The delicately penciled eyebrow arched.
The long wrinkled finger with its blood red nails curled, slowly. An invitation.
With a gentle shrugging from her shawl and a knowing light dancing in those watery blue eyes, Madam Rossa called Yuki to her.
And he went. Obediently. Mechanically. His limbs felt stiff but moved fluidly, gracefully.
And then he was caught in her musky perfume. So close- too close- to the papery skin with its lavender veins like roots at her wrists. Too close to the fur and velvet and glitter of her gaudy jewels.
And far, far too close to those knowing eyes. Those eyes were sharp, intelligent, wise, dangerous... but worst of all those eyes knew Yuki. They had known him for years. They had known him when he was too young. When he was fifteen... And he would never get that back. He hated those eyes.
Akito cleared his throat from the doorway.
Yuki turned to him and the loving smile forced its way onto his face. He felt it tugging at his cheeks. He saw, as though from an outsider's view, the way his eyes softened tenderly towards Akito.
It looked like a boy in love.
It felt like something filthy and slimy creeping across his flesh.
"I hope you will join me for dinner tomorrow, Madam Rossa. I have the most fantastic veal dish to delight you with." Akito's smile was knowing, calculating. He was confident in Yuki. He had opened his chest of treasures and drawn forth his diamond. And the diamond entranced all with his beauty, delighted all with his talent.
Madam Rossa met his smile. "That would be wonderful."
Akito nodded in satisfaction, and left.
Madam Rossa's eyes flitted to Yuki.
.
There was fruity champagne and suggestive jokes.
Glances. Smiles. Touches.
It was sexual politics. A game of chess. One took their turn... then the other.
And Yuki rather felt Madam Rossa was winning.
She always liked to take her time. Each meeting was an event with her, lingering, prolonged... tortuous.
Sex was the easy part for Yuki now... talking, touching, smiling, that was really challenging.
When she finally moved to kiss him, holding his shoulder still with one hand while she fixed the other at the base of his neck, Yuki knew it was time.
This would require a different kind of act. An unusual act he had never performed with a client before... the truth.
But it was so difficult. The lies came naturally to his tongue, they were velvety and enticing. The act for the clients was also a shield for him, and he trembled at the thought of removing it.
It's time. It's time.
Madam Rossa tangled her hand in his hair as the kiss deepened. Her smell, her taste, it was all over him-
-It's time! And Yuki knew what he had to do.
He pulled back suddenly, forcing his head free from her clawing hand.
And he let the mask fall. No, no... he didn't let the mask fall, he wrenched it off and threw it away.
And he stared at her bare faced, with complete loathing.
She stopped moving and looked up at him, breathless, a small smile dancing on her lips. The smile withered a second later when she saw his face.
Madam Rossa stared in her confusion.
Those eyes. Those cold, cold eyes. Yuki had warm eyes, gentle eyes, welcoming eyes. Who's eyes were these? Those eyes were Akito's eyes. She blinked, trying to clear her head. Plastering a smile on her face she reached out to the boy in front of her, attempting to rectify the situation. But his expression didn't change. His lips were pressed into a hard, serious line. His face was still, still and cold as marble. And those eyes. They were cruel, cold. They were swimming in anger, pain, hatred, contempt, disgust... so much darkness. Those were they eyes of a monster.
She reached for his neck, trying to move the immobile, cold boy in front of her.
"Come Yuki dear, let's not play silly games." He didn't move. "Stop this!" she demanded, and she was ashamed to note the frightened but petulant whine which had entered her voice.
She touched his chest and began to stroke reassuring circles with her thumb, moving across his collar bones.
He smirked down at her hand, and for a second she thought he was back. Then she saw that the smirk was dark and menacing. The cruel stranger before her met her gaze for a moment, and his eyes were so frightening she thought wildly of her father. Then she watched in a daze as the cruel stranger drew back his hand and slapped her forcefully across the face.
Her scream came feral and furious.
.
