Fic: Stealing Kazuya [Part 2]
Part 2
Jin sits by the window, looking out into the darkness. The new twist in the plot of his current predicament has just turned more strange. Without much prodding, Kazuya went to reveal that a couple of years after getting custody of him, the old man retired from his career as a professional thief and became an art museum curator. Later, after getting acquainted with known artists and art patrons, he put up the K2 Gallery.
A few years before he died, he stopped exhibiting works of other artists and only exhibited Kazuya's work. Either Shin blindly loved his grandson or the old man was up to something. Jin's bet is on the latter.
He tried to probe more about the paintings whether on display or in the stockroom but Kamenashi told him nothing he doesn't already know.
Jin glances back inside the room and finds Kazuya sitting on the floor beside the futon he had laid out on the floor. "Why aren't you sleeping?" he asks. "Take the futon. I'll sleep on the floor."
Kazuya turns towards him. "There's no bed."
"As you said, there is no bed and there's no way one will likely appear tonight,” Jin says. “Sleep on the futon, brat."
"I only sleep on beds."
Exasperated, Jin stands up and closes the window. He walks over and lays down on the futon. "Fine. Don't sleep."
For a few minutes, Jin pretends to sleep but he can't because he can feel Kazuya's eyes on him.
“What?” Jin snarls.
“What?” Kazuya asks back.
“I know you're staring at me,” Jin says, his back still turned to Kazuya.
“Don't you get tired?”
Jin turns around to face Kazuya. “Of what?”
“Of not being seen?”
“I...” Jin starts to say but he doesn't really know how to answer. He doesn't even get the question.
Kazuya sighs. “I think it's sad.”
“What is?” Jin asks. Kazuya's train of thought boggles him.
“I'm just thinking it's just sad that I can't paint you.”
Jin takes a deep breath resigned that while he keeps the company of the odd painter, he will have to take part in confounding conversations with him.
“What the hell are you talking about?” he wearily asks.
“I can't paint you because behind your beauty, you are empty,” Kazuya says. “You take works of beauty and artifacts of historical significance in exchange for money. Your house burned yet you didn't lose a thing. You have a family but you don't care about them. Nothing is important to you that's why I can't paint you.”
“Kamenashi, you can't paint me because you can't paint shit. Period.”
It's a low blow, Jin knows but he wants to retaliate. The painter is driving him batty.
“And right now, I have something of value,” Jin says.
“What?” Kazuya asks.
“You,” Jin says.
He means, of course, that Kazuya is the key to get his job done that'll make him a hundred million richer but Kazuya is looking at him like he meant something else.
Jin opens his mouth but he forgets what he is about to say because Kazuya's eyes - beautiful brown and mellow - bore into him and he is lost in them.
“Just...just go to sleep,” Jin says and turns away, commanding to his rapidly beating heart to be still.
Jin wakes up later that night and finds he cannot move. Something heavy is pinning him down. When he opens his eyes, the first thing he sees is a head of dark brown hair by his throat. Kazuya is sleeping on top of him.
"Kazuya," Jin mutters. Kazuya merely groans. Jin calls out his name again.
"What?"
"What are you doing?"
"I sleep on bed," Kazuya mumbles.
"I'm not a bed," Jin replies. Kazuya grunts then goes quiet.
Jin lies still. His back will hurt like hell the following morning but he cannot push Kazuya off him. He prays hard to all the gods that he can control himself. He has turned from thief to kidnapper. He doesn't want to level up to being a sex fiend.
♥
“I need to talk to you,” Jin says as soon as he walks inside the manga cafe.
Pi looks up and watches Jin amble towards him. “You're hurt?”
"No,” Jin says. His back hurts but his health isn't any of his agent's business that moment.
“You look different,” Pi comments. “So, how's it going?”
"Are you fucking with me?” Jin asks, impatient with the niceties. He just got back from talking with Junno who shared with him certain new developments.
"If I am, you won't be hurting this much,” Pi replies, tongue-in-cheek. “He didn't sound like someone you would go bottom with.”
“What? I did not...” Jin starts to protests but realizes Pi is referring to Kazuya. Pi knows about Kazuya. He ignores the gibe and the leer. “So you know about him.”
"Yes, just recently,” Pi replies tersely.
"What do you know about him?”
