In the End

Chapter Four - Certain Uncertainties

“Sir, I don’t know if this is wise for you to…”

“Oh save it, I know what I’m doing.”

“But sir, if anything happens to you, I…”

“Nothing will happen to me. Now go around to the back and wait for me.”

That served as the closure to this conversation, and Kirin quickly closed the door to move away from the car. Here he thought that after he was the kumicho, he’d have more freedom. It seemed quite on the contrary. Of course, what contributed to this heightened sense of alert were the numerous attempts at his life. It was a mystery that still remained to be solved. In the past couple of weeks, there had not been a word or even a whisper of anything going wrong. His outings and meetings were reduced to the norm and Kirin almost wished the traitor would do something so he could have some fun again.

Almost; because he still valued his life quite so.

It had been about fifteen days since he first met that violet eyed host in here. Since then, there had been constant reminders of Shuusei everywhere Kirin went. Of course, just about every reminder was the product of the kumicho’s mind. It was startling and somewhat troubling that he would take such notice towards someone. And yet, there was something about the host that Kirin just could not help but gravitate towards.

So he walked past the lobby and went up the stairs two at a time. This club was open to its clients, open to its hosts, so open that he could just walk right up without anyone stopping him. Tonight, he was here for some entertainment; he did not want to admit the nagging voice at the back of his mind that whispered he was here in hopes to see that bitchy host again.

In front of Shuusei’s door, Kirin took a deep breath and tried the door knob. It was locked. And here he had wanted to surprise the host. Oh well, he would just have to knock like everyone else. Once. Twice. Thrice. And he waited. Nothing, absolutely nothing came from the other end of the door. He picked up his eyes and assessed the door carefully, as if it held the answers to all his questions. Then he tried again, harder this time.

And harder again.
Harder.

Kirin was surprised that the door did not break down under his insistence, but it was another door that opened.

Down the hall to his right, a door creaked open and a brown haired host stuck his head out. “Can I help you?”

Kirin turned towards the voice and looked back at Shuusei’s door again. “Yeah, what happened to him?” His jabbed a thumb towards the door.

“I don’t know. Shuusei-san usually doesn’t talk to anyone, so…” A loner! Kirin concluded. Why wasn’t he surprised? “What business do you have with him?”

“What do you think?”

“The number one usually doesn’t take clients, so if you don’t have an appointment, it’s basically futile.”

“He’s the number one?” Kirin took a couple of steps towards the host in utter surprise. Sure, Shuusei’s appearance was enough to get him to number one. And the little bit of service he enjoyed of Shuusei’s lips spoke of skills as well. However, Kirin cannot fathom anyone who could stand that attitude for more than an hour. Of course, he shouldn’t speak since he was just knocking on Shuusei’s door a minute ago. “And he doesn’t take clients, how rich.”

The host gave him a tentative smile before stepping out a little more so the door was now fully open, a sign of invitation. “Just because the number one doesn’t take clients, that doesn’t mean other hosts aren’t looking.”

Kirin looked at the host and grinned, his strides were confident when he approached the younger. Indeed, just because this host was not of Shuusei’s calibre, that didn’t mean he couldn’t still enjoy himself. After all, as long as he got his pleasure, it didn’t really matter whom it came from, right? “What’s your name?”

“Manabu. And yours, sir?”

“Well, that’s a good start.”

Sir, sounded good coming from such a timid little creature who looked at him from underneath his eyelashes. Kirin’s hand found the back of Manabu’s neck and pulled him in for a swift kiss. Yes, it was this compliance and obedience that he enjoyed. Yet, he could not help but wonder what it would feel like if Shuusei should ever open his lips willingly like this. His tongue demanded entrance and found the host’s slick muscle to stroke against. Moving closer, he pushed against the host and against the door. Manabu took the invitation more than readily and slipped a hand down Kirin’s back and in between their bodies to rub against the front of Kirin’s pants.

Yes, just like that; Kirin’s eyes narrowed in anticipation.

Pulling away from the younger, he enjoyed the flushed cheeks and the somewhat dazed expression. With a grin on his lips, Kirin glanced at the room beyond and raised an eyebrow. “What? Don’t tell me you prefer the doorway.”

Manabu smiled and made sure to give the other a firm squeeze before sliding out of Kirin’s arms to lead him further into the room. The yakuza boss followed easily while shrugging out of his jacket. The door was closed with a kick of his foot heel, shut carelessly. By the time they were at the bed, Manabu and Kirin had already worked off their shirts and the yakuza boss found the younger’s collar bone the perfect place to sink his teeth into.

A gasp was elicited and Manabu’s fingers tightened around the roots of a strand of Kirin’s hair. There was no name for him to utter but a string of incoherent groans to voice his pleasure. He slid from Kirin’s arms just so he could sink in front of the older to discard Kirin’s pants. His fingers curled around the semi-erect length that he took into his mouth easily. Above him, the yakuza boss moved to step out of his pants and underwear, all the while keeping a hand threaded through Manabu’s hair.

