By: Araki

Chapter Rating: XxX

Summary: Sequel to “A Price for Being Known”. It’s been a year since the attack, and Tohma and Shuichi are still victims. With not telling love ones what happened, and the return of Kuuli and Montoro has everybody at the edge of their seats.

Pairings: Eiri x Shuichi, Tohma x Mika, OC x Shuichi, OC x Tohma (n/c), Tohma, x Shuichi(n/c), slight Shuichi x Ryuichi x Tohma(n/c)

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation.

Author Notes: Whoop! This author note ‘Jumping into things’ has been voided. I’m up to book 11 now, waiting for 12 (which I have to purchase myself), so now I have no excuse for anything. Still might be some OCCness

The light of the setting sun was shining, dazzlingly, into the room that held the president of one of the biggest labels. He would have been smiling, but could not find himself capable of doing so. There were two anniversaries he never looked forward to (the total of three, the last was the wedding anniversary with Mika). One would be when he would go to New York (that was if Eiri went) to stand next to the grave of Yuki. The second was coming up, it had been one year that marked the moment Shuichi had been captured, and in a week, he’d go through hell, remembering that. Yet, it was starting now for him, a depression that wouldn’t go away. He had seen the dazed look that was on Shuichi’s face, the boy was starting to fear going to work.

A little birdie had told him that Bad Luck was going on a small break, since the moment Shuichi clung to Yuki and began to hyperventilate – raggedly saying “They’re after me”. Chika, their therapist, just explained that both men would be reliving what had happened. Tohma had become used to this, since he now woke up twice every night, and began wandering his own home, looking for Shuichi, or would swear he was being followed, even if he was in the elevator all by himself. At that moment, he wrapped his arms around himself, shuttering as he thought that he was being watched. Only the security-cameras were watching him, but those weren’t bothering him. Two eyes were staring at him, laughing and mocking him. They won.

Walking towards his coat tree, he took off his leather overcoat, and started out the door. Perhaps it was time to visit Eiri, even if it meant having a door being tossed in his face. The blonde was already told to mind his business, since Shuichi was spending a lot of time with his sacho. It wasn’t his fault that Shuichi wanted company that understood what had happened, but if he brought that up, he’d get yelled at, just like the time before by Eiri (and Mika) when they said that, perhaps if they told them what had happened, the two would know what was going on.

It was the second morning that it had ever happened; he was awoke by a nightmare in which he walked through halls until he found Shuichi crying, bleeding, and in his arms was the sixteen year old Eiri, in the same outfit he wore the moment he had found him in New York. Shuichi had stared up, tears falling down his face, screaming that Tohma promised protection, but Kuuli had attacked him anyway. What scared him the most was that Montoro had slammed him against the wall, and was starting to remove his clothing…

“Mmm,” Mika sat up, wrapping her arms around her distressed husband, “What’s wrong?” She whispered in his ear, causing the blonde to tense, before he realized she meant him no harm. Within seconds, he told her all that had happened, only the dream, from beginning to end – and she listened carefully. Finally, she once more snuggled close to him, trying to think carefully about what he had said before whispering. “How are we supposed to help you if you won’t tell us.”

Truly, he had not meant to snap at her for that comment, he had tried to explain that telling her would make him relive it. Tapping the garage key in the elevator, he leaned back, breathing deeply as the room enclosed on him, causing his eyes to close and fall to the floor. Voices were laughing at him, taunting him and called him a slut, slandered his name to other voices, calling him unfaithful to his wife, to his friends, to Shuichi.

The voices continued to laugh, circling him and telling him he was worthless, arrogant. Finally, they stopped, and the elevator gave a ding, and he hesitantly stood up – noticing eyes staring curiously at him from outside. Giving a bright smile, he apologized for holding the group up, and started walking towards his new BMW. His eyes never left the ground as he froze, remembering how he had accidentally dropped his keys when he was pulled under, but deep down, he didn’t want to open his car door and be yanked again by someone under the car.

Dropping his keys, he bent down, casually staring under the car before looking around quickly. Knowing the coast was clear; he picked up his keys and opened the car door. It wasn’t like him to be the suspicious, and he had not casually dropped his keys since two weeks after the attack – he felt safe then, but now he was horrified. As soon as the week was over, his life would return to normal until next year (if therapy sessions were unsuccessful). Driving down the street, he drove towards Eiri’s house.

As he pulled up towards the curve, he stared intently towards the balcony attached to Eiri’s living room before he went inside. After a few minutes in the quiet elevator (this time, not slandered by anonymous voices), he arrived at the two Japanese stars’ apartment, greeted by an eerie silence. Normally those two could be heard, Eiri yelling at Shuichi to get lost, Shuichi crying for some attention, hell, even the fact that they were at it (Shuichi was noisy in bed, if pleasured enough). Yet, he heard nothing. Were they gone? Maybe he should have called before coming over.

Knocking on the door, he heard a muffled voice say “one second”, before the door opened and Eiri glared at him with golden eyes, irritated eyes. A cigarette was between his lips as he gave his best death glare to the interrupter, but it didn’t diminish the smile that remained on Tohma’s face as he waved. “Hello, Eiri. I apologize I don’t bear cakes of any sort.” He expected the door to be slammed in his face because he didn’t have any delectable treats, but it wasn’t happening, and the novelist just snorted and went back towards his study.

“I don’t have time for you or Shuichi.” He grumbled, sitting at his desk, and a flash of pink made Tohma stare towards the couch where Shuichi was curled up in a blanket, sleeping peacefully. That was why it was quiet, but he couldn’t figure out why the genki singer wasn’t bouncing around. “He was up all night crying and clawing to get out of my room,” answered the novelist as he typed line after line on his computer. “Don’t wake him up.”

Tohma frowned, leaning against a far wall as he stared closely at the pink haired boy. “I can assume you held him down, and he only became worse?” He asked, getting a better view at the black and blue markings crossing the novelist’s cheek, and fine red lines going down his face.

Eiri snorted, glaring at his computer. “Why are you here anyway?” He asked, never staring up. “If Shuichi refuses to talk to the therapist about the dreams, who am I to stop him from running away from work this week?”

“I’m not here about that.” Tohma removed the issue from the board. “I just wanted to take him for a small walk, being clammed up with you as company couldn’t be too good for either your health or complexion.” He smiled brightly, walking towards the boy, just to ignore Eiri’s warning. As he bent down, he felt Eiri grab him by his collar, starting to drag him from the apartment.

“I swear, I can’t have his excessive whining drive me from my work, just because he can’t sleep, or because he is being watched. No one is watching him, and he’s just paranoid.” He prepared to slam the door, but Tohma put his hand up, stopping it with wide, blue, eyes.

“Shindou-san has been feeling eyes upon him as well?” Tohma frowned, that didn’t seem coincidental. “Look, I understand that he still hasn’t told you what happened,” Tohma ignored the comment You’re the one to talk, “but you need to help him through the situation. It’ll get easier, I’m certain.” He left the room, and walked towards the elevator, ignoring the glare that Eiri was giving him before the man shut the door to continue his work.

“Tohma-kun…” A pink bunny stared at him from the other side of the desk, black eyes just staring into his soul, it’s owner hiding under the desk. “…Why is Tohma at the café, is he waiting for Mika-chan for a date?” The pink bunny asked. “Are you two going to make more little Seguchi’s tonight? Mega-chan went on a date with his wife, four episodes ago, and now they are expecting more mega-chans!” The pink bunny cheered. Tohma raised an eyebrow, expecting the chestnut haired boy-like-man to be joking, and not comparing real life to silly cartoons with animals. He had the feeling he was going to have to sit the man down and tell him babies didn’t come from dates, but the courage to actually bed the one you love. Er…nah, he could wait a few decades before explaining that much.

“No, Ryu-er…Kumagorou-chan,” Tohma fixed the direction to the statement, so he wasn’t scowled, “Mika-chan is with Tatusya-ni tonight, so that just means I’m free for the next week.” He took a sip from his coffee before continuing to type on his laptop while smiling brightly. “And where is Ryu-chan today, Kumagorou? Did you eat him?”

Ryuichi stood up, grasping hold of his rabbit tightly. “No!” He cried in English. “Kumagorou is a strict vegetarian, he doesn’t like the taste of Ryuichi!” He held tightly onto the toy, eyeing the man that just smiled. “Be nice! Kumagorou beam!” He cried, hitting his best friend with the toy.

Laughing, Tohma covered from the toy as he began to type once more. “I apologize for that comment, then.” He finally shut the computer down, staring at the singer with worried eyes, but made no move to scare the other Nittle Grasper. “Did you get enough ice cream, Ryu-chan?” He directed a finger towards the large doggie bag in Ryu-chan’s arms.

“We saw you over here, so Kumagorou thought you’d like some cookie dough ice cream, na no da! It’s so good!” He pulled out the medium sized container of ice cream, placing it in front of Tohma before taking out his own large container. Tohma stared at the large container before looking at his smaller sized one as Ryuichi covered his lips with a finger. “Don’t tell, Tohma-kun!” He giggled as he began to eat the cookie dough ice cream. “I’m on my way to meet up with Shuichi! We’re going to the arcade, and play video games!” He took another large gulp as Tohma started eating his own meal.

“Arcade? Are you sure you two can survive there?” He asked, referring to the easy disguises of a baseball cap and glasses. Ryuichi tilted his head as he shoved another spoonful into his mouth. “Would you like me to call in and empty it from nosy kids?” He leaned forward, but Ryuichi shook his head that it wasn’t what he wanted.

“Kumagorou wants to be around kids! Besides, Ryuichi knows that Shuichi has been locked in Yuki’s home for two days!” He grinned brightly as he took another bite before clutching his head. “Ah!”

Rubbing his friend’s temples, Tohma smiled. “Poor Ryu-chan, you have brain freeze now.” He laughed as Ryuichi began to whine.

A pink bunny waved at the tied blonde as the door opened, Eiri had expected to find the blonde, but was met by Kumagorou giving him a hug. “Ne! Yuki-kun! Is Shuichi home, na no da?” Ryuichi cried out as Eiri tossed the bunny in the direction the couch, and Shuichi jumped up from his position on the couch, next to a notebook. Waving at the pink haired singer, Ryuichi ran over to the boy, smiling brightly. “Ready to go out, Shuichi?” He yelled out loudly, getting a glare from the blonde in the study.

“That’s my hole, stay away from him or the bunny gets it.” Eiri snarled, and Ryuichi jumped for the toy before hiding behind the pink haired boy. Shuichi giggled, holding onto Ryuichi into return, playfully sticking his tongue out at his jealous boyfriend, hands fumbling to grab his hat, which he had flung off his head a few days ago, from under the coffee table, as well as a pair of sunglasses, and his wallet.

“Ryu-chan is asking me out.” He laughed, dodging a book being tossed at him, both him and Ryuichi running out of the room laughing and giggling. As the elevator closed, and the two leaned against the wall, Shuichi stared up brightly. “Ne, Ryu-chan,” he whispered – being a friendly polite to his idol, “thanks for being here, I feel so much better than I was earlier.”

Holding up Kumagorou, Ryuichi mimicked a cute voice that was supposed to be the rabbit’s. “He’s an ogre, there’re not suppose to be funny.” Ryuichi held the bunny up to his ear, breaking out into giggles. “Ne, Kumagorou wants to know if Yuki-sama smells like an ogre?” He held the pink bunny towards Shuichi, being close to get the answer, and Shuichi shook his head, no.

In seconds, the two were at the arcade, staring intently at some of the games that were already exposed to them. So many options, so much to choose from. Flashing lights caught Ryuichi’s eyes as he ran towards the DDR, dragging Shuichi with him. “Let’s play!” He cried out, slipping in the yen-coins to start the game, Shuichi sharing the full price. As the two played, Kumagorou sat upon the coin box, overlooking the window outside as both singers enjoyed themselves; it faced past the crowds, and into a pair of eyes. If Ryuichi was paying attention to his best friend, Kumagorou, he would have heard the warning as Shuichi turned around, and stopped moving. Lavender eyes were faced out of the window as Ryuichi finally turned to make sure he was okay, before also facing out the window at the auburn that only waved at Shuichi, who then began to scream.

A wave of confusion attacked the boy in steady throws as his heavy lids slid open, forced to face the roof of the car. He was aware he was in a car due to the comfortable leather under his head. Trying to sit up, he hissed slightly as a headache attacked him, but he couldn’t remember why his head hurt. Thinking clearly, he tried to remember the last few hours, Ryuichi coming and taking him out, dancing with his idol, and then he had looked out the window. That was right, it had been Kuuli – staring at him with a smile and had waved as if nothing had ever happened. But, that didn’t explain much. Why was he in a warm car, if the last place he had been was at the arcade with Ryuichi?

“Shu-chan! Are you okay, na no da? Kumagorou couldn’t stop you from yelling, and then you just quieted and wouldn’t move. You’re not dying, are you?” Ryuichi’s concerned voice echoed through the hollowness of the vehicle. Shuichi turned his heavy head, staring past the consoling of the front seat at the chestnut haired singer and pink bunny, each staring at him with concern. A blond man sat next to him, a pale blond far from being compared to Eiri, tried to stare back, but was forced to keep his eyes on the road. “When you continued to scream, I had to call Tohma, ‘cause they were going to call the police.”

Shuichi pushed himself up again, his body feeling like lead under the pressure of the seatbelt before he was able to sit up right. He still felt dizzy, but he could still feel the curious stares as he rubbed his head. “I’m sorry for this, Ryu-kun, Tohma-san.” He found himself unable to stare up at them as his nervousness returned, remembering that gaze.

“What happen, Shuichi?” Tohma asked, turning the corner quickly, but he was taking the long way back to Eiri’s to give them time to talk. As he asked, Shuichi stared down at his hands, his eyes wide as he went into another panic attack that had Ryuichi unbuckling and jumping in the back to hold his best friend. In minutes, Shuichi came to, Ryuichi rubbing his cheek with serious eyes that worried the small singer. It had become obvious that Tohma had pulled them over to the side of the road so he could get in the back and help Ryuichi calm Bad Luck’s singer. “Please Shuichi, what happened…” Tohma pulled the pink haired boy to his chest, brushing the hair out of his face as Shuichi turned red.

“I saw him, Tohma! Kuuli was smiling at me, he waved!” The pink haired boy curled to the fetal position, pulling his sore head into his arms as small whines escaped in his voice. It hurt, why was he in so much pain. He could hear the glove department pop open, and Shuichi’s eyes grew wide. He never let Eiri open the glove department, he always worried that a gun would be there, that someone would shoot him again. Bringing his arms out, he tried clawing the arm that was going towards the glove department, but the world was dark, he couldn’t see – but he could hear Ryuichi let out a scream about being scratched.

Tohma reached towards him quickly, pulling the pink haired singer to his chest, he breathed deeply, letting his breathing soothe the boy. In seconds, Shuichi’s body relaxed, leaning back against the man as he breathed deeply and a pill was placed in front of his lips. “Swallow this, Shuichi. Your headache looks like a killer.” The blond smiled, and Shuichi wondered how the man knew he had a headache.

“I’m sorry for hurting you, Ryu-kun.” Shuichi whispered, wanting to fall asleep to the gentle beating of Tohma’s heart, his hand reaching up and caressing the chestnut haired singer’s cheek that was beginning to bruise. He couldn’t trust himself, first Eiri, now Ryuichi. Who would be next? He could feel, once more, eyes upon him – Kuuli’s perhaps? He no longer felt safe, not with his friends, not outside. He wanted to go home, let Eiri protect him. Tohma had also tensed, sensing the same feeling of being stared at, this causing Ryuichi to turn his head before climbing out of the car to sit up front again.

“It’s okay, Shu-chan! Let’s get you home!” The cheerful man laughed, buckling Kumagorou in before growing large eyes that made both Tohma and Shuichi sweat drop because of the personality switch. “I have a secret!” He cried out, easing the tension in the vehicle as Shuichi buckled himself in, and Tohma pulled himself into the driver’s seat. As the blond began to buckle in and start the vehicle, Ryuichi nodded his head. “Yep! Ryuichi and Kumagorou have a date tonight!”

The car swerved for a little while as Tohma fought his coughing fit before resuming his driving once more. “Ne, Ryu-kun – does that mean more little Ryu-kuns and Kumagorou-kuns?” Tohma asked casually, and Ryuichi shrieked, causing Shuichi to wince in confusion.

“Oh no! Kumagorou can’t have babies! He’d have to move out, and get a job! He likes living with Ryuichi!” The older singer began crying, holding his bunny to his chest. “I can’t have children, then I can’t spend anytime with Kumagorou! Tohma, I can’t go on this date!” He whined.

“Ne, Ryu-kun, what are you talking about?” Shuichi leaned forward, staring at the older man with confusion as the pink bunny turned to face him.

“Kumagorou knows everything, he says that babies come from dates – that’s how he was born. Mama Kumagorou and Papa Kumagorou went on a date, and Ryuichi found Baby Kumagorou!” The man held the bunny to his ear before smiling. “I’m sorry, Kumagorou! Big Kumagorou, he’s not a baby anymore!” The man held tightly onto the toy as Shuichi faced Tohma.

The car turned another corner, further distancing them from ever arriving to Eiri’s. “Never thought I’d have to tell you this, Ryuichi. Kumagorou is wrong, babies don’t come from dates, they come from…”

“Remember, Ryu-kun, I’m leaving the door locked, don’t open it for anybody. I’ll be back shortly.” Tohma addressed the dazed singer that sat up front, scrunching the rabbit to his chest with big eyes. Smiling brightly, he turned to Shuichi, who was quietly trying to go inside unnoticed. “I’m sorry you had to hear the whole birds and bees speech, Shuichi.” He grinned, as they stepped into the elevator, Shuichi pushing the keypad.

“Well, I didn’t want to hear most of that – maybe you should join Eiri in his novels?” Shuichi joked, trying to fight the blush that wanted to remain on his cheeks. He didn’t need to know all of that! Tohma just grinned, leaning back upon the wall as they waited for the elevator to stop. They had left Ryuichi in the car because the older man was dazed after the long talk he and Tohma had had; all the while Shuichi was groaning in the back seat and trying to open the door to no prevail (how was he to know Tohma actually put child locks on?).

Tohma didn’t respond to that statement as he stared at the moving number, his eyes softening before looking back towards the pink haired boy. “Are you going to be okay?” He finally asked, and Shuichi nodded his head. “If you’re not feeling safe, don’t hesitate to call me.” His voice was stern, one he normally used with Ryuichi to get the boy-like-man back into reality. Shuichi never met his eyes as he leaned back against the wall, staring down upon the floor in thought. “You’ll be all right, he probably didn’t see you and waved to someone else – maybe it was all a misunderstanding. The court doesn’t allow either of them within two hundred feet of you and I.”

“What about Ryuichi, then?” Shuichi broke his silence, staring at Tohma with curious eyes as the doors opened and both walked out towards Eiri’s door.

