Important note: This is set a long time ago, so that's why there are slaves and kings and queens, which you will find out about later. I repeat, this is NOT set in present day.
"Tono!" Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin cried in unison as they impatiently tapped their feet on the cold marble floor. "Hurry up!"
"Tama-chan! Come on, we might be late!" Mitsukuni Haninozuka called up the stairs as he gripped his pink bunny rabbit tighter with anticipation.
Kyouya Ootori was standing nearby, leaning on the grand mahogany polished staircase railing, looking as calm and unhurried as ever.
Takashi Morinozuka was towering protectively over Mitsukuni, his face a perfect picture of impassiveness.
Tamaki came hurtling down the burgundy stairs, straightening his shirt and smoothing down his hair hurriedly.
"Ok," he panted, out of breath and red-faced from his mad dash down the stairs. "We can go now."
The twins cheered and skipped out merrily, singing nonsense the entire way out. Mitsukuni ran out after them cheerfully, rambling pointlessly to his bunny. Takashi followed silently after his cousin.
Kyouya stayed behind to walk out with Tamaki, although the blond in question appeared very reluctant to leave the palace.
"Kyouya?" The ebony-haired male turned to his friend, an eyebrow raised in question.
"Yes Tamaki?"
Tamaki started to wring his hands together nervously.
"Well...I was...just...wondering...umm...what happens...if...you know...something...bad happens...and..."
Kyouya, getting what Tamaki was trying to ask, sighed in frustration and grabbed the blond's elbow, earning him a surprised glance from the aforementioned teen.
"Nothing will happen. Now get in the carriage." The onyx-eyed male pushed Tamaki outside and into the carriage roughly but not painfully.
"Go." Kyouya told the driver, who then nodded in affirmation and flicked the reins, sending them down the road and towards the main square.
"Stop here." Kyouya ordered as the driver pulled back on the reins to bring the carriage to a shaky rest.
Mitsukuni jumped out of the carriage first, doing a front flip to land softly on the dirt gracefully.
Takashi got out next, landing next to his cousin with a small "THUMP" as his feet hit the ground.
Kaoru and Hikaru got out after the freakishly tall dark-haired teenager, landing on the dust in unison.
Tamaki left after the twins, stumbling clumsily out of the carriage, almost toppling over as he hit the path, and had it not been for Kyouya putting his hand on the blond-haired teenager's shoulder and getting out himself, Tamaki probably would've collapsed from nerves.
"Mr. Ootori, do you wish for me to wait for you or bring the carriage back to the palace?" The purple-haired, silver-eyed driver asked politely.
"No need to wait Rhyox. We'll call you when we need you."
The driver, now identified as Rhyox, nodded and said quietly, "As you wish Mr. Ootori," before he flicked the reins and sped back off towards the palace.
The ebony-haired male then turned towards everyone, well, where he thought everyone was, but apparently, they had all run off while Kyouya had been talking to Rhyox.
'Even Tamaki,' Kyouya thought in anger as a vein popped in his forehead.
However, he quickly regained his cool, straightened his glasses, and unhurriedly walked away to find his friends. (Inside, he was cursing ever meeting these idiots and plotting horrible ways for revenge while storming away to find the aforementioned idiots and berate them for deserting him.)
After Kyouya caught up with the group and gave them a stern talking to (He doubted anyone was even paying attention and thought that he would probably have more response from a brick wall) there was a shout of, "SLAVE BEATING!!!" that came from the middle of the square, to which a large crowd immediately gathered.
Tamaki raised his head when he heard the cry, and his amethyst eyes blazed in rage as his mind registered the words being spoken.
"Not under my watch," he muttered angrily as he made to step forward, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
He turned around, expecting to find Kyouya, but instead found Takashi.
"Don't." He said simply in his deep baritone voice, and Kyouya came to stand next to the freakishly tall dark-haired teenager.
"Listen to him Tamaki." The ebony-haired male stated, glancing at Takashi before turning his gaze back to the disheartened blond.
"You cannot march in and try to stop a slave beating. Technically, they are legal, and we can do nothing to stop them. Unless the beating is fatal, we have no choice in the matter."
Tamaki's shoulders slumped and his face fell.
"Well then," he mumbled, "We could at least stay and make sure the beating isn't fatal, right Kyouya?"
The teenager in question looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding his head. "Yes, that is perfectly acceptable."
The twins cheered and then proceeded to push and shove their way to the front of the crowd, but they stopped in their tracks when they could see, making everyone else behind them stop as well, but only after running directly into the person in front of them.
"Hika-chan, Kao-chan, why'd you stop?" Mitsukuni asked innocently.
"It's…" Hikaru muttered.
"A…" Kaoru followed.
