Back again with another KamuSoyo fic, and this time around, they'll finally be able to resolve the tension between them... hopefully.
Fair warning: this is a heavily-edited version of the original to comply with this website's rules. For the unedit/uncut version, please check my profile for the link to either my Tumblr blog or to AO3.
Lastly, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.
Of Hormones and Yakiniku
"So glad you can make it on such short notice!" from her seat, she stood up to greet him as soon as she saw him getting nearer to the table where she was seated at. While she was all dressed up in a flimsy sky blue top with a white tank top underneath, paired up with what looked like a denim skirt and light-colored wedges, he felt out of place in his white collared shirt, brown jacket, jeans, and boots.
… Why did he agree to go again?
Oh yeah.
He tried to ignore the effect of her smile on his heart, as his heartbeat quickened its pace when he greeted her with a nod of the head. When she sat down across him, he did the same.
It took him a few seconds for him to reply at her, as he was trying to calm down his erratic heartbeat. The last thing he wanted was his voice quivering from nervousness. "Well, I had nothing planned for tonight anyway."
Not that he didn't get along with his co-workers; in his forward-thinking company, people didn't do unpaid overtimes, choosing to go home instead by five in the afternoon. Those who wanted to have drinking parties in the middle of the week, or even at the start of the week, were allowed to do so, provided that they show up at work the next day, completely sober and on time. While he joined in in the occasional drinking party, no one had any plans for this week. He resigned himself to going home early, back to his apartment in Kawasaki, after he would get dinner.
Just when he was about to leave the office, he received a call on his phone.
He did not know how Tokugawa Soyo got his number (he suspected that it was probably through his sister), but he nearly dropped his phone when she introduced herself (it was very unexpected, to be honest), then went on to ask him if he had plans tonight. After finding himself saying that he had none, she had proceeded to invite him out to dinner, for free, she emphasized, in Ginza, if he could make it.
He was out of the office after the phone call. Riding the train to Ginza from his workplace at Shinjuku had been uneventful, for which he was thankful for, as the last thing he wanted was the train getting delayed.
Despite both of them agreeing to meet up at a certain time, he knew that he should not to make a lady wait.
Thankfully, during his train ride to Ginza, he had managed to look up the name of the restaurant, where he was going to exit from the station (Ginza Station had several exits), and where it was located. By the time he reached the ground level, he had no problem finding it as he managed to get to the restaurant ten minutes before the scheduled time.
"Good!" she said, her usual waist-length hair tied in a low bun on the side of her head. "I actually reserved here in advance to eat with my brother, but something came up on his end, so I called up Kagura-chan!"
It amused him that she still called his sister with the '-chan' suffix, despite being an adult. "She also declined?" not that he knew what his sister's schedule was, but he expected her to drop everything upon getting invited to a free dinner.
Despite the estrangement, they really were blood siblings.
… Then again, who would decline a free dinner anyway?
"Souichi has been rather cranky lately, and she hasn't had enough sleep, so she said that instead of embarrassing herself in front of me, she'd rather sleep." She chuckled. "And when she said that, I asked her if she knew your number, and then I called you!"
She should not have done that, just like the time when she had put in a good word for him to his brother-in-law and his sister. The last thing he wanted was them looking at him with suspicion, especially since both of them knew that his only connection to the Tokugawa heiress was when Kagura had introduced her as her best friend from kindergarten (this was when he found out that his sister, despite her supposedly humble background, had been educated in an elite school and mingled with the elite).
To say that he had been shocked when he and Tokugawa Soyo had formally been introduced was an understatement.
Despite his nonchalant reaction to her at that time (he introduced himself by stating his name, both in his native language and in Japanese rather formally), inside, he was burning with guilt and resentment at himself for being careless. Even if he didn't pay any particular attention to his Japanese history classes, the surname 'Tokugawa' was known by the majority… and to hear that she was from that family…
The last thing he needed was getting involved with her.
