06; [fic] thin as a dime (akame; 1/1)
This is the cutest thing evar. KOYATO LIP SYNCING TO MISO SOUP AND DAITE SENORITA. I CAN'T EVEN. *_____*
Anyways - here's fic. Pin friends - don't read, this is basically Akame, though Akame gen.
Title: thin as a dime
Author: inevitabilityy
Rating: PG; PG-13 for maybe one word that Jin uses.
Pairings/Characters: Akanishi Jin/Kamenashi Kazuya (mostly gen, actually), KAT-TUN, some members of NEWS, Shirota Yuu
Word Count: 2724
Disclaimer: Not affiliated with any of the mentioned people or Johnny's Entertainment.
Notes: For crstalclear. Cherry, ILU ♥ This is the Akame that I promised you, though maybe I cheated because it's not really Akame, mostly gen. <3 I hope you like it nonetheless. (Also for miyakox. Benny - ilusm ♥ and I owe you your own Akame fic.)
Also, I don't know. I obviously have a schizophrenic writing style because it was sort of supposed to be funny in the beginning but then it steadily deteriorated into angst.
Prompt by thewhiteprophet.
Summary: There has been an invisible elephant in the corner of the room for the past four years.
"Uebo!" Jin wails into his cellphone, ignoring the strange looks that he was getting from strangers; he was used to them. "Uebo! Uebo!"
"What?!" Ueda finally asks, irritably, as Jin repeated his name and Ueda could just imagine Jin flailing and flapping his arms and other Bakanishi-like things. "What do you want, Jin, I just hope you know that just because we didn't have dance practice today because Kame's out of town does not mean that you can just call me up and try to destroy my brain cells."
Jin sniffs pathetically and Ueda deflates. "T-Tat-chan," Jin says, and Ueda could practically see his lower lip trembling.
"Okay," Ueda says, and softens his tone. "What is it?"
"I think," Jin whispers, "I think! THAT MY APARTMENT IS POSSESSED. OH UEBO, WHAT DO I DO?"
With an angry click, Ueda hangs up his phone.
- - -
"Pi!" Jin says happily into his phone. "Hi Pi!"
"Jin!" Yamapi's voice rushes in from across the phone line excitedly, and Jin can hear Ryo speaking sarcastically in the background (to Tegoshi, Jin supposed), and this is the mating ritual of the species Yamashita - act stupid and more stupid will follow. "Hi, Jin! How are you? Is there anything wrong?"
"Yes," Jin shouts into his phone once more, and a passing mother gives him a strange glance and walks in a wider arc around the flailing Jin, who is camped out on the sidewalk in front of his apartment, luggage strewn out around him. “I think my apartment is haunted,” Jin says mournfully, and gives Yamapi a moment to process the entirety of this situation. Then he gets a really bright idea when he hears Ryo’s voice again. “Hey, Pi? Can you ask Ryo-chan to perform an exorcism for me?”
There was a long pause as Yamapi turns to ask Ryo something, presumably if he could perform an exorcism. Ryo replies scathingly and Yamapi returns to the phone. "He says ghosts don't exist," Yamapi says mournfully, as unhappy as if someone had just told him Santa Claus didn't exist.
"That’s ridiculous," Jin replies in scandalous tones, "They exist, Pi, they do!" Jin insists, flapping his arms this time for emphasis that Yamapi could not see. "When I walk in the door, there are weird whistling sounds and I always get chills when I walk into my bedroom and yesterday, my KAT-TUN CD fell on its own." Jin pauses dramatically, and sucks in a huge breath.
Yamapi, who has been making sympathetic cooing noises during the entire monologue, starts sniffing.
"What. What, Pi, what's wrong?" Jin asks, dumbfounded, but then realizes that Yamapi is talking to Ryo.
