[FIC] Jerks Can Be Tender Too (1 of 2)
Jerks Can Be Tender Too
Part 1 of 2: Takeoff
Author: leviosa8
Fandom: The Prince of Tennis
Pairing: A x K (pairing 1)
Rating: NC-13 (Not that explicit but not safe for kids either)
Disclaimer: All these characters are the property of Takeshi Konomi. This is a work of fan love for fun, not profit.
Notes: See the introductory post.
Summary: Friday evening. A park. Two boys.
"...And that is why you shouldn’t worry too much about it. I’m sure nobody will be able to take your place. It will be fine."
"Usu."
"We all have something that nobody else has, and we are useful in our own way."
"Usu."
"Besides, Atobe wouldn’t have gone so far to thank you if he didn’t really appreciate you, don’t you think?"
"U... Usu."
"One year is nothing. You’ll be supporting him again in no time. He will survive until then."
"..."
"He’ll manage, Kaba-chan. He’s not a kid."
"...Uh..."
The phone rang in Kabaji’s front pocket, startling them both. Kabaji answered right away.
Loud and clear enough, an unmistakable voice screamed haughtily from the speaker:
"Where on Earth have you wandered off to, Kabaji?! Aaaaan?! I finished my personal training one hour ago and have been waiting for ages in the car!"
"Usu."
"Tell me your whereabouts so that I can check the coordinates by satellite and pick you up."
"Usu." Kabaji smiled, gave a couple of brief and exact directions, and hung up. Then he turned again to the boy sitting on the swing next to him. "When... Atobe-san is... alone... for too long... he gets... very anxious."
"I... see."
"But... please, don’t... tell anyone," he blushed.
"I won’t."
"Kawamura-san, thank you... for listening. And for... the sushi." Kabaji stood up and bowed.
"Ah... Anytime!" he nodded and then smiled. "You cheer up, boy!"
They waved goodbye.
Kawamura was now on his own, sitting on one of the two swings in the lonely park. The one on his right was empty, although it still swung slowly back and forth - the last bit of momentum left by Kabaji’s departure. It was getting so dark that the streetlamps were on and the stars were out.
"People come and people go," he sighed. It didn’t matter if there was no age difference in his case. Tennis was not part of his life anymore, but it still was for all his friends. All but...
"Done with group therapy, Kawamura?"
Akutsu.
He had not heard him approach. Kawamura startled and looked over his shoulder, half turning.
Akutsu was standing behind him in his black, sleeveless undershirt, a cigarette in his mouth, eyes boring into his.
Uneasy as he was, Kawamura would not let him play the intimidation game anymore. Instead, he offered a genuine smile, ignoring his heart’s happy somersaults. He liked it when Akutsu came to him of his own will. It was so rare. And there was always a good reason behind it.
"How long have you been there?"
Akutsu looked sideways and shrugged.
"Followed you from Kawamura Sushi. I was hungry, but lost my appetite when I saw you walking out with Frankenstein. I still hoped you had come to the park to fight. What a disappointment."
Kawamura laughed, in all earnest.
"Then were you afraid we had come all the way here to make out?"
Akutsu glared, eyes huge and menacing. He spat out the cigarette, stepped on it twice, and then walked until he was standing right behind Kawamura’s back, close enough to give off heat and that dangerous vibe that Kawamura associated intrinsically with Jin Akutsu.
Feeling tired, Kawamura turned his head back to the front and exhaled, slowly.
"OK. What’s the matter? I hadn’t seen you since the semi-finals. I told you I’d invite you to sushi to thank you for your support, but you never gave me a call. Why today? Why didn’t you call me beforehand?"
Akutsu grabbed the chains of the swing, pulling hard until it shook.
"Why should I warn you before going? You’re always there. I just thought I’d go when I pleased. It pleased me today. It’s Friday night and I’m bored. What was he doing there? I thought you liked the girly type, but it seems you prefer muscles after all. What was the other boy’s name? Momo-what?"
"Momoshiro? Momo and I trained together for a little while, that’s all. And he likes them younger," he chuckled against his will. "Kaba-chan... Kabaji was just feeling low. His senpais are retiring from the club and will soon graduate, just like me. He feels anxious and lost. Kind of lonely, too."
"If he feels lonely he can look for a Frankenstein girlfriend to keep him company, right? Weren’t you rivals once? Why did he come to you of all people?"
