One Shot: If tomorrow never comes
Title: If tomorrow never comes
Pairing: Akame
Author: biggy_chan
Beta: godchild1134 (thanks Roxette :D lots of credits to her for helping with this story as well!)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine
Warning: May imply character death
Summary: 16th June 2010. How will Jin survive living in this exact same day over and over again where he tries to save someone from dying but just couldn't?
Word Count: ~7400
A/N: For Hun because it's her 17 birthday and I couldn't give her a proper present exept some nonsense messages. Sorry Hun, saranghae ♥
If tomorrow never comes
1. Day
You woke up with a bad feeling in your stomach. But you made your way to the bathroom anyway to get dressed and then left for the office.
The sky was fogged up with grey clouds and it looked like it would rain any second now. Luckily, you were in your car when it started to rain 10 minutes later. It was in the middle of June and yet such bad weather happened to surface. It was as if the sky knew what would happen to you that day.
You arrived at the office 10 minutes later and ran to the entrance quickly not to get wet. There, you met Ueda waiting for the elevator to come.
“Hey Jin. You're quite early,” he greeted you.
“Yeah. I’d rather not hear our manager scolding me so early in the morning. He disciplined me for like an hour yesterday.” You spat back.
You took the elevator and headed to the 7th floor where KAT-TUN’s dressing room was located. The others were already preparing themselves for the photo shoot by the time you arrived. You sat down on your place next to Kamenashi and started to fix your hair.
“Good morning,” he greeted you when you sat down.
“Morning,” you murmured back.
It had been like that for the past months but neither of you were eager to change the situation. Though the others were complaining about it, you couldn't care less. It wasn't your fault anyway. And you wouldn't be the one to apologize first when you were right. You could be stubborn as well.
The day seemed to be endless. When you were finally allowed to have a break, it was around 12 o'clock. The others invited you to eat with them but you declined and told them you already made plans with Yamapi for lunch.
You met with him in the NEWS dressing room and ate there together with the other members because your best friend was too lazy to go out when it was raining.
“By the way I haven't asked you yet. How was the filming for Yamanade?” Koyama directed his question to Tegoshi.
“It was really fun. Kame was really nice and the others as well. I've worked with him before in Dream Boys and I've already noticed then that he's quite different in front and behind the camera. He's no doubt a professional. I learned so much from him,” Tegoshi was babbling happily about the Yamanade filming and you hoped that they would change the subject soon. You didn't need to talk or rather hear about Kamenashi when you are in the NEWS' dressing room.
“Kame-chan is nice isn't he? I haven't been out with him lately because he seems loaded with work” your best friend also joined the conversation about Kamenashi.
The talk about Kamenashi was getting on your nerves. You wanted to tell them that Kamenashi isn't the perfect guy they all think he was. He is a workaholic who didn't know how to look after his health. He is stubborn but yet do the things that people ask him to do. He is only stubborn when it comes to you.
Without a word, you immediately left the room in the middle of the conversation. It was not like they cared.
Instead of returning into your dressing room, you headed to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich. It was unexpected that Kamenashi turned out to be there though.
“Aren’t you supposed to have lunch with the others?” you asked stupidly.
“Aren’t you supposed to have lunch with Yamapi?” he asked back, obviously not answering your question.
You grabbed the sandwich and left. You weren’t able to have a proper conversation whenever you met him. For you, it was better to just leave and avoid each other.
The rest of the day passed slowly. You felt tired and slept on the couch. By the time you woke up the others had already left, except for Kamenashi.
“How long have I been sleeping?” you asked him.
“Around an hour or so. The others tried to wake you up but failed,” he answered while looking at his script or whatever he was reading.
“You should not work like a maniac and strain yourself,” you told him though you knew that you shouldn't interfere.
“It's none of your business. You can go home first. I still have to read this.” He was still not looking into your eyes and you felt the anger rising inside you.
“Can you think of anything else than work? How long do you sleep every night? 3 hours? 2? Fuck Kame, look at me when I'm talking to you!” You didn't mean to yell at him and after the words were said you regretted them.
He looked up from his script and into your eyes. Your eyes were raging with anger and you didn't notice the sadness inflicted on his eyes. “Why do you even care,” he asked. “I'm leaving.”
He stood up, grabbed his bag and left you alone in the room.
“Fuck.” You kicked a nearby trash bin to release your anger. Why was it that when you converse, there was always a person who would end up hurting?
