Fic: Closer
Part 3
"Do you have a girlfriend?”
By then Kazuya had learned to expect anything from the little girl and was no longer ruffled whenever she randomly threw questions like that. Neither was he surprised with the little kid's outrageous outfits which, that evening, was a pink long sleeved pull-over with white hearts appliqué in front matched with a pair of leopard-print pants and bunny-ears headband.
“Come in,” Kazuya said as he pulled the door wide open. He gave Jin the cursory nod.
Aya stepped in. “Well, do you?” the girl insistently asked.
Kazuya sighed then clucked his tongue. “No, I don't.”
The girl frowned. “Why not?”
“I just don't, okay?”
But the girl was persistent. “Don't you like girls?”
“That's none of your business,” Kazuya replied.
“Because I'm a girl, you know,” Aya said.
Kazuya exaggerated a frown. “You're not a girl. You're an annoying brat.”
Aya scowled. “I am not.”
“Yes, you are,” Kazuya said but he soon lost the frown and smiled. “But I like you anyway.”
The little girl beamed. Kazuya watched the cute pink half-leopard, half-bunny kid march inside. He turned towards the father who stood unmoving. “What's with you and making your kid look like a cross-breed of plushies?”
Jin just smiled. “So why don't you have a girlfriend?”
Kazuya smirked at him then slammed the door shut.
♥
Kazuya sat by his desk working. It was Saturday night. It meant Aya's babysitter wouldn't be late and Kazuya wouldn’t have to fill in until she arrived. When he leaned back to stretch his arms, he heard his next door neighbors arguing again. He smiled then went back to writing. A little later he heard a faint knocking but it was coming from the wall behind him. He tried to ignore it but the sound soon grew into loud thumping. When he couldn't stand the racket anymore, he went out and knocked on the next door. “Can you possibly keep it down?” he asked once the door opened and he saw Jin. “And aren't you supposed to be at work?”
But before the man could say anything, a little voice from inside the apartment shrieked. “Uncle Kazuya!” Kazuya turned and saw the girl standing by the wall that divided their apartment units. On her hand was her black rain boot, apparently the cause of all the racket. She immediately dropped the shoe, ran towards Kazuya and took his hand. “What took you so long? It's Daddy's birthday! We're celebrating!”
Kazuya looked questioning at the man. “She forced me to take the night off,” Jin explained. Kazuya nodded. The girl has her ways.
Kazuya popped the cap off the bottle. He sat sprawled on the floor, back on the red wall. He raised the bottle. Jin smiled and softly tapped his bottle of beer against the other man's.
It was way past midnight. Aya had long fallen asleep, earlier than usual. She had tired herself out entertaining her Uncle Kazuya by alternately singing and dancing non-stop after dinner. She laid asleep on the floor, head on her father's lap while the two men drank beer.
“Happy 26th birthday, Akanishi,” Kazuya said, trying not to slur.
“Thank you,” Jin smiled at his obviously drunk neighbor. “How 'bout you, Kamenashi? How old are you?”
“Twenty two.” Kazuya said and gestured with his fingers. He laughed when he realized he flashed three fingers on his right hand. “Three. Twenty-three,” he corrected and laughed some more.
Jin just smiled, amused at seeing his usually reserved neighbor being silly and realized it was an opportune time to pry for more personal details. “So tell me...” he started. Kazuya looked at him from behind the bottle. “Who broke your heart and made you the Ice Princess?” Kazuya choked on his drink, splattering beer on his pants. Jin guffawed.
“That would be none of your business,” Kazuya replied after recovering. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Jin noted that the younger man did not take offense at being called "princess". “It's my business,” he insisted. Kazuya raised an eyebrow at him. Jin glanced at his daughter, swept her hair off her face then looked back at the other man. “It is my duty as a father to find out what kind of a man my daughter is in love with.”
“Baka,” Kazuya said then laughed once again. “Don't worry. Your daughter's safe with me.” He paused. His dazed eyes sized up Jin before adding, “I don't like girls.” He then smiled sheepish.
Jin nodded, immediately catching on Kazuya's meaning. He studied the young man - smooth-skinned face nicely framed by dark chocolate hair cut uneven, pink moist lips smiling as were his brown eyes. Kazuya, Jin thought, was quite a sight to behold.
“You're safe with me, too,” Kazuya said. Jin curved an eyebrow. “I don't go for straight guys either because from my experience, it doesn't work.”
♥
It was Aya who first realized there was someone in the next apartment with their favorite neighbor. She heard an unfamiliar voice and immediately beckoned at her father. Jin debated for a second on whether or not to reprimand his kid for eavesdropping but curiosity got the better of him and he ended up joining his kid. They both pressed their ears on the wall. They couldn't make out the conversation but they could tell Kazuya was not alone. After a few minutes, when it sounded as if Kazuya's visitor was about to leave, father and daughter madly scrambled to get out of their apartment.
