Fic: Raising Akame Chapter 4
Title: Raising Akame
Rating: PG-13 (this chapter)
Disclaimer: Standard disclaimer applies.
Genre: AU Romance
Word Count: Chapter 4 - 2,300+
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: Double update. Won't be around. And no, no smex here. Just fluff or something. XD]
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3
Raising Akame
Chapter 4 : Sixteen and Eighteen Part 1
Jin watched in suspicion as his mother hummed while setting the dishes. He cast a questioning glance at his brother. Reio shrugged his shoulders. All through out dinner, Mrs. Akanishi smiled. Unable to restrain himself, Jin blurted out, “Okay, what's up, oka-asan?”
Mrs. Akansihi smiled at Jin. “Well, since you asked...” She knows her oldest son would not be able to hold out. “Your father and I have an announcement...”
Jin and Reio exchanged suspicious looks. Mr. Akanishi smiled and nodded at his wife.
“We are having a new addition to the family,” Mrs. Akanishi announced.
Jin's chopsticks froze in midair, dropping the food caught between. Reio choked on his food. At the same time, both boys burst out, “What?!?”
After a moment of stunned silence, Jin exclaimed, “Jesus, oka-asan! Are you pregnant?”
The two adults laughed. “Don't be silly,” Mrs. Akanishi said. “I meant someone's going to live with us for a while.” Jin got nervous when his mother looked at him and smiled sweetly. “It's Kazuya.”
Mrs. Akanishi went on to explain how Kazuya's father was transferred to Tokyo and how the family was supposed to move immediately and had arranged for both Kazuya and Yuya's transfer school. But Mr. Kamenashi's transfer was delayed a couple of months so their move was also delayed. Only, Kazuya's new school will no longer accept him if he doesn't start the second term.
“Oh,” was Reio's unenthusiastic reaction. “I was hoping I'd get another brother. Jin sucks.” Ordinarily, his comment would earn him a painful kick under the table. Reio was quite surprised that his older brother just sat with an unreadable expression on his face.
♥
Mrs. Akanishi didn't know what happened that night at the onsen two years ago. When she and Kazuya's mother came back, both boys were asleep on their respective futons. The following morning, the two were no longer fighting and were even conversing yet they sensed a far bigger wedge. Since then, no amount of cajoling or duping could make either see the other. The two women were resigned that their boys had simply outgrown each other.
But Mrs. Akanishi could not help think that, perhaps, there was something else. If it was a simple falling out, Jin would not have reacted so violently to sharing a room with Kazuya. Nor would he be out the whole Sunday Kazuya arrived.
Kazuya had been with them a whole week and, every morning, Jin would only get out of his room when Kazuya had left. He would come home when Kazuya had gone to bed. Surprisingly, neither did Kazuya ask about Jin. The first weekend, Kazuya went home to his parents right after school Friday. This went on for another week.
Monday came and Jin came home late again. “Why is there so much left over?” he asked, looking at the food inside the refrigerator.
“Because you haven't eaten,” Mrs. Akanishi replied, then added, “And Kazuya didn't eat. He said he's not feeling well.”
Jin closed the refrigerator door and turned towards his mother. “Kazuya's sick?” He could not hide his worry. He has yet to see Kazuya. He had gotten a glimpse of him whenever he peeks out of his room to see if Kazuya had left. The younger boy had grown taller. Still thin. And he had dyed his hair copper red.
“No,” Mrs. Akanishi answered. Jin noted his mother looked worried. “He said he fell.” Mrs. Akanishi sighed. Any mother knows that when a boy comes home battered and bruised, claiming he fell and refused to talk about it means he didn't really fall.
Jin understood. Kazuya's the new boy in school. It's a rite of passage to get beaten up. “Is it bad? Kazuya, I mean.”
Mrs. Akanishi sighed again. “Looked to me like he fell a whole flight of stairs...face first.”
Jin winced. “Oh, jeez...”
“I don't know how and if I should tell his mom,” Jin's mother said.
“No, don't,” Jin said. He knows it will only make matters worse. If Kazuya's mother finds out, he was certain the lady would directly go to his son's school and create a scene. That would be the kiss of death for any high school boy. “I'll take care of it,” Jin offered.
“I know you would.” Mrs. Akanishi smiled, sincerely grateful at his son. “I'm going to bed. Wash the dishes.”
