Disclaimer: Gravitation is owned by some very fantastic people with 
creative minds. I wasn't there that day so it's not mine. (kidding - but 
it's still not mine)

Tabloid Romance 2 - The Prequel/Sequel


***************


Shuichi Shindou sat upon a small chair waiting patiently outside of Tohma 
Seguchi's office. His legs dangled nervously beneath the seat, his back was 
straight and tense, and his mind was drifting into nothingness, though it 
often did, so that was really nothing new. His hands were clasped tightly 
in his lap, fingernails nearly digging into the soft flesh of the palms, and 
his blue eyes met the floor as if they were the best of friends, tracing 
along the patterns of the checkered tiles, concerning themselves with the 
bits of dust that scattered along the edges. He mumbled, barely loud enough 
to hear, "I thought the janitors would be more thorough than that."


The words sounded sort of silly, but he had to say them out loud because the 
silence was driving him crazy. It wasn't pure silence, nothing like the 
quiet of the night when you're huddled in bed; after all, he could hear 
mumbling through the door. Instead the quiet was more like a continual 
drone; a slow torture. There was nothing to keep the pink haired singer 
occupied as he waited. If he could make out the words of the people in 
Tohma's office it might be more interesting, maybe his mind wouldn't drift 
off so much, but straining to listen just made it worse.


Shuichi sighed and leaned back, hoping to relax his stiff muscles. Once 
again his eyes met an old friend. The ceiling had become only too familiar 
for him since he and Bad Luck had began their music career. Shuichi could 
remember many of those frustrating nights where he would be in a situation 
much like the one he was in now. Well. Not like the one he was in now. 
This situation was special.


He groaned as his stomach filled with butterflies.


This is silly, he thought. "I'm not even here to see Tohma. I'm just 
waiting. I'm just waiting for them to come out because Ryuichi offered to 
take me out to dinner. A celebratory dinner. Nothing more."


His palms began to sweat.


Shuichi leaned forward again, resting his head upon his hands and 
unconsciously tapping his foot on the floor. He tried to focus his thoughts 
on something normal, something comforting, something...sane.


Instead he reminisced.


It had all began a couple of months ago. He could remember the exact moment 
too, the exact moment when he had fallen for....


Shuichi shook his head. Nooo. That's not true. It's not that bad. He 
thought about it once more. Ryuichi was with him, talking, as usual, about 
the strangest of things. Kumagorou was being tossed in the air like a rag 
doll, and Shuichi wasn't paying much attention.


"Of course I wasn't, I was thinking about Yuki," he muttered aloud, 
completing the thought.


Yuki. Yeah. He was thinking about Yuki and how wonderful he is, and how 
good looking he is, and how sexy he is, and then...


Then there had been one thought that tripped him up for two whole months. 
One thought that snowballed into something completely out of proportion and 
extremely stupid. What was it again? He racked his mind.


Oh, it didn't matter now. What mattered was that it was a silly idea and it 
was best to forget about it. If only he could...


Suddenly the office door swung open and two friends came out smiling and 
laughing. Shuichi broke from his daze.


"That was the best time!" Ryuichi smirked. "I remember the look on your 
face, you were so out of it!"


Tohma chuckled lightly, hoping to hide his embarrassment. "Let's not do 
that again, okay? I don't want that getting to the press," he said smiling.


The two had been so preoccupied with each other that both failed to notice 
the suddenly shy young man sitting in front of them. Shuichi stood up from 
his seat, hoping to catch their attention.


"Ah, Shuichi!" Tohma called. "Bad Luck has been very busy lately, I hope 
you've found some time to relax."


Worried that a butterfly would fly from his mouth if he spoke, Shuichi chose 
to nod with a slight smile instead.


"Good," Tohma beamed. "I hope you and Ryuichi have a good dinner tonight. 
I'm sorry I can't join you."


