[FIC] Breathe Again 1/3
Title: Breathe Again [1/3]
Pairing: Akame, Jin/random girls
Rating: NC-17
Warninga: Smut (including Jin/random girls), random heterosexual couplings, adult themes, and character death (non-JE for the most part).
Summary: Yabuki Hayato and Odagiri Ryu are found dead at an abandoned warehouse. 8 years later, Ryu's son, Kamenashi Kazuya, is brought to Joto Station for interrogation as a primary suspect of a murder. There Kazuya meets Akanishi Jin, a police officer determined to uncover the truth about Ryu's death with his help. What will they discover along the way?
Author's Note: I think this is possibly the most anticlimactic story I've ever written, but what the hell? Otherwise, it'd be a lot lot more longer than it already is. (^-^;;; Akame's happy, so there. (*^0^)b All is well.
Carefully sipping on his hot morning coffee, Akanishi Jin grimaced at the bitter taste spreading inside his mouth. If he hadn’t been staking out all night for a dumbass drug dealer that he was beginning to think he should’ve left alone to die of overdose, he wouldn’t be drinking this shit. Hell, if Jin wasn’t busy calling for an ambulance, he swore he would’ve beaten the shit out of the idiot himself. Probably would’ve done that bastard more good than years of rehabilitation. However, with barely an hour of sleep and a mild migraine, he needed to hype up on as much caffeine as he could to get through the day.
“Let go of me, you fucking bastards!” angry bouts of profanities resonated through the halls before the door to their department even opened. Jin sighed inwardly, placing his cup of coffee on his office desk. All hopes for a peaceful day with only minor misdemeanors dashed within minutes of clocking in.
Soon enough, the door to the Criminal Investigation Department of Joto Police Station flew open with a loud bang. Jin furrowed his eyebrow together, seeing a young man on the borderline of being manhandled into the room by his subordinates.
A noticeable frown formed on his lips. “Why’s the kid on handcuffs?” Jin questioned.
“He punched a police officer,” Nakamaru Yuichi answered awkwardly, seemingly troubled with his reply. “Assaulting an officer...” his partner, Tanaka Koki, grumbled in addition, earning an annoyed snort from his charge. Koki glared menacingly at the suspect, rubbing protectively over his hurt cheek. As much as he hated to admit it, the kid sported one hell of a punch. If his partner had not stepped in, Koki was sure he would have gotten into a full-fledged fight with the darned brat just teach him a lesson.
“His fault for instigating,” the suspect said unperturbed, directing a sly smile at Jin. The lieutenant rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. Knowing Koki, he probably didn’t want to hear about it if Yuichi’s nervousness wasn’t any indication.
“What’s he here for?” Jin interrogated. His partner, Shirota Yu, being as proficient as he was, tapped him on the shoulder with the case files. All while ordering for the suspect to be taken to the interrogation room. The perfectionist.
“Kamenashi Kazuya,” Jin mumbled the suspect’s name. Apparently, the cheeky kid was the primary suspect for the murder of a successful businessman by the name of Aikawa Sho. The victim was found strangled in a room at Hotel Plaza21, a local love hotel, by the receptionist. Cause of death, suffocation. No sign of struggling in the room.
Sheesh, you’d figure that after pulling an all-nighter to catch a drug dealer you wouldn’t have to deal with a fucking murder case on the same day. Jin cursed more to himself than anyone else. He was beginning to doubt that the neighborhood he had grown up in was actually as safe and peaceful as the Koto City claims to be.
-
Tap, tap, tap. Kazuya wasn’t sure if it was on purpose but the sound of Koki tapping his fingers on the table was driving him insane, though he’d never give Koki the pleasure of admitting it. However, he might wring his goddamn neck if he continued. “Do you recognize this man?” Koki tossed a snapshot of the victim on the table for Kazuya to see. The atmosphere of the interrogation room was unusually tense, and the hostility between Koki and the suspect was enough to make Yuichi have goose bumps while jotting down what part of the interrogation he was able to write down without getting his partner suspended.
“No,” Kazuya replied, sparing the picture a quick glance. Luckily, the unconscious tightening of his lips went unnoticed by the officer in front of him who was too frustrated by Kazuya’s composure to take notice of such small detail.
“That’s odd... The receptionist at the love hotel he was killed at remembered you clearly,” Koki sneered in disgust at the thought that the young man in front of him might have fucked the victim. Sure Kamenashi Kazuya was good looking for a man, but that was still gross. The victim was freaking fifty for Christ sake!
“Why’d you kill him?” Koki slammed his hands against the table, adding to the dramatic effect. The accused rolled his eyes in annoyance, wondering when he had become a character in some overplayed cop drama. His hate for the police was growing with each tick of the clock.
“I didn’t kill him,” Kazuya said simply. “I have no reason to.”
“You want to be sent to juvenile detention for prostitution?” Koki threatened menacingly. “You disgusting whore,” he spat out in disgust while his partner merely sighed, leaving the last statement out of the paperwork.
“And how do you intend on proving that?” Kazuya mocked, clearly not amused by the allegation. ”The guy’s dead, isn’t he?” he challenged. “Look here, you moron! I’m not a model student and I know that, but I’m not stupid either,” he seethed. “And when I say I didn’t do something, I didn’t do it!” And no one was going to make him confess to something he didn’t do, no one.
-
“Let him go, there’s no hard evidence,” Jin pointed out flatly, watching the interrogation through the trick glass with his partner. The only reason Kazuya was suspected of murdering Aikawa Sho was a witness statement, and he highly doubted that the receptionist remembered that clearly. “More importantly, no motive,” he added on.
“He was also in possession of this,” the taller man held out a clear packet with a few pills, “According to forensics, it’s a new form of club drugs.”
“This has nothing to do with the case,” Jin retorted, snatching the small packet from Yu’s hands. “I don’t agree with booking him for a different case just to have him behind bars.”
“You wanted a motive,” Yu reminded, ignoring the obvious frown on his partner’s lips. “The suspect was trying his hand in prostitution, for Christ sake. He most likely was in dire need of money to feed his drug addiction and killed Aikawa because he didn’t pay him enough for the sex.”
“Circumstantial evidence,” Jin interjected. “That’s not enough to get a warrant and you know it.”
“Akanishi’s right,” Imai Tsubasa agreed, walking in with his trademark smile. “Joto Station has a bad image as it is... If we falsely accuse a minor, the media will have a field day on our expense. We can always arrest him when we come up with enough evidence to issue a warrant. Don’t rush the case.”
Thanks to the senior officers who had soiled their reputation, Joto Station has been the source of nothing but harsh criticisms. And quite frankly, Jin couldn’t blame them. Throwing an innocent man in prison for possession of marijuana that didn’t really exist didn’t sit well with him either. And having a Section Chief shoplift ten bucks worth of paltry goods didn’t exactly save face, even if he did resign from his position, not that he had much choice in the matter.
“But sir, what about the drugs we found in his possession?” Yu reminded as respectfully as he could. His good for nothing partner covered his mouth with his fisted hand to suppress the grin on his face. Clearly, he was enjoying how uncomfortable Yu was with questioning their Captain’s decision. Yu was the goody two shoes between the two of them, after all.
“Did he test positive?” the captain confirmed.
“No, he was clean,” Yu informed. Their conversation ceased into an uncomfortable silence. It seems the captain was deep in thought, thinking of a sensible way of dealing with the situation. Even if Kamenashi Kazuya was innocent in this murder, it would be purely irresponsible to release him scot free when he was found in possession of drugs. Taking into account that Kazuya had tested negative for drug usage, there was still a chance to save this troubled youth from mistaking his way.
“The kid’s still a minor,” Jin interrupted his thoughts. “Let him off on probation. I’ll take him in.”
“You’ll what?” Yu furrowed his brows, forming wrinkles on his forehead. He frowned in disapproval.
“You heard me,” Jin deadpanned.
“Akanishi, you don’t exactly have the cleanest slate in the book,” Yu reprimanded. Not that his partner has ever done wrong for the sake of doing wrong. In fact Jin always got the job done, just in ways that were completely and utterly out of the books in his humble opinion.
“Neither do you,” Jin shot back, reminding his partner that his flawless records did have a small smudge on it and that he was more than willing to use it against him. And for Yu, being the straight-laced officer that he was, that was more than enough to shut him up completely.
“Then it’s settled. Akanishi, you are hereby responsible for the wellbeing of Kamenashi Kazuya,” Tsubasa announced, quite pleased with the outcome. This way, if they needed Kazuya for further questioning, they wouldn’t have to search for him or worry about him flying off to Saipan or something crazy like that. “Five months should be more than enough to clear this case and monitor him for drugs.”
“Yes, sir,” Jin answered, bowing as the captain exited the room.
-
When Jin opened the door to the interrogation room, he stopped dead in his tracks and quirked an eyebrow. Apparently, he had walked into a glaring contest between Koki and the suspect. Sometimes, Jin thought Koki watched too many cop dramas. And though it was a known fact that that was what inspired Koki to become a police officer in the first place, he couldn’t understand for the life of him why anyone would want to be a cop and go home to watch the same drama from work being reenacted with cheesy sob stories in between.
“Koki, switch with me,” he demanded, pointing his thumb out the door. The last thing Jin needed was for Koki to be in the same room, questioning his decision since it was obvious he was out for blood for that big bruise on his cheek. Jin whistled to himself, judging from that bruise it must have been one hell of a punch. The kid had guts, or maybe he just didn’t care for the consequences.
“I don’t care who I talk to, the answer is the same,” Kazuya deadpanned. “I didn’t kill him,” he crossed his arms in front of his chest, silently fuming.
“I believe you,” Jin said simply. He pulled the pipe chair out and sat down in front of the suspect, studying him in awe. Kazuya was an alluring beauty that was for sure, and he was a straight man. In spite of that Kazuya’s caramel brown hair looked so soft that he wanted to brush his fingers through them, just to see how it feels. Still very young and only nineteen years of age, he had fair skin which looked supple and smooth. Jin swallowed the sudden urge to run his hands over his body to feel that soft skin against the palm of his hands. He sighed inwardly. Obviously, he needed to get laid if he was finding a young man sexually attractive.
Meanwhile, Kazuya’s strong brown eyes stared straight into his eyes trying to read him. His shapely pink lips were pouted together, unmoved and obviously not persuaded. Taking into consideration everything from the hours of confinement in a tiny little room to being yelled at over a crime he didn’t commit though he should be here solely on voluntary status to cooperate with the police, Kazuya wasn’t about to believe Jin’s words so easily. Even if saw nothing but sincerity in the older man’s deep almond eyes.
“You do, huh?” Kazuya sneered accusingly.
“Yes, and I’m offering you a deal,” Jin started, knowing full well that Kazuya did not trust him. He wouldn’t either, if he were in his shoes. “You’ll be put on probation and come live with me until this case is solved. Unless that is, you can tell me where the drugs came from.”
“I... don’t know,” he mumbled in response.
“Then probation is your only ticket out of this joint,” Jin offered.
“What if you don’t solve the case? I’m stuck with you for life?” Kazuya narrowed his eyes accusingly, and pursed his lips together stubbornly. “No offense, but your lap dogs aren’t too bright.”
Jin chuckled at that, “No, your probation period is only for five months.”
“As long as you’re not convicted for a crime within your probation period, you’re free to go,” he clarified.
“I guess it beats sticking around here and being yelled at by a wannabe thug,” Kazuya grumbled, mostly to himself. The offer wasn’t a bad one, and he knew that it was the best one he would get considering the drugs that were in his possession. Of course Kazuya could always call his grandfather, who was a higher-up in the police force and ask for his help. However, he had a feeling that his strict grandfather would be scarier to deal with in terms of explaining the drugs in his possession than the entire police force.
“I’ll pick you up when I’m off work,” Jin promised, standing up from his seat. He stopped right as he reached for the door. “Don’t go causing more trouble with Koki, kitten,” he teased with a wink before leaving the room to join the investigation.
