Fic for shontos_garden (1/2)
Title: Bound
Pairing: Jin/Kame (赤西 仁/亀梨和也)
Genre: AU
Word count: 12,100~
Rating: R (for foul language and implied sex)
Warnings: original character death
Notes: Written for shontos_garden. I hope you like this. I tried my best to stick to the criteria you preferred. Please feel free to kill me if my sequencing confuses you. Much love to J for beta-ing and screaming at me to finish this, and lots of crystal turtles to K for the massive hand holding and overboard suggestions. Click here and here for references regarding this universe.
Summary: Jin's a fighter, in more than one way.
Tipsy Love - 赤西 仁
"Are you happy?"
A grunt. Kazuya shifts. Squinty, blurry vision, legs tangled.
"Kazuya."
Light slowly floods the window, and Kazuya shields his eyes.
Laughter and the sound of sheets moving. "Tell me you're happy."
Arms suddenly on waist, tight, possessive.
"Hmmm?" A yawn.
The smell of spring. Kazuya's lips land on red, plump ones. Moves on neck, collarbones.
"Hey, Kazuya," a chuckle.
Black and brown mixing with white blankets and pillowcases.
Rays getting brighter, sunrise is almost done. "We'll always be together now."
Their name prickles on Kazuya's chest, black bleeding over the skin where his heart is.
"You really hate talking, don't you?"
Soft fur on the bed. A cold morning, but everything is warm.
"You're the only one for me," a kiss to Kazuya's shoulder, his cheeks, his mouth. "You know that, right?"
Kazuya sighs, content. "I love you. Forever."
"Please be seated," the woman in white motions with her arm towards the stainless chairs. The room makes a mental asylum look comfortable to be in, not that Kazuya's ever been to one; Yuichiro always says his trips to the doctor are perfectly normal.
Kazuya is doe-eyed; one minute he was having quiet dinner at the household, the next thing he knows his father's telling him they've enlisted him to a boarding school, Seven Moons Academy, in hopes that it would help him go back to being himself.
Even a few moments ago, his parents were still here, talking to the lady who's currently trying to scare his soul out. Then there was an old guy, who took him outside the room and told another boy to show him around. Now his parents are probably rushing home to distribute his measly possessions to his brothers, not that Yuichiro and Koji would want anything to do with his stuff.
"My name is Mary," the woman in white introduces herself just as the old man enters the room, a young boy about Kazuya's age in tow. "Ah, here they are," she says when she sees them, gesturing for the boy to sit down; he's wearing a bright yellow cartoon character hoodie, it looks so strange on him. The boy occupies the chair facing Kazuya. "This is my brother, Johnny," Mary stretches her arm to gesture towards the old man. Then she looks at the boy. "And I assume this is your fighter unit."
Kazuya's cat ears twitch. "Fighter unit?"
Johnny clears his throat. "If I may." He doesn't wait for Mary's agreement.
The actual explanation for the purpose of the school and their presence there makes no sense in Kazuya's point of view, but he has no choice except to agree and hope his parents didn't get loose screws overnight. He catches the name of the boy, Akanishi Jin, and something about living in the same room and training together. It sounds like they've become glorified lovebirds. Some words he actually remembers are sacrifice, which is apparently what he is, pairs, wordspell battles, and the boy in front of him being a fighter. His fighter.
"So I get to order him around?" Kazuya wants to get this out of the way.
Johnny smiles at him. "Yes. You think of the spells and he makes them happen, makes them real. In turn, any spell said to Jin will be inflicted on you." He also remembers hearing Johnny say they should call him 'gramps', while Mary hides a scoff.
Kazuya looks confused. "So I tell him what to do, but he doesn't get hurt if other people--attack us?"
Johnny nods, looking satisfied. "As for your name," he starts, but Mary looks affronted.
"We have talked about this," Mary reprimands, looking like she wants to haul Johnny outside the room. "They belong to the Zero program; they will not have a name, their bond is not real."
Johnny just looks at her, face without emotions. "And yet their bodies bear the mark, something even you cannot deny. But fair enough," he looks at the pair, "I will have you answer to Mary, or Julie if she is around. But when people ask your name, you will answer with the one you are given with. Am I understood?"
Kazuya really doesn't get it, thinks the adult are being vague and confusing on purpose, but then Jin is unbuttoning the top of his shirt, revealing smooth skin and pale collarbones swathed with--
"It's this name, right?" Jin points to the script of black ink smothering the skin below his neck. "This is the only name I have, other than my birthname."
Johnny nods his answer, not noticing Kazuya touching his chest. Thankfully, it ends there, even though Mary still looks displeased when she sends them off to enjoy the rest of the evening, but not before she reminds Kazuya that he is to continue going to the central hospital every Saturday afternoon, and that they are excused for future trainings should schedules clash.
What's the Story, Morning Glory - Oasis
The sharp smell of antiseptic accompanies white walls and ceilings and blinding lights whenever Kazuya's up for his weekly appointment with Nagano-sensei. All he does is lie down on the couch, a comfortable sky blue that doesn't even balance the paleness of the room, waiting for the doctor.
Every session is the same: Nagano-sensei enters the room, looking authoritative with his prescribed white coat, stethoscope, and glasses, his boring, brown, trusty clipboard in hand, greeting Kazuya with a soft smile. He gets Kazuya's vitals then motions him to the seat for one and a half hour of question and answer and experimental hypnotism that never results to anything significant, if Kazuya judges it with the way he's still going to this psychiatric clinic every Saturday instead of baseball practice.
Nagano-sensei is really nice. Invasive questions don't sound as offending and personal when he asks Kazuya, or maybe it's because of the hypnosis. All Kazuya wishes is to find out why the hell his parents had signed him up for this, or why Koji has been looking at him weirdly and treating him like air for the past three months.
Truth is, Kazuya doesn't really know how it started, these meetings. One evening he suddenly woke up in his room, drenched in cold sweat and his parents worriedly hovering by his bedside, Yuichiro loitering by the door. He doesn't remember how or why he passed out, the last thing in his memory is about persuading Koji to let him come on their baseball practice game at the lot by the chapel.
"Let's continue, shall we?" Nagano-sensei motions for Kazuya to lie down on the couch. Repressed memories, things hidden in the subconscious, Kazuya thinks about overhearing the conversation his parents had with the doctor, about not remembering anything, an accident, behavioral patterns changing in the blink of an eye. He doesn't understand; nothing has changed about him, if anything it's his older brothers who have started to look at him strangely, who've started to ostracize him without even an explanation.
It's when Nagano-sensei snaps his fingers that Kazuya forgets, slumping into a dreamless sleep. When he opens his eyes again, the session with the psychiatrist is over.
Step by Step - 中丸雄一
It's a Wednesday morning when Kazuya is whisked away to his first class: Domoto Tsuyoshi-sensei's Spellcasting 101. Of course nobody really talks to him other than the red-haired boy with the black cat ears and tail, the one he's rooming with.
"My name's Jin, I thought I already told you," the boy says, too busy playing with his pen to listen to Domoto-sensei. "You should really learn how to control that 'calling' thing you sacrifices do," he whispers conspiratorially.
"Shut up," Kazuya hisses rather too harshly, and it makes the whole class look at the pair.
"Well," Domoto-sensei starts, walking towards them, "it seems that our two new students find this class too boring. Tell me, what's your name?"
"I'm Kazuy--"
"Not that name," Domoto-sensei cuts him off. Kazuya swallows his embarrassment. "Try again."
"We're Bound," Jin starts, only Kazuya holds his hand and he stops abruptly then.
Domoto-sensei eyes them with interest. "The new Zero pair, am I correct?" He doesn't wait for them to answer, not that they can, given the aura emanating from the man. "Then let's have you prove your bond, if it's as real as your name claims it is. Detention, one week," he says, then looks over at the rest of the class as if to say 'let this be a lesson to everyone'.
Someone snickers at them as soon as the bell rings and the other students pour out of the room. Jin looks over his shoulder to find a thin boy with blonde hair and bleached cat ears and tail, covering his mouth. Jin's about to go over and hit the boy when another guy--this one taller, with a high nose, black-brown ears and tail--pops up, hitting blondie over the head.
"Hey!" Blondie scowls, but he looks more put out about being hit because he made fun of Jin than the actual fact that he was hit. Jin can already see the blonde one becoming an attention whore.
"I heard you," the taller one says, sounding strict, "Takizawa-kun will not approve."
Blondie makes a face. "What do you know, Papa likes me best."
"Only because you're a girl," tall guy says back. "And we're being rude," he continues, turns to Jin and Kazuya. "Sorry, he can be a bit--inconsiderate."
"Am not!"
"Be quiet," tall guy shushes blondie. "Anyway, we're Selfless, and we live in the dorm room across yours." He points an index finger towards himself. "Ikuta Toma, fighter," then points at blondie, "Yamashita Tomohisa, my sacrifice. Yoroshiku."
Kazuy and Jin bow automatically, still momentarily surprised by the pair in front of them. "Um," Jin starts.
