Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Because of You ❯ epilogue ( Chapter 33 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Because of You Sequel to: This I Promise You Written by:Chocho Disclaimer:I do not own Gravitation or the characters from it.  I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Summary:Scott is back in police custody, but Karin is out there biding her time.  Will the police be able to stop her before she carries out her plot to assassinate Shuichi? Chapter summary:  Six months later. Warning:Angst, drama, romance, m-preg, language, m/m sexual content Inserts:God You’re Safe”, Chapter 13 of This I Promise You. A/N:  This is it folks.  The last chapter.  It has been a fun ride.  Enjoy!   ***     (Last Time)   “…a trap.”   But…   A slow grin spread across her face.  It did not matter.  Nothing mattered anymore.  She had accomplished what she had set out to do.   Sliding off her seatbelt, she reached for the lock.  A hand on her arm stopped her.   “What the hell are you doing?”  His eyes were wide with panic behind his glasses.   Karin shrugged off his hand.  Unlocking the door, she pushed open the door and with her hands raised over her head, she slowly stepped from the car.   She would freely admit to her crimes.  Even if it meant spending the rest of her life in prison.   She had been stalking Shindou and his family and long before the first photograph arrived at his doorstep.  She had attempted to kill his boys in Osaka last month.  She had threatened him and Yuki-san.  And she had indeed shot Shindou dead.   She had finally avenged her brother’s premature death at the hands of that cold-hearted bastard.  Shindou Shuichi had finally gotten what he had had coming to him for the last seven years.  Yasashii could finally rest in peace.  And that was all that mattered.   ***   Epilogue   (Six Months Later)   In the time of William Shakespeare, it was believed that if a person was sexually assaulted then that was blatant evidence that that person was not “pure” or as “innocent” as he or she claimed to be.  In that way, to be raped was a punishment handed out from God for a person’s “immoral ways”.  The victim was never pitied.  A victim was never a victim.  Fault was never laid on the feet of the rapist.  It did not matter that rape is never about sex, but about power and control.  What was believed was that a victim of rape must have done something to allow him or herself to be violated.  For if you were of a pure soul, this hideous deed never would have happened in the first place because the assailant would have seen the purity within you and hesitated.   If only it were that simple.   The day such an unspeakable act happened to me, those were the exact thoughts that keep flitting through my mind.   I was being punished.  Me.  A guy being in love with and having a sexual relationship with another guy.  And not just any ordinary guy.  But a romance novelist.  Japan’s most eligible bachelor.   To think that someone of Eiri’s caliber would ever return my feelings, would ever want a stupid baka like me at his side to have and to hold until death do we part, to think that he would ever see me as anything other than his little fuck hole had been a laughable dream.  But I loved him still the same.  Even if I was not the only one.  Even if I was only his boy toy.  Even if he hated the ground I walked on.  None of that ever mattered to me.  This was why I allowed what happened to me happen.  But it did not ease the effect being violated had.   Since everyone is always telling me that my face is like an open book, which makes it impossible for me to lie- convincingly anyway- Hiro knew right away when he raced out of his apartment into the pouring rain and saw me lying there on the side of the road, a broken, battered, bleeding and defiled mess what had happened to me.   Neither he nor Eiri know the gruesome details of that horrible night.  They know some of what happened to me, but not all of it.  Not even the psychiatrist I went to see knows to the extent I was violated and humiliated.  And I do not intend to ever tell what happened that night to anyone.   Riku told me a story one time about a classmate of his, a girl in one of his creative writing classes back at NYU.  For this specific creative writing class they were in together, they had to write three short stories over the course of the semester and for her first assignment, she wrote a story about a girl in college who instead of going to see her grandfather in the hospital who had suffered another heart attack, for some reason, she opted to wait until the weekend.  Unfortunately, the next day, she received a phone call from her mother just as she was getting ready for school.  Her grandfather had passed away.   “After she read the story aloud, the class discussed it and there was this one girl, a friend of mine, who said it sounded to her as if the girl in the story was scared,” Riku told me.   “Of what?” I asked.   “Well, in the story she compared the grandfather to Superman.”   Superman is said to be invincible, immune to just about everything, but in the end, even he fell.   “I talked to her after class and she admitted that the story was inspired by actual events.”   But I knew that already, having been involved with a writer since I was a senior in high school and being one myself.  One of the first rules you learn is to write what you know.   