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: Eiri and Shuichi set the record straight about the supposed love child
Warning: M/M, romance, angst, OOC-ness, language, character death Shuichi/Eiri, implied Eiri/oc, implied Shuichi/oc
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A/N: Thank you to ferler, fahaar, lilgurlanima, David boreanaz’s wife247, idon’tsurf, Sammy, Kaoru Sayuri Kamiya for taking the extra second to review. I originally wanted to write about Tohma’s reaction to the allegations. Of course he would be gloating, thinking he‘d won and that Eiri had indeed left Shuichi long ago, but was just using him. Yada. Yada. Yada. In the end, I decided not to. It would have been fun to. LOL. Oh, well. Anyway, enjoy. There will be some surprising revelations here.

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Chapter 43: But the Kid Isn’t Mine

He could not believe that he had to do this. Wouldn’t it be easier to just release a statement to the press announcing what a liar that crazy bitch was? Of course it would. Or at least that was what he believed. But apparently, that would not do. Oh, no. Not if you were best-selling author of romance novels Eiri Yuki.

No matter how much trash was thrown his way, it was part of his job to endure such travesties. There was no such thing as a private life when you were someone like Eiri Yuki. Every detail of his life was on display for everyone to see. Though he may not like it, he did understand that it was unavoidable for him to appear in public.

When something like this happened where he was accused of a crime he did not commit by some woman, it just reinforced his belief that women were only after one of two things: sex or money. He still thought it would have been a whole hell of a lot easier to release a statement instead of agreeing to come on national television in order to be grilled by another woman who most likely believed the vicious lies being spread about him. Of course, that was exactly why he was on national television. His publicist and agent said something about the sympathy angle.

Whatever.

If allowing the public to delve even more into what little remained of his private, personal life would get the vultures off his back, then so be it. He just wished that Shuichi did not have to be here for this. While he understood why there was a need for him to be at his side while this scandal played out, the topic of their mutual infidelity was still an open wound. Yes, it was starting to heal, but it was still too fresh in both of their minds. Having it thrown back in their faces like this was like a child picking at a scab. Pick at it too much and the wound was likely to reopen.

Taking a deep breath, he lightly squeezed the smaller, trembling hand within his and pushed on with the interview.

“Here’s a little something everyone should have learned in Health 101.”

He knew how he sounded, but frankly did not care. This was going to be one of the most embarrassing interviews he had been forced to give in his entire life, but it had to be done. Otherwise, people would continue to believe the crap that woman (what the hell was her name again?) was spewing all over the morning news programs. She’d been on all the late night shows, national radio programs and on the front page and cover of every newspaper and magazine. And it had been less than twenty-four hours since she came forward with her allegations! The bitch was like the plague.

From besides him, Shuichi gave his hand a squeeze, a little reminder to remain calm.

Calm? Yeah right. His blood pressure was sky high at this point, had been ever since a way too calm Shuichi had called him into the living room to watch something on the news.

Okay. All right.

Calm.

Calm.

Breathe in. Inhale. Hold it. Okay. Breathe out. Exhale.

Calm.

Calm…

Dammit all to hell! He swore that if he ever laid eyes on the stupid cunt bitch again he would personally make sure she had another reason for being all over the television and radio.

Okay! Okay. Calm. Calm.

“For a woman to conceive, she has to do one of two things: be artificially inseminated or have sex with her husband.” Well, any man who wasn’t impotent actually. “Our daughter,” he continued, indicating himself and the man besides him, “Sayo was conceived through in vitro with the help of a surrogate mother and that same woman has agreed to be the surrogate mother for our second child.”

“Really?”

She sounded genuinely surprised. He was not sure if he should be surprised or ecstatic over this fact. Usually, the press finds out things before he did. “Yes.”

“And what about this woman’s child? This C-?”

“I’m not sure how her daughter was conceived because I. Was. Not. There,” Eiri interrupted.

Shuichi squeezed his hand again. Tighter this time.

“So,” their interviewer said, “what you’re saying Mr. Yuki is that-”

“The kid isn’t mine.”

Why in the hell did he have to spell this out for everyone? Oh! That’s right. He’s Japan’s number one playboy. Or had been up until he met Shuichi over five years ago. Guess that reputation was still holding firm. Lucky him.

“So, you’re denying that you had a sexual relationship with her.”