“Why do you think I told him not to open the door for anyone? I’m not taking chances, he’s overly friendly and the court refused to give him a restraining order since neither of us would tell him what was in store if he was caught, and since neither Kuuli nor Montoro ever hurt him. You’d think the evidence of Kumagorou’s bunny nabbing would be enough.” Tohma rolled his eyes, but grew quiet as Shuichi opened the door to Eiri’s and his apartment, staring in for any signs that his lover was in the living room before he made his way in.

“Tadaima, Yuki-kun!”

“Would you mind grabbing Eiri for me, Shuichi-san? He and I need to talk. I’ll be on the balcony.” Tohma walked past the boy as Shuichi nodded, running towards the backrooms with energy that had been missing for weeks. Jumping into the blond’s study, Shuichi wrapped his arms around the man that was sipping his beer.

“Did you actually leave this room while I was gone?” Shuichi scolded, but was ignored. Bringing his lips close to the man’s ear, licking the lobe for effect. “Tohma-san wants to talk to you on the balcony.” Shuichi giggled, walking out of the room and towards Eiri’s bed to lie down.

Eiri stared out of the room, past the living/family room, and at the balcony where Tohma was staring down, expecting something to happen. Walking towards the man, Eiri leaned against the doorframe, taking a gulp from his beer. “Why are you with them?” He asked.

Startled, Tohma placed his finger to his lips, still staring down at his car. “Shuichi saw Kuuli at the arcade, and had a panic attack. To avoid the police being called, Ryuichi had them bring Shuichi into a back room until I could get there to calm him down.” The blond didn’t stare up, his eyes squinting as he faced pedestrians on the street – or more correctly, a familiar auburn standing near his car with a dog. Why did that auburn look familiar? “Now I feel like I’m seeing things!” Tohma hissed leaning forward, causing Eiri to reach forward and grab the man’s shirt to make sure he wasn’t going to fall. “Damnit, Ryuichi! Stay in the car!” He screamed, and he could tell that the auburn was staring up with a grin as the car door opened and Ryuichi stepped out, pulling the dog into his arms. At that moment, Tohma was no longer in the apartment, and was running towards the elevator, before yelling that the elevator wasn’t hurrying, and took off down the stairs – Eiri hot on his trail.

Ryuichi stared out the window as Tohma and Shuichi entered the apartment complex. His fingers wrapped around Kumagorou as he buried his nose into the bunny’s soft fur, suddenly becoming bored as he came back to reality due to the information he had just learned. Reaching into the glove department, he smiled as he found hard candies, popping one into his mouth to suck on. Continuing his search, he cheered as he found a small photo album.

Most of the pictures were really old, going back to the early days of Nittle Grasper – the happier days. Pictures of Tohma and Mika while they were dating, both truly smiling and laughing, actually happy together. Ryuichi didn’t care what anyone said about Tohma still looking as young as ever – the man was growing older. The next picture was the wedding party; those were still the happy days. Then Tohma and Mika lost their baby before it was born. Ryuichi had never seen Tohma cry, but the man had, even blamed himself.

Putting the photo album back, Ryuichi shuffled through the items again before coming across black and white photos. Pulling them out, he stared at it and blushed. He had seen one of these before! Kumagorou nodded, reminding him that it was when Tohma had shown him pictures of the baby while it was still in Mika. This one was new though, Ryuichi could tell by the date. “Na no da, Kuma-chan! Do you think Mika’s pregnant again?” He smiled, and the bunny shrugged.

He put everything back into the glove department (not without taking another piece of hard candy). Staring up, his eyes grew wide as he saw an auburn haired man struggling with his dog walking towards the car, the man petted the dog, before looking up at the car, waving his hand and starting towards the vehicle.. “Excuse me, sir…I’m lost, do you know where this address is…” The man asked, and Ryuichi looked at his bunny.

“Kumagorou, his dog is so cute!” He reached for the door handle when the bunny snarled at him, reminding the chestnut haired singer what Tohma had ordered, but the door was already unlocked and both bunny and owner were on the ground, hugging the dog. “What’s his name?” He cried out, grinning from ear to ear as the man rubbed behind the dog’s neck.

“Poochi.” The auburn said, reached out to caress Ryuichi’s hair, and caused the singer to freeze. “I’m sorry, Ryuichi, is it?” He asked, and the other stepped back, unsure of what was going on as the man pulled him close. “Are you scared, because you know what I want with you - idiot.” He slammed his hand into the singer’s gut, causing the boy to bend over, the dog barking to alert someone to what was going on. Trying to crawl away, Ryuichi felt arms wrap around his waist as he was hoisted into the air, his fist flinging out to hit the man as the dog ran free down the road. “Get the other two Montoro, this one’s putting up a big enough fight!” Kuuli yelled, walking towards a parked car in one of the alleys. Ryuichi screamed out, towards the top floors, expecting someone – anyone – to notice his distress, but it never happened. The street was dead silent, and no one bothered to check what was going on as the raven-haired man – Ryuichi identified as the one that had taken off with Kumagorou at the ice cream parlor – entered the apartments.

Shuichi stepped onto the balcony, upon hearing the apartment door being slammed shut and all noise die down. All noise except Ryuichi’s sudden scream. Covering his ears, Shuichi bent down as he started towards the railing, staring down at Ryuichi being thrown into another car, just as a tired Eiri and Tohma ran out the front doors, taking off in two different directions to find the singer. Backing off into the apartment, Shuichi covered his ears as he heard a racket at the door, a sly voice asking for him to come out and “play’”, but he didn’t have the courage to open it. He was unable to find the strength to actually look through the peephole.

Settling on the couch, drawing his legs towards his chest, the pink haired singer tried not to whimper as the rapping at the door continued – his mind playing games on him. He needed Eiri; he needed someone to help him. They were laughing at him, voices taunting him and playing with his body, scaring it more just as they had done to his mental self.

The couch no longer felt safe, he could feel the warmth it emitted, as warm as the blood that had drained from his arms the last day with the two. A crashing from the kitchen made him jump, his mind running with reasons for the crash. Rats? Unbalanced storage? Someone getting through from the air vent in the kitchen? Whining, Shuichi threw open the door, not seeing anyone as he ran towards the opened elevator door. Someone was on the floor, he knew it! Slamming his palm towards the bottom floor, he leaned back, breathing deeply as the doors closed. No longer did he have to worry. Expecting to find the cold wall, he was startled when it was warmth, a rise and fall caressing his back as arms wrapped around his waist.

With a scream, he pulled towards the door, turning to face nothing as the elevator gave a jump. Had he arrived on the right floor? As the doors slid open, he took off out of them before crashing into something – or someone. His eyes stared up, freezing at the sight of the raven-haired man, smiling as if he had heard a funny joke. “Boo.” He grinned, and Shuichi was frozen on spot at the sight of the empty streets. Where was everyone? He had no time to ponder that thought as he finally passed out, it being too much for him so far.

Heavy. That was the first thought that entered his mind as his body turned, trying to loosen the hold above his hands, the pressure. It hurt. Forcing his eyes open, Ryuichi focused on the roof of a moving car, a soft vibrating under his head. Pink hair was under his chin, and the brunet was certain that it wasn’t Kumagorou. The bunny wasn’t so heavy – if it was then Kumagorou needed to go on a diet.

In the front seat, two men sat talking to each other. One was a long; raven haired man that was driving, all while yelling that it would be easier to kill someone then just holding them. Next to him, the auburn that had grabbed Ryuichi was calmly explaining the plan, which they had to learn who was boss before death came. Between them was a pale blonde, breathing deeply. The one that had grabbed him stared back, smiling brightly. “Ne, Montoro, one of our guest are up,” he addressed the raven-haired man, who grimly stared up.

“Just stay quiet, and nothing will happen.” Was all Ryuichi was told, but that wasn’t enough to get him to stay quiet. His body tensed as he tried to sit up, but moving his legs only caused Shuichi to whine and snuggle further against him, mistaking the taller man to be Eiri. Speaking of which, where was the blonde? He could have sworn Tohma was with Eiri, upstairs. If they had Shuichi and Tohma did that mean…Shaking his head, Ryuichi cleared his thoughts. No, they didn’t hurt the blonde, maybe he was unconscious somewhere.

Something jabbed into the back of his seat, causing the chestnut haired singer to gasp and turn back. Or they had placed Eiri in the trunk. Maybe it was another poor citizen, the one with the dog most likely. Brushing his palm against the cold metal of the restraints, Ryuichi whined, about wanting to move, but his cry was ignored. Shuichi, suddenly waking up, stared around, his face losing it’s color as it stopped on the two up from. The auburn (Ryuichi still didn’t know his name) just smiled at Shuichi with a greeting and Shuichi began jiggling the door handle, trying to get out.

Montoro, the raven haired man, smiled at Shuichi’s antics, one hand leaving the steering wheel to caress Tohma’s face. “How’s your arm, Shuichi?” It wasn’t kindness, but mockery, Ryuichi noticed as Shuichi paused, staring around, as if realizing Ryuichi’s presence as well as Tohma’s. The pale face turned a green as he began pulling the handle, voice rushing out that he didn’t feel very well, and that he was going to throw up.

With that bit of news, Ryuichi tried sitting up, get pull as far away from Shuichi as possible as the car was pulled to the side and Shuichi’s door flung open. In the moment of freedom, Shuichi took off, past the auburn that had opened the door, before collapsing upon the ground as his body began heaving. Montoro let out a sigh as he pulled out of the vehicle, leaving Ryuichi alone in the back seat, finally sitting up with a look of shock on his face.

Now he remembered them, they were the bad men that had kidnapped Tohma and Shuichi and bullied them (though Ryuichi was unsure how they were bullied, Tohma use to be smart with bullies). But, didn’t they have a restraining order? Ryuichi knew everything about restraining orders, since several over-hyped fans didn’t know how to leave him alone (they jumped him for his clothes! Kumagorou had to save him!).

“Tohma…” Ryuichi whined, it had awakened Shuichi from his sleep. “Tohma-kun…wakey, wakey.” He smiled as Tohma grumbled, leaned his head back, an awkward smile falling on his lips. “Ne, is Tohma-kun dreaming about Mika-chan?” He lightened his mood, hearing Shuichi still heaving outside; Montoro whispered how disgusting it was.

“Mika…” Tohma smiled.

Ryuichi grumbled, staring up at his chained hands. If he could, he would draw pictures on his up-tight friend’s face, but no nothing ever worked out for Ryuichi. “Tohma!” He yelled out, and the man jerked awake, eyes as wide as saucers. In a few seconds, they lost their size, as if realizing what was going on, staring around quickly.

“Ryuichi! Where’s Eiri-san?” He stared in the back seat. “I was chasing after Kuuli when he was pushing you into his car, something hit Eiri, and he fell, so I turned to get him back up. I saw Shuichi being carried out by Montoro, and then I was hit!” He began rambling, something he rarely did unless you was trying to remember what was going on. “Ryuichi, you’re okay, right? Where’s Shuichi?”

Staring back out the door, Ryuichi stretched his arms as Shuichi was laid in the vehicle, across the seat. Already unconscious. Tohma stared at the boy in shock before Kuuli wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling the blonde closer to his body. “Why do you keep doing this? Again!” Tohma cried out, trying to pull out of the hold. Ryuichi pulled upon his restraints, again the seat jerked up – from someone hitting it, not from the car starting. He stared at the seat, expecting a big – ugly – monster to come out and try eating him…or Eiri to just start screaming profanity. Either way, they both seemed the same.

“What, my darling Shuichi didn’t tell you what I told him?” Montoro responded, as Ryuichi placed names with faces. Shuichi, pink hair, Tohma, long best friend, Eiri, cruel writer of sick stuff (he had red some of the works of Eiri Yuki in English, they had no rainbows, therefore they were not entertaining), Montoro, the driver, and Kuuli, the auburn that had a dog. Blinking, Ryuichi replayed the information before clutching his head, too much. “I am ashamed my lovely pet,” Montoro ran a hand down Tohma’s waist, tensing as if he held something – Tohma’s head fell back. “You don’t remember me, but perhaps it was for the best in your little world. We’re nobody, because a sour group of punks took our fame.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Tohma snarled, trying to pull closer to Kuuli.

Montoro smirked his fingers brushing hair out of his face. “What about you, my innocent little singer, do we not look familiar?” He addressed the chestnut haired singer that sat confused in the back seat. Ryuichi, switching his head from one to the other, red off a list of names that were in his head, none of them seemed to match the man staring at him in mock glee.

Shaking his head, Ryuichi finally answered, “No,” but it didn’t matter, his response fell upon deaf ears as Kuuli growled out, taping his hand against the arm rest upon the door. Such an old car, it was amazing the thing didn’t fall apart with that tap, along with the taping in the back seat. “Who’s in the trunk?” Ryuichi asked, staring at the seat. Monster…monster…monster…

“We’ll discuss that later,” Kuuli spoke, smoothly. “Let’s go back…say, seventeen years?” He smiled, redirecting back to when Nittle Grasper first coming into the music world (well, past school bands at least). “When you were first seen, all the other contestants that were never looked at, who had more talent than a crummy bunch like Nipple Gripper,” Tohma and Ryuichi winced at the name, wasn’t a first but it still hurt when people deliberately called them that. “We were one of the rejects, we were after your fucking band, but no, once Sakuma Ryuichi’s voice sang out, people were spell bound, immediate record deal, and then the labels moved out. No one else got a chance. They got over it, we can’t. You took away our dreams!”

“What do the others have to do with your problem?” Tohma snorted. “If it’s just against Nittle Grasper, then why the hell did you hurt all those idols? Why did you hurt Shuichi?” His voice screamed out, irritated.

Montoro was the one to break out laughing with that, his smile very inward. “What didn’t they have to do? They were stars, people loved them. We could have been them, they reminded us of three thieves – Ryuichi, Tohma, and Noriko. But, then three years ago, a boy with amazing vocal talents came into the picture, and people were calling him ‘The next Sakuma Ryuichi’. After much thought, it was decided if we only wanted to rid the bad omen, to get rid of any and all things the media corresponded to as the talented trio – as well as Bad Luck. Noriko was impossible to grab, no matter what we did, she was always a step ahead of us, always in crowds, with his daughter and husband, with Mika-chan. Never found her alone. The same was with Hiroshi and Suguru, never could get them alone, you’d think it’d be easy, but no, not them. Shuichi and Ryuichi were one in the same, had to be in crowds, and needed people. Only difference was, with one, where ever the bunny goes, its owner was sure to follow. The other, when his boyfriend and him fight, he was out of there. Yet, after watching them for a while, they didn’t seem to want to fight. So, I upped the gas use on the stove, caused a nice little fire, and Shuichi was thrown out like that,” Montoro snapped his fingers.

“I followed Shuichi around as he cried, I was so lucky when he actually started talking to me while in tears. Made it all the easier to track his location down. In no time, I had him grabbed and was ‘training’ him. Montoro, on the other hand,” Kuuli was finishing their story, “had to follow Tohma and Ryuichi alone. Like he said, Ryuichi was always in crowds and hard to track down, and if we did track him down, the bunny would tell the world his location. Tohma realized we were following him, but didn’t act. I had remembered a crappy film I had watched in high school, about this guy hiding under a workers car in a garage and attacking her from there, because she was in too much shock to fight back. We pulled that off, problem was, fingerprints in the making. So, Montoro blew up the car just as he was leaving, no one tracked our plats down, and we were safe.

“Of course, we still wanted Ryuichi, and seeing the opportunity ahead, Montoro had followed him to ice cream parlors. Still, we couldn’t nab him, but we did the stupid bunny – destroyed the tracking device, and brought it home. That was one step done. We were planning to grab Ryuichi, but the bunny had caused a flaw in our plan.” Kuuli reached back, straining his arm to brush Shuichi’s burning cheeks. Nonchalantly, he turned to Montoro, “he’s running a fever.” The man nodded, but didn’t take his eyes off the road. “Anyway, back to our tale, the bunny made Shuichi into a delinquent to our plans, all my training was shit. So, Montoro was going to get rid of him. Bang! Damn, your manager had taught you guys pretty well how to avoid being shot, we only hit his arm. Not having enough bullets to kill him, we let him run through the woods and bleed to death. Almost succeeded if somebody didn’t let the cops follow him,” he glared at Montoro, who in turn shrugged his shoulders.

Tohma’s, as he listened, face scrunched up in either anger or disgust (and a faint bit of respect for thinking the plan thoroughly). “And in the trunk is Eiri-san, I’m guessing?” Kuuli nodded.

Without thinking, Ryuichi squeaked and pulled away from the seat. “Just as bad as a monster! Now he’s going to be mad, and tear something to spreads!” His comment had Kuuli and Montoro laughing and a sigh from Tohma. “I want to go home!”

“You’re going home, all right. Our home.” Montoro snickered. “See, we’re not going to die until your two bands are dealt with. However, I like a few games of cat and mouse. Always wanted to see what it’d be like to have Ryuichi and Ryuichi’s clone sucking each other off as Tohma takes his best friend. Delicious and sells good.” Tohma let out a soft sigh, but Ryuichi was unsure why.

“What do you mean by that?” Ryuichi whispered, causing another fit of laughter from the two up front. Why did he feel like he didn’t want to know.

Kuuli shook his head, calming himself down. “This is going to be worth it after all.”

Tohma frowned as the car pulled up to a seclude cabin in the middle of the woods. His ass hurt, that was for sure. The car ride was going on forever, several stops for Shuichi to puke, Ryuichi crying that he was bored (when they went on tours, they usually remembered items to keep the singer out of the state of boredom). He watched the two get out of the vehicle, Kuuli telling him to stay in, Montoro kept watch as the auburn unlocked the cabin. Walking back over to the car, Kuuli lifted Shuichi into his arms effortlessly and called to Ryuichi to follow as the two made in towards the entrance, leaving Tohma to have a staring contest with Montoro.

Their match was broke however when Montoro popped open the trunk, pulling the blonde writer from it’s confines from the roots of his hair. Eiri was pissed, to say the least, and tried to take a swing at the grinning man, only to fall back upon Tohma, who surprisingly caught him quickly. The novelist was bound by rope, his arms in front of him, feet bound together in an uncomfortable position.

“In the house.” Montoro pointed, but Tohma didn’t budge from where he held Eiri against him, the blonde glaring daggers as he tried to get his binds undone. His patience finally met an end as Montoro reached forward, slamming his fist past Eiri, and into Tohma’s face, causing the sneer to go into a look of sheer pain. “Did a year of freedom make you forget what I can do?” Montoro yelled, and Tohma shook his head no, stood up, and led the dumbstruck Eiri in the cabin.

As Tohma stared around, he felt Eiri tense in his arms before the blonde pushed himself out of the helpful hold, forgot his legs were bound, and fell flat on his face. Tohma realized where the novelist was going when he saw pink hair asleep on the couch, Kuuli already undressing him. On the other corner, scrunched up in a ball, was a naked Ryuichi, trying to look as small as ever.

Stepping forward, Tohma leaned down to help Eiri to his knees before a boot connected with his bottom, pushing the president towards the ground next to his friend. “A little overdressed there, aren’t you pet?” Montoro sneered stepped on the pale blonde’s back, adding pressure. Quickly, Tohma nodded his head, causing the weight to disappear. When he could sit up, Tohma pulled his shirt over his head, never opening his mouth as Eiri was dragged towards Ryuichi and chained to the railing of an old pipe.

