4

Kazuhiko stood in the middle of Ayase's dingy apartment as his men packed Ayase's belongings in multiple boxes.

They were fast and efficient in taping up the boxes, while also inspecting the interior. Despite the dilapidated wooden paneling, it wasn't too bad of an apartment. Without a roommate, Ayase picked his best choice and stuck with his choice. This place was a perfect size for someone of Ayase's stature. Kazuhiko and his men spent a majority of their time with their heads hunched as they walked around.

As far as Kazuhiko was concerned, Ayase made use of his space through customizing it into a homey and warm atmosphere. The trinkets and second hand items elevated the interior far beyond what it was. Making it livable for anyone to reside in.

Kazuhiko remembered the outline of his home and planned on where to place Ayase. The main family line section had far more rooms than he could make use of. Ayase would have a room for his hobbies and clothing. Whatever Ayase wanted, Kazuhiko would provide the best living arrangement for him. Only the best for his soulmate.

When the group first arrived, Kazuhiko expected the landlord to inform them that Ayase's apartment was empty. Vacant of his possessions and cherished photos. Of course, they worded it as looking for Ayase since they forgot his apartment number and couldn't get a hold of him. The landlord was more than happy to lead them to the apartment. Even going so far as to lead them to the right floor before leaving on his own accord. Whether his compliance was from Kazuhiko's intimidating men or not was irrelevant. Their access to Ayase's apartment was confirmed.

One of the men picked the lock before someone thought to check up on them. Kazuhiko was stunned at the fact that the apartment was left untouched. Everything was neat and tidy. Either from luck or carelessness, Kanou didn't visit the apartment to empty out the place and cancel the lease. Indicating that Kanou coerced his soulmate into submission in order to release his apartment. Showing the power this, nobody had over his soulmate.

The image of this man forcing himself on his soulmate was infuriating. Images played in Kazuhiko's head as he fought to ground himself. Images of his soulmate crying in agony pushed him to dig his fingers into the palm of his hand. He was certain he would have crescent moon scars on his hands by the time he succeeded in bringing his soulmate to his home.

Breathing through his nose, Kazuhiko released the tension in his grip. Soon enough, his fingers dug into the palm of his hand. This happened a few more times while Kazuhiko gave into the temptation to think.

At least, Ayase's apartment was still intact.

He should stop thinking about unfortunate thoughts before he let out his anger on an underling or gave away their plans to the landlord due to the chaos. They didn't want someone who knew Somuku Kanou to inform the man of them vacating Ayase's apartment. Best to keep everything on the down low.

"Kazuhiko-sama." An underling interrupted Kazuhiko's thoughts as he handed him Ayase's family album. A worn down baby blue exterior with Ayase's name written in the front with worn out ink.

Nodding to the man in gratitude, Kazuhiko took the chance to sit down on Ayase's couch and got himself comfortable.

When he opened it, he saw a newborn Ayase dressed in white in the arms of his mother as she lay on the hospital bed. As expected, Ayase's mother was a foreigner. A beautiful curly blond haired and blue eyed woman with a tired smile. Beside her was Ayase's father, a normal looking Japanese man whose smile caused imbedded dimples in his cheeks. He appeared tuckered out, causing Kazuhiko to assume the man stayed awake throughout the entirety of his wife's labor.

Kazuhiko would have hoped to do the same. He needed an heir once he grew older, but Ayase was a man. He would never have the capability to bear him a child. This realization wasn't a deal breaker for him, but he was certain that older members of his family would have an issue once they found out about Ayase.

Complaints would go to deaf ears.

Kazuhiko did everything for his family. There was no hesitation on his end when it came to family loyalty. Everyone would have to suck it up when it came to his choice of spouse. His late father married his soulmate, Kazuhiko's late mother. A trend that lasted for five generations. Kazuhiko wasn't breaking it just for a baby.

Kazuhiko was certain a cousin would love to take his place. There were three different cousins who showed leadership characteristics and would jump at the chance to lead. After all, Kazuhiko promised his brother to remove him from the lineup in their family business. He wasn't an heir. Haruhiko was meant for legitimate business ventures with strong connections backing him up.

Kazuhiko never broke a promise to his little brother.

And he wouldn't start with that particular promise.

Turning the page, Ayase's back faced the camera. The fully bloomed cherry blossom tree had thinner branches and lighter pink petals. The tattoo overtook his back, leaving no slip of pale skin to show.

He wondered if this was the case in Ayase's older age. For all he knew, the tree shrunk down to accommodate Ayase's growing body. Kazuhiko knew his own back stretched out the tree. His brother contradicted his claims, stating the tree only became more detailed as years passed.

The next images showed Ayase in the arms of either one of his parents. Both of his parents looked so happy. So thrilled to have the culmination of their love in their arms. From the look on Ayase's father's face, he appeared delighted while holding his son.

