I know I haven't updated in a while, sorry! I'm almost done with my exams, finishing on the 25th. This is a little shorter than the last chapter, but with more of the actual plot. Hope you like it, as always, reviews are much appreciated, thanks x
I do not own Gravitation, only the character of Kyousuke along with his family, and Genji and Nami. I am not writing this for profit, it is purely to entertain, let's hope it does!
Kyo was embarrassed when he work up to find himself lying on Eiri's chest; it made him feel stupid and pathetic. That said, it was warm and comfortable and he had yet to work out whether Eiri was even awake. He shifted a little so that he could look up at his face, and relaxed when he saw that his eyes were closed. Kyo shuffled out of his grasp and lay on his stomach beside him; he could tell it was early, as the first rays of sunlight were only just breaking through the clouds outside. Dawn. He watched the light play over Eiri's face, his breathing slow and even.
Kyo was in a good mood this morning; the fever had apparently cleared up, and getting some real sleep had done him a world of good; it was the first time in a long time he had not woken up tired. He showered and dressed, before heading into the kitchen to make coffee, He could faintly hear the bed sheets rustling in the other room, and he wondered whether Eiri was awake yet. He had let him sleep in his bed again. It was becoming a kind of routine; falling back into the same old patterns.
He would push Eiri away, Eiri would push back, and somehow, somehow he would break into Kyo's defences, wear him down until... until what? Until he found somebody else and left?
Kyo closed his eyes, forcing the thought from his mind. He didn't know where this thing with Eiri was going; he knew he'd have to kick him out eventually, before Eiri could make him vulnerable enough to be hurt, but...
The truth was; he was falling in love with him all over again.
Looking back on it now, he had always been a little in love with Eiri. When they were little kids, way back before the accident... he had simply been in awe of him, looked up to him, idolised him the way that Eiri grew to idolise Kitazawa. After the accident he had hated him at first; hated everyone and everything except his mother. He had wanted no one but her, and she had blamed and rejected him and it had torn him apart. Throughout that time he had taken Eiri for granted, hadn't even realised how much worse off he would have been if it wasn't for him. But by the time he had realised it was too late. He was sent away to school and Eiri was infatuated with Kitazawa to the point where he forgot about Kyo completely.
It was then that Kyo had started to understand; over those next four years he had tried to work out his feelings for Eiri and had realised that they went far beyond friendship and into a deeper emotion that he couldn't properly describe. Love seemed too simple a word. He would do anything for him; kill for him, die for him. He had all this love to give; for his mother, his father, Kenta... But they were gone, and instead he found himself clinging devotedly to Eiri. But he couldn't let him know that. He couldn't fall back into that same trap.
If his childhood had taught him anything, it was that he couldn't ever let himself depend on anyone. People let you down, people died; somebody else's life was too fragile for you to rely on, and the people you really loved rarely felt the same.
Kyo rubbed his forehead, trying to clear his head. It was thoughts like this that had landed him in yesterday's mess, hung over and sick and essentially vulnerable.
He poured boiling water over his coffee and stirred the grains around slowly. Watching the sunlight break through the window and spill across the counter. He was glad to have work again today; it would give him something to do, some time away from Eiri where he could think.
He looked into his room before he left; Eiri was awake, but looked as though he hadn't been for long. Kyo's face was stony as he placed a cup of coffee by the bed, "here." He made an effort to keep his tone blunt. "I'm... I'm going to work; I guess I'll see you later." Eiri grunted in response, not really registering his words, and Kyo left quietly. It was only after the front door closed softly behind him that Eiri realised that Kyo had actually said goodbye to him. He blinked and wrapped his hands around the coffee cup, soaking up its warmth. What was it he'd said? I'll see you later. So he wasn't even pushing Eiri to leave any more. He smiled.
He didn't see it on the way to work. It was too early, and he took the subway, getting little view of the many magazine stalls that would later be emblazoned with scandalous celebrity photographs. No, it was only on the way home that Kyo first laid eyes on it.
It was not a long walk from the subway to the main street and his apartment building; but the cold and the darkness made it seem that way. It was raining again, not the pelting spears that had left him so drenched two nights ago, but a fine, glittering mist that made little noise but soaked everything it touched with a cold clammy dampness. By the time he turned into the street he was dreading the climb up all those stairs, his bones aching with the weariness of a hard day's work. The magazine stalls were packing up everywhere; the main street was entirely pedestrianised and parking for the hotels and apartments was all located behind the buildings and accessible only via back streets, so the stalls were set up everywhere, selling newspapers and magazines, cigarettes and candy bars and energy drinks to passersby on their way to or from work. Kyo never bought anything from them, except maybe cigarettes now and then, he had no interest in the world of celebrities, or in politics or share prices or anything else he might find in the magazines or newspapers, and candy or energy drinks were just a waste of money that he didn't have.
He didn't want to buy anything today; he was cold and tired and he just wanted to get home, but something caught his eye. He stopped; unable to breathe, he felt like he'd been punched in the gut. Most of the stall's goods were already packed away, but a couple of magazine racks lingered hopefully out front. It was one of the magazines that had caught his attention; it was almost sold out, and with good reason. Splashed across the front page in large, bold type were the words "EIRI YUKI'S SECRET LOVER? He didn't understand; how could the press possibly know? It was impossible; it had to be a rumour, he told himself, it couldn't be him they were referring to, there was no way.
Then he saw the pictures; they were blurry, unfocussed, taken from a distance, but there was no mistaking the subject. Eiri's distinctive blonde hair was tousled, his arms wrapped possessively around Kyo's waist, his tongue in Kyo's mouth. His shirt was half undone, Kyo's chest was bare, the faded red burn across his ribs and shoulder was clearly visible, making him instantly recognisable to anyone who knew him.
