Pairings: BernardoXGian, IvanXGian, LuchinoXGian, GiulioXGian, AobaXClear, AobaXVirusXTrip, AobaXRen, AobaXKoujaku, AobaXNoiz, AobaXBakshi, VirusXTripXGian, AobaXGian
Warning: Contains minor hints of rape, violence, extreme swearing and heavy scenes of smut.
Disclaimer: I do not own Dramatical Murder or Lucky Dog 1. All rights go to the respectful owners
Chapter 10 - Friendly Advice
Night soon swept over the once busy streets of Daivan, notifying most of the daytime shops that it was closing time. Quite a few shops had remained open due to some being open 24/7 while others were open due to them having customers left over from that day. Little did the people of Daivan know that somewhere within their city, roamed a silent but deadly killer.
His victims were just as quiet as he slaughtered the lot of them all within the time of just a few seconds. A random group of nine men huddling together, could only watch as their comrades got picked off one by one by their assailant. From what they could tell based on the laughter that followed shortly after each of their deaths, the person doing this was certainly a male.
Although they held guns in their hands they were no match for a man who was obviously skilled with the knives he wielded. Another laugh echoed against the bare walls of the semi-empty warehouse. The men were members of the CR-5 and had been instructed to check out most of the warehouses within the parts that had been claimed as their personal territory.
Another man soon fell to his knees choking on his own blood as his throat had been cut clean with just one strike. The man who stood next to him whimpered with fear for his life as he tried to search the area hoping to catch a glimpse of the man responsible for the madness. His eyes had just for a split second, saw the eerie smile on the other man's face as he too went down to his knees, hearing a faint laughter in the background as his vision slowly went dark. The remaining group of men who had been standing in the middle of the warehouse had now tried their luck by running out of the building.
Some of the men tried to be heroes by running and then quickly turning back to point and shoot at the crazy individual. But this proved to be ineffective and they were easily cut through like an expert swordsman had entered their era.
But the killing soon stopped and a few minutes passed without anyone else getting injured. Had they scared the man off with their bullets? Had they gotten a hit in at the last second? One of the men slowly became agitated from the waiting. "Show yourself, coward!" He shouted. The men who had stood beside him started to back away out of instinct of fear.
They had known of the man's ability after having seen one of the bosses of CR-5 doing it all the time during his jobs. It was a quick-step that allowed the person to appear for a split second and vanish the next and could only be done with expert training and dedication. But this was not the 'Mad Dog' they were facing. It was a person with the same ability whom seemed to have had a fetish for laughing while killing them off.
Suddenly a slight glint flickered in an instant and rushed past the side of the man who had shouted earlier. It was a blade that could be flipped open or closed within the handle and it was now sitting with the blade's hilt in the air while the blade itself dug into the ground. The man stepped back quickly while the man who threw it, finally came into view.
He had on a pair of tight looking dark jeans and a bright sleeveless, magenta colored vest that showed off his bare chest with a pair of black army boots. His gray eyes looked to be smiling at them. The man's gray hair was slicked back and the skeleton tattoo on the side of his chest ran down to his abdomen and stopped at his waist. The man stuck his tongue out in a disgusting manner.
It was a sort of trademark of his that he often did while killing his victims. The men were too stunned to speak. Their boss, Bernardo, had warned them of a man who had the same sort of attacks as captain Giulio. He too had fought with knives but appeared to like using both knives and a shotgun however, the man had not brought a gun with him to this fight.
The man stared at them with glee in his eyes before saying anything. He took a step forward while still smiling and finally spoke. "Come on, play with me! You've made it to round two. I'll give you a sweet handicap." He licked his bottom lip and pointed to the spot where the knife had landed. This was the handicap he had given them.
They all returned the man's smile with disgruntled looks. Neither of them knew what they should do in this moment and were hoping at the very least that the man would be called back by whoever ordered this. The man who shouted earlier gulped and stood his ground with just his shaking hands and the gun he held in their grasp. He couldn't focus as the man smiling back at him seemed to be provoking him with just his face alone.
