Calm before the storm
Title: Calm before the storm
Pairing: Akame
Genre: Fluff
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: Easy Sunday afternoons
Beta: kriszeth
Note: First posted on April 29, 2010 for elanielyn.
“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, cars do not exactly work like bikes?”
There’s an aimless kick from below that is nowhere near Yamapi but then he is too busy laughing at that to see the next two kicks that hit his shins.
“Jin!” He tries to kick back as he jumps around with one leg but Jin slides up again and Yamapi misses.
“Go bug someone else, Pi.” Jin says dismissively, his voice is muffled under the car.
Jin’s baggy pants are rolled up to his knees and there’s a healing bruise at the side of his left leg. His bare toes are curled and the colorful floss friendship bracelets on his right ankle move and glide as he busies himself, wrenching under the sedan. The rags by his side have varying degrees of oil stain, age and filth and it seems like they need to be burn and disposed of immediately. Even the tools strewn around him almost look menacing and just about the real thing.
There’s a sudden loud screeching sound as the rusty front gate opens and an equally piercing shriek of “Pi-niiiiii!” is heard before Yamapi stumbles back as a toddler pounces at him, little limbs everywhere, pigtails slapping him in the face.
“Hi there! Missed me?” Yamapi coos as he heaves her up in his arms and the girl giggles, her front teeth missing.
Jin slides out and he grimaces upon sight.
“Saya.” He calls her as he wipes the oil off his hand on a rag he has grabbed from the floor as he is standing up.
The girl peeks over Pi’s shoulder, “Hello, Jin-ji-chan.” She blinks at him.
“What? That’s all I get?” He walks to them and he tries to look mad.
But Yamapi twirls her around to make her giggle again and Jin is left ignored. He feels a sudden need to kill some kittens.
Kaori pats him in the back as she passes by him, “It’s okay. You’ll get over it.” She walks balancing the two grocery bags in her arms.
An apron-wearing Yojiro appears by the door, face breaking into an expression of sheer excitement and runs to meet her halfway. “Ah, good! Just in time!” He mumbles as he rummages in one of the bags. “Ah, there it is! Thanks, hon!”
He pushes the grocery bags to her again then waves madly a bottle of a strange-looking liquid as he runs across the lawn where Kame is busy setting up the grill to declare in booming voice, “I’ve got the sauce!”
“Men and their barbeque.” Kaori sighs and smiles to herself as she walks again, seemingly unfazed by the whirlwind of energy that is Yojiro.
She passes by her father-in-law on the doorway, cigarette perched on his lips, his black-framed glasses slipping off his nose and his last remaining hair combed back sleekly.
“Where’s Mom?” She asks as she struggles to remove her shoes and balance the grocery bags in her arms at the same time.
“Kitchen with Maya. Something burned and they’re grieving.” Shingo says around the cigarette and he’s looking every bit amused.
Kaori grimaces as she enters the house, “Mom! Maya!” There’s an unmistakable whine in her voice and the older Kamenashi can’t help but laugh to himself as he approaches the crowd in the driveway.
“So, is it the downpipe?” Shingo asks Jin, who is busy throwing a squealing Saya on the air.
“Dirty Jin-ji-chan! Dirtttty! Dirrrttty!”
“Oh!” Jin blinks distractedly as he faces the older one, arms frozen in midair, Saya squirming on his hands. “Yup, I think.”
“Hmmm.” Shingo leans down and examines the engine, “I told him not to get that second-hand turbo kit.”
“It was a bargain!” Koji grumbles as he walks to them, four cans of beers at hand. He throws Jin and Yamapi one each, handing his father another.
Jin crouches to bring Saya down again. He narrows his eyes and attempts very hard not to sulk as she runs inside the house the moment she is on the ground. “Mom, I want a shower!”
Yamapi is snickering at his side so Jin sees it fit to elbow him.
