[In his Care] The Epilogue ~part 1/2
It is the 28th already in Japan! ^^
Surprise, surprise!! It's not a chapter...it's an EPILOGUE!!
...Did that really come as a surprise to anyone? ^^; I doubt even Cata was surprised XD; Me = fail. Cata = win for a quick beta again <3 Thank you!
The last part of In his Care! I hope this epilogue will not ruin it all like some epilogues have done for books *har har* *shot*
But my job is far from done. Now, I have a project in front of me and it's to step into your shoes and read the whole thing from beginning to end. (I can't believe readers who re-read this fic! It's so long! You're amazing! O.O) From time to time when I retrace my steps for chapters I'm writing on I've re-read older chapters and noticed so many errors and typos and brain farts that I feel really ashamed of myself >.<;; Neither me nor my beta are native English speakers, but I will gambaru through this fic and correct as much as I can. So people who might have been saving this fic (to those of you who have asked, I don't mind you doing that, I'm posting it online after all so go ahead and snatch it however you want to - as long as you don't use it as your own, but that's common sense ^^) minor parts may change as I read through and correct mistakes. Readers have also asked me about uploading the fic and I plan to upload the different phases as I have read through them.
TRANSLATORS of In his Care please leave me your links!! \^^;/
And for anyone interested in translating, my only conditions are to credit properly and to give me your link to the site you're posting your translation on.
Oh, and after I had posted the last chapter, I kept bumping into mentions of 'IHC last chapter' in places I didn't expect like on my facebook and tumblr. I was all like O.O *blush* *happy* *touched* particularly I felt moved when I was scrolling down my dashboard on tumblr as usual and one blog entry suddenly said 'keep calm and read IHC last chapter' - I just stopped and stared before my brain registered what I was looking at and I went all 'eh~~?' and =^______^= and had to reblog it as a memory. Thank you to the one who first blogged it <3 It was first after randomly seeing posts like that that I started to really understand myself this project is ending and got all sentimental XD
Anyway, enough chatting from me, to the point:
Title: In his Care
Chapters: 86/86 + The Epilogue
Pairings: Akame, TxT, KinKi Kids, TomaPi, RyoUchi, YunJae and many more.
Fandoms: JE, wFL, random Jboys, random Kboys and hints of tenimyu and dramas
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: please pay attention to possible extra warnings (e.g. spoiler warnings) posted at each chap, overall warnings for non-con, violence and language.
Summary: AU. Kame's two years in prison and his life after that. In this EPILOGUE Kame continues to be in Jin's care (along with something else of personal value and importance) and a brief glimpse into his life as it is now is offered...
[Phase one] Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21
[Phase two] Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47
[Phase three] Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79
[Phase four] Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86
A big THANK YOU to all of YOU!! Thank you for all your support! Thank you for your valuable feedback! You have no idea how much it means to me and how it's kept me going all these years, knowing someone still wants to read more. And most importantly, thank you for reading through all these chapters! Otsukaresama desu~ for making it through this long, crazy fic ^^ I hope I have been able to give my fellow Akame fans some nice moments <3 Which has always been the point of this fanfic. Even with all the angst, let me quote Jin (translated): After every tear shed there's a smile waiting. I wish this epilogue will leave you smiling. Thank you! *deep bow*
The Epilogue
One year later.
Doors opened before them one by one, as they were directed down the corridors and finally reached their destination. An officer guarded the entrance and they stopped before him side by side, reaching for their belts and pulling out their IDs.
“Yabuki Hayato.”
“Odagiri Ryu.”
“We’re detectives. This is my partner.” Jin said, folding his ID and putting it back at his belt. “We’re here to see the crime scene.”
“This way.” the officer said, letting them enter the apartment and Jin trailed in first.
The apartment was a mess. Books had been pulled down from the shelves, paper lay everywhere, lamps were broken and drawers were left open. The study was the messiest, but the bedroom was the creepiest.
“You don’t have to go in.” Jin said. In the background the sounds of camera flashes were heard. From the doorway one could already see the edge of the bed.
Kame shook his head. “I’m okay, let’s go.” he said and followed Jin into the next room, the bed coming more and more into sight. He stopped behind his partner, seeing over Jin’s shoulder a naked foot sticking out from under the blanket. Her toenails were colored bright red.
“Yabuki Hayato, detective. Can you fill me in on what happened here?” he heard Jin ask the coroner, but Kame couldn’t tear his gaze away from the immobile foot.
“She struggled. Estimated time of death is somewhere between one and two in the morning.”
“Any signs of sexual assault?”
“Not confirmed yet, but she does have bruises on her thighs.”
“Who discovered the body?”
Kame shut his eyes momentarily, the voices in the room disappearing for that instance too. This case was harder than he had imagined. He felt sick.
“Thank you.” Jin said and Kame jolted as his partner turned towards him. “Okay, let’s go.”
Kame was relieved to hear that and didn’t give the woman on the bed another look as he exited the door.
“The victim was seen entering the apartment an hour before her death.” Jin said, as they stopped in the other room, the study. “The door wasn’t forced and there are no other ways into the apartment, which means she knew her attacker. She opened the door. She probably even let him or her in, though my guess is on a him. Her attacker appears to have been much stronger than her. She struggled, so there’s a faint hope of finding DNA.”
Kame swallowed, forcing himself to think clearly and he asked, “You think this is connected to the Johnny’s associate we’re after?”
“She worked for him.” Jin replied. “I say by the look of what they did to her apartment she knew something. What do you see?”
Kame took a look around. “Well, her computer is missing. There could’ve been something valuable stored on it.”
“Something the attacker either wanted back or wanted to keep a secret.” Jin said. “Very like you to think of. We’ll have to look for her computer.”
“Meaning we’re going to look for it at, um, the suspect’s place?” Kame asked, as he followed Jin out of the apartment and they walked back down the corridors.
“You’re learning.” Jin said and Kame breathed out as they finally exited the building and he was met by fresh air. “Are you okay?” Jin asked, trailing a hand down his cheek. “You look pale.”
Kame averted his gaze. “She was so young.”
“You didn’t have to come along.” Jin said and Kame met his eyes determined.
“I want to find who did this to her.” he insisted.
“We will.” Jin replied, recognizing that need for justice that so often drove Kame forwards. “Let’s go back.”
Kame nodded, the color returning to his cheeks as they headed back to the blocks. The moment he crossed the border he felt safe, something he had only begun to feel after breaking out of prison and crossing this border into safety. The blocks were no longer the unsafe place for him to be at. He had a home there now.
As they were back at their apartment, Kame headed straight for the bedroom, loosening his tie and taking off the jacket part of his black suit. He unbuttoned the upper buttons of the white shirt underneath as he made his way to the bathroom, splashing cold water against his face.
He met his reflection in the mirror. His face was still a little pale and his eyes remembered what he had seen. How people could do such horrible things was beyond him. He could barely stand the sight of it and he doubted he would ever get used to seeing something like that.
Drying off his face, he hung the towel back and exited the bathroom. Jin had already changed out of the suit he had worn for their undercover to his normal clothes. The leader came out, buckling up a skull belt around his jeans. The air was warm as it was the end of summer and Jin hadn’t bothered to put on more than a black tank top.
Kame headed back to the bedroom, going through some shirts. Sometimes he had trouble remembering if the shirt he picked up was his or Jin’s. He studied the white skull shirt he held up in front of him. He knew he had seen it on Jin, but it might have originally been his. Either way, it would suit just fine and he picked out a pair of jeans too before shutting the wardrobe.
He had barely gotten his pants on and pulled the shirt over his head before arms folded around him from behind, startling him. Jin was good at sneaking up on him.
“Wearing that?” Jin’s voice said into his ear and he felt Jin smile against his shoulder. “You did well in there.”
“Didn’t you feel anything?” Kame had to ask. “Have you seen so much violence and death that you can look at it and avoid getting emotionally attached?”
“I despise the kind of person who could get used to that sort of a thing.” Jin answered and Kame cocked his head to look at the other man. “But you learn to deal with it and to not let it show. You played your part well.”
“We’ve done the Yabuki Hayato and Odagiri Ryu roles quite a few times already.” Kame said. “That reminds me, I used my Odagiri Ryu cover the other day…when I saw your former teacher.”
“Yankumi?” Jin asked. “You got involved and did something righteous again, didn’t you?”
“Yes…”
“Let’s hear it.” Jin insisted.
“I wanted to meet her.” Kame confessed. “She’s obviously had some impact in your life and-”
“And you wanted to meet the one other person in my life that has a strong sense of justice and isn’t afraid to fight for what’s right.” Jin added.
“But I didn’t want her to know who I was so I disguised myself as a teacher in training by the name of Odagiri Ryu.” Kame continued and added a little involuntarily as he knew how Jin would react to this, “And that’s when things suddenly got out of hand…”
“Let me guess, the class was filled with delinquents and they caused trouble, so you both rescued them and set them straight.” Jin finished for him.
“I didn’t cause any trouble, I swear.” Kame defended himself. “Except…she sort of figured out that I knew you. I guess I asked too many questions about you. But that’s about it! It wasn’t my fault I got dragged into trouble! It’s not like I created it!”
