Because of You
Sequel to: "This I Promise You"
Building a Family series
Written by: Chochowilliams
Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Summary: It is six years later and while Shuichi has moved on with his life, there are those who have not.
Warning: M/M, M/F, Sexual Situations, Romance, Angst, Drama, Fantasy, Infidelity, OOC, Language, M-Preg, OCs, Japan Natives: Surname first
Pairings: Shuichi/Eiri, past Hiro/Ayaka, Hiro/Suguru, Tatsuha/Ryuichi, past Maiko/OMC, Ayaka/OMC, OMC/OFC
Inserts: recap from chapter 6, "About Us" by Brooke Hogan
A/N: Riku makes an appearance in this chapter. Enjoy!
oOo
Last Time
When Eiri topped the steps, he caught sight of a large Manila envelope lying on the porch in front of the door. Curious, he set the carrier and the shopping bags on the porch. Taking his keys out of his mouth, he squatted down and picked up the envelope. "SHINDOU SHUICHI" was printed in large block letters. His brow furrowed in confusion and speculation. He turned the envelope over. Nothing. Frowning, he wiggled his finger under the flap and tore the envelope open. His peered inside. His frown deepened. Reaching inside, he pulled out a piece of paper. Flipping it over, his eyes widened in surprise.
"What the-!"
He was looking at a photo of Shuichi with a comatose Kane cradled in his arms speaking to a devastated Maiko in the parking lot of the Ozaki Funeral Home. He remembered Shuichi saying something about seeing a paparazzo outside the funeral parlor, but he had not thought any more about it. Was this connected to it or was it something all together different?
"What the hell is this?"
oOo
Chapter 7: Journeys in Wonderland & The Watcher
Three months later - November - Nara, Japan
The beats of the pop song pounded over the speakers, filling the studio with the sweet melodious voices of the new all girl group "Desert Star".
I see your lips moving but I don't hear nothing
Everybody talking like they really know something about us
But they don't know nothing about us
I see your lips moving but I don't hear nothing
Everybody talking like they really wanna know something about us
But they don't know nothing about us
His head bopping with the music flowing over the speakers in the soundproofed studio his husband had built for him at the back of their property in Nara, Shuichi pushed the black leather swivel chair away from the desk and slouched down, situating his rapidly expanding girth so that he was comfortable and stretched his short legs out in front of him. He crossed his ankles and folded his hands over his rounded stomach. Leaning his head against the back of the high backed chair that Eiri had bought for him the other day, he lightly closed his eyes and let the voices of the four girls singing in harmony flow through him.
I'm just trying to live but you're all up in my grill
How's a girl to breathe with all the media starring down my mouth
With a four-inch lenz I just wanna hit the mall with some of my friends
Desert Star consisted of three girls. There was Aiko, aged 17, Tori, aged 18 and Naho, aged 19. Unlike other groups out there, Desert Star did not have a "leader", a member that stood out above the rest-like Justin Timberlake from NSYNC, Diana Ross from The Supremes, Beyoncé from Destiny's Child and Nicole Scherzinger from the Pussy Cat Dolls. Desert Star refused to be played that way. Each girl was as equal as the next. In a way, it reminded him of Bananarama, an all girl group from the eighties, and he liked that. The girls sang in perfect harmony. Their voices blended seamlessly as the remake of "About Us" filled the studio.
Picture yourself up in my shoes
Top story in the news
Everyday it's…
Shuichi was jerked out of his semi-meditative state by the sudden vibration against his leg. With a startled gasp, he flew up and fumbled with his cellphone in the front pocket of his oversized hoodie. Flipping it open, he pressed the green send button and brought it to his ear. "Hello," he whispered breathy into the phone. He reached for the mouse and stopped the playback. Blissful silence filled the studio.
"Hey, Shu," came the familiar voice over the line.
"Hey Hiro" he cried, feeling elated at the sound of his best friends voice. "What's up?"
"Nothing. Just thought I'd check in and see how you're doing."
With a huge smile plastered on his face, Shuichi sat back and swiveled around to gaze at the various awards, honors and the Gold and Platinum album and single plaques Bad Luck had received throughout their illustrious career that were hanging on the wall around the studio.
"You mean aside from being pregnant with triplets?"
Hiro chuckled. "Something like that."
Shuichi rubbed his belly. "Well, other than having gained about fifteen pounds and outgrowing all my clothes, having severe nausea and morning sickness, dizzy spells, insomnia, mood swings, acne, which I've never had before," he added, "freckles just suddenly appearing from out of nowhere, my hair changing color, my chest-"
"I get it," Hiro interrupted quickly.
