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Jade Chapter 4
Title: Jade: Chapter 4 (of 17)
Pairing: Akame. RyoxJin as brothers (not as a pairing). Various other characters.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, crime, romance
Multi-chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own them or anything else JE-related. But the story is mine of course^^
Summary: Tokyo, 1981: A young bride disappears, leaving no trace but an old necklace out of jade. No one has seen her, no one knows who she is. The woman that never existed.
Tokyo, 2011: Jin, a talented photographer, is known for his sixth sense when it’s about photos and other person’s emotions. When he gets the offer to work with Tokyo’s Criminal Investigation Department, he moves to Tokyo, together with his 16-year-old brother.
There he starts to work together with the skilled, but eccentric young detective Kamenashi Kazuya.They are part of the department for Cold Cases, where forgotten and never solved cases are investigated again. Despite their first rather bad impression of each other, they soon learn that their skills complement each other almost perfectly.
The case they are working on seems mysterious, but harmless: Jade, the woman that had been erased from everyone's memory. But soon Jin and Kame realize that with this case they are awakening a sleeping lion, bringing themselves and everyone they love and care for into danger. They suddenly fall into a network of intrigues, murders and threats. On top of that they are both hiding something from each other and from everyone else... something no one is supposed to know...
The woman’s fingers were gliding over the cold stone. She was holding her necklace in her hands, looking down at it. She had always loved jade. It was her favourite and when she had received this present, she had been overly happy.
Now she felt sick when she looked at the jade stone of the necklace.
Why she let it drop to the ground this evening, she didn’t know herself. But maybe she wanted to set a sign. That she didn’t want to disappear completely…
“My Dad is working for the newspaper.” Erika explained proudly. “He is an important person here.”
“I’m sure he is.” Jin agreed.
“I heard him talking to Mom and my older brother yesterday. That two guys will come here… and that they want to ask him things about the bride. The ghost in the wedding dress…”
“So creepy…” Shinji winced. “I heard my parents talking about her too.
“So your father knows here?” Jin asked, pretending to be not all that interested in the bride, but more in Erika’s family.
Erika shook her head. “No, not really. He just saw here when she passed the city.”
“Ah, she disappeared somewhere here, right?” Jin mock-mused.
Kame stayed silent, for once letting Jin do his work here. Jin wasn’t exactly skilled with interrogations, but he knew how to handle people. And people liked him. This here was the third proof he got today. The first were the waitresses at the café. Kame hadn’t felt that it was something special back then, but when Jin also joked with the old man… and now with the kids… he felt that it was a gift. People trusted Jin, though he was dorky, though he said inconsiderate things, though he was not serious at all… but apparently there was something about him that drew people to him. They wanted to be close to him. Hence Kame stayed out of Jin’s talk with the children. This case was important and the kids accepted Jin as one of them, so it was wiser to let him handle this.
“Not really.” Erika mused. “Right Yuki? They said something like that… that she didn’t really disappear.”
Jin blinked at that, working hard to cover his shocked expression, while Kame had to suppress many other feelings. “So what happened then?”
“She drove away.” Erika explained.
“What?” Jin asked silently.
“Well, Dad doesn’t know for sure. But some people here saw it… that she went into the park and after half an hour a car dropped by. It stopped right next to the park, next to the wall there. There is a small path, you know. There was the sound of a door and a woman’s voice. And then the car drove away again.”
Jin stayed quiet, trying to grasp all the information. “Do you know what kind of car it was?” he pressed out.
Unfortunately Erika shook her head, but Shinji beamed out of a sudden. “My Dad told me that the care was really cool! He loves cars, you know. And I love them too.” he sounded proud. “I know lots of things about cars.”
“Really?” Jin sounded impressed. “I don’t know anything at all about cars… So maybe you could help me Shinji-kun?”
“Sure.” He smiled brightly. “It was a huge, black car. Okay, nothing spectacular right? But it was shot-proof. And apparently a really rare model. And it had a diplomatic license plate.”
Kame took this information in for a moment, his head spinning. 30 years ago… a shot-proof car. A diplomatic license plate. So it was a political case? This was an unbelievable clue they got here.
Jin beamed as well. “Wow, gorgeous Shinji-kun. Keep up the good work!” He looked at Erika and Yuki again. “So, how’s the place your father works at?” He sounded totally casual. Secretly Kame thought he would be really good as an undercover CIA agent or a spy. He tilted his head. Was Jin really trustworthy? With these gifts he could easily manipulate people for sure. Would he also manipulate Kame?
“I’m sure it’s a really amazing place.”
Yuki smiled proudly. “It is really important! They were the only ones who took a picture of the ghost-woman back then. My father wasn’t part of them yet, but my grandfather was. He was their chief back then and it was one of his co-workers and friends who took the photo.” He sounded impressed himself. “But he isn’t working there anymore.”
