Fic: Closer
Fic: Closer (Part 1 to 5 + Epilogue)
Genre: AU, Romance
Rating: PG-14 (Epilogue - NC 17)
Beta: fionnakreuz kriszeth
Word Count: 17,500+ (Epilogue - 1,900+)
Disclaimer: Owns none of the boys. The plot, the little girl, her outfits and her toys are mine ;)
Summary: Kazuya was okay with his life and took comfort in his daily rituals. Then came the new neighbors.
A/N: Was gonna name them Kyohei and Natsu but it felt weird so I'll just say: Kyohei as Kazuya and Natsu as Jin. Also, my betas got the 14.5K version of this fic so if you find 3,000 wrongs in this fic, those are all mine. Fic title inspired by Ne-yo's Closer.
CLOSER
As soon as he got home, Kazuya kicked off his shoes and went straight to the kitchen to wash his hands then he drank a glass of water. It was a habit he developed when he was a kid, prodded by his mother. He continued to do so even when he had lived alone for years and his mother was miles away. It had become a ritual that made him feel cleansed of the dirt and grime of the outside world.
He walked towards his desk, removed the pack of cigarettes and disposable lighter from his pants' pocket and placed them on the desk. He sat down on his ergonomic chair, opened his laptop and turned it on before he removed his college ring and gold-plated wristwatch. Doing so made him feel unshackled and unburdened and freed his mind.
He smiled occasionally as he worked. He was in his zone and his ideas just flowed from his mind to his fingertips. The steady ticking of the keyboards was the only sound he heard and it soothed him. Every so often, he would lean back and read what he had written. He would occasionally stop to tweak here and there - replaced a word or two, reformulated sentences he thought were vague or misleading, rearranged the paragraphs for a better flow. He didn't know how many hours it had been since he started but when at last he typed in "30" with finality the sky outside the window in front of him had turned red-orange.
He slouched against his chair, feeling accomplished. He raised his arms above his head, hands interlocked and, as always, only realized how tense he was when he heard his shoulder joints pop as he stretched up. He bent his neck left and right, the crackling sound of his neck muscles made him feel good.
He stood up and made coffee. The smell of the fresh brew reminded him of home, of his mother who was so addicted to caffeine she would always say she'd rather die than stop drinking it. She even joked that Kazuya's father left because the man made her choose between coffee and him. Now the woman was in her 50's and suffering from acid reflux disease but against the doctor's advice still drank the addicting beverage. Kazuya smiled at the thought of his obstinate mother who always made him laugh.
Kazuya poured himself a mug full of steaming coffee, grabbed his pack of cigarette and his lighter and went out to his balcony. He sat on his haunches and watched the people walking on the street below. And as was his habit, he made up stories in his mind of where they have been and where they were going.
“Can I bum a stick?”
Kazuya jolted and his head jerked up to see a man standing on the balcony of the next apartment which had been vacant for a month now. Kazuya wondered how long the man had been standing there because he had not noticed him when he got out neither did he sense any movement. Kazuya sized up the man wearing paint-stained gray overall. The blue baseball cap hid the eyes but Kazuya noted the strong jaw and full lips. The man beamed and Kazuya found himself drawn to the sunny smile.
"I no longer smoke,” the man explained when Kazuya merely sat and looked at him, “but the smell of paint gets to me.”
Kazuya snapped out. He picked up his pack of cigarette and thought of just throwing it towards the other man but something compelled him to stand up and walk towards his balcony's side railing. He and the other man both reached out at the same time. Kazuya noticed the smudge of red paint on the other one's hand and figured the man was probably one of the laborers the building manager hired for maintenance. “You're repainting?”
The man nodded as he lit a stick. He blew out the first inhaled smoke before returning the cigarette and the lighter. “Thanks.”
Kazuya stuffed the cigarette and the lighter inside his pocket. It was not his habit to talk to strangers. It was not his habit to talk in fact. But curiosity got the better of him and he asked, “Someone's moving in?”
“Yup.”
“A family?”
The man thought for a while before answering. “Yeah.” Kazuya frowned. “Why?” the man asked.
Kazuya shrugged. “They have kids?”
“You don't like kids?” the man asked in response.
Kazuya shrugged again. He neither liked nor disliked kids. He just didn't like being bothered.