"I should be asking you that. You've been with him three days, you should know.”
"He doesn't know anything,” Jin says. He is convinced Kazuya knows nothing of any priceless painting. There is no way someone as oddly real and really odd as Kazuya can hide it from him.
Pi arches a brow again, obviously unconvinced. “Possibly because he knows something. And you're too busy doing something else with him to find out.”
I wish, Jin thinks but immediately dispels the thought. He flashes his coldest smile and asks, “Here's what I find out though. Remember the other thief I told you about?”
“Uhuh.”
“I heard he isn't quite tall but has got the meanest mouth. Can I ask, is this thief called Osaka guy your Osaka man?" He flashes his agent his coldest smile.
Pi is quiet for a while. “He did visit for a romp...or two.”
"And you insist you're not fucking with me?”
"I swear on Goemon, you have my loyalty,” Pi says. It's Jin's turn to raise his brow. Pi laughs. “I am always loyal to the money I'll get.”
Jin almost smiles at the blunt honesty.
“And as a confidence building measure, here's something my Osaka guy told me.” Pi pauses far longer than necessary. “You're looking for Kizuna. A painting called Kizuna.”
Jin is intrigued but remains wary. “Oh, and he told you this because he trusts you?”
"Of course not.” Pi's eyes twinkle naughtily. “But interrogation is best done when in the throes of passion. You ought to learn from me.”
♥
Jin sits inside the taxi, lost in thought. He just had a talk with one of the retired con artist who had taken a fondness to him when he once convincingly act acted the part of a the nice young grandson in a scam. The old geezer informed him that indeed Kamenashi Shin was a thief. For a time Shin worked with another thief, someone named Hiro, who was jailed right about the same time Kazuya's parents died. Hiro had apparently gone free years ago but disappeared.
Jin clucks. He is getting more information yet none points to where and how he can get the darn painting. What he knows is that Kazuya somehow holds the key.
Kazuya.
He groans thinking he must have been swallowed by a vortex into a parallel universe where he finds attractive mind-boggling odd creature. It's the only logical explanation as to why thoughts of the strange painter makes his guts churn and his heart beat fast.
Jin shakes his head. Kazuya is the key, he tells himself. The last thing he needs is to be distracted. He has to train all his efforts into the single-minded pursuit of getting the painting.
Jin is in the state of buzzing clear-minded confidence when he opens the door to his safe house. He stops dead on his tracks.
A few feet away, Kazuya is sitting on the floor with a bowl of red strawberries in hand. Jin watches as Kazuya takes a piece, places the pointed part of the fruit between his lips and starts sucking it in - crushing the fruit as it wholly enters his mouth. He then licks his lips of the fruit's juices that dribbled down.
Jin's face pales as all the blood in his head goes straight to his crotch. “Stop that!”
Startled, Kazuya tips the bowl, causing the strawberries to roll on the floor. “What's wrong?”
"Don't...eat...strawberries...” Jin says, feeling woozy.
Clutching his chest, still heaving from apparently being startled by Jin's unexpected outburst, Kazuya asks, “Why?”
“Because,” Jin feebly says, “Because they get stuck in your teeth...”
Kazuya scrunches his mouth as his tongue moved against his braced teeth. The slurping sound he makes as he sucks his own teeth unnerves Jin.
“Stop sucking your teeth!”
Kazuya stops then looks irked. “You said strawberries are stuck in my teeth. Would you rather suck my braces yourself?”
The idea ought to have revolted Jin but on the contrary, it excited him. He closes his eyes shut to steel himself. “Just stop doing anything with your mouth.”
When after a couple of seconds, he no longer hears any sound coming from Kazuya, he dares open his eyes.
“I need to ask you something,” he says and joins Kazuya on the floor. “Do you know Kizuna?”
“Of course,” Kazuya replies as he gathers the fruits back inside the bowl. “It means bond.”
Jin clicks his tongue. “I know it means bond. I mean do you know a painting called Kizuna?”
“No.” Kazuya picks up up a strawberry and, apparently seeing imaginary dirt on it, blows into the fruit.
Jin grabs the fruit from the painter. “Will you just...Think hard, Kamenashi! This is important. This is worth your life.”
“My life is worth more than any painting,” Kazuya says.
