Chapter 11 - Track Eleven

IF YOU ENJOY GRAVITY, PLEASE SEE MY DOUJIN WHICH WAS SPAWNED THANKS TO IT AT: http://www.geocities.com/gravity_snowflake

“I’m like a snowflake, one of a kind, but doomed to join the endless white of the snow,” Ryuko whispers to Kumagorou as she watches the seemingly endless crowds of people pile into the stadium. All of them there to bask in the music and energy of the band she most admires and loves, and all of them destined to be treated to the musical talents of the pathetic daughter of…
“Ryuichi Sakuma!”

Ryuko falls to the ground, tackled by some crazy fan; some crazy fan that turns out to be her delusional Uncle Tatsuha. She kicks back, her foot jamming his groin. Tatsuha falls off her back, clutching it in pain. “My Ryuichi has forsaken me!”

Sighing to herself, she spins Kumagorou around and throws him like a ball, “KUMAGOROU BEAM!” The soft pink bunny strikes his head. Tatsuha releases his pained groin and lies out flat in a dream state.

Beaming a smile, she retrieves her toy and leans over, giving her uncle a kiss on the cheek. “Come to wish me good luck, or curse this stage? Hang on, how did YOU get past security?!”

“I was shot at like twenty times, does that count for security?” He asks, now out of his dream state and sitting back stage with her, watching the audience pile in.

“A lot of people out there…huh?”

“Don’t know why, personally,” laughs Tatsuha, “Bad Luck isn’t all that good. Now Nittle Grasper, that’s TRUE talent!”

Ryuko goes chibi and starts to hit his chest, “DON’T MAKE FUN OF MY PRECIOUS BAD LUCK! BAD LUCK ARE GREAT, BAD LUCK RULES, BAD LUCK – “

Tatsuha holds out his palm, pushing her back, “Yeah, yeah. So Bad Luck Baby, I hear you’re gonna sing with the other Bad Luck Babies and the Nittle Grasper Kiddies.”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just wanted to wish you good luck, Dad too.”

Ryuko blinks, “Grandpa Uesugi?”

Tatsuha grins, pointing to the other side of the backstage, where she can see her grandfather in his best robes performing a ritual of luck. “He actually came to Tokyo with me, I didn’t say anything, you know, the whole he and Eiri hating each other and all made it awkward.”

Suddenly, he feels a tight squeeze around his throat. Two strong arms are around his neck, strangling the dear life from him. Tatsuha looks to the side, his big brother’s cheek furiously against his. “Why the hell is the old man here?!”

“Can’t…breath…!”

Ryuko nervously giggles, “Papa, I think he’s dying.”

“I should be so lucky,” he scoffs, letting his pale little brother go. “Answer me, Tatsuha, WHY is HE here?”

Regaining his senses, Tatsuha cautiously stands before Yuki. “When Mika called me and said there was a chance Ryu-chan might perform, Dad insisted on coming to watch. Believe me; I’m as shocked as you are.”

Yuki folds his arms, peering over his shoulder as his father continues his ritual. “He actually came for…Ryuko?”

Tatsuha beams a smile, “Well, he may wish you and Shuichi severe pain, but you know how he feels about his little Ryu-chan.”

@~KYOTO, SIXTEEN YEARS AGO – LONG TIME PPLS!~@

“Yuki, is this really a good idea?” Wondered Shuichi, as they journeyed up the stone stairs that lead to the Uesugi shrine. “We should have at least called first.”

“He called us, remember.”

Shuichi sighed, “Yes, to debunk Tatsuha’s depression. You failed to call back a week later and tell him you happen to now be a father. The shock may kill him!”

“Here’s hoping.”

“Yuki!” Yelled Shuichi, “He’s your father, when are you going to make amends with him?”

“Hmm, can pigs fly yet?”

“I know you two have had your differences, but he’s family and I’m sure deep down he wants to work things out. He probably just finds it hard to find the words to – “

“Stop right there!” Demands a voice.