After the introductions, his future brother-in-law at that time pointed out to him that he seemed rather cold towards his female boss, but Kamui simply shrugged, saying that she and he had nothing in common. Besides, he said, it would be awkward if he tried way too hard to be friendly with her immediately, just because she happened to be his younger sister's best friend. While Okita Sougo had said nothing about it, Kamui had a feeling that the other male was not convinced with his explanation.
Okita had no idea that two days before Soyo and him 'officially met', they had been busy, him especially, since he was the one who did pinning against the booth of the bar in Shinjuku. Not only that, but he had been busy sticking his tongue down her throat, ignoring everyone else around them.
"Let's just enjoy this. No strings attached." He remembered himself saying, something that she agreed with before she started loosening his necktie.
The only thing they shared with one another before they began groping one another were their names, and that was it.
Hell, how was he to know that she turned out to be an important figure in society, and that she was also the best friend of his long-lost relative?
And also… how was she able to face him as if nothing had happened between them?
As if they had been friends for a long time?
As if they hadn't made out years ago in some shady nightclub in Tokyo's nightspot?
… Why was he still so hung up over that anyway?
She probably forgot about it and moved on… which should have relieved him, but somehow, the thought of her just casually forgetting it and shoving the thought of it aside had put him in a rather foul mood.
He forced a smile on his face, hoping that it wouldn't look too fake. "… Thank you, but you shouldn't have."
"Nonsense. You're a friend, and I needed to thank you anyway." She waved a hand at him, a standard gesture of the Japanese when it came to conveying modesty.
"For what?" he found himself asking.
"Simply for being a great friend." She looked up at him, and Kamui tried not to get distracted with the way she was looking at him, for her hazel eyes were shining in happiness. "To be honest, I don't know anyone else whom I consider a friend, other than Kagura-chan and Okita-san. I'm glad we've met, Kamui-san; I really hope that you consider me as your friend too."
Wasn't this the very thing he had hoped for? That she would forget about the whole thing and consider him as a friend instead, just to ease the awkwardness between them?
If so, then why the hell did he have the sudden urge to shake her and ask her right then and there if that Shinjuku bar incident between them had meant nothing to her?
He resisted the urge to grab the glass of water near him that had been placed on the table upon his arrival and managed a nod and a smile instead. "… Guess I could consider you a friend."
Smart move, his brain retorted mockingly, making him wince inwardly. Welcome to the friendzone!
"Great!" she brought her hands together, still smiling, while he wanted to kick himself for readily agreeing with her. "I hope you're hungry; I ordered a lot, to be honest… and I heard from Kagura that you have a huge appetite. At least it's money worth spending!"
… Maybe he could drown all his regrets throughout the meal.
He didn't have ice cream, but at least he had grilled meat to wolf down along with his sorrows.
So much for looking forward to having dinner with her.
They ordered drinks (the usual beer, which Kamui realized was like water for most of the Japanese he had met when he and everyone else turned twenty), and right after the beer was brought to their table, plate after plate of steak was then brought out. He was holding himself back on the food, despite her telling him 'not to be shy and just eat', especially since he really didn't want her to see how he horrible he looked like when he ate... as he had a habit of literally grab every plate available, ate the food without any thought in the world, and would only stop if there was no more food on the plate or if he was full, whichever came first.
And right now, he was very, very hungry for the food that was laid out before him, as he wanted to drown himself in delicious steak as compensation for sending himself to the thing that people called 'friendzone'.
… At least he could steal glances from time to time whenever she wasn't looking and get drunk at the sight of her, along with the beer he was drinking. His alcohol tolerance had improved when he arrived in Japan, but was still unable to hold his drink after five huge mugs of beer, while everyone else around him could manage eight and still not be drunk.
