Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ And If The Sun Won't Shine... ❯ Hello, Goodbye ( Chapter 10 )

Guess what? Guess what? I got a flame, from some reader in Media Miner named Misako! Woohoo! The first flame in my life! Here's what she said:

 

Oh my fucking GOD!! Did you not read the GRAVITATION manga or if you saw the anime did you get the damn names mixed up? You are a friggin idiot for even attempting this story. omg... people like you... make me want to kill something... Man... I hope you didn't have high hopes for this piece of shit story...

 

Now, now… Who's the `friggin idiot' here? I've clearly stated that this story is AU. I repeat, it's AU!! Alternate Universe; I even put the story in that category. By AU, it means I have every right to alter whatever the hell I want to - and in this case; switching Shu and Eiri's personalities. Guess she wasn't paying attention. As for the manga and anime comment, I proudly announce that I have a complete collection of Gravi stuff (OVA DVDs, anime DVDs, manga, remixes, doujinshi, CDs, etc - you name it.). I had to spend a freaky amount of money to order them internationally since they're not available in my country. Go kill something if you like, Misako-san. See if I care. Thank you, weeeee-san for standing up for me!

 

RESPONSESTO REVIEWERS OF TRACK 6
Kitty in the Box: The plan is formed! Hehe… Thanks a bunch for liking this chapter!
LilBlue-Hedgie: Yep, some people are lucky enough to have a happy past. I'm just so cruel to Shu-chan, ne?
i love athrun: A new chapter done, sir!
Kolie: Hohoho… You'd be surprise when you know who that guy in black is.
BRAM: (stutters) No, don't kill me! Anou, calm down (smiles). Here's an update.
Grimy Grunhilda Grunt: Why? Why? What's happened??
Monkey GurL: Yay, you can guess what's going to happen! I'm still not sure as to who should be the seme, though. Tat-chan sure is aggressive but he's too young in my opinion, no matter how he appeared to be in the manga/ anime. But I like the suggestion.
sakura-Star-63: Because cliffie is good for the soul. Mwahahaha!
Asato-Chan: Yep, poor Shuichi. But I still want to make him suffer more (cackles evilly).
Azure: I'm so touched. You're worried about them. Keep reading, pls!
ichigo-chan: Yes! Eiri!! (how cruel can I get?) You and your beloved sis can rest for a bit. Ryu's waking up but another character is going to… Dun! Dun! Dun!

 

Last but not least to Secret-san! I'm so glad that you like this story. That's got to be the sweetest e-mail AitSWS has ever received. Don't worry. I shall keep this story going ^_^

 

I'm surprised that many people e-mailed me to ask about the guy who shot Ryu-chan. Actually, there are more than one of them. Some already appeared in the previous chapters and more will come later. Try and guess! Oh, expect some lies and betrayals too (wink). Kami-sama… This chapter is even harder to write than the previous! I might revise this chapter in the future but for now, ENJOY!

Introducing Hino Koori, ASK and Kotoba Arashi in
TRACK 7: HELLO, GOODBYE

 

Classical music blanketed the room where curtains were firmly shut. The only source of light in there was from a table lamp next to a king sized four-poster bed. The maroon satin cover crumpled as Tenshi Akai jumped onto the bed with a heavy sigh. His brown eyes were tired but fiery with anger. A job as a bodyguard was extra tough, and that's what Akai was. Being a Sakuma by blood, Sakuma Holding President - Hoshino Shouji had called him as soon as Ryuichi requested bodyguards for Shuichi. Akai volunteered when he learned of the return of Aoshi. He was also the one who found the threat note in the mailbox. `Damn, I overlooked the `His beloved shall take the first trips' part! Shuichi was not the first target from the beginning!'

 

When Akai first found the note, he was confused. He gave it to his father, who was a better analyser. Things only began to make sense when Shouji called him to his office. Still, he was not sure what and when it was going to happen so he chose to not say anything. When Murakami called for Shiroi and Kuroi to discuss matters of the note, he was already on his job of guarding Shuichi. Another bodyguard hired by Tohma, surprisingly, was also a Sakuma by blood.

 

Hino Koori.

