Unexpected Bonds

By Days of Azure

Yuki, a single and sexy bachelor, is the star of an up and coming reality dating show. However instead of finding himself pursuing one of the eligible females, he finds his focus drifting towards a certain annoying, but surprisingly cute little make-up artist. AU Yuki/Shuichi

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or any of its characters. I profit from this in no way.

A/n: Well, I'm glad to see that people are actually reading my story. Two new things happen in this chapter: Shuichi is introduced and he and Yuki meet for the first time. I also make some slight allusions in regards to Yuki's past. As always, I am looking for opinions/comments/suggestions or anything of that nature. If you don't like the direction I'm taking the story, or dislike any aspect of my story that you believe I could improve on, please review and let me know. Again, thank you for reading. (Review responses are at the end of the chapter.)

XxX

Chapter 2: An Arrangement of Fate

Shuichi wondered if he had made a mistake. All day, numerous pushy girls had been down his throat, each demanding something different. Lines like "No, it looks awful. Do it again," and "What the hell kind of a make-up artist are you? Do you even have a degree?" had been basically screamed at him and were still ringing unnervingly through his mind. He was a typically cheerful guy, and not to mention quite easy to get along with. However he mentally insisted that absolutely no self-respecting human being could ever be capable of getting along with any of the girls he'd met with today. They were all so superficial, too obsessed with their damned appearances to even consider the way they treated others.

Letting out a big sigh in both frustration and exhaustion, Shuichi let himself fall droopily to the floor of his all-too-tiny trailer in which he would spend the next few months. He was certainly adjusted to living in places of less than grand status; in fact his trailer almost seemed a welcome change from the cramped apartment he usually called home. It was cozy in a way, and certainly in a safer area. Gazing upwards, he began examining chance things scattered about the trailer.

Cramped shelves held line after line of his most favored, treasured mangas; right next to the Nittle Grasper CDs, of course. There were a few miscellaneous odds and ends placed upon them as well, including a framed picture of he and his dearest friend from home. Glancing at the photograph, he felt a small pain. One of his biggest regrets about his decision to accept a job far from home was the distance it had put between him and his best friend. Shuichi stood up, his exhaustion paling in contrast to the desperate feeling of loneliness that filled him. He reached out to lightly trace his finger against the smooth, cold glass that protected the picture. Ever since he'd left home to work as a make-up artist on a reality dating show, he had had little contact with his family and friends. There weren't many people to talk to on set, either. Most were either too thoroughly absorbed in their work to notice him or too pretentious to speak with him.

Shuichi shook his head forcefully, yanking himself out of his thoughts. This state of depression was not going to work for him; if he wanted to truly excel in his job and not pan out to be a failure, as so many he felt had expected him to, then he had to keep an optimistic outlook. Grinning widely, he continued his thorough examination of his surroundings. It wasn't bad, not bad at all, in fact. The walls were a lovely shade of pale pink, offsetting the white tile of the floor in a good way, he decided. The appliances of the place were reliable, which was more than he could've said for his old home. Besides, it wasn't as though he was stuck in this place for too long. It would be just a few more months before he could return home to his family and friends. And there were always phone conversations and perhaps a few heartfelt letters to get him through those particularly rough days.

Uplifted by his sudden change of heart, Shuichi decided that he was determined to survive the next few months; it was his nature, to tackle things head on in such ways with no caution. He made his way out the door in hopes that a walk would be a good way to begin following through with his newfound revelation. Then again, who knew? It was likely that, as an unpredictable and impulsive boy, Shuichi's newfound hope would be all forgotten in a matter of minutes. In any case, oblivious to all of this, he hummed merrily as he swung shut the door of his trailer.

Outside it was a beautiful night, to say the least. The outdoors during the daytime was beautiful as well, but at night it held a rare and elegant beauty. Shuichi walked briskly along the paved sidewalks, stopping occasionally to admire the newly budding flowers that graced the surrounding area. He continued on, sure of his direction. Lately, when his mind was overwhelmed, he found solace in a small pond that was located on the outskirts of the house and set used for the majority of the filming. On this night, bright moonlight illuminated the surface of the pond, highlighting the minuscule ripples visible only to the keen eye. It was a beautiful and soothing sight, the perfect remedy for Shuichi's fading anxiety.

