Author: kira
Title: The love you leave behind…
Theme: Valentine themes, set one: Exchange
Pairing: Suikotsu/Jakotsu
Genre: Buddy fic, angst
Word Count: 2379
WARNINGS: None
Summary: Suikotsu and Jakotsu find their friendship is put to the test; will it survive?
A/N: This is based on a modern Au I have going and is a bit of a back story for Jakotsu and Suikotsu. They are old friends, who had roomed together in college, which is where they met.
Beta: The ever lovely and talented Jen, who can pink and polish a fic like poetry in motion! Thanks Jen!
For n0t again, who wrote for me the BEST Toutou-sai/Kaede fic ever!! Thanks, my friend, this one is for you! Hope it measures up to your greatness!
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Chapter 1
"I can't believe I landed that job with Maybelline! I really feel like this it, my life's finally turning around!" Jakotsu chatted excitedly about his new job while his best friend, Suikotsu listened patiently. The pediatrician smiled and nodded in all the correct places, genuinely happy for his old friend. "Now that I'm going to be the new face of Maybelline, do you think Naraku will… ummm…" he trailed off softly, pushing the dark thoughts he suddenly had out of his head with Scarlet O'Hara-like abandon.
"Of course he will; you're a famous model now," Suikotsu replied, his long years of acquaintance lending him the ability to understand exactly where his friend's train of thought was headed.
Jakotsu laughed. "I wish… But at least it's a steady job, and it sure beats mall openings and handing out cigarettes at Grand Prix races."
"Exactly. Now maybe you'll finally be able to get a real apartment to live in instead of that dump we used to share."
"Hey! That 'dump' as you so lovingly call it has special memories for me. You know, when I'm rich and famous, I'm going to buy that complex and rent it to poor students for free."
"Okay…" his friend replied, not wanting to argue the merits of Jakotsu's twisted logic. "How about we stop at my place first, so I can grab a quick shower and then we can go out for lunch and celebrate. I've got nothing else to do, Kikyou said she wouldn't be home until later… what was it? Oh yeah, she said something about shopping with the girls."
The twenty six year rolled his eyes. "Okay…" He just couldn't understand the attraction his friend felt for the former office girl that was now his wife and he was sure being gay had nothing to do with it. Jakotsu knew a beautiful woman when he saw one and while Kikyou had more than her fair share of beauty, there was something about her he didn't like.
They lapsed into companionable silence as Suikotsu maneuvered his car through Tokyo's midday traffic towards Setagaya where he lived in a modest little home. The more west they drove, the lighter the traffic became when they left the asphalt jungle of downtown Tokyo behind. Ten minutes later, Suikotsu pulled into his driveway.
They got out of his car, hurrying up the walk to his house. Once inside, they took their shoes off in the genkan. Jakotsu giggled when his friend handed him a pair of fuzzy pink slippers to wear, laughing as Suikotsu slipped on the slippers the cross-dresser had given him last year for his birthday; a pair of fuzzy black and white spotted ones that looked like cowhide. Walking up the two stairs out of the genkan, they entered the house proper. While Jakotsu made himself at home in the living room, Suikotsu headed towards his bedroom.
He stood in front of his bedroom door, frowning slightly as he did so. The muffled sound of two people engaged in intimate activity was coming from inside his bedroom, and the pediatrician paused. For one thing, the fact that the door as closed had sent up a red flag, that he stupidly chose to ignore, for another, he knew his wife was not supposed to be home. Thanking his lucky stars, the medication for his bipolar depression left him in a perpetually calm state, where nothing ruffled him; Suikotsu reached out and turned the door knob. He opened the door. "Kikyou…?"
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Jakotsu, meanwhile, waited patiently for his friend in the living room. Picking up one of Kikyou's fashion magazines, the cross-dresser thumbed through it, imaging his own face gracing the inner pages. He reached for the small handbag he carried, and looked inside for his cell phone. Finding it, he switched it on and after checking for missed calls, he dialed his boyfriend. The phone rang but all he got was Naraku's voice mail. The twenty six year old was starting to get antsy about it. Every time he failed to reach his wayward lover, Naraku was up to no good. The last time it had happened Jakotsu had caught him with a barely street legal school girl and he swore the next time he found him with someone, his fellow American would be tossed out on his sorry ass.
