Been long enough for you? Me, too. Good, then, I'm going to not rant, and just say enjoy!
Dark Azure Wind: I think it's inevitable, isn't it? XD, thanks for reviewing!
Red Kitsune Flames: Writer's block.. (kills it) I think I'm.. partially over it.. I'm over enough to update this much, so yay. Thanks for reviewing!
"Where am I?" the young boy thought, looking around the small room. He had awoken here and couldn't remember much more about the night before. He only recalled something that seemed like from a dream or a distant memory. He blinked and reached into his pocket, pulling out the small stone from before. He looked at it, tilting his head as it cast a faint blue glow in the otherwise dark room. He studied the carefully carved spiral design on the front, running his thumb over the back to discover that it was completely smooth. "What is this stone? Why does it seem so familiar?" Sighing in frustration, he sat on the small bed and tossed it up and down, idly. He could only remember seeing the stone outside and then everything went dark. Then, another thought entered his head, "I hope Belial won't be worried." He then laughed slightly at the absurdity of that notion. If there was one thing his boyfriend never was, it was worried. In all their time of knowing each other, Rai had never seen Belial even fazed by anything, let alone actually worry. He simply didn't care enough about anything to have it worry him, "That's not true... he cares about me." He thought, closing his eyes, "Maybe he'll come for me."
At that moment, the door swung open and two men entered the room. Raika immediately sat up to face them and looked them over. He didn't quite recognize the first man, though he did look very familiar. He looked exactly like Kiyotaka, in fact, other than his oddly colored eyes. The other one, a bit older, that walked in after elicited a small gasp from the green-haired boy. The golden-eyed man chuckled and tilted his head, "Good evening, Raika."
"K-kai." He muttered, backing away slightly from the man. He didn't know why he was here, but if a Kiyotaka look a like and Kai were involved, he knew it couldn't be good for him. He swallowed hard and looked back up to the two men, "What do you want with me?"
"Come now, Raika, dear." The elder of the two chided, taking another step closer to the frightened boy, "You know you couldn't hide from us forever. Did you really think you could avoid us?"
"Kai, that's enough." Kiyo said in a firm voice, sighing.
"Fine, fine." The sandy-haired man pouted slightly and then chuckled, reaching over and grabbing Raika's arm, "So should I just get rid of it, now?"
"No..." The grey-eyed boy struggled in the grasp, but to no avail. Kai had always been immensely stronger than himself and knew it.
A cold glance was cast to the youngest of the three, "Not yet." And with no further explanation, Kiyo exited the room.
Kai blinked, slightly confused and looked at Rai, "Lucky." He muttered before following the king out, "So why keep him around?" he wondered.
"It's none of your concern." The brunette stated, "But I do have good news for you."
"Eh?" he wondered, tilting his head, "What kind of good news?"
"You get to go see your sons."
Kai blinked, now more confused than before, "What? Why?"
"Because I need you to deliver a message to Kiyotaka for me." The younger man informed him.
"Alright...what?"
Kiyo simply ignored the question, "Hakkai already has the information, he will be going with you to make sure you behave."
"Wha-... are you saying I'm not responsible enough to deliver a simple message?" he asked, slightly offended.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Hakkai's already waiting for you outside, so hurry up." With that, the king disappeared into another room.
Sighing in defeat, the younger brother joined the older one outside. Hakkai chuckled slightly, "Something wrong?"
"That guy gets on my nerves sometimes." The younger sibling muttered.
"Aw, why's that?" the darker-haired one wondered, "Kiyo's nice."
"Uh huh... to you."
The blue-haired man patted his brother's head and climbed in the waiting carriage with him in tow, "Glad you get to see Kanone and Kalelle?"
A small nod accompanied Kai's reply as he gazed out the window, "Yeah."
A quick glance was shot to him, but no more words were said as the carriage started moving and brought them to a dock where a large ship was waiting for them. Hakkai climbed out and looked back over his shoulder, "Kai?"
"Hm?" was his response, still focusing on something that wasn't his brother.
"Come on." The elder suggested, heading toward the ship.
Finally, Kai got the message and snapped back to reality, following the other man, "Jeez, Kiyo really spares no expenses, does he?" he commented, in regards to the luxurious vessel before them, "It's just a small trip and there's only two of us, yet he sends out this thing?"
