Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Because of You ❯ chapter 20 ( Chapter 20 )

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.

 

Chapter summary: Shocking revelations are unveiled.

 

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

 

Inserts: References to “Parental Revenge” and chapters 8 & 18 of “Because of You”

 

A/N: If you have not read “Parental Revenge” or “This I Promise You”, some of the references in this story might confuse you, though I will try to make any as clear as I can. And once again I warn you that this story is going to going to take an angst-y and dark turn from here on out.

 

 

***

 

 

Chapter 20

 

 

[“Yes. Hello. This is Officer Takagishi from the Naha Police Department. Is this Shindou-san?”

 

“Yes,” he replied suspiciously.

 

“Shindou-san, I'm afraid there has been an incident-”

 

Shuichi sighed heavily. “What did he do this time?” He should have known.

 

“Shindou-san, I'm afraid that's not why I called,” Officer Takagishi interrupted.

 

Shuichi stiffened as he heard the deadly serious tone from the policeman.

 

Turning deathly pale, Shuichi collapsed into the chair behind him as the officers hollow words continued to pour over the line. His arm dropped and the phone clattered to the floor.]

 

 

***

 

 

“Dammit!” Eiri punched the wall. “How the hell can they let this happen?!”

 

Saying nothing, Tohma watched his brother-in-law sympathetically.

 

They were sitting at the counter that looked into the kitchen with their backs to the formal sitting room where Tohma had just dropped a major bombshell.

 

Eiri rounded on Tohma. “That guy tried to kill Shuichi!”

 

Tohma nodded. “I know.”

 

“Goddamned son of a bitch!”

 

A year before they were married, Bad Luck was on tour in support of their album Loveless and before they were scheduled to go on at Madison Square Garden in New York City, a deranged man had somehow been able to sneak backstage and into Shuichi's dressing room. Pulling a knife, the insane man tried to murder the singer. A struggle ensued. The commotion grabbed the attention of a couple of roadies that had, coincidentally, passed by Shuichi's dressing room at that exact moment.

 

Thankfully, Shuichi managed to escape with nothing more than a gash on his arm that nothing that a few stitches wouldn't fix.

 

They found out later that this man, who turned out to be a man named Scott Keene, had been able to make his way backstage by bribing Shuichi's bodyguard, Isaac, with cocaine. Apparently, Isaac had a history of drug abuse that he had neglected to mention on his employment application. It was a safe bet that Isaac had been fired from his position as Shuichi's bodyguard soon after.

 

This Scott Keene guy had returned home the previous week, weary from working a double shift, to find a commotion outside his apartment. When he entered his daughter's room, he found her hanging from the curtain rod in her closet with Bad Luck playing in the background. It turned out his daughter, Deborah Ann Keene, had been suffering from severe depression and a breakup with her boyfriend over her unexpected pregnancy had pushed her over the edge. Apparently her boyfriend had refused to recognize the baby as his. Scott refused to accept the reality of the circumstances surrounding his daughter's suicide and instead blamed the “sinful” music from the “sinful” man, Shuichi, as the cause of his daughter's death and sought revenge. (1)

 

Scott Keene was subsequently convicted of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, possession and the sale and distribution of an illegal substance on top of nearly a dozen other charges brought against him and was sentenced to life. Eiri had been rooting for the death penalty, but life without the possibility of parole was just as good. Why give that bastard the easy way out. Let him rot in a prison cell for the rest of his natural life knowing all of this could have been prevented.

 

And now that same bastard had somehow been able to escape from prison.

 

“I knew he should have been sent to death row! Bastard!”

 

“Eiri-kun-”

 

“How the hell could they let a convicted murderer escape?!” Eiri bellowed.

 

Technicalities put aside, Tohma stood from the stool and rounding the counter, walked up to his distressed friend. “I really don't know any more than you do,” he admitted. His voice was calm and soft; a sharp contrast to Eiri's. He was hoping to be able to pacify him, at least a little. “But you really need to calm down,” he insisted lightly. Hugging Eiri's arm to his chest, he led the man back to the counter.

