![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Jade Chapter 14
Pairing: Akame. RyoxJin as brothers (not as a pairing). Various other characters.
Rating: PG-13 (for this chapter)
Genre: AU, crime, romance, family
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...
“I can’t believe it.” Jin stroked through Ryo’s sweaty hair. “For the first time ever I ground you…and then you get sick out of a sudden and are supposed to stay at home anyway… grounded or not grounded. That’s not fair. It’s not a punishment like that.”
“Shut up.” Ryo mumbled miserably.
Jin smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay. We’ll get you healthy again… I’ll watch out for you.”
“Wow, now I am relieved.” Ryo complained, his voice sounding hoarse.
Jin had actually planned to answer something teasingly, but when Ryo started to cough, he felt worried again. He brushed through his brother’s hair softly, wondering if this was only a cold or if it was also psychical. He looked up a bit when Yuu approached them, placing a cup of tea in front of Ryo.
“I already called the doctor.” he reassured Jin, then he smiled at Ryo. “You should drink that…”
“No, it tastes disgusting.” Ryo grumbled.
Yuu smiled a bit. “Well, if you still have the strength to fight us, I’m sure you will be all well soon again.” He looked at Jin reassuringly. “I’ll watch out for him. You can go to work, okay?”
Jin nodded reluctantly, before he got up. “You’ll call me when the doctor was here?”
“Of course.” Yuu chuckled, pushing Jin out of the door. “Now go. And don’t feel too worried. Ryo and I will manage this.”
Jin smiled thankfully at his friend, glad that he was helping him so much. With Yuu around he could go to work peacefully, without worrying too much. Yuu smiled a bit when Jin had finally left, walking back to Ryo and comforting him a bit, until the doctor rang at their door. When Yuu opened it, he blinked in surprise. “Ueda-kun? You…again?”
Ueda smiled. “I came along with Sensei. I have a certification to work as a nurse, you know? Sensei is actually my uncle. And he asked me to help out today, since today’s nurse is sick herself.”
“I can’t believe you…” Yuu grumbled, trying to hide his surprise. “What else are you working at!? That’s just crazy.”
******
Kame was almost too pale recently. Jin tilted his head a bit. He had realized it earlier, but right now it almost jumped into his face. He looked like he didn’t sleep at all. Just when Jin hugged him, or put his arm around his waist or kissed him, Kame’s eyes would lit up a bit.
Jin sighed, his gaze never leaving his friend. What was this guy hiding? It had to lie heavily on his mind. Jin knew this feeling the best after all, but even he didn’t crumble that much under the things he was hiding. In Kame’s case it was different. He looked worse every day.
Jin’s expression suddenly got determined. He had to do something about this. Kame was his lover after all, he cared for him. He was one of the most important persons in his life and he wouldn’t let him break down.
Hence Jin decided he needed to find out the truth. This whole thing Kame was hiding. He needed to get to know it, finally.
He stood up, putting his hands on Kame’s hips and turning him around to kiss him softly. The latter blushed a bit. “Jin, we are at work…”
Jin chuckled. “We are the only one’s working here.”
Kame sighed a bit, resting his head against Jin’s shoulder. For a moment he decided to allow himself to be comforted. Jin’s arms were so strong, when he hugged him he felt safe and calm. But whenever Jin let go of him he felt lonely and nervous and guilty again. This was no good.
It was later that afternoon that Jin left Kame alone to meet with one of his friends. That was what he told Kame and it was actually the truth, just that the purpose behind this meeting was deeper.
When Jin came to the bar, he saw his friend immediately, waving at him. “Hey Tatsuya.”
Ueda smiled. “Hey.”
Jin sat down. “I’m glad you are free this afternoon.” He grinned. “Considering how much you work… not to talk about the tons of jobs you apparently have.”
Ueda chuckled. “That’s just the way I live and the way I enjoy it. I can’t decide on one job, I like too many things.”
“You are an interesting guy.” Jin chuckled.
“Yes, but that’s not the reason you called me, am I right?” Ueda wanted to know.
Jin sighed a bit. “You are right. I need your help.”
“What kind of help?”
“Do you know anything about cars?” Jin asked carefully.
