Kokana Romansu - Chapter 5
Title: Kokana Romansu.
Author: shou_ni
Pairing: SagaxShou, ToraxShou
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff, Smut-ish
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, just the story.
Summary: Shou wasn't exactly sure what to say or even what to think as the male blabbed on, walking further into his apartment.
Shou could feel Aoi's warm breath dancing across his neck, making every nerve stand to attention.
"I almost didn't recognize you for a moment" The raven haired man chucked. He tilted Shou's chin to look his deep in the eyes.
"Saga has really worked his magic on you hasn't he? You look like a real host now" He smirked "But the question is, do you have what it takes to become one?"
Shou's eyes glanced at Saga, who simply gave him a thumbs up.
"I.. I Don't know"
"Don't ever say that you don't know" Aoi snapped "Always reply with confidence. Even if you aren't sure of your abilities, always carry your self like you are"
Slowly Shou nodded, managing to suppress the heat that rose in his cheeks.
"I understand"
"Good boy" Aoi smiled, giving him a pat on the cheek. "No that we're on the same page. Here's your chance to show me what you got. You're first client will be arriving soon. But first Saga is going to show you around and introduce you to some of the other staff"
He dismissed them with a warm smile, giving him a reassuring "Good Luck" before they left the office.
It all felt somewhat surreal for Shou. Standing in this fancy looking venue in expensive clothes about to dive in at the deep end.
"You ready to meet some of the other guys?" Saga asked, giving his shoulder a squeeze. In all honesty he wasn't, all he wanted to do was run home and throw himself into his bed where nobody would find him, but of course he couldn't do that so he simply gave a small nod.
The first person he met was one of the bar tenders, Aki. He was open and friendly, laughing here and there which put Shou mildly at ease. At least he'd have someone to talk to if he needed help.
Then he was introduced to Hitsugi, a host for those wishing to see someone of a more alternative looking nature. With his spiked hair and array of piercings he emitted a kind of don't-fuck-with-me appearance, when infact he seemed sweet enough.
The next was a guy named Uruha. Shou observed how sickeningly good looking he was. Long honey colored locks that were neatly styled and fell in a wavy river over one eye. He conducted himself in a playful manner, flashing a cheeky smile every now and then.
Saga was called away for his first guest before he could be introduced to any one else. Leaving Shou at the bar on his own. He still felt like his nerves were running wild, but knowing that some of other hosts were friendly put him at ease.
"Can I help you there?" A voice behind him asked, causing him to flinch visibly. He spun around to see that familiar blond stood there with a polite smile.
"Are you waiting to be seated? May I ask who you're here to see and i'll check if they're free."
Shou shook his head with a nervous laugh.
"Oh no, I'm actually waiting for a guest. Saga's gonna call me over in a moment"
Hiroto stared at him with a confused frown for what seemed like forever. Shou could practically hear the cogs turning in the others head before he suddenly gasped, pointing a finger at him.
"Shit! You're that guy who was with Saga the other day!" he cried in disbelief "Fucking hell I didn't even recognize you there. You don't like like such a creeper now"
How flattering Shou thought.
"So .. what. Are you working here now?"
The taller gave him nod "Hopefully. I'm on a trail for the night. So if all goes well Aoi might offer me the job"
Hiroto grinned and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Well I hope you do get it, it'll be nice to see some new faces around here" He beamed.
"You make it sound like every one here is a bitch" Shou retorted making Hiroto shake his head with a laugh.
"There's only two people you need to be cautious of. There's Takeru, he's the the bar tender. He likes to play games with people and mess you around. But if you ignore him he'll stop. But then there's Ruki. He's number one here ad he'll do anything to make sure it stays that way. He won't even think twice about crushing you."
All of that ease that Shou had felt suddenly flew out of the window. That was surely the last thing he needed to worry about.
Before he could even reply, Saga sauntered over.
"Right darling. The lovely lady is all ready and waiting for you. Table Three, Aki will come over to you soon and take your orders" He said all too quickly, making Shou'd head near on spin as he was pushed towards the direction of the booth.
"Her name is Misako, she's 20 and works in a clothes shop in Shibuya. She's a regular here so treat her nicely" A few feet away from the booth, the two of them came to a stop. The brunette's hand soothing Shou's back.
