All eyes turned to the leader standing breathless by the open glass doors.
“Akanishi!” the gang members were the first to react.
“Jin.” Yamapi said, a sigh escaping his lips as he did.
Jin moved into the room, ending up between the two fronts. “It’s a trap. We need to get out now.”
“Johnny and his allies are right in there!” Yamapi said, pointing at the closed double doors temptingly near them. “All we need is to storm them. They can’t have enough manpower inside and even if they did Johnny won’t risk his allies getting hurt in the crossfire and in the very least himself. We can end this right now!”
“No, you can’t! You’re just meant to believe you stand a chance at winning, just like in court! Move out now before it’s too late!” Jin said turning to Masa then. “But I’m not leaving without Kame.”
Masa rose from his chair, strolling closer and passing Jin without showing the slightest signs of intimidation despite the situation he was in.
“Where is he?” Jin demanded to know.
“If we leave now, we’ll have no choice but to leave Arashi behind.” Kusano said, turning towards the detective then. “Where are they? Still on the first floor? Have them released this instance!”
“They’re safe.” Masa replied. “Worry about yourselves instead.”
“You bastard!” Kusano muttered and the fact that they were so heated up by the situation only seemed to amuse the detective more, who definitely didn’t act like he was in any danger. It made Jin all the more sure that they were.
“Wipe that smirk of your face and give me Kame!” Jin snapped and Masa locked eyes with him next.
“You seem to have pretty much figured out the position you’re in so you should know you’ll get nowhere through threats and violence.” Masa replied.
“I said give me Kame!” Jin repeated. “Where is he?”
Masa turned away from him continuing his way into the opposite direction of the tempting closed doors and he was delighted to see all gangsters following him carefully from a distance. As they turned a corner, they came into view with what it was that the gangsters seemed more desperate to have than their arch enemies.
“Kame-chan!” TTUN let out, but Masa turned around sharply in front of the table Kame sat by, a clear signal not to try to move in any closer and not knowing what the detective had up his sleeve, but counting on there being something, the gangsters kept their distance.
“Kame, are you all right?” Jin asked, sounding a little relieved, but Kame didn’t look up from his laptop. “Release him.” Jin demanded of Masa. “I’ll stay if you want, but let him go.”
“Oh, none of you are going anywhere but prison. You should’ve run when you had the chance.” the detective said and shot a look over his shoulder at the boy, who didn’t meet his eyes either. “And you should’ve heeded the warning of a former boy toy. He put your safety before some very important people to him by coming to you.”
“I will not go to prison and leave Kame at your mercy.” Jin gritted out between his teeth.
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.” Masa said, signalling something to Kame, who seemed to rather reluctantly perform whatever task was assigned to him and a few buttons later the glass doors clicked shut. It was also then that they noticed the guards that had taken over the terrace and were staying in position on the outside. “I don’t want us to be disturbed just yet.”
Yamapi pointed his gun at Masa. “You seem rather certain you’ll walk out of this yourself. Will your back-up reach us before we reach the other room or before I pull the trigger?”
“Lower your weapon. I don’t think you want to be pointing it in this direction.” Masa replied calmly and Jin pushed Yamapi’s arm down, lowering the gun from pointing in the direction of Masa and Kame behind him.
“Kame-chan, with your help we can all make it out of here, Arashi included.” Yamapi said, trying reason next.
“And how are you going to manage that?” Masa asked. “The whole building is surrounded. It’s crawling with cops on the streets below us.”
“We can make them let us go. You have the power to make them vulnerable.” Yamapi continued. “We’ll protect you and your family. You won’t need to worry about them.”
“Do you really have the power to do what you just promised even if we were threatening Kame-chan’s family?” Masa asked and Yamapi shot him a look.
“What do you mean?” the leader asked. “That’s what you’re holding him with, isn’t it? The ones he’s trying to protect.”
“How many times hasn’t he told you he’s not being threatened?” Masa said and Kame felt heads turn towards him again, but he didn’t look up this time either.
“Why else would he work for you if you didn’t? Why would he squeal on us and try to capture us? That is not the Kame-chan we know!” Yamapi said and Kame was surprised to hear those words coming from Yamapi out of everyone present there.
“We are not threatening him or his family. And if we were your influence outside your blocks is weaker than ours.” Masa assured again. “No, what he’s trying to protect them from is disappointment, namely the disappointment he fears they’d suffer again if he gave up on Todai a second time in order to save you, choosing the other side of the law for your sake and giving up on his work with me that I can assure you gives him a sense of purpose and fulfilment.”
“Purpose? Fulfilment?” Koki repeated, not believing a word. “Our Kame-chan with you?”
“Yes. He is here because he wants to help me do something you haven’t been able to accomplish during all the decades of your existence.” Masa replied. “We're doing this to bring down Johnny Kitagawa.”
The message went through badly. “...What?”
“Then why are you attacking us?! We want the same thing!” was Massu’s initial reaction.
“You all remember your daisenpais, the very first gang to stand against Johnny Kitagawa, they wanted to bring Johnny down by infiltrating and working for him so they could screw him over. They failed and after them none of you have tried the same, and Johnny has made his trusted circle very small. Currently there exists no one he trusts more than me.” Masa explained. “But by your capture Johnny will finally acknowledge Kame as truly one of us and we will finally have his full trust. He will believe what I’ve been feeding him all along over the past year. He will think Kame did this out of revenge. Having Kame being the one to put you all back in prison, and most importantly his former master, Johnny will believe that whatever Kame mistakenly thought he felt for his former master is gone and replaced by hate and a desire for revenge. Just like me when I first came to Johnny.”
Kame felt eyes turn towards him expectantly, but he let Masa continue talking.
“Therefore it was very good of you to join us, Akanishi. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“If you want to stop Johnny then what are you doing allowing him to form new alliances? You should let us go in there right now! He would lose his face! Now you’re actually making him look good.” Koyama insisted.
“We do want to stop Johnny from expanding any further.” Masa assured them. “And in order to do that we need to have his trust, so that we can one day lead him to a very vulnerable position that will be his end.”
