Fourth Avenue Café - Chapter 11
Title: Fourth Avenue Café
Pairings: Akame, slight Ryopi
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jin's a successful artist when a fight with his friends forces him to seek stress relief in a little café where he meets what he considers, the strangest people.
Chapter 1// Chapter 2// Chapter 3// Chapter 4// Chapter 5// Chapter 6// Chapter 7// Chapter 8// Chapter 9// Chapter 10
Chapter 11:
Time continued to pass, soon it was February. Ryo and Pi were competing in who could be more scantily dressed in photo shoots for magazines.
And so far, Pi was winning.
Jin had stared wide-eyed when he first saw the Glamour magazine with Ryo half nude in it. But when he saw the AnAn magazine with Pi on the cover, he had to sit down to stop himself from tripping over thin air.
He nearly fainted when he saw its contents.
“What kind of competition is this…?” he asked himself incredulously.
“Akanishi-san? You’re up.”
He nodded to the staff and headed for the set, on the way, he asked someone, “Excuse me…when will this be aired?”
The man looked down at the pieces of paper in his hands, “…February 23rd?”
The singer blinked a couple times, “really? Are you serious? The 23rd? You’re not joking, right? Because if you were, that’d be very cruel of you and it wouldn’t be funny at all.”
-------------------------
Jin stepped up on the stage and talked about his rapidly progressing career for a bit before they began to wander off topic.
“Today’s someone’s birthday,” he blurted out suddenly, “someone very special to me actually.”
The host blinked and looked interested, “Really now?”
“Yea, I hope he has a really happy birthday,” he said with a smile.
“You’re a very good friend Akanishi-kun…I wish my friends would say happy birthday to me on television.” He laughed before continuing, “Whose birthday is it?”
“Someone really special, a close friend of mine that I’ve known since I was little.”
They continued talking about it until another topic was brought up.
“Now in your latest magazine, you were interviewed on the topic of true love for Valentines Day?” He nodded, “would you elaborate on what you meant by ‘I’ll wait if I have to’?”
“Sure,” he looked around, “there’s a special someone out there, someone who can bring out the best and the worst in me. But the problem is, I have no idea where this person is. Actually, I’m rather hoping this special person’s watching this right now because I’m going to say this right now.”
“Oh?”
He paused and blinked at the man, “Is it okay if I say it right now?”
“Of course, you can’t just leave us in suspense like this!”
“Alright, I really hope this person’s watching because I’m not going to repeat this any time soon, especially not on TV,” the singer stared at the camera. “You…wherever you are, no matter how long it takes, I’ll find you. And once I find you, I’m going to hold you and never let go.” He ended it with a wink. Or so he tried. Immediately rubbing his nose in embarrassment, he laughed, “sorry, that was a terrible wink, can I try again please?”
The host laughed, “Go ahead.”
Jin stared at the camera for a moment before giving a quick wink before grinning shyly, “I think that’s the best I can do right now.”
“That was really good! If I was a girl, I would’ve fainted by now if I was the one that received that wink!” the audience laughed, “Anyways, the main reason you’re here today is to announce, yet, another release?”
He nodded excitedly, “that’s right, except this time, I’m releasing an album. It’ll be my first album.”
“You seem a lot less reluctant to speak this time!”
“Yes, I’ve learnt my lesson from last time.” The man laughed again, replaying the clip from November of when he was attacked by Tackey. The singer gave a short laugh at the clip. “And this time, I’ll actually be performing one of the songs for the first time here.”
“Oh really!? Well then, without further ado then, let’s hear it!”
Jin got up and headed over to where the mike was set up, “this is one of the songs of my newest album…it’s called ‘Lovin’U’.”
-------------------------
He ran into the café after he finished filming, Taguchi and Nakamaru stared at him as he flew through the doors, “…are you alright?”
Jin gave a stupid nod, trying to catch his breath, “yea, why wouldn’t I be?”
The waiter shook his head, “nothing, it’s just…never mind, it’s nothing.”
The singer shrugged it off and took a seat and began digging through his bag, “Crap, I didn’t bring a card…” He looked up when a cup of coffee was placed in front of him. The smell that emitted from it was something he’d never smelt before. “What is it?”
“Coffee, for your nerves,” the waiter explained, “this is new. It’s Hawaiian coffee, you can be the first to try it. Ueda brought it back from Hawaii, he just got back yesterday, he’s been there for the last few days.”
“Hawaii…?” He loved Hawaii and whenever he went, he didn’t want to leave, “why would he leave after a few days? I mean he doesn’t have a tight schedule, as far as I’m concerned…most people stay for at least a week if it’s for vacation…”
Maru laughed, “Well it’s Ueda, he goes to Hawaii a lot with his family so it’s nothing new for him. Anyways, I think he’d rather spend his time here now that K…try the coffee.”
His eyes widened as he looked up, “Wait, doesn’t that mean he’s rich? If he goes to Hawaii regularly…”
The elder nodded slowly, “I guess you could say that…”
“If he’s rich, then why’s he working here?”
