One Shot: Somehow a miracle (Part 2)
Jin was waiting the next day for Kame but he still wasn't there until lunch time.
He was sitting in the living room with Keiko, drawing random pictures. He absent-mindedly drew whatever was in his head. When he looked down, he saw small hearts all over the paper. His face turned red and he immediately threw it away.
Keiko watched Jin curiously as he hit his head a few times and muttered incoherent words. She looked down at her picture. After a few minutes, she stood up and went towards Jin, holding out the picture for him.
“Is that for me? Thank you so much Keiko-chan,” Jin smiled happily and kissed her cheek as a reward.
Then he looked at the picture that was just given to him and his face immediately turned red all over again.
There were two stick figures and above them, the words “Dad loves Kame” was written surrounded by dozens of hearts .
“No! I don't love him! I really don't! How can you think that! I don't love Kame!” Jin denied but she just smiled at him. He sighed. “And how can you write anyway? You're only 3.”
She went into the bed room and came back shortly with a book. When he looked at the book he saw that it was a book for children to learn how to write characters.
“Who gave you that? One of the members?” he asked and she nodded her head. “That's it. You're quite clever when you can already write simple things but don't write that I like Kame! Dad doesn't like Kame! Well I do but not love you know!”
She giggled and he just sighed. He knew that he couldn't get that out of her head anymore. He didn't know though how she knew about it.
“You really like Kame, do you?” he asked her and she nodded.
“You want him to be your dad as well?”
Again she nodded enthusiastically.
“How about we use a secret code for him?” She looked at him questioning and with big, round eyes. “Whenever he is here and we want to talk about him without him knowing we will say Daddy instead of Kame alright?”
She nodded with a wide smile. He thought she was too cute. And it was the first time that he was glad that she couldn't talk yet. He didn't want to know how Kame would react if she would call him Daddy.
~♥~
Kame did come around in the afternoon and they went to eat ice cream together. Keiko was holding Jin's hand in one and Kame's hand in her other hand. Together they walked through the park until they stopped in front of an ice cream shop and bought ice cream.
When they continued walking Keiko all of a sudden fell.
Jin immediately rushed to her side and asked if she was hurt anywhere and if she were alright. She only nodded but didn't cry though her knee was bleeding.
“Should we go to the hospital? Are you really okay? Kame, what should we do?” Jin panicked.
“Calm down first. We should go home and clean the wound. I don't think it's too deep.”
He nodded and lifted her up into his arms to carry her home. Kame wondered how she could be such a strong girl, children in her age would have cried.
At Jin's home, Jin got the first aid kit and Kame started to clean her wound with alcohol.
“This will probably hurt a bit but it will be over soon so be a strong girl alright?” Kame told the girl and she nodded in reply.
He observed her reaction. When he applied the alcohol on her wound, she didn't move at all. Jin flinched instead though he wasn't the one who has the wound.
“Be strong Keiko. Dad will be here for you,” Jin held the little child's hand but he couldn't bear the sight of the treatment so he closed his eyes tightly.
“Don't be such a wimp Jin. She is the one hurting, not you.”
“Daddy doesn't understand anything,” Jin winked at the girl and Kame just looked strangely at the other. It made the girl smile though.
Kame bandaged the wound when it was clean and he told her she could go play again.
“Thank you,” Jin said when the girl was running to her room to get her hula hoop. “I panicked when I saw all the blood and you stayed calm and cleaned the wound. So thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me Jin,” Kame smiled at the other.
“You … you want to stay for dinner? I could make us pasta or something,” Jin suggested.
“Sure, thank you for the invitation,” Kame replied and when he smiled again, Jin thought this could be very close to happiness.
~♥~
After a few months, Jin finally decided to have a babysitter for Keiko. He couldn't take her to work everyday anymore especially when he had solo work and the others weren't there to play with her. When he asked Kame about it, he also said it would be a good idea.
He asked his friends if they knew anyone suited for the job because he couldn't simply put an ad on the newspaper. One day, Pi called him and said a friend's friend would be interested in the job. He got the guys number and called him for an interview.
The said guy came the next day and introduced himself as Ishigawa Atsushi. He was a student at Rikadai, his course under Management.
“Why do you want this job?” Jin asked him.
“Besides studying at the university, I have a part-time job as a waiter in a café but the money isn't enough to pay the university fees and the flat I’m currently residing at but I don't have the time for another part-time job. So I thought this would be a perfect job for me because I can both take care of the child and study for university,” Ishigawa replied and Jin thought the guy was nice enough.
