Series: Possession (10)
Title: Possession
Chapter: 10
Pairing: (1) Aiba Masaki and Sakurai Sho
(2) Aiba Masaki and Matsumoto Jun
(3) Ninomiya Kazunari and Ohno Satoshi
Genre: Romance, AU
Rating: PG-13
Beta: laurachan2, kos_mos26
x-posted: arashirabu, jent_fanfics
Notes: This is to fulfill camaronzin's request of a Yakuza Arashi.
Tsubasa looked at Tackey, apologetically, “I’ll be right back, don’t you dare move from here!” With a quick kiss on Tackey’s forehead, Tsubasa ran outside in search of Masaki. Fortunately, Masaki hadn’t gone far. He ran up to Masaki and grabbed him by the elbow, “Aiba-san…”
Startled, Masaki gave a tiny squeak of surprise and instinctively twisted his arm away from Tsubasa, “Ah … How did you know my name?”
“… Sho-san mentioned it?” Tsubasa made it a question and when Masaki nodded slowly, he relaxed, “Um … what you saw in there… it’s…”
Masaki shook his head, face turning a pretty shade of crimson, “You don’t have to explain … I had no idea it was so common! I must have come into the wrong room, I’ll just go ask for a new room.”
“I’m so glad you are so understanding, I wouldn’t want things to get awkward between us,” Tsubasa mumbled under his breath.
“Why would it get awkward?” Masaki asked, curiosity reflecting in his eyes.
Tsubasa took a step back and scratched his head, “Well, you know … Sho-san and I …”
When Tsubasa trailed off Masaki nodded in acknowledgement, “Ah, yes. Sho-chan told me how you two met. I understand that you two are good friends. Seriously though, you should quit this ugly Yakuza business and find a decent job like Sho-chan. I’m sure it’ll be a lot safer for you and your lover,” Masaki’s eyes darted towards the closed door, “if you find yourself a job in banking or something rather than threatening people.”
“Decent job like Sho-chan?” Tsubasa nearly choked on air at hearing Sho described as decent, “What did Sho really tell you?”
Masaki blinked his eyes as he recalled what Sho told him, “Well, Sho-chan was a very timid guy and was picked on a lot. You helped him once and you’ve been best friends ever since. What I don’t get is, how come you ended up in the Yakuza when Sho-chan went into the financial industry? Really, you should follow Sho-chan’s example and quit if possible. But wait, do they hunt you down and kill you if you try to leave or something?”
A knife twisted in his heart at Masaki’s question. He had no idea Masaki could be so innocent that he’d believe the bullshit Sho spun for him. Sighing softly, Tsubasa gave a smile that mirrored the regret he felt inside, “Yes, it is extremely difficult to leave the clan once you’ve joined. They’ll not just hunt you down first instead they’ll go after your loved ones. After they’ve washed the blood from their hands, then they will toy with you before killing you. So, no … you can’t leave after swearing your loyalty.”
Licking his lips, Masaki nodded in understanding. He could see the pain in Tsubasa’s eyes. He wondered if Tsubasa had tried to leave before and been hurt. ‘I’ve to ask Sho-chan later, if he knows something about Tsubasa trying to leave his job,’ Masaki thought. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Masaki spoke out loud, “Your boyfriend is probably wondering where you ran off to. You should go back to him. I’ll ask for a different room.”
Tsubasa watched Masaki walk away and turned back towards the karaoke booth. He should get back to Sho and synchronize their stories, else Sho’s real identity will be revealed and Tsubasa did not want to be on the receiving end of that temper tantrum.
Masaki went back to the reception and came back upstairs to a different room. He glanced at the closed door wondering if Tsubasa was back with his boyfriend, making himself blush like a schoolgirl at the thought. He settled himself in the booth and was going through the song selection when his cell phone rang, blaring out ‘Can’t let you go’. Frowning at the unknown ring tone, Masaki answered hesitantly, “Hello?”
“Aiba-chan, I was worried about you. You ran off so suddenly and didn’t call yet,” Sho complained on the other end of the line.
“Ah, sorry about that. I guess I needed some air and came out … jogging,” Masaki mumbled, wondering when Sho had the time to program a custom ring tone for his number. He was about to invite Sho over to sing with him, but he remembered the reason he had run away from the apartment. Thinking about it made Masaki blush hard and his thoughts drifted to Tsubasa, “Ah, Sho-chan. I was wondering if you knew a lot about Imai-san’s past. I mean, it sounds like he wanted to quit the Yakuza, but was threatened. Do you know anything about it? Has he talked to you about stuff like that?”
