Chapter Seven- The Dark Heart of Friendship

"Junpei! You nearly gave us heart attack!!" Takuya exclaimed with a annoyed expression, crossing his arms. He was also upset because he wasn't able to detect Junpei earlier…maybe he's letting his body get weak from lack of training.

Kouji blinked a few times, waving at Junpei for a moment "Hey…I thought you had work to do…" he muttered, remembering that the chocolate eyed boy said he had to do chores on his father's farm today.

Junpei nodded slowly before answering Kouji's comment, "I finished early" he told him in response with a grin on his face. Honestly you wouldn't be able to tell he was the son of a poor farmer… Junpei wore long-sleeved blue shirt with golden lining, with matching slacks…and a slightly darker blue coat to go with it. Pity…one wouldn't be able to noticed his muscular body under that somewhat loose clothing. He wore a gold colored pendant hanging by a metal chain…he never took it off. His chocolate eyes traveled over to Kouichi, soon approaching him. Junpei…well he flirted with "Anything that moves" as Kouji would say… he flirts with all his friends, except for the young Tomoki who Junpei says is "To Young for him". Junpei took Kouichi's hand and placed a soft kiss on the back of it, "I don't think we've met before…I'm sorry if I frightened you earlier. My name is Junpei Shibayama…what is your name?"

Kouichi's cheeks were red from the kiss, staring at him with slightly wide blue eyes before finally answering. "K-Kouichi…" he whispered softly, looking down at the ground shyly. 'This is weird…first Kouji now him…' he thought; first Kouji…though you can't really call that flirting right? But still…now Junpei…and Kouichi…well Kouhei ended up flirting with Makato. That's not so bad right? It wasn't like the whole entire village was hitting on him!

"Kouichi, eh? That name doesn't suit your beauty at all!" Junpei exclaimed, leaning in a bit closer to the slave. He traced the shy boy's lips with his fingers, about to lean in to playfully kiss him- he did the same thing when he first met Izumi…and Takuya- but instead was hit on the head by Kouji.

"God! Do you have to flirt with everyone!?!" Kouji shouted, pulling his flustered servant over to himself.

"I was just joking…" Junpei muttered, rubbing the back of his head where a new bump was forming…thanks to Kouji.

Kouichi's blush soon faded, choosing to stay behind the prince in case any of his other friends who he was meeting with would try the same thing as Junpei. He clutched his mater's shirt tightly in his hands, nibbling on his bottom lip as he soon was lost in thought: 'I shouldn't be playing games around here…I have more important things to do…" he told himself, didn't he have to get the last remaining talismans? Or did he have enough already? The three moons were to align soon! Otsuke would kill him if things didn't go as planned! But…. He had to gain the prince's trust right? Wouldn't he suspect something if Kouichi just took off without saying anything?

The boy honestly thought that the prince's two friends, Takuya and Junpei was it? Were… a little odd. That was just the first impression, he needs to get to know them a little better! The slave turned his eyes back to Junpei with an evil glare in his sapphire colored eyes, oh no… he was beginning to show some of his true colors when he was angered. Kouichi wasn't always a gentle, kind little boy that everyone seemed to thought "could do no wrong". He was tempted to say something like "Touch me again… and I'll gouge out your eyes" or something along those lines… but then Kouji would automatically assume that the slave was up to no good. He just gave the older male a stare that practically said "Don't come near me, or you'll pay" with a seemingly innocent smile on his slightly pink lips. Junpei filched at the look he received, beginning to laugh nervously "Well um… let's go train!"

Takuya leaned in to whisper to the prince, his arms crossed "sooo… when's everyone else getting' hear. That look on your buddy's face in creepin' me out" he muttered, looking over to the slave with a slight confused expression.

"They are suppose to arrive soon. At least that's what they told me" Kouji answered, scratching the back of his head some as he looked over at the nervous Junpei.

"Kouuuu-chaaaan!" called a cheerful female voice to her friend of the past five years of her life, suddenly tackle hugging the long haired boy as a sort of greeting. Kouichi instantly thought of this as an attempt to harm the prince--- mostly because Makato told him to protect the prince from any harm and that he had no idea what this girl was planning to do. He went over to the now fallen duo, pulling the female who was around his age off from the prince by her hair.

