Title: Boku no Yakuza Aijin
Pairing: Kame/Jin, Kame/Hayato (past)
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance, Drama, Suspense, Humor
Word count: ~40,000(!)
Beta-reader:
iris_aya Disclaimer: I don't own them, and I'm not making any money off of this.
Warnings: Oh, God, where to start? Smut, violence, language, angst, (minor) character death, gore, guro, uke!Jin, use of a female character as a shameless plot device...did I miss any? xD Could have sworn there were more. Ah well, I'm sure I'll think of them...
AN: ...Wow. I really don't know what to say about this fic--there's so much I could say. This project was about six weeks in the making, and to be honest, I still can't believe I actually managed to finish it in time. I can't even put into words how accomplished I feel right now, because in finishing this fic, I feel like I've finally reached a goal that I sort of subconsciously set for myself back how many years ago when I first got into fanfiction--to write something more than a one-shot, with character development and substance and all of those wonderful things that really long fics tend to have. I've worked really, really hard on it, and...OMG, kiri-chan (sorry, the nickname's kind of stuck xP), I just hope you like it~ ;_; <3
Just a note about the characterization...the Jin and Kame in this fic are based on an Akame AU RP that
mirokkuma and I have doing since March. So if either Jin or Kame seems...off in any way, it's because at this point we have 200+ pages of backstory for an Akame who never joined JE. ^^; If you have any questions about anything that happens in the fic or their behavior, feel free to drop me a comment and I'll see if I can explain. Thanks! =)
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The tip of Sachiko's drawing pencil moved across the blank pages of her sketchpad, her skilled hand capturing on paper the features, expressions, and mannerisms of two of the most interesting people she had ever seen in this dive of a cosplay café in Akihabara. She used to come here solely to pass the two hours between the end of the regular school day and the start of her evening college exam prep course, but since the café hired a new waiter, the only subject in which she'd made any improvement was people-watching. Indeed, she'd filled pages of her sketchpad with drawings of this man; her favorites were the head-shots, sketched from all different angles, emphasizing among other things his wide, childish eyes; full, pouty lips; dazzling smile, and the beauty mark near his temple that appeared when he reached behind his right ear to retrieve his pencil for jotting down orders. She thought it was the natural beauty in this man's face that led her to start drawing him in the first place.
Despite coming to the café every day, all she knew about him was that his name was Jin. The rest of the details of his life she inferred from her drawings. The first sketch of him she did, one of him tripping over his untied apron strings while carrying a full tray of hot drinks, apart from providing an interesting motion shot, lacked detail and was rather unremarkable. She pegged him for just another clumsy high school dropout working a minimum-wage job to make ends meet. She remembered thinking, when she saw the tray wobble dangerously, that if this job waiting tables didn't work out, Jin could always fall back on his good looks and become a host. And yet, something other than her aesthetic sense caused her to keep observing him. The more his images filled the pages of her drawing pad, the more Sachiko thought something like a deep, dark secret might be hiding behind his sunny smiles.
No more than a week later, Sachiko found out that not only was she right, but also that Jin had a very good reason for not publicizing the matter. Because Jin's secret had a name. And attached to that name was likely a criminal record that rivaled the length of Lady Murasaki's Genji Monogatari.
The drawings of Kamenashi Kazuya that Sachiko had managed to complete contained many more erasures than the ones she'd done of Jin, and no two looked exactly the same, because Kamenashi kept most of his face hidden behind a pair of sleek, designer sunglasses, so if Sachiko wanted to draw him without them, she had to guess at the shape of his eyes and the slope of his nose. After several frustrated cross-outs and attempts left half-completed, she finally decided on a design she liked. She imagined he had intense, almond-shaped eyes, their gaze sharp and focused when his brow furrowed in concentration, but narrowing dangerously when he was pissed off. She'd like to think they'd crinkle up and sparkle with laughter were he to let a genuine smile grace his features, but she'd never seen his thin lips curl up into more than a sneer.