As they approached the end of their journey, they saw Yuki’s father standing before the top step, he held a long wooden stick out menacingly. “Before you enter the sacred land of the shrine, you are to agree to the following terms! #1: No use of fowl language. #2: No smoking. #3: Show respect to our ancestors. #4. That…that over there is NOT to wear a dress. #5: You are to stay in separate rooms. #6: If anyone asks, that is your assistant. #7: ABOVE ALL! Absolutely NO sexual conduct what so ever with that. UNDERSTAND?!”

Yuki raised an eyebrow in solemn thought, “What if I say he’s my assistant who assists with sexual conduct?”

The Buddhist monk whacked him across the head with his stick. Yuki growled, rubbing his head in pain.

“That?” Shuichi’s eyebrow twitched, at least he’d graduated from ‘it’, “Yeah Yuki, here’s hoping.”

~@~

Shuichi and Yuki sat with the monk in the dining room of the temple, they were dressed in traditional kimonos in respect for their surroundings – not to mention it easily got on his good side.

“Where’s Tatsuha?” Asked Shuichi.

He frowned, “Locked in his room, either sleeping or listening to his damn Nittle whatever music again.”

“How long has he been in there?”

“About two or three months,” he gruffly replied, “Ever since that Sakuma singer died. I thought he’d get over it after a week or so, but he’s barricaded himself in his room and only emerges to go to the bathroom or slip his hand out to retrieve the food I bring for him.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” assured Shuichi, patting the contents of the basket by his side.

“What have you brought with you?”

Yuki closes his eyes, “You have your business today, and I have mine.”

Shuichi reached into the basket, and drew out the sleeping baby, Ryuko. “We…uh…brought with us…Ryuko Sakuma, Ryuichi’s daughter.”

“Excellent,” Mr. Uesugi praised.

“Excuse me?” They both gasped.

He beamed a smile, “If Tatsuha sees her it’s bound to lift his spirits!”

Shuichi sweat dropped, “Yes…it sure should! Heh…”

“That isn’t why she’s here,” seriously said Yuki, “Like I said, I’m also here on my own business.”

Shuichi wondered what he was talking about, as did Yuki’s father.

“Hear me old man, what is between us stays between us and should not involve the child.”

“The child?” he demanded, “What are you talking about?”

“This child…is unfortunately a member of this family now, and so I would like you to give her a Buddhist’s blessing into the Uesugi family.”

His father quizzically stared at him, speechless and stunned.

“You see, recently Shuichi and I adopted her, and since you’ve been so eager for me to settle down and have a family, I thought I’d stop by so you can welcome your granddaughter properly. So, what do you say, Grandpa?”

Sweating furiously, Shuichi forced a smile, jumping to his feet. “You know, I think Ryu-chan and I will go see Tatsuha!” Racing from the room, he could hear Yuki’s father breaking one his own rules, shooting out just about swear word in the Japanese and English dictionary.

~@~

Shuichi laid his ear against Tatsuha’s door; Predilection was playing on his stereo by the sounds of it. “Tatsuha! Hi, it’s Shuichi! Can I come in and listen with you?”

No reply.

“Did you see that special on Nittle Grasper’s forming last week?” He cheerfully asked, “I taped it, if you missed it.”

Still nothing.

“How have you been? I just finished recording my new album and Yuki’s finished his latest manuscript, so we’ve got a lot of time spare. We’re thinking of going on a holiday in America, would you like to come too?”

Tatsuha was still quiet, which began to worry and irritate Shuichi.

“So…I guess you heard Mika’s pregnant, you’ll get to be an uncle, won’t that be something? Well, actually it turns out you already are!”

“What?” Came a dreary voice from within.

“You are listening!” He cheered, “Ne, ne, you see Yuki and I adopted Ryu-chan.”

“…Ryuko…Sakuma…?”

“That’s right.”

“Ryuichi’s…Ryuko Sakuma…?”

“Right!”

Silence fell upon him; Shuichi’s listened again at the door and could hear quiet sobbing. “Tatsuha…”

~@~

“Today’s been a real success,” groaned Shuichi, changing Ryuko’s nappy in his assigned room.

“Did you expect any less from them?” Said Yuki, reading a book.

