A/N Hello again!
I know it's been a while since my last work, but this draft had been sitting in my computer for ages, and I was like, 'I'll write it tomorrow', but before I noticed, months had past! So I forced myself to finish writing it. Apologies if some parts seem rushed or anything! And this is my first time writing a series(maybe?) so I'm pretty excited~
Disclaimer: All characters belongs to Yamane-sensei, but this little story plot is mine ^^
Apologies in advance for any spelling/grammar mistakes, and if you could point them out, I would be ever so grateful^_^ Also, any constructive criticisms are very welcome and so are any ideas for future chapters!
Find me on AO3 and Wattpad: BeautifulOtomeHell
Please enjoy!
01:36am
A black silhouette was pacing backwards and forwards like a caged animal in front of the entrance of an abandoned warehouse. Every so often, the shadow would jerk its head towards any sound coming from nearby, standing still, but after realizing it is not the sound that it is after, it would resume its pacing. Soon the silence was broken by a distance sound of two engines. The shadow paused once more, head cocked to the side, and listened. When it realized the sounds were getting closer, it hurried towards the entrance of the warehouse, and nonchalantly leaned against the decrepit frame.
The sound of the cars grew louder and louder until two pairs of headlights swerved from the side of the building and turned towards the entrance. Bright lights illuminated the black figure, revealing a tall man clad in a long black coat and hat. It was impossible to tell where his body and shadow separated, as if they were one. The tall man didn't move a muscle as the cars came to a stop a short distance away from him, but the dark glittering orbs beneath the hat followed the cars' every movement without blinking.
As the sounds of the automobiles cut off, the second car's doors opened, and a small army of bodyguards spilled out, surrounding the first car, guarding whoever is inside. Then, the driver's door of the first car opened, and a huge man stepped out. Dressed in a black suit and a pair of sunglasses like the rest of the bodyguard army, he went around the car and opened the passenger door and remained bowed as he waited. Waited for his superior, his boss, the person that could end his life with a single gesture, to come out.
A man stepped - no, it was more accurate to say that he squeezed with all his might against the car's door frame, then, with a pop, he was free and rolled forward, his flock of bodyguards surrounding him instantly. How so many bodyguards fitted into one car will forever be a mystery.
Donning a bright purple suit, the ball of a man tottered forward, breathing heavily. The fabric around his waist stretched alarmingly, threatening to tear open any second. A striped gold and red tie were tied under his green shirt collar. Without the tie one would have trouble telling that he possessed a neck. The shoes were a maroon colour, polished until it reflected the huge balloon stomach. Every short, pudgy finger was adorned with a least one flashy diamond ring. The authenticity of the diamonds has yet to be confirmed. The fat around his face seemed to fold down and hide his little eyes, though there was a gleam that indicated where his eyes were. His mouth opened, showing two rows of yellow teeth, with the occasional gold teeth. The nose was crooked, giving the impression that it had been broken too many times. Maybe he used to play sumo, or maybe he really annoyed someone and they bashed his face repeatedly against a wall. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat rolling down his shiny forehead. While wiping near his hairline, his whole hair moved backwards, showing more forehead.
Mr Shadow strode forward to greet Mr Gaudy, bowing slightly, but jerked upright again, as if afraid to keep his eyes away from the small army before him. Mr Gaudy seemed pleased with this, and stood even straighter, pulled his head back and proceeded to look down on Mr Shadow, which was quite hard since he was at least four heads shorter. Mr Shadow held out the briefcase he was carrying, opened it and showed the contents to Mr Gaudy. Mr Bodyguard turned on a flashlight he magically had with him while his boss inspected the goods. Mr Gaudy was obviously satisfied, and he smiled, opening wide his mouth, his fake gold teeth flashed, reflecting the light from the torch. Motioning with his hands, Mr Bodyguard No. 2 stepped out and held out a thick A4 envelope. Mr Shadow handed over the briefcase and accepted the envelope and peered inside quickly, but decided it was too dangerous to stay to check, hurriedly bade Mr Gaudy farewell and slithered back into the shadows. Mr Gaudy soon disappeared into his car and drove away.
Unbeknownst to them, their secret rendezvous was all captured through a viewfinder...