While the plates that were laid out in front of him had been steak that were grilled to perfection, she, on the other hand, was surrounded by some plates that contained raw-looking meat, while some were fried and grilled. He knew that it was what the Japanese called horumonyaki [1], food which was made from animal innards. Kamui himself wasn't fond of eating such, and the only instance he had eaten such was during the company's welcome party for him and the other new employees. His boss, Takasugi Shinsuke, had asked him to try, as he called it, 'unique Japanese cuisine', and upon eating the skewer that he thought was safe to eat (it was grilled), he was asked what he thought of it.
"It was okay. Tasty." was his reply.
His boss smirked. "Yeah, well, aren't pig intestines the best?" Shinsuke said before he took a skewer of said pig intestines and devouring it with much gusto.
He nearly threw up right then and there, and had vowed not to eat anything that people who hand to him easily. As much as his reaction had been wanting to punch the guy in the face for pulling that stunt on him, he decided that it wasn't worth it, and just kept his silence… but not before vowing that he'll make Takasugi pay.
"Try some." Without warning, while he was reminiscing about the first time he ate horumon, she had forced her chopsticks on his mouth, and by reflex, his mouth dropped open. Before he could try and spit it out, she covered his mouth with her left hand. "… Just try it. Please?"
He was temporarily distracted with the scent on her hands (apricot lotion, no doubt), and managed a glare at her direction. He figured that it wasn't threatening enough because she smiled back, albeit sheepishly. Still, he did what she asked him to do, just so he could get this over and done with. As soon as he had swallowed, she removed her hand from his mouth.
"… And that was?"
"… Fried pig brains."
"I… see."
She tilted her head at him. "You don't like it?"
"... Not really. It tasted fine, but knowing where it came from… well, let's just say I don't really eat foods like that much." He shrugged.
"I see." She nodded solemnly. "Was that your first time eating such?"
"No, not really." Came his curt reply.
It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she just let the matter drop and asked for more beer for both of them.
"I'm sorry. It's just that… I usually play that prank to my dates before but—" she laughed nervously. "It usually ends with them glaring at me and tolerating me for the whole night."
"I'm not angry." He told her truthfully. "I'm curious though; why would you do that?"
She shrugged. "It's a matter of testing them, I guess. Tolerance of my preferences is something that I value above all else; it sounds selfish, but I don't wanna date some guy who looks down on me because I like horumon."
Kamui found it dumb that men were intimidated by someone like her, who was fond of eating offal, and before he could stop himself, he said, "Then those men don't deserve you at all."
As soon as the words left his lips, her face turned a bright red. Immediately, she grabbed her purse, muttered something about going to the bathroom, and made a dash for it. As soon as he knew she was out of earshot, he slapped a hand against his face, mortified at what he had just done.
'Damn it. You idiot, why the hell did you do that?'
Unconsciously, he started cursing himself in his native language out of frustration from making her uncomfortable, because why the hell would someone run away if they had not been happy with what he had just said?
She probably thought he was a creep.
You fucked up twice in one night. Good job!
It took ten minutes for her heart to calm down, and by the time she went back to their table, he had resumed eating. Taking a deep breath, she said, "… Uhhh, I'm back."
Why is this so awkward?
He simply nodded at her, his eyes still on the table, still on the dishes, and she managed to stop herself from sighing in irritation at her own folly. If only she had not run away, then they could've probably had a nice dinner together without all of this awkwardness. Sulkily, she began eating more of her horumonyaki, all the while chugging down on the newly-brought beer. While she quietly ate her meal, she noticed his hand reaching for the far end of the table, which happened to be on her side. Seeing that he was trying to reach for the steak sauce bottle, she grabbed the item for him, but just when she was handing it over to him, it slipped from her hand and, upon hitting the table, the bottle cap came loose, and sauce spilled on the table and dripped down the edge.
Panicking, she stood up and used her own table napkin to wipe the sauce stain from him. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry—" without thinking, she began dabbing the cloth on his pants, and just when she was trying to vigorously wipe it off, he grabbed her wrist.
"… Look, maybe you should leave that thing to me."
"But I—"
"… Your hand came close to touching me in a place that a lady shouldn't be touching." He told her pointblank, his voice strained.
Oh god.
