Akihito stood outside Mae-san's office building, large letters marking the entrance with the name of the magazine, Soul. He had just dropped off the USB stick with all the photos he had taken from the nurse interview just over a week ago and apologised for the delay. Mae-san had waved him off once she found out that he was the one who had uncovered the Kikkawa scandal. With a small lecture about his safety being first and next time he goes underground he needs to just email her, Mae-san had kicked him out of the building with a promise of a catch up over coffee next time when she wasn't so strapped for time. Akihito was not really looking forward to being drilled for all the details about his new found soulmate and their relationship but at the same time he almost wished she might have had time to talk now. He was still upset over Asami brushing off whatever that nightmare thing was and he wasn't sure why he was so upset. It was irritating him that he couldn't figure it out and the man himself was avoiding the topic anytime Akihito tried to raise it.
He sighed. No point stressing about it now. Akihito tried to push it out of his head and set his focus on his next task. He needed to scout out the location from a tip off he had received from one of his sources. His source thought that it seemed to be related to Kikkawa and the scrabble to take over his position in the underground after his imprisonment. It didn't seem to be that dangerous of a job, most likely the people in a rush to secure deals and alliances after the fallout would be small time players in the underworld. But it was still going to be a problem with his guards. He still had the three tailing him for now and it seemed a bit excessive. Akihito suppressed another sigh and headed towards his scooter. The deal was supposed to be taking place at some of the warehouses not far from his last stake out. It was a good location for him, the warehouses were old with lots of broken windows, bad lighting creating lots of shadowy alcoves and plenty of hiding spots. It was also an incredibly shady area and considered dangerous enough even in broad daylight. Both Asami and Takato had told him to co-ordinate with Ueda and get them to help with his stakeouts instead of dodging the guards and he supposed that he would have to in this case. He had grumbled when Asami had told him to do that and was planning to escae anyway until he let it slip in front of his friends and Takato wacked him over the head telling him not to be stupid.
He reached his scooter and the guard, Kamiya he thought it was, was standing beside his own motorcycle, casually guarding both vehicles. He held out Akihito's helmet with a respectful head nod. He took it but didn't put it on straight away.
"Ah, Kamiya-san?" The guard nodded slightly in encouragement, confirming that he got the name correct.
"Yes Takaba-sama?" Akihito resisted rolling his eyes. One of these days he would get them to drop the honorific but now wasn't the time for that argument.
"When is Ueda-san's shift?" If the guard was surprised by the question he didn't show it.
"He's on the afternoon shift today, did you need me to pass on a message?"
Akihito nodded, it was still mid-morning so he wouldn't see him for a few hours yet. "Yeah, I have a stake out to plan for and need to scope out the location. I was hoping he would help me plan." Now the guard looked surprised. And very relieved for some reason. Akihito raised an eyebrow when Kamiya didn't reply straight away.
"Of course! I'll pass it on and let him know." He spoke in a rush.
"Thanks…" Akihito trailed off and stood looking at the guard sceptically. He was positively beaming in relief at him now. "Is that really so surprising?"
Kamiya grinned and looked a little embarrassed. "I'm just really glad you're relying on us Takaba-sama. I uh… Heard about the um… Incidents from before I was promoted to your detail. Please rely on us!" He bowed and it was Akihito's turn to be embarrassed.
"Uh, yeah. I will, thanks." He quickly pulled his helmet on, ignoring Kamiya who was now talking into his Bluetooth headset. All of his guards now had hands free headsets for their phones so they could call and continue with other tasks. Akihito was surprised they hadn't done it sooner but apparently no one had thought it would be necessary for his team until now.
He hadn't really put too much thought into the guard's feelings on their job and how his great escapes effected them. He had been too busy feeling pissed off at Asami for doing it behind his back and trying to regain his lost sense of freedom. Now that he thought about it, they had tried incredibly hard to not lose him every time he tried. He just didn't think they would take it so personally. It wasn't that he thought he couldn't rely on them, he just wanted to do this his way and on his own without outside interference. He chewed his lip in thought as he mounted up and took off into the Tokyo traffic, Kamiya keeping close behind without being obnoxious about it. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. All of his security detail, particularly Ueda, had been very accommodating and discreet in their help. They always kept their distance and allowed him his personal space to breathe in and were very polite when he spoke with them directly. He should probably give them a little more credit. He made a mental note to talk to Ueda about it while they were planning his stakeout.
