Phosphorescent Lights: Epilogue: Jin's Life
Every secret has a price…
Title: Phosphorescent Lights
Summary: A photographer with no memories whose goal in life is to seek out what he has lost; a businessman who swore revenge for the death of his lover while desperately trying to escape his fixated reality. Two entirely different men with entirely different lives bound together by the threads of destiny. But little do the two know that they are bounded together by more than just simple destiny…
Genre: Romance/Drama
Pairings: Akame (primary), Ryoda (secondary) mentions of Jinda, Pin, Ryopi, Kokame, Kamaki
Other Characters: Jin, Kame, Ueda, Yamashita, Ryo, Koki, slight appearances from Taguchi, Nakamaru, Shige, Ayase, Tegoshi
Content: Romance, drama, AU [Alternate Universe]
Author: Nerd-san
Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Johnny Entertainment
…are they willing to pay it?
Phosphorescent Lights: Epilogue
Jin’s Life
One Month Later
Before I had walked into the church, I had told myself that I would talk to Maki. And then to Koki. And finally, to Ryo. I wanted to do this thing with a clear conscious.
Maki, in her light-blue dress and nicely-done hair wasn’t that hard to find. She shied away from me at first, but eventually I had found her.
It was well before any of the other guests had come and even Kame wasn’t present yet, but I figured this to be the best time to engage in conversation.
“You look lovely today,” I smiled politely and she laughed, saying the same thing about me. I felt a lot more timid than I usually would in my black tuxedo but I couldn’t help myself. I was marrying Kame.
“I know you’re here to talk about Kazuya,” she said softly, “I’m not angry. Not at all. If anyone deserves you, it’s him and if anyone deserves him, it’s you.” I blinked in confusion. Her laughter only hastened at this.
“Jin, you’re so predictable. It’s fine. Go and get married. Be happy. You deserve it after what my parents made you go through with me before settling that deal.” I widened my eyes - did she think my going out with her was sheer torture for me?
My words fell dry and I couldn’t find the right thing to say. She shook her head and began to walk off to where her parents were seated. “Don’t mess this up!” she called back and all I could do was manage a nod.
As more people made their way into the building, I walked out in hopes of finding Tanaka Koki. As luck would have it, I bumped into him as soon as he had been making his way into the church. He didn’t seem too please to see me - but I had thought as much.
“Congratulations,” he said and tried to get past me.
“No, Tanaka, wait.” I called back, “I know you don’t really like me for what happened three years ago, but I love Kame. That’s not going to change. If…if it were up to me, I’d love him no matter what. And I will.”
“When I’m around him I can’t see anything else but our love. I’ll be blunt. What…what I’m trying to say is that I want you to forgive me.”
Koki seemed more eager to head inside that to remain where he was and continue talking to me. “Kame’s property of A. Jewelry. Did you tell him that?”
I shook my head. “He’s not property. I’ve told you that long ago. I’m president now. And he’s not property. If anything, he’s going to be my husband.”
Koki nodded at my words. He began to head off before turning back, white tux hitting his sides. “If you hurt him, you do understand that I’ll have to kill you right?”
I laughed. Then I nodded. I wasn’t planning on hurting Kame.
More people began to walk into the church and from the corner of my eyes I saw Kame coming. I made a mad-dash to the door and headed off. I still had to get a much needed tool before the wedding began.
I only silently prayed that Kame would forgive my teeny delay.
I ran in almost ten minutes later, “Kame!” my cheery voice screeched from across the room and the entire crowd turned to look at me.
There was a loud, bubbly applause and I began turning red. I laughed and waved a little as I ran up to where Kame was.
“Kame…do you mind if my friend performs the ceremony?” I asked, out of breath.
It wasn’t that Kame didn’t approve of the idea; he was just taken aback a little. “Huh?”
“I have to know that he accepts us. He’s my best friend, Kame; I can’t do this without knowing he’s still after revenge.” My heart lunged heavily at the though of Ryo not accepting us.