Once again, she felt her face flame for the second time that night, which she knew was not because of alcohol consumption.
Once again, she embarrassed herself in front of him.
When was she going to stop being an idiot?!
"I… I—" she stuttered, unable to complete her sentence from the sheer idiocy of what she had just done. Mentally she told herself to stop jumping up and doing things without thinking… though there had been one incident where she did something without thinking, and never regretted it.
"It's fine, really. I'll just go to the toilet and try to clean up."
She muttered another apology without looking at him, and just when she was about to go back to her seat, he tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him.
"It's fine." He repeated, smiling at her, and she knew that her face flamed further. Hopefully, he was still thinking that her face was flaming from embarrassment. "Stop frowning and apologizing."
She nodded, still unable to trust herself from speaking up. As soon as she had gotten back to her seat, he stood up and headed for the rest room.
For Soyo, dinner went well despite embarrassing herself twice. Even though the atmosphere between them was uneasy all throughout, she ceased all forced conversations, and in an hour's time, they were done. On their way out, just when she was about to pay, Kamui had whipped out a credit card, and laid it down the tray, which the staff member took with glee.
"… You didn't have to pay for it." She told him as soon as they got out of the restaurant and were on their way to the station. "I was supposed to pay—"
It was no joke to be paying ten thousand yen for a dinner course. And in Ginza, no less. [2]
"It's fine." He told her nonchalantly. "It's not every day I get to eat in this area. I'll have to thank you for that."
"Y-yeah, but, it was supposed to be on me."
Was it just her imagination, or did he falter in his step for a bit?
"… It's fine. You can have the next one." He told her immediately after recovering from his mishap.
Damn her heart, but it fluttered upon hearing him say that he didn't mind going out with her, whenever that would be.
And damn her for looking forward to it.
They were friends, nothing more… she even said it herself earlier, just so she could convince herself that whatever it was that would happen between them, it was brought about by mutual respect and understanding. That, and she did not want to get her hopes up when she knew that from the start, anything beyond friendship was doomed to end. At least when they were friends, she would have an excuse to see him… maybe even go out with him, spend time with him, and get to know him more.
Because that's what friends do.
Right?
'Yeah, sticking your tongue down your friend's throat is the highest level of friendship you could ever do.'
Inwardly, she grimaced at the memory, not because she was grossed out by it, but because her conscience was making her feel guilty for telling Kamui that they were friends… when she actually wanted something more than that.
… Then again, she knew it would be doomed from the start.
Her brother would probably not mind her striking a romantic with a foreigner, but her relatives… well, they were another thing altogether, even if they were only members of the branch family.
For a very traditional clan, they were very, very close-minded… and were not fond of foreigners as well. While dating a foreigner was okay with some of the upper-class families, no one had dared to do so in their clan. [3]
She dreaded the thought of her and Kamui getting together, only to be forced apart by meddling relatives who would, no doubt, look down upon him just because he was not from this country, nor did he share the same nationality as her.
So lost was she in her thoughts that she did not notice him stopping in his tracks and she, in turn, smacked her face against his back.
"Oww!"
When he did not turn to check if she was alright, she peeked from behind him (he was nearly half a feet taller than her), and realized that some foreigners were talking to him… in Mandarin.
She never really had an interest in that language, but for once, she wished she could understand what they were talking about.
"Hey! Aren't you Wang Shen Wei?!" [4]
He froze upon hearing his name uttered by a tourist who, he assumed, was from his country of origin. It had been years since anyone called him by that name, and while he used Mandarin in his line of work at times during business meetings, hardly anyone called him by that name. It was always 'Kamui' or 'Shin'i', depending on who it was who called him.
But to be referred to by his real name, and not the Japanese reading of it…
Crap.
He decided to feign ignorance, ignoring the fact that Tokugawa Soyo had probably bumped her face against his back. "Huh? What're you talking about?"