Putting his phone away, Jakotsu realized with a start that it was strangely quiet. He got up and padded softly towards his friend's bedroom. "Sui? You okay?" he called out anxiously.
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Suikotsu just stood there, trying to take in the nightmarish scene before him. There was his wife of four years, laying in bed, naked, with his best friend's lover, the stale scent of sex filling the room. Swallowing, the pediatrician closed his eyes, counted to ten and slowly opened them, praying he was just imagining things. Unfortunately, he was not and by the time he recovered his wits enough to avert disaster, Jakotsu had come up behind him.
"Sui…?' The cross-dresser said softly. He was deathly afraid his friend was having another "episode" as he was too quiet and he was worried he was spiraling down into a depression. Patting Suikotsu on the back, he said, "It's okay, it's just your room…Come, let's go inside and you can skip the shower and just get changed…" Jakotsu gently steered him inside.
"Hey, Jackie baby! You here to join us too?"
Jakotsu turned towards the sound of the voice, the bile rising from the pit of his stomach. "You fucking bastard…" he said slowly. "You fucking bastard." He repeated a bit faster and shriller. "YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!" he roared, his voice coming out in a strangled cry. "HOW COULD YOU?!" He turned to his friend. "Oh my god, Sui… I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he repeated over and over again.
Suikotsu nodded. Despite his own unenviable situation, he felt terrible for his friend. Jakotsu had drifted through a series of awful relationships and he had hoped that the tall, lanky American with the mane of dark, unkempt hair would turn out to be better than the rest. "It's okay, Jak, it's not your fault."
"Yes it is… if I hadn't let that…" Jakotsu choked back his tears. "If I hadn't let that bastard sweet talk me into thinking I was something special, this would never have happen. Oh my god, I'm so sorry…"
The pediatrician stood there, hating the helpless feelings that washed over him. All he could do was repeat, "It's okay," softly to his friend.
Naraku, meanwhile, had got up out of bed. Padding naked across the bedroom floor, he retrieved his jeans, pulling them on. Smiling ingratiatingly at Suikotsu, he walked over to them, intent on consoling his boyfriend, while talking his way out of things. "Come on, Jackie, let's go and I'll explain everything."
Jakotsu whirled towards him. "You've got to be kidding me. This is my best friend here, and that, you asshole, is his wife! If you're going to explain anything, explain it to him! I'm going home!" He turned back to his friend. "I'm sorry, Sui…" Pushing past him, the cross-dresser gathered the remains of his dignity and left the room. They could hear his soft footsteps echoing down the hallway, the quick staccato beat as he stepped into the genkan, the click of the doorknob and the brief moment of silence before the front door slammed shut.
Naraku and Suikotsu regarded each other wordlessly for several long tense minutes, before the pediatrician broke the silence.
"You want her that badly, you can have her."
"Yeah?" Naraku said cockily, the broad grin that was spreading across his face, rapidly fading when he caught the murderous gleam in the older man's eye. "Yeah…" he repeated less sure of himself.
"Honey…?" Kikyou said softly as she got out of bed. Picking up her kimono, she shrugged into it, tying it closed, before coming over to them.
Suikotsu glared at the tall American, who seemed transfixed to the spot.
"Honey…?" Kikyou repeated
"Don't you 'honey' me," her husband said with deadly calm.
"Please, you're scaring me…"
Suikotsu shot her a look of total contempt. Turning his attention back to Naraku as if his wife had not interrupted, he said, "You will go home and you will beg Jakotsu for forgiveness, understood?"
Naraku nodded.
"Now get the hell out of here before I do something I may or may not regret. You," he looked over at his wife, "and I need to talk." Returning his attention to Naraku, he said, "I believe I told you to leave."
"I'll call you later, Kiki-chan."
Kikyou nodded at him as he left. She looked up at her husband. "I can explain…"
"I don't want to hear your lies, Kikyou." Suikotsu sighed wearily. "I don't care who's to blame in this mess. All I want say to you, is I'm calling my lawyer on Monday and I suggest you get one too."
"Fine," she huffed, trying to push past him.
