[fic] From Broken Wings {1/2} - part 2
[one-shot] From Broken Wings {1/2} - part 2
pairing: akame, ryouchi
rating: pg-13
Summary: sequel to Concrete Angel. They always knew they were special to each other, that no matter what drove them apart, they'd always have each other in some way or another, but is there more connecting them than just lifelong friendship? What is the meaning behind these haunting dreams that tore them apart in the first place?
1 |
--- 2 ---
Jin picked at his lunch, grumbling around his breath. This caused raised eyebrows from Yamapi and Toma.
“Jin…” Toma spoke up, “I don’t think taking apart your sandwich will make it taste better…”
Yamapi grinned at that.
Jin looked down at his lunch, blinked and then glared, “Shut up Toma,” he grumbled.
Ryo, who had gone off to buy a drink, suddenly sat in the chair next to Jin. He glanced at Jin’s expression, the mutilated lunch and then smirked, “Jin, I don’t know what the sandwich did to you, but you didn’t need to murder it...”
“Shut up Ryo!” Jin grumbled irritably, “What’s with everyone and their obsession with my lunch?” he asked loudly.
Before any of his friends could answer, a voice called out, “Jin?”
“IF I WANT TO MURDER MY LUNCH THEN I WILL!” Jin snapped, causing many heads in the cafeteria to turn his way.
There was silence.
“I…just wanted to tell you that you dropped this earlier this morning…?”
Jin looked up to see a confused, and slightly wary, expression on Kazuya’s face. He was holding out a notebook, which was clearly Jin’s. Jin’s mouth opened in an ‘o’ shape, staring at Kazuya.
The younger boy shifted uncomfortably, “You left for your classroom before I noticed you’d dropped it, and then the bell rang so I had to get to class and…” he peered at Jin cautiously, “You’re free to murder your lunch if you really want to? I’m not going to stop you…?”
Jin quickly grabbed the notebook from Kazuya, “Thanks,” he muttered.
Kazuya sent him a strange look as he began to walk away, heading for a table where his friends were.
There was a moment of silence before Ryo broke out in snickers. Jin flushed as Yamapi and Toma started to laugh as well.
“Shut up!” Jin groaned. They only laughed harder, “Shut up you guys!” he whined.
“At least someone understands your need to mutilate your lunch,” Toma said with a grin.
“I hate you guys.” Jin declared, with a sulk. As his friends began making more comments at his expense, he tried to tune them out by looking elsewhere.
His gaze landed on Kazuya, who was sitting with his friends. Once again, a conversation he had overheard a few days ago popped up in his head and he frowned. What was the younger boy hiding? And from Ueda of all people; Jin knew that Ueda was Kazuya’s best friend, so naturally, he should have told Ueda and not Reio about his problems right? He frowned, watching Kazuya intently.
A finger poked his cheek suddenly.
He whipped around and turned to see three pairs of mischievously glittering eyes. He gulped, “…what?” he asked hesitantly.
“Jin, are you staring at your notebook boy~?” Ryo asked in a sing-song voice.
Jin’s eyes widened, “No!”
“I’m sure he is,” Toma agreed with Ryo, trying not to laugh.
“Me too.” Yamapi agreed.
“I hate you all!” Jin declared and turned around in his seat again, determined to ignore the teasing of ‘awww, Jin-Jin likes Kamenashi~’ coming from behind him.
His eyes landed on Kazuya again, and then he quickly drew his gaze away and looked suspiciously at his three friends who smiled innocently back at him.
“Why are you staring at Kazuya-senpai?” Uchi asked as he sat down next to Ryo, who grinned. The older boy began to take food that he knew Uchi didn’t like from Uchi’s lunch, with a smirk at Uchi’s smile.
Jin glared daggers at Uchi, and then at Toma and Yamapi for bursting out into laughter again. He decided to ignore Ryo’s snickers as he knew giving Ryo a glare would only encourage him. He sulked. He really needed new friends.
* * *
Kazuya, to his surprise, was called out of class later that day, and found himself following the teacher to the main office. He was further surprised when he realized he wasn’t in trouble - although what for, he had no idea, but it was never a good thing to be called out of the office - and was instead handed a phone.
“There’s an emergency at your home,” the teacher explained, “We though we’d let your mother talk to you.”
Kazuya took the phone hesitantly, wondering what was going on, “Hello? Mom?”
“Kazuya, sorry about this, but I have to rush. Your brother got into an accident, and Dad and I are taking the first flight there. We don’t know how bad it is, but even if it isn’t bad, we’ll have to stay a while, to help your sister-in-law around the house and with the baby and all,” his mother explained in a rushed, haggard tone, “You’ll have to stay at someone’s place for the next while; don’t worry, I’ve already contacted someone. She’ll pick you up after school and take you back to our place to get the things you’ll need.”
Kazuya could only blink in surprise as he heard the dial tone.
“Um…thanks…” he said to the teacher as he backed out of the office. His brother in an accident? His parents leaving him with - who were they leaving him with?
Everything seemed to be happening all at once, and Kazuya let out a resigned sigh as he slumped down to the ground and buried his head in his arms for a few moments.
Nii-chan was in an accident?
They’re flying there?
Who am I staying with?
And then…
…if she hadn’t said baby, I wouldn’t even have known whether or not it was Koji-nii or Yojiro-nii, Kazuya thought. He blinked and then, Yojiro-nii was in an accident?!!!!
It all finally sunk in.
“I hope it isn’t serious,” he mumbled worriedly to himself as he stood up to walk to class.
He felt a hand sneak its way onto his forehead and he jumped, startled, staring at Junno, “Junno, what the hell?!”
“…It’s not normal to talk to yourself,” Junno explained, “I was checking if you had a fever.”
Kazuya stared at Junno suspiciously, “Tat-chan put you up to it, didn’t he?”
Junno had the grace to look guilty.
Kazuya muttered under his breath about mothering best friends, but then his thoughts went back to the call he had just gotten.
What if he’s really hurt?
