Drowned in Silence /// Seventh Word: Strong
banner by naomi0211 ♥♥♥
Title: Drowned in Silence /// Words we could never find ///
Pairing: Akanishi Jin x Kazuya Kamenashi //Akame//
Genre: AU!!!, Romance, Angst
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story. I don't make profit with this. The plot is mine and I DO NOT COPY anyone's writing.
Summary: It's been more than two years, since they had decided to part ways. Now, they meet, their paths cross again and Kazuya and Jin are confronted with memories of that one week they once shared. But probably, nothing has changed; they are probably still the same --- unable to find the words that would make their paths become one.
A/N: English isn't my mother tongue, but I lived in the UK for quite a time, so I basically write and speak well. You're welcome to correct any mistakes, though. Of course.
A/N#2: This is a Sequel to Seven Days, you should have read that multichapter to understand this, I guess.
I'm a little late. But, this has gotten quite long. It's quite a bit longer than my usual chapters, but I had to stuff all this into this chap, because ... well, for reasons XD
The drama continues :D
Enjoy reading ♥
Previous Chapters:
Prologue
First Word: Remember
Second Word: Oblivion
Third Word: Attraction
Fourth Word: Unsteady
Fifth Word: Weak
Sixth Word: Complicated
Seventh Word: Strong
“Ah, a beer after a day of hard work is surely the best!”
Kazuya threw Tegoshi a look and took a bite of his rice ball. “Seriously, who sold you beer?”
Tegoshi grinned and opened another can, handing it to Kazuya. “Tomo got it for me.”
They were sitting in Kazuya’s flat, at the small table in the living room, watching a TV show and having dinner they bought at the convenience store on their way home. Both of them had had training until late, so they had decided to have dinner together. They hadn’t done that in a while.
“You’ve been calling him that recently”, the older one noticed. “Are you guys…” He stopped, when his mobile rang and fumbled it out of his pocket, checking the number, before he picked up. “Hey”, he answered in a warm tone.
Tegoshi watched him, while he continued eating his rice ball and took sips of his beer.
“Yeah, we’re done for today. Tomorrow? I’d like to, yes. I have training until six, but we could go and have dinner somewhere…” For a while, Kazuya paused, then he said: “Of course you can come and watch our training. Okay. Yes. See you tomorrow then.”
Tegoshi frowned, leaning back on his elbows. “You guys are serious, are you?”
Kazuya looked up and blushed slightly. “We… We just met again; we need to see where it leads us.”
“It’s been two years, hasn’t it? Does it feel a lot different from before?”
Shrugging, Kazuya finished the rice ball. “Surprisingly not.”
Tegoshi nodded understanding, took another sip of the beer. “I don’t know what you’ve guys been like two years ago, but it seems you were already head over heels for him at that time.”
Kazuya choked on his beer and held his chest, coughing. “Who are you talking about?”
“Akanishi, who else?” The light brunette patted Kazuya’s back lightly.
“Who else”, Kazuya repeated. “There’s nothing going on with Jin.”
“You spent two nights at his last week, don’t tell me.”
Kazuya avoided looking at Tegoshi and just shrugged. “We’re friends. I spent several nights at your place.”
“We’ve never locked us in a bathroom before that, though”, Tegoshi answered with a smirk.
“How…” Kazuya’s eyes widened and he stared at Tegoshi in disbelief.
“Don’t worry; no one else noticed. I just saw Akanishi entering the room, when you opened the door. And you guys didn’t come out for a while.”
“We needed to talk”, Kazuya said firmly. “Alone.”
Tegoshi bit back a grin and nodded. “In any case, it made you two leave together.”
Finding it was useless to deny those facts, Kazuya sighed and ran his hand over his face. “Yeah, I stayed at his place for two nights. But that doesn’t make us lovers or anything.”
“You’ve been pretty messed up ever since you met him again, Kame”, Tegoshi murmured in a pitiful voice. “He has a girlfriend, right? Tomo told me.”
Kazuya just nodded. “You mustn’t tell anyone about that, Yuya.”
“I know, I know”, the younger one assured him. “Judging from your state, I assume he didn’t break up with her.”
“What happened was a mistake. Betraying his girlfriend… it’s the worst.” Kazuya swallowed thickly. “It was wrong and we both acknowledge that. We were drunk, that’s all.”
Tegoshi sat back, looking at Kazuya closely. “You don’t look like it was that easy to you, though.”
