Unlimited
make believin' we're together
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
Disclaimer: Initial D and the following characters belong to
Shigeno Shuichi and anyone
then me. Because, boy are these characters not
usual bowl of cereal, still laughing his head off at the idea of Takumi having
sex period, much less with his brother, he had been surprised to see the younger
man sitting on the couch wearing an over-sized blue t-shirt that was definitely
Ryosuke’s. Keisuke noticed that Takumi was also wearing a pair of Ryosuke’s
jeans, the legs rolled up so he wouldn’t trip over the hem. Takumi had yet to
say a word to him, even though Keisuke had been sitting across the coffee table
with his cereal for over an hour. He had offered food, but all he got was a
mumble that he couldn’t really make out. It sounded along the lines of ‘shut
up.’
his head in his hands, gripping at his hair every now and then, hunched over
his knees like he was going to be violently ill at any moment. Keisuke couldn’t
help but smile down at the guest on the couch. Ryosuke had certainly never had
a one-night stand react this badly. It was only nine thirty and Takumi was
ready to commit suicide.
Takumi would either kill himself or Keisuke right now. He was certainly royally
pissed at Keisuke for telling everyone on the team and their mothers that
Ryosuke and Takumi had sex last night in his brother’s room. The only reason
Takumi was still in the house was that Ryosuke had hidden his keys, not
trusting the man to drive right now. Keisuke didn’t even want to imagine what
would happen if Takumi got behind the wheel of a car right now.
just to glance at Takumi with a disappointed look before going into the
kitchen. Takumi growled something definitely not complimentary at Ryosuke’s
back before trailing off again into silence, not able to stay angry for long.
Keisuke had followed with an empty bowl and spoon to the kitchen, setting them
in the sink as Ryosuke started some coffee.
drawled, more then a bit curious. Ryosuke looked up from the coffee machine
with one brow crocked. Being his brother for his whole life, Keisuke knew that
his face meant ‘Don’t ask me one more question.’ Of course, Keisuke was good at
ignoring that look, merely leaning on the counter to get comfortable. Ryosuke’s
explanation was going to be a long one, he could already tell.
briskly, opening up a cabinet with enough force to tear it off the hinges.
Fortunately it only banged against wall and bounced back, making Ryosuke shove
a hand against it to keep the door from hitting him in the face. Not that he
didn’t deserve it with the way Takumi was ready to bash his head open their
coffee table. Keisuke was kind of hoping Ryosuke felt like shit, or at least
guilty. Ryosuke had definitely slept around with enough of the general
population, and he should feel bad about somehow managing to get Takumi into
bed with him as well.
lisped, doing a fair imitation of a girlfriend. Ryosuke froze with a coffee mug
in hand, his face emotionless as usual, even though he looked like he was going
to throw the mug at Keisuke’s head. Keisuke kept on smiling, winking once at
his brother before smiling as wide as his mouth would allow, knowing that he
had the upper hand. Keisuke wasn’t the one who screwed the best driver on the
team last night, after all.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
like it was meant to hurt. Keisuke let the comment roll off his back, very at
ease. Ryosuke was in a pile of shit that he had made himself, not Keisuke.
Anything he said right now wasn’t particularly offensive. Certainly not from
Ryosuke’s current position.
brother, knowing that it bugged the absolute crap out of Ryosuke to have
someone just gawk at him. It was almost funny for the guy to be uncomfortable
with people watching him when he was the center of attention for any race. Ryosuke
turned onto Keisuke, ignoring the ding of the coffee machine, his teeth
grinding together audibly.
demanded, pushed past being civil. Keisuke had the gift of being able to make
Ryosuke loose his calm in under a few seconds. He didn’t think there was anyone
else who could get Ryosuke angry faster then him. Keisuke smiled again and made
an indicative noise, jerking his head toward the living room.
For being as smart as a rocket scientist, Ryosuke sure didn’t catch onto things
quickly. Of course he meant Takumi. What other person had been both literally
and figuratively fucked last night? Keisuke nodded very slowly for Ryosuke’s
sake, just in case he might misunderstand.
think it’s any of your business?” Oh, we
are touchy this morning, Keisuke
mused. Ryosuke was definitely on edge right now, with anger or guilt, Keisuke
couldn’t figure out right now. Hell, Keisuke couldn’t even figure out how
Ryosuke had gotten Takumi into bed with him. Keisuke had thought Takumi was
smarter then that, seeing all the women walk out of the house in the
morning. If nothing else, he was sure Takumi didn’t really have a clue about
sex anyway.
went out to dinner, Takumi got sick so we went home, and we had sex,” Ryosuke
snapped out, pouring himself a cup of coffee with a not so steady hand. Keisuke
blinked. He hadn’t expected Ryosuke to tell him in rapid-fire succession. And
with that much lack of detail. Well, it wasn’t like Ryosuke was the most
descriptive person in the world, especially when it was anything outside the
world of cars.
asked, a bit confused. Takumi hadn’t been sent off like all the other sex
partners Ryosuke had. In fact, Keisuke was pretty sure that Takumi was one of
the first men, if not number one, that Ryosuke had ever had. Ryosuke stared
into the mug of coffee like it would answer Keisuke for him. Keisuke crossed
his arms, ready for the explanation.
you- interrupted us,” Ryosuke hesitated, trying to find the words. Keisuke
wondered just how upset Takumi really had been, if it was enough to make
Ryosuke stutter in the explanation of it. Keisuke could almost feel bad about
walking in, but it was Ryosuke’s fault for not locking the door. Besides, it
was too good to be true, that his ultra-serious and aggressive brother had
hooked up with quiet, shy Takumi. Keisuke couldn’t help but tell someone. Who
could ever have kept it a secret?
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
After he had hollered up and down the hall to the guys that Ryosuke had
deflowered Takumi, the team and him had been waiting excitedly in the kitchen
for someone to come downstairs and face the music. However, neither of the two
had come down. In fact, Keisuke and the boys had fallen very quiet as they
heard the slams and thumps of objects being thrown or pushed over and very loud
yelling from both. Keisuke hadn’t looked in Ryosuke’s room to see the damage
yet, quite frankly scared of getting the focus of their anger. He had been very
surprised to see that neither Ryosuke nor Takumi had any kind of black eyes or
bruises. It had sounded like the best bar room brawl had taken place upstairs last
night. Keisuke and the boys had, of course, left very quickly, so he wasn’t
quite sure how the fight had ended. When he got home extremely late, there wasn’t
a single sound, not even the chirping of an insect.
find out,” Ryosuke elaborated after a painfully long silence. Getting these
important little details out of Ryosuke was as fun as being run over by him.
Keisuke thought about all he knew of Takumi’s father. Old man. He ran a tofu
shop. He was the fastest thing on four wheels. Keisuke pursed his lips. That
was the end of his knowledge. It was the most anybody probably knew of Takumi’s
family.
asked, a bit curious. He didn’t think that word would get around to Takumi’s
dad. It wasn’t like anyone on the team talked to Takumi’s dad on a friendly
basis. Nobody would recognize his dad if they walked past him on the street.
There wasn’t much danger of discovery.
beating of his life if it gets around to his dad,” Ryosuke explained into the
coffee mug, taking a deep sip to sooth his nerves. Keisuke waited the usual two
seconds before Ryosuke cursed and opened his mouth, huffing around his burned
tongue and mouth.
enough. Its still steaming, dumb ass,” Keisuke pointed out, not at all
surprised that Ryosuke had taken a huge swig from burning hot liquid. It was
almost a morning tradition for Ryosuke to burn his mouth. The man just didn’t
want to wait for anything, just like how he drove. As soon as Ryosuke had
stopped sucking in air to try and cool off his mouth, Keisuke sighed and
stretched his arms back around his head.
about. It’s not like we’re going to call him up and tell his dad ‘Hey, guess
what your son did last night?’” Keisuke joked. Ryosuke glared at him, obviously
not appreciating the humor at the moment. Keisuke shrugged. Either way, the
situation didn’t really matter to him, as long as Takumi didn’t quit the team
because of Ryosuke. He liked Takumi a lot, drawn to that severally easygoing
attitude. Also Takumi laughed at most of his jokes. Not a lot of people found
Keisuke funny, but Takumi seemed to think he was hilarious, in his own quiet
way.
is really mad that we ever did anything in the first place,” Ryosuke said
quietly. If Keisuke didn’t know any better, he would almost say Ryosuke felt
bad. But, that was out of the question, because when it came to sex, Ryosuke
had the morals of a rock. Keisuke had never seen the same woman come back
twice. He had gained a jaded sentiment toward Ryosuke’s one nightstands, seeing
too many of them come and go to feel sorry for them anymore. This one was a
little bit different though, mainly because Ryosuke and Takumi were going to
have to see each other every day if Takumi stayed on the team.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
Keisuke agreed, even though Ryosuke had said nothing of the sort. Ryosuke would
never use that adjective and his own name in the same sentence. Ryosuke thought
things through so much that he just ignored the possibility he might be wrong,
because he was the White Comet of Akagi. Keisuke admitted that some of the
popularity had gone to his head, while Ryosuke danced around pretending to not
care, just like how he was trying to stay emotionless and detached from the
grave he had dug for himself.