“Right.” Jin said, sneaking an arm around Kame’s waist and added, “Good boy…”
Jin’s lips momentarily meet Kame’s before Kame broke apart.
“Don’t even try it!” Kame warned. “I’m still mad at you!”
“Oh come on, how long do I have to grovel this time?” Jin whined. “I said I’m sorry!”
“You filmed us having sex without my permission!” Kame reminded his boyfriend, slipping out of Jin’s hold on him. “Furthermore, you refuse to give me the USB stick you have the file on!”
“You’ll only destroy the file!” Jin insisted.
“Damn straight I will!” Kame shouted back. “Because if you keep it, it’s only a matter of time before it’s on Youtube!”
“I’ve been holding onto it for a year, it hasn’t leaked online yet.” Jin defended himself.
“Exactly. A year! You had that video of us before we even broke out of prison! God only knows how many guards or inmates had time to see it!”
“They did not.” Jin said. “I was very careful about how to film it. I turned the camera into our cell and retrieved the video clip before anyone could see it. I bribed the guards to take the night off from the surveillance room and they were my most trusted guards after Koichi-chan-senpai and his so-called partner, who I still don’t trust at all.”
Kame felt like tugging his hair out, messing it instead so his blond locks stuck out in a fluffy mess. “I can’t believe you’d dare film that night!”
Kame had wondered what had happened to the felt during the night, finding it on the floor the next morning, but had innocently figured it must’ve just fallen off.
“You’re an incredible pervert! How could you keep it from me all this time?”
“I figured you weren’t ready to watch it with me yet…” Jin mumbled and Kame fumed.
“So you’ve been watching it alone for a year?”
“Why are you so surprised? You said it yourself; I’m a bad boy, a bastard and a thief. Not a gentleman.” Jin reminded him, adding rather smugly, “You really did a number on the quality of the cameras when you helped rebuild the prison. The video is sharper and it even has sound quality now…”
“Well, I hope you enjoy it for that’s the only action you’ll get.” Kame shot back and Jin immediately regretted teasing Kame. How did it always seem he came out the one suffering from all their fights? He never did last longer than a week sleeping on the couch and after one week he was ready to take the blame for practically anything.
“Honey…” he tried, voice indicating he wanted peace. “Let’s not fight. We can watch it together and then you’ll see you’re overreacting. It’s not as bad as you think, the angle isn’t the best and it’s a distance away from the bed so the sound…-”
His response was the bedroom door slamming shut as Kame marched out carrying what Jin guessed was clothes for the next gig.
He hurried after. “Sweetie?” he called, opening the door again.
“Darling?” Yamapi greeted him on the other side and Jin stopped dead in his tracks.
“Where’s Kame?” he asked, far from amused.
“Lovers’ quarrel?” Yamapi asked. “He went out the front door. He let me in while he did. What did you do this time?”
“How do you automatically jump to the conclusion it was I who did something?” Jin said, offended.
“Just my logical assumption.”
“Screw you.”
“So he’s the one to blame?”
“…No, I guess I pissed him off royally this time.”
“You know, since you two already fight like a married couple maybe it’s time for you to just pop the question?”
“Believe me, even if I popped the question now I’d still be sleeping on the couch.”
A ridiculously wide smile spread over Yamapi’s lips. “You’re sleeping on the couch again?”
“Shut up and just tell me why you’re here!” Jin snapped.
“That’s impossible.” Yamapi pointed out, but hurried to continue as he saw the look upon Jin’s face. “You wanted to break into that one Johnny’s associate’s building, I’m ready to go.”
“I’d rather take Kazu this time.” Jin sighed.
“So you can try and use the gig as an excuse to make good with him?” Yamapi guessed.
“Yes, that and he really wants to catch this guy. He stormed out of here with some extra clothes, so he’s probably heading there as we speak to search for anything that could be connected to the murder of that woman. That sight at the crime scene really did a number on him.” Jin said, grabbing some clothes and about to head out too when turning back for a moment. “Look, in case I’m unsuccessful at bending Kazu’s mind…” Jin started. “Drink later?”
“I’ll wait for you at the club.” Yamapi replied, not even considering the option that Jin would be successful.
“See yourself out!” Jin barked out as he left, slamming the bedroom door after him almost as hard as Kame had.
An hour later, Jin had finally gotten a track on Kame. The fact that he had placed a tracer in quite a few pairs of Kame’s underwear had helped. Luckily Kame had picked just the right underwear today, giving away his location. Jin wondered if Kame would be even more pissed off should his boyfriend ever find out Jin had bugged him. Jin had never seen Kame as mad as the day Kame walked in on him and their prison made porn. Kame hadn’t even given it a fair chance, flipping out the second he recognized their cell and the missing felt, putting two and two together.
Jin placed the tracking device back into his pocket, having found Kame’s exact location in the building and turning a corner there Kame was. Jin would recognize Kame no matter what undercover the boy had. That curvy waist, the way the boy walked and yes, Kame’s backside, were a few things he would never confuse with someone else.
“Oh now he’s definitely not playing fair anymore.” Jin mumbled for himself, eyeing the red lipstick and how Kame’s hair was pulled up to reveal his neck. He wondered if Kame had finally discovered the power he held over Jin and was using it to win their fight. In any case Kame was.
Stepping back behind the corner, he waited for Kame to reach it, scaring the boy as Kame almost bumped into Jin. That surprised look upon Kame’s face turned quickly into a scowl as Kame recognized him.
Jin let his gaze trail up and down Kame once more. Kame wore a white shirt and a black skirt. His heels almost made him as tall as Jin. “Are you doing this to me on purpose or do you just like cross-dressing every chance you get?”
Jin could remember a few other such times, most recently when they were hiding from the cops and Kame showed up at the bar they had agreed to meet, dressed as a beautiful, rich-looking woman and ordered red wine.
“Am I to understand from that comment that you miss girls?” Kame asked, his tone rather sharp.
“No girl could be more beautiful than you.” Jin replied and Kame refused the urge to point out that Jin could hardly smooth talk his way out of their argument with comments like that.
“You always taught me to play with my strengths.” Kame said, continuing to walk with Jin following him closely behind. “I’ve come to understand during the years with you guys that this is one of them.”
Jin opened a door for him.
“Why do you look like you’ve gotten off work?” Kame asked, eyeing him standing there and holding the door open. “Button your shirt and straighten your tie.” Kame lectured, but did it for him, combing through his hair too and removing his hat.
“Hey! Unlike you I’m not wearing any make-up! What if someone recognizes me?” Jin protested.
“No one wears a hat at work. You’ll draw more attention that way.” Kame said. “So just wear make-up the next time.” the boy added and Jin didn’t miss the teasing tone in Kame’s voice, sending Kame a smile as the boy slipped past him and they found the office they were looking for.
Taking out a hairpin from his hair, Kame worked the lock while Jin kept an eye out.
“Kicking the door in would be faster.” Jin commented.
“And make it obvious someone’s been here.” Kame shot back. “Patience is a virtue, not that you know anything about such things…”
The lock clicked and the door opened.
“Still faster than you at picking locks.” Kame added rather triumphantly as they entered the office and Jin shut the door behind them.
“Yeah, it’s made handcuffing you a lot more difficult lately.” Jin said, loosening his tie.
Kame headed straight for the computer on the desk while Jin let his gaze roam the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, nothing caught his gaze as even remotely suspicious or interesting… Johnny’s remaining allies were probably being extra careful these days.
His gaze returned to the desk and Kame, who was going through the contents on the computer with an unsatisfied face.
“Nothing…” Kame sighed. “There’s nothing here. Nothing we can use against him…”
There were no cameras in the room… Should suit Kame fine…
“What are you just standing there for? Shouldn’t you be searching for everything and anything?” Kame asked, looking up from the screen and suddenly Kame’s face darkened, as he realized what was crossing Jin’s mind. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What?”
“Every time we break in somewhere you start thinking about sex!” Kame accused.
“Like it never crosses your mind.” Jin defended himself.
“Or go undercover.” Kame added.
“Hot office romance role play.” Jin said. “Anything to keep our relationship alive and our sex life interesting.”
“Like it stands any chance in getting boring…” Kame mumbled. One would think after all the prison sex with master-boy toy roles, nothing could top that, but no. It seemed Jin had endless amounts of ideas on how to keep it interesting and Kame had stopped thinking long ago that now he had to know it all.
“That outfit deserves to get ripped off.” Jin insisted and Kame sent him a glare before continuing to search the office. “I’m going drinking with Pi tonight…” Jin sighed for himself and Kame suddenly disappeared from his line of sight.
Circling the desk, Kame’s butt was the first thing he saw. The rest of Kame was squeezed inside a part of the shelf.
“I found something!” Kame reported. “I think it’s a hidden space. He’s got a laptop here!”
Climbing back out, Kame brushed his clothes, handing Jin the laptop.
“Could this be the woman’s?” Kame asked as they opened it.
“Holy shit. This contains evidence of fraud.” Jin said, as they scrolled through the content. “She was his secretary. She must’ve found out he was stealing money.”
“We could get him with this!” Kame said, excitedly.
