One of the first and most important rules for keeping your teeth in your mouth and your bones unbroken in the rough world of bars, poker, and women: avoid getting involved in someone else's fight at all possible costs.

Of course, as this was the first and most important rule, it was only natural that it was the one Gojyo ignored the most.

The redhead seemed to have a talent for finding trouble. Even when the trouble did not reach out and grab him, it would erupt around him, inviting him to jump in. Standing idle was never his thing, anyway. If some prick who had it coming to him found himself at the receiving end of some pissed off fists, Gojyo saw no problem with adding some blacks and blues to the abstract art the jerk's skin was turning into. Despite being a rabble-rouser, he did keep a loose set of rules for himself. He never hit a lady. Even if she hit first, he'd never raise a hand against any woman. It just went against the grain, maybe because of all the psychological damage he suffered during his childhood—not that he cared to think about that time and examine how mentally screwed up he really was. And lo to the man he caught mistreating a lady; Gojyo's retribution was swift and terrible. He wasn't some crusader for women, though. Gojyo wasn't noble. He'd sooner be dammed than get the reputation of being noble.

It just gave him a sick feeling to watch such pretty things be hurt…

…which summed up how he felt about watching that prick feel up Hakkai.

The shock of learning what Hakkai was wore of quickly as his expression of breathless agony etched itself onto Gojyo's eyes with a red-hot touch; the scene burned like he were staring into fire. Five long-legged strides brought him over to the heavy businessman, who was too pleasurably engrossed in tenderly violating the privates of the fragile young man. Gojyo pulled his arm back, his callous, nicotine-stained fingers curling into a rock hard fist. Right before he released the tension in his muscles, he watched as Hakkai's opened slightly. Not truly seeing anything and watery form the pain, the plea there was inescapable.

Someone kill me…

Gojyo barely felt his fist collide against the side of the man's head. In the time of a single breath, the man crumpled to the ground like some ugly rag doll and Hakkai, who's pain-weakened knees balked at the sudden weight thrown on them, fell into Gojyo protective arms. Those who were close enough to notice and care about the scuffle turned their eyes to the fallen man, with mixed emotions. The red eyes of Gojyo smiled in how easily he had taken this sorry ass down, but the green eyes of Hakkai only stared in fright, dreading what was going to come next.

"Gojyo," Hakkai whispered in perfect terror, and Gojyo's thrill of victory died as he turned to hear the unspoken words in those green eyes. What have you done?

The man began to groan and stir on the floor, which Gojyo gracefully took that as his cue to leave. His arm still tight around Hakkai, he maneuvered them quickly through the sea of people wandering about the foyer, looking for the pimp in the tacky fedora. Hakkai remained as silent as the grave as he moved through the other girls for rent, and Gojyo could almost taste the resignation from his unresisting form.

At last he caught sight of the fedora standing by the door on top of the head of a thin, wry ghost of a man who's clothes were much finer than those of his girls. Big surprise there.

"Him. I want him," Gojyo said with such conviction that the pimp raised his skinny eyebrow in mild surprise. Then it was all silky sweet smiles and poisoned charm.

"Ah, a good choice, sir. An excellent choice. Hakkai here pleases very well, and is very open to whatever your heart desires," the pimp fairly purred. Gojyo wanted to puke all over that creeps shiny patent leather shoes.

"Yeah, yeah," Gojyo muttered, thrusting his hand into his pocket to fish out his wallet. He hoped his cheeks weren't red. Damn were they burning right now. "How much for the night?"

"I'm afraid Hakkai's a little on the expensive side," the pimp said sympathetically. "There aren't too many locations in the area that offer boys, so he's a bit of a house special. Very sweet I've been told." Gojyo tried not to look too disgusted. It sounded like he was describing an item from a restaurant menu rather than a living, breathing human being. The pimp wasn't even faltering. Gojyo was nearly drowning in all that grease. "Since I haven't seen you here before, though, I'm going to cut you a little deal. I'll say four hundred for the night."

Gojyo's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Four hundred.

Four hundred f-ing dollars.

Damn if that wasn't everything he had and then some! Thank the gods he hadn't gone out to buy booze that night first, and then gone and played some badass poker. He was never one to back down from raising the pot a little more when he knew he had a good hand. Four hundred was going to hurt him badly. Four hundred meant no booze, no smokes, and scraping by for a damn long while. Time seemed to slow down around him for the second time that night as a heavy thought slapped him hard across the face.

Why the hell was he doing this?

Less than five minutes ago, he hadn't even known this jade-eyed man, this chocolate haired prostitute even existed. He wasn't this guy's protector; being groped by sleazy creeps was just part of the territory for someone in this line of work. Occupational hazard, right? Gojyo's arms loosened around Hakkai. The one part of his fractured identity he was certain of was his sexual preference. Lush thighs, round, soft breasts, and gentle sloping curves were what made his nights bearable. So why the hell was he even considering buying him for the night? It sure as hell wasn't so he could sleep with him, that's for sure! There were no obligations, no responsibilities tying him to this man. He owed him nothing.

Worst of all was looking up and seeing those thoughts mirrored exactly in those green eyes.

Before the shoddy words about the price being a bit out of his range could dance from his lips on a shaking, nervous laugh, Hakkai already knew what Gojyo was going to say. More than that, he understood and accepted it without the slightest hint of anger or sadness in his eyes. Gojyo found his breath stolen, having never known until that moment that eyes could speak a language more precise than the tongue could utter. Tearing himself away from those too-kind eyes, Gojyo pulled out his wallet and thrust all the crumpled money from within into the pimp's waiting hand, who called out a merry "have fun!" as Gojyo dragged Hakkai away from that house.

