Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Because of You ❯ chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )

“Because of You”

Sequel to: “This I Promise You”

Written by: Chocho

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation or the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Summary: A new baby. An autobiography. A funeral. A pregnancy. A shocking discovery and a woman with a grudge. And that's just this month.

Chapter summary: Shuichi and Kane return from the funeral and Shuichi finds something waiting for him.

Warning: Angst, m-preg, language, sex

Source: “The Japanese Way of Death: A Funeral in Sapporo” written by David Aldwinckle. You can find it at: www.debito.org/JPRIjapanesefuneral.html

 

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Chapter 11

 

Kane in his black suit raced up the front steps and vanished around the half-wall where his grandmother had planted a row of dwarf hedges. Making his way slowly behind his son was Shuichi with his keys jangling in his hands.

 

Halfway up the steps, he halted his procession with a hiss. Cringing, he bent over and massaged the back of his leg as pain-like sensations exploded through his leg. Breathing deeply, he felt the last of the painful prickling vanish. Breathing out a sigh, he brought his leg down and tapped his toes against the step. Gathering himself, Shuichi started back up the steps.

 

After his grandfather's remains had been exhumed from the oven, sorted and placed into the urn, Shuichi had called a taxi to take Kane and him back to the Ozaki Funeral Home where they picked up their car and headed home. After the awe and wonderment of being in a new place had worn off, Kane quickly became bored and antsy. Then the whining set in. That was when Shuichi lost his patience and decided to call it a night.

 

About now everyone else should be having dinner. He was not sure what the game plan was. All he knew was that they had all been talking, reminiscing and catching up when he left. He was not sure when his parents or his sister would get home, probably late. His family had a tendency to party late into the night.

 

Shuichi stepped onto the porch and automatically glanced around for Kane. He found him crouched with his back to him in the corner watching and poking at something on the ground.

 

“What're you doing?” he inquired.

 

“Watching a bug,” Kane answered without turning around.

 

Shuichi grimaced with a shudder. Everyone was always saying how much Kane took after him and for the most part, he had to agree, except when it came to the creepy critters. Bugs gave him the heebie jeebies. They were disgusting, germ and disease ridden things and he hated them, which Eiri used to his advantage every chance he had.

 

He walked to the front door, searching for the house key on his keychain. “Come on,” he called to his son. “Leave the bug alone.”

 

Kane giggled. “It looks funny, `Kasan!”

 

“Yeah?” Shuichi slipped the key into the lock and turned it, unlocking the door with a click.

 

“Uh huh!”

 

Pushing the door open, Shuichi yanked the key out of the lock and turned back to Kane, slipping his keys into his pocket. “Let's go.” He watched Kane stand up, his hands cupped in front of him. Shuichi squinted. “What do you have?” He had a feeling he already new.

 

Kane held up his cupped hands proudly. “A bug!” he smiled gleefully.

 

Shuichi wrinkled his nose. “Well, put it down. You aren't bringing it into the house.”

 

“But I want to show it to Keitaro!” Kane protested whining and hopping on his toes.

 

“Then bring him out here,” Shuichi suggested.

 

“But-!”

 

Behind him, Shuichi heard the sound of stampeding feet. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Keitaro racing down the hallway towards him.

 

His eldest son was wearing a pair of khakis shorts and a white polo shirt. Shuichi was not even sure if the boy even owned a pair of jeans. He wondered who he inherited his conservatism from. It was not from either Eiri or him.

 

Keitaro ran out of the house and stopped before his brother who Shuichi noticed for the first time was about an inch or two shorter. He had a feeling Keitaro was going to be as tall as his daddy.

 

“Look what I found!” Kane exclaimed, his eyes bright and wide as he spotted his brother.

 

“What is it?” Keitaro asked eagerly.

 

As Kane opened his hands carefully to show his brother, and hairstylist, Shuichi caught sight of the large, black, disgusting thing. Kane and Keitaro huddled over the bug so closely, their faces nearly touched it. Shuichi shuddered and turned his gaze away.

 

“It's so cool!” he heard Keitaro exclaim.

