Up in Smoke: A Heisei Kumi fanfic (25/36)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Hikato, Chiitaro, Ariyama
Rating: R/NC-17
Warnings: Graphic Violence, Minor Character Death, Strong Language, Explicit Sex, Major Character Death
Genre: Slice of life/Angst
Disclaimer: I do not own anyone.
Summary: After months of peace an attack leaves the Heisei Kumi reeling, and when an old enemy returns to the area reclaiming that peace starts to feel impossible.
A/N: The next installment in my Heisei Kumi AU, this one starts in the last days of December 2016 and continues on into 2017. If you'd like to read the other stories in this AU, please check out my masterlist. All Heisei Kumi fics have 平成組 next to their titles, to mark them as part of the AU!
Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24
The next few days settled back into the tense stretch of calm that had come to feel like normalcy ever since Ryutaro’s death. It was almost maddening, all of them trying to trick themselves into being okay, the whole thing some poor imitation of peace. Keito found himself falling into it. During the day he often went walking with Yuto up and down the alley in front of their home, Yuto determined to get better, to be better, to be able to help, to fight. Keito just didn’t want him to fall. He wasn’t sure Yuto would ever be back to how he was before. But honestly, just having Yuto alive was enough, he couldn’t help but feel. Not that he ever said so.
He went out in the evenings like he’d used to, collecting money from guys Inoo and Yabu had loaned to, depositing the stacks of cash on their bedside tables. And then he’d sit down by Yabu’s bed, next to Hikaru-because Hikaru was always sitting with Yabu when he wasn’t working nowadays-and he’d hold his hand. And if Hikaru wanted to talk they would, and if Hikaru didn’t then Keito would just rest his head on Hikaru’s shoulder, and feel his breathing. And sometimes they’d go to bed together, and other times Hikaru would whisper ‘goodnight’, and Keito would know that he wanted to be left alone. It wasn’t peace, and it certainly wasn’t happiness, but it was something. Something bearable.
It was almost a week since the plan to destroy the Wakaba had been formed when Yamada caught Keito when he was out in front of the house with Yuto, taking a break from the walking up and down the alley to sit and rest on the concrete steps that led up to their door. The smaller man stood there on the landing, eyes downcast to look at them, and he said
“Keito, the Kumi-cho got a phone call. He wants the two of us to go by the underling housing. They’ve got something for us.” Yuto was visibly frustrated by Yamada’s words, his unspoken dismissal obviously stinging, and he cursed under his breath. Keito felt rather guilty, wishing he could take Yuto’s pain away, wishing he could rewind the last few moments and change the words that had fallen from Yamada’s lips. But he couldn’t, so he stood and nodded, falling into step with Yamada as Yuto watched them walk away with hard eyes. Keito sighed, the tension and anxiety and grief that lived constantly under his skin numbing and fatiguing him, but his eyes caught on Yamada’s shoulders, tense and trembling, and he asked
“How are you?” Yamada shrugged, and silence fell over them, Keito resigning himself to it just as Yamada said
“You have sex right?” The question completely blindsided him, and Keito’s mind raced, wondering why Yamada was asking this, not sure what exactly his answer should be-he wasn’t really a prude, but Hikaru was very private about their relationship-but mostly just stuck on that the question came from Yamada. Yamada, whose past history with sexual behavior was something Keito hated dwelling on, who not once had talked to Keito about anything regarding physical relationships before. The silence must have dragged to a beat too long, because Yamada clarified “With the Kumi-cho. You two...you have sex. Sometimes.” The pushing was actually reassuring. Yamada wanted to have this conversation...whatever this conversation was. Keito nodded.
“Yeah.” Yamada nodded, looking serious, and after a moment he asked, his voice rather quiet
“Can you tell me about it?” Keito tried to fight his increasing incredulity that Yamada was even asking about these things, trying to sound as though this was normal, or at least like he was unphased, when he asked
“What do you want to know?” Yamada looked over at him, eyes meeting Keito’s, and something there must have reassured him, because he said
“I just...I don’t know much about...like...what you can do. Together. I mean-outside of what was done to me. And…” He paused, swallowing, his eyes on the ground. “I want to try something.”