"He said he found a towel with the name of my restaurant near the river and came all the way just to give it back."
"Bullshit," Akutsu laughed. "You should have seen the two of you, sitting here like schoolgirls, talking of life and love."
"We weren’t-"
"The way he talked of that Atobe, the way Atobe keeps him on a short leash, you wouldn’t think he is merely that rich jerk’s expensive pet, would you? He organized a whole fucking party just for him! I still don’t know why I went. Or why I let my mother go... It took me the rest of the night to keep her off Sengoku’s hands and prevent her from inviting him over to keep me company..." He paused; took a deep, annoyed breath; and then continued. "Anyway, what would you know? You are as green as a kindergarten kid, Kawamura. You still believe in butterflies and lollipops and honesty and a life of work, work, work," he shook the swing by the chains with every word, "like the good goody-two-shoes you are."
Kawamura kept himself in place with his feet solid on the ground.
"I’m not that good," he replied gently, staring at them.
Akutsu snorted.
"You are good enough, and you kept your part of the deal with your team until the very end. Aren’t you proud?"
Kawamura felt the mockery in his voice, but he couldn’t forget Akutsu’s presence in his last game. While it had certainly been encouraging to have his friends push him up to his feet again and again, it had not been them but Akutsu who had finally pushed him forward and convinced him not to give up.
"I couldn’t have done it without the help of my friends. That includes you."
"I was only glad to be there to see you fly. That game was really exciting, like watching dirty boxing with special effects. I don’t understand how you have recovered so fast from all those bruises."
"And I don’t understand what’s wrong with you today," Kawamura replied with a grin, looking up and backwards again, as much as his neck allowed. "You are talking a lot." The back of his head finally bumped into the other boy’s stomach, and he kept it there unabashedly, even if his hands were shaking a bit, a few inches below Akutsu’s on the chains.
Akutsu looked down with a frown. Kawamura held his gaze. Akutsu watched him intently, carefully; and at length he spoke.
"I’m hungry. Starving, actually. And I am tired of waiting."
"Do you want to come back with me and have some s-?"
Cigarette breath and a tongue on his lips silenced him. It was one long and thorough lick.
Kawamura went very still.
Until then, Akutsu had only reached out with a bland punch to his face or a soft drink on his head. This was a new and interesting approach...
How was he supposed to respond?
Well, Kawamura had always liked to try different things.
So he licked him too.
Akutsu responded by licking back again with a satisfied smile. Then kissed Kawamura fully in the mouth, holding his face with both hands.
"Not running away, hmmm?" Akutsu paused to breathe out at point-blank distance.
Kawamura smiled and opened his eyes, lazily. He was also trembling slightly, but rather out of excitement. This felt GREAT.
"And where would I go? Tell me."
"I told you already: follow the path you believe in, wherever it takes you," Akutsu smirked, before claiming his lips again, and grabbed Kawamura below the armpits to pull him down to the ground, where they kept kissing upside down.
Kawamura wanted to cough and to laugh and to just breathe, but was so caught up in the moment that he just managed to take Akutsu’s head in his hands to keep him in place and show him how that was the way he wanted things right now. His heart was pounding like a time bomb, deafening and steady, as loud as the voice inside that screamed: Shit, yes.
Soon enough, there was no cigarette flavor left.
Akutsu stood up abruptly, cursed under his breath, and moved around until he was looking at him face to face for the first time that night. Kawamura’s chest was heaving, his eyes were hazy and his mouth was red, swollen and very wet. He wiped it clean with his short sleeve and stared back at Akutsu, who was panting heavily while doing his hair with a comb he seemed to have been keeping somewhere in his back pocket.
Akutsu looked frantically from right to left, then went down on his knees and laid all his weight and length on Kawamura, pressing his hands to his shoulders and kissing him as if there were no tomorrow.
Without a warning, Akutsu slid his hand down to the front of Kawamura’s pants and squeezed hard, which made Kawamura squirm, uneasy. But when Akutsu brought Kawamura’s hand to the bulge in his own pants, Kawamura felt his confidence soar. He groaned loudly, unzipped Akutsu’s jeans and started rubbing him over the fabric of his underpants.
As they synchronized their movements, Kawamura smiled into Akutsu’s amused eyes.