The man smiled. “I'm Akanishi Jin.”
The sudden introduction caught Kazuya off guard. The man must have thought the small talk meant he was being friendly. He wasn't. Kazuya straightened up then stepped away from the railing. “I have to go in,” he said and without another word, turned and stepped back inside his apartment.
♥
"Hi.”
Kazuya stopped fumbling with his keys and turned. In front of the door next to his stood a little girl wearing a green dress and ruby red Mary Jane shoes. Her dark hair was cut in a short bob, her brown eyes glinted and her little pink lips smiled sunny. “Hi,” he dryly said and turned back to the task of opening his door.
The little girl walked towards Kazuya and, with the sunny smile still intact, looked up at him. Kazuya briefly turned towards the girl and forced a brief smile. He hoped it was enough to dismiss the child but she remained beside him.
Kazuya tried to ignore her and continued fumbling with unlocking his door. He was relieved when the lock clicked and his door opened. As he stepped inside, someone stepped out from the next one.
“Hey! Hi! Remember me?” Kazuya's face remained blank. “Akanishi Jin. I'm your new neighbor,” the other man continued.
Kazuya just stared. It took him a couple of seconds to recognize the man as the painter he met a week before. He cleaned up well, Kazuya thought, as he sized up the man dressed in a black t-shirt and faded jeans. He looked from the man to the girl and realized the two share the same kind of eyes and the same sunny smile.
Jin stepped up behind the girl. “This is my daughter, Aya. We're going to eat out. Wanna join us?”
Kazuya frowned, once again caught off guard with the other man's friendliness. “No,” he flatly said.
Jin continued to smile. “Next time then,” he said.He turned to his daughter. “Let's go, sweetie.”
The little girl took her father's hand and allowed herself to be led away. A few steps away, the girl stopped, turned around and found Kazuya was still standing by the doorway and was looking at them. She waved and said, “Bye, Pretty Neighbor!”
Kazuya frowned some more. He closed the door but he still heard the father's amused laughter.
♥
Kazuya wondered if it was just incidental or the little girl actually waited for him because every time he opened his door early in the morning to get the newspaper, she would be right outside her door. She would smile and wave at him and greet him with “Good morning, Pretty Neighbor!”, then she would go back inside her apartment.
The first few times, Kazuya ignored her. After three days, he scowled at her. At the end of the week, he told her to stop calling him “pretty neighbor” because it grated on him. But the girl remained unaffected and undaunted.
“Good morning, Pretty Neighbor!" the little girl greeted one morning, her smile bright and her eyes narrowed into slits. She was wearing a pink satin gown, black rain boots and a blue baseball cap, the one Kazuya remembered as the same one her father wore the first time he met the man.
“You look ridiculous," Kazuya commented, unable to stop himself. Instead of being offended, the little girl giggled. Her laughter sounded like the tinkling of bells and Kazuya could not help but smile back at her.
♥
He didn't know what time it was when Kazuya heard a faint knock on his door. He ignored it, thinking the sound wasn't coming from his own door. But the knocking was persistent.
He was surprised when he opened the door and found Aya behind it. The little girl was in a white cotton nightdress, hair ruffled from sleep and carrying a purple stuffed toy that appeared to be a ninja squid. “What are you doing here?” Kazuya asked.
“Can I have a glass of water?” she sleepily said.
“What?”
Aya rubbed an eye with the back of her hand. “Daddy isn't home and I'm thirsty.”
“What?” Kazuya asked again. He looked at the wall clock hanging above his doorway. It was already midnight. “Where's your father?”
“Club,” the girl answered.
“Club?” Kazuya asked, aghast. The little girl just shrugged. “He left you alone to go clubbing?”
The little girl shook her head. “I have a sitter but I woke up and I can't find her.” The bit of information that the girl was not really left alone didn't do much to quell the anger rolling up inside Kazuya. “I'm really thirsty,” the girl repeated, not noticing that Kazuya was upset. She walked past the man towards his living room.
It was around 4 in the morning when Kazuya heard the sound of hurried footsteps climbing up the stairs. He threw wide open his door. Jin abruptly stopped on the last step of the stairs. He almost lost his footing and would have slipped had he not gripped the stair railing. He placed a palm on his chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart.
