Hey guys! I hope you like the story so far. My dear friends the hit counters have indicated that 100 at least glanced at my story…but only five reviewed! Please, please I need feedback! If it sucks, I won't bother posting it! I need to know!

Thank you SO much to:

GoTrinba: thank you very much! I hope the story lives up to your expectations.

Akeatia Mochidzuki Ookami: Here's your update, I tried to be quick!

Hokage: lol I know it's short, but I'm trying to make it longer than my last one, so each chapter is eight pages long on Microsoft Word…although I supposed I could put two chapters together if they are still too short!

Kaleidascopereflections: Sorry I didn't tell you! It was a surprise ;)

Delgee006: Haha thanks! I try my hardest!

Chapter Two

-

-

-

The noises of chaos reached Eiri's ears as he slowly struggled to wake up. A rush of air was blown in his face, accompanied by the loud sound of boot steps right beside his head. As he tried to push himself up with his arms, he felt shooting pains going up them, all the way to the back of his head.

Where was he? Somehow, the writer managed to pull himself into a sitting position, and examine the surrounding area meticulously. He seemed to be lying on a big white blanket, beside another person he didn't know. The next thing he saw were the massive amounts of people running around in every direction, carrying boxes, phones, stretchers, and…other people?

"What the hell?"

He was at the edge of a large field, right beside the highway. An enormous tent bearing the symbol of the Red Cross had been set up along the shoulder, probably for easy access to ambulances.

With a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, Eiri slowed turned around to look behind him. What he saw was terrifying. The blackened plane had practically been bent in half, with the back of the plane almost touching the cockpit window. Vomit rose to the front of his mouth, and he turned his head just in time to miss his clothes. As he violently emptied his stomach on his knees, thoughts were running wildly through his brain. How had he survived that horrible crash? Was he dreaming? And most importantly, where was Shuichi?

A medic walking around stopped beside Eiri, patting his back comfortingly, but the writer just shrugged off the touch.

"Have you seen a boy, about this tall," Eiri pointed to his chest level, "With pink, no with blond hair, bleached blond?"

"No, sorry…" The man smiled at him, "But I'm not the only one here, why don't you go check the tents?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A few minutes later, after Eiri had thoroughly checked every person in the tent, he was starting to feel like throwing up again. There was already a section set aside, far behind the tents, where a pile of body bags were building up. But he wasn't quite ready to go there yet. Feeling the queasiness in his stomach increase, he hurried in the opposite direction of the ominous mound.

There appeared to be a lot of activity still around the plane, and as Eiri got closer, he saw that there were firemen and medics going in and out of it, bringing people to safety. His pulse pounded in his ears, and he tried to reason with himself that his lover could still be inside, waiting to be rescued. Even so, he started sprinting in the direction of the wreckage.

The awful smell of scorched metal, and something else that he couldn't quite identify filled the air, giving it a wavering mirage look. Suddenly, Eiri felt lightheaded, and his step faltered. But even as the ground rushed up, a man jumped over and grabbed his arm.

"Hey, careful man! You might want to take a breather there…" Eiri thankfully glanced over at the man, who was now giving first aid to an unconscious person on the ground.

"I don't think I can breathe this…awful air…" The man's friendly face took on a bitter look.

"Yeah, it's pretty bad, if you haven't smelt it before. I remember my first time, at a hospital…this little girl burned all the skin off her hand on a stove, and I had to dress it." Eiri gagged unwillingly as he realized that the smell was burnt flesh, and the man turned away to give him some privacy.

Ok, now he was really freaking out. He needed to find Shuichi, fix him, and get the hell out of there.

"Have you seen a boy, looks about 16, with bleached blond hair? Probably asking for someone named Yuki?"

"Sorry, no."

A hole was gnawing its way into the writer's stomach, and he imagined all the terrible things that could have happened to his boyfriend. The world spun as he jumped to his feet and lurched off closer to the plane.

The closer he got, the worse the smell got, and soon it was followed by flying ashes and debris. Eiri gritted his teeth and tried not to imagine what the flaming pieces were.

