Fleeting Inspiration
by Anna Sartin

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Chapter 42: Welcome Home?

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When Eiri returned home several hours later he found his sister, brother and lover all sitting in the living room laughing merrily. Mika and Shuichi were sitting on the sofa drinking tea and chatting like old friends. Tatsuha sat on the floor nearby organizing a pile of magazines while Mr. Fuzzy sat on the coffee table "helping" by attacking the young monk's head at random intervals.

"It was the funniest thing!" Mika laughed. "Eiri was all dressed up in Mother's clothes and he'd even tried putting on her make-up!"

Eiri's face paled. Oh holy Buddha...

"How old was he?" Shuichi asked.

"Five," Mika answered. "Mother thought it was the cutest thing in the world but Father looked like he was about to have a heart attack!"

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to see that," Tatsuha laughed.

"Where were you?" Shuichi inquired.

"I wasn't born yet, silly."

Eiri wondered if he could back out of the apartment without being noticed. He took two steps backward and bumped into Tohma, who'd followed him home in his car. So much for that idea... the author thought sourly. The other blond sported an amused smile, much to Eiri's annoyance.

"Surely you've got a story or two to tell about Aniki," Tatsuha prodded Shuichi. "You live with him, after all."

So far Mika had done the majority of the telling, having a large store of funny recollections along with several amusing anecdotes her husband had told her about her brother's time in America. Tatsuha had also shared one or two childhood memories, but Shuichi had yet to add anything to the conversation. He thought for a moment. "Well, there was this one time he got drunk and-"

"Enough!" Eiri roared from the doorway, with such force that it blew the hat off of his brother-in-law's head. "Out! All of you, OUT!"

Mr. Fuzzy chose this moment to strike, forcing Tatsuha to run out of the room with the kitten's claws and teeth firmly embedded in his scalp. Mika was about to utter some form of protest but Eiri threw her coat at her before she could say a word. One could almost see the fire raging in his golden eyes. Tohma quickly decided (after retrieving his hat) that it would be wise to leave before they were physically removed. He helped his wife rise from her seat and politely excused them both before heading for the door. Shuichi trailed behind them.

"Except you," Eiri amended, grabbing his boyfriend's arm before he could leave.

Shuichi gulped. Oh crap... "Welcome home?" he offered in a tiny voice when they were alone. He hoped his boyfriend wasn't planning on doing anything painful to him.

"What was that all about?" Eiri demanded. The singer laughed nervously.

"Well, for some reason Mika-san got my pillow Tatsuha- You know, the one I gave to Ryuichi?- confused with the real Tatsuha, and she thought the new one you bought for me a few weeks ago was a... well, you don't want to know what she thought. Anyway, when we got the misunderstanding cleared up we were all laughing pretty hard and Mika-san started telling us about the funny things you used to do when you were younger. Oh, and Tatsuha told us about the time you traded his pet hamster for a can of beets. That was mean, Yuki!"

Eiri snickered as he remembered that particular incident. His brother hated beets. I even stuck it in the hamster wheel... he recalled. He'd traded the hamster to a neighborhood boy after Tatsuha traded his condoms for a pack of balloons. A few days after the disappearance of his pet Tatsuha stole his brother's cigarettes and traded them (to same teenager he'd given the condoms to) for a can of fishing worms. He then proceeded to dump the can in Eiri's underwear drawer. Ah, the good old days... By the time the "trading phase" of their little revenge game was over the neighborhood children had acquired four packs of condoms, a hamster, three packs of cigarettes, a set of rare (mint condition) comic books, Eiri's favorite watch, a limited edition Nittle Grasper poster, most of Eiri's jewelry (which Tatsuha traded to get his poster back) and the Playstation Tatsuha had gotten for his birthday the year before.

"Yuki, are you okay?" Shuichi asked.

"Huh?" Eiri asked, snapping out of his reverie. "What?"

"You were spacing out..."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be mad at me, okay?" Shuichi pleaded.

The author plopped down on the sofa. "Fine. But the next time my sister opens her mouth stuff something in it!"

"So how was your meeting?" Shuichi asked, taking a seat next to him.

"They want me to write the script for the film."

"Yuki, that's great!"

"No, it isn't. I can't write worth a shit right now and they want the rough draft ready in two months."

"But you've already written the story, right? So all you've got to do is re-write your book in script form."

"They also want me to write the lyrics for the theme song and record the audiobook. I'm going to have a lot of work to do in the next few months and we've still got to get packed and move into our new house. It's all just... overwhelming."

"The doctor told you to take it easy," Shuichi reminded him.

"The doctor doesn't pay my bills."

Shuichi moved into his lover's lap and wrapped his arms around him. "Your bills would pay themselves even if you never worked again."

"Not true," Eiri smirked. "I'd drink my bank account dry in a year. Two tops. And they just raised the price of cigarettes again."

"In other words you work to support your habits, not pay the bills!"

"Hey, I have to do something with all that money, right? There has the be some perks to being rich."

"You're so full of it," Shuichi whispered, kissing the blond and pressing their foreheads together. "I wish you'd cut back, though. I get really scared when you're sick. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to my Yuki."

Something stirred inside Eiri, causing him to tighten his hold on his little lover. The thought of being left alone scared the hell out of him, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the singer's greatest fear was the same as his. So if they were in agreement on that point then maybe he could put a bit more effort into staying alive. Possibly. He closed his eyes and whispered, "I'll... try."

Shuichi perked up immediately. "Really?"

"I'm not promising anything, just... I'll try, okay?"

"Okay!" The singer crushed his boyfriend in a hug and hopped off his lap. He grabbed a mechanical pencil off of the coffee table and handed it to the writer. "Take this!"

"Exactly what am I supposed to do with THIS?" Eiri asked. "I thought we established that these things are better off kept out of my possession."

"It's a lucky pencil!" Shuichi informed him.

"I KNOW it's your "lucky pencil", idiot. I was there when you bought it, remember? Why are you giving it to me?"

"There were two in the pack I bought from the drugstore, so I'm giving you one to celebrate your return to work!"

"Why?" the author asked. It was the twenty-first century and he had a laptop to write his novels on. Why the hell would he need a pencil?

"For luck!" Shuichi explained. "You don't have to actually write with it, you can just keep it around to help your inspiration. You know, like a good luck charm."

"Well, at least this isn't as moronic as that stupid box you brought home," Eiri said, shoving the pencil in his pocket.

"Let's start packing today," the singer suggested. "That way we'll be all ready by the time they say we can move in."

Eiri fought the urge to smile. "Excited or something?"

Shuichi hopped back into his lap and hugged him. "Yes! Yuki and I are moving into our very own house!"

Eiri pulled his lover close and kissed him. "Mm... But first..." He moved down and began nibbling on the boy's throat, making his desire known. Shuichi laughed and sprawled back on the couch, yanking off his shirt as his partner loomed over him and started removing his own clothing.

. . .

From the doorway a certain seventeen year-old with a cat on his head (and blood dripping down his scalp) watched as the couple made love. He sighed with disappointment.

Now why didn't I think to bring my video camera?

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End chapter forty-two