fic for reddorozette (1/2)
Title: Kamenashi Psychic Research
By: cease11
Pairing: Akame
Word count: 17,500
Rating: PG
Genre/Warnings: Romance
Notes: JE and Ghost Hunt crossover. No knowledge of the Ghost Hunt series is required. A big thanks to my wonderful beta.
Summary: The case was ridiculous, but they had decided to take it on because Kamenashi wanted to buy a new pair of designer jeans.
Prologue
They met briefly as children, but Jin wondered whether Kame was aware of how the time they had spent together had subsequently shaped the way he lived his life.
His parents hadn’t known what to do with him. They didn’t want to call him a liar, but he was sensitive to their disbelieving gazes and awkward reassurances. It wasn’t until elementary school that he realised speaking the truth could get him into trouble.
‘No Jin-kun, there is no one there.’
The impatient faces of his teachers and the mocking smiles of his classmates confused him.
‘But sensei-‘
‘Jin-kun, don’t lie.’
From then on, he learned to keep secrets.
It wasn’t until he turned 15, that Jin learned to embrace the part of himself he had suppressed and denied. Many of his classmates would remember Kame as the lower class-man with funny looking eyebrows and a wicked curve ball. But to Jin, Kame was the one who crashed into his life, shattering all his beliefs and preconceived ideas. And from that moment on, the pieces refused to fit together properly again.
Case 01: Aiba Masaki
1st March - Kamenashi Psychic Research: 10.30am
The case was ridiculous, but they had decided to take it on because Kamenashi wanted to buy a new pair of designer jeans. It has been ‘Kamenashi’ since the beginning of the week, because on Monday his partner had decided that the waitress at the coffee shop across the street was cute enough to flirt with. Jin thought she was stupid with a big mouth that never ceased to continuously flap open at inappropriate intervals, like when he was trying to talk to Kame. He had slipped and used ‘Kame’ sixteen times today.
Their client was a young man who had just inherited the family resort business.
‘My grandfather used to tell me stories of playing in the lake. I just want our customers to enjoy the same experiences.’ The young man named Aiba Masaki told them gravely.
‘But then the ghost stories started,’ Kame said and frowned. Jin followed his gaze to where it rested on their client’s bobbing knees and had to bite his lips to suppress a smile. It seemed that their client’s inability to keep still was a distraction for his partner.
‘What are the stories about?’ Jin asked.
‘Well, no one really knows…’
‘What do you mean?’
‘There are a few different rumours floating around, but who knows for sure? I was hoping that you guys could just fix the ghost problem.’
‘We can’t ‘fix’ anything without more background information. We will have to go to the site and conduct an investigation,’ Kame said in a professional tone.
Aiba nodded.
5th March - 2.50pm
The resort was more impressive than they had originally imagined. The rooms were spacious and the food delicious. Jin cried out in delight when he saw the onsen and then blushed when his brain immediately conjured images of sharing the water with a naked Kame.
‘What?’ Kame asked when he caught Jin starting blankly at him. Jin wondered whether his face was red, because he could feel the heat in his cheeks.
’We should visit the site tomorrow morning and then ask the local people what they know about the haunting.’
Jin rolled his eyes. With Kame, it was always business first.
They were then led to their rooms and began unpacking their belongings. Jin finished unpacking first and leaned against the frame of the door to Kame’s room simply content to watch the other man move around. Kame always moved with such grace that he was almost disappointed when the shorter man finally tucked the empty suitcase away in a corner and joined him.
Aiba was waiting for them in the lounge, but he was not alone.
‘Who is this?’ Kame said pleasantly, but Jin could see that left eyebrow twitch slightly, a sigh of acute irritation from Kame. It was certainly not a compliment to anyone’s sense of professionalism when your client decides to employ other people in the same field on the same case.
Aiba smiled brightly, ‘This is Tanaka Koki, he’s a monk. I thought you could all work together!’
‘I’m sure our methods are different…’ Kame said uneasily. He shared a look with Jin before they both turned their attention to the stranger.
‘Are you sure he’s a monk? He sure doesn’t look like one,’ Jin said bluntly.
‘Since when did monks wear skull jewellery and paint their nails?’
‘I grew up in a temple, but I left years ago.’
The stranger ran a hand through his dark hair and gave Jin an uninterested look.
Jin sure wasn’t interested in a jerk like him either, but he didn’t like the way the man was smiling at Kame. Kame returned the smile courteously.
‘Tanaka Koki, but everyone calls me Koki.’
‘Kamenashi Kazuya, but everyone calls me Kame.’ Kame’s tone was brighter, clearly charmed by the attention.
They grinned at each other and Jin wanted to throw something at them.
------
He hadn’t always been this pathetic. There was a time when Kame was just some awkward guy with awkward eyebrows and an attitude that only ever seemed to be unleashed on Jin. He could still remember the accusation in those eyes as Kame screamed at him; I know you can see them too! Why won’t you admit it? Kame was so slight back then, so thin and small that one push from Jin had sent him falling back and landing with a sickening thump at the bottom of the stairs.
He hadn’t meant for that to happen.
Even now the image of Kame lying with his limbs spread at unnatural angles beside him appeared only in Jin’s most frightening nightmares. He had stayed for hours everyday in that seat next to Kame’s hospital bed. Kame’s mother thought he was a good friend of her son’s and took to bringing him onigiris. He only remembered the way his stomach sunk with guilt and the taste of bile in the back of his throat every time he smiled and accepted them.
When Kame woke up, he looked at Jin sitting anxiously beside his bed and simply explained, ‘I fell’ to the adults around them. Jin was grateful, but Kame’s lie only added more guilt upon his conscience.
‘I know you didn’t really mean to push me down the stairs. It had been an accident, so there’s no need blame anyone.’ Then Kame smiled and for the first time Jin understood what people meant by wanting to protect someone precious, because Kame’s eyes were gentle and clear and Jin wished Kame could smile like that forever.
He took to following the younger boy around school and sometimes even before and after school. Kame seemed a little embarrassed and overwhelmed by the attention, but he couldn’t quite hide his shy smiles and Jin thought the blushing was kind of cute.
‘You really don’t have to come with me, sempai’ Kame said with wide apprehensive eyes. He looked so nervous that Jin wanted to laugh. Sure, Jin didn’t have the most favourable reputation in school for his temper, but did the boy really think Jin would get mad if he refused Jin’s offer to walk home with him?
He whacked Kame over the head and swung an arm over the shorter boy’s shoulders.
‘What are you talking about? I just happen to be walking this way.’
Kame nodded slowly, but stopped questioning him.
‘And you don’t need to be so formal with me. Weren’t you the one who yelled at me the first time we met?’
He realised his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth. They had stopped walking. He didn’t know which of them stopped first, but they were still physically connected by Jin’s arm on Kame’s shoulder. He hadn’t wanted to bring that topic up so soon. It brought up unwanted images of Kame’s unconscious body; and it reminded him why they were shouting that day.
‘But you can see them too, right?’ Kame’s voice was as soft as a whisper. Jin looked down to see the top of Kame’s lowered head.
‘Yeah,’ Jin admitted eventually. He pretended to look the other way, but didn’t miss the way Kame whipped head up in surprise.
‘I’ve always been told that they weren’t real, so I just stopped talking about them to people.’ He continued with a shrug.
‘But they are real,’ Kame said enthusiastically, ‘I can see them and you can see them too!’
‘You don’t need to sound so excited,’ Jin laughed.
‘But… it’s the first time I’ve met someone who can see them too. I guess… that’s why I was so angry, because you refused to admit it.’ He was looking embarrassed again and it was a little adorable. Jin ruffed the short spiky hair fondly.
It wasn’t until they stopped in front of Kame’s house that Jin remembered an important question.
‘How did you know I could see them too?’
Kame smiled proudly.
‘Those stairs are pretty narrow you know,’ he pointed out, ‘She was just standing there… and everyone walked straight through her without realising. You were the only one that…’ He looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. ‘You plastered yourself against the wall when you were walking down the stair in order to avoid walking through her.’
‘I was just walking towards the side a bit!’ Jin protested with a blush. He hadn’t really looked that weird had he?
Kame’s eyes were laughing at him. Jin faked a coughed. ‘Besides, it feels weird walking through ghosts.’
His companion nodded in agreement.
Perhaps it wasn’t too bad to admit that he wasn’t quite normal; as long as he had someone to be not-quite-normal with.
And then the dreams started.
Weird dreams, where Kame’s eyebrows were still freaky, but freakishly thin. Dreams where Kame’s hair was luscious and in these dreams, Jin would always reach out to touch those soft strands and let them fall against his fingers. Night after night he woke up sweaty and terrified, with the image of Kame’s smirk fresh in his mind and the touch of his skin in his memories.
The Kame is his dreams was not the same boy he met at school everyday, and that thought kept him from running away every time he looked at the other boy. The Kame in his dreams was a man, not the little boy who stared up at him with his thin eyes and thick eyebrows.
Over time the dreams became more realistic. He could smell the citrus scent of the shampoo that the man in the dream used, while the other leaned his head against Jin’s chest.
Jin, a voice whispered followed by a satisfied sigh and Jin felt his body move of its own accord. He watched in shock as his arms wrapped themselves around the other man, pulling Kame closer.
Then he really freaked out.
5th March - 7.50pm
‘I think what we should do first is to interview the locals and hear their stories and rumours about the lake,’ Kame said from across the plastic table.
‘Do you think they will tell us?’ Koki asked, eying the last drumstick on the plate.
‘People love to gossip,’ Kame said and discreetly pushed the paper plate towards Koki.
The monk’s grateful expression was enough to make Jin lose his appetite.
‘I think I know why you left the temple.’
‘Terrible thing,’ Koki nodded with a grave expression ‘denying a man a real meal.’
The first person they asked was a young man named Tegoshi Yuya. He was standing in front of Kame, an obstacle in his quest to order a second round of drumsticks. From his seat at the table, Jin watched as Kame tapped the shorter man on the shoulder and started chatting. The pair then approached the counter together and made their orders.
Kame turned to walk back towards the table with the stranger in toe. Jin thought back to all those times Kame had called him a flirt and snorted. Kame was the one picking up strangers while ordering KFC. Granted, Kame has only really been successful when it comes to men, and women twice his age.
‘Kame-chan successfully cut the line,’ Koki observed from beside him.
‘What?’
Koki indicated with his head towards the approaching pair.
‘He was behind the little guy, but they ordered at the same time. He’s a wonderful man, Kamenashi Kazuya,’ Koki spoke with admiration in his voice.
‘Nothing should come between a man and his food.’
Jin ignored him. Obviously the monk was missing the point.
Tegoshi was a gossiper, which was good news for them. It would have been better for them if he was able to tell the story without the added drama. Jin was getting goosebumps.
‘… it is said that the man waited by the lake for his lover day after day, until one day,’ Tegoshi paused for effect, ‘he simply disappeared. All that was left was a set of foot prints in the mud leading towards the river.’ He looked around the table and lowered his voice;
‘But then strange things started to happen. Mika-san, who used to work at the grocery store, said that when she and her boyfriend went for a walk along the lake, they were drenched with water! The water was ice cold and for days they could not shake the chill from their bodies. And then there was my music teacher from junior school. My friend overheard him telling the other teachers that when he was by the river with his wife, a sudden force pulled them apart and pushed them into the river! They nearly drowned. And then when they got home… he dreamt of cold fingers around his neck, forcing him into the water and when he woke up in the night, the bed was soaking wet.’
Jin swallowed deeply. The light above them flickered then and in the brief flash of darkness, he felt someone next to him jolt. When it was bright again, he turned to see Kame staring ahead, pale and clutching his chair. Suddenly the story was at the back of his mind, because there was nothing more adorable than Kame pretending to be brave.
