Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Searching for Shuichi ❯ Chapter 5 ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer (but only because of the quote thingies that seem kind of strange): I own zippo. Nada! Quotes are from the subtitles in the Japanese version. Yup!

Chapter 5

Everyone stares at Sakuma in shock. Seguchi blinks a few times.

“What did you say, Ryuichi?” my brother-in-law asks.

“They're twisted!”

No, that's not right. He definitely said that Seguchi was twisted. One look at Sakuma tells me that he'll explain it at a different time.

Seguchi blinks, again and takes the bag. Sakuma's hand dives back into the bag and pulls out Kit Kat bars. Seguchi turns his attention to me.

“It's time to get back home, Eiri; I'm done for the day.”

“Hn.”

I get up, glad to be able to escape from Sakuma's madness. As soon ads I begin to leave, the bunny jumps in front of my face. The damned thing bends over, as if it was sad.

“Is Yu-Yu coming back, tomorrow?” the thing asks.

I glare at the thing and let my eyes slip down to Sakuma. His eyes are pleading for show, but I can see they are telling me that it's important to come back. I close my eyes and nod.

The doll's arms flap about and it hugs my face.

“Yay, Ryu, Yu-Yu is coming back!”

“Hooray! And maybe we can go to the zoo!” Sakuma says for himself.

Seguchi chuckles and gently pulls me out of the room.

In the car, I watch the traffic pass by. Seguchi sighs, thoughtfully.

“Eiri, what was it that Ryuichi said that first time with the candy? I could have sworn he said that I am twisted.”

I smile at him, sweetly, trying to hide my laughter.

“Why would he say something like that? You've been friends for years! He definitely said the candy was twisted. But he's a crazy one, you know.”

Seguchi nods and pays more attention to the road. “I suppose you're right…”

“What's the matter, Seguchi? I thought you liked licorice.”

The man smiles. “Speaking of licorice, what kind of candy did you get from Ryuichi?”

I sigh from my seat as I watch some unfortunate teen try to walk a bunch of dogs. I had put the pocky in my pocket. For some strange reason, I just don't want Seguchi to see it.

“I didn't get any,” I reply, truthfully.

I look at Seguchi from the corner of my eye to see if he suspects anything. He only shrugs and drives on.

“Here we are, at last!”

I'm standing in the doorway of the Seguchi residence. I've never been here, before. I had always turned down Seguchi and Mika's offers to come. It's… nice…

After a few minutes of searching almost every room, Seguchi walks up to me

“Well, Mika isn't back, yet,” he reports. “But your room is here. Come, take a look!”

I follow the voice into my new room. It's practically empty; there's a window across from me, a bed and bureau to my right, and a table with a small television to my left. In front of me is a suitcase.

“Laptop?” I ask, hopefully.

“No, Eiri,” Seguchi states, firmly. “Work is what got you in this predicament.” I glare at him, darkly. He smiles as if he didn't sense the anger. “Well now, Eiri, it's time for me to cook something special for tonight. Your clothes are in the suitcase and I'll see you in a little bit!”

With that, he leaves. Finally! Some time alone.

I reach into my pocket and draw out the box of pocky. After opening it, I slide a stick into my mouth, wincing at the flavor; I hate artificial strawberry flavoring. But… he didn't; he loved this stuff.

I let the tears slide down my face as I fall to my knees.

Someone Else's P.O.V.

“I know now. That I love you.” A pink haired figure whispers from next to a pond. “What's more… whoever you are… whatever happened in the past //// is ////…”

I'm standing right behind those same people as before. We're at some temple. The cherry blossoms, here, are beautiful… He sounded determined when he spoke. But it's strange. I don't know “what” is still “what”. It's a frustrating thing. The one in pink is wearing an ugly-looking dress, too… He looks ridiculous!

“I don't like not knowing things about you. Those things I don't know… tell me them all,” he continues.

The other person is standing still as the wind picks up a little. Though I can't see his face, I can hear the reluctance as he answers, “I killed a man. When I was sixteen years old. In the place where I lived.” There's a very quiet gasp from the pink head as the blond walks up to him. “I killed him deliberately.”

Now I want to yell out to the pink-headed creature to run away from the psychopath, but something inside of me is holding me back. I stop my train of thought when the blond one turns to him.

“Are you happy, now?” he continues with something that sounds like… relief? Or was it a hint of guilt? “This is the past you wanted to know. You. You just said you love me. Can you still say that now?”

My heart jumps to my throat, waiting with anticipation at how the pink one would reply.

“Are you that much of a fool?” the pink one finally answers. “Of course I can say that. The past doesn't matter. You have come a long way with your threats. With that skill. You can no longer… run away from me.”

Amazing! After knowing of the blond guy's crime, he still has feelings for him! I want to feel fear for the pink one, but I know, deep down, I should be more than happy for him.

I feel warm…

Yuki's P.O.V.

