Sequence of Upsets: A Heisei Kumi Fanfic (17/23)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Keito/Shoon (Shoto?), with some side Ariyama and Chiitaro
Rating: R, for violence and dark themes
Warnings: Character Death
Genre: Slice of life/Angst
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.
Summary: Keito has been in the Heisei Kumi for nearly 2 years now. He has a wonderful boyfriend, and he's become a strong fighter and an important member of the Kumi. Life has been good, but life as a Yakuza can never stay peaceful for long. This is a direct sequel to my first Heisei Kumi fic My New Family. This fic may be confusing if you haven't read that one, which you can find here. This fic takes place 8ish months after My New Family ends, so...yeah. I hope you like it!
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16
From that point on Shoon's condition began to deteriorate at a much faster rate, and as it did Keito grew more and more anxious. What if something happened-like the seizure, or worse-and Shoon was all alone in that apartment of his, with no way of getting help? The next night he decided to voice his concerns, and he found himself once again knocking on the Kumi-cho's office door. When Hikaru saw it was him a warm smile spread on his face.
"Hey Keito. Is this another I-missed-you visit?"
"No. Not this time." The smile faltered a bit, and he let Keito in, taking a seat behind his desk. Once they were situated he asked
"What is it?"
"It's about Shoon." At Keito's words Hikaru froze, and he looked over at Keito in shock. Keito felt a small pit of guilt in his stomach. This wasn't a topic that should be sprung on anyone. He backpedaled a bit. "I know about the cancer." Hikaru sighed, hiding his face with his hands for a moment, but he nodded. Keito continued. "His condition is getting worse. He had a seizure at his apartment the other day. Hikaru-sorry. Kumi-cho, I don't think he should be living on his own anymore. He's not going to be able to take care of himself for too much longer. Besides, it's not safe; what if something terrible happens and no one is there to help him?" Keito knew he sounded anxious, and Hikaru looked concerned.
"I was wondering if I could ask him to move in with us. I'm not sure what room yet, but if he's here there will always be someone nearby, so he wouldn't be alone." He paused, letting his request sink in. "Please." They sat in silence for a moment, and Hikaru slid his top desk drawer open, pulling out a cell phone. He dialed, and Keito waited tentatively as it rang. On the second ring the person on the other end picked up the line.
"Yabu, hey. It's me." Hikaru leaned back in his chair as he talked, and he rolled his eyes. "Then go outside or something. We need to talk." He pulled the phone away from his ear, mouthing 'gambling' across the table to Keito as an explanation. After a moment Yabu must have said something because Hikaru relayed the details to Yabu about what Keito had said. Keito listened, and when he got to the end Hikaru added
"So, I was thinking they could take your bedroom, if that's okay. You're the only person with their own room that has a bed made for two people." He paused. "Well I'd give them mine but-yeah. Yeah. That was my first thought but, the ladder. I doubt Yuto will mind. If he does you can share with me." There was another pause as Yabu talked. Hikaru smiled. "Thanks, Yabuchii. Yeah yeah, I know." Yabu's next words caused the smile to fade a bit. "I know. Bye." He returned his attention to Keito, hanging up the phone.
"Yabu says you and Shoon can take his room for the next few months." Keito let out a breath he'd been holding in relief.
"Thank you. Thank you so much Kumi-cho." Hikaru sighed, shaking his head a bit, and when he looked up at Keito he looked immeasurably sad.
"Anything to help." Keito stood, turning to go, and he was at the door when Hikaru said
"Oh and Keito...I'm truly sorry." Feeling his emotions trying to get the better of him, Keito nodded, hastily leaving the room. Now he just had to convince Shoon.
"Fuck no." Shoon was looking at Keito with such indignation it made him cringe. He didn't think he'd ever seen Shoon look angry before. Not like this. "I'm not moving in with you guys. Why in hell would I do that?" They were in Shoon's apartment; Keito had come over under the pretense of wanting to bake cookies without getting teased by his housemates. His facade was quickly dropped when he forgot to go pick up ingredients for the cookies from the supermarket, and he had decided to just ask the damn question. It wasn't going well.
"Shoon, you're not getting any better, and I know you want to keep everyone in the dark about what's happening, but soon you're not going to be able to take care of yourself." Keito paused, knowing the weight of those words.
It had never been acknowledged just how bad Shoon's condition was getting; it was simply understood in silence between the two of them what it was that he could and couldn't do. Shoon's pride wouldn't let him vocalize just how much help he was needing, even with simple tasks like reading and writing.
"I just don't want them to see me...I don't want anyone to see me when I get bad. Not even you." Shoon paused, taking a heaving breath. "I don't want to be remembered as a weak, ill, fragile, wasted shell of myself. It's so fucking embarrassing." Keito understood Shoon's argument, but his pride didn't come before what the right thing was. He had to make Shoon understand.
