I understand that not everybody (nobody, in fact) likes where the plot goes. I cannot say otherwise, but this has been in my mind ever since I put in Yao's father into this fic. Furthermore, I have become even more coward. I am sorry for the recent post-and-delete stories. I am sorry for jamming your inboxes.
Please believe that the story will go on as the title and the summary goes. Thank you.
Enjoy!
"...And the headline news: yesterday night, an explosion happened in the tunnel of Southern City. Apparently it originated from a car, with three passengers inside. The explosion affected another three cars nearby. There are causalities, eight heavily injured and one boy passed away on the way to hospital."
Suddenly Arthur changed the news. Yao didn't quite mind, but the new channel was showing similar type of news.
"...but his son, Kaoru, thirteen, didn't survive and passed away on the way to the hospital. There is no further news on the condition of the politician..."
Yao stopped moving.
Arthur closed the TV. "Yao, I want more eggs, please."
"...turn on the TV, Arthur."
"No." Arthur shook his head. "I want more eggs."
"...Turn. The. Bloody. TV. On."
Arthur pretended he was deaf. Yao snatched the remote from Arthur's hand and turned the TV on. But it was already talking about some increasing house price in the South part of the city, and there was nothing left from the 'headline'.
Yao jumped, running straight to Arthur's laptop on the coffee table. Arthur followed behind him, catching Yao from behind and trying to prevent the Chinese beauty from reaching his open laptop. But Yao struggled, his mind was set on one thing: to access internet, to access the 'headline'.
"Let me go!" He screamed. "Arthur!"
"No. Please calm down, Yao; that might be just a mistake…"
"Because it IS a mistake that I need to confirm it NOW! Let me go, Arthur!"
Arthur forced his lips on Yao's. Yao flinched from the forced kiss and bit Arthur's lips. The British man moaned from pain, his lips bleeding from torn. Yao used the momentum to let himself go and checked the news that day.
He read again and again, hoping that it wasn't what he thought.
But it was his father's picture beside the picture of a blown away tunnel, saying that the famous politician was already hospitalized, but no details on where or how he was. Yao scrolled the mouse, reading the list of casualty.
On the top of the list were Kaoru's name, and his picture. Little, did him no justice. The boy wasn't even smiling in the picture, it was the passport picture.
Yao felt his something dropped from his chest. Oh God…
It hurts. Why? The question shot inside his mind. Why is everybody always left him alone? Did they not want him? Or is it because they are close to him that they died?
"Yao… are you OK?" Arthur's voice was heard from somewhere behind him, and Arthur's arms were somewhere on his body, but Yao didn't register any of the sensation. His mind was flying somewhere else.
The image of his mother filled in his eyes. His mother was on the floor, silent. It was quite unusual, but Yao thought maybe his mother was just sleeping.
Sleeping? Yao laughed at himself. How can a sleeping woman be naked, sprawled over the floor? There were no sign of blood, but in between her mother's leg, it was wet. Yao slowly walked towards his mother. The door wasn't locked. He forgot to lock the door that morning, when he went to school. And he went home to find his mother naked… and raped.
And her eyes were closed. But her lips were smiling.
His body trembled. Somehow it was his fault. He didn't lock the door, and his angry neighbour got his chance to shut his mother up. He didn't make sure his mother was safe. He didn't make sure his brother was fine. He let his little brother be with the bastard man, the man who always wanted Yao to disappear. They were dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. His mother was dead. His brother was dead. Permanently unable to see them again. And did he want to see them again?
Yes.
Oh God, Yes.
They were the only family he has. He doesn't care that his mother was crazy and annoying at times; she was the only one who would smile to him. When she died, he knew for the first time, the true taste of loneliness.
And Yao curled up; tears blinding his vision.
Don't leave me alone, again.
"I heard you were having a birthday party last night." Ivan whispered seductively on Yao's ear. "I am sad you don't invite me."
Ivan waited for some response, but Yao looked like he was frozen. His eyes were a bit puffy and dry; it was a sign that he had been crying before he reached the studio. Yao was seated on one of the chair, and he was emotionless as the make up artist took care of his face. Kiku, his manager, was standing further away, looking worried and typing non stop into his mobile phone.
