Title: Unlocking My Love

Author: JadeHeart
Fandom: Gravitation
Warnings: some bad language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, apart from Jim Harris, or the original story concept behind this; they belong to the creator of 'Gravitation'' and I make no profit from this.

Chapter 31

Tatsuha stood near the door watching Ryuichi bustle around the dressing room, alternating between humming to himself to breaking out in full song. Any other time he would have been deliriously excited to not only have been this close to the object of his intense desires, but to have the privilege to be hearing his idol singing up close and personal, but under these current circumstances he was only half listening to Ryu's melodious voice, his mind occupied with other concerns.

He wondered what Tohma was doing, and what was the actual problem that had triggered his current guard duty. Sakano had mentioned a 'package'; what did that mean? He gnawed on his bottom lip as he thought, worrying. He so wished he knew more. How could he protect Ryuichi if he didn't know what he was protecting him from? What did Tohma expect from him?

Well, no, that one was easy to answer. Tohma expected him to keep Ryuichi safe – including at the expense of his own life. He was under no illusions as to whom Tohma valued more. Tohma would pile a wall corpses in front of Ryuichi to keep him safe without another thought. That's just how much Ryuichi meant to Tohma.

Tatsuha sighed. He wondered how anyone could ever compete with the bond between Tohma and Ryuichi. They weren't lovers but what was there between them was something so special, so intense, and so unbreakable. Was there even room for anyone else? What was he compared to Tohma?

He sighed again, rolling his shoulders a little to ease the tension cramped there. A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, startling him, making him jump. His eyes focused on Ryuichi standing before him, piercing eyes gazing at him intently. Damn, I'm not doing my job. What am I spacing out for? Tatsuha chided himself.

"Tatsuha is looking worried," Ryuichi said, bringing Kumagoro up to pat Tatsuha's cheek. "Shall I make it all better?"

"Ah, no, it's fine," Tatsuha muttered. He didn't know if Tohma wanted Ryuichi to know what was going on so he couldn't say anything. "Sorry, did you want something? Let me get you a drink."

He turned away, thus not catching the sad expression on Ryuichi's face, or hear the soft sign that escaped his lips.

Two arms engulfed Tatsuha from behind, curling around him, hands resting on his chest. He was pulled back and held tightly against a warm, firm chest and for a moment Tatsuha reached up and gripped those arms, clinging on, relaxing just a brief second, letting his eyes close to savour the embrace and the feeling of safety.

"Don't stress," a soft voice whispered in his ear, warm breath caressing the side of his face as it ruffled his hair. "You're not alone."

A small shudder ran through Tatsuha's body as all the stress and tension of the past few weeks tried to release. He was so tired of feeling his mind was jammed with thoughts that did nothing but spin in circles; tired of a body that ached from muscles taut with tension. He wanted it all to be gone.

His grip on Ryuichi's arms tightened a little but then he took a mental breath and pushed away from that welcome warmth. What did he think he was doing being so weak as to cling to the person he was actually supposed to be protecting? How could Ryuichi ever be interested in someone as pathetic as that? He would never be able to match up to Tohma if he behaved like that.

Ryuichi's arms fell away with no resistance and as Tatsuha turned, Ryuichi suddenly pirouetted away, laughing gaily, swinging Kumagoro around. There wasn't a single indication of what had just happened on his face. Tatsuha pushed down the swift pang of regret. Of course there wouldn't be. To Ryuichi it was probably just a tiny moment of passing concern like patting a dog as you walked by. It wouldn't mean anything.

There was a knock on the door and Tatsuha turned, querying who it was before unlocking it, letting his body bar the way then stepping back to allow the make-up artist and stylist, who were both known to him, enter to finish Ryuichi's preparations. Tatsuha left them to it, leaving the room as they passed on Tohma's instructions for him to report back.

Ryuichi stared at the closed door in the mirror, having watched Tatsuha exit silently. He missed the carefree exuberance that the teenager used to express around him – perhaps it was just a sign of Tatsuha growing up but it seemed like so much more. He had had to resist the temptation to remain holding the young man, and it had hurt when Tatsuha had pushed away from him. He looked sadly down at Kumagoro seated in his lap, gently stroking the soft head. Perhaps Tatsuha really was over Ryuichi. Perhaps his erratic behaviour was now too much for Tatsuha, his growing maturity finding Ryuichi's mannerisms too strange.

He squeezed his eyes shut briefly in pain, hand clenching tightly onto his plush toy. Tatsuha was one person he had thought would never reject him because of his eccentricities. Perhaps he had taken that too much for granted and should have made more efforts on his part to show that he had liked the young man too, but he had been so concerned about fuelling what seemed to be just a crush at the time and nothing more. Perhaps he had now lost his chance.

