[Akame] [PG-13] Haunting Past, Loving Present
Recipient: rah_rah_ramen
Title: Haunting Past, Loving Present
Group/Pairing(s): Akame
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Kame is a high school student council President who came from a dark past. Jin came into his life, shattering everything he have build up. Will the two end up together or will Kame's past haunt him for good?
Warnings/Notes: Hinted rape but there is no rape scene as requested. And it has angst with a sweet ending. I hope this is alright.
Word Count: 1867
“Why is he looking at me like that?”
“Kame?”
“ How can two person look so alike?”
“KAME!”
Kamenashi Kazuya finally came out of his deep thoughts as his classmate all stared at him with a puzzled look.
“Are you alright? We’re asking you if the colour of the banner is alright for the festival.” Yamashita Tomohisa, his best friend in the student council filled him in with the information.
“Oh. It’s good. Blue is fine.” Kamenashi answered curtly as he flipped the agenda of the meeting to the next page absentmindedly; avoiding the weird looks he was getting from his peers.
“But I think pink suits the theme better.” A voice came from across the meeting table and all eyes fell on Akanishi Jin, a transfer student that just joined the council.
“Fine. Whatever he says then… that’s all for now. End of meeting.” Kazuya mumbled hurriedly as he packed and left the room, Yamashita following behind him.
“What’s wrong?” Yamashita asked as he fell into step with his friend. It was definitely not like Kamenashi Kazuya, the President of the student council to change his mind so easily and cutting short the meeting by half an hour.
“Nothing is wrong.” Kamenashi replied, not willing to tell his friend more, trying hard to increase his pace.
“Come on, Kame, I know you since you moved here and started high school. I can tell when you’re lying.”
“For the last time,” Kamenashi stopped in his tracks and turned to his friend, “ nothing is wrong. Period. I’m heading this way…see you tomorrow.” And with that, he turned into a side road, leaving his friend dumbstruck.
That night, Kamenashi tossed and turned in his bed as images from his past haunted him.
“Stop…please!” A young Kamenashi pleaded as the hands continued groping him in all the wrong places.
“If you want them to stop… pay up! You ugly thing.” A boy slightly older sneered as he looked at his shuddering victim.
“I..I…don’t have the money.”
“Then you’ll have to work it off.” The elder boys smirked as he looked at Kamenashi, checking him out. “ I think you’ll fetch a good price… some old gay business man might pay well for a night with you.”
“No..Please..” Kamenashi tried to protest but someone in the group gave him a punch in the stomach which made him cringe in pain.
“When I say you’ll work it off… you will.” The elder boy grabbed Kamenashi’s hair and hissed at him.
Kamenashi will always remember those cold brown orbs that stared at him that night. It remained as a nightmarish memory till this day.
“No…please…” Kamenashi mumbled as he woke up, realizing that he had been dreaming of the same scene again and again. About that bully that made his life living hell till his parents decided to move away from Tokyo. Kamenashi shuddered as he thought of the number of clients, old rich dirty men who paid for his body, their filthy hands that grabbed him in all the wrong places. Slowly, he curled up into a ball on his bed and sobbed silently into the night.
The next day, Kamenashi went into the library as usual, settling down at his favourite spot in the library. Suddenly, he froze as he saw Akanishi Jin walk into the library, sitting down at the seat at the table in front of him.
“Calm down. He’s just doing his reading… it’s ok…” Kamenashi reassured himself as he tried to ignore the other, concentrating on the Physics book in front of him.
Somehow, nothing he read seems comprehensible to him that day, Kamenashi gave up after the third page of incomprehensible language. He looked up, only to catch Akanishi Jin staring at him which sent chills down his spine.
“It’s alright…” he mumbled under his breath, “ …he just happened to look this way.” But after a few minutes later, he still felt Akanishi’s gaze on him, he slammed his book shut and quickly made his way out of the library.
“I’ve got to call Pi…” Kamenashi whipped out his phone and wanted to call his best friend when a hand grabbed his wrist from behind. He turned around and was shocked to see Akanishi looking at him.
“L-l-let me go…” Kamenashi stuttered as he clutched his books closer to his chest.
“Why did you leave so suddenly, Kamenashi-san.” Akanishi asked, his eyes reflecting mysterious curiosity.
“I-I…finished my revision.” Kamenashi gave a weak reply, looking away from Akanishi.
“In barely ten minutes? Why?” Akanishi asked again, persistant to get an answer.
“ Why what?” Kamenashi kept his eyes away from meeting Akanishi’s.
“Why are you avoiding me? Do you think I am stupid? The way you avoid answering my questions directly, the way you refuse to comment on my ideas… I can tell.” Akanishi started ranting, raising his voice slightly as he pushed Kamenashi against the wall.
“You’re… thinking too much.” Kamenashi mumbled as he tried to break free from the other’s grip.
“Why can’t we be friends? Why…” Akanishi’s voice started to shake slightly as he loosened his grip. Kamenashi tried to escape immediately, only to find himself flunged against the wall once again, Akanishi’s lips pressed hard on his.
His eyes widen as Akanishi kissed him furiously and hungrily. He was confused and terrified, but he was not going to lose the fight. Gathering all his might, he pushed the other boy away and gave him a slap hard across the cheeks.
