Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Bittersweet Void ❯ Chapter 5
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: KitsuneforlifeYokoschick 
Anime/Manga: Gravitation Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 12.01.2010 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 245 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gravitation Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 12.01.2010 | Pages: 3 | Words: 4.4K | Visits: 245 | Status: Work In Progress
Bittersweet Void
Sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out. I had writer’s block and the cord to my laptop stopped working. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation
Chapter Five
Yuki stared in astonishment, mouth open and wide eyed. Shuichi just called him by name—his former name. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that their relationship was going to repair just because the singer retained some off his memory, but this was a good start. He wondered what could have triggered Shuichi’s memories, but brushed it aside and noticed his former lover’s attire.
He closed his mouth and took in the sight before him. Shuichi wore nothing more than a white towel around his waist. His biceps were more defined, still small, but defined. His pectorals were—for lack of a better word—beautiful. His stomach was flat and beginning to form a six pack. His chest was hairless.
Lost in his thoughts about Shuichi’s body, Yuki failed to realize that the singer was mere inches from him, studying his features. It wasn’t until he felt a hand on his loop earring that the novelist noticed Shuichi. The fresh scent of a shower reached his nose. He had to hold himself still, fearing that he would do something that would upset Shuichi.
Shuichi carefully caressed the small silver loop. His attention then shifted to the blonde hair that sat on top of the taller man’s head. He ran the golden locks through his fingers, reveling in the softness of it. Slowly, he let the strands fall free from his hand and took a step back, meeting the molten gaze of Yuki. This Yuki guy had golden eyes—Eiri’s eyes. “Who are you?” Shuichi asked, composed.
“Yuki,” the novelist said as if that was a sufficient explanation. It wasn’t.
“You lie! What is your real name?” Shuichi asked, taking a defensive step back. This guy was clearly toying with his mind, and he didn’t like that one bit.
Yuki held his hands up, showing that he meant no harm. When he was sure that Shuichi wouldn’t go off on him or run, he decided to speak up. “My real name is Eiri Uesugi. My alias is Eiri Yuki.”
Shuichi processed the information in his head. It all made sense… except the sudden change of hair color. The man in his dreams had blond hair, such as the one before him. But when he met him earlier, his hair was brown. What type of trick was this guy playing with him? “Why did you change your hair color?”
“To brown? Or back to blond?”
“Both.”
“I changed it to brown because I felt that I needed a new start for a new me. Nothing too deep. As far as changing it back to blond goes….” Yuki didn’t know how Shuichi would react if he told the young male the truth. He wanted Shuichi to remember him and their past. At first, he thought that his endeavors worked, but now he wasn’t so sure.
“I’m waiting,” Shuichi impatiently prompted.
“I wanted to trigger your memories…” Yuki finished. He watched Shuichi closely, trying to figure out what was going through his head. He doubted the boy would believe him, but it didn’t hurt to try, did it? A long silence stretched out as Shuichi thought about what he had heard. Yuki was amazed at how subtle the black haired male had become. He couldn’t tell anything by his carefully composed expression. It wasn’t like his past Shuichi, whom was as easy to read as a book. This one was intelligent and in control of his actions. It was… arousing.
“What are you talking about?” Shuichi said after a while.
“Shuichi,” Yuki began, causing the other male to tense and glare at him. He had forgotten that the vocalist didn’t like him ‘acting’ like he knew him. “Sorry. Have you ever noticed how strange Nakano and K have been acting around you? Like they were sheltering you from an unknown threat?”
Shuichi’s eyes widened. How did this stranger know his best friend and manager? Scratch that—how did he know how they acted around him? His head throbbed, alerting him that his headache was trying to resurface. He didn’t need this right now. He needed to get some sleep and think over everything that he had just heard. “Yu…Uesugi, if you don’t mind, I need some rest. I thank you for your… visit, but surely you didn’t come all this way to mess with my head. If you are finished, then I will be going back to bed,” Shuichi dismissed, turning to go inside.
“Shuichi, wait.”
“We don’t know each other, please stop addressing me so casually. It’s weird and it makes you seem like a stalker,” Shuichi explained, turning his amethyst gaze to the shocked novelist. The golden eyes flashed with emotion for a quick second before turning back to being impassive. Was that hurt in his eyes…? Awkward… The younger man shrugged it off. “What is it?”
Yuki fumbled around in his pocket for a while, producing a black leather wallet. He held it out to Shuichi, whom hesitantly took it, avoiding contact with the other man’s hand.
“Why do you have my wallet?”
“It fell out of your pocket last night,” Yuki lied.
“I see,” Shuichi said, not believing the story, even though it was plausible. He grabbed his door to close it when Yuki’s voice stopped him—again.
“I know that you have tried to remember your life before a little over a year ago, but without any luck. Your friends have been hiding the information from you. If you want to know what you can’t remember, then you know where I li-”
“No. What part of I don’t know you do you not comprehend?”