He cocked the gun back and aimed for the man's heart and took the shot. As the gunfire sounded through the air, the man quickly dodged the bullet with ease while pulling something small out of both sides of his pockets within his vest. He tossed them to the ground without hesitation and began laughing again like a maniac as clouds of smoke rose from the ground in large bursts, surrounding them.
None of them could see and it was only a matter of time before every single one of them were on the ground bleeding from the neck. In the instant that the man shot the gun, he had used the sound as a distraction to pull two smoke grenades and used them to cover his presence and used the knife that had been thrown earlier to slit their throats.
The last man who had fallen backward, now lay in a small pool of blood that began to grow larger and thicker. He could only cough up the blood that rested in the back of his throat but was able to get his last final words out in time to say the man's name. "B-Bakshi...you...bast-" The man's voice was cut off from saying anything more as the man known as Bakshi, used the knife to dig it into the man's chest.
He stayed close to the body for a bit, lowering his head next to the dying man. "An adorable fan of mine, EH? HAHA!" Bakshi laughed loudly next to him and stuck his tongue out, licking the blood that seeped out from the corner of the man's mouth.
Bakshi withdrew his knife and gave one last lick to the blood before finally standing straight to admire his handiwork. He stopped his horrendous laughter and replaced his smile with a serious look as two men appeared from behind. It was Virus and Trip. They looked around at the bloody scene before them but neither of them said a word.
Trip gave out a yawn and covered his mouth with his hand. Bakshi licked his blade clean before flipping it back into the hilt and sticking it back into his belt that hung at an angle around his waist. He turned to them and smiled. "A rat should stay where they belong, ya?" Bakshi's shrill voice had a hint of joy. During the day and night they had been doing this sort of thing. Exterminating all the CR-5 members that had been snooping in the areas that they had been occupying and it would only have been a matter of time before they were found out.
Bakshi, who was apart of the G.D, was instructed by the boss of their organization, to rid the area of the 'pests' that were threatening their dealings and had also stated that they would be allowing the two newcomers into their family. Bakshi was not one to listen to the boss or to anyone in particular but because of his need and love for killing, he was easily manipulated into doing such jobs. Virus could only return the smile and closed his eyes as he held out his hand for a handshake.
But Bakshi did not move from his spot and continued to stare at them. If he wanted to, he could kill the both of them and they would not have to be doing such boring jobs such as the one tonight. But he also knew well what the boss would say to him and would most likely scold him afterward. It was not the scolding he was afraid of but the fact that the boss could at any time, take away his right to go on his many killing sprees. And that was something that did not sit well with him.
Although their group did not accept new members so easily, the boss seemed to be interested in their ideas and goals for what they intended to do and seeing as they were only after one person who was not even a resident of the city, the boss accepted their deal of working alongside each other. "Ah...honestly it feels as though the old Aoba is right here with us. Right, Trip?" Virus looked to his twin.
The man who he was talking to merely nodded in reply and returned the cold stare that Bakshi had been giving them since he holstered his weapon. He was not someone who looked to be easily manipulated but the cold hard fact that he loved killing was evident and proved to be the main focus of his jobs. Virus and Trip were hoping to use the man as one of their pawns. So far it had become difficult since the city was not familiar to them and the boss of the organization was the one who pulled this man's strings.
"That kid you're after?" Bakshi sneered. He put his hands on his hips in a confident manner. Virus continued to smile and crossed his arms. "He is...our precious toy." The smile shortly faded and a serious look appeared on his face. 'Aoba is...our only toy.' Virus looked down at the pavement that was the parking lot while Trip remained quiet.
A buzz sounding from Bakshi's coat pocket caught all of their attention and snapped them out of their conversation. The man did not bother checking the phone as he already knew who it could be. The boss was the only person who would call him and the only one he would have accepted calls from to begin with. He let out a small yawn and began walking away from the mess that had been littered around them.