 

Koori was his cousin, also Ryuichi's cousin. Akai smiled bitterly as memories flooded him. Like Tohma and Ryuichi, Akai and Koori used to be very protective of Shuichi since the first time they met the boy. Little Shuichi was a picture of innocence and perfection. After witnessing something that a young boy never should have witnessed, Shuichi kept to himself and refused to talk to any of them. Akai had not met the boy for quite a long time. His letters were never replied. He was there when Ryuichi fell. He saw how broken Shuichi looked, and it clawed at his heart incessantly. He looked so much like that time six years ago, minus some bruises and cuts. Akai and Koori were too busy keeping an eye on Shuichi that they failed to notice whoever it was that shot Ryuichi.

 

He made a mental note to go and visit his cousin in the hospital the next day.

 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o->

 

Eiri glared daggers at the steaming cup of coffee in front of him while Mika raised an amused eyebrow at his brother's expression. Eiri wasn't really seeing the cup. He was actually staring at nothing at all. The only thing on his mind was Shuichi. The boy seemed to have so many secrets. It was scary. People he didn't know just seemed to pop out of nowhere, like Shiroi and Kuroi for example. He couldn't help but feel like something very bad was going to happen. Whatever it was, it was making his heart beating like crazy that he felt like it would jump out of his ribcage any minute. What really happened in Shuichi's past? Why were Ryuichi and Tohma being so protective of him? What could possibly be so terrible?

 

Eiri knew nothing about Shuichi's family. As for Ryuichi, he did know that the singer's parents died in a fire. Tohma's parents died in a plane crash. But Shuichi… No, he knew nothing. Shuichi was keeping a very big secret but what was it? I couldn't be that bad, could it? When Ryuichi was shot, Shuichi looked like he was someone else. The fear in his eyes was so evident that it hurt. His broken cries of `Ryuichi-oniichan!' struck a chord in Eiri's little heart. At that exact moment, Eiri thought he looked like a scared little child who had just lost his family.

 

CRACK!

 

The novelist was snapped out of his reverie at the sound of his cup cracking. The crack grew and the small cup then broke in two, spilling its content all over the café table. “Woah, I guess the coffee was too hot,” Mika stated quietly. Eiri, on the other hand, just stared at the broken pieces. Uh, oh…

 

Bad omen…

 

Shiroi and Kuroi walked into the cafeteria and greeted Mika and Eiri. Shiroi stared incredulously at the broken cup, muttering something about low-quality hospital properties. Tohma and Shuichi showed up a minute later. The cold, distant look was back on the vocalist's face. He looked like when Eiri first met him, or worse. “Shuichi, what's wrong?” Shuichi didn't answer. He just shook his head lightly and sat down beside Eiri, refusing to meet the author's eyes. Shiroi spared a sympathetic glance towards him. No one said anything.

 

Kuroi and Shiroi said goodbye after a cup of hot chocolate. Tohma, Mika, Eiri and Shuichi went to check on Ryuichi and Tatsuha in Room 405 before going home. As predicted, Tatsuha refused to go back. Before heading home, Shuichi ruffled the younger boy's hair and thanked him for caring about Ryuichi. True, Tatsuha looked way older than his age but in the end, he was still a teenager who was still adapting to the changes in his life.

 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o->

 

Shiroi was humming to the song on the radio as the twin drove back to their shared apartment in Kuroi's Peugeot. It was always like this between them; Shiroi the loud one and Kuroi the quiet one. Although their personalities were almost a hundred percent different from one another, they got along greatly. Maybe it was their upbringing that taught them the importance of family bonds. “Oi, Kuro,” Shiroi tuned the radio down a bit to talk to his brother. “I don't like what's happening, especially the note.” Kuroi tilted his head slightly, eyebrows cocked in confusion. He had this strange tendency of fiddling with the seat belt when he was thinking in a car. “No one likes what's happening, Shiroi. That note, of course, is unnerving.”

 

“Iie, I'm not talking about the message on the note. I'm talking about the sender.”

 

“What about it?”

 

“When you were talking to Otousan about the note, I asked our guards if they saw suspicious people nearing the mailbox but none of them saw any strangers. The only ones who touched it or got near to it were our family members and the servants. The footage from the front gate camera showed nothing suspicious too.”

 

Kuroi pulled over all of a sudden and stared disbelievingly at his twin. “Are you saying what I think you're going to say?” The younger twin shrugged. “Maybe.” They stared at each other for a full minute before sighing exasperatedly.

