Hey! I got so many reviews that I updated today! Sorry if there are any mistakes. I didn't get a chance to proofread it! Gomen! -bows- Okay, here's the fifth chapter. Winry R., you must be physic. (sp?) Oh, and I am proud to announce (to those who didn't know) there's a second part to the Gravitation manga! -squeals- They call in Genzo tracks or something like that... Anyways, here's the story!

Chapter 5: I'm Okay

Shuichi woke up to unfamiliar surroundings. He swore that he fell asleep on the couch, but now… He was in the bed… with Yuki? Shuichi rubbed his eyes and yawned, gazing at Yuki. Yuki was sound asleep. He LOVED sleep like a monkey loved bananas. Shuichi knew this well, especially after the little 'incident'… He winced.

"Yuki" Shuichi whispered. He looked at Yuki again. 'How did I get here?' he wondered. 'Did I sleep-walk? Nah, Yuki would've kicked me out if I did… Did he carry me here? Oh, wow… I wonder why…' Suddenly, he remembered the nightmare and shuddered.

Everything started spinning again. Shuichi steadied himself and slipped off the bed, being careful not to wake Yuki up. He didn't need a cranky Yuki at the moment. He wanted silence, for once. His head was pounding like an elephant was sitting on it, except his head wasn't bleeding.

Shuichi swayed side to side and gripped the bed for support. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 'Keep yourself together, Shuichi!' he urged himself. 'A little spinning isn't gonna bring you down!' He opened his eyes and he could stand straight again. He sighed in relief. 'I wonder why everything was spinning… Oh well…'

Shuichi took a few steps, successfully, without falling. He smiled and slowly walked towards the door. The walls stopped spinning, finally. Suddenly, Shuichi could hear stirring coming from the bed. He turned around and saw Yuki's golden eyes staring back at him. He looked a bit angry.

"I'm sorry Yuki…" Shuichi whispered. His head was still pounding, so he hoped Yuki didn't yell at him. "I didn't mean to wake you up… I thought I fell asleep on the couch. I'm really sorry. Please don't be mad!" His ears were ringing.

"Well, you were crying in your sleep, so I brought you here" Yuki explained flatly. "I couldn't sleep with your crying." He added the last bit bitterly, trying to sound aggravated. Actually, he was still worried. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah…" Shuichi said uneasily. "Why do you ask?" Yuki sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his expression had softened. He didn't look angry anymore. He looked a bit worried…? Now Shuichi was confused.

"Forget it" Yuki mumbled, rubbing his eyes. That was a typical response, one that Shuichi predicted he'd say. "Go to work, baka, you're gonna be late." Shuichi nodded happily. He grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to change and take a shower. When he came out, he kissed Yuki on the ear and skipped away.

"He must be over that fever now…" Yuki thought aloud. "You can't be that perky when you're sick. Must've been a one-night thing… Not like I care or nothing…" He groaned and looked at the clock with dismay. It was too early for him to wake up. Why had he even woken up in the first place? 'I was worried about him' a voice in the back of Yuki's head said. Yuki muttered something before closing his eyes again.

Meanwhile, Shuichi pranced to work. He felt really…weird… It was hard to explain in words. He covered it up with his energetic attitude. He passed the street signs and crossed the streets until he arrived at NG.

When Shuichi arrived in the studio, he noticed that K, Suguru and Hiro were staring at him. K's jaw dropped. Sakano came rushing into the room. Once he saw Shuichi, he froze, and his jaw dropped as well.

"S-Shuichi…?" Sakano asked. He checked his watch. "It's five minutes until rehearsal, and you're HERE?" Shuichi nodded slowly. He watched Sakano pale and faint. Hiro walked over to his friend and gave him a worried look.

"What's wrong with me being early?" Shuichi demanded. His face was red. He felt really hot (as in high temperature), so he pretended to be angry to cover up his red face. "I might not come to work on time often, but…" Everyone glared at him. He sighed and corrected himself. "Okay, so I NEVER come to work on time…. Whatever. Yuki woke me up early because he wanted to yell at me about something. So, I decided to get ready for work while I was up" Shuichi lied. He felt a bit cooler, so he pretended to calm down.

"Oh, so it was because Yuki was being a big meanie, right?" Hiro asked. Shuichi growled. He didn't like lying to his best friend, but he knew that Hiro would suspect something if he said, "I just woke up early." Hiro would immediately worry about stuff that wasn't true. There was nothing wrong with him, not at all… 'People feel dizzy all the time' he assured himself. 'It isn't strange…' He steadied himself quickly, hoping that no one noticed.

"How about we forget this and practice?" Suguru asked. "We have an extra two hours because Shindou arrived on time, so we'd better use it. It doesn't really matter why he came on time. Now, let's get to work." Hiro nodded slowly and Shuichi rolled his eyes. Shuichi hated Suguru sometimes. He was such a workaholic all the time. He wondered if Suguru ever really had FUN. He doubted Suguru knew how to spell FUN. He would laugh if Suguru did, or didn't.

"Sure, mister no-fun…" Shuichi muttered. He watched Suguru go to his keyboard and Hiro go to his guitar. Shuichi sighed and went to the mic. He started singing his new song: 'Is This Forever?'He had made it up yesterday and Suguru wanted to practice it before the concert in a few weeks.