"Knock 'em dead kiddo"
Upon first impression, Misako was very well presented. Long caramel hair pinned up in a fancy up-do. Eyes lined so perfectly, cheeks and lips a cute shade of pink and dressed in expensive clothing. She wore a pleasant smile and an air of poised femininity.
Very lovely.
If Shou hadn't been batting for the other team then he might have been deeply attracted to her.
Her voice was strong yet silky as she engaged him in conversation. She was alot more interesting that he had first thought she'd be and with the amount of drinks she'd ordered, she was alot richer than he'd anticipated.
"You seem very intelligent Shou-san" She smiled gently with a tilt of his head "Do you attend university or something?"
"I used to study, forensic science and human biology. Sadly I couldn't continue."
He found himself breathing a small sigh, He was still raw about being kicked out of his university only a few days prior. Saga had proved to distract him up until now, but thinking about it made him feel sick. The shame and the disappointment ever present.
"Well" She beamed, pulling him back into their conversation "It's best not to dwell on that kind of thing. You're best off looking towards the future and doing whatever you can to achieve happiness"
"You're absolutely right" He replied, clicking their glasses together with a small clink.
Misako eventually left, giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek. She was followed by a number of other guests, some female, some male. None of them as interesting as Misako but business was business.
All had been going well, He'd managed to loosen up somewhat, laughing lightheartedly and smiling his coy little smile. That was until the alcohol hit him. Sending his head in a spin and making his stomach churn.
Quickly excusing himself before darting towards the bathroom.
It was only as he knelt over the toilet bowl, violently throwing his guts up in a painful surge of gargles and chokes did he realize just how much he'd consumed.
He'd drank so fast that he hadn't even had the time for his body to get drunk.
Gradually his stomach began to let up, with one last spurt of vomit there was nothing left to churn up.
He slumped against the cubicle wall with a haggard breath, coughing the flem from this throat.
"Hey Uruha" A voice laughed, giving the cubicle door a knock "I thought you could handle your alcohol? You sound fucking awful".
Shou hadn't even realized that he wasn't alone, suddenly feeling alot more embarrassed and disgusting than he had previously. Shamefully he wiped his mouth on some toilet paper and flushed away the evidence before cracking the door open.
"Sorry" He blushed, shoving his hands under the tap.
"Don't be" The stranger chimed, leaning on the sink not too far away from him. "I haven't see you around here before. You new?"
"Kinda, I'm doing a trial night. depending on how I do tonight could mean I get the job" He said, brushing himself down with a sigh "Of course a fuck up like this on my first night isn't really going to help"
Shou looked at the other to find an appearance he wasn't expecting. He was rather short, wavy light brown hair and darkly lined eyes and soft facial features. Sporting an almost sparkly suit. Over all his appearance seemed rather unfitting in comparison to his deep voice.
He gave Shou a sympathetic smile "You haven't fucked up. I assure you that every one of us has been bent over that toilet bowl at one point or another." He reached into his bag, Popping two tablets into Shou's palm "Here take these, they'll help settle your stomach"
The pills were difficult to swallow, but Shou was grateful all the same.
"I'm sorry, I've been so rude. I haven't even introduced myself" The shorter laughed lightly offering out his hand "My name is Ruki"
Shou frowned, surely this wasn't the tyrant that Hiroto had described? He seemed far too nice to be the soul crushing mega bitch that everybody perceived him to be.
Regardless, Shou took his hand with a polite smile.
"Shou, I hope you'll excuse me but I really should be getting back to work" He said apologetically. Ruki merely nodded, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Well take it easy, I don't want you slumped against the toilet again. In fact, I'll have a word with Aki, tell him not to put much alcohol in your drink. So make sure you order something with mixer in it, no beers or anything. Take the glass with the green straw too, so you know which one is yours" He smiled "Good luck"
As promised, Ruki had sorted everything out at the bar with Aki, and Shou could finally concentrate on getting through his customers without slurring his words or feeling bile creep up his throat.
He wasn't doing to badly, each of the people that was sent to his table seemed to enjoy his company. By the end of his shift he felt alot better, confidence still swimming through his veins as Saga walked over to him.
"Hey you. How'd it go?" He asked, seating himself beside his flatemate.
"I kinda enjoyed it in a strange way" Shou laughed "I guess focusing on other people really helped me forget about my own problems"
Saga was pleased to hear it, He'd been worrying about him all night, getting distracted while with his clients. So to hear that Shou had been fine put him at ease.
