Really… I have an excuse for not updating at all… alright, not a very good one, but it's still an excuse. I started college and have been swamped with essays, homework, projects, not to mention class. Yeah, right… anyone buying it? Didn't think so. I'm just lazy and haven't had inspiration….again. Maybe I'll get it back one of these days. Until then, enjoy!
freya kurenai: No, he's not really, but in this fic, he will be that naïve. Aw, you don't think it's cute? Well… meh. Thanks for reviewing!
Shadow Masochist: Still don't get why you're envious. And is time all that precious? Sure, it's limited, but if it's spent doing things unwanted and forced rather than doing things that you want to and make you happy, is it not wasted anyway? Well, either way, thanks for reviewing!
Lady Duzie: Ah, yes, all the people. Might have to throw some FF characters in here, too. Thanks for reviewing!
Red Kitsune Flames: Whoo, go Kanone! Thanks for reviewing!
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Early the next morning, Kiyotaka arrived at his look a like's castle. He strode up to the door, which was guarded by two burly men with axes crisscrossed across the door and swords at their hips. Though they looked heavily armed, the eldest Narumi doubted that they were quick on their feet or skilled in battle at all- simply hired muscle that probably got killed off and replaced every other week. As he approached the two men, the one on the left, slightly shorter and more squatty than the other glanced at him. To prove his point of the guards being all muscle and no brain, the grisly man immediately moved his weapon from in front of the door to allow him entry, obviously mistaking him for Kiyo. Rolling his eyes, but not complaining about the easy entrance, Kiyotaka made his way through the door into the lavish building.
Just as in his own castle, the interior traffic contrasted with the outer serenity of the structure. Outside there were few people- just the guards and perhaps one or two servants attending to the lawn and gardens- but inside was a whole different story. Quiet chattering and people from all social classes bustling about, trying to accomplish one thing or another, occasionally running into each other due to lack of attention of where they were walking, instead focused on a parchment or object in their hands or simply lost in thought of their immediate plans. Then, there were the loudmouths and children (though, more often than not, the two coincided), who made the most racket possible. From shouting to each other down the halls, laughing, knocking things over, breaking valuable items that shouldn't have been left out, or simply throwing said items back and forth, their actions destroyed any potential peace that the inside of the seemingly calm castle might have had.
The layout, however, was erratic and random, yet with some sense of order and structure, though it would take an abstract viewer to see the creativity in what might otherwise seem like a mess of mashed corridors and haphazardly placed doors. Kiyotaka smirked slightly at the engineering of the building, and deducted it must have been someone of higher thinking (or a child, since the two were often confused or grouped together) to plan out the complex design. Since his own castle, designed by none other than himself, mirrored the same thought process, he concluded that Kiyo was most likely the one behind the scheme. Though, simply because the concept was the same in no way meant the layout was. In short, this meant Kiyotaka had no way to know where Kiyo was, or even what room he would be in. A throne room, perhaps, his own room, some random room doing some random thing, who knew?
Luckily for Kiyotaka, who just happened to have the devil's luck, a certain man was expecting his arrival and upon seeing him, approached him, smiling that same slightly-suspicious-but-still-friendly smile. "You must be Kiyotaka." The older man tilted his head as the brunette glanced at him, "I'm Kai. Looking for Kiyo, I presume?"
A nod from the younger man and Kai started walking down what seemed a random hallway with Kiyotaka in tow. They soon reached a door that had no distinguishing marks in any way, it wasn't even at the end of the hallway, like most rooms that held something or someone of importance were. Kai knocked on the door, rapping it with his knuckles for a few moments before a voice was heard, "What?"
"So friendly." Kai murmured before raising his voice so the one inside could hear, "You've a visitor."
After a pause, most likely to give Kiyo time to glare at the door in irritation, he replied, "Fine."