This time Ryuichi spoke up, saving Shuichi from filling the hall with the 
winged beasts. "That's okay Tohma! Shuichi and I will have lots of fun, na 
no da!"


Ryuichi was always full of happiness. Shuichi couldn't help but grin as his 
friend waved goodbye to the president with his small pink bunny. That 
happiness was one of the reasons Shuichi couldn't let go of his new found 
fantasies. Oh how he wanted someone to enjoy life with! Yuki barely even 
smiled at him! He looked down as Ryuichi tugged on his sleeve.


"C'mon Shuichi! Let's get going. I'm starved!" Ryuichi cried out. The 
pink haired boy barely even had time to consent when within moments Ryuichi 
was dashing down the hallway towards the exit towing a surprised Shuichi 
with him.


******


Dinner had been just what Shuichi needed to relax. There was nothing quite 
like a delicious feast to settle the nerves and clear the mind. Ryuichi had 
been as entertaining as usual, rambling on forever when Shuichi asked about 
Nittle Grasper's rise to fame. Thanks to that, Shuichi had nearly forgotten 
that he had developed a crush on his long time idol. If it weren't for the 
fact that he had to look at him, well, then it would just be perfect.


Ryuichi was finishing up another tale. This one about the time Kumagorou 
went missing prior to a concert and every person in the backstage vicinity 
went searching for the kidnapper. Shuichi giggled at Ryuichi's crazed body 
movements as he told the story. He was so cute when he got that way...


"And then they found a mysterious bag! And the security guard opened it up, 
and Kumagorou was there! I was so happy, and then we realized that it was 
my bag, na no da! I forgot that Tohma bought me a new one."


Shuichi couldn't hold in his laughter, and Ryuichi blushed knowing full well 
that Shuichi was lauging at his own mistake, but Shuichi had seemed so down.


"Ne, Shuichi, do you have any funny stories to tell?" Ryuichi asked as he 
took a sip of his tea.


The pink haired boy thought for a moment. "Not really. I haven't done 
anything fun in awhile."


Ryuichi gaped, leaving Shuichi to wonder if he said something wrong. "No 
fun? But doesn't Eiri-san take you places?"


"Well, yeah..." Shuichi muttered hoping to continue, but he didn't get to 
finish the sentence before the idol chimed in once more.


"The arcade?"


"No..."


"The bowling alley?"


"No..."


"Funky Bob's Super Happy Fun Land?"


"Uh...no..."


"He took you to the amusement park that one time, right?"


The younger boy rested his head on his hand. "That was ages ago...and he 
left without me." Shuichi frowned at the thought. "Besides Yuki's always 
busy writing. He doesn't have time to take me places."


Ryuichi didn't look nearly as convinced as Shuichi. "Yuki should at least 
treat you out sometimes, ne? At any rate, if he won't I will! Let's go 
somewhere tonight!"


Shuichi grinned and tried not to let his rosy cheeks show. Ryuichi wanted 
to go out with him! Er...wait, that didn't come out right. Ryuichi wanted 
to...be nice? Show Shuichi a good time? In other words Ryuichi wanted to 
be what Yuki wasn't. Shuichi sighed. Is this why he had fallen for his 
idol?


********


The view of the city was spectacular. Bright lights filled the horizon as 
far as the eye could see. The night air was mild and warm, and people all 
around were smiling and having fun. Ryuichi and Shuichi were practically 
floating at the top of the ferris wheel, with a stuffed pink bunny smushed 
between them. As he had suggested earlier, Ryuichi had taken his friend to 
the amusement park, and Shuichi hadn't felt this carefree in years.


Shuichi smiled as he looked at his companion. "You really don't let people 
down, do you Ryuichi?"


Ryuichi looked up and blinked. "Huh?"


"Nothing," Shuichi mumbled with a smile. He didn't want to wreck the 
moment. He was really beginning to feel more for his friend. After 
spending this short night with Ryuichi, he was starting to see that being 
with Yuki was a one sided relationship. He cared about Yuki, that was for 
sure, but Ryuichi was so good to him, and he was close...so tantalizingly 
close...