* * *
Jin threw his jacket into the hall closet the moment he got home, running to his room to treat his school bag in the same manner. There was a loud, satisfying, thud, as the bag hit the bed and bounced off onto the ground. He was sure they could have heard it downstairs, and was sure his mother would be telling him off later for doing that.
But after a day of torturous school, it felt good to do that.
He ran downstairs to the kitchen, his stomach telling him to grab a snack before dinner. He had taken an apple out and was in the process of taking a bite before something clicked in his head and he turned around, eyes widening. He pointed a finger at the person in his kitchen and the poor apple, which had only been supported by Jin’s teeth biting into it, fell to the floor.
“What are you doing here?!” he yelped.
Kazuya turned around from where he was helping Jin’s mother with something cooking on the stove. The younger boy raised an eyebrow, “Helping with dinner,” he retorted shortly, before turning back around.
Jin blinked at the near-snappish tone, while his mother sent him a glare, “Kazuya will be staying with us for a little while, Jin,” she admonished, “Be nice.”
“B - but what about…”
“Jin,” his mother warned as she left the room, “I’m going to check on the laundry.” She muttered. She paused for a moment, “Be nice Jin!”
Jin gaped after his mother’s retreating back and Kazuya’s back turned to him, tending the stove.
“B - but why and what about -“
“I’m staying here for a while,” Kazuya repeated; his voice sounded on edge for some reason.
“But why - I mean, you haven’t stayed here since…well, since forever; you’re in high school already; can’t you take care of yourself?”
Kazuya turned around, a wooden ladle in his hand as he narrowed his eyes at Jin, “If you must know, my brother was in an accident. Therefore, I’m staying with you.”
“What about your other friends?” Jin pressed, looking panicked at the idea of Kazuya staying here.
“I’m sorry, if I knew I was so unwanted, I’d have begged my frantic and worried mother to let me stay somewhere else,” Kazuya snapped as he slammed the ladle down and left the room without a word.
Jin blinked, staring after him.
“Jin,” Reio, who had appeared, sighed, “You idiot.”
“What?!” Jin snapped “It’s not my fault he’s a moody bastard!”
“Yes, because knowing that he’s at least somewhat unwanted in this house will definitely help distract him from the worry he’s feeling for his brother!” Reio snapped, “You’re such an idiot. He was already obviously upset about his brother; you just made it worse. Why are you so against Kazuya staying here anyways?”
“Because…” Jin shifted his foot, “Don’t you remember why we stopped having Kazuya over?” he muttered darkly under his breath.
Reio put a palm to his forehead, “That old stuff? For god’s sake Jin, that was years ago; it probably doesn’t even happen anymore! It was just a coincidence but they decided to stop those sleepovers to stop us from freaking out all the time about ghosts and stuff. It was a silly childhood superstition!” he smirked, “I can’t believe you still believe in it!”
Jin flushed angrily, “Shut up Reio!” he stormed out of the room.
“Don’t bother Kazuya if you intend to take your anger out on him!” Reio called from the kitchen.
Jin grumbled darkly under his breath as he swept up the stairs and he paused when he was outside the guest room; it was obvious that was where Kazuya was staying, with the way he could see a duffel bag from the tiny crack that had been opened.
He paused, eyes narrowing into a glare, and was about to head into his room when he stopped. He turned his head back toward the guest room.
“C’mon, pick up…pick up…” he could hear Kazuya say out loud. He froze, hearing the desperate tone in the younger boy’s voice, “C’mon, Koji, pick up, pick up, pick up.”
Jin stood there, unable to move away from listening to Kazuya call his second oldest brother, most likely trying to get some news on Youjiro; he stood there, frozen like a statue, until he heard Kazuya give a resigned sigh and snap his cell phone shut.
Jin winced at the loud noise that came from that, and without knowing why he was doing it, trudged forward, pushing the guest room’s door open. Kazuya’s head snapped up as soon as he did and upon seeing Jin, he levelled a glare at him, which then faded into a tired look, “I’m not in the mood to argue, so just go away alright?”
Jin bristled, but he took a deep breath, “I…I wasn’t trying to make you feel unwanted,” he muttered under his breath but loud enough for Kazuya to hear.
Kazuya stiffened, “I wasn’t feeling unwanted,” he said, but his eyes told Jin otherwise.
Jin sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Look. I just…I’ve just always thought…you know, what used to happen whenever we stayed in the same house?”
Kazuya stiffened and then stared at Jin incredulously, “You mean the nightmares?”
Jin shifted, and then he looked up, jutting his chin out defiantly, “Yeah, the nightmares. Reio’s brushed off those as coincidences and that our parents only stopped the sleepovers to keep us from getting scared and freaked out, but it wasn’t him that it was affecting. It was us two. We always got those stupid nightmares whenever we slept in the same house together, never any other time.”
Kazuya stared at Jin, “I’d almost forgotten about those…” he admitted.
“I didn’t,” Jin muttered darkly under his breath, looking at his feet, “Don’t laugh!” he snapped out immediately, thinking Kazuya was sure to laugh at him for remembering something like that.
“I’m not laughing…”
Jin looked up to see Kazuya and saw that indeed, the younger man wasn’t laughing at him.
In fact, Kazuya looked downright serious, “I…mean…I was still pretty young then but I still remember them,” he mused, “But…we’d already started to grow apart as friends before that, and after that, we just stopped playing together, because you started to make friends in elementary school. So, because our parents were worried about us, and I guess as you put it, worried about us ‘freaking out’, Reio would come to my place instead. I guess…I just haven’t thought about it all too much…”
Jin couldn’t help but frown a little, “I guess I’m the only one who thought about it,” he muttered. In a louder voice, he said, “Well, that was why I kept asking those questions and made it seem like I didn’t want you here or something, because I still believed in some silly childhood superstition,” he scowled, a bit of it directed it at himself but most of it at Reio’s words, “I didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome or anything; it wasn’t personal.” He finished.
Kazuya stared at him, “Thanks,” he finally said, “It’s nice to know you don’t hate me.” He commented carefully, “I thought it might be awkward, you know, me staying here, if you did, but I guess you don’t hate me as much as I thought you did…”
Jin didn’t say anything, but just left the room.
