From the Timeline of Dark Crystal Tokyo
Chapter 3
A Narrow Escape
Author's Notes: Before I continue, I would like to say the relationship between Endymion and his Shitennou is one of my favorite non-romantic relationships in the Sailor Moon universe. Even despite what happened in the Silver Millennium, I believe that deep down they are as loyal to Endymion as the Senshi are to Serenity. I think that the very fact Mamoru forgave and even trusted the Shitennou so much after they were freed from Metallia's grasp shows a lot not only about Mamoru's character, but also about the strength of the relationship he must have had with his men.
The storyline will be speeding up soon, but character development and description is one of my favorite parts of writing, so I hope you'll bear with me while I try to "get into" the personalities of each of my characters. I didn't get quite as far as I wanted to this chapter, but it IS a good bit longer than the last one, so I hope you enjoy it anyways. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter and please, please, please READ AND REVIEW!
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For Yasou, the day thus far had gone off without any major confrontations. Morning chores had been completed with moments to spare. Only one tirelessly unruly kid known as Chiru had managed to get his tailend torn up prior to Yasou's leaving to the marketplace with the master. Then, the visit to market had left with Takeshi-san pulling off a few good deals and spending the next few hours prior to going on duty in an abnormally good mood. With Takeshi-san gone on duty, Yasou was left to keeping order among the rest of the slaves and serving the man's two sons, who more often than not just wanted to be left the hell alone. With no specific duties or master's to call his attention, Yasou was able to make his way into the main library where he most preferred to spend the few spare moments he could drag out of each day.
The library of the Takeshi household was a huge, twelve-foot high room stretched floor to ceiling with books of every nature, brand, and category. Two fireplaces on opposite sides of the room were surrounded by plush couches and antique chairs covered with thick blanket covers. The room had a warm feel to it as Yasou added logs to the second fireplace. Hearing footsteps coming down the hallway, he began to straighten up the room until Takeshi-san's twenty-two year old eldest child passed through the hallway. Yasou met the Takeshi heir's rigid gaze briefly, picking up a book left at the side table as the man continued towards the outside of the home. Heading towards the shelves, he placed the book on the history shelf while continuing towards the "military" section of the library.
A captain in the Dark Moon armed forces 5th regiment, Takeshi-san collected a wide variety of books centering on various styles of armor, battle tactics, history, troop organization, and other useful topics of interest. Selecting a volume on battle tactics, he fliped to the last page where he had left off. "Let's see - - strategies in forested areas." He managed to complete two full chapters, before the sound of light footsteps caused him to slam the book glancing up quickly. His emerald-eyes met with the young gaze of a ten-year-old, the youngest slave owned by the Takeshi family. "You know you aren't allowed in the house beyond the basement." Yasou commented mildly, sighing lightly with relief as he reopened the book finding the page he had last left off from. "Chiru-kun, you know if you get caught in here, we are both going to be in trouble."
"Hai . . ." Chiru answered back with an admonished frown, averting his gaze down to the floor before looking up a few moments later with curiosity in his eyes. "Yasou-sama, what are you doing?"
"Reading."
"Reading?" Yasou nodded shortly, flipping the page and continuing on to the end of the book. "About what," Chiru cocked his head to the side curiously when he didn't receive an answer to this, but didn't push the issue any further. Silence reigned for a few minutes before Yasou shut the book, and made his way towards the child. Placing his hands on either of the child's shoulders, he turned him around and began pushing him towards the doorway. "Er, Yasou-sama?"
"Hmm?" Yasou paused long enough to look down at the child, meeting his gaze.
"Ahm," The child hesitated, causing Yasou to raise an eyebrow curiously at the younger boy. Chiru blushed faintly before building up his courage and requested. "Could you teach me how to do that?"
Yasou blinked, slightly surprised by the request. "How to read?" Chiru nodded, a hopeful look filling his young eyes. Yasou shut his eyes, seeming to think this over for a few moments, while Chiru shifted anxiously on his feet awaiting an answer. Opening his eyes again, Yasou had a slight smile on his face as he looked down at the kid. "Hai, sure kid. I'll teach you every thing I know." Chiru's face lit up as Yasou put his hands back on his shoulders and continued directing him towards the door. As they neared the front of the library, Yasou noted that someone had shut the door. This wasn't all together unusual, but still . . . he knew Chiru wasn't the type to think up something as simple as remembering to shut the door. So, who else was in here? It wasn't until he heard sounds coming from a large couch centered in front of one of the fireplaces.
Apparently, Chiru also heard it. Before Yasou could stop him, Chiru had slipped up of his grasp and was making his way over to the couch to see what was going on. "Sugoi!" Chiru exclaimed as he leaned over to couch to find two people making out, and quite in the process of getting ready to go even further. Yasou stood back, a mild frown on his face as he debated weather or not he really wanted to know who Chiru had found on the other side of that couch.
