Breathe Again 2/3
Title: Breathe Again [2/3]
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. BTW, Breathe Again is the title of a song I like by Kato Miliyah. It’s a really good song, so if you have the chance to listen to it please do♥
“Take told me you’d be coming,” the bartender solicited at first sight. After quitting the police force a few years after handling Ryu’s case, Tsuchiya Hikaru had become a bartender and now owned his very own bar. It was a small and clean-cut establishment, frequented mostly by police officers though he did have occasional idiots who talked about their shady business here and was arrested the next day. “I can’t believe Hayato had a son,” the tall man chuckled. Asides from Jin carrying a little more weight, having gone through tough physical training as a police officer, he looked just like Hayato in his younger days.
“He didn’t know,” Jin deadpanned and he wasn’t sure Hayato would’ve been happy to hear that he had a son either.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to hear he knocked someone up,” Hikaru grinned lopsidedly. The thought never even crossed his mind, but it didn’t surprise him. Hayato had been fairly active in the sex department, what with girls from other schools coming over to confess to him and all. He doubted with his careless personality, that he took caution and used condoms like Ryu had with his flings.
“I heard you were one of the investigators for the case,” Jin said offhandedly.
“Yes, I was,” Hikaru chuckled at Hayato’s not so subtle questioning.
“Could you take a look at this diagram?” Jin set a stack of papers with different angles of Hayato and Ryu’s stances when the gun was shot on the bar counter, which Hikaru picked up curiously. His lips parted a little, upon analyzing the diagram. “This is a recreation of Hayato and Ryu’s standing positions according to their height, the angle of the bullet wounds, and their fingerprints on the gun.”
“According to this analysis, there are a lot of odd points about their bullet wounds. It’s hard to believe that Hayato was the one who killed Ryu, and yet the investigation was written off as such within the second day of the case. I get the lack of technology back then but if the investigation wasn’t so sloppy, it’s not hard to see that something was wrong. I mean, the rifling scratches from the two bullets were different and that wasn’t even mentioned in the police report!”
“Yes, you’re right. If the case had been thoroughly investigated, as it should have been, we would have realized this,” Hikaru admitted, his smile was somewhat forlorn as if he was recalling that day. “The truth is Commissioner Odagiri had the case closed without further investigation,” he confessed, partly apologetic to the both of them. Though they had their reasons, Hikaru knew it might seem like the police did a half-assed job at investigating the death of their fathers.
“What?” sharp creases formed on Jin’s brow.
“The gun that was found at the scene of the crime had both Hayato and Ryu’s fingerprints on it and no one else’s. There was no saying what happened, but Commissioner Odagiri decided to cut the investigation short and conclude the case as a forced double suicide by Hayato,” Hikaru disclosed, feeling that Jin and Kazuya had the right to know. As far as Hikaru was concerned, he was no longer a police officer and did not have to abide by their confidentiality policy. More importantly, he felt that Jin and Kazuya were now old enough to draw their own conclusions about the case.
“Why the hell would he do that?”Jin shouted angrily. “His son was shot!” Hikaru concealed the smug smirk that threatened to surface on his lips. It seems that Jin was just as quick tempered and aggressive as his late father had been. There was no mistaking it. Jin had Hayato’s blood in him and quite thickly too.
“I believe that Commissioner Odagiri closed the case to protect Ryu’s privacy,” he justified, unperturbed by Jin’s little hissy fit. Hikaru had, after all, been in the police force for over ten years. He was accustomed to being shouted at, threatened and attacked, and by folks far more menacing than Jin. Not to say that Jin was not intimidating. He was, but just not in the same way.
“What makes you think that?” Kazuya frowned. “My grandfather seems like he only cared about his reputation and keeping face in front of the police force.” If anything, his grandfather probably covered up the case before word spread that his son was shot by his homosexual lover.
“Commissioner Odagiri may be a strict person, but he is a father. No matter what, he loves his son.” Hikaru defended, his expression softened immediately. “And the smile on Ryu’s face was enough to know that he was content with what had happened.” He could still remember the peaceful smile on Ryu’s face when they had found him. One of Ryu’s rare and beautiful smiles which brought a smile to whoever was fortunate enough to catch it, sort of like a perfect rainbow.
“Ryu rarely smiles,” Hikaru explained. “There was only one other time that I’ve seen Ryu smile like that since he broke it off with Hayato... It was when you were born, Kazuya-kun.” The day Kazuya was born Ryu was simply glowing in happiness at finally becoming a father, after nine months of waiting patiently. A captivating smile graced his usually frowning lips, and his eyes were sparking in excitement.
“Cute little thing, isn’t he?” Ryu grinned proudly, holding the bundle of joy in his arms. “Kazuya...” he cooed softly at the sleeping baby while Hikaru gently poked at his tummy. The baby wrinkled its tiny little face, opened its small mouth as widely as possible, and had started crying out loud. The two officers panicked at the sight of the crying baby and frantically sought to calm him down. The nurse confiscated him minutes later, afraid that they would drop him in their frenzy.
“Me?” Kazuya repeated unbelievingly.
“Yes, you,” Hikaru confirmed, “Ryu might have never loved your mother in a true sense, but he was truly grateful to her for bearing his child. Ryu was truly happy to have you.” Ryu could never be in love with his wife, his heart was already taken and locked away by Hayato, but he did love her in a little sister sort of way. She was his wife, a family member, and the mother of his child.
“Dad...” Kazuya murmured.
“I believe Commissioner Odagiri wanted to protect Ryu and Hayato’s relationship to make up for breaking them up in the first place, and I agreed with his decision. I didn’t have the heart to dig around Hayato and Ryu’s relationship,” Hikaru admitted sheepishly.
“More than anything, I didn’t want the others to look down on Ryu and his accomplishments just because he was in love with Hayato. He didn’t deserve that when he worked his ass off to gain his peer’s respect.” Being on the perfect career course with a Police Commissioner as his father, others thought that everything was handed to Ryu on a sliver, maybe even a gold, platter. Ryu had proved them wrong with his strong sense of righteousness and painstaking hard work, and had finally earned the respect of their whole division. These days, homosexuality was becoming more accepted, but eight years ago, that wasn’t the case. Hikaru just wanted Ryu to remain the admiration of their division and keep his records untainted as their informal leader.
-
Slipping into his half of the bed, Jin was about to lie down when he noticed that Kazuya was hugging his knees to his chest like a girl did when she was crying. “What’s wrong?” he asked cautiously, afraid that Kazuya actually wanted to be left alone. He knew from experience that guys usually didn’t like crying in front of others, but Kazuya looked so vulnerable that he couldn’t pretend not to have noticed.
“I’m so stupid,” Kazuya mumbled miserably. His voice was shaking, almost on the verge of tears. “I was the only one he had, and I was cold to him because I thought he hated me.” Closing his eyes in poor attempt to stop his tears from falling, Kazuya remembered the countless times that he had brushed off his father.
