[fic] The Things We Can't Control - Chapter 77 ~A Tense Meeting~
Title: The Things We Can't Control
Author:
prettyorianna
Pairing: Akame. Others to be added later.
Rating: NC-17.
Genre: crime drama au
Beta by: my cat Gemma. and maeda_marika
Disclaimer: I don't own KAT-TUN, any of its members, any other JE people. I write this for fun and for other fans of these fine folks. But don't steal my plots, mmkay? I put a great deal of time into them except for when I'm randomly spastically spitting words onto a page. But I value those too...
Summary: Two criminals with vastly different styles meet by chance one day. They immediately clash but is that all they'll ever be? How much is fate and how much choice? And how will their meeting change the world around them?
Author's Note: Hmmm.... Kizuna meeting.
BANNER BY DESHISORABA!! THE MOST AWESOME BANNER EVER AND I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WHO DISAGREES!
Warning: This gets graphic often occasionally, containing at the very least foul language, character death, nefarious crimes, rape, etc etc.
The Master Posts:
On my journal - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the akame_ Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the akame_fanfics Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the je_kamenashi Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the kattun_fanfics Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the jin_fics Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
Chapter 77 ~A Tense Meeting~
Someone (probably Koki) had the good sense to send for the rest of Kizuna, pulling everyone home from the strolls for the meeting. It took ten minutes nearly to quiet down the group since it seemed most of them wanted to talk about Kame and Jin’s new relationship and the noise that came from the office earlier that evening. It took a lot of blushing, even more shouting on Jin’s part, and Kame’s final, “We might be in danger!” to shut them up. Kame hated snapping at them like that but, well, this was important.
“Danger?” from Okura. There were several other concerned murmurs from the group.
Ah, good. He had their attention.
“Earlier today, I got a call from Massu. Some of you may know that he, Koyama, and Shige left on a job. According to Massu, it went fairly smoothly but on the way back, they were ambushed and shot at. They took out their attacker only to find that firstly he was a cop and secondly that he had a picture of Massu on him. Before they could do anything else, though, someone they could only assume was the cop’s partner fired at them, hitting Koyama. They-”
“Wait, what about Koyama? Is he alright?” Yuya interrupted fearfully.
“He’s fine for now. Through and through, in the arm. He’s in pain though.” Kame sighed. “They don’t want to lead assassins to our door so they’re going to lay low for a while. Massu promised to call back in the morning. And that’s not all.” Looking to where Junno and Tatsuya sat on the steps, Junno behind Tatsuya with his arms firmly around his lover. God, Tatsuya still looked so shaken. The full reality of having been shot at was finally catching up with him, Kame supposed.
“Junno, Tatsuya… do you mind repeating what you told me and Jin?”
Tatsuya tried to speak but he couldn’t get the words out it seemed, so Junno hugged him even tighter and told the story of going home to find his house invaded and being shot at. A lot of Kizuna looked scared by the end of the story, between that and what Kame had already told them about Massu, Koyama, and Shige.
And then Kame told them the worst part of it all. “Adding these two things to the sudden steady trickle of drug dealers moving in, the information Takeshi and Shuta helped get from one of them… not to mention Junno’s robbery and similar crimes striking the other gangs… Well, it seems most likely that Papa K is behind all of this.”
“Oh, I know he is.”
Everyone, Kame included, was now facing Tatsuya and Junno for it was Tatsuya who spoke. “What do you mean?” Kame asked over the murmurs of the group.
“I… I overheard…” but Tatsuya was looking around nervously as he spoke. “Well, I didn’t put it together at first, that he said Kizuna and this is Kizuna. I mean, I would have… said something. I would have… But… well, after Koki died… oh, well, not died. Rescued. By you. Well, anyway, Papa K was incredibly pissed, even more violent than usual, and yet… he seemed thrilled about something as well. It was a while later but he said he would ‘make them pay’ and something about making sure that Kizuna wouldn’t be able to turn to the other gangs for help. He didn’t say how but I do know that only half as many of his hidden enforcers were working the stroll to keep us and the customers in line. He must have sent them off to do something else, I guess. But before I could hear anymore, Papa K noticed me listening and… he… he beat me pretty bad. I couldn’t work for three days which only made him madder. That’s when he rented me out to those… people with the…” Tatsuya closed his eyes as he stopped speaking suddenly, pressing his back more firmly against Junno’s chest and self-consciously rubbing one of his wrists where the marks from the rope could still be seen. “Right before Jin found me…”
Koki looked a little green around the edges, like he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t be sick.
Actually, Kame wasn’t sure he wouldn’t be sick himself. Why did his father have to hurt so many people? And for what? Greed? A sadistic need to inflict as much pain and twisted control as possible over as many people as he could?
Tatsuya finally continued with, “I don’t know why he hates Kizuna so much. I mean, he was probably pissed about Koki but it seemed to me more like he hated them… er, you… but didn’t have enough information to know who to direct that hate at until Koki vanished and he heard that Kizuna had done the rescue. If that makes sense. I’m not sure I’m explaining that right. Maybe… maybe just the mission, what you do? He’s not big on helping people and Kizuna is the only gang that really does that…”
There was a moment where Kame nearly blurted out his secret, that he was Papa K’s son but his fear swallowed his voice and the words wouldn’t come. But he was finally able to say, “Papa K has hated me for a long time. Maybe it’s my fault.” Read: it’s definitely his fault. “If… if I turn the gang over to someone else and… leave…” and he was choking on the words, but he was determined to get them out. “Maybe he will leave Kizuna alone. If it will keep you all safe, I… that’s my greatest care… whatever it takes…”
Jin reached out and gently wiped a tear off Kame’s cheek even though Kame hadn’t realized he was crying in the first place. Kizuna was in an uproar over Kame’s words, though, each and every one of them simultaneously explaining in different words how he had to stay and that they needed him and that he absolutely could not convince them otherwise. A great feeling of love swelled within him at the overwhelming response from his family.
