Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Precious Moments ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

Bunny-chan: Hi everybody. I'm back with another chapter ……. chapter …… chapter …. *voice echoes off*

Bunny-chan: *blink blink* Huh? Where is everybody?

Shu-chan: Stupid bunny girl. You waited too damn long. Everyone has left to read other people's fics, who at least have the courtesy to update.

Bunny-chan: Nooooooo!!! *sobs pathetically* My internet connection was down. I couldn't get a hold of it for a long time. Please come back *more sobbing*

Shu-chan: Too late for apologies now. Maybe some stray wanderer will come and read it, but don't really count on it :P

Bunny-chan: *glares at Shu-chan* You good-for-nothing. Can't you persuade them to come back >_<

Shu-chan: *shakes his head*

Bunny-chan: Oh yeah. You just wait then. I'm going to write a long lemony fic, starring Yuki and Tohma :P

Shu-chan: PLEASE everyone, come back and read the FIC. Hot off the oven. Get it while it's hot.

Bunny-chan: *evil smirk*

*~*~*

Chapter 8.

"Why that good for nothing……. I wish I could just……… grrrrrr…….."

A thought bubble had appeared over Shuichi's head. In there, a mega-Shuichi with electrified hair and narrowed cat-like eyes was throttling a chibified Yuki, who had gone swirly-eyed.

Tatsuha looked at his best friend with a worried expression. Shuichi had a glazed look on his face, he was giggling quietly while happily strangling their freshly bought loaf of bread. Large sweat-drops formed over the sides of Tatsuha's head. He paused in his task of putting away groceries and whacked Shuichi upside the head.

"Stop trying to kill the bread, idiot. That's our breakfast."

Shuichi blinked his eyes rapidly and looked down at the mangled bread.

"Ha ha ha ha."

He gave a nervous laughter and placed the loaf in the bread-box.

"You know," Tatsuha said, putting a gallon of milk in the fridge. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a pretty huge crush on my brother."

"What?!!" Shuichi cried out. "Why in the blue hell would I develop any kinds of feelings for that conceited, self-centered, in-love-with-his-own-voice, jerk. You need to have your head examined, if you ask me. Hah, me, Shuichi Shindou, life-of-a-party-all-around-fun guy in love with an ice box. Puuuhhhhlease."

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much."

Tatsuha said nonchalantly, putting the last of the items away.

"And stop quoting Edgar Allan Poe to me."

Shuichi said huffily, folding his arms over his chest.

"It's Shakespeare, you dolt." Tatsuha rolled his eyes. "And if you have no feelings for Yuki, than why is it that you can't stop talking about him."

Shuichi sighed loudly and collapsed in the chair. He folded his arms over the dining table, and propped his head on them. He looked up at Tatsuha with large, doe-like eyes.

"I can't help the way I feel Tatsuha." He said in a quiet voice. "I know that Yuki has been nothing but horrible to me, ever since I set foot here, but there is just something about him that drags me towards him. I can't really explain it. Pretty stupid huh." His eyes were unusually bright at this point.

Tatsuha sat down next to him, and placed a comforting hand on top of his head. He patted his head affectionately.

"Oh Shu-chan, you've got it bad, haven't you?"

Shuichi just continued to look at him.

"I wish I could tell you that my brother will come around and see you for what a truly wonderful person you are. But I'm afraid that probably won't be the case." Tatsuha swallowed with difficulty, a lump seemed to have formed in his throat. "It's very hard for Yuki to open up to people and make friends. He had been very closed-up for most of his life. Hell I'd even say that asexual with the way things are headed."

That got a little smile out of Shuichi. He buried his head in his arms, and quickly swiped his eyes on his sleeves.

Tatsuha's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Hey you know what, I just had a thought. Maybe `you' could be good for Yuki. You can be just what the doctor ordered. Maybe you can get Yuki to start loving life again."

Shuichi picked up his head and gave a sarcastic laugh.

"Yeah, right."