“Your kid's here,” Kazuya said, voice cold, eyes narrowed. Jin frowned then opened his mouth to speak but Kazuya had turned and stomped inside his apartment, leaving his door open. Jin silently followed.
Jin found his daughter sleeping on a futon right in the middle of the living room. “Wha...” he started to say but Kazuya cut him off. “Lock the door when you leave,” Kazuya said then stepped inside his bedroom and slid shut the door with such force it shook on its hinges.
♥
Jin stepped out and found his next-door neighbor. With the way Kazuya's face was scrunched in irritation, Jin surmised the other man had been struggling with the lock. “You gotta problem?”
Kazuya shook his head and continued twisting and turning the key. Jin decided to just stand back. He leaned against the wall, folded his arms at his chest and leisurely watched his neighbor. He found it quite pleasant to watch the man who, he thought, was a real eye-candy. And it pleased him some more when the other one scowled and looked disconcerted when he continued to watch.
“Need help?" Jin offered after a while.
“No," Kazuya snapped.
“I think you do," Jin said and stepped forward. He reached over and when his hand touched the one holding the key, Kazuya jerked away and jumped back. Jin bit off a smile, noting the overreaction.
It took Jin several tries before he finally heard a click and knew he had successfully unlocked the door. He quickly turned and caught the other man staring at his face. Kazuya immediately frowned in an obvious attempt to hide his embarrassment at being caught. Jin grinned, opened the door and gestured for Kazuya to enter.
“Thanks,” Kazuya dryly said and laid out his hand.
Jin placed the key on the upturned palm and let his hand linger atop. “No prob, Kamenashi,” he said. The other man jerked his hand away and scowled. Jin winked before turning away to go back inside his apartment, knowing his neighbor was wondering how he knew his name.
♥
Kazuya took off his ring and his wristwatch then poised his hands over the keyboard. He drew a deep breath then started typing. After a few minutes, he stopped and smirked, dissatisfied with his work. He leaned back and raised his arms. He paused half-way through the stretch and cocked his head. His next-door neighbors were quiet.
It had been two weeks since the new occupants arrived in the next apartment and every night he worked at home, he would hear their voices. By then Kazuya had figured that the next-door neighbor family only consisted of the Akanishi guy and the little girl because theirs were the only voices he heard. He couldn't make out what was being said but he could tell when the two were talking, arguing or singing. A lot of times, he could hear them laughing. But that evening, it was unusually quiet.
Kazuya shook his head to dispel the thoughts of his new neighbors. He reread what he had written while he sipped his coffee. He reached out for his cigarette but his hand stopped in mid-air when he heard knocks on the door. He shifted on his seat and waited. Three consecutive knocks came again followed by three soft ones coming from lower on the door.
Kazuya stood up and walked towards the door. Three loud knocks more and then three soft ones again. He opened it.
“Will you just let me do the knocking!” It was the next-door neighbor talking to someone behind him. The man abruptly turned around and flashed a wide smile. “Hi!”
Kazuya just stood there, suspicious of the wide smile.
“I know this is weird because we really don't know each other,” Jin started, “but the baby-sitter's running late so can you possibly...”
“No,” Kazuya interrupted.
Jin lost the wide smile. “Please! I'm really in a bind here,” he pleaded.
“No. I'm working,” Kazuya said, unaffected, knowing the act of desperation was a put on. He would not babysit the child just so the man could go clubbing. He closed the door but Jin blocked it.
The taller man bowed. “I'm begging you! Just for an hour!”
“No,” Kazuya repeated, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “And don't you know better than to leave your kid with a virtual stranger?”
“You're not a stranger. You're our neighbor,” interjected a little voice. Kazuya cocked his head and found the little girl behind the man.
The father shushed the little girl then turned to Kazuya. “I know I can trust you because you wouldn't say that if I can't trust you.”
Kazuya's brows creased at what he thought was careless and dangerous logic. “Well then you're an id...” He stopped abruptly when the kid stepped from behind her father. His gaze darted from the girl back to the man. “No,” he simply said.
The little girl took a step forward and tugged at Kazuya's shirttail. “I trust you. And I'd be real quiet, I promise.” She smiled and her eyes twinkled. Kazuya frowned some more at what the girl was wearing - a floral pajama top, orange and white striped leggings and black rain boots. “And it'll just be for an hour...” The little girl tilted her head.
