Versus, Kenji/Kazuhito, Challenge #3: Dirty, Shaded Mazoku

[ashkaztra.livejournal.com]

Title: Clean-up.
Author:Shaded Mazoku.
Fandom: Versus.
Pairing/Characters: Kenji/Kazuhito (or Yakuza with
knives/yakuza with glasses, if you want technicalities.)
Rating/Category: PG/slash (though slash is canon for this
fandom...)
Word Count: 764.
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: Dirty work can be many things. Not the least of
which is messy.
Notes/Warnings: Writing for fandoms without canon character
names is a pain! (and thus I steal the actor's names...)



"You've got pine needles in your hair, Kazu."

Kazuhito pointedly avoided looking at Kenji, focusing instead on
watching Arai and Matsumoto dig yet another hole in the ground. The
fourth that day. They'd been effective. Occasionally, they'd stop in
order to let Matsumoto drink and Arai complain about the roots.

Closing his eyes, Kazuhito leaned back against the pine tree behind
him, going back to ignoring the surroundings. He wasn't much for
forests. He wasn't much for cities, either, but at least Kyoto
wasn't full of dirt. Or pine needles that got stuck in his hair.

"Should have brought a picnic basket," Kenji continued, reaching
over to pick some of those needles out of Kazuhito's hair.

Ignoring Kenji was like ignoring an earthquake while standing on the
epicentre. Only possible if you were dead.

"Stop that," Kazuhito muttered, opening his eyes slightly to look at
Kenji over the top of his glasses. Not surprisingly, the other man
was grinning like a maniac, like he so often did, his ridiculously
expensive suit covered in dirt and pine sap, even though he'd been
nowhere near the pits the others were digging.

"Why?" Kenji asked, pulling a piece of bark from Kazuhito's hair as
though there was nothing strange about this at all.

Kazuhito sighed, looking down at their digging team-mates, who were
giving them dirty looks, watching them instead of focusing on their
work.

Kenji looked entirely unapologetic. "I could shoot them?"

"And have Watanabe make us do the menial tasks?" If he had to,
Kazuhito could certainly dig a hole, but he'd rather not. An
accurate sniper was a far more valuable commodity than a physical
fighter, and he was quite fond of the advantages that gave him.

"Good point." Kenji stretched, before idly flickering open one of
his knives, tossing it in the air. For someone who appeared to have
the concentration skills of a goldfish on amphetamine, Kenji was
amazingly skilled with his blades. He could focus if he wanted to.

Tossing the knife into the air once more, flickering his wrist to
make it turn in the air, letting him catch the handle as it
descended, Kenji suddenly grinned even wider, tilting his head to
look at Kazuhito.

"I think Watanabe just found the volunteers he needed for the job at
the fish market this weekend," he said softly, making sure only the
two of them heard. "Just have to tell him that."

Kazuhito bit back an uncharacteristic smile, and sighed again
instead, though more out of boredom than out of annoyance this time,
he watched as Arai and Matsumoto struggled to drag the bodies out of
the trunk of the car and over to the holes they'd dug, pretending he
didn't hear their snide remarks.

He'd made a point out of ignoring Matsumoto, because the man was
utterly harmless, intimidated by him and terrified of Kenji. There
was little threat from the spastic man, unless he accidentally shot
someone. Arai was different, though. He had brains, though Kazuhito
wagered he was smarter, and he could handle himself in a fight.
Mental and physical discipline combined with a genuine belief in the
boss' plans made him dangerous. His constant need to complain about
Kenji and him made him someone Kazuhito actively disliked, which was
a rare occurrence indeed.

It wasn't something he let bother him, though. There was a certain
pleasure to be found in knowing that if he ever asked, Kenji would
kill Arai for him in an instant. He'd probably make it unnecessarily
messy and come home covered in substances Kazuhito didn't want to
know, but he'd do it. Most likely with pleasure.

The mess wasn't much of a price to pay. Besides, there was something
to be said for clean-up duties that didn't involve burying dead
bodies in a dirty forest. Especially clean-up that involved excuses
to share a shower.

"We're done here, you two!" Arai yelled at them, grabbing his jacket
off of a tree stump. Matsumoto almost brained himself with his
shovel trying to get out of there. Apparently, dead bodies made him
nervous.

Kazuhito got to his feet, brushing dirt off of his trousers. He
grabbed his gun and slung it onto his back, giving Kenji a
questioning look. Kenji shrugged, and got to his feet as well, not
even bothering to try brushing off the dirt and sap. He had a
smudged line of dirt running from his forehead down his face to his
cheek, which made him look even more demented than usual.

Thankfully, clean-up duty wasn't always a duty.

Comments

[noctuabunda.livejournal.com]

Matsumoto almost brained himself with his shovel trying to get out of there. Apparently, dead bodies made him nervous.
*lol* I like the humour in this one; Kazuhito's style is so laconic. Good work!

[ashkaztra.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite things about this fandom is that it's not particularly serious at all. The original film is a horror/action/comedy with very little in the way of serious traits what so ever, unless you count Kazuhito, who doesn't smile once in the entire film and barely ever shows emotions.

[spikedluv]

I enjoyed reading this (again, despite knowing nothing of the fandom). *g* I find Kenji and Kazuhito to be very intriguing characters.

[ashkaztra.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you liked it! I love writing Kenji, whom I used to roleplay, but these ficlets have made me realize how much I also love writing Kazuhito. They're so completely different yet they do work very well together. They have a lot of dynamic together, too. (So much that in one scene, the director mentions on the commentary that he was afraid that they'd go too far and start kissing...) Kenji is also a complete oddball. The actor who plays him is a very attractive man, but as Kenji, he keeps pulling these kind of faces (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v15/shaded_mazoku/kenjibeingweird.jpg) and I just crack up.

[spikedluv]

Hahaha! Great face. *g*

[ashkaztra.livejournal.com]

He makes the best faces. I have, somewhere, several hundred screenshots, most of which is Kenji pulling faces at the camera. I should dig them up and make more icons.