You Found Me: a Heisei Kumi Fanfic (18/19)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Takachii, Chiitaro
Rating: R/NC-17
Warnings: Consensual sex between minors, Violence, Minor Character Death
Genre: Slice of life/Coming of age
Disclaimer: I do not own anyone. The end.
Summary: This is the story of how little Chinen Yuri grew from a young, homeless boy to the leader of a faction of a growing Yakuza group; and learned a lot about life, love, who he was, and what he wanted in the process.
A/N: So this is another instalation in my Heisei Kumi AU! You do not need to have read any of the other fics in that AU to read this one, as this one introduces the world through Chinen's eyes. If you're curious about it however, I have written 7 other fics for this AU, 3 multi-chaps, and 4 oneshots. You can find them at my Lj, their titles are: My new Family, A Kumi-cho's Duty, The Kumi-cho is...me?, Gaining Your Love, The Christmas Acquisition, Sequence of Upsets, and One of Many. Please take a look if you'd like! ALSO, if you have read some of my other Kumi fics, and are wondering where this one fits in the timeline, this one takes place a couple of months after The Christmas Acquisition, starting in the spring of 2006, and going on from there!
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17
Christmas seemed to spark a new energy in the house, and the addition of their beautiful Christmas tree seemed to help keep the spark alive. Instead of hiding in their rooms, all of the boys in the house seemed drawn to it like moths to a flame, and most evenings they now all sat in the living room, admiring the tree and playing games. During the day, Chinen found himself out shopping. He knew he wanted to get some of his housemates Christmas presents, and he only had a week. The week flew by in a flurry of increasingly excited whispering and discreet additions to the pile of presents under their tree, and it wasn't long before Chinen found himself being roused from sleep by an extremely bubbly Yuto, and an obviously newly woken himself Takaki, the both of them in matching Santa hats, Yuto's obviously much too large for him, the white fluffy rim falling in his eyes a bit.
"Merry Christmas!" Yuto declared, and Chinen just blinked drowsily at him, debating, not sure if he was willing to fight for a few more minutes of sleep. It didn't seem to matter what he was willing to fight for however, when Takaki scooped him up out of his bed, carrying him out of his room.
"Everyone's waiting for you." The older teen told him. "We want to open our presents." They tromped down the stairs, and as they came into view of the boys sitting around the tree below, Chinen's housemates started to clap, harrowing Yuto and Takaki's success in rousing him. Chinen ducked his head a bit in embarrassment, but there was no malicious intent behind the clapping, and he couldn't help but smile when Inoo pulled the Santa hat off of his own head and plopped it on Chinen's. Chinen noticed a box of doughnuts on the floor, already over half-empty, and he helped himself as Shoon began passing around presents.
To Chinen's great surprise the whole day was extremely enjoyable. They all opened their gifts, and there was something infinitely more cheerful about the group when they all were the focus of the gift giving-and receiving-than when the energy was focused on just one person, as it had been for Chinen's birthday. Exclamations of excitement and gratitude filled the air, and it was nice to see smiles on everyone's faces, regardless of how small. Only Yabu and Yuto cried, and even then, the tears didn't last long. Chinen got presents from the same people he'd gotten birthday gifts from, but the atmosphere was somehow better this time, making the experience much more enjoyable.
After the presents were opened they all laid around, drinking tea and snacking on the candies and other treats they'd received, playing in small groups with their new toys or weapons, they'd gotten for Christmas. Everyone thanked Shoon. Then, about midday Yamada started a full house poker match, all ten of them lounging around in the living room, sprawled out on couches and wedged in the space between the coffee table and others legs. Chinen himself took a seat on Ryutaro's lap, a warm happiness in his chest as the younger boy pretended to protest, his hands looping around Chinen's waist.
They played a few rounds there before someone had the bright idea to relocate to the kitchen table, that way everyone would have a seat, and there would be much less risk of cheating. The idea was agreed upon at once, and after they'd relocated the games only got to be more and more intense. Chinen found that while he'd known Hikaru and Shoon to be good poker players, Inoo turned out to also be a formidable opponent, the pretty teen a stellar bluffer. Ryutaro too played well, and most matches came down to the five of them at the end, although Daiki smoked them all one time.