"It is a bit strange." The other agreed.
"Ah well." The golden-eyed man shrugged it off, stepping aboard, "If he wants us to ride in style, then let's." A small shake of his head and a chuckle were the only replies he received before Hakkai followed him on deck.
Once they finally arrived on Kiyotaka's island, the two looked around. Kai took this moment to glance at the one next to him, "So what is this all important message that Kiyo'd send both of us to deliver?" he wondered.
Hakkai simply shrugged and started walking, "It's rude to read other people's mail without their permission, brother." He reminded him, chuckling at the small pout, "Maybe Kiyotaka will tell you?"
"Yeah, right, I'm so sure he will." He muttered, sarcastically, before looking up and blinking.
Before them stood a pink-haired boy wearing a long black trench coat that blew in the wind and top hat, tiling his head, "Gentlemen, so good to see you again."
Kai simply rolled his eyes and flicked the younger one, "Drop the act, Dimitri."
The one known as Dimitri chuckled and tipped his hat to Hakkai, who nodded in return, "What act, dear father?"
The title only made said man groan, "For the last time, I'm not your father. Just because you mooched off me and had no family or home when you were younger doesn't make me your parent."
A small smirk played across the boy's lips, "You're so cruel." He commented before heading back to the castle, "I don't see how Kalelle puts up with it."
"I don't see how he puts up with you."
"Kai, be nice." Hakkai chided.
"Why?" came the confused response, "I get to pick on my son's friends, don't I?"
A small sigh came from the oldest one's mouth as he nodded in defeat, "Of course you do, brother."
"So, uncle." Dimitri spoke up, addressing Hakkai, "How are things with the royal pain?"
"I don't know who you could be talking about." The black-eyed man said, too innocently.
"Uh huh." Was the skeptical response before it was shrugged off, "Oh well, so how have things been in general?"
"Good." He replied with no further explanation.
"Such a talker." Dimitri muttered under his breath before looking at Kai, "And you?"
The younger brother just shrugged, "Same old, same old. Other than this whole business with Raika." He added, almost as an afterthought, "I wonder why Kiyo wanted to keep him alive, the kid can't be of any use and he needs to be dealt with as quickly as possible."
"Raika?" Dimitri parroted, "Wasn't he living in Kiyotaka's castle?"
Kai nodded an affirmative, "But Kiyo wanted him, so he's over on Ambrose now."
"Kiyo wanted him?" The shock in his voice was unmistakable. Not that anyone would be surprised by it, Kiyo and Kiyotaka were both very alike in the sense that they wanted next to nothing, and if they ever did, it certainly wouldn't be some kid.
"Yeah, it's nothing, don't worry about it."
Dimitri quirked an eyebrow at the abrupt response, "Uh huh." He said, unbelieving.
Kai just shrugged as the three entered the large castle that housed the Narumi brothers. The king's best friend was leaning back against a wall, expectantly waiting for the three. Taku glanced to them, "About time." He muttered.
The pink-haired one just rolled his eyes, "Good, you deal with these two, then. One's an ass and the other barely talks."
Sighing, Taku brought his navy blue hair up into a low ponytail and held it secure with a thin, black hair tie. "Alright, alright." He conceded, looking to the two elder men, "Guessing you're just heading straight to Kiyotaka, then, so let's go."
As he headed down a hallway, Kai spoke up, "Actually, since Hakkai's the only one with the message, I'll skip that whole boring conversation and just see Kanone and Kalelle."
"Kalelle's in the kitchen, Kanone's in Ayumu's room." Taku informed him, continuing on his way with Hakkai. Kai just shrugged and nodded, following them, seeing as how Ayumu's room was nearly next door to Kiyotaka's.
--
Kiyotaka was enjoying his peace when a knock sounded on his door. He sighed and offered his usual greeting of 'what?'. Taku sauntered in soon after, Hakkai following behind. The latter glanced to Kiyotaka and nodded, "Hello."
A nod was given in return, the most respect Kiyotaka ever showed to anyone. He glanced to Taku, who shrugged, taking the hint, and left the two alone. "What brings you here?" the younger of the two wondered, being more sociable toward the blue-haired man than he was to most.