The man was not worried about the dead bodies scattered about as he knew that the CR-5 had members who specialized in getting rid of bodies to make their deaths look like accidents even if it were caused by an enemy family. They would want no trace from the bodies pointing to them.
With this in mind, Bakshi confidently walked back to the vehicle that they had been traveling in across the city, stopping at one warehouse to the next to throw the CR-5 members off from their trail. The three of them got into the car and drove away, leaving behind the mass of bloody bodies.
The cruise ship was nearing the city of Daivan and within just an hour, Koujaku and Noiz were able to see the land that was coming into view. For Noiz this felt like a normal 2-3 day trip while Koujaku had a hard time passing the last day away since the day felt like it would go on forever. Beni had told him constantly to take it easy and to not be so anxious. But he couldn't help it. His mind had been swamped with questions since the very beginning and the fact that the twins were still out there looking for Aoba, threw him over the edge.
Both the men had been standing out on the deck for a while now without much words being said to one another. Koujaku had not been in the mood to fight with Noiz during the evening and they had remained quiet with each other until now. Noiz broke their awkward silence as he probably had enough of being quiet.
"Can you do us both a favor and take that anger out on something already?" The sarcastic question caused Koujaku to tighten his grip on the railing as he had been looking out over the side of the boat. His constant frowning had started to make the muscles in his jaw hurt. Koujaku returned the odd stare from Noiz with an annoyed expression. "Why don't you go do something useful instead of complaining about what I'm doing! If you don't like the silence then start up a better conversation." He returned his gaze to looking out over the ocean.
A few minutes went by without a retort from Noiz and Koujaku was beginning to think the man had given up on talking. But this was not the case as he appeared to be looking at a small, silver ring in the palm of his hand. Curious, Koujaku looked closer at the ring and realized there was something engraved in the side of the ring. Something inside of him bubbled for a bit but he ignored the feeling and continued to look a the rushing water that rocked the side of the boat.
Since Koujaku had said that to him, Noiz had not said anything afterward and was completely fixated on the object he held in his hand. But he surprised both himself and Koujaku when he opened his mouth to speak. "Do you...like Aoba as I like him?" His voice sounded slightly bitter but held the same cold tone he had since he first met him.
Koujaku did not look up but answered Noiz with honesty. "I don't know." It was half a lie but half the truth as well. He was really not sure what his feelings for Aoba were. They could be interpreted as an older brother's love or even as his potential guardian should something happen with Tae. But because Noiz was so direct with the question, Koujaku had a hard time finally coming to terms with the word 'love'. It was true he had only though of Aoba during the bad times when he was in trouble and would rush to help him but even then wasn't that sort of feeling just the feeling of wanting to protect someone?
Unsatisfied with the answer, Noiz stuck the ring back into his suit's front pocket and left Koujaku on the deck to go back inside the cabin of the ship. He could tell the man had not been totally truthful with him and had probably taken offense from it. 'It shouldn't even be of any business to him. That ring...does he really think it can be so easy?' Koujaku thought and looked up at the stars that were sprinkled across the night sky.
He let out an exasperated sigh and looked over to Beni who had been sitting on top of a barrel this time rather than a crate and had his head tilted to the side a bit with both his feet covered by the mass of feathers of his body. Koujaku then stood up straight and stuck his arms inside his kimono to keep them warm from the night air that seemed to feel more like a winter breeze than a summer one. Koujaku bean to feel numb from the cold air as his ears had been exposed for quite a while. He exhaled longer than normal just so he could see his breath. It had been a while since he was able to do something like this that was not because of his smoking.