“You’ll have to find that out for yourself.” Then Nakamaru decided to change the subject, “Try the coffee.”
He did, he stared at the cup in front of him, “this is delicious!”
“Isn’t it?”
“Hey,” he took another gulp of the drink, burning his tongue a little, “does Kame have access to a TV?”
The waiter gave him a strange look, “a TV? Yes? He’s got one in his room…”
“Good. Tell him to watch it on his birthday, because if he doesn’t, I’m going to freak out and run down the street screaming his name.” He looked through his bag again, “oh, I did bring the card, unexpected. Here, can you give this to him? It’s a new song. It’s going to be in my next album. I stole part of his line, you can tell him that, but he’ll probably figure it out when he reads it. It’s call 'Precious One'.”
Suddenly his phone rang, he blinked and picked it up. He was immediately greeted by his friend’s voice, “Jin I’m bored!”
Raising a brow, he asked the other, “Where’s Ryo-chan?”
“He should be back soon, so talk to me until he gets back. Please?”
“Sure…what’s there to say?”
“Nothing I guess, Ryo-chan’s back.”
Jin made an amused face as he listened to the door opening, “Hello, I hate you.”
There was a pause, “Hello, I’m terrified.”
Then a longer pause.
Then…
“Oh my god, Jin! Help! Ryo-chan’s going insane!”
“You stupid soon-to-be porn star! I’m going to kill you!”
“But it’s my job!”
“Too bad I don’t care!”
He frowned and yelled into his phone, “Run Pi run! Just hang on! I’ll be there in a few minutes!”
“Help me! I don’t want to die yet!”
Click.
Jin stared at his phone and downed his cup of coffee, he looked over at the waiter, “I’ll be back tomorrow, or so I’m hoping. I have to go save my best friend from my other best friend now. Actually, if I don’t come back again, you can be the one who gets to report me as dead. Thanks for the coffee, bye!”
-------------------------
To Kame,
I have reason to believe that you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Because for your information,
I’ve already found my precious only one.
Sincerely,
Akanishi Jin
P.S. It’s you.
----------------------------
He ran into his friends’ apartment only to see Pi dodge several pillows, “Pi!”
The younger singer looked over and did a somersault over, “Jin, thank god you’re here!”
Then Ryo stepped out, still looking pissed off as hell, “oh good, another neck to snap.”
Suddenly, he realized that running to his friend’s rescue might not have been the smartest idea in the world, “Ryo-chan…how about we calm down?”
“How about I calm down after I kill the two of you?”
Jin paused before slowly stepping towards the couch, “but you’ll be lonely without us, you know you will!”
The shorter man continued advancing towards them, “Jin…your collarbones are mine.”
After hearing the threat, he didn’t give a second thought before dragging Pi into the washroom with a terrified shriek. He locked the door and gave a sigh of relief. At least his collarbones were safe… “How long do you think he’ll be pissed at us for?”
Pi gave a shrug, “how long do you think can we stay in here before we go hungry?”
“Till tomorrow?”
The other singer frowned at the thought, “that means we’ll be starving to death before Ryo-chan snaps out of his rage.”
“But I have work tomorrow…”
“…maybe we can crawl out the window…”
Jin blinked, “you know…you think like Ryo-chan…equally stupid I mean, or at least you do when you’re trapped in the washroom. We’re on the twenty-first floor, Pi, I don’t think we can get out through the window unless we grow wings or something.”
The other looked over suggestively, “…never know till you try…”
He stared back blankly, “No.”
-------------------------
They lost track of time soon after, “…how long have we been in here?”
He shrugged, “no idea, my phone’s in my bag…”
Pi looked around, “do you think Ryo-chan went to bed yet?”
“I don’t know…”
Suddenly, they heard a scream from outside, “Pi! Get your ass out here! Now! There’s a huge cockroach in the kitchen! Save me!”
The two looked over at each other with identical grins.
“Pi!”
Given a mock exasperated sigh, Pi got up and went outside. Jin soon followed after. The younger singer blinked as he stepped into the strangely quiet hallway, “Ryo-chan…?”
He was suddenly tackled to the ground by a very triumphant looking Ryo, “Gotcha!”
The younger singer protested as he tried to get up rather futilely against the grinning singer, much to his relief, all the anger had vanished from the other’s eyes. He pouted, “You tricked me!”
Ryo shot him a blank look, “Yes, I believe that’s what it’s generally called. Now you’re going to die.”
Yamapi looked over at the gawking singer, standing some distance away, suppressing a small grin, he yelled at the other, “Run Jin! Go to my room and grab my phone and call Koyama! Only member-ai can save us now!”
-------------------------
The next day, after his epic episode with his best friends, he went back to the café just as he said he would (if he didn’t die). Seeing that his schedule was going to be packed again soon, he decided that another sleepless night couldn’t do him anymore harm.
Once again, he was the only on there. He placed an envelope on the counter and went to take a seat; it had turned into a routine now. He looked over at Taguchi and tried to start small talk, “Why’d you open a café? Is it a family business or something?”