Tomohisa sits on the table beside Jin's, hands gripping the table edge. "Anyway, don't be too scared of Domoto-sensei," he waves a hand, doesn'd notice Jin flinch or Kazuya pulling back. "He likes to look threatening and he's extremely good, like the next best fighter after Kimura-sama, but he won't but into your business normally." Then he looks at Toma. "I'm hungry and we've welcomed the newbies, can we go eat now?"
Toma scrunches his nose up in dissatisfaction. "Bottomless pit, you're treating today," he mutters as they head out the door, turning midway. "You're supposed to come with us, I don't want all the good tables stolen."
Kazuya and Jin will learn that Selfless are the top pair in their level, and that almost all the professors and seniors like the sacrifice, Tomohisa. Whenever they are asked to get partners for practice duels, Tomohisa practically grabs Kazuya's hand; the fighters don't mind, not even when Jin's competetive ego (and Kazuya's, surprisingly, to a lesser extent) gets bruised again and again because Selfless always manages to win. It's all a learning process anyway, especially for Jin, who gets coached by Toma most of the time because Kazuya can't control his fighter.
"It's all about exploiting your bond," Tomohisa is saying over a mouthful of karaage, and Toma swats him over the head for not chewing his food properly. They sit together for meals all the time, too. Jin's thankful for the company; it doesn't look like Kazuya likes him much yet. He vows to change that soon.
"But we're not--" Kazuya wants to explain, only Toma shakes his head and wryly smiles.
"Never believe what those crazy women tell you." Jin's told Toma about communication blocks, plus that little secret over his collarbone that he doesn't know what to do with. "You've got a name, so there's a bond nobody can touch, no matter what they say."
Tomohisa raises an eyebrow at the exchange. "What are you talking about." He eyes Kazuya warily. "Listen to me Kazuya: everything is about disciplining your man and making sure you're in control." When he notices the appalled reactions the statement gathers, he utters, "that didn't sound right, did it?"
Again I Go Unnoticed - Dashboard Confessional
They gain friends from the same grade, although Kazuya classifies everyone as colleagues, with the exception of a fighter named Tatsuya, whom he treats only marginally better. Most of the time, Kazuya's reserved and quiet, very unlike the kid who wanted to run through his older brothers' room and make it look like a tornado had passed whenever he lost his baseball glove.
Jin doesn't pry, not when they lose the first few practice matches and get extra coaching time from the seniors, not when Motionless' sacrifice, Imai Tsubasa gets assigned to them for the senior-junior mentoring program that fall. What Jin wants is for Kazuya to come to him and set things straight, to properly use their connection to win battles and hone their talents. While the other pairs slowly become adults, Jin and Kazuya stay the same, only growing older by age. Kazuya simply doesn't care about such things, his family always occupying his thoughts. As for Jin, he doesn't mind. He'll wait for no matter how long that takes.
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
The evening Kazuya comes back from sneaking out of Seven Moons to celebrate Ran's birthday, there's a surprise graded exam: a showdown between them and Tireless. All afternoon, Jin had messaged him and waited so they could practice, but Kazuya had been unreachable, having such an enjoyable day after being cooped up for so long.
Jin is obviously pissed when he corners Kazuya by the bleachers.
"Where have you been," Jin's all over Kazuya's breathing space, lips pursed into an angry frown and eyebrows bunched together. Kazuya wants to smooth them over with his fingers, but he doesn't act on that impulse.
Instead, Kazuya shrugs, nonchalant. "I went out," he sits down on a bench, crosses his legs together. A slight breeze wafts past the arena, and Kazuya hears the start of winter beckoning amidst the calls of the audience.
Jin's lips purse further. "Are you nuts? I called you like a billion times," he whispers, irritated. Kazuya doesn't bother to check his phone; he knows that's not the only way Jin tried to reach him.
"I was out on a date," Kazuya carelessly replies, and Jin knows it's with the girl next to Kazuya in the picture frame in their room that he's talking about. "Let's do this," Kazuya continues, standing up and walking towards their side of the field.
He doesn't notice the way Jin's expression hardens, how he suddenly looks like he's controlling his breathing very hard.
The crowd starts to liven up when Tanaka Koki and Taguchi Junnosuke enter the arena from the other side, looking ready to fight. From the smirk on Koki's face and Jin's quickly darkening expression, it looks like he's had fun at Jin's expense all afternoon. Kazuya knows they mean no harm, but Koki really likes to rub in how earlier he's been in the academy than the others in his grade.
"Ready to lose, shitface?" Koki challenges, squirming to loosen some knots in his muscles. For a sacrifice, he acts pretty cocky, but Kazuya knows the arrogance in not unfounded; Koki's got one hell of a resistance to pain, which is good since his fighter hasn't really learned much about defense yet.
"Koki, don't taunt," Junnosuke chides, taking a loose battle stance and standing in front of Koki. He smiles at Kazuya and Jin, eyes disappearing into half-moons. "Yoroshiku ne."
Jin answers by harshly pushing Kazuya behind him, feet apart and chin raised proudly.
"Hey-" Kazuya almost face plants from the force of Jin's shove, but before he can bite down a curse, Jin starts the battle.
"We declare a battle by wordspell. Battle systems engage," Jin punches his fist into Kazuya's outstretched palm, voice solid and eyes trained on the other side of the field, and the crowd roars.
"Bound," Jin's voice continues, and Kazuya's mouth opens but suddenly he can't mouth the words the same pace as Jin's. "United, two ties that are joined by fate."
"Battle accepted," Junnosuke and Koki say simultaneously, "Tireless, we exceed what is required."
Don't hurt them, Kazuya closes his eyes as everything hazes and focuses on the air around them, just disarm.
Unfortunately, the words come out from Jin's mouth and not his. "Divide. Isolate. Your differences will be your downfall."
"Deflect. Refract," Junnosuke counters easily, and the spell does not even reach them before the wave retraces its direction. "The power of two cannot be defeated. Double. Triple. Quadruple."
Kazuya chokes as he feels the connection with Jin rapidly diminishing, silence registering. Jin, he tries, Jin, defend!
Jin doesn't bat an eyelash, doesn't hear Kazuya. "Suspend. Separate. Lack of intimacy makes your attacks insignificant."
"What the fu-Junno!" Koki hangs upside-down by an invisible rope, his head a few feet above the ground, hand still firmly grasping Junnosuke's now-raised fist. Destroy him.
"You think you guys stand a chance?" Junnosuke says, ever so calm. "You can't even hear your own sacrifice. Arrogance will fuel the flames of your loss. Burn."
"Abyss," Jin commands, and Kazuya tries to inhale through the vacuum that roots him to the ground by absolute surprise-Jin just attacked him with a spell. "Emptiness produces no fire. Are you completely stupid?"
Koki's eyes widen. "Kazuya!" he howls angrily, then pins blazing eyes at Jin. "Akanishi, you are a total moron! He will die!"
Jin coldly stares. "I do not answer to you," he says to Koki. Junnosuke looks shocked at what is happening, and Jin takes his chance. "Your temporary freedom ends now, don't you think so? Restrict. Bind. Negligence will chain you to failure."
Multiple chains pile up on Koki's wrists, his legs, along his torso and neck, robbing him of air. Behind Jin, Kazuya continues to gasp, scrabbling at the last dregs of oxygen he can manage while frozen in place.
"Surprised?" Jin mocks. "Magnify," he breathes-
"Divert! Repel! Obviate!" Junnosuke hurriedly shouts, panicked.
-and the surge of red-hot energy that comes with a new set of shackles almost crushes Koki's body.
Kazuya starts to shake when there's nothing left to breathe, palm closing over Jin's fist so tightly, his aura becoming pale. Stop this, he pleads weakly, halt, it's over.
"Surge. Power combine. Flow," Jin commands instead, seeing a girl with rosy apple cheeks in a yellow and fiery orange summery yukata instead of Junnosuke's sacrifice floating and immobilized, thorns of electricity speeding their way towards Koki, "this ends now. Obliterate."
The sickening thud that follows when Koki slams to the floor, face down and unconscious, as the battle systems disengage and Bound is announced as victor makes Kazuya fall to his knees, panting desperately. Junnosuke swiftly turns around and kneels on the floor beside his sacrifice, eyes closed but vividly seeing Koki's spasms caused by the energy stream.
Jin, Kazuya quietly gets out, his lungs perfectly functioning now but his mind still trapped in the void, body reeling from the lack of circulation. "Jin," he wheezes out, voice hoarse but angry and brain too tired to follow it up out loud. Stay, he says instead, but Jin's already walking out of the arena, not minding the excited screams of the other students.
"The hell is wrong with you!" Kazuya snipes. He suppresses the urge to hurl the nearest item he can reach at Jin. "Why the fuck would you fight like that!"
Jin just snorts. "We won the simulation battle, what's your deal," his voice comes out calmer than he expects, but Kazuya knows Jin is frustrated about something, he just can't find out what.
Books hit the floor where Kazuya has swiped them off the table in his anger. "What is wrong with your brain, we never practiced fighting on Auto-"
"Well we never practiced anything!" Jin howls at him, agitated and turning red. "You were too busy getting your face sucked by your girlfriend," he continues, then ducks when Kazuya throws a picture frame at him. "Koichi-sensei said we passed midterms, the fuck do you want me to do?!"
