Sensual Phrase Fan Fiction ❯ Fallen ❯ two ( Chapter 2 )

Timeline: Some time during episode 18. (Same goes for the first chapter)

Pairings: SantaxYuki, TowaxYuki, YukixTowa, SakuyaxYuki

Note from author: Thanks goes to all the readers! (So many, and it's only the first chapter) Never would have thought anyone would read it. Hope you continue reading. For those who are curious, if you do not read yaoi, please exit this page, otherwise, hope you enjoy!

Chapter Two

Atsuro frowned as he paced their living room, waiting for his sister. After searching the whole house for Yuka's whereabouts to no avail, he finally admitted the fact that his sister had gone out despite the strong wind and the downpour. He sat restlessly in front of the door, anxious of his sister's return.

He was afraid that her sister might be going mad.

Maybe not; but she was becoming overly obsessed with having to do everything it takes to help Lucifer. At first, all she did was spend hours on the flyers and the tickets. From there it was days and a whole month with the band on live shows and recently the tour. He was beginning to suspect that if Lucifer lived together in one house, she would be living with them too.

Atsuro offered his umpteenth prayer to all the saints and the gods for the safety of his sister.

The door opened and Atsuro finally drew a sigh of relief.

"Y-yuka!"

The rather drenched but still smiling sister of Atsuro and manager of Lucifer stood slightly shivering in front of the door, setting aside her umbrella.

Atsuro frowned at her. "What have you been up to?"

"Just, something." Yuka beamed proudly. "I've put up the flyers in the stores and given them to people to inform them of Lucifer's concert tomorrow."

"Ne, you should have told me so I could have helped you."

"It's my job, don't worry about me." Yuka wagged a finger in front of her him. "Your job is to practice for tomorrow, okay? Good luck!"

"But Yuka - "

"No buts. Practice, practice, practice!"

Atsuro laughed as his sister pushed him all the way upstairs and into his room before disappearing with a giggle.

"Yuka," Atsuro shook his head after closing the door. He owed it to them to do his best at the concert; everyone has worked so hard for it, so there was no reason for his worries and anxieties to slow them down.

He frowned at the rattling windows and at the sight of the dark clouds outside. The rain never stopped since Yuka had left earlier.

There will be a storm tomorrow.

Atsuro approached the windows and put a hand on each to stop them from shaking. He glared at the clouds that brought the rain. He scowled at the wind that managed to strike at the windows even though he was already holding them down. With a sigh, he abandoned them and flopped on his bed beside his guitar.

Despite apologizing to his sister earlier that day for being pessimistic about the concert, he could not help but expect the worst. Of course he would want to see a lot of people tomorrow, but the tour was not exactly a success. To top it all off, the storm will directly hit the city tomorrow at dawn.

No one would want to see a concert during a storm.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Normally, people having nightmares would not know they were in one, would perceive that everything happening was real, as if someone really was chasing them with a chain saw or trying to run them down with a car.

Normally, people having nightmares would toss and turn in their beds, their bodies matted in sweat and faces contorted in fear as they scream and flail around, trying to get rid of a non-existent threat.

Towa was not one of those people.

Sure, he was frightened of the nightmares he'd had like all of the other people had been with theirs.

But as far as he was concerned, he did not find himself struggling in his bed, nor did he find himself drenched in sweat. Although for the most part he could remember breathing sharply and trying to push his head deeper into his pillow before shooting his eyes open to stare wildly at his ceiling.

He was not screaming because had he been, Yuki would have barged into his room.

Most importantly, he knew he was having a nightmare, but he chose not to wake up from it.

It was normal for him to dream about his parents every now and then. The last time had been about when they found out he was gone. His father had a fit of rage and had just about expelled him from the house; a scenario he was not supposed to see (because in reality, what had happened was that he was not there at all to witness his parents' reactions upon his departure), but since dreams were that way, Towa was not surprised. What surprised him was that though he knew it was only a nightmare, he gave in to the flow of his emotions and reacted as though it were real.

This dream was a repetition of that only with an added feature - a fight with one of his band mates.

He remembered that before falling asleep he had told himself not to brood over what he thought he had seen from Santa a few hours ago. He thought he had erased it from his mind, forgotten forever and left along with the other unimportant events of the past (and hopefully, everything else he had wanted desperately to forget); but the image of Santa still burned at the opposite dark corner of the room and he could still remember his words.

You stole him from me.

That would be Yuki, because he had remembered the different look Santa had given the guitarist before the van moved away.

Though it might not be jealousy on Santa's part because Santa was straight the last time Towa could recall. He did have a girlfriend before Lucifer and he's not about to start liking guys now, right? And why did it bother him, anyway? Did he like Yuki that way?

Dreams - sometimes, they are products of the future and most often than not past events, either exact replicas or modified with a little extra help from the imaginations of the dreamers themselves.

Towa decided it was modified. He cursed himself for having a very creative and colorful mind.

Deciding that brooding over the subject was pointless (and Santa's look could be anything else other than jealousy) he rose and glanced at the clock, which told him it was about time he got up to make supper.

At least having a nightmare relieved Yuki of the task of waking him up.

Combing his hair with his hands into some semblance of order, he sighed and made for the door, leaving his musings aside for a little while.

He prided upon having afforded such a spacious apartment. Either that or he really wasn't very particular with furniture and only thought of purchasing what was needed - a living room set, a small coffee table and a twin-size bed. The only luxury he allowed himself (aside from the air conditioning that is) was a long, custom-made low cabinet, which housed some of his magazines and CD collections alongside his stereo. The table rested opposite the living room set, adjacent to the coffee table at the far left corner of the room, leaving the center empty - usually. Now, a certain band mate occupied that space as he moved around with graceful gestures and quiet steps.

