Set My Love Free
Chapter One: Akito-sama!
By: Enchanted Pink Jade
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In the basement of his home, Hayama Akito coughed as a heavy layer of filth danced around his face. The place had never been touched since his mother died giving birth to him. She had specialized in the making of perfume. The basement was where she usually worked, for it was filled with just about every product she had made and sold along with some unfinished items. Tools and ingredients were strewn about everywhere. And then there was a small wine-rack filled with wine bottles that dated 50 years before Akito was born. This belonged to his father.
This was what Akito had to work with. Natsumi, his sister didn't need any of the perfume, and his father didn't want to deal with it.
"Akito! Make sure you clean up everything!" Natsumi yelled down the stairs. "I'm leaving for work now!"
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered unhappily. Why do I get stuck with the job of cleaning this... this... stuff? Akito first examined everything before sorting out in his mind which ones he would do first. Then he snorted in disgust, a mistake on his part because it caused him to inhale a large amount of dust.
Ugh... might as well get this over with. I'll start with the perfume.
After cleaning for about an hour and 35 minutes, the phone rang. Akito wiped his hands on a clean rag and bounded up the stairs into the main part of the house to answer the phone.
"Hello? Who the hell is this? And what the fuck do you want?" he said into the phone.
"Heh... As kind as ever, I see."
Akito rolled his eyes. "Tsuyoshi..."
"Nani? What is it?"
"Why did you call?" Akito asked exasperatedly. Sometimes Tsuyoshi could be so slow...
"Oh! Haha. Right. About that-"
"I'm hanging up."
"Wait! Akito! It's just that m--"
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Tsuyoshi stared at the phone in his hands as he listened to the annoying beep that signaled that no one was on the other end. Sugita Aya, his girlfriend, opened the door of the phone booth and asked him what was wrong.
He looked from her and to the phone once before answering. "He... hung up on me..."
Aya laughed. It was exactly something Akito would do. "Is that all? Then call him again," she suggested.
"Okay, I will. He needs some fresh air to clear his mind anyways."
"Good."
"..." Tsuyoshi felt around in his pocket for change, only to find that he had none.
Aya looked at him, confused since he hadn't called back yet. "Well? What are you waiting for?"
Tsuyoshi blushed and laughed sheepishly. "Eheheh... Could you lend me some change? I'm all out."
Aya sighed wearily as she handed him the correct amount. "You are such a goofball, Tsuyoshi. But you're my goofball." She then stepped closer and kissed him on the cheek.
Dumbstruck, Tsuyoshi stood there motionless, even as Akito answered the phone. Only when he heard Akito's threat of hanging up once again did he snap out of it.
"Akito!"
"What the... Tsuyoshi. What the hell do you want from me? This isn't a sex line-"
"I have Aya--!"
"You mean that the two of you have been getting it on?"
"No! I mean that I already have a girlfriend." Tsuyoshi's head started to spin at the thought of Akito's suggestion. "I don't need that."
"Will you just get to the point already? Having a girlfriend is nothing to brag about. I have one, too."
"Yeah, like I didn't know. She's here with us now."
"Who is?"
Tsuyoshi calmly counted to 10 before he answered. "Fuka, of course. Who else?"
"Why?"
"We're here, just hangin' out. She bumped into Aya, and then some other of our classmates showed up-"
"Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"That's what I've been trying to do!"
"I see how it is. Just exclude me from everything that you people do..."
"Shut up already! It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. We're at 'Hama Sushi'. You know, the little restaurant that Fuka's uncle owns."
"Sure. I'll be there after I clean up some more."
"Fine, take your time. Bye."
"Bye."
Tsuyoshi breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the booth. Talking to Akito wasn't as easy as the task was supposed to be.
A shoulder-length, raven-haired girl approached him tentatively, eyes hopeful. "Is he coming?"
"Huh? Oh, Fuka. Yeah, he's coming."
