Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Stairway to Heaven ❯ Results ( Chapter 5 )

Pairings: Yuki x Shuichi

Warnings: Weirdness, OOC...uh, did I mention weirdness?

Disclaimer: -.- It's not mine, okay? *runs off bawling*

FYI: w00t! Happy chappy numba 5 baybee! *does the happy dance* Oh yesh. I used anime Mika in here, so that's why she's got the whole brown hair blue eyes thing going on. ^__^; Hmm, what else? Oh. ^^; I know nothing about CAT scans, so just...play along with me here. Ne? Also, this fic, along with all my other Gravi fics, can be found here: http://fiction.gurabiteshiyon.net/

^-^ Enjoy!

~*Stairway to Heaven*~

"Hm, now if you'll just lie down and be as still as possible, we can get this started." She smiled sweetly at him, her big red lips shining from the bright florescent lights above.

Eiri wanted to rip those lips off her face and shove them down her throat.

"Ah. Okay." He whispered timidly, lying down on the cold surface, trembling. He gulped and looked to his side where he saw Shuichi holding their coats in one hand, the other hand up by his face, one finger in his mouth. He appeared to be chewing on his already bitten off fingernail. Eiri gave a shaky smile to his pink haired lover, noticing how lovely that color of pink looked gleaming in the lights.

The doctor, or Mitsuya-sensei as she was called, busied about Eiri doing this and that like a fluttering bumblebee. The author ignored her and caught Shuichi's gaze, beckoning him silently to come over to the cool table where he was lying. He was afraid and numb. His heart was pounding so hard, Eiri thought for sure it would burst.

"It's okay, just calm down." Shuichi whispered, leaning over slightly, grasping Eiri's hand. He tired his best to sound convincing, but the truth of the matter was, he wasn't convinced himself. Who knows what they might find, or what they might not. He was as scared as Eiri was.

"Shuichi," he whispered, eyes shutting. "Promise me you'll still be here when this is done. Promise me!" he hissed, refusing to open his eyes.

Shuichi nodded and squeezed Eiri's hand tightly. "I promise, baby. I promise..."

He felt eyes boring into his head, so Shuichi looked up, not at all startled to see Mitsuya-sensei smiling at him. "He's all ready for his scan now," she stated politely, not noticing the cringe the blond gave. Shuichi felt horrible, but slowly let go of Eiri's hand, feeling like he would never see him again.

He was ushered out of the room as soon as their hands parted, and the heavy door closed in his face. His eyes were dull and void. He could only imagine how scared Eiri was. He could only imagine the silent screaming inside his head...

His phone was ringing.

"Moshi moshi," he deadpanned, rubbing at his face. He was in no mood to chat, or to talk period.

"Shuichi! Good to know you're still alive." Hiro chuckled nervously. Maybe he shouldn't have called...

"Hiro..." Shuichi sighed deeply, sinking down into a hard bench that sat in the white hallway. The buzz of the florescent lights above his head irritated him to no end. "I'm tired...and I can't talk. I'm not supposed to have any cell phones on in here. I'll call you later." and with that he abruptly hung up and leaned against the wall.

"Yuki..."

----

Hiro blinked and stared at his phone for a few seconds. The tone of the dial filled the empty hallway with sound. "Well, goodbye to you too..." he sighed, clicking off his phone. Shuichi was certainly in a mood today.

"Ah, don't expect Shuichi in today Fujisaki. He's in another one of his 'moods'. Disaster would strike if he came in, and quite frankly, I don't want to listen to you two bitch at each other." Hiro gave a sarcastic smile and sat down in a nearby chair. Fujisaki wandered over to where Hiro was and pulled up his own chair.

"Aa. So I figured. Are we going to work on the song, or wait for Sakano-san and K-san to come back?" he asked, running his fingers through his soft green hair. His answer was a delicate shrug. The keyboardist sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. "Aa." he muttered under his breath.

"All right! Where is he?"

Fujisaki and Hiro jumped three feet in the air, hands raised. "Where is who?" They asked in unison, sweat rolling down their temples as the oh-so familiar silver barrel of K's magnum stared them in the faces.

"Shindo-san," was the calm reply.

Hiro fell into his chair and Fujisaki hung his head in defeat.

"He's not here," Hiro declared softly. K lowered his gun and gave an eloquent shrug.

"We've still got a single to produce. Seguchi-san wants it out early next week."