You took your bag and left the room. You wanted to catch Kamenashi before he left with his car but you were too late. By the time you arrived in the parking lot, you saw him leaving already.
It would have been better after all if you just kept quiet just like what you have been doing the past months. It always turned out like that.
You left the parking lot with your car 10 minutes later and headed home. Only a few meters away from the office building, you saw smoke rising up to the air with crowds of people huddled up in the said location. Flames were visible when you arrived at the scene and an ambulance was present as well. The stretcher had a person on it and people from the ambulance were carrying it away.
Curious, you made your way through the crowd to see what had actually happened. You saw two crashed cars and you guessed the people inside them didn't survive just by seeing how the cars crashed.
But then you recognized something familiar. Kame's number plate.
“Excuse me but you can't go there. It's too dangerous,” a police officer stopped you when you tried to get closer to the cars.
“But... I know the person who was inside the car! What happened to him? Where is he? Let me see him! I need to know how he is doing!” You were desperately trying to get through but another police man came and held you back.
“I'm sorry but no one in the cars survived the accident. I'm truly sorry,” one of the police men told you.
You stopped arguing with the police man and stared unbelievably at him. “...What?”
“I'm really sorry. You can come with me and see the people involved in the accident if you want to make sure if a person you know was involved,” the second police man suggested and you nodded in reply though you weren't so sure if you really wanted to see him.
He led you into one of the ambulances. You could already see from the outside someone lying on the stretcher with a cloth over his whole body. In the background you heard the police man talking with the man in the ambulance but then it was inaudible.
You went closer to the person until you were next to the face. Your heart was beating rapidly inside your chest and when you lifted your hand towards the cloth, you were shaking.
You slowly moved the cloth away from the face and even before you lifted it up, you could already recognized the beautiful pale skin and his once so soft, shining hair but now it was tainted with blood. His skin was pale, even paler than before. He looked so beautiful but the sight was stabbing your heart. Again and again. He looked like he would never wake up again.
You didn't know how you managed to get home. You couldn't remember how you made it towards your bed. You didn't remember when you fell asleep. But you did with eyes red from crying and tears falling even in your sleep.
2. Day
The ringing of your alarm clock woke you up from a dreamless sleep. You rubbed your eyes awake and wondered for the first seconds where you were. Suddenly flashbacks from the accident last night haunted your head.
Kame's pale, lifeless face flashed in front of your inner eye and you opened them immediately again. It was just a bad dream you told yourself but you knew that it wasn't. Kame was dead. You saw it with your own pair of eyes yesterday. You saw him in the ambulance yesterday. He was dead.
You went to work anyway. Your apartment seemed so small and suffocating and everything reminded you of Kame. When you looked into the mirror. When you turned on the TV. When you were closing your eyes.
It started to rain on your way to work, just like yesterday. Maybe the sky was shedding tears for Kame, you thought. Or maybe it were Kame's tears from above. You wished you hadn't argued before he died. You felt guilty for giving him such bad, last memories.
You met Ueda when you walked towards the elevator.
“Hey Jin. You're quite early,” he greeted you.
The words sounded familiar but you ignored it and greeted him back. He didn't seem to know about Kame yet. You wanted to tell him
but something inside you couldn't. You felt like it would be real when you voiced out the words.
When the elevator arrived at the 7th floor you made your way to the dressing room. You were sure your manager already told the others about Kame.
But when you opened the door you were greeted with the sight of Junno playing with his game console, Koki changing into his outfit, Nakamaru doing his hair. And Kamenashi. Kamenashi?
You blinked a few times to make sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you. It wouldn't have been the first time that day. But even after blinking for the 16th time - not that you counted - he was still there. He was still sitting there and putting make up on his face.
You pinched yourself and it hurt.
You went towards your seat next to Kame's. A shiver ran down your spine when he caught your eyes in the mirror.
“Good morning,” he greeted you.
“M-morning.”
You tried to figure out what was going on but nothing seemed to make sense in your head. Was it really just a bad dream? But it seemed so real.
“Don't you want to prepare for the shoot?” Kame's question brought you back to reality. You weren't imagining this. Kame was really sitting here in front of you. It must have been a dream.
When you were also finished with your hair you went with the others to the shoot. The photographer was explaining you the concept and you wondered why he was telling you that again. He already did yesterday. But nobody seemed to notice.
The shoot was exactly like yesterday's and you wondered what was going on. You asked Ueda why you were doing the exact same thing as yesterday but he simply told you not to be stupid and to concentrate.