Kazuya is seething. "First of all," he hisses, "never talk about my friends like that. Ran and I have known each other long before this crazy excuse of a school happened to me," he charges forward and grabs Jin by his shirt collar, presses him against the wall with their faces so close to each other. Jin can feel Kazuya's breath fan his features.
Jin looks at his sacrifice, eyes wide but not scared. His name pulses with every second that passes, pinpricks and electricity along his shoulder blades where the tips of the script are up to his collarbones. His blood sings, and he can only look at Kazuya.
"Second," Kazuya continues in his low, threatening voice, "do not ever, ever fight on Auto again, do you understand me?" He pushes against Jin in emphasis, eyes a black pool of anger. "You almost killed someone! Are you out of your mind?"
"I don't answer to you," Jin is looking Kazuya in the eyes, indifferent. His words are unusually emotionless, and the change in Jin's attitude stops Kazuya's anger.
The closed fist tightens on Jin's shirt. "What?"
"I don't answer to you," Jin repeats, his voice wavering a little, content to let Kazuya squash him against the wall. Judging by the thinness of the walls in the dormitory he's sure Selfless can hear them; he'll be up for another round of scolding from Toma, but he finds he doesn't care right now.
"You-" Kazuya starts, but Jin finally finds an opening and shrugs the hold on him. Kazuya momentarily loses his balance when Jin remains calm, even as he struggles to put some distance between them.
Jin looks at him, eyes sad and longing. "You don't even believe we're a pair, even though the proof is right there screaming at you when we're in the same living space," he points at Kazuya's chest. Kazuya shivers when he feels the warmth of Jin's finger through his shirt. He doesn't know how Jin knows that secret; Kazuya hasn't told anyone of that. "We're strong, both of us, but it's all worthless if we don't have a proper connection. Don't skip training just to flirt around again," Jin finishes, torn between wanting to walk out on such a pointless argument or suffocate Kazuya into submission.
"Well you did fantastic on your own, so why would you even need me," Kazuya says sarcastically. He doesn't understand how training is such a big deal, if Jin's going to be all high and mighty about fighting without his sacrifice's help, anyway.
"Fine, be that way," Jin shakes his head. "You want the truth? I just want to be with you, but I guess that's too much to ask," he mutters hopelessly before he lets the door fall closed and heads for his quiet place.
Kazuya and Ran meet each other for the first time during Tanabata, when Kazuya is eleven and his voice hasn't broken yet. Being chased by her friends, she topples over an equally distracted Kazuya, who has been tricked by his brothers into carrying their steamed sweet potatoes.
"Ow," Kazuya screams, rubbing his thigh where the potatoes had had the decency to roll over, "hot, hot! You," he fumes at the girl who looks as dishevelled and burnt with the family's snack, "watch where you're going!"
Ran looks at him with big eyes, and Kazuya flinches, ready for a verbal assault or a stream of tears, maybe some pyrotechnics to go with the bright orange and yellow kimono sleeves that are about to flail wildly at him, but the only thing that happens next is Ran bowing, head to the floor, shouting "I'm really sorry!" in her loudest voice.
Kazuya is so shocked that he does end up flinching, but for a very different reason. He laughs his high-pitched, cackling laugh, which makes the girl look at her in confusion. He offers her a hand as soon as he's stood up, and that's the scene Yuya sees.
"Oh," Yuya points at their linked hands, eyes glinting mischievously and glancing quickly at the mishandled food on the cement, "that's why you kept Koji-nii and Yu-nii starving. I'm gonna tell~"
And before Kazuya can make a half-assed retort or even let go of Ran's arm, Yuya has already run off to tattle on his brother's non-existent secret date.
"Uh-" Ran starts, not sure whether to ask about what just happened or to take her hand back.
Kazuya looks at her, his eyes crinkling into half-moons. "He's my idiot brother," he gestures to the space where Yuya just stood at, "and apparently, you're stuck with me today."
Ran looks even more confused. "What?"
"Nice to meet you," comes out in mangled English, "I'm Kazuya."
Too Close for Comfort - McFly
By some miracle they are allowed to go home on Christmas and New Year, and even though Kazuya's family isn't really big on celebrating holidays that aren't related to dead ancestors, the familiar car is outside the academy two days before Christmas Eve when Kazuya comes out. By the school gate, Julie is obviously peering at them from behind her thick, startle-inducing glasses.
"Kazu-nii," Yuya cheerfully waves from the back seat, and Kazuya almost smiles, except it's Yuichiro who is driving, judging by his position by the driver's side, posture stiff and arms crossed over his chest. Kazuya's grip on his bag tightens. His father is nowhere to be found.
Jin stops in his steps, clears his throat when it seems the brothers are not up for much talking. There's a gust of wind, and Jin fights the urge to shudder. He was vehemently opposed when Johnny mentioned spending two weeks over at Kazuya's, to the point of almost getting suspended for foul language usage. They aren't even talking, haven't so much as looked at each other directly since that night they won the battle simulation and Jin walked out to clear his head, filled with jealousy and anger, insecurity over some unknown girl that got to spend her birthday with Kazuya. He came back at almost midnight to find that Kazuya had dead-bolted the door to their room.
Jin used up almost half an hour pounding on Selfless' door and literally begging them to let him crash. When morning came about and Jin had had his most fitful sleep ever since entering the academy, Kazuya was already in class, their room unlocked.
Right now, though, one look at his sacrifice's downcast face tells Jin that Kazuya would give anything up not to be crammed into a single room with his family, winter break or not.
Yuichiro wordlessly opens the car door, letting himself in. Kazuya looks at Jin, silently points at the back passenger door with his mouth, and proceeds to ride shotgun.
Flour-dusted cheeks and a messy kitchen greet Kazuya and Jin when they arrive in Edogawa. Kazuya's mother looks a bit surprised when she greets her third son and finds that he brought company.
"Kazuya's friends are always welcome here," she warmly smiles at Jin after she's finished pawing over Kazuya, muttering things like malnutrition and 'Kazuya never had to deal with physical exhaustion when he was staying home'. Jin gets second hand embarrassment.
Kazuya fidgets. "Kaa-san," he tries to deflect the topic from his supposed love life into something less destructive for the sake of his and Jin's withering partnership, "where's tou-san?"
"Koji made him watch this year's ending," his mother says, handing Kazuya pillows and a blanket from the spare room cabinet. Every December before winter vacation starts, Koji's school holds a varsity team versus faculty charity baseball match as the last game of the year. "They'll be home by dinner. Now go, you can nick the extra bed stuff from Yuichiro's room," his mother gestures, and while Kazuya hasn't been a fan of socializing with his brothers since a year ago, he hopes, just a little, that enough time has already passed for Yuichiro and Koji to stop acting like assholes and let him be part of the four-way brotherhood again.
He turns his head a bit in the middle of heading upstairs. "Where's Yuya staying, then?" Kazuya asks, a bit loudly. He and Yuya had always shared a room, but since Jin's here…
"He'll sleep in our room," his mother clucks, busy with cooking nikujaga enough to feed an army. "Now make yourself useful and entertain your guest!"
The two of them make their way to the second floor, Kazuya carrying sleeping necessities and Jin only carrying his own bag. "We're on the right door, by the grandfather clock," Kazuya softly says, the first words he's let out directly to Jin in over a month. "Feel free to use anything," he continues, as Jin opens the door and lets Kazuya pass through first.
It's definitely a boy's room, Jin muses. There's a clutter of baseball paraphernalia and the walls boast of framed pictures of Kazuya and Yuya winning various awards during games. A mini-Kazuya stares at Jin, all squiggly eyebrows and slanted eyes, white jersey tainted with dirt from the ground; it's the first game in which Kazuya had been allowed to be on the starting line-up, when he was nine.
There's a cabinet by the curtained window opposite the door and a low table that's been pushed to the side. Kazuya plops the pillows and blanket on the floor beside an unmade futon-definitely Yuya's-and heads for the door.
"Kazu-" Jin starts, making Kazuya look at him. "I," he continues, realizes he doesn't actually know what to say. Kazuya looks pale, like he wishes vacation would just be over and they can go back to Seven Moons, pretend not to play happy family.
"Extra futon is in nii-chan's room," Kazuya answers, looking down again.
Oh. Right, bed. "I'll help," Jin volunteers.
Kazuya pins him an unsure look. "If you're sure."
Turns out Yuichiro and Koji's room is beside theirs, and Kazuya knocks thrice before speaking, "I hope we're not intruding."
Yuichiro just grunts, and when Kazuya opens the door he doesn't even look up from his book, toeing the already prepared necessities towards Kazuya.
They've really started to hate me, Kazuya sighs when they're back in his room, and is surprised when Jin puts a hand in his shoulder. "What?"
"Don't say that, I said," Jin scratches the back of his neck. "I think it's wonderful that you've got a warm family," he smiles, takes the bedding from Kazuya's arms, and settles them on the floor.
Dinner is served an hour after Koji and his father come home. As usual, it's a rowdy affair, with a family of five boys that never seem to quiet down. Jin would like to disappear; there was never anything like this where he lived, and the academy is the closest thing he's got to a home, anyway.