Just like a member of the press. Putting words into his mouth. Bitch. This was why he preferred men to women. “I didn’t say that.”

“So you’re confirming you had a sexual relationship with her.”

Eiri had to fight not to roll his eyes. “I didn’t say that either.”

He felt Shuichi’s hand tighten around his. This time it had nothing to do with Shuichi reminding him to control his temper. Eiri reached over and covered their clasped hands with his free hand.

The woman interviewing him (he could not remember her name either), slid forward in her chair. “What are you saying, Mr. Yuki?”

Shuichi refused to look anywhere but at Eiri. His love. His husband. His soul mate. The father of his daughter. As painful as it was to sit here and hear about Eiri’s affair, to know that all of Japan was witness to the airing of their dirty laundry, he could not even begin to imagine what Eiri must be going through.

“I didn’t have any sort of ‘relationship’ with her,” Eiri was admitting.

He knew what Eiri was trying to say. Personally, he would have rather he never heard about the incident, but Eiri had insisted on telling him just went happened between him and the chick whose name he did not even know.

“So you did not cheat on Mr. Shindou.”

“I didn’t say that.”

By this time, Ms. Ajibana (whose name he was certain Eiri had quickly forgotten) was quickly growing frustrated. It was actually amusing to watch. As long as she did not direct any questions towards him, they would be fine. He hadn’t even wanted to be here, but his manager, Ms. Mizuki and their publicist had insisted. He was to play the role of “the good wife”, which was, in essence, exactly what he was. Well, more like the good husband, but technicalities aside, it was a role he did not have to pretend to play. It was something that he was. He would always stick by Eiri’s side. Always. That was what being married meant. He did not break promises easily.

They’d dealt with Eiri’s infidelity as well as his own. He’d even been able to talk Eiri into going to couple’s counseling. It had not been too difficult a task. Unlike many other couples, the two of them still genuinely loved and cared about each other. They wanted to make it work, if for nothing more than for the sake of their daughter. Besides, it wasn’t as if either of them could point the finger at the other. You do that and you have three more pointing right back at you. In the end, they’d been able to work through the rough patches. Though, he’d have to admit that with this Chiharu woman (whose name he knew Eiri didn’t know) coming forward with her claims, all those old feelings of betrayal had resurfaced.

Having Tohma come bouncing over very early this morning believing the lies being spewed across the airwaves had not helped matters either.

“Mr. Yuki-”

Eiri dropped Shuichi‘s hand and leaned forward.

Shuichi could tell that Eiri was not very comfortable with this line of questioning. He was becoming quite agitated himself. The end of this interview could not come quickly enough.

He slid closer to Eiri and draped his arm across Eiri’s back.

“Look, I’ll say this: yes, I had an affair.” With this announcement, he felt the hand on his back halt its comforting massage momentarily before continuing to rub slow, lazy circles on his back. He reached out blindly and squeezed Shuichi’s knee.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for believing in me.

Sorry you had to be put through this.

“I cheated on Shuichi-”

Shuichi winced. He’d been told not to. They’d groomed him on what to do, what to say if asked a question, how he should behave and act, but it was not as simple as they all seemed to think it was.

“-but it was more than four years ago, before we were even engaged. What happened between me and…” What the hell was her name? “-her,“ he decided, “couldn’t even be called a brief one night stand.”

Ajibana nodded, as if she’d known it all along. There was suddenly a smug air about her. “So it is possible that what Chiharu Yokuratoh is alleging could be in fact true.”

Eiri shook his head. “No.” It was something he did not even have to think over. There was no possible way he could have fathered that bastard child.

“How can you just shoot down her claim without any thought? You just admitted to having had sexual relations with her.”

Eiri could tell that his denial upset her greatly. If she was trying to make him feel guilty over abandoning a pregnant lover in favor a new play toy, then she was in for some disappointment. There was absolutely nothing he had to feel ashamed for, except for the very real fact that he’d been such an asinine idiot when he’d been unfaithful to his pink haired idiot. “Easily.”