Sho frowned, his brows coming together fiercely, “No, he has never mentioned anything about wanting to quit before. I’ll be sure to ask him next time. I called because I wanted to apologize for teasing you so badly that you ran away. To make it up to you, let me make you dinner, what would you like to eat?”
A smile broke across Masaki’s lips and Sho’s teasing was immediately forgiven, “Mabodofu…”
“Come home soon, dinner will be waiting for you,” Sho replied.
“See you in an hour then. I already paid for the karaoke booth and I don’t want to lose that money,” Masaki replied, “Bye.”
Before Sho could question which karaoke bar Masaki was at, his phone went dead indicating that the call ended. Masaki’s words clung to him and he called Tsubasa, “Yo… pick up some mabodofu and some fried chicken, will you? I want you to deliver them personally. I’ll be waiting. Don’t be late.”
Sighing softly Tsubasa closed his phone and kissed Tackey one last time, “I’ve to go. Sho-san wants me to deliver his dinner personally. I swear, some days he acts so childish…”
Tackey smiled and hugged Tsubasa fiercely, “I hope this will all end soon. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“I’ll be back for you, I promise,” Tsubasa mumbled, squeezing Tackey’s shoulders one last time before heading out of the karaoke bar. He stopped by a restaurant run by one of the clansmen and picked up the order for Sho. Carrying the hot food, he went to the Sakura apartments. He knocked on the door once before opening it, “Coming in. You better be decent in there.”
Sho turned down the volume on the flat screen TV and smiled at Tsubasa, “You brought food. Good, I’m starving.”
Tsubasa set the food on the coffee table and sat on the recliner, “Sho, we need to talk. I bumped into Aiba-san a while ago and he mentioned that you told him about your past. From the sounds of the summarized version I got from Aiba-san, it looks like we need to synch up our stories, that way I don’t slip up around him next time.”
With a cold smile, Sho nodded his head, “Yes, we do need to synch up our stories. Why don’t we start with all the times you tried to leave the clan? As I recall, you were always happy to be with me, I have never said no to anything you asked for. I’ve made you my right hand man and you never expressed any dissatisfaction. So what is this about you trying to leave the clan? When did you try? Why haven’t I heard about it before?”
Tsubasa’s mouth went dry at the sudden barrage of questions, striking a nerve deep inside him that he wasn’t ready to explore yet. Licking his lips, Tsubasa shook his head, “Uh no… I’ve never tried to leave your side before. Why would you even think that? Which bastard told you these lies?”
Sho arched his right eyebrow; questioning the quiver in Tsubasa’s reply “I heard it from Masaki. Apparently you mentioned it to him. Masaki wanted to know if you needed help getting out of the clan.”
Letting out a loud nervous laugh, Tsubasa denied his story, “No, that was something that I had to spin. As I said I bumped into Masaki earlier and I wasn’t sure how much you had told him. And when he started asking about the Yakuza and my involvement, the safest possible thing for me to say was that I was in it against my will. He seemed to accept it without further questions. So you see, that was just to divert his attention from the fact that you are a soon to be Yakuza boss.”
“I hope that is the truth. Since I know your loyalty lies with me, we’ll let go of this matter right here. Thanks for picking up dinner Imai. I’ll see you tomorrow. We need to head to the docks to take care of a little nuisance. Akanishi hasn’t been paying the interest on his debt for the past two months. It’s time to go collect the debt,” Sho dismissed Tsubasa. Tsubasa left the apartment without another word, feeling jittery about the line of questioning Sho had pursued. Once the front door closed shut, Sho picked up his phone and dialed a number, “I know you can’t speak for long, so listen carefully. I want you to dig into Tsubasa’s activities. He has been visiting the karaoke bar on 12th street too often these days. And no, you are not relieved of your present duties. I still want you to inform me of Yamamoto’s movements. We’ll move in very soon.”
While Sho prepared for Masaki’s arrival with dimmed lights and setting the food on the dining table, Tsubasa went back to the karaoke bar. Instead of asking for a booth like a regular customer and wait for the server to appear, Tsubasa stomped into the area marked ‘Employees Only’. His eyes scanned the crowd of servers carrying trays - some empty, some with drinks. When his eyes finally landed on the person he was searching for, he plodded through the crowd and grabbed Tackey’s elbow and led him out.