“I’d have done it, even if I hadn’t been drunk”, Kazuya admitted and sighed. “But I’m not the problem. I can do whatever I want. He can’t.”
“You’re feeling bad for that girl”, Tegoshi realised. “So…”
“I told him he shouldn’t break up with her. After all, we’re both boys and this is not for sure and we were just… making out.”
“Making out?”
“It’s not like we’re in love”, Kazuya cleared up.
Tegoshi looked sceptical, but he nodded, though. “So, you want him to stay with that girl.”
“It’s better than risking anything. And I…” He pointed at his mobile. “That just now, was Mirai.”
Tegoshi tilted his head. “You’re meeting up with Mirai?”
Kazuya nodded. “She called me last weekend already and we went to have lunch together.”
“So, you want to hit on her?”
He just shrugged a shoulder.
“You know”, Tegoshi said and sighed. “You’re actually just up for trouble, aren’t you?”
Kazuya frowned, even though he knew where Tegoshi’s thoughts were leading to.
“It’s the same situation you’re getting yourself into, isn’t it? She has a boyfriend, Kame.”
“I know she does.”
“Is there anything going on between you? Do you think it’s as strong as to make her break up with her boyfriend?”
Kazuya looked down at his lap. “How would I know?”
“Akanishi hurt you, didn’t he?” Tegoshi ignored Kazuya’s try to deny that. “He would not have broken up for your sake and you are hurt. Because you feel you’re not special enough.”
That hit the point and Kazuya hated how it did.
Tegoshi scooted closer to his friend. “Kame, don’t let that happen again. Find out what she’s up to first, don’t let her use you to two-time.”
Biting his lip, Kazuya shook his head.
“You’re the one who ends up hurting in the end.”
He looked up to Tegoshi’s face, saw the concern and the worries. Kazuya wished Jin would have thought about him in that way. But he hadn’t.
“But she distracts me. When she’s around, I don’t feel like thinking about Jin all the time.”
Tegoshi smiled slightly. “Nothing’s lost yet. Just find out first where it is leading to, take it slowly.”
Later, when Tegoshi was gone, Kazuya thought about those words, about what he should do.
It was scary to him that when he thought about acting intuitionally, his first idea was to run back to Jin and take whatever he could get from him.
Even if it was just half-hearted attraction Kazuya would get from him, he would take it rather than missing him as much as he did right now.
But Kazuya knew he couldn’t do that. It was wrong for Jin and his girlfriend and it was wrong for Kazuya himself.
He’d only suffer more again.
Instead, Kazuya decided and took a deep breath, picking himself up from the ground again, he would focus on Mirai, would make sure to win over her.
For once, only for this one time, he wanted things to turn out for him.
He was eighteen and everything he had ever experienced concerning love, had been hurtful and complicated.
Everything Kazuya wanted, was something normal, something normal and steady that would make him feel right.
Putting the thought aside that he wanted that with actually just one person, Kazuya got into bed, thinking of where he should take Mirai the next day.
It wasn’t easiest, but it was best to just forget about Jin.
“You just have to sit here and wait, Jin”, Yamashita told him and turned to leave the room.
Jin sighed and tilted his head back against the backrest of the couch, staring up at the ceiling.
He had let Yamashita talk him into coming here. They’ve wanted to go and book the trip to the beach together, but first, Yamashita had to tell the people from his job that he would take off a few days.
Apparently, Kazuya had agreed to the offer, too, Jin assumed. Yamashita had told him he didn’t just have to ask for the days off for himself but also for Tegoshi and Kazuya.
Jin wasn’t quite sure what to think of that. They could just ignore each other or act like friends, as if nothing had ever happened. But judging on how they had managed all this before, he doubted that would work out.
He turned his head when the door opened, ready to get up and leave with Yamashita again, but it was Tegoshi coming in and Jin bowed his head to greet him.
“Akanishi-kun”, Tegoshi said with a smile. “Did you decide to work here, after all?”
Jin laughed. “I’d never do a job like this. I’m just waiting for Pi.”
“Ah, I see”, Tegoshi said and smiled slightly. “Is he in the office?”
“Yeah, he’s talking to them about the trip.”
“You’re coming along?”
Jin nodded.
Tegoshi was silent for a moment, put his bag and light jacket, as well as his soccer ball into a locker. Then he turned to face Jin again. “You know that Kame is coming, too?”
Jin threw him a short glance. “Yeah, I was told so.”
