The True Beauty Of A Withered Camellia: False Impression
The day progressed, and was eventually over as soon as it began; customers flooded in again and with the stream of men brought one in particular, the same blonde haired man who had returned every night for Kiku.
Alfred paid downstairs before proceeding upstairs, down the hallway and through the shoji to find Kiku waiting on the futon for him. "Nice to see you again," Kiku said as he smiled at the blonde. "I missed you so much," Alfred said as he made his way over to the bed.
"How much?" Kiku asked as he turned his head slightly watching as Alfred undid his coat and placed it on the low table to his right. Alfred responded by placing deep kisses against Kiku's soft neck as the small framed male's breath hitched from the sensation.
On the other side of the shoji unbeknownst to the two lovers, Sadiq stood silently with his ear pressed lightly against the paper. His heart felt odd, he hadn't had a feeling like that since he was a boy; but this time, it was because of his envy.
Sadiq moved away from the door and made his way down the hallway slowly, as he made his way towards the stairs, he made his way past the small room and stopped in his tracks. He had just remembered something, the night before when he had been listening in on Kiku's story, he had noticed that the small male had taken something out of the chest in the corner of the room.
I wonder what he is keeping hidden... Sadiq thought to himself as he let one foot slowly slip into the room. He made his way over to the chest, and reached to undo the metal keeping it shut, he began to look through the items in front of him. It's just a bunch of clothes...I don't see why he's...Sadiq began to think to himself before pausing, "What's this?" he said as he folded back one more piece of fabric to reveal a small green book.
He went to pick it up and then stopped for a moment Maybe I shouldn't... the man thought to himself; he thought back to last night for a moment, remembering the details he overheard about the relationship that Kiku had with the foreign man who re-appeared almost every night.
Sadiq sighed as he picked up the book, opened it and read the first entry that he had flipped open to. On the page that he had begun reading, Kiku had gone into detail about the feelings he harbored for the American man.
Sadiq's eyes read each word carefully as he made his way slowly but surely through the entire page before turning it. Before he could begin reading again, he heard voices coming from down the hallway, Sadiq stiffened waiting for the sounds to subside as he softly closed the chest and slid the book into his yukata before making his way towards the shoji.
He remained silent until the voices faded as the to males continued down the hallway, Sadiq breathed a sigh of relief as he made his way back to his room quickly placing the small book under his futon and making his way back downstairs to continue his work for the evening.
As the night drew to a close, Kiku said his final good byes after a night of intimacy with the American male before making his way down to the bathing chambers, and from there, up to the small room where he resided with the other men.
Kiku fell asleep as soon as he allowed his head to touch the pillow, he dreamt of Alfred's warm touch, and soft lulling voice as the two kept each other warm in an everlasting embrace. Although Kiku was asleep, his body reacted as if he were awake, becoming flushed and tinted a light pink with blush.
Meanwhile, near the beginning of the hallway in his darkened room, Sadiq lie awake sitting at the table with a small oil lamp skimming through the pages of Kiku's book. Once finished, he placed the book in the small drawer, closed it and made his way over to his futon.
As yet another morning began, the Scarlet Peony was alive with the sounds of the chattering and bustling of men as they made their way around the establishment. They were readying themselves for an outing on the strip.
Sadiq stood just outside of the door as he waited for Kiku and his two friends to emerge from the building, Sadiq let his mind drift off again, he thought back to last night when he was reading through Kiku's book.
All of the things he had read... apparently the foreigner and Kiku had been together for quite sometime, much to his dismay. Although Sadiq had not wanted to admit this, he was hoping that he could be Kiku's one and only, the one he would run to in his time of need. It looks as if I waited too long... Sadiq thought to himself.
His thoughts were disrupted when he heard a familiar voice that seemed to be addressing him, "Good morning Ryota. How are you doing today?" Kiku said as he stood in front of the large tanned man. "Hmm? I'm...fine," Sadiq replied as he looked at the small framed male's soft featured face.
"I'm glad to hear that, are you ready for today's outing?" Kiku asked as he looked up at the Turkish man with his dark eyes. Sadiq smiled ever so lightly as he looked off into the distance, trying to avoid Kiku's eyes, he felt a pang of guilt rush through him.
As the day progressed, Sadiq found it increasingly harder to keep his eyes off of the porcelain skinned beauty. When he noticed that Kiku had ventured off into a shop farther down, he took the time to glance around at the shops and the things inside of them, Sadiq stopped in front of a shop window and glanced in to see a small lacquered wooden comb.
It would look so nice in his hair...Sadiq thought to himself as he glanced at the comb detailed with a vibrant red and speckled with little white and gold flowers in various spots. Sadiq decided to purchase the item and place it gently in his yukata sleeve as he caught up with the others before heading back to the brothel.
The night began again, Kiku took his leave towards the room upstairs at the end of the hallway with his lover as Sadiq thought to himself as to how he would present the newly bought item as a token of his affection to the dark haired male who he so greatly admired.
After half an hour of thinking, Sadiq finally came up with a strategy, as to how he would go about presenting the comb. He would wait until there were no clients or prostitutes in his way and he would go into the small room that Kiku slept in, place the item gently in between the folds of his futon with a small note that had no more then a short endearing sentence, To the one I admire, Let this item be a symbol of my admiration for you.
