Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ And If The Sun Won't Shine... ❯ Blurry ( Chapter 4 )

Title: And If The Sun Won't Shine…
Author: Angel (angel @ predilection. o r g)
Website: w w w. predilection . o r g or w w w . darkest-light . n e t
Disclaimer: I wouldn't be writing this fanfic if Gravitation's mine, would I? Last time I checked, it certainly doesn't say `Maki Murakami' on my birth certificate… So, there :P
A/N: The second part of Track 2 is here. Sorry for taking so long to update. Apparently, something was terribly wrong with my internet connection. I even posted the second chapter of Snow in July in a cyber café. Anyway, thank you for reviewing AitSWS so far. I hope you like this chapter. As usual, forgive the grammatical errors that are probably scattered around. R&R, please! And thanks for those who reviewed. Please continue to support me ^_^

 

 

TRACK 2.2: BLURRY

 

Shuichi was angry.

 

No, that sounded like an understatement. Shindou Shuichi was livid with resentment.

 

And thanks to a certain blond novelist for fanning the flame. It had been a week since their fateful meeting and Eiri the novelist was still chasing after him. Being chased as such had never happened to the young songster before. After all, who'd want a guy who barely talks, who couldn't care less if the world really was coming to an end - a guy who glares and stands like a stone all the time? Some people even went as far as calling him a bastard with capital B. One problem: Uesugi Eiri did not care. He dodged every hurtful word thrown his way like an expert. Shuichi had to endure his daily visits to the studio. Eiri was always there when his working hour ended.

 

NG Productions was surprised by the return of the famous Sakuma Ryuichi to Japan after a few years of doing solo in the US. Rumours were that Nittle Grasper will resurface again. Even if Ryuichi had not told him yet, Shuichi knew the rumours were true. Not that he minded. He was looking forward to a healthy competition between Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper. Tohma had also informed them that Sakano was the producer and K, Ryuichi's manager would be Bad Luck's new manager. His weirdness just added to Shuichi's overly-pissed-off mood. Speaking of which…Shuichi was on his way to the President's office, eyes narrowed to a slit. `Tohma better not be doing anything now,' he thought. He needed to talk to the blond man.

 

BANG!

 

Tohma looked up from his paperwork as the door to his office swung open without warning. Shuichi approached the man in a few angry strides, banging his hands on the large table. “What kind of game is your brother-in-law playing, Tohma?!” A friendly smile graced the older man's lips. “I didn't notice Eiri-san or Tatsuha-san playing any game lately,” he merely stated. Shuichi knew Tohma was playing dumb. He wanted to ask who Tatsuha was but figured he didn't need to know another Uesugi. “Cut it out, Tohma. You know what Eiri has been up to lately, don't you?”

 

Tohma shrugged.

 

“He's been following me around, asking random questions and molesting me whenever I get slightly distracted. What the hell are those?!!”

 

Tohma suppressed the urge to laugh at the word `molesting'. Eiri definitely was bolder than he gave him credits for. He'd thought Tatsuha was the only one who was capable of that. “Haven't it ever occur to you that he might like you real lot?” “Tsk! The impertinent baka fancies himself being in love with me.”

 

Okay, that was even more than Tohma expected. “He told you he loves you?”

 

“Yeah. And I told him he's blind.”

 

Ouch! Tohma winced at the harshness of the statement. “I don't have the power to stop him doing what he wants, Shuichi. I think Eiri-san might mean what he said. Why don't you give him a try?” Again, the poor table suffered Shuichi's fury. “Are you fucking out of your mind? He's too much like…” He stopped in mid sentence. “Too much like…” He couldn't do it. Shuichi couldn't say the word! Tohma sighed. “He's too much like the old you that it hurts, right?” For a moment, there was only silence. The young singer then leapt to his feet and fled, leaving the door wide open behind him. Tohma gazed sadly at his retreating back.