‘That Tegoshi is made of stuff stronger than super glue.’ Jin remarked bitterly to Koki as they made their way back to Aiba’s resort that night. Tegoshi and Kame were walking together ahead of them.
Koki looked at him in disbelief before bursting into laughter.
‘I’m going to call you Jin from now on, because you’re hilarious. You can call me Koki.’
‘The hell? I don’t want to.’
‘Be a little more sensitive will you?’ I’m trying to tell you that I like you.’
‘Who cares?’ Jin shrieked. Then he paused and made a disgusted face. ‘I don’t want you to like me.’
‘No, you just want Kame to like you.’
Jin stared at him in horror as Koki patted him on the back in what may have been intended as a comforting gesture, but the rings on Koki’s fingers dug through Jin’s thin shirt and it hurt.
‘Just because your family name is boring doesn’t mean you can ignore other people’s.’
But Koki ignored his protests and insisted on referring to him as ‘Jin’ and Jin ended up calling him ‘Koki’, because ‘Tanaka’ really was boring. He felt sorry for the guy.
------
Jin didn’t like telling people about his dreams, because sometimes, they were neither of the future nor the past. Sometimes, they were not true at all.
There was one dream that he remembered particularly well. Eight months after Jin transferred schools, he dreamt of Okinawa and of Kame. But Kame in this dream was not handsome and smiling at him, or devastated and glaring at him like he had been for weeks before Jin’s departure. This Kame still had skinny limbs and spiky hair, but he shrieked when Jin jumped on him and forced them both under water, and punched him on the arm when they finally climbed up on the pool’s edge. This Kame smiled affectionately at him when Jin couldn’t stop his body from shaking every time the wind howled past their thin, unstable tent and pretended not to notice that Jin was holding his hand under the tangled layers of their sleeping bags and clothing.
When these types of dreams visited him, he wondered whether they were what could have been, or whether they were simply the result of what he wished could have happened. He wondered whether they were, after all, simply fragments of his imagination.
6th March - 12.15pm
They met Nakamaru beside the lake.
‘Well, isn’t this anti-climatic,’ Koki said. The three of them were standing in a line, watching the still water.
‘Does anyone see or feel anything out of the ordinary?’ Kame asked.
Jin and Koki shook their heads.
‘Maybe we need to wait a little longer?’ Jin suggested.
‘I’ve been here everyday this month and nothing has happened,’ a voice spoke up from behind them. The man’s argyle jumper and neatly pressed pants made Jin want to ignore him immediately. He turned back towards Kame.
‘What should we do then?’
‘We call Taguchi,’ Kame replied. ‘He might be able to pick something up with the equipment. There is also a possibility that there is nothing supernatural here and that the rumours are simply rumours.’ Then he paused to acknowledge the man behind them.
‘You haven’t seen or felt anything strange during your time here?’
The man frowned. ‘I haven’t seen anything at all. In fact you and your friends are the only people I’ve seen visiting this place. I think the locals are scared of this place and the tourists are told to keep away. Apart from toilet breaks, lunch breaks and the time I spend sleeping, I’ve spent most of my time here and nothing out of the ordinary has happened to me. I certainly haven’t been attacked by water.’
Jin was slightly impressed. This guy was either extremely dedicated, or just really had no life.
‘So apart from eating, sleeping and going to the toilet, you spent the rest of your time sitting here? For a whole month?’ Koki blurted out.
The argyle-wearing man nodded slowly.
‘You really need to get out more, man’ Koki concluded, and then added, ‘Who are you anyway?’
The man looked mildly offended, but responded anyway.
‘My name is Nakamaru, I’m writing a thesis on folklore and how superstition affects the contemporary culture of our society -‘
‘So Nakamura,’ Jin cut in, ‘has anyone told you that your nose is really big?’
‘It’s Nakamaru, and yes, I’ve been told that before.’
Jin and Koki shared a snigger.
It turned out that Nakamaru was staying at the resort too. After he found out that they had supernatural powers, he took to following them around asking questions in the name of research. Jin and Koki weren’t very co-operative so Kame became his sole target. It wasn’t that Kame was exactly being co-operative. In fact Kame had always been secretive about his powers, but Nakamaru was polite and older than him and the two of them just ended up talking for hours about folklore. Not that Jin was surprised by this outcome, as Kame had always been a geek at heart.
Taguchi arrived the next day, smiling as bright as the glaring sun with the same amount of migraine inducement. After he surveyed the surroundings, his mood seemed to dampen slightly.
‘There’s not much I can do. The area is too open and there is wind. Any reading or data I collect will be inaccurate.’
‘I don’t care. Just try,’ Kame said, ‘All I need is an indication that something supernatural is happening here. Otherwise we are all wasting our time.’
Taguchi shrugged and went back to his van to collect the equipment.
‘I’ll try to keep a reading of the temperature at different points along this side of the lake,’ Taguchi explained as he took a seat on the grass and opened his laptop. Koki looked impressed by the setup he had just helped Taguchi complete, but still chose to sit at some distance from the smiling man. Taguchi had talked non-stop while they were setting up the equipment. Kame sat down in the space between them and motioned for Jin to join them.
They were discussing the option of splitting up and gathering more information when Jin noticed Aiba running towards them. Jin pulled his jacket tighter around him and waved back. Then there was a flash of something moving past them, and Jin felt a familiar chill that raised the fine hairs on the back of his neck. When he refocused his eyes, Aiba stood in front of them, drenched with water. Jin blinked in confusion; the man had most definitely not been dripping wet a second ago.
‘The temperature dropped dramatically in this area and also there,’ Taguchi pointed in Aiba’s direction without looking up from his screen.
‘I guess that proves it,’ Kame said with a sigh, ‘There is definitely a spirit involved.’
‘I felt something,’ Jin offered.
Koki nodded in agreement, ‘I think it came right between us and then went for Aiba.’
‘What…. what happened? Why is he suddenly wet?’ Nakamaru’s eyes widened in shock as he backed away.
‘Well you wanted to research about ghosts, right? Take this as first hand experience.’ Jin said without sympathy at Nakamaru’s horrified expression.
Aiba sneezed.
Taguchi Junnosuke
Jin had been introduced to Taguchi after the incident where he tried and failed to use the office computer.
‘Oh,’ Kame had said when Jin approached him and stared at the machine like he was seeing it for the first time. ‘I haven’t used that in months.’
‘Why?’
Kame shrugged, ‘I forgot the password.’
Taguchi’s help was then enlisted. When Jin asked who Taguchi was, Kame’s answer had simply been, ‘a classmate from high school who’s good with computers and stuff.’
It made him curious. Since the two of them had started working together, Jin had yet to hear Kame talk about anything that had happened during the years he had been away.
When he finally met Taguchi face to face, it was about three months after his reunion with Kame. He hadn’t known how to respond to the self-introduction that was ‘Iriguchi, Deguchi Taguchi desu!’ complete with arm movements and a blinding smile. Kame didn’t even look up from his book.
’Taguchi, Akanishi. Akanishi, Taguchi.’ He waved a hand roughly between them. Jin thought he saw something flash across Taguchi’s face, but when he looked again, the smile had not changed.
Kame’s attitude was usually quite dismissive towards Taguchi, but the taller man seemed unfazed. Perhaps Jin would have believed that they were simply classmates if he had not left this jacket in the office that night. The image of Kame, puffy eyed with one hand clutching his hair in frustration as he glared across the room stopped Jin in his tracks. This was no longer the small boy who had spent hours hiding on the school rooftop with him simply because Jin felt like skipping class. That Kame had complained and glared and shouted, but had always been easy to read. This man who stood at the back of the room wore an exhausted expression Jin had never seen on those familiar features before. It hit him hard at that moment, just how much about Kame he didn’t know. It hurt to realise that he had missed his chance to become part of Kame’s life.
‘Don’t nag Taguchi,’ Kame was saying, ‘I know what I’m doing.’
For a long time, the taller man didn’t say anything. Then he sighed and walked closer to Kame.
‘I just worry.’ Kame didn’t back way and allowed Taguchi to place a hand on his shoulder.
‘Yeah, sorry about that, but I’m not changing my mind.’ Kame said with determination.
Kame appeared to him in his dreams in varying ages and appearances, but he always looked at Jin like he never wanted to look away. And as much as Jin savoured those moments spent with the vision of a man who reciprocated his feelings, sometimes he wished that he had never seen those dreams, because now, every time Kame looked at him with indifference or smiled at someone else, Jin would feel the difference between dream and reality amplifying.
Most of all, it hurt because he knew it was his fault that Kame had stopped telling him things and had started controlling his emotions around him. Because when he had told the boy with spiky hair and odd eyebrows that he didn’t want to be friends anymore, the light that had disappeared from Kame’s eyes marked the end of Jin’s position as Kame’s most important person and he didn’t know how to get it back.
6th March - 6.45pm
They decided to hold a meeting back at Aiba’s resort house. The owner himself assured them that he was fine, although he might have caught a cold from walking back in wet clothes. When asked why he appeared unfazed by the incident, Aiba shrugged and told them that it happened to him often when he visited the lake.
‘Alright, so what did everyone see or feel?’ Kame asked while flipping to a new page in his notebook.
‘A sudden chill and then I thought I saw a flash of something sweep past us,’ Jin offered.
‘Same here,’ Koki said.
‘Hey, don’t copy me.’
‘Who wants to copy you?’ Koki snapped back.
‘Are this guy’s abilities even real?’ Jin directed the question towards Kame. Koki offered him a rude gesture while Kame ignored both of them.
‘What we need is a medium,’ Kame said instead ‘so that we can get a clear image of who we are dealing with.’
‘Question,’ Nakamaru spoke up. Jin sniggered at his raised hand.
‘I thought you would all be able to see the spirit because of your supernatural abilities?’
‘Most of us are more sensitive in relation to spirits and will be able to see or sense something. It varies depending on how powerful the spirit is and whether it can deliberately hide itself.’
‘And mediums are different?’ Nakamaru asked, opening his own notebook.
‘Yes, a medium’s main ability is in seeing and sensing spirits. Other psychics have different powers or abilities and are not as strong in this area.’ He paused and glanced at Jin, ‘Although I think most of us would have been able to see spirits quite clearly when we were children, before our other abilities developed and took dominance of our senses.’
Koki nodded in agreement.
Jin had been quite relieved when he realised he couldn’t see ghosts as clearly, but he wasn’t sure that if he had a choice, he would choose the dreams.
‘This is so fascinating…’ Nakamaru muttered, almost inaudible over the sound of the mad scribbling that had just began.
‘I don’t know any mediums personally…’ Kame said.
‘I do,’ Nakamaru said without looking up.
‘A real medium Nakamura, not the ads you see in the back of girly magazines.’
The sound of pen on paper paused. ‘It’s Nakamaru, and I think he’s real, he’s on television and all.’
‘How do you know what’s at the back of girly magazines?’ Koki smirked at Jin.
‘My sister reads them.’
‘You don’t have a sister,’ Kame chirped in brightly and smiled widely at him.
‘Shut up.’ Sometimes he forgot that Kame had been a regular visitor at his home during the time they were at school together. He threw a pillow at Kame who dodged with a laugh.
‘As I was saying, I know a medium’ Nakamaru said in an expatriated tone, eying the pillow which now lay on the floor. ‘Why are all of you in my room anyway?’
Jin tilted his head up to examine the ceiling, pretending not to have heard the other man. In his peripheral vision, he saw Koki turning to look at the window and Kame busy examining his nails.
Nakamaru sighed audibly, ‘Where’s the tall guy then?’
‘Taguchi went to get settled in, I think,’ Kame replied.
‘Well, then I think it’s about time that you all got settled in back in your own rooms.’
