The Bodyguard 2/2
The first thing Kazuya thought of when he woke up the next morning was that his headache was killing him. That was exactly why he didn’t touch alcohol - he’d get a horrible hangover the next morning.
The second thing was that he had no idea where he was. This wasn’t the room in his house, nor was it the room in Jin’s mansion. It looked more like… a hotel room maybe?
Jin… He blinked as memories ran through his head. Memories of bruising kisses, of warm skin under his fingertips, of whispers of his name…
The more he thought about it, the worse his headache got. He didn’t want to turn around and face the body sleeping next to him, but he had no choice. It had to be real… It had to be true…
And it was true… Sleeping next to him, Kazuya saw Jin’s figure, probably naked, just like his.
“Shit…” Kazuya cursed, maybe a bit too loudly, and quickly got out of bed, looking for his clothes. Various garments were scattered all over the floor and Kazuya felt like cursing again. At least he could spot his underwear…
It was just his luck that he tripped when trying to put on his jeans. The noise of him hitting the ground, as well as the curses that escaped his lips, seemed to have been enough to wake the other up.
Kazuya licked his lips, suddenly feeling nervous, while Jin yawned and pushed the hair out of his face. His sleepy eyes finally focused on Kazuya. He frowned a bit, seemingly confused, until the memories of last night seemed to return. To Kazuya’s surprise, there was a small smile on the other man’s lips.
“Good morning, Kazuya.” Jin told him.
“Good morning…” Kazuya finally replied after some silence.
Stretching lazily, Jin seemed like he didn’t have a single worry in the world. Kazuya felt exactly the opposite.
“There’s no need to hurry anywhere…” Jin mumbled, shifting into a more comfortable position. The white bed sheets only covered the lower half of his body; after last night’s events, that was enough to be considered a distraction for Kazuya. “I’m right here…”
“I can see that very well. None of us should be here though… Matsumoto will kill you… Or probably kill both of us…” Kazuya rambled as he fumbled with his jeans. “I’m surprised he hasn’t called already…”
“We both turned off our phones…” Jin told the other; he seemed quite amused. “Did you forget? Last night, when Yamashita started calling to check on us…”
His eyes widened as he looked around for his cellphone. He saw both his and Jin’s on the floor, near the bed. He groaned when he saw that, indeed, it was turned off.
Kazuya was dead. He was sure of it. Nishikido would especially make sure that he would be dead.
“Akanishi, hurry up and get dressed. We are leaving in 5 minutes.” Kazuya told the singer.
Jin’s smile immediately disappeared at that. Raising an eyebrow, he moved into a sitting position and said:
“I thought it was Jin… especially last night.”
“Last night, I was drunk…” Kazuya said, avoiding Jin’s eyes; he kept running his hands through his hair, both to arrange it somehow and also because he was feeling a bit nervous.
“We might’ve been a bit tipsy, but definitely not that drunk. I wasn’t. And you seem to remember quite well what happened last night.” Jin said.
“I was still drunk enough to do… this… with my client.” Kazuya argued.
“Oh, so now I’m only your client?” Jin asked him; the sarcasm was all too clear, and it almost made Kazuya cringe.
He hated situations like these. He had no control over anything… over his words, his feelings, over other people… It seemed like everything was slipping through his fingers, and all because he had gotten drunk a bit and slept with his client. It was just great…
Though if Kazuya was honest with himself - and only with himself -, he had to admit that he hadn’t drunk enough alcohol to completely cloud his mind. With Jin dancing so close to him, with having watched him shine on stage, having seen all kinds of different sides of the man… the alcohol only fed his temptation more and more until he gave in.
“You’ve always been my client, and nothing more.” Kazuya replied.
“Then why did you sleep with me? Why did you even dance?” Jin asked, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the other.
“I don’t know… look, it doesn’t matter anymore. Nothing like this will happen between us. It was just… a one time thing…”
“So you’re still the same ass you were at the beginning then…” Jin said; his voice was getting louder.
“Look, you can’t expect me to be able to protect you like this.” Kazuya exploded, finally meeting Jin’s eyes again. “Don’t you understand that your life’s on the line? How do you expect me to focus? We need to keep our relationship professional, and nothing more.”
