Health was something most people took for granted. Aimaru knew this better than anyone, having worked with the sick for so long. The fear on their faces was soon overcome by relief at the cure, and then forgetfulness of the incident. By stealing the illness from their bodies, Aimaru was guilty of helping people take their health for granted. What he hadn't realized was that he'd been doing the same thing.
Once sickness took hold in his body, the things he'd taken for granted were slowly stolen away. Fasting, riding horseback, morning walks–they were all been claimed by illness. Even one of his final pleasures, Takimaru, had abruptly stolen himself away. Training Taki had always been a bright spot in his days. The earnest devotion the boy applied to his studies made him a prime pupil, not to mention an easy tease. When Aimaru had taken to sick bed for what he knew to be the last time, Takimaru had still been there, bringing him soup and talking for hours. With Takimaru gone, there was little left.
Suddenly, weeks after his disappearance, Takimaru reappeared. Strangely composed as he shifted the curtain walls of Aimaru's tent out of the way, the young Knight strode in more like a man than the boy who'd left. He dropped to one knee before an elated Aimaru.
"I was on a trip and have returned," he explained by way of not explaining at all. "Aimaru, I found a medicine that will cure you."
Of course that was what Taki had been up to. Helping Aimaru. His devotion knew no bounds and Aimaru had been a fool to think otherwise. There was only one problem. As absolutely ecstatic as he was to see his charge, it was too late.
"It's my time, Taki," Aimaru explained. The words came harder than he would have liked. "I must follow the natural order."
Takimaru's eyes dredged the details of Aimaru's pathetically emaciated form. By the cringe, Aimaru saw how deeply his weakness pained the boy.
"No!" Takimaru bit his lip and offered up his palm. On it was a small white pill. "This panacea is all-natural. There is nothing in it that contradicts the Gourmet Faith!"
Aimaru gave a limp smile. "I was meant to live only so long, and I won't take the medicine."
Takimaru kept pleading for a while, avoiding any questions about where he'd been. In due time he'd tell, Aimaru supposed, but time was a luxury he didn't have anymore. Which was all the more reason to waste no time indulging in one of his favorite activities: teasing Takimaru.
"Come here," Aimaru rasped, under the pretext of labored breathing. Takimaru leaned down so Aimaru could whisper in his ear. "If you come back tonight, I'll consider taking it. But leave for now. The other clan members are going to want to see you."
Takimaru nodded and left. Seemingly obedient, but Aimaru knew Taki had a defiant streak wide enough to rival his own. The same drive and stubbornness that had inspired Aimaru to break from the sect that trained him in the Gourmet Faith and found his own group, far out in a humble land. Thoughts of what he'd built brought tears welling to his eyes.
No, there was nothing to be done. No person could live on earth beyond their lifespan, no matter what they had built or wanted to build. No person should have such ambition. Midora of Gourmet Corp. and Ichiryu of the IGO didn't understand that. Ichiryu, at least, had spawned a new generation. Midora, as far as Aimaru knew, had no intention of leaving this plane.
So he, Aimaru, the least of his men and the least of people on earth, should not wish to perversely prolong his life and his selfish contributions.
If only it didn't hurt so much to let go.
******
Takimaru returned sometime after Akimaru had lit candles and fed Aimaru porridge. The night was warm and bright, and a tiny ache was lodged in Aimaru's heart. Simple moments of joy were the hardest to let go.
"Have you decided to take it?" Takimaru cut straight to the chase. The figure he cut, with his hand on his hip and his track suit pressed and clean, once again surprised Akimaru in its manliness.
"You've grown up," he said wistfully. "I'm proud of you."
Taki kneeled down and frowned. "It's only because of what you've done for me, Aimaru." His voice rose. "Now, please, take the medicine! Do this one thing for yourself!"
"Oh, Taki," Aimaru ruffled Taki's jet-black hair. It was so smooth and silky; on his travels he must have been eating food far more luxurious than he was allowed at home.
Takimaru stiffened at the touch, but Aimaru was insistent, toying with the turban that kept his cursed eye covered. Maybe before he left the world altogether, he'd give that damn curse another try, give it everything he had left...
"Aimaru," Taki said, catching his hand as it attempted to dislodge the turban. Taki blushed, and setting Aimaru's hand aside, he removed the garment himself.
"There," Aimaru said, petting Taki's head with his one good hand. "I've missed you." For several minutes, Taki let himself be petted.