 

Suddenly, he felt so old. He'd known Shuichi since forever, as long as he'd known Ryuichi. The boy was so carefree in his younger days; always smiling, laughing and trying to make others laugh along with him. Tohma and Ryuichi had been there when he was growing up. Only the two of them knew of Shuichi's bitter past, the past that killed the old Shuichi and resurrected a totally changed young man. It was the same past that forced Ryuichi to forever blame himself and be the childlike man he was. He --, no, they seemed to change overnight. If only life had been kinder… Making up his mind, Tohma dialled a very familiar number. “Hello, Ryuichi…Yes, it's Tohma…I'm about to say the same…Yes, I understand…..Okay then, I'll see both of you there…Thanks…”

 

Looking at his wrist watch, Tohma headed for the door. “May luck be with me on this.”

 

 

Ryuichi placed his cell phone back into his pocket. He grabbed his precious Kumagorou and Shuichi's car key before going out of the shared apartment. It wasn't like Shuichi was using the car, anyway. He was far too comfortable with his Harley. Since Ryuichi was still unsure if he was going to permanently stay in Japan, he did not want to rush into buying a car of his own. Ryuichi and Tohma were the one who bought Shuichi's blood red Porsche for coming of age - for his sixteenth birthday three years ago. “Ne, Kumagorou, we're going out for lunch today. Isn't it wonderful? And we're going to see Tohma and I'll introduce you to a new person. Who? No, no asking yet Kuma-chan. I'll let you know later. Let's go now!”

 

In no time, the sleek, gorgeous car was making the drivers and pedestrian alike drool as it skimmed down the road towards its destination. Ryuichi parked the car at the parking lot of an elite building. He stole a look at a piece of paper on which he wrote the address of someone's apartment. Not much people were around so he didn't bother to disguise himself. Some 30 storeys later, he found himself standing in front of a door. “Here goes nothing…”

 

 

Eiri was typing away in his study while Tatsuha was watching a Nittle Grasper tape he'd brought all the way from Kyoto, drooling like a lovesick puppy at Sakuma Ryuichi's performance when the sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the apartment. “Tatsuha, get the door!” Eiri shouted from his study. Tatsuha rolled his eyes and paused the video, cursing whoever it was that dared to disturb his `Sakuma-sama Glomping Session'. When he opened the door, however, it felt as though the world had stopped moving. His jaw dropped, eyes opened wide upon seeing the person standing before him. “Konnichiwa, na no da! Is Uesugi Eiri home?”

 

There, smiling and standing in all of his glory, was Sakuma Ryuichi: Tatsuha's God. Instead of answering, Tatsuha pointed a shaky finger at the famous singer. “Sa…Sa…Sa…Sakuma Ryu…i…chi…?” Ryuichi happily bounced up and down with excitement. “Waiii!! He knows Ryuichi, Kumagorou! He knows Ryuichi's name, no da! Hii!! You're Uesugi Tatsuha, aren't you? Tohma's brother-in-law, Eiri-san and Mika-san's younger brother, ne?”

 

`I can't believe it. Sakuma Ryuichi - my God - knows who I am! I can die happy now!!' “Hai, I'm Tatsuha. You're looking for my aniki, right? Come in. I'll get him for you.” Still a bit frivolous at finally meeting his idol, Tatsuha ran into Eiri's study with a speed that could have made a leopard die in shame. Eiri peered through his glasses at the breathless Tatsuha. “Aniki…Sakuma-sama…Out there…See You…” was all Tatsuha managed. “What the hell are you saying? Can't you even form a sentence?” The younger glared at the remark. “Sakuma-sama is out there. He said he's here to see you.”

 

`Oh, shit!' Eiri cursed inwardly. `He's not here to beat me for `wooing' Shuichi, isn't he? Better not.' He quickly saved the file he was working on, put away his glasses and exited the study to greet the well-known Ryuichi. Tatsuha followed his brother, eyes shining at the thought of seeing his God up close. Ryuichi turned around as soon as he heard Eiri's voice. He waved Kumagorou's hand joyfully. “Konnichiwa, Eiri-san. I'm Sakuma Ryuichi. Tohma wants me to fetch you so the three of us can have lunch together, no da! I think he wants to talk about something. Ne, Kumagorou?” Ryuichi made Kumagorou nodded its head. Something was wrong here, Eiri thought. He was sure Ryuichi was about to say `we want to talk' instead of `he wants to talk'. “That's so kind of you, Sakuma-san. I'll just take my coat and we can go.”