Jin pulled out a USB stick. “I’ll copy the data then we’re erasing our fingerprints and putting it back where we found it. My dad will handle the rest.”
“You’re going to give him another anonymous tip?” Kame guessed and Jin placed the USB back into his pocket, not missing how Kame gave it a look.
“It’s not this one.” Jin said and Kame took the laptop, brushing their fingerprints off it.
“I gathered.” Kame replied dryly, climbing back into the shelf to place the laptop back where he had found it.
Jin probably hid the real USB somewhere in plain sight, but wouldn’t ever go as far as to use the same USB in front of him. Jin could be having it on him right now.
Jin made the call as they exited the office, using every technology they could get their hands on to make his identity to the person on the other end a mystery, but Kame guessed Jin’s dad knew more than well by now who the informer was constantly leaving the chief police clues.
“Dad's still insisting on meeting you.” Kame reminded him as Jin hung up.
“Of course.” Jin answered and they took the back exit, hurrying away from the building before the cops could arrive.
“You’re avoiding meeting my family, aren’t you?” Kame concluded and as Jin hesitated in replying Kame added, “It’s okay, I get it. I’ll figure out something to tell them. Sorry for bothering you with that. It must be weird for you to…”
“What?”
“To receive such a request. I mean, have you ever introduced yourself to anyone’s parents or family before?” Kame asked, although certain of the answer already. “Or introduced anyone to yours?” Though he was pretty certain of the right answer to that question too and didn’t stay to wait long for the answer that wasn’t going to come.
“It’s not what you think.” Jin insisted, grabbing Kame’s arm and taking him into the shade inside the alley. Somewhere in the background they could hear police cars approaching. “I just don’t want to screw it up and get you into even more trouble. You’re right, I’ve never done that before and the thought of it scares the hell out of me. I’m not exactly the kind of son-in-law parents hope to get, especially not for their son. I’m just trying to figure out how to be for them to accept me.”
Kame released his hand, placing it against Jin’s face instead, bringing it closer to his. “Jin, whatever the outcome, I will not stop loving you. I will not let go of you. So come over for dinner and just be yourself. That’s the person I fell in love with.”
“Yeah, but I think we’ve already established how you have a bad taste in men.” Jin pointed out and Kame smiled. The cars had soon passed them by from a small distance and Jin started to walk again.
“Well, it’s not like they have to date you.” Kame said after him. “Where are you going?”
“To leave some evidence. The cops can go ask questions, but for a search warrant they need something solid.” Jin replied. This was the best time to do it. His father would be occupied following the latest murder clue and at the same time Jin could unnoticeably drop something off at the spot the cops had come to know as the place their secret informer or informers left evidence against powerful members of the society.
Crouching down, Jin laid a file onto the ground. When his father would open that file the police would also become aware of the close relationship their murderer had with Johnny Kitagawa. The file contained documents and pictures. None of it was enough to catch Johnny, but it would hurt his reputation and scare his other allies. One step closer to Johnny again…
Jin rose to his feet.
“I figured you’d be dropping by again, leaving evidence when you’d least expect me to show up.” a man said behind him.
Without turning around Jin asked, “How’s everyone? Mom? Reio?”
“Mom’s still abroad. Reio’s studying hard and working at Shirota’s shop.” his father replied. “You doing okay, son?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jin answered.
“You’re going steady with someone I’ve heard. It’s the same guy I saw you with outside your blocks in Osaka, isn’t it?” his father said and Jin turned to face the older man. “This boy Shirota used to go to Todai with.”
“He’s not attending Todai anymore.” Jin replied.
“No, he’s with you now.” his father said, adding, “I heard Reio’s met him too and said he seemed like a nice guy.”
At that moment Jin felt something rare, something he had never felt before. His situation must be hard for his father to understand, he was a gangster dating another guy. Yet somehow it felt as if his father wanted to know more about him, understand him better. It wasn’t as if his father had ever truly given up on him, but now that the police chief knew his criminal of a son was actually helping the police, his father had made more of an effort to get involved in his life. So far Jin had succeeded in keeping that to a minimum. He had never guessed his father would reach out for him to this extent, even showing such interest in his boyfriend, as if wanting to meet Kame.
Jin felt bad for both his father and Kame. Kame wanted to introduce him to Kame’s family, but he could never do the same for Kame. He felt bad for the rest of his family too, for always excluding them from his life. He had used to think that was their blessing, the one good thing he could do for them, but now he had begun to want them to have a clue what was going on in his life and be part of it a little more. It was a dangerous emotion that Kame had stirred up inside of him. It could never be. He was on the wrong side of the law and his father was a guardian of that law.
“He is.” Jin replied about to take his leave when his father spoke again.
“Come home sometime.” his father said and Jin stopped in his tracks, shooting the man a surprised look. “We miss you.”
Jin didn’t really know what to say. “But…arrest…”
“We haven’t seen you for years. You’ve changed so much…even gotten yourself a…boyfriend. You should come over the next time your mother is in town and bring him along.” his father said. “Off the record.”
“That’s no good. You’re the police chief.” Jin reminded the man. “You can’t just look past crime. What kind of an example are you for your troops?”
“I’m also a father.” the older man insisted. “And by my records you are working in your own way to bring down major criminals. You have also showed less criminal acts yourself.”
“You have the boyfriend to thank for that.” Jin said. “Don’t go easy on me, old man. That’s not your style. Stick to what you believe in. That’s the one lesson you taught me really well to do.”
His father sighed and gave a nod.
“See you around, dad.” Jin said with a smile and continued on his way.
“You’re a good boy.” he heard his father say. “Deep down inside. I’m proud of you.”
Jin shot the man a look over one shoulder. “Hey now, that’s not something a gang leader wants to hear.”
But definitely something a son would.
As he disappeared out the alley, his father bended down to pick up the evidence.
When Jin crossed the border, he headed straight for the S Club to meet Yamapi.
There was no chance he wasn’t sleeping on the couch anyway and he wanted to relax with his best friend over a beer.
“Hey.” Jin said, sitting down by the counter next to the NewS leader.
“Hey.” Yamapi said, pushing a waiting cold beer under his nose. “Figured you’d be here soon. So, how did your partner do today? First time handling such a case.”
“He did all right.” Jin replied. “He kept his cool and he figured out about the missing computer. We found it in the guy’s office. How stupid is that?”
“Typical Kame-chan to notice something like that right away.” Yamapi said amused. “I suppose it’s how we notice things like weapons and entrance points in buildings.”
“Not to mention exits…” Jin added.
“Akanishi, Yamashita…” the two leaders looked up to see who had come to stand on the other side of the counter. “Not at your usual bar this time?” Yojirou asked.
“We felt more like clubbing.” Yamapi answered and Yojirou turned his eyes towards Jin.
“You ought to feel more like bar-ing from now on if you know what’s good for you.” Yojirou said.
“Is that a threat?” Jin asked. “Why are we getting thrown out?”
“Oh no, it’s a friendly advice and believe me you need it.” Yojirou said, leaning over the counter towards them. “Our father is getting tired of waiting. Despite all of my opposing he has set his mind on coming here unless you meet with him very soon.”
Jin’s eyes widened at that and Yamapi almost choked on his beer.
“You can’t run from him forever.” Yojirou said. “And it would be extremely unwise to not grant him access to your blocks and to this club. He’s been asking Kazuya questions a lot more lately. It’s been a year, Akanishi, since you broke out of prison and disappeared with his son. You can imagine he felt conned and was furious as hell. Now he’s done waiting for you to come to him and is coming for you himself. I can’t keep him away from here any longer.”
Jin cursed something the music drowned out and Yojirou straightened himself, pouring both leaders a stronger drink each. Jin had never met Kame’s father and he already recognized the persistence and stubbornness Kame had.
He had managed to avoid the serious course his and Kame’s relationship had begun to take already in prison, managed to avoid meeting Kame’s family for a year, but time was running out for him. He could no longer say they should wait until things cooled down after their break out. Kame had taken his advice and now that Jin thought about it, Kame hadn’t really brought up the subject of meeting his family before today even though Kame’s father had obviously never stopped bringing up the subject to his son.
“Dinner tomorrow evening.” Yojirou said, pushing the drink under Jin’s nose. “This is your last chance.”
Jin downed the drink in one go. “Got any more advice?”
“Tons.” Yojirou replied, filling his glass. “When you do meet our father, don’t try too hard to impress him. He’ll be expecting that and you’ll make a mistake if you do. He’ll ask you pretty sharp questions to shake you off, so don’t explain too much. Keep it simple.”
“Gotcha.” Jin said, sipping on his new drink.
“You better start practising your swindling tactics.” Yoijiro said. “Believe me, you will need all the help you can get in turning our father to your side. The rest of the family won’t be as difficult. Charm works on mom. And you get points for saving Kazuya’s life.”
“Do I dare to assume I have you and your brothers on my side?” Jin asked. “Or do you keep track on points too?”
Yojirou laughed. “No, we only kick guys’ asses if they make our baby brother sad.”
“So you better be nice to him.” Yamapi added, a little too amused by the situation.
“Cheers.” Jin mumbled, emptying another glass.