Time flew as they played, everyone swapping banter and telling stories and laughing. The sun set unnoticed, until Shoon pulled out of a game to go out and grab dinner, their leader braving the cold and returning a short time later with what seemed to Chinen an unlimited supply of fried chicken. The cards were put away, and plates were put in their place, and for a moment Chinen found himself wondering if the chatter would just stop, everyone falling silent and retreating back into themselves now that it was dinner time. He had nothing to worry about. They all just kept going, Inoo telling some story about Daiki stealing raw meat from a butcher when they were kids, much to everyone's amusement. For the first time in months, they actually talked to each other throughout the meal. It was as though the magic of Christmas had broken the fog of depression surrounding them, allowing them to perhaps, begin to heal. Not that Chinen really believed in that sort of thing.
Soon January was upon them, and with the new month-and the new year-came change. Chinen noticed that it seemed that the new year had ushered in a new want to be happy that unified the household. They renewed dinner conversation as a regular-and, with luck, permanent-part of their lives, a part that rooted and grew, branching out through their lives and spreading throughout their days until-with the aid of time-Chinen found they all could chat nearly as free spiritedly as they had before Taiyo's passing. It wasn't quite the same, but then Chinen supposed that it never would be like it was before.
The biggest changes Chinen noticed were in a couple of his housemates. Takaki and Yabu still were going out at night, the older boys not returning until the early hours of morning, usually long after Chinen had fallen asleep. This had been something Chinen had been sure would be temporary, but over a month had passed since their first outing, and there were no signs of the pair letting up. He didn't really like it, and he knew he wasn't the only one, Hikaru's face going slightly sour whenever Takaki and Yabu would sweep out the door and into the cold night. Despite all of the healing that everyone was feeling, Hikaru had become much more withdrawn than he'd been before Taiyo's death. His face-while no longer holding the emptiness it had held before-was often kept in a blank, unreadable state, and he cracked many fewer jokes, the tattooed teen keeping his thoughts to himself.
While Hikaru was becoming more withdrawn, Chinen's housemate was becoming busier than ever. Shoon had been swamped with...something-meetings or deals, Chinen assumed, and in his absence Hikaru had taken on helping some of the other boys train for fighting, and he even would occasionally watch over their study sessions. Shoon seemed to be tired, a slight weariness in his face sometimes that took Chinen by surprise whenever he glimpsed it. But despite not being able to be around as much, whenever their leader was able to be with them he made a great effort to talk with them and play games and shower them with affection. Overall it was something that Chinen found he didn't mind, as it didn't affect his life negatively in the slightest.
Shoon wasn't the only one showing more affection than before. As the weeks turned to months Ryutaro started touching Chinen more and more. It was just little things at first-sitting squished up next to each other on the couch, their thighs touching, or casual touches on his shoulders and back-but it grew into hand holding, and him pulling Chinen into his lap, or at the very least slinging an arm around Chinen's shoulders whenever they were together, even during meals sometimes. They spent all of their waking time together, Chinen finally admitting to himself that he was completely and irrevocably enamored by the younger boy.
He was positively charmed by his way of speech, by the willingness Ryu had to participate in anything Chinen asked him to. He adored the younger boy's big, serious eyes, and the ferocity with which he expressed his emotions when he chose to do so. It came to him one evening at the end of February that this had to be what love was, and as soon as he thought it he knew. He just knew is if it was something he had always known. He was in love with Ryutaro. That realization was only reinforced by the warm, electric tingle every brush of their skin and meeting of their eyes still brought to him. It wasn't until the beginning of March however, that these feelings were properly confronted.
It was evening, Chinen having joined Ryutaro in his bedroom after dinner had ended and Takaki had gone out. The two boys had sat on the floor; they had been playing a simple card game, but it had grown more and more competitive, Ryutaro eventually abandoning his cards in favor of tackling Chinen with a playful growl, the younger boy’s admittedly slightly larger body pushing him back onto the carpet. Chinen felt a warm giggle bubble up from his stomach, and he pushed back against Ryu, slithering out from under him and jumping on his back, reversing their positions. He ran his hands up and down Ryu’s sides and along his neck, aiming for ticklish spots, proud to hear high, strained squeals and some quickly murmured curses fall from his companion’s lips. Ryutaro quickly rolled over, the action taking him away from Chinen.
The younger boy pulled himself sharply to a sitting position as Chinen scrambled to close the distance between them, not ready to give up. But Ryutaro went on the offensive, reaching out for Chinen and pulling him to his chest in a tight, restrictive hug.