As he did though, Kazuya thought he heard a mutter from Jin, but he quickly shook his head of the thought. Why would Jin even say something that sounded like ‘idiot; who the hell would hate you?’?
He smiled a bit though; at least Jin wasn’t against him staying here. It would be awkward, and a bit disheartening if he was; he just didn’t know quite why Jin’s opinion still mattered to him after all these years.
* * *
Jin should have known that this situation would just generate more teasing from his friends. He should have known, but he had been foolishly optimistic when it came to the evilness of his friends and thus, had not protested to them coming over on a Saturday afternoon.
It was an hour after they had arrived that Jin realized that he should have known.
“Hey Jin,” Ryo walked back in from where he had gone to the kitchen to grab a drink.
“What?” Jin asked.
“Your notebook boy is in the room across the hall.” Ryo remarked innocently, almost as if he wasn’t amused by it. He was, everyone could see, but at least he was trying.
Jin blinked and then he snapped, “What of it?!”
“He told me something very interesting, when I saw him in the kitchen. He was kind enough to lead me back up here to your room.”
“You know your way around here,” Jin muttered while glaring at Ryo, “You lying bastard.”
Pi and Toma were now hanging on Ryo’s every word, which was probably Ryo’s intention all along - maximum opportunity to embarrass Jin after all.
“He said he’s been living here for the past three days.” Ryo continued.
Pi suddenly erupted into a fit of laughter.
“Shut up Ryo! And…go stuff your face Pi!” Jin retorted, throwing a bag of marshmallows at Pi.
Ryo only smirked, “Very interesting stuff. I think I’d like to make friends with your notebook boy; encourage kouhai-senpai relationships and all.”
Toma was grinning from ear to ear. Jin pouted, “You guys suck.”
“You sure move fast, Jin. Picking up your notebook just three days ago, and now he’s living with you?” Ryo asked dramatically, placing a hand over his heart.
“I hate you,” Jin muttered, “And it’s not like that. He’s Reio’s friend, and I’ve known him since we were babies, and you guys suck, and it’s not like that!”
“Oh, we know you knew him,” Ryo smirked, “We just didn’t think you knew Kamenashi this well. Of course, we didn’t know you knew him that long.”
Jin’s eyes widened, as he quickly followed Ryo’s train of thought.
Ryo promptly stood up and practically skipped out of the room, “I do enjoy embarrassing childhood stories!” he sing-songed as he left the room.
Jin promptly dashed out after him. Well, after he persuaded his body to move after the shock to his brain and after he could get away from Toma and Pi advancing on him with choruses of ‘awww’ and pinching his cheeks.
But it seemed Ryo, if anything, was a fast worker.
The shorter boy was leaving the guest room with a huge grin on his face when Jin finally escaped Toma and Pi and skidded into the hall.
Jin stared between the guest room door and Ryo and promptly barrelled in. Kazuya looked up from where he was working on something, “Jin…?”
“What did you tell him?!” Jin asked frantically, pointing at Ryo. His voice was rising in pitch with each word, “What did you tell that incarnation of all things evil?!!!”
Kazuya merely blinked, “Uh…”
“Never mind! Ryo!!! What did he tell you?!!!!! Whatever it is, I didn’t do it; it was Reio. I was young! I didn’t know any better! Tell me! Ryo!!!” with that, he stormed out of the open door of the room.
It was two hours later, and Jin was pouting because he couldn’t get Ryo to tell him anything - but the shorter boy had a decisively predatorily satisfied smirk on his face and Jin just knew that Ryo was planning something, possibly with blackmail or maybe embarrassing stories to tell everyone. Already, Pi and Toma had been giggling every few moments with what Ryo had told them.
He glared at Kazuya over the dinner table as he stabbed his vegetables. They were the only two left at the table, mostly because Jin was stabbing his food, not eating, and Kazuya couldn’t eat because Jin’s glare kept unnerving him every time he tried to take a bite.
“Um…” Kazuya tried to distract Jin from whatever was getting him angry.
What did you tell him? What did you tell him? What did you tell him? What did you tell him? Jin kept thinking in his head while staring at Kazuya.
The younger boy shifted uncomfortably, “Um…Jin?”
“What?” Jin asked moodily as he thought about tomorrow. Most likely Ryo would have spread all the stories to everyone in class, and Jin would have to wear something to shield his face because everyone would be laughing and he’d become some sort of misfit outcast and have to retreat into a dark isolated corner until everyone was finished laughing and depending on what stories Kazuya had told Ryo -
“Why do you want to know so much about how Uchi-kun is doing on the baseball team?”
Jin blinked in confusion, “What?”
“You…wanted to know what Nishikido-senpai talked to me about didn’t you?” Kazuya asked in hesitant confusion, “He wanted to know how Uchi-kun was doing on the baseball team…”
Jin stared at Kazuya. Then he stood up abruptly and ran to his room. Digging his cell phone out of his bag, he called Ryo’s number.
“Hey,” was the greeting he got.
“RYO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” was the answer Ryo got yelled into his ear.
Jin seethed as Ryo paused and then promptly burst out into hysterical laughter. He could just imagine Ryo falling onto the floor and laughing his ass off at him.
“I hate you!” Jin declared vehemently.
“He…told you…then…?” Ryo asked between bouts of laughter.
“You suck!”
More laughter.
* * *
Ryo was still laughing when Uchi came over. The younger boy had long gotten an invitation from Ryo’s parents to drop by whenever he wanted and as such, even had a key, because more often than not, Uchi’s mother worked late and it wasn’t odd for the Nishikido family to find their next-door neighbour asleep in Ryo’s room with both of them on the floor, looking as though they had fallen asleep during a tickle fight.
“What are you doing?” Uchi asked in amusement as he looked at Ryo, who was on the rug in his room and laughing hysterically.
“Jin…Kamenashi…worked…” Ryo managed between bouts of laughter. Uchi merely raised an eyebrow, “I’m going to assume that made sense to you.”
Ryo quickly tried to calm himself down, before shooting a grin at his best friend, “So, your mom’s working late again?” he asked, sitting up.
