Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Yuki ❯ Those Left Behind ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Gravitation does not belong to me. Ne, I doubt Gravitation would be as good if I owned it anyway. I'm not making any money out of this either and am just borrowing its characters….

A/N: There! Edited, though I doubt my editing abilities… Will edit it more later, when I find the time O_o. Enjoy reading (hopehopehope) and drop in a review :-)! Oh, and, for drawings of Yukito, Anne, and the rest of the original cast, go to deviantart.com. My username there is ~white-crescent.

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Comments/Criticisms are always welcome and… my response to the reviews are down below ^^;;

Three: Those Left Behind

//11:49

There was a beep.

The typing sounds that had filled the dimly lit room stopped and the blonde seated in front of the laptop at one end of the room looked up, fixing his gaze on the door.

"Yuki!" The sweet voice of his lover had come from the living room, behind that closed door, but he knew his lover was not and could not be at home, yet.//

Eiri ran a hand through his hair before tiredly removing his keys from the ignition. He pocketed the keys and put on a pair of sunglasses before stepping out of his car.

//"-I know you're there." There were a few stifled giggles from the other end. He could almost picture his bubbly little singer grinning. "Don't worry, you don't have to pick up the phone!"

"I just wanted to tell you… the concert was a success! As usual…heh." There was a pause followed by Shuichi's laughter. "Gomen, I couldn't help but think how great it was! But you don't like it when I babble - at least I'll babble when I'm home…- so I won't talk about it… on the phone!"

"Anyway, I'm taking the first flight tomorrow morning! I'm gonna be home, Yuki! Tomorrow!"//

He ignored the curious looks that were directed to him after he had entered the small café and proceeded to look for the blonde head of Seguchi Tohma. He had expected the N-G president to be seated somewhere, clad in leather, or some business suit, and was exactly looking for something that stood out.

He was taken aback when his brother-in-law waved at him from his table, right beside the window, looking every bit normal in jeans and a simple blue turtle-neck sweater.

Calmly, as he walked towards the older man's table, he wondered just how much he'd been locking himself up in his apartment.

//"Baka." Eiri muttered, his eyes still fixed on the door.

He listened intently to his lover and for a while contemplated on whether to pick up the phone or not.//

"Eiri, you're late." Tohma said, giving him a smile that almost made him feel uncomfortable. The novelist grunted in his response, before seating himself across his brother-in-law.

"How's the new book going, Eiri?" Tohma asked.

Eiri shrugged, "It's coming out good. I'm finishing it before deadline, at least…." And as if he was remembering something, he trailed away, mind lost in thought for awhile. Tohma watched as the younger man looked out of the window, face masked with indifference, with a disapproving look.

Eiri was still hurting, no matter how many times the younger man denied it he was still hurting. Even after almost a year and a half, the blonde novelist was still there, never leaving, never wanting to leave the comfort of yesterday.

//"-Yuki. We're going to party tonight, by the way! Celebrate for the success of the tour… don't worry, I'm not gonna get myself drunk like last time-"

Eiri's right hand was already on his desk, ready to support him whenever he stood up. He wanted to pick up the phone, wanted to hear his lover's voice in his ears as he talked to him and not to some machine.

"-Ne, Yuki. Good Luck on the book!"

He ran a hand through his hair and turned to face his laptop. If he left his book in the middle of such an intense scene just to speak to his lover, it was highly likely that by the time he got back he would have lost all inspiration to finish that part. Then he would have to begin with that part again with a completely different mood and different idea. Sofia would not shoot Alex the moment he burst in the cathedral, Sofia would probably run into his arms next time, or shoot herself. It would be different, and it would take another few hours of thinking to get the scene right. A few hours was not what he had, what with the deadline looming before him.

He had to finish the book. His Shu-chan could wait, for until tomorrow at least. He knew, by tomorrow, he would be done and for sure, at the rate he was going. Then, when he was done, all that would be left was Shuichi.

Shuichi could wait. Just a few hours, he told himself, then Shuichi could have his undivided attention.

And Shuichi would be home tomorrow.

It was all good.

"-I know your deadline's soon.. but oh! Tomorrow I'll be back and you'll be done with the book and it'll be awesome."//

"Eiri, You have to move on." Tohma said quietly, taking a sip from his teacup.

"I have moved on." The novelist told him quietly. An uneasy silence came between them and it lasted for a few long minutes.

//"-Gomen. Gomen… I know I've been babbling for the past few minutes… Ehh… Yuki! Yuki! Gomen, I know I'm disturbing you…!"

Eiri had to shake his head and he stopped for the second time that night. He felt the need to get it into his brat's brain that he wasn't disturbing him at all. In fact, he was doing the opposite; the 'baka' was inspiring him.

"-Yuki! I'm going now-"

Eiri rose from his seat.

"-I'll see you tomorrow morning, 'kay? First thing in the morning! Uh… at least first thing when-I-arrive-there!-"

He padded towards the door and placed a hand on the knob, ready to turn it.

"-Yuki…"

The door swung open and he immediately caught the blinking light in the dark living room.

"-I love you, Yuki.-"

He was halfway across the living room, just a few more steps and he would be able to pick up the phone. But he did not rush.