Sadiq smiled lightly as he readied himself for the future events that were to transpire later that evening; hours later, the time came for Sadiq to go through with his plan. He made his way upstairs with present and note in hand as he looked both ways before slowly making his way through the shoji and towards Kiku's futon before placing said items inside one of the futon layers and exiting cautiously.
Now I have to wait to see what he says... Sadiq thought to himself as he went back to his duties downstairs. As the last patrons left for the evening, Sadiq felt himself becoming more and more restless, he wanted to see the expression on Kiku's delicate face, he wanted Kiku to be so taken aback by his generosity and true feelings towards Kiku that he would forget all about that other man and let himself be whisked away by Sadiq instead.
Sadiq longed to feel the small framed male's lips touch his own, he could only imagine what wonderful sensations would be brought about by this action. Sadiq began to think of Kiku, his intoxicating scent, his mysterious eyes that seemed to gaze on forever into the vast night sky, his silk like obsidian toned hair that moved so gracefully from every turn of his head.
The way his lips moved ever so gently when ever they opened or closed and pursed when he was unsure of what to say. Soft and pink like the petals that fell from the cherry blossom trees every spring, and just like the spring, Kiku had thawed and warmed his once hardened heart.
He found himself unable to keep his feelings for the other male harbored, tonight would give him the chance to show the small framed male how he felt about him. Sadiq finished closing up the establishment before making his way to his room so that he could wait for the other men to make their way upstairs and fall asleep so he could watch Kiku's reaction once he found the gift and the note.
Minutes passed as Sadiq finally made his way quietly to the middle of the hallway and slowly slid the shoji open just enough to be able to see Kiku awake and conversing with the two other men he usually spent his time with.
"So how was your day so far Francis?" Kiku asked as he began to take out his futon. Francis sighed, "Well it wasn't all that interesting until later this evening when a man came into the brothel, I ended up serving him drinks while he watched Feliciano perform on stage," Francis said.
"Oh really? Well...what did he say to you?" Feliciano asked curiously. "Nothing really, he just sat there mentioning how an American he stayed next to in a hotel had all of the luck. He'd said that his friend ended up taking an interest in one of the men here," Francis said slyly as he looked over in Kiku's direction.
Feliciano smiled as he looked over towards Kiku as well, "W-What is it? Don't give me those looks you two..."Kiku said as he blushed lightly before looking off to the side unknowingly hitting a nerve in the Mediterranean on the opposite side of the shoji.
Kiku went to lift up his futon when he heard a tap on the ground next to him, he looked around him and then down, "What is this?" Kiku asked before peering down to see a small red lacquered comb with small flowers speckled across it's surface. "It's...so beautiful," Kiku said softly as he knelt down to scoop the item up into his hands.
Francis and Feliciano looked on in amazement at the small item, "Where do you think it came from?" Feliciano asked as he moved closer to get a better look. "Maybe this note would reveal that to us?" Francis said as he smiled and handed the note to Kiku. He opened it and read the short sentence before looking back at the comb. Kiku blushed before closing the note again and blushing ever so slightly, "Well?" Francis said. "Hmm?" Kiku replied. "Who is the comb from?" Feliciano asked. "I-It didn't say, but..." Kiku paused for a moment.
Both of the foreign men moved closer, "But?" the two said in unison. Kiku smiled before continuing, "But...I have a feeling I already know who did this..." Kiku said before holding the item close to his chest and smiling.
Sadiq smiled on the other side of the door, waiting ever so patiently for his name to make it's way through those two soft lips on the other side of the shoji.
"It had to of been Alfred," Kiku said. Sadiq's eyes widened slightly as his muscles tensed, What? He thought to himself as he continued to listen.
"He must have made his way into the room when I was redressing myself after we..." Kiku stopped himself as he looked down with a rouge blush on his face. "Lucky you, I wish someone would come in here and take me away from my reality...even if only for a few hours," Francis said.
Kiku ran one of his slender fingers across the smooth comb before placing it gently behind him so that he wouldn't break it when he went to sleep, "I'll wear it tomorrow...then I can thank him," Kiku said as he let himself fall asleep.
Sadiq sat outside on the other side of the shoji going over what had just taken place in his head over and over again, "H-How could he not see?" he asked himself softly as he stood up and made his way back down the hallway.
He entered his room and closed the shoji behind him, and sat down on his futon letting one of his hands run through his hair before letting his head sink into his other hand.
It felt as if his heart had been taken from him and struck by a sharp blade, he had let himself become infatuated with nothing more then a beautiful face and now he looked like a fool. " I've been tricked into thinking someone like him would even consider me to be of any value to him...He would rather be with that bastard then me," Sadiq said sharply as he tightened his hand into a fist.
"Very well...If that is how he wants to live out his remaining time here, so be it..." Sadiq said harshly as he threw Kiku's journal against the wall letting it slide down into the dark corner of the room along with his good intentions toward the small framed male.
Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay! I've had so much going on and I haven't had time to get to chapter 12 that much except whenever I had free time. ^_^ (I feel bad now :P ) Well if anyone is still reading, I hope you like the story so far, I'll try to pick up the pace a little more so there's less huge breaks in between the chapters. Well the one thing I can say is there's nowhere to go but up from this chapter, no really! There's still more to come and I think you'll all like it. ^_^
Who knows, maybe I'll slip in a little fanservice as a gift again (I won't say who the couple is though (cough cough) FrUk (cough cough) ^_^
Thank you so much for reading (And putting up with my short hiatuses...) And as always review. Thank you again and Enjoy!~
