Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Because of You ❯ chapter 17 ( Chapter 17 )

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. And a woman with a grudge.

Chapter summary: Troubled by the escalating events, Eiri is unable to sleep and after checking on the children, studies the photographs that they have been receiving, including the newest one.

Warning: Angst, m-preg, language, m/m sexual content

A/N: For those of you who doubted, shame on you. I went back and edited the story and I also did a little rewriting of chapters 10 and 11, but only the parts concerning Shuichi's pregnancy. Nothing major and nothing that changes the story line.

 

***

 

Chapter 17

 

[A figure appeared from out of the shadows at the far corner of the yard. A face hidden within the veiled confines of a hoodie lifted and turned to glance at the darkened house. Hardened eyes flashed. A low snarl emanated from within the shadows. Taking a step backwards, the figure melted into the shadows.]

 

*

 

(That Night)

 

The stillness of the night was broken by a low growl that conveyed clearly the frustration that was boiling inside of Eiri. Craning his neck, he glanced at the clock sitting on the bedside table. He did not need his glasses to tell him that it well after midnight. The thirty-something year old writer and father of four rolled onto his back and scrubbed his hands over his face. His hands flopped down onto the mattress beside him. Staring up at the shadow strewn ceiling, he sighed in annoyance.

 

[Eiri lifted the phone back to his ear and turned to stare out over the back yard. Movement in the shadows caught his attention and raised his suspicion.]

 

His mind kept revisiting that flash of…`something' he had seen earlier that night. Though a quick search of the area had revealed nothing, Eiri had not been satisfied and was still not satisfied. Something had been out there watching him and his family. He shuddered to think what could have been out there and what could still be out there, waiting and watching, just bidding its time.

 

Turning his head, his body soon followed as he flipped onto his side as gently as he could so he did not disturb he sleeping partner. Holding his head in his hand, he smiled softly down at Shuichi. His baka was so beautiful. Now that he was pregnant, with triplets no less, Shuichi had a radiance about him that made him glow even in his sleep.

 

Eiri pulled the comforter up around Shuichi's shoulders and bending over the sleeping man, he swept his lips across his cheek. He frowned as he pulled back. Shuichi felt awfully warm. Was he becoming sick? God, he hoped not. He felt Shuichi's forehead. It did not feel any hotter than usual. But his cheeks felt warm and in the filtered light coming in through the gauzy curtains hanging across the window above the bed, Eiri could see that Shuichi looked a little flush. Finding it curious and a little worrisome but not overtly alarming, because Shuichi always seemed to be hotter than normal, Eiri made a mental note to call Shuichi's doctor in the morning and ask her about it. It could be nothing more than a hot flash connected with his pregnancy, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

 

Being careful not to shake the bed too much, Eiri tossed back the covers and slipped out of bed. He slid his feet into his slippers and padded softly around the bed and across the room to the bedroom door. Like a ghost, he opened the door and casting one last glance over his shoulder at his comatose husband; he stepped out into the hallway and shut the door inaudibly behind him.

 

Creeping down the hall towards the twins' room, Eiri pushed open the door that had been left open a crack and stuck his head into the room.

 

The boys preferred the door to be left open at night. It was one of two things that the six year olds could agree upon. The other being the small bedroom lamp sitting on the dresser by the door. Instead of having a nightlight, which “is for babies” apparently, they opted for the light that was, ironically enough, not that much brighter than a nightlight, but was, according to the twins, “for big boys”.

 

Kane, who was closest to the door, was buried underneath the blankets. The only thing you could see was the top of his little blond head. His brother, on the other hand, was sprawled out nearly perpendicular across the bed. The blankets were bunched up at the foot of his bed. His pillow was hanging precariously off the edge of the mattress. Chuckling, Eiri shook his head in amusement. He could go in there and fix Keitaro so that he was sleeping correctly, but in no time at all he would be right back to where he was now and that would defeat the purpose of having rearranged him in the first place.

 

When Keitaro began to stir, Eiri made a hasty, but silent retreat.

 

Across the hall and right next to the master suite was Baby Kira's room.

 

At six months, Kira was finally beginning to sleep through the night, though admittedly that meant he woke up at four or five in the morning, but then after a bottle and a diaper change, he fell right back to sleep for another few hours when he would need to be changed and fed again and would then spend the rest of the day playing, except for when he took his nap at three.

 

Eiri's silhouette lay splayed out before him on the carpeted floor and framed in the rectangular shaft of light that cut through the shadowy bedroom when he opened the bedroom door. Stepping over the threshold, Eiri tiptoed across the room towards the crib on the far side of the room.

 

They had reused Keitaro's crib instead of going out to buy a new one like Shuichi had wanted. Why Keitaro's and not Kane's? It was not a coincidence and it was not something that had just worked out that way. They were using Keitaro's instead of Kane's crib for Kira on purpose. Because Kane had practically destroyed his. That boy had banged and yanked and wrenched and jerked his crib until it had fallen apart. (1)

 

Before they found out they were pregnant, Eiri had had hopes of reusing Kane's crib once again instead of buying a new one in case they ever decided to have another baby, but it looked like that was not going to happen. Kira would still be using his when the triplets arrived because he would be turning one a couple days before they were born. That realization stopped Eiri cold. That was right. Not only would they have three new babies to take care of, but a one year old. Not to mention the twins. He shuddered. When he said he had wanted another baby, this was not what he had been talking about.

