BKF: Hello Chapter two is going to start.
Ashiou: …..
BKF: You still mad at me?
Ashiou: Of course. You are making a story about Hirashi and me with out our permission.
BKF: Don't be a poor sport. Besides, I got Hirashi's permission.
Ashiou: What?
BKF: Chapter two starts now!
Chapter TwoHirashi, Akima, and Retu were down stairs having a chat. It had been a few minutes since Akima had checked on Ashiou and found that the boy had fallen asleep. The bowl of soup was cleaned and the glass of water empty.
She was in the kitchen washing up the bowl and glass.
"He finished the whole bowl. He must have been hungry."
Hirashi sighed. Retu had told them that Ashiou's brother had sold him to the auction in the first place.
Retu glanced over at Akima.
"I feel sorry for the boy. Having your own brother sell you for money. Terrible."
Akima glared at Retu.
"Stop with that. You are making me feel uncomfortable. I know Hirashi would never do such a thing, but you are just making me think of what that is like."
Retu gave her an apologetic look.
"Sorry."
"What I don't get is why he was sold in the first place. And we need to find out if he has a family."
The two looked at Hirashi.
Hirashi looked at them.
"His parents must be worried. He may be a collage student but he must keep in touch with them. When they gave me his belongings I found his collage I.D."
Hirashi pulled out a small card with a picture of a smiling Ashiou.
"By the look of the date that this I.D. was given out he must have recently joined collage and he is starting his first year. Parents generally worry about their children on their first year of collage. So he must contact them on a regular basis."
Akima nodded.
"You're right. When he wakes up we'll ask if he needs to make a phone call."
Retu got up and stretched his arms.
"Well, it's getting late. I need to go home and get some shut eye."
He began to walk to the door.
"I'll help out as much as I can with the kid while you keep him here."
He put on his coat.
Hirashi smiled.
"That would be very kind of you."
Retu looked back at Hirashi.
"Oh and don't forget our meeting starts at 5:00 in the morning okay? I expect you to be there. No exceptions."
Hirashi nodded.
"Alright. I'll make it."
Retu waved them good night and left the house.
Akima watched Retu leave and wiped her wet hands on a towel.
"Well. If you are going to have a meeting tomorrow you should get some sleep."
Hirashi looked at her and nodded.
"Alright but that's going to be a problem."
"Why?"
"The kid's in my bed."
"Oh don't worry. Just go ahead and sleep in the same bed."
"What?"
Hirashi looked at his sister. Was she crazy? They were both guys. And what if the boy woke up and found another man in the same bed?
"Are you serious?"
Akima gave him one of her innocent smiles.
"Don't worry. It will be fine."
Hirashi sighed and went up the stairs.
As he walked towards his room he began to think.
How could his sister make such a suggestion?
Go ahead and sleep in the same bed. The same bed for crying out loud.
Hirashi walked into his room and looked at the bed. As he did so a tiny blush appeared on his face.
Ashiou was sleeping soundly under the covers of the blanket and he held on tight to the pillow. He looked like an adorable little kid.
Hirashi turned away from the sight. What was he thinking?
He dressed into his nightclothes and slipped into the bed, but was careful not to get to close to the boy. His back was turned and he let out a small tired sigh.
He closed his eyes but opened them again when he felt a small pair of hands grab onto his shirt.
With out looking he undid the hands and turned over and found that the boy was awake.
"Sorry. Did I wake you?"
The boy shook his head and clasped onto Hirashi again and closed his eyes.
"So warm. Please, let me hold on to you." The boy whispered sleepily.
Hirashi looked at the boy. He felt hot and tingly. What was this feeling? What ever it was, it felt good.
Hirashi wrapped his arms around the boy and embraced him.
"Sleep now. You are safe."
Ashiou awoke with a start. He looked around the room and let out a sigh of relief. Then he placed a hand to his forehead.
"What a terrible nightmare. But I guess it actually happened." Ashiou looked at his hand.
"Nii-san."
He needed to get a drink of water. He looked out the window to see what time it was. It was still dark but the morning light was beginning to shine. It was around 6:00 he'd have to say. Ashiou got out of the bed and left the room. Now that he thought about it, he didn't get to tour around the house, so he was kind of lost. The house was big and confusing. It took him about 3 minutes to find the stairs. When he got down stairs everything was pitch black. He fumbled around for a switch and found one after bumping into the couch.