Kame opened my mouth to ask me something, but I raised a hand to quiet him down. “No, I know it makes no sense to you but Kame, please just let me do this one thing.” Kame nodded.
The delightful music stopped, but Kame didn’t seem to be enjoying it as we stood by ourselves in front of the whistling crowd. I laughed a little by Kame’s side and grinned at my friends in the crowd, who from their front row seats, were all smiles - especially Taguchi.
“Knock ’em dead, kid!” I heard Kame’s old manager and watched him as he rooted and pumped a fist into the air. I looked at Kame and I who only further buried his face into his hand.
Ayase too, joined in on the manager antics. “Kame-kun! Don’t screw up!” some people in the crowd began to chuckle at two and I laughed at Kame who couldn’t help but to think that maybe, just maybe he should have brought along only Shige.
“This is Kamenashi’s wedding, not a ballet recital…” the said man muttered loudly, pulling the manager’s hand down and trying to shut Ayase’s mouth with his hand simultaneously.
I laughed at the sight and but I could feel the discomfit radiating from Kame even from where I was standing.
The preacher, Ryo, made his way to the small stage and sighed nervously. Maybe I wasn’t the only anxious one.
The thought somehow lightened a load I hadn’t known I had been carrying from my back. The hall went silent, waiting for someone to speak. I did.
I turned from Kame and to the crowd. I knew that most of the people gathered here today were also workers of A. Jewelry.
I squeezed Kame’s hand as I spoke. “I know not all of you are from A. Jewelry, but I’d like to be the first to say,”
I stopped. I didn’t know what to say first. There was so much to say, so much which had been left unsaid for so long that I didn’t know what to blurt out first. A. Jewelry.
I didn’t want people to cower in fear at the name. That was when my step-father was president. Kame was here now. Kame had showed me the light in my lightless life. Kame was my light. I held on tighter to his hand.
“I know that A. Jewelry hasn’t always been the first place people would come looking for work. Well, sometimes, I guess, but only for its reputation.” There were silumtaenous nods passed through across the crowd and I almost grinned at the expectedness.
“I was like you once,” I said in all honesty, “I hated the place. Absolutely despised it and everything about it.” I thought back to Pi and everything else. I looked back for a minute and at Ryo who looked to be in a world of his own; contemplating my words.
“I hated walking into the building; I hated sitting at my desk and having to do work because of my step-father.” Times that were not so far from now yet still hung ominously above all of our heads.
I peeked my eyes from through my bangs for a minute to catch the worker’s reactions. Most were nodding, some weren’t doing anything whatsoever. I looked beside me at Kame who seemed absorbed in my speech. I took a deep breath before continuing.
“Because of my old secretary, I now realized that I’ve become the one thing I promised myself I’d never become: someone just like my step-father. Someone who didn’t understand the meaning of love or what it was like to live - really live.”
I thought back to all the company had done to me and the time that I wished I had never been born an Akanishi. I felt a wave of confusion overcome me for a second followed by a wave of customary nausea before I steadied myself and my words.
“So I’d like to be the first to say that I am now disbanding the phosphoresce law in the building. What my step-father wanted and what I want have nothing to do with each other.”
How long ago had that rule been put into place? For how long have we been abiding by it? I didn’t like to think about it. The crowd remained silent and I scratched the back rim of my ear hesitantly.
“He only placed the ban in the first place because he knew it reminded me of someone he didn’t want me to remember. But Kame…being with Kame made me remember. He made me remember what it was like to live.”
I didn’t hold back anymore, I took Kame by the waist and attached himself to me. “I don’t want to work in a place as dark as A. Jewelry either, Tegoshi-kun.” I looked directly at my young secretary as I said this and I noticed he only smiled back at my words.
Kame couldn’t help it - he smiled too. I swooped up and took Kame’s hand with my own and held it in place. I watched him clumsily trying to balance the roses without much success and laughed.
“Everyone…let’s make A. Jewelry a workable place again.”
The crowd of people, hell even people who didn’t work under my rule, stood up and cheered. Even Kame who was beside me started clapping with the roses in his hand. It was a rather ridiculous sight and I couldn’t help but to laugh out loud.
