[FIC] Breathe Again 3/3 Part 2
Jin drew his lips into a thin line, twirling the snapshot of Kazuya in his hand. “It doesn’t make sense...” he sighed, unable to get the annoying feeling on his chest. Something was stuck on him but he couldn’t figure out what it was.
“What doesn’t make sense?” Koki growled, kind of ticked off by the Lieutenant’s sighing. Jin had a habit about being annoying over small details that no one really cared to notice. He was kind of like a little brat whose every other word was ‘why?’
“It’s scientifically proven that humans base their memory on assumptions,” Jin explained his theory.
“Huh?” Koki uttered dumbfounded.
“In the first lineup, it’s only natural that Okada Masaki points at Kazuya’s picture because he remembered that Aikawa was with a pretty boy thus pointing to the prettiest one there. That’s normal because like I said, humans base their memory on assumption. But pointing Kazuya out in midst of other pretty boys three weeks after the fact means that he really remembers Kazuya,” Jin elaborated.
“And that’s odd because? I thought Kamenashi admitted to being at the crime scene,” Koki pointed out, not really understanding where Jin was going with this. If Kazuya was really there, why is it odd for the receptionist as remembering him as there?
“Do you remember every single person that you handcuff?” Jin countered, lifting an eyebrow challengingly.
“Of course not,” Koki growled angrily. “How many dumb bastards do you think we catch in a day?” Today was a drug roundup where they went to the streets and did random drug testing on those who had enough reason to be suspected. Just that alone ended up with throwing tens of people into police trucks and sending them to the station to be processed. He couldn’t remember a single one of them, only that one guy with a flashy Mohawk but had had to admit he wouldn’t be able to tell him apart from any other guy with a Mohawk.
“Exactly,” the Lieutenant concluded.
-
“Jin, there were a total of eleven girls that filed against Aikawa Sho for sexual harassment and rape,” Yu reported his findings from his investigation. “Ten of them had suddenly withdrawn their request or had settled for money.” He was surprised that it had been so hard to gather this information, but it seems that Aikawa Sho had covered his tracks with the use of power and money pretty well. Yu guessed that there were also girls who never filed in the first place for various reasons including not wanting to be involved in a public dispute over rape.
“And the remaining one?” Jin questioned with clear interest.
“Her name was Oomasa Aya... She committed suicide three months ago,” Yu continued to read the memo in his notebook solemnly. “According to the officers at the police box, the one that took her information had harassed her into believing that it was her fault. One of the other officers jotted down her information and sent in a request on her behalf, but it was the day after her death.” The officer apparently couldn’t defend her straight out like he should have because the one questioning her was their senior officer. The saving factor in his cowardliness was that he had written down the details that she had given with the intention of submitting her request formally under the senior officer’s nose.
“Rape, huh?” he laughed under his nose. “Then why are you dressed so skimpily? Why were you at a bar? You were there to seduce him, weren’t you?” he blatantly accused, not willing to be deceived. The girl was obviously dressed for attention and he refused to believe all of her fake crying.
“Poor girl,” Yuichi said empathically.
“Bastard, what cop turns someone in need away?” Koki growled, the bastard that called himself a cop stood against everything he believed in. Police officers were supposed to be the righter of wrong. How could he give the cold shoulders to someone who’s been wronged and seeking help from the police? What did that guy even become a cop for?
“As soon as Oomasa Aya committed suicide, the police officer was immediately fired,” Yu added in, knowing that it had nothing to do with the case directly but feeling it was important enough to mention.
“He’s lucky he got off with just that,” Jin scoffed. Neglect was an understatement in this case and even a dishonorable discharge would be too good of a deal for him. He was lucky that the problem was not brought up to them or he would’ve had hell to deal with. Their police station kept tabs on the police boxes in their jurisdictions and was not particularly kind to officers who neglect their duties like this. After all, it was not only the actual police box that looked bad when problems like this arose. The police station in charge of them would look bad.
“That’s not all,” Yu continued. ”It turns out her boyfriend at the time was Okada Masaki.” According to his former co-workers, Okada Masaki was planning to propose to Oomasa Aya, who was his girlfriend of two years. He had quit his job the day after Aya had committed suicide and started working at Hotel Plaza21 immediately after.
“The receptionist,” Jin gritted, already walking out the door.
-
“Just leave me alone!” Shimabukuro Satsuki screamed at the incessant pounding of her bedroom door. She hugged her knees to her chest and huddled in the dark corner of her room, closing her eyes to shut the noise out of her mind.
“Sorry, not an option,” Kazuya immediately shot back, “Open this goddamned door! You can’t lock yourself up in your room forever!”
“Try me!” she dared, her lips pouting together.
Kazuya sighed deeply and stopped hitting the door, his hand starting to hurt. “What happened to the girl who punched the bastard that was harassing me in the face?” he shouted back.
“What’s wrong? I thought you like sucking cock?” his senior whispered dirtily into his ears. Kazuya shivered and certainly not in the good way, but he was tired of fighting him off. After he had come out of the closet, he’d been harassed nonstop and it was becoming too much. He didn’t even understand what straight guys got out of fucking around with him like this. Just when his filthy hand rubbed against the front of his pants, the weight on his body was lifted.
“Ugh... what the-” the other cursed, holding his nose which was bleeding from being punched. Kazuya blinked in surprise, and turned to see a beautiful doll-like girl standing in front him. It confused him even more. What the hell just happened?
“Just because he likes guys doesn’t mean he wants an ugly bastard like you,” Satsuki sneered, pulling Kazuya by the hand. “Let’s go.” That was the first time he had met Satsuki. Kazuya had lost most of his friends when he had confessed to being gay, but Satsuki took no heed to rumors and had become his best friend ever since.
“She’s gone,” Satsuki muttered darkly, and Kazuya could barely hear her. His worry for her increased, and a small panic rose inside of him.
“Yeah, well, I want her back!” Kazuya demanded angrily, resorting to busting the door open. Something told him that Satsuki’s landlord wouldn’t be happy with him and that he would be paying a lot for that door, but right now, he couldn’t care less. He was tired of Satsuki wallowing in self pity over something she had no control of.
“You were the one that said no matter how shitty your day is the next day will surely be better,” he lectured. He grinned compassionately at his best friend who didn’t look half bad for a girl that’s been locked up in her room for at least a month. At least the food that he brought her every week wasn’t being thrown away.
“I think you should know that while you were holed up in your little safe haven, your rapist was murdered by one of his many other victims’ boyfriend. All because his girlfriend didn’t realize that she had someone that truly cared, kind of like you!” Kazuya informed, ignoring the shocked expression on Satsuki he continued.
“I might not be your handsome rich older asshole of a boyfriend, but I care about you so much that I made out with that bastard to find some kind of proof that you were raped because you wouldn’t bother to stand up for yourself. It doesn’t matter what kind of past you have, Satsuki. What he did was wrong and you didn’t deserve to be treated that way.” Kazuya hugged the girl crying rivers of sadness in his arms firmly, his heart clenching tightly upon seeing her so broken. He rubbed small circles on her shaking back, whispering that it’ll be okay until she was out of tears to shed.
-
“You are...” the young man’s eyes widen in recognition. Okada Masaki wondered if it was divine intervention that they were able to meet here, at this time and this place. He had wanted to talk to the other as well, but had no means to find him on his own accords.
“Okada-san, I wanted to introduce you to Satsuki,” Kazuya said. Masaki averted his gaze to the pretty girl that was standing with him in confusion. The girl in question, Satsuki, was looking down at the ground. She sucked in a deep breath, and had looked him straight in the eyes with determined but slightly wavering eyes.
“I... was raped by Aikawa,” Satsuki mumbled, rubbing consciously at her forearm with her open hand.
“No, s...stop!” she screamed, fighting her hazy conscious. She thrashed as her gray v-neck shirt was ripped off of her body, exposing her lacey black bra and her shapely breasts. He buried his face in her neck, breathing hard against her neckline and planting sloppy kisses down to her collar bone. His hand fondled her breast with his one hand while the other one pinned her weak body down. “I’ll pleasure you more than you thought possible... once the drugs start kicking in. Soon, you’ll be begging to be fucked,” he whispered dirtily in her ear. Tears overflowed, falling uncontrollably from her anguished eyes as her silent cries remained unheard.
“I’m not as pure and innocent as your girlfriend, but... I still remember what happened. I felt so disgusting and I couldn’t forgive myself for letting it happen, for not being able to stop him, that I couldn’t face myself and locked myself up in my room. I was sick of everything. I wished so much that I could wither away and die... so I could understand a little how your girlfriend felt,” her voice was trembling badly. Painful and still very raw memories of that night, that nightmare came back to plague her. She felt a lump in her throat, and swallowed hard to continue speaking.
“But your girlfriend doesn’t know how lucky she was to have you, someone who cares so much for her. The jerk I was dating dumped me because he didn’t want to deal with me being such an emotional wreck,” Satsuki forced a miserable laugh. She should’ve expected that from him, but had stupidly hoped that he was different. He wasn’t.