“Kazuya...” his father called. A small frown formed on his lips wondering why his father was actually home today.“What is it dad? I’m busy,” Kazuya brushed off. He didn’t miss the kind of sad look that crossed his father’s face but ignored it, thinking it was only his imagination because it was gone in an instant.
At the time, Kazuya thought that it was fair treatment considering his father was never home as if to avoid them. In actuality, Kazuya was just scared. He was scared that if he confronted his father, his father would confirm that he really did hate him.
“You’re not stupid,” Jin placated, gently pulling the younger man toward his chest so that he could cry without hesitation. He patted his head comfortingly, feeling the warm tears drip down his bare chest. “You’re beautiful, kind-hearted, clever... Hell, you manage to make my subordinates look stupid.”
Kazuya laughed weakly, sniffling a little. He looked up at Jin with his reddish eyes, and smiled adoringly at the older man. “If Hayato-san was anything like you, my father was a very lucky guy,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, tell that to my ex-girlfriends,” Jin chuckled, reluctantly releasing Kazuya from his grasp.
“I’m surprised that an attractive man like you is still single,” Kazuya complimented, wiping the remains of his tears with the back of his hands. He figured with Jin’s good looks and caring personality, he would surely have a girlfriend. “Sure, you can be a pain in the ass sometimes but-”
“What did you call me?” Jin interjected, mussing the younger one’s hair mischievously. Satisfied with the small pout on Kazuya’s lips, Jin chuckled and leaned back against the headboard.
“You know how it goes. Cops are shitty boyfriends,” he shrugged. “I’m lucky if I even make it to a date, let alone finish one without being called back to work. I guess I’m just not worth the effort.” Regardless of whether Jin met a girl that he really liked or not, after standing her up the third time the girl usually never called again.
“No, Jin,” Kazuya whispered against his lips, leaning in to close the distance between them. Jin’s eyes widened in surprise, but his hand instinctively weaved through Kazuya’s silky hair. Jin realized then that maybe he had wanted to kiss Kazuya from the very beginning, he just wasn’t aware of it until now. He pulled him in even closer, savoring the sweet taste that lingered on his lips. It was addicting, and made him yearn for more. Jin sucked softly on Kazuya’s lower lips to gain entrance to his warm cavern, which Kazuya granted immediately. His tongue attacked the younger’s, alternating from aggressive to gentle strokes. Low moans of pleasure spilt from Kazuya’s lips. Completely out of breath, Jin pulled away wistfully and gave Kazuya’s delicious lips one last peck. The kiss was simply amazing and left them both craving more.
Kazuya grinned widely, “You are definitely worth the effort.”
-
“What are you doing?” Kazuya questioned, resting his chin against his arms which were crossed on an empty table. For the past hour or so, Tomohisa had been typing furiously on the keyboard while other forensic officers had been snapping pictures, measuring random items, carefully inspecting objects for fingerprints and other foreign substances, and separating DNAs with a centrifuge machine. If Kazuya didn’t know any better, he’d say they seemed almost desperate to find evidence.
“I’m matching the DNA found in the victim’s fingernails with the potential suspects,” he enlightened, hoping that it was sort of entertaining to someone who’s never seen the DNA database in action before. Tomohisa knew that Kazuya was bored out of his pretty mind being locked up in the forensics department all afternoon, waiting for Jin to come back so that they could go to lunch, which for the record was already three hours overdue. Not that Tomohisa could blame Jin because he too was working without anything to eat for the same exact case that Jin was running around looking for witnesses for.
At first Tomohisa had thought that his department head, Shibutani Subaru, would be upset about bringing a complete civilian into the room with a lot of confidential police data and evidence, but he just said its okay in his distinct Osaka accent and walked back into his office like he had asked a really dumb question. Tomohisa shrugged, Subaru’s always been a bit of an oddball.
“Bingo,” Tomohisa murmured, grinning at the blinking red letters that read the word match in bold English letters. Finally, he had found the legitimate proof the investigation department needed to have a warrant issued to arrest the culprit, who was quite an influential man. He had already called a ridiculously expensive lawyer, and had the police force’s higher-ups on their back for falsely accusing him of murder with no hard evidence. That, of course, had the investigation division frantically running around for decisive proof that he was indeed the culprit and the forensics division was no exception. They were determined to find the evidence to throw that bastard in jail as soon as possible.
“And that tells you?” Kazuya asked.
“That the victim was killed by her secret lover. She was three weeks pregnant when she was murdered. I’m guessing that she wanted to keep the baby and he killed her for that. The bastard is supposed to be marrying the daughter of one of his political supporters. So much for his political career now,” Tomohisa sneered, the bastard can kiss his political career goodbye with the two counts of murder on his permanent record. The minute his warrant is issued, Tomohisa could bet that his would be future father-in-law will cut off all ties with him and all the support money that was given to him will be turned over to another potential and more worthy candidate.
“Forensics is a way to hear the voices of the victims from what was left behind,” Tomohisa smiled frankly, proud of his line of work and the countless cases that Tomohisa was able to assist in. There was a saying that the dead men tell no tales, but Tomohisa felt that that wasn’t true. Through the use of an autopsy, analyzing their belongings for fine details such as the residues on their shoes or the strand of hair on their clothes, they were able to piece together what the victim was doing around the time of murder, what they were feeling that very day, and what had happened and why. They could interpret the voices left unspoken, and what message the victims struggled to leave behind during the very last minute of their life.
“Hear the voices left behind...” Kazuya smiled to himself, liking the concept of that idea. Forensic science was kind of like psychometry in that respect. It was a means to hear the voices left behind, and one that can be proven in court unlike his powers which was implausible and far-fetched.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Jin rushed into the room as though he thought Kazuya would run off on him if he made him wait too long. Kazuya smiled warmly at his boyfriend to show him that this wasn’t the case, and gave him a small peck on the lips. “It’s okay, Pi-chan was keeping me company,” he assured. Kazuya understood that there were responsibilities that came with dating a police officer, his mother was a perfect example of that.
“Why do you even bother? Dad’s not coming home,” he complained, seeing the upside down rice bowl and saran wrapped food on the table. “I know, dear,” she said, a little sadly at that. “But I want him to know that there’s a warm meal waiting for him when he does come home.”
“Oh god, I did not need to see that,” Koki wailed, walking past the mushy couple and blindly sticking out a clear evidence bag in Tomohisa’s face while covering his eyes with the other hand. No wonder Jin was so defensive over Kazuya from the very beginning. He should’ve known something was fishy. This was Akanishi Jin they were talking about, and he usually took no interest in anyone. “Go get a room... and I mean one outside the station!” he grumbled. Koki stormed back to his own division, his face bright red from walking in on Jin and his prostitute boyfriend. Oh god, his eyes were starting to burn.
-
“Jin, I want to see the our father’s possessions,” Kazuya said pleadingly, biting a little on his bottom lip. “Is that possible?” he asked, wondering what his options were. As far as the police were concerned, his father’s case has already been solved. As a family member, Kazuya should have the right to accept his father’s belongings. The problem was that they were trying to hide the fact that Jin was related to Hayato. In which case submitting a formal request for the belongings would be a bad idea, for fear that an officer might flip through the case files upon accepting the paperwork.