During lunch break you tried to figure out why everything seemed to be just the same as yesterday. You later found out that it was yesterday. It was the 16th June.
You declined when the others invited you to lunch and headed to the NEWS dressing room instead. You told Yamapi about how everything today was just the same as yesterday. Or what you thought was yesterday. But he told you that you were crazy and that it was probably just a dream.
You left the room after Yamapi annoyed you enough and thought about the dream. It really did seem real but it really must have been a dream after all. You headed to the cafeteria because Yamapi didn't want to share his meal with you.
Of course you found Kame there. Just like in your dream. Your eyes widened when you realized it. If today was to be exactly like in your dream, then Kame would die tonight.
Your hand clenched around the sandwich in your hand. You didn't want Kame to die. No matter how cold you were to each other you didn't want him to die.
“Akanishi. The sandwich in your hand is going to burst.”
You got startled when he approached you. You looked down at your hand and saw the smashed sandwich in it.
“Shit.”
He offered you a tissue and you thanked him with a short nod.
“I'll be going then.”
When he left you followed him with your gaze and thought about how it had come to this. Was yesterday's dream a prevision? If it was, you knew you had to save Kame from death.
The rest of the day went on exactly like in your dream and you were sure by the end of the day that Kame would die in that accident if you didn't prevent it from happening.
You waited for the others to leave one by one until only you and Kame were left in the room. He was reading his script and you tried to think of the best words to stop Kame from leaving that room. You decided to go for the truth.
“Kame … nashi.”
He looked up from his script and into your face questioning.
“You know, yesterday I had this really weird dream about today. Everything I dreamed about happened today. The weather, the shoot, the conversations, the interview, everything.”
He looked at you as if he didn't understand what you were trying to say. You even thought maybe Kame was thinking that you must have sounded crazy.
“And in that dream … you left the building and drove off with your car and when I also wanted to drive home I came across an accident and I recognized your car and then the police man let me into the ambulance and then you were there. Y-you were … dead.”
You turned your gaze from your hands to his face to see his expression. But instead of confusion - what you actually expected to see - or mockery - what you would have expected as well - you saw nothing. There was only blankness in his eyes.
“Is this some kind of a sick joke?”
You gasped. The way he was looking at you made your anger rise up. You wanted to warn him, save his life but all he gave you was … this?
“No! I'm trying to save your fucking life! You can't leave this room! You will crash into a car and you will fucking die!” You were trying not to yell but it was difficult for you when he gave you such an attitude.
“Akanishi.”
His expression didn't change but he looked directly into your eyes. How long has it been since you've been looking at each other? For you, it was awkward staring at him after such a long time of not looking at each other. And it was sad that it happened to be in this kind of situation.
“If this is your way of apologizing or whatever it is you are trying to do,” he took a deep breath before continuing. “I'm leaving.”
“Kame!”
“Nashi. It's Kamenashi for you.” He grabbed his bag and left the room.
“Fuck.” You let yourself fall down on the sofa and gripped your hair angrily with your hands. If he didn't hate you, you would have been able to stop him. But now he was going to die. Just like in your dream.
You jumped up from the sofa and ran down the corridor to the elevator. You were going to stop him. No matter how much he hated you, you weren't going to let him die. You can’t let him die. He wasn't going to leave you behind with guilt.
But by the time the elevator arrived and took you to the parking lot you saw Kame's car leaving. You quickly got into your car and also exited the parking lot. On the street you saw Kame's car just a few meters in front of you waiting at a red traffic light. You sped up your car a little bit more but it wasn't fast enough. The traffic light changed to green and only seconds later you saw Kame's car crashing into another one.
3. Day
You woke up bathed in your cold sweat. It was just a bad dream you told yourself. Just a bad dream. But it wasn't and you knew it. This time it wasn't just a dream. It was real. Everything about yesterday was real.
Your legs were shaking when you got out of bed and you were shivering on your whole body. When you looked into the mirror, a pale face met you.
You couldn't prevent Kame's death. Even though you knew it was happening you couldn't save him.
“Fuck.” You were leaning over the sink breathing with difficulties. It felt like your stomach was turning itself around inside your body and you felt like vomiting but there was nothing to let out.
You wanted to call sick but your manager didn't believe you and threatened to pick you up personally if you didn't come. You cursed him after you hung up and then you saw it. The date.
16th June.
