If it is at all possible, I'm sick...again. I had a sinus infection, was better for a total of two days, woke up this morning... and here I am not able to breathe and with a sore throat. How do things like this happen? (sigh). In any case, enjoy!
Lady Duzie: It's so true, he'll never get a break. Thanks for reviewing!
Shadow Masochist: Isn't it? And in response to that... yes, I do enjoy it quite a bit. Though... if you knew what was going on, you might know what's going to happen, and we can't have that, now can we? Thanks for reviewing!
"Sir." A voice brought Kiyo's attention from his reading. The young king glanced up to see Kai leaning against his doorway, tilting his head.
A small sigh left the brunette's lips, "You made me think there was someone here that would tell me something of importance." He commented, looking back to his book. Only now did he hear the sarcasm in that single word, and wished he had simply ignored the man. "Probably wants me to let him and his brother go overseas again." He thought, tiredly.
"That's so cruel, I happen to be very informed." The elder one defended himself.
"And what have you come to 'inform' me of today?" Kiyo wondered, disbelieving.
"We've caught the target."
Those four words grabbed the purple-eyed boy's attention and he glanced back from his book once more, "Where?"
A small, almost sadistic smirk graced the lighter-haired one's lips, "Right this way."
"Let's see..." Ukat thought, looking around, "The black hallways lead...where again?" A soft groan left his lips as he looked around. At this point, he just wanted to get back to his room, but he wasn't even sure where that was anymore. Deciding that maybe he could retrace his steps, Ukat turned around, walking along the darkly-carpeted hallway. "Where's Rai when you need him?" he wondered, idly.
"That's what I'd like to know." Came an annoyingly familiar voice. The child looked up to see Belial looking around, slightly irritated. Beyond that, though, Ukat thought he saw perhaps a slight tinge of worry in the older one's orange orbs.
"What?" the blue-haired boy asked, wondering what Belial was wondering. He hadn't said anything to cause a response like that-- he hadn't said anything at all.
"I'd like to know where Rai is." Belial repeated, now slightly annoyed at the seemingly slow boy, "Or did you not even pay attention to what you were thinking?"
"But...they're my thoughts." Ukat countered, still confused.
"Duh." Came the simple response.
Sighing, slightly exasperated, the shorter one shook his head, "So how can you know what I'm thinking?"
"By reading your thoughts, obviously, are you slow?" Ukat simply stared at Belial, perhaps proving his point a bit too well. The elder knew this information would startle the younger one, though, and in return he simply chuckled, "Hm?"
The still-confused boy just shook his head again, now having a whole new realm of questions that he wasn't sure he wanted answered. Instead, he moved on, "So you don't know where Rai is." He concluded.
After a moment, Belial shrugged, "No." He confirmed, though getting a straight answer from this boy seemed incredibly odd to hear.
"Maybe someone else has seen him?"
"Maybe." The red head parroted, though it wasn't the hopeful kind of 'maybe someone has seen him' that you'd expect it to be. Instead, this maybe seemed only to serve as the reminder that it was only a possibility that someone had seen Rai, and that possibility had every chance of failing.
A slightly defeated sigh escaped the younger boy's lips, "Aren't you worried?" he wondered, "Or does he disappear like this a lot." Belial just shrugged the questions off, which only caused to upset Ukat slightly. "So you don't care about him?"
"Did I say that?" the orange-eyed boy wondered, tilting his head, "No."
"Then why do you act like you don't care?" he demanded, a small frown touching his lips.
"Why bother worrying if there's nothing I can do?" the elder questioned.
"How do you know there's nothing you can do?" When all he got was another shrug to answer his question, Ukat closed his eyes.
Belial just shook his head and turned to leave, "Even think the reason I'm not worried is I have a little faith in him?" With that, he walked off, leaving the blue-eyed boy to ponder his words.
Sighing to himself, Ukat shook his head and set off to find someone who might know what happened to his friend. Making his way back to the section that contained his room along with the king and princes' rooms, in addition to a few others. Turning around a corner, he immediately froze to keep from running into Kiyotaka. Blinking, the much shorter one looked up at him, "Oh, sorry." He apologized quickly, "I didn't know you were back yet."
The king nodded slightly, "Be careful, some don't appreciate being run into." He chided.
"Sorry." Ukat repeated, giving a quick bow, "I'll be on my way." As he was about to walk off, an idea struck him and he quickly looked up to Kiyotaka again, "Have you seen Rai by any chance?" he questioned.