“So you used us.” Yamapi gritted between his teeth.
“Talk about being played...” Jin muttered, and Yamapi knew immediately that it was directed at him. “You walked right into Masa’s trap. Can’t you see when you’re being played anymore?”
That made Yamapi so angry.
“Why didn't you just let us in on it? We were trying to do the same!” Koki asked. “Instead you let Johnny win his trial and now you're saving him in his most vulnerable state among all his new friends!”
“One, you Johnnys with all your pride would never have trusted me or cooperated with me. I knew that and just waited for Kame-chan to return all heartbroken when he left to save you earlier today and you turned him down. Maybe you ought to consider changing your attitude.” Masa answered. “Two, this kills two birds with one stone. We earn Johnny's trust and we put the Johnnys, the most notorious gangsters of our century, behind bars where they belong.”
As far as every Johnny present there, that wouldn't happen without a fight.
“It was a trap from the beginning to the end.” Masa continued. “We set you up twice and you rushed in head first with the idea of Johnny being vulnerable. We chose all our players carefully, gave them their parts and they played them out like instructed. And that includes wFL and the untameable Miyavi, who by the way was still acting on our behalf when entering your blocks today with a little inside information. But the best player I could ever have chosen by my side was Kame. Together we studied all of you, planed and even lowered ourselves to the level of Johnny Kitagawa and his methods just to one day be powerful enough to take him down.”
“Have you no respect for the law?” Junno exclaimed, shocked as if he actually believed a detective like Masa would have.
“What have you made Kame-chan do?” Maru demanded to know.
“We have kept record over everything we had to do in order not to awaken suspicion in Johnny.” Kame finally spoke and all eyes turned towards him. “It was one of my demands as I joined this. Everyone we’ve wronged along the way will be righted and we’ll right as much of what has been wronged in the past too.”
“It might be too late for some of them.” Yamapi commented.
“Oh no, Kame-chan’s kept a very good eye on our victims, jumping in when they’ve really needed help.” Masa said, giving Kame a knowing look. “Even when risking his part in this operation…”
“You two have made quite the team together.” Jin said dryly and the detective turned back towards the gangsters.
“We’re very much alike.” Masa replied with a satisfied smile.
“You shouldn’t have gotten him involved.” Jin said, turning to Kame next. “And you should’ve told me what you were doing. We could’ve played along with you. We were fighting for the same cause.”
“Not quite.” Masa corrected and Jin looked at the detective next. “You're just a stepping stone to Johnny. From here on in a whole new door will open for the both of us, as we capture you and save Johnny from making a fool out of himself because of you. Instead he’ll appear strong before his new allies to having captured you so easily all at once. It will make a great number for tonight’s party. Kame-chan will rise in favor of Johnny, while I’ll be rewarded for recruiting such a promising and capable boy as Kame-chan.”
“Kame-chan.” Kame heard TTUN say again, the sorrow in their voices not escaping him.
He finally raised his head, meeting Masa’s eyes first and he knew that the detective wanted this to end soon.
“As Masa already said, there are policemen and guards waiting everywhere as we speak. All the places you entered through are guarded.” he said, finding it actually very hard to speak. “Please surrender quietly.”
Koyama had to laugh. “Kame-chan, you don’t really think that is going to happen, do you? You just told us what you’re planning! What do you think Johnny will say if he finds out what you just said?”
“At the most he’ll thank you, but you’ll still end up in prison.” Masa replied. “But I doubt he’s going to listen to you over me. Your story will sound like a desperate attempt in avoiding having to go back home to prison. Besides, why would we tell you our plan if we were really attempting something so deceitful?”
“To see the look upon our faces when we hear the reason how you turned Kame-chan against us by promising to bring to justice the one person we haven’t been able to defeat.” Yamapi answered for Masa. “Knowing Kame-chan, he wouldn’t be able to let Johnny continue hurting people with all his power, so naturally he’d agree to help you.”
“I knew it.” Jin sighed, waiting until Kame met his eyes. “I knew you were up to something like this again. You did all of this because you wanted to make things right by defeating Johnny. Why do you always have to save the world?”
“You do realize that Johnny has contacts everywhere, now even more so, thanks to you. His ties are among the politicians, the police, the yakuza - everywhere you can imagine.” Yamapi said. “Many big companies will fall if you attack them. The police and the politicians will lose their credibility. This country will change.”
“Perhaps it needs a change.” Masa said. “Anyway, we're not going after the institutions or the companies, only the ones playing dirty games together with Johnny. We’ll have them resign and imprisoned together with you. I’m sure you’ll give them a good time. Anyway, enough chitchatting. Johnny is surely growing impatient and we can't keep his honored guests waiting, while Johnny’s new prison, which I will be taking over very soon, awaits you.”
“You won't take us there without a fight!” Kusano warned. “I will not go back there!”
“We'll have you hostage and then have you send your troops on the outside away!” Koyama agreed.
“Kame-chan, you're so in trouble and you're so back in Akanishi's chain!” Massu accused, holding up his index finger in Kame’s direction.
“Before we start pointing stuff at each other, I'm dying to know one thing.” Yamapi cut in. “How did you get the old man, the judge? You bought the younger male judge, the girl ruled as she thought was right, but how did you get the last one? We had Tsuyoshi on him.”
“Well, you know, no one's perfect.” Tsuyoshi said and Yamapi followed him with his gaze, as the man walked past the News members and stopped in the space between the gangs and Masa and Kame. “My bad.”
“You wouldn't make a mistake like that.” Yamapi said. “Unless you meant to.”
“You're the one who advised the senpai gangs how to break into Johnny's building!” Ueda said.
“And you're the one who came with the all the information about tonight!” Junno added.
“I’m also willing to bet you didn’t escape when Arashi was caught.” Toma said.
“You lead them right into a trap and then you came here to do the same with us!” Shige accused.
“I'm also the one, who tipped Masa off about who were coming for Akanishi when he had made his glorious little walk in to be reunited with his boyfriend.” Tsuyoshi said as he stopped by Masa.