"Next week?" Fujisaki nearly screamed, brown eyes wide with shock. "That's...that's impossible! God only knows when Shindo-san will show up! And we need him to help finish the song! We can't just finish the song without him!" He stomped his foot in frustration glaring at K for all he was worth.

The blond American smirked and placed his magnum back in its holster. "You worry too much. I'm surprised your hair isn't gray." He turned amused blue eyes on Fujisaki's fuming form, giving a mocking chuckle.

Hiro, not wanting to deal with a pissy band mate and an evil manager, decided to step in. "Now, now, we'll get it done by next week. Shuichi won't stay home forever you know." He gave a comforting smile. Or at least, tried to make it comforting. The green haired keyboardist rolled his eyes and stomped over to his keyboard, tapping his foot impatiently.

K smirked. Hiro hung his head and Sakano suffered a panic attack. Everything always seemed to fall apart without Shuichi there to keep it together.

----

"Shindo-san," He heard her gentle voice break through his haze. He wanted to ignore her. His head was pounding, too many thoughts colliding with one another.

"Shindo-san. Could you please follow me?" She asked again, pushing her silver rimmed glasses up her nose a bit. Caramel eyes stared at the vocalist, until he finally looked up and regarded her with cold eyes.

"Is he okay?" He asked with a nervous tone. She gave a curt nod and gestured back to the room he had been ushered out of. He stood and followed her, still clutching their coats in his hands. He entered the barren room and found his lover sitting hunched over in a chair, head in his hands.

Shuichi rushed over to him, enveloping his body in a hug. "It's okay Eiri. It's okay...it's all over now." he whispered fiercely, trying more to make himself believe his words, rather than Eiri.

Mitsuya-sensei cleared her throat and began to tell the details of the two-hour scan, which really amounted to one thing. Through the large medical jargon and professional sentences, one thing came out of it all.

Nothing.

Nothing was found wrong with him. Not one little thing. He was as normal as anyone; brain waves were all normal, nothing extraordinary. In the eyes of the medical world, Yuki Eiri was a normal healthy man. And in the eyes of Shuichi, he was a dying ember.

The absolute frustration Shuichi felt in that moment could have torn him apart from the inside out. He could have screamed and smashed his fists into the brick walls. This was his entire fault, wasn't it? Maybe if he had never met Eiri, none of this would be happening. Maybe if he had never been born...maybe, maybe...It was useless for him to think this way. It certainly wouldn't help himself, or Eiri. He would just have to live with it. Just live with this...whatever 'this' really was. The only problem was; could Shuichi really live with it? Could he continue to survive with Eiri and go through these tormenting days over and over again?

He was jerked from his thoughts suddenly, hearing her voice still rambling on about how 'normal' Eiri was.

"I'm sorry Shindo-san, Yuki-san, but there's nothing we can do. We can't find anything out of the ordinary with him." She gave a calm detached smile, brain already running off to her next appointment.

Shuichi was angry. How could she care so little? Didn't she understand what they were going through? Didn't she see it? How could she not be drowning in guilt and anger like he was?

"Thank you very much." Shuichi muttered, handing Eiri's jacket back, before he placed his own on.

"Have a good day Shindo-san, Yuki-san," she gave another detached smile as they walked out the door. Shuichi ignored her, as did Eiri.

The blond was tired suddenly. It felt like all the energy and life had been sucked out of his body...he felt like a rag doll, attached to Shuichi's side for support.

The sound of their heavy footsteps molded in with the noise of everyone else; the bright lights over their heads buzzing along. No one stopped to recognize them, no one stopped to wonder. Shuichi was glad. The absolute last thing either of them needed was fan girls and press.

They made it out to his car in one piece, both silent, both screaming in their heads.

"Shuichi," Eiri whispered softly over the hum of the engine. His lover turned to him, a fake smile plastered on his face, while his eyes remained dull. Eiri looked away and fisted his hands. "Don't you believe me?"

The vocalist was taken aback, eyes widening. "Be--believe what, Eiri?" he asked quietly, knowing exactly what the novelist was speaking about.

"I'm not lying Shuichi. They're there. The angels. The people. They're not fake. I can see them...why can't you? Why can't you believe me?" His voice was small. He was afraid, afraid of Shuichi's reaction, of Shuichi's words.

