Ripples in Red Water

Chapter 2:Shards of the broken mirror

Part 3

Shards of the Present

By: Empathic Soul

Disclaimer: Gravitation is a wonderful anime. It is sadly not mine.

PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Thank you once again to those who reviewed! I really love the reviews! Hehe! Helps me and makes me inspired to write the story again!

Thank you once again! Please read and review and as Ruruouni Sesshouhen remarked: Read with you heart!

Thank you!

Shuichi slowly opened his eyes as he felt his senses starting to work again. He glanced straight ahead and saw the ceiling. He felt like he was on a bed and suddenly of course he realized that indeed he was on one.

He sighed. He closed his eyes again trying to recall the events that happened last night, or rather this morning including that dream that he just had a while ago. He tried to grab every single bits and pieces of what he could get from his dream. It felt like it was not just any ordinary dream. He felt like it was

What do you call it?

Yes, a memory…

It was then he suddenly saw a pink stuffed toy come face to face with him along with a brush of blond hair on the other side.

He blinked once.

And then blinked twice.

Surely Yuki would not touch Kumagoro. Shuichi thought and then his thoughts were confirmed when he heard the childish voice of the so-called god of singing.

"Shuuuuuuuiiiiiiichiiiii!!!!" Sakuma Ryuichi leaned on the left side of the bed looking straight into his eyes giving him a look that resembled to pouting. "Kumagoro and I thought you would never wake up!! We were so worried!!"

Shuichi turned only to see the face of Ryuichi. The other showed him teary eyes as he embraced the pink stuffed animal tightly. He appeared like a little boy whose lollipop got stolen by a bunch of bullies and came running home. Well, that was close to the description anyway.

Shuichi had to muster enough self-control not to laugh with that kind of face the other vocalist was showing.

He sensed that there was another person in the room. Though he had no doubt as to who would it be since his hands are currently intertwined with this person, Shuichi slowly stood up from the bed and went to look at the still teary eyed Ryuichi and the other person on the side, Yuki.

Shuichi glanced down to his abdomen and saw bandages over it. He did not have a shirt at all but his abdomen was covered, so he simply sighed and glanced at Yuki who still refused to speak, or even utter a single word.

Ryuichi suddenly gasped and stood up pointing at Shuichi with an accusatory index finger. Shuichi raised an eyebrow at the gaping 4-year-old in the body of a 31-year-old man.

"Aaaaahhh! You'll catch a cold if you don't wear anything! I'm going to your room and get you a shirt! Let's go Kumagoro!" Ryuichi sped out of the room banging it close in the process.

Shuichi had to wince and reassure himself that the door did not break into a million pieces. He sighed and winced slightly at the pressure he unintentionally gave to his poor self. He was disrupted from his own thoughts when Yuki suddenly spoke, breaking the silence between them.

"He called himself over. He claimed that he wanted to see you wake up. He's been here since 11 in the morning." Yuki explained seeing that Shuichi seems to be wondering what the other idol was doing in their home.

"You called NG?" Shuichi asked looking at the watch at the same time and saw that it was already 3:00 in the afternoon. "Wow, I slept a lot didn't I?"

"I didn't call NG. They came looking for you. You should have slept more." Yuki muttered looking at the wound on his lover's abdomen.

Shuichi knew where Yuki's looking and suddenly became self-conscious. He pulled up the blankets enough to cover the bandages and faced the novelist with a smile. He pulled the other's hand and merely tightened his hold.

"You bandaged me?" Shuichi asked looking pleasantly at his lover who seemed to be aware that the other boy pulled up the blankets to cover his bandages.

"Who else?" Yuki rolled his eyes in the attempt to look annoyed.

"Thank you." Shuichi smiled slightly.

"Who did this to you?" Yuki looked at the man who merely continued to smile even though he was already asked of a question that seems to be really important.

Yuki bit his lower lip as he trembled slightly. Shuichi could see that Yuki was having his internal battle and at that he knew already that this man did everything that he could do to help him last night. At that simple thought, Shuichi felt butterflies flutter in his stomach and he smiled happily and truly for the first time in a week.

Shuichi took Yuki into a strong embrace and he smiled, as he finally smelled his lover's scent once again. To feel him against his touch once more and to assure Yuki that he would tell him everything. Yuki bent his head in the crook of Shuichi's neck to savor the moment. HE had been blaming himself about not being there to protect the younger boy, about not being able to help him, and most of all for not telling him that he loved him.

"There was a man that came to NG last Wednesday. He told me stuff. I was confused a first, then he told me that I had lost some memories. It left me wondering, and troubled." Shuichi started, not even letting go of his lover as they relaxed in each other's embrace.