The elder boy gave him a short glance before walking off, "Raika had business in Ambrose."
Blue eyes blinked as the other disappeared around a corner, "He left?" he wondered to himself, "He didn't even tell Belial or anyone?" Ukat didn't know Raika all that well, but he was sure the grey-eyed boy wouldn't leave to go across seas without informing his boyfriend. Troubled, but not sure he was able to find Belial, Ukat turned and made his way back into his room, plopping down on his bed and sighing slightly. A glance was cast out the large window next to his bed, which gave a view of the roaring ocean, occasionally illuminated by the passing beam of the lighthouse, "I hope he's alright."
A knock on his door startled him from his thoughts and a soft 'come in' revealed Ai sticking his head in the door, glancing at him, "Yo." He greeted.
Once again, Ukat blinked, "Ai." He acknowledged, tilting his head to the side, "Can I help you?" He wasn't sure, but he couldn't imagine a boy like Ai having much use for him.
The teen simply shrugged and walked the rest of the way into the spacious room, closing the door and leaning against it, dropping his voice to a low mutter that just barely reached the nine-year-old's ears, "You want to know about Raika, ne?"
The blue-haired boy tilted his head and was about to ask how the natural spy knew such a thing, but it then occurred to him that might just be the kind of person Ai was. So, instead, he nodded a confirmation, "Yes."
A slight shrug was given, "He's over on Ambrose Island."
"I know, Kiyotaka told me." Ukat informed him, tilting his head, "He said Rai had business over there. He didn't tell anyone about it, though, which struck me as odd."
"Business?" the violet-haired teen repeated, "Yeah, right."
"You mean he lied?" A small frown tugged at his lips, "Then why did he go?"
"He didn't go." Ai clarified, "He was taken."
"What?" The new information drug the corners of his lips down into a deeper frown, "Who would take him? Why?"
As if reading the younger one's mind, Ai spoke up, "He was taken right after he spoke with you last night. Do you know a boy named Kanone that lives in this castle? Always all over my brother..." He muttered as an afterthought.
After a second of thought, Ukat nodded, "Yes, I think I recall seeing him with Ayumu."
"The one that took Raika is his father."
"Wh-what? His father? Why would he do something like that? Why doesn't he live here with Kanone?"
"He works for the king on Ambrose Island." The older boy continued, "Kiyo."
"Kiyo..." Those two syllables froze the boy in place as he looked at Ai with a look of shock.
An eyebrow quirked, "You know him?"
It took a moment for the words to register. Once they finally did, he nodded slightly, "Yeah, I lived with him in his castle before I..." He then trailed off, once again giving a look of confusion.
"You...what?" Ai wondered.
"I don't know." The teal-haired boy admitted, "I can't really remember what happened. I just know I was out on the cliff by the ocean one minute, then everything's blurry."
That same eyebrow shot up at the story, but was quickly shrugged off-- not like it was his problem. A shrug was given, "Anyway, that's where he is."
One question had still gone unanswered, "Why was Rai taken, though?"
Ai hesitated for just a moment, but it was long enough for Ukat to notice. In an attempt to cover it up, he spoke, "Kiyo wanted something from Raika that he didn't think he'd give up willingly."
Another frown formed at the information, "He won't hurt him will he?"
The next hesitation couldn't be covered up by anyone, and was only answered with Ai shaking his head, "He'll do more than that." A soft sigh escaped his lips as he turned to leave, "I would suggest forgetting all about Raika. Chances are, you'll never see him again, anyway." With that, he exited the small boy's room, the door shutting with a click.
Ukat simply stared after him, "Kiyo wouldn't..." As much as he tried to convince himself of this, he knew very well he would and very possibly was. In fact, the teal-haired one was the only person Kiyo was truly nice to. He'd always heard that the king was stuck up, so to speak, and down right rude, but whenever Ukat was around, he never saw it. Many had told him time and time again that whenever he was around, Kiyo was as nice as could be, or at least not the cold-hearted bastard everyone else saw him as. Navy-blue eyes closed for a moment before gazing out the window, "Kiyo..."
Hm...so Ai's creepiness was actually helpful. Who would have guessed? Sounds like he knows something he's not letting onto, though... This chapter is really only half done, but writer's block is threatening to make it another three days before I get to post it if I wait until it's completely finished. I'm sure this has just added to the confusion, but... you'll live. Hopefully. Unless your head explodes... leave a review before it does!