DESCRIPITION: Yuki is a sophisticated violinist. Shuichi is a poor beggar. Tohma is a control-freak jerk. What else is new? An AU. YxS bland YxT

RATED: T

… please read and review …

I do not own gravitation and never will.

This is an AU. (Alternative Universe) That's all you need to know.

And that it's the end of the world as we know it.

And, this is, a revised chapter. I pretty much rewrote it, cuz it was old, and it sounded bad. xD; Okay.

The Red Violin

CHAPTER ONE

He was in pure bliss; standing in front of thousands of spectators, with nothing but his violin to break through his exhausted nervousness and anxiety. His fingers were trembling with the power he weighed on each tip, as the bow slowly stroked the strings, sound sliding up and down the octaves-and as his fingers touched the neck, stroking in almost a sexual rhythm. His eyes were half shut, glazed with steady concentration. The lights of the stage were streaming his face like hot water in a shower. He had, though, experienced this feeling all but too many times, and knew exactly how to look, exactly how to play, exactly when he should stop and begin breathing again.

The song stretched on, and the crowd was far from his vision compared to the violin in his hands. He was finally falling into the music, into the notes, the chimes, the rhythm. The instrument was crying its song as the bow creaked along. He had played the piece hundreds of times; molded into blissful perfection.

Like this sound, he was seemingly perfect, with his gelled back blonde hair for the ceremony, his black suit without so much as a crease, white fingers that never hesitated, eyes filled with some thing beautifully incompatible, sorrowfully indescribable.

There wasn't a sound among the people as they listened with ears and eyes of awe.

Eiri Yuki was… beautiful. A beautiful commodity.

And then it was over.

The crowd exploded.

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"You were brilliant, Eiri!" Tohma cheered with glee, slapping his prodigy on the back. Eiri sighed, closing his eyes, glad it was over. At least, the music was. And now to deal with the hungry spectators.

He stared at himself in the long mirror of the dressing room, a very disheveled room piled with instruments, numerous song-sheets, notes, make-up, clothing-anything you could image a 'performer' needed. With Tohma's-his manager; or 'discoverer' as he liked to call himself, arms draped across Eiri's neck from the back to front, tying like a perfect bow. Tohma smiled. Eiri looked away from the image standing in front of him, sighing, suddenly wanting nicotine-and a lot of it. He felt so stressed and broken, despite the fact he wouldn't have to play in front of that many people for a few months. His breathe was still a little more upbeat then it should have been; the usual aftertaste he felt after events like that.

"Aw, common, lighten up Eiri! You did wonderful. I didn't hear a single mistake tonight—you're such a fantastic violinist."

"You tell me that after every single show…" Eiri noted dully. Like Tohma had a right to compliment, with his skills at the piano.

"Because you are." Tohma confirmed, squeezing a little tighter, and leaning up against Eiri's tall, thin figure. His tongue spilled from his lips and grazed over the lope of Eiri's ear. Eiri swung around and pushed him off, cupping his violated ear.

"I hate it when you do that!" He hissed. Tohma simply smiled, then hummed.

"Common, Eiri. We need to go speak to our main guests so they don't hate us." Tohma wrapped his arm around Eiri's, and tugged him out in of the room, towards the exit; trudging out into the cold pitch-black rain of the typical Tokyo early winter. "They're just dying to meet you."

I really hate people. Eiri thought bitterly as Tohma tugged him to the front of the entrance where a few familiar faces were standing. Miki Ai, the owner of the one of the biggest real-estate companies throughout Japan. Hisano Kata, a woman who had inherited a great fortune from just luck of being born into the right family. Kuri Kozue, the owner of the opera house. Of course, and who could forget, the Masako twins-Ryu and Ringo. Both annoying. Both disgustingly rich. It was Tohma's circle of sophisticated money-pouring dogs that loved to donate to 'music' for their own personal purposes; All idiotic, except for Miki, of course. They were many more people, but Eiri didn't care enough to remember the names of the ones who were only 'semi-wealthy' as Tohma put it. And Eiri had a very, very good memory.

"You were brilliant, Yuki-san," Hisano murmured, though the note of her voice hit a squeak as she peered from underneath the hood of her jacket, staring up into Eiri's deep golden eyes. "I loved it."