The host kept a hand on Kirin’s thigh so he could move further and further, taking more of the other man’s cock into his mouth. While some came into this business because this was their last way out, Manabu was in this business purely for the pleasure aspect of it. He moaned around the length in his mouth and it was echoed by Kirin high above, teeth gritted and eyes lidded looking down at the young host. For a split second, he remembered Shuusei’s face when the other bent his back and was in the same position.

Manabu licked his lips when Kirin drew away and reached a hand to him. The younger rose from the ground and met the taller man’s lips. It was a fight that Manabu had given up on in the first second and succumbed completely to the other. It was when Kirin’s hands touched the waist band of his pants did Manabu realize his wardrobe. With a sharp gasp, Manabu drew away quickly and looked up at Kirin with wide eyes.

He wasn’t expecting a client tonight, so he was in one of his comfortable undergarments rather than his sexy ones.

“Wait!”

“What?!”

“Wait, wait! I need to…” Manabu placed his hands on Kirin’s chest to push him towards the door; and caught off guard, Kirin stumbled backwards as well. One second, he was wrapped up in pleasure and the next he was being shoved out of a door!

“What are you…”

“Two seconds!”

Just like that, the door was slammed in Kirin’s face and he was standing out in the hallway butt naked and still not fully aware of the situation. For fuck’s sake, it was chilly out here! And a certain protruding part of his anatomy was not appreciating the change in temperature! Kirin’s right eye twitched and he wanted to kick open that door and crack open Manabu’s head for such insolence! It was safe to say that his mood was drastically on the decline! Especially when there came the sound of an awkward throat clear from behind him, and Kirin turned to pin his glare onto whomever was there.

“What do you want, punk?!”

“Should you really be talking considering your current situation?”

Kirin’s glare and temper dropped in a curve of exponential decrease when he realized just who was in front of him. “I stopped by your room earlier, but you weren’t there.”

Shuusei lifted an eyebrow and glanced at the door to his room before turning his gaze back onto Kirin. “Should you really be saying that when you’re standing naked outside of another host’s room?”

“I don’t know; I’m quite proud of how I look.” Kirin grinned and even placed his hands on his hips to show his point.

Lips parted half open, Shuusei wasn’t quite sure what or if he should reply. The small, amused chuckle slid out of his lips first at the ridiculous scene, it was an immediate softening of his features with that smile. “So full of yourself, still?”

And it was a change that Kirin could not help but pick up, so much so that he took a couple of unconscious steps towards the host. “What? I’m not allowed to boast about this sexy body of mine?” That was more of an automatic response while his eyes were still focused on the smile playing at the ends of Shuusei’s lips. “You’re cute when you smile like that, princess.” It was the utter and complete truth from Kirin’s point of view.

Yet it was the utter and complete annoyance from Shuusei’s point of view. His eyes flashed in that split second and Shuusei wanted to send a kick that would cut the other’s pride in half. Instead, his eyes lidded and he took a few more steps closer to the other, almost brushing, his clothes and Kirin’s body. “Are you sure you want to be talking to me like that when you’re standing out here exposed for the world to see?”

Shuusei’s clothes and his body indeed. They were close enough for Kirin to smell the faint cologne that Shuusei wore. Strange, he didn’t remember this scent from the last time they met, seeing as they’d been so intimate with one another as well. “It doesn’t seem like you mind very much.” His voice lowered to a drawl, an inviting drawl. In such proximity, he was reminded again of the raw desire that he felt.

“Did you mind my other gift then?”

Shuusei glanced up slowly and looked into the taller man’s eyes, waiting for his words to register. Kirin’s eyes narrowed at first before he grinned at the memory of it. It was a week ago when some kid knocked down the front doors of his head quarters demanding to meet with him. Out of curiosity and amusement, Kirin had stepped out of his chambers to greet the yelling fool. He had produced the bottle of pain killers, and already Kirin was murderous enough. Then when the kid claimed to be of Shigeki-ikka, there needed no other explanation for the cruel and unusual way the kid suffered his death.

Of course, everything was courtesy of Shuusei here.

“If I wasn’t sure the other night, when I saw your gift, I was certain that you love me.”

Those were words of pretending civility and both knew there were a multitude of underlying challenges unspoken. For Kirin, this host had caught his attention ever since the first glance. The most instinctive drive inside him screamed that he needed to possess this host, to own him, to claim him, to keep him by his side. For Shuusei, this kumicho was everything that he was unfamiliar with. Kirin singlehandedly shattered his solidly built foundation of how a proper kumicho should behave. However, he was no fool and he was well aware of the fire that burnt inside the other.

Finally, Shuusei’s lips moved and he lifted a defiant eyebrow. “I suppose the lack of attention on your cock really did make you more stupid.” He hissed as his hand moved for a hold over Kirin’s member to squeeze and smiled at the grunt that came from the yakuza.

“Why don’t you finish what you started then?”

“May I remind you that you were just swapping saliva with another host?”

“You know I was here looking for you.”