Ignoring the buzzing conversation around him, Tsubasa shoved Tackey into an empty booth, “We can’t continue this. We’ve to go … now. I think Sho-san is getting suspicious and I don’t know how long I can keep up my cover!”
Tsubasa was so engrossed with Tackey that he didn’t hear others stream into the room. Tackey’s warning came too late for Tsubasa. He didn’t even feel the blow to his neck before he fainted. When he came to, he was bound to a chair. Tackey was kneeling further apart with a swollen cheek, a bleeding lip and unfocused eyes. Tsubasa hissed and tried to wriggle his wrists out of the ropes.
“Don’t try, you’ll only hurt yourself,” one of the Yamamoto goons spoke from a corner filled with shadows.
Tsubasa spit in the general direction of the goon, “Do you know who I am? Whom you’re messing with?”
“Of course. But it wasn’t smart of you to try to steal one of our servers like that.”
Before any further exchange could go on, Yamamoto himself stepped in, “Imai-san, what do I owe this pleasure of meeting you like this?”
“Quit the bullshit. Why am I tied up like a pig here? Why does Tackey look out of it again?” Tsubasa demanded wriggling his wrists again.
Yamamoto walked over to Tackey and stroked the man’s hair, “I heard that you tried to steal him again. I’ve warned you several times, try anything funny and he’ll be dead. You feed me information on the Ohno clan and your boyfriend will stay alive.”
“I don’t think I can give you the information anymore. I slipped up today and I’ve a feeling Sho has started suspecting something. I know he doesn’t know the full story yet, but this can’t continue on like this. I’ve been loyal to you for nearly a decade now; can’t you let Tackey go? I rescued Sho as you requested back in college and got close to him. I worked to prove my worth so that he’d make me his right hand man. I kept you informed of his targets and interests. How long do you want me to continue like this?” Tsubasa yelled.
“As long as I wish,” Yamamoto replied coldly, “But you forgot to inform me about Sakurai’s latest love interest. Why is that? Afraid I’d do to Sho’s lover what I did to yours?”
The image of Masaki pumped with drugs and beaten till submission made Tsubasa shudder with revulsion. He really did not wish for Masaki to end up like this. Shaking his head, Tsubasa replied again, “He isn’t a new lover. He is just a roommate. The man doesn’t have any interest in Sho, he isn’t…”
“ENOUGH!!” Yamamoto yelled, “Enough with the lies. Masaki himself declared that Sho was his lover in front of his father. From what I can tell, your usefulness has ended. It’s time you and your lover go swim with the sharks, don’t you think Tsubasa?”
“No!” Tsubasa screamed when they started dragging Tackey away.
Yamamoto ignored the ruckus inside the booth and walked out with a few of his trusted men, “Take care of this. Make sure it looks like an accident and make sure nothing can be traced back to us!”
Masaki’s hour ended with a high note. Feeling very lighthearted and happy, he walked out of the booth and right into Yamamoto. It took a few seconds for each to realize who the other was and Masaki bowed low, “Oji-chan, I’m sorry about the other day. I didn’t want to marry in such a hurry and … that was the only thing I could say. Please say I’m sorry to Kyoko. I never meant to be so rude towards her.”
“You bastard! You’re coming with me now!” Yamamoto panted angrily.
Masaki carefully stepped back and then turned around sprinting, not bothering to explain anymore, “Sorry Ji-chan. I’ll try to call some other time and explain to Kyoko myself.”
“After him!” Yamamoto yelled when Masaki started running away.
With a frightened squeak, Masaki increased his pace. He could hear the footsteps behind him and knew that if he didn’t hide he’ll be caught very soon. He bumped into a waiter at the next turn. He bowed in apology quickly and turned to run away before he paused for a second, “Jun-chan?”
The waiter bent down to pick up the drink glasses that were rolling on the floor. Masaki shook his head and ran again when he heard the footsteps get closer, ‘that can’t be Jun-chan. Jun-chan is overseas on a vacation. Why would he be here?’ He looked around the endless karaoke booths lined on either side of the hallway and ducked into the first booth that opened its doors. He bumped into Nino in the doorway and quickly shut the door, “Sorry Nino-chan. Some bad people are after me and I don’t want them to catch me. So please let me hide in here for a few minutes?”