“And you.”

“Me?”

“Y’know, it wouldn’t kill you to be polite to your father, perhaps he’d show you some respect if you showed him some.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Mika.”

Shuichi finished changing the nappy and gave the baby her bottle. “Very mature of you Yuki.”

Yuki closed his book. “I’m going to bed. See you two in the morning.” With that he left.

Shuichi folded his arms, “Sorry Ryu-chan, sometimes Papa can be a jerk.”

Ryuko titled her head, suckling her bottle.

~@~

Restless by her new environment, Ryuko found it hard to sleep. Sighing, she grabbed her Kumagoro’s hand and crawled out of her basket. She saw that her daddy was peacefully sleeping and wondered why her papa wasn’t there too. Perhaps he was out getting her a shiny toy; she loved shiny things.

Ryuko caught a glimpse of white light. It shone through the space of opened slide door. Smiling, she decided to follow the white light. It looked very pretty and sparkled against the wooden flooring.

Smiling widely, she crawled toward the light and bumped into the door. Shaking her head, she studied the door, annoyed that she couldn’t fit through. Pushing Kumagorou into the open space, she strained, sliding the door to the side enough to slip through.

Ryuko was now on the cool hard dirt of the temple’s grounds. She wondered where the pretty light had gone, and began to sniffle. Before she could cry, Kumagorou spotted the light shining in the distance. Ryuko decided to carry on searching for the end of the light.

~@~

Shuichi stirred, opening his eyes, sighing to himself. He sat up, moping and idly looked over to the basket by him for comfort. His eyes widened as he saw the baby was missing. When he saw the door had been further slid open he shot up in a panic, “RYU-CHAN!”

Racing around in a panic, he bashed on all the doors, regardless if it was a bedroom or not, howling that Ryuko was missing. Jumping on the spot in a fit, he waited till Yuki and his father joined him that he calmed down.

“What happened?” Yuki demanded, scanning the area.

“I woke up and she…she was gone! Oh my god, what if she was kidnapped?!”

“Nonsense,” sneered Mr. Uesugi, “I’d know if someone had sneaked onto the grounds, the kid probably just crawled away. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

“We’ll split up and search,” said Yuki.

“Right!” agreed Shuichi.

~@~

Tatsuha yawned, drudging himself out of his room into the night. He was annoying Shuichi had woken him up, probably that time of the month he’d thought to himself. After going to the toilet, he walked out of the bathroom and found himself gazing at the moon. It was full, and an amazing bright white. It was so lovely it was almost painful. As he went to go back to his room a movement in the cemetery caught his eye. Maybe it was a cat or dog. Either way he wasn’t in the mood to have to clean the monuments.

Sighing, Tatsuha walked into the graveyard. He lazily inspected for that cat or dog. Kicking at the ground, unable to find anything, he was ready to retreat back to his room before anyone could see him. That was when he saw the light. A brilliant white shimmering that streamed down from the moon. His eyes followed the light. They came to rest on a monument in the centre of the cemetery. There he saw the little creature. He half smiled, silently walking toward her.

~@~

Shuichi ran across the temple’s grounds, calling out Ryuko’s name frantically. Not watching his steps, he tripped over his own feet. Dizzily trying to come to his sense, he could blurrily see someone in a darkened area of the grounds.

“Tatsuha?” he wondered. “Tatsuha, is that you?!”

The man slowly turned around. In the light of the moon he caught his features and knew it was him. Tatsuha turned around, and went back to his staring. Shuichi decided to see what was so damn interesting.

“Ah! Ryu - “ Tatsuha held his arm out to silence the ecstatic Shuichi. “But…”

“Sssh, they’re sleeping.”

Shuichi blinked, staring down at the sleeping Ryuko, who lay on the flat of the stone monument. Moonlight beamed down on her where she lay. “They?”

Yuki and his father found their way to them. Before they could say anything, they were choked back in knowing. Ryuko was sleeping on…on…

“Mother’s grave,” finally said Yuki.

“Incredible,” gasped Shuichi.