The Akanishis leaned idly on the wall by the hallway when a man stepped out of their neighbor's apartment and gave them a quick glance. They got a quick glare from Kazuya as soon as the guy stepped out following his visitor.
The man turned to Kazuya. "I understand if you won't come but I'd really appreciate it if you do.”
“Thanks. I'd think about it," Kazuya replied and threw a surreptitious annoyed glance at the father and child who shamelessly watched.
There was a brief awkward moment of silence between Kazuya and his visitor. The latter took a step forward, hesitated then stiffly hugged Kazuya. Kazuya leaned in, closed his eyes and raised his arms but stopped in mid-air. He opened his eyes, stepped back and smiled. "Congratulations again, Yuichi."
The other man smiled shyly. "Thanks." He then turned, acknowledged with a slight nod the still watching man and girl then walked away.
When the man disappeared down the stairs, Kazuya turned to the Akanishis. "Don't you have TV?" he asked.
“He's got a big nose," Aya replied and scrunched her nose before stomping back inside their apartment.
Kazuya looked at the Jin who just shrugged. "He does," he said and followed his daughter, closing the door behind him.
♥
"So who's the dork?” Jin asked.
Kazuya took a puff of his cigarette, inhaled deep then exhaled just as deep. “You're a nosy tandem, you and your kid,” he said and gave Jin the usual sharp sideways glance. Jin, as usual, responded with a laugh.
“C'mon, Kamenashi. My life's an open book to you. You can at least trust me with a tale or two of your love life," Jin said, pleading. Kazuya remained silent.
They have shared many a moments like that. Kazuya would sit and smoke as Jin talked incessantly. Jin would always be prying but Kazuya remained sparing. Jin already knew that he was a single child raised solely by his mother, that he worked in a public relations department of a private firm (which Jin said was ironic because he was such a recluse) and he had told him that he moonlights as a contributor for several magazines. And except for the one confession he made on Jin's birthday party, that was as much he as he allowed Jin to pry from him so far.
“So, you like 'em dorky, huh?" Jin taunted.
“He teaches in a university," Kazuya said.
Jin nodded then snorted. "As I said, you like 'em dorky." Kazuya responded with a brief laugh that sloughed off his nose. "So tell me, is this the heartbreaking-unrequited-loving-from-afar kind of love?” Jin persisted.
Kazuya grimaced at Jin's sappy choice of words. "No," he said and was thoughtful for a while. "It was a best-friend-let's-hook-up-and-see-what-happens kind of relationship."
Jin nodded once more then asked, "So, why didn't it work?”
Kazuya propped his chin on his knee, looked down on his bare feet and he fiddled with a tattered edge of his jeans. "He's straight,” he mumbled.
Jin crouched on his balcony, mirroring Kazuya. "So why did he hook up with you in the first place?" he asked.
Kazuya shrugged, not wanting to explain. Yuichi insisted he did fall for him but the feeling wore off. Kazuya chose to believe that because he would like to believe that his best friend - former best friend - was better than the others.
Jin reached out and for a while Kazuya wondered why until he realized that other man was reaching for his long-forgotten cigarette. He handed it. "I couldn't blame him though," Jin said.
Kazuya sternly looked at Jin, eyes forbidding, knowing what Jin was about to say. "Don't. I have it up to my ears with that.”
“You have it up to your ears with what?”
“That I'm too pretty to pass up. It kinda' grates," Kazuya said. And hurts, he silently added, recalling the affairs he had that were doomed from the start because men went out with him solely based on his looks. Far painful was how every time he always hoped it would be different.
Jin snorted. "You can see it that way but" - he dragged on the cigarette then blew out the smoke - "I'd rather put it that you inspire straight men to reconsider." He crushed the cigarette on the floor. "Hell, I'd go for you if my kid hadn't staked claim on you," he added with a good-natured smile.
Kazuya broke into a laugh. "Thanks...I think."
♥
Kazuya pulled out his pack of cigarette and a lighter from his pocket and placed them inside a drawer of his desk. He sat down, opened and turned on his laptop and took off his ring and wristwatch. His eyes were immediately drawn beyond the screen onto the drawing pinned on his cork board and smiled.
He started writing. He typed in anything that came to his mind. Just streams of consciousness. When he stopped after 15 minutes, he re-read what he just wrote. It started about his observation on Tokyo's educational system and somewhere along the middle it somehow became about single-parenthood and in the end, he was describing a little girl with straight dark hair and bangs so overgrown it almost hid her brown eyes. Kazuya shook his head at his train of thought.
He leaned back and stretched his arms overhead then he cocked his head. He could hear the shuffling of feet and indiscernible conversation. He belatedly realized his arms were still outstretched and stretched them further until he heard a pop. He tilted his head left then right, felt the stretch on the sides of his neck and heard the tense muscles crackle. He stood up, walked towards his door, opened it and sure enough the Akanishis were standing behind it.
“Hello, Uncle Kazuya!” the little girl greeted. “Did you miss me?”
