The Key to My Heart

Title: The Key to My Heart: Chapter 20
Author: JadeHeart
Archived: Found on gurabiteshiyon.net. If anyone else would like it, please ask me first!
Fandom: Gravitation
Rating: R
Warnings: angst
Timeline: After the anime/manga finishes.
Characters: Shuichi/Annette (OC)
Feedback: Feedback is always welcome! If I don’t get feedback, I don’t want to continue!
Summary: Just how far would Yuki go in search of Shuichi?
Author’s Notes : A big welcome to any new readers who have just started this story, and not gone through the ups and downs of each chapter as it was dragged out!!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, they belong to the creators of ‘Gravitation’ , nor am I making any profits from this. (But Annette is all mine so hands off!)


The Key to My Heart: Chapter 20


Annette checked the mail box, pulling out the few envelopes stuffed inside. She glanced over them as she mounted the stairs. Junk, junk, bill, letter from her cousin in England, junk. Not too bad, only one bill to worry about this month.

She pushed them into her bag, rummaging around on the bottom to find her keys. She could hear singing drifting down the stairwell. She paused, listening. Her eyes widened a little as she recognized the voice. It was Shu!

She hurried her pace, still listening. She didn’t know the song, it was in Japanese, but she liked it! How did Shu know it?

She almost began to run up the remaining stairs, her tiredness forgotten. That sultry, silken voice drifting on the air spurring her onwards, growing louder as she drew nearer. He sounded so good!

She pushed her key in the lock and opened up, dropping her bag to the floor near the door. She could see Shu in the sitting room. He was pushing a mop along, almost dancing with it, hips gyrating, swinging it around like a microphone. She watched him dance with his eyes closed, and she could picture him on a stage, bright lights shining down on him.

Silhouetted as he was against the open window, with the afternoon sun streaming in from behind, it made him seem like an angel. Admittedly, a pop music angel, but an angel none the less.

She watched him breathlessly, and was completely mesmerized by his actions, as he swung effortlessly from the end of one song into the next, the words spilling from his mouth, filling the apartment, drifting into the outside air. No doubt their neighbours would complain about the noise, but at this moment, there was nothing in this world that could have made her do anything to stop this glorious sight and sound. The image of Shu, the sound of his voice, held her in place, and she felt her heart being lifted up, higher and higher, as though she would be able to touch the sun.

Watching him, listening to him, she found herself falling in love with him all over again. And yet…a small voice deep inside her whispered that he was completely out of her reach. Shu had transcended the mortal realm, and was now one of the heavenly choir. Soon he would cast off his shackles that confined him to this place, and he would be gone, leaving her behind, to only gaze at his beauty from afar.

She couldn’t stop the tears spilling from her eyes, and running down her cheeks. Tears at the beauty that was before her, at what she was hearing, and what her heart feared could not be hers.

Shu swung around in a full circle, mop spinning around with him, water droplets spraying outwards in a glittering spiral. He suddenly came to a halt, almost over balancing, as he spotted her standing silently at the door. He reached up and pulled the earphones away, turning off the ipod he had been listening to.

“Hi!” he cried as he slid across the floor to her in his sox, and caught her in a quick hug. “Oops!” he said, as the mop nearly tangled in their legs and dumped them both on the ground.

“Have a good day?” he asked, moving away to put the mop safely in the bathroom to dry.

“Yes, it was fine.” she found her voice. “What was that you were singing?”

“Hmmm?” Shu said, as he wandered back, kicking the small floor rug back into place and then moving into the kitchen.

“The song.” Annette said, leaning down and straightening the rug properly so the edges were smoothed down and making less of a trip hazard. “What is it?”

“Don’t know.” Shu said, taking the lid off the pot and sniffing.

The aroma of the curry drifted through the room, and Annette couldn’t help but pause to savour the smell as well. Hmm, chicken curry, yum!

She pulled her mind back to the conversation. Shu was busily stirring the pot, raising the spoon to his lips and taking a little taste. “How come you were singing it then?”

Shu put the lid back on the pot and leant his elbows on the counter to look at her, face serious.

“Annette, we need to talk.”