Yuki tried his best not to glare.

I don't give a shit, you little rich fucker. Just get away from me.

Tohma threw a glance at him dangerously then went off talking to Kuri about the money they had made from the event. He'd wish Yuki would just sleep with the poor girl already-it would pour more money in to their funds for the more deprived, musically talented children, that couldn't afford to get the proper teachings they needed to succeed in music. Some where along the lines of kindness, Tohma was, ecstatically lost in the power having wealth contained.

They were engrossed with what was known to be, one of the greatest evils of human nature.

Money, money, money.

It was what Eiri's life revolved around; making it and spending it only very carefully. Eiri, himself, had quite a pretty penny to spend-But ignored it half the time, deciding he didn't care for materialistic, non sense things, that he could easily do without. A great deal of the money he made was handled by Tohma to go into funds and what not. He didn't care. Tohma would always pay for anything he owned, anyway. He barely managed his own life, with Tohma clinging to him like a leech on skin; and it was impossible to remove him.

"…and I think we should go to the Hitirigana."

What? He hadn't listened at all to any of what that bitch had said. Smiling his best, plastered smile, Eiri said,

"Oh yeah. Sure, Hisano-chan." She squealed at the way he had addressed her. Eiri inwardly winced-he really did think she looked better when she didn't smile.

"That's a great idea, Kata-kun. We should all celebrate—Kozue-san, Ryu-kun and Ringo-kun, would you like to come with us?"

"Ah, no no. Me and my brother are very busy. We're waiting for a Enric to come pick us up. He should arrive in…" Ringo trailed off, slipping the fabric of his sleeve up to reveal his wrist with its platinum watch sitting on it. "2 minutes."

"Oh, alright. What about you, Kuri-san?"

"Same thing for me. You three go have a good time, alright. No getting into trouble, like last time!" Eiri resisted the urge to snap, there hadn't even been a last time. Once again, the man was lying. Tohma just grinned happily. Hasoku shrugged and barely paid attention as her eyes sneaked towards Eiri's pale face.

A single black lemo rounded the corner-and, recognizing the driver, Kuri left. Next were the two brothers. Eiri sighed. Thank god. Now only one bitch to deal with.

"Common, we can walk to the restaurant. After that, it might do you some good Eiri—to walk out your stress." Narrow eyes stared at the other blond man. Tohma deftly smiled, walking up on Eiri's left side, and Hisano taking the right. They walked through the pouring rain and frozen streets, Yuki pulling up the hood of his jacket, feeling a bit winded. He was listening to the water beat down. Such a hypnotic sound, he mused, then snapped back when Tohma slipped his hand into his and squeezed it, and he eased into Tohma's touch, enjoying the small broken proximity they shared, even if it was only momentarily, as Seguichi pulled his hand away. There'd be plenty of time to touch him later, he mused.

Looking up—seeing the lights of the restaurant, Eiri suppressed a groan, and Tohma just smiled his all around fake smile, that he was, after all, famous for. Hisano giggled.

What a joy ride this would be.

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Hisano talked, and talked, and talked, and then, she talked some more. Eiri felt his ears were being grated, and he took each glass of wine with a very steady hand, chugging each drop down in weak hope of draining away all sound.

She sat across from Eiri, and with Tohma on the far right hand side of the table, it was easy for her to gain straight access to the violinists lower body. She spoke in shots of a voice, earning more then a few stares, which made both blonds a tad uncomfortable, but they said nothing on the matter.

Haughtily, Hisano leaned the base of her cheek into her wrist, giving Eiri some thing of a smirk. She's really failing at turning me on, He frowned, and lit another cigarette; it was all he could do to keep himself occupied now that more food was being prepared.

"So, Eiri, what did you do before you became a violinist? You look kind of American, you know, is that dye in your hair? Doesn't matter, it looks good, but still, it's kind of weird."

"It's dye," He lied, and Tohma sipped at the water that had been set out, getting a brief wave of sadistic pleasure in that he knew every answer Eiri was feeding Hisano was far, far from the truth. It was like he was telling the story of another person's life. Rather amusing, really. "As for before the violin, I just worked small jobs," That was a little closer to the truth, Seguichi noted, stiffening, but remained distant answer with many questions to ask, which Hisano didn't care enough to pry on.

