Chapter Four

"What the—," I was cut off as the taller of the three gagged me. What was going on? Who were these people? Where were they taking me?

I was led through the streets, arms tied behind my back, by the biggest of the three. The short one was carrying my stuff, and the tall guy was on the phone, talking to what sounded like a man's voice.

Through the streets we trotted, hidden by the trees. It was too dark for me to see where we were going. We arrived at what I assumed was our destination, and I was pushed through the door.

"What in the world do you guys think you're doing?" an unknown voice hissed angrily, "How many times do I have to tell you to use the garage to come in?"

"Sorry, boss. We thought that it would be too noisy," the short one explained, cringing slightly at his boss' tone. The tall guy got off the phone, and walked into the dark room. The one that held me pushed me forward after him.

A light was switched on, and bright light flooded the area, making me shut my eyes.

"What in the world? Can't you guys do anything right? I didn't tell you to tie him up!" the boss yelled.

"We thought--," the guy was cut off, as the boss yelled once again.

"Untie him!" I heard someone rushing towards me, and soon felt the rope around my wrists being cut loose. My eyes had now adjusted to the light, and I looked around. I was in an ill-kept bedroom. I removed the gag around my mouth.

"Where am I? What the hell is going on?" I questioned, extremely pissed off.

"Sorry about that. I should've known those buffoons would screw this up somehow," the unknown voice told me. I turned around to find the owner of the voice, and my jaw dropped.

"A-Aoi?"

"Heard you got kicked out. Thought you might enjoys somewhere decent to stay," he said, smiling. He calls this place decent? Well, I suppose it's better than sleeping outside.

"Uh, thanks."

"There's your stuff," Aoi pointed out my bag and guitar sitting by the door, "You can sleep in here tonight, and tomorrow we'll talk about rent." With that he walked out of the room, closing the door.

There were plenty of questions I had that needed to be answered, but right now I was too tired, and just collapsed on the bed, falling asleep within seconds.

Waking up, I was confused as to where I was. Then the memories of the day before came flooding back into my mind. Getting kicked out, going to the dark streets, getting high, and Kai. Kai, that cute guy with the little sister the same age as Bailey. I wouldn't mind seeing him again.

My thoughts were interrupted as the door opened, and Aoi sat beside me on the edge of the mattress.

"How you feeling?" he asked, looking at me. I opened my eyes cautiously. Lucky for me, he hadn't turned on the lights. I rubbed my eyes as I sat up.

"Alright, I guess," I replied groggily.

"Great. There's breakfast in the kitchen for you. Help yourself." I nodded in reply before he left me to get changed.

Quickly pulling some clean clothes on, I ventured into the hallway. There was still the faint smell of mold in the air, but it seemed to be less dominant than before. There were quiet voices coming from the living room. I looked in through the open doorway to see the three guys from last night talking around a small table.

In the light, I could see their appearance was quite different than I had imagined. The tall one had short black hair that matched his skin tone, and a short, thick beard. The short man was actually quite round, and had short, red curly hair that stood out against the dull colors of the house. His face was spotted with freckles, and he looked as if he should be in a 'Goonies' movie. The third resembled an ex-marine. He was very strongly built, and had short blonde hair, and a scar that went from his right temple to his upper lip.

They stopped talking, and looked up at me as I stood there staring at them. I blinked, and continued on my search for the kitchen, slightly embarrassed that I had been caught.

I found a room that resembled a kitchen, but it was hard to tell because of how dirty it was. Aoi was sitting at the table with a bowl of dry cereal, and a newspaper in front of him.

I pulled out a chair across from him, and poured myself a bowl of Frosted Flakes, and ate quietly.

It was an odd situation to be in. There were still many questions that I wanted answers to, but I wasn't sure if it would be smart to ask the deal why he's letting me stay here, and I'm not even sure what he's expecting me to do in exchange for it.

"So," Aoi broke the silence, folding the paper up, and setting it aside.

"So?" I questioned; not sure if I should be afraid of what might come next.

"About you're rent," he continued as he put the dishes in the sink; and the cereal box in the cupboard, "Are you more comfortable selling or delivering?" This confused me slightly.

"Excuse me?"