"Got you." He muttered, Chinen giggling and pretending to struggle against Ryu's grip, pulling himself nearly all of the way out of the younger boy's grasp, before a particularly sharp tug pulled him back, and he saw it coming a split second before it actually happened, his eyes slamming shut in anticipation of the impact. It wasn’t a kiss, not really. Their lips were touching, sure, but it was harsh, misaligned and almost painful in their mistaken contact. There was no want in it, no steady movement or deliberate action, and Chinen pulled away as soon as he had regained his center of balance, falling back onto his heels. Ryutaro was immensely red, and Chinen barely had time to register that that was probably the younger boy’s first kiss before Ryutaro was apologizing for his roughness, asking if Chinen was okay. He put a hand on the younger boy’s cheek, knowing that he’d liked it when Takaki would do that to him, and he murmured
“Ryu-Ryu, hold on a second.” Ryutaro immediately froze, lips falling silent, eyes curious and slightly concerned.
“What?” His question wasn’t answered, Chinen instead opting to lean himself forward, snuggling into the younger boy’s chest. Ryu fell silent, running his hands up and down Chinen’s back a few times before resting them right below his shoulder blades. Chinen could feel Ryu’s heart pounding in his chest, and he buried his face into his neck, tucking it into the crook where it fit perfectly under the younger boy’s chin. He relished the feeling, the contact making him warm and elated. They sat there in silence for a few moments, before Ryutaro spoke again.
"Chinen, I-" He stopped, and Chinen felt him swallow, Ryu's throat moving against his head as he did so. His voice was smaller and less confidant sounding than usual, and Chinen began to wonder if perhaps Ryutaro-precious, amazing Ryutaro-was upset, and so he pulled away enough to where they could look each other in the eye, concerned. Ryutaro was red, his face flushed, and he seemed anxious and embarrassed about something. Chinen was just about to ask what that something was when Ryu leaned in, placing a quick kiss on his cheek.
Chinen blinked in surprise, the spot where Ryutaro had kissed him tingling slightly. Ryutaro had never kissed him before-unless they were counting the painful clash of lips that had taken place only a few minutes previously. He felt light headed, elated by his object of endearment's display of affection, and if being kissed on the cheek felt this good, he could only imagine what other things could feel like. Dazed, Chinen pressed himself back into Ryutaro-pushing their bodies together as much as he could-this time his back pressed into Ryu's chest, his head once again under the younger boy's chin, where it belonged-and as he settled in, he said as he buried his nose into the younger boy's neck
"I love you, Ryu." He felt Ryutaro's heart beat rapidly increase, the rest of the younger boy going still. Oops. He hadn't really thought out the impact of those words. Chinen angled his head up, trying to gauge how Ryu was feeling. He let a few moments pass, waiting for a response, and when he got none he prompted "I'm in love with you Ryu. I-" He paused, deciding against some ridiculous, cheesy speech that would do nothing more than embarrass his crush, instead just asking "Do you love me too?"
It was at that paramount moment that the bedroom door swung open, Yamada breaking the spell as he shuffled in, a yawn encompassing their housemate's face, his katana gripped loosely in one hand.
"Hey, sorry guys, but I'm going to bed now, so...I'm going to have to ask you to disperse." Yamada said blearily. Chinen nodded, removing himself from Ryutaro's lap and getting to his feet, taking the chance to escape, because suddenly he felt scared. He was scared to know the answer to his question, scared to find out if Ryutaro loved him or not, because what if he didn't? What if the younger boy did not love him and was, in fact, repulsed by the notion of the two of them being in love? Chinen had been thrown aside many times in his life, but he knew it would be devastating to be rejected by Ryu. But what if he did? What would happen to them then? How would their relationship change? Most importantly, what would Ryutaro expect of him, especially since he knew about Chinen's sexual relationship with Takaki?
All of these questions filled his mind, and so-struck by a sudden wish to run-he bailed, saying a quick 'good night', and making for the door. It seemed to take Ryutaro a moment to contemplate what was happening, the younger boy just sitting there as Chinen pulled away from him, before going after Chii. He caught Chinen just as he stepped outside the doorway, Ryu grabbing him by the hand with a slightly frantic
"Wait!" Chinen turned to face him, and Ryutaro's eyes were shining with hope, and they were locked on Chinen's face as he said quietly "Yes." Chinen felt a rush of something an awful lot like relief, or perhaps happiness, flood his body and he nodded, a smile working its way into his face.
"We-we'll talk about this properly tomorrow. After breakfast. How's that sound?" He'd barely gotten the sentence out before Ryutaro was agreeing, obviously enthusiastic. And then, after shared glances full of affection and excitement, and a tight squeeze shared between their clasped hands, they parted for the night, minds filled with the possible new changes that morning would bring. Yet if they had known what was going to be awaiting them the following morning, they wouldn't have been so excited about the rising of the sun.
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