Before Shuusei could say anything else, the door beside them rattled and opened with one quick sweep. “Okay, I’m ready now! Sorry for the…”

And here were the ingredients for a cocktail named “Awkward”. Two hosts and a client; all caught off guard at the sudden intrusion. Shuusei and Kirin turned their heads in a synchronized snap and looked at Manabu, whom, in turn, looked at them with wide eyes. “Shuusei-san…” It was Manabu who came to his senses first and Shuusei wasted no time pulling his hand and body away with a flinch, unable to believe that he had lost control of the situation so easily.

“Careful, don’t touch him” Shuusei glanced at Kirin to indicate whom he was speaking of “too much. Stupidity is contagious.” With that, Shuusei stepped past Kirin and moved down the hall to his room.

Out of reflex, Kirin half turned with an outstretched arm wanting to halt the host. “Wait, where do you think…”

“Now, dear sir, where were we?” From behind Kirin, Manabu had already snaked his arms around the kumicho’s waist and one hand deftly slid lower to cup the previously touched erection, stroking with efficiency to take the yakuza’s mind off his previous task. In this club, it was all about survival of the fittest; and although Manabu knew that he could not possibly compete against the number one in this place, if Shuusei handed him this client so easily, he wasn’t going to let go! His lips quirked upwards when he felt Kirin stiffen in his arms; and his body certainly wasn’t the only thing that was now stiff.

And now that he had his decent underwear on, this night was far from over.

[Two Weeks Later]


“We both know it’s a waste of your time, my time, your efforts, ink and paper giving me a prescription.” Shuusei stated as he watched the doctor –Mizuno- begin to scribble down the same damned words that he had been scribbling down almost ten years ago. The host was slouched in his seat, seated haphazardly in the chair and looked at the doctor from beneath the longer strands of his hair.

“If you would follow my directions, then it would not be a waste of anything.” The middle aged doctor spat back with gritted teeth. It was unprofessional for him to speak this way to a patient, but they’ve known each other for so long that Shuusei felt like an arrogant and bitchy little brother whom he couldn’t help but lecture and nag. “Listen, I know you don’t take your problem seriously, but I have to tell you that it is of utmost importance that you take care of your health.”

“What’s the use?” Shuusei asked quietly. There was no hidden sarcasm; instead, it was a genuine question. “I’ve not taken a pill of medicine ever since you started seeing me, is taking one pill going to make a difference right now?” Shuusei may dismiss the rest of the world on a whim, but he was more practical than anyone else. “We both know that I wouldn’t last more than a year, if I get lucky.” This was his body; he knew it better than anyone else. As much as he hated using Kirin as a point of reference, but he’s not had more than ten hours of consciousness ever since he ran into the yakuza boss in the hallway. When he could finally open his eyes and breathe somewhat normally, he knew he needed to see Mizuno.

If he was going to die, he should at least inform the only person in this world who would care.

“It is true that one pill is not going to do anything for you, but if you try, even now, there is still a chance to stabilize your condition.” But, just what would stability offer other than the promise of short moments of lucidity? “Of course, there is always surgery…”

“That has the survival rate of a miracle?”

“… it’s at least a miracle’s chance away from certain death.”

“I’d rather take certainty.”

“Shuusei-kun…” The doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Is there nothing, no one, in this world you would like to live for?”

The host offered a smile but stood up silently. “I don’t know if I’ll see you again, so don’t keep your eyes out for me.” Health condition or not, Shuusei moved fast enough to be gone before the doctor could get another word in. It had been too long and too tiresome; Shuusei was mentally drained and physically tired of this toll on his body. He’d always known that one day he might just not wake up. This time, he thought his time was near, but when his eyes still opened, he knew that it was his chance to settle all matters and live one last time before he would end things himself.

He did not have a choice when he was born, he did not have many choices in this life of his, so he was determined that his death would be his own decision.

And now that such things were certain, there was only one other person he needed to inform. Even though he and the owner of Red Velvet only see each other every other blue moon, it was he who knocked and entered the room.

“What a surprise. The Hell Butterfly coming to see me himself?”

See, this was exactly why Shuusei didn’t come often. He and the owner were too much alike that they were like fuel and match, ready to explode whenever they’d meet. The owner was a man in his early forties, and one look at him was enough to understand that he had been a host in his earlier days. Shuusei was unaware of the entire history –and he wasn’t quite sure if anyone knew then entire history- of this club, but he was more than capable of picking up the bond between the owner and the bartender downstairs. What seemed like a boss and employee relationship was so much more complicated when he saw the bartender overriding the owner’s decisions.

“Careful, don’t get too excited, you might burst a vein, old man.”

“Don’t worry, even if that happens, it will be after you die of your acid bile.”

Good measured teasing between the two of them spoke of the mutual understanding that they have both attained. Shuusei was the number one no matter what happened, and the owner turned a blind eye to everything he did as long as he kept on turning in the money.

“Is it wise in your old age to be so bitter? Don’t worry, I know I’m better than you, but it can remain a secret between the two of us.”

That earned a definite rolling of eyes from the owner and Shuusei grinned with unusual cheek.

“What do you want?”

“I’m quitting.”

To be continued...

Author's Notes:
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