 

“Be careful what you wish for,” he sighed.

 

He might just have to swallow his pride and hire a nanny…or two…or three.

 

When Riku came home for Christmas in a few weeks, Eiri was going to “volunteer” his son into helping him with the nursery. They were going to clean out the room on the other side of the master suite that was currently being used as a store all storage room- where things went when they did not have another place to go- and use it instead as the nursery for the triplets. This worked out for two reasons. One, the room was near Shuichi and his and second, it was the farthest room from Riku's.

 

With three new babies on the way, Eiri was glad that Riku's graduation in May coincided with Shuichi's scheduled c-section. They were going to need all the help they could get. Though, admittedly, Shuichi was a little upset that he would not be able to attend their son's graduation.

 

Eiri stepped up to Kira's crib and folding his arms on the railing, leaned over the crib and smiled down at the dark haired bundle snoring away peacefully. He chuckled. It was amazing how much noise could come out of such a small package. A picture of his baka flashed through his head. He chuckled again.

 

Kira's once dark brown eyes had already started to change into those gorgeous blue violet eyes that Eiri knew so well. His son was looking more and more like his husband every day.

 

A smile softened the usually harsh contours of his face as he reached out to caress his sleeping son's cheek.

 

Because Kira sweated like a pig while he slept, his jet black hair was plastered to his head. And when he woke up in the morning, his pajamas were going to be soaked through. He had to remember to talk about that with the doctor at Kira's next appointment. That could not be normal, could it?

 

Kira's puckered little mouth was hanging open and his hands were clenched up by his head.

 

Eiri was not sure what it was, but this six month old child seemed to have bewitched him somehow.

 

When Kira began to twitch, Eiri stilled. With bated breath, he waited. He breathed a sigh of relief when Kira quieted back down. Deciding not to push his luck any further, Eiri stepped carefully away from the crib and exited his baby boy's room, shutting the door behind him with a quiet click.

 

*

 

Picking out the small silver key from among the miscellaneous items in the green ceramic ashtray on the desk that Keitaro had made for him in his art class the previous month, Eiri pushed his chair back and slid the key into the lock of the bottom drawer of the desk. Turning the key, he heard the tumblers shift, and then pulled open the drawer.

 

In the dim light from the desk lamp, Eiri dug through the binders and folders that were bursting with papers and softcover books that had more tabs than they did pages until he found the large unmarked manila envelope buried at the bottom of the drawer.

 

He pulled it out and turned back towards the desk.

 

Lifting the sealable flap, Eiri slid out the contents into his hand. Setting the manila envelope aside, he stared down at the moment caught in time. He felt himself growing steadily angrier.

 

In the thirteen weeks since the first photograph had arrived at his in-laws, a new photo had arrived in the mail each week. The photographs were hand delivered to the house in a plain manila envelope. Each photo would reflect a captured moment from the previous week.

 

Shuichi knew nothing of these photographs.

 

[As he mounted the steps of the porch, he looked around for his husband, for he had not seen him go into the house, and found him out by the front gate checking the mail. It must have come because he had a thick wad of white envelopes of various sizes in his hand. Eiri bent over and looked inside the mailbox, probably seeing if he had missed anything, Shuichi guessed. When he straightened, Shuichi saw him pulling out a large manila envelope, uncurling like a tongue as it slid out. Shuichi frowned, his eyebrows drawn in confusion and curiosity. He glanced from the envelope to his husbands face. He saw something flash across Eiri's face, but it was gone so quickly that Shuichi had not had enough time to discern what it had been.

 

As if sensing that he was being watched, Eiri's head snapped up. They locked eyes. Neither said anything.]

 

But it was clearly obvious that it could not remain a secret for very much longer. Someone was stalking his family and it was only a matter of time before whoever it was decided that watching them from a distance was not enough. After what he found in the mailbox earlier, that time was going to be here sooner rather than later.

 

Eiri stared down at the photograph staring back at him.

 

They say hindsight was twenty-twenty. He had not thought anything about it at the time, but as he sat at his desk in the middle of the night staring down at a photograph of his husband holding a comatose Kane as he talked with his younger sister Maiko three months ago in the parking lot of the Ozaki Funeral Home, the conversation he had with Shuichi later that same night came back to him.

 

[“Hey, Eiri?”

 

Shuichi's whispered voice floated to him in the stillness of the night.

 

“Hn,” came the drowsy drone.

 

There was a rustle of sheets besides him.

 

“I forgot to tell you.”

 

In his state of half-asleep/half-awake, Eiri made an indiscernible noise of acknowledgement, wishing that his husband would just let him sleep.

 

“There was a paparazzo at the funeral today.”

