Hear Me Out

“I still don’t see what the hell all this fuss is about, this ‘Bad Luck’ guy can’t be all that.”
“Oh, but he is! And he’s dating the most famous novelist in Tokyo!”
“Right, and I’m a purple flesh-eating bunny sent from the depths of hell. You know their relationship is totally bogus.” Keiko rolls her eyes and finger-brushes her long hair, pulling a hair tie off her wrist with her teeth and tying her hair with it. She and her friend are just leaving the school, shoving papers in their bags as they walk; they were the last in the school to leave. Her friend Yui stops and squeals like the total fan-girl she is, staring at a purple and black poster on the wall.
“See, see! There he is, Shindou Shuichi,” she gushes and points at the slightly provocative poster in the school hallway. The low-rise black leather pants were plastered to his skinny legs, leaving little to the imagination; his leather jacket was open to his pearly chest and reveals one shiny black cross, low on his chest. His bright, neon pink hair contrasted with the purple background and his amethyst eyes, BAD LUCK printed in big letters next to his raised arm. Below that it stated a concert date.
“Live at the Roxtar Lounge, September 15th…that’s tonight,” she mutters. Yui nods enthusiastically.
“I’ve got two tickets, and backstage passes, but my friend bailed on me. You wanna come? Please, you’ll see how incredibly awesome Shu-chan is,” she pleads. She folds her hands together under her chin and pouts her bottom lip.
“Fine. But only because I have nothing better to do.”
“Yay!”