-
Glaring pointedly at the clock that was ticking awfully slowly in his opinion, Kazuya sighed. He wondered how his day could get any worse. Of all the damned cops to ask him to come to voluntary interrogation, he had to had that baldy with a potty mouth and lose his temper which, of course, landed him with handcuffs and a complete body search. He should really be grateful that Jin saved his ass from being locked up here for a longer time because his ass was literally not appreciating the hard ground.
Kazuya rolled his eyes upon hearing yet another depressing sigh and turned his attention the young man around his age, huddled in the corner. The atmosphere surrounding him seemed so dark that Kazuya hesitated for a moment. “Quit sighing! What are you so depressed about anyways? I mean, what are you in here for? Murder?” he snapped, upon hearing another sigh. The young man made it seem like it was the end of the world.
“No, streaking...” the other muttered.
Kazuya blinked for a second to process the information. Minutes later he was doubled up in laughter, so much that his stomach was starting to hurt. Kazuya wondered if he had laughed this much lately, which was quite an accomplishment considering how sour his mood was just a minute ago. “Sorry,” he apologized, wiping the tears in the corner of his eyes from laughing too much. If it were possible, his jail mate became even gloomier.
“Why the hell did you do that?” Kazuya questioned, his lips still ghosting a smile. “You don’t seem like an exhibitionist.”
“I was drunk off my ass... Don’t remember a thing,” the other muttered. “I got thrown in here last night to sober up, but...”
“He’s too embarrassed to call his mother to bail him out,” the warden finished when the other trailed off. The overly friendly warden who had introduced himself as Murakami Shingo when he first stepped foot in jail, was cracking a wide smile while couching down in front of their bars. “Kato... His name’s Kato Shigeru,” he introduced, pointing at his cellmate. “Anyways, Kato’s been mortified since he first woke up and found out about his crime,” the older man’s eyes glistened in amusement as the Kato guy lowered his head and wallowed in self pity.
“I’m so ashamed,” Shigeru groaned.
Kazuya held his hand encouragingly, missing the faint blush on the older man’s cheek at the sudden physical intimacy and smiled warmly. “I’m sure your mother will understand. She’s your mother, she loves you-” he encouraged when his hand brushed against the sleeve of Shigeru’s shirt. Out of the blue, images of Shigeru throwing his shirt on the ground with the rest of his clothes and running around a busy street with police officers chasing after him flashed through his mind. He suddenly fell silent, “... naked glory and all.”
Of course this wasn’t the first time that Kazuya had these visions so to speak, his first encounter being back in middle school. Since then, Kazuya had studied psychometry thoroughly to understand the concept of his so called powers. In the words of John Rodes Buchanan, the father of psychometry, the past is entombed in the present. A person’s strong memories transfer to objects, which emanates the past through wavelengths and he was able to read that special wavelength. Usually Kazuya had control over his powers, but when he was tired or not focused enough they often got the best of him, which sucked because it caused headaches and showed him things he’d rather not see. Kazuya chided himself for being so careless, and withdrew his hands from the other’s.
“Here,” Shingo handed the phone to Shigeru through the bars.
Reluctantly, Shigeru gave Shingo the number to dial.
“Mom? I, yeah, about that, uh... I’minjailrightnowforstreakingcouldyoucometoJotoStationtobailmeout?” he said so fast that Kazuya and Shingo blinked at each other, both wondering how anyone could understand that. Although he had mumbled most of the reason that he was thrown in jail with a shaky voice, his mother eventually arrived to pick up her son but not before apologizing repeatedly to the Shingo for causing him an inconvenience, which of course, the hearty Osaka man just laughed off as a testimony of youth.
-
“You left me in jail for ten hours!” Kazuya complained, rubbing subtly at his sore backside. Shingo had offered him a cushion to sit on, figuring that it’s not special treatment if Kazuya was the only one there but there was only so much comfort the thin padding could offer.
“I said I’m sorry!” Jin repeated in exasperation. If only he had a time machine, Jin would go back the ten and some odd hours just to relocate Kazuya so he wouldn’t have to hear his constant whining. It’s not like he knew Koki would throw him jail after he left, though it figures that he’d find such petty payback.
“Some moron robbed a local convenience store. It’s not like I was peachy working overtime after getting no sleep last night,” Jin grumbled bitterly, rummaging through his pocket for the keys to his apartment. He tiredly opened the door and turned on the lights to his hallway. After catching said moron and safely retrieving the money that was stolen, Jin had to file paperwork for Kazuya’s release - he figured the report for the robbery could wait until tomorrow, go to Kazuya’s house to pick up his clothes, and explain to his worrisome mother that Kazuya was not in trouble per say and assure her that he was in good hands. Now it was well past midnight.
“Not my fault, playboy,” Kazuya countered, following the detective into his apartment. Throwing his heavy duffel bag onto the floor, he studied his new surroundings, which was fairly clean for a place owned by a single man living on his own. Well, with the exception of the Playboy magazines that was sticking out from under the couch that is. Typical guy.
“I was on the job!” Jin defended. He stumbled into his bedroom and collapsed on the messy double bed. As his sore muscles relaxed on the comfortable mattress, he closed his eyes knowing his body was completely out of energy and that he was unable to get back up. “Sleep wherever you want, use whatever you want, just don’t wake me up!” Jin yelled towards the living room before slowly drifting off to sleep.
-
The next morning, Jin snuggled closely to the comfortable warmth surrounding him. His brow furrowed, realizing the incongruity of the fact. Suddenly he was afraid to open his eyes. God, what’d I do now? Jin groaned, reluctantly fluttering his eyes open. His mouth opened briefly in surprise to see Kazuya sleeping in his bed, with his slender but fit arms wrapped around his waist like he was a body cushion of sort. Jin didn’t know if he should be relieved that it was Kazuya or kind of upset that he was sharing a bed with another man. He even thought about literally kicking Kazuya out of his bed, but seeing the peaceful expression on his face, he didn’t have the heart to wake him up. Still feeling kind of tired from missing out on two days worth of sleep, Jin shifted into a more cozy position and drifted back to sleep.
“Morning, detective,” Kazuya greeted when Jin finally woke up, a few hours later. Jin glanced over at the bed stand with his hazy vision to see that the red numbers were flashing a quarter past twelve. He rubbed on his eyes tiredly.
“It’s Jin,” the older grumbled, slightly grouchy from just waking up. He could sleep in forever today. The bed was just so comfortable and warm. “What are you doing in my bed anyways?” he questioned, suddenly remembering that Kazuya was in bed with him barely clothed like it was the most natural thing on earth.
“You said, and I repeat, sleep wherever you want,” Kazuya reasoned. “The bed just happened to be more comfortable than the couch.” It didn’t help that the couch was hard leather and the living room was kind of chilly at night. But more than anything...
“Ahhh, harder!” she moaned shamelessly. The beautiful girl with a mix of both Asian and Caucasian features was shoved against the couch on her arms, her hip thrust up with her legs spread out while Jin thrust into her relentlessly. “Jin, please,” she begged, jerking her hips back in a needy fashion.”Fuck me harder!”
Shuddering at the disturbing image in his head, Kazuya groaned inwardly. As attractive as the detective was, Kazuya could live without knowing about his sex life. Luckily, the bed was safe or Kazuya would have slept on the floor to avoid the cheap porn that played in his mind upon touching that desecrated couch.
“Is today your day off or do cops usually sleep in this late?” he quickly changed the subject. Kazuya was surprised that the detective had slept in this late. He had always thought police officers worked around the clock, without any regards to sleeping.
“Unless I get called in for some godforsaken reason, which happens quite a lot lately, today is my day off,” Jin explained but as soon as he finished his sentence, his cell phone started ringing from the nightstand. He groaned.
“...was my day off,” he mumbled bitterly, getting up to shower.
-
“This fucking blows,” Jin growled angrily, kicking his shovel into the tough dirt to vent out his pent up frustration. Of course, the suspect had to hide the knife that he used to stab the victim with in an abandoned field of tough dirt and wild weeds. That’s where all criminals hide their dirty goods, and who had to dig the shit back up? They did. Jin swore that he would shoot the bastard on both of his kneecaps and let him bleed to death if he had lied to them and they go back to the station empty handed.
“I can’t believe you took that prostitute in,” Koki nagged, digging harder into the ground with his shovel which was just about to break from the abuse. Not that Koki would complain if it did break. No shovel meant no digging in this miserable summer weather with his shirt sticking uncomfortably to his skin from sweat.
“He’s not a fucking prostitute,” Jin repeated for the hundredth time that day. Koki sure knew how to hold a stupid grudge. Just because the younger man didn’t seem to mind sleeping in the same bed with him, didn’t mean he was fucking around for money.
“No, he’s a drug addict,” his partner corrected, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead with the towel wrapped around his neck. It looked kind of odd considering that Yu was wearing his collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, professional slacks, and a towel around his neck, his blazer long forgotten in the field somewhere. As long as he picked up his blazer before he left, Yu didn’t care about it being in a ditch somewhere as long as he wasn’t wearing it in 96 degree weather with 73 percent humidity.
“He’s clean!” Jin gritted through his teeth. Yu focused his investigation on finding where the drugs came from and had started investigating local gangs and yakuza to find the proof needed to get the warrant on Kazuya. He still thought charging Kazuya for drugs wouldn’t help with the murder case on Aikawa Sho, but figured that Yu could figure that mess out on his own.
“What happened to innocent until proven guilty?” the lieutenant questioned, his eyes immediately widened upon hearing a dull clink of metal hitting metal. He kneeled down on the ground and dug furiously at the dirt with his gloved hands. Jin fell back on his rear end, wanting to sit down after finally finding the knife which was covered in dirt and faint traces of dried up blood. The rest of the crew crumbled to the ground as soon as Jin held up the knife, tired and lifeless under the unforgiving sun. Summer in Japan was literally hell.
“It’s more like guilty until proven innocent in Japan,” Koki corrected once settling down. He gulped down the rest of his water thirstily, the small bottle of water felt like finding an oasis after traveling a year in the desert without a drop of water.
“Yeah, well, my first priority is getting the actual culprit, not the first plausible suspect. The media can kiss my ass.” Jin snorted scornfully. He hated that the police were constantly pressured to solve a crimes as soon as it was reported, as if it was that easy. It wasn’t. And Jin for one was not going to find a scapegoat to answer to public demands. He was a policeman, not a fucking politician.
-
“Why did you believe me?” Kazuya asked one day. “Even I wouldn’t have believed what I said.” It had already been two weeks since they had started living together, more or less since Jin came home once every two day lately. Kazuya had thought that Jin was planning to interrogate him or maybe even pretend to be friends with him to make him confess the truth but Jin did none of that. In fact, Jin trusted him on his own for the most part and let him keep his privacy.
“I just do,” the older man shrugged nonchalantly. “You’re not a bad kid.” Jin closed his eyes once again, basking under the gentle warmth of the sun, the calm wind against his cheek, and the soft tickling of grass against his skin. This was his favorite hangout spot from his high school days, which he still liked to visit on his days off. The day just seemed so peaceful under the clear blue sky with puffs of white clouds drifting slowly across the canvas, and the glimmering of the flowing water.
Jin decided to bring Kazuya to the creek because he felt bad that he was cooped in the house for most of the day. He did leave the house once in a while, but only to visit his mother or his friends and made sure to inform him exactly where he was going. Other than that he was always home, and when their dinner started getting fancier and fancier he figured Kazuya had too much time in the house.
“How would you know?” Kazuya pressed, rolling over to his side. “I could be hooking up with old guys for money, and dishing it out to feed my drug addiction like the other cops think for all you know.” His fingers played with the blades of grass, anxiously waiting for Jin’s reply.
“But you’re not... I can tell,” Jin assured, turning to face Kazuya while resting one arm under his head. He fought the urge to push back Kazuya’s hair, which was splayed across his cheeks, with his free hand. He smiled, feeling kind of serene.
