"Do you, too, wish to rule all that is under Heaven?"

"I hope to get along with you."

"Is it alright…to let a caged bird go outside?"

"Take me along if you're worried. I will not become a hindrance."

"Closing my eyes, a dream of flames… I…"

"Whatever comes, I will protect you."

"Burnt twice, and reforged again. But there is no next time. Ahh… At long last, freedom…"

The lavish bed creaked ever so slightly as one of the two occupants attempted to rise without making a sound. Squirming away from under the blanket, a pair of slender legs eventually managed to step on the floor which was covered in expensive carpet. It was the figure of a young man, with a flawless porcelain-like skin covering the delicate build of his body, far from similar to those of most grown men out there. His heterochromatic eyes – one green and the other blue – glanced back towards the other occupant of the bed; a middle-aged man whose name he didn't remember and didn't want to remember, snoring in his sleep.

"It should be okay now…right?"

After ensuring that the older man was not disturbed by his movement, the slender figure quickly dressed up and gathered his belongings scattered all over the luxurious bedroom. Several sheets of cash were left on the table next to their bed, and the young man shoved them into the pocket of his coat without even looking twice, let alone counting the amount. He just wanted to leave this nauseating place as soon as possible. Tip-toeing on the soft surface, he slipped through the door with much care as not to produce any noise and finally, he broke into a run once he reached the corridor.

The weather was cold outside when he stepped out of the five-star hotel's lobby that the young man couldn't help but shiver; his long, pink-colored hair fluttering when the chilling wind breezed past him. When he took out his cell phone, the display showed that it was already three in the morning. Nevertheless, there were still people pacing around the streets of this never-sleeping part of the town and the young man was always thankful because in this place, everyone was minding their own business, so nobody would pay attention to him even when he rushed past them all in hurried steps. The last thing he wanted was to be called out by one of them and was taken to another place where the nightmare would continue.

"The messages have also stopped coming."

Tightening his coat to protect his trembling shoulders, the young man held his cell phone tight and did not slow down until he reached a large junction where he took a left turn. Up ahead were considerably less people compared to before since he was entering a residential area, and a modest apartment building stood firmly not far from there.

That was where he was heading to.

Climbing the rusty staircase to the third floor, he approached one of the doors lining on the hallway and abruptly inserted his key, opening it with a faint "click" before locking it back once he reached inside. It was dark in that apartment; none of the lights were lit as if in harmony with the complete silence enshrouding the entire place. Yet the young man had grown too familiar of the place that he required no light to find his way.

First he walked towards the living room and to another door next to it. When he peeked inside, he saw a blue-haired boy sleeping soundly on a humble futon, seemingly not aware of his return. He exhaled a sigh of relief as a faint smile was drawn on his pale face. Kneeling by the bedside, he casted a loving gaze at the boy and slowly held out his hand. However, right before the tips of his fingers could touch those strands of soft blue hair, he came into a stop; the smile soon disappeared from his face. With his previously gentle expression now clouded in what seemed to be sadness and guilt, he rose to his feet and returned to the living room, rushing for another door that led to a larger bedroom.

Without a care of his surroundings, he proceeded to the bathroom, undressing himself and throwing the clothes away all over the floor. His trembling fingers reached out to the faucet of the shower, and when warm water began to drench him from head to toe, he started scrubbing on his skin furiously as if possessed. He poured soap on it, scrubbed, and repeated the same action over and over again. While he was doing this, a translucent liquid dripped down between his legs and his expression turned stiff at once.

"Tch…"

He cleaned that part with a disgusted face, but it appeared that there were more than he expected. He kept cleaning himself on that certain area while biting his lower lip, but eventually he grew tired of it and threw himself down to the floor, hugging both of his knees with his back pressed against the cold wall.

Amidst the drops of water still falling onto him, a faint sniffle escaped his breathing.

