Catch

Warnings: Spoilers for all of the manga.

Notes: I have absolutely no excuse for the delay. I apologize profusely to all who have been waiting for this chapter. It isn't the prettiest I could have made it, and you all can probably expect some edits at some point in the future, but for now I am going to move forward and put this painful memory of writer's block and a total lack of motivation behind me. For those following both versions of this fic, there is no edited version of this chapter (no smex this time, sorry). Also, if you're familiar with Yellow EX you may see some similarities with and allusions to it within this chapter. FF reviewers: eternalsailorsolarwind, heh, a year later and I can still spell it without looking. Anyway, thank you for your continued support. Without you this chapter may never have been finished! AFF reviewers: Bards Apprentice, thank you for being the brave first reviewer to my fic at AFF. Sex and kittens... Yeah, they do seem to go well together, huh. ilovemyhon, I hope this chapter and the direction of the fic satisfies your request (I was going there anyway, but I'm happy to have been able to oblige). Ashcat, I'm sorry I didn't update soon! I meant to, really! Thank you for your kind words! arsenalsgirl, thank you for your comments, I'm flattered that you think I have written a piece worthy of Tateno-sensei herself. I hope everyone continues to enjoy this piece and I will try to write faster in the future!

Disclaimer: Yellow is owned by Makoto Tateno; I’m just borrowing it so I can make myself feel better about the plotholes...



Dreams



Goh was still in bed. Taki'd gotten up already and he wondered how the other man could possibly have the energy given how early it still was and how late he'd come to bed, especially considering that Goh himself really didn't want to get up. Well, he did and he didn't. He wanted to go find Taki and drag him back here, then he wanted to go back to sleep. That, or other things. Well, really just the other things. He didn't really want to go back to sleep at all. He'd been having the dream almost every night the last couple weeks and usually when Taki wasn't around or was being distant emotionally, which, to be honest, he could swear was ingrained in the other man's genes sometimes.



They'd slept so close last night, though. It was sound and peaceful; Goh barely registered when Taki dislodged himself to go to the bathroom in the pre-dawn hours. When he came back he made no attempt to separate himself from Goh's proximity, like he hadn't been just humoring his lover with the offer earlier, nor did he make any insinuations that Goh should feel guilty about... anything. It would have been enough to make Goh weak in the knees if he hadn't already been in bed. In turn, Goh had made no moves to push Taki. They'd just continued to enjoy each other's company and gone back to sleep. A perfect postcard image of domesticity.



Of course, Goh couldn't resist the temptation to imagine such a postcard: the two of them naked and partially exposed in bed together, Goh with his hand over Taki's bare chest and Taki looking back at him contented, the caption reading, "How Men Communicate," or, "Wish you were here?" or any number of other clever things. Goh had to laugh and wonder who they'd want to send something like that to. Well, he'd send one to everyone he knew. Taki, however, would probably want to burn them all, lest they damage his cool reputation. Though, all this talk of postcards made him very interested in getting his hands on some actual photographs of Taki in bed. He'd have to consider how to go about that, deciding having the real thing would have to content him for now.



And he was content, though however pleasant last night was, Goh was still uncomfortable. He couldn't put a finger on quite what was wrong, but this recurring dream wasn't helpful. Okay, well, the simple fact of the matter was: the dream was embarrassing. Goh's dreams have a nasty habit of focusing on the things that he wants but can't have. When he first fell in love with Taki he dreamt about being with him all the time, so this sort of thing wasn't a new phenomenon for Goh. He'd been fantasizing about the other man in both waking and sleeping hours for a very, very long time.



At first the dreams had been longing and erotic, but always ended before he was satisfied. A fleeting touch, a soft cry of his name, but no real hope of fruition. His sex dreams in particular were always a step, or three, ahead of where he wanted to be with another man. Whenever he got to that step, in the case of Taki when they finally became lovers, the dream would shift to something else he "couldn't have," making his dreams the outlet for the fantasies he was denied in his waking hours.



When they finally became lovers the dreams consistently evolved in this manner. Before, the fantasies were modest yet seemed unattainable at the time because of Taki's perceived resistance and heterosexuality. Now, those fantasies were realities, so his dreams had to become wilder to keep them above his expectations for attainability.