 

“It's an insider.”

 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o->

 

Shuichi sat up and stared at Eiri's sleeping face on the bed. The novelist looked so much younger than his age when he was fast asleep; Shuichi noted this with a small frown. He glanced at the Nittle Grasper calendar hanging on the wall and his frown deepened. The next day would be exactly a month from the day he made a deal with Eiri - to give the novelist a chance to get to know him. He was slowly letting the older man into his life. Truly, his company wasn't that bad. For some reason, he was never short of song ideas when Eiri was around. Thanks to Eiri, `This Feeling' turned out very beautifully. Given time, maybe they could always be happy together. Maybe he could learn to let go of his past. But what Kuroi said…

 

“They want to see you suffer through the death of your loved ones and your friends.”

 

Frustrated, Shuichi leaned against the headboard and brought his knees up to his chest. He had this strong urge to weep, what with Ryuichi in the hospital and putting his other friends in danger. `My fault… This is my entire fucking fault!' He mentally berated himself. He'd fucked up royally, or so he thought. Things were going to have to change.

 

It just had to.

 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o->

 

It was dark.

 

“Ryuichi-oniichan! Ryuichi-oniichan!”

 

Slowly, Ryuichi opened his tired eyes and looked down. An extremely cute little boy was tugging at his pants with one hand and clutching Kumagorou with the other. The boy smiled when he looked at him. Ryuichi's eyes widened upon recognition. The big, bright lavender pools… The vibrant magenta locks… “Chibi-chan?” The boy frowned. “Mou, Ryuichi-oniichan… Shuichi wa chibi janai yo!” Little Shuichi giggled. Approximately a hundred metres behind him were Ryuichi's deceased parents. “Okaasan… Otousan…” Ryuichi tried to reach them but Shuichi pulled him back, hanging to the older man's foot. “No, Ryuichi-oniichan! You can't go there, not yet. You have to go through that door!” The child pointed to a small door behind Ryuichi. Ryuichi saw nothing behind the opened door. The place where his parents were standing at looked so much… shinier.

 

“Hayaku, Ryuichi-oniichan! If you don't go through that door now, Shuichi will cry na no da!”

 

Ryuichi hated seeing his Kawaii Chibi-chan cry. “But if I go, I won't see you again, Kawaii Chibi-chan,” Ryuichi said sadly. The smile on Shuichi's face faded. “You will, na no da. Shuichi will still be there. Maybe when the time's right, Shuichi can come out to play with Ryuichi-oniichan and Tohma-oniichan again, na no da!” A tear rolled down Ryuichi's cheek. He knew it wasn't real but he was glad to see little Shuichi that he adored so much. “Ryuichi-oniichan won't give up on Shuichi, na no ka?”

 

Ryuichi nodded. Another lone tear fell.

 

“Go now. Tohma-oniichan-tachi are waiting for you. Go!”

 

“Hai. Ja ne, Kawaii Chibi-chan!”

 

“Ja matta, Ryuichi-oniichan!!”

 

And Ryuichi went though the opened door…

 

…………………..

 

 

…………………..

 

 

…………………..

 

“Huh?”

 

All heads turned to look at the unconscious man. Ryuichi's eyes fluttered open at an achingly slow speed. He tried to sit up but was stopped by a sudden sharp pain on his chest. He groaned lightly. Soon, his vision started to clear and he was then greeted by relieved sighs and smiles from his friends. Tohma, K, Tatsuha, Eiri and Shuichi were there. “Hello, Ryuichi! Glad to see you're awake!” K said in English, helping Ryuichi to sit up in his bed. “How do you feel, Ryu?” asked Tohma.

 

“Like I've been shot in the chest.”

 

All except Tatsuha and Shuichi rolled their eyes at the answer. Trust Ryuichi to be so blunt. Noticing the expression on Shuichi's face, the older singer spread his arms. “Come,” he softly said. Shuichi got into the open arms and proceeded to embrace Ryuichi, resting his head on in the latter's shoulder. Ryuichi closed his arms to return the hug. K, Eiri and Tatsuha watched in awe at the caring and loving gestures while Tohma just smiled. Shuichi was not as `lost' as they thought he was. “I'm so glad you're okay,” Shuichi whispered into Ryuichi's ears. Ryuichi patted the younger singer's back lightly. “I'm glad too,” he said. In his heart and mind, however, Ryuichi's actual words were `I'm glad you're showing some emotions. I'm so glad that you still care despite how dead you think you are.'

