Behavior Problems
"I don't wanna go." The little boy stood still, his little body draped in kimono and his little hands clenched tightly together. His head was bowed, his eyes looked straight to the floor. "I don't wanna go," he said once more, and his mother grasped his arm harshly and knelt down next to him.
"How dare you. You have to go. He's summoned you. He wants you."
"Please—" he begged again, but his mother gave him a soft slap and he was stricken into silence.
"You will go." She said hard and slow so that he'd hear every syllable. She stared down the small tears that had begun to creep out of the corner of his eyes, defying them to call forth any more.
"Where is he!" came the wild shout from down the hall. The little boy, still in the grip of his mother, looked down the hall, his eyes wide and unfocused. He began to tremble.
"Master Akito," said worried voices from the end of the hall, "he's coming. We promise he's coming." A maid appeared, rushed to meet the mother and her terrified boy. She urged them, "Please, master Akito wants him right now. Please hurry!" The mother took her boy and flung him towards the maid.
"I'm sorry," she began, "he was just having a bit of a…behavior problem. He's ready to go now." And she turned her back on him and left. The young boy watched his mother walk away as he was brought down to the room at the end of the hall. His lip quivered and his hands shook. The maid flung open the door, and pushed him in.
The slender form of a dark-haired child was silhouetted against the walls of the dark room. The form shifted, turned to greet the newcomer.
"Yuki," Akito said quietly, but the child's eyes were dark and wild, "what took you so long?"