Some people looked like they were about to stop him, but he gave them a patented Eiri glare, and they backed off right away. They continued their conversation as they passed him.

"…ya, it's ironic isn't it? The poor bastards paid so much more than anyone else on the plane, and they got the brunt of the crash. There've only been a couple survivors from the first class section, I heard…"

Eiri's heart stopped. All of a sudden, he couldn't see, couldn't hear, couldn't move. They were talking about where his Shuichi had been sitting. His knees could not longer hold him, so he sank down to the ground. Only a couple survivors…Oh no…He felt his conscious slipping away for the second time that day, but this time, he just let himself go.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eiri wearily opened the door to his hotel room and almost fell in. It had been such a long day, the most stressful he'd had in so long, that his brain was starting to shut down. A nice leather couch (he was in a suite…) looked particularly inviting, and the tired man didn't even bother taking off his jacket before collapsing on it.

The events of the day spun through his head at ultra speed. After he had blacked out for the second time, he had been firmly escorted away to the tent, and instructed to lie down. But he couldn't stay still until he knew that Shuichi was safe. He had been so distressed that one of the doctors had taken time away from treating needy patients to impatiently tell him that they were still sorting out everyone, and if he came back the next day, they could give him a more definite idea of what happened to the boy. So Eiri had gone to the suite that he and Shuichi were supposed to have shared that night.

He was purposely avoiding the bedroom. His last coherent thought was a prayer for his lover's safety. Falling back against the armrest, it was all he could do to kick off his shoes, before he rolled over and fell asleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A barely rested Eiri wandered up and down the aisles of the makeshift hospital that was still erected in the same spot, searching for a glimpse of Shuichi. Each time he saw a blond head peeking above the white blankets, his heart skipped a beat, but every time he was sadly disappointed.

Finally, he bumped into the same doctor that he had spoken to the night before, who looked even more ragged than Eiri, covered in dirt, sweat and blood. The writer allowed himself a glimmer of sympathy before his thoughts turned back to Shuichi.

"Have you found him yet?" The doctor's voice was hopeful, but laced with…something. Eiri suspected that despite his cheery tone, he was not expecting a positive answer.

"No." The man's face conveyed no emotion.

"It's my break right now, come with me. Have you checked both tents thoroughly?" Eiri resisted a sarcastic answer.

"Yes doctor."

"Good."

The tall blond man followed the doctor out of the tent, and towards a smaller, black tent that stood a few hundred feet behind it. Eiri suppressed a shudder as he remembered the stack of bodies that had been there the day before, and with a jolting sense of horror, realized where they were heading.

Once inside the tent, Eiri was surprised to find that it was relatively clean inside, and had a sharp, disinfectant smell to it. A small row of metal lockers took up two walls of the tent, and the rest were lined with stretchers. A foreboding feeling came over Eiri as the doctor reached into a filing cabinet and pulled out a large folder full of papers.

"We have the list of everyone who was on the plane here. So far, most of them have been identified." Eiri cringed…indentified?

"What was your friend's name?"

"Shuichi Shindou." Eiri didn't bother correcting the man's mistake about their relationship.

"And where was he sitting?"

"Right up front."

"Ahh….no, we have not found a Shuichi Shindou yet."

"So he might be okay?" Eiri felt his heart jump.

"Well, maybe. Walking away with no injuries would be highly unlikely, especially if he had been sitting in the front the plane. It is also possible that your friend was skipped over in the medical tent when the lists were being checked, and you missed him when you checked too. Another possibility is…well, we still have some unidentified bodies here…" The doctor's voice trailed off as he waved in the direction of the metal lockers.

Eiri's breathing stopped. Did he really want to look in those lockers? Yes, he decided, if he ever wanted to eliminate this option from Shuichi's whereabouts. He couldn't be in there…could he?

The doctor was looking at him expectantly. All he could manage was a slight inclination of his head, but the man thankfully understood. Gesturing for Eiri to put on a pair of latex gloves, he stepped behind one of the lockers, and twisted a key into it. With surprisingly little effort, the doctor slid the tray out in front of Eiri's face.