“Oh.” Keito wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. He truly had no idea what Daiki and Yamada’s physical relationship was like. Around everyone else they acted like a pretty normal couple, snuggling and kissing but never anything inappropriate, and Keito knew that whatever happened inside their bedroom was their own business, so he’d just assumed it was pretty average, married people behavior. He’d known they were taking things slow, but they’d been married for over a year, and perhaps it was his own ignorance, but he’d assumed they’d done something sexual after their little wedding. But Yamada was visibly trembling, and so Keito just said gently “Okay.”
He ended up telling Yamada about a good deal of the sexual things he and Hikaru had done, from the handjobs to the blowjobs to some positions they liked. He told him who touched what, and why. It made him a little self conscious, and-if he was being honest with himself-a little turned on, to describe all of these things to Yamada, but with the serious questions about what exactly Keito got out of all of these things emotionally it felt like a really important, meaningful conversation, not some cheap talk, or bragging. Still, he tried to focus on his own kinks, and keep Hikaru’s out of it. While he was okay with this conversation, he wasn’t going to tell anyone about Hikaru’s nipple clamps unless he got explicit consent to do so.
Yamada was listening intently, his nervous shaking having faded as the conversation continued, instead replaced by wide eyes, Keito able to see him thinking through everything that was being said to him. Keito’s descriptions of the foreplay seemed to interest him the most, something seeming to click in his mind when he asked why Keito liked to drag the whole sex act thing out for so long, and Keito told him about how he liked to really just spend a lot of time making Hikaru feel good. About how seeing Hikaru happy and feeling good made him feel that way too.
Yamada knew the basics, but he’d obviously been trying to figure out how to take what he’d learned from his abuse and twist it into something good. And when he couldn’t, he’d asked Keito for help. The bravery of that action was flooring, and Keito tried to be delicate, without glossing anything over. Tried to watch Yamada for clues as to how he was feeling throughout their talk, and just...help. Yamada deserved anything he wanted. And if what he wanted was good sex with his husband, Keito was happy to talk to him about it.
He’d do anything for Yamada, he realized, as he started explaining why he liked giving Hikaru blowjobs. He loved Yamada, loved him fiercely, and the realization was almost painful in its ferocity, because of how easily in the coming days Yamada could be ripped from their lives. This wasn’t the first time an epiphany about the fragility of their lives had struck him over the past few months, but each time it hurt.
The conversation was cut short when they rounded the last corner and found themselves facing the underling housing. Their arrival seemingly noticed immediately, as moments after they'd stepped out onto the street boys came from every building, falling into lines on either side of the street, their bows low as they welcomed ‘The Stone Prince’ and ‘The Dragon Tamer’. Yamada turned his gaze to Keito, and it was then that he realized that they were all waiting for him to tell them what to do, and his throat went a little dry at the sudden understanding.
“Relax.” He said, and the boys straightened their spines, a handful of them openly observing Keito and Yamada, while the rest dispersed, returning back inside their homes or mulling around, stealing glances when they thought Keito and Yamada weren’t looking. Keito looked over the kids, hoping to see a couple of familiar faces, maybe a couple of Kaitos, or Matsuda Genta. His attention was drawn however when a voice called out
“Prince!” He turned to see Juri leading a small posse over, the group all underlings Keito recognized. It was Shintaro’s gang, all except Taiga, as well as two others Keito knew by name, but hadn’t spent much time with-Kishi Yuta and Nagase Ren. Keito nodded in acknowledgement to the other boys as they approached, his eyes immediately drawn to Shintaro. He hadn’t seen the young man since his brother’s funeral. Shin looked thinner, like he hadn’t been eating well, and he had dark circles under his eyes, but his gaze was sharp, and his hand was wrapped around Juri’s, the gesture possessive and noticeably grounding. All in all, he seemed to be doing better than Keito had been expecting, and it was relieving. It was a good thing he had such a strong support system here.