Her heart stopped for a moment. She took a calming breathe, moving to take a seat on the couch so she could still watch him from that position. “Okay. What about? Is it about last night?”

Shu nodded. “Yeah. I found out some things.”

“Like what? Good things?”

“Actually, yes.” he said with a smile, then gave a small shrug. “At least, nothing bad so far.”

“So that man, the one from the other night, he does know you.”

“Seems to.”

“Then tell me. What did he say?”

“Well,” Shu moved to walk over and sit beside her, leaning back against the couch. “He told me my name for starters.”

“Which is?”

“Shuichi Shindou.”

“Shuichi Shindou.” Annette mused on it. “It seems very formal.”

Shu shrugged. “Guess so. Perhaps because it just sounds a little strange. Though that does explain why I remembered myself as ‘Shu’. It is part of my name so I guess it was probably a bit of a nickname.”

“I think you’re right. So that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Yep! That’s all good! The other thing, and this you’re just not going to believe, he told me I belong to a band.”

“Well, of course, I believe it, Shu! Remember, that’s how we met in the first place!”

“Yeah, I know, but I mean that I belong to a good band. We’re famous.”

Annette just looked at him. Part of her nearly laughed at that statement. Shu? Famous? But then a flash of seeing him just now as he sang, how amazing he had been. Maybe it wasn’t such a silly idea at all. Maybe there was a lot more truth to it than she had at first realized.

“How famous?” she asked.

“According to Yuki, the band has been on the top of the charts for a long time. We’re one of the biggest in Japan.”

“Gosh.” she said, sitting back herself, looking forward, thinking about it.

Shu’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her against him. “I know it sounds pretty fantastic, but this Yuki didn’t seem like he was making it up at all. He said that he knows me and the band because his brother-in-law is president of the music label that promotes the band.”

“So, that song?”

Shu held out the ipod to her. She took it and read the words ‘Bad Luck’ tagged on it. “Yuki gave it to me. It’s the songs from the band.”

Annette looked up at him. “So you remember them.”

Shu shook his head, his brow creasing as he frowned. “Actually, no.”

“But you were singing, just now when I came home. You were singing along to this.”

“I know, I know I was. I don’t know why, but when I hear the music, when the song starts playing I just seem to know the words, they just come pouring out of me, I can’t stop them. But once I turn it off…” Shu held out one hand, palm up. “I can’t remember a single word of any of them.”

Annette looked at his face, seeing his worry, then glanced back down at the ipod. “Perhaps,” she said, looking back up to his face. “You just need to spend more time listening to this. Obviously you do know it. I saw you, Shu, just now. You were fantastic. I really could believe you being on stage, singing these songs. You were that good.”

He smiled down at her. “Thanks.”

“I’m not just trying to flatter you.” she said seriously, handing him back the ipod. “These songs are obviously very important to you. They were obviously a big part of your life at one time, and you do you remember them on some level. So that means that your memories are still there, and maybe they’re starting to come back a bit. If you keep listening to this, and just letting it prompt your mind, you might remember a lot more.”

“Think so?”

“Well, it’s worth a try, isn’t it?” she said, leaning up to brush a quick kiss on his cheek. Shu put the ipod back on the table, eyes remaining fixed on it. “So, do you feel like a famous singer?”

Shu let out a laugh. “Not one bit!”

Annette looked up at him. His eyes were shining with excitement again. “So, what else did this man tell you?”

“Yuki. His name’s Eiri Yuki.”

“Okay, so what else did Yuki tell you?”

“He says he knows my family. That I’ve got a younger sister, and my best friend is actually in the band with me.”

“What’s the band called?”

“Bad Luck.”

“What an odd name!”

“I thought so to. I wonder who came up with it?” Suddenly he looked horrified. “Geez! I hope it wasn’t me! What the hell was I thinking?!”

Annette giggled at the expression on his face. “Oh, come on, Shu! It doesn’t matter, does it? If you’re already famous, no body obviously minds what the band is called. Maybe calling it that actually staved off bad luck for you.”

“Hey, you might be right.” he said with a broad smile, looking down at her. “Perhaps I should say something along those lines if I’m in an interview about the band. Think it would make me sound pretty deep and meaningful?”

Annette playfully poked him in the ribs. “Only to those that don’t know you!”