Hesitantly, Tohma stood on his shaking legs, dropping his pants and underwear, his face never staring up to meet any watchful gazes. He was slapped suddenly, and Tohma let out a surprised cry, his eyes staring up at Montoro’s angry face before realizing why he had been slapped in the first place. Falling to his knees, he breathed deeply, but still never met anyone’s eyes.

Montoro clapped his hands, his mood doing a complete one-eighty with a smile. “Very good, now that we’re all ready, let’s get back to where we left off…your wrist was broken, wasn’t it?” He stepped towards Tohma, causing the keyboardist to pull his wrist towards his body and crunch up on instinct.

“Please, don’t…” He whispered, remembering the pain he had been in last time, and the twelve weeks it had been broken.

“He’s already begging, Montoro,” Kuuli said, cuddling the naked Shuichi on his lap – mocking the glaring Eiri in the corner. “Why don’t we start with those dreams you had with him and Ryuichi? I don’t want to do anymore than that until Shuichi is much better.”

Ryuichi stared up as he heard his name with Tohma’s, a flushing falling upon his face as the naked Tohma started crawling towards Montoro. Sure, he had seen Tohma naked before, but they were in high school then, in gym…He watched as Kuuli locked the front door, before returning towards him to lift him up from the cold, hard floor. Ryuichi whined, trying to claw his way down as he was carried towards the backrooms, Tohma following in slowly. To the singer’s shock, the keyboardist never got off his hands and knees as he followed, always looking behind him to make sure he wasn’t going to be kicked. Perhaps just reflex? Ryuichi didn’t know, all he was aware of was that he was being deposited upon a bed. Was it time for a nap? He stared up, expecting them to tell him to go to sleep – but he couldn’t sleep without Kumagorou!

Tohma climbed up on the bed, his blue eyes meeting Kuuli’s as he spoke softly, “Please, don’t make us do this. Ryuichi barely knows sexually reproduction. He’s innocent, just leave him alone.”

Montoro stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him – his green eyes falling upon the N-G President with a sickening grin. “Why? Perhaps you should teach him the better qualities of sex, he gives off sex like fire does heat, maybe he should see why all those girls throw themselves at his feet, why Shuichi dares stay with a man that will never pronounce his love, why you are even with Mika.”

“Leave Mika out of this!” Tohma yelled, hatred filling his eyes as he glared at the man smiling at him. “You’re just looking into life the wrong way. Maybe there was a reason no labeling company sought to you – looks and voice and personality are something most look for!” Ryuichi winced as he watched his best friend be slapped, but he refused to move from where he sat upon the bed, watching the interactions of everyone in the room.

Leaning forward, Montoro smirked sadistically, causing both men on the bed to shudder. “Believe me, Tohma, either you get Ryuichi to spread his legs for you so you can suck him off and take him like he’s never been taken, or I do. And if I have to, then you can be sure blood will be part of the lubrication – and you wouldn’t want that, now, would you?” He brushed his fingers against the bruising cheek upon Tohma’s face before giving him a small push. Quickly, Ryuichi caught the man, staring up at the raven haired one.

Tohma looked deep into thought, before pulling out of Ryuichi’s arms to stare at the man silently, his pink tongue escaping to lick his drying lips. “Anything that goes on in here won’t affect our friendship, right, Ryu-chan?” He breathed deeply, and the chestnut haired vocalist tilted his head in confusion. The two could hear Montoro give a growl to start, and shock ran through Ryuichi’s body as Tohma leaned up to kiss him. It was a tender kiss; very close to those they had given each other in high school (they had done a lot together in high school), and Ryuichi was a little nervous when Tohma’s tongue asked for entrance into his mouth. Wasn’t Tohma-kun married to Mika? Weren’t they going to have a baby?

Ryuichi sat there frozen as Tohma grabbed his jaw, thrusting his own tongue in to Ryuichi’s moist cavern. A moan did not escape the vocalist’s mouth, from neither surprise with the push nor pleasure with the new found enjoyment – the singer was to far out of it, trying to figure out what was going on. Tohma relaxed his weight upon his best friend’s, knocking them both upon the bed and on their backs, his waist thrusting against Ryuichi’s to get the singer to spread his legs some. Tensing, Ryuichi threw his head back, his legs doing what Tohma’s body wanted as he let the keyboardist against his growing shaft. It felt so good…

Tohma’s tongue left Ryuichi’s mouth, brushing down upon the singer’s cheek, receiving a gasp in response before finger’s dug into his fine hair, trying to pull the keyboardist out of the nape of his neck. “Don’t bite me, Tohma-kun! I don’t wanna be a vampire!” He received more chuckles from their two onlookers, causing him to stare up and meet their eyes.

“Relax, Ryuichi,” Kuuli whispered, stepped forward and rubbed the chestnut haired singer’s hair and received a glare from Tohma. “Tohma knows what he’s doing, he has done the very same thing with Shuichi, dreamed of doing it with Eiri, and now wants to with you. He’s a playboy, I’m sure he would never purposely hurt you.” He brushed his hands across Tohma’s face, watching it scrunch up. “Now continue Tohma.” He instructed, and the blonde nodded.

Tenderly, Tohma caressed his lips to Ryuichi’s neck again, lowering further to his friend’s nipples. His fingers brushed the perk nubs, watching as the chestnut haired singer shuddered. No, he didn’t want Tohma to do these things with him, but it felt so good. Rambling thoughts stopped at once as Tohma’s tongue dropped into Ryuichi’s navel. Gasping, Ryuichi involuntarily arched his back, his mouth going dry as Tohma’s tongue licked further down, breathing into the vocalist’s tamed curls at the base of his cock. Ryuichi froze as he realized what was going on, bringing his hand up to stop the other Grasper, but it was too late. Tohma’s took Ryuichi’s tip into his mouth, and Ryuichi let out a cry.

Letting his head fall back further into the mattress, Ryuichi whined as an unfamiliar twist fell towards his stomach, and lower to his groin. He didn’t know what to do, it was all so strange to him, so wonderful…so disgusting. Why was Tohma doing something like this? Tohma’s hands slipped further down, caressing Ryuichi’s sac, causing the grown male to stop breathing, eyes wide upon the ceiling. “T…Tohma,” He whispered as the man took his hard penis deeper in his mouth. “S-Stop…Tohma…” Ryuichi began to worry, his best friend could choke! The blonde never pulled back as his hand brushed the skin under his sacs, causing the vocalist to cry out loudly. A sudden feeling washed through his groin, causing Ryuichi to scrunch up. No, he didn’t want to do anything inside Tohma’s mouth!

Tohma’s hands hesitantly began to knead Ryuichi’s sacs, causing the singer to turn into putty as he came suddenly. A blush fell upon his lips as he watched Tohma swallow quickly, each load was gone until Tohma pulled up and wiped a smear of white cum from his face as Ryuichi breathed deeply. Tohma stared up at the blushed singer, quietly placing his fingers towards his chestnut haired man’s lips. “Suck on them, Ryu-chan, I don’t want to hurt you…”

Unsure of what Tohma meant, but completely sure he didn’t want to be hurt, Ryuichi took the digits in his mouth, running his tongue along the salty taste of Tohma’s skin. The two laid there, staring at each other before Tohma removed his moist fingers from Ryuichi’s velvety cavern and brought them between his two globes, staring up to meet the vocalist of Nittle Grasper, only to see confused orbs. “I’m sorry, Ryu-chan…” He apologized as he pressed his fingers past the man’s globes and into the singer’s tight entrance.

“What the-!” Cried out, tensing at the intrusion. Tohma didn’t pull back as his other hand massaged Ryuichi’s thighs, getting him to relax before pressing another finger into his friend’s tight canal. Prepping the man up, Tohma’s eyes never stared up to meet Ryuichi’s wide ones. As he pulled out, Ryuichi tilted his head, trying to figure out what was going on. Was that all? He found himself mistaken as he watched Tohma spit into his own hands and massage his own swollen cock, causing Ryuichi to put two-and-two together. “No!” He tried pulling back, but couldn’t find the strength to as his friend pressed forward and into him with one thrust. It hurt; tears fell from Ryuichi’s eyes as he tried pushing Tohma off of him.

It was gross, didn’t feel right, wasn’t right! Ryuichi cried, tilted his head in another direction, his lips falling open as Tohma brushed the hair from his face – only to have Ryuichi avoid him. Leaning his head into the man’s neck, Tohma kissed the skin tenderly, his voice broken. “You’ll thank me for this sometime, I know you will.” Ryuichi wasn’t paying attention as he felt Tohma slowly pull out before thrusting back in. He couldn’t say anything, his voice was caught in his throat, demanding to cry, but he found himself unable to as Tohma kissed his falling tears. Tohma picked on his speed, changing his position that caused Ryuichi to see white, his back arching from the bed. Wonderful feeling…Tohma hit it again, causing the vocalist the moan and wither under, his legs spreading to welcome to pleasure.

As Tohma’s hips jerked into him, the bed moved as well – Ryuichi could hear it beat against the wall. The sound was quickening as his voice finally escaped, crying out for only Tohma, neither demanding him to continue or stop. Ryuichi was confused; it was so good, yet so wrong. He was getting hard again; the churning in his stomach had once more started as Ryuichi pushed back against Tohma, wanting more of the pleasure that was fading quickly. It was sudden that he saw stars one last time, his back arched off the bed as he called out for the keyboardist. Tohma was panting as he thrusted again, joining the vocalist in the pinnacle suddenly before collapsing upon the bed as they listened to the two forgotten watchers clap. Ryuichi suddenly felt very dirty.

His head hurt again, which was the first thing, he awoke to. It was also very hot, that was the second thing. Forcing his body up, he stared around to put his mind into realization on his location, but he could see very little. A small living room (not familiar to him), a kitchenette, backrooms, and it were furnished with what seemed new items. Staring around again, he stopped upon the blonde sitting on the ground, staring at him with concern – or lack thereof, Shuichi was unsure.

“Yuki!” He cried out, but his voice was oddly hoarse. That didn’t matter; he had Eiri with him, which meant he was safe – right? The novelist let him hug him, and Shuichi never pulled back as tears fell from his eyes. “I had a horrible nightmare that Montoro was just outside the elevator, smiling at me. They had Ryuichi, and you and Tohma had run out to catch them. I’m happy that was just a dream. Why are you sitting on the floor, Yuki? Did you take me on a trip?” He cheered up, staring around at the cabin they were in.

“Not on your life, brat. That nightmare was very real.” Eiri snorted, jiggling handcuffs that chained him to the wall, Shuichi hadn’t noticed thoughts. “You’re running a damn fever, get away from me. I can’t afford to be sick!” Shuichi nodded as he stood up on his wobbly legs, staring around as he heard thumps from the back room. He put the moans into the situation and decided he didn’t want to know what was going on as he stepped towards the door. He could run out, find help, and it’d be over just like that. Shuichi grabbed the door handle, unlocking the door quietly. Still he found that he couldn’t open it, which caused him to stare up and meet a deadbolt way too high for him to grab. Eiri never said anything to him as Shuichi walked into the kitchen, looking for a chair.

“If you’re going to put on a show, at least do it in front of me,” Eiri muttered. This caused Shuichi to tilt his head before leaning back upon the fridge; the cold caused him to jump forward before he realized he was undressed. Yelping, he covered himself with his hands. “Don’t tell me you wear those skimpy clothes so much, you can’t tell if you’re naked or not.” Eiri growled from the living room, and Shuichi nodded his head. “Damn it brat…” Eiri growled. “Do you know what the hell is going on?” He yelled.

“They were mad that Tohma and I ran away so they’re back for us?” Shuichi offered, crawling towards the living room. He was a good pet; he knew what Montoro and Kuuli wanted. He also didn’t want to have his leg broken again. Curling up against Eiri, he smiled brightly at the writer. “You’re here to protect me, right? Because you love me, and wouldn’t want anything to happen.” He grinned as Eiri rolled his eyes.

“If they offered me freedom in exchange for you, I’d take it.” He mocked the boy, causing Shuichi to tear up and begin to cry. Eiri made no move to calm his lover down as he heard Ryuichi start crying and Shuichi to stop and start crawling towards the door and place his ear upon it.

He never spoke as he listened in, sitting there for several minutes. The sweat from his temples fell down to his chin, dripping off quietly as he closed his eyes, listening to the moans and hushed whispers coming from the room. A small smile on his lips as he stared down the hall. “Good, Tohma took him. I couldn’t live with myself if Ryuichi was first taken by Kuuli and Montoro.” He closed his eyes, letting his dry lips fall open. Just as the door opened and Montoro made way to step out, Shuichi was far asleep to care – his fever taking him quickly as he was carried inside. Kuuli was placing a blanket on the bed when he saw Shuichi, causing him to smile.

“Still have a fever?” He asked, pulling Shuichi into his arms just as Tohma helped Ryuichi into the bed. “It’s okay, he can sleep tonight.” He laid Shuichi into bed next to Ryuichi as Montoro walked into the living room to grab Eiri. Tohma listened as Eiri began fighting back before he was drug into the room and chained against yet another wall, left to glare at everyone. Ryuichi ignored both of them as he wrapped his arms around Shuichi, bringing the sleeping pink haired boy close to him.

Tohma stared at Eiri as the man leaned back against the wall, preparing to sleep before he crawled into the bed next to Ryuichi, frowning as the boy tensed. This caused him to change areas on the bed, next to Shuichi. Ryuichi still pulled the boy away from the keyboardist, causing Eiri to chuckle. “Neither of you can have Shuichi after this,” Ryuichi growled, “If you’re going to do hurtful things to him, you can’t have him.” He yelled, causing Eiri to raise a brow, Tohma to shrug it off and lay down. “Good night!” The vocalist yelled, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

As Tohma decided the coast was clear, he wrapped his arms around both vocalists, protecting them as he whispered to himself, “I swear, you’ll be glad I took your virginity.”

“You are taking this well.”

Eiri opened an eye, glaring at the slim smile that was being given to him by Tohma. That wasn’t what he wanted right now. A nice cigarette would be wonderful, then a quick fuck with Shuichi, maybe to know what the hell was going on. That’d be great also, he could listen while he smoked and had Shuichi on his cock. He was known to multitask. “So are you, love how you fell to your knees you submissive bastard.” Eiri growled. Big bad Tohma did have a weakness, two men with whips. Funny.

The comment affected Tohma, but his pain disappeared as quickly as it came. “Yes, I apologize I suppose. I should be doing a better job watching all of you…I just can’t. They hold all the cards; my defiance could mean Ryuichi or Shuichi’s life. Yours could be the same; they could kill you also if that were to happen now that I think of it. I’ve known Shuichi for almost three years now; your death will only bring his. Shuichi’s death will throw Ryuichi into a depression; I can see that happening with how he is now with the boy. Ryuichi is my best friend, I wouldn’t fair well without him alive.” Tohma explained, putting pity into the writer that stared at the door. Shuichi had, tiredly, drug Ryuichi towards the bathroom to shower when they were told to, but Eiri had noticed the look of pure lust on Kuuli’s (Tohma had introduced all the names) face. Eiri swore that if either Montoro, Kuuli, Tohma, or Ryuichi touched what was his; they’d all see the end of his anger.

Curse the chains; he would have long since killed them by now if he could have. Let his psychiatrist deal with the aftermaths of remembering his past. “I want answers, Seguchi, start talking.”

“Of course, Eiri-san, I’d never leave you in the dark. Ask away.” The kind smile fell upon the keyboardist’s face, causing Eiri to grimace. Never trust the smile, he reminded himself as he pushed his back against the wall.

“What happened last year that has both you and Shuichi agreeing that it was best for you to fuck Sakuma than either Kuuli or Montoro?” Eiri started, then came out next with, “We weren’t here for that long and already you fallen to your knees, spread your legs, and moaned like a bitch.”

Tohma blushed at the thought of that before he spoke, “Last year, when I first awoke, I watched Shuichi be tag teamed by both of them, and I ended up reliving what had happened to you. Two Eiris? Can’t even think of it. I spent hours being beaten or raped by them, just because I was making Shuichi either laugh or enjoy himself. All their training on Shuichi seemed lacking, they were going to be harder on him. If I don’t do as I’m told, they will kill me so they can have better control of both Shuichi and Ryuichi.”

Eiri fell silent, deep in thought about what had happened. “You fucked Shuichi, didn’t you?” He inquired, raising a golden eyebrow, and Tohma decided it was best to tell the truth with only a nod since he couldn’t trust his tongue. “Only when they forced you?” Tohma stared up, surprised by the question though he did see it coming. Eiri couldn’t tell what was going through the keyboardist’s head as he hesitantly nodded, but Eiri just rushed it off as confusion to what the writer had meant. “Good.” Eiri leaned back; tensing as he heard Ryuichi start crying before the door was pushed open and the singer was shoved into the room. Ryuichi stood up as the door slammed shut, his fist beating against the rough ulterior of the door with screams to leave Shuichi alone before he turned to face both men on the other side of the room.

“They took Shuichi!” Ryuichi yelled, his usual child eyes were serious, as if he had heard more than the child side of him wanted. “They are spreading lies into his head, they are going to hurt him, Tohma!” He screamed. Vocalist lungs was all Eiri could think as he let his ears finish ringing before he could figure out what the Nittle Grasper vocalist was crying about. Montoro and Kuuli were raping Shuichi while feeding him lies about his friends, life, and style. Tohma’s face lost color as he also tried breaking down the door before giving up enough to sit on the ground and pull Ryuichi into his arms to quiet the singer. Two hysterical men were not going to help them. That was for certain.

Shuichi whimpered as he was thrown into the bedroom by Kuuli, the brunette smiling brightly at the singer as Shuichi tried to get away by crawling to the far side of the room. “I missed you, Shuichi.” He smiled, walking towards the boy as Shuichi flung his hands out, trying to stop him. It wasn’t enough; the auburn just grabbed the singer’s wrist and twisted it enough to leave a bruise as he turned the boy close enough that their chests were against each others, Montoro swearing from the kitchen where he was making himself a quick lunch before heading off to work.

Why him? Shuichi thought as moist lips pressed against his own, holding him down upon the ground as rough fingers entwined with his lithe ones. When Montoro wasn’t around, and it was just him and Kuuli, it wasn’t just sex, Kuuli tried making it into lovemaking. It was still rape, Shuichi didn’t want it, but his body was already reacting to the gentle kiss that intoxicated his mouth. Tears slipped from his eyes as the larger body spread his legs apart, the clothed cock rubbing against his stiffening erection. “Eiri…” Shuichi whined, trying to move his head as lips left his own. His hand pulled away from Kuuli’s as he reached fro the door, tears dripping from his chin and onto his neck. “Please, don’t do this…” He wouldn’t fight back; he’d be killed if he fought back.

