Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2009

Chapter 1.1

"Ok, we need to have a talk. Obviously, not everyone understands exactly what is going on. Blame me if you wish for the deaths of your family, but I want you to know that if we had tried to pull all of you and your families out of Japan, everyone including yourselves, would have been killed. And you are all the keys to overthrowing this enemy group. There is no chance of Japan surviving if we don't stop them. The group is deep in technology and plan to release an epidemic to slaughter Japan. Any survivors will be brainwashed into becoming followers." Chihari said as she looked at each of them.

"Your families were killed because you all show the symptoms of not being affected by the epidemic. They don't like that idea; they would rather not have to go through the trouble of brainwashing you if they don't have to. So they killed your families using the information they had, which led them to believe that you would be at home when they attacked your family. We fed them that information and so they were only able to kill your families and not you.

"With all of you immune to the epidemic the Mukudori plan to release, you are the key to defeating them. We are working on a cure that can be released into the air that will infect everyone in Japan and hopefully save the country. The only problem is that we don't have enough samples of the epidemic to test and create a cure. That's where you guys come in. Although they've been making this cure for a couple of years now, they have only just begun to succeed. If we can stop them before they finish, then we might be able to stop a complete bloodshed. But the only ones capable of retrieving the samples are us.

"You see, the last time we tried to steal samples, they found us out and released a couple of their tests on the epidemic. Few of us were immune to it and most of us died. We've tracked them to Europe and Africa before they came back here. We know they were targeting Japan but I'm guessing they had to get some things from Africa and Europe. Once you guys are trained, we can go in and steal newer samples and information. Hopefully, we can get a better cure for what they have now."

"What if we don't want to help?" Tezuka asked. "Our families were just murdered. What makes you think we're willing to help out when we haven't even been given time to grieve?"

Chihari sighed. She glanced at Ryoma before speaking again. "I'm not commanding you right now. I'm just asking. Under the orders of the government, you are under my command. I can either order you to help and fight or you can volunteer. If you refuse either way, I'll have to put you in holding until this is over. You don't have to worry much. There won't be any frontline battle for a while. We will need to train you guys first anyway. So what do you say?"

Tezuka remained silent as did everyone else. Fuji spoke up first.

"I'm in." He stated clearly, yet softly.

"Fuji!" Exclaims of surprise were roused from the entire Seigaku team.

"What are you talking about Fujiko?" Eiji cried, standing up.

"I'm just saying that I'm volunteering. I want to get revenge on my family and my lover's family." Fuji said, eyes opening to glare at his teammates.

"Your lover?" Oishi asked, taken aback.

"Yes. Ryoma and I are dating and I'm not happy with what has been going on with this terrorist group. I want it to stop. I miss my family as much as I'm sure my brother does. My brother joined, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't support my only remaining family member in what he wants to do. It also calls for revenge for my family, which I'm all for. My boyfriend, ex-teammate, no, my teammate is also in this group for revenge on his own family. I don't see why I shouldn't join and volunteer." Fuji explained, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed.

Everyone stared at him. Eiji sat back down. Silence reigned over the table. Inui spoke up first.

"I'm in too. I see no reason why not and they might be able to use my data. So I'm in." Inui said quietly. Everyone turned to him. Kaidoh, who was sitting next to Inui and gripping Inui's jacket sleeve tightly for comfort, nodded and hissed.

"Me too." Kaidoh whispered. The rest remained silent.

"Momo, Eiji, Oishi, and Tezuka, you are the only ones who have not chosen what to do. I can only give you one more week to decide." Chihari said. She stood up and walked off, leaving behind a group of people in awkward silence.

The three men that the regulars didn't recognize stood and began clearing dishes. Yuuta and Aiba looked at each other before sighing. Ryoma stood, Fuji following a second later.

"Aiba and Yuuta will show you to your rooms. Fuji and I will see you at breakfast which will be served promptly at 9:00. Please consider your options carefully. There are pros and cons to every choice in life. Please do not let the cons of this choice affect you too much. The sooner this war is over, the sooner we can get on with our lives." Ryoma walked over to the door. He stopped just before leaving, turning around with a sad look in his eyes.

