Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation.
Chapter 10:
Yuki sat on the couch, his laptop resting on his legs. He signed in on his instant messenger to check if anyone was on.
m1k3mast3r: merry christmas, yuki!
Eiri Yuki: Merry Christmas, Shuichi.
m1k3mast3r: what are you going to do today? tohma decided to have our thing here.
Eiri Yuki: Hikaru and I were just going to hang out here. Mika and Tatsuha are coming over, that's about it. Tohma said he would come after the party at Ryuichi's.
m1k3mast3r: well, i hope it all goes well for you.
Eiri Yuki: How well can it go with my annoying siblings.
m1k3mast3r: speaking of siblings... tatsuha called here last night. he threatened me. i didn't talk to him directly, because ryuichi answered the phone. but he said that i should watch my back, that the next time he got me alone he was going to get his revenge.
Eiri Yuki: Tatsuha said that?
m1k3mast3r: yeah...ryu-chan wasn't happy at all. he's hiding it, but i know he is still mad.
Eiri Yuki: Don't worry, Shuichi, Tatsuha isn't going to get anywhere near you.
m1k3mast3r: i'm not worried about it. it's not my fault that ryu-chan likes me and not him. i can't help that. and i like ryu-chan back, so i am not going anywhere.
Yuki couldn't help but feel a slight sting to what Shuichi said.
Eiri Yuki: I'll still keep an eye on him.
m1k3mast3r: thanks. but i really am not worried about it.
Eiri Yuki: Knowing Tatsuha, he will try whatever he can until he succeeds. He's really mad at you.
m1k3mast3r: again, i don't care. i'm sorry, but your brother needs to get over it.
Eiri Yuki: I agree.
m1k3mast3r: you do?
Eiri Yuki: I have been telling him that it was hopeless for him and Ryuichi to start with. But, does that hard-headed bastard listen, no.
m1k3mast3r: someone has to reason with him.
Eiri Yuki: I don't even think he will listen to Ryuichi now.
m1k3mast3r: that's bad.
Eiri Yuki: Yeah. So, just do as he says, and make sure you don't go anywhere alone.
m1k3mast3r: okay.
Eiri Yuki: And let me know if you hear or see or witness anything remotely suspicious.
m1k3mast3r: okay.
Eiri Yuki: Shu...can you do me a favor?
m1k3mast3r: sure.
Eiri Yuki: Love Ryuichi like you loved me...Don't ever give up on it, like you never did me. He loves you, so fall hard for him. He can make you happy.
m1k3mast3r: yuki...
Eiri Yuki: Just leave the past behind you. He's good for you. Let him take my spot in your heart...
m1k3mast3r: yuki, i can't replace you, for anyone...and you are making it seem like you don't want me to have any piece of you in my heart..
Eiri Yuki: I don't. Because, all I do is hurt you.
m1k3mast3r: yuki...
Eiri Yuki: Just do me that, okay. Just love him.
m1k3mast3r: like i said, he can't replace you...ever. but i will love him, if that's what you want.
Eiri Yuki: Don't do it just because it's what I want. You need to actually really love him in your own heart, and not in your head.
m1k3mast3r: ...
Eiri Yuki: You are attracted to him, aren't you?
m1k3mast3r: now that i think about it, yes. quite a lot, really.
Yuki felt the sting of the words he said again. He knew he brought that on himself, but they still stung.
Eiri Yuki: So, will you do me that favor? For your own good.
m1k3mast3r: of course...
Eiri Yuki: Thanks.
m1k3mast3r: i have to go now. people are starting to arrive. bye, eiri.
m1k3mast3r has signed off.
Yuki stared at the computer to make sure he was looking at it right. Shuichi called him by his first name. That was a rarity, and he usually only said it when something deep was on his mind. Yuki began to wonder if he was really doing Shuichi any good by asking him the things he has. Shuichi does like Ryuichi, he can tell. He can also tell that Shuichi is very happy with Ryuichi. All Yuki wanted at this point was for every little thing that Shuichi might still be clinging on to of him leave. He didn't want to hurt Shuichi anymore. He didn't want to think about Shuichi anymore, because that rise of guilt just kept coming back.
He logged off his computer and went into his room to wake up Hikaru. It was Christmas Day, and he wanted to spend every moment he could with Hikaru..to drive all the memories of the Christmas's he and Shuichi had out of his mind.
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DIIING DOOONG!!
The doorbell rang. Shuichi logged off the computer and ran to the door, opening it and greeting the glowing couple of Suguru and Hiro.
"Sorry we are early, Shu." Hiro said. "We have quite a few gifts and we thought it would be better if we got here earlier so we could unload it all."
Shuichi looked down at the many bags that the couple had sitting around their feet.
