[Contest Entry] Smokey Paths - Chapter 3
[Contest Entry]
Title: Smokey Paths - Chapter 3
Author: brezo1816
Rating: T / PG13 / something like that...
Genre: AU, Drama/Romance
Pairing: Akame, some RyoUchi
Summary: Five-year-old Kamenashi Kazuya was caught in a house fire when he was alone at home. Six-year-old Akanishi Jin managed to climb through a window and get the younger boy to safety...
Seventeen years later the pair meet again...but this time it might be Jin that needs saving...
a/n - because I love them, there is a little more RyoUchi in this chapter.
He could still taste the blood in his mouth as his eyes slowly opened. He had never liked the bitter taste but over the last few months he had been forced to get used to it.
Images of the night before flashed through his mind.
Those men walking in…several of them were attacking him…and then…someone intervened…someone fought for him……someone…cared about him?
Jin tried to pull himself up but his waist almost screamed in protest. When he looked around he saw that he was in his flat, more specifically he was on his sofa.
His mind raced through what he could remember…and that guy continually came up. The guy in the bar, the guy who tried to talk to him…the guy who tried to help him…
Jin looked around and his eyes rested on the table. He slowly pulled himself up and walked over to a note that had been left there.
You should go and see your brother, he’s worried about you - Kamenashi
Jin thought about the man and suddenly wondered...
Where was he? Did he get hurt?
After rubbing his eyes slightly he looked at the clock on the wall. It was the early evening.
Jin didn’t want the guilt of someone else getting hurt for him on his conscience so he painfully pulled on a jacket and grabbed his keys. Hopefully, if he hadn’t been hurt, Kamenashi would be in the usual place…
…
Jin guessed that his injuries were the reason that the doors seemed so heavy. Getting into the bar had never been this difficult before.
Once he was inside his eyes immediately went to the table in the corner. His pulse quickened slightly when he saw that only two men were. Kamenashi was no where to be seen. One of the men looked very agitated but Jin knew he had to talk to them.
When he approached them, one of them looked very surprised to see him standing, which he supposed was understandable.
“Excuse me…” The other man turned to face him so now he had to address both of them.
“Errm…where’s Kamenashi?” he asked quietly, he was nervous around them but he wasn’t completely confident either.
“How do you know Kame?” Yamapi immediately looked cautious and was obviously staring at Jin’s bruises.
“I don’t,” Jin answered simply. Ryo stood up to face him.
“We haven’t heard from Kame since we left the bar yesterday, do you know why he isn’t answering his phone?” His tone was very hostile and Jin instinctively took a step back. Not seeing any sense in lying, Jin began to explain.
“There was…a fight…last night, after you guys left-”
“WHAT?! Kame was in a fight?!” Ryo immediately looked furious with Jin. Yamapi put what he hoped was a calming hand on his friend’s shoulder. Ryo’s expression softened but only slightly. Yamapi then turned to Jin.
“Did Kame get hurt?” he asked. Jin nodded numbly and Ryo’s expression hardened again.
“Where is he now?” Yamapi continued.
“I don’t know…I…passed out, I think he took me to my house because he left a note on the table…” Jin explained. Ryo frowned with slight confusion.
“How did Kame get into your house?” he asked and Jin shrugged. Yamapi took his hand off Ryo’s shoulder and the pair exchanged a look.
“We’re going to see if he is at his apartment,” said Yamapi as the pair got up and began to walk away. As they were walking away Ryo turned around and looked at Jin with a dark glare.
“Kame has never been in a fight before…until he met you…stay away from him…” Ryo’s look held nothing but hatred towards him but when Jin looked at Yamapi the slightly taller man offered him a slightly sympathetic look.
Jin watched as the two walked out…almost wishing he could go with them…almost wishing he could make sure Kamenashi was okay…
…
He let out a long groan. His ears were ringing loud enough as it is without Ryo pounding on his front door.
“Alright, I’m coming!” Kazuya half yelled as he slowly limped towards the door, his leg still bruised and swollen from the night before.
He reached the door, unlocked it and didn’t even need to turn the handle before Ryo barged through the door and a rather amused looking Yamapi followed.
“What happened?!” Ryo immediately asked, “He said you had been in a fight…” Kazuya frowned.