“I have a close friend who works in the record department. I’m sure he can get everything for us,” Jin agreed without much thought, figuring it shouldn’t be too hard to pull a few strings and grant his request. “Why do you want to see the possessions all of the sudden?” he questioned curiously.
“You wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you,” he mumbled, kind of sadly almost as if he was sure that Jin wouldn’t believe him. Kazuya knew better than to expect anyone to believe him. He wouldn’t either if he was in their shoes, but it was hurt that he couldn’t talk to anyone about his special abilities.
“Try me,” Jin challenged, his charming chocolate brown eyes shining earnestly.
“I have psychometry,” Kazuya confessed, a little nervously. This was the first time he was coming out about his powers to anyone, and he was afraid that Jin wouldn’t believe him or worse, that he’d think he was some sort of freak. The last thing he wanted was to become a lab experiment in a basement somewhere with a bunch of white coats trying to dissect him, but he desperately wanted to believe in Jin.
“Psychowhat?” the older man struggled to repeat. There were wrinkles in between his brows, trying to decipher what Kazuya had just said. Worry passed through his calm features, mistakenly assuming that Kazuya was not physically or emotionally well and had an illness that could not be cured.
“Psychometry,” Kazuya repeated slower this time. “I have the ability to read the past off of objects.”
“So you’re psychic?” he said half disbelievingly and half relieved that it wasn’t something else. “Can you read what I’m thinking too?”
“Something perverted, I’m never wearing loose clothing in front of your horny ass again,” he glared accusingly at his boyfriend, fixing the front of his shirt which was honestly wide open because he had bought it in a much bigger size for fashion purposes. Needless to say, Kazuya couldn’t read a human mind but Jin blatantly staring his midriff was enough indication of what he was thinking. “Jin, you’re just obvious,” he pointed out upon seeing the surprised look on Jin’s face. “It doesn’t work like that. I can only read objects.”
“What exactly do you mean by read objects?” Jin questioned dumbly. He understood the words, but was having a hard time understanding what the words meant. “Sorry if I’m giving you a hard time. I’d believe anything that comes out of your lovely lips. I just need time to figure it out.”
Kazuya nodded understandingly. He thought of what would be the best way to convey his powers to Jin. He bit his lips a little in thought. “It means that when I touch your filthy couch, I see you fucking that pretty Lena chick,” he concluded and judging by the paled look on Jin’s face, Kazuya guessed Jin understood what he meant.
“I need to trash that couch,” he muttered in dread.
“Along with the Playboy magazines that you jack off to, and seriously Jin, ice cream and chocolate are for eating. Not for substitution with lubrication... Disgusting, actually,” Kazuya added on in afterthought, crinkling his nose in disgust. The thought of chocolate being wasted for such a thing brought a pout to his lips.
Jin felt like digging a hole for himself, quite embarrassed about his boyfriend finding out about his one-night stands and his tendency to play with food so to speak. “So that’s why you trashed the ice cream,” he said in realization. Now that Jin thought about it, it was probably a good thing that the ice cream ended up in the trash. He had honestly forgotten where that ice cream had been.
“Jin... I know I’m being unreasonable... but I don’t like seeing you with someone else,” Kazuya mumbled softly. “I guess I get jealous pretty easily,” a faint blush graced his cheeks, possibly the first time that Kazuya had felt this possessive. He didn’t want Jin to be with anyone else. He wanted to keep him all to himself.
“I’ll throw everything I need to out,” Jin smiled reassuringly, thinking it was kind of cute how possessive Kazuya gets and how embarrassed he seemed to be about it. He promised then that the next time he had a day off, he would clean out the house of anything that relates him to any of his previous relationships. He wasn’t exactly keen on Kazuya knowing so much about his flings and short-term relationships either, but more than anything, he didn’t want to give Kazuya reason to worry.
-
Papers and files were scattered across the table, shelves filled with hundreds of binders worth information on old case files, and boxes full of the evidence collected from the both solved and unsolved cases. Welcome to the Criminal Records Department of Joto Police Station. Probably one of the most paper happy, and yet disorganized departments that exist in the station. Well, next to their station director, Shinohara Ryoko, that it. Ryoko was very strict but an extremely reliable and passionate person, thus earning her the nickname of Anego by her subordinates. She was usually cheerful and watched their backs, but the amount of paperwork that Anego made them fill out when they caused what she deemed as an ‘unnecessary problem’ was just plain scary. Now that’s paper happy, and Koki can personally vouch for that.
“Jin, about those case files-” Nishikido Ryo started upon seeing who opened the door. He stopped midsentence seeing Kazuya, his eyes going wide in surprise. He mouth gaped open before he regained his composure. “Okay, now that is just freaky. What the hell is going on? You... He...” he didn’t know if he was just seeing things after staring at case files too much, but the two looked like doubles with Yabuki Hayato and Odagiri Ryu.
Already having expected such a reaction, Jin ushered Kazuya into the room and shut the door behind them so no one could overhear them. “Yabuki Hayato is the biological father that my parents conveniently decided not to tell me about, and Kazuya here is Odagiri Ryu’s son.”
“Unbelievable,” Ryo kept looking at the two in turn, then at the picture on the projection screen. “You’re like carbon copies.”
The door opened, and the three froze until they saw that it was someone they all recognized walking in. “There you are, I was-” Tomohisa trailed off, seeing the picture projected on the big screen. His eyes widened. “Wait, that’s Yabuki Hayato? Jin, we need to get rid of these pictures right now! You can’t be associated with a murderer! You’ll be fired on the spot!” he wailed, already thinking of ways to dispose of the evidence connecting Jin and Yabuki Hayato. No matter if Tomohisa didn’t know why Jin and Yabuki Hayato looked like twins. Destroying the evidence came first, explanations can come later.
Kazuya raised an eyebrow skeptically and Jin sighed dramatically. “Pi, we’re not getting rid of anything. Hayato is innocent, remember?” he reminded. Tomohisa nodded, calming down a little. He had wondered why Jin was snooping around an old case. Especially since Yu had told him that they weren’t reinvestigating anything, but had just figured it was on Kazuya’s behalf. Apparently, that was not the case.
“Can I see our father’s belongings?” Kazuya asked Ryo offhandedly.
“Sure,” Ryo agreed, leading Kazuya to a couple of boxes set aside on the table per Jin’s request. He pulled the middle two out. “The first case is Yabuki Hayato’s clothes and possessions, and the second one is Lieutenant Odagiri’s.”
“Thanks,” Kazuya reluctantly opened the box, his hands trembling slightly. Honestly, Kazuya was scared of what he would see from their fathers’ belongings. Jin, noticing the pained expression on his boyfriend, watched over him protectively and held his open hand tightly to remind him that he was not alone. Carefully picking up the clothing, Kazuya closed his eyes to concentrate and pick up the wavelengths emanating off of the objects, trying to gather even a small fragment of the past.