---

“Gosh, why’d we have to be here an hour early?”
“So we can find good spots. You need to get there early so we can get close to the stage. Hopefully there’ll be a couple nice guys near us so we don’t get jostled,” Yui explains.
“Jostled…from what?”
“Some idiots like to form a mosh pit sometimes. You just need to remember to keep your elbows out so you can just shove ‘em off.”
“I feel so safe now…”
“Oh, don’t worry. That’s why they have security guards. Mosh pits aren’t allowed unless the lead singer says so.”
“Joy…”
Someone turns on some music to the big speakers on either side of the stage, some alternative pouring out. Keiko and Yui lean against the catwalk they were standing next to, a perfect spot; if Shuichi decides to walk out, they’d be right next to him. “Ooh, I’m so excited!” Yui squeals and laughs. Keiko rolls her eyes.
“Whatever. So who’s the opening band?”
“There’s two,” Yui replies.
“That doesn’t answer my question --and wait, two?”
“Yeah, they’re so awesome they get two.”
“Huh…”
“It’s some local band trying to get recognized and a random NG band I haven’t ever heard about. Nothing too special, Bad Luck is way better.”
“So what’s with all the hype that Shuichi’s a sex god?”
“Well, because he is,” Yui says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “He’s the first person Yuki Eiri has ever taken as a serious partner. Everyone else he’s slept with has only ever been one night stands, it’s common knowledge in the music and literary industries. It’s amazing, every other one of Mr. Yuki’s ‘girlfriends’ were all hot and sophisticated, but that’s not Shu-chan at all. Sure, he’s cute, but he’s not gorgeous, and he’s got a totally childish personality.” Yui presents a picture of Shuichi perusing a local grocery store in the candy aisle.
“So where’s the proof that they’ve actually had sex?”
“There is none, besides their word. And believe me, Yuki Eiri wouldn’t say he was involved with Shuichi if he wasn’t. There’s no possible way.”
“And there’s no possible way that they’re real. Sorry, I just can’t believe it.”
“Ooh, it’s Hiro-san!” Yui squeals- she seems to do that a lot- and waves to a long red-haired man fiddling with a guitar at the right of the stage. He grins and walks over to them.
“Hey there, what’s your name?”
“Yui! This is Keiko, she’s gonna be converted to Bad Luck tonight! Kei-chan, say hi. Do it. Doooo iiiiiit.” Yui looks slightly demonic. Keiko doesn’t know if she should be scared or not…
“Hi,” Keiko deadpans. Hiro looks sort of confused, but he laughs again anyway.
“It’s nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy the show, eh?” he chuckles and picks up his guitar, heading backstage again. The night passes fairly slowly, Yui babbling on about something or other while Keiko resigns herself to wait out the remaining time staring at the various posters on the walls. Some were of Bad Luck themselves, while others were less famous, and then there was Bad Luck’s rival, Nittle Grasper.
“Hey, Yui. Are Bad Luck and Nittle Grasper on friendly terms? I’d think that they wouldn’t be very nice to each other, since they’re both at the top of the charts, but the TV shows always have Sakuma-san and Shindou-san acting civilly to each other…”
“Of course they are! Shu-chan and Ryu-chan are as best friends rivals can be. They’re pretty similar, from what tabloids and TV-shows tell me. Same personality and everything. Anyway, I’ll get you to watch an interview between this one host and Shu-chan, and you’ll just fall in love with him. I know it. Ooh, it’s starting!”
The first two bands weren’t really anything special. It was when Bad Luck started walking out that the fans really started screaming. First is Hiro; he smirks at the girly screams issuing from the crowd and picks up his gleaming black guitar, hanging the strap from his shoulder with ease and adjusting a knob a bit. Next is Fujisaki looking as solemn as ever, striding up to his keyboard and turning it on. From their position at the end of the catwalk, Yui and Keiko could see Shuichi at the side of the stage, seemingly checking his jeans for his cell phone, but it looks more like he was rubbing his ass in pain. He bites his lip against the feeling and grits his teeth, fixes his shirt and puts on a happy expression for the crowd.
“Hey, hey! What’s up with my Tokyo peoples?!” he shouts into the microphone. Keiko cringes a little at the loud sound and Yui screams along with the rest of the crowd.
“Ohh…I don’t think that was quite loud enough…c’mon, everyone, HOW ARE MY TOKYO PEEPS?!”
“Wooo!” Yui screams her head off. When the sound dies off, someone in the middle of the room screams, ‘How are you, Shuichi?!’
“Oh, well, I’m fine, thank you.” Shuichi grins maniacally from behind the mike. The crowd laughs and he continues. “Well you’re IN for it tonight, cause we’re gonna rock Roxtar Lounge to the ground, bitches!” Cue more screams. “Hit it, Hiro!”
Hiro pretends to clean out one ear, laughing into his mike. “I think you broke my eardrums, Shu,” he laughs.
“Don’t be a pansy, Hiro, Yuki deals with worse and I live with him!” Another round of screams and lots of clapping. Keiko rolls her eyes. What a liar. “C’mon, c’mon, the peeps came for music, DO SOME MUSIC!”
“You don’t do music, you pl--”
“HIRO! GET ON WITH IT!” Shuichi yells away from the mike. Hiro laughs loudly and strikes a chord, drawing yells and shouts from the crowd as they get hyped up for the song. “Let’s go!”

