The First Crack in the Metal

**Chapter 14**
The Sword Makers Signature, Hidden on the Blade


Lings laughter could be heard over the thrum of Tokyo street traffic, lingering like the scent of the first blossoms of a lotus flower, maneuvering in and out of the throng of humanity. She wiped her eyes with her dainty, pink painted fingernails before lifting a jokki of happoshu (large glass of low malt beer). Her glistening, high glossed lips no sooner wrapped around the rim of the glass as her eyes flickered like a churning pool to the figure walking past the Izakaya (an outdoor place to eat and drink).

“Jin!” the Chinese youth exclaimed, nearly bolting out of her seat as he passed the café. He turned quickly, looking in the direction of his name, only to find Ling Xiaoyu at a half seated at her table, Julia Chang and Steve Fox.

“Good afternoon.” Jin said, his face stone set. Too much had happened in the past full day to give him any reason to smile, and this included seeing Ling….accompanied by the last person he cared to ever come into contact with again.

“Oh my god, Jin. How have you been? You left the club in rough shape last night!!” Ling laughed, jumping over to the edge of the Izakaya, grasping the Japanese beauty in for a hasty hug. But Jins eyes could not leave the figure of Steve, fumbling with his chopsticks, trying to capture Domburimono-katsudon
(rice with deep fried pork cutlet and egg) with their tricky grip, for a gaijin.

“I have been well.” He said, knowing the moment the words left his lips, Ling did not believe him.

“Been staying at Hwoarangs?” She asked, drawing back. The mention of that name sent Steves eyes up to meet Jins. The intense gazes did not falter and Ling had to push Jin at the shoulder to make the Japanese youth snap out of it.

“What would make you think that?” he said, defensively and low enough that Ling was the only one who could hear him.

“Oh, just intuition, I guess.” She said with a shrug. “Hey, Julia is taking Steve to play some Pachinko and then going uptown to see the Noh. They invited me a long…you want to come and be my handsome date? Its been an age since we went out and did anything together.”

“I would no sooner disgrace my heritage by having that gaijin at the Noh.” Jin said with a stern, heavy voice. First, Steve was trying to steal Hwoarang away from him…and now, he had moved onto his only true friend, Ling Xiaoyu.

“Alright then, so what are we doing?” Ling smiled, swaying to the side. “I don’t really want to go see the Noh…its boring!” she whispered, leaning in to Jin as she spoke.

That made Jin smile. Maybe the entire world was not crumbling so long as the outer defenses, made of Lings friendship, remained intact. “Well, I just came from the dojo and I have to do some grocery shopping….get a copy of a key made…and buy some clothing.”

“Yeah, that reminds me. What’s this rumor your doing Shotokan now?” She asked, while trying to run down in her mind the best places to do everything in as few stops as possible, stores that were in close proximity to meet Jins needs.

“That’s a long story. Lets just say, I want nothing to do with the Mishima line…ever again and that comes with a new sense of fury. And that includes the art.” He scratched the back of his neck, throwing a quick glance to Steve, watching the Brit receive a tutorial from the Native American girl, Julia Chang, on the proper use of chopsticks. “I really should go.”

Ling bit the edge of her lip. “Let me go make my excuses and I will go with you.” She smiled, mischievously. “Besides, I am sure these two want some alone time..if I have to hear one more Kinky story about him, I might puke!”

Jin was not sure whether to snicker about that…or find offense. Undoubtedly, if such stories were truth…Hwoarang had better knowledge of it than Julia. That made the Japanese youth stone set his jaw. Hardened eyes finally turned away as the duo spoke with Ling and Jin found his feet already moving.

“Hey!” Ling called out, catching up to the Japanese youth a full block later. “You have a real patience problem.”

“I am sorry. I just could not stand to be around…him.” Jin hissed, licking over his dry lips to fight back the urge to let free a string of curses that were so unlike his personality, and completely an assimilation of all his time with Hwoarang.

“Okay, so have you seen the posting for the tournament? It came out this morning!” Ling said, walking beside Jin. “Hey, go left, theres a great set of shops down there. We can get you some fun, American style clothing.”

