[fic] The Things We Can't Control - Chapter 13 ~Overnight Stay~
Title: The Things We Can't Control
Author:
prettyorianna
Pairing: Akame. Others to be added later.
Rating: NC-17.
Genre: crime drama au
Beta by: my cat Gemma. okay, seriously, nobody
Disclaimer: I don't own KAT-TUN, any of its members, any other JE people. I write this for fun and for other fans of these fine folks. But don't steal my plots, mmkay? I put a great deal of time into them except for when I'm randomly spastically spitting words onto a page. But I value those too...
Summary: Two criminals with vastly different styles meet by chance one day. Can they work together or will they end up destroying each other?
Author's Note: Better late than never. But longer than usual!
BANNER BY DESHISORABA!!
Warning: This gets graphic often occasionally, containing at the very least foul language, character death, nefarious crimes, rape, etc etc.
The Master Posts:
On my journal - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the akame_ Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the akame_fanfics Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the je_kamenashi Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the kattun_fanfics Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
On the jin_fics Community - The Things We Can't Control Master Post
Chapter 13 ~Overnight Stay~
Jin and Kame led the cops on a very convoluted chase through the otherwise quiet town. Kame had no idea where he was going but he figured the best way would be to stick to areas where the police car could follow, at least until he was confident Koki and the others got away, and then they started ducking between buildings where the car could not follow, forcing the police officers to stop and follow on foot.
But there was no way the cops could keep up, not after losing so much ground while they scrambled to get out of the vehicle to follow on foot.
He was pleased to notice that Jin could keep up with him. Not many people could, not even from Kizuna. He’d hate it if the man had gotten caught helping Kizuna before they even had the chance to help him.
By the time they’d completely shaken their annoying police tail, both Kame and Jin were nearly out of breath. They slowed their pace and ended up stopping in a combination playground and picnic area to catch their breath and to decide where to spend the rest of the day and the evening.
When his lungs finally stopped burning from the extended sprint, Kame asked Jin in a very low voice, “Do you still have your part?” He couldn’t exactly say ‘the money’ because even though the place was fairly deserted at the moment he still couldn’t risk being overheard. But Jin was not new to this; he’d understand…
If he didn’t, well… then he wasn’t the man Kame had judged him thus far to be.
“All of it. Plus the hardware, minus two,” was Jin’s response. “What about you?”
Mean, yes, he still had all the cash in the two pouches and also his gun hidden away minus two bullets from a full clip. Kame had his two knifes still and a flash bomb he’d picked up in case someone noticed him wheeling the groceries out while the register robbery went down.
“Yon-ichi-nana K.” 417K was the police code for a person with a knife. Jin had to know that. “Both sides. And a bright bang.” That, of course, meaning the flash bomb.
Kame was surprised when Jin started laughing. “Bright… bang, huh? Out in a public park, no less? Not that I’m not flattered…”
Kame blushed. “You know what I meant, Jin!”
“It’s funnier my way.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Don’t make me kick your ass again like I did in the bank!” Kame finally snapped at him.
“You…. kicked…. MY ass? You wish!” Now Jin looked downright offended. “I totally dominated you! If security hadn’t pulled us apart your whole body would be in a cast by now! I was on top so I won!” And on and on.
Kame started glancing around nervously as Jin got louder and louder. Last time he’d seen Jin this riled up in public, he’d shouted for Kame to return his gun… in the middle of the bank. That’s all they needed, Jin shouting more stupid shit.
And, indeed, people were already giving them strange looks. Something about Jin made Kame want to just throw caution to the wind and argue right back but he didn’t have that luxury.
“So you shouldn’t have taken my g-” But Kame practically flew the small distance between them to slap his hand over Jin’s mouth.
Hissing in the man’s ear, “You are seriously an idiot. And now everyone is staring at us! That’s it, we need to move. Let’s…” and he thought for a moment, “Okay, we should find a cheap motel and get a room there. I have a feeling we wouldn’t fare well in the alley overnight. And a motel will have a phone so we can call the church to let them know we’re safe and to get us tomorrow.”