He turned to Keiko and asked her. “Do you like him?”
She nodded with a smile and it was the reply to accept Ichigawa.
“Do you have a girlfriend?” he asked because he didn't want to have a fan standing in front of his door one day.
“No sir. I'm gay,” he replied and blushed.
“That's good. You have the job.”
~♥~
Keiko liked Ishigawa a lot. Jin noticed. Whenever he came home from work, he would see them happily playing together or she was already asleep and he was studying in the living room.
“Thanks for your help. She really seems to like you,” Jin said one day when he came home from work.
“That's not a problem. I really like her as well. She's a really cute and bright girl. Not to mention, very intelligent as well. Though she can't speak yet she really likes to write so sometimes, I teach her new characters and simple sentences,” Ishigawa reported to him.
“That's good. She really is an intelligent girl.”
~♥~
He brought Kame home with him one day because Kame missed Keiko.
“Kame, this is Ishigawa, Keiko's babysitter. Ishigawa, this is Kamenashi, a colleague,” Jin introduced them.
“Nice to meet you Kamenashi-san,” Ishigawa bowed.
“Nice to meet you too and Kame is fine,” Kame said and shook his hand.
“Ishigawa, do you want to stay until after dinner? We bought Pizza on our way home.”
Ishigawa accepted the invitation and together they sat at the dining table and ate. Kame and Ishigawa were talking about his studies while Jin was just listening, occasionally asking a few questions here and there.
“Thank you for the invitation. It was really nice of you,” Ishigawa thanked them before he left.
“No problem Ishigawa” Jin told him.
Jin brought Keiko to bed before he sat down at the table to drink his beer.
“Ishigawa is a nice guy and I noticed that Keiko really likes him,” Kame said.
“Yeah, she's already too attached to him,” Jin mumbled.
“You sound like a jealous father who talks about his daughter's boyfriend,” Kame chuckled and he blushed.
“Am not. Besides he is gay. And too old for Keiko.”
“Oh, he is?” Kame arched an eyebrow and Jin felt an uncomfortable feeling settling inside his stomach.
~♥~
Pi came over the other day when he had a day off. He played with Keiko while Jin was writing a song. Ishigawa came over later and took care of her so that Jin could talk with Pi.
“She's so cute. I wish I would be able to see her more often,” Pi complained.
“You are seeing her often enough. There’s no need to get her get used to you around.”
“You should be grateful that I introduced Ishigawa to you. Keiko really seems to like him.” Jin grunted as a reply. “What? Are you jealous of him?”
“Am not,” Jin replied but Pi saw through him anyway.
“Ah I got it. Is it because of Kame?” he asked and Jin blushed.
“It's not! Why are you bringing Kame up? This has nothing to do with him!”
“I know this look Jin. Don't forget, I'm your best friend and I know this look exactly. You only get it when you think about Kame,” Pi teased him causing Jin to blush even more.
“Shut up.”
~♥~
Kame came over more often after that evening with the excuse that he missed Keiko, but Jin was suspecting something else. It was not a secret that Kame liked guys and Jin thought Kame kind of liked Ishigawa. He was exactly Kame's type - or so what he thought.
He was observing the two of them sometimes and the way Kame smiled at Ishigawa or the way he touched his shoulder was different from the way he was towards Jin, or so he thought.
“You shouldn't fall in love with Keiko's babysitter,” Jin said one evening when they were sitting together at the dining table after Ishigawa had left, Keiko was drawing in her room.
Kame almost choked with the wine he was drinking and looked at Jin with widened eyes. “What?”
“He's Keiko's babysitter! Never start a relationship with an employer!”
Kame chuckled before he replied. “I don't like him. I mean I do, but not in that way Jin.”
“Oh.” Jin ducked his head embarrassed.
“Besides there is already someone else I'm interested in,” Kame said with a mysterious smile.
Jin didn't ask further.
~♥~
The three of them often went out together to have fun. When they had work and Ishigawa couldn't take care of her Kame played with her whenever he could and sometimes he felt that he belonged to the little family already.
Whenever Keiko kissed his cheek as a greeting she would smile shyly afterwards so he couldn't resist and kiss her too. She seemed to like it but Jin felt jealousy rising inside him every time he saw them. Kame didn't know that though.
“Ne Keiko, why don't you try to say something? Try Ka-me,” Kame said to her one day. When she only looked at him confused he pronounced his name again but still she didn't reply.