Ryosuke demanded, like he didn’t have a clue. Keisuke pressed his tongue into
the side of his mouth, a habit he did when he was irritated. Just like right
now.
happens between you two, that’s your business,” Keisconcconceded. Ryosuke
opened his mouth but Keisuke started up again before Ryosuke could argue. “But,
if you hurt him, I swear to God, I’ll kick your ass.”
about this?” Ryosuke growled, irritated that he was in the wrong and that he
couldn’t gain back his usual position of being correct.
worked up?” Keisuke returned right back. He couldn’t believe that Ryosuke was
just going to screw Takumi and leave him without a reason why. Takumi sure wasn’t
going to be a quickie for Ryosuke, not if he had anything to do about it.
Keisuke knew that Takumi was very sensitive toward people and what they thougof hof him, onto the point of having a social disorder. Takumi wouldn’t be able to
deal with being a ‘just this once’ with Ryosuke. He had a weak point when it
came to people caring about him. Takumi craved for friendship, even though he
wouldn’t speak a word. Takumi was just too scared to speak, because he didn’t
want to irritate anyone. It almost worked to the reverse for Takumi, being too
quiet for most people to deal with.
trying to make,” Ryosuke started, putting a hand on his hip. Keisuke could have
strangled him, just reached out and choked the self-confident bastard to death.
Just because he was his brother didn’t mean that Keisuke wouldn’t take him
outside and beat the shit out of him like a five year old. Being his brother
meant Keisuke had more right then anyone else.
just one single time, to understand someone? Ryosuke, you just took his
virginity, for Christ’s sake!” Keisuke yelled out. His fists were clenching
together, ready to punch Ryosuke in the face if he said something that Keisuke
didn’t like. Ryosuke wasn’t the bit flustered by Keisuke’s outburst. He wasn’t
even looking at Keis jus just gazing to the doorway of the kitchen, calmly
sipping his coffee.
someone said very darkly to Keisuke’s immediate right. Keisuke closed his eyes,
taking a deep breath. Please, let it be . . . Oh, God, let it be anyone except
him. Keisuke turned to face in the direction of Ryosuke’s gaze. Standing in the
middle of the kitchen was Takumi, not looking nearly as miserable as he had
only moment before. Instead, he looked very calm. Keisuke didn’t like the
expressionless look on Takumi’s face. It meant bad things were going to happen.
beat some sense into Ryosuke here. Hell, I’ll hold him down for you if you
want,” Keisuke offered, laughing as he grabbed Ryosuke in a brotherly headlock.
Ryosuke didn’t budge, just kept on sipping his coffee like it was the only
thing left in life. Takumi wasn’t saying anything either. Keisuke felt like the
only person who had ever talked in their presence before. It was not
comfortable anymore.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
Ryosuke on the upper arm warningly. Ryosuke glared at him out of the corner of
his eye, not because he was upset or angry with Keisuke yelling at him, but
because coffee had almost splashed out on the floor. Takumi was looking at
Keisuke’s bare feet like they were a nude woman, focusing in with an intensity
that Keisuke knew was just to ignore the world. Keisuke’s toes started to
fidget, nervous under Takumi’s intense gaze.
lie or something. Just tell me and I’ll take care of it fo. . .” Keisuke started.
Takumi’s head snapped up. Keisuke froze at the look on Takumi’s face. Takumi’s
brows were brought together, his eyes narrowed into small, fierce slits.
Keisuke wondered if he should be worrying about his life at the moment. Keisuke
heard the garage door open and started to tell Takumi to take a time out for
the moment. The team was coming over early for a Saturday practice match with
the Takahashi household as a meeting ground.
Takumi roared out, his voice raised louder then Keisuke had ever heard before.
At that moment, two of the guys stepped into the kitchen, frozen halfway
through greeting Keisuke and Ryosuke, both staring at Takumi in shock. Takumi
stared back, looking just as stunned, his face reddening so fast that Keisuke
worried he might faint from the rush of blood to the head.
to salvage the situation. Nothing came to mind, except that Reiji and Sora had
the best bloody timing possible. Reiji blinked for a moment, and then started
laughing so hard he had to hunch over, slapping his knees. Sora started to howl
with amusement, hitting the refrigerator with a fist. Takumi looked stricken,
his face going from beet red to a sickly white before he looked down at his
feet.
Reiji gasped out, wiping at his eyes between the laughs. Takumi’s shoulders
sagged a bit, like he was trying to fall in on himself. Keisuke felt awful for
Takumi, knowing that he was dying of embarrassment. Takumi didn’t exactly take
things well, like people laughing at him.
his voice very quiet and icy. Keisuke could see them freeze up again. Ryosuke
glared at them, so fierce that Keisuke wondered if their balls were shrinking
reflexively. Takumi didn’t say one word, didn’t thank Ryosuke for telling them
to stop being bastards, and didn’t walk out of the room in embarrassment, just
stood there like he was waiting to melt into the floor.
mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Neon Lights";
mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:"WP TypographicSymbols"'>
murmured, raking his hand like a paw at Takumi when Ryosuke turned back to the
coffee pot. Keisuke groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. Takumi shifted,
definitely wanting to die, or at least disappear. Ryosuke turned around very
slowly and walked over to their fellow teammate. Sora choked on his laughter,
realizing just whom he had catcalled when Ryosuke loomed over him.
Keisuke asked Reiji as Ryosuke grabbed the front of Sora’s shirt and dragged
him out into the garage. Reiji turned back to Keisuke, his attention drifting
as the sound of someone being hit shot into the hallway before the door closed.
Takumi dug the ball of his foot into the floor, making an uncomfortable
circular motion.
said nervously, looking at Takumi with something that bordered on a glare.
Probably thought that it was Takumi’s fault that Sora was a fucking idiot.
People needed to learn where boundaries were, and if Ryosuke wanted to teach
Sora with a fist, that was fine with Keisuke. Takumi didn’t deserve any kind of
teasing, mainly because he was the type that couldn’t just ignore it.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
was the sound of several voices being raised and a loud metal crash. The
yelling didn’t bother Keisuke as much as the sound of small pieces of metal
hitting the cement of the garage. That meant not everything was good and fine.
If something had happened to his car, Keisuke would kill someone.
realized it, Reiji following behind with Takumi just coming out from the
kitchen, his feet dragging. Keisuke didn’t have time to think about Takumi
g ung uncomfortable facing the team this morning. All that mattered was his
car. If his baby was scratched so much as the length of a pencil point, Keisuke
would get the paint job done in blood.
with bare feet, not having time to worry about little things like shoes. The
car. He saw his baby, parked at the far end of the garage, just where he had
left it last night. The crowd of the team was gathered around the door, a good,
safe distance from his car. Letting out a sigh, Keisuke finally started to pay
attention to the other people in the garage.
falling against a portable toolbox, sending all of the equipment across the
floor. He was still picking himself off of the ground, the corner of his mouth
splattered with blood. Ryosuke was standing in the center of the team, all of
them yelling questions at him. Ryosuke was ignoring them, looking very content
as he cracked the knuckles of his right hand.
out at Ryosuke, who was ignoring them all. He looked up at Keisuke, then past
him, right over his shoulder. Keisuke blinked, turning around to look at Reiji.
