Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Disappearing Act ❯ Chapter 11

Disappearing Act

 

Disclaimer: I don't own these gorgeous boys; Murakami Maki-sensei does *sobs*

I make no money off this story, no matter how much I wish I could. So leave me alone and stop trying to mooch money, I don't have any!!

 

Additional Disclaimer this Chapter: I do not own Gackt or the rights to his song, Vanilla

 

Warning: This chapter is, once again, unbeta'd!! Both my girls totally bailed on me right before it was finished lol. *curse you Sleep, and you too, Lure of the Comfy Bed!!* Anyway, so yeah, expect me to most likely come back for edits once they read it (hopefully tomorrow… or… erm… later today… technically *cough*4:30am right now*cough*)edit: make that 10:30am, since my lovely internet decided to quit on me right when I got this ready to put up. *sigh*

 

Chapter Eleven:

 

Shuuichi woke up from the early morning light coming in from the mini-blinds. Rubbing his eyes groggily with the hand that wasn't asleep, he shielded the light from his eyes to look around him. It seemed he was in Yuki's bedroom, though the last thing he remembered was a car blowing up in the movie he'd been watching at Hiro's…

 

Hiro! Hiro must have brought him home, he suddenly realized, much to his relief. He would have felt awful if he'd woke up at Hiro's without telling Yuki he wouldn't be home the night before.

 

At the thought of Yuki, Shuuichi then noticed how he'd been sleeping. His limbs were all tangled up with Yuki's, and he'd been laying on Yuki's shoulder. He thought it was probably a good thing he'd woken up first, so that Yuki wasn't cross first thing in the morning, finding himself cuddling Shuuichi in his sleep. Though he had started to act a little more affectionately towards Shuu in the past few months, having the blonde wake up from doing so involuntarily wouldn't necessarily be good. Yuki could still be quite unpredictable in his moods and reactions to all things concerning Shuuichi. With this on his mind, Shuuichi carefully began extracting himself from Yuki's arms, barely breathing lest he wake the other man and earn a scolding, not only for the sleeping position, but also for the early hour. He was able to move Yuki's arms back onto his own chest, and then slowly turned away, sliding towards the edge of the bed.

 

Before he could move away completely, though, Yuki's arms were around him once again, pulling him flush against his body. Shuu gave a small squeak as his back hit that warm, strong chest, and he shivered as he felt Yuki's breath dance across his exposed neck and ear, the blonde having snuggled his cheek into Shuu's strawberry hair. It felt really good; safe and warm and loving; Shuu didn't care anymore how Yuki might react when he woke up. For now, to be able to be held like this by Yuki, whatever happened later was worth it.

 

He sighed happily and melted in Yuki's arms, snuggling himself back into his lover by wiggling his hips a little. At the action, he brushed against Yuki's crotch and felt that he was half hard in his sleep. Smirking mischievously at this little discovery, Shuu repeated his previous action, this time deliberately rubbing Yuki's growing erection with his ass. Yuki gave a little half groan in his sleep and pulled Shuu tighter against him, which only served to rub him against the singer even more. Shuu moaned softly as he felt Yuki's cock swelling against him.

 

Under the blanket over them, Shuu ran his free hand along Yuki's body, remembering with touch the body he knew so well. When he felt Yuki's arms move from around his waist, and his hands start gently exploring his exposed skin, Shuuichi knew Yuki was gradually waking up. When he felt the hot, wet tongue on that spot right below his ear, he knew Yuki knew what he was doing. He took a shuddering breath, running his hand up behind him into Yuki's golden hair as the writer lavished delicious attention on his neck.

 

Shuuichi turned slightly so he could reach Yuki's lips, and kissed him slow and sweet, basking in Yuki's gentleness of the early morning. Yuki's fingers skated across velvety skin, feeling the fine hairs on Shuu's thighs, the jut of his slight hip, the planes of his abs and torso, the slight curve of his chest. Long fingers, slightly calloused from typing, found a nipple and teased it, lightly circling it and brushing over; just enough to perk it up. Then he found its twin and gave it the same treatment. Continuing his fingers' path, he ran his hand up Shuu's neck, over his jaw, to his lips. Tracing his fingers softly over Shuu's mouth, Yuki silently asked for Shuu to allow him entrance. Shuuichi not only obliged, but snaked his tongue out to greet the welcome visitors, licking and sucking on them slowly, sensuously; knowing Yuki was watching his display.

 

After several agonizing seconds of feeling that sinful tongue of this deceptively innocent boy, Yuki extracted his fingers from Shuu's mouth and brought them once more down to his chest. He found one pert bud and slid a slick finger across it, causing Shuu to give a low mewl and arch the tiniest bit towards it. Yuki breathed in deeply in triumph, feeling slightly intoxicated for a moment at the smell of Shuuichi's strawberry scented hair; then, he regained control and slid that same finger over Shuu's other nipple, getting a similar reaction to the last. Teasingly lazy fingers drew circles and small figure eights around the two buds of flesh. Then Yuki's hands again started wandering, tracing patterns over Shuuichi's tanned flesh, smirking ever so slightly when he would draw little noises and gasps and mewls from the pink haired male.

 

Slowly, he slid his hand beneath the waistband of Shuu's boxers, dragging his fingertips lightly down his upper thigh as he slid the material from his lover. Shuuichi gave a hiss and a sigh of pleasure as the hot flesh of his hard cock met cool air once it was free from the boxers. He helped Yuki finish getting the underwear off by kicking them from his ankles, and soon gave another shudder when Yuki's fingers again dragged lightly up his leg, giving him a dusting of goosebumps across his skin.

 

“Ahh, Yukiii,” Shuu sighed, fingertips massaging into his blonde lover's scalp.

 

Yuki was kissing his neck softly now as his fingers stroked the skin of Shuu's thigh, dancing ever closer in, making his dick twitch in anticipation. His other arm was again snaked under Shuu, playing with one of his nipples as his lips traveled their way along the column of the boy's neck and shoulder.