There's a mix of indignation and hurt on Kazuya's expression. Jin feels guilty. “That's not what I...”
“I don't know a painting called Kizuna,” Kazuya interrupts. “Although when I was seven, I drew my grandpa and when he saw it he said he'd call it Kizuna,” he adds.
Kazuya has obviously quickly recovered from being affronted but Jin is still feeling guilty. It takes him a moment to comprehend what Kazuya just said.
He doubts that a sketch done by a seven-year-old - much less a seven-year-old Kazuya - would rake in millions but maybe it holds a clue. He takes a deep breath. Finally, a lead.
“Do you still have that sketch?”
“My grandpa kept it. It was burned with him.”
“You burned your grandpa?”
Kazuya coldly stares at Jin. "My grandpa wanted that sketch to be cremated with him.”
Jin is more intrigued: What was so important about a child's drawing that an ex-thief wanted it to die with him. “Do you remember what you drew?”
“My grandpa.”
Jin rolls his eyes. “You already said that, stupid. I mean, what were the details?”
“I don't remember.”
Jin clicks his tongue and rakes his fingers through his hair. He watches Kazuya blow on the imaginary dirt on a strawberry. Something is wrong.
"Kazuya, where did you get the strawberries?" Jin asks.
"I bought it."
Jin gets nervous. "Bought it where? How? You went out?"
"I was hungry so I went out. I even got to the market but realized I had no money so I decided to come back. But an an ambulant fruit vendor probably took pity on me and gave me these strawberries."
"For free?
"Yes. He even walked me back here. He was really nice."
"Oh fuck!" Jin exclaims. He leaps up to his feet and pulls up Kazuya. "Didn't I tell you not to leave? How long ago was this?"
"About half hour ago," Kazuya replies, looking puzzled.
♥
Jin drags Kazuya down two flights of stairs but before they can reach thee lobby, Jin sees a couple of suspicious looking men hovering by the building's entrance.
“No shit! C'mon!” he exclaims and drags Kazuya back up the stairs.
As they ran back upstairs, Jin weighs their options. If it's just him, he can probably shoot it out and get away unscathed. But he cannot risk the painter. And the last time he checked, the only way to leave the 10-storey high building from the roof deck is to jump some few meters towards the roof deck of a neighbouring building. He doubts the dork painter can do that.
When they reached the 3rd floor, Jin sees an old woman about to enter her apartment at the end of the hall.
"Play along with me, 'kay?” Jin says to Kazuya who remains clueless to what is happening.
They tentatively walk up to the woman. “Ahm, excuse me, ma'am,” Jin starts.
The old woman turns and suspiciously eyes the two young men. Jin flashes her his most beguiling smile and the woman face softens.
Knowing he's touched first base, Jin continues. "This here's my brother,” Jin says. He presses Kazuya's hand and adds, “He's special.”
The woman eyes Kazuya. Jin presses Kazuya's hand tighter and Kazuya smiles, revealing his braced teeth. The woman's face softens some more. She smiles at Kazuya.
"Our apartment at the ground floor doesn't have a balcony like yours. And my brother has this thing about balconies,” Jin says and presses Kazuya's hand once more. He tries not to wince when Kazuya's nails dig into his wrist.
“Balcony. Want balcony,” Kazuya says.
"Our mother - bless her soul - used to bring my brother to our balcony in our home whenever he feels kinda' down.”
The woman looks from Kazuya to Jin then back. “Are you really brothers?” she asks.
Jin is about to answer when Kazuya pokes a finger under his right eye.
“Mole,” Kazuya says then points to his own mole under his right eye.
It is only then that Jin realizes that, indeed, he and Kazuya share a similarly-placed mole. Jin stares dumbfounded at Kazuya, momentarily forgetting their impromptu ruse.
“Hahawe...”Kazuya says.
It snaps Jin back to reality. He sees Kazuya has melted the woman's defenses. He moves in for he kill.
“But I understand if you won't let us in. I mean, of course, you shouldn't trust anyone these days. Thank you anyway.” He turns to leave.
"Okay,” the old woman says. “But just for a minute. And don't touch my plants.” She opens her door and steps inside her apartment.
"Really?” Jin asks, flashing his most dazzling grateful smile. “Just a minute will do, ma'am. Thank you very much.”
