nobody is getting in, not even his mother."
"Just tell me which hospital!" He didn't mean to yell at Ken, but he couldn't control the feeling of sick panic.
"University of Tokyo Hospital, but I don't think you should go, not yet."
"Fuck you!" Tachi screamed into the phone and ran out the door.
Ryo and Dee had been waiting a couple of hours outside of Shindou's apartment building. They had noted when Shindou left just a few minutes after K went in but there was no sign of Yuki. They had offered to provide K with some back-up. He had refused stating that Yuki might panic and make a bad situation worse.
They both breathed a sigh of relief when K finally emerged.
"Get in the car." K ordered before taking getting in behind the wheel himself.
"What's up?" Ryo asked tentatively, not liking the look on the blonde man's face.
"Plans have changed." K's look was grim, "You're not going to be making any arrests right away."
"Why the hell not, did you kill the guy up there?" Dee using all of his usual tact cut in.
"Nope, I assure you, he is very much alive."
"And what, you just let him go?"
"Yeah, for now, I had to. Don't worry you'll get your arrest. It's just that there are certain…complications."
"What sort of complications." Ryo suddenly felt like thing were getting out of control.
"There are several and I'll tell you everything in a minute. First, I want you to know that my first concern is for the safety of my singer. Any crime Yuki has committed comes secondary to that. I will do anything I need to protect Shindou."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryo suddenly felt like slapping Dee, it was never a good idea to challenge someone like K.
"What that means it that you are going to have to wait. I have made an agreement with Mr. Yuki. He assures me that if he is killed or arrested other assassins will follow and Shindou would still be in danger."
"That's not really our concern." Dee just didn't know when to shut up.
"No, Dee you're wrong," Ryo grasped his partner's shoulder, "It is out concern. It is our job to stop crime, not just investigate the results. If we can actually stop someone from dying, then I am willing to listen to what K has to propose."
Dee finally sat back in his seat in a huff, "Fine, go ahead and tell us."
"First, and most importantly, Yuki has agreed to turn State's evidence against his organization. Second, he has agreed to change his role to one of protector of Shindou. And, finally, he has agreed not to run. He knows what is waiting for him when all of this is over. He is willingly going to allow you and only you Ryo, to arrest him."
"And just what makes you think he is actually going to do all of this?" Dee just wouldn't let it go.
K smirked, "Because Detective Laytner Yuki is in love with Shindou and will do whatever it takes to protect him. In return, I have agreed to help him afterwards." He glanced over and caught Ryo's nod and grinned again.
"I told him about your instincts Ryo. That is the reason he will only allow you to arrest him. You, he trusts to arrest first and fire only if you have to."
Dee made several rude noises before K was allowed to continue.
"I'll introduce you on the plane later. I want you to know that he is really not a bad guy. I don't know what pushed him into this life, but he was pushed. He did not choose this for himself. He originally came from a wealthy and influential family, a clean family. Something very bad must have happened to him, he won't tell me what it was, not yet."
"You had just better be right about this, K. If you lose him, I'm holding you responsible."
Once again I would like to thank my reviewers, only 3 this time. girlo 0, Bloody Dead Rose, and SuperDrive. Thank you so much for your continued comments and support.
Please Read and Review to let me know how you think the story is going.