Forgotten
Chapter Seven: First Meeting

Watching him bound around the studio with enthusiastic squeals and bright purple eyes was somehow soothing for Hiro. It was like the old times. Shuichi had been introduced to Mr. K, Sakano, and Fujisaki, but was kept away from the general population in the rest of NG. Tohma had left strict orders to keep Shuichi's memory loss under wraps, the last thing they needed was a rival band discovering Shuichi's illness and leaking to the media.

That day Shuichi reacquainted himself with the studio, with the microphones and instruments; he even made up a song on the spot to sing for his small audience. He was given his first pocky stick since his homecoming and immediately took to the treat just as he had before.

Hiro couldn't help but feel like everything was going to be okay now. Shuichi looked so healthy, the doctors had to be wrong about his sickness, and he was so familiar with his surroundings, it was as though he had never left.

At lunch time Hiro took Shuichi to a tiny café across the street. They sat in a booth beside the large window and ate sandwiches while Shuichi hummed and stared at the business district of Tokyo. NG was easily the tallest building on that block, it towered in front of the sun, glistening silver and metallic. As Shuichi gnawed on a chip he gasped, and coughed as a crumb lodged itself in the most uncomfortable place it could possibly have landed in his throat.

"What's up Shu?" Hiro asked around a mouthful of sandwich.

"Man!" Shuichi gasped, still coughing as he mindlessly grabbed for his glass of water and choked some down to dislodge the offensive crumb. "That man!" he screeched, pointing across the street to NG's front doors.

Hiro looked and inhaled sharply, also choking on his food. He pounded his chest and reached for his water as he tried to remember how to breathe normally.

The tourist family next to them stared in horror. Was this some sort of Japanese ritual, to cough and choke and scream in their native tongue as they ate? The family got up and left promptly, the mother quickly ushering her children away from the insane men.

"Yuki…" Hiro gasped, unthinking. He bent closer to the window, watching as the blond man entered NG. There was no mistaking that light hair, nor the Mercedes that was illegally parked in front of the building. Hiro staring, blinking rapidly, confused and undecided about what to do, the lunch hour was almost over and they had to get back. Shuichi was going to sit in on some actual work being done, they had a recording from before his hospital visit, Shuichi singing his newest song Forgotten and Hiro and Fujisaki were going to record the musical background to lay over it and complete at least one song for the new CD.

"Yuki," he heard Shuichi say in a whisper. Damn it! Hiro turned, about to tell Shuichi some sort of lie, trying to cover his tracks and keep his friend away from Yuki Eiri.

Shuichi had beaten him to the punch. The pink-haired singer was already up and half way to the door, jacket on and food abandoned. Hiro quickly threw down some money to pay for the meal and ran after his friend. By the time he made it out the front door of the café, Shuichi was running across the busy intersection with reckless abandon. Cars were honking, stomping on their breaks and swerving to avoid him. Hiro jabbed the walk butting, hopping up and down as he prayed for the light to change quickly. Shuichi was almost to the building, headed directly for the mysterious man he wasn't supposed to know anything about.

Shuichi, meanwhile, was running after the blond man. He had just stepped into an elevator and the doors had closed as Shuichi ran after them. He smacked the wall with his fist when he missed it, and then watched where the elevator headed. Top floor.

He smashed the 'up' button repeatedly, determined to reach the top floor too.

"Welcome Eiri. I'm glad you came." Tohma said politely as he gestured to a large armchair for Eiri's use.

"What ever," Eiri replied, taking a seat. "What's this 'emergency' you were raving about?"

Tohma's look paled and hardened. He came around the front of his desk and perched himself on it, facing Eiri with a grave expression on his face. "I received a call from the hospital earlier this morning."

Eiri looked up sharply. "And?"

"They've released Shuichi, for the time being. The doctors are expecting his disease to overtake his life in a matter of weeks. When he's become to sick to function, they'll bring him back and—"

Eiri dropped his sunglasses. He'd been holding them, meaning to put them away. They fell to the floor with a clatter he hardly noticed. "Where's he staying?" He asked, cutting Tohma off.

"With Mr. Nakano," Tohma replied patiently. "They also discussed with me the results of Shuichi's X-rays. They've found the true cause of his sickness."

Eiri's mouth popped open as he waited for his brother-in-law to elaborate.

"He does not have Huntington's Disease, as we originally thought, but a large tumor in the brain. It's overtaking the pieces that control memory and muscle control. Shuichi will die, and he will die very soon."

Eiri's eyelids pricked uncomfortably. He lifted a hand to his eyes to wipe away the tears, his body shook. His fingers contorted. Anger coursed in his blood stream and he stood and turned to the wall and punched it with as much strength as he could manage. There was a crack in the paint and a dent in the wall when he pulled away and collapsed. Tohma was at his side, massaging his back gently and speaking in a calm voice.

"I'm telling you this because I believe that your depravation has lasted long enough. You need to see Shuichi, and you need to do it now, while you've still got the chance."

"Dying…" Eiri said quietly. He tried to imagine his life now. Silence. Quiet. Solitude. He would never see Shuichi's purple eyes and abominably pink hair, never hear the obnoxious laugh or watch the random dances across the living room floor. He would never see Shuichi's eyes alight with passion, or fill with tears, or crinkle with joy, or narrow in anger. Shuichi's skin would be cold, his eyes would be closed, and that perfect body and soul would be buried in the ground for the rest of eternity.