“How about Ji-n.” No reply. Kame sighed and gave up. He wondered why she still couldn't say a word at the age of 3. His niece started talking when she was 1.
“Are you teaching her how to speak?” Jin asked him when he came into the room from an interview.
“Yeah but she doesn't say a word. I'm quite worried,” Kame told Jin about his worries.
“Don't worry. Every child has its own pace so maybe she's a bit slow. She's quite intelligent though. She can already write a few characters,” Jin told Kame.
“Oh really? Maybe you're right and she's just a little slower.”
“Anyway you want to go out today? We wanted to go to the new restaurant near my apartment. We could watch a film afterwards or something.”
“Yeah sounds nice.”
Jin smiled happily when Kame agreed and Keiko didn't hide her smile either when she saw her Dad happy.
~♥~
After dinner, they went home and settled down on the sofa to watch a film. Kame found himself more often in Jin's apartment than his own home but he didn't really mind. It felt like his second home.
During the film, Keiko fell asleep but the two of them just continued to watch until it was over. When they both leaned over to carry her to bed they again faced each other above her head.
Jin felt the heat rising in his face but he didn't turn away, neither did Kame. Instead his right hand moved to touch Kame's cheek and Kame closed his eyes in that moment. Jin took it as an invitation and leaned forward until their lips touched in a soft kiss. It wasn't enough for Kame though and he leaned more to press his lips on Jin's, his tongue licking Jin's bottom lip and as a response Jin opened his mouth and Kame's tongue took the chance to slip inside Jin's mouth.
They deepened the kiss and only broke it after what seemed like hours to catch some air. But it didn't take long before Jin caught Kame's lips in another kiss again. When he wanted to shift closer to Kame's body though, he felt something between them and remembered Keiko. He broke the kiss and whispered that he would bring her to bed. Kame nodded and leaned back to his original position.
Jin quickly took her into his arms and carried her to her bed. He took a few moments to collect himself before he returned to the living room where Kame was sitting awkwardly on the sofa. He sat down next to him.
“Uhm … Kame?” Jin was the first one to break the uncomfortable silence. Kame turned his head to look at Jin. “I like you. I really like you. I've liked you since forever, I think, but I just realized it recently and that you became such an important part of my life to the point that I don't want to lose you.”
Jin quickly took a glance at Kame but he couldn't read the other's eyes so he continued. “We can just forget what had happened and return to how it was before. I don't want it to be awkward between us you know. Keiko already likes you so much and I don't want to ruin it for her... or”
“Or?” Kame asked.
“We don't forget it and ...” Jin didn't know how to finish the sentence because he didn't know what would happen if they didn't forget about it.
He didn't have time to think though when Kame pulled him into a kiss.
“What if I don't want to forget about it?” Kame asked him, his lips just a breath apart from his.
“You could become Keiko's mum then,” he replied and Kame laughed.
“I would prefer to be his dad though. But I would like that.”
Jin felt like hundreds of butterflies were flying in his stomach. And when Kame kissed him again he thought that the missing part to fill his happiness was now on his grasp.
~♥~
Keiko was up early in the morning and ran into her Dad's room to wake him up like every morning. But this morning she found someone else with her Dad in the bed. She jumped happily onto the bed and shook her Dad awake.
“I know Keiko. I'm already awake,” Jin moaned and wrapped his arms around her so she was lying down with him.
She was lying between her Dad and the other man now and turned happily to the other side to face her Daddy. She kissed his cheek and he opened his eyes sleepily.
“Good morning sunshine,” he greeted her and she smiled even wider. He leaned forward to plant a kiss on her cheek as well.
“What about me?” came from the other side of the bed. Jin was leaning his cheek for them to kiss, but Keiko just giggled and snuggled closer to Kame to hug him. “I want a kiss as well Keiko!”
But she just shook her head and turned to Kame. Kame let out a small chuckle and embraced her. He wouldn't mind waking up this way everyday.
Kame was about to slip to sleep again when Jin started to tickle the both of them under the blanket. Keiko was laughing unstoppable and Kame also tried to escape from Jin's hands. At the end, Kame and Jin's heads were resting next to each other and Keiko was squeezed between them.
“Good morning mum,” Jin said and received a slap on his head. “I mean Daddy.”
Jin kissed Kame on the lips and suddenly Keiko was there between them, also kissing them on the lips.
“Good morning to you too, princess.”
She settled down between them again and they stayed like that for another few minutes, just enjoying the early morning happiness.
~♥~
Kame came over more and more often and it didn't only result to becoming closer to Keiko, but also to Jin. It felt like their junior days were replaying all over again.