I think it was just because I was looking for a reason to laugh; I was happy. The happiest I’ve been in years, actually.
Standing with Kame now, I couldn’t help but to think back to that first time we met. We had only spent five weeks together, but we had both gone through a lot to finally be where we were now. The thought was a reward in itself.
How much misunderstandings had we gone through? How many tears have we shed for one another and how many more circles were we going to retrace before we finally were able to come back to where we belonged - with each other.
I decided, long ago, that our love didn’t make sense. It never did and to my knowledge, never would. That first kiss we shared at 5:00pm and the crude words that followed - those were memories now. What we had now was what truly mattered.
Once the clapping and cheering had died down, Ryo cleared his throat and Kame and I assumed our rightful positions looking at each other. On my command the lights were dimmed and only two glow-in-the-dark blue diamonds stood among the crowd.
Kame looked surprised and turned around, aghast and then finally to me who only winked. Who ever said a wedding with Akanishi Jin was going to be normal?
“J-Jin what’re you-” he held out his hand to give me a good knock but I caught his tiny wrist before he could even understand what was going on. The crowd cooed at first but when I had taken out the handcuffs from my pocket, they stilled.
Party poopers, I thought to myself. Kame’s eyes widened, however, and he began to squirm. “Akanishi Jin don’t you even think about it! This is our wedding, not a reunion between inmates!” he tried to get away without much success.
I wanted to ask him if he had known that he had a very adorable naivety, but I didn’t. His facial expressions alone were enough for me to get through the day. What could I do to be perfect for him?
I didn’t wait; mainly because I never did. I took his wrist and wound it up good before clicking the other side and attaching him to myself.
There was no need for him to tell me he loved me first, I would say ‘I do’ long before that. Kame didn’t have to ask or wait - this moment was worth an eternity of love already.
When Kame had asked if I had always gone around handcuffing myself to people - I laughed. They were the same words I had asked him the first time we met. He didn’t remember this, but perhaps he did somewhere in his subconscious.
I turned to Ryo, our wrist newly-tied and nodded. Ryo stood in front of us now and the crowd remained silent, save for Kame’s friends.
Ryo cleared his throat for the umpteenth time and I figured he must have been nervous. The sides of his ears were red and I had to restrain myself - for Kame’s sake - from pinching them and then not allowing him to live it down tomorrow.
I knew being the preacher was a big job and since I had chosen this a week previous, I had asked Ryo to take and get a license for such a performance. I had to know that for sure, for sure, for sure that he was okay with me marrying the man we had wanted to kill for years.
I didn’t have to force him; not at all. He had agreed, albeit reluctantly.
He had told me with a little persuasion from Ueda - more like Ueda bluntly threatening to leave him without sex for a month - he had agreed.
I knew this was a lie and that he was only hiding his real intentions, but I let him get away with it regardless. What were friends for, anyway?
Kame seemed restless, glaring at the blue flowers, our blue earrings and then finally to the steel shackles that bound us together. At least this way we would be handcuffed to each other for life.
“We are gathered here today, on this happy and joyous occasion, to join these two in holy matrimony.” As Ryo began, I heard Kame’s manager and Ayase cheering and then looked at my terribly red fiancé.
My gut feeling told me that he had regretted bringing the two, but deep inside he was happy. He shot the two a warning glare but then turned back. Ryo gave him the are-you-done-yet look and Kame only further flushed.
“Marriage is a solemn institution to be held in honor by all, it is the cornerstone of the family and of the community.” Ryo read the book carefully but it had been clearly obvious that he had already memorized most of the text by heart. I smiled. He was one of the most reliable people alive.
“It requires of those who undertake it a complete and unreserved giving of one’s self.” There were more hollers from Kame’s friends and Ryo stopped, trying not to choke in laughter. I couldn’t contain myself as well as Ryo, and Kame yanked on the cuffs to shut me up. Hard.
“It is not to be entered into lightly, as marriage is a sincere and mutual commitment to love one another. This commitment symbolizes the intimate sharing of two lives and still enhances the individuality of each of you.” I bit my lip anxiously.