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He spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon tidying up his apartment and grocery shopping. He had dragged Kamiya around the supermarket with him for company. Akihito really enjoyed grocery shopping for some reason, it probably had something to do with the fact that he loved cooking as well, so planning and picking out ingredients was almost exciting as he thought about all the deliciousness that he could make. Kamiya turned out to know next to nothing about cooking and confessed to usually buying convenience store meals or takeout regularly so Akihito took great pleasure in giving him little tips and tricks to try later on. While the guard was still visibly alert and taking in their surrounds, he seemed far more relaxed and open with Akihito than he had been previously. He had only had this new security team for just over a week and other than the team leader Ueda, most of them had been incredibly weary with him and spent as much time keeping a tense eye on him as they did the surroundings. He realised with a start that they had been expecting him to run at any time but now that he had asked for help and showed them a little trust, the guard was trusting him back. He felt another pang of guilt. Perhaps he had been a little unfair taking his anger at Asami out on people employed to help him. He still didn't want to be babied however.
Groceries acquired and Ueda due to arrive in an hour, Akihito set to making himself some lunch and dragged a very reluctant Kamiya into the kitchen to show him how to make a few easy meals. The guard had protested loudly about the impromptu lesson until Akihito had informed him that he was wanting to prepare a few meals ahead so he could eat good food even when he was busy with work or tired after a shoot so he was just helping with that. The two other guards at the door had grinned and left their teammate to his fate. By the time Ueda showed up for the change of the guards, Kamiya was fully invested and eagerly following Akihito's enthusiastic guidance. The man had let himself in at Akihito's yell that the door was unlocked and was now standing just inside the doorway with a small smile hovering about his lips.
"Ueda-san." Kamiya greeted him with a hint of embarrassment at being caught undertaking cooking lessons with his charge. "I, uh…."
"We're just about finished up here Ueda-san, although it's okay if you need to go Kamiya-san." Akihito glanced over to the guard who was still looking a little flushed.
"It's okay Takaba-sama, I would like to help finish up…?" He glanced back at his team leader in askance.
"It's fine, I can wait until you're ready Takaba-sama." Ueda retreated back to the door to have a quiet talk with the guards outside and Akihito finished up with preparations with Kamiya.
Ten minutes later and Akihito was putting containers of pre-prepared food into the fridge and freezer while Kamiya saw himself out, trading places with Ueda. With coffee and lunch on his little table, Akihito set up his laptop and paper with all the scoop information in front of him and beckoned Ueda to move his chair around the table to sit beside him.
"Thanks for helping me out with this."
"I'm just happy that you're not trying to give us the slip." Ueda flashed him a small smile and Akihito couldn't help the small flush at his words.
"I was going to," He admitted, fiddling with the laptop to avoid looking at the guard. "But then I accidentally let it slip to one of my friends and he hit me over the head and called me stupid." Ueda laughed at that. "He told me to talk to you first."
"I like your friend." Akihito scowled and shot Ueda a look but the guard only grinned back. "We were pretty worried that you were going to, that's why we've been training pretty hard to be able to keep up if required."
"The parkour course." Akihito sighed as Ueda nodded. "I… Need to apologise to you." The man turned to him in surprise. "I shouldn't have put you through all that. I was angry at Asami doing that without telling me and it felt like he was trying to take away my freedom and I took it out on you guys. I didn't think about how it affected you guys when I did that. I figured out when Kamiya-san thanked me for relying on him that I realised it looked as though I don't trust you. I do… I was just pissed off at Asami. So, sorry."