“Fine.” Yuki pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbled something on it, and handed it to Shuichi. “If you want to meet somewhere public to talk, then contact me.” With that, the novelist walked away.
Shuichi stared at the novelist’s back until the man disappeared from sight. He then looked at the paper in his hand, noting that it was Yuki’s number. He shrugged, closing his door.
Immediately, Shuichi headed toward the kitchen. Before grabbing a large glass out of the cupboard, he placed Yuki’s number and his wallet on the counter. He then proceeded to get a large glass of water. He didn’t want any effects lingering from his hangover when he woke up. Too tired to think about anything else, Shuichi went in his room to plop down on the bed. He would figure out what to do about Yuki at a later time.
0-0
Shuichi slowly became conscious. Upon opening his eyes, he groaned at the sunshine that filtered through the curtains. After giving his eyes ample time to adjust, he looked at the digital clock sitting on his night stand. He sighed when he saw that it was 4:39 in the afternoon, and forced himself into a sitting position on the side of the bed. He had been out for about six hours. He decided that the first thing he would do to start his day off would be to get dressed, considering he lost his towel sometime while he was asleep.
Shuichi headed into the kitchen after throwing on a pair of black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. When he went to grab the handle of the refrigerator door, the piece of paper with Yuki’s number on it caught his eye. Instantly, memories of the past twenty-four hours replayed through his head—from the club to Yuki coming to his house. After the memories flooded him, Shuichi wasn’t so hungry anymore.
His gaze wondered back to the small paper with a frown. The damned thing was mocking him. He sighed. He didn’t want to call Yuki. The guy was too weird. If he didn’t call the novelist, however, then he would never know about his past. Why did the guy have to offer him what he wanted to know on a golden platter? He felt like a dog that was being taunted by a bone. It wasn’t fair.
Why couldn’t he remember his own life? Shuichi tried to focus and remember what happened around the beginning of his music career, but his memories were too choppy. There were too many voids to actually recall his personal life around that time. He gave in. He had to call Yuki.
Reluctantly, Shuichi grabbed the number and headed toward his bedroom where his cell phone was in his pants. He grabbed the discarded clothing and reached in the pocket, pulling out his phone. Damn, his battery was low, but it should last him throughout the day. He dialed the number and waited for Yuki to answer. He picked up on the third ring.
“Hello,” Yuki’s deep voice said.
“Can you meet me in the park down the street from my place?” Shuichi asked, not feeling like beating around the bush.
“Shuichi?” Clearly Yuki was shocked that the vocalist would call him.
“Stop with the informality. And yes, it is me. Now can you meet me in the park in about thirty minutes or not?”
“Yes, I’ll be there. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you decide to call me?”
“Bye.” Shuichi ignored the question and hung up the phone. After changing into some blue jeans and a black button up shirt, Shuichi grabbed a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap. He didn’t want to get attacked by crazed fans. Looking at the time, he realized that he had about twenty five minutes to spare, so he might as well walk.
After checking to make sure he had his phone, wallet, and keys, Shuichi put on his jacket and shoes before heading out the door. The wind was cool and enjoyable as he walked on the sidewalk at a leisurely pace. There was no reason for him to rush. Either way, he would make it to the park earlier than his given time.
Thoughts swirled through his mind about what he might find out about his past. Was it so horrible that he wouldn’t want to remember it? Various scenarios and reasons came to mind. Did something traumatic happen to him? Was he a reformed convict running from the law? He laughed at himself. Somehow the convict theory was too wacky, even for him.
He stopped in mid-stride. Why was he going to listen to some random stranger about himself? For all he knew the guy could make up a lot of bullshit lies. He saw some other people on the sidewalk, looking at him strangely, so he resumed walking. Even with the distrust he held for Yuki, somehow he felt that the guy would tell him the truth, no matter how crazy the man seemed. He could at least hear Yuki out. The question was: would he be able to handle the truth?
Fear seeped into Shuichi’s veins. What if he was better off not knowing? He shook the thought off. He could do this. He would do this. He was a grown man. He didn’t need to be afraid of an unknown part of his life. It was the past, right? So even if something completely ludicrous was revealed to him, he would deal with it.
Before Shuichi knew it, he was at the park—the same park that he went to when he left the club. Ironically, this was the same park he went to for his inspiration for songs. To him, the park held significance and he couldn’t figure out why. He glanced at his phone for the time. He was five minutes early.
Instinctively, he headed toward the bench that he favored, only to find it already occupied by a male dressed in khakis and a blue long sleeve button-up shirt. He had blonde hair and dark sunglasses on. Upon closer inspection, Shuichi recognized that it was Yuki on the bench. Shuichi took a deep breath. He would not back out of this meeting. Plastering on a fake smile, he approached the older male.