He watched as she jumped in joy. "Great! I'll go tell my uncle to make his favorites!" She ran back through the front doors. Tsuyoshi smiled at her enthusiasm. Fuka was a nice girl. She was the exact opposite from what he thought Akito would choose for a girlfriend, though he was relieved that what he thought was wrong. Fuka would be able to keep his I-don't-care-about-rules friend in line.
Tsuyoshi glimpsed to his right, and saw Aya approaching. "He's coming."
"I know. Fuka told me. Come on, let's wait for him inside."
"Hai."
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Akito looked down at the perfume bottle in his hand. He had just finished cleaning the dust off as Tsuyoshi called for the second time. The bottle had a peculiar look and somehow was different from all the others. Mom couldn't have made this. He examined it closer, trying to look for a manufacturer, but found none. All he saw were unfamiliar markings at the bottom:
επιθυμία
Not wanting to dwell on it anymore than he had too, he placed it down near the phone and headed for his room, prepared to tackle the showers.
All the while... the bottle's cap unsealed itself as a white gaseous substance slowly seeped out from the opening and onto the floor. It soon materialized into the form of a girl looking weary. Being a Genie trapped in a bottle, one never knows when the next Master will come along. In this case... about a couple of thousands of years.
With her eyes still closed, she bowed low in respect and spoke in an unknown language.
"Mher tuva Sana. Het de... Ara?" She looked up, ready to meet her new master when there was no one in sight. She huffed and balled her fists onto her hips. Usually, the humans who've found her couldn't wait for her to grant their deepest wishes. She would oblige, give them what they wanted (no questions asked), and go back inside to wait for the next master to come along. Fun wasn't exactly what she'd call it, but completely ignoring her was even worse.
She took no time in inspecting her new surroundings, and merely followed the source of the sounds that she was hearing at the moment. It sounded like water... almost like rain that had an echoing quality. Well, whatever it was, the Genie was pretty sure that that's where her new Master should be.
She stepped through a door and... Wait. Was it even a door? So square it was in shape, and why did the flat, woodened object swing back and fourth? How was it that the color was pure white? Perhaps it came from a Holy tree. Maybe this Master had great powers.
What she saw when she stepped in amazed and frightened her simultaneously. She turned and gasped, for there was already a female standing right there in front of her. But the girl looked as unsure and cared as she. The Genie took a step closer, before she realized that she was looking at an image of herself. How bizarre!
Next, she saw another... person. Was it Master? She wanted to get a better look, for the image she saw was blurred and indiscernible. Master seemed to be preoccupied at the moment, as little mutterings could be heard. Steam rose from the wall that the person appeared to be enclosed in. Suddenly, the echoing rain stopped. The wall slid slightly to the left and a hand slipped out to reach for something... The girl obliged by pushing the white piece of cloth that was soft to the touch. It, along with the hand disappeared inside the sliding wall.
This person was her new master. She knew because the hands had been glowing. Hands that have touched the bottle from whence she came. Then she realized that her Master was about to step out, so she panicked. While her training and binding contract all dictate that she must greet her Master with the utmost respect, even when that person was the lowest scum of the earth. Instead, turned around, ran, and hid.
A full ten minutes passed as she waited. Finally, her Master stepped out, fully clothed in the strangest robes she had ever seen. And her Master was a male- again.
"I need money. Where's my wallet?" She now watched as he counted flimsy pieces of paper. Could it be that… he didn't know about her? And that he wasn't ignoring her? Following him was the only way to find out.
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Frowning with concern, Fuka looked to Akito who sat across from her. He'd been jumpy sine the time he'd arrived, and it didn't seem like he was paying them any attention at all.. "aki, is there something wrong?"
Akito blinked his eyes into focus, and turned his head towards Fuka. "Iie. Nothing's wrong."
"It's because of the way you're dressed, Matsui." Fuka turned to Gomi, who had spoken.
"And what's wrong with the way I'm dressed?" Fuka looked down at the simple clothes she'd donned on: a sleeves shirt with a V-neckline and a skirt.