The whole scene felt very familiar but Masaki shook the feeling off. Walking inside, he grabbed a glass of clear liquid and gulped it down in one shot and came up coughing, “What the hell is that? It burns!”
Nino sighed and they both turned to stare at the door when there was a knock. Masaki shook his head, “Please tell them I’m not here!” Shrugging, Nino went to the door and cracked it open a bit before opening it wider for the person to enter. Masaki’s heart beat in panic before he realized whoever had come in wasn’t one of Yamamoto’s men.
“Friend?” Masaki asked, feeling numb all over.
“Yes … friend. Ohno-san, please meet Masaki, we work at the school together,” Nino locked the door after letting Ohno in.
After a moment’s hesitation, light bulb went off in Ohno’s head, “You work together … he is the one who lives in the same building?”
Nino smirked and gave a nod, “Yes, and I heard a rumor that Aiba-san’s place was flooded, so he had to move into Sakurai-san’s apartment while his fiancée is out of town.”
Masaki plopped down on the couch feeling lightheaded. He had no control over his tongue as he snickered and corrected Nino’s story, “Jun-chan isn’t my fiancée. In fact, Jun-chan is a man, how can we be engaged. We moved in together because someone was stalking me and we thought having a roommate would dissuade whoever was stalking me. And then you discovered us and we didn’t know how else to explain it to you, so we said we were engaged.”
Ohno sat down slowly and stared at a drunken Masaki, “So, you live with this Jun as roommates now?”
“No silly. Jun-chan went on a vacation and the apartment was flooded, so Sho-chan was kind enough to let me move into his apartment. Doesn’t mean anything ok? I mean, yes we kissed and I can’t remember, but my ass still hurts a little, so we were probably a little promiscuous, but that still doesn’t mean anything, ok?” Masaki hiccupped before closing his eyes, feeling a little sleepy.
Sighing softly at his innocence, Nino sat next to Masaki, “Have you thought that perhaps all this was planned?”
“Why?” Masaki huffed, feeling heavy and finally fell asleep with his head against Nino’s shoulders.
Ohno smirked at the opportunity that had presented itself, “I think it’s time we took Sho down. Take him back to the house. We need to have a talk when he is sober.”
[To Be Continued]
[End of Cut 10]
Comments and critiques are welcomed and appreciated.
Chapter: 10
Pairing: (1) Aiba Masaki and Sakurai Sho
(2) Aiba Masaki and Matsumoto Jun
(3) Ninomiya Kazunari and Ohno Satoshi
Genre: Romance, AU
Rating: PG-13
Beta: laurachan2, kos_mos26
x-posted: arashirabu, jent_fanfics
Notes: This is to fulfill camaronzin's request of a Yakuza Arashi.
Tsubasa looked at Tackey, apologetically, “I’ll be right back, don’t you dare move from here!” With a quick kiss on Tackey’s forehead, Tsubasa ran outside in search of Masaki. Fortunately, Masaki hadn’t gone far. He ran up to Masaki and grabbed him by the elbow, “Aiba-san…”
Startled, Masaki gave a tiny squeak of surprise and instinctively twisted his arm away from Tsubasa, “Ah … How did you know my name?”
“… Sho-san mentioned it?” Tsubasa made it a question and when Masaki nodded slowly, he relaxed, “Um … what you saw in there… it’s…”
Masaki shook his head, face turning a pretty shade of crimson, “You don’t have to explain … I had no idea it was so common! I must have come into the wrong room, I’ll just go ask for a new room.”
“I’m so glad you are so understanding, I wouldn’t want things to get awkward between us,” Tsubasa mumbled under his breath.
“Why would it get awkward?” Masaki asked, curiosity reflecting in his eyes.
Tsubasa took a step back and scratched his head, “Well, you know … Sho-san and I …”
When Tsubasa trailed off Masaki nodded in acknowledgement, “Ah, yes. Sho-chan told me how you two met. I understand that you two are good friends. Seriously though, you should quit this ugly Yakuza business and find a decent job like Sho-chan. I’m sure it’ll be a lot safer for you and your lover,” Masaki’s eyes darted towards the closed door, “if you find yourself a job in banking or something rather than threatening people.”
“Decent job like Sho-chan?” Tsubasa nearly choked on air at hearing Sho described as decent, “What did Sho really tell you?”