He tilted his head back, eyes closed as requested by the make-up artist. No, there had to be something that could be done. He hated seeing that look of despair and pain on the young man's face. He didn't know if he was the cause for it, or if he had the answer to it but he wanted nothing more than to erase those concerns and bring Tatsuha's smile back. He clasped both hands around Kumagoro, slender fingers sliding over the felt, cradling the toy. He would have to think more about this.

Bad Luck collapsed in their dressing room, not watching Nittle Grasper's performance from the wings this night.

"Whew, that was tiring!" Hiro mopped his brow and ran the towel around the back of his neck under his long red hair, ignoring the streaks of make-up left on both face and towel.

"Was the air-conditioning working tonight?" Suguru asked, handing over a box of make-up remover wipes to Hiro who smiled in thanks as he accepted.

"It should have been," Hiro answered, beginning in earnest to remove the streaked make-up. Suguru sat in front of a mirror to do the same, fastidiously checking to ensure it was all off.

"I think we were just more pumped up," Shuichi put in, fanning himself, chest still heaving a little from his recent exertion. "I think we're just getting more fired up each night." He grinned at his band mates. "It's a real buzz, don't you think?"

Hiro grinned back at him and tossed the box of wipes to his friend. "Can't deny that," he agreed whilst Suguru nodded silently. "Though something's up tonight," Hiro added more quietly, face becoming serious.

Suguru paused in his motions. "You think so too?"

"Positive," Hiro said firmly.

"I think K knows what's up," Shuichi said, voice muffled behind a wipe vigorously being applied to his face. "What?" he said, pausing and looking over the cloth at his two friends staring at him. "You don't think I figured it out as well?"

"Well," Hiro said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "You aren't always the most observant person."

"Meaning you're usually clueless and we have to fill you in," Suguru put in.

Shuichi stuck his tongue out at him. "Okay, I may not pay attention to everything all the time," he admitted, screwing up and tossing the used wipe into the bin and frowning as it missed. "But even I can figure out that things have been pretty tense this afternoon and during the evening. K's barely harassed us which means he's been busy with something else which would have to be pretty important. And we've hardly seen Tohma and he's usually in here giving all the last minute instructions. So that means that something's got him tied up as well."

"That's true," Suguru agreed. "It would have to be something big to keep my cousin away from doing the last minute check on us."

Just at that moment a knock sounded on the door and K walked in, cheery smile on his face.

"Well done, boys!" he beamed. "The crowd is baying for more. This promotion is going better than I think even the President had expected."

"I doubt that," Suguru put in with a roll of his eyes. "Tohma probably had it calculated down to the last breath."

K flashed him a grin. "Probably, but I think he's pretty pleased with how Bad Luck is pulling it off. You're building up a great following!"

Hiro leant back in his chair, stretching out his long legs and looked up at K. "So, are you going to tell us what went down today?" he asked bluntly.

As he was looking at K so carefully he didn't miss the slight tic in the man's cheek at his question but it was covered immediately with K's broad smile.

"What are you talking about?"

Shuichi sighed loudly and glared at their manager. "K, I may be a lot of things but I'm not stupid."

There was dead silence for a moment.

"Well, not completely stupid," Shuichi amended quickly. "We all know something was going on today that had you and Tohma on edge, not to mention your goon squad hovering around the place even more noticeably."

"You're not helping us by hiding things. If we know what's happening we can be more prepared if necessary. Wouldn't that be more efficient?" Suguru put in reasonably.

K rubbed the back of his neck, a sub-conscious gesture indicating he was weighing his options. "Okay," he finally said, one foot hooking a chair out from the table so he could sit down. "I'm not sure the President will be happy I'm telling you but I think you are right in a way so I'll deal with him later." He flashed a smile at them. "If I'm not here tomorrow you know the discussion didn't go well and you had better start dredging the Hudson for me!"

The laughter was rather weak because it seemed all too possible that it could be the reality. That was the problem with Tohma Seguchi – you actually really didn't know what to expect from him.

"Anyway," K cleared his throat. "We had another incident this afternoon. A suspicious package arrived and it seems to have been targeted towards Shuichi."

"Like the clothes?" Suguru asked.

"Yeah, it appears to be pretty definite now."

"But you didn't catch the person who delivered it?" Hiro asked.

"No, it was left here. But the police have been called and are dealing with it so they're on it."

"So what's Tohma going to do?"

"You mean about the rest of the concert?"

Suguru nodded.

