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31_days2008-11-19 10:37 pm
issen4.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2008-11-19 10:37 pm
[Nov 19] [Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago] Slip Roads 19/31
Title: Slip Roads 19/31
Day/Theme: 19 Nov/villains in love (ulterior motives at cross-purposes)
Series: Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago
Character/Pairing: previous Takahashi Ryousuke/Fuji Yuuta
Rating: PG-13, references to incest between brothers
------------------------
"We had a contract, Fuji-san," Keisuke said in a voice that was very nearly a snarl. He was holding his phone so tightly that his knuckles were white around it.
Ryousuke glanced up at his raised voice, as did Shindou, Touya and his grandfather, who were lingering at the breakfast table and discussing where a decent Go salon could be found. Both his father and mother frowned as Keisuke lowered his voice in the subsequent exchange, but continued to speak furiously.
Catching their looks finally, Keisuke threw them an impatient look, but got up from his seat and exited the dining room, the phone still pressed to his ears.
"What happened?" his mother asked. "I haven't seen Keisuke so angry since he was in high school."
Ryousuke shook his head, not wanting to explain, but with five pairs of expectant eyes (though his grandfather's were amused rather than curious) on him, he finally gave in. "He agreed to consult for a private investigation on a car accident--the accident Shindou and Touya-san were in," he began.
"Oh!" Shindou's eyebrows rose. He had been following the news too. There was little excitement in their neck of the woods otherwise; the local TV station tracked car accidents like a Giants fan tracked baseball scores.
"But the person who contracted him for the job has decided not to use him anymore," Ryousuke went on. He felt his cheeks warm a hint at the probable reason, but trusted that he had not given anything away. Yes, Fuji Syusuke's fury at the kiss between him and Yuuta had been quite entertaining (if you were Yuuta) and exceptionally frustrating as well.
In one sense, of course, it was unfair, and unprofessional, of Fuji Syusuke to try and back out of the consultant project with Keisuke, though as Yuuta had told him, his big brother was not someone to let issues of fairness to get into the way when he had a wrong to avenge. Kissing Fuji Yuuta, it seemed, was one of those.
To be fair, Yuuta hadn't known--neither of them had known--that Keisuke was his brother's consultant before he tried that kissing stunt.
"Why not?" Keisuke's father asked. He had looked a little astonished when Ryousuke mentioned Keisuke as a consultant, possibly never having before imagined his younger son in a professional role--other than professional racer, of course.
He caught me kissing his brother and wants to get to me through Keisuke, did not seem like a good answer, so Ryousuke fell back on the answer ('excuse', according to Yuuta) that Fuji Syusuke had mentioned. "He said he had found someone who was better qualified." Still no excuse for breaking a contract, though.
"Hm." The old, disapproving look had returned to Keisuke's father. It was the usual face he made when he told them that racing was not a proper way to make a living.
"I don't get it. Wouldn't the police be investigating already?" Shindou asked.
Ryousuke nodded. "They are," he said, glad for the opportunity to get away from that path of thought. "They have good people, too." Had to, after years of dealing with racers on Gunma roads. "But Fuji-san--that's the man who hired Keisuke--thinks it might take too long. That's why he wanted an outside consultant."
Anything else he wanted to say was interrupted when Keisuke stalked back to the breakfast table. "Sorry," he said to them. "I wasn't expecting the call so early."
"Finish your food before it gets cold," his mother said.
Keisuke nodded, slipping back into his seat, though he was still frowning.
"How did it go?" his mother asked. At Keisuke's look of surprise, she went on, "Ryousuke was explaining what happened, to us."
"Oh." Keisuke eyed Ryousuke, as though expecting him to respond. "I'm going to interview Fuji-san later," he said.
"But Fuji-" Ryousuke was about to protest that Fuji Syusuke was not involved in the accident. "Ah." Keisuke meant Yuuta, remembering Keisuke's reaction to the kiss. He didn't think he had seen Keisuke look like that before, not even after the quarrel they had before Keisuke left Japan. He seemed strangely young in a way Ryousuke didn't know how to understand.