Akutsu extended his free palm over Kawamura’s chest, caressing slowly. Kawamura gasped, drifting away from reality in a bubble of pleasure, his vanishing thoughts connecting with a wet dream he once had about Fuji, back when they started speaking to each other more often and the other boy’s gender confused his hormones.
He still remembered the way Fuji had suddenly opened his eyes in the dream; and how, when he woke up wet the next morning, for a moment he couldn’t remember whether he had really come or just pissed himself in his pan--
Wait a minute.
He was close and he didn’t want to come in his pants! Besides, they were in a public place; someone could walk on them at any moment, or Akutsu could want to go further than what he was will... um... ready to go.
Kawamura turned his head to one side and wiggled out from below the warm body on top. Only half-way, though...
"I don’t want to go there, not here..." He panted.
Akutsu propped himself on one elbow, and looked into space before saying:
"The woman won’t be back until tomorrow afternoon. Come and stay for the night..."
Kawamura immediately realized the implications of agreeing, so he took his time replying.
"I don’t know if I can..." He didn’t know if he should.
"You have the night off. I heard your father when you left." Akutsu glared, and then lowered his head so that he almost breathed into his ear as he whispered: "Don’t give me bullshit, Kawamura. If you don’t want to come, just say so."
The tiny hint of insecurity latent in Akutsu’s words pushed away part of Kawamura’s own doubts, replacing them with a warm and fuzzy feeling. But there was something that was still true:
"I promised to help my father tomorrow with the morning delivery."
MISERY...
"I’ll kick you out before sunrise if you want." Akutsu snorted, and got up. "And no breakfast unless we do some shopping. And we’d better, as that woman has not only run out of milk, but of condoms, too."
That cleared his mind at once.
"Wha-?"
"If you feel insecure about it, I’ll lend you my racket anytime" he laughed, kicking his foot softly. Kawamura kicked him back from the ground, raising himself on two elbows.
"Don’t mock me..."
"I’d rather fuck you," he shrugged.
"A-"
"You can fuck me too, I don’t mind."
"Akutsu..."
"Dammit, just sleep with me. What are you afraid of? It won’t hurt you more than that stupid Kansai baldie, you know? Well, I’m warning you: you might be a masochist, but I’m no sadist. I can be gentle, too. I sometimes play it rough, that’s all." He walked between his legs, forcing them open on the ground.
"I’m actually a sensitive person!" protested Kawamura, bending his knees to trap Akutsu’s legs like a pincer.
"Hell, yeah, that’s why you developed double personality." He bent down, knees clashing.
"I have no-"
"Right. Whatever. Bring both of you if you want. COME ON!" he mimicked him, extending a hand.
Kawamura let himself be pulled up from the ground, trying to remember how old he was the last time he’d been to Akutsu’s, unable to leave a mild panic behind.
And yet, there was no way he was going back to his own place tonight. He couldn’t explain to himself why he felt so willing to go to the lion’s den. Perhaps, he thought, even if he didn’t fully trust Akutsu yet, he had already gained enough confidence in himself.
He phoned his dad and, to his surprise, was released from his early morning duty. He would only need to show up in time for their Saturday family lunch. Akutsu raised his eyebrows when he heard, unbelieving.
"Green light" Kawamura smiled, returning the cell phone to his jeans’ pocket. "Let’s go."
Akutsu turned his face to light a new cigarette and started walking out of the park, leading the way. Kawamura followed him in silence, watching from behind.
He had been thinking about it for a while, particularly after the events of that last game, that maybe Akutsu was more interested in him that he gave him credit for. Or perhaps he only came to him whenever he was bored out of his wits. Whatever it was, he didn’t want to raise his hopes just yet. It was hard when they were disappointed, and he had known disappointment before.
As much as Kawamura liked Fuji, his favorite doubles partner, he had soon realized that Fuji didn’t need him. He knew because he had watched his friend for a long time. He had seen Fuji watch Tezuka, which was not very differently from the way Inui and Echizen and even Momo watched Tezuka. But Inui seemed to prefer to spend his time with Kaidoh; Momo and Echizen had always preferred to be in each other’s company -at least until their wonderboy left again for the States; and Fuji pretended he preferred one-man sports and the one-man way, but he still missed his brother, was cheerfully jealous of the Tachibana siblings, and apparently spent many a night online, chatting with Rokkaku’s Saeki or with Inui over things Kawamura didn’t really want to know but nevertheless was forced to hear sometimes.
