The Game From Hell

Disclaimer--Once again, I don’t own it.

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/What should I do? What can I do? Nothing, that’s what. Absolutely nothing. I can’t even talk it over with Hiro. If I do…I really don’t want to think about that. Who was that woman anyway? Mr. Seguchi really doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that’s easily blackmailed. I wish he would have told me what’s going on, but I understand. Who would want to talk about the reasons they’re being blackmailed with their brother-in-law’s lover?/ Shuichi paused his wonderings when he heard Eiri at the front door. The young singer went to greet his lover.

“Welcome home!” Shuichi cried, wrapping his arms around Eiri’s waist.

“Hnn.” Eiri hugged the smaller man and kissed the top of his head.

“How was your meeting?” Shuichi asked, pulling back to look at Eiri’s face.

“Horrible. That damn woman is so annoying. She just keeps pushing up the deadline.”

Shuichi hugged his lover again, silently showing his support.

“So how was your day, brat?”

Shuichi froze, and pulled away from Eiri hurriedly.

“Fine. Fine. It was just fine. I’m gonna go take a shower.” Shuichi ran down the hall into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

/What the hell? What was that all about? Shuichi always tells me about his day. Something’s going on, and I intend on finding out what./ Eiri dropped his coat and briefcase at the door with his shoes. He stormed down the hallway until he stood in front of the bathroom door. After trying the doorknob and finding it locked, Eiri began banging on the door.

“Damn it Shuichi! Open this door!”

“Go use the other bathroom! I’m taking a shower!”

“Since when do you lock the door to take a shower?! If you don’t open this door right now, I’ll break it down!”

Shuichi fumbled with the lock. The last thing he wanted was his lover to start breaking things. It would be better to just do what he asked, and face the writers wrath now, than to wait until after he had broken the door down to face it. Shuichi opened the door slowly, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Eiri stood just outside the door, arms folded and an angry look on his face.

“E..Eiri? I…I…I can explain.”

“Yes you can. And you will.” Eiri moved forwards and picked up his half naked lover around the waist, slinging him over his shoulder.

Shuichi tried desperately to wiggle out of Eiri’s grasp, but the older man was much stronger. Eiri kicked open the bedroom door and dropped Shuichi unceremoniously on the bed, the springs causing him to bounce slightly. Eiri climbed onto the bed and straddled his lover, pinning his arms above his head in the process.

“Now, tell me what’s going on, and don’t even think about lying, because I’ll be verifying your story.” Just then, Eiri noticed a bruise on Shuichi’s chest.

The bruise was a dark purple and looked very painful. Quickly releasing the boy’s hands, Eiri jumped off the bed and turned the light on, before resuming his position on the bed. When Eiri began inspecting his chest, Shuichi began to get even more nervous. How was he suppose to explain that? And with Eiri’s threat to verify any story he told, Shuichi knew involving Hiro or Suguru was out of the question. But…yes. That would work. It would have to. Shuichi cleared his throat, redirecting the writer’s attention to his face. But before Shuichi could say anything, Eiri broke the silence.

“Who did this to you? Who did this?” The look in Eiri’s eyes was murderous.

Shuichi gulped, but stuck with his story.

“Nobody did it to me. I tripped and fell on top of Suguru’s keyboard during lunch. That’s all. Don’t get so worked up. It’s just a bruise.”

Eiri grabbed Shuichi’s chin and made the singer look him in the eyes.

“Don’t lie to me Shuichi. Who did this to you?” Eiri’s expression told Shuichi that he better tell the truth, or face the consequences.

Shuichi took a deep breath and silently begged the man’s forgiveness.

“I got in a fight with Mr. Seguchi. It was completely my fault. I attacked him first. We’d been working on the song for so long, and then he just up and tells me it’s the worst he’s ever heard, and…” The rest of whatever story Shuichi might have come up with was lost, as Eiri stormed out of the room.

After a few moments of silence, Shuichi could hear Eiri yelling at someone, presumably over the phone, since the other side could not be heard. After a few moments of angry exchange, Eiri slammed the phone back in it’s cradle, and marched back to the bedroom. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. Shuichi crawled over to him, setting a hand on his shoulder.

“Eiri? Eiri? Is everything okay?” Shuichi briefly wondered if his story had been verified, and gulped.

“Put some clothes on, Shu. You’ll catch a cold if you walk around the house like that.”

