authors_paradise | Tour Guide to the Underworld

Pairing: KinKi Kids
Characters: Nishikido Ryo, Uchi Hiroki, Nagase Tomoya, Takizawa Hideaki, Okada Junichi (and others)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Don't own the JE boys (duh!), but OCs are mine and I created the story
Setting: AU
Warnings: Creepy, language
Multi-Chapter

Notes: A rather short update. ^^ And entirely plot-dedicated. I'm sorry, but I haven't finished the next important scene to the point where I can post it. I've worked on it so long tonight, though, that I decided to post "the first part". I hope you'll enjoy it.

Intro: Everybody lies? At least everybody has secrets. And they're being revealed bit by bit...

Ryo bit his lip as he made his way towards the application office. Koichi hadn’t been mad at him. He was happy about that, but even so he felt a bit uneasy. To top things off, after getting so much new information he wondered what he would do next time he met Yuri.

“Out dragon hunting?” he heard a teasing voice behind him.

He stopped in his track and turned around, finding Uchi closing the door of a near-by office. Ryo braced himself visibly, trying to look as indifferent as possible.

“Just headed to apply today’s route,” he explained, waving the file Koichi had given him.

“Oh, you’re going out today?” Uchi asked, sounding surprised.

“Er, yes, Why not?”

“I would have expected Tackey to keep all his elite people in after what happened the other day. But I guess it’s good if you keep training,” Uchi suggested.

“And Koichi is really good,” Ryo retorted. “He wouldn’t get knocked out easily.”

“How very true,” Uchi snickered. “Koichi-san is really one of a kind.”

“Or maybe Tackey’s just trying to get rid of him,” Ryo suggested. “Maybe he’s speculating that Koichi might get attacked.”

“Don’t babble such nonsense,” Uchi demanded, sounding disturbed. “I really don’t know what Koichi keeps telling you, but Tackey is actually a kind guy and a good boss.”

“Today again Koichi has gotten assigned a lot of extra work,” Ryo complained.

“Yeah, well, he just has it coming, because he won’t play according to the rules.”

“Because he didn’t let his boss fuck him,” Ryo spat out.

Uchi sneered at that. “Really, you’re imagining things. Not even Koichi would be this arrogant. Plus, he too let Tackey fuck him, he just decided to stop letting him.”

Ryo stopped in his tracks, shaken. Uchi went a few steps further, then stopped too to look at the other.

“You…” Ryo muttered. “What do you mean?”

Uchi’s grin got darker. “Oh, did Koichi-san not tell you? Well, it’s very him to tell a story in a way he wants people to see it. Why, let me enlighten you, then. It’s true that Tackey still has issues about Koichi. I dare say that Tackey generally has issues when it’s about letting go, but that’s his problem. Be that as it may, fact is that Koichi hit on him several years ago, wanting his attention.”

“That…” Ryo shook his head. “But…”

“Don’t take it to heart,” Uchi told him clasping his shoulder. “Koichi never lets anyone into his world. He just keeps everything to himself, revealing as little as possible, preferably things that will make him likable more easily. I guess he has issues too.”

“Everybody has issues,” Ryo mumbled.

“I’m sorry if I shocked you with this,” Uchi stated, his expression getting warmer again. “I just couldn’t let you badmouth a man that I look up to anymore just like that – and without you having all the facts. Not that I don’t respect Koichi-san. I just don’t really agree with his ways. Even so I treat him respectfully and try to think the best of him that I possibly can. You should do the same.”

“I… I’m sorry,” Ryo muttered. “I understand. I didn’t even think there might be more to it…”

“Don’t worry too much,” Uchi told him. “And better get that rout assigned.”

“Oh,” Ryo made, blinking at his file. “Yeah.”

And with that he ran off to the application office.

_________________________________________________________________________________

“I’m sorry, Koichi-kun, but it seems that Takizawa-san went out and…”

Both men stared at the person who had interrupted their… conversation. It seemed that Yamapi caught on quickly to the fact that he had interrupted something rather important.

“Oh, er… I’ll be back later,” he tried to draw back.

“That won’t be necessary,” Koichi told the younger man. His face had somewhat relaxed as he nodded at Yamapi. “We are quite done.” He shifted his gaze back onto Tackey. “I don’t need him here anymore.”

“Right,” Tackey muttered, his gaze somewhere between bewildered and helpless.

In the end he merely turned around and grabbed Yamapi by the arm to pull him out of Koichi’s office.

“What… was that?” Yamapi asked carefully.