Jin rolled his eyes. He recalled what it was like to shop with Ling but followed her request none the less. “No, I was going to stop there…on the way, well, on the way to where I am staying.” It wasn’t home. Even if Hwoarang called it that. Things were too strained between them right now for it to be anything more than a temporary place to stay.


“Your never going to guess who I get to fight.” She said with a wicked smile. “Go ahead, guess!”

“With my luck today, it is probably me who you will face off against, right?” Jin said with a heavy sigh, looking along the shops that were coming into view.

“Nope, Hwoarang.” She said with a tilt of her head, nearly bounding in front of Jin. “I almost feel bad about having to hurt your…well, boyfriend. So, I hope you forgive me in advance.”

Jin nearly blanched at the words. Not just because Ling had categorized them into a relationship, without knowing how far from the truth that seemed right now, but because that was a fight he would never want to see take place. Not when the two of them had forged a shaky but growing friendship. “That is a fight that I could not even begin to place a favorite on, Ling. Either one I support, I will not find solace. Just be..careful.”

“Oh no you don’t, you better tell that redhead to be careful, not me.” She said with determination before letting the concern Jin felt fly from her. “Oh, look at those jeans, all frayed at the end. How Western Hippie-Chic. Come on, lets go try some on.”

**

Hwoarang found the door unlocked as he stumbled in, his body sore, the corner of his mouth cut from a damn lucky set of combo punches during training for the new recruits. Some of them had particular talent, and it was to those few he devoted his time and effort. Afterward, he went out with several members of the den to drink the night away and hustle down some extra cash at the pool table.

It was quiet in the apartment as the Blood Talon made his way into the kitchen, flicking on the light switch and narrowing his eyes. He opened the refrigerator to withdraw a long neck bottle of beer and to his surprise found a single shot of whiskey on the counter next to a covered over plate of food. Quirking a brow, he lifted the foil back and took a sniff of the contents, eyes trying to focus. Home made sushi. To his knowledge he did not known a tatami mat to roll it in?

The Blood Talon came through the kitchen, looking to the table, which had been cleaned up, the tattered remnants of last night swept away. He could see Jin sitting on the couch, one leg folded under his body, ankle tucked below the knee in a pair of frayed jeans and a white tee shirt, wearing a pair of black rimmed glasses with a book open on his firm thighs.

Jin looked up from his book but said nothing else and returned to reading the same paragraph for a second time as Hwoarang walked passed him and into the bedroom. Even that was clean and..straightened. All of the shit he had left laying on the bed was gone, the coverlet returned to the bed without a single crease. He stepped into the bathroom, also clean, and opened the medicine cabinet to find everything had been placed neatly on two sides, razor, deodorant, comb that a belonged to the Blood Talon and another set of similar items, new and belonging to Jin.

Taking a deep breath he stepped into the bedroom once more, opening the wardrobe to find his dobok hung and pressed, clothing neatly folded…everything organized down to the duffel that smelled of laundry soap, tucked at the bottom. When Hwoarang turned, he found a handful of yen still on the dresser with receipts.

If the Blood Talon ever felt like a shit-heel before, it was nothing compared to this. Yes, he had opened his home to Jin, gave him the financial resources to set himself up in this apartment…but he did not expect the apartment to be cleaned, laundry completed and dinner and whiskey awaiting his return home. He felt guilty…for having stayed out so long for fruitless bullshit, when he should have been here, with Jin…fixing the things that were going wrong between them. Jin had his secrets, and they were his own to keep, even as much as Hwoarang wanted answers. He would have to respect them as they came…or end up losing what he wanted most, through no fault but his own damn temper and the imposed prison he was putting Jin into.

The Korean stepped outside the bedroom and into the living room where Jin was reading by the small end table lamp, versus the overhead light. He stopped in front of the Japanese youth as Jin looked up, connecting eyes for the first time since this whole argument began. “Since when do you wear glasses?” He said to break the ice.