"Hmph, amateurs." The photographers muttered. "He would never do something this easily to be caught." Only the wind caught his words, carrying and dissipating them into the darkness.
~ The next day ~
"Hahaha!" The Chief Editor's booming laughter echoed throughout the whole editorial department.
"Hmph, we all know why he is so happy," Mitari, a fellow journalist, grumbled, and took a swing of his canned coffee.
"Why are you sucking on lemons so early in the morning, Mitari?" A cheerful voice rang out. A hand clapped on Mitari's back, which caught him in surprise and made him choke on the coffee.
"Ew, gross, I just saw coffee spurting out of your nostrils. Ahh, I should have taken a picture, could have been another headline photo for me then." The mop of blond hair shook in fake sadness, while there was no masking in the cheeking grin.
"Don't get such a big head just because the Editor likes your picture, newbie." Mitari barked.
"Yeah, yeah. Mr Old Timer." The blond smiled goofily and headed towards the Chief's office. "We will sit tight on our ass all day and wait for the gold mountain to fall onto our head, shall we? Except we might be smashed to death. Urgh." He pretended to shudder at that thought. "Though that might do wonders to your face. Maybe it will smash a permanently smile on your face?" He smiled innocently towards the veteran journalist.
"Maybe I will smash your face inwards if you don't stop annoying me." Mitari growled, which just earned a laugh from Akihito as he opened the door and disappeared into the office.
"Hmph, we will see how long that bravado of his lasts."
"Haha, give him a break. Not many youngsters these days shows guts like him, right?" Another fellow journalist laughed and tried to pacify Mitari.
The photo that Akihito took was indeed good: the angle, the clarity. Mr Gaudy, the politician that had been captured by Akihito's viewfinder, will definitely be working at McDonald's at the end of the day, if they were desperately short of staff. Or maybe at a street food vendor. Mr Shadow, the drug dealer, no doubt got in trouble with his own boss, stealing and reselling drugs that belonged to his boss. The normal punishment would be cutting of his little finger, present it to the boss and be banished, but Akihito reckoned that the fish tonight in Tokyo Bay will end up with a feast.
Despite being happy that his photo ended up on the frontpage news, Akihito was aware that just because of this once doesn't mean that he could take it easy. The other journalists would certainly try and surpass him. But maybe he could just celebrate today as he got extra pay since the Chief was feeling generous (the Chief had not been a fan of Mr Gaudy). But even though he got quite a lot, he could never compare to him. This was probably no more than a tip he leaves in those fancy-ass restaurants.
Akihito strolled out of the building, humming, spirits high. Maybe he could afford to splash out, buy some premium Wagyu beef for Shabu-shabu hot pot tonight. Just thinking about it made his mouth water, and his feet naturally made him walk faster towards the fancier supermarket, which sells the Wagyu beef that he eats. Just. No way was Akihito going to that super fancy shop that sells Wagyu beef a thousand times more expensive than normal wagyu beef. What made them so different? Does the shop wrap them in thin sheets of gold and sprinkling some truffles? With a giant diamond studded on top? After all, Wagyu beef was already expensive enough and if he wasn't going to eat any then damn him, Akihito will eat all of it. Totally not why his purse refuses to allow him to go there. Anyway, he already looks out of place in here, where the slightly more 'upscale' housewife shops and gossip about whose wrinkle grew deeper by 1 picometre and whose pimple grew bigger by 1 nanometre.
Parking his vespa at the parking spot next to a shiny black BMW (Akihito had to resist the urge to bump slightly against the car to scratch its shiny new surface), he took off his helmet, sucked a big breath, and speed walked towards the entrance. Giving a quick nod to the salesperson who welcomed him, he grabbed a basket and proceeded to grab his shopping in record speed. Akihito had already memorized the whole layout of the shop so he doesn't need to waste time trying to locate where something is, and, even worse, ask a salesperson in those fancy suits for help. Pray God that they don't change the layout anytime soon.
