A/N: Here's the second chappie. TIS SHORT! SORRY! I hope I didn't make anything OOC. It feels like I did.
Note: "Naze" is Japanese for "Why" and "Koi" is Japanese for "Love" or "Lover". The title of this in English is "Why, Love", but suited better to be in Japanese.
Summary: Shuichi catches Yuki cheating on him with Touma and Shuichi runs off. Shuichi seeks comfort, but whom does he find it in and can he get past this?
Pairings: Shuichi/Yuki, Yuki/Touma, Shuichi/Ryuichi and Suguru/Hiro
Warnings: Shounen-ai/yaoi, language/swearing, references to alcohol
Recommended listening: Silence sung by Delerium and Sarah McLachlan
Naze, Koi?
Chapter Two – Echoing Sadness
Bright rays of sunlight began to fight at the folds to the drawn blinds that kept the room in still-gray darkness. A few streaks peeked through, streaming across the ceiling and slowly descending down against the soft, blue-painted walls. Off in the distance, there was a small chirp, signaling that it was indeed morning. The chirp faded as the source moved in the opposite direction of the quiet room.
Soft amethyst eyes opened blearily, unfocused as they raked across the wall they faced. After a few blinks, the vision sharpened and the owner of the soft eyes began to wonder where he was. The blue walls didn't look familiar. Nor did he remember having a Gackt poster facing his bed. Or have a small plushie he was currently holding close to him.
Shuichi's eyes widened and he sat up abruptly; unfortunately, that caused a splitting headache to form between his eyes and his wrist to throb in protest. Shuichi raised his good hand to his head, willing the headache to leave him in peace. After a moment, when the pulsing throb had died down, Shuichi looked down to see what he was holding. It was a pink bunny, but not just any pink bunny. It was Sakuma Ryuichi's Kumaguro plushie.
"Kokua doku?" the singer whispered to himself, looking around the room. He couldn't remembered how he had gotten to where he was now. He remembered Ryuichi finding him in the rain and saving him from that car when he had slipped. He remembered being led to Ryuichi's apartment and having his wrist bandaged. He remembered... he remembered crying.
He also remembered the embrace. Ryuichi hadn't told him to stop crying like he had when Shuichi had disapproved of Suguru Fujisaki when the teen had come to join the band. Ryuichi had held him in an attempt to cease his crying, to comfort him, as friends always did. And then...
Shuichi felt his face heat up with embarrassment. No way. There was no way. Ryuichi had carried him to bed, but not just any bed. It was the same bed Ryuichi slept in. Shuichi could tell with the tiny pink spots on it that were tiny Kumaguro prints in the light blue sheets.
'I slept in Ryuichi's bed... the bed of Sakuma Ryuichi... oh my God...'
Shuichi tried to brush off the thought that made his face burn and looked around. He hadn't known what to expect to see Ryuichi's room, so the Gackt posters next to posters of Bad Luck and L'Arc-En-Ciel were greatly unexpected, but somehow inspiring.
Shuichi glanced to the nightstand clock. It read 10:47 a.m. He had to be at the studio at 8:30 a.m., so... He suddenly jumped up, eyes wide. "Crap, I'm late!" 'K-san is going to kill me!'
Without realizing he was still carrying Kumaguro, he ran to the bedroom door, his bare feet almost slipping on the polished wooden floor. Before he could open it, it suddenly opened for him and Shuichi almost bumped into the person on the other side of the door.
"Shu-chan! Why are you rushing? You could hurt yourself!"
Shuichi looked up, straight into Ryuichi's carefree blue eyes while the other sing smiled at him, giggling slightly. There was underlying concern, but it was covered up by the playfulness as Ryuichi motioned to the bed. "Was it comfortable?" he asked, the small smile still in place.
Shuichi felt himself blushing at the question had diverted his gaze, hoping Ryuichi would see him blush so much. "Hai. Arigatou gozaimus, Sakuma-san."