After all, Saeki had an extremely sharp eye, and a whole other school team to gossip about.
And Inui watched everybody.
One day, right before the Nationals, that Fuji and Inui had gathered at Kawamura’s room for a game of Monopoly "he used every opportunity to get his friends to play with him), Inui commented offhandedly the way Tezuka watched Oishi whenever he was with Kikumaru. Fuji added that Eiji had noticed "he had a sharp eye too), but that Oishi was oblivious to it. Inui replied that when it came to Tezuka, Oishi was color-blind. Fuji said then that Oishi believed he knew Tezuka better than anybody, but he simply worried about the wrong things, all the time. "That’s just like him, Seigaku’s mother" concluded Inui. They both sounded a bit jealous of their vice-captain, but Kawamura said nothing. He built a house in a cheap area he owned, and passed the dice around.
Even if he had sometimes really felt like Seigaku’s luggage beside them, Kawamura liked his team... well, his former team mates very much, all of them, but particularly the younger ones. Momo and Kaidoh were like his equals already, and also the future of the team. And Echizen was someone he looked up to, in a way.
But among the hatching lot he had a special affection for Kachiro. Sometimes he wished Kachiro had come to the school one year earlier, so that they could maybe have had the chance to play doubles together. He was sure they would have made a good combination, with a little more practice. Now it was up to someone like Arai to try. He had watched them a couple of times and there seemed to be an interesting chemistry between them.
He smiled to himself and kept following Akutsu at a close distance. Kawamura hadn’t forgotten the way he attacked them that day he came to their school looking for a challenge that he would later lose. But Akutsu had changed for the better after his defeat against Echizen. He even went as far as helping the boy overcome a humiliating defeat in return, and Kawamura had long forgiven him.
Maybe it was right for him to watch this person, he thought. Akutsu had no luggage of his own to consider him an extra. He was like some sort of heavy, dangerous luggage himself. But he felt he could handle it. At least, he wanted to try.
Suddenly the other boy stopped, threw away the cigarette butt and turned back to him.
"Why are you walking behind me? You’re not my fucking wife...!" and Kawamura could hear the "yet" floating in the air. He matched his pace, feeling lighter and bolder by the minute.
"Where are you taking me? Your place is that way," he pointed out as they passed the street they should have turned to.
"Lawson. I need to buy some stuff first, remember?"
"Ah. Right..."
"I might also get something to eat now. Karaage, or whatever. Couldn’t care less, as long as it fills me up. You’ve eaten already, right?"
Kawamura nodded in silence, pondering whether he should pay for half of the box, and what the common practice was. He was still a bit green, after all. He could always phone Inui and ask, but that would lead to a series of personal questions that he did not want to answer.
********
At some point when they entered the convenience store, Kawamura thought he had seen someone familiar moving quickly behind a shelf, but he had regarded it as some late-hour mirage, and kept walking towards the magazine rack. He busied himself reading some magazines while Akutsu went about the shelves and the drink coolers, picking things here and there.
Kawamura wished there had been a condom machine outside so that they could have purchased them anonymously. Now Akutsu would have to show them to the cashier and they would get dirty looks on the way out.
A few minutes later, a bag bumped into his back, bringing him out of his fretting （disguised as reading) and Akutsu motioned towards the door with his head.
"What did you buy?" he asked distractedly when they were outside again, looking back to make sure there was nobody there. Perhaps it had been another mirage, but he’d have sworn he’d seen someone watching stealthily through the glass inside the store. Whoever it had been disappeared quickly around the corner.
"Karaage-kun. Spicy barbecue. Want some?" he offered. Kawamura shook his head, still looking behind.
"But what’s there in the bag?"
"Milk for the kid -that’s you- and condoms."
Kawamura turned his whole attention to him for a second.
"So... they sold them to you?"
Akutsu laughed.
"Well, the asshole at the counter didn’t want to. I was this close to breaking his face," he described manually, his eyes bulging mad. "Never mind, I’m just not in the mood to pick a fight tonight, if that makes you feel easier. Good thing he came to his senses and stopped trying to boss me around."
"Good thing indeed..."