The lights turned on and he got a good look of the living room.
The living room had two couches, both on opposite sides of the room. There were two recliners and one love seat.
In the middle of the chairs and sofas was a round cherry oak table with a vase of roses and Irises in it. There were the TV remotes also. There was a brick fireplace on the far side of the room and there was a TV next to it. Ashiou left the living room and came into the dining room. The dining room had a table and some wooden chairs. There was a walkway that led into the kitchen. He rummaged through the cupboards looking for a glass to use. He found the glasses and as he grabbed a hold of one he heard a deep low growl. Startled he turned around and saw a huge German Shepard baring its fangs at him. The dog charged and nipped at Ashiou's legs.
Ashiou dropped the glass in fright and the glass shattered to pieces on the tile floor.
The dog barked and pounced on top of Ashiou and tried to reach for his face, its fangs gleaming.
Ashiou blocked his face with his arms and he heard someone running down the stairs.
Ashiou felt the dog hauled off him and he saw Akima looking at him with a concerned look on her face.
"I'm sorry. I thought I had locked her kennel."
Ashiou sat up a bit shocked. It wasn't the first time he was attacked by a dog, but it always scared him.
"I-it's okay. I'm sorry to have woken you up."
Ashiou looked at the dog. Now that he had a good look at it he saw that the dog was lolling its tongue, in somewhat of a laughing matter.
"Sasha is actually pretty friendly. I was going to introduce you to her today, but with her on the leash."
Ashiou didn't say anything and got up. He walked over to the glass and started to pick it up.
"Hey, that's dangerous. You could cut yourself."
Ashiou wasn't listening. He was still terrified from the dog. His hands were trembling and he cut himself on the glass.
"Ow..."
Akima let go of the dog and walked over to him.
"See? Let's get that mended okay?"
She took his hand and he looked at her.
She could see how frightened he was.
Sasha whined and walked up to Ashiou.
He tried backing away but found himself cornered.
Sasha came closer and put her muzzle close to his face and sniffed.
Ashiou watched her, still trembling and felt a wet, warm tongue lick his face.
"Heh. She's saying hi. Sorry for scaring you."
Akima giggled.
Ashiou stared at Sasha and then patted her head.
She wagged her tail and licked him again.
"It's okay girl." He said.
Akima smiled and let go of his hand and went to a closet and got a broom and a dustpan.
"I'll clean this up. You go get that cut cleaned and bandaged. The bathroom is up the stairs on the right. Go down the hall and take the last door to the left."
Ashiou nodded and left the kitchen.
He went up the stairs and followed the directions that Akima gave him. He found the bathroom and rummaged through the mirror cabinet and found some bandages and disinfectant.
He cleaned his cut and wrapped it up and walked back down stairs.
As he got to the bottom and began to head to the kitchen when Sasha barked at him from behind, making him jump.
"Sasha!"
Akima came in and shook her finger at the dog.
Sasha wagged her tail and barked even more.
"No." Akima walked over to the dog and closed her muzzle with her hands.
"Be quiet."
Ashiou stared at the two. He found it funny that Akima was trying to silence this dog by closing her muzzle shut.
"She doesn't seem to listen to you much."
Akima sighed and let the dog go.
"No. She only listens to my brother."
"He seems nice."
"Yeah. Hirashi is very kind hearted. Oh yeah. Do you need to call someone? Anyone to let them know you are alright?"
Ashiou looked at Akima and shook his head.
"No, no one."
Akima became concerned.
"Not even your parents?"
Ashiou looked away when she said parents and Akima knew she had said something wrong.
"I'm sorry."
Ashiou shook his head.
"No, it's alright. Ever since they had passed away in a car accident we've been living with my older brother Kizuki."
"We've? Who else?"
"Ashurii and me."
After Ashiou said Ashurii his face had worry written all over it.
"Ashurii! Akima! Kizuki could try the same stunt on Ashurii!"
Ashiou looked at her worriedly.
Akima grabbed his shoulders and tried to calm him down.
