fic for dusk037 (1/3)
Title: The Kalooki Club
Author: tokyopirates
Pairing: Kamenashi Kazuya/Akanishi Jin
Word count: 16.5k
Rating: R
Warnings: Swearing, Violence
Notes: This fanfiction was inspired by a card game called Kalooki. A huge thanks to the three of my awesome friends who helped me with this fiction from words of encouragement to beta-ing, I appreciated it from all my heart. To dusk037 : I hope this fan-fiction would be at least close to what you were hoping to read ♥.
Summary:In a world where all you've got to live for is the lust for revenge... In a world where the only way to take revenge is by joining the most dangerous mafia organization in Japan... would you keep vegetating in agony or join the Kalooki and trade your life for a chance to face the murderers who stole your life?
Life goes on, that’s what he kept telling himself all these past few years after his life came crashing down and snatched along everything precious and valuable to him. He had to keep on living and trying harder because life is a beautiful thing, that’s what they told him awhile after his wife had been killed along with his little five months old daughter in front of his own eyes by a well-known street mafia. They told him it was an action out of revenge after what his father had done to them, having taken their money and run away to some place until now they have no clue of.
They were furious and thought better to take it out on that decent happy son of his, who was living his life to the fullest with his family in a little cozy apartment somewhere inside Tokyo’s busy streets. Ironically that unfortunate day was lifeless, as if some disease came and took over everyone’s lives and left only him to suffer the loneliness.
“You should stop drinking already, man, this is your … ugh I even lost the count of how many glasses you have emptied, Kame!” a nudge on his side made him almost lose the hold he had on his almost empty glass of vodka.
“Mind your own fucking business,” hissed Kame drunkenly and sighed; he had been drinking until he could pass out since that unfortunate day. Kame wondered why they spared his life; they should’ve killed him right on the spot with his precious family but this was probably what they actually meant by revenge. He was the true definition of the saying “a living dead”. What a loser.
“I’ll make them regret the day they didn’t pull the trigger at me, those fuckers.”
“Yes, by drinking your ass off, a very clever way I must say,” came the sarcastic answer from somewhere around him; Kame didn’t bother to recognize who it was from.
“I heard you’re pretty good in cards, is that right?” Someone asked beside him, Kame turned towards the anonymous voice and squinted hard, trying to figure out the appearance of the man but failed as his vision was all unfocused and blurry.
“So I was told,” The glass was almost empty, Kame wondered if they’d allow him more refills or at least one more only. He still hadn’t passed out yet, he needed to lose consciousness.
“It’s your chance today to take revenge; they opened the application for the Kalooki club and if you managed to enter then crushing whoever you wish down is as easy as drinking a shot of Tequila,” with that said, the mysterious man got up and left, as if he was on a mission to deliver the news to Kame specifically.
“Who was that? Anyway, don’t let this get into your stupid mind, Kame. Once you enter that shit, there’s no way out, they’re the most powerful mafia in the whole Asia after all,” The bartender warned; Kame had known him for almost two years now after all the drunken nights he spent in that bar.
“Kamenashi is too drunk to play anyway, look at him; he looks like he’ll pass out any minute,” The owner of the bar said and chuckled amusingly, as if seeing a wasted man was a joke that could be laughed at. Well, maybe it was, thought Kame bitterly and got up from his chair. He was still able to feel and that was never a good thing.
“You’re going already? I see you’re early today, nice improvement!” numerous laughers followed after him as Kame swayed his way out with a half assed wave.
♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥
A finger kept annoyingly poking his cheek; Kame tried to swipe the persistent finger off but it kept coming back poking him in that playful manner.
“Rise and Shine sunshine”
Kame groaned, it wasn’t so bad while he was emptying glasses of sake in the midst of his despair, but right now he could feel a roiling sickness in the pit of his stomach-hardly surprising; there was no way he wouldn’t be feeling the effects of drinking that much.
“Where ... am I?” Struggled against the strong lights, Kame opened his eyes and blinked few times to adjust to the light and clear his blurred vision. Kame knitted his brows in confusion as he took in his surroundings, a room he’d never seen before. It appeared to be a hotel room.
Tried to recall what had happened yesterday, the last thing he could remember was settling in the bar like usually and drinking until he pass out. Other than that, nothing seemed out of ordinary from the usual. Or so he thought.
“Err ... shall I bring you something?” an uncertain voice broke his train of thoughts and startled him; There were a lot of unusual happenings all of sudden that Kame forgot about the second presence in the room.
“Have I sold myself to you yesterday while I was out of it?” He was never gay or had he ever felt any attractions towards guys but from the situation he was in at the moment, there didn’t seem to be any other explanations.
The headache had worsened, Kame grimaced.
“Wow! Slow down, dude, nothing like that at all” The tattooed man smiled uneasily and went to the kitchen, took a bottle of water from the fridge and threw it at Kame.
“Sober up, we have a lot of things to talk about after all,” His body was covered in many tattoos; Kame noticed and couldn’t take his eyes of them. The unknown young man seemed to be in his middle twenties, almost the same age as Kame. As Kame concentrated on his enormous tattoos, they all somehow resembled a-
“Welcome to the Kalooki club Kame-chan, I’m the Joker of Hearts,” A wide grin accompanied with a peace sign greeted Kame; what an image gape that joker suffered from. Seeing his outer look, his personality was nowhere near it.
Kame took a gulp from the bottle of water and then everything stopped.
“What? What the hell are you talking about?!” Kame did his best to try and force his blanked-out mind to restart and at any rate, he had to get rid of this hangover and fast, or he wasn’t going to be able to use his head at all.
What that Joker was talking about? He heard about the Kalooki club, yes, everyone knows about them but He couldn’t wrap his mind around why on earth he would associate with them.
“I thought you wouldn’t be able to remember what happened yesterday, after all you were so wasted that I’m still surprised how you managed to even enter and accomplish the examination, I’m very impressed!” Seeing Kame’s even more panicked expression, the other decided to stop playing around and start explaining.
“Yesterday, it was the once a year event that the Kalooki club held for new participators. During this event the participators go through a card game, the Kalooki card game, against each other and whoever wins in the end will be able to enter our club, a contract is signed right on the spot as soon as the player wins and there’s no delays or exceptions, that means even if you’re out of it and signed the contract there’s no way out. I’m sorry, Kame-chan, but even if you regret it now, you cannot quit,” The joker cleared his throat, took a deep breath and continued. He’s too soft hearted, Kame noticed.
“How does this Kalooki club work?” maybe, that was for the best, Kame thought. His life had already ended since that day so it didn’t really matter now how it would process from ahead on. Tasteless and bitter, unbearable the life... His life is.
“Be patient, I’m actually surprised as how calm you’re right now for someone who signed on his life yesterday. As if life worth nothing”
“It is worth nothing; do you think I gave my life up only since yesterday? Don’t make me crack up now!” Still he couldn’t hold his laugher, his eyes blurred and a small choke almost escaped his lips but he was able to swallow it back after taking another big gulp from the bottle of water. It was never easy and it will never be; that unfortunate happening.
The joker looked at him with a worried expression. The other probably thought of him as someone eccentric, Kame honestly couldn’t blame him.
The joker sighed and continued, “Firstly let me introduce you to the club’s members, there are four groups in the club and they’re based on the actual cards game symbols which are; the Hearts, The Spades, The Diamonds and The Clubs. Each of these groups has definite members which are 13 players in each group”
If they went according to the card game, then by 13 members ...”Are those 13 players supposed to be standing for the decks of cards?”
With a nod, the joker replied” Correct, the thirteen of them represent a certain card. Starting from Ace, 2, 3 up to 10 and then Jack, Queen and lastly the king and they all are, I mean the members are equally powerful in playing the game”
“You mean that the club doesn’t consider the order of the players’ level?” Now that Kame thought about it, all the cards in the card game Kalooki were influential in their own way and they all completed each other from Ace to the king.
“No, aside from the king, every member within the group is powerful enough. Being the 2nd for example of the Clubs doesn’t make you less powerful than the 10th of the Clubs” Clarified the tattooed guy.
“But if every player is equally good then why the Club does refer to its members while using those cards names instead of their actual names?”