 

Shuu's hand went back to Yuki's ass and squeezed, pressing his hips back at the same time, begging for more contact. Tucking his fingers under the edge of the waistband of Yuki's boxers, he gave a little tug, asking for the material to be removed. Yuki obliged him, and soon they were skin against bare skin, the velvety feel of smooth skin over hard steel making Shuu quiver as he felt Yuki's erection pressed against his bare cheeks. They rocked against each other for a little bit, hands slowly and torturously still exploring each other, once again caught up in a sensuous kiss, tongues sliding together eagerly, yet gently, as if they hadn't met in ages rather than hours.

 

Yuki took long, slow sucks of Shuu's tongue as his fingers finally wrapped around the singer's cock. Shuuichi moaned into his mouth at the action, dragging his teeth lightly on Yuki's tongue before sucking on it in return. With long strokes, Yuki caressed Shuuichi's manhood, the singer panting and languidly pistoning his hips toward his lover's hand.

 

Gradually, Yuki slid his leg in between Shuuichi's, raising one up to bend at the knee, granting the blonde better access to his little lover. The arm underneath Shuu shifted from teasing his nipples and torso to stroking his erection, as the former hand caressed Shuu's balls. Then a teasing finger drifted back, just barely, before the hand left him completely as Yuki leaned back to get a certain item out of his drawer.

 

Finding the brand new bottle of lube he'd just bought, he coated his fingers with the lubrication. He returned to stroking Shuuichi's balls, this time with slick fingers. Those fingers easily slid back, beneath the sac, to the little ring of muscle that was the entrance to Shuu's body. Tracing around it, Yuki teased the hole until he felt Shuu sigh and relax, the ring opening slightly to allow his finger in. One at first, but very soon, two.

 

Still lazily stroking Shuuichi's cock, Yuki stroked his inner walls. Scissoring and stretching, Yuki pressed long fingers into him, prodding for a particular spot. He knew when he'd found it, smirking softly as Shuuichi arched and panted his agreement of the action, “Ohh, Yuki, yes, yesss…” Recapturing pink lips and sucking on Shuu's tongue, Yuki gently added a third finger, stretching him even more. Thrusting and curling his fingers inside his little lover, Yuki pulled all the panting mewls he could out of Shuuichi before a firmer press against his prostate had him crying out as he came, semen coating Yuki's hand around him.

 

“Shuuichi…” he breathed into the vocalist's ear, and Shuu whimpered and quivered at the added sensation of it just as his first orgasm ended. “You didn't wait for me.” Reprimanding words in a husky tone.

 

Oh, the thrill of anticipation those words sent right to the core of Shuuichi. He gripped Yuki's hip and ground his ass back towards him, whispering breathily, “G-gomen, Yuki… I… I can do better…”

 

“Shuuichi,” Yuki said huskily again, interrupting the other man. “Just shut up for now.” And he stole the singer's breath in a sudden, deep kiss. With precision he arranged their bodies and limbs so that they fit together perfectly, still technically spooning. Then, positioning the head of his newly lubricated cock, Yuki entered Shuuichi. Slowly. Agonizingly slowly. He got almost all the way in, then eased back out, slowly back in, slowly out. Over and over he seemed to tease Shuu this way, meeting the pink haired boy's groans of protest with breathtaking kisses and languid sucks of his tongue, neck and ear. His hands firmly gripped around the boy's hips, Yuki guided Shuu onto him, never letting his impatience rule their pace.

 

Just as Shuu thought he couldn't take it anymore; that he would die of frustration, despite the fact he had already come once, Yuki thrust deep into Shuu in one strong motion. He barely contained the groan that threatened to escape as Shuu's muscles twitched around him in response, and Shuu felt the rumble go through his blonde lover behind him. It turned him on even more to know how much Yuki was enjoying this also; enjoying him; enjoying them.

 

Shuuichi's fingers gripped Yuki's hair and bicep as he started to thrust a little more forcefully into him. With Yuki's hands guiding him, Shuu pistoned his hips, taking all of the blonde's length into him over and over. Harder and harder, Yuki thrust, feeling his climax coming closer and closer. He felt the heat building between their two bodies, and knew he could dissolve into it if he let himself; lose himself in Shuuichi.

 

Their breathing was quick and heavy; panting. Shuu's mewling moans and cries filled the air with the slight squeak of bedsprings and Yuki's own soft moans and groans that weren't able to be completely held back. Short nails on small, tan fingers dug into pristine, pale skin as Shuuichi felt his orgasm crash over him, hanging on to Yuki for dear life as he came harder than he had the first time.

 

“Yuki! Ohh, Yuki, yes! God, yes!” he exclaimed through his climax.

 

The spasming of Shuu's muscles around him pushed Yuki over the edge as well, and he came deep into his lover's lithe body with a husked out whisper of, “Ahh, Shuu…”

 

“Ah!” Shuuichi couldn't help but gasp in pleasure as that soft utterance sent another thrill through him. Then Yuki had stopped his small finishing thrusts and they lay in each other's arms for several minutes, just basking in the after glow of their early morning love making. When they finally separated, Yuki groaned softly, needing to clean up, but not wanting to leave the warmth of his bed or his lover.

 

Shuuichi didn't want him to, either. “Yu~kiii,” he whined, turning in the blonde's embrace and wrapping his arms firmly around him. “Yuki warm, stay,” he muttered insistently and childishly.

 

Yuki had the urge to tap Shuuichi's nose like he would to reprimand a puppy; instead he kissed it. “Shuuichi,” he said in his deep yet soft voice. “You don't want to get up?”

 

Shuu shook his head, eyes glistening as he widened them to puppy eyes.

 

“And you don't want me to get up?”

 

Another shake of the head, puppy eyes getting even bigger.

 

“But I need a shower, brat,” Yuki replied, his eyes still warm.