"It's Ryuichi-chan! Chan!" The singer exclaimed in response, emphasizing 'chan' to prove his point as he threw an arm around Shuichi's shoulders in the form of half hug. Shuichi turned his head the other way, unconsciously gripping the plushie in his arms before he realized what he was doing.
"Oh, Sa—Ryuichi... I should give this back to you," Shuichi said quietly, holding out Kumaguro with his uninjured hand. Ryuichi tilted his head slightly, as if wondering why Shuichi was doing such a thing before he slowly took Kumaguro from the singer's hands. "I let Kuma-chan stay with you to keep you company! I had to go to the studio and explain a few things to Noriko and—"
"The studio! I'm sorry, Sakuma-san, I have to go! K's gonna kill me!" Shuichi headed towards the door before something caught his free hand. The purple-eyed teen whirled around to face who had stopped him and found himself once again staring into Ryuichi's deep blue eyes. How deep were they? Cobalt? No, lighter than that. Sapphire? No, darker...
Ryuichi held Shuichi's hand in a firm, but gentle grip as he looked at his junior, trying to figure out something. His eyes were searching, searching for something he intended to find, but couldn't delve deeper into the twined purple orbs in front of him, as if something was keeping him out. Shuichi shifted slightly under the gaze. Ryuichi blinked before he tilted his head again.
"Shuichi, I already called and told them you weren't well," Ryuichi finally said, blinking a few more times. "Shuichi needs to be all better before he can sing again and be shiny! Kuma-chan agrees, too!"
Shuichi's lips parted for a moment before he clamped his mouth shut tight again. Ryuichi had called in sick for him. Ryuichi was looking out for him too much. It didn't really feel... right. "Gomen ne, Ryuichi-san I have to go. I promised Hiro..."
Ryuichi let out a small sigh. 'If that's what he wants...' "Tis chan, Shuichi! Chan! And lemme get you some clothes! You can go in that!" He smiled, gesturing to the wrinkled tank top and shorts. Before Shuichi could protest, Ryuichi had disappeared back into the bedroom, holding Kumaguro in his arms. A second later, he came back out with a stack of clothes and he eagerly put them into Shuichi's hands. "Wear this at least." At Shuichi's hesitant look, Ryuichi pulled out his puppy eyes and nipped the top of Kumaguro's head in a cute, childish way. "Pwease, Shu-chan?" Tiny beads of comical tears began to run down his face.
Shuichi forced a smile on his face. "O-okay, Ryuichi..."
The comical tears vanished and Ryuichi perked up with a large grin. "Yay! Shu-chan's gonna be my shiny double! Isn't that great, Kumaguro? Shu-chan's gonna be shiny!" Ryuichi did a small spin with the pink bunny in his arms, grinning like a child.
Shuichi watched this for a moment before he headed to the bathroom, closing the door behind him. As soon as he did, Ryuichi stopped spinning and glanced to the direction of the bathroom. The smile slipped off his face and his shoulders slumped. He gazed down to the plushie in his hands, his eyes changing from their innocent chibi look to the serious stage eyes. But not the concentrated, thinking stage eyes. The sad stage eyes no one had ever seen before.
Ryuichi frowned and he clutched Kumaguro tightly. "I'm an idiot, aren't I, Kumaguro?" The singer got no response, as per usual, and he walked to the front door, waiting for Shuichi to emerge. "I'm such an idiot..."
Shuichi, meanwhile, was staring at the clothes Ryuichi had given him in fascination. The jeans were low-rise, black leather with three silver chains going down the right pant leg. The shirt was a tight purple and green tank top that covered his front, but exposed a good portion of his back once slipped on. Shuichi stared at the clothing for a moment before he shrugged and stripped down, thrown off his clothing, which, he now started to realize, had begun to smell. Shuichi felt his face grow a little hot at the realization. No wonder Ryuichi had suggested he change...
