Family Matters: Chapter 12

[lilly0]

Title: Family matters ~ Chapter 11
Pairing: Jun, Masaki, Sho, Satoshi, Kazu (there are going to be additional side-characters though. No OCs.) I'm trying to give each of the five their well-deserves spot-light <3
Rating: PG
Multi-chapter
Beta: lover_youshould
Genre: family!AU in which Arashi are brothers :-) slice of life, a little drama (and I'm trying to add some light-hearted, funny moments to it too)
Summary: Since they were little they were always close to each other. And when unfortunate events force them to live together without their parents, it's only natural that they try to make the best out of it.



They are silent for the whole drive to the bar. Sho is hammering against the wheel of his car nervously, while Satoshi doesn’t even move an inch.

“Is it bad that I couldn’t promise Masaki and Jun that it’s going to be alright?” Satoshi finally asks.

Sho stops the hammering, and sighs. “You ask me?” he mumbles. “Which moment gave you the feeling that I actually was able to reassure anyone?”

“Well,” Satoshi sighs and shrugs. They don’t say anymore and gladly arrive at the bar soon afterwards. There is a small parking place in front of it which Sho occupies immediately. When they get out of the car and walk into the bar, there is a young woman preparing some dinner, eyeing them in surprise.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “But we are closed today.” Then however her eyes widen as she takes in their appearances. “You are Sho-san,” she frowns. “Kazunari’s brother?”

Sho and Satoshi exchange a glance. So Kazu was here, regularly? “We are sorry to come so suddenly.” Sho bows slightly. “This is my twin brother, Satoshi. It’s nice to meet you-”

“Karina,” she says and points at the counter. “Please sit down. Drink?”

“No thanks, better not today.”

For a moment she looks at them through her dark, strong eyes, checking both Satoshi and Sho, before she switches off the oven and comes around the counter to stand right next to them. “Something happened, am I right?” She sighs in frustration. “This kid is so stupid. I and my brother told him to say something when he wants to quit his stupid gang!”

“So, it is a gang?” Sho wants to know.

She shrugs. “I think so. You know, your mother helped me get out when I was still part of the scene. I know, it doesn’t work without help. I met Kazunari through my brother, his school friend. Kazunari always insisted that it’s not a gang, but a mere clique.” She smiles sadly. “It’s what everyone always believes when he is inside…”

“Did you tell him to quit?” Satoshi wants to know.

“I did. Told him to quit with my help and to talk to Sho-san, a person with a lot of influence. It’s easier to get out at an earlier stage and with help.”

“And what did he say?” Sho wants to know.

“Wait a moment.” She pauses and turns to the staircase. “Ryo, are you here? Kazunari’s brothers are here!”

For a moment it’s silent, then there are footsteps to be heard and a guy stumbles downstairs. He looks sleepy. He bows a bit. “Nice to meet you,” he says, eyeing them curiously.

“Do you know where Kazunari is?” Karina asks him and hands him a cup with tea.

He shakes his head. “Tried to call him earlier because we wanted to meet to study for that stupid English test, but he is nowhere to be found. He didn’t pick up his phone.” He blinks for a few moments, eyeing all of them sceptically, then his eyes widen, the hint of sleepiness suddenly away. “Don’t tell me, he went to quit that stupid gang of his!? All alone? He promised me he wouldn’t that!”

Satoshi frowns. Apparently they have all really been blinded by ignorance. How come Jun, this woman and her brother all either knew or had a feeling something was off, just themselves – the responsible adults – didn’t question anything. “Tell us everything you know,” Satoshi begs.

Ryo nods immediately. “He was hanging out with those motorbike dudes regularly. I mean, Kazu is not a bad guy at all – I think life just felt suffocating for him. But he told me recently he wants to go to school regularly now and change his life and stuff like that. He felt bad for dragging his brother into it, and all in all family got too important for him.”

Karina nods approvingly. “He told me something similar. He even said he would like to stop what he is doing now, because he doesn’t want it to affect his family’s life.”

“He promised that in case he would really quit, he would call me for help!”

Karina snorts in annoyance. “And you would have run to his help? So that it was two minors against a whole bunch of violent guys? Seriously, does being 17 excuse everyone from having brain cells?”

Wasn’t it so serious, Satoshi would smile, because truer words couldn’t have been spoken right now. Ryo blushes and bows apologetically. “I thought it’s still better than going alone…”

Only remotely Satoshi feels thankful that Kazu didn’t pull another kid into this mess. Probably the reason why he didn’t tell anyone in general… “He didn’t want to get anyone else involved, I guess.”

