♫-flashback

♪-scenes switching in the present

Italics-thoughts or important words

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Chapter 4:

Shuichi woke up with a throbbing headache. He wondered why he was feeling so worried…then he remembered all that had happened yesterday. He sighed as he took an aspirin, what the hell had been happening to his family since he left? He looked at his watch and realized he needed to take a shower and run to his first lecture.

The rest of the day proceeded pretty well. He loved the subjects he'd chosen, music, sociology and art. Sociology was cool, this time they studied the tribes of the world. There was supposed to be a tribe in the Trobriand Islands where the men were supposed to be chaste, pure and shy and the women were aggressive and brash. For minute Shuichi wondered what Yuki would be like all chaste and shy…he laughed out loud, promptly falling over someone.

"Aniki! Watch where you're going, I've been looking all over for you. You said you'd come and check my grades out today." A disgruntled Tatsuha was glaring at him.

"Ok! Let's go…are you staying at Mika's? When are you going back to Kyoto?" Shuichi dusted himself off and enthusiastically followed Tatsuha to his bike.

"The day after tomorrow. My break ends and then it'll be back to slogging for the exams and making out with the girls." Tatsuha smiled gleefully at the last thought. Shuichi hit him on the head.

"Stop acting like a pervert…what else did you pick up from Yuki?" Shuichi asked angrily. Once more Tatsuha's face went all strange, before he grinned.

"Nothing worth talking about Shuichi-nii. Let's go already." He waited for Shuichi to get on and then drove off.

Shuichi tried the whole time to get something out of his younger brother, but the kid evaded it like bloody murder. Before he knew what was happening Shuichi was back in his dorm and in his bed.

This was so wrong, Tatsuha used to tell him everything…what was he hiding?

Eiri took another gulp of his beer. Now that his novel was going to be published he had all the time in the world for a month or so. He knew he'd begin to write again by then…writing was a drug for him, a way to get rid of all the tension, he had been through.

Suddenly there was a knock on his door, he opened it and Shuichi bounced through. "Hey Eiri! What's up?"

Eiri sighed, this brat didn't seem to get the hint that he wanted to be alone! "Brat, I want some alone time…get out."

"But Eiri, you have all the alone time in the world!" he saw the blonde's angry face and held up his hands. "I just want to be with you…pleased? Tell you what give me some paper and a pencil and I'll sit here very quietly ok?" He gave Eiri a puppy eyed look.

Eiri shrugged and threw a book at the other man's face. Then he sat down and tried to relax. Leaning back he closed his eyes, hoping for some peace but all he got was more memories.

"Eiri! Let me in! Please, please I won't distract you…" Eiri yanked the door open, the banging was really distracting. He had a load of work to do and was in one of his rare bad moods.

Shuichi bounded in like a puppy and sat on the bed. "What are you doing Eiri?" he looked at all the diagrams and charts curiously. Eiri glared at him and sat back down.

"I have a lot of work, so why don't you just get lost?" he growled. Immediately he regretted that. Shuichi's face had crumpled as a few silent tears made their way down his cheeks. Eiri sighed and picked up the boy on his bed.

"I'm sorry, Shu. I'm not feeling to good right now ok? I have a lot of work to do…Raidou and I have to work on this and if I don't finish it, he'll kill me ok?" Eiri hugged him closer. "Ok, tell you what, take this piece of paper and draw something for me. That way you can sit here and I can work…"

Shuichi nodded. Then he fell to drawing and Eiri could finish his work in peace. When he was done he turned around to find, Shuichi sound asleep over the drawing. He smiled and picked up the drawing. It was a picture of himself and Shuichi…not perfectly drawn, but with a little training Shuichi could get there.

He put it on his notice board and then slipped the under the covers before getting in himself. He hugged the warm little boy close to him…wish it could always be like this…

Eiri's eyes snapped open. He really didn't want to think about it all, it only made what had happened after to hurt more. He saw that he'd been out of it for hours; it was already eleven 'o' clock. He must have fallen asleep. He glanced over at Shuichi only to find that the boy wasn't there. Cursing he stood up and looked in all the rooms. He found the pink haired man snuggled up to a pillow in his bedroom. He looked so cute. Eiri clammed down on the warm feeling that threatened to surface.

He shook the boy awake, being surprisingly gentle. He stirred and looked up blearily. "What is it Eiri?"

"You should get going…it's late."

Shuichi looked at the time and groaned. "Hey, let me crash here Eiri. I'll take that end ok? I won't bug, but it's too late to go back now. I came walking and I have no way unless you drive me back. Can I borrow your car?"

"No you may not borrow my car." Eiri warred with himself, but his care for Shuichi won out. "Fine, move up. Don't hog the bed." He slipped in beside Shuichi, lying on his stomach. He reached o switch the lights off.

Eiri woke up suddenly…not another nightmare. He thought he was done with those. He glanced at Shuichi sleeping soundly, with his mouth slightly open. Thank god he hadn't screamed or made a sound. He tossed and turned trying to go back to sleep, but it didn't work. Finally he turned to face Shuichi's form…in a desperate attempt to rid himself of all the hurt, he snaked an arm around the only person he trusted in the whole world and pulled him close. He buried his nose in Shuichi's familiar scent of strawberries and cream. Suddenly comfortable, Eiri fell asleep.

Shuichi woke up feeling all warm. He turned to see Eiri's face an inch away from his. The blonde looked so peaceful, lying there with no smirk or glare for once. He tried to move, but the blonde pulled him closer muttering. Shuichi wondered how he was going to get to the bathroom. He really needed to go.

Using every ounce of flexibility, he managed to get out of Eiri's embrace of death and sneak to the bathroom, once he was done, he looked at the time. He had two hours to get back to the dorm and then to an art class. He went to the kitchen and made some coffee. He frowned when he didn't find Eiri's coffee mug, after all the least he could do was make some coffee in return for foisting himself up on the blonde.

Shuichi sighed; he had never needed to ask the blonde to let him spend the night before, unless he was in a bad mood. They had had that relationship where they never needed to say stuff; they always knew what the other was thinking.

Shuichi looked all over the living room for the mug, and then he decided to look in the study. A part of him warned him not go in there, it was Eiri's sacred area. Shuichi shook his head stubbornly; he was only going to see if the mug was there. He spotted it on the table and glanced down at a few pages of stuff that had been strewn here and there. He looked more closely at some thing reddish sticking out of the mess.

It was a picture, and it had been scribbled on over and over again with a red marker. Shuichi looked more closely, wasn't this Eiri's old sensei? The one from New York? What the hell was going on? Suddenly he heard a noise in the bedroom and slipped the picture back under the mess. He hurried out with the mug, bumping into the blonde.

"What were you doing in my study?" Eiri was glaring at him.

"I went to get your coffee mug. What's the problem?" Shuichi waved the mug in front of his face.

"I told you not to enter my study!"

"Eiri…hell I went to get a mug, what do you have in there? Secret documents or what? And I'm in no mood for your tantrums so shut up and drink some of the coffee I've made!" Shuichi walked to the kitchen and started washing the mug.

"Don't try to boss me around. If you're in my house you'll follow my rules or else…" the blonde moved towards Shuichi menacingly.

"Or you'll do what? I wish you'd stop acting like a character from a lame soap opera; it doesn't do your image any good you know? So tell me Uesugi Eiri…what are you going to do?" Shuichi walked up to the blonde man glaring at him.

Uesugi Eiri staring into those purple orbs did what was inevitable…Uesugi Eiri kissed him.

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A/N: there that's all for now. Things start happening in the next chapter so this might move a little faster. I like updating everything at a time and I have to write more now! Bye!

Taka