On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur ~ Chapter 1
Title: On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur ~It is only with the heart that one can see rightly~
Chapter: Chapter 1
Pairing: Junda, Akame, TaNaka, one-sided Kokame and Maruda
Rating: Er… PG-13 because of swearing…
Genre: angst, romance, fluff
Summary: Ueda Tatsuya is a prince who ran away from home. While on the run, he meets Taguchi Junnosuke, an actor. Together they are wrapped into a complex love *insert polygon here*.
A/N: This is my first time writing a KAT-TUN fic. Doozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.
Prologue
Tatsuya had been walking for hours. He knew he was still in the city, but other than that, he was completely lost. He did not dare ask for directions in case someone recognized him. Not that they would. He rarely made public appearances, so only the court knew what he looked like. The big sunglasses and the hood of his sweatshirt pulled low over his eyes also helped hide his appearance.
It was past noon now and he was hungry. His last meal had been dinner the night before; he had skipped breakfast in order to implement his escape. He was starting to wish he had thought to grab some food on his way out, but he knew he might have been discovered if he had done so. Therefore, he decided to look for a nondescript place to eat.
After some time he hound a small, dark café where the food was cheap but still edible. He sat in a quiet, corner booth and removed his sunglasses and hood while slipping his backpack off his shoulders. He ordered his meal from the waitress and closed his eyes to wait for his food to arrive.
“Um…sir?” a female voice said.
“Hm?” Tatsuya replied, opening his eyes. It was the waitress.
“Your food has arrived,” she said.
“Oh” Tatsuya was fully awake now, “Thank you.”
The waitress nodded and walked away. It was right after that that a gang of rowdy young men entered the café and started to be nuisances.
The leader of the gang, obvious by the way the others followed him, made a beeline toward Tatsuya, “Hey sweetheart,” he said. Tatsuya, though confused, ignored him. “What’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?”
Tatsuya raised an eyebrow in response but did not say anything.
“What’s the matter princess?” Tatsuya froze, “Think you’re better than the likes of us? Answer me when I talk to you, bitch!”
The leader’s hand rose in preparation to slap Tatsuya, but before it could hit, it suddenly stopped. Tatsuya looked up to see a new man had joined the group and that he that stopped the blow. The man flashed him a dazzling smile and said, “Didn’t your mother teach you to never hit a girl?”
The leader snarled in response. The rest happened too fast for Tatsuya to keep track, but the result was obvious. The new arrival was standing alone amidst the gang, who were lying on the floor unconscious or groaning in pain.
Tatsuya, regaining his senses, was annoyed with himself, “I could have handled them myself.”
“I’m sure you could - Wait? You’re a guy?” The man said.
“No, I’m a fish,” Tatsuya snapped, “Of course I’m a guy!”
“Well, either way we should probably get out of here before these losers wake up.”
Tatsuya barely had time to pay for his food and collect his backpack before the man grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the café, his sunglasses lying forgotten on the table.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Junno knew he had gone into that particular café for reasons beyond him, but he did not think they would include rescuing an effeminate man from a bunch of thugs looking for a good time. He generally did not play the part of the ‘Knight in Shining Armor,’ but there was something about the way the girl - well, guy actually - sat frozen in fear that made him jump into action.
So there he was, running full speed down the street, dragging a guy he had barely just met along behind him. A few blocks later, he stopped to catch his breath, coincidentally just outside his apartment building. He let go of the other’s hand and leaned over, resting his hands on his knees. He straightened up and said, “Sorry about that… I should have introduced myself properly. I’m Taguchi Junnosuke, but you can call me Junno.”
The other man just glared at him.
“You don’t have to give me your full name if you don’t want, since you’re obviously a run away of some sort?”
“How -” the man started.
“You were eating in a seedy café, but you’re wearing designer clothing.”
“Oh.”
“So what do I call you?”
“Tatsuya.”
“Like the prince?”
“Something like that, yes,” Tatsuya smiled.
“So…er…this just happens to be my apartment building,” Junno look at the ground sheepishly, “I’ll just let you be on your way then…Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“You could come up and I could make you something to eat? I know you didn’t get the chance to eat much… But you must be in a hurry to get wherever you’re going and -”
“I’d like that.”
“Huh?” Junno glanced up in surprise.
“I said I’d like that. Besides, you owe me a meal.”
“I do?”
“Yes.”
Neither said anything more as Tatsuya followed Junno up to his apartment. Junno unlocked the door and opened it. Suddenly, a loud voice from the inside said, “There you are, Junno! I was beginning to think you had gotten into an accident or something - Oh, hello there,” lounging on the couch was yet another man, “Junno, it’s not like you to bring a girl over in the middle of the day.”