“You son of a-” Kusano started.
“Watch what you're about to call my mother.” Tsuyoshi pointed out.
“How could you?” Koichi asked, stepping out from among the gangsters. “How could you betray the Johnnys after they saved your life? How could you do it to them a second time?”
“I'm merely paying them back.” Tsuyoshi shrugged. “Kame-chan was right today in your blocks, you know. You were going down one way or another and you should thank him for being here tonight. If he hadn't showed up, things could've gotten violent and out of hands. He feared for your safety.”
Kame shivered, remembering the one man he hadn't been able to look at when in the blocks, knowing Tsuyoshi was there hearing every word about how he was betraying their trio and everything they had worked for so far. Tsuyoshi was not the man Kame wanted as his enemy, but he had wanted to protect the other gangsters. Tsuyoshi was perfectly capable of looking after himself, Kame had reasoned as he had betrayed him and Masa by going to the blocks.
“Yeah, we are all good now. We’ll just be going to prison for a very, very long time. What will Kame-chan do to save us from all of that?” Massu asked. “Mind you all, if you don't yield now there will be violence.”
Tsuyoshi sent Kame a smile. “When will you learn not to underestimate him?”
That made several gangsters a little unsettled, not knowing what to expect and eyeing suspiciously Kame typing something on his laptop.
The gangsters all immediately seemed to be on the offensive, ready for everything, but Masa was well aware that the gangsters weren't drawing forth all their usual toys. They had too much to lose if they opened fire on him considering the people next to him. Masa gave Kame a look and Kame typed something more on his keyboard before lifting his gaze to the gangsters again.
“Please surrender quietly.” he said, the same warning tone in his voice, which again was ignored.
“Say pretty please!” Kusano shot back. “I’d do just about anything for you, but prison is right out!”
“We're not surrendering!” his gang mates agreed with him and Koyama had to add, “And Akanishi, you're not getting any stupid ideas about giving yourself up!”
“The hell I will!” Jin defended himself. “I'm no stepping stone!”
“Please surrender now.” Kame said, his gaze resting mostly on Jin.
“Oh, no!” Massu said, stepping in the way of their line of sight. “You’re not putting him under one of your spells.”
Seeing no end to their resistance, Kame heaved a heavy sigh, knowing at this point there was nothing more he could do.
“Yeah, and you forgot to say pretty-” Kusano was saying as Kame pressed the enter key on his keyboard and the air in the room changed instantaneously. It was already too late when the gangsters figured out what it was and Kusano never managed to finish his sentence as one after the other the strong gas made them all lose consciousness.
Masa hurriedly brought out two gas masks from underneath the table Kame had his laptop on, stuffing one of them into Kame’s face. A gas mask in one hand, Kame changed the air in the room back to normal.
“Pretty please.” he mumbled, as he, Masa and Tsuyoshi removed their masks, studying the pile of gangsters on the floor. Koichi was on the other hand hanging unconsciously from Tsuyoshi's arm.
“We had extra masks. Why didn't you give him one?” Masa asked, sending the poor man a look.
“Trust me, he's a lot easier to deal with like this.” Tsuyoshi answered, throwing the man over his shoulder and eyeing Masa with a clear warning. “I held my end of the bargain, you have better hold yours. Koichi is let off the hook and gets his job back. You wipe the accusations you charged Koichi with.”
“That was the deal. He can start on Monday.” Masa said and satisfied with the answer, Tsuyoshi turned and left the room, letting in cops on his way out. Masa turned to Kame next. “Well, we better let Johnny out of the other room.” he said, clapping Kame on the shoulder before heading towards the room Kame had spared from getting gassed by controlling the ventilation.
The number of police officers increased and they carried away unconscious gangsters.
He couldn’t believe he had done it. Their plan had been a success, thanks to Masa for being the one to plan it all out. Out of everything he had tried to accomplish in his life he had really hoped this wouldn’t be the one thing he succeeded with, but Masa had given him all the support and training he needed.
Kame watched them lift and carry Jin away, wondering again how Masa had ever managed to convince him into doing something like this and if there had been another option, another road that wouldn’t have ended here…
…
“Tonight I’m here on my own accord, Johnny has nothing to do with this, so let me return the favor with an offer you can’t refuse.”
“Another offer?” Kame asked.
“I need you, Kame-chan. There is something only you can do.” Masa said and Kame was surprised to hear that. He couldn’t think of one thing that someone else couldn’t do just as well as him if not better, including hacking. There had to be more hackers out there Johnny or Masa could recruit. “Let’s stop pretending you’re satisfied with your life as it is. You can never be because they do things you can’t stand. Help me put an end to that.”
“You want me to turn on the Johnny’s?” Kame concluded. “You’re out of your mind. As if I couldn’t figure out you just want to lure me out of here to get the Johnny’s to come save me-”
“As if you’re not on your way out by yourself without any help from me.” Masa said before Kame could make another attempt to leave and Kame fell silent. “So hear me out.”
Kame sighed, giving the man a chance to speak.
“I’m going to betray Johnny.”
“Wha-what?!” Kame asked, wondering if what he had heard was correct.
“And I need your help to do it.” Masa added and Kame managed a short laugh.
“You really think I was born yesterday, don’t you? That I’m just that gullible…” Kame muttered, turning to leave when Masa’s voice made him stop again.
“He's in pain whenever he's near you!” Masa said, making Kame's heart clench harder than ever in his chest, knowing exactly who Masa had referred to. “You're a constant reminder of the past, of what he did to you. He knows it was wrong. Your presence makes him feel like a bad guy so he puts on a display of a good one.”
Kame slowly turned back.
“You will never see the true him again.” Masa added. “Not if you continue on like this. But I know a way for you to get over the trauma he’s caused you to re-experience. And I know how you’ll be able to meet the true Akanishi Jin again.”
Kame was not going to be talked into doing something stupid, even if Masa used Jin as an attempt to take control of his emotions. There was no way Masa had the answer to all of that.