‘The medium you mentioned. What is his name?’ Kame asked, ignoring Nakamaru’s last comment.
‘Ueda Tatsuya.’
‘No way!’ Koki jumped up from his position on the floor, ‘“The faerie prince”? He’s like, a celebrity.’
‘Oh my god, you’re not a fan are you? That’s so lame,’ Jin said.
‘Shut up, just because you’re not famous.’
‘Well, I’ve always wanted to see his abilities for myself,’ Kame interrupted.
‘Alright then, I’ll call him.’ Nakamaru said.
When Nakamaru finally managed to kick them out of his room, it was nearly midnight. Jin walked back to his room with his ears still ringing. Nakamaru had actually lectured them for leaving food crumbs on the floor. Jin shook his head in disbelief; the man had looked so harmless at the beginning.
Opening the door to his room, Jin was immensely disappointed and more than slightly annoyed to find the view to the inviting bed blocked by the tall figure of a smiling idiot.
‘Taguchi, get out of my room. I’m tired.’
Taguchi grinned and spread his arms to indicate the surrounding area. It was then that Jin realised his room was littered with computer equipment.
‘I had to unpack the van. This stuff is worth a fortune. I can’t sleep unless I know it’s in a safe place.’
‘No, you’re probably just going to play games on all six monitors throughout the night.’ Jin retorted.
Taguchi shrugged, but didn’t deny the accusation. ‘There weren’t anymore spare rooms left. Aiba-san said that the season is popular for tourists and since he wasn’t expecting anyone else he hadn’t reserved a room for me.’
‘Well how the hell will I get to sleep with all these monitors turned on. On second thought I don’t think I can get to sleep with you in the same room, period.’
‘You could wear an eyemask and pretend that I’m not here. Or, you can go to Kame’s room and ask him to share his room. We all know that you need your beauty sleep.’
Jin narrowed his eyes and tried to work out if Taguchi was making fun of him, but the man simply turned back towards the nearest screen. A few seconds later, the introduction music to a game started and Jin walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
He tried not to run all the way to Kame’s room.
Kame looked a little uncomfortable when Jin flopped himself on the only bed in the room after simply offering ‘Taguchi’ as an explanation. He sat up when he realised Kame was folding a blanket on the floor.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Giving you the bed. You being able to sleep well might help us with the case. Wake me up if you dream of anything relevant to the case.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. The bed is big enough for both of us, which by the way is not fair. Aiba-san obviously gave you the better room.’
When Kame ignored him and started to make himself comfortable on the floor, Jin stood up and yanked the pillow from under his head.
‘What the hell?’ Kame snapped at him.
‘What’s your problem?’ Jin retorted, ‘If you sleep on the ground you’re going to complain about back-pain all day tomorrow. The bed is big enough so we’ll just share. It’s not like we haven’t slept on the same bed before.’
Kame didn’t meet his eyes. ‘I’m not thirteen anymore Jin.’
‘What does that have to do with anything? It’s not like you grew much taller.’
He watched as the corners of Kame’s lips twitched and then received a pillow in his face for his trouble. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Kame crawling onto the bed and under the covers.
‘Well don’t blame me if I accidentally hit you in your sleep.’
Jin smirked, ‘I’m a big boy now, I can handle it.’
Kame rolled his eyes.
Perhaps it was because they were lying so close to each other, because when he heard the other’s breath even, Jin couldn’t resist reaching out and placing his palm against Kame’s warm back. To say that he didn’t know what the simple act would mean would be a lie. Sometimes, when he accidentally fell asleep snuggled up to Pin, he would dream of chasing butterflies and of rubbing his nose in dirt.
This time, Kame was wearing a black school uniform and his hair was a coppery colour which fell softly, framing his cheeks. He was beautiful. As Jin savoured the experience of seeing a snapshot of Kame’s life that he would otherwise not have access to, at the same time the feeling that he was seeing something he shouldn’t be seeing was nagging at his conscience. It was not his past or future he was seeing, it was Kame’s.
‘Kamenashi-senpai! Please reconsider. If you need more time for your studies then we can cut back on your training time, anything! Just stay on the team and play at the semi-finals!’
‘I’m sorry,’ Kame said softly, ‘I can’t.’
The lower-classman clenched the cap in his hands and was about to walk away when he turned around to stare Kame straight in the eyes.
‘The Kamenashi-senpai I knew would never abandon the team.’
The boy walked away, but Jin saw the hurt written all over Kame’s face and the way his eyes suddenly became glassy. After a few seconds he started walking away, dragging his feet. The bell for class rang at that moment, but Kame didn’t stop walking until he was standing on the rooftop. Jin watched Kame as he watched the clouds. When the door to the rooftop opened again, the sun had hidden itself behind a particularly dreary looking cloud.
‘There you are! Were you hiding from the baseball team again? Can’t blame them though, they just lost their captain and star pitcher in one go,’ came an annoyingly familiar voice. Taguchi was dressed in the same uniform. He cheerfully invaded Kame’s personal space and sat with their shoulders touching.
Kame glared at him and shifted to give himself some space.
‘It’s statistically impossible you know?’ Taguchi’s smile didn’t waver when there was no reply. ‘That ball you hit in the last game, it was impossible. Trust me, I’ve studied it from every angle… off the footage I recorded from the game.’
Kame’s eyes widened in fear.
‘Everyone thought it was just a very far home-run, but I think we both know better. That distance, that height, it’s physically impossible for a human, Kamenashi-kun.’
‘What do you want?’ Kame asked tightly.
‘Want?’ Taguchi blinked back at him in confusion. ‘Oh, I just wanted to let you know that your secret is safe with me.’
‘Secret?’
‘Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,’ Taguchi said, his tone serious, ‘that you’re an alien.’
Kame stared at his classmate in pure bewilderment before breaking down into laughter. He was simultaneously trying to clutch his stomach and clap his hands when Taguchi cried:
‘You mean you’re not?!’
7th March - 9.45am
Ueda Tatsuya arrived the next day. Jin thought he didn’t look as impressive as he did on television, but he supposed the guy was alright. Ueda didn’t talk much and for that he was grateful; they already had their fair share of babbling idiots in the group. Jin stole a glance at Koki, Nakamaru and Taguchi who seemed to be bonding over the newly discovered mutual enthusiasm for survival games.
‘This area has definitely been frequented by a spirit,’ Ueda said, standing on the bank with his eyes closed, ‘I feel a faint presence. But he is no longer here.’
‘Maybe we can ask Aiba-san to lure him out,’ Koki suggested.
Kame frowned. ‘He’s the client, we can’t ask him to do something like that. Besides, the lady at the front desk said this morning that the owner is going to be away for the next two days for a meeting with his food suppliers in Kyoto.’
‘What were you doing talking to the lady at the front desk this morning?’ Jin asked.
Kame shrugged. ‘Research.’
‘So what else did you find out?’
‘That she likes yellow flowers, sunsets and walks in the park.’
Jin was about to let Kame know just how full of crap he thought he was when Nakamaru interrupted:
‘I was going over my notes yesterday and I found out that with the exception of Aiba-san, all the other victims of this sudden drenching from water were couples in a romantic relationship. For instance if we take what Tegoshi said… there was Mika-san, who used to work at the grocery store, and her boyfriend; and the music teacher and his wife. When I first got here I asked other locals and there were similar stories of lovers being suddenly attacked by water.’
They took a moment to take in the information before Kame said slowly, ‘We could… try to lure it out ourselves?’
To be fair, the pairings were assigned randomly. Jin pulled the short straw so he was left with Taguchi. Koki and Ueda looked at each other and just shrugged. Kame grabbed Nakamaru and pulled him away a little too enthusiastically if you asked Jin.
‘It’s impossible,’ Jin concluded after five minutes. ‘It’s impossible for me to act like part of a couple with you.’
Taguchi just smiled. ‘What do couples like to eat?’
‘What?’
‘Cup-ramen!’
Jin tugged at his hair and groaned loudly.
7th March - 11.45am
‘Why did you two get wet?’ Jin shrieked. He bristled at Maru’s guilty expression.
Koki, the bastard, didn’t help by bursting into laughter somewhere to his left.
Kame just rolled his eyes at them and indicated for Maru to follow him as he started walking away.
‘Kame-chan looked smug, don’t you think? Like a cat that’s got the cream.’
Jin jumped in surprise at Koki’s voice. Wasn’t the bastard rolling on the ground dying from laughter just moments ago?
‘More like the cat that’s swallowed the canary.’ Jin chirped in.
They both stared at him until Taguchi pointed to his own face.
‘Nakamaru’s big nose…’ he prompted, ‘like a bird’s beak…’
‘Shut up,’ Jin said, glaring at both of them. ‘No one cares about your analogies.’
Koki patted Taguchi on the shoulder and sighed dramatically.
‘Taguchi, I don’t know if I underestimated you or overestimated you.’
‘Well,’ Ueda said, joining the conversation, ‘Kame does look at Maru like he wants shallow him’
‘What the hell does that mean?’ Jin snapped.
Koki rolled his eyes. ‘It just means that Kame finds him adorable.’
Jin wondered if that was meant to make him feel better.
‘Koki and I were nearby so I caught a glimpse of him. Young man in his twenties or early thirties. Skinny and not very tall. I can’t draw, but I’ll be able to recognise him if we find a picture.’ Ueda reported when they sat down for lunch.
‘That’s a good start. This is not a large community, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find one young man who died around fifty years ago around this lake area.’ Kame said.
7th March - 4.30pm
There was only one person who matched that description and Ueda nodded when they showed him a photograph from an old article found in the local library archives.
‘Ninomiya Kazuya,’ Jin read.
‘Idiot, it’s Ninomiya Kazunari. Just because it’s the same character as Kame-chan’s name doesn’t mean you can ignore the rest of the article.’ Koki said.
Jin ignored him and continued reading.
‘… the body of Ninomiya Kazunari, the only heir of the Ninomiya family, who has been missing since last Monday was found this morning by tourists taking a morning walk along the lake…. The particular portion of land along the water belongs to the Aiba family, close acquaintances of the Ninomiya family. The young heir has been of poor health since childhood and his family expressed their surprise that the young master would go outside by the lake alone. The Ninomiya family has urged the police to investigate the potential of a kidnapping gone wrong… ‘
‘Oh, they were always so melodramatic,’ came a voice. Jin nodded in agreement before he realised that he didn’t recognise the voice. He heard sharp intakes of breath and a scream which sounded like it came from that Nakamaru guy. Looking up, he saw the face of a young man just over his shoulder, sharing the aged newspaper.
Jin yelped and stumbled back until he was standing beside (and slightly behind) Kame. When he looked back, he saw that the newspaper had fallen onto the ground and there was a man, not much older than himself, lying down reading the paper with his face resting in his hands. The man had a bored expression, but more importantly, the man was floating a couple of inches off the ground.
‘We can all see you now?’ Kame asked bravely, although Jin noticed that his partner was looking rather pale. No matter how many ghosts they run into, it was still difficult to be unfazed. Ueda was looking most at ease, but as a professional, Jin saw that the medium was also on guard. Not all ghosts were friendly.
‘Yes yes,’ the ghost of Ninomiya waved a hand at them, not looking up from the paper he was reading, ‘I learned that trick long ago, along with the trick that hides me from physics. Although mediums are a whole different can of worms.’
‘I assume your family took care of your body?’ Kame asked.
‘Yeah, they probably built a large and ugly grave.’
‘Then why are you still here?’ Koki asked. ‘Did someone disturb your remains or something like that?’
‘Nope. I just like it here.’
‘But you’re dead.’ Jin blurted out.
‘I know.’
‘Your remains are not disturbed, you’re aware that you’re dead. I don’t see why you’re still here.’ Jin continued.
The ghost stood and floated slowly towards him. Jin tried to relax himself. Even though the ghost was right in front of his face, Jin could feel no malicious intent.