 

Shuu's puppy eyes grew impossibly large, tears shining in them like stars. Then Yuki dipped his head down to Shuu's ear and husked, “Don't you want to come take a shower with me, Shuuichi?” Shuu's eyes rolled up for a second and his toes curled, hearing his name again coming from this man; his lover; his love. It was such a rare occurrence, and Yuki seemed to say it differently than anyone else in the entire world, not sing-songing it or saying it all cutesy, but in a sort of husky drawl that made it sound as if just saying his name was Yuki making love to him. Shuuichi knew he would never tire of hearing it even if Yuki suddenly started saying his name a hundred times a day.

 

All Shuuichi could do was nod in response as Yuki slowly left the bed, helping Shuu up, and they walked to the bathroom together for a refreshing morning shower. The trip took a short detour, however, as the phone in the living room started ringing, and Shuuichi went to answer it.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

Mika woke to the shrill cry of the phone on her nightstand. Fumbling for the phone in her dark room, the faint beginnings of dawn being blocked out by blinds and heavy curtains, Mika finally was able to silence the ringing and answered her early morning caller.

 

It had been Suguru's mother, wondering if Mika had seen him the day before and if she knew where he might be now. He hadn't said he had a show to play, but he hadn't come home the night before and was still missing this morning. His cell phone was going immediately to voice mail.

 

Mika assured her that Suguru was certainly fine, and that she would call her immediately when she found out his whereabouts. Then Mika thought of where Suguru could possibly be. After walking out on Touma at the office, Suguru had obviously wanted to avoid the issue at all costs and hadn't even gone to his own home the night before. If Suguru thought he needed to hide, where would he go? Immediately, her mind went to Shuuichi and Hiro. Though it was true the three still weren't the best of friends, she'd noticed that they were seeming to get gradually closer, and she knew that Hiro and Shuuichi weren't the type of people to ignore someone in need, which surely Suguru would be after the episode Mika had subjected him to the night before.

 

Oh yes, thinking about it now with a mostly clear head, Mika realized it had been truly selfish at the least, if not completely grotesque, of her to expect such a service from Touma's cousin. What kind of person was she that she could have thought it was excusable for even one second?! She decided she would find Suguru, and apologize.

 

Now how to get ahold of him?

 

His mother had said his phone was just going to voicemail now. Either he had turned it off or the battery had run out, and neither option was helpful. She thought, maybe Suguru had stayed with Shuuichi at Eiri's since her brother was on a book signing trip and the pink haired vocalist always got lonely while Eiri was gone. So, the first number she tried was Eiri's home phone. It rang a couple times before a familiar genki voice answered brightly, “Moshi mo~sh!”

 

“Shindou-san,” Mika greeted. “Is Suguru-kun over there, by any chance?”

 

“Fujisaki?” he questioned, scratching his head. “No, he's not here. Did you try his house?”

 

“His mother says he never came home last night. Do you know where he might be?”

 

“He never came home last night?!” Shuu exclaimed then. “I wonder if he really did want to be alone with Hiro…” Shuu mumbled to himself.

 

“What was that?” Mika questioned of the muttering.

 

“Oh nothing,” Shuuichi said, grinning despite the fact she couldn't see it. “You might try Hiro's place, though. We were all over there last night watching movies.”

 

Mika paused at this. “Suguru-kun was… watching movies?”

 

“Yeah, sure, action movies. He was really getting into it too.”

 

“O…kay… well, I'll try Nakano-san's next then. Could you give me his number, Shindou-san?”

 

After getting the number, Mika thanked him.

 

“No problem,” he replied. “But, uh, Mika-san? Do you need anything else, or can I go? Yuki's waiting in the shower for me.” He suddenly sounded slightly whiny and definitely impatient.

 

She could picture him doing some sort of bouncing impatient dance, a hornball's version of the `potty dance', so to speak, and almost laughed at the image. Instead, she merely asked, “Eiri's home already? I thought his trip was supposed to last longer.”

 

“Uh… actually-he-was-supposed-to-come-back-today-but-he's-been-back-since-Thursd ay-night-since-he-could-commute-I'll-talk-to-ya-later-Mika-san-Ja ne!” He spit this all out in one long breath before hanging up the phone, and Mika shook her head, knowing he had probably immediately hurtled himself down the hallway and into the bathroom with her brother. Then Mika had looked at the phone number she had written down for Nakano-san, and dialed it.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

It was just getting bright out when Suguru was woken up in the morning by the sound of Hiro's phone ringing on the table by his head. He tried to ignore it, keeping his eyes shut tight, sure that it was much too early to give up on sleep by waking up to answer someone else's phone. After the fifth ring, he was losing the battle of Sleep vs. Phone, though, and was just about to give in and answer, when the incessantly ringing device was finally silenced by Hiro picking it up. Suguru sighed in relief and tried to sink back to sleep before it was noticed he was partially awake. If Hiro knew he was awake, he might make him go home right away, and Suguru just didn't want to. All he wanted was to sleep a little longer and not worry about the tangled triple lives his very close relatives led and expected his participation in.

 

His attempt was to be unfruitful, however, as the phone conversation soon drew his attention.

 

“Moshi moshi?” Hiro had answered. His voice was soft, though slightly rough and groggy, like he'd just woken up as well. “Hai, he's here.” There was no mistake what `he' Hiro was talking about. Suguru was the only one here this early in the morning. “He fell asleep on my couch last night while I took Shuu home, and I just didn't want to wake him.” He paused to listen. “Mmm…” Hiro seemed to be thinking how to reply to the caller. Suguru noticed a shadow cast across his face as Hiro apparently leaned over him. “Well, he's still asleep. I'll have him call you when he wakes up, though. …Okay, ja na.” The phone was hung up without Suguru having to answer, but he could already tell he wouldn't be able to return to sleep soon. So, his curiosity having gotten the better of him, he propped himself up on an elbow, his other hand rubbing his eyes a bit, and peered blurrily up at Hiro to ask, “Was that for me?”

 

“Oh, gomen Fujisaki, I thought you were asleep.” Hiro answered.

 

Suguru sat up all the way and waved off the apology. “Who was it?”

 

“Oh, it was Mika-san. I told her I'd have you call her back when you woke up. Do you want to do it now?”