“And you’re fine with that?”
Raising a brow, Jin turned to the younger boy now. “Why wouldn’t I?”
Tegoshi shrugged a shoulder, a slight grin appearing in his face, as he turned to the door to leave the room. “Ah, I was just wondering. We went to buy swimming trunks today.”
“Eh?” Jin stared at his back.
“Kame looks good in his, but you’ll notice that yourself. I’m sure you will.”
Jin was just about to say something more, when the door opened and Kazuya came in, seeing Tegoshi first.
“Hey, Yuya”, he said in a cheerful voice. “They said we’ll be doing today’s job together.”
“Ah, that’s nice. It’ll be more fun then”, Tegoshi chirped and then subtly pointed with a movement of his head into the room, blinking one eye at Kazuya, as he saw Jin and quickly looked back at Tegoshi. “I’ll see you later.”
Kazuya stood in place for a moment, stared at Jin, as the door closed behind Tegoshi.
“Hey”, Jin greeted him casually, raising a hand.
“Ah, yeah…” Kazuya nodded his head slightly, looking confused. “Hi.”
He walked over to the lockers and opened one, putting his things in. Ignoring Jin was probably best, since everything else would just feel so awfully awkward.
“How are you doing”, Jin asked suddenly, looking at him from his place at the sofa.
What was that small talk about? They both knew it was useless, didn’t they? Kazuya tried to look calm, as he closed the locker and turned to Jin. “I’m doing well, thanks. You?”
“Everything’s perfect.”
They fell silent, probably both knowing they were lying at each other’s face.
“Are you and your girlfriend still okay”, Kazuya asked then. He knew he shouldn’t, but he just couldn’t hold it back. He had to know if Jin was still okay with her.
“We’re fine. She doesn’t know what happened, after all.” Jin looked down at his hands. “How about you? Is it working out with that girl?”
Kazuya nodded. “I’ll meet her later today; for dinner.”
“So, you figured out she’s the one you want, after all.” It sounded more like a realisation than a question.
Kazuya didn’t answer immediately, but as he looked up, Jin saw concern in his eyes, uncertainness and he was about to get up and take Kazuya into his arms, tell him they were making a huge mistake.
The one he wanted, he realised in that moment, was Kazuya. It had always been Kazuya and Jin just had been too stupid to see that and to properly fight for him.
He could have had Kazuya without a fight, Jin knew that, it could have all been that easy, if he hadn’t been that stupid.
“Kazuya”, he murmured softly and got to his feet, as Kazuya just kept looking at him with those hurt eyes.
“It’s better”, the younger one said then, slowly and quiet. “I figured it’s better if she is the one I want.”
Jin stopped and stared at him, about to finally do what he should have done ever since Kazuya had caught him kissing Mirai at the festival already.
But the door opened in that moment and Yamashita came in, making a striking pose and put an arm around Kazuya’s shoulders.
“Yay”, he said and it didn’t sound as ecstatic as it probably should. “I got the days off for the three of us.”
Kazuya turned his face to him and forced a smile. “That’s great.”
“Okay, come on, Jin, no time to lose, we’ll better book it right away.” Yamashita let go of Kazuya and got his things from the locker he had used.
“You’re going to the trip, too?” Kazuya turned back to Jin.
The older one nodded.
“You know the rule”, Yamashita barged in and walked past Kazuya. “The more people, the more fun.”
Jin threw Kazuya a look, as Yamashita walked out, then he took his bag and followed. Next to Kazuya he stopped, looked at him again.
“Don’t worry; we won’t be alone, after all.”
Kazuya had to think about that for a moment, then he turned, looking out of the door and down the corridor, where Jin and Yamashita were walking out.
“Jin”, he yelled and the older one turned. “Even if we were, I wouldn’t worry!”
Jin smirked slightly and shook his head, then he followed Yamashita out of the building. He closed the door behind himself and got into Yamashita’s car.
No, he thought and took a deep breath. Kazuya was wrong if he thought he was over it. Jin would show him that neither of them was over it at all.
And Kazuya would realise that, too.
It really was distracting, Kazuya had to admit.
When she was talking, smiling happily at him and behaving just normally around him, Kazuya felt that this could probably be what he needed.
A normal relationship with a cute girl; a girl that made his heart feel warmer, a girl that was distracting him from his worries and made him feel so much better with just her sheer presence.