 

“How the hell do you expect me to calm down with that man on the loose?!”

 

“Eiri you need to calm down and listen to me,” Tohma ordered.

 

“Tohma-”

 

“Eiri.” Tohma forced his brother-in-law down onto the stool none-too-gently. “Look. I understand how you feel. Trust me. But Scott Keene, on the run though he may be, is on the other side of the planet and there is no possible way that he will be able to get from New York to Japan unless he was escorted by a contingent of FBI agents.”

 

Eiri sighed heavy and sagged back in the chair. He knew that. He really did. Logically. But the idea of that creep, who had almost killed the most important person in his life, out there somewhere scared him more than he would ever admit.

 

“I'm afraid that is not all.”

 

Eiri felt queasy.

 

“When Mr. Keene was spotted last it was at a payphone in a diner in Upstate New York, but he somehow managed to elude the cops.”

 

That made Eiri furious. The police were such incompetent fools.

 

“They suspect that he might be getting help from sympathetic residents in the area.”

 

That made Eiri sick.

 

“When they traced the call Mr. Keene made at the diner…”

 

Eiri gulped.

 

“…apparently, it came back to a woman here in Japan.”

 

Eiri's eyes went wide. The color drained from his face. If he had not been already sitting down, he would have fallen over.

 

An image of the surveillance photos spread out on his desk flashed through his mind.

 

A woman? Here in Japan? Could this be just a mere coincidence? It had to be. What other explanation was there?

 

Watching Eiri's reaction closely, Tohma continued, “And it turns out that he has been communicating with this same woman for…”

 

Eiri waited with bated breath though he had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach that he already knew what Tohma was going to say.

 

“…the past seven or eight years.”

 

“Oh God.”

 

It was true. Dear God. It was true.

 

No. He shook himself. What was he thinking? No. It was a coincidence. Maybe they were simple pen pals, or something. Hell. He had had several throughout his stint in school from grade school all the way into high school.

 

Tohma stepped forward, more certain now than ever. “Eiri? I think there is something you need to tell me.”

 

His whole body trembling, Eiri lifted shock filled eyes. Tohma was right. It was about time he confided in his brother-in-law. Things had suddenly reached another level. It was now obvious that they were dealing with more than just some stalker.

 

But first there was one other thing he had to know.

 

“Her name.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Her name? What's the name of this woman Scott Keene has been keeping in touch with over here in Japan?”

 

“…Eiri-kun-”

 

“Tohma. Please.”

 

Tohma sighed heavily. It was one shocking revelation after another, but this was one revelation that his brother-in-law might not be able to handle. “Eiri, I don't think-”

 

“Who is she Tohma?!”

 

“Karin,” he sighed.

 

“Karin?”

 

Tohma gulped. “Rin…”

 

Eiri went pale.

 

“…jin.”

 

Eiri went completely white. He felt lightheaded. The room teetered and swam around him. He felt sick to his stomach.

 

Rinjin…Karin? As in…Rinjin…Yasashii?

 

Downhearted at this whole situation, Tohma felt completely helpless.

 

“Tohma…Is she…?” Eiri could not even bring himself to finish that question.

 

Tohma nodded weakly. “She is, apparently, Yasashii's…sister.”

 

Eiri went blank.

 

Feeling guilty for how this whole thing was plaguing his brother-in-law and for how useless he seemed to be, Tohma took a step towards Eiri, but halted his procession, his hand paused in mid-air. He cocked his head to the side and listened carefully. Dropping his hand, he peered over his shoulder with a frown.

 

His sister's husband's distant expression snapped Eiri out of his self imposed depression. “What's up?” He tried to still his rapidly beating heart and the panic threatening to engulf him.

 

“I don't…I thought I heard something.”

 

“What?”

 

“Not sure.”

