Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Apogee ❯ Chapter V ( Chapter 5 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: Gravitation is not owned by me, it is owned by Maki Murakami. I own nothing.

Author's Note: Rating for future chapters.


Shuichi sang softly to himself as he approached the NG building. The last week had seen an improvement in his mood and in his progress with Bad Luck. He had finished a song that managed to sound hopeful in spite of the sadness of the lyric, and Suguru was helping to reinforce the feeling with the arrangement. Hiro had started making sure that Shuichi ate something for lunch. Hiro had never asked and Shuichi had never volunteered the information, but Shuichi knew that Hiro guessed he'd lost too much weight to be healthy. He suspected Hiro would insist on making him eat dinner as well, but Ayaka called right after dinner, and since Seguchi Tohma had begun showing up every night at their studio, it seemed Hiro had decided to delegate the job of overseeing Shuichi's dinner.

Shuichi paused in his singing as his thoughts turned to Tohma. While part of him was flattered that the president of the company was taking such an interest in him, at the same time he resented it. All it took was a near-major breakdown to get the man's attention. Though, exactly which part of the man he'd gotten the attention of he still wasn't sure. He had considered asking Tohma why he was taking such a sudden interest in Shuichi, but as yet he hadn't found the right time. It was not the sort of question Shuichi thought he could just ask out of the blue. He also wasn't quite sure he was ready to hear the answer, whatever that answer might be.

A few minutes later Shuichi was stepping out of the elevator on the fifth floor and making his way down the hall to the recording studio when a wail of misery sounded from the open door ahead of him. He hurried forward, wondering who was crying and why and was stopped short as he entered by Sakuma Ryuichi throwing himself at Shuichi, sobbing and clutching Kumagoro in one hand and a magazine in the other. Shuichi tried to get himself untangled from the other, asking what was wrong but only found himself more tightly held while Sakuma sobbed continually and begged Shuichi not to die.

"Sakuma-san, I'm not dying! What is going on?" Shuichi yelled, finally managing to separate himself from the sobbing man. Sakuma stood back and wiped at his face with the back of the hand holding Kumagoro and thrust the magazine toward Shuichi with the other. Shuichi took it, turned to page forty-seven as instructed in between sobs and felt his mouth go dry and his vision blur for a brief second. Without a word to anyone he turned and raced from the room, taking the stairs in his haste and bounding up the three flights to Tohma's office two at a time.

He ignored the secretary who called out that Seguchi-san was on a conference call and burst into the president's office, tossing the magazine down onto the desk and opening it to the correct page before standing back, silent but for his breath still heaving in his chest. The headline across the top screamed out 'Bad Luck Singer Suicidal?' above the photos that had been taken of Shuichi the week before and were still locked in a drawer in Tohma's desk. Shuichi watched as Tohma calmly ended his conference call, apologizing for the abruptness but something had come up, they would have to reschedule. Gloved hands picked up the magazine and calmly flipped to the next page where a picture of Shuichi and Tohma leaving the NG building graced the page. Tohma's eyes narrowed as he realized when the picture had to have been taken. It had been the day Yuki had come to his office. Shuichi had been so exhausted and depressed that Tohma had put his arm around his waist to help him from the door to the car when they left, afraid he would fall if not for the support. Turning back to the first page of the story he noted the writer's name and then dumped the offending piece of trash in the wastebasket and looked up at Shuichi.

"I apologize, Shuichi. Apparently the photographer had not handed over all of the prints from that shoot. After such a breach of his contract and our confidentiality agreement, I am sure he will find it difficult to obtain future contracts with other companies. He'll be reduced to taking school pictures for a living within the month."

Shuichi nodded slowly, feeling both gratified at Tohma's calm assurances and embarrassed that the story had been published. He swallowed, remembering who had shown it to him. "Sakuma-san -- He is very upset, he was begging me not to die."

Tohma sighed. "I will explain things to him, make sure he knows you are not dying. At least, not anymore." Shuichi was surprised to see the small smile that graced Tohma's lips as he realized he was being teased. He chuckled slightly in return and shook his head.

"Seguchi-san -- "

"Shuichi, please, call me Tohma. I think we have been spending enough time together lately that we can drop the formality when we are alone."

Shuichi nodded, blushing slightly. "Tohma... why have you been so nice to me? You never paid attention to me before unless you thought I'd hurt Yuki and -- I thought you didn't like me."

"Hmm. I was rather fierce in defending Eiri, wasn't I? I have much to apologize for, it seems." Tohma stepped out from behind the desk, moving closer to where Shuichi stood and leaning back against the edge of his desk. "I didn't dislike you or like you. I have always found you interesting, and I often wondered what it was about you that Eiri found intriguing enough to allow you to get so close to him. I've decided in the last week that I enjoy spending time with you." Tohma's smile widened a bit as Shuichi's blush deepened slightly.

"But, why did you kiss me?" Shuichi whispered.

Tohma looked surprised for an instant before he answered. "Because it was something I wanted to do and I didn't stop to think about it first. Why did you kiss me back?"

Shuichi's mouth dropped open in shock. He hadn't expected to be asked that and sputtered and stammered for a minute before getting his mouth to work right to get his answer out. "Because I liked it."

Tohma's smile widened and he brought one gloved hand up to brush against Shuichi's cheek. "Maybe I'll kiss you again someday, then, if you'll allow me. But now you need to go back downstairs and get to work. Your single is due out soon, and I know you haven't finished the last track. Send Sakuma-san up here, and I will make sure he understands things."