Despite Kame’s perception about the Kalooki club, he still didn’t know the club’s rules and how it worked. He was preoccupied with his own self-pity to bother about anything else.
“It’s for the safety of the players; the cards names are like a secret codes that are used between the maintainers while they’re discussing about a certain member. The Kalooki Club is a Mafia organization as you might know; everything needed to be secretive for the game to go as smoothly as it was planned” Commented the Joker.
“As I heard, being the king of your own group gives you a very high position in this club, is that right?” Asked Kame, curiously and looked more sobered.
“That’s true, being able to be the king of your own group for example the king of Hearts give you all the power you need. You’ll also be able to participate as an important mafia member and everything you wish for will be under your own feet in mere minutes, although in secret”
“You said in secret? Is it even possible to hide something as important as this?”
“Yes it’s forbidden after all to tell your own card name to the other players, if you’re for example the Ace of Spades only you, the maintainers and the king of Spades to know about it. Other than those I mentioned, none is allowed to know other players’ card names”
All for the safety of the king, revealed who the king among them was; would push the players on the edge and probably would attempt to get rid of the king by killing him as to them the king was a feared, almost unbeatable rival.
“You Kamenashi Kazuya have the 7th of Hearts as your card name and aside from you, me the joker whose counted as a member of the maintainers and the king; you’re not allowed to tell the other players your own card name” The tattooed man looked dead serious, it was an important matter that could case someone’s own death after all. Not to mention that it could mess up the whole game as well; which was something the mafia wouldn’t ever be pleased of.
“So … I’m under the Hearts” Muttered Kame and then asked “where am I now?”
“You’re currently in the Hearts department’s floor; this is your own room which is a small part of the big department where all the hearts members lives” No wonder it looked like a hotel room to Kame in the beginning, “This whole skyscraper belong to the Kalooki club, in the ground floor you have the casinos that belong to our club and on the upper floors there’s the other groups’ departments along with the maintainers and the mafia members” Said the joker.
Kame remembered how the building looked from outside as he used to drive past it before whenever he was on his way to work; never had he imagined there would come a time when he would be a player in here or even a possible mafia member.
“How does the game work? I mean … how can someone be the king of his own group?”
“The competition is held once a year, usually around the end of the year and for four days, each day is reserved for a certain group. The first day is for the Spades, second for the Hearts, third for the Clubs and lastly the fourth day for Diamonds, or so was the order this time round. They usually change it each year” The joker looked a bit tired, explaining how this whole thing worked wasn’t an easy task; he took a deep breath and continued his speech.
“Four players will be chosen by the maintainers from each group and those four players will play against each other during that day that was decided for them”
That made sense, after all, being the king of your own group required you to play against your own group and defend them to stay on the top or get defended by a player who’s stronger than you and you would end up being killed, that was what Kame knew from the bits of knowledge he had about the Kalooki club.
This game was twisted, full of secrets and hidden actions.
They’re not the most powerful and invincible mafia for nothing. The club gained a lot of money by letting old men with a lot of money in their bank accounts bet on the players.
“Do you have more questions?” Said the tattooed man with a small smile on the face, Kame thought that jokers should be scary looking in the club as they were a major member in the Kalooki mafia but looking at this guy, he didn’t look that bad.
“Are there other new players aside from me?” The Kalooki club usually opened their participation when their own players got killed after losing the game against the king, that was the reason why he was accepted yesterday, to replace someone else’s empty place.
“Yes, three new players to be exact excluding you, they were killed by the Joker of Hearts; me, before yesterday after losing the game against the king. None of them was able to win against the king” He looked pained, and Kame wondered what made such a sensitive person like him enter such a club and on the top of that, as a joker too. Made to kill whoever loses the game.
The Kalooki club needed heartless bastards, almost inhumanly emotionless.
“Are the four players to play against the king, or?”
The joker stood up and went in front of the window, looked with blanked gaze ahead of him, at the beautiful sight of Tokyo’s sunset, “Those four players from … let’s say the Hearts group, have to firstly play against each other and in the end one of them win against the other three, the three who lost get killed right away and the winner move to the next room where the king is, and there the next king will be decided”
With a light chuckle, the joker faced Kame “None of them did manage to get rid of the king before yesterday, all the four of them died”
Kame didn’t know if it was the soft lights that were coming from the window reflected on the joker eyes and made them look teary or the other was truly affected. What a stupid man; emotions are not something that should exist in his heart, it would only destroy him.
With a nervous laugh, the joker rubbed both of his eyes and faked a yawn, tried to cover up his forbidden emotions.
“Explaining this whole thing to you seriously took my power!”
“Believe me; listening to you is even more tiring!”
The joker faked a pained sigh and pouted “You’re mean, Kame-chan.” A pillow was coming towards the joker’s ugly pouting face but the other managed to ward it off and ran to the door, ready to flee, but then halted and turned to look at Kame.
“And by the way, my name is Tanaka Koki” with that the joker, Koki, was out of the sight.
♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥
Kame maundered around the room aimlessly, still uncertain whether he was allowed to be outside of his room or not as the joker had said nothing about it. Though, as Kame neared the door, unmistakably, there were voices outside and loud ones too; they were probably the other players in the hearts group, like him. Then, after all the hesitations, the curiosity took over and finally Kame dared to open the door a bit, tried to be as silent as possible but the hinges let out a small crack and suddenly all the eyes were on Kame.
“Oh, look who’s finally decided to go out!” A loud cheer and giggles from a few females were heard. They appeared to be drunk; Kame rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to the wide living room instead where the drunkards were accumulated at. After all, he wasn’t the least interested in getting to know them when they were in that position.
Huge, that was the first word that came into Kame’s mind as he scanned the place around him. Beside Kame’s room, there were three other doors on the right and two on the left and also one door in the end of the corridor, to Kame’s right. In total, there were seven rooms including Kame’s own one on this side of the hall while on the other side of the living room there seemed to be other rooms too. They were probably the players’ rooms; if Kame was correct then there were around 13 rooms in the whole department with the living room being in the middle shared by all the players.
They seemed to be spoiled by the mafia, thought Kame. The players reminded Kame of sheep that were to be fattened up until the day they’d be sliced up come.
With the curiosity in mind, interested to discover more about the place, Kame plodded his way through, across the wide living room, and tried his best to avoid bumping into the bunch of drunkards around him but didn’t succeed as he was obviously the center of their attention since the moment when he had first opened the door of his room.
“You’re a sneaky! Where” a hic”-you think you’re” another hic followed soon after “going?” Mumbled a drunk dark haired guy after he carelessly threw an arm around Kame’s shoulder, as if they were the best fucking buddies for life.
“None bothered to teach you about something called personal space?” Said Kame annoyed, tried to shrug the arm off but the other was a clingy bastard and held him tighter.
“What’s personal space? Is that a new sex position?” Another hic cut through the dark haired boy’s speech “Do you want to experiment it with me?” Kame felt his anger rise with each word that came out of that drunkard’s giant mouth, he had a feeling he would soon cause a huge scene if that dark haired boy didn’t take the hint and fucked off. It had been awhile since Kame used his hand’s fist; it used to be very popular for its strength when he was a player in the baseball club back in high school.
“Ace! Stop whoring yourself out like that to our new member! You’re giving an awful first impression! Not that you normally have a bright one either.” Said a pretty boy who looked at least a bit more sober compared to other people in the living room. Despite his muscled body his face had very feminine features, Kame noticed.
“Wait, isn’t it forbidden to expose your own level?” Kame was sure he heard the pretty boy call the other one Ace. Had the joker been playing tricks on him when he told him it was a taboo or what?
“Yes it is forbidden, but that’s not Ryo’s level,” seeing Kame’s puzzled expression, the pretty boy continued. “This guy’s name is Nishikido Ryo and here we call him Ace because that’s his lucky card, he likes to be referred to as an Ace despite it not being his own level, maybe. We as you might know aren’t aware of each member’s level aside from our own.”
“And by the way, my name is Ueda Tatsuya. Nice to you”
Kame was about to introduce himself when the dark haired boy, Ace, decided to butt in again “If Queen wasn’t Ueda’s nickname it would’ve been your nick”
If glares could kill, Ace would’ve been dead already. “Yes, so I can rip your balls off,” threatened Kame and what seemed to be a quarrel started between Ace and Queen, about something Kame wasn’t interested to agnize.