“You expect me to help you after everything you did to me?” Kame asked. “You pressured me both inside and outside prison to tell on the Johnny’s gangs. You told my parents that I was Jin’s boy toy! You humiliated me and betrayed me!”
“I also gave you a new chance you would never have had otherwise.” Masa said. “This is not for me. It’s for me, you and everyone Johnny Kitagawa and the organization he started have ever taken advantage of. I’m prepared to pay for my sins as well. I hope by doing this I can atone for some of them, including the ones I committed on you.”
Kame had never seen Masa like this before. The detective had changed so much since they last had met. His voice was so serious, so genuine.
“You said you saw some good in me. I didn’t want to believe you because revenge and anger were the only things keeping me going. I didn’t want to face up to the past or what I have done, but I refuse to become Johnny Kitagawa’s successor.” Masa continued. “I want justice. I know it can’t be done through legal means because Johnny has too much influence on the system and the law is filled with loop holes. There’s only one way we can take down Johnny Kitagawa and that is by tying his hands without him even suspecting us. We have to eliminate his allies while keeping his trust in us and the only way we can do that is if we live up to his expectations. I know it’s not a way you’d usually take, but it’s the only way. If we don’t do something, more people will be taken advantage of by him.”
“And how do we make him trust us? We’d become just like him!” Kame said.
“Yes, for a while.” Masa replied. “We’d do things his way.”
Kame shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Then you condemn more people by ignoring this call for help.” Masa retorted and Kame was taken aback by that statement. “What would it take for you to help me save those Johnny Kitagawa is taking advantage of right now?”
Kame swallowed, not wanting to imagine what truly had to be happening at this very moment. “For starters I’d want to make sure that the people we wrong in order to take Johnny down would be righted in the end.”
“That can be done.” Masa promised and Kame met his eyes.
“And I want the Johnnys to help us.” Kame added. “With their power-”
“That’s not possible.” Masa cut him off. “They won’t listen, they do everything their own way. They would never agree to help us, not the way we’d need help. It has to be me and you. We can only tell this to each other.”
It’s not like he didn’t want to help, but the terms were unacceptable for him.
“I’m sorry, but you will have to find someone else.” Kame said, making another attempt at leaving.
“He won’t try to stop you this time.” Masa said and Kame halted, as Masa had used that card again. “If you leave him to go back to Japan he won’t try to persuade you to stay. He’ll even help you go.”
Kame felt bad hearing that and although he partly expected Masa was just messing with his head, using Jin against him again, another part of him had a feeling that what Masa said would actually turn out to be the truth and it cut him deep because he needed Jin to hold onto him right now no matter how much he would try to break free. He was afraid all the time Jin would let go. That’s why he forced himself to accept Jin’s closeness.
“Try it and see for yourself if you don’t believe me.” Masa said. “His own guilt will be the reason he’ll let you slip right through his fingers one more time. You have an amazing ability to change people and you did that to Akanishi Jin as well. He was never ashamed of who he was, he never regretted the things that he did…but you’ve made him dislike who he is.”
Kame shut his eyes. He wanted Masa to stop talking, but maybe he also needed someone to tell him the cold truth.
“As the police chief’s son he’s always carried the shame of turning gangster on his shoulders, but brushing it all off to ‘life just being a game’, which has allowed him to do quite horrible things to other people…and among them you. In that sense he is like me. I wronged you thinking the fittest survives, but you’ve proved us both wrong and now we have to face ourselves. Akanishi doesn’t like what he sees.” Masa indeed continued instead and Kame couldn’t move in either direction, not back into the blocks and not across the border over to Masa. “I’ll let you know everything I know about Akanishi Jin and his buddies, but you’re not going to like what you’ll see either. Maybe this time you really will come to hate him.”
“I’ll hear everything from Jin myself.” Kame said, not believing it himself and Masa decided to not even comment on that. “I’ll help the Johnnys take down Johnny. If you really want the same as us, you can offer your help to them.”
“So you’re working with them now, are you?” Somehow it didn’t feel like Masa was actually asking, rather that he already knew the answer. “You don’t get to have any part in their work, do you? They don’t let you come along.”
“They did let me…a bit.” Kame replied. He had once been offered the job as a distraction, which he failed at. Kame pushed that memory away.
“Until they noticed you weren’t fit for it.” Masa said. “You couldn’t be, because what they do, satisfying their own needs, damages and endangers the structure of the society your family lives in. You don’t want to do that and even if you were capable of becoming a true gangster, they wouldn’t ask for your help…Akanishi in the least. He doesn’t see what you’re capable of, but I do. The gangs have failed to take down Johnny, but you and I can succeed where they have failed.”
“What could I possibly do that the gangs couldn’t?” Kame asked. Jin even knew how to hack a bit.
“It’s because they’re gangsters that they can’t do it.” Masa replied. “But you’re not. You’re just Akanishi’s boy toy. You’re Akanishi’s heartbroken, revenge driven former boy toy…or that’s what Johnny will think.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve had to come to terms with things now, haven’t you?” Masa said. “But you can’t possibly get over your past traumas in mere months. Something you’re going through takes much more time…time and space.”
Kame had a pretty good idea where Masa was going with that comment.
“You can’t live in there anymore and you know it yourself.” Masa said. “And don’t you want to see your family again? I know why you feel like you can’t show your face in front of them anymore. They were so proud of you when you miraculously got into Todai after prison. Then you run off with some gangsters after committing a serious offense and taking on a life in these blocks, making you so ashamed you can’t look your family in the eyes anymore. You feel like you’ve let them down a second time.”
That was true. He should never have accepted to go to Todai in the first place. It had filled his family with unnecessary hope and at the time he had enjoyed making them proud, but he hadn’t been able to live up to their new expectations and let them down again. He desperately wanted to change that, but it wasn’t something he could tell Jin. Jin would think he looked down on the gangsters.
“The school year will start soon. And you’re still on Todai’s records.”
“School?” Kame repeated so silently he was amazed Masa heard him.