"So, Jin-kun," Kazuya's father is saying between a mouthful of rice, "where did you say you were from?"
That makes Kazuya listen as well. He's never asked Jin anything about his private life, convinced that they just have to live with each other until Julie gets tired of them and decides to give Jin another sacrifice.
"Not far from here, actually," Jin answers, rather shy. Homecooked meals really are the best, but he can't bear to eat a lot when it looks like Kazuya's brothers are about to pounce on him if he says a wrong syllable.
Kazuya's father looks interested. "Really? We haven't seen you around this neighborhood, though."
Jin clears his throat, "you know the abandoned church with the nuns by the empty lot?"
There's only one lot near the residential side of the city that can be described like that, and the family's chatter dies down when they realize what it implies.
"So..." Yuichiro walks on thin ice, garnering looks from his parents.
"Been an orphan for as long as I can remember," Jin answers nonchalantly, continuing with his dinner. "Please don't be uncomfortable, it's not much of a big deal anyway. My family died in a freak road accident. The sisters at the shelter were really kind to me."
"I'm really sorry, Jin-kun," Kazuya's mom says when she's finished scolding Yuichiro.
Jin shakes his head. "It's really okay. Actually," he gives an unsure smile, "I was quite mischievous, always sneaking out. I saw Kazuya and his brothers play ball on the lot a couple of times back then."
Koji puts dow his chopsticks rather harshly on the table. "I've finished eating, please excuse me." He leaves the tables abruptly, not looking back when his mother calls.
"I'm sorry for their rude behavior," Kazuya's mom apologizes, but Jin waves it off. The front door slams shut and there's a roar of a motorcycle coming to life, the sound of the engine fading as Koji speeds away from the household.
"I have a name," Kazuya mutters, lying down on his futon with his hands pillowing his head. He doesn't look at Jin.
Jin's ears perk up. "Really?" It's the first time Kazuya's ever volunteered information about himself; Jin's fairly interested.
Exhaling a held breath, Kazuya nods. "Koji-nii looked at me like I had grown five extra hands when he saw it. We were in the bath." Koji had been ignoring him for two weeks during that time, so their mother had forced them into the bath together, locking the door and demanding they either talk or wrestle it out, either way the door was going to stay locked and they could die drowning in the bath unless they made up.
Everything had been quiet and okay by Kazuya's standards, until Koji looked at him after they had gotten in the bath. He remembers Koji shouting, then pointing at him while stuttering, then shouting again, this time, for his mother to come quickly because apparently, Kazuya had gotten a tattoo.
Kazuya remembers panicking, remembers how wide his eyes were when he saw where Koji was pointing at. He will never forget trying to scrub away the mark, his skin going red and raw and blotchy, how the name had stayed still, bold lines cleanly written on his skin even after Kazuya had used about a whole bar of soap trying to wash it off.
Koji had never looked at him after that, not even a glance.
A loud commotion downstairs interrupts Kazuya and Jin. They look outside the wondow; the front porch light is on, and Koji has just come back with some of his friends. They all look inebriated.
When Kazuya's mother starts clucking up a storm outside, scolding his second son for irresponsible behavior and embarrassing him in front of his friends, Kazuya opens the front door, Jin right on his heels. The neighbors are asleep, and so's Yuya. Yuchiro and their father are both in their rooms, as well.
"Fuck," one of Koji's biker friends says when he sees Kazuya. He's bigger than Koji, and looks like he eats car spare parts for breakfast. "That your brother, Ko-chan?"
Koji sends a death glare his way. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Heh," another one says, eyeing Kazuya with thinly veiled hostility. This one'd got electric blue and vivid red mixed with his black hair. "I thought your family got rid of him for good?"
"Shut up," Koji grits out, hands forming fists. His knuckles turn white from gripping them too much.
Kazuya's mother interferes."What are you boys talking about? Koji, what does this mean?"
Koji looks at their mother, eyebrows knit into a very angry frown. "It's nothing, mind your own business, okay?"
One of Koji's friend's laughs; this time it's a tall, white guy with blonde-streaked brown hair. "It's nothing? Koji, man, you're so out of it."
"I said to shut up," Koji hisses at his friend. The whole gang is looking at him.
"Dude, that's your brother," the burly guy says. Kazuya knows him from somewhere. Has vague memories of him.
The guy narrows his eyes at Kazuya. "That dipshit guy's a murderer--" but they never hear the rest of his sentence, the loud crack of Koji's fist connecting with a jaw overpowering the scream Kazuya's mother makes.
"The fuck was that for, asshole!" Blondie shouts, ready to give Koji back a right hook. The guy Koji just punched is on the floor, spitting out blood on the Kamenashi pavement.
Koji's gaze is like steel. "Get out, all of you. We're through." He doesn't wait for their reply, passes by his mother and a frozen Kazuya--who's barely standing, his whole weight leaning on Jin-- and slams the door closed, bolting up to his and Yuichiro's room.
Untouched - The Veronicas
Murderer, the words haunt Kazuya endlessly. He's sure the words were directed at him, those judging eyes and hateful words. He stares up at the ceiling, wonders if that's what he forgot, why Koji still hasn't talked to him until now.
An alarm goes off, signalling the clock striking midnight. On the bed beside his, Jin shifts, turns to face him. Kazuya doesn't move.
"Happy birthday, Kazuya," Jin's voice floats in the air, lulls Kazuya into a false sense of security. Jin knows Kazuya won't answer, they haven't talked about anything, not even about school and practice.
It's February and they're back in the academy now, but that horrid night has been in Kazuya's dreams for two months. He's afraid to sleep, afraid to hear accusations he knows nothing of.
That night, after the shock had worn off, Jin had carried Kazuya to their room. Kazuya wasn't able to move at all, paralyzed from what he had seen and heard from Koji and his friends. Jin had lain him on the futon and was about to go to his own, give Kazuya some time for himself, but then Kazuya grabbed his hand and looked at him, eyes scared and paranoid.
"Kazu," Jin had said, voice tender, his hand cupping Kazuya's face. Kazuya closed his eyes, then, leaning up to press his head against Jin's shoulder, arms winding around Jin's neck in a tight, vice-like grip.
Murderer, the voice had screamed in Kazuya's head back then, too, and Kazuya shut his eyes tighter, wanting to rid his head of the chant and the image of stabbing someone; he didn't remember anything, but Koji and his friends looked like it was a closely-guarded secret, and his mother had only looked shocked, but had not denied anything nor reprimanded Koji. Was this it, then? Had he killed someone, a person close to his brother?
Kazuya had started when he felt lips on his skin, a fan of breath ghosting over his collarbone. Turned out his shirt had been unbuttoned, Jin's hair tickling his chest.
"Jin," Kazuya had sighed, too petrified to move, and Jin had splayed a palm on his chest, had put his hand then his lips over Kazuya's heart, hands quickly working on divesting Kazuya of his clothes. "Jin," Kazuya had panted, voice rough and shaky, when Jin's hands had drifted away from his chest and stomach and instead had found him under his pyjamas, flaccid.
"Sssssh," Jin had said, gently, pulling Kazuya's pants just to his knees, and when Jin had taken him into his mouth, Kazuya closed his eyes and tried to forget, telling Jin to do the same. There had been sharp breaths and a fist clamped over a mouth to muffle moans, and Jin had given it a lot of effort, wanting to make it slow and good, only Kazuya been too tense and had come fast, Jin cleaning him and carefully tucking him back after, a kiss to Kazuya's sweaty forehead and temple.
"Jin," Kazuya had whispered, not trusting his voice just yet.
"It's okay," Jin had answered, hugging Kazuya to his chest and kissing his cheeks, his eyelids. "I'll do anything you want me to, Kazuya."
His eyes closed and his face hidden in Jin's chest, Kazuya didn't have the strength to talk out loud. Instead, he said it in his mind, because he knew Jin could hear whenever he called.
When we go back, you have to forget, Jin.
Fiction - B2ST
They continue to room together without talking, miraculously surviving training and becoming the best pair when Selfless are accelerated for exemplary performance. They become busy outside class, Jin having a new set of friends--rowdy boys who like to mess around and who have no concept of personal space, so unlike Jin-- and Kazuya mulling over in his silence.
Sometimes Jin will come back to see Kazuya passed out on the floor, beer cans littered around him. Jin will carry him to his bed, put his hand over his lips, then touch it to Kazuya's heart, a longing look in his eyes.
It's been years since they first met, since they were first together, and so far neither Johnny nor Mary and Julie plan on separating them, even though they were never a permanent pair like the others in the first place. They're almost about to graduate too, Jin thinks sometimes.
Whenever he's bothered, which is a lot of times these days, Jin goes to Tomohisa, sometimes to get drunk, sometimes to talk and let his insecurities surface. Kazuya always sees him when they're together, but never says anything. Jin thinks they're going in circles, but unfortunately he's not in the position to make orders.
Jin always, always hears Kazuya in his head, always wants to be there for him. He knows Kazuya thinks about that night, too, probably as much as Jin does, but if anything else they've drifted apart more because of it.
Jin wants them to always be together. They're Bound after all. But unless Kazuya says so, Jin has no option but to obey his sacrifice and stay away.