Shuichi narrowed his gaze when out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of Ajibana leaning forward towards Eiri. All Eiri had to do was shift his gaze oh so slightly and he would get a perfect view of their interviewer’s small, but perky breasts. Bitch. What the hell did Eiri and Maiko see in women? He did not get it. When Eiri’s golden sight remained on her face instead of her chest, without any sort of strain, he could tell that it added to Ajibana’s fury. She shifted back in her seat. It took everything he had not to jump to his feet and shout out a string of embarrassing, childish nonsense. Something along the lines of, “Yuki’s mine!” Oh, how the urge was driving him crazy! When Eiri’s grip on his leg tightened, he knew that Eiri had read his mind.

He encased the hand on his thigh with his free hand.

“Mr. Yuki, you claim to have had an affair with Ms. Yokuratoh and yet claim this child, which she alleges is the product of that brief rendezvous, is not yours.”

“Precisely.” He was becoming a little tired of answering the same question. No matter how many times she threw it at him, the answer was always going to be the same.

“How? How can you be so positive about that?”

“Because, like you, I learned in health class that a baby is conceived between a man and a woman when, during sex, the man ejaculates. Sperm meets egg. Egg is fertilized by sperm and voila! You have the beginnings of a baby.” He was beginning to feel like a biology professor. Had this woman been absent that day when the birds and the bees were explained? “But this did not happen when she and I had sex.”

Unconsciously, Shuichi’s grip tightened around Eiri’s hand. He was really beginning to hate that word. Sex.

“What do you mean, by ‘this did not happen’?”

Really? Did he actually have to continue to spell it out for her? Seriously. “What I mean is that, yes, we had sex, but no, I did not ejaculate and even if I had, I would still be 100% positive that this child isn’t mine.”

“And once again I ask, how? How can you be so certain?”

“Because five years ago, I had a vasectomy.” God, he could not believe that he had to admit to something like that on national television.

Ajibana appeared to have been taken back at the confession. “A-A vas…ectomy?”

Shuichi could not stop the smirk from spreading across his face. Their interviewer who had acted as if she had known everything seemed to be at a loss. She was almost as pale and sickly looking as Tohma had been when they’d told him this morning. He was forced to cover his chuckle with a cough.

Eiri shot him an amused glance. The corner of his lips twitched in reaction. “Yes.”

“Well, uhm.” She cleared her throat violently. Shuichi suspected it was an attempt to stall. “And for those who don’t know what that is, can you explain what that means?”

“Of course. A vasectomy is when the tubes that carry sperm into your semen are cut and sealed.”

Ajibana had gone from looking as if she had seen a ghost to having the appearance of a boiled lobster. Shuichi had the distinct feeling that she had never been part of a discussion where certain aspects of the male anatomy were discussed so vividly. Just being here to witness her embarrassment was worth having to endure this public ridicule.

“So, basically,” she was saying in a slow, soft tone, “you’re saying that you cannot have children.”

Eiri shook his head. “I didn’t say that. What I am saying is that the only way I can have children is with the help of modern science.”

Shuichi nodded. Their daughter Sayo, like Eiri said earlier, had been conceived through in vitro fertilization with the help of a surrogate mother who Tohma had been able procure for them, which, given how the man felt about their relationship and about him in particular, did not make much sense. Maybe he still argued against them being together more out of principle than anything? Either way, whosever’s sperm was actually responsible for the conception of their daughter was unknown because it had been a blind insemination. Only a paternal DNA test would solve this mystery, but it was one that would remain unsolved as far as both of them were concerned.

“And if by some chance this child is mine as she claims,” Eiri was saying, “then that means someone at the sperm bank where I stored my sperm before the procedure did something they were not supposed to. Her claim will be investigated thoroughly and the appropriate parties will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

Ajibana opened her mouth to speak, but clearly was in too much shock to say anything, for she closed her mouth without saying anything.

Eiri sat back. Glancing lovingly at Shuichi- his best friend, his partner, his love, his husband, his soul mate- he entwined their hands together. With a smile, he gave his hand a squeeze. Without a single word being said between them, with that small action, an entire conversation passed.

Thank you for being here. Sorry you had to endure this.

I love you, Eiri. I’m here because I want to be. We’ll get through this together.

“S-So,” Ajibana’s weak voice broke into their thoughts. She seemed to gain strength the more she spoke. “So you’re saying that Ms. Chiharu is lying? That her claims of you being the father of her daughter are false?”

With a sharp nod of his head, Eiri agreed with her assessment. “That is correct.”

“But why would she come forward with a claim such as this that could be easily proven false?’