The writer let out a breath of air. Too tall, wrong face, wrong body structure.

"No."

The doctor smiled, and put the cadaver back into its proper place. Hopefully its family would come for the poor man soon. He then turned to another locker a few rows down. The tension that built up in Eiri's stomach was released as yet another unknown person came sliding out.

"No." He sighed. How could he have ever thought that his Shuichi would be in here.

"The next victim on the list, is almost completely unidentifiable. His skin is almost completely gone, and his clothes disintegrated. He has no hair left. It seems that he was holding a suitcase handle at the time, and it has melted into his hand."

Eiri held his breath as the man slowly pulled open the containment cell. The sight of the disfigured person made him feel like falling over. It was exactly how the doctor had described it, except twenty times more terrifying. A sob caught in the back of his throat. The appearance of the man wasn't the worst thing about it though. Sitting on his chest, was a bright pink suitcase.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Eiri found himself lying on the ground once again, but made no attempt to get up. The sight of that suitcase had completely destroyed him. Thinking about it now, he sat up against the stiff wall and began sobbing into his lap.

The doctor, who was used to handling with family breakdowns hovered around the huddled up man, handing him a tissue, and then retreating to the corner of the room. Now that he had some privacy, the writer broke down, and screamed into his lap. How could this happen? It was his fault! He just knew it was his fault! And the last thing that he had done was yell at his boyfriend, even though he knew that the boy was really excited to spend time with him. He never thought that it would be the last time he ever spoke to the kid.

But moments later, Eiri pulled himself together and managed to stand up. The doctor hurried over uncertainly.

"Excuse sir, I'm sorry, but you are going to have to confirm that this is your friend. Normal procedure you see." The man gave an apologetic smile.

"It…it's him. I bought him that suitcase just for this trip…oh god!" Eiri took a few shaky breaths.

"Are you sure that this is his bag? There could be another person with the same one. I'll just need you to check the insides of it. The contents seem to be intact, thanks to a completely steel enforced inside."

Eiri fought back a hysterical chuckle. He had picked that out especially so that Shuichi couldn't break it…

The doctor walked over to the suitcase, and broke open the melted lock with a hammer. Pulling open the bag, he twisted it to face Eiri. Whatever hopes had been building in his chest were immediately crushed. There sat the artist's treasured Nittle Grasper CD, right beside Shuichi's favourite t-shirt, passport, translator, and lyric book. Sitting on top of all that was the chocolate bar he had slipped into it.

"Shuichi…Oh my god no! NO! It can't be you!" But he knew it was him. The doctor seemed to know too, and he marked accordingly in his book.

Flashback

"Yuki?"

"Mmmm…?" The writer slowly opened his eyes. Shuichi leaned over and brushed the soft blond hair out of them.

"If I died, would you be sad?"

"Why do you ask, are you sick?" As hard as he tried, Eiri couldn't keep a tiny bit of concern out of his voice.

"No reason, I was just wondering…" Shuichi smirked, "Were you worried?"

"No."

"Yuuukkiiiiiii!"

"Nope, sorry I was just imagining how quiet it would be if you weren't here…I guess I would have to invite Tohma over a lot more often." He flipped over on his side to face Shuichi, laughing to let him know that he was joking. But apparently Shuichi didn't think it was funny.

"Would it really be that easy to replace me?" Hurt was evident in the singer's voice.

"Yes." But even as he said it, and saw the expression on Shuichi's face, he knew that he didn't mean it.

"Shu—" It was too late, the boy had already gotten up and run out of the room.

End Flashback

Eiri lay on the floor of his hotel with tears streaming down the side of his face, staring at the ceiling.

"Of course I can't even replace you baka…I love you…I thought you knew…so why did you leave me…?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Author's note: he…he now this story is really earning its angsty genre! Bwahahahahahhahahahaha…

What's Yuki going to do? Could I really have killed off Shuichi so early in the story? …Probably, but you'll have to read on to find out. (and review too… -.o)