What the fuck was going on you thought. It was just a dream? No it wasn't. It felt too real to have been a dream again.
You quickly put on your clothes and drove to work. During the ride it started to rain. Just like the day before. It was just coincidence you told yourself. You weren't dreaming the previous day because when you pinched yourself yesterday it hurt. But what was going on then?
When you finally arrived at work you met Ueda at the elevator.
“Hey Jin. You're quite early,” he greeted you.
“Ueda, we've met at the elevator yesterday, haven't we? Tell me that we've met here yesterday as well and you were saying the same thing to me just like today,” you pleaded while grabbing Ueda’s arm forcefully.
“What's wrong Jin? No, we haven't met here yesterday because yesterday, you were late. Don't you remember? Manager yelled at you,” he told you while escaping from your grip. “You're weird Jin. Why are you like this?”
“Never mind,” you muttered.
It was really a dream. But it couldn't be because you still remembered every detail. You even remembered the past dream, or so that was what you called it. It couldn't be that you dreamed in your dream about the same thing as the dream. You hit your head to get it clear but it didn't work.
When you arrived at the 7th floor you ran towards the dressing room. And when you opened it he was really sitting there. Just like yesterday.
“Kame.”
He turned around to look at you confused.
But you could only walk towards your chair and let yourself fall down on it. He still looked at you from his seat beside.
“Akanishi? What's wrong?” he asked you.
“I don't know. I don't know what's going on here.”
He looked at you confused but you didn't understand this situation either. You were sure that yesterday hasn't been a dream. But what was going on then?
“Pull yourself together and get ready for the shoot,” he told you before he turned back towards his mirror.
The dream was bothering you for the rest of the day. You told your best friend about it but he only told you you were crazy and that it was a sign that you should make up with Kame. But you weren't crazy. You knew that what happened the day before wasn't just a dream.
You went to the cafeteria because you knew Kame would be there.
“Kame, can we talk?” you asked him and without waiting for an answer you sat down across from him with your sandwich.
“Since when did you want to talk with me?” he asked and you heard the sarcasm in his voice but you ignored it.
“Listen Kame-”
“Since when did you call me Kame again?” he interrupted you and he was expecting a reply.
“Please just listen to me Kame,” you pleaded because it was already difficult for you to talk to him again after what seemed like years.
“You never bothered to listen to me when I was trying to talk to you.” He stood up and left.
You knew he was right but you didn't want to admit it. You had your pride as well.
You wanted to give him some time so you didn't talk to him for the rest of the day. But when the others left and you were the only ones left in the room you decided to try again. You didn't have much time.
“Kame … nashi.”
He looked up from his script.
“Listen it might sound weird and you might think I'm crazy but just this time please believe me,” you looked at him with hope but it was difficult when he looked so cold.
“Speak up.”
“When you leave this room you'll die. You'll have an accident on your way home and die. I saw it in my dream. Twice. I lived the scene twice and every time it felt so real. It wasn't just a dream. I know it means more and maybe it tried to tell me that I should save you,” you explained but you could already see it in his eyes. He didn’t believe any of this. “Please Kame. Please just believe me.”
“Cut that crap Akanishi.”
He stood up and was about to leave but you were faster. You stopped him from leaving by blocking the door. You locked the door and hid the key inside your pocket before he could push you away.
“What the hell is wrong with you Akanishi? Give me the key.” He stretched out his hand but you weren't going to give in. This time you would save him.
“No,” you answered him stubbornly.
He sighed and licked his lip nervously. You knew the gesture and knew that he was thinking hard about how to get the key.
“What is your problem Akanishi? What do you want to accomplish by locking me and you inside this room?”
“I want to save your life.”
“Fuck you Akanishi. You didn't talk to me for months. You avoided me like a plague and now you lock us together into a room and tell me you want to save my life?” he asked you disbelieving.
“Yes.” You replied back without thinking.
“You are insane,” he concluded and shook his head. You thought even if he thought you were crazy you wouldn't let him out. You didn't want to go through the pain of seeing him die again.
He took out his phone and dialled a number suddenly.
“What are you doing?” you asked but he ignored you.
“Manager? Could you please come and open the door? Akanishi locked it and won't let me out.”
You gasped. And he just smirked at you when he ended the phone call. But
that smirk wasn't satisfaction nor superiority. It just looked sad.
A few minutes later the manager came and opened the door.
“Kame. Please,” you pleaded one last time.
He glanced at you once before he headed out.