Kame took advantage of their brawl and popped off to continue his journey, exploring the huge place he would live at from now on until the day he died. Kame noticed that the department didn’t have any special rooms aside from the players’ personal rooms, the huge open living room in the middle with two doors on opposite sides; one was what seemed to be the exit, also the entrance to the hearts department and another one he was not sure about but he would soon find out.
Finally, Kame reached his destination, that mysterious room, and stood in front of its beautifully designed door, held the golden colored doorknob and turned it.
The first sight that greeted Kame in that wide room was two couples who seemed to be on their way to get it on. A girl was sitting on one of the desks in the room enjoying a tall guy’s attention on her neck as he stood between her spread legs, palmed her thigh, his other hand buried in her hair, as they seemed too preoccupied with their own world of pleasure to notice his presence.
Or that was what Kame thought as he tried to step out as silently and unnoticeably as possible not to disturb the couples when the guy’s voice called after him.
“Sneaking in and out like that without any word” His voice was husky, that tall guy’s. Talk about bad timing, thought Kame awkwardly and turned towards the guy who detached himself from the girl, she looked pissed off but the guy didn’t pay her attention.
“I cannot possibly say ‘Sorry for the disturbance, enjoy your fuck’, can I?” Now that Kame had a good look of the guy’s face, he was handsome. He probably had all the features that were needed to be the guy that every girl dreamed of, not to mention the alluring aura that surrounded him. The guy was easy on the eyes, Kame admitted unwillingly. No wonder the beautiful girl was unhappy about his sudden meddling.
The handsome guy smiled at Kame’s remark, amusingly, then turned towards the girl, “Japonicana, you can leave now. I’ll call for you later”, the girl silently fixed her clothes and walked towards the door, where Kame stood, went past him without sparing him a glance. He had never been that popular with girls anyway, thought Kame and then faced the handsome guy.
“Was that your whore?”
A smile still presented itself on the handsome face, “I would prefer to call it a camp follower.”
“Only that you’re not a military soldier.”
“But we’re on a mission, aren’t we?” The tall guy said, still in that husky voice of his and eyed Kame divertingly. Kame averted his gaze from the guy’s one as their eyes met and looked instead at the wide room he was in. The situation didn’t need any more awkwardness.
“You’re the new member right? Kamenashi--?”
“Kazuya, no wonder none bothered to ask for my name a while ago.” Now that Kame thought about it, he didn’t tell the joker his name yet the other had known it already.
“We were told about your name and age yesterday.” The handsome guy clarified and came to stand in front of Kame, held his hand up for Kame to shake it.
“Welcome to the hearts department, my name is Akanishi Jin.” Kame wondered what this guy’s level in the club, is he even a player or only one of the maintainers? With a slight nod, Kame shook hands with Akanishi. He better keep an eye on this one, just in case.
“So, have you looked around the place? There’s nothing much in the department though” Said the taller guy and eyed the room where they were at, and then peaked outside to the living where the majority of the players had passed out due to the overdose of alcohol.
With a light chuckle Akanishi said “They look funny”, he looked awfully dejected for someone who was supposed to be amused.
“Is that a way to celebrate peoples’ death?” Everything seemed cold in this club, Kame wondered how long will it take for him to feel the chilliness creeping up on his body and taking over it, completely.
Akanishi let his gaze fixed on the players’ unanimated bodies and the smile that was on his face a while ago completely left his handsome face and was replaced with a plain misery, his expression made it look like the players were already dead.
After a few seconds the taller man sighed and rubbed both of his eyes with his hands. He looked extremely tired, as if he aged years ahead.
“It’s a countdown, with each passing day we all are approaching our end. Whether we like it or not, it’s just … too late” The last line came out of Akanishi’s mouth was so low-toned that if it weren’t for the silence around them Kame wouldn’t have heard it.
That wasn’t what Kame had expected the members of this club to be. He didn’t know whether to think it was odd of them to feel or not.
As he loosened his tie a bit, Akanishi sighed and added, “We live for today, we don’t allow ourselves to live for the past nor look forward to the future.”
Kame felt a sudden anger build up inside of him, uncontrollably, as if his emotions were set on fire and then he snapped, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?! The past is what decided who we’re right now! No matter how much we try to run from it, it will always come and hunt us down! There’s no way you can avoid the past when it’s like your own fucking shadow!”
The other man looked at him with a calm expression while Kame was huffing as if he was running a marathon.
“Is it based on your own personal experience?”
Kame’s eyes widened and his breath hitched, “W-what the fuck are you talking about?!” He wasn’t supposed to be read that easily, like an open book. What a fool he was, getting carried away with his own feelings like that, what a stupid fool.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to ask you anything personal,” as if he would believe that, this Akanishi didn’t seem like a person who would say unnecessary things randomly like that, unless he actually intended to. Maybe he would fake being clueless even though he really wasn’t anywhere near it. Kame should keep a close look on this Akanishi.
“I said I’m sorry, stop glaring at me like that!” Akanishi laughed and this time it looked honest, not like that other expression he had just witnessed.
“Where are the new members?” Kame asked and observed the bunch of guys in the living room who seemed to be deep in their own worlds of fantasies. From what Kame could see, none of them seemed to be new as they all somehow appeared to be very comfortable with each other.
“You were the first one who came into the department yesterday night. The other three will probably be here tomorrow or later today,” Akanishi shrugged and shambled out of the room into the living room. Kame followed him to the small bar where all sorts of alcohol were placed neatly. Akanishi lazily grabbed two cans of beer from the fridge and threw one at Kame.
The older man groaned tiredly and slumped down onto one of the sofas at the other side of the living room, away from the unconscious bodies of players, and patted the place beside him. “Come, newbie, let’s catch up.”
Kame rolled his eyes, “As if you’re in any position for talking and explaining.”
“I’m worn out today; Japonicana took all of my energy,” said the older man with a cheeky smile on the face. It was clear that he was teasing Kame with that remark of his.
“What a weird name,” Kame muttered and took a big gulp from his can of beer. The last time he had drunk it was only yesterday, and it was strange, just how much he had missed alcohol and its cooling sensation when the cold liquid went down his throat. With a satisfied sigh, Kame sat down on the sofa, a bit away from where Akanishi would’ve liked him to.
“It’s not weird~” He sounded tipsy. Was Akanishi that bad in holding his liquor or was he trying to be cute? Kame winced and dismissed the latter thought as it sounded quite disturbing.
“It is a nickname I gave to her. She was broken when she first came here after the Kalooki club had taken her in but somehow … she managed to catch my attention.” The beaming expression was still on Akanishi’s face as he was recalling that time when he had first met her.
“Are you in love with her or something?”
Akanishi smirked at the question, “Aren’t you being quite unfair? Asking me personal questions while I’m not allowed to do so?”
Kame glowered at the older boy, “Are you fighting fire with fire now?”
The older boy laughed loudly and lunged forward, closer to Kame, “I really like you. We’ll definitely get along well together!”
At that moment, the older boy’s expression was one of pure enjoyment; it reminded Kame of a starved Panda that had finally found a piece of fish after countless nights of hunger.
The alcohol was probably getting into him; otherwise Kame would never allow himself to ever think of those embarrassing and ridiculous thoughts.
♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥
He could hear the sound of rain falling outside.
It had been raining all day long since morning and it didn’t seem like it would stop anytime soon. Rainy weather used to be Kame’s favorite before. He used to cuddle with his wife as they both snuggled on the sofa with a soft blanket over them while watching TV.
He hated rainy weather.
A sudden noisy something barged into his room without any permission. Kame already knew who it was without even turning around towards the door. It had been one week since he came to the Kalooki club and during those seven days, he had this guy clinging to him like a baby monkey.
“What are you doing? Sitting and weeping in front of the window like a high school girl who got her heart broken.”
Kame rolled his eyes “Who’s weeping, you idiot.”
“Come on! You have been sticking to our department for the whole week! There are a lot of things you haven’t seen yet.” The older guy crouched down and poked Kame’s back with his forefinger. “Let me show you around, it’s boring staying like this.”