Part 2
Pairing: Jin/Kame (赤西 仁/亀梨和也)
Genre: AU
Word count: 12,100~
Rating: R (for foul language and implied sex)
Warnings: original character death
Notes: Written for shontos_garden. I hope you like this. I tried my best to stick to the criteria you preferred. Please feel free to kill me if my sequencing confuses you. Much love to J for beta-ing and screaming at me to finish this, and lots of crystal turtles to K for the massive hand holding and overboard suggestions. Click here and here for references regarding this universe.
Summary: Jin's a fighter, in more than one way.
Tipsy Love - 赤西 仁
"Are you happy?"
A grunt. Kazuya shifts. Squinty, blurry vision, legs tangled.
"Kazuya."
Light slowly floods the window, and Kazuya shields his eyes.
Laughter and the sound of sheets moving. "Tell me you're happy."
Arms suddenly on waist, tight, possessive.
"Hmmm?" A yawn.
The smell of spring. Kazuya's lips land on red, plump ones. Moves on neck, collarbones.
"Hey, Kazuya," a chuckle.
Black and brown mixing with white blankets and pillowcases.
Rays getting brighter, sunrise is almost done. "We'll always be together now."
Their name prickles on Kazuya's chest, black bleeding over the skin where his heart is.
"You really hate talking, don't you?"
Soft fur on the bed. A cold morning, but everything is warm.
"You're the only one for me," a kiss to Kazuya's shoulder, his cheeks, his mouth. "You know that, right?"
Kazuya sighs, content. "I love you. Forever."
"Please be seated," the woman in white motions with her arm towards the stainless chairs. The room makes a mental asylum look comfortable to be in, not that Kazuya's ever been to one; Yuichiro always says his trips to the doctor are perfectly normal.
Kazuya is doe-eyed; one minute he was having quiet dinner at the household, the next thing he knows his father's telling him they've enlisted him to a boarding school, Seven Moons Academy, in hopes that it would help him go back to being himself.
Even a few moments ago, his parents were still here, talking to the lady who's currently trying to scare his soul out. Then there was an old guy, who took him outside the room and told another boy to show him around. Now his parents are probably rushing home to distribute his measly possessions to his brothers, not that Yuichiro and Koji would want anything to do with his stuff.
"My name is Mary," the woman in white introduces herself just as the old man enters the room, a young boy about Kazuya's age in tow. "Ah, here they are," she says when she sees them, gesturing for the boy to sit down; he's wearing a bright yellow cartoon character hoodie, it looks so strange on him. The boy occupies the chair facing Kazuya. "This is my brother, Johnny," Mary stretches her arm to gesture towards the old man. Then she looks at the boy. "And I assume this is your fighter unit."
Kazuya's cat ears twitch. "Fighter unit?"
Johnny clears his throat. "If I may." He doesn't wait for Mary's agreement.
The actual explanation for the purpose of the school and their presence there makes no sense in Kazuya's point of view, but he has no choice except to agree and hope his parents didn't get loose screws overnight. He catches the name of the boy, Akanishi Jin, and something about living in the same room and training together. It sounds like they've become glorified lovebirds. Some words he actually remembers are sacrifice, which is apparently what he is, pairs, wordspell battles, and the boy in front of him being a fighter. His fighter.
"So I get to order him around?" Kazuya wants to get this out of the way.
Johnny smiles at him. "Yes. You think of the spells and he makes them happen, makes them real. In turn, any spell said to Jin will be inflicted on you." He also remembers hearing Johnny say they should call him 'gramps', while Mary hides a scoff.
Kazuya looks confused. "So I tell him what to do, but he doesn't get hurt if other people--attack us?"
Johnny nods, looking satisfied. "As for your name," he starts, but Mary looks affronted.
"We have talked about this," Mary reprimands, looking like she wants to haul Johnny outside the room. "They belong to the Zero program; they will not have a name, their bond is not real."
Johnny just looks at her, face without emotions. "And yet their bodies bear the mark, something even you cannot deny. But fair enough," he looks at the pair, "I will have you answer to Mary, or Julie if she is around. But when people ask your name, you will answer with the one you are given with. Am I understood?"
Kazuya really doesn't get it, thinks the adult are being vague and confusing on purpose, but then Jin is unbuttoning the top of his shirt, revealing smooth skin and pale collarbones swathed with--
"It's this name, right?" Jin points to the script of black ink smothering the skin below his neck. "This is the only name I have, other than my birthname."
Johnny nods his answer, not noticing Kazuya touching his chest. Thankfully, it ends there, even though Mary still looks displeased when she sends them off to enjoy the rest of the evening, but not before she reminds Kazuya that he is to continue going to the central hospital every Saturday afternoon, and that they are excused for future trainings should schedules clash.
What's the Story, Morning Glory - Oasis
The sharp smell of antiseptic accompanies white walls and ceilings and blinding lights whenever Kazuya's up for his weekly appointment with Nagano-sensei. All he does is lie down on the couch, a comfortable sky blue that doesn't even balance the paleness of the room, waiting for the doctor.
Every session is the same: Nagano-sensei enters the room, looking authoritative with his prescribed white coat, stethoscope, and glasses, his boring, brown, trusty clipboard in hand, greeting Kazuya with a soft smile. He gets Kazuya's vitals then motions him to the seat for one and a half hour of question and answer and experimental hypnotism that never results to anything significant, if Kazuya judges it with the way he's still going to this psychiatric clinic every Saturday instead of baseball practice.
Nagano-sensei is really nice. Invasive questions don't sound as offending and personal when he asks Kazuya, or maybe it's because of the hypnosis. All Kazuya wishes is to find out why the hell his parents had signed him up for this, or why Koji has been looking at him weirdly and treating him like air for the past three months.
Truth is, Kazuya doesn't really know how it started, these meetings. One evening he suddenly woke up in his room, drenched in cold sweat and his parents worriedly hovering by his bedside, Yuichiro loitering by the door. He doesn't remember how or why he passed out, the last thing in his memory is about persuading Koji to let him come on their baseball practice game at the lot by the chapel.
"Let's continue, shall we?" Nagano-sensei motions for Kazuya to lie down on the couch. Repressed memories, things hidden in the subconscious, Kazuya thinks about overhearing the conversation his parents had with the doctor, about not remembering anything, an accident, behavioral patterns changing in the blink of an eye. He doesn't understand; nothing has changed about him, if anything it's his older brothers who have started to look at him strangely, who've started to ostracize him without even an explanation.
It's when Nagano-sensei snaps his fingers that Kazuya forgets, slumping into a dreamless sleep. When he opens his eyes again, the session with the psychiatrist is over.
Step by Step - 中丸雄一
It's a Wednesday morning when Kazuya is whisked away to his first class: Domoto Tsuyoshi-sensei's Spellcasting 101. Of course nobody really talks to him other than the red-haired boy with the black cat ears and tail, the one he's rooming with.
"My name's Jin, I thought I already told you," the boy says, too busy playing with his pen to listen to Domoto-sensei. "You should really learn how to control that 'calling' thing you sacrifices do," he whispers conspiratorially.
"Shut up," Kazuya hisses rather too harshly, and it makes the whole class look at the pair.
"Well," Domoto-sensei starts, walking towards them, "it seems that our two new students find this class too boring. Tell me, what's your name?"
"I'm Kazuy--"
"Not that name," Domoto-sensei cuts him off. Kazuya swallows his embarrassment. "Try again."
"We're Bound," Jin starts, only Kazuya holds his hand and he stops abruptly then.
Domoto-sensei eyes them with interest. "The new Zero pair, am I correct?" He doesn't wait for them to answer, not that they can, given the aura emanating from the man. "Then let's have you prove your bond, if it's as real as your name claims it is. Detention, one week," he says, then looks over at the rest of the class as if to say 'let this be a lesson to everyone'.
Someone snickers at them as soon as the bell rings and the other students pour out of the room. Jin looks over his shoulder to find a thin boy with blonde hair and bleached cat ears and tail, covering his mouth. Jin's about to go over and hit the boy when another guy--this one taller, with a high nose, black-brown ears and tail--pops up, hitting blondie over the head.
"Hey!" Blondie scowls, but he looks more put out about being hit because he made fun of Jin than the actual fact that he was hit. Jin can already see the blonde one becoming an attention whore.
"I heard you," the taller one says, sounding strict, "Takizawa-kun will not approve."
Blondie makes a face. "What do you know, Papa likes me best."
"Only because you're a girl," tall guy says back. "And we're being rude," he continues, turns to Jin and Kazuya. "Sorry, he can be a bit--inconsiderate."
"Am not!"
"Be quiet," tall guy shushes blondie. "Anyway, we're Selfless, and we live in the dorm room across yours." He points an index finger towards himself. "Ikuta Toma, fighter," then points at blondie, "Yamashita Tomohisa, my sacrifice. Yoroshiku."
Kazuy and Jin bow automatically, still momentarily surprised by the pair in front of them. "Um," Jin starts.
