Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Cats, Crutches and Babies? Oh My! ❯ Mirrors and Oreos ( Chapter 26 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation.

~~~~~

 

After laying in bed for over an hour, attempting to return himself to dream land, Eiri knew he had lost. The novelist realized about twenty minutes into his battle that it was pointless to try and will the sun behind a cloud. He was also disheartened to learn that he did not in fact have the ability to draw the curtains with nothing but his mind, but still he lay there, stubbornly refusing to be awake. It was when his get well present clawed her way up his very expensive silk sheets to greet him, that he gave up completely.

 

“What do you want?” Eiri asked the kitten fractiously as he glared at her. The kitten ignored him and just set to work making herself comfortable on his chest.

When she was finally settled, she turned her attention to the large looming face in front of her and proceeded to stare at it as though it were the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. The face, just stared back.

A minute or two into their little battle of wits, the kitten crept closer to Eiri's face, inquisitive black pupils dilated with interest, and decided to end it when she reached a tentative paw out to bat at his bangs.

Eiri picked the kitten up abruptly, around her plump middle, and set her gently onto Shuichi's side of the bed.

 

“Annoying little cat,” He said as he threw back the covers. Feeling an odd brush of dejavu, he sat up as best he could and reached for his crutches.

A wince escaped him as his stiff body protested the inherent abuse it was taking, but when he turned to notice the kitten staring at him once more, Eiri gritted his teeth and stood up as straight as he could. He would be damned if he was going to let that little brat see him showing signs of weakness.

He sent one last nefarious glare in the kittens direction before crutching off to the bathroom.

The kitten, in a diligent attempt to stay close to her relatively maladroit owner, slowly followed suit down the hall. In fact, she did a very good job of following Eiri just about everywhere he went.

When he exited the bathroom, she was waiting just outside the door. When he returned from the balcony after a much needed smoke and a half, she was there waiting patiently for his return. To the kitchen, to the bedroom, everywhere he went, she went.

After nearly an hour Eiri was tired, both physically and of being followed around, and decided that the best thing for both would be to stop moving.

 

He hobbled his way into the living room, where Shuichi had assiduously perceived his course of actions for the day and had taken it upon himself to set up a nice comfortable area on the couch. Several blankets were sitting, neatly folded, next to a small stack of pillows on the middle cushion. His laptop set up and plugged in on a folding table at the far right side of the couch. The lone upholstered chair in a room dominated by leather, had lent it's paisley printed ottoman to the ensemble as well. It now had two fluffy white pillows piled on top of it which Eiri gratefully rested his now very sore leg on as he settled himself down.

In front of him, sat his lap top and to his right the end table was now playing host to several bottles of water, a pack of cigarettes, an ashtray, a box of strawberry pocky, a lighter and a piece of pink stationary, along with it's normally appointed lamp and television remotes.

Intrigued, the writer picked up the paper and brought it close enough to read the thin, neatly scrawled text. Without his glasses it wasn't exactly an easy feat, but he managed.

The note read;

Take it easy today.

Should be home by five with something for supper.

Take your pills, and don't smoke too much. (It slows down bone growth!)

I love you!

XoXo

-Shu

p.s. Be nice to the kitty.

 

Eiri set the note aside and found the corners of his mouth raised in the smallest of smiles.

It seemed that that particular expression was seeing a lot of face time as of late. Ordinarily, the novelist was unhappy that his emotions where becoming what he saw as less controlled, though today he was glad things had ameliorated over time. Maybe it was the pills he was on, or maybe he was simply maturing; either way he liked that he was happy.

 

On a day like this, he needed to smile, and he knew he could always leave it to Shuichi to make sure he got what he needed. Even when the kid wasn't in the same building, he still managed to bring a bit of cheer and exuberance to Eiri's inimical and, often times, soporific existence.

It was days like this that really assured the novelist that he had made the right decision in proposing to Shuichi. While he had found temporary satisfaction in the endless stream of women that had frequented his life and his bedroom, none of them had ever really made him happy. Of course at the time he had thought the feeling he received from them was happiness, but that was because he had no conceivable idea as to what real happiness could be. Since meeting his fiancé, he knew what he had been missing all those years. He had learned that happiness was waking up with your arms around someone every morning and knowing that that person was going to be there to wrap your arms around when you went to bed.

Happiness was opening your laptop to find a post-it note saying “I love you!” stuck on the keyboard.

It was getting hot miso soup brought to you in bed when you had a cold, no matter how grumpy you were or how miserable you acted. And, most importantly, it was being able to mean it when you said `I love you' and have it returned in kind.

 

The writer was startled from his muse when the kitten jumped up onto the couch and then onto his chest, purring. He set the note aside and crossed his arms to block her from coming closer to his face.

“You're cute, I'll give you that, but I still don't like you, understand?”

 

The kitten pounced onto Eiri's shirt cuffs and started to fight with them, once again ignoring what the author had said.

“And I don't like being ignored, you little brat!” He stated as he picked up his arm and shook the kitten off of it. She landed square in the center of his chest and Eiri was surprised to find that it hurt a lot more then he thought it would.