Hearing footsteps scrambling up the stairs, Jin pulls Kazuya inside and they went straight to the balcony. He curses when he sees the fire escape isn't there.
Jin surveys the scene on the ground and sees an open truck loaded with polystyrene scraps right under them.
“You're one lucky unlucky bastard, Kazuya,” he mutters.
Apparently realizing what they are about to do, Kazuya freezes on his feet. “I'm not gonna jump.”
"Either you jump or you die,” Jin threatens. He climbs over the railing and balances himself on the edge, hands securely clasped on the railing.
Kazuya takes a step forward, looks down then steps back. “I die then,” he declares.
"Goddammit! Do as I say!”
Kazuya just stands motionless.
“Fuck,” Jin mutters because it isn't really the right time to feel guilty but he feels exactly that seeing fear in Kazuya's eyes.
“What are you boys doing?” the woman shrieks from inside the apartment.
"Kazuya,” Jin hisses startling Kazuya out of stupor.
The painter clumsily clambers over the railing.
With Jin's left hand still clutching tight the railing, he winds his right arm around Kazuya, drawing the painter against him.
“Look at me,” Jin says.
Kazuya raises his gaze. The uncertainty in Kazuya's eyes bothes him.
“I won't let anything happen to you. I swear," he says. “Trust me. Please,” he pleads. “Let go.”
They locked eyes and they both let go of the railing at the same time. .
And as they fall, Jin twirls and he lands on the bed of polystyrene scraps with Kazuya safely on top of him.
They lay still for a few seconds, catching their breaths and gathering their bearing. “You okay?” Jin worriedly asks when the painter doesn't move. He sighs in relief when Kazuya lifts his head.
“Are you hurt?” Kazuya asks, hands pressed against Jin.
"Yeah,” Jin answers. His back hurts like hell. “What?” he asks seeing Kazuya's eyes glued to something on his chest.
“I think I know what Kizuna is,” Kazuya mumbles then he vomits.
♥
Jin lies silent on the other bed. He thought his days of spending nights in seedy love motels are long over but then again he can only be thankful. Aside from the aching back and smelling like strawberry and vomit, they are still alive.
He looks at the painter who's sitting on the edge of the bed, watching TV and eating French fries like it's the most natural thing to do after taking a free fall from a building. The memory of fear and uncertainty in Kazuya's face flashes in his mind.
He takes a deep breath to quell the churning in his guts. He stares up at the ceiling. The patches of white paint - a crude attempt to hide the watermarks probably left by a leak on the room above - were like a child's drawing of clouds. It kind of reminds him of Kazuya's works. It reminds him that he's on the verge of putting all the missing pieces together. He just doesn't know why he's stalling.
He takes another deep breath before he sits up.
“Tell me about Kizuna,” he asks.
Kazuya twists around towards Jin. “It's a sketch I made while my grandpa was talking on the phone.”
“I was drawing by his feet and when I looked up there was this expression on his face. The kind he had whenever he had to punish me when I did something bad. Like it hurts him more that he had to punish me.”
A smile tugs at Jin's lips, imagining a child Kazuya. “And what mischief could you have possibly done? Colored behind the lines?”
Kazuya smirks. “Anyway, I drew him talking on the phone like this - ” Kazuya raises a clutched hand near his ear - “ and when I showed him my drawing he looked like he wanted to cry. He said that my eyes can see what is most important. He said that as his fingers ran across the sketch pad...across my drawing of his hand...”
As if enthralled, Kazuya mimics his recollection of his grandfather's motion. “I remember he fondly ran his thumb across my drawing of his ring.” He pauses and raises his right hand. “This ring.”
Jin stares at Kazuya's hand. He has not noticed the ring before.
Kazuya pulls off the ring and hands it to Jin.
Jin takes it. He turns it around his fingers. There is something engraved inside.
“Kizuna,” Jin mutters, reading the inscription. He looks at Kazuya. “This ring is Kizuna.”
Kazuya takes the ring back and looks inside. “You're right,” he says. “I never looked before.” He hands the ring back to Jin. “You can have it.”
“What?”
Kazuya takes Jin's hand and presses the ring onto the palm. “You can have it,” he says. “You want it, right? You can have it. I trust you anyway.”
“What?” Jin asks. “You trusts...why?”
“You said earlier I should trust you so I do,” Kazuya says.