“And see what happened,” Shingo continues lecturing Koji, “your external fuel pump is leaking and you might need another injector to ease some stress on your downpipe.” He gestures around, pointing to the engine.
Koji frowns and tsks, “I want a second opinion. I don’t believe Akanishi.”
His father stares at him, “Koji - ”
Yamapi cuts Shingo and pats both him and Koji on the back. “Don’t worry,” he nods with a straight face, “he’s my best friend but I wouldn’t believe him either.”
This time Jin kicks him hard. “Asshole. I was the one who fixed your car.”
Yamapi looks at him smugly, eyebrows wiggling and when Jin is about to kick him again, Yamapi throws a quick salute at the three men and runs off inside the house.
Jin rolls his eyes at his friend before cranking his neck, fingers pressing against the stressed muscles on his shoulders.
“Tell you what,” he faces the Kamenashis again, “go to a good mechanic and if he tells you the same thing, you owe me a soccer ticket and a drink.” And it’s his turn to look smug, smile, dark and somewhat shrewd, firmly in place.
With that Shingo throws an arm around Jin. “Two tickets and two drinks. For the both of us,” he says matter-of-factly at Koji, thumping his beer can to Jin’s. “Cheers!”
Koji groans.
Jin tries to look sympathetic as he empties his beer and pats Koji in the back as well. “It’s okay. You’ll get over it.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Yojiro bounces to them. “We are reee~ady to grill!” he announces with a V-sign.
Jin blinks and looks across the lawn where Kame is opening a can of beer by the barbeque grill.
He mutters a quiet “Excuse me” as the Kamenashi men somehow end up discussing meat quality in Europe in the span of five seconds. He slips on his worn-out sandals and jogs to Kame.
The sun feels nice on his skin and the smell of the coal burning and the sweet marinated meat make him heave deep, satisfaction filling on every fiber of his body. The house across the street has their sprinkles on and some of the neighborhood kids are playing with the water, their laughter breezing through.
“Hey.” Kame smiles and the moist on his beer can glistens under the sunlight.
Jin massages the bridge of his nose as he settles on Kame’s side, hands on his pants’ pockets. “I think your niece still hates me.”
Kame laughs at that as he places another steak over the grill, “I told you she’ll remember.”
Jin narrows his eyes pointedly downwards and harrumphs. Kame stares at him amusedly before reaching out to wipe off the oil stain on his right cheek with a thumb.
“Bring her to Disneyland next time,” he whispers and Jin can’t help but shake his head and smile to himself.
Jin raises his head to meet the other’s eyes. There’s a beat in his chest as he hears Yamapi and Saya laughing somewhere inside the house and in the distance there is Koji arguing with Yojiro.
Kame looks at him and the younger’s eyes are glassy with mirth, it’s like the other is speaking to him in a lost, cryptic language, confiding secrets with a single look - endless and warm, knowing and weaving.
Kame breaks into a smile and Jin fears there’s an inside joke he misses but his heart misses another beat as well and before he knows it, he's smiling back. There's a sudden waft of the calm summer breeze and in the distant, an easy, vibrating laughter is heard. And as Kame scrunches his nose, Jin thinks, with small sigh, it just feels right to be here, in this moment, in this place.
And then Kame inches closer and there’s that familiar jolt of adrenaline, like Jin won a lottery prize, and he’s about to say something probably weird and cheesy that he’d be so embarrassed later on but then Kame yelps, “Oh my god! Fire!”
Suddenly, there’s black smoke and a lot coughing and the rush of Shingo and Koji with fire extinguishers and the mixed cries of worry and amusement from the women perched on the veranda, the distinct sound of Yamapi howling in laughter and Saya clapping while Yojiro curses, the smell of charred meat and burnt carbon.
And as they run out from the crime scene - that Kaori would later refer as -, faces black with smoke both laughing and coughing at the same time, hands snugly laced together, Jin thinks this is what Christmas would probably be like if it was celebrated during summer instead.
