[Fic] Tartaruga Rouge Part 1 - Birthday Fic

[aya_magic]

Title: Tataruga Rouge
Author: iris_aya (me ^^)
Beta: sweetpaopuwind 
Pairing: Akame
Rating: PG-13 [just to be safe, I can’t remember how bad my language was in this]
Genre: AU, Fluff, Romance, Cooking
Warnings: boyxboy pairing, the standard ones. AU universe
Disclaimer:I am in no way affiliated with JE, and obviously I cannot "own" these people. I also, in no way, make monetary profit off this.  I do not have rights to Lady Gaga’s or Ke$ha’s music.
Summary: Two chefs, tied together by a fondly remembered past, finally find the courage to rekindle their friendship and find new dreams in the form of a restaurant.
Word Count: Just above 17,000
Author’s Note: This fic is a birthday fic for sou_kiri/shuu_cream ! I definitely hope it fits your prompt, especially because I rushed so much to try and get this written in time. I hope you love the fic, if it falls below expectations feel free to poke me to attempt another one, I won’t mind. I hope you have an AMAZING birthday because you definitely deserve it! And I’m sure you’ll be flailing and turning to GOO over yakuza!fic. I’m sorry we teased you so much during this process without giving you any clues that made sense.

The general plot/storyline came to me while I was sitting in my office at work staring out at hustle of the kitchen through the little window and after that it had to be greatly expanded upon.

Special SPECIAL thanks to sweetpaopuwind who was not only my beta but my brainstormer and cheerleader. Without her this fic never would have been finished. You kept me sane (as sane as I can be) while I wrote this.

I’m still taking requests for AU drabbles. All terms marked with a * have a definition in the glossary which you can find HERE.

 --

 

After a long afternoon and an even longer night, the usual chaos in the kitchen of Sweet had finally calmed down. No longer were pots and pans clanging as line cooks* desperately tried to keep up with the ever flowing orders of Lamproie a la Bordelaise* or Confit d’Oie*. The barest spills of Sauce Bordelaise* had been wiped clean, revealing shining, stainless steel underneath and the sweet and airy scents of freshly baked cakes and creams had finally filtered out, leaving the striking scent of cleaning products behind.

Normally one to enjoy sitting and taking in his pristine kitchen after a long, and sometimes messy, service, Kamenashi Kazuya, Chef de Cuisine* of Sweet, instead sat in his office. Across from him, his sous chef* was sifting through a large pile of the latest in culinary news, while his boss went through the daily records. Kame examined records of the daily profits, inventory sheets (quickly noting what needed to be ordered and what he’d have to personally inspect at the market early the next morning), and reviews of the newest additions to his staff. He only glanced up from his work when Tadashi murmured a slight, ‘Ah!’

“Anything interesting?” He set aside the notes on Takahashi’s performance to see Tadashi quickly skimming an article.

“Another rave review of Yellow Gold,” Tadashi murmured.

Kame blinked. He of course recognized the name of the successful restaurant, but he had never given it a second thought before. While he took a certain amount of interest in all news in the cooking world, he had few ties to Italian cuisine. However, hearing the name spoken aloud distinctly brought back a memory from some time before in culinary school.

Chocolate brown eyes danced with mirth as they shared a slightly sugar-high giggle over their plates of food. Class had ended far earlier, and somehow he’d once again ended up sharing freshly cooked… well he knew he’d never be able to pronounce the dish, no matter how many times Jin would school him in the pronunciation. It would never sound anywhere near the smooth and perfect words that flowed from his friend’s mouth when he described his latest dish.

“He did rather look like a sulking frog after his critique.” Jin covered his laughter with a hand before directing his gaze to the risotto porcini. “How was it?”

“Amazing. You should definitely keep this recipe for your restaurant one day,” he replied, bringing another bite to his mouth and savoring the perfect texture of the mushrooms.

“Mm, yes, for Yellow Gold.” Jin smiled happily, whether from the food of his praise, Kame still didn’t know.

“Yellow Gold?” His eyes flitted back to the dream-filled gaze, trained somewhere to the right of his head.

“Didn’t I tell you? It’s going to be the name of my first restaurant, if I ever get there,” Jin explained.

“Why Yellow Gold then?” He arched an eyebrow. He could only imagine the bizarre, and potentially sleep-deprived, reasoning behind the name.

“Why else, Kame?” Jin rolled his eyes at him. “For the color of handmade pasta, served with perfectly chilled white wine during a glowing sunset overlooking a Tuscan wheat field. I think it’s perfect.”