This was really happening. I was really going to marry Kame.
“Do you, Akanishi Jin take Kamenashi Kazuya to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ’til death do you part?”
Without a second’s hesitation I nodded vigorously. “I do! I do! I definitely, definitely, definitely-”
“JIN!” Kame hissed and yanked the manacles again.
There were a few more chuckles erupting from the others as Ryo continued. I didn’t understand what I had done wrong, truthfully, I was merely expressing how much I had waited for this moment - how much I wanted Kame.
Ryo spoke again, shifting himself a little so that he was now directing his speech to Kame. “Do you, Kamenashi Kazuya take Akanishi Jin to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish ’til death do you part?”
Kame nodded once and said, “I do,” without hesitation and Ryo nodded.
“By the power-”
“Wait!” I shouted as soon as an idea had popped into my head.
Hellos, goodbyes, they were all things Kame and I had. If he was water then I was the wind; I wanted to share this with everyone. I wanted to tell everyone what color Kame had brought into my otherwise colorless life. I wanted to make my own vows.
“What is it now, Jin?” Ryo asked, as if expecting me to interrupt him at some point.
“Jin…can we just get married?!” Kame groaned; his hand was becoming restless.
“But I want to make my own vows!”
“A little late for that…” Kame mumbled, plucking a flower from the bouquet.
Ryo shook his head and put down the book for a minute. “No, it’s okay. Go ahead.”
I grinned in victory and Kame only rolled his beautiful eyes. “Kame…Kame, Kame, Kame~” I sang loudly and Kame once again felt the need to shy away in embarrassment. I could even hear Ueda chuckling from his seat.
“Kame…our love…how can I explain it?” I fished around for appropriate words in the back of my head. They weren’t coming to me, now of all times. I needed to say something, anything to show this man that I wanted him. I wanted him more than anything. I took a deep breath.
“Kame I can’t describe our love, I’m sorry. It’s too…it’s too real to say anything about.” I bit my lip and looked up as if the answer was on the ceiling. Then it hit me. “I guess the best bet would be to say it’s like diarrhea.”
Kame’s eyes widened ominously at my words and I could tell that I was going to be in for a world of hurt. But I couldn’t help myself. It was what I felt.
“It just keeps on coming and coming…there’s no cure!”
Kame looked absolutely mortified as if his friends hadn’t been enough already. “AKANISHI JIN!” he yanked on the handcuffs so hard that I was sure my wrist was going to bruise come morning, but I didn’t mind.
“But Kame,” I said once I was steadied again, “I don’t want to live in a world without you. I love you. I really do. You don’t know how happy you make me.” I grinned, “Especially when we’re in be-”
“Kamenashi Kazuya-san, do you have any vows you would also like to share?” Ryo cut me off, turning to my future-husband. He was still rather cherry-colored but nonetheless he nodded.
There was silence for a few second while I continued to pout about being cut off, but Kame inhaled loudly and said, “I have no memories of us. None at all. And the few that we have made are of those in jail or over the phone. I don’t remember you at all.
“But my heart does and that’s more than enough for me. And right now, none of that matters because I promise you my deepest love and fullest devotion. Akanishi Jin, you’re the biggest idiot but I love you.”
The crowd was on their feet by this point, cooing, cheering; everything. I grinned like an idiot but I couldn’t help myself.
Ryo shuffled his feet clumsily at the handcuffed couple, looking down at the papers and then at the two. “By the powers…temporarily…vested in me, I now pronounce you married. You may now kiss the…” he looked awkwardly at Kame and then back at me.
Groom? Bride? What was he supposed to say? He growled and crunched the paper in front of him, throwing it into the encouraging crowd. “To hell with that - just kiss!” Scripted lines were overrated anyway.
With pleasure on that last statement, I pushed Kame closer and made a beeline for his lips. I wasn’t expecting, however, for his hands to stop my motion halfway. “W-What’re you doing?!” he yelled, “The female’s the one who gets kissed!”