Riku went on to say that, this girl had always been haunted by the sudden passing of her grandfather during her first semester of college.  I will not get into the details surrounding the girl’s private life here, but suffice it to say that her grandfather’s passing affected her to such a degree that she ended up falling into a mild depression, which led to her eventual dropping out of school after the first semester of her second year.  Here it was nearly four years later and she still had not completely gotten over it.   “But she said that when my friend said what she did, it literally felt like a weight had been lifted from her.”   I understood what my son was trying to tell me.   So one night, after everyone had gone to bed, I snuck to the study and sat down before my computer to write down every single last detail I could remember from that night.  Afterwards, I printed out what I had written and after reading it through once, burned the pages in the fireplace.   And I have to admit, I am truly glad I took Riku’s advice.  That night, for the first time since I was raped all those years ago, I actually slept peacefully through the night.   But in the days following my rape, despite being pressured by everyone around me, I had no intention of seeing a shrink.  All I wanted was for this to be over.  I just wanted to forget it ever happened.  To speak about it made it real.  It made me relive it again and again and again, just like in my dreams every single night.    I threw myself into my relationship with Eiri and the rising popularity of Bad Luck, anything to keep myself from remembering such a terrible event.    Besides, I kept telling myself that it was not really rape.  You cannot rape the willing.  I allowed it to happen so that Eiri would be kept safe.  Even after being dumped by the only man that I had ever and would ever love, I would never allow Eiri to get hurt.  I did not want his good name to be slurred or slandered.  I wanted to protect him because I loved him, even if he did not feel the same way about me.  But that logic did not stop my nightmares and finally Eiri had had enough.   He bodily dragged me in to see his psychiatrist (yes, he sees on as well, but do not tell him I told you).   It helped seeing her, but I still had the nightmares.  I still woke up at all hours of the night in a cold sweat, screaming, but not as often.  The nightmares came less and less.  Though they did not vanish all together.   Then it started up all over again when Bad Luck returned to Japan from our Loveless world tour to find out that Eiri and I had a new neighbor.    The second I met him, I knew something was off.  Then the nightmares started.  A month later, thirty-some-odd days after everyone told me I was crazy and that I was jumping at shadows, he lured my bodyguards to their deaths and then abducted me.  He would have raped me and who knows what else he would have done, but unlike what happened with Aizawa, Rinjin was alone.  He had not hired two thugs off the street to help him subdue an eighteen-year-old boy who stood at a mere 165 cm and weighed not more than 110 lbs.  One on one, I was able to take Rinjin out easily, but at a deadly cost.    Most days, I am fine, but then one day out of the blue it hits me.  I feel his lips against mine.  His heavy weight atop me.  The feel of his nose shattering against my fist.  I hear the splintering of the wood as the railing disintegrates beneath our combined weight.  I watch as he falls through the railing.  I see as he breaks his neck.  I watch as the life fades from his eyes.  Over and over.  Sometimes Rinjin’s and Aizawa’s faces intermingle…   There are many events from my life that I will never forget.  Like meeting Eiri one fateful night.  Bad Luck being offered a deal by NG Productions, which never would have happened had Hiro actually passed his entrance exams and gotten into medical school to become a doctor like his parents  wanted (which he did in fact pass I found out later).  Bad Luck’s debut album, Gravity, selling a million copies.  Our first national tour.  The first time I heard Eiri tell me he loved me.  Adopting Riku.  Marrying Eiri in the living room of our old apartment.  The birth of our boys and the nervous expectancy of three more.   But there are two other events that are forever ingrained in my memory, being betrayed and viciously attacked by Aizawa and then being betrayed and attacked a decade later by Rinjin.   But no matter what happens, Eiri is forever by my side, loving me and protecting me and holding me whenever things become too much.  And that is all I can ever hope for.   Owari?  Not by a long shot.  This story has only just begun…   ~*~   (Shindou-Uesugi Household - Nara, Japan)   Shutting the book, Eiri flipped to the front cover.  He ran his fingers over the white characters of the title, Gravity of Love: A Shindou Shuichi Autobiography, and then traced the transparent silhouette of his lithe baka.  A ghost of a smile crossed his face.   Standing up, Eiri crossed the study and stopped besides the end table besides the chaise lounge chair when his eyes landed on the photograph.  Setting his husband’s autobiography down on the table, he picked up the photo.  It pictured Shuichi and he in scrubs holding three of the tiniest bundles that combined would still not add up to how much Kira weighed when he was born.  It had been taken by Maiko the day Yosuke, Yukiko and Shinta were born six months ago.   