Masaki narrowed his gaze at Kazuya almost accusingly. Satsuki noticed this and smiled genuinely, maybe for the first time since that night. “Kazuya’s not my boyfriend. He’s been my best friend since high school... If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here right now,” and she meant that quite literally. Satsuki had plenty of time to think about committing suicide while she was holed up in her room alone but before she knew it, all of the sharp objects were gone from her apartment, even the tiny scissors she used to trim her eyebrows with, and her medicine cabinet was completely wiped out. She lived on the second story of her apartment, so she didn’t see the point in jumping off the balcony. With her luck, she’d probably end up with light fractures and have doctors and shrinks on her back asking her what was wrong when everything was fucking wrong with her miserable world.
Though she thinks now that maybe she didn’t want to give up, that a part of her wanted to pull through and overcome this nightmare. She couldn’t do it alone, but Kazuya had always been there for her, setting a bouquet of flowers because she loved flowers, bringing her food so she didn’t starve herself, and showing her that she was not alone. She had just not realized this, too caught up with being miserable.
“Kazuya got close to Aikawa to find something against him because we knew the police wouldn’t believe me. They didn’t take me seriously when I was harassed on the train, why would they believe me this time? I gave up, but Kazuya didn’t. He tried to fight my fight,” Satsuki stared at Masaki, her eyes wavering with anguish and tinge of determination. “It may not be much help, but I’ll testify for you in court. This time, I’ll do what I need to do to fight back because you gave me that courage. I promise you.”
“Okada-san, please turn yourself in,” Kazuya said with conviction. “I don’t condone murder no matter what the circumstance, but I can understand how unbearable it is to watch someone important to you suffering. I don’t want you to have to spend extra time in jail for that bastard.”
Masaki nodded his head. He had been planning on turning himself in today, after turning his formal resignation to his manager who had been worried about his sudden absence. His manager had left messages on his phone every day for the past month until Masaki had finally called him back to inform him that there was a family crisis and that he would not be able to return for a while. “Kazuya-san, I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you,” he apologized, bowing down deeply.
“It’s going to be tough for him,” Kazuya murmured, watching Masaki disappear in the direction of Joto Station. Catching the look on Satsuki’s face, he continued, “I heard Okada-san’s an orphan.” Satsuki bit her lower lip, so Masaki was the same as her. He had no family or relatives, nothing called a home but an orphanage overcrowding with kids. “Jin told me that whether a criminal has someone waiting for them or not makes a big difference because it’s the only thing linking them to the outside world, but he has no one...”
-
“You sure he’s coming?” Koki pressed, sounding quite eager to chase down Okada Masaki and lock him up in jail. He would have by now, if not for Jin’s instructions to give him a twenty four hour grace period. Considering Masaki had bought tickets to go to Hokkaido over two months ago, he couldn’t help but wonder where Jin’s confidence in the culprit came from. Masaki could be in Russia by now for all they knew.
At the turn of the doorknob and the squeaky creak of the door opening, the remaining officers standing by in the office turned their attention towards the door. A young man that they all recognized walked straight towards Jin and looked at him unsurely.“Are you Akanishi-san?” Masaki inquired politely. “I’m here to turn myself in. I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you.”
Jin released a soft sigh of relief, “Okada Masaki, you’re under arrest for the murder of Aikawa Sho.” Masaki held out his hands to be handcuffed, but Jin put his hands on them and shook his head. He escorted the young man to the interrogation room, sincerely thankful that Masaki had turned himself in before the search warrant was issued. Jin had talked to Masaki’s manager at Hotel Plaza21 and had a vague idea where he was and that he was planning to turn himself into the police today. He was glad that his deductions had been correct.
“I heard from Kazuya-san that you waited on my behalf and I thank you for that,” was the first thing to leave Masaki’s mouth. For someone who did not believe in the police, he was truly grateful to Jin and his generosity.
“What happened?” Jin questioned, his deep brown eyes were full of compassion and pity. He never liked hearing what drove a criminal to murder because often times they were reasons that could happen to anyone. With the exception, of course, of the few crazy bastards who thought that life was a game in need of thrills. Those sick bastards were beyond help and could be hung for all he cared.
“I didn’t know why Aya committed suicide until I found her diary one day. That was when I first learned that she was raped. Aya immediately went to the police, but the police accused her of knowingly soliciting Aikawa for money and turned her away. She didn’t talk to me about any of it. I found her the next day after she slit her wrist in the shower. It was too late to save her.”
“Aya!” he shouted, desperately shaking her shoulders. “Aya! Please wake up! Aya!”
“I started working at Hotel Plaza21 to find proof that Aikawa raped her to clear her name. That was when he came in with Kazuya-san. Kazuya-san came out of the room almost immediately, so I thought this would be my only chance to talk to him. I wasn’t planning to kill him! Please believe me! I just... wanted him to turn himself in,” his voice was shaking with raw emotion and Jin knew that there were no lies in his words. “I felt that that way Aya would be able to rest in peace, but Aikawa...”
“She killed herself? What a dumb woman, after I gave her such a good time,” he sneered, lighting up a cigarette. “What a pity. She was so nice and tight-”
“I don’t remember what happened, blood rose to my head. Before I knew it, I was strangling him. I called the police when I regained my senses and realized what I’ve done. I planned to turn myself in but... I wanted to visit Aya’s grave one last time so I lied.”
Initially, Masaki had gone to Hokkaido to visit Aya’s grave for the last time and apologize to her parents for not being able to stop their daughter from committing suicide. But once he arrived, he had found out that Aya’s mother was in the hospital and only had a month left to live. Masaki had strived to be a good son in Aya’s place and nursed her day in and day out, staying at the hospital. Aya’s mother took her last breath just last week, and her funeral had been yesterday. After the funeral, Aya’s father had asked him for one last favor as a son and it was for him to live more forwardly, live life to the fullest for Aya’s sake because he was certain that his happiness would be Aya’s happiness as well. He was worried that Masaki would continue to live in his daughter’s memory, and as much as he appreciated his love for Aya, he wanted him to move on for all of their sakes. Masaki had thanked her father from the bottom of his heart, and left Hokkaido with the intention of finally turning himself in.
Masaki knew that he was being extremely selfish in wanting to spend time with Aya’s parents, but to him, her parents were his parents, his only family, and he couldn’t leave knowing that he would never see her mother again. Even if he knew that Kazuya would be suspected of the crime in his absence. “Please send my regards to Kazuya-san,” he bowed his head, finally at peace with himself now that he had admitted to his crime and everything was over.
-
“If I were in his shoes, I think I would’ve done the same thing,” Tomohisa admitted, his hands were curled into a fist imagining anything close to what Oomasa Aya went through happen to Keiko. He had just gotten off the phone with her, deciding to call her after suddenly feeling sentimental.
“Unh, Tomo-kun?” she answered, her voice kind of ruffled. “Keiko? Is something wrong?” he asked panicked, but she laughed softly in response. “Uh huh, it’s past midnight,” she reminded playfully.
“Oh... Uh, yeah, sorry about that,” he apologized, cursing inwardly while checking his wristwatch. He never did have a hang of this time difference stuff. How many hours was it?
Tomohisa paused at a loss for words. Now that he had wakened her up and had her on the phone, he didn’t know what to say. “Tomo-kun? Did something happen? Is aunty okay?” she questioned, worried about the sudden silence. She almost got out of bed, ready to hop on the next flight back to Japan. “Mom’s fine. I just... wanted to hear your voice,” he admitted sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up...”
“Tomo-kun,” he could hear her smiling against her phone. “I’m doing okay so don’t worry about me too much, alright?”
He knew Keiko was strong, but that was what worried him sometimes. She didn’t know how to rely on others. Maybe Aya had been the same way and just didn’t know how to rely on Masaki. Tomohisa just wanted her to know that if anything was wrong that he was there for her and always would be there for her.
“I don’t condone murder but...” Jin trailed off, lost in his own web of thoughts. He knew that it was wrong to feel this way, but a part of him agreed with his best friend. This case was a heart wrenching one, and one Jin could relate to as well now that he had someone special.
If Kazuya was violated by some dirty bastard and killed himself in midst of pain and anguish, he would surely seek revenge to hide his own pain and guilt for not being able to save him. Only in his case, he would start with shooting said dirty bastard and might even go as far as killing the cop that turned him away. The thought alone scared him. He wasn’t sure if it was because he could imagine the anger and hatred that he would feel if he had lost Kazuya or the fact that he was that protective over the younger man, but he also knew that Kazuya would never do that to him. Kazuya knew better than anyone else how it felt to be left behind, he would never commit suicide no matter how hard thing were for him. At least, he sure hoped so.
-
“I made you lunch, I heard prison food sucks.” Satsuki announced, lifting up the big shopping bag in her hand. She had spent all morning cooking the said lunch while humming a catchy tune she had heard on the radio. Her life was considerably brighter now that she had learned to move on with her life. It helped that Kazuya had pulled a few strings with his grandfather and had Satsuki added on Masaki’s visitor list, which was fairly simple considering he had no one else but Aya’s father, who promised to visit when he could from Hokkaido.