“Ah, he is not?” Jin asked, sounding reluctant. “I would have loved to meet a guy like him.”
“Oh.” Erika beamed. “He is a teacher at the Tokyo University at the moment. I’m sure you can meet him!”
“And your father?” Jin asked in interest.
“Oh, he has some free days now and drove away with my older brother.”
Kame frowned. Of course. The man was hiding.
“Such a pity…” Jin sighed.
“Yes.” Erika nodded her head. “So he isn’t at his office. It’s just Aya-san there…”
Jin blinked. “Aya-san?”
“Yes, she is working there. She is new, but so sweet. And she is not that old yet!” Erika explained.
Kame’s eyes beamed out of a sudden. He looked at Jin, thinking of his talent to allure and manipulate people…especially women. And if this Aya-san was alone right now, maybe they would have a chance. He looked at Jin piercingly, forming the words ‘name’ with his lips. To his relief Jin caught up immediately, because he smiled brightly. “Thanks so much, you three. It was fun with you! By the way, what’s your full name Erika-chan?” he asked. “I can’t call you Erika-chan all the time, right? After all you did for me.”
Erika giggled a bit. “Yamamoto. Yamamoto Erika.” She took Jin’s hand proudly, shaking it. “It was nice to meet you too! Drop by again, okay?”
“Sure.” Jin promised, twinkling towards the boys, before he got up to walk away with Kame.
They both stayed quiet for a moment, until Kame broke the silence. “Wow…” he mumbled.
“Yes.” Jin admitted silently. “This is getting really huge.”
“Yes.” Kame frowned. “We have to be careful.” he mumbled. “It sounds like a case either the Yakuza is involved with, or worse…”
When Kame didn’t continue, Jin blinked. “What’s worse?”
“Politics.” Kame explained, trembling a bit.
Jin frowned, inspecting Kame closely. Here it was again, the same weird atmosphere Kame had earlier that day. What was going on with this guy? He sighed, shoving these thoughts aside for now. Maybe Kame was just too overwhelmed by their progress. “So, I should flirt with Aya-san, right?”
“Exactly.” Kame grinned. “I think you’ll get the list with the photographer’s name soon…”
“And then?”
Kame smiled. “Then we’ll search for Professor Yamamoto of the Tokyo University. And we’ll try to track down the car.” He paused. “Jin-kun…”
“Yes.”
“We should be careful from now on.” Kame shifted around a bit, his eyes scanning the area. “This case doesn’t seem to be a light one. Let’s watch our steps, alright?”
“Okay.” Jin nodded his head. “I’ll be careful.”
******
Ryo was actually surprised when the strange boy called Uchi had the same way home. He hadn’t even recognized him before. Ryo sighed a bit, wondering if he should catch up with the weird, tall boy, or leave it. Well the boy seemed to be so lost and he definitely moved something inside Ryo, something like a protective side of him.
Ryo frowned when Uchi suddenly paused, tensing up obviously when a bunch of guys approached him. For a moment Ryo thought they were his friends and Uchi was just surprised by there sudden appearance, the more shocked he was when one of the boys started to tug at Uchi’s arm, obviously forcing him to do something he didn’t want to.
Ryo frowned first, before his eyes went wide. Was this kid being bullied? Couldn’t be… This was one of the most prestigious high schools! It was impossible that such mean guys were around. But still, the scared look in Uchi’s eyes told him that apparently he was in troubles.
Ryo bit his lips nervously, pretty much aware of the fact that he was not strong enough to go against these guys, but apparently he was lucky. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Yuu walking into his direction, with this other guy… Ueda-kun.
“Hey Ryo.” Yuu waved a bit when he walked towards Ryo. “Tatsuya and I went shopping for tonight’s dinner. Did you know that Tatsuya is also working as a cook occasionally. Really…what a strange guy” Yuu smiled brightly at Ryo, but then he blinked. “Everything alright?”
Ryo pointed at Uchi and the guys, not even explaining anything, because Yuu caught up immediately. The latter frowned deeply, his eyes getting darker than before. “Can’t be.” he mumbled. “Wait here…”
Ryo shifted around a bit, his eyes widening when he saw how Yuu approached the guys and pulled Uchi away from them. “Let him go!” he hissed.
Later on Ryo didn’t even know how it happened or what was going on. He just knew that one of the guys hit Yuu out of a sudden. And then Uchi was in the middle of the fight too. And Ueda joined them… and Ryo too.
******
“This was good.” Kame laughed heartedly. “You were brilliant. Honestly, I had my doubts first, but when you started to compliment her hair and her shoes…”
Jin grinned a bit. “That’s the trick. Never let a girl feel that you actually just want to get her into bed. A compliment has to be decent, not too straight-forward. ‘Your eyes are like the stars, sparkling at the night sky’ won’t do it anymore.”