Nobody was sure if it was the shock of being shot or being thrown to the ground by Satoshi that had caused Shuichi to go into labor.  But being only twenty-seven weeks along, everybody had been unsure about to what expect.   At thirteen weeks premature, his children had fit into the palm of his hand with perfect ease.  Like Steve Urkil, even the smallest diapers that the hospital could provide seconded as jumpsuits.  All those wires and tubes and machines they had been hooked up to for the better part of three or four months while inside those clear coffins had almost been too much.   Eiri’s knuckles turned white.  His tightening grip threatened to shatter the gold frame.   He could remember rushing out of the house and seeing Shuichi on the ground with his sister by his side.  His blue kimono with red cranes and white chrysanthemums covered in blood.    If the police had not stopped him, Eiri would even now be locked up in prison awaiting trial.  For he would have murdered that bitch.  Nobody touched his family and got away with it.  Not God.  Not Buddha.  Not some psychotic wench with an axe to grind.  No one.   ~*~   (Women’s Federal Prison)   Sitting cross-legged on the tatami mats in her cell that was nothing more than a hole in the wall, Karin’s eyes popped open.  She stared out the barred window sitting high up in the wall at the quickly darkening sky.    “Your brother was a fucked up fruit loop,”came the enraged accusation in her head.   Her hazel eyes grew hard and cold.  Her hands lying loosely on her legs clenched.   How dare he?  Yasashii was the victim in all this.  He had been kind and caring and gentle and loving as both a son and older brother.  He had put his life on hold after their parents passed away in order to take care of her.  She would never be able to repay Yasashii back for everything he did for her.   But then Shindou Shuichi appeared.  Yasashii was never the same after he went to Zepp Tokyo that fateful night to see ASK.  And it was all Shindou’s fault.  He took her brother away from her.   If he would have only returned her brother’s feelings then all of this could have been avoided.  But apparently, Shuichi was too good for a commoner like her brother.   With the restraining hands of half a dozen cops keeping her from her intended targets, Karin could still remember what she said that day as tears poured down her face.  “Don’t be fooled by those innocent puppy dog eyes!  He is an evil, vile, sorry excuse for a human being!  He stole my brother’s heart and ripped it in two!”   She smashed her fisted hand into the table.   “Just you wait, Shindou Shuichi,” she hissed.  “When I get out of here, you are dead!”   ~*~   (Shindou-Uesugi Household - Nara, Japan)   Setting down the photo, Eiri glanced at his watch.  Seeing how late it was becoming, he headed towards the bedroom where Shuichi should be getting ready for his CD release party.   “Shu?” he called as he entered the master suite.   Empty.   He stepped back out into the hallway.  “Shuichi?”  Hearing a muffled voice coming from the right, Eiri followed it like a sailor hopelessly enthralled by a Siren.   As he passed the staircase, he saw Riku pacing back and forth across the foyer.  Eiri gave a disgusted sigh.  His son was still on the phone.  Whom he was speaking to all this time, Eiri had no idea, but the light blush that colored his face had Eiri’s eyebrows rising.   Riku had miraculously completely healed from his compression fracture without any lasting side effects and had plans of returning to New York in a dew weeks to finish his last semester at NYU and then come January, he would move here to Japan permanently to get his masters degree.  Eiri was not sure if Riku planned to get his own place or not.  They had not talked about it.  Yoshiki was already whining about being left all alone.   “What about Rage?” Shuichi had asked her.   Yoshiki had said nothing, but she had blushed.  Eiri was not sure he wanted to know.   Eiri peeked into the boys room.  Keitaro and Kane were sitting on the floor deeply engrossed in some racing game.  At least they were starting to get along.    “It’s time for bed.”   A chorus of groans met his statement.   “A little longer?” Kane pleaded in an eerily similar whining voice as his mother.   An image of Shuichi flashed through Eiri’s head.  He shuddered just thinking about what future lay ahead.   “Bed.”   “One more race?”  This time it was Keitaro and he sounded exactly like his identical twin.   Eiri sighed.  He was beginning to get a headache.  “Fine.  One more race,” he agreed over their cheers, “and then it’s bed.  Got it?”   “’Kay!” the twins agreed in unison.   He started to shut the door.   “Daddy?”   “Yes, Kane?” Eiri answered stepping back into the twins room.   “Are Grandma and Grandpa coming over to watch us?”   “Yes, they are.”   Eiri watched his boys in silence for several more moments.  He realized that during their conversation, neither one of them once took their eyes off the television screen.  He was starting to regret buying that damn gaming console for them.   Shaking his head, Eiri stepped out into the hallway and shut the bedroom door.   Grandma and Grandpa, aka Shuichi’s parents, had ended up moving into the vacant house next door along with Maiko and her two children.  Shuichi enjoyed having his parents along with his baby sister and niece and nephew close by.  For the longest time, Shuichi had been so busy with Bad Luck that he had not had time to do much more than exchange a quick email with Maiko.  