“You’ve thought about this a lot,” he murmured, silently impressed at the young man’s seemingly careful thought behind what he thought might be a frivolous reason.

“Yellow Gold,” Kame repeated quietly to himself.

“Yeah, Akanishi Jin’s restaurant… didn’t you go to school with him?” Tadashi peeked over the frames of his glasses at him.

“Yeah…” Kame trailed off, mind filled with memories of going out to eat, to the movies, with their other friends, or just goofing off together.

He supposed in any other circumstances, people would find it odd that two best friends during such a key point at life had lost touch so easily. It was always said that during college, or he supposed a roughly equal equivalent of training for your profession, the friends you made would be friends for life who would see you through the best, and possibly worst, moments of your life. But things had been a bit different, he supposed, from normal circumstances. As soon as both of them had finished their training, they had gone slightly separate ways to study. Jin had left for Italy, while he for France, and they had met once to try and catch up, but it had never stuck.

With both so passionate about their careers, it wasn’t hard to believe that they had simply fallen out of touch . They had been so wrapped up in their apprentices, in experiencing every tiny detail that possibly could relate to their love for their respective careers that friendship, any friendship, had fallen behind. He hadn’t even heard his best friend’s name again until a year ago when he chanced upon an interview with him, discussing the immense success of Yellow Gold. By then it had been so long that any thoughts of contacting the man had been squashed. It doubtless would have been awkward, both of them trying to explain why they hadn’t contacted each other in so long, but both knowing exactly how and why it happened. Regardless of the perfect, mutual understanding, he wasn’t confident they would be able to overcome that gap.

He had no base for his worries, no reason to think they wouldn’t be able to connect like they had during school those years before. The only thing that had kept him from trying to contact the other had been the deep worry etched into his heart. He had his love for his profession, and the love of his family, but he didn’t have much else. He was married to his work, and while he could vaguely call his employees his friends, he didn't have a best friend. No best friend to anticipate his every move or to share knowing looks with; no one who knew him inside and out.

He always thought that a best friend was an odd person-- someone who knew your darkest secrets that you could never tell anyone else, who almost always seemed to know exactly what you needed, and who had made an unspoken promise to never betray your trust. A best friend was a wonderful and dangerous thing. Somewhere, deep in his mind, he couldn’t hold back that worry that Jin would no longer be that if they tried again. He often thought it would be best to keep his cherished memories instead of opening up again for possible disappointment and crushed hopes.

He held out his hand to Tadashi, and the other handed over the magazine without any comment. A quick skim of the review, which complimented everything about the restaurant from the coat checker to the dessert menu, brought a light smile to his mouth. On the next page was a short interview with the Chef de Cuisine of Yellow Gold. For the past year it seemed they had been wondering what his next move would be.

He would have been content to leave things as they were, to simply keep his fond memories and let his fear choke his thoughts of contacting the other, but one statement had jumped out and seized his mind.

“I’m actually kind of lost as to what to do next. Yellow Gold had always been a huge dream of mine, and now that I’ve accomplished it and it’s been in my grasp for so long now I’m at a loss. This is the sort of thing you’d normally toss around with a friend countless times, just throwing around ideas about what you plan to do next, right? But I hadn’t given it any thought, before, to what I’d do after Yellow Gold. There had been too many times where I doubted this would ever happen that I was too afraid to plan any further ahead for fear of those dreams then being crushed. As of now, I’m waiting for inspiration to strike me.”

Had he not given a very similar statement just recently when asked, “What do you have planned next, after Sweet’s success for so long now?”? His mind filled with just as much confusion as to what he could do next. He didn’t want to open another restaurant just to copy Sweet and its success. He wanted to go back to the drawing board and create something again, perhaps completely from scratch. And above all, he wanted someone to throw around ideas with. The person who would tell him when he needed to sleep because all his ideas were getting crazier by the moment, and someone who would tell him when he had a truly brilliant idea, an idea that he was doubting and needed a bit of a push in order to pursue.

He glanced back at the computer. What he had planned could wait, at least until it wasn’t nearly four am when he still had work to do. He was sure that not everyone worked crazy hours like him, and perhaps he wanted a promised time buffer to give himself time to talk himself out of this.

“All right, back to work.” Kame placed the magazine to the side to go back to his paperwork.

Tadashi sighed and looked at the clock, wondering when he’d get out of the restaurant.