Kame grinned. “Good that it was you who flirted with her. I would have come up with the star-pick up line.” He smiled brightly, his eyes scanning the paper with the photographers’ names proudly.
Jin put his drink aside, stretching a bit. “We’ll work on that tomorrow, right?” He smiled at the other one. Kame was suddenly so out-going and actually even fun, so that it really surprised Jin. He tilted his head a bit, checking Kame’s face carefully. He was pretty, definitely, and apparently he was also quite smart. He had thought that he was a total douche, but somehow… he was almost cute at the moment.
Kame nodded his head. “I’ll go through it tonight. And I’ll call Yamamoto-sensei. Let’s see what he has to tell us.”
Jin grinned. “Wait… you want to work tonight? Secretly, while I am at home?”
Kame blushed a bit. “Well, I want to prepare everything.”
Jin laughed heartedly. “Oh, Kame-kun… how about having some fun once in a while?”
Kame blinked when Jin used this nickname out of a sudden, but he couldn’t bring himself to say something against it. He could merely smile at Jin and try not to look too embarrassed. “Fun?”
“Yes.” Jin smiled brightly. “Why don’t you come to my place for dinner? You don’t even know my brother yet, do you? You should meet Ryo-chan. And I think Yuu will be there too. And I also invited Tatsuya” Jin chuckled when he saw Kame’s confused look. “I know him since years already. When we were kids we were living next to each other.” He smiled slightly. “And he will bring Matsumoto-kun along.”
“And who is Yuu?”
“My best friend.” Jin smiled. “So? What do you say?”
Kame blushed slightly. This was the first time someone from work invited him over. He knew he wasn’t the nicest and most out-going type guy, but it did hurt when the others went for a drink or dinner and left him out. “You are sure?”
Jin chuckled. “Of course.”
******
The first thing Jin saw when he opened the door to his house and walked into the living room was an unknown boy. Jin blinked in confusion, inspecting the boy from head to toe. He didn’t seem to be here to rob them… but he had a bruised cheek. Jin frowned deeply, making the boy blush.
“I’m Uchi Hiroki.” he stuttered. “Ryo-kun invited me…”
“Jin. I’m Ryo’s brother.” Jin tried to smile encouragingly, but the frown between his eyebrows didn’t disappear. Something was off here… He turned around, eyeing the kitchen. “Ryo!?”
“You are searching for Ryo?” Yuu peeked into the living room. “He was taking a shower before.”
Jin stared at Yuu in disbelief. Did this guy really have a black eye!? He looked at his friend in shock. “Yuu! What happened!?”
“Well…” Yuu stuttered, feeling nervous out of a sudden. “There was an incident…and I tried to help Uchi…”
“What kind of incident?” Jin asked piercingly.
“Some boys were teasing him.”
“Were they beating him up?” Jin asked immediately, feeling how his stomach was twitching a bit.
“No… but they would have.”
Jin took a deep breath. “You got into a fistfight with some kids?” He shook his head at that. “Are you nuts? Kids, Yuu! You are a grown-up!”
“Sorry…” Yuu shrugged helplessly. “I wasn’t thinking properly. I just saw the boy being bullied and then, well, gladly there was also Tatsuya around.”
Ueda smiled a bit when he heard his name, patting Jin’s shoulder. “It wasn’t anything serious, really. I started to learn boxing some months ago, so nothing bad happened to us. And to them.”
Jin felt relieved by Ueda’s calm explanation, then he looked around a bit. “Where is Ryo?”
“Upstairs.” Yuu explained. “I think he is changing his clothes.” When he turned his attention back to the living room, he blinked in surprise, his eyes catching the fragile figure of a young man, who looked a bit uncomfortable right now. “Oh...”
Kame blushed. “I’m Kamenashi. Akanishi-kun’s partner. We work together.” He shifted around a bit, he had never been good with people he didn’t know. “Jin-kun invited me.” he stuttered.
“Great.” Yuu smiled brightly. “Come in. You can help me set the table. Tatsuya is cooking something amazing for us today.”
Kame shifted around a bit. “Isn’t Jin-kun mad right now?”
“Don’t worry.” Yuu grinned a bit. “He is a softie and never angry for a long time.”
Ueda laughed a bit at that. “And he is always getting overly protective when it’s about his brother. He had always been like that…” He looked at Kame thoroughly, making the other man shift around nervously. He was glad when Ueda drew back and started to set the table. What had this glance meant? Kame frowned, he couldn’t read it at all. Why had Ueda looked at him like that?
When Jin had arrived upstairs, he could already see Ryo leaning against the door. Obviously he had heard his conversation with Yuu. The first thing Jin saw was Ryo’s bloody lip and a swollen cheek. He rushed to his brother’s side, touching his cheek softly “Ryo, are you alright?”