“Don’t take your gang with you for now.” Yojirou said. “Come alone. Eventually he’ll insist on meeting everyone, including your gang and your other friends, even your family.”
“Oh boy…” Jin muttered.
“Welcome back to reality. This is how dating in the real world goes.” Yoijiro laughed again, patting Jin on the shoulder. “Help yourself to more drinks. You’re going to need them.” the owner of the club added, before retreating and Jin took that advice too.
“Do you think it’s possible to fool Kame’s family into thinking Tackey and Tsubasa are my parents?” Jin asked as he placed another empty glass on the counter.
“Logically thinking, not likely.”
“Darn, they can make anyone fall in love with them.” Jin cursed.
“And they would definitely show a more mature, responsible side of us.” Yamapi agreed.
“…Apart from the fact that they’ve been imprisoned more times than us, that is.” Jin said.
“What’s wrong with your folks?” Yamapi asked.
“Do you really need to ask?” Jin said with a look of disbelief. “Mom travels every day of the year except for one, so she’s kinda hard to book for dinner. And can you imagine me showing up with my dad - the police chief and his outlaw son. Besides, for being the chief of police my father isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier.”
“Oh, so that’s who you take after!” Yamapi mocked and Jin sent him a death glare. “But you’ve got Reio.”
Jin lit up. “That’s true! He’s a total nerd and all! He’ll show a respectable side of our family.”
“Just watch out so that Kame-chan’s parents don’t give him their blessing instead of you.” Yamapi warned and Jin’s good mood faded.
“And how will I look next to him?” Jin added, depressed. “The failure of a big brother.”
“Well, for now you can just go alone.” Yamapi reminded him. “And worry about how to mask Tackey and Tsubasa as your parents later.”
“Yeah…” Jin said and the tone of his voice made Yamapi study him with a curious look.
“You really don’t want to meet his family, do you?” Yamapi concluded. “Why?”
“And say what? Hi. I’m Akanishi Jin. I met your son in prison, where I made him worship me every night, but I love more than just his body now. Nice to meet you.”
“Maybe you should think of rephrasing that.” Yamapi suggested.
“However I rephrase it I’m in deep shit. You know they’re gonna put me on the spot.” Jin complained. “His father will probably shoot me on sight. It would be a blessing if he used the shotgun only to force me to marry his son for stealing his innocence.”
“Do I detect a desire to be liked by them?” Yamapi asked with a knowing smile. “To be accepted by them as one of them?”
“Shut up.” Was Jin’s usual response when he had nothing left to say and Yamapi had won their argument.
Jin understood first now how Kame must’ve felt, wanting to fit in with them. His circle was basically like a family to him. Even in prison, getting to know more and more gangs and members of his circle, Kame had acted really nervously around them. It had taken the boy years to feel comfortable with them, how long would it take for him to be comfortable with Kame’s family? Was that even possible after everything? This whole situation was totally screwed up. He could never have imagined he would be held accountable for his actions even to Kame’s family like this when first claiming Kame as his boy toy in prison. Every instinct of him told him to run in the other direction and if it wasn’t for Kame he would’ve long ago.
“Have another drink.” Yamapi consoled, pouring Jin’s glass full, then filling a few more until the night was less young and they were both less sober.
The front door to the apartment opened and closed in a noisy, clumsy way indicating only one thing.
“Kaaazuu-chaaan~<3”
Kame was shaken out of his sleep, hearing Jin trying to walk down the hall while talking a lot of nonsense again.
“Oh no, not the Kame Sutra again…” Kame muttered, turning to the other side and closing his eyes again.
Jin made quite the entrance as he stumbled in through their bedroom door.
“Kazu-chan loves me~” Jin climbed onto the bed and cuddled into him.
“You seem to have had fun tonight.” Kame commented, not opening his eyes and not changing his position either as he was really comfortable now. Jin’s hands found their way underneath the blanket.
“No, I’m having fun now.” Jin murmured. “Because you love me~”
“Yes, yes, now drink some water and try to sleep.” Kame mumbled, still not giving a response.
“Tell me again why you love me-”
“I have no idea.”
“When you’re drunk you do. Then you usually exclaim your love to me in all possible kinds of ways and declare it to every part of me…” Jin insisted and Kame finally gave up and rolled onto his back, opening his eyes. He pushed back the strands of hair falling down Jin’s face.
“That doesn’t change the way I feel about you when I’m sober. I just say less embarrassing things out loud then.” he murmured, lowering his guard seeing Jin in his current state.
“I’m not educated and smart. I’m not even on the right side of the law and I know I’ve caused you as many headaches in this relationship as you did as my boy toy.” Jin admitted. It was these rare times, usually when Jin was drunk, that those certain emotions surfaced and Kame could tell that despite Jin denied it there was an unspoken comparison Jin made to his educated brother. “I mean, ever since I don’t try to be the perfect boyfriend and just am myself I make you mad sometimes.”
Kame smiled. “Come here.”
It probably served no purpose to tell Jin tonight, as Jin would probably have forgotten about this episode in the morning, but Kame loved even the things he hated about Jin. And he knew it was his fault Jin had begun to feel even more self-conscious about things such as education. Just like Jin’s brother, Kame had educated himself, while Jin had barely made it through High School and would have dropped out hadn’t it been for the persistent Yankumi. He hoped that by bringing Jin to meet his family, he could show Jin that Jin was more important things than education or status and that Jin had what he was really looking for. Jin loved him.
Suddenly Kame realized Jin’s hands had stopped moving as the older boy had finally gotten knocked out by tonight’s drinks, lying cuddled into him.
“Your street knowledge will bring justice to what happened to that girl and many others before her.” Kame murmured. “Personally I could never ask for more if I had those qualities.”
At the moment Kame really hated that they were fighting. He just wanted to forget about it and enjoy the good parts of his relationship with Jin. Maybe he should make up with Jin in the morning and they could talk it through like the grown-ups they were…
..
The next morning the sun was shining into their bedroom. It seemed to be another beautiful day. But the light wasn’t what he had woken up to. It was the feeling of his boyfriend leaning over him, pressing lips against his. Jin’s warm breath caressed his face.
Only a few words were exchanged so they could get faster to the other part of the making up, which was removing each other’s clothes and slipping in together under the sheets to really make up for all the nights they had spent sleeping apart because of their stupid fight.
The sun was much higher by the time they were satisfied. Jin hovered above him again, lips on his. A smile formed on Kame’s face as their kiss broke, but when he opened his eyes he realized Jin’s smile was by far wider than his and there was something else hiding behind it.
“What?” Kame asked, suddenly a little worried. “What are you grinning about?”
He knew that self-satisfied smirk on Jin’s lips and it was never a good sign.
“Nothing, I just…” Jin said, kissing his lips again. “I finally caught you.”
Kame felt the urge to roll his eyes. “You just figured that out now?”
“On film.” Jin added and Kame snapped his head up to look straight into Jin’s dark eyes.
“What?” Kame asked and Jin only smiled back at him. Slowly realization dawned upon Kame. He had let his guard down and Jin had stricken…again. “How?”
Jin pointed at pile of stuff on his bed table. “This time the angle is way better and the camera is closer. I bet you can hear every moan.”
Kame immediately slipped out from under him, starting to collect his clothes.
Jin laughed. “It’s a little too late for that now. Too bad I turned the camera off already, because this would’ve been priceless!”
“I can’t believe you’d dare to tape us again!” Kame accused. And when they had finally made up! He had said all those humiliating things too to end their fight quickly! He was so ashamed.
Jin picked out the camera from where he had hidden it inside the pile, turning it back on to catch a moment of Kame’s dismay this morning, but what he got on camera wasn’t Kame panicking, it was Kame looking ready to explode.
“Give me that camera!” Kame said, trying to take it from Jin, who lifted it out of Kame’s reach. Kame cursed as he with one hand tried to cover himself with the sheets and with the other tried to desperately reach for the camera, but to no avail. “Destroy that recording immediately!”
“It will be alright.” Jin promised. “Because it, just like you, is in my capable hands.”
They would end up on a streaming site on the internet, there was no doubt about it, and everyone would know about them. His brothers would see it, his parents…!
Kame started to panic.
“Destroy that thing immediately!” Kame repeated.
Jin refused and shot him a ‘make me’ look. “Hmm, what will you give me in return?”
“Damn it, Jin! I’m not going to be your boy toy again!” Kame immediately opposed to the idea of giving Jin anything. “Or a nurse! Or fulfil any of your other kinky fantas-”
Jin kissed him, countering any attacks Kame made without breaking apart and Kame slowly felt himself tire, giving in for a while. When he was sure Jin thought he had surrendered his hand left Jin’s body and went searching for the camera on the bed, until Jin caught up with what he was doing and took his hand and set it back onto Jin’s torso again. Kame tried with his other hand then and Jin laughed, breaking the kiss.
“Give up.” the older man advised. “You don’t want to fight anymore, do you?”
Oh yes, Kame suddenly did again, but decided to lay it off for a few more hours as Jin touched him like that.