"Eiri..." The pink haired singer sighed deeply. He was afraid of this conversation. How was he supposed to answer that? "I...I don't know what to believe. You have to understand that this isn't a normal thin--"

"I know it's not!" Eiri snarled, jerking his head up to face Shuichi's, hurt very clearly displayed in his eyes. "I know...I know everyone thinks I'm crazy..." he paused to recoil, shocked at his outburst.

Shuichi didn't want to talk about this. Not here. Not now. Not ever.

He said nothing else, but put the car in drive and sped down the road.

Eiri was silent. He was yelling inside his head. Why didn't anyone believe him? Why was this happening to him? What happened to his life before? What happened to the man he used to be? Why...why was it all gone? He couldn't understand. One day...just one day everything seemed to open up to him. It was as if his eyes had been opened after a long nap and the world was revealed to him. As if he had walked through a veil and could now see things that he had been blind to before. But while he saw, everyone else still remained ignorant.

He was truly alone.

And that scared him.

Shuichi's warm body next to his did nothing. Shuichi's sweet voice fell into his deaf ears. It was just himself against this newfound world he had discovered. He didn't know why, or how, but there it was, staring him in the face.

As they passed by the cars, he could see things no one else could. Angels keeping a close watch on their human while golden ones fluttered their wings, cherubs giggling. It hurt his head to think about it. They were there, plain as day. Their hair flowed in the wind, their eyes blinked; their chests rose and fell with breath. They were there, just like everybody else...

"I hate you." He hissed quietly to himself, not really sure whom that comment was directed to. He guessed it was whoever had heard it.

A noise behind him gave him a startle. Looking to the backseat, he saw her. She was glowing with radiance only the purest of creatures could have. His eyes widened and he looked away quickly. Eiri just wanted her to go away. To leave him alone. He knew it wouldn't happen though, as she only appeared to him when Shuichi was in some sort of need.

"Don't let him drive home Eiri." She calmly stated, her voice ringing inside his head. He closed his eyes tightly. Maybe... maybe just this once he would ignore her. He would pretend she wasn't there. Maybe then he could prove to himself that none of this was happening. If they made it home in once piece, then everything would be okay.

"Eiri. Don't let him drive home." She said again, with a bit more bite to her words. He looked out the window and concentrated on the trees that passed by.

"What are you thinking about?" Shuichi asked softly, sensing something a bit off about Eiri's quietness. It was too tense, too bitter.

"Nothing." Was his terse reply.

Shuichi didn't want to argue or even talk anymore. He just continued to drive.

Silence coated their minds like melted butter. It was suffocating.

Eiri looked up and recognized the street. Just a few minutes and they'd be home. Everything was all right. Nothing was wrong. Nothing was going to happen...

He gasped.

As they approached the intersection, a knot in Eiri's stomach tightened. His heart pace quickened. He felt dizzy. He felt sick. He couldn't breathe. His hands began to tremble. Dread was pouring into his body, through his every pore.

"Take me out to lunch." he said quickly.

"What?"

"Take me to lunch. I'm hungry. Please Shuichi? I need to eat. Please!" he begged, hands in tight fists. The dread he felt kept getting worse. He began to feel tears well up.

A long drawn out sigh was his answer, as Shuichi quickly changed lanes and took a right, instead of going straight.

Mere seconds after he made that turn, there was a deafening boom, sounding like it was straight from a war movie. It stilled the entire world for a second. Everything halted. Everything went in slow motion.

Shuichi slammed on his brakes, eyes wide with shock. Eiri was already out of the car and trembling as he in took the scene before him.

The car behind them had gone straight and was broad sided.

Shattered glass spilled over the pavement, traffic backed completely up. People were screaming; chaos reigned. Eiri closed his eyes. Had Shuichi kept going straight, that would have been them trapped between crushed metal and glass...

When he opened his eyes, he saw her standing beside Shuichi; who had gotten out and was standing stunned at the back of the car.

Her smile was soft and knowing. Her eyes were kind. She looked directly at Eiri and touched Shuichi's shoulder with her fingertips, wings flapping gently to an unheard beat.

Shuichi suddenly shivered, head to toe.

Eiri's eyes widened. He felt it. Shuichi felt the touch. She...Was she real...?

"Eiri...Th--that could have been us..." The vocalist whispered, breaths coming in short gasps.

The blond ran his fingers through his hair, walking slowly over to Shuichi. He reached out his hand and smiled a bit when Shuichi's hand reached for his. Their fingers laced together tightly, as if they were trying to form an unbreakable barrier between them and the world.

"That *would* have been us." Eiri muttered, resting his head on Shuichi's shoulder. Shuichi gave a numb nod.

