"Tonight was busy. I don't think we've had that many customers since Christmas time." Zexion leaned against the back counter of the bar, drying the last of the crystal glasses with his personal bartender towel.
"Yeah, the crowds were wild tonight!" Demyx exclaimed as he did a little arm exaggeration.
"Yeah, it was a good night." Axel agreed. "It even wore Roxas out." He admired the sleeping sixteen year old with his head pearched atop his arms and using the bar as support.
"He's always tried so hard to stay up with us." Demyx noted.
"That's because he feels left out if he doesn't at least try to keep up with us." Zexion stated matter-of-factly. "In time he'll be able to stay up all night and get up at the crack of dawn like the rest of us."
Axel 'hmmed' in repsonse, feeling a bit drousy himself. It was hard work being the owner of the most upscale bar/club one could find in these parts. Japan was without a doubt a place with high expectations. The fact that Portal had stayed open for just over a year now was no feat to laugh at.
"We could do with some breakfast." Demyx suggested.
Axel pondered it for a second. Food did sound really good, and Zexion's cooking had always been exceptional, even in the orphanage.
The orphanage was the whole reason Axel bought the bar. He had grown up there since he was eight, along with eleven other kids. Their parents all fell victim to a virus that fatally wounded their nervous system. He can't remember what it was called, in fact, he couldn't remember anything before arriving at the orphanage.
The place was a nightmare. The "father" of the house was Xemnas, a man in his forties, it seemed. He was a slave driver, much like the "mother" in "Annie". It was run just like that, only he played favorites, bad. Zexion was a favorite for a long time, but he never changed like the other favorites. The ones who changed the most were Saix and Marluxia. They were so driven by the power that Xemnas gave them that it eventually led to the rest of them rebelling, including the other favorites. They killed them. He was thirteen then, which meant Demyx was twelve, Roxas was eight, and Zexion was fifteen.
"Axel?" Demyx's hand was shaking his shoulder firmly. "Are you okay?"
Axel blinked, then looked at the other boys. "The orphanage was really bad, wasn't it? I mean, we killed people."
Zexion and Demyx shared a concerend a look. The former pulled a carton of eggs and two packages of sausage from the refridgerator. "Breakfast it is."
Demyx still tended to the thinking Axel. "I don't actually remember a lot of it. Between the poisons Xemnas tried to feed us and the beatings from the favorites," Zexion winced involuntarily at the mention of the beatings, "I'm probably lucky I remember my name."
"Roxas always had it the worst though." Axel remembered. He was the baby, the perfect speciman for everyone else's 'experiments'. "I'm surprised the kid lived passed three with all the shit Marluxia did to him." Demyx nodded, remembering a particluar time when Marluxia and Vexen, another favorite, had tied him upside down from a fan to see how long it would take to rip out of the ceiling with fourteen pounds of Roxas hanging from it. If it wasn't for himself and Luxord, well, Roxas might not have been asleep on the bar right now.
Zexion turned from his cooking breifly to join the conversation. "I never liked the other favorites. All of them made me sick. Sure, Marluxia was bad, but so were Saix, Vexen, Lexaues, and Larxene. But that's why we got out." He turned back to his food, putting finishing the final touches on their breakfast.
"I wonder if they'll come looking for us." Demyx said. He didn't want to remember all of the bad things.
"They won't." Axel said reassuringly. "Xemnas is glad to have us gone."
Breakfast was set in front of them on paper plates. Axel noticed only two plates.
"You're not gonna eat?" he raised an eyebrow in question of Zexion. He shook his head as he began taking care of the dishes used to make the food.
"I can't eat thinking about those times. I'll just throw it up later."
For someone as cold and stoic as Zexion, if you got him around the right people, he was deep, kind even, and held more pain than maybe even Roxas. He had odd ways of dealing with the pain, Axel thought, but that was his business, something he shouldn't meddle in.
They ate in silence, the only noise being the light breating from the sleeping Roxas mixed with the running water from washing dishes.