"Don't lie to me. Everyone in China knows who you are. But wow, it really is you!" the girl said excitedly. "Of all the places in the world, it had to be in Japan! So awesome! Everyone thought you were in some European country or something!"
Were people seriously thinking of him as some kind of celebrity now?! Granted, he wasn't up to date with the news back home, and now he wondered what the hell people were writing about him. As far as he knew, Abuto, his mentor of sorts, made an announcement right after he left that he was on a personal trip, bound for an unspecified country for the time being, and that the media should respect his wish for privacy.
And while the media complied with the request, as no one had bothered him for the last few years while he was in Japan, it seems that the warning had not been extended to the citizens, as they were now starting to make small talk with him… particularly the girl and her friends.
All three of them began talking to him, asking him all about his life so far in Japan, when he noticed one of them discreetly taking out her phone. He had no doubts that girl was probably trying to take a photo of him so she could upload it on Weibo [5] and probably show off the fact that he was in Japan and was talking to them.
This was not good.
The last thing he wanted was that the bald guy would find out and would force him to go back home.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm a tourist here, just like you."
Immediately, he reached out for his companion's arm from behind and grabbed it immediately. Before he made a run for it, he made sure to 'accidentally bump' into the girl who was holding her phone; to his luck, his 'accidental bump' had caused her to drop her phone, making her shriek in surprise as he ran as fast as he could, dragging the female behind him. Kamui nearly smiled when he heard the girl screaming about her cracked screen and, upon seeing the huge sign that indicated the train station, made a beeline for the entrance.
As soon as they reached the ticket machines, he let out a shaky laughter. "… Sorry about that. I got you involved…"
"Do you know them?" she asked him, her face filled with confusion, which he found really adorable.
"No, but they were from my country. They were asking for directions." He lied. "They got really persistent, so I had to run off."
"Oh, I see. Still… that was… weird." She shook her head. "One of them even tried to take a photo of you."
He wished that she did not notice that. The fact that he had to explain to her as to why some tourist would take a photo of him was something that he was uncomfortable with, as it would mean he had to explain his past, way before he came here… and he was not ready to remember that rather annoying part of his life.
Not right now anyway, while he was with her.
He was saved from explanation when she said, "Can't blame her. If you dressed up in something other than those business suits, you'd probably pass off as a model."
For her to casually say it… well, it made his cheeks burn, and it was definitely not from the alcohol.
Laughing nervously, he said, "Well now… guess it's time to go home—"
"It's only seven in the evening." She checked her watch. "Maybe it's just me but… I think it's still too early to call it a night."
"Where do you suggest we go then?"
Her mischievous smile should have told him that what she was planning next was something he would soon regret.
... Or maybe not.
An hour later, as soon as they got off at Shibuya, she led him to the basement floor, the 'food hall', as the Japanese would call it, and there, she began putting cans of beer in the shopping cart, as well as peanuts, chips, and all the imaginable junk food one could find in the grocery store. While he was not comfortable with her paying for it (she actually slapped his hand when he was about to hand over his credit card at the payment counter), he let her be, as she placed a rather crispy ten thousand yen bill, all the while telling himself that he should just leave her be.
Right after they paid for their items, off they went to the taxi stand. While he insisted that he was fine with walking to her place, she shook her head and told him that 'it would be rather sadistic' if she asked him to walk… and after they got on the taxi and the driver began going to her place, Kamui realized why Tokugawa Soyo insisted on riding a taxi.
The place where she lived, despite being only a ten-minute walk from the station, was an uphill area, and was not an ideal place to show off his endurance and strength. Carrying twelve cans of beer was fine if they were walking on flat roads, but the road was all uphill… and he was the sprinter type, not a climber. [6]
She then told the driver to stop by a shrine, and upon paying, they climbed out of the taxi. As it sped away, she gave him a sheepish smile. "… I did tell you we needed to ride a taxi."
"I know. I finally understood why." He shrugged. "No big deal."
The raven-haired woman sighed in relief. "Well then, let's go inside."