All of the kitten's attention was on him now, she stared at him with that same rapt fascination that she had earlier in the morning.

“I don't know why you like me so much Cat. I don't like you.”

He half told, half asked her as he stroked his hand from the top of her head down to the end of her tail, curling it in his fingers absently before letting go and starting back at the top. The small cat closed her eyes and rubbed herself along his hand as he stroked her, back arching into his palm.

“I'm supposed to be nice to you today, wife's orders,” Eiri voiced in a tone that feigned resentment, “but don't get used to it okay? I don't like you and you don't like me, got it?”

 

The kitten, as if through some form of ESP, chose that exact moment to walk up and lay down flat on his collar bone, little paws reaching up either side of his neck to rhythmically knead his shirt collar as she buried her furry head under his chin.

Eiri rolled his eyes and sighed as he laced his fingers together and loosely tucked them under the kittens rear end to keep her from sliding down his chest.

“Okay. So I might like you just a bit,” He admitted as she continued her soothing little task.

“But tell anybody and I'll have to throw you off the balcony.”

The kitten just purred louder in response.

 

It was in that moment of contentment that Eiri knew he'd made a friend in the small animal. Whatever reason the higher powers had for making him a closet cat lover would forever remain a mystery, but there was just something that was damned near medicinal about being loved by a cat! Eiri couldn't understand exactly what it was, or why he felt so comfortable around these particular animals, but he knew that he had always been a cat lover at heart. He'd just been too conceited to ever get one, as he didn't think a pet fit into his cool emotionless image. People who had pets had to love them, and Eiri had not believed love to be necessary in life, and so he held back. Eventually he befriended the neighbors cat, feeding it under the pretense that he didn't want to waste half a can of tuna by throwing it away.

 

Sitting and thinking about how he used to live gave way to a whole different range of emotions, some of which hadn't seen the light of day in years, that is until Shuichi showed up and latched onto him. In fact it was his being with Shu that had managed to transform him from an emotionally devoid player into a happier, better rounded and much healthier individual. There were so many things that were different about his life now, compared to before he had met his lover. He was engaged for one, which was something he had always said would take a very cold day in hell to have happen to him.

Also, he was sitting comfortably in the living room that he and his lover shared, warmed by blankets they had picked out together and being cuddled by a kitten that was now a part of both their lives. Now that he thought about it, there wasn't one thing in the entire apartment that didn't have some meaning to him, that didn't have some memory attached to it that reminded him of his bubble headed lover every time he looked at it. It seemed as though every facet of their lives had become entangled in some way, and while the writer wasn't always happy about it, nor did he care to express how he felt about it most of the time, it didn't change the fact that nothing could drive their two lives apart.

They were stuck with each other, for better or worse (usually worse) and that was exactly why they were finalizing their relationship.

 

Technically, under common-law they were already “married”, physically if not in fact legally, since they had lived together for so long and so many of their possessions were owned jointly.

If you asked Eiri why he chose to go that extra small step and propose, he would probably tell you that it was all just a stupid unnecessary formality he was going along with for Shuichi's sake.

What he wouldn't tell you is that, having come from a religious family, he was just as happy to be having a formal ceremony to unify their lives as Shuichi was. The brat just made such a nice scape-goat for having the wedding, that it was hardly necessary to voice that particular piece of incriminating information. After all he had a reputation to uphold, amongst his fans if nobody else, and he wouldn't want people to think that Yuki Eiri, cold hearted bachelor extraordinaire, had finally gone soft.

 

Marriage was also a very good solution to a few other problems the two of them had, such as Shuichi's constant feelings of impending abandonment as well as Eiri's feelings toward commitment of any kind. Shuichi would know that once they shared a pair of wedding rings, that he was safe from ever being abandoned or kicked out, and Eiri would have no choice but to accept that he was in fact happy to commit his life to someone.

As well, though Eiri would never admit it, the two of them wouldn't survive living alone anymore. They had both changed too much from who they had been when they met.

Shuichi was maturing thanks to Eiri's help, but he was still clingy and couldn't live with out Yuki in his life. Eiri, after experiencing their own crude form of “domesticity” just couldn't go back to they way he had lived and be content. They were the most sporadic, dysfunctional, immoral pair of mix matched personalities that there ever could be and Eiri wouldn't change a damned thing, not for all the booze and hot women in the world.

 

The kitten's purring slowed to evenly paced rumbles that seemed to come from deeper in her throat, as her kneading started to lose it's vigor.

“What a baby.” He scoffed through a yawn as the kitten finally drifted off to sleep and ceased all sounds and paw movements.

A thought struck him rather unexpectedly and it occurred to him that Baby might be a very good name for the kitten.

“Your name can be Baby from now on. Sound good?”

Baby responded to his voice by purring and kneading a few times before letting out a big breath and slipping back off to sleep.

Eiri was suddenly very tired, and decided to join Baby in taking a nice long, well deserved, mid morning nap.

 