“Yeah,” Uchi nodded, “I figured I’d better stay here again before she spends her next day off fussing over me or something.”
“Your sisters?”
“It’s my dad’s weekend to have them.” Uchi explained, sitting down on Ryo’s bed like it was natural to do so. Of course, it actually was.
“Then we’d better tell my mother; she’ll probably make all your favourite foods again.” Ryo grinned, especially when Uchi got an embarrassed look on his face, “I swear, you’re her favourite son.”
“Ryo, I am not -” Uchi shook his head and stuck his tongue out at his friend, “Alright, smartass, help me with my homework, being a superior senpai and all.”
Ryo grumbled, “You should have gone to Pi for that.”
But he sighed and grabbed the textbook from Uchi’s hands, “Ugh, history, why’d it have to be history?”
“Because I love you?” Uchi asked.
Ryo stared at Uchi for a long moment, “Is that so…?”
“Um…I was kidding?” Uchi asked, looking at Ryo strangely.
“I know. So was I.” Ryo laughed. He got a pillow in the face.
“Damn it Ryo! I thought you thought that I was serious!” Uchi pouted.
Ryo grinned and went to look at the textbook.
“By the way, Kamenashi tells me you’re doing really well on the team.” He said nonchalantly.
Uchi’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at that, “What? I didn’t know you knew Kazuya-senpai!”
“He’s Jin’s notebook boy.” Ryo explained, and then he clarified once he saw Uchi’s confused expression, “Jin-Jin has a crush~” he snickered.
Uchi blinked, “Really?”
“Well, he denies it, but we all see~” Ryo grinned, “He even has Kamenashi living at his place.”
Uchi mused on this, “And you’re sure you’re not just teasing him about something that you’re blowing completely out of proportion?”
Ryo sent him a look, “Would I do that?”
“Yes.”
Ryo pouted, “Well, it wouldn’t be fun after the first time if Jin didn’t get so embarrassed and blush so much, which means it’s somewhat true!” he declared.
“Fair enough,” Uchi grinned, “Now stop trying to distract me and help me with this.”
Ryo sighed in exasperation, “You’re no fun.”
“Pity you say that. I was going to let you call Jin to terrorize him after you helped me with these three questions.”
“I changed my mind,” Ryo chirped, “You’re the best Hiroki!”
Uchi grinned, “I thought you’d say that.”
* * *
It wasn’t only Jin’s friends who were surprised at the situation of Kazuya living in Jin’s place, but Kazuya’s friends as well. Jin’s friends were merely more…giggly about it. While Jin’s friends were taking great enjoyment in teasing Jin for amusement’s sake, Kazuya’s friends - the spokesperson being Tatsuya - were more on the protective friend side of the spectrum.
Kazuya winced as he held the phone away from his ear, rolling his eyes at Reio as his friend sat across from the room at the desk writing something.
“What do you mean I should pick you up at Akanishi’s house from now on?” Tatsuya asked, clearly irritated, “How long have you been living there?!”
“…three days?” Kazuya asked, counting the days in his head. Reio nodded in silent confirmation to that, guessing what the topic of conversation was now.
“And why am I only being told about this now?!” Tatsuya was very close to whining, “Kazuya!”
“Well,” Kazuya played with a loose thread in the covers he was sitting on, “I thought you’d be busy?” he tried, “Being in university and all…”
“That is not a good excuse for not telling me you’re living with Akanishi, and more importantly, Akanishi’s brother!”
“What do you mean by that?” Kazuya asked, suddenly very glad he hadn’t decided to put this on speaker phone somehow and that Reio wasn’t hearing this. He had a feeling it would only lead to embarrassment.
“I mean the fact that you spent most of last year waving to and trying to talk to Akanishi at school and then looking really disappointed when he ignored you,” Tatsuya said matter-of-factly, “Did you think I didn’t notice?”
“I -”
Kazuya faltered. He really had nothing to say to that. Last year, he had started school, excited to see Jin every day because it had always saddened him how they had grown apart, especially since Jin barely gave him the time of day anymore. He had waved and said hi and tried to start a conversation every chance he had gotten, but would only get a blank stare, or was completely ignored in return, so he had eventually gotten used to it and stopped trying to get Jin’s attention.
“See!” Tatsuya said triumphantly, “Everyone saw actually. We just decided to look away and not say anything about your little crush.”
Kazuya nearly choked, “I - TAT-CHAN! I did not have a crush!” he yelled.
Across the room, Reio looked up, curiosity and amusement in his eyes.
“You did!” Tatsuya insisted, and Kazuya could just see the grin on the older man’s face, “Why did you think Junno kept letting you play his video game each time you got ignored? He felt sorry for you.”
Kazuya spluttered indignantly. Now that he thought about it, it had been after each time he had tried to talk to Jin that Junno willingly gave up his video game! His eyes widened.
“See,” Tatsuya crooned victoriously, “Everyone noticed, except you.”
“What does that have to do with now?” Kazuya asked with a furious flush to his cheeks.
“Oh nothing, just the fact that I’m worried what will happen with you in the same house as your little crush, former or not; actually did you ever get over him? All you did was stop trying to talk to him, but crushes just don’t go away just like that, do they?” Tatsuya was taking enjoyment in this, Kazuya could tell.
Kazuya took a deep breath, “I am going to hang up now. Nothing’s going to happen; there is parental supervision, and I’m going to ignore that you ever mentioned anything about a crush!” he retorted as he hung up.
“Crush?” Reio asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Tat-chan’s delusional,” Kazuya said as calmly as possible.
Reio obviously wasn’t buying it, but he nodded, “By the way,” he stated as he continued to write in his notebook, “Your cheeks are red.”
Kazuya’s hands flew to his cheeks and rushed to the mirror on the inside of the closet door. He scowled, “They are not! Reio!”
“Take your hands off first,” Reio suggested.
“Oh…” Kazuya grimaced; his cheeks were red!
“You become pretty dumb when you’re in love,” Reio commented.
“I am not in love!” Kazuya snapped, and the he threw himself onto the bed and buried his face, red cheeks and all, into the pillow, “You’re all out to get me.”