“Ryu...” he muttered under his breath, grabbing at thin air. Hayato realized that the Ryu standing in front of him was only an illusion, but right now, he could care less. If drugs were what it took to see Ryu again, he would use it again and again.
A frown formed on Kazuya’s lips.
The Hayato in his vision was not the young boy with glimmering eyes and the bright smiles that lit up his face like in the pictures he had seen of him when he had secretly gone through the photo album his father had hidden in his closet. No, the Hayato he saw in his vision was not the same boy full of life. His eyes were dull and lifeless, and had lost a significant amount of weight. He walked in a monotonous way like a puppet with no will, and continued to drown in alcohol and drugs. It was a painful sight. So painful that he could imagine how Ryu must have felt watching his loved one wither away like this. Kazuya gently put Hayato’s clothes down and decided to keep this vision in his heart, not wanting to disappoint Jin.
Kazuya reluctantly touched the surface of his father’s box, hesitating a little before finally opening it. Reaching inside, he touched the plastic bag containing his clothes. All that Kazuya was able to see was his father talking to a man he vaguely remembered from somewhere in front of an old warehouse, but nothing else. He frowned, recognizing the warehouse as the same on that their father’s were killed in and wondered if this information would help the investigation somehow.
Lastly, his hand reluctantly reached for the evidence bag containing the gun that was allegedly used to kill their fathers. His heart was pumping faster and faster and he was beginning to feel nervous, afraid of what past was locked inside the gun. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he glanced over at Jin, who smiled at him encouragingly. Somehow his fear disappeared, and he took the gun into his hands and closed his eyes.
-
“What did you see?” was the first words that left Jin’s lips once Kazuya had caught a breath and calmed down.
“I... don’t know,” he answered, seemingly troubled by what he had seen. Kazuya breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled in attempt to calm his nerves down and sort out the images that played in his mind. “I think Hayato-san was trying to commit suicide. He was pointing the gun to himself, but my dad wouldn’t let him. He was trying to take the gun away. They were fighting for possession of the gun when the gun misfired. Hayato-san was shot first, but that’s all I could tell. I think that the gun might have misfired twice... There was only a split second before my father was shot.”
“No, that’s impossible,” Jin disagreed. “The rifling on the bullets was different. It means Ryu was shot with another gun.” The rifling scratches were almost like a gun’s fingerprints as each gun left different markings on a bullet. If the bullets had different rifling scratches, the guns were different. There was no way around it, it was a proven fact.
“So, someone shot my dad right as Hayato-san was shot by a misfire?” Kazuya voiced hesitantly.
Jin nodded his head, “Most likely.”
“I don’t think they even realized what had happened,” he said, lips pressed into a thin line. The resentment towards the culprit in him increased at the thought that, because of whoever the culprit was, his father had died thinking that Hayato was the one that had shot him.
“Maybe they were happier that way,” Jin said then, remembering what Hikaru had said about the rare smile on Ryu’s face. Perhaps Ryu had been content with dying because he thought it was at the hands of Hayato, whom he loved dearly.
“I don’t know if it helps but... I saw someone with my dad in front of the warehouse,” Kazuya recalled.
“Can you draw a picture of him?” he fumbled around the table for a sketchpad and a pencil or pen to draw with. Luckily, Ryo was the official drawer of facial composites at Joto Police Station being the best at art and there was one lying under the mess of papers.
Kazuya nodded and drew a quick sketch of the person he saw in his vision on the sketchpad that Jin had grabbed for him. He chewed slightly on his bottom lip wishing he had taken more art classes in high school. Adding the beauty mark on his left chin, Kazuya pouted a little at his drawing before handing the sketch over to Jin.
Jin blinked at the paper, wondering if he should have asked Ryo to draw the sketch or asked Tomohisa to create a digital montage instead but didn’t want to mock his boyfriend’s lack of art skills or hurt his feelings. He walked over to Tomohisa and Ryo who were diligently reading through the case files again to see if they can find more clues, more serious now that they knew that Yabuki Hayato was actually their best friend’s father and that if they didn’t find the true culprit, Jin could be fired. “Guys, Kazuya remembers seeing Ryu-san talking to someone before he died. He, um, drew a sketch.”
“Shuji-kun, I hate to break to you but there’s no one on Earth that looks like that,” Tomohisa said after studying the picture intently for several minutes. His rough sketch resembled one of the Area 51 aliens from Mars. His head shaped kind of like a balloon and had big black eyes.
“Shuji?” the Lieutenant raised an eyebrow skeptically, wondering when Tomohisa had started calling his boyfriend by a pet name. Jin questioned whether he should stop letting Kazuya hang out with Tomohisa while he’s out on the scene. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kazuya, but Tomohisa was a whole different story. Until he had officially started dating Keiko, Tomohisa was an infamous playboy and his boyfriend was damned attractive.
“Kame-chan’s cute,” Tomohisa grinned widely. “If I didn’t already have Keiko, I think I’d be fighting over him with you.” Jin quirked an eyebrow at his best friend’s statement, “Since when did you have interest in guys?” The other chuckled. “You were straight yourself,” he pointed out. Tomohisa then shrugged, “Kame-chan’s quite a beauty. I think most straight guys would go for him.”
“Doesn’t Kame-chan look like Shuji-kun from Shuji and Akira? You know, that 50’s band I like,” he clarified, singing one of their biggest hits ‘Seishun Amigo.’
“You mean, the band with the one guy that looks like a buffer version of you,” Jin asked, remembering the point in time that Tomohisa would keep playing that blasted song over and over until Jin threatened to cut the tape of cassette into black confetti. Tomohisa, who knew Jin would seriously carry out his threat and valued his rare cassette tape, never brought his tape player or cassette tape to work again.
“Sorry, don’t see the resemblance,” Tomohisa retorted. Akira did not look like him at all, maybe their eyes were kind of similar but that was it. He refused to admit to any further resemblance between them. “But Kame-chan looks like Shuji if he lost a little we-”
“Are you calling me fat?” Kazuya interrupted, glaring at Tomohisa indignantly.
“Wait! The beauty mark on his chin... Hey, did the guy have wavy hair?” Ryo suddenly spoke up before Tomohisa had the chance to assure Kazuya that he was not calling him fat but was merely implying that Shuji was too skinny.
“Yeah, his hair was kind of wavy,” Kazuya agreed after much thought.
“Thought so,” Ryo muttered, furiously flipping through the paperwork in the case files. He threw the first binder down on the table, and grabbed the second one. The three of them turned their attention on Ryo, and waited patiently for him to explain what this was about.
“Found it,” Ryo held up a picture of a handsome older man, who looked just like the one in his vision. “Misawa Hiro. He was the one who first found the two and reported it to the police,” he explained before Kazuya had the chance to confirm that Misawa was indeed the one he had seen. Now that he recognized who Kazuya had sketched, Kazuya’s horrible drawing only looked like Misawa in his eyes.
“Pi,” was all Jin needed to say. “Already on it,” he answered, running out of the room to head back to the forensic department.