Ueda smiled. “I worked in a garage once and at a car dealer, I know some things.”
Jin grinned a bit. “That’s exactly why I called you. I knew you had to have worked with cars at one point in your life.”
“So?” Ueda asked curiously.
Jin angled for a photo. He had been careful to choose one where Kame wasn’t seen on. He had cut him out of the picture, because he didn’t want anyone to make a connection to Kame. It was a photo from the morning he had seen Kame getting out of this car. Somehow Jin felt like this car was the key to understanding what was going on. At least he would be able to find out whom it belonged to… and maybe he could find out why Kame had been with this man.
Then Jin angled for another sheet of paper. The description Erika had given him from the car Jade had driven away with. And last, he gave Ueda the number of the car the professor had left for them.
He looked at Ueda hopefully. “Really, it doesn’t matter what you can tell me. One single hint about any of these three clues would already help me. I can just tell you as much: They don’t need to be linked to each other. Not necessarily. Especially the first one. The second and the third are supposed to be the same. Whatever information you can find out, please, I beg you, tell me.”
Ueda looked at Jin in surprise, something in Jin’s voice sounded so desperate that he immediately nodded his head. “Trust me, Jin, I’ll give my best, okay?”
******
The first thing Jin did when he came home was to check on Ryo. To his relief Ryo was looking a bit better than at morning. He smiled brightly, sitting down next to his brother and stroking over his back. “You look a bit better.”
Ryo nodded his head. “I feel better. Sensei said it’s the nerves, not a cold.”
“I see.” Jin mumbled, feeling guilty for Ryo’s breakdown.
“And there is something else.” Ryo stuttered, blushing a bit.
“What?” Jin blinked in surprise, but before he could answer Uchi already stumbled into the living room with a cup of tea in his hand. He smiled proudly.
“I made that for you, Ryo!”
“Thanks Hiro-chan.”
Jin looked at Uchi in surprise, wondering what the heck he was doing here. And why he was grinning and smiling at his younger brothers as if Ryo was some sort of Prince Charming.
When Ryo saw his brother’s surprised expression, he looked at him guiltily. “I know I’m grounded and Hiroki shouldn’t be here. But…well… Yuu…”
Yuu peeked into the living room, smiling non-chalantly. “I called Uchi-kun and invited him over.”
Jin nodded his head. Yuu’s explanation was actually not necessary at all. He had already gotten it himself. Yuu wanted Ryo to have some distraction, so that his nerves would calm down again. “It’s okay. Forget the thing about being grounded. Apparently we both
suck at it.”
Ryo frowned. “I think I was good at it. It’s you and Yuu… you totally suck!”
Yuu laughed. “He has a point here. Jin, we are hopeless, aren’t we?”
“I guess so.” Jin grinned, patting Ryo’s head before he followed Yuu into the kitchen to prepare dinner together with him.
Later at night when Ryo was sleeping and Uchi had already prepared a futon next to Ryo – he had wanted to stay over night – Jin was going to the darkroom again. The photos were already finished since afternoon. But he wanted to have some proper time to look at them and feel them. He couldn’t do that in a hurry and when other things were bothering him. Now it was perfect.
He sat down, smiling proudly when he took the photos into his hands. Finally, photos out of different angles. He had waited so long for them. Now he would hopefully be able to read this woman’s personality and maybe some of her secrets.
Some photos were plain, some of them were similar to the photographs in the newspaper, but there were also some shots that showed more.
The bride’s glance was always looking into one direction. She didn’t let herself be distracted by anything else. Was she waiting to be picked up? It seemed like that. She was walking towards a goal, definitely.
Still, the way she was going and the way she was holding her hand were strange. No one would walk like that, even after hours of walking. Jin shook his head, was she sick?
But also her expression was strange. She didn’t look like a woman who had just eloped. Of course she looked crushed, but she didn’t look desperate. Jin frowned. Did she have an option? Was this what she chose to do? To be forgotten? Did she want her person to be erased from other people’s memory?
Jin shivered a bit. Why would she want that? It didn’t make any sense. But still…she looked exactly like that. As if she had chosen this path.
She was sad, but also happy. Hopeful. Not happy like a woman in love looked like, it was a different kind of happiness and hopefulness.