"…Stupid. Don't cry…"

With a feeble voice, he reprimanded himself. However, instead of producing a calming effect he was hoping for, his chest felt even tighter and more of those sniffles broke out. It did not take long until they turned into weeping, and the young man could no longer retain himself; his shoulders shaking from the cries he was struggling to hold back.

And just like that, he remained curling on the floor until weariness stopped the tears falling from his eyes.

"…Nii-san… Good morning…"

A small voice reached Souza's ears as he was preparing breakfast in the kitchen. When he turned his gaze, the sight of a blue-haired boy still in pajamas caught his attention and a gentle smile immediately rose to his face.

"Good morning, Sayo," he casted a kind look at his younger brother, returning his greeting, "Did you sleep well?"

"I did…" the boy nodded, rubbing his eyes.

"That's good," a soft laugh escaped Souza's lips, "Go wash your face and brush your teeth. We'll be having breakfast soon, okay?"

"Okay…"

The blue-haired boy obediently listened and walked to the bathroom. In the meantime, Souza continued with the preparation of breakfast, arranging the plates and glasses on the table until his little brother returned. They sat facing each other, conveying their gratitude for the food. It was just a simple menu of milk and toast, but they were thankful for what they had now. At the very least, they would not start the beginning of a new day on empty stomach.

"Have you finished all your homework? If I'm not mistaken, you said before that you will have a test today, right?"

"I have," while munching on his bread, Sayo replied with a nod, "For the test, it is Physical Education, so…"

"Oh? Then I'm sure you will be fine. Sayo is always good at PE, aren't you?"

"I'm… I'm not that good…" despite his seemingly monotonous voice, the blue-haired boy looked down; his cheeks beginning to turn red from embarrassment. At this sight, his older brother could not help but held back laughter as they continued their peaceful morning.

"All set? Are you sure you didn't forget anything?" asked Souza when the younger one was finally about to leave for school. Even though he still looked rather sleepy a few minutes ago, now the boy was already neatly dressed in uniform.

"No, I didn't forget anything," Sayo shook his had.

"Good. Well then, here's your lunch box. Be careful on your way."

"I will," replied the boy again. However, instead of leaving he stared at Souza's face for awhile, confusing his older brother before he finally opened his mouth again, "Nii-san, your eyes are red. Were you busy last night?"

"Eh?" taken aback by the sudden question, Souza lifted his hand to touch the edge of his eye unconsciously, but then he shrugged his shoulders and smiled again, "Yes, unfortunately. Does it really show though?"

"It does…"

"…It does, huh?"

Even though it looked like he did not sugarcoat his words, Souza knew what the boy meant. He was not good with words, but Sayo was a really sweet boy at heart and sometimes he thought he couldn't be more grateful to have a little brother like him.

"I will be okay if I get some rest later," the pink hair said again, "Now stop worrying about me and hurry up or you might be late."

"Okay… Then, I'm going."

"Take care."

Soon, that small figure disappeared beyond the door. Souza waited until the sound of his brothers footsteps faded away before he finally released the long sigh he'd been holding. At the same time, the smile vanished from his face and in its place, a weary look clouded his expression.

["Were you busy last night?"]

"Busy…huh…?" he mumbled to himself, "Indeed, I was busy."

Letting out a sigh once again, he turned on his heels and walked back into the apartment. Just like the outer appearance of the entire building, the inside was equally modest. The living room was also used as a dining room. There was a kitchen and two bedrooms; one bigger with a bathroom inside while the other was smaller. The overall size of their apartment could be considered narrow, not to mention that the building itself was already quite old to begin with. However, since there were only two people living there, the size didn't become a big problem. It was already good enough that they weren't homeless.

And now that his brother had left, it was time for Souza to do the chores. Despite this activity being an exhausting daily routine, there were actually not much to take care of. Again, there were only the two of them living there and cleaning such a small apartment would not take a lot of time. Sometimes he thought that him feeling tired was never caused by the chores at all. After all, he hadn't slept at all for the entire night.

"…Pointless thoughts… I should've been concentrating on the work at hand instead of slowing down my pace."