 

“If you don't mind, Nakano-san, I'd like to wait a little bit to do that.” He closed his eyes and gently rubbed his fingertips over his temples, already feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on. “Do you have any aspirin?” He asked his bandmate and host.

 

“Got a headache, eh, Fujisaki?” Hiro said as he left the room to rummage through a bathroom cabinet, finding the bottle of painkillers and getting two out for the teen. Then he detoured to the kitchen for a glass of water and handed it and the pills to Suguru. “Maybe four beers was too much last night?” he asked with a sorry smile.

 

Suguru shook his head `no'. “I always have a headache in the morning. It's just that this morning it's earlier than usual, and I didn't expect to be spending the night anywhere, so I didn't bring my own aspirin.”

 

“Wow, you get a headache every morning?” Hiro asked in concern. “Are you stressed out, Fujisaki?”

 

That was probably putting it mildly, but Suguru had somehow gotten used to his hectic life of school tutoring, keyboard practice, Bad Luck, an insane lead singer, that insane lead singer's insane lead singer best friend, an insane band manager, high strung producer, and insane, part sadistic, part masochistic family members. He barely thought about his headaches anymore much past the daily medication of them so that his brain could function. Rather than say all this, however, Suguru merely shrugged halfheartedly, too tired for explanations or excuses.

 

Hiro seemed to accept that as either an answer or proof that Suguru didn't feel like talking about it, the teen wasn't sure which. Either way, the subject was dropped as Hiro sat casually on the opposite end of the couch, and smiled at Fujisaki. “Did you sleep well?”

 

Despite the fact that he'd been woken up rather early by the phone, and that he'd spent the night on Hiro's couch rather than in his own bed, Suguru discovered he had slept rather peacefully. He didn't remember waking up once during the night, either, which was rare for him. He slowly nodded `yes' to the question.

 

Hiro reached over and gave a playful tug on the jacket still over Suguru's shoulder, the blanket having fallen off when he'd first sat up. “I never knew my coat made such a good blanket,” he teased.

 

Suguru's eyes went wide as he looked and discovered that, indeed, it was Hiro's coat and not his that he'd found in the dark the night before and used as a blanket. He felt his face growing hot and knew there was no way to hide his blush as light from the early morning sun flooded through the white blinds on the windows. Then he mentally scoffed and berated himself for blushing. What the hell was he blushing for anyway? It was just a coat. It's not like he'd even known it was Hiro's in the first place. It wasn't like he knowingly borrowed the guitarists underwear or something. As soon as that thought came into his mind, Suguru regretted it as he blushed even more furiously. “I—I… I—di—” Suguru tried to think of something to say. An excuse? A logical explanation? He didn't know, because all his mind would provide him was a series of stuttered syllables.

 

Hiro merely chuckled at him, ruffling his hair good naturedly, “Hey, it's okay. If the coat works as a blanket, by all means use it. No big deal.” He grinned and Suguru felt himself relaxing. Of course, why should he feel uneasy about merely having a case of mistaken coat identity in the dark? It's not like Hiro would hold it against him. So, rather than continue the mild freak out that surely would have had him tossing the jacket off of himself and bolting out the door, Suguru allowed himself to sink back into the cushions of the couch, pulling the jacket over himself a little more snugly as the change in position brought the early morning chill to him.

 

“Still tired, Fujisaki?” Hiro said with a yawn.

 

The teen blinked a few times, trying to keep his eyes open, but nodded as he saw the edges of his vision beginning to blur and darken again.

 

Hiro gave another yawn and squinted at the clock on the VCR. “It's barely past 7,” he said in that still-sleepy voice. “We could both do with some more sleep.” Then, rather than return to his bed in the opposite room, Hiro simply stretched down the couch, his body laying on the outside edge while Suguru lay on the inside, pulling the extra blanket over himself. He arranged it over Suguru as well, once the other boy had gotten himself comfortable, and soon the two felt themselves succumbing once again to the pull of sleep.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

“What are you doing today, brat?” Yuki asked of Shuu as they ate breakfast.

 

Shuu swallowed the bit of toast in his mouth before answering, “Nothing until later. I'm going out with Hiro and Fujisaki tonight. It's my day off, though, so you have me all to yourself until then.” He grinned mischievously at Yuki, waggling his eyebrows.

 

“Sorry, no can do,” Yuki said, shifting the golden gaze behind his glasses back to the newspaper in his hands. Shuuichi pouted, but Yuki continued, “I have to finish the outline and first chapter draft of my next novel before my meeting with my editor tomorrow. I'll be working all day, so don't bother me.”

 

“But, Yu~kiii…” Shuu whined, but Yuki gave him a glare that immediately had the annoying sound dying in his throat. Then he crossed his arms over his chest and huffed, “Fine, I'll just find some other way to entertain myself today.”

 

Yuki's silence showed his gratitude.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

Touma woke up sometime around noon. He wasn't sure of the exact time, because he still hadn't been completely coherent when he woke and dragged himself from his studio and into the bathroom in the hallway. There he had gone to the bathroom and just started brushing his teeth when he threw his brush into the sink and lunged for the toilet again, relieving himself of the woes of his unhindered drinking the night before.

 

Eventually, Touma stopped heaving long enough to finish brushing his teeth, rinsing his mouth out with mouthwash until it felt like his tongue would dissolve. Finally looking in the mirror, he was almost scared by what he saw looking back at him. No longer ethereal, his pale skin now looked thin and sickly. Dark circles were forming under his eyes, and all in all he looked rather haggard. He noticed he hadn't even bothered to change out of his clothes the night before. Even his overcoat was still on.

 

Sighing heavily to himself, he dug through his pockets in search of his cell phone. Time to start the daily routine of tracking down Ryuichi. His search of his pockets coming up empty, Touma put a hand to his pounding head, pulling at his hair a bit as he tried to think what he'd done with the damn thing. Then the image of slivers of black and silver metal, plastic, and microchips flashed in his mind and he remembered. He'd thrown it. It had shattered. Oh well, one more thing to add to the day's `To Do' list: Replace cell phone.

