. Summary .
Eiri has committed an unspeakable crime against his brother: he's forced Tatsuha to get a JOB! Now Tatsuha is working at a hotel and is anything but happy about it. Until he hears that Ryuichi is staying in one of the rooms. Then, all hell breaks loose.
. Author's Note .
My first Tatsuha and Ryuichi fanfiction! I'm so excited. Ever since I saw Gravitation (DVDs 1-3), I've been obsessing over this couple. And they don't even get together in the anime, I've heard. What a shame. They're both so molestable and hot. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! It's going to be a hilarious ride! - Hanabina
. Disclaimer .
I don't own Gravitation, anime or manga. I don't even own the DVDs I watched. They're my friends. And, although it kills me, I don't own Eiri Yuki, Tatsuha Uesugi, Shuichi Shindou, Ryuichi Sakuma, or anybody else from the show. I just borrow them and use them as puppets to do my bidding. What? Like you don't do it too.
. One .
It's Hardly The End Of The World
Eighty-seven times.
Tatsuha had watched the Nittle Grasper's 12th Concert: Special Edition video exactly eighty-seven times. He had a feeling his brain had turned to mush because he found it hard to think of anything but Nittle Grasper's awesome beats - or to think at all.
He couldn't sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw was Ryuichi Sakuma, singing into the microphone with that serious look on his face. That passion, that heart, that life. His god.
Eighty-seven times. He pressed the rewind button. Time to make it eighty-eight.
The light switch flipped on. Tatsuha covered his head with the blanket, hissing. After sitting in the dark for the last nine hours, light was the last thing his eyes could take. "The light burns!"
"Bastard, turn that TV off." Eiri said, a cigarette between his lips. "I'm trying to sleep and, thanks to you, Shuichi keeps muttering lyrics in his sleep. It's annoying the hell out of me."
Tatsuha peered through a crack in the blanket. "Ryu... ichi..." He said in a monotone voice, drool sliding out of the corner of his mouth. Eiri twitched, disgusted. He walked over, grabbing the remote from Tatsuha's limp hand and shutting off the TV.
"Lazy bastard." Eiri muttered, heading back to his bedroom. Tatsuha was still staring mindlessly at the television. He turned off the light and shook his head. "At least he'll only be here for one day."
...Room Service?
"What you're doing is wrong!" Tatsuha screamed, resisting the urge to cling to his brother's leg. For one thing, Eiri would just kick him off painfully anyway. And, for another thing, Shuichi already had a tight hold on both legs. "It's morally, ethically, and humanly wrong! How can you be so cruel?"
"Yeah, Yuki!" Shuichi piped in, tightening his hold. "You can't do that to Tatsuha! You said he could stay here with us for a few days!"
Eiri glared at the two of them. "No, I said he could stay here with us for one day. One day. How did that turn into six?"
"But, come on!" Tatsuha continued. "Don't you have any shame? You can't do this! I'm only sixteen! It's illegal! Next you'll have me pushing drugs on little kids, right? You make me sick!"
"Funny. That's the same thing I always say about you." Eiri replied shortly. "Now both of you shut up. Tatsuha, I'm not going to let you freeload around my house. If you're going to stay here, you're going to get a job."
Tatsuha twitched at the very word.
Shuichi's eyes swelled up with tears. "Yukiiii! That's not fair! He's not a boarder; he's our guest!"
"For someone to be a guest, they'd have to be welcome. He's never been welcome here." Eiri said as he finally got his legs free of Shuichi's hold. "You can whine all you want, but Tatsuha's going to start working. Tomorrow. It's all set up."
Tatsuha screamed again. "What? You got me a job and you didn't even ask me? What if I don't like it?"
"Tough shit." Eiri lit himself a cigarette and inhaled. "It was actually Tohma's doing, not mine. NG also owns this hotel in town and they're in need of one more person for room service. That would be you."
"I have to clean up after whiny boarders at a hotel? What do I look like - a garbage man?" Tatsuha protested. "You can't make me go!"
Eiri inhaled the sweet smoke once more, not saying anything for a minute. Then he smirked. "I currently have your autograph book in my bedroom. If it were to accidentally fall on my lighter and all sixty pages with Ryuichi's signature on them were to mysteriously burst into flames—"
Twin gasps filled the room. Tatsuha dropped to his feet. "You're cruel."
"And you're easy to manipulate. Have fun tomorrow." Eiri said patronizingly, getting to his feet and walking to the bedroom. Shuichi stared after his lover for a moment, then looked at Tatsuha, who was currently curled into a ball on the floor, bawling his eyes out. Shuichi leaned down and patted his head.
