Entry tags:

akame, au, multi-chaptered, pricele$$ love

PRICELE$$ love - Chapter 5
Title: PRICELE$$ love
Author: Aisu & Kuriimu
Rating: PG13 for now
Pairings: Akame
Disclaimer: We don't own Akame.
Summary: Jin's a crowd-pleaser; always adapting his personality to suit others, trying to uphold his family name by keeping up false pretenses. He's sick of people sucking up to him and pretending to be his friend when all they want is a connection to his social status.

Kazuya's a realist; he hates people who are 'fake', or rather, aren't true to themselves, and it makes him sick watching them live their day to day life as a constant lie.

When the two meet at a goukon for the first time, their personalities clash. While Kazuya's ready to leave in a heartbeat after the event, Jin can't help but linger behind lost in his thoughts. He had never met anyone like Kazuya before. Maybe he was just what he needed to help him escape his world of lies.

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4


Chapter 5

As the elevator came to a steady halt, Jin took a step off. This would be his third visit. He felt his stomach twist as he approached Kazuya's dorm room even though he would only be slipping the white envelope beneath the door. Despite the younger boy's constant rejection towards the idea that he hated Jin, Jin still felt unwanted. For a minute he thought about what their relationship could've been like if they had met under different circumstances. Maybe then he wouldn't be having all this unresolved tension between him and Kazuya.

Finally reaching the dorm room of Kazen's newest employee, Jin bent down, envelope in hand. As he was about to slide it through the crack near the floor, he quickly withdrew it. "Crap... what if he sees me slip it under and then comes to open the door?" he thought. The last thing he wanted to do was give the latter another reason to yell at him. "I should've made Pi do it, or just kept it at the cafe so he could pick it up next time we're at work."

Of course, there was always the possibility that the boy wasn't even in the room. So, with this in mind, Jin slid the envelope halfway under the door before hearing a distinct sound emerge from the other side. Retracting his arm for a second time, he stood off to the side of the door waiting to see if any other noises would be produced. There were. However, they were too muffled to make anything out. Carefully pressing his ear against the back of the door, Jin listened intently. At first the sounds were occasional, only happening a few times within about half a minute. Yet, as the seconds passed, they became more frequent, and Jin's heart slowly began to melt as he discovered what he had been listening to.

He was crying; Jin could hear his short quick gasps for air. Kazuya was trying to keep his weeping to a minimum, but it wasn't working out too well for the boy.

"Dammit, Kazuya. How the hell am I supposed to just slip you your tips and ignore you crying?!" Jin tussled his hair as he had another one of his internal debates, "I'd be an asshole if I didn't at least try and ask what's wrong, wouldn't I? Or would I just be getting in his way? ... WHATEVER." too much thinking never did Jin much good, so he just decided to go with his first instinct.

Hesitantly turning the knob, Jin silently pushed the door open and took a step in. As he glanced in the direction of Kazuya's bed, he saw the younger boy with his head resting on his knees, which were pulled up to his chest. It appeared Kazuya hadn't seen him though, because his head was ducked in towards his chest; his hands with a fistful of hair tightly gripping the sides of his head. Quietly closing the door, Jin proceeded to gravitate towards the boy. Kazuya was shaking; quite violently, Jin might add. Not wanting to disturb the other's position, Jin restrained himself from sitting on the bed beside the sobbing boy.

"Kame..." Jin tried, softly calling out the other's name, though it didn't seem to have any helping effect to it.

In hearing the latter's voice, Kazuya's legs were drawn inwards yet further to condense his form, the shaking increasing to the point it was almost unbearable to watch. The sight itself would've been enough to make anyone cry; even Jin. But Jin wouldn't cry. At least, not because of something like this. If anything, he was hurt because of the way Kazuya reacted towards him.

Looking sad enough to have witnessed a relative's death, Jin reached out to the boy, gently taking hold of a hand only to have it snatched away and placed back in its former spot. After several gasps, Kazuya managed to collect enough breath to utter the same two words Jin did not want to hear.

"Get out." he spoke in that same demanding tone.

Hearing the other say something at last, Jin was beyond frustrated at Kazuya when those same words reached his ears, "Dammit!" he quietly shouted, "I don't even care what you want anymore, Kame," Jin began, staring intensely at the other though he couldn't be seen, "I'm not leaving this time. Not until you stop crying or tell me what's wrong." he concluded. "Or both..."

The latter didn't respond. Reaching out once more, Jin grabbed Kazuya's wrist fully anticipating his reaction, and therefore tightening his grip so the other could not pull away, "Calm down," Jin tried again, but this time all the other did was look up and try to hit him in attempt to release his other arm.

The two began to have somewhat of a struggle, Kazuya on the losing end. The younger of the two could not compete with the other when it came to physical strength, and though he knew that, he still continued the struggle, blinded by his emotional state. When he had tried to hit Jin, he was easily blocked by the other.