It wasn't long before he would know, however, for Chiru's excited exclamation was followed by a pair of surprised gasps from both male and female voices. A moment later, Takeshi-san's second son, Kioshi, sat up with a mixture of fear and anger playing across his face. Chiru frowned beginning to back away when the sixteen-year-old turned a furious gaze in his direction. "Not as amazing as your backside is going to look when I get through with you!" Before Chiru could put two feet between them, the elder boy had jumped over the back of the couch and taken a firm hold of both his wrists, jerking the young man in his direction. Chiru whimpered, wearing a deer in headlights look on his face as he tried his best to pull away from the older boy.
Yasou continued to stand back, remaining unnoticed as he watched the scene unfold. It wasn't until he purposefully cleared his throat that anyone took heed of him. Chiru looked over his shoulder wide-eyes pleading desperately for Yasou to help him out of the mess he had somehow gotten himself into - - again. The sixteen-year-old paled as he saw his father's personal slave standing there watching him. He met Yasou's gaze for only a moment before following it back over his shoulder. There, on the other side of the couch stood a fifteen-year-old terran slave, one of the house-workers, looking back at him with eyes full of fear. If Takeshi-sama found out about this, there was no telling what he might have done to them - - or in particular, to her. 'Okay – Okay – Yasou isn't that bright. I can handle this. . .'
Taking in a deep breath, Kioshi tried to regain control of the situation by turning a firm gaze on the head slave and trying to sound fierce like his elder brother. "This is a library. It isn't a place for terran slaves to be hanging out. What do you think you are doing in here?" Yasou didn't say a word, but held up the book he had previously been looking at. Takeshi's younger son frowned, "What are you doing with that?" He challenged. Yasou had always been the quiet one, the most submissive one of the slaves; he would back down easily and then he would make sure the man never said a word about this – to his father, or to anyone else. He looked up at Yasou expectantly, expecting him to back down and avert his eyes to the ground, the same as he always had.
Yasou raised an eyebrow, seeming a touch amused by this question. "I was looking at the pretty pictures." Yasou answered with mixture of amusement and sarcasm.
"You really think Father is going to buy that story?"
"Of course – he thinks I'm stupid anyways." At this point, Yasou smiled knowing he had obtained the upper hand.
Without another word, Yasou made his way in the direction of the couch, stopping only about three feet in front of the younger Takeshi. The young man swallowed hard. Pointedly, he took hold of Chiru by the shoulders pulling him forcefully out of Kioshi's grasp. Leading the boy over to the door, Yasou turned him around briefly looking him directly in the eyes. "You came in here to find me, because you didn't know what you were supposed to be doing. I told you to go to the basement and clean up the sleeping areas. If you finish that, go to the yard and make sure there aren't any sticks and pinecones for people to step on. You didn't see anything in here, understand?"
"H-hai." Chiru stammered, still starring at Yasou through those wide-eyes of his.
"Stay busy, and don't come back in the house." Yasou instructed as he opened the library door, shoved the child out into the hall, and shut it once again. This done, Yasou turned around refocusing his gaze intently back upon Takeshi Kioshi. After a few moments of silence, Yasou cleared his throat once again before speaking. "I believe your fly is open, young sir." Yasou replied lightly.
Kioshi blushed deeply reaching down to zip up his pants before looking back up at Yasou through narrowed eyes. This wasn't going the way he had hoped. First of all, he hadn't intended to get caught in the first place. Secondly, Yasou wasn't supposed to have the upper hand. "D-do you know how much trouble you are going to get into, if Father finds out you were in here relaxing without permission?"
"Not nearly as much trouble as you are going to get into, if your Father finds out you were sleeping with a terran slave." Yasou pointed out calmly.
The color drained from both Kioshi and his girlfriend's faces. "You – you can't tell him, Yasou." Kioshi pleaded, knowing he could potentially be facing serious consequences. "Please, he'll . . . she'll be killed."
Yasou blinked, starring at the young man with a mildly shocked expression on his face. He had expected the young man to plead for his own sake, but not for the girl's. A moment of silence passed as Yasou studied the honest fear shaking in the young man's gaze. "You really care about her?" He queried watching as the girl made her way around the couch and halfway between where the two men stood. Turning back, she looked at Kioshi hopefully, awaiting his answer.
After a moment of silence, Kioshi smiled embarrassedly before answering quietly. "Hai, I do." Moments later, he found himself looking helplessly up at the man who was supposed to be one of their slaves. "Are you going to tell him?"
Yasou paused, thinking this over for a moment before answering back. "I will make a deal with you. You keep your mouth shut about what I do with my spare time, and I will keep my about 'who' you do with yours." This comment, of course, brought embarrassed looks to both the youngsters' faces, but in the end Kioshi nodded his agreement to the deal.
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'Just one more day,' He had been telling himself that all day, but the seconds just continued to creep ever so slowly by. As he made his way around the side of the house, Ryu stole a quick glance up at the stunning hues of blue, green, orange, and pink mixing together as they stretched across the evening sky. He smiled appreciatively, even as he was rolling his shirt up around his shoulders. Crossing his arms in front of him, he pressed them up against the side of the house and rested his head atop of them. Ryu was waiting for the Hymann to come and deal out punishment for the days numerous misgivings. Knowing that he was getting ready to ditch this place and annoyed with the day itself for stretching on for so very long, he just couldn't seem to keep his big mouth in check. Tonight's "lesson" would be severe.