“Sh. Shuichi,” Kuuli ran a finger over Shuichi’s cheek, getting the boy to quiet, if only some. He waited a few minutes for the singer’s hiccups to stop before he brushed his lips against the genki man’s neck in a savoring kiss. “I just want to talk to you, you’re still sick. I know you are, and running that temperature is not going to make you any better.” He kissed Shuichi’s chin, getting a soft gasp as his waist pressed down against the boy’s. “About the past, about Nittle Grasper, about fans.” He smiled as he captured Shuichi’s attention. “They’re horrible, aren’t they? Just don’t know when to leave you alone, just wanting to know about yours and Yuki’s relationship. I bet if you told them about your first time, they’d be set to life.”

Shuichi blushed, trying to hide his head. Pretty virgin like figures, that’s all people saw in him. “Please, stop it m-master.” He cried, falling back to his slavery state of thoughts. His breathing jumped as he was slapped. He knew he shouldn’t have spoken, but he couldn’t help it. Even though he knew that was all the fans thought about when they saw him and Eiri, he didn’t want to think that they fantasized about him and the writer in private moments.

“Didn’t you have those dreams about Ryuichi, once in a great moon? Just like them, putting Ryuichi into your sick little fantasizes.” Kuuli leaned his lips against Shuichi’s ear, his breath tickling the small hairs in and on his ear. “Dream of running your own tongue over his neck, how he was like in sex, if he was a god in all ways.” He brushed his tongue out, licking the skin behind Shuichi’s ear. “You should have seen Tohma and Ryuichi together, delicious. Tohma looks so fragile, but he is dominant all the time with his personality. Though, Montoro had once asked a good question. If you and Ryuichi were to fuck, who would be on top? What are you in your dreams? Are you driving hard upon his stiff cock, moaning his name, or taking him, listening to how good his vocals are?”

Shuichi’s face was as red as a tomato, probably more, his eyes wide at what Kuuli was saying. No, he couldn’t fuck Ryuichi! He was with Eiri, happy. He had never had one of those dreams with the God Sakuma-san; Shuichi continued to lie to himself as gentle lips touched his perked nipples. He wasn’t like those rabid fans that sat outside the apartment at all hours of the day.

“Then, you met him, it was wondrous, perfect. Still, do you have those dreams? Have you wondered if it is because you realized he was not a god, but a mere man as you are? People see you as a god, but if they slept with you, would they still say you are such? Gods can’t feel pain, gods show no mercy, yet here you are, crying for people that don’t care for you.” He brought his lips upon Shuichi’s in a tender kiss, causing the small boy to scrunch his face again.

“No,” Shuichi whimpered, “we-” His hazed mind tried thinking about what they were talking about, he couldn’t remember, he felt sick, his stomach knotted. “I’m Eiri’s.” His voice whimpered as the passive tongue slid into his navel, causing him to shudder. “Sickened,” Another word tried to find his lips. What did he want to say? Why couldn’t he remember what he wanted? Ryuichi, god…no, Ryuichi was human…Nittle Graspers was just another band…Shuichi tried to close his eyes, to fall asleep so he didn’t have to think about it. He saw Ryuichi as his friend, it didn’t matter who Ryuichi was, and he was a friend to him. They weren’t using each other…using…His eyes grew larger than usual as all thoughts trailed back to one single area. Was he using Ryuichi? Was his mind only playing games on him to think he could use Ryuichi to get Bad Luck further? No, he wasn’t that type of person. He wasn’t.

He coughed, unable to find a breath as his body curled up in the fetal position, he wheezed, but only started another coughing fit. He couldn’t breath, bile chased up through his throat as he threw up on the wooden floors. Kuuli jumped back, watching closely as Shuichi continued to lose his breath, panting and fighting for air before passing out.

The three jumped up as the bedroom door was opened and Kuuli carried the sleeping Shuichi, his breathing uneven, towards the bed. Eiri tried once more to break the handcuffs or his wrist before he sat back again. Ryuichi understood his unspoken concern as he walked towards the bed and placed his hand upon Shuichi’s bruised cheek, watching as the boy flinched. “Shuichi?” He whispered, making sure he wasn’t dying.

Red eyes – likely from crying – opened to stare at the older vocalist before Shuichi curled himself up in a ball, fighting his coughs as his voice started yelling for Ryuichi to stay away. For all of them to stay away from him. Ryuichi, under Tohma’s request, moved away from Bad Luck’s vocalist, watching intently as Shuichi snuggled close to the wall, grasping his hands to his chest as tears fell from his eyes. After an hour of being in that stance, all the eyes upon him as the dead silence droned on, sometimes interrupted by a harsh cough or gasp for air from Shuichi followed by his screams for Ryuichi to stay away from him when the older male tried helping, he turned to face them. “I’m not like them.” He whispered quietly, unbelievably soft for himself, being the loud person he usually was.

Ryuichi tilted his head, staring back at Tohma as they tried interpreting what he had said what he meant, before Shuichi stood up and walked over to Eiri. The blonde novelist watched closely as Shuichi’s lips descended upon his own in a rough, passionate kiss, demanding attention and lust. As Shuichi pulled back, his lips fell upon Eiri’s closed collar, breathing in the fragrance that could only be his Eiri. “I’m sorry, Eiri…”

“For what, brat?” Eiri whispered, his voice trying to give comfort. “You’re not at fault for anything going on.” He watched Shuichi closely as the boy wrapped his arms around his hair, playing with the blonde strands on the back of his neck.

“Because I can’t help you, because I can’t help anyone. Montoro has his own plans, so does Kuuli. I’m not going to be here much longer, I won’t be able to help you or anyone.” Shuichi whispered, and as the two Nittle Graspers sat back, watching Shuichi and Eiri talk in hushed tones, the house remained silent. Eerily silent. Shuichi’s lips fell upon Eiri’s again, losing its passion and lust, becoming more chaste for eternity as his hand reached out and cupped Eiri’s chained ones. The novelist’s eyes went wide; Tohma and Ryuichi were trying to figure out what was going on. “I love you, Eiri…” Shuichi whined, his voice croaking as he pressed himself against the older man in a close hug, arms wrapping around Eiri’s head. Then Ryuichi saw it.

It was a flicker of light that drew his sight towards Shuichi’s fingers. A shiny flicker, a ring of some sorts, one of familiarity. Yes, he had seen it before, with Mika. It was a ring that symbolized great importance to most, but supreme discomfort to those in the bedroom. An engagement ring. Kuuli had – most likely – forced Shuichi to marry him.

It wasn’t like the genki singer to be in the same place for nearly two days, K thought as he walked through the streets that the tracking device told him to go. He was heading to Eiri Yuki’s and Shuichi’s apartment, which meant that the singer was likely with the other singer and for Eiri was hanging from the balcony with a noose around his neck. Upon turning the corner where the signal was at full force, the longhaired manger stopped to stare at Tohma’s car. Well, perhaps the man was still living if Tohma was helping with boy singers, but the chances of that were still unlikely. Kumagorou’s tracker was inside the car, and Ryuichi would never leave the bunny out in the vehicle that looked deserted.

With keen sense, K felt that something was wrong as he started towards the high-cost apartment complex, towards the floor that belonged to the jack-ass of a writer and the out of control pop star, to find the door opened still. On instinct, K pulled out his new baby, a swig sauer nine mm imported to Japan with his named engraved, and carefully stepped inside. A blanket laid upon the floor near the couch, a mess for what was usually there. The kitchen had pots and pans falling out of one of the cabinets, from poor organization on their behalf. Eiri’s study was open, the dim eight of the computer still lighting that small room but all and all, it was quiet. Deadly quiet. It was unlike the home of Shindou Shuichi to ever be quiet. Something was wrong.

Turning around, he touched the doorframe, checking for forced entry, but found nothing. Everything seemed exactly in place, nothing out of order. The only thing that was strange was the abandoned Kumagorou that was now in his arms. Looked like he was on the search for a couple of people.

“I wanted to be a veterinarian.”

“A vet? Why?” Shuichi whispered, staring up at Ryuichi from Eiri’s lap. They had been sitting; peacefully talking from the moment Shuichi had started crying upon Eiri’s lap. Their recent conversation had been about what they had wanted to be before the music careers (or writing in Eiri’s case) started. Eiri was the only one that had become what he wanted, a writer, a damn good one too.

“I like animals. Would have happened too if someone – who will remain nameless,” Ryuichi’s gaze fell upon Tohma, who smiled brightly, “hadn’t taken Noriko-chan and me to that battle of the bands. My life changed then.”

Tohma looked thoughtful at that sentence, grinning from ear to ear. “Still, a vet? This coming from the guy that castrated – and killed – my cat when we were eight? The man that, when he was six, wanted to see if hamsters could fly and killed the kindergarten hamster? The one that played lawyer, put another cat in a suitcase as his defendant, and forgot about the poor thing ?” Ryuichi started to sulk and Shuichi laughed at the things said.

“It wasn’t my fault! I was curious! I’d have made a wonderful scientist!” Ryuichi slapped at Tohma’s offered hand, making everyone laugh – all but Eiri, who was starting to twitch from nicotine withdrawal. The group fell back down to hushed whispers, exchanging old stories and dreams to one another before the door was flung open and Montoro stared inside, smiling brightly at both Ryuichi and Tohma. Neither stood up as Ryuichi started crawling towards the back the room, already aware of what the man had planned.

In seconds, the two had been dragged out, leaving Shuichi clinging to Eiri for dear life, twitching at Ryuichi’s screams and pleas before everything fell silent and only Eiri’s breathing (as well as Shuichi’s ragged and thinning breathing could be heard). After awhile, Shuichi released his hold upon the writer, looking up to meet Eiri’s eyes. They needed to talk, about Kuuli, the engagement, and each other. “Take that fucking ring off your finger, brat.” Eiri muttered, and Shuichi nodded, sliding it off his slim digit and placing it on the ground away from them. “Why the hell did you even accept the fucking thing?”

“Because Kuuli said that if I did whatever he told me to, he could protect you from being hurt by Montoro. I just want to protect you,” Shuichi whimpered, clinging again to the man that had stolen his heart. Eiri growled, placing his head on Shuichi’s, slowing his breathing down. “Are you okay, Yuki?” Shuichi whispered.

“Peachy,” Eiri rolled his eyes. “You’re fucking sick and can’t breathe, Seguchi has gone off the deep end, and that brat Sakuma is so far out of reach, he’s useless. I need a cigarette, I’m hungry, and my arms are sore from being like this.” He complained, watching Shuichi lose his color. “Stand up brat.” He muttered, a smile falling on his face. There, a perfect chance to actually have some fun and get some ‘protein’ in his system. Shuichi did as asked, his face showing confusion to what his blonde haired lover wanted until Eiri sat up some, leveling his face to Shuichi’s cock. Without hesitation, he brought Shuichi into his mouth, and Shuichi had to bring his hands out to catch himself from falling.

“Yuki!” He yelped, thrusting his hips into the novelist’s velvet cavern. Wanting to draw out the situation (and to remind Shuichi that only he knew how to pleasure the boy), Eiri flicked his tongue over the tip of Shuichi’s quivering shaft, feeling the boy harden even more. Pulling back, his lips stopped at the tip of Shuichi’s stiffening erection, his tongue lapping at the sweet essence that was all ready leaking out. One thing that Eiri had noticed in their sex life - or lack thereof - since the abduction last year, Shuichi could hold erections longer. Painful, for Shuichi, but the boy didn’t complain, and their sex lasted longer. Of course, Eiri didn’t need to be blowing Shuichi for too long, Kuuli would come in soon, and the chance to redeem Shuichi would be gone then.

If he were able to move his arms, he would have his hands wrapped around Shuichi’s cock, easing them to the base, slicking the boy up, even though it wasn’t needed. Yet, Shuichi understood what Eiri wanted, and the boy’s lithe hand went down, wrapping around his own base, squeezing his balls lightly and groaning into Eiri’s hair. “Yuki…” He whimpered, and the writer deep throated him.

Eiri brought his lips back, once more, his lips brushing against Shuichi’s tip as the boy tried to drive once more into Eiri’s mouth, but the writer wouldn’t have it. Leaning his head forward, he ran his lips against the foreskin of Shuichi’s shaft before moving to the pink haired singer’s inner thigh, brushing his lips gently on the warm skin. The salty taste of sweat mixed with the unusual taste that could only be Shuichi – a strawberry creamy taste that addicted you to continue to eat. Eiri brought his lips back to Shuichi’s persistent manhood, deep throating it to receive yet another husked moan. “Yu-!” Shuichi couldn’t find his voice anymore. How long had the brat been crying his name out? It didn’t matter, Eiri pulled back some just as the boy’s salty seed filled the blonde’s mouth, one of Shuichi’s hands milked himself as the other was buried in Eiri’s hair, face pressed to the writer’s forehead, coaxing his release out.

Shuichi lazily fell onto Eiri’s lap, his tender thighs spread just past Eiri’s hardening ‘tent’, rubbing slightly against it. “Shuichi,” the blonde leaned forward, “do you want me?” Shuichi nodded, shyly reaching down to where the rising in Eiri’s pants was starting, his fingers flicking the seam of Eiri’s black jeans that he had been wearing since the day their trauma had started for the second time. Eiri smiled, he knew the boy was more than ready, but was leaning towards the innocent virgin act.

Unzipping and unbuttoning Eiri’s pants, Shuichi licked his lips as his hands went into the constricted compounds, in seek of Eiri’s hard erection before pulling it out from the man’s boxers. Shuichi blushed slightly, knowing that Eiri was already rock hard and ready for him. Leaning down, his tongue licked the tip of Eiri’s erection – surprising the writer a bit. Was Shuichi trying to repay him the blowjob? Damn it! He wanted a fuck, now! It finally caught onto him that Shuichi wasn’t blowing him to completion, but more to make the blonde slick enough so penetration didn’t hurt. He arched his hips some, giving Shuichi access to what he wanted, and the genki singer took Eiri in his mouth as far as his gag reflex would let him. They were going to have to work with that sometime, Shuichi was always worried about choking. Eiri leaned his head back, a sigh making it out of his mouth to cover any unnecessary moaning he wanted to do. No, that was Shuichi’s part.

Eiri watched, somewhat fascinated, as Shuichi’s head bobbed on him before the boy sat up, leaning forward to press their lips together. The singer’s claw-like nails, usually trimmed but had had enough time to grow to a pointed length, dug into Eiri’s back as the singer slid onto his precum and saliva lubricated dick, trying to remain relaxed. They were working on a time limit. Once Shuichi’s body was fully positioned on the blonde’s cock, both remained stationary until the penetration wasn’t as uncomfortable on Shuichi’s behalf.

If they were at home, in Eiri’s room (he almost wanted to call it ‘their’ room, since the brat spent a lot of time in it anyway), the writer would have the boy already sprawled out, taking him as hard as possible, with speed that would have the bed hitting the wall. “You should move sometime,” Eiri finally muttered, and Shuichi bit his bottom lip with a timid nod as he lifted his hips off Eiri, changed positions and slammed back upon Eiri’s cock, his head falling back as a moan escaped his lips, overtaking whatever pain he would be in. Eiri, on the other hand, was in pure bliss, heaven, and any place that brought pure happiness. Out of all the women he had ever been in, this hole was the one he preferred. Shuichi was always warm and tight, he moaned in passion and not in a disturbing way. It could bring Eiri to his climax in no time; it was the sound that only he should ever hear.

Shuichi reached forward, pulling himself to Eiri’s chest as his body moved forward, riding his lover’s cock. The bliss pulled all thoughts of missing cigarettes out of Eiri’s head. This was what he needed, the ecstasy that only Shuichi could offer him. “Yu-Ki!” Shuichi cried leaning forward, his anal muscles tightening around Eiri. Thrusting up, Eiri put as much effort as his restraints would let him into letting Shuichi ride out his orgasm before completion struck both of them. Eiri wasn’t shocked when Shuichi began to nibble on his ear, it was the boy’s pastime after sex if he wasn’t passed out, and in return, the possessive novelist marked Shuichi’s collarbone for everybody to see.

“What the hell is going on here?” The door slammed open, Shuichi suddenly pushed off of his lover, and onto the floor, and Eiri groaned as his cock was yanked out from where it was happy at being. He glared at the man that entered, a smirk on his lips as Kuuli stared at the sticky mess that was already around Eiri, but he didn’t miss the look on Shuichi’s face either. The dumbstruck one the boy always had after sex, while his thoughts were trying to return from wherever they went. “Get your ass over here Shuichi,” he glared at the boy, but Shuichi made no move to stand up, trying to hide his hands in what Eiri could only tell as a way for the auburn to not know that the engagement ring was missing. What? Shuichi spoiled his arranged engagement; he had all right to make sure this didn’t happen. Shuichi was his common law wife, damn it!

He didn’t just think that…did he? Eiri didn’t loosen his glare off the auburn as he smirked in triumph. I fucked Shuichi, you bastard, and he called my name through out the whole thing.

Kuuli’s patience seemed short as he grabbed Shuichi, swinging the already limp singer out the door before walking towards Eiri, giving him a hard kick in the gut. Eiri winced, scrunching his body up some, but his eyes never left the man that was once more leading Shuichi out of the door. God damn it…his ulcer was fucking killing him! The pain! He needed his fucking medicine!

Shuichi reached for the doorknob as soon as the door was closed. Eiri wasn’t looking very healthy; he had to go make sure the love of his life was okay! Kuuli, of course, wasn’t going to let him hold onto the door as the small boy was yanked to follow him into the bedroom that most likely belonged to Montoro. On entrance, Shuichi covered his face in Kuuli’s chest so he could give Tohma and Ryuichi some dignity since both were a little…busy. What he had seen, on entrance, was Tohma pushing into Ryuichi while the genki singing god was sucking Montoro off.

“Why the hell is that writer still with us? Dispose of him or put him somewhere else. He’s already on my kill list, I want him gone.” Without another word, Kuuli turned and dragged Shuichi out of the room and into the kitchenette. Shuichi kept quiet as the auburn dug through cabinets, poured a glass of water, dropped two tablets into them, let each dissolve, and handed it to Shuichi. “Drink this.” He ordered, but Shuichi made no move to grab the offered drink. “Shuichi, drink this now.” He shoved the drink in front of Shuichi, but once more, the pink haired singer ignored him.

He couldn’t drink anything, he had to go make sure Eiri was okay! His thoughts flashed as something imprinted onto his cheek, a burning feeling, a simple slap that caused more pain. Eyes wide he stared up at Kuuli before realizing his mistake as his hand had gone up to embrace the burning skin. Kuuli noticed it too, leaning forward the grab Shuichi’s hand, drink forgotten.

“Where’s our ring, Shuichi?” He asked, less then pleased, and Shuichi scrunched his face, pointing towards the bedroom. “In there, with the writer?” Shuichi nodded. “I’ll get it, you stay right here.” The personality switch happened, and Shuichi was left in the kitchenette, staring at the drink in front of him. He need to make sure Eiri was okay…but…he was thirsty.

Picking up the glass, he began to drink the water, the tablets leaving a faint taste on his tongue, almost like strawberries. He had to drink more, it reminded him of pocky, without the cookie or sugar. All and all, delicious. In minutes, he was staring into the empty glass, licking the remains of the water from his lips, not surprised as the door to the bedroom once more closed and Kuuli came out, waving the ring in the air. He walked over to the singer, slipping the ring on. “There, all better.” His lips pressed against Shuichi’s cheek.