"Well, you're going to have to earn your stay here somehow. WE can't have you staying here for free. So would you rather sell the stuff or deliver it?" I wasn't sure. Selling would involve more people who could get violent, and there was plenty I could mess up. Also, if there was a police bust, it would be me that got charged.

"Deliver, I guess."

"Yeah, that's probably better anyways. That's what you did at Enerflex, so it's basically the same thing, just, you don't want to get caught."

So that's what I did. For three months I delivered assorted drugs to buyers all over the city. I never talked much to the three other guys, who I had learned were called Luke, Mason, and Raphael. Aoi was actually hardly at the house, and just showed up once in a while to check up on the grow op, and to give us our next job that we had to do. It was a dangerous job, but I secured me a place to stay, and food to eat, even if it wasn't always the best.

Over the time that had passed, I had almost forgotten about Kai, but found myself thinking about him one day on my way back from delivering some Coke to some eager teens from a nearby city.

Walking off the C-train, I accidently ran into someone, knocking them to the ground.

"Sorry," I muttered, before continuing on my way home.

"Miyavi?" I stopped. I recognized that voice from somewhere, but where? Turning, I was caught off guard as the unknown male attacked me with a hug.

"Uh…," I managed to get out, before the guy finally decided to let me go. Now I got the chance to see who this weirdo was. My eyes widened.

"J-Jay?" I smiled at the young male from what seemed so long ago in my past.

"Oh my God, where have you BEEN?" he questioned excitedly, "We heard that you got kicked out. Where've you been staying?" We, of course, referred to the groupies that used to follow me around everywhere I went.

"Eh, you know, here and there," I shrugged, not wanting to tell him how far I had fallen since seeing him last.

"I see. Well, the guys would love to see you again. You should stop by tonight for a visit," Jaymus suggested. I normally wouldn't be allowed to go out and socialize, but I don't have any other jobs to do tonight, so Aoi shouldn't be dropping by anytime soon.

"Sure, I'll come by." What was I doing? Going against Aoi's rules? A very dangerous thing to do. So why was I doing it?

"Awesome. I'll tell the guys. Also, there is someone I want you to meet."

"Oh?" This should be interesting.

"Yeah. He doesn't use or anything, but he's cool. You'll like him." Jaymus was still so childish at times. Yet it was good to see. Happiness wasn't heard of at Aoi's place. Just boredom and the occasional hit. Occasional hit has turned into every other hour lately, though.

We said our goodbyes, and continued on our ways. Tonight was going to be interesting. I wonder who this new kid is, and why everybody likes him so much.

It wasn't until about an hour before I had to leave that I realized that I didn't have anything suitable to wear. That's not good. I don't have time to go out, and buy some new clothes. After taking a shower, it didn't leave me very much time. That's when I had an idea. I was already going against Aoi big time. Would it really matter now if I 'borrowed' some of Aoi's clean clothes?

I looked around the corner for any signs of Raphael, Luke, or Mason. Confident that the coast was clear, I quietly snuck into Aoi's room.

I was never allowed in Aoi's room, and now I finally got the chance to look around.

There wasn't much to see. A made bed that hadn't been slept in for weeks, a plasma TV, and a small table in the corner. It was shockingly clean compared to the rest of the house.

I searched through the drawers for some clothes. I didn't find much. In one drawer, there was an assortment of needles and syringes. Others had phonebooks and journals in them. I took one of the small books out, and looked through it.

There were pages and pages of names. Name after name after name was written on the pages in Aoi's neat printing. Why would he have all these people's names written here?

Beside each name was a number. Each book was filled with these names and numbers. I didn't pay too much attention to this. They probably just owed Aoi money.

Putting the books back into the drawer, I moved to the closet. Inside there was many clothes, a few pairs of shoes, and a safe. I only had ten minutes left before I needed to leave, so I hastily picked out a black shirt and jeans, and rushed out.

I got off the bus across from Jay's house. It looked the same as it did before. Taking a deep breath, I walked across the street, and up to the front door. I pressed the button, and heard the chimes ring from inside.

A few moments later I heard running footsteps, and the door opened.