In the beginning it was all about positions. They started with missionary, so Goh dreamt about taking Taki from behind. Then, after they'd done it from behind, he started dreaming about having Taki with the other man above him. Eventually they did this, too and continued on in this way. Eventually, instead of simply dreaming about the ways in which he would seduce and pleasure Taki, his mind started inventing situations involving public places and positions that were nearly impossible. Of course, he'd then try to make these fantasies into realities in his waking hours, with varying degrees of success dependent upon Taki's mood, although often, to his surprise and excitement, many of these fantasies in turn came to pass in one way or another. Taki was surprisingly receptive to new experiences, though he'd take this nasty ethical high ground that prevented Goh from getting everything he wanted. After their first night in Rome, for example, he'd tried to convince Taki to go back to Trevi fountain and do it in the middle of the night, but Taki was having none of that. They'd quickly set boundaries, habits and the usual routine of Goh pushing, Taki resisting, and eventually finding a middle ground that they both felt comfortable in.



When he had the original form of his current dream it was exciting. It was a little strange for Goh to be having sex dreams about one of the lovers he was currently engaged with, but he figured it was due to the overwhelming feeling of euphoria at finally having Taki return his affection overflowing into his sleeping hours. He also assumed it was because those other relationships were never serious and never lasted long enough for him to come up with new fantasies to aspire to and dream about. He seemed to completely miss, or rather stubbornly deny, the idea that it had anything to do with his insecurities in being with a man his equal and otherwise hetero.



The first time he woke up from the dream he couldn't contain himself and rolled over onto his lover right there and then. Taki seemed none the wiser, as Goh had a habit of doing that anyway. It wasn't until the dream started getting out of control that he realized anything was out of the ordinary, and by then, of course, it was too late.



By "out of control," though, it wasn't to suggest that the dream was particularly vulgar or intensely frightful, at least not from the perspective of anyone looking from the outside. This was probably why Goh decided it better to keep it to himself. He was uncomfortable enough as it was and didn't need the embarrassment of anyone else knowing about it and laughing at him for either having such a "silly" dream or being insecure about it, particularly if it was Taki.



That fact specifically is what is driving his insecurities about this particular one. It isn't that he's uncomfortable about... it, it's just that given that the other party is Taki he isn't so sure what to expect. Maybe he should just go for it and see if it makes the dream stop. If he has a resolution to the problem perhaps he can move on to something a little less awkward.



It always started the same way. They were home from their honeymoon and Taki was working part time in some bar. Goh'd come in, Taki'd kick him out for giving the female patrons nasty looks and then drag him back to help when business got really busy. All of this was simply a prelude to what came next. After closing the bar out, Taki would give Goh his "reward" for his help.



The first form of the dream was pretty standard: Taki let Goh have him up against the bar. It was actually almost a little too tame compared to what he would have expected to progress next in his "fulfillment" dreams as he liked to call them. It was a public place, but no one else was there and there really wasn't a risk of being caught. He had trouble grasping exactly what it was he was "lacking" in his waking hours to garner such a dream, but he didn't dwell too much on it at the time.



The second time he had the dream one interesting element had been added: Taki went down on him. Taki had barely reached the level of comfort in their actual sex acts to be touching Goh with his hands, let alone mouth. At this point of the dream's evolution he chalked it up to his desire for Taki to become more active in their lovemaking, to initiate more and reciprocate pleasure. This was actually a pretty novel cocept for Goh. For him to give up total control in the bedroom was not something he'd done for a very long time, not since the early days when he was still inexperienced.



And herein laid the spark for what came next. He cursed himself now for ever trying to "understand" these dreams. He was positive if the words, "give up control" had never crossed his mind he wouldn't be in this predicament...



Anyway, Taki was up and he'd be coming in to get Goh out of bed soon enough because they had work to do today and-- oh, here he was now. Goh made a very obvious attempt to look asleep.



"Really smooth there, Goh," the amused voice of his lover called from above him.



"Mmn, Taki? What time is it?" Goh made an even more obvious attempt to "clumsily" roll over and reach for the alarm clock, as if he'd just awoken.



"Nice try. Get up." Taki grabbed the alarm clock before Goh's outstretched arm could reach it.



Goh smiled up at Taki, reaching for the alarm in Taki's hand, but taking Taki by the arm instead, running his fingers down Taki's forearm suggestively. "I am up."



"I meant out of bed," was Taki's quick reply. He knew exactly where Goh was trying to go with this and they simply didn't have the luxury of screwing around, neither figuratively nor literally, this morning.