There was a page with different photos of Ayase's parents showing black feathers on the skin of their clavicle. The feathers appeared to float on their skin. A basic design compared to Ayase's back piece.

"Boss." Kei waved a manila envelope as he made his appearance out of Ayase's small bedroom. "I found all his documentation in this envelope. Found it through pure luck. He kept it hidden behind a flimsy tatami mat inside of the closet he kept his futon in."

Closing the photo album, Kazuhiko nodded. "Good. We'll need those documents for the future. He can't do much without them." He held out his hand and Kei handed him the envelope. "He's craftier than expected."

"This is good news to hear. As your future spouse, Ayase-sama cannot be witless or careless." Kei mused. "I'm sure he has hidden emergency savings, but his current situation has kept him from accessing his funds."

"Better hidden than being seized by that cockroach." Kazuhiko grumbled. "Where are his personal items from the auction?"

Kei answered. "Trashed. All personal items from the auction are burned or disposed of. A common practice to not leave identification for people to find." He motioned to the envelope in Kazuhiko's hand. "His checkbook is in there."

Curious, Kazuhiko opened the envelope and fished out the checkbook. Opening it up, he was stunned to see a considerable number of zeros. Not the bad kind of zeroes, the exorbitantly stable sort of zeros.

Rubbing the back of his neck he sheepishly commented. "From the look of this place, I assumed Ayase struggled for money but…" He peeked down at the amount again. "Seems like he thought ahead for the future and lived below his means."

Peering down at the checkbook, Kei's eyebrows lifted. "Ah, a crafty and forward thinking young man. Better than we were young. We didn't hold back in Boss Fumio's dime."

Kazuhiko shut the checkbook and slipped it inside of the manila envelope.

"We're going out. Wear this." Kanou tossed the pure white clothing into Ayase's arms before he went inside of his closet.

Completely nude and bruised, Ayase clutched the clothes against his body. As weeks passed on, he grew accustomed to wearing less than nothing or Kanou's shirt. Ayase wore clothing when he went to his classes, but he knew they wouldn't last long on him when Kanou returned from his job.

On certain stressful days, Kanou's fake gentle persona disappeared. He pushed him onto the bed and used him, The sex was less rough, almost loving despite the sour grimace on Kanou's face.

To continue on going to classes, Ayase didn't fight back.

He couldn't fight back.

Somehow, his deterioration went unnoticed. No one looked hard enough to notice his dark circles or his further thinning figure. The allure of his foreign features was yesterday's news. The level of interest lessened the more he attended school.

The public certainly gave him double takes.

But they only looked at him, Kanou's glare made people scuttle away.

Letting out a discreet sigh, Ayase retreated into the bathroom, locking the door to keep the man from peeking inside. This was a lackluster way to feel safe. The door wouldn't remain locked for long. Kanou would unlock or break the lock for access.

Stepping in front of the mirror, Ayase couldn't bear to hold such beautiful garments in his hands. He disliked, no, hated the clothing Kanou shoved into his hands. In normal circumstances, Ayase would beam at having to wear such wonderful styles. Before he was sold, Ayase spent time looking through stores to find statement pieces to treasure. There were instances where he found a woman's coat that fit him far better than a man's.

The white color of these clothes was a joke. He was no longer innocent or pure. Kanou destroyed any semblance of purity for his own satisfaction. The blatant illusion Kanou attempted to paint by forcing him into these clothes was laughable.

Ayase wanted to laugh in his face, lose himself in the irony of the clothes, but he contained himself. He couldn't anger the man. Ayase saw what Kanou was capable of when it came to asserting his power over him.

His body and mind suffered the repercussions.

Slipping the garments on, Ayase smoothed down the wrinkles and looked at the mirror.

The bags under his eyes grew more prominent as the days dragged on. No amount of makeup would hide how tired he looked and felt. No make-up could hide the emptiness in his eyes.

Daring himself, Ayase slipped his hand over his shoulder and down his back. His fingertips touched a tree branch, warming up in contact.

In these limited private moments, Ayase slipped his fingers over his soulmark, relishing in the warmness the mark gave him. He felt almost disassociated from his current location. Almost as if the mark helped to comfort him enough to forget everything in the last few weeks.

Yet, the nagging intrusive thoughts and Kanou's callous words echoed through his mind.

After everything that happened to him, Ayase didn't want his soulmate to abandon him as well.

Ayase whispered, almost desperate as he pleaded. "You're all I have left….please….please…don't reject me."

The familiar prickling of tears prompted Ayase to remove his hand from his back and slap his face. Hard enough to snap him out of his incoming crying fit. He couldn't give into tears. Tears did nothing to persuade his captor from giving him mercy.