“What the hell is with you people and thinking that I’m a girl?” Tatsuya yelled, “I’M NOT A GIRL!”
“It’s even more unlike you to bring a guy home at any time of day.”
“Shut up, Jin,” Junno said, “You’re just making things worse.”
“Sorry,” the other man said, “Let me start over. I’m Akanishi Jin, Junno’s best friend and roommate. It’s nice to meet you -” he paused.
“Tatsuya,” Tatsuya replied.
“What? Like the prince?”
“AARGH!” Tatsuya shrieked.
“If you ask me, next time, you should pick a different alias, one that’s a bit more commonplace,” Junno stage-whispered to Tatsuya. To Jin he said, “Tatsuya here was in a tight spot, so I rescued him. He needs a place to stay for a while.”
Tatsuya scowled, “I will use whatever name I wish to use, thank you very much.”
“No need to go all high and mighty on us plebeians, milord.”
“I’m surprised you even know what that word means.”
“I make a point of knowing the definitions of words in a script.”
“Script?” Jin interjected.
“Yes, script,” Junno smiled, “I got the part!”
“We should celebrate!”
“I’d love to, but Junno owes me lunch,” Tatsuya said.
“Ah,” Junno muttered, “How do you feel about heated leftovers?”
“We don’t have any. I ate them all,” Jin said.
Junno sighed and went into the kitchen to prepare some food, leaving Jin and Tatsuya to glare at each other from opposite ends of the couch. Tatsuya finally was tired of that and picked up a tabloid magazine lying on the coffee table. The main story seemed to be about the breakup between a rapper and his actor boyfriend. He raised an eyebrow at this, but kept reading. Apparently, the couple had seemed very much in love until they broke up under mysterious circumstances. Both men refused to comment, but the rumors claim that one of them had cheated on the other. There was no further information at that time. He continued to flip through the magazine until he saw an ad that made him double over in laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Jin asked. Tatsuya kept laughing. “Give me that!” he snatched the magazine away. “Hey! This is my ad! Why are you laughing?”
“You’re a model?” Tatsuya said between laughter and gasps for breath.
“Well, duh! Have you been living under a rock or something?”
“More like locked away in a high tower guarded by a fire-breathing dragon.”
“That bad, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
“I hope you like sandwiches,” Junno had reentered the room. Jin and Tatsuya stared at him “What? Do I have something on my face?”
“Apron,” Ueda wheezed.
Junno looked down and flushed. He was wearing an apron that said ‘Kiss the Cook.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kame opened his eyes and wondered how he had gotten into his bedroom. He was still wearing the same clothes as the day before and he took it as a good sign that his apartment had not burned down as he slept. He turned and found a note on his bedside table.
Kame,
Sorry, for being an insensitive jerk. I hope you don’t mind I stayed the night on your couch. Next time you’re free we should do lunch.
Good luck on your drama,
Jin
P.S. Don’t worry; I put out the candles before I went to bed.
He put down the note and smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maru had left Koki’s penthouse several hours earlier. He and Koki were old friends and often spent the night at each other’s houses talking or watching movies. They had gotten over their spat of the night before but the feeling of unease had remained. Now he was sulking in his family’s town house, just as he was sure Koki was doing in his apartment.
He could not believe Koki had known about his crush. He had tried so hard to hide it from everybody. He even thought that if he stayed away from court long enough it would go away. Now, five years later, it still held strong. Maybe it was time he learned to accept it. Maybe then, he could finally begin to move on. Fruitless unrequited love wasn’t exactly on his top ten things to do list.
Dochiraka ga orereba sugu ni owaru hanashi ga…
Maru answered his phone, “Hello?”
“Maru?” The voice on the other end asked.
“Yes? Who is this?”
“This is Matsumoto Jun.”
“Eh? Lord Matsumoto? Why are you calling me?”
“I heard you were back in town and I was wondering if you had seen his highness. I know you were childhood friends and all…”
“No, I haven’t seen him. Why?”
“He has disappeared and no one can find him. We suspect that he has been kidnapped.”
“He’s been WHAT?” The other man never had time to answer as Maru had snapped his phone shut, grabbed his coat, and headed out the door to the palace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: If you're wondering about the random appearance of MatsuJun, I asked my friend
heiresskaorim to name a random JE guy not from KAT-TUN. Much love to my beta,
kiwi_starlight
. Comments are also loved and appreciated.