Tomohisa sits on the table beside Jin's, hands gripping the table edge. "Anyway, don't be too scared of Domoto-sensei," he waves a hand, doesn'd notice Jin flinch or Kazuya pulling back. "He likes to look threatening and he's extremely good, like the next best fighter after Kimura-sama, but he won't but into your business normally." Then he looks at Toma. "I'm hungry and we've welcomed the newbies, can we go eat now?"
Toma scrunches his nose up in dissatisfaction. "Bottomless pit, you're treating today," he mutters as they head out the door, turning midway. "You're supposed to come with us, I don't want all the good tables stolen."
Kazuya and Jin will learn that Selfless are the top pair in their level, and that almost all the professors and seniors like the sacrifice, Tomohisa. Whenever they are asked to get partners for practice duels, Tomohisa practically grabs Kazuya's hand; the fighters don't mind, not even when Jin's competetive ego (and Kazuya's, surprisingly, to a lesser extent) gets bruised again and again because Selfless always manages to win. It's all a learning process anyway, especially for Jin, who gets coached by Toma most of the time because Kazuya can't control his fighter.
"It's all about exploiting your bond," Tomohisa is saying over a mouthful of karaage, and Toma swats him over the head for not chewing his food properly. They sit together for meals all the time, too. Jin's thankful for the company; it doesn't look like Kazuya likes him much yet. He vows to change that soon.
"But we're not--" Kazuya wants to explain, only Toma shakes his head and wryly smiles.
"Never believe what those crazy women tell you." Jin's told Toma about communication blocks, plus that little secret over his collarbone that he doesn't know what to do with. "You've got a name, so there's a bond nobody can touch, no matter what they say."
Tomohisa raises an eyebrow at the exchange. "What are you talking about." He eyes Kazuya warily. "Listen to me Kazuya: everything is about disciplining your man and making sure you're in control." When he notices the appalled reactions the statement gathers, he utters, "that didn't sound right, did it?"
Again I Go Unnoticed - Dashboard Confessional
They gain friends from the same grade, although Kazuya classifies everyone as colleagues, with the exception of a fighter named Tatsuya, whom he treats only marginally better. Most of the time, Kazuya's reserved and quiet, very unlike the kid who wanted to run through his older brothers' room and make it look like a tornado had passed whenever he lost his baseball glove.
Jin doesn't pry, not when they lose the first few practice matches and get extra coaching time from the seniors, not when Motionless' sacrifice, Imai Tsubasa gets assigned to them for the senior-junior mentoring program that fall. What Jin wants is for Kazuya to come to him and set things straight, to properly use their connection to win battles and hone their talents. While the other pairs slowly become adults, Jin and Kazuya stay the same, only growing older by age. Kazuya simply doesn't care about such things, his family always occupying his thoughts. As for Jin, he doesn't mind. He'll wait for no matter how long that takes.
Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
The evening Kazuya comes back from sneaking out of Seven Moons to celebrate Ran's birthday, there's a surprise graded exam: a showdown between them and Tireless. All afternoon, Jin had messaged him and waited so they could practice, but Kazuya had been unreachable, having such an enjoyable day after being cooped up for so long.
Jin is obviously pissed when he corners Kazuya by the bleachers.
"Where have you been," Jin's all over Kazuya's breathing space, lips pursed into an angry frown and eyebrows bunched together. Kazuya wants to smooth them over with his fingers, but he doesn't act on that impulse.
Instead, Kazuya shrugs, nonchalant. "I went out," he sits down on a bench, crosses his legs together. A slight breeze wafts past the arena, and Kazuya hears the start of winter beckoning amidst the calls of the audience.
Jin's lips purse further. "Are you nuts? I called you like a billion times," he whispers, irritated. Kazuya doesn't bother to check his phone; he knows that's not the only way Jin tried to reach him.
"I was out on a date," Kazuya carelessly replies, and Jin knows it's with the girl next to Kazuya in the picture frame in their room that he's talking about. "Let's do this," Kazuya continues, standing up and walking towards their side of the field.
He doesn't notice the way Jin's expression hardens, how he suddenly looks like he's controlling his breathing very hard.
The crowd starts to liven up when Tanaka Koki and Taguchi Junnosuke enter the arena from the other side, looking ready to fight. From the smirk on Koki's face and Jin's quickly darkening expression, it looks like he's had fun at Jin's expense all afternoon. Kazuya knows they mean no harm, but Koki really likes to rub in how earlier he's been in the academy than the others in his grade.
"Ready to lose, shitface?" Koki challenges, squirming to loosen some knots in his muscles. For a sacrifice, he acts pretty cocky, but Kazuya knows the arrogance in not unfounded; Koki's got one hell of a resistance to pain, which is good since his fighter hasn't really learned much about defense yet.
"Koki, don't taunt," Junnosuke chides, taking a loose battle stance and standing in front of Koki. He smiles at Kazuya and Jin, eyes disappearing into half-moons. "Yoroshiku ne."
Jin answers by harshly pushing Kazuya behind him, feet apart and chin raised proudly.
"Hey-" Kazuya almost face plants from the force of Jin's shove, but before he can bite down a curse, Jin starts the battle.
"We declare a battle by wordspell. Battle systems engage," Jin punches his fist into Kazuya's outstretched palm, voice solid and eyes trained on the other side of the field, and the crowd roars.
"Bound," Jin's voice continues, and Kazuya's mouth opens but suddenly he can't mouth the words the same pace as Jin's. "United, two ties that are joined by fate."
"Battle accepted," Junnosuke and Koki say simultaneously, "Tireless, we exceed what is required."
Don't hurt them, Kazuya closes his eyes as everything hazes and focuses on the air around them, just disarm.
Unfortunately, the words come out from Jin's mouth and not his. "Divide. Isolate. Your differences will be your downfall."
"Deflect. Refract," Junnosuke counters easily, and the spell does not even reach them before the wave retraces its direction. "The power of two cannot be defeated. Double. Triple. Quadruple."
Kazuya chokes as he feels the connection with Jin rapidly diminishing, silence registering. Jin, he tries, Jin, defend!
Jin doesn't bat an eyelash, doesn't hear Kazuya. "Suspend. Separate. Lack of intimacy makes your attacks insignificant."
"What the fu-Junno!" Koki hangs upside-down by an invisible rope, his head a few feet above the ground, hand still firmly grasping Junnosuke's now-raised fist. Destroy him.
"You think you guys stand a chance?" Junnosuke says, ever so calm. "You can't even hear your own sacrifice. Arrogance will fuel the flames of your loss. Burn."
"Abyss," Jin commands, and Kazuya tries to inhale through the vacuum that roots him to the ground by absolute surprise-Jin just attacked him with a spell. "Emptiness produces no fire. Are you completely stupid?"
Koki's eyes widen. "Kazuya!" he howls angrily, then pins blazing eyes at Jin. "Akanishi, you are a total moron! He will die!"
Jin coldly stares. "I do not answer to you," he says to Koki. Junnosuke looks shocked at what is happening, and Jin takes his chance. "Your temporary freedom ends now, don't you think so? Restrict. Bind. Negligence will chain you to failure."
Multiple chains pile up on Koki's wrists, his legs, along his torso and neck, robbing him of air. Behind Jin, Kazuya continues to gasp, scrabbling at the last dregs of oxygen he can manage while frozen in place.
"Surprised?" Jin mocks. "Magnify," he breathes-
"Divert! Repel! Obviate!" Junnosuke hurriedly shouts, panicked.
-and the surge of red-hot energy that comes with a new set of shackles almost crushes Koki's body.
Kazuya starts to shake when there's nothing left to breathe, palm closing over Jin's fist so tightly, his aura becoming pale. Stop this, he pleads weakly, halt, it's over.
"Surge. Power combine. Flow," Jin commands instead, seeing a girl with rosy apple cheeks in a yellow and fiery orange summery yukata instead of Junnosuke's sacrifice floating and immobilized, thorns of electricity speeding their way towards Koki, "this ends now. Obliterate."
The sickening thud that follows when Koki slams to the floor, face down and unconscious, as the battle systems disengage and Bound is announced as victor makes Kazuya fall to his knees, panting desperately. Junnosuke swiftly turns around and kneels on the floor beside his sacrifice, eyes closed but vividly seeing Koki's spasms caused by the energy stream.
Jin, Kazuya quietly gets out, his lungs perfectly functioning now but his mind still trapped in the void, body reeling from the lack of circulation. "Jin," he wheezes out, voice hoarse but angry and brain too tired to follow it up out loud. Stay, he says instead, but Jin's already walking out of the arena, not minding the excited screams of the other students.
"The hell is wrong with you!" Kazuya snipes. He suppresses the urge to hurl the nearest item he can reach at Jin. "Why the fuck would you fight like that!"
Jin just snorts. "We won the simulation battle, what's your deal," his voice comes out calmer than he expects, but Kazuya knows Jin is frustrated about something, he just can't find out what.
Books hit the floor where Kazuya has swiped them off the table in his anger. "What is wrong with your brain, we never practiced fighting on Auto-"
"Well we never practiced anything!" Jin howls at him, agitated and turning red. "You were too busy getting your face sucked by your girlfriend," he continues, then ducks when Kazuya throws a picture frame at him. "Koichi-sensei said we passed midterms, the fuck do you want me to do?!"
