AN/ This'll be a good chapter. Tee hee!
BANG BANG BANG!
The front door bellowed from the outside with much force. Shuichi was just about to head on to bed until the obnoxious sound resonated throughout their tiny home. Grumpily, he dragged his feet to the door and mumbled under his breath about 'who in the heck is it' and whatnot. Once he opened it, the boy's mouth dropped as he stuttered out…
"Ai-Aizawa-san! Wh-what are you…?"
"I've come to collect your pay, boy. And make it quick. My shift was over long ago until I picked up your family's record and saw that I hadn't collected your tax yet."
Ah, yes. The city of Arbaphem's "beloved" head tax collector. Taki Aizawa. He was absolutely detested among the poorer folk and some say that he even has a black hole for a heart. The man's words would stick to you like pins and needles in a sewing cushion; they caused fear whenever he presented himself at people's houses. Two guards were always attached to his hips if anyone tried to pull something on him. And it seemed that every time he visited, the tax rate would rise a few shillings or so (in other words… he cheats them out of more money so he can get the extra that was left over). Aizawa was truly a rotten man with no compassion for other people's lives or problems. Around the suburbs, he was known as "Aizawa the Demon". When he graced his presence upon the outskirts of town, the women would bring their children inside for safety. Some of the families actually interpreted that he might be a real demon. That's just how cruel and merciless he was…
"Well Shindou? Are you going to stand there gawking like a fool, or are you getting my money?" He raised a carnivorous eyebrow.
"Oh! Ummm… please wait a minute, sir." Shuichi trembled under his cold gaze and darted off to find the money they had saved for this certain visit. The 19 year old looked his dresser, up on his shelves, under his pillow, in his closet….nothing. "Kuso… where has that money gone to!" If he didn't give it to Aizawa soon, there would be big trouble for him and his family. And then, like a lightning bolt to water, it struck him. "That book. The money was inside of it." Poor Shuichi Shindou had absent mindedly forgotten to take out the paper money and shillings inside of the book he recently returned to Hiro. The boy had been substituting it as a bookmark and now it was at the local library, already checked out by who knows what, the money probably already gone. "SHIMATA!" He yelled unintentionally loud. 'What'll I do, what'll I do! Mom's gonna kill me! Gyaa, I've got bigger problems than that! If I tell Aizawa, he'll flip and take one of us instead… just like last time….' Shuichi droned off for a moment at the sad memory of his loving father being dragged away by the guards to the King's castle. That scene would be engraved in his mind forever, no matter how hard he tried to forget it.
"Hey! Shindou! I'm waiting! Where's the money!" The tax collector shouted into the house.
"Crap! He's gonna wake mom! And that's the last thing I need right now!" The boy rushes back to the entrance of their cottage, but before he could get there, Mrs. Shindou was already in front of Mr. Aizawa and asking…
"What's going on? Oh! Aizawa-san! What are you doing here so late at night?" She acted polite as possible, but her son knew that on the inside, she was shaking with shaking with fright.
"I've come to collect. And your son doesn't seem to be cooperating at the moment to my request. I would like to head home and SLEEP, ma'am. Will you tell him to hurry it along?" He spat at her harshly, which made Shuichi's blood boil.
"Huh? Oh, Shuichi dear. I didn't see you there. Have you got the money for him?" She asked with a tinge of worry in her voice.
The boy didn't know what to say or do. He was trapped. If he told them no, then they would most likely take someone away again. If he lied and said yes….. Well, looked like there was only one thing to do.
"N….." He had a tough time admitting it. "No. No, I don't. I l-lost it." He bowed his head in shame. His mother gasped, but Aizawa just stood there, emotionless as he ever was.
"I see." He scowled.
"Please! I beg you! Let me have time to recover it! I know where it is. If you just give me time to-"
"Time! I don't have time for you to make your mary way to wherever you obliviously left it and give it to me! It's either now or never. Which is it!"
"B-but, we have no more money!"
"Well then. It looks like we'll have to go through the same routine again. Just like a few months ago." He narrowed his eyes evilly.
"No, please. Not again! We'll do anything!" Mrs. Shindou pleaded with all of her being, getting on her knees in mercy.
"The only thing you will do is work in the King's service until that debt is paid off." Aizawa raised his fingers to snap for the guards to take action.
"Mmm…" Maiko rubbed her eyes and blinked groggily. "Mom? Shuichi? What's going on?" She asked, still drowsy from getting out of bed.
"Ahhh… the little Shindou girl. She'll do nicely. The King needs more females anyway. She could be of some "use" to him.
"Huh?" She realized who was at the door.
"No! Not Maiko!" The mother begged, standing up.
SNAP
The guards barged into the cottage, taking Maiko Shindou by the arms and pulling her outside onto the dirt path.
"Wha! No! Mommy! Brother!" She kicked and screamed with all her might.
"Please! Don't take my baby away!" She grabbed onto her daughter's night gown in a desperate attempt to stop them, but one of the men wrenched her hands away and slapped her to the ground. Shuichi's eyes burned with tears of fire as he lunged at the guards and tried to release his sister out of their grasp.