* * *
--- 3 ---
pairing: akame, ryouchi
rating: pg-13
Summary: sequel to Concrete Angel. They always knew they were special to each other, that no matter what drove them apart, they'd always have each other in some way or another, but is there more connecting them than just lifelong friendship? What is the meaning behind these haunting dreams that tore them apart in the first place?
1 |
--- 2 ---
Jin picked at his lunch, grumbling around his breath. This caused raised eyebrows from Yamapi and Toma.
“Jin…” Toma spoke up, “I don’t think taking apart your sandwich will make it taste better…”
Yamapi grinned at that.
Jin looked down at his lunch, blinked and then glared, “Shut up Toma,” he grumbled.
Ryo, who had gone off to buy a drink, suddenly sat in the chair next to Jin. He glanced at Jin’s expression, the mutilated lunch and then smirked, “Jin, I don’t know what the sandwich did to you, but you didn’t need to murder it...”
“Shut up Ryo!” Jin grumbled irritably, “What’s with everyone and their obsession with my lunch?” he asked loudly.
Before any of his friends could answer, a voice called out, “Jin?”
“IF I WANT TO MURDER MY LUNCH THEN I WILL!” Jin snapped, causing many heads in the cafeteria to turn his way.
There was silence.
“I…just wanted to tell you that you dropped this earlier this morning…?”
Jin looked up to see a confused, and slightly wary, expression on Kazuya’s face. He was holding out a notebook, which was clearly Jin’s. Jin’s mouth opened in an ‘o’ shape, staring at Kazuya.
The younger boy shifted uncomfortably, “You left for your classroom before I noticed you’d dropped it, and then the bell rang so I had to get to class and…” he peered at Jin cautiously, “You’re free to murder your lunch if you really want to? I’m not going to stop you…?”
Jin quickly grabbed the notebook from Kazuya, “Thanks,” he muttered.
Kazuya sent him a strange look as he began to walk away, heading for a table where his friends were.
There was a moment of silence before Ryo broke out in snickers. Jin flushed as Yamapi and Toma started to laugh as well.
“Shut up!” Jin groaned. They only laughed harder, “Shut up you guys!” he whined.
“At least someone understands your need to mutilate your lunch,” Toma said with a grin.
“I hate you guys.” Jin declared, with a sulk. As his friends began making more comments at his expense, he tried to tune them out by looking elsewhere.
His gaze landed on Kazuya, who was sitting with his friends. Once again, a conversation he had overheard a few days ago popped up in his head and he frowned. What was the younger boy hiding? And from Ueda of all people; Jin knew that Ueda was Kazuya’s best friend, so naturally, he should have told Ueda and not Reio about his problems right? He frowned, watching Kazuya intently.
A finger poked his cheek suddenly.
He whipped around and turned to see three pairs of mischievously glittering eyes. He gulped, “…what?” he asked hesitantly.
“Jin, are you staring at your notebook boy~?” Ryo asked in a sing-song voice.
Jin’s eyes widened, “No!”
“I’m sure he is,” Toma agreed with Ryo, trying not to laugh.
“Me too.” Yamapi agreed.
“I hate you all!” Jin declared and turned around in his seat again, determined to ignore the teasing of ‘awww, Jin-Jin likes Kamenashi~’ coming from behind him.
His eyes landed on Kazuya again, and then he quickly drew his gaze away and looked suspiciously at his three friends who smiled innocently back at him.
“Why are you staring at Kazuya-senpai?” Uchi asked as he sat down next to Ryo, who grinned. The older boy began to take food that he knew Uchi didn’t like from Uchi’s lunch, with a smirk at Uchi’s smile.
Jin glared daggers at Uchi, and then at Toma and Yamapi for bursting out into laughter again. He decided to ignore Ryo’s snickers as he knew giving Ryo a glare would only encourage him. He sulked. He really needed new friends.
* * *
Kazuya, to his surprise, was called out of class later that day, and found himself following the teacher to the main office. He was further surprised when he realized he wasn’t in trouble - although what for, he had no idea, but it was never a good thing to be called out of the office - and was instead handed a phone.
“There’s an emergency at your home,” the teacher explained, “We though we’d let your mother talk to you.”
Kazuya took the phone hesitantly, wondering what was going on, “Hello? Mom?”
“Kazuya, sorry about this, but I have to rush. Your brother got into an accident, and Dad and I are taking the first flight there. We don’t know how bad it is, but even if it isn’t bad, we’ll have to stay a while, to help your sister-in-law around the house and with the baby and all,” his mother explained in a rushed, haggard tone, “You’ll have to stay at someone’s place for the next while; don’t worry, I’ve already contacted someone. She’ll pick you up after school and take you back to our place to get the things you’ll need.”
Kazuya could only blink in surprise as he heard the dial tone.
“Um…thanks…” he said to the teacher as he backed out of the office. His brother in an accident? His parents leaving him with - who were they leaving him with?
Everything seemed to be happening all at once, and Kazuya let out a resigned sigh as he slumped down to the ground and buried his head in his arms for a few moments.
Nii-chan was in an accident?
They’re flying there?
Who am I staying with?
And then…
…if she hadn’t said baby, I wouldn’t even have known whether or not it was Koji-nii or Yojiro-nii, Kazuya thought. He blinked and then, Yojiro-nii was in an accident?!!!!
It all finally sunk in.
“I hope it isn’t serious,” he mumbled worriedly to himself as he stood up to walk to class.
He felt a hand sneak its way onto his forehead and he jumped, startled, staring at Junno, “Junno, what the hell?!”
“…It’s not normal to talk to yourself,” Junno explained, “I was checking if you had a fever.”
Kazuya stared at Junno suspiciously, “Tat-chan put you up to it, didn’t he?”
Junno had the grace to look guilty.
Kazuya muttered under his breath about mothering best friends, but then his thoughts went back to the call he had just gotten.
What if he’s really hurt?
* * *
Jin threw his jacket into the hall closet the moment he got home, running to his room to treat his school bag in the same manner. There was a loud, satisfying, thud, as the bag hit the bed and bounced off onto the ground. He was sure they could have heard it downstairs, and was sure his mother would be telling him off later for doing that.