What she could see of Kamenashi she made sure she copied down meticulously, taking great care to capture the obvious pride he took in his appearance. Where Jin was often messy and unkempt, looking like he had to sprint from the train station to make it to work on time, Kamenashi was immaculate. The long, brown hair that swept his shoulders never had a strand out of place, and his pinstripe suits (Sachiko had never gotten close enough to take a peek at the label, but she guessed they were Armani) were perfectly tailored. He also had quite an eye for accessories: he was never without a large diamond stud in his left ear, and he wore the collar of his shirt open to show the countless beaded necklaces and pendants draped around his neck. Sachiko didn't want to think about how much he was worth, nor what he had to do in order to attain such obvious wealth.
She remembered the first time Kamenashi came to the café. The stylish fedora tilted low over his eyes and the click of his polished, Italian leather shoes as he walked across the floor gave him an intimidating presence. The staff and the rest of the patrons dining there didn't need to see what was beneath the long sleeves of his jacket to know he was in the mafia. Someone important, too, judging by the confidence in his gait and the large gold rings adorning his fingers. The gangster seated himself at a small table in the corner and tapped out a cigarette from the pack he kept in his breast pocket, ignoring the nervous looks from the waitresses as they hurried past. Sachiko, too, often stole glances at him over the test prep manual she was supposed to be reading. For almost twenty minutes he alternated between swiping his thumb over the touch screen on his cell phone and taking long drags from the lit stick in his other hand. Twice a waitress timidly approached him, pad and pencil ready in case he wanted to place an order, but he waved them both away without so much as looking up.
He remained there until just after four o' clock, when Jin emerged from the kitchen at the end of his shift. Kamenashi, the waitresses, and Sachiko all watched as he made his way through the dining room to the gangster's tableside, his fingers fumbling with the apron strings knotted behind his back. More than one jaw hit the floor when, instead of grabbing Jin by the throat or pinning him to the table for daring to speak to him, the yakuza tilted his head towards him and responded to his cheerful inquiries as casually as if they were exchanging pleasantries about the weather. For all Sachiko knew, they could have been, as she wasn't seated close enough to overhear their conversation, but she doubted talking to Kamenashi about something so trivial could make Jin's face light up with such a bright, happy smile.
She gave up on even pretending to do her homework when Jin began using both hands to playfully tug on one of Kamenashi's, encouraging the other man to rise from the table. She could only watch, dumbstruck, as the gangster obeyed, hands deep in his front pockets as he followed Jin's energetic movements back across the dining room with his own lazy shuffle. His posture and the smirk on his face as he walked betrayed that whatever was going on now had been Jin's idea, and he was merely humoring the waiter by going along with it. Sure enough, Kamenashi maintained his overall indifferent look and tailed Jin around the dining room as the waiter flagged down his co-workers, trying to get them to stand still long enough to introduce them to his companion. Most of the waitresses took one look at Kamenashi in his hat, sunglasses, and shiny, leather shoes and mumbled excuses about having to attend to their tables before hurrying away again.
One girl, however, didn't seem to be afraid. She smiled politely and bowed low to Kamenashi, and if he offended her by only nodding curtly in response, she didn't let it show, instead turning towards Jin, who immediately engaged them both in conversation. He talked animatedly, prompting giggles from the waitress and the occasional diplomatic response from the gangster. Watching them, it didn't take Sachiko long to realize the nature of Jin and Kamenashi's relationship. Not that they made any real attempt to hide it. Jin's elaborate hand gestures as he told his co-worker a story went undeterred by the possessive arm snaking around his waist. The way the shrill sound of the waitress's laughter echoed through the café in response to what Jin said suggested that behind her pleasant smile, she was still a little nervous about the situation, and Sachiko didn't blame her. She'd be apprehensive too if she were pulled into a conversation with someone who clearly wielded so much power and influence (not to mention concealed weaponry).
Kamenashi and Jin then exchanged a few words, and Sachiko felt her heart race when, with an annoyed frown, the gangster drew back his jacket to reach for something in his inner breast pocket. She briefly envisioned him pulling out a handgun, using it to either take everyone in the café hostage or go on a killing spree. Those sorts of things happened, after all, in dramas and occasionally on the news. She didn't realize how tightly she had been gripping the edge of the table until she saw Kamenashi pull a small black box (thankfully not a gun) from his pocket, and she heaved a quiet sigh of relief.