“Isn’t it a bit too late already?” Jin asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kazuya was silent, trying to find his words. He opened his mouth, then shut it again. In the end, he shook his head and turned around to leave the room, saying:
“I’ll wait for you outside the room.”
He could feel Jin’s eyes glaring daggers into the back of his head all the way to the door. Once he was outside, he sighed and closed his eyes, leaning against the door.
He had messed it up badly…
~’~
Kazuya thought that had to have been one of the most unpleasant taxi rides in all his life. Jin was intent on acting like he didn’t even exist, despite the fact that he was sitting right next to him. The air between them was ten times tenser than it had been during the first days he had worked for the idol. The bit of progress they had made had vanished into thin air, all because of what had happened between them in the last 24 hours.
It made him feel even worse when they entered the mansion. The first thing they both saw was Reio’s worried expression.
“Jin, where were you? I’ve been trying to contact you two since last night… Did something happen? Matsumoto’s…”
“Can you just shut up for a second?” Jin yelled. “I’ve got a headache already.”
Reio stopped talking immediately, shock written all over his face. He looked to Kazuya questioningly, but the bodyguard refused to meet his eyes.
“I thought I heard your voice…” Kazuya’s body stiffened when he recognized the familiar voice; raising his head, he saw Nishikido walk inside the room.
“What are you doing here?” Jin asked; his glare matched Ryo’s perfectly.
“What am I doing here? What are you doing here at this hour? Where have you been?” Ryo’s eyes fell on Kazuya as he asked: “You too, Kamenashi.”
“That’s none of your business.” Jin said through gritted teeth; he then turned towards Reio. “You’re cancelling everything scheduled for today.”
“What? I can’t do that… You’re late for an interview already and…”
“I don’t care!” Jin snapped. “Cancel everything.”
With that, he left for his room, ignoring Ryo’s calls for him to stop and give them an explanation. They all heard the door to his room being shut loudly; it was a clear sign that Jin didn’t want to be bothered.
Kazuya felt even more uncomfortable as both Reio and Ryo’s eyes fell on him now.
“I think you’ve got some explaining to do then, Kamenashi.” Ryo told him.
Kazuya wished he could storm off and lock himself in his room as well. Instead of doing that though, he sighed and nodded.
“Just let me take a quick shower. I’ll meet you here in 15 minutes.”
~’~
To say that Ryo had blown up when hearing what had happened was an understatement. There have been quite a few yells involved, as well as threats of bringing someone else in Kazuya’s place, but in the end he managed to calm down. It had taken Kazuya many promises in order not to be thrown out of the house and left jobless for a while.
Kazuya wasn’t sure if it was for the best though… Other than randomly snapping at him, Jin wouldn’t say anything else or even look at him. They were back to square one, or actually worse.
And if Kazuya were to be honest with himself, it was quite frustrating. He hadn’t done anything wrong, after all… other than the fact that he had slept with Jin. Though that was wrong only when you looked from his point of view as a bodyguard. When he thought about Jin and what had happened overall… that was a whole different story.
He definitely couldn’t deny that Jin was good-looking. A true idol, good at dancing, acting and, most of all, singing. When you got to know him better, one seemed to discover both good and bad things, just like how it was for everyone. Under any other circumstances, Kazuya probably wouldn’t say no to something more.
These weren’t normal circumstances though. He had to do his job, nothing more, nothing less.
And, no matter how uncomfortable things were right now, he was doing that at the moment.
He and Yamashita were at a beach house Matsumoto had suggested renting for the celebration party for Jin’s CM being released. People more or less famous had filled the wide living room, glasses of wine in their hands and almost too perfect smiles on their faces. Half of them seemed a bit fake, Kazuya thought. It wasn’t his place to have a say about that though.
His place was to keep a close eye in case anyone turned out to be suspicious, as well as constantly check if Jin was in the room. Up until now though, everything had went well… or as well as it could go with Jin completely ignoring him.
“So, you’re the new bodyguard, aren’t you?” Kazuya heard a voice behind him. Turning around, he saw a tall, dark-haired man around his age, dressed in an elegant suit and with the typical glass of wine in his hand. He was completely unfamiliar to him.
“Yes, I am.” Kazuya replied; that was no secret to anyone, after all. “And you are?”
“Just a reporter…” the man replied, shrugging. “I doubt my name’s big enough to be that important. After all, you seem to set your eyes only on the big ones, Kamenashi.”