"Right then, Let's go and see Aoi before we leave, I have no doubt that he needs to speak to you"
So there he was again, stood in the office infront of Aoi's desk, nerves racing around in his stomach. The dark haired manager leaned back in his chair casually.
"Nice work tonight Shou" He grinned "You've pulled quite a profit for your first night. I'm impressed."
Saga gave Shou a pat on the back, feeling almost as nervous as him at that point.
"I received feedback from the people you served tonight, and apart from one lady mentioning that you running off to the bathroom, everyone spoke very highly of you. So I am very pleased"
Aoi rose from his chair and made his way around the desk. Perching on the edge with crossed arms.
"Which is why, if you're happy with it, I'd like to offer you the job."
"Really?" Shou asked in disbelief "Are you sure?"
"Of course. Your next shift will be tomorrow evening. If you could come in early then we can go over everything then."
Shou couldn't believe it, he'd actually managed to get the job. A huge smile crept onto his face as he shook Aoi's hand.
"Thank you so much, I promise I won't let you down"
"I'm sure you won't"
Saga jumped forward wrapped his arms around the manager, squeezing him impossibly tight.
"You really are the best Aoi. You won't regret this one bit" He cheered "I really owe you one"
The raven haired smirked, giving Saga an amused look.
"What I don't understand is why you are freaking out about not being able to afford rent. I mean, it's not exactly like you're strapped for cash. With your line of work... surely you're rolling in it, you're one of the more expensive escorts"
"Aoi!" Saga snapped, fists curling into tight balls "We've talked about this. You know why"
"Okay, clam down" Aoi said, throwing his hands up in exasperation "I won't bring it up again."
With an exchanged goodbye, Saga and Shou were on their way home.
Aoi's words had been playing on Shou's mind. He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else, resulting in a few embarrassing lamp post related injuries on the way back to the apartment. Aoi had a point, and the way Saga snapped at him... It was all to suspicious.
By the time they closed the front door his curiosity was ripping him to pieces.
"Saga" He finally said, kicking his shoes off in the genkan "What was Aoi talking about before?"
No point in beating around the bush, he thought.
The younger stiffened, turning to Shou with a groan.
"I don't want to talk about it" He said bluntly, but Shou wasn't having that. He grabbed the brunette's wrist, preventing him from escaping and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Well I do. You pushed me around all week, made me get this job. Going along with it and making me think that we'd not be able to afford to pay the rent when infact you're a high-roller. I think you owe me a fucking explanation" He hissed. Maybe he was being a bit harsher than needed, but he'd had a long day, he'd been sick and he was fucking tired so he was going to use the mega bitch card if he had to.
Saga heaved a sigh and plopped himself down on the couch. "Can I at least have a stiff drink first?"
Nodding, Shou went into the kitchen and retrieved a half drank bottle of Jack and a glass. Placing it on the table as he knelt opposite his flatmate.
"Well?" He questioned, filling the glass for the other. Waiting for any sign of life within those dark eyes.
"If I tell you, you better not get all weird about it, okay?"
"Okay"
He took a swig of Jack and leaned back against the soft couch cushions. "Long story short, this shit all started when I was sixteen. My dad started gambling at the local pachinko place, nothing serious but he'd go every night. Sometimes he'd win.. Sometimes he'd lose. But then he got a taste for it, became addicted to the thrill. So he went in search of something bigger, ended up in some pretty swanky casinos." He crossed a leg over the other, glancing at his auburn counterpart for a second before sighing again.
"We ended up getting into a shit-tonne of debt. 20 million yen to be more specific. Even then he wouldn't stop. Then one day when I was seventeen, I came home from school to find that some Yakuza had come and ransacked our house. A few days later Dad took off. Leaving us with all the debts without a single note or message. That bastard.
More and more people kept coming to our house, demanding money that we just didn't have. The stress was making my Mother so I'll that eventually she just collapsed, so on top of that we had hospital bills. She had to quit work so we didn't have any money at all, which left me and my younger brother trying to earn as much as we could working at cafes and convenience stores but it was useless.
In the end I dropped out of school and started selling my body to raise the money."
"Did your Mother know about that?" Shou asked, wide eyed with shock. Leaning forward ever so slightly as if he was watching the most gripping drama.