Gojyo's feet pounded against the pavement, taking long, mindless strides, trying not to think too much of the place he had left. Concentrating on the rhythm of his steps, he forced the sharp night air into his lungs. He had never been so close to vomiting while sober. His mind was awash with things he couldn't understand, like trying to comprehend a foreign language while intoxicated. He was hardly an innocent—that right had been taken from him as a child— but watching how Hakkai hid behind that smile as a hard hand touched him left him trembling. He was so lost in the maze of his thoughts that it came as a shock to find himself just outside the small house where he lived. It was even more of a shock to learn that he had walked the whole way there with his hand still tightly entwined with Hakkai's.

"This is my place," Gojyo said clumsily, using trying to find his keys as his opportunity to untangle their fingers. Shit, if anyone had seen them like that, with their fingers embracing like lovers walking under the cover of the night… Gojyo's stomach gave another lurch. If Hakkai noticed Gojyo's distress, he chose not to let on, and kept up his gentle smile even as Gojyo had a little bit of trouble unlocking his door.

The inside of the house wasn't an unfamiliar scene to Hakkai, but he always made note of each new place he was brought to. It helped to have something else to think about, even if it was committing a place's décor (or lack there of) to memorize. The house seemed cleaner than some places he had been before, but it was still cluttered and in need of upkeep. The furnishings were utilitarian in the main room—a table with some chairs and well worn in couch. Hakkai assumed it was safe to say the rest of the house was outfitted similarly. The smell of cigarette smoke clung to the place, adding to the bouquet of beer and take-out Chinese food.

"You can sit if you want," Gojyo volunteered from behind him, his unease peeking through the veneer of aloof coolness he was trying to put on. Hakkai politely shook his head. His legs were aching, but he could only imagine the pain that would accompany sitting. Gojyo was not by any means his first customer of the day, and his most recent hadn't been very gentle.

Gojyo merely shrugged and walked over to his fridge. "Something to drink?"

"No, thank you." An awkward silence filled the room. The redhead crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter top, suddenly finding the random dots on the cheep drop ceiling terribly fascinating.

"If you'll forgive me, Gojyo-san," Hakkai pressed on, daring to break the quiet between them, "I'm uncertain as to what is expected of me."

Gojyo looked up sharply like he had been kicked. Did Hakkai really think that he had bought him for that reason?

"Look, man, I'm straight, so don't you go trying anything on me," he growled far harsher than he had intended. Once again, he wanted to kick himself in the mouth. Damn it all, he couldn't do or say anything right tonight! He was the one who'd barged in, punched out one of his customers, dragged him here, and now he was telling him off!

"Shit, sorry, I didn't mean it like that… this night's just gotten pretty weird for me," he finished lamely, but Hakkai merely nodded in that inhuman understanding of his.

"It's alright, though if you'll forgive my persistence, perhaps you would not mind explaining what your intentions are."

"Damned if I know," Gojyo said on a mirthless laugh as he sank down into a wooden chair by the kitchen table. How was he going to cover his lame ass now? "Sorry I made such a mess back there for you. I hope you're not going to get it for my stupidity, but that guy…"

"Oku," Hakkai filled for him with a nod. His smile was growing softer, almost pensive. The name alone could make him shudder, like his hands were still hot on his body. "He tends to get a little…carried away…"

Gojyo's heart tightened. He didn't want to think about the reasons why it did. "You know him?"

Hakkai nodded, his dim eyes resting on the floor. "He's a regular customer of mine."

Gojyo nodded in turn, staring mutely at the old wooden table. He never learned the words for a situation like this, didn't know the sentences or phrases that might cut through the steadily falling hopelessness. They never taught this kind of stuff in school. From the company he kept, he knew how to charm and seduce. He could look out for himself fine, but confronted with real misery masked by gentleness, he found himself in a game he didn't know how to play. When he looked up from his thoughts, Hakkai was already looking at him, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Gojyo-san," he said in a voice that wasn't meant to seduce, but still stuck a chord somewhere deep in Gojyo's being. "You didn't buy me for the night because of what happened at the bordello, did you?"

Gojyo flushed. It seemed the night was out to break him. This has gotta be a dream…

"Well, what was I supposed to do? No way I was gonna let you take the heat for what I did," he said, purposely leaving out how watching that prick who disgraced the name Oku had made him ill. Any worries he might have had about offending Hakkai with the real reason he had chosen him for the night vanished when he saw a hint of a smile reach his eyes.

"You're too kind, Gojyo-san," he said quietly. His voice was sweet with gratitude. Gojyo didn't need to wonder if it were real or just some act. "But you didn't need to do that. I would have been fine. I can't help but feel that my presence here is making you uncomfortable though," he continued before Gojyo could say anything more, freezing the smile that had started to form on the red-head's lips. "And four hundred dollars is a great deal of money to spend on nothing. Perhaps you would like to return to the bordello and ask for your money back. I'm sure if you explained the situation, you would get a full refund. Then you would be able to get a girl to your liking."

Was this sort of talk common of prostitutes? Did regular customers simply get used to the idea of returning people like they were appliances that didn't work? Sure, he had a valid point, but Gojyo knew that if he did as he suggested, karma would certainly come and bite him in the ass big time.

Not to mention he'd never be able to look at himself again in the mirror.

"You wanted to know what's expected of you?" he said, words coming easier to him now. "You're expected to take the night off, that's what. Relax and grab some shuteye. And drop the whole Gojyo-san thing," he added with a crooked grin. "I'm not Gojyo-san. I'm Gojyo. Just Gojyo."

A look of protest crossed Hakkai's eyes. He opened his mouth, but said nothing.

To Gojyo, the smile that Hakkai gave him was well worth the fourhundred bucks.