“Were you waiting long?” Shuichi greeted, bypassing the bench to walk over to the railing that overlooked the city. He heard footsteps come from behind as Yuki took a spot beside him in front of the rail.
“No, I didn’t expect you for a few more minutes, anyway,” Yuki responded, not looking at Shuichi.
“Before I ask you anything else, how do you know about my past?” Shuichi asked, eyeing the other male behind his sunglasses.
Yuki sighed before answering. Of course… Start the conversation with a difficult question. He wouldn’t just straight out tell the leader of Bad Luck that he was his lover. “We were… close.” Yuki looked at Shuichi to see how the black-haired male would take the information.
Close? Close friends… That made sense. If Yuki was his close friend then why didn’t he remember the male other than the few warped dreams? Well, considering that the male made it to his dreams then maybe they were close friends. “Wait, then why did Hiro try to protect me from this guy?” Shuichi decided to voice his question. “As believable as you sound, then why are my friends trying to keep me from you?”
Yuki visibly cringed. The male just had to ask another question that he didn’t want to answer. “We would get into a lot of fights, and you would always get very upset afterwards. Hiro blamed me, and I do admit that the quarrels were my fault. He didn’t like me hurting you.”
Friends fight, so that story was also believable, too. Also, the fact that he was easily upset in the past was the truth. Shuichi finally concluded that Yuki did in fact know him, so he merely nodded. “How did we meet?”
Yuki was taken aback by the random question. He shifted his weight his hands by placing the on the railing, nervously. “We met in this park to be exact. You were writing lyrics, and I think you were past your deadline. It was at the beginning of your music career.”
Shuichi nodded. Back then, he was always late for deadlines. Even when he was in high school and supposed to be performing for school events, he was never organized and rarely met deadlines. Okay, next question. “If we were friends then why haven’t you been around the past year and a few months? Why did you decide to resurface now?”
“Well, I needed to get away. I had too much on my mind, and I needed to clear my head. The stress from my novels and a few personal issues caused me to go to New York for a small vacation.”
The explanation made sense. Now that it was established that the male wasn’t a stranger, Shuichi decided to stop being so harsh to Yuki about him addressing him so casually. Since the male seemed to know him. “Where did I live? Hiro said that I moved out of my house so that I could be independent, but moved in with him because I didn’t want to be alone. Is that true?”
Yuki exhaled a breath out of his mouth. Hiroshi would tell a lie like that to cover up Shuichi living with him. He felt bad that he was the cause of Shuichi being lied to so much. “Well, that’s not entirely true,” he began cautiously, watching Shuichi closely for any signs of discomfort. When he found none, he continued. “You lived with me when you moved out of your parent’s house. After I left, however, I think that you moved in with Nakano.”
Why would Hiro lie about something as insignificant as living with this guy? Shuichi sighed. He would have to do some serious evaluation on his and Hiro’s friendship. That was the least of his worries right now though. Why couldn’t he remember this stuff? His memory was bad, but not this bad. “Is there any reason why I can’t remember my past? Did I obtain amnesia by hitting my head too hard or something?”
“It is to my understanding that you were hypnotized,” Yuki bluntly said, avoiding the reason why. This talk was deep, and he didn’t expect Shuichi to ask him adequate questions. His lover was truly a man now.
Hypnotized. Shuichi turned the thought over in his mind. Why would he do something like that? Better yet, why would he live with someone other than Hiro? Through his fleeting thoughts, the kiss that he and Yuki shared this morning flashed through his mind. He became infuriated. Close friends didn’t kiss one another. After composing himself enough so that he wouldn’t yell, Shuichi turned a hard look to Yuki. “Why did you kiss me? You said that we were friends, but kissing isn’t something that friends do, especially not male friends.”
Yuki was shocked to say the least. The gods must have hated him. Just when things were slowly becoming normal between the two, Shuichi had to remember that. Well, there was no point in hiding their relationship no further. “I don’t recall saying that we were friends. I said that we were close. To be completely honest, Shuichi… we were lovers.”
Shuichi laughed a loud throaty laugh. To think that for once he actually believed Yuki. Lovers…? What a joke. Everything up until that point seemed plausible, but he was never gay. After his laughter died down, Shuichi’s anger took hold. “You’re sick! Here I thought that we were actually friends, when in reality you’re nothing more than a stalking fan-boy! You’re a fucking liar! How dare you mess with my head like that! Don’t ever contact me again!” Shuichi shook with anger, clenching his hands into fists. He wanted so badly to punch the male in front of him. Sadly, he didn’t need to go to jail for assault. To prevent acting out his thoughts, Shuichi stormed off.
Yuki longingly stared after the young male. He had already prepared himself for an outburst like that from Shuichi. It’s not everyday where someone tells you that you were a homosexual. He would give the vocalist space for now, but he wouldn’t give up. With a sigh, he headed towards his car.
