Title: Jellyfish Love [Chapter Two: Intent] Author: Matrim Email: matrim _ no _ aijin @ yahoo . com (hotmail isn't working so use that one) Warnings: Uhhhhhh...Do I have any? OH! XD YES. I warn thee of Powerman 5000 lyrics, GishoxHakueixKa-yuxYasu porn star love (completely Alex's fault), and Atsushi as Kyo and Nene's father. BWAHAHAHA. ++ "We're getting awfully close to Shinya's territory," Aiji says and watches Kyo's back carefully as he paces the length of the office. The short man only nods and piercings reflect lamp light as he does so. Aiji is frustrated tonight, tempted to demand why they were so close to Shinya's territory and why on earth he is the only one in the office. He wants to know why Izam got the whole day off when Kyo never gives his assassins days off. He gives a fuck less about Toshiya. Aiji's near to bursting with questions that go unasked because they start with the word 'why'. And it's a rule that you don't ask a 'why' question to Kyo unless you were his father. Kyo stops for a moment and gazes at Aiji--long and hard. His eyes drift from Aiji's eyes down to his feet and back up again. It's like the elevator eyes people give to other people in appreciation but this is different. Kyo's not appreciating his beauty but rather sizing him up—as if he wanted to fight. Aiji bites his bottom lip and tries to remain indifferent. He hated being sized up. "You got something to tell me?" Aiji doesn't lie. He just doesn't answer. "It's a question." "You won't like it." "You think that you know what I like?" Kyo asks. It's sounds surprisingly congenial and Kyo's giving him that half-smirk of his. Aiji refuses to answer. Kyo gives an odd little laugh and continues to pace. "You're probably spilling over with the question of 'why'. And my answer would be, 'Why not?' I'm tired of the limitations set up by old morons who have nothing more to do than look for a new mistress. They don't know how business works these days and they think that their rule will be absolute." Aiji frowns. He doesn't think he understands. He was rather fond of the old ways. Boundaries set and drawn. Life goes on, right? "Why should we settle for one part of the city when we can have the rest? Why should we follow the old ways? Make no mistake, Aiji, this isn't just a hostile takeover for the hell of it. I want him to fight me. I want him to fight me with all he has. I don't want the game to end too soon. But this is also about revenge." Before Aiji can even summon up the words to convey his confusion, his memories intercede on his behalf and remind him. During this process, Kyo stares at him and smiles when he thinks Aiji gets the picture. Kyo killed Shinya's father which immediately passed the reigns of the entire operation over to Shinya. Kyo wanted Shinya to be the next to die which would leave Shinya's mother to run it by herself and since she was old, Kyo thought it'd be easy for it all to collapse. Instead, Shinya's girlfriend got caught in the crossfire and now she was in a wheelchair. Shinya got away with nothing but blood on his shirt. They all thought he wouldn't last a month because he wasn't like his father. He wasn't ruthless and outspoken in his violence. They were wrong. When Kyo had his birthday celebration a few years ago, his sister went missing. She was found a week later, abandoned in an old warehouse covered in blood with the remnants of her dead lover lying in front of her. She never recovered to the smart witty woman that Aiji knew and treated like a sister. She was rather insane and instead of taking her to a hospital, Kyo and Atsushi insisted she be cared for by their doctor and stay home with them. And Shinya had the nerve to hide a birthday card on her that was meant for Kyo. "Exactly, Aiji. I deliver his bride to him instead of killing him and what does he do?" A rhetorical question. But why wait until now to do this to Shinya? Maybe he wanted to lure Shinya into a sense of false security. But the Shinya then is different from the Shinya now. No one's seen Shinya in public since that incident with his girlfriend and he's surrounded by people who were utterly devoted to a name but not a face. He owned reputable things, he had the most beautiful people, and what was worse—people trembled at his henchmen's names! It was�cridiculous. Kyo stops pacing and moves over to Aiji. "He has everything I have except in different ways. Except, Aiji, he does not have you. Nor does he have Izam or Toshiya." Aiji takes a step back. It's a compliment in a backwards fashion and he's always been told to be wary about compliments coming from Kyo. "What do you want me to do?" "What you always do best, Aiji. Be my eyes. Spy for me. Find things, tell me where he's weakest. Do it any way you can—sleep with someone if you have to." Kyo's hand reaches out and hooks around Aiji's neck, right by the nape. He pulls Aiji close and even if he is shorter, he is strong. "You're patient. Izam isn't. Everyone recognizes Toshiya as mine. But you will do what I need you to." Aiji nods and Kyo smiles. "Go. Now." The taller man nods, making his way out of Kyo's office just as Tatsurou and Yukke move in. They don't offer any greeting or even acknowledge that he's there. People aren't very close to each other if they work with Kyo. It works better that way. Kyo seems to use paranoia and suspicion to his advantage. However, in order to infiltrate Shinya's network, Aiji has a sinking feeling that he may have to change the way he is. ++ In another club, not far away from where Kyo's office was, a celebration was taking place. It is nothing like Shinya's party, no—this is nowhere near elegance. The people who enter the club wear clothing that are torn apart and artfully so. The color that dominates is black and one can't tell the difference between boys or girls. There is a smell of leather and the things that pass as jewelry here are safety pins. Anything that is more valuable than safety pins are placed in parts of the body that tells you better be damn close to the person (or damn sexy) in order to see it. The music is heavy, loud and the lights are dim. Strobe lights