Kazuya hated that the puppy face worked with her. He tsked and smirked then sighed in resignation. The girl turned towards her father with a triumphant smile before she pushed wide open the door. She marched right inside carrying a stack of papers and a box of crayons. Kazuya closed the door even before Jin could finish thanking him.
Kazuya leaned back on his chair and automatically reached for a cigarette but before he could light one, a little voice said, “Hey, Pretty Neighbor?”
It was only then Kazuya remembered the little girl inside his apartment. He turned to her and said, “Don't call me that.”
“Okay. What should I call you?” the girl asked, lying belly down on the floor beside Kazuya's desk. Her socked feet were crossed at the ankles and her legs were swaying up and down. A hand propped up her chin while the other hand clutched a crayon poised on the white paper in front of her.
“Nothing. You're not supposed to talk,” Kazuya said dismissively. The little girl skewed her mouth then went back to drawing. Kazuya, amused at the impertinence, bit off the smile that started to form on his lips. He dropped the unlit cigarette on the table. “Where did your father go anyway?” The girl just looked at him. “Well?”
“I thought I wasn't supposed to talk.” When Kazuya frowned at her, she smiled and said, “Club.”
“Some father you got there,” Kazuya commented, unable to help himself.
But the sarcasm was lost on the girl. “Yeah,” she agreed. “My daddy's gonna be famous someday. He sings in a band, you know?”
Kazuya skewed his mouth to keep himself from making another snide comment. Being a band member is not a real job, Kazuya thought. The fact only reinforced Kazuya's opinion that the girl's father was self-centered and juvenile.
“Hey, Pretty Neighbor...” the little girl started again, twisting around. “Can I have water?”
Kazuya sighed. He stood up, got a glass of water and gave it to the girl. The little girl sat up, took and drank the water then handed back the empty glass. “Thanks, Pretty Neighbor.”
“I said don't call me that,” Kazuya said, returning to the kitchen. He rinsed the glass and placed it upside down on a hand towel beside the sink. He returned to his desk, eyeing the girl as he walked pass her.
“What do I call you?” the girl asked.
“Nothing.” Kazuya turned back to his work.
“Don't you have a name?” the girl persisted, frowning.
Kazuya figured the little girl would not let up until he gave a proper answer. “My name's Kamenashi Kazuya.”
The girl beamed and resumed her earlier position on the floor. “So what do I call you?”
Kazuya clicked his tongue, annoyed and exasperated. “If you must, call me Kamenashi-san.”
“Kamenishi-san,” the girl said.
“Kamenashi,” Kazuya corrected.
“Kamemishi.”
“Kamenashi,” Kazuya said, voice a notch louder.
The little girl clicked her tongue, annoyed and exasperated. “That's too difficult. Can I just call you Pretty Neighbor?”
Kazuya cringed. “No.”
“But you're our neighbor and you're pretty.”
Kazuya scowled at the girl. “I'm a man. I'm not pretty.” The girl matched his scowl. “Fine. Call me Kazuya.”
The girl's scowl instantly disappeared and was replaced with a bright smile. “Okay, Uncle Kazuya,” she said in a lilting voice.
Kazuya tried not wince at the word “uncle.” He fought off the urge to tell the girl that they are not, in any way, related because the girl had quietly gone back to her drawing, looking quite satisfied that they had somehow reached an agreement.
“Uncle Kazuya?” the girl called out again, after a few minutes.
“What?” Kazuya snarled, eyes still trained on his work, fingers busy typing.
“Can I draw you?”
“Whatever,” Kazuya said. He would agree to anything so long as the girl kept quiet.
The girl shifted position to face Kazuya. Kazuya tried not be distracted seeing from the corner of his eye that the child kept looking up at him. At one point though, she stood up, leaned on his knee, poked her head between the man's lap and the desk to take a good look at his face. Seeing the little face looking earnest at him amused Kazuya and he snorted a chuckle. “You're annoying,” he said with a smile. The girl smiled back at him then returned to the floor.
Alone again much later that night, Kazuya saw a paper on the floor. He picked it up and studied the drawing. For a five-year old, Kazuya could tell the girl had quite a talent. She had an eye for detail - getting the shape of Kazuya's frowning brows, the mole below his right eye and even the way he had sloppily tied his hair. He pinned the drawing on the cork board on his desk.
