[fic] Silent Collision - Chapter Twenty Six ~The Proof~
Title: Silent Collision
Author:
prettyorianna
Pairing: Akame. Ryo x Kame. Ueda x Junno.
Rating: NC-17. Eventually.
Genre: crime drama? AU story
Beta by: nobody
Disclaimer: I don't own the people. I write this for fun and for other fans of these fine folks. But don't steal my plots, mmkay? I put a great deal of time into them except for when I'm randomly spastically spitting words onto a page. But I value those too...
Summary: Jin kills in self defense only to find himself a fugitive. Along the way he meets a scared boy...
Warning: Character death(s). Abuse, murder, gangs, kidnapping, etc etc.
Author's Note: LAST CHAPTER! Sorry to end it but it's just time. At least it got past the 50,000 word mark.
The Master Posts:
On my journal - Silent Collision Master Post
On the akame_ Community - Silent Collision Master Post
On the akame_fanfics Community - Silent Collision Master Post
On the kattun_fanfics Community - Silent Collision Master Post
Chapter Twenty Six ~The Proof~
The next weeks were pretty hectic. The cops tried to interview Kame alone but he wouldn’t say anything at all unless Jin was with him and even then, not much. He kept glancing at Jin, like he was looking for permission before speaking.
Jin was finally able to go home to his apartment (he found the place trashed but the only thing missing was his electronic organizer of all things… maybe the gang had broken in looking for him?). Kame came to stay with him and even Koki seemed okay with it. His friend had apparently decided Jin wasn’t some terrible monster after all.
Kame took over cooking. Jin didn’t really have anything but instant stuff in his cabinets so the two of them went grocery shopping and Jin thought Kame was just the cutest thing ever as he practically raced to-and-fro excitedly in the store, putting food in the cart. Okay, he had been a little reserved at first but Jin just smiled at him and told him to pick out everything he needed.
The younger was smiling more and more as the days passed. He started to let himself laugh - out loud, no less. Slowly, he started to speak, though he still mostly kept quiet.
Not every minute was great, though. Kame started having horrible nightmare that sent him into a full-blown panic. Jin wasn’t sure what exactly happened in them, but whatever it was, Kame would start crying in his sleep and then suddenly scream. Then he would wake up and, pushing Jin away, scramble off the bed so fast he usually ended up falling in the process. After that, it was either hiding under the bed or cowering against the wall with his arm up defensively to protect his head.
But whenever it happened, Jin just spoke softly to him and Kame came back to reality after a few minutes. He’d cry as Jin held him and the two of them would fall back asleep.
Koki came by eventually to update him on the happenings regarding Nishikido. They were going to charge him for the murder of the security guard and everything else that happened at the hospital. Koki didn’t mention the guy Nishikido killed outside his own house - the gang had already taken care of that body, so the police didn’t realize anything and Jin wasn’t about to fill them in on it. The gang had also taken care of that assassin’s body, so Jin didn’t bring it up either.
But Jin had been friends with Koki long enough to recognized the signs in his voice. He was doing the whole “good news, bad news” thing, trying to soften the impact of something he didn’t want to tell Jin.
“What about Ueda and Junno? I mean, he didn’t kill them himself. He hired someone. Are they charging him with that?” Jin asked Koki.
“Not exactly…”
Eyes narrowing, he asked, “Why the hell not?"
“The assistant district attorney says there isn’t enough evidence. Or, well, any evidence at all.” Koki sighed. “I’m sorry, Jin.”
Now somewhat angry and frustrated, Jin shook his head and moved on, “Well, how about Kame? What he did to Kame? He has to pay for that, Koki. The rest of it, not so important. But this, this is the one thing he has to pay for. I promised Kame-chan back at that man’s apartment…”
“Jin…”
“Don’t tell me that. I don’t like where that tone is going.”
“But, Jin…”
“What’s the problem? He can’t say there isn’t enough evidence. I mean, you can see the proof just by looking at Kame!” Jin started pacing around, agitated.
Koki looked at him. “You’re making me nervous. Just sit down,” he grumbled, but then he continued, “The ADA says that it’s all useless if Kame can’t corroborate it. He’d have to testify against Nishikido.”
“So he’ll testify. I don’t see the problem.”
“Um, hello? He doesn’t talk?” Koki was looking at Jin like he was a complete idiot.
Jin shook his head. “Yes he does. You just have to be patient, hold his hand, help him out.”
The look Koki was giving him hadn’t improved at all. “And… you don’t see the problem in that?”