"Kiyo." Hakkai replied, "He wanted me to deliver a message to you." An expectant look moved him on to the actual message, "He said he was requesting that we take a certain boy home with us."
A moment of thought and Kiyotaka simply shrugged it off, "Ukat, I'm assuming."
The black-eyed one nodded, "Yes."
"Fine, I'll have him brought downstairs."
Hakkai nodded again, "Alright." He turned to leave, but paused, "Oh, right, Kai's here as well. Visiting Kanone and Kalelle."
A spark of interest lit up Kiyotaka's eyes for a brief moment as he glanced back up to the elder one, "I see."
"Want me to tell him to come see you before we leave?" he offered. He'd never heard it from the king directly, but Kai had told him that Kiyotaka was infatuated with his older brother.
If any of what the tan-haired one said was true, it wasn't being verified by Kiyotaka, who just shrugged again, "No need to."
"Of course, though..." he trailed off, glancing over his shoulder.
"Hm?" the brunette wondered, only barely interested.
Hakkai chuckled, "You really should tell him your feelings."
Kiyotaka was about to question what feelings he supposedly had, but the other man just waved a hand, offered a few words of farewell, and left the king to his own thoughts.
--
After getting acquainted with the castle's intricately-patterned hallways, Ukat was becoming familiar with the layout and was getting about more easily. He was currently turning a corner and ran into someone, again. "Need to watch those corners." He reminded himself, thinking of his previous encounter with Kiyotaka. He looked up at his latest running-into-victim to see that it was none other than Belial. He blinked, noticing that the redhead wasn't walking, but in fact leaning against the wall directly around the corner; nearly anyone would have run into him. "Um... hi." The younger one offered.
Burnt orange eyes opened and glanced to the shorter one as their owner nodded his greeting. Deciding that whatever conversation Ukat may get out of him would be meaningless, he started to walk around the odd boy. As soon as he made it past, however, Belial spoke, "Two men are here for you."
"Wha..." the light-haired boy turned to face the other again, "What do they want with me?"
Not answering, Belial instead continued talking, "One is Kanone's father."
"Kanone's father...wait, but... that means..." Ukat snapped his attention up to the slightly taller one, "The one that took Raika?" A nod confirmed this suspicion, which made the boy only more suspicious. Another thing caught his attention, though, "You knew that he was taken?"
"Of course." Belial said, as if it were common sense.
"Why don't you do anything about it, then? Go get him back." He wondered how much Belial really cared for his so-called boyfriend if he was just going to let him be taken.
"No." The tone of his voice made Ukat a little hesitant. Orange eyes closed slowly, "I won't leave here." He said, almost stubbornly.
"Why? What's more important than Raika to you?" It was clear by this point Belial wasn't in love, and he wasn't sure if he even cared that much about the green-haired boy.
"Kiyotaka." The simple response came.
"Why him?" the blue-eyed boy frowned slightly, "Are you really that loyal to your king?"
"Not at all."
Ukat sighed slightly; Belial sure wasn't forthcoming with any information, "Then what?" he pressed.
"I'm in love with him." He shrugged again, as if this news was common sense and should be known by all. For all Ukat knew, it was.
However, he couldn't take this news so lightly, "Why are you with Raika, then?" he demanded, softly, "Don't you care about his feelings at all? Or are you just lying to him?"
An eyebrow quirked at how much the younger one seemed to care about a boy he barely knew. "I care about him, and I don't lie." He informed the other boy.
"If you care about him, you wouldn't be messing with him like this." The lighter-haired one accused.
"I'm not." Belial stated, pushing off the wall. He offered no more explanation, and simply walked off, disappearing around the corner.
Ukat stared after him for a moment before shaking his head. He was concerned at what Kanone's father might want with him, being the one that had taken Raika, after all. In the back of his head, though, he knew he'd go in the end. "If I can help Raika, I need to." He thought, heading toward the main entrance of the castle.
The redheaded boy he had just spoken with not five minutes ago watched him make his way to where Hakkai was waiting, smirking faintly. People were so predictable.
I think this chappy is long enough to make up for.. at least a couple months of absence.. right? Hopefully. Hope this suffices for a bit, review!