Worlds Apart (Kai/Soutarou. Gaoranger AU)
Title: Worlds Apart
Pairing: Samezu Kai/Ushigome Soutarou
Fandom: Gaoranger
Rating: PG-13/15
AN: AU like woah. Based around one tiny observation that naturally got exploited by certain enablers who then went on to drop the plotbunny on me. :P
Samezu Kai hovered impatiently outside the house, his leather jacket doing nothing to ease the chill of the late autumn evening. Come on, come on, come on, he thought impatiently, staring at the lights in the lower rooms of the house, willing them off; he was taking a big enough risk coming here in the first place, there was no way he was doing the rest of it while the Ushigomes were still up and about. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself, rubbing his arms to try and keep warm, even as his breath misted in front of his face. Come on, already.
He still remembered his first visit here - was it really only a couple of months ago? It seemed longer - slipping in through a neglected door and working his way through it methodically, looking for anything of value. The Ushigomes were supposed to be out at some party - something with lots of lah-di-dah drinks and fancy clothes that only those who could afford them seemed to enjoy - and the house should have been empty. It wasn’t. That had been his first mistake, not checking, and he’d paid for that when the son walked in on him rifling through the cupboards in his bedroom. They’d frozen (his second mistake) the pair of them, and Kai flushed with shame at the memory of holding Soutarou at knife point (third), both of them scared and not knowing what the hell to do next.
What had actually happened next was that Soutarou had somehow twigged that he wasn’t actually going to use the knife before Kai had even realised that himself (fourth) and, for some reason that Kai hadn’t been able to figure out - still hadn’t, actually - had offered to feed him. Washio had commented once that all it took to get Kai’s attention was feed him and in this case he'd been dead on. Kai had laughed at the comment, along with the rest of the gang, partly because, well, it had been funny at the time and partly because he owed Washio everything: he had a place in life now, after his folks had died, people who, if they didn’t exactly care about him, at least tolerated him and would look out for him; he was One of Them and anyone messing with a member of the Eagles messed with all of them. He didn’t like doing all of the things they wanted him to do, but he was well aware of how precarious his position was: the Eagles were harsh on anyone interfering with them, but they were even less kind to traitors. Which was essentially what he was now, if he went through with this.
Finally, finally, the lights went off downstairs and Kai waited a bit longer, just to make sure there wouldn’t be anyone walking around and complicating things. Climbing over the gate was the work of a moment and, thanks to the house being so damn big, it wasn’t hard to find that neglected door still unlocked. He didn’t know how Soutarou managed to keep it unlocked all the time, he was just thankful that he did, especially now, and he slipped inside, closing the door behind him with a quiet snick as the catch dropped. Keeping carefully to the shadows Kai padded softly upstairs, freezing at the sound of voices and a door opening, plastering himself against the wall, heart beating so fast and so loud he was sure it would be heard.
It wasn’t. The door closed again and Kai sagged with relief, letting out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. He waited an extra five minutes, just to be sure, then continued on his way when there was only silence. He crept into Soutarou’s room carefully, hoping Soutarou wasn’t asleep already, he wouldn’t want to wake anyone up to news like this. He didn’t get to be so lucky, of course, Soutarou was fast asleep; his face was partially obscured by the pillow and he had his sheets wrapped tight around him for warmth. Kai sighed in annoyance and frowned, resting his hands on his hips, debating the best way to wake the guy up without causing too much noise.
For a moment, though, he did nothing, just stared down at the guy he couldn’t seem to keep away from (his fifth and probably final mistake), wondering what it was about him that made him keep coming back. What had made him put everything he’d picked up back where he’d got it from, leaving as empty-handed as he’d arrived, save a burning curiosity about Ushigome Soutarou that wouldn’t be satisfied until he figured out what made the guy tick; not easy when sometimes talking to the guy gave him a headache trying to get his point across. Eventually, annoyed with himself for hesitating, Kai leant forward and shook Soutarou’s shoulder none too gently, covering the guy’s mouth with his free hand, just in case.
“Shh,” he breathed as Soutarou’s eyes snapped open, swallowing hard as Soutarou’s lips brushed against his palm and relieved beyond measure that the darkness would hide the blush. “Just listen, okay? I can’t stay.”
Soutarou nodded, his eyes wide and Kai reluctantly moved his hand. “Are you okay?” Soutarou demanded the moment Kai’s hand was gone, sitting up in bed, the sheets falling back on themselves in an untidy heap. “When I didn’t hear anything after so long, I--”
Kai slapped his hand over Soutarou’s mouth again with a frown. “What part of ‘just listen’ didn’t you understand?” he hissed. “Don’t talk, okay? Don’t even think about talking until I’m done. Are we clear?”