Okay, there was nothing on his face. Then, Keisuke kept looking past Reiji to
see Takumi standing on the three steps that went from the garage to the raised
floor of the house, looking at the doorframe like he had never seen it before.
personal life,” Ryosuke suggested as Sora wiped at his mouth with the back of
his hand. Reiji walked around Keisuke and helped his friend up, examining the
split skin on the corner of his mouth. Ryosuke stood there for a bit longer,
making a threat with his mere presence. Sora nodded jerkily before hissing and
slapping Reiji away as he tried to poke at the wound.
driver asked. Keisuke blinked, unable to figure out who had just spoken. He
looked at Ryosuke. If anyone was going to have a say-so, it would be his
brother. Ryosuke rubbed at the bridge of his nose and sighed before turning
around to face the several other drivers in his garage.
today,” Ryosuke announced. The Initial D team all cheered like maniacs, calling
out challenges to each other in excitement. Keisuke smiled at everyone’s
enthusiasm before glancing back to check on Takumi. Takumi had closed the house
door, probably thinking of the expensive air conditioning being wasted, and was
leaning back against the door, his head tilted slightp. Cp. Confused, Keisuke
looked up at the ceiling as well. The rafters were still there. Keisuke sighed,
realizing that Takumi had a tendency to stare at things when he was
uncomfortable.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Neon Lights";
mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:"WP TypographicSymbols"'>
everyone moan at what he might be saying next. Ryosuke waited until he had
everyone’s attention, glancing once at Takumi, his eyes looking a bit
uncomfortable when the driver didn’t look back at him. Keisuke crossed his
arms, his eyes narrowing. He hoped Ryosuke felt like shit on the sidewalk for
making Takumi uncomfortable like this.
Ryosuke announced. The other drivers all did various cries along the lines of ‘Yes!’
and ‘He’s paying, right?’ Ryosuke was known for treating the team to meals
every now and then. It was like PMS, unpredictable and out of the blue, except
that it meant good things. If there was one thing in life to be appreciated, it
was free food. The heavy feeling of cereal resting in his stomach was already
starting to fade as the prospect of a real breakfast was suddenly visible on
the horizon.
excitedly, forgetting that he was supposed to be pissed off at his over-sexed
brother. Ryosuke turned to him, no emotion on his face, as the other drivers
began to quiet down, eager to know where they were going to eat as well.
Everyone in the garage was hanging onto Ryosuke’s every word, except for
Takumi, who was staring down at the knocked over tool box.
mysteriously. A few groaned at that. The last time they had followed Ryosuke to
a diner, three of their drivers had gotten hopelessly lost and wound up an hour
late. Ryosuke seemed to get some kind of pleasure out of leaving everyone in
the dust. Keisuke sniffed, remembering something else about his brother that
irritated him. Ryosuke only thought with his balls and the stick shift.
their precious cars, a few of them honking as they were unlocked by remote.
Ryosuke walked toward Keisuke, obviously wanting to continue their
conversation. Ryosuke always had to get the last word. Keisuke opened his
mouth, ready to verbally tear his brother apart, but was only walked around and
past. Ryosuke walked right up to Takumi, definitely going past the personal
space boundary to stare down at the slightly shorter driver.
glancing over to the hachi-roku parked in the driveway through the open garage
door. Keisuke nodded approval. Takumi needed to assert himself and tell Ryosuke
to fuck off. Ryosuke looked steadily down at Takumi, like he was dealing with a
small child.
point. Nobody wanted to see Takumi drive when he was mad. The last time he did,
he almost killed someone. Mainly himself. At least Ryosuke was slightly
concerned about Takumi’s welfare. Still, it wasn’t quite the effort Keisuke
wanted to see. He wanted Ryosuke on his knees apologizing to Takumi.
silence was as much of a ‘yes’ if he had written it out. Ryosuke’s face didn’t
change one bit, as emotionless and calculating as it ever came. Takumi glared
right back, not shy abohowihowing his anger. Takumi was like that, once
provoked he never backed down. Takumi wasn’t once easily infuriated, but when
he finally got pissed, all one could do was duck and cover your head.
back,” Ryosuke set out a rule like he still had the place to do it. Ryosuke was
the one caught following his dick around, not Takumi. Takumi was the victim
here, seduced by Ryosuke’s clever way with words and attitude. That much was
clear to Keisuke, because it sure wasn’t love between them.
offered before he could even think about it. Ryosuke’s head snapped to him like
a hawk, his whole attention suddenly focused on his brother. Keisuke just
smiled at him, putting an arm over Takumi’s shoulders. Takumi grunted and
shrugged his arm off, though without any anger.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
though he was looking at Ryosuke when he agreed. Whatever. Keisuke already had
his keys out and hit the button. His baby honked immediately, the lights
flashing as it unlocked. Ryosuke didn’t say a word as Keisuke breezed past,
Takumi following after a second’s hesitation.
landed in the driver’s seat, settling in like he was easing on a favorite shoe.
He put his hands on the wheel, feeling the familiar grooves beneath his
fingers. There was nothing like getting into your own car, knowing that you
could push it to the limit on a whim. Keisuke already had the engine on and
revving it as Takumi reluctantly got in on the passenger side.
he pulled the seatbelt across his body. Keisuke heard Ryosuke’s FC start up and
looked out the window. Sure enough, his brother ed oed out so fao:p>
Keisuke deduced out loud. The road had turned into a one-way street, climbing
up a slanted residential zone. Apartments and parked cars flashed by out of the
corner of his eye, Keisuke dropping it down a gear to soar up the hill. Ryosuke
wasn’t more then a yard away, both of them confident and used to driving so
close together. Except this time, Ryosuke was trying to lose Keisuke on
purpose. He could tell that by watching the rear tires skid out on the FC as
Ryosuke took another sudden detour without signaling.
the door as they took on the turn. Other drivers honked as Keisuke flew through
the intersection, hot on his brother’s back bumper. Keisuke checked over his
shoulder before he switched lanes, moving up on Ryosuke’s side. Takumi’s grip
on the dashboard tightened as they almost became even with the car, flying down
the two lanes like the road laws didn’t apply for them.
asked. He would never be called tactful or sensitive. Keisuke was brutal honest
and crude when it came to dealing with people, but that was because he liked to
cut the crap and get straight to the point. Takumi looked at him with wild
eyes, Ryosuke’s profile visible behind him in the close car.
accelerating with such ease Keisuke had to admire it. His brother was one of
the best street drivers out there, period. No matter what kind of people person
he was, Ryosuke was definitely a god when it came to driving. But, Keisuke was
related to him, darting back into his own lane and around a slower car to
follow Ryosuke.
Takumi cursed empathically as Ryosuke cut around one car and turned in front of
it to make the corner. The older Cadillac slammed on the brakes, the driver not
about to react well to having a street racer run in front of his bumper.
Keisuke teased the brake, letting the car start to drift to make it around the
obstacle. He cleared it with no space to spare, the intersection thrown into
chaos by the brother’s chase.
him, leaving the details out. Keisuke didn’t have much time to think about it
as Ryosuke pulled away. A slow, safe driver wasn’t pulling over to the side of
the road in panic, instead keeping in the lane and in the way. Keisuke didn’t
have time to brake. He passed, ignoring Takumi’s scream as a truck going the
opposite lane honked, slamming on its brakes in desperation.
cutting in front of the oncoming traffic and shooting back into his own proper
lane. Takumi nodded jerkily, wiping at the sweat covering his face. The FC was
back in sight, the white rear reflecting the yellow of Keisuke’s own car as he
ran up Ryosuke’s ass.
voice, yelling and pointing down the road. o:p>
Keisuke deduced out loud. The road had turned into a one-way street, climbing
up a slanted residential zone. Apartments and parked cars flashed by out of the
corner of his eye, Keisuke dropping it down a gear to soar up the hill. Ryosuke
wasn’t more then a yard away, both of them confident and used to driving so
close together. Except this time, Ryosuke was trying to lose Keisuke on
purpose. He could tell that by watching the rear tires skid out on the FC as
Ryosuke took another sudden detour without signaling.
the door as they took on the turn. Other drivers honked as Keisuke flew through
the intersection, hot on his brother’s back bumper. Keisuke checked over his
shoulder before he switched lanes, moving up on Ryosuke’s side. Takumi’s grip
on the dashboard tightened as they almost became even with the car, flying down
the two lanes like the road laws didn’t apply for them.
asked. He would never be called tactful or sensitive. Keisuke was brutal honest
and crude when it came to dealing with people, but that was because he liked to
cut the crap and get straight to the point. Takumi looked at him with wild
eyes, Ryosuke’s profile visible behind him in the close car.
accelerating with such ease Keisuke had to admire it. His brother was one of
the best street drivers out there, period. No matter what kind of people person
he was, Ryosuke was definitely a god when it came to driving. But, Keisuke was
related to him, darting back into his own lane and around a slower car to
follow Ryosuke.
