Kin no Shuichi

Kin no Shuichi
Written by: Chochowilliams
Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation or the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Summary: Shuichi and Eiri are working things out after a mistake on both of their parts nearly ended their five-year relationship. But what about Bad Luck? What does the future hold for them?
Chapter Summary: Bad Luck gets an offer to be on a movie soundtrack
Warning: M/M, romance, angst, OOC-ness, language, Shuichi/Eiri, implied Eiri/oc, implied Shuichi/oc
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A/N: Thank you to lilgurlanima, sun‘s and stars, Acherona, Sammy, Kaoru Sayuri Kamiya for your reviews. I always love hearing from you guys especially when you have such strong opinions about the turn in the storyline. I LOVE it! Thank you! Thank you! Please, keep them coming. Ramble away if you please. Complain about how idiotic they all are! Whatever you like because I love it all! Now. On to the story.

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Chapter 19: This Could Be It

The phone rang.

Downing the last of his milk, Shuichi grabbed the cordless phone extension off the wall mount on his way to the kitchen sink. “Hello?” He set his now empty glass into the sink. “Oh, hey, Mr. K.” He went still. “I’m not late am I?” He breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted was to have his insane manager bust into his condominium with all guns blazing. Especially now that he and Eiri had a little girl. “…Uh, no, no, that’s alright,” he insisted nervously. He cleared his throat. “So, what’s going on?” There obviously had to be a reason for his crazy assed manager to be calling him at home. “…Coming in? I was just about to leave actually…No, not today. Why? What’s…? What?! Oh, wow! Seriously? Oh, my God…Yeah, sure. I’ll leave now…Yeah?” He frowned. “…Black Cat?” The name did not sound the least familiar. “Oh! Him! Yeah. Yeah. I came to the studio early yesterday and ran into him and he said he had some songs he wanted me to listen to…Well, yeah. If I didn’t take them someone else would have...I know, but Mr. K, you have to take a listen to these songs! They are perfect! …What?” Shuichi was not at all surprised that Suguru and Hiro wanted nothing to do with the songs Shinya had him listen to yesterday. It was something he had expected. Sometimes, he hated it when he was right. He slumped down onto one of the bar stools. “…So now what?” He scrubbed his free hand over his face. “…Yeah. I will. Thanks, Mr. K...I will. Bye.” With a sigh, he pushed the talk button to end the call.

“Who was that?” Eiri asked as he stepped into the kitchen with their sleeping daughter in his arms.

“Mr. K.”

“And?” Eiri prodded.

“He said something about getting an offer to appear on a movie soundtrack.”

“You guys’ve never been on a soundtrack before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So…Why the enthusiasm?”

Shuichi smiled halfheartedly as he stood up and replaced the phone. “Apparently Hiro and Fujisaki aren’t too happy with me.”

Eiri sighed. “What you do now?”

“Nothing!”

“Uh, huh.” He should believe that why?

Clasping his hands behind his back, Shuichi studied his slippered feet nervously as they dug into the travertine-tiled floor. “Well…”

“Yes?” Eiri prodded.

“Well …”

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Eiri had a headache by the time Shuichi was finished with his explanation. “So, let me get this straight,” he said as he stepped out of Sayo’s bedroom. He shut the door quietly behind him. “You agreed to do these songs without consenting Nakano or Fujisaki or your manager or producer.”

Shuichi turned red.

Eiri sighed as he pushed through the door into the living room. “Even knowing full well that Nakano and Fujisaki would be against recording them?”

Shuichi did not understand why he was the bad guy. There was no way he was going to change his mind. Those songs were his whether his fellow band mates liked it or not. Shinya wrote them especially with him in mind and he intended to record them. Suguru and Hiro could swallow their pride or get the hell out of his way. “So?”

Eiri rounded on Shuichi. “Shuichi. You are not a solo artist. You are part of a band. Meaning, you have to think about the others.”

“I know that Eiri! But-!”

“But what?” Eiri bit.

Shuichi flopped down onto the sofa. He dropped his face in his hands. Okay, so he wasn’t the reddest apple on the tree. So sue him. Maybe he should have waited to discuss the possibility of recording those songs with the others, but the instant the beats had filled the studio, he had known two things. One; the others would be vehemently against putting these tracks on their next album. Two; that those were the ones. Those songs were his. He had to do them no matter what. It was the same feeling he had when he first met Eiri. He had known that this man was the one; the one he was going to spend the rest of his life with. It was not something he could explain adequately enough in words. It was something he just knew.

