Fic: Raising Akame Chapter 2
Title: Raising Akame
Pairing: Akame
Rating: G (this chapter)
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
Genre: AU Romance
Word Count: Chapter 2- +1,600
Summary: Jin was barely two years old and Kazuya was a day old when they first met. From that time on, their mothers knew there exist Akame and they must serve as Akame's guardians through the years.
A/N: This multi-chap fic is finished but I'll post the chapters one at a time because, otherwise, it would just be a very long one-shot. It will take about 10 posts so 10 days barring unforeseen circumstances. I have posted some chapters but I'll make public one each day. They are not f-locked (they're all-locked or something XD) so you don't have to friend me or anything. Anyways, hope you like it. Thank you for reading.
Chapter 1
Raising Akame
Chapter 2: Ten and Twelve
“Wake up, Kazu-kun.”
Kazuya grunted and shoved away his mother's hands. It was Saturday. He didn't have school and he didn't want to wake up early but his mother had been trying to wake him up for the last 15 minutes.
“Wake up, Kazuya. Get dressed. We have visitors,” Mrs. Kamenashi said, pulling off her son's quilted blanked and the large bolster pillow he was hugging. Kazuya did not move. She pulled him up. “Up, Kazuya!”
Kazuya sat up but was still asleep.
“The Akanishis are downstairs.”
Kazuya was suddenly snapped awake. “Who?”
Kazuya kept himself from running downstairs. It had taken him long enough to shower and he brushed his teeth twice. It took him another 15 minutes to pick out the clothes to wear before finally settling for his favorite red and brown striped t-shirt and a pair of old jeans. There was nothing much he can do with his hair cut so short it looked spiky. With a final look in the mirror - and hating his bushy eyebrows - he took a deep breath and headed downstairs. He didn't know why but his heart was beating wildly.
“Oh my god! Kazu-kun! You're a big boy now!” Mrs. Akanishi exclaimed and hugged him tight.
Kazuya was too polite to wriggle away when the woman crushed him but he managed to turn his head away. That was how he caught a glimpse of the good-looking young boy sitting on the chair by their breakfast table. Kazuya felt his face grow hot. When the woman released him, Kazuya kept his head bowed and did not move.
“Kazuya, Jin's here,” Mrs. Kamenashi said.
Kazuya remained motionless, waiting for his face to go back to its natural color. When he felt he was no longer blushing, he slowly raised his head and saw that the other boy was smiling at him.
“Ohayo, Kazu.”
Kazuya didn't answer. He went to sit in his usual place by the breakfast table, which unfortunately, was right across where Jin sat that morning. He could not help noting that Jin looked a lot different from him although their age difference was merely two years. Kazuya knew he looked scrawny - his mother kept complaining how thin he was for being such a picky eater. Jin wasn't thin and his dark brown hair was quite longish. He looked cool. Cool and and good-looking for a 12-year old boy. And he was wearing a cool white t-shirt with Roman letters. Kazuya could not read English.
“Love,” Jin softly said. He pointed to the two letters on top, “L-O...” then to the two other letters below, “V-E. Love.” He leaned forward and his smile widened. “It means ai as in aishiteiru.”
Kazuya bowed his head and hoped the heat from rice in front of him would be enough to explain why his face was flushed again.
“Kazuya's so shy,” Mrs. Akanishi commented, seeing Kazuya bowed so low.
“Not usually,” Mrs. Kamenashi replied, studying her third son. Then, turning to Jin, the woman said, “He still sleeps with the panda stuffed toy you gave him.”
Kazuya's head snapped up. “I do not!” he exclaimed in vehement denial. He still did. Recently, though, just before he fell asleep, he would hide the toy inside a large bolster pillow he had managed to unstitch. Just so his mother wouldn't see whenever she woke him up.
“Jin still collects anything turtle, you know,” Mrs. Akanishi offered.
“Oka-asan...” Jin said.
The sight of Jin embarrassed and blushing made Kazuya almost smile. He suddenly recalled that he had heard his parents talk a few days ago that Jin's grandmother had died and was to be interred that day. He realized Jin must be feeling bad. He forgot about being shy, felt he needed to say something. “I'm sorry your grandma died. Are you sad?”
“Yeah,” Jin replied, forcing himself to stop smiling. He was supposed to be sad. His grandma was the kindest, gentlest woman in the world and spoiled Jin and his brother. He was really sad when his grandma died. But at that moment, seeing and being with Kazuya, he was not as sad as he was. “But I'm okay now,” he said, then excitedly added, “Would you like to see my grandma's ashes?”
Kazuya's eyes widened. “Really? Can I ?” He had never seen ashes of a cremated person before.
“Do you know that they are not really ashes but ground bones?”
Kazuya's mouth dropped open. “Seriously?”
Jin pushed himself off his chair and took Kazuya's hand. “Come on. Let's go!”
“Jin. Let Kazuya finish his breakfast,” Mrs. Akanishi reprimanded.
