Since there were a couple positive reviews and people seem to be reading the first chapter, I've added another short piece. Please leave some feedback by way of reviews, even if it's just a one-liner to let me know you've read it and don't hate it! Encouragement is a lovely thing.

Eiri sat as still as a statue after Shuichi had let him go and run off to the security screening area. If he had wanted a sign from on high, this would have been more obvious than any person could have hoped for... Who would have guessed the kid had it in him to travel half way across the world just to come after him? Eiri smirked to himself. He would have guessed it, actually. Shuichi followed his heart with the determination of a psychotic stalker. That was just the way that he was. Tonight, Eiri was thankful for it. It had broken him out of his numb pit of despair, reminded him that there was more in the world than the crap that he was dwelling on in his life.

"Yuki-sama… Is everything all right?"

He looked up toward the plaintive little voice of one of the airline employee who had come over to him. Seeing him slumped forward there in two-day old clothing and unkempt hair must have been quite the sight for someone who had been used to seeing him on TV looking his best.

"Everything's fine. More than fine, really. Thank you." He forced his best on-camera smile, "Excuse me." He got up and wandered back out into the cold night to catch a new cab back into midtown.

At his hotel he showered and then stood looking at the pill bottle in his hand for a while… then tipped it and watched it empty into the toilet.

"Good bye… It'll suck without you for the next few days, but I think it'll suck more with you in the long run… Time to get on with it. Right, kid? Let's not make that little speech you gave him about facing the past so you can have a future be just a bunch of crap."

He stared at himself in the mirror for a while before realizing again how tired he was, dragging off to the bed to sleep for a good solid 12 hours. Then it was up and out, showered again, freshly dressed and with a business card in his hand to stare at during breakfast in the hotel.

He sighed and pocketed the card to start reading the paper, wondering if this was all useless in the end… but then… it was worth a shot and this doctor had come highly recommended from a number of sources.

He could feel the medication wearing off rather quickly, was sure that was part of the reason for his mounting sense of depression and uncertainty… but at the same time there was a feeling of clarity that came along with it.

"How much is really me being clear versus the medication getting out of my system? Who knows…"

"Sir?" The waitress wondered if he was talking to her.

"Sorry. Just talking to myself." He offered up another camera-ready smile, "If you don't mind." He pushed his empty coffee cup toward her.

"Not at all." She filled it up and went on her way… just as his cell phone chimed. Shuichi was apparently home again in Tokyo. For a moment he stared at the phone where it lay blinking on the white linen and then shook his head, grabbing it.

"Hello?"

"Yuki… I'm home safe." Yawn…

He found himself smiling at the sound of his tired voice, "I'm glad… You sound like you owe me a plane ticket."

"I slept, just not quite soundly enough. It was comfortable actually. Thank you."

"Welcome…Get some sleep."

"Okay… I love you."

"Yeah, same… Good luck tomorrow."

"Thanks… Night."

"Night." The connection ended and he set the phone back down on the table to stare at it again, "Ah, hell… Time to go take my life back." He folded the paper and headed back to his room. In the process of pulling on his coat to go out, he realized that his scarf was now thousands of miles away with Shuichi. The thought of it made him smile for a moment as he made his way outward into the snow.