‘It’s fun.’
‘Do you have anything against couples?’ Kame asked.
‘They’re annoying, so I decided to have some fun.’ The ghost smirked.
‘And Aiba-san?’
‘Oh, I just like him. Isn’t he hilarious?’
‘Still doesn’t explain why you’re here,’ Jin said.
‘I just like it here. Problem?’
‘Yes.’
‘As long as it’s not my problem,’ Ninomiya smirked before floating away.
‘Can’t you just go towards the light or something?’ Jin called after him. The ghost flipped him off before disappearing from sight.
‘Looks like this will be troublesome,’ Koki groaned.
Jin turned towards him with a sudden idea. ‘Can’t you read some sutras and force him to move on?’
Koki’s eyes turned serious. ‘Sorry, can’t help you. It’s not my policy to use force.’ At Jin’s blank stare, he sighed and continued, ‘I could end up harming or destroying the soul. My control … isn’t that great.’
‘That …. sucks.’
‘Yeah.’
He turned to Ueda next, but the other man just held up his hands. ‘I’m a medium, the most I can do is try to convince them to move on.’
‘Then why don’t you?’
‘It’s not my policy.’
‘What?’
Ueda shrugged, ‘I can’t be bothered. Besides, I’m bad at things like that.’
Jin groaned.
-----
‘We have to respect their decisions.’ Kame said as he climbed into bed that night.
‘But… ‘
‘We can try to convince Ninomiya. Maybe if we annoy him enough, he’ll move on?’
‘Not bloody likely, he seems stubborn.’
Jin tried to hide a smile at Kame’s thoughtful expression, at the way those eyebrows knitted together. They were lying on the bed facing each other with their pillows placed side by side.
‘Why does our pillow talk have to be about a ghost with a hobby for throwing water at people?’
Kame’s eyes widened before rolling them at Jin. He turned to lie facing the other way, but not before Jin caught the beginning of a blush forming on his cheeks.
‘Idiot.’
He blamed it on still being giddy from being able to elicit such an adorable reaction from Kame, because when Kame’s breathing was even and he stopped responding to Jin’s whispers, he reached out to lightly touch Kame’s fingers.
‘Just leave me alone.’ Kame stood with his back facing Taguchi. He was clutching a baseball close to his body as if trying to hide it from the other person in the room.
‘It’s obvious you still want to play…’ Taguchi started, but Kame suddenly turned to face him, eyes blaring.
‘If I do, they’ll just find out that I’m a freak, that I could hurt them, that I could… that I could cheat.’
Taguchi returned his gaze confidently, ‘But you won’t.’
‘I can make the ball fly in any direction I want, Taguchi,’ Kame let out a bitter laugh, ‘I might accidentally make people fly too, if I’m not careful.’
‘You just need to control it,’ Taguchi said taking his laptop out from his bag.
‘But I don’t know how…’
‘Don’t worry, I’ve got spreadsheets to help.’
8th March - 10.25am
When Jin woke, all he could see was a headful of brown hair. Somehow during the night his limbs had become tangled with Kame’s and now the other man’s head was tucked gently against his chest. Since it was his arms that were holding Kame in place, it wasn’t hard to work out who was responsible for their current position.
He took a stroll along the lake, but saw none of the scenery. All he could see were scenes from what he had seen during the last two nights. All he could think about was the fear and anger he recognised in Kame’s expression, because he had seen the same expression while looking into the mirror countless of times in the past. He remembered laughing with Kame when they chased the spirit of a stray cat down the street and he remembered clinging to each other that particular night when they were held back for skipping class and saw the ghost of a long haired figure float along the dark hallways of the school building. Kame was the one who had made Jin want to accept his abilities as something more than just a curse. It became their secret and because of that, it was precious.
But at one stage Kame had been afraid. He had resented those abilities, which had brought the two of them together in the first place; the one thing they had in common. And Jin hadn’t been there to help him deal with that fear. Jin had been on the other side of the world, dealing with his own fears.
It was clear that Kame didn’t have the same reservations about his skills now. When Jin had met Kame the again, the other was already a man; a confident adult who made Jin blush with teasing stares and who used his abilities effortlessly to move the coffee cup from the table straight into his hands without looking up from the morning paper every morning.
It seemed so silly now. He had been a coward and it had cost him the opportunity to grow up with Kame.
Kame found him sitting on the grass, staring out at the water. ‘Are you sick or something?’ he asked.
‘No. Just thinking.’
‘Ok Jin, whatever you say,’ Kame had that little smile on his face that suggested he was just humouring him. Jin patted the grass next to him and Kame obediently took a seat, giving him a curious glance. They sat in silence for a while, watching the sunlight reflected on the water in broken fragments.
‘When I started having these dreams, I was really scared, you know?’ Jin spoke up. He could feel Kame turn towards him, but he continued to stare ahead.
‘They weren’t ordinary dreams. They were so vivid, like I was really there. And in a way I was, because I dreamt of my own future.’
‘Did you see what you would look like in the future?’ Kame asked gently.
‘Not really. I was looking through the eyes of my future self,’ he paused and looked at his hands, ‘I could clearly see however, the people around me.’
Kame nodded, processing the information. When Jin didn’t say any more, he looked up and met Jin’s gaze.
‘Jin?’
‘I’m sorry I left. I should have been there, beside you. We should have faced those changes together.’
Kame opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he shook his head and let out a laugh. A moment later he punched Jin in the shoulder, hard.
‘It’s not fair you know,’ he said while ignoring the way Jin was cradling his side. ‘I thought I would never forgive you, but I think I forgave you a long time ago.’
‘Forgive me?’ Jin asked, his pain temporarily forgotten.
‘You told me we weren’t friends anymore and then you left, of course I was angry. I told myself that I never wanted to see you again, that if I ever did see you again I would punch you the moment I saw you.’
‘But you didn’t.’ Jin stated.
‘No, I didn’t. You looked so happy to see me, I couldn’t. Besides,’ Kame smiled gently at him, ‘I was happy to see you too.’
‘Oh,’ Jin breathed and desperately wished for his cheeks to stop burning. ‘I really was happy to see you. And I’m happy to see you almost everyday now, I mean I’m happy to be working with you now,’ he blurted out and then groaned on the inside for acting like a teenage girl with a crush.
‘Me too,’ Kame said; he placed his hand over Jin’s and gave it a light squeeze. The warmth was gone too quickly and the next moment Kame was standing up and brushing the dirt from his pants.
‘Come on,’ he said as he started walking away, ‘Let’s get back to work.’
Jin grinned widely and hurried after him.
8th March - 12.35pm
Taguchi and Nakamaru made an unlikely team when it came to research. Taguchi used internet as his resource, Nakamaru set up home in the local library; then they cross-referenced what they had found. Jin and Koki lazed around and Ueda had disappeared. Kame compiled the material from Taguchi and Nakamaru and then photocopied it and made each copy into pretty booklets with the titles highlighted in pink. No one complained because when Jin suggested that pink highlighters were lame, he was whacked over the head with his own copy of the booklet, while it was suspended in mid-air. Sometimes Kame abused his powers like that.
The floor in Nakamaru’s room was collecting more crumbs.
‘The Ninomiya family was close friends with the Aiba family, that much we can say for sure,’ Kame said, leaning up against the foot of the bed.
‘That makes sense, they would have moved in the same circles. They were the two wealthiest families in this region,’ Nakamaru agreed and then turned to glare at Koki as the man wiped at his jeans, effectively letting the collated bread crumbs fall onto the floor.
‘Can we not hold meetings in my room anymore?’ when he didn’t receive an answer, he added: ‘Can you at least not bringing food in here then?’
His audience was not the least bit cooperative. It might have had something to do with the fact that Nakamaru was the only person in the room who was not eating. Jin looked at his own melon bread and took another bite.
‘Anyway,’ Kame started, ‘There is a photo here from an old article of Ninomiya in his early twenties. Page twenty eight.’
There was a ruffle of paper.
‘The one on the right is Ninomiya,’ Koki said. They all nodded in agreement.
‘That one on the left must be one of Aiba-san’s relatives,’ Kame stated.
‘How can you tell?’ Jin asked.
‘The pants length.’ Kame said, ‘Every time we’ve seen Aiba-san, he’s been wearing pants at this three-quarter length. There is a crowd in the background in this picture and still the only person wearing short pants is the boy on the left. It’s obviously a family influence, why else would anyone wear short pants?’
‘Kame,’ Jin said carefully, ‘I don’t think we can take fashion tastes as evidence.’
‘Don’t mock me Akanishi,’ Kame replied, but he was smiling as he said it and Jin couldn’t help but grin back.
‘This is so disturbing,’ Koki spoke up, ‘Go flirt somewhere else.’
Jin grabbed a pillow off the bed and aimed it at Koki’s face. The problem was that Koki was eating a chicken burger and the collision sent pieces of lettuce and a slab of crispy skinned chicken flying onto the floor. Nakamaru snapped.
8th March - 1.10pm
The meeting continued in Kame and Jin’s room. After they sat down, there was a noticeable gap on either side of Nakamaru.
‘Why couldn’t we go to someone else’s room?’ Jin whispered to Kame.
‘Because Taguchi’s more anal than Nakamaru when it comes to cleanliness,’ Kame hissed. Jin stole a glance at Taguchi only to find the other man smiling brightly at him. He decided that he really didn’t need to see Taguchi snap.
‘We probably wouldn’t be able to find enough space to sit on in Koki’s room and Ueda is currently sharing with Nakamaru,’ Kame finished the explanation.
Nakamaru faked a cough and Kame immediately turned back to the information they were supposed to be studying. Jin was a little disappointed, but he wasn’t about to argue with Nakamaru. It’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for. His ears were still ringing.
‘Let’s assume that the one on the left is Aiba-san’s relative,’ Nakamura said, ‘That would actually make sense because their families were close. The main question is the boy standing the middle.’
The boy in the middle of the picture had a sloppy grin and was holding a large fish proudly in front of him. The rest of the article talked about breaking some record for the largest fish caught at the popular local lake. Jin peered closer at the picture and grinned at the fact Ninomiya was not looking at the photographer like his companions were; he was looking at the boy standing in middle.
‘He’s smiling like a smitten little boy,’ Jin announced. When he received blank stares and a soft ‘Huh?’ from Kame, Jin pointed to the image of Ninomiya in the photograph.
‘The way he’s looking at that boy with the fish.’
‘I don’t get it,’ Nakamaru said.
‘“Ohno Satoshi”’ Kame read from the article, ‘Let’s look into him.’
‘Just because he’s smiling?’ Nakamaru sounded skeptical.
‘I’m telling you, there’s something there,’ Jin asserted. He didn’t know why, but he was sure of it. The way Ninomiya looked at the mystery boy, there was fondness and pride and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
‘We’ll look into it because both Ninomiya and Aiba’s relative are from very wealthy and elitist backgrounds and this boy here…’ Kame paused to look at the article, ‘…was apparently the son of a fisherman. I remember it said in the other article that Ninomiya’s parents were surprised at the location their son’s body was found at, but as this photograph suggests, Ninomiya was not a stranger to the lake area.’
‘Rich boy becomes friends with poor fisherman’s son behind his parents’ back. That’s interesting.’ Ueda spoke up. From the way Jin felt everyone jump slightly, he would guess that just like him, they had forgotten about Ueda’s presence in the room.
‘Aiba’s relative must have been the link,’ Kame continued, ‘The Aiba family owned a large portion of the land around the lake. It wouldn’t be surprising if they knew the fishermen of the area.’ Then he smiled sheepishly, ‘Besides, this is the only thing we’ve got.’
Nakamaru sighed.
‘Let’s find out all we can about the Ohno family then.’
