Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Apogee ❯ Chapter XV ( Chapter 15 )

[ 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: Again, thanks to all of my reviewers everywhere this has been posted. Enjoy!




Shuichi sat back in the booth and looked at the man he was sharing it with. Though there was plenty of room since they were the only two at the table, Jason had insisted on sitting next to Shuichi, his arm thrown over the back of the seat as they turned slightly to face each other. Shuichi still wasn't quite sure what to do or say around this man. He hadn't spoken to him much before tonight, and had only seen him rarely on the other side of the glass when Bad Luck had been working in the studio. Tonight, he had danced with him, becoming more intimate than Shuichi would have if he'd been thinking about it. Now, here they were alone together in a booth in a corner that was somewhat darker than the rest of the club.

"So, Shuichi, are you enjoying life here?"

Shuichi smiled, thinking about the ocean view from his balcony. "Yeah. I love seeing the ocean. I wonder how much an apartment with a view of the bay would be?"

Jason tilted his head a bit, giving Shuichi a slightly puzzled look as their drinks arrived.

"You have one of the best views on the entire coast. Most of the bays down here are for commercial shipping, the views aren't that good."

Shuichi looked at him blankly as he sipped his drink. "I wasn't talking about here. I meant, when I get back to Tokyo."

"Ah, well, we'll just get you a hotel. You won't be in Tokyo enough to need a permanent place, Shuichi. But if you want, I'll make sure we get you a view of the bay from your hotel room."

"Why would I stay in a hotel? Tokyo is home, I live there."

"You did. Now, you live here." Jason was giving Shuichi a look he didn't like. Shuichi began to look around slowly, wondering what Jason knew that he didn't, what game he was playing.

"We only came here to finish the album, we're going back to Tokyo."

Jason took a long drink, then set down his cocktail glass and looked at Shuichi, leaning closer than Shuichi would have liked. Shuichi smelled a mix of liquor and tobacco on his breath that almost reminded him of Yuki. There was even a similar light in his eyes, one that was making Shuichi nervous.

"Shuichi," Jason began patiently. "When Bad Luck came here to finish your album, your contract was transferred here. That means you are based out of NG LA now. You live here, you record here. You'll go back to Japan for tours, and you'll do interviews and appearances while you're there, but that's it."

Shuichi was struck speechless, staring at Jason, watching as Jason lifted his hand and ran the back of his fingers down Shuichi's cheek as though it were in slow motion.

"In fact, speaking of contracts, Shuichi. Yours is about up." His hand rested under Shuichi's chin, tilting his face up slightly. "I'd like to do a little contract negotiation, privately."

Shuichi's eyes widened as he felt soft lips touch his own. He froze for a moment in shock, and then pulled back, breaking the contact. Jason sighed, sitting back slightly and taking out a cigarette, resting it between his lips and lighting it.

"I'm sorry, Shuichi. I'd heard the office gossip about why Bad Luck came out here. I thought maybe you'd be ready to move on."

"Move on?"

Jason nodded. "You did come out here to get away from your lover, yes? Some writer, I heard, cheated on you or something, right?"

Shuichi only shook his head, and then took another sip of his drink. He felt like he was stuck in a strange dream, and he just wanted to wake up. His mind was reeling, trying to remember what he had ever heard about how a contract was transferred. He hadn't paid much attention on the rare occasion the topic came up, since it had never seemed relevant and he had always had something better to do.

"How did our contract get transferred?"

"It's not that hard. All it requires is a request from the artist to their manager, then the manager's signature on a form and final approval from the President."

"So... Tohma knew. This is my fault. I made a mistake, and this is what happened."

Shuichi faced the table, resting his arms on the surface and dropping his head to his arms. He completely missed the stunned look Jason gave him at such a familiar use of Seguchi Tohma's name. The only people Jason had ever heard address the President of NG by his first name were the members of Nittle Grasper and the man's wife. Finally deciding he had nothing more that needed to be said, he started to stand.

Shuichi vaguely heard Jason get up and leave but he didn't care. All that mattered was that Tohma had agreed to send Shuichi to the other side of the earth without even saying goodbye first. After a while, he heard someone settle into the seat across from him and he looked up slowly, blinking his eyes at Hiro.

"Everything ok, Shuichi?"

Shuichi just shook his head. This had all been so much; he didn't want to deal with any of it right now. "Take me home, Hiro. Please."

Hiro helped Shuichi stand, and then motioned to K, who dragged Fujisaki from the corner he'd been hiding in with a girl, and the four went outside and got into their limo to go back to their apartment. Shuichi just stared out the window, wishing he could reverse time and change the way things had ended tonight. He didn't want to be here anymore, he didn't want to see the ocean again in the morning if it meant barely ever going back to Tokyo. Tokyo had been his home his entire life, it was where his family was, and where his love was. He was quiet until they walked into their apartment and Hiro followed him to their bedroom, where Shuichi fell on his bed next to Hiro's, sobbing.

"Hiro, I want to go home!"

Shuichi felt the bed dip as Hiro sat down, but he kept his face buried in the bedspread. He didn't want to see Hiro's face right now, didn't want to see that Hiro had known, that Hiro had been lying to him. He couldn't deny it, though, when finally Hiro spoke.