Clothing adorned, Shuichi looked in the mirror. The clothing was the only clean thing about him, really. His hair was a matted mess and was sticking out at a few ends from sleeping on it wet, his face was a little dirty with he had hit the pavement after the car incident, and his eyes were watery and slightly red.
'I must've cried in my sleep,' he thought as he turned on the tap for the sink, splashing his face a few times. The cold water on his heated face felt refreshing and helped him wake up a little more. He reached for a towel on the sidebar and wiped his face, taking another look in the mirror. The dirt was gone and his eyes looked a little fuller, if not still a little saddened.
Shuichi let out a soft sigh before running his hands through his tangled, matted hair. He winced at the tangles and shrugged. No one at work really paid attention to his hair, anyway. Casting the mirror one more look, Shuichi left the bathroom, the chains on the pant leg jangling.
He barely had time to turn around to look for Ryuichi when the said singer tackled him from behind, his arms folded across his chest and Ryuichi giving him a big hug. "Ah! Shu-chan, you're so shiny!"
Shuichi laughed a little nervously and took a few minutes to pry Ryuichi off him. The elder vocalist gave him a sheepish grin before pointing to the door. "Let's go!"
Shuichi blinked before he returned the grin with a small smile. "Aa."
The walk to the studio wasn't too far from where Ryuichi's apartment was and they both got there in twenty minutes. The walk had been a little quiet, except for Ryuichi sometimes popping up with random questions about ice cream flavors or what song they were going to sing today or if either of them had come up with song lyrics. When they arrived, Ryuichi turned to face his junior. "Daijoubu, Shuichi?"
Shuichi, who had almost lost his thoughts on the way there, glanced at Ryuichi with a smile. "Yeah, I'm all right. I'm already over it."
Ryuichi pouted, but then smiled as Touma and Noriko walked out. "Touma! Nori-chan!"
"Ryuichi?" Touma raised an eyebrow. Didn't the singer already call in? Shuichi couldn't look at Touma after what he had seen last night. And now that he knew that it was Touma who Yuki loved, it now made sense why some days Touma seemed a little tired or stressed.
"Ryu-chan, I thought you said you weren't coming in today," Noriko recalled, tapping her chin with an elegant finger, nail painted a light purple to match her dyed hair.
"Shuichi said he wanted to come in, so I came with him to keep him company," Ryuichi said, already giving an excuse to be there with them. He winked at Shuichi out of the corner of his eye. "And Kumaguro wanted to come, too!" The singer held up the pink bunny he had been holding to prove his point.
Noriko put up her hands in mock defeat, a small smile lit on her face before she turned to Shuichi. "So how are you? Gotten over your sickness already?"
Shuichi turned a little red in the face, remembering that Ryuichi had called in sick for him and he nodded. "H-hai... I'm good as new! As if a sickness can hold me down!" He pulled up a smile with a laugh in hopes of diverting her. It looked as if it had worked, as she turned back to talking to Ryuichi, but her eyes told a different story. She was suspicious of something. Shuichi could tell.
"Shuichi!"
The singer turned as his name was called and Hiro came out of the building, eyes holding surprise while his long red hair, tied back into a low ponytail, swished behind him. "I thought you called in sick."
Shuichi laughed nervously, putting a hand behind his head. "Nah, I can't be held down by a sickness! I'm totally over it!" 'Not like I had it in the first place...' But Shuichi wasn't going to tell Hiro that.
Hiro's eyes had the same look Noriko's did. Shuichi wasn't sure if the two believed him or not. Ryuichi certainly didn't, as he had known what happened, Touma probably had a clue so he didn't believe his act either, but Suguru (who wasn't present now) was probably the only one totally oblivious, but Hiro would probably change that eventually.
"Well, do you want to go rehearse?" Hiro asked.
Shuichi nodded as enthusiastically as he could. Inside, he felt dead.
A/N: Well, that took longer than I thought. Stupid AP classes... ANYWAY! Hope this was worth the wait and thanks for your reviews! Arigatou and ja ne for now!
Saphira Nakare Ruakara