Maybe it was a wrong move to invite Yao again as his model. He volunteered to substitute the other photographer that was supposed to take Yao's images that day; whom absent because his wife was giving birth on the very same day. And Ivan waited in delight, on what kind of excitement he could get from Yao.
Sure, he hasn't forgotten his bleeding (and bruised, but not broken) nose he got from Yao the other day, but Yao's reaction was just too amusing. That, and of course the fact that he was a bit of masochist (it came hand in hand with his sadistic side). Yao was the first model he seduced that returned him with punch, not kisses.
He was quite irritated when he heard what happened last night. Yao's birthday party was held and everybody was invited except him. Well, not everybody, it was more like an advertisement and entertainment party for Arthur Kirkland's company associates more than anything; but Ivan rather hoped that Yao had remembered him and asked Arthur to send him an invitation.
Well, he intended to confront and teased Yao about it, but when he saw Yao entering the studio with a forlorn face, he knew the party wasn't a success. Or maybe something else happened, but definitely big enough to make the little hermaphrodite looked that dejected.
"Yao, can you hear me?"
The man showed no sign of recognizing, or even hearing anything.
"Hallo? Earth to Yao, da?"
The boy looked up, as if realizing that he was somewhere else.
"…Ivan." Yao nodded, acknowledging the presence of the Russian man. But that was it, and Yao returned back to his own mind.
Ivan sighed. "I don't think he can actually work like this. Mr. Honda, what actually happened? Why is he like this?"
"He…He is just not feeling well today, Mr. Braginski;" Kiku answered, stammering. "I had suggested that he should just stay home, but he refused…"
"Yes." Suddenly Yao perked up. "I am fine and I will do my job. Thank you, Kiku."
His tone was signing that he wished for Kiku to shut up. And so, his manager followed. Ivan wondered what happened. His wonder was gone, though, when Yao appeared from the dressing room wearing the cloth for winter. It was a lamb skin jacket with fur, and a fur hat was covering Yao's head nicely. He looked so adorable in the winter gear.
The theme for the photo shoot was 'seasons'. Yao went back and forth wearing all four different seasons' outfit and posed in front of changing background scene. Ivan needed to admit that Yao was professional that day; he followed every single thing Ivan asked and even more. But somehow it felt like Yao was a mannequin instead of a man. There was no life inside Yao's golden eyes.
He was not satisfied, but he couldn't ask for more. Yao has followed every single wish he had, even the ridiculous ones, so he had no more to complaint. It was just the eyes. They weren't happy, they weren't friendly, they weren't inviting as usual. The eyes looked like a warning of don't come near him.
Albeit interesting on their own, the pictures were different from Yao's previous ones. And he couldn't deny how alluring Yao was. His cold stares made him even more intriguing.
"Okay, you may rest." Ivan signed the Chinese beauty to stop posing. Yao dropped his smile spontaneously and followed Kiku's guidance meekly. The Japanese manager looked like he was trying to handle Yao as if Yao could break anytime soon; this intrigued Ivan, very, very much.
So when Kiku finally left Yao to his own changing room, Ivan pulled Kiku aside. The bigger man pulled Kiku's arms harshly, pulling it until they were on the other side of the studio from where Yao's dressing room was. Once Ivan thought they were save from eavesdropper, the Russian asked Kiku sternly.
"Tell me what happened, da?"
"I am sorry?" Kiku paled, looking away. "That is Yao's private business, Mr. Ivan, so I cannot tell you."
"I am not asking you. I demand you to tell me, da."
"I am sorry, Mr. Braginski. This is Yao's own problem and I don't have the right to tell you anything about it. You should make Yao tell it to you himself."
"…Is it that bad, da?"
Kiku turned and watched Ivan's face closely. "One thing, Mr. Braginski. I warn you. He… He might be weird and an alien species in modelling world with his pride and stubbornness; you may think he was interesting to bully; however this is really a hard time for him. If you try to break him in any way, I will explain everything to Mr. Kirkland. I have the video proofing that you were harassing Yao last time."