Jin slowly began to remove them, clipping the arms together as he looked into those slightly hazy amber eyes. “For about a year now, but only for reading.” He said softly.

“Look, about this morning.” Hwoarang never expected those words to leave his lips but the moment felt right. “I don’t expect you to spill your life story to me…but whatever you are going through, Jin, is affecting me to. You don’t have to say anything right now but at some point, I need some answers.”

Jin nodded softly, placing his glasses down in the book he was reading, the only pleasure purchase he made at a second hand book shop for a scant few yen. He kept an indwelling tally of how much money Hwoarang had allowed him to spend. The Japanese youth would be sure to pay it back to the last cent.

“I understand.” Jin said softly. If only it was that easy, Seung…to tell you everything you want to know. I have dragged you in so deep now that our lives are entwined as thick as our blood. I am sorry for what I have done to you…

“I just need time to..sort everything out. I need it to make sense to me…before I can think of giving you the answers you want.” Jin said, with as much meaning in his voice as their was truth.

Hwoarang drew closer to where Jin sat, on the couch, leaning his bruised knuckles on the arm of the leather couch. Only then could the Japanese youth see the fading black electrical burns that traveled up the Koreans arms, another reminder of anguish, of pain he had cost his Seung.

“I trust you, Jin. Even if trusting is not in my nature.” Hwoarang said, raising those bruised knuckles to brush against a smooth angular cheek. “I know your world has gone to shit, baby. But I am still here.”

Hwoarang was so close to him, Jin could feel a jolt through his skin. In the light, the Blood Talons eyes were not only amber, but rimmed with a nearly sienna brown that purely was captivating. “And I am thankful for that, Seung. More than you could ever know.”

The Korean youth leaned against Jin, his head tilting slightly to the side, framed by copper dripping tendrils, caressing the line of such perfectly narrowed eyes. Soft velvet met warm silk as his lover opened to him, feeling the soft trepidation of Jins slick tongue meet in the wealth of that moist, enticing cavern. He breathed his Japanese beauty in, with every fiber of his being, letting the kiss meld into something soft, something priceless.

Jin gave himself to that hot twine, slowly increasing with every lap of their attached mouths. His hands drew up to Hwoarangs neck, brushing the smooth flesh as he felt the Korean kneel on the leather couch. He clung to his lover like the last vestige of sanity, drawing the Korean closer. Hwoarangs arms melted into the small of Jins back, knuckling the leather to get the hold on that perfect body.

The Japanese youth freed a hand from Hwoarangs neck, traveling down the Blood Talons tee shirt to the line of his jeans, popping the catch open with an almost sense of expertise.

Hwoarang broke the kiss, his lips red from the pressure, matching the flush of those perfect, porcelain features. His breath came much quicker past his lips as he felt Jins hand slide into the tight denim and underclothing.

“I want you, Seung.” Jin moaned, his eyes holding the image of the Korean, lashes tightly closed, lips curled back slightly with the sudden, unexpected stroking that took place in those overly tight jeans.

“Baby, that hand..is golden.” Hwoarang moaned, letting free a slow, easy moan as his lover stroked his already rigid flesh. One hand freed from behind Jins back to brace himself on the arm of the couch.

“I know…what you like..and how you like it.” Jin moaned, untucking his leg from beneath his body and throwing his strong, denim clad appendage over the arm of the couch, beside Hwoarangs bracing hold. “I need you…so desperately.” He moaned, not caring about the coy play he normally followed, the uncomfortable, slightly nervous display of his desire. None of it mattered now…and it should never have mattered then.

“Fuck baby…” Hwoarang hissed when he felt Jins other hand move from his neck to draw down the denim, freeing his stiff flesh as his lovers grip tunneled around him. He opened his eyes, withdrawing from around Jins spine to unlatch the clasp of the new jeans his beauty wore. “Lift your hips…”

Jin did just that, using the hand that had been trying to strip Hwoarang down to draw the well fitting jeans from his own body, letting them pool near the Koreans boots as he arched on the leather, thighs akimbo, body pressed back. Jins spine melded to the leather, bent and ready.