Udon, check. Cabbage, check. Tofu, check. Kombu, check. Premium Wagyu beef, Akihito winced at the price, check. Enoki mushroom, check. Shimeji mushroom, check. Aaaaaand, Akihito grinned evilly, shitake mushroom, check. Fresh shitake mushrooms, since they got way more flavour than dried shitake mushrooms. He wondered what people would think that he wouldn't eat a simple thing such as shitake mushroom. Akihito laughed inwardly, and realized that he was smiling when the housewives were doing the whole staring-whispering thing at him. Akihito couldn't care any less at this point, already coming up with fifty ways of hiding the shitake mushroom. Maybe wrapping them inside the wagyu beef? Chopping them up to atomic size and blend them into the soup?
At the cashier, the final amount made Akihito gulp and he made a quick prayer to whatever deity that was listening to him that his card wouldn't be declined, then remembered that he got extra pay today so he definitely had enough. Akihito gingerly picked up the receipt, glanced at it to make sure that they didn't charge anything extra (refusing to look at the final amount), then quickly scrunched it up into a ball and chucked it into the nearest bin. Stuffing his groceries into his Vespa, he opened up his phone.
To: Ultimate Final Boss
: Shabu-shabu hot pot 4 2nit. Be on time. Or beef will be all mine mwahaha
To: Glasses-san
: Make sure the evil warlord is back early from his conquer 2nite. Cheers Glasses-chan
Strapping his helmet on, he zoomed across the roads, finally arriving at the condo, and parked his vespa in the underground parking space. With his shopping in hand, Akihito stepped into the elevator and rode to the top floor.
With a ping, the elevator arrived at the penthouse level, and Akihito carried the bags out, shuffling all the bags into one hand, while the other hand dug into his pocket to fish out his key, or his spare key, to be precise, and unlocked the door.
A gust of cool air greeted him when he flung open the door. Placing his shoes at the genkan, he put the bags down and stretched, arms raised above his head, letting the cold air wash over him. How lucky one is to have working air conditioning, especially during the summer, and to be able to leave the air con on while no one is home, Akihito shook his head, grabbed the bags and headed towards the kitchen.
By now, the kitchen was overflowing with Akihito's presence. A whole cupboard with double doors was dedicated to Akihito's snacks. The fridge was stacked full of vegetables of all different sorts of colour. Pots and pans of different sizes were laid out on the counter to dry.
Akihito changed his clothes, put on an apron, and proceeding to make a feast.
Akihito had just finished setting up the table for Shabu-shabu when suddenly a pair of steel arms wrapped around him from behind, caging him.
"Woah!" The plate of sliced Wagyu beef nearly went flying. "Jeez! If they had fallen on to the floor, we would still have to eat it! Damn, that's half my salary in there." Akihito grumbled.
Before he had time to say anything else, a hand snaked around to his face to turn his head to the side, and a pair of scorching lips crashed against his.
"Mmm, wait." He gasped. Before he had time to protest, a burning hot tongue invaded his mouth, twisting and sucking his tongue, and the hand on the back of his head pushed him firmly against him.
His smell filled his nose, the smell of a faint cologne and Dunhill smoke.
Akihito's brain stopped working. The world seemed to revolve around him. Or maybe it did. Maybe all the stars and planets did orbit around him. Akihito wouldn't be surprised if they actually did.
Asami Ryuichi.
Chiselled jaws that even Zeus would be jealous at. Raven black hair that had slipped from its place and had fallen onto his eyes. Smouldering gold orbs stared deeply into his eyes, as if they could see Akihito's soul. Akihito trembled slightly, enjoying the gaze that never failed to make him shiver in excitement.
"Hmm." Asami's lips tugged upwards slightly, and his thumb gently caressed Akihito's lips.
"W-what were you thinking?" Akihito pretend to fume, desperately trying to cool his flaming cheeks.
"That your glistening lips look very delectable right now, how can I hold myself back?" Asami smirked, and inched his face closer to Akihito's.
"Wait!" A hand slapped across Asami's mouth. "I've got Wagyu beef!"
Asami's eyebrows quirked upwards. Then a devilish smirk appeared on his face. He tongue flickered across Akihito's palms, and bit them slightly.
"B-Baka! Stop it! Otherwise I will only allow you to watch me eat the beef!" Akihito desperately tried to pull his hand back.
Asami's hand caught Akihito's wrist and wrapped his tongue around Akihito's forefinger.