Jin still never got the panicking part on camera, but he did get the fight and a whole other angle of their home made porn…
…
part two
Surprise, surprise!! It's not a chapter...it's an EPILOGUE!!
...Did that really come as a surprise to anyone? ^^; I doubt even Cata was surprised XD; Me = fail. Cata = win for a quick beta again <3 Thank you!
The last part of In his Care! I hope this epilogue will not ruin it all like some epilogues have done for books *har har* *shot*
But my job is far from done. Now, I have a project in front of me and it's to step into your shoes and read the whole thing from beginning to end. (I can't believe readers who re-read this fic! It's so long! You're amazing! O.O) From time to time when I retrace my steps for chapters I'm writing on I've re-read older chapters and noticed so many errors and typos and brain farts that I feel really ashamed of myself >.<;; Neither me nor my beta are native English speakers, but I will gambaru through this fic and correct as much as I can. So people who might have been saving this fic (to those of you who have asked, I don't mind you doing that, I'm posting it online after all so go ahead and snatch it however you want to - as long as you don't use it as your own, but that's common sense ^^) minor parts may change as I read through and correct mistakes. Readers have also asked me about uploading the fic and I plan to upload the different phases as I have read through them.
TRANSLATORS of In his Care please leave me your links!! \^^;/
And for anyone interested in translating, my only conditions are to credit properly and to give me your link to the site you're posting your translation on.
Oh, and after I had posted the last chapter, I kept bumping into mentions of 'IHC last chapter' in places I didn't expect like on my facebook and tumblr. I was all like O.O *blush* *happy* *touched* particularly I felt moved when I was scrolling down my dashboard on tumblr as usual and one blog entry suddenly said 'keep calm and read IHC last chapter' - I just stopped and stared before my brain registered what I was looking at and I went all 'eh~~?' and =^______^= and had to reblog it as a memory. Thank you to the one who first blogged it <3 It was first after randomly seeing posts like that that I started to really understand myself this project is ending and got all sentimental XD
Anyway, enough chatting from me, to the point:
Title: In his Care
Chapters: 86/86 + The Epilogue
Pairings: Akame, TxT, KinKi Kids, TomaPi, RyoUchi, YunJae and many more.
Fandoms: JE, wFL, random Jboys, random Kboys and hints of tenimyu and dramas
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: please pay attention to possible extra warnings (e.g. spoiler warnings) posted at each chap, overall warnings for non-con, violence and language.
Summary: AU. Kame's two years in prison and his life after that. In this EPILOGUE Kame continues to be in Jin's care (along with something else of personal value and importance) and a brief glimpse into his life as it is now is offered...
[Phase one] Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21
[Phase two] Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47
[Phase three] Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79
[Phase four] Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86
A big THANK YOU to all of YOU!! Thank you for all your support! Thank you for your valuable feedback! You have no idea how much it means to me and how it's kept me going all these years, knowing someone still wants to read more. And most importantly, thank you for reading through all these chapters! Otsukaresama desu~ for making it through this long, crazy fic ^^ I hope I have been able to give my fellow Akame fans some nice moments <3 Which has always been the point of this fanfic. Even with all the angst, let me quote Jin (translated): After every tear shed there's a smile waiting. I wish this epilogue will leave you smiling. Thank you! *deep bow*
The Epilogue
One year later.
Doors opened before them one by one, as they were directed down the corridors and finally reached their destination. An officer guarded the entrance and they stopped before him side by side, reaching for their belts and pulling out their IDs.
“Yabuki Hayato.”
“Odagiri Ryu.”
“We’re detectives. This is my partner.” Jin said, folding his ID and putting it back at his belt. “We’re here to see the crime scene.”
“This way.” the officer said, letting them enter the apartment and Jin trailed in first.
The apartment was a mess. Books had been pulled down from the shelves, paper lay everywhere, lamps were broken and drawers were left open. The study was the messiest, but the bedroom was the creepiest.
“You don’t have to go in.” Jin said. In the background the sounds of camera flashes were heard. From the doorway one could already see the edge of the bed.
Kame shook his head. “I’m okay, let’s go.” he said and followed Jin into the next room, the bed coming more and more into sight. He stopped behind his partner, seeing over Jin’s shoulder a naked foot sticking out from under the blanket. Her toenails were colored bright red.
“Yabuki Hayato, detective. Can you fill me in on what happened here?” he heard Jin ask the coroner, but Kame couldn’t tear his gaze away from the immobile foot.
“She struggled. Estimated time of death is somewhere between one and two in the morning.”
“Any signs of sexual assault?”
“Not confirmed yet, but she does have bruises on her thighs.”
“Who discovered the body?”
Kame shut his eyes momentarily, the voices in the room disappearing for that instance too. This case was harder than he had imagined. He felt sick.
“Thank you.” Jin said and Kame jolted as his partner turned towards him. “Okay, let’s go.”
Kame was relieved to hear that and didn’t give the woman on the bed another look as he exited the door.
“The victim was seen entering the apartment an hour before her death.” Jin said, as they stopped in the other room, the study. “The door wasn’t forced and there are no other ways into the apartment, which means she knew her attacker. She opened the door. She probably even let him or her in, though my guess is on a him. Her attacker appears to have been much stronger than her. She struggled, so there’s a faint hope of finding DNA.”
Kame swallowed, forcing himself to think clearly and he asked, “You think this is connected to the Johnny’s associate we’re after?”
“She worked for him.” Jin replied. “I say by the look of what they did to her apartment she knew something. What do you see?”
Kame took a look around. “Well, her computer is missing. There could’ve been something valuable stored on it.”
“Something the attacker either wanted back or wanted to keep a secret.” Jin said. “Very like you to think of. We’ll have to look for her computer.”
“Meaning we’re going to look for it at, um, the suspect’s place?” Kame asked, as he followed Jin out of the apartment and they walked back down the corridors.
“You’re learning.” Jin said and Kame breathed out as they finally exited the building and he was met by fresh air. “Are you okay?” Jin asked, trailing a hand down his cheek. “You look pale.”
Kame averted his gaze. “She was so young.”
“You didn’t have to come along.” Jin said and Kame met his eyes determined.
“I want to find who did this to her.” he insisted.
“We will.” Jin replied, recognizing that need for justice that so often drove Kame forwards. “Let’s go back.”
Kame nodded, the color returning to his cheeks as they headed back to the blocks. The moment he crossed the border he felt safe, something he had only begun to feel after breaking out of prison and crossing this border into safety. The blocks were no longer the unsafe place for him to be at. He had a home there now.
As they were back at their apartment, Kame headed straight for the bedroom, loosening his tie and taking off the jacket part of his black suit. He unbuttoned the upper buttons of the white shirt underneath as he made his way to the bathroom, splashing cold water against his face.
He met his reflection in the mirror. His face was still a little pale and his eyes remembered what he had seen. How people could do such horrible things was beyond him. He could barely stand the sight of it and he doubted he would ever get used to seeing something like that.
Drying off his face, he hung the towel back and exited the bathroom. Jin had already changed out of the suit he had worn for their undercover to his normal clothes. The leader came out, buckling up a skull belt around his jeans. The air was warm as it was the end of summer and Jin hadn’t bothered to put on more than a black tank top.
Kame headed back to the bedroom, going through some shirts. Sometimes he had trouble remembering if the shirt he picked up was his or Jin’s. He studied the white skull shirt he held up in front of him. He knew he had seen it on Jin, but it might have originally been his. Either way, it would suit just fine and he picked out a pair of jeans too before shutting the wardrobe.
He had barely gotten his pants on and pulled the shirt over his head before arms folded around him from behind, startling him. Jin was good at sneaking up on him.
“Wearing that?” Jin’s voice said into his ear and he felt Jin smile against his shoulder. “You did well in there.”
“Didn’t you feel anything?” Kame had to ask. “Have you seen so much violence and death that you can look at it and avoid getting emotionally attached?”
“I despise the kind of person who could get used to that sort of a thing.” Jin answered and Kame cocked his head to look at the other man. “But you learn to deal with it and to not let it show. You played your part well.”
“We’ve done the Yabuki Hayato and Odagiri Ryu roles quite a few times already.” Kame said. “That reminds me, I used my Odagiri Ryu cover the other day…when I saw your former teacher.”
“Yankumi?” Jin asked. “You got involved and did something righteous again, didn’t you?”
“Yes…”
“Let’s hear it.” Jin insisted.
“I wanted to meet her.” Kame confessed. “She’s obviously had some impact in your life and-”
“And you wanted to meet the one other person in my life that has a strong sense of justice and isn’t afraid to fight for what’s right.” Jin added.
“But I didn’t want her to know who I was so I disguised myself as a teacher in training by the name of Odagiri Ryu.” Kame continued and added a little involuntarily as he knew how Jin would react to this, “And that’s when things suddenly got out of hand…”
“Let me guess, the class was filled with delinquents and they caused trouble, so you both rescued them and set them straight.” Jin finished for him.
“I didn’t cause any trouble, I swear.” Kame defended himself. “Except…she sort of figured out that I knew you. I guess I asked too many questions about you. But that’s about it! It wasn’t my fault I got dragged into trouble! It’s not like I created it!”