"He gave me a paper listing places all over Tokyo that I should go to. For the past six days, that was where I had been going, trying to remember." Shuichi leaned his head slightly towards Yuki who silently waited for him to continue.

"I sat on the park after going to the last place listed in the list still unsuccessful in restoring my memories, until a band of gangsters attacked me. It was a shock for me Yuki…I easily beat them as if I did not have any control over my body." Shuichi by now pushed himself away from Yuki as eh stared down at his hands. "It was like a natural thing for me to do. Every kick and every punch, there was one memory uncovered. But I left myself off guard, so I got stabbed. But mind you, I did not kill any of them."

Shuichi smiled sheepishly and looked at Yuki who returned to his usual self. Yuki grunted looking extremely annoyed.

"I promise you, Yuki. I'll tell you everything once I know them. I'm sorry." Shuichi bent his head and avoided to meet his eyes with Yuki's amber gaze.

He suddenly felt a hand caressing his cheek and felt his chin being lifted up. He came into contact with Yuki's soft lips. The tow closed each other's eyes and that kiss held almost everything there was to be said.

It said: It's alright, I'll wait…It was some sort of assurance that there was trust in their relationship. There was understanding. There was a sense of security, safety, and an assurance that they would be there for each other. And most of all, the love that they could give each other. The simple soft, chaste kiss that held all the meaning seem to have answered all the questions that were needed to be asked as of the moment.

They drew back from each other and Shuichi smiled towards Yuki who in return gave him a slight smile as well. It was rare to see Yuki smile, but this one smile was also of relief. He had thought that he had lost his lover in more ways than one for the past week. But that kiss had assured him that there was none that was lost at all.

Damn my over active imagination! Yuki grumbled to himself. Blame it all to me being a writer!

Suddenly, the door swung open once again to reveal not only Ryuichi with a red shirt, but also a smiling Seguchi Tohma; K with his usual set of guns; a crying Sakano; a smirking Tatsuha; a soft smiling Mika; an expressionless Fujisaki Suguru; and an extremely worried best friend.

"Wow, there are so many people here." Shuichi looked at the people by the door when Hiro suddenly appeared by his side.

"Who did this to you? What happened? Where were you last night? Are you hungry? Did you eat last night? Were you in a fight? Was it Aizawa Tachi? Tell me! I'll beat them up!" Hiro sounded more like an over protective mother rather than an overprotective best friend.

"Maa Hiro you sound more like my mother than my best friend!" Shuichi teased and Hiro made a gapping face.

"I can see you're fine..." Hiro glared at Shuichi, although it was not something that anyone would interpret as angry.

"Shindou-kuuuun! Pleeeaaasse don't do that again!" Sakano knelt down beside the bed and took a portion of the blankets to cry on.

"Hey, Sakano-san, Shindou-san's not dead! And it's not as if he wanted to get stabbed!" Fujisaki placed a hand on the producer's shoulder to ease a bit of his pain.

"But he nearly died!!!" Sakano began to weep again and Fujisaki shook his head in a degree of annoyance and disgust over the pitiful state of their talented producer.

"No, I didn't. I wouldn't have died in that." Shuichi shook his head as he felt the side of the bed where Ryuichi was a while ago, slightly move. He looked to the side and saw Ryuichi and Kumagoro handing him a shirt.

"Here you go na-no-da! You have to wear this so that you won't catch a cold!" Ryuichi poked Shuichi using Kumagoro on the arm and the other man nodded.

"Thank you, Sakuma-san." Shuichi smiled widely. Having your ultimate IDOL actually give you something was definitely SOMETHING.

Ryuichi pouted placing his hands on his waist.

"Shuuuuuicccchhhhiiii! I told you that you should call me Ryuuuu-ccchhhhhaaaaannn-na-no-da!" Ryuichi exclaimed and then made the pink doll do a pose. "Kumagoro Kick!"

The toy hit Shuichi's face gently and Shuichi grinned this time.

"Okay, okay, Ryu-chan."

Shuichi raised his arms only wince slightly but was able to place the shirt on without any help. He looked at the people there and smiled at them with a smile of gratitude.

"It's good that you're well, Shuichi." K complimented in his weird English accent.

"Thank you, K-san." Shuichi nodded and saw a pistol pointing at his head. He gasped upon seeing the manager looking at him in the eye. I can feel it now...the gun...

"Now start talking about what exactly happened!" K ordered, or rather threatened. Shuichi gulped and then merely smiled nervously.

So predictable!

His thoughts were interrupted by a certain person in the room, who is none other than Seguchi Tohma.