When Shuichi started to sing, everything became blurry and dizzy. He finally gave up trying to steady himself and closed his eyes. He tried hard to sing the words to his new song. He thought that K liked it because he was smiling. Sakano probably would've cheered, but he was still unconscious on the floor. He did that, a lot.

After hours of recording, Shuichi felt exhausted. Singing never tired him out so much. It was probably because singing took more effort to do than usual. It was quite strange. Hiro's fingers were "falling off". He started complaining that he had to practice two hours more than usual because Shuichi came on time. Shuichi ignored him, because his head hurt whenever someone tried to talk to him. Heck, it even hurt when he heard himself.

"Shuichi, are you listening?" Hiro demanded. He snapped his fingers in front of Shuichi's face. Shuichi jumped up in surprise. He looked around at his surroundings. He was in the café, the same one he saw his dad in. He shuddered as memories returned.

"Ritsuka, what happens when you die?" Shuichi asked nervously. He gave Ritsuka a pleading look and pouted. "Does everything just end? Or do you go somewhere?" Ritsuka frowned. He didn't like serious topics. He liked to make people laugh, not cry. Well, he liked to make them laugh so hard that they cried, but that wasn't what he thought when he thought about crying.

"Well, no one knows for sure" Ritsuka explained quietly. "I mean, no one has lived to tell the tale, if you know what I mean." Shuichi slapped Ritsuka for trying to make the conversation funny. "Okay, okay! I don't know exactly, to tell you the truth. Maybe we go to heaven. Maybe we just disappear. I don't know." Ritsuka shrugged.

"So, what would happen if you died?" Shuichi asked, his voice lowering in volume. "I mean, where would you go? Would I ever see you again?" He paused. Tears formed on his eyes. "I don't want you to disappear. I want you to stay with me forever…"He bit his lip.

"I'll stay for as long as I can" Ritsuka promised. "Besides, what does it matter? Why worry about something you obviously can't control? When your time comes, you go. No questions asked. Let's change the subject now. I don't like when you cry."

"Fine, did you get your own gum yet?" Shuichi asked angrily. He glared at Ritsuka, waiting for a response. Ritsuka shook his head. "Well, you're not having mine, so don't even ask." Ritsuka smiled sweetly.

"Come on, you know how much I love gum…" Ritsuka murmured. "Consider it payment for my beautiful speech about death, kay?" Shuichi rolled his eyes. Ritsuka was very persistent, and he always found ways to get his gum, somehow.

"HELLO!" Hiro yelled. He pinched Shuichi. "Snap out of it! Look, I have to go because I have a date with Ayaka. So, see ya later. And learn to pay attention! Sheesh!" Hiro stood up and gave the waitress a ten dollar bill before leaving the café. Shuichi just slumped up against the table, thinking.

"Ritsuka" he breathed. It had been the first time he said that name in years. It felt weird on his lips, like when he said "dad". It was eerie to actually hear that name, after all these years. He had almost forgotten how to say it, or what it sounded like.

"Um, sir…" the waitress asked. She had brown hair with brown eyes and was wearing the outfit for the cafe. She looked nervous. "Are you done?" Shuichi looked back at her blankly. Finally, he realized that he was taking up a table that could be used for other customers. Shuichi sighed guiltily.

"Yes, sorry…" he said. "I kind of zoned out for a few minutes." The waitress nodded kindly with understanding. She led him to the door and waved goodbye. She gave him a smile before seating the next group of people.

Shuichi groaned. His head was pounding even worse than before. The sidewalk swirled and twisted around. Shuichi rubbed his eyes and growled. The sidewalk was still funny looking. He sighed and swayed as he walked back to the apartment, a few blocks away.

After what seemed like hours, Shuichi saw the apartment. He looked like he was drunk as he walked up the steps to the apartment. Suddenly, the knob seemed to twirl around. It looked like something from a camera that was too close to the object/person. It was fuzzy. Shuichi frowned and fumbled around with his keys. He couldn't get the keys to go into the keyhole. He growled. This wasn't his day.

'Maybe I should ask Yuki to open the door…' Shuichi thought. 'I have to get inside, 'cause it's kind of cold out here… No, Yuki will be mad if I do that. He's probably working hard on his novel. I shouldn't disturb him, or I'll get him angry.' Shuichi looked hard at the knob, willing for it to stop moving. Suddenly, he felt really woozy. His eyes drooped and slowly fell on to the ground, the keys making a clatter as they fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Yuki took a sip of coffee. He finished his novel, so he could relax for awhile. He wished Shuichi was with him. He actually missed the brat, and he didn't know when he was coming home. Shuichi often went to the café or a store before coming home. His timing was always different. Yuki sighed and decided not to worry about it.

An hour later, Yuki was officially worried sick. He glared at the door. He wanted it to open and have Shuichi behind it. Then Shuichi would say, "Tadaima!", and he'd glomp Yuki. And everything would be okay. But something wasn't right. Yuki could feel it in his gut. He sighed and tried to calm himself by drinking his fifth cup of coffee.

Finally, Yuki decided to do something. He stood up and went to the closet. He decided to look for the brat. His cover-up was, "I was taking a walk for inspiration". He frowned and put on his coat and shoes. He opened the door slowly and it revealed a person, on the ground, out cold.

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