0-0
Shuichi walked into his apartment. Yuki was insane, telling all of those lies. While Shuichi appreciated a good joke here and there, this was just plain cruel. He took off his shoes and headed towards the kitchen. He stopped in the hallway when he heard the television. Shuichi sighed and headed to the living room. He didn’t want to waste his electricity.
When he reached the room, he stopped and stared at the television in shock. Separate pictures of him and Yuki were displayed on the screen. He rushed to turn up the volume.
“There have been reports that Shuichi Shindo—lead singer of Bad Luck—and Eiri Yuki—famous romance novelist—have been sighted together after the novelist returned from his hiatus.” A video of Shuichi running from Yuki’s apartment showed after the pictures were removed. “Here, you see Mr. Shindo leaving from Yuki’s apartment this morning.” A picture of Shuichi touching Yuki’s hair appeared on the screen. “And here you see that their love is still hot and heavy. Tokyo’s most loved couple is back, and apparently, their love is still strong. You may remember over a year ago, the novelist declared on live television that he and Mr. Shindo were lovers with his arm around the singer.” A picture of a lost looking Shuichi and a smug looking Yuki appeared on the screen.
Shuichi turned off the television. If he was pissed before, then it was tenfold now. What the fuck was going on?! Without thinking, he pulled out his cell phone and called Yuki’s number from the recently dialed list. When the other end picked up, Shuichi practically roared into the phone. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! I don’t know what kind of trick you are trying to pull, but this shit needs to stop now!”
“Shuichi, what are you talking about?” Yuki asked, puzzled.
“Don’t think that I didn’t see that little stunt that you pulled on the news! The last picture with me and you was a complete fucking lie! It could have been easily put together on the computer! Just what the fuck are you trying to pull?!”
“I’m not trying to pull anything! What are you talking about?”
Shuichi hung up the phone. He was tired of Yuki telling him lie after lie. It was getting old, and he was tired of all of the stupid games. His phone started ringing, causing him to look at the caller identification. When Yuki’s number popped up, he hurled the phone at the wall, breaking it into pieces. He wasn’t Yuki’s lover—not then, not now, not ever. He headed toward the door. He needed answers.
0-0
Yuki stared at his phone after it went to Shuichi’s voicemail. He went into his living room and turned the television on. After changing it to the news station, he saw that they were doing a story on his and Shuichi’s relationship. When did the paparazzi start back to messing with them?
A loud banging emitted from his front door, startling Yuki. He wasn’t expecting a visitor, so why was somebody here? He headed to the door and yanked it open with aggravation. He was shocked to see Shuichi’s manager. Out of all people, why would he come?
“We need to talk,” K said with a harsh voice.
Yuki glared at the man, but stepped aside to let him in. Although he was pretty sure it was about Shuichi, Yuki wanted to verify the cause for the visit. “What is this about?” Yuki led the man into the living room.
K took off his shoes and followed the other blond into the living room. He sat down on his couch and looked at the television. He then cursed under his breath about the Yuki and Shuichi story.
“What was that?” Yuki asked, eyeing the man suspiciously.
“Touma didn’t hesitate to remove the restriction of displaying your relationship to the media.”
“What restriction,” Yuki asked, sitting down some distance away from the other male.
K turned his attention to the novelist. “He stopped the news and magazines from displaying stories of your relationship with Shuichi after the hypnosis. I see that he has taken that back now.”
“I’m sure that you didn’t come here just to tell me that. Get to the point.” Yuki gripped his knee. “Damn Seguchi!”
K glared at Yuki for his rudeness, but started talking anyways. “If you do anything, and I mean anything, to mess up Shuichi’s music career, you will hear from me. You got that?” K stroked the pistol on his chest holster to emphasize his point.
Yuki scoffed. “Rest assured, I didn’t come back to hurt Shuichi.”
“I still believe that you should have stayed away,” K glowered, “Why did you come back anyways?”
Yuki groaned as a headache started. Why didn’t people mind their own fucking business? “Not that it is any of your concern, but I came back for Shuichi.”
“You what?”
0-0
“Shu, what are you doing here?” Hiro asked as he let the other man inside of his apartment.
Shuichi brushed by Hiro, taking off his shoes at the door. He ignored the brunet’s questions and walked over to the couch, sitting down. When Hiro sat beside him, patiently waiting for an answer, he began. “Hiro, I want the lies to stop now. If you are going to continue to lie to me, then I’m afraid that we can’t be friends anymore.”
Hiro exhaled heavily, and put his forehead against his intertwined hands; his elbows rested on his knees. He closed his eyes briefly before turning to meet the angry amethyst eyes. “What do you want to know?”
“Did Yuki and I used to be lovers?”
Hiro took a moment before answering. “Yes.”
Chapter End
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me how it was, I’m dying to know. Too much drama? Too little drama? Too much Shuichi and Yuki? Too little Shuichi and Yuki? Too many people not minding their own business? How do you like the new Shuichi? Too long? Too short? Any questions?