"It's the best thing for you. You know it is. You're not going to be able to hide what's happening. So you should just accept what Hikaru and Yabu are doing. They said we could have our own room, they're ready to help you with anything you need-"
"I'm not some child that needs looking after! I'm a twenty-four year old man! I've taken care of myself since I can remember; I don't need to be coddled." He was practically yelling. "Who the fuck do they think they are?!" Keito frowned, despair and frustration washing over him at his boyfriend's stubborn, prideful petulance. Shoon was lashing out irrationally.
"They're just trying to do what's best for you. Shoon, we all are just trying to do what's best for you." Shoon refused to look at him, and Keito knew he was still angry about what Keito was asking of him- not quite ready to accept that this was what he needed, even if logically he knew it was the best course of action.
"Shoon, look at me." Keito took his hand, twining their fingers together, squeezing tight, and for a moment they just sat there in silence. Shoon was trembling, his hand quivering, and the shake wasn't from anger or frustration, it was from the illness. It was ridiculous for him to think he'd be fine on his own, and that little tremble sent waves of despair, of fear about the future, about Shoon's mental and physical deterioration through him, and it was then that Shoon chose to look over at him.
Shoon's big doe eyes were shining with unshed tears, his mouth set in a hard line that was obviously a scared attempt at being forceful, and Keito could see the weakness in him. He could see in his eyes and written on his face just how fragile Shoon had become. Keito wanted nothing more in that moment than to flee. He didn't want to see his protector, the man he had always thought of as being so invincible, fall any lower. He didn't want to have to watch the man he loved die. He took a deep breath, and then another, feeling the tears coming on. He couldn't just leave Shoon alone.
"I've been trying...I am trying to keep myself together. I want to be strong for you, because I know it’s much, much worse for you to go through this than it is for me to watch." He consciously tried to regulate his breathing, not too deep, not too shallow. When he locked eyes with his boyfriend however, he felt his already shaky resolve beginning to fall apart. "Shoon...it's so hard." He felt a tear slip past his defenses, sliding slowly down his cheek. "I'm afraid." Keito admitted, and he could hear the quiver in his voice. "I'm so scared that you're going be alone, and something's going to happen-you'll have another seizure, or you'll fall and hit your head, or you'll just wake up one morning and not be able get up-and no one will know." He knew he was crying, but Shoon was crying now too, silent tears spilling over and down his cheeks, his nose becoming red, his eyelashes sticking together, clumping as the tears fell.
Keito knew his grip on Shoon's hand was painfully tight, he was squeezing hard, his fingertips turning red, his knuckles white with the pressure he was exerting, but Shoon was squeezing back, holding on, and it was that grip that Keito mentally latched on to. It was that feeling of their hands clasped so tightly to each other that drove his final confession, and his last plea.
"I'm not ready to let you go before I have to, so if you won't do this to help yourself..." He wiped furiously at his cheeks in his free hand, destroying the neat little tracks his tears had left down his face, trying to pull himself back together. "Then do it for me." They lapsed back into silence, and Shoon took a deep, shuddering breath, wiping at his eyes and his running nose, and as he did he spoke.
"Okay." Oh thank god. Keito felt the wave of relief drain him of his tension, and suddenly he was exhausted. They sat in silence for a moment, Keito winding down, trying to return to a state of homeostasis. Shoon however was obviously thinking hard about his decision, because when he spoke once more his tone had changed significantly. Now he was all business. "How early can I move out? There's no point in wasting time." Keito was taken aback.
"Um...I'll have to talk to Hikaru about it. No one knows but him and Yabu, he'll probably want to get our room set up before we can move you in. We didn't want to start until you'd agreed to the idea. And he might want to figure out what to tell the others when they ask what's happening and why..." He realized that this would be the most realistic time to break the news to everyone about Shoon's cancer. Yet... "You still don't want them to know, do you?" It was more of a confirmation than a genuine question, and Shoon nodded. "Okay. Well, he'll think of something...I hope. We'll have to discuss it." Shoon nodded again, leaning to his left and resting his head on Keito's shoulder, a sigh escaping his lips. He was still trembling, and Keito wrapped his arms around Shoon's shoulders, pulling him close, and placed a kiss on the top of his head.
The next morning Keito met with Hikaru and Yabu in Hikaru's office, explaining to them what Shoon wanted. They listened attentively, and once Keito had finished they all brainstormed various excuses they could use to dispel any of the questions their companions may ask about the new arrangement, as well as setting a date for Shoon's permanent arrival. It was decided that with Hikaru and Yabu's busy schedules that the week after next would be ideal, and it wouldn't be too hard, what with the room already furnished and everything, all Shoon would need to bring would be his clothes and any sentimental objects he had.
