Chapter 1: Calls for help
"Marui-Kun, could you close up shop for me?"
"Sure!"
A boy of about twenty-two closed and locked the door of the shop, The Caramel Apple, he managed. He whipped the counter off and turned the sine in the window so that the word "Closed" was flashed to the people in the street. The boy ruffled his reddish-pink hair and blew a bubble nearly twice the size of his head. It popped all over his face.
Marui, for that was the boy's name, climbed a short flight of stairs to the smaller second story. He lived above the shop. Today was just like any other day. Giving the customers fudge samples and watching small children cry for candy was all in a day's work. Tonight he would go to sleep early and be awakened rudely be a drunken phone call from a Masaharu or Hiroshi. At least that's what he thought. As soon as Marui entered his one-room living quarters, a shiver ran down his spine. Something… No! Someone was under the covers of his bed. He approached cautiously, half afraid of what he might find. As he reached out for the cover, he realized that his hands were trembling. Bracing himself, he tore the blankets away and gasped. A soft moan came from the motionless body on the mattress. Marui struggled to speak.
"A-Akaya?!"
He received no reply. There was no mistake. The curly black hair and small muscled body couldn't belong to anyone else.
"Akaya!"
Surely enough, the motionless body was the younger boy. He was unmistakable, except for the blood dripping from his forehead. Marui was in a state of panic. He gritted his teeth and swallowed his entire wad of gum. A stream of questions flooded his mind. How did he get into Marui's room? Where had he been all weekend? Why was he bleeding so much? And most importantly, what on earth had happened to him? He decided the best thing to do was clean his friend up the best he could. Putting on an effort to keep his hands from trembling, he rolled Akaya into a semi-sitting position. He grew red when he felt Akaya snuggle into his chest. Carefully, Marui unzipped and removed Akaya's blood stained wind breaker jacket. It appeared to be the only top he had left. Marui felt a sharp intake of breath. Two lines of copper colored ooze dripped down his friend's middle. The shaking began to grow worse as Marui used a clean rag to mop the wounds. He felt Akaya's body tense against his own. It was a wonder the younger boy hadn't woken up at all. The cuts along his ribs were thin and bandaged easily. Marui shifted a little to inspect the upper body. Without warning, Akaya's hand shot up and took hold of Marui's shirt. After a few feeble attempts to get him off, Marui gave up. He spotted a blackening bruise on Akaya's exposed side. No doubt a few ribs had been cracked…or worse… He wished he knew how to take care of that but didn't dare touch it. The chest was just the same as it had always been. The skin there seemed untouched. His neck however, was a complete disaster. The entire front of his throat had turned a sickening purple. As Marui hesitantly inspected the back of his neck, he saw that the purple mark was in the shape of a hand. At the tip of each finger was a small, crescent shaped cut. On the tender flesh between the shoulder and neck was a deep, full mouth, bite mark. Marui felt sick and fought the urge to vomit. He had to get this job done first. Careful not to hurt his friend any more than he already was, Marui laid Akaya down on his back. He let out a pitiful whimper and rolled to one side. Marui's whole body was shaking now. He gingerly removed the sweat pants and this time, he couldn't hold it back.
Marui wiped his face as he re-entered his room from the bathroom. He forced him self to look at what had made him convulse. Akaya's lower body was a mess. His hips were heavily bruised, but that wasn't the worst of it. His inner thighs seemed grotesque and almost deformed. They were almost completely black with a hint of green. Blood leaked from this area as well. Marui cleaned the cuts the best he could. They seemed to have come from someone's fingernails. Marui's blood boiled. If he ever caught the person who did this to him, they would pay dearly. The anger seemed to have stopped all of Marui's shaking. He rolled Akaya's limp body onto its stomach in order to get a better look at his back. It had been treated in a similar way his thighs had. The cuts were deeper and most of them were still bleeding. On the lower back, just at the tail bone, the skin was raw. It had cracked, turned red, and begun to bleed. The body whole shuddered at the slightest touch. Marui tried to be as gentle as possible as he mopped up the blood and bandaged his friend. Shaking once more, Marui collapsed next to his bed. Tears sprang from the corners of his violet eyes. At least Akaya was alive.
Yukimura Seiichi lay on his back asleep. His friend and partner Sanada, Genichirou set next to him. Seiichi was so fragile. He had a fever. It had started in the middle of the night. He had awoken Genichirou when he had climbed back into bed after getting himself a glass of water. Genichirou had noticed the heat and placed his hand on Seiichi's forehead. He had been warm, too warm. Only now had he finally settled down and fallen asleep. Genichirou jumped in his chair as the phone in their apartment rang shrilly. He cursed. Who the hell was calling in the middle of the night? He answered quickly.
"Moshi, moshi. Genichirou here."
"Saaaaaaaaaaaanaaaaaaaaaaaadaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Seiichi stirred a little in his slumber.
"Marui!"
Genichirou hissed. He was in a bad mood and Marui had almost woken Seiichi who was having a hard time as it was.
"I need your help!"
"Yukimura-Buchou has a temperature! Call someone else!"
Genichirou would have liked to have slammed the phone but set it down carefully so as not to wake Seiichi.
Yagyuu Hiroshi and Niou Masaharu rarely got a full night's sleep. Probably because Masaharu was not one to stop what he was doing for something as superficial as rest. Or maybe it was because Hiroshi always wanted the read 'just one more chapter' of a book. The reason that was most likely, however, is that Masaharu was a horny bastard, plain and simple. At the moment, Hiroshi was sitting on the couch, Masaharu's head resting comfortably in his lap. He was deeply immersed in "The Tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table." Masaharu was growing intensely bored. He reached up and poked the book until Hiroshi moved it above his reach and threw him an annoyed glare over his glasses.
