When it comes down to it 14
Legal Drug
Disclaimer: Still not mine, but maybe the new series will be bwahaha!
Warnings: The usual – as always.
Author's note:
I just want to say now, before I forget, some of you have been asking me lately if I'm ever going to continue this. The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes, and no…I really look back on this and think I should re-write it, at least until it gets back to this point. I feel that, while I still enjoy writing, this piece just isn't something I'm really happy with anymore. I mean, don't get me wrong, I still want Kazahaya to find peace in the end – if he can! But overall, it's been a long time since the last chapter. I was re-read it today, and I kind of really HATE Kouji. As I'm sure all of you do. As you should, he sucks balls. He's really gross! When he was all touching on Kaza-baby, like, I grimaced, haha! Lou though, could use some work, and so could my writing. But, really, thank you all so much for your continual support, it means a lot to know that you're all still dying to know what happens! Me too. So, here's another chapter, which I hope is a little better written! This chapter may be a little confusing in the beginning but it'll pan out at the end, hang in there! And try not to hate me too much. Enjoy!
Rikuou paced back and forth, ignoring customers as all three men tried to appear as if they could remain in a state of normalcy. His mind was elsewhere…it had been two weeks since Kazahaya had disappeared and none of them had any leads. The brunette had gone so quietly, and without any indication as to where he had wandered off to specifically they were at a loss. Something was wrong, really wrong, with Kakei's pre-cognition, so, for now, they relied on Saiga's connections to lead them in the right direction. Even if it was a dead-end, Rikuou wanted to chase any lead he got.
A few giggling high school girls–who often frequented the drug store to look at anything but the merchandise—slipped in through the two automatic doors, laughing to themselves and talking about the usual girl topics: boys, clothing, and hair – whatever.
Rikuou was still pacing, quietly muttering to himself, turning over what had happened the night Kazahaya had left over and over again in his mind. That was all he could focus on, his mind was so wrapped around it
Rikuou was still pacing, quietly muttering to himself, turning over what had happened the night Kazahaya had left over and over again in his mind. That was all he could focus on, his mind was so wrapped around it he'd nearly crashed right into one of the girls coming up to ask him about some lip balm.
His head snapped up, his lips automatically tossing out an apology. She blinked a few times, waving it off, "How much are these?" She asked, batting her eyelashes at him, tossing some of her hair over her shoulder.
Rikuou resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Three for ¥100."
"Oh, perfect! They're so adorable, don't you think?" She smiled widely, giggling.
No. "Yeah, sure."
"Say…" she glanced over her shoulder at her friends watching her from a few shelves back. She had intended to ask him another dumb question to keep him talking but instead finally noticed the absence, "Hey where's your friend?"
"What…?"
"You know… the cute brown-haired boy that works here with you?"
Rikuou winced, "Uh, sick." He forced th words out, hoping she'd take the hint and shut up, or buy whatever it is she came here to buy.
"Awww, that's too bad! Tell him to get better—" Rikuou tuned out the rest of what she was saying, concentrating on inhaling and exhaling.
"So, are you going to buy that?" He asked, interrupting her.
"Uhm, yeah…" After he and her friends had come and gone, Rikuou sighed more than relieved he didn't have to answer any more questions like that. That wasn't the first time that day, or since Kazahaya had disappeared, that he'd been asked that. It was getting annoying, and every time someone asked he was only reminded of the constant absence.
His chest hurt.
Saiga waltzed into the store a few minutes later, Rikuou looked up at him, again jumping at the chance to ask if he'd found anything. Before he could, Saiga shook his head, apologizing. "Sorry, kid. Nothing yet." Rikuou shut his mouth, sighing.
His chest really hurt.
"You don't have a choice, drop the subject, we leave in ten minutes." Kazahaya flinched instinctively when Kouji raised his hand, the blonde smirked and clapped Kazahaya on the shoulder exiting the room.
Things had been relatively quiet since he'd gotten here. Thankfully, Kouji had yet to find out about Lou and him having sex – for now. They both kept quiet about it, and after Kazahaya had gone so far as to wash the sheets and eliminate any and all evidence, things resumed as planned.