Jin is stunned silent. He looks at the ring in his hand then raises his gaze but Kazuya has gone back to watching TV.
He looks at the ring again and studies it. It's platinum, a simple band with no precious stone. It's not worth more than two hundred thousand but it was given to Kazuya by his grandfather. It probably means the world to Kazuya yet he has given it to Jin.
He places the ring on his right pinky finger and twists it around. He should be happy. He will be a hundred million richer by the following day as soon as he turns in the ring.
He looks up again. Kazuya's back is still turned to him. Kazuya isn't looking at him. He feels a void in his chest. He feels empty.
He takes the ring off intending to return it to Kazuya but something clicks in his mind. The ring isn't worth two hundred thousand yet JK is willing to pay a hundred million for it. Something is not right.
Kizuna. Bond. Friendship.
Jin goes rigid. “Who was your grandpa talking to when you drew him?” he asks.
Kazuya looks confused for a moment, startled at the sudden question. “Oh you mean...” Kazuya says when he finally makes the connection. “He was talking to his best friend.”
“His best friend?” Jin asks, thoughts racing in his mind.
Kazuya nods.
“Where was he? Your grandpa's best friend?”
“Away,” Kazuya says.
When people says someone is away they usually mean locked up in jail.
Jin's heart hammers in his chest. “Your grandpa's best friend is Hiro?”
Kazuya nods. “Hiromu. Kitagawa-san. Sometimes grandpa calls him Johnny.”
“Johnny?”
“Unh.”
Johnny Kitagawa. JK.
Jin's mind reels.
♥
“Will you hurry up?” Jin snaps, irked at himself.
It's the fifth day. They are on the brink of getting all the pieces together. He should be focused but he isn't because he's holding Kazuya's hand and he's feeling tingly all over like he's out on his first date with his long-time crush.
He cringes at his sappiness and lets go of Kazuya's hand. He commands himself to concentrate. Everything has gotten over his head. He can no longer keep Kazuya safe by himself. He needs help. He fishes his phone from his pocket and punches the number of his contact in the police department. He curses Inspector Nakamaru when he is diverted to voice mail.
He stops and turns. Kazuya has lagged behind. A throng of high school students rushes through and he momentarily loses sight of Kazuya.
“Kazuya,” he calls out but his view is further blocked by a three-wheel bicycle laden with boxes. Jin's heart thumps when the bike passes through and finds Kazuya is no longer where he last stood. He frantically looks around.
His heart almost stops when he finally finds Kazuya being dragged away by a man in a black suit.
“Fuck!” he mutters as fear grips him.
He weaves his way through the crowd. A few feet away, his heart catches on his throat seeing the unmistakable glint of a knife pointed at Kazuya's side. Jin pulls the gun tucked behind him on his waist as he bridges the gap between them.
With no thought other than to save Kazuya, no matter that he knows he will create public alarm, he points his gun at the back the head of Kazuya's captor.
“Let him go,” Jin says, his voice calm.
The man stops and turns. “Let us go or he dies,” he says and pulls Kazuya towards him.
Jin feels his head bloat when Kazuya winces, the knife obviously cutting through Kazuya's shirt and into the skin.
“I am not in the mood to bargain.” Jin cocks the gun. He feels no uncertainty and means every word when he says, “Let him go or you die here now.”
A shriek cuts through the air and the crowd around them freezes and stares.
With his gun still aimed, Jin pulls the ring off his pinky finger.
“Here,” he says, offering the ring. “This is what you want not him. Let him go.”
The man warily looks from Jin's hand to Jin's face. Kazuya's eyes widen at Jin.
“I swear to god, this ring is what you want. This is Kizuna,” Jin says, desperately hoping the man will believe him.
When the man still looks wary, Jin loses his patience. He tosses the ring and the man instinctively lets go of Kazuya to catch the ring.
Jin seizes the moment. He grabs Kazuya and pulls the painter towards him. He aims his gun up in the sky and takes a shot. More screams cut in the air and the crowd around them starts running in all directions.
Jin takes Kazuya's hand, drags him and they run among the crowd.
♥
“You okay?” Jin asks as soon as they reach an empty alley. His heart is still racing.
“I'm fine,” Kazuya says. “Why did you give him the ring?”
