Li: I'm so sorry I've taken so long in updating. Life got pretty tough but now I'm finally getting out of my dark little hole and finding some peace. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
Days crawled by on their stomach, making every painful minute last an eternity.
Max came to love Mondays, seeing as Josh had to leave to work. Sometimes, he'd
be gone for two days before coming home, drunk, angry and sex-deprived. Max
refused to eat the food that he was given until Josh literally force fed him,
then tied his hands behind his back to keep him from throwing up all over the
floor. Sometimes, Josh would bring some of his friends from work to have a
little 'fun' with his younger brother for a price. They treated him like an
object,not a human, but Max stopped caring long ago. He learned to take it
withoutmoving, screaming or crying. If he didn't stop them, then they'd get it
over with and he'd be free again. . .well. . .as free as you can be when you're
locked in a room. Adjoined to the room where Max stayed, was a bathroom with a
tub. He had to take baths after every job, not just because he wanted to, but
because his brother wouldn't get payed for pimping a dirty slut.
Max swirled his hands in the dirty water, thinking. Was he going to die here in
this hellhole? Most likely. He'd been planning an end for a while now. He would
break the window and slash his wrists with the glass. What better way? Well,
that or drown himself in the tub but he wanted his brother to have a mess to
clean up, something to do while worrying about where to get another slut. It had been three weeks. . .was Rei even looking for him? No.
All I had left was myself. . .heh. . .maybe not even that.
"Done yet?" Max didn't need to turn to know who it was. Max pulled the plug
from the bathtub and got up.
"Yes. . ." Josh frowned and touched his brother gently on the shoulder.Max
didn't even shy away.
"What's wrong with you now, Max? You don't even fight anymore." Max snorted and
grabbed a towel off the rack.
"Do you want to see your friends again?" Max froze.
"Why do you ask?" asked Max warily. Josh never offered anything unless there
was something in it for him.
"I think it'd be good for you. That and I can't stop thinking about that friend
of yours. The one with the long black hair. Can you imagine how much people
would pay for fucking a guy like him?" Max could barely believe his ears.
"You said you'd leave them alone!" argued Max. Josh grinned pervertedly and
inched a hand under Max's towel, stroking his upper thigh. Max's head bowed but
he didn't turn away. It wasn't worth the pain.
"Well, if nothing else, it'll make you more lively and probably give you more
fight for when we come back here." Said Josh. His hand rested at Max's groin
before squeezing painfully hard. Max cried out and stumbled back. Josh laughed
coldly and tossed Max some clean clothes.
"Get changed. We're going back home."
Japan
Rei was trying hard to read his book but no matter how much he concentrated on
the letters, they just didn't make sense to him right now. He put it down with a
sigh before going downstairs and into the living room.
"Have they found Max yet?" asked Rei. Tyson shook his head sadly. He had lost
most of his appetite when he found out that Max was missing. Tyson was just a
ghost of what he had once been, watching TV and sleeping. Kenny had become
almost completely absorbed with his laptop, trying to find any way to locate Max
or his brother. It turned out that Joshua had been suspended from his job due to
sexual harassment and the address he was registered under wasn't even a real
place.
Kai was sitting down next to Tyson, his arm around Tyson's waist. He hugged him
gently before getting up.
"Tyson, why don't you help Kenny make dinner." Said Kai. Tyson nodded numbly
before getting up and going into the kitchen. Rei bit his lip guiltily, his eyes
avoiding Kai's crimson ones.
". . .I guess I really messed up. . ." said Rei. "I chased him away." Rei tried
to hold back his tears but found that it was getting harder with every word.
"It's not your fault." Said Kai quietly. "I can't help but feel that it was
Joshua, not you that caused this." Rei nodded, though his eyes betrayed his
shame.
"Rei, I-" Kai started but was interrupted by the doorbell. Sighing, he turned
but was stopped by Rei.
"I'll get it, it's alright." He said, wiping away the tears. Rei went to the
door and opened it. Emily was standing outside, pale and tightlipped. She smiled
weakly, though it was easy to see that she hadn't been sleeping much.
"H-Hello Rei, I. . .me and the Allstars. . .we just wanted to. Can I come in?"
Rei nodded and let Emily inside. Her hands were clutching a basket, covered in a
blue checkered cloth. She winced when she smelled whatever Kenny was burning.
"I made muffins. I figured you'd have other things on your mind besides
cooking." Said Emily. Rei smiled and took the basket from Emily.
"Thanks. . .we haven't really been all that into cooking lately." Said Rei. Emily nodded sadly.
"Judy's been. . .very quiet. Michael has taken over her duties and such but he's having a tough time without her. We all are. None of us really know Max well in person but Judy used to talk about him a lot." Said Emily. Rei went into the kitchen, Emily behind him. He pulled back the checkered cloth to see chocolate chip muffins and a loaf of olive bread.
"Wow, thank you Emily. I didn't know you could cook." Said Rei, emptying the basket and placing all of the baked goods into a bowl. Emily grinned.
"I can't. Steve can." She said. Tyson wandered over and looked at the food before leaving. Emily watched him and sighed.
"I don't think I've ever seen him turn down food before." Emily said, looking at the doorway that he'd gone out of. "Well, I have to go. Michael is waiting outside for me in the car. I know Max will come back and he'll be all right." Emily hugged Rei before going out the door. Rei picked at a chocolate chip muffin, thinking. His eyes flicked to the basket that Emily had left behind. Grumbling, he grabbed it and opened the door. Gasping, he stepped back, shocked.
"M-Max?"