[fic] Silent Collision - Chapter Ten ~The Uncle~
Title: Silent Collision
Author:
prettyorianna
Pairing: Akame. Ryo x Kame. Ueda x Junno.
Rating: NC-17. Eventually.
Genre: crime drama? AU story
Beta by: nobody
Disclaimer: I don't own the people. I write this for fun and for other fans of these fine folks. But don't steal my plots, mmkay? I put a great deal of time into them except for when I'm randomly spastically spitting words onto a page. But I value those too...
Summary: Jin kills in self defense only to find himself a fugitive. Along the way he meets a scared boy...
Warning: Character death(s). Abuse, murder, gangs, kidnapping, etc etc.
Author's Note: Here you go!
The Master Posts:
On my journal - Silent Collision Master Post
On the akame_ Community - Silent Collision Master Post
On the akame_fanfics Community - Silent Collision Master Post
On the kattun_fanfics Community - Silent Collision Master Post
Chapter Ten ~The Uncle~
He saw it every time he closed his eyes, even now. The one pure thing in his life. He’d hidden her away from the street, or so he thought. The crimson river flowing from the gash across her throat seemed almost unreal, like red paint maybe…
And it was all his fault. He’d been too kind and it cost him.
Had it really been a year since her death?
Yamapi remembered all too well. One of Manatsu gang’s assassins, a man by the name of Yokoyama Yuu, had decided he’d do a better job running the gang and he’d tried to stage a coup. Yamapi and the rest of the gang managed to deal with the problem. Only, rather than have the men killed (he employeed assassins because they were necessary but really he didn’t like to kill unless he had to), he had them beaten and tossed them from the gang and the gang’s protection.
He still didn’t understand how Yokoyama had found his fiancée. Not even Uchi -- who had been practically like a brother -- knew he was engaged or even dating. On the one hand, he supposed it was naïve of him to think he could live two lives at once, husband and gang leader. But he was in love. What else could he do? He couldn’t step down. He tried so hard to keep the two halves of his life from touching.
But he let Yokoyama live and that’s why she suffered and eventually died. He couldn’t even say her name anymore. Hell, he couldn’t think it! Yamapi desperately wanted to forget her and the things Yokoyama and his men had done to her before he’d slaughtered them all for it, but it hounded him still. It drove him.
He would never be that weak, that kind, again.
Oh, he wasn’t completely heartless. He did his best for the gang. They were like a family to him, even if he did get moody with them now and again. But for anyone that threatened the stability of the gang or his rule over it, there would be no second chance. There couldn’t be…
The ringing of his phone drew him away from his memories. It was Uchi. “Sir, he’s here. What do you want me to do? Do you want me to send in a group to separate him from the others and take him out?”
Without so much as a pause, Yamapi said, “Just burn the house down. It’s easier.” He hung up.
He was ready to wipe his hands of the whole Akanishi problem. It was a pity, because the man had been such a promising thief and truthfully, Yamapi always had a soft spot for him, ever since he joined the gang three years ago. But the man had put two of the thieves under his control out of commission for almost a week even if the other three came through the brawl with minor injuries only.
Eventually, Uchi came back to the house they used as a base of operations. Yamapi was there almost always these days.
He could tell the other was a bit unhappy. He hadn’t… did Uchi think he meant for him to do the deed himself? Maybe he should have been a bit more specific in his orders.
“Uchi? What’s troubling you?” Yamapi asked.
The man had a guarded expression but finally admitted, “I don’t like the idea of the two innocent lives caught in the middle, Yamashita-san. His friend and the boy from the news, they did nothing to you or me or the rest of the gang.”
Apparently taking Yamapi’s silence as a sign he wasn’t about to get in trouble for expressing the doubts, Uchi continued, “I mean, yes, fire is quick and easier and I know you want it over with. That’s doesn’t mean I have to like calling in Koyama Keiichiro’s team.”
“Ah.” Actually, Koyama’s team was probably the best choice for the job. “You may not like it but you did it and you did very well.” Sighing, he continued, “Maybe I can finally relax for a few days.”
“I still need to show you the ledgers…”
“Tomorrow morning. Numbers before bed just make my brain dribble out my ears.”
Uchi gave a small laugh; then he bowed and left for the evening.