In Shuichi’s line of business, some sacrifices have to be made and unfortunately.  He had known that, but it had not made it any easier.  So now, with his folks living next door, he could make up for lost time.   Eiri enjoyed them living so close for two reasons.  One, Shuichi and he now had babysitters whenever they needed them and two; he no longer had to suffer through of one Shuichi’s mother’s guilt trips about never being able to see her grandsons.    Shuichi and he had ended up purchasing his childhood home back in Tokyo so that they would have a place to stay when they went to Tokyo.   Crossing the hall, Eiri entered the nursery.  Coming to a halt, Eiri crossed his arms over his chest and leaning back against the doorjamb, smiled at the scene before him.   Shuichi’s hair was in newly choppy short layers with neon pink streaks racing through it.  Though he still had another ten pounds to lose, Shuichi had quickly returned to his pre-baby weight.   A self-satisfied smirk crossed Eiri’s face.   In a pair of blue jeans and a graphic tee underneath a white button down shirt, Shuichi looked good enough to eat.  It was too bad they had to be somewhere in half an hour.   Quietly singing one of the songs off his solo debut CD but at a slower speed, which turned the fast tempo song into more of a ballad, Shuichi rocked a small white bundle cradled gently in his arms.   -You’re SAVE Itaikena ORE wo tasukete
for yourself Ima sarana inori wa kikazu
God You’re SAVE ORE no KARADA wa Make it true show time
for yourself Sukui no kami ni yowasareru

PAUDAA REMON CHAIMU
Kasei kamikudaki
[DA*DA*DA*DA!] Daisukina
Ano KO nado sasotte

Hoshi wo mezase ROKETTO Nante IKA shita kodoku

God You’re SAVE Kano no naka wa Take me it All Light
for yourself TOBI sugita ORE wo tasukete
God You’re SAVE nanimo wakarazu Make it true show time
for yourself Taikutsu shinogi wo kasaneru   Eiri was certainly glad that Shuichi was safe.  If anything would have happened to him, Eiri was not sure what he would have done.   ***   “Shu!  Shuichi,” Eiri called as he raced out of the house with Satoshi hot on his heels.  He collapsed onto his knees besides his fallen husband and cradled him in his arms.    Shuichi hissed at the movement.  Jolts of pain shot from the wound in his shoulder.   “Oh, God, Baby.”  Burying his face into Shuichi’s soft black locks, Eiri rocked them both gently as quiet sobs wracked his body.   He did not hear the wail of sirens growing closer or the rapid speech of the contingent of guards around him or his son’s ear piercing wails from the nursery.  The only thing he could hear was the sound of the gunshot echoing over and over again in his head and Maiko’s accompanied blood-curdling scream.   Eiri gave a start when he felt a cool hand on his face.  Gold met violet.   “You’re crying,” Shuichi whispered.  He could count on one hand how many times he had witnessed Eiri crying and still have enough fingers left over to form a fist.  It was always shocking and a little unsettling.   Baka.”  Conking their foreheads together, Eiri commanded in a whispered tone, “Don’t you ever do that to me again, you understand me?”   Shuichi giggled.  “Yes, Sir.”  He liked it when Eiri worried over him.   “The ambulance is here, Sir,” came Satoshi’s voice.   ***   Eiri came back to the present.   Humming softly, Shuichi was gently swaying from side to side.   Eiri thanked whatever all-knowing, all-powerful being was out there every single day he woke up to find his baka asleep besides him.  Or maybe he should thank the police.  For, if they had not had the foresight to equip them all with bulletproof vests as part of their plan to capture the wanted fugitive who was out for blood, who knows what would have happened.  Or better yet, maybe he should thank Karin for her crappy aim.  Even with the scope that had been attached to the high power rifle, she had not been able to do much more than graze Shuichi’s shoulder.   He was not sure how that happened.  Maybe God really did exist and he (or possibly she) had intervened with Fate.  For what Shuichi and he were told, Karin was an excellent marksman.  Apparently, a distant relative of hers was in law enforcement and taught both her and her brother how to shoot when they were younger.  That was where she acquired the rifle from, it seems.  So, how she could have possibly missed was beyond him.  But for which Eiri would be eternally grateful.   “You bitch!”   As Shuichi’s wound was being attended to in the ambulance, the police had arrived with their prized prisoner in tow.   ***   In the back of the ambulance sitting opposite his pregnant husband and holding his trembling hands within his, Eiri gave the obviously distressed singer a smile.  He tucked a stray strand of hair behind Shuichi’s ear.  “Everything’ll be okay,” he tried to assure him.   Shuichi gave a weak smile in return that did not quiet reach his eyes and said nothing.  He kept his gaze away from the paramedics who were using liquid stitches on the deep gash on Shuichi’s shoulder.   Eiri turned at the sound of an approaching car.  His smile faltered.   “Ow,” he heard Shuichi cry out.   Realizing he had tightened his grip to the point of pain, Eiri released his grip on Shuichi’s hand.  Standing up as much as the cab of the ambulance would allow, he kissed his husband chastely on the forehead before climbing out.  “You bitch,” he growled as the seasoned police officer escorted a woman from the back of the police car.    