By that time, Jin had managed to pry Kame’s hand off his mouth. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Didn’t I?” Kame asked, aggravated.
But Jin just shook his head before finally saying, “We passed a motel when we were running.”
Had they? Kame always considered himself observant... “I don’t know. Do you remember where?”
“Let’s see…” and Jin closed his eyes. “Across the street from the park, back through that alley, take a left, three blocks, through the alley on the right, across the street, another alley, then it’s to the right one block.” And he opened his eyes. “That’s where it was.”
Kame stared at him in slack-jaw amazement. “How did you do that?”
“It’s not the first time I’ve had to run from cops,” was Jin’s reply, “And sometimes I have to stash my loot en route and let’s just say that I like remembering where I left it.”
“I’ll say…” Kame mumbled, but he was nevertheless quite impressed. “Is there a shorter way, something more direct?”
“I have no idea. I only know what path we took during the chase.”
“Wait, the whole thing? You remember the whole thing?”
“Well, yeah… I mean, you don’t?” And Jin seemed genuinely surprised that he didn’t.
The two of them stood up and started following Jin’s directions. “Some, yeah, but all of it? Not even close!”
For a moment, Jin was silent but he finally said. “I guess I just sort of thought everyone could do that.”
Was that a subtle insult or was Jin just not thinking before he spoke? Frankly, Kame wouldn’t be surprised by either of those. So the two of them walked in silence the rest of the way to the motel.
When they got there, Jin untied one of the pouches at his waist and casually slipped it to Kame. Nothing to see, folks. Move along. Ignore the man behind the curtain.
For such a crappy motel, the rooms cost more than Kame had expected. Still, this way they wouldn’t have to take turns all night staying awake to guard the money. Not that he’d be able to sleep anyway. He never slept the times he was away from the office at the church, no matter how hard he tried to.
Up to the second floor, fifth room on the right. Locking the door behind them, Kame let out a sigh of relief. “I’m going to call Kizuna.” He tossed the pouch back to Jin. “You think you can count the money while I do?”
Jin rolled his eyes. “I’m not an idiot.”
Sure he wasn’t. That’s why he nearly shouted out about his gun in public… again.
Only one ring before Massu answered the phone, “Housekeeping. How may I direct your call?”
“Excuse me?” What kind of way was that to answer the phone? Weren’t they even worried a little bit? “That’s not the proper way to answer the damn phone, Massu!” Honestly, would that man never learn how to answer the phone.
“Oi, have a sense of humor, why don’t you…” and he laughed. “At least I didn’t use the Domino’s Pizza one this time.”
“True…”
“So what’s the word? How much?”
Kame glanced over at Jin but he was still counting the money in the second pouch. “What are we up to so far?”
“Three hundred twenty seven dollars from the first register, still counting the second,” Jin said without looking up from his task.
“Probably looking at about six hundred or so dollars,” Kame told Massu. “What about from your target?”
“Ah, couldn’t get in the safe, huh?”
“Just answer the question, Massu.”
“We got lucky. About twenty five hundred. Not counting all that delicious-looking food. So when do you want your rescue?”
Kame had already figured that out. “Tomorrow, bright and early. I want to give the cops a bit of time to forget the car before Koki brings it back to town.”
“Will tell him! Bye…”
“Wait, Massu! Don’t hang… up… yet…” but it was too late. Why oh why did he do that every single time he was the one to answer the phone? It was annoying. If it was anyone but Massu, he’d probably tell him off but it wasn’t really possible to stay mad at him. He was such a sweet guy and there were few enough of those on the street.
Well, he’d just have to call back later to give them directions to the motel.
Nothing to do now but wait out the night.
+++
The last bill counted brought the total in the pouches to seven hundred eighty four dollars. Well, plus however much the small one-bed motel room had cost. Putting it all back in somewhat more orderly than the scared cashiers had, he looked up to find Kame staring at him.