Shu laughed, dropping a light kiss on her forehead. She snuggled deeper into his embrace. “So,” she said. “What happens now?”

“I told Yuki I would call him tonight.” He paused for a moment. “I need to give him an answer about letting people know back in Japan that he’s found me.”

He felt Annette tense in his arm, then relax again with a soft sigh. “Of course, you do. If he’s been looking for you, and you’ve got family back in Japan, they must have been frantic not knowing where you were for all this time.”

“I know, but it just seems so…..strange. From suddenly not having anyone to worry about except you and me, now I’ve accumulated all these other people.”

“But you can’t not tell them.”

“Yeah. That’s what I’m going to speak to Yuki about. I’ll tell him he can let them know that I’m here, and that I’m okay.”

Annette raised her head. “They’ll want to see you.”

Shu refused to look at her. “Maybe.”

“Shu.” she said firmly. He sighed, and looked down to meet her eyes. “You know they will. How could they not want to? They’ve obviously been looking for you all this time, otherwise why would this Yuki be here? You don’t think he just casually fell over you outside the club, do you?”

“No, no, I don’t think that.”

“Then stop being so selfish. He’s obviously spent a long time trying to find you and it couldn’t have been easy. You’ve got to let him know that he can call your family so they don’t have to be worrying any longer. I hate to think of what they must have been going through all this time.”

“I do feel sort of bad about it, honestly I do.” Shu said, a little uncomfortably. “But at the same time, it still just doesn’t seem quite real. It doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with me.”

Annette leant up and placed a quick kiss on the underside of his chin. “I know, but it will be alright. Even if you don’t remember straight away, being with your family and friends would have to help. It’ll be okay. I’m sure of it.”

“You reckon?”

“Sure, why not?” she said as she untangled herself from his hold and stood. She made her way into the kitchen, opening a cupboard and pulling a couple of bowls out.

“Don’t worry about it.” she said, looking over to where Shu was still sitting. “Speak to Yuki tonight, and see what he has to say. Until he speaks with your people back in Japan, he’s not going to know much more anyway. So why don’t we just take it from there when we get some more information?”

Shu looked over at her with a crooked smile. “How come you are just so damn practical?”

She smiled back at him impishly. “Because one of us has to be! If I let you worry too much, you start bouncing off the walls! Now come and eat! This smells good!”

Laughing, Shu joined her in the kitchen, and they dished up their meal. After they had finished, they quickly cleaned up before moving back to the sitting room. Annette sat on the floor and pulled out some of her study books.

“Before I get started on these, would you do something for me?” she asked Shu.

He looked up from the magazine he was flicking through. “What?”

“Would you sing those songs? The ones on that ipod?”

Shu looked at the said object still resting on the table. “Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?” she said with a frown. “Because I liked the one I heard, dummy! I’d like to hear it all the way through this time, and I think I’d like to hear any others on it as well!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be studying?” he asked even as he reached for the ipod.

“This is.”

“How do you figure that?”

“You’ll be singing in Japanese, right?”

“Ah, I guess so, yes.”

“So, I’ll say this was part of my cultural language studies!” she smiled cheekily at him.

He laughed at her, turning the ipod on. “Fine!” he said, standing up and moving to a clear space of the floor.

“Oh, hold on a sec!” Annette scrambled to her feet and raced into the kitchen. Shu watched her rummaging around in a drawer, and then she came running back to him, holding up a wooden spoon with a wide smile. “You forgot your microphone.”

He choked on his laughter. “This is my microphone?!” as he reached out and took it.

She shrugged as she released her hold on the implement and turned to sit back down on the floor. “Well, I didn’t think you’d want my hairbrush!”

He laughed again, and threw his head back, feeling nothing but happiness as the strains of the music filled the room. Closing his eyes, he let the music flow through him, feeling his body begin to move with the beat. He opened his mouth, and began to sing. In his minds eye there were flashing lights, pounding rhythm, sounds of excited screams, and the presence of two others by his side creating this maelstrom of sound.

Annette sat on the floor and watched. She could do nothing else but watch, mouth slightly opened in an expression of astonishment, of wonder. Shu was glorious, just purely and simply glorious.

He was a music god!