“You shouldn’t waste your time on me,” Masaki mumbled, his voice was rough and broken and made Satsuki frown with concern. She had no doubt that prison life was hard, it was a form of punishment after all, but what worried her the most was that it seemed like Masaki had lost all hopes for the future.
“You don’t have family,” she reminded, her perfectly plucked eyebrows narrowing and creating fine creases in between. “If I don’t waste time on you, who will?” she questioned with a gentle voice.
“I started my new part time job. It’s a modeling job,” she informed happily, not really expecting an answer of any sort. Maybe to Masaki she was just a nuisance, but she knew that but she didn’t want to give up. She wanted to show him that there was someone that cared waiting for him on the other side, so that Masaki wanted to come back out. “It’s not much but it’s a start, right?”
Little did she know that this was Jin and Kazuya’s intention to begin with. They had thought that visiting Masaki would be good rehabilitation for the both of them. Satsuki and Masaki were both victims of Aikawa Sho, had fairly similar backgrounds when it came to family, and could relate to each other the best. Satsuki would develop a sense of responsibility and want to get back on her feet by having someone to take care of, while Masaki would develop the desire to get out since someone would be waiting for him on the other side.
“Your time is up,” the warden informed.
Satsuki nodded. She wondered if she was the only one who felt that thirty minutes flew by. “I’ll see you in two weeks,” she promised as she stood up from her hard metal seat. Satsuki flashed him one last smile, before turning around to leave.
“Satsuki-san!” the other called suddenly. He paused, sort of surprised himself. “...be careful on your way home.” Though Masaki could never admit it, being a murderer and not deserving such kindness, in truth he had been happy to see her again.
-
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed,” Ryo whistled, upon seeing the unruly mess of hair and the dark circles under Jin’s eyes. “You look like shit,” he added on with an amused smirk. Ryo’s morning routine was to steal a cup of coffee from the Criminal Investigation Department and Ryo wasn’t going to lie, his coffee mug was actually hidden here. In his defense, Yu made the best coffee in the station and he wasn’t the only one who sneaked in for a drink. Tomohisa, who was currently laughing his ass off at Jin, was the perfect example.
“Just ‘cause your pretty boy is going to the States doesn’t mean he’s going to hook up with some handsome blonde Tom Cruise look-alike,” Koki blatantly taunted. For a split second, Koki did feel kind of guilty at the pitiful kicked puppy look on his Lieutenant but only a little. Jin had just dropped his boyfriend off at the airport early this morning to study a year in the United States to learn forensic science, and for Jin, one year was a damned long time.
“If you’re trying to cheer me up, just don’t,” Jin grumbled, pouring a cup of hot coffee for himself. He cursed inwardly as he poured too much, too tired to realize it was overflowing and burned his hand accidentally. Jin sighed in annoyance and threw a rag over the spill.
“Jeez, didn’t know you were that clingy,” Yu chirped in. “It’s only been three months, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, only three months,” he muttered under his breath. Only three fucking months with Kazuya, and he was rendered incompetent after the first day of being apart. Jin wasn’t sure if he was more upset that he was so pathetic and insecure, or that Kazuya up and left him just like that. Sure he promised to call, but was Kazuya not going to miss him? Shit, since when was he such a desperate bitch?
“Can you blame him? This is the longest relationship he’s been in,” Tomohisa chuckled, sipping on his pleasant morning coffee with a touch of smooth and rich flavor of French Vanilla. He loved spending his early hours of the mornings with the Criminal Investigation Department when he could, which was hardly ever. Lawbreakers don’t exactly give a damn if the police have time to unwind or not, they should if they don’t want a cranky cop on their back but they don’t. Today was one of those rare peaceful mornings where they could all gather with Yu’s special blend coffee in one hand, laughter filling the typically hostile and unwelcoming room.
“Three months? Even I’ve done better than that!” Koki grinned toothily, him being the only one without a steady girlfriend in the group now that Jin was head over heels for Kazuya.
His partner was somewhat dating (it was hard to tell at times) a moody and reclusive artist by the name of Ueda Tatsuya, who, in his humble opinion, painted the creepiest shit he’s ever seen. Tatsuya had an odd fascination for the supernatural, and his artwork mainly consisted of something straight out of a horror film. Asides from the occasional fairies he draws that is, those were pretty harmless. Jin wasn’t so fond of Tatsuya’s artwork either, not into the whole gothic supernatural stuff but Tatsuya seemed to be quite famous in the snobby and posh art world. Koki wouldn’t know. He was a complete dilettante, having no interest in that stuff asides from graffiti. Now that was some cool shit, against the law, but still cool.
Yu, on the other hand, has been rumored to have a girlfriend, and a fucking hot one at that, but never introduces them to her. Koki had a vague feeling it has to do with the blemished record Jin kept mentioning to shut his partner up. Maybe it was that one girl, Hasegawa Jun, who Yu seemed to be so fond of. Jun was the girlfriend of a notorious criminal that Yu had arrested last year for assault charges. That was bound to cause problems for them in the future when said ex-boyfriend was released and finds out that his girlfriend was fucking the police officer he was arrested by, but in the meantime, Yu seemed pretty damned satisfied with his secret not so secret relationship.
Koki had to give Kazuya the most credit. He would have never thought it possible to tame the beast Jin was, and turn him into such a harmless lovesick puppy. Apparently, it was because Kazuya now had him twirled around his little fingers.
The crew immediately straightened up when Tsubasa walked into the department. The Captain ignored the morning greetings directed at him and stood in front of Jin. “Akanishi, your request to study profiling in the US has been approved,” Tsubasa announced with great enthusiasm, handing Jin the official paperwork and flashing his trademark idol-like smile at his subordinate. “You’re due in Los Angeles by next week,” he added on, paying no heed to the shocked look on Jin’s face. The rest of the crew grinned knowingly as the information slowly processed in Jin’s brain.
“What request? I didn’t put in a...” he trailed off. Wait, did Tsubasa just say he was due in Los Angeles?
“Commissioner Odagiri approved the request himself. If you have any disputes, you can take it up with him personally,” Tsubasa concluded, patting him on supportively on the back. It would be a pity to lose such a skilled member of the team, but Tsubasa was sure one year will fly by before they knew it, especially with how busy they were year round, and Jin would return an even better police officer than before. Hopefully, the newbie, Taguchi Junnosuke if his memory served him right, would be decent enough to fill in his shoes.
“Oh yeah, that request,” Jin laughed sheepishly, putting in a mental reminder to thank Commissioner Odagiri and his boyfriend later on. Maybe treat Kazuya to a nice romantic dinner at some fancy five star restaurant once he arrived in Los Angeles.
I want to run away together with you
To a place where we can fly freely
Stay with me even after the summer ends
Breathe again
Hey, I was to rise together with you
I want to run forward bearing the same pain as you
This is our true story
Nothing is so scary anymore
{Breathe Again ♥ Kato Miliyah}←Click to download♥
Author’s Note: I intended to make a prologue for Hayato and Ryu and an epilogue for Akame and Masaki/Satsuki and even had a draft written, but I was out of ideas on how to end them which is a big thing for me because I can go on and on though I don’t have the time or need to. I need a beta or rather someone to sweep my muse away. LOL. The lyrics at the end were to the song that inspired me to write this fic, Breathe Again. I linked a download to the song, in case you’d want to listen to it.*Hint hint* Also, because there were so many charactersmany undeveloped due to lack of time and partial laziness I posted icons and a brief description depending on the character. Unless you watch plenty of J-drama, you’d probably have a hard time putting a face with the name. Speaking of which, did anyone notice that Mizushima Hiro was in Gokusen 2? I sure didn’t. (^-^;;;
001 : Akanishi Jin
002 : Kamenashi Kazuya
003 : Odagiri Ryu
004 : Yabuki Hayato
005 : Shirota Yu
006 : Taguchi Junnosuke
007 : Nakamaru Yuichi
008 : Tanaka Koki
009 : Yamashita Tomohisa
010 : Nishikido Ryo
011 : Imai Tsubasa
012 : Takizawa Hideaki
013 : Hyuuga Kousuke
014 : Takeda Keita
015 : Tsuchiya Hikaru
016 : Misawa Hiro
017 : Yamaguchi Kumiko
018 : Sawada Shin
019 : Kudo Hiroki
020 : Seto Koji
021 : Yamamoto Yusuke
022 : Odagiri Haruka
023 : Odagiri Shinya
024 : Yabuki Hiroshi
025 : Yabuki Taku
026 : Shimabukuro Satsuki
027 : Oomasa Aya
028 : Okada Masaki
029 : Kitagawa Keiko
030 : Igarashi Aya
031 : Hasegawa Jun
032 : Ueda Tatsuya
2Kamenashi Kazuya A first year college student studying at Meiji University. He played baseball until high school, but was forced to quit after coming out about being gay and facing sexual harassment. He became best friends with Satsuki who also stood out for gossip, mostly lies, about her sleeping around with the teachers and guys at their school. She has a strong personality and the ability to tell other’s exactly what’s on her mind, which often times ends in physical fights. Kazuya frequents night clubs with Satsuki and likes flirting with attractive guys but never actually goes further than that because of trauma from his high school days. He always shared a close relationship with his mother and can talk to her about anything, including crushes and love affairs.