"Well, what happened tonight?"

"We played on as usual," Hiro put in with a nod.

"That's right," K affirmed. "The President isn't going to cave to this and turn tail and run. And you don't have to worry. This place is completely secured now so nothing can happen here and as soon as you leave here you'll be guarded all the way and at the hotel. So no-one's going to get near any of you from here on out."

Shuichi had been silent through this discussion so far, chewing slightly on his lip, brow furrowed. "It is creepy and I can't say I'm not worried but," and he looked up with a determined expression on his face, "I agree with Tohma. I don't want this concert to be cancelled. This is our chance to really make Bad Luck shine outside of Japan. We won't get a better chance." He raised both hands and closed them into fists. "I want to grab this opportunity and really make it work."

Hiro and Suguru both nodded in agreement.

"We're with you," Hiro said. He looked over at K. "We trust you and Tohma to keep an eye on things so we'll concentrate on making this such a great concert event that they'll be talking about it for months!"

"I think you're already doing that," K said, chuckling. "The press has been lapping it up each night and the requests for invites to tomorrow's after party are pouring in. Though that makes it a hell of headache for me to vet them all in time!" He grinned again. "Don't be surprised if you start getting requests for commercials and the like, there's already been a few enquiries along those lines but it'll mean that you'll have to improve your English."

"My English is fine," Shuichi said indignantly.

"Pigeon English and slang is not appropriate," Suguru informed him succinctly. "I will tutor you properly from now on. We don't want to waste this opportunity due to your poor learning ability."

Shuichi groaned and looked piteously at Hiro. "Can't you tutor me?" he pleaded.

Hiro laughed and shook his head. "No way. I know how bad you are at studying remember. I couldn't get you to learn anything properly when we were in school."

K stood and headed for the door. "Anyway, get yourself sorted out and when you're ready to head back let me know."

The three turned studiously now to changing and cleaning up. "Well, at least we now know we weren't imagining it," Shuichi said.

"True, but it is still worrying that it's going on. People are so strange sometimes." Suguru put in.

"Can't be helped," Hiro said pragmatically. "We can't control what other people think or how they behave. We've just got to be careful and rely on those around us like K who know what they're doing. We'll be okay. Besides we'll be home in a couple of days so we can leave this all behind us."

"You know what," Shuichi said quietly. "As much as I've really, really loved coming here and all this, I'm looking forward to going home."

"Don't feel homesick for here?" Hiro asked, looking at his friend.

Shuichi shook his head. "No. To be honest, the time I spent here seems more and more like a dream, or just a really interesting holiday. Home is Japan."

Hiro grinned at him, relieved as he had harboured a real concern that Shuichi would fall under the thrall of his amnesiac persona and the life he had lived here and not wish to return to Japan with them.

"We'll have a lot of work to do when we get back," Suguru put in. "If this has been this much of a success, my cousin will be certain to make the most of it. Don't expect any rest when we get back."

Shuichi groaned, mournfully looking at Suguru. "You didn't have to remind me. Can't you let me wallow in the thoughts of sleeping in late and playing video games all night."

"In your dreams, Shuichi, in your dreams," Suguru replied unrepentantly.

-o0o-

"Jim," Tohma held his hand out as his friend clasped it and they shook firmly. "Good to see you."

"You too," Jim yawned widely. "Sorry, haven't had much sleep lately."

"You are distinctly looking a little on the haggard side," Tohma confirmed as they walked out to the car.

"Don't you mean ruggedly handsome?" Jim quipped back with a grin.

"Only to a grizzly bear," Tohma responded blandly.

"You do so much for my self-esteem," Jim grumbled.

The back door of the cab was held open for them by a black suited man, before being closed firmly, and the car pulled smoothly away from the kerb.

"So nothing new?" Jim asked, smothering another yawn.

"Not yet," Tohma confirmed. "I had a text from Ryo not long ago just to say that everything is underway and he would let me know once it is finalised."

"Yeah, these things take time. It's not like you can rush them. So you still can't think of anyone in particular who could be doing this? You definitely think it's an outside job?"

Tohma nodded. "I can't see how it could be anything else. I've taken all measures in relation to people in close contact with us and there's no possible way any of them could have been involved."

Jim took Tohma's word for that. He was only too well aware of just how thorough this man was.

"It's so much easier when it's someone acquainted with the victim. An abstract outside presence is like trying to find a needle in a haystack." Jim yawned again.

"If you are so tired you shouldn't have made this stop," Tohma told him, concerned.

"Nah, it's fine," Jim assured him. "Not like I haven't missed sleep before. So does Shuichi know what's going on?"