Part 2
Pairing: Akame
Author: biggy_chan
Beta: godchild1134 (thanks Roxette :D lots of credits to her for helping with this story as well!)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Not mine
Warning: May imply character death
Summary: 16th June 2010. How will Jin survive living in this exact same day over and over again where he tries to save someone from dying but just couldn't?
Word Count: ~7400
A/N: For Hun because it's her 17 birthday and I couldn't give her a proper present exept some nonsense messages. Sorry Hun, saranghae ♥
If tomorrow never comes
1. Day
You woke up with a bad feeling in your stomach. But you made your way to the bathroom anyway to get dressed and then left for the office.
The sky was fogged up with grey clouds and it looked like it would rain any second now. Luckily, you were in your car when it started to rain 10 minutes later. It was in the middle of June and yet such bad weather happened to surface. It was as if the sky knew what would happen to you that day.
You arrived at the office 10 minutes later and ran to the entrance quickly not to get wet. There, you met Ueda waiting for the elevator to come.
“Hey Jin. You're quite early,” he greeted you.
“Yeah. I’d rather not hear our manager scolding me so early in the morning. He disciplined me for like an hour yesterday.” You spat back.
You took the elevator and headed to the 7th floor where KAT-TUN’s dressing room was located. The others were already preparing themselves for the photo shoot by the time you arrived. You sat down on your place next to Kamenashi and started to fix your hair.
“Good morning,” he greeted you when you sat down.
“Morning,” you murmured back.
It had been like that for the past months but neither of you were eager to change the situation. Though the others were complaining about it, you couldn't care less. It wasn't your fault anyway. And you wouldn't be the one to apologize first when you were right. You could be stubborn as well.
The day seemed to be endless. When you were finally allowed to have a break, it was around 12 o'clock. The others invited you to eat with them but you declined and told them you already made plans with Yamapi for lunch.
You met with him in the NEWS dressing room and ate there together with the other members because your best friend was too lazy to go out when it was raining.
“By the way I haven't asked you yet. How was the filming for Yamanade?” Koyama directed his question to Tegoshi.
“It was really fun. Kame was really nice and the others as well. I've worked with him before in Dream Boys and I've already noticed then that he's quite different in front and behind the camera. He's no doubt a professional. I learned so much from him,” Tegoshi was babbling happily about the Yamanade filming and you hoped that they would change the subject soon. You didn't need to talk or rather hear about Kamenashi when you are in the NEWS' dressing room.
“Kame-chan is nice isn't he? I haven't been out with him lately because he seems loaded with work” your best friend also joined the conversation about Kamenashi.
The talk about Kamenashi was getting on your nerves. You wanted to tell them that Kamenashi isn't the perfect guy they all think he was. He is a workaholic who didn't know how to look after his health. He is stubborn but yet do the things that people ask him to do. He is only stubborn when it comes to you.
Without a word, you immediately left the room in the middle of the conversation. It was not like they cared.
Instead of returning into your dressing room, you headed to the cafeteria to grab a sandwich. It was unexpected that Kamenashi turned out to be there though.
“Aren’t you supposed to have lunch with the others?” you asked stupidly.
“Aren’t you supposed to have lunch with Yamapi?” he asked back, obviously not answering your question.
You grabbed the sandwich and left. You weren’t able to have a proper conversation whenever you met him. For you, it was better to just leave and avoid each other.
The rest of the day passed slowly. You felt tired and slept on the couch. By the time you woke up the others had already left, except for Kamenashi.
“How long have I been sleeping?” you asked him.
“Around an hour or so. The others tried to wake you up but failed,” he answered while looking at his script or whatever he was reading.
“You should not work like a maniac and strain yourself,” you told him though you knew that you shouldn't interfere.
“It's none of your business. You can go home first. I still have to read this.” He was still not looking into your eyes and you felt the anger rising inside you.
“Can you think of anything else than work? How long do you sleep every night? 3 hours? 2? Fuck Kame, look at me when I'm talking to you!” You didn't mean to yell at him and after the words were said you regretted them.
He looked up from his script and into your eyes. Your eyes were raging with anger and you didn't notice the sadness inflicted on his eyes. “Why do you even care,” he asked. “I'm leaving.”
He stood up, grabbed his bag and left you alone in the room.
“Fuck.” You kicked a nearby trash bin to release your anger. Why was it that when you converse, there was always a person who would end up hurting?