Part 2
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. BTW, Breathe Again is the title of a song I like by Kato Miliyah. It’s a really good song, so if you have the chance to listen to it please do♥
“Take told me you’d be coming,” the bartender solicited at first sight. After quitting the police force a few years after handling Ryu’s case, Tsuchiya Hikaru had become a bartender and now owned his very own bar. It was a small and clean-cut establishment, frequented mostly by police officers though he did have occasional idiots who talked about their shady business here and was arrested the next day. “I can’t believe Hayato had a son,” the tall man chuckled. Asides from Jin carrying a little more weight, having gone through tough physical training as a police officer, he looked just like Hayato in his younger days.
“He didn’t know,” Jin deadpanned and he wasn’t sure Hayato would’ve been happy to hear that he had a son either.
“I never thought I’d be so happy to hear he knocked someone up,” Hikaru grinned lopsidedly. The thought never even crossed his mind, but it didn’t surprise him. Hayato had been fairly active in the sex department, what with girls from other schools coming over to confess to him and all. He doubted with his careless personality, that he took caution and used condoms like Ryu had with his flings.
“I heard you were one of the investigators for the case,” Jin said offhandedly.
“Yes, I was,” Hikaru chuckled at Hayato’s not so subtle questioning.
“Could you take a look at this diagram?” Jin set a stack of papers with different angles of Hayato and Ryu’s stances when the gun was shot on the bar counter, which Hikaru picked up curiously. His lips parted a little, upon analyzing the diagram. “This is a recreation of Hayato and Ryu’s standing positions according to their height, the angle of the bullet wounds, and their fingerprints on the gun.”
“According to this analysis, there are a lot of odd points about their bullet wounds. It’s hard to believe that Hayato was the one who killed Ryu, and yet the investigation was written off as such within the second day of the case. I get the lack of technology back then but if the investigation wasn’t so sloppy, it’s not hard to see that something was wrong. I mean, the rifling scratches from the two bullets were different and that wasn’t even mentioned in the police report!”
“Yes, you’re right. If the case had been thoroughly investigated, as it should have been, we would have realized this,” Hikaru admitted, his smile was somewhat forlorn as if he was recalling that day. “The truth is Commissioner Odagiri had the case closed without further investigation,” he confessed, partly apologetic to the both of them. Though they had their reasons, Hikaru knew it might seem like the police did a half-assed job at investigating the death of their fathers.
“What?” sharp creases formed on Jin’s brow.
“The gun that was found at the scene of the crime had both Hayato and Ryu’s fingerprints on it and no one else’s. There was no saying what happened, but Commissioner Odagiri decided to cut the investigation short and conclude the case as a forced double suicide by Hayato,” Hikaru disclosed, feeling that Jin and Kazuya had the right to know. As far as Hikaru was concerned, he was no longer a police officer and did not have to abide by their confidentiality policy. More importantly, he felt that Jin and Kazuya were now old enough to draw their own conclusions about the case.
“Why the hell would he do that?”Jin shouted angrily. “His son was shot!” Hikaru concealed the smug smirk that threatened to surface on his lips. It seems that Jin was just as quick tempered and aggressive as his late father had been. There was no mistaking it. Jin had Hayato’s blood in him and quite thickly too.
“I believe that Commissioner Odagiri closed the case to protect Ryu’s privacy,” he justified, unperturbed by Jin’s little hissy fit. Hikaru had, after all, been in the police force for over ten years. He was accustomed to being shouted at, threatened and attacked, and by folks far more menacing than Jin. Not to say that Jin was not intimidating. He was, but just not in the same way.
“What makes you think that?” Kazuya frowned. “My grandfather seems like he only cared about his reputation and keeping face in front of the police force.” If anything, his grandfather probably covered up the case before word spread that his son was shot by his homosexual lover.
“Commissioner Odagiri may be a strict person, but he is a father. No matter what, he loves his son.” Hikaru defended, his expression softened immediately. “And the smile on Ryu’s face was enough to know that he was content with what had happened.” He could still remember the peaceful smile on Ryu’s face when they had found him. One of Ryu’s rare and beautiful smiles which brought a smile to whoever was fortunate enough to catch it, sort of like a perfect rainbow.
“Ryu rarely smiles,” Hikaru explained. “There was only one other time that I’ve seen Ryu smile like that since he broke it off with Hayato... It was when you were born, Kazuya-kun.” The day Kazuya was born Ryu was simply glowing in happiness at finally becoming a father, after nine months of waiting patiently. A captivating smile graced his usually frowning lips, and his eyes were sparking in excitement.
“Cute little thing, isn’t he?” Ryu grinned proudly, holding the bundle of joy in his arms. “Kazuya...” he cooed softly at the sleeping baby while Hikaru gently poked at his tummy. The baby wrinkled its tiny little face, opened its small mouth as widely as possible, and had started crying out loud. The two officers panicked at the sight of the crying baby and frantically sought to calm him down. The nurse confiscated him minutes later, afraid that they would drop him in their frenzy.
“Me?” Kazuya repeated unbelievingly.
“Yes, you,” Hikaru confirmed, “Ryu might have never loved your mother in a true sense, but he was truly grateful to her for bearing his child. Ryu was truly happy to have you.” Ryu could never be in love with his wife, his heart was already taken and locked away by Hayato, but he did love her in a little sister sort of way. She was his wife, a family member, and the mother of his child.
“Dad...” Kazuya murmured.
“I believe Commissioner Odagiri wanted to protect Ryu and Hayato’s relationship to make up for breaking them up in the first place, and I agreed with his decision. I didn’t have the heart to dig around Hayato and Ryu’s relationship,” Hikaru admitted sheepishly.
“More than anything, I didn’t want the others to look down on Ryu and his accomplishments just because he was in love with Hayato. He didn’t deserve that when he worked his ass off to gain his peer’s respect.” Being on the perfect career course with a Police Commissioner as his father, others thought that everything was handed to Ryu on a sliver, maybe even a gold, platter. Ryu had proved them wrong with his strong sense of righteousness and painstaking hard work, and had finally earned the respect of their whole division. These days, homosexuality was becoming more accepted, but eight years ago, that wasn’t the case. Hikaru just wanted Ryu to remain the admiration of their division and keep his records untainted as their informal leader.
-
Slipping into his half of the bed, Jin was about to lie down when he noticed that Kazuya was hugging his knees to his chest like a girl did when she was crying. “What’s wrong?” he asked cautiously, afraid that Kazuya actually wanted to be left alone. He knew from experience that guys usually didn’t like crying in front of others, but Kazuya looked so vulnerable that he couldn’t pretend not to have noticed.
“I’m so stupid,” Kazuya mumbled miserably. His voice was shaking, almost on the verge of tears. “I was the only one he had, and I was cold to him because I thought he hated me.” Closing his eyes in poor attempt to stop his tears from falling, Kazuya remembered the countless times that he had brushed off his father.
“Kazuya...” his father called. A small frown formed on his lips wondering why his father was actually home today.“What is it dad? I’m busy,” Kazuya brushed off. He didn’t miss the kind of sad look that crossed his father’s face but ignored it, thinking it was only his imagination because it was gone in an instant.