It reminded him of the days that him and Aoba spent during holidays when the winter weather had come around on Midorijima. Although they did not get snow like the Platinum Jail had advertised, they were still able to see their breath every time they exhaled while outside. He got up from leaning over the railing and removed his arms from inside his kimono. As much as he would like to think about the good old days with Aoba, he was much more interested for the morning to come when he would be able to meet Aoba after all this time.
He picked Beni up from the barrel and carried him back inside the cabin. He glanced around at the now empty cabin. Most of the guards had gone to bed while some were still out walking out on patrol. Although he had no idea why they would think they would get attacked on the boat, he felt safer knowing they were taking precautions and were not going to leave anything up to chance.
Koujaku found his room once more and smiled sadly. He was happy to be meeting Aoba again but he only wished it was under a different circumstance. This was not the way he had wished to meet with Aoba and had hoped that he was just traveling the world like Noiz had. He shook the negative thought from his mind and entered the room.
He didn't bother to remove his kimono and sat on the bed, placing Beni on the nightstand that sat next to it. He wasn't tired but the thought of meeting Aoba was causing him to feel drained of his energy. He thought it must have been because of his anxiousness and overlooked it while he rested his head on the pillow.
The morning came soon enough and before Aoba knew it, he was wide awake from his sleep. His headaches were still gone and he was able to wake up without a throbbing pain for once. He sat up from the position he had been laying in and looked around still half asleep. The ends of his long blue hair looked to be frizzled from him moving about in his slumber. He gave his arms a bit of a stretch before getting up from the bed on shaky legs.
His body was still not used to the new development of walking and he was sure he would be doing proper rehabilitation along side Ren once he arrived. He winced at the sudden throbbing of pain that went through his calves. His legs had not walked properly in such a long time and he hoped it would only be for a while that this condition remained.
A knock on the door caught him off guard nearly causing him to lose his balance. He caught his legs before they could give out from under him and walked unsteadily to the door and turned the knob. It was Mink. The man was stiff as a board as usual but had a soft expression instead of his usual disgruntled look. Mink pushed his way inside the room without asking if he could enter or not and threw something down onto the bed.
"Mink...?" Aoba watched the man for a bit and then realized what he had thrown down. A pair of running shoes with a pair of light blue jeans and a white t-shirt sat neatly folded and looked brand new.
He made his way back toward the bed still unsteady on his feet but reached the bed safely and bent over to get a better look at the fashion that Mink had delivered. A pair of white and light blue checkered ankle socks were also there along with bright pink over-the-head headphones that looked like the kind he used to wear back on the island. "Those are the same kind you had before you vanished. I was able to get them before coming here. I thought you would feel naked without them."
Mink was right about that. It was the only thing from his past that was able to calm him during the night and came in handy for when he wasn't feeling well. Although he had Clear singing for him from his roof, it just wasn't the same if it was not next to his ears. Aoba smiled up at Mink. "Thanks. I forgot all about them until now." He shuffled the clothes aside, organizing them so that he could put the shirt and socks on first.
He was about to lift up his shirt when Mink stopped him with both his hands on his arms. Puzzled, Aoba looked at him and wondered what was wrong. "They're going to pick them up. There's no need for you to get dressed. So you should stay here." Aoba studied the man's eyes and could have sworn he saw a hint of sadness.
But it was soon glossed over by the look of anger. Mink took the hem of Aoba's shirt from his hands and pulled it down to his waist where it had been originally. He then put both hands on the boy's shoulders and turned him around so that his back was to the bed. He pushed him down until he was directly hovering over him. "Or did you want to see him that badly..." Aoba could only stare up at the man and try to figure out what it was that he was talking about.
Did he mean Koujaku? And even if he did mean Koujaku, why would it be such a problem if he wanted to see him this badly? He searched his mind for the answer and remembered what he had said before a few days ago about all four of them having the same feelings. A blush spread across his face and he turned his head so that the man could not see him getting flustered from having just remembered something embarrassing.
"Aoba." Hearing Mink say his name so softly made his heart pound a tad faster and he soon felt as though the world had suddenly weighed a ton and was now resting on his chest.