Sorry that it took me so long to get this chapter out. I had writer’s block and the cord to my laptop stopped working. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation
Chapter Five
Yuki stared in astonishment, mouth open and wide eyed. Shuichi just called him by name—his former name. He wasn’t foolish enough to think that their relationship was going to repair just because the singer retained some off his memory, but this was a good start. He wondered what could have triggered Shuichi’s memories, but brushed it aside and noticed his former lover’s attire.
He closed his mouth and took in the sight before him. Shuichi wore nothing more than a white towel around his waist. His biceps were more defined, still small, but defined. His pectorals were—for lack of a better word—beautiful. His stomach was flat and beginning to form a six pack. His chest was hairless.
Lost in his thoughts about Shuichi’s body, Yuki failed to realize that the singer was mere inches from him, studying his features. It wasn’t until he felt a hand on his loop earring that the novelist noticed Shuichi. The fresh scent of a shower reached his nose. He had to hold himself still, fearing that he would do something that would upset Shuichi.
Shuichi carefully caressed the small silver loop. His attention then shifted to the blonde hair that sat on top of the taller man’s head. He ran the golden locks through his fingers, reveling in the softness of it. Slowly, he let the strands fall free from his hand and took a step back, meeting the molten gaze of Yuki. This Yuki guy had golden eyes—Eiri’s eyes. “Who are you?” Shuichi asked, composed.
“Yuki,” the novelist said as if that was a sufficient explanation. It wasn’t.
“You lie! What is your real name?” Shuichi asked, taking a defensive step back. This guy was clearly toying with his mind, and he didn’t like that one bit.
Yuki held his hands up, showing that he meant no harm. When he was sure that Shuichi wouldn’t go off on him or run, he decided to speak up. “My real name is Eiri Uesugi. My alias is Eiri Yuki.”
Shuichi processed the information in his head. It all made sense… except the sudden change of hair color. The man in his dreams had blond hair, such as the one before him. But when he met him earlier, his hair was brown. What type of trick was this guy playing with him? “Why did you change your hair color?”
“To brown? Or back to blond?”
“Both.”
“I changed it to brown because I felt that I needed a new start for a new me. Nothing too deep. As far as changing it back to blond goes….” Yuki didn’t know how Shuichi would react if he told the young male the truth. He wanted Shuichi to remember him and their past. At first, he thought that his endeavors worked, but now he wasn’t so sure.
“I’m waiting,” Shuichi impatiently prompted.
“I wanted to trigger your memories…” Yuki finished. He watched Shuichi closely, trying to figure out what was going through his head. He doubted the boy would believe him, but it didn’t hurt to try, did it? A long silence stretched out as Shuichi thought about what he had heard. Yuki was amazed at how subtle the black haired male had become. He couldn’t tell anything by his carefully composed expression. It wasn’t like his past Shuichi, whom was as easy to read as a book. This one was intelligent and in control of his actions. It was… arousing.
“What are you talking about?” Shuichi said after a while.
“Shuichi,” Yuki began, causing the other male to tense and glare at him. He had forgotten that the vocalist didn’t like him ‘acting’ like he knew him. “Sorry. Have you ever noticed how strange Nakano and K have been acting around you? Like they were sheltering you from an unknown threat?”
Shuichi’s eyes widened. How did this stranger know his best friend and manager? Scratch that—how did he know how they acted around him? His head throbbed, alerting him that his headache was trying to resurface. He didn’t need this right now. He needed to get some sleep and think over everything that he had just heard. “Yu…Uesugi, if you don’t mind, I need some rest. I thank you for your… visit, but surely you didn’t come all this way to mess with my head. If you are finished, then I will be going back to bed,” Shuichi dismissed, turning to go inside.
“Shuichi, wait.”
“We don’t know each other, please stop addressing me so casually. It’s weird and it makes you seem like a stalker,” Shuichi explained, turning his amethyst gaze to the shocked novelist. The golden eyes flashed with emotion for a quick second before turning back to being impassive. Was that hurt in his eyes…? Awkward… The younger man shrugged it off. “What is it?”
Yuki fumbled around in his pocket for a while, producing a black leather wallet. He held it out to Shuichi, whom hesitantly took it, avoiding contact with the other man’s hand.
“Why do you have my wallet?”
“It fell out of your pocket last night,” Yuki lied.
“I see,” Shuichi said, not believing the story, even though it was plausible. He grabbed his door to close it when Yuki’s voice stopped him—again.
“I know that you have tried to remember your life before a little over a year ago, but without any luck. Your friends have been hiding the information from you. If you want to know what you can’t remember, then you know where I li-”
“No. What part of I don’t know you do you not comprehend?”
“Fine.” Yuki pulled out a piece of paper and a pen, scribbled something on it, and handed it to Shuichi. “If you want to meet somewhere public to talk, then contact me.” With that, the novelist walked away.