"Yeah, She protested at first but we really had no other choice. I struck a deal with one of the guys who we owed money to. They would stay away from my home and my family, and I would pay them seventy percent of my wage every month."
A frown knitted itself upon Shou's brows. He thought over Saga's words deeply.
"Well, I can help you out" He cried, all too enthusiastically "If it'll help get you out of debt faster then I'm willing to split my paycheck with you"
"No, defiantly not" Saga protested, knocking back the rest of his whiskey in one gulp "It's my Father's mess. It's bad enough that he pulled my family into this, but there's no way I'm letting you get dragged into it aswell. I'll deal with it myself. Besides, I don't have all that much to pay back now, so thank you for the offer, but I won't take a single yen from you"
Shou tried to object but Saga wouldn't hear of it so in the end, Shou dropped it. Finally granting Saga's wishes not to talk about it anymore.
"Go to bed now Shou" He said, lifting himself off the couch with a stretch. "You look exhausted"
As much as he wanted to argue, and stay up a bit later. The elder could only nod. He felt like the living dead and was pretty sure he more or less looked like shit. It had been one hell of a long day and he could practically hear his bed serenading him from his room, enticing him into it's seductively comfortable embrace.
"Go on honey, It's past your bed time. Don't make me go and put ice cubes down the back of your shirt again, we both remember how you reacted to that"
Shou scoffed "What? By punching you in the nose?"
"Exactly. You have a killer right hook y'know?" The brunette laughed ruffling Shou's hair as the other tiredly got to his feet, padding along to his bedroom door.
"Shou" He paused, chewing on his bottom lip "I'm really proud of you for today. You did good"
"Thank you" Shou smiled softly before finally turning into his room "Good night"
Saga sighed, resting his head on the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling. "Good night Shou..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Authors Notes- Finally managed to update this omg. It's been a month since the last chapter, sorry about the wait.
ANYWAY, Shou got the job *celebrates* and we learn a little bit more about Saga's past. Poor guy has had it tough, but he keeps on smiling.. how lovely.
Thank you all for being patient for this chapter. I hope it's not a disappointment.
As always, comments are love and motivation.
Author: shou_ni
Pairing: SagaxShou, ToraxShou
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Romance, Angst, Fluff, Smut-ish
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, just the story.
Summary: Shou wasn't exactly sure what to say or even what to think as the male blabbed on, walking further into his apartment.
Shou could feel Aoi's warm breath dancing across his neck, making every nerve stand to attention.
"I almost didn't recognize you for a moment" The raven haired man chucked. He tilted Shou's chin to look his deep in the eyes.
"Saga has really worked his magic on you hasn't he? You look like a real host now" He smirked "But the question is, do you have what it takes to become one?"
Shou's eyes glanced at Saga, who simply gave him a thumbs up.
"I.. I Don't know"
"Don't ever say that you don't know" Aoi snapped "Always reply with confidence. Even if you aren't sure of your abilities, always carry your self like you are"
Slowly Shou nodded, managing to suppress the heat that rose in his cheeks.
"I understand"
"Good boy" Aoi smiled, giving him a pat on the cheek. "No that we're on the same page. Here's your chance to show me what you got. You're first client will be arriving soon. But first Saga is going to show you around and introduce you to some of the other staff"
He dismissed them with a warm smile, giving him a reassuring "Good Luck" before they left the office.
It all felt somewhat surreal for Shou. Standing in this fancy looking venue in expensive clothes about to dive in at the deep end.
"You ready to meet some of the other guys?" Saga asked, giving his shoulder a squeeze. In all honesty he wasn't, all he wanted to do was run home and throw himself into his bed where nobody would find him, but of course he couldn't do that so he simply gave a small nod.
The first person he met was one of the bar tenders, Aki. He was open and friendly, laughing here and there which put Shou mildly at ease. At least he'd have someone to talk to if he needed help.
Then he was introduced to Hitsugi, a host for those wishing to see someone of a more alternative looking nature. With his spiked hair and array of piercings he emitted a kind of don't-fuck-with-me appearance, when infact he seemed sweet enough.
The next was a guy named Uruha. Shou observed how sickeningly good looking he was. Long honey colored locks that were neatly styled and fell in a wavy river over one eye. He conducted himself in a playful manner, flashing a cheeky smile every now and then.