Pairing: Akame
Genre: Fluff
Disclaimer: Not mine
Summary: Easy Sunday afternoons
Beta: kriszeth
Note: First posted on April 29, 2010 for elanielyn.
“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, cars do not exactly work like bikes?”
There’s an aimless kick from below that is nowhere near Yamapi but then he is too busy laughing at that to see the next two kicks that hit his shins.
“Jin!” He tries to kick back as he jumps around with one leg but Jin slides up again and Yamapi misses.
“Go bug someone else, Pi.” Jin says dismissively, his voice is muffled under the car.
Jin’s baggy pants are rolled up to his knees and there’s a healing bruise at the side of his left leg. His bare toes are curled and the colorful floss friendship bracelets on his right ankle move and glide as he busies himself, wrenching under the sedan. The rags by his side have varying degrees of oil stain, age and filth and it seems like they need to be burn and disposed of immediately. Even the tools strewn around him almost look menacing and just about the real thing.
There’s a sudden loud screeching sound as the rusty front gate opens and an equally piercing shriek of “Pi-niiiiii!” is heard before Yamapi stumbles back as a toddler pounces at him, little limbs everywhere, pigtails slapping him in the face.
“Hi there! Missed me?” Yamapi coos as he heaves her up in his arms and the girl giggles, her front teeth missing.
Jin slides out and he grimaces upon sight.
“Saya.” He calls her as he wipes the oil off his hand on a rag he has grabbed from the floor as he is standing up.
The girl peeks over Pi’s shoulder, “Hello, Jin-ji-chan.” She blinks at him.
“What? That’s all I get?” He walks to them and he tries to look mad.
But Yamapi twirls her around to make her giggle again and Jin is left ignored. He feels a sudden need to kill some kittens.
Kaori pats him in the back as she passes by him, “It’s okay. You’ll get over it.” She walks balancing the two grocery bags in her arms.
An apron-wearing Yojiro appears by the door, face breaking into an expression of sheer excitement and runs to meet her halfway. “Ah, good! Just in time!” He mumbles as he rummages in one of the bags. “Ah, there it is! Thanks, hon!”
He pushes the grocery bags to her again then waves madly a bottle of a strange-looking liquid as he runs across the lawn where Kame is busy setting up the grill to declare in booming voice, “I’ve got the sauce!”
“Men and their barbeque.” Kaori sighs and smiles to herself as she walks again, seemingly unfazed by the whirlwind of energy that is Yojiro.
She passes by her father-in-law on the doorway, cigarette perched on his lips, his black-framed glasses slipping off his nose and his last remaining hair combed back sleekly.
“Where’s Mom?” She asks as she struggles to remove her shoes and balance the grocery bags in her arms at the same time.
“Kitchen with Maya. Something burned and they’re grieving.” Shingo says around the cigarette and he’s looking every bit amused.
Kaori grimaces as she enters the house, “Mom! Maya!” There’s an unmistakable whine in her voice and the older Kamenashi can’t help but laugh to himself as he approaches the crowd in the driveway.
“So, is it the downpipe?” Shingo asks Jin, who is busy throwing a squealing Saya on the air.
“Dirty Jin-ji-chan! Dirtttty! Dirrrttty!”
“Oh!” Jin blinks distractedly as he faces the older one, arms frozen in midair, Saya squirming on his hands. “Yup, I think.”
“Hmmm.” Shingo leans down and examines the engine, “I told him not to get that second-hand turbo kit.”
“It was a bargain!” Koji grumbles as he walks to them, four cans of beers at hand. He throws Jin and Yamapi one each, handing his father another.
Jin crouches to bring Saya down again. He narrows his eyes and attempts very hard not to sulk as she runs inside the house the moment she is on the ground. “Mom, I want a shower!”
Yamapi is snickering at his side so Jin sees it fit to elbow him.