At the time, Kazuya thought that it was fair treatment considering his father was never home as if to avoid them. In actuality, Kazuya was just scared. He was scared that if he confronted his father, his father would confirm that he really did hate him.
“You’re not stupid,” Jin placated, gently pulling the younger man toward his chest so that he could cry without hesitation. He patted his head comfortingly, feeling the warm tears drip down his bare chest. “You’re beautiful, kind-hearted, clever... Hell, you manage to make my subordinates look stupid.”
Kazuya laughed weakly, sniffling a little. He looked up at Jin with his reddish eyes, and smiled adoringly at the older man. “If Hayato-san was anything like you, my father was a very lucky guy,” he mumbled.
“Yeah, tell that to my ex-girlfriends,” Jin chuckled, reluctantly releasing Kazuya from his grasp.
“I’m surprised that an attractive man like you is still single,” Kazuya complimented, wiping the remains of his tears with the back of his hands. He figured with Jin’s good looks and caring personality, he would surely have a girlfriend. “Sure, you can be a pain in the ass sometimes but-”
“What did you call me?” Jin interjected, mussing the younger one’s hair mischievously. Satisfied with the small pout on Kazuya’s lips, Jin chuckled and leaned back against the headboard.
“You know how it goes. Cops are shitty boyfriends,” he shrugged. “I’m lucky if I even make it to a date, let alone finish one without being called back to work. I guess I’m just not worth the effort.” Regardless of whether Jin met a girl that he really liked or not, after standing her up the third time the girl usually never called again.
“No, Jin,” Kazuya whispered against his lips, leaning in to close the distance between them. Jin’s eyes widened in surprise, but his hand instinctively weaved through Kazuya’s silky hair. Jin realized then that maybe he had wanted to kiss Kazuya from the very beginning, he just wasn’t aware of it until now. He pulled him in even closer, savoring the sweet taste that lingered on his lips. It was addicting, and made him yearn for more. Jin sucked softly on Kazuya’s lower lips to gain entrance to his warm cavern, which Kazuya granted immediately. His tongue attacked the younger’s, alternating from aggressive to gentle strokes. Low moans of pleasure spilt from Kazuya’s lips. Completely out of breath, Jin pulled away wistfully and gave Kazuya’s delicious lips one last peck. The kiss was simply amazing and left them both craving more.
Kazuya grinned widely, “You are definitely worth the effort.”
-
“What are you doing?” Kazuya questioned, resting his chin against his arms which were crossed on an empty table. For the past hour or so, Tomohisa had been typing furiously on the keyboard while other forensic officers had been snapping pictures, measuring random items, carefully inspecting objects for fingerprints and other foreign substances, and separating DNAs with a centrifuge machine. If Kazuya didn’t know any better, he’d say they seemed almost desperate to find evidence.
“I’m matching the DNA found in the victim’s fingernails with the potential suspects,” he enlightened, hoping that it was sort of entertaining to someone who’s never seen the DNA database in action before. Tomohisa knew that Kazuya was bored out of his pretty mind being locked up in the forensics department all afternoon, waiting for Jin to come back so that they could go to lunch, which for the record was already three hours overdue. Not that Tomohisa could blame Jin because he too was working without anything to eat for the same exact case that Jin was running around looking for witnesses for.
At first Tomohisa had thought that his department head, Shibutani Subaru, would be upset about bringing a complete civilian into the room with a lot of confidential police data and evidence, but he just said its okay in his distinct Osaka accent and walked back into his office like he had asked a really dumb question. Tomohisa shrugged, Subaru’s always been a bit of an oddball.
“Bingo,” Tomohisa murmured, grinning at the blinking red letters that read the word match in bold English letters. Finally, he had found the legitimate proof the investigation department needed to have a warrant issued to arrest the culprit, who was quite an influential man. He had already called a ridiculously expensive lawyer, and had the police force’s higher-ups on their back for falsely accusing him of murder with no hard evidence. That, of course, had the investigation division frantically running around for decisive proof that he was indeed the culprit and the forensics division was no exception. They were determined to find the evidence to throw that bastard in jail as soon as possible.
“And that tells you?” Kazuya asked.
“That the victim was killed by her secret lover. She was three weeks pregnant when she was murdered. I’m guessing that she wanted to keep the baby and he killed her for that. The bastard is supposed to be marrying the daughter of one of his political supporters. So much for his political career now,” Tomohisa sneered, the bastard can kiss his political career goodbye with the two counts of murder on his permanent record. The minute his warrant is issued, Tomohisa could bet that his would be future father-in-law will cut off all ties with him and all the support money that was given to him will be turned over to another potential and more worthy candidate.
“Forensics is a way to hear the voices of the victims from what was left behind,” Tomohisa smiled frankly, proud of his line of work and the countless cases that Tomohisa was able to assist in. There was a saying that the dead men tell no tales, but Tomohisa felt that that wasn’t true. Through the use of an autopsy, analyzing their belongings for fine details such as the residues on their shoes or the strand of hair on their clothes, they were able to piece together what the victim was doing around the time of murder, what they were feeling that very day, and what had happened and why. They could interpret the voices left unspoken, and what message the victims struggled to leave behind during the very last minute of their life.
“Hear the voices left behind...” Kazuya smiled to himself, liking the concept of that idea. Forensic science was kind of like psychometry in that respect. It was a means to hear the voices left behind, and one that can be proven in court unlike his powers which was implausible and far-fetched.
“Sorry, I’m late,” Jin rushed into the room as though he thought Kazuya would run off on him if he made him wait too long. Kazuya smiled warmly at his boyfriend to show him that this wasn’t the case, and gave him a small peck on the lips. “It’s okay, Pi-chan was keeping me company,” he assured. Kazuya understood that there were responsibilities that came with dating a police officer, his mother was a perfect example of that.
“Why do you even bother? Dad’s not coming home,” he complained, seeing the upside down rice bowl and saran wrapped food on the table. “I know, dear,” she said, a little sadly at that. “But I want him to know that there’s a warm meal waiting for him when he does come home.”
“Oh god, I did not need to see that,” Koki wailed, walking past the mushy couple and blindly sticking out a clear evidence bag in Tomohisa’s face while covering his eyes with the other hand. No wonder Jin was so defensive over Kazuya from the very beginning. He should’ve known something was fishy. This was Akanishi Jin they were talking about, and he usually took no interest in anyone. “Go get a room... and I mean one outside the station!” he grumbled. Koki stormed back to his own division, his face bright red from walking in on Jin and his prostitute boyfriend. Oh god, his eyes were starting to burn.
-
“Jin, I want to see the our father’s possessions,” Kazuya said pleadingly, biting a little on his bottom lip. “Is that possible?” he asked, wondering what his options were. As far as the police were concerned, his father’s case has already been solved. As a family member, Kazuya should have the right to accept his father’s belongings. The problem was that they were trying to hide the fact that Jin was related to Hayato. In which case submitting a formal request for the belongings would be a bad idea, for fear that an officer might flip through the case files upon accepting the paperwork.