“What do you mean why?” Jin asks. He pulls up Kazuya's shirt up. Blood trickles from a cut on Kazuya's waist. “Shit,” he mutters.
“You threw the ring,” Kazuya exclaims, obviously upset. He tugs his shirt down.
“You're hurt, Kazuya.”
“I'm okay. It's a small cut.,” Kazuya dismisses. “How are you going to get your money without the ring?”
“Will you just get over the fucking ring!” Jin exclaims, losing his temper. It's not about the money. It's no longer about the money. It's about Kazuya.
Kazuya falls silent and lets go of his shirt, allowing Jin to inspect his wound.
As Jin presses his palm on Kazuya's wound, the memory of the knife pointed at Kazuya, of Kazuya wincing in pain flashes in his mind. Kazuya could have been killed. Jin feels his chest constrict. He has never been that scared before in his life.
“It doesn't matter, okay?” says Jin, voice gone soft. He presses his palm further, making Kazuya step back until Kazuya is backed against the wall. He stares into Kazuya's eyes.
“What?” Kazuya asks.
Jin steps closer until their faces are a few inches away from each other.
“Why are you staring at me?” Kazuya asks.
Jin feels Kazuya's breath on his lips. Everything falls into place. “You're all that matters because you see me,” he whispers. “You always see me.”
He cups Kazuya's jaw with his other hand and presses their lips together. As the kiss lingers, the knot in his guts uncoils. Instead, he feels a pleasant fluttering inside him that fills his chest.
As Jin finds himself lost in the sensation of soft lips, warm tongue and hard metal braces, he thinks of all the idiocy he has channelled in the last few days, the biggest and possibly the worst was to have slowly and unknowingly fallen for the dork painter.
It's the last thought he has before everything goes dark.
♥
His head hurts like shit. He opens his eyes but as soon as he does, bright light blazes, cuts through and fries his brain. With eyes shut tight again, he props himself to sit up. His fingers comb through his hair and sure enough, he feels a lump at the back of his head and he groans.
“Are you okay?”
His eyes fly wide open. The light cuts through his brain again but he endures the pain and keeps his eyes open. He looks around. He's in the gallery. He's in Kazuya's room inside the gallery but sitting on the low cushioned chair in front of him isn't Kazuya but an old man.
Everything comes flooding back to him at at once. He feels a sinking sensation in his stomach. “Where's Kazuya?”
The old man smiles. “He's making tea. I'm sorry about your head.”
Jin's head throbs. “Who are you?”
“Don't you remember me?” the old man asks.
Jin stares at the old man.
“They're fine,” the old man said who seemed enthralled with a garish painting of the gallery building's facade.
“You're...” Jin starts to say.
“You're actually worth more than what I paid you.”
Jin numbly stares as the old man leaves. “You're JK,” he mumbles, realization dawning. "What the hell is going on?"
One year ago
Kitagawa sat by the one of the round tables and watched as the other patrons leave one by one. It was almost 6 in th evening when the last of them left and he was the only patron there.
The only other person in the room was the young man who gathered the empty cups from the tables. He watched the young man. Kamenashi Kazuya, Shin's most precious find; the reason Shin cut all ties with him.
He stood up. He could feel the gun pressed between his arm and his body. The time had come. It was just too bad Shin was no longer around to witness the end.
He took a step. Kazuya looked at him.
“Are you grandpa's friend?” Kazuya asked. “I saw you at the burial. You looked so sad.”
Kitagawa was frozen on his feet, stunned silent. He was at the burial but he kept distance and made sure no one saw him. How could...?
“There's something I want to show you.”
Kazuya walked towards the last painting on the display. As if entranced, Kitagawa numbly followed.
“This is the last painting I did for grandpa. He had it specially framed and said I should give it to someone who can appreciate it.”
Kitagawa looked at the painting. It was a painting of the gallery's facade. He wondered who in their right mind would appreciate such a garish work. He glanced at the young man.
“People think the gallery's name is my initials but it isn't.“
Kitagawa looked back at the painting. He stepped closer, noticing something behind the drawing of the wooden gallery signage. He squinted and when he saw the letters very barely visible behind “K2”, his heart was caught in his throat. He couldn't breathe.
“You can have it if you want it.”