"I prefer the other." Without missing a beat himself, Goh drew Taki closer and ran his nose up over the other man's shirt front.



"We have work to do," Taki chided.



"Mn."



Taki laid his free hand on top of Goh's head, threading his fingers through Goh's hair.



Goh stopped. He'd planned to start kissing the place he'd just rubbed his nose, but the feeling of Taki's fingers, tensing in anticipation of grabbing his hair threatened to completely kill the wonderful mood they'd had since late last night. Instead, he looked up at Taki, meeting his suspicious eyes with an innocent gaze he knew would disarm the other man. He drew his hand away from Taki's arm, pushed his head back through Taki's fingers and laid against the pillow, keeping their eyes steady on each other as he used his freed arm to prop his head up.



Taki was silent for a moment. It wasn't that he was unaware that this was a game, he just didn't know which one Goh was playing and he didn't know how he should react to it. It was obvious what Goh was ultimately after, particularly based on the coy look he was being given right now; it was just a matter of how Taki should proceed. He felt uncomfortable denying it outright. He worried that he was giving Goh the impression he wasn't interested, when really it was just that Goh seemed to want it all the time and Taki knew they had other things they needed to do than lay in bed all day making love. But he couldn't give in to Goh's desires like this. Not only did they specifically have work to do right now, but he also needed to set boundaries and assert some measure of control in this relationship. It scared him how prone he was to being swept away with Goh's passion and conceding on this point was the same as surrendering and he wasn't very comfortable with that either. If he didn't act quickly, though, Goh would and he'd probably win.



Taki made a decision and, instead of waiting for Goh's next move, he sighed, leaned forward and kissed the other man. It was brief, but gentle and loving. It also seemed to catch Goh completely off-guard. Before he pulled away, knowing he needed to pull away quickly or his plan would backfire and Goh would have him, Taki brought his hand to the other's face and lightly brushed his fingers down his cheek.



"Okay," he started. He pulled more completely away before he finished. "Later... If you behave yourself today."



Goh, who'd instinctively pursued Taki's retreat halfway, stopped at those words.



"What-"



"I promise," Taki interrupted, giving it his best "sincere" smile.



"Taki..." Goh was utterly dumbfounded, which worked just fine for Taki's purposes.



"We have to leave soon, so you need to get up now." Taki left the room quickly. If he stayed, Goh would find a way to get what he wanted without waiting for it. He looked at his watch, relieved to see that they wouldn't miss their window as long as Goh really did get up and get ready right now. Judging from the clumsy thud of Goh rolling off the bed, he was fairly confident. He chuckled to himself as he returned to the kitchen to finish making breakfast.



---



When Taki and Goh finally left they made a bit of a ruckus coming down the stairs. Something about Goh taking too long to get ready and walking a little too closely when they were on their way to a job. Tsunuga was already in for the day, but he didn't disturb their departure. He didn't want to interject in that uncomfortable situation, particularly not after he heard the words, "Don't even think about touching me there!" Neither did he think he could muster the strength to face either man right now even if he hadn't. There were a lot of unresolved issues and dealing with Taki and Goh in any other context than work was going to be tricky for a while, if it were ever to settle down at all.



It wasn't the issue of "apologies" that concerned him. There was guilt, yes, and awkwardness about what had happened, but he was more concerned about where they actually stood. He was a little surprised that the two of them even came back to their apartment, let alone came back to work as snatchers after all that had happened.



It served his purposes just fine, though. He used them, yes, and he planned to continue to do so, but there was a difference now, or so he hoped, that would relieve some of that "guilt" for previous deception: Taki and Goh knew everything now. His identity was no longer a secret and his past was laid bare for them to know and to understand.



His goal had changed, though. Before, he was single-mindedly after Sandfish, and using Taki to get to them, knowing who he was to them, was well within his capacity as it turned out. Now he had his daughter back. He no longer had nothing to lose in this game and his enemy was so much more insidious than he ever would have expected. To think that the very people who he called colleagues would be the ones to betray him was enough to drive him to continue his quest for revenge-- no, not revenge anymore. This was about justice now; the whole of society suffered when the very people who are supposed to protect them are as corrupt as the people they are supposed to be protecting them from. With Taki and Goh willing to continue to work with him as snatchers, it was only a matter of time before he could use them again to seek this new end. He would make sure that his life's tragedy would not be repeated upon anyone else. He would make sure that his daughter would be able to grow up in a world free of such evil.