"Girl…" The both announced in unison.
Tamaki gasped.
"What?" He questioned in disbelief.
"It's a girl." Hikaru informed.
"Yeah," Kaoru agreed. "She looks about our age."
The girl in question was, in fact, the same age as the twins, but how on earth anyone could tell was a mystery in itself, with her looking as she did.
"GET UP!" The slave's owner hollered, grabbing the girl by her long brown hair when she refused to comply.
"WHEN I SAY GET UP, DAMNIT, THAT MEANS YOU GET UP!!!" He shouted into her ear before tossing her across the square, where she hit the column of the baker's store and fell limply to the ground.
Everyone split apart to create a wide path for the owner as he stormed through and snatched the slave by her wrist and yanked her up, the wrist in question making a horrible cracking noise as the slave attached to it was held a good two feet above the ground.
The owner sneered cruelly, catching her chin and jerking it towards him, making her stare directly into his squinty, beady, hateful eyes.
"When I tell you that you need to cut your hair," his voice was cold and threatening, much like the calm before a storm, "You're going to cut your hair. And if you won't do it, I'll do it for you."
"Scissors." He said sharply, and a shaky hand equipped with the object extended slowly towards the man.
He took the object without even bothering to look at the person who gave him them, and then started stepping slowly towards the slave, seeing as how he had dropped her when he grabbed the scissors.
She gave no sign of notice to the man approaching her, for she was too busy staring at the sky, watching as the upcoming darkness of night started falling.
The owner yanked the girl's hair up and held her suspended even higher than he had before.
The slave looked at him, absolutely no emotion leaking into her impassive caramel eyes.
Her owner, getting upset at the lack of crying and begging he was used to in his slave, hoisted the slave up even higher, took the scissors, and "SNIP!"
She fell to the ground harshly, seeing as how what had been holding her up was now clenched in her master's left hand.
The master in question smirked triumphantly and then turned to his driver, whose face portrayed none of his inner thoughts.
'This is the third slave this month!!!' he though bitterly. 'Such a shame too. I liked that one. She had spunk. And she didn't treat me like Master does.'
"Take me home. We're through here."
The driver nodded.
"As you wish Master."
The owner hopped into the carriage, whistled impatiently to the driver, who jumped into the front seat and flicked the reins, carrying Master out of the almost deserted square.
Everyone was practically shaking with anger.
"How. Dare. He!!!" Hikaru roared, squeezing his brother's hand even harder in an effort to control his rage.
Tamaki's head was lowered so the others couldn't see his eyes, but everyone knew he was infuriated.
"She's just a girl!!!" Tamaki shouted suddenly.
"Who does he think he is?!" Kaoru cried.
"What makes him think he can get away with this?!" Hikaru hollered.
"Kyou-chan?" The ebony-haired male looked down at the blond-haired teenager in question.
"Yes Hunny?" He asked gently, bending down to look Mitsukuni in the eyes.
"Shouldn't we go help her?"
Kyouya looked up and over at the pile of limbs that still lay in the middle of the deserted square and nodded.
"Yes we should."
"Mori?" The dark-haired teen glanced at Kyouya, then nodded at the unspoken order and proceeded to walk over to the crumpled heap that was the slave.
Tamaki and the twins stopped their furious rants when the noticed the tallest member of the group step towards the girl.
Everyone followed Mori to the slave as Hunny jumped on his shoulders and clutched Usa-chan tighter.
As they approached, the girl suddenly turned her head away from the boys and coughed up what looked to be an unhealthy amount of blood.
Hunny gasped and jumped off of his cousin's shoulders.
He scurried towards the slave and huddled next to her, his usually sparkling brown eyes solemn and worried.
The others hurried after the blond-haired teenager, each settling next to the girl.
She looked at all of them through pain-clouded caramel eyes, her right wrist bent at a peculiar angle and swelling, her lips coated in crimson blood, her left fingers twitching wildly, her brown hair uneven and matted, her legs bent under her in protection, her face gaunt and thin, and her flat chest heaving in an effort to get the desperately needed air.
She was the prettiest girl any of the boys had ever seen, but each shook the thought out of their heads and turned their attention to the matter at hand.
She stared at them.
They stared at her.
She stared at them more.
They stared at her more.
As their need to blink caused them to close each of their eyes for a brief second, hers stayed wide open.
Soon, everyone was feeling uncomfortable under the girl's emotionless gaze and started fidgeting nervously.
Finally, the slave's eyes darted to a place behind all of them, and everyone turned around in one fluid movement to see what had captured the girl's attention.
When they looked back, she was gone.
This has been rattling around in my head for the past three days now, and I figured I should just write it and post it. Enjoy!