“No, this café’s actually here because of Kame,” the bell twinkled and he looked over with a smile, “oh look, here’s the best person to explain it to you.”
Jin followed his gaze to see Ueda walking in, taking no notice of him as he did so. “Taguchi, the car won’t start.”
“I’ll go try to start it, meanwhile, why don’t you tell Akanishi-kun here why we’re all coffee addicts?”
“Huh? Aka…” he looked over at the singer, “oh, didn’t notice you there.”
After last night, he decided that the elder wasn’t that scary after all, at least not compared to Ryo. “You’re all coffee addicts? What?”
Ueda rolled his eyes, “no, Taguchi has a tendency to abuse the use of hyperboles too often for his own good. We like coffee, that’s about it, to say we’re addicted…no, that’s just…no.”
Jin blinked, “he was going to tell me why he opened a café, said something about it being Kame’s fault. It sounds like an interesting story…”
“Not really, it’s just Kame being Kame…”
-------------------------
He was having a terrible day, maybe life just hated him. Or maybe his teacher just hated him. First he was told that he wasn’t participating enough, and then he was completely ignored when he raised his hand.
It was frustrating beyond hell.
So he sat there, brooding in the cafeteria until someone placed a cup in front of him. He blinked and looked up only to see Kame smiling at him. Honestly, he still wasn’t used to the boy, it’d only been a couple weeks, though he had to admit, the smile on the other’s face was rather endearing. He took a sniff of the cup in front of him, “coffee?”
Kame nodded, “it’s something I learned a long time ago. I was having a really bad day one day and Jin,” It was that name again. “Came up to me and gave me his cup of coffee. He said that drinking coffee made him feel better when he was feeling bad so I should try it too. I don’t know if it was because the coffee was really hot or if it actually worked, but my insides were all warm after and I did feel better. So try it.”
Reluctantly, he brought the hot drink up to his lips and took a large gulp. The younger boy had taken the liberty of adding just a little too much cream and sugar for his liking in it. After it went down his throat, he just sat there and blinked, feeling all the caffeine rush through him, “wow, I…probably won’t get any sleep tonight.”
“But did it make you feel better?” Before he could answer, Kame looked over, momentarily distracted when he overheard a couple girls talking a bit too loudly for their own good. He frowned and spoke snarkily to the girls, “you know…” they looked over at him, “if you’re going to talk about someone, why don’t you first of all, talk quieter, second, don’t talk while they’re within listening range, and third, why don’t you just tape your mouths shut? No one’s going to talk about Tat-chan that way while I’m around. You should apologize to him!”
He couldn’t help but gape at the other while the girls muttered quick apologies before running off. “They’re probably really pissed off at you now…”
Kame shrugged, “it’s not like I’d go out with them anyways, not my type,” then he went back to smiling, “so are you feeling better now?”
Trying his best to suppress a smile, he nodded, “yea…actually, I’m feeling a lot better now, thanks.”
-------------------------
“We all went through something like that, so Taguchi figured that if coffee made him feel better, there must be others like that out there. That’s why he opened the café up.”
He couldn’t help but gape a little, “So you’re basically saying that Kame was your surprisingly snarky bodyguard before you became his?”
The waiter raised a brow, “if you really want to put it into such an unnecessarily confusing sentence, then yea, that’s basically it.”
Jin blinked, “is it just me or does everything that relates back to Kame somehow relates back to me?”
“Hm? You noticed that too? I guess you’re not that dumb after all…at times.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?”
Ueda smirked, “Figure it out for yourself.”
“It’ll probably take me years so tell me! Why does it always relate back to me?”
This caused the elder to put on a more serious expression, but then he gave a shrug, “because you’re the person that saved Kame all those years ago.”
-------------------------
To Kame,
It’s almost Valentine’s Day.
These words don’t come easily to me,
And I won’t say them to just anyone,
But if it’s you…
大好きだよ。 I love you. 我爱你。사랑해. Te amo. J’taime. Ti amo. Ich liebe dich. Jeg elsker dig. Mi amas vin. Volim te. Я тебя люблю. Σ'αγαπώ. Ik hou van jou.
Forever yours,
Akanishi Jin
-------------------------
The waiter’s comment lingered in his head as the days passed by, “when did I save him…?” Regardless, he continued doing his everyday activities until he reached home. After a long shower, he was in the kitchen, groping through the dark in hopes of not having to walk back to turn the lights on.
Suddenly, his phone rang, he blinked and fished it out of his pocket.
It was from a public telephone.
Jin immediately picked up, “hello?”
There was silence.
He paused before whispering, “Please don’t hang up…” Slowly, he lowered himself onto the ground and curled his knees up to his chest. “You don’t have to say anything, just please…don’t hang up.”
So he sat there, listening to the comforting silence.
“…Kame? …I want to see you…”
He could’ve sworn he heard a soft sigh before a line cut off.
-------------------------
The days continued to fly by. The days quickly turned into weeks which then turned into months. And soon, it was winter again. Jin gave a shaky sigh as he tried to warm up his hands on the streets. He was on his way home from work after having been dismissed early. They had just informed him of the newest drama he was going to be apart of, he could feel himself get excited over the thought as he continued walking through the crowds.