“You have news?” Yamada prompted the underlings, once they’d gotten close enough for conversation, and Kouchi nodded, gesturing to one of the buildings, offering
“Perhaps we should do this inside? Jesse and I have our apartment on the second story. It would be nice and private.” Keito nodded, and they followed as Yugo and Jesse led them into one of the buildings and up the stairs, to a door with a sign taped to the front that read Kouchi and Jesse-enter at your own risk. It was a cute little apartment, the boys having obviously made it home, mismatched furniture squished into the small space, books strewn about, and a basket of clean laundry ready to be folded sitting on the coffee table, next to a small handgun. Jesse darted about, tidying up quickly as Kouchi offered that they all sit around in the living room, his eyes following his boyfriend’s embarrassed movements with a warm affection.
It was only once the last sock was removed from the loveseat that the meeting truly began, Keito prompting
“The Kumi-cho had requested that you all send teams out to spy on the Wakaba for us. Did you find what we were looking for?”
“Yes we did, Prince.” It was Kishi who spoke, Nagase Ren honestly looking a little nervous, but the boy dug his hand into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a stack of photographs, plopping them down on the newly cleaned coffee table, everyone leaning forward to see. The pictures were taken through a window, Sato Takeru and Miura Haruma sitting together in a little booth in a coffee shop. Hokuto leaned forward, pushing the pictures out, scattering them across the table surface, and in the images the two Wakaba members could be seen holding hands, and kissing. Ren snagged one, lifting it from the pack and passing it to Keito.
“There. His wallet chain.” Yamada leaned in close to get a look, and Keito immediately saw what Ren was talking about. Miura Haruma had a chain attached to his belt loop, and there, dangling from it was one key, on a tiny ring. Keito glanced over to Yamada, asking quietly
“Does that look right?”
“Yeah.” Keito nodded, offering the picture to Yamada before leaning in and scooping the others off of the coffee table, pushing them into a neat stack and tucking them into his pocket.
“Good job.” He said, and small smiles bloomed on the underling boys lips. Keito sighed, chest aching for them, and he thought about what Hikaru had said, about keeping them safe. God, he hoped they could. He got to his feet, Yamada following suit, and he swallowed his anxiety, and told them “No more patrols into Wakaba territory. We got what we needed, stay home, stay out of harm’s way until this war is fucking done.” He made for the door, and was just about to leave when a voice stopped him.
“I want to kill him.” Shintaro was looking over at him, voice rough, like he hadn’t been using it much. Keito felt a lump growing in his throat, fear for this young man suddenly threatening to overcome him, because he knew the grief Shintaro was feeling. He knew just how much pain he was in, and he knew just how dangerous that could be. He shook his head.
“No. Live instead.” He tried to sound stern, and final, and he wasn’t sure that he achieved it, but he didn’t stick around to find out, exiting the apartment with Yamada at his heels. The way back home was mostly silent, a tension buzzing through them, even as they stopped at a hardware store and picked up two containers of kerosene. Keito almost considered restarting the conversation about sex they’d been having before, just to get his mind off of the pictures in his pocket and the impending slaughter they’d just taken one step closer to, but Yamada was quiet, and Keito didn’t want to press his friend into anything. Yamada had been the one to bring sex up before. If he wanted to talk about it he’d do it again. So instead, Keito said nothing.
Yamada took the pictures to Hikaru once they’d gotten home, and Keito took the kerosene to the shrine room, where Takaki and Daiki had already put three other containers, lining them up in a corner, before glancing over to where Shoon’s picture sat, flanked by Ryutaro and Taiyos’. The pain in his chest spiked again at the sight of them, and he sighed, pushing his way out of the room, not looking back as the door closed behind him. He couldn’t help but feel that Shoon wouldn’t have wanted this, this massacre they had planned. But Shoon wasn’t there. He couldn’t fix this. And the worst part was, Keito was sure that if he was still alive, he could have found a way to end it all without more bloodshed. But Keito wasn’t sure he would have taken it.
