Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Untitled ❯ Turning Around Only To Fall Back Again ( Chapter 9 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

A/N: I have written almost this whole chapter down. Follow these links to see how much work that is:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b98/MihaMatsuo/CCI09052 008_00001.jpg (First page => the very top part before the line is a part of the KKM fanfic I'm working on so it's a TINY bit of a spoiler^-^)

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b98/MihaMatsuo/CCI09062 008_00000.jpg (Second page)

I would also like to dedicate this chapter for my English teacher of 2008! She's so wonderful and helped me open up more of my detailing side and encouraged me through all of this. Thanks, Mrs. P!!! Now enjoy the next installment!

P.S. - I listened to the Piano version of Akatsuki no Kuruma by FictionJunctionYUUKA for this chapter. So go take a listen and make sure to put it in repeat, it's awesome~

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The night before, Shuichi forced himself to trudge all the way to Yuki's house and managed to convince Yuki to answer the door before passing out cold. When he woke up he was shocked that Yuki had actually brought him inside instead of leaving him outside in the hall. Now, Shuichi sat down on Yuki's couch, holding his sides and staring up at the silent blonde man. The pain was starting to kick in again and Shuichi felt like he would scream in agony, but held it back. Instead, he opted for a question.

“Why'd you just watch?” Shuichi whispered, looking away from Yuki's eyes. He couldn't see the pain that flashed through Yuki's eyes. Silent moments passed and Yuki still said nothing. It was grating on Shuichi's nerves. Finally, he had it. He snapped his head up and opened his mouth to yell, but once he saw the look in Yuki's eyes, he faulted and stood up.

`TELL HIM!!' Yuki's mind was screaming at him to come out and tell the truth to the one he loved.

“I…I wanted… to help you.” Yuki struggled to say.

“Then why didn't you help?” Shuichi asked softly. He couldn't stay mad at Yuki no matter how hard he tried or fought with himself. He would always end up forgiving the people he loved. Yuki shook his head and plopped down on the chair behind him, head in his hands, elbows on knees. Shuichi kneeled down and looked up at Yuki, suddenly getting déjà vu.

`This happened when I got beaten up by Aizawa…' Shuichi thought to himself.

“I thought you would get over it like you always did, but I found out I was wrong.” Yuki couldn't believe he was breaking down like this. He's gone this far without cracking, so why was he like this now?

“I'm so sorry.” Yuki whispered. Shuichi leaned up and brought Yuki into his embrace.

“I know you can never forgive me, but-”

“Shh, Yuki. It's okay.” Shuichi ran his fingers through Yuki's hair. Yuki cried until there were no more tears left to shed and Shuichi sat there, letting Yuki cry and whispered comforting words into his ex-lover's ear. Long after Yuki finished, he sat up and wiped the damp traces of tears from his face. Shuichi moved and sat next to yuki on the couch.

“Are you okay now?” Shuichi asked worriedly. Yuki nodded and sighed.

“Would you ever forgive me?” Yuki whispered so quietly that Shuichi had to strain to hear him. Would he forgive Yuki? That was the question his heart wanted to know. He didn't know if Yuki would ever do that again but he wanted to forgive him. He was scared to let Yuki back in. Shuichi sighed and Yuki's head perked up.

“I'll think about it, okay? I'm not sure.” Shuichi said. Yuki nodded and a faint stream of Anti-nostalgic broke the sudden silence. Shuichi smiled sheepishly at Yuki and answered his phone.

“Hello?... At Yuki's… I told you I needed to talk to him… I'm fine… Yeah… Bye.” Shuichi hung up and put the cell back in the button up pocket.

“That was Hiro. He told me to get over there before he sends K after me.” Shuichi smiled at Yuki and saw the saddened look on his face. Shuichi stood up and bent down to kiss Yuki on the cheek. Yuki gasped, surprised, and Shuichi giggled.

“See you later, okay?” Shuichi asked. Yuki nodded and let a faint smile pass his lips.

“Bye Yuki.” Shuichi could have SWORN he saw a smile adorn Yuki's face, but brushed it off as hopeful imagination. Shuichi left through the door, shutting it silently behind him. Yuki gingerly touched his cheek, feeling the fire that ran through him. He smiled to himself and vowed to get Shuichi back.

Suguru forced himself to go to work the following day, dreading every moment that he would encounter. He walked through the halls of NG and to his cousin's office, his heart beating slowly faster with every foot he walked. Shuichi didn't show up for work today and he could understand why. Tohma was a bastard and still is. Suguru knocked on the door and heard a voice telling him to come in, and he did. Tohma sat turned around in his chair, overlooking the busy morning streets of Tokyo.