~~~~~~

 

It had taken Shuichi not even five minutes to coax Ryuichi into taking a nap. The older man was truly exhausted from his emotional exertion and soon after laying down wrapped around Shuichi, he was out like a light.

After that, Shu was sort of pinned to the bed. In order for him to move, Ryu would have to let him go and get off of him and that didn't seem like it would be happening for a couple hours, since the singer was latched onto him pretty tight.

He sighed and twisted around to grab his cell phone out of his pocket, all the while trying to move as little as possible so Ryu wouldn't wake up. Flipping it open he navigated through the menus until he reached his contact list. It had never really occurred to him that he had a lot of friends, and yet his phone had over sixty contacts in it, and most of the people he had only met once or twice at company parties or clubs. He made a mental note to go through the names one day and delete the ones he didn't recognize as he scrolled down to Tatsuha's name.

He sent a quick text to him, letting him know that Ryu was fine and that he was going to take a nap with him.

The last thing he did before going to sleep was send a text to Yuki.

 

Might b a bit later than expected. Had 2 take a nap. C u in a few hrs.

Luv u. xoxox.

~~~~~

 

Shu woke up later to find Ryuichi staring at him. “It's about time you woke up sleepy sleepy head!”

Ryu grinned at him and offered him a double stuffed Oreo cookie, which he grabbed from a plate on the bedside table.

“Tohma brought these in for me after I woke up. I had milk too, but I was thirsty and drank it all. Do you want one Shuichi?”

 

Shu blinked a few times and sat up. He reached up and attempted to fix his hair, even though he knew it would be sticking up in funny directions until he had a shower and got the hair products out of it.

“Sure I'd love a cookie Ryu.” Shu took the round, disc like treat out of Ryuichi's outstretched hand and took a bite.

After he chewed and swallowed said bite, he asked Ryu is he was feeling a bit better. The singer closed his eyes and sighed. “I feel better now that I've slept for a while. Thank you for staying with me Shuichi.”

Shu was glad to hear that Ryuichi was feeling better, since he had been pretty worried just before they had gone to sleep.

“You're welcome Ryu. If you ever need me again for whatever reason, just give me a call and I'll be here, okay?”

Ryu nodded and quietly said “okay.”

 

After that, neither of them spoke. There just wasn't anything to say after all they had said to each other in the past few hours.

To be congenial and break the stale silence that was surrounding them, Shuichi spoke.

“So…why did you move the furniture around in here Ryu? Didn't you like how the decorator had it laid out?” Shu had actually been rather jealous of Ryu's wonderful, almost bizarre looking jungle themed bedroom ever since Tohma had paid to have his apartment professionally decorated. Ryu had moved it around so things didn't look as perfectly laid out anymore, though is was his room so he could move things to suit his taste.

 

Ryu swallowed his last bit of cookie and looked around the room, until his eyes came to rest on the large dressing mirror and table off to his right.

“I liked how the designer did it, but I got tired of waking up and seeing myself in the mirror.”

That was not what Shuichi had been expecting to hear, and he was a little confused.

“What? Don't like how you look with bed head?” Shu joked as he shoved Ryu's shoulder playfully.

 

The brunette smiled and shoved Shuichi back before sobering a bit.

“No, it was just…before I met Tatsuha I used to go to clubs a lot and pick people up. I knew that they just wanted to be with me because of who I was, but when I brought them back here I didn't care. I wanted them to want me just because I was hot and famous. The mirror came in handy sometimes when I had people in bed with me, since I like to watch when…well you know what I mean.”

Shu did know. That was precisely the reason that he and Yuki had moved the big mirror in the study to opposite their own bed. Shuichi loved being able to see Yuki's face when his lover came and he liked to see what was going on, since it was often going on behind him. In the same respect Yuki liked being able to see Shu's facial expressions as well, even when he took his younger lover from behind.

It had much the same effect that having porn on in the background did, only they got to be the stars and it was just so much hotter. They had finally made the decision to move the mirror after Shuichi hurt his neck trying to look over his shoulder and up at Yuki's face while they had sex.

Shuichi nodded and giggled his acknowledgement.

 

Ryu smiled and continued.