"Now, will you stop looking behind us? Or do you also suffer from another type of paranoia you never told me about?"
"I’d swear I just saw someone from the team, but I couldn’t see them well, so I am not sure..."
"That reminds me that I did see some of your loser team mates at BOOK-OFF when I passed by on the way to the park."
"At BOOK-OFF? Who?"
"I don’t know their names or care. They were at the counter, paying for something. That pansy-haired, bad-mouthed, useless pile of shit that I taught a lesson last spring..."
"Arai?"
"...And the mushroom-headed shrimp that accompanied him."
"Kachiro?"
"The four-eyed, psycho nerd was there too."
"Inui?"
"Whatever they were doing there, they looked quite embarrassed. All but the nerd. He gives me the creeps, that one."
Kawamura couldn’t imagine Akutsu getting creeped out by Inui, nor could he imagine a reason for such a colorful trio. But he would have sworn that he had seen Inui just a moment ago. And perhaps even... OK, maybe the presence of Akutsu was enough to force people into hiding. And if Inui was really out there, more data to him. He just lamented he hadn’t shown himself, so he could have asked him about condom-paying manners directly, pretending it was only out of healthy curiosity. He was convinced Inui knew about that because last year he used to follow their senpais as well, under the pretext that sophomores needed to learn from them.
Only Tezuka once had the courage and the heart -or lack thereof, given Inui’s efforts- to tell him that over 90% of his notes were pretty useless data.
********
Kawamura was lying naked on Akutsu’s bed, paralyzed by shock, wanting to move and do something, but afraid to break the moment.
Akutsu was lying naked on top of Kawamura, rubbing his face on Kawamura’s chest, catlike, but with no purring - just a bit of husky, satisfied moaning and a good amount of tenderness, which was absolutely SHOCKING.
They had showered together right after arriving home. Akutsu had insisted by pushing him into the bathroom and ordering him to throw away his prudish manners, wasn’t he the sportsman? Wasn’t he used to bathing with his friends? Ain’t this the best? So they had soaped their bodies together, then mutually; somehow jerked each other off in the process; and finally cleaned up again.
Kawamura knew it had been his fault: seeing Akutsu’s hair down after so long had been too tempting for him not to touch it, to offer to wash it for him, even in spite of the mocking response. And then to kiss him while Akutsu’s eyes were closed and soapy. By that time Akutsu no longer had patience for quiet groping, and the water affair had ended pretty quickly. No bath, either. Just a snack and bed.
And in bed they were.
Kawamura finally relaxed, closing his eyes, and smiled to himself. Akutsu noticed and started caressing Kawamura’s bare pectorals with his palms, apparently studying his every muscle. When he had been at it for longer than five minutes straight, Kawamura decided that either Akutsu was seriously interested in medicine, or he must have some sort of muscle fetish. And given his previous comments on Kawamura’s friends, the latter made a lot of sense.
Akutsu had always respected him for his strength, but he would have never imagined it also turned him on. Perhaps it was the equivalent of how he felt about Akutsu’s threatening aura, which was both a familiar danger and a constant challenge. It had certainly been a challenge to prevent him from applying wax to his hair after the shower, but Akutsu had given up the fight in exchange for Kawamura walking speedily to his bedroom.
Kawamura put his hands in Akutsu’s hair again, still damp and cool on his skin, but soft to the touch. After all these years, he still looked like Satan’s spawn, with an older, more wearied look, but less mushroomy than he remembered. Certainly not like their Kachiro, or Hyoutei’s Hiyoshi. He liked Akutsu’s hair, and he liked Akutsu’s eyes.
It occurred to him that Akutsu was like one of those beasts in that kids’ movie with wizards he had once partially watched on TV while exercising in his room. You had to bow first and then approach him slowly, never losing eye contact, showing him respect but not fear, and wait for his approval before you ever tried to get close to him, lest he rip you apart in one swift move. Kawamura wondered, amused, whether, with enough care, Akutsu would even let him ride--
"Do me," Akutsu said suddenly, raising his head just enough to look him in the eyes. The light in the room was dim but his intentions were clear.
"Do... WHAT!?" he exhaled with difficulty.
Akutsu lifted himself momentarily to reach for Kawamura’s lips and whispered:
"I can’t expect you to be ready for me, now. Or are you? But you can at least try it on me first. Isn’t that fair enough?"