He learned the hard way during the first night in Kanou's apartment.

Ayase let out a shaky breath.

Wherever Kanou wanted to take him, Ayase hoped it was Someya's bar. Someya and his workers were a kind blip in Ayase's current situation. Throughout his afternoon and night at the bar, Ayase thought he was free from Kanou.

Whether Someya would help him was something Ayase wanted to figure out when Kanou inevitably ran off. He wanted to ask Someya to help him. Every single time he went to visit Someya, he nicked Ayase's imposed wall of protection. Someya's disposition and ability to make Ayase feel comfortable was a craving Ayase desired.

Yet, Ayase didn't trust the man to not inform Kanou about his attempt to escape. Kanou and Someya were friends. Of course, Someya would tell Kanou about Ayase's questions. No matter how kind Someya treated him, Ayase was a stranger. He was a nobody in comparison to decades of friendship.

Ayase turned on the faucet and splashed water on his face. Using his wet fingers, he pushed his bangs back against his head.

He hated the fact that he was now distrustful of anyone who crossed his path. Ayase never wanted to build up resentment inside of himself. It was such an ugly feeling to have. Even though his family hated him, he tried so hard to see the positives in his life.

His own family, his cousin, sold him off to pay off his debts.

"Hey! Are you ready yet?"

Ayase's forehead slammed against the faucet. Pushing himself away from the rubbing faucet, Ayase hurried to open the door, exposing his bruised and bleeding forehead to Kanou.

Kanou swore under his breath as he muttered. "What the fuck were you doing?"

Ayase looked down at the floor and said nothing. He overheard Kanou rushing past him to the bathroom to shuffle around and shut off the faucet. Soon enough, Kanou pressed the damp towel against Ayase's forehead. His gentle patting and concerned look was surprising to experience, but Ayase knew better

Kanou was tricking him.

Ayase was certain of it.

This newfound tender touch wasn't going to convince Ayase to give into his new life. The threat to damage his body and soulmark was genuine. Ayase heard the fury in Kanou's tone whenever he fucked into him and snarled about his soulmark.

Ayase's beautiful soulmark was a sign that he belonged to someone else.

Tossing the towel inside of the bathroom, Kanou huffed. "Let's go."

Inside of the car, Ayase's eyes locked on the blooming cherry blossom trees that fell onto the roads. The tension inside of the car dissipated in the background. Those tiny blossoms brought a wave of tranquility over him. He could lose himself in those pink petals the more they trickled down from thin branches.

Ayase wished to fall back onto a patch of grass and let the petals cover him from head to toe. Lose himself in the serenity of the moment. To forget about the hurt everyone bestowed on him since his father died of overworking.

Ayase knew his father used work as an excuse to push away the grief. He read stories of soulmate pairs who died after the other. Some stayed alive for their children to grow up and then pass on.

His father didn't live for his son.

He died after numerous double shifts and keeping himself away from his son.

Ayase almost believed his aunt's sharp words about his uselessness. How even his father cared little for him. The fact his father kept himself working, never spending time with his son, didn't help Ayase's feelings in the situation.

Until he received his inheritance on his eighteenth birthday. Ayase received word from a lawyer who acted out his father's will. His father had not kept himself away from his son for nothing. The man thought ahead in the future. Wanting his son to flourish in whatever his heart desired, he saved up his money until his body shut down.

Sure, he left money for Ayase's aunt to raise him, but it wasn't the amount left in the will. Ayase almost fainted at the amount he read in the checkbook he received.

The money didn't vanish Ayase's resentment.

The letter that came with the will brought Ayase to tears.

As he read that letter, his warped memories of his father disappeared. Ayase returned to that little boy who remembered his father kissing his forehead while he was half asleep. His father bought him everything he needed whenever he had time in between work. Left him snacks in places Ayase frequented in the apartment.

His father loved him.

Ayase kept that letter inside of his most important documents. Laminated for protection against the elements.

Ayase pressed his temple against the chilly window to soothe his pulsating forehead. .

On a bright and sunny day, Ayase laid belly down on a bright red blanket. His legs swayed back and forth as he tried coloring inside of the lines. His tongue stuck out of his mouth as he looked at his coloring book with intense concentration.

It frustrated him that his pudgy fingers didn't grip the crayons just right. He was sure this was why he always colored outside of the lines.

"Ayacchan, time to eat!"

Ayase tore his eyes away from his coloring book. Tipping his head back, Ayase watched his mother down a plate of sandwiches right beside him.

"Thank you, mama!"

"You're welcome, my blossom."

Ayase reached out a hand, grabbed one of the square shaped sandwiches, then looked back at his coloring book. His mother always cut his portions in interesting shapes.

In the background, he heard his father fake a hurt tone. He was always playful in getting extra attention from his family. He liked getting extra kisses before he went to work. "And my plate, darling?"