"No no think about it." Tatsuha insisted. "You guys are perfect compliments of each other. You are fun, crazy, out-going, loud, obnoxious, annoying ….."

"I love where you're going with this." Shuichi said dead-panned.

"Whereas Yuki is closed-up, quiet, and a very private person. I personally think this is a match made in heaven."

"Yeah, other than the fact that he hates my guts, and can't stand the sight of me, yeah, we'll be a perfect match."

Shuichi shook his head at his friend, and then looked at him with serious eyes.

"Tatsuha, you won't tell `him' about……"

"Of course not Shuichi." Tatsuha interrupted. "At least have that much faith in me."

Shuichi gave him a timid smile. He then stretched his arms over his head and moved his head side to side. With the blink of an eye, the forlorn and sad expression was gone from Shuichi's face, replaced with his usual bright, cheerful smile.

"Well, then. Let's go." He said standing up.

"Where to?" Tatsuha asked wearily.

"You promised you'll look up the location of Babylon for me. Come on."

He pulled on Tatsuha's arm. With a deep sigh, Tatsuha gave in. There was no escaping Shuichi once he had his mind set on something.

Both of them spent the rest of the day looking up the address and finding directions to Babylon. It was clear from Yuki's tone earlier that there would be no way he'd be driving them over there. After finding out which train would get them there fastest, they both decided that Saturday night would be the perfect night. And even though it was only a few days away, Shuichi felt that Saturday couldn't come soon enough. Who knows, maybe he'll run into those two hot guys from the supermarket there.

*~*~*

Yuki was observing all of Shuichi's excitement with contempt. Although on the outside he disguised it as complete disinterest. But inside, he couldn't help but bristle everytime Shuichi talked about going to that club with Tatsuha. Didn't that idiot know what he would be getting into by going there?

Everytime Shuichi spoke excitedly, Yuki couldn't help but notice the bright gleam of his eyes, and flushed face. How different he was from his father, in that aspect. Sanjiro had always been a somber person, whereas Shuichi hummed with energy.

What also didn't escape Yuki's notice was how blatantly Shuichi had been ignoring him. All throughout the week, following their shopping incident, Shuichi had been acting rather aloof towards Yuki. He was ignoring him every way possible. He would talk less in his presence. Try and avoid his eyes, not even looking in his direction. And when passing in the hallway, if Yuki was in his way, he would walk carefully around him, with a murmured `excuse me' from Shuichi.

Friday night found them all in the living room. Shuichi and Tatsuha were on the floor playing games on the playstation, while Yuki sat behind them on the sofa reading his paper. Shuichi and Tatsuha were both playing enthusiastically arguing over which moves the other should have used. Tatsuha had acknowledged Yuki's presence by trying to involve him in conversation.

"Don't you think that was a nice move there Yuki. You definitely can't lose with that."

Shuichi was doing what he had been doing all week, ignoring that Yuki even exists.

Yuki answered Tatsuha's inquires with `hns' and `yeahs'. Whereas his thoughts had ran away from him again. Yuki wondered if their `talk' in the car had offended Shuichi a bit. All right, Yuki admitted to himself, so he could've been nicer to him when warning him about Babylon, but Yuki couldn't help being who he is. If Shuichi wanted to have an attitude problem and ignore him, then let him. Who the hell cares anyway? It's not as though it was a bad thing about being ignored by Shuichi. Not like he was missing all those covert side-long glances Shuichi had given him. He definitely was doing much better without having to argue with Shuichi, and watching him getting all riled up when his cheeks would flush angrily over something Yuki said, and sparks would fly out of his eyes. And then he would bite down on his lower lip …………. Woah. Yuki's thought came to a screeching halt. He did not just think that.

Yuki turned the page of his newspaper rather harshly, silently berating himself for those thoughts. Of course he didn't miss all those things. He's much better off without having Shuichi's attention any day.

Yuki glanced up from the paper when Shuichi gave a frustrated little yell. He then picked up a cushion and started whacking Tatsuha over the head calling him a `cheat' over and over.