♥ Part 2
Genre: AU, Romance
Rating: PG-14 (Epilogue - NC 17)
Beta: fionnakreuz kriszeth
Word Count: 17,500+ (Epilogue - 1,900+)
Disclaimer: Owns none of the boys. The plot, the little girl, her outfits and her toys are mine ;)
Summary: Kazuya was okay with his life and took comfort in his daily rituals. Then came the new neighbors.
A/N: Was gonna name them Kyohei and Natsu but it felt weird so I'll just say: Kyohei as Kazuya and Natsu as Jin. Also, my betas got the 14.5K version of this fic so if you find 3,000 wrongs in this fic, those are all mine. Fic title inspired by Ne-yo's Closer.
CLOSER
As soon as he got home, Kazuya kicked off his shoes and went straight to the kitchen to wash his hands then he drank a glass of water. It was a habit he developed when he was a kid, prodded by his mother. He continued to do so even when he had lived alone for years and his mother was miles away. It had become a ritual that made him feel cleansed of the dirt and grime of the outside world.
He walked towards his desk, removed the pack of cigarettes and disposable lighter from his pants' pocket and placed them on the desk. He sat down on his ergonomic chair, opened his laptop and turned it on before he removed his college ring and gold-plated wristwatch. Doing so made him feel unshackled and unburdened and freed his mind.
He smiled occasionally as he worked. He was in his zone and his ideas just flowed from his mind to his fingertips. The steady ticking of the keyboards was the only sound he heard and it soothed him. Every so often, he would lean back and read what he had written. He would occasionally stop to tweak here and there - replaced a word or two, reformulated sentences he thought were vague or misleading, rearranged the paragraphs for a better flow. He didn't know how many hours it had been since he started but when at last he typed in "30" with finality the sky outside the window in front of him had turned red-orange.
He slouched against his chair, feeling accomplished. He raised his arms above his head, hands interlocked and, as always, only realized how tense he was when he heard his shoulder joints pop as he stretched up. He bent his neck left and right, the crackling sound of his neck muscles made him feel good.
He stood up and made coffee. The smell of the fresh brew reminded him of home, of his mother who was so addicted to caffeine she would always say she'd rather die than stop drinking it. She even joked that Kazuya's father left because the man made her choose between coffee and him. Now the woman was in her 50's and suffering from acid reflux disease but against the doctor's advice still drank the addicting beverage. Kazuya smiled at the thought of his obstinate mother who always made him laugh.
Kazuya poured himself a mug full of steaming coffee, grabbed his pack of cigarette and his lighter and went out to his balcony. He sat on his haunches and watched the people walking on the street below. And as was his habit, he made up stories in his mind of where they have been and where they were going.
“Can I bum a stick?”
Kazuya jolted and his head jerked up to see a man standing on the balcony of the next apartment which had been vacant for a month now. Kazuya wondered how long the man had been standing there because he had not noticed him when he got out neither did he sense any movement. Kazuya sized up the man wearing paint-stained gray overall. The blue baseball cap hid the eyes but Kazuya noted the strong jaw and full lips. The man beamed and Kazuya found himself drawn to the sunny smile.
"I no longer smoke,” the man explained when Kazuya merely sat and looked at him, “but the smell of paint gets to me.”
Kazuya snapped out. He picked up his pack of cigarette and thought of just throwing it towards the other man but something compelled him to stand up and walk towards his balcony's side railing. He and the other man both reached out at the same time. Kazuya noticed the smudge of red paint on the other one's hand and figured the man was probably one of the laborers the building manager hired for maintenance. “You're repainting?”
The man nodded as he lit a stick. He blew out the first inhaled smoke before returning the cigarette and the lighter. “Thanks.”
Kazuya stuffed the cigarette and the lighter inside his pocket. It was not his habit to talk to strangers. It was not his habit to talk in fact. But curiosity got the better of him and he asked, “Someone's moving in?”
“Yup.”
“A family?”
The man thought for a while before answering. “Yeah.” Kazuya frowned. “Why?” the man asked.
Kazuya shrugged. “They have kids?”
“You don't like kids?” the man asked in response.
Kazuya shrugged again. He neither liked nor disliked kids. He just didn't like being bothered.
The man smiled. “I'm Akanishi Jin.”
