Mizu: Yay! I finally had enough time to get this chapter typed up. My head has been filled with so many different ideas for this story that I thought I was going to go insane. Oh! And I did use a scene from Gravitation EX in this chapter. I absolutely love that one so I couldn't help myself. It fit so perfectly with this story. Anyways, disclaimer time. I don't own Gravitation or Junjo Romantica. If I did then both series might have at some time met up with each other.
Just Coincidence?
Chapter four: Never Healed.
"Morning!" Shuichi exclaimed as he bounded down the stairs towards the kitchen.
"Oh, good morning, Shuichi!" Misaki greeted, working on breakfast.
"You're cooking? This early in the morning?" Shuichi asked as he leaned on the counter.
"Yep. It's how I pay for my keep around here," Misaki stated, "Is there anything in particular that you want?"
"Not really. I'll just have some toast," Shuichi said as he stretched, "It's the only thing that Yuki ever let me make seeing to the fact that I nearly burnt down the kitchen last time he let me try to cook."
"Really? Usagi-san can't cook either," Misaki laughed, "Maybe it runs in the family?"
"…Maybe," Shuichi whispered, slowly walking up to the fridge.
"Huh? Something wrong?" Misaki questioned.
"N-No…Just a lot on my mind," Shuichi sighed, "Hiro probably be really upset at me for how I'm thinking right now."
"Why's that?" Misaki asked.
"I can't get Kiyomi out of my head," Shuichi admitted.
"Wh-What?" Misaki gasped, nearly dropping an egg onto the floor.
"Yeah. She sure was something special…" Shuichi said, opening on of the cupboards, "Hey, which cups are your heat resistant ones? I'm going to make some hot cocoa."
"T-top left," Misaki stuttered.
'Crap. What should I do? Shuichi's still really upset about Yuki-san. Now he's focusing on Kiyomi,' Misaki thought to himself, 'I need to do something to cheer him up.'
"I hope you don't mind me using your stuff while I'm here, Misaki-kun," Shuichi smiled.
"I-It's no problem," Misaki muttered, "Hey, Shuichi?"
"Yeah?" Shuichi questioned as he worked on making the cocoa.
"When do you get off of work?" Misaki asked, taking the prepared plates out to the table.
"Hm…about four this afternoon," Shuichi said, "Why?"
"I-I was wondering if you would like to hang out with me," Misaki stated, hiding his face from the singer's view, "I had to go shopping anyways so I thought that we could hang out. I…I'd really like to get to know you better."
"Really?" Shuichi asked, stunned at what the slightly younger man was saying.
"Yeah. After all, you're one of Usagi-san's relatives. Even more than that, you're the lead singer of Bad Luck, my favorite group ever," Misaki explained, "So what do you say?"
"Of course! I'd love to hang with you!" Shuichi shouted out, flinging himself around Misaki's shoulders, "Oh! And if you want, you can come to NG after you finish work today to wait for me! I'll try to get K to let me out early, too!"
"What about letting you out early?" K's voice questioned.
"Hm? AH!" Shuichi screamed, trying to flee from the psychotic American, "Wh-When'd you get here, K?"
"How'd you even get in?" Misaki questioned, noticing that the door was still close.
"Eh…you probably don't want to know," Shuichi and K stated.
"I'm here to make sure you get to work on time today, Shu~!" K half sang, stuffing his favorite magnum into the boy's mouth, "So let's get going~!"
Shuichi just nodded and let his manager drag him out the door, slowly waving bye to Misaki.
"What. The. Hell just happened?" Misaki shouted, "Please don't tell me that my life is going to become even more insane now! Why is everyone in Usagi-san's family so insane?"
"Do you know what it means to be blind! Do you have any idea of what it's be like to live the rest of your life in darkness?" Shuichi shouted, flailing his arm and pointing his finger dramatically at Eiri as tears still streamed down his face.
"He already knew what that was like…" Yuki muttered to himself.
Yuki sighed, slowly rubbing his face. No matter what he did, he couldn't get those words of Shuichi's out of his head. Or how his breathing and sound of his voice sounded in his ears as he tried to make his way up to Ryuichi to tell him off.
"Yuki…" Shuichi whimpered as Eiri crashed down to earth for the nth time.