“Not one bit,” he said but he smiled.
The little girl pouted but it quickly disappeared, apparently remembering something. She stretched her right arm out, little fist curled. “I got a star!” Aya proudly announced.
Kazuya looked at the small fist stamped with a yellow star. “Congratulations,” he said.
“I should get a kiss, right?” she said.
Kazuya grunted a brief laugh, bent down and kissed the little girl on her cheek. Aya wound her arms around Kazuya's neck forcing the man to scoop her up as he stood up straight. He turned to look at Aya's father by the doorway.
Jin was dressed for work - blue button-down long sleeved shirt tucked inside dark trousers. His one hand was hooked to a black jacket slung over his shoulder. His other hand was curled and he was looking at the back of the clean fist. Then he looked up, puppy faced.
Kazuya stared at the man, puzzled. When he realized what Jin implied, Kazuya glared and kicked the door shut.
♥
There was a knock on the door and before Kazuya could move, the door swung open and Jin came sauntering in, carrying a plastic bag from the convenience store. “Tadaima,” Jin happily chirped as he toed off his shoes.
"Okaeri,” Aya dryly said without even looking up.
Kazuya clicked his tongue, annoyed that the Akanishis were acting as if they lived in his apartment.
Jin kissed the little girl on the top of her head who merely grunted. But when the man handed her a box of Pocky, she looked up, smiled bright and gave her father a peck on the lips. "I love you, Daddy!”
Kazuya, who had been watching the father and child scene, looked wary when Jin turned towards him. Jin placed a box of Pocky Men's on his desk then hovered beside him, looking expectant. Kazuya raised an eyebrow but Jin just smiled.
Jin turned around on his heels and flopped down on the floor. He leaned on the side of Kazuya's desk and sighed exaggeratedly. Kazuya tried to ignore him. "I think I'd quit the entertainment business," Jin said. When Kazuya didn't say anything, Jin twisted around to look at the writer. "Did you hear me? I said I think I'd quit the entertainment business.”
“Like anyone would notice," Kazuya dryly remarked.
“You're just a regular sunshine, aren't you?" Jin said. "Tough day in the world of pretties?" Kazuya gave the man a death glare. "Anyway," Jin continued, "The club scene is getting pretty tiresome. I don't think it's worth all the stress.”
“It's worth feeding your kid, Jin," Kazuya said.
Jin fell quiet. When Kazuya peeked, he saw the man was looking thoughtful. Jin twisted and turned up his head towards Kazuya and beamed. "You just called me Jin."
Kazuya paused for a second then resumed typing. "Shut up, Akanishi, and go to work."
Jin chuckled. "Will you just marry me so me and my kid can live off of you?" Kazuya checked and when he was sure Aya's full attention was on her drawing pad, he flashed Jin a dirty finger. Jin laughed some more.
Kazuya frowned at the laptop screen and hoped Jin would hurry and leave for work because he was feeling uncomfortable. Jin's teasing was starting to get to him, making something inside him jump in delight then ache.
♥
"You were good,” Kazuya said.
"That's it? Good?” Jin replied, teasing, but the glow in his smiling face showed how much he appreciated the simple compliment. The man, after all, was terse with spoken words. "You don't think I'm idol material?" Kazuya snorted.
"You were great, Daddy!" Aya exclaimed as she ran towards her father.
“Now there's a compliment," Jin said and scooped up his daughter. "Who cares about Oricon when I get rave reviews like this." He kissed her.
"Hi! I'm Tanaka Koki."
Jin turned and found his blonde skin-head band mate extending a hand towards Kazuya. Kazuya warily looked at the hand decked with several bulky rings and bangles before he extended his. Jin glared at Koki when he saw how his neighbor started when his band mate made a grab for Kazuya's hand.
Jin was grateful when his other band mate took Kazuya's hand from Koki. “Taguchi Junnosuke desu. But you can call me Junno." Kazuya's smile was hesitant when he introduced himself then retrieved his hand. "So," Junno said smiling wide, "you're the pretty neighbor, huh?" Kazuya lost the smile. Jin winced. Aya giggled.
Jin cried out when a dish towel hit his head. "What the hell was that for?" he asked. His friend and co-barkeep, Ueda Tatsuya - one hand holding the dish towel and another on a waist - was glaring at him.
"How come I didn't get to meet the pretty neighbor?"
Jin grunted and went back to filling beer mugs with the brew. "The guy was traumatized enough with Koki and Junno."
Tatsuya snorted. "Are you afraid he'd find out about our past?" Several people seated by the bar looked up.
"We do not have a past," Jin said. He turned, smiled and shook his head at the people eyeing them.
Tatsuya smiled. "We could have if you had indulged me." Jin rolled his eyes. "Are you indulging him?"
Jin glared at his friend."He's not that kind. He's decent." When Tatsuya arched high an eyebrow, Jin laughed. "And you know I'm straight."
Tatsuya made a sound in his throat. "Straight, huh?" He studied Jin's face. "I'm betting you've been thinking about getting bended with him in all possible ways."