6 Taguchi Junnosuke A newbie police officer, who replaces Jin as Yu’s partner after Jin leaves for Los Angeles. He can be slightly annoying at times and gets kicked by Koki a lot, but Yuichi assures him that it’s only an expression of Koki’s love. No matter how much it may hurt. Junnosuke grew up heavily influenced by Power Rangers, Kamen Rider and Sailor Moon. He strived to become a police officer to protect Tokyo from crimes, just as his idol Sailor Mercury. Junnosuke often scolded by Tsubasa for drawing chibi anime characters on official paperwork and is forced to rewrite his reports.
11 Imai Tsubasa The Captain of the Criminal Investigation Department of Joto Station. Tsubasa is remarkably righteous and the perfect image of a police officer, but at the same time he is a little clumsy. He always has good intentions, but is not the rational type rather thinking things through too much before forcing an answer. His boss, Takizawa Hideaki, usually stops him from over thinking and helps him make important decisions. He is also rumored to be dating Hideaki. There is also a rumor that Koki was the one who caught them kissing in the office and unintentionally spread the rumor when he ranted about it to Junnosuke.
12 Takizawa Hideaki The Chief of Joto Police Station. He is professionalism is exceptional despite his good humored mischief. He takes an immediate liking to Jin, who is considered a troublemaker because Jin reminds him of himself when he was younger. He watches Jin’s back with the help of Commissioner Odagiri, who openly favors the young Lieutenant for reasons unknown. Hideaki is rumored to be in a relationship with his subordinate, Imai Tsubasa.
14 Takeda Keita Married his high school sweetheart Maki and is the father of her three children, two girls and one boy. Maki works as a real estate lawyer and is continuously busy dealing with her clients. The family lives in a big two story house where Keita cooks, cleans and raises the children as the official househusband. Keita actually has a teaching license and was a middle school teacher until Maki was pregnant with their first child. He promised to raise the children so that she could continue her work under an agreement that Keita could go back to teaching once their children were a little older.
15 Tsuchiya Hikaru Decides upon graduating high school that he will become a police officer with Ryu and follows Ryu to Joto Station. Originally, he had failed the Type 2 National Civil Service by a bare margin, but Ryu had pleaded with his father to curb the grades so that Hikaru would be accepted. After Ryu’s death, Hikaru had quit the police force to become a bartender though rumors suggest that he still works for the cops and secretly collects information.
16 Misawa Hiro A host at a second rate host club in Ikebukuro. Hiro is popular with the customers, but doesn’t like working hard and has never made the effort to become the number one host. He doesn’t really need to because he currently lives with his girlfriend of two years, Ayaka. She pays for everything including rent, utilities, food and even new clothes. On his days off, Hiro likes wearing hoodies because it is easy for him to hide this messy hair and his unshaved chin but he cleans up very well.
17 Yamaguchi Kumiko Marries her former student, Sawada Shin. She was reluctant about involving Shin in her family affairs, but soon realizes that she had always relied on him even when he was still a high school student. She regards as a very clever man, her sole confident and the person who can understand her best. She had a son with Shin, who is volunteering in Africa as a teacher for the poverty-stricken children that can’t afford education.
18 Sawada Shin Attended the prestigious Tokyo University to become a yakuza lawyer for the Oeda Family. At first, Kumiko’s grandfather and clan leader, Kuroda Ryuichiro, was against allowing Kumiko’s precious student to become a part of their world but gave in to Shin’s determination and fortitude. Shin eventually marries Kumiko and takes over as the clan leader of the Oedo Family. He is extremely strong, having rigorously trained with Kyo, the one who trained Kumiko in fighting. He also trained in boxing in order to become stronger so that Kumiko would acknowledge him as a real man. But even to this day, he is still no match for his wife. They have one son together.
19 Kudo Hiroki Obsessively in love with Ryu and immensely possessive to the point he tries to kill Ryu out of sheer jealousy. He was thrown into jail by Yamaguchi Kumiko, Odagiri Ryu, and Yabuki Hayato and holds a grudge against the three but mainly Ryu because he felt he has betrayed him. He served his jail time with only thoughts about revenge. When he was finally released, he was abandoned by former gang. He spent days fighting whether he won or lost out of frustration. One day, he lost in a fight against Seto Koji who then takes him into his own gang. Although Hiroki takes advantage of their friendship, he doesn’t mean to. He just doesn’t know what a normal friendship is like. He actually likes Koji and thinks of him as a little brother.
20 Seto Koji Leader of a street gang but only by circumstances. The former leader of the group had given him the position after being stabbed in the back and paralyzed from the waist down. In actuality, they were actually just a group of misfits always getting in to trouble. Koji was treated coldly after coming out of reformatory for petty crimes and was sensitive to prejudice. To the best of his abilities, he tries to help those that were outcast from society like him. He wanted to be what his senior was to him when he had taken him into the gang when even his own parents wanted nothing to do with him. Koji was currently dating Yamamoto Yusuke.
21 Yamamoto Yusuke Comes from a wealthy family but had gone through a rebellious stage right after high school when he wasn’t accepted to the first college of his choice thus being labeled a failure by his father. In attempt to get back at his father, Yusuke got into fights and caused problems. He met Koji, who stopped him from unconsciously hurting himself even further. After Koji’s arrest, Yusuke decided to finish his college education. He moved out of his parent’s house into the small apartment Koji lived in to wait for his return.
22Odagiri Haruka Only daughter of Odagiri Shinya’s trusted right hand man, Ayase Yasuhiko. Her father arranged her marriage with Ryu when she was 17 years old. Kazuya was born just before her 18th birthday. She knew about Ryu’s love for Hayato, but decided to stay with him as his wife because she felt he is an honest man and who would not treat her badly. They mutually decide not to tell Kazuya about Hayato, a decision she regrets later on when Kazuya tells her about his sexual preferences. Before Ryu died, Haruka gave him permission as his wife and words of encouragement to pursue his love. She regretted her decision at first since she thought Ryu and Hayato committed suicide together because of that, but later realizes that Ryu would never leave Kazuya whom he loved so dearly behind. She hears from Kazuya the truth after the case is solved. She gets along well with Kazuya and often goes shopping together. Since she looks young, Haruka is sometimes mistaken for his girlfriend or older sister.
25 Yabuki Taku I realize it’s weird that Ishiguro Hideo is Taku when he also stars in Gokusen 3, but I liked Taku the way he was and didn’t have the heart to change him.
26 Shimabukuro Satsuki Shimabukuro Satsuki is Kuroki Meisa’s real name.
27 Oomasa Aya I love Aya-chan not only from Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge but other dramas as well. The only reason her character went through so much hell was because she matched the pure character I was envisioning. Sorry Aya-chan. o(>0< )o
29 Kitagawa Keiko Currently studying forensic profiling in New York. Keiko is extremely smart but is determined to become a profiler for Joto Station despite invitations in higher places because she wants to be with Tomohisa. They are promised to marry each other when they were still five years old but only started dating in high school. Tomohisa had been too shy to confess to her, so she did in his place. Keiko can be a bit boyish sometimes but is actually very pure in her love for Tomohisa and is very forgiving.
30 Igarashi Aya Works for the SIT squad. Aya is tough and works for the benefit of the squad. She doesn’t hesitate to shoot if it’s for the team, but inside she is just a normal woman. Aya reveals her true identity to Ryo because she trusts him and doesn’t want to lie to him. Aya helps out at Ryo’s mother’s family restaurant. His mom actually asked her to take over the restaurant if anything happens to her. Aya promised she would and decides then that if anything happens to Ryo’s mother, she will quit SIT.
31 Hasegawa Jun Was dating a notorious gang member, who had a warrant out for his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder. Although she strongly disapproved of his ways and expressed her opinion about his relation to the gang, she always forgave him because he always treated her with adoration and affection. Yu won her trust through his persistence and determination to bring justice to the victim, reminding her that even though he was good to her that he almost murdered another person. She helps Yu arrest him in hopes that he will change for the better. Even after the case, Yu checked up on her and helped her where he could, Jun started dating Yu half a year later. She actually worried about their relationship because her ex will be out of jail soon, but Yu promised to protect her and tries not to show her worry. She currently lives together with Yu.
32 Ueda Tatsuya A famous gothic artist whose highly regarded artwork focuses on the supernatural, including cutesy little fairies. He claims that fairies truly exist and that he can see them while he is painting. He is in an intimate relationship with Nakamaru Yuichi, but sometimes gets too wrapped up in his artwork to remember about his boyfriend. Yet, he becomes extremely jealous when he sees Yuichi with women and becomes noticeably cranky. Despite his appearance Tatsuya is pretty strong and has quite an acidic tongue. The only one who can calm his temper is Yuichi.
