Come What May

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation nor do I make any money from using the characters. I am a part owner of Kyosuke, though.

NC-17

If you have time, please review. Thank you!!


Note: Well, I suspect you are all angry with me for my long delay and I do not blame you. The truth of the matter is that I lost my Gravi voice for a while. Big old writer’s block about it. If you’ve never had it, I can tell you, it sucks.

Thanks to Ashcat and Kri*Kri for the beta and the pats on my head when I was having a breakdown.


Come What May


Chapter 20
Stay With You


We've been together for a while now
We're growing stronger everyday now
It feels so good and there is no doubt
I will stay with you
As each mornin’ brings the sunrise
And the flowers bloom in springtime
On my lovin’ you can rely
And I'll stay with you

Oh I will stay with you
Through the ups and the downs
Oh I will stay with you
When no one else is around
And when the dark clouds arrive
I will stay by your side
I know we'll be alright
I will stay with you…oooh…

Though relationships can get old
They have a tendency to grow cold
We have something like miracle
Yeah, and I'll stay with you

And there will be heartaches and pains, yes there will
But through it all, we will remain…hey
In this life, we all know
Friends may come and they may go
Through the years I know
I will stay

And in the end I know that we'll find
Love so beautiful and divine
We'll be lovers for a lifetime, yeah
And I'll stay with you

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


I stood in the shower and took note of my injuries. My scabbed left wrist showed signs of bruising from the handcuff, my neck and chest bore signs of Eiri love-bites and my right hip and thigh, along with my left elbow, were a mass of floor burns. Eiri and I had been rough with each other. Leaning against cool tiles, I let water freely cascade over me, feeling the sting of warm water on my various wounds.

“I’m coming in,” Eiri announced while he stepped into the shower. He gazed at me, his lion-like eyes not yet fully awake. He may be a complete grouch in the morning but fuck, is he beautiful.

“What?” He snarled at me. “It’s still too early for you to go all sappy on me.”

I began to laugh. “How will you wash your hair while I’m gone?”

“I’ll figure something out,” he said with a sigh. “But it won’t be easy.”

I stared at him. “Did you just tell me you’ll miss me?”

“Hard to miss you if I’m going with you,” he answered and then dunked his head under the shower spray.

“Eiri,” I began, trying to keep my temper, “we’ve been over this. You are staying here. You promised me.”

“So, I’ll come back in time for those damned interviews. Issue solved,” he replied, coughing with the water spray. He dropped his head towards me expectantly.

Opening my bottle of shampoo and pouring a small amount into my hand, I tried to remain our voice of reason while fighting my secret glee. “You hate traveling. You’ll be all bitchy and then take it out on me.”

“So what?” He asked leaning into my fingertips and making quiet sounds of pleasure while I massaged the shampoo into his scalp. “I’m always bitchy and I always take it out on you.”

He had a point, still… “Eiri, I don’t want you to run yourself ragged. What if you make yourself sick? I’d never hear the end of it from Tohma.”

Eiri straightened up and sneered at me. “You make is sound as if you are somehow the voice of reason. We both know you want me to go; you are just attempting to pull some noble bullshit that isn’t even heartfelt, all so you can say,” he raised his voice in a poor imitation of me and said, “I told him to stay home!” He sighed, his eyes narrowed, water coming off him in rivulets, shampoo sliding down the side of his head and onto his arm.

We glared at one another, locked in a sort of visual combat. Eiri could be such a fuckhead sometimes. Finally, I grabbed his head and pushed him back under the water, hoping the warm water caused his wounds to sting similar to mine. “This is really about Kyo, isn’t it?”

His voice was little more than a growl when he said, “Fucking right, it is. And that fucking Nakano.”

“Eiri, Kyo’s already got two boyfriends, one of them is “that fucking Nakano.” I think he’s got his hands full.” I reasoned while I worked on getting all the soap out of his hair. He’d never forget about me sleeping with Kyo, would he? I guess I couldn’t blame him, I’d be mad, too. I did wonder if he’d ever forgiven me, though. Sometimes I wasn’t certain. We were still on uneven ground.

This time Eiri actually snarled when he responded, “I wouldn’t put it past him to try and lure you into his harem. They’re all fucking perverts and I don’t trust them.”