“It’s nothing…” Ryo tried to reassure Jin.
“Nothing!? It doesn’t look like nothing…” Jin answered nervously. “What happened?”
Ryo shook his head a bit. “I promise, it wasn’t such a big deal.”
“Oh dear.” Jin rolled his eyes, feeling torn between amusement and impatience. “Just spit it out already.” He chuckled, tugging at Ryo’s sleeve. “Don’t make your gorgeous older brother feel so worried. I might get grey hair too son. Now come here and tell me what the heck happened.”
Ryo shifted around a bit, not sure what to do right now. But be knew the tune in Jin’s voice and decided that it was better to simply tell him what had happened. If Jin was worried, he could be such a pain... though he was fun and cool most of the time, but in some very few moments he could be so nerve-wracking. Ryo sighed a bit, sitting down next to Jin. “Some boys were bullying Uchi-kun… taking his money and such things. I saw them.”
“And you headed into a fight?” Jin pulled his knees up, leaning back a bit. “You need to be more careful. That’s dangerous. Though it’s good that you wanted to help your class-mate.” His eyes gleamed out of a sudden. “It makes me feel so proud. But there is no help in getting yourself in danger.”
Ryo shrugged helplessly. “I just joined them when the situation escalated. Yuu and Ueda-kun tried to solve it first” He paused, looking at Jin piercingly. “Are you mad at Yuu now?”
“A bit.” Jin grinned a bit, putting his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “I just can’t believe Yuu started a fistfight and pulled you two guys into it too.”
“He just tried to help.” Ryo explained, trying to sound as convincing as possible. “He didn’t mean to hurt us. I guess he didn’t expect us to help him…” He tugged at Jin’s sleeve. “Don’t be angry. He is your best friend. And he told me he had been bullied when he was a kid… so maybe he was overreacting because of that.”
Jin wavered a bit, biting his lips nervously. “That’s true, he was a poor kid. Some boys treated him really badly because he was only half Japanese…” He sighed, rubbing over his head. Then he smacked his brother. “You really didn’t make it easy for me to be angry now.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ryo grinned. “I am the best.”
Jin laughed at that. “No, you are my stupid, manipulative brother.”
“I just inherited your talents.” Ryo retorted.
“Whatever.” Jin grinned. “So…” he paused. “Curious about my pretty co-worker?”
“He is here!” Ryo’s curiosity was awakened immediately. “You invited him?” Then he grinned out of a sudden, an impish gleam in his eyes. “So he is pretty?” When Jin blushed slightly at that, Ryo chuckled. “I need to make sure of that, definitely.”
Kame smiled a bit when he saw Jin laughing with his brother and his friends. Actually he had never seen Ueda grinning so much and Jun being so dorky. It was new for Kame to be in the middle of such a gathering, being surrounded by a loving family. For Jin there apparently wasn’t anything more important than his brother… He treated him so kindly and of course Kame had to reassure Jin that Ryo was the most adorable 15-year old he had ever met. Though they were bickering and teasing each other, they were also so close to each other…
Normally Kame would feel gloomy and annoyed, because he himself lacked exactly that – family and friends – and he hated to see such scenes, but at the moment he couldn’t feel jealous. He simply enjoyed the time being here.
He blinked when he heard his phone. “Sorry.” He bowed politely when he stood up, hurrying outside to talk at a quiet place. When he took a look at the number, he frowned deeply, suddenly feeling sick.
“Yes…” he mumbled when he picked up. “No, I’m out… Yes, I will come for dinner tomorrow. Yes Sir. Bye.”
Kame sighed when he hung up, his stomach hurting a bit by the mere thought of tomorrow. When he turned around he blinked in surprise as Jin was standing right behind him.
“Is everything alright?” Jin asked in worry. “You look kinda pale…”
“I am alright.” Kame mumbled.
Jin smiled a bit. “Was that our chief?”
“Eh?”
“Well, you called him Sir.” Jin shrugged. “So I just assumed.”
“No.” Kame rubbed his temples tiredly. “It was my father…”
Jin blinked in surprise, then his eyes widened. “Your father!?” He stared at Kame in disbelief, surprised by the distant and strange way Kame had been talking to his father.
“Yes.” Kame shrugged. “We are not really close.”
Jin shook his head, looking at Kame in surprise. “And your mother?”
“She is dead.” Kame answered shortly, looking at Jin through sad eyes. "I visit her grave every month." Before Jin could say anything else, he interrupted him. “Can we go back? I’m hungry.”
“Sure.” Jin stuttered, watching how Kame went back to the living room. He shook his head. What was Kame’s problem? Why didn’t he open up at all? Was there something that was bothering him?