Shuichi looked down at the towel around his waist. He sighed and moved off the bed, walking towards the closet. He pulled out a pair of old jeans and a black tee-shirt and put them on hurriedly. When he was finished changing, he sat down next to Eiri on the bed. Eiri slipped his arm around his boyfriend’s waist and pulled him close. The events of the day finally caught up with Shuichi, and he began to cry. Eiri pulled him closer and stroked his hair. Twenty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. After telling his lover to stay put, Eiri left the bedroom, hands clenched at his side.

Shuichi stayed where he was until he heard raised voices coming from the living room. Deciding to try and find out what exactly was going on, Shuichi left the bedroom and ventured down the hallway. The closer he got to the living room, the louder the voices became. When he got close enough to place names to the voices, Shuichi was surprised to hear Eiri and Tohma yelling at each other. Eiri was yelling at the president for hurting Shuichi, and Tohma was trying to defend himself, but wasn’t denying it. That really surprised the singer. He would have thought Mr. Seguchi would have denied everything, knowing Eiri’s temper. The argument got more heated, and Shuichi rushed into the room just in time to see Eiri punch Tohma in the face. Tohma fell over, hitting the coffee table on the way down. Eiri must have heard Shuichi gasp, because he turned to look at him, before turning back to his fallen brother-in-law.

“If you ever, ever hurt Shuichi again, I will beat you to within an inch of your life. And don’t think I’m joking, or that you can get away with this shit because you married my sister. You can show yourself out.” Eiri stomped out of the room, dragging Shuichi with him.

Tohma sat up and touched his left eye gingerly. OW! How was he going to explain a black eye? Tohma stood and walked towards the door limping slightly. The keyboardist opened the front door and walked out, sure to close it behind him. /That’s the second time I’ve had my life threatened today. And it’s probably not the last. Mika won’t be very happy when I’m home late and beat up. Oh well. It could be worse. It’s only a black eye./

Later that night, as he lay in bed wide awake, Shuichi thought about what had happened that day. Finishing the recording, eavesdropping on the president, lying to Eiri, and Eiri punching Mr. Seguchi. Shuichi didn’t know what to do. He really wanted to help Tohma, but couldn’t think of a way to do it without telling anyone else. Just before he drifted to sleep, he had an idea. Shuichi smiled and fell asleep, promising to tell the president his wonderful idea in the morning.

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Tohma rubbed his chin in thought. The idea was a good one, to be sure. But would it work? He couldn’t be sure. He really didn’t want to take any chances with Mika and Eiri being the ones to take the fall. Tohma looked at Shuichi. He was serious. If only he knew, he wouldn’t be so serious about helping him. He would probably help that psycho woman. Tohma shook his head to clear it of those thoughts. Best not to think about it.

“You know, Shindou. It might just work.”

“I’m glad you like it. Let’s get started right away. If that woman ever found out what we were doing she might…”

“I might what?”

The two musicians froze at the voice that came from the doorway. Turning away from the table they were leaning over, they faced the office door. Dark eyes glared out from under dark bangs. Shuichi gulped and back himself into the table. Tohma’s eye’s were locked in that dark gaze.

“I was on my way over to collect my check, when to my surprise I hear voices inside the office. And what are these voices talking about?” The woman had gradually been walking forwards and she now grabbed Shuichi’s chin, hard. “Plotting a way to get rid of me. How rude!” She threw Shuichi to the ground roughly. She then turned her attention to Tohma. “You should have known better Mr. President. I’m not the kind of person to take kindly to insult. Well, well, well. What have we here?” She touched Tohma’s left eye, none to gently. When she saw his face distort in pain, she laughed. “Did Mika hit you? Or was it Eiri, perhaps?” The woman just laughed even harder. “Now, it’s time for you to be punished Tohma.” The lady reached into her coat pocket and brought out a handkerchief, placing it over Tohma’s mouth and nose. “Now be a good little boy and take a deep breath.” Tohma hesitated for a moment. She slapped the side of his head hard. “Breathe it in.” Tohma did as he was told. A few seconds later, he fell to the floor, unconscious. The woman moved over to where Shuichi still lay on the ground. She placed the handkerchief over the singer’s face and gave the same instruction. Shuichi obeyed without hesitation. Seconds passed before Shuichi’s head dropped to the ground. The woman smiled evilly. “Now to pay a visit to my favorite romance novelist.”

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So? Was it good? Bad? Should I continue? Review!