When he stepped into the café, the bell twinkled.
“Welcome!”
He nodded at the taller man and blinked when he was greeted with a sight he was no longer used to seeing. It was Ueda. Throughout the past months, he had seldomly seen the other, the elder looked over at the newest customer. “Well this is rather unexpected.”
Jin could only nod dumbly as he took a seat
A few minutes later, the waiter arrived with his usual order, “Here…” he seemed to be thinking for a moment before asking, “has your English improved?”
“Huh?” He pursed his lips, wondering whether it was a trick question or not, “Yes, I think it has, to some extent.”
Ueda seemed to take his answer into consideration, finally, he muttered. “I guess that’s better than nothing…don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m doing this to be nice or anything…” The waiter quickly whispered something into the singer’s ear before walking away to serve other customers.
“I don’t get it!’ He let out rather pitifully.
“Go figure it out yourself,” the other retorted without so much as a glance back.
-------------------------
The weeks continued to go by, Jin began filming for his drama and the waiter’s words had been pushed to the back of his mind. Until one day, when one of the actors messed up a stunt and ended up in the hospital and he had decided to go visit him. With a present in on hand, he walked up the entrance and looked up.
Something in his mind clicked, “…no way…”
Shrugging it off as a coincidence, he made his way in.
-------------------------
As he was leaving, the sounds of busy people continued to puncture his ears. Suddenly, the announcements came on,
“Kamenashi Kazuya, please come to the front desk, Kamenashi Kazuya…”
His eyes widened as he looked around only to find that he was standing by the front desk. Feeling nothing less than frantic, he let the panic set in and ran out of the building.
-------------------------
“I think I found him! I think I-don’t give me that look Ryo-chan, I actually found him!”
Ryo averted his stare elsewhere, “so why are we in a flower shop?”
“Because I can’t go in there empty handed! What if he doesn’t remember me!? What if he’s expecting something big!? What if-”
“What if you’re overreacting?”
Pi just smiled and placed a hand on the other’s shoulder, “take it easy on him, Ryo-chan.”
“He dragged us to a flower shop when we were about to go out for coffee…it can't be helped, I’m really not feeling all that kind and forgiving right now…”
Jin ignored the two and walked up to the sales clerk, “uhh…how many roses can I buy with this much,” he emptied his wallet out on the counter, “weird…I could’ve sworn I had more money than that…” he dug through his pockets for change and found none.
“Sir…? This isn’t enough for a single flower.”
The singer’s brows furled as he turned to his best friends, “Pi? Ryo-chan?”
The shorter singer shook his head, “No, no, no, no, no, absolutely not, I only have enough for that coffee I was about to have before you dragged us here! And you still owe me from dinner last time! Ask Pi!”
“Sorry Jin,” the youngest frowned apologetically, “you know I’d buy a hundred roses for you but I left my wallet at home…”
Jin turned back to the shorter singer and pouted, “Ryo-chan…”
“I said no already! Go beg somebody else for cash!”
He ended up paying for Jin’s one rose anyways.
-------------------------
So the next day, he found himself standing at the front desk of the hospital with a single rose and a card in his hands. “Excuse me…” he couldn’t find it in himself to ask confidently since he was feeling everything but that, “can you tell me which room Kamenashi Kazuya is in…?”
The lady behind the counter looked up and studied him for a moment before asking, “And what’s your relation to Kamenashi-san?” She began flipping through her records as she waiter for his answer.
Suddenly, he felt the need to be related directly to the other, “I’m his uncle…? I mean…I’m his…nephe-I mean brother…or something like that…”
The lady must’ve taken pity on his obvious inability to lie on the spot because she not only gave him a room number, but she also gave him directions, and a map of the hospital on which the directions were drawn on it incase he were to get lost. “If you get lost, just ask someone for help.”
He smiled, “thank you!”
And he was off.
-------------------------
It didn’t take him very long to get lost.
After taking a couple risky turns and going down unfamiliar corridors, he somehow managed to end up in front of his destination. He looked down at what he was holding, a rose with a card…for a moment, he had the urge to leave to buy something bigger but decided against it since it was probably by luck that he found the room in the first place. And if he were to try again, he’d probably end up hopelessly lost for days.
Jin chewed on the inside of his cheek as he knocked on the door before sliding it open gently.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside.
-------------------------
The singer was immediately greeted by a familiar voice.
“Tat-chan? You know, you really don’t have to visit me everyday…your parents probably hate me by now-”
The two stared at each other in silence.
He nervously tightened his hold on the rose.
The other in took a shaky breath,
“…Jin…”
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To Kame,
It’s almost been a year now…
I've finally found you.
Still yours,
Akanishi Jin
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A/N: Yay! Update! Happy Valentine's...oh opps, it's past midnight, oh well, Happy Valentine's Day anyways! XD Thank you to everyone who wished me a better week and a happy birthday ^^ This week was indeed, a bit better (no school tomorrow) ;P Anyways, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!
