The Key to My Heart

Title: The Key to My Heart: Chapter 22
Author: JadeHeart
Archived: Found on gurabiteshiyon.net. If anyone else would like it, please ask me first!
Fandom: Gravitation
Rating: R
Warnings: angst, bad language
Timeline: After the anime/manga finishes.
Characters: Yuki/Tohma
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 : Okay, I had another thought, so this is it! No guarantees they are going to keep going, so please still expect some delays between chapters. Hi, to Dannielle, tama-sama and Aurora – glad to read that you are enjoying it! It’s always good to hear from you, Reyn, and nice to read a review from you, chocho! To all the rest of the readers, trust you are still enjoying the story, despite it getting so much longer than the single chapter it was originally written as!
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, they belong to the creators of ‘Gravitation’ , nor am I making any profits from this.

The Key to My Heart: Chapter 22


“Hello?” Tohma’s calm, quiet voice crackled over the line.

“Tohma.” Yuki replied, taking a deep drag on his cigarette.

“Eiri.” Yuki could hear the warmth infuse Tohma’s previously neutral voice. “I have been wondering about you. You haven’t called for the last couple of days.” There was a touch of a scolding there.

Yuki blew out the smoke in his lungs. “What are you? My mother?”

“Sometimes, Eiri, that’s exactly how I think I feel. If only you weren’t such a wayward child.”

“Humph!”

“Well, enough of the banter. I gather something must have happened?”

Yuki took another drag on his cigarette, leaving Tohma to wait. He knew he would. Tohma was an extremely patient person, when he wished to be. In Tohma Seguchi’s case, the mountain would come to him, simply because it would get so fucking tired of waiting for the reverse to happen!

“I’ve found him.” He heard the quick indrawn gasp at the other end.

Huh, he thought with some satisfaction. He had finally managed to surprise the great almighty Tohma Seguchi!

“Truly?”

“Do you think this is something I would fucking make up!” Yuki growled.

“No! No, I’m sorry, Eiri. Forgive me for that foolish remark. Of course, you would not. Where did you find him?”

“He’s working at a club here.”

“Singing?”

“No, as a fill in DJ. I think he’s got some other part time jobs as well, but I’m not sure.”

“When did you find him? No,” Tohma continued before Yuki could say anything. “Let me guess. It was two nights ago, correct?”

“Yeah. How did you know?”

“Because that was when you stopped calling. Didn’t I ask you to call me every night? You made me extremely worried.”

“Huh!” was all Yuki said in response.

“So, how is he?”

“You mean, besides him having fucking amnesia?”

“So that is true?”

“Oh, yeah. Big time.”

“Does he remember anything?”

“No.” Yuki replied sharply, the thought still hurting him.

“So, he doesn’t remember anything at all?”

“Not a thing.”

“Ah. That is a pity.” Tohma’s voice trailed off. “But you have had the chance to speak to him?”

“Yeah, last night.”

“What did you discuss?”

“I just told him his name, and that he was in the band. A bit about his family.”

“But nothing about….you?”

“Nothing to say.”

“Eiri,” Tohma’s voice was sympathetic. Yuki clamped his hand around the phone. He didn’t want Tohma’s fucking pity. “Will you be seeing him again?”

“Yeah. Tonight.”

“How did he react to the news? Of who he was?”

“How do you fucking think! He didn’t believe me. Shit! I wouldn’t have believed that crap story in his shoes!”

“It does have a little of the Cinderella complex to it, I suppose.” Tohma stated calmly. “But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.”

“Huh.”

“Anything else?”

“I left him an ipod of the band’s music. He said he’s listened to it, but I don’t know if it meant anything to him.”

“It may have started some train of thought for him. I know how powerful music can be.”

Yeah, that was one thing that Tohma Seguchi had so much more in common with Shuichi Shindou than Yuki could ever have. That love of music, the chasing of that muse. In a way it was funny, just how much the two of them were alike, and yet they couldn’t stand each other. Yuki found it more than ironic at times. It was almost as cheesy as some of the plots of his novels.

“He’s given me the go ahead to tell his family, and the rest of the band.”

“So, he doesn’t mind meeting them?”

Yuki half shrugged, stubbing out his cigarette. “Don’t think he really wants to meet them, but at least he seems to accept that he’s going to have to.”

“Do you want me to call his family?”

“Yeah. It’ll probably be better coming from you. You’re not the perverted bastard that’s been screwing their son.”

“Eiri, I’m sure they don’t really think of you like that.”

“You think so?” Yuki responded sarcastically.