Saga was called away for his first guest before he could be introduced to any one else. Leaving Shou at the bar on his own. He still felt like his nerves were running wild, but knowing that some of other hosts were friendly put him at ease.
"Can I help you there?" A voice behind him asked, causing him to flinch visibly. He spun around to see that familiar blond stood there with a polite smile.
"Are you waiting to be seated? May I ask who you're here to see and i'll check if they're free."
Shou shook his head with a nervous laugh.
"Oh no, I'm actually waiting for a guest. Saga's gonna call me over in a moment"
Hiroto stared at him with a confused frown for what seemed like forever. Shou could practically hear the cogs turning in the others head before he suddenly gasped, pointing a finger at him.
"Shit! You're that guy who was with Saga the other day!" he cried in disbelief "Fucking hell I didn't even recognize you there. You don't like like such a creeper now"
How flattering Shou thought.
"So .. what. Are you working here now?"
The taller gave him nod "Hopefully. I'm on a trail for the night. So if all goes well Aoi might offer me the job"
Hiroto grinned and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Well I hope you do get it, it'll be nice to see some new faces around here" He beamed.
"You make it sound like every one here is a bitch" Shou retorted making Hiroto shake his head with a laugh.
"There's only two people you need to be cautious of. There's Takeru, he's the the bar tender. He likes to play games with people and mess you around. But if you ignore him he'll stop. But then there's Ruki. He's number one here ad he'll do anything to make sure it stays that way. He won't even think twice about crushing you."
All of that ease that Shou had felt suddenly flew out of the window. That was surely the last thing he needed to worry about.
Before he could even reply, Saga sauntered over.
"Right darling. The lovely lady is all ready and waiting for you. Table Three, Aki will come over to you soon and take your orders" He said all too quickly, making Shou'd head near on spin as he was pushed towards the direction of the booth.
"Her name is Misako, she's 20 and works in a clothes shop in Shibuya. She's a regular here so treat her nicely" A few feet away from the booth, the two of them came to a stop. The brunette's hand soothing Shou's back.
"Knock 'em dead kiddo"
Upon first impression, Misako was very well presented. Long caramel hair pinned up in a fancy up-do. Eyes lined so perfectly, cheeks and lips a cute shade of pink and dressed in expensive clothing. She wore a pleasant smile and an air of poised femininity.
Very lovely.
If Shou hadn't been batting for the other team then he might have been deeply attracted to her.
Her voice was strong yet silky as she engaged him in conversation. She was alot more interesting that he had first thought she'd be and with the amount of drinks she'd ordered, she was alot richer than he'd anticipated.
"You seem very intelligent Shou-san" She smiled gently with a tilt of his head "Do you attend university or something?"
"I used to study, forensic science and human biology. Sadly I couldn't continue."
He found himself breathing a small sigh, He was still raw about being kicked out of his university only a few days prior. Saga had proved to distract him up until now, but thinking about it made him feel sick. The shame and the disappointment ever present.
"Well" She beamed, pulling him back into their conversation "It's best not to dwell on that kind of thing. You're best off looking towards the future and doing whatever you can to achieve happiness"
"You're absolutely right" He replied, clicking their glasses together with a small clink.
Misako eventually left, giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek. She was followed by a number of other guests, some female, some male. None of them as interesting as Misako but business was business.
All had been going well, He'd managed to loosen up somewhat, laughing lightheartedly and smiling his coy little smile. That was until the alcohol hit him. Sending his head in a spin and making his stomach churn.
Quickly excusing himself before darting towards the bathroom.
It was only as he knelt over the toilet bowl, violently throwing his guts up in a painful surge of gargles and chokes did he realize just how much he'd consumed.
He'd drank so fast that he hadn't even had the time for his body to get drunk.
Gradually his stomach began to let up, with one last spurt of vomit there was nothing left to churn up.
He slumped against the cubicle wall with a haggard breath, coughing the flem from this throat.
"Hey Uruha" A voice laughed, giving the cubicle door a knock "I thought you could handle your alcohol? You sound fucking awful".
Shou hadn't even realized that he wasn't alone, suddenly feeling alot more embarrassed and disgusting than he had previously. Shamefully he wiped his mouth on some toilet paper and flushed away the evidence before cracking the door open.
"Sorry" He blushed, shoving his hands under the tap.
