Fic for soundczech (Part 2 of 2)
The two weeks go by in a flurry of small clashes and street violence. Jin and Kame are lucky, prepared enough to survive, and the day that they’ve been waiting for arrives almost before they know it.
“So, this is it, huh.”
Kame looks up from checking his gun to see Jin, still in his hooker garb, biting his lips. He tries to give him an encouraging smile and hide the jittery nervousness he feels, but from the way Jin’s lowers his eyes, he suspects he hasn’t succeeded.
“Yeah,” Kame replies. “You’ll be back in your hoodies and sweatpants before you know it. Who’s picking you up again?”
“Probably Koki.” Jin fixes Kame with a straightforward look. “But if you want, I can-”
“No,” Kame says, a little too quickly, and Jin looks away. Kame knows that there’s nothing that Jin hates more than being left out of the action when his comrades are in danger, and he hastens to persuade Jin with reassurances of his safety. Jin looks far from convinced.
“There’s tons of things that can go wrong,” Jin argues.
“Yes,” Kame replies. “But for once we’ve had no moles in the offices to give away our plans, no sudden kidnappings or cop killings, and a stroke of luck that will hopefully manage to make this whole fiasco end sooner than expected. From what Ueda said, all I need to do is show up and keep a low profile till they do whatever they’ve planned. If all goes well, I wouldn’t even need to draw my gun, and then I can just hitch a ride with someone to the station.”
“But-”
“Don’t worry,” Kame says. “We’re not going to have flashy explosions and gun fights like in the movies.”
“I’m not worrying,” Jin snaps. “And this isn’t a movie.”
“No,” Kame agrees. “And we’re just the sidekicks anyway.”
“Sidekicks always manage to get themselves injured. Or killed,” Jin mutters, taking Kame’s gun from his hands and checking it himself.
Kame exhales. “Well, this sidekick is just going to stay back against the wall and put his hands over his head at the first sign.”
Jin smiles down at the gun. “You’re one of the cowardly sidekicks, huh.” He’s smirking when he looks up at Kame and gives the gun back to him, and Kame grimaces.
“Whatever it takes to come out of this in one piece,” he says, and hooks the gun at the small of his back.
Just like Kame predicts, the whole thing goes by quietly and without a hitch; except that Kame had no idea Takki would storm the place as soon as they stepped in the building, so he is as taken aback as the rest of his companions when a black-clad gun-toting man pops up on top of a crate and calmly tells them to put their hands up. Kame unthinkingly goes for his gun, and ironically it's the only thing that saves him when Minamoto whirls around with a curse and demands the identity of the betrayer - Kame pointing his gun at the police certainly helps his credibility at that frozen moment when Minamoto could have quite easily taken his head off.
Kame knows the police don’t interfere when criminals try to kill each other off; there’s less stress at the end if they just have a body to bag and tag instead of a living, breathing criminal to loop around the justice system. Kame himself subscribes to this train of thought, but finds himself rapidly re-thinking his opinion as he tries to keep everyone’s guns in his line of sight while simultaneously staying as still as possible. Thankfully Minamoto is disarmed quickly, and Kame lets his own gun fall out of his hands.
Takki’s team has the whole area surrounded by the time they’re let out, hands over their heads and more than a dozen guns trained on them. From what Kame hears from the chit-chatting cops surrounding him, Takki even managed to have Aiba hack directly into Minamoto’s laptop (“don’t ask me how I did it, and I won’t get you in trouble,” Aiba grinned at Takki, who decided to follow his advice), which made the whole thing that much easier. Kame’s impressed that they managed to take Minamoto and all the buyers on the site into custody without needing to fire even one shot. Nowhere near as flashy as the movies.
Except that meant that they have to take Kame in too. As far as he knows, no-one apart from Kame’s immediate team and Koichi knows of their unit’s role in the op, not even Takki, who’s nowhere near Kame at the scene. No one seems to actively seek Kame out like he’s been expecting. He doesn’t know who else has been debriefed in the meantime, but he doesn’t want to take any chances, especially since there could be informants lurking around the place. All of which means that Kame has to suffer the indignity of getting his hands cuffed behind him and forced into the police cars like some common criminal.
He grits his teeth and manages not to break his cover by cursing about the correct handcuff procedure when one of the JUMP kids get too enthusiastic about his arrest and nearly wrenches his arm out of his socket, but it’s a near thing. He’s driven to the station with Ishima cuffed beside him. It’s Yuto and Yamada who get the job of transporting them to the station. Despite the fact that they look like they’re in their first year of the academy, Kame knows for a fact that they’re among the graduates who received top honours, and they should damn well have at least have recognized him, what with Kame having been the one to teach them on their three-day course on inter-office diplomacy.
His hair is slipping into his eyes and he wants to scrub the fucking make-up off his face before he’s made to walk into the station, except his hands are cuffed and it’s not like he can ask the kids in the front with Ishima watching. He’ll have to keep up the charade till he’s at least away from the rest of the guys who got taken in with him - some of the criminals have long wallets and even longer connections, and Kame’s in no hurry for them to figure out who exactly was the one who helped put them in jail; especially since he’s sure some of them will be out on bail before the day is past.
The only thing Kame can do is just to sit in place and stew, cursing Koichi for this utterly stupid situation he’s in, and let his resentment simmer throughout the hour long car ride. The fact that Yamada drives like a fucking madman does not remotely help his frame of mind. If his hands were free, he’d be clutching the seat in front of him with clenching, desperate fingers. But as it is, he can only brace himself with his feet and hope to god that they’re still alive by the time they reach the goddamn station. He stifles a curse when Yamada drives over a speed bump at what seems like a hundred over the speed limit.