 

Eiri sighed. “…They were going to find out sooner or later, Shuichi,” he whispered drowsily. “We both knew that.”

 

Shuichi snuggled up against Eiri. He snaked his arms around Eiri's waist and rested his head against Eiri's chest. “Yeah, I know.”

 

Eiri hugged Shuichi tightly against him, hoping that was the end of it. He had started to drift off again when Shuichi's voice broke through the quiet that had settled around them again.

 

“But…”

 

“Don't worry about it,” Eiri told the younger man exasperated. “I'll talk to Tohma in the morning.”]

 

He could not believe he had not linked the two at the time. Shuichi had told him about seeing what he had assumed was a paparazzo at the funeral parlor. Eiri had brushed it off. They had dealt with the press many times before and by past standards, this time had been nothing to write home about, and so he had not thought too much about it. But he should have, especially when this photograph appeared at the Shindou's doorstep the next morning. To his foolish regret, he had not. Then when others started to arrive on a weekly basis after that, he still had not put two and two together, but now he realized what he should have known thirteen weeks ago. Shuichi had not seen a paparazzo that time at his grandfather's funeral. No, what he had seen was their stalker.

 

Eiri flipped to the next photograph.

 

This one was taken a week later when they were saying their goodbyes and packing up the SUV for the return trip home from Tokyo.

 

It was funny, no matter how many times he mulled it over Eiri could not remember seeing anybody or anything out of the ordinary outside his in-laws.

 

Eiri flipped to the next photograph.

 

This third photograph was taken of Shuichi outside his doctor's office.

 

Unfortunately when Shuichi had taken a pregnancy test at Dr. Amano's office before they left Tokyo the results had been the same as the one from the home pregnancy test. Negative. But a week after being home, Shuichi, on a hunch, had decided to call up Dr. Amano and she had referred him to an OB/GYN here in Nara that she had complete faith in.

 

When this photo was taken, Shuichi was just leaving Dr. Takanaga's office with the good news. They were pregnant. The joy was so clear on his face; it nearly burst through the picture. Warmth spread through Eiri as he remembered that day.

 

The other photographs were of Keitaro and Kane's six birthday party; Shuichi in town shopping; Shuichi taking Kira to the doctors for his regular check up; Shuichi going for his monthly check up with Dr. Takanaga; Shuichi and he on a date at some play Shuichi had wanted to see (he could not remember what it was now they had gone to see); Shuichi at the local pharmacy picking up enough medicine for their trip to New York City to see Riku for Halloween; all of them out trick o' treating in New York City (Kira looked so adorable in his little outfit); Shuichi at the doctor's for another check up after they had returned home; Shuichi and Sakuma Ryuichi on the back patio speaking (this was when Sakuma had come over for a visit and also to give Shuichi the track that Desert Star wanted him to appear on)…

 

Eiri hesitated in flipping to the last photograph. This was the one that had arrived in the mail this afternoon, the one that Shuichi had seen. He was just grateful that his little baka had become a little forgetful now that he was pregnant- well, more so then he normally was, anyway- because he was not sure what he would have said had Shuichi pressed the issue.

 

Closing his eyes, Eiri shuffled the top photograph to the back of the pile. Gathering himself, he took a deep breath and opening his eyes, he gazed down at the bright red letters glaring back at him. Rage pooled red hot inside of him. His knuckles turned white as his grip on the baker's dozen of photographs tightened. His jaw cinched, crushing his teeth together.

 

Up until this point, he had not been sure what this stalker-person was after. Was he part of the group that hated who they were; what they were; what they stood for? Was he another Rinjin Yasashii?

 

Eiri shuddered at the possibilities.

 

What he hated the most about this whole situation was that he could not protect his family as well as he thought he could. Some of these pictures were taken from mere feet away; even the one of Shuichi and Sakuma. In order to take this one, this guy had to have been in the yard.

 

Eiri tensed.

 

[Eiri lifted the phone back to his ear and turned to stare out over the back yard. Movement in the shadows caught his attention and raised his suspicion.]

 

“Dammit,” he hissed.

 

He had been right under his nose!

 

Eiri uncurled his fingers from the photograph. Smoothing the now crumpled photograph, Eiri studied it closely.

 

He remembered this day. Shuichi, despite the chilly weather that day, had gone outside to make a phone call. It was the only place where he had been able to hear himself think as well as have at least an illusion of privacy, he said later. He stayed on the phone for quite a while. And no matter how much or hard he was pressed, he refused to say who he had been speaking with or what he was talking about.

 

“It was about your Christmas present,” was all Shuichi would say on the subject.

 

Eiri traced his finger over the raised lettering that stretched across the photograph. It appeared to be dried red paint. The places where the paint had dribbled down the glossy photo paper made the message all the creepier.

 

“MURDERER”

 

Where before the intent of this stalker had been uncertain, now his objective was as clear as if he had shouted it for all the world to hear from the rooftop. This creep was after Shuichi.

 

 

***TBC***

 

(1) My little brother (18 months) is in the process of destroying his crib this same way.