---

“Owww, Hiro, do you think Yuki could have rammed into me any harder? My ass is still sore from earlier tonight…”
“Do I look like I wanna hear about your sex life? No. Stop talking about it, please.”
“Just because you don’t have a sex life doesn’t mean you can trash mine, butt hole.”
“Me saying I don’t wanna hear about it isn’t trashing it, Shu. Chillax.”
“Nooo. But argh it hurts like a bitch!”
“Was he mad at you or something?”
“Huh? Oh, no. He was actually in a good mood, that’s why he was so rough…when he’s in a normal mood he’s really gentle…”
“Oh my god, eww, Shu, stop talking…”
“Hiro you homophobe!”
“I’m not a homophobe, Shuichi, I just don’t wanna hear about you getting fucked in the ass!”
“You know you think about it, Hiro, you know you do!”
“I do not! I’m straight, damn it! Shuichi, stop putting words in my mouth!”
“Shindou-san, you’ve got a couple back-stagers that want to meet you,” a security guard leads Keiko and Yui into the room from a door that says, ‘Bad Luck’ in large black letters. Keiko starts at the sight of him, standing in front of Hiro-who’s sitting on the couch- ass in both hands and bent over at the waist. His eyes were wide open in surprise and his mouth drops, straightening quickly and rubbing the back of his head.
“He, he…you all didn’t…by any chance…hear all that, did you?” he asks nervously. To think, he was talking like that in front of fans! What would they think of him?
“Umm…yes…but it’s cool, Shuichi-san, most teenagers your age talk like that, we’re used to it,” Yui says quickly, to quiet his anxiousness. Keiko was surprised, and disgusted. So he lied even to his bandmates? What was up with this? She thought she’d get some kind of truth by coming here, but apparently not. Shindou Shuichi lies to everyone.
“So, um, d’you want to come in? We’ve got soda and chips over here, you can sit on the couch if you want. Thanks, Akira-san, we’ll take it from here,” Shuichi says, smiling at the security guard. He leaves and the four- Fujisaki left about twenty minutes earlier- sit on the couch, Shuichi crossing his legs and shifting every few minutes. Faint music plays in the backround, and Yui helps herself to a Coca Cola from the table in front of her, Keiko fidgeting next to her.
“So, Shuichi-san, what made you decide on pink hair?” she finally asks, sipping at her coke. Shuichi laughs.
“Shuichi-kun, please, and I don’t know, it’s just a pretty color…”
“You think pink is a pretty color? You’re a boy,” Keiko interrupts, rather rudely. Yui swats her on the arm.
“Be nice, he doesn’t have to explain himself to you. I didn’t bring you so you could insult him, I brought you so you’d stop being so cynical!”
“So? I didn’t pay for the tickets, you did!”
“All the more reason for you to be nice! Sorry, Shuichi-kun, she’s just having an off day.”
“Oh, no, it’s okay, I get it a lot.”
“So how are you a Yuki-san doing? The two of you haven’t been in the news as much lately,” Yui says. Shuichi laughs, the sounds reverberating across the walls over the music.
“We’re fine, enjoying the peace and quiet while it lasts. I’m sorry you had to hear what I said earlier, though, it really isn’t fitting conversation to hear for such pretty ladies,” he answers. Keiko raises an eyebrow.
“Are you hitting on us?”
Shuichi frowns in confusion. “No, I’m not interested in women,” he says. His tone was totally convincing- if Keiko wasn’t completely sure he was lying, she’d probably believe him.
“Right. So why’d you call us pretty?”
“…You are pretty,” he replies. Yui is glaring at Keiko now, hand gripping her Coca Cola quite tightly.
“What?” she says.
“I thought I said to stop being rude. Jeez, I wonder why I’m friends with you.”
“Because I’m not a ditz like most girls my age?”
“You may not be a ditz, but you certainly can’t see something totally obvious right in front of your eyes. Shuichi-kun and Yuki-san are a couple, Keiko, whether you like it or not.”
“That’s what you’re worried about? Oh. I thought you thought I was cheating on Yuki or something, which would never happen.” Shuichi shakes his head, slipping his cell phone out of his pocket. “Look, why would I have his picture as my backround if we weren’t together?”
Sure enough, there was Yuki Eiri typing away at a laptop computer on a wrap-around couch, in what looks to be a brightly lit living room in his home. A pair of glasses are perched at the end of his nose, hair clipped out of his eyes with a barrette- probably Shuichi’s doing, trying to be nice. There is a cigarette clamped tightly between his lips and an ashtray balanced on the couch next to him. Keiko frowns at this, maybe…no, it was just for looks. There’s no way it could be true.
“I’m sorry, Shuichi-kun. It’s getting late, I think it’s about time we start heading home. We’ve got school tomorrow…” Yui stands and bows politely to Shuichi. After much glaring, Keiko stands and does the same. Shuichi follows suit, flipping closed and putting away his cell phone.
“Um, if you would like, I’ll walk you home. It’s not safe to walking alone at this time of night, especially for two girls…”
“Really?! Oh, thank you, thank you, Shuichi-kun! C’mon, Keiko, let’s go. Bye-bye, Hiro-san!” Yui tugs at Keiko’s arm and the three leave the Roxtar Lounge. The night is quiet and they could only see where there were streetlights, and there were few cars on the streets. Keiko walks ahead of Shuichi and Yui, plundering on into the crosswalk even though the timer was waning down fast…
She could register the shouts of Shuichi and Yui behind her, but they were too far away to grab her in time- then pain, a huge, immeasurable amount of pain, racking through her head and side as she’s ploughed through by a dark blue coupe. There were screams, one Yui’s high soprano and the other a deeper, but no less feminine Shuichi. Their words are fading fast, frantic pleas for her to remain awake. Then, everything goes black.