As predicted Kouji had returned after midnight and Kazahaya had pretended to be asleep. Naturally, he had to share a room with the man, and do whatever it was Kouji deemed necessary. Things around the home had more or less resumed as if Kazahaya had never left, both of them knew better, Kazahaya had refrained from bringing up any mention of it. All he had to do was jump when asked, and answer accordingly. Lou popped in now and again, sending Kouji off on another misadventure regarding their work – the brunette was still somewhat curious to find out what they did specifically, but dared not ask. He wouldn't like the answer, and he could kind of fill in the blanks. And with what went around in the house, Kazahaya was positive he didn't want to get too involved in that subject.
What he didn't expect was his curiosity to be sated over breakfast.
Kazahaya's eyes followed Kouji's retreating form, his heart sinking in his chest faster than a boulder in water.
That morning Kouji brought up the prospect of letting Kazahaya get a job. His ears had perked up, and the thought of being let out of the house unsupervised was a delightful idea. Anything, he'd do anything to get out of here for even a few hours. Being confined to the house, and only the house, wasn't as bad as being locked in the basement, but…he was bored. And while he tried to keep busy and not think about Rikuou and the others…it still crossed his mind, often.
"A job?" He asked carefully, setting down his fork, listening intently to every word that would come out of Kouji's mouth.
"Yeah," he replied, "What do you think?" This was a test, Kazahaya could assume that much.
He swallowed, fumbling through the right words in his mind, "Well…I don't know…"
Kouji chuckled, "You want to get out of here right? Even I can see that, it's painfully obvious. Come on, doll, I can't just keep you cooped up here all day, can I?"
"Ah…"
"Well, actually, I can… but I've got something interesting planned. Oh, don't worry, you'll like it." Kouji went back to reading the paper, leaving the idea hanging in the air for a few days. After the third day Kazahaya let any lingering mention of it drop, since he figured he was probably being toyed with.
Until the next morning when Kouji bluntly spit out, "So, I'm letting you get a job."
Kazahaya glanced up from his orange juice, a small look of confusion crossing his face.
"You didn't think I forgot, did you?" Kouji chuckled again, setting down his newspaper. "Although, I'm not too pleased with the idea…you and I don't have a choice. You see, in about five minutes I'm going to get a phone call. And, then, I'm going to drive you over for your interview."
"Interview?" Kazahaya tilted his head to the side.
"Nothing to concern yourself over, I'm sure they'll like you."
"Uhm…where are we going anyway?" Kouji looked across the kitchen table, smiling calmly, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly when Kazahaya started asking questions. "Never mind, it's not important," he said just as quickly as he had asked.
Kouji went on rambling about how he undoubtedly had a long day ahead of him, "Oh, but, you won't be coming back here."
Kazahaya nearly choked on his juice, "W-what…?"
"That's the thing I wasn't really clear on that either…but, you know, orders are orders." Kouji shrugged nonchalantly, being as vague as possible. Kazahaya wasn't sure what was going on, was Kouji getting rid of him again? Where would he end up this time? When he opened his mouth to speak, Kouji's cell phone, as predicted, started ringing.
The blonde flipped it open, answering with only "yes" and "I got it" slipping it back into his pocket. "Let's go."
"Where?" Kazahaya asked while being yanked out of his seat.
"To the boss."
"What?"
"You're going to be working for him from now on."
"But…?"
"You don't have a choice, drop the subject, we leave in ten minutes." Kouji walked out of the kitchen to change his clothing, leaving Kazahaya to stand there, blinking after the man in confusion.
Another few weeks came and went, and Kazahaya found himself wondering what day it was, or what month it was. Okay, so, this wasn't his ideal job, hell, it wasn't anyone's ideal job…and it wasn't like he had any bills to pay or rent to catch up on…or, some dire situation that required cash ASAP. Nothing.
Oh, except for that long-standing debt Kouji had that he forgot to mention. A lot of it by the looks of it, and guess which one of them was paying it back?
Exactly…
Kazahaya struggled to get up, Lou coming over and helping him off of the ground. "Come on, kiddo. Let's get you a shower. Looks like he hit you in the face pretty hard."
Kazahaya waved Lou off, pressing his fingers to the corner of his mouth making sure he wasn't bleeding. Sure it stung, but that wasn't the worse of it. "Is this what you do every day?"
Lou shook his head, "Not anymore."
"Shouldn't you be busy doing something else then?" Kazahaya placed a hand on the wall to steady himself, determined to get a shower before anyone else showed up. He felt sweaty and disgusting.
"Come on now, don't be like that. I already told Charlie to keep an eye out for ya—"
Kazahaya interrupted, "Please don't say it gets better, because it doesn't, I already know it doesn't. I mean, look at us. We're stuck, trapped, like animals in a cage. And we're clawing our way out, slowly, only to be dragged back down into the hell that got us here in the first place. So, please don't say it gets better…I can't…hear that right now. I just can't."