Yuki could hear his shallow breathes behind him. The kid was honestly completely shocked and scared of what he was doing. It didn't make any sense to him. Wasn't this what the brat had always wanted him to do? To stand up to the world and say that he was his and his alone?
'Maybe he remember something from when he was with that Kiyomi girl," Yuki thought.
Sighing yet again, Yuki stared at his blank Word page. He had yet to write a single word. It was that damn Shuichi. His voice from that day kept coming back to float around his head the second he tried to think of anything but him.
"You are very hurt," Shuichi stated as he grabbed his lover's wrist, "It hurts, right?"
'He sounds so relieved and happy but also so worried and…afraid,' Yuki thought to himself.
"It's nothing," the blind writer scoffed, internally worried about the mindset of his lover.
"What was that brat really thinking that day?" Yuki wondered to himself, "I've never heard him so afraid for my sake before that day…Or could it be the memory of that girl? The one that killed herself cause he went…blind…"
Yuki slowly shook his head and chuckled miserably, "Why am I such a damn ass to the brat? I never once took time to think of what he thought about me being blind, did I? Heck, didn't I even tell him that I didn't care if he was killed just because I didn't want to go to that damn hospital?"
Getting up from his desk, Yuki slowly made his way into the living room. When he reached the couch, he really still expected Shuichi to be there, sprawled out under his flimsy sheets in his tight short-shorts and tanks tops. Sighing for the nth time that day, Yuki plopped down onto his couch.
"So the brat really wasn't gay before he met me. He and Hiro must have made up that story of them fooling around in high school too," Yuki thought out loud, mind slowly drifting to Maeda Kiyomi, "He loved her and she died. He had to see her lifeless body and try to learn how to live without her. He blames himself for her death even though he didn't even hang her…
"We're the same," Yuki whimpered, "He always tried to help me through my pain that Kitazawa left me, even though it's been well over nine years since he's died. What about him? If he truly loved her, why was he so enthralled with me? Wasn't he in pain? Did she actually mean nothing to him? Or was it that he just wanted someone to hold him when he was in pain? But if that was it…why did he pick me?"
Grunting in confusion, Yuki lied back on the couch, "This just doesn't make any sense. There is no way that the brat was over her when he came to me. So why is it that he seems so much further along in progress than I am?"
A sudden loud sound of ringing finally shook Yuki out of his thoughts. Quickly getting up and crossing the room, Yuki answered it, knowing who it was before he even hit talk.
"Hey Tohma," Yuki sighed, almost grateful that his brother-in-law called.
"Huh? Eiri? Are you ok? You don't ever pick it up so quickly or even address me first," Tohma's voice sounded from the other side of phones.
"Can you do me a favor?" Yuki asked, biting his lip.
"Anytime, you know that," Tohma chuckled, "What do you need, Eiri?"
"The brat ran away from me yesterday and…" Yuki started to say, instantly realizing he shouldn't have.
"He what?" Tohma screeched, slamming the phone down onto the receiver.
"…crap," Yuki cursed, "I need a smoke…"
"Seguchi-san is probably really mad at me, right?" Shuichi asked his manager as he was tossed into the recording booth with his band mates.
"I haven't told him yet nor do I plan to," K sighed.
"good…" Shuichi muttered, trying to fight off his urge to just curl up into a ball.
"What's up, Shu?" Hiro questioned, staring at his normally hyper friend, "Did Mr. Novelist do something mean again?"
Shuichi just shook his head.
"Then what? I haven't seen you this depressed in years," Hiro pointed out, tuning his guitar.
"It's…Kiyomi," Shuichi whimpered, staring off into space.
"Wh-what?" Hiro gasped, nearly dropping his prized instrument, "Wh-why? F-for how long!"
"For awhile…" Shuichi shrugged, "Whenever shit happens, my mind likes to focus on depressing stuff."
"Shuichi," Hiro whispered, "Is it because you're with Yuki?"
"Shindou!" Tohma's voice screeched from the doorway.
"Seguchi-san!" the three band mates shouted in response.
"Why did you run away from Eiri yesterday? I just got off the phone with him and he sounded horrid! What did you do to him!" Tohma demanded, trying to force Shuichi to look him in the eyes.
"S-Seguchi-san," Hiro whispered, "Now's not the best time. Shuichi's going through a lot right now so can you please leave him alone?"