“Why are you even bothering?” Kame took a deep breath, exhaled and closed his eyes. He was extremely tired, the weight on his shoulders felt extra heavy today. The memories had been hunting him and made it hard for him to take a rest. It was atrocious.
Kame knew the solution was to stop the train of his thoughts; to get drunk, to feel numb, and to completely lose his conscience.
“Stop doing that,” Akanishi said, after observing Kame’s face. “Stop looking like you’re about to die. Live for today, Kame,” Akanishi’s voice held too much concern for Kame’s liking. As if the guy was almost on the verge of begging him. Kame would never figure out what was behind Akanishi’s behavior.
Kame chuckled lightly at the other’s desperate expression after he had finally turned to the side and had a look at Akanishi’s face. “The one who’s looking like he’s on the edge of dying is you, stupid.”
“Just because of that smile on your face that I finally got to see, I’ll ditch your insults aside.” The other laughed after Kame punched him lightly on the arm and stood up, holding out his hand for Kame. “Get up! Change your clothes so I can show you around. This club is big and has a lot of entertaining stuff!”
Kame hesitated for a few seconds whether he should take the extended hand or not. He didn’t want to depend on someone and get used to their presence. He had already tasted the bitterness and it would break him completely if he was ever to lose someone close to him again.
Live for today
That sentence ran through Kame’s mind, suddenly, and then he simpered at the realization; dangerous, that Akanishi was.
Finally, Kame uncertainly extended his hand up for the older boy, but Akanishi gladly and confidently grabbed it and pulled him up.
“Don’t look so proud, it pisses me off.” Kame glared at the older man as he stood up. Akanishi’s aspect made it look like he was a father who ultimately managed to drag his addicted to computers son out of his room.
“Why~?”
“Don’t whine! Just get out! I won’t change with you in the room.” A fist was approaching Jin’s head when the other managed to avoid it and popped out of the room with loud laugher.
Never had Kame encountered someone as carefree as this guy before.
They took a tour around the place as far as they could manage. It was enormous and there was no way they would be able to explore it all in one day. So far, Kame had seen the sports floor, which was divided in several sections such as boxing, judo, and every possible kind of sports activities, as body building and martial art were also there. He would consider doing some boxing later on to work out.
“We have already visited both the Clubs and Spades’ departments. Let’s head to the Diamonds’ one now,” said Akanishi and they both went inside the elevator. Then, he turned towards Kame, “for now, what do you think about this place?” Even the elevator was designed beautifully and cautiously, Kame noticed as he eyed it.
“All I have to say is the owner is one hell of a sumptuous man.”
Akanishi chortled and nodded his head. “Yes, he likes to spoil his boys,” added the taller boy with a wink.
With a grossed out expression on his face, Kame replied, “No wonder all the players seem to be young and good-looking too.”
Akanishi smirked and slowly walked towards Kame, “Shall we give him a show?” said the taller guy tauntingly as he titled his head towards the security camera at the upper corner of the elevator.
“A show where I rip you into pieces and neatly put your meat aside so later they can collect it without any troubles? Sure, no problem,” Kame had gotten used to Akanishi’s lame jokes. They no longer had any effect on him despite it being only one week since he had come to this club. He had experienced enough already and learned how to handle them.
Akanishi sulked lightly and leaned his face closer to Kame’s, “You’re no fun”
“I leave the fun to you and Japonicana.” With a push that was stronger than Kame had intended it to be, Akanishi stumbled backwards and then smiled.
“Yes! I’ll collect my girl later today!”
They had already reached the 15th floor, their destination, and after a peeping sound, the door silently opened for them. Kame bumped his shoulder against Akanishi’s in a playful manner and walked out of the elevator, “Good for you.”
“You sound bitter!” Akanishi followed him and threw an arm around his shoulders as they neared the Diamonds’ department. Akanishi was a few centimeters taller than him and that bastard took advantage of it by hanging his arm on Kame’s shoulder whenever he felt like it.
With a snide look, Kame shrugged Akanishi’s arm off and smirked at him, “You wish!”
After seeing all the departments and what they looked like, Kame noticed that they all didn’t look that much different from each other aside from the furniture’s colors and designs. The hearts’ department had mostly red and heart-shaped furniture. It was also the same with the other departments. Each department’s design followed its own symbol.
As Kame entered the Diamonds’ department, the design looked the best out of the four. It was the most elegant looking one.
“Look who’s here in our department! Jin!” A loud voice called out for Akanishi and then all the attention of the Diamonds’ players was turned to them.
The guy who shouted was the first one to approach Akanishi and Kame, who was standing in front of Jin, and he grinned widely.
“Don’t make it sound like I’m rarely spotted here!” Said Akanishi teasingly and they shook hands in a weird twisted way that Kame personally found improbably childish and old-fashioned.
Subsequently, the guy’s attention was turned to Kame. “You’re the new member, right?” He looked friendly enough, although Kame couldn’t help but keep on eyeing his chest. Somehow, it resembled a woman’s boo-
“My name is Yamashita Tomohisa, nice to meet you…?” Yamashita stretched out his hand for Kame to shake it.
Embarrassed at being caught ogling the other guy’s bosom, Kame cleared his throat nervously and took the other guy’s hand and shook it.
“Kamenashi Kazuya, nice to meet you too.”
Akanishi was having his best of time as he noticed Kame’s uneasiness, and that bastard had most certainly caught him while he was eyeing Yamashita’s man boobs.
“Don’t be ashamed, you’re not the only who ogled that chest of his.” A sudden yelp was heard as Akanishi groped the man’s breasts and squeezed them as hard as he could with both of his hands. Kame could only gape at these two. He had thought there was only one unique idiotic in this club but after today, now there seemed to be two of them.
The light atmosphere would’ve continued if it hadn’t been for the sudden horrified scream that was heard from inside the department.
The three of them rushed into the room where the scream had come from and saw three men dressed in black and two guys on the floor. One of the guys on the floor seemed like he was on the verge of having a break down as his body was trembling badly and his lips were shivering. He looked terrified by the other three men and held another man in his embrace.
“N-no! Y-you cannot do that! He’s all I have! No please... No no no!” The man cried out and held the other tighter in his arms, as if they were enough to shield him from the men.
“This is an order. He broke that rule, so, he needs to pay for it.” It was said with absolutely no emotions, as if they were programmed to mouth those words.
“What the fuck is going now?”
One of the three men dressed in black turned towards them and glared, “Don’t meddle in, Akanishi!”
“It’s not about meddling! Explain what the hell is going on? What did Koyama do?”
“He told that faggot his own card name, thinking the Mafia won’t be able to discover it,” one of them snorted and kicked Koyama in the stomach, making the other cry out in pain.
Kame felt sick in his stomach. He had to get out of there right away but his legs didn’t obey him. He could predict exactly what the outcome of this situation would be like yet he still couldn’t face it. Painful memories and bloody flashbacks quickly went through Kame’s mind and it became hard to breathe.
Yamashita beside him wasn’t any better. The other looked stunned and pale as if all the blood had left his body.
They could do nothing against it, absolutely nothing.
Kame felt a strong grip on his wrist and suddenly, he was being forcefully dragged out of there without a word, across the living room, on the way to the exit.
“What the fuck are you doing, Akanishi? Let go!” Kame struggled against the painfully tight grip on his wrist but couldn’t break free nor could he slow Akanishi down as the latter seemed determined to get them out of the department as soon as possible.
As soon as they were out, the other let go of Kame’s wrist and turned to face him. “They’ll kill him,” his voice was shaking a bit and his eyes were unfocused. “Do you want to see his flesh all over the fucking room?!”
“But Yamashita is still in there!”
“This is his department. Besides, he has to take care of Tegoshi,” Kame was about to ask who Tegoshi was but remembered the other guy who was holding Koyama in his hands and crying hysterically. Kame was still able to hear his cries from the inside.
The older man leaned against the wall behind him and hid his face in his palms. “Stupid, he is so fucking stupid!”
A feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him. Kame walked towards the window and looked outside, and it was still raining.
He hated rainy weather.
Soon after, a gunshot was heard.
