Gravitation

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation. Maki Murakami does.

Angel Eyes Kiyone: Sorry for the delay. I just haven't been in a writing mood lately what with school and work. My Muss left me and ran off with Cupid! So this chapter won't be all that great. But to all of my loyal readers, here you go.

Eiri woke up late in the afternoon. He really didn't feel like getting out of bed, but he had slept late enough as it is. So many thoughts were swirling around in his head. His lover was lying in a hospital bed in a coma. His so called brother-in-law was out of control. And if that wasn't bad enough, his older sister was pregnant with the guy's baby. Eiri didn't know what he was going to do He knew that Touma wasn't responsible for what happened to Shuichi. But for some reason he couldn't help but grit his teeth when he thought about the master manipulator.

It was only last night that Touma showed up at Eiri's door. It was the night he told him to get rid of Shuichi; the night he had threatened to kill the boy himself if Eiri didn't act fast.

"The sooner he's out of your life, the better." Touma had said just before walking out the door.

"Damn you to hell, Seguchi." Eiri hissed clutching the sheets.

He got out of bed and left the room dressed in only his pajama bottoms. He made his way to the living room and sat down on the couch. There was a note lying on the coffee table in front of him.

"Hm, twerp actually left a note for once." Eiri said to himself as he grabbed the note from the coffee table and began to read it.

Dear bro,

I decided to go home. Thanks for letting me crash at your place. I had fun. Don't worry, I won't tell dad or sis about our "brotherly bonding moment." If you see Shu, tell him Ryu and I hope he pulls through.

Love, Tatsuha

Wrinkling his nose, Eiri crumpled up the paper and tossed it aside. He hated when Tatsuha and Ryuichi called his lover by his nickname. It was bad enough that the thirty-one year old was dating his baby brother. The two had a fifteen year age gap between them. However, Tatsuha made it very clear to his big brother that he didn't give a damn.

"That little slut," Eiri mumbled to himself. It made Eiri sick to hear his brother ramble on about the older rock star.

Eiri turned the television on and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. He prepared scrambled eggs and toast with his usual coffee. After he cleaned his plate and washed his dishes, he went to his office to work on his story.

One whole hour passed by and Eiri couldn't think of anything else to write. His index finger tapped repeatedly on the H key. Thoughts that he was having before were returning. Rubbing his eyes, Eiri got up and left his office. He returned to his bedroom and switched on the radio. There was still work to be done, but he couldn't shake the terrible images from his head. He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. A few minutes later, he drifted off. The sound of the music surrounded him in his sleep.

"Take the children and yourself"

"And hide out in the cellar"

"By now the fighting will be close at hand"

"Don't believe the church and state"

"And everything they tell you"

"Believe in me, I'm with the high command"

Footsteps. His footsteps. That's all he heard as he searched frantically for what he needed. The voices kept following him; torturing him without mercy.

"Eiriiiiiii." Came an all too familiar voice he knew very well.

The boy did not respond. He just kept running. He kept searching. Fear came pouring down on him. It stung his eyes and caused his vision to blur.

"Can you hear me?"

"Can you hear me running?"

"Can you hear me running; can you hear me calling you?"

"Come to me," Came a soft delicate voice.

That voice, the voice he was looking for. It pushed him to run faster. But the treacherous voices grew louder.

"Be a good boy," Came a sickening American voice.

He tried to scream out but no sound came. His clothes were now soaked. It made it difficult for him to run at full speed. He was starting to slow down.

"No!" His mind screamed out. "Someone help me!"

"There's a gun and ammunition"

"Just inside the doorway"

"Use it only in emergency"

"Better you should pray to God"

"The Father and the Spirit"

"Will guide you and protect you from up here"

"Yuki," Came that delicate voice again. "Come to me. I won't let them hurt you."

"Can you hear me, can you hear me running?"

"Can you hear me running; can you hear me calling you?"

"Can you hear me, can you hear me running?"

"Can you hear me running; can you hear me calling you?"

The next thing he knew he was sitting up in his bed in a cold sweat. The radio was still playing the song he heard in his dream. Before the song could finish, Eiri turned off the radio.

"Damn it." He groaned. "What the hell was that?"

Eiri looked at the alarm clock on the night stand. Only five minutes had passed by while he was asleep. Going back to sleep was out of the question. Instead, Eiri decided to get back to work on his novel.

Mean while…

Mr. Shindou was sitting at the dining table looking over some paperwork. He looked up from his work to see his wife walking over to the sofa.

"Honey?" He called to her. "Are you alright?"

She did not respond. Quietly, she just sat there on the sofa staring at the television screen. Mr. Shindou, knowing very well that he was not going to get a response from her sitting at a far distance, got up and went to the sofa.

"What's the matter?" Mr. Shindou asked his wife softly.

"…Do you remember that question he asked us that day?"

"What question?" Mr. Shindou asked confused.

"It was his freshman year of high school." Mrs. Shindou continued. "He came home crying. He took off his shoes, threw down his backpack, and ran to his bedroom crying. "He told us he wanted to be alone for awhile. Do you remember?"

Mr. Shindou looked away from his wife. He didn't want to remember that day. His wife went crazy with rage. His fifteen year old son had walked into the living room with tears streaming down his face. The question be asked them hurt like hell.