“I see,” I smiled, knowing he couldn’t see me. A jealous Eiri always made me happy even though I also knew his jealousy could make him strange and hard to manage. “I just wanted to be clear on the matter.”

“Just finish my hair.”

While I rinsed out his hair, I tried to figure out how to broach the next subject. “About Monday, Eiri, you can’t expect me…” he cut me off before I could finish.

“Yes, I can expect you to uphold your end of our bargain. That was the deal you made. Sex in public, with at least one picture.”

“Hey… you never said anything about a picture.”

He shrugged. “Next time you’ll be more careful when you make a deal, then, won’t you?”

“But I didn’t… that wasn’t part of our…” I shook my head, realizing arguing with him wouldn’t do any good. He’d already decided what his terms were. “Tohma’ll be pissed.”

Eiri chuckled – a wonderful sound - before he said, “Since when has that bothered you?”

What he said was true, I did enjoy bugging the crap out of Tohma. Embarrassing as it sounded, tabloid pictures of Eiri fucking me would serve two purposes. We could annoy Tohma and it would certainly put some of those nasty rumors about who I was sleeping with to rest. Maybe. Of course then there would be all the speculation of me cheating on Eiri, but one battle at a time.

Reaching out, Eiri touched my already half-hard cock. “See,” he practically purred at me, “you want it, too.”

I gazed into his golden eyes, his barely tempered lust flickered there, like dry timber waiting for a spark. There was also a determination there, one I knew all too well. If he continued along this path, he would tease me all day, draw me out, and frazzle my nerves until I begged him to give me relief. There was a possibility he might not allow me satisfaction even then. He was evil, after all. I opened my mouth and said the only thing I could, “Yes, I want it, too.” And Gods help me, I did.

He cupped my face, water gently spraying us both while he said, “Stay with me.”

“Do you mean now?” He looked so serious I was confused. “Or forever?”

“Now and forever,” he answered in that weird, I’m-not-connecting-with-reality way. Sometimes Eiri’s emotional wiring gets a little crossed and I recognized that trait in him now. He was short-circuiting and for some reason, feeling desperate. He’d been like this only a few times, the most memorable was back at our beginnings, when he had wanted me to give up my career for him. At the time, he’d been selfishly irrational.

“Eiri?” I moved closer to him, feeling panic as I always do when Eiri becomes so vulnerable. “What’s wrong?”

His eyes cleared and he shook his head. “Nothing. Come on, the water’s getting cold.”

We stepped out and I dried us both, trying to hide my worry. I hadn’t seen Eiri this disconnected in a long while. Maybe instead of pissing Tohma off, I should talk to him about Eiri. One quick call before the press conference and perhaps Tohma could brainstorm a way for us to stay together. Maybe. Either way, Eiri was strung pretty tight so I all needed to be careful.

A press conference was hardly the way to go about being careful. I was glad I had a couple of days to settle him before that. Knowing Eiri in his current mood, a wrong question might be the cause of someone getting their camera broken, or worse, the beating of their life. I’d seen him do it in the past. We didn’t need any more lawyer complications in our life.

I bit my lip while my brain started to work. Tohma, should I tell him? Of course, once I did, he would orchestrate the whole situation to his satisfaction. Tohma was a force of nature when it came to figuring out everyone’s next move, he thrived on that shit. He would run damage control – if I asked him. I relaxed a little with my thoughts. Yes, Tohma was a tricky, scheming asshole, but thank the gods, he was our tricky, scheming asshole. I trusted him. Sort of. Well, to a point, anyway.

Yes, a conversation with Tohma was definitely in order. Maybe. I looked at Eiri again, he’d be pissed if I spoke to Tohma behind his back. Maybe not.

I hated being the one in control when things got complicated.


“Hey,” I said when I jumped on the couch next to him and handed him a box. “I forgot to give this to you last night.”

He stared at the box as if it was a snake. “What is it?”

I pushed it at him. “Just open it Eiri.”

He pulled the top off the box and stared at the keychain. Then he stared at me, his eyes were unreadable. “Parfait’s?” He asked, naming our favorite jewelry shop.

I rubbed a hand through my still damp hair, I felt nervous and uncertain about what I picked. I nodded. “Yeah, I had Parfait’s make it. Umm, do you like it?”