"It's alright Tatsuha. I'm sure the job can't be... that bad. Cheer up." The pink-haired boy said with a bright smile. He sighed as Tatsuha's arms stretched out and pulled Shuichi down on top of him.
"Wanna make me feel better?" Tatsuha asked huskily, all traces of previous tears gone.
Shuichi sweat dropped. "Um... Yuuuukiiiii!"
...Room Service?
Tatsuha made a last ditch attempt. He really did. But still, at precisely 6:33am he found himself shoved – and then locked – out of his brother's apartment, despite the fact that he'd tied himself to his bed.
He sighed. He had to be at the hotel by 7 to get started and be briefed on what his job would entail of. He still had plenty of time to grab breakfast, or at least a muffin. Eiri hadn't been kind enough to give him that much.
Tatsuha turned and started walking down the street towards the subway. The hotel was downtown, so he had to transfer a few times to get to the area. All he could think the whole time was "Shoot me. Please shoot me now."
Much to his dismay, he was still alive after the train ride. He forced himself out of his seat and through the sliding doors with the rest of the crowd. As soon as he emerged from the subway, the sight of the hotel greeted him. It was kind of hard to miss. The place took up the entire block across from the train station.
"Leave it to Tohma to own a place like that," Tatsuha muttered. "Bet it's spotless, too."
"Are you going to stand out here and complain or can I interrupt?"
Tatsuha looked to see the blonde he'd just been muttering about standing in front of him. He blinked, wondering when Tohma had gotten there, then realized Tohma must have been waiting by the door and seen him.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm here for the job, unfortunately." Tatsuha said, trying not to sound too miserable. "What do you want me to do?"
"Well, first of all," Tohma replied. "Go to the kitchen and get something to eat. I can hear your stomach from here. After that, meet me on the 23rd floor, in my office. And don't worry. You'll have a good time here."
Tatsuha scowled. "Yeah. Sure I will."
Eiri must die.
…Room Service?
Tatsuha wiped off his cart and loaded a soufflé onto it, trying not to look as miserable as he felt.
This morning, he'd tried handcuffing himself to the bedpost as well as tying himself to it, but Eiri had managed to kick him out once again. The door had opened briefly, giving Tatsuha some small hope, but then a corn muffin had slammed into his head and Eiri's smug voice called "Shuichi wanted you to have that" before the door slammed shut again.
At least Shuichi was nice to him, which made him wonder again how Eiri had managed to land such an adorable Ryuichi Sakuma look-a-like.
"Do you have ketchup, na no da?" Someone whispered, too close for comfort. Tatsuha jumped and flipped around to see a guy wearing a cap that covered his hair and large sunglasses. On his back was a bag with something pink sticking out of it.
The man's voice sounded strangely familiar, but Tatsuha was too creeped out to notice. "What?"
"Ketchup? Ku—someone in my room needs ketchup." The man stammered before beaming brightly. "Do you have any?"
"Uh… yeah, sure…" Tatsuha rummaged through the cart until he found some mini-packs of ketchup, then handed them to the stranger with a sigh.
The stranger tilted his head to the side. "Something wrong, na no da?"
"Nothing." Tatsuha wasn't about to talk out his problems with someone he barely knew. Word could get back to Tohma, who would probably give him something worse to do. "Just a little stressed out, is all."
"When I get stressed out, I like to sing!" The man said cheerily. "Do you sing?"
"No…"
"Who's your favorite singer? Maybe I could sing one of their songs to cheer you up, na no da!"
Tatsuha shrugged. "Ryuichi Sakuma of Nittle Grasper."
The man's entire face seemed to light up. "Oh, really! Well, then, I've got some good news for you!"
"What do you think you're doing?"
Both men turned to see Tohma standing there, glaring in the stranger's direction. "I told you to stay in your room."
"But Tohmaaa!" The man whined. "Kumagoro wanted—"
"I don't care. Go back to your room. Now." Tohma said flatly. He turned his gaze onto Tatsuha. "And you. Fraternizing with the guests is not part of your job here."
Tatsuha watched the man pout and storm away, leaving his ketchup behind. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I was just loading the cart. Your friend came and talked to me."
"Of course." Tohma replied, his voice as enigmatic as ever. "Do get back to work. I'm sure there are a lot of people waiting. I've got to go tend to my friend. If you'll excuse me."
Tatsuha watched Tohma walk away, then waited until he was a good distance away before sticking his tongue out at the blond man.
…Room Service?