Shuichi blushed. He hadn't meant to go off like that.
"Actually," Hiro was saying, "I was wondering if you heard from Sakuma-san?"
Shuichi frowned, drawing a blank.
"He was supposed to drop of the tracks-?"
"Oh, yeah! Yeah, he stopped by the other day," Shuichi answered with a nod. "I was just listening to them."
"What you think?" Hiro prodded when Shuichi said nothing more than that.
Shuichi shrugged. Spinning back around, he stared at the computer screen. "It's pretty good."
"Yeah. They have promise."
"Seguchi-san wouldn't have signed then otherwise."
"So…?"
"It could use a little tweaking." Shuichi could almost hear Hiro deflate. "I'll be sure to send you my suggestions."
Hiro sighed heavily over the line.
Grinning, Shuichi crossed his free arm over his belly. He knew exactly what his long time friend wanted to hear, but decided to play with him a little more. "So, how's everything with you?" he asked, deliberately changing the subject.
"Fine."
That did not sound very convincing. Shuichi frowned, his smile vanishing like a ship into the night. "What's wrong?" he demanded to know. He dropped his arm and sitting forward as much as he could, resting his elbow on his knee.
There was another sigh. "Kaze-kun came home the other day from visiting his mother."
Since Ayaka-san had decided to move back in with her parents after she and Hiro divorced, the boys were able to see their friend whenever he came up to visit his mother.
"And apparently she's getting married."
Shuichi sat in stunned silence. "I didn't know she was seeing anyone."
"Yeah," Hiro agreed. "Apparently he's someone her folks set her up with."
Shuichi cocked an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yep."
"Wow."
"They seem to have hit it off."
Shuichi was not too sure about going on a blind date with someone his parents set him up with.
"Kaze-kun said he's a lawyer."
Shuichi raised an eyebrow at that. "A lawyer? Fan-cy."
Hiro snorted. "Yeah and get this."
"Huh?"
"It seems that Mr. Lawyer is also a monk."
"Of course." Knowing the Usamis, it was not very surprising. They hadn't approved of their little girl's involvement with the lead guitarist from Bad Luck and besides, they had originally arranged for her to marry Eiri, who happens to be a Buddhist monk.
"Apparently his family used to run a temple."
"'Used to'?"
"Yeah, it became severally run down after his grandfather got sick and was forced to shut it down."
"What happened to his parents? Why didn't they take care of the temple?"
"Don't know."
"Huh." Shuichi shrugged it off. "How long have they being dating?"
"Just a few months."
Shuichi was aghast. "And they're already engaged?"
"Seems like Ayaka's parents are really pushing this."
"Wow," Shuichi breathed. "I guess so." He really had no right to judge them. He and Eiri had not known each other that long when they moved in together.
As his butt was beginning to get numb and his legs were starting to get restless, he pushed out the chair with an exaggerated grunt.
"Are you okay with that?" he asked his friend gently. He knew that despite what had happened between the pair, Hiro still harbored some feelings for his ex-wife.
Silence.
"Hiro?"
More silence.
"You were together a long time. I mean just because you had your problems and you fell in love with Fujisaki, doesn't mean that-"
"'Were' together, Shu," Hiro corrected him softly. "It ended a long time ago." His voice sounded thick and did not sound like his own. "Even if things had been different between Ayaka and me…even if being thrown into the spotlight like she had had not been such a burden on her and to our relationship…things just…they would not have…ended any differently."
"…Because of Fujisaki?" Shuichi asked softly.
Again, more silence.
"Hir-"
"It doesn't matter anymore, Shuichi. It's all in the past. What's done is done."
His friend sounded tired.
"Anyway," Hiro continued, changing the subject. "I still can't believe you're having triplets," he exclaimed, his mood doing a complete one-eighty.
Shuichi snorted. His free hand fluttered to his little bump. A smile softened his face. "You can't believe it? How'd you think I felt when Dr. Watabe did the initial ultrasound and let us listen to the baby's heartbeat four weeks ago only to discover that we had two little stowaway's that had not been on the manifest?"
"I can't even imagine."
Shuichi scratched his head. "I mean, we had our suspicions."
"Yeah."
"I mean my clothes suddenly did not fit when I was only six weeks along, right? My morning sickness and being so exhausted all the time was just like it was when I was pregnant with Keitaro and Kane, but still…"
"You'd never guess you'd have multiple multiple pregnancies."