“How’s that?” the younger asked, his lips pouted together.
“Let’s just say I wasn’t the cleanest person you’d find when I was younger,” the detective laughed uneasily. “Ditching school, getting into fights, drugs, sex, alcohol, I’ve done it all. You’re not the type.” His rebellious stage had started when his beloved grandmother had passed away. Their relatives all fought over her remaining money instead of grieving her death. Though Jin was still in middle school then, it had been enough of a cold shower to force him to grow up. After that Jin had lost all faith in his family and had turned to drugs and alcohol, mostly to trouble his parents and avoid going home.
“What changed?” Kazuya questioned curiously. He looked at Jin who was staring up at the sky almost nostalgically.
“I met a police officer who knocked some sense into me,” he smiled wistfully, and Kazuya could tell that this person must mean a lot to Jin. He could see it in his untainted eyes, the sparkles of admiration and respect.
“Listen to me when I’m talking to you, damn it,” his cheek was throbbing in pain from the punch that he was dealt. The police officer was staring straight into his eyes, his gaze burning in anger. He was intimidating even though he couldn’t think straight because of the haze of drugs. “Ditching school and getting into fights is just fine and peachy, but this shit you’re taking can kill you!”
“Who cares if I die?” he laughed derisively. “My parents would be happy to get rid of their nuisa-”
Another punch was dealt on his cheek, and Jin staggered back from the blow. “No parent would be happy to lose their child and guess what, I care. I can’t bear watching you lose your life for this stupid shit,” the other seethed. He extended his right arm, and pat him gently on the head. “Whatever you’re taking this shit for, things will get better. You’ll make them better.” The tears he had been holding back since his grandmother’s death rolled down his eyes as he crumbled to the ground sobbing.
“His name was Odagiri Ryu,” Jin said nostalgically. Ryu was the reason that Jin had cleaned up his act. He didn’t know why but the way Ryu looked at him, he looked so anxious and desperate to get through to him. It made him want to answer to his expectations.
“Odagiri Ryu...” the younger man repeated, his lips pursing into a thin line.
“Your father... You look just like him,” Jin smiled affectionately at the other, who was the splitting image of his father. “I had to look up your records to be sure though. You took your mother’s maiden name after his death,” he added on. Jin had been quite happy when he found Ryu’s name on Kazuya’s birth certificate.
“It’s not like he acted much like a father. He was never home,” Kazuya grumbled. He had an odd feeling that his father didn’t like him or his mother much. His mother used to say that the only reason his father was married to her in the first place was because his grandfather was a very strict person and arranged their marriage without his consent. That his father had always been in love with someone else, she never said who, in fact she probably didn’t know herself, but she could tell because she was his wife and loved her husband in spite of it all.
“I don’t believe in that superhero shit. Never did, even as a kid, but your father saved me, so much that I became a cop to be just like him,” Jin said. “He was my role model... and a true hero.” Ultraman, Kamen Rider, hell, even Sailor Moon for that matter, like they actually exist in the real world. The real world was full of injustices, and no one did a damned thing about it. Ryu had shown him that he could change the real world. It might be small changes, and no one might care about his tiny accomplishments, but it didn’t matter because he would be changing lives just as Ryu had changed his. “Your father was an awesome cop.”
“I still don’t understand why he was killed,” Kazuya admitted, his father had been shot while on the job when he was still in middle school. He still remembered the whispers and gossip surrounding his death. He couldn’t understand any of it then and he still didn’t understand it today. Why did his father have to die? “Yabuki Hayato was my father’s best friend. Why would he kill him?”
“Do you want to investigate the case with me?” Jin asked, sitting back up. “I have a copy of his files at my apartment.” He was beyond surprised when he had become a policeman, only to find out that Ryu had been shot years ago. His death was not been announced publicly and had not been in the newspaper or the news. Finding it kind of odd because usually an officer dying usually made top headlines, Jin read through the case files but he couldn’t find anything but inconsistencies.
“Isn’t that illegal?” Kazuya replied, raising his eyebrow accusingly. Surely, copying case files and taking them out of the police station was against some kind of law.
“Our department’s never been a stickler for the rules,” Jin chuckled softly.
-
“Hyuuga,” Kazuya read the name plate of the apartment door that Jin was currently knocking on. He remembered the name from his father’s funeral, but had never met the man before that day. It’s not like his father was home much, so it’s no surprise that he’s never met his friends. Honestly, he thought his father had no friends since he seemed to be a bit of a lone wolf.
“Excuse me, I’m with the Joto Police Station,” the entrance was opened only enough for Jin to flash his police identification badge at the man standing behind the door. “Are you Hyuuga Kousuke?”
“Yes,” Kousuke replied, hesitantly opening the door for the detectives. He had been wary of the persistent door salesman, but honestly didn’t feel any less anxious to find out that cops wanted to talk to him. Surely, he had done nothing wrong.
“We’re here to ask you about Odagiri Ryu and Yabuki Hayato,” Jin explained. “We were informed that you were friends with them in high school.”
Kousuke merely stared at him in shock, his mouth gaped open in surprise. “You... look just like him, but that’s impossible. Hayato didn’t have kids,” he mumbled to himself.
“Hayato? Don’t you mean Ryu?” the detective furrowed his brows in confusion. “Kazuya is Ryu’s-”
“No, Jin. I think he’s talking about you,” Kazuya interjected. “I thought so too when I first saw you, but you kind of look like Hayato-san.” The moment Kazuya had laid his eyes on Jin, he was reminded him of the young teenager in the picture with his father but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure because it had been so long since he last saw it. He had thought maybe it was his imagination but hearing someone else, one that actually knew Hayato in person, say it confirmed his thoughts.
“I... what?” the older man stumbled over his words, flabbergasted. “That’s impossible. My parents are still-”
“Let me see if I have a picture,” Kousuke cut in, running hurriedly into the house. The two followed quietly, and stood awkwardly in the living room. The sound of the closet sliding open and cabinet drawers opening and closing could be heard from the bedroom.
“Here it is!” Kousuke shouted in accomplishment. He seemed genuinely happy to have found the picture. It was the picture of all five of them and their high school teacher on their graduation day.
“Yankumi, get in the picture!” Kousuke shouted. Keita grabbed her arm and pulled her in before she could protest, posing with one arms wrapped loosely around Kumiko’s. Kumiko wiped her tears and forced a smile, her eyes still slightly red from crying at the graduation ceremony and quite loudly and a bit disruptively at that. Hayato nabbed a random student from the crowd passing by and shoved the camera at him. The boy was too scared to refuse and stood patiently, waiting for his seniors to pose. Hayato circled his arm around Ryu’s shoulder possessively, and flashed his signature piece sign with his other hand. Ryu rolled his eyes in annoyance, but there was a small smile hidden on his lips. Hikaru stood in the far back with his trademark fan in one hand and Kousuke stood next to him, making funny faces at the camera. “Fight!” Hayato called out, once they were all ready. The rest of the crew answered “Oh!” immediately, laughter erupting as the shutter went off.
“This...” Jin gaped. “What the hell is going on?” If it had been a small resemblance he could have brushed it off, but he pretty much looked like a carbon copy of the man. How was this possible? Actually, he had a faint idea how it was possible, he just rather not think about it.
“About Hayato and Ryu... I haven’t seen them since Ryu’s wedding,” he admitted sheepishly. Hayato had come to the wedding with Keita but left almost immediately, visibly pissed off. That was the last time that he had seen the either of them, caught up with marriage life and a hectic work schedule. His only memories of Hayato and Ryu were those of high school, which remained glorified in his heart as one of the best years of his life.
“Here is Takeda Keita’s number. He knew the two since middle school, and kept in touch with them after we graduated high school. He might be of some help. Tsucchi, I mean, Tsuchiya Hikaru became a police officer with Ryu so he’d be the best one to ask, but I don’t have his current number. I haven’t talked to the others since Ryu and Hayato’s funeral,” he explained.
“Thank you for your cooperation!” Kazuya said with a bright smile, practically mocking the way police officers thank civilians. Jin rolled his eyes.
“If either of you ever need anything, come by any time,” Keisuke said with a gentle smile. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.” He smiled at Ryu and Hayato’s sons, and suddenly felt like calling the others up feeling kind of nostalgic.
-
Coming out of the shower with a damp towel around his neck, Jin opened the refrigerator to grab a bottle of beer. Shuffling through the drawer, he popped open the bottle cap with the opener. A soft sigh slipped from his lips as he gulped down the cool liquid and savored the rich and slightly musty flavor of the brew.
“Let’s go see Takeda-san tomorrow,” Kazuya suggested, looking up from the case files that were scattered across the coffee table. Takeda Keita was his late father’s close friend and had visited his house a few times when he was younger. If he remembered correctly, Keita was a househusband while his wife, Maki, was the one supporting the family as an estate lawyer. They had a young daughter, an adorable little girl with a shy pout, who hid behind her dad’s legs at his father’s funeral. The girl was probably in middle school by now.
Finishing the rest of his beer, Jin frowned deeply. “Before we see him, there’s somewhere I need to go.”
“Your parents?” the younger guessed, knowing that the other man was confused between the resemblance of himself and Hayato. It would be kind of scary if Hayato had nothing to do with him considering that they looked like clones. Maybe they were distant cousins of the sort.
“I need to know,” Jin agreed, feeling quite anxious though he’d never admit it. Jin opened up the freezer box, craving something sweet to calm his nerves down. He rummaged around said freezer and frowned in confusion, “Hey, what happened to my ice cream?”
“It needed to go,” Kazuya brushed off. He didn’t seem to be concerned at all that Jin was glaring at him.
“I just bought it last week!” Jin replied icily.
“Mm... Jin,” the girl moaned, licking the ice cream mixed with precum off of Jin’s hardened cock. “You taste so good,” she breathed, one hand smothered in melting ice cream and the other touching herself over her pink panties.
“It needed to go,” Kazuya repeated with stronger conviction, glaring back at the older man. Just remembering the images he saw when he touched the ice cream sent goose bumps down his skin, to think he was actually about to eat that ice cream. Yuck.
Jin merely sighed and decided to let it go. He knew better that to argue with Kazuya. Kazuya had quite a tongue on him, one that rivaled Ryo’s and that said a lot because his Osaka friend had quite the poisonous tongue. “Here,” Kazuya pouted, handing his bar of Crunky chocolate to the grumpy detective. Jin smiled in amusement, knowing full well how much of a chocoholic Kazuya was. He cracked the chocolate bar into two and gave him back the remaining half. “Thanks.”
-
“Do you recognize this man?” Jin interrogated, not missing the way his mother’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the picture of Yabuki Hayato. His lips tightened unconsciously, already imagining the worst case scenario.
“There’s something we need to tell you,” his mother said, nervously biting her lower lip. Her hands are rubbing against each other like she did when she was anxious.
“I’m adopted?” Jin said accusingly. Kazuya pat supportively on Jin’s fisted hand, hoping to help him to relax and distract himself from the awkward situation. If you asked Kazuya, he had no reason to be here since this was obviously a private conversation between family members but Jin had insisted that he tag along. He figured that was Jin’s subtle way of saying he wanted moral support, so here he was. Sitting here without anything entertaining to keep him from being uncomfortable, other than the fancy couch they were sitting on being comfy and kind of bouncy.
“No, dear... You’re not,” she assured with a soft smile. She held her husband’s hand encouragingly. His father cleared his throat, “I’m not your biological father.”
“What!?” their son shrieked, and knowing Jin they thought he took it fairly well. Surely, a shriek would not be the only thing coming out of Jin’s mouth if he was still as troubled and emotional as he had been back in middle school. They could easily see having to replace half of their furniture.
