Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Because of You ❯ chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

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: A suspicious car is sitting in front of the house. Is it connected to the photos they keep receiving?

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

A/N: Pay special attention to this chapter. Clues will be given to the identity to the stalker(s).

 

 

***

 

 

Chapter 18

 

 

[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.]

 

 

~*~

 

 

(A Month Later)

 

 

The average temperature for December in Naha, Japan was usually somewhere between sixty and sixty-nine degrees Fahrenheit and they saw typically around five inches of precipitation, but it was a week before Christmas and the temperature was hovering around a very chilly forty-five, way below average for this time of year. Just last night they had been forced to turn the furnace on when the temperature had actually dipped below freezing. Shuichi could not remember the last time they had used the heater. It had been that bitter a winter and it had not officially started yet.

 

The boys were excited. They were hoping for snow for Christmas. Last year they went to visit Maiko in Hokkaido for New Years, which was before her marriage had fallen apart, where they wound up being caught in a blizzard that had unexpectedly socked the region. Despite the howling wind blowing the snow that was piling ever higher into a virtual whiteout, the snapping branches that were taking out anything and everything in their path, the city wide blackout and the near below zero temperature, the boys had loved every minute of it! Last month, the temperature had dipped far below average for several days and the forecast had called for snow, but much to the boys' disappointment it not a single flake fell and because they had been once again let down, they had been riveted by the storm. It had been impossible to get them to bed that night.

 

Shuichi, who had been four months pregnant with Kira at the time, had also enjoyed the snow storm, but for a far different reason then Keitaro and Kane.

 

Wrapped in an oversized white knit sweater, Shuichi lifted a hand from his belly and waved at the golden orbs grinning at him out of the back of the electric red Tiburon GS as it circled the roundabout in the driveway. Out on the front stoop, the breeze whipping stray strands of his long, black hair free from the hair band that held his hair back at the nape of his neck, Shuichi watched in slight trepidation as Riku slowed to a halt before the wrought iron gate as it slowly swung open. He shivered in the chilly air.

 

If Eiri saw him standing out here in the cold without a coat on, he would have his head. Last month, Shuichi had caught a slight cold after he spent an hour outside on the phone with Tohma going over last minute details concerning Eiri's Christmas present and making sure that it would arrive in time.

 

Back sometime in the spring before Kira was born, he and Eiri had decided to have a quiet night in bed after the boys went to sleep. They ended up watching some action flick that Eiri had wanted to see when it came out in theaters a couple years before. Halfway through, a commercial for a car show taking place in Kyoto came on and one of the cars that was shown had Eiri drooling. Instantly, the idea was born. So the next day when his husband was taking Keitaro and Kane to school, Shuichi hopped on the computer and did a search. It did not take long to find what he was looking for. After enlisting the help of his brother-in-law and boss, by breakfast the next morning, Shuichi was the proud owner of a cobalt blue 1969 Ferrari 365 GTS newly restored. And even as he stood out in the chilly late autumn afternoon, the car was being shipped over from the United States. According to Tohma, it should arrive in Japan sometime this weekend.

 

“Be careful,” Shuichi called.

 

Riku's hand appeared out of the car window and gave a little wave.

 

Shuichi giggled.

 

Riku had flown in the week before from New York after his final exams were over and as he had promised his brother over the phone last month, he was taking both Keitaro and Kane into town to do some Christmas shopping.

 

The hand was retracted and then with a squeal from the tires and a shower of gravel, the sleek Hyundai that had been an expensive birthday present from Eiri and him when Riku got his license turned out of the drive and vanished from view.

 

The front gate stopped mid-motion with a kchank and reversed direction.

 

Each car- including Eiri's Saab, his Mercedes, the SUV, Shuichi's Evo III and Riku's Tiburon- had not only a garage door opener, but a remote that controlled the front gate.

 

They had turned the cubbyhole under the staircase from wasted space into what had been dubbed “the control room”. From there you could control everything in the house; from the security system- which Eiri had just upscaled recently for some reason yet to be fully explained- to the stereo system and the gas fireplaces to the front gate.

 

Shuichi's hand fluttered to his potbelly that, at twenty-one weeks, looked like he had strapped a beach ball under his shirt.

 

As he turned back to the house, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Peering over his shoulder, he glanced across the front yard and through the iron bars of the front gate and spied a dark grey Honda that he was almost certain had not been there moments before. Shuichi turned around fully and cocking his head to the side as he studied the car curiously. The windows were tinted, but they were light enough so that he could see that someone was indeed inside the car and appeared to be looking his way. Unfortunately, they were not light enough for Shuichi to be able to make out any features or to even make out if it was a male or female

 

Then as quickly as he had noticed it, the car sped off down the street. Since the Shindou-Uesugi residence was on a one-way street, Shuichi thought nothing about it when the car headed off in the same direction Riku had taken off in.

 

He turned back towards the house, writing the incident off as a fan trying to catch a glimpse of the now reclusive ex-front man from Bad Luck, a paparazzo or someone who had gotten himself lost. But as he stepped into the foyer, he paused and glanced over his shoulder, a deep frown on his face. Was it just him, or had there been something familiar about that car?

