Chapter 4 – The Novelist
Eiri Yuki, a young novelist in his twenties. He had won a literary award for his unique and transparent writing style. He specialized in writing romance novel with much adversity. For this, he was also very popular among young women and all female readers in particular. He was often invited to television interviews, conferences and other publicity sessions. Tonight like many other nights, Yuki drove home from his appearance session. After a long day of meeting his fans and signing autograph he was exhausted. Yuki came home surprisingly found his front door unlocked. He was definitely sure that he had locked it before he left this morning. Something was wrong, so he took cautious and proceeded into his apartment. He heard clanging noises in the kitchen as he slowly walked toward the disturbance and found a tall young boy, fixing dinner in his kitchen.
"Yo!" The younger boy greeted him.
"Don't you 'yo' me, you little brat!" Yuki scolded at his younger brother. "How did you get into my apartment?"
"I'd asked the locksmith to pick the lock." Tatsuha replied. "He was so nice all I had to do was stayed calm and said that I'd forgotten my keys inside and he believed me."
"What a pain." Yuki mumbled to himself and asked, "Why are you here, Tatsuha?"
"Can a brother come and visit his bro once in a while?" He mocked knowing too well that Yuki will not buy it.
"Don't give me that." Yuki replied glaring back at his younger sibling.
"Okay, I did something naughty so father kicked me out. I thought I'll crash here until he cools down."
"That's even more bullshit!"
Tatsuha chuckled, "I guess you caught me then. I'm going to a concert tomorrow night and I needed somewhere to stay for tonight and tomorrow. I promised to leave on Sunday, the day after the concert, so can I stay?" He asked with a big grin.
"No, go somewhere else you know that I don't have extra room."
"I'll sleep on the couch. I have no where else to go and I don't want to intrude sis and her husband… you know."
Yuki sighed, "Fine, but don't you go wandering into my bedroom or my study." He growled. "And don't you make any noise either!" He exclaimed and walked away to his study.
"Okay!" Tatsuha happily agreed. "I'll let you know when the food is done!" He continued chopping the tomatoes and onion, whipped up some eggs and fried them all together. Before he finished an obnoxious smile found its way out, "I'll test my theory," he said to himself. "Yuki, dinner is ready!"
Yuki was in his study trying to write his newest novel. He started to write this story a while ago, but he didn't know where he was going with it. He had typed body and body of paragraphs, but there was no flow, nothing seemed to go together, every paragraph was like its own little story. For the past two months, he had reoccurring headaches and couldn't keep his train of thoughts. He hadn't been sleeping well either, maybe he tried too hard and strained himself, but every time he started to write this particular novel, he found himself lost and wandered off somewhere he didn't recognize. As he started to drift away, his tired eyes wanted to rest, but his stomach growled as it heard Tatsuha calling, "Yuki! I'm gonna eat all your food!" He decided to take a break and approached the kitchen. "What the hell is this?" He stared at the plate of food laid in front of him. It looked like scramble eggs mixed with red tomatoes and green onion over rice.
"Hey, don't complain! I did all the cooking so just eat. If you don't like it and find something else that fits your liking." Tatsuha grabbed his portion and set it on the coffee table while he popped in a video cassette. "You don't mind if I watch this while I'm eating, do you?"
"What another Ryuichi Sakuma's concert?" Yuki snorted.
"How did you know?"
"What's all you ever watch! And you know that I don't like that kinda stuff!"
"Well, I think that you'll like this one." He said with a snickering tone of voice.
Yuki narrowed his eyes on his brother as he took a bite from his plate of wonder. 'Umm...It's not too bad.' He thought as he forked some more into his mouth.
Tatsuha hopped back onto the couch and started eating his food. The video displayed a colorful screen and a spiral spun, counting down: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two and one. The video started and Tatsuha focused on Yuki as the show began.
"We're a new band call BAD LUCK, and tonight for the first time ever, we'll perform just for YOU!" The lead singer of the band yelled into the microphone.
Tatsuha knew that he would find a reaction from his brother. Yuki was staring at the screen, his eyes were wide opened and he had stopped moving, numbed from where he was standing. Tatsuha knew that something was going on between those two; Shuichi Shindo had the same reaction when he saw him with Ryuichi that night. Shuichi's eyes were staring, wide opened and without a blink focusing on him for that he looked so much like his older brother. That Shuichi had something to do with Yuki, and Yuki's reaction tonight proved it.
