"Brother please! No more!"
Nao Seiketsu screamed, scratching nails caked with dirt and dried blood up and down the aged iron door, barring the only exit out of the dark claustrophobic room.
His breath shuddered as it dawned on him, that his brother was listening to his pleas, but was deliberately letting him suffer. A small whimper passed through his cracked lips, as he dropped onto his side and curled up in a protective ball.
A bright light hit his pale form, revealing the gruesome sight of scars, burns, covering his naked skin, the light came from the tiny slide window on the door.
It casted his body half in a ghostly light and the rest of him was weaved with black shadows entangled over his other side like it was living and devouring his body whole, a serpent of the shadows.
Cold blue eyes watched him tremble and writhe from the opening.
Daisuke Seiketsu grinned, aroused at the sight of his dear brothers fear and pain.
Ten years earlier
The boy cried, holding the side of his face.
It was his 8th birthday today, Nao hated his birthday. After earning a slap from his mother, he wasn't willing to go back in.
The boy was hunched over with his knees tucked closely to his chest, sitting up high in a tree.
"Hey whatcha doing up there?"
A voice shouted from below him.
Nao shocked. Frightened. Fell backwards, out of the tree onto the grass beneath his perch. He rolled around, holding his aching side.
"Oww.."
He fought back the urge to cry again. He glanced up, noticing the shadow looming over him.
"You're very clumsy~"
A boy round his age. Spoken in a light teasing tone. Sparking green eyes. Blood red hair. The boy stared down at him, crouched, head resting in his palms and his arms planted on his lap.
Nao stumbled back, darting behind the tree he had just fallen from, blushing in mild embarrassment.
The boy blinked, eyes following his rushed movements. He slowly stood, holding a palm out to catch a descending leave. He stared at it, his eyes hidden by his bangs.
He then walked briskly to Nao, dropping the leave on the way, letting it flutter down to join the other leaves. He placed a hand against the tree trunk, eyes still focused on the other boy.
"I didn't mean to scare you.."
He said softly. Nao looked at him timidly. The redhead smiled.
"The name is Ryo. What's yours?"
He asked cheerfully, holding out a hand. Nao chewed on his lower lip.
"Nao..Seiketsu"
His voice was barely audible. Ryo's eyes widened.
"You're the birthday boy!"
He looked surprised. Nao nodded warily. Ryo tilted his head to the side.
"Why are you out here alone? Shouldn't you be enjoying the cake?"
Nao shook his head, not wanting to go into any detail. Ryo didn't even pressure him to. He grabbed his wrist and was dragging him down a dirt track into the woods.
"Let's be friends okay Nao?"
Ryo called over his shoulder, grinning widely. Nao let himself be pulled along. He nodded, but then remembered that Ryo couldn't see this action.
"Okay..Su..Sure"
He stammered nervously.
A few days later
At the stroke of midnight, Nao climbed down from his bedroom window. With a pocket of change and a lightswitch. Then he disappeared into the night.
He ran to the edge of the woods, meeting up with his best friend Ryo. They continued on, until they reached a clearing in the woods, lit up with colourful lights and tents. People were laughing, children, performers, adults, animals all were milling around with different destinations in mind.
A dark woods circus.
The two boys looked at each other, their excitement building. Each one went to grab their own trinkets and snacks.
Dawn painted the sky, as the boys walked through the forest trying to get home before their parents awoke. Ryo hummed a tune that slowly became louder till he started to sing the words in his mind.
" Deep in the woods, there in the heart it stood. It's a circus, shrouded in darkness. The ringmaster has wide and large eyes, I see that he's ten meters tall in size. All of the cast have smiles so vast. Even they have bodies that are strange.."
Ryo danced as he sung, Nao stared at him, listening to the enchanting lyrics.
"But it's so fun, and I'm not yet done. Dark woods circus. Come let's take another peek.."
Ryo grabbed his hands spinning Nao around. Leading him about while he continued with his song.
" One with two heads, they are-" Ryo uttered a mock gasp, causing Nao to giggle.
" and a deformed diva who is half a freak!" Ryo threw his arms up, then started rubbing his arms pretending to be cold.
" Then there's the blue beast who loves to eat… cold things because to him they taste so sweet.." Ryo grinned deviously, tickling Nao's sides. Nao burst out laughing trying to escape him.
Ryo jumped up onto a fallen tree branch, with his arms held out like a bird. He began walking across the trunk, his voice turning sad.
" It is not my wish, to be born like this.. My form is as undesirable as you think.. Why do you look at me with eyes like that? This face you see is rotting, it is rotten.. It is painful.. Oh it's painful.. But it is not like it can helped at all.. This is what she speaks, and the show goes on, there is no stop.. There is end forever.."
Nao stopped smiling now hooked on the sad tone that Ryo now was using. Ryo jumped off the end of the trunk, and leaned against an acorn tree.
" It is so much fun, it is so much fun.. This circus is fun and won't ever be done..Rotten fruit dissolves, my eyes they crawl..Reflected in them is my skin rotting off.. I just want to die, I just want to die.. Take me away, why won't someone ever reply? It is impossible, I can hear them say.. There is no way… I guess I am here to stay.."
Nao stared at him, then started clapping, "that was so amazing Ryo! You should be a singer"
Ryo blinked then blushed, "no.."
He turned away, "i'm not that..good.."
Nao hugged him from behind, "sure you are!" Ryo slowly smiled, and they continued laughing merrily as they returned to their beds.