Part 2
Author: tokyopirates
Pairing: Kamenashi Kazuya/Akanishi Jin
Word count: 16.5k
Rating: R
Warnings: Swearing, Violence
Notes: This fanfiction was inspired by a card game called Kalooki. A huge thanks to the three of my awesome friends who helped me with this fiction from words of encouragement to beta-ing, I appreciated it from all my heart. To dusk037 : I hope this fan-fiction would be at least close to what you were hoping to read ♥.
Summary:In a world where all you've got to live for is the lust for revenge... In a world where the only way to take revenge is by joining the most dangerous mafia organization in Japan... would you keep vegetating in agony or join the Kalooki and trade your life for a chance to face the murderers who stole your life?
Life goes on, that’s what he kept telling himself all these past few years after his life came crashing down and snatched along everything precious and valuable to him. He had to keep on living and trying harder because life is a beautiful thing, that’s what they told him awhile after his wife had been killed along with his little five months old daughter in front of his own eyes by a well-known street mafia. They told him it was an action out of revenge after what his father had done to them, having taken their money and run away to some place until now they have no clue of.
They were furious and thought better to take it out on that decent happy son of his, who was living his life to the fullest with his family in a little cozy apartment somewhere inside Tokyo’s busy streets. Ironically that unfortunate day was lifeless, as if some disease came and took over everyone’s lives and left only him to suffer the loneliness.
“You should stop drinking already, man, this is your … ugh I even lost the count of how many glasses you have emptied, Kame!” a nudge on his side made him almost lose the hold he had on his almost empty glass of vodka.
“Mind your own fucking business,” hissed Kame drunkenly and sighed; he had been drinking until he could pass out since that unfortunate day. Kame wondered why they spared his life; they should’ve killed him right on the spot with his precious family but this was probably what they actually meant by revenge. He was the true definition of the saying “a living dead”. What a loser.
“I’ll make them regret the day they didn’t pull the trigger at me, those fuckers.”
“Yes, by drinking your ass off, a very clever way I must say,” came the sarcastic answer from somewhere around him; Kame didn’t bother to recognize who it was from.
“I heard you’re pretty good in cards, is that right?” Someone asked beside him, Kame turned towards the anonymous voice and squinted hard, trying to figure out the appearance of the man but failed as his vision was all unfocused and blurry.
“So I was told,” The glass was almost empty, Kame wondered if they’d allow him more refills or at least one more only. He still hadn’t passed out yet, he needed to lose consciousness.
“It’s your chance today to take revenge; they opened the application for the Kalooki club and if you managed to enter then crushing whoever you wish down is as easy as drinking a shot of Tequila,” with that said, the mysterious man got up and left, as if he was on a mission to deliver the news to Kame specifically.
“Who was that? Anyway, don’t let this get into your stupid mind, Kame. Once you enter that shit, there’s no way out, they’re the most powerful mafia in the whole Asia after all,” The bartender warned; Kame had known him for almost two years now after all the drunken nights he spent in that bar.
“Kamenashi is too drunk to play anyway, look at him; he looks like he’ll pass out any minute,” The owner of the bar said and chuckled amusingly, as if seeing a wasted man was a joke that could be laughed at. Well, maybe it was, thought Kame bitterly and got up from his chair. He was still able to feel and that was never a good thing.
“You’re going already? I see you’re early today, nice improvement!” numerous laughers followed after him as Kame swayed his way out with a half assed wave.
♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥
A finger kept annoyingly poking his cheek; Kame tried to swipe the persistent finger off but it kept coming back poking him in that playful manner.
“Rise and Shine sunshine”
Kame groaned, it wasn’t so bad while he was emptying glasses of sake in the midst of his despair, but right now he could feel a roiling sickness in the pit of his stomach-hardly surprising; there was no way he wouldn’t be feeling the effects of drinking that much.
“Where ... am I?” Struggled against the strong lights, Kame opened his eyes and blinked few times to adjust to the light and clear his blurred vision. Kame knitted his brows in confusion as he took in his surroundings, a room he’d never seen before. It appeared to be a hotel room.
Tried to recall what had happened yesterday, the last thing he could remember was settling in the bar like usually and drinking until he pass out. Other than that, nothing seemed out of ordinary from the usual. Or so he thought.
“Err ... shall I bring you something?” an uncertain voice broke his train of thoughts and startled him; There were a lot of unusual happenings all of sudden that Kame forgot about the second presence in the room.
“Have I sold myself to you yesterday while I was out of it?” He was never gay or had he ever felt any attractions towards guys but from the situation he was in at the moment, there didn’t seem to be any other explanations.
The headache had worsened, Kame grimaced.
“Wow! Slow down, dude, nothing like that at all” The tattooed man smiled uneasily and went to the kitchen, took a bottle of water from the fridge and threw it at Kame.
“Sober up, we have a lot of things to talk about after all,” His body was covered in many tattoos; Kame noticed and couldn’t take his eyes of them. The unknown young man seemed to be in his middle twenties, almost the same age as Kame. As Kame concentrated on his enormous tattoos, they all somehow resembled a-
“Welcome to the Kalooki club Kame-chan, I’m the Joker of Hearts,” A wide grin accompanied with a peace sign greeted Kame; what an image gape that joker suffered from. Seeing his outer look, his personality was nowhere near it.
Kame took a gulp from the bottle of water and then everything stopped.
“What? What the hell are you talking about?!” Kame did his best to try and force his blanked-out mind to restart and at any rate, he had to get rid of this hangover and fast, or he wasn’t going to be able to use his head at all.
What that Joker was talking about? He heard about the Kalooki club, yes, everyone knows about them but He couldn’t wrap his mind around why on earth he would associate with them.
“I thought you wouldn’t be able to remember what happened yesterday, after all you were so wasted that I’m still surprised how you managed to even enter and accomplish the examination, I’m very impressed!” Seeing Kame’s even more panicked expression, the other decided to stop playing around and start explaining.
“Yesterday, it was the once a year event that the Kalooki club held for new participators. During this event the participators go through a card game, the Kalooki card game, against each other and whoever wins in the end will be able to enter our club, a contract is signed right on the spot as soon as the player wins and there’s no delays or exceptions, that means even if you’re out of it and signed the contract there’s no way out. I’m sorry, Kame-chan, but even if you regret it now, you cannot quit,” The joker cleared his throat, took a deep breath and continued. He’s too soft hearted, Kame noticed.
“How does this Kalooki club work?” maybe, that was for the best, Kame thought. His life had already ended since that day so it didn’t really matter now how it would process from ahead on. Tasteless and bitter, unbearable the life... His life is.
“Be patient, I’m actually surprised as how calm you’re right now for someone who signed on his life yesterday. As if life worth nothing”
“It is worth nothing; do you think I gave my life up only since yesterday? Don’t make me crack up now!” Still he couldn’t hold his laugher, his eyes blurred and a small choke almost escaped his lips but he was able to swallow it back after taking another big gulp from the bottle of water. It was never easy and it will never be; that unfortunate happening.
The joker looked at him with a worried expression. The other probably thought of him as someone eccentric, Kame honestly couldn’t blame him.
The joker sighed and continued, “Firstly let me introduce you to the club’s members, there are four groups in the club and they’re based on the actual cards game symbols which are; the Hearts, The Spades, The Diamonds and The Clubs. Each of these groups has definite members which are 13 players in each group”
If they went according to the card game, then by 13 members ...”Are those 13 players supposed to be standing for the decks of cards?”
With a nod, the joker replied” Correct, the thirteen of them represent a certain card. Starting from Ace, 2, 3 up to 10 and then Jack, Queen and lastly the king and they all are, I mean the members are equally powerful in playing the game”
“You mean that the club doesn’t consider the order of the players’ level?” Now that Kame thought about it, all the cards in the card game Kalooki were influential in their own way and they all completed each other from Ace to the king.
“No, aside from the king, every member within the group is powerful enough. Being the 2nd for example of the Clubs doesn’t make you less powerful than the 10th of the Clubs” Clarified the tattooed guy.
“But if every player is equally good then why the Club does refer to its members while using those cards names instead of their actual names?”
Despite Kame’s perception about the Kalooki club, he still didn’t know the club’s rules and how it worked. He was preoccupied with his own self-pity to bother about anything else.