Karina smiles sadly. “I think it dawned on him that it’s bad what he is doing, and dangerous and might affect his family too. He started to feel guilty. You need to know something-“ She looks to the side a bit. “It’s freaking difficult. When you are in such a gang, you tend to believe in them, see them as friends. The wake-up call is always a harsh one. It’s like being on drugs, quitting is difficult and means a lot of mental strength.”

“Is he alright?” Ryo asks all of a sudden. Apparently it just dawned to him that this talk they were having isn’t normal at all. “Oh my god,” he breathes out.

“We are still waiting for a call from police,” Sho says, shifting around nervously. “Jun told us immediately when he couldn’t reach Kazu. So we hope it’s early enough. Do you have any hints or ideas for us, Karina-san?”

“I’m sorry.” She brushes through her long hair nervously, eyes twitching slightly in worry. “Kazunari just came here regularly, because he knew he could sometimes talk to me and I wouldn’t judge him, out of obvious reason, but I don’t know anything about his whereabouts.”

Ryo coughs. “Well-“

Satoshi’s eyes snap open. “You know something?”

“I just know where he goes to regularly,” Ryo stutters.

“Tell us!” Sho demands.

Ryo blushes. “Only if you won’t get mad at me.”

Satoshi smiles. “Does it help you when I say that it’s not your fault what happened?”

Ryo shrugs and nods. “Fine,” he gives in. “There are some clubs he frequents.”

“Like which ones?” Karina asks.

“Starlight Club, Underground Grunge, Amadeus, Rock Star.” Ryo frowns. “These were his four favourites, I think.”

“Wow.” Karina frowns deeply. “What nice places. A host club, two underground clubs and a club which thugs frequent. Don’t tell me you went there too?”

Ryo frowns. “What? Me? While having such a scary sister like you? No, definitely not.”

Karina sighs in relief. “Anything else?”

“Hm~” Ryo tilts his head. “The city park, but it’s highly unlikely that he is there now. Then there is this part of the highway which they are just building right now – the bikers tend to test the speed limits of their bikes there, and Kazu loves everything that’s fast.”

Satoshi feels sick all of a sudden. “Something else?”

“The huge clearing in the forest is an option. There is an old deserted parking lot there.…” Ryo muses.  “I don’t know though if he went there regularly. It just came to my mind.”

“Why?” Sho wants to know.

“Because it’s deserted,” he explains silently. “And far away from everyone, and…” he pauses, face pale all of a sudden.

“Perfect to beat someone up or kill him secretly,” Karina breathes out. “Oh my god!”

Before anyone can even say something else Sho has already grabbed his phone and dialled a number. He talks fast and his voice is dripping with panic, as he sends his police friends to all of these locations. A raid is exactly what they need anyway. “We are going to the forest,” Sho says once he hung up. “Now.”

“I’m coming with you,” Karina says firmly. “Ryo you’ll stay here. I’ll call you once we know something.”

Ryo nods. And there is no discussing her decision anymore. Much to Satoshi’s surprise, Sho nods too. They head back to Sho’s car, and Karina sits down at one of the back seats. When Sho starts the car and drives into the direction of the forest, ignoring all speed limits, she talks again.  “Sho-san, Satoshi-san, I know we don’t come from a good background. But my brother is not a bad kid. I promise he won’t be a bad influence on Kazunari.”

“You know, Karina-san.” Sho smiles awkwardly. “There sometimes comes the point in one’s life where he has to accept that not the others are bad influence but his own brother might be, at least at the moment. If you don’t mind your brother to hang out with mine, because normally Kazu is a good kid too, he is very much welcomed anytime.”

With that, they disappear into the darkness of the night, none of them saying anything anymore.

When they reach the place Ryo had described to them, there is nothing. At least they don’t see much first, but Karina squeezes her eyes slightly, frowning deeply. “There are voices,” she mumbles. “They are probably further inside. What are we doing now?”

“I told the police we are going to be here,” Sho analyses calmly. He kind of resembles a wild cat that’s focusing on his prey right now. When he angles for a baseball bat at the trunk of their car, Satoshi grows pale.

“You aren’t going to… are you?”

Sho nods. “The police are going to be here any second,” he smiles reassuringly. “Why don’t you stay here, Sa-chan. You know I went to several martial arts classes. And at the start of my career I was part of the police force too to get the hang of things. I can defend myself. At least for a while.”

“I can come too,” Karina offers.

“No!” Sho says sharply. “I know you understand how these gangs work and you can pretty much defend yourself, but I’m definitely not sending a woman into this mess.”

“Chauvinist,” she grumbles and wouldn’t it have been such a frightening situation, Satoshi might have laughed.

“I’m coming too,” he says.

“Satoshi…”

“I know, I’ve no idea how to do martial arts,” Satoshi mumbles. “But this is my little brother there, and I can’t stand here and do nothing at all. I just can’t.”