"Right!"
"Didn't you say Yuki-san fainted when the doctor told you guys?"
Shuichi chuckled. "Yep." He still teased his husband about that.
"Tell me you know what you're having." It sounded like he was pleading.
Shuichi sighed heavily. "Unfortunately not."
"How far along are you now?"
"About nineteen weeks."
"Shouldn't you have some idea by now?"
Shuichi sighed. "Normally, but Dr. Watabe couldn't determine their sex on our last couple of visits."
"Why not?"
"Well, every time he tried, they just…well, they're deliberately trying to keep us in the dark. I swear to God."
Hiro snickered. "Sounds like they take after their daddy."
Shuichi giggled. "That's what I said! Dr. Watabe believes they may be boys, but he's not sure."
"Hm. Do you know if they're identical? I mean, can they tell?"
"Oh, yeah. Sure, they can. They can do an ultrasound to see whether there are one or two placentas. If there's one placenta, they're identical. If there're two placentas, they could either be fraternal or identical."
"Do you know whether they're identical or fraternal?"
Shuichi scratched his head. "Well, two of them are definitely identical, but we're not sure about the third one. Oh! Did I tell you that Dr. Watabe was surprised to hear from me again?"
"Yeah," Hiro chuckled. "I'd imagine so. You don't have any suspicions?" he asked. "I know that Yuki-san wants a girl?"
"It'd be nice to have a girl."
"You know she's going to be spoiled, don't you? If you do have a girl."
"Yeah, I know." Shuichi knew his best friend long enough to know when the man was fishing, but he honestly had no idea what the genders of the babies were. He'd read this prediction chart on the internet the other week that used the month of conception and the age of the mother to predict whether it was going to be a boy or a girl. The chart told him he was going to have a boy. "You know I told Eiri that this was it."
"Yeah?"
"No more after this. Girl or no girl."
"What he say?" Hiro asked with amusement.
Shuichi scratched his head. "He didn't really say anything. Just grunted."
Hiro chuckled.
"I said that if he did get me pregnant again-"
Hiro snorted to that. Knowing those two, it was a distinct possibility.
"-we'd have to move into a bigger house, or build an addition or something."
Hiro laughed.
Shuichi giggled.
"Oh! Speaking of which, didn't you take the boys to New York a few weeks ago?"
"Oh, yeah!"
"How was it?"
"Oh my God, Hiro. The boys absolutely love Halloween!"
"That's good. I'd like to take Kaze-kun sometime. I think he might enjoy it."
"Oo! Oo! You can come with us next year!"
"I'd have to talk with Ayaka and Kazehaya and Fujisaki, but that's not such a bad idea."
"Cool! By then Kira should be old enough to participate." He giggled. "We dressed him up as a little devil. He was sooo cute!"
Hiro nearly chocked. "A devil?"
Shuichi giggled. "He had on this red velvet bodysuit with black wings and horns (1). Oh, Hiro! You should've seen him! He was so adorable!"
"Whose idea was that?" Hiro asked, chuckling.
"Uhm." Shuichi scratched his head. "Not sure."
"What about Kane and Keitaro?"
"Keitaro was a Reaper Gauze Child and Kane–"
"He was what?" Hiro asked in confusion.
"A reaper gauze child," Shuichi repeated slowly. "He was dressed up in this black hooded robe with a rope tied around his waist, and he had this gauze tatter over-robe that looked like cobwebs. We made him up with white face paint and long black nails and these black Goth boots…!" (2) He shuddered. "He looked kinda creepy."
Hiro chuckled softly. "What about Kane?"
"Kane was Dr. Darkness. He had on a black robe and hood with cowl neckline. His face was painted white and his eyes were all black." (3)
"Dr. Darkness, huh?"
"Yeah. He couldn't decide what to be so he had Eiri chose a costume for him."
"And Yuki-san chose Dr. Darkness?"
"Yep." Shuichi's feet were beginning to ache from standing so he walked across the room to the sofa and sunk down gratefully onto it. "He couldn't decide between Harry Potter and a Buddhist monk."
"A monk?"
"Yeah."
Hiro did not know what to say to that. "Has he shown any interest in that?"
Shuichi switched the phone to the other ear. "Sorta. He's been asking questions ever since he found out that Daddy's a monk just like Grandpa."
"Cool. I guess."
"Mm."
"So, did you dress up?" he teased.