Pairings: Akame, slight Ryopi
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Jin's a successful artist when a fight with his friends forces him to seek stress relief in a little café where he meets what he considers, the strangest people.
Chapter 1// Chapter 2// Chapter 3// Chapter 4// Chapter 5// Chapter 6// Chapter 7// Chapter 8// Chapter 9// Chapter 10
Chapter 11:
Time continued to pass, soon it was February. Ryo and Pi were competing in who could be more scantily dressed in photo shoots for magazines.
And so far, Pi was winning.
Jin had stared wide-eyed when he first saw the Glamour magazine with Ryo half nude in it. But when he saw the AnAn magazine with Pi on the cover, he had to sit down to stop himself from tripping over thin air.
He nearly fainted when he saw its contents.
“What kind of competition is this…?” he asked himself incredulously.
“Akanishi-san? You’re up.”
He nodded to the staff and headed for the set, on the way, he asked someone, “Excuse me…when will this be aired?”
The man looked down at the pieces of paper in his hands, “…February 23rd?”
The singer blinked a couple times, “really? Are you serious? The 23rd? You’re not joking, right? Because if you were, that’d be very cruel of you and it wouldn’t be funny at all.”
-------------------------
Jin stepped up on the stage and talked about his rapidly progressing career for a bit before they began to wander off topic.
“Today’s someone’s birthday,” he blurted out suddenly, “someone very special to me actually.”
The host blinked and looked interested, “Really now?”
“Yea, I hope he has a really happy birthday,” he said with a smile.
“You’re a very good friend Akanishi-kun…I wish my friends would say happy birthday to me on television.” He laughed before continuing, “Whose birthday is it?”
“Someone really special, a close friend of mine that I’ve known since I was little.”
They continued talking about it until another topic was brought up.
“Now in your latest magazine, you were interviewed on the topic of true love for Valentines Day?” He nodded, “would you elaborate on what you meant by ‘I’ll wait if I have to’?”
“Sure,” he looked around, “there’s a special someone out there, someone who can bring out the best and the worst in me. But the problem is, I have no idea where this person is. Actually, I’m rather hoping this special person’s watching this right now because I’m going to say this right now.”
“Oh?”
He paused and blinked at the man, “Is it okay if I say it right now?”
“Of course, you can’t just leave us in suspense like this!”
“Alright, I really hope this person’s watching because I’m not going to repeat this any time soon, especially not on TV,” the singer stared at the camera. “You…wherever you are, no matter how long it takes, I’ll find you. And once I find you, I’m going to hold you and never let go.” He ended it with a wink. Or so he tried. Immediately rubbing his nose in embarrassment, he laughed, “sorry, that was a terrible wink, can I try again please?”
The host laughed, “Go ahead.”
Jin stared at the camera for a moment before giving a quick wink before grinning shyly, “I think that’s the best I can do right now.”
“That was really good! If I was a girl, I would’ve fainted by now if I was the one that received that wink!” the audience laughed, “Anyways, the main reason you’re here today is to announce, yet, another release?”
He nodded excitedly, “that’s right, except this time, I’m releasing an album. It’ll be my first album.”
“You seem a lot less reluctant to speak this time!”
“Yes, I’ve learnt my lesson from last time.” The man laughed again, replaying the clip from November of when he was attacked by Tackey. The singer gave a short laugh at the clip. “And this time, I’ll actually be performing one of the songs for the first time here.”
“Oh really!? Well then, without further ado then, let’s hear it!”
Jin got up and headed over to where the mike was set up, “this is one of the songs of my newest album…it’s called ‘Lovin’U’.”
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He ran into the café after he finished filming, Taguchi and Nakamaru stared at him as he flew through the doors, “…are you alright?”
Jin gave a stupid nod, trying to catch his breath, “yea, why wouldn’t I be?”
The waiter shook his head, “nothing, it’s just…never mind, it’s nothing.”
The singer shrugged it off and took a seat and began digging through his bag, “Crap, I didn’t bring a card…” He looked up when a cup of coffee was placed in front of him. The smell that emitted from it was something he’d never smelt before. “What is it?”
“Coffee, for your nerves,” the waiter explained, “this is new. It’s Hawaiian coffee, you can be the first to try it. Ueda brought it back from Hawaii, he just got back yesterday, he’s been there for the last few days.”
“Hawaii…?” He loved Hawaii and whenever he went, he didn’t want to leave, “why would he leave after a few days? I mean he doesn’t have a tight schedule, as far as I’m concerned…most people stay for at least a week if it’s for vacation…”
Maru laughed, “Well it’s Ueda, he goes to Hawaii a lot with his family so it’s nothing new for him. Anyways, I think he’d rather spend his time here now that K…try the coffee.”
His eyes widened as he looked up, “Wait, doesn’t that mean he’s rich? If he goes to Hawaii regularly…”
The elder nodded slowly, “I guess you could say that…”
“If he’s rich, then why’s he working here?”
“You’ll have to find that out for yourself.” Then Nakamaru decided to change the subject, “Try the coffee.”