 

`It's you who woke me up, Shu. If I didn't go through that door, I wouldn't have woken up by now. Thank you, Kawaii Chibi-chan…' Ryuichi thought.

 

“It's nice to know you're okay now, Ryuichi,” said the unusually silent Tatsuha. The smile on his face was almost a fake. Ryuichi easily saw through it since he was so familiar with things of that nature. Compared to the others there, Tatsuha looked tired. He had a pair of dark undereyes and his eyes were a bit red and puffy. “He was the one who looked after you all night,” Eiri told Ryuichi as if he could read the latter's mind. Ryuichi reached out for Tatsuha's hand to give it a grateful squeeze. “Thank you.” Lost for words, Tatsuha merely nodded. Tohma couldn't help but smile. He knew how Tatsuha felt towards Ryuichi. He also knew Ryuichi held some special feelings for the boy. He just hoped everything would turn out right in the end.

 

The poignant atmosphere was then broken when two men stepped into the room, surprising Tohma, Shuichi and Ryuichi. The first man looked so much like Shiroi and Kuroi. He had shoulder-length brown hair and sharp brown eyes behind the wire-frames he wore. The second man had hair the colour of Hiro's hair and a pair of intense blue eyes. “Good morning,” greeted the first man - Tenshi Akai. Tohma was the first to recover from his shocked state and smiled at the man. “Hello, Akai-san. Hello, Koori-san. It's been a while.”

 

The second man chuckled. “Indeed, it has, Tohma-kun.” He turned to look at Ryuichi and Shuichi. “Hello, you two!” Ryuichi smiled and Shuichi nodded at the man. Eiri, Tatsuha and K were utterly confused. Great, more secrets! Tohma took the liberty of introducing the two men to the other three confused men. “Minna, meet Tenshi Akai and Hino Koori. Akai-san is Shiroi-san and Kuroi-san's elder brother. Koori-san is their cousin, also Ryu's cousin. Akai-san, Koori-san, meet my brother-in-laws Uesugi Eiri (-Eiri bowed respectfully-) and Uesugi Tatsuha (-Tatsuha followed his brother's example and bowed-). This is Bad Luck's manager, Crawd Winchester but he preferred to be called K (-K shook hands with Akai and Koori. Western habits die hard!-).” Shuichi stood up and stared back and forth from Akai to Koori.

 

“Why are you two here?” asked the curious singer.

 

Akai and Koori kept their cool. There was no way in hell they're telling Shuichi that they were hired to guard him - well, at least not with Eiri, Tatsuha and K in the same room. “Is it wrong to visit my injured cousin?” Koori asked with a smirk. He went over to Shuichi and ruffled the singer's hair affectionately. “Long time no see, Chibi.” Shuichi glared. The others snickered at the nickname. Akai followed his cousin example, much to Shuichi's dismay. “Stop treating me like a kid. I haven't been one for years and you guys know that,” he spat. If one didn't personally know Shindou Shuichi, they'd flinch. Koori shook his head. “Whatever you say, Shuichi. Anyway, Shiro and Kuro are doing their best to track down Ryu's attacker. It was hard without evidence or even a tiny trace and all. Just give them time. Akai and I are going to help too. The more, the merrier. Right, Mr. Romance Novelist?” Koori winked at Eiri. “My fiancée loves your books. She's been looking forward for your next book, even tried to get me to read them with her. Women…” Eiri laughed nervously. “That's… er… nice to know.”

 

Tatsuha seemed to return to his usual cheery mood when since Ryuichi started talking. He nudged his brother at the elbow and smirked. “A famous novelist at lost for words, aniki? Your fan girls would be surprised.”

 

“Oh, shut up you pervert!”

 

They all laughed, with the exception of Shuichi who merely rolled his eyes.

 

Koori and Akai had been checking every room in the hospital before going to see Ryuichi. They had to make sure nothing suspicious was going on around there. They'd be damned if something like last night happened again! Koori and Akai had both assigned several bodyguards to keep watch on the hospital building, Shuichi's apartment and NG Records building. No one could be trusted at times like this, not even their family or closest friends. They all had learned the hard way of how much someone so close could destroy so much.