She was still screaming as she spotted Akito in the small lounge.
"That boy! That boy!" was the most intelligible thing she managed for a while.
Akito balked at her sudden tumultuous entrance. The guests gathered in the room broke of their conversations and turned to stare at this wild woman.
Akito tried to soothe her, to silence her, to salvage the situation... to no success.
In an agitated panic Akito could merely watch as his reputation was attacked.
"Well I hope you and that boy are impressed with your silly little games Akito! You know what this means don't you?" She didn't wait for him to answer before thundering on, "It means Kyos won the competition! That boy has definitely lost."
Akito started in dumbfounded shock as she hurled this statement at him. He was aware of the eyes of all the guests on them.
"So you'll end his contract then will you Akito?" she raised her sharp eyebrows in challenge.
There was a stillness in the air. There was the stares of the guests, of Akito's business partners... and potential business partners. Their eyes watched with interest, with accusation. Damn! He had no choice but to follow through with the agreement. He couldn't be thought of as unreliable. What the hell had Yuki done?
In the stillness of the lounge, on that frosty winter evening, Akito uttered the words which would change a young man's life forever.
"Yes. His contract will be terminated immediately."
.
Yuki lurked in the dark corridor, listening intently. He released a tight sigh of relief at these words.
It had worked.
It was fortunate Madam Rossa was volatile enough to storm into the lounge with her accusations... Yuki knew if Akito had the option he would have quietly dealt with the whole messy affair and kept Kyo here. But as it was...
Yuki sighed. He had succeeded... Kyo would be free... a soul saved from this damnable underworld... but why didn't he feel happy?
Perhaps because he knew what happened next.
With what seemed like enormous effort he hauled his tired body to Akito's bedroom to wait.
.
The door closed with a quiet click, a mere whisper lost in the furor of the universe. But Yuki heard it as though it was an explosion.
He was sitting neatly on Akito's bed, where he had been waiting for an hour, maybe two... he had lost track of the time.
Every instinct told him not to be there. He wanted to run, to hide. He wanted to hold Tohru tightly, safe from the cruelty of the world. He wanted to have his box of treasures, to talk with Haru. He wanted a dog, a garden, a life. And he wanted this goddamn horrific pain of guilt to leave his chest.
But he waited on the bed.
He wasn't finished yet.
Akito approached slowly, and Yuki waited.
"What have you done?" The voice was a murmur, soft and dangerous.
And this was the big act. This was the one which would save his life and sacrifice his soul. This was the crucial moment. Secure his mask in place. He had been learning to lie almost as soon as he learned to talk, and now was the moment it led to.
He looked up at Akito desperately, miserably. And he forced the first tear from his wide eyes.
"I'm so sorry Akito. I- I couldn't." His voice was faint and cracked perfectly. A tear escaped his other eye now.
Akito narrowed his eyes in anger, suspicion. "What happened? Why couldn't you? Do you realise how damaging this is!"
Yuki pretended to flinch from his anger. He raised a shaking hand to his trembling lips.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry" he swallowed thickly. "I love you."
Akito stared at him. He didn't move. Yuki sniffed pitifully, covering his mouth with a hand, as though ashamed.
After a long moment Akito spoke. His voice was slow and wary. "What? What did you say?"
"I-I love you. And I couldn- I couldn't do it. She started touching me and I just- I thought of you and I panicked. I really couldn't do it. I didn't want to. Didn't want to be with someone else."
The tears brimmed from his eyes perfectly and he knew he must look terribly pitiful. He cheeks were flushed. His nose was running. He was crying. His lips and hands trembled. Perfect.
Akito seemed to be digesting this. He didn't speak and didn't move. Yuki continued.
"I'm so sorry, please don't be angry. I just... didn't want to be like that with her. It's so intimate. And I only want to share that with you."
He looked up at Akito with innocent, desperate eyes. And he could almost see Akito's features soften. Slowly he sank onto the bed beside Yuki.
