Loyalty: Suguru

Usual warnings apply.

Disclaimer: Gravi isn't mine.

It shouldn't have surprised Suguru to see the normally air-headed Sakuma Ryuichi so sly and serious. The man was his cousin's friend, after all… and no matter what people said about opposites attracting, it was always the similarities that stuck things together.

But it was still scary. Perhaps even scarier than Tohma in one of his 'moods'.

"Suguru. How did it go?"

Suguru wondered if that serious baritone was Ryuichi's real speaking voice, and if it was; how the older man managed using that squeaky falsetto all the time.

"It's not like he expected me to lie about something like this." He answered, hiding his discomfort behind an obstinate tone.

The singer laughed cheerfully, and the falsetto came back.

"Sorry, sorry. I just wanted to make sure. We'd be in big trouble if anyone found out, after all."

Big trouble, indeed. There was a short pause before Suguru decided that no, Ryuichi would not do anything to him if he asked about the situation.

"…How are the other things going?"

The grown man frowned and conducted a whispered conversation with his stuffed bunny before flashing the teenager a bright smile.

"Kumagorou says that everything's fine! Shuichi will be home in no time!"

Suddenly, the singer turned serious. Suguru could swear that prolonged exposure to Sakuma Ryuichi would kill him. He was used to being able to anticipate things – the extreme changes in the other's mood were giving him heart attacks.

"With K keeping things quiet, and with Hiro's family of doctors taking care of Shuichi… Success rate is 100. Tohma was the only wildcard. He's always been the only wildcard. And now I have you for that."

Ryuichi's gaze was undoubtedly a question. He wanted to know if the teenager was willing to live out the plan.

Suguru knew that he should've been disturbed, being openly used as a pawn by someone as scary as the man in front of him. But somehow, he wasn't. Even if it was Seguchi Tohma who used to support him, Bad Luck was his family. They didn't take care of him because he was an obligation, and they cared beyond keeping him alive to keeping him happy.

The least he could do is do the same.

"Yeah." He confirmed. "Now you have me for that."

Ryuichi smiled, and Suguru realised that over the many years he had known the other, it was the first time he'd seen the brunet do it without turning insane.

"Thank you for helping bring Shuichi home."

The young keyboardist let out a crooked smile.

"As long as he's happy, right?"

When Ryuichi nodded and walked silently away from him, Suguru wondered why he wasn't the least bit skeptical about all this. Why he believed the insane man when he said he'd take care of Shuichi. Why he wasn't asking K or Hiro about what sort of twisted family backgrounds the two singers had, and why no one else seemed to know about it.

In the end, for the first time since as far as he can remember, Suguru decided that he didn't need to know right away. That if he needed to know, he'd find out. Eventually.

Sorry for the extremely late update... :( Been freakishly busy.

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