Tohma frowned then. "K told him and the rest Bad Luck." He still wasn't pleased upon being informed of that without his permission. He had been quite… miffed with K.

"That's good," Jim replied.

Tohma raised his brows.

"What? You were planning to keep the kid in the dark forever?" Jim asked, voice echoing his surprise. He shook his head. "Tohma, Tohma, Toham, when will you stop trying to be a controlling megalomaniac?"

"Not anytime soon," Tohma stated bluntly.

"Ha!" Jim grunted. "Too true, unfortunately. Anyway, it's better for them to know what is happening so they can be on the look out for anything else suspicious. Better them having a few worries than being caught completely unawares. They aren't children you know."

"They are still younger than you or I," Tohma stated.

"'Sure, but even kids have to grow up sometime. You've got to let them go."

Tohma didn't reply.

"Speaking of, how's Yuki?"

"He's busy but this visit appears to have been a great success for him also."

"Does he know about Shuichi's problem?"

"No."

Jim sighed again. "Do I have to repeat the discussion we just had about treating people like children? Tell him. He's got a right to know if his partner is in trouble. He'll not thank you for keeping him in the dark."

"I don't want to worry him."

"It's his right to worry about his partner. That's part of the job description." Jim frowned at his friend. "You've got to but out, Tohma."

Tohma opened his mouth to pass a scathing rejoinder but then snapped it shut, realising that Jim was correct in a way. However it went against years of habit of protecting Yuki, or dealing with the problems himself to make it all go away.

"Would it be easier if I told Yuki?" Jim's question interrupted his musings. He looked over at his friend, sitting there with a small grin on his face. "He can rant and rave at me and it's not going to mean a thing to me, but he probably won't blow up too much because it's coming from me who's pretty much a stranger. Probably better than coming from you; he'll probably bite your head off."

"It wouldn't be quite that bad," Tohma replied absently.

However Jim's suggestion was a good one. Yuki probably would take it more calmly from someone else and he did trust Jim. "Do you mind making the extra stop?"

"Nope, it's no big deal."

"Very well," Tohma gave new directions to his driver and the car soon pulled up outside a hotel where Tohma opened the door.

'I'll leave you here then," he said. "The driver will take you to Yuki's and will wait to drive you back to the airport."

"I could have just taken a cab."

"It's the least I can do," Tohma assured him. He held out his hand. "Thank you for doing this. I appreciate it."

"Anytime, friend."

"Have a safe journey home," Tohma said as he alighted from the vehicle.

"Talk later," Jim replied with a jaunty salute as Tohma closed the door.

Tohma watched the car as it drove away into the night. Let the children grow up, huh. He turned around. Perhaps he did need to. He had his own children to worry about now.

-o0o-

Yuki had thrown himself down on the sofa, dinner jacket tossed over the arm and half trailing on the floor, tie undone and dangling around his neck, top buttons undone. He ran a hand through his hair, mussing up the previously meticulous coiffure, then absently rubbed a hand over his neck, skin slightly reddened due to the collar restrictions from the evening. A clink of glass and the splash of liquid were followed by a slim hand holding a filled glass of amber liquid before him which he gratefully took.

Mizuki sat gracefully on the couch opposite him, a slender wine glass in her hand, and smiled at him. "Happy to be back?" she asked, knowing full well what his response would be.

"Damn right!" he growled, taking a large swallow. The slight burning sensation down his throat was welcome. "So did we accomplish anything from tonight?" he asked.

"Oh yes," Mizuki replied, taking a delicate sip from her own glass. "I'll be busy tomorrow following up on a number of avenues. Don't complain when you have more work to do."

He frowned at her which had no affect.

Just then the doorbell rang and he looked up in surprise, glancing at the clock on the wall, frowning at the late hour. Who the hell would be calling at this time? Mizuki stood and made her way to the door.

"Wait…" he began to say, wariness urging caution.

Mizuki held up a hand to reassure him and looked carefully through the door's peephole. She immediately unlocked the door before he could say anything more and cheerfully greeted the visitor, before stepping aside.

Yuki's surprise couldn't have been greater as Jim crossed the threshold. "Hey," Jim greeted him, raising a hand.

"What are you doing here?" was the first thing out of Yuki's mouth.

Jim just shook his head, then smiled as Mizuki took his coat and hung it up. He made his way over to the couch and sat down. "You don't have any idea about pleasantries do you?" he said.

Yuki took a drink. "Then don't turn up unannounced!" he snarled.

"Thanks," Jim said, taking the drink Mizuki now handed to him before she sat down next to him and picked up her glass again. "You're looking lovely tonight," Jim said, complimenting her.