"I HATE YOU!" Yamapi says to Ryo hotly. "Jin could be eaten by a ghost!" Jin silently seconds this thought, and he feels a chill run down his spine. Ryo scoffs. Jin argues silently, Yamapi verbally. “I thought we were friends,” Yamapi says mournfully. “Fine! I GUESS NOT. I’m going to go tell Ueda-kun embarrassing stories of your youth!”
Jin hears an animalistic shriek that he decides was probably Ryo and flails once more, trying to get Yamapi's attention. "HELLO!" He shouts again, and a businessman walking by jumps, "PI? ARE YOU THERE?"
There is a click and then the line goes dead. The last thing Jin hears is a growl (presumably from Ryo) and a high-pitched squeal (presumably from Yamapi). Jin says a quick prayer and dials Kame's number.
- - -
"This is Kamenashi. I am probably in the middle of filming, so please try again later. Unless your name is Akanishi Jin, in which case, please hang up because I cannot deal with your problems from all the way out here. Thank you."
Jin pouts, but then has a brilliant brainstorm.
"If Kame-chan is in Osaka, filming," Jin thinks slowly, "then that means his house is empty! We're friends, right," Jin rationalizes quickly, ignoring the little voice inside of him that asks are you sure? (he's not), "he wouldn't mind!"
And with this last, cheerful thought, Jin, a new man (with a purpose!), strides defiantly and valiantly in the direction of Kame’s house.
(Only to end up lost and having to call Maru for directions later. Maru had given them, albeit a bit skeptically.
“Jin, are you sure this is a good idea - ”
“Maru. This is a great idea. Don’t doubt my intelligence!”
“…That’s what I’m afraid of.”)
- - -
After letting himself in with the spare key that he knew was taped to the underside of the mailbox, Jin settles himself in quite happily, strewing his things everywhere and manages to burn three things: himself, the rice and the potted plant above the sink before finally deciding to order in. He dumps his dirty laundry into Kame’s clean hamper, vows to wash it someday (he’s been saying this for the past week) and flings himself onto Kame’s bed, rolling around happily, taking in the crisp scent of the sheets that look like they have hardly been slept in.
Soon, Jin falls into the familiarity of Kame’s apartment that is so much like Kame. He wakes up in the mornings, yawning widely in the vaguely-Kame shaped print in the bed that is now becoming a distinctly-Jin shaped print and takes the subway to work, or gets driven by Ryo, Kame’s designer sunglasses perched on top of his head. (They break on the third day when Jin accidentally steps on them during rehearsal.) He comes back home (no, to Kame’s home, he corrects himself) at night, sometimes dead tired, sometimes not, and gleefully watches all the dramas Kame has bought. (He finds it really typical that Kame has stuck post-its on all of the dramas he’s ever acted in, with chastising messages like Kamenashi! Your chemistry is practically nonexistent or episode 5 - next time, research your role better.
He cries when he watches 1 Litre of Tears and never ever tells Ryo.)
He doesn’t watch Nobuta wo Produce (too stiff with Yamapi in the beginning - never let personal feelings in the way of work) or Gokusen 2 (too familiar with Jin, you’re supposed to be more sullen), finding that he was altogether too busy to be sitting at home watching dramas.
- - -
“…you are so screwed,” Koki says, horrified, and takes in what used to be Kame’s apartment. There are dirty and clean clothes thrown haphazardly around, leftover food that Jin swore he was going to finish lying on the formerly neat coffee table and scuff marks on the ceiling (Koki really didn’t want to know how those got there.)
Jin pouts and crosses his arms. “No I’m not! I’m going to clean this all up. Really. I will. Eventually.”
Koki just gives him a look and beckons him out the door.
“You won’t,” Koki says flatly as they make their way to the restaurant where Junno, Ueda, Maru and Kame, who’s back for a night with the band, are waiting. “You never clean anything up. Kame’s going to kill you,” Koki adds as a happy afterthought.
Jin opens his mouth to retort but closes it (while biting his tongue in the process) and settles for pouting some more.