“So what are you planning?” Suguru spoke, causing Tohma to turn around and face him.

“Slow down, dear cousin. We will get to that in due time. Have a seat.” Tohma smiled that deceiving smile of his and motioned to a chair in front of his desk. Suguru stared warily at the chair before walking up to it and sitting.

“Have you been okay lately? You look worried…” Tohma said to his cousin. Has he been okay?! Suguru was furious, but he didn't let himself show that. His jaw clenched when he heard his cousin ask him that RIDICULOUS question.

`Sure Tohma, I'm FINE! You force me into this plan of yours knowing good and well of my feelings toward Shuichi. You were only testing me to see if I would give you the answers you wanted and like a FOOL I did what you wanted me to! So now do you honestly think that I am OKAY?!' Suguru was screaming into his mind.

“I've been fine, cousin.” Suguru replied trying his hardest not to spit out the last word like it was a plague on his tongue. Apparently, Tohma had heard the spite in his cousin's voice and smiled even more.

“Well then I guess we should get down to business.” The smile slipped off of Tohma's face, revealing the cold expression in his eyes that froze Suguru in his place…

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Suguru nervously hastened to his house in a panic. Just as he thought his cousin couldn't think of anything worse then what he already planned up, this was beyond humane. Why would his cousin go to such great lengths to get Ryuichi out of the way other than to get to Shuichi? As he thought of the answers to that question, he paid less attention to his surroundings and ended up walking straight into the person he didn't want to see at that time… Shuichi.

“Hey, Suguru. What's wrong?” Shuichi asked worriedly, wondering what could be wrong with his friend that was oh so cute. Suguru shook his head and slipped on a fake smile.

“Nothing's wrong. I have to go, okay? Sorry.” Suguru apologized to Shuichi before hasting far enough away from his weakness before taking off at a sprint.

Shuichi stared at Suguru run away and grew more confused with each second that passed by. He quickly grew suspicious at his actions and made sure to find out what was going on, but first he would go talk to Hiro. Shuichi hummed on his way to his best friend's apartment, watching the cars as they passed him on the concrete road to his left.

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Shuichi trudged into Hiro's dimly lit apartment and pulled off his muddy shoes in the doorway, leaving them on the sky blue carpet covering the floor. Hiro heard his friend come in and he peeked out of his bedroom door and laughed silently as he saw his friend hopping on one foot to get a shoe off. Shuichi heard the slight laughter and glared in the direction of the noise, causing Hiro to immediately go silent.

“So, how did it go with Yuki Eiri?” Hiro quietly stepped out of his fortress of a bedroom and leaned on the doorway, crossing his arms and tilting his head. Shuichi's eyes brightened and formed into the shape of hearts. Hiro chuckled at his crazy friend.

“I guess everything went well, then.” Hiro softly smiled when Shuichi nodded in excitement. Shuichi's hyper state quickly died with a large yawn rose up his throat and out his mouth. Hiro scuttled over to Shuichi and tugged him lightly back towards the bedroom. Shuichi complied and followed his friend, raising his free hand to stop the yawn that threatened to come out. Shuichi quickly looked around Hiro's blue bedroom, never being able to get used to it. He slumped his way to the copper red bed and plopped down on it, snuggling into the cold covers.

“Hey Hiro?” Shuichi peeked out from his bangs at his almost equally tired friend.

“Yeah?” Hiro responded.

“Suguru was acting weird when I bumped into him. He looked like he was scared or something.” Shuichi's brows furrowed in worry as he looked down at the cool sheets, concern melting like lava into his body movements. Hiro raised an eyebrow and shook away the thought that forced its way into his mind.

“Don't worry about it, Shu. He's probably worrying about a song or something like that.” Hiro assured Shuichi. Shuichi nodded quickly and yawned, covering his emotionally worn body with the silk covers. It didn't take Shuichi long before he let sleep claim him. Once Hiro was sure his exhausted friend was asleep, he let his mind wander to all sorts of horrid thoughts. He knew Suguru was never worried enough that he would look panicked.

`What's wrong with him?' Hiro thought quietly to himself.

Suguru ran into his house and up the brown wooden stairs to his room, slamming the door even though he was well aware that his parents weren't home, again. Suguru's heart pounded in his ears as he fell onto his knees on the carpeted floor. He hyperventilated into the hands that reached up to cover his flushed face, mind racing at the speed of light.