“It's okay. I'll eat later,” Kazuya said as he allowed himself to be dragged away by Jin.
“Kazuya doesn't really like eating for someone who likes to cook,” Mrs. Kamenashi commented as they watched their sons run out of the house.
It had always been like that whenever the Akanishi's are round - the boys would be tentative with each other at first but would warm up towards each other soon enough and end up being inseparable.
Kazuya tried not to dwell on the fact that Jin, as always, would leave with his family by the end of the weekend. He inexplicably felt sad whenever he thinks about it. And as always, Jin slept over at the Kamenashi's Saturday night. The two boys talked all night about stuff in school, baseball, soccer, their favorite mangas and animes and played video games. They both tried to keep awake as long as they could, as if not wanting to waste with sleep the few hours they have together.
♥
That Sunday morning, Kazuya woke up not hugging his bolster pillow but Jin and Jin hugging him back. Jin felt far better than his pillow. Better than the panda toy. He didn't want to let go. He wanted to stay in bed hugging Jin but when he heard footsteps nearing his room, he regretfully untangled himself from Jin. Sleeping Jin refused to let go. Kazuya had to push the older boy away. But Jin was heavier and he ended up pushing himself away. He rolled off the bed and fell on the floor with a thud.
And that's how Mrs. Kamenashi found them: Jin startled awake at the sound of a body falling and Kazuya grumbling on the floor.
Right after lunch, the two boys decided to spend the last few hours together in a park. “Do you have a girlfriend, Kazuya?” Jin asked, sitting atop the monkey bars, legs dangling.
“No. Yuck!” Kazuya answered, swerving from one bar to another.
“I have someone,” Jin said. Kazuya's left hand suddenly lost grip but Jin was quick enough to grasp at him. “Stop being a monkey and come up here, baka.”
Kazuya managed to reach the end of the bars and clambered up beside Jin. From where they sat, they could see the whole empty park and down two blocks of the neighborhood. The houses looked pretty much the same and the neighborhood pretty much empty. “I can see your house from here,” Jin said pointing northward. “And look! That's where we used to live, see?”
But Kazuya wasn't looking where Jin was pointing. He was looking at Jin. “You have a girlfriend?”
Jin looked back at Kazuya and smiled wide. “I have someone special.”
Kazuya pouted. He felt annoyed. “Well, I have girlfriend, too,” he said. It was a lie. He doesn't like to lie. He doesn't, actually, but at that time, he felt he needed to. But it irked him more when Jin laughed, obviously not believing him. “I do. I really do.”
Jin kept laughing. “You just said you don't. You even said 'yuck'.”
Kazuya pouted some more. “I lied.”
Jin stopped laughing but kept smiling. “Oh yeah? So what's her name?”
“Ahm...ah...,” Kazuya stammered, not expecting the question. “Ran-chan,” he blurted, then tried not grimace.
Jin laughed out loud again. “Is she a dog?”
Kazuya turned red from anger and embarrassment. Ran-chan is a dog; a neighbor's dog Kazuya was so fond of. He couldn't make himself say any name of his girl classmates because he truly finds them yucky.
“Have you kissed her?” Jin asked.
Kazuya almost blurted “no yuckk” again but he stopped himself. “Have you kissed your...?”
“I always kiss my special someone,” Jin said even before Kazuya finished his question.
Kazuya couldn't explain why he felt the way he did. He thought maybe he ate something bad. His frown deepened and said, “I did, too.”
“No, you didn't,” Jin taunted.
“I did, too!”
Jin chuckled again. “So, you know how to kiss?”
“Yeah...” Kazuya's voice was unsure.
“Show me then.”
“What?” Kazuya asked, surprised. Jin, smiling and eyes twinkling with mischief, crawled closer to him. He wanted to back away but Jin caught both his hands that gripped the metal bars and he couldn't move.
“If you really have a girlfriend and you really kissed her then show me. Kiss me, Kazu.”
Kazuya's heart thumped faster. He was suddenly breathing short, shallow breaths as he stared into Jin's dark brown eyes. “I...no...I...” he stammered.
Jin laughed again. He lets go of Kazuya's hands and sat back on the bars but remained close to Kazuya. “You're a liar, Kazu.”
It enraged Kazuya. He lied, true, but only because Jin made him. “I am not!” Kazuya shouted.
“Then kiss me,” Jin dared, completely unaffected by his friend's outburst.
Kazuya's grip on the metal bars tightened. He pulled up his legs and crouched on the bars. He slowly inched his face towards Jin who looked smugly victorious. But before he could close the gap between them, Jin's hands cupped his face. Kazuya closed his eyes and in an instant he felt the other boy's lips on his. They were soft and warm. They puckered and made a sound then it was over. Kazuya slowly opened his eyes and found Jin's face a few inches away. The older boy was smiling, cheeks flushed, eyes twinkling. “I told you I always kiss my special someone.”
End of Chapter 2
A/N: This is my favorite chapter ♥
Chapter 3