 

Touma popped a couple painkillers from the medicine cabinet. `Better make it three for good measure.' Then he ran himself a shower, remaining long after he'd finished washing, just letting the hot water beat down on him as he listlessly watched the water wash down the drain. When he realized the water was getting cold, he turned it off and dried off with a towel, wrapping himself in a fluffy royal purple robe before exiting the bathroom for his closet.

 

Touma had a separate room for his closet. An entire separate room. And that wasn't to say he had to go into it every time he needed to get dressed, either, because he also had a dresser and some regular day to day clothing in the walk-in closet in his and Mika's bedroom. It was true, though, that he often did dress in his dressing room, full of his finest and, sometimes, more flamboyant clothing. Plus, like his music studio, it was one of the few places in the house that was just his; a sort of sanctuary. Like Mika's own dressing room and her study.

 

Touma definitely needed these finer things today. He needed to pamper himself a little bit; bring his unearthly, angelic beauty back to the surface, forgetting this shadow of his former self he was slowly turning into in the wake of Ryuichi's apparent abandonment of him.

 

Entering through the double doors, Touma spun around as he closed the doors behind him, feeling a bit of calm wash through him already. With a flip of a switch, the soft glow of the vanity lights filled a dark corner of the room, and Touma sat at the small table and mirror to begin his skin care regimen. First things first, for a flawless, angelic face, one must have flawless, angelic skin. He made sure to pay extra attention to dabbing the eye cream over his dark circles gently, and then completed his routine by applying a moisturizer. He added a light, thin line of black eyeliner around his lashes, and the softest touch of mascara to the lashes, darkening the fair hair there so that his eyes stood out better on his pale face. Neither his calculating smile nor his fierce, intense gaze would be as powerful as they were if his eyes didn't stand out; though, of course, having turquoise eyes also helped with that. A bit of lip gloss brought life back to his lips, and he practiced his smile in the mirror.

 

Then he started on his hair.

 

No less than an hour later, maybe even closer to two, after styling his hair and trying on countless outfits, finally choosing a slightly dressy, yet comfortable black and silver turtleneck sweater and black dress slacks, Touma left his dressing room.

 

Upon inspection of the house, he found that Mika was no longer there. He wasn't even sure if she'd been there when he'd first gotten up. There was no note, and the remainder of her morning coffee was cold and stale. He saw that there wasn't much food in the fridge, though, and remembered they were having the Fujisakis over for dinner. Perhaps Mika had gone to the store for the ingredients she needed for dinner.

 

Touma forced himself to eat a bit of a sandwich, and, though his stomach tried to protest, he was able to keep it down. Taking this as a good sign, as even the coffee he brewed for himself stayed down, Touma decided he might as well get started on his errands. First, he should get his cell phone replaced, as it would be rather hard to do much else without it. Then he would call Ryuichi and check his apartment again. One phone call from Touma's house phone this afternoon had already gone unanswered, but Touma was not going to give up yet.

 

If he still couldn't find Ryuichi, he would again call Eiri for his help. Even the great Yuki Eiri, Golden Eyed Ice Prince, couldn't ignore his little brother missing for three straight days! If all his options up to this point still proved in vain, Touma still had a few other last resort options. One of which actually involved reporting his disappearance to the police, but Touma hoped it wouldn't come to that.

 

Though all publicity was supposed to be good publicity in the world of entertainment, there was a point when you crossed the line from good band publicity, to bad public image and ruined reputation. The idea of all the skeletons that could be uncovered, in both his and Ryuichi's closets, put police and public involvement of any sort at the very bottom of his list of options. The stories the media was already creating on its own, though horribly misinformed and exaggerated, were nothing compared to the truths that could be revealed otherwise.

 

So, stomach somewhat settled, Touma pulled his feathery purple and black coat on, donned a black fedora with small matching purple and black feathers, and some low designer boots. He found his keys, made sure his wallet was in his inner coat pocket, and headed out the door.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

Suguru was again woken up by a noise. This time it wasn't the phone, it was the door. Someone was knocking on it; rather insistently. Groggily, still mostly asleep, Suguru tried to move from the entrapment of his covers in order to answer the door. It wasn't until his foot hit something warm, and simultaneously soft and hard, that he realized where he was and who he had accidentally just kicked in the crotch. The… apparently aroused crotch. Hiro's crotch. Luckily his kick hadn't actually been more than a brush of his toes, and Hiro gave a searching little thrusttowards him instead of shying away at the contact. This immediately had Suguru's face sporting flame red and he quickly recoiled his feet and bolted from the couch before Hiro could wake up and realize what had happened. No reason to embarrass both of them, right? Right. Besides, he was probably just dreaming about Ayaka.

 

Suguru took some calming breaths, trying to slow his heartbeat and cool his face back to its normal pale complexion, before he finally opened the door of Hiro's apartment.

 

“Oh, so you are still here, Fujisaki,” was Shuuichi's greeting.

 

Suguru merely gave a half hearted wave in greeting before shuffling back down the hall to the living room, sitting in his sleep-warmed spot on the couch as Hiro still slept away.

 

Shuu looked at Hiro, then at Suguru, taking in both of their rumpled appearances and the obvious sleeping nest that was the couch, and raised a pink brow at the teen, who ignored him in favor of finding the remote and starting to flip through the channels dazedly.

 

“Have you both been sleeping all day?” Shuu inquired when no conversation was offered.

 

Suguru shrugged. “It's our day off, after all. Even I can sleep in every once in a while, Shindou-san.”

 

“But it's 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Fujisaki!”

 

At this exclamation, Suguru's eyes went wide and his head snapped to the VCR clock to confirm this. It was true. It was just a few minutes past 4. They had slept all day!

Quickly, Suguru found his phone and dialed Mika's number by heart, hoping to whatever gods were listening that she wouldn't kill him for not only refusing Touma, but for snubbing her earlier phone call as well. The call did not go through, however; in fact there was no tone whatsoever. Looking at the battery level, he found his phone was dead, sorely in need of recharging. Grabbing Hiro's phone off the end table instead, he redialed. He held his breath as it rung, and when she picked up and he let out his breath, his mouth went dry and he couldn't speak. Thinking quickly, he took a drink from the water remaining in his glass from when he'd taken the aspirin, promptly choked on it, then sputtered out squeakily, “M—M—ahem—Mika-san?”

