Behind Bars

Chapter 3! Enjoy! I DO NOT OWN GRAVITATION.

"Wouldn't you rather see Hiroshi-san?"

Shuichi stared right back.

"Yes, but… Yuki…"

"Yuki… is in jail."

Shuichi felt that maybe he hadn't heard correctly…. Wasn't Hiro in jail, hence why he'd visit him? Sakano probably wanted Hiro and Shuichi to be friends again. That's why he wanted Shuichi to go visit him in jail.

"Um… I'll visit him later, I'd rather see Yuki. Is he hurt badly?"

Sakano's face darkened as he led the way down the hall.

"Are you alright?"

Shuichi, again, was confused. "Yes, already! Why can't you just tell me how Yuki is?"

Sakano led them outside. Shuichi paused.

"Is Yuki in a different hospital or something?"

"HE'S IN JAIL!" Sakano turned on his heel and shook Shuichi.

Shuichi retorted with an equally loud shout, matching Sakano's tone almost to a T.

"WHY?"

Sakano looked very taken aback. "Why? Why do you think?"

"If I knew, why would I be asking?"

"Look, Shuichi. You can only defend him and pretend like this isn't happening for so long. That time is up! You need to stop hiding everything before you really get hurt."

"I'm not hiding anything!" Shuichi had stopped walking by now. He couldn't walk, shout, and think at the same time.

"You mean to tell me that those bruises are from you falling or some stupid excuse like that? And those scratches-"

"A cat…" Shuichi replied lamely.

A police man interrupted them as he strode over.

"Shuichi Shindou!"

"Huh?"

"Are you Sakano?"

A nod from Sakano.

"Sir, he was not discharged from the hospital yet."

"I was informed that he was."

"Well, we didn't question him yet. Please bring him back inside. In fact, take him to Nakano's room. We need to question him, too."

"I don't want to see Hiro!"

"Don't you want to thank him?" Sakano demanded "Or are you really that ungrateful."

"Shut up! I'm sick of your crap! You have no idea!" Shuichi stormed back into the hospital. Sakano and the policeman found him in Hiro's room. Hiro was conscious, but the two were not looking at each other. The policeman sat across from Hiro.

"Alright, Mr. Nakano. Please repeat your story."

"I walked up the stairs to their apartment… I heard Yuki yell something so I went to see what was going on. I looked inside and Yuki was standing in front of Shuichi with a bat. He was yelling stuff, and I thought he was going to hit him, because he raised the bat-"

"Yuki would never hit me!" Shuichi was really mad now.

His comment was ignored with an annoyed look from Sakano. Of course… they thought he was lying again.

"So I punched him and tried to make him stop, but then he hit me in the jaw and I fell unconscious."

"Is this the first time you witnessed Mr. Eiri abusing Shindou?"

"He doesn't abuse me." Shuichi said loudly.

"He regularly insults him in public. Sometimes he comes into work with bruises and cuts."

"Ah, that's plenty of reason to take a bat and-"

"Mr. Shidou, I'll hear your story now."

It came out in a flood. Shuichi was eager to prove Hiro wrong. But would these people believe him? Why were these people so against Yuki? He remembered in the beginning that it wasn't like this. Everyone seemed to encourage his chasing Yuki down in New York. Was that just because of the band? Was this whole story just for the sake of the band?

"I was home alone-"

"Yuki was there! I saw him!"

"SHUT UP!"

Hiro did, very quickly. He was wondering things as well. Like why didn't Shuichi thank him for saving him from an abusive relationship? He started again. "Shuichi… he's in jail now… you don't have to defend him anymore. He'll never be able to come after you again. So just tell us the-"

"I WAS HOME ALONE WAITING FOR YUKI!" Shuichi talked over him. "I wasn't expecting him until really late, so I got scared when I heard footsteps outside the door. They seemed like they were shuffling and posture is very important to Yuki, so he would never shuffle. So I took the bat-"

"Yuki was holding the bat!" Hiro protested.

"I PICKED UP THE BAT and waited till they opened the door and came in, then I hit them with it in the leg. It was Yuki, and you can imagine how mad he got. So he took the bat away and yelled. But I think it was more from pain." Shuichi inserted quickly. "Then I saw Hiro come in and before I could explain anything, he hit Yuki."

Everyone was quiet. Sakano and the policeman left the room after a little bit. Shuichi supposed that this was to discuss who was probably right. Hiro didn't move. He just looked at Shuichi with a rather unreadable expression. Finally, he spoke.

"That's not really true, is it?" It was more of a statement.

"Yes it is. You jumped to conclusions just because you have a bias against Yuki."

"I have no bias! He treats you like crap!"

"You wouldn't know, Hiro! You're not with us every single second-"

"Just because he likes having you in bed with him doesn't mean he loves you!"

Shuichi looked as though he had been slapped.

"Why would you even say that, Hiro? I thought you were my friend! If Yuki hadn't already hit you in the jaw, I would have broken it by now. I hate you." Shuichi left the room, slamming the door behind him.

TBC…