 

As Eiri disappeared into his room, Tatsuha was left standing there looking at his idol in adoration. “Anou, Sakuma-sama…”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Can I…Can I…Can I have your autograph?” He stuttered.

 

Ryuichi smiled brightly. “Of course you can! Did you hear that, Kuma-chan? Tatsuha-kun wants Ryuichi's autograph!” Tatsuha handed Ryuichi a large pad and the latter cheerfully signed his name on it. “Arigatou!!!” Tatsuha was practically floating on cloud nine. Ryuichi did not only sign his name on the autograph pad. He drew two stick figures holding hands and named each of them Ryuichi and Tatsuha; and the word `PikaPika!'. The moment was broken when Eiri emerged from his room, wearing a red shirt with black trousers and a matching black coat. He nodded at Ryuichi with a slight smile. “Let's go.” Ryuichi nodded and waved Tatsuha goodbye.

 

 

Tohma was tapping the table lightly with his fingers. Ryuichi and Eiri should be there any minute now. A merry chime from the doorway caused him to look up and smile. “Tohma!” Ryuichi ran towards him and took a seat beside the smiling blond. Eiri bowed to his brother-in-law and took the seat opposite to the two of them. He was smiling but Tohma knew Eiri was nervous as hell. There were tiny beads of sweat forming on his forehead despite the low temperature around them. A waitress took their order and Eiri suddenly found the polished floor interesting. “Eiri-san,” Tohma called for his attention. He looked up, not saying anything. Upon doing so, he noticed Ryuichi's expression. The latter had dropped his childlike expression and was gazing at him with a sharpness that reminded Eiri of Shuichi. “Ryuichi and I are aware of your growing adoration towards our friend Shindou Shuichi,” Tohma started. “There's something both of us feel we must tell you.”

 

Eiri gulped. The lump in his throat suddenly increased by tenfold. `This situation is so much like the scenes in my novels and those soap operas out there,' he thought. A meeting like this was often held between parents and the lover of their son or daughter. Usually, the parents called said lover to warn him or her to stay away from their son or daughter. “What we want to say is that…” Tohma paused, looking sideways at Ryuichi. Eiri suddenly felt like crying. `This is it! They're going to tell me to stay away from Shuichi. NOOO!!' The two famous men in front of him suddenly smiled and said in unison, “Please don't give up on Shuichi!”

 

. . . . . . .

 

. . . . . . .

 

“…EH???” Eiri was surprised. Did he hear them right? “Don't give up… WHAT??”

 

Ryuichi chuckled good-naturedly. “We're asking you to not give up on Shuichi, if your feelings for him is genuine I mean.” Tohma agreed. “That's right, Eiri-san. If you love him, please don't give up. He might act cold but know that Ryuichi and I have known him since forever. He's actually so much more than he seems.” Eiri was still speechless. They wanted him to keep `wooing' Shuichi while here he thought there were going to tell him to stay away from the superstar-in-the-making. It took him a while before what Tohma said clicked in his brain. “I know he's so much more than he seems. Something happened to him in the past, right? That's why he's acting like this, right?”

 

`How very perceptive of him. I guess he really has something for Shu…' Ryuichi thought. The older men smiled apologetically and shook their heads. “We can't tell you anything, Eiri-san. Shuichi should be the one telling you, not us.” Their conversation was interrupted as a waitress brought them their orders. Eiri decided not to pursue the matter. When Tohma said he wasn't telling, then that's that. Whatever it was, Eiri would take their advice to his heart; that he would not give up on Shuichi. He'd show the younger man what love was all about. He wasn't a romance novelist for nothing, hey! And so the rest of their lunch was spent talking about nothing in particular.

 

 

Evening came sooner than Shuichi realised. He had fun singing and playing the guitar altogether, thanks to Suguru's brilliant idea. Still, his short conversation with Tohma earlier that day kept coming back to nag at the back of his head.

 

“He's too much like the old you that it hurts, right?”

