Chapter nine~. NOT on time, because is being a jerk and not letting us upload things. :| But it would have been on time. Guess what? We passed the fifty review mark last week! 8D This makes me super excited. I'm aiming for my next goal, seventy-five reviews. Please please please make this possible, guys. :D Please read, review, and enjoy!
I do not own Prince of Tennis.
Niou realized, guilt swimming through his mind as he pulled his shirt off over his head, that he hadn't told the others about Yagyuu. They shared everything. They told each other everything. And there he was, keeping a huge secret from them.
"Looks like you had a rough night."
Niou looked up at Sanada as he shrugged on a loose shirt. He had to change out of his whore clothes before he could go down to the basement. Yukimura was always big on customer service. He always tried to make them look as appealing as possible.
"I had a rough customer." Niou replied quietly, peeling off the tight jeans. He pulled on a different pair of pants.
Sanada took his hand and led him over to a chair. He sat him down and started doctoring his wounds, putting medicine on them and bandaging them up, just like he'd done for Fuji the day after he beat him. When Sanada wasn't being ordered about by Yukimura, he was actually tolerateable. He was just a kind heart who got wrapped up in some terrible things. Niou still blamed him, of course. Sanada could get out. Sanada could stop. Sanada had a choice. But he didn't want to stop following his childhood friend, even if his childhood friend was a psycho maniac who didn't care about anyone but himself.
Sanada's fingers were gentle on his chest and stomach as they wrapped bandages around him. But they weren't anything like the gentle fingers of Yagyuu.
"It looks like these wounds are already taken care of." Sanada murmured with a frown.
Panic shot through Niou's body, but he made himself look calm. "I took care of them myself while the guy was in the shower."
"Even the ones on your back?"
"It's called a mirror."
"Listen," Sanada paused and glanced around the large walk-in closet, as if making sure there was nobody around who could over hear. "Listen," he repeated. "I know."
Niou raised an eyebrow, although his blood had already ran cold. "You know what?"
"I know you've been meeting somebody and not getting paid for it. I know he's been giving you food and water, and I know he's been taking care of you. I know you've been feeding him information. I know he's a detective."
Niou's eyes widened a little bit more with every word. Great. Just great. He was dead. They were going to kill him, then there was no way that the others would be able to get out. But it wasn't so bad, in a way. Yagyuu had plenty of information, maybe even enough to find them. And if Niou was dead, he wouldn't have to go through all that pain anymore. All the suffering would be gone. He wouldn't be a boy toy to half the guys in the city. And, yeah, he'd be leaving the rest of them alone, but they'd have Fuji. Fuji would be able to take care of them.
"Trixxxie."
Niou snapped himself out of this thoughts and returned his gaze to Sanada.
"I'm not going to tell him."
Niou blinked. He looked at the wall, frowned, then looked back at Sanada. "What?"
"I'm not going to tell Yukimura about it. I..." Sanada looked around again. "I want to help you."
Niou jerked his wrists that Sanada had been bandaging away. "Why? Why would you want to help me? I'm just a no-good whore. I'm worthless. Why would you want to go behind your best friend's back to help somebody like me? To help people like us?"
"Because although Seiichi is my best friend, and has been for a long, long time, what he's doing is wrong. I wasn't raised like that. Albeit, he wasn't raised like that, either. He used to be a good kid. Believe it or not, he used to be sweet and caring. He was kind to anybody who crossed his path. But then, with some wicked turn of events, he was gang-raped, and it led him to believe that nobody, not even me, was worth his time. He needs a good slap in the face. He needs to wake up. I honestly think he needs to be put through what you guys are going through. And I think jail might be the only answer. He needs to wake up and see reality."
Niou sneered a little. "Forgive me if I don't have any sympathy for the bastard. I've been gang-raped before, several times in fact, and you don't see me prancing around like I own the fucking place."
"I don't expect you to have pity on him." Sanada pulled Niou's wrists back to finish bandaging them. "Like I said, I want to stop him. So let me help you."
Niou watched him for a moment with scrutinizing eyes. "I'm not going to tell you anything." He eventually said. "I don't trust you."
"I don't expect you to." Sanada replied easily. "Just know that I'm here if you ever need me." He rested his hand on Niou's shoulder and steered him out of the room. They walked down a long hallway and towards a staircase. But before the could get there, Yukimura stepped out of a room. Sanada quickly slid his hand up Niou's shoulder and to the back of his neck. He squeezed it tightly. Niou swallowed at Yukimura's bright face.
"Genichirou!" He greeted easily. "Taking Trixxxie back to the basement?"
Sanada nodded. "Yes. He probably won't be able to work for the next few days. His last John beat him pretty badly."
Yukimura looked concerned. "So our best worker is out of the scene?"
"Just for a few days."
Yukimura scoffed. "You have to be shitting me. It can't be hurt that bad. That's a whole two nights worth of money we'll be out of."
Sanada yanked Niou's shirt to reveal the bandages. "It's pretty bad."
Yukimura's eyes narrowed. "...Fine. Just tomorrow, though. Then It's back out on the streets doing It's damn job." He stalked away, muttering angrily under his breath.
Sanada pushed Niou over to the staircase. They moved down them and Sanada spoke rapidly. "Seiichi's already pissed enough as it is. A worker died tonight."
Niou's blood ran cold for the second time that night. "Who?"
"Nobody you know." Sanada assured. "The rest are already here. Just hold tight." He opened the metal door and pushed Niou through before slamming it shut again.
Niou examined the basement, happy when everyone seemed alright. Well, as alright as they could be, anyway. He was greeted by happy smiles and open arms, and for a second, he forgot all about deceiving them.
Sanada's not that bad. :3 Still bad enough for Niou to hate him, but yeah.