The sudden introduction caught Kazuya off guard. The man must have thought the small talk meant he was being friendly. He wasn't. Kazuya straightened up then stepped away from the railing. “I have to go in,” he said and without another word, turned and stepped back inside his apartment.
♥
"Hi.”
Kazuya stopped fumbling with his keys and turned. In front of the door next to his stood a little girl wearing a green dress and ruby red Mary Jane shoes. Her dark hair was cut in a short bob, her brown eyes glinted and her little pink lips smiled sunny. “Hi,” he dryly said and turned back to the task of opening his door.
The little girl walked towards Kazuya and, with the sunny smile still intact, looked up at him. Kazuya briefly turned towards the girl and forced a brief smile. He hoped it was enough to dismiss the child but she remained beside him.
Kazuya tried to ignore her and continued fumbling with unlocking his door. He was relieved when the lock clicked and his door opened. As he stepped inside, someone stepped out from the next one.
“Hey! Hi! Remember me?” Kazuya's face remained blank. “Akanishi Jin. I'm your new neighbor,” the other man continued.
Kazuya just stared. It took him a couple of seconds to recognize the man as the painter he met a week before. He cleaned up well, Kazuya thought, as he sized up the man dressed in a black t-shirt and faded jeans. He looked from the man to the girl and realized the two share the same kind of eyes and the same sunny smile.
Jin stepped up behind the girl. “This is my daughter, Aya. We're going to eat out. Wanna join us?”
Kazuya frowned, once again caught off guard with the other man's friendliness. “No,” he flatly said.
Jin continued to smile. “Next time then,” he said.He turned to his daughter. “Let's go, sweetie.”
The little girl took her father's hand and allowed herself to be led away. A few steps away, the girl stopped, turned around and found Kazuya was still standing by the doorway and was looking at them. She waved and said, “Bye, Pretty Neighbor!”
Kazuya frowned some more. He closed the door but he still heard the father's amused laughter.
♥
Kazuya wondered if it was just incidental or the little girl actually waited for him because every time he opened his door early in the morning to get the newspaper, she would be right outside her door. She would smile and wave at him and greet him with “Good morning, Pretty Neighbor!”, then she would go back inside her apartment.
The first few times, Kazuya ignored her. After three days, he scowled at her. At the end of the week, he told her to stop calling him “pretty neighbor” because it grated on him. But the girl remained unaffected and undaunted.
“Good morning, Pretty Neighbor!" the little girl greeted one morning, her smile bright and her eyes narrowed into slits. She was wearing a pink satin gown, black rain boots and a blue baseball cap, the one Kazuya remembered as the same one her father wore the first time he met the man.
“You look ridiculous," Kazuya commented, unable to stop himself. Instead of being offended, the little girl giggled. Her laughter sounded like the tinkling of bells and Kazuya could not help but smile back at her.
♥
He didn't know what time it was when Kazuya heard a faint knock on his door. He ignored it, thinking the sound wasn't coming from his own door. But the knocking was persistent.
He was surprised when he opened the door and found Aya behind it. The little girl was in a white cotton nightdress, hair ruffled from sleep and carrying a purple stuffed toy that appeared to be a ninja squid. “What are you doing here?” Kazuya asked.
“Can I have a glass of water?” she sleepily said.
“What?”
Aya rubbed an eye with the back of her hand. “Daddy isn't home and I'm thirsty.”
“What?” Kazuya asked again. He looked at the wall clock hanging above his doorway. It was already midnight. “Where's your father?”
“Club,” the girl answered.
“Club?” Kazuya asked, aghast. The little girl just shrugged. “He left you alone to go clubbing?”
The little girl shook her head. “I have a sitter but I woke up and I can't find her.” The bit of information that the girl was not really left alone didn't do much to quell the anger rolling up inside Kazuya. “I'm really thirsty,” the girl repeated, not noticing that Kazuya was upset. She walked past the man towards his living room.
It was around 4 in the morning when Kazuya heard the sound of hurried footsteps climbing up the stairs. He threw wide open his door. Jin abruptly stopped on the last step of the stairs. He almost lost his footing and would have slipped had he not gripped the stair railing. He placed a palm on his chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart.
“Your kid's here,” Kazuya said, voice cold, eyes narrowed. Jin frowned then opened his mouth to speak but Kazuya had turned and stomped inside his apartment, leaving his door open. Jin silently followed.