The exchange was almost comical. Jin made a lunge for the object, but Kamenashi quickly pulled it out of his reach, tucking it back inside his jacket. He then tilted his head slightly, and a feline grin spread across his features as Jin leaned down to brush his pouty lips against the high cheekbone offered to him. Kamenashi reached back into his pocket and placed the small box in the palm of Jin's hand, clearly a reward for the small display of affection. Jin got a second reward in the form of Kamenashi flicking his thumb over the inside of the taller man's wrist before pulling his hand away. Subtle though it was, Sachiko didn't miss the way Jin's spine stiffened when Kamenashi did it. However, the brief flash of lust disappeared from Jin's eyes when he opened the box, and even though Sachiko wasn't close enough to see what lay inside, she could tell from the way Jin's mouth dropped open that Kamenashi definitely was not stingy with his wealth. Jin ducked his head to fiddle with his earlobe, and the next time he turned in her direction, Sachiko caught a glimpse of something sparkly peeking out from behind his long brown hair.
Seeing that made her wonder under what circumstances Jin and Kamenashi were together. They were obviously intimate with each other, but were they exclusive? Or were they merely two good-looking young men who made the café their rendezvous point before carrying out the remainder of their business behind the closed doors of a love hotel, emerging separately before dawn the next morning to attend to their separate lives? Sachiko wasn't sure which version of their relationship was true, but she knew which one her imagination preferred. She reached for her sketchpad and put pencil to paper, trying to capture Kamenashi and his sly grin as the object of Jin's adoring gaze.
The two of them eventually left together, allowing Sachiko the opportunity to flag down the waitress they had been talking to (Ai, according to her nametag), and from her she first learned not only Kamenashi's name, but also that in recent weeks, he had been frequenting the café almost as often as some of the regulars. Though, she added, as evidenced by the scene they had both just witnessed, he was clearly more interested in the establishment's only male waiter than any item he could order off of the menu.
In regards to his profession, she didn't really know much, other than that he was deeply involved in what he did, and most of whatever that business happened to be was conducted under the table. Popular opinion was that he oversaw an extensive ring of jewelry smugglers, but people may have only thought that because of the wide assortment of expensive accessories he used to complement his designer suits. Of course, it was also possible Kamenashi was involved with something far more dangerous than jewelry, like drug-trafficking, for example, and he used the profits turned from that to clear out the high-end stores in Ginza, but Sachiko quickly dismissed that idea, if only because it wasn't nearly as romantic as the idea of him overseeing the transfer of precious gems in and out of Japan.
At some point, Ai excused herself to wait on other customers, leaving Sachiko to her thoughts and her sketchpad. Whether it was diamonds or drugs Kamenashi dealt with, nothing quite explained how he came to be connected with someone like Jin. Unless the existence of this relationship was only the beginning of Jin's involvement with the mafia. Watching him work, seeing his face light up with a bright smile as he made small talk with the customers, such a scenario seemed impossible. But everyone had secrets, Sachiko mused, using the tip of her pencil to color in the abnormally dark patch of skin on Jin's left wrist. Perhaps beneath his cheerful disposition laid something much more sinister and dangerous.
Moving her pencil to accentuate the line of his jaw and the curl in his hair, she looked again at how she had drawn his eyes--wide and innocent, almost like a child's. Seeing that, she immediately scrapped the idea of perhaps making her next sketch one of Jin in a pinstripe suit. Whatever was going on between him and Kamenashi had to be more than merely Jin posing as a café waiter to hide unscrupulous dealings, as she was sure no one in the mafia could pull off such an innocent look as the one that often shone in his eyes. Ignoring the part of her brain telling her that Jin and Kamenashi's personal lives were none of her business, she resolved to watch them more closely in the future. She was determined to figure out what sorts of crazy forces were at work to pull two so vastly different people together.
Part 1