Hwoarang moved between those parted legs, raising his bracing arm to the pillowy down of leather to the side of Jins head. His lover sunk further into the couch, virtually opening himself in such an incredible, wanton display. Amber held sable…nothing to be said but the heavy lilt of ragged breath.

Jin raised his hand, spitting into his palm, grasping the Koreans length with both hands and stroking his saliva into the pink, rigid flesh.

“Fuck baby, its like that, huh?” Hwoarang groaned as his back arched, feeling two distinct hands spreading fluid from the base to the tip of his cock.

“Yeah…its like that.” Jin groaned, releasing one hand to spit down again, relubricating the tip that would break him open. “Take me, Seung…” he said, half proud, half begging. There was no modesty left in a moment such as this.

The Korean groaned, heavily, raising his hand to his mouth and sinking two fingers into the hot depths, swirling them against his tongue before withdrawing them…and pressing them to the already visible tight pucker in his view. They sank in deep for a long moment as Jin let free an audible wail. Hwoarang returned the digits to his mouth, suckling back his lovers taste and rewetting the fingers…only to rub them against that perfect ring of muscle.

“Seung…” Jin groaned, squirming as he guided that firm length against his own entrance. “Make me scream.”

The Blood Talon grasped Jins legs, pressing them over his shoulder as his lover guided him to the anxious corridor, positioning the red, throbbing crown to the muscle.

“I wont stop..until you do.” Hwoarang hissed, leaning against Jin, wrapping his hands beneath his Japanese beautys’ shoulders…forcing his lover forward, forcing Jin onto his aching shaft.

Jin cried out as that first, powerful motion forced his narrow channel to fill itself with the Koreans cock, at the same time feeling Hwoarang thrust in powerfully to the hilt. His eyes rolled back as his fingers wrapped around the Blood Talons forearms, overcome with the hot, unifying sensation. “More of you…Seung.”

The Blood Talon leaned down, taking that hot, arching mouth as he thrust in, holding himself buried deep, letting the sensation of two twining tongues give to desperation…breath life into burning lungs, until Jin broke free, releasing a heavy mewl of pleasure.

Hwoarang withdrew completely…watching Jin bite at the air as his eyes fluttered open, longing for the overfilled sensation that suddenly left him. “Don’t close your eyes, Jin…you know how I love to watch your eyes…” he said with a cool, heavy smile that dripped control. The Korean slowly teased the ring, letting his rosy crown circle the muscle, hearing Jins protesting breath, pleading so silently for what he needed. And, just at that moment when his lover could no longer take the absence, Hwoarang thrust in with all the strength of his hips and watched Jin fight to keep his eyes open.

“Hurts.” Jin made out, his neck arching with a hot fluster of perfect blissful agony.

“And you fucking love it…” The Blood Talon moaned, using short, shallow thrusts to emphasize his words. “You want more baby? Make me hurt you.”

Jin groaned, trying to rock his body deeper into Hwoarangs torturously short motions. He knew his lover was drinking in the agony of his eyes. “Seung…” He managed, frustration building as one hand grasped his swollen length, letting his thumb brush the underside, stimulating the heavy, throbbing vein.

“Make me hurt you.” The Korean said, this time in a much more commanding tone. How he fucking loved to watch Jin stroke himself…it only added fuel to his fire.

Jin let out a garbled hiss, biting the edge of his lip, flooded with anxiety and desire. Secretly, he loved this game as much as Hwoarang. His free hand lifted, taking the Blood Talons and placing it against his throat, feeling the hot pressure there and holding the powerful arm at the wrist…changing the rules, yet again.

“Please…Seung…” He managed as the Koreans eyes nearly glowed in the spilling light, feeling that perfect throat beneath his fingers…and the heat of Jin trying to rock and thrust up into his own hand at the same time. “Hurt me…break me open….don’t stop…till you make me bleed.” His voice was so desperate, so completely sure of what he wanted…

“Fuck…baby…how can I refuse.” The Blood Talon hissed, never hearing and feeling Jins need so acutely. His fingers tightened around the porcelain flesh in his grip, tight enough to make breath come more labored, but never enough to truly suffocate his lover. He thrust in deep, hard, driving himself into Jins body till he could hear his tight sac slap against his lovers own, the front of his thighs meeting the back of Jins….with a hot slap of flesh that grew to a frenzy.