Jin cursed when he overestimated and beer spilled over a mug and dripped down on his shoes. He turned to Tatsuya, opened his mouth but no word came out.
Having rendered Jin speechless, Tatsuya grinned. "I'll say," he smugly said ,"Aya just got herself a new mommy." He laughed out so loud everyone near the bar turned to look.
“Fuck you, Ueda," Jin merely said.
“Anytime, Akanishi." Tatsuya retorted. He turned towards his captive audience and smiled.
♥
Kazuya was once again summoned through a loud banging on his wall.
Aya greeted him with the shriek - “Halloween party!” - and Jin stood in the middle of the living room wearing a tuxedo, hair tied in a ponytail and combed back sleek revealing the slight widow's peak hairline. “I'm supposed to be Dracula but I forgot my cape,” Jin said with a goofy smile. Kazuya smirked at Jin but he found it difficult to wrench his eyes from the man.
"I'm a pumpkin,” Aya announced, wearing an orange blouse with short puffed sleeves and matching orange bloomer shorts.
Jin gave Kazuya a once over. The younger man was wearing a new red t-shirt matched with a pair of vintage denim jeans. “You're the clueless neighbor victim,” Jin declared.
A couple of hours later, both men sat on the floor, back against the wall and feeling quite tipsy after downing several glasses of “blood” - strawberry juice that tasted so awful for the two adults they spiked their drinks with gin to make it tolerable. Aya was on the floor right in front of the television that was playing an old horror movie, contentedly drawing monsters on her drawing pad.
“What?” Kazuya asked when he noticed that Jin was staring at him. He leaned away when Jin, face flushed from the alcohol, leaned towards him. “What the hell...” Kazuya blurted. It prompted the little girl to give them a quick glance. Jin leaned away but mischief glittered in his eyes. When the girl turned away, Kazuya glared at Jin. “You're drunk,” he softly muttered between gritted teeth.
Jin laughed. “Hey, Aya!” he called out.
“Hm,” Aya replied, eyes still on her paper.
Kazuya was wary when Jin leered at him. “I'm gonna kiss the clueless neighbor victim,” Jin said.
"Wha...” Kazuya exclaimed. At the exact same time the girl dropped her crayon, ran up to Kazuya and threw herself at him. “No!” the little girl shrieked and hugged Kazuya's neck.
Jin laughed some more. “I'm gonna kiss Uncle Kazuya,” he teased then he leaned towards Kazuya.
Aya pushed her father's face away. “Stop it, Daddy!”
“Jin,” Kazuya reprimanded.
Jin continued to laugh then in one swift move, he leaned over, covered Aya's eyes with his palm and pecked Kazuya's cheek before releasing his daughter and laughing out loud.
“You're bad, Daddy!” Aya's face flushed in anger. She gave her father a sideways kick before she wiped with her small hands Kazuya's face. She then glared at her father and declared, “Uncle Kazuya's my boyfriend!”
Kazuya's mouth dropped open but nothing came out, too stunned to react.
Jin guffawed. In between chuckles, he said, “Oh, no way! You're too young. I forbid you.”
Aya pouted. “I hate you, Daddy,” she whimpered.
“Jin” Kazuya snapped, finally finding his voice. He turned to the little girl who was close to tears. “Aya,” he started.
“Tell you what,” Jin interrupted, addressing his daughter. “Uncle Kazuya can be your mommy if you let him be my boyfriend.”
“What?” Kazuya exclaimed.
The little girl's lips stopped quivering, quickly spreading to a bright smile. With eyes glowing, she turned to Kazuya and excitedly asked, “Really? You will be my Mommy?”
“No!” Kazuya blurted and regretted being so blunt and loud because the girl's face immediately crumpled. “I can't,” he said while he face-palmed Jin who was still laughing beside him.
“But I wanna grow up smart and pretty like you,” Aya said with a whimper.
“No,” Kazuya said. The girl looked crestfallen once again. “I meant, yes.” Aya broke into a wide smile. “I mean, you will grow up smart and pretty because you already are.”
The kid looked confused. “Well, why can't you be my mommy?”
“I'm a man. Men do not become mommies,” Kazuya explained.
“Why not?”
“Men become daddies," Kazuya went on, desperate for the right words. He looked at Jin - laughing so hard, he had slipped down on the floor - and Kazuya abandoned being right. "And some daddies become idiots!" he said, glaring at the little girl's father.
“Grow up, Jin," Kazuya said, hovering by the open door on his way out. He was still irked at the stunt the man pulled.
Jin had safely tucked to sleep his daughter and stood in front of Kazuya. "What?”
“Don't confuse your kid.”
“My kid isn't confused." Jin leaned sideways against the door frame. He stared at Kazuya for a few seconds. His eyes grazed down the other man's lips. "Although, I think I am."
Kazuya stood still, suddenly feeling a palpable tension between him and Jin.