“I have a close friend who works in the record department. I’m sure he can get everything for us,” Jin agreed without much thought, figuring it shouldn’t be too hard to pull a few strings and grant his request. “Why do you want to see the possessions all of the sudden?” he questioned curiously.
“You wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you,” he mumbled, kind of sadly almost as if he was sure that Jin wouldn’t believe him. Kazuya knew better than to expect anyone to believe him. He wouldn’t either if he was in their shoes, but it was hurt that he couldn’t talk to anyone about his special abilities.
“Try me,” Jin challenged, his charming chocolate brown eyes shining earnestly.
“I have psychometry,” Kazuya confessed, a little nervously. This was the first time he was coming out about his powers to anyone, and he was afraid that Jin wouldn’t believe him or worse, that he’d think he was some sort of freak. The last thing he wanted was to become a lab experiment in a basement somewhere with a bunch of white coats trying to dissect him, but he desperately wanted to believe in Jin.
“Psychowhat?” the older man struggled to repeat. There were wrinkles in between his brows, trying to decipher what Kazuya had just said. Worry passed through his calm features, mistakenly assuming that Kazuya was not physically or emotionally well and had an illness that could not be cured.
“Psychometry,” Kazuya repeated slower this time. “I have the ability to read the past off of objects.”
“So you’re psychic?” he said half disbelievingly and half relieved that it wasn’t something else. “Can you read what I’m thinking too?”
“Something perverted, I’m never wearing loose clothing in front of your horny ass again,” he glared accusingly at his boyfriend, fixing the front of his shirt which was honestly wide open because he had bought it in a much bigger size for fashion purposes. Needless to say, Kazuya couldn’t read a human mind but Jin blatantly staring his midriff was enough indication of what he was thinking. “Jin, you’re just obvious,” he pointed out upon seeing the surprised look on Jin’s face. “It doesn’t work like that. I can only read objects.”
“What exactly do you mean by read objects?” Jin questioned dumbly. He understood the words, but was having a hard time understanding what the words meant. “Sorry if I’m giving you a hard time. I’d believe anything that comes out of your lovely lips. I just need time to figure it out.”
Kazuya nodded understandingly. He thought of what would be the best way to convey his powers to Jin. He bit his lips a little in thought. “It means that when I touch your filthy couch, I see you fucking that pretty Lena chick,” he concluded and judging by the paled look on Jin’s face, Kazuya guessed Jin understood what he meant.
“I need to trash that couch,” he muttered in dread.
“Along with the Playboy magazines that you jack off to, and seriously Jin, ice cream and chocolate are for eating. Not for substitution with lubrication... Disgusting, actually,” Kazuya added on in afterthought, crinkling his nose in disgust. The thought of chocolate being wasted for such a thing brought a pout to his lips.
Jin felt like digging a hole for himself, quite embarrassed about his boyfriend finding out about his one-night stands and his tendency to play with food so to speak. “So that’s why you trashed the ice cream,” he said in realization. Now that Jin thought about it, it was probably a good thing that the ice cream ended up in the trash. He had honestly forgotten where that ice cream had been.
“Jin... I know I’m being unreasonable... but I don’t like seeing you with someone else,” Kazuya mumbled softly. “I guess I get jealous pretty easily,” a faint blush graced his cheeks, possibly the first time that Kazuya had felt this possessive. He didn’t want Jin to be with anyone else. He wanted to keep him all to himself.
“I’ll throw everything I need to out,” Jin smiled reassuringly, thinking it was kind of cute how possessive Kazuya gets and how embarrassed he seemed to be about it. He promised then that the next time he had a day off, he would clean out the house of anything that relates him to any of his previous relationships. He wasn’t exactly keen on Kazuya knowing so much about his flings and short-term relationships either, but more than anything, he didn’t want to give Kazuya reason to worry.
-
Papers and files were scattered across the table, shelves filled with hundreds of binders worth information on old case files, and boxes full of the evidence collected from the both solved and unsolved cases. Welcome to the Criminal Records Department of Joto Police Station. Probably one of the most paper happy, and yet disorganized departments that exist in the station. Well, next to their station director, Shinohara Ryoko, that it. Ryoko was very strict but an extremely reliable and passionate person, thus earning her the nickname of Anego by her subordinates. She was usually cheerful and watched their backs, but the amount of paperwork that Anego made them fill out when they caused what she deemed as an ‘unnecessary problem’ was just plain scary. Now that’s paper happy, and Koki can personally vouch for that.
“Jin, about those case files-” Nishikido Ryo started upon seeing who opened the door. He stopped midsentence seeing Kazuya, his eyes going wide in surprise. He mouth gaped open before he regained his composure. “Okay, now that is just freaky. What the hell is going on? You... He...” he didn’t know if he was just seeing things after staring at case files too much, but the two looked like doubles with Yabuki Hayato and Odagiri Ryu.
Already having expected such a reaction, Jin ushered Kazuya into the room and shut the door behind them so no one could overhear them. “Yabuki Hayato is the biological father that my parents conveniently decided not to tell me about, and Kazuya here is Odagiri Ryu’s son.”
“Unbelievable,” Ryo kept looking at the two in turn, then at the picture on the projection screen. “You’re like carbon copies.”
The door opened, and the three froze until they saw that it was someone they all recognized walking in. “There you are, I was-” Tomohisa trailed off, seeing the picture projected on the big screen. His eyes widened. “Wait, that’s Yabuki Hayato? Jin, we need to get rid of these pictures right now! You can’t be associated with a murderer! You’ll be fired on the spot!” he wailed, already thinking of ways to dispose of the evidence connecting Jin and Yabuki Hayato. No matter if Tomohisa didn’t know why Jin and Yabuki Hayato looked like twins. Destroying the evidence came first, explanations can come later.
Kazuya raised an eyebrow skeptically and Jin sighed dramatically. “Pi, we’re not getting rid of anything. Hayato is innocent, remember?” he reminded. Tomohisa nodded, calming down a little. He had wondered why Jin was snooping around an old case. Especially since Yu had told him that they weren’t reinvestigating anything, but had just figured it was on Kazuya’s behalf. Apparently, that was not the case.
“Can I see our father’s belongings?” Kazuya asked Ryo offhandedly.
“Sure,” Ryo agreed, leading Kazuya to a couple of boxes set aside on the table per Jin’s request. He pulled the middle two out. “The first case is Yabuki Hayato’s clothes and possessions, and the second one is Lieutenant Odagiri’s.”
“Thanks,” Kazuya reluctantly opened the box, his hands trembling slightly. Honestly, Kazuya was scared of what he would see from their fathers’ belongings. Jin, noticing the pained expression on his boyfriend, watched over him protectively and held his open hand tightly to remind him that he was not alone. Carefully picking up the clothing, Kazuya closed his eyes to concentrate and pick up the wavelengths emanating off of the objects, trying to gather even a small fragment of the past.