Eiri lifted a shoulder listlessly. “Who knows. Maybe she was under the impression that I’d just accept her claims without question. Maybe she believed that I would settle matters with her privately.”

“Like a monetary settlement in order to silence her?” Ajibana assumed.

“Perhaps.” Eiri was not going to say for certain either way what this woman’s intentions were in announcing on national television that he was the father of her daughter. It was entirely possible that she was just mentally unstable. That seemed much more likely. When you had a celebrity being accused of a crime, the matter had to be handled with kid gloves, for nothing more than the very real fact that the probability was higher that the one pointing the finger was after something other than justice. That was not to say that was the case one-hundred percent of the time, but it did happen.

It sounded to Shuichi that with this sudden turn of events, their interviewer had had a sudden change of heart. Some people just made no sense. Wasn’t it supposed to be “innocent until proven guilty”?

Then it happened. He went stiff when she turned to regard him as he sat at Eiri’s side.

Damn.

“Shuichi was not aware that I had the procedure done,” Eiri spoke up quickly before Ajibana could open her mouth.

In gratitude, Shuichi gave their clasped hands a squeeze.

“Are you saying you did it without his knowledge?”

Eiri shook his head. “I had the procedure done before I ever met Shuichi,” he corrected.

“What would lead someone to have something like a vasectomy done at such a young age? You were only, what, twenty-two when you and Mr. Shindou met?”

This was one line of questioning in which Eiri refused to be part of. The person he’d been when he met Shuichi was not the person he was now. The man he‘d been back then hadn’t wanted to get close to anyone. That would lead to the eventuality of mutual feelings forming. There would be an attachment and the possibility of falling in love. Love meant a whole new can of worms. He just hadn’t wanted to leave a legacy behind. But that was then and this was now. Actually, he’d been looking into seeing if he could have the procedure reversed.

But that was not something that she need be privy to.

“Each man has his own reasons,” he said aloud. Hopefully she would be satisfied with that answer.

She appeared to be on the verge of pushing for a more clear answer, but a motion from a woman behind one of the cameramen, she was the show’s producer, stopped her in her tracks. “Has this scandal affected your relationship with Mr. Shindou at all?” she asked instead.

Of course. This was the one question all of Japan wanted to know. “No,” he confessed without any hesitation. Eiri glanced over at Shuichi, who smiled softly and gave their entwined hands a gentle squeeze. “Like I said,” he continued, turning to face their interviewer once again, “my infidelity was something that happened years ago. We dealt with it and moved on.”

Ajibana nodded. “Do you think this will affect your reputation with your fans or your book sales? And what about Mr. Shindou. He is already on the outs with many of his fans after the news broke that he quit Bad Luck in order to form a new band. Torture is nothing like Bad Luck, right? Bad Luck was a pop band and Torture is a metal/rock band. The sudden change seems to have given many Shuichi Shindou fans whiplash. Do you think the fallout of this scandal will have any affect on him? Maybe anger what remaining fans he has?”

Shuichi was confused. What was she talking about? Quit Bad Luck? Formed a new band? On the outs? Nothing she was saying made any sense.

Eiri went cold. His golden gaze narrowed. Here was another chick who was trying to stir up trouble. What was it with the supposedly “fairer” sex? Where was she getting her information from? The tabloids? There was not a single truth in anything she said. Someone with her reputation should know better than to dig up information about someone from such sleazy trash. They cared nothing about the truth; just about money. That was what scandals did for them. They raked in the cash.

It was only when he felt light tapping on the back of his hand that he realized that in his fury, he had tightened his grip and nearly crushed Shuichi’s hand as a result. He gently squeezed the smaller hand within his in apology.

“First of all,” he spoke up. His voice was tight and low. “I could care less what happens to my reputation or if people stop buying my books as a result of something that happened four or five years ago and has absolutely nothing to do with them. Shuichi’s opinion is the only one that concerns me. It’s people right to think what they will. There is going to be some people who want nothing more to do with me after today and then there are going to be those who could care less about what I do or don’t do in the privacy of my own home.” He shrugged. “Each to their own.”

“And what about Mr. Shindou? Do you-?”

