BMIK: Yazoo, Sephiroth

Chephren: Tseng, Vincent, Master Zhen

Chapter 4

Yazoo walked down the street, hood deeply drawn into his face. Why he had to choose an afternoon where a blizzard would strike of all the days he could have chosen, he had no idea. It was cold and not pleasant and still he was here, with a red nose, freezing and trying to find a man, a RAPIST that he had met for like 15 minutes! If Sephiroth ever found out, he would so kill him... Besides that, it was a miracle that his brother had let him go, after Yazoo had already been out yesterday and been late on top of it all, but the youth suspected that his brother's decision had had something to do with the loud noises that had come from his bedroom last night...

The teen passed the place where he had been attacked by Tseng yesterday, but the man was nowhere to be seen, even after Yazoo had waited like five minutes.

At a loss of what to do now, Yazoo had a look around the almost deserted, white street and then walked up to a bunch of kids that did something with a pile of snow. "Hey you, ugly kid with the big ears," he intoned expressionlessly and the children stopped, looking at him as if he had grown another head. It didn't bother Yazoo in the slightest. People usually stared at him like that. "Have you seen a dark haired rapist around here recently?"

Oh, so he is trying to interact now with other children! Vincent marveled proudly from his hiding spot across the street. Granted, Yazoo was a little older but perhaps he was more comfortable approaching younger youth if he felt intimidated. However, one of the children looked over in the dark man's direction. Vincent quickly ducked behind the brick building, knowing his black hair must have stood out against the white of the snow. Everything was so much brighter this time of year. The child pointed and Vincent was off before Yazoo had a chance to turn around. He was no longer worried though, wiping a tear from his eye that burned in the cold. Their little boy was growing up...

Yazoo dutifully turned into the direction to where the ugly kid was pointing, but there was nothing but trees and dark brick houses. He looked back at the kid, calmly assessing, "I think you are retarded."

Then he turned and walked away, leaving the kids standing there, gaping at him.

With no other clue he could follow, Yazoo tried to remember the way to the tea house where they had been yesterday. It wasn't that hard, because the exotic part of town where they had been had caught his interest and he had looked around a lot. With relative ease, he walked past the little temples and food stands. He was under the impression that people here eyed him extremely warily with something akin to fear even as they whispered to each other in their own strange language. However, he couldn't know that everyone who accompanied the infamous Tseng was automatically seen as someone extremely dangerous himself. They were probably wondering why he was still alive, but Yazoo remained blissfully unaware and kept walking and looking. Whereas before his problem had been that there were no dark haired rapists at all, he was now confronted with a whole army, because all the guys behind the food stands and in the shops, in the streets and such looked the same to him...

They didn't have long hair and beautiful eyes though.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

"Yes, I know, you have paid in full the last three months, Zhonghui, but the fact is that Rufus owns this block and you must pay on time," Tseng stated flatly, his fist grabbing for the collar of the man's black shirt. "Do not make Mr. Shinra angry or you will have me to reckon with, understood?"

The man was shaking preemptively despite the fact that the dark assassin hadn't really done him any harm yet. It was the knowledge that, even though they were both of Wutaian descent, Tseng made good on his threats.

"Y-yes, Mr. Tseng, I... w-will have it."

"Good," Tseng said approvingly, "Be sure that you do. I will return with Mr. Shinra's collection agent on the first and I suggest you be ready to pay then or not only will you be replaced as tenant, an example will be made of you. A bloody one."

Releasing his hold on the man, Tseng held his breath until he left the shop. A heavy sigh escaped him once he had rounded a corner into the alleyway. Zhonghui Zhen had served his family ever since he was three. If he was asked to take a hit out on this man, he would most certainly follow through... However, without this shop, it would be much harder to find Wutaian import groceries here and the Zhen family would be sorely missed.

Bringing a hand up to his forehead for a moment as he came out into another main street of shops, Tseng couldn't suppress an 'oof' as he felt something collide with him. Reaching down to hold the intruder to his personal space at arm's length, Tseng exclaimed gently, "Herbert, what a surprise."

Looking around, for he had just put the squeeze on the shops of the neighboring block, he put an arm around the youth, gently guiding him to the same teahouse, neutral territory that so far was "family-owned" and he so far had never had to worry about hustling.

Yazoo let himself be guided to the tea house quietly. He needed to get back in his role as the popular school kid named Herbert.He had almost forgotten about that and had barely held himself back from lifting a brow at being called by that freaky fake name. The blizzard grew worse too, so he was quite happy to get to a place where it was warm. The tea house lady hurriedly led them to a nice room where the tea was set up with the same fast precision that it had been yesterday and then the servant bowed and quickly closed the sliding door as she left. Yazoo got out of his coat, (he had had to get rid of his shoes at the entrance already,) and knelt down at the thin pillow in front of the low table.