He picked up the keychain and it dangled freely from the silver chain. I held my breath while watching my stylized name spinning back and forth. Eiri looked closer at it. “It’s… not bad.” He stared at me again, his expression soft. “You did well.”

“So…” I tipped my head to the left, “does that mean you’ll use it?”

“Maybe,” he answered, but his mouth twitched into an Eiri smile.

He is so cute when he’s pleased. I jumped on him, straddling his lap but careful of his broken hand. “Thanks, Eiri.”

“Sure.” He wrapped his arms around me holding me and nuzzling my hair.

“I’m glad you are going with me,” I said with a sigh. “I know it’s selfish of me, but it just feels too soon for us to be apart.” I snuggled into his lap.

He stroked my back. “You can be selfish, I don’t mind. Are you tired?”

“Yeah,” I yawned. “You’ve been working me hard lately.”

Eiri chuckled. “More like you’ve been psychotic for so long, everything is just catching up with you. Why don’t you lie down?”

“What will you do?” I asked.

“Work a little.”

I sat back so I could look in his eyes, but kept my arms around his neck. “Do you mind if I sleep on the floor while you work?”

“No,” he shook his head. “But our room is close by. Won’t you be uncomfortable sleeping on the floor?”

I smiled. “When have I ever complained about sleeping near you?”

He reached out and caressed my cheek. “Never.”

There was that weird look in his eyes again – his desperation and fear. I fought an urge to sigh, we were still so far from being healed and again, I wondered how we would ever get over the enormous hurdles we would surely face. So far, Eiri had handled the majority of our burdens, but clearly, he had reached his limit. I wasn’t sure how much I could manage, conflict resolution was never my strong suit and I might unintentionally make it worse.

What would happen when Eiri realized I wasn’t the same Shuichi anymore? He said he knew and understood, but that was now, while he was still trying to woo me. What would happen after a few months, after the knowledge I would never be the same struck home. Would he always miss the starry-eyed boy who moved heaven and earth to be close to him? He was the same, for all intense and purposes, it was me who’d changed. Would he eventually start to resent me?

Finally, I closed my hand over his and laughed, trying to break the unbearable, gloomy mood between us. Right now wasn’t the moment for me to brood over my past. “Eiri, you must be delusional. I complained about everything.”

He blinked at me.

“Remember?” I said, moving closer to look him in the eyes, feeling my own memories roll through me. We’d never been perfect and I needed to remind us both of that fact. I kicked my voice into the whine I rarely used anymore but knew would spark his memory to life. “Yuki, tell me you love me! Yuki, Yuki! Tell me, tell me, tell me!”

There was barely a pause before he reacted predictably and shouted at me, “Shut up!!”

I closed my mouth and for about five seconds we stared at each other, his eyes now narrowed and full of irritation. I burst into laughter. “See? You do remember!”

He rolled his eyes, pushed me off his lap and stood up. “I’m going to my room to work.”

“Wait, Yuki wait!!” I laughed again and darted down the hall to get blankets and pillows. “Yuuuuuki!”

“If you call me that again, you can forget sleeping in the room with me.” He entered his writing room and nearly closed the door on me.

Standing with bedding in my hands, I grinned at him. “Deal. I won’t call you that anymore if you don’t romanticize our previous relationship. We’ve always had struggles in our relationship, Eiri, try not to forget that. It’s one of the things that make us who we are.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you just use the word romanticize in a complete sentence?”

“Yes.”

His lips twitched. “Do you even know what it means?”

“That’s my Eiri,” I was still grinning. “An absolute prick.”

“Light my cigarette,” he demanded, “then lie down and be quiet.”

I know it doesn’t sound likely, but falling asleep on Eiri’s study room floor while he worked was always simple for me. After almost two years without him, messed up sleeping cycles, and living alone, I wasn’t sure I would react the same way. The minute I pulled the blanket over me and heard quiet sounds of his one-handed typing, I felt myself immediately lulled to sleep.


My phone woke me up. I could smell onions cooking and I wondered how Eiri was managing in the kitchen with one hand. I snatched up my phone and said, “Hello?”

“Shu?”

“Hey, Hiro. What’s up?” I could hear music in the background. “Are you at the studio?”