Takumi cursed empathically as Ryosuke cut around one car and turned in front of
it to make the corner. The older Cadillac slammed on the brakes, the driver not
about to react well to having a street racer run in front of his bumper.
Keisuke teased the brake, letting the car start to drift to make it around the
obstacle. He cleared it with no space to spare, the intersection thrown into
chaos by the brother’s chase.
him, leaving the details out. Keisuke didn’t have much time to think about it
as Ryosuke pulled away. A slow, safe driver wasn’t pulling over to the side of
the road in panic, instead keeping in the lane and in the way. Keisuke didn’t
have time to brake. He passed, ignoring Takumi’s scream as a truck going the
opposite lane honked, slamming on its brakes in desperation.
cutting in front of the oncoming traffic and shooting back into his own proper
lane. Takumi nodded jerkily, wiping at the sweat covering his face. The FC was
back in sight, the white rear reflecting the yellow of Keisuke’s own car as he
ran up Ryosuke’s ass.
voice, yelling and pointing down the road. Keisuke saw something flash out of
the corner of his eye on the passenger side. Ryosuke was already blowing
through a light, ignoring the yellow to red color transition. Keisuke slammed
on the brakes, yanking the emergency brake as well. The car almost spun out,
Keisuke throwing the wheel the opposite way of the tires. Metal screeched and
both men were thrown hard against the seatbelts, the sudden gravity tossing
their bodies forward.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
of rubber, going over the white lines of the pedestrian walk. Takumi wasn’t
even breathing in the seat, one foot up on the dashboard in an attempt to
prepare for a crash. Keisuke saw a man in a wheelchair roll out from the
sidewalk. One second later and he could have hit the man.
growled, tightening the leather of the wheel. The FC was already gone in a blur
of white around the next block. Takumi swallowed loudly, slowly putting his
feet back on the floor of the car. He put one hand on his chest, letting out a
whoosh of air.
wasn’t sure if he was joking or really shocked that he had survived the first
part of their drive. Keisuke looked back down the road. When did lights get so
fucking long? It irritated him, pissed him off to no ends that Ryosuke had made
the light. Just by a bare fraction of a second and Ryosuke had won again,
though in all rights he shouldn’t.
his pants pocket, glaring at the light the whole time. Takumi didn’t say
anything, but yanked once on the seatbelt to check that it was still working.
Keisuke glanced over, just to make sure that Takumi wasn’t trying to jump out
of the car. He tossed the cell phone to Takumi, who caught it awkwardly, unsure
what he should do with it.
fuck he’s headed to,” Keisuke requested, sparing a quick look into the rearview
mirror. The light turned green just as a teammate gunned around thethesthest
corner, too far away to be any threat. The light would be red again by the time
he caught up.
reluctantly, lifting the phone up to his face as it dialed. There was a moment
silence, filled by the sound of the engine lifting off again. Keisuke jumped
ahead of the rest of the traffic, the other drivers nothing more then a good
joke as he sped in front. He would catch Ryosuke.
regretting ever agreeing to dial in the first place. Keisuke only gave him half
an ear, looking forward onto the oncoming traffic. He zipped past the parked
car, going down the street that his brother had been only moments ago. He
wouldn’t let Ryosuke beat him.
asked softly, shyly avoiding any kind of embarrassing questions.
mso-hansi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-font-family:"Neon Lights";
mso-char-type:symbol;mso-symbol-font-family:"WP TypographicSymbols"'>
yesterday?” was one of the last questions Takumi would ask when anyone else was
in earshot. Whatever Ryosuke was asking
on the other end was unknown as Keisuke launched down the straight road, unsure
where he should turn. Takumi listened to Ryosuke’s voice, his eyes drifting to
the surrounding as Ryosuke gave him an answer.
longer, Keisuke going down the street with a speed that would be dangerous to
anyone else. Then, Takumi blushed bright red for no apparent reason, just
because of something Ryosuke had said. Takumi pulled the phone away from his ear,
suddenly ending the connection. Keisuke only spared a moment’s attention,
teasing the clutch as he continued down the street.
Takumi said weakly, obviously embarrassed about something Keisuke could very
well guess at. The street names passed through his mind, Keisuke checking off
the location and side passes. There was a café on the corner, a small little
breakfast joint that he had gone to with Ryosuke more then once. He knew a
short cut.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
Keisuke suddenly shifted into a drift, rocketing down an alleyway. Takumi had
enough time to shove the cell phone into his own pants as they flew down the
narrow, littered stretch. Keisuke knew now where Ryosuke was headed, and damned
if he let his brother beat him, even if he was one light ahead of them. Takumi
grabbed at the handle on the top of the door, trying to remain in his seat as
Keisuke swirled around the corner and back onto a main street. A trashcan flew
up over the hood of the car, rocketing over the roof as his car bowled through.
casually as he shot out into the usual traffic. Takumi yelped as he nearly
grazed another car, the fender barely missing a small luxury car. Keisuke
continued down the road, determined to beat Ryosuke there even if he had a
traffic light on his side. Now that he knew where his brother was going,
Keisuke could cut through traffic as he pleased.
admitted, scrabbling for some kind of support as Keisuke suddenly jerked the
car down another alley, ignoring the honking of other drivers. Keisuke looked
at Takumi out of the corner of his eye. Takumi was terrified; one hand wrapped
around the seatbelt like it was a lifesaver. Did Takumi have that little faith in
his driving skills?
they drifted, the tires skidding nearly out of control as they made it around
another corner. Takumi fell against Keisuke’s shoulder, helpless against the
natural force of the car moving. He pulled himself back up, even though the
warmth had left an imprint on Keisuke’s shoulder.
happened! Look out!” Takumi screamed as Keisuke grazed another sidewalk. A
poor, elderly woman jumped back, flipping them off as Keisuke continued down
the street. Screw anyone else. He wouldn’t allow Ryosuke to beat him. Even
though he couldn’t see his brother’s car, they were still in a race. Now, it
was about who knew the streets better, who had the best skill to make a short
cut.
rocketed down the street, passing a young girl in a Honda. What a joke. The
light turned red as they zoomed underneath. Keisuke was a street racer, pure
and simple. He wouldn’t allow anyone to beat him, not even his own charismatic
brother. More cars flew by, nothing more then flashes in his eye as Keisuke
turned the corner.
as they made the next turn. He was thrown agt Ket Keisuke again, and he couldn’t
say that it was necessarily a bad thing to have Takumi pressed against his
body. Only a few more kilometers to go before it came to the finish line. The
café was now a prize, something to be reached before his brother.
times, please, slow down!” Takumi demanded, trying to appease Keisuke
with the personal history of his sex life. Keisuke though back on what little
he knew of the other driver. Never really clean-shaven but a likeable guy
nonetheless. He h con confidence and determination about him, even if the
skills weren’t up to par. Keisuke hadn’t even expected there to be more then
one partner, not the list Takumi was suddenly revealing.
at the same time to control the spin of the tires as they cornered hard. Takumi
screamed as they slid toward a car on the other side of the road, the wheels
screeching in protest. His face was slammed against the window, Takumi helpless
against the force of gravity. The double straps on Keisuke’s on seatbelts kept
him much steadier then his passenger. He also knew what he was going to do
next, so Keisuke could prepare his body for it.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
Nakazato,” Takumi admitted, like it would make Keisuke slow down. Keisuke
almost lost it around the exit, his eyes going wide with the words. He
accelerated down Fifth, street signs going by too fast to read. Keisuke didn’t
need to see the names to know where he was going.
accused, his teeth already set on edge at the mention of the jerk’s name. He
didn’t like that hot shot from the Night Kids. Those narrow eyes made Keisuke
want to knock him out. He couldn’t image Takumi spending more then five minutes
with that guy without getting pissed off. Everyone got angry around that son of
a bitch.
little bit of heat. Even Takumi could have a temper, and when someone finally
made him angr was was shocking in its ferociousness. Especially since Takumi
was usually such a nice, timid guy the rest of the time. That little hint of
anger that he was showing at being called a liar made Keisuke believe him.
you stand that guy?” Keisuke growled. He wasn’t as nice and patient as other
people. Keisuke would punch that shifty-eyed loser out if Nakazato even thought
of looking at him wrong. Keisuke changed gears to third, playing with the
clutch as they rocketed down the street. There was nothing better then the
sound of a performance engine overpowering the rest of the cars in the street.
beat him racing. We both got really drunk and it happened,” Takumi defended
angrily. Keisuke wondered if he jaw would ever go back into its socket after
dropping open so hard. Takeshi got Takumi so drunk that he couldn’t even say
no? Oh, fuck. Night Kids were going to get a visit, soon, and Keisuke would
make it as unpleasant as possible.
stomping on the gas pedal until it hit the floor. Takumi couldn’t say anything
immediately, slammed back into the seat as he was. Keisuke heard his knuckles
pop around the grip he had on the steering wheel. He’d put sugar in the Night
Kid’s gas tank. He’d pop all their tires. He’d kill Takeshi Nakazato.
screaming for the first time in anger and not fear since he got into the car.