“That’s not going to work on me,” Koki says sarcastically, and pushes open the restaurant door, waving at the rest of KAT-TUN. “I’m not some teenage girl, you know.”
“I know you’re not,” Jin mumbles, and remembers a recent photo shoot where Koki has his arms around Kame, but remembers right after that, how it was Kame who hadn’t let go afterwards, who had slung a happy arm around Koki, laughing, making fun of his own hair.
(Jin thinks what hurts the most is that once upon a time, that would have been the two of them, Johnny’s darlings, best friends, always together.)
“Good,” Koki says, and softens his tone, his sharp cheekbones melting away. He smiles, and Jin knows that Koki understands, that even if Koki hadn’t forgiven him for leaving, Jin didn’t need to apologize at all. Ueda looks at the two suspiciously and scoffs.
“Why are you two staring at each other like that? Koki, I didn’t think stupid was your style. Jin, I thought you didn’t go for guys?”
Koki and Jin both scowl, and turn to Ueda with similar glares on their faces while Junno laughs and mentions how they’re much more alike than they think, at which Koki kicks Junno in the shin angrily. Jin asks snidely if Ueda’s been hanging out too much lately with Ryo or something and Ueda throws an angry glare in Jin’s direction while Kame laughingly tries to smooth it all out.
“Maa,” Kame says, and grins widely, like the photographers always tell them not to do, “I’ve missed you guys a lot.”
It’s Junno who smiles goofily, because Junno’s smarter than they all give him credit for and has known that all along and Maru who pats Kame over the head because Maru really does dote on the ‘baby’ of their group; Ueda who ducks his head shyly because Ueda’s never been good at showing the people he love how much he cares and Koki who grins and grips Kame’s hand for just one moment, pinkies twined together in an awkward promise.
It’s Jin, though, who Kame forgives, finally, and it’s Jin who meets Kame’s eyes and it’s Jin who squirms slightly in guilt, thinking about the stiff words, the pointed glares and they never were as close as they used to be. It’s your fault, a voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Yamapi tells him, as it has a million times through the phone, through impatient gestures, through plans that never worked out in the end. It’s yours.
“We’ve missed you too,” Jin says instead, and smiles at Kame, feeling like he has too many teeth to keep in his mouth. “We’ve really missed you.”
Kame beams back, and though it’s not exactly like before, it’s close enough and Koki and Ueda exchange a smile before Koki starts, “Hey, Kame, do you know what Akanishi’s been doing while you’ve been gone?”
Jin shrieks and practically upends the table trying to cover Koki’s mouth.
- - -
“So are you two friends again?” Yuu asks carelessly later, when he, Jin and Yamapi are playing cards and Jin has just finished telling (completely nonchalantly, of course) them about his weekend.
At his words, Jin starts and bangs his knee against the bottom of the table. “Shit,” he hisses, and Yamapi snickers. “Shut up,” Jin says crossly. “How’s that bruise Ryo-chan gave you?” Yamapi’s smile disappears and he pouts in a vaguely unsettling way that makes Jin feel bad. Jin offers Yamapi a cookie, and he brightens, despite the fact that he was the one to bring the cookies in the first place.
“So?” Yuu asks again, expectantly, one dark eyebrow raised. “Are you?” Yuu was pretty good at sticking to the point, unlike Jin and Yamapi. He also starts dealing cards, and Yamapi privately marvels at Yuu’s amazing ability to multi-task efficiently.
Jin mumbles incoherently for a few seconds, and flushes out of embarrassment before looking up and then ducking his head down shyly again. He picks up his cards one by one, and it’s not until he has them all in his hand that he answers.
“I think so,” he finally says, embarrassed. He raises his head this time, and smiles happily. “I think we are, Yuu-kun.”
Yuu says nothing, but he smiles in the kindest way possible because everyone loves Jin and Yuu loves Jin a lot so it makes him happy that Jin’s happy. Yamapi cheers because he likes Kame too and he knows how much Kame missed Jin when he was in LA, even if Kame will never say it and Jin will never believe it.