“And see what happened,” Shingo continues lecturing Koji, “your external fuel pump is leaking and you might need another injector to ease some stress on your downpipe.” He gestures around, pointing to the engine.
Koji frowns and tsks, “I want a second opinion. I don’t believe Akanishi.”
His father stares at him, “Koji - ”
Yamapi cuts Shingo and pats both him and Koji on the back. “Don’t worry,” he nods with a straight face, “he’s my best friend but I wouldn’t believe him either.”
This time Jin kicks him hard. “Asshole. I was the one who fixed your car.”
Yamapi looks at him smugly, eyebrows wiggling and when Jin is about to kick him again, Yamapi throws a quick salute at the three men and runs off inside the house.
Jin rolls his eyes at his friend before cranking his neck, fingers pressing against the stressed muscles on his shoulders.
“Tell you what,” he faces the Kamenashis again, “go to a good mechanic and if he tells you the same thing, you owe me a soccer ticket and a drink.” And it’s his turn to look smug, smile, dark and somewhat shrewd, firmly in place.
With that Shingo throws an arm around Jin. “Two tickets and two drinks. For the both of us,” he says matter-of-factly at Koji, thumping his beer can to Jin’s. “Cheers!”
Koji groans.
Jin tries to look sympathetic as he empties his beer and pats Koji in the back as well. “It’s okay. You’ll get over it.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen!” Yojiro bounces to them. “We are reee~ady to grill!” he announces with a V-sign.
Jin blinks and looks across the lawn where Kame is opening a can of beer by the barbeque grill.
He mutters a quiet “Excuse me” as the Kamenashi men somehow end up discussing meat quality in Europe in the span of five seconds. He slips on his worn-out sandals and jogs to Kame.
The sun feels nice on his skin and the smell of the coal burning and the sweet marinated meat make him heave deep, satisfaction filling on every fiber of his body. The house across the street has their sprinkles on and some of the neighborhood kids are playing with the water, their laughter breezing through.
“Hey.” Kame smiles and the moist on his beer can glistens under the sunlight.
Jin massages the bridge of his nose as he settles on Kame’s side, hands on his pants’ pockets. “I think your niece still hates me.”
Kame laughs at that as he places another steak over the grill, “I told you she’ll remember.”
Jin narrows his eyes pointedly downwards and harrumphs. Kame stares at him amusedly before reaching out to wipe off the oil stain on his right cheek with a thumb.
“Bring her to Disneyland next time,” he whispers and Jin can’t help but shake his head and smile to himself.
Jin raises his head to meet the other’s eyes. There’s a beat in his chest as he hears Yamapi and Saya laughing somewhere inside the house and in the distance there is Koji arguing with Yojiro.
Kame looks at him and the younger’s eyes are glassy with mirth, it’s like the other is speaking to him in a lost, cryptic language, confiding secrets with a single look - endless and warm, knowing and weaving.
Kame breaks into a smile and Jin fears there’s an inside joke he misses but his heart misses another beat as well and before he knows it, he's smiling back. There's a sudden waft of the calm summer breeze and in the distant, an easy, vibrating laughter is heard. And as Kame scrunches his nose, Jin thinks, with small sigh, it just feels right to be here, in this moment, in this place.
And then Kame inches closer and there’s that familiar jolt of adrenaline, like Jin won a lottery prize, and he’s about to say something probably weird and cheesy that he’d be so embarrassed later on but then Kame yelps, “Oh my god! Fire!”
Suddenly, there’s black smoke and a lot coughing and the rush of Shingo and Koji with fire extinguishers and the mixed cries of worry and amusement from the women perched on the veranda, the distinct sound of Yamapi howling in laughter and Saya clapping while Yojiro curses, the smell of charred meat and burnt carbon.
And as they run out from the crime scene - that Kaori would later refer as -, faces black with smoke both laughing and coughing at the same time, hands snugly laced together, Jin thinks this is what Christmas would probably be like if it was celebrated during summer instead.