“A bad idea,” Tackey muttered, still agitated.

“Sorry?”

“I… kind of declared war on him,” Tackey explained with a sneer.

The younger man stared. “Why would you do that?”

“I have a feeling that if I hadn’t announced something openly, he would have back-stabbed me,” Tackey explained. “I like to be clear about my business. You know, I’d rather say things out loud.”

Yamapi merely nodded. Then he yelped in surprise as he felt another strong tug on his arm. Tackey seized him into one of the narrow corridors that led to several back offices, pinned him to the wall and, while he kept at least a decent distance, held a firm grip on both his shoulders. Yamapi merely stared at him in shock. For several seconds nothing happened. They just stared at each other, unable to voice or act. Finally Tackey loosened his grip and brought one of his hands up to softly caress the younger man’s face.

“I love you,” he whispered. “No matter how long, or how far you get away from me, I just can’t forget you.”

Yamapi was still completely rigid. He didn’t fight the tight grip, or the loving hand on his face, he merely stood there, staring the other down. Tackey sighed sadly, his head dropping to rest on the younger’s shoulder.

“I can’t help it,” he whined. “I’ve tried… really. I’m sorry…” At that Yamapi’s eyes popped open. “I can’t forget about you,” Tackey continued silently. “I hope you won’t hate me because I’m still feeling this way. I know very well… I remember…” He looked back up, his eyes shining with bitter tears. “I promise – no, I swear, I will never touch you. Never, okay? I… I’ve learned to live with it. If you will just let me love you in my heart, I’ll already be as happy as I can be.”

Yamapi was looking back at him and his expression had changed. It wasn’t shocked anymore like it had been before. He looked confused, uncertain and yet a bit scared. The younger man took a deep breath.

“I can’t trust you,” he finally stated. He felt a slight tinge of regret as he saw the pained expression on the other’s face. “But I will,” he added with a nod. “Against the odds, I will trust you.”

Tackey merely stared at him. “Really?”

The other nodded yet again. “In a way… it’s admirable what you’re doing. I’ll allow you to love me, so long as you keep it to yourself.”

“I will,” Tackey promised.

Finally he let go of the other and retreated. Yamapi relaxed visibly, but brought no further distance between them.

“Ah, I guess we should…” Tackey said awkwardly.

“Yeah,” the younger man agreed and stepped back out into the main corridor.

He blinked as he saw a young man heading down the way, but then Tackey caught his attention again as he stepped out behind him. Silently, the two of them made their way back to their respective work.

______________________________________________________________________________________

“Hey, Koichi,” Ryo burst out the moment he came back into the office, “do you know that kid who is supposed to help us with those hunters?”

“Yamashita?” Koichi asked, blinking. Then he nodded. “Yeah, I know him. Why?”

“Well, was there… was ever something between him and Takizawa-san?”

“Why are you asking that?” Koichi wanted to know, frowning slightly.

“Well, I just… on my way back here I… I kind of heard them and…”

“Did he touch the boy?” Koichi asked, suddenly sounding agitated.

Ryo blinked. “What? No,” he answered shaking his head. “He said he loved him, but he said he wouldn’t touch him. Koichi, what is this?”

Koichi sighed deeply. “He’ll never learn. Ryo, I’m sorry you witnessed that. I…” He bit his lip. “Never let Tackey know I told you this. It was way back when Yamashita was still a student here, very much like yourself, actually. Tackey fell for him. Back then he was still a collector himself and training the boy.”

“Tackey was the one who educated him?”

Koichi nodded. “Tackey was madly in love, but it was never returned. In an act of confused desperation he tried to… well... to `convince´ the boy…” Ryo stared at that. “Nothing happened,” Koichi added quickly. “Not much anyway. Even so, after the… incident Yamashita was taken to another department and Tackey stopped educating newbies. He threw himself into his career… but he never quite got over it.”

Ryo took the new information in, trying to sort out his thoughts. “I never would have thought Tackey would be one of those…”

Koichi blinked at that. “What do you mean?”

“Well, someone to force that kind of relationship on their trainee,” Ryo explained, his voice tight.

Koichi shook his head. “No, he did not… He lost his head there, but he got a grip eventually.”

“Well, that’s at least decent,” Ryo scoffed.

“It never happened again.”

“You said he stopped training,” Ryo argued.

“Well, he’s still here,” Koichi shrugged. “If he really were on about that, it would be only too easy for him. Quite some of the youngsters would happily follow him to bed in hopes of special treats.”

“Is that why you started to fuck him?” Ryo asked with a sneer.

