Black and Gold

Chapter five, at a nice little pace~

This is a shorter chapter but it was an appropriate stopping point. Kenji and Johan have a long talk.

Actively seeking RP partners for any of the series I write for – and some series that I don’t. PM me or AIM me at katalyst019 if you’re interested, please! :3

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Kenji Endou grinned a bit lopsidedly, holding a tray with tea. He looked rough around the edges still, though it was obvious that he had tried to reform, to a point.

“Please make yourself comfortable.”

Johan took a seat, bowing his head a little. He was getting more used to going through the motions of this culture though it still felt quite awkward and unnecessary. “Thank you.” He accepted the tea and sipped it, though it was heavy and bitter.

“Of course. What did you want to talk about?”

Johan sighed a bit in relief, glad that this person at least didn’t mind cutting to the chase. “One of your old friends, actually.”

The man tensed a little, eyes growing serious. “Ah… may I ask who?”

“Tenma Kenzou.”

“Ah, Ken-kun…” The tension dissolved, and Kenji smiled broadly. “Is he finally back in Japan now?”

“He is, actually.” Johan said it slowly, puzzling over the reaction in his head briefly.

“Really?” The other man looked very pleased. “I’m so glad… I should look him up. So how can I help you?”

“You aren’t suspicious of me being a reporter?” It was surprising to Johan, considering that every other person he had met with had.

“He was found innocent. If you’re here for a story it’s gonna be pretty boring, wouldn’t you say?”

Johan laughed lightly, nodding. “True.”

“So if you’re not a reporter, you’re probably a friend from Germany. And any friend of Ken’s is a friend of mine.” He paused to take a drink of the tea. “So what do you want to know?”

“Anything you would like to talk about would be fine. I’ve been… worried about him, and I’d like to know more about him.”

“Hn. Well… you probably know Kenzo and I haven’t spoken in a long time. I don’t know how much help I’ll be.”

Johan smiled softly, shaking his head. “Any of your impressions would be fine. What kind of a person was he, before?”

Kenji raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you know?”

“Actually… the truth is… he’s really quite difficult to get to talk about his past.” It was an understatement.

“Don’t worry yourself too much. He’s always been like that.” Kenji grinned.

“Still, you were friends… you must know him a bit better.” He prodded him gently, trying not to be frustrated. Even the most cagy of serial killers were easier to unravel.

“We didn’t go to the same school or anything. We played music for a while, until he left to go to medical school in Germany. I guess sometimes we were more rivals than friends… I was pretty jealous of him, actually.”

“Why were you jealous?”

“He was a lot better player than I was, and he didn’t really even have to try. If he had tried to join a band, I’m sure he would’ve made it.”

“He didn’t?”

“Nah. I mean, he played with us a few times, when we asked him to. But he always refused to join our band – or anyone else’s. He just didn’t like to be part of stuff. Plus he was studying pretty hard, and there were troubles at home, I think.”

“Troubles…?”

Kenji waved his hands. “Oh you know… we all had troubles at the time. That’s how Japan is. I wanted to become a rock star, instead of run my parent’s liquor store. Kenzo wanted to leave.”

“What did his parents want for him?”

“To take over the hospital, probably. Kenzo didn’t want to follow in his footsteps. I guess it’s hard to have a famous father.”

“Was there anything more that was troubling him?”

“Now that you mention it… maybe. I don’t know what though. He would never talk to me, no matter how hard I tried to get him to.”

“How much did you try?”

“A lot! Ken just kept everyone at arm’s length. He was great if you needed help… but otherwise he could be really distant.”

“I see.” He said it slowly, the thought occurring to him that Kenji seemed to have a bit of a crush on his doctor.

Kenji sighed deeply and looked down into his tea. Johan recognized that look, had seen it in others before. It irritated him. “The truth is, I always wanted to be closer to Ken-kun. I know he was struggling with a lot, I just didn’t know how to help.”

Johan felt just the slightest twist in his gut, carefully keeping his mildly pleasant expression from slipping. “I’m sure it wasn’t your fault.”

“Mn. I guess. Truth is I was always pretty selfish when we were friends. Ken never really seemed to care, but now I…” He paused, shrugging. “You can tell a lot about a person from their music, you know?”

“So what was Tenma-sensei’s music like?”

“Hn…” Kenji tilted his head a little. “Lonely, I guess.”

“Lonely?” Johan put his teacup down gently, folding his hands.

“Yeah. I think maybe… he was always waiting for someone to draw him out.” Kenji shrugged a little. “But none of us ever realized. We all just wanted to be famous.” There was a long pause. “Do you want to hear his playing?”

“You have a recording?” He was startled by that, looking over to him.

He laughed a bit, standing. “Well… yeah. My band and I kind of begged him to get us into a recording studio once. He’d made some friends in the recording business, and they got us in as a favor. ‘Course they made him make a demo too. Everyone thought he’d continue with music and he was really talented.” Kenji took out a box, flipping through it and pulling out an old tape, waving it a little. “But Kenzo told me to keep it since he didn’t need it. I think he only saw music as a distraction.”

Johan frowned, thinking about that. “You wouldn’t mind if I borrowed it?”

“Not as long as you bring it back.” Kenji handed it to him and Johan took it, holding onto it very lightly.

“Of course. Thank you.” He looked down at the tape in his hand, wondering if he would gain any insight from it.

“You’re welcome.” Kenji sat back down, refilling Johan’s teacup. “Maybe you can find him.”

“I already know where he is, Endou-san…”

“That isn’t what I meant.”

“What did you mean, then?”

Kenji shrugged. “We all get a little lost sometimes. From talking to you, I feel like you have been… and that right now, Ken is lost too.”

The other’s perception startled him into a slightly defensive mood, and he thought carefully about how to reply before the other looked at his watch. “Oh shit.”

“Hm?” Johan watched him, bemused.

“I’m late for work – my mom’s going to nag the crap out of me.”

Johan nodded, taking the hint and rising smoothly, bowing once more to him. “Thank you for taking time to speak with me, Endou-san.”

Kenji waved a hand as he got up too, walking him to the door and giving him time to get his shoes on. “Of course. Say hello to Ken for me.”

Johan nodded, taking his leave.