“Right.” Jin said, sneaking an arm around Kame’s waist and added, “Good boy…”
Jin’s lips momentarily meet Kame’s before Kame broke apart.
“Don’t even try it!” Kame warned. “I’m still mad at you!”
“Oh come on, how long do I have to grovel this time?” Jin whined. “I said I’m sorry!”
“You filmed us having sex without my permission!” Kame reminded his boyfriend, slipping out of Jin’s hold on him. “Furthermore, you refuse to give me the USB stick you have the file on!”
“You’ll only destroy the file!” Jin insisted.
“Damn straight I will!” Kame shouted back. “Because if you keep it, it’s only a matter of time before it’s on Youtube!”
“I’ve been holding onto it for a year, it hasn’t leaked online yet.” Jin defended himself.
“Exactly. A year! You had that video of us before we even broke out of prison! God only knows how many guards or inmates had time to see it!”
“They did not.” Jin said. “I was very careful about how to film it. I turned the camera into our cell and retrieved the video clip before anyone could see it. I bribed the guards to take the night off from the surveillance room and they were my most trusted guards after Koichi-chan-senpai and his so-called partner, who I still don’t trust at all.”
Kame felt like tugging his hair out, messing it instead so his blond locks stuck out in a fluffy mess. “I can’t believe you’d dare film that night!”
Kame had wondered what had happened to the felt during the night, finding it on the floor the next morning, but had innocently figured it must’ve just fallen off.
“You’re an incredible pervert! How could you keep it from me all this time?”
“I figured you weren’t ready to watch it with me yet…” Jin mumbled and Kame fumed.
“So you’ve been watching it alone for a year?”
“Why are you so surprised? You said it yourself; I’m a bad boy, a bastard and a thief. Not a gentleman.” Jin reminded him, adding rather smugly, “You really did a number on the quality of the cameras when you helped rebuild the prison. The video is sharper and it even has sound quality now…”
“Well, I hope you enjoy it for that’s the only action you’ll get.” Kame shot back and Jin immediately regretted teasing Kame. How did it always seem he came out the one suffering from all their fights? He never did last longer than a week sleeping on the couch and after one week he was ready to take the blame for practically anything.
“Honey…” he tried, voice indicating he wanted peace. “Let’s not fight. We can watch it together and then you’ll see you’re overreacting. It’s not as bad as you think, the angle isn’t the best and it’s a distance away from the bed so the sound…-”
His response was the bedroom door slamming shut as Kame marched out carrying what Jin guessed was clothes for the next gig.
He hurried after. “Sweetie?” he called, opening the door again.
“Darling?” Yamapi greeted him on the other side and Jin stopped dead in his tracks.
“Where’s Kame?” he asked, far from amused.
“Lovers’ quarrel?” Yamapi asked. “He went out the front door. He let me in while he did. What did you do this time?”
“How do you automatically jump to the conclusion it was I who did something?” Jin said, offended.
“Just my logical assumption.”
“Screw you.”
“So he’s the one to blame?”
“…No, I guess I pissed him off royally this time.”
“You know, since you two already fight like a married couple maybe it’s time for you to just pop the question?”
“Believe me, even if I popped the question now I’d still be sleeping on the couch.”
A ridiculously wide smile spread over Yamapi’s lips. “You’re sleeping on the couch again?”
“Shut up and just tell me why you’re here!” Jin snapped.
“That’s impossible.” Yamapi pointed out, but hurried to continue as he saw the look upon Jin’s face. “You wanted to break into that one Johnny’s associate’s building, I’m ready to go.”
“I’d rather take Kazu this time.” Jin sighed.
“So you can try and use the gig as an excuse to make good with him?” Yamapi guessed.
“Yes, that and he really wants to catch this guy. He stormed out of here with some extra clothes, so he’s probably heading there as we speak to search for anything that could be connected to the murder of that woman. That sight at the crime scene really did a number on him.” Jin said, grabbing some clothes and about to head out too when turning back for a moment. “Look, in case I’m unsuccessful at bending Kazu’s mind…” Jin started. “Drink later?”
“I’ll wait for you at the club.” Yamapi replied, not even considering the option that Jin would be successful.
“See yourself out!” Jin barked out as he left, slamming the bedroom door after him almost as hard as Kame had.
An hour later, Jin had finally gotten a track on Kame. The fact that he had placed a tracer in quite a few pairs of Kame’s underwear had helped. Luckily Kame had picked just the right underwear today, giving away his location. Jin wondered if Kame would be even more pissed off should his boyfriend ever find out Jin had bugged him. Jin had never seen Kame as mad as the day Kame walked in on him and their prison made porn. Kame hadn’t even given it a fair chance, flipping out the second he recognized their cell and the missing felt, putting two and two together.
Jin placed the tracking device back into his pocket, having found Kame’s exact location in the building and turning a corner there Kame was. Jin would recognize Kame no matter what undercover the boy had. That curvy waist, the way the boy walked and yes, Kame’s backside, were a few things he would never confuse with someone else.
“Oh now he’s definitely not playing fair anymore.” Jin mumbled for himself, eyeing the red lipstick and how Kame’s hair was pulled up to reveal his neck. He wondered if Kame had finally discovered the power he held over Jin and was using it to win their fight. In any case Kame was.
Stepping back behind the corner, he waited for Kame to reach it, scaring the boy as Kame almost bumped into Jin. That surprised look upon Kame’s face turned quickly into a scowl as Kame recognized him.
Jin let his gaze trail up and down Kame once more. Kame wore a white shirt and a black skirt. His heels almost made him as tall as Jin. “Are you doing this to me on purpose or do you just like cross-dressing every chance you get?”
Jin could remember a few other such times, most recently when they were hiding from the cops and Kame showed up at the bar they had agreed to meet, dressed as a beautiful, rich-looking woman and ordered red wine.
“Am I to understand from that comment that you miss girls?” Kame asked, his tone rather sharp.
“No girl could be more beautiful than you.” Jin replied and Kame refused the urge to point out that Jin could hardly smooth talk his way out of their argument with comments like that.
“You always taught me to play with my strengths.” Kame said, continuing to walk with Jin following him closely behind. “I’ve come to understand during the years with you guys that this is one of them.”
Jin opened a door for him.
“Why do you look like you’ve gotten off work?” Kame asked, eyeing him standing there and holding the door open. “Button your shirt and straighten your tie.” Kame lectured, but did it for him, combing through his hair too and removing his hat.
“Hey! Unlike you I’m not wearing any make-up! What if someone recognizes me?” Jin protested.
“No one wears a hat at work. You’ll draw more attention that way.” Kame said. “So just wear make-up the next time.” the boy added and Jin didn’t miss the teasing tone in Kame’s voice, sending Kame a smile as the boy slipped past him and they found the office they were looking for.
Taking out a hairpin from his hair, Kame worked the lock while Jin kept an eye out.
“Kicking the door in would be faster.” Jin commented.
“And make it obvious someone’s been here.” Kame shot back. “Patience is a virtue, not that you know anything about such things…”
The lock clicked and the door opened.
“Still faster than you at picking locks.” Kame added rather triumphantly as they entered the office and Jin shut the door behind them.
“Yeah, it’s made handcuffing you a lot more difficult lately.” Jin said, loosening his tie.
Kame headed straight for the computer on the desk while Jin let his gaze roam the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, nothing caught his gaze as even remotely suspicious or interesting… Johnny’s remaining allies were probably being extra careful these days.
His gaze returned to the desk and Kame, who was going through the contents on the computer with an unsatisfied face.
“Nothing…” Kame sighed. “There’s nothing here. Nothing we can use against him…”
There were no cameras in the room… Should suit Kame fine…
“What are you just standing there for? Shouldn’t you be searching for everything and anything?” Kame asked, looking up from the screen and suddenly Kame’s face darkened, as he realized what was crossing Jin’s mind. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What?”
“Every time we break in somewhere you start thinking about sex!” Kame accused.
“Like it never crosses your mind.” Jin defended himself.
“Or go undercover.” Kame added.
“Hot office romance role play.” Jin said. “Anything to keep our relationship alive and our sex life interesting.”
“Like it stands any chance in getting boring…” Kame mumbled. One would think after all the prison sex with master-boy toy roles, nothing could top that, but no. It seemed Jin had endless amounts of ideas on how to keep it interesting and Kame had stopped thinking long ago that now he had to know it all.
“That outfit deserves to get ripped off.” Jin insisted and Kame sent him a glare before continuing to search the office. “I’m going drinking with Pi tonight…” Jin sighed for himself and Kame suddenly disappeared from his line of sight.
Circling the desk, Kame’s butt was the first thing he saw. The rest of Kame was squeezed inside a part of the shelf.
“I found something!” Kame reported. “I think it’s a hidden space. He’s got a laptop here!”
Climbing back out, Kame brushed his clothes, handing Jin the laptop.
“Could this be the woman’s?” Kame asked as they opened it.
“Holy shit. This contains evidence of fraud.” Jin said, as they scrolled through the content. “She was his secretary. She must’ve found out he was stealing money.”
“We could get him with this!” Kame said, excitedly.