“It was nice that it was there when things were hot, but the next morning when I could think better, I would just sit up and stare at myself. I used to hate who I was in the morning, like at night I was someone else. I always felt like a dirty slut for having picked up some random person at a club. A person who didn't love me, they just loved my image or my music or my body, but not all of me. Not just me.

So I moved everything. I moved the mirror and I stopped picking people up. I would rather be alone then think less of myself.

Besides I had Kuma here to keep me company so I wasn't really alone.”

 

Ryu's face sagged with sadness and disgust as he told his story. Shuichi could understand what he had gone through.

Just after Ayaka had broken off their relationship, Hiro had been angry. He told Shu that he used to go to the clubs and pick up a different girl every night (sometimes two at a time). Sometimes because he was drunk and sometimes out of spite, as if Ayaka would somehow find out and he wanted her to be upset when she did. But Hiro was a very mellow person and didn't like to be angry or mad at anyone. He told Shuichi that he couldn't look at himself in the mirror because he hated who he had become.

 

“I understand why now…If that had been me I would have gotten rid of the mirror too. But now you have Tatsuha and hopefully you don't feel bad about being with him.”

 

Ryuichi yawned and shook his head.

“No, I love being with Tatsuha, he's so much fun! We do all kinds of fun things together Shuichi, like making tents in the living room and drawing on each other in the shower with soap crayons! It feels really good!” Shuichi's eyes went wide when he heard that one, since the younger Ryuichi didn't often discuss sexual things, “and we play games and go to the park and play cars! I love him so much Shuichi! Tohma is just jealous right? That's why he said those mean things about Tatsuha right?”

The older man turned to stare at Shuichi, as though he had all the answers that he was looking for.

 

“Well, I suppose that could be one reason that he said whatever it was that he said. But you have to understand that a lot of people don't see your relationship with Tatsuha as a good thing, because he is so young.”

 

Ryu pouted.

“But we were all young once! That's no reason not to like someone!”

 

Shu could see that this might be hard to explain to Ryuichi, since he didn't have an adult perception of the world most of the time.

“No, they don't dislike him because he's young. They just think that people should have relationships with people their own age. And you're a lot older than Tatsuha right?”

 

“Oh. So…they don't think I should be with Tatsuha because I'm old? I don't feel old…Do I look old?”

 

“No! You don't look old! In fact I used to get mistaken for you all the time and that was back when I was only eighteen! ”

Ryu laughed. “Really? People though you were me? That's silly! You're not me, you're Shuichi!”

Shu smiled and put his hand behind his head. “Yeah I guess they were kind of silly huh?”

Ryuichi nodded.

 

“So do you understand why Tohma might have said mean things about Tatsuha? It's not because he doesn't like him, it's just because some people think that there is only one way to do things in life in order to be happy, and when they see other people being happy doing things that they think are bad, they get upset and sometimes don't like those people anymore.”

 

Ryu's eyes flashed with intelligence and understanding, as though he was putting things together in his mind.

“Like how some people don't like you and writer-san being together? I think those people are stupid. Can't they see you're happy?”

 

Shuichi figured that topic would come up sooner or later.

“Yes like that. And like I said, some people think that there is only one way to live and that two men or two women can't be together because it's bad, even though the two people might be happy.”

 

Ryu sat and thought for a moment.

“So I'm making a lot of people mad just by being with Tatsuha aren't I? We're both guys and old and young. Should I break up with him?”

 

“No! Don't you dare talk like that! Those people are wrong Ryu. You can be with Tatsuha if that is what makes both of you happy, no matter what anybody says. Understand?”

 

Ryu nodded his agreement and leaned in to hug Shuichi.

“You're so smart Shuichi. I knew that being with Tatsuha wasn't bad. Thank you.”

 

“You're welcome.”

 

Just as they were preparing to start a new topic of conversation Shuichi looked over at the clock and jumped when he saw what time it was.

 

“Uh Ryu, I would love to stay and chat with you all night, but we slept longer than I thought we did and I have to get home. Are you okay now?”

 

“Yes, I'm fine now. Thanks Shuichi. Go home and look at yourselves in that big mirror! It's fun!”

 

Shuichi blushed as he crawled out of the bed and headed for the door.