Soutarou nodded wordlessly and Kai removed his hand again, glaring when Soutarou’s mouth opened again and he covered the guy’s mouth again, jeez. “Do we need to have the entire conversation this way?” he demanded. “Because this is fine with me.” When Soutarou didn’t say anything Kai slowly, warily, removed his hand and noted with satisfaction that it seemed to have sunk in. “Okay, good. Just listen, okay?” Soutarou nodded and, despite the concern and curiosity on his face, made no move to ask anything. “Alright,” Kai said, bracing himself. Now for the hard part. “You need to get out of town for a few days, Soutarou. Go visit relatives or friends or something, it doesn’t matter, just get away for a week or so.”
Satisfied that he’d done what he’d come to do, Kai made to head out again but was halted by Soutarou’s hand closing tightly around his wrist. “Why?” Soutarou wanted to know, letting go of Kai’s wrist in favour of latching on to his shoulders. Every instinct he had told Kai to break the hold, use some of Gai’s dirty tricks to get free, but this was only Soutarou, he wasn’t a threat, so Kai held still instead, trying to quiet the voices telling him to get free. “Why do I have to leave?”
Maybe he should have added ‘Don’t ask questions’ to ‘Don’t talk’, Kai thought ruefully, his hands coming up to close around Soutarou’s wrists gently. He didn’t want to answer, but he supposed he should; he owed the guy that much at least for not calling the cops on him before. “There’s a hit planned,” he said quietly, his voice barely audible even to his own ears, wishing he could look at the guy’s face while he was telling him this and cursing his cowardice for not being able to. “The development plans your parents are involved with? They’ll be demolishing Eagle territory and Washio’s not happy about it. The kind of not happy that leads to people dying.” Kai swallowed hard and finally found the guts somewhere to look up. He wished he hadn’t the moment he did so because Soutarou had gone white as a sheet, so pale that Kai was worried that he might pass out or something from shock. “They won’t care that you have nothing to do with it, Soutarou, and they’ll be after you as well, if you’re here.” His fingers tightened convulsively around Soutarou’s wrists as he gave him a pleading look. “I don’t want you to die. Get out of town, doesn’t matter how, just don’t be here. Please.”
Soutarou studied him a bit longer, the seconds dragging past agonisingly slowly until resolve settled firmly on Soutarou’s face, the taller man’s hands sliding off Kai’s shoulders, Kai’s own hands letting go of his wrists. “Thank you for the warning,” Soutarou said finally.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Kai said flatly. “How stupid are you? Why would you stay here, knowing that you’ll die?”
“I might not,” Soutarou pointed out calmly. “And I can’t leave my family behind to be murdered, Kai.”
“But--!” Kai started to protest, then he sighed when he recognised the determination on Soutarou’s face: the guy wasn’t budging and he was as stubborn as Washio, just as impossible to talk out of something once he’d set his mind to it. “Fine,” he snapped, stepping back as Soutarou reached for him again. “Stay if you want. Just don’t blame me when someone puts a bullet in your brain.”
He was out the door and down the stairs before Soutarou could stop him, breaking into a run the moment he was safely out of the house and back on the street. Idiot, he fumed, his eyes burning; stupid, stubborn idiot. He didn’t stop running until he was several blocks away from Soutarou’s house, back in the less well-to-do areas of the city and he sagged against the side of an old building, long abandoned, his breath coming out in harsh, ragged gasps that he refused to acknowledge as sobs.
God, did the guy want to die? his mind wailed. What other reason could there be for such blatant stupidity? Well, fine, if Soutarou was going to be like that, let him. He’d been warned, after that the rest was for him to decide and if he chose to stay…. Kai banged his head back against the wall, some of the mortar holding the bricks in crumbling onto his shoulders and into his hair. He made no move to dislodge any of it; it fitted his mood perfectly. Everything was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about any of it.
When he finally looked around to get his bearings, try to calculate the fastest way back to Eagle territory, Kai realised the area looked hauntingly familiar. Over there was where he’d lost one of his front teeth at six years old, tripping over too-long shoe laces; there was the back yard he’d been constantly losing his football to, and the crusty old guy that lived there would never give it back either so he’d ended up just creeping in to get it back; there was where Sae-chan had lived before her parents had moved away, which meant that…. He looked up at the building he was leaning against, just about making out the house number through the grime and that was when the tears started in earnest: against the side of his house and the place that had put him on the path he found himself on.