Shuichi’s head shot around.  His eyes went wide.  The color drained from his face.  Was that…?  Oh, God, he felt sick.   Even though her hair was a rich brown and not blond and her eyes were twin dark orbs, making her look nothing at all like her photograph that had been circulating, Eiri could tell that this was Rinjin Karin.  Despite the obvious facial reconstruction, the resemblance to her older brother was eerie.  “You have a lot of nerve showing your face here!”   Karin shook off the lingering shock at seeing Shindou alive and well where he should be dead and grew angry instead.  She was not sure at whom she was angry.  Herself or them.  “I should’ve killed you when I had the chance,” she bit angrily, straining against her bonds.    The police’s hold on her tightened in reaction.   She could not count how many times she had had the author and his bitch in her crosshairs.  She could have off-ed them at any time, but had decided against it.  Dammit!   “Yeah, you should have,” Eiri retorted as he took a threatening stop towards the woman.   “Well, I’ll just remedy that mistake now!”   Hearing Shuichi’s panicked cry, all eyes turned to watch as an enraged Eiri launched himself across the front yard towards Karin.  Both the assembled law enforcement officials and the bodyguards sprang into motion.   In the commotion, the police officer’s hold on her slackened.  All attention was on the author.  Karin found her chance and slipped out of the loose grip easily and charged Eiri.  She was not sure what she could do with her arms handcuffed behind her back, but was sure something would come to her once she had her hands on that damn Yuki Eiri.   But before she could take more than a couple steps, an arm snaked around her from behind pulling her backwards away from her intended target.  She struggled wildly against the vise-like hold, cursing and spitting.   Marcus and Blade had come up on either side of Eiri and hooked their arms through his.  With a little twist, his arms were pinned behind his back.  He growled at his missed chance.   In the back of the ambulance, tears flowed down Shuichi’s face.  He wanted to go to his husband, but was being restrained by the paramedics.   All this was his fault.  Why was it that he caused so much trouble for not just the people he loved, but for others as well?  “Karin,” he sobbed quietly.  Everyone went silent.  “I am truly sorry for what happened.”   Aghast, Eiri barked, “Shuichi!”   A surge of rage flowed through Karin.  How dare he?  “Save your excuses!”   “I didn’t mean for Yasashii to die.”  And that was truth.   Shuichi could still remember being trapped underneath Yasashii.  Could still feel the mind numbing terror of looking into the eyes of a deranged madman who had lost all sense of reality.  Could still see Yasashii’s face filling his vision as he leaned in for a kiss.   “Our first kiss, Shu,” he had whispered.   Shuichi could still hear his plea.  “Don't do this,” he had begged as tears coursed down his cheeks.   But his plea had fallen once again onto deaf ears.    “I love you, Shu-han,” Yasashii had whispered right before their lips touched.   Shuichi could still feel Yasashii’s lips against his.  He felt nauseous.   In order to get free, Shuichi had had to think fast.  As revolting as kissing the man had been, Shuichi surprised Yasashii by kissing back.  Just as he had been hoping, Yasashii’s grip on him loosened enough for him to slip free.    He yanked his hands out of his captor's grip and slammed them into the sides of Yasashii's head.  The man screamed out in pain and sat up clutching his head.  Fisting his hands, Shuichi punched the unsuspecting man in the face, hearing a sickening crunch of bone.  The first one sent Yasashii's head back with a snap and a gasp.  Spittle flew from the man's mouth and specks of blood arched from his nose.  The second fist slammed into his jaw, sending him keeling over backwards.  Shuichi staggered to his feet, shaking and stood over his would-be rapist as he moaned and writhed on the floor, gripping his head.   That final rejection had been the last straw.  Yasashii had charged him.  If Eiri had not warned him in time, who knows what would have happened.   Shuichi heart beat in reaction to the sudden panicked look in his husband in confusion.  “Eiri?” he called out cautiously.  “What's-?”   “Duck,” Eiri shouted in panic.   Without bothering to question the older man, Shuichi did what he was told and dropped.  His eyes widened as he felt the swoosh of air passing right above his head.  He staggered backwards and stood back up as Yasashii lurched past him, trying to regain his balance.   But then, like a man possessed, Yasashii proved he was far from finished.   The man growled, spun around and charged Shuichi.  The singer stood his ground.  Bending over, he rammed his head into Yasashii's gut and grabbed hold of his belt.  He heard the man grunt as his breath was forced out of him.  With a cry, Shuichi pushed them down the hall, unaware of where they were heading.   Eiri stood at the foot of the stairs, feeling more proud of his Shu-chan than he had since he met him.  Shuichi may look like a weakling, but he could kick some major ass in a one-on-one fight.  His eyes widened in sudden realization.  “Shit in hell,” he whispered in panic.  “Shuichi!  Stop!”  Eiri raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time.  He had to get to him!   Hearing the panic in his husband's voice, Shuichi tried to slow down, but was unable to.  