[fic] The Things We Can't Control - Chapter 21 ~Waiting Out the Hellions' Mission~
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: Well, here's an exciting little chapter for you. It's not long, I know, but I've been really busy so... But I hope you enjoy it (^_^)
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 21 ~Waiting Out the Hellions' Mission~
As time slowly passed, Kame and Koki both got edgier and edgier while waiting for Reina, Kiyoshi, and Kenji to return. All three of them had been so excited to be trusted with such an important job. It had taken Koki almost half an hour to calm them down enough to properly explain what the goal was in the first place.
And then Eiji had burst in yelling because he’d figured out what was going on. Apparently, Koki’s solution for convincing Reina’s big brother to stay behind was to just conveniently not mention anything in the first place. That surprised Kame. Koki was always so good with the kids and a lot of that was built on trust. If Eiji lost faith in him, the rest of the kids would follow. He was like their unofficial leader.
But neither Kame nor Koki had to solve the “Eiji Problem” because Reina settled it herself. She might only have been six but she still shouted down her fifteen-year-old brother and then turned on the charm to soothe his aggravation.
Yeah, she was definitely well-suited for the mission.
Eiji - still pretty irritable - went back to watch over the rest of the kids. Koki helped explain to the three kids the way the listening devices worked and both he and Kame helped the kids put them on and hide them.
For a full half hour, Koki and Kame drill the three kids, making sure they remembered the important details (like Tatsuya’s name and nickname and what he looked like…) But then, neither Kame nor Koki could stall the inevitable any longer, so the handed the children off to their chaperones…. but not before Reina threw her arms around Koki in a tight hug and loudly whispered, “Don’t worry. I’m smart.”
It looked like Koki was on the verge of tears as he hugged her back, saying, “I know you are, Princess. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I will, Koki-nii-san!”
And the three of them left with their chaperones.
That was almost two and a half hours ago. Kame and Koki were waiting in the church office.
Koki was practically climbing the walls in his worried state and Kame realized he wasn’t that far from being that way himself. He tried to tell himself that it was a really far walk to Papa K’s stroll on Pearl Street so this amount of time was expected. But it was getting later and later. Surely they should be back already?
He was barely aware of Jin entering the room with three plates of food precariously balanced. In fact, he didn’t realize Jin was there at all until he was suddenly right in front of him, setting one of the plates down for him.
Koki accepted his plate but then just took it with him when he left in a concerned huff to wait outside for everyone to return.
“Is he going to be okay?” Jin asked.
Sighing, Kame picked up his plate and said, “He’s just worried. They’ve been gone a long time.”
Jin didn’t respond. Instead, he sat down, back against the wall, and started eating in silence. Kame looked up from his own food, eying Jin. He didn’t like what he saw. He’d never seen Jin look so tired and desperate and just plain tense. Granted, he’d only known him for a couple of days… but, still, it didn’t seem like it was a state Jin was accustomed to.
“How about you? Are… are you okay?”
Their eyes locked and they just stared at each other in silence for a moment before Jin finally responded with, “Do you really care?”
Normally, it would have pissed Kame off. It wasn’t something often said outside of sarcasm. But… the look in Jin’s eyes and his tone of voice… no, the man wasn’t being sarcastic. If Kame had to put a description to it, it seemed like Jin was scared that the kids would come back only to reveal his friend was dead. Right now, it seemed like Jin was reaching out, clinging to the idea that someone else would care even if Ueda turned out to be dead.
Kame remembered (not that he wanted to…) when he’d first left home. How alone he felt. How scared. He had nobody he could depend on. It was a lot easier to push those memories down, surrounded by the new family he’d found in Kizuna. But it seemed like Tatsuya was all Jin had…
It was heartbreaking. Kame wanted to just tell him everything was fine. He wanted to make things all turn out right. But the truth was, he didn’t know. He had no idea if Tatsuya was alive or not. All he really could do was…
“Yes. You might be really good at pushing my buttons but I really do care.”
“Why?”
“Why do you push my buttons?” Was Jin seriously asking that?
“No. Why do you care?” Again, it wasn’t sarcasm. There wasn’t even a trace of bitterness. Jin’s eyes were desperately sad and so, so honest.
On the one hand, it was yet again so heartbreaking that Jin would have to ask that, but on the other hand, Kame wasn’t sure what the answer was anyway.