"Answer me, Shindo!" Tohma ordered.
"My fault…" Shuichi whimpered, "Everything's always my fault. No matter what I do, the people I love get hurt."
"Damn it," Hiro cursed, prying his best friend from their boss's grasp, pulling him into a tight hug, "Stop lying to yourself, Shu. You know that's not true. "
"It is," Shuichi mumbled.
"What is?" Surugu finally asked, curious as to why the normally perky boy was suddenly so solemn.
"It's because I'm with Yuki," Shuichi sighed, turning to Tohma, "You'll be happy to know that I'm not living with Yuki anymore. I'll send someone over to pick up my stuff. Then he can go on with his life and I can go on with mine."
With that, the pink haired male slowly made his way up to the microphone, "Now that that's been settled, would you be kind enough to leave?"
Startled by everything the pop-star had said, Tohma slowly left the band alone.
'Damn it,' Hiro cursed in his mind as their boss left, 'He's putting that old mask back on…'
"K-san, what's wrong with Shindou-kun?" Tohma asked as he and the crazy american watched the band through the window, "There should be no way that he'd actually give up on Eiri now after all these years. So what's going on?"
"Mr. Yuki forgot the one day that's would have made Shuichi's year," K sighed.
"What was it? His birthday?" Tohma questioned.
"No. Their anniversary," K stated, "First anniversary to be exact."
"He did?" Tohma sighed, "But that shouldn't be anything new to Shindou-kun. Eiri's forgotten a lot of dates with the boy. Yeah, I can understand getting a little upset but running away and throwing away their relationship? Isn't that extreme even for Shindou-kun?"
"Not really," K said, slowly sitting down, "Last night, Ryuichi and I decided to try and find the kid. He had ran away to his cousin that none of us knew he had. There, Ryuichi and I learned some interesting facts about Shuichi. Facts that I would never have thought to be possible coming from that kid."
"Impossible for Shindou-kun?" Tohma repeated, sitting across from the manager.
K just nodded, rubbing his face slowly, "I actually didn't want to believe half the shit his cousin told me. Especially when he told me why I could never find any background information on Shuichi."
"Why is that? I've tried to do it before but I only get to his last year of high school. Before that, it's all blank," Tohma stated.
"That's because Shindou Shuichi has only been alive for roughly four years," K said.
"…What?" Tohma gaped, not sure what the blonde man was saying.
"Do you want to know who his cousin is?" K asked, standing up to walk over to the window.
"S-Sure," Tohma stuttered.
"Usami Akihiko," K said, staring down at the street.
"U-Usami?" Tohma gasped.
"Yeah. I was shocked too," K chuckled, "But I just thought that someone in Shuichi's family married someone in Usami's. That, however, is not the chase."
"It's not?" Tohma asked.
"Nope," K said, turning back to reveal his slight smirk, "The kid used to be an Usami himself. He changed it to his mother's new husband after something happened to change his life."
Tohma felt his legs give out underneath him as he fell back onto the couch. The kid was an Usami? Then why did he put up with all the things that Tohma had done to him? Heck, if he had even flashed his name in front of Tohma, that would have been enough power to stop most of the shit that he had done. The Usami family was defiantly not the family to mess with.
"S-So what happened?" Tohma questioned.
"His fiancé committed suicide," K sighed, "The kid took it pretty hard and then his relationship with his dad just got worse and worse. So finally the kid decided to run away from most of the family that basically screwed him over. Dyed all his hair that outrageous color; Tracked down his real mother and her new husband, taking the man's name once he found them; Cutting almost ever single tie he's ever had with the Usami family except Akihiko."
"F-Fiancé?" Tohma gaped.
"It's not that hard to see. Almost every single Usami kid is placed together with some other kid at some point in their life by choice of their parents," K sighed, running his hand through his hair, "But the thing was that he actually loved that girl."
"G-Girl? So Shindou-kun wasn't always gay?" Tohma thought out loud.
"Who knows?" K questioned, looking back at the band through the window, "He sure is trying not to show how much pain he's going through right now. I guess I can't really push him so far anymore."
"What do you mean?" Tohma questioned.
"There was something else that his cousin told me," K stated, rubbing his neck, "Shuichi was in a car accident long ago and really shouldn't be alive today."