Tatsuha, amidst the attacks from a cushion-wielding Shuichi, was doing a crazy little dance, chanting `I won! I won!'

A small smile threatened to break out over Yuki's face, but he suppressed before it could bloom. After all, he did have a reputation to keep. Tearing his eyes away from the homely little scene, he went back to his paper.

He didn't even realize that he sat there looking at the same page for a long time, while his mind wandered all over the place. Particularly to the pair of teenagers sprawled in front of the big-screen t.v. having a re-match, and arguments and threats to bring each other down. The cigarette he had clutched in his fingers, burnt all the way to the filter, without having touched his lips, even once.

*~*~*

Weekend couldn't have come sooner for Shuichi. On Saturday morning, he laid in his bed for a long time. Since he and Tatsuha had spent the better part of last night playing games, now they were both sleeping it off.

Shuichi stirred and opened his eyes. He gave a huge yawn and looked up at the ceiling. Right on the next bed, Tatsuha snored on softly. Shuichi gazed upwards and thought about the upcoming evening. He hoped that they were doing the right thing, and wouldn't end up in trouble. Even though it had been harsh, Yuki's warning had still left an impact upon Shuichi.

Shuichi took a deep breath and rolled onto his side, facing the wall. He had been ignoring Yuki all throughout the week. He wondered if Yuki noticed his behavior, but it was probably unlikely. Yuki noticed very little where it concerned Shuichi.

But, Shuichi wasn't going to let Yuki ruin his evening. And it wasn't as though he was going all by himself. Tatsuha would be there to haul him out if thing go too hot. Shuichi sat up in bed, one hand stretching over his head and with the other, he rubbed his eyes. He threw a devilish smirk in Tatsuha's direction. It was time to wake him up, Shuichi style. With that thought, he gave a war-cry and pounced on Tatsuha, pummeling him with pillows.

*~*~*

All throughout the day, Yuki and Shuichi avoided each other like the plague. Yuki didn't come out of his study much, but when he did, he avoided any possible encounter with the boy.

Once he was finished typing up the chapter he was working on, Yuki hit the save button and closed his laptop. He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, blowing the smoke out toward the ceiling. Abandoning the chair, he walked up to the window and looked out at the orange sun disappearing over the horizon.

`Those two idiots better watch themselves tonight.'

Yuki thought to himself taking another drag from his cigarette. He glanced at the wall, and looked at the time. It was nearly 8:30 in the evening.

`Those two should have left by now.'

With that thought, he stepped out of the room. The cigarette that was clutched between his lips, nearly dropped out at the sight that greeted him. Shuichi was stepping out of his room, all dressed up to go to the club.

He was wearing a bright-red sleeveless turtle neck shirt that ended just above his navel. He was wearing low-slung, black leather pants, which looked like it was painted on him. His wild bubble gum pink hair were combed and fell nicely over his eyes. His eyes, there was something different about them. Yuki peered closely at them and found that Shuichi had applied very thin black eyeliner right at the corners. This way, instead of appearing large and rounded, his eyes had a more shapely and sultry look to them.

Yuki took a deep breath and his senses were assaulted with a light scent of wild flowers and strawberries that were emanating from Shuichi.

Shuichi, who by now had become very nervous under Yuki's close scrutiny, cleared his throat loudly. He wrapped his arms around his middle and carefully stepped around Yuki, biting down on his lower lip.

As he brushed past, Shuichi's bare arms came in contact with Yuki's and sent a tiny jolt through his system. Yuki suppressed a slight shudder, and wondered how his skin could be so soft. Boys were not supposed to be so fragile looking as that. For a brief moment, Yuki was filled with protective feelings toward Shuichi. Like he wouldn't allow anyone to come near him, much less touch him. But he next moment, those feelings had disappeared.

Shaking his head, he stepped into the living room. Tatsuha was standing in the middle of the room, while Shuichi was giving him a once over. Yuki had to admit that Tatsuha looked very dashing in a skin-tight navy blue t-shirt, tucked into a pair of black jeans topped off with high heeled black boots. His hair were slicked back and looked very shiny.