"Hmm, I hope that you will satisfy my hunger?" Asami leaned in and whispered seductively into Akihito's ears, his teeth grazed against the younger man's earlobe.
"Ahh, you bastard." Akihito moaned, finally resigning himself and pushed his chest toward Asami, wanting more contact.
To his surprise, Asami pulled back, grinning evilly.
"What?"
"Fufu, I quite like this hungry look on your face."
"Twisted bastard." Akihito grumbled, shoving Asami away from him so the yakuza couldn't see how red his face had become.
He quickly grabbed the plates that were filled with meats and chopped vegetables and set up the table, all the while muttering curses under his breath, and throwing scowls at the older man. Once everything was set, he threw himself across the table, arms crossed against his chest, looking warily at the man opposite him. Asami had changed into a simple white shirt, buttons undone at the top, showing his muscular chest. Akihito quickly adverted his eyes as Asami smirked at him, noticing what he was staring at.
"You are late."
"I tried to come home as soon as I can." Asami opened a can of imported beer, tilted his head back and took a gulp. Akihito couldn't help noticing the condensation from the can dripping down from Asami throat before slowly making its way to his chest. Akihito swallowed noisily and teared his eyes away before he gets too turned on.
"That doesn't make it okay for you to be late. And you are late by a whole hour. I should have eaten all the beef myself."
"But you didn't."
"Maybe I should have."
"By the way, where's my welcome home?" Asami tilted his head to the side, staring at Akihito.
"..."
"..."
"Shut up, you arrogant bastard, I'm not your wife. I'm going to start to eat. Itadakimasu" Akihito snatched up a piece of Wagyu beef and put it in the pot, swishing it around and shoved it in his mouth, wishing that the smirk on Asami's face didn't make the bastard so sexy. No, EVERYTHING the man does make him look like some kind of god. Every male on the planet will feel inferior when being compared to Asami. Probably even the way that he accidentally trips would look graceful, though Akihito highly doubt that will happen, Mr Glasses Secretary always makes sure that nothing comes to harm his boss.
By the time they were finished, the sky had become completely dark. Akihito leaned back, and patted his full stomach.
"Ahh, I can't eat any more." He groaned and looked over at the man across him. A small pile of mushrooms was at the corner of his bowl. Asami noticed that Akihito was looking at his bowl and smirked.
"It doesn't matter how small you cut them up, I can always pick them out."
"Only pre-schoolers are picky about their food." Akihito stuck out his tongue at him. "That was so good."
"The quality of the beef wasn't that good."
"Insufferable rich bastard."
Asami stood up and opened the doors for the balcony, gazing outside. Akihito soon stood next to him.
"Here."
A look of surprise passed Asami's face as he realized what Akihito was holding.
Akihito shrugged.
"Figured you might need it."
Asami took the box of his Dunhill cigarettes and the lighter, smiling slightly.
"Here."
Asami held out a small white box. Akihito's eyes widened at the sight of the logo on the box.
"Isn't this from the really famous bakery shop that you have to reserve months ahead for a seat and it's nearly impossible to buy a cake from the shop as the line is hours long and by the time you are at the front everything is already sold out? How did you get this? Did you know that I always wanted to taste this?" Akihito gabled, raising up the box gingerly, looking at it in awe.
"Of course I knew, since a certain brat wouldn't stop talking about it for days."
"Oh." Akihito mumbled. It was true. When the first time he saw on the news that the shop was open, he knew that he wanted to try their cakes. Everything looked so good and amazing, but it was virtually impossible to get a seat. Either you waited for months or you knew the owner of the bakery. Or if your name was Asami Ryuichi.
"So ...what's the occasion?"
Asami tilted his head. "No reason. The owners wanted me to taste it. I thought they might suit someone else better."
"Haha, they should have known better than to feed you sweets."
Akihito opened the box carefully. Nestled inside were a Mont Blanc cake, a slice of cotton cheesecake and strawberry shortcake. All his favourites. He didn't know what to say. He knew that Asami didn't like sweet things, but he remembered all of Akihito's favourites.
"Oh."
Probably an understatement, but that's all his brain could think up of.
Asami clearly thought so too, and arched one of his eyebrows, amused.