“When I get out, I’m going to kill the two of them,” he hisses when his hands press painfully against his back at the resulting bump and jostle of the car. “Slowly and painfully, with my bare hands,” he promises himself, shutting his eyes so he won't have to see the way they keep moving right into the other lane every other minute.
“When I get out on bail,” he hears a grim mutter from his side, and oh yeah, he’d totally forgotten about Ishima while he’s been trying to stay alive, “I’m going to help you.”
And the two of them share a small moment of perfect understanding before Kame realizes that Ishima’s basically just told him that he’ll be out which means that they’ll need to make sure the charges against him will hold-
He loses his train of thought when a sharp swerve has the two of them pressed against each other; Kame can feel Ishima’s bony elbows poking his side. Ishima stifles a curse and adds, “Do it with fucking spoons.”
Kame wonders whether agreeing with a known criminal makes him an officially horrible person, but then sees Yamada give a sideways smile at Yuto, who grins back, which makes Yamada flush a light shade of rose and what the fuck. What the fuck, he thinks again in disbelief, and wonders which deities he’s managed to offend so horribly that he’d be stuck with the JUMP twosome when the two of them decide to do their version of the fucking mating dance. And now Yuto’s the one who’s blushing and Kame can’t even.
He shuts his eyes tightly, mood turning blacker, and wonders who to kill first.
When they finally reach the station alive and whole, Kame manages to say a small prayer to the gods before he’s roughly hauled out of the car. He waits till he’s waiting alone with Yuto and Yabu at the entrance to the main lobby to speak up.
“Yuto.”
“Mm?” Yuto replies absently, a smile on his lips, doubtlessly thinking of Yamada.
“Yuto,” Kame repeats, impatient, and this time he gets a response.
Yabu’s eyes bulge satisfyingly. “Wha... you know his name! How do you know his name??”
Yuto blinks, and his face turns a little green when he finally stops daydreaming. “Y-you’re not going to send anyone to kill me or anything, are you?” he asks, looking kind of constipated. “I mean, this is just a job, nothing personal, you know, right?” He exchanges a helpless look with Yabu.
“Yuto,” Kame says with what he thinks is admirable patience. “Try not to look like you’re talking to me, and have someone go get Nakamaru.”
“What, you know Nakamaru-san-”
Kame gives up. Personally, he’s never considered that the leather pants, fitted black jacket, fedora and some eye shadow would radically change the way he looks, but is forced to reconsider and admit that Koki might be on to something there. He’s just about to screw dignity and ask for his one phone call when he sees Koki and Jin - still dressed as Jennifer - walk up the steps.
Jin notices Kame at once, and with a discreet tug on Koki’s sleeve, ensures that Koki sees him too. Kame’s thankful; one more minute of this stupidity and he’s not sure what he would’ve done. He heaves a breath of relief and waits for Koki to come get him.
Except instead of coming right over as expected, Koki stands there and goggles. For over ten seconds. Which is when Kame realizes that no-one, apart from Jin, has ever seen Kame in his guise as a gangster. Kame’s aware of exactly how ridiculous his get up is - in fact, he protested violently when Koki gave him the outfit -- but it was Koki who insisted on him wearing the damned things, so it’s a fucking shitty thing to stand there with his mouth open and staring at Kame like it's the first time he’s seen the damned tight leather pants, increasing Kame’s mortification with every second that passes. And this is after Kame consented to being Koki’s damned dress-up doll in the first place.
Jin, standing on the side, seems annoyed, if the thinned lips and the elbow jabs on Koki’s side are any indication. But then again, Jin’s probably used to the way he looks by now; after all, he’s had more than enough time to get over his shock and amusement.
Kame feels the heat of the flush that starts on his cheeks and spreads down his neck, and he glares at Koki with intense infuriation. Some of his murderous thoughts must have shown on his face because Koki starts badly and rushes forward.
“Sorry,” he mutters under his breath to Kame, then turns to Yabu and Yuto. “I’ll take him from here, kids.” Yuto and Yabu look infinitely relieved.
“Ah, but, Koki-san...”
Koki looks inquiringly back from where he’s leading Kame.
“Ah, what about your, um, your friend...” Yabu asks, glancing at Jin with the corner of his eye and was that a blush?
“Koki-san, if you want, we can keep her company for you!” adds another voice, and Kame looks to the left to see Takaki walk up to them and not-so-discreetly checking Jin out, a fascinated expression on his face. Jin, on the other hand, is not even trying to rein in his annoyance, and Kame sighs and wonders if there’s something in the water that all the rookies drink.
Koki doesn’t bother to stifle his snicker as he actually asks the boys to escort Jin to an interview room through the side door. “And make sure Jennifer-san doesn’t lack for company till I come, okay?” he calls out, winking unashamedly at Jin’s homicidal expression.
Kame sees a last glimpse of Takaki and Yabu’s thrilled faces and throws Jin a helpless look as he passes by. Koki takes Kame through the nondescript side entrance into a vacant room and only then unlocks his handcuffs.
“Thanks,” Kame grimaces, rubbing his sore wrists. “Jin’s going to kill you for that.”
When he looks up, Koki’s staring at him. Koki flushes when Kame catches him looking and glances away, mumbling something about coming to get him when Koichi and Takki are ready, and scuttles out of the room before Kame has a chance to ask how the rest of the op has gone. Kame hears the lock turn and sighs. No doubt he’ll have to wait for hours before Koichi and Takki come for the debrief.