You took your bag and left the room. You wanted to catch Kamenashi before he left with his car but you were too late. By the time you arrived in the parking lot, you saw him leaving already.
It would have been better after all if you just kept quiet just like what you have been doing the past months. It always turned out like that.
You left the parking lot with your car 10 minutes later and headed home. Only a few meters away from the office building, you saw smoke rising up to the air with crowds of people huddled up in the said location. Flames were visible when you arrived at the scene and an ambulance was present as well. The stretcher had a person on it and people from the ambulance were carrying it away.
Curious, you made your way through the crowd to see what had actually happened. You saw two crashed cars and you guessed the people inside them didn't survive just by seeing how the cars crashed.
But then you recognized something familiar. Kame's number plate.
“Excuse me but you can't go there. It's too dangerous,” a police officer stopped you when you tried to get closer to the cars.
“But... I know the person who was inside the car! What happened to him? Where is he? Let me see him! I need to know how he is doing!” You were desperately trying to get through but another police man came and held you back.
“I'm sorry but no one in the cars survived the accident. I'm truly sorry,” one of the police men told you.
You stopped arguing with the police man and stared unbelievably at him. “...What?”
“I'm really sorry. You can come with me and see the people involved in the accident if you want to make sure if a person you know was involved,” the second police man suggested and you nodded in reply though you weren't so sure if you really wanted to see him.
He led you into one of the ambulances. You could already see from the outside someone lying on the stretcher with a cloth over his whole body. In the background you heard the police man talking with the man in the ambulance but then it was inaudible.
You went closer to the person until you were next to the face. Your heart was beating rapidly inside your chest and when you lifted your hand towards the cloth, you were shaking.
You slowly moved the cloth away from the face and even before you lifted it up, you could already recognized the beautiful pale skin and his once so soft, shining hair but now it was tainted with blood. His skin was pale, even paler than before. He looked so beautiful but the sight was stabbing your heart. Again and again. He looked like he would never wake up again.
You didn't know how you managed to get home. You couldn't remember how you made it towards your bed. You didn't remember when you fell asleep. But you did with eyes red from crying and tears falling even in your sleep.
2. Day
The ringing of your alarm clock woke you up from a dreamless sleep. You rubbed your eyes awake and wondered for the first seconds where you were. Suddenly flashbacks from the accident last night haunted your head.
Kame's pale, lifeless face flashed in front of your inner eye and you opened them immediately again. It was just a bad dream you told yourself but you knew that it wasn't. Kame was dead. You saw it with your own pair of eyes yesterday. You saw him in the ambulance yesterday. He was dead.
You went to work anyway. Your apartment seemed so small and suffocating and everything reminded you of Kame. When you looked into the mirror. When you turned on the TV. When you were closing your eyes.
It started to rain on your way to work, just like yesterday. Maybe the sky was shedding tears for Kame, you thought. Or maybe it were Kame's tears from above. You wished you hadn't argued before he died. You felt guilty for giving him such bad, last memories.
You met Ueda when you walked towards the elevator.
“Hey Jin. You're quite early,” he greeted you.
The words sounded familiar but you ignored it and greeted him back. He didn't seem to know about Kame yet. You wanted to tell him
but something inside you couldn't. You felt like it would be real when you voiced out the words.
When the elevator arrived at the 7th floor you made your way to the dressing room. You were sure your manager already told the others about Kame.
But when you opened the door you were greeted with the sight of Junno playing with his game console, Koki changing into his outfit, Nakamaru doing his hair. And Kamenashi. Kamenashi?
You blinked a few times to make sure your eyes weren't playing tricks on you. It wouldn't have been the first time that day. But even after blinking for the 16th time - not that you counted - he was still there. He was still sitting there and putting make up on his face.
You pinched yourself and it hurt.
You went towards your seat next to Kame's. A shiver ran down your spine when he caught your eyes in the mirror.
“Good morning,” he greeted you.
“M-morning.”
You tried to figure out what was going on but nothing seemed to make sense in your head. Was it really just a bad dream? But it seemed so real.
“Don't you want to prepare for the shoot?” Kame's question brought you back to reality. You weren't imagining this. Kame was really sitting here in front of you. It must have been a dream.
When you were also finished with your hair you went with the others to the shoot. The photographer was explaining you the concept and you wondered why he was telling you that again. He already did yesterday. But nobody seemed to notice.
The shoot was exactly like yesterday's and you wondered what was going on. You asked Ueda why you were doing the exact same thing as yesterday but he simply told you not to be stupid and to concentrate.