“It’s for the safety of the players; the cards names are like a secret codes that are used between the maintainers while they’re discussing about a certain member. The Kalooki Club is a Mafia organization as you might know; everything needed to be secretive for the game to go as smoothly as it was planned” Commented the Joker.
“As I heard, being the king of your own group gives you a very high position in this club, is that right?” Asked Kame, curiously and looked more sobered.
“That’s true, being able to be the king of your own group for example the king of Hearts give you all the power you need. You’ll also be able to participate as an important mafia member and everything you wish for will be under your own feet in mere minutes, although in secret”
“You said in secret? Is it even possible to hide something as important as this?”
“Yes it’s forbidden after all to tell your own card name to the other players, if you’re for example the Ace of Spades only you, the maintainers and the king of Spades to know about it. Other than those I mentioned, none is allowed to know other players’ card names”
All for the safety of the king, revealed who the king among them was; would push the players on the edge and probably would attempt to get rid of the king by killing him as to them the king was a feared, almost unbeatable rival.
“You Kamenashi Kazuya have the 7th of Hearts as your card name and aside from you, me the joker whose counted as a member of the maintainers and the king; you’re not allowed to tell the other players your own card name” The tattooed man looked dead serious, it was an important matter that could case someone’s own death after all. Not to mention that it could mess up the whole game as well; which was something the mafia wouldn’t ever be pleased of.
“So … I’m under the Hearts” Muttered Kame and then asked “where am I now?”
“You’re currently in the Hearts department’s floor; this is your own room which is a small part of the big department where all the hearts members lives” No wonder it looked like a hotel room to Kame in the beginning, “This whole skyscraper belong to the Kalooki club, in the ground floor you have the casinos that belong to our club and on the upper floors there’s the other groups’ departments along with the maintainers and the mafia members” Said the joker.
Kame remembered how the building looked from outside as he used to drive past it before whenever he was on his way to work; never had he imagined there would come a time when he would be a player in here or even a possible mafia member.
“How does the game work? I mean … how can someone be the king of his own group?”
“The competition is held once a year, usually around the end of the year and for four days, each day is reserved for a certain group. The first day is for the Spades, second for the Hearts, third for the Clubs and lastly the fourth day for Diamonds, or so was the order this time round. They usually change it each year” The joker looked a bit tired, explaining how this whole thing worked wasn’t an easy task; he took a deep breath and continued his speech.
“Four players will be chosen by the maintainers from each group and those four players will play against each other during that day that was decided for them”
That made sense, after all, being the king of your own group required you to play against your own group and defend them to stay on the top or get defended by a player who’s stronger than you and you would end up being killed, that was what Kame knew from the bits of knowledge he had about the Kalooki club.
This game was twisted, full of secrets and hidden actions.
They’re not the most powerful and invincible mafia for nothing. The club gained a lot of money by letting old men with a lot of money in their bank accounts bet on the players.
“Do you have more questions?” Said the tattooed man with a small smile on the face, Kame thought that jokers should be scary looking in the club as they were a major member in the Kalooki mafia but looking at this guy, he didn’t look that bad.
“Are there other new players aside from me?” The Kalooki club usually opened their participation when their own players got killed after losing the game against the king, that was the reason why he was accepted yesterday, to replace someone else’s empty place.
“Yes, three new players to be exact excluding you, they were killed by the Joker of Hearts; me, before yesterday after losing the game against the king. None of them was able to win against the king” He looked pained, and Kame wondered what made such a sensitive person like him enter such a club and on the top of that, as a joker too. Made to kill whoever loses the game.
The Kalooki club needed heartless bastards, almost inhumanly emotionless.
“Are the four players to play against the king, or?”
The joker stood up and went in front of the window, looked with blanked gaze ahead of him, at the beautiful sight of Tokyo’s sunset, “Those four players from … let’s say the Hearts group, have to firstly play against each other and in the end one of them win against the other three, the three who lost get killed right away and the winner move to the next room where the king is, and there the next king will be decided”
With a light chuckle, the joker faced Kame “None of them did manage to get rid of the king before yesterday, all the four of them died”
Kame didn’t know if it was the soft lights that were coming from the window reflected on the joker eyes and made them look teary or the other was truly affected. What a stupid man; emotions are not something that should exist in his heart, it would only destroy him.
With a nervous laugh, the joker rubbed both of his eyes and faked a yawn, tried to cover up his forbidden emotions.
“Explaining this whole thing to you seriously took my power!”
“Believe me; listening to you is even more tiring!”
The joker faked a pained sigh and pouted “You’re mean, Kame-chan.” A pillow was coming towards the joker’s ugly pouting face but the other managed to ward it off and ran to the door, ready to flee, but then halted and turned to look at Kame.
“And by the way, my name is Tanaka Koki” with that the joker, Koki, was out of the sight.
♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥
Kame maundered around the room aimlessly, still uncertain whether he was allowed to be outside of his room or not as the joker had said nothing about it. Though, as Kame neared the door, unmistakably, there were voices outside and loud ones too; they were probably the other players in the hearts group, like him. Then, after all the hesitations, the curiosity took over and finally Kame dared to open the door a bit, tried to be as silent as possible but the hinges let out a small crack and suddenly all the eyes were on Kame.
“Oh, look who’s finally decided to go out!” A loud cheer and giggles from a few females were heard. They appeared to be drunk; Kame rolled his eyes and turned his gaze to the wide living room instead where the drunkards were accumulated at. After all, he wasn’t the least interested in getting to know them when they were in that position.
Huge, that was the first word that came into Kame’s mind as he scanned the place around him. Beside Kame’s room, there were three other doors on the right and two on the left and also one door in the end of the corridor, to Kame’s right. In total, there were seven rooms including Kame’s own one on this side of the hall while on the other side of the living room there seemed to be other rooms too. They were probably the players’ rooms; if Kame was correct then there were around 13 rooms in the whole department with the living room being in the middle shared by all the players.
They seemed to be spoiled by the mafia, thought Kame. The players reminded Kame of sheep that were to be fattened up until the day they’d be sliced up come.
With the curiosity in mind, interested to discover more about the place, Kame plodded his way through, across the wide living room, and tried his best to avoid bumping into the bunch of drunkards around him but didn’t succeed as he was obviously the center of their attention since the moment when he had first opened the door of his room.
“You’re a sneaky! Where” a hic”-you think you’re” another hic followed soon after “going?” Mumbled a drunk dark haired guy after he carelessly threw an arm around Kame’s shoulder, as if they were the best fucking buddies for life.
“None bothered to teach you about something called personal space?” Said Kame annoyed, tried to shrug the arm off but the other was a clingy bastard and held him tighter.
“What’s personal space? Is that a new sex position?” Another hic cut through the dark haired boy’s speech “Do you want to experiment it with me?” Kame felt his anger rise with each word that came out of that drunkard’s giant mouth, he had a feeling he would soon cause a huge scene if that dark haired boy didn’t take the hint and fucked off. It had been awhile since Kame used his hand’s fist; it used to be very popular for its strength when he was a player in the baseball club back in high school.
“Ace! Stop whoring yourself out like that to our new member! You’re giving an awful first impression! Not that you normally have a bright one either.” Said a pretty boy who looked at least a bit more sober compared to other people in the living room. Despite his muscled body his face had very feminine features, Kame noticed.
“Wait, isn’t it forbidden to expose your own level?” Kame was sure he heard the pretty boy call the other one Ace. Had the joker been playing tricks on him when he told him it was a taboo or what?
“Yes it is forbidden, but that’s not Ryo’s level,” seeing Kame’s puzzled expression, the pretty boy continued. “This guy’s name is Nishikido Ryo and here we call him Ace because that’s his lucky card, he likes to be referred to as an Ace despite it not being his own level, maybe. We as you might know aren’t aware of each member’s level aside from our own.”
“And by the way, my name is Ueda Tatsuya. Nice to you”
Kame was about to introduce himself when the dark haired boy, Ace, decided to butt in again “If Queen wasn’t Ueda’s nickname it would’ve been your nick”
If glares could kill, Ace would’ve been dead already. “Yes, so I can rip your balls off,” threatened Kame and what seemed to be a quarrel started between Ace and Queen, about something Kame wasn’t interested to agnize.