Shuichi blushed hotly. "Eiri wanted me to put on a straight jacket."
Hiro toss his head back and laughed hard. "Did you?"
"Of course not!"
"Then what did you dress as?"
Shuichi face flamed in embarrassment.
"Shu?"
The singer mumbled something behind a convenient cough.
"What?"
"I was…Frank N. Furter (4)," Shuichi repeated himself, his embarrassment growing. He wished he had not said anything. "Ya know, from-"
"Rocky Horror Picture Show," Hiro finished. "Yeah. It's my brother's favorite movie."
Shuichi was so embarrassed he could die.
"You didn't, ya know, in public?"
"Of course not!" Shuichi snapped. "After-the boys went to bed," he mumbled.
"…What about Yuki-san?"
"He wasn't going to dress up, but then the boys ganged up on him and talked him into it so he decided to dress as a Victorian vampire, but then he changed his mind because he just couldn't be bothered with something so tedious so he dressed in all black, ya know, black slacks, black shirt, this long black trench coat and his sunglasses and claimed he was Neo."
"From the Matrix?"
"Yeah."
"So, basically, he didn't bother dressing up," Hiro assumed.
With a sigh, Shuichi slouched down on the couch, practically sinking into the overstuffed cushions and rested his head against the back. He closed his suddenly aching eyes. "Pretty much." A yawned seized him, making his eyes water.
"Tired?" Hiro asked him softly.
"Hm, getting there," Shuichi mumbled.
"Did you see Riku while you were over there?"
"Yeah," Shuichi said, suddenly feeling drained. "He was with us the entire time we were over there."
"Did he dress up?"
"Eiri said he was getting too old to go trick or treating."
"But did he dress up?"
"Oh yeah. He was all Goth."
Hiro chuckled. "What did he say about Mama being pregnant again?"
Shuichi chuckled. "He was like, 'Again?'!"
Hiro laughed at the perfect imitation of his friend's adopted son.
"But he seems okay with it. A little weirded out, but otherwise he was ecstatic."
"Well, that's good."
"Yeah. He said, 'I'm not sharing my room though!'"
"Is he going to have to?" Hiro asked, chuckling.
Shuichi shook his head. "No. Besides, even if we have to do some rearranging, Riku is too old to be sharing a room."
"How old is he now?" Hiro asked curiously.
"Uhm…Oh, God! Twenty-two?"
"Twenty-two?" the guitarist repeated in shock.
"Yeah! Can you believe that? It kinda freaked me out when I remembered just how old the kid was getting." It made Shuichi feel old.
"Jeeze. He's going to school there in the States, right?"
Shuichi nodded. "Yeah. He was staying with Yoshiki, but for his birthday last year, Eiri bought him a condo."
Hiro choked. "A condo?"
Shuichi grinned at the reaction. "Yeah, so we have some place to stay when we're in New York."
"Oh. I was going to say."
Shuichi chuckled.
"He's going to NYU, right?"
"Yep. He's getting his BA in East Asian Studies with a minor in Creative writing."
"Wow."
"He's thinking of going on to get his Master's and then on to a doctorate."
"Really?" Hiro exclaimed feeling pleasantly surprised. "Is he thinking of teaching, or-?"
"Yeah, he is."
"…How does Yuki-san feel about that?" He asked carefully.
"Oh, he's proud of his son."
"Good. Well, wish him luck for me."
"He's coming home for Christmas so you can tell him then."
"Cool. Hey," Hiro said suddenly, "wasn't he supposed to come home this summer?"
"Yeah," Shuichi sighed. "Unfortunately he didn't do too well in a couple of his classes and decided to retake them over the summer. Besides, with a minor he's falling a little behind."
"Ah, okay. So when will he be graduating?"
"This spring."
"Already?"
"Uh, huh."
"Jeeze, I feel old."
Shuichi snickered.
"Oh! Before I forget, did you ever get those test results back from your biopsy?"
"Wha-?" His mind blank at the abrupt change of subject, Shuichi blinked. "Oh!" he cried in suddenly understanding. "Yeah. I got them back a while ago. I thought I told you."
"No."
"Oh, well, you know how the nerves in my leg were damaged?"
"Yeah."
"Apparently they hadn't completely regenerated. That's why my legs have been giving me so much trouble."
"Is there anything they can do?"
Shuichi heaved a sigh. He stared up at the ceiling. "Surgery."
"What will it do?"
Shuichi scratched the back of his head. "He said something about reattachment and sewing something together and something about grafting."