“See, Hitoshi here was my childhood friend. One of those more than friends, not quite lovers sort of relationships,” she elaborated. “When I was pregnant with you after a one-night stand, I didn’t know what to do. I was still in high school and couldn’t possibly take care of a baby by myself. So I sought advice from Hitoshi and he proposed to me. He promised to take care of you as if you were his own, which I believe he’s done a fine job of.” She smiled happily at her husband who grinned back, and Kazuya was kind of envious of how in love Jin’s parents seemed to be.
“I can’t believe you never told me this!” Jin grumbled, still put off that his parents decided to hide this little secret from him as if he wasn’t old enough to understand. “It’s not like I thought you were an innocent little virgin till you married dad, you know.”
“Jin!” his mother scolded, glaring at her son but her cheeks were fairly blushing. “As far as I’m concerned, Hitoshi is your only father,” she said.
“He’s my only father too... My other one’s dead,” Jin huffed, grabbing Kazuya’s wrist to drag him out the door with him. His parents sighed when the front door slammed so loudly that they were sort of surprised when the maid assured them that it didn’t fall off. They figured, or rather they prayed, that Jin just needed time to come around, and tried not to think about it too much.
-
“I can’t believe Yabuki Hayato is my biological father...” Jin muttered under his breath. He was still having problems digesting the information that was given to him. “God, if the police officers that investigated this case ever suspect anything, I’m screwed. I’ll have to resign from the police force,” he gulped down the shot vodka, knowing full well he’d regret it in the morning when he had to go to work with a nasty hangover. He should stop drinking after this bottle, or he might just kill someone while they’re on the scene.
“It’s odd seeing you upset like this. I thought you were more level-headed,” Kazuya teased, the amusement obvious in his voice. He secretly threw half of the bottle down the drain and filled it with water while Jin wasn’t looking earlier, but was still worried about how destructive Jin was being right now. Maybe he should’ve just replaced the whole bottle with soda instead.
“You want to go to which high school?” his homeroom teacher laughed condescendingly. “With your grades you’re lucky if you graduate this year, Akanishi. Why don’t you do us both a favor and drop out?” He had never liked this particular student for his cocky behavior and how he acted as though he was above everyone else. If he had his way, a problem student like Akanishi Jin would have been expelled a long time ago.
“No thanks,” Jin said with a triumphant smirk. “Who’d satisfy Nishiyama-sensei if I’m gone?” he asked, taking pleasure in the murderous glare that his teacher bore upon mention of his girlfriend who was also a teacher at this school. Little did he know that his girlfriend had seduced into spending the night with her a few times, complaining about how bad the teacher’s sex techniques were.
“You... fucking brat!” his teacher hissed, seething in anger. His darkened eyes reflected nothing but pure hate and disgust as he angrily stomped away to find his cheating girlfriend, no doubt. Jin snorted, it wasn’t his fault his teacher dated such a slut.
“I worked my ass off to be a cop from the worst grades you can ever imagine and with shitty incompetent teachers. I don’t want to be out of my job because my real father, who I didn’t know existed, committed murder!” he growled. This was so fucked up. Unfair as it was, you weren’t allowed to be in the police force if anyone in your family was ever convicted of anything. He understood the concept of the idea, but still thought it was unfair because he personally had nothing to do with his father or his stupid crimes.
“We don’t know that,” Kazuya comforted, patting the older man on the back. “Jin, he’s your father. I’m sure he was a good person.” A smile tugged on Kazuya’s lips as he imagined Hayato-san. He probably acted tough, but was a big softy on the inside like Jin was. “Don’t worry, we’ll find out the truth.”
-
“You must be Jin-kun and Kazuya-kun,” Keita smiled warmly at the two, who looked exactly like Hayato and Ryu back from when they were still in high school. “Hyuuga told me you would be coming,” he said, serving the two some orange juice.
“What would you like to know?” he inquired, holding a little child in his arms. It was their third child, a little boy this time, who stared at them with big round eyes rivaling his father’s.
“I thought Yabuki Hayato was my father’s best friend,” Kazuya started, asking the one question that had bothered him the most. “What changed?” What could have possibly happened that Hayato would hate his father to the point of wanting to kill him?
“Nothing, only that they fell in love,” Keita replied reflectively. “Hayato and Ryu were lovers in high school,” he informed with a warm smile on his lips.
“You have a girlfriend?” Keita asked incredulously. “Who? Who?” Hikaru butted into the conversation. “Is it someone we know?” Kousuke added on. Hayato hooked his arm around Ryu’s slender waist and smirked. “Isn’t she a beauty?” he said, immediately regretting his words when he felt a sharp pain in his foot. Ryu dug the heel of his shoes as hard as possible and rolled his eyes, “Who said you’re topping?”
“Lovers?” the younger man asked skeptically, “As in kissing and having sex?”
“What other meaning is there?” Jin retorted.
“Shut up!” Kazuya shushed him, his cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. “So what you’re trying to say is that my dad was actually gay...” he clarified.
“Um, for Hayato, yes, but generally speaking, no. Ryu was as big of a playboy as Hayato was in middle school,” Keita laughed sheepishly. The two used to compete on who had more chocolates on Valentines or who got laid more in a week, but he figured their sons didn’t need to know about that or Ryu and Hayato might come back to haunt him in his sleep.
“Could he help it? Hayato was damned hot,” Jin said confidently.
“Narcissist,” Kazuya grumbled under his breath. Not wanting to admit that he too had thought that Jin was good looking.
“But... when Ryu’s father found out, he wasn’t very happy. He arranged for Ryu’s marriage with a daughter of his subordinate, his right hand man. Ryu was a realistic person, I think he thought it would be for the best so he left Hayato and got married.”
Keita knew that it wasn’t an easy choice for Ryu, but Ryu had always sort of regretted dragging Hayato down the path with him. He thought that if he hadn’t come out to Hayato about his feelings for him, that Hayato would have been happier. That Hayato would have been able to get married and have kids, enjoy a normal life without the many hardships of that came with being gay in a society conscious world. Maybe Ryu didn’t realize how much Hayato loved him.
“Hayato was never the same after that. Day in and day out, he would drink nothing but hard alcohol. Marijuana was his new best friend. We all tried to help him, but he was out of control. He’d get into senseless fights and get jailed for assault. Ryu always got him out, but that pissed Hayato off even more.”
Perhaps it’s because Hayato was a simple minded person, not in a bad way, but in the sense that he followed his heart. So for a person like Hayato, he couldn’t understand Ryu’s actions one bit. If Ryu left him because he wanted to be with a girl, then why wouldn’t he just leave him alone for good? Why did he always leave him with a slight hope that maybe Ryu still loved him? It frustrated him to no end and he had nowhere to vent his frustrations out but on himself.
“But Hayato would never hurt Ryu, not physically or emotionally. He just wouldn’t,” Keita defended with nothing but certainty gleaming in his eyes. “That I know for sure.” No matter what anyone says, Hayato would never hurt Ryu. He was certain because to Hayato, that was more painful than hurting himself.
-
“I agree with Takeda-san. I don’t think Hayato-san would shoot my dad,” Kazuya said after much thought. “He loved him so much, why should he?” He faced the man who was sitting beside him on the bed, reading over the case files again with the dimmed light illuminating the serious look on his admittedly handsome face.
“Just because he loved Ryu-san doesn’t mean he wouldn’t,” Jin pointed out. “Maybe he loved Ryu-san so much that he wanted him all to himself?” Not that Jin would admit it out loud, but he was a bit possessive himself. He wouldn’t be surprised if he got that side of him from Hayato.
“You think so?” Kazuya asked, skeptically. If Kazuya truly loved someone, he would rather let him go and be happy than keep him to himself miserable. Maybe his father had felt the same way when he broke up with Hayato and married his mother. His lips curled down into a small frown. Life was sure full of irony. Ryu had only wished for Hayato’s happiness, but instead his decision was what had destroyed Hayato. So if Ryu had selfishly tried to keep Hayato by his side, would they both have been happy?
“It’s a possibility,” Jin replied. “You never know what drives a person over the edge.”
“I wish there was a way to tell for sure,” Kazuya sighed.
“There is,” Jin answered, showing him the page in the case files with the picture of the fingerprints that were found on the gun. “If we analyze the fingerprints on the gun,” he explained.
“And how do you plan on doing that, detective?”
-
“Just the guy I was looking for,” Jin grinned at the young man huddled over a desk in a navy blue jumpsuit with the words Joto Police Investigation written in English on the back.
“Jin, what did you do this time?” the forensic scientist, Yamashita Tomohisa, said in exasperation without even bothering to avert his eyes from the computer screen. A few vicious strokes of the keyboard later, he finally turned his attention to his best friend while pushing the bridges of his glasses up.
“You sure weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t a stickler for rules,” Kazuya noted, raising an eyebrow accusingly.
“Pi, stop giving him the wrong idea,” Jin growled. “I need you to analyze the bullet wounds from this case,” the detective said, tossing the case files onto his desk.
The forensic scientist flipped through the files, skimming through the details of the case. “Why are you digging around a closed case?” Tomohisa questioned, facing Jin. “Nice catch by the way,” he added on, sending the younger man his Price Charming-like smile. Yes, Tomohisa had a girlfriend whom he loved dearly from the bottom of his heart but that didn’t mean he couldn’t look at others from time to time.
“Thank you!” Kazuya grinned.
“You’re welcome to have him,” Jin muttered, catching the faint blush on his charge’s fair cheeks. If Kazuya was so fond of Tomohisa, he was free to stay with him instead. Tomohisa was a police officer too and probably wouldn’t mind either, he thought bitterly.
“I’m afraid you’re stuck with me for another four months,” Kazuya reminded, sticking his tongue out at the detective. “You promised my mother!”
“That’s odd...” Tomohisa murmured, more to himself than anyone else.
“What’s odd?” Jin asked, peeking at the part of the page Tomohisa was pointing at.
“The angle of the bullets,” he clarified. “The wound in Yabuki Hayato’s lower left abdomen is in an upward angle from the front, but it seems that Odagiri Ryu’s was shot from behind. According to the case files, it was deduced that Yabuki shot Odagiri from behind and then himself but that’s highly unlikely.”
“Why’s that?” Kazuya questioned curiously.
“At his height, the angle in which the bullet was shot would cause a bad strain on the wrist. If you were trying to shoot yourself, why would you go through the trouble of twisting your hands to pull the trigger when you could just raise the gun to your chest and make the job simpler?” Tomohisa questioned. If he was trying to kill himself, then he would’ve shot himself in the head or in the chest. It would make the job easier.
“Then that means-”
“Could you match the fingerprints with the ones on the gun?” Jin cut in.
“It’s not that easy. The files are from eight years ago,” Tomohisa scolded, bringing the case file up on his computer to input the new data. Unfortunately, the police database only had minimal information on old cases because there were too many case files for the record department to fully transfer into the database and they couldn’t hire part-timers to go through undisclosed confidential information in the case files. Only a brief summary and names of the victim, culprit and those involved were recorded lest the case should later be part of a new investigation. “Give me a minute,” he scanned and uploaded the fingerprints into the computer and identified which fingerprints belonged to who, and inserted other factors that needed to be accounted for.
“Got it,” he grinned accomplishedly. “Here’s a digital diagram of their positions based on their height, the angle of the bullets and the fingerprints on the gun,” he transferred the data onto the bigger monitor so that all three of them could see the diagram.
“Wait, according to this diagram, Yabuki Hayato was holding the gun...” Kazuya trailed off, his eyes big in realization.
“Towards himself,” Jin finished. According to the diagram, Hayato and Ryu were standing facing each other. Hayato was pointing the gun towards himself, and it looked like Ryu was pushing the gun down.
“That would explain the bullet’s odd angle,” Tomohisa nodded in agreement. “I can’t say for sure but it seems Odagiri was trying to stop Yabuki from shooting and was trying to hold the gun away from his heart, which might’ve led to a misfire.”