From the small shrine, they had to walk a bit, as the house was right next to it. From the gate, it took a bit of a walk, as they had to cross the garage to get to the front door. She took out another key, unlocked the door, and from the entry way, they both removed their shoes. It wasn't easy to remove his boots, so he set down the plastic bag that contained the cans of beer, sat down on the elevated platform to remove his footwear, and put on the slippers that his host provided him when he got up.
With the bag in his left hand and his own small bag on his right, he asked, "Where do I put this?"
"Place it by the living room." She said, walking to a rather spacious Western-style living room just a few steps away from the door. To his surprise, it was not what he had expected at all: the living room had a three-cushion couch with a glass table right in front of it, flanked by two individual couches. A flat screen television which he guessed was around fifty inches stood a few feet away from where the couches were. To his surprise, a gaming console was hooked up on the television, and he wondered when this woman would cease to amaze him.
Probably never.
When he saw her place the bag of snacks on the table, he did the same with the cans of beer. "Go on, sit down."
He did what she told him, and upon sitting down on the far end of the biggest couch, without warning, she sat on his lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him fully on the lips. He was so startled that it took him several seconds to realize what was happening before he gently pulled her away. Kamui figured that he must have looked at a loss at what just happened, because Tokugawa Soyo's eyes were the same as the time they made out years ago.
"… What are you doing?" he barely managed to sound as normal as possible, given the effects of the sudden kiss.
Damn it, but she reminded him of that night very well.
She shrugged with her right shoulder. "I was kissing you until you pushed me away."
"… Why?" he knew it sounded rather dumb to his ears, but after agreeing to be friends, and accidentally putting himself in the friendzone in the process, the turn of events surprised him.
… Not that he was against it, but if Tokugawa Soyo was doing it because she was drunk and would then regret it the next day—
As if reading his mind, she said, "I'm not drunk. I'm sober, slightly tempted to take that shirt off, and maybe even get lucky and have sex tonight."
She was thinking that far ahead?!
He would probably never understand women, nor foreign women for that matter.
Still…
Damn her, but she was tempting him so badly, he was surprised he was still not pining her beneath him.
The only thing holding him back right now was the lack of contraceptives. He never saw the need to bring those, as it had never crossed his mind that he was going to have a hook-up in the future. Though back when they first met, he had one. The expiration date had passed a year ago, and he had to throw it away.
"… I don't have any condoms with me." He told her point-blank, knowing that there was no need to hesitate on matters such as these, as they were both adults.
They were not exclusively dating, nor were they involved romantically. The last thing they needed was unnecessary baggage that would hold them back from their dreams.
"Lucky for you, I have some." She smirked at him, flashing at him what looked like three packets of said rubber from a rather popular brand in Japan, boasting it to be one of the thinnest in the world. Though he wondered why a woman carried packs of condoms with her [7], he couldn't care less if she had put it into good use before.
Sex was sex, after all. There was no need to be emotional about it.
… Though he knew that it was impossible not to be emotional, especially when it came to her.
Before he realized it, she had already made an impact in his life, and the unresolved issues between them from years ago needed to be taken care of immediately.
It was now or never.
"Perfect." He smirked back, placing a hand on the back of her neck to kiss her while his free hand landed on her exposed thighs. As they kissed, his hand went further under her skirt. When she gave no indication of stopping him and had actually straddled him to get comfortable, with her knees on either side of his thighs, he started to roughly rub his fingers against the cotton fabric of her underwear. Upon hearing her moan against his lips, he pulled her panties down to her knees, and upon slipping his tongue inside her mouth, he teased her lower lips with his fingers, feeling her slowly getting wet from his ministrations.
She pulled back from him, breathless from their kissing as she ran her hands under his shirt, touching his chest and his abdomen. He nearly jolted when she began unbuckling his belt, knowing that he was a goner if she managed to remove it from him.
The living room was not the proper place to conduct sexual liaisons between two consenting adults, as he wanted both of them to be comfortable.
"Have any spare room?"