Something in Jin’s mind started to swirl around, little pieces of this puzzle suddenly moving on their own in front of his inner eyes. They were trying to fit together, parting again when they realized it was the wrong end, searching for another piece of the puzzle, until it was in front of Jin. The last pieces suddenly finding its place.
He knew it. He suddenly understood. At the same time it made things even more complicated and unbelievable. Because this woman’s secret itself was unbelievable. Why did she choose to do this?
******
When Jin went through the mail later on, he saw it immediately. A white envelop. Even without opening it, he knew its content already. It was the same like the letters he got before.
Do you want your brother to get even more hurt? Do you? I have no fear to tell him your most important secret. Stop your investigation and I’ll stay quiet!
Jin titled his head a bit, since days already he was getting the same letter, but to his own surprise it didn’t worry him that much. He smiled out of a sudden when he realized why it didn’t make him feel completely restless. Because the letter sounded desperate. It was the last trump card this person had! Because it was the last secret Jin had.
Jin had to laugh at that. The letter sounded desperate! That was the reason why he hadn’t freaked out yet. If this person would have had more information about Jin or more secrets, it would have been more dangerous. But apparently the person behind this didn’t want to give away his secrets.
Still, Jin knew that he couldn’t keep it anymore. He needed to tell someone what he was hiding. Kame first. And then, Ryo. This secret was a weapon against him after all. He would just wait for Ueda to give him the information he needed, then he would go to Kame and tell him his secret and at the same time make Kame spill his own secret.
It was two days later that Jin finally knew enough to make this step. He sighed, the clues he had gotten from Ueda were huge and he wondered how Kame would explain that. He didn’t go to Kame’s place now, because he already know that Kame was at his father’s place. The man Kame never talked about.
This was the place Jin headed to now. When he walked through the entrance, he felt uncomfortable immediately. He could see the black car that had driven Kame back home. And he could see a man, standing close to the house… looking similar to the man that had attacked Ryo. Something inside Jin’s stomach felt sick. But he needed to do that. He couldn’t blame Kame for everything before hearing his side of the story.
Hence he knocked at the door, waiting until the butler opened it. Jin smiled politely. “Good evening. I’m here to pick up, Kamenashi Kazuya.”
“Ah.” The man smiled politely. “He didn’t tell us someone would pick him up.” He turned his head a bit when a man walked by him.
“Who is at the door?”
“A friend of the young master.” The butler explained, bowing towards the man. Kame’s father.
For a moment his and Jin’s gaze crossed and Jin could see it directly, the surprise in the man’s eyes. Jin smiled a bit, a cold smile, while he was waiting for the man to react.
“You can go now.” Kame’s father told his butler, before he approached Jin. “I’m surprised you found out.”
Jin didn’t say anything, he merely looked at the man insistently. “I think, I need to tell you something, Sir.” he said silently. “I don’t have secrets that are important enough to make me stop what I am doing. In the end I have to thank you, because my brother deserves to know the truth. And I deserve it to tell it to him.” He looked at the man coldly. “I don’t care who you are and that you are the prime-minister’s cabinet chief for inner affairs. But what I care for are my family and friends. I don’t need to hide anything anymore. So you can officially stop sending me these letters…”
“Is that so?” the man mumbled and Jin thought that the somehow sounded broken, almost desperate.
But he couldn’t do anything about that, he couldn’t feel sorry for him. Jin bowed a bit towards the man, seeing how his message was successfully sinking in. He had never thought that Kame would be related to a political house, or even worse: to this corrupt man. He was known to be the worst.
Still, why Kame was working as a detective though he had such a father, the secrets he kept to himself and how this family was connected to the jade-bride, these were all questions Jin needed to find out.
When he looked at the man again, he could see Kame standing right behind him. His eyes widened in shock, his hands shivering slightly.
******
Note: Dear friends and readers! Thanks so much for all your support <3 To thank you I opened up a Request Post. If you feel like requesting a one-shot with a specific pairing or situation you can do so HERE. For Song-Drabbles go HERE.
no subject
One more thing, I am seriously impressed by Ueda in this.
Thank you ~
no subject
I'm so glad you liked this!!
I will try to update soon <3