Extra:
Haha, I e-mailed this picture to my best friend and she sure wasn’t very happy to find a picture with Kame-chan having breasts in her mail box. LOL. This proves that if Kame-chan has a baby girl, she’d be damned hot♥
“What doesn’t make sense?” Koki growled, kind of ticked off by the Lieutenant’s sighing. Jin had a habit about being annoying over small details that no one really cared to notice. He was kind of like a little brat whose every other word was ‘why?’
“It’s scientifically proven that humans base their memory on assumptions,” Jin explained his theory.
“Huh?” Koki uttered dumbfounded.
“In the first lineup, it’s only natural that Okada Masaki points at Kazuya’s picture because he remembered that Aikawa was with a pretty boy thus pointing to the prettiest one there. That’s normal because like I said, humans base their memory on assumption. But pointing Kazuya out in midst of other pretty boys three weeks after the fact means that he really remembers Kazuya,” Jin elaborated.
“And that’s odd because? I thought Kamenashi admitted to being at the crime scene,” Koki pointed out, not really understanding where Jin was going with this. If Kazuya was really there, why is it odd for the receptionist as remembering him as there?
“Do you remember every single person that you handcuff?” Jin countered, lifting an eyebrow challengingly.
“Of course not,” Koki growled angrily. “How many dumb bastards do you think we catch in a day?” Today was a drug roundup where they went to the streets and did random drug testing on those who had enough reason to be suspected. Just that alone ended up with throwing tens of people into police trucks and sending them to the station to be processed. He couldn’t remember a single one of them, only that one guy with a flashy Mohawk but had had to admit he wouldn’t be able to tell him apart from any other guy with a Mohawk.
“Exactly,” the Lieutenant concluded.
-
“Jin, there were a total of eleven girls that filed against Aikawa Sho for sexual harassment and rape,” Yu reported his findings from his investigation. “Ten of them had suddenly withdrawn their request or had settled for money.” He was surprised that it had been so hard to gather this information, but it seems that Aikawa Sho had covered his tracks with the use of power and money pretty well. Yu guessed that there were also girls who never filed in the first place for various reasons including not wanting to be involved in a public dispute over rape.
“And the remaining one?” Jin questioned with clear interest.
“Her name was Oomasa Aya... She committed suicide three months ago,” Yu continued to read the memo in his notebook solemnly. “According to the officers at the police box, the one that took her information had harassed her into believing that it was her fault. One of the other officers jotted down her information and sent in a request on her behalf, but it was the day after her death.” The officer apparently couldn’t defend her straight out like he should have because the one questioning her was their senior officer. The saving factor in his cowardliness was that he had written down the details that she had given with the intention of submitting her request formally under the senior officer’s nose.
“Rape, huh?” he laughed under his nose. “Then why are you dressed so skimpily? Why were you at a bar? You were there to seduce him, weren’t you?” he blatantly accused, not willing to be deceived. The girl was obviously dressed for attention and he refused to believe all of her fake crying.
“Poor girl,” Yuichi said empathically.
“Bastard, what cop turns someone in need away?” Koki growled, the bastard that called himself a cop stood against everything he believed in. Police officers were supposed to be the righter of wrong. How could he give the cold shoulders to someone who’s been wronged and seeking help from the police? What did that guy even become a cop for?
“As soon as Oomasa Aya committed suicide, the police officer was immediately fired,” Yu added in, knowing that it had nothing to do with the case directly but feeling it was important enough to mention.
“He’s lucky he got off with just that,” Jin scoffed. Neglect was an understatement in this case and even a dishonorable discharge would be too good of a deal for him. He was lucky that the problem was not brought up to them or he would’ve had hell to deal with. Their police station kept tabs on the police boxes in their jurisdictions and was not particularly kind to officers who neglect their duties like this. After all, it was not only the actual police box that looked bad when problems like this arose. The police station in charge of them would look bad.
“That’s not all,” Yu continued. ”It turns out her boyfriend at the time was Okada Masaki.” According to his former co-workers, Okada Masaki was planning to propose to Oomasa Aya, who was his girlfriend of two years. He had quit his job the day after Aya had committed suicide and started working at Hotel Plaza21 immediately after.
“The receptionist,” Jin gritted, already walking out the door.
-
“Just leave me alone!” Shimabukuro Satsuki screamed at the incessant pounding of her bedroom door. She hugged her knees to her chest and huddled in the dark corner of her room, closing her eyes to shut the noise out of her mind.
“Sorry, not an option,” Kazuya immediately shot back, “Open this goddamned door! You can’t lock yourself up in your room forever!”
“Try me!” she dared, her lips pouting together.
Kazuya sighed deeply and stopped hitting the door, his hand starting to hurt. “What happened to the girl who punched the bastard that was harassing me in the face?” he shouted back.
“What’s wrong? I thought you like sucking cock?” his senior whispered dirtily into his ears. Kazuya shivered and certainly not in the good way, but he was tired of fighting him off. After he had come out of the closet, he’d been harassed nonstop and it was becoming too much. He didn’t even understand what straight guys got out of fucking around with him like this. Just when his filthy hand rubbed against the front of his pants, the weight on his body was lifted.
“Ugh... what the-” the other cursed, holding his nose which was bleeding from being punched. Kazuya blinked in surprise, and turned to see a beautiful doll-like girl standing in front him. It confused him even more. What the hell just happened?
“Just because he likes guys doesn’t mean he wants an ugly bastard like you,” Satsuki sneered, pulling Kazuya by the hand. “Let’s go.” That was the first time he had met Satsuki. Kazuya had lost most of his friends when he had confessed to being gay, but Satsuki took no heed to rumors and had become his best friend ever since.
“She’s gone,” Satsuki muttered darkly, and Kazuya could barely hear her. His worry for her increased, and a small panic rose inside of him.
“Yeah, well, I want her back!” Kazuya demanded angrily, resorting to busting the door open. Something told him that Satsuki’s landlord wouldn’t be happy with him and that he would be paying a lot for that door, but right now, he couldn’t care less. He was tired of Satsuki wallowing in self pity over something she had no control of.
“You were the one that said no matter how shitty your day is the next day will surely be better,” he lectured. He grinned compassionately at his best friend who didn’t look half bad for a girl that’s been locked up in her room for at least a month. At least the food that he brought her every week wasn’t being thrown away.
“I think you should know that while you were holed up in your little safe haven, your rapist was murdered by one of his many other victims’ boyfriend. All because his girlfriend didn’t realize that she had someone that truly cared, kind of like you!” Kazuya informed, ignoring the shocked expression on Satsuki he continued.
“I might not be your handsome rich older asshole of a boyfriend, but I care about you so much that I made out with that bastard to find some kind of proof that you were raped because you wouldn’t bother to stand up for yourself. It doesn’t matter what kind of past you have, Satsuki. What he did was wrong and you didn’t deserve to be treated that way.” Kazuya hugged the girl crying rivers of sadness in his arms firmly, his heart clenching tightly upon seeing her so broken. He rubbed small circles on her shaking back, whispering that it’ll be okay until she was out of tears to shed.
-
“You are...” the young man’s eyes widen in recognition. Okada Masaki wondered if it was divine intervention that they were able to meet here, at this time and this place. He had wanted to talk to the other as well, but had no means to find him on his own accords.
“Okada-san, I wanted to introduce you to Satsuki,” Kazuya said. Masaki averted his gaze to the pretty girl that was standing with him in confusion. The girl in question, Satsuki, was looking down at the ground. She sucked in a deep breath, and had looked him straight in the eyes with determined but slightly wavering eyes.
“I... was raped by Aikawa,” Satsuki mumbled, rubbing consciously at her forearm with her open hand.
“No, s...stop!” she screamed, fighting her hazy conscious. She thrashed as her gray v-neck shirt was ripped off of her body, exposing her lacey black bra and her shapely breasts. He buried his face in her neck, breathing hard against her neckline and planting sloppy kisses down to her collar bone. His hand fondled her breast with his one hand while the other one pinned her weak body down. “I’ll pleasure you more than you thought possible... once the drugs start kicking in. Soon, you’ll be begging to be fucked,” he whispered dirtily in her ear. Tears overflowed, falling uncontrollably from her anguished eyes as her silent cries remained unheard.
“I’m not as pure and innocent as your girlfriend, but... I still remember what happened. I felt so disgusting and I couldn’t forgive myself for letting it happen, for not being able to stop him, that I couldn’t face myself and locked myself up in my room. I was sick of everything. I wished so much that I could wither away and die... so I could understand a little how your girlfriend felt,” her voice was trembling badly. Painful and still very raw memories of that night, that nightmare came back to plague her. She felt a lump in her throat, and swallowed hard to continue speaking.
“But your girlfriend doesn’t know how lucky she was to have you, someone who cares so much for her. The jerk I was dating dumped me because he didn’t want to deal with me being such an emotional wreck,” Satsuki forced a miserable laugh. She should’ve expected that from him, but had stupidly hoped that he was different. He wasn’t.