“Then who shot my father?” Kazuya said, staring at the diagram incredulously.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”
Pairing: Akame, Jin/random girls
Rating: NC-17
Warninga: Smut (including Jin/random girls), random heterosexual couplings, adult themes, and character death (non-JE for the most part).
Summary: Yabuki Hayato and Odagiri Ryu are found dead at an abandoned warehouse. 8 years later, Ryu's son, Kamenashi Kazuya, is brought to Joto Station for interrogation as a primary suspect of a murder. There Kazuya meets Akanishi Jin, a police officer determined to uncover the truth about Ryu's death with his help. What will they discover along the way?
Author's Note: I think this is possibly the most anticlimactic story I've ever written, but what the hell? Otherwise, it'd be a lot lot more longer than it already is. (^-^;;; Akame's happy, so there. (*^0^)b All is well.
Carefully sipping on his hot morning coffee, Akanishi Jin grimaced at the bitter taste spreading inside his mouth. If he hadn’t been staking out all night for a dumbass drug dealer that he was beginning to think he should’ve left alone to die of overdose, he wouldn’t be drinking this shit. Hell, if Jin wasn’t busy calling for an ambulance, he swore he would’ve beaten the shit out of the idiot himself. Probably would’ve done that bastard more good than years of rehabilitation. However, with barely an hour of sleep and a mild migraine, he needed to hype up on as much caffeine as he could to get through the day.
“Let go of me, you fucking bastards!” angry bouts of profanities resonated through the halls before the door to their department even opened. Jin sighed inwardly, placing his cup of coffee on his office desk. All hopes for a peaceful day with only minor misdemeanors dashed within minutes of clocking in.
Soon enough, the door to the Criminal Investigation Department of Joto Police Station flew open with a loud bang. Jin furrowed his eyebrow together, seeing a young man on the borderline of being manhandled into the room by his subordinates.
A noticeable frown formed on his lips. “Why’s the kid on handcuffs?” Jin questioned.
“He punched a police officer,” Nakamaru Yuichi answered awkwardly, seemingly troubled with his reply. “Assaulting an officer...” his partner, Tanaka Koki, grumbled in addition, earning an annoyed snort from his charge. Koki glared menacingly at the suspect, rubbing protectively over his hurt cheek. As much as he hated to admit it, the kid sported one hell of a punch. If his partner had not stepped in, Koki was sure he would have gotten into a full-fledged fight with the darned brat just teach him a lesson.
“His fault for instigating,” the suspect said unperturbed, directing a sly smile at Jin. The lieutenant rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. Knowing Koki, he probably didn’t want to hear about it if Yuichi’s nervousness wasn’t any indication.
“What’s he here for?” Jin interrogated. His partner, Shirota Yu, being as proficient as he was, tapped him on the shoulder with the case files. All while ordering for the suspect to be taken to the interrogation room. The perfectionist.
“Kamenashi Kazuya,” Jin mumbled the suspect’s name. Apparently, the cheeky kid was the primary suspect for the murder of a successful businessman by the name of Aikawa Sho. The victim was found strangled in a room at Hotel Plaza21, a local love hotel, by the receptionist. Cause of death, suffocation. No sign of struggling in the room.
Sheesh, you’d figure that after pulling an all-nighter to catch a drug dealer you wouldn’t have to deal with a fucking murder case on the same day. Jin cursed more to himself than anyone else. He was beginning to doubt that the neighborhood he had grown up in was actually as safe and peaceful as the Koto City claims to be.
-
Tap, tap, tap. Kazuya wasn’t sure if it was on purpose but the sound of Koki tapping his fingers on the table was driving him insane, though he’d never give Koki the pleasure of admitting it. However, he might wring his goddamn neck if he continued. “Do you recognize this man?” Koki tossed a snapshot of the victim on the table for Kazuya to see. The atmosphere of the interrogation room was unusually tense, and the hostility between Koki and the suspect was enough to make Yuichi have goose bumps while jotting down what part of the interrogation he was able to write down without getting his partner suspended.
“No,” Kazuya replied, sparing the picture a quick glance. Luckily, the unconscious tightening of his lips went unnoticed by the officer in front of him who was too frustrated by Kazuya’s composure to take notice of such small detail.
“That’s odd... The receptionist at the love hotel he was killed at remembered you clearly,” Koki sneered in disgust at the thought that the young man in front of him might have fucked the victim. Sure Kamenashi Kazuya was good looking for a man, but that was still gross. The victim was freaking fifty for Christ sake!
“Why’d you kill him?” Koki slammed his hands against the table, adding to the dramatic effect. The accused rolled his eyes in annoyance, wondering when he had become a character in some overplayed cop drama. His hate for the police was growing with each tick of the clock.
“I didn’t kill him,” Kazuya said simply. “I have no reason to.”
“You want to be sent to juvenile detention for prostitution?” Koki threatened menacingly. “You disgusting whore,” he spat out in disgust while his partner merely sighed, leaving the last statement out of the paperwork.
“And how do you intend on proving that?” Kazuya mocked, clearly not amused by the allegation. ”The guy’s dead, isn’t he?” he challenged. “Look here, you moron! I’m not a model student and I know that, but I’m not stupid either,” he seethed. “And when I say I didn’t do something, I didn’t do it!” And no one was going to make him confess to something he didn’t do, no one.
-
“Let him go, there’s no hard evidence,” Jin pointed out flatly, watching the interrogation through the trick glass with his partner. The only reason Kazuya was suspected of murdering Aikawa Sho was a witness statement, and he highly doubted that the receptionist remembered that clearly. “More importantly, no motive,” he added on.
“He was also in possession of this,” the taller man held out a clear packet with a few pills, “According to forensics, it’s a new form of club drugs.”
“This has nothing to do with the case,” Jin retorted, snatching the small packet from Yu’s hands. “I don’t agree with booking him for a different case just to have him behind bars.”
“You wanted a motive,” Yu reminded, ignoring the obvious frown on his partner’s lips. “The suspect was trying his hand in prostitution, for Christ sake. He most likely was in dire need of money to feed his drug addiction and killed Aikawa because he didn’t pay him enough for the sex.”
“Circumstantial evidence,” Jin interjected. “That’s not enough to get a warrant and you know it.”
“Akanishi’s right,” Imai Tsubasa agreed, walking in with his trademark smile. “Joto Station has a bad image as it is... If we falsely accuse a minor, the media will have a field day on our expense. We can always arrest him when we come up with enough evidence to issue a warrant. Don’t rush the case.”
Thanks to the senior officers who had soiled their reputation, Joto Station has been the source of nothing but harsh criticisms. And quite frankly, Jin couldn’t blame them. Throwing an innocent man in prison for possession of marijuana that didn’t really exist didn’t sit well with him either. And having a Section Chief shoplift ten bucks worth of paltry goods didn’t exactly save face, even if he did resign from his position, not that he had much choice in the matter.
“But sir, what about the drugs we found in his possession?” Yu reminded as respectfully as he could. His good for nothing partner covered his mouth with his fisted hand to suppress the grin on his face. Clearly, he was enjoying how uncomfortable Yu was with questioning their Captain’s decision. Yu was the goody two shoes between the two of them, after all.
“Did he test positive?” the captain confirmed.
“No, he was clean,” Yu informed. Their conversation ceased into an uncomfortable silence. It seems the captain was deep in thought, thinking of a sensible way of dealing with the situation. Even if Kamenashi Kazuya was innocent in this murder, it would be purely irresponsible to release him scot free when he was found in possession of drugs. Taking into account that Kazuya had tested negative for drug usage, there was still a chance to save this troubled youth from mistaking his way.
“The kid’s still a minor,” Jin interrupted his thoughts. “Let him off on probation. I’ll take him in.”
“You’ll what?” Yu furrowed his brows, forming wrinkles on his forehead. He frowned in disapproval.
“You heard me,” Jin deadpanned.
“Akanishi, you don’t exactly have the cleanest slate in the book,” Yu reprimanded. Not that his partner has ever done wrong for the sake of doing wrong. In fact Jin always got the job done, just in ways that were completely and utterly out of the books in his humble opinion.
“Neither do you,” Jin shot back, reminding his partner that his flawless records did have a small smudge on it and that he was more than willing to use it against him. And for Yu, being the straight-laced officer that he was, that was more than enough to shut him up completely.
“Then it’s settled. Akanishi, you are hereby responsible for the wellbeing of Kamenashi Kazuya,” Tsubasa announced, quite pleased with the outcome. This way, if they needed Kazuya for further questioning, they wouldn’t have to search for him or worry about him flying off to Saipan or something crazy like that. “Five months should be more than enough to clear this case and monitor him for drugs.”
“Yes, sir,” Jin answered, bowing as the captain exited the room.
-
When Jin opened the door to the interrogation room, he stopped dead in his tracks and quirked an eyebrow. Apparently, he had walked into a glaring contest between Koki and the suspect. Sometimes, Jin thought Koki watched too many cop dramas. And though it was a known fact that that was what inspired Koki to become a police officer in the first place, he couldn’t understand for the life of him why anyone would want to be a cop and go home to watch the same drama from work being reenacted with cheesy sob stories in between.
“Koki, switch with me,” he demanded, pointing his thumb out the door. The last thing Jin needed was for Koki to be in the same room, questioning his decision since it was obvious he was out for blood for that big bruise on his cheek. Jin whistled to himself, judging from that bruise it must have been one hell of a punch. The kid had guts, or maybe he just didn’t care for the consequences.
“I don’t care who I talk to, the answer is the same,” Kazuya deadpanned. “I didn’t kill him,” he crossed his arms in front of his chest, silently fuming.
“I believe you,” Jin said simply. He pulled the pipe chair out and sat down in front of the suspect, studying him in awe. Kazuya was an alluring beauty that was for sure, and he was a straight man. In spite of that Kazuya’s caramel brown hair looked so soft that he wanted to brush his fingers through them, just to see how it feels. Still very young and only nineteen years of age, he had fair skin which looked supple and smooth. Jin swallowed the sudden urge to run his hands over his body to feel that soft skin against the palm of his hands. He sighed inwardly. Obviously, he needed to get laid if he was finding a young man sexually attractive.
Meanwhile, Kazuya’s strong brown eyes stared straight into his eyes trying to read him. His shapely pink lips were pouted together, unmoved and obviously not persuaded. Taking into consideration everything from the hours of confinement in a tiny little room to being yelled at over a crime he didn’t commit though he should be here solely on voluntary status to cooperate with the police, Kazuya wasn’t about to believe Jin’s words so easily. Even if saw nothing but sincerity in the older man’s deep almond eyes.
“You do, huh?” Kazuya sneered accusingly.
“Yes, and I’m offering you a deal,” Jin started, knowing full well that Kazuya did not trust him. He wouldn’t either, if he were in his shoes. “You’ll be put on probation and come live with me until this case is solved. Unless that is, you can tell me where the drugs came from.”
“I... don’t know,” he mumbled in response.
“Then probation is your only ticket out of this joint,” Jin offered.
“What if you don’t solve the case? I’m stuck with you for life?” Kazuya narrowed his eyes accusingly, and pursed his lips together stubbornly. “No offense, but your lap dogs aren’t too bright.”
Jin chuckled at that, “No, your probation period is only for five months.”
“As long as you’re not convicted for a crime within your probation period, you’re free to go,” he clarified.
“I guess it beats sticking around here and being yelled at by a wannabe thug,” Kazuya grumbled, mostly to himself. The offer wasn’t a bad one, and he knew that it was the best one he would get considering the drugs that were in his possession. Of course Kazuya could always call his grandfather, who was a higher-up in the police force and ask for his help. However, he had a feeling that his strict grandfather would be scarier to deal with in terms of explaining the drugs in his possession than the entire police force.
“I’ll pick you up when I’m off work,” Jin promised, standing up from his seat. He stopped right as he reached for the door. “Don’t go causing more trouble with Koki, kitten,” he teased with a wink before leaving the room to join the investigation.