Yamapi didn’t leave. He almost always slept here. It was better than sleeping alone in the house he dreamed of sharing with his fiancée…
+++
Jin found some generic over-the-counter antibiotic ointment and some bandages in the first aid kit in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. It was probably better to deal with those wounds while Kame was still passed out. Frankly speaking, it was going to hurt like hell.
Nevertheless, it needed to be done, so Jin carefully started spreading ointment as needed and covered all of the burns with bandages. Gently rolling Kame back onto his side, Jin took a second look at his chest, checking to see if anything there needed tending as well.
How could one human being do this to another? Especially to someone as sweet as Kame?
Jin decided in that minute that, though he might still feel bad about killing that other boy in self defense, he’d have absolutely no problem with murdering the bastard that had treated Kame like that.
That’s when he remembered what happened in the kitchen at Ueda’s house, right before the fire.
Kame had no uncle, but a man claiming to his uncle had turned up at the police station. That meant the police knew the identity of Kame’s kidnapper but didn’t realize it.
He…
Screw whether he got arrested or not. He was calling Koki.
A tired voice on the other end of the line, “Moshi moshi?” and a yawn.
“Koki?”
“Jin? I told Ueda-san you shouldn’t call except for in a complete emergency!”
A dark chuckle. “How about I know who the kidnapper is, probably anyway, and, oh, Ueda’s house was burned down, almost with us in it? Emergency enough for you, De-tec-tive Tanaka-san?”
“Oh my god, please tell me you’re kidding about the fire?” Koki didn’t sound the slightest bit sleepy anymore.
“I wish I was. I don’t know who exactly set it but I have some guesses. We barely made it out alive and as it stands, Kame got a few burns on his back. Though, I’d love to say that it looked like the worst thing he’d ever suffered, but just by what I can see I’m pretty sure that’s a lie.”
“You need to take him to the hospital, then.”
“Not until you arrest his kidnapper. I’m not taking him anywhere. If the man was able to fool you guys, he could fool a doctor or a bunch of nurses and then just walk out the door with him.”
A pause from Koki, but then he finally said, “What do you mean?”
“I mean that Kame-chan doesn’t have an uncle.”
“Why do you say that? I haven’t met him yet but I did pull his background. He’s got no priors, a clean work history… Not to mention the mountains of paperwork that prove Kame exists in the first place - birth certificate, vaccination records, and so on.”
“I believe Kame over any sheet of paper that man can show you. And just because he has no record doesn’t mean he isn’t the bad guy, Koki.”
Koki gave an indignant snort. “So says the man who spent the last three years, not cleaning up his act like he said but rather joining a damn gang!”
Oh, yeah, he was definitely going to kill Ueda.
“You better not.”
“Better not what?” Jin asked, confused.
“Any of the horrible massacre by fireman’s axe ideas you’re now considering for your friend Ueda. If you kill him, he can’t write any more books and he promised me a signed copy of the next one!”
Jin laughed. “Okay, fine. But you owe me.” And then he was suddenly very serious. “You can make it up to me by getting that abusive lying bastard of a false uncle and putting him in a prison full of people that know he beat and burned a child for ten years.”
“I can’t just arrest him without proof. I mean, I know I believe you, but you aren’t proof. You are reasonable doubt at his trial.”
Growling, Jin snapped, “Well, then, fuck trial. Send him to me and I’ll kill him. Eventually.”
Koki went completely silent for several minutes.
Jin, in his anger, had crossed a line.
“I… I didn’t mean that, I swear Koki!”
“I think you meant every word of that, Jin! What am I supposed to do when you say those things to me? I have to arrest you if I find you anyway, and now if you do manage to track the man down, I’ll have to testify about this conversation at your murder trial because it shows intent!”
And that was it. The damn broke and Jin was weeping. “Koki, you haven’t seen what he did to Kame-chan. And who knows what else he did that just didn’t leave a physical mark… I have to keep reminding Kame that it’s okay to sit on the furniture or sleep on the bed. Oh, and he still hasn’t said a single word! He got a couple of bad burns on his back from the house fire and he didn’t make so much as a sound even though it has to hurt unbearably. Not one single fucking scream or whimper.”
