Sorry

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: AU.  He ran from Shuichi once.  Will he take this second chance or let his past keep him from true happiness?  Ryuichi/Shuichi, Shuichi/Eiri

Chapter summary:  Epilogue

Warning: AU, Angst, drama, romance, language, m/m sexual content, Ryuichi/Shuichi, Shuichi/Eiri

Inserts: 

A/N:  Thank you to Girl Goten, Dark MetalAngel of Destruction, KyoHana, Golden Sun Dragoon, pikeebo, lilgurlanima, Acherona, sun's and stars for your reviews.  Here it is.  The final chapter.  Hope you enjoy it!

+--+--+--+

Epilogue

One Year Later – Tokyo, Japan

"Wha-?"

The sudden burst of sound from besides him startled Shinichiro out of his rambling monologue.  "Huh?"  Blinking, the assistant lifted his head from the itinerary displayed on his Blackberry and turned towards the male sitting next to him.

"Well.  Well."  A sly smirk appeared on the man's face

"Shindou-san?  Are you okay?"  Concerned, he questioned his boss.

They were heading home after the filming of Bad Luck's latest music video for their first single off their sophomore album- that was scheduled to drop this coming fall- wrapped.  Though Hiro, Suguru, Ethan and Kevin only had to be present for part of the shoot, unfortunately for Shuichi, as the front man and lead singer for Bad Luck, he was forced to remain for the entire video shoot, which had run so behind schedule that the shoot had lasted through the night.  Now, here it was dawn and not only was the sun up, but so were they.

Shuichi turned obsidian eyes hidden behind rimless glasses from the intriguing sight on the sidewalk outside the new club Midnight Love that closed everyday at dawn towards his companion.  "Huh?"  He tucked a stray strand of his shoulder length layered black-brown hair behind his newly pierced ear.

"Are you all right?" Shinichiro repeated.  His voice dropped at the end and his face became flushed.  Even after working for Shuichi for over a year, he still felt intimidated.

Eyes crinkled in amusement, twinkled.  A grin crept slowly across Shuichi's face.  "Ooh, yes," he assured the man.  He swung his gaze back out the window.  "Everything is just fine."  He snickered.

It may have been his imagination, but it sounded to Shinichiro a little evil.  "Oh!" he exclaimed.  "Is that-?"  When the light changed and their driver started the car moving forward, Shinichiro's curiosity got the better of him.  He was interested to see what seemed to have caught Shuichi's interest so completely.  And what he spied fading into the background was a man that at first appeared to resemble Eiri strolling casually away from the now closed nightclub, but as Shinichiro continued to study the man he soon grew to realize that it was not Eiri.  Besides, Eiri was supposed to be out of town until later that night.

"That would be Tatsuha," Shuichi informed him with a sneer.  Saying his name left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth.

"Oh my," Shinichiro said in shock and surprise.  As they slowed and rounded a corner, Shinichiro could not help himself as he continued to watch Tatsuha until he vanished behind the buildings.  "But…"

"What?"  Shuichi turned back to face his personal assistant provided to him by NG Productions.  Shinichiro looked concerned and a little upset about something.

Shinichiro looked briefly over his shoulder.  "But that wasn't…"

Shuichi cocked his head.  "Wasn't…?"

"With him…"

"What are you talking about?"

"That wasn't Ryuichi Sakuma."  Shinichiro turned back to Shuichi, his eyes full of worry.

Aah!  That sly grin reappeared.  "No," Shuichi agreed.  "No, it sure wasn't."  He leaned over the front seat as much as his seatbelt would allow and whispered something to their driver that Shinichiro could not hear. 

Shinichiro dropped his brows in contemplation.  He did not like this.  At the next light, much to the surprise of Shinichiro, the car made a left instead of a right.  They were heading in the opposite direction from their intended destination.  "Wha-?"  He glanced behind him out the back windshield, then at Shuichi.  "We're going the wrong way!" he cried out in panic.