---

“She’s suffered extensive damage to her ride side, and there is a blow to her skull right about…here, which resulted in her concussion and her…”
“Keiko, don’t die, please, please…just wake up…”
“Yuki, I’m going to be late tonight, I was walking a friend home earlier and she got hit by a car crossing the street…I’m sorry. Yeah, sure, I’ll bring something home on my way back…no, I’m just a little freaked out, it was wicked sudden…”
“My daughter! Oh, Keiko-chan, please wake up! …Shuichi-san, you said you were walking her home? How kind of you, I’m glad you were there to call an ambulance, who knows what would have happened if she didn’t get to the hospital in time…”
“Your name is Keiko-san, right? I’m sorry this happened, but I have to go see Yuki now…it’s pretty late, maybe I’ll be able to visit you after work tomorrow…”

---

When she opens her eyes, she’s not in her body. In fact, there her body was, lying in a hospital bed with so many tubes sticking out of it. Shuichi is just leaving the room, and Keiko is pulled by some invisible force, making her follow him. At first she tries to resist it, but the feeling digs deep into her gut; she finally just sighs and allows the force to pull her along. Shuichi walks out of the hospital and down the street, turns right at the light and arrives at a convenience store. The store-keeper ignores him while he peruses the stacks of bento boxes, choosing two and setting them on the counter in front of the bleary-eyed clerk. “Can I have a pack of Marlboro Lights, too, please?”
“For Yuki-san?” the clerk asks knowingly. He’d known Shuichi for years, and Yuki was an avid smoker. Shuichi wouldn’t touch the stuff with a ten-foot pole. He reaches up and grabs a pack and sets it on top of the two bentos, ringing the lot up and taking Shuichi’s money all while rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes. Keiko looks on with distrustful eyes; somebody’s got to be using somebody. Shuichi isn’t very bright-- from her standpoint, anyway-- so maybe it was Yuki trying to get extra publicity. But he could do that with the gorgeous models and actresses he used to date. None of which were teenaged-pink-haired rock stars. Shuichi stays and chats with the clerk for a while longer, then picks up his things and leaves the store.
In the empty lobby of Yuki Eiri’s apartment complex, Shuichi was free to rub his ass in the open, since there was no one-- save Keiko, but he didn’t know she was watching-- to see him practically groping himself. He presses the UP button for the elevator with a free hand and shifts the packages in his grasp a couple times, finally just shoving the pack of cigarettes into a pocket so it would stop sliding everywhere on top of the bentos.
Nice pad for a writer-dude, Keiko says to herself as Shuichi lets himself into the apartment. Shuichi goes around flicking off lights and puts the bentos in the fridge, the pack of cigarettes on the coffee table next to an ashtray filled with butts. On his way to a door Keiko can only guess is his bedroom, he starts yanking off his clothes and drops them to the floor, arriving at the bed clad only in boxers. He slides in next to the indescribable lump in the bed-- most likely Yuki himself-- and sighs contentedly, snuggling up to the lump’s side and relaxing into the pillows. As soon as he falls asleep, Keiko’s vision blacks out…