Kame took advantage of their brawl and popped off to continue his journey, exploring the huge place he would live at from now on until the day he died. Kame noticed that the department didn’t have any special rooms aside from the players’ personal rooms, the huge open living room in the middle with two doors on opposite sides; one was what seemed to be the exit, also the entrance to the hearts department and another one he was not sure about but he would soon find out.
Finally, Kame reached his destination, that mysterious room, and stood in front of its beautifully designed door, held the golden colored doorknob and turned it.
The first sight that greeted Kame in that wide room was two couples who seemed to be on their way to get it on. A girl was sitting on one of the desks in the room enjoying a tall guy’s attention on her neck as he stood between her spread legs, palmed her thigh, his other hand buried in her hair, as they seemed too preoccupied with their own world of pleasure to notice his presence.
Or that was what Kame thought as he tried to step out as silently and unnoticeably as possible not to disturb the couples when the guy’s voice called after him.
“Sneaking in and out like that without any word” His voice was husky, that tall guy’s. Talk about bad timing, thought Kame awkwardly and turned towards the guy who detached himself from the girl, she looked pissed off but the guy didn’t pay her attention.
“I cannot possibly say ‘Sorry for the disturbance, enjoy your fuck’, can I?” Now that Kame had a good look of the guy’s face, he was handsome. He probably had all the features that were needed to be the guy that every girl dreamed of, not to mention the alluring aura that surrounded him. The guy was easy on the eyes, Kame admitted unwillingly. No wonder the beautiful girl was unhappy about his sudden meddling.
The handsome guy smiled at Kame’s remark, amusingly, then turned towards the girl, “Japonicana, you can leave now. I’ll call for you later”, the girl silently fixed her clothes and walked towards the door, where Kame stood, went past him without sparing him a glance. He had never been that popular with girls anyway, thought Kame and then faced the handsome guy.
“Was that your whore?”
A smile still presented itself on the handsome face, “I would prefer to call it a camp follower.”
“Only that you’re not a military soldier.”
“But we’re on a mission, aren’t we?” The tall guy said, still in that husky voice of his and eyed Kame divertingly. Kame averted his gaze from the guy’s one as their eyes met and looked instead at the wide room he was in. The situation didn’t need any more awkwardness.
“You’re the new member right? Kamenashi--?”
“Kazuya, no wonder none bothered to ask for my name a while ago.” Now that Kame thought about it, he didn’t tell the joker his name yet the other had known it already.
“We were told about your name and age yesterday.” The handsome guy clarified and came to stand in front of Kame, held his hand up for Kame to shake it.
“Welcome to the hearts department, my name is Akanishi Jin.” Kame wondered what this guy’s level in the club, is he even a player or only one of the maintainers? With a slight nod, Kame shook hands with Akanishi. He better keep an eye on this one, just in case.
“So, have you looked around the place? There’s nothing much in the department though” Said the taller guy and eyed the room where they were at, and then peaked outside to the living where the majority of the players had passed out due to the overdose of alcohol.
With a light chuckle Akanishi said “They look funny”, he looked awfully dejected for someone who was supposed to be amused.
“Is that a way to celebrate peoples’ death?” Everything seemed cold in this club, Kame wondered how long will it take for him to feel the chilliness creeping up on his body and taking over it, completely.
Akanishi let his gaze fixed on the players’ unanimated bodies and the smile that was on his face a while ago completely left his handsome face and was replaced with a plain misery, his expression made it look like the players were already dead.
After a few seconds the taller man sighed and rubbed both of his eyes with his hands. He looked extremely tired, as if he aged years ahead.
“It’s a countdown, with each passing day we all are approaching our end. Whether we like it or not, it’s just … too late” The last line came out of Akanishi’s mouth was so low-toned that if it weren’t for the silence around them Kame wouldn’t have heard it.
That wasn’t what Kame had expected the members of this club to be. He didn’t know whether to think it was odd of them to feel or not.
As he loosened his tie a bit, Akanishi sighed and added, “We live for today, we don’t allow ourselves to live for the past nor look forward to the future.”
Kame felt a sudden anger build up inside of him, uncontrollably, as if his emotions were set on fire and then he snapped, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?! The past is what decided who we’re right now! No matter how much we try to run from it, it will always come and hunt us down! There’s no way you can avoid the past when it’s like your own fucking shadow!”
The other man looked at him with a calm expression while Kame was huffing as if he was running a marathon.
“Is it based on your own personal experience?”
Kame’s eyes widened and his breath hitched, “W-what the fuck are you talking about?!” He wasn’t supposed to be read that easily, like an open book. What a fool he was, getting carried away with his own feelings like that, what a stupid fool.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to ask you anything personal,” as if he would believe that, this Akanishi didn’t seem like a person who would say unnecessary things randomly like that, unless he actually intended to. Maybe he would fake being clueless even though he really wasn’t anywhere near it. Kame should keep a close look on this Akanishi.
“I said I’m sorry, stop glaring at me like that!” Akanishi laughed and this time it looked honest, not like that other expression he had just witnessed.
“Where are the new members?” Kame asked and observed the bunch of guys in the living room who seemed to be deep in their own worlds of fantasies. From what Kame could see, none of them seemed to be new as they all somehow appeared to be very comfortable with each other.
“You were the first one who came into the department yesterday night. The other three will probably be here tomorrow or later today,” Akanishi shrugged and shambled out of the room into the living room. Kame followed him to the small bar where all sorts of alcohol were placed neatly. Akanishi lazily grabbed two cans of beer from the fridge and threw one at Kame.
The older man groaned tiredly and slumped down onto one of the sofas at the other side of the living room, away from the unconscious bodies of players, and patted the place beside him. “Come, newbie, let’s catch up.”
Kame rolled his eyes, “As if you’re in any position for talking and explaining.”
“I’m worn out today; Japonicana took all of my energy,” said the older man with a cheeky smile on the face. It was clear that he was teasing Kame with that remark of his.
“What a weird name,” Kame muttered and took a big gulp from his can of beer. The last time he had drunk it was only yesterday, and it was strange, just how much he had missed alcohol and its cooling sensation when the cold liquid went down his throat. With a satisfied sigh, Kame sat down on the sofa, a bit away from where Akanishi would’ve liked him to.
“It’s not weird~” He sounded tipsy. Was Akanishi that bad in holding his liquor or was he trying to be cute? Kame winced and dismissed the latter thought as it sounded quite disturbing.
“It is a nickname I gave to her. She was broken when she first came here after the Kalooki club had taken her in but somehow … she managed to catch my attention.” The beaming expression was still on Akanishi’s face as he was recalling that time when he had first met her.
“Are you in love with her or something?”
Akanishi smirked at the question, “Aren’t you being quite unfair? Asking me personal questions while I’m not allowed to do so?”
Kame glowered at the older boy, “Are you fighting fire with fire now?”
The older boy laughed loudly and lunged forward, closer to Kame, “I really like you. We’ll definitely get along well together!”
At that moment, the older boy’s expression was one of pure enjoyment; it reminded Kame of a starved Panda that had finally found a piece of fish after countless nights of hunger.
The alcohol was probably getting into him; otherwise Kame would never allow himself to ever think of those embarrassing and ridiculous thoughts.
♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥ ~ ♣ ♦ ♠ ♥
He could hear the sound of rain falling outside.
It had been raining all day long since morning and it didn’t seem like it would stop anytime soon. Rainy weather used to be Kame’s favorite before. He used to cuddle with his wife as they both snuggled on the sofa with a soft blanket over them while watching TV.
He hated rainy weather.
A sudden noisy something barged into his room without any permission. Kame already knew who it was without even turning around towards the door. It had been one week since he came to the Kalooki club and during those seven days, he had this guy clinging to him like a baby monkey.
“What are you doing? Sitting and weeping in front of the window like a high school girl who got her heart broken.”
Kame rolled his eyes “Who’s weeping, you idiot.”
“Come on! You have been sticking to our department for the whole week! There are a lot of things you haven’t seen yet.” The older guy crouched down and poked Kame’s back with his forefinger. “Let me show you around, it’s boring staying like this.”
