Hello everyone! This story is a sequel to The Dark Side of Gravity. It's not necessary to read that story to understand this one, but there will be a few references to events that happened in that story, so I'd recommend reading it first anyway.

Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction, but the characters of Shuichi Shindou, Eiri Yuki, Tohma Seguchi, Hiro Nakano, Suguru Fujisaki, Mika Seguchi, Ayaka Usami, Ryuichi Sakuma, Noriko Ukai, Mr. Sakano and K are borrowed from the Gravitation manga and TV series by the illustrious Maki Murakami. The characters of Miranda Collins and Anderson Keyes were invented by me.

Warning: This story contains numerous scenes of graphic yaoi intimacy. If you don't like reading about two guys doing it, don't read this story.

Chapter 1: Love Knows No Bounds

"Yuki! I'm home!"

Eiri looked up from his book just in time to take the full force of Shuichi's leap into his lap. Shuichi wrapped his arms around Eiri's neck, his hands sliding up to tangle in Eiri's unruly blond hair, and kissed Eiri hungrily, his tongue sliding between Eiri's lips. Eiri pulled his glasses off, since they'd been knocked askew anyway, and kissed back. After a moment, Shuichi's lips slid from his and worked their way along his cheek to his jaw, and then to his neck. His tongue stroked Eiri's neck eagerly and Eiri felt the usual surge of arousal, knowing what was coming. Shuichi bit him and began to suck hungrily. Eiri moaned as desire began to take over.

It was like this every night now. Shuichi came home from rehearsal with a raging thirst that he had to satisfy before anything else could happen. His hungry sucking sent ever-increasing waves of desire through Eiri that he found harder and harder to resist. Sometimes, Eiri wondered if his sexual need was the only thing that stopped Shuichi from drinking. Because like always, he finally couldn't stand the aching arousal in his loins anymore and pushed Shuichi off onto the floor. He undid his trousers as he slid off the couch between Shuichi's legs and then yanked Shuichi's pants off, lifting his heels up onto his shoulders. He put himself into Shuichi and then thrust all the way in hard, leaning over him with a groan of pleasure. Shuichi gasped. He reached up to clutch Eiri's shoulders and lifted his mouth for a kiss. Eiri kissed him deeply while he fucked, tasting his own blood in Shuichi's mouth.

Eiri climaxed first, but he didn't stop driving himself into Shuichi until Shuichi came. Then he sat back on his heels, rubbing his hands slowly up and down Shuichi's thighs.

"One of these evenings, it might be nice if you came in like a normal person and asked me what's for dinner," Eiri said dryly.

Shuichi chuckled. "But I always want you for dinner."

Eiri frowned. "You're not eating enough. You've lost a lot of weight lately."

"I just haven't been that hungry." Shuichi pulled his knees up, rolled over and sat up. "I've been so busy with the new album, I never think about it. And anyway, you should talk. You're still skinnier than I am."

Eiri studied him critically. "No, I don't think I am. If you're a gram over 45 kilos, I'd be surprised."

"Don't be silly!" Shuichi grabbed his underwear and pulled them back on. "I've weighed 55 kilos since halfway through high school. But if you're that worried about it, let's have dinner." He bounded to his feet and skipped off to the kitchen singing.

Eiri stood up slowly. He was worried. He remembered that Tohma had actually seemed surprised that Shuichi had survived the death of the vampire Satoshi Seido. He had also been very concerned about the manner in which Eiri had saved Shuichi from death.

"It might have been better if you'd let him die," Tohma had said.

But Eiri had not been able to do that. He loved Shuichi. And giving Shuichi what he needed seemed a small price to pay. Eiri still occasionally drank from Shuichi himself, but he didn't need to do it. It was mostly love-play to him. Yet he made sure he ate regularly, especially plenty of protein, so he could sustain Shuichi's habit. But he knew what Tohma would say to that if he knew:

"You're enabling him."

That was probably true, but Eiri wasn't sure what to do about it. In the beginning, it had seemed harmless enough. But now, with Shuichi looking more waif-like every day, Eiri worried. He walked to the kitchen and stood in the doorway, watching Shuichi make dinner. Shuichi sang as he worked, one of his new songs. It had a beautiful, haunting melody and his rich voice gave it an ethereal quality.

"That's pretty."

Shuichi stopped in mid-verse with a broad smile. "Do you think so? Fujisaki is already trying to redo it."

"Don't let him."

"I'll tell him you said so," Shuichi laughed. "Dinner's ready."