“What?” Jin looked around him. There wasn’t anything there to draw someone’s attention. Or… wait… “Are you watching me count the money? Do you not trust me?”
“I can’t really say that…” Kame started, trying to find the best words to explain. “It’s more, I just don’t know you and I have so many people depending on me. For their sake, no matter my personal opinion, I…”
But Jin interrupted him. “I have a gun. You have a little flash bomb and some knives. If I wanted this money I’d have just taken it.”
Kame did a quick double-take. He looked slightly shaken by what Jin had said.
“Well, no, I didn’t mean that I would… I mean, you just don’t do that. It’s low…” Jin finally settled on, not sure how to interpret Kame’s strange expression.
But Kame started shaking his head. “No, it’s… no. But I agree it’s low. Outside of Kizuna though, I’m not used to finding people with that sort of honor. It’s surprising…”
“Well, you don’t really know me, do you!” Jin exclaimed grumpily. For some reason, he had started to believe Kame was different. That Kame didn’t see some worthless trash when he looked at Jin. But apparently he’d been wrong. Only Tat-chan looked past the surface to see the real him.
He thought he was used to it, but it still hurt, damn it!
“Maybe…” Kame started.
Jin looked back up at him expectantly.
“…we should just start over. Introduce ourselves properly. We obviously got off on the wrong foot, considering the bank and all.”
Jin was half-tempted to just sulk but the expression on Kame’s face was almost apologetic and Kizuna was going to help him rescue Tatsuya, they needed to be able to work together and rely on each other. Besides, for some reason he couldn’t even begin to understand, he didn’t want Kame to think badly of him.
Was it because Kame seemed to be one of the last few decent men on the street so his negative opinion would have more bite? Because it was one thing for scum to think you’re scum, but quite another for a person who could just as easily be you to think you’re scum.
Realizing that Kame was still staring at him, waiting for an answer, Jin finally said, “Maybe that’s a good idea.”
“Hajimemashite. Kamenashi Kazuya desu.”
“Hajimemashite. Akanishi Jin desu.”
With a sudden clap, Kame exclaimed, “There. Much better.”
“I suppose…” and Jin scratched the back of his head nervously. “So, Kamenashi-san, tell me about yourself?”
“Oh, well… you can still call me Kame. Everyone pretty much does. What would you like to know?”
Jin thought for a minute. Truthfully, Jin was rather curious about the man sitting on the edge of the bed. There was a lot about him that didn’t make a whole lot of sense. For example, Kizuna had a noble mission and yet, for some reason Jin couldn’t figure out, Kame was punishing himself. He was doing good things and yet felt guilty enough to subconsciously hurt himself by (as an example) giving away his food. If Kame was doing that, he was probably punishing himself in other ways too. But… it didn’t seem like he even realized he was doing it.
And it’s not like that’s something Jin could just straight up ask…
Instead, he settled on, “How long have you been in Kizuna?”
“I started it about three and a half years ago. At least, officially. Some of us had already sort of banded together before then but we didn’t call ourselves anything special. What about you? How did you end up squatting in an abandoned hotel?”
Shrugging, Jin said, “I got thrown out when I was ten. I just find a place to crash and stay there until I gotta move. The hotel was the closest spot to where my friend stayed and worked.”
“Why didn’t you just stay with your friend?” Kame asked, curiosity plainly evident in his voice.
“Well, Papa K’s whores all stay together where he can keep an eye on them. I didn’t want to whore myself out for a better place to sleep…”
Kame’s face lost all expression. “You… have a problem with whores?”
“No, of course not! I just refuse to be one. I’d rather starve or freeze to death than whore myself. I’ll face whatever consequences that choice brings, as a free man…”
“What about your friend Tatsuya? Didn’t Papa K tell you that, if you couldn’t come up with the money, you could help your friend by becoming one of his whores? You would really rather leave him to die than sell yourself or let someone sell you?”
“Yes. No. I mean… wait, what? Now you’re confusing me…”
“Would you whore yourself to save your friend’s life?”