But after a day of torturous school, it felt good to do that.
He ran downstairs to the kitchen, his stomach telling him to grab a snack before dinner. He had taken an apple out and was in the process of taking a bite before something clicked in his head and he turned around, eyes widening. He pointed a finger at the person in his kitchen and the poor apple, which had only been supported by Jin’s teeth biting into it, fell to the floor.
“What are you doing here?!” he yelped.
Kazuya turned around from where he was helping Jin’s mother with something cooking on the stove. The younger boy raised an eyebrow, “Helping with dinner,” he retorted shortly, before turning back around.
Jin blinked at the near-snappish tone, while his mother sent him a glare, “Kazuya will be staying with us for a little while, Jin,” she admonished, “Be nice.”
“B - but what about…”
“Jin,” his mother warned as she left the room, “I’m going to check on the laundry.” She muttered. She paused for a moment, “Be nice Jin!”
Jin gaped after his mother’s retreating back and Kazuya’s back turned to him, tending the stove.
“B - but why and what about -“
“I’m staying here for a while,” Kazuya repeated; his voice sounded on edge for some reason.
“But why - I mean, you haven’t stayed here since…well, since forever; you’re in high school already; can’t you take care of yourself?”
Kazuya turned around, a wooden ladle in his hand as he narrowed his eyes at Jin, “If you must know, my brother was in an accident. Therefore, I’m staying with you.”
“What about your other friends?” Jin pressed, looking panicked at the idea of Kazuya staying here.
“I’m sorry, if I knew I was so unwanted, I’d have begged my frantic and worried mother to let me stay somewhere else,” Kazuya snapped as he slammed the ladle down and left the room without a word.
Jin blinked, staring after him.
“Jin,” Reio, who had appeared, sighed, “You idiot.”
“What?!” Jin snapped “It’s not my fault he’s a moody bastard!”
“Yes, because knowing that he’s at least somewhat unwanted in this house will definitely help distract him from the worry he’s feeling for his brother!” Reio snapped, “You’re such an idiot. He was already obviously upset about his brother; you just made it worse. Why are you so against Kazuya staying here anyways?”
“Because…” Jin shifted his foot, “Don’t you remember why we stopped having Kazuya over?” he muttered darkly under his breath.
Reio put a palm to his forehead, “That old stuff? For god’s sake Jin, that was years ago; it probably doesn’t even happen anymore! It was just a coincidence but they decided to stop those sleepovers to stop us from freaking out all the time about ghosts and stuff. It was a silly childhood superstition!” he smirked, “I can’t believe you still believe in it!”
Jin flushed angrily, “Shut up Reio!” he stormed out of the room.
“Don’t bother Kazuya if you intend to take your anger out on him!” Reio called from the kitchen.
Jin grumbled darkly under his breath as he swept up the stairs and he paused when he was outside the guest room; it was obvious that was where Kazuya was staying, with the way he could see a duffel bag from the tiny crack that had been opened.
He paused, eyes narrowing into a glare, and was about to head into his room when he stopped. He turned his head back toward the guest room.
“C’mon, pick up…pick up…” he could hear Kazuya say out loud. He froze, hearing the desperate tone in the younger boy’s voice, “C’mon, Koji, pick up, pick up, pick up.”
Jin stood there, unable to move away from listening to Kazuya call his second oldest brother, most likely trying to get some news on Youjiro; he stood there, frozen like a statue, until he heard Kazuya give a resigned sigh and snap his cell phone shut.
Jin winced at the loud noise that came from that, and without knowing why he was doing it, trudged forward, pushing the guest room’s door open. Kazuya’s head snapped up as soon as he did and upon seeing Jin, he levelled a glare at him, which then faded into a tired look, “I’m not in the mood to argue, so just go away alright?”
Jin bristled, but he took a deep breath, “I…I wasn’t trying to make you feel unwanted,” he muttered under his breath but loud enough for Kazuya to hear.
Kazuya stiffened, “I wasn’t feeling unwanted,” he said, but his eyes told Jin otherwise.
Jin sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Look. I just…I’ve just always thought…you know, what used to happen whenever we stayed in the same house?”
Kazuya stiffened and then stared at Jin incredulously, “You mean the nightmares?”
Jin shifted, and then he looked up, jutting his chin out defiantly, “Yeah, the nightmares. Reio’s brushed off those as coincidences and that our parents only stopped the sleepovers to keep us from getting scared and freaked out, but it wasn’t him that it was affecting. It was us two. We always got those stupid nightmares whenever we slept in the same house together, never any other time.”
Kazuya stared at Jin, “I’d almost forgotten about those…” he admitted.
“I didn’t,” Jin muttered darkly under his breath, looking at his feet, “Don’t laugh!” he snapped out immediately, thinking Kazuya was sure to laugh at him for remembering something like that.
“I’m not laughing…”
Jin looked up to see Kazuya and saw that indeed, the younger man wasn’t laughing at him.
In fact, Kazuya looked downright serious, “I…mean…I was still pretty young then but I still remember them,” he mused, “But…we’d already started to grow apart as friends before that, and after that, we just stopped playing together, because you started to make friends in elementary school. So, because our parents were worried about us, and I guess as you put it, worried about us ‘freaking out’, Reio would come to my place instead. I guess…I just haven’t thought about it all too much…”
Jin couldn’t help but frown a little, “I guess I’m the only one who thought about it,” he muttered. In a louder voice, he said, “Well, that was why I kept asking those questions and made it seem like I didn’t want you here or something, because I still believed in some silly childhood superstition,” he scowled, a bit of it directed it at himself but most of it at Reio’s words, “I didn’t mean to make you feel unwelcome or anything; it wasn’t personal.” He finished.
Kazuya stared at him, “Thanks,” he finally said, “It’s nice to know you don’t hate me.” He commented carefully, “I thought it might be awkward, you know, me staying here, if you did, but I guess you don’t hate me as much as I thought you did…”
Jin didn’t say anything, but just left the room.