Koki was silent for another couple of seconds and then finally said, “I’ll check the man’s past and the authenticity of his documents again. I’ll talk to him myself, too. See if I can find holes in his story. I’ll dig harder, try to find the evidence it would take to lock him up. But until then, I have to operate legally under the assumption he is, indeed, the boy’s uncle because I can’t prove otherwise yet.”
“And Kame’s word isn’t enough?”
“It might be or it might not. Do you want to risk it?”
“Then I can’t take Kame to the hospital yet.” Jin sniffled. “Just… please, hurry, okay?” and he hung up.
If only he wasn’t on the outs with the gang. They had doctors on the payroll…
+++
Once Ueda finally fell asleep, Junno crept out of the room and back down the hall to the small spare bedroom. Quietly peeking in, he saw Jin set down his phone.
He watched as Jin sat back on the edge of the bed, Kame asleep on his side facing the sitting man. Jin started softly stroking Kame’s hair, tucking his bangs behind his ear.
It sounded like Jin was crying.
“I promise, Kame-chan, that I will find the man that hurt you and make him suffer far more than anything he ever did to you. I will make this happen if it costs me my last breath and everything I love in this world.”
To Junno’s surprised, Jin leant down and kissed the sleeping boy’s forehead. And, even though the boy was still sleeping, his hand slowly sought Jin’s other hand.
A strange feeling, almost like he was intruding on something he shouldn’t, swept over Junno. He couldn’t remember another time he ever felt that. He was a reporter; it was practically his job to intrude on things. But for this…
He already had enough for his article anyway. Quietly he left, sneaking his way back into the main bedroom to slip into bed next to the gorgeous man sleeping there.
One thing was for sure, at least.
His article would be very different from the ones in any of the other newspapers and magazines.
+++
As luck would have it, Nishikido Ryo - the man claiming to be Kamenashi’s uncle - came to see Koki the next morning.
“Why is it taking so long to find him? You know who has him now!” Koki could tell Ryo was extremely agitated. “Please, explain this to me because I don’t understand.”
“We’re following every lead we find, Nishikido-san. I tracked them to a house but by the time we’d gotten there, they were gone and subsequently that house has burned down,” Koki said. He was deliberately giving information he’d normally withhold, trying to judge Ryo’s reactions.
+++
“What?!” People generally don’t burn down empty buildings for no reason. From the detective’s phrasing, it seemed likely it wasn’t a random firebug. What were the chances that someone independent of that Akanishi person and his boy would try to burn down the building after they left it?
No, it was much more likely the fire was for Akanishi.
Which meant that someone didn’t care if they took Kame out in the crossfire.
Ryo just couldn’t have that.
Detective Tanaka, apparently noticing his disquiet, said, “No bodies were found in the house; for the time being, Kamenashi is still alive. We’ll find him for you.”
Right. Because the police were so very clever.
If they were half as clever as they thought themselves to be, he’d be in prison.
“Can’t you tell me something else?”
Ryo saw the detective’s eye flick towards his desk for the briefest of seconds before he was able to stop himself.
Sighing in dramatic disappointment, Ryo gave the standard call-me-if-you-learn-anything routine but as he turned to leave he subtly glanced at the desk.
He only had a couple of seconds, but he was able to take in the fact that several documents referring to the Manatsu gang were scattered along with the paperwork on Akanishi. There was also a photo of the man, but Ryo didn’t pay much mind to that; he’d already committed his look to memory.
During the walk home, Ryo considered his options. He’d heard of the Manatsu gang. They had (apparently) been around for almost seven years, but nobody really noticed them until this past year. If he was not mistaken, the gang that made all of his fake legal documents (hell, he’d even managed to pay them a - granted, rather hefty - sum to smuggle some of them into the paper files at the official hall of records) was allied with Manatsu at one point, until they got the reputation for being utterly ruthless this past year.
If Manatsu’s efforts to get Akanishi (there’s no way their target was Kame; Ryo was sure of it) had treated Kame as an acceptable loss, he’d just have to show them they were wrong.
He dialed his contact in the counterfeiting gang and asked her for the address of the Manatsu headquarters.
