Never Say Never
Chapter 3
Yuki stretched himself before saving the document and switching off his laptop. A quick glance at the clock told him that it wasn't that late yet, but he stopped anyway. As he really had no need to work at night -- the next deadline was still weeks away, thank Kami for that -- there was no reason why he couldn't stop working already. Shuichi was probably already asleep; the band had just returned from a tour and the vocalist was exhausted. Yuki didn't mind, as he knew that the following night Shuichi would be just as full of energy as usually, energy that he very much liked to spend in some very... satisfying... ways.

However, it was with a sigh that he stood up. Tohma was in America and would stay there for a couple of days more, and thus, he had nobody sensible and adult-like around to talk to. It had been a month already, and he and Tatsuha hadn't made up yet. If it depended on him, they never would. It was obvious that he couldn't trust his little brother; thus, he had no desire to have any kind of interaction with Tatsuha. Tohma, on the other hand, seemed to have some problems with Mika.

What kind of problems, that he wouldn't tell, but Yuki knew that something was not right. He could sense this kind of thing; it was in his job description. All romance novelists, no matter how cold and distant, had to know at least something about romance. If they didn't, their books never got sold. And Yuki's books were all best-sellers.

The thought of the Seguchis' marriage crisis, of course, made him sigh again. Knowing his sister, Mika would do something simply outrageous. And then it would again be his job to sort out all the messes his family created for themselves before coming crying to him. Great, just great. Damn.

Just then, somebody knocked on the door. Loudly. Cursing silently to himself and wondering who it might be, Yuki walked to the door. Swearing that if it was Tatsuha he would kick his brother out, he opened the door. However, when he saw who was behind it, he was very surprised for once.

Oddly enough, his surprise guest was Tohma, staring at him with a very odd expression. The smaller man looked exhausted, like he hadn't slept for ages, and also angry. Very angry, to be precise.

"What is it, Tohma?" asked Yuki, frowning. "You look like you'd run all the way from New York and were blaming me for having to do that. And what are you here for, anyway? I thought you wouldn't come back until the day after tomorrow." While speaking, he stepped aside to let the other blond in.

"So thought I, too," grumbled Tohma, hurrying through the apartment, "and everybody else thought so as well. I noticed that better than well when I went home today and found my wife in bed with another man"

"What!" Now, even the calm and collected Yuki was startled. "Do you mean that Mika cheated on you"

"Exactly." Tohma grimaced and sank into an armchair -- by now they had reached the living room.

"I managed to get back to Japan ahead of time and decided not to bother anyone. So, I took a taxi from the airport and went home. Mika wasn't anywhere to be seen, but that didn't surprise me; she's always somewhere, and I rarely know when she comes or goes. Anyway, I was tired from the trip, and decided to go to bed early and not inform anybody about my arrival until tomorrow."

Closing his eyes and sighing, he then finished, "I bet you can guess all too well what I saw when I opened the door to the bedroom"

Yuki nodded slowly. "I think I can indeed guess that," he said quietly. "Believing it is another matter altogether." Then, he shook his head slowly. "I don't understand," he muttered. "I don't understand at all." Then he sighed. "Do you want anything? Coffee? Tea? Beer? I think you might need something"

"Bring me some coffee, please." Tohma closed his eyes and sighed. "I need something to clear my mind"

When Yuki returned from the kitchen with a cup of coffee for Tohma and a can of beer for himself, he found the other blond in the exactly same position as earlier. The N-G president accepted the offered cup with a small bow of thanks, sipping the black liquid thoughtfully.

"Where's Shuichi, anyway?" he then asked, glancing around. "...You haven't kicked him out, have you"

"Oh, no," replied the author, rolling his eyes. "The brat's simply already sleeping." Raising an eyebrow, he then continued, "Why do you ask, anyway? Or are you maybe jealous of me"

"Not you, too," groaned Tohma, looking half desperate, half plain frustrated. "Can't you lot just believe that I was telling the truth?" His voice sounded pretty tired now. "I'm not in love with you,

Eiri. I've never been. True, I do love you, but only like a brother, nothing more. That's all I've ever felt for you"

"I see." The eyebrow still wouldn't go down as Yuki watched him closely. "So, did you marry Mika because of your love for me... or because of your love for her"

For a moment, the older man was silent. Then he said quietly, "...Because of my love for her"

"And have you told her that?" Yuki took a sip of his beer, never taking his eyes away from Tohma.

"Well... No. Yes. I don't know." The elder blond shook his head, looking more confused than Yuki had ever seen him. "I did tell her that I'm not in love with you... but I didn't exactly mention my feelings for her"

"Maybe you should have." Now, it was Tohma's turn to raise an eyebrow, but Yuki ignored it.