Mr. Uesugi didn’t peep a word, taking in the brilliance of the moonlight bathing the grave in a brilliant silvery white, and highlighting the sleeping babe to give her the air of a heavenly being.

The four stood around her for what felt like hours. Yuki’s father broke the mystique by bending down and picking up the sleeping child. “She can’t sleep out here all night, she may get a cold. Come on.”

The three blinked, watching him walk off with her.

“So…” said Tatsuha, “when’re we off to America?”

“WE?” Demanded Yuki, “Who invited you?” He then turned to Shuichi and knocked him over the head.

~@~

A week passed. Tatsuha had found the courage to begin his duties as a monk again, and discovered how to have fun again by singing loud karaoke in the middle of the night with Shuichi. It would take time to make a full recovery from his depression, but at least he had the building blocks to cope.

Shuichi and Yuki had just finished packing to head back to Tokyo when Mr. Uesugi approached them.

“What now, didn’t we pack fast enough?” Yuki asked his father.

He cleared his throat, frowning. “Understand Eiri, I am not advocating your…relationship…with that...so do not misinterpret what I am about to do.”

“Spit it out old man.”

“You love that child, Ryuko, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll protect her just like she was your own?”

“You mean do the exact opposite of you for a child that was your own? Of course.”

Mr. Uesugi frowned. “Very well, hand the child to me.”

“Huh?”

“You also came here on your own business. You two upheld your side, I feel obligated to do likewise for you.”

Yuki and Shuichi stared in cautious surprise. Mr. Uesugi picked up Ryuko, who was playing with Kumagorou on the floor. She giggled as he tickled her chin. “Who’s a good girl? That’s right, Ryu-chan is!” Ryuko loudly giggled, hugging her grandpa.

Shuichi tugged on Yuki’s sweater, “This is really creepy.”

“Yeah…”

@~NOW~@

“Yuki!” Yells Shuichi, “Your father just hit Hiro over the head with a lantern!”

“He got in the way, it wasn’t my doing!” retaliates the monk, throwing the lantern at Shuichi. Shuichi ducks, the lantern whacking Yuki in the face. His face is marked with red, his ears steam with rage.

“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that old man…”

Before the situation can get out of hand, Mika and Tohma enter the backstage area.

“Father…” gasps Mika, “I can’t believe you’re actually here!”

The monk throws his arms around Ryuko, placing her between him and the furious Yuki. Ryuko beams a nervous smile, making Kumagorou pat his bald head. “I’m so happy you made the trip, Grandpa! Slacker…er…Setsuna, will also be happy too.”

Slacker dolefully listens on the sidelines, “Mildly.”

Tohma claps his hands, “Bad Luck, two minutes to start! Are you prepared?”

Shuichi raises a fist, “Let the party begin!”

Hiro dizzily picks himself off the floor with Himeka’s assistance, “Sure…ugh…thing!”

Suguru smiles to himself, “Ah, just like old times. Bad Luck forever!”

Ryuko squeezes her grandfather, taking the breath right out of him. “THIS IS SO AWESOME!”

The band members ready their mic packs and make last minute checks of the amplifiers.

Sakano takes Shuichi by the shoulders and seriously looks into his eyes. “Shindo-kun, at a time like this, as your long time producer, I have one thing to say to you…DON’T SCREW UUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPP!”

Shuichi proudly grins, patting Sakano’s shoulder, “Relax, I Shuichi Shindo am a professional!” His smile turns to embarrassment. “Ne, by the way…what song are we doing first, again?”

Sakano zooms around in a whacked out frenzy.

Suguru hangs his head in despair. Sara looks up at her father with an encouraging smile, “Do your best!”

He returns her smile, “I will, Sara-chan. You also do your best, OK?”

Sara nods.

Shuichi makes a rousing howl and kicks into the air, “Time to go! Destiny calls! Fate has spun us into its web. The Gravitation pull is – “

“Mush, Shindo,” commands Tohma.

“Right!” Shuichi gives Ryuko a thumb up, and runs onto stage, greeting his adoring public.

Ryuko grasps the curtains, watching the sea of people with one half closed eye, “The endless white…”

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