******
Note: Hey dear friends and readers! Thanks so much for all your support!! So, I wanted to tell you that my Request Post is open. If you feel like requesting a specific pairing or situation you can do so HERE
Pairing: Akame. RyoxJin as brothers (not as a pairing). Various other characters.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: AU, crime, romance
Multi-chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own them or anything else JE-related. But the story is mine of course^^
Summary: Tokyo, 1981: A young bride disappears, leaving no trace but an old necklace out of jade. No one has seen her, no one knows who she is. The woman that never existed.
Tokyo, 2011: Jin, a talented photographer, is known for his sixth sense when it’s about photos and other person’s emotions. When he gets the offer to work with Tokyo’s Criminal Investigation Department, he moves to Tokyo, together with his 16-year-old brother.
There he starts to work together with the skilled, but eccentric young detective Kamenashi Kazuya.They are part of the department for Cold Cases, where forgotten and never solved cases are investigated again. Despite their first rather bad impression of each other, they soon learn that their skills complement each other almost perfectly.
The case they are working on seems mysterious, but harmless: Jade, the woman that had been erased from everyone's memory. But soon Jin and Kame realize that with this case they are awakening a sleeping lion, bringing themselves and everyone they love and care for into danger. They suddenly fall into a network of intrigues, murders and threats. On top of that they are both hiding something from each other and from everyone else... something no one is supposed to know...
The woman’s fingers were gliding over the cold stone. She was holding her necklace in her hands, looking down at it. She had always loved jade. It was her favourite and when she had received this present, she had been overly happy.
Now she felt sick when she looked at the jade stone of the necklace.
Why she let it drop to the ground this evening, she didn’t know herself. But maybe she wanted to set a sign. That she didn’t want to disappear completely…
“My Dad is working for the newspaper.” Erika explained proudly. “He is an important person here.”
“I’m sure he is.” Jin agreed.
“I heard him talking to Mom and my older brother yesterday. That two guys will come here… and that they want to ask him things about the bride. The ghost in the wedding dress…”
“So creepy…” Shinji winced. “I heard my parents talking about her too.
“So your father knows here?” Jin asked, pretending to be not all that interested in the bride, but more in Erika’s family.
Erika shook her head. “No, not really. He just saw here when she passed the city.”
“Ah, she disappeared somewhere here, right?” Jin mock-mused.
Kame stayed silent, for once letting Jin do his work here. Jin wasn’t exactly skilled with interrogations, but he knew how to handle people. And people liked him. This here was the third proof he got today. The first were the waitresses at the café. Kame hadn’t felt that it was something special back then, but when Jin also joked with the old man… and now with the kids… he felt that it was a gift. People trusted Jin, though he was dorky, though he said inconsiderate things, though he was not serious at all… but apparently there was something about him that drew people to him. They wanted to be close to him. Hence Kame stayed out of Jin’s talk with the children. This case was important and the kids accepted Jin as one of them, so it was wiser to let him handle this.
“Not really.” Erika mused. “Right Yuki? They said something like that… that she didn’t really disappear.”
Jin blinked at that, working hard to cover his shocked expression, while Kame had to suppress many other feelings. “So what happened then?”
“She drove away.” Erika explained.
“What?” Jin asked silently.
“Well, Dad doesn’t know for sure. But some people here saw it… that she went into the park and after half an hour a car dropped by. It stopped right next to the park, next to the wall there. There is a small path, you know. There was the sound of a door and a woman’s voice. And then the car drove away again.”
Jin stayed quiet, trying to grasp all the information. “Do you know what kind of car it was?” he pressed out.
Unfortunately Erika shook her head, but Shinji beamed out of a sudden. “My Dad told me that the care was really cool! He loves cars, you know. And I love them too.” he sounded proud. “I know lots of things about cars.”
“Really?” Jin sounded impressed. “I don’t know anything at all about cars… So maybe you could help me Shinji-kun?”
“Sure.” He smiled brightly. “It was a huge, black car. Okay, nothing spectacular right? But it was shot-proof. And apparently a really rare model. And it had a diplomatic license plate.”
Kame took this information in for a moment, his head spinning. 30 years ago… a shot-proof car. A diplomatic license plate. So it was a political case? This was an unbelievable clue they got here.
Jin beamed as well. “Wow, gorgeous Shinji-kun. Keep up the good work!” He looked at Erika and Yuki again. “So, how’s the place your father works at?” He sounded totally casual. Secretly Kame thought he would be really good as an undercover CIA agent or a spy. He tilted his head. Was Jin really trustworthy? With these gifts he could easily manipulate people for sure. Would he also manipulate Kame?
“I’m sure it’s a really amazing place.”
Yuki smiled proudly. “It is really important! They were the only ones who took a picture of the ghost-woman back then. My father wasn’t part of them yet, but my grandfather was. He was their chief back then and it was one of his co-workers and friends who took the photo.” He sounded impressed himself. “But he isn’t working there anymore.”