Jin pulled out a USB stick. “I’ll copy the data then we’re erasing our fingerprints and putting it back where we found it. My dad will handle the rest.”
“You’re going to give him another anonymous tip?” Kame guessed and Jin placed the USB back into his pocket, not missing how Kame gave it a look.
“It’s not this one.” Jin said and Kame took the laptop, brushing their fingerprints off it.
“I gathered.” Kame replied dryly, climbing back into the shelf to place the laptop back where he had found it.
Jin probably hid the real USB somewhere in plain sight, but wouldn’t ever go as far as to use the same USB in front of him. Jin could be having it on him right now.
Jin made the call as they exited the office, using every technology they could get their hands on to make his identity to the person on the other end a mystery, but Kame guessed Jin’s dad knew more than well by now who the informer was constantly leaving the chief police clues.
“Dad's still insisting on meeting you.” Kame reminded him as Jin hung up.
“Of course.” Jin answered and they took the back exit, hurrying away from the building before the cops could arrive.
“You’re avoiding meeting my family, aren’t you?” Kame concluded and as Jin hesitated in replying Kame added, “It’s okay, I get it. I’ll figure out something to tell them. Sorry for bothering you with that. It must be weird for you to…”
“What?”
“To receive such a request. I mean, have you ever introduced yourself to anyone’s parents or family before?” Kame asked, although certain of the answer already. “Or introduced anyone to yours?” Though he was pretty certain of the right answer to that question too and didn’t stay to wait long for the answer that wasn’t going to come.
“It’s not what you think.” Jin insisted, grabbing Kame’s arm and taking him into the shade inside the alley. Somewhere in the background they could hear police cars approaching. “I just don’t want to screw it up and get you into even more trouble. You’re right, I’ve never done that before and the thought of it scares the hell out of me. I’m not exactly the kind of son-in-law parents hope to get, especially not for their son. I’m just trying to figure out how to be for them to accept me.”
Kame released his hand, placing it against Jin’s face instead, bringing it closer to his. “Jin, whatever the outcome, I will not stop loving you. I will not let go of you. So come over for dinner and just be yourself. That’s the person I fell in love with.”
“Yeah, but I think we’ve already established how you have a bad taste in men.” Jin pointed out and Kame smiled. The cars had soon passed them by from a small distance and Jin started to walk again.
“Well, it’s not like they have to date you.” Kame said after him. “Where are you going?”
“To leave some evidence. The cops can go ask questions, but for a search warrant they need something solid.” Jin replied. This was the best time to do it. His father would be occupied following the latest murder clue and at the same time Jin could unnoticeably drop something off at the spot the cops had come to know as the place their secret informer or informers left evidence against powerful members of the society.
Crouching down, Jin laid a file onto the ground. When his father would open that file the police would also become aware of the close relationship their murderer had with Johnny Kitagawa. The file contained documents and pictures. None of it was enough to catch Johnny, but it would hurt his reputation and scare his other allies. One step closer to Johnny again…
Jin rose to his feet.
“I figured you’d be dropping by again, leaving evidence when you’d least expect me to show up.” a man said behind him.
Without turning around Jin asked, “How’s everyone? Mom? Reio?”
“Mom’s still abroad. Reio’s studying hard and working at Shirota’s shop.” his father replied. “You doing okay, son?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Jin answered.
“You’re going steady with someone I’ve heard. It’s the same guy I saw you with outside your blocks in Osaka, isn’t it?” his father said and Jin turned to face the older man. “This boy Shirota used to go to Todai with.”
“He’s not attending Todai anymore.” Jin replied.
“No, he’s with you now.” his father said, adding, “I heard Reio’s met him too and said he seemed like a nice guy.”
At that moment Jin felt something rare, something he had never felt before. His situation must be hard for his father to understand, he was a gangster dating another guy. Yet somehow it felt as if his father wanted to know more about him, understand him better. It wasn’t as if his father had ever truly given up on him, but now that the police chief knew his criminal of a son was actually helping the police, his father had made more of an effort to get involved in his life. So far Jin had succeeded in keeping that to a minimum. He had never guessed his father would reach out for him to this extent, even showing such interest in his boyfriend, as if wanting to meet Kame.
Jin felt bad for both his father and Kame. Kame wanted to introduce him to Kame’s family, but he could never do the same for Kame. He felt bad for the rest of his family too, for always excluding them from his life. He had used to think that was their blessing, the one good thing he could do for them, but now he had begun to want them to have a clue what was going on in his life and be part of it a little more. It was a dangerous emotion that Kame had stirred up inside of him. It could never be. He was on the wrong side of the law and his father was a guardian of that law.
“He is.” Jin replied about to take his leave when his father spoke again.
“Come home sometime.” his father said and Jin stopped in his tracks, shooting the man a surprised look. “We miss you.”
Jin didn’t really know what to say. “But…arrest…”
“We haven’t seen you for years. You’ve changed so much…even gotten yourself a…boyfriend. You should come over the next time your mother is in town and bring him along.” his father said. “Off the record.”
“That’s no good. You’re the police chief.” Jin reminded the man. “You can’t just look past crime. What kind of an example are you for your troops?”
“I’m also a father.” the older man insisted. “And by my records you are working in your own way to bring down major criminals. You have also showed less criminal acts yourself.”
“You have the boyfriend to thank for that.” Jin said. “Don’t go easy on me, old man. That’s not your style. Stick to what you believe in. That’s the one lesson you taught me really well to do.”
His father sighed and gave a nod.
“See you around, dad.” Jin said with a smile and continued on his way.
“You’re a good boy.” he heard his father say. “Deep down inside. I’m proud of you.”
Jin shot the man a look over one shoulder. “Hey now, that’s not something a gang leader wants to hear.”
But definitely something a son would.
As he disappeared out the alley, his father bended down to pick up the evidence.
When Jin crossed the border, he headed straight for the S Club to meet Yamapi.
There was no chance he wasn’t sleeping on the couch anyway and he wanted to relax with his best friend over a beer.
“Hey.” Jin said, sitting down by the counter next to the NewS leader.
“Hey.” Yamapi said, pushing a waiting cold beer under his nose. “Figured you’d be here soon. So, how did your partner do today? First time handling such a case.”
“He did all right.” Jin replied. “He kept his cool and he figured out about the missing computer. We found it in the guy’s office. How stupid is that?”
“Typical Kame-chan to notice something like that right away.” Yamapi said amused. “I suppose it’s how we notice things like weapons and entrance points in buildings.”
“Not to mention exits…” Jin added.
“Akanishi, Yamashita…” the two leaders looked up to see who had come to stand on the other side of the counter. “Not at your usual bar this time?” Yojirou asked.
“We felt more like clubbing.” Yamapi answered and Yojirou turned his eyes towards Jin.
“You ought to feel more like bar-ing from now on if you know what’s good for you.” Yojirou said.
“Is that a threat?” Jin asked. “Why are we getting thrown out?”
“Oh no, it’s a friendly advice and believe me you need it.” Yojirou said, leaning over the counter towards them. “Our father is getting tired of waiting. Despite all of my opposing he has set his mind on coming here unless you meet with him very soon.”
Jin’s eyes widened at that and Yamapi almost choked on his beer.
“You can’t run from him forever.” Yojirou said. “And it would be extremely unwise to not grant him access to your blocks and to this club. He’s been asking Kazuya questions a lot more lately. It’s been a year, Akanishi, since you broke out of prison and disappeared with his son. You can imagine he felt conned and was furious as hell. Now he’s done waiting for you to come to him and is coming for you himself. I can’t keep him away from here any longer.”
Jin cursed something the music drowned out and Yojirou straightened himself, pouring both leaders a stronger drink each. Jin had never met Kame’s father and he already recognized the persistence and stubbornness Kame had.
He had managed to avoid the serious course his and Kame’s relationship had begun to take already in prison, managed to avoid meeting Kame’s family for a year, but time was running out for him. He could no longer say they should wait until things cooled down after their break out. Kame had taken his advice and now that Jin thought about it, Kame hadn’t really brought up the subject of meeting his family before today even though Kame’s father had obviously never stopped bringing up the subject to his son.
“Dinner tomorrow evening.” Yojirou said, pushing the drink under Jin’s nose. “This is your last chance.”
Jin downed the drink in one go. “Got any more advice?”
“Tons.” Yojirou replied, filling his glass. “When you do meet our father, don’t try too hard to impress him. He’ll be expecting that and you’ll make a mistake if you do. He’ll ask you pretty sharp questions to shake you off, so don’t explain too much. Keep it simple.”
“Gotcha.” Jin said, sipping on his new drink.
“You better start practising your swindling tactics.” Yoijiro said. “Believe me, you will need all the help you can get in turning our father to your side. The rest of the family won’t be as difficult. Charm works on mom. And you get points for saving Kazuya’s life.”
“Do I dare to assume I have you and your brothers on my side?” Jin asked. “Or do you keep track on points too?”
Yojirou laughed. “No, we only kick guys’ asses if they make our baby brother sad.”
“So you better be nice to him.” Yamapi added, a little too amused by the situation.
“Cheers.” Jin mumbled, emptying another glass.