"Lord, how much stuff did you get?!"
"Well, it's a mixture of stuff from me and stuff from Suguru." Hiro answered.
Shuichi nodded. Hiro noticed his expression. Shuichi was troubled about something. He asked Suguru to find Ryuichi and ask him to help with the gifts. He wanted to talk to Shuichi. Suguru, who also noticed Shuichi's mood, nodded in acceptance and went off to find the hyperactive 34 year old.
"Alright, Shu, what's on your mind." Hiro said pulling Shuichi aside to the nearest open room, which was Ryuichi's room.
"It's nothing." Shuichi said putting on a fake smile. "Everything is fine."
"I ain't fooled for nothing." Hiro said boredly. "Is it Eiri-san?"
Shuichi was quiet for a minute before talking. "Yeah. I talked to him earlier, on instant messenger. He told me he wanted me to love Ryuichi like I loved him. He wanted me to forget everything about him and let Ryuichi take his place. I can't do that, Hiro. As much as I want to get over Yuki, I can't just replace him. Ryuichi is not a replacement. I would never replace Yuki...ever."
"Then where does Ryuichi stand in all of this? Are you still all wrapped around Yuki, and you are just with Ryuichi out of pity or what?" Hiro said, raising his eyebrow at his best friend.
"NO!" Shuichi defended. "Ryuichi is like my better half... I just can't replace Yuki for him. That's cruel. I can never love Ryuichi like I loved Yuki...but I can never love Yuki like I love Ryuichi. It's hard to explain..."
"I follow you, buddy." Hiro said putting his arm around Shuichi's shoulders. "You just gotta let it go. Sure it's going to take a while, but after a while there isn't any point in lingering on it anymore, because it just ain't possible for it to happen again. You and Yuki are over. End of story. Do you catch my drift?"
"Yeah..."
"So cheer up. You don't want Ryuichi to know that you are having doubts, do you?"
"I am not having doubts! I like being with Ryuichi. I'm just still having a hard time letting go of the past."
Hiro shook his head and smiled at his best friend.
"Shuichi, I think you are missing the big picture here..."
"Huh?"
"You are seeing every little detail in things..you are too focused on them that you are completely missing the big picture. And that big picture is Ryuichi. He cares about you, more than Yuki-san ever has and ever will. Why not give it a shot, and just let things play out instead of regretting everything, okay?"
Shuichi looked at Hiro in admiration. Hiro was such a hero sometimes.
"You're the best, Hiro.."
"Tell me something I don't know! haha. Now come one, K and Sakano-san will be here in minute."
Shuichi nodded enthusiastically and skipped out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where he glomped Ryuichi.
DIIING DOOONG!!!
"That would be Mr. K and Sakano-san!" Shuichi said, still hanging onto Ryuichi, who really didn't seem to mind. He was busy decorating cookies, anyway.
Suguru offered to answer the door and went quickly before K shot it down.
"Shu-chan, come on and help me decorate the cookies! It's so fun, they are so sparkly, na no da!"
"Kay!"
Shuichi sat in the chair beside Ryuichi and started helping him decorate the cookies. The two looked like little children as they made snowmen, stockings, Santa Clauses, and reindeer.
"K!!" Ryuichi yelled seeing his ex-manager walking into the kitchen with Sakano and Suguru. "Lookie, I made a Santa Claus!!!" Ryuichi was smiling like he accomplished something, though the actual cookie looked like something a preschooler would do.
"That's very good, Ryuichi-sama, you are very talented." K said in a preschool teacher tone.
Ryuichi just kept grinning. Shuichi felt his own lips lift at the corners at the silly smile on Ryuichi's face. He looked so cute he wanted to decorate his face.
"When's Seguchi-san going to be here?" Hiro asked Sakano.
"Mr. President said he is going to drop Mika-san off at Eiri-san's and come back here after, so it should be any time now."
"Who would know that our boss would be the one to be fashionably late." Suguru said crossing his arms and walking over to stand by Hiro.
"DON'T SPEAK ILL OF MR. PRESIDENT!" Sakano panicked, tears pouring out of his eyes.
"Calm down, Sakano-san, no one was speaking ill of Seguchi." K said, his manic grin on his face, pistol to Sakano's temple. "Were they?"
"Oh, did I say that? Oh, no, no one said anything.." Sakano replied nervously.
"That's what I thought. Good man!" K patted Sakano roughly on the back, making him lose his balance and fall face first on the floor. There Sakano lay crying.
"Was Sakano-san always like this?" Shuichi asked Ryuichi who nodded in a know-it-all fashion.
"Yep." he replied. "To tell you the truth, he is worse now than I have ever seen him."
"Wow..."