---

And when she’s back, she’s floating. Not the normal, horizontal floating where everything is soft and white like in her coma--she’s probably still in the coma, but this is waaaay different than when she was listening to the people in the hospital room-- she was upright, and was being forced to follow Shindou Shuichi down a crowded Tokyo street. Ugh. Will this nightmare never end?! Didn’t she go through this yesterday? Enough already!
And ‘being forced’ is understatement of the year. Unlike yesterday, resisting it now was making her nauseous. The bubblegum-haired 19 year-old skips right up to the famous NG building and lets himself in, walking past the secretary with a big smile. Keiko raises an eyebrow at the teen but floats along anyway. Not like she has a choice.
But wow, NG Records is spiffy on the inside. Marble floored lobby, plush couches. Very nice. Shuichi hops into an elevator labelled ‘Artists and Managers Only’ and Keiko zips right in. Shuichi apparently hums and smiles to himself when he’s alone. It was kind of cute really.
Oh no. She did not just say that. She did not just say that Shindou Shuichi was cute.
Moving on.
The elevator dings and opens to a quiet third floor. There’s barely anyone around; Keiko follows Shuichi to the left and around two corners, finally to an open studio door with the number ‘6’ printed on it.
“Goooood morning everyone!” Shuichi greets loudly, Keiko growling behind him. No one could see her, of course. The red-haired guitarist was the only other person there.
“You don’t use ‘everyone’ for one person, Shu.”
“Yeah, so? You know I didn’t pass Japanese.”
Shuichi rolls his eyes and sits in the middle of the floor, pulling a pad of paper and a pencil out of his backpack. Keiko floats over and sits beside him as he rolls onto his stomach, twirling the pencil between his fingers. What, did he forget he just saw a ‘fan’ get run over just the other night? How rude can you get?
Hiro’s strumming an acoustic guitar and Shuichi is through a second page of doodled ideas when Shuichi’s butt rings.
“Wah!” he squeals when it goes off. Hiro laughs loudly at his predicament and points to his butt.
“First your boyfriend rams your ass and then it starts ringing out of nowhere! There’s something wrong with your behind, Shu!” Shuichi growls cutely at Hiro and struggles to pull his phone from his pocket, putting it to his ear when he succeeds.
“Hai? Oh, YUKI!” Shuichi cringes as the sound of yelling floats from the earpiece.
“Gomen, gomen. Umm…about 2? Hai. Oh, sure, no prob, Yuki. Kay. Bye-bye!” He grabs a ball-point pen from his bag, uncaps it, and proceeds to write a list of grocery items on his arm. Milk, eggs, a 6 pack of beer, and two packs of Marlboros, which was underlined twice.
Got him in his bed and running his errands, Yuki’s gotta be taking advantage of the little kid, Keiko says. Shuichi looks up in confusion.
“Hiro, did you hear something?”
“No. Why?”
“I thought I did…”
“Did Yuki screw you so hard that your brain isn’t working last night?”
“Nah, he was asleep by the time I got home…and we made love before the show yesterday so we were satiated by then, we were fine…”
“You’ve gotta be the weirdest teenager I’ve ever met. You’re the first 19 year-old ever to refer to sex as ‘making love’…I think only old married couples call it that anymore,” Hiro cackles, setting his guitar down and pulling his long hair up into a ponytail.
“That’s cause it is making love, Hiro, don’t rag on my burning desire to display my feelings for my lover, it’ll get you nowhere!” Shuichi exclaims. “Ooh, that’s a good line…” he scribbles furiously on the pad. “And besides, you always said me and Yuki squabble like an old married couple all the time, no need to repeat yourself…”
“How’d we get on the subject of you and your boyfriend making love again?”
“You’re the one who brought it up. Seriously, Hiro, sometimes I think you keep bringing it up cause you’re trying to come out of the closet…” Shuichi’s voice takes on a teasing tone, though he knows that Hiroshi is completely straight. Still, it was fun to make fun of him.

“Oh, well, Shu, I’ve got to go early today, I’ve got a date this afternoon and I don’t want to be late.”
“Ooooh, a daaaate, who is it?”
“Ayaka, be quiet.”
“Oh, yeah, her. Did she get over Yuki, finally?”
“Yeah, why else would she be on a date with me?”
“Rebound.”
Hiro scoffs at Shuichi. “Not all women are evil like that, Shu, now I’ve gotta go! Bye!” Hiro storms out of the room like a bat from hell. Shuichi snickers.
“There’s no way he’s straight,” he says to himself.