“Ryu...” he muttered under his breath, grabbing at thin air. Hayato realized that the Ryu standing in front of him was only an illusion, but right now, he could care less. If drugs were what it took to see Ryu again, he would use it again and again.
A frown formed on Kazuya’s lips.
The Hayato in his vision was not the young boy with glimmering eyes and the bright smiles that lit up his face like in the pictures he had seen of him when he had secretly gone through the photo album his father had hidden in his closet. No, the Hayato he saw in his vision was not the same boy full of life. His eyes were dull and lifeless, and had lost a significant amount of weight. He walked in a monotonous way like a puppet with no will, and continued to drown in alcohol and drugs. It was a painful sight. So painful that he could imagine how Ryu must have felt watching his loved one wither away like this. Kazuya gently put Hayato’s clothes down and decided to keep this vision in his heart, not wanting to disappoint Jin.
Kazuya reluctantly touched the surface of his father’s box, hesitating a little before finally opening it. Reaching inside, he touched the plastic bag containing his clothes. All that Kazuya was able to see was his father talking to a man he vaguely remembered from somewhere in front of an old warehouse, but nothing else. He frowned, recognizing the warehouse as the same on that their father’s were killed in and wondered if this information would help the investigation somehow.
Lastly, his hand reluctantly reached for the evidence bag containing the gun that was allegedly used to kill their fathers. His heart was pumping faster and faster and he was beginning to feel nervous, afraid of what past was locked inside the gun. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he glanced over at Jin, who smiled at him encouragingly. Somehow his fear disappeared, and he took the gun into his hands and closed his eyes.
-
“What did you see?” was the first words that left Jin’s lips once Kazuya had caught a breath and calmed down.
“I... don’t know,” he answered, seemingly troubled by what he had seen. Kazuya breathed in deeply and slowly exhaled in attempt to calm his nerves down and sort out the images that played in his mind. “I think Hayato-san was trying to commit suicide. He was pointing the gun to himself, but my dad wouldn’t let him. He was trying to take the gun away. They were fighting for possession of the gun when the gun misfired. Hayato-san was shot first, but that’s all I could tell. I think that the gun might have misfired twice... There was only a split second before my father was shot.”
“No, that’s impossible,” Jin disagreed. “The rifling on the bullets was different. It means Ryu was shot with another gun.” The rifling scratches were almost like a gun’s fingerprints as each gun left different markings on a bullet. If the bullets had different rifling scratches, the guns were different. There was no way around it, it was a proven fact.
“So, someone shot my dad right as Hayato-san was shot by a misfire?” Kazuya voiced hesitantly.
Jin nodded his head, “Most likely.”
“I don’t think they even realized what had happened,” he said, lips pressed into a thin line. The resentment towards the culprit in him increased at the thought that, because of whoever the culprit was, his father had died thinking that Hayato was the one that had shot him.
“Maybe they were happier that way,” Jin said then, remembering what Hikaru had said about the rare smile on Ryu’s face. Perhaps Ryu had been content with dying because he thought it was at the hands of Hayato, whom he loved dearly.
“I don’t know if it helps but... I saw someone with my dad in front of the warehouse,” Kazuya recalled.
“Can you draw a picture of him?” he fumbled around the table for a sketchpad and a pencil or pen to draw with. Luckily, Ryo was the official drawer of facial composites at Joto Police Station being the best at art and there was one lying under the mess of papers.
Kazuya nodded and drew a quick sketch of the person he saw in his vision on the sketchpad that Jin had grabbed for him. He chewed slightly on his bottom lip wishing he had taken more art classes in high school. Adding the beauty mark on his left chin, Kazuya pouted a little at his drawing before handing the sketch over to Jin.
Jin blinked at the paper, wondering if he should have asked Ryo to draw the sketch or asked Tomohisa to create a digital montage instead but didn’t want to mock his boyfriend’s lack of art skills or hurt his feelings. He walked over to Tomohisa and Ryo who were diligently reading through the case files again to see if they can find more clues, more serious now that they knew that Yabuki Hayato was actually their best friend’s father and that if they didn’t find the true culprit, Jin could be fired. “Guys, Kazuya remembers seeing Ryu-san talking to someone before he died. He, um, drew a sketch.”
“Shuji-kun, I hate to break to you but there’s no one on Earth that looks like that,” Tomohisa said after studying the picture intently for several minutes. His rough sketch resembled one of the Area 51 aliens from Mars. His head shaped kind of like a balloon and had big black eyes.
“Shuji?” the Lieutenant raised an eyebrow skeptically, wondering when Tomohisa had started calling his boyfriend by a pet name. Jin questioned whether he should stop letting Kazuya hang out with Tomohisa while he’s out on the scene. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kazuya, but Tomohisa was a whole different story. Until he had officially started dating Keiko, Tomohisa was an infamous playboy and his boyfriend was damned attractive.
“Kame-chan’s cute,” Tomohisa grinned widely. “If I didn’t already have Keiko, I think I’d be fighting over him with you.” Jin quirked an eyebrow at his best friend’s statement, “Since when did you have interest in guys?” The other chuckled. “You were straight yourself,” he pointed out. Tomohisa then shrugged, “Kame-chan’s quite a beauty. I think most straight guys would go for him.”
“Doesn’t Kame-chan look like Shuji-kun from Shuji and Akira? You know, that 50’s band I like,” he clarified, singing one of their biggest hits ‘Seishun Amigo.’
“You mean, the band with the one guy that looks like a buffer version of you,” Jin asked, remembering the point in time that Tomohisa would keep playing that blasted song over and over until Jin threatened to cut the tape of cassette into black confetti. Tomohisa, who knew Jin would seriously carry out his threat and valued his rare cassette tape, never brought his tape player or cassette tape to work again.
“Sorry, don’t see the resemblance,” Tomohisa retorted. Akira did not look like him at all, maybe their eyes were kind of similar but that was it. He refused to admit to any further resemblance between them. “But Kame-chan looks like Shuji if he lost a little we-”
“Are you calling me fat?” Kazuya interrupted, glaring at Tomohisa indignantly.
“Wait! The beauty mark on his chin... Hey, did the guy have wavy hair?” Ryo suddenly spoke up before Tomohisa had the chance to assure Kazuya that he was not calling him fat but was merely implying that Shuji was too skinny.
“Yeah, his hair was kind of wavy,” Kazuya agreed after much thought.
“Thought so,” Ryo muttered, furiously flipping through the paperwork in the case files. He threw the first binder down on the table, and grabbed the second one. The three of them turned their attention on Ryo, and waited patiently for him to explain what this was about.
“Found it,” Ryo held up a picture of a handsome older man, who looked just like the one in his vision. “Misawa Hiro. He was the one who first found the two and reported it to the police,” he explained before Kazuya had the chance to confirm that Misawa was indeed the one he had seen. Now that he recognized who Kazuya had sketched, Kazuya’s horrible drawing only looked like Misawa in his eyes.
“Pi,” was all Jin needed to say. “Already on it,” he answered, running out of the room to head back to the forensic department.
Part 2