“Yeah, Kyosuke and his band are inspired, but I had a couple of minutes so I thought I’d call you and give you my new number. The switch is supposed to happen in a couple of days. I didn’t want you to freak out if you couldn’t get a hold of me.”

“Oh.” I smiled. We both knew his story was just that – a story. I could always get his number from Tohma. He had something else on his mind, but I’d let him get to it when he was ready. I sat up and yawned. “Give me a minute and I’ll get something to write with.”

“Were you asleep?”

“Yeah.” I yawned again and then stood up. “Just taking a nap.”

“So… how did things go with Yuki? Is he staying?”

Ah, Hiro was curious about what happened with Eiri, well that made sense. “Umm, sort of.” I stretched and then moved to Eiri’s desk. “We haven’t worked out all the details yet.”

“You sound much better, I’m glad.” I could hear the sincerity in his voice. After a moment he added, “I’m really sorry about not letting you stay here. I really didn’t think Suguru would be so angry about it and I also thought Kyosuke would help… ah, well, I’m sorry.”

“Hiro, you don’t have to be sorry. Eiri wasn’t okay with it either so it’s all good. We both needed to consult everyone. When I’m alone in London, maybe I can get visiting hours.” I heard Hiro chuckle while I rummaged through Eiri’s desk drawer. No pencils or pens but there was a scratch pad. I placed the paper down and moved to the bigger drawer. There had to be a pencil here somewhere.

I listened to music coming from Hiro’s end of the phone, feeling my own muse surge inside and an overwhelming urge to visit my keyboard. I missed performing. I hummed along with the music. “Did Kyosuke write the music playing?”

“Yeah, him, Ito-san and me.”

I blinked. “What about Suguru?”

“Oh, he’s at home.”

I furrowed my brow. “He’s at home? Alone?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Why?” I chewed on my lip. “Are you guys fighting?”

“No… he said not to worry about him. We were feeling it and it’s a long drive for Kyosuke to go get him.”

That didn’t sound right to me. “What about those guys that live next door to you? You know, Kyo’s employees? Couldn’t one of them drive him? Or couldn’t he take a cab? It’s not like he doesn’t have the cash.”

“Well, I suppose he could have, but he didn’t sound like he minded.”

I sighed. “Suguru never turns down studio time. Ever. You know that, what’s going on?”

“He… but he said he didn’t…” Hiro stammered.

Interesting. I could feel the swirling currents of trouble in their relationship. “Maybe you should talk to him about it, Hiro. You know how uptight he gets about things.”

“He’s fine,” Hiro answered but he sounded unsure. “I think.”

“Is he?” I grabbed the handle on the desk drawer.

“Well, he has said a few weird things lately, but…”

Yep, I was right. Suguru and Kyosuke had little relationship experience and every relationship Hiro had been part of ended in complete disaster. “Talk to him, Hiro.”

“You think there’s a problem?” He sounded concerned.

“Just talk to him.” I gazed into the drawer and saw a paper sack and it seemed oddly familiar. My heart began to pound but I managed to keep my voice level when I said, “I think all three of you need to talk and soon.”

“Kyosuke and I are planning to leave soon. Maybe we can talk to him when we get home. If he’s still awake.”

I made sure I didn’t groan when he said that, Hiro and Kyo were making relationship rookie mistakes. They’d figure it out eventually. Maybe. “Okay, let me know what happens, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon, Shu.”

I hung up my phone and realized I’d never gotten Hiro’s new number. It didn’t matter. I carefully picked up the paper sack and peaked inside. My long pink braid, cut off in an extreme drug induced and emotional bout of selfishness, now sat swaddled in plastic and secreted away in Eiri’s office.

Eiri didn’t do things like this, at least he didn’t want anyone to know he did things like this and anyone definitely included me. When things between us were at their worst, even when we were trying to kill one another, he had kept my braid. A stupid, hopelessly romantic thing, something no one would ever accuse Eiri of doing, not anyone who actually knew him. I blinked my eyes, trying to will away the threat of tears.

He really loved me. I’d been such an idiot. This was my lucky second chance to keep the love of my life, not everyone got this. Eiri loved me, in spite of everything, I would do whatever it took to keep him and I would never let him go again.

I heard footsteps coming down the hall and I quickly returned my wrapped braid to its hiding place. I stood up, wiped my eyes and picked up my phone. He’d be irrationally furious, fueled by his embarrassment, if he knew I’d found my hair – I was determined to keep that my little secret.

