Disclaimer: I own… Um… Nothing, really. Definitely not Gravitation or Kyou Kara Maoh!... Not even the computer I'm writing this on!
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Lilac eyes opened up and shut again tightly almost immediately, squinting against the brilliant light above. Shuichi sat up slowly, painfully. All of his muscles ached. And all of his clothes were soaked though. He blinked a few times to adjust himself to the light. Judging by the grassy ground beneath him, he was sitting outside somewhere, and as his eyes accepted the sudden brilliance, he discovered that 'outside' was in the middle of an expansive field. Trees lined the field to his right and he thought he could see a river to his left. What he couldn't see was a single sign telling him where he was.
He could hear voices talking quietly behind him. He turned and saw the two fanboys from before, sitting nearby, chatting cheerfully. They were fairly normal in appearance, both Japanese, black hair, one wearing round glasses. They were both wearing high school uniforms, similar to the one he wore in school.
"Where are we?" he asked the two.
The boy without glasses stood up and grinned at the singer. Shuichi remembered faintly that he'd introduced himself as Shibuya Yuuri.
"Welcome to Shin Makoku."
Shuichi stared at him, clearly confused. "Huh?"
Shibuya sweatdropped, clearly hoping his grand declaration of welcome would have had a bigger impact. His four-eyed friend grinned at Shibuya and stepped forward.
"Shindou-san, first thing's first. Are you okay?"
"I will be," Shuichi said, wincing as he dragged himself to his feet. The boys were shorter than he was, similar in height to Fujisaki.
"Glad to hear that. I'm Murata Ken, pleased to meet you, Shindou-san." Four-eyes held out his hand to Shuichi, who hesitated to take it.
"What is going on? Where did you guys take me? This really isn't funny, you know, and once my manager finds you, he'll probably shoot you on sight," Shuichi's voice raised a bit. He assumed now that Murata and Shibuya had drugged him, probably chloroform, probably as some sort of joke or something. Wouldn't be the first time some crazed fans had abducted him. He shuddered as the image of a giant Mecha-panda loomed into thought.
"I have a feeling you won't be missed, Shindou-san." Shibuya and Murata exchanged a knowing glance. Which pissed Shuichi off.
"Seriously, guys, I just need to get back to N-G. So if you would just point me in the direction of the nearest train station-…"
Shuichi broke off mid-sentence. A group of riders on horseback were charging towards them. He must have been wearing an odd expression, because Murata and Shibuya both turned around to see what he was staring at.
"Conrad!" Shibuya ran forward, waving. "Wolfram! Hey, guys!"
The riders stopped near them and dismounted. Shuichi was now completely confused. But it was starting to seem likely that this wasn't some lame kidnap attempt. Whatever was going on, he hadn't the slightest what it was.
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A/N: If you read Fragment, you'll know that I'm sorry for the delay in updates. This chapter doesn't sit well with me. It's to short and not really my style, but I haven't written anything but songs in months, so you'll have to cut some slack.
And in case you haven't figured it out yet (or in case I'm just not good at letting it show), the chapters in this story are (for now) alternating between Shuichi's and Yuuri/Mura's PoV. As we introduce more characters or as the story splits off a bit more, I might have to change that.
Oh. And also, I want to apologize now. Shuichi's nickname for Murata is going to be Four-Eyes. Don't be offended if you're a fellow lens-wearer. So is yours truly. 'O-O'