"-Love you so much. Call me later, okay?"

He stopped and stared at the phone and the blinking light on it.

"…Night, Yuki. See you in the morning."

His hands were hovering above the receiver by then, but they were just there. Shuichi had hung up and by the time he picked up the phone all he heard was the continuos beeping from other end of the line.

He sighed, cursing mildly under his breath for his stupidity.

Carefully, Eiri set the receiver back in its cradle and headed for his office.

"See you tomorrow." He whispered and knew tomorrow he would definitely have to let his dear Shu-chan hear that other three-word-line.//

Eiri sighed, knowing the conversation was not going to get anywhere unless he made an effort. He'd promised Mika, after all, that he would at least let them meet with him once every month just to talk.

He wondered calmly as he opened his mouth to speak just when he began to actually keep promises.

"How's Mika?" Eiri began, "I hear you two are expecting another child…"

Tohma laughed, "Is that from Tatsuha?"

"I don't know why I keep on giving him the keys to my apartment whenever I change the locks, but yes."

"Yes." Tohma said, grinning. "We are, in fact, expecting another child, Eiri-chan."

Eiri rolled his eyes. "I hope you're not planning on naming him Eiri, Tohma. I'd have to kill you if you do."

"I'm sure Mika will have me murdered before you can, Eiri." Tohma said in an all-too-serious tone before chuckling softly. "She almost did last time."

"I can imagine."

---

//'Shuichi, where are you?'//

Nakano Hiroshi walked down the path before him quietly, a bouquet of fresh peach roses in hand. He didn't know why he'd bought the roses when he dropped by the flower shop that day, but he bought them anyway and later on decided to visit his best friend's grave.

It seemed like a more-than fitting time to give his best friend a visit. Just a few hours ago, they had finished recording for their latest album.

//'Are you watching over us?'//

Hiro breathed in deeply and stopped. After Shuichi's untimely death, he had thought about quitting the music industry for good, to pursue a degree in medicine. Were it not for Ryuichi Sakuma, he knew where he would be right now: In a University, doing nothing but studying and studying and worrying about the coming exams and the new semester.

Ryuichi had come to him the night before the funeral, and told him, no, begged him to continue playing, for Shu-chan.

//"Shu-chan would want you to continue playing, continue making music."// The Nittle Grasper vocalist had said and despite the childish endearment, he had said it with an all-too-serious face of a thirty-something-year-old man. //"Shu-chan would want you to continue your dream… for him."//

And Ryuichi had been right; Shuichi would have wanted him to continue reaching for their dream. He remembered sitting on his bed that night, reprimanding himself quietly for forgetting that.

Shuichi was not selfish. More than anything, Shuichi would have definitely wanted him to continue even without him, even if it meant he himself would not be able to reach that goal.

That was what made Shuichi Shuichi.

He continued along the path, sometimes turning his head to his left or right to read the various inscriptions carved on the gravestones that lined his path.

//'Are you watching over him?'//

Yuki Eiri had not been present in the funeral. The cold-hearted, because no matter how many times Shuichi told him the bastard was not cold-hearted he still thought so, romance novelist had told them he had no reason to anyway. They never did find the body and the only thing they were burying were ashes. Ashes that, Eiri had told them, were probably not Shuichi's even, to begin with.

He wondered how Shuichi had put up with the man. He did not like Yuki Eiri very much though that was probably because he cared a little bit too much, loved Shuichi more than a best friend would. He would not admit that to anyone verbally, but it was there.

When he came to where Shuichi, his remains at least, had been laid to rest more than a year ago, he was, to say the least, not pleased when he saw several people were already there. Two young women stood side by side in front of his best friend's grave, while a tall blonde man, wearing a black suit, stood behind them.

He recognized the brunette young woman who had her hair in a single braid easily to be Maiko, Shuichi's younger sister. The other two, the female in particular, made him do a double take.

"Rage?" he spluttered almost before arching an eyebrow.

At the mention of her name, the redhead turned and she smiled at him.

"Konnichi wa, Nakano-san." Rage greeted in Japanese, bowing her head slightly. She grinned at the expression the guitarist had on his face.

"Visiting too, hmm?" Rage said, "I thought I'd visit him too today. I guess it's coincidence his sister decided to drop by today too…" She trailed away and smiled as she shifted her gaze from him to the gravestone that had the name Shindou Shuichi, in both Japanese and English, carved on it.

"It's Gravitation." She whispered softly before adding just as softly, an afterthought, "I'd always wanted to say that…"

---

//Your voice drifts, floating in the air,

You're still shining,

Carried to my ears, empty and bare

You're still shining,

Within the darkness, brightly shining

Bright as nothing//

//Bright eyes burned into my memory,

Burning crimson, hot and pulsing,

Your song lingers, charging ecstasy

Empty nothing, shining nothing,//

//Echoing in the darkness…//

Sakuma Ryuichi continued staring at the piece of paper he had in hand. Beside him, in the driver's seat, was Tatsuha and while the younger man's eyes were, at that moment, fixed on the road, once in a while he would cast worried glances to the vocalist's direction.