Eiri's heart stopped, one second, two seconds, three, and then spluttered back to life as he began to cry freely for the first time in over two years.

Tohma put an arm around his shoulders. "The doctors are discussing treatment options with me in an hour. I figured you would want to be here to help."

"Doesn't… doesn't he get a choice in his future?" Eiri couldn't bring himself to say the name.

"That's one of the options I have discussed earlier with all the doctors. Keeping everything from him so he can live the next few weeks relatively care free. We decided from the beginning it was in his best interests."

Eiri got to his feet, holding his head as it slowly developed a splitting headache and he continued to cry, unable to control himself. "I can't do this." He whispered.

Tohma folded his arms across his chest and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Eiri, I need to know everything. Can you tell me what happened from the day that you kicked him out of the apartment to now?"

Eiri flopped into a chair, his chest heaving, he felt as though he couldn't breathe. Just as he had regained his composure and began to speak, the large oak double doors of Tohma's office crashed open and there stood Shuichi, panting, with Hiro running up the stairs behind him, screaming for Shuichi to come back.

Eiri's eyes widened and his heart beat accelerated as he laid eyes on his lover. Somehow the reality of Shuichi's unavoidable death seemed so much more near at hand with the boy standing there in front of him. He collapsed into fresh sobs and stood blindly, rushing to hold his lover close.

"Shuichi," he whispered into the mop of pink hair.

The singer was baffled by this man, the one who had fought his way into his hospital room and was now crushing him in a hug and crying. Somehow the embrace felt… right… and Shuichi was certain that he had known this man very well in his forgotten life. He placed his arms around the tall blonde's waist and hugged him back, inhaling deeply the scent of cigarettes and cologne and a spicy soap.

"Mr. Seguchi!" Hiro panted as he came rushing into the room, holding his knees. "I'm sorry sir! I had to climb the stairs half of the way to catch up… I tried Mr. Seguchi…"

Tohma held up a hand politely to silence the guitarist and then crooked a finger, motioning for him to come inside. "Close the door behind you please, Mr. Nakano."

The order was carried out and Eiri looked up from his embrace to face Nakano Hiroshi's murderous stare and Tohma's overwhelmed expression. Shuichi was holding him still, which was just fine by him, thank you very much. He rubbed the layered hair, running his fingers through it and sniffing the strawberry scent of his shampoo. His other hand massaged circles into Shuichi's thin back, feeling the bumps of his spine. With a pang, Eiri realized that his hand, tangled into Shuichi's hair was mere inches from a cancer that was slowly killing him. The thought made him lose his breath, and he wrapped his arms around Shuichi once again, unwilling to let go.

"Now," Tohma Seguchi said to the party assembled. "I think it's time that everyone comes clean and we all discuss the very immediate and dangerous future."

Hiro looked mortified, Eiri was trying his best to ignore the outside world and focus solely on Shuichi, and Shuichi himself looked confused and frightened. Instinctively he clutched Eiri closer.

"But Mr. Seguchi—" Hiro began. He was cut off once again by Tohma's upraised hand.

"Shuichi's fate is not for us to decide, and I regret that I even tried. This concerns him, and Eiri, more than the rest of us." Tohma motioned to the two chairs in front of his desk. Hiro sat in one, Eiri; still doing his best to ignore everything and everyone around him, did nothing.

"Eiri, have a seat please." Tohma commanded in a soft voice. Eiri gave him a hateful glare, but complied, then seeing that there were no other chairs for Shuichi, tugged the confused teen into his lap and clamped his arms around his waist firmly with a decisive nod. Hiro looked fit to jump up and stab Eiri through the head with whatever was near at hand.

"Shuichi," Tohma began. "We have not been all together honest with you. First of all, then man you are sitting on is Ues—" when Eiri's glare became increasingly intense at the mention of his given name, Tohma stopped himself and backtracked. "Yuki Eiri. You have been living with him for the better part of two years, and you are lovers."

Shuichi became instantly stiff and very still. Hiro looked over at his friend with worried eyes. "Shui—?"

Eiri's growl cut him off. Tohma stared at them all until there was quiet.

"Shuichi, you're memory loss is very serious. It is expected that in three, perhaps four weeks time…you will die."

Shuichi, already frightened before, became positively petrified. He clenched his fists, his face became pale and he began to sweat, a thin sheen of perspiration that gave him a sick, shiny hue to his skin. Eiri held him tighter.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked in a shaky whisper.

"You have a tumor." Tohma replied. Hiro gasped, the news was as new to him as it had been to Eiri moments ago. "It's growing in your brain. But there are options, treatments, which we are going to discuss in-" a quick glance at his watch, "-a half hours time. I'm expecting a call from the doctors at the hospital and they will tell us everything we can possibly do to help you."

Shuichi's eyes were filling with tears. His hands grasped at Eiri's subconsciously, and Eiri held them tightly, feeling the sticky beads of perspiration on his hand.

"Yu…ki?" Shuichi said quietly. Eiri nodded and gave the teens hand a squeeze. "Did you love me?"

The question was unexpected. Out of everything he had just heard, Tohma and Hiro had expected more curiosity about the illness rather than the past. Nonetheless, they held their silence as they waited for the answer. Eiri clutched Shuichi to him, holding the singers head against his shoulder.

"Yes. Every single day since the moment I met you," Yuki said quietly. "And I still love you. No matter what."

Not a soul in that room remained with dry eyes after that.

End-8