"Shh. It's okay. We'll go find him."
Ashiou seemed to calm down.
"Really?"
"Yeah. Do you know where they could be?"
"If Kizuki hasn't done anything, they should be at home."
Akima nodded.
"Can we walk there?"
Ashiou nodded.
Thirty Minutes later Ashiou and Akima were walking up a hill in a small neighborhood.
"We're almost there."
Akima was too tired to reply. This was one steep hill.
They finally stopped at a small white house that had a single tree in the front yard.
Ashiou went onto the porch, with Akima at his side, and he searched his pocket for his house key.
"Oh no… Kizuki must have taken it when I was drugged."
He said in dismay.
Akima looked at him and smiled reassuringly.
"Maybe it's unlocked."
She turned the doorknob and the door opened.
"See?"
Akima looked at him with a smile but found that the boy was unsure.
"Why's it unlocked?"
Akima shrugged.
"Shall we go in?"
Ashiou nodded and entered first.
Ashiou had his guard up. Why would the house be unlocked? The only time that the door was unlocked was to let in Kizuki"s gang in.
It struck him.
Kizuki's Gang!
Before he could tell Akima to stay back he was put into a headlock.
"Ashiou! Hey let go!"
A couple men grabbed Akima. One had a scar on his face and the other had a switchblade in his hand.
"Ello Poppet."
Ashiou struggled and earned a swift kick in his gut.
"Agh! Ugh…."
"Ashiou!" Akima yelled.
The man who was holding Ashiou let him go.
Ashiou sank to his knees and held his stomach.
The man who kicked him picked up Ashiou's chin. He had spiky blond hair and wore sunglasses over his golden eyes. A scar ran across his nose and his mouth was in the form of a malicious grin.
"Well, well. Looks like our punching bag came back home after all."
Ashiou glared at the man and growled through clenched teeth.
"Elron."
"Sorry but your brothers aren't here."
"Damn..."
Elron looked at the men holding Akima. As if he had given them a signal, they let her go.
"Sorry for treating you like that miss. The boys can be a bit rough."
Akima stared at the man in shock and anger.
"Why are you here in Ashiou's house?"
Elron looked at her and smirked.
"Whose house? Oh, you mean the punching bag. 'S not his house no more. You see his brother had a debt to pay us. That's why the brat got sold into an auction. We threatened to do the same to the littler runt unless Kizuki gave us the house also."
Akima glared at Elron.
"Then where are his brothers?"
Elron looked at Akima and smirked even more.
"Nice glare girly. But like I said. They aren't here. They took a walk with the rest of the gang if you know what I mean?"
Ashiou felt as if his body had been submerged into a tank of ice.
His brothers were gone? That couldn't be. Kizuki would never let himself be run out by these thugs.
Hot boiling anger began to rise into his heart. How could this despicable man do this to his family?
"Oh and by the way, we saw this picture."
Elron pulled out a picture and showed it to Ashiou.
Ashiou looked at the picture and his heart went cold again.
"She looked pretty hot. This your mom? She's very beautiful."
Elron took the top of the picture between his fingers.
There was a loud rip as he ripped the picture right down the center.
Akima saw Ashiou freeze up.
"To bad she's not here."
Ashiou clenched his fist.
"Stop."
Elron smirked some more.
"To protect you."
Ashiou stood up and didn't look at Elron.
"Stop it."
"Wanna know why?"
"Shut up."
"Because she's dead!"
"I told you to SHUT UP!"
Ashiou snapped his head up and punched Elron square on the lower-jaw and made the bigger man fall over.
Ashiou was breathing hard and glaring at Elron.
Akima stared at the scene in shock. She looked at the man on the ground, rubbing his jaw, and then at Ashiou.
Was this really the helpless boy that Hirashi saved from the auction?
Elron sat up and glared at Ashiou.
"You brat!"
Ashiou glared daggers at Elron.
The other gang members were too stunned to do anything. Apparently they thought that this kid was too weak to do anything.
Akima bent down and picked up the torn picture and put it in her pocket.
Elron glared back at Ashiou.
"You'll pay brat!"
Elron pulled out a gun and fired, missing Ashiou's head by a few inches.