Shuichi opened his mouth, to ask if Eiri was okay, to bring up his ulcer, but the minute one syllable tried to escape, it became a husky pant; his hands covered his mouth to stop that noise from escaping again. What was going on? He tried again, but the same noise escaped, and Kuuli leaned on his elbows, grinning.

“I told you Shuichi, I love you, but I’m going to get rid of all things that are even like Sakuma Ryuichi – your voice, your hair, and those eyes.”

He somehow felt like a common whore, being tossed out of the room, Ryuichi on top of him. In a couple of hazed minutes, Ryuichi sat up, apologizing as he stared around the darkened house, his stomach growling for food. To help his friend, Tohma crawled towards the living area and kitchenette, his eyes on the dog dishes that were usually out. Empty. With a sigh, he turned and stared at the couch where Shuichi’s lifeless eyes stared back at him from Kuuli’s embrace, he blinked once, giving Tohma the reassurance that he was not dead. Tohma turned towards the bedroom, leaving Ryuichi leaning against the counter, moaning in hunger. He couldn’t stare into those lifeless eyes, it was all too much.

The bedroom door creaked, almost like that in a scary movie, and Tohma stepped in, scanning the area. Eiri was still chained to the wall, eyes closed, and blood stained his shirt and ran from his jaw, his pants open and his dick out. First thing that came to Tohma’s head was, oh god, he’s dead, but he quickly dismissed that that as Eiri’s head turned direction, trying to get comfortable. “Eiri-san.” He crawled to Eiri, and golden eyes stared at him, red and in pain. “Oh god, Eiri…” he whispered, holding his brother-in-law closely. The dream, why did the dream seem so real now? Shuichi’s cold eyes were still marred in his mind, Eiri’s broken self in front of him, Ryuichi’s childish self was diminishing and he was becoming more serious each second of their holding.

He couldn’t tell, was he breaking too? So many times he just wanted to give up, let them kill him than do this slow, tortuous, murdering. His hand brushed back Eiri’s tangled strands, his lips pressing against his short blonde hair. “Eiri, I’m so sorry…” He whispered, but Eiri never replied as a cold substance fell on his chest, the cold wetness causing him to shudder slightly. Stepping back, he watched as tears fell from the writer’s eyes, his mouth slightly open.

“I…I can’t do this anymore…” He whispered, trying to get the tears to stop. “I have to sit here, watching Shuichi go through this whole ordeal twice, and he was already broken to begin with. He’s suicidal, Tohma. This is going to make everything worse. He always asks me, how can I stand one as used as he. Taki, the two other guys, Kuuli, Montoro, you, and me. We’ve all come inside of him, without his consent. He wants to know why I would ever want him knowing all of that, but why does he still want me after all the woman I’ve had my share of? Nothing I can say is logic to him, and now this. The minute Kuuli came in, he jumped away from me as if I were no more than bacterial scum.” Eiri pressed the top of his head against Tohma’s chest, his shoulder’s shaking as he tried to control his breath, all the while Tohma stared, blankly, at a line on the wall.

Shuichi was suicidal, all the people that have taken him, no consent. Eiri having to watch the only person that made a difference in his life (and he was talking about Shuichi) be raped, reminding him constantly of Kitazawa Yuki. Tohma closed his eyes, feeling Eiri’s shaky sobs quit. Fallen asleep crying. Brushing his cheeks against Eiri’s shoulder, a soft clap echoed through the room. “Go away.” Tohma whispered, his voice stinging with venom.

“I won’t take orders from you, Tohma.” Montoro laughed. “I have to put blondie somewhere else. Get away from him and you won’t end up following.” He pushed Tohma to the floor, pulled a key from his back pocket, and unlocked the handcuffs. Eiri’s body collapsed forward, falling to his side in a heap, and Tohma jumped forward to catch the novelist. He glared up again; Montoro’s hand gripped his neck, cutting off the air going towards and out of his lungs. Couldn’t breath. His manicured fingers tried clawing away Montoro’s grip, but only caused it to tighten as he was lifted in the air, Montoro’s breath against his ear. “I said get away from him.” Tohma shook his head no again. He was getting dizzy, the room was spinning as he started to kick his legs out, pushing and pulling his body to get the grip to loosen up. Air, he needed air! His body was thrown forward; slamming into a wall before, like a dead weight, falling against the ground, Montoro falling to his own knees, Ryuichi jumping him, screaming about not touching Tohma. Big gasp of air, Tohma tried to regain his breath just as Ryuichi was tossed at him, and he quickly caught the vocalist, watching as Eiri was carried from the room. At the door, Montoro turned to the two, giving them a death glare.

Reaching towards Ryuichi, Tohma’s arms wrapped around his best friend, trying to calm him down as tears misted his eyes. “You shouldn’t have done that Ryuichi…He would have let me go, you should have stayed out in the living room.”

Ryuichi stared up, his shaking fingers brushing the tears from Tohma’s cheeks as he quickly shook his head. “No, you were in trouble, I had to help you Tohma. Just like you’ve always helped me.” He held the NG president close, brushing more hair from the man’s face. “We’ll all get out of this, get over it, and laugh one day. Do you remember back in high school, that big group of bullies that picked on you and me?” He muttered, and Tohma nodded.

“For the life of me, I can’t recall their names,” Tohma muttered, “One of them would draw male appendages on my desk, and while I was wiping them off, he’d make rude comments about touching it, and that I liked touching ‘it’.” He raised his eyebrows, and Ryuichi nodded.

“And that they stole your backpack, that had a lot of yen worth of things in it. You never found it again, repurchased all the items, but could never find your backpack. But, you didn’t let them get you down…put a school restraining order down, but never let them bother you. At school, when they were harassing me about growing my hair out, and the music that I always listened to, my lack of exceptional grades, you stood your ground for me. Kept me company, never let them see you mad, never cried. You said, ‘we’ll look back and laugh at it one day’.” He smiled, brightly, before leaning forward, “I still think, that one day, when we least expect it, we’re going to see him. Maybe at high school reunions, but when we do, we can laugh at all of their faces. Maybe we should have a week off when the high school reunion comes around, so we can go. Show all of them that ‘piano-nerd Tohma’ and ‘wanna-be singer Ryuichi’ made it past petty school talent shows and clubs.”

Tohma shook his head. “We had our week off now.” He sighed. “The day I was at that café, working, I had poor Sakano-san do an acting sacho again, because he knows what he’s doing since the last time. Put Nittle Graspers on a week vacation so I could calm my nerves over remembering the year before. Besides, I was going to go to Kyoto for a surprise visit on Mika and Uesugi-san.” He leaned back against the wall. “Now, I am starting to think I did wrong even trying to do so. If we were still all going to work, someone would notice we are missing but then Mika will get stressed. Last year, she was so stressed, we lost our baby, I don’t want that happening again.” His hands stopped his mouth quickly, realizing what he had said. Urgh! Stupid Tohma, you can control your mouth with everyone but Ryuichi, you get too comfortable with him!

“I knew Mika-chan was pregnant! When were you going to tell me, did Detective Ryuichi and Kuma-chan have to find out ourselves?” Ryuichi poked Tohma in the chest, squinting his eyes, causing the blonde to cheer up. Tohma couldn’t stop the grin on his face as he pulled the childlike Ryuichi against him, another source to go on. Ryuichi was still there, his Ryuichi. “Tohma! Ryuichi can’t breathe!”

Standing up, Tohma stepped towards the door, hesitantly unlocking it to stare out. No one. He could see Shuichi, clearly, against the wall, hugging Eiri to his chest and crying, but no words were coming out of his mouth, his head was shaking to Kuuli and Montoro’s taunts. Bending down, he glanced at his hands, like snakes they hissed and growled back at him. He so badly wanted to run in there, jump one of the two men, and strangle them to death. No, too many bad memories if he did that. If Eiri were to wake up to him strangling someone, he’d get the wrong idea. It would be another bad memory to add to those from New York. Nothing could ever go right in his life, by his hands.

“Tohma-kun, are you okay. Shuichi needs help!” Ryuichi whispered in Tohma’s ear, pulling the blonde from his self-sorrow, he glanced up at Ryuichi, then back at Shuichi who was still clinging to Eiri. The boy was in tears from whatever they were saying before both turned, Montoro leaving the house, and Kuuli towards the back halls. He stopped, staring at the two with mild interest, a grin falling on his face as, Ryuichi got that ‘look’ in his eyes. Tohma pounced on his friend, grinned brightly, and pulled Ryuichi back into the room.

As their door was closed, followed by another, Ryuichi pushed his best friend off, covered his body and glared. “None of that, naughty Tohma.” He growled, and Tohma nodded, waving his hand in an apologetic fashion. They stared up as the door opened and Shuichi stepped in, gazed at both, turned red, and ran towards their flimsy bed to sulk. “Na no da, Shuichi okay? Smile Shuichi, Tohma laughed, Ryuichi’s here to make everything better!” Tohma caught the color in Shuichi’s face disappear as he shook his head no, turned on his back, and stared up at the ceiling. He winced; never ignore Ryuichi while he was talking.

On cue, the Nittle Grasper vocalist jumped his friend, causing a startled yelp to escape the unusually quiet vocalist. Ryuichi didn’t stop as Shuichi began to claw his older friend to get off him, the brunette’s hands dug into the boy’s sides, finding all the ticklish places he thought he could find, but laughter didn’t escape the boy’s lips – pants did, shallow breathing in the form of laughter. Stopping, Ryuichi turned from Shuichi, blushing slightly as he got off of the boy. “He’s smiled, Tohma-kun! But, he won’t talk still!” He stomped behind Tohma, leaving Shuichi, staring at them, on the bed, and slumped over, trying to catch his breath.

“Shuichi, what’s wrong?” Tohma asked, passing his strained smile. Shuichi just stared at him, shook his head, and placed his hands on his throat.

“Taahk,” he breathed out, the word was strangled, strengthened, and broken. Tohma suppose he meant talk and that he couldn’t talk. Ryuichi’s face lost color, as if the world had suddenly capsized with Kumagorou-chan at the area where it first started. Shuichi covered his face, leaning deeply into the pillow. Reaching down, Ryuichi brushed hair out from Shuichi’s eyes and pulled the boy close to his heart.

“Mou…Shu-chan, it’s okay, Ryuichi and Tohma will make sure nothing else happens,” Ryuichi promised, and Tohma felt a bit queasy with that comment. If he helped, something was bound to happen to all of them.

“Hiro!” K pressed his hand against the doorframe to the guitarist’s apartment, just as it opened. “Is Shuichi here with you? Was he supposed to be anywhere the last few days that he didn’t tell me?” He was beginning to worry. Nittle Grasper was going on a week break, and Tohma had signed some leave for himself, leaving Sakano as Acting Sacho until he could return. His other sources said that Ryuichi and Shuichi were last seen at the arcade, where Shuichi caused some public disturbance by screaming. Seguchi-san had arrived, picked up BAD LUCK’s vocalist, and left with Ryuichi. Other sources did say that Tohma’s BMW was seen driving away from Eiri’s apartment, but nobody was really paying attention after that.

Hiro brushed the sleep out of his eyes, which was understandable since it was two in the morning. “No, he isn’t here, nor did he ever tell me he had anything else he wanted to do. I visited him a couple of days ago, but it was rather boring since he didn’t want to leave the house, and was snuggled under a horde of blankets. I didn’t think he would be leaving that sanctuary for a couple of days.”

That explained the blankets he found discarded in the living room, K thought. Running a hand through his blonde hair, he breathed a sigh. “Shuichi, Yuki-san, Seguchi-san, and Ryuichi are all missing. When I arrived at the Yuki residence at three, Seguchi’s car was outside, unharmed, but Kumagorou inside. As we are aware, Ryuichi will not just leave his bunny lying around. Knowing this fact, I walked up to the apartment where I found Yuki-san’s door opened, and the house in a misfit. Very strange since the man is usually really organized and clean. There were no signs of forced entry, and many of the neighbors explained that noises from a pink haired singer were usually ignored because he was always loud. They did hear a couple of screams three days ago, when Ryuichi’s tracking device stopped moving, but – as I had said - none thought checking on the source was important.” He nodded his head, and Hiro’s face lost its color with each word the manager said. Turning around, he reached for his jacket before starting out the door. “Where are you going?” K turned to face his guitarist.

“Shuichi’s in trouble!” Hiro turned to face him. “Every second I lie around here, some sick bastard – like that Montoro or Kuuli – could be hurting him.”

K slammed his fist into his palm, an ‘o’ forming on his lips. “Kuuli and Montoro? They have a restraining order not to go near Shuichi and Tohma, do you really think they’d go through all that trouble just to grab them again?” He pulled out his gun, staring at it with interest. “I mean, none of my interrogations said anything about those two faces following my job.”

“A restraining order for Seguchi-san and Shuichi, not one for Yuki or Ryuichi.” Hiro climbed down the stairs and towards the apartment complex garage and his motorcycle. “They’re sneaky K-san, I won’t be shocked if they did something and do have Shuichi and Seguchi-san. I’m just hoping that we’re not too late to find them.” He started the vehicle up. “I’ll go check where their last known location was, keep checking your sources. This is Japan, if someone wasn’t watching Tohma, Shuichi, Ryuichi, or Yuki, then I want to know what the fucks wrong with people.” He drove off, and K-san nodded. Maybe some paparazzi had something. They did seem to be less than forty feet away from all the men at one time or another!

An eye cracked open, meeting the non-delighted gaze of Kuuli, and subconsciously he wrapped his arms around his JPOP idol’s thin waist. Ryuichi was still asleep, and this caused him to snuggle closer to him, muttering something along the lines of Kumagorou. Tohma was asleep against the wall, head down, facing his lap, but that didn’t matter – Kuuli wanted him. First his voice, now…

The auburn held a pair of scissors and black hair dye, the last things the vocalist wanted to ever see. His hair was short enough; he kept it at his girlish look so he wouldn’t look like his idol anymore. What more could they do to his hair? Scrunching up closer to Ryuichi, he held on tightly, causing a slight groan to escape the childish-man, now awakening to greet the new day. The color drained from his face as Shuichi leaned his head into his neck.

“Shuichi, stop this now and come with me.” Kuuli snarled, but Shuichi didn’t move from where he lay. Ryuichi’s eyes narrowed – his game face on – and scowled to the man as he tightened his hold on Shuichi, easing himself up to sit so he had a better grip incase the man decided to yank Shuichi out of his arms. Shuichi turned slightly to their captive, grinning slyly as his arms tightened around Ryuichi’s neck. “Shuichi…” Kuuli hissed, but Shuichi either didn’t hear him or chose to ignore.

Their lips pressed together, a chaste kiss – a hesitant one – before Shuichi initiated a heavier kiss, his tongue playing with Ryuichi’s dry lips before they opened. The other singer, a streak of shyness went through him as his tongue left his mouth, touching Shuichi’s before Shuichi dragged it into his mouth, sucking on his idols tongue. Ryuichi moaned involuntarily, his body pushing Shuichi onto the bed as Shuichi repaided the simple action. The bedroom door slammed shut, and Shuichi stared where Kuuli had once stood before pulling away with a sheepish grin. Ryuichi blushed, touching his lips.

“Ah…” he whispered, and Shuichi nodded. No words needed to express their apologies. A slight chuckle broke their shyness, causing them to face the grinning blonde on the floor who had, indeed, watched their whole little show. Tohma continued grinned, pulling himself to his feet, then back down to his knees. “Matte! Tohma-kun, nothing was going on!” Ryuichi cried out, falling to the ground from the bed, Shuichi just stared at them, his lips pressed shut. His voice, maybe it was back – medicine was only temporary.

“Nah…” he shook his head as the two men stared at him. “Nah’d t’hek, Yu…” His voice refused to work; he scrunched his face, trying to force the last syllable out, “yukey…” He stood up on his weak knees, crawling towards the door. He stared back at the two arguing JPOP idols, all about the small kiss they had shared before he started towards the living room. Eiri looked comfortable. He was leaning back against the wall, chained up. He was watching something on the TV, and judging by the moans, his perverted lover was watching porn with Montoro. A little early? Shuichi frowned, turning towards the bathroom just as Tohma and Ryuichi crawled out of the bedroom with smirks on their faces. He decided that he didn’t want to know.

Staring up, he caught Kuuli’s gaze on him. Cold and murderous, angry and horny. It wasn’t something he wanted to mess with as Shuichi grabbed Ryuichi’s hand and dragged the man-child into the bathroom, leaving Tohma in the hall. Sliding the door shut, he leaned back against it, eyes never leaving Ryuichi’s before he stood up to relieve himself. Ryuichi followed close, eyes on the door, both expecting it to fly open and Kuuli to come in and hurt them. Water, a nice warm shower – a bath would have been better, but the cabin wasn’t made for the honeymooners, it was made more for conservation having a urinal, and a small standing shower with spray. Old fashioned, quaint.

Stepping in the shower, Shuichi smiled as the spray of the house eased tense muscles that had tightened over the last few days. Ryuichi stepped in the small opening for the shower, leaning against the cold wall and waited for his turn to wash the scent of sex off of him. Shuichi reached over with the hose and sprayed the dry hair so it was drenched. The shocked expression was worth it as Ryuichi reached for the spray and turned it onto Shuichi, one of his hands busy tickling the boy to get him to release the hose for full control. Shuichi broke into giggles as the water shot up, surprising the older vocalist to release his hold and step back. Jumping up quickly, Shuichi reached for the shampoo and poured it into his hands.

“Ah! Shuichi!” Ryuichi cried out as the younger singer jumped him, small hands going through his hair to lather it with the soapy substance. Ryuichi smiled as Shuichi placed all his attention towards bathing his companion, and wrapped his arms around the boy’s back. Closing his eyes, the chestnut haired man grinned as his shower companion started rinsing his hair to get the suds and soap out. Clenching his eyes shut, he smiled as Shuichi brushed soap away from his eyes before the boy once more sprayed his own hair. Opening his light blue hued eyes, Ryuichi sat up, reaching for the shampoo that had been discarded. “Turn around Shuichi.” He ordered, and the boy did as he was told. The Nittle Grasper blushed as his flaccid dick twitched, but he washed all thoughts of sex from his head as his fingers dug into Shuichi pink hair, brushing the boy’s scalp playfully. Shuichi twitched again on his lap, and Ryuichi took in a deep breath. Obviously Shuichi was unaware what was going on. Brushing the fine hairs at the crook of Shuichi’s neck, Ryuichi held his hand out, and Shuichi moved forward – innocently – to reach it. The brush of Shuichi’s ass and the Grasper’s dick was wonderful, and Shuichi finally figured out what was going on.