“I’m dropping your charges. The gangs will find out about it soon enough. They’ll let you go in order for you to have a real future.” Masa explained. “But no matter what you choose to do, you’re not going to be blamed for anything. Still, I’m hoping you’ll choose to help me. I can’t do this alone.”
“Even if I wanted to help you, what would I say to him?” Kame asked. “He wouldn’t just let me walk if he knew I was going back to Japan to work for you.”
“No, but if he didn’t know that he’d let you walk out on him.” Masa replied.
“Are you telling me he doesn’t love me?” Kame asked.
“No.” Masa replied. “I think he loves you more than he could ever love himself.”
And he was the reason his own so-called boyfriend despised himself.
“I’ll wait for you until the beginning of the school year. Think it over and make your decision by then.”
…
It had gone just as Masa had said. In the end Kame hadn’t been able to not try and see whether or not what Masa had said would turn out to be true or not…
…
Jin’s breath tickled against his skin as the other man had said something Kame so rarely heard coming from Jin’s mouth. At that point he was speechless, amazed by how he wanted to just stay like they were, as one, and not a single part of him felt like pushing the leader off. He had wanted to answer to Jin’s feelings right then, but afraid that by telling Jin how much he loved him he would influence on Jin’s decision of whether or not to let him leave.
Jin’s lips brushed against his neck before the leader pushed himself up on his elbows, eyes locking with Kame’s and at that point Kame felt even more vulnerable, afraid Jin knew what thoughts were going through his head. But then Jin just smiled, fingers brushing through his hair. For some reason Jin seemed almost blind to him sometimes.
“You don’t know how much this night meant to me.” Jin said, voice barely above a whisper, and Kame initiated the next kiss. That night, lying sweaty and worn out in the embrace of Jin’s warm body Kame had wanted to believe that the next morning would turn out differently than Masa had predicted, but both Masa and HeeChul seemed so sure of his fate. It brought tears to his eyes and one escaped down his cheek.
Jin fell asleep, happy and satisfied, but only the fact that Kame was so worn out finally put him to sleep, but not for long. He woke up long before Jin.
He wouldn’t go. That was the first thought that hit him that morning. Everything about last night was still so fresh on his body and his heart skipped a beat at the mere memory of it. For a moment he thought they’d be okay, just like this. They’d slowly grow closer again and leave all bad memories behind. But the mere mentioning of their past…what would it do to them? Would Jin continue to pretend, to hate himself - enough to let Kame go? He had to know. So he snuck out of bed and packed his bag and then he waited, sitting by the edge of the bed until Jin woke up, appearing as happy and satisfied as when Jin had fallen asleep. If only that could’ve eased Kame’s mind.
His heart was heavy in his chest and Jin soon realized the situation, the joyful mood fading. Kame half expected Jin to protest immediately when noticing his packed bag, ask him straight out what he thought he was doing, but Jin remained silent and after a while Kame rose from the bed. The leader said nothing and still afraid of making Jin’s mind up for Jin, Kame kept quiet too, and their journey together ended by the door.
Jin had yet to say a word as Kame entered the hall with his bag and slipped into his shoes and jacket. Kame was the one to break the silence and say some things he was beginning to hope would affect Jin’s decision right about then, but it didn’t.
Kame walked out, the door shutting behind him without opening again, and he forced his way down the stairs. Every step was heavy and he felt like he was walking away from what he had been chasing so long to have, giving up the chase and admitting defeat. He kept hoping Jin would open the door and stop him in the staircase, so he walked slowly, but reached the front door anyway.
Once on the outside of the building Kame refused to take another step. Still holding his bag tightly, he just stood there. It was quiet as it was early in the morning. The air was fresh, but cold. Time seemed to stand still, but Kame gathered he must’ve stood there for ages already. Still no Jin. Jin wasn’t regretting his decision and coming rushing out after him. He wanted to make up excuses for himself of why Jin wouldn’t come out, but he came up with nothing remotely convincing or consoling.
Realizing someone else would find him standing there before Jin, Kame forced himself to walk, not looking back as he slowly proceeded out the blocks and into the park Jin had stopped him from leaving the first time he had been on his way out of the blocks. Part of him hoped to find Jin standing there, but the park was empty.
Kame placed his bag down on the bench, sitting next to it. He picked out his phone. No calls or mails. He was tempted to call himself, but that would ruin everything. Masa had said Jin wouldn’t come after him this time and if he affected on Jin’s decision then Masa would still be right. He hadn’t wanted to believe it. He knew he didn’t deserve it, but Jin had promised to always come after him and not push him away ever again. Now Jin had just let him slip away without a word. Hadn’t last night meant anything to Jin?
Keeping his phone in his hands, he continued to sit there, ignoring the cold and listening for movements around him. Nothing happened. Hours went by and the clear sky soon turned darker again, but Kame refused to give up hope. The street lamp turned on and it became his only light apart from his cell phone. No one seemed to be missing him.
What was Jin doing? Why was the leader not coming? Had he done something wrong? Should he have told Jin how much he loved him? Would that have made the leader stop him? What would it have taken for Jin to do that? Jin hadn’t told him not to go even once. Had Jin wanted him to go?
Feeling abandoned and dumped, although technically he had been the one to dump Jin, Kame curled up into his feet, trying to protect himself from the cold.
It was the first time in his life that Kame had wanted to ignore helping someone else and pursuing his own needs instead namely continuing being with Jin. Maybe something good would’ve come out of their relationship, winning the bad things, if he had just been persistent and stayed. If Jin had said ‘don’t go’ even once, he wouldn’t have. No matter how much Masa would’ve needed him, if Jin had needed him he wouldn’t have been able to leave that apartment. He was at a loss over what was really the right thing to do: leave your most beloved person behind to stop someone who’s hurting others or to leave Masa to his fate in order to be with Jin?
He sat there, still waiting for Jin to show up or try to contact him, but once the sun rose again that’s when he faced the facts. Jin wasn’t coming this time. Jin was letting him go and Masa was right about why. He had made Jin hate himself and HeeChul had been right about Jin becoming happier without him around making the leader feel that way.