“I…” and Jin had to pause, “I want to say that yes, I’d do that for him, but… at the same time, I’m not sure I could. I think… I wouldn’t be able to… God, I don’t know what I’m trying to say! Why do you ask me stupid questions?”
Would he? Deep down inside, even if he hated to admit it to himself and would probably never be able to explain it fully, but he didn’t have him in it to submit to someone. He wouldn’t be able to abide a pimp, or even the limitations customers would impose on him. Even for his friend’s sake…
Was… was he a terrible person because he couldn’t make himself do that? That, no matter what, he’d never sell himself or allow himself to be sold?
“I’m going to go find us some food,” Kame told him through gritted teeth. He roughly snatched up one of the pouches on the floor in front of Jin and walked to the door. Just before he opened it, he said, “You don’t know what it’s like to be one of them. Your stubborn principles don’t make you better and honestly, I expected more from you…”
And then he left and did not return with the food until the sun was already low in the sky. They ate in silence, though Jin kept glancing over at Kame.
Jin was confused. He’d obviously said something wrong. Again. Only this time, Kame seemed to be taking it rather personally. Had… had he been a whore? Jin was curious but at the same time, he didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to piss Kame off further.
As the sun finally set, Kame said, “You can take the bed. It’s not like I’ll be sleeping tonight.”
“Why not? Was it… was it something I said earlier?” Jin asked, confused.
Kame scoffed. “As if. You’re not important enough for what you say to bother me that badly.”
Except clearly something he said had done just that. But what would he gain by pointing it out? Still, it hurt to be told that. Jin was trying. He was doing his best to get along and be helpful and to trust Kame and Kizuna would help him save Tat-chan.
“…you need to sleep, too,” Jin finally said.
“I know that!” Kame snapped irritably. But then he shook his head. “But I also know I won’t, no matter how desperately I want to. Just go to sleep, okay? At least one of us should be well-rested. Otherwise, why’d we waste money on a goddamn motel room!”
And Jin watched as Kame stormed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him.
Was he crying?
He and Kame had argued before but even at the bank it hadn’t been like this…
Grabbing a pillow, Jin walked to the bathroom door and knocked gently. “Kame? I have a pillow for you. Can I please open the door?”
+++
“Go away!” Kame sniffled, hoping Jin couldn’t tell he was crying.
He didn’t mean to cry. He hadn’t realized just how long it had been since he’d had to sleep away from the church. The things he needed to feel safe, he kept them locked away in the office. Just knowing they were there…
But he honestly thought he’d handle it better. Maybe if he hadn’t gotten in an argument with that… Bakanishi… yes, that was a fitting nickname for the man, now that he thought on it… maybe he’d be handling this better.
No.
No, he couldn’t put this on anyone’s shoulders but his own. Face it; even if he was alone at the motel, he wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night.
Jin’s voice at the door again. “Please, talk to me. I can’t go to sleep like this.”
Standing, Kame wiped the tears on his sleeve and pulled the door open. “Why? Why can’t you? What is your problem?” he snapped angrily.
“It’s not my problem so much as… well…” Jin started. He looked confused a bit, “It’s more that something feels horribly wrong and you’re not angry at me. Well, no, you are but that’s not what this is… But I don’t know what this is except it makes my heart hurt.”
But then it looked like Jin realized what he just said, as he scrambled to say, “Er, well, what I mean is, I thought you’d like a pillow at least. That’s all. I… we’re both tired. Um… here!” and Jin awkwardly shoved the pillow at Kame.
“Thank you…” Kame said softly as he watched Jin back away from the bathroom and practically flee to the bed. Closing the bathroom door once more, Kame thought to himself that even if he was awake all night, a pillow to lean against was a mighty nice thing to have.
Once more, barely louder than a whisper, “Thank you, Jin…”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The story continues:
Chapter 14 ~The First Week~
A/N: Ah, this chapter was soooo hard! Kame and Jin kept getting into arguments no matter how much I tried to reconcile them! But here you go, finally.