“So’ry, Ryu-”

The man-child leaned forward and pressed his lips against his ‘understudy’, and Shuichi leaned into the kiss. The kiss was very close to the one in the bedroom, but Ryuichi took more control. His tongue mapped out Shuichi’s strawberry-flavored depth, an addicting taste that had the Grasper wanting more. Pressing Shuichi against the wet floor of shower, the older vocalist rinsed out his hair keeping one hand near Shuichi’s forehead to brush away any water from the lavender eyes that captured many. Their tongues swirled together, fighting for dominance of the kiss. Reaching down, the chestnut-haired vocalist placed his hands upon the slick, wet, waist of the smaller male, as both grew lost in the innocent, passionate, kiss.

Pulling back, Shuichi felt the blood rush between his dick and his face, and his hands covered his mouth. He was with Eiri! Tears filled the corners of his eyes, draining down his face and sticking his sideburns together. Ryuichi kissed the tears tenderly, his forehead lowered to Shuichi’s chin, where it laid. “Gomen, Shu-chan.” He whispered, and Shuichi wrapped his arms around his friend, soothingly. Tears fell down his neck, Ryuichi’s tears. “Gomen, gomen, sorry,” Ryuichi continued to cry, his words switching to English then back to Japanese for Shuichi to understand him. “I didn’t mean to…I…mean,” he searched for words, unable to find anything.

“Okay,” Shuichi whispered. “Ith okay,” his slurred speech broke the silence, the faint dripping of water long forgotten. Heavy breathing, their own, Shuichi pressed his head into Ryuichi’s locks, breathing in the shampoo they had just used. Wasn’t quite the scent of Ryuichi, but it still was him.

“By chance, Shu-chan,” a voice (not Ryuichi’s because the Grasper was still whimpering) broke in, “Is he any different than your dreams? Did it sedate you to know that your imagination has been sated and it wasn’t what you thought? That you were truly using him, just as he was with you?” Kuuli stepped close to the two, and Shuichi pushed Ryuichi off of him, and the man-child curled up in a ball, trying to pull Shuichi towards him. “Don’t answer. I was coming in here to give you your medicine.” He held out a glass of water, and Shuichi glared at it. “Drink, Shu’.” He grinned from ear to ear as Shuichi’s hand reached out, but instead of taking the glass Shuichi slapped the cup and let the substance fall to the ground.

He was expecting it, to be lifted and tossed across the room by Kuuli, his head lowered, protecting his neck. Other bones could heal, but it was just a reflex to curl up. When he felt no other attacks upon his weak frame, his head came up, to find Ryuichi protecting his stomach, already having been kicked. Pulling himself to his feet, Shuichi ran towards Kuuli, just as the auburn raised his leg and once more kicked the Nittle Grasper vocalist in the same spot – his stomach.

Wrapping his arms around the Grasper, Shuichi whimpered, “Noh.” He closed his eyes, pulling against Ryuichi, but was pushed away suddenly by the angered Kuuli.

“Damn it! Let’s keep the two, torture them!” He yelled, mimicking someone – likely Montoro. “I’m through, I’m going to do what I wanted the moment he suggested blowing up Tohma’s car last year – kill him and this damn, no good, singer that sounds like a broken record!” The enraged man reached down, lifting the startled singer to his feet by the nape of his neck with one hand. Ryuichi’s eyes bulged, and Shuichi could tell that the man was struggling to breathe. Slamming his fist into Kuuli’s back, he loosened the tight grip, giving the other singer time to bring his foot up and kick their captor. Kuuli’s face was shocked, If nothing else. His eyes were large as the two singers started towards the door, but he returned to his senses quickly as he reached out, grabbed Ryuichi and climbed on the man’s chest.

His clenched hands wrapped around Ryuichi’s small neck once more, cutting off all circulation in a grip that refused to be loosened. Shuichi reached down, trying to remove Kuuli’s hand, but failed to make any difference as Ryuichi made soft gagging sounds, his eyes were rolling to the back of his head as he fought viciously to get loose…

“Ryuiti!”

A home video – an old one that Tohma never wanted to look at, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away. Shuichi was sucking him off, his mouth going deep on his dick, his hand teasing his balls in what seemed a passionate way. Tohma’s own hand was through Shuichi’s pink hair, telling him to continue, and Shuichi did what was asked. The whole scene, in Tohma’s eyes, did not look like rape, and that was what had caught Eiri’s attention. His blood ran cold as Eiri lowered his head; a glare on his face directed at what seemed to be the movie, Tohma, and Montoro.

“You like doing this, don’t you, Shuichi? Montoro asked the boy, and Shuichi refused to reply, his dark eyes closing as he leaned down to take more of Tohma’s cock in his mouth. “You suck your way to the top, get on your hands and knees under Tohma’s desk and blow him until he gives you what you want.” Once more Shuichi didn’t reply, his tongue busy at work as Tohma stilled under him, tightening his hold on the boy’s hair.. Tohma muttered something about sales; Shuichi’s sales depended on the listeners that bought them, not him.

“Eiri-san, I swear, this is all rape,” Tohma turned to the blonde, watching the writer looked up again as the camera zoomed the lens away from the two just as Tohma lifted Shuichi onto his saliva slicked cock, penetrating the small boy. “Shuichi is like you, I could never hurt him in such a way consensually. I love your sister this way.” Tohma leaned down, but Eiri stared away. “Eiri-san, please, listen to me.”

Montoro’s voice crackled with laughter as he stood up, walking into the kitchen. “Rape? You asked us to film you, said it turned you on. You begged Shuichi to ride you, to suck you.” He leaned forward, and Tohma turned red. “You agree? The jealousy when he first screamed Eiri at release, because you had pleasured him, and you couldn’t stand another name escaping his lips.” He leaned forward, ignoring the warning glance from Eiri. Tohma caught it, but was unsure who it was directed towards., Eiri just turned his head, blocking all looks.

“Stop it.” Tohma whispered, his fist clenching at the sly laughter that escaped Montoro’s lips. His taunting, his words really hurt, but Tohma’s trained expressions refused to show how they hurt. He raped Shuichi (even though he hated to admit it). To be honest, yes, he was jealous the first time when Shuichi came to Eiri’s name, but he understood it, and let Shuichi draw from the imagination of it – it made the boy happy. Film, he hated the film, pictures lied, and the camera always lied with them. “Stop it!” He covered his ears. The laughter, he couldn’t stand it. Eiri hated him; Mika would be scared if it showed up in the news that he was missing again, the baby, Ryuichi’s sanity, and Shuichi’s life. The pressure, why couldn’t he do anything right?

Montoro’s voice was like acid that met his ears, taunting him. He couldn’t stare up, it hurt to meet his eyes to know they won. Why couldn’t he stare up? Why couldn’t he protect anyone?

Bang!

Tohma jerked up, staring in shock as Montoro fell against the ground, unconscious – and Eiri stood behind him, with a dented pan in his hands, rubbing his wrist. “Eiri-san…?” Tohma whispered, and Eiri breathed deeply.

“Took the key when he dragged me into the living room, during the struggle with you.” Eiri explained. “I was waiting for a chance to get unchained. Come on, we have to get the idiots and leave before he wakes up.” He reached down to lift Tohma to his feet, and the blonde wondered why he was on his knees in the first place. A small smile graced his lips as he chuckled.

“Thank you, Eiri-san.” He took it and allowed himself to be pulled up to his legs. “Are you doing okay, though? You were throwing up blood, I need to make sure you will be okay.” He handed up the piece of toast that had been crushed in his grip. “Um, your breakfast?” He suggested, and Eiri popped the bread in his mouth.

“When we get the hell out of here, you’re explaining to me what was on that video. I don’t care if you don’t tell Mika, but I want to know.” He brushed crumbs from his lips and stared around. “Which room did Shuichi and your baka go to?” He gasked, and Tohma nodded. Before he could speak, a loud scream filled the whole house, leaving them stunned before they started running to where the sound the sound came from – the bathroom.

He was unsure what happened, or how it happened for that matter. After one moment, he was running to the location of the scream. It was Eiri that stood dazed, watching as Shuichi cried and tried to pry Kuuli’s hands away from Ryuichi’s neck, Tohma had no time to be shocked before his vision had become blank and he jumped Kuuli. The auburn never even saw it coming when Tohma’s fist slammed into his once grinning face. A sickening – yet sadistically pleasing – pop came from where Kuuli’s nose was, and like that it was over. Yet, that didn’t stop Tohma as he beat the shit out of the unconscious body. He froze as he realized Kuuli wasn’t moving under him, but could still feel a faint heart beat. He was still alive. He wanted to snap his neck, for good measure, to show him how Ryuichi must have felt, being strangled until he was blue in the face.

Weakly, he turned his head, facing the two that had been in the bathroom. Shuichi was still crying his eyes out, clinging onto Ryuichi’s unconscious form. He wasn’t shocked that Shuichi pulled away from his blood-covered hand, it was then that Tohma noticed the crimson liquid. He must have broken Kuuli’s nose, he smiled at that thought. The bastard deserved it.

Yet, he could not look back up from his hand, couldn’t face Eiri as he heard the blonde’s steps and quiet whispers to calm Shuichi down as he made sure the Nittle Grasper singer was still alive. His confirmation that everything was okay touched Tohma’s ears like angelic whispers as he started towards the two, holding his hands out so he could be given Ryuichi. Shuichi gave him a skeptical look, but Tohma couldn’t blame him. The innocent singer had just watched him beat the shit out of the man who had been hurting all of them, and he could see the pained look in Eiri’s eyes. They were surprised that his calm demeanor could be broken like that, the rage that he had hidden. He hid for a reason. None of them spoke as Shuichi passed Ryuichi onto the blonde, and Tohma carefully wrapped his arms around his best friend.

Imprints of Kuuli’s fingers where they had wrapped around Ryuichi’s thin neck were plainly visible from the bright red marks. Ryuichi would cry when he saw those, but it looked like they would be there for a while. He brushed the fine hairs on the back of the man’s neck, soothing him as he pulled the man close to his chest. “We need to get out of here, Tohma.” Eiri muttered. Staring up, Tohma was a little surprised to see Eiri finish dressing Shuichi in the shirt he had been wearing. The boy was clinging to his neck, crying, but the novelist didn’t seem annoyed as he kept the boy close to himself, but his eyes were on Tohma who nodded, dumbstruck.

Eiri stood up, and Shuichi’s arms fell until they were at the man’s waist, and Eiri reached forward for Ryuichi. Tohma’s grip around the man tightened before nodding and helped the Grasper singer into the much taller man’s arms to be carried wherever they were going. No time to look for clothes, Tohma stared around the cabin until he reached for the window to open it. They could buy time if it looked like they hadn’t escaped, and if the door was still locked; both men would think they were still in the cabin, all hiding. “Climb up, Seguchi, I need you out there to get your singer.” Tohma nodded, opening the window and climbing out.

As his feet hit the ground, he was forced to turn quickly as Ryuichi was mounted through the window. Grabbing his best friend, Tohma pulled back some, watching as Shuichi climbed into the window. Before the boy climbed completely out, Eiri took the boy’s face in his hands and kissed the other tenderly, removing the engagement ring off Shuichi’s finger. “You’re mine, brat. I’ve told you that.” A smile stole across Shuichi’s face as he nodded, hugging Eiri carefully before climbing down, and Eiri followed suit.

As Eiri straightened himself, he reached for Ryuichi, taking the singer in his arms, forcing two of the man’s arms to wrap around his neck for better hold as they started down a hill and into the woods. Shuichi started forward, staring around at their taste of freedom. A small blush fell on the NG keyboardist’s face, he was walking around naked, he shouldn’t care, he just gotten loose, but he felt open. “Shuichi, what happened in the bathroom?” He whispered; he knew Shuichi could talk some, even though it sounded rather rough.

“Kuuli got mad,” Shuichi whispered, brokenly. “I kished Ryuiti.” The same blush fell on his lips, he had whispered that last part, as if telling Tohma the whole story so Eiri wouldn’t know, that he consensually cheated on the man he would give his every bit of freedom for.

Staring down, Tohma swallowed. “Don’t ponder it for too long, you’ll understand why you probably did it a long time from now, just relax.” He smiled, and Shuichi nodded. Eiri watched them carefully as he remounted the lithe singer over his shoulder, fireman style. Tohma fell back, near Eiri to help him when Ryuichi became too heavy to hold. Right now, they were four men in the middle of god knows what forest. “This place looks…familiar…” he finally muttered, perhaps it was all the trees, not much of Japan had trees, so they were obviously far away from the Tokyo-Yokohama Metropolis. Eiri nodded, a grunt giving his agreement. Shuichi was over excited as he took off down the path they were following, out of their line of view, and Tohma turned to look at Eiri. “Are you going to be okay, Eiri-san?”

“My ulcer is the least of the problems.” Eiri muttered. “What the hell happened? Back there, I mean. I want everything, you can tell Mika whenever, but I want to know now that I’m involved.”

Tohma nodded, looking down at the dirt under his bare feet. “A year ago, today, I was grabbed by Montoro. I always had a feeling I was being watched, but I learn to pay no mind to it. Truthfully, I couldn’t care less that these two took Shuichi. It was when someone grabbed me by my car, that I learned to be scared of them quickly. I blacked out; thanks to some chloroform Montoro made me inhale. Well, I awoke in their apartment, to soft grunts, petty moans, a cry for help. Shuichi was being raped by them, and all I did was watch in shock as they came in his mouth, in his anal passage. They left him like that and approached me, I should have run, but I couldn’t find the strength.” He stared down.

“Montoro told me what was happening then, vaguely I might add. He had said he hated us, was taking people of the spot light and killing them, destroying their happiness. I had remembered an old music rival when Nittle Grasper first started, he was as close to me as Shuichi and Ryuichi are – rivals but friends. Maybe not as good, but friends. One day, he disappeared and came back four months later. He committed suicide because of these two; I was only scared that Shuichi would do the same.”

“Which he is trying to commit suicide – with little prevail,” Eiri nodded. “Continue.”

Taking in a deep breath, Tohma calmed his nerves – if slightly. “I passed out after they beat me that first day, and woke up to Shuichi fixing my broken wrist – to the best of his ability. Shuichi seemed so trained, in a bad way. He crawled to the bathroom, told me what to do in the situation, and in no time, I had fallen into place with what those two wanted. Of course, they wanted so much more. They wanted bad publicity for Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck. They wanted to send in that Bad Luck fucked their way up the charts. Their plan was to make me have sex with Shuichi.

“Be as it may, Shuichi was an acquaintance still, thinking of him and myself sexually was like you thinking of yourself skipping through the park in a pink suit giving flowers to people.” Eiri snorted at the comment, causing Tohma to grin, but the smile didn’t last long. “They drugged me, that first time. They used something that aroused my sexual desire, and the moment Shuichi’s naked form was thrown at me, my body wanted to be cooled, to feel his flesh to get rid of the burning sensation. I took him, Eiri,” He met the novelist’s eyes, “None too gently, it was rape. He came for you, I felt a bit of jealousy, but I didn’t understand. I got over it though. The minute I realized they were recording, I understood, he wanted to piss them off, if not physically, then verbally.

“Shuichi’s weak, Eiri. If I told him he could jump off the NG building and live, he’d probably ask if I was sure before actually doing it. He does everything to please others, and Kuuli used that to his advantage. Kumagorou was Shuichi’s hope to fight back verbally as well as physically. It did lead to Montoro’s short anger fuse being broken and trying to kill the boy, but if Shuichi hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t have been saved.” He glanced up at Shuichi as the boy came into view, plucking flowers while waiting for them. “We’ve said this so often, he’s like the old you, but when I walked into the living room back in that cabin, and he stared at me with those dead eyes, I saw you. It reminded me of you, crying that you killed your sensei, that you didn’t mean to, but he was hurting you.” Tohma squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to remember those words, cries that Eiri was giving as held each other close. “I failed you, Eiri. But I swear; I won’t fail Shuichi. If he loses the light, or Ryuichi die, I don’t know what I’d do.”

“Bother them, like you do me, likely.” Eiri muttered. “Is that all that happened?” He didn’t seem amused, more the look of fury he had when he wanted to kill someone. Just as he had done to ASK at NG, that one time. Tohma smirked. “I swear; if I see them again, I’ll murder one of them. Likely Kuuli first. A long and painful death.” He licked his lips, muttering something under his breath about a cigarette.

Shuichi waved them over to where he was standing near the edge of a hill, going down to a creek that was swarming with – what Tohma could tell – koi fish. “Gee, Toto,” Eiri glanced at Tohma, who glared at the ridiculous nickname, “I think we’re in Kyoto.” No wonder it was familiar. Ryuichi coughed, and Eiri sat him down against a rock, as the two eyes opened and stared at them.

“Ryuichi!” Tohma wrapped his arms around the man just as Shuichi ran over to do the same. The usual genki Grasper blinked, facing everyone in confusion. “Can you breathe properly?” He asked, and Ryuichi nodded. Reaching up, Ryuichi began rubbing his neck, from what Tohma could tell he was probably working out the stiffness in it before he pulled himself to his feet. “You shouldn’t be walking just yet, you blacked out, and we’ll carry you.” He was about to turn around and let Ryuichi get a free piggyback ride, but the cheerful man shook his head as he stood up.

“I’m naked!” He screamed, falling back to the ground. “Tohma’s naked too!” He covered himself up, and Tohma let his face fall.

“We’ve been naked for a week now, and you just realized it?” Tohma smiled, and Ryuichi shook his head. “We needed to get out of the cabin before Kuuli and Montoro awoke, there was no time to get any one clothes.” Ryuichi nodded, keeping his hands in his lap, eyes on Shuichi as the boy once more stared down the hill and into the small stream. Tohma watched as Ryuichi started staggering (still exhausted) over to where Shuichi was to watch the fish.

“If we stay here any longer, Tohma, they’re going to come.” Eiri stretched his stiff back muscles before starting towards the path. “The currents too strong because of the fish, we’re going to have to go the long way around.” He reached for Ryuichi, when a gunshot broke the sound barrier. On reflex, he pushed both boys down, to protect them, and both Tohma and Eiri turned when they heard Shuichi’s gargled cry and Ryuichi’s instant scream as both fell into the extremely fast current.

“Shit!” Tohma yelled, getting ready to jump, but a bullet flashed by his eye, causing him to turn and face whoever had tried shooting him. Montoro’s glare was full of anger as he took a step nearer to them. Eiri backed off some, slipping as his foot reached the edge and he grabbed hold of the smaller man to stop his fall. Tohma braced himself, but Eiri’s larger form quickly pulled them both down the hill, gravity playing its part instantly. Montoro ran towards them, his gun in front of him, but was unable to shoot another bullet at them as both men landed upon the mud and muck from the water. Tohma cried out as all of Eiri’s weight pressed on his arm, and he could feel the bone in his wrist snap. Eiri didn’t move, the fall having done damage upon him as his body relaxed, all tension that the writer usually carried vanished.

Montoro, far above them cried out, and a figure started down the hill, but Tohma couldn’t tell who it was, he was in too much pain. Red hair danced in the wind as the man ran past them, pulling someone out of the water, and Tohma turned to face the chestnut haired singer that was, once more, unconscious. Ryuichi couldn’t swim, had he drowned? He waited for them to drag Shuichi to shore, but all that met his ears was Nakano’s voice screaming up…to K that he couldn’t find Shuichi. At that, he finally blacked out.