During lunch break you tried to figure out why everything seemed to be just the same as yesterday. You later found out that it was yesterday. It was the 16th June.
You declined when the others invited you to lunch and headed to the NEWS dressing room instead. You told Yamapi about how everything today was just the same as yesterday. Or what you thought was yesterday. But he told you that you were crazy and that it was probably just a dream.
You left the room after Yamapi annoyed you enough and thought about the dream. It really did seem real but it really must have been a dream after all. You headed to the cafeteria because Yamapi didn't want to share his meal with you.
Of course you found Kame there. Just like in your dream. Your eyes widened when you realized it. If today was to be exactly like in your dream, then Kame would die tonight.
Your hand clenched around the sandwich in your hand. You didn't want Kame to die. No matter how cold you were to each other you didn't want him to die.
“Akanishi. The sandwich in your hand is going to burst.”
You got startled when he approached you. You looked down at your hand and saw the smashed sandwich in it.
“Shit.”
He offered you a tissue and you thanked him with a short nod.
“I'll be going then.”
When he left you followed him with your gaze and thought about how it had come to this. Was yesterday's dream a prevision? If it was, you knew you had to save Kame from death.
The rest of the day went on exactly like in your dream and you were sure by the end of the day that Kame would die in that accident if you didn't prevent it from happening.
You waited for the others to leave one by one until only you and Kame were left in the room. He was reading his script and you tried to think of the best words to stop Kame from leaving that room. You decided to go for the truth.
“Kame … nashi.”
He looked up from his script and into your face questioning.
“You know, yesterday I had this really weird dream about today. Everything I dreamed about happened today. The weather, the shoot, the conversations, the interview, everything.”
He looked at you as if he didn't understand what you were trying to say. You even thought maybe Kame was thinking that you must have sounded crazy.
“And in that dream … you left the building and drove off with your car and when I also wanted to drive home I came across an accident and I recognized your car and then the police man let me into the ambulance and then you were there. Y-you were … dead.”
You turned your gaze from your hands to his face to see his expression. But instead of confusion - what you actually expected to see - or mockery - what you would have expected as well - you saw nothing. There was only blankness in his eyes.
“Is this some kind of a sick joke?”
You gasped. The way he was looking at you made your anger rise up. You wanted to warn him, save his life but all he gave you was … this?
“No! I'm trying to save your fucking life! You can't leave this room! You will crash into a car and you will fucking die!” You were trying not to yell but it was difficult for you when he gave you such an attitude.
“Akanishi.”
His expression didn't change but he looked directly into your eyes. How long has it been since you've been looking at each other? For you, it was awkward staring at him after such a long time of not looking at each other. And it was sad that it happened to be in this kind of situation.
“If this is your way of apologizing or whatever it is you are trying to do,” he took a deep breath before continuing. “I'm leaving.”
“Kame!”
“Nashi. It's Kamenashi for you.” He grabbed his bag and left the room.
“Fuck.” You let yourself fall down on the sofa and gripped your hair angrily with your hands. If he didn't hate you, you would have been able to stop him. But now he was going to die. Just like in your dream.
You jumped up from the sofa and ran down the corridor to the elevator. You were going to stop him. No matter how much he hated you, you weren't going to let him die. You can’t let him die. He wasn't going to leave you behind with guilt.
But by the time the elevator arrived and took you to the parking lot you saw Kame's car leaving. You quickly got into your car and also exited the parking lot. On the street you saw Kame's car just a few meters in front of you waiting at a red traffic light. You sped up your car a little bit more but it wasn't fast enough. The traffic light changed to green and only seconds later you saw Kame's car crashing into another one.
3. Day
You woke up bathed in your cold sweat. It was just a bad dream you told yourself. Just a bad dream. But it wasn't and you knew it. This time it wasn't just a dream. It was real. Everything about yesterday was real.
Your legs were shaking when you got out of bed and you were shivering on your whole body. When you looked into the mirror, a pale face met you.
You couldn't prevent Kame's death. Even though you knew it was happening you couldn't save him.
“Fuck.” You were leaning over the sink breathing with difficulties. It felt like your stomach was turning itself around inside your body and you felt like vomiting but there was nothing to let out.
You wanted to call sick but your manager didn't believe you and threatened to pick you up personally if you didn't come. You cursed him after you hung up and then you saw it. The date.
16th June.