"I-I don’t think I can..."
"Bullshit. You can. I’ll lead. You just stay where you are if you want, but let me..." he paused, seated himself more comfortably on Kawamura’s waist, and shifted lower, to just where it would cause the necessary effect. Kawamura covered his mouth with both hands, stifling a non-Japanese verbal scream. Akutsu moved once, twice, steadily, and breathed again: "Don’t... back... out... just.... NOW!"
Panting, his heart galloping, Kawamura reached for Akutsu’s face with one hand. Akutsu slapped it away and laughed out loud.
"I’m not a girl, boy. But I’ll ride you good. I know you like this, it’s useless to deny it, it’s useless to resist. So are we in sync or do you actually still think what you feel is just an urgent need to pee, you muscled baby?"
Kawamura wanted to reply that Akutsu was already riding him well enough, but his eyes closed on their own accord and his mouth gasped out a weak "Yes".
Akutsu kissed him hard and Kawamura’s fingers buried in his loose hair once again. Akutsu started fondling him and Kawamura’s hands went down to Akutsu’s bare buttocks, caressing in similar patterns while Akutsu did some... things to himself with his free hand, unwrapped the condom and then, unbelievably carefully, put it on Kawamura’s most sensitive piece of skin.
Kawamura couldn’t help marvelling at how Akutsu could be so motivated to multitask like that, so efficiently and without a single complaint, and, most importantly, without resorting to violence of any sort... yet.
Then Akutsu guided Kawamura inside his own body and, after a few overwhelming minutes of both alien and enhanced sensations, Kawamura’s mind ended up going totally and blissfully blank.
********
Kawamura sighed and flipped the scrambled eggs in the pan.
Boy, what a night.
He eyed the sausages sheepishly, trying hard not to remember this morning either, and the way Akutsu’s tongue had so sensually slid up and down his cock, while Akutsu’s eyes observed his every reaction, until his mouth had engulfed him completely and Kawamura would have sworn something was about to explode somewhere inside him, above and below. Whether it finally did in his brain, his heart or his groin, or all at once, he could not yet tell. But... ACK! One of the sausages actually exploded. He had to save the rest!
There. Out of the frying pan. Now he only had to mind the eggs and try not... to be... distracted...
But as he stirred them around again, he remembered Akutsu’s face on his belly, licking and petting and mumbling, or was it just moaning? Who cares! It had felt so good that he still trembled from the memory. From beginning to end it had all been so EXCITING.
Akutsu hadn’t let him sleep at all. He hadn’t given him a break, as if he had expected to make up for lost time in just one night. He had been restless and cuddly, and had sought Kawamura’s attention - constantly. Even as Kawamura was on the verge of dozing off close to dawn, Akutsu had made his final, ultimate move: he had gone for his ass.
Kawamura had suspected it had to happen, that Akutsu wouldn’t let it remain uneven for too long. But he didn’t expect the smooth approach, the patience, and the... skill. Well, there was a lot to say about skill that he could not explain himself, as he really didn’t know, but something that makes you feel good without hurting too much, that must definitely be the product of skill, he thought. Truth be told, he himself was strong enough and fairly resistant to pain. But there had been care too. Akutsu, the fantastic beast, could care enough to be gentle enough.
And then, Kawamura grinned, he was... Akutsu, and of course he could also go wild and silly, and push harder and harder, laughing and staring with feral eyes. Kiss deeply. And pull him up in a weird position to keep going at it as he whispered face to face how "I wish I were far more flexible so I could suck you while I fuck you".
Kawamura chuckled at the memory and almost spilled the miso soup he was now pouring into the bowls.
"What’s so funny?" Akutsu asked from the kitchen table. He pretended to be reading the newspaper, but Kawamura knew he had a comic book inside. Rookies, or something. And that Akutsu’s eyes were every so often straying to Kawamura’s bare torso and back, dressed as he was in only his jeans and Yuki-chan’s kitchen apron. He also knew that saying "You" would be like signing his death warrant, so he just shook his head and kept arranging the food. A peaceful, home-made and filling breakfast was all Kawamura wanted to try him with right now.
But he just couldn’t help himself when he approached the table with an overloaded tray, and observed that:
"That newspaper is last week’s."
"Who the hell cares?" came the smoking reply.