"What are your chances?"
"50/50."
"Hm. Are you going to do it?"
"I'm not sure. If I do decide to have the surgery, Eiri said I should wait until after the triplets are born."
"Sure. Sure."
"In the meantime the doctor told me I could try taking intramuscular B complex injections," he said slowly. He cringed and shuddered violently.
"…You're giving yourself shots," Hiro said incredibly.
"Me? Hell no! I go to the doctor's to have it done."
Hiro chuckled. "Isn't there anything else you can do? Other than the surgery and shots?"
"Acupuncture." Shuichi cringed again.
"…Acupuncture." Hiro chuckled. "You gonna do it?"
"Are you crazy?! No way in bloody hell."
Hiro continued chuckling. "Is there any alternative where you don't have to stick a needle into you?"
Shuichi dropped his head, as his face grew warm. "Actually. Yeah," he answered softly, blushing madly.
"And?"
"Massages."
"Reeally," Hiro sang slyly.
Shuichi face grew warmer.
Suddenly the studio door burst open. Startled, Shuichi gasped in fright. His head snapping up and around, he stared at the door with his heart in his mouth as his husband's blond head came around the corner. He sighed in relief. With a hand over his racing heart, he glared across the studio at Eiri. "Dammit, Eiri!" he scolded.
"Let's go."
"Already?" Shuichi asked. He glanced at the clock and was shocked to see how late it was.
"Yes, already," Eiri said.
"I gotta go Hiro."
"Alright."
"We gotta go pick up the boys from school and then I have a doctor's appointment."
"Call me if you find out the sex of the babies."
"Will do."
After exchanging goodbyes, Shuichi flipped his phone shut and slid it into the front pocket of his hoodie. With growing difficulty, he slid to the lip of the sofa and pushed himself off. Walking across the studio, he went through the process of shutting down the computer then went up his husband who had an impatient frown on his face and wrapped his arms around his husband's waist and smiled up at him.
Eiri glanced down at him indifferently. "What?"
Shuichi's smile widened. He shook his head, his eyes sparkling.
Eiri's face softened. Snorting, he bent over, planted a kiss on Shuichi's head, and swatted his bottom.
Shuichi yelped and sent him a mock death glare.
"You ready to go or what?"
"In a minute. I wanna go change my clothes and I have to go to the bathroom."
Eiri sighed heavily. "Must you?"
Shuichi rose up onto the tips of his toes and pressed his lips to his husbands. "Yep," he told him.
With a roll of his eyes, Eiri shook his head.
Giggling, Shuichi looked around the studio one last time to make sure he had everything and everything was shut down, making a mental note to come back later to give this place a thorough scrubbing.
"Let's go," he heard Eiri bark distantly.
"Coming! Coming!" Shuichi called after his retreating husband's back as he stepped out of the studio. He shut the door behind him, making sure the latch caught and then locked it. The shifting of the tumblers reassured him. Eiri had gotten on his case lately about keeping the studio locked. He shivered as the cool November wind wrapped around him. He looked up into the overcast sky as he walked across the yard towards the house. The temperature had dropped quite a bit since earlier. Then he remembered something about it snowing this evening.
As he mounted the steps of the porch, he looked around for his husband, for he had not seen him go into the house, and found him out by the front gate checking the mail. It must have come because he had a thick wad of white envelopes of various sizes in his hand. Eiri bent over and looked inside the mailbox, probably seeing if he had missed anything, Shuichi guessed. When Eiri straightened back up, Shuichi saw him pulling out a large manila envelope, uncurling like a tongue as it slid out. Shuichi frowned, his eyebrows drawn in confusion and curiosity. He glanced from the envelope to his husband's face. He saw something flash across Eiri's face, but it was gone so quickly that Shuichi had not had enough time to discern what it had been.
As if sensing that he was being watched, Eiri's head snapped up. They locked eyes. Neither said anything for several long minutes. Then Shuichi's ear perked. With much difficulty, he tore his eyes away from his husband's hypnotic golden ones and glanced through the open door and up the staircase. Kira was up. Turning around, he glanced at his husband. Eiri had a neutral expression on his face. His frown deepening, Shuichi glanced at the large yellow envelope in Eiri's hands one last time before disappearing into the house, all the time wondering what exactly was in that envelope that would cause Eiri to react like he did. Was it something that he did not want him to see?
oOo
Later that Night
The sultry voices of the teenaged trio of girls that made up the new pop band signed recently to NG Productions flowed from the small white earbud plugged into Shuichi's left ear. The other one hung loosely down his chest, swinging freely like a pendulum as he bopped his head and tapped his pen against his notebook to the beat of the song.