Masaki narrowed his gaze at Kazuya almost accusingly. Satsuki noticed this and smiled genuinely, maybe for the first time since that night. “Kazuya’s not my boyfriend. He’s been my best friend since high school... If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t be here right now,” and she meant that quite literally. Satsuki had plenty of time to think about committing suicide while she was holed up in her room alone but before she knew it, all of the sharp objects were gone from her apartment, even the tiny scissors she used to trim her eyebrows with, and her medicine cabinet was completely wiped out. She lived on the second story of her apartment, so she didn’t see the point in jumping off the balcony. With her luck, she’d probably end up with light fractures and have doctors and shrinks on her back asking her what was wrong when everything was fucking wrong with her miserable world.
Though she thinks now that maybe she didn’t want to give up, that a part of her wanted to pull through and overcome this nightmare. She couldn’t do it alone, but Kazuya had always been there for her, setting a bouquet of flowers because she loved flowers, bringing her food so she didn’t starve herself, and showing her that she was not alone. She had just not realized this, too caught up with being miserable.
“Kazuya got close to Aikawa to find something against him because we knew the police wouldn’t believe me. They didn’t take me seriously when I was harassed on the train, why would they believe me this time? I gave up, but Kazuya didn’t. He tried to fight my fight,” Satsuki stared at Masaki, her eyes wavering with anguish and tinge of determination. “It may not be much help, but I’ll testify for you in court. This time, I’ll do what I need to do to fight back because you gave me that courage. I promise you.”
“Okada-san, please turn yourself in,” Kazuya said with conviction. “I don’t condone murder no matter what the circumstance, but I can understand how unbearable it is to watch someone important to you suffering. I don’t want you to have to spend extra time in jail for that bastard.”
Masaki nodded his head. He had been planning on turning himself in today, after turning his formal resignation to his manager who had been worried about his sudden absence. His manager had left messages on his phone every day for the past month until Masaki had finally called him back to inform him that there was a family crisis and that he would not be able to return for a while. “Kazuya-san, I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you,” he apologized, bowing down deeply.
“It’s going to be tough for him,” Kazuya murmured, watching Masaki disappear in the direction of Joto Station. Catching the look on Satsuki’s face, he continued, “I heard Okada-san’s an orphan.” Satsuki bit her lower lip, so Masaki was the same as her. He had no family or relatives, nothing called a home but an orphanage overcrowding with kids. “Jin told me that whether a criminal has someone waiting for them or not makes a big difference because it’s the only thing linking them to the outside world, but he has no one...”
-
“You sure he’s coming?” Koki pressed, sounding quite eager to chase down Okada Masaki and lock him up in jail. He would have by now, if not for Jin’s instructions to give him a twenty four hour grace period. Considering Masaki had bought tickets to go to Hokkaido over two months ago, he couldn’t help but wonder where Jin’s confidence in the culprit came from. Masaki could be in Russia by now for all they knew.
At the turn of the doorknob and the squeaky creak of the door opening, the remaining officers standing by in the office turned their attention towards the door. A young man that they all recognized walked straight towards Jin and looked at him unsurely.“Are you Akanishi-san?” Masaki inquired politely. “I’m here to turn myself in. I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you.”
Jin released a soft sigh of relief, “Okada Masaki, you’re under arrest for the murder of Aikawa Sho.” Masaki held out his hands to be handcuffed, but Jin put his hands on them and shook his head. He escorted the young man to the interrogation room, sincerely thankful that Masaki had turned himself in before the search warrant was issued. Jin had talked to Masaki’s manager at Hotel Plaza21 and had a vague idea where he was and that he was planning to turn himself into the police today. He was glad that his deductions had been correct.
“I heard from Kazuya-san that you waited on my behalf and I thank you for that,” was the first thing to leave Masaki’s mouth. For someone who did not believe in the police, he was truly grateful to Jin and his generosity.
“What happened?” Jin questioned, his deep brown eyes were full of compassion and pity. He never liked hearing what drove a criminal to murder because often times they were reasons that could happen to anyone. With the exception, of course, of the few crazy bastards who thought that life was a game in need of thrills. Those sick bastards were beyond help and could be hung for all he cared.
“I didn’t know why Aya committed suicide until I found her diary one day. That was when I first learned that she was raped. Aya immediately went to the police, but the police accused her of knowingly soliciting Aikawa for money and turned her away. She didn’t talk to me about any of it. I found her the next day after she slit her wrist in the shower. It was too late to save her.”
“Aya!” he shouted, desperately shaking her shoulders. “Aya! Please wake up! Aya!”
“I started working at Hotel Plaza21 to find proof that Aikawa raped her to clear her name. That was when he came in with Kazuya-san. Kazuya-san came out of the room almost immediately, so I thought this would be my only chance to talk to him. I wasn’t planning to kill him! Please believe me! I just... wanted him to turn himself in,” his voice was shaking with raw emotion and Jin knew that there were no lies in his words. “I felt that that way Aya would be able to rest in peace, but Aikawa...”
“She killed herself? What a dumb woman, after I gave her such a good time,” he sneered, lighting up a cigarette. “What a pity. She was so nice and tight-”
“I don’t remember what happened, blood rose to my head. Before I knew it, I was strangling him. I called the police when I regained my senses and realized what I’ve done. I planned to turn myself in but... I wanted to visit Aya’s grave one last time so I lied.”
Initially, Masaki had gone to Hokkaido to visit Aya’s grave for the last time and apologize to her parents for not being able to stop their daughter from committing suicide. But once he arrived, he had found out that Aya’s mother was in the hospital and only had a month left to live. Masaki had strived to be a good son in Aya’s place and nursed her day in and day out, staying at the hospital. Aya’s mother took her last breath just last week, and her funeral had been yesterday. After the funeral, Aya’s father had asked him for one last favor as a son and it was for him to live more forwardly, live life to the fullest for Aya’s sake because he was certain that his happiness would be Aya’s happiness as well. He was worried that Masaki would continue to live in his daughter’s memory, and as much as he appreciated his love for Aya, he wanted him to move on for all of their sakes. Masaki had thanked her father from the bottom of his heart, and left Hokkaido with the intention of finally turning himself in.
Masaki knew that he was being extremely selfish in wanting to spend time with Aya’s parents, but to him, her parents were his parents, his only family, and he couldn’t leave knowing that he would never see her mother again. Even if he knew that Kazuya would be suspected of the crime in his absence. “Please send my regards to Kazuya-san,” he bowed his head, finally at peace with himself now that he had admitted to his crime and everything was over.
-
“If I were in his shoes, I think I would’ve done the same thing,” Tomohisa admitted, his hands were curled into a fist imagining anything close to what Oomasa Aya went through happen to Keiko. He had just gotten off the phone with her, deciding to call her after suddenly feeling sentimental.
“Unh, Tomo-kun?” she answered, her voice kind of ruffled. “Keiko? Is something wrong?” he asked panicked, but she laughed softly in response. “Uh huh, it’s past midnight,” she reminded playfully.
“Oh... Uh, yeah, sorry about that,” he apologized, cursing inwardly while checking his wristwatch. He never did have a hang of this time difference stuff. How many hours was it?
Tomohisa paused at a loss for words. Now that he had wakened her up and had her on the phone, he didn’t know what to say. “Tomo-kun? Did something happen? Is aunty okay?” she questioned, worried about the sudden silence. She almost got out of bed, ready to hop on the next flight back to Japan. “Mom’s fine. I just... wanted to hear your voice,” he admitted sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up...”
“Tomo-kun,” he could hear her smiling against her phone. “I’m doing okay so don’t worry about me too much, alright?”
He knew Keiko was strong, but that was what worried him sometimes. She didn’t know how to rely on others. Maybe Aya had been the same way and just didn’t know how to rely on Masaki. Tomohisa just wanted her to know that if anything was wrong that he was there for her and always would be there for her.
“I don’t condone murder but...” Jin trailed off, lost in his own web of thoughts. He knew that it was wrong to feel this way, but a part of him agreed with his best friend. This case was a heart wrenching one, and one Jin could relate to as well now that he had someone special.
If Kazuya was violated by some dirty bastard and killed himself in midst of pain and anguish, he would surely seek revenge to hide his own pain and guilt for not being able to save him. Only in his case, he would start with shooting said dirty bastard and might even go as far as killing the cop that turned him away. The thought alone scared him. He wasn’t sure if it was because he could imagine the anger and hatred that he would feel if he had lost Kazuya or the fact that he was that protective over the younger man, but he also knew that Kazuya would never do that to him. Kazuya knew better than anyone else how it felt to be left behind, he would never commit suicide no matter how hard thing were for him. At least, he sure hoped so.
-
“I made you lunch, I heard prison food sucks.” Satsuki announced, lifting up the big shopping bag in her hand. She had spent all morning cooking the said lunch while humming a catchy tune she had heard on the radio. Her life was considerably brighter now that she had learned to move on with her life. It helped that Kazuya had pulled a few strings with his grandfather and had Satsuki added on Masaki’s visitor list, which was fairly simple considering he had no one else but Aya’s father, who promised to visit when he could from Hokkaido.
“You shouldn’t waste your time on me,” Masaki mumbled, his voice was rough and broken and made Satsuki frown with concern. She had no doubt that prison life was hard, it was a form of punishment after all, but what worried her the most was that it seemed like Masaki had lost all hopes for the future.