“I didn’t know I needed…”
But that’s when the door slammed into the wall as it was suddenly thrown the rest of the way open. Koki burst back into the room while Kame and Jin were left trying to come back down from jumping in surprise. “They’re back! They’re all back and safe!” And, indeed, the three kids pushed their way into the office.
“How’d it go?” Kame asked.
Kiyoshi and Kenji were shaking their heads but before they could say anything, Reina asked, “What’s ruft raid?”
“Ruft…. raid?”
But Kame had never heard the term before. Maybe he’d understand after he listened to the recording? “I don’t know, sweetheart.”
But Koki had gone white. He stood there in obvious shock for a few seconds before composing himself once more. “Give Kame-san the recorders and come with me to the kitchen. Let’s find you three something sweet to eat and then I’ll find Eiji and let him know you’re back.” Nodding, he continued with, “You did good. You all did real good. Come on!”
A unanimous “Yay!” from the munchkins. They practically tore off the listening devices and dropped them on the floor. Then the whole lot of them headed off towards the kitchen, practically tripping over each other. And now that they were home safely, Kame was able to let go of the tension that had been building the whole time they were out.
Turning back to Jin, Kame asked, “Shall we listen?”
That’s when he noticed that Jin had also gone pale. Not as bad as Koki had, but he just sat there for a second, completely motionless, and then finally mumbled what sounded vaguely like “I can’t…” before he fled the room.
Kame understood, but he was still a bit disappointed.
Well, someone had to listen to the recordings. Guess he’d have to do it himself. Well, Kenji and Kiyoshi had shaken their heads, so it was probably better to start with Reina’s. If he could figure out which one was Reina’s, now that they were all in a pile on the floor.
But he managed to suss it all out and started listening. There was good news… but also very, very bad news…
+++
Somehow, Jin ended up in the sanctuary, where he started pacing almost without realizing. And when Kame finally came looking for him an eternity of minutes later, he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. He had to keep moving, otherwise he was just going to fall apart.
Tatsuya was dead. He was sure of it. Jin had held out hope but he just… If he listened, it’d confirm it and he wouldn’t be able to fool himself anymore.
No, he couldn’t. He couldn’t listen to the tape. No way…
“Jin…”
But Jin ignored him and continued pacing. Keep moving, that was the trick. Don’t stop moving and you won’t have to think. You won’t have to hear what you don’t want to hear…
“Jin!”
More pacing.
“Damn it, Jin! Sit down, right now!”
More pacing. Don’t stop.
“Jin, Ueda Tatsuya is alive.”
That stopped him mid-stride. This intense wave of emotions washed over him… happiness, surprise, a rekindled hope that they might save him… so much, so overwhelming…
… that before he realized what he was doing, he’d thrown his arms around Kame and pulled him in to a kiss.
A sense of shock hit him and, it seemed, Kame as well as they both stood there, lips together, for this one instance. That shock bled away rather quickly and the kiss became something deeper, more intimate and Jin pulled him even closer. It… it was actually rather nice. And Kame seemed to enjoy it too, bringing one hand up to bury his fingers in Jin’s unruly hair.
But then, Jin supposed Kame’s brain caught up to the rest of him, because he stilled in Jin’s arms once more and then suddenly pushed him away so hard that Jin stumbled backwards, tripping over the corner of one of the pews and landing pretty hard on his ass on the sanctuary floor.
The look in Kame’s eyes…
Oh, no…
No. No, this wasn’t…
Those eyes shifted from desire to shock to betrayal and then to fear. And not just a little bit; full-on terror. Kame was standing so very still, like he was afraid to move. Afraid of Jin.
Oh, what had he done? How could he… So stupid! As he clammered back to his feet, with rapid-fire delivery, Jin started apologizing, “Kame, I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry! I just… I got… I was overexcited and… and… I… I’m just an idiot, right?”
But when he took a step forward towards Kame, Kame finally moved, taking a step back.
“P-p-please, go…”
“But I thought you wanted me to stay at the church because it’s dangerous for you if I go?”
“Oh. Yes… Then… Yes, you stay here…” Kame said distractedly, his eyes still wild.
And then Kame walked stiffly out of the room.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The story continues:
Chapter 22 ~Being a Hound~
A/N: Well, there you go. First Akame kiss. Total disaster. I think Kame wouldn't have freaked out so much if he hadn't actually enjoyed it for a minute. Poor guy. Jin just doesn't think. Though I imagine he's pretty confused, too. Not just at Kame's reaction but also at why he kissed him in the first place.
Ah, will they work it out? You'll have to wait to find out!