“Don’t take your gang with you for now.” Yojirou said. “Come alone. Eventually he’ll insist on meeting everyone, including your gang and your other friends, even your family.”
“Oh boy…” Jin muttered.
“Welcome back to reality. This is how dating in the real world goes.” Yoijiro laughed again, patting Jin on the shoulder. “Help yourself to more drinks. You’re going to need them.” the owner of the club added, before retreating and Jin took that advice too.
“Do you think it’s possible to fool Kame’s family into thinking Tackey and Tsubasa are my parents?” Jin asked as he placed another empty glass on the counter.
“Logically thinking, not likely.”
“Darn, they can make anyone fall in love with them.” Jin cursed.
“And they would definitely show a more mature, responsible side of us.” Yamapi agreed.
“…Apart from the fact that they’ve been imprisoned more times than us, that is.” Jin said.
“What’s wrong with your folks?” Yamapi asked.
“Do you really need to ask?” Jin said with a look of disbelief. “Mom travels every day of the year except for one, so she’s kinda hard to book for dinner. And can you imagine me showing up with my dad - the police chief and his outlaw son. Besides, for being the chief of police my father isn’t the brightest bulb in the chandelier.”
“Oh, so that’s who you take after!” Yamapi mocked and Jin sent him a death glare. “But you’ve got Reio.”
Jin lit up. “That’s true! He’s a total nerd and all! He’ll show a respectable side of our family.”
“Just watch out so that Kame-chan’s parents don’t give him their blessing instead of you.” Yamapi warned and Jin’s good mood faded.
“And how will I look next to him?” Jin added, depressed. “The failure of a big brother.”
“Well, for now you can just go alone.” Yamapi reminded him. “And worry about how to mask Tackey and Tsubasa as your parents later.”
“Yeah…” Jin said and the tone of his voice made Yamapi study him with a curious look.
“You really don’t want to meet his family, do you?” Yamapi concluded. “Why?”
“And say what? Hi. I’m Akanishi Jin. I met your son in prison, where I made him worship me every night, but I love more than just his body now. Nice to meet you.”
“Maybe you should think of rephrasing that.” Yamapi suggested.
“However I rephrase it I’m in deep shit. You know they’re gonna put me on the spot.” Jin complained. “His father will probably shoot me on sight. It would be a blessing if he used the shotgun only to force me to marry his son for stealing his innocence.”
“Do I detect a desire to be liked by them?” Yamapi asked with a knowing smile. “To be accepted by them as one of them?”
“Shut up.” Was Jin’s usual response when he had nothing left to say and Yamapi had won their argument.
Jin understood first now how Kame must’ve felt, wanting to fit in with them. His circle was basically like a family to him. Even in prison, getting to know more and more gangs and members of his circle, Kame had acted really nervously around them. It had taken the boy years to feel comfortable with them, how long would it take for him to be comfortable with Kame’s family? Was that even possible after everything? This whole situation was totally screwed up. He could never have imagined he would be held accountable for his actions even to Kame’s family like this when first claiming Kame as his boy toy in prison. Every instinct of him told him to run in the other direction and if it wasn’t for Kame he would’ve long ago.
“Have another drink.” Yamapi consoled, pouring Jin’s glass full, then filling a few more until the night was less young and they were both less sober.
The front door to the apartment opened and closed in a noisy, clumsy way indicating only one thing.
“Kaaazuu-chaaan~<3”
Kame was shaken out of his sleep, hearing Jin trying to walk down the hall while talking a lot of nonsense again.
“Oh no, not the Kame Sutra again…” Kame muttered, turning to the other side and closing his eyes again.
Jin made quite the entrance as he stumbled in through their bedroom door.
“Kazu-chan loves me~” Jin climbed onto the bed and cuddled into him.
“You seem to have had fun tonight.” Kame commented, not opening his eyes and not changing his position either as he was really comfortable now. Jin’s hands found their way underneath the blanket.
“No, I’m having fun now.” Jin murmured. “Because you love me~”
“Yes, yes, now drink some water and try to sleep.” Kame mumbled, still not giving a response.
“Tell me again why you love me-”
“I have no idea.”
“When you’re drunk you do. Then you usually exclaim your love to me in all possible kinds of ways and declare it to every part of me…” Jin insisted and Kame finally gave up and rolled onto his back, opening his eyes. He pushed back the strands of hair falling down Jin’s face.
“That doesn’t change the way I feel about you when I’m sober. I just say less embarrassing things out loud then.” he murmured, lowering his guard seeing Jin in his current state.
“I’m not educated and smart. I’m not even on the right side of the law and I know I’ve caused you as many headaches in this relationship as you did as my boy toy.” Jin admitted. It was these rare times, usually when Jin was drunk, that those certain emotions surfaced and Kame could tell that despite Jin denied it there was an unspoken comparison Jin made to his educated brother. “I mean, ever since I don’t try to be the perfect boyfriend and just am myself I make you mad sometimes.”
Kame smiled. “Come here.”
It probably served no purpose to tell Jin tonight, as Jin would probably have forgotten about this episode in the morning, but Kame loved even the things he hated about Jin. And he knew it was his fault Jin had begun to feel even more self-conscious about things such as education. Just like Jin’s brother, Kame had educated himself, while Jin had barely made it through High School and would have dropped out hadn’t it been for the persistent Yankumi. He hoped that by bringing Jin to meet his family, he could show Jin that Jin was more important things than education or status and that Jin had what he was really looking for. Jin loved him.
Suddenly Kame realized Jin’s hands had stopped moving as the older boy had finally gotten knocked out by tonight’s drinks, lying cuddled into him.
“Your street knowledge will bring justice to what happened to that girl and many others before her.” Kame murmured. “Personally I could never ask for more if I had those qualities.”
At the moment Kame really hated that they were fighting. He just wanted to forget about it and enjoy the good parts of his relationship with Jin. Maybe he should make up with Jin in the morning and they could talk it through like the grown-ups they were…
..
The next morning the sun was shining into their bedroom. It seemed to be another beautiful day. But the light wasn’t what he had woken up to. It was the feeling of his boyfriend leaning over him, pressing lips against his. Jin’s warm breath caressed his face.
Only a few words were exchanged so they could get faster to the other part of the making up, which was removing each other’s clothes and slipping in together under the sheets to really make up for all the nights they had spent sleeping apart because of their stupid fight.
The sun was much higher by the time they were satisfied. Jin hovered above him again, lips on his. A smile formed on Kame’s face as their kiss broke, but when he opened his eyes he realized Jin’s smile was by far wider than his and there was something else hiding behind it.
“What?” Kame asked, suddenly a little worried. “What are you grinning about?”
He knew that self-satisfied smirk on Jin’s lips and it was never a good sign.
“Nothing, I just…” Jin said, kissing his lips again. “I finally caught you.”
Kame felt the urge to roll his eyes. “You just figured that out now?”
“On film.” Jin added and Kame snapped his head up to look straight into Jin’s dark eyes.
“What?” Kame asked and Jin only smiled back at him. Slowly realization dawned upon Kame. He had let his guard down and Jin had stricken…again. “How?”
Jin pointed at pile of stuff on his bed table. “This time the angle is way better and the camera is closer. I bet you can hear every moan.”
Kame immediately slipped out from under him, starting to collect his clothes.
Jin laughed. “It’s a little too late for that now. Too bad I turned the camera off already, because this would’ve been priceless!”
“I can’t believe you’d dare to tape us again!” Kame accused. And when they had finally made up! He had said all those humiliating things too to end their fight quickly! He was so ashamed.
Jin picked out the camera from where he had hidden it inside the pile, turning it back on to catch a moment of Kame’s dismay this morning, but what he got on camera wasn’t Kame panicking, it was Kame looking ready to explode.
“Give me that camera!” Kame said, trying to take it from Jin, who lifted it out of Kame’s reach. Kame cursed as he with one hand tried to cover himself with the sheets and with the other tried to desperately reach for the camera, but to no avail. “Destroy that recording immediately!”
“It will be alright.” Jin promised. “Because it, just like you, is in my capable hands.”
They would end up on a streaming site on the internet, there was no doubt about it, and everyone would know about them. His brothers would see it, his parents…!
Kame started to panic.
“Destroy that thing immediately!” Kame repeated.
Jin refused and shot him a ‘make me’ look. “Hmm, what will you give me in return?”
“Damn it, Jin! I’m not going to be your boy toy again!” Kame immediately opposed to the idea of giving Jin anything. “Or a nurse! Or fulfil any of your other kinky fantas-”
Jin kissed him, countering any attacks Kame made without breaking apart and Kame slowly felt himself tire, giving in for a while. When he was sure Jin thought he had surrendered his hand left Jin’s body and went searching for the camera on the bed, until Jin caught up with what he was doing and took his hand and set it back onto Jin’s torso again. Kame tried with his other hand then and Jin laughed, breaking the kiss.
“Give up.” the older man advised. “You don’t want to fight anymore, do you?”
Oh yes, Kame suddenly did again, but decided to lay it off for a few more hours as Jin touched him like that.
Jin still never got the panicking part on camera, but he did get the fight and a whole other angle of their home made porn…
…
part two