fic: The Ghost Whisperer (1/2)
The Ghost Whisperer
The night they meet is filled with loud laughter, yelling, singing and the intimidating smell of cigarettes and alcohol. Kame’s lips are chapped and he walks down the stairs from upstairs with a bottle of beer in his hands, eyeing the room silently with a grave look in his eyes. Jin is holding the mike, his friends screaming, laughing and jumping on his back as he sings, eyes not more than quickly flashing at the figure amidst the lot of high school students gathered to have a good time. There’s no more than a second’s eye contact, he later recalls, remembering how he simply turned his head back to the screen at that time, beer spilling to the ground from his paper cup. Kame’s eyes don’t stay at him for any longer either.
Jin throws his hands in the air after the song with a loud cheer from his adoring audience, even though the alcohol has made him sing slightly off-key and the words coming out of his mouth are slurred. His friends fool around with him and award him with a couple of beers more and girls laugh from a slight distance. The ruckus is directed at the next singer however, his friend Pi, who grabs the microphone ready to do his best to outshine his friend, kicking him out of his way with laughter in his drunken voice. Jin shoves him and when the people try to get after him to attack him, arms reached out to push him away, he makes a run for it and slips through the crowd, making his way out the front door to the almost nonexistent terrace, enjoying the distant voices from the house and fresh air.
Jin pulls a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lights one up, bringing it to his lips and blowing smoke out of his lungs. It’s a loud Friday night and one of the people in his circle of friends, Ryo, has the house all to himself for the weekend. The reckless adolescents they are, they seize the opportunity for a little fun and the house is soon filled with friends and friends’ friends.
When he finally makes his way back inside in ten minutes, his head is spinning and he feels the familiar sensation of creeping nausea in his throat. Someone spills her beer accidentally on him and laughs as she slips away, a boy following her with an intoxicated and flirtatious gleam in his eyes, making Jin quickly jump out of the way to avoid wetting his socks that are intentionally black that night.
His head is spinning and he stumbles slightly, detecting that no, his walking is certainly not straight and laughing wholeheartedly at the mental image of himself wobbling through the house (people are definitely going to remind him of how drunk he has been for the following week at least), trying to find a nice place to sit down where it would be slightly more quiet.
“Hey. Do you need help?” a voice asks him and takes a strong grip from his arm and Jin blinks for a few times, squinting his eyes to clear his vision to the face of a boy he doesn’t recall seeing before the night in question. He smirks and laughs, grapping a hold of the boy’s shoulder, startling him slightly.
“Maaaybe,” he teases with a playful smirk dancing on his lips, leaning forwards with a slight murmur rising from the depths of his throat. “Do you want to help me?”
The boy with mid-brown hair (with maybe a sight tint of a lively and warm orange too) shakes his head and sighs but Jin hears the almost hidden amusement in his voice and chuckles proudly to himself. The boy wraps one of his arms around his shoulder and starts dragging him upstairs, away from the loud noise the party created. Jin keeps chuckling in his ear, making sure to tickle it suggestively with the sound and his lips, ignoring the boy’s unresponsiveness. The boy helps him into one of the bedrooms (seems to be Ryo’s younger sister’s, he notes as he lets his eyes take in the neatness and girlish factors) and lays him down on the bed. He laughs and tries pulling the boy over him and into a kiss but the boy pulls away forcefully, making Jin pout and whine.
“Oh come ooon,” he pouts and crosses his arms. “I thought I was getting lucky!”
The boy sits down on the bedside but when Jin tries to snake his arm around his lap to pull him down the boy quickly whacks it away warningly. Jin purses his lips and glares, pissed like a kid who’s been told not to eat the candy laid before him. Too bad the authority always had a way of winning, no matter one’s dedication.
“Jerk,” he mutters and buries his face in the pillow, breathing in a faded scent of someone. “Jerrrrk,” he slurs and turns to lie on his stomach, hearing an amused laughter from the boy who reaches out his hand to shove him gently.
“Try not to throw up, okay?” he tells him and Jin thinks that he really, really likes that voice and would really, really like to get a little taste of the person who owns it. He rolls back on his back and sits up, crossing his legs.