Loud sirens and lights flashed by them, and the crowds were being ushered away; the police, paramedics and firemen all there at the scene, trying to save the lives involved.

Eiri found it strange. They were saved...at someone else's expense?

"The cycle of life continues. As these two bodies died, two new bodies were born. Lost souls find another home. Tears shed for loved ones, are shed for the new lives born. Don't be afraid. Trust in me."

He blinked, jerking his head up and saw her standing in front of Shuichi, gold wings spread wide and high above her head. She gave another small touch to the vocalists face, running her fingertip lovingly down his cheek.

He gave a tiny shudder.

Eiri marveled at it.

"What? What are you looking at?" Shuichi asked somewhat warily. The last thing he needed right now was Eiri going on about some stupid little girl who apparently hated him. His nerves were frazzled enough.

Eiri shook his head, a smile gracing his lips. "Nothing. Nothing at all. C'mon...I'm hungry..." he said softly, letting go of Shuichi's hand. The vocalist didn't let go. He instead tightened his grip.

"I love you." He stated, looking directly into Eiri's golden eyes. He received a heartfelt kiss in return, before Eiri wandered back into the car, leaving a stunned Shuichi behind. He touched his lips and smiled broadly.

Maybe everything really was going to be okay.

Just maybe.

----

"Tohma...what's gotten into you?" Deep blue eyes were filled with worry, long brown hair tied back in a loose ponytail. Her blond husband slouched beside her in their plush couch, rubbing his temples.

"Nothing's gotten into me Mika-san...I'm just tired."

She scoffed.

"Bullshit Tohma. Don't play me like some sort of idiot. I can see right through you..."

A pause, "It's Eiri isn't it...?" It was her turn to slouch into their sofa and cover her eyes with the back of her hand. Stress was something she never liked much, especially when it concerned her little blond haired brother.

Tohma groaned and dropped his hands. "I don't know what to do about him anymore Mika-san. He just...I don't know what to do." His voice shook painfully.

She was not used to hearing her normally strong husband speak so desperately. She was not used to the pained voice. It unnerved her. "Tohma," She sighed, reaching out to brush back some of his soft blond hair.

He seemed to be oblivious to her touch, as his mind kept running back and forth, trying to figure out a way to help his beloved Eiri. There must be something he could do. Must be someone who could help. He closed his eyes and felt his headache worsen. He felt helpless. It was almost like a replay of the entire New York scenario. Eiri was in trouble and he was powerless to help.

But maybe Shuichi wasn't...

"You need some rest Tohma. You can't help anyone like this. Go to bed..." Mika gently chided her husband, still threading her fingers through his hair. She loved the way it felt against her skin.

He said nothing, but stood slowly and removed his coat from which he had neglected to take off once he arrived home. The black material dropped carelessly on the couch, and Mika watched as he loosened his dress shirt, and rolled up his sleeves. She grinned to herself. He could be so cute sometimes.

Dispassionately, he walked over to his polished baby grand that sat in a corner of the spacious living room. The bench creaked under his small weight and the keys gleamed at him in the light. They seemed to be welcoming him, as if they had missed his touch and longed for it. He gave a tiny smile and closed his dull green eyes.

Fingers pressed softly down on the keys, letting small notes ring throughout the silence in the room. Mika settled in the couch, grabbing Tohma's coat. She draped it over herself as a blanket and inhaled his scent. Despite her best efforts, her heart fluttered.

A rush of notes sprang to life suddenly, the melodic sound creating a sort of hypnotic atmosphere. His fingers danced heavily over the keys, body swaying to the tune. He vented his anger, frustration and helplessness on the one thing he knew would suck it all up. His piano. His beloved piano had never failed to make him feel better. It was a release of everything to just sit and play; let the music sweep him into an astroplane, where things were different. Things were right and everything was at peace.

Mika watched her husband play his music with fluid grace. She smiled a bit to herself, bringing Tohma's coat up to her nose, where she inhaled his scent again. She didn't want to allow herself the childish feelings of love and warmth that came with that smell, but things were so stressful... just this once she'd indulge herself.

"Eiri-san," he whispered, "Don't leave me..."

----

~To be continued~

AN: Bah, I don't like this chapter much. I tried to show how Eiri's 'condition' was affecting more than just himself and Shu-bear. I, err, hope it worked? *wails and hides in her shell*

~Nevs~ Y(<>_<>)Y