-
Glaring pointedly at the clock that was ticking awfully slowly in his opinion, Kazuya sighed. He wondered how his day could get any worse. Of all the damned cops to ask him to come to voluntary interrogation, he had to had that baldy with a potty mouth and lose his temper which, of course, landed him with handcuffs and a complete body search. He should really be grateful that Jin saved his ass from being locked up here for a longer time because his ass was literally not appreciating the hard ground.
Kazuya rolled his eyes upon hearing yet another depressing sigh and turned his attention the young man around his age, huddled in the corner. The atmosphere surrounding him seemed so dark that Kazuya hesitated for a moment. “Quit sighing! What are you so depressed about anyways? I mean, what are you in here for? Murder?” he snapped, upon hearing another sigh. The young man made it seem like it was the end of the world.
“No, streaking...” the other muttered.
Kazuya blinked for a second to process the information. Minutes later he was doubled up in laughter, so much that his stomach was starting to hurt. Kazuya wondered if he had laughed this much lately, which was quite an accomplishment considering how sour his mood was just a minute ago. “Sorry,” he apologized, wiping the tears in the corner of his eyes from laughing too much. If it were possible, his jail mate became even gloomier.
“Why the hell did you do that?” Kazuya questioned, his lips still ghosting a smile. “You don’t seem like an exhibitionist.”
“I was drunk off my ass... Don’t remember a thing,” the other muttered. “I got thrown in here last night to sober up, but...”
“He’s too embarrassed to call his mother to bail him out,” the warden finished when the other trailed off. The overly friendly warden who had introduced himself as Murakami Shingo when he first stepped foot in jail, was cracking a wide smile while couching down in front of their bars. “Kato... His name’s Kato Shigeru,” he introduced, pointing at his cellmate. “Anyways, Kato’s been mortified since he first woke up and found out about his crime,” the older man’s eyes glistened in amusement as the Kato guy lowered his head and wallowed in self pity.
“I’m so ashamed,” Shigeru groaned.
Kazuya held his hand encouragingly, missing the faint blush on the older man’s cheek at the sudden physical intimacy and smiled warmly. “I’m sure your mother will understand. She’s your mother, she loves you-” he encouraged when his hand brushed against the sleeve of Shigeru’s shirt. Out of the blue, images of Shigeru throwing his shirt on the ground with the rest of his clothes and running around a busy street with police officers chasing after him flashed through his mind. He suddenly fell silent, “... naked glory and all.”
Of course this wasn’t the first time that Kazuya had these visions so to speak, his first encounter being back in middle school. Since then, Kazuya had studied psychometry thoroughly to understand the concept of his so called powers. In the words of John Rodes Buchanan, the father of psychometry, the past is entombed in the present. A person’s strong memories transfer to objects, which emanates the past through wavelengths and he was able to read that special wavelength. Usually Kazuya had control over his powers, but when he was tired or not focused enough they often got the best of him, which sucked because it caused headaches and showed him things he’d rather not see. Kazuya chided himself for being so careless, and withdrew his hands from the other’s.
“Here,” Shingo handed the phone to Shigeru through the bars.
Reluctantly, Shigeru gave Shingo the number to dial.
“Mom? I, yeah, about that, uh... I’minjailrightnowforstreakingcouldyoucometoJotoStationtobailmeout?” he said so fast that Kazuya and Shingo blinked at each other, both wondering how anyone could understand that. Although he had mumbled most of the reason that he was thrown in jail with a shaky voice, his mother eventually arrived to pick up her son but not before apologizing repeatedly to the Shingo for causing him an inconvenience, which of course, the hearty Osaka man just laughed off as a testimony of youth.
-
“You left me in jail for ten hours!” Kazuya complained, rubbing subtly at his sore backside. Shingo had offered him a cushion to sit on, figuring that it’s not special treatment if Kazuya was the only one there but there was only so much comfort the thin padding could offer.
“I said I’m sorry!” Jin repeated in exasperation. If only he had a time machine, Jin would go back the ten and some odd hours just to relocate Kazuya so he wouldn’t have to hear his constant whining. It’s not like he knew Koki would throw him jail after he left, though it figures that he’d find such petty payback.
“Some moron robbed a local convenience store. It’s not like I was peachy working overtime after getting no sleep last night,” Jin grumbled bitterly, rummaging through his pocket for the keys to his apartment. He tiredly opened the door and turned on the lights to his hallway. After catching said moron and safely retrieving the money that was stolen, Jin had to file paperwork for Kazuya’s release - he figured the report for the robbery could wait until tomorrow, go to Kazuya’s house to pick up his clothes, and explain to his worrisome mother that Kazuya was not in trouble per say and assure her that he was in good hands. Now it was well past midnight.
“Not my fault, playboy,” Kazuya countered, following the detective into his apartment. Throwing his heavy duffel bag onto the floor, he studied his new surroundings, which was fairly clean for a place owned by a single man living on his own. Well, with the exception of the Playboy magazines that was sticking out from under the couch that is. Typical guy.
“I was on the job!” Jin defended. He stumbled into his bedroom and collapsed on the messy double bed. As his sore muscles relaxed on the comfortable mattress, he closed his eyes knowing his body was completely out of energy and that he was unable to get back up. “Sleep wherever you want, use whatever you want, just don’t wake me up!” Jin yelled towards the living room before slowly drifting off to sleep.
-
The next morning, Jin snuggled closely to the comfortable warmth surrounding him. His brow furrowed, realizing the incongruity of the fact. Suddenly he was afraid to open his eyes. God, what’d I do now? Jin groaned, reluctantly fluttering his eyes open. His mouth opened briefly in surprise to see Kazuya sleeping in his bed, with his slender but fit arms wrapped around his waist like he was a body cushion of sort. Jin didn’t know if he should be relieved that it was Kazuya or kind of upset that he was sharing a bed with another man. He even thought about literally kicking Kazuya out of his bed, but seeing the peaceful expression on his face, he didn’t have the heart to wake him up. Still feeling kind of tired from missing out on two days worth of sleep, Jin shifted into a more cozy position and drifted back to sleep.
“Morning, detective,” Kazuya greeted when Jin finally woke up, a few hours later. Jin glanced over at the bed stand with his hazy vision to see that the red numbers were flashing a quarter past twelve. He rubbed on his eyes tiredly.
“It’s Jin,” the older grumbled, slightly grouchy from just waking up. He could sleep in forever today. The bed was just so comfortable and warm. “What are you doing in my bed anyways?” he questioned, suddenly remembering that Kazuya was in bed with him barely clothed like it was the most natural thing on earth.
“You said, and I repeat, sleep wherever you want,” Kazuya reasoned. “The bed just happened to be more comfortable than the couch.” It didn’t help that the couch was hard leather and the living room was kind of chilly at night. But more than anything...
“Ahhh, harder!” she moaned shamelessly. The beautiful girl with a mix of both Asian and Caucasian features was shoved against the couch on her arms, her hip thrust up with her legs spread out while Jin thrust into her relentlessly. “Jin, please,” she begged, jerking her hips back in a needy fashion.”Fuck me harder!”
Shuddering at the disturbing image in his head, Kazuya groaned inwardly. As attractive as the detective was, Kazuya could live without knowing about his sex life. Luckily, the bed was safe or Kazuya would have slept on the floor to avoid the cheap porn that played in his mind upon touching that desecrated couch.
“Is today your day off or do cops usually sleep in this late?” he quickly changed the subject. Kazuya was surprised that the detective had slept in this late. He had always thought police officers worked around the clock, without any regards to sleeping.
“Unless I get called in for some godforsaken reason, which happens quite a lot lately, today is my day off,” Jin explained but as soon as he finished his sentence, his cell phone started ringing from the nightstand. He groaned.
“...was my day off,” he mumbled bitterly, getting up to shower.
-
“This fucking blows,” Jin growled angrily, kicking his shovel into the tough dirt to vent out his pent up frustration. Of course, the suspect had to hide the knife that he used to stab the victim with in an abandoned field of tough dirt and wild weeds. That’s where all criminals hide their dirty goods, and who had to dig the shit back up? They did. Jin swore that he would shoot the bastard on both of his kneecaps and let him bleed to death if he had lied to them and they go back to the station empty handed.
“I can’t believe you took that prostitute in,” Koki nagged, digging harder into the ground with his shovel which was just about to break from the abuse. Not that Koki would complain if it did break. No shovel meant no digging in this miserable summer weather with his shirt sticking uncomfortably to his skin from sweat.
“He’s not a fucking prostitute,” Jin repeated for the hundredth time that day. Koki sure knew how to hold a stupid grudge. Just because the younger man didn’t seem to mind sleeping in the same bed with him, didn’t mean he was fucking around for money.
“No, he’s a drug addict,” his partner corrected, wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead with the towel wrapped around his neck. It looked kind of odd considering that Yu was wearing his collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, professional slacks, and a towel around his neck, his blazer long forgotten in the field somewhere. As long as he picked up his blazer before he left, Yu didn’t care about it being in a ditch somewhere as long as he wasn’t wearing it in 96 degree weather with 73 percent humidity.
“He’s clean!” Jin gritted through his teeth. Yu focused his investigation on finding where the drugs came from and had started investigating local gangs and yakuza to find the proof needed to get the warrant on Kazuya. He still thought charging Kazuya for drugs wouldn’t help with the murder case on Aikawa Sho, but figured that Yu could figure that mess out on his own.
“What happened to innocent until proven guilty?” the lieutenant questioned, his eyes immediately widened upon hearing a dull clink of metal hitting metal. He kneeled down on the ground and dug furiously at the dirt with his gloved hands. Jin fell back on his rear end, wanting to sit down after finally finding the knife which was covered in dirt and faint traces of dried up blood. The rest of the crew crumbled to the ground as soon as Jin held up the knife, tired and lifeless under the unforgiving sun. Summer in Japan was literally hell.
“It’s more like guilty until proven innocent in Japan,” Koki corrected once settling down. He gulped down the rest of his water thirstily, the small bottle of water felt like finding an oasis after traveling a year in the desert without a drop of water.
“Yeah, well, my first priority is getting the actual culprit, not the first plausible suspect. The media can kiss my ass.” Jin snorted scornfully. He hated that the police were constantly pressured to solve a crimes as soon as it was reported, as if it was that easy. It wasn’t. And Jin for one was not going to find a scapegoat to answer to public demands. He was a policeman, not a fucking politician.
-
“Why did you believe me?” Kazuya asked one day. “Even I wouldn’t have believed what I said.” It had already been two weeks since they had started living together, more or less since Jin came home once every two day lately. Kazuya had thought that Jin was planning to interrogate him or maybe even pretend to be friends with him to make him confess the truth but Jin did none of that. In fact, Jin trusted him on his own for the most part and let him keep his privacy.
“I just do,” the older man shrugged nonchalantly. “You’re not a bad kid.” Jin closed his eyes once again, basking under the gentle warmth of the sun, the calm wind against his cheek, and the soft tickling of grass against his skin. This was his favorite hangout spot from his high school days, which he still liked to visit on his days off. The day just seemed so peaceful under the clear blue sky with puffs of white clouds drifting slowly across the canvas, and the glimmering of the flowing water.
Jin decided to bring Kazuya to the creek because he felt bad that he was cooped in the house for most of the day. He did leave the house once in a while, but only to visit his mother or his friends and made sure to inform him exactly where he was going. Other than that he was always home, and when their dinner started getting fancier and fancier he figured Kazuya had too much time in the house.
“How would you know?” Kazuya pressed, rolling over to his side. “I could be hooking up with old guys for money, and dishing it out to feed my drug addiction like the other cops think for all you know.” His fingers played with the blades of grass, anxiously waiting for Jin’s reply.
“But you’re not... I can tell,” Jin assured, turning to face Kazuya while resting one arm under his head. He fought the urge to push back Kazuya’s hair, which was splayed across his cheeks, with his free hand. He smiled, feeling kind of serene.