“Why are you even bothering?” Kame took a deep breath, exhaled and closed his eyes. He was extremely tired, the weight on his shoulders felt extra heavy today. The memories had been hunting him and made it hard for him to take a rest. It was atrocious.
Kame knew the solution was to stop the train of his thoughts; to get drunk, to feel numb, and to completely lose his conscience.
“Stop doing that,” Akanishi said, after observing Kame’s face. “Stop looking like you’re about to die. Live for today, Kame,” Akanishi’s voice held too much concern for Kame’s liking. As if the guy was almost on the verge of begging him. Kame would never figure out what was behind Akanishi’s behavior.
Kame chuckled lightly at the other’s desperate expression after he had finally turned to the side and had a look at Akanishi’s face. “The one who’s looking like he’s on the edge of dying is you, stupid.”
“Just because of that smile on your face that I finally got to see, I’ll ditch your insults aside.” The other laughed after Kame punched him lightly on the arm and stood up, holding out his hand for Kame. “Get up! Change your clothes so I can show you around. This club is big and has a lot of entertaining stuff!”
Kame hesitated for a few seconds whether he should take the extended hand or not. He didn’t want to depend on someone and get used to their presence. He had already tasted the bitterness and it would break him completely if he was ever to lose someone close to him again.
Live for today
That sentence ran through Kame’s mind, suddenly, and then he simpered at the realization; dangerous, that Akanishi was.
Finally, Kame uncertainly extended his hand up for the older boy, but Akanishi gladly and confidently grabbed it and pulled him up.
“Don’t look so proud, it pisses me off.” Kame glared at the older man as he stood up. Akanishi’s aspect made it look like he was a father who ultimately managed to drag his addicted to computers son out of his room.
“Why~?”
“Don’t whine! Just get out! I won’t change with you in the room.” A fist was approaching Jin’s head when the other managed to avoid it and popped out of the room with loud laugher.
Never had Kame encountered someone as carefree as this guy before.
They took a tour around the place as far as they could manage. It was enormous and there was no way they would be able to explore it all in one day. So far, Kame had seen the sports floor, which was divided in several sections such as boxing, judo, and every possible kind of sports activities, as body building and martial art were also there. He would consider doing some boxing later on to work out.
“We have already visited both the Clubs and Spades’ departments. Let’s head to the Diamonds’ one now,” said Akanishi and they both went inside the elevator. Then, he turned towards Kame, “for now, what do you think about this place?” Even the elevator was designed beautifully and cautiously, Kame noticed as he eyed it.
“All I have to say is the owner is one hell of a sumptuous man.”
Akanishi chortled and nodded his head. “Yes, he likes to spoil his boys,” added the taller boy with a wink.
With a grossed out expression on his face, Kame replied, “No wonder all the players seem to be young and good-looking too.”
Akanishi smirked and slowly walked towards Kame, “Shall we give him a show?” said the taller guy tauntingly as he titled his head towards the security camera at the upper corner of the elevator.
“A show where I rip you into pieces and neatly put your meat aside so later they can collect it without any troubles? Sure, no problem,” Kame had gotten used to Akanishi’s lame jokes. They no longer had any effect on him despite it being only one week since he had come to this club. He had experienced enough already and learned how to handle them.
Akanishi sulked lightly and leaned his face closer to Kame’s, “You’re no fun”
“I leave the fun to you and Japonicana.” With a push that was stronger than Kame had intended it to be, Akanishi stumbled backwards and then smiled.
“Yes! I’ll collect my girl later today!”
They had already reached the 15th floor, their destination, and after a peeping sound, the door silently opened for them. Kame bumped his shoulder against Akanishi’s in a playful manner and walked out of the elevator, “Good for you.”
“You sound bitter!” Akanishi followed him and threw an arm around his shoulders as they neared the Diamonds’ department. Akanishi was a few centimeters taller than him and that bastard took advantage of it by hanging his arm on Kame’s shoulder whenever he felt like it.
With a snide look, Kame shrugged Akanishi’s arm off and smirked at him, “You wish!”
After seeing all the departments and what they looked like, Kame noticed that they all didn’t look that much different from each other aside from the furniture’s colors and designs. The hearts’ department had mostly red and heart-shaped furniture. It was also the same with the other departments. Each department’s design followed its own symbol.
As Kame entered the Diamonds’ department, the design looked the best out of the four. It was the most elegant looking one.
“Look who’s here in our department! Jin!” A loud voice called out for Akanishi and then all the attention of the Diamonds’ players was turned to them.
The guy who shouted was the first one to approach Akanishi and Kame, who was standing in front of Jin, and he grinned widely.
“Don’t make it sound like I’m rarely spotted here!” Said Akanishi teasingly and they shook hands in a weird twisted way that Kame personally found improbably childish and old-fashioned.
Subsequently, the guy’s attention was turned to Kame. “You’re the new member, right?” He looked friendly enough, although Kame couldn’t help but keep on eyeing his chest. Somehow, it resembled a woman’s boo-
“My name is Yamashita Tomohisa, nice to meet you…?” Yamashita stretched out his hand for Kame to shake it.
Embarrassed at being caught ogling the other guy’s bosom, Kame cleared his throat nervously and took the other guy’s hand and shook it.
“Kamenashi Kazuya, nice to meet you too.”
Akanishi was having his best of time as he noticed Kame’s uneasiness, and that bastard had most certainly caught him while he was eyeing Yamashita’s man boobs.
“Don’t be ashamed, you’re not the only who ogled that chest of his.” A sudden yelp was heard as Akanishi groped the man’s breasts and squeezed them as hard as he could with both of his hands. Kame could only gape at these two. He had thought there was only one unique idiotic in this club but after today, now there seemed to be two of them.
The light atmosphere would’ve continued if it hadn’t been for the sudden horrified scream that was heard from inside the department.
The three of them rushed into the room where the scream had come from and saw three men dressed in black and two guys on the floor. One of the guys on the floor seemed like he was on the verge of having a break down as his body was trembling badly and his lips were shivering. He looked terrified by the other three men and held another man in his embrace.
“N-no! Y-you cannot do that! He’s all I have! No please... No no no!” The man cried out and held the other tighter in his arms, as if they were enough to shield him from the men.
“This is an order. He broke that rule, so, he needs to pay for it.” It was said with absolutely no emotions, as if they were programmed to mouth those words.
“What the fuck is going now?”
One of the three men dressed in black turned towards them and glared, “Don’t meddle in, Akanishi!”
“It’s not about meddling! Explain what the hell is going on? What did Koyama do?”
“He told that faggot his own card name, thinking the Mafia won’t be able to discover it,” one of them snorted and kicked Koyama in the stomach, making the other cry out in pain.
Kame felt sick in his stomach. He had to get out of there right away but his legs didn’t obey him. He could predict exactly what the outcome of this situation would be like yet he still couldn’t face it. Painful memories and bloody flashbacks quickly went through Kame’s mind and it became hard to breathe.
Yamashita beside him wasn’t any better. The other looked stunned and pale as if all the blood had left his body.
They could do nothing against it, absolutely nothing.
Kame felt a strong grip on his wrist and suddenly, he was being forcefully dragged out of there without a word, across the living room, on the way to the exit.
“What the fuck are you doing, Akanishi? Let go!” Kame struggled against the painfully tight grip on his wrist but couldn’t break free nor could he slow Akanishi down as the latter seemed determined to get them out of the department as soon as possible.
As soon as they were out, the other let go of Kame’s wrist and turned to face him. “They’ll kill him,” his voice was shaking a bit and his eyes were unfocused. “Do you want to see his flesh all over the fucking room?!”
“But Yamashita is still in there!”
“This is his department. Besides, he has to take care of Tegoshi,” Kame was about to ask who Tegoshi was but remembered the other guy who was holding Koyama in his hands and crying hysterically. Kame was still able to hear his cries from the inside.
The older man leaned against the wall behind him and hid his face in his palms. “Stupid, he is so fucking stupid!”
A feeling of helplessness overwhelmed him. Kame walked towards the window and looked outside, and it was still raining.
He hated rainy weather.
Soon after, a gunshot was heard.
Part 2