"Hey, Miyavi! Almost thought you weren't gonna show," Jay said, closing the door as we walked up the stairs.

"Yeah, sorry about that. The buses were slow today," I told him. He stopped, and looked at me worried. "What?"

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, checking my forehead with the back of his hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You just said sorry!" he said, laughing as he continued up the stairs. I smirked, and followed him. I suppose it WAS very unusual for them to hear me say sorry. Last time I had seen them, there would be no way in hell I'd even say anything relatively NICE to them and still they would be there.

I felt really bad about this as Jay went into the kitchen. As I entered the room, I was tackled to the ground by Jesse and Ayden.

"MIYAVI!" Jesse yelled.

"Hey, Jesse," I said, regaining my breath as I sat up.

"Where in the world have you been?" Ayden asked quietly.

"Places," I told him. That was another conversation for another time. Hopefully not a time too near. I stood up, and brushed the invisible dirt off of me.

"Oh," Jay said, remembering something, "Miyavi, this is Kai." I looked up at the mention of the name. Kai was sitting at the table, watching me. The silence hung in the air, as we stared at each other. Jay looked between the two of us, trying to find out what was going on.

The silence was broken by the sound of the doorbell.

"PIZZA!" Jesse yelled, running out of the room. Jay rolled his eyes, and left, dragging Ayden with him. The room was empty now, except for us.

"So," he said awkwardly, almost subconsciously playing with a pencil on the table. I pulled out a chair, and sat down across from him.

"So you're the 'awesome' guy that I'm supposed to meet?" I asked, smirking. The awkwardness seemed to evaporate at the small joke.

"Yeah, I guess so," he laughed.

"Always one step ahead of them." I smirked. Just like old times.

I was a little surprised that Kai was hanging around with Jay and them. He wasn't really the kind of person they hang with. Kai was nice, innocent enough, and didn't use. He didn't even smoke. He was normal.

Ayden ran into the kitchen holding three pizza boxes. A few seconds later, Jesse came in, chasing Ayden. Kai and I exchanged looks.

"Ayden! Come back here with those!" Jesse yelled. Ayden laughed.

"Gonna have to catch me first!" They ran around the kitchen, while Kai and I watched. Jaymus came in, and took one look at the situation and decided to put it to an end.

"AYDEN! JESSE!" he yelled. They stopped on the spot, looking at Jay with wide eyes. "Stop fooling around, and bring that food over here. We're all hungry." Jaymus sat down, and we all stared at him. He looked at us. "What?" Silence. "Hey, I'm hungry." The whole room burst out laughing.

Everybody rushed to get enough pizza before everyone else, causing a huge mess of cheese, pepperoni, and sauce all over the table.

We all gathered in the living room. Jaymus and Kai sat on the couch, Ayden sat in the chair, and Jesse and I sat in front of them.

Putting in a movie, we all sat and ate quietly. It was a surprise that nobody had pulled out any gear yet. Perhaps it was because Kai was here, but I doubt it. They don't care who they get high with, or how they get their next fix. I can't believe I almost started to enjoy hanging around with these people! I got a sick feeling in my stomach as I thought about this.

"I don't feel so good," I told them, and rushed to the bathroom.

Closing the door, I ran some water, and tried to calm down. Splashing some water on my face, I took a deep breath. Should I leave? NO. At least these people are somewhat decent. What is so different between these people, and the one's I'm living with? At least these people have fun, and talk to me. They don't ignore me like the others do.

Drying my face, I went back to the living room. I stopped in the hallway when I heard them talking.

"He's looking really bad, isn't he?" I heard Ayden say.

"Yeah. I don't think he's telling us everything," Jesse replied.

"Maybe I should let him stay here with me for a while," Jaymus considered, "who knows WHERE he's staying now." Stay with Jaymus? I don't know about that. He's nice and every, but it's not like I can just walk away from Aoi. Too dangerous. That would NOT turn out well.

"Are you crazy Jay?" Jesse cut in. Hey! Why would that be such a crazy idea? I'm not THAT bad. "Seriously, Jay. Did you SEE him? He looks terrible!"

"Exactly why we should help him! Who knows? He could be staying at that one dealer's house! You know the one that kills people!"