“Ah, he is not?” Jin asked, sounding reluctant. “I would have loved to meet a guy like him.”
“Oh.” Erika beamed. “He is a teacher at the Tokyo University at the moment. I’m sure you can meet him!”
“And your father?” Jin asked in interest.
“Oh, he has some free days now and drove away with my older brother.”
Kame frowned. Of course. The man was hiding.
“Such a pity…” Jin sighed.
“Yes.” Erika nodded her head. “So he isn’t at his office. It’s just Aya-san there…”
Jin blinked. “Aya-san?”
“Yes, she is working there. She is new, but so sweet. And she is not that old yet!” Erika explained.
Kame’s eyes beamed out of a sudden. He looked at Jin, thinking of his talent to allure and manipulate people…especially women. And if this Aya-san was alone right now, maybe they would have a chance. He looked at Jin piercingly, forming the words ‘name’ with his lips. To his relief Jin caught up immediately, because he smiled brightly. “Thanks so much, you three. It was fun with you! By the way, what’s your full name Erika-chan?” he asked. “I can’t call you Erika-chan all the time, right? After all you did for me.”
Erika giggled a bit. “Yamamoto. Yamamoto Erika.” She took Jin’s hand proudly, shaking it. “It was nice to meet you too! Drop by again, okay?”
“Sure.” Jin promised, twinkling towards the boys, before he got up to walk away with Kame.
They both stayed quiet for a moment, until Kame broke the silence. “Wow…” he mumbled.
“Yes.” Jin admitted silently. “This is getting really huge.”
“Yes.” Kame frowned. “We have to be careful.” he mumbled. “It sounds like a case either the Yakuza is involved with, or worse…”
When Kame didn’t continue, Jin blinked. “What’s worse?”
“Politics.” Kame explained, trembling a bit.
Jin frowned, inspecting Kame closely. Here it was again, the same weird atmosphere Kame had earlier that day. What was going on with this guy? He sighed, shoving these thoughts aside for now. Maybe Kame was just too overwhelmed by their progress. “So, I should flirt with Aya-san, right?”
“Exactly.” Kame grinned. “I think you’ll get the list with the photographer’s name soon…”
“And then?”
Kame smiled. “Then we’ll search for Professor Yamamoto of the Tokyo University. And we’ll try to track down the car.” He paused. “Jin-kun…”
“Yes.”
“We should be careful from now on.” Kame shifted around a bit, his eyes scanning the area. “This case doesn’t seem to be a light one. Let’s watch our steps, alright?”
“Okay.” Jin nodded his head. “I’ll be careful.”
******
Ryo was actually surprised when the strange boy called Uchi had the same way home. He hadn’t even recognized him before. Ryo sighed a bit, wondering if he should catch up with the weird, tall boy, or leave it. Well the boy seemed to be so lost and he definitely moved something inside Ryo, something like a protective side of him.
Ryo frowned when Uchi suddenly paused, tensing up obviously when a bunch of guys approached him. For a moment Ryo thought they were his friends and Uchi was just surprised by there sudden appearance, the more shocked he was when one of the boys started to tug at Uchi’s arm, obviously forcing him to do something he didn’t want to.
Ryo frowned first, before his eyes went wide. Was this kid being bullied? Couldn’t be… This was one of the most prestigious high schools! It was impossible that such mean guys were around. But still, the scared look in Uchi’s eyes told him that apparently he was in troubles.
Ryo bit his lips nervously, pretty much aware of the fact that he was not strong enough to go against these guys, but apparently he was lucky. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Yuu walking into his direction, with this other guy… Ueda-kun.
“Hey Ryo.” Yuu waved a bit when he walked towards Ryo. “Tatsuya and I went shopping for tonight’s dinner. Did you know that Tatsuya is also working as a cook occasionally. Really…what a strange guy” Yuu smiled brightly at Ryo, but then he blinked. “Everything alright?”
Ryo pointed at Uchi and the guys, not even explaining anything, because Yuu caught up immediately. The latter frowned deeply, his eyes getting darker than before. “Can’t be.” he mumbled. “Wait here…”
Ryo shifted around a bit, his eyes widening when he saw how Yuu approached the guys and pulled Uchi away from them. “Let him go!” he hissed.
Later on Ryo didn’t even know how it happened or what was going on. He just knew that one of the guys hit Yuu out of a sudden. And then Uchi was in the middle of the fight too. And Ueda joined them… and Ryo too.
******
“This was good.” Kame laughed heartedly. “You were brilliant. Honestly, I had my doubts first, but when you started to compliment her hair and her shoes…”
Jin grinned a bit. “That’s the trick. Never let a girl feel that you actually just want to get her into bed. A compliment has to be decent, not too straight-forward. ‘Your eyes are like the stars, sparkling at the night sky’ won’t do it anymore.”