“Get away from me.” Kamenashi said. “ Stop haunting me…”
“I love you.” Akanishi said as he rubbed his cheek which was still stinging with pain.
“You… what?” Kamenashi could not believe his ears.
“I love you.” Akanishi repeated, “ I wanted to be with you since I saw you here.”
“I…” and Kamenashi was cut off again by Akanishi forcing another kiss on his lips.
“Stop doing that!” Kamenashi pushed the other away yet again. This time he had tears streaming down his face.
“What’s wrong?” Akanishi asked, this time his voice was gentle and filled with concern.
Kamenashi broke down, telling Akanishi everything about his experience in his previous school, how he was forced into prostitution by a bully.
“… and… he… you…look a lot like him. That’s why I was afraid.” Kamenashi managed to say between sobs. “ I’m sorry, I’m afraid this will not work out.”
With that, Kamenashi wiped his tears as he got up, tidying his ruffled hair as he walked away from Akanishi, his face still flushed from the events earlier.
“Kamenashi,” he heard Akanishi’s voice echo throughout the empty corridor, “ I’ll wait for you. One day, you will accept me.”
Kamenashi looked back at the other boy, who was smiling at him. This time, those brown eyes were no longer like the ones he saw in his nightmares. Those eyes reflected nothing but love and warmth. Looking back at the other boy, Kamenashi smiled weakly and left.
From then on, Kamenashi no longer avoided Akanishi. He suddenly became the demanding perfectionist of a student council president he once was before and concentrated on his duties. Akanishi did not do anything weird after that incident. And even his best friend, Yamashita, did not know what happened but he was just glad that his friend was back.
“Pi-chan! Please shift the banner closer to the left… that’s right. Taguchi! Please get some more balloons for the doorway.” Kamenashi was supervising the decorations for the upcoming school festival.
“Drinks?” Akanishi suddenly appeared next to Kamenashi with a few cans of cold drinks. “ And I know you did not have lunch. Here’s an onigiri; it should be enough till dinner.”
“T-thanks.” Kamenashi stuttered and blushed furiously. Akanishi merely flashed another one of his bright smiles before going around and distributing drinks to the other people. Kamenashi’s eyes remained on Akanishi as he saw the other smiled and handed out drinks to the other students.
“Ah! Danger! Kamenashi-san!” came a voice from above. Before he know it, he was shoved aside as the wooden signs hanging above him crashed onto the floor.
All the students that were present gathered around him and the other student who saved him.
“Are you people alright? Kamenashi-san? Akanishi-san?” the concern school mates asked.
“Akanishi?” Kamenashi suddenly panicked as he looked around him to find Akanishi lying next to him, his legs still pinned onto the ground by the wooden sign. Groaning in pain, Akanishi managed to get up, hissing in pain as he tried to shift his injured leg.
“Are you alright?” Kamenashi rushed to his side, fussing over the other’s wound. “Pi, please go and inform the school nurse.”
“I’m … alright.” Akanishi whispered weakly as he tried to get up but fell back onto the ground.
“ Don’t be stubborn! I’m carrying you to the nurse. And don’t say I am too small to do that.” Kamenashi ignored any protests from Akanishi and carried the other to the nurse’s office.
Luckily got Akanishi, his bones were not broken, but fractured. So he had to be in bed for the next week at least. And during that week, Kamenashi visited the other boy at his home every day, bringing him homework from his classes and updating him about the festival preparations.
“…Pi is really greedy! He almost ate all the food we bought for the stalls to sell!” Kamenashi laughed as he shared with Akanishi what happened that day. The other boy was grateful for the company and laughed along as well.
“Ne…Kamenashi…” Akanishi suddenly switched to a more serious tone, “ Will you accept me now?”
Kamenashi was obviously shocked by the sudden change of topic.
“B-baka… why do you ask this all of a sudden?” Kamenashi stuttered, and cursed inwardly for stuttering because it made him feel stupid.
“Because… if you don’t like me, please stop being so nice to me.” Akanishi replied, his voice getting softer, “ I don’t want to get my hopes high.”
Kamenashi looked at the other boy and suddenly realise that he would hurt the other a lot if he did not respond to his feelings. He then realise that he was not different from the bully that bullied him; but this time he was doing Akanishi emotional harm.
“I-I…” Kamenashi could not find the right words to express what he wants to say. This time, he leaned in and gave Akanishi a peck on the lips which caught Jin by surprise.
“Now… I… you … understand?” Kamenashi mumbled a line of incoherent words.
Akanishi smiled at the blushing boy at his bedside, then he suddenly pouted.
“You call that a kiss? I don’t understand.” He answered, teasing his boyfriend-to-be.
“I…don’t know how to…” Kamenashi looked down on the floor shyly, avoiding Akanishi’s gaze.
“I can teach you…” Akanishi tugged at Kamenashi’s hand, pulling him in for a kiss.
When they pulled apart, Akanishi held Kamenashi’s hand tightly in his, looking into his eyes and made a promise.
“I can’t erase what happened to you in the past. But I’ll be here with you, protecting you till the end of my existence.”
Kamenashi smiled and for the first time, he felt loved.