"Wha…" Tohma gaped as his eye widened.
"Apparently, before the accident his voice was almost identical to Ryuichi's," K said, "But the accident damaged his windpipes pretty badly. He lost maybe half of the power he used to have. But that's not the worst of it."
"I-It's not?" Tohma exclaimed, "What could be worse than that?"
"The brat never let his throat fully heal," K growled, glaring at the head of pink hair, "So at any moment he could crumble from a searing pain that could run through his throat and probably never see ever again."
As if on cue, Shuichi stopped singing and rubbed his throat slowly. He tried to hide a slightly pained expression but it was no use. Everyone but Surugu had seen it.
"Shuichi," K stated as he pressed the intercom button, "Take a break. I don't need you losing your voice again."
"I'm fine, K-san!" Shuichi beamed, pasting a smile back on his face, "My throats a little dry is all."
"I don't care, Shindou-kun," Tohma added, "Go take a break."
"Y-Yes sir!" Shuichi stuttered as he nodded.
"By the way," K whispered into Tohma's ear, "the kid doesn't know that Akihiko told Ryuichi, me, and…Yuki."
"E-Eiri?" Tohma stuttered.
"Yeah," K sighed, "the man tried to take the brat back when he found out about it."
"Th-That's why…" Tohma whispered as everything seemed to click into place, "I need to call Eiri."
With that, the president of NG Records rushed out of the room and to his office. K just smiled. That should at least give Shuichi a little time to calm down before Yuki tries to steal him from his cousin again. K walked back over to the window and stared down at the street. He barely saw a man with brown hair race into the NG building. K looked at his watch. One-thirty. Damn, the kid was early. Oh well.
"Shuichi!" K called, startling the band, "That Misaki kid's waiting down stairs for you. Why don't you go ahead and take the rest of the day off?"
"R-Really?" Shuichi stuttered.
"Really. In fact, why don't all of you guys take the day off?" K smiled as he left the room to prepare for the battle ahead.
"Misaki-kun!" Shuichi shouted loudly, racing towards the boy.
"Sh-Shuichi!" Misaki gasped as the pink haired male tackled him in a bear hug.
"Today's gonna be so much fun!" Shuichi cheered, "The only people I ever get to go out with are Hiro or Yuki! Yay! Day with Misaki-kun! Yay!"
'Is this really the same Shuichi from last night?' Misaki thought to himself as was finally allowed to sit up.
"Shuichi," Hiro's voice sounded from behind them, "Who's he?"
"This is Misaki!" Shuichi beamed, "Aki's lover."
"Aki's? That's where you ran off too yesterday!" Hiro snapped, "I was worried sick about you! You could have at least told me where you had gone off to!"
"I'm sorry Hiro!" Shuichi apologized crying a few crocodile tears.
Hiro sighed then smiled, "It's alright. I was just a little worried. Anyways, when's you next hair appointment?"
"In two weeks, why?" Shuichi questioned.
"Well, it's been a long time since I've been able to see your," Hiro started to say as his voice slowly started to quieter, "black roots."
"Huh!" Shuichi gasped, hands flying up to cover his scalp, "I totally forgot about getting my hair done last week! I ran out of my dye too!"
"You should probably get that done soon or else some people might notice," Hiro smirked, walking out the front doors, "Later goofball."
"That Hiro," Shuichi smiled, "He really understands me."
"Um…Do you want to get your hair colored? If so, you can go to my hair dresser. He's not normally busy and probably could squeeze you in," Misaki asked, "Plus, I have to set a date to get my hair cut anyways."
"Let's do it!" Shuichi cheered, latching onto Misaki's hand as they left NG.
'What the hell?' Misaki thought to himself, 'Now he's so clingy…It's like having an extremely hyper Usagi-san to deal with.'
Mizu: *does happy dance* Focusing on a random point in the story is so much fun!
Shuichi: Yuki…*crying pathetically* Don't be sad!
Mizu: Shuichi…you weren't exactly the nicest either, you do realize that, right?
Shuichi: Sh-Shut up!Misaki: You've gone through so many mood swings in four chapters, it's unreal.
Shuichi: S-So?Mizu: Anyway, remember that all reviews are still extremely welcome. I think that's it. Ciao for now!