"Shuichi, this is home now. I talked to Fujisaki, convinced him to agree with me and we asked K to transfer our contract here."

Shuichi sat up, staring in shock and hurt at Hiro. "Why? Why would you do that, Hiro?"

"I was worried about you, Shuichi! Yuki and Seguchi were playing games with you! You tried to kill yourself, Shuichi! What was I supposed to do, stay and watch as they kept on hurting you? Wait for the day I came to check on you and found you dead?"

Shuichi shook his head, his hands shaking as he pounded his fists on the bed. "No! You should have talked to me! You should have asked me! If I'd been given the choice I might have agreed to come for a little while!"

Shuichi got up and went to his closet, pulling out a bag and starting to fill it with the clothes he wanted to take with him now. The rest could be sent later. He heard Hiro get up off the bed and turned when Hiro took the bag out of his hand.

"What are you doing, Shuichi?"

"Packing. I'm going back to Tokyo."

"Shuichi, our contract is here. If you're not here, we can't work."

"Hiro," Shuichi said, turning to look at his friend. "Did you know Tohma had to give approval for our contract to be transferred? Someone told him I wanted this when I didn't know what I wanted. I have to go back and make it right. I have to let him know I had nothing to do with this. Maybe if I do, he'll bring us back to Tokyo."

Shuichi watched as Hiro took a few steps back and sat of the edge of Shuichi's bed, dropping Shuichi's bag to the floor. The look on Hiro's face was so sad; Shuichi wondered what he had said that could affect his good-natured friend so much.

"Shuichi, I was the one who asked Seguchi to give his approval for the move. He probably knows it wasn't your choice, but he approved, anyway. " Hiro paused, looking up at Shuichi, waiting for a moment before continuing. "I told him I thought what he did to you was wrong, that I thought he took advantage of you. I told him you were blaming yourself for the fight between him and Yuki. I asked him to let you go, and he did."

Shuichi stood in shock for a moment, staring at Hiro, unable to believe it had been his best friend who had done this to him. He felt wetness on his cheeks and took a deep breath, deciding to ignore it. He stepped forward enough to pick his bag up off the floor and went back to silently packing, aware Hiro was watching him as he moved around the room, but not caring. When his things were packed in his bag with his toiletries, he stepped out of the room to see K and Fujisaki waiting in the living room, obviously waiting to see how Shuichi was taking the news.

Shuichi calmly looked at K, aware that he had been part of this, too. It hurt so much that all of these people he cared about had done this without talking to him. He stepped up to K and held out his hand.

"I'll need my passport. I'm going to go downstairs and have the concierge call a car for me, but I need you to get me the next flight to Tokyo. I don't care if I have to be strapped to the wing, I'm going home."

K didn't speak, only turned and went into his room, returning with Shuichi's passport and handing it to him. "I'll call your cell phone when I have the flight information."

Shuichi nodded and turned toward the door. He turned back when he felt Hiro grab and hold onto his arm. He hesitated a moment, then turned back when it became obvious that Hiro wasn't going to let go.

"Shuichi, wait. Let us do this the right way. Running back now won't do anything."

Shuichi shook his head. "You don't understand, Hiro. I have to go back now, tonight. I can't let this go any longer; I have to explain things to him. I love him, Hiro."

"After everything he did to you, you love him?"

"Hiro, he never tried to hurt me, neither of them did! We all made our own choices, and now I'm making another. I might make mistakes, but you have to let me make them by myself, Hiro. You can't live my life for me."

"I wasn't trying to, Shuichi!"

"Weren't you? You made the decision to come here for me, you made the decision to tell Tohma to let me go. You decided what would happen. Now I have to just hope he doesn't hate me for leaving like that. I have to just hope he can love me."

Shuichi stood and stared at Hiro until Hiro dropped his arm.

"I was just trying to do what I thought would be best, Shuichi."

"I know. You're still my best friend, Hiro, but right now, I have to do this." Shuichi looked up at Hiro and smiled, dropping his bag to the floor and rising onto his toes to hug him. "I'll see you soon, Hiro, once I convince Tohma to bring our contract back to Japan."

He let go of Hiro and picked up his bag, taking the elevator downstairs and waiting patiently for the car. It hurt leaving Hiro this way, but he knew now what he had to do. The ride to the airport was shorter than he'd expected, the late-night traffic being much less than normal, and the call from K came halfway there, giving him his boarding information. A little less than an hour later he was sitting in a near-empty first-class section, waiting for take-off. He looked out the window as they began to taxi to the runway. In a little less than twelve hours, he would be back on the ground in Tokyo. He sat back a little more in his seat, exhausted and impatient for the plane to get altitude so he could put the seat back and get a pillow and a blanket.

He watched the ground start to rush past as the vibrations under hi feet from the plane's engines increased. Soon, he was pressed back into his seat as the plane reached for the heavens, taking him home. He looked out the window again after the plane leveled off, placing the pillow the flight attendant brought him under his head and pulling the blanket up around his shoulders. He'd asked K to call Yuki and ask him to pick Shuichi up at the airport. Now all he could do was hope Yuki would be there and that he wouldn't hate him for what he was going to say.