Kazuya was silent at that, only raising a questioning eyebrow that seemed to please the other. The man grinned before he continued:
“I heard you two didn’t return one night after going out at one of the clubs. Quite an interesting rumour, isn’t it?”
While initially taken aback by the other’s words, Kazuya quickly regained his composure and narrowed his eyes. This had been something he had been worried about, especially after having been reminded by Ryo that the press would go crazy if they found out the famous idol Akanishi was sleeping with his bodyguards.
“And just who are you talking with here, Kamenashi?” Jin’s familiar voice asked behind him; the idol stopped by his side and grabbed his glass of water - he wasn’t going to touch alcohol any time soon, especially not when on the job -, grimacing after taking a sip. “It’s… water…”
The reporter’s smirk widened a bit at that comment, offering his glass of wine to Jin. The idol took it, smiling back, and drank it all, closing his eyes happily when he was done.
“Now that’s much better…” Jin looked at the other man again. “And I don’t think I caught your name?”
“Hayami Mokomichi. Quite nice to finally meet you, Jin.”
“Hmmm…” Jin leaned a bit against Kazuya as he asked: “And what do you do? I don’t think I’ve heard your name around.”
As he replied, the tall man looked at Kazuya, as if daring him to say anything:
“Photographer.”
Kazuya was silent, glaring at the other, while Jin seemed pleased with the answer.
“Really? You have to tell me how good you are… Maybe I’ll be… interested.”
Kazuya didn’t really like the idea though, especially with the smile Jin had on his face. When he saw Jin walk closer to the other and put his hand on the other’s arm to lead him away, he called out:
“Jin, I don’t think that’s…”
“I don’t care what you think, Kamenashi.” Jin said, turning around to look briefly at the other. “I don’t pay you to think. So shut up and do your job.”
It felt like a punch in his face, and Kazuya had no choice but to stay behind and watch as Jin left with the other man. He only caught sight of Jin’s arm moving around the other’s waist before they were lost in the crowd of people.
“Kazuyaaaaa…”
The bodyguard was again surprised with someone leaning against him. This time, it was Reio, who seemed to be a bit drunk. It made Kazuya frown, as he didn’t remember seeing the other drunk before.
“Who was that guy Jin left with?” Reio asked, taking another sip from his glass.
“Nobody important…” Kazuya replied, trying to take the other’s glass, but Reio quickly moved away, looking somewhere in the direction where Jin and the so-called ‘photographer’ had left.
“Nobody…” Reio repeated, before he looked at Kazuya and gave his shoulder a few pats. “Well, have fun…”
With that, Reio got lost through the people around them, leaving a slightly surprised Kazuya behind. Shaking his head, he decided not to let it bother him and looked around to try and spot Jin.
He couldn’t see the other anywhere.
Inwardly cursing at himself for getting distracted, Kazuya looked for Yamashita, but decided that it would be useless to ask him whether he had seen Jin. He doubted that, not with the other bodyguard flirting with a lovely girl in a short, tight dress.
Walking around the room, he tried to find the idol, but it was all in vain. Frustrated, he wondered if he had left the room. Should he check the rest of the house?
Before that, he remembered there was one more guest bedroom, down the corridor leading to the living room. H wasn’t all that excited about checking, but at the same time, he couldn’t stop himself. He walked straight to the room and, without knocking or anything, he opened the door.
Kazuya remained expressionless as he saw both Jin’s and Mokomichi’s heads turn to look at him in surprise. Mokomichi was still on the bed while Jin, surprisingly, was away from it, trying to fix the buttons to his shirt.
They all stayed silent for a few seconds before Jin told the other:
“Kamenashi will show you the door.”
Mokomichi chuckled at that, which seemed to annoy Jin; the man’s eyes were narrowed as he stared at the other sitting on his bed.
Finally, the other got up from the bed and, smirking at Jin, said:
“I guess I’ll see you around then.”
With that, he left the room on his own. Kazuya followed him without looking back.
~’~
“Are you sure it’s her? A woman?” Kazuya asked while talking on the phone later that night, after the party had ended; he sounded surprised, even a bit doubtful.