As he did though, Kazuya thought he heard a mutter from Jin, but he quickly shook his head of the thought. Why would Jin even say something that sounded like ‘idiot; who the hell would hate you?’?
He smiled a bit though; at least Jin wasn’t against him staying here. It would be awkward, and a bit disheartening if he was; he just didn’t know quite why Jin’s opinion still mattered to him after all these years.
* * *
Jin should have known that this situation would just generate more teasing from his friends. He should have known, but he had been foolishly optimistic when it came to the evilness of his friends and thus, had not protested to them coming over on a Saturday afternoon.
It was an hour after they had arrived that Jin realized that he should have known.
“Hey Jin,” Ryo walked back in from where he had gone to the kitchen to grab a drink.
“What?” Jin asked.
“Your notebook boy is in the room across the hall.” Ryo remarked innocently, almost as if he wasn’t amused by it. He was, everyone could see, but at least he was trying.
Jin blinked and then he snapped, “What of it?!”
“He told me something very interesting, when I saw him in the kitchen. He was kind enough to lead me back up here to your room.”
“You know your way around here,” Jin muttered while glaring at Ryo, “You lying bastard.”
Pi and Toma were now hanging on Ryo’s every word, which was probably Ryo’s intention all along - maximum opportunity to embarrass Jin after all.
“He said he’s been living here for the past three days.” Ryo continued.
Pi suddenly erupted into a fit of laughter.
“Shut up Ryo! And…go stuff your face Pi!” Jin retorted, throwing a bag of marshmallows at Pi.
Ryo only smirked, “Very interesting stuff. I think I’d like to make friends with your notebook boy; encourage kouhai-senpai relationships and all.”
Toma was grinning from ear to ear. Jin pouted, “You guys suck.”
“You sure move fast, Jin. Picking up your notebook just three days ago, and now he’s living with you?” Ryo asked dramatically, placing a hand over his heart.
“I hate you,” Jin muttered, “And it’s not like that. He’s Reio’s friend, and I’ve known him since we were babies, and you guys suck, and it’s not like that!”
“Oh, we know you knew him,” Ryo smirked, “We just didn’t think you knew Kamenashi this well. Of course, we didn’t know you knew him that long.”
Jin’s eyes widened, as he quickly followed Ryo’s train of thought.
Ryo promptly stood up and practically skipped out of the room, “I do enjoy embarrassing childhood stories!” he sing-songed as he left the room.
Jin promptly dashed out after him. Well, after he persuaded his body to move after the shock to his brain and after he could get away from Toma and Pi advancing on him with choruses of ‘awww’ and pinching his cheeks.
But it seemed Ryo, if anything, was a fast worker.
The shorter boy was leaving the guest room with a huge grin on his face when Jin finally escaped Toma and Pi and skidded into the hall.
Jin stared between the guest room door and Ryo and promptly barrelled in. Kazuya looked up from where he was working on something, “Jin…?”
“What did you tell him?!” Jin asked frantically, pointing at Ryo. His voice was rising in pitch with each word, “What did you tell that incarnation of all things evil?!!!”
Kazuya merely blinked, “Uh…”
“Never mind! Ryo!!! What did he tell you?!!!!! Whatever it is, I didn’t do it; it was Reio. I was young! I didn’t know any better! Tell me! Ryo!!!” with that, he stormed out of the open door of the room.
It was two hours later, and Jin was pouting because he couldn’t get Ryo to tell him anything - but the shorter boy had a decisively predatorily satisfied smirk on his face and Jin just knew that Ryo was planning something, possibly with blackmail or maybe embarrassing stories to tell everyone. Already, Pi and Toma had been giggling every few moments with what Ryo had told them.
He glared at Kazuya over the dinner table as he stabbed his vegetables. They were the only two left at the table, mostly because Jin was stabbing his food, not eating, and Kazuya couldn’t eat because Jin’s glare kept unnerving him every time he tried to take a bite.
“Um…” Kazuya tried to distract Jin from whatever was getting him angry.
What did you tell him? What did you tell him? What did you tell him? What did you tell him? Jin kept thinking in his head while staring at Kazuya.
The younger boy shifted uncomfortably, “Um…Jin?”
“What?” Jin asked moodily as he thought about tomorrow. Most likely Ryo would have spread all the stories to everyone in class, and Jin would have to wear something to shield his face because everyone would be laughing and he’d become some sort of misfit outcast and have to retreat into a dark isolated corner until everyone was finished laughing and depending on what stories Kazuya had told Ryo -
“Why do you want to know so much about how Uchi-kun is doing on the baseball team?”
Jin blinked in confusion, “What?”
“You…wanted to know what Nishikido-senpai talked to me about didn’t you?” Kazuya asked in hesitant confusion, “He wanted to know how Uchi-kun was doing on the baseball team…”
Jin stared at Kazuya. Then he stood up abruptly and ran to his room. Digging his cell phone out of his bag, he called Ryo’s number.
“Hey,” was the greeting he got.
“RYO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” was the answer Ryo got yelled into his ear.
Jin seethed as Ryo paused and then promptly burst out into hysterical laughter. He could just imagine Ryo falling onto the floor and laughing his ass off at him.
“I hate you!” Jin declared vehemently.
“He…told you…then…?” Ryo asked between bouts of laughter.
“You suck!”
More laughter.
* * *
Ryo was still laughing when Uchi came over. The younger boy had long gotten an invitation from Ryo’s parents to drop by whenever he wanted and as such, even had a key, because more often than not, Uchi’s mother worked late and it wasn’t odd for the Nishikido family to find their next-door neighbour asleep in Ryo’s room with both of them on the floor, looking as though they had fallen asleep during a tickle fight.
“What are you doing?” Uchi asked in amusement as he looked at Ryo, who was on the rug in his room and laughing hysterically.
“Jin…Kamenashi…worked…” Ryo managed between bouts of laughter. Uchi merely raised an eyebrow, “I’m going to assume that made sense to you.”
Ryo quickly tried to calm himself down, before shooting a grin at his best friend, “So, your mom’s working late again?” he asked, sitting up.