Towa leaned against the door jamb, observing the other man. Either the apartment was really that spacious or Yuki had by then measured how many more steps he could take with his eyes closed and without bumping his knee against the center table. Towa watched further as Yuki turned, daftly avoiding the perceived injury and continuing the ritual unnerved and unharmed. Yuka had told him about a girl raving about having seen Yuki dash down the steps toward the backstage and leap across the railing four steps down the landing at the band contest. 'She said he literally flew,' Yuka related with her eyes sparkling. Towa had the sneaking suspicion that she was wishing she had seen Yuki herself.

Said man finally stepped with his back turned to him, head tilted upwards. Long, shiny mane cascaded past his shoulders reaching past the shoulder blades. 'Is his hair that long?' Towa wondered.

No, it wasn't. Yuki just had his face upturned and decided to follow with the rest of his body and fall to the floor on his back.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

"Yuki!" He vaguely heard the man let out a surprised cry before dashing to his side, just in time to save his head from hitting the ground. Carpeted though, but nevertheless will cause a severe headache at least to whoever gets the opportunity to fall that way. "Are you all right?" The blond asked as he carefully laid Yuki down the floor; the latter did not seem to want to get up.

"Yes." Yuki sighed, turning his head to the side and letting his hair obscure his face. He felt like he could not face anything now, not his father, or his band mates whom he failed to bring success.

He remembered calling home to talk to his father; to tell him at least that he was home and to let him know that he was all right. He went for a walk outside just as Towa went to sleep, and on his way to buy something from the grocery store, he stopped by the phone booth and decided to call.

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Yuki frowned at the receiver when his father's assistant answered at the other end. "Yukifumi- san, I'm sorry, your father is not available right now. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Aa. Tell him that I've just arrived from the tour."

"Of course, Yukifumi-san. Will that be all?"

"Yes, thank you. Goodbye."

The wind blew the hair from his face as he stepped outside the phone booth. He was grateful that the rain had stopped for a while, so that he could walk back to Towa's apartment without getting drenched.

'"Of course, Yukifumi-san. Will that be all?"'

Yuki smiled faintly and shook his head. 'No, tell him I want to see him. Tell him I want to talk to him.'

A single drop of rain fell on him and he stopped to look up. Hundreds followed, bathing his sorrowful face and soaking his hair and clothes. The cold draft and the downpour sent a chill throughout his body and his soul, ungrateful for the feeling and yet thankful otherwise.

Thankful for the rain to be able to hide the fact that Yuki was starting to fall apart as a solitary tear slid down his cheek.

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Amidst his own musings, he could still feel Towa's eyes on him as the blond watched him for a moment. "Usotsuku na," was the blond's soft reply.

A bitter smile touched Yuki's lips. He was used to his band mate's blunt remarks however true they were. "Iie."

"Hontou ni?" Towa reached for the man's chin to get Yuki to face him. "Try telling me again without looking away."

'I'm not lying,' He thought to say as he tried to unfailingly gaze up at the bassist's piercing eyes. 'But he can see right through me and he will know that I'm not telling the truth.' "Tell you what?" He fought to say instead, and his voice was surprisingly clear despite the lump rising in his throat and the tears stinging his eyes.

"The truth."

"I'm tired." Yuki answered weakly, which was true since he had been practicing ever since he finished fixing his things. Physically he was tired, but mentally, emotionally, he was drained.

Towa said nothing. Instead, he cradled Yuki's cheek in his hand and brushed his thumb once across it.

Yuki's tears began to fall.

"Let it go," Towa was saying, gently brushing his dark locks aside.

The guitarist closed his eyes and lean towards the hand that now caressed his cheek. Smooth, dark brows creased in an effort to not allow himself to completely break down in front of his friend. Drawing out a shaky sigh, the older man reached to touch the hand that tried to comfort him. "I'm a failure...to my father, to the band and to myself."

"Don't say that."

"...I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't say that either."

Yuki peered up at his friend and attempted to laugh. "Then what am I supposed to say?"

Towa's face was solemn as he reciprocated his fake laugh with a sad smile. "At some point in a person's life, he experiences his lowest point. It's only natural, Yuki, like crying, so don't fight it either."

What are you supposed to say to that? Most of the time, Yuki thought that if it had not been for Towa, he might have completely gone off the edge and lost it. Although most of them say that Yuki was the one who kept them together, he would not have had done it without their help - Santa's support, Atsuro's cheerfulness and perseverance, Sakuya's clear determination and Towa's sound advices. However, there was a flaw to the other man's argument. "I can't ignore what's happening. I failed my father, no doubt about it. He worked so hard to train me; you should have seen me perform in Kyoto. And if it weren't for my indecisiveness, you wouldn't have gone through all the last minute changes either wa-" Yuki stopped, feeling the touch of Towa's soft fingers on his mouth.

Towa looked amused. "I didn't say anything about ignoring everything, Yuki. It is all right for you to recognize your faults, and it is better if you try to find a way to move on. Don't dwell on your problems though, because it will weigh you down."

"You say and do all the right things." Yuki spoke, and in doing so the fingers were removed from his lips, from which he felt slightly disappointed.

"Not all the time." The blond tried to smile.

Yuki smiled sympathetically. "Thank you, Towa. I don't know how I could repay you."

Yuki stood up and offered a hand to help the other man up. Embarrassment urged him not to look directly into the blond's eyes.Thus he failed to see the answer to his implied question lying in the depths of Towa's sad, brown[1] orbs.

The last thing I want is to see you cry.

TBC

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[1] Correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall someone told me Towa's eyes were brown. My source could be wrong. ^_^;