 

Shuichi sighed, shaking his head. Boys and bugs. He liked the idea of having a daughter more and more. But then, his daughter could turn out to be a tomboy, which would defeat the purpose of having a little girl in the first place.

 

There was a small chuckle behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Shuichi saw Eiri standing behind him with his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the door with a smirk on his face.

 

Eiri pushed away from the door and stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Shuichi's waist. He pulled the smaller man towards him, pressing their bodies together in perfect alignment. Shuichi raised his arms and draped them around Eiri's neck.

 

“Welcome home,” Eiri whispered huskily as he dipped his head.

 

“Hmmm,” Shuichi hummed with a smile as he rose up on his toes.

 

Eiri pressed his lips against his husbands softly in a brief, chaste kiss, then pulled away to take a couple short breathes before closing his lips onto Shuichi's once again, drawing them into his mouth with his tongue one at a time. His arms tightened around Shuichi's back, his fingers splayed. The kiss deepened and turned passionate. Shuichi felt himself melting under Eiri's kiss. The spots where Eiri touched him were hot. He felt weak.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, Eiri pulled away, a self-satisfied smirk on his face when he took in his husband's dazed expression.

 

With a contented sigh, Shuichi rested his head against Eiri's chest, listening to the man's heart beat. A smile crossed his face and warmth spread through him. He sighed again and snuggled within his husband's arms. Eiri's arms tightened around him, holding him firmly against him.

 

“How was the funeral?” Eiri asked him, rubbing his hands slowly around Shuichi's back in lazy circles.

 

Shuichi snorted. “You'd know if you would have come.”

 

“I was sick,” Eiri said lamely.

 

“Uh huh.” And the sky was green. “Likely excuse. I know you hate funerals. You hate looking at dead bodies just as much as I hate bugs.”

 

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” Eiri lied, trying to conceal a blush. Again with the blushing! If Tatsuha or Seguchi ever found out, he would never be able to live it down.

 

“Yeah, right,” Shuichi retorted. “Just like that mystery fart that stunk up the bedroom last night.”

 

“That was Kira.”

 

Shuichi clucked his tongue. Pulling away from Eiri, he swatted his arm. “Eiri,” he scolded with a laugh.

 

Eiri chuckled. “Must be that damn milk you feed him.”

 

With a roll of his eyes, Shuichi snorted. “That damn milk” was breast milk they decided to buy off the net after they volunteered Seguchi to do a very thorough background search of the site and the donors. But contrary to popular opinion, the breast milk was not the problem. The problem lay in the whole milk that they fed Kira once in a while.

 

A squeal from behind him caught their attention. Eiri's hands dropped when Shuichi turned around and watched as Kane raced around the porch with Keitaro hot on his heels. Keitaro was holding something large and black out in his hands as he chased his brother with an evil expression on his face. Instead of watching where he was going, Kane was looking over his shoulder at his brother and the bug clutched in his hands. Shuichi was not sure if Kane was laughing or screaming.

 

Shuichi and Eiri watched their boys for a few moments as they chased each other and teased one another with that disgusting, disease ridden bug around the porch. Their laughter echoed into the humid summer air.

 

Shuichi felt his heart swell as he watched his boys. He was glad Keitaro and Kane were getting along. After what happened this morning, Kane had nearly killed his brother and Keitaro had been sulking and angry at the world. It was nice to see them laughing and happy together.

 

Leaning back against his husband's chest, he called out to them, “Alright guys.” He felt Eiri's hands lightly clasp his hips. “Put the bug down, go wash your hands, go check on your brother and then we can go get pizza for dinner.”

 

The boys stopped running around the porch and cheered, jumping up and down.

 

“I want pepperoni!” Kane cried, racing towards Shuichi. “Can we get pepperoni?” he pleaded.

 

“I don't want pepperoni,” Keitaro whined as he dropped the bug unceremoniously.

 

“Well, I do!” Kane told his brother.

 

“I want eggplant and squid!” Keitaro told his father.

 

“You don't even know what eggplant is,” Eiri told his son.

 

“And you don't like squid,” Shuichi reminded him. “Now, go get ready.”