Jin wins, but only because Yamapi and Yuu let him.
(“By the way,” Yamapi tells him conversationally over the phone later, “Ryo-chan and I checked out your apartment - it’s your air conditioner that’s broken. It’s not haunted. You can move out of Kame’s now.”
There is shallow breathing and then Jin’s voice - “Pi. I can’t.”
Yamapi laughs, and nods even though Jin can’t see him because Yamapi’s smarter than everyone gives him credit for and also because this is Jin, Yamapi's best friend - Yamapi’s known Jin forever, Yamapi knows, he always has.
“Okay, Jin,” he says simply, “okay.”)
- - -
Kame arrives home on Wednesday, when Jin is watching the first episode of his new drama.
Jin freezes when he hears a key turn in the lock, and his heart plummets down to his knees. Hurriedly, he grabs the shirt and jeans thrown carelessly over the arm of the sofa (he’s glad he’d at least cleared the coffee table last night) and when Kame walks through the door of his own apartment, Jin stands there sheepishly, one hand holding up a striped shirt, looking simultaneously scared and ashamed.
There is a moment of silence, before Kame closes his eyes tiredly and Jin swallows. The still delicate string of their friendship that Kame had offered seemed to be pulled taut, and Jin feared that one wrong move and it would snap. (He was most afraid that it would never be offered again; he’d take anything Kame could give him, even hope as slim as a dime.) What am I doing? he asks himself, and then he knows, he knows.
“What,” Kame begins dangerously, “what are you doing in my apartment, Akanishi? Why the hell are there scuff marks on my ceiling? Don’t you have somewhere to live already?”
Jin laughs nervously, and holds up the shirt, as if that explained everything. “My apartment,” he begins, licking his lips and then stops. I can’t live in my apartment because I thought it was haunted sounds pretty stupid in his head when he repeats it, now that he thinks about it. “I -,” he says, and then stops, looking up at Kame through lowered eyelashes, asking a silent favor.
“Never mind,” Kame sighs, when he catches sight of Jin’s eyes. “I don’t care. Just - can you leave now?”
Jin touches his tongue to the corner of his mouth, a nervous habit, and shakes his head before looking up at Kame. “I don’t want to,” he says quietly, and watches as Kame glares pointedly at him.
“This is my apartment,” Kame points out angrily, and opens his mouth to continue, an angry tirade already building up at the back of his throat. Looking at Jin stops him though, and Kame just closes his mouth, until finally, he says, “Look, Akanishi - Jin. Why are you doing this? I just wish.” And Kame stops abruptly, shaking his head. “No, it’s nothing. Jin, can you just - ?” He trails off, and the unspoken words hang in the air, and the elephant that has occupied the corner of the room for the past four years grows just a little bit larger.
Jin, can you please just go home? I’m tired of this.
Kame’s still standing in his own doorway, one hand clutching at the doorframe, looking more vulnerable than he has in years. Jin, feeling sick to his stomach, walks slowly to where Kame still stands, looking at him with unreadable eyes. (When did that happen? When was it that Jin had realized he could no longer tell what Kame was thinking? When was it that Kame had started hiding himself from Jin?) He holds his own shirt up as a peace offering, and bites down on his bottom lip uncertainly. When he opens his mouth, it’s a whisper that comes out.
“This,” Jin says, looking directly at Kame, and steps forward again, “is your apartment.”
He steps forward until hands touch, and fingers entwine, Jin feels all the empty space in between his fingers fill up. He leans forward until he can feel Kame’s hair against his cheek but not close enough to completely touch. It’s not until Kame’s cold hands are wrapped around his wrist that Jin breathes out with relief, and then Jin has his arms around Kame and though he’s sure his hair is in Kame’s face and Kame’s shoulder is digging into his, Jin doesn’t care. He doesn’t care at all.
“This,” he breathes into Kame’s ear, “is home.”
The elephant is no longer there.