 

“Suguru-kun!” she exclaimed, sounding relieved. “Where have you been? Your parents and I have been worried sick! Nakano-san was supposed to have you call me as soon as you woke up, what took you so long?!”

 

“Gomen, Mika-san, it seems I slept rather late today,” he apologized.

 

Mika sighed, “It's okay, Suguru-kun. As long as you're okay, it's fine. But don't ever do this again, do you understand? Your parents and I had no idea where you'd gone, or if you were okay, or what! If you're going to spend the night at your band mate's house, at least call and let them know!”

 

Suguru sweatdropped. “Okay, Mika-san. I will.”

 

“Good. Now that that's out of the way, I want to talk to you, Suguru-kun.”

 

He wanted to groan. Did he really have to do this now? Was there no more putting it off? Well, he supposed, the longer he let it wait, the worse it would be. “What is it, Mika-san?” he asked rather resignedly.

 

“I… I want to… apologize to you, Suguru-kun. What I asked of you last night was completely out of line and uncalled for. I should never have tried to place such a heavy burden on you. I hope that you can forgive me and forget it ever happened.”

 

He was shocked, to say the least. Of course, what she said was true, if still a little sugar-coated, but he had never expected her to apologize for it. He thought she would be angry at him. He thought he had sealed the fate of his band and any future they had at NG, or in the music industry altogether, by simply refusing Touma. It seemed, however, he had been wrong; at least when it came to Mika. Of course, Touma would be a different matter entirely, but if Mika could forgive him, Suguru had hope.

 

“Of course, Mika-san,” Suguru said, politely accepting her apology. “And I'm sorry for the trouble I caused you and my parents.”

 

“Thank you, Suguru-kun. Now, I suppose you're still not coming to dinner tonight?”

 

“No, I'm going out with Shindou-san and Nakano-san,” he replied.

 

“Okay. Well, at least call your mother and let her know what you're doing and that you're alright, please.”

 

“I will, Mika-san. I will talk to you later.” They hung up and Suguru saw Shuuichi staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Deciding to ignore it for now, however, he returned to his channel surfing, eventually stopping on a cooking show.

 

Suguru's mouth started to water as they explained the dish they were making, and he barely registered when Shuu demanded, “Well?”

 

He barely gave him a sideways glance before returning his gaze to the television. “Well what, Shindou-san?”

 

“What the hell did Mika-san call you for? That was her you called just now, right? She called you during practice yesterday, too. What did she want?”

 

Suguru sat up straight and considered the question with a serious face, then suddenly smiled, shrugged, and said, “No reason. I thought I had to do something for her, but it turns out I don't have to. That's all.”

 

He then thought perhaps he should call his parentsnow, and let his mother know he would be out with his band mates for the night. The first thing she did when she answered was scold him for not calling earlier. Then she scolded him for not answering his phone, and for letting it die when he gave that as an excuse. After much scolding and the answering apologizing, Suguru finally got to the point of his call, and told his mother he would be going to a club with the other members of Bad Luck.

 

When his mother asked if he would be spending the night somewhere again, Suguru wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't planned on being out all night again, but it was also true that he would be engaging in activity his parents currently disapproved of him doing; namely: drinking alcohol. Perhaps it would be better if he didn't go home. But he didn't want to impose on Hiro again, and he certainly couldn't stay with Shuuichi and Yuki. Not only did he know the blonde novelist would not go for it, but he didn't particularly want to hear anything the two of them might do together regardless of who was in the house.

 

That was when he was brought out of his musings by a foot nudging his leg. Looking to his left, he saw Hiro, awake and looking at him questioningly. “What's the matter?” he asked in a low whisper, mindful of the phone against Suguru's ear.

 

Suguru covered the mouthpiece with his hand and whispered, “My mother wants to know if I will be staying out all night again. What should I say?”

 

Hiro shrugged, “I don't care if you crash here again, it'd probably better, considering how they reacted the last time…” Suguru frowned at him, sternly warning not to say more on the subject, in case his mother heard their whispers through his hand. “As long as you don't mind my humble accommodations,” Hiro finished, gesturing to the small room they sat in.

 

Suguru told his mother he would be staying at Hiro's, and that he would pick up a change of clothes before they went out. After assuring his mother that he would be safe and informing her where they were to be, he hung up.

 

Shuuichi was grinning his big idiot grin when Suguru looked up again, and the dark haired teen narrowed his eyes. “What is it now?”

 

“Nooooothing,” Shuuichi sing-songed, still giving that grin to Suguru. And… if he wasn't mistaken… the vocalist was also directing that expression towards Hiro… with… shifty… eyes. Suguru rolled his eyes and ignored him. Until…

 

“You really do want to be alone with Hiro, don't you, Suguru-kun” Shuuichi couldn't help but tease.

 

He barely got to see the reward of Suguru's tomato red face before a couch pillow was thrown in his face.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

Ryuichi was putting on a show for Tatsuha. Decked out in his crimson and gold robe, the tie for it tied around his neck, cowboy hat on his head, and, let's not forget, tiny leopard print bikini underwear; the eclectically dressed hyperactive singer danced around the room, Kumagorou in his arms, singing along to the upbeat version of Gackt's Vanilla. Tatsuha laughed and joined in on the fun, the two of them dancing and gyrating together in better than a mock of the actual stage performance by the original singer. Just as things between them started getting too hot for the `stage', their teasing movements and subtle touches becoming much more noticeable and meaningful, their kisses hotter and deeper, Ryuichi suddenly squealed and pulled away from Tatsuha laughing.

 

Tatsuha was confused for a moment, until he realized: Kumagorou. Was. Vibrating. And it had tickled Ryuichi. Quirking a brow at Ryuichi, wondering why in the world the pink bunny would be vibrating, and if this was a fetish he should've known about ahead of time, he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding when Ryuichi suddenly reached into Kumagorou's back and pulled out a shiny pink cell phone.