“Nah, I’m fine,” he assures the boy with a naughty smile and enjoys the boy smiling back at him. He seems to be nice and have some morals or something after all. Maybe it was good. He could see them clicking in a friendship-way and ruining it with a drunken one night stand might’ve been a sad waste.
“Tell me your name,” he requests straightforwardly. “Are you Ryo’s friend or something? I’ve never seen you before. I’d remember,” he smirks even though Kame doesn’t seem all too impressed. He’s still smiling, even if it’s just slightly, and nodding, biting his lower lip. Not really innocent but not too polluted either.
“Kamenashi Kazuya,” the boy introduces himself and shakes Jin’s hand. Jin pulls him closer and pats his back, enjoying the way he sneakily gets closer to the boy. He’s always been good at the stuff. “You can say Kame too. People usually do. And no, not really Ryo’s friend. Pi invited me.”
“In that case you can call me Jin,” Jin smiles at him in a charming way, leaning forward slightly and wondering how come his friend never seems to have found it worthwhile to mention about the existence of such a charmer to him. “Akanishi Jin.”
“Sure,” Kame shrugs and gets up, stretching his back. Jin drunkenly follows the hem of Kame’s shirt, waiting to see some bare skin but finds himself disappointed as the boy waves his hand at him.
“Try to get some sleep. And seriously, try not to throw up. I’m sure Ryo’s sister wouldn’t like to come home to find a pool of vomit on her pillow,” he grimaces as he slips out of the room. Jin falls back to the bed to rest for a while, waiting for the nausea to die down slightly.
In ten minutes he’s back to the party with a new bottle of beer and friends to fool around with. Some hours later he finds the younger boy fast asleep in Ryo’s bedroom.
He saves his number in the boy’s cell phone and saves his in his own, making sure it won’t be the last time they hear from each other. Being a bit pushy pays off every now and then.
--
Kamenashi Kazuya, Kame for short, is an interesting person to put it mildly.
First thing Jin learns about the young man is his warm and helpful attitude, his caring of the people around him and Jin wonders how come he’s come to know someone so decent even on the level Kame is. Second thing he learns (if you ignore his knack for bottled green tea drinks) is that even though he seems to have quite a wide circle of friends he isn’t really overly social or familiar with anyone, always keeping at a distance and enjoying his own time.
“You’re such a mystery,” he tells the boy with a smirk as he throws him a bottle of green tea that the boy catches with a surprised look. “I was thinking about a walk maybe. You, me and if you want to you can always take your imaginary friends too.”
Kame’s eyes flash in shock and maybe even slight fear as he stares at Jin’s eyes. Jin wonders what he said to startle the boy so badly and raises his hands to calm him down. “I come in peace!” he yells with a laughter, walks over and wraps his arm around the boy’s shoulder and starts dragging him towards the main entrance of the building. “I’ll treat you to some takoyaki if you want to.”
“Ramen,” Kame insists as he finally puts his foot in the game in order to keep himself from being played too much. “You’ll treat me to ramen.”
“But you can’t eat ramen while walking…” Jin mutters moodily and listens to Kame’s cheerful laughter, following the boy’s gaze as it takes in their surroundings.
“A people person?” he questions the boy who looks at him, befuddled, and nods, his smile somehow gentle and warm. “Thought so. You’re always watching. People I mean.”
“Yes,” Kame admits with a nod as they walk and opens the cap of his bottle, taking a sip of the green tea and examining its label. Jin nudges his shoulder slightly, rolling his eyes.
“Zero calories, zero nutrients unless you count sodium. I really hope your whole diet doesn’t consist of this shit, no wonder you’re so skinny,” he pesters Kame who merely pushes him away and takes another long sip.
“People drink water, that doesn’t really have more nutrients or energy either. So let me drink my tea in peace now that you brought it for me,” he answers, shaking the green bottle. “And you’re about to treat me some food anyway so stop suggesting I have an eating disorder or something.”