Jins eyes nearly rolled back as he stroked his length against his palm, rolling his hips to counter every thrust that sent Hwoarang spiraling inside of him. He felt the battering fleshy crown hit deep inside, making his body arch in a heavy, hot rhythm…. “Please…Seung…like that…Oh, God…like that.”

The pace was blinding, the power nearly bone breaking. Jin took him, took all of him…blow for blow like that first fight in the back alleys of Korea. He felt that narrow, velvet channel squeeze, threatening to break his rigid flesh in half…the rhythm was strict, deep, primal…and blissfully painful for his eager, masochistic beauty. “Yeah, like that. Fuck, Jin…fuck you get me there…too damn fast.” He could not slow his breathing enough to distract himself.

Jin stroked himself off with such powerful motions, he could feel his own core clenching around the onslaught of every deep, crushing thrust. “Seung…please…say it…I need..to hear you say it.” His face was flushed as red as the blood he could smell from his lovers pistoning thrusts…the hot crack of fissures inside of him like metal yielding to water.

The Blood Talon rolled his neck back, unable to keep the pace for much longer without losing himself in that perfect, hot corridor. His fingers tightened along Jins neck, feeling his lovers nails bite into his wrist..eyes connected to emphasize the words Jin longed to hear, the words that were truth. “You. Are. Fucking. Mine. Do you hear me, Jin…you…belong…to me.”

Jin cried out, his fisted fingers moving with such intense, spiraling motions, the preslick was starting to leak with fury from his crown. He believed in those words, let them wrap around him, made with a point at every thrust. Hwoarang hurt so much inside of him…so much he swore his body would break at this pace. “Seung…I can feel it…” He nearly whimpered, belayed by a heavy breath that masked the near scream on his lips.

The Blood Talon was overcome by that milking core, every hot thrust spiraling him with such incredible pressure to an end. “Let…Tokyo…hear…who…you fucking…belong to…” He hissed, arching over Jins body all the more, driving himself to the very edge as his crown threatened to break open that pleasure nub deep inside of Jins body.

Jin pressed Hwoarangs fingers deeper against his throat, feeling the breath constricted, heightening every sensation the Blood Talon fed him with. He whimpered with such desire, he swore he was outside of himself as the onslaught continued. Jin could not stop the dam from bursting…could not take another hot lick inside of him… “Seung!” He screamed out…stroking himself till his body spilled heavy ribbons of seed against Hwoarangs clothed chest and chin…trickling down like white rain onto his own torso.

“Fucking…mine.” The Korean cried out, feeling the hot splash, watching the heavy eruption leave his lovers tip…his eyes narrowed, body coming to a heavy convulsion as he forced himself to press deep into Jin…hold himself there…as an eruption as hot as lava filled his lovers narrow, gripping core. “Fuck!” He managed once more, back spasming, sending him into violent convulsions as he fed Jin on his very essence.

Jin sucked back a breath, his length still hard against his fingers. He felt his lovers hand loosen about his throat, even as his core tingled with the sudden hot explosion inside of him. The Japanese youths’ chest wracked with heavy breath as Hwoarang convulsed before him, head hanging low as the sensations slowly ebbed.

“God damn, baby.” the Korean managed, withdrawing slowly, sitting down on the coffee table, jeans still around his thighs. “You fucking destroy me.”

Jin leaned up, feeling his back crack from the release of pressure. He leaned forward, grasping the Blood Talon and kissing him with such fever, such need…it was the only thing to give him the sense of cessation of his starvation.