"What do you mean Yuki? You don't think you can be with clients anymore? What do you mean?"
"I think- I think when I wasn't here, when I was with her, that I realised how much I need you... how much I love you. And I don't know if I can ever be with anyone else now. I don't think I want to. I want to be your partner. Properly. Your partner in the business... in love... in everything."
He waited. Akito gazed at Yuki in awe. A moment later he shifted slightly closer to Yuki on the bed. Possibly in was unintentional, but Yuki knew he had him. He could practically see the gossamer strands of web he was weaving around his helpless and hapless victim.
"You really love me?" Akito's voice came quiet and uncertain, and for a moment Yuki felt the strangest pang of conscience. But he thought of the others and smothered his feelings. He couldn't afford to be moral anymore. He had closed that door long ago.
"I do, I love you." He presented Akito with a watery smile.
"And you want to be my business partner? To run the company together?"
"I do. I didn't realise before, but now I know that's what I want. You're what I need."
The crocodile tears were gone now, replaced with a look which was simultaneously tender and determined.
Akito seemed unsure, hovering timidly on the precipice of something huge, both wanting to believe and wary of making the wrong decision.
It's time. It's time. Yuki knew he had to act. But God this was difficult.
He had been selling his body for years but this felt so much worse, so much more real, more personal. It was raw and real and right now. He wanted a drink- no he wanted a whole fucking bottle of beautiful, burning vodka. He wanted to be numb, or to be high, or to be anything except so damn sober and exposed. But he had to be. This was the pivotal scene of the play.
He lent forwards, slowly, as though he was timid and embarrassed, and kissed Akito.
There was a moment's hesitation then Akito was kissing him back. It was slow and unsure, then fast and fierce. Their hands began exploring desperately. And when they broke apart and Akito gazed at Yuki his face was a perfect mask. A divine mix of lust and love, trust and innocence, wisdom and that wretched brokenness Akito had created. It was everything Akito wanted and he dived back for another kiss, inebriated on the feelings of lust and happiness.
Yuki was perfectly malleable and cooperative to everything Akito wanted. More than that he actively steered them, making decisions and commanding their actions.
And it was so difficult. Why was it so difficult? They had done this hundreds of times... but Yuki had never initiated it. Had never seemed to want it. Had never looked at Akito with those smoldering lidded eyes. Had never bitten his lip in that sinful way at Akito. Had never whispered dirty things in Akito's ear. Had never walked his fingers slowly up Akito's bare thighs.
And it drove Akito wild.
Akito had once told Yuki years before, when he was 'training' him: "Everything in the world is about sex. Except sex. Sex is about power." Yuki hadn't understood at the time, young as he was, but now he did. And now he used that. And he had all the power.
The night was long. Everything was savoured. Everything was tender and lingering. Everything was also fierce and passionate. It was both mentally and physically exhausting for Yuki.
In the early hours Akito drifted to a satisfied sleep, one arm curled loosely around Yuki. Yuki lay awake. He had succeeded once again, but why did he feel so empty? Why had that affected him so?
His soul was in tatters.
.
In the morning Akito and Yuki awoke around the same time and smiled sleepily at each other. Akito seemed satisfied by the way he stroked Yuki's hair. Yuki endured it with a soft smile.
Akito still seemed mildly irritated when an afternoon client asked if the "red-haired boy was leaving?", but he seemed to calm again when Yuki slipped a slender arm around his waist and squeezed slightly. Yuki could hardly believe his own daring. But it seemed to be working. Being in love with Akito was already an exhausting act.
Kyo packed his things that day with the others. Yuki wasn't there. He stayed away, alone in the garden. Akito had left for a meeting, cursing bitterly at losing one of his property. Yuki nodded sympathetically and apologised nervously, as though Akito had a damn thing to feel miserable about.
It was with some surprise that he noticed Kyo approaching him. He stood to meet him, feeling defensive. The look on Kyo's face was strange, and hard to decipher, even to one as skilled at reading people as Yuki.