 

Shuichi groaned, feeling frustrated. Why couldn't he forget Uesugi Eiri? Most of all, why was Eiri pursuing him? He had insulted the novelist's works, for God's sake! Truth be told, Shuichi did not hate Eiri's works. The man had a way with words. It was the theme of his novels that bothered Shuichi. Romantic love, for him, was not in his vocabulary. That type of love would never last. `Just look at the world nowadays. You can count with your fingers the amount of people who can truly tell the differences between love and lust,' thought Shuichi, walking towards the elevator and waited for it to come up.

 

“I believe in them because I know I've fallen in love at the first sight with you when I first saw you standing there last night.”

 

No matter how hard he tried the image of Eiri's serious face when he said he loved Shuichi kept replaying in his mind. `How could he love me when I can't even love myself? He doesn't even know anything about me!' Yet, he couldn't get the novelist's face out of his mind. His smiling face was always there. A part of him was moved at Eiri's efforts but he tried his best to ignore the strange feelings building somewhere inside him.

 

DING!

 

Shuichi blankly stepped into the elevator, only to find Eiri smiling at him as soon as the door closed. He should have predicted this since Eiri had always been waiting for him at this hour of the day. Why would this day be any different? “Hi,” greeted the novelist. “Shuichi didn't say anything. Eiri did not expect him to, anyway. For some reason, the singer felt his heart beating faster by the moment. Eiri was too close, granting him the unique scent that was a blend of deodorant and expensive perfume. “Had fun at work today? Here, I want you to read this.” Shuichi watched as a piece of paper was thrust into his unsuspecting hand. It was the outline of Eiri's new novel project, “Shining”. They had only one floor left before they reached their destination but suddenly, there was a power cut. They could hear some girls screaming with fear outside the elevator. `Great, I'm stuck in here with this moron,' Shuichi cursed inwardly. The dim light inside the elevator was enough for him to see what was written on the paper in his hand. He scanned the paper briefly before handing it back to Eiri. “A happy ending, Eiri? Your readers are going to be overjoyed. Still, your plot sucks.”

 

“Oh, please! I know you actually like it.”

 

“Don't push your luck, baka.”

 

A long silence ensued. They had been stuck in there for about one hour and that's how long Eiri kept quiet before starting to talk about nothing at all. Shuichi wanted to yell at him to stop talking but the action died when he looked into the novelist's eyes. His pair of golden eyes shone with a little bit of innocence, joy and blind audacity. Shuichi knew what his own eyes reflected: nothingness. He wondered why Eiri would still look at him when he knew Shuichi wouldn't respond to whatever he was saying. Distant memories of the past flashed in his eyes, the time when everything was alright; the time when he did not have to force himself whenever he wanted to smile or laugh. But this time, nothing was like that at all.

 

Shuichi did not know what overcame him but there was a strange feeling deep within him, the feeling he knew but refused to fathom. Why was this stranger making him feel like this? Eiri stopped blabbering when he saw Shuichi staring at him. “Er…Why are you looking at me like that, Shuichi?” The younger man frowned. Everything around him seemed to vanish, leaving only the image of Eiri. His past seemed to be blurry by that time. He answered the question with another question, “Why do you look at me with those eyes, then?” The novelist frowned at the question. Eiri was surprised when a pair of hands reached up to cup his face but the look on Shuichi's face startled him more. The singer pulled his head down and before he knew what was going on, Shuichi was kissing him. If he wasn't too shocked, he would definitely kiss him back. A moment later, the singer pulled away slightly but his hands remained in their place, trapping Eiri in between them. When he spoke, their lips brushed lightly against each other.

 

Eiri didn't need a mirror to know he was blushing like mad. “Why do you insist on pursuing a dead man like me? What do you see in my eyes?” Shuichi's words were laced with sorrow, confusion and….nothingness? Eiri didn't understand. But there was something different in Shuichi's eyes, something that looked like tremendous lamentations of loneliness and pain. Eiri didn't have time to respond to any of his questions because Shuichi was kissing him again. This time, he kissed him back.

 

To Be Continued in Track 3: Butterfly

 

Is that a cliffie? Heh heh… Cruel, ne?