~~~

 

After stopping off at Eiri's favorite deli on his way home to pick up pot stickers, tempura chicken and rice, Shuichi rushed back to the apartment.

 

He set the food down just inside the door once he arrived home so he could take off his shoes and jacket. The apartment was dark and sadly absent of delicious cooking smells that sometimes wafted from the kitchen when Yuki was in one of his Suzy home-maker moods and decided to clean the house and make dinner.

Shuichi was sad that those kinds of days wouldn't be happening again for a long time. Not until Yuki's leg was healed enough for a walking cast, and even then Shu doubted that he would be up to cooking and cleaning, regardless of how mobile he was.

 

The singer padded softly through the duskily lit apartment. The last fading rays of the sun where the only lights coming in, so Shuichi assumed that his lover was asleep somewhere. As he walked into the living room his suspicions where confirmed when his eyes landed on the sweetest sight they had ever seen. His lover was buried in blankets on the couch with their new kitten, both fast asleep, and the empty strawberry pocky box lay open next to them.

The last little bit of light lit up his engagement ring with a fiery red-orange glow as he looked down at it and smiled.

He put the food in the kitchen before going back out to the living room. He leaned over the back of the couch and stroked the kitten as he kissed his lover on the forehead gently.

“I'm home.” He whispered and tenderly ran his hand through his lovers hair.

 

Eiri let out a small content sounding groan as he slowly opened his eyes and looked up. Shuichi's face was smiling, staring down at him adoringly.

Baby stretched and jumped off Eiri and onto the back of the couch so she could rub herself up against Shuichi.

 

“How are you feeling? Did you have a good day?” Shu asked Yuki as the blond slowly brought his arms out from under the covers. Now that he was awake he realized that he was really hot under all those blankets.

 

“Fine and yes.” He answered concisely. “How about you?”

Shuichi stood up and sighed.

“Well, Ryuichi is doing better now that I've talked with him, but I think that he's still got a lot of problems that he needs help with. We should give him your psychiatrists number.”

 

Eiri wasn't all that interested in how Ryuichi was doing. He found the man to be irritating and moronic. He did care that the man was dating his younger brother, but as long as he wasn't going to snap and kill those closest to him, then Eiri was sure Tatsuha would be fine.

 

“That's good I guess. And maybe he should see her, for Tatsuha's sake anyway.”

 

“What's that suppose to mean?” Shuichi asked in a tone that clearly professed that he thought what Eiri had said was uncalled for.

 

“Nothing, it was the drugs talking. Come here and give me a kiss.”

 

Shuichi shook his head in frustration, but obliged his lover by leaning over the couch to kiss him.

 

“Dinner is in the kitchen. Do you want me to bring it out here?” Shu asked softly as he pulled away from the kiss.