Shuichi stared at the novelist’s back until the man disappeared from sight. He then looked at the paper in his hand, noting that it was Yuki’s number. He shrugged, closing his door.
Immediately, Shuichi headed toward the kitchen. Before grabbing a large glass out of the cupboard, he placed Yuki’s number and his wallet on the counter. He then proceeded to get a large glass of water. He didn’t want any effects lingering from his hangover when he woke up. Too tired to think about anything else, Shuichi went in his room to plop down on the bed. He would figure out what to do about Yuki at a later time.
0-0
Shuichi slowly became conscious. Upon opening his eyes, he groaned at the sunshine that filtered through the curtains. After giving his eyes ample time to adjust, he looked at the digital clock sitting on his night stand. He sighed when he saw that it was 4:39 in the afternoon, and forced himself into a sitting position on the side of the bed. He had been out for about six hours. He decided that the first thing he would do to start his day off would be to get dressed, considering he lost his towel sometime while he was asleep.
Shuichi headed into the kitchen after throwing on a pair of black sweat pants and a white t-shirt. When he went to grab the handle of the refrigerator door, the piece of paper with Yuki’s number on it caught his eye. Instantly, memories of the past twenty-four hours replayed through his head—from the club to Yuki coming to his house. After the memories flooded him, Shuichi wasn’t so hungry anymore.
His gaze wondered back to the small paper with a frown. The damned thing was mocking him. He sighed. He didn’t want to call Yuki. The guy was too weird. If he didn’t call the novelist, however, then he would never know about his past. Why did the guy have to offer him what he wanted to know on a golden platter? He felt like a dog that was being taunted by a bone. It wasn’t fair.
Why couldn’t he remember his own life? Shuichi tried to focus and remember what happened around the beginning of his music career, but his memories were too choppy. There were too many voids to actually recall his personal life around that time. He gave in. He had to call Yuki.
Reluctantly, Shuichi grabbed the number and headed toward his bedroom where his cell phone was in his pants. He grabbed the discarded clothing and reached in the pocket, pulling out his phone. Damn, his battery was low, but it should last him throughout the day. He dialed the number and waited for Yuki to answer. He picked up on the third ring.
“Hello,” Yuki’s deep voice said.
“Can you meet me in the park down the street from my place?” Shuichi asked, not feeling like beating around the bush.
“Shuichi?” Clearly Yuki was shocked that the vocalist would call him.
“Stop with the informality. And yes, it is me. Now can you meet me in the park in about thirty minutes or not?”
“Yes, I’ll be there. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you decide to call me?”
“Bye.” Shuichi ignored the question and hung up the phone. After changing into some blue jeans and a black button up shirt, Shuichi grabbed a pair of sunglasses and a baseball cap. He didn’t want to get attacked by crazed fans. Looking at the time, he realized that he had about twenty five minutes to spare, so he might as well walk.
After checking to make sure he had his phone, wallet, and keys, Shuichi put on his jacket and shoes before heading out the door. The wind was cool and enjoyable as he walked on the sidewalk at a leisurely pace. There was no reason for him to rush. Either way, he would make it to the park earlier than his given time.
Thoughts swirled through his mind about what he might find out about his past. Was it so horrible that he wouldn’t want to remember it? Various scenarios and reasons came to mind. Did something traumatic happen to him? Was he a reformed convict running from the law? He laughed at himself. Somehow the convict theory was too wacky, even for him.
He stopped in mid-stride. Why was he going to listen to some random stranger about himself? For all he knew the guy could make up a lot of bullshit lies. He saw some other people on the sidewalk, looking at him strangely, so he resumed walking. Even with the distrust he held for Yuki, somehow he felt that the guy would tell him the truth, no matter how crazy the man seemed. He could at least hear Yuki out. The question was: would he be able to handle the truth?
Fear seeped into Shuichi’s veins. What if he was better off not knowing? He shook the thought off. He could do this. He would do this. He was a grown man. He didn’t need to be afraid of an unknown part of his life. It was the past, right? So even if something completely ludicrous was revealed to him, he would deal with it.
Before Shuichi knew it, he was at the park—the same park that he went to when he left the club. Ironically, this was the same park he went to for his inspiration for songs. To him, the park held significance and he couldn’t figure out why. He glanced at his phone for the time. He was five minutes early.
Instinctively, he headed toward the bench that he favored, only to find it already occupied by a male dressed in khakis and a blue long sleeve button-up shirt. He had blonde hair and dark sunglasses on. Upon closer inspection, Shuichi recognized that it was Yuki on the bench. Shuichi took a deep breath. He would not back out of this meeting. Plastering on a fake smile, he approached the older male.
“Were you waiting long?” Shuichi greeted, bypassing the bench to walk over to the railing that overlooked the city. He heard footsteps come from behind as Yuki took a spot beside him in front of the rail.