Part 2
By: cease11
Pairing: Akame
Word count: 17,500
Rating: PG
Genre/Warnings: Romance
Notes: JE and Ghost Hunt crossover. No knowledge of the Ghost Hunt series is required. A big thanks to my wonderful beta.
Summary: The case was ridiculous, but they had decided to take it on because Kamenashi wanted to buy a new pair of designer jeans.
Prologue
They met briefly as children, but Jin wondered whether Kame was aware of how the time they had spent together had subsequently shaped the way he lived his life.
His parents hadn’t known what to do with him. They didn’t want to call him a liar, but he was sensitive to their disbelieving gazes and awkward reassurances. It wasn’t until elementary school that he realised speaking the truth could get him into trouble.
‘No Jin-kun, there is no one there.’
The impatient faces of his teachers and the mocking smiles of his classmates confused him.
‘But sensei-‘
‘Jin-kun, don’t lie.’
From then on, he learned to keep secrets.
It wasn’t until he turned 15, that Jin learned to embrace the part of himself he had suppressed and denied. Many of his classmates would remember Kame as the lower class-man with funny looking eyebrows and a wicked curve ball. But to Jin, Kame was the one who crashed into his life, shattering all his beliefs and preconceived ideas. And from that moment on, the pieces refused to fit together properly again.
Case 01: Aiba Masaki
1st March - Kamenashi Psychic Research: 10.30am
The case was ridiculous, but they had decided to take it on because Kamenashi wanted to buy a new pair of designer jeans. It has been ‘Kamenashi’ since the beginning of the week, because on Monday his partner had decided that the waitress at the coffee shop across the street was cute enough to flirt with. Jin thought she was stupid with a big mouth that never ceased to continuously flap open at inappropriate intervals, like when he was trying to talk to Kame. He had slipped and used ‘Kame’ sixteen times today.
Their client was a young man who had just inherited the family resort business.
‘My grandfather used to tell me stories of playing in the lake. I just want our customers to enjoy the same experiences.’ The young man named Aiba Masaki told them gravely.
‘But then the ghost stories started,’ Kame said and frowned. Jin followed his gaze to where it rested on their client’s bobbing knees and had to bite his lips to suppress a smile. It seemed that their client’s inability to keep still was a distraction for his partner.
‘What are the stories about?’ Jin asked.
‘Well, no one really knows…’
‘What do you mean?’
‘There are a few different rumours floating around, but who knows for sure? I was hoping that you guys could just fix the ghost problem.’
‘We can’t ‘fix’ anything without more background information. We will have to go to the site and conduct an investigation,’ Kame said in a professional tone.
Aiba nodded.
5th March - 2.50pm
The resort was more impressive than they had originally imagined. The rooms were spacious and the food delicious. Jin cried out in delight when he saw the onsen and then blushed when his brain immediately conjured images of sharing the water with a naked Kame.
‘What?’ Kame asked when he caught Jin starting blankly at him. Jin wondered whether his face was red, because he could feel the heat in his cheeks.
’We should visit the site tomorrow morning and then ask the local people what they know about the haunting.’
Jin rolled his eyes. With Kame, it was always business first.
They were then led to their rooms and began unpacking their belongings. Jin finished unpacking first and leaned against the frame of the door to Kame’s room simply content to watch the other man move around. Kame always moved with such grace that he was almost disappointed when the shorter man finally tucked the empty suitcase away in a corner and joined him.
Aiba was waiting for them in the lounge, but he was not alone.
‘Who is this?’ Kame said pleasantly, but Jin could see that left eyebrow twitch slightly, a sigh of acute irritation from Kame. It was certainly not a compliment to anyone’s sense of professionalism when your client decides to employ other people in the same field on the same case.
Aiba smiled brightly, ‘This is Tanaka Koki, he’s a monk. I thought you could all work together!’
‘I’m sure our methods are different…’ Kame said uneasily. He shared a look with Jin before they both turned their attention to the stranger.
‘Are you sure he’s a monk? He sure doesn’t look like one,’ Jin said bluntly.
‘Since when did monks wear skull jewellery and paint their nails?’
‘I grew up in a temple, but I left years ago.’
The stranger ran a hand through his dark hair and gave Jin an uninterested look.
Jin sure wasn’t interested in a jerk like him either, but he didn’t like the way the man was smiling at Kame. Kame returned the smile courteously.
‘Tanaka Koki, but everyone calls me Koki.’
‘Kamenashi Kazuya, but everyone calls me Kame.’ Kame’s tone was brighter, clearly charmed by the attention.
They grinned at each other and Jin wanted to throw something at them.
------
He hadn’t always been this pathetic. There was a time when Kame was just some awkward guy with awkward eyebrows and an attitude that only ever seemed to be unleashed on Jin. He could still remember the accusation in those eyes as Kame screamed at him; I know you can see them too! Why won’t you admit it? Kame was so slight back then, so thin and small that one push from Jin had sent him falling back and landing with a sickening thump at the bottom of the stairs.
He hadn’t meant for that to happen.
Even now the image of Kame lying with his limbs spread at unnatural angles beside him appeared only in Jin’s most frightening nightmares. He had stayed for hours everyday in that seat next to Kame’s hospital bed. Kame’s mother thought he was a good friend of her son’s and took to bringing him onigiris. He only remembered the way his stomach sunk with guilt and the taste of bile in the back of his throat every time he smiled and accepted them.
When Kame woke up, he looked at Jin sitting anxiously beside his bed and simply explained, ‘I fell’ to the adults around them. Jin was grateful, but Kame’s lie only added more guilt upon his conscience.
‘I know you didn’t really mean to push me down the stairs. It had been an accident, so there’s no need blame anyone.’ Then Kame smiled and for the first time Jin understood what people meant by wanting to protect someone precious, because Kame’s eyes were gentle and clear and Jin wished Kame could smile like that forever.
He took to following the younger boy around school and sometimes even before and after school. Kame seemed a little embarrassed and overwhelmed by the attention, but he couldn’t quite hide his shy smiles and Jin thought the blushing was kind of cute.
‘You really don’t have to come with me, sempai’ Kame said with wide apprehensive eyes. He looked so nervous that Jin wanted to laugh. Sure, Jin didn’t have the most favourable reputation in school for his temper, but did the boy really think Jin would get mad if he refused Jin’s offer to walk home with him?
He whacked Kame over the head and swung an arm over the shorter boy’s shoulders.
‘What are you talking about? I just happen to be walking this way.’
Kame nodded slowly, but stopped questioning him.
‘And you don’t need to be so formal with me. Weren’t you the one who yelled at me the first time we met?’
He realised his mistake as soon as the words left his mouth. They had stopped walking. He didn’t know which of them stopped first, but they were still physically connected by Jin’s arm on Kame’s shoulder. He hadn’t wanted to bring that topic up so soon. It brought up unwanted images of Kame’s unconscious body; and it reminded him why they were shouting that day.
‘But you can see them too, right?’ Kame’s voice was as soft as a whisper. Jin looked down to see the top of Kame’s lowered head.
‘Yeah,’ Jin admitted eventually. He pretended to look the other way, but didn’t miss the way Kame whipped head up in surprise.
‘I’ve always been told that they weren’t real, so I just stopped talking about them to people.’ He continued with a shrug.
‘But they are real,’ Kame said enthusiastically, ‘I can see them and you can see them too!’
‘You don’t need to sound so excited,’ Jin laughed.
‘But… it’s the first time I’ve met someone who can see them too. I guess… that’s why I was so angry, because you refused to admit it.’ He was looking embarrassed again and it was a little adorable. Jin ruffed the short spiky hair fondly.
It wasn’t until they stopped in front of Kame’s house that Jin remembered an important question.
‘How did you know I could see them too?’
Kame smiled proudly.
‘Those stairs are pretty narrow you know,’ he pointed out, ‘She was just standing there… and everyone walked straight through her without realising. You were the only one that…’ He looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. ‘You plastered yourself against the wall when you were walking down the stair in order to avoid walking through her.’
‘I was just walking towards the side a bit!’ Jin protested with a blush. He hadn’t really looked that weird had he?
Kame’s eyes were laughing at him. Jin faked a coughed. ‘Besides, it feels weird walking through ghosts.’
His companion nodded in agreement.
Perhaps it wasn’t too bad to admit that he wasn’t quite normal; as long as he had someone to be not-quite-normal with.
And then the dreams started.
Weird dreams, where Kame’s eyebrows were still freaky, but freakishly thin. Dreams where Kame’s hair was luscious and in these dreams, Jin would always reach out to touch those soft strands and let them fall against his fingers. Night after night he woke up sweaty and terrified, with the image of Kame’s smirk fresh in his mind and the touch of his skin in his memories.
The Kame is his dreams was not the same boy he met at school everyday, and that thought kept him from running away every time he looked at the other boy. The Kame in his dreams was a man, not the little boy who stared up at him with his thin eyes and thick eyebrows.
Over time the dreams became more realistic. He could smell the citrus scent of the shampoo that the man in the dream used, while the other leaned his head against Jin’s chest.
Jin, a voice whispered followed by a satisfied sigh and Jin felt his body move of its own accord. He watched in shock as his arms wrapped themselves around the other man, pulling Kame closer.
Then he really freaked out.
5th March - 7.50pm
‘I think what we should do first is to interview the locals and hear their stories and rumours about the lake,’ Kame said from across the plastic table.
‘Do you think they will tell us?’ Koki asked, eying the last drumstick on the plate.
‘People love to gossip,’ Kame said and discreetly pushed the paper plate towards Koki.
The monk’s grateful expression was enough to make Jin lose his appetite.
‘I think I know why you left the temple.’
‘Terrible thing,’ Koki nodded with a grave expression ‘denying a man a real meal.’
The first person they asked was a young man named Tegoshi Yuya. He was standing in front of Kame, an obstacle in his quest to order a second round of drumsticks. From his seat at the table, Jin watched as Kame tapped the shorter man on the shoulder and started chatting. The pair then approached the counter together and made their orders.
Kame turned to walk back towards the table with the stranger in toe. Jin thought back to all those times Kame had called him a flirt and snorted. Kame was the one picking up strangers while ordering KFC. Granted, Kame has only really been successful when it comes to men, and women twice his age.
‘Kame-chan successfully cut the line,’ Koki observed from beside him.
‘What?’
Koki indicated with his head towards the approaching pair.
‘He was behind the little guy, but they ordered at the same time. He’s a wonderful man, Kamenashi Kazuya,’ Koki spoke with admiration in his voice.
‘Nothing should come between a man and his food.’
Jin ignored him. Obviously the monk was missing the point.
Tegoshi was a gossiper, which was good news for them. It would have been better for them if he was able to tell the story without the added drama. Jin was getting goosebumps.
‘… it is said that the man waited by the lake for his lover day after day, until one day,’ Tegoshi paused for effect, ‘he simply disappeared. All that was left was a set of foot prints in the mud leading towards the river.’ He looked around the table and lowered his voice;
‘But then strange things started to happen. Mika-san, who used to work at the grocery store, said that when she and her boyfriend went for a walk along the lake, they were drenched with water! The water was ice cold and for days they could not shake the chill from their bodies. And then there was my music teacher from junior school. My friend overheard him telling the other teachers that when he was by the river with his wife, a sudden force pulled them apart and pushed them into the river! They nearly drowned. And then when they got home… he dreamt of cold fingers around his neck, forcing him into the water and when he woke up in the night, the bed was soaking wet.’
Jin swallowed deeply. The light above them flickered then and in the brief flash of darkness, he felt someone next to him jolt. When it was bright again, he turned to see Kame staring ahead, pale and clutching his chair. Suddenly the story was at the back of his mind, because there was nothing more adorable than Kame pretending to be brave.
