"No one believes me anymore," Shuichi murmured.
"No one believes you?" Eiri echoed, raising an eyebrow at Shuichi's quiet confession. "What are they not believing?"
"That it's truly over between you and me," Shuichi said, letting out a sigh. "Every time I have an off day, it gets blamed on you and it's driving me nuts. Everyone keeps telling me to get over whatever's happened between you and me, and to move on. They're tired of our fights affecting my work, and they don't believe me when I say I haven't spoken to you. It's like I'm talking to a couple of brick walls."
Eiri had to refrain from making a biting remark about Shuichi's dilemma with his band mates. He didn't really give a damn if anyone believed things were over between he and Shuichi or not. Their opinions didn't matter all that much to the novelist anyway, and he also felt that, if they chose to ignore the telltale signs – Shuichi no longer lived with Eiri and hadn't for several months. Last Eiri had heard, Shuichi now lived with Tohma, Eiri's former brother-in-law – then it only showed just how truly idiotic they were.
However, Shuichi was not Eiri. A biting, scathing comment could reduce the singer to a fountain of tears. Shuichi needed approval, validation for everything he did and from those closest to him. Eiri understood that as did Hiro, Shuichi's best friend.
Or were they now? Eiri couldn't really say. It had been five weeks since he and Shuichi had last spoken to each other, and Eiri found he didn't know about his former lover as much as he used to know. It wasn't unusual, really, but they'd kept in contact better than what they probably should have. Their last few months together had not been pretty.
"The only one who really believes me is Tohma."
"Naturally," Eiri said, trying to control his emotions. "You're living with him, aren't you?"
"Yeah . . . We are, and I think that's the only thing that helps anymore." Shuichi let out a sigh. "He's the one who insisted I go talk to someone about what's been going on. Or at least take a break and get my bearings back. He knows about my apartment . . . like you do."