"God. Not this again! Jay, that's not even true!" Ayden retorted with an annoyed tone.

"It is, too! What was his name again? Something short and weird sounding." Jay spoke. I waited for what would be said next.

"Aoi." I froze at the name that came out of Ayden's mouth. Aoi? A murderer? No way. That's not even possible! He's too nice. He has been gone a lot more, though. Perhaps it's a possibility…no! I refuse to believe it! Aoi would never!

I walked in, ready to tell them off, but stopped at the door when I saw Jaymus and Ayden yelling in each other's face, ready to strangle each other. Jesse's back was facing me, as he tried desperately to break the two up, or even just to stop the two from breaking each other up.

Nobody even noticed me standing there, except for Kai. He got up silently, this going unnoticed by the other three, and pulled me out of the room.

"You do NOT want to go in there," he told me when we went into the kitchen. We sat at the table, and were quiet for a while as we heard the others yelling.

"What's that all about?" I asked. Of course, I already knew, but I didn't want him to know that.

"Nothing much else than what you already know," he told me. I gave him a questioning look. He rolled his eyes. "Don't play dumb. I know you were listening."

"You saw me?"

"No, but I can tell." He told me, now playing with the same pencil from earlier. I took it from him, and set it aside.

"How?" He looked from the pencil to me. He sighed.

"For one, the way you came into the room. Secondly, the way you spoke when you asked why they were fighting. No offense or anything, but you're a terrible actor. It was no wonder they knew you weren't telling them everything. You're just lucky they're too thick to figure out what is actually going on," he smirked at me when he saw my mouth hanging open, "and thirdly, your eyes."

"My…eyes?" I asked skeptically. He nodded.

"Yes. While I have to say, you hide you emotions well; your eyes still show what you're thinking." I smirked. So he can read my mind, can he?

"And what AM I thinking?" I asked, amused. He laughed at my persistence.

"Well, you're thinking that I don't know what I'm talking about," he said, making me smile, "and, you're wondering why I'm here. Why?" I sat back, caught off guard by his question.

"Uh, well, um, nothing against you or anything, but you're not the kind of person they usually hang out with, unless they want something," I told him, feeling slightly guilty. He just shrugged it off.

"I know that."

"Then why do you continue to hang with them?" I asked, confused.

"Because they knew you," he said, only confusing me more, "You ran off so soon last time that I didn't get a chance to really talk to you."

"So," I said, trying to figure this out, "the only reason that you're friends with them is because of me?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," I said. Why? "So what else am I thinking?" Thankful for the change in subject, Kai sat back, and relaxed.

"Well, you're mad about what they said about that dealer, Aoi." I nodded silently. He looked at me, almost confused. Okay, you can look away any time now. Why are you still looking at me like that? Alright, starting to get uncomfortable.

Suddenly, he looked as if he had just figured out a difficult riddle.

"That's it!" he exclaimed, staring at me like I'm crazy.

"W-What?" I asked, only slightly afraid.

"I couldn't figure out why you would be upset about it, but it's so obvious now!"

'What's obvious? Upset about what?"

"About Aoi!" Uhoh. I don't want to talk about this. I do NOT want to talk about this. I. Do. Not. Want. To.

"You know him, don't you?" Crap. Okay, let's see. How am I going to get out of this? After a few moments, where we sat in silence, I spoke.

"Yes." There is no point in trying to hide it. He didn't say anything. Should I say something?

"So," he finally said, looking like he was still deep in thought, "so you know him. Wow. Uh, okay. How?" I shrugged. I don't want to tell him that I lived with Aoi. That would be terrible. They think he's a murderer.

"Um, here and there."

"That's a lie. You're close to him. Tell me," he said, fixing his glare directly to me. How does he know these things? I sighed.

"You really want to know? FINE!" I said, getting pissed off; raising my voice, "I LIVE with Aoi! I work for him!" Silence. Uhoh! I did not just do that! Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Kai was starting at me, eyes wide, and the bickering from the other room had stopped.

What have I done? This cannot end well. I wasn't supposed to be here in the first place, and now they all know something that NOBODY was supposed to find out. That I was staying with Aoi. This is very dangerous.