“No, I didn’t expect you for a few more minutes, anyway,” Yuki responded, not looking at Shuichi.
“Before I ask you anything else, how do you know about my past?” Shuichi asked, eyeing the other male behind his sunglasses.
Yuki sighed before answering. Of course… Start the conversation with a difficult question. He wouldn’t just straight out tell the leader of Bad Luck that he was his lover. “We were… close.” Yuki looked at Shuichi to see how the black-haired male would take the information.
Close? Close friends… That made sense. If Yuki was his close friend then why didn’t he remember the male other than the few warped dreams? Well, considering that the male made it to his dreams then maybe they were close friends. “Wait, then why did Hiro try to protect me from this guy?” Shuichi decided to voice his question. “As believable as you sound, then why are my friends trying to keep me from you?”
Yuki visibly cringed. The male just had to ask another question that he didn’t want to answer. “We would get into a lot of fights, and you would always get very upset afterwards. Hiro blamed me, and I do admit that the quarrels were my fault. He didn’t like me hurting you.”
Friends fight, so that story was also believable, too. Also, the fact that he was easily upset in the past was the truth. Shuichi finally concluded that Yuki did in fact know him, so he merely nodded. “How did we meet?”
Yuki was taken aback by the random question. He shifted his weight his hands by placing the on the railing, nervously. “We met in this park to be exact. You were writing lyrics, and I think you were past your deadline. It was at the beginning of your music career.”
Shuichi nodded. Back then, he was always late for deadlines. Even when he was in high school and supposed to be performing for school events, he was never organized and rarely met deadlines. Okay, next question. “If we were friends then why haven’t you been around the past year and a few months? Why did you decide to resurface now?”
“Well, I needed to get away. I had too much on my mind, and I needed to clear my head. The stress from my novels and a few personal issues caused me to go to New York for a small vacation.”
The explanation made sense. Now that it was established that the male wasn’t a stranger, Shuichi decided to stop being so harsh to Yuki about him addressing him so casually. Since the male seemed to know him. “Where did I live? Hiro said that I moved out of my house so that I could be independent, but moved in with him because I didn’t want to be alone. Is that true?”
Yuki exhaled a breath out of his mouth. Hiroshi would tell a lie like that to cover up Shuichi living with him. He felt bad that he was the cause of Shuichi being lied to so much. “Well, that’s not entirely true,” he began cautiously, watching Shuichi closely for any signs of discomfort. When he found none, he continued. “You lived with me when you moved out of your parent’s house. After I left, however, I think that you moved in with Nakano.”
Why would Hiro lie about something as insignificant as living with this guy? Shuichi sighed. He would have to do some serious evaluation on his and Hiro’s friendship. That was the least of his worries right now though. Why couldn’t he remember this stuff? His memory was bad, but not this bad. “Is there any reason why I can’t remember my past? Did I obtain amnesia by hitting my head too hard or something?”
“It is to my understanding that you were hypnotized,” Yuki bluntly said, avoiding the reason why. This talk was deep, and he didn’t expect Shuichi to ask him adequate questions. His lover was truly a man now.
Hypnotized. Shuichi turned the thought over in his mind. Why would he do something like that? Better yet, why would he live with someone other than Hiro? Through his fleeting thoughts, the kiss that he and Yuki shared this morning flashed through his mind. He became infuriated. Close friends didn’t kiss one another. After composing himself enough so that he wouldn’t yell, Shuichi turned a hard look to Yuki. “Why did you kiss me? You said that we were friends, but kissing isn’t something that friends do, especially not male friends.”
Yuki was shocked to say the least. The gods must have hated him. Just when things were slowly becoming normal between the two, Shuichi had to remember that. Well, there was no point in hiding their relationship no further. “I don’t recall saying that we were friends. I said that we were close. To be completely honest, Shuichi… we were lovers.”
Shuichi laughed a loud throaty laugh. To think that for once he actually believed Yuki. Lovers…? What a joke. Everything up until that point seemed plausible, but he was never gay. After his laughter died down, Shuichi’s anger took hold. “You’re sick! Here I thought that we were actually friends, when in reality you’re nothing more than a stalking fan-boy! You’re a fucking liar! How dare you mess with my head like that! Don’t ever contact me again!” Shuichi shook with anger, clenching his hands into fists. He wanted so badly to punch the male in front of him. Sadly, he didn’t need to go to jail for assault. To prevent acting out his thoughts, Shuichi stormed off.
Yuki longingly stared after the young male. He had already prepared himself for an outburst like that from Shuichi. It’s not everyday where someone tells you that you were a homosexual. He would give the vocalist space for now, but he wouldn’t give up. With a sigh, he headed towards his car.