At this thought, suddenly he could feel something buzzing in his pocket. Obviously, it was no other than his cell phone, but even though he knew this very well, his face was clouded with doubt. Nevertheless, in the end he took the small device out and the moment he saw the name written on the display, his face brightened all of a sudden.

"Hello?" he quickly answered.

"Good evening, Souza. Ah, but it's morning on your side, isn't it?" a familiar voice gently greeted him from the other end.

"Aniki, it's been awhile. How are you?" with a genuine smile rising to his thin lips, he returned the greeting happily. It turned out that the one who was calling was none other than their eldest brother, Kousetsu Samonji.

"I am fine. I apologize that I haven't been able to call lately, but my assignment here proceeds without problem, so it seems that I will be able to return next month," replied his brother. Even though they were separated by great distance, from the tone of his voice Souza could imagine the other man smiling in relief as he was conveying the good news. To this thought, he couldn't help but smile, as well.

"That is wonderful. If only Sayo hadn't gone to school, he would've been delighted to hear this. We haven't seen each other for more than a year, after all," Souza said.

"Indeed. But we could also keep it a secret and surprise him later," his brother's soft laughter was brought to him from the speaker, "How are you guys doing over there?"

"We are good. Sayo is doing very well at school and he no longer has problems in making friends. Recently, he represented his class in a marathon for the school's sport festival and he finished first place."

"I see that he's grown up to be a strong and healthy boy. You must've taken really good care of him," said Kousetsu proudly. At the same time, however, his kind voice was also painted with concern as he continued. "And what about you, Souza? Are you still working in the bar that you told me before?"

For a moment, Souza was at loss of words; the hand that was holding the cell phone trembled slightly. Even though no one was there to see him, he hung his head down, biting at his lower lip before answering his brother's question.

"…Yes, I'm still working there," he said.

"I see… It must be tough on you, taking care of Sayo during the day and working at night. If only I could earn a little bit more—"

"It's alright, Aniki. You've been working hard enough. I couldn't just sit still and watch while you're the only one struggling for us," shaking his head, Souza quickly dismissed his brother's remark, "Besides, I get to rest when Sayo's at school. It's just that my working schedule is different to most people."

"If you say so…" still in a regretful tone, his brother replied, "Then, I shouldn't waste anymore of your precious sleeping time. You should quickly turn in and rest your body."

"…I understand."

"Sleep well, Souza."

"Thank you, Aniki. I hope to see you soon."

After a bit more exchange of words, the call ended. For the second time today, Souza let out a long sigh, staring at the now turned-off display of his cell phone. It had been awhile since he last saw his brother. Being the eldest son, Kousetsu took up the responsibility to support the entire family after their parents passed away. But still, although he'd been working so hard to the point of accepting jobs that required him to be sent overseas every now and then, his earning was barely enough to cover the expenses of the household, even if there were only the three of them living in a modest apartment.

"I'm sorry, Aniki…"

A prick of guilt beginning to tear at his heart as Souza held the small device close to his chest. Indeed, he'd told Kousetsu and Sayo that he was working at a bar every night, but of course it was a lie. He simply couldn't bring himself to tell them the truth, to tell his brothers that all this time he had been selling himself to other men at night, just so he could get a bit more earning for their daily needs.

"If they ever found out about this, I…"

Just like that, he shoved the phone back into his pocket, ignoring he small blinking light that was supposed to be a sign that he had unread messages in his inbox.

Another night soon fell upon the city. Replacing the sun were countless lights coming from the streets and buildings; humans and cars alike flooding the roads. For most people, it was time to return back home and rest, but for others it was the start of a new day of work, particularly for those who made their fortune from the night life of the city.

Dressed in a knee-length coat and dark-colored trousers, Souza hastened his pace amongst the crowds flooding the street, being careful not to bump into people lest his slender built would be easily swept away by the scurrying flocks around him. His destination, as always, was one of the brothels providing their service in the red-light district. The outer appearances looked equally flashy as those buildings stood side by side and across each other, but if one were already familiar with the area, the place where Souza was working was actually quite popular. The patrons could either rent one of the rooms provided in the brothel, or they could also asked the prostitute of their choice to meet up at other place for a date, usually at bars, restaurants or hotels.