Keisuke didn’t answer him. Takumi had some fucked up ideas when it cam to sex.
Ryosuke had screwed Takumi and now was going to make it into a one-night stand.
Takumi had multiple partners, none of them who he really sounded like he was in
love with. ‘It just happened’ wasn’t an excuse when it came to sex.
raped. Nobody took my virginity. It’s my life!” Takumi snarled. The warning
lost a bit of its edge when Keisuke cut across traffic, flying into a parking
lot. Takumi screamed his head off as they hit the speed bump, sending the FD up
in the air like a bird.
they landed heavily, the front dipping with the weight of the car. The tires
squealed; trying to spin out from under the axles as Keisuke forced the FD to
stop. Smoke shot up from behind the car, the muffler sending out flames in
protest. Takumi was thrown entirely out of the seat, the safety belt barely
keeping him off of the stick shift.
snapped coldly. Takumi glared back at him, angry that Keisuke would still ask
him. The yellow car hummed as the engine began to cool, finally allowed a
moment’s peace. There was silence between them, awkward and final. Keisuke
wished he had the radio on to try and take away a bit of the edge.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
Takumi sniped, unbuckling the seatbelt. He opened the door even though they
hadn’t parked yet. Keisuke reached out and grabbed Takumi’s wrist, forcing him
back into the seat. Takumi tried to shake him off, twisting his arm in attempt
to break Keisuke’s hold.
Keisuke teased him without any kind of humor. God, he couldn’t believe that he
had totally missed Takumi having a sex life. Any kind of social life, in fact.
It was too bizarre to think of Takumi being outgoing enough to even have a
make-out session, much less actually getting it right up the ass.
Keisuke’s hand violently and slammed the door shut, Keisuke stopped from
growling by throwing the car into a hard reverse. Just what the hell was the
guy thinking, banging doors around like that?! It served him right when Takumi
pitched forward in the seat, no longer held in by the seatbelt. He spread his
hands out on the dashboard, trying to stay upright as Keisuke ripped the wheel
around.
a parking spot, not asking Takumi to help out like he usually did whenever the hachi-roku
driver rode with him. Not this time. Things had changed, and Keisuke had a
feeling he was going to find out that it wasn’t for the better. Finally, he
spotted a spot, two cars behind from where he had finally managed to stop.
Keisuke let the FC burn a petite amount of rubber to make it into the straight,
painted parking spots. He backed right over the divider line, taking up two
spaces with only one car. Keisuke wasn’t about to allow his precious car to get
dented.
Keisuke to turn off the car before he threw his door open again. The door
closed so hard that the entire car rocked with it. Keisuke threw off his own
seatbelt, tearing at the handle as he swung open his own door. Keisuke took
enough time to lock it and close the door with not quite as much force as
Takumi had.
ride!” Keisuke snapped. Usually Takumi had more respect for a car. He could
have chipped paint with how hard the door closed. Takumi was already stomping
away from the car, kicking a cled led soda can that had been dumped in the
parking lot. It rattled away, disappearing under the wheels of the other parked
cars, Takumi following behind Keisuke in a fury.
and cool off. Anything he said now wasn’t going to be taken in the right light.
Keisuke looked up and down the lot. It was the right place, the café in the
center of the pavement. The traffic zoomed by on Vine, one of the busier main
drags in the city. He didn’t see Ryosuke’s car anywhere.
pants. He looked up at Keisuke from the stairs leading to the raised building,
already far ahead. Keisuke jogged up as Takumi took his cell phone back out and
handed it to Keisuke without a word. Keisuke smiled sardonically at Takumi,
knowing just how much the other wanted to even be in the same country as him.
crossed his arms impatiently, leaning back against the brick rise of the
building.
us aren’t crazy enough to go that fast, you know!” Hirofumi roared into the
earpiece. Keisuke winced away from the screeching voice. How loud could someone
be on a phone? Takumi sighed, looking away as Keisuke had to listen to Hirofumi
cone toe to yell about the Takahashi’s daredevil driving.
answered. He heard a long silence, the sound of a heavy engine pulling out on
to a street through on the cell phone. Keisuke waited, hearing the curse when
Hirofumi realized where he was.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
fifteen minutes away! You guys didn’t even stop at a single light, did you?”
Hirofumi accused. Keisuke sniffed. Some of them had stopped. He wondered
where his brother was. Takumi was up on the deck, looking around at the parking
lot.
the corner of the street. Sure enough, there was Ryosuke standing on the
sidewalk in front of his car. A policeman was next to him, shaking a pen in
Ryosuke’s face and yelling something about excessive speeding. Keisuke laughed
out loud, punching Takumi in the shoulder.
ha, look at his face,” Keisuke laughed, pointing down the parking lot. Takumi
wasn’t saying anything, leaning over the railing. The younger man rested on his
elbows, bending to get close to Ryosuke in a lazy, relaxed sort of way, even
though a parking lot separated them.
Takumi asked slowly, looking into the restaurant. Keisuke glanced over his
shoulder, checking out the diner. It didn’t seem very busy at all; most of the
booths empty from the late morning breakfast crowd. Keisuke pulled out the pack
of cigarettes from the front pocket of the vest he had thrown over the loose,
worn black t-shirt.
here. Let me finish off this smoke first,” Keisuke insisted as he packed down
the cigarettes and pulled one out, offering it to the other guy. Takumi looked
down at the stick Keisuke raised to his mouth with as much distaste as he would
look upon five-day-old road kill. Not even a ‘thank you’ for trying to be nice.
Keisuke lit up, half-considering yelling out a greeting to his brother just to
see if he could make things worse.
ignoring the policeman for a moment and picking out Keisuke and Takumi like a
hawk would. Keisuke finished lighting the end of his cigarette and waved to his
brother merrily. It was the by far one of the best things to see the White
Comet of Akagi get a speeding ticket. Ryosuke was going to have a fucking
seizure over this one.
hand, he realized that his brother had never even been looking at him. Instead,
Ryosuke’s eyes had settled on Takumi like a predator would look on a small
bunny. Those dark, emotionless and calculating eyes were studying Takumi all
the way across a parking lot, clearly assessing him. It was so intense that
Keisuke wanted to put his body in front of Takumi and hide the younger man from
his brother’s gaze.
weren’t staring back in his usual bored, careless manner. He didn’t seem
affected by Ryosuke’s hard gaze. In fact, the hachi-roku driver seemed to be
unable to care less if Ryosuke got hauled off for reckless driving. Even after
sex, not much had changed.
cigarette, supposing that sex didn’t really matter to Takumi. He couldn’t
believe that the quiet, shy man had at least five partners under his belt.
Keisuke wondered how many had been left out. It still galled him that Takeshi
had sex with Takumi. Sleeping with the enemy. It just wasn’t right.
forced to pay attention to the officer trying to scare the shit out of him. The
policeman was obviously trying to make an impression on such a reckless driver
so that it would never happen again. If only the man knew who he was trying to
give a ticket to.
style='page-break-before:auto;mso-break-type:section-break'>
going to cost?” Keisuke asked Takumi as he took a drag from the cigarette.
Takumi shook his head, not wanting to get into betting over how much trouble
Ryosuke was in. Takumi could be absolutely no fun like that sometimes. The
quiet guy just didn’t like to anything that could possibly be mean to another
person. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself like that. Unless he was
pissed, of course, Keisuke added with a grimace. Takumi’s temper was
definitely something to be feared.
