Genre: Drama/ romance
Warnings: None
Rating: T
Pairings: Yuki x Shiuchi, Yuki x Ayaka
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I want nothing. Read and Enjoy.

TWO: The Angel of the Dance
The sound of the steps was muffled by the red carpet under his feet. The looks of disapproval would've made anyone else doubt of their decision, or maybe ever run away, but not him. Not today.

"What are you doing here! How dare you!"

The sound of her furious voice made everyone stare in surprise. To face her right now one had to be incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. He knew he was more likely the latter.

"He asked for me".

Those words were said without any emotion in them, but both knew better. In his purple-now-redden eyes the sadness was so easily read that for a moment she doubted that she was doing the right thing.

But she couldn't allow this and he knew it. He couldn't blame her for her behavior either. He would've done the exact same thing in her place.

"You have no right to be here".

He looked at her. She too had her eyes red, prove that both had been crying, and that angered her. She didn't want to have anything in common with him.

"Ayaka-san..."

But whether she liked it or not, they did.

"He gave you everything..."

"What?"

"The country house, his rights over the books, everything he loves, you'll get it. Isn't that enough?"

"I never asked any of it".

"I don't believe you! Don't you dare lie to me!"

"Please, Ayaka-san. Just... just let me say goodbye to him".

She paused for a moment. Could he really truly care beyond the money and the looks?

"Would you give it all up?"

He looked at her surprised for a second before nodding.

"To be with him? Yes. Everything".

". . . Five minutes. Then you'll have to leave".

He gave her a grateful smile and entered the room. It was dark, and he could almost smell the death in that room, but he said nothing. Slowly, carefully, ha approached the bed.

He had promised himself he wouldn't cry in front of him, that he would be strong, but the view in front of him broke his heart.

"Yuki..."

He called him softly by his penname. It was an arrangement between the two that he had respected for many years: on public he called him Uesugi-san, in privet he was Yuki. Never by his first name.

The once blond man opened his eyes and saw him. A weak smile played on his lips as he indicated him to approach more.

"Baka... I though you weren't coming".

He took Yuki's hand and kissed it as he sat on the bed. As much as it pained him to see him like this he would've never forgiven himself if he hadn't come.

"I had to". He smiled warmly before continuing. "I'm your angel, right?"

The man in the bed snorted. The first time he had heard those words had been so long ago...

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Shuichi Shindou blinked in surprise as he entered the dance room. He couldn't believe the king himself had invited him to the royal ball.

He considered himself as just another singer, the opera was his life indeed, but he had never thought he was on the level of the royal musicians. Certainly he wasn't even near the level of the legendary Sakuma Ryuichi. The teenager tried to hide his nervousness as the Prime Minister Seguchi-san walked towards him.

"Shindou-san. I'm very pleased you took our invitation. Perhaps you'll let me introduce you to some friends?"

"O- of course! It's a pleasure to be here!"

His voice had came out a note higher that what he had wished it to, but the blonde made no comments, so he smiled and followed him.

After a few presentations, the Prime Minister directed him towards a young beautiful couple.

"Usami-san, as promised, I'll introduce you to the newest singer of the court. Shindou-san, this is Usami Ayaka and her escort, one of the favorite writers of the king, Uesugi Eiri".

"Nice to meet you Shindou-san! May I call you by your first name? I must say, you are my favorite singer, your voice is simply beautiful!"

"Uh... nice to meet you too, Usami-san"

"Please, Ayaka will be just fine".

Shuichi never answered her. Ever since the moment he had met the eyes of the blond, he couldn't say a word. He just stood there, as the gaze of the blond man penetrated him and reach something deep in his heart Shuichi had no idea existed before.

"Oh, Eiri-san, the dance is starting. Could we dance this song please?"

And just like that, the blond man was gone, and Shuichi was left staring at them.

.-.-.-

The fresh air from the garden gave him peace. He was barely aware of what had happened after that encounter. Suddenly, meeting the king and singing for him in the royal ball didn't seem so important. That man's eyes...

"Hn".

That was his greeting. Shuichi learned that day that Yuki wasn't very fond of words unless it was for writing them.

"Oh... he-hello. I- I mean... shouldn't you be with Ayaka-san?"

"Is my presence disturbing you boy?"

"Ah? Oh, no! I just... well..."

"Liar".

"What? I'm not a liar! And I'm not a young boy!"

The man smirked to him and approached, making him step back against a tree.

"You are lying again. If I'm not disturbing you why do you react this way when I touch you?"

And as to prove his point, he placed his hand on Shuichi's cheek and caressed it slowly.

"I- what are you doing!"