Keisuke gave him fierce look, as though he could sense the direction of Ryousuke's thoughts. Then he raised his soup bowl and drained it in one smooth motion. "I need to go now," he announced, glancing around the table.
"Fuji-san has agreed to let you stay on as consultant?" Ryousuke asked.
Keisuke didn't meet his eyes. "I said I would give him my professional opinion, and I'm not about to shirk my responsibility," he said.
It sounded like there were still objections from Fuji Syusuke.
But Keisuke seemed to have decided not to continue the conversation anymore. "Thank you for the meal," he said to their mother, and left.
Ryousuke thought he saw his parent exchange looks between them. His grandfather looked enigmatic.
"'Fuji-'?"
Ryousuke gave a start at the chorus from Shindou and Touya. "Fuji-san is one of the accident victims," he explained, and wasn't it strange to refer to Yuuta as 'Fuji-san'? He continued for the benefit of his parents and grandfather, "He was actually right behind the first car that crashed," which explained why his injuries were more severe, "and he's been recovering in hospital all this time. Keisuke... went to see him yesterday, but ah, Fuji-san didn't feel well enough to talk," he finished with a white lie.
Actually, Yuuta had spoken to the police more than a few times already. He was certainly well enough to talk to Keisuke.
"Oh dear," his mother said.
Shindou and Touya both looked grave. "We saw that part of it," Shindou volunteered, "though Fujiwara-san drove us through pretty quickly. It was messy."
Touya placed a hand on Shindou's shoulder.
Shindou visibly shook himself. "I'm fine!" he said, before his gaze turned towards Ryousuke's grandfather, "Hey, old- Kuwabara-sensei, I thought you wanted to beat up some young punks?"
Ryousuke's grandfather stirred himself. "Why do I need to do that, when I have you and Touya-kun?"
"Che!"
"But young people are restless," Ryousuke's grandfather smirked. "Very well, I'll accompany you kids." He sounded as though he was doing them a massive favour.
"'kids'?" was Shindou's contribution.
"Father, are you going out today?" Ryousuke's mother asked.
Ryousuke's grandfather nodded. "We're visiting a Go salon together." His brief gesture included Shindou and Touya.
"Oh, dear. Not Sannin Igo-"
"No," Ryousuke's grandfather said. "Too provincial, full of incompetents."
He was referring to the clientele in that Go salon, Ryousuke realised. He knew that his grandfather visited Go salons in town now and then, and deplored the players he could find in it, but there weren't many Go salons in Gunma cities.
His mother frowned. "That's right, you got banned last time. Then it's the Konoha-"
"No."
"Right, you nearly bought them out... Oh, dear." His mother's frown deepened. "Surely, Father, you're not thinking of..." her voice lowered, as though whispering a secret. "...Akatsuki Igo Salon?"
The expression on his grandfather's face, Ryousuke thought, could only be described as 'smug'.
Ryousuke's father stared at them curiously. "What's wrong with this... Akatsuki?" As though infected by Ryousuke's mother, he too lowered his voice on the last word.
Ryousuke, who hadn't thought the town had as many as three Go salons, looked curiously for his mother's answer, willing to be distracted from the problem with Keisuke.
"It's in Maebashi, for one thing," his mother said distractedly.
Oh, not nearby after all. Maebashi was the capital city of Gunma and was about two hours' drive from where they were.
"And the last time Father was there, he defeated everyone and-" his mother shook her head, as though deciding that it was futile to dissuade her father. She looked directly at Shindou and Touya instead. "Touya-san, Shindou-san, I know it's a lot to ask of you two, but please take care of my father."
Touya nodded earnestly. "Please, Takahashi-san," he said, "you don't have to worry. Shindou and I will take good care of Kuwabara-sensei."