"Can I help you mister?" The stallholder probed suddenly, Kyo's head snapped up. "No." He replied sharply.
The man looked slightly taken aback, but turned away to continue packing up without another word. Kyo picked up one of the magazines and rolled it up to stuff it in his jacket. He started to walk quickly away, just as the stallholder turned to take another look at him; the auburn hair, the light tan, that look of fear on his face... "You!" He began, but Kyo was already gone, pelting down the street and into his apartment building.
He took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the fierce protest from his aching muscles, and lurched into his corridor, half expecting to find himself wading through paparazzi; it was mercifully empty. He let himself in and stepped out of his shoes.
Eiri wasn't in the living room as Kyo turned to lean heavily back against the door, struggling to slow his breathing; instead he found him in the kitchen, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a cigarette to his lips.
"Get away from the window." Kyo panted. Eiri turned his head, glancing at Kyo with a look of vague amusement, his face veiled in smoke. "What?"
"Just do it. Get away from the window." Eiri's eyes narrowed, scanning Kyo's face; seeing only panic, he obliged, stepping back from the window and coming to join Kyo in the main room. He sat down, watching Kyo yank down the blinds, shutting out the night.
"What are you doing?" Eiri tapped his cigarette over the ashtray on the coffee table in front of him.
Kyo was silent, running a shaking hand through his wet hair. "Kyo-" Eiri began.
"Did you know about this?" The magazine slapped down on the table before him, it's headline glaring up at him. Eiri blinked.
"Did you?" Kyo repeated; his fists clenched at his sides as he waited for a response.
"No." Eiri stubbed out the cigarette, his face expressionless. "No I didn't."
Confusion drifted across Kyo's face, accentuating his panic; Eiri sensed he was close to losing it. "I haven't had any press involvement since my last book release two months ago. However they got these," he said, gesturing towards the pictures, "it's nothing to do with me."
Kyo's jaw clenched, he paused, he paced, he ran both hands through his hair, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. He tried to slow his breathing, struggling to find some kind of solution. There wasn't one.
"What do we do?" He asked eventually.
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know!" Kyo cried, "I'm not your... your 'secret lover'," he spat "I... I don't want people to think that! Everybody who knows me will recognise me in that photo. Everybody. That means... that means I'll have your family to answer to, Mika and Tatsuo and... and goddamn it even Tohma will be on my case about it and all this... this bullshit... it isn't true! You can handle this; you get this all the time! You can just tell people the pictures are fake, that it isn't you, but me? This is different for me. Your family, they'll know they're real; the burns... it proves that it's me... I can't...I can't face them. I can't..." He dropped to his knees, his hands fisted in his hair. "What can I do?"
"First; we can wait. We don't know the scale of this yet. It could blow over in a matter of days."
"It won't,"
"Give it a chance." Eiri's voice was stern. "I can talk to my family; you don't have to explain anything to them."
Kyo's fingers uncurled, his hand sliding out of his hair and into his lap, he looked up. "What are we doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... I mean this. You and me..."
"I don't know yet."
Eiri held his gaze for several long seconds, Kyo tore his eyes away first. He stood slowly, picking up the magazine from the table on his way to his room. Eiri watched him go.
He worked on his novel for a little while after that, it took him an hour to realise that Kyo hadn't eaten anything since he got in from work. Considering he was the guest, he took it upon himself to make something. It wasn't anything fancy, just a carton of instant noodles, but it was hot and it was food and he was pretty sure Kyo must be hungry by now.
He had come to admire Kyo's determination about his job; he worked in a tyre factory, doing some kind of manual work. It didn't pay well but Kyo wasn't qualified for a higher ranking position, and he was the kind of person who much preferred to be doing something physical than sitting in an office. Eiri hadn't failed to notice how he would often come home looking tire; his hours were long, he would leave early in the morning and come home after dark. But he was determined to do it, to pay the rent and support himself.
Eiri lit another cigarette and held it between his lips, sticking a pair of chopsticks into the steaming noodles and picking up the carton.
Eiri entered the bedroom to find Kyousuke lying on his stomach across the futon, the magazine open in front of him. His chin rested on his folded arms, his eyes flicking lazily over the double page spread spilling 'details' about Eiri's scandalous affair.
"Stop torturing yourself." He placed the carton next to Kyo's elbow and leaned against the wall separating bedroom from bathroom opposite Kyo.
Kyo flipped it shut, frowning and closing his hands around the carton of noodles. "Thanks."
Eiri smoked silently, watching him stir the noodles around. "Are you gonna eat them or just play with them?"
Kyo pushed them away. "I lost my appetite." He dropped his chin back onto his arms.
"This is really bothering you isn't it?" Eiri probed gently. Kyo looked up at him, he didn't need to say anything.
"Fine." Eiri said suddenly, his eyes glittering ominously. "I'll make you a deal."
Kyo frowned, already feeling uncomfortable at the thought of what Eiri may have planned.
"If you can resist me for five whole days..." Kyo laughed "resist you?"
Eiri's grin didn't even waver. "I'll do whatever you want. Leave, pay off the press, pretend none of this ever happened. Whatever you want."
Kyo was silent for a moment, thinking it through.
"What's the catch?" He questioned warily. "What happens if I lose?"
Eiri's eyes locked on Kyo's. "If you lose... you have to do whatever I want. For one night."
Kyo stared at him momentarily, then laughed "you're a sick bastard you know that? A total pervert."
Eiri smiled, bringing the cigarette to his lips. "Your choice."
Kyo fell silent, his head falling back onto his arms as he contemplated the offer. Eiri exhaled slowly.
"Fine."
Eiri raised his eyebrows, pleasantly surprised.
Kyo didn't meet his eyes. "It's a deal."