As he followed his usual mapped route around the pond, he continued his thoughts. He felt unusually reflective tonight; it differed from the usual live-for-the-moment mood he was typically in. The quiet serenity of the pond only seemed to further provoke his abnormal thoughtfulness as he tread softly between patches of shadow cast by tall, surrounding trees.

Lately Shuichi had felt as though there was a big, unidentifiable something that was missing from his life. Sure, he had fun and enjoyed his life most of the time, but he sensed that it lacked meaning. He floated from job to job, lived from paycheck to paycheck and he couldn't necessarily say that it was a rewarding and fulfilling lifestyle. When he had first been offered the job to work on a promising TV series, he'd accepted it blissfully. With the promise of more money, an excellent addition to his resume and a job that would prove to be demanding, he'd expected it to in some way fill that void. However now that he was here, the void still felt present and he was even a little lonely.

In the vast distance, Shuichi made out a thin, vague silhouette against dark sky. He winced tightly, attempting to distinguish the shape into something recognizable. With little luck, he proceeded onward towards, gradually quickening his pace. He continued, almost gravitating, towards the object in a blank state of mind. When he finally found himself a mere ten feet from the once unknown form, he stopped dead in his tracks. Before him stood a puzzling man whose gaze was fixed upon a piece of paper in his hand. Shuichi estimated his height to be slightly over six feet, unusually tall for a Japanese man. Strands of his dirty-blonde hair blew softly in the wind as he continued to examine the paper. Whatever was had been written upon it was obviously not of much importance to the man, as he nonchalantly crumpled it before tossing it into the pond.

The blonde stranger stepped forward, making himself more visible to Shuichi. His eyes, a deep shade of brown that contrasted sharply against his pale, porcelain skin, locked themselves upon the young boy. The silence and tension that hung between them was beginning to grow horribly uncomfortably, so Shuichi decided to break them.

"Ah…Hello," he nearly whispered. It was uncertain as to why he was so uncomfortable; typically, being the outgoing, social bug that he was, saying hello and even more would be simple, even to a stranger.

"So…I guess this means you're going to tell everybody then. Well whatever, it's not like anybody's going to give a damn. It was nothing but cliché tripe anyhow."

"H-huh? I don't…um…follow you," Shuichi managed to say aloud, baffled by the stranger's illogical remarks.

"Never mind…" The unfamiliar man continued to walk past Shuichi, disregarding him as though he'd never said hello. That was when it hit him; Gorgeous blonde hair, beautiful body, dressed immaculately…this man was obviously the seemingly elusive bachelor of whom everyone was so fixated on. During make-up, he'd heard some gossip amongst various female cast members. A notion to be considered came to mind: There was a certain cast member by the name of Mitsuki. She was one of the kinder girls, by far. She had treated Shuichi with respect and had been kind to him. During their conversation, she had simply gushed about how beautiful Yuki-yes that was his name, Shuichi remembered-was and how sweet, kind and dignified he appeared to be. She had been so open and seemed so sincere, contrary to the other girls he had worked with. That was why when she had divulged the information to him that she planned on writing a poem for Yuki, Shuichi had cheered her on enthusiastically. It had seemed like such a sweet and romantic gesture.

As the pieces slowly fell into place in Shuichi's mind, he spun around fiercely on his heel and let his abrupt sense of gallantry take over. "Hey!"

Yuki stopped and glanced just over his shoulder. "Uh…you are Yuki, right?" the boy asked.

"Yup." Yuki repositioned himself to face the shorter man and took a few steps in his direction. "And whatever the hell it is that you want better damn well be important because I'm really not in the mood for small talk." Shuichi blinked twice and stared ahead stupidly. It had been much easier to face up to the man when he hadn't been confronted with such stunningly beautiful eyes.