"I know."
"No, Ryu-chan, this is wow..." Shuichi pointed at a ladybug that was crawling on the table top. The two men stared at it, their eyes wide like they were looking at a large pot of precious gems.
The others shook their heads and said under their breathes, "Idiots...childish...get a life..what do people see in them two anyway?"
"WE HEARD THAT!"
An angry Shuichi and Ryuichi were standing back to back Charlie's Angels style, pointing imaginary guns at their companions.
"Don't make us shoot you." they said simultaniously, using their pointer fingers and thumbs to make a gun.
Sakano fell out anime style. K smiled and pulled out his own gun, this one real.
"Two can play at that game."
"K, NO!" Suguru and Hiro said, jumping on K before he could pull the trigger.
DIIIIIIIIING DOOOOOOOONG!
"TOHMA!" Ryuichi yelled happily running to the door to greet Seguchi himself.
He glomped his ex-band mate as soon as he walked in the door.
"Good to see you, too, Ryu-chan." Tohma said patting Ryuichi on the back.
"Kuma thought you weren't going to make it." Ryuichi pouted, his eyes tearful. "He was getting sad."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Tohma replied patting Kumagoro, who Ryuichi was clutching tightly in his arms, on the head.
Ryuichi grinned. Tohma couldn't hold back a chuckle.
"Silly, Ryuichi." he walked into the kitchen. "So, guys, what are we doing first, gifts or food?"
"GIFTS, GIFTS!!" Shuichi and Ryuichi yelled running into the living room. They sat on the couch staring hungrily at the mountain of gifts all around the room.
"Those two will never grow up will they?" K asked Tohma.
"No, and I don't think I would have it any other way, K, my friend. Their distinct personalities are what brought NG to the top."
"You are right there." Sakano replied wiping his glasses off with his shirt.
"PRESENTS, PRESENTS!!!"
Tohma shook his head. He looked around the room, feeling sorry for the Christmas tree that had all those presents underneath, looking as if it could burst at any moment.
"PRESENTS PRESENTS!!"
"Alright, just calm down, men." Tohma said with a smile.
The two hyper-active singers quieted down quickly.
"Take a seat, guys." Ryuichi said. "I give out my presents first!"
(A/N): I am making it like a tradition thing, that whoever hosts the party at their house gets to give out their gifts first.
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"Thanks, Ryuichi, for letting us use your home for our party." Sakano said bowing to Ryuichi.
"No problem at all. It was fun." Ryuichi grinned.
Sakano bowed and Shuichi and Ryuichi watched out of the door until they saw that everyone was gone.
"I have one more present for you, Shuichi." Ryuichi said sheepishly.
"You do? I thought you gave me your presents eariler, which are great, by the way!"
"Thanks, but, yes..I have one more for you."
"Oh, well...what is it?"
Ryuichi ran back to his room and came back out with a small box wrapped in pretty, lime-green paper. Shuichi opened it and saw that it was a small box that you put jewelry in. He felt his heart race. Shuichi opened it and saw it was a white-gold band, Nittle Graspers logo carved into it, Ryuichi's signature engraved inside the band. Shuichi's eyes widened.
"This..this is...But, but..."
"Tohma, Noriko and I all got them made a long time ago, back when we first became really popular. We swore to each other that one day we would give these rings to someone special in our lives. Someone that we trusted with all of our hearts. Because in the rings is something special that nothing else has. This one, for instance, has a very rare jewel inside the Grasper logo. Tohma gave his to Mika and Noriko gave hers to her brother. I want to give mine to you."
Shuichi was speechless. Ryuichi knew what was going on in his mind, though. He smiled, took the ring and put in on Shuichi's finger, kissed him and and said, "You're welcome."
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Tohma's visit at Yuki's was short. Yuki and Tatsuha were having a very heated argument, so he and Mika decided to leave and come back the next day when Eiri calmed down. Hikaru had left earlier, so they thought it best to let Yuki sleep it off.
"Leave him alone! I don't know what I have to do to get that through your head! Just back off!"
"I won't! He took him from me, and I will get my payback!"
"You idiot! If Ryuichi even remotely liked you back he wouldn't be with Shuichi right now! So just LEAVE him ALONE!"
Tatsuha glared at Yuki.
"I will show you...I will prove you wrong."
He turned at stormed out of the apartment fuming. Darn him. How dare he order him to back away from Shuichi. He didn't understand. It was all Shuichi's fault, he refused to let him get away with it. He was so angry he didn't notice someone sneak behind him, slap a hand over his mouth, and drag him into a dark alley.
"Just shut up and listen, you hear?"
Tatsuha recognized the voice, but agreed all the same.
"I know of a way to get rid of Shuichi."