Feeling defeated, Kame dialled Masa. The detective showed up a lot faster than the time Jin was taking to do the same.
“Kame-chan.” Masa seemed relieved and Kame wished the feeling could be mutual. “You don’t look too good. I was right then. Are you okay?”
“I have a request of my own.” Kame said.
“Name it.”
…
Kame made it outside, avoiding being congratulated or praised by Johnny. The cold air sent chills down his spine as he watched cars after cars take off, lights blinking and sirens shouting as if the gangsters in the ride would wake up any time soon, but Kame knew they wouldn't. They wouldn't come to before they had already reached their destination...prison.
Masa had better hold his end of the bargain.
…
“You need to tell us some things regarding the Johnnys. Something that will make Johnny believe you’ve really changed sides.” Masa explained after a quick tour in Johnny Kitagawa’s main building that had ended in Masa’s office, where Kame’s new desk was placed. “I’m going to be introducing you to Johnny very soon. By then we already have to have him something to tell, otherwise this won’t work. He won’t believe you’ve really changed sides unless he has good reason to.”
“Like what? What information do you need?” Kame asked, sitting by said desk. He was still overwhelmed to be back in Tokyo. Masa had let him see his family first, but then insisting on taking his time as if afraid he would change his mind and go back to Seoul. It was first now that he was beginning to understand what exactly it was he had gotten himself into. He knew nothing of Masa’s plan, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it very much.
“Like who is the last member of News?” Masa asked.
Kame shook his head. “No. I can’t do it.”
“We have to give him something.”
“There must be something else we can tell him.” Kame insisted.
“You’ll need to tell him everything you know about Akanishi too.” Masa added. “To make it seem you really want him to suffer. You must turn on the Johnnys gangs.”
Kame simply shook his head. “No. I could never do that. I won’t.”
“Kame, there’s no other way.” Masa insisted. “Johnny can’t be taken down from the outside, that’s what the gangs can’t see and thus they never succeed. They only bring chaos and destruction with them wherever they go and the ones to suffer is not Johnny as much as it is regular people. But I know everything there is to know about him. I know most of his allies and just about how far his influence reaches. The problem is to cut him off from it and for that we need to corner him, slowly but surely, without him even noticing it. For that to work we need him to trust you and he won’t unless you give him a real reason to. A simple explanation ‘Jin broke my heart, humiliated me and used me’ won’t cut it. You need to give correct information about the gangs and then take them down, most definitely including Akanishi Jin.”
“And what would become of the gangs?” Kame asked.
“Shouldn’t they redeem? Pay for what they’ve done by going to prison?” Masa asked and Kame’s eyes widened.
He stood up abruptly. “You promised me! You gave me your word!”
“Sit down and let me finish.” Masa said and Kame slowly sat down again, giving the detective the chance to explain. “Prison might be the best answer for them there is. If they redeem then they will have a future again. They will be able to see their families again. But the gangs won’t do it willingly because they can’t see now how happy they could be coming out as free men. That is the only way you can help them.”
Kame guessed that could be true, but why did it still feel so wrong? Were his feelings clouding him from being able to make a fair, rational choice? How could he preach about justice when he wasn’t able to be fair himself, letting some go free and locking others up? Demanding some to redeem and others not?
“Kame, what’s the last News member’s name?”
Kame shut his eyes.
“Ikuta Toma.”
His eyes flew open, hearing that name having been spoken and by a voice he knew. As he turned his head he saw Domoto Tsuyoshi, sending him a look of feigned surprise.
“Oops, you mean he didn't already know that?” Tsuyoshi said.
“Domoto. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Masa asked.
“To Domoto.” Tsuyoshi answered. “Domoto Koichi.” he précised. “You've raised charges against him and fired him.”
“We have strong reasons to believe he was hiding an inmate previously on death row, Domoto Tsuyoshi, in his apartment.” Masa replied.
“And you thought it would be a good idea to piss said inmate off?” Tsuyoshi asked, stepping closer.
“I find it hard to believe you’d want to associate with a man of the law.” Masa said. “Why are you complaining? Now you two can just run off somewhere together and start anew.”
“Maybe I have a thing for men in uniforms.” Tsuyoshi shot back. “I was against the idea of him returning to work and I talked him out of it for a while, but then he became really insistent on it and started keeping track on everything through his contracts. He’s got friends in prison, so he seemed happy to work there, though why is beyond me. Now you’ve made him sad…and that makes me angry.”
“I was not going to have a mole on my team. Someone directly related to all the gangs, who'd go running to them with information.” Masa replied, more serious now. “Koichi was quite invisible to me at first, crowned a hero when he captured you in an attempt to flee the prison while he was still a mere rookie. But when your sentence was put in motion again… That's when I caught him. When he came to my office himself and confessed, begging for your life. I allowed him to play double agent for a while there, until it became painfully clear to me who was on the winning side. His allegiance to you guys couldn’t be won, so I fired him.”
“And now you're going to clear his record and give him back his job.” Tsuyoshi said.
“Oh? And how do you figure that?” Masa was curious to know the answer to that.
“I know what you two are up to.” Tsuyoshi said and that took even Masa by surprise.
“You can’t possibly. No matter how deep your eyes and ears go among the Johnnys or us, I haven’t breathed a word about this to anyone.” Masa replied.
“I’ve kept these eyes and ears on you for a while now looking for the thing I could seize you with in order for Koichi to get his job back. You’ve changed your tune slightly since you last saw Kame-chan.” Tsuyoshi said. “Well, that and I overheard your conversation just now, by accident of course.”
Masa shot him a fake smile back. “Of course. So now I assume you’re here to blackmail me, telling me you’ll go to Johnny with information on me planning something deceitful. I hope you realize you’d go against everything your precious ex-guard stands for and works so hard to achieve, namely justice. But you won’t bring me down. Johnny still relies on me over you. You’ve proven to be quite deceitful yourself.”