Kitagawa turned towards Kazuya. Kazuya was smiling at him, flashing gapped teeth. The tension on Kitagawa's his shoulders slipped away. He feels the coldness drain away from him. Tears brimmed in his eyes but he smiled back at the young man.
He understood now. It was his turn to watch over the most precious work of art.
♥
Jin sits by the window, looking out into the darkness. The throbbing in his head has subsided. The pieces of the puzzle finally fit and he doesn't know whether he should be pissed or grateful that the whole thing was JK's ploy to find the perfect thief to take the place of watching over Kazuya.
He glances back inside the room. Kazuya sleeping soundly on the bed, completely clueless of the whole ruse.
Jin stands up and closes the window. He walks over and sits down on the bed beside Kazuya. He brushes Kazuya's hair off the face. He smiles. He understands JK's change of heart. The dork painter has the uncanny ability to worm his way into a thief's heart.
He watches Kazuya sleep for a moment before he nudges him.
Kazuya groans.
“Hey,” he says. Kazuya grunts. “Hey,” says a little louder.
Kazuya's eyes flutter open.
“I have to go somewhere but I'll be back.”
Kazuya grunts then closes his eyes. Jin nudges him again.
"What?” Kazuya asks, annoyed.
"I said I have to go somewhere. I promise I'll be back.”
"Okay,” Kazuya says and goes back to sleep.
Jin takes a deep breath and takes one last look at Kazuya. He needs to do something else. Shin started it, Kitagawa continued and Jin must see it to the end.
He leans down and kisses Kazuya on the cheek. “I'll miss you,” he whispers and kisses Kazuya again.
He takes the black bag JK gave him and he slinks away in the darkness. Hopefully, for the last time.
A few months later
Jin looks around and sees not much has changed. There tables and chairs are still there although the old people or odd-looking ones or odd-looking old people aren't around. He goes from one painting on display to another. As much as Jin hates to think it, he still finds it unbelievable that anyone can appreciate Kazuya's work.
He gets to the last one, the garish painting of the gallery building's facade which JK once said was “fine”. He looks closer and inspects the details on the gallery signage. He frowns. Behind the “K2” are the letters “S” and “H”.
“It stands for Shin and Hiromu.”
Jin spins around. It isn't the motion though that made him dizzy, it's the sight before him.
“K2 actually stands for Kamenashi and Kitagawa,” Kazuya says.
“Of course,” Jin says. “As your grandpa says your eyes can see what is important.”
He can't take his eyes off painter who stands before him wearing an old V-neck blue gray shirt with a pin that says “ASK ME!”. Kazuya's hair is shorter and back to its original color. He's wearing a pair of trendy eye glasses. Kazuya looks vastly different from the dork he first laid eyes on.
Kazuya rubs the length of his index finger across his nostrils and makes a squishing sound. Jin's heart fills to the brim.
“Dork,” he says, smiling.
“Thief,” Kazuya retorts.
“Not anymore,” Jin says. “I got tired of not being seen.”
It was his last illegal act - conning his way to a college diploma. It's been months but he still has to get used to standing in front of a class and being watched as he teaches Art Appreciation.
Kazuya smiles, flashing nice even teeth. They stood staring at each other for a minute.
“You're staring at me,” Jin says.
“Does it bother you?”
“No,” Jin says. “I missed it. I missed you.”
Kazuya is quiet for a second then asks, “Do you want to come up to my room?”
Jin frowns. “Why?”
“Don't you want to make love with me?”
Jin does a double take. He stands motionless for a couple of seconds, wondering if there will come a time that he will no longer be thrown the loop by Kazuya. Probably never, he thinks, and he doesn't mind at all.
Epilogue 1:
“Should I lie down,” Kazuya asked.
“No,” Jin said. “This is quite perfect.”
“What should I do?” Kazuya asked.
Jin thinks for a moment. “Ahm... moan?”
“Now?”
“No,” Jin says. “Okay. Wait. Have you done this before?”
“Yes,” Kazuya says. “Not with a man though.”
Jin studies Kazuya. Somehow he finds it hard to believe Kazuya's no longer a virgin. “You sure?”
“When I was 18. A gift from grandpa. Her name's Ai-sama,” Kazuya proudly says.
“You're grandpa gave you a whore on your 18th birthday?” Jin asks, incredulous.