Mirai was cheerful, always smiling, she never actually showed a trace of sadness or worry. Kazuya didn’t know if someone could really be like that or if it all was an act, but in any case, he liked to see her smile.
“He told me he’s meeting with a friend, you know”, she said now and ate another spoonful of her ice cream. That was something that made her different from other girls, as well. She didn’t think about those things, she just ate whatever she liked and she didn’t look scrawny as so many other girls. “That Tomo guy. I really start to wonder…”
Kazuya blinked. “You think Tegoshi’s gay?”
Laughing, she blushed, threw him a kinky look. “Who knows?”
Laughing, as well, Kazuya shrugged a shoulder. He could tell for sure that Yamashita wasn’t, but he knew Tegoshi. If his friend really wanted something, he’d get it. And if Tegoshi wanted Yamashita… Kazuya thought he’d better not imagine it any further.
As she had finished her desert, they left the restaurant and walked down the almost empty street.
Mirai didn’t live that far from his place, actually, so they had been having dinner at a place nearby.
“When is your next game”, she asked now.
She had been to his training today, watching them. Surprisingly, she was well informed about the game. Another charm point, Kazuya thought.
“Ah, just in September, that’s still some time.”
“Can I come and watch it? I’ll cheer for you guys.”
Kazuya laughed. “Of course you can. I’d be happy if you came.”
Beaming, she looked up at him and stopped then, as they reached the house she had her flat in. “If you like, you can come in.”
Kazuya felt his heart racing up. That was no good, was it? He knew exactly what it meant and for some odd reason, just in that moment, Jin entered his thoughts again and he actually felt bad for even just thinking of going up with Mirai.
He had told Jin, hadn’t he? They weren’t a couple, they weren’t attached to each other, he didn’t owe Jin anything.
Kazuya was free to go up there with Mirai, whenever he wanted.
It was strange, he thought, how he wished it wasn’t like that.
Swallowing, he put on a smile and nodded, however. He couldn’t let Jin take control of him like that.
She walked ahead and Kazuya followed her up the stairs and into the small flat.
It was actually just one room, but it was very tidy. Similar to Jin’s, it had a small kitchenette and beneath the window she had her bed, in white and red sheets, neatly made. It looked very female, with all the small knick-knack around and the warm yellow walls. She even had curtains, Kazuya noticed, and tried to imagine curtains in his room.
“Come in”, she said and pointed into the room.
“Ah, yeah”, Kazuya mumbled and took off his shoes. “Thank you.”
“Would you like to drink anything?”
Kazuya shook his head and wandered around the room. “It’s nice here. Cute, somehow.”
Mirai laughed. “Cute?”
“Yeah, somehow this looks like a typical room of a girl.” He pointed at the table. “You have flowers.”
“They make the room brighter”, she said and sat down at the bed.
Kazuya nodded and walked over to the working desk, looked at the pin board above. He looked at photos of friends and family, saw tickets to concerts she had kept, as well as flyer and short notices. “You’re fan of those idol groups”, he noticed then, studying the few postcards and stickers she had pinned at the board, too.
Mirai laughed again, pointing at a shelf, where she had her CDs lined up. “I’m a girl, of course I am.”
Kazuya threw her a smirk and looked at the CDs then. “What does your boyfriend say about that?”
“He says they’re all gay.”
Laughing, Kazuya put the CD back. “He’s probably not right with that.”
“Probably, yes”, she answered. “They are fun to watch.”
He nodded and got back over to her, sitting down, as well. “What is he like?”
She threw him a look and didn’t answer for a moment, then she said: “Lonely.”
Blinking his eyes, Kazuya turned to her. “Eh?”
“That was what I first thought when we met. He seems lonely and sad, so I wanted to be there for him.”
Kazuya’s look got soft and he smiled. He knew exactly what that felt like. “So, you’re good for him.”
Mirai shrugged a shoulder, smiling at him. “I try to. But it’s easy, since he really takes every kind of affection he can get.”
“That sounds like he never was loved before.”
Looking at the ground, she nodded. “He probably never was. Or someone really broke his heart before.”
Kazuya smiled slightly. “Then it is good he found you. You’re going to take care of him.”
She didn’t answer and Kazuya glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.
“You know, Kazuya”, she said then and still didn’t look up. “He reminded me of you.”
Kazuya now turned his head and looked puzzled.