Yuki gave an affectionate nod to his brother, silently approving his choice of attire. Tatsuha gave him a small smile.

Yuki dropped down on the sofa and picked up the remote. He turned towards t.v. and switched on the news channel. Tatsuha and Shuichi picked up their respective jackets and draped them over their shoulders. Tatsuha had a blue jeans jacket, while Shuichi had a large light, black coat that reached down to his knees.

"All right brother, we're out of here."

Tatusha called out, on his way to the door. They were just about to exit when Yuki called out.

"Tatsuha."

He walked back into the living room, and looked at Yuki questingly. Yuki took a deep breath, and then threw his wallet at Tatsuha.

"Take how much you need."

With a wide, grateful smile, Tatsuha took out a few 50 dollar bills, and stuffed them into his pocket.

"Thanks brother, you're the best."

Tatsuha said with a smile.

"Be careful Tatusha. If there is any trouble, give me a call immediately, got it?"

Yuki then gestured towards the door, where Shuichi must be waiting for Tatsuha.

"And watch out for that idiot. He's in way over his head."

Tatsuha gave a lopsided grin, and nodded his head.

Shortly after those two had left, Yuki sat staring unblinking at the t.v., his mind stuck on the two teenagers, out for a night in town.

*~*~*

"Umm, so we'll be able to get in with no problem, right?"

Shuichi asked nervously as they made their way over to the club. There were no long lines in front of Babylon, so both of them walked up to the steps to reach the front doors.

"Just act confident. They can smell nervousness. You'll be o.k. right?"

"Oh y…..yeah no p … p … problem." Shuichi stuttered in reply.

"Oh Shuichi, you're going to get us thrown out even before we make it inside. Do me a favor, just smile at the large bouncer and let me do the talking."

It turned out, none of them had to say a word. The guard at the door took one look at them, his eyes lingering on Shuichi and let them through.

*~*~*

Once inside, their senses were assaulted with loud techno music, that was ricocheting off the walls. The club itself was very brightly lit, but in the center, where the dance floor was, the lights were very dim. The spot lights from the disco ball were hitting the dancers from time to time.

It seemed that people came here not only to dance and enjoy alcohol, but also to relax and enjoy themselves. All the bars were full, as many people (men and women alike) lined up in front, with a drink in their hands looking at the dancers, and enjoying small talk.

Tatsuha and Shuichi walked made their way over to the bar to get a couple of drinks to loosen them up. Now that Shuichi had got here, he was beginning to get a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

It was a gay club, like he had thought, but it wasn't what he had expected. He was hoping to find a crowd more closely to his age. There were teenage boys there all right. Only trouble was, all of them seemed to be latched on to big, muscular men.

Shuichi glanced at the dance floor, as Tatsuha went to get the drinks. Shuichi witnessed a couple dancing right in front of him. The boy couldn't have been more than 16, and guy who had the boy in his tight embrace, seemed to by in his early thirties. Shuichi watched as they crushed their pelvises together, and then the man's large hands went down to cup the boy's ass, and grinded him into his embrace forcefully. Shuichi felt like pulling the small boy away from that perverted man, but he couldn't move an inch. Then to his intense horror, the man looked directly at him, as if noticing his stare. He gave Shuichi a leery smile, before blowing him a kiss.

Shuichi's heart was hammering in his chest. He didn't like this place very much now. He turned an walked swiftly over to Tatsuha. Even though he felt extremely uncomfortable, Shuichi will be damned if he went home early and gave Yuki the satisfaction of knowing he was right. No way would that happen. He would have to stick it out here for a couple of hours. Just as long as he stuck by Tatsuha's side.

"Oh hey, there you are Shcuihi."

Tatsuha turned towards him and handed him a mug of light beer.

"You enjoying yourself buddy."

"Yeah, loads."

Shuichi said in a sarcastic tone, but it must've been absorbed by the loud music.

"Good. Because I think I see someone I recognize from my last trip here."

Tatsuha pointed towards the second floor of the club.