Yeah. Uhm. I don't know. Just. It's not my best work at any rate, but I hope it worked out in the end anyways.
Anyways - here's fic. Pin friends - don't read, this is basically Akame, though Akame gen.
Title: thin as a dime
Author: inevitabilityy
Rating: PG; PG-13 for maybe one word that Jin uses.
Pairings/Characters: Akanishi Jin/Kamenashi Kazuya (mostly gen, actually), KAT-TUN, some members of NEWS, Shirota Yuu
Word Count: 2724
Disclaimer: Not affiliated with any of the mentioned people or Johnny's Entertainment.
Notes: For crstalclear. Cherry, ILU ♥ This is the Akame that I promised you, though maybe I cheated because it's not really Akame, mostly gen. <3 I hope you like it nonetheless. (Also for miyakox. Benny - ilusm ♥ and I owe you your own Akame fic.)
Also, I don't know. I obviously have a schizophrenic writing style because it was sort of supposed to be funny in the beginning but then it steadily deteriorated into angst.
Prompt by thewhiteprophet.
Summary: There has been an invisible elephant in the corner of the room for the past four years.
"Uebo!" Jin wails into his cellphone, ignoring the strange looks that he was getting from strangers; he was used to them. "Uebo! Uebo!"
"What?!" Ueda finally asks, irritably, as Jin repeated his name and Ueda could just imagine Jin flailing and flapping his arms and other Bakanishi-like things. "What do you want, Jin, I just hope you know that just because we didn't have dance practice today because Kame's out of town does not mean that you can just call me up and try to destroy my brain cells."
Jin sniffs pathetically and Ueda deflates. "T-Tat-chan," Jin says, and Ueda could practically see his lower lip trembling.
"Okay," Ueda says, and softens his tone. "What is it?"
"I think," Jin whispers, "I think! THAT MY APARTMENT IS POSSESSED. OH UEBO, WHAT DO I DO?"
With an angry click, Ueda hangs up his phone.
- - -
"Pi!" Jin says happily into his phone. "Hi Pi!"
"Jin!" Yamapi's voice rushes in from across the phone line excitedly, and Jin can hear Ryo speaking sarcastically in the background (to Tegoshi, Jin supposed), and this is the mating ritual of the species Yamashita - act stupid and more stupid will follow. "Hi, Jin! How are you? Is there anything wrong?"
"Yes," Jin shouts into his phone once more, and a passing mother gives him a strange glance and walks in a wider arc around the flailing Jin, who is camped out on the sidewalk in front of his apartment, luggage strewn out around him. “I think my apartment is haunted,” Jin says mournfully, and gives Yamapi a moment to process the entirety of this situation. Then he gets a really bright idea when he hears Ryo’s voice again. “Hey, Pi? Can you ask Ryo-chan to perform an exorcism for me?”
There was a long pause as Yamapi turns to ask Ryo something, presumably if he could perform an exorcism. Ryo replies scathingly and Yamapi returns to the phone. "He says ghosts don't exist," Yamapi says mournfully, as unhappy as if someone had just told him Santa Claus didn't exist.
"That’s ridiculous," Jin replies in scandalous tones, "They exist, Pi, they do!" Jin insists, flapping his arms this time for emphasis that Yamapi could not see. "When I walk in the door, there are weird whistling sounds and I always get chills when I walk into my bedroom and yesterday, my KAT-TUN CD fell on its own." Jin pauses dramatically, and sucks in a huge breath.
Yamapi, who has been making sympathetic cooing noises during the entire monologue, starts sniffing.
"What. What, Pi, what's wrong?" Jin asks, dumbfounded, but then realizes that Yamapi is talking to Ryo.
"I HATE YOU!" Yamapi says to Ryo hotly. "Jin could be eaten by a ghost!" Jin silently seconds this thought, and he feels a chill run down his spine. Ryo scoffs. Jin argues silently, Yamapi verbally. “I thought we were friends,” Yamapi says mournfully. “Fine! I GUESS NOT. I’m going to go tell Ueda-kun embarrassing stories of your youth!”