“As you left Yokohama, I started to regret what happened. What I’ve said that day, when we were in the Ferris wheel. I knew you liked me and I knew you were going to confess to me that day, and yet I just let you and made you suffer so much.”
Kazuya swallowed thickly, shook his head, since he didn’t know what else he should do.
“When I met him, he looked just like you, as if he’d been in love and had confessed, had tried so really hard and yet, had failed. As if he’d been rejected.” She looked up now and bit her lower lip. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s…” Kazuya still didn’t know what to say. “It’s fine.”
Mirai shook her head. “It’s not. I want to make it undone, I want to change the answer I gave you back then, so that you would have stayed.”
Kazuya kept silent for a moment, looked at her, saw that look in his eyes and he knew what it meant; the feeling he saw in there.
He had had the same feeling for so long.
“You want to know what it would have been like if we had actually tried.”
Mirai stared at him, but then she slowly nodded.
“That’s impossible, Mirai”, Kazuya said and forced a smile. “We’ll never know.”
She shook her head and suddenly came closer, looked at him with serious eyes. “We can find out now.”
Kazuya nodded and raised his hand, patted her hair. “We can. But not like this.” He leaned in and pulled her close, held her in a warm embrace. “You’re not free to find out anything about us, as long as you’re with that other boy.”
She blinked her eyes, nodded against Kazuya’s shoulder, as she brought her hands up and held on to him. “I’m not going to cheat on him. I don’t want to hurt him.”
Kazuya nodded, somehow feeling relieved hearing her saying something that made sense. It stung his heart, as he realised his next thought: Something reasonable Jin had never thought about.
“But, Kazuya”, she said then, in a quiet voice. “I’ve always wanted to let you know.”
He shook his head and pulled her a little closer, caressing her back. “It’s okay”, he reassured her and felt her smiling against his neck.
As he went home later, Kazuya looked up to the sky.
She was, after all, a really good girl, thoughtful of others and always correct.
It made him feel lighter to know how she had felt about him all this while, that not only he had suffered from how they had parted, from thinking about what could have been.
It was strangely comforting to know she had felt the same.
Kazuya didn’t notice until his hand was up at his chest, holding the pendant of the necklace, moving it between his fingers.
But as he lowered his head and looked at it, he sighed and shook his head.
The sky was starless tonight.
Jin didn’t come here often; usually, Mirai came to his place. But today, he had decided to come to her place.
It was tidy, as usual, and when she had opened the door, she had greeted him with a bright smile, letting him in.
She had been cooking, having a concert of one of those bands playing on her TV. For a moment, Jin watched it, but could only frown at the outfits, the choreographies and the songs.
“They only look good and that’s all, isn’t it?” He looked over to Mirai, as she came back with two plates and switched the programme.
“I like them”, was all she said and sat down.
She wore sweatpants and a shirt, her hair tied in a tail. It looked comfortable and Jin thought that he really liked how she wasn’t embarrassed at all for him to see her like that.
“You look cute”, he said and made her smile.
“I’m just lazing around at home.” She ate a spoon of the curry and pointed at her outfit. “That’s not cute. But thanks, however.”
Jin just smiled and kept watching her subtly.
He still couldn’t figure exactly why, but she kept reminding him of Kazuya, in a way. Even now, that she sat in sweatpants and shirt, watching a stupid programme on TV and laughed at it, she reminded him of Kazuya.
She was kind and optimistic, honest and sincere.
Jin looked at her, as she forgot her meal and laughed at the tasks the people in that show had to fulfil.
“Let’s break up.”
Her laughter died and she stared at the TV screen for a moment longer, before she slowly turned her head to Jin and blinked her eyes. “What?”
“I said”, Jin repeated calmly, “let’s break up.”
She put down her plate and stared at Jin for a little longer, then she only asked: “Why?”
Jin had hoped she wouldn’t ask and just accept it, but he knew he’d been a fool to hope for that. Of course she would ask.
He had to be honest now, that was all he could do.
“There’s someone else”, he said firmly. “I think I’ve fallen in love with someone else.”
“You’ve fallen in love with someone else?” She tilted her head, as if she didn’t understand a single word Jin was saying.
“We hadn’t met in a long time and somehow, it just took over me, as we did now.”
She still just blinked her eyes at him.
“I’m sorry”, Jin said and now looked down, avoided her eyes. “I already took it too far. We… We kissed, and we…”
Now, she seemed to understand everything, even though Jin didn’t voice it, actually. “You cheated on me”, she said and got to her feet, her voice trembling. “You cheated on me?”