She kissed him briefly on the lips. "Of course."
He was surprised to still be able to stand on his own two feet around late afternoon the next day.
Their breakfast turned into brunch when she told him that it would take an hour for her to prepare the food, as she knew that he was a big eater, which meant cooking more dishes. He told her that he didn't mind waiting before she pounced on him and rode him rather hard that he thought he would have a hard time standing up after, and he did. It took him around twenty minutes to get his bearings straight after she got up to get dressed, as she was going to order pizza instead for them. When he got out of her room dressed in his clothes from the previous night, four pizza boxes were already on the table. Soyo, on the other hand, was preparing the utensils and plates for them to use. When she noticed him in the dining area, she told him to sit down and start eating.
Sex was a rather tiring hobby, if he had to be blunt about it. He managed to eat nearly every pizza slice, leaving around ten slices of pizza for her to eat. She only managed to finish off six before telling him that he could have the remaining slices, and he ate all of it with gusto.
Not surprisingly, right before he left, they made love yet again, and this time, it just had to happen in her bathroom, while he was getting washed up.
… Or rather, when he asked politely if it was possible for him to take a quick shower, as he was about to meet up with someone important right after he would leave her home.
He shouldn't have been surprised, but when she barged in on him while he was bathing, he knew it was yet another invitation for yet another round.
As he got dressed in his clothes that she had put in the laundry while he took a shower, he knew bathing would never be the same again, after all that had happened.
Embarrassingly, it made him blush just thinking about it, though he knew he shouldn't be surprised anymore.
Tokugawa Soyo always got what she wanted… and that probably included him as well.
He liked her well enough, that was true, but he found everything that had happened between them for the past twenty-four hours a bit too fast for his liking. While he did enjoy everything that had happened, once he was back to reality, Kamui felt… rushed. The only time he felt like this was when he was back doing the old man's bidding; annoyed, he escaped to Japan, away from his control, and had been enjoying his life at his own pace.
Right now, he was well on his way to meet up with someone important… or rather, someone who was from his past that he still contacted from time to time just so he would be updated on the matters with his old man. Despite being away from his influence, he still had to be one step ahead of Ryou Kankou [8], known as 'Umibouzu' among his associates and his rivals, and his father.
The same man who did not hesitate to abandon Kagura because he was unable to pay the fine for having a second child.
Knowing that his sister had live after being abandoned during the coldest autumn of the year had been the second reason why he pursued his plans of studying in Japan for his university degree, as he learned that for years, she had led a life far better than what Umibouzu could offer. While it was true that she did not grow up with a silver spoon on his mouth like he did, she had a father who cared for her, based on what he heard, for his boss, Takasugi Shinsuke, happened to be the childhood friend of his sister's legal father, Sakata Gintoki.
He could not understand why Shinsuke sounded like he had a grudge towards Kagura, though he was assured by the older man that Sakata Gintoki had at least managed to raise her right. Kamui had been grateful to the guy, knowing that at least he treated her like she was his full-blooded daughter. However, despite knowing that they were blood siblings, she was still very much hostile towards him even until now, as she had been unable to accept his story. Beating up her future husband had not helped his case at all, but at least the guy had been able to put the past behind them, and was even helping him bridge the estrangement between his wife and him.
He had a bad feeling that his past was going to haunt him soon.
It took him several minutes to reach Shibuya Station, and by the time he was there, he checked his phone for any messages from his contact.
I'm at the coffee store, the message read.
Slightly amused that the person he was meeting for was at the place where he was actually wanting to go (he had yet to have his morning coffee), he headed for the place, and upon entering the store, he found the person he was looking for.
"Abuto." He greeted the older man without thinking, wincing a bit as he called his mentor by the Japanese reading of the man's name. "Err, I mean…"
"… Seems like you've managed to blend in here in no time." The shaggy-haired older man smirked at him. "And you seem subdued. You're not fooling me, kid. That innocent face of yours might work on others, but not me. I know you for what you truly are… you two-faced jerk."