All he wanted right now was to be alone. He wanted to sit there and cry his heart out; all day, all night. Throughout the past years Kazuya knew it was coming, he knew that eventually, they would all get fed up with the act and go through with the real thing. However, he wasn't mentally prepared. He could never of been mentally prepared. This constant nagging that ate away at him; consumed him. It wouldn't go away and he knew that now whenever he looked back he'd just have another breakdown.

Seeing how he was restricting Kazuya's movements by keeping a firm grip on both arms, Jin suddenly felt like a big bully. Sighing, he let the boy go, only to watch him resume his former position. "You're shaking so much..." Jin commented before deciding he'd sit on the bed after all. "Kame, you can talk to me... What's wrong?" he hesitantly placed his hand over the boy's head and started patting it. Wide-eyed, Jin surveyed the actions of his hand, "... WHY AM I PETTING HIM?! STOP IT. STOP!" his mind screamed, but his body acted on its own. "What if he hates me after this for treating him like some kid? I can't believe I'm still petting him... Just stop thinking Jin, it's better that way."

Slapping Jin's hand away, Kazuya turned to glance at the other, "I said get out," his voice wavered through the gasps. It was a wasted effort however; these words no longer had any affect on the latter. Instead, after looking at the boy's face, flushed, tear-streaked, and eyes still watery as ever, Jin leaned in and embraced Kazuya, acting on an impulse. As he continued to shudder, Jin tightened his embrace, wanting the boy to be so confined that he couldn't budge and the shaking would stop. Though muffled, Kazuya's words were heard quite clearly.

"I can't breathe, baka!"

Jin loosened up the hold he had on the other, "Then stop crying."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because..." Kazuya's sentence trailed off as another knot formed in his throat, tears flowing down once more.

Jin paused, waiting to see if the other would continue. Realizing he wasn't getting anywhere, he tried to prod it out of him, "Just say it... It has to do with your family, doesn't it?"

Was it that obvious? Kazuya had to admit, he did appear to overreact towards the simple comment Jin had made during his previous visit. It couldn't have been that hard to put two and two together.

This moment meant everything to Jin. It would either greatly help, or greatly hurt his relationship with Kazuya. With the way the younger boy was acting, this was definitely something serious to him. Jin didn't want to end up having to trudge into Kazen and see Kazuya only to become stressed. There was always something blocking the way to the other; there was always something preventing Jin from connecting with the boy, and he believed that this may be the wall he needed to climb over in order to reach him.

"...Kazuya-"

"My parents divorced!" the boy shouted in frustration, finally establishing eye-contact with the other, "Now that you know, you can leave."

There was a long period of silence as the two sat staring at one another. The sunset reflecting Kazuya's tears did great work in dramatizing the sight of the boy. Jin's heart ached for the other; why was he enduring something like this all by himself? When had this happened? Had he been holding it in this whole time?

"When...?"

"My Okaa-san called earlier, and..." the boy ducked his head, his hands entangling his hair once more.

And just like that; a simple phone call and his family had dispersed. Apparently the arrangements had already been made, and when Kazuya received the call it was official. At first he was in disbelief, not wanting to admit that it all had reached an end. On the other hand, he was glad that they didn't have to put up that stupid act just to appease the rest of society. He wouldn't have to deal with going home to a house so full of tension he found it hard to breathe. If given the choice though, Kazuya would have still wished for his family to be together, as dysfunctional as it had become. He would have rather kept trying, hoping that one day things would have been like before, but he knew that that was just wishful thinking. After his parents started having their arguments they didn't even pay attention to him anymore; he was neglected.

"Shh..." Jin hushed Kazuya, realizing that it was a painful subject for the other, "Calm down..." he whispered while gently pulling himself closer to the boy to encircle his arms around him.

"Why is he so damn persistent...? I can't stand people like him; I don't want to become some other person he can just add to his huge list of friends. Frickin' crowd-pleaser..." Kazuya's breathing slowly returned to normal as he wondered why he couldn't get away from this Jin character. It was unavoidable at work of course, but why couldn't he just leave him alone once outside of Kazen? "If pretending to care is all a part of his act..." slightly shifting his position, the parts of Kazuya's body that were formerly touching Jin immediately cooled.”Dammit... he's so warm." Kazuya's eyes closed unconsciously as he rested within Jin's arms, tears still flowing.

~*~
Jin stayed with Kazuya until he had stopped crying, and even when the boy was done, he stayed by his side though there was no interaction for the rest of the day. When it became late, Jin was thinking of spending the night with the other since there was a spare bed, but he decided that he would be overstaying his welcome and Kazuya needed some time to himself.

The next day Jin didn't go out. He remained in his apartment, not wanting to see anyone he knew. He didn't want to run into classmates. He didn't want to act like he was everyone's friend. He wanted to be himself for just one day. As Jin stood on his balcony, thoughts of the previous day flooded his mind, a smile gracing his face.

Kazuya, still unable to cope with his family problems and not wanting anyone to see him in his current state, decided to do the same. However, this day, there wasn't a single trace of tears on the boy's face.