He stopped a few metres away, and neither spoke for a moment. Then Kyo muttered, "Well, I'm going today..."
Yuki didn't reply. He had been hoping to avoid meeting Kyo. Why couldn't the idiot just leave? Just run away and never look back? That's what any sane person would do...
As the silence dragged on Kyo shifted in irritation.
"Look what happened last night?" he asked. "Everyone's saying some shit went down with Rossa?"
His eyes were suspicious. Yuki didn't respond, but he turned to walk away, back to Akito's chambers.
"Hey! I'm asking what the hell happened? How could you have fucked up so badly?" The shout came quick and angry, and sparked a flash of fury in Yuki. He turned slowly.
"I did not "fuck up". I'm Akito's partner now, exclusively. I'll be running the company with him, living in luxury. Everything I could want." He forced a smug smile and hoped it looked natural.
Kyo squinted. Yuki could tell he was on the verge of understanding, of saying something. Maybe he understood Yuki better than he had anticipated. He couldn't have Kyo knowing he had lost on purpose. None of them could know anything. They must hate him, perfectly. He had to stop Kyo now.
"Look don't worry about me," he continued brashly, "You've got yourself to think about. I don't know what the hell you're going to do out there." He smirked and it was cruel and taunting. It felt horrible.
Kyo bristled. "I'll be fine. I'm getting out!" he asserted fiercely, "I'll get a proper job and have a normal life!"
"Yeah good luck with that," Yuki sneered, "No-one will want you. Even your own mother didn't want you... why should anyone else?"
Oh it was a bad thing to say, and he could feel the guilt spreading from his stomach right to his extremities. If Kyo had said that to Yuki he might have punched him. In fact it looked like Kyo was planing just that. He moved quickly towards Yuki, but Yuki stopped him with a look.
"I wouldn't. I really wouldn't. I'm sure I could ensure you stay here for a while longer. My dear Akito would love that actually. So just give me one reason to have you chucked in solitary and I swear to God you won't see daylight for a month."
Kyo stopped, though he looked furious.
"Get out of here." Yuki advised. "I don't need to see trash like you around my garden again."
He turned gracefully and headed once more for Akito's quarters.
Just go. For God's sake Kyo just leave. Save yourself.
"You've changed Yuki. You're a real bastard now!" The words were hurled over Kyo's shoulder as he turned to leave.
Yuki assumed he would collect his few belongings, say goodbye to the others... and leave. He hoped Kyo could find happiness, that he could bury the darkness of his past.
He entered Akito's chamber and caught sight of himself in the mirror over the dresser. He wanted to destroy the calm, cruel face he saw.
Those things he had said to Kyo... that was bad. He had surprised himself with the viciousness of his act. But it was all an act. It was all an act. Wasn't it? He was just acting as the monster... that didn't mean he was the monster.
Those damn cold eyes mocked him. I don't want to be the monster. Please.
.
Yuki lay awake in bed that night feeling the heat of Akito beside him. It didn't warm him though. He was cold. Cold and empty. The dark thoughts danced through his mind like night sprites dancing around a campfire, keeping him awake.
Kyo was free. He was free. He was gone, away from the Estate... away from the underworld. That was something, wasn't it? That was good?
And he was now Akito's partner. In love, in business, in everything. Ahh he had really sold his soul this time... But was it worth it?
He had hurt Tohru... he had returned to Akito... would it all be worth it?
Would it all be worth his last few years? Well what was his wretched life worth anyway? He could easily sacrifice himself... but Tohru. She was the innocent victim of a war she didn't understand.
So Kyo was free, and he was Akito's partner, a ruler of the underworld... and now a new scene would begin. The play would continue, until the bitter, desperate end.
The room was dark. His thoughts were dark. His future was dark.
Yuki coughed painfully.
.
I'm really sorry it's been so long for this chapter!
I hope it's alright, please let me know :)