`You should have told Shindou. You should have warned him.' The voice in Suguru's head bluntly said, stating the obvious. Suguru nodded and tightly gripped his hair to keep from bursting out in sobs.

“I know I should have. I want to tell him, but if Tohma ever found out, he would be in even more trouble all because of me.” Suguru's choked on his words and a sob ripped from his throat. His body couldn't hold itself up anymore, so he sat on his legs and his stomach folded in until his chest hit his thighs. His arms cradled his head and salty tears fell from his eyes and onto the sleeves of his sweatshirt.

“I don't want Shuichi to be hurt. But I have to hurt him.” Suguru whispered into the darkness of his dimly lit room.

`You should get it over with.' The voice came back to the front of Suguru's mind. Suguru shook his head rapidly, sobbing once more.

“I don't want to.” Suguru reluctantly moaned aloud. He hiccupped from all the sobs that he fiercely held back and he shook his head once again.

`It's for Shindou's own good. If you don't do this, who knows what Tohma could do to both you AND Shuichi. If Tohma found out, no one knows what would happen to you and Shuichi would most likely be hurt twice as much.' Suguru felt he was going slowly insane. The small persuading voice in his head was making sense. Suguru felt himself nod, as if he was hypnotized by the calm talking that spoke to him from his mind.

“I'll do it. For both our sakes.” Suguru didn't mention which two he was talking about; Shuichi and him, or the voice and him.

After Shuichi had left, Yuki thought solemnly about what would become of them. He felt so sorry that he had put Shuichi through all of the pain that Tohma forced his pink-haired lover into. His eyes hardened coldly as he remembered the state Shuichi was in when he opened his door and to his shock, found Shuichi barely standing on his own two feet before passing out in his arms. The anger welled up inside him until it oozed from his pores. His arm reached out to his right and gripped the cordless phone with such a force that could break the poor technologic thing in two. He dialed Tohma's cell phone number by memory and held the receiver up to his ear, waiting for the bastard to answer.

“Hello?” Yuki could just hear the smile in his voice.

“Never hurt Shuichi again.” Yuki bluntly put. Judging by the silence on the other side of the phone, Tohma was in shock.

“But why Eiri?” Tohma asked in pure disbelief.

“I'm warning you now. You hurt one hair on his head, and you will pay.” There was a sigh on the other side.

“All Right, Eiri. I will do as you say. I just don't want him to hurt you.” Tohma gave into Yuki's demands.

“He's not GOING to hurt me. It's all in your head.” Yuki never waited for an answer, so why would he start waiting now? He hung up the phone and nonchalantly threw it over his shoulder and onto the padded chair behind him. His hands flew up to his hair in an instant, gripping the roots and tugging. He knew Tohma had lied. Tohma always lies when he wants to have things his way. He could imagine the look on Tohma's face right now, features softening into a mad grin. Yuki groaned and wanted to protect Shuichi now more than ever. Shuichi was in danger every minute he was out of Yuki's sight.

“Shit.” Yuki muttered under his breath.

Tohma flipped his cell phone shut with a flick of his wrist and set it on the office desk in front of him, smiling into the air. His instincts told him that Eiri apparently didn't believe him when he told his golden eyed brother-in-law that he wouldn't hurt Shuichi. Tohma meant every word he said. He wouldn't even touch Shuichi. That job was for his puppet. Tohma chuckled and eventually crescendoed until he was laughing an insane laughter for no one to hear. He wanted so bad to hurt Shuichi right then and there for making Eiri turn on him, but knew he had to wait. Eiri would be keeping Shuichi under lock and key until he was sure that the pink fairy was safe enough to let out. He would give the couple a few months of freedom until he would strike.

3 Months Later:

Shuichi and Yuki were an even stronger couple then before. They went out on dates often and showed their affections in public, earning even more media discussion about them. They had also moved back in together, sharing the bed and talking out their problems like any real couple would do. It had taken a little more than 2 months for Shuichi to build up the courage to tell Yuki what had actually happened when Ryuichi and Tohma had gotten into a fight in Tohma's office. Yuki was horrified by the story and vowed to hurt Tohma the first chance he got the green eyed bastard alone. Shuichi ended up calming Yuki down from a bloody rampage and told him not to worry about it and that nothing would happen… or so he thought.