“Hey, get up brat,” he said when he threw open the door.

“Do you need help?” I asked calmly.

“Yes.” He stared at my phone with open suspicion and then at me. “Did you get some bad news?” I could see concern on his face.

“Not for us, for a change.” I raised my hands and stretched, my shirt rose exposing my stomach. I couldn’t help teasing him. “I think maybe the threesome, or trio, whatever you call them, is about to fly apart.”

He watched me stretch, as I knew he would, his eyes particularly interested in my bare patch of skin. “What makes you say that?”

“They are blind idiots.” I lowered my arms and shrugged. “They have no idea what they are doing, but I can’t tell them that. It’s not like I really know anything about what they are dealing with, but I can see where they are making mistakes.” I grinned at Eiri. “And I speak as if I am the voice of reason.”

“Huh.” Eiri nodded. “Well, I suppose it was inevitable, all the more reason I should be going with you. I can see one of them dragging you into their mess of a relationship. Come on, I do need help with dinner.”

Together we made a simple curry dish and not the kind from a package. We didn’t speak much, we didn’t need to, we were beyond that initial stage of honeymoon sweetness and ferocious struggles. I was very relieved we were.

“Eiri,” I said quietly, throwing vegetables into a pan.

“Hmmm?”

“I love you.”

He paused while setting the table and gazed at me with open suspicion.

I laughed. “No, I’m not expecting you to say it back to me. I just wanted to say it myself, it seemed important.”

I stirred tofu into the pan full of food and he finished setting our table.

“I mean, I really, really love you and I’m sorry about everything. I know I’ve said it before but, Yokohama, Kyo, being so mean to you, all of it, I’m sorry. And I’m sorry about…”

“Stop your blathering, already,” he said, cutting me off with a snarl in his voice. “It’s annoying.”

I nodded and turned back to the pan. I concentrated on spooning up our dinner in silence.

Then he moved behind me, slipped his right hand around my waist, and nuzzled my hair. He didn’t say anything more, he didn’t need to, his warm body pressed against mine and his soft breath on my neck, his actions said it all. My heart constricted and emotion washed over me. He always knows what to do, and this time, while he held me so sweetly, I couldn’t stop my tears.


Our morning started out almost identically two days later, the day of Eiri’s interview, only this time he was determined to tease me and drive me crazy. Also, this time we hadn’t had sex the day before. In fact, he had been ignoring me physically for two days and I was so horny I was nearly climbing our apartment walls.

Once we were out of the shower, Eiri went about choosing my clothing. He didn’t like the skirt idea but he also understood the practicality. He picked out a subtle colored, dark-brown kilt, to match my hair, he said. He picked out a matching cheongsam shirt with short sleeves, similar to what I’d worn on our date two nights earlier.

We had a small argument over underwear – he didn’t think I should wear any but I wasn’t hearing it, after all, I would be sticky. I made him a counter offer, I told him I would go without underwear if he used a condom. We finally compromised on a thong. I finished off my ensemble with my Eiri bracelet and my brown boots.

Leaning against our bed, he watched me dress, his eyes taking in every movement, traveling over every millimeter of my body. Something about his hungry look rattled me and made me feel weak. Eiri was beautiful and hot and of course, I was simply helpless to resist, especially in my heightened state of arousal. He was relying on my weakness for him, the bastard. Not only would I let him have me in public, when he turned that smoldering gaze on me, in my deprived state, I wouldn’t care if the whole world watched.

Eiri shook his head and then sighed when he observed me. “You look ridiculous.”

“Why?” I gazed in a long mirror, turning to see myself at different angles. I thought I looked pretty hot. “What’s wrong with it?”

“You’re a man. You shouldn’t wear a skirt.”

I rolled my eyes. “You always say that right before you fuck me like a maniac until I can barely walk. You must be somewhat okay with me in a skirt. I mean, kilt.”

Sitting down on our bed, he said, “Come here.” His eyes blazed with intensity.

I hesitated.

He held up a vile of liquid. “You’ll want this, I think.”

My mouth went dry but I moved closer to him, anyway. I was completely under his spell. “Eiri, how am I going to be coherent during an interview if I’m…” I looked down while he pulled up my kilt.