He snickered. "Nothing's wrong with it. Right now Akito is dumbstruck. But next time, he'll probably be thinking about you in a bad, bad way. Ne, Akito? Kazuyuki, you agree with me, right?" Fuka rolled her eyes and laughed when Hisae punched him in the arm.
Akito chose this time to break his silence. "Do you see that girl?" Everyone nor turned to the direction that he pointed out.
Tsuyoshi, seeing nothing, asked, "Ne… what girl do you mean?"
"The one with the freaky looking clothes of every color, like she's Houdini's wife or something. Blue, purple, pink, green, yellow, red. The whole goddamn rainbow. Look, she's waving at me now! Don't you see?"
All he received were blank stares. Aki pointed to something over Fuka's shoulder. They all looked, and saw nothing but a tall plant sitting in a corner. What he saw was a girl his age standing next to a plant, grinning at him.
Tsuyoshi, next to him, felt for a temperature. "Akito, are you feelin' alright? Maybe you should have stayed home."
Akito roughly slapped his friends' hand away and scowled. "I'm fine! I'm not seeing things. She's right there! Just look!"
Once again, they all looked, but saw nothing.
"Akito, I think you should go home," Aya said after a moment's silence.
"Fine." Akito angrily stood up and threw some money onto the table.
Fuka stood up as well. "I'll walk with you-"
"Don't bother."
The small group watched the irritated figure disappear out of sight.
Gomi cleared his throat. "Don't worry, Matsui. He's just having one of those mood swings. He'll be fine. Or maybe you befuddled his mind so much that he can't think straight."
"I hope that's all," Fuka whispered to herself, as Gomi was given another sound beating.
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Akito stopped in his tracks and glanced around. That feeling was there again. Someone was following him. He knew it had to be that girl from the restaurant. From the time he'd left his home, no matter where he looked, she'd be right there in his peripheral vision. And she always looked straight at him as if she was trying to figure him out.
He then resumed his trek home, but at a slower pace. Throughout that time, he tried to inconspicuously catch his stalker. At every turn, he'd look back over his shoulder and peek from the corner of his eyes. Still he didn't see her. Was she trying to piss him off? Because if she was, it her efforts were paying off.
"Where the hell are you?" I know you're out there! Come out!" Akito screamed to no one in particular. A couple of stared from people told him that he'd been a little too loud, but he didn't care. They rushed passed him, not wanting to get involved with a loony.
"Mommy? Who's that guy yelling at?" Akito glanced at the little girl who'd spoke as the mother turned her away.
"Don't look at him, honey. It might disturb him more." He growled under his breath before continuing on home.
"Darn it. Hey you! Yeah, you with the ugly face! Got a staring problem? Mind your own business. Nosy punk."
And that's when he heard it. A small, tinkling kind of laughter, directed towards him. He looked around, and still saw no one. What was wrong with him? Was he really going crazy? Nah… couldn't be it. All he needed was some sleep. Then everything would be fine.
If only he'd looked up. He would have seen his 'stalker', floating above his head and giggling at his expense. Her eyes were dancing with her laughter and mischief. Master was so funny! Even when she couldn't understand what he was saying. She knew the language. She just had to dig a little deeper within herself to find which one.
She looked down at him. He was now entering the dwelling place she had been in earlier. She followed him into what seemed to be his bedchambers. The Genie watched as Master went straight to sleep for the night. His breathing evened out, and she knew he'd fallen asleep. She noted the difference in his expression. Awake, he'd looked so intense and tough. But asleep, his eyes softened, no more of that crease in his eyebrows, and the frown disappeared.
After awhile, she was bored of watching him sleep and decided to explore the rest of the place, to become familiar with her new surroundings.
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Akito, slowly drifting away from dreamland, opened his eyes… only to see close up another pair staring right back at him.
"Aaaaagh!"
And he fell off the bed.
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Author's Note: Hehehe… Just something different from the usual Kodocha fics, don't you think? This was just something that I've been toying with. Dunno how long it'll be before I continue. This might become another story in my graveyard book, along with the many others I haven't finished. But I WILL continue, just to let you know.
Until next time, sometime…
Enchanted Pink Jade