“Not enough,”
Takumi bit out in a surprising amount of resentment, but Keisuke didn’t begrudge
the guy one bit. He wondered just what
his brother had said to Takumi over the phone to make the guy so pissed. Well,
not that Takumi didn’t already have full reason to want to beat the living shit
out of Ryosuke. His dear older brother had really managed to fuck things up
royally last night. Keisuke probably shouldn’t have been so prompt in telling
everyone what was happening upstairs; but he had also figured that it was more
than a one-night stand from the way the two were so comfortable being naked in
front of each other- at least from what Keisuke had seen…
snapped at himself, trying desperate to imagine hot women, his dream engine, a
lifetime supply of his favorite cigarettes; anything
else besides his brother and Takumi doing it. Wrong-wrong-wrong. He was most certainly not jealous, not about to stick
his nose any further into their business when he was s clearly not wanted.
Keisuke didn’t know if he would be able to stand it. The situation had changed
a lot…and just when had Takumi found the time to screw all those people?
Or had Takumi been the one screwed?
“AAARGH!” Keisuke roared out loud, shaking his head
violently to get rid of the thought. Takumi looked over at him in confusion,
taking one cautionary step back as Keisuke freaked out. It even drew the
attention of Ryosuke and the policeman just as he was finishing up handing the
ticket over to the collected driver.
“Uh, Keisuke? Are you…okay?” Takumi asked slowly, obviously
wondering if he should try running away or not depending on the answer. It made
him pissed. Angry at Ryosuke for suddenly making everything so awkward, angry
at Reiji and Sora walking in on the argument this morning, and angry at himself
for only making things worse too. He sucked on his cig like candy; damn sure
there was no way to salvage this one.
“Yeah, fine. I just need some breakfast,” Keisuke
answered back grudgingly, more because he knew if he didn’t answer- like muchmuch rather do at the moment- Takumi would take it offensively. No need to add
more shit to this blue Monday. The poor guy already looked like he had been
through enough with the sleep bruises under his eyes and the even deep hunch to
his shoulders than usual as Takumi leaned up against the side of the restaurant
like it was the only thing supporting him. Keisuke could say that Takumi was a
depressing guy, but he actually was rarely ever depressed. Leave it to Ryosuke
to make Takumi look as if his life was going to end in the next several hours.
“You feel up to it? Ryosuke told me you were feeling sick
last night,” Keisuke asked, trying to lighten up the mood. Takumi turned toward
him with a definitely sour look on his bored face, anger starting to coming
from all sides. Maybe he shouldn’t have
brought up ‘last night.’
“What else did he tell you?” Takumi snapped out in what
was nothing other than bitter sarcasm. Keisuke felt his jaw drop, wondering
just how much their boy actually aware of. He might try to pull the ‘dumb and
numb’ act all the time, but temper was getting the better of the hachi-roku
driver as he fixed on Keisuke with an unpleased frown.
“Well, he didn’t need to tell me much else after what I
saw,” Keisuke returned as he tapped out some of the ashes at the end of his
cigarette. Takumi visibly blanched at that one, all the quiet fury gone in a
second as he remembered just who had walked in on them last night. Then, the
guy was staring down at his shoes like they were going to tell him what to do
next, embarrassed and fidgeting. He shoved his hands into his pockets and scrapped
the toe of his beaten tennis shoes into the outside deck, sullen as all
hell-even more so than usual.
Conversation was pretty much dead after that.
Keisuke finished his cigarette, his own breath sounding
too loud and awkward as he exhaled next to his silent friend. Takumi didn’t
even bother to watch Ryosuke grudgingly take the ticket and frown down at it, obviously
insulted even from this far away. Keisuke had to watch as the policeman snarled
something else at his older brother before stalking back to his motorcycle. He
stabbed out the end of his cig on the side of the building and let it drop down
to the deck next to Takumi.
He could have
cried with relief when Hirofumi finally pulled up in his own blue car, several
minutes too late to see Ryosuke get a ticket. He was just in time to save Keisuke
from the unbearable silence he had caused. Keisuke watched impatiently while
the man slowly found his own plto pto park while Ryosuke climbed back into his
own vehicle and pulled up slowly as well. Keisuke knew it was because of the
policeman still glaring at his brother while he waited on the motorcycle for
Ryosuke to get out of sight.
Keisuke pulled out another cigarette while he waited for
someone- except Ryosuke- to join them
outside the restaurant. He couldn’t stand the quietness, suddenly no longer the
usual idiot mute, but very, very, very pissed
off. Takumi was allowed every bit of it, but Keisuke just wish that it wasn’t
directed at him. He lit up and was so nervous he didn’t even realize he had
sucked down half of it before Hirofumi finally jogged up the stairs to meet
them.
“Everyone else is a couple minutes or so behind me. I had
to call them all to tell them where
we were since you lost us,” the man grumbled as he came to a stop in front of
Keisuke, looking quite angry. Not another one. Keisuke had already had his fill
of pissed-off people for today. His brother and his good friend being at odds
was enough for one fucking day, thank you very much.
“Ryosuke got a speeding ticket,” Takumi mumbled out
before Keisuke could even try and redirect Hirofumi’s attention; mainly with
that exact story. Keisuke glanced over at the driver, who was trying to look
fort all the world like he didn’t care and hadn’t just said anything at all,
but even Hirofumi had a confused look on his face. Not about Ryosuke getting
pulled over by the police; but why Takumi would be speaking up like this.
Keisuke wondered if Sora and Reiji had said anything to
Hirofumi when he had called them about directions. Things were already weird enough;
the much was for sure the second anyone looked at them. Hirofumi simply kept
glancing back and forth between the two of them, a wrinkle in the middle of his
brow deepening each time. Keisuke winced and laughed nervously at the older man
around his cigarette, trying to save the situation despite the impossibility of
the task.
“Are you still laughing
at my expense?” Ryosuke’s voice asked irritably behind Keisuke’s back, scaring
the utter and complete shit out of him as he yelped like a girl and jumped out
of his skin. His brother must have come up from the other side of the porch
after he had parked. Keisuke hadn’t even been paying attention anymore.
Hirofumi barked out a few deep laughs at that, and even Takumi had half a grin
creeping up on his face before he remembered to frown again. Keisuke took a few
shuffling steps to get orientated in their little makeshift circle so he could
face his brother.
“It’s not every day on of the Red Suns gets a speeding
ticket,” Keisuke shrugged and shook his head, trying to cover up his previous
display. He wasn’t sure how well it was working with all three other men giving
him a mixture of confused, irritated, and aggravated glares. Since when had he
become the bad guy? Keisuke wasn’t walking around half-cocked all the time like
his brother- why did I have to think
‘cock’ right now? Keisuke moaned in his head, the nicotine not working its
magic like usual to soothe his overworked brain.
“Reckless driving,” Ryosuke corrected coldly, still
managing to sound smarter and superior despite the fact it was
argue when he spotted Sora and Reiji coming up at the worst time for the
the two took in the seen with stupid, assuming grins despite the swelling
starting on the side of Sora’s jaw.
“…oks like a lover’s quarrel, man,” Reiji whispered,
Keisuke barely able to catch the last of the sentence whispered be his his
upraised hand. Ryosuke and Takumi’s heads both snapped up and over on the two
like hunting dogs, a double set of very cold and unforgiving gazes fixed on
Sora and Reiji. Sora had the piece of mind to put a hand to the bruise on the
side of his mouth and stare down at the floor of the porch without another
word. Reiji just gulped and looked like he wished he could swallow his words.
“Where are the rest? I’m starting to get disappointed if
this is the best they can do on the street,” Ryosuke stated out loud, making it
clear that his mood was the most important thing right now; at least it should be
for them. Since Keisuke wasn’t particularly keen on the idea of having to pay
for his own meal, he dug into his back pocket and pulled out the beaten pack of
cigarettes again to hold it out to his brother in peace treaty. Ryosuke took
one without really looking, still concentrating his discontentment on Reiji. He
lit it up with his own lighter and started tapping his foot impatiently, a sure
sign that he was getting ruffled.
Keisuke supposed it might be because of the burning,
painful, death glare Takumi was directing at the back of Ryosuke’s head. At
least his brother was no longer angry with Keisuke, since he had taken the
cigarette in the end. It was a small gesture of forgiveness between them,
neither of them about to say ‘sorry,’ but working it out in their own quiet
way.