Tatsuha's eye was twitching. He was officially on duty, catering to the whims of any person who checked into the hotel. The instant they pressed the button for room service, he had to go and serve their lazy ass.
Great.
"NG Hotel Room Service. Did you order this chocolate mousse?" He asked through the door of room 106, trying to keep his twitching to a minimum. He was going to kill Yuki, then rip off his arms and beat him with them, and then he was going to take one of Yuki's books and stick them up Tohma's bossy, cruel—
"Chocolate? Kumagoro didn't order any chocolate! He's not allowed to have any and neither am I, na no da!"
Tatsuha blinked, his heart starting to pound faster. Kumagoro? Either, there was an extremely obsessed freak (re: his long lost twin) in there, or… "Sir, please open the door."
"I can't." The voice whined. "Noriko said I shouldn't open the door until she gets back! Ryuichi wasn't allowed to order room service either, but Kumagoro really wanted some ketchup. He left his downstairs!"
Tatsuha had to fight to keep from fainting. Ryuichi Sakuma? In this hotel? Staying in this hotel? Where Tatsuha was working? This hotel?
He blinked as his mind caught up to what Ryuichi had just said. Left his ketchup downstairs? The man downstairs had been Ryuichi Sakuma? He'd been talking to Ryuichi Sakuma? He'd given ketchup to Ryuichi Sakuma? Ryuichi Sakuma had been about to sing just for him?
This was too good to be true.
"Sir, please!" He begged, trying to keep his voice professional. "I—I can't give you your ketchup if you don't open the door!"
"But—But!" Ryuichi whined again. "Fine, but don't tell Noriko, na no da! She might get angry at Kumagoro!"
Tatsuha took deep breaths, listening to the latch unlock and watching as the door swung open to reveal his god – Ryuichi Sakuma in the flesh. He'd discarded the hat, although the sunglasses were still in place and blocking his eyes.
"Hi!" Ryuichi greeted cheerfully. "Kumagoro would like his ketchup now, please."
Tatsuha stared.
Ryuichi blinked. "Are you alright? Helloooo? Did you die? Can you die standing up? HELLO?"
Tatsuha stared.
"…Are you playing a game? I'm good at games, na no da! I want to play, too!"
Tatsuha didn't reply. He just stared.
Ryuichi stared back.
Tatsuha kept staring.
Ryuichi kept staring back.
Tatsuha blinked.
"Ha, Ryuichi wins!" The famous singer screamed in delight. "Nobody can beat me at a staring contest! Nobody, but Kumagoro, that is, but that's only because he makes faces and makes me laugh, the cheater."
"U-uh, Mr. Sakuma, I—" Tatsuha stammered, finally finding his voice. "I—I mean, I—"
Ryuichi tilted his head to the side, then beamed. "Ooooh. You're the fan from the cart, na no da! Kumagoro and I love fans!"
"Ryuichi, I told you not to open the door!"
Tatsuha turned to see an attractive girl with lavender hair heading their way, looking none too pleased. It was none other than Noriko, from Nittle Grasper. He would have been mildly interested in her if his god hadn't been standing right in front of him and well within reach.
Too bad he'd lost the feeling in his arms.
"Waaah, but—but Kumagoro wanted ketchup! I told him not to, but he wouldn't listen!" Ryuichi protested, eyes welling up in tears. "Please forgive him!"
Noriko smiled. "Alright, alright. Next time, I'll just have to take him to the bathroom with me, won't I? So he'll be good?"
Ryuichi beamed and nodded. "Kumagoro says he'd like to go with Noriko! He likes you."
Just when Tatsuha thought they'd forgotten about him, Ryuichi turned, putting the rabbit right up into his face. "Kumagoro also likes you, but he says he'd really like his ketchup now."
"Uh… right." Tatsuha searched through the cart until he found a little ketchup packet left over from an earlier trip and handed it to Ryuichi, cheeks turning pink as their fingers brushed.
Ryuichi didn't seem to notice. "Just the right size for Kumagoro! Now he really likes you!"
"That's all well and good, but Tohma told you not to let anybody know you were here, remember? He said he'd deliver our food and everything." Noriko turned to face Tatsuha. "Don't you dare tell anybody that Ryuichi is staying here or I'll rip your tongue out of your head."
He nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good. Thanks for the ketchup."
And then his god was gone behind an expensive redwood door. Tatsuha stood frozen for a good half-second.
Then he fainted.
. End Notes .
I know, I know. Super-short. It gets better, I promise. Don't forget to read and review! – Hanabina