But Akihito couldn't care less right now. He wasted no time before taking a huge bite of the cake and moaned, closing his eyes. "Dis iz zooooo guut"
"I don't understand what you are trying to say."
Akihito poked his tongue out at the older man, and took another great mouthful. "Seriously. Amazing. I think I just saw heaven. You sure you don't want a bite?"
"Hmm, maybe I will."
Before he could utter another word, Akihito's head was tilted back, and a mouth crushed against his fervently, taking his breath away.
Asami pulled back and licked his lips, staring hungrily at Akihito, "Not bad. But I wouldn't compare this with heaven. Maybe I should show you what heaven really feels like." He then swooped down to claim the photographer's lips again. The kiss burned Akihito's lips, and the heat spread throughout his whole body. His whole being ached for Asami. He twisted his hands around Asami's neck, pulling them closer. His mouth pressing equally passionately to Asami's, tasting him
Without breaking their kiss, Asami scooped Akihito up and carried him to their bedroom, the box of cakes lay long forgotten on the table.
It was late at night, just before dawn, the darkest time of the day, when Asami's phone beeped quietly once. The screen flickered to life, its bluish light lit up the ceiling eerily, casting a small, faint blue circle on the ceiling. The light made the shadows more prominent, darker, before disappearing. Asami's eyes snapped open, and turned his head to look towards Akihito, who was lying across his arms, fast asleep. Gently, he cupped the latter man's face, slid his arm out and lowered Akihito's head into the pillow. Standing swiftly and silently, he took a nearby bathrobe, wrapped it loosely around himself, grabbed his phone and left the bedroom. The door closed with a soft click.
"Kirishima." Asami's voiced was clipped. He wasn't happy to be woken up in the middle of the night.
"Asami-sama, forgive me for waking you up at this hour, but I do believe that you need to hear this as soon as possible."
"What is it?" The pair of golden eyes narrowed slightly before he poured himself a tumbler of whiskey without ice, and gulped down a mouthful. The alcohol burnt his throat, and cleared his head.
Kirishima could hear the displeasure in his boss's voice, but he knew that his boss would prefer to hear about this as soon as possible. He coughed slightly before resuming. "I believe that we found someone suspicious sniffing around asking about Takaba. The information was all varying. We would need time to confirm who it is, but judging from the amount of work done, it seems to be either a very talented individual or a very small group of people. Their intentions are still unknown at this point, but I thought it would be better to inform you."
"Arrange someone to guard Akihito 24/7, but do it discretely, don't let him or anyone else notice them. Keep me updated."
"Hai. Goodnight, Asami-sama."
The phone beeped, signalling the end of the call. Asami raised the tumbler to his lips, but decided against it. His eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes flashed dangerously. Someone got a death wish.
Asami returned to the bedroom quietly. Akihito has sprawled across the bed, arms and legs everywhere, with the duvet twisted around him. A small smile graced upon his face, before his face hardened again. He would sort everything out in the morning. He gently untangled the limbs and duvet, covering Akihito with the blanket, before slipping into the space next to the younger man. Akihito mumbled something about can't any more, and turned towards Asami. His even breathing was the only sound in the silent room.
Akihito was coming out of the underground parking on his vespa. He had just finished making breakfast when he got a text about a job. He had left the breakfast (traditional Japanese breakfast that the yakuza likes) on the table for Asami, who was still asleep. The sun shone upon him, and the wind blew against his hair that had escaped from his helmet. He clicked the indicator for his right lights, and was ready to turn onto the main road, when suddenly he felt a chill down his spine. He quickly stopped and looked around, but nothing looked out of place. He frowned slightly, but shrugged and decided that maybe he was getting a cold or something, and drove the vespa down the road.
The shadow in the alley stared at the road after the photographer had long gone.
"Takaba Akihito." The voice hissed, dripping with venom and pure hatred, as if the words itself was acid that burnt his mouth. Then, he took a step back and melted into the shadows.
A/N 2: Thank you for reading to the end!:)
By the way, I bought Finder No Souen from my local Japanese bookstore the other day(it is now closed because the are demolishing the old building T_T), and it was like 2 and a half times the Japanese price! But I don't regret buying it~ You can never spend too much money on 2D men \^o^/