“Have they ever said so?”

“I avoid having much to do with them if I can help it.”

“Then perhaps that is the problem, and you should try harder. I’m sure that Shindou would appreciate your efforts on that front.”

“Not exactly a concern at the moment. He doesn’t remember them, let alone the fact he was shacked up with me getting fucked silly.”

“Don’t be crude, Eiri. It doesn’t become the situation.”

“Fuck the situation!”

“Eiri, take a breathe, and calm down for a minute. You’re not helping matters here.”

Despite his automatic response to go against Tohma’s advice, Yuki did as suggested. Tohma was right. He was being a prick about the whole thing. He had things to sort out before he went and saw Shuichi later on.

“Okay.” he said in a slightly calmer tone.

“Feeling better?”

“Sound that smug, and I’ll hang up.” Yuki threatened.

He heard Tohma’s soft laugh. “At least you sound a little more normal now. Getting back to business, I shall call his family and determine what they wish to do. If they wish to go immediately to Canada, I with make the necessary travel arrangements for them. Do you think it would be a good idea?”

“Why ask me? I have no idea.”

“What sort of mind is Shindou in?”

“Fucking Shu Chan’s!” Yuki grated out, pouring himself a double scotch.

“Pardon?” there was only confusion in Tohma’s voice.

“Never mind. Long story.”

“Eiri, can we try and stay on track here? I really do need to know all the facts if I’m going to try and do anything here to help.” Tohma sounded a little pained.

Yuki took another deep breath, hands searching for his cigarettes. “Shuichi’s pretty settled here. He’s been working, he’s got his own apartment that he’s renting. And he’s got a girlfriend.”

“A….girlfriend?”

This was a fucking amazing night. For the second time in his life, Yuki had not only surprised Tohma Seguchi, he had actually made him speechless!

“Yeah. A girlfriend. And we’re not talking platonic, judging from the way they acted together.”

“My. That is a…surprise.”

“Aint it just.”

“What is she like?”

“I don’t fucking know. I only saw her for a few moments, and it was dark.”

“I see. Do you think that she would be willing to return to Japan with Shindou?”

“Guess that’s up to the two of them to sort out.” Yuki noticed that the hand holding his cigarette was shaking. Determinedly he forced it to steadiness.

“Hmm. I guess I should warn the family of this development. Just in case.”

“Will you talk to Nakano and Fujisaki?”

“Yes, I’ll talk to them directly. They will both be very glad to hear this news. Did the injuries Shindou sustained have much effect on him?”

Yuki thought back to the scars, the limp. What else was there that he didn’t know about? Apart from the amnesia. “Some. Don’t know how much though.”

“Then I’ll let everyone know to expect some changes. It is best to prepare them before hand, so the shock wont be too great.”

Tohma’s tone changed again, becoming more brisk and efficient. “I’ll sort things out from here and speak to the necessary people. I’ll call you tomorrow once I have some idea of what we need to do. By then you may have some further information from your meeting with Shindou.”

“Don’t bank on it. I don’t think he was that keen to see me again.” Yuki said shortly.

“I’m sorry.”

Yuki steered the conversation away from that painful topic. “So how have things been back there?”

“Oh, they are still going quite well. Though admittedly, we probably wouldn’t be able to keep up this ruse for much longer.”

“I’m just surprised you managed to pull it off in the first place.”

“It’s amazing how easy it is to delude people, if you have the right resources and can manage it well.”

“You are a fucking megalomaniac.”

“No. I just don’t believe in leaving things up to others, if you want the important things done properly. We were able to leak out at the start of all this, that you were going to be gone for a while doing some research for your next book. Your publishers were quite happy to support that story.”

“So what did you do, to get them to go along with that?”

“Nothing.”

“Really.” Yuki’s tone indicated his disbelief.

“Really. Denying it, would have served them no purpose. Supporting it, keeps the public’s interest alive. That incident in New York at the book store only helped cement that, as I knew it would.”

“I can’t help but think you bloody arranged for that to happen. It seems too much of a coincidence since it fell so perfectly into your plans.”

“It was about time we had some luck on our side. If you remember rightly, things were looking rather bleak just then.”

Tohma was right about that.

“I just ensured that since it had occurred, that we made the most of it and got the most out of it. There is no point turning away a gift that is presented to you, when you know that it is exactly what you want and can use.”

“Still seems too fucking convenient.”

“Think what you like, Eiri. I’m not that powerful.”

“Oh, you don’t think so? Says he, who has contacts in the FBI, and can get a major publishing company to beg at your feet to do whatever you tell it to do.”