"Why, thank you," she said graciously with a smile. "There was a gala event that we had to attend this evening. We had only arrived back a short time ago."

"Then that was lucky timing. Tohma didn't say you were out this evening or I might have missed you." Jim looked over at Yuki, eyes twinkling. "Don't tell me that Tohma didn't know where you were? He must be slipping."

Yuki humphed. "He probably did know where I was, and probably knew I was already back and so didn't think there was any need to tell you."

Jim laughed out loud. "You're probably right; that omniscient bastard. Oh, excuse my language," he apologized immediately to Mizuki who waved the gaff aside with a smile.

"Anyway, this isn't exactly a social call," Jim said, becoming serious. "I know you haven't heard yet but I thought you should be told. There was an incident at the concert."

Yuki sat up, drink forgotten in hand, worst case scenarios running through his mind in a jumble. "Shuichi…"

Jim held up a hand to calm him. "He's fine and he wasn't anywhere near the situation so he was completely out of harms way. However, it is now pretty much definite that there is a stalker so we need to be careful. Both incidents have been at the venue which makes sense as it is the most accessible and the logical place to find him."

"What about the hotel?" Yuki snapped.

"It's covered," Jim assured him. " Tohma and his man, K, have checked out the place and staff and there are specially picked men to guard Shuichi and the others. No-one is going to be able to get to them there. In between, driving to and from the venue, and any other appointments is done under full guard at all times so they can't be intercepted in any way. So far with what we've seen, although it is disturbing and by no means are we making light of it, it's more just the average stalker fan, not someone looking to kidnap or kill him. At least that's the current theory going on what's happened."

"But you don't know for sure?" Yuki snarled.

"No, we don't," Jim answered him. He ran a hand through his hair, for a moment looking less sure. " To be honest something doesn't feel right about all this."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't know," Jim said, with a shrug. "There's just something bugging me about it but I can't yet put my finger on it. I just keep getting this feeling that I'm missing something."

He looked at Yuki. "Are you sure you want to be hanging around Shuichi whilst this is going on? It might be safer to keep your distance for a while."

"Like hell!" was Yuki's immediate answer. "I barely get to see him as it is with all this crazy concert stuff. I'm not about to let some psycho keep me away."

"It might be dangerous."

"It's not a big deal," Yuki shrugged. "Fans get crazy over him all the time and you just said that it didn't seem like who ever it is doesn't seem to want to hurt him."

"Yeah. Maybe. But the incidents are still a little extreme for your usual 'crazy fan' don't you think? You probably should at least stay away from the concert venue."

"Look," Yuki set his drink down and met Jim's worried gaze. "Ryo and Dee are practically glued to his hip, not to mention that idiot gun-toting manager. And then they would have to get past Tohma, and who do you think will come out on top there? He'll be fine."

"He might be, but what about you? And Mizuki?"

Ah, so that's it, Yuki thought as Jim gazed worriedly towards his editor. The penny drops as they say.

Mizuki met Jim's look with a smile and reached over to pat his hand. "It's very kind of you to be concerned." she said quietly, "but I'm sure it'll all work out fine." She smiled warmly. "Yuki and I really are too busy at the moment so it's not as though we are around Shuichi all the time. There's been no trouble so far for us."

Jim didn't look appeased but didn't try to push the issue any further. He glanced at his watch, stood and made his way to the door.

"Okay then," he said, turning to address them both. "Keep in touch, and don't hesitate to contact me if you have to."

"Yeah," Yuki replied, although Jim was looking directly at Mizuki as he had said the last.

Yuki closed the door and returned to the couch. He mulled over what Jim had said. He did have some respect for the man's instincts and it had pretty much mirrored what Ryo had indicated. None of the professionals believed this was quite as straight forward as it seemed at first glance. However none of them could put their finger on the problem either. So all Dee and Ryo could do was stick close to Shuichi and see that nothing untoward happened to him.

"Do you think you should be more careful?" Mizuki's quiet voice intruded on his thoughts.

He looked over to where she sat watching him, then reached out to pick up his cigarettes, placing one between his lips and lit it without saying anything. Mizuki didn't try to rush him. He blew out a ring of smoke.

"I can't see any need to do anything different," he finally said. "We're hardly at the concert venue and tomorrow is the last night anyway. Jim said that Tohma's got things covered there so that's probably the safest place right now for Shuichi."

"You're probably right," Mizuki agreed, reaching over and picking up her clutch bag from the table. "Now," she said, opening the bag and removing her phone, "let's go over tomorrow's schedule."

She completely ignored Yuki's groan.