Kazuya looks about to protest but changes his mind. “She's really nice,” Kazuya says. “She didn't laugh or anything when it didn't go the way it should.”
Jin cocks his head, not sure what Kazuya meant.
“You know...” Kazuya said, sounding annoyed that Jin doesn't get his meaning.
Jin thinks for a moment before he gets it. “Oh,” he says. “Okay.” He understands. It's a classic first time story - getting off before getting in.
He thinks about it again and realizes that, technically, Kazuya's a virgin which means...
“Shit,” Jin mutters.
“What?” Kazuya asks.
“Nothing,” Jin says. He takes a deep breath. “You're a pain in the back, Kazuya.”
Epilogue 2:
Jin stares at Kazuya's painting, the one of the gallery's facade. They have taken it up to Kazuya's room to clean.
He runs his fingers on the edge of the painting and notices a small tear right below the upper right corner.
"It must have been when I cleaned it," came Kazuya's voice, slightly startling Jin.
Jin looks up. Kazuya is sitting on the bed, wearing red pajamas with butterfly prints, a cup of tea in hand. As always his heart is caught in his throat.
Intending to jump the painter, he immediately lets go of the painting but to his horror he hears something rip. The torn part of the canvass somehow got stuck in his pinky ring and tore more of the canvass.
“Oh shit!" Jin exclaims, horrified at what he had done.
He gets his ring loose but something caught his eye - something behind the canvass.
"What is it?" Kazuya asks, walking up to Jin.
"There's something behind," Jin mutters. "Another...canvass..."
"Tear it off."
"No!"
"Tear it off. I can always draw another."
"No. It won't be same."
"I can draw the exact same thing."
"But it won't be the same,” Jin argues, “It won't be the one your grandpa kept for you to give to Johnny. It would not the one that melted Johnny's vengeful heart."
Still, Jin's intrigued. He very carefully takes the painting from the frame and more carefully peels off Kazuya's painting from the other canvass.
"It's pretty," Kazuya comments, when he sees the hidden painting. "What is it?"
"Oh...my...god..." Jin mumbles. He looks at Kazuya. "JK was looking for a real valuable painting after all."
"Huh?"
"You're grandpa had this all along?"
"What is it?"
"It's Van Gogh's. Portrait of Doctor Gachet," Jin says, still awed at their find. "This was worth more than 80 million dollars in 1990. It's worth twice that much now.”
"That's a stolen painting? My grandpa stole that?"
"No," Jin said. "I don't know actually. It was bought by a Japanese businessman - Ryoei Saito. But when Ryoie died, nobody knew where the painting went. Some even thought it was cremated with him."
"Ryoei Saito?" Kazuya said. "I remember my grandpa mentioning that name. Something about keeping something safe for him. A fine painting, grandpa said."
Fine painting, Jin recalled. That's how JK described Kazuya's work. The odd-looking people and old people and odd-looking old people buying Kazuya's works but never taking them. Jin shakes his head. He can only imagine what other precious works of art are hidden inside K2 Gallery.
His thoughts are interrupted when Kazuya clumsily stands up. He then stretches up his arms and arches his back while yawning.
"Let's go to bed, Jin," he mumbles.
Jin watches Kazuya plod towards the bed. He cannot care less even Leonardo da Vinci himself offers him the Mona Lisa that moment. He possesses the most precious work of art and is asking him to go to bed. That is all that is important to him.
A/N:
[1] This fic was inspired by Jennifer Cruisie's chiclit "Faking It". I love her.
[2] The thing about Van Gogh's “Portrait of Doctor Gachet" being bought by a Japanese businessman named Ryoei Saito is true and that the painting's current whereabouts is unknown. Just google it if you don't believe me.
[3] Kazuya's grandfather's first name, Shin, is taken from Sanada Kuranoshin, supposedly the real name of Ishikawa Goemon, one of the legendary Japanese bandits.
[4] And yes, Johnny Kitagawa's real first name is Hiromu.
[5] This is what Kazuya looks like when Jin meets him again after a few months
[6] Forgive me for Epilogue 1. I had to put that in. It's kind of tradition.
[7] As you can probably tell, I wouldn't know fine art if I married one ; )
[8] There's another fic for nanaenam because she actually won the bid.
[9] I'm an author's note whore.
Thank you for reading.♥