‘That Tegoshi is made of stuff stronger than super glue.’ Jin remarked bitterly to Koki as they made their way back to Aiba’s resort that night. Tegoshi and Kame were walking together ahead of them.
Koki looked at him in disbelief before bursting into laughter.
‘I’m going to call you Jin from now on, because you’re hilarious. You can call me Koki.’
‘The hell? I don’t want to.’
‘Be a little more sensitive will you?’ I’m trying to tell you that I like you.’
‘Who cares?’ Jin shrieked. Then he paused and made a disgusted face. ‘I don’t want you to like me.’
‘No, you just want Kame to like you.’
Jin stared at him in horror as Koki patted him on the back in what may have been intended as a comforting gesture, but the rings on Koki’s fingers dug through Jin’s thin shirt and it hurt.
‘Just because your family name is boring doesn’t mean you can ignore other people’s.’
But Koki ignored his protests and insisted on referring to him as ‘Jin’ and Jin ended up calling him ‘Koki’, because ‘Tanaka’ really was boring. He felt sorry for the guy.
------
Jin didn’t like telling people about his dreams, because sometimes, they were neither of the future nor the past. Sometimes, they were not true at all.
There was one dream that he remembered particularly well. Eight months after Jin transferred schools, he dreamt of Okinawa and of Kame. But Kame in this dream was not handsome and smiling at him, or devastated and glaring at him like he had been for weeks before Jin’s departure. This Kame still had skinny limbs and spiky hair, but he shrieked when Jin jumped on him and forced them both under water, and punched him on the arm when they finally climbed up on the pool’s edge. This Kame smiled affectionately at him when Jin couldn’t stop his body from shaking every time the wind howled past their thin, unstable tent and pretended not to notice that Jin was holding his hand under the tangled layers of their sleeping bags and clothing.
When these types of dreams visited him, he wondered whether they were what could have been, or whether they were simply the result of what he wished could have happened. He wondered whether they were, after all, simply fragments of his imagination.
6th March - 12.15pm
They met Nakamaru beside the lake.
‘Well, isn’t this anti-climatic,’ Koki said. The three of them were standing in a line, watching the still water.
‘Does anyone see or feel anything out of the ordinary?’ Kame asked.
Jin and Koki shook their heads.
‘Maybe we need to wait a little longer?’ Jin suggested.
‘I’ve been here everyday this month and nothing has happened,’ a voice spoke up from behind them. The man’s argyle jumper and neatly pressed pants made Jin want to ignore him immediately. He turned back towards Kame.
‘What should we do then?’
‘We call Taguchi,’ Kame replied. ‘He might be able to pick something up with the equipment. There is also a possibility that there is nothing supernatural here and that the rumours are simply rumours.’ Then he paused to acknowledge the man behind them.
‘You haven’t seen or felt anything strange during your time here?’
The man frowned. ‘I haven’t seen anything at all. In fact you and your friends are the only people I’ve seen visiting this place. I think the locals are scared of this place and the tourists are told to keep away. Apart from toilet breaks, lunch breaks and the time I spend sleeping, I’ve spent most of my time here and nothing out of the ordinary has happened to me. I certainly haven’t been attacked by water.’
Jin was slightly impressed. This guy was either extremely dedicated, or just really had no life.
‘So apart from eating, sleeping and going to the toilet, you spent the rest of your time sitting here? For a whole month?’ Koki blurted out.
The argyle-wearing man nodded slowly.
‘You really need to get out more, man’ Koki concluded, and then added, ‘Who are you anyway?’
The man looked mildly offended, but responded anyway.
‘My name is Nakamaru, I’m writing a thesis on folklore and how superstition affects the contemporary culture of our society -‘
‘So Nakamura,’ Jin cut in, ‘has anyone told you that your nose is really big?’
‘It’s Nakamaru, and yes, I’ve been told that before.’
Jin and Koki shared a snigger.
It turned out that Nakamaru was staying at the resort too. After he found out that they had supernatural powers, he took to following them around asking questions in the name of research. Jin and Koki weren’t very co-operative so Kame became his sole target. It wasn’t that Kame was exactly being co-operative. In fact Kame had always been secretive about his powers, but Nakamaru was polite and older than him and the two of them just ended up talking for hours about folklore. Not that Jin was surprised by this outcome, as Kame had always been a geek at heart.
Taguchi arrived the next day, smiling as bright as the glaring sun with the same amount of migraine inducement. After he surveyed the surroundings, his mood seemed to dampen slightly.
‘There’s not much I can do. The area is too open and there is wind. Any reading or data I collect will be inaccurate.’
‘I don’t care. Just try,’ Kame said, ‘All I need is an indication that something supernatural is happening here. Otherwise we are all wasting our time.’
Taguchi shrugged and went back to his van to collect the equipment.
‘I’ll try to keep a reading of the temperature at different points along this side of the lake,’ Taguchi explained as he took a seat on the grass and opened his laptop. Koki looked impressed by the setup he had just helped Taguchi complete, but still chose to sit at some distance from the smiling man. Taguchi had talked non-stop while they were setting up the equipment. Kame sat down in the space between them and motioned for Jin to join them.
They were discussing the option of splitting up and gathering more information when Jin noticed Aiba running towards them. Jin pulled his jacket tighter around him and waved back. Then there was a flash of something moving past them, and Jin felt a familiar chill that raised the fine hairs on the back of his neck. When he refocused his eyes, Aiba stood in front of them, drenched with water. Jin blinked in confusion; the man had most definitely not been dripping wet a second ago.
‘The temperature dropped dramatically in this area and also there,’ Taguchi pointed in Aiba’s direction without looking up from his screen.
‘I guess that proves it,’ Kame said with a sigh, ‘There is definitely a spirit involved.’
‘I felt something,’ Jin offered.
Koki nodded in agreement, ‘I think it came right between us and then went for Aiba.’
‘What…. what happened? Why is he suddenly wet?’ Nakamaru’s eyes widened in shock as he backed away.
‘Well you wanted to research about ghosts, right? Take this as first hand experience.’ Jin said without sympathy at Nakamaru’s horrified expression.
Aiba sneezed.
Taguchi Junnosuke
Jin had been introduced to Taguchi after the incident where he tried and failed to use the office computer.
‘Oh,’ Kame had said when Jin approached him and stared at the machine like he was seeing it for the first time. ‘I haven’t used that in months.’
‘Why?’
Kame shrugged, ‘I forgot the password.’
Taguchi’s help was then enlisted. When Jin asked who Taguchi was, Kame’s answer had simply been, ‘a classmate from high school who’s good with computers and stuff.’
It made him curious. Since the two of them had started working together, Jin had yet to hear Kame talk about anything that had happened during the years he had been away.
When he finally met Taguchi face to face, it was about three months after his reunion with Kame. He hadn’t known how to respond to the self-introduction that was ‘Iriguchi, Deguchi Taguchi desu!’ complete with arm movements and a blinding smile. Kame didn’t even look up from his book.
’Taguchi, Akanishi. Akanishi, Taguchi.’ He waved a hand roughly between them. Jin thought he saw something flash across Taguchi’s face, but when he looked again, the smile had not changed.
Kame’s attitude was usually quite dismissive towards Taguchi, but the taller man seemed unfazed. Perhaps Jin would have believed that they were simply classmates if he had not left this jacket in the office that night. The image of Kame, puffy eyed with one hand clutching his hair in frustration as he glared across the room stopped Jin in his tracks. This was no longer the small boy who had spent hours hiding on the school rooftop with him simply because Jin felt like skipping class. That Kame had complained and glared and shouted, but had always been easy to read. This man who stood at the back of the room wore an exhausted expression Jin had never seen on those familiar features before. It hit him hard at that moment, just how much about Kame he didn’t know. It hurt to realise that he had missed his chance to become part of Kame’s life.
‘Don’t nag Taguchi,’ Kame was saying, ‘I know what I’m doing.’
For a long time, the taller man didn’t say anything. Then he sighed and walked closer to Kame.
‘I just worry.’ Kame didn’t back way and allowed Taguchi to place a hand on his shoulder.
‘Yeah, sorry about that, but I’m not changing my mind.’ Kame said with determination.
Kame appeared to him in his dreams in varying ages and appearances, but he always looked at Jin like he never wanted to look away. And as much as Jin savoured those moments spent with the vision of a man who reciprocated his feelings, sometimes he wished that he had never seen those dreams, because now, every time Kame looked at him with indifference or smiled at someone else, Jin would feel the difference between dream and reality amplifying.
Most of all, it hurt because he knew it was his fault that Kame had stopped telling him things and had started controlling his emotions around him. Because when he had told the boy with spiky hair and odd eyebrows that he didn’t want to be friends anymore, the light that had disappeared from Kame’s eyes marked the end of Jin’s position as Kame’s most important person and he didn’t know how to get it back.
6th March - 6.45pm
They decided to hold a meeting back at Aiba’s resort house. The owner himself assured them that he was fine, although he might have caught a cold from walking back in wet clothes. When asked why he appeared unfazed by the incident, Aiba shrugged and told them that it happened to him often when he visited the lake.
‘Alright, so what did everyone see or feel?’ Kame asked while flipping to a new page in his notebook.
‘A sudden chill and then I thought I saw a flash of something sweep past us,’ Jin offered.
‘Same here,’ Koki said.
‘Hey, don’t copy me.’
‘Who wants to copy you?’ Koki snapped back.
‘Are this guy’s abilities even real?’ Jin directed the question towards Kame. Koki offered him a rude gesture while Kame ignored both of them.
‘What we need is a medium,’ Kame said instead ‘so that we can get a clear image of who we are dealing with.’
‘Question,’ Nakamaru spoke up. Jin sniggered at his raised hand.
‘I thought you would all be able to see the spirit because of your supernatural abilities?’
‘Most of us are more sensitive in relation to spirits and will be able to see or sense something. It varies depending on how powerful the spirit is and whether it can deliberately hide itself.’
‘And mediums are different?’ Nakamaru asked, opening his own notebook.
‘Yes, a medium’s main ability is in seeing and sensing spirits. Other psychics have different powers or abilities and are not as strong in this area.’ He paused and glanced at Jin, ‘Although I think most of us would have been able to see spirits quite clearly when we were children, before our other abilities developed and took dominance of our senses.’
Koki nodded in agreement.
Jin had been quite relieved when he realised he couldn’t see ghosts as clearly, but he wasn’t sure that if he had a choice, he would choose the dreams.
‘This is so fascinating…’ Nakamaru muttered, almost inaudible over the sound of the mad scribbling that had just began.
‘I don’t know any mediums personally…’ Kame said.
‘I do,’ Nakamaru said without looking up.
‘A real medium Nakamura, not the ads you see in the back of girly magazines.’
The sound of pen on paper paused. ‘It’s Nakamaru, and I think he’s real, he’s on television and all.’
‘How do you know what’s at the back of girly magazines?’ Koki smirked at Jin.
‘My sister reads them.’
‘You don’t have a sister,’ Kame chirped in brightly and smiled widely at him.
‘Shut up.’ Sometimes he forgot that Kame had been a regular visitor at his home during the time they were at school together. He threw a pillow at Kame who dodged with a laugh.
‘As I was saying, I know a medium’ Nakamaru said in an expatriated tone, eying the pillow which now lay on the floor. ‘Why are all of you in my room anyway?’
Jin tilted his head up to examine the ceiling, pretending not to have heard the other man. In his peripheral vision, he saw Koki turning to look at the window and Kame busy examining his nails.
Nakamaru sighed audibly, ‘Where’s the tall guy then?’
‘Taguchi went to get settled in, I think,’ Kame replied.
‘Well, then I think it’s about time that you all got settled in back in your own rooms.’
‘The medium you mentioned. What is his name?’ Kame asked, ignoring Nakamaru’s last comment.