"What is it Masaharu-Kun?"
Masaharu put on what he hoped was a sweet expression.
"Puri."
Hiroshi rolled his dark brown eyes.
"Fine…"
Marui pressed speed dial again.
"Pick up… For the love of God, please pick up the phone…"
It seemed as if nobody would pick up the phone but then;
"Moshi, moshi?"
Marui was silent for a moment.
"HIIIROOOOSHIIIII!"
"Good evening to you too Marui-Kun. And to what do I owe the pleasure?"
Marui heard Masaharu's muffled voice over the phone.
"God damn it! Just when I got him in the mood too!"
Marui shook.
"There-There's something wrong with Akaya...
The phone on the other end beeped. Hiroshi had put him on speaker.
"Hiroshi, he's hurt and I can't wake him up! Please… Hiroshi… C-could you come over? It's just… I'm so scared!"
Marui hadn't realized he had burst into tears.
"We're on our way. Just hold tight until we get there okay?"
Marui gulped.
"H-hai…"
It wasn't long before Marui heard three light knocks and one kick on the shop door. He'd used up most of his energy in his panic. This made it more difficult to descend the stairs to shop.
"I'm coming…"
No sooner had he unlocked the door did Masaharu come enter. Marui blinked. Why was he on the floor? Hiroshi held out his hand and pulled him to his feet.
"Where is he Marui-Kun?"
Marui's room was pitch black before he opened the door and flicked the light switch. The body in his bed shifted and moaned. Hiroshi approached slowly and whispered.
"Akaya…"
Akaya stiffened.
"Your going to have to work with me okay? I'm
Marui and Masaharu had to admire Hiroshi's bravery. Akaya was like a wild animal when he was injured and mentally unstable on top of that. Akaya refused to move at all.
"Stay the hell away from me!"
Masaharu felt Hiroshi was endangering himself by staying where he was. Hiroshi gently tried to get Akaya into a sitting position. As soon as he was successful, Akaya cried out in agony.
"Aah! Marui-Senpai! Make him stop!"
Marui caught Akaya in his arms before he hit the floor. Akaya clutched at Marui's back. He shook, but not with pain. Tears sprang from the corners of his eyes. His whole body convulsed with sobs. Marui bit his lip. Akaya's nails were digging into his back.
"Marui-Senpai…"
His muscles relaxed somewhat.
"I- I think he's… asleep…"
Akaya blinked. He lay face down in somebody else's bed. Akaya couldn't remember where he was or how he had gotten there. He looked up groggily. Without really thinking, Akaya rolled over onto his back and yelped. Somebody pushed him, roughly back into his original position. Akaya let out a little whimper.
"Wh-who?..."
"Just me kid."
"Ma-Masaharu-Senpai?"
"No shit."
Akaya closed his eyes and rested his head on the pillow. He felt too dizzy to think.
"H-How?..."
"Marui called us."
"Mmh…"
Akaya was distracted by a searing pain in his backside. He reached back to see what it was.
"Don't touch that! You nitwit! We just stopped the bleeding!"
Bleeding… No wonder his mind was so hazy. Akaya surveyed the scene. Even with his limited line of vision, Akaya could tell this must be Marui's apartment. Nobody else's room smelled so strongly of candy.
"Where is Marui-Senpai?"
A neat pair of pants came into view.
"He's down stairs. I told him to go make tea. It usually helps calm his nerves. You know how he is."
Akaya chuckled but it turned into a little moan. His side felt like it was on fire.
"I'm back."
"Marui-Kun."
Hiroshi addressed him.
"We need to be on our way. If you could take care of him, that would be great. Maraharu-Kun and I shall inform Yukimura-Buchou and Sanada-Kun. You just worry about Akaya. Good luck Marui-Kun. I will be calling you in the morning to check how things are going."
Marui shifted in his single chair. He had fallen asleep. Marui ruffled his magenta hair and sat up. The covers on his bed were shaking. He got up and crossed to the bedside.
"Akaya? Akaya, what's wrong?"
Marui knelt so that his face was level with the smaller boy's. A pair of blank green pools stared up at him.
"Marui-Senpai… It's so cold… I can't make it stop…"
The shivers that ran up and down his frame grew more violent still. Marui ran his fingers through his hair and grabbed it in frustration. He was a genius. He had though he could fix anything. This however, he had no idea how to cope with. Akaya was his responsibility and therefore, it was his job to make this right. Marui sighed. It was the only way. Marui crossed to the other side of the bed and crawled under the blankets. He wrapped his arms around Akaya's bare chest. He was warm, no not warm. Hot. Too hot for him to be shivering like that. Akaya didn't even budge when Marui pulled him in closer so that their bodies were pressed up against each other. Marui's chin rested on top of Akaya's shoulder. He leaned in and whispered.
"Akaya, you have to hang in there."
Akaya was awake, but he didn't want to open his eyes. He figured he must have passed out. The first thing he noticed was gentle warmth spread through his body. Something stirred against his back. Akaya craned his neck around. A mess of magenta hair draped over his soldier. It was Marui. His face was comfortably snuggled into Akaya's back and his forehead rested on Akaya's shoulder. When Akaya tried to move, Marui let out a soft whimper and hugged him tighter. Akaya sighed and rested his arms on top of Marui's. "Thank you Marui-Senpai. Thank you for taking away the cold."