 

Standing up, the two trooped to the archway that separated the kitchen/formal sitting room from the foyer. Eiri gasped at the sight before him.

 

“Shuichi!”

 

Eiri, with Tohma at his heels, raced across the foyer and jumping the baby gate, knelt at his husband's feet. He grabbed Shuichi's hands and noticed immediately how cold they felt.

 

“Shu? Baby? What's wrong? Shuichi?”

 

“Shindou-san?” Tohma called softly.

 

Eiri glanced around when he heard the sound of muffled voices. He spotted the phone. Snatching it off the floor, he yelled angrily over the line.

 

“Ah,” came the masculine voice, “finally. Who is this I am speaking to?”

 

“Who the hell am I speaking to? What the hell did you say to my husband?!”

 

“Eiri,” Tohma scolded lightly. He pulled the portable phone extension out of Eiri's grip, ignoring his protestation, and spoke calmly over the line. “This is Seguchi Tohma speaking. Who is this I am speaking to?”

 

“Ah, Seguchi-san. Yes. This is Officer Takagishi from the Naha Police Department.”

 

Tohma tried to quell his own panic. “Officer…”

 

Eiri gave a start. The police? What the hell-?

 

“…what has happened?”

 

“I am sorry that we have to meet under these circumstances, Seguchi-san, but unfortunately, I have some bad news…”

 

Tohma's eyes grew wide as the police officer's words flowed over the phone.

 

“Tohma?” Slowly Eiri got to his feet. He did not like this. Not one bit. “Tohma. What is going on?”

 

Tohma's arm dropped to his side. A little pale, he turned to face his brother-in-law. “…Eiri…”

 

Eiri's eyes went wide. He took a step back, tripping over the corner of the chair.

 

“I am so sorry, Eiri.”

 

“…No…” Eiri's voice shook. He shook his head. He was lying. “No.” It was steadier this time.

 

Tears shimmered in the usually stoic Tohma's eyes. “There…was an accident…”

 

Eiri continued to shake his head. He was not listening. He was not listening. This was not happening.

 

“…in the parking garage.”

 

A lone tear tickled its way down the writer's face.

 

“Witnesses claim to have seen a dark colored Honda Civic-”

 

With a gasp, Eiri's knees buckled under him and his collapsed to the hardwood floor.

 

When Tohma's words hit Shuichi, he struggled to rise above the barrier that separated him from everything around him.

 

A Honda Civic? A dark colored Honda Civic? Was it possible…?

 

 

***

 

 

[“Across the street… That dark blackish-grey Honda Civic in front of the bakery at the corner…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.”]

 

 

***

 

 

[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.]

 

 

***

 

 

“-chase the boys through the parking garage, ramming them countless times.” Tohma continued. “Riku-kun apparently lost control of the car and plowed into a pillar-”

 

“It was her,” Eiri whispered, deliberately cutting off Tohma mid-sentence. His voice did not sound like his own.

 

Shuichi focused his dazed mind on Eiri as much as the fog in his mind would allow.

 

“It was her,” Eiri reiterated. He lifted eyes glazed over with shock and disbelief. “She's been stalking us for months and now this…” God! Was this all his fault?

 

That got Tohma's immediate attention. “Eiri. What are you talking about? What is going on?”

 

Instead of answering, Eiri turned his attention from his brother-in-law to his husband. “Shu-chan.”

 

Shuichi just stared back at his husband blankly, unable to process any of this.

 

“I am so sorry,” Eiri whispered, his voice breaking with the effort to hold back the flood of tears threatening to spill over.

 

Shuichi felt numb.

 

It may have been gravitation that brought Eiri and him together, but Fate had cursed their relationship from the very beginning. This was just another sad reminder that they were not meant to have any semblance of happiness in their lives.

 

 

***TBC***

 

 

(1) - From “Parental Revenge”

 

 

A/N: Thoughts? Opinions? Comments? Death threats? Are they dead? Alive? Who made it? Who didn't? But I did warn you, though, didn't I?