“Mirai, I’m sorry”, Jin said and looked up at her, not moving. He wanted to let her control what would happen. If she wanted to hit him, then he would let her. “But I figured I should at least let you know. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want to know, Jin”, she said, her voice almost only a whisper. “I don’t want to know.”
It fell silent, until Mirai started to sob quietly. Jin got to his feet now and looked at her directly. “I’m at fault for not getting a hold of myself. I should have told you from the beginning, as soon as I started noticing those feelings. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t…” She choked and covered her face with her hands. “Leave. Just go.”
Jin shook his head. “Mirai, listen, I’m…”
“I’ve heard enough, Jin. Just leave me alone. I don’t want to see you ever again.”
Jin knew they shouldn’t part like this, but he couldn’t blame Mirai for what she was saying.
He was an asshole, the worst and he knew he was. She deserved someone so much better than him, someone who could truly appreciate her perfect character.
Without another word, Jin walked to the door, got into his shoes and left the flat.
He had never felt as bad as he felt, when he closed the door behind himself and heard the muffled sounds of Mirai’s cries through the wood.
Jin sighed and ran his hands through his hair, over his face.
He truly was the worst.
Kazuya ignored his mobile, as he saw it was Jin’s number calling.
He had decided not to answer any calls, mails or messages from Jin anymore. It was best that way and it would make getting over him a lot easier.
He set it to mute and slid it into the pocket of his jeans, before he raised his hand and knocked.
It took a moment, but then Mirai opened the door and gave him a slight smile.
She looked better already, better than when she had come to him last night, her eyes red and swollen, her cheeks stained from tears.
Kazuya smiled back. “Hey. How are you doing?”
“Thanks, I’m better now”, she said and stepped out, locking the door behind her. “Sorry for making you worry.”
Kazuya shook his head. “Not at all.”
Her boyfriend, or better ex-boyfriend now, had to be a real dick, Kazuya thought, though. He hadn’t said that to her, since she didn’t need to hear those things now, but that guy seriously made Kazuya wonder how anyone could be so stupid.
He had cheated on a girl like her, someone honest and pure as her. She really didn’t deserve that.
It was right that he had told her, though. It may hurt at first, but Kazuya was sure, after a while, she would understand it, too and see that it had been right of him to tell her.
That didn’t change the fact that that guy was a complete asshole, though.
“We’ll meet a few friends of mine, like a group date. Tegoshi’s going to be there, too.”
She smiled at him, as she followed. “Thanks.”
They walked down the street in silence, until they got to the subway and took the next train, where they met Tegoshi.
He approached them with a happy grin. “Tomo invited quite some people”, he informed them in the train. “As soon as I told him we want to have some fun, he was calling a million people.”
Tegoshi walked ahead, strangely excited, as they made their way to the café they’d all meet at.
“You see, we’ll have some fun today and you’ll forget about it sooner than you’d think.”
Mirai nodded; determined to do exactly that, as Kazuya held the door for her and she went in first.
Kazuya bumped into her back, as she suddenly stopped and apologized immediately, putting his hands to her shoulders, then he noticed the look at her face.
“Why is he here”, she asked and Kazuya looked to the table. He saw Yamashita, Tegoshi and a few of his friends from university, as well as Ryo and Koki. Then, he noticed she wasn’t looking at them, but more to their right.
Jin stood there, staring at her, as well, before he raised his look to Kazuya’s eyes.
“Ah, here they are”, Tegoshi said suddenly and approached Kazuya and Mirai, pulling them over. “This is Mirai-chan, she’s…”
“Mirai”, Yamashita said and frowned, looking at Kazuya, then over to Jin.
“Yamashita-Senpai”, she said slowly and bowed her head, looking confused.
Kazuya pulled his hands back from her shoulders and took a step back, noticing everyone looking at them. He held Jin’s look and as he pressed his lips together, his eyes getting that regretful look, Kazuya felt his heart breaking once again.
That couldn’t be true; that just couldn’t have happened.
“You know her?” Tegoshi gave Yamashita a curious look.
He nodded and looked back at her. “She’s in the same department at university as I am.” Yamashita turned to Jin again, who was still just staring at Kazuya.
“She’s Jin’s girlfriend.”
------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you so much for reading ♥
This chap was really hard to write, because there was almost no Akame interaction. I'm sorry for that. Next one is going to have a lot more again~~~