He felt the jarring impact as Yasashii crashed into the railing.  The collision sent shockwaves through Shuichi's body.  Seconds later, the horrifying sound of splintering wood echoed through the apartment and this time, Shuichi knew it was not the sound of the door being busted open.  He stared at the man he was strapped around with wide, terrified eyes.   Eiri reached the landing just as the railing gave.  For a few precious seconds, the two men teetered at the edge.  “Shuichi!” he cried, rushing forward.  Time seemed to slow down at that moment.  It seemed like Eiri had all the time in the world to get to his husbands side, but knew in reality that he had no time at all.  “Shuichi!”  He reached out for him, as he rushed forward.   Shuichi glanced over his shoulder at him, his eyes wide in fright, and a look of foreboding on his face.  His eyes widened as gravity reached out with mighty claws and snatched them.  With a blood-curling scream, his husband vanished from view as everything around him rushed past him towards the ceiling.  He closed his eyes tight against the sight quickening up to him at the speed of light.   “Shuichi!” Eiri cried hysterically as he ran to the edge of the landing.  “Shuichi!”   He really had not meant for Yasashii to die.  He would never wish something so cruel on his worst enemy.  Maybe if the railing had been properly secured things would have turned out differently.  Or maybe if he had played along a little more until Eiri could save him.  Thoughts like these were constantly going through his mind.   “It’s too bad you didn’t die along with him!”   A lone tear trickled down Shuichi’s cheek.   With a low growl, Eiri struggled against the vise-like grips on his arms.  How dare she?  Who did this chick think she was?  Shuichi was the victim.  And Yasashii got what he deserved.  “Your brother was a fucked up fruit loop!  And you’re no better!”   Karin’s rage turned her face lobster red.  “How dare you!”   “I dare because it’s true!  He murdered Jacob and Koji and then kidnapped Shuichi from right in front of our apartment!  He followed Shuichi night and day!  He had someone take photos of us that he had intended to use as blackmail!  He had another guy bug the studio!  He would have raped Shuichi if Shuichi had not managed to fight back!”   She refused to listen to any of this trash!  How dare they slander her older brother’s good name?  Yasashii had always been a saint.  He was a good boy.  “Liar!  Yasashii would never do something like that!  He loved Shuichi!”   Eiri barked out a laugh.  Why was it that loved ones of the accused were always deluding themselves to the obvious?  “Please!  He would not have known what love was if it bite him on the ass!  Your brother was insane and got what he deserved!”   “Bastard!”   “Bring it on, Bitch!  I’ll murder you where you stand!”   “Is that a threat?”   “That’s a promise!”   “Karin,” Shuichi whispered through his tears from the ambulance.  “It really was an accident.  We were fighting and…the railing broke…I never would have wished something like that onto my worst enemy.”   “Fuck you!”  Karin refused to believe any of the vile insults spewing from their mouths.  Yasashii was her brother.  She knew him better than anyone did.  He would never do what he was being accused of.  And she would certainly never believe that his death had been an accident.  Never!  Yasashii was smarter than that.   “All you have to do is ask the building superintendent,” Shuichi was saying.  “Even ours was a little loose.  You remember, Eiri.”  He turned pleading violet eyes towards his husband.   Eiri’s gaze softened as he stared into his devastated husband’s face.  He nodded.  “It’s true, Karin,” he admitted in soft, calm voice as he turned around to face the woman.  They had to have it fixed when the twins were born.   Karin shook her head vigorously.  Never!  Never would she believe their lies!  She knew the truth even if nobody else did.  “You killed him!  You killed him!  You killed him!  You killed him,” she chanted.  Spittle flew from her mouth.  Her struggles against her captors increased.  She could not feel the stinging bite of the handcuffs as they dug into the tender, sensitive flesh around her wrists.   Shuichi’s sobs deepened.  The guilt and the pain that he had tried so hard to move passed resurfaced as if he had not been in therapy for the last seven years.   Her accusation pissed off Eiri.  “Why the hell would Shuichi waste his time with a low life like your brother?”   “You’re dead!” she spit.   Lieutenant Katsuragi had had enough.  “That’s it.  Get her out of here,” he commanded.   “Yes, Sir.”   Karin was dragged back to the police car by several police officers.  Protesting being manhandled like a piece of meat, she lashed out at the officers.  Kicking, biting, spitting and hurling threats and allegations, she screamed, “Don’t be fooled by those innocent puppy dog eyes!  He’s an evil, vile, sorry excuse for a human being!  He stole my brother’s heart and ripped it in two!”   ***   Karin’s trial was set for some time next spring.  Until then, she was safely locked away in the federal prison far away from them.  Apparently her attorney was trying to play the “not guilty by way of temporary insanity” card.  For Karin was not denying anything she did.  Eiri absolutely despised such an excuse.  If you were man enough to do the deed, then be man enough to take responsibility.  