"Trust me on this, Tohma. I'm maybe not that good in practice when it comes to developing and maintaining romantic relationships," at this point, he glanced towards his bedroom, where Shuichi was asleep at the moment, "but there's nothing wrong with my knowledge of the theory of this subject. If I didn't know quite a lot about it, I don't think my books would sell as well as they do. It's women who buy them, after all. Mostly"

"So you think that she cheated on me because she thinks I'm cheating on her with you? Or that I love you more than her?" asked Tohma, looking doubtful. "Somehow, I fail to see the logic in that"

"Well, that's hardly a surprise," the novelist replied dryly. "Mika is, after all, a woman. Their logic is naturally quite twisted. I'd rather be worried if you did see the logic behind it"

Tohma sighed. "What if it's not that, though?" he asked quietly. "What if she simply doesn't care about me? And what if she's been cheating on me for years already? Eiri, what on Earth can I do"

"Well," Yuki said quite calmly, "at first you have to find out what's the truth here. If she truly has been cheating on you for a longer time, then deal with that. Try to fix the things, have a divorce, whatever you find fitting. If it's only that she's jealous of you, then do something to fix that. Tell her that you love her"

While speaking, Yuki also watched Tohma very closely. The whole situation was completely unfamiliar to him. Usually whenever they had serious conversations like this one, it was Tohma who was giving advice and Yuki who was asking questions. Now their positions were reversed, and it made him feel a bit uneasy. This was not right. Tohma was supposed to always be calm, much like Yuki himself. But Tohma definitely wasn't supposed to be like this. He might be friendly, sweet, even childlike, and just as easily cool and distant, whatever served his purposes best.

However, he should not have been like this. Confused, tired, almost fearful -- this was absolutely unlike Tohma Seguchi. This should have been impossible.

Noticing his gaze, Tohma smirked tiredly. "I guess I look like shit," he said, and Yuki had to admit that his guess was rather accurate. With a small sigh, the smaller blond continued, "I feel like that, too. It's just... How could she do this to me? I thought that she at least cared for me"

"To that question, I cannot give an answer." Yuki sighed as well. Then he asked, "Do you know who the man was, the one she was with? Do you know him"

"I -- I don't know," replied Tohma slowly. "As soon as I realized what was going on, I just stormed out before I killed one or both of them or myself. So no, I didn't really have time to recognize him"

"Very well." Yuki nodded. If it had been anybody else, he would have probably asked whether they were sure about what they had seen. As it was Tohma, however, he trusted the man's word. Tohma was too intelligent to have misinterpreted such a situation. If he had seen it, he had seen it, period to that.

Then, however, Yuki again looked at his brother-in-law. "I suggest that you get some sleep before anything else," he said. "Go to the guestroom and try to sleep some. Your mind will be clearer for sure after you have got rid of the worst exhaustion. Tomorrow we will take another look at the situation"

Now the older man nodded, looking grateful. "I do think your suggestion is a good one, Eiri," he said, trying to sound cheerful but failing miserably. "Maybe everything will seem a bit better in the morning"

So, Yuki led him to the guestroom. After making sure that Tohma was truly going to sleep and not, for example, harm himself or spend the whole night awake, he left, his mind still on the other blond's problem. It seemed as if nothing else could reach his mind but the thought of Mika cheating on Tohma. How could that ever happen? It was just so strictly against his sister's usual character. He just didn't understand.

When he entered the master bedroom, however, the first thing he registered was the quiet sound of Shuichi's breathing, and next, the singer's pink hair on the pillow. By the time he had got himself out of his daywear and was ready to slip into bed, his mind was a lot calmer. Sliding between the sheets, he wrapped his arms around the slender singer's body in a rare display of affection.

He loved Shuichi. He'd only ever said it once to the younger man, and hardly even admitted it to himself, but in the end, it was true. Those sparkling eyes brightened his days and that warm body comforted his nights. When his lover had been on the tour he'd felt so lonely that it had almost hurt him physically. The whole house seemed a lot emptier and quieter without the ever-active presence of Shuichi and the noise he was always making. In the end only the thought of Shuichi's return had made Yuki able to go on, having now admitted to himself that he simply couldn't go back to his old, lonely lifestyle. Not anymore.

The sigh that escaped his lips touched Shuichi's hair but didn't wake the young vocalist in his arms.

He and Shuichi had had their ups and downs -- more downs, though, if you asked almost anybody who knew them both -- but in the end, they were still happy. Compared with the things they had gone through, Tohma's problems seemed, no matter how serious, almost absurd. Of course, Yuki had no fear of his lover ever cheating on him -- Shuichi just couldn't do that, it'd be against his very nature. And as for Yuki himself, well, he had found that he couldn't even think about sleeping with anybody but his lover. Taking this as a positive thing, he had accepted this change to his former attitude, however grudgingly it might have been.

Now, however, he tightened his hold on his smaller lover, enjoying the feeling of having Shuichi in his arms again for the first time in what seemed like forever but had really been just a couple of weeks. Breathing in the familiar fruity scent of the vocalist, he then let himself be slowly washed away to the land of dreams.

End Chapter 3

Hey wanted to thank Eleonora again for leting me take over