"Don't… touch… him" Kouichi had hissed at her.

Takuya pulled the servant off of his friend, grasping his wrists in his own hands so he wouldn't try to attack the blond once again. "Stop it… she's our friend Kouichi" he told him in a firm voice, indicating that he was not lying. Kouichi began to struggle in the fire user's hold, glaring at the blond who was rubbing her head since it ached from her long, golden hair being pulled on. Soon… perhaps in about five minutes he calmed down completely, going back to his gentle self. He whispered something sounding like "I'm sorry…" to the girl who was named "Izumi", seeming obviously guilty for what he had done.

Izumi just looked at the boy as if he were mentally ill or something like that, before just smiling at him and said: "It's okay. Don't worry" she answered with a small nod.

"'Zumi! 'Zumi!" called a younger child, suddenly hugging the blond with a big grin on his lips. "You okay?" he added, examining her carefully to make sure she was. He then looked over to the new face, waving at him "Hi person" Tomoki greeted before turning to his other friends. Alright! Everyone was here! Now this training session could begin!

"You all ready? Let's begin" Takuya stated with a grin on his lips.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Pyro darts!!" exclaimed the fire user, throwing dart shaped fire at his opponent which was Junpei. Ahh. . . he was exhausted! Going at this for an hour! After this Takuya just collapsed to the floor, admitting defeat on the grounds that he was completely worn out. Agh! He used up to much of his reiki! It'll take a little while for him to gain it all back, just like everyone else. "C'mon guys . . . let's take a break" he told everyone who stopped at these words.

Tomoki purposely collapsed on the floor, panting softly as he enjoyed the nice breeze that passed by to cool them down. "I'm hungry. Let's eat" he suggested with a big grin. Of course, Junpei agreed instantly along with Takuya- the two "disposals" of the group. They are just called that because they eat a lot, of course. Soon the little group was eating and conversing among each other.

"Kouji! So has anything interesting happened in the kingdom? Huh?" Izumi questioned, beginning to jump up and down in excitement. She was the little storyteller of this group; she always found a way to learn what was happening just when the king himself found out. Most of the credit goes to her mother Zephyr for telling Izumi everything the king tells her.

Kouji just shook his head, munching on a sandwich he brought to eat. "Well the only thing was that the so many of the talismans have gone missing. You know only the one I own is left" he answered as his chill ran down his spine. Ugh. . . he couldn't believe this. These sacred pendants have been disappearing so quickly! He had only one idea who was taking them. The man who went by the name of "Otsuke" had taken them, no doubt! Kouichi stayed silent the whole time the blond and his master conversed among each other, just nibbling on a cookie until. . .

"What good is it to talk about something you can do nothing about?" the servant hissed at the group, looking up at them. He had no idea where that came from . . . he thought that must have been Kouhei talking the whole time.

"Well, we can at least try to do something! I mean we can't just let this motherfucker kill everyone!" exclaimed Junpei, clenching his fists. However he soon let out a gagging sound as a hand wrapped around his throat.

"Do not talk about Otsuke that way you filthy bitch. You know nothing about him" Kouichi had responded, his beautiful deep blue eyes flashing red for a moment, symbolizing that Kouhei had spoken for the young slave. Kouichi wouldn't let anyone talk about his master that way, however he wouldn't really have the guts to stand up to his superiors- Junpei was an aristocrat, and Kouichi was just a slave-.

"Stop it! Let go of him!" the group shouted all at once, Kouji was the one who pulled the slave off his friend, making sure he couldn't get away. "God Kouichi! What has gotten into you?!"

The slave just pushed his master away, standing up and began to run away from the group. "Nothing! Just leave me alone!" shouted the blue eyed boy, running as fast as he could. He soon stopped his running once he was far away from everyone, leaning against a wall of the building and stared up at the sky as he tried to catch his breath.

"Kouichi. . . you almost blew it. Are you alright?" a familiar voice questioned, it was Elias who came to check on his dear friend. He appeared right next to him, having used a spell that could transport him to any place he wanted to go. The blue haired male wrapped his arms around his friend's waist, pulling him into an affectionate embrace.