Jin found his daughter sleeping on a futon right in the middle of the living room. “Wha...” he started to say but Kazuya cut him off. “Lock the door when you leave,” Kazuya said then stepped inside his bedroom and slid shut the door with such force it shook on its hinges.
♥
Jin stepped out and found his next-door neighbor. With the way Kazuya's face was scrunched in irritation, Jin surmised the other man had been struggling with the lock. “You gotta problem?”
Kazuya shook his head and continued twisting and turning the key. Jin decided to just stand back. He leaned against the wall, folded his arms at his chest and leisurely watched his neighbor. He found it quite pleasant to watch the man who, he thought, was a real eye-candy. And it pleased him some more when the other one scowled and looked disconcerted when he continued to watch.
“Need help?" Jin offered after a while.
“No," Kazuya snapped.
“I think you do," Jin said and stepped forward. He reached over and when his hand touched the one holding the key, Kazuya jerked away and jumped back. Jin bit off a smile, noting the overreaction.
It took Jin several tries before he finally heard a click and knew he had successfully unlocked the door. He quickly turned and caught the other man staring at his face. Kazuya immediately frowned in an obvious attempt to hide his embarrassment at being caught. Jin grinned, opened the door and gestured for Kazuya to enter.
“Thanks,” Kazuya dryly said and laid out his hand.
Jin placed the key on the upturned palm and let his hand linger atop. “No prob, Kamenashi,” he said. The other man jerked his hand away and scowled. Jin winked before turning away to go back inside his apartment, knowing his neighbor was wondering how he knew his name.
♥
Kazuya took off his ring and his wristwatch then poised his hands over the keyboard. He drew a deep breath then started typing. After a few minutes, he stopped and smirked, dissatisfied with his work. He leaned back and raised his arms. He paused half-way through the stretch and cocked his head. His next-door neighbors were quiet.
It had been two weeks since the new occupants arrived in the next apartment and every night he worked at home, he would hear their voices. By then Kazuya had figured that the next-door neighbor family only consisted of the Akanishi guy and the little girl because theirs were the only voices he heard. He couldn't make out what was being said but he could tell when the two were talking, arguing or singing. A lot of times, he could hear them laughing. But that evening, it was unusually quiet.
Kazuya shook his head to dispel the thoughts of his new neighbors. He reread what he had written while he sipped his coffee. He reached out for his cigarette but his hand stopped in mid-air when he heard knocks on the door. He shifted on his seat and waited. Three consecutive knocks came again followed by three soft ones coming from lower on the door.
Kazuya stood up and walked towards the door. Three loud knocks more and then three soft ones again. He opened it.
“Will you just let me do the knocking!” It was the next-door neighbor talking to someone behind him. The man abruptly turned around and flashed a wide smile. “Hi!”
Kazuya just stood there, suspicious of the wide smile.
“I know this is weird because we really don't know each other,” Jin started, “but the baby-sitter's running late so can you possibly...”
“No,” Kazuya interrupted.
Jin lost the wide smile. “Please! I'm really in a bind here,” he pleaded.
“No. I'm working,” Kazuya said, unaffected, knowing the act of desperation was a put on. He would not babysit the child just so the man could go clubbing. He closed the door but Jin blocked it.
The taller man bowed. “I'm begging you! Just for an hour!”
“No,” Kazuya repeated, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “And don't you know better than to leave your kid with a virtual stranger?”
“You're not a stranger. You're our neighbor,” interjected a little voice. Kazuya cocked his head and found the little girl behind the man.
The father shushed the little girl then turned to Kazuya. “I know I can trust you because you wouldn't say that if I can't trust you.”
Kazuya's brows creased at what he thought was careless and dangerous logic. “Well then you're an id...” He stopped abruptly when the kid stepped from behind her father. His gaze darted from the girl back to the man. “No,” he simply said.
The little girl took a step forward and tugged at Kazuya's shirttail. “I trust you. And I'd be real quiet, I promise.” She smiled and her eyes twinkled. Kazuya frowned some more at what the girl was wearing - a floral pajama top, orange and white striped leggings and black rain boots. “And it'll just be for an hour...” The little girl tilted her head.