“We destroy..and rebuild..each other.” He said with a hot, slow moan, pressing his forehead to Hwoarangs, finding his breath catch against the rim of his lips as his body rocked slowly. “I can still feel you..moving inside of me, Seung. Oh, god…” He whimpered, holding onto his lover as the aftershocks rode through him.

Hwoarangs hand brushed Jins chest, tainting the skin with glistening, cooling slick before reaching his fingers to his lips, letting the salty sweet taste invade his senses.

“Fuck baby..I am ready for round 2” Hwoarang purred, forcing Jins chin upward to meet his lips, twining his tongue with the feral ferocity of a beast who had tasted blood and now, needed more of it.

“So..am I.” Jin said, breathlessly, eyes holding Hwoarangs as though the world itself was locked in that amber gaze.

**

The Blood Talon took the shot of whiskey, savoring the flavor in his mouth for a long moment. He chased the rich amber liquid with a fresh roll of Sushi, eating with gusto, enjoying the homemade flavor. The taste of wasabi, though not nearly as strong as Korean pepper paste, made his features flush. How could Jin ever know this was his favorite food?

“Do you always eat sushi, naked?” Jin asked with a smile, leaning against the wall of the kitchen. He had just started to drift off to sleep after that promised second, and equally intense round with the Korean, when he felt the Blood Talon move…only to find him here, eating sushi naked, in the kitchen.

“Well, I do like it raw baby. Nice job, considering you don’t eat meat.” Hwoarang smiled, licking his lips of the Wasabi, imagining what the strong flavor would taste like when mingled with Jins perfect, equally spicy flesh.

“Not much talent to it, just have to roll up the raw fish.” Jin laughed, shaking his talused mane.

“Yeah, well, for someone who doesn’t eat meat, you sure do take it easy down the throat.” Hwoarang said with a purr and a raise of his dark brows, unable to keep himself from a laugh at his own words. It was the first time Jin had ever elicited a pure laugh from the Blood Talon.

“If actual meat was as tasty as your skin, I might reconsider my choices.” Jin said, drawing into the kitchen, the hem of his sleep pants captured beneath the heels of his feet. The Japanese youth reached into the refrigerator for a bottle of water, one of the many things he had bought while out on a shopping excursion with Ling.

“You should get some sleep baby, its almost 6am.” Hwoarang said, tossing back another roll of sushi, unable to quench his well earned hunger. “You have a fight at 11.”

“And you have one at 10. Don’t you think you should be getting some sleep? Ling is certainly going to be bright eyed. But then again, when isn’t she?” Jin took a swig of water, finding himself incredibly dehydrated after a night of hedonistic, sinful pleasure in his lovers bed..

“Ling? I am taking on the midget? Why didn’t you tell me? Aw, shit. That sucks.” Hwoarang groaned. The only information he had heard was the time and destination of his fight, not who the opponent was. That was what he was rewarded with for failing to check his resources and nearly drinking to the edge of his own, considerable limit.

“Don’t…hurt her, alright?” Jin asked softly, watching Hwoarangs eyes. His own filled with concern. Ling was his friend…and the Korean, his lover. Neither one of them would take a loss well…and no matter who won the match, Jin was torn.

“I don’t want to..but I cant make any promises…shit.” He groaned. “Well, now I am definitely not going to sleep, I have to form a game plan.”

“Game plan?” Jin asked, taking a long swallow of the cold water, enjoying the cool feeling sliding down his throat.

“Yeah. I don’t want to hurt her either. The midget is…well, alright. But don’t fucking tell her I said that.” The Blood Talon half smiled, popping another roll of sushi in his mouth. “Hey…I have a couple of these little delights left. What do you say we get…kinky?”

Jin laughed, recapping his water. “Suck the meat out of it and maybe we will see what we can do.”

“Have I ever refused sucking some meat, when your involved?” The Blood Talon smiled wickedly, licking his lips as soon a those vulgar words left the shelter of them.

“I cant say I recall that ever being a problem.” Jin smiled, leaning against the counter, feeling Hwoarangs hand come around his narrow, firm waist before slipping dangerous fingers against the tied off front of his pajama bottoms. The reaction was instant and wanton…