30 romances table|fanfic100 table|au_abc table
Pairing: Samezu Kai/Ushigome Soutarou
Fandom: Gaoranger
Rating: PG-13/15
AN: AU like woah. Based around one tiny observation that naturally got exploited by certain enablers who then went on to drop the plotbunny on me. :P
Samezu Kai hovered impatiently outside the house, his leather jacket doing nothing to ease the chill of the late autumn evening. Come on, come on, come on, he thought impatiently, staring at the lights in the lower rooms of the house, willing them off; he was taking a big enough risk coming here in the first place, there was no way he was doing the rest of it while the Ushigomes were still up and about. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself, rubbing his arms to try and keep warm, even as his breath misted in front of his face. Come on, already.
He still remembered his first visit here - was it really only a couple of months ago? It seemed longer - slipping in through a neglected door and working his way through it methodically, looking for anything of value. The Ushigomes were supposed to be out at some party - something with lots of lah-di-dah drinks and fancy clothes that only those who could afford them seemed to enjoy - and the house should have been empty. It wasn’t. That had been his first mistake, not checking, and he’d paid for that when the son walked in on him rifling through the cupboards in his bedroom. They’d frozen (his second mistake) the pair of them, and Kai flushed with shame at the memory of holding Soutarou at knife point (third), both of them scared and not knowing what the hell to do next.
What had actually happened next was that Soutarou had somehow twigged that he wasn’t actually going to use the knife before Kai had even realised that himself (fourth) and, for some reason that Kai hadn’t been able to figure out - still hadn’t, actually - had offered to feed him. Washio had commented once that all it took to get Kai’s attention was feed him and in this case he'd been dead on. Kai had laughed at the comment, along with the rest of the gang, partly because, well, it had been funny at the time and partly because he owed Washio everything: he had a place in life now, after his folks had died, people who, if they didn’t exactly care about him, at least tolerated him and would look out for him; he was One of Them and anyone messing with a member of the Eagles messed with all of them. He didn’t like doing all of the things they wanted him to do, but he was well aware of how precarious his position was: the Eagles were harsh on anyone interfering with them, but they were even less kind to traitors. Which was essentially what he was now, if he went through with this.
Finally, finally, the lights went off downstairs and Kai waited a bit longer, just to make sure there wouldn’t be anyone walking around and complicating things. Climbing over the gate was the work of a moment and, thanks to the house being so damn big, it wasn’t hard to find that neglected door still unlocked. He didn’t know how Soutarou managed to keep it unlocked all the time, he was just thankful that he did, especially now, and he slipped inside, closing the door behind him with a quiet snick as the catch dropped. Keeping carefully to the shadows Kai padded softly upstairs, freezing at the sound of voices and a door opening, plastering himself against the wall, heart beating so fast and so loud he was sure it would be heard.
It wasn’t. The door closed again and Kai sagged with relief, letting out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. He waited an extra five minutes, just to be sure, then continued on his way when there was only silence. He crept into Soutarou’s room carefully, hoping Soutarou wasn’t asleep already, he wouldn’t want to wake anyone up to news like this. He didn’t get to be so lucky, of course, Soutarou was fast asleep; his face was partially obscured by the pillow and he had his sheets wrapped tight around him for warmth. Kai sighed in annoyance and frowned, resting his hands on his hips, debating the best way to wake the guy up without causing too much noise.
For a moment, though, he did nothing, just stared down at the guy he couldn’t seem to keep away from (his fifth and probably final mistake), wondering what it was about him that made him keep coming back. What had made him put everything he’d picked up back where he’d got it from, leaving as empty-handed as he’d arrived, save a burning curiosity about Ushigome Soutarou that wouldn’t be satisfied until he figured out what made the guy tick; not easy when sometimes talking to the guy gave him a headache trying to get his point across. Eventually, annoyed with himself for hesitating, Kai leant forward and shook Soutarou’s shoulder none too gently, covering the guy’s mouth with his free hand, just in case.
“Shh,” he breathed as Soutarou’s eyes snapped open, swallowing hard as Soutarou’s lips brushed against his palm and relieved beyond measure that the darkness would hide the blush. “Just listen, okay? I can’t stay.”
Soutarou nodded, his eyes wide and Kai reluctantly moved his hand. “Are you okay?” Soutarou demanded the moment Kai’s hand was gone, sitting up in bed, the sheets falling back on themselves in an untidy heap. “When I didn’t hear anything after so long, I--”
Kai slapped his hand over Soutarou’s mouth again with a frown. “What part of ‘just listen’ didn’t you understand?” he hissed. “Don’t talk, okay? Don’t even think about talking until I’m done. Are we clear?”