--

Jin clapped his hands lightly in an attempt to shake the flour still clinging after he had finished kneading the egg noodle dough and sent it off for final kneading and rolling with the machine. The resulting tiny cloud of flour made him smile before he decided to check what else needed to be done.

He brushed his bangs out of his eyes with the back of his arm, sighing in frustration in how they would never stay pulled back with the rest of his hair. His line cooks were all efficiently preparing everything they could, under the watchful and helpful gaze of his sous chef. From his position closer to the doors separating the kitchen from the dining room, he could hear the clinking of silverware as the staff prepared the first tables for lunch service.

When the phone began to ring, he paid it little mind, knowing one of the waiters would answer it and that it most likely wouldn’t need his attention anyway. When his headwaiter walked in, hand pressed against the phone to muffle any discussion, and told him of the caller's request to speak to him, he expected to hear one of the restaurant's regulars, perhaps a critic, or a magazine--not the nervous voice filtering through the line.

“Akanishi Jin speaking,” He answered once he held the phone up to his ear. He frowned when there was no response, but he didn’t hear the dial tone, so he knew he hadn’t been disconnected.

After a few more moments of silence, he finally received a response. “Congratulations.”

He had been in the process of walking out of the noise of the kitchen when he froze. Even after all this time, he would still recognize that voice, even just from one word.

It still brought a smile to his face, most likely the result of too many fun memories cascading through his mind. He had never worked up the nerve to call the other’s restaurant even though he had known how physically close they had been all this time. He was secretly pleased the other had finally broken their stalemate, if only because it meant he hadn’t been the only one to think about it at least once.

“Kamenashi…” He answered uncertainly. Perhaps it was just a message of congratulations and nothing more. “It’s been a long time.”

“It has,” was the simple answer, but the tone was anything but simple. He could hear regret coupled with doubt and uncertainty.

“I hope you’ve been well. I’ve been hearing nothing but great things about Sweet.” He took a seat once he finally made his way into his office for some privacy. “Sorry I never called to congratulate you. It was just a bit…”

“I understand,” Kame answered quietly, and he really did.

“Any reason for the congratulations now, then?” He couldn’t help but ask, or keep the hope from his voice.

“Your dream, Yellow Gold. I know how much it always meant to you, so congratulations on a huge success. I was reading the latest review early this morning,” Kame explained.

“Thanks, I could say the same for Sweet…” Jin grinned. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you. I hope I’m not calling at a bad time?”

“You? Never.” Jin laughed, and was pleased when it was mirrored on the other line. “No, we’re in the middle of prep work, but they hardly need me for that. I’m sure I could just leave for days on end at times and they’d still function as if everything were normal. The only ones who would miss me MIGHT be my regulars. Some of them like to speak to me when they come in. But even then I’m sure they’d survive.”

Kame’s distinctive chuckle came through. “I feel the same way most of the time. I’m sure Tadashi would be capable of taking over. They don’t need me at all. How have you been, though, other than the restaurant?”

Jin paused. “I’ve… I’ve been good. I mean there I don’t have much time outside of the restaurant, but I’m happy. You?”

“Basically the same.”

Jin hummed briefly in response and tapped his fingers on his desk. “Do you want to…”

“Do I want to...?” Kame prompted.

“Do you want to grab a drink or something sometime?” he suggested quietly. “Maybe a bite to eat or…”

“I’d like that, a lot.”

“Do you have any time free coming up?” Jin offered.

“Ah, well…” There was a pause. “I did just say the restaurant can run without me. I’m sure I can take a day off. If anything, we’ll see if my claim is true, right?”

“Yeah, right. I guess I’ll get to see the same then. Will Friday be good for you?” Jin checked the schedule to see if any critics or special guests would be in to the restaurant, and he smiled when he saw his schedule was relatively free that afternoon.

“I can manage that. Where do you want to meet?”

Jin paused. Did he go out enough anymore to know what places were around? Kame seemed to anticipate this, though. Perhaps he was in the same boat.

“I think that izakaya* we used to go to occasionally is still there,” he suggested.

“That would be perfect. Around six or seven? That way we can make sure things are running smoothly before we leave,” Jin mumbled, thinking about ensuring that all the prep work would be finished for the day.

“Six, then,” came Kame's confirmation. “We can’t have too little hope in our employees, can we?”

“Of course,” Jin chuckled. “I should probably get back to the kitchen, sorry. I’m sure you’re in the middle of prep too.”