"I see your lips moving but I don't hear nothing/Everybody talking like they really know something about us/But they don't know nothing about us," the girls of Desert Star sang into his ear.
Blindly, he ran his thumb over the sleek white iPod nano and skipped back to the beginning of the song. As the opening music began, the pitter-patter of little feet stampeding towards him was clearly heard. Knowing it had been too good to be true; Shuichi stopped the playback and set the iPod down on the notebook next to his pen. He pulled out the earbud from his ear and gathering the cords, piled them on the notebook.
"What're you up to?" he asked his ashen-haired son as the six-year old stopped outside the baby gate.
"Nothing," the boy answered as he jumped on the press pedal that opened the gate.
They had only recently installed the baby gates throughout the house because Kira, at six months, was at the beginning stages of learning how to crawl. All he had to do was learn to stand on his hands and knees and then go forward and not backwards and then Kira would be running them all ragged. Shuichi dreaded that day, especially because when that day finally arrived, he would most likely be confined to bed.
"You finish your homework?"
"Uh, huh," came the reply as the boy raced across the room and jumped onto the couch besides his otokasan.
"Where's Kei?"
"Reading," Kane answered with a yawn.
Shuichi reached out and ruffled his son's hair, smiling sweetly. "Tired?"
Kane shook his head in denial.
The singer giggled lightly as Kane rubbed his eyes with his knuckles. Reaching out, Shuichi swept aside his drowsy son's bangs. "Why don't you ask Daddy about giving you and Kei a bath?"
"Okay," Kane obeyed as he scooted off the couch and out of the living room.
Shuichi opened his mouth to call after his son to close the gate, which both he and his twin brother tended to leave open, but decided against it seeing Kira had been put to bed half an hour ago.
Glad to have some peace and quiet once again, Shuichi got himself settled comfortably on the couch and reached for the TV remote but his hands flew to his belly instead. "Ah!" he gasped. He sat back against the cushion, breathing heavily. His wide-eyed, startled expression softened. Violet eyes sparkled joyfully. He bit back a smile, his cheeks flushed in excitement. Giggling, tears stung his eyes as he rubbed a hand over his belly. Swaying, Shuichi hummed a little tune. Hugging his unborn children, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the top of the couch.
oOo
The night airbrushed up against him, nuzzling its cold, wet nose affectionately across his face. Tipping his head back, he blew a stream of smoke into the clear, bitter night. He flicked the elongating stand of ashes over the side of the patio. Leaning up against the railing, the slight breeze fingering his dirty blond hair into his golden hazel eyes, he gazed out over the bare trees and the small studio he built for his husband at the stars glistening like tiny pricks of light in the endless night.
Behind him, he heard the two panel white French doors that led into the breakfast nook and the kitchen burst open. In the silence of the night, it sounded like an explosion. Pushing away from the railing, Eiri turned and watched his son stomp out onto the patio, the portable phone extension in his hand.
"Daddy!" Kane cried, racing towards him.
"What?" Eiri asked blandly.
"R-Riku said…!"
"Uh, huh," the writer prodded.
"He said that when he, when he comes home…?"
"Yeah."
"…he'll take Keitaro and me Christmas shopping!"
"He will huh?"
Kane nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Can he? Can he?" the boy pleaded, bouncing on his toes.
Eiri shrugged. Clamping his cigarette between his lips and reaching for the phone, he told his son, "We'll see."
"Okay!"
He heard his adopted son's chuckles over the phone.
"Can you take me a bath now?"
Eiri cocked n eyebrow at the boy's ill grammar. "Yes, I'll 'take' you a bath now."
"Ya!"
"Go on up. I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay!" Kane handed his father the phone then turned tail and vanished inside the house, stopping long enough to make sure the door was firmly shut behind him.
Eiri smiled, shaking his head in amusement. Sighing, he held the phone to his ear. "Alright. I gotta go give the brats a bath."
"Okay," his son replied from the other side of the planet. "Ugh! I've gotta go to class anyway," he grumbled.
Eiri scoffed at his son's dejected tone. There were three more weeks until the semester ended and Riku was acting like a child who did not want to go to bed.
Riku sighed heavily over the phone. "School sucks," he complained.
"There's only three weeks left, Riku."