 

“Naughty Kuma-chan!” Ryu scolded, tapping the bunny's nose with the phone antenna. “You're supposed to tell Ryu-chan when we get a call!” Then Ryu starting pushing buttons on his phone, frowning as the screen showed thirty-nine missed calls and twenty messages. Almost all of them were from Touma, with the exception of a couple from Mika, one from Shuuichi, and a couple other random people that were most likely business related and he didn't particularly care about.

 

He listened to Shuuichi's; he had called to make sure Ryuichi was okay and to wonder where he was and hope that Tatsuha wasn't making him do anything he didn't want to do. Ryu smiled at that. Shuuichi was a real good friend, even if Ryu wasn't sure why Shuuichi was worried about Tatsuha being mean to him. Tatsuha was a perfect gentleman.

 

He listened to Mika's messages as well. All were short and to the point: She needed to talk to him immediately, please call her. Touma wasn't doing so well, and Mika really needed Ryuichi to come back and talk to him. Etc., etc. He had four messages from her, all rather similar.

 

There were a couple he skipped that seemed to be from the press. He didn't need to listen to them; Touma took care of all that.

 

Touma's messages… ranged from concerned, to worried, to stressed, to thinly-veiled threats against Tatsuha, to hollow, and so on. Ryuichi couldn't stand to listen to them all, so he listened randomly to a few of them before deleting the lot, sighing when he thought of the consequences he would most likely meet for his fun little stunt.

 

Looking up and seeing the concern etched onto Tatsuha's face, as the boy had unknowingly mimicked Ryuichi's own facial expressions as he listened to his messages, Ryuichi's smile returned. Consequences, schmonsequences. He had gotten to play with Tatsuha. For… three days, apparently, according to the dates and times of his messages. Ryuichi's eyes suddenly widened at the realization.

 

“Tatsuha-kun!” he exclaimed. “I was supposed to go to work!”

 

Tatsuha went equally wide eyed, “When? This morning?”

 

Ryuichi slowly shook his head `no'.

 

“Then when?”

 

“Two days ago…”

 

“Two days ago?! But Ryuichi—wait… how long have we been here?”

 

“According to my phone,” Ryu said, holding it up for Tatsuha to see it, “Today is Sunday afternoon, na no da. We came here Thursday night, na no da!!”

 

“Wow, three days and your battery on your phone isn't dead?!”

 

Ryuichi smiled chibily, “Ryu-chan buys really good batteries, na no da!”

 

Tatsuha laughed, then said slowly, “Ryuichi… you mean… we've been here… and doing all this… for that long?!!”

 

Tatsuha was all at once unspeakably thrilled, having experienced so many fantasies with his dream lover in real life; and horribly worried, wondering what price had been put on his head in their combined absence. Sure, he didn't have that many monk duties at his father's shrine, and his disappearances around the weekends weren't all that uncommon anyway, but he'd been missing with Ryuichi. And, surely, after all this time, there was no way Touma didn't know it was Tatsuha that Ryuichi was with. Hell, it surely had been blatantly obvious the first night, but neither of them had actually planned to stay gone this long. That had certainly made things worse. He could only guess from the looks Ryuichi had gotten on his face as he'd listened to several phone messages moments before.

 

Ryuichi merely nodded at him, then started pouting, eyes getting pooly. “Tatsuha-kun!” he cried, suddenly clutching at the front of the other's robe, “I think we need to go, now.” He looked down, burying his face against Tatsuha's shoulder, and Tatsuha could hear sniffling.

 

“Hey, Ryuichi, it's okay,” Tatsuha soothed, his arms going around his god, rubbing circles on his back. “It's not like we can't see each other again, ne?”

 

Ryuichi looked up at him, eyes glistening, face streaked with a few hot tears, and he smiled again. “Yeah, Ryu-chan can see Tatsuha-kun again, na no da!”

 

Tatsuha grinned back and him, then felt another sinking feeling of dread, as he remembered something else. “That is… if aniki doesn't kill me first.”

 

Ryuichi looked at him, puzzled and worried. Touma was technically Tatsuha's aniki as well, though the brunette couldn't recall ever having heard Touma referred to as that by Tatsuha.

 

“Eiri,” Tatsuha clarified. “That suit I wore Thursday night was his, and now it's… well, you know.”

 

Ryuichi looked confused for a moment before realization set in from the memories of the fate of the suit. Namely the blue shirt Tatsuha had worn with it, actually, which had been in pretty bad shape when they'd really looked at it. Ryuichi vaguely recalled there being a jacket to the suit also, but couldn't remember for sure, as he hadn't seen Tatsuha wearing a jacket the whole time they were at Zepp, or after for that matter. It really was a beautiful suit, too. It was a shame it was now ruined; Tatsuha had looked damn hot in it.

 

Then Ryuichi got an idea. “Ne, Tatsuha-kun, if you return the suit, Yuki-san won't kill you, will he na no da?”

 

“Maybe not… but it's ruined, I can't return it to him like that! If I brought it back like this, he'd have fun torturing me first, then kill me!”

 

Ryuichi merely grinned, then kissed him quickly on the lips before spinning around, and running for the closet while shedding his clothes. “It's okay, na no da! Tatsuha-kun doesn't have to return that suit to Yuki-san. Tatsuha-kun just has to return a suit to him, na no da!”

 

“Ryuichi,” Tatsuha started, having an idea where this was going. “It's very sweet of you to want to help me by replacing aniki's suit, but his was a custom made Armani suit, with handcrafted and monogrammed cufflinks and everything. He'll definitely notice the difference.”

 

“Tatsuha shouldn't worry so much, na no da. It will put ugly frown lines on his beautiful face!”

 

The comment caught Tatsuha off guard and had him instantly fighting an insistent blush. In the end, he compromised and turned slightly pink for a moment before shaking it off.