Dust covered the gypsy wagon's tracks as the young novelist made his way down the dirty path. It was too dark to see where the wheel prints were anymore, so he thought that he might as well find a nearby inn to stay at for the night. The shadow stained woods gave him a butterfly feeling in the pit of his stomach, which indicated that he was becoming inspired to write some more of his new book he was working on. Half-leaved branches stretched their limbs out far, arching overhead and creating splashes of moon shine on the road that looked like a shattered path of glass. The platinum moon was so bright that it would even make the brightest of stars jealous. As the man walked, he noticed that the naked ground had silhouettes carved into its surface, emitting from the sliver linen clouds above. Each stroke of light fell prey to the curves of every object that it caressed, sending delightful shivers down the author's spine. This was a perfect night for story writing, and soon he hoped to take advantage of Kami's given time to jot down more of his novel. There was an opening out of the tunnel of trees up ahead where he was most likely to see dozens upon dozens of stars. Eagerly, the blonde strolled out of the ghastly forest and entered a large clearing where a few small homes resided. He cringed at the atrocious way they were kept, but knew this was the poorer region of town, so he kept his pace steady and passed them by.
A little further down the pale dirt street, the author's ears pricked up as the sound of yelling and screaming came to his sensitive ears. It sounded like a fight, or a mother shouting at her child, so he decided to check it out since it was the thing that had interrupted his thoughts. But once he got to the source of the noise, he started to become wary of the fact that this was no ordinary fight. In the distance, two men were trying to carry off a young girl in front of a rundown shack while what looked like he mother and a… pink haired boy?… were struggling to free her from the two gentlemen's grasp. He heard the older woman yell…
"Please! Don't take my baby away!" He saw her snatch at the girl's dress, but was slapped away by one of the men. Suddenly, the young boy leaped at the girl's captors and started hitting them so they'd let go of her. Whatever this tussle was, the novelist knew it wasn't good. Instead of walking away (like he usually would) his good mood got to him, and he walked over casually to see if he could be of any assistance (hopefully he wouldn't have to get physical. He just had his outfit cleaned a few days ago).
"Let her go!" Shuichi yelled as he bit one of the guards hands, causing him to drop Maiko and shake out the pain. He then tried to snap at the next man, but was roughly backhanded away, leaving his sister attempting to rip her arm out of his hold.
"Stop it! Let go!" She screamed while wriggling away from the guard, but his death grip was much stronger.
Yet again, Shuichi grabbed hold of the other guard and clawed at his face. "Get away!" He flared.
"Ouch! Why you…"
"Take him to if he's troubling you!" Aizawa informed throughout the chaos.
"No! Don't!" Mrs. Shindou got up to reach for her now struggling son and daughter.
"Silence, wench!" One of the guards raised his hands to strike her again, but when it came down, another hand had grabbed it at the wrist and stopped it clear in its path. "What the-!" The man turned around to find demonic saffron eyes penetrating his own. Each golden orb seemed to be leaking out "danger". Still finding enough composure to have a firm grip on the girl, he asked bitterly, "And who are you!"
"No one you'd know." The blonde said stoically.
"What do you want?" Aizawa asked in a monotone voice.
"I happened to be taking a nightly stroll when this terrible ruckus came to my ears. I came over to see what it was about."
"This affair does not concern you. I suggest you leave."
"Why? Is this some kind of crime in the making? Because, if so, I could always tell the royal court what went on here…" He threatened.
"Ha! Fool. I AM part of the King's court. I'm a highly respected tax collector if you didn't know. I came here to collect this family's pay, and they give me nothing. Therefore I must take them to the King for judgment." He stated calmly. Maiko and Shuichi stared at the unknown stranger, gaining a spark of hope that they were going to get out of this.
"Is that all this struggle is about?" The foreigner asked in disbelief.
"Yes. Now, like I said, this does not concern you, so you might as well be on your way." He let out a small laugh and folded his arms. Just as the Shindou's thought all hope was lost, the stranger spoke up again.
"Oh. But this has everything to do with me. You see, I am a close relative to these people. I am a cousin to this mother's children." The group went wide-eyed at him. He was lying to the tax collector! A crime, that if you were caught for, would send you straight to jail.
"Oh really? Prove it. What is this family's name?" Aizawa asked smugly.
If it weren't for the name on the mail box, the blonde didn't think he could've gotten it. "The Shindou family."
"Okay. Then what's the girl's name?" The tax collector asked a little more brutally.
"Maiko Shindou." He knew because he heard the mother call her name during the fight.
"How about the boy's?"
"Shuichi Shindou." Same reason.
"Hn." Aizawa growled under his breath. "Alright then. So what if you're family. We're still taking them to the castle." He sneered.
Shuichi breathed in sharply. How would they find a way out of this situation. 'Aw man. This is all my fault… if I hadn't left that stupid money in that stupid book, we wouldn't be in this jam. What'll I do?' He mentally berated himself over and over again, until…
"I'll pay for them."
"What!" The boy looked up sharply and saw the honesty in the traveler's eyes. Was this total stranger actually going to pay their taxes!
"You'll what!" Aizawa snapped.
"I said… I'll. Pay. For. Them. Need I say it in another language?"
The tax collector skimmed the rule book in his head. Was there a policy against that?………no. Damn it! Now what?"
"I suggest…" The blonde strode over to the man. "…that you except this pay." He slapped down the right amount of money into the befuddled Aizawa's hand. "Now leave."
AN/ Wooo! It's getting really good, don't you think? Please REVIEW!