"It's good to see you guys again, even if not under the best circumstances." He said quietly before taking Fuji's hand and disappearing.

_-_-I will eat you-_-_

Ryoma dragged Fuji down a hall that they hadn't been down and through a pair of frosted glass doors. Inside was a small circular room made entirely of glass. There were no furnishings other than a spiral iron-wrought staircase in the center. Ryoma dragged the other boy up the stairs and into an amazing suite. There were two bedrooms off the side of a large, eclectic-styled living room which lead into the sleek kitchen. Ryoma lead Fuji to a third door that stood off to the side of the bedroom doors. Upon entering the doorway, Fuji saw a short hallway that lead into a staircase the spiraled up even farther. There were walls on both sides so Fuji couldn't tell how far up it went. After awhile, Ryoma pointed to a landing that broke off of the staircase.

"That's Chihari's closet. Use this staircase and that entrance to get to her in an emergency. We are nearly there." Ryoma directed. Fuji nodded and continued to follow Ryoma up the staircase. At the top there was another small landing and a door. Ryoma pushed it in with a secret smile. Fuji's jaw dropped at the view.

There was a glass wall that went from the right side of the entrance all the way around to a wall that came straight out of the left side of the entrance. There were two doors on that wall. The room itself was done in blues and greens. In the center of the curved glass wall was a king sized four-poster with sheer drapery and blue sheets. A curtain that ran the entire wall was held by a matching sash on the left side of a door. Carpets, pillows and cushions covered the floor and surrounded a small low table next to the glass on the far side of the room. Ryoma stood to the side, amused, as Fuji explored the room. The first led to a straight walk-in closet. There was one wall that was empty. The other was full of Ryoma's clothes. Fuji backtracked out of the closet and into the huge bathroom next door. The bathroom was done in blues and greens as well. The Japanese-styled Jacuzzi bathtub was tiled on the top and up the surrounding walls with the traditional wood inside. The shower looked like it had a stick of copper bamboo stuck out of the wall where a shower head would be. Fuji couldn't wait to try them out in multiple ways.

Fuji came out of the bathroom to see Ryoma lounging against one of the posts with a very amused smirk. Fuji gave his boyfriend a smirk to rival as he pounced on Ryoma, tackling him to the very soft bed behind them.

_-_-I will eat you-_-_

Fuji looked up and noticed that the ceiling was glass also. The stars shined, giving the room a soft glow of starlight. Ryoma lay curled into Fuji's side, his head resting on Fuji's shoulder. Fuji thought about his four teammates who seemed undecided as he ran his fingers through Ryoma's soft hair.

"What's wrong?" Ryoma mumbled from Fuji's neck. Fuji smiled softly, Ryoma knew him well.

"I'm worried about Eiji, Oishi, Momo, and Tezuka. I don't want them miserable here and I'm sure we could use them in this war. I don't want to be separated from them because they don't want to participate. I'd be as heartbroken without them as I was with you." Fuji replied softly.

Ryoma snuggled closer to Fuji and pulled the comforter closer around them. "Who knows what they will choose. I know that I will be ok with just you. I've lived long enough without you all that I could still do so if needed. But without you, I couldn't, especially not since I got you back."

"It hurt so much that you were gone. I hated you for a while, you know. Cause you left me without saying anything. You left after planning a date, our first. Then all of a sudden, you're gone. No note, no phone call, nothing. You had said you loved me, but the moment you disappeared, it seemed that you were lying. After awhile, I realized that you weren't lying about loving me, not with the glances I remembered. I missed you so much. There were times in the middle of the night that I felt like my heart was breaking for no apparent reason. When that happened, I always thought of you." Fuji said in a soft voice.

Fuji felt Ryoma's tears on his chest. "I'm so sorry. I love you. I'm sorry." Ryoma uttered through his tears.

"I know, I love you, too."

Well there is the latest chapter for Apples and Starlings. amazing how long it took. anyway, An Impossible World and CSI: JAPAN have been updated as well. the next update should be New Years, but if there is nothing, it will most certainly be on January 28. that i promise.

Please read and review!

Lovishnesses, Lonely Rain