“We were able to prove that some of the letters belonged to her.” Ryo replied from the other line. “She’s kind of… obsessed with Jin. A bit too much. We’re currently interrogating her, but hopefully this is it.”
“Just because she’s a bit too obsessed with Jin, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she wants him dead as well.” Kazuya argued.
“You never know… I just wanted to let you know anyway. I should get back now.” Ryo replied. “Everything’s alright there?”
“Pretty much, yeah…” Kazuya replied; he didn’t know whether the reporter was worth mentioning or not yet.
“Good, keep it that way… Talk more tomorrow.”
“Yeah, bye…” Kazuya replied as he hung up, sighing.
A woman? Could a woman be behind all this? Of course, there were chances, but…
The sound of glass breaking cut off his train of thoughts as he was suddenly alert, trying to figure out where it had come from. It seemed like it was from the kitchen.
Feeling a bit nervous, he slowly walked towards the kitchen, but relaxed as soon as he saw that it was just Reio. A very drunk Reio, sitting at the kitchen table and still drinking… The sound he had heard earlier had been made by an empty bottle of wine falling to the ground.
“Reio, you should go to bed.” Kazuya said, sighing as he walked forward and took the half-empty glass of wine from the younger Akanishi’s hand.
“Oh, it’s you…” Reio mumbled, looking up at Kazuya; he chuckled although he didn’t seem amused: “Guess what we got in the mail again.”
Kazuya’s eyes widened as he grabbed the piece of paper Reio was holding in his other hand. Quickly reading the threatening message, he thought of his earlier phone call with Ryo.
They had all arrived at the beach house that morning. Ryo had caught the suspect around that time as well. Could she have sent this in advance? Or maybe Ryo had indeed caught the wrong person?
“Who the hell is it…” Kazuya mumbled, mostly to himself.
“I’ve been wondering the same, you know.” Reio said. “I wish I could remember more…”
“Remember more of what?” Kazuya asked, his whole attention shifting to Reio.
The other’s silence only seemed to make Kazuya more uncomfortable about the whole situation. He walked in front of the other and shook him by the shoulders a bit.
“Reio, what do you mean? Do you know anything about this?”
“Do I…” Reio mumbled. “I don’t know… not enough, I guess.”
“Reio, try and make a bit of sense and tell me what’s going on!” Kazuya insisted.
“Isn’t it clear?” Reio said, looking straight into Kazuya’s eyes. “This guy’s after Jin… and he won’t stop until he’s dead… he got paid for it, after all.”
Kazuya was silent as he analyzed Reio’s words. He really didn’t want to get to the wrong conclusion, but…
“You paid someone to kill Jin?”
Reio was silent as he looked away. He tried to stretch his hand and grab the glass of wine again, but Kazuya was faster. He pushed it away, not caring that it rolled over the table and finally fell to the ground, breaking as well.
“Who did you pay, Reio? When? Where?” Reio was still silent so Kazuya shook him again, raising his voice as he insisted: “Tell me, Reio, damn it! Your brother’s in danger!”
“I know he is!” Reio almost yelled back at him as he pushed Kazuya away and got up on wobbly feet. “I know, damn it, because I paid someone in the bar to arrange this whole thing.”
“Who did you pay? What bar?” Kazuya asked, his hand going to his pocket; he had to call Ryo and tell him everything immediately.
“I don’t know… I don’t remember…” Reio replied, shaking his head. “I was drunk… so drunk… I thought it was just a dream… But then the letters started coming.”
Reio took a few steps back until he was stopped by a wall. There, he slid down on the floor, hiding his face in his hands. Kazuya simply stood still, watching him, waiting for more information.
“Those letters… they were like my thoughts… When I’m just sick of how he acts, and what I get to do…” Reio continued, looking up at Kazuya again. “We should’ve made it together you know. But it didn’t matter anymore. And what do I get? A manager-like job where I follow him around… And useless dreams that he’s living instead of me. Why him?”
A part of him wanted to punch Reio for everything. Still, that could wait. He probably had to call Ryo… But he stood still as he thought he heard something… as if someone was running outside. This could be bad…
“Reio…” Kazuya moved in front of the other, kneeling down and placing a hand on the other’s shoulder. “We’ll talk later… Just sit here. Don’t move…”
Reio looked more than confused and was about to say something when they heard the sound of glass breaking. It was louder than the previous ones, as if it belonged to a window. And it came from upstairs.
