2
After passing through the deep and unrelenting anguish, Kazuhiko reached for his sake bottle and downed half of the contents. The usual enjoyment of the beverage dimmed at the mere thought of Ayase's suffering. His mental image of a pained foreigner stayed in his thoughts. The sudden onslaught from the alcohol caused him to sway, but he caught himself before he fell on his side. His glare stopped Kei from getting up and assisting him.
Kei uttered out in shock. "Boss-"
Kazuhiko waved off Kei's concerns. "I'm fine. Ayase seems to have calmed down." Rubbing his face with his hand, he ignored the pang of pain from the gauze brushing against his knuckles. "He might have fallen asleep. It's the best he can hope for, for now." Rolling his shoulders, he said. "Fuck. I never imagined a pain this intense. I hope I never transferred none of mine onto him."
Memories of his constant fights in high school resurfaced in his mind. He suffered hits and cuts to his back on a daily basis. Puberty and proving himself as untouchable, urged him to behave in a reckless way. His stupidity resulted in trips to Kei's sparse medical wing. The scars on his hands showed his lack of care for himself.
To know that he might have exchanged pain with his soulmate caused him to feel immense guilt. He went through life without thinking about inflicting pain to prove his status, but possibly inflicted pain onto his soulmate.
Kei shook his head. "Boss, you only felt these intense emotions through touching the mark. I'm certain Yukiya-sama felt none of your past digressions."
"Here's hoping." Kazuhiko fixed up his yukata to cover himself. "This doesn't make the knowledge any less infuriating. He should be here. With me."
"I know, boss." Kei looked down at the tatami mat. "Should I inform Matsuda to expand his search?"
Kazuhiko snorted. "Knowing that guy, he would have already done it and is waiting on me to ask." He moved the sake jug away from him before he knocked it onto the ground. "I want Ayase found as soon as possible. But, don't let the ones outside my circle to know about this dilemma. Better yet, make sure the underlings who accompanied you keep their mouths shut."
Kei looked up before he snorted. "I treat their wounds every single day, they will have no choice but to follow my orders. Pardon, your orders, Boss."
"Damn straight." Kazuhiko nodded to Kei. "Thank you for your report."
Kei got up on his feet before he nodded. "It is of no issue, Boss." Placing his hand into his pocket, he swore in his head for having forgotten the last part of his report. Removed the thick paper from his pocket, he presented the photo to Kazuhiko's eyes. "Forgive me. I forgot I kept this in my pocket. Matsuda sent me an email which contained the photo. I thought it best to give you a better visual of Yukiya-san."
Kazuhiko's eyes locked onto the image of a smiling young man with a tender smile. Slowly taking it out of Kei's hands, he absorbed the features of his soulmate. The way Kei described his soulmate didn't do him justice. If anything, Kei left out the fact that Yukiya Ayase appeared almost angelic. Untainted and pure.
"You...are forgiven. Nothing to forgive. I-" Kazuhiko stared at the photo in awe. "Damn."
Kei rolled his eyes. "You Honda men are a romantic bunch. I'll leave you and the photograph alone."
Kazuhiko waved him off, his eyes never strayed from the photo. "Yeah, uh...go handle some idiots or something. Make it painful so they can dodge better."
"No issue." Kei huffed a breath of amusement before bowing one more time and left the room.
Sitting in front of his brother, Haruhiko, Kazuhiko looked through his newest test scores. Almost perfect scores. No surprise there. Remembering his own shit grades made him laugh in fondness. His little brother far surpassed their late father's expectations and made sure to keep the headaches to a minimum. Haruhiko was the type of son who went on to enter a great university and land a great job. He expected his brother to enter the legal business ventures of their family. A safer venture then becoming his right hand in the underground public.
In fact, he encouraged his brother to divert from the yakuza in order to keep a semblance of peace. Sure, his legal business portion of the day had their troubles, but it was better than a bullet or a stab to the side. For his own peace of mind, he preferred to see Haruhiko in an office space. Far away from the dealings he inherited from their father.
But, the reality of the matter came through the expectation of Haruhiko keeping close to the family business. His older family members waited for Haruhiko to premiere into their circles. The legal business would soothe their commentary.
Haruhiko and Kazuhiko sat in one of the entertainment rooms of the manor. A private room in a wing away from the main area which contained most of their underlings. Many of who, didn't know this different side of their leader. His father always told him to never show his real self to their underlings. Only a select few saw him outside of the cold and heartless persona.
Tales of undercover members of other gangs infiltrated the yakuza happened on a constant basis. Meaning, his personality never strayed from the heartless side of himself that he concocted in high school. Haruhiko isolated himself on purpose to prevent anyone from attempting to befriend him for revenge purposes. His own experience in having a friend betray him, prompted a good example for his brother to follow.