He did, he stared at the cup in front of him, “this is delicious!”
“Isn’t it?”
“Hey,” he took another gulp of the drink, burning his tongue a little, “does Kame have access to a TV?”
The waiter gave him a strange look, “a TV? Yes? He’s got one in his room…”
“Good. Tell him to watch it on his birthday, because if he doesn’t, I’m going to freak out and run down the street screaming his name.” He looked through his bag again, “oh, I did bring the card, unexpected. Here, can you give this to him? It’s a new song. It’s going to be in my next album. I stole part of his line, you can tell him that, but he’ll probably figure it out when he reads it. It’s call 'Precious One'.”
Suddenly his phone rang, he blinked and picked it up. He was immediately greeted by his friend’s voice, “Jin I’m bored!”
Raising a brow, he asked the other, “Where’s Ryo-chan?”
“He should be back soon, so talk to me until he gets back. Please?”
“Sure…what’s there to say?”
“Nothing I guess, Ryo-chan’s back.”
Jin made an amused face as he listened to the door opening, “Hello, I hate you.”
There was a pause, “Hello, I’m terrified.”
Then a longer pause.
Then…
“Oh my god, Jin! Help! Ryo-chan’s going insane!”
“You stupid soon-to-be porn star! I’m going to kill you!”
“But it’s my job!”
“Too bad I don’t care!”
He frowned and yelled into his phone, “Run Pi run! Just hang on! I’ll be there in a few minutes!”
“Help me! I don’t want to die yet!”
Click.
Jin stared at his phone and downed his cup of coffee, he looked over at the waiter, “I’ll be back tomorrow, or so I’m hoping. I have to go save my best friend from my other best friend now. Actually, if I don’t come back again, you can be the one who gets to report me as dead. Thanks for the coffee, bye!”
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To Kame,
I have reason to believe that you have no idea what you’re talking about.
Because for your information,
I’ve already found my precious only one.
Sincerely,
Akanishi Jin
P.S. It’s you.
----------------------------
He ran into his friends’ apartment only to see Pi dodge several pillows, “Pi!”
The younger singer looked over and did a somersault over, “Jin, thank god you’re here!”
Then Ryo stepped out, still looking pissed off as hell, “oh good, another neck to snap.”
Suddenly, he realized that running to his friend’s rescue might not have been the smartest idea in the world, “Ryo-chan…how about we calm down?”
“How about I calm down after I kill the two of you?”
Jin paused before slowly stepping towards the couch, “but you’ll be lonely without us, you know you will!”
The shorter man continued advancing towards them, “Jin…your collarbones are mine.”
After hearing the threat, he didn’t give a second thought before dragging Pi into the washroom with a terrified shriek. He locked the door and gave a sigh of relief. At least his collarbones were safe… “How long do you think he’ll be pissed at us for?”
Pi gave a shrug, “how long do you think can we stay in here before we go hungry?”
“Till tomorrow?”
The other singer frowned at the thought, “that means we’ll be starving to death before Ryo-chan snaps out of his rage.”
“But I have work tomorrow…”
“…maybe we can crawl out the window…”
Jin blinked, “you know…you think like Ryo-chan…equally stupid I mean, or at least you do when you’re trapped in the washroom. We’re on the twenty-first floor, Pi, I don’t think we can get out through the window unless we grow wings or something.”
The other looked over suggestively, “…never know till you try…”
He stared back blankly, “No.”
-------------------------
They lost track of time soon after, “…how long have we been in here?”
He shrugged, “no idea, my phone’s in my bag…”
Pi looked around, “do you think Ryo-chan went to bed yet?”
“I don’t know…”
Suddenly, they heard a scream from outside, “Pi! Get your ass out here! Now! There’s a huge cockroach in the kitchen! Save me!”
The two looked over at each other with identical grins.
“Pi!”
Given a mock exasperated sigh, Pi got up and went outside. Jin soon followed after. The younger singer blinked as he stepped into the strangely quiet hallway, “Ryo-chan…?”
He was suddenly tackled to the ground by a very triumphant looking Ryo, “Gotcha!”
The younger singer protested as he tried to get up rather futilely against the grinning singer, much to his relief, all the anger had vanished from the other’s eyes. He pouted, “You tricked me!”
Ryo shot him a blank look, “Yes, I believe that’s what it’s generally called. Now you’re going to die.”
Yamapi looked over at the gawking singer, standing some distance away, suppressing a small grin, he yelled at the other, “Run Jin! Go to my room and grab my phone and call Koyama! Only member-ai can save us now!”
-------------------------
The next day, after his epic episode with his best friends, he went back to the café just as he said he would (if he didn’t die). Seeing that his schedule was going to be packed again soon, he decided that another sleepless night couldn’t do him anymore harm.
Once again, he was the only on there. He placed an envelope on the counter and went to take a seat; it had turned into a routine now. He looked over at Taguchi and tried to start small talk, “Why’d you open a café? Is it a family business or something?”
“No, this café’s actually here because of Kame,” the bell twinkled and he looked over with a smile, “oh look, here’s the best person to explain it to you.”