Masaki blinked his eyes as he recalled what Sho told him, “Well, Sho-chan was a very timid guy and was picked on a lot. You helped him once and you’ve been best friends ever since. What I don’t get is, how come you ended up in the Yakuza when Sho-chan went into the financial industry? Really, you should follow Sho-chan’s example and quit if possible. But wait, do they hunt you down and kill you if you try to leave or something?”
A knife twisted in his heart at Masaki’s question. He had no idea Masaki could be so innocent that he’d believe the bullshit Sho spun for him. Sighing softly, Tsubasa gave a smile that mirrored the regret he felt inside, “Yes, it is extremely difficult to leave the clan once you’ve joined. They’ll not just hunt you down first instead they’ll go after your loved ones. After they’ve washed the blood from their hands, then they will toy with you before killing you. So, no … you can’t leave after swearing your loyalty.”
Licking his lips, Masaki nodded in understanding. He could see the pain in Tsubasa’s eyes. He wondered if Tsubasa had tried to leave before and been hurt. ‘I’ve to ask Sho-chan later, if he knows something about Tsubasa trying to leave his job,’ Masaki thought. Keeping his thoughts to himself, Masaki spoke out loud, “Your boyfriend is probably wondering where you ran off to. You should go back to him. I’ll ask for a different room.”
Tsubasa watched Masaki walk away and turned back towards the karaoke booth. He should get back to Sho and synchronize their stories, else Sho’s real identity will be revealed and Tsubasa did not want to be on the receiving end of that temper tantrum.
Masaki went back to the reception and came back upstairs to a different room. He glanced at the closed door wondering if Tsubasa was back with his boyfriend, making himself blush like a schoolgirl at the thought. He settled himself in the booth and was going through the song selection when his cell phone rang, blaring out ‘Can’t let you go’. Frowning at the unknown ring tone, Masaki answered hesitantly, “Hello?”
“Aiba-chan, I was worried about you. You ran off so suddenly and didn’t call yet,” Sho complained on the other end of the line.
“Ah, sorry about that. I guess I needed some air and came out … jogging,” Masaki mumbled, wondering when Sho had the time to program a custom ring tone for his number. He was about to invite Sho over to sing with him, but he remembered the reason he had run away from the apartment. Thinking about it made Masaki blush hard and his thoughts drifted to Tsubasa, “Ah, Sho-chan. I was wondering if you knew a lot about Imai-san’s past. I mean, it sounds like he wanted to quit the Yakuza, but was threatened. Do you know anything about it? Has he talked to you about stuff like that?”
Sho frowned, his brows coming together fiercely, “No, he has never mentioned anything about wanting to quit before. I’ll be sure to ask him next time. I called because I wanted to apologize for teasing you so badly that you ran away. To make it up to you, let me make you dinner, what would you like to eat?”
A smile broke across Masaki’s lips and Sho’s teasing was immediately forgiven, “Mabodofu…”
“Come home soon, dinner will be waiting for you,” Sho replied.
“See you in an hour then. I already paid for the karaoke booth and I don’t want to lose that money,” Masaki replied, “Bye.”
Before Sho could question which karaoke bar Masaki was at, his phone went dead indicating that the call ended. Masaki’s words clung to him and he called Tsubasa, “Yo… pick up some mabodofu and some fried chicken, will you? I want you to deliver them personally. I’ll be waiting. Don’t be late.”
Sighing softly Tsubasa closed his phone and kissed Tackey one last time, “I’ve to go. Sho-san wants me to deliver his dinner personally. I swear, some days he acts so childish…”
Tackey smiled and hugged Tsubasa fiercely, “I hope this will all end soon. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“I’ll be back for you, I promise,” Tsubasa mumbled, squeezing Tackey’s shoulders one last time before heading out of the karaoke bar. He stopped by a restaurant run by one of the clansmen and picked up the order for Sho. Carrying the hot food, he went to the Sakura apartments. He knocked on the door once before opening it, “Coming in. You better be decent in there.”
Sho turned down the volume on the flat screen TV and smiled at Tsubasa, “You brought food. Good, I’m starving.”
Tsubasa set the food on the coffee table and sat on the recliner, “Sho, we need to talk. I bumped into Aiba-san a while ago and he mentioned that you told him about your past. From the sounds of the summarized version I got from Aiba-san, it looks like we need to synch up our stories, that way I don’t slip up around him next time.”