Shuichi nodded, feeling his cheeks flaming as he left Tohma's office. He'd asked. He'd asked why Tohma kissed him, and while it wasn't the answer one would normally expect to want to hear, it made sense. Neither of them had been thinking much that day it seemed, though one thought was running on constant repeat in Shuichi's brain, causing a flock of butterflies to fly in his stomach in a mixture of joy and nerves. Tohma said he might kiss him again. He closed the door behind him and turned to walk back up the hallway and froze.

Yuki was standing just a few feet away, and Shuichi wasn't sure what he was going to do about it. The last time he'd seen Yuki he'd run and there was a large part of him that urged the same reaction, screaming that he wasn't ready for this, he didn't want to see Yuki. Forcing himself to calm down, he took a deep breath and managed to speak calmly.

"Hello, Yuki."

Yuki only nodded back. He'd come to see Tohma, doing a favor for Mika that he'd been too distracted to refuse. He hadn't expected to see Shuichi, and it had thrown him, seeing him leaving Tohma's office with a rosy flush on his cheeks. Was Tohma taking advantage of Shuichi, using his request to Yuki to make his move, to set himself in a place where he looked like Shuichi's savior, while Yuki was left alone in the shadows, the devil incarnate? He shook his head at his own thoughts; he'd been writing too many romance novels.

Shuichi waited a moment, waiting for his legs to feel like legs again and less like something barely able to hold him up. Deciding he wouldn't embarrass himself, he started to walk past Yuki once it didn't seem as though Yuki was going to do any more than nod. Shuichi had just passed him when Yuki spoke.

"Shuichi."

He turned back, waiting, not being able to help the small tremor in his voice as he replied, "Yes, Yuki?"

"We need to talk. Would you have dinner with me tonight? I can pick you up here at six."

Shuichi took a deep breath. Dinner alone with Yuki. He knew what they had to talk about. He wanted to run again, wanted to scream that he had nothing to talk to Yuki about, but he managed to hold onto a shred of dignity.

"Sure. Six will be fine. I'll be in the lobby."

Shuichi turned quickly, somehow making it down the hallway to the elevator without running. His mouth was dry and he felt like he wanted to either shout for joy that Yuki wanted to discuss things or scream in rage because Yuki hadn't wanted to talk before. He resolutely shoved it all down while he waited for the elevator. He had practice, they had work to do, and Shuichi had a new song tickling the back of his brain.

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Yuki didn't bother to knock before walking into Tohma's office. He never had before, and he didn't intend to start now. Tohma stood with his back to the door, looking out the window at the spectacular view of the Tokyo skyline. Yuki closed the door just loudly enough to alert Tohma to his presence and then made his way to the couches while he waited for Tohma to finish with his phone call.

"Yes, that is correct. The usual cease and desist notice, along with the breach of contract notice and the termination papers... Yes, thank you. That will be all for now, contact me if there is anything new."

Yuki raised an eyebrow, curious in spite of himself. He briefly felt sorry for whoever had gotten on Tohma's bad side, but swiftly recalled that Tohma never brought out the legal guns unless it was a serious matter, preferring to rely on his name and his company's influence to push things in the right direction. Yuki remembered he'd once stated that using a lawyer when a smile in the right direction would get the job done just felt rude.

That well-known smile turned on him now as the receiver was placed quietly in its cradle and Tohma turned to face Yuki. He felt a brief surge of the jealousy he'd felt when he saw Shuichi leaving this very office and briefly considered forcefully removing the smile from Tohma's face. It faded quickly and he realized that without the anger of the week before clouding his vision, he might have noticed then that Tohma looked tired and that his smile seemed forced, something he couldn't recall ever having seen before. Though, the signs were small and it was only Yuki's long association with him that allowed even him to see it.

"What brings you by, Eiri?" Tohma asked after settling himself on the couch opposite Yuki, smile fixed firmly in place. He hadn't expected to see Eiri in his office this soon. Eiri was slow to forgive, and Tohma had expected to be on Eiri's 'list' for a few months at least.

"Mika asked me to come." He paused to light a cigarette, shaking his head as he did, seeing Tohma's expression shift to curiosity. "She caught me while I was writing, I agreed before I realized she'd asked. She's on the planning committee for some charity fundraiser. Refugees of some war in Africa or something. They want Nittle Grasper to play at their event next month."

Tohma sat back on the couch, a posture as close to a dejected slump as he ever got when anyone else was around.

"Why didn't she ask me herself?"

"She's still mad at you for telling me about the separation. She said she wanted to do it herself and hadn't found the right time or some such nonsense. Truth is, she didn't want to admit that she failed."

"Ah, I see. Well, I can't say I expected her to be happy about it." Tohma stood, pacing back to the window. "I'll have to talk to Noriko and Ryuichi, and of course the lawyers will have to have a look at things, but I'm willing."

Yuki stood, putting out the remaining half of his cigarette in an ashtray on the coffee table and walking toward Tohma's desk. He took a white business card from his coat pocket and tossed it on the desk before turning to leave. "That's the person to contact. I'll tell Mika you'll do it if it works out."

Tohma picked up the card and glanced at the name as Yuki walked to the door, looking up when he saw him stop out of the corner of his eye. "Was there something else, Eiri?"

Yuki turned and looked back at Tohma for a moment before speaking. "I'm taking Shuichi to dinner tonight. I'm expecting you to keep your word and not interfere."

Tohma nodded. "As long as he doesn't end up back where he was."

Yuki turned and left the office and Tohma turned back to the window and his study of the Tokyo skyline, each lost in their own thoughts and regrets.