And even though this wasn't something one could brag about, the brothel he was working in had a lot of high class patrons, some of them were actually regulars of his.

"Canary, is that you?"

Calling the nickname he'd been using for work, the manager's voice reached out to him as soon as he entered the back chamber functioning as the dressing room. As his heterochromatic eyes quickly sweeping the entire place, the pink hair saw several of his colleagues in the middle of preparing themselves. Naturally, since the brothel would be opened soon, and among them he found the owner of the voice who called to him just now.

"Yes, it's me. Good evening, Manager," he bowed while conveying his greeting, "How can I help you?"

"Actually a request for you just came to us and the customer already paid in full. I know you've just arrived, but he wanted you to accompany him for a dinner, so you'd have to go out again," the manager explained briefly, pulling out a piece of paper from his breast pocket, "Here's the address. He said he will be waiting for you in the lobby."

"I… I see…" stammering due to the sudden task he was given upon arrival, Souza accepted the paper handed to him. On the white surface was printed the details of order made by the said customer and indeed, in the description it was stated that his arrival was to be expected in a certain restaurant.

"Do you know how to get there?" asked the manager again.

"Y-Yes, I've been there before," the pink hair replied, recalling one occasion when a customer also brought him there for dinner. It was a famous five-star restaurant in town where only the wealthy could afford; a lot of their regulars were celebrities and very successful businessmen.

"Good. Then quickly change into decent clothes. No matter how pretty you look, they won't let you in with your current outfit."

Despite the rather sharp tone of his superior, Souza understood very well what he meant. Of course, he couldn't just stroll into such luxurious place wearing his old coat and jeans. Instead, he felt more uncomfortable upon noticing the jealous gazes thrown at him by his other colleagues in the dressing room.

"It's not like I'm doing this because I want to."

Perhaps it actually was a good thing that the request made him needed to go out. Attempting to ignore the unpleasing silence, he immediately changed his clothes and left the place, once again finding himself standing amongst the crowds in the bustling street. The restaurant itself was approximately 20 minutes' walk from where he was, and considering that he still had enough time, Souza turned on his heels and began to make his way towards the meeting place.

"I should probably read the order again just in case…" he thought while taking out the folded paper he'd previously tucked into his bag., running his eyes over the text printed on it, "Atsushi Toushirou, 28 years old. Huh… He's only a few years older than me. 'Please call this number if you have arrived at the lobby'. Well, now that's strange… Usually you wouldn't give out your number that easily to brothels or dating services."

As he pondered on about the singularity of his customer today, a skyscraper eventually came within his sight a small distance away. If he remembered correctly, the restaurant was located on the top-most floor with enormous windows that allowed the guests to enjoy the view of the entire city. Putting the prostitution business aside, when he was brought there for the first time by his previous customer, he was actually mesmerized by the fantastic view he'd never dreamt of seeing.

"…What was I thinking?"

Souza shook his head, dismissing the absurd thought of feeling grateful that a customer had brought him to such a place. Now that he'd reached the designated location, he took out his cell phone and turned it on. As usual, there were tons of unread messages invading his inbox, but he ignored them and called the number written in the order details as instructed. There was a brief dial tune until he heard someone answering from the other end of the line.

"Yes?" the voice of a man, low and firm, reached his ears.

"Good evening. This is Canary from 'Red Carnation'. I have arrived at the lobby," replied him, using a polite tone as he'd always done whenever talking to his patrons. Truthfully, it felt like his stomach was churning whenever he had to talk in such a nice way to these men when his heart and mind were in total opposition, but he had no other choice. No matter what, this was business and he had to be professional about it lest he'd lost all of his patrons.

"We understand. Then, please come up to Room #2015 on the 20th floor. We'll be expecting your arrival soon."