"I know," the college student agreed, "but I got two five page papers I need to write for Monday and three seven to ten page papers due by December fifteenth…" Riku sighed again. "I wish it was over already."
It was Eiri's turn to sigh. Kids, he thought. He cannot just be proud of the fact that he was one of the first in their family to even go to college, let alone as an exchange student in New York. No, he has to bitch and moan about every little thing just like his mama.
Riku cursed silently. "I gotta go. I'm going to be late."
"Alright…hey!" Eiri called, crushing his cigarette butt in the empty coffee can.
"Yeah?"
"Make sure you call Shuichi."
"I will," Riku sighed.
Eiri could picture him rolling his eyes. "And you better look into-"
"I know," Riku interrupted impatiently. "I know."
"Riku," Eiri warned
"I am! There's a couple I'm looking into."
"Well, you better hurry and decide. The longer you procrastinate-"
"I know! Jeeze!"
"Riku, I'm just saying-"
"I'll book a flight to Osaka this weekend and email you the flight details, okay?"
Seeing as Nara was situated almost equidistant between Osaka and Kyoto, it really did not matter whether Riku's flight took him to Kansai International Airport in Osaka or to Kyoto. As long as he made it home for Christmas and New Years, that was all Eiri asked.
"Good. Make sure you do. The boys and Shuichi really miss you."
"Awe," Riku cooed.
"And I," Eiri smirked, "can use your help around the house now that the brat's pregnant." His smile widened when he heard Riku grumble. He chuckled lightly.
"Oh! Speaking of which…!"
"Hm?"
"Do you know yet?" Riku asked eagerly.
Eiri dropped his brow in confusion. "Know what?"
"The gender!"
"What gender?"
Riku sighed in disgust. "The babies! Do you know what gender the babies are?"
"Oh!" Eiri's eyes sparkled
"Mama said two of them were definitely identical?"
"Yep."
"And! And!" Riku was at the edge of his seat.
Eiri smirked, letting the silence linger.
Riku groaned impatiently.
His son inherited this trait from Shuichi. Eiri was glad that their son had at least inherited his brains.
Eiri chuckled lightly under his breath. He was having so much fun teasing Riku, just because he made it so easy.
The writer heard his eldest son growl irately. "Da~ad!" the college student whined.
"Wha~at?" Eiri mocked.
"Are they boys? Or girls?" Riku repeated.
"Yep," the romance author smirked.
"…Uh…what?" came the confused reply.
Suddenly slicing through the stillness of the night came a muffled yell from the house. Holding the phone away from his mouth, he glanced over his shoulder at the house.
"What was that?" his son asked.
"Kane," Eiri answered.
Moments later, the back door opened and Shuichi poked his head out into the chilly night air. He shivered violently in reaction. "Hey! Da~ddy," Shuichi called.
"What?"
"The boys are waiting for you to give them a bath."
"Huh?" He blinked stupidly. "Oh, yeah." He had nearly forgotten. "I'll be in in a sec."
"Okay," Shuichi replied. He disappeared back into the house, firmly closing the back door behind him.
Eiri lifted the phone back to his ear and turned to stare out over the back yard. Movement in the shadows caught his attention and raised his suspicion. "Hold on a sec, Riku," he told the boy in distraction.
"Sure."
Dropping his arm to his side, he stepped towards the stairs that led out into the yard and stared fixedly at the far end of the yard, but he could not make out anything in the near black void beyond the studio. Squinting, he tried to penetrate the seemingly endless abyss. He took another step forward, allowing his eyes to adjust to the lightless expanse. He started, swallowing a yelp, when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye within the shadows. Someone was out there. A thought entered his mind. Could it be…?
He brought the phone up and without taking his eyes from the shadow filled corner where he had seen movement not a second before, told his son he had to go-that something came up-and that he would call him back later. Without waiting for or hearing Riku's reply, if he made any, Eiri ended the long distance phone call and walked across the back lawn with the phone gripped tightly in his hand. He was not sure what he expected to find or what good the phone could be if he happened upon the intruder, but he continued onward anyway, determined to put an end to this nonsense once and for all.
oOo
New York City
In the moderately sized condominium not far from NYU that his parents paid for and furnished, Riku stared down at the phone in his hand in bewilderment. What had that been about?