Yes, Tsunuga was sure of his convictions, but there was still a game to play, and the rules were different than they had been before. The police, particularly those who had wronged him, were most certainly looking harder at his activities, and Taki and Goh were most certainly wary of his motivations now. He had to consider how next to proceed. Continuing with his work here was risky, but he didn't get this far by taking the "safe" road.



First he needed to get them settled back into the old routine. Nothing could be resolved between them if they were all still uneasy about the work. Then he needed to settle up with Taki. He was sure that Taki knew this was coming as well, and was waiting for Tsunuga to give him a sign that things were okay between them. Taki was a good kid, Tsunuga knew that, and he didn't hate him for what happened back then; he was pretty sure of that. Still, there was a lot of pain left bare and when Taki finally comes to him to make the final amends, to settle things, he needed to be ready. Tsunuga never thought coming through with the words, "It's okay," or, "I forgive you," could be so difficult, especially given the circumstances. Was it because he was still holding onto the anger at the loss of his family? Or, was it because he understood the weight these words carried for the young man he was destined to speak them to, and he was afraid of messing it up and damaging Taki's fragile emotional state?



In any event, he needed to finish setting up soon. Kanji wouldn't be in until after classes today, and he still had to see Mari to school. He knew he was being a "doting father" for seeing her off every morning, but he needed to establish a routine of consideration for his daughter, half of whose life he has already missed out on.



---



Taki'd thought that the job this morning was a little too easy. They were in, found the drugs and got out without a hitch. For a first case back it was incredibly simple, and he grappled between being suspicious about it and brushing it off as Tsunuga and Hatozaki's attempts at giving them an easy one to start off. Goh, of course, didn't want anything to do with the thing after they returned to Roost and dropped off the goods. His philosophy was that they were getting paid to steal the drugs, not solve the problems of the people involved and he'd much rather spend that extra time alone with Taki doing other things. And to a point, Taki agreed.



Goh went straight back to bed when they returned to the apartment. He tried to claim his prize for "behaving himself," but Taki reminded him that they had three cases still pending, one of which needed to be settled in the next day and another within the next three to five.



The yakuza would be closing in on that stupid girl who stole his drugs. They needed to catch up to her tonight, but Taki also wanted to get things moving on the third case as well, and do it himself. He had to find a way to convince Goh to go on the second case by himself, without arousing the other man's suspicions. It didn't help that their targets in both cases were women. He would normally just tell Goh to stay home when he started complaining about "female targets," but things were more complicated right now. Not only did they actually need to get to work on both cases tonight, Taki had to consider Goh's obvious discomfort with him being alone with women.



He settled on the argument that Goh dealing with the girl and the yakuza's drugs would be simple because all he really had to do was find her. Very little pleasantry was needed because he could just locate and tail her until Taki came later to back him up to snatch the drugs from her. Hell, there was a good chance she had the heroin on her or had it close by. She didn't seem like a very smart girl from the case file information.



In the meantime, Taki could go to the bar where his own target was and make arrangements. A part of him knew this deception was ridiculous and would only cause more problems for his relationship farther down the road, but his rationalism was being overtaken by a greater fear over the facts in this particular situation. What he really needed was to control as much of the information from as early a time as possible and hope things didn't blow up in his face.



After successfully convincing Goh that splitting off tonight was the best course of action, they both settled down for a nap. Taki in particular was exhausted since he'd slept very little last night. Perhaps this fact is what kept Goh from pushing for the rest of the day and into the night after their late dinner, but it was more likely he was "playing nice" so he could get his "reward" for behaving later. Taki was fine with it either way; it meant he'd have the energy to devote to the work. It was after ten when they finally departed. Goh made one last move that Taki deftly rebuffed. Somehow it didn't make Taki angry or Goh upset; it had become a comfortable routine for them to do this every time they parted. The image of Goh rubbing his side where he'd been punched left a smile on Taki's face as he made his way out. He was not only amused, but relieved that things had remained "normal" between them up to this point. It would help make things go smoother later.



---



The bar was dimly lit: not the kind of establishment that catered to a high class or trendy crowd. Many of the customers here worked in industry in Japan's struggling manufacturing plants or in construction: working men. It served mostly western liquors, but the cultural divide didn't seem to be on anyone's mind.