Soutarou nodded wordlessly and Kai removed his hand again, glaring when Soutarou’s mouth opened again and he covered the guy’s mouth again, jeez. “Do we need to have the entire conversation this way?” he demanded. “Because this is fine with me.” When Soutarou didn’t say anything Kai slowly, warily, removed his hand and noted with satisfaction that it seemed to have sunk in. “Okay, good. Just listen, okay?” Soutarou nodded and, despite the concern and curiosity on his face, made no move to ask anything. “Alright,” Kai said, bracing himself. Now for the hard part. “You need to get out of town for a few days, Soutarou. Go visit relatives or friends or something, it doesn’t matter, just get away for a week or so.”
Satisfied that he’d done what he’d come to do, Kai made to head out again but was halted by Soutarou’s hand closing tightly around his wrist. “Why?” Soutarou wanted to know, letting go of Kai’s wrist in favour of latching on to his shoulders. Every instinct he had told Kai to break the hold, use some of Gai’s dirty tricks to get free, but this was only Soutarou, he wasn’t a threat, so Kai held still instead, trying to quiet the voices telling him to get free. “Why do I have to leave?”
Maybe he should have added ‘Don’t ask questions’ to ‘Don’t talk’, Kai thought ruefully, his hands coming up to close around Soutarou’s wrists gently. He didn’t want to answer, but he supposed he should; he owed the guy that much at least for not calling the cops on him before. “There’s a hit planned,” he said quietly, his voice barely audible even to his own ears, wishing he could look at the guy’s face while he was telling him this and cursing his cowardice for not being able to. “The development plans your parents are involved with? They’ll be demolishing Eagle territory and Washio’s not happy about it. The kind of not happy that leads to people dying.” Kai swallowed hard and finally found the guts somewhere to look up. He wished he hadn’t the moment he did so because Soutarou had gone white as a sheet, so pale that Kai was worried that he might pass out or something from shock. “They won’t care that you have nothing to do with it, Soutarou, and they’ll be after you as well, if you’re here.” His fingers tightened convulsively around Soutarou’s wrists as he gave him a pleading look. “I don’t want you to die. Get out of town, doesn’t matter how, just don’t be here. Please.”
Soutarou studied him a bit longer, the seconds dragging past agonisingly slowly until resolve settled firmly on Soutarou’s face, the taller man’s hands sliding off Kai’s shoulders, Kai’s own hands letting go of his wrists. “Thank you for the warning,” Soutarou said finally.
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Kai said flatly. “How stupid are you? Why would you stay here, knowing that you’ll die?”
“I might not,” Soutarou pointed out calmly. “And I can’t leave my family behind to be murdered, Kai.”
“But--!” Kai started to protest, then he sighed when he recognised the determination on Soutarou’s face: the guy wasn’t budging and he was as stubborn as Washio, just as impossible to talk out of something once he’d set his mind to it. “Fine,” he snapped, stepping back as Soutarou reached for him again. “Stay if you want. Just don’t blame me when someone puts a bullet in your brain.”
He was out the door and down the stairs before Soutarou could stop him, breaking into a run the moment he was safely out of the house and back on the street. Idiot, he fumed, his eyes burning; stupid, stubborn idiot. He didn’t stop running until he was several blocks away from Soutarou’s house, back in the less well-to-do areas of the city and he sagged against the side of an old building, long abandoned, his breath coming out in harsh, ragged gasps that he refused to acknowledge as sobs.
God, did the guy want to die? his mind wailed. What other reason could there be for such blatant stupidity? Well, fine, if Soutarou was going to be like that, let him. He’d been warned, after that the rest was for him to decide and if he chose to stay…. Kai banged his head back against the wall, some of the mortar holding the bricks in crumbling onto his shoulders and into his hair. He made no move to dislodge any of it; it fitted his mood perfectly. Everything was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about any of it.
When he finally looked around to get his bearings, try to calculate the fastest way back to Eagle territory, Kai realised the area looked hauntingly familiar. Over there was where he’d lost one of his front teeth at six years old, tripping over too-long shoe laces; there was the back yard he’d been constantly losing his football to, and the crusty old guy that lived there would never give it back either so he’d ended up just creeping in to get it back; there was where Sae-chan had lived before her parents had moved away, which meant that…. He looked up at the building he was leaning against, just about making out the house number through the grime and that was when the tears started in earnest: against the side of his house and the place that had put him on the path he found himself on.
30 romances table|fanfic100 table|au_abc table