Suguru was called often into his cousin's office for the confidential meetings after Tohma figured out Yuki didn't believe him. Suguru and Shuichi ended up becoming close friends, just about as close as Shuichi and Hiro. He also found out that his liking of Shuichi was nothing more than a passing crush. Hiro started turning over to the dark side and started having feelings of more than a friend for Suguru. Of course Suguru, being as dense as he is, didn't know that but Shuichi used his keen ability to read his best friend's emotions and figured out himself even though Hiro fervently denied all accusations.

Sakano and K were holding Shuichi late against his will, saying something about him not working hard enough. Shuichi excused himself from the Studio room and yawned as he trudged through the white halls of NG to the men's restroom. Shuichi looked around cautiously to make sure no one was there, but didn't know why he wanted no one there. Once he was sure he was alone, he flipped out his cell phone from his blue jean pocket and speed dialed Yuki's number.

“Yeah?” Yuki answered.

“Hey! I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to be home late so don't wait up for me.” Shuichi pouted a little through his words. He heard Yuki chuckle and smiled softly.

“All right. Be careful okay? I love you.” Yuki spoke the word that strained Shuichi and his relationship in the past. Shuichi's heart nearly jumped out from his chest in joy, but he calmed himself.

“You know I will. I love you too. Bye.”

“See you later.” Shuichi hung up and dumped the phone back into his pocket. A tear slipped down his tanned face and Shuichi started laughing.

`He actually loves me.' Shuichi squealed girlishly. He made his way to the mirrors to his left and stared at his reflection. The salty tear tickled his cheek and he quickly wiped it away. He shook out all traces of crying before making his way back to the studio. He didn't even get to walk into the door before it flung open and K shoved a pistol to Shuichi's head. Shuichi stared up at K's eyes curiously, causing K to falter. Shuichi shrugged and slipped past K and into the door, knowing he would have to stay for at least a few more hours.

The streets of Tokyo were empty with the exception of one or two cars every once in a while. Shuichi was dead tired since Bad Luck was shut up in NG working on 2 songs for their next album. Shuichi yawned into his hand and tears stung his eyes from sleepiness. The streetlights blew off and the hair on the back of Shuichi's neck flew up. He grew fearful and started pacing faster down the street. Light cracks in the air had Shuichi turning at the speed of light to identify what it was. Shuichi saw Yuki and his apartment down the street and he grinned as he all but ran to his destination… but he was destined to never make it back in one piece.

3 masked men came up behind their unsuspecting victim and one pushed a chloroform soaked washcloth over Shuichi's nose while holding Shuichi's hands behind his back. Shuichi struggled and screamed into the chloroform washcloth to no avail. His eyes rolled up into his head and he lost all control over his body. He fell backwards into the strangers arms, out cold.

Yuki bounced his knee up and down in anxiety. Why wasn't Shuichi home yet? Surely, he wasn't still at NG. Yuki cautiously picked up his cord phone and dialed his lover's friend's phone number.

“Hello?” Hiro asked.

“Is Shuichi there?” Yuki prayed to whatever Gods were out there that Shuichi was in fact there. Apparently there were no Gods after all.

“No. Shuichi isn't here.” Yuki's heart plummeted to the very pit of his existence. His chest burned and ached and he dropped the phone in shock.

“Wait what's going on?” Hiro talked into the phone. Yuki couldn't hear anything anymore other than his thoughts. Shuichi wouldn't go anywhere other than Hiro's house in such a short time. He ran out of the apartment, not even bothering to shut the door. Let people take what they want. All he was worried about was Shuichi. Yuki ran through all of Tokyo, searching for his lover. In all the places that he searched, his lover was not there. Yuki knew of one other place where Shuichi might be. The park where they met. Yuki frantically ran to the park and stopped at the bench where his lover sat before. Once again, Shuichi was not there.

`No…' Yuki's heart broke in two and he fell to his hands and knees. Tears slipped out of his eyes as his chest tightened. Where did Shuichi go? The pain was too much to handle and Yuki screamed out into the night, letting his anger and sadness pour out of him in waves. His arms shook from the force of his screams and nearly gave out. He screamed until his voice cracked and wouldn't yell anymore. The saddened Yuki picked himself up from the frigid concrete and onto the dark bench where he and Shuichi sat everyday in the past 3 months. He curled up in a ball and cried in agony.

The cell phone shrilled into the silence of the NG office. A hand reached out and put it to the listener's ear.

“We have him.” The person spoke to the listener. A grin spread across Tohma's pale and malicious face. He would finally have what he wanted.