Left alone in the darkened kitchen, Jin battled with himself. It had been like that for him since Kazuya lived with them. He was constantly at battle with himself - a part of him wanting to see Kazuya yet another part was scared. After that night at the onsen, they have severed all communications. What he did to Kazuya, what he felt when he did what he did to Kazuya scared him like nothing before. Part of it was the fear that he was gay. Yet it was more than that. Much more and he couldn't put a finger on it. And it scares him so much he didn't want to see Kazuya.
♥
Seeing the school gate, the knot in Kazuya's stomach grew. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second. He was scared but he'll be damned to show it. He shook his head. He hated the way he feels. The physical pain he could take. It's the paranoia he could not stand. He couldn't shake the feeling that he is constantly being watched and followed.
Kazuya straightened up and held his head high. As he neared the gate, his steps faltered when he saw a classmate looking his way with a wide friendly smile. “Hi! Kamenashi Kazuya, right?” The boy was taller, more built and has the friendliest face. “I'm Yamashita Tomohisa, your class president.”
Kazuya just stared back, not knowing what to make of the situation.
“That was some fall you took yesterday,” Yamashita said.
“Oh...well...” replied Kazuya.
Before Kazuya could say anything else, Yamashita wound an arm around Kazuya's left elbow. “Let's go. We'll be late.” Kazuya hesitantly allowed himself to be dragged inside the school compound.
♥
Kazuya stood by the door of Jin's room. He knew he had to do it.
For the past two weeks, living with the Akanishi's, he and Jin has not crossed path. He knew Jin was deliberately avoiding him and Kazuya was confoundedly grateful and sad at that. The night at the onsen haunted him for the last two years. In his young life, he had never been that scared and exhilarated at the same time. He didn't know what to make of it. He didn't know what to make of Jin. Of Jin and him. It scared and confused him so he stopped talking to Jin.
Severing ties with Jin worked out pretty well. He was able to somehow push Jin and onsen incident at the back of his mind. That was until his father's botched up transfer and Kazuya found himself living under the same roof as the person he tried so hard to forget.
Kazuya knew he and Jin cannot avoid each other the whole two months he was to stay with the Akanishis. It was just ridiculous. Not especially because he knows that Jin was behind Yamashita's sudden friendship in school. No matter the onsen incident, what was clear at that point was that Jin saved his ass. The least he could do was thank him.
“Come in,” Jin said, knowing it was Kazuya knocking on his door. Neither his mother nor Reio would bother to knock. And his father wouldn't go to his room unless he was in grave trouble and he wasn't.
Very slowly, the door opened. Kazuya, still in his uniform and with his bag slung across his body, took a tentative step forward. “Hey,” Kazuya greeted.
“Hey,” Jin greeted back. For the first time in two weeks, they finally came face to face. Jin tried not to wince at the sight of Kazuya's bruised face and the cut on the slightly swollen lip.
Kazuya fidgeted for a while. He didn't know how to say what he came to say. It didn't help that Jin looked comfortably cool and unaffected in an old t-shirt and pair of jeans, sitting on the bed with back against the wall , knees propped up and a book opened on his lap. Kazuya cleared his throat and muttered thanks.
Jin smiled. “Baka,” he said and closed the book on his lap. “Come in. Sit down. Tell me what happened in school.”
Kazuya smiled back. He stepped inside Jin's room and closed the door. “Nothing happened. Thanks to you.”
“Me? I didn't do anything. You have to thank Pi.” Looking at Kazuya, in white t-shirt under the school uniform of black jacket and pants - Jin thinks it was no wonder he got beaten up. The moment Kazuya stepped inside his new school, he probably stole a lot of hearts.
“Pi?” Kazuya asked. He took off his bag before he sat down on the floor opposite Jin's bed.
“Yamashita. He's called Pi because he likes the color pink,” Jin exclaimed.
Kazuya was thoughtful then asked, “Is he gay?”
Jin snorted. “Because he likes pink? That's stereotype, Kazu,” Jin scoffed. Belatedly, he asked, “Did he try...?”
“No!” Kazuya exclaimed. “For someone so popular and good-looking, he was really nice.”
Jin slightly frowned at the 'good-looking' description. “Actually, I'm not sure if he's gay or not.” Kazuya looked questioningly at him. “You've met Ryo?”