+++
Koki couldn’t decide if the intense agitation Ryo was displaying was the eagerness of an uncle to be reunited after ten years or the grasping of a clever man who had misplaced something he wanted back. He did, however, notice the way the man’s eyes swept over his desk. He’d left things out and drawn attention to it on purpose, just to see what the other man would do. He assigned an unmarked car to keep an eye on Nishikido-san for the next couple of day.
Even the cops didn’t know where the Manatsu headquarters was. There’s no way Nishikido-san should be able to find out. But if he did find it, it would look very suspicious and would have the added benefit of leading cops to the gang trying to kill Akanishi. Once gang involvement could be proven and Nishikido’s claims about Kamenashi disproven, he could possibly get the charges against Jin dropped and give him and the boy both some police protection. Once Kamenashi refutes the kidnapping charges against Jin and the gang is indicted for attempted murder, Jin should legally be in the clear.
Of course, it all hinged on the word of a hurt, scared seventeen-year-old boy. If he’d lied… if Nishikido-san wasn’t the kidnapper, the whole plan was just shot to hell.
But Jin believed the boy and Koki believed in Jin. His friend was an occasional idiot and a sometimes-thief and, apparently, a former gang member, but he was a good man doing the best he knew how and Koki could respect that. It’s what he’d always liked about Jin.
+++
Even waking up next to his boyfriend didn’t improve Ueda’s mood.
Every non-living thing in the world that he loved had been there. All the photos of his family and friends. The computer housing the only copy of his book in progress (what little he had) as well as all the scribbled notes he’d made. The little stuffed dragons Junno gave him (yes, he was man enough to admit he has a bit of a stuffed animal collection… well, had, that is…).
All gone. All burned away.
These things were so much more fun in fiction, he decided.
What was he going to do now? Where would he live? He still had a good bit of money left from his previous books but…
If Jin had just taken the damn kid to the cops and turned himself in to Koki, none of this would have happened!
No. No, that wasn’t exactly true.
His house might not have been burned down but Jin would be dead and Kamenashi would be back with the man who’d hurt him. Ueda could barely believe what he’d seen last night.
And the burns from the fire… if the boy hadn’t been so insistently pushing both him and Jin out of the door, even though Kame’d actually reached it first, he wouldn’t have gotten burned. It would have been Jin or himself. Ueda couldn’t help but feel responsible.
Though, come to think of it, the boy hadn’t even screamed at all. He’d just torn his shirt off and started dragging Jin and Ueda away from the house. At least, until he’d fainted…
In this manner, Ueda’s thoughts went around and around, sinking him further into depression.
Finally he could sit still no longer. Leaving the still-sleeping Junno behind, he started down the hall and peeked into the room they’d put Kamenashi in.
Jin was sitting on the edge of the bed. Kame was clutching one of his hands and Ueda could see Jin nod off and then jolt awake again and again.
Walking quietly towards his friend, he whispered, “Have you been up all night, Jin?”
“Huh?” Jin yawned. “Oh, right. Yeah. He grabbed my hand and I didn’t have the heart to take it away from him.”
“You’re falling asleep. I’ll keep watch over him for a bit, okay? If you head back towards the front entrance and then walk through the kitchen and take a left, you’ll be in the living room and there’s a couch there.”
Jin tried to protest but wasn’t very successful since he kept nodding off mid-protest. So Ueda took his place and watched over the sleeping boy.
At least it was some kind of purpose. He had a goal, instead of wallowing in self pity. It was a temporary solution but it was better than nothing.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The story continues:
Chapter Eleven ~The Kiss~
A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Ryo must be insanely rich to not only buy fake paperwork from the arguably best counterfeiting gang in the entire city but to also have them actually break into the hall of records to casually exchange or slip in pages for the files...
I hope that stuff with Yamapi made sense. Seriously, I'm trying to show that he doesn't have an overwhelming hatred of Jin. His attempts to have him killed are purely business, and the reason it's the only solution for it is because Yamapi doesn't let traitors (by his definition, anyone who defies him or attacks other members for "no good reason" at all) live anymore since the last time he did and it cost him his secret fiancee.
Poor Ueda, all depressed now. And going back and forth between anger and exhaustion, I think. Junno, get yer ass in gear and cheer him up! Well, when you finally wake up LOL. Apparently sleeping with Ueda and then spying on people in his guest room is tiring LOL