♥ Part 4
"Do you have a girlfriend?”
By then Kazuya had learned to expect anything from the little girl and was no longer ruffled whenever she randomly threw questions like that. Neither was he surprised with the little kid's outrageous outfits which, that evening, was a pink long sleeved pull-over with white hearts appliqué in front matched with a pair of leopard-print pants and bunny-ears headband.
“Come in,” Kazuya said as he pulled the door wide open. He gave Jin the cursory nod.
Aya stepped in. “Well, do you?” the girl insistently asked.
Kazuya sighed then clucked his tongue. “No, I don't.”
The girl frowned. “Why not?”
“I just don't, okay?”
But the girl was persistent. “Don't you like girls?”
“That's none of your business,” Kazuya replied.
“Because I'm a girl, you know,” Aya said.
Kazuya exaggerated a frown. “You're not a girl. You're an annoying brat.”
Aya scowled. “I am not.”
“Yes, you are,” Kazuya said but he soon lost the frown and smiled. “But I like you anyway.”
The little girl beamed. Kazuya watched the cute pink half-leopard, half-bunny kid march inside. He turned towards the father who stood unmoving. “What's with you and making your kid look like a cross-breed of plushies?”
Jin just smiled. “So why don't you have a girlfriend?”
Kazuya smirked at him then slammed the door shut.
♥
Kazuya sat by his desk working. It was Saturday night. It meant Aya's babysitter wouldn't be late and Kazuya wouldn’t have to fill in until she arrived. When he leaned back to stretch his arms, he heard his next door neighbors arguing again. He smiled then went back to writing. A little later he heard a faint knocking but it was coming from the wall behind him. He tried to ignore it but the sound soon grew into loud thumping. When he couldn't stand the racket anymore, he went out and knocked on the next door. “Can you possibly keep it down?” he asked once the door opened and he saw Jin. “And aren't you supposed to be at work?”
But before the man could say anything, a little voice from inside the apartment shrieked. “Uncle Kazuya!” Kazuya turned and saw the girl standing by the wall that divided their apartment units. On her hand was her black rain boot, apparently the cause of all the racket. She immediately dropped the shoe, ran towards Kazuya and took his hand. “What took you so long? It's Daddy's birthday! We're celebrating!”
Kazuya looked questioning at the man. “She forced me to take the night off,” Jin explained. Kazuya nodded. The girl has her ways.
Kazuya popped the cap off the bottle. He sat sprawled on the floor, back on the red wall. He raised the bottle. Jin smiled and softly tapped his bottle of beer against the other man's.
It was way past midnight. Aya had long fallen asleep, earlier than usual. She had tired herself out entertaining her Uncle Kazuya by alternately singing and dancing non-stop after dinner. She laid asleep on the floor, head on her father's lap while the two men drank beer.
“Happy 26th birthday, Akanishi,” Kazuya said, trying not to slur.
“Thank you,” Jin smiled at his obviously drunk neighbor. “How 'bout you, Kamenashi? How old are you?”
“Twenty two.” Kazuya said and gestured with his fingers. He laughed when he realized he flashed three fingers on his right hand. “Three. Twenty-three,” he corrected and laughed some more.
Jin just smiled, amused at seeing his usually reserved neighbor being silly and realized it was an opportune time to pry for more personal details. “So tell me...” he started. Kazuya looked at him from behind the bottle. “Who broke your heart and made you the Ice Princess?” Kazuya choked on his drink, splattering beer on his pants. Jin guffawed.
“That would be none of your business,” Kazuya replied after recovering. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Jin noted that the younger man did not take offense at being called "princess". “It's my business,” he insisted. Kazuya raised an eyebrow at him. Jin glanced at his daughter, swept her hair off her face then looked back at the other man. “It is my duty as a father to find out what kind of a man my daughter is in love with.”
“Baka,” Kazuya said then laughed once again. “Don't worry. Your daughter's safe with me.” He paused. His dazed eyes sized up Jin before adding, “I don't like girls.” He then smiled sheepish.
Jin nodded, immediately catching on Kazuya's meaning. He studied the young man - smooth-skinned face nicely framed by dark chocolate hair cut uneven, pink moist lips smiling as were his brown eyes. Kazuya, Jin thought, was quite a sight to behold.
“You're safe with me, too,” Kazuya said. Jin curved an eyebrow. “I don't go for straight guys either because from my experience, it doesn't work.”
♥
It was Aya who first realized there was someone in the next apartment with their favorite neighbor. She heard an unfamiliar voice and immediately beckoned at her father. Jin debated for a second on whether or not to reprimand his kid for eavesdropping but curiosity got the better of him and he ended up joining his kid. They both pressed their ears on the wall. They couldn't make out the conversation but they could tell Kazuya was not alone. After a few minutes, when it sounded as if Kazuya's visitor was about to leave, father and daughter madly scrambled to get out of their apartment.