That night after dinner Hikaru brought out the photographs. There was some surprise at the revelation of Miura Haruma and Sato Takeru’s romantic involvement, and concern about the target. It would be hard to murder Miura Haruma. He’d been fighting in battles against them since before Keito had even joined, and he was a formidable enemy. The Wakaba would notice if he went missing. And this boyfriend situation made everything more risky, Daiki declaring
“If Ryosuke suddenly disappeared, I’d lose it. Besides, if he had been planning on abandoning ship, he’d want his boyfriend to come with him. Takeru would know as soon as he was gone that something had happened to him.”
“There’s no way to make it look like he just up and left on his own. Maybe we should pick a different target.” Inoo’s words were drowned out by Chinen saying harshly
“We’ll just kill them both then.” He turned to Hikaru, eyes sharp. “If we just kill them both it will look like they ran away together, which is much more likely than one of them leaving the other behind. If Daiki disappeared we’d all know something was up, but if Yamada disappeared too, there’s a good chance we’d think that maybe they just wanted to escape the war.”
“No. We wouldn’t.” Inoo said sharply. “Dai-chan and Yamada wouldn’t just leave us like that. We know better.”
“Sure.” Yuto cut in, thoughtful. “But we’ve all known each other for years. Ichinojo has only been back in the territory, back with the Wakaba, for a few months. He doesn’t have such a good understanding of the people he’s fighting with. It is plausible for him to assume that they chose each other over their loyalty to the Wakaba.” Hikaru nodded slowly, sighed, and said
“Yuto and Chinen are right. This is our best shot. We’ll kill them both, next chance we get.” He pursed his lips, his jaw clenching momentarily while he thought. “With two of them we’re going to need more people to subdue them. Especially if we want it to be relatively quiet. They’re both fierce fighters; it’s not going to be easy. I won’t be able to do it alone.”
“I’ll come.” Chinen offered, and Hikaru nodded, eyes going around the table, looking for volunteers.
“I’m in.” Daiki said, Yamada raising his hand and nodding, throwing himself in too.
“I can-” Yuto started, but Hikaru shook his head, treating Yuto to a stern look.
“You’re not ready yet.” Yuto pursed his lips, frustration radiating from him, and Keito found himself saying
“I’ll go.” Yuto’s head whipped up, and Keito found most of the table staring at him, eyes wide with surprise. He looked over at Hikaru, saying quite seriously “I want to be there. I want to make sure you come home okay.”
“Fuck, Keito.” Takaki muttered, Hikaru was looking over at him, cheeks rather flushed, gaze sharp, and Inoo just said
“Kiss him, Kumi-cho. God.” There was a pause, Keito suddenly feeling flustered, because they didn’t kiss in front of the others. It just wasn’t something that was done. But then Hikaru leaned in, lips parting against Keito’s own, his tongue doing that thing that always managed to make Keito’s stomach jump, and Keito whined a little when Hikaru pulled away. He was breathing a little heavy, and Daiki wolf whistled, Keito flushing, glancing over to see that pretty much all of his housemates were smiling shit eating grins, all but Yamada, who had a look of extreme concentration on his face, eyes watching their every move, and Keito had a feeling he knew exactly what that was all about.
“Okay.” Hikaru said, trying to get the conversation back on track, and Keito tried not to think about how pink his boyfriend’s lips were, or how his eyes lingered on Keito’s own lips. Fuck. They were definitely fucking tonight. As soon as this was over. He could feel it in his stomach. “The five of us should be enough. I want this done soon. I’ll talk to Nagase Ren and Kishi Yuta tomorrow, see what else they can tell me, and then we’ll see if we can ambush them. I want to catch them out, alone. Starting tomorrow night we’ll patrol the streets for a few hours, and hopefully they’ll fall into our hands. It’s bound to happen, it’s just timing.” There were a few nods, but Keito wasn’t the only one having a hard time concentrating, and with that they were dismissed, Hikaru catching Keito’s eye and glancing over at his office.
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