Jin hears an animalistic shriek that he decides was probably Ryo and flails once more, trying to get Yamapi's attention. "HELLO!" He shouts again, and a businessman walking by jumps, "PI? ARE YOU THERE?"
There is a click and then the line goes dead. The last thing Jin hears is a growl (presumably from Ryo) and a high-pitched squeal (presumably from Yamapi). Jin says a quick prayer and dials Kame's number.
- - -
"This is Kamenashi. I am probably in the middle of filming, so please try again later. Unless your name is Akanishi Jin, in which case, please hang up because I cannot deal with your problems from all the way out here. Thank you."
Jin pouts, but then has a brilliant brainstorm.
"If Kame-chan is in Osaka, filming," Jin thinks slowly, "then that means his house is empty! We're friends, right," Jin rationalizes quickly, ignoring the little voice inside of him that asks are you sure? (he's not), "he wouldn't mind!"
And with this last, cheerful thought, Jin, a new man (with a purpose!), strides defiantly and valiantly in the direction of Kame’s house.
(Only to end up lost and having to call Maru for directions later. Maru had given them, albeit a bit skeptically.
“Jin, are you sure this is a good idea - ”
“Maru. This is a great idea. Don’t doubt my intelligence!”
“…That’s what I’m afraid of.”)
- - -
After letting himself in with the spare key that he knew was taped to the underside of the mailbox, Jin settles himself in quite happily, strewing his things everywhere and manages to burn three things: himself, the rice and the potted plant above the sink before finally deciding to order in. He dumps his dirty laundry into Kame’s clean hamper, vows to wash it someday (he’s been saying this for the past week) and flings himself onto Kame’s bed, rolling around happily, taking in the crisp scent of the sheets that look like they have hardly been slept in.
Soon, Jin falls into the familiarity of Kame’s apartment that is so much like Kame. He wakes up in the mornings, yawning widely in the vaguely-Kame shaped print in the bed that is now becoming a distinctly-Jin shaped print and takes the subway to work, or gets driven by Ryo, Kame’s designer sunglasses perched on top of his head. (They break on the third day when Jin accidentally steps on them during rehearsal.) He comes back home (no, to Kame’s home, he corrects himself) at night, sometimes dead tired, sometimes not, and gleefully watches all the dramas Kame has bought. (He finds it really typical that Kame has stuck post-its on all of the dramas he’s ever acted in, with chastising messages like Kamenashi! Your chemistry is practically nonexistent or episode 5 - next time, research your role better.
He cries when he watches 1 Litre of Tears and never ever tells Ryo.)
He doesn’t watch Nobuta wo Produce (too stiff with Yamapi in the beginning - never let personal feelings in the way of work) or Gokusen 2 (too familiar with Jin, you’re supposed to be more sullen), finding that he was altogether too busy to be sitting at home watching dramas.
- - -
“…you are so screwed,” Koki says, horrified, and takes in what used to be Kame’s apartment. There are dirty and clean clothes thrown haphazardly around, leftover food that Jin swore he was going to finish lying on the formerly neat coffee table and scuff marks on the ceiling (Koki really didn’t want to know how those got there.)
Jin pouts and crosses his arms. “No I’m not! I’m going to clean this all up. Really. I will. Eventually.”
Koki just gives him a look and beckons him out the door.
“You won’t,” Koki says flatly as they make their way to the restaurant where Junno, Ueda, Maru and Kame, who’s back for a night with the band, are waiting. “You never clean anything up. Kame’s going to kill you,” Koki adds as a happy afterthought.
Jin opens his mouth to retort but closes it (while biting his tongue in the process) and settles for pouting some more.
“That’s not going to work on me,” Koki says sarcastically, and pushes open the restaurant door, waving at the rest of KAT-TUN. “I’m not some teenage girl, you know.”