The smirk went back to the blonde's face as he leaned forward, and whispered to his ear.

"I've been told you are a magnificent singer. An angel of the music they say. Are you gonna be the angel of the dance tonight as well?"

Shuichi wanted to speak, to push the stranger and leave, but his body refused to move, and his 'magnificent voice' appeared to have left him. The blond leaned a bit more, pressing his body ever so slightly against his own, and the boy's legs trembled a little.

"I hope... you will not disappoint me..."

He caressed with his lips the boy's ear, and slowly moved towards his lips. Shuichi was sure the blond would kiss him when he stood up and turned around.

"I wonder if you can truly surprise me, brat".

And with that he turned around and left.

.-.-.-

Shuichi had only felt like this when he sang. Never before had he felt such an excitement, and with so much force.

That night he had been, indeed, magnificent.

.-.-.-

A few weeks latter, he saw the man again in the Prime Minister's mansion, just when the blond went outside towards the garden.

"Uesugi-san!"

He didn't bother to stop or even slow down, but Shuichi didn't care. When he finally stopped, the boy noticed they were far from the others and wondered if it had been a wise idea to follow him.

"Why are you following me, kid? Did you lost your mother and want me to help you find her?"

Shuichi frowned at that, a pout forming in his lips. He didn't take it seriously, knowing now the reputation the blond had.

"I just wanted to know... if you liked my song..."

"Your lyrics suck. You should pick you songs better".

"What! I wrote that song! It's the king's favorite!"

"Well, the king has no taste when it comes to letters, and nor do you".

"How can you say that of the king! He likes your books!"

"Which proves he knows nothing about literature".

For a moment, they both stared at each other in silence, until Shuichi made the gesture to speak, and the blond interrupted him before he even started.

"However..." He leaned over him, just like the time before, only this time there was no tree that stopped Shuichi from running away. After a short pause, and realizing the boy wasn't moving away, Eiri continued. "I did find your voice interesting".

Shuichi blushed as the blond grabbed his chin a bit too roughly and pulled him closer.

"It made me wonder, what a moan would sound coming from such a pretty voice".

And with that he kissed him, hard and demanding, and without waiting for his consent he forced him to open his mouth and deepened the kiss.

Startled at first, Shuichi soon followed the lead of the blond and began participating. Before he knew it, he was being pushed against a near wall, and the other man's hands began caressing his chest. A soft moan came out of his lips.

When they finally stopped, Shuichi was blushing hard, and his clothes were slightly out of place.

"I..."

The blond placed a finger on his lips and smirked.

"Yuki".

"What?"

"You can call me that when we see again".

.-.-.-

From that day, every dance, every reunion they both went, they would met each other far from the other's looks. In front of the rest of the world, they were barely acquaintances, and spoke to each other with seriousness, but in the shadows they would reveal their real selves.

Months passed and Shuichi understood he had fallen in love with that man. His Yuki he would call him. And as his popularity thought the kingdom rose, so did his love from the blond.

Without anyone's knowledge, his lover wrote the songs he sang, and the stories of Yuki's novels were dedicated to him.

After a while, they begun to love each other every opportunity they got. They met before he sang at the opera and between chats with others during the balls.

Life was almost perfect for the singer. Until one fateful afternoon, during a ball, it was announced the engagement of Eiri Uesugi with Ayaka Usami.

Shuichi understood that moment why his lover had been so pleasing during the last days, and why he hadn't been invited to this particular ball. He shouldn't have been there and wouldn't have, but Ayaka had always loved his music and so her parents had asked him to sing for them during the party.

Yuki hadn't noticed him until Shuichi ran out the room. He was in the same garden they had talked to each other the first time, leaning against the same tree, only this time his heart wasn't filled with excitement, but breaking in sorrow.

"You weren't supposed to come".

Shuichi remained silent for a moment feeling suddenly cheated and betrayed by the person he loved most in the world.

"So what? You would tell me sometime soon or you wanted to wait 'till the wedding to see if I realized what was going on?"

"Don't start brat. This isn't the place or the-"

"Like hell is not! Why didn't you told me! Who could you do this to me!"

"And what did you expected me to do! Challenge my father and ask you to marry me! You know perfectly well that's not possible!"

"So then you accepted to marry her! I am not good enough for you anymore? Is that it! You don't want to be with me so you are leaving me for her?"

"You know that's not it".

"No! No I don't! How- Why did you agree to do this!"

"... I had no choice. I postponed it as long as I was able to. My father convinced the king that I need to settle down".

Shuichi's eyes widened in surprise.

"It was... the king order you to marry her!"