Ryosuke and Takumi both had this magical way of making
any kind of discussion impossible, tension so clear between the two of them
that Keisuke and Hirofumi could only glance at each other in similar
discomfort. Keisuke passed the poor guy a cigarette as well; feeling like it
was a necessity more than pity from the stricken look on Hirofumi’s face. It
was a bad day when the top two drivers of the team were at odds ends. How were
they ever supposed to talk after this?
‘Fujiwara. Sorry I
screweu anu and everyone found out.’
‘Oh. Um, me too.’
Yeah. Fucking.
Right. Of course, the both of them were too proud to admit that someone had
wronged the other. Even if Takumi was usually the silent type, he held grudges
and could be downright dangerous if he ever got actually pissed off. He
certainly had been last night, from the sounds of the fighting that had been
going on last night. Keisuke didn’t want to get caught in the middle of this
fight, but it looked like he was already there. Damn Ryosuke for following
around his dick instead of using his oh-so-reknowned intelligence.
*
Takumi gritted his teeth, not quite sure if he would be
able to stand Ryosuke’s presence a second longer, doing his best to not look at
the man standing across from him. It was
much too close, especially since Ryosuke made it very clear that last night had
all been one big mistake. To top it all off, the man had the fucking nerve to
hold his keys like a child that couldn’t be trusted behind the well. Takumi
couldn’t understand why Ryosuke wouldn’t just give him the keys back, obviously
just as ready to get rid of his presence as he felt right now.
Even Keisuke seemed angry now, pissed off at Takumi for
getting drunk and caught up in the moment before he even realized that Ryosuke
had been screwing him into next week. He was
supposed to be the victim here, getting tortured with dangerous driving until
he told Keisuke everything. It was his business anyway, but he deserved
sympathy instead of the annoyance Keisuke was shooting at him. Everything could
have been fine if Keisuke hadn’t walked in without knocking. He could have
possibly covered it up like all the others, instead of getting this new,
weirder glares from the rest of the team.
It made Takumi wonder just how much of last night they
had heard; at least the fighting part of it. Takumi couldn’t ever bear the
thought of them hearing Ryosuke and him when they had been in the middle of the
act. Having Keisuke see him naked was bad enough, no matter how short it had
been. Everything was already so messed up that Takumi didn’t know how they were
ever going to get back on normal terms again.
That didn’t mean that he regretted anything that he had
said last night. Ryosuke had deserved it all for trying to calmly order him around
after Keisuke finally had shut the door. The asshole had even tried to get
Takumi back to the bed for another go. As if he was trying to think of ways to
insult him. Takumi had accused the man of such, knowing damn well that it
wasn’t really him that Ryosuke wanted, but the driver that could beat him even
in an old Hachi-Roku.
Takumi guessed he deserved it for expecting more out of
Ryosuke. It had seemed like he had a bigger interest than simply getting into
his pants, like Ryosuke might have actually wanted something that could have
lasted longer than a couple hours. Stupid him. Takumi should have been
expecting it from the beginning, should have seen it coming after all the other
times. Sex had ruined his relationship with Mogi, Itsuki could barely talk to
him anymore, and everyone else had either left or lived in another district. Even
if Ryosuke had been nice to him
before, flowers with none-too discrete notes attached showing up practically
every other week. It was hell to explain to the old man.
In the time he had been thinking about the pointlessness
of trying to get Ryosuke to notice a boring guy like him, it seemed like
everyone else from the team had managed to pull up and start a small circus of
car talk and cigarette smoke. Takumi felt like one of the wood railings around
the porch: unnoticeable, blending into everything else until he wasn’t even
noticeable as a single person. He started to dig the toe of his old, worn out tennis
shoes on the deck outside the restaurant, just wis tha that there was a way he
could melt away between the cracks in the separate panels of wood.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Takumi just followed blindly
after a waitress came out and gave them menus, sitting down on the bencforefore
he even thought about the placement. Sora and Reiji slammed down on either side
of him while Ryosuke and Keisuke sat opposite of him. Hirofumi and the others
slowly filled out the rest of the long bench table outside the restaurant,
everyone else enjoying a cigarette as they joked amongst themselves. It didn’t
seem like much had changed, but Takumi already knew from the looks being passed
around the table that everyone knew.
“Here you go, champ,” Sora offered a menu to him in a way
that clearly meant he wasn’t talking about it, but what had happened last night.
Takumi stared back at him, determined not to blush or glare, not even
eagerly watching for the return. Ryosuke and Keisuke certainly looked like
brothers at that point, staring like he had suddenly become the anti-Christ as
Takumi torpidly accepted the plastic menu with what he hoped was minimal disgust.
No point in letting everyone know how much he hated them at the moment.
Takumi opened up the menu and stared down without reading
anything, just trying to hide his face from everyone else right now. Just what
had he managed to make everything so fucked up in only one night? Ryosuke had
deserved each bit of the angry words and insults Takumi had flung around last
night. No one should be able to be that cold and still call themselves human.
Ryosuke had clearly been ready to cut off any personal relation with him now
that he had gotten in his pants. Takumi couldn’t have felt more stupid in his
entire life.
He should have been anticipating this by now. Takumi
couldn’t help but shot another glare over the menu at Ryosuke; while he was
turned to speak to his brother. Then, the older man kinda…twitched, before
snapping his eyes over to meet Takumi’s. He looked back down at the menu before
he had a chance to say anything. Reiji and Sora snickered on both sides of him,
the orange-haired man elbowing another driver in the side to draw attention to
the uncomfortable silence. Takumi started to seriously consider walking home,
car or not. He wouldn’t be able to stand this much longer.
But, damn it; he still didn’t have his keys! Why would
Ryosuke even be holding on to them if the asshole clearly wanted him out and on
his way, probably even off the team? Takumi wouldn’t doubt it with the
irritation he was feeling from the other man that had nothing to do with his
ticket. The dick deserved that too, but it still wasn’t enough to make Takumi
feel satisfied. He was going to be enough trouble already trying to come up
with a story for where he had been with the car for several days.
Damn the Takahashi brothers for messing up his life. The
second he got comfortable and thought he was really starting to fit in,
everything had to go to hell in a hand bag. In only one night. It just wasn’t
fair. Not with Sora and Reiji bother starting to inch in closer to him on the
bench, two sets of elbows digging into his side. Takumi shifted, staring harder
at his menu in one vain attempt to ignore them before they both became more insistent,
hard enough to bruise.
“What?” Takumi hissed irritably, glancing up once to see
if Ryosuke and Keisuke were looking. Thankfully, both brothers were currently engaged
in separate conversations, smoking and ignoring him completely. Sora grinned at
the small action, obviously reading too much into it. Reiji snickered on the
other side of him, neither of them learning their lesson. Takumi wasn’t so nice
as to be satisfied with one good punch.
“So, was it good?” Sora asked with a snide look on his
face, making a motion with his hand that made Takumi uncomfortable, even if he
wasn’t sure what the man was talking about. Reiji laughed outright at that one,
making Nakamura look over his back to spy Takumi trying to crawl into his
magazine. He wasn’t sure what he was on the spot for, but the attention was too
much.
“What?” Takumi echoed again, actually confused to what
the man might be talking about. Reiji’s laughter died down at that, into
nothing at all as Sora stared at him in pure shock. That ‘how can you possibly
be that stupid’ look was plastered
all over both their faces, Takumi somehow effectively killing the joke. Reiji
and Sora shot looks to each other over his head, which for Takumi didn’t even
care to try and guess at. He just wanted a nice, dark place to curl up and die
in.
“So Ryosuke wasn’t that good?” Reiji asked in such a way
that made Takumi want to implode on himself and disappear into nothing. He
might as well of dropped a book in the middle of the library for the way
everyone’s head suddenly swiveled over to them. Keisuke’s cigarette dropped
from his open mouth and into his lap, smoking for a moment before the man
cursed and shook his legs out. Nobody laughed; no one even glanced over at
Keisuke.
Not even Ryosuke, who was staring at him with those same
cold, unaffected black eyes. The emotionless control made Takumi hate the man
so much . Ho. How could he have ever fooled himself into seeing something in
Ryosuke…who had clearly been playing with him the whole time? Takumi clenched
his teeth, remembering how last night Ryosuke had been going on about how
nothing was supposed to change between them, no one else would know but Keisuke
and those few others that had heard his brother, and that he wasn’t going be
treated any differently on the Initial D team.