---

“Yuki! Tadaima!” Shuichi bustles into the apartment loaded down with bags, kicking the door shut as quietly as he could manage.
“Okaeri,” Yuki calls from his office. Shuichi puts the groceries up in the pantry and fridge and pokes his head into the room.
“Do you want some coffee?” he asks, eying Yuki’s empty cup. Yuki glances up from his work with a frown on his face, confusion warring his eyes. Then he registers what Shuichi was asking.
“Oh. Yeah,” he says, returning to his manuscript. Shuichi picks up the coffee cup and starts to leave the room, calling over his shoulder,
“Where did you put the coffee grounds?”
“They’re in the cabinet over the coffee pot…”
Keiko watches as Shuichi brews the coffee, whistling quietly to himself as he pours the dark liquid into the black mug and makes his way back to Yuki’s office. Now resigned to watch and really see if Yuki and Shuichi are really a couple-- which is starting to get more and more likely, though she wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions-- she sits back. Shuichi sets the cup in front of his lover and gives his cheek a kiss. He skips back to the corner and drags his stool over, facing the opposite direction Yuki was right next to him.
“How was the concert last night?” Yuki asks absently.
“It was really good! The fans were so loud, I thought my eardrums were gonna burst. Hiro was being a Dumbass at the very beginning, though, I’m like, ‘Let’s hit it, Hiro!’ and he just keeps talking and talking, you’d think he was channeling me!” Shuichi lays his hands across his thighs. “We had two girls with backstage passes. One was really sweet and the other was saying that we weren’t in a real relationship…”
“What?” Yuki’s attention was captured now. Shuichi nods much like a middle-aged gossip.
“Yeah! I’m like, chicka, where in the world did you get that idea? And I showed her that I have a picture of you in my phone, and she still didn’t believe me. Then I was walking the two home cause it was really late, and she gets hit by a car! That’s what I told you last night, I’m sorry I came home so late…”
“It’s fine, Shu,” Yuki sighs. “It wasn’t your fault. What happened to the girl?”
“They said that she got hit hard in the head and that she’s in a coma now. Her mom was hysterical. Kept thanking me for calling the ambulance, like the girl’s friend couldn’t do it. Anyway, I was thinking about bringing her flowers tomorrow sometime, maybe she’ll feel better…”
“She’s in a coma, brat, she won’t be able to see them.”
“But Yuki! She might wake up and then she’ll see them!”
Yuki is feeling quite subdued that night, because he sighs and nods. “It seems like a really nice thing to do, Shu. You’re a good kid,” he returns to his laptop.
“I’m not a kid, Yuki, I’m almost old enough to drink!”
“And yet you do so anyway, illegally…”
“It isn’t in public and I’ve got an adult with me! You!”
“Doesn’t make it any more legal, Shu.”
“Oh…well…then. Whatever! What the cops don’t know won’t hurt them!” Yuki laughs at his young lover and the latter stands up from his chair. He runs a hand through Yuki’s blond hair and kisses his temple, looking more resigned than his previous statement suggested. “I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up too late, Yuki. I love you.”
“I’m about to save, I’ll be there in a second.”
“Oh, okay. See you in a bit.” Shuichi leaves the room to take a quick shower, returning to their bedroom to find Yuki lying on the bed. “Hey,” he calls, yawning as he rubs his hair dry. Keiko gulps and runs a hand across her face, hoping the dear lord was merciful enough to not make her watch them have sex. That would be beyond mortifying. Shuichi smiles at his lover and climbs onto the big bed, lying right next to Yuki and kissing his cheek. Yuki’s arm sneaks up to wrap around Shuichi’s waist, fingers slipping under the hem of his shirt and smoothing circles along his skin.
“I missed you today, Yuki,” Shuichi whispers, as if speaking too loud would ruin the moment. His hands run up Yuki’s chest, earning a low shudder in response. Their lips meet in a slow, lazy kiss, mapping each other’s mouths with an easy familiarity. Yuki rolls the two so he is hovering over his Shuichi, pressing kisses along his small jaw to his ear.