“I merely thought that your addiction might leave you with a stomach full of green tea,” Jin smirks. “I’m not indicating anything else. But you can be sure that I will insist on treating you to dinner.”
“Free lunch. Who could say no?” Kame answers and lets his eyes trail the people on the pathway, sometimes stopping to observe something for a longer time before turning his eyes away.
They enjoy their lively little conversation as Jin leads him into a cheap ramen place and pushes him in. They take their seats in a corner and order - Kame a small sized meal and Jin a medium one with extra pork - and continue conversing as they start enjoying their heavy early dinner.
Kame has little habits, he soon picks up as he follows the actions of the younger boy. He has a habit of sometimes staring into space or scanning the room, he seems to quickly observe every place where he can see his reflection, quickly turn his eyes away and keeps from facing them again and adding extra salt in his food. Jin chuckles at the actions, somehow still puzzled about them - Kame doesn’t really appear to be too worried about his outlook (or how should he know but the boy really had nothing to worry about with the looks he had been blessed with!) and for some reason he picks him up as more of a sweet tooth. He enjoys observing him anyway.
Jin bites his lip and can’t help smiling as he follows the younger boy picking up noodles with his chopsticks and raising them to his lips, sucking the hot food carefully in, helping slightly with the chopsticks. And he knows that there’s still the funny little attraction sparking between them, whether Kame acts on it and lets it affect him or not. He smirks to the boy, fishing pork from his own bowl and Kame laughs, raising a hand on his mouth to keep anything from flying out of his mouth.
“What?” he laughs. “Why such a smirk?”
“Just because,” Jin answers him and leans forward, flirtingly brushing Kame’s leg with his own foot under the table, startling the boy slightly and making him give him a back-off-right-now-or look as he gets on his feet, wiping his mouth with his napkin. Jin grimaces for his failed attempt of sparking things up a little.
“Where are you going?” he asks as Kame sets down his chopsticks, not sitting down. Kame flashes him a tense smile, waving him off.
“I’ll use the restroom. I’ll be back in a minute,” he answers him before walking off without as much as a look back. Jin is left sitting still, wondering if he really crossed the line and upset the other boy or not.
The steam of their bowls slowly lessens and becomes undetectable as he waits, twirling his food in his bowl with his chopsticks as his appetite dies. He checks the clock on the wall and wonders if it’s really normal for someone to take five minutes in the bathroom. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but it still feels somewhat awful as he sits there, wondering if he really upset his date or not.
Finally he decides to get on his feet and walks to the bathroom, opening the door hesitantly and slipping in.
“Yeah, sure,” the younger boy says, sitting on the tiled floor and writing something on paper. “Mm. I understand. Yeah, I understand.”
Jin stares at him in confusion, closing the door behind him with a louder noise and making the boy look up at him, paling slightly. Jin cocks his head slightly, feeling like he’s interrupting something - but what is it exactly that he’s interrupting? It’s just Kame without a phone in sight and none of the toilets seem to be occupied.
“…I came to check up on you,” he tries to explain himself awkwardly, trying to flash a smile but ending up grinning. “In case I upset you or something. I didn’t, did I? If I did then I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“You didn’t,” Kame answers him and folds the paper, slipping it and his pencil in his pocket as he gets up on his feet, covering his eyes from the mirror and walking quickly past him. “Let’s just go back and finish our meal, okay?”
Jin turns around, staring at his companion in confusion. As soon as Kame leaves the bathroom he removes his hand from his eyes and Jin looks after him as he turns to look at him.
“You coming?” the boy calls out for him. “I might steal your ramen if you aren’t, I’m warning you!”
“Mm, sure,” Jin finds himself answering, giving the bathroom last long look.
Kame never looked at the whole wall wide mirror above the washbasins. He stares at his reflection’s confused stare as he closes the door behind him, returning to their seats to listen to Kame’s sudden babbling. He himself becomes quieter as he keeps studying the younger boy who suddenly seems very keen on babbling about god-knows-what. He doesn’t dare asking what he walked into. He still feels slightly at fault - maybe Kame just doesn’t want to say it to him, being too good of a person or something just as ridiculous.