“If you’re what?” He asked, slipping down my thong and then pressing my willing body across his lap. “Horny? Hard?”

“Yeah.” I shifted, my erection dug into his thigh.

“You’ve done it before.”

“When?” I complained and then caught my breath when his warm hand caressed my bare ass. I closed my eyes, imagining his searing stare. My desire increased and I gave myself up to it.

“All the time,” he answered. “Whenever you’re on stage you get hard. I’ve always meant to ask you, do you ever come when you sing?”

“No! That’s…” He was right, I was always hard on stage. I tried to explain, “…that’s something different. That’s not about sex, that’s…”

“About power.” Eiri calmly finished for me while his fingers slipped between my legs and danced against sensitive skin. “Open.”

My cock throbbed, and every thrumming of my heart made it ache more. I groaned with pleasure and reached back, wantonly spreading open my own cheeks. He wouldn’t give me relief, we both knew that, but I didn’t care.

“You dance on stage with a raging hard-on, essentially fucking thousands of people at once. Do you think all those boys and girls staring at you, screaming for you are there for only your music? You may not come, but I’ll bet some of them do. Do you insist that’s not sexual?”

Lubricant dripped on me, gliding over my exposed ass and between my cheeks. I squirmed, waiting, wanting him to touch and invade me. “Eiri…” I breathed out his name. “… I don’t want them. This, what you do, is totally different.”

His fingertip teased my hole and I had to force myself to remain motionless and not press upwards. “Are you saying that you’ll come if you’re with me?”

I swallowed. I turned my head and made eye contact. “Yes. You know that.”

“I do know that.” His eyes burned with intensity while two fingers slid inside me and I gasped with the suddenness. His voice was almost a growl when he added, “But I want more, I want you to show me.”

“I have shown you.” I managed to say. “You’ve fucked me in my dressing room a bunch of times. Backstage, too, up against the amps while Hiro and Suguru played their solos. You’ve even fucked me on a catwalk before one show. If anyone had bothered to look up, we would have been completely on display.”

I could feel his erection now, as always, there was no ignoring it. He was very hard, like a big steel bar gouging into my hip. My mouth watered with the pressure and I was overwhelmed with my sudden longing to taste him. I wanted that salty, tangy flavor belonging only to Eiri. I knew he wouldn’t let me, not yet, but still, I wanted to make love to him with my mouth. Then he moved his fingers inside me, bringing me out of my dream. He brushed lightly against my prostate and I involuntarily rolled my hips in an attempt to apply more pressure. He pulled his fingers from me and I whined in frustration.

“Tch,” I could hear his amusement in his voice, “you are so impatient and have no control.”

I felt more oil spill between my legs and I closed my eyes again, waiting. I didn’t argue, he was right for the most part. Three fingers entered me this time, stretching and filling me. I held my breath, wanting his attentions to continue but knowing they wouldn’t, I was close, so close. I rubbed almost imperceptibly against his leg and he removed his fingers.

“Wait!” I nearly sobbed. “No, please don’t stop, Eiri…”

He nudged me off his lap, tugging my skimpy underwear back into place. My hard-on ached and my thong barely covered even a portion of it. He smirked at me, wiped his hands on a nearby towel and then stood, smoothing down my kilt. Picking up his jacket, he moved towards the door. “Come on, brat. Hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

My head rolled back and I stared at the ceiling. I exhaled, trying to find my center.

After a moment, he came back and stood in the doorway. His lips twitched. “Are you coming with me or not?”

I practically hissed at him. “You are an evil, evil man, Eiri.”

“Come on.” He stuck a cigarette in his mouth, tossed me his lighter and smirked at me again. “You love it and you know it.”

I moved next to him and sparked his lighter. “You are a bastard.” I lit his cigarette and then left the room, heading towards the front door. I mumbled to myself about the long day I was facing when I heard his deep chuckle following me down the hall. His laugh was his promise to me that he wasn’t yet finished with me.

I would make certain he would never be finished with me. I’d never let him go again. I smiled with my obsessive thoughts. When I considered my rabid determination to keep Eiri forever, maybe I hadn’t changed that much after all.


TBC


Lyrics for Stay with You by John Legend.

More authors notes: By the way, chapter 21 is about half done!