Kazuya is seething. "First of all," he hisses, "never talk about my friends like that. Ran and I have known each other long before this crazy excuse of a school happened to me," he charges forward and grabs Jin by his shirt collar, presses him against the wall with their faces so close to each other. Jin can feel Kazuya's breath fan his features.
Jin looks at his sacrifice, eyes wide but not scared. His name pulses with every second that passes, pinpricks and electricity along his shoulder blades where the tips of the script are up to his collarbones. His blood sings, and he can only look at Kazuya.
"Second," Kazuya continues in his low, threatening voice, "do not ever, ever fight on Auto again, do you understand me?" He pushes against Jin in emphasis, eyes a black pool of anger. "You almost killed someone! Are you out of your mind?"
"I don't answer to you," Jin is looking Kazuya in the eyes, indifferent. His words are unusually emotionless, and the change in Jin's attitude stops Kazuya's anger.
The closed fist tightens on Jin's shirt. "What?"
"I don't answer to you," Jin repeats, his voice wavering a little, content to let Kazuya squash him against the wall. Judging by the thinness of the walls in the dormitory he's sure Selfless can hear them; he'll be up for another round of scolding from Toma, but he finds he doesn't care right now.
"You-" Kazuya starts, but Jin finally finds an opening and shrugs the hold on him. Kazuya momentarily loses his balance when Jin remains calm, even as he struggles to put some distance between them.
Jin looks at him, eyes sad and longing. "You don't even believe we're a pair, even though the proof is right there screaming at you when we're in the same living space," he points at Kazuya's chest. Kazuya shivers when he feels the warmth of Jin's finger through his shirt. He doesn't know how Jin knows that secret; Kazuya hasn't told anyone of that. "We're strong, both of us, but it's all worthless if we don't have a proper connection. Don't skip training just to flirt around again," Jin finishes, torn between wanting to walk out on such a pointless argument or suffocate Kazuya into submission.
"Well you did fantastic on your own, so why would you even need me," Kazuya says sarcastically. He doesn't understand how training is such a big deal, if Jin's going to be all high and mighty about fighting without his sacrifice's help, anyway.
"Fine, be that way," Jin shakes his head. "You want the truth? I just want to be with you, but I guess that's too much to ask," he mutters hopelessly before he lets the door fall closed and heads for his quiet place.
Kazuya and Ran meet each other for the first time during Tanabata, when Kazuya is eleven and his voice hasn't broken yet. Being chased by her friends, she topples over an equally distracted Kazuya, who has been tricked by his brothers into carrying their steamed sweet potatoes.
"Ow," Kazuya screams, rubbing his thigh where the potatoes had had the decency to roll over, "hot, hot! You," he fumes at the girl who looks as dishevelled and burnt with the family's snack, "watch where you're going!"
Ran looks at him with big eyes, and Kazuya flinches, ready for a verbal assault or a stream of tears, maybe some pyrotechnics to go with the bright orange and yellow kimono sleeves that are about to flail wildly at him, but the only thing that happens next is Ran bowing, head to the floor, shouting "I'm really sorry!" in her loudest voice.
Kazuya is so shocked that he does end up flinching, but for a very different reason. He laughs his high-pitched, cackling laugh, which makes the girl look at her in confusion. He offers her a hand as soon as he's stood up, and that's the scene Yuya sees.
"Oh," Yuya points at their linked hands, eyes glinting mischievously and glancing quickly at the mishandled food on the cement, "that's why you kept Koji-nii and Yu-nii starving. I'm gonna tell~"
And before Kazuya can make a half-assed retort or even let go of Ran's arm, Yuya has already run off to tattle on his brother's non-existent secret date.
"Uh-" Ran starts, not sure whether to ask about what just happened or to take her hand back.
Kazuya looks at her, his eyes crinkling into half-moons. "He's my idiot brother," he gestures to the space where Yuya just stood at, "and apparently, you're stuck with me today."
Ran looks even more confused. "What?"
"Nice to meet you," comes out in mangled English, "I'm Kazuya."
Too Close for Comfort - McFly
By some miracle they are allowed to go home on Christmas and New Year, and even though Kazuya's family isn't really big on celebrating holidays that aren't related to dead ancestors, the familiar car is outside the academy two days before Christmas Eve when Kazuya comes out. By the school gate, Julie is obviously peering at them from behind her thick, startle-inducing glasses.
"Kazu-nii," Yuya cheerfully waves from the back seat, and Kazuya almost smiles, except it's Yuichiro who is driving, judging by his position by the driver's side, posture stiff and arms crossed over his chest. Kazuya's grip on his bag tightens. His father is nowhere to be found.
Jin stops in his steps, clears his throat when it seems the brothers are not up for much talking. There's a gust of wind, and Jin fights the urge to shudder. He was vehemently opposed when Johnny mentioned spending two weeks over at Kazuya's, to the point of almost getting suspended for foul language usage. They aren't even talking, haven't so much as looked at each other directly since that night they won the battle simulation and Jin walked out to clear his head, filled with jealousy and anger, insecurity over some unknown girl that got to spend her birthday with Kazuya. He came back at almost midnight to find that Kazuya had dead-bolted the door to their room.
Jin used up almost half an hour pounding on Selfless' door and literally begging them to let him crash. When morning came about and Jin had had his most fitful sleep ever since entering the academy, Kazuya was already in class, their room unlocked.
Right now, though, one look at his sacrifice's downcast face tells Jin that Kazuya would give anything up not to be crammed into a single room with his family, winter break or not.
Yuichiro wordlessly opens the car door, letting himself in. Kazuya looks at Jin, silently points at the back passenger door with his mouth, and proceeds to ride shotgun.
Flour-dusted cheeks and a messy kitchen greet Kazuya and Jin when they arrive in Edogawa. Kazuya's mother looks a bit surprised when she greets her third son and finds that he brought company.
"Kazuya's friends are always welcome here," she warmly smiles at Jin after she's finished pawing over Kazuya, muttering things like malnutrition and 'Kazuya never had to deal with physical exhaustion when he was staying home'. Jin gets second hand embarrassment.
Kazuya fidgets. "Kaa-san," he tries to deflect the topic from his supposed love life into something less destructive for the sake of his and Jin's withering partnership, "where's tou-san?"
"Koji made him watch this year's ending," his mother says, handing Kazuya pillows and a blanket from the spare room cabinet. Every December before winter vacation starts, Koji's school holds a varsity team versus faculty charity baseball match as the last game of the year. "They'll be home by dinner. Now go, you can nick the extra bed stuff from Yuichiro's room," his mother gestures, and while Kazuya hasn't been a fan of socializing with his brothers since a year ago, he hopes, just a little, that enough time has already passed for Yuichiro and Koji to stop acting like assholes and let him be part of the four-way brotherhood again.
He turns his head a bit in the middle of heading upstairs. "Where's Yuya staying, then?" Kazuya asks, a bit loudly. He and Yuya had always shared a room, but since Jin's here…
"He'll sleep in our room," his mother clucks, busy with cooking nikujaga enough to feed an army. "Now make yourself useful and entertain your guest!"
The two of them make their way to the second floor, Kazuya carrying sleeping necessities and Jin only carrying his own bag. "We're on the right door, by the grandfather clock," Kazuya softly says, the first words he's let out directly to Jin in over a month. "Feel free to use anything," he continues, as Jin opens the door and lets Kazuya pass through first.
It's definitely a boy's room, Jin muses. There's a clutter of baseball paraphernalia and the walls boast of framed pictures of Kazuya and Yuya winning various awards during games. A mini-Kazuya stares at Jin, all squiggly eyebrows and slanted eyes, white jersey tainted with dirt from the ground; it's the first game in which Kazuya had been allowed to be on the starting line-up, when he was nine.
There's a cabinet by the curtained window opposite the door and a low table that's been pushed to the side. Kazuya plops the pillows and blanket on the floor beside an unmade futon-definitely Yuya's-and heads for the door.
"Kazu-" Jin starts, making Kazuya look at him. "I," he continues, realizes he doesn't actually know what to say. Kazuya looks pale, like he wishes vacation would just be over and they can go back to Seven Moons, pretend not to play happy family.
"Extra futon is in nii-chan's room," Kazuya answers, looking down again.
Oh. Right, bed. "I'll help," Jin volunteers.
Kazuya pins him an unsure look. "If you're sure."
Turns out Yuichiro and Koji's room is beside theirs, and Kazuya knocks thrice before speaking, "I hope we're not intruding."
Yuichiro just grunts, and when Kazuya opens the door he doesn't even look up from his book, toeing the already prepared necessities towards Kazuya.
They've really started to hate me, Kazuya sighs when they're back in his room, and is surprised when Jin puts a hand in his shoulder. "What?"
"Don't say that, I said," Jin scratches the back of his neck. "I think it's wonderful that you've got a warm family," he smiles, takes the bedding from Kazuya's arms, and settles them on the floor.
Dinner is served an hour after Koji and his father come home. As usual, it's a rowdy affair, with a family of five boys that never seem to quiet down. Jin would like to disappear; there was never anything like this where he lived, and the academy is the closest thing he's got to a home, anyway.