Once finished, Demyx was the first to speak. "We should get him to bed." he said, referring to the smaller blonde. Axel nodded. Demyx stood from his stool and walked around Axel, making sure to kiss him and Zexion along the way. He scooped Roxas into his arms, placing a light kiss on his temple, then allowed the other's to do the same before taking him upstairs.
"You gonna come up soon?" Axel asked the lavenderhaired boy.
Zexion leaned forward on the bar, his elbows supporting his weight. "Yeah, I'm just going to finish the dishes and I'll be up."
Axel yawned. "Do you want me to wait for you?"
"You can go. You looked tired." Zexion teased.
Axel managed the best glare he could in his sleepy state before just giving up and leaning over the counter and kissing Zexion. "See you then." He pushed himself off the bar and up the stairs leading to the apartment of the bar.
Zexion watched as the red-head forced each heavy step from his body up the stairs.
'How much longer will he last with three of us, I wonder?'
III
Time flew. It really did. How was it eight o'clock one minute then three o'clock the next?
Touma was going to kill her. Curfew was one o'clock, even though she was eighteen. It would have been worse if Tatsuha was in town, but lucky for her, and him as well, he wasn't, not until, well, technically tomorrow morning.
Arina crept into the penthouse, shutting the decorative door as quietly as she could. So far so good. She slipped her heels off, as not to make more noise than was necessary and tip-toed across the white carpeted living room. Sucess! Now she just needed to get down the hallway into her bedroom and she would have this in the bag. One step onto the wooden floor and she knew she was busted.
"You're not even going to say hello?" Arina cursed under breath and turned around to see Touma sitting on the farside of the living room by the front window.
'Sneaky bastard.' She thought to herself. She strode over to the the nearest couch and plopped down into its comforting cushions.
"Arina, do you know what time it is?" he asked her. It wasn't sarcastic, and it wasn't harsh, it was Touma's way of being truly concerned.
"Yes, I'm sorry, Touma. I don't know where the time went. I walked out the door, partied, and came back all in one minute, I swear." The answer was rushed, and quite comical, in her opinion.
Despite the obvious dissapointment in Touma's voice, Arina heard a snicker slip from his lips. Good thing they shared a sense of humor.
"As that may be so, you're still two hours late, which means . . ." He waited for her to finish the sentence.
Arina sighed. " . . . which means I can't go out the next night."
"Bingo." Touma moved from the couch he was on to sit next to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug, which even her in tired state, she gladly accepted. She leaned into him and nearly fell asleep, an old habit that she didn't think she would ever be able to break. This is how it had been since he started to raise her. Her brother didn't have the right mind set to take of anyone, even himself, and her parents had died during the time of the fatal virus. You were lucky to find anyone over the age of forty these days. Luckily, her brother, Ryuichi, knew Touma, since they were in a band together called Nittle Grasper. Eventually, Touma and Ryu had become lovers, and Arina thought it was cute. But Touma had held her like this ever since she could crawl. It was probably the thing she loved most about him. The feel of his protective arms, his breath lightly hitting the top of her head, the natural bittersweet scent that was Touma, all of it made her feel safe, feel at home.
"You know I love you right?" Touma asked, running a hand through her hair. Arina 'hmmed', the dregs of sleep starting to over-power her. "I yuv you doo."
"Why don't you get some sleep? Okay?"
Arina snuggled closer to the musician. "Kay."
Touma rolled his eyes. "Not on me. You're too old for that. I'll take you to bed."
Arina wasn't so far gone that she couldn't tease him. "So you want the best of both Sakumas do you?" She heard him scoff, and he flicked her ear earning him a soft 'ow' in repsonse. He stood up, then picked the sleepy girl up bridal style, bringing her into the room she shared with Touma's sister, Marin. He layed her down on the bed and kissed her forehead, which she returned.
"Good night, Arina." He whispered.
"Nite, Touma."
"Good night, Marin." he whispered a little louder, knowing she was still awake at this hour.
"G'nite, Touma."
Touma shut the door behind him and sighed. He listened on the other side of the door for a moment. Sure enough, the girls struck conversation.
"You got caught didn't you?" Marin asked.
Arina yawned. "Mm-hmm."