The Akanishis leaned idly on the wall by the hallway when a man stepped out of their neighbor's apartment and gave them a quick glance. They got a quick glare from Kazuya as soon as the guy stepped out following his visitor.
The man turned to Kazuya. "I understand if you won't come but I'd really appreciate it if you do.”
“Thanks. I'd think about it," Kazuya replied and threw a surreptitious annoyed glance at the father and child who shamelessly watched.
There was a brief awkward moment of silence between Kazuya and his visitor. The latter took a step forward, hesitated then stiffly hugged Kazuya. Kazuya leaned in, closed his eyes and raised his arms but stopped in mid-air. He opened his eyes, stepped back and smiled. "Congratulations again, Yuichi."
The other man smiled shyly. "Thanks." He then turned, acknowledged with a slight nod the still watching man and girl then walked away.
When the man disappeared down the stairs, Kazuya turned to the Akanishis. "Don't you have TV?" he asked.
“He's got a big nose," Aya replied and scrunched her nose before stomping back inside their apartment.
Kazuya looked at the Jin who just shrugged. "He does," he said and followed his daughter, closing the door behind him.
♥
"So who's the dork?” Jin asked.
Kazuya took a puff of his cigarette, inhaled deep then exhaled just as deep. “You're a nosy tandem, you and your kid,” he said and gave Jin the usual sharp sideways glance. Jin, as usual, responded with a laugh.
“C'mon, Kamenashi. My life's an open book to you. You can at least trust me with a tale or two of your love life," Jin said, pleading. Kazuya remained silent.
They have shared many a moments like that. Kazuya would sit and smoke as Jin talked incessantly. Jin would always be prying but Kazuya remained sparing. Jin already knew that he was a single child raised solely by his mother, that he worked in a public relations department of a private firm (which Jin said was ironic because he was such a recluse) and he had told him that he moonlights as a contributor for several magazines. And except for the one confession he made on Jin's birthday party, that was as much he as he allowed Jin to pry from him so far.
“So, you like 'em dorky, huh?" Jin taunted.
“He teaches in a university," Kazuya said.
Jin nodded then snorted. "As I said, you like 'em dorky." Kazuya responded with a brief laugh that sloughed off his nose. "So tell me, is this the heartbreaking-unrequited-loving-from-afar kind of love?” Jin persisted.
Kazuya grimaced at Jin's sappy choice of words. "No," he said and was thoughtful for a while. "It was a best-friend-let's-hook-up-and-see-what-happens kind of relationship."
Jin nodded once more then asked, "So, why didn't it work?”
Kazuya propped his chin on his knee, looked down on his bare feet and he fiddled with a tattered edge of his jeans. "He's straight,” he mumbled.
Jin crouched on his balcony, mirroring Kazuya. "So why did he hook up with you in the first place?" he asked.
Kazuya shrugged, not wanting to explain. Yuichi insisted he did fall for him but the feeling wore off. Kazuya chose to believe that because he would like to believe that his best friend - former best friend - was better than the others.
Jin reached out and for a while Kazuya wondered why until he realized that other man was reaching for his long-forgotten cigarette. He handed it. "I couldn't blame him though," Jin said.
Kazuya sternly looked at Jin, eyes forbidding, knowing what Jin was about to say. "Don't. I have it up to my ears with that.”
“You have it up to your ears with what?”
“That I'm too pretty to pass up. It kinda' grates," Kazuya said. And hurts, he silently added, recalling the affairs he had that were doomed from the start because men went out with him solely based on his looks. Far painful was how every time he always hoped it would be different.
Jin snorted. "You can see it that way but" - he dragged on the cigarette then blew out the smoke - "I'd rather put it that you inspire straight men to reconsider." He crushed the cigarette on the floor. "Hell, I'd go for you if my kid hadn't staked claim on you," he added with a good-natured smile.
Kazuya broke into a laugh. "Thanks...I think."
♥
Kazuya pulled out his pack of cigarette and a lighter from his pocket and placed them inside a drawer of his desk. He sat down, opened and turned on his laptop and took off his ring and wristwatch. His eyes were immediately drawn beyond the screen onto the drawing pinned on his cork board and smiled.
He started writing. He typed in anything that came to his mind. Just streams of consciousness. When he stopped after 15 minutes, he re-read what he just wrote. It started about his observation on Tokyo's educational system and somewhere along the middle it somehow became about single-parenthood and in the end, he was describing a little girl with straight dark hair and bangs so overgrown it almost hid her brown eyes. Kazuya shook his head at his train of thought.
He leaned back and stretched his arms overhead then he cocked his head. He could hear the shuffling of feet and indiscernible conversation. He belatedly realized his arms were still outstretched and stretched them further until he heard a pop. He tilted his head left then right, felt the stretch on the sides of his neck and heard the tense muscles crackle. He stood up, walked towards his door, opened it and sure enough the Akanishis were standing behind it.
“Hello, Uncle Kazuya!” the little girl greeted. “Did you miss me?”
“Not one bit,” he said but he smiled.