Again Ryuichi looked at the other singer as if responding to Shuichi's 
thoughts and immediately Shuichi looked down at his hands, avoiding any eye 
contact. He couldn't make this situation worse. He shouldn't. He didn't 
want to hurt Yuki. But Yuki...did Yuki even care?


Ryuichi grinned, trying to make his friend happy, but he wasn't expecting 
what was coming.


"Ne..." Shuichi began, "what do you do when you're with someone, but you're 
not sure if that's the right person for you?"


There was silence as two large orbs stared back at Shuichi. "Are you 
talking about Yuki?"


A frown stretched across Shuichi's face. "I like Yuki...but...I have 
feelings for someone else. Someone who treats me better, and cares about 
me...."


Ryuichi blinked this time, thinking over such a heavy question. "Maybe we 
should talk about this in private. Let's go someplace quiet."


********


Shuichi didn't realize how nice it was to be away from the crowds until the 
pair had left and found seclusion in a darkened park. Ryuichi plopped down 
on the grass with Kumagorou right beside him, and Shuichi took a spot across 
from the duo.


"I don't know what to do, Ryuichi. I've felt this way for awhile now and 
it's not going away."


The older boy could barely hear Shuichi's soft mutterings, but he was pretty 
sure he could make it out. "Maybe you should tell Yuki how you feel. If he 
knows you're unhappy he might ease up."


Shuichi nodded considering the words. "But, I don't like to just hide these 
feelings. It hurts."


Ryuichi leaned back and looked up at the stars, his hair flopping into a 
mess over the grass. "I have a crush on someone too, but I'm not allowed to 
do anything because that person is already with someone."


"Really?" Shuichi asked, glad that his friend sort of knew how he felt. 
"But doesn't it bother you?"


A quiet "uh huh" came from Ryuichi's lips. "I know you're with Yuki, 
but..." He stopped, realizing that he had said a bit more than he wanted. 
Instead he just hoped Shuichi wouldn't notice. He didn't seem to.


Shuichi was silent for a moment. "Ryuichi?"


"Hm?"


"You...really do know how I feel...don't you..."


Ryuichi didn't respond. He pushed himself up from the lumpy ground and 
shook the dry grass from his hair. When his vision cleared, he saw two 
glossy eyes staring into his own.


"Shuichi?"


This time it was Shuichi who said nothing. The pink haired boy moved closer 
to Ryuichi and pressed his lips against his friend's. To his surprise, 
Ryuichi made no move to stop the gentle kiss from taking it's course and he 
let out a small gasp as Shuichi finally pulled away.


It was too dark to see the colour of their cheeks, but both boys were quite 
sure they were blushing.


Shuichi was the first to speak. "I.. I know this probably isn't the 
best...but can I, can I just..."


Ryuichi nodded as Shuichi leaned in for another of the sweet kisses, this 
one more full and passionate than the last. Their tongues mingled and 
danced as the moon and stars provided the only light to their escapade. 
Ryuichi fell back to the ground as Shuichi rose above him, giving him more 
warm, loving embraces. When they finally finished tasting each other, they 
were both gasping for more.


Again, it was Shuichi who spoke. "Please don't tell anyone. Please..."


All Ryuichi could say was "I won't tell if you won't tell..."


The pink haired one smiled as he pulled more grass from Ryuichi's hair. "I 
know it's wrong, but I want to be with you. I've never felt so cared 
about..."


Pulling himself up once more, Ryuichi softly kissed Shuichi's cheek and 
whispered. "Shuichi...will you...I mean, you don't have to and all, but...," 
he took a deep breath, "would you come out with me again tomorrow? If you 
want to, that is..."


Shuichi smiled and held his new found love. "I don't think I could resist."


********


Fin. Not too corny, just simple and sweet. Hope it was somewhat enjoyable.
-Mags