Notes: credit to the band Parkway Drive and their song 'Snake Oil and Holy Water', for the line I used from that song. Life is upside down right now, in the best way, but thank you for all your reviews and messages, I'm sorry I haven't had the time to answer them!
Akihito really shouldn't be here.
It's not that he wasn't allowed to be here, opposite of the fact actually, because all he had to do was flash the thick black and gold card in his wallet and it was instant access, much to waiting patrons' surprise and secretly; his own snide satisfaction at their absurd scoffs.
Seriously though; he should not fucking be here tonight of all nights, but, it wasn't his fault that the story he was chasing just happened to end up in one of Asami's clubs. Damn it. His work and this place never mixed well, snake oil and holy water.
He'd picked this lead because he'd known Asami had nothing to do with it, he'd asked Asami himself, called the moment the lead came through from the bathroom of the newspaper office, hissing his questions in urgency, because Mitarai was not getting this one off him. After Asami drawling that typical uncaring drawl of telling Akihito it was all clear, and 'don't bite off more than you can chew'; he'd taken this job.
In tailing his target from the red light district, through Shinjuku and then onto Shibuya though, only meant that the person was doing business under Asami's nose without Asami's knowledge, Asami wouldn't have lied about anything as trivial to him as this, so said target had to either be bigger than their boots, more like Italian cut loafers in this case, or incredibly stupid for it – Akihito couldn't decide. He was probably little more than a fly on the wall to someone like Asami, anyway.
At that moment as he watched the drug dealer's back disappear through Sion's doors, Akihito suddenly couldn't decide a lot of things. Did he want to go in and finish the job now? Of course he fucking did, but, who did he want to finish it for now that he knew what he knew?
That damn Asami was his only grey area when it came to work, because Akihito wanted to do his fucking job, he wanted the scoops and his photos in black and white on the front page, he wanted to expose the truth to the unknowing public, to help society in the only way he could, but then there was the fact that whenever a story involved Asami he'd balk at the lead, cringe at the subject of the assignment and it'd have him hating his own industry a little more each time it happened, because half of them were clearly pulled out of someone's ass in a desperate grasp to find anything on him; and that pissed him off.
His hesitation pissed him off too; did he want to back Asami up or not? Why should he when Asami would just say in that annoyingly condescending voice that he could handle it himself, and then why shouldn't he because Asami was the person he shared a damn bed with, a home with, and you'd think after all these years Akihito's response should be instant. That, above all, grated on him the most. It'd be easier if his response was instant.
The thing was; he'd give Asami all his loyalty if he only got a little in return.
Whatever, now wasn't the time for those useless meanderings, scoop first, thinking later. He followed his quarry into the club, shrugging off the 'Asami sama is meeting with someone, don't disturb him.' As he went.
It was good Asami was busy, Akihito took himself to the empty security room with his access card and sat down for the show, got all the evidence, audio and photos that he needed to hand in to the editorial manager for a front page headline. The irony burned, this time Asami had made his job easier instead of the reverse.
Front page headline, that sounded pretty good. Maybe he'd thank Asami for this one, after publication of course, because no doubt if he found out before it went to print it'd be pulled and sorted in Asami style instead.
With decisions duly made; it was time to get the hell out of here.
Down the shadowed hall he went, camera safe in his bag and resolve in mind. One of Asami's offices was up ahead, its light slicing through the blackness of the hall with the door ajar. He probably wasn't in that office, then, and that was just as well because if he was; Akihito would no doubt find his resolve cut by the sharpness of that light.
On nimble feet he made to step passed.
"Glad to be doing business with you again, Ryuichi, it's been a long time."
The sound of ice in a tumbler, clinking against another of its kind froze him as cold as the source of that iconic ode he knew so well. Now that he was this close he could smell the Dunhill's, feel the elegant quiet that always surrounded someone such as Asami.
"Too long, Toshiya." And that was definitely Asami's voice, unguarded and friendly.
There were no guards, no barred door and it wasn't even shut all the way, Akihito wasn't stupid, signs like that all meant that Asami was close with whoever was in that room, closer than what they were.
Fuck, Akihito hated this feeling.
It was be smart if he left now, before he heard anything else that would only cause him to sink further into indecision and his own ugly possessiveness.
Akihito had no problem admitting that sometimes his decisions were stupid though, and this was one of those times. He stayed outside the door, leaning against the wall with his head thrown back so he could frown at the ceiling as he eavesdropped for his own selfish reasons.
Bitter and stale, the taste this chummy conversation left in his mouth was pretty much unpalatable, nauseating even, Asami and this Toshiya person who Akihito hadn't ever heard of in his life were long time pals it seemed, they talked about trade, currency and politics, all the way down to alcohol and their favorite weapon. Asami didn't talk to him about any of that.
It's not like he would, either, this person clearly had a higher standing that what Akihito did in Asami's life.
Yeah, leaving would have been way smarter, and it was too late for that now.
"You've been venturing into new things these days, I hear." Came the cheered voice of this faceless friend.
Asami's response was smooth, even for his unsure question, "Oh, have I?"
"Chasing after pretty things and keeping them as pets, I didn't know you had in it you, Ryuichi." And it wasn't said in mockery, but genuine surprise like the value of a human life could be defined by this man's opinion. What an asshole, his jaw locked in lieu of Asami's answer to it all, still hopeful.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Blank and void of emotion, Akihito really should have bounced so he didn't have to hear this. The blatant denial from Asami stung more than the smoke drifting from the doorway as it hit his eyes.