The older one shrugged and looked at Kiyotaka, "Guess that means go in, I can never tell with him." An eyebrow shot up as the other rolled his eyes and walked in. Shaking his head, the golden-eyed man walked back the way he came, muttering, "Great… two of them."
Inside Kiyo's bedroom, the purple-eyed one glanced up at his look a like, quirking an eyebrow at the other man, "Kiyotaka." He stated. It was obvious who the other one was, Kiyo doubted too many others had their exact features.
As the said man looked upon the other, he took in his appearance. There really wasn't a thing to differentiate the two. Everything from their physical appearance to the way they carried themselves to their unsympathetic and seemingly cold attitude was identical. There may have been a few miniscule differences like how they would react to a certain situation or what they valued (or if they valued anything at all), but overall, they could have switched places and no one would have ever known other than perhaps Ayumu, who always hung around Kiyotaka and was perhaps the one who knew him best.
An eyebrow raised at the recognition he heard in the other man's voice- as if he knew him or had at least known of him for quite some time, "You know me." It was a question as much as it was a statement. Kiyotaka rarely asked questions.
A slight shrug was given as a response, "You have something I require."
Right down to business, of course. If anything proved he was like Kiyotaka, it was that. "I'm sure I do." It was his way of asking what it was and why he should give it up.
"A boy by the name of Raika, he resides in your castle."
Kiyotaka knew the name well enough, after all, he was the reason the boy even existed. Though, one question lurked in his mind, "Why should I give him to you?" It wasn't that he wanted to keep the boy for any particular reason or that he wanted anything in return. It was rather that he knew what the boy was capable of, and in the wrong hands, very dangerous.
"Is that any of your concern?" Kiyo wondered, tilting his head to the side, "After all, you have no need nor want for the boy, why not hand him over? And I'll take good care of him." He promised. In the back of his head, though, he was going over ways in which to destroy something that should have never been rightfully created in the first place. He knew it, Kiyotaka knew it, and he knew Kiyotaka knew it. The latter simply didn't have the inspiration or motivation to have the boy taken care of.
Kiyotaka shrugged, "Of course." It was, Kiyo assumed, his way of agreeing to handing the boy over.
"Good." When the hazel-eyed man didn't leave immediately, Kiyo spoke again, "Was there something more you wanted?"
Kiyotaka's mind briefly flashed to the boy that had been brought to him earlier in the week. Though, it was no business of his or anything he had to deal with. Still, he decided to mention it, "A boy was brought to my castle a few days back."
"And?" Kiyo asked, wondering why he should care.
"Does the name Ukat ring a bell?" he asked.
A flash of interest and actual emotion passed through Kiyo's eyes, though it was quickly hidden once again, "Yes." He replied simply. There was no need for the other to know that he had been searching for the young boy since he had disappeared almost a week ago.
Another shrug and Kiyotaka turned to leave, "He's there if you want him." With that said, the brunette walked out of the room and through the complex and random hallways that lead back to his awaiting ship.
Ukat had ventured out of his room in hopes of finding a bit of food. Despite being told he was going to be put to work, he had yet to be given any tasks or chores. Figuring he would take advantage of the down time to explore the huge place a bit more, he had set out nearly an hour ago in search of the kitchen. Now, he was lost. The castle hallways and general plan were erratic and looked as if completely by random. It had been as such back at Kiyo's castle, too, and he always got lost wandering them as well. Sighing slightly to himself, he turned down another hallway… and right into a wall. He stopped a second before his face connected with the completely random structure, which sat in a depression in the wall about two feet in. There was no purpose for it, perhaps, except to trick unassuming patrons of the castle.
A low chuckle was heard behind him, "Lost?" said a voice that Ukat didn't recognize. When he spun around to face the one who had stumbled upon him, he took back his initial assumption of the boy being lost as well and looking for a way out of the labyrinth. The other one, much older than him- looking to be about eighteen, was leaning against the wall opposite to the one he had nearly smacked into. His eyes were a dark orange, almost black, and his wavy red hair fell to his jaw line.