"Why don't you go dance for a while, and try to pick up a flavor like you wanted." He winked at this point. "I'm gonna go say hi. I'll be right back."

Tatsuha left a sputtering Shuichi behind, without waiting for an answer. Well, so much for his plans to stick by Tatsuha's side.

`Any flavor huh. Why is it that ever since I landed in America, the only flavor I want is Japanese.'

Shuichi thought wistfully as a pair of cruel golden eyes, surrounded by golden hair flashed into his vision.

Well, no use just standing here, might as well go and dance.

*~*~*

Tatsuha after handing Shuichi his drink, made his way towards the stairs leading to the upper level. If he wasn't mistaken he had spotted the long-haired, gun-toting manager of the band Nittle Grasper.

Nittle Grasper was a very popular Japanese band, which was produced by Tohma Seguchi. A few years back, Tohma used to be part of the band, playing the keyboard. But then he'd resign from that position in favor of producing. And although he was a good keyboard player, he was an ever better producer. He'd opened up his own production company in Japan, which by now, had its branches spread all over the world, including one in New York.

Just last summer, when Tatsuha had been visiting Yuki, the band had been playing a concert in the States. Through Tohma, he'd had a chance to meet with Crawd Winchester, Nittle Grasper's eccentric manager, or how he'd liked to be called Mr. K. He hadn't met the rest of the band, for they had some time off for themselves, and were taking full advantage of it.

He was planning on giving Tohma a call pretty soon and set-up a visit. Shuichi was a big fan of Nittle Grasper and it would really cheer him up if he got to meet his idols.

But, as luck would have it, he'd seen their manager right here tonight. Tatsuha approached the tall man leaning against the banister cautiously. He absolutely wanted to be sure that it was him, before he said hi. The man, whose back was to Tatsuha gave a hearty laugh. Tatsuha took a relieved breath. It was him. He recognized this particular laughter. While it was loud and boisterous, K's laughter held a slight bit of manic hint to it.

"Mr. K. What a nice surprise."

K whirled around and clasped his hand in a hearty handshake.

"Tatsuha Uesugi, if I'm not mistaken."

K said with a large, friendly smile.

"How you been? And it certainly is a surprise. I didn't expect to see you in Babylon."

K raised an eyebrow. Tatsuha shook his head.

"Oh no. I came here upon insistence from my best friend Shuichi. He really wanted to check the place out."

"Shuichi? That sounds sort of familiar."

K said, rubbing a hand over his chin.

"Yeah, he's the guy I told you about last time. The one who's nutters about Nittle Grasper."

"Oh." K gave a laugh. "Well, then you're in luck. Because all the band is here tonight."

"Here you go K. Your Gin and Tonic. And believe me when I say this, you will not be driving us tonight."

Tatsuha was interrupted from answering, when a young man came in between them and handed K a drink.

"Ah Ryuichi. Thanks very much. It was so crowded at the bar that I couldn't get through."

Tears of gratitude were rolling down K's cheeks, as he took a large sip and sight blissfully.

"Mmmmm that's the ticket."

Tatsuha shook his head good-naturedly and turned towards the lead singer of Nittle Grasper.

Ryuichi Sakuma, while looking like a God upstage, was just like an ordinary boy. Oh, he was handsome, no doubt, with his messy greenish-brown hair and large baby-blue eyes, but there was also an open air about him. Instead of a stuffy and stuck-up attitude, he exuded of friendliness and innocence.

"Oh Ryuichi. Allow me to introduce you to Tatsuha Uesugi."

Ryuichi gave a wide smile, as he shook Tatsuha's hand.

"He's Tohma's brother-in-law. Mika-san's youngest brother."

"It's nice to meet you Sakuma-san."

Tatsuha said offering a smile of his own.

"Please. Ryuichi would be just fine. And the pleasure is certainly mine."

Ryuichi's eyes bore into Tatsuha's and held their gaze. For a moment, the innocence seemed to have disappeared from Ryuichi's eyes, replaced with a more mature attitude. Tatsuha was beginning to get a bit nervous at the way Ryuichi was staring at him, so he cleared his throat loudly.