"Oho, that's cold, even for you. I should have known the rumors that you might be getting soft were false."
Choking passed the lump of distaste in his throat; Akihito finally decided he didn't want to hear anymore, but as soon as he'd taken his first step to escape; the mood emanating from the door changed.
The cool silence grew frigid and prickly, heavy with a power that belonged solely to Asami.
"Like I said, Toshiya kun, I don't know what you're talking about, because I don't keep pets, and if you think you could keep someone as him, then I'd enjoy seeing you try, because nothing pleases me more than watching you fail."
Hush ensued, roaring loud and triumphant in his ears as the satisfaction and reassurance thumped in his chest like a victory march he'd yearned to walk for so long.
"You'd be wise to keep that in mind, Toshiya." Came the ending of that topic, clear that Asami was done.
Akihito didn't hear what happened next, like a flipped switch he ran, not for the door to call his editor, but to the office where he knew he'd find Suoh and Kirishima in, decisions re hashed and loyalties absolute.
He bowled into the room, uncaring of the shock on everyone's face, because he never came into this room without Asami, but here he was, camera, paperwork and audio files in hand to give not to his boss, but to Kirishima standing open mouthed in front of him instead.
"Someone said Asami was busy, so I'll give this to you. Details on Yoshikawa and his business with local distributors in Asami's territory."
Beside them, Suoh smirked like he knew this would have happened the whole time, Kirishima however, stood still with disbelief.
"What?" Akihito shrugged, impish and now aware of all the men's eyes on him. "This guy's bad to you, isn't he?"
Suoh and Kirishima looked to each other before the secretary finally gathered a response with a practiced cough. "We've been aware of Yoshikawa for a while now, Takaba kun, but whenever we tried to bring it up with Asami sama, he said it had nothing to do with him and we weren't to get involved."
"Now we know why." Suoh stepped in, tall and looming despite his imperturbable demeanor and the clap of camaraderie on Akihito's back.
For the second time that night Akihito was left reeling, because if this wasn't loyalty, in his own Asami-esque meaning, then he didn't know what was. He could have ruined this job for Akihito months ago at the start of his investigation, but he'd told Akihito he wasn't involved and he'd made himself and his own entire organization stay that way just for Akihito's sake.
Asami Ryuichi, the most unyielding person he knew had compromised his business on a promise to him, and if Asami could do it that easily, then he sure as hell could too.
With a welcome certainty he pushed the things into Kirishima's outstretched hands, happy with his new choice.
"You know what this means, Akihito kun?" the secretary cautioned him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm corrupt or whatever now aren't I? Just go get that guy, I worked hard for that evidence." It also meant letting go of his front-page story, something he'd never accomplished before, it meant dipping his toes into the abyss with the possibility of sinking even further in. It was always going to happen, probably.
"Are you sure?" Akihito knew he wouldn't be asked again, either.
Akihito made to leave for yet another time that night, not wanting to run this time, content with the feelings in his heart, "Never been so sure in my life."
Sunday morning Akihito crawled out of bed, boneless and hung-over after a night of drinking with friends, Asami was out, busy for the weekend and hadn't even come home yet.
They hadn't spoken about what Akihito's night at the club, no front-page glory and no pay out for him, he couldn't care less; there'd be other stories.
Squint eyed and dry mouthed he fixed a coffee in the kitchen, looking for leftovers to eat because cooking in this state was probably a bit dangerous, was he still drunk?
Cold hot pot and coffee would have to do for now.
"Are you really going to have that for breakfast?" came the question out of nowhere behind him.
Coffee spilled and food slopped in his fright, "What the hell, Asami, don't sneak up on me!" he snapped, because he was really hungry and he'd have to make it all again now.
Trademark smirk on his lip and twinkle in his eye, Asami stood in the kitchen door way fresh from work, coat and gloves still on with a brown paper bag that smelt like grease, sugar and salvation in one hand, grandé coffees perched against his body and the morning paper rolled up in the other.
"You're a mess." The taunt was empty and harmless, but enough to have Akihito poking his tongue in response.
The food, drinks and coffee went on the bench so Asami could take his coat and gloves off, in the meantime Akihito sifted through all his favorites in the bag, laying them out on the bench next to the drinks and paper and what the fuck?
"Asami, what's this?!" because he'd caught sight of the paper, unrolled it to reveal the front page and its entire content, the arrest of a politician's son crawling his way up in the world of drugs and black market pharmaceuticals caught red handed with a known felon, Akihito's photos with his name printed underneath on the front page of the Yomiuri Shimbun, the biggest paper in Japan.
Food, coffee and hangover forgotten, he brandished the headline at Asami like waving it around could make his question anymore fervent.
With an eyebrow cocked and a finger loosening his tie, Asami looked at the page for two seconds before shrugging in ignorance, "Front page? Nice. Now you can afford to feed yourself."
An un fazed and seemingly clueless Asami picked his coffee up from the bench. "Asamiiii." He stressed, following him from the kitchen "Don't play dumb."
Asami turned to him with his feigned ignorance and bored expression, "Akihito, I told you I have nothing to do with him, I have no idea what you're talking about."
With that he left Akihito standing in the doorway speechless and sputtering, keeping his word about it until the very end.