 

After that, everything seemed to happen in a sort of whirlwind. Ryuichi had them dressed and out the door of the penthouse suite within minutes, Kumagorou safely tucked under his arm. Ryuichi was again wearing his favorite jeans, sans underwear of course, though with a different top; long-sleeved, black, cropped at the waist, and made of a super-thin material with a screenprint of Bad Luck in concert, Shuuichi at the forefront, on the front. Tatsuha idly wondered if, based on the cut and the slightly ruffled edges, the shirt was actually meant for girls. But, he realized, Ryuichi looked hot in it regardless, so who cares what sex it was truly meant for?

 

Ryu also was actually wearing a coat this time; a denim jacket that matched his jeans and cut off just past his hips. The bandanas he'd worn to the hotel were readorning their proper places on his body, along with his braided leather bracelet. His cowboy hat was in place, and his boots, of course, were on his feet.

 

He had dressed Tatsuha in his own clothes, too, as obviously the other male didn't really have suitable clothes left. That is to say, Tatsuha wore one of Ryuichi's silky button-up shirts and the suit pants he'd originally worn, as his legs were longer than Ryu's. The pants, at least, were still relatively clean. Ryu had also given Tats a leather jacket to wear.

 

Obviously, none of these things were the Armani suit Ryuichi continued to hint at gifting to Tatsuha for the saving of his ass from his brother's literal and metaphorical foot. Tatsuha grew curious, and wondered on it the whole elevator ride down to the lobby. There he was momentarily distracted, as four hotel employees immediately stopped what they were doing to come to Ryuichi's aid.

 

They were informed that Tatsuha's motorcycle had been parked in the private underground garage. He was surprised, as he hadn't even noticed when his keys had gone missing in order for them to perform this service. Ryuichi, however, just giggled at him, obviously used to these things. Then they were told about the commotion that had gone on, with a gun-wielding Mister K and several other much shadier characters asking around for Ryuichi and his black haired lover, an Uesugi Tatsuha. Tatsuha paled at that, and nearly choked when he thought he forgot how to breathe, then remembered and swallowed at the same time. Ryuichi giggled again and re-declared, “Don't worry so much, na no da!”

 

Then in seemingly the next minute, they were off. Back on his bike, brisk wind in their faces, road beneath them. After a stop at the first red light they ran across, Ryuichi got Tatsuha's attention to give him some directions. Tatsuha's heart started pounding in his head, pumping a mile a minute, his ears roared with a rush of blood. Ryuichi…was taking him… to his home. His real home.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

It had been a pleasant dinner. Mika had gone out shopping earlier in the day, in order to get fresh ingredients for their meal. When she came back, Touma was gone, but she didn't let herself worry about it for the time being. Right then, all she wanted to worry about was preparing dinner for her husband and his family. Everything had gone well, dinner was ready on time, and Touma even showed up back home in time to settle in before Suguru's parents had shown up at their door.

 

Now, dinner was over and the four adults were politely conversing over coffee. Mika felt herself becoming optimistic that this night might be the first normal night all week, when suddenly Touma's cell phone rang. It caught her and the others, even Touma, by surprise with the sudden shrill trill. Apparently, he hadn't taken the time to customize his new phone's settings yet, and had forgotten the default ring tone it was set on.

 

When he answered, Mika looked at him questioningly, merely receiving a frown and a lifted index finger telling her to wait. Then he left the room. When he returned, he told Mika and their guests that he was sorry, but some urgent business just came up and he had to go. When Mika went to refill their coffee, she added a good amount of brandy to hers before returning to her guests.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

 

After the initial shock of his phone's ring, Touma answered quickly, not taking the time to look at the ID. He was met with the voice of Takada-san.

 

“Seguchi-san?”

 

“Hai.”

 

“I finally spotted that bike you've been looking for, and I've been trailing it back into downtown Tokyo.”

 

At this information, Touma immediately left the room to take the call privately. “Takada-san, tell me I've heard you correctly,” Touma said once he was enclosed in his studio. “You've found Uesugi Tatsuha's bike. You are trailing him on it?” He heard the eagerness in his voice start to rise, and took a calming breath to control it.

 

“Hai, Seguchi-san.”

 

“And Ryuichi-san is with him as well?”

 

“Well,” Takada drawled, “It's not 100%. It is hard to confirm from the distance I'm keeping, but there appears to be two young men on it, yes. One's wearing a cowboy hat like you described Sakuma-san wearing, the other has a helmet on.”

 

“Okay, Takada-san. That is very good, thank you. Now, can you tell where they are heading?”

 

“Well, it could be anywhere right now, but I'll keep trailing them and let you know where they end up, okay?”

 

“Okay, Takada-san, but I have a slight change to make to that suggestion. You keep trailing them, but tell me exactly where you are. I'm going to try to head them off in the opposite direction.”

 

Takada gave him the location, and Touma hung up to say goodbye to his guests before leaving his house once again. When he was back in his car, en route to cut them off, his phone rang again. This time he looked at the ID first. It was Takada again.

 

“Takada-san?” Touma answered.

 

“They've pulled into a parking garage, Seguchi-san. If I'm not mistaken, I believe it's Sakuma-san's apartment building…”

 

Touma didn't wait to hear more. He hung up and slammed his foot on the gas, barely missing clipping the back end of another car as they shot through their green light just before Touma ran a red.

 

*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~ ~*

A/N: Wow, I got hit up by my DA muse yesterday! I got so many ideas, and realizations of things that I want to have happen, and exactly how I want them to happen, it was like whoa! I started writing and couldn't/wouldn't stop, cuz I really wanted to write it all down before I forgot! LOL Even so, with this chapter, I still haven't even scratched the surface of my breakthroughs from today!! I wrote this whole chapter last night/this morning, practically in one sitting, and it's twice as long as my average chapter. Twice as long! And, I really tried to cut it in half, but then it felt like neither half was complete. Sooooo I just decided, eh, what the hell. Give `em the long chapter and get started on the next one! So, there ya go. :p

 

To All my Readers and Reviewers:

 

I love you all!! *love, hugs `n kisses, glomps, and cookies!!*

 

~ LG

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Thanks for Reading and Reviewing!