It did not matter whether she was considered legally incompetent because of some psychiatric disorder or was showing a lack of reason or foresight or not.  Yes, being institutionalized would help with whatever mental disorder had brought about the psychotic episode, but that was not a punishment for the crimes she had committed.  Whether under the guise of some mental illness or not, guilty was guilty.  It did not change the fact that she had committed a crime and needed to be punished accordingly.   It was like having two criminals.  One male.  The other female.  Both commit a murder.  The murders are identical in everyway.  They are both caught.  A trial ensues.  Guilty verdicts are handed down for both.  The man gets life without the possibility of parole.  The woman is sentenced to twenty-five years.   Why would you give two different sentences when the only difference was that one of the criminals was a man and the other was a woman?   Shuichi’s tender, angelic voice cut through his thoughts.   God You’re SAVE Itaikena ORE wo tasukete
for yourself Ima sarana inori wa kikazu
God You’re SAVE ORE no KARADA wa Make it true show time
for yourself Sukui no kami ni yowasareru

God You’re SAVE…
for yourself…
God You’re SAVE…
for yourself…

God You’re SAVE.   Smiling, Eiri pushed away from the doorframe and strode silently into the room.   Shuichi gave a start when he felt arms slip around his waist.   “Hey,” Eiri greeted.  He pressed his lips into the crook of Shuichi’s neck.   Shuichi smiled over his shoulder at his husband.  “Hey,” he croaked.   They kissed briefly.   Resting his chin on Shuichi’s shoulder, Eiri tightened his hold on his husband and glanced down at the sleeping bundle being rocked gently.   Uesugi-Shindou Takara Yukiko, or “Little Yuki” as Shuichi called her, had a head of jet-black hair just like her mama and her once hazel eyes were lighting to a beautiful golden hazel.  Her brothers, Uesugi-Shindou Kaito Yosuke and Uesugi-Shindou Kaisei Shinta, with a head of dirty blond locks and black eyes with the beginnings of a hint of purple sheen like their mama, were the exact opposites.  Where Yosuke and Shinta were quiet, Yuki definitely had her mama’s lungs.   “You did good, Baby,” Eiri said.   A rosy tiny on his cheeks, Shuichi gently pulled out of his husband’s arms and returned his daughter to her crib.   Eiri cocked his head to study Shuichi’s tight ass as the man bent over.   Folding an arm over the railing, Shuichi reached out to caress his daughter’s warm, soft cheek with his knuckle.  Pulling back, he rubbed the sudden tears from his eyes and cleared his throat to loosen it.   Even after six months, it was still hard to think back to the triplets’ birth.    Last December, Karin nearly took Riku, Keitaro and Kane away from him and then when he was shot back in January, she nearly took Yosuke, Yuki and Shinta from him.   ***   “-brother’s heart and ripped it in two!”   As Shuichi watched through tear-blurred vision as Karin was shoved into the back of the police car none-too-gently, a jolt of pain shot through his abdomen.  Hissing, his hands flew to his belly.  He squeezed his eyes closed against the pain.   “Shindou-san?”   “Shindou-san?  Are you alright, Sir?”   Panicked voices surrounded him.   Doubled over, Shuichi forced himself to breath as the cramp passed.  Pasting a smile on, Shuichi said, “It’s nothing.  I’m okay,” as he slowly unfurled himself.   His mind, though, started working overtime.   Something was wrong.  Seriously wrong.   He did not know how to explain it, but there was a pressure that had not been there just minutes earlier.  It was a low, heavy weight in his lower abdomen.  Almost as if he had to go to the bathroom, but was being forced to hold it and now his bladder felt as if it was on the verge of bursting, like a balloon that has been blown up too much.  His mother described it once as the baby “dropping”.  He had never understood that saying until he had Keitaro and Kane.   It was strange, but his kimono actually seemed to sit differently around him.  And he found it easier to draw a breath.  As if there had been a weight upon his chest that was no longer there.  It was something he had not noticed until now.  Or maybe it was all in his head.   One of the things that he knew was not part of his overactive imagination was the cramping that started in his lower back before engulfing his entire abdomen.   He wrapped his arms around his belly and clenched his teeth to keep a scream that was rising from bubbling out.   Please, God, no.  It was too soon.  It was way too soon.  But all the pleading in the world did nothing to stymie the sickening realization that he was going into labor.   ***   Yosuke, Yuki and Shinta were so premature when they were born that Dr. Takanaga, Shuichi’s gynecologist, warned Eiri and him that there was a very good possibility that the triplets might not make it through the night.   But here it was six months later and his babies had beaten the odds.   Straightening, Shuichi turned to face his husband.   Eiri reached out and enfolded Shuichi in his arms.  “Ready?” he asked, wrapping his arms around Shuichi’s waist.   With a smile on his face, Shuichi wrapped his arms around Eiri’s neck and nodded.  He was more than ready.  This was something he had been waiting for for more than a decade.   “It’s just too bad you lost your voice.”   Shuichi shrugged.  It is not as if it was the first time.  As a singer, it was a staple in his life.   