“I know you’re not,” Jin mumbles, and remembers a recent photo shoot where Koki has his arms around Kame, but remembers right after that, how it was Kame who hadn’t let go afterwards, who had slung a happy arm around Koki, laughing, making fun of his own hair.
(Jin thinks what hurts the most is that once upon a time, that would have been the two of them, Johnny’s darlings, best friends, always together.)
“Good,” Koki says, and softens his tone, his sharp cheekbones melting away. He smiles, and Jin knows that Koki understands, that even if Koki hadn’t forgiven him for leaving, Jin didn’t need to apologize at all. Ueda looks at the two suspiciously and scoffs.
“Why are you two staring at each other like that? Koki, I didn’t think stupid was your style. Jin, I thought you didn’t go for guys?”
Koki and Jin both scowl, and turn to Ueda with similar glares on their faces while Junno laughs and mentions how they’re much more alike than they think, at which Koki kicks Junno in the shin angrily. Jin asks snidely if Ueda’s been hanging out too much lately with Ryo or something and Ueda throws an angry glare in Jin’s direction while Kame laughingly tries to smooth it all out.
“Maa,” Kame says, and grins widely, like the photographers always tell them not to do, “I’ve missed you guys a lot.”
It’s Junno who smiles goofily, because Junno’s smarter than they all give him credit for and has known that all along and Maru who pats Kame over the head because Maru really does dote on the ‘baby’ of their group; Ueda who ducks his head shyly because Ueda’s never been good at showing the people he love how much he cares and Koki who grins and grips Kame’s hand for just one moment, pinkies twined together in an awkward promise.
It’s Jin, though, who Kame forgives, finally, and it’s Jin who meets Kame’s eyes and it’s Jin who squirms slightly in guilt, thinking about the stiff words, the pointed glares and they never were as close as they used to be. It’s your fault, a voice in his head that sounds suspiciously like Yamapi tells him, as it has a million times through the phone, through impatient gestures, through plans that never worked out in the end. It’s yours.
“We’ve missed you too,” Jin says instead, and smiles at Kame, feeling like he has too many teeth to keep in his mouth. “We’ve really missed you.”
Kame beams back, and though it’s not exactly like before, it’s close enough and Koki and Ueda exchange a smile before Koki starts, “Hey, Kame, do you know what Akanishi’s been doing while you’ve been gone?”
Jin shrieks and practically upends the table trying to cover Koki’s mouth.
- - -
“So are you two friends again?” Yuu asks carelessly later, when he, Jin and Yamapi are playing cards and Jin has just finished telling (completely nonchalantly, of course) them about his weekend.
At his words, Jin starts and bangs his knee against the bottom of the table. “Shit,” he hisses, and Yamapi snickers. “Shut up,” Jin says crossly. “How’s that bruise Ryo-chan gave you?” Yamapi’s smile disappears and he pouts in a vaguely unsettling way that makes Jin feel bad. Jin offers Yamapi a cookie, and he brightens, despite the fact that he was the one to bring the cookies in the first place.
“So?” Yuu asks again, expectantly, one dark eyebrow raised. “Are you?” Yuu was pretty good at sticking to the point, unlike Jin and Yamapi. He also starts dealing cards, and Yamapi privately marvels at Yuu’s amazing ability to multi-task efficiently.
Jin mumbles incoherently for a few seconds, and flushes out of embarrassment before looking up and then ducking his head down shyly again. He picks up his cards one by one, and it’s not until he has them all in his hand that he answers.
“I think so,” he finally says, embarrassed. He raises his head this time, and smiles happily. “I think we are, Yuu-kun.”
Yuu says nothing, but he smiles in the kindest way possible because everyone loves Jin and Yuu loves Jin a lot so it makes him happy that Jin’s happy. Yamapi cheers because he likes Kame too and he knows how much Kame missed Jin when he was in LA, even if Kame will never say it and Jin will never believe it.
Jin wins, but only because Yamapi and Yuu let him.