Shuichi sat back and reached into his bag sitting on the seat between him and Shinichiro.  He pulled out his cellphone.  "No.  No we are not," he said with a large grin on his face.

"Huh?"

Shuichi only chuckled.

Shinichiro suddenly had a very bad feeling.

+--+--+

After a long night of recording, Ryuichi was completely exhausted and could not wait to get home.  Nittle Grasper was in the middle of working on a new CD that right now they planned to release sometime next summer.  They had almost all of the preliminary musical arrangements finished and were starting to work on how the vocals would be woven into the songs.  They had been told once years ago that the way they produced songs was backwards from the way most other artists produced them.  They had found that a little surprising.  None of the members of Sage had ever thought about how their songs were created.  They have always worked this way. 

The elevator jerked to a stop.  Yawning loudly, Ryuichi ran his fingers through his hair and rubbed his hands over his face.  Pushing away from the back wall, he fixed the strap of his bag as the elevator doors slid open with a loud "ding".  As he stepped out of the elevator and into the damp, humid underground parking garage below the NG Productions building, a muffled noise emanated from within his bag.

"Oh." 

Ryuichi dug within his bag as he crossed towards his car and pulled out his cellphone.  "New message has arrived," he read on the front sub LCD display.  Flipping open the phone, he was startled to a standstill and gasped.  His eyes went wide.  His hands shaking, he stared down at the familiar number at the bottom of the LCD screen.  A smile lit his face. 

"Shuichi," he whispered.  Ryuichi pressed the navigation bar and brought up the message.  His smile vanished as he read the message.  "'Justin was right.  What goes around does indeed come around'."  He blinked.  "What?"  He blinked again.  "What the hell does that mean?"

Confused, he scrolled down.  His blood suddenly ran cold.  His face paled.  His cellphone shook in his trembling hand.  Hot tears stung his eyes and distorted his vision.  Suddenly nauseous, Ryuichi staggered backwards until his back hit the concrete pylon.  He slid down the cylindrical support structure to sit on the cold, dirty floor.  His hand that was holding the cellphone flopped down onto the floor besides him.  The light from the LCD screen shinned against his pant leg.  With blank eyes, he stared lifelessly into a shadow-strewn corner.

Eiri's voice echoed in his head.  "You're not even his only lover, you know that right?  He usually has about half a dozen at one time and he tells all of them that he loves them.  That's how he's able to get them into bed."

A picture of a woman clad in skimpy, tight club wear and wrapped in the arms of a youngish, tall male with short black hair became a beacon in the dimly lit parking garage.

Ryuichi closed his eyes.  A stray tear trickled down his cheek.

+--+--+

It was a petty thing to do.  He knew it.

Shuichi brought the mug up to his mouth and blew on the steaming liquid.  Taking a sip of the sweet tea, he stared out over the city.  Turning, he leaned his behind against the patio railing and holding his tea against his chest under his chin, smiled down into the amber liquid as he let the aromatic steam wash over him.

A stray giggle passed through his lips before he could stop it.

"Huh?"  He raised his head and pushed away from the railing as he heard the front door jiggle.  Moments later a familiar voice echoed through the condominium.

"Shuichi?  Baka, you here?"

Shuichi's smile morphed into a grin.  Forgetting all about his tea, he burst through the sliding glass doors into the apartment he shared with his lover.  "Eiri!"

--OWARI--

A/N:  Yeah.  I know.  Kinda short, right?  Oh, well.  Other than that, how was it?  Next is a one-shot sequel called, "Sorry: Prior Commitment".  Oh!  Just a little FYI.  Thanks to an agreement with Funimation Entertainment (Spiral, Dragon Ball Z, Full Metal Alchemist), Kyo Kara Maoh! as well as other selective titles from Geneon will continue to be released!  Yeah!  Volume 7 of the second season of KKM will be out next month.  Vol. 8 is scheduled for release in October.