'Just a few more hours,' He told himself once again as the sound of leaves crunching beneath heavy steps alerted him to the Hymann's steps. His muscles tensed involuntarily. With his all-to-familiar whip in hand, Hymann stopped just a few steps behind the now eighteen-year-old Ryu and smirked lightly. "You just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Ryu scowled but stubbornly pursed his lips refusing to comment. "You need to learn your place, boy." Hymann told him, as he dealt the first blow to the young man's backside. Ryu gritted his teeth, refusing to cry out; he wouldn't give the austere man the satisfaction of hearing him in pain. Tuning out both the Hymann and his punishment, Ryu focused his mind on the vision that had helped him to hold out all this time. It gave him hope even on the dreariest of days, and kept his spirit from being broken by the hardships of daily life.
Shutting his eyes, he saw the familiar prince reaching out and pulling him to his feet. He saw prince looking at him through those midnight-blue eyes of his. Prince Endymion - - he was the first person in this lifetime Ryu could remember who actually looked him as though he was worth something. Other than that, he didn't really know why exactly he felt such a strong connection to the man. But he knew he would do just about anything necessary, if only to have the prince look at him with the same level of friendship and trust he had seen in his brief vision. "Ahg," Ryu couldn't help releasing a single cry as the last blow was dealt. Pursing his lips together tightly, he rolled his shirt back down, turning to face the older man with an empty gaze.
"You'll remember that lesson tomorrow and keep your place."
"Hai," Ryu answered neutrally. 'I won't be here tomorrow.'
"Come on then."
"Hai," Following the older man up to the porch, Ryu stood with his back against the wall tuning out the familiar stinging sensation & throbbing from his back and shoulders. Once the Hymann had linked his ankles together to the usual spot, he hung the keys at the far end of the porch and turned to enter the house. Ryu watched through apparently uninterested saffire-colored eyes. He swore the man only hung those keys there to taunt him, but in the end the act would serve in his own favor. He remained standing until the Hymann went inside for the night and shut the door behind him. Ryu rubbed his shoulders sorely as he sat down, waiting silently until the door opened once more.
Ryu looked up to meet the gaze of the youngest member of the Hymann family, an eight-year-old girl with russet-brown hair pulled into pigtails on either side of her head, fair skin, and deep chocolate brown eyes. She would be a knock-out by the time she hit sixteen; he was sure of it. Ryu smiled lightly as the child handed him what was supposed to serve as an evening meal. Looking down at what appeared to be a bowl of mush, Ryu's eyebrows furrowed and he looked at the child through an inquisitive gaze. The child blushed deeply looking down at the ground. "I – I made dinner tonight . . . for Mama's birthday." She explained embarrassedly. "It tastes better than it looks, really."
Chuckling lightly, Ryu obliged the child by taking a large bite of the odd-looking concoction and swallowing while managing to keep a straight face. He had luckily learned to do so in dealing with the Hymann and his "lessons" day in and day out. . . It tasted like she had accidentally dropped some sawdust in the mixture. "You did a good job, Kimira." Ryu lied through his teeth as he finished off the mixture and handed the plate back to the child. Grinning brightly, Kimira giggled happily before rushing back into the house, slamming the door behind her. Shaking his head, Ryu turned his attention to the early evening sky and the first hints of stars beginning to appear overhead. There was just something about the stars; they reminded him of . . . someone, but he couldn't quite say whom.
As he waited silently, Ryu listened to the sounds of movement inside the house. 'Soon, very soon,' He listened to the family completing their dinner and evening routines. He knew when the youngest of the kids went to bed, the teenage boy he'd had so much trouble with, and finally - - a couple of hours later – the Hymann himself. Just to be on the safe side, Ryu decided to wait an extra hour or so to make sure the family was in a deep sleep before attempting his big escape. Focusing for a brief moment, he brought the Jadeite stone out of his sub-space pocket hovering it an inch above his hand and studying it as he did most nights, after the family had long since gone to bed.
The minutes ticked by like hours as Ryu listened for any sign of movement. The sound of crickets chirping in the night was the only sound of life in the cool autumn nighttime. Finally, allowing the stone to drop into his palm and fade back into his sub-space pocket, Ryu focused his emerald gaze intently on the ring of keys hanging at the other end of the porch. He extended his hand in the direction of the key ring, palm up as though waiting for them to come to him voluntarily. Ryu listened once more for any possible movement inside before focusing his telekinetic powers on lifting the keys with his mind, bringing them silently over to his waiting palm. Selecting the proper key, he bent over, released himself from the anklets, locked them again, and returned the keys back to their original spot. 'Let them try and figure that one out . . .' Smirking amusedly at this thought, Ryu shook his head and made his way out into the night. . . .
Author's Notes: Didn't get quite as far as I had intended with this chapter, but I just can't resist a good cliff hanger. The next chapter should be fun to write, with the Shitennou beginning to make their escapes. I can guarantee you will get to meet at least one more Shitennou next chapter, and they may even begin to meet each other. I won't tell when I plan on introducing Mamoru back into the story, but it won't be long now. (winks)