“Shit… Don’t move!” Kazuya told the other again as he got his gun out and ran upstairs. He went straight to Jin’s room, who seemed to be up, although still sleepy.
“Kamenashi… what’s going on…”
“Don’t talk!” Kazuya told him. Jin seemed to listen for once, probably because he could also see the other had his gun out.
He heard footsteps outside and he turned towards the door, ready to fire at whoever entered.
Akanishi actually yelled in surprise as the sound of the gunshot echoed in the room. He wasn’t the only one though. Yamashita was sitting in the doorway, eyes wide as the bullet had hit the wall next to him, too close to his head for comfort.
“Yamashita, what… Say something before you come in!” Kazuya told the other angrily; he had almost shot him.
“I… the window in my room… and this…” Yamashita didn’t seem to be able to communicate properly yet, looking almost as freaked out as Jin.
“Look, calm down, take your gun out and stay here. I’ll go downstairs. We’ve got a visitor, It seems.” Yamashita was still staring at him, so Kazuya yelled: “Yamashita, get your gun out, NOW!”
“Gun, it’s… in my room…” Yamashita said, running back to his room.
“W-what’s going on?” Jin asked him. Kazuya looked at him; he could see that the other was trying to be as calm as possible, although he looked like he was still quite frightened.
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep you safe. Just stay here…”
The sound of more glass breaking was heard from downstairs. Cursing, Kazuya remembered that Reio was still in the kitchen. He hurried to the door but stood frozen on the spot as they heard a gunshot from downstairs. Then the whole house was filled with silence.
After a few seconds, Kazuya walked outside, meeting with Yamashita, who nodded at him. Kazuya nodded back and then carefully walked downstairs, trying to make as little sound as possible.
By the time he walked into the kitchen, all he could find was Reio on the floor, bleeding. He had been shot in the chest.
~’~
The following week passed in a blur. Besides the burial of Akanishi Reio, there were tons of reporters everywhere, each trying to get an interview and more information about what had happened. Investigations had started all over again, seeing as their number 1 suspect proved to be nothing more than a fan - although a bit too obsessed with Jin, she posed no danger to the idol.
Jin had been more silent than ever, and completely out of anything happening around him ever since that night. Kazuya was glad that, for once, Matsumoto reduced Jin’s workload by quite a lot, allowing the idol some time to cope with the loss of his brother.
Kazuya wondered how much time he’d need as well.
Though nobody had blamed him, he still couldn’t help but blame himself a bit. If he had went back to the kitchen sooner, maybe he could have saved Jin’s brother. If he hadn’t left in the first place… If he had called for Yamashita…
Again, there was a continuous chain of ‘if’s that would make it hard for him to sleep at night. That was why, one night, Jin found him on the terrace of his mansion way after midnight, smoking.
“Mind if I join you?” Jin asked. When Kazuya shook his head in reply, Jin leaned against the railing, next to the other. “Can I also have a cigarette?”
“You smoke?” Kazuya asked, but still gave the pack and lighter to Jin.
“I used to… Matsumoto would kill me.” Jin said as he got himself a cigarette and lighted it. “I just need one now.”
“I won’t tell on you then.” Kazuya replied.
“Thanks…” Jin replied, smiling a bit, but it soon disappeared; after a while of silence, he asked: “He’ll come again, won’t he? That guy who… shot Reio.”
Kazuya stole a quick glance at Jin. He had hardly talked about Reio, barely mentioning anything even in interviews; Matsumoto had handled most of the talking.
“Not unless we catch him.” Kazuya replied. “We’re trying to… Ryo’s doing his best to make sure that the investigations will lead to someone.”
“Yeah…” Jin simply agreed.
“Look…” Kazuya said after a long period of silence, in which Jin had even finished his cigarette. “I’m sorry about… what happened…”
“You don’t need to apologize…” Jin replied, shaking his head; he sighed before he continued: “You’ve been hired to protect me, after all…”
“That doesn’t mean I couldn’t have done anything…”
“I know, I know, don’t get so worked up…” Jin cut him off again, looking at him. “I just want to say that… It’s not your fault. And… I don’t know, sorry, I guess. It took this much for the seriousness of the matter to hit me.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Kazuya told him, but Jin just shook his head again.