When they finish their bowls Jin leaves the payment on the table and they get on their feet, grab their bags with them and make their way out. The summer makes days longer and the sun doesn’t seem to be setting yet even though it feels like it’s become slightly dimmer. They walk slowly and lazily kicking random rocks on the streets and listen to the sound of the city. Kame’s become quiet again.
“Can we drop something off?” Kame asks him, turning his gaze at him. Jin hesitantly nods and Kame smiles at him, fastening his steps as he makes his way through people on the streets, making Jin jog slightly to catch up with him again.
“What are we dropping off and where?” Jin asks, his breathing slightly fastened. Kame flashes him a smile and laughs, making Jin forget everything about the previous awkwardness.
“Letters,” he answers. “I have a few to give to people.”
“What kind of letters?” Jin questions with a joking tone. “Love letters? Can’t you just mail them?”
“I rather put them in mailboxes by myself,” Kame answers, dedication in his eyes as he walks straight ahead on the streets. “And you can call them whatever.”
It stings slightly, the idea of Kame delivering love letters to someone else in the middle of their date. But date is only what Jin calls it after all and Kame refuses to take up his flirting anyway so how can he tell the boy doesn’t have a more pressing reason to do so?
He decides to back off slightly and get more familiar with Kame’s occupation before trying to swoon him with his full determination again as Kame drops a letter to a mailbox, turns back to smile at him and smirks with that daring look in his eyes.
“Can I drop off another one too?” he asks and Jin finds himself nodding, wondering what the nature of the letters really is.
They make their way through the city and Kame fishes his green tea bottle from his bag, taking a long sip. Jin steals the bottle from his hands and enjoys a few mouthfuls himself before handing it back and wiping his mouth, earning a gentle whack in the head. And it all feels somehow wonderful and relaxed.
After dropping off another letter from Kame’s schoolbag they walk towards the bus stop with their arms crossed and haste gone. The time has somehow run way faster than Jin feels like it should have and the sky is starting to get a tint of orange, painting miraculously golden streaks in the younger boy’s hair.
“I had a good time,” Kame tells him and nods as they reach the bus stop. He pulls his bag better on his shoulder and Jin can’t help but fidget and laugh nervously, playing a game in his mind - a game where they have just spent a romantic day full of kisses and flirting, a day where they have played and stolen food from each other’s bowls and had the time of their life together. And he really wishes the day would’ve gone that way.
Reality calls for him in the form of a bottle hitting his forehead and he dodges and yelps, pushing it away and glaring at the boy who raises his eyebrows and laughs, giving him a small kick.
“What, I don’t get anything? Fine, sorry then,” he says, smirks and bows slightly. “I’m glad that I had a great time anyway then.”
Jin quickly catches up with what Kame’s implying and grabs his wrist before he manages to turn away and leave, swallowing even though there’s a lump in his throat and looking at the boy in slight shock and desperation, hoping not to ruin the end of the day and at least still leaving a good impression.
“I had a good time too,” he tells the boy with a hasty tone and sees his bus coming out of the corner of his eye, squeezing the boy’s wrist just a bit tighter. “Really, really good time.”
Kame smiles at him and flicks his wrist, removing Jin’s hold. He rises to the tip of his toes and pecks Jin’s lips lightly, making his heart jump in his throat and whole body freeze in shock. Kame merely smirks as he pulls away, waving his hand.
“See you again!” he yells at him and waves, walking away as Jin’s eyes follow him, wide and glazed. “Don’t miss your bus!”
Jin cries and shoots his hand up, waving for his bus to stop and running a few steps after it in a rush, Kame’s laughter ringing in his ears. The bus stops and he hops on, getting to a free window seat and watching Kame as the bus passes him, fingers slightly brushing his numb but tingling lips.
Kame smiles, fishing his paper and pen from his pocket again. And Jin wonders if he’s been granted a wish by a fairy he can’t quite recall ever even meeting.
--
The next day Jin passes one of the buildings where Kame has dropped his letter to. He blinks as he sees an old woman taking the letter with a surprised expression and opening it.