"You're not going to take the medicine tonight, are you?" Taki said quietly.
"I said I would think about it," Aimaru said sweetly.
Aimaru petted slowly as Taki's body shook. Taki grabbed the hand and held it close.
When Aimaru had brought Taki to the village as a child, the boy had clung to him for days. He refused to eat, sleep, or even go to the bathroom away from Aimaru. Gradually, of course, he'd opened up to the other Knights and became well liked and doted on by all.
"Please..." Taki was on the verge of tears again. "Why can't you do something for yourself? After you've done so much for others. So much for me!"
To see the little boy shaking with the emotions of a man took his breath away. The power of nature to grow and mature bodies, to change them, was awe-inspiring. But Taki couldn't see that the same forces that transformed him into adult were the same that were breaking down Aimaru's body into a new form.
He wanted to tell Takimaru that to comfort him, but the soreness in his own heart knew the words would cut worse than a knife. Life was too short for more pain.
"You want to do something for me?" Aimaru asked.
"Yes! Anything!" Takimaru replied.
"Then come here," Aimaru beckoned Taki closer. The boy approached, puzzled, and leaned his face in like earlier in the day. When Aimaru raised his chin, Taki tentatively brought his face a breath away, then stopped, uncertain that he was reading Aimaru correctly.
"Kiss me," Aimaru commanded. He strained upward and was met with strong, soft lips. The kiss was short, polite. "You'll have to hold it a lot longer than that," Aimaru said with a grin.
Taki did. Soft breath trickled out onto Aimaru's cheek as the kiss deepened into a rich, decadent thing. It had been so long since he'd had any sort of partner that each millisecond gave his body a rush of endorphins. By the time the kiss finally broke, he was on fire with arousal.
"I guess some parts of me can't help wanting to live," he joked. Takimaru looked partially horrified by the dark humor, but mostly just flushed and aroused himself.
"Listen," Aimaru said. "Taki, you've grown enough that I know you'll understand. Since my right hand's been bandaged up I haven't known any release."
Aimaru could see the wheels in Taki's head turning but refusing to catch. He gave it a last push. "If there's anything you can do for me, it would be to become my right hand. Down there."
"And then you'll take the medicine?" Taki said without hesitation.
"We'll see," Aimaru smiled.
Taki unwrapped Aimaru's erection from a swaddling of cloth. He knew he was free by the touch of night air, even though he couldn't look down to see. And he felt the first tentative touches of Takimaru's fingers supporting him.
Even that minimal sensation had Aimaru straining. As guilty as he felt about manipulating Takimaru's emotions, he wanted the release.
Taki was silent, concentrating as he slid his fingers gently up the underside. After a few exploratory brushes, he grasped the base more firmly and stroked. He brought his other hand up to ring around the tip. Aimaru was not so silent, leaking moans all over. The vocalizations seemed to encourage Taki, so he made sure to stay loud.
All of a sudden, wet suction kissed the tip of his cock. He gasped as Taki's mouth slid down over the head, and then slid down farther.
"Where did you learn that?" Aimaru moaned.
"From a man in the Gourmet mafia," Takimaru broke his oral minstrations long enough to explain.
"That's my Takimaru, making...mmm, yes...friends with...ah...gangsters."
"He was a good comrade," Takimaru broke once again, this accompanied by a bucking of Aimaru's hips. "But I did not sleep with him. He merely told me in detail what he would expect me to do to his- someone's cock."
"You pay attention well," Aimaru gasped, "but you always lose focus on the task at hand."
Taki jumped and with a flush resumed the blowjob with vigor. Aimaru strained his neck to see the impression of his cock rounding Taki's cheek. That sight, accompanied with the beautiful motions of Taki's hands, sent him off into bliss.
His first orgasm in far too long ripped through him, dragged out a shout and flooded him with waves upon waves of pleasure. For the first time in months he was beyond the pain.
Trembling and panting, he looked down to see Taki fighting a losing battle trying to keep Aimaru's cock clean from semen, as little jets of it kept coming. When the shudders receeded, Taki got up and found a cloth to wipe away the white fluid from his face, hair, and Aimaru's bandages.
"Thank you," Aimaru said.
Seeing the tent in Taki's pants was the closest he came to asking for the panacea. Right there, that fresh bulging manhood was a perfect reason to stay in this world longer. Taki needed someone with mobility to fondle that cock, to lick it, to make it harden beyond reason and then offer it release. He needed someone to ride it, to place strong hands around it. But Aimaru said nothing.