“I think this is the first time in my life that I felt unconditionally happy. Having the two of you in my life is more than I have ever wished for,” Jin whispered into Kame's ear one night when they were lying on his bed together with Keiko who was now in deep sleep between them.
“I feel the same. I don't think I need anything else when I have you two.”
Jin kissed him briefly on his lips before tilting his chin so that Kame was looking into his eyes. “She is a true blessing. I don't know what I did to deserve her but right now, I can't even imagine my life without her anymore. She is like my own child even though it's only been 6 months since she was in front of my door.”
Kame nodded and told him that he felt the same way about her. He looked down to her sleeping form and smiled.
“She looks like you,” Jin said and leaned his head against Kame's.
“I think she looks a lot like you,” Kame laughed quietly.
“She has your eyes,” Jin said and kissed her head lightly.
“She has your nose,” Kame said and pecked Jin's nose.
“I love you Kame,” Jin suddenly told him. “I love you and Keiko.”
“I love the both of you as well,” Kame answered and they shared a long, deep kiss before they also settled down to sleep.
~♥~
The first thing she said was the word Pi. Jin insisted that it wasn't a word but just a sound.
Kame caught him teaching her his name after dinner though.
“She likes me more than her own Dad,” Pi teased Jin when he came over the other day.
Jin gave Kame a death glare for having told Pi about it.
“It's not even a word! It's just some kind of sound she makes! She makes funny sounds all the time!”
Pi picked Keiko up from the sofa and kissed her cheek. “Say my name again Keiko.”
She laughed at him and ruffled his fluffy hair. “No Keiko. Not my hair! I still have an interview in a few hours.”
Jin laughed at Pi and told him that he said so. There was no way the first word she said would be his name. Kame guided her hands away from Pi's hair and took over.
“You can't do that Keiko. Even if his hair looks nice he still has to look good for his interview,” Kame scolded her with a smile and she laughed back at him.
“Pi!”
Pi beamed and Jin sulked on the sofa.
~♥~
One day Koki and Taguchi were taking care of her during a recording of a single. They played with her outside the studio on a playground when she suddenly fell down and started crying. Taguchi tried to calm her down while Koki quickly ran inside and called Jin and Kame who were sitting inside the studio, memorizing their song texts.
They immediately rushed out with Koki when they heard what happened.
“Keiko! What's wrong? Where are you hurt?” Jin asked the little girl in his arms. She stopped crying for a moment and pointed to her leg before she started to cry again. “Your leg? Is your leg hurt?”
He told Koki to call an ambulance and tried to calm her down in his arms but she wouldn't stop crying. He never saw her crying this hard before and somehow he felt afraid.
Suddenly he felt a warm hand on his shoulder and when he looked behind him Kame gave him a reassuring smile. “Everything will be alright Jin.”
He nodded and tried again to get her to stop crying.
A few minutes later the ambulance arrived and Kame and Jin went to the hospital with her. Koki and Taguchi apologized but Kame reassured them that it wasn't their fault.
They had to wait in the hall while Keiko was examined by a doctor. Jin couldn't sit still and walked up and down in front of the door until Kame took his hand and led him to sit beside him, holding his hand tightly.
“She'll be alright Jin. Don't be so worried.”
“I never saw her cry so much,” Jin admitted. “She never cried so much before. It hurt to see her in so much pain.”
Kame kissed his forehead and told him that he felt the same. But they had to be strong.
A nurse came out two hours later and led them inside the room where the doctor was sitting. He told him that Keiko was in another room resting.
“She broke her leg,” the doctor told them.
“What? How? She only fell,” Jin asked him.
“Her bones are really weak that's why she broke her leg when she just fell down on the ground. I thought it could be because she has a genetic bone disorder like Osteogenesis Imperfecta but that's not the case. I've already made a few tests as to why her bones are so weak but we still have to wait for the results.”
“Thank you doctor,” Kame thanked him because Jin didn't seem able to.
“I'm surprised though that it only happened now. Her leg bones are really weak so it's a miracle that she could still walk and only broke a leg,” the doctor told them.
“Do you have a guess what it could be? Is it anything serious?” Kame asked worried.
“Right now, I can't say anything but I have a guess. I want to prove my guess though before I'll tell you.”
They took their leave and headed to Keiko's room. But before they entered, Kame took Jin's hand and held him back for a moment.
“Don't make such a face. She will be worried when she sees your sad face,” Kame told him and kissed his cheek. “Everything will be alright.”