Hikaru decided that they'd tell everyone that Shoon was only moving in because after having quit his job with the law firm he found himself low on cash, and as Shoon was the one that had taken then all in when they needed a home, it was only natural that they take him in, if only temporarily. Keito thought this was the perfect excuse. It was one that his housemates could relate to, and it wasn't complicated, which made the lie easy to remember. It was scary how good Hikaru was at lying. They all were-all but Keito. He knew he was the weakest link in this fabrication they had spun up. He was not looking forward to having to answer his housemates’ questions.
Despite any small qualms he had personally, Keito relayed their plans to Shoon who agreed to them readily, and with that Hikaru decided to call a group meeting in the kitchen the morning before the date they'd chosen for Shoon's arrival. Everyone arrived when Hikaru asked; some still half asleep, all confused, and they sat around the kitchen table to listen to what their leader had to say. Keito was anxious about the whole thing. In the days leading up to the event he had plenty of time-in between visits to Shoon's to pack and take care of his boyfriend-to worry. He wasn't sure how the others were going to react. He was afraid they wouldn't accept Hikaru's lie. He was afraid they would, because then what would happen when Shoon's deteriorating state could no longer be kept a secret? How would everyone feel when they found out-because it was inevitable, they would find out-that their new leader had lied to them, especially so soon after having taken the title? He managed to get himself so worked up about it that in the morning before Hikaru got a chance to start the meeting, or even leave his office, Keito found himself knocking on the office door.
Hikaru opened it still not completely dressed, only in a low slung pair of jeans, a toothbrush still in his mouth. Keito felt embarrassed, but Hikaru just looked at him quizzically and waved him in, immediately
of walking straight through the office and bedroom into the bathroom, and Keito could hear as the sink ran, and then Hikaru called
"Keito, make yourself comfortable. What's the problem?" He emerged from the bathroom, toothbrush-less. "Are you okay?"
"I've been thinking about our plan; the whole story we decided to tell the others about Shoon just needing a place to stay because he's low on money." Hikaru nodded, leaning casually against the doorframe to his bedroom. "I don't think it's a good idea." Keito announced. Hikaru just blinked at him.
"Keito, of course it's a bad idea." Keito was taken by surprise. "But it’s an idea I was hoping that you and Shoon could get behind because it accomplishes what he wants; his illness stays far out of the picture. At least for the time being." Hikaru sighed. "He's not ready to tell them yet."
"But what're we going to do? The lie won't work, not for long, and then-" He was panicking, acting irrational because he was scared, and he knew it, and if made him mad at himself, but he couldn't stop. Hikaru's brow furrowed as he watched Keito panic, and he reached out to put a hand on Keito's shoulder, but Keito latched on to him, pulling Hikaru to him and hugging him tightly, and after a moment of surprise Hikaru wrapped his arms around Keito's shoulders, holding him. Hikaru was warm, his bare skin smooth and comforting, and Keito took big gulps of air, trying to calm himself down. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to..." He found himself muttering the words in a mantra, and Hikaru let out a small laugh.
"You fucking brat." He said the phrase fondly, and he just stood still and held him, letting Keito hug him however long he needed until he calmed down.
"Keito." He pulled back enough to look Keito in the face. "Keito I've got this. Let me handle it." It was then that Yabu pushed open the office door, freezing when he saw that Keito was there.
"Hikaru, are you ready?" Keito pulled out of Hikaru's hands, and he slipped once more past Yabu and out, going into the kitchen with the rest of them. Yabu and Hikaru followed only a minute later, Hikaru having slipped on a shirt. Yabu looked flustered; Keito guessed Hikaru had told him that the plan had changed. Hikaru stood by the head of the table, and everyone turned their attention to him.
"Recently there's been a development." Hikaru announced. "For personal reasons-" Suddenly there was a loud, incessant knocking on their front door. Everyone was bewildered by it, and for a moment they all shifted their attention, staring at it. Hikaru tried again. "For personal reasons, Shoon is going to-" the knocking started again, but this time Hikaru pushed on, raising his voice. "-be moving in with us. The move will happen tomorrow." The knocking stopped, and Hikaru took a breath, returning his voice to normal. "He and Keito will be moving into Yabu's room, and Yabu's going to take Keito's bunk." The person at the door began pounding on his side, and Hikaru gave up trying to talk. "Oh, just see what that fucker wants!" He declared, exasperated. Inoo got to his feet, wrenching the door open, and Shintaro barged in, looking wild. When he saw that they were all there he immediately fell into a bow, and he said
"Help! I think Ryutaro's in trouble!"
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