Sho struggles, he can see it clearly. But his sympathy for Satoshi as his twin and as an older brother to Kazu apparently wins over his normal reasoning. “Just watch out, Satoshi,” he begs. “If it gets too much, run! Promise me!”

Satoshi nods, taking the bat Sho hands him. Sho himself takes a bigger stick he finds on the forest’s ground. “I will.”

~~~

Karina stays behind, an anxious look in her eyes as she watches them and the street in front of her, waiting for the police to come. Sho is right in front of him now, leading Satoshi through the dark forest, until they reach a small place behind the toilets where the noise is coming from.

When Satoshi is peeking around the corner, his eyes widen in horror and he is about to throw it all aside and run to his brother. Damn it, what are these monsters doing? He can only see Kazu’s lifeless body lying on the ground, and a few guys kicking his stomach over and over again.

Sho holds him back before he can do anything like running to Kazu’s side. “Sho,” he whispers anxiously. “Kazu is-“

“I know,” Sho huffs, the white in his eyes making him look like he is about to go on a killing spree. He doesn’t, instead he grabs a few stones lying next to them, and throws them far away from them to the side.

Some of the guys look up. “Who’s there!?” A guy with five piercings and a shaved head looks around. He points at a few other guys. “Go and look.”

“Remind me,” Sho huffs and grabs his stick tightly. “Once this is finished and Kazu is alright, I won’t let him go out ever again. I’ll make a background check of each of his friends!”

Satoshi nods grimly. “No need to tell me,” he grumbles.

Sho nods slightly. “Wait first, and let me attack them. Once they are gathered around me, act. Be careful,” he whispers. Then he jumps up, running around the place, and right to the guy who is beating up Kazu. He takes him by surprise, hitting him on his head. The guy drops unconscious immediately.

Sho’s been right, he knows how to defend himself. He looks so freaking cool, like a hero, that Satoshi promises to himself he needs to tell him more often how great he is. When the guys gather around Sho and start beating him up too, Satoshi does as promised, sneaking up to them, his bat tight in his hands. He doesn’t know if he is looking cool or nervous, or if it’s truly admirable what he does. He doesn’t mind. All he wants to do is save his stupid little brother. Even the mere thought of living in a world without Kazu makes his stomach twitch in pain and leads all the strength he can possibly have through his body right to his hands. He hits the guy who is tackling Sho so hard that he throws up.

Here and there Sho throws commands at him, telling him to watch out and to turn around. He follows them without quite being able to grasp what’s happening. Most of the time Sho jumps in between to prevent Satoshi from getting hit, taking the hits for him. At one point Kazu opens his eyes a bit. “Sa-chan?” he mumbles before he falls into unconsciousness again. “Thank you…”

Through the forest Satoshi can see the blue sirens of the police. Something in his stomach feels so light for a moment, relieved that they are finally here. Sho kicks one of the surprised guys away, nodding towards Satoshi reassuringly. The latter drops everything immediately, kneeling on the ground next to Kazu and pulling his limp body into his arms. He shakes him slightly, but there is no reaction. He doesn’t open his eyes, his head hangs down slightly, not moving an inch.  “Please,” Satoshi mumbles, brushing through Kazu’s black hair, and holding him tight to his chest. He doesn’t even realize how he cries some bitter tears over his heavily hurt and unconscious younger brother. What’s going to happen now?

Sho is the one who holds it together and manages everything with the police. And Karina is the one recalling the faces and tattoos from the few gang members that got away - as a former insider of the scene she is pretty much aware of what to remember and how to get the guys.

When the ambulance comes, Sho grabs Satoshi’s shoulders. He shakes him slightly. “You need to keep it together,” he says softly. “Sa-chan, Kazu needs you to stay strong now. I’ll manage everything here and pick up Masaki and Jun. You can drive with Kazu and watch out for him.”

Satoshi nods and squeezes Sho’s hands. “Thanks twin,” he admits with a hoarse voice. “You are my hero today.”

Sho smiles in sympathy. “You were pretty cool yourself.”

Satoshi drives with the ambulance, while Sho keeps up his promise and calls Masaki and Jun, and takes Karina home, before he picks up the other two. They are joining Satoshi in the hospital while Kazu undergoes surgery. And even there it’s Sho talking with the nurses and doctors and who tells Satoshi over and over again that they shouldn’t be losing hope. To be honest, Satoshi has never been that relieved to have his twin brother around. Without him he would have completely lost it. He knows that Sho will get emotional once this day is over, and Satoshi promises to himself that he will let him be as dramatic as he wants to be. He will be there for him just like he was there for Satoshi today.



A/N: Woah, I'm sorry for the angst. Poor Kazu. And Satoshi is really lost too. indigo_lover really had the right feeling last chapter - I was sincerely surprised when I read your comment and you basically foresaw all of this :D