"So anyway, this is a nice establishment."

Tatsuha said gazing around the club. Immediately the child-like innocence was back on Ryuichi's face.

"Isn't it though. Although I don't really like coming here, but Hiro and Suguru insisted really really hard." Ryuichi said pouting so cutely that Tatsuha couldn't hold back a small smile.

"There they are, right down there."

Ryuichi continued pointing down toward a couple, dancing slowly with their arms around each other.

"Hey, hey you guys! Up here! Woo hoo!"

Ryuichi hollered out loud towards them, leaning half way over the banister.

"Woah Shuichi, stop that."

Tatsuha grabbed him by the back of his shirt and hauled him back up. Ryuichi straightened up and laughed out loud with a hand behind his head.

"Ha ha ha. That was a close call."

He then stopped laughing and a chibified Ryuichi was grabbing onto Tatsuha's middle.

"My hero."

He nuzzled his tiny head in Tatsuha's stomach. Tatsuha threw a helpless look at Mr. K, asking him silently to help him out in this prediction, but K was looking around himself, as if this was perfectly normal behavior for Ryuichi.

The next moment Ryuichi stood up straight.

"Hey wait a minute. You forgot my name already. It's Ryuichi, not Shucihi." He pouted again.

Tatsuha laughed nervously at the man.

"Yeah, sorry about that. It was actually a reflex. I'm usually getting my friend Shuichi out of situations like these."

"Your friend Shuichi sounds like fun." Ryuichi declared. "I wanna be friends with him too."

Tatsuha glared at the nonchalant Mr. K. He really didn't know what to make of the guy's attitude. One minute he's a man practically devouring him with his gaze, and the next he's a small five year old kid.

K smiled at Tatsuha's expression.

"Don't worry Tatsuha-san. If Ryuichi is behaving like this around you, that means he likes you and feels comfortable around you."

A slight blush appeared over Tatsuha's face. Ryuichi was looking over at the dancers with a hand over his eyes, holding his long bangs away from his face.

"But then again," K continued. "I've never seen Ryu-chan take to someone so fast. He must `really' like you."

The blush on Tatsuha's face deepened.

"Come on Tatsuha-san, let's go dance."

Before Tatsuha had a chance to reply, his hand was grasped in a firm, yet very warm hand as Ryuichi dragged him down to the dance floor.

"Umm, Ryuichi. Please stop. I'm not good at dancing."

Ryuichi stopped and turned towards Tatsuha. He came up close to him, looking him straight in the eyes. He was so close that Tatsuha could see the black irises of his eyes, and feel Ryuichi's breath on his face.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you."

Ryuichi said with a lop-sided smile, his voice low and husky, before dragging him off again.

Once they reached the dance floor, Ryuichi stopped right at the edge so as not to bump into other dancers. He then took Tatsuha's arms and wrapped them around his middle, before placing his own arms around his neck. Although Ryuichi was fairly tall, he was still a few inches shorter than Tatsuha. He slowly started swaying to the music, guiding Tatsuha's steps along.

Although Tatsuha was growing apprehensive of Ryuichi's forwardness, he decided to humor the man. Plus, he found out that being wrapped up in a beautiful man's arms, staring into his eyes while slow-dancing wasn't really half bad.

*~*~*

TBC.

Bunny-chan: Well guys here it is. And I solemnly swear that the next chapter is half written. As soon as I figure out where to end it, I'm going to post it up. Coughreviewcough. I love you guys for putting up with me, and this fic. And to let you guys know, I wasn't planning on making it this long. But as I write, more and more ideas are popping into my head, so I think I'll take this one a long way. By the way, I absolutely love HiroxSuguru pairing, so please if you're not a supporter, don't flame me *whimpers*. Coughreviewcough.

Shu-chan: *holds out cough-drops*

Bunny-chan: *glares at Shu-chan*

Bunny-chan: Well, this is it for now. Until next time, bye bye ^_^