“Oh, I have no such thoughts in my head.” Tsuyoshi answered and as Masa frowned Tsuyoshi nodded towards Kame, who flinched. “He won't tell you anything. But I will, if you let Koichi off the hook.”
“Really?” Masa said.
“Yeah. For instance, what are the locations of the places the gangs meet up at to form plans like let’s say ‘this is how we’ll storm the prison’?” Tsuyoshi said and Kame couldn't believe the gangster had brought that up. The gangster eyed him with a smile. “Saw that flash on his face? He knows the answer.” Kame looked away from his eyes, avoiding Masa's too. “But he won't tell you. He's only here because Akanishi once again broke some promise, isn't that so Kame-chan?”
Kame still didn't meet his eyes.
“He's stubborn about where his true allegiances lie and the first change of heart he gets he'll run right back to Akanishi and tell him everything.” Tsuyoshi continued. “Your little plan will be ruined and you'll be forced to sit back and watch the Johnnys continue on their endless mission to take down Johnny, knowing you could’ve done it better.”
“Not this time.” Kame said and Tsuyoshi raised an eyebrow. “I'm tired of chasing something I can’t have.”
He would stay and do anything else, even if it meant going to prison and redeeming.
“Your offer is very tempting, but there are certain things only Kame-chan knows.” Masa said.
“I'm a Johnny.” Tsuyoshi insisted. “I've lived among their senpais in prison and I've studied the younger gangs too, not to mention I walk among them now. That makes me the inside man.”
Masa seemed interested in that.
“Guess you don't need me after all.” Kame said. “Now if you excuse me I'll-”
“Get on the next plane back to Korea and tell Akanishi everything after all?” Tsuyoshi asked. “Do you think I'll let you?”
Kame didn't reply, warily eyeing the man, who walked over to him.
“You're not going to use my betrayal as an excuse to run back to him in hope he’ll forgive you. You’re going to give Akanishi a well-deserved kick in the rear that will straighten some things up for him. You wanted to help Masa somehow, didn't you? That's why you followed him here.” Tsuyoshi said. “If you go back to Akanishi now, nothing will change. This is your chance to set things right, something that even the Johnnys haven't been able to do.”
Tsuyoshi turned his head towards Masa, “I will answer your questions in his place. He'll get all the blame as well as take all the credit for it. The Johnnys will blame him and Johnny will generously award him.”
Kame tried not to budge as the gangster turned to him next.
“If you don't cover for me this operation won't work, Johnny will continue to rule and hurt people, you will continue to live with not-Akanishi Jin and I will not be able to continue hiding in their blocks and instead I will meet the noose. While again Koichi’s fate will be to live out his days trapped inside the gangsters’ blocks not being able to do the job he wants to do together with his friends.” Tsuyoshi said, stepping even closer and fixing his eyes on Kame. “I will not let you leave. I will follow you closely and see to that you don’t ruin this opportunity me and Koichi have to wash our hands clean of our fates. Things are already in motion, Kame-chan. And you came here for a reason.”
Kame managed to shift his gaze to Masa, and the detective could read the thoughts going through Kame's head immediately. Before Kame could turn and walk out the door, saying something along the lines of ‘I will not betray the Johnnys and neither should you when they saved your life’, Masa stepped in.
“I need you, Kame-chan.” Masa said and Kame's gaze turned back to his. “It's not just the information I wanted to have. I need you. Only you can do this.” Masa assured. “Tsuyoshi's right. You return now and you'll end up in the same mess you just left behind you. Won't you wait for him to come to you this time?”
Although he should've known better Kame wanted to believe that would happen too much and ended up staying and agreeing to something he had never before thought he would do. As time passed and Jin never showed up anger and disappointment grew inside of him while the hope died and he wished he could say the same about his feelings for Jin. The gangs returned to Japan without Jin, who was rumored to have gone off to America on his own, returning six months later, but even as they were in the same city Jin didn't try to approach him in any shape or form. The gang leader kept to himself and Kame finally accepted that the next time he would see Jin would be when the gangs took the bait they had laid out in front of them already when learning of Jin’s whereabouts in the States. Of course Jin wouldn't expect to see him during this gig. Then after all this time the first thing Jin tried to do was to get him off the case and Kame wondered was it because Jin wanted to protect him or get him out of his sight. What had insulted him the most was how Jin thought charming him and wooing him would do the trick and that he'd listen to everything Jin said if Jin just called his name softly and told him sweet things. That had irritated him and he had been able to uphold his role better.
His biggest relief had been returning to his family, seeing their joyful faces. His mother had hugged him tighter than when he had been released from prison. She had feared losing her son to the gangsters he was drawn to. Kame had explained to them then that from this moment on he would be doing what he could to redeem in the eyes of them and the people around him.
They had given him strength and that had let him believe he had been on the right course, but Jin's return had sent him slowly into doubting that more and more. Finally at the expense of hurting his family by taking off again, disappointing them again, he had betrayed them and Masa and Tsuyoshi in a futile attempt to save the rest of the Johnnys. Nothing had worked out how he had wanted it to. He should've known from the beginning he would only end up hurting everyone he cared about, taking this road. But at that time and place he had stayed instead of making a futile retreat that Tsuyoshi surely would’ve put a stop to.
His heart was unpredictable and Kame doubted it would pave him the road Masa had promised would lead to the one place he belonged to.
“You do realize if you attack Johnny, you attack your own country.” Kame said, still wanting to point out the equally futileness of this plan. “Johnny has contacts deep inside Japan’s systems and it will get damaged if we attack Johnny.”
“You’ve been doing your homework, I see.” Masa replied. “Those gangs must’ve taught you quite a lot.”
“He’ll never let his name be tainted.” Kame continued. “And you’ll never get him to court. He has too many resources to stop that from ever happening.”
“That’s why we need to cut off all of his arms and legs.” Masa replied. “This won’t be easy, Kame-chan. But he’s trusted me for years and someone I trust he’ll most likely come to trust too, but you’ve got to make him believe you really want to work for him. You’ll have to do some things that go against what you believe in. We’ll tell Johnny that you seek revenge on Akanishi and the Johnnys for what they did to you in prison. After helping them you’ve realized some things and you want them to pay. He’ll only be too tempted to let you be part of his team. You know so much about the Johnnys and he’s always liked you.”