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Flashback – Two Months Ago
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It was the beginning of spring and the beginning of Eiri Yuki's newest novel. That late night he couldn't put his thoughts together nor come up with any idea for his novel. He must had at least six can of beers and dragged on about half a pack of cigarettes. His eyes were hurt from just staring at his laptop and slowly he passed out. He slept for about half an hour and woke up finding himself on his laptop. It wasn't a good sign, so he left his apartment and went to get some fresh air. He scrolled around the park as he inhaled and exhaled his nicotine. Soon, he reached the end of the trail and when he was just about to head back to his place; he heard a nasty scream. He turned around and found a pink kinda purple-ish red head person under the city park's light. This person was huffing and puffing, his or her back was motioning along with each breath. After about a minute of observing the situation, Yuki decided that the person seemed to be okay, so he should get back home. Before he could turn around, the pink head turned around and met his eyes. A big pair of purple iris eyes was staring at him; they were the biggest pair of eyes that he had ever seen: big, teary, sad and terrified. They looked like they had just seen a ghost and before he knew it those purple eyes disappeared.
Yuki got home to his apartment and wasn't sure of what just happened in the park. At the moment that he met those eyes, he was mesmerized; all he could do was stared. He couldn't even tell whether they belonged to a young woman or maybe a young man. The only thing that he could remember was those eyes being so terrified.
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Flashback - Ended
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Tatsuha suspected his brother was interested in the lead singer of the new band. He wouldn't have stayed to watch the show, if he wasn't interest. He decided to stir things up a little. "You know that vocalist, Shuichi Shindo."
"Shuichi Shindo." Yuki automatically repeated the name.
"I found him with Ryuichi Sakuma after this concert." Tatsuha was pointing at the screen. "He and Ryuichi were very closed…"
"Yeah?" Yuki's tone was flat and dull.
"Yah! I don't know! They were doing something or maybe about to do something. I found that pink head pressing against my Ryuichi's naked chest!" He exclaimed. "I could swear that he was blushing! Or maybe flirting!" Tatsuha carried on and forgot what he was doing. "How could he? Ryuichi is mine! mine! And all mine!" He cried.
"If he is yours then, you won't be pouting right now would you? He cannot be yours if he hasn't given himself to you yet." Yuki stated.
"You meany! You didn't have to put it that way!" He cried again. Tatsuha knew well that Ryuichi was not his, but he still wants the privilege to fantasize and hope.
Next morning, Tatsuha was up and had already left the apartment before Yuki dragged himself out of bed. The place was quiet and peaceful, just the way he liked it. 'I wonder where that brat went so damn early.' He thought as he went to the bathroom to start his day.
He went to his study and turned on his laptop. While the device was booting up, he lounged on his office chair and pondered over what happened last night. He saw them, those purple eyes, he could never mistake them for anything, but they weren't terrified like the last time that he'd seen them. Instead they were warm and glowing with confident under the stage's lights as though they belonged to a different person. "Those eyes belong to him… Shuichi Shindo, a guy and a vocalist…" He spoke into space.
Tatsuha came back later in the evening and walked straight to Yuki's study room. He pounded on the door: Boomed, boomed, and boomed, "Yuki! You need a break!"
"What?" He replied to the door.
"I need you to do me a favor." Tatsuha spoke to the door.
"I'd already do you a favor last night!" He yelled back.
"Please… Come on, you're my big bro for goodness sake." Tatsuha begged.
"Alright!" Yuki hated it when Tatsuha use the sibling relationship to make him bend in and do favors, but what he hated even more was to hear Tatsuha whining, so he stopped what he was doing and left his study. "What do you want?" He asked.
"I need a ride to the concert." Tatsuha replied.
Yuki gave him a frown and said nothing. It was not like Tatsuha asking for a ride, he could have taken the bus or a taxi or something. Yuki didn't bother to ask why; he just played along. He parked his Mercedes at the Ruido's club house where the concert was being held. Before Tatsuha hopped off the car, he managed to take Yuki's keys out of the ignition and put them away.
"Brat! What's the matter with you?" Yuki yelled.
"I want you to come in with me." Tatsuha insisted.
"No way!"
"Hey, I'm not giving you your keys back, so you can either join me or walk back home."
At that, he stormed out of the car and ran into the club house.