Jin followed his gaze to see Ueda walking in, taking no notice of him as he did so. “Taguchi, the car won’t start.”
“I’ll go try to start it, meanwhile, why don’t you tell Akanishi-kun here why we’re all coffee addicts?”
“Huh? Aka…” he looked over at the singer, “oh, didn’t notice you there.”
After last night, he decided that the elder wasn’t that scary after all, at least not compared to Ryo. “You’re all coffee addicts? What?”
Ueda rolled his eyes, “no, Taguchi has a tendency to abuse the use of hyperboles too often for his own good. We like coffee, that’s about it, to say we’re addicted…no, that’s just…no.”
Jin blinked, “he was going to tell me why he opened a café, said something about it being Kame’s fault. It sounds like an interesting story…”
“Not really, it’s just Kame being Kame…”
-------------------------
He was having a terrible day, maybe life just hated him. Or maybe his teacher just hated him. First he was told that he wasn’t participating enough, and then he was completely ignored when he raised his hand.
It was frustrating beyond hell.
So he sat there, brooding in the cafeteria until someone placed a cup in front of him. He blinked and looked up only to see Kame smiling at him. Honestly, he still wasn’t used to the boy, it’d only been a couple weeks, though he had to admit, the smile on the other’s face was rather endearing. He took a sniff of the cup in front of him, “coffee?”
Kame nodded, “it’s something I learned a long time ago. I was having a really bad day one day and Jin,” It was that name again. “Came up to me and gave me his cup of coffee. He said that drinking coffee made him feel better when he was feeling bad so I should try it too. I don’t know if it was because the coffee was really hot or if it actually worked, but my insides were all warm after and I did feel better. So try it.”
Reluctantly, he brought the hot drink up to his lips and took a large gulp. The younger boy had taken the liberty of adding just a little too much cream and sugar for his liking in it. After it went down his throat, he just sat there and blinked, feeling all the caffeine rush through him, “wow, I…probably won’t get any sleep tonight.”
“But did it make you feel better?” Before he could answer, Kame looked over, momentarily distracted when he overheard a couple girls talking a bit too loudly for their own good. He frowned and spoke snarkily to the girls, “you know…” they looked over at him, “if you’re going to talk about someone, why don’t you first of all, talk quieter, second, don’t talk while they’re within listening range, and third, why don’t you just tape your mouths shut? No one’s going to talk about Tat-chan that way while I’m around. You should apologize to him!”
He couldn’t help but gape at the other while the girls muttered quick apologies before running off. “They’re probably really pissed off at you now…”
Kame shrugged, “it’s not like I’d go out with them anyways, not my type,” then he went back to smiling, “so are you feeling better now?”
Trying his best to suppress a smile, he nodded, “yea…actually, I’m feeling a lot better now, thanks.”
-------------------------
“We all went through something like that, so Taguchi figured that if coffee made him feel better, there must be others like that out there. That’s why he opened the café up.”
He couldn’t help but gape a little, “So you’re basically saying that Kame was your surprisingly snarky bodyguard before you became his?”
The waiter raised a brow, “if you really want to put it into such an unnecessarily confusing sentence, then yea, that’s basically it.”
Jin blinked, “is it just me or does everything that relates back to Kame somehow relates back to me?”
“Hm? You noticed that too? I guess you’re not that dumb after all…at times.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean!?”
Ueda smirked, “Figure it out for yourself.”
“It’ll probably take me years so tell me! Why does it always relate back to me?”
This caused the elder to put on a more serious expression, but then he gave a shrug, “because you’re the person that saved Kame all those years ago.”
-------------------------
To Kame,
It’s almost Valentine’s Day.
These words don’t come easily to me,
And I won’t say them to just anyone,
But if it’s you…
大好きだよ。 I love you. 我爱你。사랑해. Te amo. J’taime. Ti amo. Ich liebe dich. Jeg elsker dig. Mi amas vin. Volim te. Я тебя люблю. Σ'αγαπώ. Ik hou van jou.
Forever yours,
Akanishi Jin
-------------------------
The waiter’s comment lingered in his head as the days passed by, “when did I save him…?” Regardless, he continued doing his everyday activities until he reached home. After a long shower, he was in the kitchen, groping through the dark in hopes of not having to walk back to turn the lights on.
Suddenly, his phone rang, he blinked and fished it out of his pocket.
It was from a public telephone.
Jin immediately picked up, “hello?”
There was silence.
He paused before whispering, “Please don’t hang up…” Slowly, he lowered himself onto the ground and curled his knees up to his chest. “You don’t have to say anything, just please…don’t hang up.”
So he sat there, listening to the comforting silence.
“…Kame? …I want to see you…”
He could’ve sworn he heard a soft sigh before a line cut off.
-------------------------
The days continued to fly by. The days quickly turned into weeks which then turned into months. And soon, it was winter again. Jin gave a shaky sigh as he tried to warm up his hands on the streets. He was on his way home from work after having been dismissed early. They had just informed him of the newest drama he was going to be apart of, he could feel himself get excited over the thought as he continued walking through the crowds.