The little girl pouted but it quickly disappeared, apparently remembering something. She stretched her right arm out, little fist curled. “I got a star!” Aya proudly announced.
Kazuya looked at the small fist stamped with a yellow star. “Congratulations,” he said.
“I should get a kiss, right?” she said.
Kazuya grunted a brief laugh, bent down and kissed the little girl on her cheek. Aya wound her arms around Kazuya's neck forcing the man to scoop her up as he stood up straight. He turned to look at Aya's father by the doorway.
Jin was dressed for work - blue button-down long sleeved shirt tucked inside dark trousers. His one hand was hooked to a black jacket slung over his shoulder. His other hand was curled and he was looking at the back of the clean fist. Then he looked up, puppy faced.
Kazuya stared at the man, puzzled. When he realized what Jin implied, Kazuya glared and kicked the door shut.
♥
There was a knock on the door and before Kazuya could move, the door swung open and Jin came sauntering in, carrying a plastic bag from the convenience store. “Tadaima,” Jin happily chirped as he toed off his shoes.
"Okaeri,” Aya dryly said without even looking up.
Kazuya clicked his tongue, annoyed that the Akanishis were acting as if they lived in his apartment.
Jin kissed the little girl on the top of her head who merely grunted. But when the man handed her a box of Pocky, she looked up, smiled bright and gave her father a peck on the lips. "I love you, Daddy!”
Kazuya, who had been watching the father and child scene, looked wary when Jin turned towards him. Jin placed a box of Pocky Men's on his desk then hovered beside him, looking expectant. Kazuya raised an eyebrow but Jin just smiled.
Jin turned around on his heels and flopped down on the floor. He leaned on the side of Kazuya's desk and sighed exaggeratedly. Kazuya tried to ignore him. "I think I'd quit the entertainment business," Jin said. When Kazuya didn't say anything, Jin twisted around to look at the writer. "Did you hear me? I said I think I'd quit the entertainment business.”
“Like anyone would notice," Kazuya dryly remarked.
“You're just a regular sunshine, aren't you?" Jin said. "Tough day in the world of pretties?" Kazuya gave the man a death glare. "Anyway," Jin continued, "The club scene is getting pretty tiresome. I don't think it's worth all the stress.”
“It's worth feeding your kid, Jin," Kazuya said.
Jin fell quiet. When Kazuya peeked, he saw the man was looking thoughtful. Jin twisted and turned up his head towards Kazuya and beamed. "You just called me Jin."
Kazuya paused for a second then resumed typing. "Shut up, Akanishi, and go to work."
Jin chuckled. "Will you just marry me so me and my kid can live off of you?" Kazuya checked and when he was sure Aya's full attention was on her drawing pad, he flashed Jin a dirty finger. Jin laughed some more.
Kazuya frowned at the laptop screen and hoped Jin would hurry and leave for work because he was feeling uncomfortable. Jin's teasing was starting to get to him, making something inside him jump in delight then ache.
♥
"You were good,” Kazuya said.
"That's it? Good?” Jin replied, teasing, but the glow in his smiling face showed how much he appreciated the simple compliment. The man, after all, was terse with spoken words. "You don't think I'm idol material?" Kazuya snorted.
"You were great, Daddy!" Aya exclaimed as she ran towards her father.
“Now there's a compliment," Jin said and scooped up his daughter. "Who cares about Oricon when I get rave reviews like this." He kissed her.
"Hi! I'm Tanaka Koki."
Jin turned and found his blonde skin-head band mate extending a hand towards Kazuya. Kazuya warily looked at the hand decked with several bulky rings and bangles before he extended his. Jin glared at Koki when he saw how his neighbor started when his band mate made a grab for Kazuya's hand.
Jin was grateful when his other band mate took Kazuya's hand from Koki. “Taguchi Junnosuke desu. But you can call me Junno." Kazuya's smile was hesitant when he introduced himself then retrieved his hand. "So," Junno said smiling wide, "you're the pretty neighbor, huh?" Kazuya lost the smile. Jin winced. Aya giggled.
Jin cried out when a dish towel hit his head. "What the hell was that for?" he asked. His friend and co-barkeep, Ueda Tatsuya - one hand holding the dish towel and another on a waist - was glaring at him.
"How come I didn't get to meet the pretty neighbor?"
Jin grunted and went back to filling beer mugs with the brew. "The guy was traumatized enough with Koki and Junno."
Tatsuya snorted. "Are you afraid he'd find out about our past?" Several people seated by the bar looked up.
"We do not have a past," Jin said. He turned, smiled and shook his head at the people eyeing them.
Tatsuya smiled. "We could have if you had indulged me." Jin rolled his eyes. "Are you indulging him?"
Jin glared at his friend."He's not that kind. He's decent." When Tatsuya arched high an eyebrow, Jin laughed. "And you know I'm straight."
Tatsuya made a sound in his throat. "Straight, huh?" He studied Jin's face. "I'm betting you've been thinking about getting bended with him in all possible ways."