"Don't you hate people?" She questioned, and Eiri's eyes wandered away from the creamy detour of the restaurant, and of the angel paintings the walls were covered in. They all looked as if in agony; with there broken wings and their wide mouths and tear streaked faces, and Eiri could understand why, with such people loitering the restaurants they rested in; who wouldn't be pissy over it? "You know, like, poor people," She huffed, "They're so unclean and disgusting, and they're such bums, they don't work at all to change their lives. These streets are like, covered in them. I want to shoot them all. I asked daddy to buy me a gun so I could, and he said, 'Sure honey!' Isn't that funny!" She laughed now, at a pitch so high the violinist wasn't sure whether to take it as a laugh or a squealed scream.

The cigarette was smoked much faster then intended as Hisano continued with her rant, and Eiri shoved another in his mouth to stabilize his mind. The other blonde watched with worried turquoise eyes; Hisano was tending dark waters, and her blind stupidity was keeping her from realizing it.

But of course, Tohma was the only one who noticed.

"You can shoot those people with me, if you want," Hisano giggled cruelly, and Eiri felt her foot brush up between the inner sides of his legs, mostly the scratching of her stocking, as she had removed her shoes just to touch him awhile ago. The heat in his body hardly rose, as this was, probably, the 5th or 6th time she'd done this without caring for his opinion, seeing nothing but herself and her own compassion that was, obviously, one-sided.

"But anyway," She sighed, turning her eyes towards Tohma, who was a little surprised at the new found attention. "What about you, Tohma-chan, why is your hair blonde?" Hisano questioned, switching back to the earlier subject. Eiri's back became painfully straight. Tohma-chan? Ungrateful, annoying, no respect, obnoxious, stuck up, cocky, stupid… A million adjectives ran through his head.

"I dyed it, also," The other blond relaxed as their new dishes were set out, pulling some food into his mouth with the porcelain chopsticks laid out; that were decorated with a design as elegant as the paintings on the walls, and the faint classical music settling in the background amidst the noise.

"Was it because you wanted to copy Eiri?" The violinist scoffed, but luckily, Kata didn't notice.

"I simply like the color," Tohma was used to this by now, a put up a smile to show he wasn't going to be faltered by an insult so weak and pathetic. She always acted this way. Always. Didn't matter, he'd be damned if he wasn't going to manipulate her for her cash through Eiri, who, was currently looking like he'd murder Hisano if given the chance.

"Why?"

"You know what, I suddenly feel sick." Eiri feigned, rising. "I want to step outside." It was pouring rain out, but oh well; catching pneumonia out in the cold would be heaven in comparison to listening to the woman's voice rattle on for another second.

"Huh! I'll come with!" Kata hopped up, and in spite of himself, Eiri shot her the deadliest glare he'd given in a good year or so. She flopped back into her seat, the expression on her face in between fear and infuriation, "Well fine, jeeze," She hissed, crossing her arms, lips pouting – looking the other way.

He didn't care, he told himself, he didn't care one bit; and as Eiri yanked his jacket from its spot on the back of his chair. He crossed the long room of the restaurant, past a few women who stared, those who had one too many rings on their fingers – their eyes following him like a piece of food rather then a human being. A few men stared too, if not for jealousy, out of anger that some one who looked so foreign could reside in such a high class place. Knowing he was being watched, Eiri's anger swelled, as he pulled his jacket up his arms, clasped the buttons shut, then fled through the door.

It was indeed, freezing; far colder then Eiri had anticipated, more droplets were patting the streets then from when they had walked, and the violinist tightly knotted his arms around himself in automatic defense, shaking, as liquid hit his head and rushed down his face, dripping into his clothes. Hair stuck to his forehead, and as the gel was washed out with rain, strands flimsily fell back into their natural state, though soon flattened as the austere sky sobs worsened.

He wasn't sure where he was going; doing little to avoid the rain and bumping into strangers as they past. His toes were numbing, puddles soaking the area around his shoes, his body temperature falling steadily, with or without his jacket.

Turning a sharp corner, Eiri lurked into an ally, where he could compose himself a little more.