When he stepped into the café, the bell twinkled.
“Welcome!”
He nodded at the taller man and blinked when he was greeted with a sight he was no longer used to seeing. It was Ueda. Throughout the past months, he had seldomly seen the other, the elder looked over at the newest customer. “Well this is rather unexpected.”
Jin could only nod dumbly as he took a seat
A few minutes later, the waiter arrived with his usual order, “Here…” he seemed to be thinking for a moment before asking, “has your English improved?”
“Huh?” He pursed his lips, wondering whether it was a trick question or not, “Yes, I think it has, to some extent.”
Ueda seemed to take his answer into consideration, finally, he muttered. “I guess that’s better than nothing…don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m doing this to be nice or anything…” The waiter quickly whispered something into the singer’s ear before walking away to serve other customers.
“I don’t get it!’ He let out rather pitifully.
“Go figure it out yourself,” the other retorted without so much as a glance back.
-------------------------
The weeks continued to go by, Jin began filming for his drama and the waiter’s words had been pushed to the back of his mind. Until one day, when one of the actors messed up a stunt and ended up in the hospital and he had decided to go visit him. With a present in on hand, he walked up the entrance and looked up.
Something in his mind clicked, “…no way…”
Shrugging it off as a coincidence, he made his way in.
-------------------------
As he was leaving, the sounds of busy people continued to puncture his ears. Suddenly, the announcements came on,
“Kamenashi Kazuya, please come to the front desk, Kamenashi Kazuya…”
His eyes widened as he looked around only to find that he was standing by the front desk. Feeling nothing less than frantic, he let the panic set in and ran out of the building.
-------------------------
“I think I found him! I think I-don’t give me that look Ryo-chan, I actually found him!”
Ryo averted his stare elsewhere, “so why are we in a flower shop?”
“Because I can’t go in there empty handed! What if he doesn’t remember me!? What if he’s expecting something big!? What if-”
“What if you’re overreacting?”
Pi just smiled and placed a hand on the other’s shoulder, “take it easy on him, Ryo-chan.”
“He dragged us to a flower shop when we were about to go out for coffee…it can't be helped, I’m really not feeling all that kind and forgiving right now…”
Jin ignored the two and walked up to the sales clerk, “uhh…how many roses can I buy with this much,” he emptied his wallet out on the counter, “weird…I could’ve sworn I had more money than that…” he dug through his pockets for change and found none.
“Sir…? This isn’t enough for a single flower.”
The singer’s brows furled as he turned to his best friends, “Pi? Ryo-chan?”
The shorter singer shook his head, “No, no, no, no, no, absolutely not, I only have enough for that coffee I was about to have before you dragged us here! And you still owe me from dinner last time! Ask Pi!”
“Sorry Jin,” the youngest frowned apologetically, “you know I’d buy a hundred roses for you but I left my wallet at home…”
Jin turned back to the shorter singer and pouted, “Ryo-chan…”
“I said no already! Go beg somebody else for cash!”
He ended up paying for Jin’s one rose anyways.
-------------------------
So the next day, he found himself standing at the front desk of the hospital with a single rose and a card in his hands. “Excuse me…” he couldn’t find it in himself to ask confidently since he was feeling everything but that, “can you tell me which room Kamenashi Kazuya is in…?”
The lady behind the counter looked up and studied him for a moment before asking, “And what’s your relation to Kamenashi-san?” She began flipping through her records as she waiter for his answer.
Suddenly, he felt the need to be related directly to the other, “I’m his uncle…? I mean…I’m his…nephe-I mean brother…or something like that…”
The lady must’ve taken pity on his obvious inability to lie on the spot because she not only gave him a room number, but she also gave him directions, and a map of the hospital on which the directions were drawn on it incase he were to get lost. “If you get lost, just ask someone for help.”
He smiled, “thank you!”
And he was off.
-------------------------
It didn’t take him very long to get lost.
After taking a couple risky turns and going down unfamiliar corridors, he somehow managed to end up in front of his destination. He looked down at what he was holding, a rose with a card…for a moment, he had the urge to leave to buy something bigger but decided against it since it was probably by luck that he found the room in the first place. And if he were to try again, he’d probably end up hopelessly lost for days.
Jin chewed on the inside of his cheek as he knocked on the door before sliding it open gently.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside.
-------------------------
The singer was immediately greeted by a familiar voice.
“Tat-chan? You know, you really don’t have to visit me everyday…your parents probably hate me by now-”
The two stared at each other in silence.
He nervously tightened his hold on the rose.
The other in took a shaky breath,
“…Jin…”
-------------------------
To Kame,
It’s almost been a year now…
I've finally found you.
Still yours,
Akanishi Jin
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A/N: Yay! Update! Happy Valentine's...oh opps, it's past midnight, oh well, Happy Valentine's Day anyways! XD Thank you to everyone who wished me a better week and a happy birthday ^^ This week was indeed, a bit better (no school tomorrow) ;P Anyways, I'll shut up now. Enjoy!