"Here," Kawamura said, placing the plate with the eggs and sausages first, then the tsukemono, the small salad, the soup, the rice and a cup of tea...
"No tea, skip to the coffee. It smells good."
"Just a second..." he obliged. Akutsu put his cigarette out and his reading aside. Then took a chance that Kawamura had finished setting the table and had his hands safely empty, grabbed him by the waist and made him sit on his lap.
"Feed me, Takashi," he ordered with an unreadable expression but mischievous eyes, both hands on Kawamura’s hips, massaging his sides.
"Aren’t we too old to play house?"
"Beats me," Akutsu shrugged. "I’ve never played house."
"I know."
And he also knew how that explained many things.
Kawamura sighed towards the ceiling, holding his laughter more out of respect than anything, and then turned slightly to pick up the fork and the big plate. They’d have to share, because he was hungry as hell, so much as to bargain with the devil himself. He stabbed an exploded sausage and offered it to Akutsu, who immediately opened his mouth for him.
Kawamura thought of kissing him, but he wanted some eggs first, so he helped himself to them. Akutsu shook him, asking for more food, and Kawamura put another sausage in his mouth. He thought of biting the other end before it got all swallowed up, but finally decided that he wanted to play this right.
He was hungry, too! If he started something, he suspected breakfast would be soon forgotten. After all the effort he had put on preparing it, raiding all the cupboards and the fridge until he found all the necessary ingredients, he wanted Akutsu to enjoy the meal. And that thought startled him.
As he finished feeding Akutsu some eggs, and was told "No, no salad yet. I want some soup", he reflected on his future as a sushi chef, how badly he wanted to become good enough to satisfy all the customers with their different tastes; but also how wonderful it would be to cook for one, just one. Like now.
Akutsu finished sipping the soup Kawamura was holding for him as his hands were occupied with Kawamura’s denim-clad buttocks, and said:
"You’re a good wife, you know that?"
"I... I rabu you, you pay my rent-o," he blurted out, remembering some English song the teacher had played in class last term.
"What!?"
Kawamura proceeded to the rice, bowl in hand, one pair of chopsticks for two, and a face that was burning, definitively BURNING. But he didn’t say it aloud because Akutsu had threatened with kicking him out of the window if he used any of his Engrish with him. He’d had a hard time last night, what with getting so excited and out of his mind during sex. Now he was worrying whether or not song lyrics were included in that. He tried to change the topic, only he couldn’t.
"Are you going to be the one to bring the money home, then?"
"So long as you don’t ask me where I got it," Akutsu sneered, accepting some white grains.
"I’d like you to get a decent job, you know. For the good of the kids."
"Screw the kids. The kids will love me anyway. I know how to handle them."
"Taichi-kun doesn’t count."
"Then what does?"
"I don’t want any domestic violence, that’s all." Kawamura put more rice into Akutsu’s mouth to prevent a quick response. "I’ve had enough stress with my mother. You know how scary she is."
Akutsu gulped it down and said:
"Then I guess I’ll have to do the housework myself, because I don’t trust you holding a broom."
Kawamura laughed.
"I hold a sushi knife everyday and I don’t go crazy, Jin." He smiled, finishing the rice himself and putting the bowl behind him.
"Say that again," he heard Akutsu’s hoarse voice and stopped, turning slowly.
"Crazy?"
Akutsu shook him in frustration, and the movement got their groins so close that there was no point in pretending it had all been breakfast and games.
"...Don’t go crazy, Jin," he whispered in his ear, then put both arms around Akutsu’s shoulders, and licked some rice grain and soup bits from the corner of his mouth, before feeding him his own tongue at last.
Akutsu went beyond crazy. He devoured Kawamura’s tongue, continued with his mouth, then moved on to his whole face, his ears and his neck, before taking both the apron and his own shirt off, to squeeze their bodies together until neither of them could breathe anymore.
But it was Kawamura, to his own surprise, who started rocking his hips, hard and fast, with only a fleeting thought of the chair that was supporting them both.
It didn’t matter anyway, because it held out longer than they did.
This time he had not thought about his clothes, though. Panting, he looked at the mess between his legs, greeting him as it slowly spread into a noticeable stain.
Akutsu was only in his boxers, so he couldn’t care less. But those jeans and the T-shirt were the only pieces of clothing Kawamura had brought with him and...