If it were up to Suguru, they would put out CD after CD of the same old stuff they have been putting out for the past five years. Truthfully, he was sick of the old stuff, especially the new stuff that sounded a little too like the old stuff. While he was proud of all they have accomplished and of how far they have come, there was only so many times you could sample your own songs before it just got old. He used to blast the radio every time one of their songs came on. Now, he had to turn to another station. He could not stand even listening to them anymore let alone sing them. This was why Bad Luck has not performed live in some time. He just could not make it through a set.

“I can’t.”

Eiri perched on the arm of the armchair. “Can’t wait?” When Shuichi raised his head, he was shocked to see that Shuichi was crying. “What the hell are you crying for now?”

Shuichi choked on the words. He did not want to say it. If he did, it would be real and he did not want it to be real. “…If things do not change…”

“What,” Eiri breathed softly.

“Will you hate me, Eiri?” Shuichi stared into those golden eyes.

Eiri frowned. “For what?”

“…For quitting Bad Luck?”

In the time it took his mind to wrap around what it was he just heard, eternity came and went. Or so it seemed. In actuality, only a hand full of split seconds elapsed.

Quit?

Like the rest of Japan, he had heard the rumors making the rounds. Things were not well in paradise. Guess the masking tape was not holding the shattered harlequin mask together any longer. The false façade the band brought forth to the public for the last couple of years was beginning to slip. Shuichi had assured him that despite all the talk, despite the strained relations between him and the others, they would work everything out in the end. Just like they always did.

“…What about the contract you signed?”

He knew the members of Bad Luck squabbled. Mostly over small, stupid things. Never did he think things would progress this far. What could have happened to push Shuichi into mulling over such a drastic course of action?

If Shuichi quit Bad Luck, what was he going to do? Go solo? Or stop signing all together? Either way, Eiri would support him. Not like they would be strapped for cash anyway. Both he and Shuichi were pretty well off financially. He could never sell another book, everything connected to Bad Luck could vanish overnight, and they still would not have to worry about money. Even if things did become a little tight for a while after Shuichi quit his job as the lead singer for Bad Luck, he would still support Shuichi. There was no way he would be able to live with himself if he forced Shuichi to do something he did not want to do. For once you start to make excuses to avoid going into work, it is time to start looking for a new job. However, would Shuichi be able to live with his decision?

“It expires in a couple of weeks.”

Meaning Shuichi was free. He could renegotiate a new contract with NG Productions or play the field. What would he do? On the one hand, NG Productions took them in when nobody else would even give them the time of day. They were the ones who took a chance by signing Bad Luck. They molded them, sculpted them, and trained them. NG Productions made Bad Luck and Shuichi Shindou who they were today. Staying and renegotiating their contract with NG Productions could be a good thing for the trio. Bad Luck could demand more control and say over their careers. On the other hand, moving to a new record company could have the same added benefits. Any record company in Japan would sell their first born in order to have Bad Luck on their record labels. If a struggle broke out between NG Productions and some other record company, Bad Luck would wind up the big winner in the end. The question was would Hiro and Suguru be at the bargaining table with Shuichi?

“…Eiri?”

Eiri turned his gaze away from the sight of Tokyo at the whispered voice of his husband. “Do what you want.” Whatever stops those tears and brings out that contagious smile.

“But…”

Pushing out of the armchair, Eiri crossed the room to sit besides Shuichi on the sofa. He took Shuichi’s tear logged face gently in his hands. “I hate to see you like this. You know that.” He swept at a stray tear with his thumb. His heart ached whenever he saw his baka struggling like this. Because there was nothing he could do, it just made him feel twice as bad.

Shuichi sniffled.

“Do what you must.”

“Really?”

Eiri nodded. “Yes.” He brushed their lips together. “Sometimes you have to be a little selfish.”

Shuichi scrubbed at his wet face. “And you won’t hate me?”

Eiri shook his head in denial. “Never.” Reaching out, he gently ran the back of his hand up Shuichi’s cheek. “I could never hate you.”

Despite the tears that continued to flow no matter how hard he tried to stop them, a smile broke out across Shuichi’s face. “Thank you, Eiri. I love you.”

“I know,” Eiri whispered back as he lowered his head.

---TBC---

Preview: “Clarity in the Face of the Unknown”

A/N: Awe! Once again, I am in awe of Shuichi and Eiri’s loving interaction even after everything that has happened. Then there is Bad Luck. Things are still not going too well there. Will they kiss and make up?