"You're gonna go out tomorrow night anyway, aren't you?" Marin was a goody-two-shoes, even moreso than Touma was growing up according to him. She was soft-spoken, and very smart, only getting dragged into trouble when Arina started it.
Arina smiled, blinking sleepily at the ceiling. "Yup."
Touma shook his head and smiled as he headed back to his room, where he was sure Ryuichi was waiting for him.
'She's going to be the perfect woman one day.'
III
"It's like I said, Mika, it's for Ryuichi. I know you don't want to see Touma, but he's moved on, you married me, and now you need to let him go completly." K pleaded with his wife. Tomorrow night was Ryuichi's thirty-first birthday, and he didn't want to be without the company of his companion.
Mika looked away from her husband. It had been nearly ten years since she divorced Touma, five since she had last seen him. Being in New York, while it brought memories of her brother, Eiri, and his incident, was everything she dreamed it would be an more. She came here in search of a new world, and she had found it with K.
"I don't know, K. I don't think I can handle seeing Touma with another man, especially if the other man is Ryuichi Sakuma. That man is a nut job."
Immediatly, K was on the defensive. "I worked with him for three years. He may have his quirks, but it's perfectly normal. Think about his past, then having to raise Arina , with the help of Touma of course." He watched as Mika dropped her walls, showing the true indecsion on her face.
"Look, please, come. If not for yourself, than for me, and if not for me, than do it for Arina. I'm sure she'd love to see you."
Mika's lips pressed together in a firm line. "I'll think about it."
K gave up. "Fine." He pulled his suitcase from the closet and began packing. "But I'm leaving in six hours with or without you."
Mika's brown hair fell over her eyes and she hung her head in deep thought. She remembered a quote she read in a book once.
'I may move on, but forgiveness is out of the question.'
III
It had been another awesome night at Portal. Hiro swore the crowds got better every time they played.
But now they were at another joint called Kino's, and the night was coming to a close.
He took a swig of his coffee and glanced over at Shuichi. He was still drinking, and according to Fujisaki, he was going on his sixteenth shot. Honestly, what was he thinking? He probably wasn't, and that was the problem.
He wavered slightly as he stood from his stool and tapped Fujisaki on the shoulder. "Why don't you go home, man. I'll take care of our drunkard." Fujisaki bowed his head in thanks before grabbing his equipment and heading out the door to wait for a Taxi.
"Woo yoo cahying a drungerd?" Shuichi's speach was so slurred that Hiro could hardly make out what he was saying. Lucky for him, he was fluent in Shuichi, in any state.
"You, idiot. Don't you have to go home to Yuki?"
His ears seemed to perk up at the mention of his lover, much like a loyal puppy's. Yes, Hiro had just compaired his best friend to a dog and found it funny. He snickered, and Shuichi spun off his stool, face planting on the cool black tile. This only made Hiro laugh harder though, and Shuichi only got madder.
"What the hell is so damned funny, Hiro?" he screamed at him. Hiro only started laughing twice as hard, and soon enough, all the bar could hear was an angry Shuichi trying as hard as he could to hit Hiro while yelling at him, and Hiro in tears because he was laughing so hard.
"Honestly, you two are your own riot." Hiro's eyes stopped tearing long enough to distinguish that the person who was speaking to them was Tatchi Aizawa and his little group mates, Ken and Maa.
"The hell do you want, Droopy Eyes?" Shuichi screamed at them. Hiro was laughing to the point he couldn't breathe, and Maa, feeling sympathy for him, patted his back so that the oxygen would come quicker to his body.
"We were just leaving. I actually just wanted to tell you guys that you were good tonight at Portal." Tatchi said smoothly. Hiro came to the conclusion that Droopy Eyes didn't need to be drunk to be an asshole.
Shuichi stopped screaming at him and a red flush came over him. "Umm, thanks, but we need to get going." He said quickly. He grabbed Hiro's hand and led him out of the bar still half laughing. "Shut-up, Hiro." His voice was a whisper, and Hiro had hardly registered that Shuichi had even spoke after noting that Fujisaki must have gotten a cab already because he was gone.