Yuki nodded and looked at him. There was sadness in his eyes, Shuichi had known him long enough to recognize that look. He had only seen it once before, but he could never forget that expression.

"I... I guess this means we... we won't... Yuki...I- I don't want to lose you".

"There's nothing left to do brat. I'm marrying her next month".

"I know".

"I won't talk to you ever again after that".

"Ayaka-san... she likes my music... she doesn't know... it's yours as well. Yuki... My songs will never be the same if you leave me".

"Baka..."

Shuichi looked at the sky silently begging for a solution, but deep in his heart knew that there wasn't anything left to do about it. Perhaps he was just asking for forgiveness from the gods beyond the clouds.

"I..." He doubted for a second, but when words finally came out they did with strong conviction in them. "No matter what Yuki, unless you truly want me to leave your side, I'll stay with you".

"What? Are you- Do you realize what you are saying?"

" I'll always be your angel".

.-.-.-

It had been hard to sing that day to celebrate the engagement, and he had fought the tears that threatened to fall down. He had sung her favorite song just for her, in a beautiful and silent apology for what he had just done to her.

He had been there when they had gotten married too. His song, written entirely by him this time, was said to be the most beautiful one he had ever sung. That warm afternoon of May he had wanted to die for the first time.

After that, he had seen him form a family with her. He had stayed away, as far as he could to those children, knowing that he wouldn't have survived to see them call Yuki as their father.

It had been hard to stay in the shadows. Whenever he was with Yuki life was perfect again, but then he had to leave, and they went back into reality again.

.-.-.-

Ayaka had founded out during their tenth anniversary. Yuki had written a song for Shuichi, as always, and Ayaka had recognized it. Just a couple of words, but she had understood immediately. And she had confronted Shuichi that night.

Ironically, that had been one of the best nights Shuichi had had in a long time. Ayaka had just demanded him to leave and never come back, threatening to ruin his reputation in the court, when Yuki appeared. He had seen Shuichi leave followed by Ayaka.

"Eiri!"

The woman was at lost of words under the glare of her husband.

"What is going on here, brat?"

The question had been directed to him, and Ayaka's anger had returned in full force.

"How dare you! I won't allow this Eiri! I knew you were having some kind of affair, but- but with him!"

"So what are you going to do about it?"

Shuichi had been surprised by his lover's calm behavior, but not was nearly as he had been a moment latter.

"I'll tell my father! I'll make sure no one will ever want to hear your songs Shindou! Eiri you must leave him! Don't you see wha-"

"Stop it Ayaka. He's my lover, and I'm not planning on dumping him, so you better get that on your head. I'll leave you first before leaving him".

Shuichi understood that moment. Even if after all those years his lover had never told him, he loved him too.

Ayaka had stormed out of the room, and never asked him to sing for her again.

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Shuichi caressed the face of his long time lover. When he had received his letter he had known he couldn't postponed it anymore. He had to go see the blond and say goodbye.

"Yuki..."

There was no need for words anymore. They had both said everything they needed to say the last time they had seen each other.

"It's been five minutes. Now leave".

Shuichi looked up and saw Ayaka coming, ready to stay next to the man she loved until the end. Of all the things they had in common, what had always surprised Shuichi was that they both desired what the other had.

He wanted to be able to stay by Yuki's side and appear with him in public if he wanted to. To be able to travel with him and meet him at any place he wanted. She wanted to have his passion, and the love Yuki had for the singer. Shuichi couldn't help but to feel sad for her. In all, he had been the lucky one, the one that Yuki had chosen by free will.

Shuichi leaned forward and whispered to his lover.

"I'll always be your angel Yuki... and you'll always be mine".

He was about to get up and leave when a strong hand held his in almost death grip.

"Stay..."

It was barely a whisper, but both Shuichi and Ayaka had heard him.

"Eiri..."

She looked at Shuichi, ready to see a triumphant smile on his face, but he was just looking at Eiri. For both of them, the world was forgotten. This was their last moment together.

A few seconds latter, she saw Shuichi began to cry. Silently, he hugged his body one last time. And then he got up, and looked at her. The sorrow in his eyes made her realize Eiri was gone.

"No... Eiri!"

Soon, doctors, his sons, every member of Yuki's family entered the room. Quietly, Shuichi left the place.

The next afternoon, while Eiri was buried, a sad sweet song was heard through the entire cemetery. Shuichi hadn't sung for years, but his voice was still as clear and beautiful as always.

Ayaka couldn't help a smile when she recognized the song. Shuichi had refused to sing it again after the one time she had heard it. It was the song he had sung during her wedding.

.-.-.-

.-.-.-

fin