“It was too quiet in the morning without your racket,” is his reply. His lips latch onto Shuichi’s pulse point in his throat, sucking gently and earning a small, but lengthy, moan in response. Shuichi’s arms rise to Yuki’s back, clutching at the thin fabric of his shirt and tightening a bit. Yuki moves back up to Shuichi’s lips and kisses him again, lovingly, pouring every bit of emotion he rarely shows into it. This is where Shuichi likes his Yuki, close and personal, letting his true feelings loose for only him to see. A hand reaches up and strokes soft, drying pink hair. Owner of said hair purrs appreciatively and tightens his arms around Yuki. He lowers himself fully and rests his weight on Shuichi, careful to see if he’d crush him or not. Convinced that it was fine, Yuki allows his hips to rock gently into the other’s.
A low groan emits from plump pinks lips and hands trail down bed sheets to grasp at Shuichi’s sweatpants, pulling down swiftly but carefully so as to not jostle him. A little faster, Shuichi pulls his arms up from Yuki’s back, around his shoulders and down into his shirt, brushing the barely-buttoned fabric apart to give him access to Yuki’s pale yet defined chest. Lips attack the soft, buttery skin there while Yuki makes quick work of the rest of their clothes. Shuichi sucks three of Yuki’s fingers into his mouth through unspoken agreement while Yuki grinds their erections together, pressing them both into the bed hard. Shuichi groans around Yuki’s fingers and hastens to smother them with saliva. Yuki’s mouth peppers kisses down his chest, to his naval; his tongue darts out and dips into his belly button, eliciting a muffled laugh from the ticklish Shuichi. They were so comfortable with each other, best friends, equals, lovers.
Yuki pulls his fingers from Shuichi’s mouth, earning a small whimper that disappears when he kisses his bubblegum-haired little lover. All is silent for a moment as they kiss their other, Yuki sneakily presses one finger to Shuichi’s hole.
“Mmm,” the boy hums, smiling into the kiss and wrapping his arms around Yuki’s strong shoulders. He pulls his finger in and out a few times before starting with the second. There was a slight wince, but Shuichi covers it quickly and kisses Yuki again. In with the second comes the third, until Yuki deems Shuichi ready enough for him.
“You good, baby?” he asks the boy and he nods his assent, tightening his arms around him in anticipation. Yuki presses into him swiftly, getting it over with quickly and waits. He huffs and hides his face in Shuichi’s throat, biting down on the skin of his shoulder to keep from losing control too fast, too early. After a couple minutes Shuichi wiggles wordlessly, and Yuki pulls out a fraction.
He presses back in. Shuichi grins up at his blond, pressing fingertips into his shoulder blades. “There we go…”
Yuki nods and pulls out as far as he dares, and then slams back in. Shuichi let’s out a long, low moan that reverberates through the room, Keiko feels her body shiver. She turns bright red as she realizes that she’s watching two men have sex. And she has no control over it. She was witnessing something sacred, as far as her eyes tell her. They were so very much in love, you’d have to be blind not to see it. She guesses it’s time to go see the optometrist.
Her eyes unwillingly flit back to the couple on the bed as they finally let out a final, loud scream in stereo and they come together. Shame feels dead heavy on her shoulders and she feels a headache coming on as she watches the two snuggle together, noses in each other’s hair and smiles adorning their faces. Sleep flits across their faces and the scene begins to go black…

---

When she opens her eyes, it was to a white ceiling. A steady beeping fills the room and she sits up, glancing around her. Typical hospital room, everything white…
Except for a bouquet of flowers in a vase on a dresser not too far away. A card is attached to one of the stems and Keiko reaches out to pull it off. A childish, messy scrawl meets her eyes as she reads.
Keiko-san,
We’re sorry that what happened, happened. It was very scary, and we send you well wishes!! Yuki and I are praying for you, please don’t give up! We hope you wake up soon!
Shindou Shuichi and Yuki Eiri

Keiko bites her lip and lets the card fall from her grasp. It was all real. Shuichi hadn’t been lying, and she was one cynical bitch. Hopefully Yui would have another couple of backstage passes ready, because she had some apologizing to do. Hopefully, with Shuichi’s personality, he’ll forgive her rudeness and maybe they’d be friends…