Lou nodded quietly, stuffing his speech into a locked box to be retrieved another day. "I gotcha, just c'mon an' get yourself into the water. Bet your wrists hurt more than you're letting on, huh?"
"And my back," Kazahaya muttered.
"Well…you get used to it…"
"I don't want to get used to it." Kazahaya stormed off to the bathroom, slamming the door in Lou's face. He knew the man meant well, but Kazahaya had enough for today. For forever, in fact. His whole body ached, and he was tired…physically and mentally. He never thought he would be wishing to be with Kouji getting hit by that man instead of fucked by dozens of random ones. Some of the shit these guys were into sickened Kazahaya, and he had to endure it.
When Kouji had dragged him out of the house, Kazahaya was so sure he was going to get left by the side of some road again. But it was better than that, he wasn't dropped off on the side of the road, he was dropped off a one of the many "spas" and "bath houses" this town had to offer. Oh, yes, it was fantastic.
He wanted to cry.
Looking down at his naked body, fresh and fading bruises painted a picture of the week, if not more, he didn't know that he had spent here already. He was damn lucky he wasn't like some of the others here – yet. A lot of them relied on drugs and other things to get them through the day and night.
Kazahaya had learned the hard way that saying no only got him a beating. Not a complete surprise, but if he tried that again...he wasn't sure he wanted to find out the other punishments. Kouji did show up once or twice when he was dead tired, to collect his money, patting Kazahaya on the head telling him what a good boy he was, and how great of a job he was doing. It was for them, and they would both be so happy when it was over. And be together forever, and a lot of other bullshit he didn't remember.
Kazahaya pushed away from the door, stepping into the warm water, wincing when it hit his skin. Not ideal, but his muscles appreciated it. He only spent a few minutes in there, returning to his room to change. Lou was still there, leaning against a wall waiting for the psychic to return.
"I'm sorry," Kazahaya said abruptly, "I didn't…mean to snap at you."
"Nahh, s'okay, kid." Lou shrugged it off. "I know what you're feeling like right now, I've been there."
Kazahaya nodded quietly, pulling on some fresh clothing while Lou took care of drying his hair, again. "Aren't you going to get in trouble if you stay here too long?"
Lou nodded but it wasn't like he cared, "Yeah…but I got some bad news for ya."
"Nothing new, what is it?"
"You got another appointment."
"With?"
"…I dunno his name. Just some big client-type that likes to frequent these places. Ya know? I mean…he heard about'cha and wants to meet you and whatnot. 'Cept, thing is, he usually likes to ask for two of you birds at once."
Kazahaya blinked, "What does that mean exactly…?"
"Well…he's the kinda pervert that likes to watch…you know…"
Kazahaya groaned, "Great…"
"He pays good money though…I hear he's really loaded." Lou tried to make it sound like a good thing, in a way, it was. Kazahaya, if he were a favorite, of a big shot like that, well…paying back Kouji's debt may not take all that long…
"When…?" Was all he could ask.
"Now… Don't worry, kid, he also asked for Charlie…"
"Lou…"
"I know, I know, but at least…it's the two of you, right? And not…someone else."
"But…Charlie's your..." (1)
"Yah, believe me, I know." Lou ran a hand through his hair, sighing.
"I'm sorry," Kazahaya said quietly.
"Don't be, let's just get you over there before people come lookin' for ya, alright? And, then...I guess…I'll come see the both of ya later." Lou was like a protector to Kazahaya in a lot of ways, he was always making sure that the brunette didn't himself in too deep, and a lot of times Lou took a beating from superiors when he interfered too much. Sometimes Kazahaya wondered what kind of debt Lou had that got him here in the first place, and the fact his once lover, Charlie, was stuck here too…he could only imagine.
"No, no… you should go now. I'll be fine." Kazahaya all but shoved Lou out of the door.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah… I'll tell Charlie you said hi."
"Please do." Lou winked at Kazahaya before taking the hint.
(1) OC lesson time! Lou and Charlie are boyfrands. Well, they were. Charlie still loves Lou and Lou still loves Charlie. You'll probably find out later why the both of them are here, trapped in this elaborate syndicate.
Oh my god… prostitution. I know, I'm horrible. It gets worst, believe me….. Hope you enjoyed that short chapter. Sorry about that.