"…You bark loud, Honda."
"And Mr. Kirkland is an easily jealous man." Kiku whispered coldly, cursing himself.
He had changed. From hating Yao to protecting him. Well, it couldn't be helped, with the recent death of his little brother and all, but Kiku was more worried than that. Yao haven't talked much since they departed from the pentagon. Even Arthur asked him to watch Yao closely, because the Chinese man looked like he was living in another dimension, ignoring the others.
Yes, Kiku needed to admit that he was worried about Yao too. Ivan looked like he was facing a bitter defeat and left the Japanese man alone.
He was wallowing inside his pain. No, not really wallowing. Just thinking that maybe it was all in vain. He was lost. What was he doing there? On the mirror, he could see his own reflection. And he looked dead.
His head hurt from all the crying. He cried like a child, silently hugging himself. He completely ignored Arthur, and he didn't even realize that Arthur hugged him the whole time. He didn't realize when Kiku came, but when Arthur told Kiku to cancel the day's job, Yao couldn't accept it. He worked for Arthur. He shouldn't be selfish and took two days off in a row. So he insisted that he needed to do his job, that he was ok. And his tears fried up when he was arguing. Maybe a bit of adrenaline rush was good to cover his morbid mood.
He knew he was being ridiculous. So Kaoru was dead. So what? It's wasn't like they had been brothers for long; they only spent a day together. And he was a practical man; not meeting a boy would cause nothing to his life. He was always alone anyway. So the reason why he was crying so hard in the morning was completely lost to him. The crying was just an impulse; he was just shocked from the sudden death.
He was fine. He should be fine. He always fine. He had been fine even when his mother died and he was left with nothing to feed himself with. He was fine. He was fine. All was good. He was still fine.
"We need you to come with us."
The sudden voice made Yao jumped from his seat. He just realized that there were three men in black suits that looked suspicious and out of place. They didn't look friendly either. And not surprisingly, Kiku wasn't inside the room either. Maybe he went out for lunch; maybe his Japanese manager was bored of his ridiculously embarrassing act. So Yao needed to gather himself soon.
"…Who are you?" Yao squeaked, hating his own voice to come out so weak. He sounded desperate, for God's sake. He was being weak. He was ridiculously affected by the sudden death of his brother. He was embarrassing himself.
"We need you to come with us."
"… And if I refuse?"
"We will force you to. No other way."
When he found nobody inside Yao's dressing room, Kiku started to panic.
He let Yao out of his sight for a few minutes and now he was gone. Yao was clearly not thinking, not the usual smart-ass Yao who knew his own responsibility. The current Yao was a lost child, who closed off everything. Kiku was afraid of the worst; maybe Yao was already out there somewhere, deciding to kill himself.
The image struck Kiku as impossible, but it was still scary and still possible. After all, Yao was not mentally stable. He was a boy with an iron wall around himself, never letting others to come in. Kiku saw how Yao treated his little brother the day before, and it was clear that Yao has included Kaoru as an 'inside person'. Now that Kaoru has died, Kiku was sure Yao would break from the mental pain. After all, he knew from Yao's CV that he was an orphaned child. Kiku also knew from Belgium that Yao wasn't the type who easily makes friends, just because he didn't want to get close to other people. So losing Kaoru just the day after Yao let him 'in' must be very hard for Yao.
And he would react in two possible condition: one, he would be closed off like what happened the whole morning; or two, Yao would erase all Kaoru's memory from his mind to be back to normal and the great iron wall guarding his feeling would be even harder to penetrate. If that happened, Kiku needed to say that Arthur was having quite a hard future in courting Yao.
And realizing it, Kiku smiled to himself. He was already moved on from Arthur. What a joke. Years of crush was crushed in a single week. Very strange indeed.
But it wasn't the time to reminisce his problems. What matters now is that Yao was missing, and he might be doing something foolish to himself.
Or maybe he would be gone forever.
If that was the case, then Kiku would receive the wrath of Arthur Kirkland. That doesn't sound like fun.
review to boost me up? i am in fragile mood, so I cannot handle flame yet. Please dont give me flame. Thank you so much.
Hasegawa.