“Yeah, he joined Yamashita-san and I for lunch.”
“I became friends with Pi because of Ryo. Ryo was a classmate in middle school. He and Pi are very close.” Jin paused. “I don't know why and how a mean-mouthed Nishikido would hang around Pi who is two years his junior.”
Kazuya nodded. He got what Jin was implying. He did find it odd. Nishikido, a popular and feared third year student, seemed real brusque while Yamashita was very congenial to everyone. Yet, during lunch, it was clear Yamashita holds the upper hand in whatever relationship they have. “You can just ask Nishikido-san if he's gay.”
Jin scoffed. “You don't just ask your friends if they are gay.”
“Why not? You can ask me,” Kazuya said then silently berated himself for speaking out without thinking.
Jin looked at the younger man. It suddenly occurred to him that he never wondered whether Kazuya was gay or not. As if he it didn't matter. He now wonders why it didn't matter. “Are you?” he asked nonetheless.
Kazuya hesitated then said, “I had a girlfriend in my old school.”
Jin chortled but stopped abruptly when Kazuya's eyes narrowed at him. “So until middle school you dated...,” Jin said, trying to rein in his laughter, “...Ran-chan?” With that, Jin broke into a laugh.
Kazuya turned red, embarrassed at being reminded of the stupid lie he said six years ago. “Her name's Ayase,” he said, indignant. “She's pretty and all.”
Jin stopped laughing but he was still smiling. “I'm sorry,” he said apologetically. “She sounds nice.”
Jin watched Kazuya's face return to its original color. “You said had. You broke up?”
“Yeah, I don't believe in long distance relationship,” Kazuya replied without a hint of regret in his voice. Jin was amused. Kazuya is as stubborn as always.. “Do you have a girlfriend now?"
Jin shook his head. "Free as a bird," he said. He hasn't had a girlfriend for quite a few months and he is enjoying it. It's just the sex he misses. And out of the blue, he asked, "You had sex with your exr?”
Kazuya was quite taken aback with the question but managed to nod.
“So you're no longer a virgin...” Jin teased.
Kazuya was struck silent. It wasn't with Ayase that he considered his first. He looked up and his eyes met with Jin's. Somehow they both knew that they were both thinking of that fateful night at the onsen.
Kazuya scrambled up to his feet. “I should...”
“Yeah...” Jin replied, leaning back on the bed's headboard and opening his book.
♥
Kazuya coughed. “You shouldn't smoke.” Jin merely eyed him and even blew the smoke towards his direction. “Does your mother know you smoke?”
“No, unless you intend to rant on me.”
The two boys were inside Jin's room. Since the time Kazuya came into Jin's room to thank the older boy for taking care of his school problem, the two boys have regained their friendship. It was more than the conversation they had that afternoon. It was the silence after; when they both knew that they both still remember the night at the onsen. It was unspoken but was silently acknowledged. It was enough for them to move on. And just like that, Kazuya and Jin became friends again.
As if the two years that they didn't see each other nor talk with each other didn't happen, the boys simply fell into the habit of hanging around each other. Kazuya still sleeps in Reio's room but he would always hang out at Jin's. He was comfortable in Jin's room and it helped that the older boy readily helps him in his homeworks especially English. His only problem was Jin's smoking.
“You should stop smoking. It's bad for you.”
“And who are you? The surgeon general?” Jin mocked.
Kazuya smirked. “You do know second-hand smoke is more dangerous.”
Jin smirked back at him and said, “Well you brush your teeth without foaming your mouth. That's just wrong.”
Kazuya fell silent but after a while, commented, “My clothes stink from your smoke.”
“Jesus, Kazuya! Will you stop being so prissy!” Jin crushed his cigarette on an ashtray he hides outside his window.
Irked, Kazuya blurted, “Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray.” And he regretted it as soon as he realized what he just said implied.
Jin saw Kazuya blush and could not help but tease. “Why? Are you thinking of kissing me?” he asked, eyes twinkling.
“NO!” Kazuya exclaimed. “I just meant...” The boy turned redder from his ears down to his neck. “Forget it...” He gathered his things and stormed out of Jin's room. That night, Kazuya could not sleep because he thought about kissing Jin. He wanted to kiss Jin.
End of Chapter 4
Chapter 5