He felt a smile that he had not managed to do since he had gone to Japan creep up on his face upon hearing Abuto call him a two-faced jerk. While it was not far off from what his true nature was, it felt rather nostalgic for him to be reminded of what he truly was.
The Japanese actually had a name for it, and it was what they referred to as honne [9], the real self.
Abuto knew the true him, and he had to applaud the man for reminding him.
Ou Kamui was all a façade; Wang Shen Wei, on the other hand, was a different story altogether.
"Thanks for invoking the nostalgia for me." He said, sitting down on the seat across the man. "What's with the sudden meet-up?"
Not surprisingly, Abuto sobered upon hearing the question, and he knew something big had happened.
"Your old man… he saw your photo being circulated on Weibo. He's planning something against you… and it's not good."
[1] horumonyaki - Japanese cuisine made from beef or pork offal. It's actually also a wordplay for the fic title, as it can mean both the food and the [raging] hormones between them.
[2] Ginza is a rather luxuirous shopping district. Flagship stores of luxury brand goods are located here, and not surprisingly, very rich Chinese tourists visit this place to shop.
[3] Based on a true-to-life story, but it's rumored that the son of the head of the Tokugawa family married a foreigner. His parents do not approve of the match, and because it's supposedly controversial, very few people know of it, and his relatives don't know about the marriage. It's very possible to keep your marriage a secret in Japan by either stating your right to privacy, and no one is a busybody.
[4] Wang Shen Wei - Because I went for Kamui's name to be written as 「王 神威」, the pinyin (phonetic spelling) for it would be 'Wang Shen Wei'. The Japanese reading of it would be 'Ou Shin'i', based on how the characters are read.
[5] Weibo - China's answer to both Twitter and Facebook, as they do not have access to both social media sites.
[6] '... he was the sprinter type, not a climber.' - shout out to Shinkai Hayato, the ace sprinter of Hakone Gakuen from Yowamushi Pedal. He and Kamui share the same seiyuu, by the way, and are associated with rabbits to boot.
[7] Though he wondered why a woman carried packs of condoms with her - in Japan, it's the women who primarily buy the condoms.
[8] I decided to spell Umibouzu's name as 「龍 神晃」, which would read as 'Ryou Kankou', but will be pronounced as 'Long Shen Huang' in Chinese.
[9] Concept of honne/tatemae in Japan:
Directly from Wikipedia: "Honne may be contrary to what is expected by society or what is required according to one's position and circumstances, and they are often kept hidden, except with one's closest friends. Tatemae is what is expected by society and required according to one's position and circumstances, and these may or may not match one's honne. These terms are equivalent to the common concept of public and private face which is a part of all cultures."
Honne/tatemae is a rather important accept of Japanese culture, by the way.
That... took a while. *sweatdrops nervously* Sorry 'bout that. I've been at this fic for three weeks now, and it was only yesterday that I managed to finish it.
To be honest, i's been rather fun to write this fic, though of course, since Kamui does not have any mommy issues in this AU, I decided to focus on his inner turmoil and struggles. I think he's the type of guy who would have issues with himself, mainly because he's a foreigner in a country that has a rather strange relationship with foreigners (I can't emphasize this enough), and that he's torn between showing his true self and a facade he has had since he arrived in Japan.
Not only that, but with the way things are, he and Soyo will both have to make whatever it is that's happening between them work out.
[If you know you're astrology and you know their zodiac signs, you'll know immediately why they're acting that way towards one another, especially Kamui. ;D]
Thank you so much for reading this fic and for giving it a chance. I know it's a rather weird pairing for most (especially the ones who are not updated with the manga chapters), but if you've managed to read the fic until the very end, thank you once again.
Special shoutout to tangerinespectre as always for her help and for her input in this fic.
I'll still be writing fics for this pairing, and I hope you all will like the outcome. ^^
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Last note: this is a heavily watered-down version of the original version. The unedit/uncut version's link is on my profile.
Once again, thank you for reading!