~*~
The days of work that followed started out awkward. At first neither of the two said anything to the other, but then Jin supposed that that was normal. He came to the conclusion that he wouldn't bother the boy if he wished for him to keep his distance, and instead just flashed him a smile whenever their eyes met. Occasionally he would drop a line, but nothing beyond a simple 'hello', or 'good work today'. However, when Kazuya actually started to reply to his one-liners, Jin was overflowed with joy. The boy had begun to make an effort to talk to him for once.

Today had started out as it normally did. The usual greetings were exchanged, Pi was whoring his cash register, and service hours were hectic and rushed. As Jin was approaching the counter to take up orders, Kazuya was getting ready to serve another table. Or at least, that's what he had been trying to do. He paused when Jin strolled by him to stick his order behind the counter.

"Ne, Jin," Kazuya called, waiting for the other to turn around and give a response.

"Hmm?"

"Can I talk to you later?"

Kazuya didn't know why Jin was always so chipper around him, or why he insisted on staying that day Kazuya told him to leave, or why he was being nice to him after having made it seem like he wanted nothing to do with the other. Which he didn't. At least, not at first. If anything though, Kazuya thought that Jin would of had enough and just give up on him.

"Of course~" he smiled. And with that, Kazuya left, making his way to a table.

Jin seemed to act differently around Kazuya; nothing like when they had first met. Apparently first impressions aren't everything. Though Jin did still act the role of a playboy during service hours at Kazen... The boy didn't know how Jin put up with it. It seemed so annoying; having to deal with all those girls coming in just to bug him while he was doing his job. He was starting to get an idea, though. Since Kazuya had started working at Kazen, Pi pointed out to him that whenever he had his back turned, a table of girls would immediately glue their eyes to his figure.

~*~
During lunch break, Kazuya met with Jin in the backroom while Pi was still fiddling around with his favorite toy. As the youngest pulled his apron up over his head, he decided to just say what he had been waiting to for days now.

"Ne, Jin," he repeated as he did earlier, catching the other's attention.

"Hmm?" Jin asked again, turning his head to look at Kazuya who was now staring downwards as he folded his apron. The boy had a beautiful profile, Jin noted.

"Thanks..." Kazuya started, still looking at the floor as he spoke, "For not leaving when I told you to that day." he quickly finished, walking out of the backroom as fast as he could while Pi entered.

~*~
Not wanting to stay inside the confines of the café during his lunch break any longer, Kazuya decided to take a walk. The weather was nice out; not too hot, not too cold. As he continued his stroll, he came across a newsstand with magazines neatly displayed in the window. It reminded him of the rack that they had in Kazen. Upon closer inspection of the magazines, Kazuya spotted something that caught his interest.

Smiling up at him from cover of one of the magazines was a face that he had to see more often than he liked. Picking up the magazine, Kazuya quickly flipped to the page that held the contents displayed on the front cover.

‘Akanishi Jin, the future head of Nishi Records, has become one of the most sought after bachelors of our time…’

“Mister, are you going to buy that or are you just going to read it without paying?” the owner of the small newsstand said towards Kazuya who had frozen on the spot, his eyes moving rapidly across the pages of the glossy magazine.

~*~
Kazuya found a small family-style restaurant to grab a bite to eat and read the article in the magazine. Even though he’s known Jin for quite a while now, the older man had never told him much about himself. Kazuya found that he learnt a lot more about Jin through the magazine article than from talking to him in person. It was only now that he realized that he had never even known Jin’s full name. The older one had never given out his family name, and Kazuya had never bothered to ask since he was usually so busy trying to get rid of him in the first place.

"Most sought after bachelor... future head of Nishi Records...?" Kazuya read the text over to himself. Jin had some sort of celebrity status? How had he missed something like this? Now that he actually thought about it, Kazuya had always been caught up with his family affairs, trying to make sure they all stayed together. He didn't have time to keep up with current events and whatever else was going on in the world, because his world at the time had been his family. Things were different now though, and as Kazuya continued to glance over the article, he started to wonder if this was the reason for Jin's stress.

The man had always tried to hide it, but Kazuya knew something was bugging him. The sullen expressions became more frequent as of late; as did the fake smiles. Was it really that hard? Kazuya's lifestyle was completely different than Jin's. They both had different problems of their own, but in a sense, they were similar. Both of them were struggling to live up to the expectations that were given to them. Kazuya had to live up to his parents' expectations and make sure not to create any more tension in the family than there was already, while Jin has to live up to the expectations of everyone, ones that a future head of a large corporation were expected to uphold. Kazuya still was now free of these stresses given to him by his family. But what about Jin? Was Jin free?

>>Chapter 06

A/N (Aisu): Uwaaah~ I've been writing so much lately. @_@ I have failed in my goal to release something every day of the week though. =( I tried~ T_T

I'll be attempting to focus more of my attention towards my one-shot for now, though. xD I had writer's block but I think I've thought of something... :D

Anyways, there's Chapter 5 of PRICELE$$ for ya~ =)