Mink was pinning him down with just his body alone knowing full well that he could not escape with the way his body was. Mink used one of his hands to pull Aoba's face back so that they were both facing each other. "M-Mink...get off...please!" Mink sat there unmoved from the spot. Aoba tried to squeeze his shoulders upward so that he could inch his body away from Mink's.
The man continued to watch the boy try to worm his way out from underneath him. It was no use as Mink's sheer massively built body had completely overpowered his own with both their chests touching each other. Mink's brown dreadlocks were tickling his cheeks and one of his legs had been shifted so that it was directly between Aoba's. Mink then lowered his head to Aoba's right ear and whispered. "I'll only get off if you promise to stay here with me." Feeling Mink's breath flowing past his ear caused him to shiver slightly.
'L-like hell I would...!' Aoba thought but the more he struggled, the more his legs were parted and it got to the point that Mink's knee was now nearing his crotch. Mink lifted his head so that he was looking into Aoba's eyes waiting for Aoba to come to an answer.
Aoba reached for Mink's arms and grabbed hold of them with both his hands. Thinking Aoba had come around to an agreement, he began to pull his leg back just a bit. Aoba seized this opportunity and somehow was able to free his legs from Mink's body and used his legs to push his body up and with the help of his hands and arms, was able to scramble over the bedside so that he landed on the floor.
Mink let out a small 'hmph' as if to say 'Well done' . Aoba looked up questionably wondering if Mink would pursue him. But the man was just standing there staring back at him and did not seem to be upset or angry at him. Aoba, feeling a bit weird from the staring contest, gave in and was the first one to look away.
"Last chance. Is this your final answer?" Mink's cold tone of voice would have annoyed Aoba or at the very least make him fearful of what Mink would do if he answered wrong. But that was before, now it was like Mink had changed into somebody else while he was away.
Aoba nodded without making anymore eye contact with him and continued staring at the floor. The man let out a sigh and finally left the room without another word. Feeling a sense of relief, Aoba leaned his body against the bed so that his head rested against the end of its gold, wire bed frame. Mink was right to ask that question as he himself did not know if he had the energy or the courage to meet with them. He wondered what sort of faces the both of them would make after seeing him and started getting cold feet about meeting with them.
The 'feelings' that Mink had described to him were supposedly that of love. But the more he thought about such a thing, the more it sounded impossible and just plain weird since he pictured Koujaku as his only best friend while Noiz had just been someone who had liked picking fights with him because of Rhyme. These were his only reasons for why it would be impossible for either of them to have feelings for him.
He pushed the thought aside and finally got himself up from the floor and continued with changing into the new clothes that were still on the bed. He put his headphones around his neck comfortably and began to feel sightly better having the same warm and fuzzy feeling he had when he usually had them on back on the island.
It was pure nostalgia and he was enjoying himself for once after having been cooped up and locked away for 3 years. He had now gotten a taste of his true freedom.
Because his head was not hurting him today, he saw no reason to turn the headphones on and thought he should only turn them on when the headaches started again. The light blue jeans were a bit snug around his hips but Aoba was still comfortable in them despite that. He then heard another knock on the door. Startled, Aoba had to hold onto the bed frame to stop himself from falling backward.
"C-Come in." Aoba answered. He was still a bit shook up from what had happened with Mink earlier so his nerves were still in shock. He wasn't sure if it was Mink again or if it was someone else but if it was Mink, he wasn't sure how to react this time around.
A figure stepped in, opening the door wide for a few others to be let in. It was Bernardo and behind him, Giulio and Gian as well as Luchino. Mink must have told them that he wanted to tag along and probably told them to convince him into staying. But he was not going to argue if that was the case. He would love more than anything to greet the both of them at the harbor but his body still did not feel like his own and he had a tough enough time trying to get his body to remember his reflexes.