Jin nodded and smiled faintly back. “Thank you, Daddy.”
~♥~
Keiko was sleeping the whole day but still, Jin insisted that he wanted to stay with her. Kame gave up in the end and told him that he would come back tomorrow to check on them and would bring them food.
Jin stayed awake the whole night and held Keiko's hand. Even though she only broke her leg, he felt extremely worried. He hoped that she would be alright soon again.
~♥~
The next morning, Kame came back with breakfast for Jin and found the older man asleep next to the bed, holding Keiko's hand tightly in his.
He took a blanket he had brought with him to cover Jin with it. He settled down on another chair.
When he came to the hospital the nurse told him that the results were here now and that the doctor would talk to them soon. He didn't want to worry but he couldn't help but feel uneasy about it.
It's only been more than 6 months since she came into his and Jin's life but it felt longer. He didn't feel like she is a girl who they've adopted because to him - and he knew Jin was feeling the same way - she felt like a real daughter. His and Jin's daughter.
“Kamenashi-san, the doctor would like to talk to you now,” the nurse informed him.
He shook Jin gently to wake him up.
“Kame?” Jin rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched himself.
“The doctor wants to talk to us Jin.”
Jin nodded and followed him outside, closing the door to Keiko's room silently so he wouldn't wake her up. The doctor was already waiting for them and they sat down on the chairs after they've bowed.
“The results are now here. I told them that this is a priority case so they finished as soon as possible.” The doctor laid out a few papers on his tables with what Kame guessed were the results. “Keiko has a rare case of the SMA disease.”
Jin looked confused and so felt Kame as well. “What does that mean doctor?” Kame asked him.
“It's a rare disease which causes muscular atrophy and weakness that's why her bones are so weak and she broke her leg. There are different types of the disease, in her case it's type I and II. Normally you can tell which type it is but in her case it's a fusion of type I and II that's why it's only been diagnosed now.”
“Type I? Type II? What does these types mean?”
“It measures the severity the disease affects the body. Type I is the most dangerous one, Type IV the most harmless one. Type I is often diagnosed at the age of 1 the latest and it's also the one with the shortest lifespan. Whereto Type IV is diagnosed at the age of 30 or older but it doesn't affect one's life too much and the lifespan isn't limited,” the doctor explained and they tried their best to remember all these information.
“So what about Type I and II? What does it mean for Keiko?” Kame asked rather hesitantly. Under the table Jin was grabbing his hand in a tight hold, shaking.
“Like I already told you Keiko has a mixture of both I and II. The disease causes limited movement because her muscles are starting to weaken and she won't be able to stand or walk anymore. Breathing will be difficult for her and probably swallowing as well.”
None of them dared to ask the question they wanted to be answered the most, too afraid of what they would hear.
“Children diagnosed with Type I often die within the first two years of their life. Children with Type II might be able to still celebrate their 10th birthday. But this is a rare case, and I can't tell you exactly how much time she has but I don't think it will be longer than 3 months. The results here show that the degeneration of the motor neurons is increasing rapidly and it will be only a matter of time until the weakening of the muscles will lead to respiratory infection, lung collapse and death.”
Jin flinched at the word and Kame tried to soothe his pain by caressing Jin's hand gently but he knew that nothing could take the pain both of them were feeling.
“Is there any chance that she will be healthy again? Can't you do anything doctor?” Kame asked. If there was a chance he wanted to listen to it, no matter how dangerous it was.
“In her case there is no help for her anymore. I'm really sorry Kamenashi-san. Even if it had been diagnosed earlier that would have been no help for her. I think you should take her home and give her some last happy memories. I'm sure you wouldn't want her to stay here in the hospital any longer. I already arranged a wheelchair for her so you can take her home. She isn't allowed to stand or walk on her own anymore. I'm sure you understand me Kamenashi-san. It's only for her sake.”
“Thank you doctor,” Kame bowed and stood up to leave the room. He had to pull Jin up by the hand until he finally stood up and left with Kame.
They sat down outside the doctor's office in silence.
Yesterday everything was still alright and suddenly their whole world was breaking down on them, burying them deep under the harshness of reality.
Kame held Jin's hand as a kind of support but when he felt that it wasn't enough, he turned around and pulled the older man into a tight embrace. He couldn't hold back his tears anymore and started to cry silently in Jin's arms.
“I'm so sorry Jin. I'm so sorry,” he mumbled again and again into Jin's chest.
As a response Jin wrapped his arms around Kame's waist and held him closer to his body.
Part 3