"That little bastard! What is he skimming?" Yuki sat in the car for about an hour dragging on the remaining content of the nicotine that he had in his car. The concert should be over soon, so with nothing better to do he pulled himself out of the car and started walking toward the club house. As he approached the front door, "Ughhhhh." he groaned. "This is what I hate about these places, noises and headaches." He mumbled to himself. The thought of coming in to see a bunch of idiots screaming and cheering stopped him from entering the concert hall. He stayed outside and waited for the concert to be over. It must had been another half an hour, before he seen people leaving the building as he sighed, "It's over." He stood there by the edge of the opened door as he watched person by person, exited the concert's door, but Tatsuha was no where among them. He sighed again, "Where is that little black head?"
The concert room was empty now, but there was no sign of Tatsuha anywhere. Yuki started walking like he knew exactly where to find his younger brother. He headed straight down the corridor that led to the back of the building, 'This should be where the dressing rooms are,' he thought to himself, 'He must be seeing that Ryuichi Sakuma after the concert.' As the approached the end of the hallway and shifted his body to turn the first corner, a door opened and lighted up the dark hallway. In the center was a shadow of a person, formed by the light that was pouring out from the opened door. The door quickly closed itself and stand before him, a person he didn't expect to see.
"Eiri Yuki?" The person before him asked nervously.
'Shuichi Shindo.' Yuki thought to himself. He stared at the young boy in front of him, his golden eyes met the Shuichi's purple ones, but he said nothing. He stood there with no movement whatsoever; it was like he had no emotion to spare.
'It's him.' Shuichi confirmed. He started trembling and with a low and timid voice he asked tensely, "Did you come here to…um see the concert?" He paused to see if the older man in front of him would answer. He got no answer, so he tried again nervously, "or maybe… um to see me?"
The blonde man still said nothing and stood there like a statue. He showed no expression, not even a nod to agree or disagree. His eyes were cold, but they were the most attractive pair of eyes that Shuichi had ever seen. They were like the sun so bright and radiant, but like the sun's rays could caused cancer from exposing too long; his eyes were intimidating, they were frightening in a way that make people nervous and knew better to stay away, then to approach any further. Shuichi as dull as he always was didn't seem to care; the only thing that he was able to see was a handsome man standing in front of him. He approached the older man taking a few steps forward raising his right hand in front of him. He tried to reach for the other man's arm, but hesitated and held back. "Please I beg of you, please tell me why are you here?" He cried out loud. "I need to know!"
"Why?" The older man finally spoke.
"Why?" Shuichi repeated. "I don't know… I don't know! All I know is that from that night I saw you at the park; I've been thinking about you and recently a whole lot." He paused to observe the older man, still no motion whatsoever. "I thought that you might be feeling the same about me."
"No. I have no interest of that nature." He replied coldly.
"Why? Then why are you here tonight? Why my concert? Why me?" Shuichi was terrified; had all this time he'd been worrying for nothing. Had he misinterpreted his dream?
Yuki was confused too; he didn't know that this was Shuichi's concert and of course he didn't expect to ever see those big purple eyes again. At this moment, all he could do was to stare at the boy in silence.
The silent treatment hurt, Shuichi felt like time and space didn't exist anymore. Right here and now, there were only two beings and two spot lights aiming at these two beings. 'Why is he staring at me? If he is not interested, then why is he observing me? Why didn't he just walk away? Why?' Shuichi was fluttering and with his frustration he confessed, "I love you!" He cried out and his heart started to pound, pounding so hard that he thought the older man could have heard it.
"I don't feel anything for you like that."
The response came cold and it was too harsh for Shuichi to comprehend. He didn't know how to explain it; he couldn't see it but, somewhere inside of him he could feel something pleasant about the man in front of him, that he had some affection for him and that he was not telling the truth.
"No? No, you're lying!" Shuichi jumped forward and pressed his lips against the older man's soft pink ones; they were warm, not cold and not even a bit. The older man fumbled back against the wall, surprisingly yet did not refuse the boy's assertiveness. Instead his body took over and embraced the boy in his arms. Yet it didn't lasted long, somehow Yuki managed to take back control and shoved the younger boy away from him. "I'm sorry, but I can't…" He said calmly and walked away.
Shuichi dropped down to his knees and screamed, "But, why?" He cried as the hallways darken and the older man disappeared. "Why? If he doesn't like me, then why did he return my kiss?" He whispered in between his cried.