His eyes looked tired, not like how they usually were: excited, full of life. Kazuya simply couldn’t take his eyes off them, while listening to the other’s words.
“I did act like an ass a few times… And look where this got me.”
“It’s not your fault either…” Kazuya quickly said. “It just… happened…”
Jin didn’t really seem that convinced and, instead, asked for another cigarette, but Kazuya refused.
“One’s more than enough… It wouldn’t be good for you if you started smoking again.”
Jin couldn’t help but roll his eyes, despite the fact that he didn’t protest otherwise. He turned to look in front of him as he asked:
“You know about the press conference two days from now, right?”
“Yeah, Matsumoto told me about it.”
“And?”
“And what?” Kame repeated. “What do you want me to say?”
“Do you think it’s safe?” Jin asked.
“Not really… I tried talking to Matsumoto about it, but he said it was necessary, since you should leave for LA soon. And… I think it’s even riskier because of that.” Kazuya explained. “The guy who’s after you will want to take one of the last chances he can get and use it. But that’s why Ryo said he’ll tighten the security more than ever. And he’s also hoping he’ll catch him then.”
“I see…” Jin replied, biting his lip. “I guess we have to take the risk then… Especially if it means there’s a chance Ryo might catch the guy.”
“That means you’re risking your life, Jin.” Kazuya pointed out.
“I know…” Jin said, looking at the other. “But I’ve got Pi and you. You two will surely keep me safe. And Ryo will catch the crazy guy and he’ll get what he deserves for what happened to Reio.”
“But…”
“No buts.” Jin interrupted the chain of protests Kazuya was about to say. “You won’t let anything bad happen to me, right?”
He wouldn’t… He definitely wouldn’t. Looking at Jin now, Kazuya was sure of it. He would keep Jin safe no matter what.
“I won’t.” Kazuya replied.
Jin smiled a bit again. It seemed like he was leaning closer a bit. Or was it Kazuya who was moving?
“Then I’ll just have to trust you from now on. I really will.” Jin said.
Kazuya wasn’t sure who it was that had made the move, but they were kissing again. This time though, both were awake. And neither really wanted to part.
~’~
Everyone was running around like crazy, giving orders, carrying things, checking. It felt even more crowded with the security staff Ryo had added for Jin’s press conference confirming his US tour. Kazuya could barely breathe anymore; that must have had something to do with the fact that he was nervous. Even worried…
He was sure of himself, of what he could do. He wasn’t sure of what the person wanting to kill Jin could do though. How far he’d go… It made him feel restless like never before.
Especially since, he thought, it had to happen today. In two days, Akanishi would leave to America. He doubted the assassin would fly that far to trail Akanishi and kill him. He definitely wouldn’t… which meant that today, with all the press to witness it, he would try to kill the idol.
“Kamenashi!”
Kazuya blinked from his position in front of Jin’s room. In front of him he saw a frowning Yamashita.
“This is the third time I called you.” The other said.
“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention…” Kazuya mumbled.
“Clearly… Anyway, the press is inside, waiting for Jin.” Yamahsita told him. “Wanna check on them? Jin should go out in 5 minutes or so.”
“I guess it won’t hurt…” Kazuya nodded. “Just a bit.”
Yamashita nodded at him before he knocked to Jin’s door and poked his head inside. Jin turned around, nodding for him to come in.
“I’ll leave Yamashita with you while I go check the press one more time.” Kazuya said, walking to where Jin was seated.
The other nodded. He kept playing with a pen in his hands, though from where he had gotten it, Kazuya had no idea. It did show that Jin was more nervous than he actually wanted to show. That was why Kazuya didn’t hesitate when crouching down in front of the other and placing a hand over Jin’s to stop the other’s nervous behaviour and hopefully calm him down a bit.
“It’ll be ok. Trust me.” Kazuya said, before he quickly added: “And Yamashita too. He’s actually not that bad either.”
“Of course he isn’t… I wouldn’t have kept him by my side if he was.” Jin commented; taking a deep breath, he nodded.
“Good… Now relax, you’re not usually like this.” Kazuya aid, moving his hand to pat the other’s knee encouragingly before he got up. “I’ll see you out there.”
“Sure…” Jin replied.