“Okay, okay. It was just a thought. Well, I don’t know what else to do. I guess… we could double enforcer presence at the strolls while any of you are working. And… no new customers. Repeat business only. And… better make sure the enforcers are armed and armed well. And anyone who goes on any sort of job, too. Papa K’s reach is long and he’s already shown he’s willing to kill us.”
“And if any of you feel uncomfortable at the thought of working because of everything that’s happening, I’d rather you just stayed here instead of forcing yourself. I’ll make sure you’re all taken care of if it kills me…” Another sigh. “Koki, I need you to talk to the street kids. Make sure they know to stay in or around the church, no matter what, and to come to you or me if they see strange people poking around. But don’t scare them unnecessarily, ne?”
Koki nodded but said nothing.
“And one last thing. If any of you hear anything, no matter how small, let me know. And let each other know. We have to watch out for each other now more than ever before. Please, take care of each other. Keep each other safe. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost any of you.”
There was a pause where the whole sanctuary went quiet but Kame finally added, “I guess that’s all for now. It’s getting late. Get some sleep, everyone.”
Just like that, the meeting ended. Everyone was now so tense, enough so that it even outshone their desire to tease him and Jin about the noises coming from the office. Kame would give almost anything for a bit of teasing to be the most difficult thing they were facing. Tatsuya’s words had chilled the blood in his veins, leaving him both somewhat numb and scared.
He just couldn’t get past the thought that if he gave himself back to his father, Kizuna would be safe even though he definitely wouldn’t be…
+++
Besides him and Kame, everyone else had gone from the sanctuary except for Junno and Tatsuya who were the first people to take sleeping spots where the pews had been removed. But Junno and Tatsuya weren’t paying them much mind as they were off to the back of the sanctuary and had eyes and ears only for each other.
Something was dreadfully wrong with Kame, though. He was just leaning back against the pulpit, staring across the room at nothing in particular. He… he was shaking! Not badly but still enough for Jin to notice. “Kazu-love? You’re… are you okay?”
But it seemed like Kame wasn’t hearing him at all.
So Jin did the only thing he could think of.
He quickly scooped Kame up into his arms. Kame yelped in protest but didn’t try to get free or even ask Jin to set him back down. Instead he let Jin carry him all the way back to the office - a sure sign he was even more distressed over everything than he was admitting.
When Jin carefully sat him down on the sleeping mat, Kame gave a half-hearted smile and only then protested, “I could have walked.”
“You also could have dedicated the next twenty years of your life building a transporter and a time machine, brought the transporter back through time to five minutes ago, and teleported in here. But just because you can do it doesn’t make it the better way.”
Now Kame was staring at him like he’d said something odd. “Um… where the hell did that come from?”
“I dunno. Somewhere. Maybe it teleported,” Jin shot back, a bit defensive. “Does it matter? You know what point I was trying to make anyway!”
Kame opened his mouth to keep arguing but he closed it and his eyes again before any words came out. “Let’s just get some sleep, okay? It’s already one in the morning almost.” He leaned back, stretching out on the mat.
“Sure, Kazuya…” Jin crawled onto the sleep mat as well and pulled Kame into his embrace, Kame’s back to his front, breathing in that faint jasmine smell.
+++
Even feeling Jin at his back, Jin’s breath tickling the nape of his neck, Kame couldn’t sleep. He just couldn’t shake the thought that maybe Kizuna would be better off, safer, if he went back to his father. But just the thought of seeing his papa again set Kame to shaking again despite having Jin’s arms around him. The thought that he couldn’t face that fear even to save Kizuna didn’t help; Kame found himself crying inaudibly in addition to the shaking.
Jin’s voice in his ear, so soothing, “Shh… shh… You’re just tired. Shhh…” and Jin pressed a gentle kiss on Kame’s neck as he tightened his hold. “Things won’t feel so bad in the morning, ne? Shh…”
And with that soft, caring voice washing over him, Kame found the fear melt a bit around the edges into something much more manageable. He pushed it all back down, swallowed the fear. He knew it wouldn’t stay away and that he wasn’t really solving anything or even properly facing it, but he was in Jin’s arms and he didn’t want to let his father taint any part of that.
He’d worry about whether to hand himself over in the morning, once he was rested and could think clearly.
Kame just wished… he could talk to someone about it. But they wouldn’t understand. Not even Jin.
He was sure of it.
But Jin’s arms around him were warm and Kame finally did drift off to sleep.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
The story continues:
Chapter 78 ~Akira Gone~
A/N: Well, Kame's cracking a bit under the stress. I can't believe he's actually considering turning himself over to Papa K! But Jin won't let him. Kame's just tired and stressed and it's affecting his judgment. Hopefully, he'll be fine the next day.