“Yeah I should. I’ll see you there then.” Kame paused. “Ah, your cell number? Before I forget.”

“Right, right.” Jin rattled off his number.

“I’ll message you so you can save mine in.” He could hear the smile in Kame’s tone. “I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah, talk to you soon.” Jin hung up the phone and leaned back in his seat. He covered his face with his hands, almost afraid an employee would walk in and see his huge smile. It had felt so normal speaking to his old friend, and he couldn’t have asked for a better conversation, even if it had been pretty simple and short. If only Friday weren’t three days away, he’d be practically running out of the restaurant at that very moment.

He then remembered the final portion of his and Kame's conversation, and he left to return to the kitchen. “Oi, Take.”

His sous chef looked up from examining some of the noodles. “Yes?”

“On Friday I need to be out of here by five. Will you be all right to take care of everything?” Jin asked. Most activity in the kitchen stopped.

“Ah, do you have an interview?” Take wiped his hands off on a towel.

“No, it’s not work related.” Jin waved them back to work, missing the shock on his souschef’s face.

--

“Kamenashi.” Tadashi knocked and opened the door to his office. “Are you going to come check on prep? We have that critic coming today. Or are you going to spend all day smiling goofily at your cell phone?”

Kame tucked his phone away in the drawer, having just read a short message from Jin.

Just got your message and your number saved, sorry for the delay. Talk to you later.

“Is that any way to talk to your boss who is finally going to let you run the kitchen on your own?” Kame tilted his head back slightly, a small smile tugging at his lips.

Tadashi blinked confusedly at him for a minute. “When?”

“Friday, I’ll be here for prep and through lunch, but I need to be out of here by maybe five or earlier, so dinner is up to you. Think you can handle it?”

“I could’ve handled it ages ago if you had a life,” Tadashi mumbled before he left the office.

Kame narrowed his eyes at the retreating form but decided not to say anything; it wasn't as though he could deny the claim.

--

“Akanishi, what are you doing seating people today?” One of his regulars asked as he took them to their table.

“I am strictly front of the house for the time being.” Jin chuckled as he waved a waiter out to take their drink orders. “I have to leave in a few minutes, actually. But don’t worry, your food is in perfectly confident hands. Let’s call today a test to see if they can survive without me.”

“I suppose that explains the outfit, but does this mean you’re planning on a new restaurant?” The woman tilted her head lightly, curious to see if she would soon need to try out a new restaurant.

“As of right now, I have nothing planned but dinner.” He checked his watch briefly. “Speaking of which, I have to get going. Have a great meal, Haruka-san, and say hello to your husband, when he arrives, for me.”

“I will.” She waved him off to let him leave and he quickly popped into the kitchen.

“Take, I’m leaving.”

“Stop worrying,” Take admonished, glaring from behind the line where he was calling out for orders. “Aren’t you going to be late if you take much longer?” He gestured to the clock that showed it was already twenty past five.

Jin made an incoherent noise before running from the kitchen.

“I need that Baccalà alla Fiorentina now!” Take called out. “How that man ever became successful…”

--

Kame tapped the top of the table lightly. It was a few minutes past six and Jin still hadn’t arrived. He wasn’t truly surprised, though. The other had never been completely punctual, and he was betting that the other had gotten distracted at the restaurant. He took a sip of his beer, having already placed an order of drinks, remembering Jin’s favorite beer from back in the day.

“Sorry, sorry.” Jin sprang through the door and quickly spotted him. “I got sidetracked at the restaurant.”

“I knew it,” Kame said, chuckling, and he watched the other take a swig from the bottle without thinking.

“Ah! You still remembered.” Jin grinned at him as he started to look at the menu. “What do you feel like eating?”

“I always loved the yakitori here.” Kame pointed out the items for him on the menu.

“Of course, your favorite was the tsukune* with tare right?” Jin quickly found it on the menu. “Ah the karaage*, definitely getting that! It’s been SO long since I’ve had anything even remotely resembling normal food!” He looked up to see Kame smiling.

“Same here. So how were things at the restaurant today?” He asked.

“Oh, things went fine. I let them do prep on their own and there weren't any problems. I spent the day greeting guests and seating them instead.” Jin smiled, remembering all the odd looks he'd gotten from both his regulars and new customers who seemed to recognize him from interviews. “I don't think people were expecting me to be working the front of the house. How were things at Sweet?”