He attempts to see the bright side - at least the mad venture is over, and he can get back to solving the cases in his own unit. At least Jin’s talking to him normally again. And Jin’s now calling him “Kame” instead of the impartial “Kamenashi” - you can’t really live with someone while occasionally having fake sex for the better part of a month and not drop the formalities.
He can’t think of any other positives.
Just as he predicted, he’s left alone in the room for almost two hours before the door unlocks and Koki pokes his head in.
“Come on, you’re on,” he says, and darts back out.
Kame stands up with a sigh, checking the time. He was been exhausted enough to take a nap right there on the uncomfortable chair; living a whole month with his senses constantly on high alert was more physically draining than the toughest exercises. The room is hot, and when he stretches, the tight leather of his pants sticks uncomfortably to his skin.
Kame’s half out of the room before he remembers Koki’s initial reaction on seeing him. His steps falter as he realizes that it’s been more than long enough for the rumours of his team’s last-minute involvement to spread. It’s a well documented fact that the most embarrassing gossip goes around the offices at light speed. He bites his lips and braces himself for the laughs and jeers and insults that will inevitably follow his long walk to the interview room. It helps that he’s not alone - Jin is probably having as bad a time as him, if not worse, what with the dress and wig and the red lipstick that enhances his pouty lips and the heels that make his legs look even longer and the way he swings his hips in order to walk in those ridiculous heels-
Okay, better get on with it, then.
“Kame?” Koki calls from outside, and Kame winces.
He likes Koki’s voice, he really does, but he can’t deny that it, well, carries. And then there is the unmistakeable sound of snickering, and Kame knows, just knows with absolute certainty, that everyone in the office is waiting for Kame to enter in his outlandish outfit and make a fool of himself so they can tease him for the rest of his working life, as if he’d done this out of his own choice.
He works with absolute bastards, he decides, and he jams his fedora on his head in an attempt to hide as much of his face as he possibly can. And then hears more tittering, and in a fit of pique decides that they can all go fuck themselves - if they want to laugh, let them. He isn’t going to be apologetic for doing his damn job. He’d do it again if he’s asked to.
It’s that last thought that has Kame squaring his shoulders and stalking out of the room, eyes narrowing under the shadow of the hat. When he finally appears in the doorway, he can almost hear the deep breath that everyone takes as a prelude to bursting out laughing, and the tiny part of him that isn’t infuriated cringes mentally in panicky expectation.
And then there is utter silence.
He strides forward, one step, two, three, his body tense, his eyes focused icily in front and not on anyone in particular, but there still isn’t anyone laughing. Which is good, he supposes, but also kind of weird. And sort of anticlimactic. Kame wonders what the hell’s going on, if this is also something that’s designed to mess with his head, but wants to resist peeking, even though the idea of everyone seeing the disdain that he’s projecting with his eyes is rather appealing. He knows that it’s probably a vain hope; Jin has always teased him about his squinty eyes. He struggles with the decision for a few seconds, and finally gives in and looks up.
And immediately wishes he hadn’t given in to temptation.
They’re all looking at him with eyes blank and mouths open, much like Koki did. Ryo, the bloody bastard, has a bag of popcorn in his hands, but even he’s just staring at Kame like the rest of them, instead of smirking and giving out bitchy comments like Kame expected. There’s a strangled cough to his side, and when Kame turns his head, Yoko is holding his throat with both his hands, a half-eaten sandwich on the floor beside him. Hina pushes a frowning Tegoshi aside to slap Yoko heartily on the back, all the while staring at Kame. It’s all a bit disconcerting.
Koichi gestures Kame forward and into one of the rooms. Kame nods at Koichi and changes direction at the same moment that Takki comes down the stairs, staring at Kame all the while, and walks into a wall.
Kame stops and stares blankly. Takki crashes down on the floor in spectacular fashion, moaning in pain and clutching his head, glasses askew. Yamapi rolls his eyes and steps forward to help him up, looking up at Kame and winking. He inclines his head meaningfully towards Koichi.
Kame blinks. Oh yeah, that’s where he was going. He still can’t help looking oddly at Takki as he passes by, though. He raises his eyebrows at Yamapi - the universal question of Will he be fine?, and Yamapi grimaces, shrugs.
Kame nods, continues on, now more than a bit rattled - the office is quieter than he’s ever known it, and now there’s the distinct sound of murmuring, like a horde of angry bees, and he can still feel the stares heating his back. What the hell is all this about?
He has to pass by Meisa’s desk on his way, and she grins at him, a sharp slice of teeth and calculating eyes and Kame eyes her as he walks past. Their resident sex-kitten, though everyone knows that she has an exclusive sex-only relationship with Maki. Her grin widens, and he’s almost passed by her when he feels the touch and whirls his head around so fast it almost gives him whiplash.
Kame is definitely in a dream world now, because there is no way that Kuroki Meisa - Kuroki Meisa - has just pinched him in the butt. Meisa, who has been the porn fantasy of probably every man and woman (Kame includes himself in this) in the office at some point. Kame stares at her, incredulous, and doesn’t even notice the muttering growing louder.
He looks down at where Meisa’s hand is now innocently resting on her thigh, and when he shifts his gaze back up to her face, she actually winks. At Kame. She’s always been highly professional when she’s worked with him, and not shown him the tiniest amount of interest, even when he’d tried.
What the fuck.
But Kame recovers fast. He raises an eyebrow, folding his hands on his chest. “I could charge you, you know.”
Meisa laughs, a throaty sound that instantly makes Kame's stomach flop and the hair on his arms stand on end. She leans back on her desk and smirks at him. “Kamenashi, you get yourself to look like that more often and you can... charge... me any time you like.”