Kame grinned. “Good that it was you who flirted with her. I would have come up with the star-pick up line.” He smiled brightly, his eyes scanning the paper with the photographers’ names proudly.
Jin put his drink aside, stretching a bit. “We’ll work on that tomorrow, right?” He smiled at the other one. Kame was suddenly so out-going and actually even fun, so that it really surprised Jin. He tilted his head a bit, checking Kame’s face carefully. He was pretty, definitely, and apparently he was also quite smart. He had thought that he was a total douche, but somehow… he was almost cute at the moment.
Kame nodded his head. “I’ll go through it tonight. And I’ll call Yamamoto-sensei. Let’s see what he has to tell us.”
Jin grinned. “Wait… you want to work tonight? Secretly, while I am at home?”
Kame blushed a bit. “Well, I want to prepare everything.”
Jin laughed heartedly. “Oh, Kame-kun… how about having some fun once in a while?”
Kame blinked when Jin used this nickname out of a sudden, but he couldn’t bring himself to say something against it. He could merely smile at Jin and try not to look too embarrassed. “Fun?”
“Yes.” Jin smiled brightly. “Why don’t you come to my place for dinner? You don’t even know my brother yet, do you? You should meet Ryo-chan. And I think Yuu will be there too. And I also invited Tatsuya” Jin chuckled when he saw Kame’s confused look. “I know him since years already. When we were kids we were living next to each other.” He smiled slightly. “And he will bring Matsumoto-kun along.”
“And who is Yuu?”
“My best friend.” Jin smiled. “So? What do you say?”
Kame blushed slightly. This was the first time someone from work invited him over. He knew he wasn’t the nicest and most out-going type guy, but it did hurt when the others went for a drink or dinner and left him out. “You are sure?”
Jin chuckled. “Of course.”
******
The first thing Jin saw when he opened the door to his house and walked into the living room was an unknown boy. Jin blinked in confusion, inspecting the boy from head to toe. He didn’t seem to be here to rob them… but he had a bruised cheek. Jin frowned deeply, making the boy blush.
“I’m Uchi Hiroki.” he stuttered. “Ryo-kun invited me…”
“Jin. I’m Ryo’s brother.” Jin tried to smile encouragingly, but the frown between his eyebrows didn’t disappear. Something was off here… He turned around, eyeing the kitchen. “Ryo!?”
“You are searching for Ryo?” Yuu peeked into the living room. “He was taking a shower before.”
Jin stared at Yuu in disbelief. Did this guy really have a black eye!? He looked at his friend in shock. “Yuu! What happened!?”
“Well…” Yuu stuttered, feeling nervous out of a sudden. “There was an incident…and I tried to help Uchi…”
“What kind of incident?” Jin asked piercingly.
“Some boys were teasing him.”
“Were they beating him up?” Jin asked immediately, feeling how his stomach was twitching a bit.
“No… but they would have.”
Jin took a deep breath. “You got into a fistfight with some kids?” He shook his head at that. “Are you nuts? Kids, Yuu! You are a grown-up!”
“Sorry…” Yuu shrugged helplessly. “I wasn’t thinking properly. I just saw the boy being bullied and then, well, gladly there was also Tatsuya around.”
Ueda smiled a bit when he heard his name, patting Jin’s shoulder. “It wasn’t anything serious, really. I started to learn boxing some months ago, so nothing bad happened to us. And to them.”
Jin felt relieved by Ueda’s calm explanation, then he looked around a bit. “Where is Ryo?”
“Upstairs.” Yuu explained. “I think he is changing his clothes.” When he turned his attention back to the living room, he blinked in surprise, his eyes catching the fragile figure of a young man, who looked a bit uncomfortable right now. “Oh...”
Kame blushed. “I’m Kamenashi. Akanishi-kun’s partner. We work together.” He shifted around a bit, he had never been good with people he didn’t know. “Jin-kun invited me.” he stuttered.
“Great.” Yuu smiled brightly. “Come in. You can help me set the table. Tatsuya is cooking something amazing for us today.”
Kame shifted around a bit. “Isn’t Jin-kun mad right now?”
“Don’t worry.” Yuu grinned a bit. “He is a softie and never angry for a long time.”
Ueda laughed a bit at that. “And he is always getting overly protective when it’s about his brother. He had always been like that…” He looked at Kame thoroughly, making the other man shift around nervously. He was glad when Ueda drew back and started to set the table. What had this glance meant? Kame frowned, he couldn’t read it at all. Why had Ueda looked at him like that?
When Jin had arrived upstairs, he could already see Ryo leaning against the door. Obviously he had heard his conversation with Yuu. The first thing Jin saw was Ryo’s bloody lip and a swollen cheek. He rushed to his brother’s side, touching his cheek softly “Ryo, are you alright?”
“It’s nothing…” Ryo tried to reassure Jin.