“I’m not following,” Kuuli turned to face his best friend, his fingers running over his aching nose. Montoro’s scream of rage had awakened him from the state of unconsciousness, his eyes had fallen towards the engagement ring that was once on Shuichi’s finger, and his fingers fell to his scrunched up nose, gazing at the blood that covered his pale fingers. “This is stupid, they always escape – four is too much for us to handle. I’m leaving before the police get here.” He started towards the front door, pulling on his shoes. Before he left the house, ignoring the glare Montoro was giving him; he pulled out a small brown package from one of the drawers and clutched it to his chest before walking out.

“Fine! I don’t need you!” Montoro yelled, but Kuuli didn’t care as he went towards the back of the cabin. Going towards the tool shed, he pulled open the door and reached in to start pulling his motorcycle out. He needed to get out, quickly. Facing the trees, he watched as Montoro started into the woods before turning and mounting his bike. With a snort and a roar from the engine he was riding down the path that led to their getaway cabin.

As he turned the corner, the edge of his vision caught another bike and a police cruiser turning into the cabin’s ground. With a hiss of his breath, he was racing down the street casually, not wanting to grab their attention. With a sharp turn, he pulled into their nearest neighbor’s home, once more gliding down the gravel road to the grander building, his eyes gazing at the stream as he shut off his engine and got off his motorcycle. Walking towards the stream, his gaze never left the quick flowing water, watching the orange fish swimming by. His head jerked up as the sound of a gun firing echoed throughout the quiet terrain, and he caught sight of his pink haired escaped-captive falling into the water below.

He could hear the shouts from the chestnut haired one screaming loudly that he could not swim, clinging to Shuichi as the koi pushed the men around. Finally, Shuichi was pable to push his friend onto the shore before the strong currents pulled him under. Raising his eyebrows, Kuuli stepped towards the water. Pushing past the fish with no problem, Kuuli fished around until his hands rested against the silky wet tresses of pink hair. Pulling the heavy weight up, Kuuli brushed the hair out of Shuichi’s face, gazing at the closed eyes. Shuichi’s breathing was rapid, showing he was out of breath and too tired to fight off anything.

Lifting the light pop idol into his arms, Kuuli walked back to his motorcycle and climbed on, his heartbeat growing rapid as he heard Hiro’s voice calling out for Shuichi. Positioning Shuichi against his chest, he locked his arms under Shuichi’s elbows and cautiously started driving down the gravel road once more.

Turning down the highway, his eyes kept onto the road as he drove towards the city of Kyoto. His mind worked quickly, trying to remember if Shuichi knew anyone in this area, but the stress kept sending him to no acknowledgement if there were any. He could feel Shuichi tense, the small boy’s head lying back against his shoulder – a smile fell on Kuuli’s lips as he slowed down some so Shuichi didn’t fall off. He needed to find a motel to stay in. Turning down the road, away from the many temples.

After a few more turns, he stopped in front of a small, western style, motel that was unlike any in Tokyo. Lifting Shuichi bridal style, he started towards the office, holding the boy close and lovingly. His eyes scanned the crowds, looking for anyone in association to the singer. Walking inside the office, he smiled at the balding guy standing behind the front desk. With a grin and a tilt of the boy’s head into his shoulder, Kuuli walked forward with an air of grace. “I’d like to rent a room for the night.” Only a night, he needed to get out of Japan with Shuichi.

“Yes, one room and two beds?” The man asked, and Kuuli brushed the hair out of Shuichi’s face – catching the man’s attention. “I understand, one room, one bed.” The man wrote information into his computer before reaching for the card key. “Checkout’s at ten.” His face was pale, and Kuuli smiled politely, nodded, and left the elderly man behind.

Shuichi groaned again, his face faulted into a smile before he turned onto his side, his eyelids squeezing shut before slowly opening. Kuuli embraced his captive closely, breathing in the pink haired boy’s strawberry scented hair before balancing Shuichi to open the door.

The idol’s wide lavender eyes widened, his hands reaching up to push away from Kuuli, but the auburn had already opened the door, pushing the lithe body of Shindou Shuichi inside the motel room. Shutting the door, Kuuli glanced around at the new surroundings, it was small because of Japan’s growing population, and the one bed fit in the corner of the room with a narrow path to the other side. A small table was pressed against the other wall with a list of information for the motel and in the upper right corner of the room was a small television.

Pushing his ‘lover’ against the bed, Kuuli climbed above the smaller body, Shuichi’s hands pressing against his chest to escape, but Kuuli’s love struck world wouldn’t budge as he stared down at the fish he had caught. Going through his pockets, he pulled out the engagement ring, staring upon the single gem in the middle, before he glanced down at Shuichi’s bare finger – his mind trying to tell him that it was Yuki who had removed the ring, and not his dear Shuichi.

Shuichi trembled under his lustful stare, his fighting arms weakening and falling to his sides before he turned and began to cry. Reaching down, Kuuli brushed the salty tears out of his ‘lover’s’ face, feeling the boy tense before he suddenly relaxed. In celebration, Kuuli sat up, sitting all his weight away from Shuichi’s lap and brushed the boy’s long fingers. With admiration, Kuuli spread Shuichi’s fingers, locking his own with the boy’s before using his other hand to slide the engagement ring over the digit.

Once the small piece of metal was in place, Shuichi raised his hand to stare at the ring, his eyes filling with tears before he hid his face in the pillow. “It’s okay, Shuichi,” Kuuli whispered, “I won’t need to hurt you anymore since it’s only you and me now.” His face remained emotionless as the boy continued to cry throughout the night.

His head hurt. That was the first thing that occurred to him before he tried opening his eyes. The bright light was shocking, and he stared in slight awe at it. Was he dead? Should he head towards this bright, anonymous light? Trying to move his legs, he found himself immobile and thus it occurred to him, something was wrong. What had happened when he passed out?

“Seguchi-san?” A questioning voice asked, and he turned his head to face who ever had addressed him. He fought through his memory to remember whom else he knew with a strange accent and long blonde hair, but the pistol in its holster was recognition enough. K-san didn’t seem humored by the stream of bad luck (no pun intended) occurring to the NG President.

Tohma gazed up, giving his full attention to the manager. Never before had his expression seemed so tired, the manager usually had a goofed up smile on his arrogant face as he stood in front of the president’s desk, but now he seemed so worn and aggravated. Tohma’s eyes widened as he gazed around, looking for signs of his three companions, but came up with no one around him in the private recovery room. “Where’s Eiri-san? Ryu-chan? Shuichi?”

“The minute Eiri woke up; he grabbed Hiro-kun’s cigarettes and is out smoking against the doctor’s wishes. Ryuichi woke up in the ambulance, and now is being checked with by the doctor – he’s probably in the snack room by now.” His gaze was hard as he got to the last name, staring at the floor. “We can’t find Shuichi. Ryuichi said he remembered seeing him in the water, but after that it’s blurred. Hiro-kun went looking for Shuichi, we came up with nothing and now the police are looking in the water for his corpse.”

Tightening his eyes shut, Tohma evened his breathing, glancing down at his hands. “Does Mika-han know what’s happened?”

“No,” K-san shrugged his shoulders, “Her cell was dead, and I didn’t want to talk to a voice machine.” Tohma pulled out of the bed, his feet dangling a few inches from the floor. He rubbed his eyes, pushing the hair away as well as the sleep, his fingers pressing against the thin fabric of the hospital gown. Jumping off the bed, he landed forward some because of a quick dizzy spell.

K-san already had him propped up, making sure the young-looking feminine keyboardist didn’t fall forward, but Tohma only shrugged him off and started walking towards the door, going over a plan of action in his head so Mika wouldn’t worry about what had happened. The media was probably feeding her negative information that would cause her to worry anyway. “Mr. K,” He spoke in English, “do you have some coins for the payphones?” He stepped into the hall, and the manager dug through his pockets for the yen pieces that were desired.

Walking towards the phones, Tohma accepted the ‘offered’ coins, placing them in the machine with a bit of aggravation. He could see, from the corner of his eye, that Eiri was being pushed back towards his recovery room to relax by the doctors, all the while Eiri was muttering about looking for his own ‘damn brat’. Coming down another hall, Hiro was following the tired Ryuichi down the hall.

A tired voice picked up the line, speaking of their services and so forth – and Tohma could only cringe. His father-in-law lived to make his life a living hell. They didn’t get along well enough; since Tohma wasn’t the Buddhist the old monk wanted his perfect child to marry. He didn’t even want to do the marriage ceremony, the only Uesugi that even came to the wedding willingly (or at all) was Tatsuha. Eiri had been asked, then bribed to come, their father didn’t come at all. The only plus the old man had for Tohma was that the blonde came from a wealthy family, had a career brining in the millions, and was talking about starting his own business. “Ohayo, Uesugi-san.” He greeted the elderly man, only to receive a dead silence and an irritated reply of what the businessman wanted. “May I speak with Mika, sir?” He placed on his polite smile, and K-san got the hint to make himself scarce. “She’s not there? Can I ask where she is?” He paused, his face paling. “The hospital?” His voice rang down the hall, causing other patients to stare at him. “Is she okay is something wrong with our baby?”

His face turned into a scowl as the old monk began scolding about not spending time with his pregnant wife. It was always the same; he had been blamed for their first baby’s death. Fuck! He was trying to spend as much time with his wife as possible; he was going to go to the temple on his week off to see Mika. Slamming the phone against the hook, he turned to face the grim Ryuichi face. The poor singer was blaming his lack of being able to swim on Shuichi’s disappearance. “Was Tohma-kun talking with Uesugi-san again, your face looks like Tomato-san!” He smiled, a forced smile, Tohma caught it since he was the master at fake smiles.

“It’ll be okay, Ryuichi. Why don’t you go keep Eiri-san company? I’m going to get a pair of pants and go see Mika, since she’s in the hospital.” He smiled politely and started walking down the hall, ignoring Ryuichi’s sudden wail that Eiri was going to hurt him because he didn’t have his Shu-chan to hold.

Walking towards the front desk, he politely asked for a pair of trousers so he could go visit his wife, and they – just as politely – handed him the wanted item. As he left the bathroom, now dressed properly, he went to OB-GYN. Approaching the front desk; he glanced at the woman who gazed up at him with a snide bit of hatred as if he were going to hurt someone. Did he really look that worn out? “Excuse, miss.” He smiled. “My wife, Seguchi Mika – I was told she was here, I was hoping to see her.”

“Seguchi-san?” The woman frowned. “Yes, follow me.” She led him through the double doors, not even bothering to ID him, since he was well known without any disguise. Though he did feel naked again without his hat. She stopped at a door, holding her hand out with faint care. “She’s in here; try not to surprise her, for god sakes. We don’t need a repeat of the last time,” she scowled. Tohma started to feel that no one in Kyoto liked him since the first baby – everyone was blaming the innocent.

Giving a firm nod, he opened the door and stuck his head in with a true smile as his wife turned to face him from where she was sitting. “Hey, honey.” He walked in and kissed her forehead. The woman smiled brightly at the affection, lacing their fingers. “Surprise?” He chuckled.

“Yes, a big one.” Mika laid her head back. “I’ve been calling to see if you wanted to come and see your baby.” She pointed towards the black screen that sat alone in a corner.

“Oh.” He grinned sheepishly. “Yeah, I haven’t been home, nor has Eiri-san, Ryuichi-kun, or Shindou-san.” He lowered his head at her frown. “I’m sorry, Mika. I want to tell you everything, last year…this year,” he whispered, “but, with the baby…” He was at loss for words, his gaze never leaving the floor.

“Eiri too?”

“Yes.” Tohma nodded. “But, I promise you Mika, when all of this is over and the baby is safe at home, I’ll tell you everything. I don’t want to lose another baby due to overstress, please – just stay strong until this is all over.” Mika stared tiredly at her husband before nodding, and their fingers remained laced as the doctor walked in.

His chest rose with his uneven breathing, both of his eyelids covered his pupils to what seemed exhausted sleep as Kuuli collapsed beside the slave’s tired body. Opening his eyes, Shuichi stared at Kuuli, tensing as a loving embrace wrapped around his small frame, holding him close as if protecting him from some unseen force. With a small groan, Shuichi pulled himself up, staring at the floor as he felt Kuuli’s deep eyes stare into his back, staring at him with admiration or confusion, Shuichi couldn’t tell without looking at the man.

“Where are you going, Shuichi? I thought we were going to cuddle after that night of passion before we go to sleep. We have a long trip ahead of us.” He brushed his hands over Shuichi’s bare chest, very lovingly – but Shuichi couldn’t feel the passion from it, only emptiness. “What’s wrong, Shuichi?” He stared into Shuichi’s blank eyes, and the poor boy pulled away, hiding his face into his shoulder.

With a quick shake of his head, Shuichi stood up on his shaky legs, walking into the conjoined bathroom, his eyes never left the reflection in the mirror. His hair was ratty-looking, and he had two large black bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. To make matters worse, he was starting to look very pale, a non-healthy pale. Placing his hand to his forehead, he leaned forward, trying to get his breathing back. It sharpened instead of slowed, his sucked in a deep breath, glaring at his tattered body. Staring around, his tear clouding sight looked for something to break the mirror. He didn’t want to see himself, not with Kuuli on the bed, both of them naked again. He felt sick. He looked up into the mirror, seeing Kuuli’s sickening grin, and couldn’t control the upping of bile that suddenly come to his throat.

Falling to his knees in front of the toilet, he heaved into the porcelain bowl, his bangs covering his eyes as he made choked coughs. He didn’t open his eyes as he felt a hand rub the base of his neck and upper spine, causing the fine hairs to stand on end as he turned to face Kuuli. The auburn leaned over and flushed the toilet before helping Shuichi clean his mouth, his fingers brushing the hair out of Shuichi’s face. “Are you feeling better now?” He asked, and Shuichi nodded, leaning forward and into Kuuli’s unwelcome warmth.

Scooping the smaller singer into his arms, Kuuli once more crawled into the bed, his body warming up Shuichi’s as he hummed gentle lullabies to be help to solve Shuichi’s ragged breathing. Against Shuichi’s wishes, they weren’t going to the emergency room until they were in a safe territory. No latter did Kuuli’s soft whispers lure Shuichi into the dead sleep and the auburn abandoned the motel room to do some quick clothes shopping, since Eiri Yuki’s blood covered dress blouse would not do on the open road.

The next morning, when Shuichi awoke – new clothes were laid out on the desk, inviting him to wear them, and he couldn’t help but blush at the thought the auburn was putting into all of this. It wasn’t really his style, all white, but it beat running around in his birthday suit. After getting dressed, Shuichi’s eyes burned into Kuuli’s sleeping face before he slowly walked to the door, more than ready to make a run for it when he was safely out the door.

His fingers touched the cool surface of the doorknob, turning the handle softly, and he stared back at the peaceful auburn as the door clicked open. With a creak, the door was opened and Shuichi had stepped out. His eyes stared around the empty halls of the motel before starting down a hall to find the exit, ignoring the pains of his stomach from long since hunger. There were other things to worry about, so food was the last one he was worried about.

To be honest, Shuichi didn’t have a clue where he was. If he was in a big city, he was in trouble, since he was going out without anything to cover up him. Immediate attention if it were, the fan girls would jump at this moment. But Shuichi huffed as he stepped into the front office, eyeing the young girl, reading behind the front desk. She stared up at him, her eyes becoming wide before staring once more down at her magazine then back up. Shuichi gave a small wave, placing his finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet. He gave a polite bow before whispering, “the guy up there will pay the bill, I guess. Please, call someone to get him though, he kidnapped me here to…wherever I am.”

The girl nodded, blushing that he was even talking to her, and placed the phone to her ear. “Kyoto, Shindou-sama!” Her voice was loud, and Shuichi heard a thump from somewhere upstairs in the hall. The color drained from his face as the steps creaked with quick footsteps coming down, and Shuichi took off out the door, trying to avoid anymore confrontation.

Sure, he had been to Kyoto before – when trying to get his Yuki back, but Tatsuha had driven him through, explaining to him what he needed to do when they arrived at the shrine. Staring down the street, he found himself lost – but didn’t think much of it as he took off down towards the main roads, hoping to just come across all the monk shrines. He could hear Kuuli yell for him, but that only caused him to runner faster, skidding into some crowds that were crossing a street. An elderly woman stared up at Shuichi, watching the boy duck his head, and shook her head with amusement at the boy’s actions, and Shuichi smiled.

“Excuse me,” He bowed politely to her as they reached the other end of the street, “I’m a tourist in Kyoto, and I was wondering if you knew where the Uesugi Temple was?” He asked, and she pointed down a road, explaining him direction. With another bow, Shuichi took off down the road, looking over his shoulder at the infuriated Kuuli trying to cross the road and follow.

Lavender eyes scanned the road before he took off into incoming traffic. Several of the cars, luckily, slammed their brakes and started screaming at the young singer, but Shuichi wasn’t listening as he finally started leaving the city and entered what was more like the countryside. He stared around, hearing the nearing of a motorcycle, turning; he gazed down the street, his feet moving backwards as he continued distancing himself from his captor. The motorcycle itself made itself seen in the distance, and Shuichi stopped moving, a smile on his face as he watched it come closer towards the temple itself before slowing and stopping beside Shuichi.

The rider’s eyes were wide as he pulled of his helmet, his black hair falling back against his ears in a cut so similar to Eiri’s, and Shuichi couldn’t stop himself from jumping the youngest Uesugi child. Tatsuha stared at Shuichi before blinking; a little surprised that Shuichi hadn’t really said anything but snuggle closer to, more than likely, a human warmth. “Shuichi?” He whispered, running his hand over Shuichi’s shrunken face, watching the boy snuggle to the hand, as he would casually do with Eiri.

“Shu,” he started again, gaining the singers attention, “you’re okay!” He hugged the boy, finally getting back to pace. “Aniki was going insane with the thought that you drowned in that stream saving Sakuma-sama’s life.” He smiled, but Shuichi couldn’t return it as his head turned to another roaring of an engine coming their way. His eyes were wide, knowing that it was probably Kuuli as he jumped on the bike, startling it’s young rider.

“Tatsuha-kun, I don’t care where you take me, but please! Kuuli’s still after me, I don’t wanna go back!” His voice was loud, and Tatsuha nodded, revving the engine. Shuichi clung on tightly as they started down the street, his eyes never turning back to face the rider following them. The motorbike gave a sharp turn around the corner, and Shuichi tensed as he stared at Tatsuha’s face. It was scrunched together with thought, on what, Shuichi wouldn’t know, but the sound of the other engine went past them, heading up the main road – allowing Shuichi to breath a sigh of relief.

“Was that Kuuli?” Tatsuha whispered, and Shuichi nodded, pulling away from his boyfriend’s little brother. He stared around the temple, knowing for a fact that it was unfamiliar, since he had once been in the Uesugi one. Tatsuha realized the poor singers distress, smiling brightly. “He’s heading to the temple, if we continue down this road, we’ll get to the hospital back in town. I’m sure a couple of people want to know where you are.” Shuichi nodded, getting back on the motorcycle properly as the two once more went down the road.