He'd made fried rice out of yesterday's leftovers. It disturbed Eiri to see how large a panful the leftovers made. Shuichi used to eat that much as a snack. He resolved to make sure Shuichi ate at least half of what was there.

"This isn't too bad," Eiri noted. "Your cooking doesn't suck quite as much as it did when you first moved in."

"Hey! My cooking never sucked!"

"Or maybe I've just gotten less picky."

"Bastard! You were living on beer and cigarettes before I came along."

"All right. I won't say your cooking sucks if you eat half of the rice."

"I couldn't." Shuichi looked a little green. "I'm already full."

Eiri frowned. Shuichi hadn't eaten more than four mouthfuls. He tried to sound nonchalant.

"And you claim you still weigh 55 kilos eating like that? I've seen supermodels eat more. Trust me, I've dated a few."

"Quit throwing your old girlfriends in my face," Shuichi grumbled irritably. "I don't want any more rice!"

"Fine, don't eat any more." Eiri continued to eat in silence.

Shuichi stared at the table, poking at the remaining rice on his plate with one chopstick. He glanced up at Eiri once or twice, but looked back down without speaking. Finally, he sighed softly.

"Are you mad at me, Yuki?"

"No, but I am worried about you." Eiri reached out and put his left hand on the back of Shuichi's right. "You don't eat, you're losing weight and you're not sleeping very well." Shuichi started in surprise. "Yes, I've noticed. Shu-chan, for my sake, will you please try to eat more?"

Shuichi blinked and looked back down at his plate. Bravely, he picked up his chopsticks and put another mound of rice into his mouth. He choked it down, but it looked like it took all he had to keep it from coming back up again.

"I'm sorry, Yuki," he said plaintively, "that's really all I can stomach. I'll be sick if I have any more."

"That's ok. You tried. That's all I was asking." Eiri smiled encouragingly and patted his hand again, but inside he began to feel sick himself. It wasn't that Shuichi didn't want to eat, he couldn't eat, and that was worse.

- - - - - - - -

Rehearsal was not going well. Fujisaki was determined to make changes to the melody on Shuichi's latest song and Shuichi was adamantly against it. It wasn't just that Yuki had said he liked it; Shuichi truly believed that Fujisaki's changes ruined the balance he was trying for. Hiro was trying to stay out of the argument and that only annoyed Shuichi more. Hiro was his best friend! He should be taking Shuichi's side.

"You may be a marginally decent keyboard player with modest mixing skills," Shuichi snarled angrily, "but you have no grasp of the finer nuances of artistic melody."

Fujisaki flushed at the insult. "You won't even listen to my alternative!" he complained. "How would you know if it's better or not?" He managed to keep his voice level, but Shuichi could hear the strain in his voice as he attempted to hide his fury. Shuichi would have known he was angry anyway. The scent of his fury saturated the air around him.

"I heard enough of it to know it sucks!" he snapped back. "Play it the way I wrote it, god dammit!"

Fujisaki stiffened.

"Please, gentlemen!" Sakano interrupted from the control room. "Let's play it through once more the way it's currently written, and then we can try again with the other version."

Shuichi glared at Fujisaki as he moved to the mic. Fujisaki glared back.

The technician in the control room began to count down. "And… three, two, one, go!"

Shuichi began to sing. Hiro came in on the second bar and Fujisaki on the third.

Fujisaki began to play his alternative melody.

Shuichi whirled around with a scream and threw the mic at him. Fujisaki ducked just in time with a started yelp.

"Play it the way I wrote it, you sniveling little turd!" Shuichi screamed. He leaped across the room and jumped over the keyboard, his hands closing around Fujisaki's throat. Fujisaki flailed at him as Shuichi bore him to the ground. The younger man reeked of fear; the smell of it filled Shuichi's nostrils. It triggered a raging blood lust and Shuichi stopped choking him so he could push Fujisaki's head to one side and expose his throat. He lowered his head, his mouth open to sink his teeth in and put an end to Fujisaki's irritating squeals.

K grabbed him around the waist and dragged him away. Shuichi screamed in frustration.

"Lemme go, you fucking bastard!" He kicked furiously and clawed at K's arm, trying to break free.

"Oh, dear," K said calmly. "This isn't good."

A sharp blow to the back of his head turned Shuichi's vision into an explosion of sparks. He blacked out.

- - - -

What Shuichi thought was the buzzing of bees turned out to be people talking.

"I think you cracked his skull."