“Everything went perfectly. I got a mountain of paperwork done, and I haven’t gotten a call about anyone getting violently ill or blowing something up, so I’m sure it’s fine.” He checked his phone again just to be sure.

“No news is good news then.” Jin smiled and took a long sip of his beer.

“Cheers to that.” Kame raised his bottle and Jin clinked his against it. “So what have you been up to since I last saw you?”

“Last time you saw me was…” Jin tilted his head. “Switzerland. Hm, well, you probably know I studied in Italy for a bit more, and then I traveled to other countries to see how they used Tuscan cuisine there before coming back to Japan. After that it was just Yellow Gold and nothing else.” He shrugged lightly.

Of course Kame knew all of that. He had read a brief bio on Jin some time ago, detailing how he’d gone to Spain, America, Norway, China, and France (though of course he managed to make his way there some time after he had finally left).

“Nothing much on my end, either , I guess,” Kame answered. “And I have no idea what’s ahead…”

Jin quirked an eyebrow. “So we’re both in the same boat then.”

--

A few drinks, and a few extra plates of food (ordered with the onset of random food cravings), later, both were throwing around crazy ideas for what could be next, jokingly trying to hit on that great new idea that had previously eluded them.

“You could always go to another country,” Jin suggested, looking sadly into his now empty beer bottle. “Aww, empty.”

“Like where?” Kame signaled for another beer for both of them.

“I don’t know, go to Korea and open a French restaurant?” Jin suggested before popping a piece of crispy karaage into his mouth.

“That’s just the same thing, though, isn’t it? It’s just relocating to another place.” Kame laid his head hopelessly on the table. “Besides, you could always do the same. Go to America, or one of the other countries you checked out.”

“Hm,” Jin sighed, “I don’t want to go that far from Yellow Gold. It’s still my baby.”

Kame giggled. “You’re calling it your baby--you’re so drunk.”

“I am not drunk!” Jin quickly used the hand holding his beer to point one finger at Kame, sloshing a bit of his beer around in the process. “Maybe tipsy.”

“Maybe.” Kame rolled his eyes, still trying to suppress his giggles.

“Besides, if I’m tipsy, you’re just as much so. Actually more so, 'cause you never could hold your beer, Kame.” Jin pouted lightly and took another swig.

From what Jin could make out of the clock, it was already well past ten. They had spent an hour or two catching up on what little new news there was. He had found out Kame now had the most adorable niece, and gained the promise that he’d get to meet her one of these days. Kame had found out that Reio was officially engaged, the wedding to take place in a year or so. The other had offered congratulations, mumbling about how he’d have to congratulate the young man and buy an appropriate present.

“Mm, I guess I could give you that one.” Kame sighed. “What are we going to do, Jin?”

“Order more food, because I must say I’m still kind of hungry.” He quickly slid a finger down the menu.

Kame batted his hand away from the menu. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“We used to be much better at this,” Jin mumbled. “The whole bantering and throwing ideas around over food and drinks thing.”

“We used to have much more to aspire to,” Kame reminded him. “Back then all we had were dreams. We weren’t anyone, so it wasn't like we could have shot any ideas down as implausible, because anything could’ve been an opportunity.”

Jin hummed in agreement before laying his head down too. “You know…”

“Hm?” Kame prompted, shifting so he could look Jin in the eyes.

“You know…” He repeated. “You don't know what to do and I don't know what to do. We're both awesome, and we were always awesome together in school! We should just open a restaurant together!"

Kame propped up on his elbow. “It wouldn’t be recreating the same thing… and it would be different.”

“Seriously?” Jin sat up again. “I was kind of joking, but now that you say that… the press would love it, and so would sponsors if we even need to find any. This could actually work. A restaurant of both Bordeaux and Tuscan cuisine… Kame… imagine how amazing of a wine collection we’d be able to have.”

Kame could already feel his mouth watering at the idea. The combination of stocking both Tuscan made Chianti* or the fusion of a Tuscan merlot alongside Saint-Emilion* and Médoc* wines. Not to mention the idea of cooking alongside Jin again, after so many years, was very tempting. If he hadn’t already been sold on the idea, he was now.

“It would be amazing,” Kame echoed. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see if you still think this is a good idea once you’re sober.”

“I’m sure I will. It is opening a restaurant with you, Kame.” Jin winked lightly before staring at the empty plate. “But I was serious about ordering more food earlier.”

Kame rolled his eyes, but a smile still tugged at his mouth from the first comment. “Of course you were.”

Part Two