“How’s that?” the younger asked, his lips pouted together.
“Let’s just say I wasn’t the cleanest person you’d find when I was younger,” the detective laughed uneasily. “Ditching school, getting into fights, drugs, sex, alcohol, I’ve done it all. You’re not the type.” His rebellious stage had started when his beloved grandmother had passed away. Their relatives all fought over her remaining money instead of grieving her death. Though Jin was still in middle school then, it had been enough of a cold shower to force him to grow up. After that Jin had lost all faith in his family and had turned to drugs and alcohol, mostly to trouble his parents and avoid going home.
“What changed?” Kazuya questioned curiously. He looked at Jin who was staring up at the sky almost nostalgically.
“I met a police officer who knocked some sense into me,” he smiled wistfully, and Kazuya could tell that this person must mean a lot to Jin. He could see it in his untainted eyes, the sparkles of admiration and respect.
“Listen to me when I’m talking to you, damn it,” his cheek was throbbing in pain from the punch that he was dealt. The police officer was staring straight into his eyes, his gaze burning in anger. He was intimidating even though he couldn’t think straight because of the haze of drugs. “Ditching school and getting into fights is just fine and peachy, but this shit you’re taking can kill you!”
“Who cares if I die?” he laughed derisively. “My parents would be happy to get rid of their nuisa-”
Another punch was dealt on his cheek, and Jin staggered back from the blow. “No parent would be happy to lose their child and guess what, I care. I can’t bear watching you lose your life for this stupid shit,” the other seethed. He extended his right arm, and pat him gently on the head. “Whatever you’re taking this shit for, things will get better. You’ll make them better.” The tears he had been holding back since his grandmother’s death rolled down his eyes as he crumbled to the ground sobbing.
“His name was Odagiri Ryu,” Jin said nostalgically. Ryu was the reason that Jin had cleaned up his act. He didn’t know why but the way Ryu looked at him, he looked so anxious and desperate to get through to him. It made him want to answer to his expectations.
“Odagiri Ryu...” the younger man repeated, his lips pursing into a thin line.
“Your father... You look just like him,” Jin smiled affectionately at the other, who was the splitting image of his father. “I had to look up your records to be sure though. You took your mother’s maiden name after his death,” he added on. Jin had been quite happy when he found Ryu’s name on Kazuya’s birth certificate.
“It’s not like he acted much like a father. He was never home,” Kazuya grumbled. He had an odd feeling that his father didn’t like him or his mother much. His mother used to say that the only reason his father was married to her in the first place was because his grandfather was a very strict person and arranged their marriage without his consent. That his father had always been in love with someone else, she never said who, in fact she probably didn’t know herself, but she could tell because she was his wife and loved her husband in spite of it all.
“I don’t believe in that superhero shit. Never did, even as a kid, but your father saved me, so much that I became a cop to be just like him,” Jin said. “He was my role model... and a true hero.” Ultraman, Kamen Rider, hell, even Sailor Moon for that matter, like they actually exist in the real world. The real world was full of injustices, and no one did a damned thing about it. Ryu had shown him that he could change the real world. It might be small changes, and no one might care about his tiny accomplishments, but it didn’t matter because he would be changing lives just as Ryu had changed his. “Your father was an awesome cop.”
“I still don’t understand why he was killed,” Kazuya admitted, his father had been shot while on the job when he was still in middle school. He still remembered the whispers and gossip surrounding his death. He couldn’t understand any of it then and he still didn’t understand it today. Why did his father have to die? “Yabuki Hayato was my father’s best friend. Why would he kill him?”
“Do you want to investigate the case with me?” Jin asked, sitting back up. “I have a copy of his files at my apartment.” He was beyond surprised when he had become a policeman, only to find out that Ryu had been shot years ago. His death was not been announced publicly and had not been in the newspaper or the news. Finding it kind of odd because usually an officer dying usually made top headlines, Jin read through the case files but he couldn’t find anything but inconsistencies.
“Isn’t that illegal?” Kazuya replied, raising his eyebrow accusingly. Surely, copying case files and taking them out of the police station was against some kind of law.
“Our department’s never been a stickler for the rules,” Jin chuckled softly.
-
“Hyuuga,” Kazuya read the name plate of the apartment door that Jin was currently knocking on. He remembered the name from his father’s funeral, but had never met the man before that day. It’s not like his father was home much, so it’s no surprise that he’s never met his friends. Honestly, he thought his father had no friends since he seemed to be a bit of a lone wolf.
“Excuse me, I’m with the Joto Police Station,” the entrance was opened only enough for Jin to flash his police identification badge at the man standing behind the door. “Are you Hyuuga Kousuke?”
“Yes,” Kousuke replied, hesitantly opening the door for the detectives. He had been wary of the persistent door salesman, but honestly didn’t feel any less anxious to find out that cops wanted to talk to him. Surely, he had done nothing wrong.
“We’re here to ask you about Odagiri Ryu and Yabuki Hayato,” Jin explained. “We were informed that you were friends with them in high school.”
Kousuke merely stared at him in shock, his mouth gaped open in surprise. “You... look just like him, but that’s impossible. Hayato didn’t have kids,” he mumbled to himself.
“Hayato? Don’t you mean Ryu?” the detective furrowed his brows in confusion. “Kazuya is Ryu’s-”
“No, Jin. I think he’s talking about you,” Kazuya interjected. “I thought so too when I first saw you, but you kind of look like Hayato-san.” The moment Kazuya had laid his eyes on Jin, he was reminded him of the young teenager in the picture with his father but he wasn’t a hundred percent sure because it had been so long since he last saw it. He had thought maybe it was his imagination but hearing someone else, one that actually knew Hayato in person, say it confirmed his thoughts.
“I... what?” the older man stumbled over his words, flabbergasted. “That’s impossible. My parents are still-”
“Let me see if I have a picture,” Kousuke cut in, running hurriedly into the house. The two followed quietly, and stood awkwardly in the living room. The sound of the closet sliding open and cabinet drawers opening and closing could be heard from the bedroom.
“Here it is!” Kousuke shouted in accomplishment. He seemed genuinely happy to have found the picture. It was the picture of all five of them and their high school teacher on their graduation day.
“Yankumi, get in the picture!” Kousuke shouted. Keita grabbed her arm and pulled her in before she could protest, posing with one arms wrapped loosely around Kumiko’s. Kumiko wiped her tears and forced a smile, her eyes still slightly red from crying at the graduation ceremony and quite loudly and a bit disruptively at that. Hayato nabbed a random student from the crowd passing by and shoved the camera at him. The boy was too scared to refuse and stood patiently, waiting for his seniors to pose. Hayato circled his arm around Ryu’s shoulder possessively, and flashed his signature piece sign with his other hand. Ryu rolled his eyes in annoyance, but there was a small smile hidden on his lips. Hikaru stood in the far back with his trademark fan in one hand and Kousuke stood next to him, making funny faces at the camera. “Fight!” Hayato called out, once they were all ready. The rest of the crew answered “Oh!” immediately, laughter erupting as the shutter went off.
“This...” Jin gaped. “What the hell is going on?” If it had been a small resemblance he could have brushed it off, but he pretty much looked like a carbon copy of the man. How was this possible? Actually, he had a faint idea how it was possible, he just rather not think about it.
“About Hayato and Ryu... I haven’t seen them since Ryu’s wedding,” he admitted sheepishly. Hayato had come to the wedding with Keita but left almost immediately, visibly pissed off. That was the last time that he had seen the either of them, caught up with marriage life and a hectic work schedule. His only memories of Hayato and Ryu were those of high school, which remained glorified in his heart as one of the best years of his life.
“Here is Takeda Keita’s number. He knew the two since middle school, and kept in touch with them after we graduated high school. He might be of some help. Tsucchi, I mean, Tsuchiya Hikaru became a police officer with Ryu so he’d be the best one to ask, but I don’t have his current number. I haven’t talked to the others since Ryu and Hayato’s funeral,” he explained.
“Thank you for your cooperation!” Kazuya said with a bright smile, practically mocking the way police officers thank civilians. Jin rolled his eyes.
“If either of you ever need anything, come by any time,” Keisuke said with a gentle smile. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.” He smiled at Ryu and Hayato’s sons, and suddenly felt like calling the others up feeling kind of nostalgic.
-
Coming out of the shower with a damp towel around his neck, Jin opened the refrigerator to grab a bottle of beer. Shuffling through the drawer, he popped open the bottle cap with the opener. A soft sigh slipped from his lips as he gulped down the cool liquid and savored the rich and slightly musty flavor of the brew.
“Let’s go see Takeda-san tomorrow,” Kazuya suggested, looking up from the case files that were scattered across the coffee table. Takeda Keita was his late father’s close friend and had visited his house a few times when he was younger. If he remembered correctly, Keita was a househusband while his wife, Maki, was the one supporting the family as an estate lawyer. They had a young daughter, an adorable little girl with a shy pout, who hid behind her dad’s legs at his father’s funeral. The girl was probably in middle school by now.
Finishing the rest of his beer, Jin frowned deeply. “Before we see him, there’s somewhere I need to go.”
“Your parents?” the younger guessed, knowing that the other man was confused between the resemblance of himself and Hayato. It would be kind of scary if Hayato had nothing to do with him considering that they looked like clones. Maybe they were distant cousins of the sort.
“I need to know,” Jin agreed, feeling quite anxious though he’d never admit it. Jin opened up the freezer box, craving something sweet to calm his nerves down. He rummaged around said freezer and frowned in confusion, “Hey, what happened to my ice cream?”
“It needed to go,” Kazuya brushed off. He didn’t seem to be concerned at all that Jin was glaring at him.
“I just bought it last week!” Jin replied icily.
“Mm... Jin,” the girl moaned, licking the ice cream mixed with precum off of Jin’s hardened cock. “You taste so good,” she breathed, one hand smothered in melting ice cream and the other touching herself over her pink panties.
“It needed to go,” Kazuya repeated with stronger conviction, glaring back at the older man. Just remembering the images he saw when he touched the ice cream sent goose bumps down his skin, to think he was actually about to eat that ice cream. Yuck.
Jin merely sighed and decided to let it go. He knew better that to argue with Kazuya. Kazuya had quite a tongue on him, one that rivaled Ryo’s and that said a lot because his Osaka friend had quite the poisonous tongue. “Here,” Kazuya pouted, handing his bar of Crunky chocolate to the grumpy detective. Jin smiled in amusement, knowing full well how much of a chocoholic Kazuya was. He cracked the chocolate bar into two and gave him back the remaining half. “Thanks.”
-
“Do you recognize this man?” Jin interrogated, not missing the way his mother’s eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the picture of Yabuki Hayato. His lips tightened unconsciously, already imagining the worst case scenario.
“There’s something we need to tell you,” his mother said, nervously biting her lower lip. Her hands are rubbing against each other like she did when she was anxious.
“I’m adopted?” Jin said accusingly. Kazuya pat supportively on Jin’s fisted hand, hoping to help him to relax and distract himself from the awkward situation. If you asked Kazuya, he had no reason to be here since this was obviously a private conversation between family members but Jin had insisted that he tag along. He figured that was Jin’s subtle way of saying he wanted moral support, so here he was. Sitting here without anything entertaining to keep him from being uncomfortable, other than the fancy couch they were sitting on being comfy and kind of bouncy.
“No, dear... You’re not,” she assured with a soft smile. She held her husband’s hand encouragingly. His father cleared his throat, “I’m not your biological father.”
“What!?” their son shrieked, and knowing Jin they thought he took it fairly well. Surely, a shriek would not be the only thing coming out of Jin’s mouth if he was still as troubled and emotional as he had been back in middle school. They could easily see having to replace half of their furniture.