"Oh, hardly. Shuichi's head is the hardest thing about him."

Hiro's concerned face swam into Shuichi's vision. "Shuichi, can you hear me? Are you all right?"

Shuichi's head was pounding. The sound of Hiro's voice hurt. "What the hell happened?" he mumbled. He put his hand on the back of his head and felt wetness. He blinked in confusion at the sight of blood on his fingers. "My head's bleeding."

"Still? I thought I'd stopped it." Hiro lifted his head carefully and pressed a damp cloth against the back of his head. "K pistol-whipped you. You kind of lost control there, buddy."

"I did?" Shuichi blinked at Hiro. "I don't remember. Weren't we rehearsing?"

"Yeah. And you attacked Fujisaki for not playing the song the way you wanted."

"I did?" Shuichi repeated, still confused. "I don't… I can't…" he trailed off and his eyes closed. "I think I… I have to rest." Cottony blackness muffled him and he passed out.

Shuichi regained consciousness to the sound of voices.

"There doesn't appear to be a concussion, but we'll know better when he wakes up."

"Thank you, doctor." It was Yuki's voice.

A door closed and Yuki immediately broke into an angry tirade.

"What kind of a manager is that madman?! He could have killed Shuichi, hitting him like that!"

"You didn't see him, Yuki-san," Hiro replied. "He was completely out of control. He nearly choked Fujisaki unconscious. I thought he was going to kill him! And then it looked like he tried to bite him!"

"Bite him?" Yuki exclaimed. "Did he?"

"No, but I really thought he was going to. I've never seen him so angry before."

Shuichi blinked back tears. Had he really done that? He had never tried to bite anyone else before. There were times when people made him hungry, but he had always been able to ignore it. Attack Fujisaki? He didn't even remember it. "I'm sorry!" he whispered.

"Shuichi!" Yuki and Hiro cried in unison. They came to his bedside and Yuki took his hand.

"How do you feel?" Yuki asked. The concern on his face touched Shuichi. He smelled of worry, anger and love.

"Like shit," Shuichi answered faintly. "Did I really attack Fujisaki?"

"Yeah, man, I'm afraid you did," Hiro said. "He's really upset. He said he's quitting the band."

"Oh, god! I truly don't remember any of it!" Shuichi tried to sit up, but Yuki pushed him back down gently. The tears Shuichi was trying to hold in spilled from his eyes. "I'm so sorry! I don't know what to say! I don't know what came over me!"

"Don't think about," Yuki ordered sternly. He looked at Hiro. "I'll stay with him. Why don't you go talk to Fujisaki? Shuichi is ill. Perhaps that will sway him to be more understanding."

Hiro's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with Shuichi?"

"You don't need to know. I'll take care of him."

"But..." Hiro started to protest, but Yuki fixed him with a dark glare.

"I know you are his friend, Nakano-san, but I am his lover. I'll take care of Shuichi. Please go."

Hiro frowned angrily. "Fine! I'll go. But I won't be kept in the dark. Shuichi and I go back a lot farther than the two of you." He stalked angrily from the room. The door boomed shut behind him.

Shuichi lifted large, frightened eyes to Yuki. "Yuki, what am I going to do? This has never happened before. Why can't I remember it?"

Yuki gently stroked the hair back from his face. "You don't remember because that idiot K nearly bashed your brains out. But Hiro said you were angry when you attacked Fujisaki. Furious, even."

"But why would that make me try to…" Shuichi stopped. He didn't want to say the words. He'd never liked saying the words, even though he had now been drinking Yuki's blood for months.

"I don't know. But I think you need to give serious consideration to giving up the habit. I'm afraid of what it's doing to you. You should be, too." Yuki leaned over and kissed him gently. "I'll stay with you tonight. The doctor wants you to stay overnight for observation." He began tucking in Shuichi's blankets.

Shuichi watched him, feeling guilty. Give up the habit? Right now, all he could think about was how much he wanted to drink from Yuki. His scent filled Shuichi with hunger. Resisting the urge was making his head throb again.

"Does your head hurt?"

Shuichi almost smiled. Yuki always knew what he was feeling, it seemed.

"Yes."

"I'll ask them to bring you something. I'll be right back."

Yuki went out and Shuichi stared up at the ceiling. It really couldn't be that bad. He was being careful with Yuki, so as long as he didn't lose his temper again, it shouldn't be a problem with anyone else. Yes, he just had to be more careful and watch himself, that was all. There was no reason to stop.