They all smiled at him as they came in. Giulio and Gian took a seat at the table while Luchino went over to the window while getting an odd stare from Gian and Bernardo. But Bernardo quickly dismissed his weird behavior and spoke his mind.
"I'm going to guess that you know why we came. But you see...that man must really have your interests in mind after all, you were in a bit of a coma with a constant state of pain so I can understand why he suggested you stay. But this is also your choice so we cannot force you to stay behind." Bernardo had been calm through out this whole charade and it amazed Aoba to see the man working so diligently for a random stranger on top of having to work on the telephones all day and sometimes during the night as well.
Aoba looked from Gian to Giulio and then over to Luchino's back. He was unsure of it himself whether he wanted to go with them or not. What Mink said was true but not entirely and that was what had him second guessing as to what it was he wanted to do. It was a simple yes or no question but for him it felt like a life or death choice.
He felt that if he did not go, he would not see the new friends he had made, ever again while at the same time he felt that if he went with them, something would happen. But he was mostly afraid of meeting up with Koujaku again after so long. What was one to say to their best friend that they had been victimized by a pair of sadistic men? But then he realized something. If Koujaku had been put off by such a thing, why would he even come out to find him?
Feeling his choice was already decided, he gave Bernardo a proud look. "I'll...stay. But this has nothing to do with what Mink thinks!" Aoba felt as though he had to throw that sentence in at the end but he did not know why.
It was his own choice, one he felt sure about since he wanted to talk privately with Koujaku once he got there. He already figured Noiz might have known about something of his disappearance and knew the younger man probably already knew what had taken place while he was kidnapped. He heard footsteps behind him and then felt someone pat the back of his head. Luchino had returned from looking out the window and was standing behind him with a laid-back expression. The palm of his hand now rested on the back of his hair.
"Just don't push yourself while we're gone!" With a satisfied smirk, Luchino quickly ushered the other three out of the room. He was alone again. Aoba then began thinking about what Clear's face had looked like the other night and rushed to the window.
He was usually out on the rooftops quite a lot back on Midorijima and probably preferred that to sleeping in an actual bed because of the stars. Aoba opened the window and stuck his head out. He craned his neck every which way in every angle that he could to see where the man might have been resting. But he did not see anyone and was about to pull his head back from the window when he heard a slight noise from the right of the window.
It was the sound of someone sleeping. He smiled and tried to strain his head to look in the direction of the noise of the snoring. The only thing he could make out was a round, white ball of fluff. It was certainly Clear's head of hair and he must have been lying on his back as he had could see just the top of his forehead but nothing below since the window's frame had been blocking his view.
'Should I...' Aoba thought to himself and found himself questioning his own motives. He knew what Mink meant from the words 'feelings' and 'like'. He also knew that Clear's 'love' for him was that of a lover and was obviously waiting for his answer.
But as he thought more about what Clear meant to him, Mink's face appeared in his head for a split second. Although Clear had confessed to him, his thoughts were being torn between him and Mink without him wanting it to. He had just gotten away from such a crazy environment and it was the last thing he wanted to think about for the time being until he was ready to face such things.
Because his body had been traumatized, his perception on feelings had not adjusted quite yet and it would take some time to sort through. He shook his head free of the thoughts and continued to concentrate on looking out over the lawn of the hotel.
A/N: Phew. Had a bit of a busy week so I was mostly able to do my typing at night but I prefer that. But as for Aoba, so far he seems very confused as to what he should be doing and what with having to face his best friend of all his years only to find out that he might even have the same feelings as Clear, well you get the picture, it will just get jumbled in a whole bunch of confusions!
So for Mink I've created the plot to be based on after the tower incident but he did get scrapped but just has not changed his outfit or hairstyle. Clear and Ren are probably the only ones who've changed oh and Noiz while Mink and Koujaku have stayed the same. Um But yes, that is it for this chapter, next time we get to see the five of them reunited and don't worry, Ren is on his way!