0-0
Shuichi walked into his apartment. Yuki was insane, telling all of those lies. While Shuichi appreciated a good joke here and there, this was just plain cruel. He took off his shoes and headed towards the kitchen. He stopped in the hallway when he heard the television. Shuichi sighed and headed to the living room. He didn’t want to waste his electricity.
When he reached the room, he stopped and stared at the television in shock. Separate pictures of him and Yuki were displayed on the screen. He rushed to turn up the volume.
“There have been reports that Shuichi Shindo—lead singer of Bad Luck—and Eiri Yuki—famous romance novelist—have been sighted together after the novelist returned from his hiatus.” A video of Shuichi running from Yuki’s apartment showed after the pictures were removed. “Here, you see Mr. Shindo leaving from Yuki’s apartment this morning.” A picture of Shuichi touching Yuki’s hair appeared on the screen. “And here you see that their love is still hot and heavy. Tokyo’s most loved couple is back, and apparently, their love is still strong. You may remember over a year ago, the novelist declared on live television that he and Mr. Shindo were lovers with his arm around the singer.” A picture of a lost looking Shuichi and a smug looking Yuki appeared on the screen.
Shuichi turned off the television. If he was pissed before, then it was tenfold now. What the fuck was going on?! Without thinking, he pulled out his cell phone and called Yuki’s number from the recently dialed list. When the other end picked up, Shuichi practically roared into the phone. “What the fuck is wrong with you?! I don’t know what kind of trick you are trying to pull, but this shit needs to stop now!”
“Shuichi, what are you talking about?” Yuki asked, puzzled.
“Don’t think that I didn’t see that little stunt that you pulled on the news! The last picture with me and you was a complete fucking lie! It could have been easily put together on the computer! Just what the fuck are you trying to pull?!”
“I’m not trying to pull anything! What are you talking about?”
Shuichi hung up the phone. He was tired of Yuki telling him lie after lie. It was getting old, and he was tired of all of the stupid games. His phone started ringing, causing him to look at the caller identification. When Yuki’s number popped up, he hurled the phone at the wall, breaking it into pieces. He wasn’t Yuki’s lover—not then, not now, not ever. He headed toward the door. He needed answers.
0-0
Yuki stared at his phone after it went to Shuichi’s voicemail. He went into his living room and turned the television on. After changing it to the news station, he saw that they were doing a story on his and Shuichi’s relationship. When did the paparazzi start back to messing with them?
A loud banging emitted from his front door, startling Yuki. He wasn’t expecting a visitor, so why was somebody here? He headed to the door and yanked it open with aggravation. He was shocked to see Shuichi’s manager. Out of all people, why would he come?
“We need to talk,” K said with a harsh voice.
Yuki glared at the man, but stepped aside to let him in. Although he was pretty sure it was about Shuichi, Yuki wanted to verify the cause for the visit. “What is this about?” Yuki led the man into the living room.
K took off his shoes and followed the other blond into the living room. He sat down on his couch and looked at the television. He then cursed under his breath about the Yuki and Shuichi story.
“What was that?” Yuki asked, eyeing the man suspiciously.
“Touma didn’t hesitate to remove the restriction of displaying your relationship to the media.”
“What restriction,” Yuki asked, sitting down some distance away from the other male.
K turned his attention to the novelist. “He stopped the news and magazines from displaying stories of your relationship with Shuichi after the hypnosis. I see that he has taken that back now.”
“I’m sure that you didn’t come here just to tell me that. Get to the point.” Yuki gripped his knee. “Damn Seguchi!”
K glared at Yuki for his rudeness, but started talking anyways. “If you do anything, and I mean anything, to mess up Shuichi’s music career, you will hear from me. You got that?” K stroked the pistol on his chest holster to emphasize his point.
Yuki scoffed. “Rest assured, I didn’t come back to hurt Shuichi.”
“I still believe that you should have stayed away,” K glowered, “Why did you come back anyways?”
Yuki groaned as a headache started. Why didn’t people mind their own fucking business? “Not that it is any of your concern, but I came back for Shuichi.”
“You what?”
0-0
“Shu, what are you doing here?” Hiro asked as he let the other man inside of his apartment.
Shuichi brushed by Hiro, taking off his shoes at the door. He ignored the brunet’s questions and walked over to the couch, sitting down. When Hiro sat beside him, patiently waiting for an answer, he began. “Hiro, I want the lies to stop now. If you are going to continue to lie to me, then I’m afraid that we can’t be friends anymore.”
Hiro exhaled heavily, and put his forehead against his intertwined hands; his elbows rested on his knees. He closed his eyes briefly before turning to meet the angry amethyst eyes. “What do you want to know?”
“Did Yuki and I used to be lovers?”
Hiro took a moment before answering. “Yes.”
Chapter End
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tell me how it was, I’m dying to know. Too much drama? Too little drama? Too much Shuichi and Yuki? Too little Shuichi and Yuki? Too many people not minding their own business? How do you like the new Shuichi? Too long? Too short? Any questions?