With a cold smile, Sho nodded his head, “Yes, we do need to synch up our stories. Why don’t we start with all the times you tried to leave the clan? As I recall, you were always happy to be with me, I have never said no to anything you asked for. I’ve made you my right hand man and you never expressed any dissatisfaction. So what is this about you trying to leave the clan? When did you try? Why haven’t I heard about it before?”
Tsubasa’s mouth went dry at the sudden barrage of questions, striking a nerve deep inside him that he wasn’t ready to explore yet. Licking his lips, Tsubasa shook his head, “Uh no… I’ve never tried to leave your side before. Why would you even think that? Which bastard told you these lies?”
Sho arched his right eyebrow; questioning the quiver in Tsubasa’s reply “I heard it from Masaki. Apparently you mentioned it to him. Masaki wanted to know if you needed help getting out of the clan.”
Letting out a loud nervous laugh, Tsubasa denied his story, “No, that was something that I had to spin. As I said I bumped into Masaki earlier and I wasn’t sure how much you had told him. And when he started asking about the Yakuza and my involvement, the safest possible thing for me to say was that I was in it against my will. He seemed to accept it without further questions. So you see, that was just to divert his attention from the fact that you are a soon to be Yakuza boss.”
“I hope that is the truth. Since I know your loyalty lies with me, we’ll let go of this matter right here. Thanks for picking up dinner Imai. I’ll see you tomorrow. We need to head to the docks to take care of a little nuisance. Akanishi hasn’t been paying the interest on his debt for the past two months. It’s time to go collect the debt,” Sho dismissed Tsubasa. Tsubasa left the apartment without another word, feeling jittery about the line of questioning Sho had pursued. Once the front door closed shut, Sho picked up his phone and dialed a number, “I know you can’t speak for long, so listen carefully. I want you to dig into Tsubasa’s activities. He has been visiting the karaoke bar on 12th street too often these days. And no, you are not relieved of your present duties. I still want you to inform me of Yamamoto’s movements. We’ll move in very soon.”
While Sho prepared for Masaki’s arrival with dimmed lights and setting the food on the dining table, Tsubasa went back to the karaoke bar. Instead of asking for a booth like a regular customer and wait for the server to appear, Tsubasa stomped into the area marked ‘Employees Only’. His eyes scanned the crowd of servers carrying trays - some empty, some with drinks. When his eyes finally landed on the person he was searching for, he plodded through the crowd and grabbed Tackey’s elbow and led him out.
Ignoring the buzzing conversation around him, Tsubasa shoved Tackey into an empty booth, “We can’t continue this. We’ve to go … now. I think Sho-san is getting suspicious and I don’t know how long I can keep up my cover!”
Tsubasa was so engrossed with Tackey that he didn’t hear others stream into the room. Tackey’s warning came too late for Tsubasa. He didn’t even feel the blow to his neck before he fainted. When he came to, he was bound to a chair. Tackey was kneeling further apart with a swollen cheek, a bleeding lip and unfocused eyes. Tsubasa hissed and tried to wriggle his wrists out of the ropes.
“Don’t try, you’ll only hurt yourself,” one of the Yamamoto goons spoke from a corner filled with shadows.
Tsubasa spit in the general direction of the goon, “Do you know who I am? Whom you’re messing with?”
“Of course. But it wasn’t smart of you to try to steal one of our servers like that.”
Before any further exchange could go on, Yamamoto himself stepped in, “Imai-san, what do I owe this pleasure of meeting you like this?”
“Quit the bullshit. Why am I tied up like a pig here? Why does Tackey look out of it again?” Tsubasa demanded wriggling his wrists again.
Yamamoto walked over to Tackey and stroked the man’s hair, “I heard that you tried to steal him again. I’ve warned you several times, try anything funny and he’ll be dead. You feed me information on the Ohno clan and your boyfriend will stay alive.”
“I don’t think I can give you the information anymore. I slipped up today and I’ve a feeling Sho has started suspecting something. I know he doesn’t know the full story yet, but this can’t continue on like this. I’ve been loyal to you for nearly a decade now; can’t you let Tackey go? I rescued Sho as you requested back in college and got close to him. I worked to prove my worth so that he’d make me his right hand man. I kept you informed of his targets and interests. How long do you want me to continue like this?” Tsubasa yelled.
“As long as I wish,” Yamamoto replied coldly, “But you forgot to inform me about Sakurai’s latest love interest. Why is that? Afraid I’d do to Sho’s lover what I did to yours?”