“Who?”
“That guy, the one who’s always slouched over the bar-”
“He was at the bar?!” Kazuya cried, “Why wasn’t he resting?!” Yamapi watched his friend curiously while Ryo frowned again.
“Why do you care?” he asked. Kazuya’s mouth immediately snapped shut. Yamapi went into the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with a small blue back. He knelt down next to Kazuya and placed it on the younger man’s knee.
Kazuya hissed in pain when he felt the ice on his knee but eventually the pain softened and he looked at his friend.
“I saw you limping back into the room,” Yamapi explained with a smirk, “you can’t hide everything…”
The three of them sat in silence for a while. Yamapi continued to fuss over Kazuya’s wounds, the youngest was day dreaming again and Ryo took the opportunity to take some deep breaths and text Uchi. Yamapi groaned.
“You’re texting him again?” he moaned, “You-are-obsessed…” Ryo scowled.
“No I’m just texting him to say I can’t go over to his place tonight,” he was obviously trying to hide the disappointment in his voice. Kazuya immediately sat up.
“You had plans tonight?” he asked.
“Its fine Kame, I can cancel-”
“No!” Kazuya cried, surprising both Yamapi and Ryo by his volume which made him blush slightly.
“Sorry…but…you really like him don’t you?” he asked and eventually Ryo nodded, “So if you made plans with him then you should go…Pi will be here with me, I’ll be fine…I don’t want you to cancel your evening with him…”
“But Kame-”
“Nishikido Ryo!” Kazuya snapped with a small smile, “Don’t make me pay Yamapi to throw you out of this apartment!”
“Forget payment, I’ll do it for free…” Yamapi smirked and Ryo scowled at him. Eventually the shortest of the three turned back to Kazuya and offered him a small smile.
“Thanks Kame.” Kazuya nodded and then gestured for him to get going and not be late.
After Ryo had left Yamapi turned back to Kazuya.
“He would have fussed over you all night, ya know?” he said quietly, “You could have let him reschedule his date…” Kazuya smiled and shook his head.
“Pi, you can tell how much Ryo likes this guy just as easily as I can, I want him to go for it, this could be something really special for him.” Yamapi smiled at his friend’s kindness and brought up another topic of interest.
“So…who is this guy?” he asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. Kazuya pretended to not understand.
“What guy?”
“The guy who is usually hunched over the bar and seemed very curious as to where you were tonight?”
“He shouldn’t have been walking about…” Kazuya muttered but Yamapi heard him.
“So you do know who this guy is…” he exclaimed. Kazuya shook his head.
“Not exactly…but I’d like to……he…he seems so...lonely…” Kazuya’s voice dropped to nearly a whisper, his eyes focused on nothing in particular, “he doesn’t seem to have any emotions…when they were beating him up, his eyes were empty…he didn’t even try to fight back…”
“So you decided to step in? Against seven muscled thugs? You could have been really badly hurt Kame…” Yamapi didn’t mean to moan at Kazuya and his friend knew that. He just stared ahead, wondering where Akanishi was…were his injuries any better? Was he hurt worse than Kazuya?
“…I had to…I couldn’t let him get hurt like that…”
“…why do you care so much?” Yamapi asked quietly. He watched as Kazuya hesitated a moment before answering…
“He saved my life once…a long time ago……it was that house fire, you remember how I said another kid climbed in through a window and rescued me? …it was him…” Yamapi’s eyes widened in surprise at the revelation.
“Are you sure? How do you know it was him?”
“I immediately recognized the name so that made me curious…then I saw his eyes…the same eyes as the pair I see in my nightmares…I know its him, Pi…” When he looked at his friend’s expression Yamapi didn’t doubt him anymore…instead he pulled out his mobile phone and began to search through his contact list.
“What are you doing?” Kazuya asked sleepily, exhaustion beginning to get the better of him. Yamapi looked at him with a serious expression.
“You said those guys were drug dealers right?” he asked and Kazuya nodded, “How much money does he owe them?”
“I don’t know but Reio said its more than he has, apparently they are adding interest everyday…and every night they see him the beatings get worse and worse…” Kazuya added the last part with a shudder.
“Bastards…” Yamapi muttered under his breath before bringing the phone to his ear.