Takimaru went to the door and looked out. "It hasn't been very long."
"Hey, don't make a sick man feel bad for premature ejaculation," Aimaru joked.
"That's not what I meant!" Taki was mortified. "I meant, we could continue this without anyone interrupting us."
Aimaru let out a snuffle of appreciation. "I'll need to personally thank this mafia man."
Taki kissed Aimaru, and in no time Aimaru felt his blood start to race again. Taki got up and took off his pants. There was the erection itself- pink, proud, and throbbing with blood.
Taki climbed on top of him with the utmore care. He kneeled above Aimaru's stiffening erection. Without missing a beat, he placed his fingers in one of the bedside jars of medicinal ointment and drew out slippery liquid.
Aimaru moaned in appreciation as Takimaru worked a finger into his own hole. Where had his little boy learned to be such an exhibitionist? Aimaru couldn't look away from pert pink nipples, smooth healthy body and long fingers penetrating deeper into his rear cavity.
By the time Taki gave him a smoldering look with four fingers stuffed in his hole, Aimaru's cock was hard again. Taki brought the fingers out and positioned himself above Aimaru's erection. The hot fingers arranged his cock and then ever so slowly Taki sank down onto him.
"Oh..." Takimaru whimpered as the blunt end of the thick column sunk in. Aimaru gasped at the slick passage closing around his dick. Even lowering himself as wide as his hips would go, Takimaru couldn't handle much, just the tip and a bit of the shaft. He still wasn't putting any weight on Aimaru, which was the largest limiting factor.
It was still amazing. Especially when Taki unexpectedly rose up again and then slid back down with an impressive control of his core muscles.
"Aimaru... Aimaru..." His name was chanted in a heated whisper as the rhythm increased. The sensation of being ridden was much different than the blowjob before, and even though the overall sensation was less, the pressure on the head of his cock was much greater.
The rhythm got faster and the strokes shorter until Taki had given up every motion except a fast stroking of his own cock. The walls of his ass clenched.
Hot fluid splattered across Aimaru's stomach. Taki trembled around his cock, his body tight as a fist. Aimaru gasped and rode the wave, but release didn't come.
To the sound of Taki's gasps, his cock slowly softened. When Taki opened his eyes and looked around, he dismounted and found another rag to clean Aimaru's cock and chest with.
"I suppose I'm a little old to be getting off twice so soon," Aimaru laughed.
Taki's wide blue eyes fixed him in their intense gaze. "Thank you."
Aimaru bit back a throbbing ache and reached out with his good arm. "Come here." Taki fell into his embrace. The boy kneeled with his head nestled against Aimaru's shoulder for a long time. He finally got up, though, attempting to brush the blush from his cheeks.
"I will come back tomorrow to see if you'll take the panacea," Taki said.
Whether it was an innuendo or not, Aimaru had to give up the charade on poor, earnest Takimaru.
"Taki, I'm sorry. But I won't take it. I know it must have cost you a great deal, but I'm not meant to live anymore."
Taki's eyes moistened.
"I love you, Taki. The same me that loves you is the one that honors nature's way. I could not be more sad that I will have to leave-" Suddenly it was Aimaru who found himself choked up with tears.
Takimaru stared at the floor, blinking back his own tears.
Aimaru found his voice again. "Growing up and dying, they're part of the same order. You have to grow up, I have to die. I only regret that I won't get to see the wonderful things you will accomplish as a man."
"Don't say that!" Taki shook his head. "It is not your time! Because what I've done changes that! And it's thanks to you that I'm alive. Can't you admit anything you've done has positive consequences? Or is entrusting things to nature your way of justifying giving up? Don't just run away!"
Aimaru was speechless, but Takimaru wasn't done.
"Rules are meant to be broken! Rules are false limitations that we place on nature. We cannot accomplish things that nature would not let us do. We aren't passive spectators, we are the agents of life in everything we do!"
"But by the same logic, the 'false limitations' are natural as well."
"You can be sure of one rule, then," Takimaru said. "I will return tomorrow, and the day after and as long as it takes."
Aimaru's smile was bitter. "You won't be inconvenienced for very much longer."
******
As Takimaru reminded Aimaru often in the weeks to follow, it only took a few days of obstinance before the simplest of childhood promises made life worth clinging to.
After all, there were still things that needed to be built, not the least Takimaru's experience in bed.