"Yes, Shindou-kun, who did this to you? I assure you that the criminal would be rightfully placed into the hands of the police if ever we caught him." Tohma assured and Shuichi smiled at the man.

"And you know, Big Bro over there was really worried about you! He called all of us having to inform US of your situation!" Tatsuha smirked as he saw the evil glare that came from his older brother. "I even drove from Kyoto to here."

"I did not ask you to come. You invited yourself." Yuki grunted. Shuichi laughed and then merely replied.

"Wow! You guys, easy with the questions. I can't answer them all." Shuichi smiled at his best friend who did not buy it to the least. "Okay, here goes. I'll say it once and only once."

After a few hours of explaining and answering the questions, everyone finally left the two alone claiming that Shuichi still needed to get his well needed rest after haring from K that they would start having more strenuous practices in the next days to come. It earned a few unnerving smiles from Seguchi Tohma and a wide grin from Sakano. Suguru and Hiro along with Shuichi visibly paled. K was so enthralled with his own narration of the upcoming schedules and Ryuichi was busy fiddling with anything in the entire room. Yuki had to resist the urge to kick them all out of the house for good.

They left after a few more hours, okay, after dinner and Yuki was about to think of calling another place and rent a new apartment after hearing them talk about having a sleepover. Shuichi smiled at the door as it quietly closed. He still heard the mumbles and the small chat that occurred outside but he seemed to be pretty preoccupies by his own thoughts to actually care.

Now that was a surprise, Shindou Shuichi does not care. The world is going to end.

Yuki noticed that Shuichi had that lost look on his face again. Shuichi looked so vulnerable, so prone to the dangers of the world, not that he didn't really look that way before, but this time, he looked more vulnerable. He appeared more delicate.

He wanted to embrace the young singer now more than ever and comfort him using words that he only used in the novels that he was known to write. But that's exactly it. He's only writing those words and never really had any plans or intentions on saying them. And of course, his natural tendencies and his attitude, how rotten it must be to some people, would prevent him from doing so.

But looking at Shuichi so lost there, standing by the door as if trying to dig up all those deeply buried memories that were said he must have lost; it was definitely unnerving…and sad.

He decided that it would be best to leave the boy alone for a change. He went straight to the living room to clear out the empty cans of beer and some of the plates that they used a while ago to entertain the invaders…guests. He snorted as to why he suddenly became the maid of the house. The nerve of all those people, ruining his home.

Shuichi on the other hand heard the light clanks of metal hitting one another coming from another room. Knowing that Yuki was probably cleaning up the room, he decided to offer his heal. After all, they were there to see if he was feeling better, or if he was still alive. So he decided to interfere a little with Yuki's thoughts and smiled.

"Need help, Yuki?" He asked only to be met with a glare coming from the novelist.

"No thanks. You'll just end up bleeding again and then I'll have to bandage you again. Just go to sleep and stop bothering me." Yuki countered and threw all the cans in the trashcan and headed straight to dishwasher.

Anyone else would have been unnerved, offended, and downright insulted with having your generous offer rejected flat out. But with this kind of treatment, Shuichi has gotten used to it by now. He walked near Yuki and suddenly gave him a small peck on the cheeks and embraced the taller man's waist. He then let go after a few moments and whispered a soft goodnight before heading to bed and get some better-deserved rest.

When Yuki heard the sound of the door clicking to close, he started to run the dishwasher. He leaned by the sink and looked at the direction where his lover vanished a few minutes ago. He did not know that a smile was gracing his usually cold features.

He shook his head and continued to focus his attention muttering curses and grumbling about "stupid pink-haired lovers."

TBC

Please Read and Review!

Thank you so much again to those who reviewed

Thanks to:

Mistress Anime, Clari-chan, Kitty in the Box, Yakari Taito, Mischakitsune, Anonymous: Thank you very much! I am so happy that you loved the story! I really hope that you continue to read this and also review! The reviews help me re-edit the entire story to make it less offensive and better than before.

Moonlight2, Kanilla, Reiannah: Your reviews are extremely helpful and really inspiring! I like those reviews with constructive criticism and it makes me inspired to continue to write! Thank you so much! Please continue to read the following chapters and review as well.

Empathic Soul: It seems we have the same pen name . Anyway, thank you for reading. Please continue to do so! I am happy to have readers and reviewers!

FOR THE FOLLOWING CHAPTERS:

It would be less gorry or angsty. There would be some angst in about two main chapters but for the next two main chapters there would be less angst. As you may have noticed my chapters are divided into subchapters. That helps me write, because my original chapters are toooooooo long!

Thank you for the encouragement and please continue to help me through reading and reviewing.