Ashiou stepped into action and grabbed Akima's wrist and then the next moment they found themselves running for their
lives.
Ashiou ran on down the hill with Akima at his side. He looked around for a possible escape route.
The gang was behind them, armed and ready for blood.
Ashiou looked ahead and saw a small route leading through a garden that would lead onto a small forest path.
He headed that way and had Akima follow him.
Akima followed behind breathing hard.
"Where are we going?"
Ashiou didn't reply. They arrived at the forest path and he ran deeper into the woods.
Up ahead would be a fork. One road was less traveled and harder to hike on let alone run. But it would probably give them an advantage. And if not beside the path there was a small hill that they could slide down. The hill was covered with thorny bramble and thistles. When he was little he had found out where the bramble was thinnest and easier to get through.
Ashiou led Akima towards the less traveled road and he could hear the gang was still on their tails.
He led Akima down the hill and had her follow him through the thinnest parts of the bramble.
He led her to the edge of a set of trees and looked back.
The gang was a few feet away and was having trouble with the bramble.
Elron fired his gun again and hit the tree next to Akima.
He cursed and aimed again.
Ashiou turned and pulled Akima with him and they ran on, the bullet hitting the place Akima was standing at a few seconds ago.
Ashiou led Akima down the hill into a grassy field. They were in the city park. Ashiou led Akima down through the park and they went through a crowd of people and entered a convenience store. They blended in as best they could.
Akima looked at Ashiou and tried to regain her breath.
"If this doesn't lose them we're in trouble."
Akima looked at Ashiou. The boy's face and personality had changed.
His face was still the soft and feminine face that she had gotten used to, but the sense of innocence she had thought adorable was no longer there. It was replaced with something else. It was the sense of battle. His personality was no longer helpless and shy, but serious and cold.
"Can you call your brother?"
"Huh?"
"Can you call Hirashi? You did bring a cell phone right?"
Ashiou picked up two cups of ramen and looked at them, pretending as if he were deciding which one was better.
Akima nodded and got out her phone.
"But I'm not sure if he is in a meeting or not."
"It doesn't matter. As long as he can get us out of here."
Akima opened her phone and punched in the numbers.
Ashiou glanced out the window and saw that the gang had split up. The nearest group was made up of three guys. Not so bad, But what weapons are they hiding?
He heard Akima say hello and heard her talking as calmly as she could.
Good. She got a hold of her brother. Ashiou really hoped it wouldn't have to come down to a fight, but if it did he would be ready for it. Hopefully they could sneak into Hirashi's car unnoticed. It would be best if they were to meet somewhere else, but the convenience store was the safest place that Akima and he could be at the moment.
"Okay bye."
Akima hung up.
"He's coming."
Ashiou nodded and looked outside again.
"They've split up. The nearest group I can see contains three people. They're in the electronics store right now. Hopefully Hirashi can get here before they reach this store. And I hope we can go unnoticed. I don't want to cause trouble for your brother."
Akima swore she heard the old Ashiou in that last sentence. She hoped so. She looked out the window and saw the three gang members talking to one another. Then she hurriedly looked away and started to look at the vegetables.
Since they were here she might as well get some shopping done. She picked out some carrots, a cabbage, and some potatoes. Tonight she was going to make a stew for supper.
Ashiou stared at her and gave her a questioning look.
"Since we're here I should get some stuff."
Ashiou sweat dropped.
"While we're hiding from Kizuki's Gang? You're weird. You have an odd sense of time to do grocery shopping."
Akima felt like saying,
'I'm the weird one? Look who just punched the bad guy in the lower-jaw and now has a gang chasing after us and you are taking it as if it happens to you everyday.'
Of course how should she know? It could have had happened everyday before he was sold.
"Can you get some cheese? Preferably Swiss. Oh and some crème."
Ashiou looked at her again, stared at the window and then shrugged.
"Alright." He went to fetch the requested items.
A few minutes later and they had purchased their ingredients for that night's supper.
Ashiou was staring out the window.
The gang members were sitting at the fountain and were smoking some cigs. They were taking a break.
The sky was beginning to gray and rain clouds were coming in.
"It's going to rain."
Akima nodded.
They saw a black mustang pull up into the parking lot and two men got out. It was Hirashi and Retu.