Koichi’s body tightened at that statement. “That is way out of line,” he told the younger man, voice tight but rising, unable to suppress his anger. “It’s my own damn business who I share a bed with and why.”

“Like with that hunter?” Ryo kept jeering.

“That’s enough already,” Koichi roared.

Ryo stared at his trainer in shock. Koichi bit his lip and took a step backwards.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “That…”

“No,” Ryo interrupted him, suddenly feeling stupid. “I was out of line. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“No, please,” Koichi sighed. “I… my reaction was uncalled for. It’s true, after all, I did get involved with a hunter.”

“But you didn’t fuck your boss for special treatment, did you?” Ryo stated. “Sorry, I was just… you never said anything. You just told me you refused him and I was wondering why you had left out the rest.”

“I guess it’s a kind of bitter memory,” Koichi sighed. “I really did love him, you know,” he related, a genuine smile coming to his face. “And we shared a lot of happy moments too. But in the end… Yamashita still always remained in his head. I gave it my everything to make my lover forget about his old love and focus on me, but it just never happened. I always knew, even though he tried to hide. And then, one night…” Koichi chuckled lightly, obviously trying to weaken the memory. “He kissed me… and he said his name…”

Ryo sucked in air through his nose in surprise.

“That was the night I left him,” Koichi concluded, “because I understood that no matter what I did, he would always love another man.”

“That’s… I’m sorry,” Ryo muttered helplessly.

Koichi merely shook his head. “I’m sorry for Tackey. The way he keeps going, he will never really find love. Yamashita had a hard time too, of course.”

“Yeah, I know what he feels like,” Ryo stated.

The next second, as if he’d only just realized what he had said, he covered his mouth with his hand, shooting a wary glance at Koichi. Sure enough, his trainer eyed him suspiciously.

“What do you mean?” Koichi asked.

“No, I… I mean,” Ryo stuttered. “I wasn’t… sorry.”

With that Ryo stormed out of the office. Koichi looked after him, till confused, but also concerned. With a quick movement he slid over to his desk and pulled out Ryo’s application. He hadn’t checked through the list of his former superiors, but as he did he found a name that made his eyes grow wide. He bit his lip, wondering whether he should follow his agitated trainee, but thought that most probably he wouldn’t be wanted. He sighed as he got up to start his daily route – alone.

________________________________________________________________________________________

“Ouch!”

“Ou,” Ryo panted, rubbing his hurting forehead. “I’m sorry,” he muttered.

“You had better be,” the man sitting on the floor complained. “Look what you’ve done.”

As Ryo opened his eyes again, he saw a huge mess on the floor, together with the guy he had run over in his rush. He stared.

“U-uchi-kun,” he stuttered. “I’m really sorry, I… I didn’t…”

“Whatever,” Uchi retorted. He looked up at Ryo with an annoyed glance. “Don’t you think it would be appropriate to at least help me with this mess?”

Ryo blinked at the other, then blushed furiously as he knelt down to help clearing up the mess.

“Sorry,” he apologized again, grabbing loose sheets of paper that covered the floor.

“Really, you can’t go running around like mad in here,” Uchi complained. “You could have hurt someone. Or I could have dropped something really important.”

“I said I was sorry,” Ryo sighed, grabbing for yet another sheet, but staring as he felt something else. Obviously he and Uchi had gone for the same sheet and had grasped each other instead. Ryo’s blush grew even deeper, his eyes avoiding the other’s gaze. Uchi merely grunted, annoyed.

“What do you think this is – some cheesy Monday night drama? Get on with it already.”

The smaller man merely nodded and grabbed for the last few stray sheets. Afterwards he got up again, standing next to Uchi and handed the pack to him.

“Here, I… I’m sorry,” he said helplessly.

“You sound like a broken record,” Uchi complained.

“Hey, it’s not like I ran into you on purpose, okay?” Ryo told him. “And I apologized properly. What else do you want?”

“Nothing,” Uchi shrugged with a grin. “That’s exactly what you should have told me instead of apologizing three times.”

Ryo blinked at him.

Uchi grabbed the sheets and put them on his own pack. “Nishikido, it’s good to be respectful and all. But stop being wary – it doesn’t suit you.”

With that Uchi moved on along his way, while Ryo merely blinked after him.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Okay, so the story line between Pi and Tackey unfolds. And Ryo has given something away too. I'm sorry this chapter had close to dialogue only. Next one will have more action again. I hope you like it anyway. :D See you guys! *hugs* <3

Chapter 9

Chapter 11