in different colors race along the surfaces of the club. It's large inside with three levels. There are no soft surfaces here—everything is made of metal. A tall slender man dressed in skin tight leather saunters up the stairs to the beat. He moves off to the side, letting his hands slide over the metal railing. His hands close around the metal and he leans forward to look out over the club. He is in charge tonight which is rather extraordinary. He's considered to be irresponsible and impatient and now he's in charge of a party given for the four most successful stars in the company? They must be getting desperate, Toshiya thinks to himself and reaches into a hidden pocket for his cigarettes and lighter. And as soon as the bass line starts, Toshiya decides to move to the music. He lights his cigarette and watches over the people dancing below. "Nobody's real but they're willing to let you go Nobody's real but they'll feel it�c" He grabs onto the rail when he feels someone grab the belt loops of his leather pants and try to pull him. A body presses up against him from behind and Toshiya can feel the muscles of a taller man behind him. "Toshiya--having fun by yourself?" Toshiya snorts and relaxes, releasing the rail to remove the cigarette from his mouth and turns around to meet Hakuei's eyes. "Just dancing. What do you want?" "Mm. Feisty." Someone chimes in and Toshiya eyes Yasu, who's decided to lean against the railing next to him. "You're not dancing. You're scouting. You're not paying attention to us. If Kyo were here, he'd pay attention to us." Toshiya eyes Yasu for a good five seconds then begins to turn away from him. Instead, Hakuei turns him around again. Maybe the reason why he's been placed in charge was because Kyo didn't want to deal with babysitting needy horny porn stars. Izam had the day off to be with his boyfriend and Aiji was probably doing something fun like killing. "Don't be angry, Totchi." Hakuei says in his ear, loud enough to be heard over the music. "We don't want assassin Toshiya tonight. We want you to be one of us again." The assassin rolls his eyes and braces himself against the railing to gently push Hakuei away from him with his feet. The other man pretends to stumble back against his partner, Gisho. Toshiya crosses his legs at the ankle and gives Hakuei a tiny smile. He's not a porn star anymore. He was once—for two movies—but gave it up when Kyo got him a better role. He liked killing better. There was a rush to it. There was a sense of responsibility. Yasu still didn't believe that he didn't need sex. Ka-yu did try to keep Yasu from bothering Toshiya about it but only because Toshiya told him once that if Yasu didn't stop, he would tell him all the nasty little details about how he arranged still-warm corpses into artful sculptures. "I'm your bodyguard, not your chew toy." Hakuei smiles, as if he knows better and Gisho pushes him to the side. "What about after? When you're not being official?" Gisho's beautiful. Kyo's stars are always beautiful. They're sinful though and always a bit tarnished. Kyo likes them that way and while Toshiya understands, he doesn't quite like it. And they know it which is why they stick together. Gisho was the gentleman, Ka-yu was the fighter, Hakuei was the leader and Yasu was the diplomat. Toshiya has no doubts that they want to include him in but he wants something better. Something more and something his own. He wants to give them something else but he doesn't say it because isn't sure what it is yet. And as Toshiya stares at Gisho, he is very tempted to take his offer and only his. But he doesn't. Totchi only smirks and shakes his head. "Can't. Kyo expects me to be back with a full report on how all of you are doing. And I think he has an assignment for me." It's a blatant lie, but at least, Gisho won't call him on it. "You never spend time with us any more." Yasu says. It is blunt and said in a level voice which means that Yasu is serious and isn't just trying to get a reaction out of him. "Busy times," Toshiya tells him and wants to soften his words with a pet name but has nothing to call Yasu. The blonde man stares at him for a second then looks away. It's the first time the other man's willing to drop a subject so willingly which makes the assassin suspicious. That could only mean trouble but before Yasu explodes, Ka-yu appears from the direction of the bathroom and takes his place beside Yasu. Gisho speaks to try to diffuse the situation, "If it's business, then you should go. It must be important." Hakuei moves forward, takes the cigarette from Toshiya's lips and takes a drag. It's purely sexual and something that Hakuei is too good at. He's not acting to make it look natural. He eyes Toshiya and before the assassin can push him away, he's walking away from him. "Yes. Work before pleasure, you know." "We just want you to be careful." Toshiya nods and turns away from them again and this time no one turns him around. The music has changed into the familiar tune of the Cure and Robert Smith's voice brings a hush over the crowd below. He wants something different but not like what Izam has or wants. Toshiya's not an optimist nor does he believe in illusions. And he doesn't intend to run away from life. Toshiya frowns and wants to think about it more, but a boy down below catches his attention. He looks to be tall and he has long blonde hair. It's done in curls and he's out of place. He doesn't belong here because he's dressed in white. No one dresses in white when they come to this club. Toshiya must be hallucinating. He turns quickly before the others can see because he wants to keep it to himself and he knows they haven't seen it because they're too busy talking to each other in hushed voices and innuendo. Toshiya's eyes narrow. He doesn't believe in love at first sight. He doesn't believe in angels. He knows that he doesn't know what he wants. But maybe a stranger who has the audacity to walk into a club dressed entirely in the opposite color of what everyone else is wearing can tell him. All he has to do is find him. ++ To Chapter Three Jelly Home Fics Home