‘Ueda Tatsuya.’
‘No way!’ Koki jumped up from his position on the floor, ‘“The faerie prince”? He’s like, a celebrity.’
‘Oh my god, you’re not a fan are you? That’s so lame,’ Jin said.
‘Shut up, just because you’re not famous.’
‘Well, I’ve always wanted to see his abilities for myself,’ Kame interrupted.
‘Alright then, I’ll call him.’ Nakamaru said.
When Nakamaru finally managed to kick them out of his room, it was nearly midnight. Jin walked back to his room with his ears still ringing. Nakamaru had actually lectured them for leaving food crumbs on the floor. Jin shook his head in disbelief; the man had looked so harmless at the beginning.
Opening the door to his room, Jin was immensely disappointed and more than slightly annoyed to find the view to the inviting bed blocked by the tall figure of a smiling idiot.
‘Taguchi, get out of my room. I’m tired.’
Taguchi grinned and spread his arms to indicate the surrounding area. It was then that Jin realised his room was littered with computer equipment.
‘I had to unpack the van. This stuff is worth a fortune. I can’t sleep unless I know it’s in a safe place.’
‘No, you’re probably just going to play games on all six monitors throughout the night.’ Jin retorted.
Taguchi shrugged, but didn’t deny the accusation. ‘There weren’t anymore spare rooms left. Aiba-san said that the season is popular for tourists and since he wasn’t expecting anyone else he hadn’t reserved a room for me.’
‘Well how the hell will I get to sleep with all these monitors turned on. On second thought I don’t think I can get to sleep with you in the same room, period.’
‘You could wear an eyemask and pretend that I’m not here. Or, you can go to Kame’s room and ask him to share his room. We all know that you need your beauty sleep.’
Jin narrowed his eyes and tried to work out if Taguchi was making fun of him, but the man simply turned back towards the nearest screen. A few seconds later, the introduction music to a game started and Jin walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
He tried not to run all the way to Kame’s room.
Kame looked a little uncomfortable when Jin flopped himself on the only bed in the room after simply offering ‘Taguchi’ as an explanation. He sat up when he realised Kame was folding a blanket on the floor.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Giving you the bed. You being able to sleep well might help us with the case. Wake me up if you dream of anything relevant to the case.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous. The bed is big enough for both of us, which by the way is not fair. Aiba-san obviously gave you the better room.’
When Kame ignored him and started to make himself comfortable on the floor, Jin stood up and yanked the pillow from under his head.
‘What the hell?’ Kame snapped at him.
‘What’s your problem?’ Jin retorted, ‘If you sleep on the ground you’re going to complain about back-pain all day tomorrow. The bed is big enough so we’ll just share. It’s not like we haven’t slept on the same bed before.’
Kame didn’t meet his eyes. ‘I’m not thirteen anymore Jin.’
‘What does that have to do with anything? It’s not like you grew much taller.’
He watched as the corners of Kame’s lips twitched and then received a pillow in his face for his trouble. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Kame crawling onto the bed and under the covers.
‘Well don’t blame me if I accidentally hit you in your sleep.’
Jin smirked, ‘I’m a big boy now, I can handle it.’
Kame rolled his eyes.
Perhaps it was because they were lying so close to each other, because when he heard the other’s breath even, Jin couldn’t resist reaching out and placing his palm against Kame’s warm back. To say that he didn’t know what the simple act would mean would be a lie. Sometimes, when he accidentally fell asleep snuggled up to Pin, he would dream of chasing butterflies and of rubbing his nose in dirt.
This time, Kame was wearing a black school uniform and his hair was a coppery colour which fell softly, framing his cheeks. He was beautiful. As Jin savoured the experience of seeing a snapshot of Kame’s life that he would otherwise not have access to, at the same time the feeling that he was seeing something he shouldn’t be seeing was nagging at his conscience. It was not his past or future he was seeing, it was Kame’s.
‘Kamenashi-senpai! Please reconsider. If you need more time for your studies then we can cut back on your training time, anything! Just stay on the team and play at the semi-finals!’
‘I’m sorry,’ Kame said softly, ‘I can’t.’
The lower-classman clenched the cap in his hands and was about to walk away when he turned around to stare Kame straight in the eyes.
‘The Kamenashi-senpai I knew would never abandon the team.’
The boy walked away, but Jin saw the hurt written all over Kame’s face and the way his eyes suddenly became glassy. After a few seconds he started walking away, dragging his feet. The bell for class rang at that moment, but Kame didn’t stop walking until he was standing on the rooftop. Jin watched Kame as he watched the clouds. When the door to the rooftop opened again, the sun had hidden itself behind a particularly dreary looking cloud.
‘There you are! Were you hiding from the baseball team again? Can’t blame them though, they just lost their captain and star pitcher in one go,’ came an annoyingly familiar voice. Taguchi was dressed in the same uniform. He cheerfully invaded Kame’s personal space and sat with their shoulders touching.
Kame glared at him and shifted to give himself some space.
‘It’s statistically impossible you know?’ Taguchi’s smile didn’t waver when there was no reply. ‘That ball you hit in the last game, it was impossible. Trust me, I’ve studied it from every angle… off the footage I recorded from the game.’
Kame’s eyes widened in fear.
‘Everyone thought it was just a very far home-run, but I think we both know better. That distance, that height, it’s physically impossible for a human, Kamenashi-kun.’
‘What do you want?’ Kame asked tightly.
‘Want?’ Taguchi blinked back at him in confusion. ‘Oh, I just wanted to let you know that your secret is safe with me.’
‘Secret?’
‘Yes. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,’ Taguchi said, his tone serious, ‘that you’re an alien.’
Kame stared at his classmate in pure bewilderment before breaking down into laughter. He was simultaneously trying to clutch his stomach and clap his hands when Taguchi cried:
‘You mean you’re not?!’
7th March - 9.45am
Ueda Tatsuya arrived the next day. Jin thought he didn’t look as impressive as he did on television, but he supposed the guy was alright. Ueda didn’t talk much and for that he was grateful; they already had their fair share of babbling idiots in the group. Jin stole a glance at Koki, Nakamaru and Taguchi who seemed to be bonding over the newly discovered mutual enthusiasm for survival games.
‘This area has definitely been frequented by a spirit,’ Ueda said, standing on the bank with his eyes closed, ‘I feel a faint presence. But he is no longer here.’
‘Maybe we can ask Aiba-san to lure him out,’ Koki suggested.
Kame frowned. ‘He’s the client, we can’t ask him to do something like that. Besides, the lady at the front desk said this morning that the owner is going to be away for the next two days for a meeting with his food suppliers in Kyoto.’
‘What were you doing talking to the lady at the front desk this morning?’ Jin asked.
Kame shrugged. ‘Research.’
‘So what else did you find out?’
‘That she likes yellow flowers, sunsets and walks in the park.’
Jin was about to let Kame know just how full of crap he thought he was when Nakamaru interrupted:
‘I was going over my notes yesterday and I found out that with the exception of Aiba-san, all the other victims of this sudden drenching from water were couples in a romantic relationship. For instance if we take what Tegoshi said… there was Mika-san, who used to work at the grocery store, and her boyfriend; and the music teacher and his wife. When I first got here I asked other locals and there were similar stories of lovers being suddenly attacked by water.’
They took a moment to take in the information before Kame said slowly, ‘We could… try to lure it out ourselves?’
To be fair, the pairings were assigned randomly. Jin pulled the short straw so he was left with Taguchi. Koki and Ueda looked at each other and just shrugged. Kame grabbed Nakamaru and pulled him away a little too enthusiastically if you asked Jin.
‘It’s impossible,’ Jin concluded after five minutes. ‘It’s impossible for me to act like part of a couple with you.’
Taguchi just smiled. ‘What do couples like to eat?’
‘What?’
‘Cup-ramen!’
Jin tugged at his hair and groaned loudly.
7th March - 11.45am
‘Why did you two get wet?’ Jin shrieked. He bristled at Maru’s guilty expression.
Koki, the bastard, didn’t help by bursting into laughter somewhere to his left.
Kame just rolled his eyes at them and indicated for Maru to follow him as he started walking away.
‘Kame-chan looked smug, don’t you think? Like a cat that’s got the cream.’
Jin jumped in surprise at Koki’s voice. Wasn’t the bastard rolling on the ground dying from laughter just moments ago?
‘More like the cat that’s swallowed the canary.’ Jin chirped in.
They both stared at him until Taguchi pointed to his own face.
‘Nakamaru’s big nose…’ he prompted, ‘like a bird’s beak…’
‘Shut up,’ Jin said, glaring at both of them. ‘No one cares about your analogies.’
Koki patted Taguchi on the shoulder and sighed dramatically.
‘Taguchi, I don’t know if I underestimated you or overestimated you.’
‘Well,’ Ueda said, joining the conversation, ‘Kame does look at Maru like he wants shallow him’
‘What the hell does that mean?’ Jin snapped.
Koki rolled his eyes. ‘It just means that Kame finds him adorable.’
Jin wondered if that was meant to make him feel better.
‘Koki and I were nearby so I caught a glimpse of him. Young man in his twenties or early thirties. Skinny and not very tall. I can’t draw, but I’ll be able to recognise him if we find a picture.’ Ueda reported when they sat down for lunch.
‘That’s a good start. This is not a large community, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find one young man who died around fifty years ago around this lake area.’ Kame said.
7th March - 4.30pm
There was only one person who matched that description and Ueda nodded when they showed him a photograph from an old article found in the local library archives.
‘Ninomiya Kazuya,’ Jin read.
‘Idiot, it’s Ninomiya Kazunari. Just because it’s the same character as Kame-chan’s name doesn’t mean you can ignore the rest of the article.’ Koki said.
Jin ignored him and continued reading.
‘… the body of Ninomiya Kazunari, the only heir of the Ninomiya family, who has been missing since last Monday was found this morning by tourists taking a morning walk along the lake…. The particular portion of land along the water belongs to the Aiba family, close acquaintances of the Ninomiya family. The young heir has been of poor health since childhood and his family expressed their surprise that the young master would go outside by the lake alone. The Ninomiya family has urged the police to investigate the potential of a kidnapping gone wrong… ‘
‘Oh, they were always so melodramatic,’ came a voice. Jin nodded in agreement before he realised that he didn’t recognise the voice. He heard sharp intakes of breath and a scream which sounded like it came from that Nakamaru guy. Looking up, he saw the face of a young man just over his shoulder, sharing the aged newspaper.
Jin yelped and stumbled back until he was standing beside (and slightly behind) Kame. When he looked back, he saw that the newspaper had fallen onto the ground and there was a man, not much older than himself, lying down reading the paper with his face resting in his hands. The man had a bored expression, but more importantly, the man was floating a couple of inches off the ground.
‘We can all see you now?’ Kame asked bravely, although Jin noticed that his partner was looking rather pale. No matter how many ghosts they run into, it was still difficult to be unfazed. Ueda was looking most at ease, but as a professional, Jin saw that the medium was also on guard. Not all ghosts were friendly.
‘Yes yes,’ the ghost of Ninomiya waved a hand at them, not looking up from the paper he was reading, ‘I learned that trick long ago, along with the trick that hides me from physics. Although mediums are a whole different can of worms.’
‘I assume your family took care of your body?’ Kame asked.
‘Yeah, they probably built a large and ugly grave.’
‘Then why are you still here?’ Koki asked. ‘Did someone disturb your remains or something like that?’
‘Nope. I just like it here.’
‘But you’re dead.’ Jin blurted out.
‘I know.’
‘Your remains are not disturbed, you’re aware that you’re dead. I don’t see why you’re still here.’ Jin continued.
The ghost stood and floated slowly towards him. Jin tried to relax himself. Even though the ghost was right in front of his face, Jin could feel no malicious intent.