“You don’t have family,” she reminded, her perfectly plucked eyebrows narrowing and creating fine creases in between. “If I don’t waste time on you, who will?” she questioned with a gentle voice.
“I started my new part time job. It’s a modeling job,” she informed happily, not really expecting an answer of any sort. Maybe to Masaki she was just a nuisance, but she knew that but she didn’t want to give up. She wanted to show him that there was someone that cared waiting for him on the other side, so that Masaki wanted to come back out. “It’s not much but it’s a start, right?”
Little did she know that this was Jin and Kazuya’s intention to begin with. They had thought that visiting Masaki would be good rehabilitation for the both of them. Satsuki and Masaki were both victims of Aikawa Sho, had fairly similar backgrounds when it came to family, and could relate to each other the best. Satsuki would develop a sense of responsibility and want to get back on her feet by having someone to take care of, while Masaki would develop the desire to get out since someone would be waiting for him on the other side.
“Your time is up,” the warden informed.
Satsuki nodded. She wondered if she was the only one who felt that thirty minutes flew by. “I’ll see you in two weeks,” she promised as she stood up from her hard metal seat. Satsuki flashed him one last smile, before turning around to leave.
“Satsuki-san!” the other called suddenly. He paused, sort of surprised himself. “...be careful on your way home.” Though Masaki could never admit it, being a murderer and not deserving such kindness, in truth he had been happy to see her again.
-
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed,” Ryo whistled, upon seeing the unruly mess of hair and the dark circles under Jin’s eyes. “You look like shit,” he added on with an amused smirk. Ryo’s morning routine was to steal a cup of coffee from the Criminal Investigation Department and Ryo wasn’t going to lie, his coffee mug was actually hidden here. In his defense, Yu made the best coffee in the station and he wasn’t the only one who sneaked in for a drink. Tomohisa, who was currently laughing his ass off at Jin, was the perfect example.
“Just ‘cause your pretty boy is going to the States doesn’t mean he’s going to hook up with some handsome blonde Tom Cruise look-alike,” Koki blatantly taunted. For a split second, Koki did feel kind of guilty at the pitiful kicked puppy look on his Lieutenant but only a little. Jin had just dropped his boyfriend off at the airport early this morning to study a year in the United States to learn forensic science, and for Jin, one year was a damned long time.
“If you’re trying to cheer me up, just don’t,” Jin grumbled, pouring a cup of hot coffee for himself. He cursed inwardly as he poured too much, too tired to realize it was overflowing and burned his hand accidentally. Jin sighed in annoyance and threw a rag over the spill.
“Jeez, didn’t know you were that clingy,” Yu chirped in. “It’s only been three months, hasn’t it?”
“Yeah, only three months,” he muttered under his breath. Only three fucking months with Kazuya, and he was rendered incompetent after the first day of being apart. Jin wasn’t sure if he was more upset that he was so pathetic and insecure, or that Kazuya up and left him just like that. Sure he promised to call, but was Kazuya not going to miss him? Shit, since when was he such a desperate bitch?
“Can you blame him? This is the longest relationship he’s been in,” Tomohisa chuckled, sipping on his pleasant morning coffee with a touch of smooth and rich flavor of French Vanilla. He loved spending his early hours of the mornings with the Criminal Investigation Department when he could, which was hardly ever. Lawbreakers don’t exactly give a damn if the police have time to unwind or not, they should if they don’t want a cranky cop on their back but they don’t. Today was one of those rare peaceful mornings where they could all gather with Yu’s special blend coffee in one hand, laughter filling the typically hostile and unwelcoming room.
“Three months? Even I’ve done better than that!” Koki grinned toothily, him being the only one without a steady girlfriend in the group now that Jin was head over heels for Kazuya.
His partner was somewhat dating (it was hard to tell at times) a moody and reclusive artist by the name of Ueda Tatsuya, who, in his humble opinion, painted the creepiest shit he’s ever seen. Tatsuya had an odd fascination for the supernatural, and his artwork mainly consisted of something straight out of a horror film. Asides from the occasional fairies he draws that is, those were pretty harmless. Jin wasn’t so fond of Tatsuya’s artwork either, not into the whole gothic supernatural stuff but Tatsuya seemed to be quite famous in the snobby and posh art world. Koki wouldn’t know. He was a complete dilettante, having no interest in that stuff asides from graffiti. Now that was some cool shit, against the law, but still cool.
Yu, on the other hand, has been rumored to have a girlfriend, and a fucking hot one at that, but never introduces them to her. Koki had a vague feeling it has to do with the blemished record Jin kept mentioning to shut his partner up. Maybe it was that one girl, Hasegawa Jun, who Yu seemed to be so fond of. Jun was the girlfriend of a notorious criminal that Yu had arrested last year for assault charges. That was bound to cause problems for them in the future when said ex-boyfriend was released and finds out that his girlfriend was fucking the police officer he was arrested by, but in the meantime, Yu seemed pretty damned satisfied with his secret not so secret relationship.
Koki had to give Kazuya the most credit. He would have never thought it possible to tame the beast Jin was, and turn him into such a harmless lovesick puppy. Apparently, it was because Kazuya now had him twirled around his little fingers.
The crew immediately straightened up when Tsubasa walked into the department. The Captain ignored the morning greetings directed at him and stood in front of Jin. “Akanishi, your request to study profiling in the US has been approved,” Tsubasa announced with great enthusiasm, handing Jin the official paperwork and flashing his trademark idol-like smile at his subordinate. “You’re due in Los Angeles by next week,” he added on, paying no heed to the shocked look on Jin’s face. The rest of the crew grinned knowingly as the information slowly processed in Jin’s brain.
“What request? I didn’t put in a...” he trailed off. Wait, did Tsubasa just say he was due in Los Angeles?
“Commissioner Odagiri approved the request himself. If you have any disputes, you can take it up with him personally,” Tsubasa concluded, patting him on supportively on the back. It would be a pity to lose such a skilled member of the team, but Tsubasa was sure one year will fly by before they knew it, especially with how busy they were year round, and Jin would return an even better police officer than before. Hopefully, the newbie, Taguchi Junnosuke if his memory served him right, would be decent enough to fill in his shoes.
“Oh yeah, that request,” Jin laughed sheepishly, putting in a mental reminder to thank Commissioner Odagiri and his boyfriend later on. Maybe treat Kazuya to a nice romantic dinner at some fancy five star restaurant once he arrived in Los Angeles.
I want to run away together with you
To a place where we can fly freely
Stay with me even after the summer ends
Breathe again
Hey, I was to rise together with you
I want to run forward bearing the same pain as you
This is our true story
Nothing is so scary anymore
{Breathe Again ♥ Kato Miliyah}←Click to download♥
Author’s Note: I intended to make a prologue for Hayato and Ryu and an epilogue for Akame and Masaki/Satsuki and even had a draft written, but I was out of ideas on how to end them which is a big thing for me because I can go on and on though I don’t have the time or need to. I need a beta or rather someone to sweep my muse away. LOL. The lyrics at the end were to the song that inspired me to write this fic, Breathe Again. I linked a download to the song, in case you’d want to listen to it.*Hint hint* Also, because there were so many charactersmany undeveloped due to lack of time and partial laziness I posted icons and a brief description depending on the character. Unless you watch plenty of J-drama, you’d probably have a hard time putting a face with the name. Speaking of which, did anyone notice that Mizushima Hiro was in Gokusen 2? I sure didn’t. (^-^;;;
001 : Akanishi Jin
002 : Kamenashi Kazuya
003 : Odagiri Ryu
004 : Yabuki Hayato
005 : Shirota Yu
006 : Taguchi Junnosuke
007 : Nakamaru Yuichi
008 : Tanaka Koki
009 : Yamashita Tomohisa
010 : Nishikido Ryo
011 : Imai Tsubasa
012 : Takizawa Hideaki
013 : Hyuuga Kousuke
014 : Takeda Keita
015 : Tsuchiya Hikaru
016 : Misawa Hiro
017 : Yamaguchi Kumiko
018 : Sawada Shin
019 : Kudo Hiroki
020 : Seto Koji
021 : Yamamoto Yusuke
022 : Odagiri Haruka
023 : Odagiri Shinya
024 : Yabuki Hiroshi
025 : Yabuki Taku
026 : Shimabukuro Satsuki
027 : Oomasa Aya
028 : Okada Masaki
029 : Kitagawa Keiko
030 : Igarashi Aya
031 : Hasegawa Jun
032 : Ueda Tatsuya
2Kamenashi Kazuya A first year college student studying at Meiji University. He played baseball until high school, but was forced to quit after coming out about being gay and facing sexual harassment. He became best friends with Satsuki who also stood out for gossip, mostly lies, about her sleeping around with the teachers and guys at their school. She has a strong personality and the ability to tell other’s exactly what’s on her mind, which often times ends in physical fights. Kazuya frequents night clubs with Satsuki and likes flirting with attractive guys but never actually goes further than that because of trauma from his high school days. He always shared a close relationship with his mother and can talk to her about anything, including crushes and love affairs.