“Hey!” he yells as he runs to the woman, panting as he reaches her and taking support from his knees. “That… that letter… Are you Kame’s grandmother or something?”
“Whose?” the woman asks him, looking puzzled. Jin blinks for a few times.
“Is the letter for you?” he asks. The woman nods and bows with a warm smile.
“Yes. Yes it is,” she answers him. “Now boy, shouldn’t you be hurrying to go to school and not worry about poor old woman’s letters?”
Jin stares at the woman, wondering how she doesn’t seem to have reacted to Kame’s name at all. He decides not to press it but apologizes as politely as he can and continues his way, looking back to see the woman heading inside, sliding the letter out of its envelope.
He puts his earplugs back in his ears and turns the volume louder, fastening his steps in order to make it to class in time. The time is ticking after all.
He still wishes he would understand the mystery of the young boy. He wonders how long it will take from him to push his way to his world and solve all the questions laid bare before him, the questions he can’t quite connect the answers to.
He decides not to ask anything from Kame. He can tell him when he wants to. He wants to build trust between them, develop their relationship and hopefully take it to a higher level. If Kame just allows him to and isn’t just playing around.
He still wonders what secret life the boy is really living. And he sure hopes it doesn’t include a feverish attraction to old women. Damn he hopes so.
--
He takes Kame out more often since then, sometimes more forcefully and sometimes not. He feels like he’s slightly intruding and Kame really often seems somewhat unwilling to go, claiming he has important business to attend to. He always offers to accompany him wherever he should be going with a playful, puppy smirk and earns long and nice fingers ruffling his hair. In a way it makes bothering the younger boy worthwhile.
They sit on a bench in a park and kiss, Kame’s hand softly keeping him still from his shoulder. He sucks gently and tilts his head to deepen the kiss and presses harder in a rocking motion. Life feels nice as they rub their noses together, enjoying the closeness, and peck each other’s lips every now and then.
Kame withdraws and Jin wraps an arm around his shoulder, watching the boy as he studies something, eyes moving in motions he can’t quite follow. They sit silently for some time and he presses his nose in Kame’s hair, enjoying the closeness even though Kame seems to be already lost somewhere in a world of his own.
“Sometimes I wonder what you’re doing,” Jin chuckles in Kame’s ear and bites it playfully, urging a conversation to take place again. “You don’t really tell me what goes in your mind. You think a lot.”
Kame smiles at him, not really looking as he pats his thigh with his hand absentmindedly and Jin is sure he doesn’t even realise the innuendo he makes without thinking. “Yeah, but you don’t tell me all too much either. What are you thinking about?” he asks him and Jin swears that for the current moment Kame doesn’t really care but tries to just please him, his attention still elsewhere. He pouts and glares at the younger boy, nudging him as he demands attention.
“You,” he tells the boy next to him grumpily. “I’m thinking about you right now. I often think about you. And then I think about other friends too and sex and booze. Maybe sometimes some games and such. Nothing too special. Not like you,” he presses and Kame finally looks at him. He smiles at the boy. “Now it’s your turn. Shoot me.”
“I think I have letters to deliver,” the boy smirks at him, pecking his lips again and Jin swears he’s just trying to lead his thoughts astray. “Good deeds to do while I still can.”
“Yeah. You good-doer,” he mocks and grimaces. “Too busy saving the world to pay more attention to your lonely boyfriend.”
“You aren’t lonely. You have friends, go and play with them,” Kame whacks his head and stands up on his feet, stretching his neck by tilting it and squinting his eyes in the process. “And I pay attention to you. You demand more of my attention than you should.”
“But it isn’t as much fun without you!” Jin complains. “You going?”
“Mm. I have some things to do,” Kame smiles at him. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow at school, okay? Get me more of that green tea. You might buy yourself a date.”
Jin grins up at him, rising to his feet as well. “Aren’t you a cheap date. Can’t I attend this business with you? Pretty pleaaase?” he requests. “Maybe I could help!”
“Nah, it’s okay,” Kame answers and hugs him, ruffling his hair as he starts heading back towards the street. “Go and spend time with your friends!”