“I merely pointed out the benefits to themselves in supporting the cover story.”

“You really should get out of the habit of threatening people. One day, they’ll come to their senses and realize that it is a threat, then what would you do?”

“What ever is necessary.” Tohma replied perfectly calmly.

“Yeah, that’s the fucking scary part.”

“Power doesn’t have to be a bad thing, Eiri.”

“No, it just leads to corruption.”

“So you believe that absolute power corrupts absolutely?”

“Don’t you?” Yuki challenged him.

There was silence for a moment, then Tohma spoke. “Per…haps.” It was a grudging admission. “But then again, without the power, I could not achieve all that I have. So some sacrifices have to be made.”

“Do you care what, or who, the sacrifices are any more?”

“I always have, Eiri. I always have.”

“So, how have you kept the press quiet about Shuichi? The paparazzi may be a collective in their stupidity, but they’re not so brainless that after six months they might not be starting to figure things out.”

“Actually, that hasn’t been that hard at all. As you stated, they can be very simpleminded, and so it is just a matter of…manipulating that.”

“Just what did you do?” Yuki questioned, eyes narrowing, beginning to have a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

“Shindou’s trip over there was not publicized in the first place, so there was nothing to connect him to the crash at the time. I made certain of that. Before speculation could begin, I ensured that the story was leaked that you had left for the US to conduct your book research. It was then easy to say that Shindou had gone with you, combining a holiday and work in assessing the US market to promote Bad Luck. So it was not looked upon askance in Japan that you both were no longer visible over here. They actually wrote a few very romantic pieces of dribble about the two of you going off on a romantic getaway, with a secret love nest and so on. I do believe that one even went so far as to say that you planned to propose to Shindou during the trip, which is why you were in the US, so you could be legally married.”

“Where did they get that shit from?!”

“Probably from the doctored photos I sent anonymously to one of the tabloids.”

Yuki choked on his drink, spraying the scotch across the floor. He coughed and coughed, thumping himself on the chest, trying to find a way to get some oxygen into his straining lungs.

“Eiri? Eiri?! Are you all right? Speak to me, Eiri!” Tohma’s voice was a little frantic.

“You…did…fucking…WHAT?!” he just about screamed out.

“Well, I had to ensure that this deception stretched out for as long as possible over the time it’s taken. Without information coming to them supporting it, they were just as likely to begin to get restless and start to dig around, which I did not want occurring. So I arranged for some doctored photos showing you and Shindou in some unknown and unrecognized location. They were artistically blurred so you could not make out any distinguishing landmarks. They show you both enjoying your holiday in a very romantic manner.”

Yuki was still stunned. He couldn’t believe Tohma had done that! No. Correction. He could believe that Tohma had done that! It was just the sort of thing Tohma would do, the attention to detail that he applied to everything that he did. Yet, still, Yuki was just stunned.

“Eiri, are you still there?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m here.”

“I am sorry for not speaking to you about this earlier, Eiri, but I thought you had enough to worry about, and this I could do for you. It was the only thing that I could think of to help make things a little easier for you.”

“You do think of everything, don’t you?” He didn’t know whether to be angry, or not. What was the point in getting angry at Tohma anyway. He never paid any attention to it, and would still just do whatever he thought was right. “Forget it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Look, I said forget it.” Yuki growled out. “Call me when you’ve got things sorted out.”

“I shall. Take care tonight, Eiri.”

“Yeah.” and he hung up.

He should have realized that Tohma would have been up to something. Yuki had been ignorant to not have realized it. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts, and what he wanted, that he hadn’t given a second thought to what might have been going on back in Japan. He hadn’t thought about what his editor and publisher would be thinking, how they would react. He hadn’t considered how the legions of ‘Bad Luck’ fans would react to Shuichi’s sudden absence. He just hadn’t thought about any of it.

However, Tohma had. Down to the last detail. He knew he should be grateful for all the effort that Tohma had obviously put into maintaining this cover story. Not only to maintain it, but to keep it successfully going for the past six months. No-one could ever accuse Tohma Seguchi of not being on the ball, all the time.

He looked at his watch. It was too early for him to go and meet Shuichi. He glanced down at his shirt. His little accident with his scotch earlier has left it spotted. Damn Tohma for making him do that! Now he was going to have to change again!

He angrily stripped off his shirt and pulled another one from the closet. Hopefully, this one would not suffer the same fate! He lit another cigarette. There was one other person he should phone. He picked up the handset and dialed.