Meisa, Kame decides, is not one for subtlety. He has to stop the thought there; any more thinking along those lines will have to wait till he has the time and the opportunity. He snorts and steps away, deciding a strategic retreat is probably the best option at this time. He’s definitely not in the right frame of mind to appreciate Kuroki Meisa hitting on him with the whole damn office watching. He sees Ueda out of the corner of his eye and when he looks over, Ueda grins and gives him a thumbs up.
Kame tries, but can’t quite get rid of the tiny curve of his lips as he walks into the interview room for the debrief, Koichi and Takki following and shutting the door after them.
*
Jin is angry. He’s so angry he could spit nails. He has been subject to the unrelenting questions and wide-eyed stares of most of the goddamned rookies for well over two hours, and to his disgust none of them has realized who he really is. Which wouldn’t be so bad if he could just tell them, but he doesn’t have the okay to drop his cover yet, even though it’s pretty much a formality at this point. He’s been burned for not sticking to the rules before, and even though he knows he can get the room empty with a few words, he chooses not to. Besides, he’s pretty damn sure Koki did this intentionally, and hell if he’ll let Koki have the satisfaction of knowing he cracked. Even if he wants to punch that cocky Takaki in the face. What the fuck, if he really had to copy Jin’s pick-up lines, he could at least deliver them with some flair.
Jin’s pretty much consigned himself to monosyllabic grunts, when he actually deigns to answer, not that the kids seem to mind much. If Jin wasn’t pretty confident in his masculinity, he’d be kind of offended that nobody's actually noticed he's a guy. He looks at his watch for the millionth time and wishes desperately for time to go faster.
The room he’s in is boring with not even a painting to break the monotony. It’s just functional enough to work, with one door and a tiny window, and it’s towards this that he migrates. Normally he wouldn’t have been able to reach it, but well, at least his six inch heels are useful for something. Jin is, therefore, still at his place by the window and has a perfect view when the door opposite him opens and Koki pops in and out, followed by Kame. Jin sighs a little. He’ll be the first one to admit that he’s glad the mission’s over, short as it was, but he'll miss being able to see Kame in that fucking fantastic outfit all the damn time.
Jin’s too caught up in his memories to notice how the rest of the cops are reacting at first, but he narrows his eyes when Hina suddenly starts pounding Yoko’s back, while staring at Kame. Which is when he becomes aware of the fact that almost everyone in the damn office is staring after Kame. Jin straightens up and narrows his eyes when he sees Takki fall over himself in stunning fashion, but then even lets the small grin on his lips fall completely away when Kame nears Meisa’s desk and she dares to actually lay her dirty hands on the ass that Jin has been ogling for the better part of his youth.
He grinds his teeth when Kame stops to talk - what the fuck, doesn’t Kame know to stay the hell away? And then Meisa says something that Jin doesn’t need to hear to know is a come-on, her whole body language screams it. His fists ease a little in their clenching when Kame steps back - good, that means Kame isn’t totally gone yet. Kame doesn’t look back, but Jin watches Meisa watch Kame as he stalks to the door Koichi holds open and feels his rage rise as he tries to figure out how to keep her (and the rest of the damn cops) away from Kame now that they’ve all realized exactly why Jin’s been after him for years.
He’s still raging internally when Koichi and Takki open the door and come in and the rookies (finally!) file out.
Koichi raises an eyebrow at the departing troop. “I didn’t realize you’d been assigned company.”
Jin snorts. “You’ll have to thank Tanaka for me for that, and any mental trauma the kiddies go through when they realize who they’ve been flirting with for three hours.”
Takki starts laughing. “You’re telling me you didn’t tell them in all this time?”
Jin shrugs. “I haven’t been cleared yet.”
Koichi snorts, taking a seat and opening his file. “I guess America did teach you a few things.”
Jin takes a seat opposite Koichi and grunts. “I didn’t learn that in America.”
He misses the quick glance Takki and Koichi share as Takki takes his seat next to Koichi. There’s only the slightest pause before Koichi pronounces: “Well, consider yourself officially cleared. Now let’s start from the top...”
*
Yamapi looks up at the sound of his door opening and blinks at the lady standing there. “Yes?” he asks, and waits patiently, but the woman just comes in his office and stares at him.
“Um,” he says, bewildered, “the women’s washrooms are that way, miss-”
The lady shrieks in rage and dashes forward. Yamapi screams and moves back frantically, when the crazy woman bounds over his desk, slamming against his shoulders, and Yamapi curses and scrambles for his gun.
“Yamashita,” a horribly familiar voice answers, “I have had a really bad day. And if you even think of going for your gun, let me tell you that you’ll wish you were me instead.”
Yamapi stops all movement, turning his head to stare in disbelief at the homicidal blonde currently sitting on his chest, glaring at him. “Jin?”
“I don’t know what I was thinking,” Jin complains, sitting on Yamapi’s desk later, munching on his sandwich, “that you’d save me from murdering all the juniors, Koki, Takki, Meisa, and the rest of the damn office on the day of our big triumph.”
“Hmm,” Yamapi murmurs, staring down at his lunch dreamily. Jin makes an impatient noise.
Yamapi obligingly turns his gaze away from his food. “Well, you wouldn’t need to if you’d just gone and asked Kame out already. And besides...” he trails off.
Jin cocks an enquiring brow.
“To be fair to the rookies, you really do look like a damn fine piece of ass, Bakanishi,” Yamapi says, laughing like a maniac.
Jin snarls and throws his wig at him.