Shindou chimmed in, "Yeah, Takahashi-san! Please don't worry." Though when he glanced at Ryousuke's grandfather, his expression was amused. "What did you do there, old man?" he asked, seemingly forgetting that the rest of the family was listening.
There was only a huff.
Ryousuke met his father's eyes and both decided, without speaking, that it was in their interest to keep silent.
"But how are you going to get to Maebashi?" his mother asked. "Maybe Ryousuke, but he has work-"
Shindou sat up. "Yeah, old m- Kuwabara-sensei," he said. "It'll cost a bomb by taxi, and it's ridiculous to spend that much just so you can get your rocks off."
Ryousuke's grandfather said, "Shindou-kun, you have this habit of leaving your phone around."
"Huh?"
"I've heard you speaking to that friend of yours, the one who drove you and Touya-kun here."
Shindou's expression was comical in its dismay. "Fujiwara-san? You called Fujiwara-san? With my phone?" It was difficult to say which imposition he felt more affronted about.
"Seems like a good boy, willing to respect his elders. Unlike some I could name." Before Shindou could respond to that, Ryousuke's grandfather went on, "I called him yesterday. He'll be here... in about ten minutes."
Shindou got to his feet, looking outraged. "Old man, you can't just order people-"
"Shindou!" Touya pulled him back down. "We're at a meal."
"Sorry," Shindou said, with a dip of his head at Ryousuke's parents.
"If you object, you can stay behind," Ryousuke's grandfather said. He sounded pleased at Shindou's response, and his attention was firmly on, it seemed to Ryousuke, the way Touya's hands were still holding on to Shindou's arms.
Shindou made a face, his earlier show of respect to Ryousuke's parents forgotten. "Oh no," he said, shaking his head, before a grin quirked at the sides of his lips. "Besides, why should you get to have all the fun?"
"Shindou!"
Not in the least abashed by Touya's outraged protest, Shindou only said, "Touya, you're coming along, right?"
"Yes, but I will be in charge of stopping-" Touya paused, and said deliberately at both Shindou and Ryousuke's grandfather, "-the two of you from turning the Go salon upside down."
Shindou snorted. "What a rival."
(tbc)
Day/Theme: 19 Nov/villains in love (ulterior motives at cross-purposes)
Series: Initial D/Prince of Tennis/Hikago
Character/Pairing: previous Takahashi Ryousuke/Fuji Yuuta
Rating: PG-13, references to incest between brothers
------------------------
"We had a contract, Fuji-san," Keisuke said in a voice that was very nearly a snarl. He was holding his phone so tightly that his knuckles were white around it.
Ryousuke glanced up at his raised voice, as did Shindou, Touya and his grandfather, who were lingering at the breakfast table and discussing where a decent Go salon could be found. Both his father and mother frowned as Keisuke lowered his voice in the subsequent exchange, but continued to speak furiously.
Catching their looks finally, Keisuke threw them an impatient look, but got up from his seat and exited the dining room, the phone still pressed to his ears.
"What happened?" his mother asked. "I haven't seen Keisuke so angry since he was in high school."
Ryousuke shook his head, not wanting to explain, but with five pairs of expectant eyes (though his grandfather's were amused rather than curious) on him, he finally gave in. "He agreed to consult for a private investigation on a car accident--the accident Shindou and Touya-san were in," he began.
"Oh!" Shindou's eyebrows rose. He had been following the news too. There was little excitement in their neck of the woods otherwise; the local TV station tracked car accidents like a Giants fan tracked baseball scores.
"But the person who contracted him for the job has decided not to use him anymore," Ryousuke went on. He felt his cheeks warm a hint at the probable reason, but trusted that he had not given anything away. Yes, Fuji Syusuke's fury at the kiss between him and Yuuta had been quite entertaining (if you were Yuuta) and exceptionally frustrating as well.
In one sense, of course, it was unfair, and unprofessional, of Fuji Syusuke to try and back out of the consultant project with Keisuke, though as Yuuta had told him, his big brother was not someone to let issues of fairness to get into the way when he had a wrong to avenge. Kissing Fuji Yuuta, it seemed, was one of those.