Kame felt quite disgusted hearing that. “The gangs have been working on bringing him down for decades. Something that you’re suggesting would take years.”
“Yes, it would, but we have some means to speed things up a little.” Masa replied and Kame looked at him with a curious look. “I am already on the inside. Johnny already trusts me. Now we need to make him trust you too. Together we’ll take him down, but for that we need hard evidence he can’t escape. We need evidence against every single one of his helpers and believe me, they are everywhere: in the police, yakuza, businessmen...he almost even got one among the Johnny’s, which has been his ultimate wish for years to infiltrate.”
Kame’s gaze returned to Tsuyoshi for a moment before going back to Masa’s.
“We need to scare off his contacts and make no one want to work with him.” Masa continued. “We can reduce his power until he’s weak enough not to be able to defend himself anymore. One day even he won’t be able to bribe a court of law and he shall go through a fair trial where he shall be found guilty and go to his own prison.”
“What is your plan?” Kame finally asked, partly not wanting to know.
“We’ll use the Johnnys to get to Johnny.” Masa replied. “We’ll capture them, assuring Johnny’s trust in you, then attack Johnny together when he least expects it. Eventually he’ll be spending time in the same prison as the gangs and I’m sure they’ll appreciate that.”
“So your plan all along was to capture the Johnnys and you still dragged me all the way from Korea for it?” Kame concluded. “You knew if you had told me back there exactly what you were scheming I wouldn’t have followed you even though Jin let me walk.”
“Yes.” Masa replied simply. “You would’ve returned defeated back to his apartment and both you and Akanishi would’ve suffered.”
“And now he won’t?” Kame retorted. “Do you think I’m not suffering now?”
Masa took a step closer. “You set him free. With time he might even be able to set himself free.”
Kame only looked at the detective and Masa could see the suffering in the other one’s eyes right then.
“Until you capture him, of course.” Tsuyoshi added and Masa wanted to roll his eyes. The gangster just had to go and ruin the moment he had so carefully created.
“Unless Akanishi and his fellows stop their wicked ways, you will be saving a whole lot of people from both them and Johnny Kitagawa.” Masa said. “Isn’t that worth fighting for?”
“Either way, Kame-chan, you’re not going back.” Tsuyoshi added and Masa wasn’t sure if he was glad or not that Tsuyoshi had joined their team.
“There has got to be another way.” Kame insisted.
“Then find it.” Tsuyoshi shrugged and Masa could already see Kame desperately starting his search for just that…
…
“Kame-chan.” Masa called his name, awakening Kame from his deep thoughts and with Masa’s voice followed the thumping beat playing in the club he didn’t even remember having entered. “You should go home. You’ve had a long day.”
“I’m fine.” Kame replied, rubbing his face and straightening himself. “What do you need me to do? Dance? Sing? Entertain?”
Masa could immediately tell what was going on with his kouhai. He knew the symptoms. Kame was in shock. It was the only reason Kame would, in a situation like this, be so willing to do anything he asked.
“I don’t need you anymore tonight, but be sure to come in tomorrow morning. Good things will be coming our way.” Masa said, eyeing the smiling Johnny Kitagawa, still talking with his allies after a successful dinner party and what was turning out to be a successful after party. “We did it, Kame-chan. The gangs have been shipped to prison without any disturbances. The guards have been doubled. They won’t be coming out any time soon. The rest of their gangsters are confused, not having expected this outcome so they don’t know what course of action to take just yet.”
“Now that Johnny is much stronger and the gangs are in prison, he’ll want to take back his blocks.” Kame guessed. “The younger gangsters won’t stand a chance if he announces war on them now.”
“He will.” Masa said and Kame grabbed the detective’s sleeve tightly.
“He can’t!” Kame pleaded. “We have to stop him now!”
“Patience, Kame-chan.” Masa said, resting a hand on Kame’s gripping him desperately. “You will have to work with me for a little while longer.”
“They don’t have time!” Kame insisted. “Johnny will want to defeat them once and for all to show off to his new allies! The gangs in prison won’t have a home to come back to once they get out-”
“Lower your voice, Kame-chan.” Masa said and Kame obeyed, falling silent. “We have the means to stall Johnny. Before attacking we have to know what the blocks look like, how strong their defense will be. The gangs have been in prison before, so the younger gangsters have had to manage without them. With new debuted gangs they may recover even faster and their priority will be the safety of their home. Furthermore, you can stall Johnny by letting him get to know you better.”
“Get to know me better?” Kame repeated.
“I realize for a former boy toy how that must sound, but what I meant is simply let him show you his appreciation. The promotion is here, Kame-chan. Let him spoil you, let him believe you’d do anything for him.” Masa advised and saw Kame’s gaze escaping momentarily over to Johnny. “This is where we strike back. Naturally he’ll suspect the desperate remaining Johnnys first and think they’re taking revenge for their senpai gangs, allowing us to cause more damage before he realizes that the true threat is coming from the inside.”
“And then he will blame me.” Kame concluded. Masa has earned Johnny’s trust for years, but Kame as the new one would fall under suspicion immediately.
“While he won’t suspect me and while punishing you I’ll secretly strike him again and eventually take his place on the top.” Masa added. “I’ll rule the prison and everything else that now belongs to him. I’ll take everything he has one after another as he grows weaker. He won’t be able to resist me now that I have even mingled with the new allies. He will look foolish in front of them and I will be the one they’ll turn to.”
“And when you’re stronger than him you’ll honor your promise.” Kame said, adding, “Won’t you?”
Masa shot him a smile. “Of course.”
Kame just returned his gaze and Masa’s hand slowly made him release the grip on his sleeve.
“Go rest now, Kame-chan. You have a lot to do before you’ve played your part.” the detective said, leaving him to go mingle with the guests again while the same smile still played on his lips.