"Thank you Takaba-sama." Ueda visibly relaxed a little. "I'll pass that on to the team. We aren't here to try and limit you or get in your way. I know such a big security detail may seem excessive, it just might be in all honesty, but you are incredibly important to Asami-sama. He is a powerful figure with a lot of equally powerful enemies and when coupled with your own line of work, you're potentially in a lot of danger at any given time. If I had someone that important to me in such potential danger and unlimited money, I'm not sure I would stop with just three guards at any given time." Ueda admitted looking pensive. "I can't comment on your relationship with Asami-sama or the way he did things but I can see why he's so worried. The fallout over the Kikkawa incident was proof enough. Not only did people find out where you lived and try to harm you, the rumours of the threat and underground offers to take you out took far too long to quell. People are starting to figure out who you are and it will only become more dangerous from here. We aren't here to get in your way nor to be your friends. But we would like know you and have your trust so that we can protect you better."
"Ah, sorry, I shouldn't have dragged Kamiya into the kitchen with me."
"That's fine. You had two guards outside and having him so close with you is even safer. Remember each member of your team is highly trained and can react within seconds if needed. Anyway I think he enjoyed the lesson." Ueda actually laughed. "From what I have been told, he can't cook at all! I think he was just relieved that you're okay to trust us."
Akihito nodded, still feeling a little embarrassed over the whole thing. "I just really like to cook and wanted to share I guess." He glanced over and was reassured by the encouraging smile Ueda was giving him. "I'll organise with you every time I get a stake out and we can work out the plan of attack together. I usually scout out the place multiple times at different times of the day if I have the chance to make sure I don't miss anything."
Akihito proceeded to go through all the steps he normally took and went over the information he already had on the area as well as what he would be looking for in terms of hiding spots. They planned out potential locations that could be used to park their vehicles and how they could approach the area using maps found online. Ueda asked a few questions over their team security channel, finding a few of the men were already familiar with the area and organised a guard swap for later than evening when the stake out would occur. All in all the preparations were completed with terrifying speed and efficiency compared to Akihito's normal slog on his own. It left him feeling a little uneasy. Not over the job, he was pretty sure he would be the safest he had even been on a stake out and he was far, far more prepared than normal even without scoping out the area. It just felt… Cheaty almost. Like he was using his influence with Asami to aid him with his job and it didn't sit right. Ueda must have seen some of his thoughts on his face because he asked if everything was okay.
"It's fine. It's nothing to do with the stakeout…" He frowned and Ueda waited for him to continue. "I just don't like using you guys to help me with work like this." It was surprisingly hard to admit, looks like his pride was trying to get in the way. "It just feels like I'm using Asami's… Wealth? Influence? Instead of doing things off my own back. This is my job, my pride as a journalist and it just doesn't feel right."
Ueda was silent for a moment before speaking. "We might be hired by Asami but at the end of the day, you're just utilizing mine and the rest of the team's skills and knowledge. We are here to keep you safe, if that means following you around the mall or making sure you don't get found while on a stake out, it doesn't matter to us. At the end of the day we aren't the ones who got the intel and we won't be taking the photos. Most of the planning was done by yourself with not that much help from us really. You're not cheating by using resources that are available to you, especially if they are available to you at any given time. It's not like you took Asami's money or asked him for a favour." He pointed out.
Akihito groaned and ran his hands over his face. "It still doesn't feel right. But I'm not going to say no. It just… Feels like all this extra help has nothing to do with me and my abilities and everything to do with Asami and his."
"You are a very special person to the boss." Ueda spoke gently with a small knowing smile. "Anyone can see that. It's like his whole persona changes around you."
"That's because he has to take off the damn mask with me." Akihito froze. Mask. That's what was bothering him earlier. His eyes widened in surprised understanding. Asami ignoring what happened and the reason it hurt Akihito so much was because it was a mask. He was putting another mask in place.
"… I'll take it, anything you can throw at me, I don't care. But don't do it with that mask in place."
Except this time it wasn't just the outer businessman mask. Oh no, this was much deeper. This mask was covering a part of his heart, part of his soul. That hurt. It didn't matter that they hadn't known each other that long, he was still his other half. His soulmate. He shouldn't hide something that painful, something that must reach deeper inside Asami than Akihito had initially thought. With a quick vow to redouble his efforts at making the man talk, the photographer waved off Ueda who was now giving him worried looks and they started organising for their scouting foray at the warehouses.
Akihito vowed that he would find out what Asami was hiding and he would do whatever it takes to take away the pain.