It's so freezing cold. It's hard to breathe in the frigid air because I'm afraid my nose would freeze and fall off my face in any second. The snow is twisting around in the air, attempting to confuse me, to distract me from my goal. I call out to him, but the snow fills my mouth with flavorless flakes. I know he can't hear anything else I try to scream; my voice is just a faint squeak in the air as the wind cries out loud. The only thing I can to be seen is all the white and, in the very distance, the bright strawberry pink of his hair bobbing… only to vanish, suddenly.

I scream at the top of my lungs, ignoring the biting of the flakes at my skin and continuing to sprint in that direction until the explosion of something cracking comes from beneath me. I look down. Ice. I don't even have the chance to get away before it shatters, carrying me with it.

The water wraps around my body as it tries to crush me. Panicked, I search for my way up and instead find Shuichi floating a little ways away from me. It's amazing how his body twists and turns in a sort of waltz with the water. Ignoring the thought, I swim with all my might toward him, grab him by the waist, and find my way back to air.

Finding solid ground, I throw him on it. I can't seem to get myself out, but I don't care now. I lay my head over his heart. I can't hear it beating! I begin to beat my fist against his chest and try to use CPR.

Relief floods through me as he coughs up the water and gasps for air. I bow my head over his forehead, feeling a bit of his body heat.

“How do you feel?” I ask, surprised to hear my own voice being very hoarse.

He gulps some more air before gasping, “Hate you, Yuki.”

“What?” I ask, mouth open with shock.

That's when I begin to slip back into the water, my strength completely gone…

ooooooo

I wake up with a start. What the hell…? A dream? It felt real. All of it. And what Shuichi said… He hated me? No. It's only a nightmare.

Someone is watching me. I turn, but no one is at the door.

Maybe I'm just… paranoid. Maybe it's from just waking. I yawn, thinking about what happened before falling asleep. After finishing the stick of pocky, I put the box in the bureau and unpacked all of my clothes into it. Then I went to bed without eating dinner. Hmm. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Yawning, again, I get out of the room to search for the bathroom. I feel myself being drawn to another door. Strange. Before I can lay my hand on the knob, Seguchi suddenly shows up and practically throws himself in the way. Then just as quickly, he begins taping police tape over the door. Turning around, he smiles, apologetically.

“I'm sorry, Eiri, but you can't go in there; we have lots of broken things in there, and the repair man won't be coming for another week.”

I raise an eyebrow, skeptically, and ask, “Where's the bathroom?”

He points to another door. I nod and go. My brother-in-law is strange.

I wonder what happened. To make Shuichi upset like that… What could I have done? Good thing it was just a dream.

I stare at my reflection after washing my face.

Where the hell is this he? What could he want with me? Why hide my Shuichi? One thing is for sure: when I find this mystery guy, I will make sure he suffers a fate worse than death. He'll wish he never touched my angel.

I leave the room to see Seguchi folding a blanket on the couch. He gives me a sheepish smile before explaining, “Mika kicked me out of the bedroom.” After I questioningly raise my eyebrow, he continues, “We had a little cat spat the other day; if not for me, you both would be sharing the same room! Her temper is even quicker with the pregnancy.”

I raise my eyebrows at that. Mika never told me she was pregnant. Either that or I wasn't listening. I'd best keep my distance from now on when she's around.

Seguchi cheerfully begins to brew some coffee. I pick up the morning paper and sit on the couch.

“You know, Eiri, I've noticed you've become close to Ryuichi.”

“Hn.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up a bit as Seguchi hovers behind me.

“Well, can you tell me why?”

“I made him cry. He wouldn't stop until I said I'd spend time with him.”

“Why didn't you get any candy?”

“Didn't want any.”

“Have you stopped thinking about that Shuichi character?”

I reach behind me for his collar and pull him close. He's really annoying me!

The corners of his mouth twitch into a smile. A smile that somehow makes my stomach drop. His eyes seem to be uncharacteristically narrowed and dangerous.

“Why do you care so much about a dream, Eiri? That's all he ever was. Just something to comfort you while you were sick. Give it up, Eiri. He's only a fantasy!”

That's when I snap. I lunge at him, pinning him to the ground. He begins to struggle under my weight. I slam his shoulder against the ground, causing him to hit his head.

“Shuichi Shindou is not a fantasy!” I scream. “He isn't a dream! If you say that again about him, I'll…”

“Eiri, please, calm yourself!” he pleads. “I didn't say anything about Shuichi. I didn't say a thing!”

And that's when I stop. I'm in a dream world, right? One that is controlled by some unknown force. This isn't really Seguchi. Just a pawn being used to manipulate me… I close my eyes, trying to ward off my remaining anger.

The coffee maker begins to beep. With a deep sigh, I walk toward it to make our coffee.

A/N: If there's anyone who cannot wait until next month for the next update, the entire fic is on fanfiction.net. It has the same name, but my penname there is New Light.

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