"Do you live around here?"

"I do," Tseng said but it was a lie... kind of. The place he had here was only a front for those who would want to take him out. He also had a place in the more upscale side of town and a couple in the slums. He never spent more than a night once in a while at each place and frequently, though it was very hush-hush, he spent his nights in Rufus Shinra's penthouse suite uptown and had ever since he had started to flourish in puberty. Rufus' father before him had taken an interest and now, the Wutaian served Rufus as well. "I have a little place maybe seven blocks from here. Do you? This is the second time we've met near here..."

"Why don't we go there then?" Yazoo asked, distracting from the man's question. He didn't want to tell more lies he might forget, but Sephiroth had trained him well also. Even if he wanted to, Yazoo couldn't tell Tseng where he was living... Reaching for his cup Yazoo took a sip, looking over the rim at his companion. The strange dot was still there, and it was so very fascinating! Pretty much like everything about Tseng was, down to his slight accent and the way he dressed in dark suits that were so black that Yazoo couldn't even see the particular fabric. Tseng seemed to be an orderly person.

"Are you certain, Herbert?" Tseng asked carefully. "I... don't want you to place yourself in danger with me." It was a fact that the dark man didn't trust himself around this beautiful youth. Beyond that, something about Herbert was so breathtakingly innocent and trusting that Tseng's heart ached in his chest. Such a wonderful child shouldn't be seen in his own twisted company. On the other hand, Tseng was very, very lonely. Rufus was the only companionship he'd had in ages and the Wutaian did not feel free in it. It was a merger their families had made long ago when the Shinra's assumed control of Tseng's home village. They had moved his family here so that his father could become Shinra Senior's antique dealer and shipping company co-manager along with the Zhen family, who had assumed responsibility of supplying the local neighborhoods with the unique supplies that could only be found in Wutai. He continued, a bit sadly, "and I don't want to inadvertently place you in any danger."

Yazoo tilted his head. "So you are a rapist then?" Couldn't the man just make up his mind?

Tseng looked at him for a moment, thoughtful and surprisingly indecisive. "...If I were, Herbert, would I lose your company?"

"That depends," Yazoo replied diplomatically, delicately sipping his tea. "What exactly is it that rapists do?"

Tseng stared for a moment, dumbfounded, and then cleared his throat. "A rapist is someone who forces you to do things you don't want them to. Mostly, today's rapists are known for forcing their bodies on yours, making you have sex with them. The most important thing to know about a rapist is that they don't take into account your wishes, only fulfill theirs. I am not, by definition, a rapist. I do not wish to make you do anything with me that you do not wish to do... However, I am a stranger and, despite the fact that I know that I am no good for you and I should stay away, I wish to be... closer to you, to know you better." His eyes shone with deep interest and he averted his gaze respectfully to not make the youth uncomfortable. "Does that make sense, child?"

"It does, kind of..." Well, it made more sense than what Sephiroth had told him, namely that a rapist was the epitome of evil and bad, which had been very vague but still explicit enough to impress him when he had been younger. Since then, he had never really thought about it, just taken it for granted, sort of. As a matter of fact, Yazoo's sex education was practically non-existent as well, so the general point had been brought across by Tseng, though the specifics were still too abstract for the boy. Yazoo didn't mind though.At least Tseng had bothered to try and explain it and took him seriously and didn't treat him like a dumb kid. Something about the things the man had told him confused him though.

"Why would you be no good for me? You are not a rapist, you should be fine."

"Well, rapists are not the only bad people in the world, Herbert," Tseng replied, feeling uneasy. "For one thing, I believe I must be somewhere between ten and fifteen years older than you. For another, the roads I have taken in life are not places where a flower like you should ever grow." His jaw tightened, for he knew even as he said it that it was true. "To take you there would be to endanger you and I would never want to do that." He found that he could not let go now, could not leave the youth alone as he knew he should.

Yazoo tilted his head while Tseng spoke, his lids dropping a bit. It wasn't because of what Tseng said was boring him. No, the man's deep, melodious voice and his beautiful way of phrasing his sentences had Yazoo enticed, and he was a person who easily fell into daydreams and got distracted. Never before had Yazoo heard someone speak so poetically. He had to admit he didn't get half of it though.

"Hm... Why's there a dot on your forehead?"

TBC

Many thanks to

Dame Nosferatu (*revives hectically*)

natzilla (For a 100 year old Vinny really looks damn good still :D)

Psycho Steph (Thank you! First time writing the pairing, it is fun!)

and mizperceived (*happy dance*)

for commenting!

Review please?