The call was cut off just like that. For a brief moment, Souza was dumbfounded, standing still as though his feet were nailed to the floor. He'd met all sort of weird people as customers, but so far this was the most peculiar of all. In the first place, why was that person using such business-like manners and what did he mean "we"?

"Were there actually more than one customer?"

Nevertheless, despite how suspicious it sounded, he couldn't simply back down and leave when there wasn't any definite proof. No matter how uncomfortable he had begun to feel, there was no other choice for Souza but to do as told for the time being. Thus, he proceeded up by the elevator towards the said floor and soon, found himself standing before dozens of doors lining in the lavish corridor.

"Excuse me," he called after knocking on a door with "#2015" engraved on the plate. There was a faint sound of footsteps coming from the other side and the door then swung open, revealing a tall young man with short black hair whose light-colored eyes stared at him in silence. The obvious difference in their posture was enough to make Souza gulped, but he quickly regained his composure and bowed while conveying his greeting. "Good evening. I'm Canary from 'Red Carnation'. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"…Yeah. I'm Atsushi Toushirou. Nice to—"

"Ne, is it him? Is he here already?" the man's words were cut off by a light voice casually coming behind his back. Another person popped out from inside the room, a feminine looking man around the same age as the first one with long blond hair. If it wasn't for the Adam's apple slightly protruding on the surface of his throat, Souza might've mistaken him for a woman.

"Umm… Good… Good evening," once again, Souza repeated his greeting, but was blatantly ignored. Wearing a cheerful yet mischievous smile on his pretty face, the blond stared at Souza from head to toe with his bright blue eyes before clapping his hands as though in both amazement and satisfaction.

"As I thought, it's him! He really hasn't changed in the slightest bit since back then. That's great, isn't it, Atsushi?" he smiled happily while nudging at the taller man.

"Yeah, that's great. Thank you very much for using my name and number without permission to contact the brothel, Midare," the one called Atsushi replied with a clearly annoyed voice. However, he soon turned back towards Souza upon noticing the confusion written all over the face of his guest. "Ah, sorry about that. As I was saying, I'm Atsushi Toushirou and this is my brother, Midare. Please come in."

"Y…es… Pardon the intrusion…"

As the outer appearance suggest, indeed the entire building was mainly functioning as a hotel, a luxurious one on top of that. The room he'd stepped into seemed to be one of the most expensive rooms provided by the hotel, considering the spacious yet elegant interior with top quality furniture. The view from this floor was also marvelous, but with these self-proclaimed brothers bickering endlessly next to him, the thought of admiring the town's scenery didn't even cross his mind. It was as if his presence there was mere decorations. Thus, he decided to stand still and waited until the two men eventually stopped on their own and came to him.

"Say, you said your name is Canary, right?" asked the one called Midare while throwing him a scrutinizing look.

"…? Yes, I that is correct. Is something the matter, Toushirou-san?" the pink hair replied, tilting his head in confusion.

"Like, really the real Canary?"

"Yes," once again Souza repeated his answer. Just a few minutes ago, this person was saying things like he didn't change in the slightest bit with a delighted face. That was already very weird, and why was he questioning about his identity now?

"Rather than worrying about that, we should stop wasting time. Hirano said they're already five minutes away from here," Atsushi, whose name was listed as the customer who placed a request for him, sighed while throwing his brother a tired look, "Besides, I doubt there will be any other person in this world with that kind of appearance."

"Well, you're right…" once again, a mischievous smile pulled up the corners of Midare's lips as he casted a meaningful glance towards the pink hair. With light steps, he walked around Souza and whispered in a delighted voice. "Don't struggle too much, okay~?"

"What do you— Mmph?!"

Not even a second afterwards, his mouth was muffled by what seemed to be a large handkerchief. When he was just about to try to break free, the black hair caught his hands in an instant and had them tied together in the wrists. He hadn't even gotten over the shock when they suddenly hauled him to the bedroom, thrown him on the bed and tied his legs, too.

"Mmmph! Nnngh?!"