“And also, well,” Yamapi grins, dodging and looking through the blinds to the hall where there’s quite a bit of commotion and a slim black-clad figure is at the centre of it all.
“God, look at them,” Jin exclaims, his voice dripping disgust, “like bees to fucking honey.”
Yamapi laughs. “Like you haven’t been perving over his skinny ass for years.”
“I was perving over his ass even before he was hot,” Jin argues sullenly.
“You say that like it’s a good thing.”
“All everyone else wants is-”
“Oh please,” Yamapi scoffs. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to tap that.”
Jin bristles at him. “Well, of course I do! Look at him. But that isn’t all I want to do, okay-”
“Well, you should’ve done something about it sooner, then, instead of putting your ego first and running away.”
“I didn’t run away, Koichi asked me!”
Yamapi rolls his eyes. “Yes, yes, we all know that old story. And then you got your chance to go to all the American clubs and get drunk as shit.”
Jin flips his middle finger at him.
“And now you’ve lost your chance,” Yamapi says, grinning.
Jin glares at him. “I have not lost my chance,” he defends, hissing like a cornered cat. “You wait and see.”
“Uh huh,” Yamapi says, winking. “In the meantime, I’ll be putting my money on Meisa.”
Jin gasps in outrage. “Some best friend you are, you fucker-”
“God, look at her go,” Yamapi says admiringly, looking through the blinds. “She and Kame make a good couple don’t they? Especially with Kame looking like-”
Yamapi is cut off at this point by Jin shrieking out a war cry and launching himself at Yamapi.
When Kame comes into Yamapi’s office, Jin has Yamapi on the ground and is laughing about how he is the King of the World. Kame stares for half a minute before he finally opens his mouth.
“Should I give you two some privacy?” he asks politely, tilting his head. His gaze strays towards Jin and stays there. “Jin, your boobs are falling out.”
*
Kame and Jin get the rest of the day off, and Koichi magnanimously tells them they can have the next two days off as well. Kame’s just starting to tell Koichi that he appreciates the thought, but it really isn’t necessary, he’ll just go and start on his report when Jin appears, sans wig, boobs, and high heels. He’s wearing Yamapi’s jacket over the dress and Kame’s extra pair of shoes, and pulls Kame away by the collar of his jacket.
“He says thanks,” Jin calls out over his shoulder at Koichi, and Kame curses, stumbling along behind Jin.
“What the fuck,” Kame says, when he finds himself firmly ensconced in his car.
Jin settles himself into the passenger seat and shoots a quelling look at Kame. “You should be thanking me. I just saved you from declining a day off.”
“I don’t need a day off,” Kame says, glaring.
“Yes you do,” Jin says firmly. “Take it from me, you definitely need it. Just like I do. And if Koichi was in any way human, he’d have given both of us way more than two measly days off. Now can we please drive out of here before you attempt to prove to me just how perfectly fine you are today.”
There’s an edge to his voice, and his hands are clenched, but he’s staring straight ahead like nothing’s wrong, and Kame looks at Jin for only a few more moments before quietly leaning forward and starting the car.
They drive in heavy silence until it’s broken by Kame. “Where do you want to be dropped?”
Jin shrugs. “I’ve been living at Yamapi’s place, don’t have my own place yet.”
“Well, then, do you want me to drop you at-”
“I don’t want to go to Yamapi’s,” Jin interrupts, lips thinning, and Kame gets it.
Jin might be frank and obvious most of the time, but when he’s with Kame, he’s never been the kind of guy who’ll come out and say things right out. Most of the time, Kame’s had to piece things together and hope he was on the right track. With time, his Jin-senses had become quite sharp, and there was a time when he was able to tell exactly what Jin was feeling by the set of his eyes and lips alone. On his more fanciful days, he attributes his time with Jin for the observational skills he’s credited with now.
Jin may be different now, matured unfamiliarly enough that Kame doesn’t resonate with his every change, might not understand what goes on behind that blank look Jin gets sometimes, but he still knows Jin. Because Jin can go abroad and change his habits and clothes as much as he likes, but he’ll still fundamentally remain the same. In that way, at least, he’s an open book to Kame.
Which is why Kame takes the turn to his place without looking twice at his companion. There are no objections; Kame hasn’t really expected any. Jin stays quiet and lets Kame lead the way.
“Sorry for the mess,” Kame says formally, feeling somehow nervous when Jin steps into the apartment, looking around curiously. Kame looks around, too.
The place is cleaner than it should be; his mother must have come around to clean in between, he thinks as he opens the fridge. His suspicions are confirmed when he sees the neat rows of carefully packed dishes. Thankfully, his mother hasn’t thrown out all the beer. He takes two and throws one to Jin, who catches it out of the air and sprawls on the corner couch.
Kame sips his beer and leans against the wall, absently approving Jin’s choice of seating - in the corner, equidistant to the front door and the window, and there’s always the door to the bedroom if-- and then he shakes his head to clear it of such thoughts. It’s harder than he expects, to adjust to normalcy after the past month. Jin is seemingly relaxed, but his gun is on the side table, within easy reach, and his eyes are flickering over every detail and unfamiliar corners of the room. Kame pushes away from the wall and drops down on the couch next to Jin.
“Stop it,” he says, putting the can down on the glass topped table with a clang. He’s close enough to feel Jin tense at the sound.
“Jin,” he tries again, gentler. “We’re not working anymore.”
Jin snorts. “It’s not like there’s a switch to turn it on and off.”
Kame hums in agreement, then slumps forward to take his jacket off. He doesn’t need to look at Jin to know that Jin’s still tense as a bowstring.