Suikotsu grabbed her arm. "Don't you get pissy on me; I'm not the one who was in bed with Naraku."
"Well, I wouldn't have been in bed with him if you were more attentive to my needs!"
"Kikyou, you knew damned well when we got married what it was going to be like being a doctor's wife. You knew right from the start that I needed to put in long hours at the practice so that I could work my way up."
She glared at him.
"It would have been the same if I worked in office like every other salary-man out there," he calmly explained.
Kikyou narrowed her eyes at him, before looking down at his hand on her arm. "You're hurting me."
"Not as much as you've hurt me," he replied, letting go of her arm.
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Jakotsu made his way home in a daze. He knew deep down in heart that Naraku would never be faithful to him, but he just could not help hoping that this time it would be different. That now that he had a steady and high paying job, his lover would stay put, if not for him, then for his paycheck. He started to cry as he entered his apartment. Once inside, he closed the door behind him, and kicking off his shoes, Jakotsu stepped up out of the genkan. He looked around the tiny apartment, feeling his lover's presence everywhere. As if in a dream, he opened the large free-standing closet in what passed for a living room by day, and started pulling Naraku's clothes out of it. Sighing softly, Jakotsu, walked into the kitchen. He walked over to the refrigerator and took the large cardboard box; they used to keep old newspapers in before tying them up for garbage, from the top of it. Carrying it back to the living room, he started to put Naraku's clothes in as if he were going to throw them out in trash.
Jakotsu heard Naraku enter but chose to ignore him. He simply continued to throw the clothes in the box as he willed himself not to cry.
"I'm sorry, Jackie... I swear it won't happen again." Naraku came over and sat down next the cross-dresser.
Jakotsu looked up at his lover. "You're damn right it's not going to happen, Naraku! And you want to know why? Because I'm fucking sick and tired of you cheating on me all the damn shitting time, that's why!! Now get your stuff and get the fuck out of here!" he swore.
"Awe, come on, Jackie, it's you I love... She didn't mean a thing. I swear it," Naraku pleaded as he wrapped his arms around his lover.
Jakotsu stiffened under Naraku's touch. "Get your hands off me and get out of here or must I call the police and have you forcibly removed?" he replied with a deadly calm he did not feel.
"I said I was sorry, what do you want me to do to make it up to you?"
"Naraku, you just don't get it do you? It's not some fucking slut you picked up in some club this time; this is my best friend's wife!! How could you do that to me?!"
"I don't know... I guess I wasn't thinking." Naraku shrugged.
"Oh you were thinking alright! Thinking with your cock instead of your brains... but then I should have expected that from you by now, hunh? Just get the hell out of here and leave me alone..." the cross-dresser begged tiredly as he closed his eyes.
"Can I leave my shit here until I find a place to stay?"
"No. Take it with you, because if you don't, I'm tossing it out with the trash."
"Look, I said I was sorry."
"I don't care any more how sorry you are, Naraku. I just want you want you out of my life for good. Now go…"
"I guess I'll see you around, Jackie, you know, when you've calmed down."
"I am calm, Naraku, because if I wasn't…" Jakotsu paused, giving his lover a small glimmer of hope that all was forgiven as usual. "Please just go."
Naraku nodded. Smiling as if nothing was wrong, the tall lanky American kissed his lover on the cheek. "See you around, Jackie."
"Not if I can help it…" Jakotsu said softly as the man got up to leave, taking his box of clothes with him.
After Naraku had left, Jakotsu picked up the phone and dialed it. He was half-tempted to hang up when Suikotsu answered.
"Hirata residence, Suiichi speaking."
"Uh, Sui... I'm so sorry... I feel so badly about this that words can't even begin to describe it..."
"It's okay, Jak, it wasn't your fault."
"Yes it is…" The cross-dresser sniffed. "I knew what a shithead he was and I still brought him around…"
Suikotsu sighed. "Jak, I want you know I don't blame you at all for what happened."
"I don't deserve friends like you…"Jakotsu half hiccupped, half sobbed into the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Home…"
"I'll be there in a few minutes."
"You don't have to, Sui…"
"But I want to."
"You sure…?"
"Yes. Bye Jak, I'll see you in a few." Suikotsu hung up.
"Bye, Sui…"