“Tat-Chan? It’s Pi, I didn’t wake you did I? …good, I need your help with something…”
…
He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been avoiding the place. The mess, the clothes, the papers on the floor, the dishes…it should have been his responsibility…but he had ran away…ran away from his duties…ran away from the juniors he was supposed to look after…ran away from the guilt…
“Jin?” When he heard Reio’s voice Jin almost smirked. He knew that Reio was years past the phase of calling him ‘Big Brother’ …
“What are you doing here?” Reio asked. Jin turned around to face him.
“Why did you tell him?” Reio didn’t need to ask who his brother was referring to.
“He wanted to hel-”
“It wasn’t your business to tell, Reio!” The older brother snapped but Reio wasn’t fazed, “You knew I didn’t want anyone to know!”
“Why?! Why are you so against letting people help you? Letting people care about you? I’m your own brother and you won’t even let me help you!” The years of frustration were evident in Reio’s voice. Jin’s shoulders seemed to slump in exhaustion.
“Because they get hurt…” he answered quietly. He turned around and walked out of the station.
“…Jin!” Reio called after him but in the end could only watch him leave…
…
Pulling his jacket collar up around his jaw did little to keep away the late evening wind. He shivered slightly underneath the thin material that wasn’t at all suited to walking to a corner shop ten minutes before closing time.
Kazuya groaned. Fifteen minutes after Yamapi had left he had discovered, unsurprisingly, that his fridge was half empty. The corner shop was only a three minute walk from his house so he would be able to buy the essentials and do some proper grocery shopping in the morning.
He crossed the road and headed down a small alleyway that served as a short cut from his house to the little shop.
A shoe scuffing against the ground stopped him in his tracks. When he looked behind him he saw one of the muscled men he had met in the bar. The man cracked his knuckles and Kazuya had to stop himself from smirking at the cartoon thug stereotype stood before him.
“Apparently you think you have the right to interfere with my business…” a familiar voice spoke coldly behind him. He turned back around and saw the older man he had seen in the bar threatening Akanishi. He stared a Kazuya with a cold and hateful glare.
“Akanishi owes me money…when I’m finished with you in the next few minutes…you can go and tell him that…” He clicked his fingers and five other heavies appeared next to him. They slowly began to approach him. They were all at least a foot taller than Kazuya and had more muscles than he could ever imagine having. When facing them in the bar he’d had an unknown feeling of courage and resolve.
Right now the only feeling that filled him was fear…
The small amount of light from a streetlamp behind him caught the surface of something. Kazuya took a small step back when he saw the knife slowly coming towards him.
“Scared?” The old man smirked when he saw Kazuya’s expression, “…you should be.”
Kazuya managed to block the first kick aimed at his stomach and also dodged the punch aimed at his face but when they started raining down on him from six opponents he was lucky to dodge the occasional one or two.
Soon he was on the floor…blood in his mouth…his body slowly going numb…the knife had reached him eventually…he could feel his blood emptying from a small slash wound on his stomach…
He wanted to pass out…to be able to leave this feeling and let them do what they wanted without him having to feel the pain…but his stubborn instinct ruled over him. He was still wide awake, dodging and blocking as many blows as he could…
“Akanishi gets this too…but much, much worse…he really suffers…” the old man cackled a few feet in front of him as he watched Kazuya being beaten. A silent fury suddenly erupted inside the younger man. Still avoiding some of the blows, he managed to pull himself up onto his hands and knees. Spurred on by those words, he lifted himself slightly and put all the strength he had left into a single punch which caught one of the thugs off guard. A sickening crack followed and the man staggered back, blood running from his swollen, and now broken, nose.
“You little bastard!” Several of the other thugs snarled and began beating Kazuya even harder. He tried to block as many of them as possible but it was getting more and more difficult. His stubborn spirit still refused to let him collapse and he managed to get onto his knees.
Suddenly…the beatings stopped. Kazuya looked up and followed the men’s gazes. He sighed with relief when he saw Yamapi standing a few yards away, standing behind a slightly shorter and slimmer man that Kazuya didn’t recognize. Standing on Yamapi’s right was Ryo, looking furious with the men and only being held back by a hand on his shoulder. Kazuya didn’t immediately recognize the hand’s owner but when he saw the kind, although currently concerned, face that Ryo had described Kazuya knew it was Uchi Hiroki.