 

If only they knew how close their enemies were…

 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o->

 

A pissed-off raven haired man swallowed his fifth glass of Vodka. He seemed to not notice the front of his Armani coat was stained by spilled alcohol. Nope, he was too busy drinking to notice. He, Kotoba Arashi, was completely pissed-off. His publisher had just threatened to fire him if he missed yet another deadline. Yep, being an author sucks! Arashi's popularity was tumbling down, no thanks to Uesugi Eiri. `Curse you, Uesugi! You stole my fame, you asshole! I'll fucking kill you if I ever cross path with you!' Arashi cursed inwardly. Before Eiri, Arashi was Japan's romance novel sweetheart. Eiri's debut novel had caused quite an earthquake in his life. The earthquake then transformed into a full-fledged tsunami, bringing him down in just one swipe. Damn that novelist! He was just as handsome as he was, dammit!!

 

Another person took a seat beside him and ordered a drink. Arashi smirked at the other guy's expression. It mirrored his own. “Hey Tachi!” he greeted the other man. Aizawa Taki glanced sideways at him before breaking into an evil grin. “Why, hello Arashi, old pal!” Aizawa Taki, known as Tachi, was the lead of another band under NG Records - ASK. Who knows what the letters A, S and K stood for? Maybe it's only because the band members though it sounded cool, whatever. Arashi and Taki were good friends in high school. They were the worst troublemakers ever known to their school. The two good friends talked about their lives - Taki and his frustration over Bad Luck mainly Shuichi, and Arashi with his frustration over deadlines and Eiri.

 

“You know,” Taki started, “Shindou and that Uesugi you hate so much are an item. I saw them sucking face with my own eyes. Pretty damn disgusting, if you ask me.” He wrinkled his eyebrows in disgust. Arashi almost spit his drink out at the revelation. “Are you telling me that they're fucking gay? Shindou Shuichi and Uesugi Eiri both?” Taki nodded. He leaned closer to his friends and started speaking in hushed tone. “Imagine what would happen if the media gets hold of this.”

 

Arashi felt as if the black clouds over his head had cleared. “If we could just tell it to the media…”

 

Taki shook his head twice. “Nah, they'd probably think it's some kind of gossip or something. I have a better idea. Wanna hear?”

 

“Shoot!”

 

Taki whispered something only heard by Arashi.

 

“Tachi! You're a genius!!”

 

“So, are you in?”

 

“I'm all game, buddy!”

 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o->

 

The ride home to Shuichi's apartment was quiet. Tatsuha chose to stay with Tohma and Mika until Ryuichi recovered. Eiri had received a note stating that his apartment was back to normal, meaning everything was repaired and in order. Whatever Eiri said in the car, Shuichi didn't listen. The doctor told them that Ryuichi will be released the next week. He was recovering at an impossibly speedy rate. When they arrived, Shuichi promptly went to his room while Eiri made himself a drink in the kitchen. Shuichi looked at Eiri stuff that was in his room sadly.

 

“They want to see you suffer through the death of your loved ones and your friends.”

 

`Damn it all to hell!' he inwardly cursed. Summoning every bit of courage he had left, Shuichi stuffed all of Eiri's things into the novelist's suitcases and dragged them to the front door. Eiri had just finished his drink when he heard the crash. “Shuichi! What the hell… is… hap…pe..ning…?” Eiri blinked.

 

And blinked…

 

And blinked…

 

He stared at his suitcases by the front door and then at Shuichi. “Shuichi? What -“

 

“It's over.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“This lover's game… ends now.”

 

To Be Continued in Track 8: Wounded Hearts, Salty Tears
(I'm proud of being evil… Yay for another cliffie!)

 

So, the OCs now are: Shindou Aoshi (30), Tenshi Murakami (59), Tenshi Shiroi (27) (my personal fav!), Tenshi Kuroi (27), Tenshi Aoki (36), Tenshi Akai (34), Tenshi Midori (57), Hoshino Shouji (51), Hino Koori (32) and Kotoba Arashi (26). 10 OCs altogether. Woah, that's a lot huh? More are on the way! The OCs whose names are in bold characters are those who will appear many times towards the end of the fic.

 

For now, please be kind and REVIEW! Pweety pwease????