"Easy there. We're not gonna hurt you, see?" said Midare with an innocent smile, so unbefitting of what he was doing.

Even when he said they weren't going to hurt him, it was nearly impossible to believe with the way the all ganged up on him like this as if making him a hostage. Despite the lots of people with weird taste who'd become his customers, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Souza felt extremely scared at the moment. How could he not? He had no idea what these people's intentions were. But as though ignoring the obvious distress coming from him, the blond simply looked back and threw his brother a question.

"By the way, is it really okay not to tell him about what this guy's doing?" he asked; a slight doubt hanging in his voice.

"We were only helping to get them back together. Beyond that will be their own personal problems, so it's none of our business," replied the black hair. Shortly afterwards, the sound of door unlocking faintly echoed from the direction of the living room. Looking over his shoulder, Atsushi stood straight at once as he muttered. "He's here."

"Already? Alright then, we'll take our leave and give you two a private time together. Bye-bye~"

Following his brother, the blond smiled once again at Souza and waved his hand before leaving the room. Now left all by himself – bound and gagged on the bed – he grew even more panicked when the sound of a single footstep, different from the other two, grew louder towards where he was. To no avail, he kept squirming on the bed in hope that either his hands or legs could break free.

However, before his efforts could bear any fruit, the shadow of another man appeared by the opened door.

"Mmnngh! Mmmph!"

"Don't come here!"

He was almost at the brink of tears as he tried to yell in vain, more so upon realizing the man taking long strides to the bedside. Shaking his head furiously, he didn't even realize that the cloth covering his mouth was being removed, followed by the ones binding his wrists and legs. The moment freedom had returned to his body, he immediately scrambled back without even bothering to look at the person standing right in front of him.

"Calm down. Are you okay?" the man asked in a composed, heavy voice.

"S-Stay away!"

"It's alright. It's alright already. Please calm down…" again, the man attempted to soothe him with a gentle voice. Souza shut his eyes tight when he felt the other's presence drawing close, holding out one hand to caress the side of his face. He should've been accustomed to being touched by others like this, but the recent treatment seemed to have left him in quite a shock.

Nevertheless, the next words he heard were enough to blow all thoughts away from his mind.

"Souza…" the voice called, "Souza Samonji… Finally I found you."

To this unexpected remark, the pink hair slowly opened his eyes and for the first time since this man entered the room, at last he had a good look at the other's appearance. A pair of grayish purple eyes, jet black hair framing the especially striking face of his… This man was young, perhaps around the same age as the two who had just left which would mean he was only a few years older than him, but from the way he dressed himself, Souza could immediately tell that he must be a very successful person like one of those young executives.

"…? How…do you know me?" in a small voice, the pink hair eventually opened his mouth, "I'm… I'm Souza Samonji, but… Who might you be?"

The man seemed to be taken aback at first, but then the corners of his lips were then pulled into a smile as he lowered his gaze. He might've been imagining things, but Souza thought that the man's smile looked rather sad.

"Do you not remember me, Souza?" he asked, in which the pink hair responded to by shaking his head. Still wearing the same smile, the man let out a sigh while rising to his feet. "Well, if you don't remember, I suppose it can't be helped. I will have to do this again from the beginning."

As he said this, the man bent down his tall body and took his hand. Gently, he kissed the back of Souza's hand, lifting his face in such a way afterwards that he was gazing into those pair of heterochromatic spheres from below.

"Yagen Toushirou. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

And at that moment, Souza felt a surge of memories came crashing onto him. One by one, faces and voices flashed in the back of his mind until the figure of a certain person eventually dominated the chaotic flow of thoughts inside him. He recalled it… Straight jet black hair, a mature voice hiding in a small built and a pair of sharp grayish purple eyes…

"…Ya…gen…"

However, the moment his lips uttered that single name, an excruciating pain robbed him off the memories he recalled all of a sudden. As if his head was about to be split in two, Souza fell onto the soft surface of the bed when complete darkness claimed his consciousness away.