Empty Promises
A/U They swore they would always stay together. Though the raging fever that threatened to kill Makkusu, through Rei's former gang stalking them, through Takao's serious injuries, through Kyojiu's disappearance and through the times of famine, drought, revolution. Then the police caught Kai one day, and that all changed…
A/N: Okay, this takes place in, like, really old times. Before electricity and cars and phones and all that jazz. As far as I know, Max's Japanese pronunciation is Makkusu, so I'm keeping it that way. And what's Kenny's again: Kyojiu????? If I don't find it by the time I'm ready to upload, I'm keeping it as Kyojiu. Oh, and
NO YAOI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem. Now that that's done.
DISCLAIMER: I own virtually nobody.
Chapter 1
The Remembering Time
"Hey, whose turn is it tonight?" a dismal voice asked from the far corner of the slave quarters.
"I think it was Blue's turn." another voice answered.
"Not possible. Blue's been sold."
"Well, then, it would be Outsider's."
"All right, Outsider, what's your story?"
Outsider, as he was called, propped himself up on his elbows, head in his hands. He could see Red, as he was called, sitting up against the wall, wrapped in his ratted blanket. From the other side, another few slaves whose nicknames he couldn't remember were all looking at him. Or at least in his general direction.
In fact, he had trouble remembering his own real name. He had been here for nearly two months now. He was Outsider, slave in the House of Demario.
"Well, Outsider?" Pup asked. "It's your turn to remember."
Outsider was silent until Red spoke up. "Hey, Outsider, what's it like… outside? You know, for free people?"
"The market square," Quiver said. "What's the market square like?"
Suddenly, the entire crammed quarters were alive with slaves scrambling to ask Outsider questions about the free world. All these guys were born slaves. Even the oldest ones were slaves all their lives.
Outsider was silent for a few seconds more when he said, "Kai. My name was Kai."
"Well, Kai, what about school?" Little Guy asked. "You know how Master Demario's son hates school. Is it really as bad as he makes it out to be?"
"Fruit," Dreamer sighed. "Fresh fruit. Not the spoiled stuff they give us. Fresh apples and oranges and pears and berries and—"
"Stop!" Red moaned, clutching his stomach. "We get the idea!"
"Swimming," Little Guy continued. "What was swimming like?"
"Fresh bread. Soft bread. Tasty bread. The bread Master Demario and his son eat every day."
"Dreamer," Red groaned.
"Living in a house." Quiver added. "Not a slimy old root cellar like this."
"Sugar. Candy. Chocolate. Spices."
"DREAMER!"
"Freedom." Pup sighed, adequately summing up all the questions. "Why would anybody give it up?"
"Nobody in their right mind would," Outsider answered softly. "But I guess my future had other ideas about that."
"What was it like, outside, for you, Outsider?" Dreamer asked.
"How'd you end up here, any way?" Red asked, still glaring at Dreamer from across the room.
Outsider was silent again for a minute before he got swept back into his life as Kai…