With that, Kazuya left the room and, nodding to Yamashita, walked towards the room where the press conference was to be held.
At the other side of the room, he saw Ryo talking with a few men working under him. After a few seconds, Ryo spotted him as well. He sent him a grin, to which Kazuya only nodded back, and then looked around at the many faces
“The press conference will start in a few minutes.” someone in the front said, but Kazuya already knew that. He frowned, searching for anything suspicious, but couldn’t really see anything strange. Could they be exaggerating? What if the assassin had given up? There had been no letters since Reio was shot, but they still couldn’t be sure that Jin was safe.
“You still have the job, I see… Slept some more with Akanishi?” Kazuya heard someone ask behind him.
His eyes narrowed as he saw the guy from the party, the reporter. That was clearly a face he didn’t want to see here.
“You should watch what you’re saying. You can’t prove anything.” Kazuya said, trying to look for a name tag; he couldn’t remember the guy’s name no matter what.
“We’ll see what Akanishi’ll have to say about it.” The other said, smirking.
Kazuya’s eyes widened a bit but the other hurried away through rows of chairs. It was impossible for Kazuya to follow him unless he wanted to make a scene. He doubted Jin would like that though… and Matsumoto would probably kill him.
Wanting nothing more than to punch the guy, Kazuya walked backstage again. He wondered if he could get the man outside somehow. He didn’t remember the name but if he looked through the list of reporters present, he would recognize it. After asking around, he was able to get his hands on one just as Jin went out. He hurried to stand close to the small stage as he skimmed through the list. Yamashita was next to him, keeping an eye on the reporters.
As Jin started talking, Kazuya frowned; none of the names from the list were familiar. He looked at the reporters, trying to spot the familiar guy.
He looked away as he saw some movement in the back. Instinctively his hand flew to the gun in his jacket, but he relaxed. A staff member seemed to have brought an extra chair for a reporter in the back. Kazuya blinked, checking the list again. Weren’t there supposed to be 30 chairs for 30 reporters?
“Yamashita, count with me and tell me how many reporters there are in the room.” Kazuya asked the other, who looked confused but, fortunately, didn’t protest and did as he was asked.
“31.” Yamashita replied. “Why?”
“There should be 30… it’s written on the list as well.” Kazuya said; he was suddenly filled with dread at the realization that someone was there - someone who shouldn’t actually be there. How could anyone have missed this? How could he have missed this?
“What?” Yamashita said, checking the list as well. “Why is there another reporter?”
“That one reporter… might be our man.” Kazuya replied; it would make sense. But… who was it…
“What?” Yamashita exclaimed again, his eyes widening a bit.
“Now, are there any questions for Akanishi-san?” Nakamaru Yuichi, the MC, asked.
“Yes!” a voice was heard as a man raised his hand.
Kazuya watched as the same familiar guy got up and his body froze on the spot. Would he ask Jin about them? Kazuya tried to push that worry aside, he had more urgent matters to deal with for now.
“And you are?” Nakamaru asked; he didn’t seem to have noticed Jin’s expression changing.
“Hayami Mokomichi.” The guy said, smiling - that was what Kazuya was waiting for; he took the list again, checking the names… it couldn’t he him, but it could… “Oh, wait, my pen isn’t working.”
“He’s not on the list. Yamashita, he’s not on the list.” Kazuya said. The realization hit him hard, along with something close to panic. That was the man. He was there, in front of Jin.
Looking up, he saw the other man lean down to get something from his bag. His eyes widened as he threw the list away; he had to act fast.
“Stop him!” he yelled as he ran towards Jin, with everyone’s eyes on him. He could be wrong, but… he didn’t think he was. That was the guy, it had to be.
And it was. Mokomichi’s smile vanished from his face as he stood up again, a gun in his hand pointed at Jin. The sound of a gunshot went off just as he managed to push Jin on the ground, sheltering him with his body.
He heard screams around him, but he didn’t pay attention to them. Positioning himself in front of Jin, he looked frantically around the room, but it was hard to make out where the guy was now. Everyone was up, running around frightened, screaming. Kazuya cursed; where was the guy? He needed just one good angle…
And then he saw it… light reflecting in the same silver metal of the gun. The guy had managed to get closer… Kazuya would definitely kill Ryo and his stupid security… But he’d leave that for later.