 

He stepped into the house and shut the front door behind him, still lost in thought, making sure the door was shut securely behind him.

 

Eiri had become real anal about that, even more so than before, especially after what happened last month.

 

It was the day after Riku had called home and promised his little brother that he would take him and Keitaro shopping for Christmas presents when he returned home for winter break. Eiri, deciding to let Shuichi sleep in a little while longer, got up to take care of Kira when the six month old woke bright and earlier at five o'clock in the morning. Not more than half an hour later, though, Eiri came storming back upstairs all up in arms about how Shuichi had left the studio door open after Eiri had explicitly told him to make sure to lock it.

 

[“I did shut the door Eiri,” Shuichi told his husband, slightly exasperated. He stifled a yawn as he looked up at the taller man who was glowering down at him. Eiri was trying for intimidating, but it was not working. Being with the author for nearly twenty years, Shuichi knew all of the older man's little tricks. “And locked it,” he added.

 

“…”

 

“I even jiggled the handle to make sure.”

 

“…”

 

Shuichi drew his brows together in growing anger. “It was locked, Eiri,” he retorted. He knew that during pregnancy the expectant mother had a tendency to become forgetful, but Shuichi was dead certain that he had locked the studio door when he left yesterday.

 

“…”

 

Shuichi growled lightly. “Don't you look at me like that Uesugi Eiri! You were there when I locked it!” he snapped.

 

“Then why the hell was it wide open, huh?” Eiri bit.

 

“How the hell should I know?” Shuichi yelled. “Do I look fucking psychic to you?! Maybe it unlocked itself! Or maybe some Bad Luck fan decided to help himself to a souvenir!”]

 

Shuichi let his hormones get the better of him that day, but being accused of a crime would be enough to ruffle anyone's feathers. Thankfully, Eiri had not taken any offense to what he said. Instead, his reaction to the denial had just added to the growing list of suspicions and unanswered questions.

 

[The author searched his infuriated husband's face closely, trying to quell the rising panic. “Are you sure?” he asked in a calm, soft voice. He had to make sure, absolutely sure.

 

Shuichi must have sensed something for the anger that was contorting his face slipped off. “Yes.”

 

Eiri remembered the photograph they had gotten in the mail yesterday and went white.

 

“Eiri?” Shuichi called in concern. “Eiri, what's going on? Are you alright?”]

 

Shuichi sighed heavily as he made his way to the TV room. Rounding the couch, he plopped down onto the couch. Resting his head back against the top of the couch, he stared blankly up at the ceiling.

 

Eiri never did answer his question. He just apologized in his own Eiri-like way and said something about the lock probably being defective, or something or other and went to quiet a screaming Kira.

 

A defective lock, huh? Something told him he could believe that excuse as far as he could throw Eiri. Something was going on around here and he intended to find out what it was one way or another.

 

His mind flashed back to the grey Honda that he had spotted sitting in front of the house only a minute ago. Then something nearly forgotten threw itself to the forefront of Shuichi's mind.

 

[Shuichi jerked his head over his shoulder.

 

“Huh?” Maiko glanced quickly over the parking lot then turned back towards him.

 

“Across the street.”

 

Confused, Maiko turned around again and glanced towards the street. She did not see anything particular or out of the ordinary. “'Across the street' what? I don't see-”

 

“The car.”

 

Maiko glanced back across the street, an eyebrow raised. The Ozaki Funeral Home was not located on a major thoroughfare, but it was still quite a busy side street that connected two main streets that were especially busy during rush hour. It was now past morning rush hour and there were a couple hours until the afternoon rush, but there was still dozens of cars going by at any given moment and vehicles were parked on either side of the street. “Oh, that narrows it down,” she said sarcastically. “Which one?”

 

“That dark blackish-grey Honda Civic in front of the bakery at the corner.”

 

Maiko looked for a bakery at the corner across the street and found it. It was a non-descript building with flowered curtains hanging across the lower half of the front windows. A few wrought iron bistro sets sat in front of the shop. Like Shuichi said, there was a dark grey car parked in front of it. “Okay. What about it?”

 

“Take a look inside.”

 

“It's a little hard to see because the windows are tinted.”

 

“I know, but you see that guy?”

 

“Yeah… What's he doing? It looks like he's holding something.”

 

“Camera.”]

 

Shuichi sat up with a gasp. It was the same car!

 

“Hey,” rumbled a voice.

 

Shuichi glanced over his shoulder and spied Eiri walking down the staircase with a manuscript in his hand.

 

“They leave?”

 

“Uhm…yeah,” Shuichi answered in a distracted manner.

 

The car he and Maiko saw back in August at their grandfather's funeral and the car that had been parked outside the house just moments before had to be the same one…but what did that mean? Was it just a coincidence?

 

Seeing the distant expression on Shuichi's face, Eiri grew curious as to what was on the singers mind. “What's going on?” he inquired.

 

“Hm? Oh, uh, nothing. Just thinking.”