Kazuya hated that the puppy face worked with her. He tsked and smirked then sighed in resignation. The girl turned towards her father with a triumphant smile before she pushed wide open the door. She marched right inside carrying a stack of papers and a box of crayons. Kazuya closed the door even before Jin could finish thanking him.
Kazuya leaned back on his chair and automatically reached for a cigarette but before he could light one, a little voice said, “Hey, Pretty Neighbor?”
It was only then Kazuya remembered the little girl inside his apartment. He turned to her and said, “Don't call me that.”
“Okay. What should I call you?” the girl asked, lying belly down on the floor beside Kazuya's desk. Her socked feet were crossed at the ankles and her legs were swaying up and down. A hand propped up her chin while the other hand clutched a crayon poised on the white paper in front of her.
“Nothing. You're not supposed to talk,” Kazuya said dismissively. The little girl skewed her mouth then went back to drawing. Kazuya, amused at the impertinence, bit off the smile that started to form on his lips. He dropped the unlit cigarette on the table. “Where did your father go anyway?” The girl just looked at him. “Well?”
“I thought I wasn't supposed to talk.” When Kazuya frowned at her, she smiled and said, “Club.”
“Some father you got there,” Kazuya commented, unable to help himself.
But the sarcasm was lost on the girl. “Yeah,” she agreed. “My daddy's gonna be famous someday. He sings in a band, you know?”
Kazuya skewed his mouth to keep himself from making another snide comment. Being a band member is not a real job, Kazuya thought. The fact only reinforced Kazuya's opinion that the girl's father was self-centered and juvenile.
“Hey, Pretty Neighbor...” the little girl started again, twisting around. “Can I have water?”
Kazuya sighed. He stood up, got a glass of water and gave it to the girl. The little girl sat up, took and drank the water then handed back the empty glass. “Thanks, Pretty Neighbor.”
“I said don't call me that,” Kazuya said, returning to the kitchen. He rinsed the glass and placed it upside down on a hand towel beside the sink. He returned to his desk, eyeing the girl as he walked pass her.
“What do I call you?” the girl asked.
“Nothing.” Kazuya turned back to his work.
“Don't you have a name?” the girl persisted, frowning.
Kazuya figured the little girl would not let up until he gave a proper answer. “My name's Kamenashi Kazuya.”
The girl beamed and resumed her earlier position on the floor. “So what do I call you?”
Kazuya clicked his tongue, annoyed and exasperated. “If you must, call me Kamenashi-san.”
“Kamenishi-san,” the girl said.
“Kamenashi,” Kazuya corrected.
“Kamemishi.”
“Kamenashi,” Kazuya said, voice a notch louder.
The little girl clicked her tongue, annoyed and exasperated. “That's too difficult. Can I just call you Pretty Neighbor?”
Kazuya cringed. “No.”
“But you're our neighbor and you're pretty.”
Kazuya scowled at the girl. “I'm a man. I'm not pretty.” The girl matched his scowl. “Fine. Call me Kazuya.”
The girl's scowl instantly disappeared and was replaced with a bright smile. “Okay, Uncle Kazuya,” she said in a lilting voice.
Kazuya tried not wince at the word “uncle.” He fought off the urge to tell the girl that they are not, in any way, related because the girl had quietly gone back to her drawing, looking quite satisfied that they had somehow reached an agreement.
“Uncle Kazuya?” the girl called out again, after a few minutes.
“What?” Kazuya snarled, eyes still trained on his work, fingers busy typing.
“Can I draw you?”
“Whatever,” Kazuya said. He would agree to anything so long as the girl kept quiet.
The girl shifted position to face Kazuya. Kazuya tried not be distracted seeing from the corner of his eye that the child kept looking up at him. At one point though, she stood up, leaned on his knee, poked her head between the man's lap and the desk to take a good look at his face. Seeing the little face looking earnest at him amused Kazuya and he snorted a chuckle. “You're annoying,” he said with a smile. The girl smiled back at him then returned to the floor.
Alone again much later that night, Kazuya saw a paper on the floor. He picked it up and studied the drawing. For a five-year old, Kazuya could tell the girl had quite a talent. She had an eye for detail - getting the shape of Kazuya's frowning brows, the mole below his right eye and even the way he had sloppily tied his hair. He pinned the drawing on the cork board on his desk.
♥ Part 2