“Look, would you relax,” Kame says in exasperation, tossing the jacket carelessly to the side. “I know it’s easier said than done when it’s a strange place, but this is why I asked you about Yamapi’s place first. At least there, you wouldn’t jump at every sound.”
There’s always a period of downtime for someone who comes out of an undercover assignment; it isn’t a vacation so much as it is a relearning, re-familiarizing of things, of places, and getting used to all the people inhabiting one world, when they’d been so immersed in a completely different world for so long. Their assignment was relatively short; little more than a month, but the effect on their first day out is no less powerful than that from a one year mission.
Jin hasn’t said anything, but Kame’s seen how Jin’s shoulders drew in and up as the day wore on at work, with every unexpected slap on his back and the random surges of shouts, insults and laughter that are pretty much the norm in their office. Kame's been the same, but he thought he was dealing well. Apparently Jin disagreed. Kame smiles to himself. Both of them used to pay more attention to each other than themselves when they were younger; and it seems that neither of them has changed much in that regard, either.
Jin doesn’t say anything in response to Kame’s statement, and Kame’s pretty much given up hope that they’ll have a decent conversation now, at least, when Jin grudgingly speaks up.
“I’ll get used to it - the place, I mean. That’s not important. I’ll be fine in a few hours.” Jin stares intently at the table. “It’s just, I really want to sleep today, and I won’t be able to if you’re not-” and then he breaks off, clamping his lips shut stubbornly.
“If you’re not there with me”, Kame fills in silently, and immediately feels like an insensitive asshole. What Jin is describing is perfectly natural, after trusting only each other during a month-long covert operation in one of the most dangerous areas in Tokyo.
Kame stretches forward to steal a few cushions off the other seats and hands one to Jin, a peace offering. Jin stares evenly for a few more seconds than needed before silently accepting. They stay there silent for the time it takes for them to finish the beer, and when Kame looks again, Jin’s face is still and calm in sleep. He lays his head back against the couch without disturbing Jin, closes his eyes, and doesn’t realize when he falls asleep.
Jin wakes up an indeterminate amount of time later, but doesn’t bother moving till Kame shifts and asks Jin if he wants to shower.
“I should,” Jin groans, “but for that I’ll actually need to get up.”
Kame laughs. He’s gone from sitting on the couch to slumping down next to Jin, Jin’s head on his shoulder and Kame’s hand is warm where it lies against Jin’s back.
“Then I’ll go first,” Kame offers.
“Uh huh,” Jin says, not moving from his spot. “That means you’ll need to get up too.”
“I will,” Kame insists, wiggling about in place. “In a minute. After I - yeah, hey, watch it.”
“Ow- oomph,” Jin cries out when all the jostling Kame’s doing makes him lose the comfortable position on Kame and without warning, his head is surrounded by Kame’s t-shirt and all he can see is white. Confused and disoriented, he falls on to something firm yet giving, and then Kame groans out a pained “ow.”
“Uh,” Jin says, battling his way free of the damn t-shirt and throwing it to the side. “The fuck’re you doing?”
He looks up, and now Kame’s head is right above his face - apparently, the thing his head fell on is Kame’s stomach.
“I warned you,” Kame mutters, and Jin can’t help but stare at the way Kame’s hair hangs down, framing his face like black wisps of night. “I told you that I’m going for a shower.”
“You keep saying that,” Jin says, distracted. “And yet you’re still here.”
“I can’t move if you keep mistaking me for the cushion,” Kame says in exasperation, and then Jin hears something clinking around the vicinity of his neck, hears something sliding, and a metallic clunk.
“No, seriously, what the fuck are you doing?” he asks again, bewildered.
Kame inspects the belt in his hand before tossing it in the same direction as the t-shirt. “Hm?”
Jin blinks. “No way.”
“Move over, you big lump.”
“KAME,” Jin shrieks, panicking. “Are you seriously stripping when I am right here with you?”
Kame stares at him weirdly. Like he has a leg to stand on, Jin thinks incredulously. “I told you I’m going to shower, right?”
“THEN GO TO THE SHOWER,” Jin shrieks wildly.
“Ow, my ears,” Kame complains. “Stop that.”
“I will when you stop stripping when I’m lying right here!”
“That can easily be fixed if you just - ugh, move a bit.”
“No thanks, I’m comfortable as it is. Oh my god you’re taking off your pants. STOP TAKING OFF YOUR PANTS WHEN I’M LYING ON YOU, YOU BASTARD.”
“Look, they’re just really tight, I’m just loosening the goddamn buttons. And what’s the matter with you, did going to America make you a giant prude?”
“More like, staying in Japan has made you a total exhibitionist. This is probably why Koki and the rest of them were hovering all over you.”
“What.”
“Oh, come on, like you didn’t notice,” Jin scoffs. “They were all around you today. Yamapi and I counted.”
“They just wanted to congratulate me on how I did my job,” Kame says stiffly.
Jin rolls his eyes. “Oh, is that what they call it nowadays.”
Kame narrows his eyes. “What the hell is the matter with you? You can’t tell me you’re jealous of the attention I got, because I swear every time I saw you, you were surrounded by an impenetrable two-feet barrier of juniors.”
“I am not jealous of the attention you got today from random people, and Koki!” Jin yells, glaring at Kame’s tight face above his. “Like they even matter.”
“Then what?” Kame snarks. “Because you’re doing an incredibly good job of sounding like a perfect jackass. And leave Koki alone.”