The image of Masaki pumped with drugs and beaten till submission made Tsubasa shudder with revulsion. He really did not wish for Masaki to end up like this. Shaking his head, Tsubasa replied again, “He isn’t a new lover. He is just a roommate. The man doesn’t have any interest in Sho, he isn’t…”
“ENOUGH!!” Yamamoto yelled, “Enough with the lies. Masaki himself declared that Sho was his lover in front of his father. From what I can tell, your usefulness has ended. It’s time you and your lover go swim with the sharks, don’t you think Tsubasa?”
“No!” Tsubasa screamed when they started dragging Tackey away.
Yamamoto ignored the ruckus inside the booth and walked out with a few of his trusted men, “Take care of this. Make sure it looks like an accident and make sure nothing can be traced back to us!”
Masaki’s hour ended with a high note. Feeling very lighthearted and happy, he walked out of the booth and right into Yamamoto. It took a few seconds for each to realize who the other was and Masaki bowed low, “Oji-chan, I’m sorry about the other day. I didn’t want to marry in such a hurry and … that was the only thing I could say. Please say I’m sorry to Kyoko. I never meant to be so rude towards her.”
“You bastard! You’re coming with me now!” Yamamoto panted angrily.
Masaki carefully stepped back and then turned around sprinting, not bothering to explain anymore, “Sorry Ji-chan. I’ll try to call some other time and explain to Kyoko myself.”
“After him!” Yamamoto yelled when Masaki started running away.
With a frightened squeak, Masaki increased his pace. He could hear the footsteps behind him and knew that if he didn’t hide he’ll be caught very soon. He bumped into a waiter at the next turn. He bowed in apology quickly and turned to run away before he paused for a second, “Jun-chan?”
The waiter bent down to pick up the drink glasses that were rolling on the floor. Masaki shook his head and ran again when he heard the footsteps get closer, ‘that can’t be Jun-chan. Jun-chan is overseas on a vacation. Why would he be here?’ He looked around the endless karaoke booths lined on either side of the hallway and ducked into the first booth that opened its doors. He bumped into Nino in the doorway and quickly shut the door, “Sorry Nino-chan. Some bad people are after me and I don’t want them to catch me. So please let me hide in here for a few minutes?”
The whole scene felt very familiar but Masaki shook the feeling off. Walking inside, he grabbed a glass of clear liquid and gulped it down in one shot and came up coughing, “What the hell is that? It burns!”
Nino sighed and they both turned to stare at the door when there was a knock. Masaki shook his head, “Please tell them I’m not here!” Shrugging, Nino went to the door and cracked it open a bit before opening it wider for the person to enter. Masaki’s heart beat in panic before he realized whoever had come in wasn’t one of Yamamoto’s men.
“Friend?” Masaki asked, feeling numb all over.
“Yes … friend. Ohno-san, please meet Masaki, we work at the school together,” Nino locked the door after letting Ohno in.
After a moment’s hesitation, light bulb went off in Ohno’s head, “You work together … he is the one who lives in the same building?”
Nino smirked and gave a nod, “Yes, and I heard a rumor that Aiba-san’s place was flooded, so he had to move into Sakurai-san’s apartment while his fiancée is out of town.”
Masaki plopped down on the couch feeling lightheaded. He had no control over his tongue as he snickered and corrected Nino’s story, “Jun-chan isn’t my fiancée. In fact, Jun-chan is a man, how can we be engaged. We moved in together because someone was stalking me and we thought having a roommate would dissuade whoever was stalking me. And then you discovered us and we didn’t know how else to explain it to you, so we said we were engaged.”
Ohno sat down slowly and stared at a drunken Masaki, “So, you live with this Jun as roommates now?”
“No silly. Jun-chan went on a vacation and the apartment was flooded, so Sho-chan was kind enough to let me move into his apartment. Doesn’t mean anything ok? I mean, yes we kissed and I can’t remember, but my ass still hurts a little, so we were probably a little promiscuous, but that still doesn’t mean anything, ok?” Masaki hiccupped before closing his eyes, feeling a little sleepy.
Sighing softly at his innocence, Nino sat next to Masaki, “Have you thought that perhaps all this was planned?”
“Why?” Masaki huffed, feeling heavy and finally fell asleep with his head against Nino’s shoulders.
Ohno smirked at the opportunity that had presented itself, “I think it’s time we took Sho down. Take him back to the house. We need to have a talk when he is sober.”
[To Be Continued]
[End of Cut 10]
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