(“By the way,” Yamapi tells him conversationally over the phone later, “Ryo-chan and I checked out your apartment - it’s your air conditioner that’s broken. It’s not haunted. You can move out of Kame’s now.”
There is shallow breathing and then Jin’s voice - “Pi. I can’t.”
Yamapi laughs, and nods even though Jin can’t see him because Yamapi’s smarter than everyone gives him credit for and also because this is Jin, Yamapi's best friend - Yamapi’s known Jin forever, Yamapi knows, he always has.
“Okay, Jin,” he says simply, “okay.”)
- - -
Kame arrives home on Wednesday, when Jin is watching the first episode of his new drama.
Jin freezes when he hears a key turn in the lock, and his heart plummets down to his knees. Hurriedly, he grabs the shirt and jeans thrown carelessly over the arm of the sofa (he’s glad he’d at least cleared the coffee table last night) and when Kame walks through the door of his own apartment, Jin stands there sheepishly, one hand holding up a striped shirt, looking simultaneously scared and ashamed.
There is a moment of silence, before Kame closes his eyes tiredly and Jin swallows. The still delicate string of their friendship that Kame had offered seemed to be pulled taut, and Jin feared that one wrong move and it would snap. (He was most afraid that it would never be offered again; he’d take anything Kame could give him, even hope as slim as a dime.) What am I doing? he asks himself, and then he knows, he knows.
“What,” Kame begins dangerously, “what are you doing in my apartment, Akanishi? Why the hell are there scuff marks on my ceiling? Don’t you have somewhere to live already?”
Jin laughs nervously, and holds up the shirt, as if that explained everything. “My apartment,” he begins, licking his lips and then stops. I can’t live in my apartment because I thought it was haunted sounds pretty stupid in his head when he repeats it, now that he thinks about it. “I -,” he says, and then stops, looking up at Kame through lowered eyelashes, asking a silent favor.
“Never mind,” Kame sighs, when he catches sight of Jin’s eyes. “I don’t care. Just - can you leave now?”
Jin touches his tongue to the corner of his mouth, a nervous habit, and shakes his head before looking up at Kame. “I don’t want to,” he says quietly, and watches as Kame glares pointedly at him.
“This is my apartment,” Kame points out angrily, and opens his mouth to continue, an angry tirade already building up at the back of his throat. Looking at Jin stops him though, and Kame just closes his mouth, until finally, he says, “Look, Akanishi - Jin. Why are you doing this? I just wish.” And Kame stops abruptly, shaking his head. “No, it’s nothing. Jin, can you just - ?” He trails off, and the unspoken words hang in the air, and the elephant that has occupied the corner of the room for the past four years grows just a little bit larger.
Jin, can you please just go home? I’m tired of this.
Kame’s still standing in his own doorway, one hand clutching at the doorframe, looking more vulnerable than he has in years. Jin, feeling sick to his stomach, walks slowly to where Kame still stands, looking at him with unreadable eyes. (When did that happen? When was it that Jin had realized he could no longer tell what Kame was thinking? When was it that Kame had started hiding himself from Jin?) He holds his own shirt up as a peace offering, and bites down on his bottom lip uncertainly. When he opens his mouth, it’s a whisper that comes out.
“This,” Jin says, looking directly at Kame, and steps forward again, “is your apartment.”
He steps forward until hands touch, and fingers entwine, Jin feels all the empty space in between his fingers fill up. He leans forward until he can feel Kame’s hair against his cheek but not close enough to completely touch. It’s not until Kame’s cold hands are wrapped around his wrist that Jin breathes out with relief, and then Jin has his arms around Kame and though he’s sure his hair is in Kame’s face and Kame’s shoulder is digging into his, Jin doesn’t care. He doesn’t care at all.
“This,” he breathes into Kame’s ear, “is home.”
The elephant is no longer there.
Yeah. Uhm. I don't know. Just. It's not my best work at any rate, but I hope it worked out in the end anyways.