‘It’s fun.’
‘Do you have anything against couples?’ Kame asked.
‘They’re annoying, so I decided to have some fun.’ The ghost smirked.
‘And Aiba-san?’
‘Oh, I just like him. Isn’t he hilarious?’
‘Still doesn’t explain why you’re here,’ Jin said.
‘I just like it here. Problem?’
‘Yes.’
‘As long as it’s not my problem,’ Ninomiya smirked before floating away.
‘Can’t you just go towards the light or something?’ Jin called after him. The ghost flipped him off before disappearing from sight.
‘Looks like this will be troublesome,’ Koki groaned.
Jin turned towards him with a sudden idea. ‘Can’t you read some sutras and force him to move on?’
Koki’s eyes turned serious. ‘Sorry, can’t help you. It’s not my policy to use force.’ At Jin’s blank stare, he sighed and continued, ‘I could end up harming or destroying the soul. My control … isn’t that great.’
‘That …. sucks.’
‘Yeah.’
He turned to Ueda next, but the other man just held up his hands. ‘I’m a medium, the most I can do is try to convince them to move on.’
‘Then why don’t you?’
‘It’s not my policy.’
‘What?’
Ueda shrugged, ‘I can’t be bothered. Besides, I’m bad at things like that.’
Jin groaned.
-----
‘We have to respect their decisions.’ Kame said as he climbed into bed that night.
‘But… ‘
‘We can try to convince Ninomiya. Maybe if we annoy him enough, he’ll move on?’
‘Not bloody likely, he seems stubborn.’
Jin tried to hide a smile at Kame’s thoughtful expression, at the way those eyebrows knitted together. They were lying on the bed facing each other with their pillows placed side by side.
‘Why does our pillow talk have to be about a ghost with a hobby for throwing water at people?’
Kame’s eyes widened before rolling them at Jin. He turned to lie facing the other way, but not before Jin caught the beginning of a blush forming on his cheeks.
‘Idiot.’
He blamed it on still being giddy from being able to elicit such an adorable reaction from Kame, because when Kame’s breathing was even and he stopped responding to Jin’s whispers, he reached out to lightly touch Kame’s fingers.
‘Just leave me alone.’ Kame stood with his back facing Taguchi. He was clutching a baseball close to his body as if trying to hide it from the other person in the room.
‘It’s obvious you still want to play…’ Taguchi started, but Kame suddenly turned to face him, eyes blaring.
‘If I do, they’ll just find out that I’m a freak, that I could hurt them, that I could… that I could cheat.’
Taguchi returned his gaze confidently, ‘But you won’t.’
‘I can make the ball fly in any direction I want, Taguchi,’ Kame let out a bitter laugh, ‘I might accidentally make people fly too, if I’m not careful.’
‘You just need to control it,’ Taguchi said taking his laptop out from his bag.
‘But I don’t know how…’
‘Don’t worry, I’ve got spreadsheets to help.’
8th March - 10.25am
When Jin woke, all he could see was a headful of brown hair. Somehow during the night his limbs had become tangled with Kame’s and now the other man’s head was tucked gently against his chest. Since it was his arms that were holding Kame in place, it wasn’t hard to work out who was responsible for their current position.
He took a stroll along the lake, but saw none of the scenery. All he could see were scenes from what he had seen during the last two nights. All he could think about was the fear and anger he recognised in Kame’s expression, because he had seen the same expression while looking into the mirror countless of times in the past. He remembered laughing with Kame when they chased the spirit of a stray cat down the street and he remembered clinging to each other that particular night when they were held back for skipping class and saw the ghost of a long haired figure float along the dark hallways of the school building. Kame was the one who had made Jin want to accept his abilities as something more than just a curse. It became their secret and because of that, it was precious.
But at one stage Kame had been afraid. He had resented those abilities, which had brought the two of them together in the first place; the one thing they had in common. And Jin hadn’t been there to help him deal with that fear. Jin had been on the other side of the world, dealing with his own fears.
It was clear that Kame didn’t have the same reservations about his skills now. When Jin had met Kame the again, the other was already a man; a confident adult who made Jin blush with teasing stares and who used his abilities effortlessly to move the coffee cup from the table straight into his hands without looking up from the morning paper every morning.
It seemed so silly now. He had been a coward and it had cost him the opportunity to grow up with Kame.
Kame found him sitting on the grass, staring out at the water. ‘Are you sick or something?’ he asked.
‘No. Just thinking.’
‘Ok Jin, whatever you say,’ Kame had that little smile on his face that suggested he was just humouring him. Jin patted the grass next to him and Kame obediently took a seat, giving him a curious glance. They sat in silence for a while, watching the sunlight reflected on the water in broken fragments.
‘When I started having these dreams, I was really scared, you know?’ Jin spoke up. He could feel Kame turn towards him, but he continued to stare ahead.
‘They weren’t ordinary dreams. They were so vivid, like I was really there. And in a way I was, because I dreamt of my own future.’
‘Did you see what you would look like in the future?’ Kame asked gently.
‘Not really. I was looking through the eyes of my future self,’ he paused and looked at his hands, ‘I could clearly see however, the people around me.’
Kame nodded, processing the information. When Jin didn’t say any more, he looked up and met Jin’s gaze.
‘Jin?’
‘I’m sorry I left. I should have been there, beside you. We should have faced those changes together.’
Kame opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he shook his head and let out a laugh. A moment later he punched Jin in the shoulder, hard.
‘It’s not fair you know,’ he said while ignoring the way Jin was cradling his side. ‘I thought I would never forgive you, but I think I forgave you a long time ago.’
‘Forgive me?’ Jin asked, his pain temporarily forgotten.
‘You told me we weren’t friends anymore and then you left, of course I was angry. I told myself that I never wanted to see you again, that if I ever did see you again I would punch you the moment I saw you.’
‘But you didn’t.’ Jin stated.
‘No, I didn’t. You looked so happy to see me, I couldn’t. Besides,’ Kame smiled gently at him, ‘I was happy to see you too.’
‘Oh,’ Jin breathed and desperately wished for his cheeks to stop burning. ‘I really was happy to see you. And I’m happy to see you almost everyday now, I mean I’m happy to be working with you now,’ he blurted out and then groaned on the inside for acting like a teenage girl with a crush.
‘Me too,’ Kame said; he placed his hand over Jin’s and gave it a light squeeze. The warmth was gone too quickly and the next moment Kame was standing up and brushing the dirt from his pants.
‘Come on,’ he said as he started walking away, ‘Let’s get back to work.’
Jin grinned widely and hurried after him.
8th March - 12.35pm
Taguchi and Nakamaru made an unlikely team when it came to research. Taguchi used internet as his resource, Nakamaru set up home in the local library; then they cross-referenced what they had found. Jin and Koki lazed around and Ueda had disappeared. Kame compiled the material from Taguchi and Nakamaru and then photocopied it and made each copy into pretty booklets with the titles highlighted in pink. No one complained because when Jin suggested that pink highlighters were lame, he was whacked over the head with his own copy of the booklet, while it was suspended in mid-air. Sometimes Kame abused his powers like that.
The floor in Nakamaru’s room was collecting more crumbs.
‘The Ninomiya family was close friends with the Aiba family, that much we can say for sure,’ Kame said, leaning up against the foot of the bed.
‘That makes sense, they would have moved in the same circles. They were the two wealthiest families in this region,’ Nakamaru agreed and then turned to glare at Koki as the man wiped at his jeans, effectively letting the collated bread crumbs fall onto the floor.
‘Can we not hold meetings in my room anymore?’ when he didn’t receive an answer, he added: ‘Can you at least not bringing food in here then?’
His audience was not the least bit cooperative. It might have had something to do with the fact that Nakamaru was the only person in the room who was not eating. Jin looked at his own melon bread and took another bite.
‘Anyway,’ Kame started, ‘There is a photo here from an old article of Ninomiya in his early twenties. Page twenty eight.’
There was a ruffle of paper.
‘The one on the right is Ninomiya,’ Koki said. They all nodded in agreement.
‘That one on the left must be one of Aiba-san’s relatives,’ Kame stated.
‘How can you tell?’ Jin asked.
‘The pants length.’ Kame said, ‘Every time we’ve seen Aiba-san, he’s been wearing pants at this three-quarter length. There is a crowd in the background in this picture and still the only person wearing short pants is the boy on the left. It’s obviously a family influence, why else would anyone wear short pants?’
‘Kame,’ Jin said carefully, ‘I don’t think we can take fashion tastes as evidence.’
‘Don’t mock me Akanishi,’ Kame replied, but he was smiling as he said it and Jin couldn’t help but grin back.
‘This is so disturbing,’ Koki spoke up, ‘Go flirt somewhere else.’
Jin grabbed a pillow off the bed and aimed it at Koki’s face. The problem was that Koki was eating a chicken burger and the collision sent pieces of lettuce and a slab of crispy skinned chicken flying onto the floor. Nakamaru snapped.
8th March - 1.10pm
The meeting continued in Kame and Jin’s room. After they sat down, there was a noticeable gap on either side of Nakamaru.
‘Why couldn’t we go to someone else’s room?’ Jin whispered to Kame.
‘Because Taguchi’s more anal than Nakamaru when it comes to cleanliness,’ Kame hissed. Jin stole a glance at Taguchi only to find the other man smiling brightly at him. He decided that he really didn’t need to see Taguchi snap.
‘We probably wouldn’t be able to find enough space to sit on in Koki’s room and Ueda is currently sharing with Nakamaru,’ Kame finished the explanation.
Nakamaru faked a cough and Kame immediately turned back to the information they were supposed to be studying. Jin was a little disappointed, but he wasn’t about to argue with Nakamaru. It’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for. His ears were still ringing.
‘Let’s assume that the one on the left is Aiba-san’s relative,’ Nakamura said, ‘That would actually make sense because their families were close. The main question is the boy standing the middle.’
The boy in the middle of the picture had a sloppy grin and was holding a large fish proudly in front of him. The rest of the article talked about breaking some record for the largest fish caught at the popular local lake. Jin peered closer at the picture and grinned at the fact Ninomiya was not looking at the photographer like his companions were; he was looking at the boy standing in middle.
‘He’s smiling like a smitten little boy,’ Jin announced. When he received blank stares and a soft ‘Huh?’ from Kame, Jin pointed to the image of Ninomiya in the photograph.
‘The way he’s looking at that boy with the fish.’
‘I don’t get it,’ Nakamaru said.
‘“Ohno Satoshi”’ Kame read from the article, ‘Let’s look into him.’
‘Just because he’s smiling?’ Nakamaru sounded skeptical.
‘I’m telling you, there’s something there,’ Jin asserted. He didn’t know why, but he was sure of it. The way Ninomiya looked at the mystery boy, there was fondness and pride and something else he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
‘We’ll look into it because both Ninomiya and Aiba’s relative are from very wealthy and elitist backgrounds and this boy here…’ Kame paused to look at the article, ‘…was apparently the son of a fisherman. I remember it said in the other article that Ninomiya’s parents were surprised at the location their son’s body was found at, but as this photograph suggests, Ninomiya was not a stranger to the lake area.’
‘Rich boy becomes friends with poor fisherman’s son behind his parents’ back. That’s interesting.’ Ueda spoke up. From the way Jin felt everyone jump slightly, he would guess that just like him, they had forgotten about Ueda’s presence in the room.
‘Aiba’s relative must have been the link,’ Kame continued, ‘The Aiba family owned a large portion of the land around the lake. It wouldn’t be surprising if they knew the fishermen of the area.’ Then he smiled sheepishly, ‘Besides, this is the only thing we’ve got.’
Nakamaru sighed.
‘Let’s find out all we can about the Ohno family then.’
Part 2