To be fair, Yuuta hadn't known--neither of them had known--that Keisuke was his brother's consultant before he tried that kissing stunt.
"Why not?" Keisuke's father asked. He had looked a little astonished when Ryousuke mentioned Keisuke as a consultant, possibly never having before imagined his younger son in a professional role--other than professional racer, of course.
He caught me kissing his brother and wants to get to me through Keisuke, did not seem like a good answer, so Ryousuke fell back on the answer ('excuse', according to Yuuta) that Fuji Syusuke had mentioned. "He said he had found someone who was better qualified." Still no excuse for breaking a contract, though.
"Hm." The old, disapproving look had returned to Keisuke's father. It was the usual face he made when he told them that racing was not a proper way to make a living.
"I don't get it. Wouldn't the police be investigating already?" Shindou asked.
Ryousuke nodded. "They are," he said, glad for the opportunity to get away from that path of thought. "They have good people, too." Had to, after years of dealing with racers on Gunma roads. "But Fuji-san--that's the man who hired Keisuke--thinks it might take too long. That's why he wanted an outside consultant."
Anything else he wanted to say was interrupted when Keisuke stalked back to the breakfast table. "Sorry," he said to them. "I wasn't expecting the call so early."
"Finish your food before it gets cold," his mother said.
Keisuke nodded, slipping back into his seat, though he was still frowning.
"How did it go?" his mother asked. At Keisuke's look of surprise, she went on, "Ryousuke was explaining what happened, to us."
"Oh." Keisuke eyed Ryousuke, as though expecting him to respond. "I'm going to interview Fuji-san later," he said.
"But Fuji-" Ryousuke was about to protest that Fuji Syusuke was not involved in the accident. "Ah." Keisuke meant Yuuta, remembering Keisuke's reaction to the kiss. He didn't think he had seen Keisuke look like that before, not even after the quarrel they had before Keisuke left Japan. He seemed strangely young in a way Ryousuke didn't know how to understand.
Keisuke gave him fierce look, as though he could sense the direction of Ryousuke's thoughts. Then he raised his soup bowl and drained it in one smooth motion. "I need to go now," he announced, glancing around the table.
"Fuji-san has agreed to let you stay on as consultant?" Ryousuke asked.
Keisuke didn't meet his eyes. "I said I would give him my professional opinion, and I'm not about to shirk my responsibility," he said.
It sounded like there were still objections from Fuji Syusuke.
But Keisuke seemed to have decided not to continue the conversation anymore. "Thank you for the meal," he said to their mother, and left.
Ryousuke thought he saw his parent exchange looks between them. His grandfather looked enigmatic.
"'Fuji-'?"
Ryousuke gave a start at the chorus from Shindou and Touya. "Fuji-san is one of the accident victims," he explained, and wasn't it strange to refer to Yuuta as 'Fuji-san'? He continued for the benefit of his parents and grandfather, "He was actually right behind the first car that crashed," which explained why his injuries were more severe, "and he's been recovering in hospital all this time. Keisuke... went to see him yesterday, but ah, Fuji-san didn't feel well enough to talk," he finished with a white lie.
Actually, Yuuta had spoken to the police more than a few times already. He was certainly well enough to talk to Keisuke.
"Oh dear," his mother said.
Shindou and Touya both looked grave. "We saw that part of it," Shindou volunteered, "though Fujiwara-san drove us through pretty quickly. It was messy."
Touya placed a hand on Shindou's shoulder.
Shindou visibly shook himself. "I'm fine!" he said, before his gaze turned towards Ryousuke's grandfather, "Hey, old- Kuwabara-sensei, I thought you wanted to beat up some young punks?"
Ryousuke's grandfather stirred himself. "Why do I need to do that, when I have you and Touya-kun?"
"Che!"
"But young people are restless," Ryousuke's grandfather smirked. "Very well, I'll accompany you kids." He sounded as though he was doing them a massive favour.