“I’ve had better,” Takumi returned coolly, glaring at
Ryosuke the whole time. That made
Reiji’s jaw drop, and everyone else on the table looked like Takumi had
announced he was expecting twins. Hadn’t this morning already cleared up any
questions about his virginity? It mad Takumi only angrier that everyone kept on
prodding at him and bringing it up again. Like what happened between Ryosuke
and him was going to become the joke of the week.
“You’ve had
better?” Hirofumi echoed back, the man that Takumi had respected before going down
a few notches in his opinion. Takumi frowned, finding it hard not to just get
up and walk home without another word, no matter how far away it was. At least
he would get some time alone to figure out just what the hell was going on.
Takumi glared at the man, nodding brusquely for an answer before shoving his
face into the menu once again.
Assholes, the whole lot of them. He heard snickering
murmurs at the other side of the table, and his face suddenly flooded with heat
even if he was trying to be pissed right now. He still felt embarrassed,
rubbing his feet together nervously under the table as everyone else started
drawing their own conclusions and thinking their own thoughts about him. Takumi
hated it, knowing he was being judged and coming up quite short.
“We’re not going to talk about this any more,” Ryosuke
announced in a calm, icy manner that cut through the slight conversation
buzzing around. His expression betrayed no emotions, not a single clue to what
he was thinking right now. Just like it had last night. Takumi refused to feel
thankful that Ryosuke had finally decided that enough teasing had gone on; sure
it was just because his own pride was being called into question. Ryosuke
didn’t care about him, wasn’t even looking at him as he cast a dark, serious
look around the whole table to make sure his point was getting through. Keisuke
shrugged at his brother’s side, lighting up another cigarette calmly like it
all had nothing to do with him, even though his words last night had made
everyone aware of his and Ryosuke’s relationship. He didn’t care either, just
like his brother.
“Come on, Ryosuke, it’s not like you called dibs on him
or anything. Maybe some of us wanna see what’s good enough for a Takahashi,” Sora
drawled, his arm dropping over Takumi’s shoulder in a way that wasn’t very
friendly anymore. Takumi really did want to die at that moment, more so than he
could ever remember wanting to before. He shrugged the limb off angrily, too
pissed to even think of something to say, shifting around as he considered
leaving in full seriousness. This was quite unbearable.
“Shut your fucking mouth,
Sora, before I do it for you,” Keisuke snapped as he suddenly sat up and
stretched across the table to point the burning end of his cigarette between the
man’s eyes. The table went silent at that, nobody expecting Keisuke to get
involved, most of Takumi. He gawked up at the brunette’s enraged face,
wondering just what the hell he had done to make Keisuke actually
be…protective? Takumi wasn’t very sure, because it was the first time someone
had stood up for him like this.
bit of ash sparkling down on Sora’s nose. The man flinched, cursed, and started
nodding vigorously while Keisuke slowly sunk back down into his seat. There
wasn’t so much as a first glance in
Takumi’s direction, like the man had just felt like cursing out his friend at
that moment. Takumi supposed Keisuke was like Ryosuke in that sense, since
neither of them seemed like they really gave a rat’s ass about him. Takumi was
confused by the cold disregard both brothers seemed to have for him, and then
the completely opposite little shows of affection or friendship, or…or
something and goddamnit he was sick of
it.
“So, Takumi, does that mean we can or can’t hit up on
you?” Reiji asked; a perfectly innocent look on his face as if he was asking
about the weather. That was it. That was the last fucking thin he could bear.
He stood up so fast that the heavy patio table nearly flipped over, stepping
out from over the bench before someone else said a single damn word. Nobody
even bothered to stop him. Takumi was already stomping down the stairs to the
parking lot as was walking out to the street before he heard someone running up
behind him.
“…amn it Takumi, wait a fucking second,” Keisuke yelled,
trotting up to him as Takumi came to a reluctant stop. There was no point in
trying to out run Keisuke, who would probably catch up and beat his ass for it
at the end. Takumi wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or not, wondering if
Ryosuke even cared if he lived or not. He couldn’t even see the table from
here, thankfully.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Keisuke
demanded when he finally reached Takumi’s side, png ang and coughing. Maybe Takumi
could still outrun the smoker, remembering that Keisuke was pretty much
completely non-athletic unless he hadn’t smoked that day.
“Home,” Takumi snapped back coldly. There was no point in
trying to get his Hachi-Roku back right now, not if he wanted to avoid Ryosuke.
Amazing how that tentative but fun relationship they had could be completely
destroyed after one night.
“You’re walking?”
“You care?” The words came out before he could even stop
it, full of hurt and what Takumi thought was the honest truth. The Takahashi
brothers were a selfish set of people that Takumi didn’t even want to bother
with anymore. Not if he was going to be treated like some kind of object to be
passed around after use. Ryosuke hadn’t even said a word in his defense, just
stared at the whole thing like it was an entertaining show before breakfast.
“Shit, Takumi, don’t get all pissed off at me. I’m on
your side, okay?” Keisuke explained like he was speaking to the village idiot. Takumi
tried to keep glaring at the man, angry and hurt and having no one else to take
it out on- but Keisuke was the only one that still seemed to be treating him
exactly the same even after he’d spent the night with Ryosuke.
“Sorry,” Takumi mumbled, all of the rage just draining
out as it was quickly replaced by guilt. He looked down at his feet, staring at
the shoe laces of his old, worn-out tennis shoes instead of meeting Keisuke’s
g Tha That would be a little too painful right now, not after the way Takumi
had treated him. Keisuke had stood up for him when Ryosuke ignored him. He
didn’t deserve to be hated just because he was that big fucking jerk’s brother.
“Aw, it’s alright. I get pissed too and the last place I
want to be is with those dicks,” Keisuke made an excuse for him, pointing back
at the restaurant with his thumb. Takumi smiled weakly, even though he was
concentrating on the pavement beneath his feet. At least someone else
understood how he felt, even if Keisuke was responsible for this mess in the
first place. Takumi wasn’t even certain if it would have remained a secret if
Keisuke hadn’t walked in on them and then proceeded to tell everyone else
within earshot. For all he knew, Ryosuke might have planned on bragging about
it to everyone else on the team over breakfast.
Oh, please, don’t
let that be the case.
“Hey, how about I take you home? I’ll go back to my place
and look for your keys and come back later. That sound okay?” Keisuke tried to
coax him into some sort of reasonable action, like offering a kid a soda if
he’d stop crying. Except, Takumi couldn’t really muster up enough care to be
offended, his temper already spent on this morning. It actually didn’t sound
like too bad of an idea now; so, he nodded and followed behind as Keisuke went
back to his car so they could leave the Initial D team to their breakfast and
spare themselves any more embarrassing situations. Takumi didn’t want Keisuke
to have to feel like he needed to be defended, again.
Takumi found himself wishing very much not to be any sort
of burden on the brunette and frowned…wondering just when he had started to
care so much more about Keisuke. Maybe it was because Takumi had finally
realized he had a very good friend right in front of him. He quickened his pace
to catch up to Keisuke, smiling and managing to met the other man’s eyes again
while Keisuke shook his head and made some sort of quiet comment about
‘ignorance’s bliss.’
Takumi didn’t really so much as care, more comfortable in
the other’s presence than he could remember being with anyone else. And he didn’t
have to worry about sex with Keisuke, certain that others boys were the last
thing on the driver’s mind. Maybe today wasn’t turning out so bad after all,
Takumi thought to himself with a contented grin.
“What the fuck are you so happy about? Stop spacing out
and get in the car,” Keisuke ordered, the doors already unlocked as the man
slid into the driver’s seat. Takumi shook himself out of his daze and quickly
got in on his own side, for once actually looking forward to the drive even
though someone else was in control of the car.
AUTHOR’S NOTES: Ye who
bitch shall receive. This chapter is dedicated to:
Amaniblue
CyberHell
Dalphin
crage
Illya
In1
JJ Kal
Karen
Kumi
Little
Noel
Rei
Eien
Sakura
Taylor T
Queen
This is my list for why
there will be more, and faster than last chapter. Though that gives me like a
year plus window…while writing this chapter, I realized how I could finish it-
but we all like a good pause instead of a cliffhanger, right? And there is a
huge lack of beta-readers these days, so sorry about the grammar too. If it
bugs you, help me out! <Sniff. Embarrassed this is on the internet, but I
was severely poked until I posted>