The bartender here was very popular with these men and Taki already knew exactly why. When he made his way up to the bar she was already busy with several other customers. Second shift had just let out it seemed and there was a rush of men clamoring to get a few drinks in before they had to go home for the night and get some rest.



Taki'd chosen to dress simply tonight. A plain tee-shirt tucked into looser fitting jeans than he normally wore, with an equally plain collared shirt over it, unbuttoned and untucked. He didn't want to stand out too much here and draw any unwanted attention. His target was not among these men and he'd avoid confrontation with any of them if he could help it. This was also another excuse he used to keep Goh from coming with him. It was true that he didn't trust the other man to behave himself, but he really didn't want to see Goh's reaction to what was about to happen.



"I'll be with you in a moment, dear," was all he heard as he sat down in the farthest stool. She didn't seem to have more than glanced in his direction yet, instead balancing several bottles of liquor in an impressive show of cocktail mixing. They weren't the fancy cocktails that were normally ordered in the kinds of places Taki'd worked in over the years, given the clientele. He was, of course, much more popular with women, and found work in the types of bars which catered to them. From the look of it, most of the patrons of this establishment drank beer or hard liquor with and without ice only. Calling the mixed drinks "cocktails" was really just a formality. They usually involved adding some form of juice or two types of liquor into a glass, liberally. Taki recognized the simple screwdriver the bartender was handing over now.



When she finally turned to take his order he flashed his most charming girl-catching smile.



"What can I do for y-" When their eyes met she nearly dropped the glass she was holding.



Taki's smile deepened.



"Oh, my dear God," the woman cried as she clasped her hands over her mouth.



"Uh, hey. Long time no see."



---



Unfortunately for Taki, luck would not be on his side tonight.



Goh knew he should be surveilling his own target right now, but something about the way Taki rationalized the job assignments bothered him. He seemed far too concerned about selling the idea of becoming a bartender to get close to their next target. Of course that would have been the obvious choice for this particular case; they'd done the same trick numerous times in the past. It was the way Taki didn't seem, or was trying not to seem agitated about selling the idea of himself close to a woman when he knew Goh was the jealous type. He was far too quick to brush off Goh's concerns before he even got a chance to voice them. Something was up and he was going to find out what it was.



He'd already taken care of that dumb girl. She was so unbelievably easy to locate that it was almost laughable that he, a hardened homo, could get close enough to stick a transmitter on her without arousing any suspicions. Once he finished here he could easily track her back down before Taki joined him.



The bar wasn't too far away either, and he arrived in remarkable time; it'd barely been an hour since he and Taki had parted ways. Goh waited for another patron to exist the building, so he could catch the door with his hand. He only glanced in sideways to ascertain if Taki was indeed inside.



He located the other man on a far barstool. He was playing the "charming prince" act right now with the bartender. It riled Goh up a bit, like it always did to see women fawning over his partner, but he understood that this was part of the job. Well, he wanted to believe that this was part of the job.



And he tried to believe that this was part of the job, but then he distinctly heard something that he didn't even know how to begin to react to. The woman leaned forward and said, without a doubt, "Oh, it's been so long since I've seen you, Taki." She also touched his cheek, which Goh wasn't too pleased about but he was trying not to think about it.



If he hadn't heard Taki's name, he might have been able to ignore the comment. He also might have been able to convince himself that he had simply mistaken her words if Taki's reply hadn't been, "Yeah, must be about five, maybe six, years now?"



At this point Goh'd heard enough. He didn't wait to listen to any more of the conversation and he let the door shut and started walking back down the street. Taki knew this woman. That was clear. He knew her and he didn't tell Goh about her when the case came up. Why would he keep that kind of information from him? Did he simply not know she was the target? Her name was in the file, so unless Taki had a terrible memory or simply hadn't known the woman's name from the start (which was somewhat plausible given how promiscuous the other man has been with women), he had neglected to share this information intentionally.



Something didn't sit well with this. Five or six years would have made Taki in his teens at the time. What was Taki doing with some woman, who from the looks of it, is easily ten years his senior, at a time when he was still a minor? Who was this woman to Taki?



Goh was going to find out, but right now he needed to cool off. Stealing some heroin might just do the trick at the moment.



12/04/07

4698 words