Good thing they found their soulmates. Somehow, fate gave them the opportunity to have a blip of happiness in their lives. Other than each other, they attained the two people who would never betray them for anything in the world.
Reaching over their plate of snacks, he handed the paper into his brother's hands. "Number two, huh?"
Haruhiko grinned. "I had to show off a bit this midterm. The teachers leave me alone for the most part. Academic enough not to get lectures, but not number one. Number one is the one who gets the accolades and being put in the spotlight for answers. It helps that Serinuma is a study freak, he never misses a question. So, I'm safe from ever hitting number one."
Kazuhiko picked up a handful of peanuts and ate them while rolling his eyes. "When he eventually breaks down for making a mistake, let me know. These types of students tend to break down before the end of the year."
"Aniki." Haruhiko tried to hide his chuckle through grabbing his own peanuts. "How rude."
"I knew a Serinuma once. A stiff nerdy type who studied all the time, but was reckless in social situations." Kazuhiko laid down onto the tatami floor in order to reach for his mug of tea. "He ended up calling one of the yakuza kids a dumbass and got his ass beat. The teachers and principal slammed their fist on the rest of us became he was the prized student who brought prestige to the school. I didn't condone their stupidity, they should have known better."
Haruhiko nodded his head. "This is one of the reasons I stay clear from the other yakuza kids or the wannabe delinquents. I'd rather not be pushed into their messes when I'm trying to keep my head out of the waters."
Transitioning into a brief bout of silence, Kazuhiko laid back onto his back. Putting his hands underneath his head, he waited a moment longer before he broke the silence. "Good news."
"Aniki?"
Kazuhiko informed him. "I found my soulmate."
Haruhiko's eyes sparkled at the news. Ever since he was small, he found his soulmate through a meeting with another yakuza family. His accidental touch of her hand while playing with a bouncy ball bonded them for life. He found her tolerable before their soulmarks transformed that his world didn't end in that moment. She didn't push him around or behaved bratty like the other girls he encountered.
The crescent moon on his ribs was completed with an image of a sun. Her sun. Their contrasting personalities complemented one another to where they understood one another in a deeper level. Their similar family business bonded them even further. This revelation became a sure way to push an alliance between the Haruno family and the Honda family. Tying them together through marriage and fate.
The position of their soulmark made it possible to hide with a simple bandage. Dab in the middle of his left ribs, right under his chest. Anyone who saw him change into his gym clothes didn't see his soulmark, but the bandage. With his self isolation, no one dared to ask about his mark or even look at his direction.
His brother, the heir and now leader, kept his back covered at all times. In the hot springs, Kazuhiko wore a thin long sleeve white shirt to cover his tattoos and his soulmark. A pain in the ass, but soulmarks remained private and personal. Besides, such a visible mark made it easier for his soulmate to become a target. The underground didn't allow for weakness to go unnoticed and unchallenged.
A wonder their families never thought to send them overseas for their education.
"That's great!" Haruhiko sat up straighter with a huge grin. "What's their name?"
"Yukiya Ayase."
"Oh... so an outsider from the yakuza." Haruhiko's eyebrows rose at the unfamiliar last name. "I wasn't expecting that."
"Trust me, I didn't expect it either. Kei found him recently and gave me a photograph." Kazuhiko's frown transformed into an amused smile. "He's...far more beautiful than I dreamed of."
"More beautiful than mom?" Haruhiko teased.
"He has a foreigner's type of beauty." Kazuhiko explained. "He's half Japanese. Took more of a European appearance, blond hair, blue eyes, but his eyes are almond shaped."
Haruhiko scooted closer to Kazuhiko and poked his side. "When will I meet him? You can't keep him hidden from the family for long."
Kazuhiko sat up and breathed through his nose. "He's in trouble. In far more trouble than I ever hoped my soulmate to fall into." He grabbed a bunch of his hair in frustration when he explained. "He...was sold in an underground auction."
Haruhiko breathed through his nose to control himself from an outburst. "Do you know where he is?"
Kazuhiko shook his head. "We have a name of a man who bought him and his description from an underling. Matsuda found his address, but it lead to some run down apartment. Despite the stupidity in keeping a real name to the car, the address was a bust."
Haruhiko reached out his hand and patted his brother's back. "Has there been any other clues?"
Kazuhiko looked toward Haruhiko with a strained smile. "Other than the buyer's name, nothing else. We tracked his family members, a useless lead to follow. I'm sure the buyer isn't going to let him leave for school so there's a slim chance we can catch him in public. His university is the one place we can find him."
Ayase thought he was safe enough to look at his soulmark.
Kanou left him in the early morning after an awkward bare minimum breakfast. One of the twin guards brought it in from the convenience store. When Kanou left, he locking the apartment and left one of his men outside of the door. Ayase tried to escape through the front door once, but had the forethought to look through the peephole. A man stood on the right side of the door.