 

“No, I'm hot. I'll come in there.”

 

“Yes you are, but that still doesn't answer my question.”

 

“Asshole,” Eiri remarked as he reached for his crutches.

Shuichi's last comment before ducking into the kitchen to get out plates and chopsticks was, “Your one and only!”

 

Eiri smirked. Shuichi really was an important part of his life. He never got any of the fun that they had together from any of his old girlfriends. The novelist was glad to be where he was and sighed contentedly as he followed his lover into the kitchen, Baby trailing at his heels.

 

~~~~

 

I hope you liked this chapter, I wrote it in two parts. One of those parts took a looong time to write and the rest of it came to me in like three hours, so the inspiration for this is a bit diverse. Hopefully the style didn't change too much throughout, as it sometimes does when I get different muses and sources for my characters thoughts. ^_^

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and I will see you sometime after the new year!

 

For MM.org Reviewers:

To Meve Navari: Thank you very much for the review! I appreciate it a lot and it means even more to me because you over came a language barrier to let me know what you thought of my work.

 

 

Reviews for Gurabite

To Graviluvr: You pose a good question. When Eiri lived with Tohma in New York City, they were close as close could be and the reader is lead to believe that they did in fact have an intimate relationship. Further on in the books it is referred to again, and in the new series Tohma keeps trying to get Eiri to have sex with him again to make Shuichi jelous, though Yuki refuses. I can understand your confusion as it wasn't set in stone that it did in fact happen, it was merely me taking suggestive writing in the manga and speculating as to what actually happened. Some people don't go that route, but I think it is totally plausible and decided to include it.

 

To EIRI-CHICK:

Ah my dear you have been most kind to me over these past few months, where should I begin to answer your numerous reviews. I think I will answer them in the order that you left them.

 

Well all I can say is WOW! Your reviews are always so good, but I've never had anyone sum up my work as well as you have! I am glad that you are enjoying my work so much, and I appreciate the fact that you take the time to let me know just what you like and what you don't, via review or e-mail. Since this review was mostly about characterization I should address that. I guess the only thing I can say is that I try my hardest to recreate the characters and their respective personalities as best as I can. It appears that you think I am doing a really good job. Your comments on Ryuichi and Tatsuha are especially endearing to me as I work very hard to keep them in character and still inject new material into their lives. Since Ryu and Tatsuha are somewhat under written (Or I think they are considering how diverse their personalities really are) in the manga, I try to remedy that here by making them into real people, with real problems, instead of two love struck idiots floundering about in a sea of happiness.

And I especially liked your comment on the "a day in the life of" aspect of the story. I don't see it enough in most of the stories I read and I love those parts the most. A lot of people only see the out right Gravitationalized aspects of the characters, the drama the comedy and the tears, And while all those things are important, I find that the little things that go on behind the scenes that aren't necessarily being shown, like buying groceries, cleaning, using the bathroom and even just brushing their hair or taking out the trash, are just as, if not more important that all the drama and angst. If these characters were real they would have to eat and sleep and go to the bathroom. They would have to get their mail, pay bills, clean the bathtub and vacuum. I try my hardest to include all aspects of the characters lives not just the rabu rabu gung ho dramatic stuff that seems to follow them wherever they go.

 

 

As for the comment on Ryu's father and how he killed himself, I have to come clean here and say I just put in the gun thing because it was quick and convenient. I had no idea guns where really strict over there, so for the sake of putting your mind at ease, lets just say he was a cop at the end of his rope. It fixes everything! ^_~

 

I am positive that the ending of this story is going to shock you all. I have one in sight and I am pushing forward as hard as I am able to get there. I wish I could be in all your computer rooms to see your faces when it actually comes time to end this thing, but rest assured I will not force an ending just for the sake of ending the story. I have said that this won't go past thirty chapters, but I have a feeling that it might. So keep your fingers crossed. I am not sure that my idea for the ending would make a decent ending, or if I might have to write a sequel, preferably a shorter sequel, to this. I have an idea that would go on for a long time, though it has a lot of holes and so I might not use it. In which case this will go on for a long time yet. If I do decide to do a sequel then this might not make 30 chapters. Who can be sure? Not me! ^_^Y

 

See you all next chapter!