Always one to dote, his mother chuckled. "Here you go, no need to pout, dear. I added extra eggs in the egg salad."

There was the sound of a kiss. Multiple kisses. Plates clinked against each other as the pair giggled. Ayase's parents were always kissing

"Ah, thank you!"

Growing uncomfortable, Ayase sat up and savored the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He dropped his crayons on the blanket, forgetting to put them away as he ate his sandwiches. His mother handed him a juice box for him to drink. Thanking her again, Ayase continued on eating.

As his parents talked, Ayase looked around the area. In the distance, there was a playset that was too big for Ayase to play on. There were kids climbing around it, having fun. Turning in another direction, he watched older kids run around with other kids, kicking a ball around.

Setting down his last sandwich, Ayase looked at the playing kids with longing. None of them would play with him. He was too tiny.

"Oh…did you want to play, Ayacchan?" His father asked and Ayase turned to him. "I know how much you like bubbles. We can play with those before we go home."

Ayase nodded his head with a huge smile. "Okay!"

His father took out a bottle of bubbles from the picnic basket. He got up and left the blanket to crouch on the grass. Unscrewing the bottle, he grasped the bubble wand and began blowing bubbles into the air. He blew larger bubbles than Ayase could ever do. His lungs were too tiny to provide enough air. Giggling out loud, his father urged him to run around and pop them.

Ayase shrieked in excitement as he toddled around the grass. His hands were not fast or high enough to get all the bubbles, but he got some of them. Everytime he popped one, he closed his eyes to stop the sting from the popped bubbles.

Eventually, his mother got up and started chasing the bubbles alongside Ayase. Then, she descended onto Ayase, tickling his sides as they fell onto the grass. His father soon joined in, tickling both Ayase and his wife with a huge smile on his face.

A stray tear trickled down Ayase's face.

Discreetly lifting his shoulder, Ayase's tears seeped through the fabric of his shirt.

Kanou would grip his arm, hard. He didn't need to hide another bruise underneath long sleeved shirts and jackets.

Mori Hajime was in Honda Kazuhiko's inner circle.

Having met him in high school, Hajime soon became one of Kazuhiko's closest people. He thought himself a confidant, but he left that label with Kei sensei. To dare claim he was closer to Kazuhiko, meant receiving medical treatment with hydrogen peroxide on his open wounds. Then again, Kei made their injuries hurt if they were being careless on the field. In a way, Kei was an overbearing mothering type.

This recent search for the foreigner brought a lot of questions to mind. What was his role in their Boss' life? Did he owe money? Was Yukiya offered to their Boss as compensation for a family member?

The inner circle was confused on the frantic need in searching for Yukiya Ayase. This teenager shouldn't have caught the eye of their Boss. He was an outsider of their world. Ignorant of what happened in the underground.

From the rumors, Kei sensei and select people knew why the Boss wanted this kid. When asked, their lips remained shut and their dismissing glare made them retreat.

After they finished emptying out the apartment, Kazuhiko ordered free men to continue on the search for Yukiya Ayase. The photo given to Kazuhiko was copied in smaller copies, mean to be hidden inside of their shirt pockets. They were not to do anything other than to look at Ayase for facial details.

Kazuhiko warned if they did anything unsavory, he would deal with them himself.

The men who received a photo gulped.

Wandering through the club district, Hajime let out a line of smoke in the air. He paused near an ash tray to snuffle it out and to give a chance for the men who accompanied him to reach him. He was used to dodging groups of people, but some guys worked better without crowds of people. This was good practice for them. They needed to learn not to lose themselves in the crowd.

Sighing, he turned his attention to the drag bar ahead of him. Through the window, the servers dressed in drag were holding onto client's arms, batting their fake eyelashes as they laughed. The red faced drunk customers were laughing along with them.

Hajime wrinkled his nose. He wasn't one to frequent these sorts of bars. Or any bars with pushy servers hovering over him. He liked drinking without someone fussing after him.

The door to the drag bar opened, revealing a blond young man dressed in white.

"Isn't that…" Hajime removed the photo from his pocket and compared it to the gaunt young man dressed in white. The stress changed the guy's face, but he was still the smiling young man in the photo.

Observing the pair of twins flanking Ayase's side, Hajime motioned the men accompanying him to cause a distraction. The men didn't need a word for them to disperse and act. Hajime waited until the twin guards were distracted enough for him to descend.

He almost reached Ayase when Kanou appeared. The man grasped Ayase's shoulder, pulling him toward the parked car. Kanou's barked orders caused the twins to detach themselves from the fake fight.

Hajime backed away, swearing under his breath at his lost chance. Looking up at the name of the drag bar, Hajime knew his Boss would like the name of the establishment Kanou frequented.

TBC