What the fuck was going on you thought. It was just a dream? No it wasn't. It felt too real to have been a dream again.
You quickly put on your clothes and drove to work. During the ride it started to rain. Just like the day before. It was just coincidence you told yourself. You weren't dreaming the previous day because when you pinched yourself yesterday it hurt. But what was going on then?
When you finally arrived at work you met Ueda at the elevator.
“Hey Jin. You're quite early,” he greeted you.
“Ueda, we've met at the elevator yesterday, haven't we? Tell me that we've met here yesterday as well and you were saying the same thing to me just like today,” you pleaded while grabbing Ueda’s arm forcefully.
“What's wrong Jin? No, we haven't met here yesterday because yesterday, you were late. Don't you remember? Manager yelled at you,” he told you while escaping from your grip. “You're weird Jin. Why are you like this?”
“Never mind,” you muttered.
It was really a dream. But it couldn't be because you still remembered every detail. You even remembered the past dream, or so that was what you called it. It couldn't be that you dreamed in your dream about the same thing as the dream. You hit your head to get it clear but it didn't work.
When you arrived at the 7th floor you ran towards the dressing room. And when you opened it he was really sitting there. Just like yesterday.
“Kame.”
He turned around to look at you confused.
But you could only walk towards your chair and let yourself fall down on it. He still looked at you from his seat beside.
“Akanishi? What's wrong?” he asked you.
“I don't know. I don't know what's going on here.”
He looked at you confused but you didn't understand this situation either. You were sure that yesterday hasn't been a dream. But what was going on then?
“Pull yourself together and get ready for the shoot,” he told you before he turned back towards his mirror.
The dream was bothering you for the rest of the day. You told your best friend about it but he only told you you were crazy and that it was a sign that you should make up with Kame. But you weren't crazy. You knew that what happened the day before wasn't just a dream.
You went to the cafeteria because you knew Kame would be there.
“Kame, can we talk?” you asked him and without waiting for an answer you sat down across from him with your sandwich.
“Since when did you want to talk with me?” he asked and you heard the sarcasm in his voice but you ignored it.
“Listen Kame-”
“Since when did you call me Kame again?” he interrupted you and he was expecting a reply.
“Please just listen to me Kame,” you pleaded because it was already difficult for you to talk to him again after what seemed like years.
“You never bothered to listen to me when I was trying to talk to you.” He stood up and left.
You knew he was right but you didn't want to admit it. You had your pride as well.
You wanted to give him some time so you didn't talk to him for the rest of the day. But when the others left and you were the only ones left in the room you decided to try again. You didn't have much time.
“Kame … nashi.”
He looked up from his script.
“Listen it might sound weird and you might think I'm crazy but just this time please believe me,” you looked at him with hope but it was difficult when he looked so cold.
“Speak up.”
“When you leave this room you'll die. You'll have an accident on your way home and die. I saw it in my dream. Twice. I lived the scene twice and every time it felt so real. It wasn't just a dream. I know it means more and maybe it tried to tell me that I should save you,” you explained but you could already see it in his eyes. He didn’t believe any of this. “Please Kame. Please just believe me.”
“Cut that crap Akanishi.”
He stood up and was about to leave but you were faster. You stopped him from leaving by blocking the door. You locked the door and hid the key inside your pocket before he could push you away.
“What the hell is wrong with you Akanishi? Give me the key.” He stretched out his hand but you weren't going to give in. This time you would save him.
“No,” you answered him stubbornly.
He sighed and licked his lip nervously. You knew the gesture and knew that he was thinking hard about how to get the key.
“What is your problem Akanishi? What do you want to accomplish by locking me and you inside this room?”
“I want to save your life.”
“Fuck you Akanishi. You didn't talk to me for months. You avoided me like a plague and now you lock us together into a room and tell me you want to save my life?” he asked you disbelieving.
“Yes.” You replied back without thinking.
“You are insane,” he concluded and shook his head. You thought even if he thought you were crazy you wouldn't let him out. You didn't want to go through the pain of seeing him die again.
He took out his phone and dialled a number suddenly.
“What are you doing?” you asked but he ignored you.
“Manager? Could you please come and open the door? Akanishi locked it and won't let me out.”
You gasped. And he just smirked at you when he ended the phone call. But
that smirk wasn't satisfaction nor superiority. It just looked sad.
A few minutes later the manager came and opened the door.
“Kame. Please,” you pleaded one last time.
He glanced at you once before he headed out.
Part 2