“I hate that stupid baldy,” Jin says spitefully. “Why the fuck would I be jealous of all those people suddenly wanting to be your best friend, seriously,” he grumbles. “It’s not like I don’t have my own. I’m jealous of all the attention you were giving--”
Jin sees Kame’s eyes widen in disbelief and stops short. They stare at each other for one long second before Jin mutters, “Fuck it,” and fists his hands on Kame’s dark hair tugging him down just as he surges up. The last thing Jin sees before Kame’s lips touch his are Kame’s open eyes, wide and dark and shocked.
Kame’s lips are stiff with surprise, but the shock melts out in record time, leaving them soft and warm and moulding perfectly against Jin’s as they strain against each other. Jin rears up stubbornly when Kame gasps into his mouth and leans back and their lips start to separate. Kame places a firm hand on Jin’s shoulder and pushes; Jin falls back with a yelp, looking reproachfully at Kame.
“My neck was hurting,” Kame mumbles, and scrambles backward so his back is resting against the couch.
Jin moves, following Kame, but the couch is small and with the two of them sprawling all over, it’s hard to figure out a position where elbows and knees aren’t poking someone. Jin has his lips back on Kame’s in the space of about five seconds, Kame makes a sound of mild objection when Jin lands on him a bit too heavily, and then it’s Jin’s turn to yelp when Kame’s ring catches on Jin’s hair. He forgives Kame quickly when Kame’s lips find his again, and he feels a warm hand dip under his dress, caress the bare skin at his hip and move slowly up.
They’re gasping when their lips finally part with a wet sound and they stare at each other, panting. Jin’s holding Kame’s hips with a grip that’s almost desperate, and can feel Kame’s fingers clench on his hair while the other hand is wound firmly around his waist.
“Oh,” Kame says, his eyes as wide as they can possibly get.
“Yeah,” Jin says, and tries to shift, only his knees slide on the slippery silk of his dress and his face ends up jammed into Kame’s neck. “D’you mind?” he mumbles, a huff of breath over sensitized skin, and Kame shivers.
“I, I don’t know yet- oh,” Kame blurts out on a moan, head falling back when Jin starts following the plane of Kame’s collarbones with lips and tongue and teeth, his fingers tracing the bumps of Kame’s spine. Kame’s fingers clench on Jin’s hair, sending tiny bolts of sensation from Jin's scalp shivering down his body and zinging down to his toes.
“What about now?” Jin gasps out ten minutes later, when Kame’s kissing a path down his throat and they’re struggling to get the clingy dress off Jin.
“I just. I need to think,” Kame says, and rips the dress down the middle. Jin shrugs out of it and resolves to work against Kame by putting his hand down Kame’s pants. From the gratifyingly loud moan, he doesn’t think Kame minds much.
“I take it back,” Jin says fervently against Kame’s lips an indeterminate length of time later, as they grind against each other. “I’m really glad you started stripping.”
“Shut up,” Kame gasps out, tugging on Jin’s hair and wrestles his way on top on Jin, pushing him into the couch and nips his way across Jin’s jaw line, leaving scorching trail of heat in his wake. “I’m still deciding.”
“Hmm,” Jin purrs, nuzzling against Kame’s earlobe, smiling at the resulting shiver. “Don’t - ah- take too long.”
Kame wants to say he won’t, that he’s almost already sure what his answer will be. He wants to ask Jin why here, why now, and why him, but then Jin does something with his hips that makes him choke on his own breath, and swipes the questions right off his mouth with his tongue.
“That was much better than the fake sex,” Jin declares drowsily, after.
He’s slumped under Kame on the couch, legs spread and arm trailing down to brush the ground, and his eyes closed. Kame has to concentrate for over five minutes to get his brain back close to normal working order.
“Jin. Why?” he asks, slumped over Jin’s chest. “Why now?”
Jin looks puzzled. “What?”
Kame opens his eyes and stares inscrutably at him. “Is it just because of the outfit?”
Jin gapes.
“Shut up,” Kame grumbles. “It’s a legitimate question. Meisa liked the pants.”
Jin’s raises his eyebrows so high they nearly meet his hair. “I just bet she did.”
Kame glares.
“Though maybe you could hang on to the outfit anyway?”
“Jin.”
“For your information,” Jin grouses with great dignity, “I knew you had a great ass long before you started wearing tight leather pants.”
Kame doesn’t know whether to laugh or to hit him. He’s still debating seriously on the issue when Jin starts speaking.
“Actually, I almost told you once,” Jin says, and looks away.
Kame stares at Jin. He doesn’t think he remembers that happening. Ever. And Akanishi Jin confessing to you is definitely not something anyone would forget. “What? You never,” he says in disbelief.
“I didn’t, in the end,” Jin agrees, a conflicted expression on his face. He’s still looking at the floor like it holds the secrets to the universe. “I was. We were...” Jin is now visibly struggling with the words, and Kame can’t look away.
“We were what?” he croaks, feeling unusually stupid.
“It was, you know,” Jin says, gesturing and peeking at him. “Before. That time.”
‘That time’ for Jin and Kame can only refer to one thing - the day when Kame suggested that maybe they should go along with what their supervisors had been saying and split up.
“Oh,” Kame says weakly. He scrabbles around mentally for something, anything to say, but comes up with a total blank.
“It wasn’t really the time for confessing, after,” Jin says with a hint of humour. “And then things got complicated and I just.”
He trails off, and neither of them say anything for a long moment. “Well, anyway, it doesn’t matter now,” Jin says briskly at the end, eyes turning serious.
“It doesn’t?” Kame repeats. His brain feels scattered after facing all these sudden revelations.
“No,” Jin says. “What matters now is that Meisa and Koki will have to get their own pimps. You’re taken.”