One of the men used Kazuya’s brief distraction and kicked him hard in the chest. Kazuya immediately felt one of his ribs break and fell on his side in pain. In front of him he saw Ryo moved forward, a look of hatred in his eyes. Uchi immediately wrapped his arms around the other’s waist, silently telling him not to move. Ryo obviously wanted to do something but instead he sighed and rested a hand on Uchi’s arm.
“Ueda Tatsuya…” the old man suddenly spoke up while looking at the man standing next to Yamapi, “…this does not concern you…”
“I’m afraid it does,” Tatsuya replied. The old man’s confidence visibly faltered.
“I will get that money from Akanishi,” he insisted. Tatsuya showed a hint of a smirk.
“Yes you will,” he replied and then nodded towards Kazuya, “But unless you want to be charged with grievous bodily in court, I suggest you move away from Kamenashi-san,” he added in a voice that commanded authority but also held an obvious tone of protectiveness for the younger man he had never met before.
For a minute it looked like the old man was going to argue but eventually he turned to his men, gave a quick nod and they all back away.
Seeing that the path was clear, Uchi let go of Ryo and then dashed forward. He took off his sweater, used one arm to hold Kazuya up and the other to keep the sweater pressed on his stomach wound. Yamapi joined them on Kazuya’s other side. He pressed a handkerchief against Kazuya’s split lip, ignoring his friend’s hisses of protest.
“I still want that money, tell Akanishi that,” the old man said to Tatsuya before he and his men left the alley. Tatsuya nodded to Ryo and the shorter man immediately dashed to Kazuya’s side.
“Kame…” he whispered, unsure of what words to use, “I’m sorry…it was my fault…we should have got here sooner…”
“What do you mean?” Kazuya asked, slightly confused. Yamapi cleared his throat and gestured to Tatsuya.
“Kame, this is Tat-chan, he’s the one I called earlier…” Yamapi explained, “He’s a prosecutor in court, I told him your description of the men and he knew who they were and kept an eye on them, when he saw them monitoring you he gave me a call…then…”
“Then they tried to call me so that I could be there in case those guys made a fight of it,” Ryo finished with a sigh, “But my phone was turned off when they tried to call, so they had to come and get me instead of getting me to meet them here…that’s why we were late…I’m sorry Kame…”
“It’s okay, Ryo,” Kazuya smiled at his friend and Uchi, who also looked quite guilty, “I’m just glad you guys were here, I thought I was finished…”
“We should get you to the hospital…” Yamapi suggested. Tatsuya looked initially reluctant.
“…okay but don’t give out too many details, I can’t guarantee those guys don’t have contacts inside the hospitals,” he told them. Uchi looked shocked.
“In the hospitals?!”
“When it comes to money over morals that makes peoples choices a little easier…”
…
He stared blankly at the floor, almost as if he was counting the tiles…
The people walked past him as if he didn’t exist, like he was attached to the furniture…
That is until someone stopped and the hot, awakening smell on coffee filled his nose…
He looked up and Uchi was standing in front of him, a cup of coffee in each hand, one of which he was holding out to Yamapi. He accepted it with a smile and Uchi sat down next to him.
“Ryo’s making sure Kame doesn’t need anything before he rests for a while,” Uchi explained just as Yamapi was about to ask. He smiled at the fact that this man had been in Ryo’s life for such a short time and yet was already a good and welcomed presence.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” Uchi asked.
“For helping Kame, we all appreciate it,” Yamapi explained, giving Uchi a genuine smile. The other man smiled back.
“No problem.”
After a few moments he looked over Yamapi shoulders and smiled at the person approaching. Yamapi turned around and saw Ryo approaching them.
“Kame’s asking for you,” Ryo told him quietly, “Says he has a favour to ask or something…” Yamapi nodded and after giving a quick smile to Uchi and a pat on the back to Ryo he walked down the hallway.
Ryo sat next to Uchi and put his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders. Uchi snuggled close to him.
“Are you okay?” Uchi asked him.
“I will be, as soon as this mess is sorted out…” Ryo answered. Uchi wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist.
“It’ll be okay…” he said quietly. Ryo nodded and hoped that those words were true…