"What's . . . wrong . . . ?" Hiro managed between attampts to gain his normal breathing rate back.
"I'm gonna . . ." Shuichi doubled over on the side of Hiro, who had barely caught him by the waist, and threw up the alcoholic contents of the night and then some.
Hiro rolled his eyes.
'Some things never change.'
III
Noriko Ukai took a sip of gin while her friend settled for beer. How on earth she ended up at Yuki Eiri's home tonight was beyond her, but she enjoyed his company, and he seemed to enjoy hers.
"He should be home soon." The author noted idily.
Noriko nodded. "Hmm, and I suppose I should leave before he arrives?"
Eiri shook his head. "It doesn't matter. The only person he was ever suspicous of was the male Seguchi, but he never posed a threat to him, just wanted to drop in every so often."
Noriko sighed. "Touma has enough to deal with without having an affair." She brought the gin glass to her lips, taking a timid sip.
Eiri took a long swig of his beer and exhaled deeply. "Sure. He has to take care of three children." He watched as Noriko scoffed at his comment.
"Marin and Arina are more than capable of taking care of themselves, and they do. They bring home their own money and pay the bills just like Touma."
It was Eiri's turn to scoff. "So that's their excuse, but what about the older Sakuma?"
Noriko rolled her eyes. "The same excuse that Shuichi gives. I'm telling you, they're one in the same, Ryu and Shu. I'm surprised it isn't him that's related to the Great Ryuichi Sakuma instead of Arina."
"Yeah, they are similar." Eiri coudn't argue that. He took another long swig of his beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table in front of them. "Arina's grown up a lot."
Noriko smiled. Arina was like a little sister to her, as was Marin, but for some reason, everyone just loved Arina. It wasn't that she was spoiled, in fact, in her opinion, Arina had it worse than most, having Ryuichi as an example brother, losing her parents so young, then dealing with having to live up to her brother and friends, she couldn't imagine it for herself. Somehow though, she pulled through it all and was on her way to becoming a successful musician. She had a boyfriend who cared about her deeply, and a slew of others that loved her equally, if not more than him.
"She is with your brother, afterall."
Eiri grew silent. He wasn't a fan of his younger brother, Tatsuha. It wasn't that he was a bad kid, it was that he was good at being bad, always able to get away with it by playing the 'Preacher's son' card all too often.
'I just hope Arina's careful.'
III
"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!" Tatsuha bounced wildly on the balls of his heels. How much longer did he have to wait. He really had to pee! There were no bathrooms on the bus and no pottey breaks for seven hours. Maybe he shouldn't have drank that large Dr. Pepper at Taco Bell . . .
Finally a stall was open and Tatsuha dashed for it. He shut the door quickly and slid the lock in place before unzipping his pants and releasing the bothersome fulids in him.
He was glad he was able to get into town a day early, though he would spend the whole day unpacking and sleeping.
He couldn't wait to see Arina and Ryuichi. He loved around those two, but mainly Ryuichi. He was so innocent, so precious, something that Touma Seguchi had no right to be in possesion of, but that went for Arina as well. She was a true beauty, but anyone who knew Arina well enough could say that, and Arina was his girl. Touma seemed to think she still belonged in some odd way to him. Tatsuha thought Touma should just take a hike. His sister, Marin, on the other hand, was a peach. She was a sweet girl, as long as you didn't piss her off, then she'd be one fuck of a force to reckon with. Tatsuha was afraid to cross that line with her.
'But,' he thought, 'I guess I'll cross it soon, won't I?'
He flushed the urine in the toilet and left the stall, leaving it to be occupied by another poor soul who had to suffer the same fate he had. He washed his hands hastily before grabbing his bags on the floor by the door and began the trek to his apartment. It wasn't a long walk, fifteen minutes tops.
Tatsuha thought about the next couple of days. Tomorrow night was Ryuichi's thirty-first birthday. He thought about giving him something a little special since they seemed so fond of each other. But the timing had to be just right.
'I may screw up my life, but I have to take a chance, just this once, even if it costs me my life.'