Retu was carrying two umbrellas and they entered the store. They weren't in their suits anymore. Retu was wearing a blue tee shirt underneath his tan raincoat. Hirashi was wearing a black tee under his black raincoat. Both wore jeans.
Ashiou held Akima back and pulled her towards the last aisle so the gangsters would not see them.
Hirashi and Retu walked over and were met with one of Akima's hugs.
"Thank goodness you're here."
Ashiou stood back and watched the three hugging one another.
He was happy to see Hirashi and Retu, but there was still the matter of getting to the car unnoticed.
Then he heard the store bell ring. He looked around the corner and saw the gangsters were in the store. He pulled back his head before they could spot him.
"They're here."
Hirashi and Retu nodded. Akima became frightened ad hugged Retu tightly.
Ashiou looked at Hirashi.
"Do you think you can get us to the car unnoticed?"
Hirashi smiled.
"Yes I can."
"How?"
Retu hugged Akima and made sure her face was hidden.
Hirashi pulled Ashiou closer to him and looked at him and smiled.
"By having you pretend you are my girlfriend."
Ashiou looked straight into Hirashi's deep blue eyes and he swore he might have blushed a little.
He felt hot inside and he felt like his heart was going to explode.
How could this man make him feel this way? He hated feeling like this and he hated Hirashi for it, and yet, he loved it.
"By having you pretend you are my girlfriend."
Girlfriend? Oh yeah he hated him.
"Hello, I'm a guy remember?"
Hirashi smiled even more.
Damn it there's that smile again. Why does he have to smile like that? It creeped him out.
And yet, it made him feel…safe.
Hirashi stared into the boy's light blue eyes.
He was beautiful. This boy made him feel weird and tingly but in a good sense. Hirashi wanted to protect Ashiou with all his heart and not to let him go. He wanted to be with him, forever.
"By having you pretend you are my girlfriend."
Ashiou seemed to look at him as if he were crazy. It was adorable how he looked at him like that.
"Hello, I'm a guy remember?"
Hirashi smiled and saw Ashiou give him that same look.
"Bare with me on this okay? It will work. Trust me."
Ashiou doubted it, but for some reason, he did trust Hirashi.
"Okay." He sighed.
Hirashi held him closer.
"Good. Now hold my arm as a girl would do."
"What?"
Akima smiled.
"Like this."
She showed Ashiou how she was holding Retu's arm.
Ashiou knew what they meant; he just couldn't believe he would have to act like a girl for a few minutes.
He mimicked Akima and they began to walk to the door. The gangsters were looking in a different part of the store and didn't notice them.
It was raining outside, so Retu and Hirashi opened the umbrellas.
As they did so, the rest of the gang came into view. They couldn't see Ashiou and Akima for the umbrellas covered them.
They didn't even notice that they got into the car and were driving past them.
Akima felt like sticking her tongue out at Elron when they drove past but didn't just in case that would draw attention to them.
Ashiou sighed in relief.
Hirashi was in the passenger seat and he looked in the rear view mirror.
"So why were those guys after you?"
Akima looked at Ashiou. He was staring out the window and he was awfully quiet.
"Well, Ashiou has a little brother named Ashurii and he was worried that he would end up in an auction also, or even worse. So we went to his house and ran into his elder brother's gang and then…."
Akima told Hirashi and Retu about the story of how they escaped Kizuki's Gang.
Retu chuckled.
"So there's more to you than we thought isn't there lad?"
Ashiou didn't reply.
Akima felt sorry for him. He must be really sad right now since Elron had to go ahead and rip up Ashiou's picture of his…the picture!
Akima rummaged through her pocket and took out the torn picture.
"Ashiou, your picture. I have it right here."
Ashiou looked at her and then at the picture.
"We can tape it up. It will be as good as new."
Ashiou was expressionless at first and then tears formed into his eyes and he cried.
End Of ChapterBKF: How was that huh? Pretty long.
Ashiou: … you are a nut ball.
BKF: Why?
Ashiou: One I would never take on Elron no matter how angry I am and two, I would never hate Hirashi.
BKF: It's part of the story so deal with it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review!
Ashiou: Don't review.
BKF: Yes review!