But, just as he had turned, he collided with some thing, or some one, speeding his way, smacking him clean backwards. The person, whoever they were now on top of him.

The red haired boy stopped breathing, air catching in his throat – unable to swallow, his eyes briefly skimmed over the man's face, reality fizzing out. Eiri looked up, ready to throw the cruelest insult to he could muster to his attacker, but froze, in more then one way, as the feeling of the water on his face nearly drained, and as the press of their suddenly seemed much closer then it really was. There was nothing in that instant. Nothing but them selves.

The boy jolted back once regaining his senses, and sped off with his apologizes,

"I'm so sorry! I ran into you-"

"Eiri!" Tohma came running in at that moment, body battered with water. He signed in immense relief that he hadn't completely lost the violinist among the crowd.

Taking notice to the other figure, sitting just a little ways from Eiri, the turquoise eyes blinked in momentary surprise. And the fact that the violinist was on the ground brought a bit of confusion. He looked back at Eiri, who explained before any conclusions were made, "We just bumped into each other, Tohma, don't worry about it."

"You have some mud on your clothes," Seguichi said sadly, not completely shutting out the existence of the other person. At this point the violinist had stood.

"I-It was my fault!" The boy said quickly, but Tohma had very selective hearing, and he had selected not to here the kids voice.

"Common, let's leave." The smaller blond took Yuki's hand in a firm, cool grip, dragging him off, as the red head looked more sorrowful then anything. Even though he hadn't wanted to, Eiri took a quick look back, his heart sinking at the hurt in the boy's eyes. Feeling stupid at pitying a stranger, he forced the thought off.

o

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"Those clothes were new." The turquoise eyed man said in disproval, opening the door to their apartment. "It's not like you to knock into strangers, especially ones so… revolting. Are you feeling ill or some thing, Eiri-san?" Concern laced his voice.

"I think, maybe. Hisano ticked me off."

"Yes well, after you ditched, her parents called. It seemed rather urgent, and she left in a hurry. I don't think she was supposed to stay with us after the show ended."

Eiri scoffed. Figured. He trembled involuntarily as he dropped his slack coat onto the hanger, liquid still clinging chillingly to his skin. Although, being back in the familiar, quiet apartment, he felt a little warmed. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was nothing in the ordinary, either. Some original oil paintings hung on the walls, giving the bland rooms some color, which were mostly all black, white, and blue.

All the furniture was nothing less then fine oak, shining as if only just carved (hand made, damn it); each table having a minimum amount of carvings around their legs. A few instruments were located in obviously fine thought out places. A white cello leant against the wall, as if made for the wall, its bow nearly placed by its side. An old violin sat on the fireplace mantel, its fine wood chipped and cracked – looking a tad out of place, being as it was the only thing that looked aged in the apartment. Genuinely, Eiri felt some comfort, in seeing his first violin up on the mantel. It was a weak reassurance in twisted love that music had followed him all the way from the United States to Japan. The wooden animal, flexed out, once looking so fierce and now so sincere and tame, but only to him, lay so calm and tranquil on the mantle. It only wanted to bring pleasure now.

"How about this," Tohma spoke up, now in the kitchen. "Go get in the tub, and I'll bring you some thing to eat. You haven't eaten in at least a day. Then, we can have a little fun with the new bubble-bath soap I got." He could hear the smirk in Seguichi's voice, and it made him smile a bit. Walking up in the kitchen, he wrapped his arms around the other blonde's waist. And god he was warm.

"I have a better idea. How about we skip all that and fuck right on the floor?"

"Patience is a virtue," though the offer was rather tempting. "And you're cold."

"Fine, fine," Yuki agreed meekly, stepping off to go head to the upstairs bathroom. With the built in Jacuzzi. That had so much room 5 people could fit in. Sex was more fun in the water, anyway.

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CHAPTER 1: END

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Tohma and Eiri are being naughtynaughty musicians. Nyahaha. And who is this strange red haired poor kid? I'm sure we could all have a guess.

Yeah, okay. I changed some things. I tried to make Hisano as worth hating as possible.

I'm thinking of rewriting the second chapter. Not redoing anything major, just fixing it up. Jeeze, it's so old. I messed up a lot in that chapter too. Feh. I should be working on chapter 5, damn it.

Anyhow, review.