"You see…t-that was her…that was a poem, right? From Mitsuki, right?"

"You sure are a smart one. Anyway, what the hell does that have to do with anything?" The blonde's repeated rudeness shook Shuichi from his state of infatuation and intrigue. Shaking his head and regaining his composure, he pressed to make his point.

"You can't just toss aside someone's feelings like that! Mitsuki is a really nice girl, and I think it's horrible that you would-

"Oh please," Yuki said, cutting him off. "In what way do you have the right to lecture me? Hell, I don't even know you, and frankly I don't think I want to. Why don't you get the fuck out of my sight? You're making me sick." His harsh retort had cut through Shuichi's confidence and left him feeling remorseful for even saying anything in the first place. He stood slouched, his gaze locked upon his feet.

"Well…in any case, it was a cruel thing to do. Excuse me," he said, his voice cracking and making his pain evident. The boy turned heel and ran in the opposite direction, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes from his embarrassment. He had just made a complete fool of himself.

As he ran through the night, tears beginning to fall from his eyes in rivulets, he wondered how his state had changed from infatuated, to angry to humiliated in mere seconds. It was mysterious, the weight the man's words had held to Shuichi. Typically, he was always strong and confident; there were very few people that could drag him down with such little effort.

It was almost as though he had an unidentifiable power over the younger male.

oOo

"I swear to God Touma, I have never hated you as much as I do right now," Yuki yelled into the receiving end of his phone. "I am surrounded by absolutely shallow morons lacking of any intellect whatsoever. Not to mention that they're obnoxious as hell. Oh, and how could I forget, I'm stuck with them for the next SIX FUCKING MONTHS," he screamed, grateful for his secluded room.

"Eiri, just calm down. Take a deep breath. I thought we established this last night: it's not easy, but you're doing well. You keep it up and you'll come out of this more popular than ever. Can you imagine what the publicity is going to do for book sales? Come now, you did so well again today. You even handled that cheesy little poem incident with such finesse. I was very impressed."

"Urgghh," Yuki grumbled aloud, releasing only a small portion of his frustration. "I hope for your sake that when this incident is over I become a bestselling novelist. If nothing good comes out of this I will murder you."

"Don't worry dear; I've never been more certain." Touma was obviously unruffled by his friend's threats. He had known him for years and had grown well used to it by now.

"…I suppose I can't sleep with any of them can I?"

"Absolutely not. Remember that polite and caring 'prince-type' we discussed yesterday? I doubt casual sex would do much for that image…"

"Damn. Six months without sex…this is going to be fabulous."

"Well, you know I'm always available, and more than willing," Touma declared, his suggestively toned voice trailing off.

"Fuck you. Figuratively speaking. Goodnight." Yuki flipped the bottom end of his phone against the other and sighed heavily. His head was resting atop his pillow, although he was a bit too unnerved for sleep at the moment.

The events of the night had been dull and irritating, just as he had expected. He would have to suffer through the series at a slow rate. Luckily, there was to be a several day break in which he wouldn't be needed for filming at all. Yuki planned on taking advantage of the time to soak up as much solitude as he could. One day took almost more than he could take out of him.

The day hadn't been entirely dull, he thought as images of the boy from earlier flashed through his head. His criticism had left him somewhat irritated and upset, to say the least, but at least he had provided some sort of distraction from the hell that Yuki was stuck in. And then there were those vibrant, violet eyes and that petit frame and…Eiri shook his head. Although he didn't deny the small attraction he felt towards the younger boy, examining them would bring nothing good. There had only ever been one man he'd ever been romantically involved with, one man he'd ever truly loved, and he was gone now because of Yuki himself.

As he began to shake ever so slightly, Yuki knew he could not allow himself to drift any further into thought. Doing so would bring back too many memories, too much pain. He shut his eyes, fist clenched against his chest tightly, and attempted to lull himself into a dead sleep.

XxX

End Chapter Two

A/n: I send a sincere thank you out to everyone who reviewed. I hope you all will continue to read/review my story! (Review responses have been removed as of 3-16-06)