 

“'Kay!” Kane and Keitaro said as they raced into the house like a herd of elephants.

 

“Shoes!” Shuichi shouted over his shoulder as he turned in Eiri's arms. He rose up on his toes and placed a quick kiss on Eiri lips before stepping out of the circle of his arms. Skirting the man, he walked into the house just as Kane vanished up the staircase. He sighed in disgust as he saw one of Kane's shoes by the staircase and the other laying on top of Eiri's sandals.

 

“How was the funeral?” Eiri asked as he stepped into the house behind his husband. He shut and locked the door behind him.

 

Shuichi shrugged as he toed off his shoes and set them neatly besides his husband's. Picking up Kane's shoe that was using his father's shoes as a shoe rack, he placed it next to Keitaro's and fetched the other one at the bottom of the staircase. “It…was nice,” he admitted as he set Kane's shoe besides its twin.

 

Straightening, Shuichi slipped his sunglasses off his head, pulled out his keys, wallet and phone out of his pockets and set them on the table near the front door. As Eiri walked passed him, he smiled at the man and laced his fingers with his husband's. Together they walked into the living room. Crossing the room, they sat down on the couch.

 

“Nice?” Eiri prodded, breaking the silence.

 

Well, maybe not just nice. Strangely, or maybe not so strangely, Shuichi felt a sort of calming peace around him. It was almost as if weights had been removed from his body. His step and body felt lighter. It no longer felt as if he were sloshing through quicksand in a pair of cement galoshes. While his grandfather was resting in peace, Shuichi felt at peace for the first time since he received news of his grandfather's death. “Yeah,” Shuichi nodded with a soft smile.

 

Eiri studied Shuichi with a raised eyebrow. A tiny smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.

 

Sighing, Shuichi folded his legs underneath him and cuddled against Eiri's side. Eiri draped an arm around Shuichi's shoulder. “Actually, there was a paparazzo at the funeral home.”

 

“We knew it would happen sooner or later.”

 

“Yeah,” Shuichi agreed, “I know.” He laid his head against Eiri's shoulder. “I was just hoping it would be later rather than sooner, ya know? For my grandmother's sake.”

 

“Hm. Nothing we can do about it now.”

 

“I know,” Shuichi sighed.

 

They both sat in peaceful silence, enjoying the quiet. Occasionally, they heard a stampede of feet and a loud cry from the boys. Shuichi was surprised they had not woken up Kira.

 

This reminded him…

 

“Oh! Uhm…” Shuichi felt his face grow warm. “Eiri?” he called timidly.

 

“Hmmm.”

 

“Uh…I love you?”

 

Eiri sighed heavily. “What you do?” he asked bored.

 

Offended, Shuichi pouted. “Why do you always-?”

 

“Because you always do.”

 

Shuichi sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“Well?” Eiri prodded when Shuichi remained silent.

 

Dropping his arms, Shuichi stared down at his hands in his lap. His fingers danced around one another as he flushed in embarrassment. “Uhm, well…I uh…”

 

Eiri sighed. He knew where this was going.

 

Suddenly, the silence of the house was shattered by Kira's shrill cries. Both men sighed. Eiri in exasperation and Shuichi in relief. There was a pounding of feet and then, “Daddy! Baby Kira woke up!”

 

Shuichi giggled.

 

Eiri sighed again and pushed to his feet.

 

“Oh!” Shuichi unfolded his legs. “Let-!”

 

“I'll do it,” Eiri insisted.

 

“But-!”

 

Eiri bent over the arm of the couch and when he straightened, he had a very familiar rectangular box in his hand.

 

Shuichi gasped. Going pale, his eyes widened.

 

“Here,” Eiri said handing it to him.

 

“Eiri-“

 

“Keitaro was playing with your bag earlier,” Eiri explained. Turning, he walked out of the living room and vanished up the stairs to the wailing Kira.

 

Shuichi stared at the spot where Eiri disappeared then down at the thin, rectangular, pink pregnancy test box. An upsurge of shame swept through him. Groaning, he slumped down on the sofa and covered his face with his hands.

 

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