Eiri turned thoughtful.  “Or maybe that is a good thing.”   Pulling out of Eiri’s arms, Shuichi slapped his husband playfully.  Frowning, he pouted dramatically.   Eiri chuckled.  His baka was so cute.   Draping an arm around Shuichi’s shoulders possessively, Eiri guided them out of the nursery and down the hall towards their bedroom suite.  “Come on.  Don’t wanna be late.”   “Dad!  Mama,” came Riku’s voice.  “Grandma and Grandpa are here!”   Eiri winced at his son’s loud set of lungs.  So help him if he woke Kira.  The thirteen month old had just been put to bed.   He could hear the low rumblings of their voices floating up from the foyer.   Knowing exactly what was going through the author’s mind, Shuichi giggled as he crossed towards the closet.   That reminded him.   “You talk to your sister today?” Eiri asked as he sat down lightly on the bed.   “Earlier,” Shuichi said from the confines of the closet.   “How’s she doing?”   “Good.  I guess.  Considering it turned out that her ex-husband was not really her husband, but was in fact married to Rinjin this whole time.”   “Hm.”   Eiri still had a hard time wrapping his mind around his ex-brother-in-law’s involvement in this whole case.  It still was not known to what extent he was involved.  He claimed he was innocent.  Not that anybody was surprised.  Someone could be videotaped beating another person to death and he would still protest his guilt.  But Karin claimed he was just as guilty as she was.   Whether he was guilty of anything more than being her chauffer or not, the fact of the matter was, it appears the two of them had been more than just lovers for quite some time.   “How do I look?”   Eiri lifted his head.  His eyes went wide at the sight of Shuichi.  He sat up straight and drank in every last ounce of his lithe husband.   In a dark navy blue thigh length trench coat over a tight, sleeveless zipper up vest that showed his flat abdomen that gave no evidence of there being three living souls within it just six short months ago, black leather pants so tight Eiri was sure he would need a can opener to get Shuichi out of them later on tonight (but was in great expectation of the challenge), a black belt cinched around his waist and another hanging low around his hips, heeled boots and fingerless black gloves, Shuichi looked like a demon.  An incredibly drop, dead sexy demon that Eiri was just itching to defile.   Blushing at the attention and the blatant hunger that Eiri refused to hide; Shuichi held out his hands and twirled.  His coat flared out around him.   Standing up, Eiri crossed towards him.  Grabbing Shuichi’s hands, Eiri yanked Shuichi against him.   Shuichi yelped in surprise.  He wrapped his arms around Eiri’s neck and molded himself against Eiri.  Something hard was pressing against his stomach.  Rising up on his tiptoes, Shuichi whispered into Eiri’s very sensitive ear, “Is that your cellphone, or are you just happy to see me?”   Eiri suppressed a shudder.  Shuichi was going to pay for that.  Dipping his head, Eiri whispered, “Why don’t we just skip the party,” right before their lips met.   ~*~   “Giving you new music first, that was Tomatic with ‘I Need An Angel’ here on KIIS 98.5!  We have Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake and Timberland, Fabulous, TM Revolution, Tamaki Nami, Saga and Jessy McCartney coming up.  But first, we have a debut from an artist calling himself X/2012 called ‘Bird’.   “His album, Time In My Heart, drops this fall.  Now, I want you to take a close listen to this song.  Is it me, or does this guy sound a lot like Shindou Shuichi?  I don’t know.  Tell me what you think.   “Here it is.  X/2012 with ‘Bird’ here on the number one hit music station KIIS 98.5”   In the Convention Center in downtown Osaka overseeing last minute details for the party, a smirk slid across Seguchi Tohma’s face as the first single off Shuichi’s solo debut album blared over the speakers.   Shuichi had opted for a pseudonym because he feared the reaction people would have if they knew it was Shindou Shuichi, lead singer of Bad Luck, behind the song.  He feared his name had been stigmatized and people would judge his CD before they even heard it.  He wanted his music to be judged based on its own merits.   Other than the few songs like “Bird”, “Time In My Heart”, “God You’re Save”, and “Like a Cowboy”, Time In My Heart was a lot different from anything Bad Luck had ever put out.  It was less pop.  Less rock.  And more hip-hop.  More house.  It was more like the stuff Bad Luck had been doing before they were signed onto NG Pro.   Tohma could understand Shuichi’s fears all too well and had honored his brother-in-law’s wishes.   He could not wait to tell the ex-lead singer that his fears had been unfounded.  For if people’s reaction to the first single was any indication, Shuichi had another hit album under his belt.   Now if only he could talk the guys into reuniting.   ***OWARI***   A/N:  Holy crack holes Batman!  It is over!  It is truly over!  Wow.  It is kind of unbelievable.  I have been writing this story for how long now?  What am I going to do with myself now?   I want to give a special thank you to catti, Sammy, Xunxin, jamc79, and chikky for their reviews.   A special thank you goes to catti, Sammy and Xunxin for their continuous support and for sticking by me this entire time.  If it were not for you guys, I would have given up on this story a long time ago.   And to everybody else, thank you!