"So, Jin-kun," Kazuya's father is saying between a mouthful of rice, "where did you say you were from?"
That makes Kazuya listen as well. He's never asked Jin anything about his private life, convinced that they just have to live with each other until Julie gets tired of them and decides to give Jin another sacrifice.
"Not far from here, actually," Jin answers, rather shy. Homecooked meals really are the best, but he can't bear to eat a lot when it looks like Kazuya's brothers are about to pounce on him if he says a wrong syllable.
Kazuya's father looks interested. "Really? We haven't seen you around this neighborhood, though."
Jin clears his throat, "you know the abandoned church with the nuns by the empty lot?"
There's only one lot near the residential side of the city that can be described like that, and the family's chatter dies down when they realize what it implies.
"So..." Yuichiro walks on thin ice, garnering looks from his parents.
"Been an orphan for as long as I can remember," Jin answers nonchalantly, continuing with his dinner. "Please don't be uncomfortable, it's not much of a big deal anyway. My family died in a freak road accident. The sisters at the shelter were really kind to me."
"I'm really sorry, Jin-kun," Kazuya's mom says when she's finished scolding Yuichiro.
Jin shakes his head. "It's really okay. Actually," he gives an unsure smile, "I was quite mischievous, always sneaking out. I saw Kazuya and his brothers play ball on the lot a couple of times back then."
Koji puts dow his chopsticks rather harshly on the table. "I've finished eating, please excuse me." He leaves the tables abruptly, not looking back when his mother calls.
"I'm sorry for their rude behavior," Kazuya's mom apologizes, but Jin waves it off. The front door slams shut and there's a roar of a motorcycle coming to life, the sound of the engine fading as Koji speeds away from the household.
"I have a name," Kazuya mutters, lying down on his futon with his hands pillowing his head. He doesn't look at Jin.
Jin's ears perk up. "Really?" It's the first time Kazuya's ever volunteered information about himself; Jin's fairly interested.
Exhaling a held breath, Kazuya nods. "Koji-nii looked at me like I had grown five extra hands when he saw it. We were in the bath." Koji had been ignoring him for two weeks during that time, so their mother had forced them into the bath together, locking the door and demanding they either talk or wrestle it out, either way the door was going to stay locked and they could die drowning in the bath unless they made up.
Everything had been quiet and okay by Kazuya's standards, until Koji looked at him after they had gotten in the bath. He remembers Koji shouting, then pointing at him while stuttering, then shouting again, this time, for his mother to come quickly because apparently, Kazuya had gotten a tattoo.
Kazuya remembers panicking, remembers how wide his eyes were when he saw where Koji was pointing at. He will never forget trying to scrub away the mark, his skin going red and raw and blotchy, how the name had stayed still, bold lines cleanly written on his skin even after Kazuya had used about a whole bar of soap trying to wash it off.
Koji had never looked at him after that, not even a glance.
A loud commotion downstairs interrupts Kazuya and Jin. They look outside the wondow; the front porch light is on, and Koji has just come back with some of his friends. They all look inebriated.
When Kazuya's mother starts clucking up a storm outside, scolding his second son for irresponsible behavior and embarrassing him in front of his friends, Kazuya opens the front door, Jin right on his heels. The neighbors are asleep, and so's Yuya. Yuchiro and their father are both in their rooms, as well.
"Fuck," one of Koji's biker friends says when he sees Kazuya. He's bigger than Koji, and looks like he eats car spare parts for breakfast. "That your brother, Ko-chan?"
Koji sends a death glare his way. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Heh," another one says, eyeing Kazuya with thinly veiled hostility. This one'd got electric blue and vivid red mixed with his black hair. "I thought your family got rid of him for good?"
"Shut up," Koji grits out, hands forming fists. His knuckles turn white from gripping them too much.
Kazuya's mother interferes."What are you boys talking about? Koji, what does this mean?"
Koji looks at their mother, eyebrows knit into a very angry frown. "It's nothing, mind your own business, okay?"
One of Koji's friend's laughs; this time it's a tall, white guy with blonde-streaked brown hair. "It's nothing? Koji, man, you're so out of it."
"I said to shut up," Koji hisses at his friend. The whole gang is looking at him.
"Dude, that's your brother," the burly guy says. Kazuya knows him from somewhere. Has vague memories of him.
The guy narrows his eyes at Kazuya. "That dipshit guy's a murderer--" but they never hear the rest of his sentence, the loud crack of Koji's fist connecting with a jaw overpowering the scream Kazuya's mother makes.
"The fuck was that for, asshole!" Blondie shouts, ready to give Koji back a right hook. The guy Koji just punched is on the floor, spitting out blood on the Kamenashi pavement.
Koji's gaze is like steel. "Get out, all of you. We're through." He doesn't wait for their reply, passes by his mother and a frozen Kazuya--who's barely standing, his whole weight leaning on Jin-- and slams the door closed, bolting up to his and Yuichiro's room.
Untouched - The Veronicas
Murderer, the words haunt Kazuya endlessly. He's sure the words were directed at him, those judging eyes and hateful words. He stares up at the ceiling, wonders if that's what he forgot, why Koji still hasn't talked to him until now.
An alarm goes off, signalling the clock striking midnight. On the bed beside his, Jin shifts, turns to face him. Kazuya doesn't move.
"Happy birthday, Kazuya," Jin's voice floats in the air, lulls Kazuya into a false sense of security. Jin knows Kazuya won't answer, they haven't talked about anything, not even about school and practice.
It's February and they're back in the academy now, but that horrid night has been in Kazuya's dreams for two months. He's afraid to sleep, afraid to hear accusations he knows nothing of.
That night, after the shock had worn off, Jin had carried Kazuya to their room. Kazuya wasn't able to move at all, paralyzed from what he had seen and heard from Koji and his friends. Jin had lain him on the futon and was about to go to his own, give Kazuya some time for himself, but then Kazuya grabbed his hand and looked at him, eyes scared and paranoid.
"Kazu," Jin had said, voice tender, his hand cupping Kazuya's face. Kazuya closed his eyes, then, leaning up to press his head against Jin's shoulder, arms winding around Jin's neck in a tight, vice-like grip.
Murderer, the voice had screamed in Kazuya's head back then, too, and Kazuya shut his eyes tighter, wanting to rid his head of the chant and the image of stabbing someone; he didn't remember anything, but Koji and his friends looked like it was a closely-guarded secret, and his mother had only looked shocked, but had not denied anything nor reprimanded Koji. Was this it, then? Had he killed someone, a person close to his brother?
Kazuya had started when he felt lips on his skin, a fan of breath ghosting over his collarbone. Turned out his shirt had been unbuttoned, Jin's hair tickling his chest.
"Jin," Kazuya had sighed, too petrified to move, and Jin had splayed a palm on his chest, had put his hand then his lips over Kazuya's heart, hands quickly working on divesting Kazuya of his clothes. "Jin," Kazuya had panted, voice rough and shaky, when Jin's hands had drifted away from his chest and stomach and instead had found him under his pyjamas, flaccid.
"Sssssh," Jin had said, gently, pulling Kazuya's pants just to his knees, and when Jin had taken him into his mouth, Kazuya closed his eyes and tried to forget, telling Jin to do the same. There had been sharp breaths and a fist clamped over a mouth to muffle moans, and Jin had given it a lot of effort, wanting to make it slow and good, only Kazuya been too tense and had come fast, Jin cleaning him and carefully tucking him back after, a kiss to Kazuya's sweaty forehead and temple.
"Jin," Kazuya had whispered, not trusting his voice just yet.
"It's okay," Jin had answered, hugging Kazuya to his chest and kissing his cheeks, his eyelids. "I'll do anything you want me to, Kazuya."
His eyes closed and his face hidden in Jin's chest, Kazuya didn't have the strength to talk out loud. Instead, he said it in his mind, because he knew Jin could hear whenever he called.
When we go back, you have to forget, Jin.
Fiction - B2ST
They continue to room together without talking, miraculously surviving training and becoming the best pair when Selfless are accelerated for exemplary performance. They become busy outside class, Jin having a new set of friends--rowdy boys who like to mess around and who have no concept of personal space, so unlike Jin-- and Kazuya mulling over in his silence.
Sometimes Jin will come back to see Kazuya passed out on the floor, beer cans littered around him. Jin will carry him to his bed, put his hand over his lips, then touch it to Kazuya's heart, a longing look in his eyes.
It's been years since they first met, since they were first together, and so far neither Johnny nor Mary and Julie plan on separating them, even though they were never a permanent pair like the others in the first place. They're almost about to graduate too, Jin thinks sometimes.
Whenever he's bothered, which is a lot of times these days, Jin goes to Tomohisa, sometimes to get drunk, sometimes to talk and let his insecurities surface. Kazuya always sees him when they're together, but never says anything. Jin thinks they're going in circles, but unfortunately he's not in the position to make orders.
Jin always, always hears Kazuya in his head, always wants to be there for him. He knows Kazuya thinks about that night, too, probably as much as Jin does, but if anything else they've drifted apart more because of it.
Jin wants them to always be together. They're Bound after all. But unless Kazuya says so, Jin has no option but to obey his sacrifice and stay away.
Part 2