The writer closed his eyes for a moment as if he could will the situation away. Then he pushed away from the wall he'd been leaning against and walked over to Shuichi. He stood awkwardly before the pink-haired singer. Had they been alone, Shuichi would have flung his arms around Yuki and probably ended up knocking him to the floor, but now he stayed rooted to the spot.

"Shuichi," said Yuki after a moment of internal struggle.

"Yuki, no," Shuichi whispered, all the agony in his heart showing on his face.

The woman walked slowly over to where the two men were standing and wrapped a possessive arm around Yuki's waist.

"Who's your friend, Eiri?" she purred as if daring Shuichi to try and prove himself to be anything else.

"This is Shuichi Shindou," said Yuki in an oddly formal voice.

"Of course! The famous Shuichi Shindou of Bad Luck," she said with a smile that did not touch her eyes.

"Shuichi, this is Yūko, my," he swallowed, "my fiancée."

Yūko smiled.

Shuichi blanched. Mouth slightly open in horror, he tried to process what Yuki had just said. Once it had sunk in, he floundered for an appropriate reaction. Bursting into tears was appealing, but wrong somehow. Smiling and say "how nice" was utterly out of the question, but there was a million other things he could do. It took nearly a full minute for Shuichi's brain to kick in and for him to form a reaction.

His slack face suddenly hardened, his open mouth pressing into a line, his brows pulling into a glare, his eyes raking up and down Yūko's form.

"You know Eiri-san," he said spitefully, "it's sad to see your taste is going downhill. Usami-san was such a nice girl." With that, he spun round on his heel and fled the apartment, tears bursting their bounds and sobs choking his breathing as he ran.

"Shuichi!" Yuki called, moving to chase after him.

"He's just jealous," said Yūko, taking a firmer grip on his side and preventing him from leaving. "Let him get it out of his system." She closed the door and began steering Yuki back to the couch and his waiting novel-to-be.

--

Sorry that was so short, but it was a good place to break between chapters.