“I haven’t even given you my answer yet,” Kame points out.
Jin shrugs. “That doesn’t matter either,” he says, and Kame is almost on the verge of taking offense. “You’re insane if you think I’ll let you go now.”
Kame is startled into laughter. “It’s not even been half an hour since our first make-out session yet.”
“I’ve been waiting a long time, you know,” Jin murmurs, resting his head in the crook between Kame’s neck and shoulder. “I won’t give you up so easily.”
Kame feels the softly spoken words settle into his body and curl around his heart like every trite, romantic cliché in the world and he feels a little like he’s been standing in the sun, warm and happy and blissful. He smiles as he cuddles into Jin and thinks that he must’ve been waiting a long time for this too, even if he hadn’t realized it.
*
“Fucking posers,” Jin mutters, glaring at the doorway of Kame’s office through which the eleventh of Kame’s morning visitors in about as many minutes has just left.
Kame is seated at his desk, going through his mail. He glances over his glasses at Jin and shoots him a quelling look. “They’re just being polite.”
Jin snorts. “You say that because you don’t see the games of jan-ken-pon at the water cooler to decide who’ll be coming in next. Yoko and Nino were neck on neck, the last time I was there.”
Kame shakes his head and tries to go back to his reports.
“I heard that Matsujun came in and broke it up, though.”
Kame looks up absently. “Jun?”
Jin takes this as an invitation to come in and sprawl on Kame’s couch.
“Mm,” Jin nods. “He isn’t too pleased about his unit doing all the work for the op and the both of us waltzing in at the last minute, taking all the credit.”
Kame frowns. “What are you talking about? We’re not taking much credit at all.”
Jin waves a careless hand. “Kame. You’ve managed to crack Meisa - something no-one except Maki’s been able to, and I’ve fucked up the rookies’ heads so much that they all turned up on time today. It’s an all-time record,” Jin says, grinning. “Around here, that’s credit.”
Kame rolls his eyes. “You seem much too happy about your role in this.”
“What can I say. My charisma is so overwhelming that I’ve left them all stunned.”
“Let me guess. They’ve all been avoiding you.”
“Not one of them came within ten feet of me today,” Jin brags, face smug.
The door opens with a bang and Leah comes in with an armful of folders that she unloads on Kame’s desk.
“Here you go,” she says. “This pile is last month’s stuff, and this one here are the cold files.”
“Cold files?” Jin asks curiously.
“Ah, yeah,” Kame says, nodding. “I like to look through them on my free time, check if I can see anything that was missed-”
“Kame,” Jin interrupts. “You don’t have any free time.”
“That’s what I keep telling him,” Leah says, shrugging at Jin. “Not that he ever listens to me or anything. And you,” she says abruptly turning towards Jin, who freezes in place.
“God, I hate you, Akanishi,” she snarks, advancing threateningly. “If you weren’t a guy, I’d yank out your hair for making a hotter woman than me.”
“Um,” Jin says, glancing between her and the door, obviously calculating how much time it would take to make a quick getaway. “Please don’t yank my hair?”
Leah sighs. “Okay. I guess it’s too pretty to tear out anyway,” she says, eyeing the careless curls on Jin’s head. She turns to Kame. “Don’t you think so?”
Kame clears his throat and tries not to think of how Jin’s hair looks when he’s spread out on the floor of Kame’s apartment.
“Yes,” he coughs. “It’s. It’s very pretty.”
Jin’s smirking now, obviously privy to Kame’s thought processes, and Kame pointedly doesn’t look at him watching Leah’s ass as she waltzes out the door.
“I’m serious, though,” Jin says, craning his neck to keep Leah in his line of sight till he sighs in disappointment and turns back to Kame.
“About what?” Kame asks, distracted.
“All of them. They’re off limits. Especially Meisa. Fuck her without me and I’ll kill you.”
Kame snorts. “You definitely haven’t changed.”
“She’s not getting her slutty hands on you alone,” Jin says, stretching and getting up from the couch.
“But it’s okay if you fuck her?” Kame asks drily.
“Exactly,” Jin says, grinning.
Kame scoffs. “You’re so full of it.”
“Kame, you don’t know how to handle her.”
“And you do, I suppose?”
“More than you,” Jin says, grinning as he strolls to the doorway, leaning on the doorjamb with his hip cocked. “She’s like one of those alien species in one of those sci-fi movies. If you don’t keep your wits about, then bam!”
“Bam?” Kame raises his eyebrows.
“Bam,” Jin nods. “And you’re the fertilizer for her little alien babies before you know it.”
“She’s also really hot,” Kame points out mildly, getting up and walking up to Jin, who tongues the corner of his lips and hums in agreement.
“Well, actually,” Kame says, standing in front of Jin and looking thoughtfully up at him, “she’s as hot as you.”
Jin narrows his eyes. “You bitch,” he hisses, and Kame shuts him up by trailing a light finger over Jin’s lips, down his throat, till he reaches his chest and then he pushes, and Jin stumbles backward in surprise.
“Now, out,” Kame orders, one hand on the doorknob. “I have work to do,” he says, and pushes the door closed right in front of Jin’s disbelieving face.
“This isn’t over, asshole,” Jin calls out from behind the door as Kame walks back to his desk. “You watch your back; I’ll get you one way or another!”
Kame rolls his eyes, but can’t stop the stupid smile that dawns on his face at the muttered profanities from the other side of the door.
“I’m looking forward to it,” he calls out as he settles in his chair and pulls the open file towards him.
The thing is, Kame thinks as he smiles to himself, he really, really is.
*** End. ***