6 Taguchi Junnosuke A newbie police officer, who replaces Jin as Yu’s partner after Jin leaves for Los Angeles. He can be slightly annoying at times and gets kicked by Koki a lot, but Yuichi assures him that it’s only an expression of Koki’s love. No matter how much it may hurt. Junnosuke grew up heavily influenced by Power Rangers, Kamen Rider and Sailor Moon. He strived to become a police officer to protect Tokyo from crimes, just as his idol Sailor Mercury. Junnosuke often scolded by Tsubasa for drawing chibi anime characters on official paperwork and is forced to rewrite his reports.
11 Imai Tsubasa The Captain of the Criminal Investigation Department of Joto Station. Tsubasa is remarkably righteous and the perfect image of a police officer, but at the same time he is a little clumsy. He always has good intentions, but is not the rational type rather thinking things through too much before forcing an answer. His boss, Takizawa Hideaki, usually stops him from over thinking and helps him make important decisions. He is also rumored to be dating Hideaki. There is also a rumor that Koki was the one who caught them kissing in the office and unintentionally spread the rumor when he ranted about it to Junnosuke.
12 Takizawa Hideaki The Chief of Joto Police Station. He is professionalism is exceptional despite his good humored mischief. He takes an immediate liking to Jin, who is considered a troublemaker because Jin reminds him of himself when he was younger. He watches Jin’s back with the help of Commissioner Odagiri, who openly favors the young Lieutenant for reasons unknown. Hideaki is rumored to be in a relationship with his subordinate, Imai Tsubasa.
14 Takeda Keita Married his high school sweetheart Maki and is the father of her three children, two girls and one boy. Maki works as a real estate lawyer and is continuously busy dealing with her clients. The family lives in a big two story house where Keita cooks, cleans and raises the children as the official househusband. Keita actually has a teaching license and was a middle school teacher until Maki was pregnant with their first child. He promised to raise the children so that she could continue her work under an agreement that Keita could go back to teaching once their children were a little older.
15 Tsuchiya Hikaru Decides upon graduating high school that he will become a police officer with Ryu and follows Ryu to Joto Station. Originally, he had failed the Type 2 National Civil Service by a bare margin, but Ryu had pleaded with his father to curb the grades so that Hikaru would be accepted. After Ryu’s death, Hikaru had quit the police force to become a bartender though rumors suggest that he still works for the cops and secretly collects information.
16 Misawa Hiro A host at a second rate host club in Ikebukuro. Hiro is popular with the customers, but doesn’t like working hard and has never made the effort to become the number one host. He doesn’t really need to because he currently lives with his girlfriend of two years, Ayaka. She pays for everything including rent, utilities, food and even new clothes. On his days off, Hiro likes wearing hoodies because it is easy for him to hide this messy hair and his unshaved chin but he cleans up very well.
17 Yamaguchi Kumiko Marries her former student, Sawada Shin. She was reluctant about involving Shin in her family affairs, but soon realizes that she had always relied on him even when he was still a high school student. She regards as a very clever man, her sole confident and the person who can understand her best. She had a son with Shin, who is volunteering in Africa as a teacher for the poverty-stricken children that can’t afford education.
18 Sawada Shin Attended the prestigious Tokyo University to become a yakuza lawyer for the Oeda Family. At first, Kumiko’s grandfather and clan leader, Kuroda Ryuichiro, was against allowing Kumiko’s precious student to become a part of their world but gave in to Shin’s determination and fortitude. Shin eventually marries Kumiko and takes over as the clan leader of the Oedo Family. He is extremely strong, having rigorously trained with Kyo, the one who trained Kumiko in fighting. He also trained in boxing in order to become stronger so that Kumiko would acknowledge him as a real man. But even to this day, he is still no match for his wife. They have one son together.
19 Kudo Hiroki Obsessively in love with Ryu and immensely possessive to the point he tries to kill Ryu out of sheer jealousy. He was thrown into jail by Yamaguchi Kumiko, Odagiri Ryu, and Yabuki Hayato and holds a grudge against the three but mainly Ryu because he felt he has betrayed him. He served his jail time with only thoughts about revenge. When he was finally released, he was abandoned by former gang. He spent days fighting whether he won or lost out of frustration. One day, he lost in a fight against Seto Koji who then takes him into his own gang. Although Hiroki takes advantage of their friendship, he doesn’t mean to. He just doesn’t know what a normal friendship is like. He actually likes Koji and thinks of him as a little brother.
20 Seto Koji Leader of a street gang but only by circumstances. The former leader of the group had given him the position after being stabbed in the back and paralyzed from the waist down. In actuality, they were actually just a group of misfits always getting in to trouble. Koji was treated coldly after coming out of reformatory for petty crimes and was sensitive to prejudice. To the best of his abilities, he tries to help those that were outcast from society like him. He wanted to be what his senior was to him when he had taken him into the gang when even his own parents wanted nothing to do with him. Koji was currently dating Yamamoto Yusuke.
21 Yamamoto Yusuke Comes from a wealthy family but had gone through a rebellious stage right after high school when he wasn’t accepted to the first college of his choice thus being labeled a failure by his father. In attempt to get back at his father, Yusuke got into fights and caused problems. He met Koji, who stopped him from unconsciously hurting himself even further. After Koji’s arrest, Yusuke decided to finish his college education. He moved out of his parent’s house into the small apartment Koji lived in to wait for his return.
22Odagiri Haruka Only daughter of Odagiri Shinya’s trusted right hand man, Ayase Yasuhiko. Her father arranged her marriage with Ryu when she was 17 years old. Kazuya was born just before her 18th birthday. She knew about Ryu’s love for Hayato, but decided to stay with him as his wife because she felt he is an honest man and who would not treat her badly. They mutually decide not to tell Kazuya about Hayato, a decision she regrets later on when Kazuya tells her about his sexual preferences. Before Ryu died, Haruka gave him permission as his wife and words of encouragement to pursue his love. She regretted her decision at first since she thought Ryu and Hayato committed suicide together because of that, but later realizes that Ryu would never leave Kazuya whom he loved so dearly behind. She hears from Kazuya the truth after the case is solved. She gets along well with Kazuya and often goes shopping together. Since she looks young, Haruka is sometimes mistaken for his girlfriend or older sister.
25 Yabuki Taku I realize it’s weird that Ishiguro Hideo is Taku when he also stars in Gokusen 3, but I liked Taku the way he was and didn’t have the heart to change him.
26 Shimabukuro Satsuki Shimabukuro Satsuki is Kuroki Meisa’s real name.
27 Oomasa Aya I love Aya-chan not only from Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge but other dramas as well. The only reason her character went through so much hell was because she matched the pure character I was envisioning. Sorry Aya-chan. o(>0< )o
29 Kitagawa Keiko Currently studying forensic profiling in New York. Keiko is extremely smart but is determined to become a profiler for Joto Station despite invitations in higher places because she wants to be with Tomohisa. They are promised to marry each other when they were still five years old but only started dating in high school. Tomohisa had been too shy to confess to her, so she did in his place. Keiko can be a bit boyish sometimes but is actually very pure in her love for Tomohisa and is very forgiving.
30 Igarashi Aya Works for the SIT squad. Aya is tough and works for the benefit of the squad. She doesn’t hesitate to shoot if it’s for the team, but inside she is just a normal woman. Aya reveals her true identity to Ryo because she trusts him and doesn’t want to lie to him. Aya helps out at Ryo’s mother’s family restaurant. His mom actually asked her to take over the restaurant if anything happens to her. Aya promised she would and decides then that if anything happens to Ryo’s mother, she will quit SIT.
31 Hasegawa Jun Was dating a notorious gang member, who had a warrant out for his arrest on suspicion of attempted murder. Although she strongly disapproved of his ways and expressed her opinion about his relation to the gang, she always forgave him because he always treated her with adoration and affection. Yu won her trust through his persistence and determination to bring justice to the victim, reminding her that even though he was good to her that he almost murdered another person. She helps Yu arrest him in hopes that he will change for the better. Even after the case, Yu checked up on her and helped her where he could, Jun started dating Yu half a year later. She actually worried about their relationship because her ex will be out of jail soon, but Yu promised to protect her and tries not to show her worry. She currently lives together with Yu.
32 Ueda Tatsuya A famous gothic artist whose highly regarded artwork focuses on the supernatural, including cutesy little fairies. He claims that fairies truly exist and that he can see them while he is painting. He is in an intimate relationship with Nakamaru Yuichi, but sometimes gets too wrapped up in his artwork to remember about his boyfriend. Yet, he becomes extremely jealous when he sees Yuichi with women and becomes noticeably cranky. Despite his appearance Tatsuya is pretty strong and has quite an acidic tongue. The only one who can calm his temper is Yuichi.
Extra:
Haha, I e-mailed this picture to my best friend and she sure wasn’t very happy to find a picture with Kame-chan having breasts in her mail box. LOL. This proves that if Kame-chan has a baby girl, she’d be damned hot♥