Jin cursed when he overestimated and beer spilled over a mug and dripped down on his shoes. He turned to Tatsuya, opened his mouth but no word came out.
Having rendered Jin speechless, Tatsuya grinned. "I'll say," he smugly said ,"Aya just got herself a new mommy." He laughed out so loud everyone near the bar turned to look.
“Fuck you, Ueda," Jin merely said.
“Anytime, Akanishi." Tatsuya retorted. He turned towards his captive audience and smiled.
♥
Kazuya was once again summoned through a loud banging on his wall.
Aya greeted him with the shriek - “Halloween party!” - and Jin stood in the middle of the living room wearing a tuxedo, hair tied in a ponytail and combed back sleek revealing the slight widow's peak hairline. “I'm supposed to be Dracula but I forgot my cape,” Jin said with a goofy smile. Kazuya smirked at Jin but he found it difficult to wrench his eyes from the man.
"I'm a pumpkin,” Aya announced, wearing an orange blouse with short puffed sleeves and matching orange bloomer shorts.
Jin gave Kazuya a once over. The younger man was wearing a new red t-shirt matched with a pair of vintage denim jeans. “You're the clueless neighbor victim,” Jin declared.
A couple of hours later, both men sat on the floor, back against the wall and feeling quite tipsy after downing several glasses of “blood” - strawberry juice that tasted so awful for the two adults they spiked their drinks with gin to make it tolerable. Aya was on the floor right in front of the television that was playing an old horror movie, contentedly drawing monsters on her drawing pad.
“What?” Kazuya asked when he noticed that Jin was staring at him. He leaned away when Jin, face flushed from the alcohol, leaned towards him. “What the hell...” Kazuya blurted. It prompted the little girl to give them a quick glance. Jin leaned away but mischief glittered in his eyes. When the girl turned away, Kazuya glared at Jin. “You're drunk,” he softly muttered between gritted teeth.
Jin laughed. “Hey, Aya!” he called out.
“Hm,” Aya replied, eyes still on her paper.
Kazuya was wary when Jin leered at him. “I'm gonna kiss the clueless neighbor victim,” Jin said.
"Wha...” Kazuya exclaimed. At the exact same time the girl dropped her crayon, ran up to Kazuya and threw herself at him. “No!” the little girl shrieked and hugged Kazuya's neck.
Jin laughed some more. “I'm gonna kiss Uncle Kazuya,” he teased then he leaned towards Kazuya.
Aya pushed her father's face away. “Stop it, Daddy!”
“Jin,” Kazuya reprimanded.
Jin continued to laugh then in one swift move, he leaned over, covered Aya's eyes with his palm and pecked Kazuya's cheek before releasing his daughter and laughing out loud.
“You're bad, Daddy!” Aya's face flushed in anger. She gave her father a sideways kick before she wiped with her small hands Kazuya's face. She then glared at her father and declared, “Uncle Kazuya's my boyfriend!”
Kazuya's mouth dropped open but nothing came out, too stunned to react.
Jin guffawed. In between chuckles, he said, “Oh, no way! You're too young. I forbid you.”
Aya pouted. “I hate you, Daddy,” she whimpered.
“Jin” Kazuya snapped, finally finding his voice. He turned to the little girl who was close to tears. “Aya,” he started.
“Tell you what,” Jin interrupted, addressing his daughter. “Uncle Kazuya can be your mommy if you let him be my boyfriend.”
“What?” Kazuya exclaimed.
The little girl's lips stopped quivering, quickly spreading to a bright smile. With eyes glowing, she turned to Kazuya and excitedly asked, “Really? You will be my Mommy?”
“No!” Kazuya blurted and regretted being so blunt and loud because the girl's face immediately crumpled. “I can't,” he said while he face-palmed Jin who was still laughing beside him.
“But I wanna grow up smart and pretty like you,” Aya said with a whimper.
“No,” Kazuya said. The girl looked crestfallen once again. “I meant, yes.” Aya broke into a wide smile. “I mean, you will grow up smart and pretty because you already are.”
The kid looked confused. “Well, why can't you be my mommy?”
“I'm a man. Men do not become mommies,” Kazuya explained.
“Why not?”
“Men become daddies," Kazuya went on, desperate for the right words. He looked at Jin - laughing so hard, he had slipped down on the floor - and Kazuya abandoned being right. "And some daddies become idiots!" he said, glaring at the little girl's father.
“Grow up, Jin," Kazuya said, hovering by the open door on his way out. He was still irked at the stunt the man pulled.
Jin had safely tucked to sleep his daughter and stood in front of Kazuya. "What?”
“Don't confuse your kid.”
“My kid isn't confused." Jin leaned sideways against the door frame. He stared at Kazuya for a few seconds. His eyes grazed down the other man's lips. "Although, I think I am."
Kazuya stood still, suddenly feeling a palpable tension between him and Jin.
♥ Part 4