This woman appeared too eager to start something. “Look, there are going to be those who are going to criticize Shuichi for staying with me after I cheated on him. That’s a given. What I did was stupid and inexcusable and very nearly could have cost me everything. But for the sake of our daughter and the love he still held for me despite my stupidity, Shuichi was willing to forgive me and give me a second chance instead of turning his back on me and the five years we have been together.”

“But-?”

Eiri found it was becoming increasingly difficult to not jump up off the couch and leap across the stage at their interviewer.

“I did not quit Bad Luck in order to form a new band,” Shuichi spoke up for the first time. His voice was soft and calm in contrast to that of Eiri’s, who appeared on the verge of snapping. He always did have a short fuse. That was something he has been trying to get Eiri to work on.

“Shu…”

Shuichi gave Eiri’s hand a soft squeeze. “Hiro and Suguru and I…” He felt a lump form in his throat.

Eiri gaze his hand a squeeze. You can do this.

“Things happen. We grew apart. They wanted to take things one way while I headed in another. That’s just the way it is. It happens.”

“What about Torture?”

When had this become about him? He thought they were here to discuss Eiri‘s supposed love-child. “They are a group of really good guys who just happened to rent space across from me in the building where I have my studio. We started talking one day and became really good friends. We’d jam from time to time. They actually helped me when I was putting together Atrevido.”

“I didn’t know that,” Eiri said.

“I thought I told you.”

“No.”

“Oh, well, I wanted some input and they volunteered their opinions.” He shrugged. It’d actually been a big help to him, though they would claim they did nothing.

“But what about your fans?” Ajibana interjected. “Don‘t you think they feel betrayed-?”

“Why would they?” Eiri barked out.

Keeping his left hand sandwiched between Eiri’s, Shuichi threaded his right arm through Eiri’s and pillowed his head on his shoulder. “Look, Ms. Ajibana, I did not set out to start a new band. They were the ones who asked me to join them after their old lead singer quit suddenly. It was not an easy decision to make for either of us. Bad Luck had already disbanded by then. I had been dropped by NG Productions and had signed onto Sony. With the release and success of Atrevido I was an established solo artist totally independent from my past.”

Just that fact alone should be enough to remind Ajibana and the others like her that his fans had not abandoned him. Guess she forgot that little fact.

“Like I said,” Shuichi continued, “we were great friends already and we’d have fun jamming from time to time. So it was just natural. As for the question if this ‘scandal’, as you put it, will have some affect on us…” He shrugged. “I couldn’t say either way. Like Eiri said, there will be those people who will be angered over the fact that I did not dump Eiri the second I found out about the affair. They’ll say that if he did it once he’ll do it again. The fact of the matter is, I did forgive him and I did give him a second chance and I let him know in no uncertain terms that if he did ever cheat on me again, I will dump his ass so fast, it’ll make his head spin. And seeing there was no pre-nuptial…Well, I told him that he is damn sure that I will drain his bank account dry with alimony and child support.”

Eiri gulped. Funny. He did not remember that conversation. But he was not about to second-guess what Shuichi was saying. He knew with absolute certainty that he would do exactly as he was threatening. And without having to ask, he had a feeling that Shuichi was saying that the same could be said if their positions were reversed, not that he had any misgivings about Shuichi cheating on him any time soon. Shuichi was faithful to him to the core. What happened between him and that friend of his (what the hell was his name again?) had not been his fault. That bastard had taken advantage of Shuichi in a moment of weakness.

It looked as if Ajibana was going to once again press the issue but that same woman who had not moved an inch from her position behind the cameramen made a motion with her hands.

Both Eiri and Shuichi breathed an inward sigh of relief.

With a bright smile, Ajibana slid to the edge of her chair and turned towards the central camera, “I would like to thank my guests, Mr. Eiri Yuki and Mr. Shuichi Shindou for being here today.” She turned back towards them and inclined her head.

They returned the gesture.

“See you tomorrow. Bye.”

When the light above the camera blinked off, both Eiri and Shuichi breathed sighs of relief.

Hopefully that would be the end of that, but only time would tell.

---TBC---

Preview: “Requiem Mass in D Minor”

A/N: The title of the next chapter is the title of an actual song. If you are familiar with who composed it and when he composed it and take into account what has happened throughout this story, you may have a vague idea as to what is going to happen in the next chapter…Or maybe not. I may just do something you’d never see coming, something that may cause you guys to give me a lot of flack. Either way, I hoped you guys liked this chapter. On to the next!