"I think so." The teal-haired boy finally responded, after taking the boy's full appearance in. He certainly didn't look like a servant- dressed in finer clothes than even the princes wore.
"You think?" The boy questioned, "You don't even know?"
"Uh…well…" the younger one really didn't have an answer. Shaking his head and bowing, he smiled, "Sorry, forgive my manners. My name is-"
"Uh huh." The red-haired boy said, looking off to the side, disinterestedly, and waving a hand carelessly, "Don't care."
Navy blue eyes blinked at the sudden change in attitude. While at first the boy just seemed amused with the younger one's unawareness, he was now acting as if he didn't even want to know him, "I suppose not everyone is quite as polite as others." Simply because they were in a rather formal setting, he supposed, not everyone would act as such. Instead of talking about himself, Ukat decided to focus the conversation on the slightly mysterious boy, "What's your name?" he asked.
"Does it matter?" the oddly-colored eyed boy wondered, glancing at him, "You have no need to call me by it and no need to reference me for anything."
"I suppose…" Ukat agreed, "But it's only natural to introduce oneself upon a first meeting, ne?" All he got in return was a shrug, so he tried once more to get something out of the older one, "Do you know where the kitchen is?"
Another shrug and the redhead turned to leave, "Of course I do." With that, he walked down another random hallway.
Ukat blinked once more, "Wha…well, where is it?" he called after the retreating form. Orange eyes rolled and the boy continued walking down his chosen hallway. Deciding it was better than stumbling around aimlessly, the much shorter one followed the other.
After a few minutes of being trailed, the older one glanced back to the young boy following behind him, "Something you want?" he asked, as if nothing had happened.
"I'd like to know where the kitchen is." The blue-haired one said, a bit tired of the lack of conversation and attention he was receiving from the other one.
"I'm sure." Was the only response he received.
Ukat was about to comment on the elder's manners before he was interrupted by another boy, who emerged from a room they had stopped in front of. He looked only to be about seventeen or even younger due to his height (or lack of). He was at least half a foot shorter than the red-haired boy and closer to Ukat's height. That was including his hair, which was short and a dark green color, spiked up in small patches all around his head. His eyes were a steel grey, but unlike the color might suggest, were still able to show quite an abundance of whatever emotion the boy was feeling. His eyes were covered by a pair of glasses that were tinted orange and had an oval shape to them.
The boy glanced to Ukat and smiled, bowing, "Hello, I'm Raika, a pleasure to meet you, and who might you be?" he asked.
Changing from the more-than-laid-back attitude of the first boy to the rather professional one of the second, the youngest bent over in a slight bow as well, "The pleasure's all mine. I'm Ukat." He replied, smiling slightly, happy to find someone who might be of some assistance and not completely aloof.
"I hope Belial didn't give you too much trouble, he can be an ass sometimes." The green-haired boy continued, motioning to the bored-looking teen at his side.
Ukat blinked and shook his head, smiling again, "No, not at all. I was just trying to find the kitchen." He explained.
Raika nodded and looked to Belial, "You don't have to be such a jerk to everyone, you know." He lightly scolded, though there was no hint of actual parenting in his voice.
"I don't have to do anything." The boy known as Belial pointed out, "And I'm not a jerk to everyone."
"More than most." The grey-eyed boy shot back. The tallest of the three simply shrugged and disappeared into the room Raika had just come out of after placing a quick kiss on the younger-looking one's lips. Sighing and shaking his head, Raika looked to Ukat and smiled again, "Come on, I'll take you to the kitchen." He offered. The teal-haired boy nodded in agreement and followed the elder one through a specific path in the maze of corridors to his desired destination, "Maybe it won't be so bad here." He thought idly. Though, deep down his heart still ached to be at Kiyo's side once again.
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We all see what's happening here, right? His love interest is out to get the only friend he's made in this whole place. Isn't he such a lucky boy? Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, so review!