Before he could give the other the chance to fire again, Kazuya raised his hand and, aiming, fired. He heard another shot being fired as well. He didn’t know which, or if both had hit the man, but he felt like sighing in relief when he saw him fall to the ground.
He moved to turn around and check on Jin, wincing as his right shoulder hurt at the sudden movement. Jin grabbed both his shoulders carefully to keep him in place; his eyes were wide as they were looking at Kazuya’s hurting shoulder.
“You… You got shot.” Jin said, moving to take Kazuya’s jacket off. Sure enough, the white shirt was already turning red around his right shoulder. “Shit… you’re bleeding.”
“It’s fine…” Kame mumbled, though now that the adrenaline was gone, his shoulder was really starting to hurt. He doubted it was anything bad, but… it hurt.
“It’s not fine!” Jin said, randomly folding Kazuya’s jacket and gently putting it against the wound on his shoulder to stop the bleeding; it made Kazuya wince. “Shit… Pi! Pi, where are you? Ryo?” Jin yelled. “Someone call an ambulance already.”
“It’s just a bullet…” Kazuya said, though winced again and closed his eyes because of the pain; for something so small, it definitely hurt like hell.
He heard more voices around him, with people fussing over his wound. He didn’t bother with them anymore though; his shoulder was hurting too much for him to deal with people. Leaning against Jin, he hoped someone would give him some painkillers soon.
~’~
Two days later, Kazuya was up and moving almost as usual. He only had to keep his right arm in a sling till the bullet wound healed, or else it would hurt him with constantly moving the arm. He could live with that for a week or so.
Now however, with the assassin dead and out of the way - Yamashita’s shot had been the better one; Kazuya blamed it on the shoulder -, Kazuya’s job had ended. Yamashita would still remain as Jin’s bodyguard, and fly with him to the States, while Kazuya would stay in Japan, waiting for another job.
That was the reason why Kazuya was currently at the airport, saying good-bye to everyone: Jin, Yamashita, Taguchi, even Matsumoto. After everything they had all been through, now they could part with a smile, and it made Kazuya feel happy.
He wasn’t sure about parting with Jin though… Where did they stand? Would they forget all about each other after this? Would they still keep in touch?
As if someone had read his mind, he was left alone with Jin, while Matsumoto and Yamashita were dragging a waving Taguchi away. Kazuya smiled and waved back before focusing his full attention on Jin.
“You should go soon too.” Kazuya told him as Jin didn’t say anything for a while.
“Yeah… but… thank you. For all that you did to me.” Jin told him.
“You don’t have to thank me. I just wish… I could’ve done more.” Kazuya said hesitantly, thinking about Reio.
“I guess….” Jin said, but shook his head and added: “Let’s not think about it. You’ve still done so much for me.”
“It’s alright, don’t worry about it.” Kazuya said, smiling. “I’m glad.”
“Well… yeah, that’s what I wanted to say.” Jin said, nodding. “I should probably go now. Be careful with that shoulder, let it heal properly.”
“I will.” Kazuya said.
“I’m serious. I’ll ask Ryo to check on you.” Jin added.
“I got it…” Kazuya nodded, smiling in amusement.
“Well then, take care…” Jin said, smiling again.
“You too.” Kazuya said, waving. The other waved back, taking a few steps backwards before finally turning around and walking off.
Kazuya stayed there for a while, watching Jin’s back until he lost sight of it through the crowd of people. He sighed, somehow wishing things had ended differently between them.
It probably couldn’t be helped…
With that, he turned around and finally walked towards the exit to the airport.
~’~
Three months later, one night, while watching TV, Kazuya heard his phone ringing, signaling that he had received a text. Curious, he walked to it and checked. The number was completely unfamiliar and, curiously, he opened it.
‘I had to take Ryo out for dinner at a very expensive restaurant in order for him to give me your number. You better pay me back somehow.
And… I’m back. Came back a few days ago, in case you missed the news.
And… I kind of missed your slightly annoying self.
You better text me back!! Or else Ryo’ll ask me to pay him a trip to LA in order to give me your address.
Jin’
Kazuya’s eyes were wide in surprise, not having expected anything from Jin, especially after such a long period of time. Once the shock disappeared, he walked to the couch, cellphone in his hand and smiling.
He had a text to reply to.