"Shower. Now." Akutsu lifted him up, his upper arms clamped around Kawamura’s thighs, and managed to carry him all the way to the bathroom, burping loudly a couple of times in the process. "It was a good meal, thanks."
"Anytime," he replied, holding fast to his shoulders. "But my jeans... how can I go home like this?"
"Driers were invented for a reason, you idiot."
"...Oh."
"Mind the head."
Kawamura banged it against the doorframe on the way in anyway.
********
He had to be out and on his way home an hour or so ago, and he regretted it. He had promised to be home for lunch, as his mother had reminded him with a text message, telling him also to buy some groceries on the way. When family duty called, he had to respond. He had responded to Akutsu’s every demand until now, too, but Kawamura would have never imagined the black sheep of Yamabuki to be so clingy.
Of course, Akutsu would never openly acknowledge his clinginess.
"What about second breakfast?"*
Kawamura snorted and finished buttoning his jeans.
"What about elevensies? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? H-"
Akutsu switched the TV off with a grunt. They had been cuddling, carefree, in the sofa, watching some epic fantasy DVD ("That woman’s, not mine," Akutsu had assured him disdainfully) while the guilty pants, jeans and sheets dried. It hadn’t escaped his attention how Akutsu had chosen the longest drying program and the longest DVD available but now it was really time to go.
He walked to the door and put on his sneakers without untying the laces. Akutsu watched him in silence, an unlit cigarette in his mouth and what looked like a scowl on his face.
"What about tomorrow?" Kawamura offered first, a hand on the doorknob. Tomorrow was Sunday and Kawamura knew that there wouldn’t be much time during the week afterwards. "I’m off after lunch and have a couple of hours until dinner. We could finish watching the movie."
They needed plenty of time for that, given how it was the Extended Edition. Not that he expected to see much of it, though. Well, depending on Yuki-chan’s plans...
"Good, because that woman told me she was going shopping with some co-workers. I’ll be probably here all day watching the races, so just drop in and out when you want."
Kawamura smiled.
"You could come with me afterwards and I’ll give you the sushi dinner I promised."
"Will your father be there?" he sneered.
For a moment, Kawamura didn’t know how to take that so he went for safe territory:
"...Just leave the sushi to me, keep your hands to yourself in front of my dad, and we’ll all have a nice time. We could even play some Monopoly afterwards."
"That stupid, foreign edition that has ‘Shûsuke’ written on the box?" Akutsu frowned.
"That’s the one," he smiled over his shoulder, and turned to open the door.
A hand prevented it from opening and a second later he felt Akutsu’s body covering his from behind.
"Jin, I have to g-"
Akutsu bit his neck and forced him to turn his head for a kiss.
"I won’t beg, Bakashi, you asshole," he snarled. Then he kissed him again.
Kawamura turned fully around and embraced him tightly, feeling that, what the hell, he could be clingy too. This felt so good.
He waited for Akutsu to step back first
"Go now or your father won’t let you out tomorrow."
Kawamura opened the door into the Saturday morning sunlight and left with a wave of his hand.
********
Kawamura found himself walking quickly without even meaning to. His heart felt as warm as his over-dried jeans and as light as his head.
As he walked by the park on the way to the supermarket, he glanced briefly towards the swings where everything had started last evening. Two familiar figures were sitting on the swings, engaged in conversation, their heads bent down, close together. Right, they must have finished practice already. It was past midday after all. The younger of the two spotted him in the distance and immediately waved. The other was totally caught by surprise so it took him two seconds to stand up and bow stiffly but politely. Kawamura smiled and waved back without stopping. So maybe he had seen them yesterday at Lawson after all...
What a WONDERFUL weekend, he thought. Momo and Eiji were coming on Sunday morning to play videogames in his room but he was already looking forward to the afternoon.
People come and people go, he thought again, but it is GREAT when they stay.
Walking down the street now, he looked up at the blue skies and sang to himself in a low voice:
"It’s a beautiful day, beautiful day, it was then... and it is now... and it’s shining bright..."**
And it was, too.
*From the movie LotR, The Fellowship of the Ring.
** From Kawamura’s album, track 12, Ano basho made (Until that place).
Don't miss the other side of the evening in part 2 of Jerks Can Be Tender Too.
Any thoughts, comments or opinions will be highly appreciated. ♥