"Don't be" The stranger chimed, leaning on the sink not too far away from him. "I haven't see you around here before. You new?"
"Kinda, I'm doing a trial night. depending on how I do tonight could mean I get the job" He said, brushing himself down with a sigh "Of course a fuck up like this on my first night isn't really going to help"
Shou looked at the other to find an appearance he wasn't expecting. He was rather short, wavy light brown hair and darkly lined eyes and soft facial features. Sporting an almost sparkly suit. Over all his appearance seemed rather unfitting in comparison to his deep voice.
He gave Shou a sympathetic smile "You haven't fucked up. I assure you that every one of us has been bent over that toilet bowl at one point or another." He reached into his bag, Popping two tablets into Shou's palm "Here take these, they'll help settle your stomach"
The pills were difficult to swallow, but Shou was grateful all the same.
"I'm sorry, I've been so rude. I haven't even introduced myself" The shorter laughed lightly offering out his hand "My name is Ruki"
Shou frowned, surely this wasn't the tyrant that Hiroto had described? He seemed far too nice to be the soul crushing mega bitch that everybody perceived him to be.
Regardless, Shou took his hand with a polite smile.
"Shou, I hope you'll excuse me but I really should be getting back to work" He said apologetically. Ruki merely nodded, giving him a pat on the shoulder.
"Well take it easy, I don't want you slumped against the toilet again. In fact, I'll have a word with Aki, tell him not to put much alcohol in your drink. So make sure you order something with mixer in it, no beers or anything. Take the glass with the green straw too, so you know which one is yours" He smiled "Good luck"
As promised, Ruki had sorted everything out at the bar with Aki, and Shou could finally concentrate on getting through his customers without slurring his words or feeling bile creep up his throat.
He wasn't doing to badly, each of the people that was sent to his table seemed to enjoy his company. By the end of his shift he felt alot better, confidence still swimming through his veins as Saga walked over to him.
"Hey you. How'd it go?" He asked, seating himself beside his flatemate.
"I kinda enjoyed it in a strange way" Shou laughed "I guess focusing on other people really helped me forget about my own problems"
Saga was pleased to hear it, He'd been worrying about him all night, getting distracted while with his clients. So to hear that Shou had been fine put him at ease.
"Right then, Let's go and see Aoi before we leave, I have no doubt that he needs to speak to you"
So there he was again, stood in the office infront of Aoi's desk, nerves racing around in his stomach. The dark haired manager leaned back in his chair casually.
"Nice work tonight Shou" He grinned "You've pulled quite a profit for your first night. I'm impressed."
Saga gave Shou a pat on the back, feeling almost as nervous as him at that point.
"I received feedback from the people you served tonight, and apart from one lady mentioning that you running off to the bathroom, everyone spoke very highly of you. So I am very pleased"
Aoi rose from his chair and made his way around the desk. Perching on the edge with crossed arms.
"Which is why, if you're happy with it, I'd like to offer you the job."
"Really?" Shou asked in disbelief "Are you sure?"
"Of course. Your next shift will be tomorrow evening. If you could come in early then we can go over everything then."
Shou couldn't believe it, he'd actually managed to get the job. A huge smile crept onto his face as he shook Aoi's hand.
"Thank you so much, I promise I won't let you down"
"I'm sure you won't"
Saga jumped forward wrapped his arms around the manager, squeezing him impossibly tight.
"You really are the best Aoi. You won't regret this one bit" He cheered "I really owe you one"
The raven haired smirked, giving Saga an amused look.
"What I don't understand is why you are freaking out about not being able to afford rent. I mean, it's not exactly like you're strapped for cash. With your line of work... surely you're rolling in it, you're one of the more expensive escorts"
"Aoi!" Saga snapped, fists curling into tight balls "We've talked about this. You know why"
"Okay, clam down" Aoi said, throwing his hands up in exasperation "I won't bring it up again."
With an exchanged goodbye, Saga and Shou were on their way home.
Aoi's words had been playing on Shou's mind. He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything else, resulting in a few embarrassing lamp post related injuries on the way back to the apartment. Aoi had a point, and the way Saga snapped at him... It was all to suspicious.
By the time they closed the front door his curiosity was ripping him to pieces.
"Saga" He finally said, kicking his shoes off in the genkan "What was Aoi talking about before?"