“AND WHEN WILL YOU COME OVER?” Jin complains, yelling after the younger boy. “I can’t believe you still haven’t let me take you home even after weeks of dating! I’m not planning on raping you or anything!” It didn’t count as rape if the other party wanted it too after all and he was quite sure he could pull a few strings to make Kame go along.
Kame doesn’t answer but simply just waves at him (waves him off, Jin grimaces) as he disappears in the crowd. Jin sighs.
Sometimes he thinks getting in Kame’s head might be a bit too much of a challenge for him after all.
--
Jin passes the familiar old woman on his way to school again one day and stops for a while, following her cheerful form from a distance. He finally draws in a deep breath and decides to make his way hurriedly to her, greeting her with a polite bow and a sunny “Good morning!”
“Good morning to you too,” she answers him with a polite bow and a warm smile. “I remember you, young boy.”
Jin blinks in puzzlement, wondering how someone can remember a short meeting with someone as insignificant as him - but then again, people don’t usually run into random people far in a different age range babbling at them incoherently random things with no sense at all and question them about their mail. Jin blushes in embarrassment.
“Ah. Well… well good,” he answers with a hesitant laughter and draws in a deep breath, trying to gather courage. He has questions he wants to satisfy with some impatiently waited answers that always seem to slip barely out of his reach after all. “I was just wondering… about the letter.”
The old woman smiles in understanding and pats his shoulder. “You received one too? I’m sorry for your loss.”
Jin blinks, completely lost and not understanding. “No. No, I haven’t… I just… I was just wondering if you could tell me what it was about?” he asks hesitantly. A sad look in her eyes the old woman nods.
“…You seem oddly interested in the letter considering you don’t seem to have a reason to receive one,” she tells him. “Or are you just curious with the rumours about them?”
Jin tilts his head, his curiosity increasing. “Rumours? Are there rumours concerning the letters?”
The old woman smiles at him in a mischievous way (the always annoying oh-I-know-something-you-don’t look) and clicks her tongue. “What? You haven’t heard the rumours of the messenger of the deceased?”
“No,” Jin admits, wondering what kind of funny rumours Kame could’ve started. He was really looking forward to something that didn’t sound quite so… well, gravely scary but he was willing to listen to it anyway, if not for else then to get something to question his boyfriend with. “Can you tell me?”
Old women always seemed to be such gossipers after all. He doesn’t find himself disappointed as she winks at him to lean closer to hear more properly as she starts to spread the rumours.
“The letter I received was from the messenger of the deceased,” she tells him in a mysterious tone. “A letter containing things my husband who passed away some months ago wanted me to know so that he could move on. Such a sweet person, delivering the messages! No one really knows who he is, though. But we all who have suffered a loss… We wait to hear from him. We wait to hear if there is anything important left unsaid, anything we ought to know and understand,” she finishes with a tear in her eye, smiling at him as she sniffs and wipes it away. “Such a sweet person. Taking the time to deliver the letters.”
“I bet he is,” Jin nods in understanding, lost in thought. Kame, a (no, the) messenger of the deceased? What a ridiculous idea. But then again, his mind is already running wildly and detecting the boy’s odd behaviour and dedication to the letters. Why would he seem to find fooling innocent and heartbroken people in such a mean way so important?
“Hey,” the old woman whispers to his ear, winking at him. “You don’t happen to know who this person is, do you?”
“No,” Jin answers her with an apologetic grimace and shakes his head. “I’m afraid not.”
The woman sighs, smiling at him sadly. “Too bad. I would’ve loved to say thank you.”
“Mm,” Jin grins at her, checking his watch. “But I really have to get running. Thanks for the story!” he yells her as he breaks into a run, looking back and waving at her. “It was really interesting!”
The woman waves back at him and he runs as fast as he can, breathing heavy and thoughts a mess.
He wonders if Kame is some sort of a ghost whisperer or something like the woman in that stupid TV program he never bothered to watch more than a few episodes amidst extreme boredom.
The thought becomes more fascinating than the TV program ever did, he notices as he barely makes it in time for his first class.
--
PART 2