"E-Eli. . . I' m so sorry. I don't know what happened, when he talked about Master Otsuke like that. . . I just-"he started, leaving the rest of his sentence unsaid as he leaned into the other boy's embrace. "Eli, please go. What if someone sees you with me? They'll start assuming things and the plan might be ruined because of me" whispered the younger boy sadly with a distant look in his deep blue eyes. Elias nodded reluctantly, leaning in until their lips brushed each other.

"Just . . . one kiss before I leave." Whispered Elias with a soft smile before he pressed his lips against the other boy's light pink ones. Oh god. . . Kouichi's lips tasted so good, just like strawberries he might add. One of the reasons that Elias had come alone was that it would have looked suspicious if Otsuke had came to meet with Kouichi. Only because so many people knew what he looked like. He could have used a spell to change his appearance . . . but warriors like Makato and Saniro could see right through it.

Kouichi pulled away from Elias' lips after a moment, blushing a pretty shade of pink and stared into his sapphire colored eyes. "E-Eli. . . . Good-bye" he whispered, closing his eyes once he felt a wind pass by the area. By the time he opened his eyes a few seconds later. . . Elias was gone.

Elias was one of the very few people who could cheer the young slave up when he was upset, that may have something to do with them growing up together and knowing everything about each other. And also, Kouichi couldn't say he hated the kissed Elias gave him every now and then. He just considered them to be friendly, no romantic feelings behind it. However as you may already know, Elias liked Kouichi more than just a friend. Sigh . . . Kouichi had romantic feelings for someone, but he thought it was quite odd to feel this way about this person. This person was a guy. He looked just like him. He was a prince. And Kouichi had to kill him. Oh god! How could he develop feelings for Kouji?! And another problem he had was that Kouhei, seemed to like Makato. He had to get rid of that stupid spirit. . .

Anyway. . . . 'I should go back and apologize. . . Kouji might already be angry with me for my actions and storming away' he told himself, forcing his way back to the prince and his group of friends. But it was all Junpei's fault anyway for speaking like that about his master! He was supposed to protect Otsuke! But . . . he was also supposed to gain Kouji's trust. And that means he can't be trying to beat the hell out of his friends.

Soon Kouichi came back to the five people he had previously abandoned, with an apologetic look on his gorgeous features. "I'm sorry Master Kouji. . . I didn't mean to act the way I did earlier" he whispered softly, keeping his gaze on the floor rather than on the prince.

"Don't call me 'Master' and don't worry about it. Junpei got over it" answered the royal, offering an angelic smile to Kouichi. The prince's smile was so very lovely; it would put any flower to shame. Wow, Kouji was so understanding . . . you would expect him to get angry wouldn't you? If it were Takuya he would . . . or even the little Tomoki. Kouichi sat down next to his master, offering him nothing but a smile and a small "Thank you" as well.

"No problem" Kouji replied, beginning to blush lightly as the other boy leaned in as if to kiss him. The boy with the long raven hair closed his beautiful marine blue eyes as he awaited the kiss, flushing an even darker shade of pink. However. . . .

Takuya slung an arm around the slave, pulling him away from Kouji in a playfully manner and began to give him a noogie. "What cha doin' there, buuuddy?" he asked with a laugh following, ignoring the sounds of his other friends' giggling and "aww" s from Takuya stopping the potential kiss. Kouichi just let out a deep sigh of fustration, choosing not to answer Takuya. He felt like thanking Takuya, he thought he was beginning to get a little to cloe to the prince. If that happned, he wouldn't be able to bring himself to kill Kouji. . . . Kouichi had to go through with this plan. Only three more days until he had to go through with this. Only three more days. . . 'I can't do this. . . I can't'

Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah:

Hey there people! I'm sorry for the delay in my story. I've been taking so long to update this. But anyway! Originally I didn't intend for this story to be a yaoi one. At first, I planned to make Elias a girl who was pretending to be a boy and then Kouichi would fall in love with her. But instead, I did this! Elias and Kouichi are only very close friends [Kouichi doesn't mind Elias kissing him even though he has to feelings for him.