FLASHBACK

"I should probably go check on him." Mrs. Shindou insisted getting up from the couch.

"Honey, no!" Mr. Shindou said holding onto her arm. "Just let him be for a while. He'll talk when he's ready."

Just then, Shuichi's bedroom door opened and he walked out with his head hanging down. Mr. Shindou turned his head to look at his son.

"Shuichi, honey," Mrs. Shindou said reaching out to her son. "What's wrong?"

"Did something happen at school?" Mr. Shindou asked.

The boy looked up. Tears were streaming down his face. There was utter sadness in his eyes. What could have possibly happened to make him so sad?

"Mom, Dad," the boy said in a sad voice, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course, son," Mr. Shindou replied. "what is it?"

"D-do you guys," he said with trembling lips, "regret having me?"

There was silence for a moment. Then Mr. Shindou could have sworn he heard a gun go off. The next thing he knew, he saw Shuichi on the ground holding his right cheek. What the hell just happened?

"Why would you ask us a question like that?" Mrs. Shindou screamed. "Go to your room, now!"

"Honey?" Mr. Shindou said dumbfounded.

It was like a broken record. All the man could hear was the words "regret having me." Shuichi had retreated back to his room without another word. Meiko who had heard her mother scream at the top of her lungs, came out to see what all the commotion was about. She watched as her older brother quietly walked back to his room and close the door. Mrs. Shindou broke down crying.

"Why?" the woman asked hysterically. "Why would he even ask us such a thing?"

"Honey calm down." Mr. Shindou said trying to sooth his hysterical wife.

"I thought I was being a good mother." Mrs. Shindou sobbed. "What did I do wrong?"

"You haven't done anything wrong." Her husband reassured her. "Just relax and I'll go talk to him."

Mr. Shindou left his wife's side and went to his son's room. He walked passed Meiko who was making her way over to her mother.

"Not now, Meiko." Mr. Shindou called to her. "Your mother is a bit distraught right now."

When he approached the door, Mr. Shindou put his head against the door. He could hear Shuichi's quiet sobs through the door. The older man took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Shuichi?" Mr. Shindou called to his son. "I'm coming in, okay?"

Mr. Shindou opened the door and walked in to find his son lying on the bed faced down. He walked over to the bed and sat down next to his son.

"Shuichi." Mr. Shindou said softly. "Come on, buddy, sit up. We need to talk."

The boy did as he was told. He kept his head down while he wiped his tears away. Mr. Shindou took another deep breath.

"Shuichi," the man began, "why…would you ask your mother and I…er…if we regret having you?"

"B-because *hick*."The boy sobbed.

"Because what?" Mr. Shindou asked. "Did something happen at school today?"

"*sniff* Mm-mm-hmm." he sobbed.

"What is it?" Mr. Shindou coaxed. "Were the other kids picking on you?"

"*sniff* Mm-hm *hisk*" Shuichi sobbed.

"What kind of things were they saying about you?" Mr. Shindou asked.

"*hick* Th-they said that I-I was *hick* r-retarded a-and t-that I should have never been born because I'm too stupid."

"Why would they say something like that to you, Shuichi?" Mr. Shindou asked as he felt his blood boiling.

"I don't know." Shuichi whimpered. "Probably because th-the teacher a-asked me a question in class today, and I didn't know the answer t-to it."

"I see." Mr. Shindou said simply.

He knew that Shuichi wasn't exactly the brightest kid in his class, but to go that far to put someone down like that was inexcusable and cold hearted.

"Shuichi, listen to me." Mr. Shindou said firmly. "Don't ever listen to what the kids in class say to you. Their only joy in life is bringing other people down because they think it makes them look good. But you keep your head up, okay?"

"*sniff* Yes." Shuichi replied wiping away his tears.

"At it boy!" Mr. Shindou said punching Shuichi playfully in the shoulder. "A Shindou always gets back up when he's knocked down. Remember that, Shuichi.

Always."

END FLASHBACK

"Hm, I remember." Mr. Shindou said. "He met Hiroshi the very next day, didn't he?"

"Yes." Mrs. Shindou replied. "Bless his heart."

"That kid's got a good head on his shoulder." Mr. Shindou stated.

"Indeed." Mrs. Shindou said with a wicked smile on her face. "You know, I wouldn't mind having him for a son-in-law."

"Me neither." Mr. Shindou said with a glint in his eye.

Mrs. Shindou nearly fell off of the couch. Did she hear him right? Her husband actually agreed with her on such a matter? Or was that sarcasm in his voice? She couldn't tell.

"Dear, did you hear what I just said?" Mrs. Shindou asked just to make sure he heard her properly.

"Oh, yeah," Mr. Shindou nodded. "I heard you."

The woman sat on the couch staring dumbly at her husband. Mouth agape, she tried to find the right words to respond with, but nothing came out.

"I'm going to go check on Meiko." Mr. Shindou said getting up from the couch.

"Er-uh-bu…" Mrs. Shindou stuttered. She just couldn't believe it.

~Owari~

Angel Eyes Kiyone: Sorry guys. This is all I can come up with at the moment. It's pathetic, I know. But I've fallen short on inspiration lately. *sigh* Where is my Muss when I need her/him? Oh well. Reviews are welcome. Thank you to all my loyal readers. I will start on the next chapter when I find the time.