Shuichi whined as his stomach knotted, the weak of no food finally showing some. He gazed hungrily as they started into town, and Tatsuha turned into a small gas station. Pulling over, he let Shuichi off the bike and started into the almost empty building, lucking that behind the counter was yet another aging person that just stared at the two teenagers with a raised brow.

“Your stomach is bothering me, go grab something.” The young monk muttered, walking towards another aisle with a look of concentration. Shuichi squealed and ran towards the boxed cookies, in search for pocky. He turned another corner, jumping as the door slid open and a group of teenage girls walked in. It wasn’t the fact that more people were there, but the fact that – by their band shirts of BAD LUCK – they were avid fans. The group was giggling as they walked towards the sodas and boxed bento meals, laughing at an insider joke. Never once did they notice the out-in-the-open vocalist slithering behind some chocolate racks. The door slid open again, and an auburn, Kuuli, walked into the shop.

Shuichi’s gaze stayed on the man at the checkout line, his breathing going heavy as Kuuli purchased himself a pack of cigarettes. The auburn stared around, and both he and Shuichi’s eyes met. Taking in a deep inhale, Shuichi stepped back, touching the cold surface of the chilling doors. He gazed around his trapped area, looking for anyway to escape as the man started towards him. Shuichi lost control of his breathing, almost falling to his knees as his lungs locked, causing him to hack.

“Shuichi, how dare you just leave me?” He sneered, tilting Shuichi’s face to his own. “Haven’t I given you everything?” His voice was full of venom, and Shuichi stared around, seeking any kind of retreat. He couldn’t see Tatsuha, which scared him. A dreadful feeling of being alone with Kuuli shredded at Shuichi’s heart as he pulled away, tears falling from his eyes. Pity, he just wanted to be pitied now, taken home to Eiri, where he would always be safe. Why couldn’t he ever-

“-Oh my god! It’s Shindou Shuichi!” A male voice cried out, one distinctly as Tatsuha’s fan boyish screams. Another gasp was filling the stores, and the group of girls was staring around, Kuuli’s eyes grew wide grasping at Shuichi’s arms and tried to drag the poor vocalist out of the store. It was too late though; the girls were already jumping the vocalist, pulling him back, their voices crying out for autographs, asking questions, claiming their rankings to his music. He smiled, grateful for Tatsuha’s interference. Yanking his arm back from the surprised Kuuli’s grasp, Shuichi turned to face all the girls, smiling politely.

“Well, hello…” he chuckled, glaring at Kuuli just as Tatsuha walked through the group, towards Shuichi with a walk of seniority. Shuichi’s stomach knotted as the girls confused the young seventeen year old as the novelist, Eiri Yuki. Playing along, Shuichi wrapped his arms around Tatsuha’s waist, pulling close – but he did notice the glare that was escaping from Kuuli’s gaze. “…Yuki…” Shuichi played, reaching forward to kiss the young monk, who played his part happily by pushing Shuichi away and tilting his head back with a scowl, muttering along the lines of not being gay enough for public activity.

The group became quiet as the sound of sirens surrounded the shop, and Kuuli was backing up, gazing at the many Kyoto police that started surrounding the building. Tatsuha wrapped his arms around Shuichi, stepping back as the girls squealed about being in what seemed to be the best day of their lives. “Hide…” Tatsuha whispered in Shuichi’s ear, and the young vocalist took off towards the men’s restroom in the back of the gas station. The cashier smiled at him, and Shuichi finally realized what Tatsuha had done for him. With a smile of pride, Shuichi locked the small door, trapping himself in the depressing light of the public toilet.

The minute Eiri heard that Shuichi had been found and was being brought to the hospital, the romance novelist stood outside the hospital, staring down the road that led to the busy establishment. Tohma and Ryuichi were a little further up the way, Tohma sat quietly in the grass along side the street, waiting for any signs of BAD LUCK’s vocalist while Ryuichi stood on a guard railing, looking the distance for any vehicles coming their way.

Ryuichi’s face suddenly brightened as he jumped down, almost running in circles from a sudden rush of energy. “They’re coming! They’re coming!” Eiri raised a brow until a sudden shrill of police sirens caught him attention and his head turned to face the direction. With the sound of the sirens, Hiro was out of the hospital, standing with Eiri. A hand grasped the novelist’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze, and the blonde faced Hiro’s smiling face. He returned the smile before, once more, he faced over the road as three police cruisers finally pulled outside the hospital. The middle door was opened by one of the officers since it was the only way to open the door, and Shuichi stepped out, followed by the helpful Tatsuha.

Not being hyper enough to run and hug Shuichi, Eiri stepped forward and Shuichi did all the rest. The vocalist wrapped his arms around Eiri’s neck, pulling close to the arrogant novelist and started to cry. Tears of happiness, Eiri wasn’t sure. Shuichi was almost ripped from his arms by one of the doctors, but a glare and a snarl stopped the well-educated man from going any further, allowing the two stars to share their moment of reunion from their horrible ordeal.

Taking Shuichi’s face in his hands, Eiri stared at the swollen lips the graced the poor vocalist’s pale face. Puffy eyes, red from crying, gazed at him as their lips pulled together, sharing one of the first of many kisses they would want to share.

Creak. The doors once more opened, and the charcoal haired man stared up at who would be joining him in the fine accommodations that jail had given him. His eyes met Kuuli’s, and they both scowled and turned away. Just perfect, trapped with the one person you couldn’t stand anymore. Like most, they refused to blame themselves, and only placed blame on the others involved. Both sat like stones on two separate cots, glad that Tokyo didn’t have an establishment like America had. Though, that didn’t weaken their charges in the least bit. Life in prison, each afternoon doing community services under the watchful gaze of a guard. Oh yes, and therapy until their heads couldn’t hold it no more. The most wonderful times of their lives.

“What happened out there, with you?” Montoro finally spoke up; narrowing his eyes to slits at the thought of the four Japanese stars that had made their lives a living hell.

“He got away.” Kuuli whispered, staring up, his legs stretching out. “I fucked him, never was he so sweet and joyous. Too tired to fight back. Too scared to call for help. I owned him as I came inside of his lithe form, no one around us. We were complete, but he wasn’t happy. He became sick; a bile came out from his stomach so quickly.” Kuuli recalled the ever-sweet night that he’d had with Shuichi. “We slept in each others arms that night. The next day, while I slept – believing that we were now one and that he’d never leave me, he ran away from our commitment to each other. Right now, as I sit here, He commits adultery with that disgusting ogre of a novelist.” A dead glance in Montoro’s direction asked the same question, about what had happened when the two parted ways.

With a sickening grin, Montoro leaned back with a pat to his stomach. “I chased them, and found them. Tohma, being the idiot that he is, pushed Shuichi and Ryuichi down that hill, above the stream. I was joyous at this moment, what faith would Ryuichi have in a friend that knows that the idiot vocalist cannot swim?” His voice rang throughout the cells. “He and, as you call him, the ogre fell as well, but neither made it to the stream, but landed beside their unconscious friend. Shuichi, I believed, had drowned. One down, I allowed myself to be taken down by the insane American called K. Listening to your tale leads me to know that Shuichi did not drown, but survived to see one more day. I’ll see him again, all of them. They’ll pay.” Montoro smirked, relaxing as he grew use to his boundaries.

“And the men at NG, that retrieved all the copies of files, were they paid? I continually fail to ask.” Kuuli glanced over.

“They betrayed their own company, giving that important information to us. Of course, Tohma is at fault for it. All of it. How was I to know what Shuichi is allergic to, or that Ryuichi can’t swim? The foolish president is so caught up in making sure all his files for each person in his company is listed down; he even placed down their schedules. The men that helped us deserved all that money from my inheritance.” Montoro gushed, remembering the foolproof plan they originally had made so long ago.

Closing his eyes and letting his even breathing go free, Montoro couldn’t help but inwardly smirk at their plan before it went up in smoke. So devious, so well thought out. Kuuli was a maintenance worker in NG after college, many years after their failure to become professional musicians, where he first saw Shuichi and brought it to Montoro’s attention. For a year, they were watched in the crowds, paying people to help them get information. Personal files originally lined the walls of Montoro’s apartment. From high school permanent records to legal facts; Montoro wasn’t going to jump into taking the musicians hostage without great foresight.

As they had explained, between most of BAD LUCK’s members and Nittle Grasper’s other crew, it was hard. After many failed attempts (such things like dropping lighting during concerts), they finally lowered their goals. Tohma, president of NG and the man that failed to give them a chance to starlight the second time, was immediately thrown on the list. Soon also was Ryuichi’s and Shuichi’s name, their voices and charisma took all the attention in the room, constantly causing any other bands looking for their time in the spot light to quickly lose that chance at getting any attention themselves. Personally, Montoro had also wanted to kill Hiro as well. Take guitar strings and strangle the musician in a dark alley. Kuuli had talked him out of it though. Would have been too messy.

Kuuli chuckled, catching Montoro’s interest as he sat up, glaring at the auburn. “What is so funny?” He asked.

“I just realized this was all your fault. I told you to get rid of the novelist.” Kuuli waved his finger, all knowingly. “He raised up their defiance. We had full control over Tohma and Shuichi, and all our studies told us that if Ryuichi saw no hope in a matter, he too would fall quickly. But no, we only looked so far into the novelist. We only knew that he was a rape victim, thus we figured making him watch the rape of his friends, he would crack and go crazy, the chains slicing into his wrists killing himself. But not the novelist we grabbed. He went into a rage; he brought rebellion and took the others on a ride with him. Tohma protected the man, instead of falling to his knees like the whore he is. Shuichi wanted to be strong, so he would feel loved. The novelist was our demise!” He grabbed his bangs. “I fucking told you to get rid of that little shit of a fruity writer!”

“Don’t yell at me. They would have all been dead as soon as we got the threesome on video in three days. But no, you wanted Shuichi. He drove you insane with lust and caused you to desire him so much that you had to control him. Don’t put the blame on me. Your emotions made us fail. If I was in full control of the situation, we’d have hightailed it out of Tokyo, and we would be safe in another nation.” Montoro walked towards the bars, glaring down the long corridors, at the underpaid Japanese officers chatting near the only entrance. “I don’t care what happens, but I’m getting out of here. No more games, when I’m loose again, I’ll shoot all of them,” he grinned. “Do you hear me?” He screamed down the corridor, causing the officers to stare back, confused. “You can’t lock me up. Court already declared me crazy!” Kuuli laughed at his friend’s antics, planning on enjoying the days that would follow.

The mess hall was filled with chatter from all groups of convicts, except for one table that ate with an awkward silence, it already being two weeks of non-stop torture. Montoro had almost been raped by an inmate that demanded to know if the dark haired man loved it up the ass so much he had to repeat the same crime to the same people; he had felt so awkward since then. Kuuli hadn’t spoken much since they first arrived; his hand playing with the engagement ring that still remained on his fingers spoke much more. The auburn just sat there, staring at it. Here he was now, eating his food mindlessly while he gazed, half-heartedly, at the ring on his finger, and Montoro had the feeling that his friend would finally say something.

Yet, time still remained quiet, and the room quieted some, until it fell to a hushing whisper that caused the two inmates to stare up at the small television in the upper portion of the room in protective casing. Montoro scowled, wanting to turn away, but his curiosity got the better of him as one of the other inmates demanded that the television be turned up some more, which it was.

“This is Yasuhiro Tase. Today, after a tiresome month, bad luck the bad luck that has been going on in the music industry has finally turned its tables for us fans.” The television journalist spoke up, walking in front of a hospital in Kyoto. “This bad luck, as you can say, started a year ago when BAD LUCK’s vocalist, Shindou Shuichi, appeared missing for a week. A week later, NG president, and keyboardist of Nittle Grasper, Seguchi Tohma, vanished after his car exploded in the garage of the grand company.

The beginning of the last month was a horrible repeat of the year before when the two – this time including the legendary Sakuma Ryuichi, from Nittle Grasper, and award winning novelist, Yuki Eiri – were once more kidnapped by the same to men, shown here.” Montoro scowled the pictures of he and Kuuli that took over the screen, invading his personal life. “Itainu Kuuli and Natari Montoro were placed into custody by Kyoto Police a week after the kidnapping, finally being transferred to Tokyo Prison earlier last month, where they will stay for life.”

Behind me, as we can tell from the sounds of the cheering, crowds have lined up in front of Kyoto Community Hospital for novelist Yuki Eiri, who has been under hospital care for medical problems, and Shindou Shuichi, who was placed into specialized care for unknown reasons, are being released to go home. Look!” He turned as the doors were thrown opened and a group of professional bodyguards took the lead, ushering the two stars through the crowds. Shuichi and Eiri were in a hold, a loving and protecting hold as they were taken towards a car that had been brought for them.

The journalist continued talking, but Montoro no longer was paying attention, turning to make sure Kuuli was still there, but he had already left at some point. With a shake of his head, Montoro drank some of his water, drowning out the sounds of Tohma’s voice as the usually perky (even under the worse of circumstances) man explained that this recent problem would not break either bands apart, and what didn’t kill them only made them stronger. Oh yes. How he’d love to kill all of them when he got out of that god-forsaken place.

“All right, all of you line up!” The guard on duty shouted, and the groups lined up together, getting ready to go back to their cells. Montoro looked for Kuuli again, but still came up with nothing as they were led out of the room and towards the extending corridor of the roomed prisons. His was the last one near the wall, and stepping by it, he waited patiently for all the doors to open, but as they did, he made no movement to go in as his eyes grew wide with what he saw. “What’s wrong, Natari?” A guard stepped towards him, his nightstick at hand incase there was any defiance. As he stepped up against the cell, his eyes, too, grew wide with surprise. “Get a medic!” He ordered.

Sitting on the ground, with the pillow sheet wrapped around his neck, was Kuuli. The man’s eyes were closed, his face blue and losing its hue already from lack of oxygen. Stepping towards the cell, Montoro’s gaze fell onto a note resting at the man’s side, on top of it was the abandoned engagement ring hiding some of the Kanji from the note under it. Montoro used his foot to push the ring aside, gazing down at his best friend’s handwriting, and he couldn’t fight the smile that made his lips. Yes, he had a very sickening friend, and he was still proud of it.

I’ll see you again, Shuichi. Let us be together in our next lifetime.

The park had been reserved by NG for the past month, and it took that much time for this very day to be very secure. It wasn’t everyday that every band under one label got together with family and friends and just enjoyed themselves. And besides, once you were part of NG, you were part of the NG family until you either drop from the charts, or fail to meet criteria and were fired.

Sitting at a picnic table with his wife, Tohma was enjoying himself as he watched Ryuichi and Suguru play his son’s favorite game, peek-a-boo. The two year old was growing well, and Tohma could see equal sides of both he and Mika in the child’s beautiful dark eyes. Ryuichi gasped as Akari hid behind his hands, looking around in shock as he spoke to his pink furred bunny companion. “Kumagorou! Akari disappeared, did you hide him?” He asked.

“Boo!” Akari yelled, and Ryuichi mocked sudden shock, grabbing his chest. The little boy laughed at his godfather’s antics; and Tohma reassured them with a smile, turning away to face the others running about. Noriko and Mika were talking about women things, and Tohma couldn’t find enough interest to even pretend to be listening. Besides, he was making sure those that showed up weren’t out there doing something ‘dirty’, per se.

This was the second year that NG had had a ‘family’ picnic. It wasn’t that Tohma wanted the bands to all get together in a scary place with all sorts of people lining the parks and trying to get in for the shot of their lives. No, he had done this so that all the bands under his label could be together in one place, at one time, so he didn’t have to worry about another Montoro case coming up. Besides, he felt safe knowing everyone was around watching him and Shuichi.

Speaking of which. It was Eiri’s idea to do this year in a park, a certain park in the center of Tokyo, not too far from his first apartment. Personally, the only thing Tohma could come up with was that this was the place that the novelist and Shuichi had first encountered each other.

Besides, it was the least he could do. Earlier this year, Shuichi was complimented for his vast improvement in therapy, and was now back to his usual overactive self. Tohma had notice the change when he went to see how the two were doing and found that some things had returned to normal. One being that Shuichi was in the kitchen with Eiri, working on making dinner. Since the first incident, Shuichi had never wanted to go into the kitchen, and feared that it would lead to him being kicked out again. It also didn’t help matters that the boy was afraid of the kitchen when they arrived back the second time. In the end, the two had to move – again. BAD LUCK had just come back from tour, so everything seemed normal enough. Even the fact that Eiri and Shuichi were not within eye shot.

Excusing himself, Tohma started down the path, ignoring the people around him as he went in search of the two stars. Each path sprawled the large park, and the voices of the many finally quieted the further he went. Finally, where sound seemed only a background of a movie outside a theatre, Tohma heard quiet chatter, and his interest caught up with him and made him close in to hear more. Standing behind a tree, he gazed down at the two in deep conversation, looking down at Shuichi and Eiri, in a warm embrace under a tree.

“It hasn’t been that bad.” Eiri muttered, as if his mind was on other things. “We survived, didn’t we, Shu?” He smiled as Shuichi nodded, clinging onto his lap.

“I hope this part of the park never disappears, I’d don’t know how I’d react.” Shuichi whispered, taking in a large deep breath, smelling the blonde novelist.

“Really?” Eiri whispered with a gleam of mischief. “And, why, do tell, would you be upset if this place were to disappear? It doesn’t have any value to you or me.”

Shuichi huffed, reaching up and slapping Eiri’s shoulder, a grin making itself known on his face. “Meanie. Don’t you remember, Yuki, this is where we first met that horrible day when you insulted my lyrics. It started our relationship, and I don’t want it to go away.”

“I meant what I said about your words being crap.” Eiri muttered, ignoring the other playful slap to his shoulder. “Besides, that’s not the only reason this place is special to us.” He grinned and Shuichi’s head cocked to the side in confusion. “It could be worth so much more, if we mean it to.” He laced their fingers together, his index and middle paying adequate attention to the vocalist’s ring finger. Shuichi’s eyes grew larger than normal as Eiri released his hold on his hand, and he lifted it up to view what had been placed on his finger.

“Yuki, are you asking me to marry you?” Shuichi gazed up at the usually cold writer, but at the moment, Tohma could see contentment in Eiri’s face as the young blonde once more laced his and Shuichi’s fingers together and brought the smaller hand to his lips to kiss the backside of it.

“I suppose so.”

Shuichi’s eyes grew wide, as did Tohma’s, before he jumped the blonde into a tight hug. “I will Yuki! I will!” His cried out loudly as Tohma stepped back, a smile gracing his boyish figure. He was the witness of this fateful moment, and somehow he felt as though he saw something special. Something he didn’t think he’d ever see.

All their hardships had piled up, one after another. It was the price for going into the music business. Yes, the cost was huge, but the ending value was even more worth it. He had thought Shuichi would always stay in the depression over Kuuli and Montoro. He thought Ryuichi would always hate him for what had happened in Montoro’s cabin. Even Eiri had loosened up so much that the novelist seemed more human than ice. These were the things that made living worth it. The happiness that they would always meet in the end. Turning around with a smile, he wished the two luck, and went back to sit with Mika again.