"'kids'?" was Shindou's contribution.
"Father, are you going out today?" Ryousuke's mother asked.
Ryousuke's grandfather nodded. "We're visiting a Go salon together." His brief gesture included Shindou and Touya.
"Oh, dear. Not Sannin Igo-"
"No," Ryousuke's grandfather said. "Too provincial, full of incompetents."
He was referring to the clientele in that Go salon, Ryousuke realised. He knew that his grandfather visited Go salons in town now and then, and deplored the players he could find in it, but there weren't many Go salons in Gunma cities.
His mother frowned. "That's right, you got banned last time. Then it's the Konoha-"
"No."
"Right, you nearly bought them out... Oh, dear." His mother's frown deepened. "Surely, Father, you're not thinking of..." her voice lowered, as though whispering a secret. "...Akatsuki Igo Salon?"
The expression on his grandfather's face, Ryousuke thought, could only be described as 'smug'.
Ryousuke's father stared at them curiously. "What's wrong with this... Akatsuki?" As though infected by Ryousuke's mother, he too lowered his voice on the last word.
Ryousuke, who hadn't thought the town had as many as three Go salons, looked curiously for his mother's answer, willing to be distracted from the problem with Keisuke.
"It's in Maebashi, for one thing," his mother said distractedly.
Oh, not nearby after all. Maebashi was the capital city of Gunma and was about two hours' drive from where they were.
"And the last time Father was there, he defeated everyone and-" his mother shook her head, as though deciding that it was futile to dissuade her father. She looked directly at Shindou and Touya instead. "Touya-san, Shindou-san, I know it's a lot to ask of you two, but please take care of my father."
Touya nodded earnestly. "Please, Takahashi-san," he said, "you don't have to worry. Shindou and I will take good care of Kuwabara-sensei."
Shindou chimmed in, "Yeah, Takahashi-san! Please don't worry." Though when he glanced at Ryousuke's grandfather, his expression was amused. "What did you do there, old man?" he asked, seemingly forgetting that the rest of the family was listening.
There was only a huff.
Ryousuke met his father's eyes and both decided, without speaking, that it was in their interest to keep silent.
"But how are you going to get to Maebashi?" his mother asked. "Maybe Ryousuke, but he has work-"
Shindou sat up. "Yeah, old m- Kuwabara-sensei," he said. "It'll cost a bomb by taxi, and it's ridiculous to spend that much just so you can get your rocks off."
Ryousuke's grandfather said, "Shindou-kun, you have this habit of leaving your phone around."
"Huh?"
"I've heard you speaking to that friend of yours, the one who drove you and Touya-kun here."
Shindou's expression was comical in its dismay. "Fujiwara-san? You called Fujiwara-san? With my phone?" It was difficult to say which imposition he felt more affronted about.
"Seems like a good boy, willing to respect his elders. Unlike some I could name." Before Shindou could respond to that, Ryousuke's grandfather went on, "I called him yesterday. He'll be here... in about ten minutes."
Shindou got to his feet, looking outraged. "Old man, you can't just order people-"
"Shindou!" Touya pulled him back down. "We're at a meal."
"Sorry," Shindou said, with a dip of his head at Ryousuke's parents.
"If you object, you can stay behind," Ryousuke's grandfather said. He sounded pleased at Shindou's response, and his attention was firmly on, it seemed to Ryousuke, the way Touya's hands were still holding on to Shindou's arms.
Shindou made a face, his earlier show of respect to Ryousuke's parents forgotten. "Oh no," he said, shaking his head, before a grin quirked at the sides of his lips. "Besides, why should you get to have all the fun?"
"Shindou!"
Not in the least abashed by Touya's outraged protest, Shindou only said, "Touya, you're coming along, right?"
"Yes, but I will be in charge of stopping-" Touya paused, and said deliberately at both Shindou and Ryousuke's grandfather, "-the two of you from turning the Go salon upside down."
Shindou snorted. "What a rival."
(tbc)