After two weeks of being imprisoned in the apartment, Ayase lost himself in his thoughts. He since passed the devastation of having Tetsuo sell him off in that auction. He should have known better than to give love to people who didn't care for him. His relatives found him a burden and never wasted a free moment to remind him of their thoughts. Half of his heritage became insults and his soulmark brought on jeers to how he managed to gain it.
One of the staples of Japan appeared on a biracial man's skin.
His aunt and uncle found his mark as a blasphemous symbol.
As a result, he hid his soulmark from view and tried forgetting about it growing up. Considering he didn't bathe around his family members, he never let himself go around without a shirt on. Whenever anyone asked him about his soulmark, he gladly commented privacy and politeness dictated to let it go. The rude enough people, mainly his family members, persisted in wanting to invade his privacy.
His apparent rudeness further pushed him away from the Yukiya and Isshi families. Any attempts at making connections resulted in cold shoulders and ignoring him. It hurt having no one on his side, but he learned to internalize his dark feelings. His issues didn't warrant any sympathy.
He learned to paint a smile and silence himself.
In university, he embraced his soulmark. He looked up the meaning of the cherry blossoms and clung onto the varying meanings of the flower. Three words stuck out of to him: Happiness, hope, and love.
The words that turned into his mantra during his captivity.
Without any warning or hearing his incoming presence, Kanou backhanded him.
Ayase turned his back away from Kanou's view and backed himself onto the wall. Almost desperate in distracting Kanou from further thinking of his mark, he began apologizing. Despite the pain of his ass and the soreness of his body, adrenaline caused him to move. He didn't want Kanou to go through with his threat of scarring him.
The coldness in Kanou's eyes made his heart speed up in absolute fear.
Kanou reached down and grabbed onto Ayase's arm. Applying pressure, hard enough to leave another bruise, he hissed out. "Whoever this soulmate of yours is, won't want you anymore. Who wants to have a sullied soulmate? No one."
Hiding his watering eyes with his bangs, Ayase tried ignoring Kanou's taunts. Yet, Kanou's words echoed inside of his mind. The more he thought about it, the memories forth the dirty and disgusting feelings from the night before.
Despite the modernization of society, many found it in poor taste to sleep with another person who wasn't their soulmate.
It wasn't his fault.
Kanou stripped him of his right to say no. His meager hits and crying did nothing to sway Kanou's inner conscious. Kanou raped him and pushed a debt over his head. Money that Kanou used when he bought him in the auction. A debt he never asked to have.
Kanou yanked him off of the floor, almost dragging him toward the direction of his bedroom.
Ayase's tears overflowed and trickled down his cheeks. He received no breaks from Kanou's sex drive. Every few hours, unless he slept or Kanou went to work, Kanou fucked him until he received his own satisfaction. Ayase couldn't lie and claim he never felt a tingle of pleasure when Kanou hit his prostate. It happened more than once. Kanou became rougher when he saw his positive reactions.
As they passed the bedroom door, Kanou pulled Ayase around his body, aligning him to the bed.
"Behave and I will let you go back to university. Maybe, that will stop you from thinking of this soulmate of yours." Kanou pushed Ayase onto the bed and began taking off his blazer. "Make sure to make this good."
Gritting his teeth, Ayase acted out Kanou's desires in order to go back to university.
He hoped his professors didn't kick him out of his classes.
Ayase tried not to blame the twins who drove him to his university and back to Kanou's apartment.
Kuba attempted to present himself as open and kind, but Ayase failed to believe it. The way he spoke, the manner he watched him, didn't show him as being honest. Kuba followed Kanou's orders. Orders to keep him from running off and to report any sign of him wanting to run away. His emotions were dissected and evaluated for Kanou's review.
He was trapped in an invisible cage. Easy to view by these men and shackled away from his freedom. He was taken out for entertainment, for viewing, and to act out in command. Kanou threatened him not to ask for help. Ayase didn't need any prompting, he knew no one would help him.
To his relief his professors gave him a chance to resume his classes. The fake medical note Kanou sent to all his professors managed to sway them to accept him back. As a hard working student who went to his professor's office hours, all of them knew him by appearance if not by name. His mixed features made him a somewhat well known on campus, so he wasn't forgettable. Of course, they believed only sickness would keep him from attending his classes.
University didn't transform into a safe haven. It turned into another way for Kanou's men to have a place to keep track of him. Somewhere to put him and pick him up when his classes ended. With Kanou knowing his professors, he was further trapped in Kanou's web.
Still, Ayase enjoyed having a few hours away from the apartment. Half a day away from Kanou helped his mental state to remain somewhat stable. His acting skills came into play when he faked his smiles and self assured his acquaintances of his absence.
He hated having to lie to himself and to the public.
TBC