Shaking his head, he thumbed the phone off and set the extension in the cradle on the counter. Reaching for his mug, he took a sip of the coffee he'd poured half an hour ago and grimaced. Cold. Hopping off the stool, he carried the mug to the sink. Pouring the brown liquid down the drain, he turned the faucet on and washed the mug in the warm water then set it upside down on the dish rack to dry. Grabbing the dishrag lying neatly besides the sink, he dried his hands as his eyes roamed about the condominium. Refolding the towel, he tossed it lightly back onto the counter and exited the kitchen into the living room, pushing the stool under the counter on his way.
Rounding the coffee table, he reached for the remote. His brow burrowed in thought.
"Are they boys? Or girls?" Riku repeated impatiently.
"Yep," the romance author smirked.
If the triplets Mama was carrying were both boys and girls-as his father had so graciously confirmed-then it looked as if his father was going to have the daughter he always wanted or daughters if it turned out the twins were the girls.
Chuckling, Riku sat down on the sofa, remote in hand, thinking about how strange it was for him, a senior in college, to have six-year-old twin brothers, a six-month-old brother and three more siblings on the way. He was old enough to be their father.
God forbid.
Now that was a scary thought: him with kids. He was pretty sure that Shuichi would not mind becoming a grandfather, but Riku was positive Eiri would kill him. While he would like to get married and have children of his own some day, that day was not in his immediate future. After he graduates in May with his BA in East Asian Studies and a minor in Creative Writing, he planned on going to graduate school to get his Master's degree and then possibly go on to earn his Doctorate. Marriage and having a family just did not fit into any of that. Then again, things happen. You never know just what the future may bring.
With his thumb on the red power button, Riku pointed the remote at the television. Out of habit, he sought out the clock sitting on the corner bookcase. He blinked stupidly at the red numbers glaring back at him, unable to comprehend what he was looking at. As the numbers changed, Riku blinked long and slow.
"8 o'clock," he read aloud in an even tone. He gasped loudly in panic, his eyes going wide. "Fuck!" he cursed soundly. Riku tossed the remote control aside. "I'm gonna be late!" Scrambling off the couch, he raced across to the front door, swiping his bag off the floor by the island counter on the way. Swinging the door wide, the college student vanished out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.
The studio was left in empty silence.
Moments later, the door burst open and a panting Riku stepped inside. His spiky hair was mussed, his face flushed and his clothing askew. Setting his book bag down on the floor, he grabbed his sneakers that were sitting neatly besides the door along the wall and as he tried to stuff his feet into them without untying the laces, he grabbed his bag and rushed out, shutting the door behind him, the whole time muttering angrily to himself.
oOo
Shindou-Uesugi Residence - Nara, Japan
With the phone held lightly but securely in his hand, Eiri stepped onto the patio. He rested his free hand on the newel and glanced over his shoulder. The backyard was still, but most of all it was empty. The writer's golden eyes scanned the shadow-strewn yard trying to scrutinize the darkness. He was not sure what he had expected to find, but after a quick search of the backyard turned up nothing, he was not as relieved as he knew he should be. Maybe he was being paranoid. On the other hand, maybe he was just being cautious. What he did know was that after receiving surveillance photos anonymously in the mail of his family for the past three months, he was not going to be able to rest easy until the culprit behind these incidents was caught. With a frown, he looked over the yard one last time before crossing the patio to the back door.
He grabbed the polished brass door handle and swung open the door, but then an uneasy feeling came over him. He glanced out into the backyard suddenly feeling as if he were being watched. Though he could see nothing in the darkness the night created, he could feel eyes on him from somewhere out there.
He had to remember to talk to Seguchi in the morning about having motion sensor lights installed. They already had security cameras stationed around the house and grounds and had one of the best security systems, but the addition of the lights would be an added benefit, especially after what he received in the mail this afternoon. It was also probably why he was so jumpy. Unfortunately, there was not much more he could do tonight. All he could do was wait and see what tomorrow brings. Frustrated and annoyed, Eiri gave the yard one final glance before stepping into the house and shutting the door firmly behind him.
oOo
A figure appeared from out of the shadows at the far corner of the yard. A face hidden within the veiled confined of a hoodie lifted and turned to glance at the darkened house. Hardened eyes flashed. A low snarl emanated from within the shadows. Taking a step backwards, the figure melted into the shadows.
…To Be Continued…
1. Kira's costume: /pint-size-devil-infant-costume/34501
2. Reaper Gauze Child: buy /reaper-gauze-child-costume/11495
3. Dr. Darkness: Halloween
4. Frank N. Furter: buy /frank-furter-adult-costume
Preview: "Suspicions, A Tragedy & Puzzles"