 

“About what?”

 

“…”

 

Shuichi bit his lip. He was not sure if he should bring this up, or not. Eiri might just laugh at him for being paranoid. It would not be the first time.

 

He glanced down at Kira who was sound asleep in his bouncy chair that was sitting on the floor between the couch and the armchair.

 

“Shu?” Eiri prodded, stepping into the room.

 

Shuichi glanced up at his husband with torturous purple eyes. “Uhm…you remember…that paparazzo I told you about when we were back in Tokyo?”

 

Eiri did not like where this conversation was going already. He frowned down at the other man. “Yeah,” he drawled.

 

“Well.” Shuichi glanced down at his hands clenched together in his lap. “I think…”

 

Eiri's heart was hammering in his chest.

 

“I think I saw him.”

 

“When?” Eiri demanded.

 

Shuichi glanced up at Eiri in surprise. “Just a minute ago.”

 

Eiri tossed down his manuscript onto the coffee table and stormed towards the front door.

 

Shuichi followed after him. “He was parked on the side of the road across the street from the house and when he noticed I'd seen him, he took off.”

 

“It was a `he'?” Eiri asked him as they stood out on the front steps.

 

“I'm not sure. The windows were tinted.”

 

“Damn,” Eiri growled. He was getting more and more brazen.

 

“Eiri?” Shuichi called softly. Eiri's reaction to the news about someone who just might be a member of the press confirmed Shuichi's suspicions that something was going on. “Eiri. What's going on?”

 

Eiri ignored the question and asked one of his own. “What kind of car was it?”

 

“Huh?” The topic change took Shuichi by surprise.

 

“The car you saw. What kind was it? What color was it?”

 

“It was a dark grey almost black Honda Civic.”

 

“Did you get the license plate?”

 

“No.” That had been the last thing on his mind. “Why?”

 

Eiri remained silent.

 

“Eiri, what's going on?”

 

Again his husband said nothing. He just kept staring off into the distance.

 

“Does it have something to do with what came into the mail that time?”

 

A look of surprise flashed across Eiri's face before he could school his face, but he was not quick enough because Shuichi had seen.

 

“It does, doesn't it?”

 

Eiri turned to face his husband. Shuichi had a determined glint in his eye.

 

“Eiri?”

 

 

~*~

 

 

The red car was in sight. Lips the color of blood curled into a malicious smile. Hands, their professionally manicured nails the same deep red color, curled around the steering wheel and gripped it tightly. The grey Honda followed at a discreet distance behind the Shindou-Uesugi brats as they maneuvered through the steady flow of traffic into town.

 

It was a lucky thing the windows were tinted. That was twice that murderous bastard had spotted the car, but Shindou Shuichi was not known, thankfully, for his high IQ so nothing had been compromised as of yet. But that Yuki Eiri was another matter all together. And that meant that this had to end and quickly before anyone became too wise.

 

Suddenly the cellphone which was resting in the cup holder in the console between the driver's seat and the passenger seat went off. Without jet black eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses ever leaving the road, the phone was answered.

 

“Hello.”

 

“It's me,” spoke a gravely voice over the line.

 

“Ah, Mr. Keene.” The smile broke into a full out grin.

 

“Where are you?” asked the serious voice.

 

“I'm in Naha following the children.”

 

“Good…”

 

There was a long pause. It went on for too long. A quick glance at the phone gave information that they had not been disconnected. “…Scott? You there? Hello?”

 

“…Sorry,” Scott Keene whispered over the line. “I don't have long to speak.”

 

“Is something wrong?”

 

“Nothing that concerns you, Karin.”

 

Karin frowned at that. Seeing as she was part of Scott Keene's “diabolical plan for revenge on that `murderous scoundrel'”, you had better believe that everything that happened to him concerned her. It was her ass on the line as well.

 

“I need you to speed up things.”

 

“What? Why? That's insane! Do you have any idea-?”

 

“Just do it Rinjin!” Keene barked.

 

Karin yanked the earpiece away from her ear with a wince. As she replaced it in her ear, she heard the distant sound of sirens. “Scott?”

 

“I'll call you later,” came the hurried reply.

 

With that the line went dead.

 

“What the hell?” She stared down at her phone. She wondered what he was up to. With a heavy sigh, Karin took out the earpiece and tucked it into the cup holder along with her cellphone. “Crazy son of a bitch,” she muttered. “I can't believe I agreed to work with this guy.”

 

Signaling, she followed the red Hyundai when it pulled into a parking garage.

 

Scott wanted things sped up. She was not sure why. It was a reckless thing to do, but who was she to argue? Like him, she had a very good reason to see one Shindou Shuichi dead and the sooner, the better.

 

 

***TBC***

 

 

A/N: How was that? What do you think? Were you right? Did you see that coming?

 

In other news, I have a Kyo Kara Maoh! one-shot out if any of you are into that anime or if you have not read it yet called “Wolfram's Bruise”. It was a spur of the moment thing. It just popped into my head and I decided to go with it.

 

Anyway, until next time!!

 

Ja!