"It just doesn't work." Ryuichi whispered finally, folding the piece of paper in his hand. He slipped it into one of his jeans' pockets before sitting back and closing his eyes. "It's missing something… I... I can't quite put a finger on what it's missing…" the vocalist said tiredly.

The car stopped at the red light and Tatsuha turned to the older man. "I think it's great, anyway. You'll finish it, ne, Ryu-chan?"

Ryuichi smiled at him, tiredly though, before yawning. "I'm glad we've finished recording today… It would have been better though if I'd finished this song….."

The light turned green and soon the car was moving again.

"It's okay, Ryu-chan. I'm sure you tried your best."

Ryuichi gave him the same tired smile. "It's been more than a year, isn't it? Almost a year and a half…"

"What h-oh. Oh…" Tatsuha's expression became unreadable. "Yeah."

"Kumagoro and me miss singing with him." The vocalist's voice was small, quiet and disturbingly serious. That and the fact that Ryuichi mentioned Kumagoro in the sentence, for some reason, worried Tatsuha greatly.

"A lot of people miss Shuichi, Ryu-chan." Tatsuha told him, not knowing how to respond to that.

"I know… Ne.. so… how's Yuki-san doing?" Ryuichi produced his trademark pink bunny from somewhere and began toying idly with it, "I hope he's okay. Shu-chan wouldn't want him to be hurt."

The last line was said in a serious tone, reminding Tatsuha just how much Shuichi's death had affected the Nittle Grasper vocalist. Ryuichi had flown back to Japan after learning the younger vocalist's death. He had flown back and decided to reform Nittle Grasper for the second time.

It came to everyone as a surprise.

Everyone thought it was all Tohma's doing. With N-G Record's leading band out of the game, they sincerely believed Tohma would go as far as convincing Ryuichi to go back and reform Nittle Grasper. But they were wrong. It had been Ryuichi's idea, and he did it all for Shuichi.

Sometimes, thinking about it made Tatsuha a tad bit jealous. Just a tiny bit.

"Aniki?" Tatsuha began, "He's okay… Not really hurting himself or anything like that. You can tell though, he still misses Shuichi."

"That's good to know… Ne, has he found somebody else already?"

Tatsuha stopped. "No."

From the edge of his sight, Tatsuha saw Ryuichi nodding quietly.

Tatsuha allowed a smile to graze his lips as he spoke, "But, Aniki's been secretly watching Live performances… you know? I think he-"

"I don't think Yuki-san will find anyone like Shuichi anymore." Ryuichi said quickly. Before Tatsuha could respond to this, the vocalist stifled another yawn and said, "Ne, Tatsuha, Kumagoro and I'll take a short nap… Wake me up when we get home, 'kay?"

All he could do was nod and 'Hai' in reply as he continued driving.

---

A/N: This chapter screams "Filler!" Gomen to those who were waiting for the next chapter! (I'll just lead myself to believe that some people actually read this without reviewing to prevent myself from breaking down in tears… *pause* or anything equally drastic.) I certainly took my time with this one, but that's because I couldn't find the right mood (and music) for this one. Originally, I had planned to start it out with Ryuichi, but plans changed and I ended up trying to start this chapter with Hiro and then finally Tohma before this. It took me a week to get it all right and this chapter has a bit of everything I had in mind, basically anyway. I wrote this chapter with Gackt's Sayonara which I got from KaZaa last night (Is there even such a song by him? I don't trust KaZaa very much…) and it gets the mood just right, I think right now anyway. It's still a tad bit... angsty and dramatic, which I'm not very happy about, but I'm glad to have finished this chapter.. >.<!! Whew!

Anyway, questions, questions! I'm not so sure about Rage's hair color, since I don't have any colored pics of her and my Chinese isn't the best (did they mention it in the manga?) so, for now, I'll settle for red. Same goes for what Ryuichi did at the end of the manga - once again, my Chinese-reading skills are dodgy so I take it Nittle Grasper broke up again, and he left Japan to pursue his single singing career again…err something like that. Somebody give me a clear translation of the last tankoubon (12) because I don't trust my Chinese! And finally, just how many of you guys want Tatsuha/Ryuichi? I'm not sure whether I should include that hear, hence the reaaaally vague thing going with Tats and Ryu-chan towards the end. I have doubts about Tats' infatuation (or obsession) with Ryu-chan…

Next chapter, I'll have Yuki smoking (I forgot about that here, Yuki can't be Yuki without smoking. *pout*), Tohma and him having a conversation, more stuff on what happened with Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck and hopefully the plot development I had hoped to stick in here. I hope this was okay, and let me know…XD Oh, and yes, finally, finally gomen for the confusion in the last chapter! GOMEN! From here on, I think I'll refer to Yuki as Eiri!

And I know I'm babbling a little bit too much, but gomen once more if the characters are OOC, and the little thing with Hiro being in Nittle Grasper there. I'm sure it sounds extremely familiar (Breaking Away) but I couldn't find a better outcome for Hiro so he's there.. More on that on the next chapter too and I think I'll go and try and find a suitable Japanese name for Tohma's daughter for the time being… wee. I think I'll go and insert links to sketches of Yukito here sometime….

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