“Um… no?”
“Baka…” Koki snorted. “Haven’t you ever heard of leading the witness, Jin? And even if he spoke perfectly, he still glances at you every few seconds because he’s nervous. A jury will think he’s looking to you for answers which will make them believe he’s lying.”
“So they’re going to do nothing about what he did to Kame for the past ten years? Nothing at all?”
“He’ll never get out of prison over the rest of it, so isn’t it the same in the end?”
Jin growled, “No, damn it! It’s not the same thing!” His voice kept getting louder and louder as he spoke until he was practically shouting at Koki. “I promised Kame he’d pay for what he did to him. I told him that if he gave me the knife, the police would get Nishikido and the man would be punished for hurting him. I promised him, Koki!”
“I’m… sor…” but Koki trailed off and suddenly he was looking past Jin.
Confused, Jin glanced behind him and saw Kame standing in the doorway to the living room. Quickly he crossed to his side. “I’m sorry, Kame-chan. I didn’t mean to wake you. Why don’t you…?”
But Kame slipped his arms around Jin and kissed him gently. Looking up at him with wide, trusting eyes, the younger said, “Is okay.”
“Hmm…?”
And Kame pointed towards Koki, then repeated himself, “Is okay.”
“You don’t mind if he’s only tried for the other stuff? You don’t mind if they don’t make him pay for hurting you?” Jin asked quietly.
“Never come back?” Kame asked in turn.
Smiling, Jin replied, “No, he’s never coming back, either way.”
“Is…” and then it seemed like Kame was looking for a word and having trouble finding it, but eventually he finished with, “…enough. Is enough.”
So be it.
Kame went to the kitchen and started to cook some breakfast for the three of them.
Jin’s original plan was to go to watch Nishikido’s trial in person, but he ultimately decided not to go. He wasn’t sure he could keep himself from attacking the man right in the middle of the courthouse. So Koki kept him updated and it was a complete relief when the thing ended and the jury declared him guilty of all of the charges.
In the meanwhile, Jin and Kame had grown closer and closer. They were both crazy in love with each other and it seemed life was better for them than it had been in a very, very long time. Jin couldn’t even remember how he’d managed to muddle through most of his life before he met Kame.
Then one day, not all that long after Nishikido was incarcerated for good, Koki called him and the first thing out of his mouth, before even saying hello, was, “What did you do?”
“Excuse me?” Jin asked into the phone, confused.
“You had something to do with it, didn’t you?”
“Do with… what?”
A pause. “You haven’t heard?”
From Jin, a frustrated sigh. “Heard what? And you call me baka…”
“Nishikido’s dead. Stabbed repeatedly. Twenty other inmate witnesses and nobody saw a thing.”
“He’s dead?”
“I just said that, didn’t I?”
“I hadn’t heard. But thanks for letting me know.” And he hung up, affronted that his friend thought he’d put out a hit on the man.
Immediately he dialed Uchi’s number and asked to speak with Yamashita. Once he had the man on the line, he said, “Thank you.”
Yamashita replied, “You’re welcome.”
Then Jin hung up once more.
He may not have ordered or asked for the man’s death, but he supposed he always realized Yamashita wouldn’t let the man be. Not after he got shot three times by him and also after what he had done to Subaru and the other member of Manatsu.
Kame eventually stopped having the nightmares. Jin got him all the stuff he needed to learn to read and write and the younger soaked it all up. He was actually incredibly smart; he’d just never gotten the chance to show it before. He was clever. He had a great - though sometimes odd - sense of humor. He was just so beautiful, inside and out, even after everything he’d gone through.
The years passed. Jin didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky. Maybe it was the cosmos’s way of rewarding him for stepping in to save that woman from the other Manatsu thieves, since it was that act so long ago that ultimately brought him to Kame.
Jin had been so afraid that once Nishikido was gone for good, Kame would get tired of him. On their first dating anniversary, Jin though maybe he wouldn’t get tired of him after all. Five years and it seemed like Kame just might stick around after all. Ten years and Jin couldn’t believe he ever thought Kame would get bored with him.
Kame, even after so long, was never really all that talkative but he didn’t have to be. Jin could feel him, could feel his love.
Jin had always heard actions spoke louder than words…
And for that, Kame was the ultimate proof.
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A/N: So sad. It's over. Anyways, what do you guys think of the ending? Does it fit? Does it seem too abrupt or is the timing good? Always glad to hear from you guys!! Oh, my next post will be the update for TWCC, just to let you know.