“See, Hitoshi here was my childhood friend. One of those more than friends, not quite lovers sort of relationships,” she elaborated. “When I was pregnant with you after a one-night stand, I didn’t know what to do. I was still in high school and couldn’t possibly take care of a baby by myself. So I sought advice from Hitoshi and he proposed to me. He promised to take care of you as if you were his own, which I believe he’s done a fine job of.” She smiled happily at her husband who grinned back, and Kazuya was kind of envious of how in love Jin’s parents seemed to be.
“I can’t believe you never told me this!” Jin grumbled, still put off that his parents decided to hide this little secret from him as if he wasn’t old enough to understand. “It’s not like I thought you were an innocent little virgin till you married dad, you know.”
“Jin!” his mother scolded, glaring at her son but her cheeks were fairly blushing. “As far as I’m concerned, Hitoshi is your only father,” she said.
“He’s my only father too... My other one’s dead,” Jin huffed, grabbing Kazuya’s wrist to drag him out the door with him. His parents sighed when the front door slammed so loudly that they were sort of surprised when the maid assured them that it didn’t fall off. They figured, or rather they prayed, that Jin just needed time to come around, and tried not to think about it too much.
-
“I can’t believe Yabuki Hayato is my biological father...” Jin muttered under his breath. He was still having problems digesting the information that was given to him. “God, if the police officers that investigated this case ever suspect anything, I’m screwed. I’ll have to resign from the police force,” he gulped down the shot vodka, knowing full well he’d regret it in the morning when he had to go to work with a nasty hangover. He should stop drinking after this bottle, or he might just kill someone while they’re on the scene.
“It’s odd seeing you upset like this. I thought you were more level-headed,” Kazuya teased, the amusement obvious in his voice. He secretly threw half of the bottle down the drain and filled it with water while Jin wasn’t looking earlier, but was still worried about how destructive Jin was being right now. Maybe he should’ve just replaced the whole bottle with soda instead.
“You want to go to which high school?” his homeroom teacher laughed condescendingly. “With your grades you’re lucky if you graduate this year, Akanishi. Why don’t you do us both a favor and drop out?” He had never liked this particular student for his cocky behavior and how he acted as though he was above everyone else. If he had his way, a problem student like Akanishi Jin would have been expelled a long time ago.
“No thanks,” Jin said with a triumphant smirk. “Who’d satisfy Nishiyama-sensei if I’m gone?” he asked, taking pleasure in the murderous glare that his teacher bore upon mention of his girlfriend who was also a teacher at this school. Little did he know that his girlfriend had seduced into spending the night with her a few times, complaining about how bad the teacher’s sex techniques were.
“You... fucking brat!” his teacher hissed, seething in anger. His darkened eyes reflected nothing but pure hate and disgust as he angrily stomped away to find his cheating girlfriend, no doubt. Jin snorted, it wasn’t his fault his teacher dated such a slut.
“I worked my ass off to be a cop from the worst grades you can ever imagine and with shitty incompetent teachers. I don’t want to be out of my job because my real father, who I didn’t know existed, committed murder!” he growled. This was so fucked up. Unfair as it was, you weren’t allowed to be in the police force if anyone in your family was ever convicted of anything. He understood the concept of the idea, but still thought it was unfair because he personally had nothing to do with his father or his stupid crimes.
“We don’t know that,” Kazuya comforted, patting the older man on the back. “Jin, he’s your father. I’m sure he was a good person.” A smile tugged on Kazuya’s lips as he imagined Hayato-san. He probably acted tough, but was a big softy on the inside like Jin was. “Don’t worry, we’ll find out the truth.”
-
“You must be Jin-kun and Kazuya-kun,” Keita smiled warmly at the two, who looked exactly like Hayato and Ryu back from when they were still in high school. “Hyuuga told me you would be coming,” he said, serving the two some orange juice.
“What would you like to know?” he inquired, holding a little child in his arms. It was their third child, a little boy this time, who stared at them with big round eyes rivaling his father’s.
“I thought Yabuki Hayato was my father’s best friend,” Kazuya started, asking the one question that had bothered him the most. “What changed?” What could have possibly happened that Hayato would hate his father to the point of wanting to kill him?
“Nothing, only that they fell in love,” Keita replied reflectively. “Hayato and Ryu were lovers in high school,” he informed with a warm smile on his lips.
“You have a girlfriend?” Keita asked incredulously. “Who? Who?” Hikaru butted into the conversation. “Is it someone we know?” Kousuke added on. Hayato hooked his arm around Ryu’s slender waist and smirked. “Isn’t she a beauty?” he said, immediately regretting his words when he felt a sharp pain in his foot. Ryu dug the heel of his shoes as hard as possible and rolled his eyes, “Who said you’re topping?”
“Lovers?” the younger man asked skeptically, “As in kissing and having sex?”
“What other meaning is there?” Jin retorted.
“Shut up!” Kazuya shushed him, his cheeks slightly red from embarrassment. “So what you’re trying to say is that my dad was actually gay...” he clarified.
“Um, for Hayato, yes, but generally speaking, no. Ryu was as big of a playboy as Hayato was in middle school,” Keita laughed sheepishly. The two used to compete on who had more chocolates on Valentines or who got laid more in a week, but he figured their sons didn’t need to know about that or Ryu and Hayato might come back to haunt him in his sleep.
“Could he help it? Hayato was damned hot,” Jin said confidently.
“Narcissist,” Kazuya grumbled under his breath. Not wanting to admit that he too had thought that Jin was good looking.
“But... when Ryu’s father found out, he wasn’t very happy. He arranged for Ryu’s marriage with a daughter of his subordinate, his right hand man. Ryu was a realistic person, I think he thought it would be for the best so he left Hayato and got married.”
Keita knew that it wasn’t an easy choice for Ryu, but Ryu had always sort of regretted dragging Hayato down the path with him. He thought that if he hadn’t come out to Hayato about his feelings for him, that Hayato would have been happier. That Hayato would have been able to get married and have kids, enjoy a normal life without the many hardships of that came with being gay in a society conscious world. Maybe Ryu didn’t realize how much Hayato loved him.
“Hayato was never the same after that. Day in and day out, he would drink nothing but hard alcohol. Marijuana was his new best friend. We all tried to help him, but he was out of control. He’d get into senseless fights and get jailed for assault. Ryu always got him out, but that pissed Hayato off even more.”
Perhaps it’s because Hayato was a simple minded person, not in a bad way, but in the sense that he followed his heart. So for a person like Hayato, he couldn’t understand Ryu’s actions one bit. If Ryu left him because he wanted to be with a girl, then why wouldn’t he just leave him alone for good? Why did he always leave him with a slight hope that maybe Ryu still loved him? It frustrated him to no end and he had nowhere to vent his frustrations out but on himself.
“But Hayato would never hurt Ryu, not physically or emotionally. He just wouldn’t,” Keita defended with nothing but certainty gleaming in his eyes. “That I know for sure.” No matter what anyone says, Hayato would never hurt Ryu. He was certain because to Hayato, that was more painful than hurting himself.
-
“I agree with Takeda-san. I don’t think Hayato-san would shoot my dad,” Kazuya said after much thought. “He loved him so much, why should he?” He faced the man who was sitting beside him on the bed, reading over the case files again with the dimmed light illuminating the serious look on his admittedly handsome face.
“Just because he loved Ryu-san doesn’t mean he wouldn’t,” Jin pointed out. “Maybe he loved Ryu-san so much that he wanted him all to himself?” Not that Jin would admit it out loud, but he was a bit possessive himself. He wouldn’t be surprised if he got that side of him from Hayato.
“You think so?” Kazuya asked, skeptically. If Kazuya truly loved someone, he would rather let him go and be happy than keep him to himself miserable. Maybe his father had felt the same way when he broke up with Hayato and married his mother. His lips curled down into a small frown. Life was sure full of irony. Ryu had only wished for Hayato’s happiness, but instead his decision was what had destroyed Hayato. So if Ryu had selfishly tried to keep Hayato by his side, would they both have been happy?
“It’s a possibility,” Jin replied. “You never know what drives a person over the edge.”
“I wish there was a way to tell for sure,” Kazuya sighed.
“There is,” Jin answered, showing him the page in the case files with the picture of the fingerprints that were found on the gun. “If we analyze the fingerprints on the gun,” he explained.
“And how do you plan on doing that, detective?”
-
“Just the guy I was looking for,” Jin grinned at the young man huddled over a desk in a navy blue jumpsuit with the words Joto Police Investigation written in English on the back.
“Jin, what did you do this time?” the forensic scientist, Yamashita Tomohisa, said in exasperation without even bothering to avert his eyes from the computer screen. A few vicious strokes of the keyboard later, he finally turned his attention to his best friend while pushing the bridges of his glasses up.
“You sure weren’t kidding when you said you weren’t a stickler for rules,” Kazuya noted, raising an eyebrow accusingly.
“Pi, stop giving him the wrong idea,” Jin growled. “I need you to analyze the bullet wounds from this case,” the detective said, tossing the case files onto his desk.
The forensic scientist flipped through the files, skimming through the details of the case. “Why are you digging around a closed case?” Tomohisa questioned, facing Jin. “Nice catch by the way,” he added on, sending the younger man his Price Charming-like smile. Yes, Tomohisa had a girlfriend whom he loved dearly from the bottom of his heart but that didn’t mean he couldn’t look at others from time to time.
“Thank you!” Kazuya grinned.
“You’re welcome to have him,” Jin muttered, catching the faint blush on his charge’s fair cheeks. If Kazuya was so fond of Tomohisa, he was free to stay with him instead. Tomohisa was a police officer too and probably wouldn’t mind either, he thought bitterly.
“I’m afraid you’re stuck with me for another four months,” Kazuya reminded, sticking his tongue out at the detective. “You promised my mother!”
“That’s odd...” Tomohisa murmured, more to himself than anyone else.
“What’s odd?” Jin asked, peeking at the part of the page Tomohisa was pointing at.
“The angle of the bullets,” he clarified. “The wound in Yabuki Hayato’s lower left abdomen is in an upward angle from the front, but it seems that Odagiri Ryu’s was shot from behind. According to the case files, it was deduced that Yabuki shot Odagiri from behind and then himself but that’s highly unlikely.”
“Why’s that?” Kazuya questioned curiously.
“At his height, the angle in which the bullet was shot would cause a bad strain on the wrist. If you were trying to shoot yourself, why would you go through the trouble of twisting your hands to pull the trigger when you could just raise the gun to your chest and make the job simpler?” Tomohisa questioned. If he was trying to kill himself, then he would’ve shot himself in the head or in the chest. It would make the job easier.
“Then that means-”
“Could you match the fingerprints with the ones on the gun?” Jin cut in.
“It’s not that easy. The files are from eight years ago,” Tomohisa scolded, bringing the case file up on his computer to input the new data. Unfortunately, the police database only had minimal information on old cases because there were too many case files for the record department to fully transfer into the database and they couldn’t hire part-timers to go through undisclosed confidential information in the case files. Only a brief summary and names of the victim, culprit and those involved were recorded lest the case should later be part of a new investigation. “Give me a minute,” he scanned and uploaded the fingerprints into the computer and identified which fingerprints belonged to who, and inserted other factors that needed to be accounted for.
“Got it,” he grinned accomplishedly. “Here’s a digital diagram of their positions based on their height, the angle of the bullets and the fingerprints on the gun,” he transferred the data onto the bigger monitor so that all three of them could see the diagram.
“Wait, according to this diagram, Yabuki Hayato was holding the gun...” Kazuya trailed off, his eyes big in realization.
“Towards himself,” Jin finished. According to the diagram, Hayato and Ryu were standing facing each other. Hayato was pointing the gun towards himself, and it looked like Ryu was pushing the gun down.
“That would explain the bullet’s odd angle,” Tomohisa nodded in agreement. “I can’t say for sure but it seems Odagiri was trying to stop Yabuki from shooting and was trying to hold the gun away from his heart, which might’ve led to a misfire.”
“Then who shot my father?” Kazuya said, staring at the diagram incredulously.
“That’s what we’re going to find out.”