No point in beating around the bush, he thought.
The younger stiffened, turning to Shou with a groan.
"I don't want to talk about it" He said bluntly, but Shou wasn't having that. He grabbed the brunette's wrist, preventing him from escaping and looked him dead in the eyes.
"Well I do. You pushed me around all week, made me get this job. Going along with it and making me think that we'd not be able to afford to pay the rent when infact you're a high-roller. I think you owe me a fucking explanation" He hissed. Maybe he was being a bit harsher than needed, but he'd had a long day, he'd been sick and he was fucking tired so he was going to use the mega bitch card if he had to.
Saga heaved a sigh and plopped himself down on the couch. "Can I at least have a stiff drink first?"
Nodding, Shou went into the kitchen and retrieved a half drank bottle of Jack and a glass. Placing it on the table as he knelt opposite his flatmate.
"Well?" He questioned, filling the glass for the other. Waiting for any sign of life within those dark eyes.
"If I tell you, you better not get all weird about it, okay?"
"Okay"
He took a swig of Jack and leaned back against the soft couch cushions. "Long story short, this shit all started when I was sixteen. My dad started gambling at the local pachinko place, nothing serious but he'd go every night. Sometimes he'd win.. Sometimes he'd lose. But then he got a taste for it, became addicted to the thrill. So he went in search of something bigger, ended up in some pretty swanky casinos." He crossed a leg over the other, glancing at his auburn counterpart for a second before sighing again.
"We ended up getting into a shit-tonne of debt. 20 million yen to be more specific. Even then he wouldn't stop. Then one day when I was seventeen, I came home from school to find that some Yakuza had come and ransacked our house. A few days later Dad took off. Leaving us with all the debts without a single note or message. That bastard.
More and more people kept coming to our house, demanding money that we just didn't have. The stress was making my Mother so I'll that eventually she just collapsed, so on top of that we had hospital bills. She had to quit work so we didn't have any money at all, which left me and my younger brother trying to earn as much as we could working at cafes and convenience stores but it was useless.
In the end I dropped out of school and started selling my body to raise the money."
"Did your Mother know about that?" Shou asked, wide eyed with shock. Leaning forward ever so slightly as if he was watching the most gripping drama.
"Yeah, She protested at first but we really had no other choice. I struck a deal with one of the guys who we owed money to. They would stay away from my home and my family, and I would pay them seventy percent of my wage every month."
A frown knitted itself upon Shou's brows. He thought over Saga's words deeply.
"Well, I can help you out" He cried, all too enthusiastically "If it'll help get you out of debt faster then I'm willing to split my paycheck with you"
"No, defiantly not" Saga protested, knocking back the rest of his whiskey in one gulp "It's my Father's mess. It's bad enough that he pulled my family into this, but there's no way I'm letting you get dragged into it aswell. I'll deal with it myself. Besides, I don't have all that much to pay back now, so thank you for the offer, but I won't take a single yen from you"
Shou tried to object but Saga wouldn't hear of it so in the end, Shou dropped it. Finally granting Saga's wishes not to talk about it anymore.
"Go to bed now Shou" He said, lifting himself off the couch with a stretch. "You look exhausted"
As much as he wanted to argue, and stay up a bit later. The elder could only nod. He felt like the living dead and was pretty sure he more or less looked like shit. It had been one hell of a long day and he could practically hear his bed serenading him from his room, enticing him into it's seductively comfortable embrace.
"Go on honey, It's past your bed time. Don't make me go and put ice cubes down the back of your shirt again, we both remember how you reacted to that"
Shou scoffed "What? By punching you in the nose?"
"Exactly. You have a killer right hook y'know?" The brunette laughed ruffling Shou's hair as the other tiredly got to his feet, padding along to his bedroom door.
"Shou" He paused, chewing on his bottom lip "I'm really proud of you for today. You did good"
"Thank you" Shou smiled softly before finally turning into his room "Good night"
Saga sighed, resting his head on the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling. "Good night Shou..."
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Authors Notes- Finally managed to update this omg. It's been a month since the last chapter, sorry about the wait.
ANYWAY, Shou got the job *celebrates* and we learn a little bit more about Saga's past. Poor guy has had it tough, but he keeps on smiling.. how lovely.
Thank you all for being patient for this chapter. I hope it's not a disappointment.
As always, comments are love and motivation.