“Yeah,” Uchi nodded, “I figured I’d better stay here again before she spends her next day off fussing over me or something.”
“Your sisters?”
“It’s my dad’s weekend to have them.” Uchi explained, sitting down on Ryo’s bed like it was natural to do so. Of course, it actually was.
“Then we’d better tell my mother; she’ll probably make all your favourite foods again.” Ryo grinned, especially when Uchi got an embarrassed look on his face, “I swear, you’re her favourite son.”
“Ryo, I am not -” Uchi shook his head and stuck his tongue out at his friend, “Alright, smartass, help me with my homework, being a superior senpai and all.”
Ryo grumbled, “You should have gone to Pi for that.”
But he sighed and grabbed the textbook from Uchi’s hands, “Ugh, history, why’d it have to be history?”
“Because I love you?” Uchi asked.
Ryo stared at Uchi for a long moment, “Is that so…?”
“Um…I was kidding?” Uchi asked, looking at Ryo strangely.
“I know. So was I.” Ryo laughed. He got a pillow in the face.
“Damn it Ryo! I thought you thought that I was serious!” Uchi pouted.
Ryo grinned and went to look at the textbook.
“By the way, Kamenashi tells me you’re doing really well on the team.” He said nonchalantly.
Uchi’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at that, “What? I didn’t know you knew Kazuya-senpai!”
“He’s Jin’s notebook boy.” Ryo explained, and then he clarified once he saw Uchi’s confused expression, “Jin-Jin has a crush~” he snickered.
Uchi blinked, “Really?”
“Well, he denies it, but we all see~” Ryo grinned, “He even has Kamenashi living at his place.”
Uchi mused on this, “And you’re sure you’re not just teasing him about something that you’re blowing completely out of proportion?”
Ryo sent him a look, “Would I do that?”
“Yes.”
Ryo pouted, “Well, it wouldn’t be fun after the first time if Jin didn’t get so embarrassed and blush so much, which means it’s somewhat true!” he declared.
“Fair enough,” Uchi grinned, “Now stop trying to distract me and help me with this.”
Ryo sighed in exasperation, “You’re no fun.”
“Pity you say that. I was going to let you call Jin to terrorize him after you helped me with these three questions.”
“I changed my mind,” Ryo chirped, “You’re the best Hiroki!”
Uchi grinned, “I thought you’d say that.”
* * *
It wasn’t only Jin’s friends who were surprised at the situation of Kazuya living in Jin’s place, but Kazuya’s friends as well. Jin’s friends were merely more…giggly about it. While Jin’s friends were taking great enjoyment in teasing Jin for amusement’s sake, Kazuya’s friends - the spokesperson being Tatsuya - were more on the protective friend side of the spectrum.
Kazuya winced as he held the phone away from his ear, rolling his eyes at Reio as his friend sat across from the room at the desk writing something.
“What do you mean I should pick you up at Akanishi’s house from now on?” Tatsuya asked, clearly irritated, “How long have you been living there?!”
“…three days?” Kazuya asked, counting the days in his head. Reio nodded in silent confirmation to that, guessing what the topic of conversation was now.
“And why am I only being told about this now?!” Tatsuya was very close to whining, “Kazuya!”
“Well,” Kazuya played with a loose thread in the covers he was sitting on, “I thought you’d be busy?” he tried, “Being in university and all…”
“That is not a good excuse for not telling me you’re living with Akanishi, and more importantly, Akanishi’s brother!”
“What do you mean by that?” Kazuya asked, suddenly very glad he hadn’t decided to put this on speaker phone somehow and that Reio wasn’t hearing this. He had a feeling it would only lead to embarrassment.
“I mean the fact that you spent most of last year waving to and trying to talk to Akanishi at school and then looking really disappointed when he ignored you,” Tatsuya said matter-of-factly, “Did you think I didn’t notice?”
“I -”
Kazuya faltered. He really had nothing to say to that. Last year, he had started school, excited to see Jin every day because it had always saddened him how they had grown apart, especially since Jin barely gave him the time of day anymore. He had waved and said hi and tried to start a conversation every chance he had gotten, but would only get a blank stare, or was completely ignored in return, so he had eventually gotten used to it and stopped trying to get Jin’s attention.
“See!” Tatsuya said triumphantly, “Everyone saw actually. We just decided to look away and not say anything about your little crush.”
Kazuya nearly choked, “I - TAT-CHAN! I did not have a crush!” he yelled.
Across the room, Reio looked up, curiosity and amusement in his eyes.
“You did!” Tatsuya insisted, and Kazuya could just see the grin on the older man’s face, “Why did you think Junno kept letting you play his video game each time you got ignored? He felt sorry for you.”
Kazuya spluttered indignantly. Now that he thought about it, it had been after each time he had tried to talk to Jin that Junno willingly gave up his video game! His eyes widened.
“See,” Tatsuya crooned victoriously, “Everyone noticed, except you.”
“What does that have to do with now?” Kazuya asked with a furious flush to his cheeks.
“Oh nothing, just the fact that I’m worried what will happen with you in the same house as your little crush, former or not; actually did you ever get over him? All you did was stop trying to talk to him, but crushes just don’t go away just like that, do they?” Tatsuya was taking enjoyment in this, Kazuya could tell.
Kazuya took a deep breath, “I am going to hang up now. Nothing’s going to happen; there is parental supervision, and I’m going to ignore that you ever mentioned anything about a crush!” he retorted as he hung up.
“Crush?” Reio asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Tat-chan’s delusional,” Kazuya said as calmly as possible.
Reio obviously wasn’t buying it, but he nodded, “By the way,” he stated as he continued to write in his notebook, “Your cheeks are red.”
Kazuya’s hands flew to his cheeks and rushed to the mirror on the inside of the closet door. He scowled, “They are not! Reio!”
“Take your hands off first,” Reio suggested.
“Oh…” Kazuya grimaced; his cheeks were red!
“You become pretty dumb when you’re in love,” Reio commented.
“I am not in love!” Kazuya snapped, and the he threw himself onto the bed and buried his face, red cheeks and all, into the pillow, “You’re all out to get me.”
* * *
--- 3 ---