I had never bothered to rethink that concept, but then I did for a second and merely shrugged. I tried kissing him again, but once more, Kame pushed me back.
I whined and asked what he had wanted, but in the end he straightened himself and placed me back to where I was standing beforehand. “Push over,” he said.
“What?!”
“I’m kissing you.”
I frowned. “Correction, dear Kame. I’m kissing you.”
As we continued to argue about who was going to kiss who, Ryo barged in between us. He didn’t succeed because of the handcuffs, but he growled instead. “Are you going to finish this wedding or should we have brought our sleeping bags?” he pointed to the restless crowd, “come on! The license expires in an hour!”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not my fault you were being cheap and didn’t get the full license!”
Ryo, infuriated by my indifference placed a hand on his hip. “Bakanishi, shut it and let him kiss you.”
I gaped in horror. “Ryo, who’s side are you on?!”
Ryo sighed. Divorce is clearly not in their future. The crowd was beginning to become curious so instead Ryo decided to blow off the traditional kiss and just get on with the rest of the ceremony. “Fine. No kiss. Just get on with it and throw the bouquet.”
Kame and I nodded in unison. A moment of awkward silence passed before Kame shoved the blue roses into my hands. I raised a brow. Did he think I was going to throw them? That was the bride’s job. “I’m not throwing it,” Kame huffed.
I nodded. “Well, neither am I.”
Ryo, at this point ready to rip out the strands of his delicate black hair stomped a very, very angry foot. “Lord have mercy, just throw the damn thing!”
I shook my head furiously. I was not giving up my masculinity that easily. “Ryo! He’s making me throw it!” I whined and I could still hear Ueda’s chuckles.
“I held it so you’re throwing it!”
“Here,” I took one side of the bouquet whilst Kame still held onto his side with our handcuffed hands. “We’ll both throw it.” I said.
Kame nodded. “Okay.”
“When I count to three.”
“One…” I thought back to everything we’ve been through. I thought back to the time where Kame was nothing more than the scrawny man to me. I thought back to our first together and even the first photographs we snapped together.
“…two…” I looked over at the man now who stared back at me. For a second our eyes met and I felt it again. Love. This was real, this was now and I was really, really with Kame. We were bounded together now. And not just because of the handcuffs.
“Three!”
I tried to cheat Kame - I didn’t let go. He had done the same. We broke out into an instantaneous amusement and just as I was about to open my mouth to tell him about this, about what I felt, about everything, I felt my foot losing balance.
If I fell, that naturally meant Kame would fall behind me. And that was exactly what had happened. I tripped off the miniature stage and the garland of flowers went soaring into the air. Eventually, I landed with a small thud and coming crashing from on top of me was Kame.
Our lips angrily meshed for a second. Normally people would have broken the hold, but I didn’t. Instead, I dragged the man and brought him underneath me, continuing to kiss him until our lips were raw.
Ryo coughed awkwardly to ease the guest’s discomfit at the scene. “At least they kissed.”
As the flowers went hurling into the air, Ayase stood up and stretched her hands in an attempt to catch the flying flowers. “I want them!” Shige tried to get her to sit back down without much avail.
Tegoshi frowned at the girl. “They’re just roses…”
Shige shook his head. “Not to Ayase.”
Many stood up for the flowers and to try and retrieve it from the air, but they had, in the end, landed safely in the lap of one shocked Ueda Tatsuya. The crowd hollered and from his place at the alter, Ryo could feel his ears going red again.
When I finally finished kissing Kame, I smiled and poked the man’s forehead. “We don’t need handcuffs anymore.” He nodded but made no attempt to push himself off of me. Even in the room full of others, he didn’t push me away. I smiled at that.
In many ways, our lives were just beginning.
The End
◦●○◦
Okay. It’s over. For real, real this time, lol. OK, list of apologies time. First, I probably won’t be on for a while now - long story short, let’s just say the school called my house and my parents aren’t happy, lol. Oh well. Math-cult here I come -_-;; but at least I finished this in time, somehow ^^ and sorry, no. I couldn’t give them a normal wedding xDD