“Nothing!? It doesn’t look like nothing…” Jin answered nervously. “What happened?”
Ryo shook his head a bit. “I promise, it wasn’t such a big deal.”
“Oh dear.” Jin rolled his eyes, feeling torn between amusement and impatience. “Just spit it out already.” He chuckled, tugging at Ryo’s sleeve. “Don’t make your gorgeous older brother feel so worried. I might get grey hair too son. Now come here and tell me what the heck happened.”
Ryo shifted around a bit, not sure what to do right now. But be knew the tune in Jin’s voice and decided that it was better to simply tell him what had happened. If Jin was worried, he could be such a pain... though he was fun and cool most of the time, but in some very few moments he could be so nerve-wracking. Ryo sighed a bit, sitting down next to Jin. “Some boys were bullying Uchi-kun… taking his money and such things. I saw them.”
“And you headed into a fight?” Jin pulled his knees up, leaning back a bit. “You need to be more careful. That’s dangerous. Though it’s good that you wanted to help your class-mate.” His eyes gleamed out of a sudden. “It makes me feel so proud. But there is no help in getting yourself in danger.”
Ryo shrugged helplessly. “I just joined them when the situation escalated. Yuu and Ueda-kun tried to solve it first” He paused, looking at Jin piercingly. “Are you mad at Yuu now?”
“A bit.” Jin grinned a bit, putting his arm around his brother’s shoulder. “I just can’t believe Yuu started a fistfight and pulled you two guys into it too.”
“He just tried to help.” Ryo explained, trying to sound as convincing as possible. “He didn’t mean to hurt us. I guess he didn’t expect us to help him…” He tugged at Jin’s sleeve. “Don’t be angry. He is your best friend. And he told me he had been bullied when he was a kid… so maybe he was overreacting because of that.”
Jin wavered a bit, biting his lips nervously. “That’s true, he was a poor kid. Some boys treated him really badly because he was only half Japanese…” He sighed, rubbing over his head. Then he smacked his brother. “You really didn’t make it easy for me to be angry now.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ryo grinned. “I am the best.”
Jin laughed at that. “No, you are my stupid, manipulative brother.”
“I just inherited your talents.” Ryo retorted.
“Whatever.” Jin grinned. “So…” he paused. “Curious about my pretty co-worker?”
“He is here!” Ryo’s curiosity was awakened immediately. “You invited him?” Then he grinned out of a sudden, an impish gleam in his eyes. “So he is pretty?” When Jin blushed slightly at that, Ryo chuckled. “I need to make sure of that, definitely.”
Kame smiled a bit when he saw Jin laughing with his brother and his friends. Actually he had never seen Ueda grinning so much and Jun being so dorky. It was new for Kame to be in the middle of such a gathering, being surrounded by a loving family. For Jin there apparently wasn’t anything more important than his brother… He treated him so kindly and of course Kame had to reassure Jin that Ryo was the most adorable 15-year old he had ever met. Though they were bickering and teasing each other, they were also so close to each other…
Normally Kame would feel gloomy and annoyed, because he himself lacked exactly that – family and friends – and he hated to see such scenes, but at the moment he couldn’t feel jealous. He simply enjoyed the time being here.
He blinked when he heard his phone. “Sorry.” He bowed politely when he stood up, hurrying outside to talk at a quiet place. When he took a look at the number, he frowned deeply, suddenly feeling sick.
“Yes…” he mumbled when he picked up. “No, I’m out… Yes, I will come for dinner tomorrow. Yes Sir. Bye.”
Kame sighed when he hung up, his stomach hurting a bit by the mere thought of tomorrow. When he turned around he blinked in surprise as Jin was standing right behind him.
“Is everything alright?” Jin asked in worry. “You look kinda pale…”
“I am alright.” Kame mumbled.
Jin smiled a bit. “Was that our chief?”
“Eh?”
“Well, you called him Sir.” Jin shrugged. “So I just assumed.”
“No.” Kame rubbed his temples tiredly. “It was my father…”
Jin blinked in surprise, then his eyes widened. “Your father!?” He stared at Kame in disbelief, surprised by the distant and strange way Kame had been talking to his father.
“Yes.” Kame shrugged. “We are not really close.”
Jin shook his head, looking at Kame in surprise. “And your mother?”
“She is dead.” Kame answered shortly, looking at Jin through sad eyes. "I visit her grave every month." Before Jin could say anything else, he interrupted him. “Can we go back? I’m hungry.”
“Sure.” Jin stuttered, watching how Kame went back to the living room. He shook his head. What was Kame’s problem? Why didn’t he open up at all? Was there something that was bothering him?
******
Note: Hey dear friends and readers! Thanks so much for all your support!! So, I wanted to tell you that my Request Post is open. If you feel like requesting a specific pairing or situation you can do so HERE
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