hanafurirou book 1, chapter 4 (last chapter!), first scene
Yay, on to the final chapter of Kimi mo Shiranai Jaren no Hate ni!!! The last chapter ended on a cliffhanger, and we get immediate resolution of who was involved in that... and why. But, of course, this scene ends on a bit of a cliffhanger itself. ^_^ I'll try to get the next scene done soon.
I'm still hoping I might be able to get the book done by the end of the month, though I kinda slacked off for the first half of the month, so that might not happen. But I'll try. Anyway, for now, enjoy your not-so-romantic "Singles Awareness Day" present (I don't do Valentines ^_^; ) of more Hanafurirou!
When Fuki came to, he was in an unfamiliar rundown house.
The place didn't seem to have any power. There were several candlesticks placed on the floor, and wavering candlelight lit the dim, dusty room. The now-faded walls had once been crimson, and he could see tattered shoji doors... It was almost like he was in a ruined brothel. The ceiling and walls were covered in water marks, and the entire room gave him an uneasy feeling.
"...Where am I...?"
He tried to get up, only to find he had been bound, and the rope had been secured to a pillar in the corner of the room. And he was lying on an ancient red futon.
Slowly, he started to remember what had happened to him. He had seen Ouichirou to the great gate. And on the way back, someone had assaulted him and given him some strange drug...
"So, you're awake now." The sudden voice made him look up with a start.
When he saw the man sitting next to the broken window, his eyes opened wide.
"Yamafuji-san...!"
Yamafuji had always been impeccably groomed, with an air of cold gallantry, when Fuki had seen him before. This time, it was different. He looked haggard. Not just his body, but his clothes.
It was the first time Fuki had seen him in less than perfect clothing. But despite his worn-out appearance, his eyes gleamed.
Surely he was the one who had grabbed him. But why? Maybe he was mad because Fuki had run away from his debut.
He tried to get up, but the ropes stopped him.
"Please, let me go...!! Where are we...!? Why-"
"This is the second floor of the haunted brothel," he said, cutting in.
"Haunted brothel...?"
"You've heard of it, haven't you? The ruined brothel where a whore once hanged herself."
For sure, he had heard the story of the ruined brothel at the edge of Yoshiwara that was haunted by the ghost of a courtesan who had killed herself. It had been abandoned for years, and no one wanted to go near it. It would be the perfect place to hold someone captive.
"I don't hold anything against you, you know," Yamafuji said. "Well... I suppose I do, but my real target is Ikami Ouichirou-shi ."
"Ouichirou...!?"
It didn't make any sense.
Sure, he had gotten the feeling that Ouichirou and Yamafuji didn't care for each other. But was it really enough to make Yamafuji do something like this?
Besides, why would he kidnap Fuki if he was trying to get back at Ouichirou? It wasn't like there was anything special between them. And now they were just an iroko and his customer, nothing more.
As much as he hated to admit it, kidnapping Kichou would have probably been more effective than kidnapping him. Maybe it was just too hard to get his hands on the top keisei, who was almost never alone.
"...If you're trying to get back at Ouichirou, kidnapping me is..."
"Pointless? You think so?"
"...Yeah..."
"I don't. Not after seeing what he did in order to steal your debut out from under me."
"Huh...?"
Fuki grew even more confused. Was Yamafuji really trying to say that Ouichirou took his debut away from him?
"Steal...?"
Ouichirou had been the one to show up the day Fuki redid his debut, not Yamafuji. He had never really understood why.
Could it be that Ouichirou had done something to keep Yamafuji away so he could take his place?
"No way."
After all, hadn't Ouichirou told him that he had only switched to Fuki after being turned down by Kichou?
"And he's always saying things about how wonderful Kichou-san was." Just thinking about it was enough to make his chest ache.
"You see... Ikami-shi turned me in to the police so that I would be unable to complete your debut. And because of that, my career has been ruined.
"He turned you in to the police...!?"
Wasn't Yamafuji a policeman himself? So how could he be turned in in the first place?
"You remember that drug I used on you, don't you? The white one hidden in a lighter?"
"Oh..." A sudden chill ran down Fuki's spine.
Yamafuji had brought a white powder out from the bottom of his lighter during Fuki's first debut. He had smeared that on Fuki's inner walls, and it had immediately caused uncontrollable urges to take over Fuki's mind.
He tried not to remember the incident too much, but even so, there was no way that drug could be legit. Most likely it was hard to get, and quite illegal.
"That lighter was taken from me just outside of the great gate. From what I've heard, someone reported me, and that caused my higher ups to demand an investigation. Not even being an officer myself could save me when they caught me red handed."
"......"
"You see... that was something I took from police custody. My plan should have been perfect. If someone hadn't leaked the information, they would have never known that I took it."
"...So you're saying Ouichirou ratted you out?"
"I wouldn't quite put it that way... More like he has connections in quite a few different places. You might say he spurred the upper ranks into action with a bit of information. ...And thanks to him, my career has been ruined. I managed to use my own connections to get free, but because of this incident, I have no hope of moving up in the ranks anymore.
"B-but..." Fuki shot back desperately. "How do you know that Ouichirou was the one who told them? It could have been someone else."
"It takes a thief to catch a thief. I'm more than capable of finding out who was behind all of this."
"......"
Fuki couldn't believe it. There was no way Ouichirou had done all that for him. Yamafuji had to be mistaken.
"Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to know that my life was ruined for the sake of some whore?"
"But... Ouichirou still doesn't deserve your resentment...!"
"He doesn't?" Yamafuji stared down at Fuki.
"Well... taking the drug in the first place was a crime, wasn't it...? Even if it wasn't your fault that you got caught, that doesn't give you the right to get mad at him..."
Yamafuji took a step forward and slapped Fuki across the cheek. The sound echoed through the room. Fuki probably would have been sent flying backward had he not been tied up.
Then Yamafuji crouched down next to Fuki and stuck his hand in his pocket. When he pulled it back out, he was holding a dark, shining gun.
Fuki gasped.
"You're quite impertinent, especially for a whore." He pressed the cold barrel of the gun up against Fuki's cheek. "I really was quite fond of you... so much that I might consider becoming your najimi again when everything's taken care of."
Hearing that, Fuki suddenly wished he could back away. But he was bound so tightly he could hardly move, so that was out of the question.
"I was the one who pulled Ikami-shi away from you. I had someone make a call for me. After all, I had no chance to kidnap you while he was spending all his time at the brothel with you.
Then that call had been a fake? Nothing bad had happened between Ouichirou and the police?
"...What do you expect to get... by kidnapping me?"
"You see, I thought long and hard about what I could to in order to do as much damage as possible to him. ...I considered disclosing his crimes to the authorities and getting him arrested. But most likely that would turn out the same as it did before, and he would just be released right away for lack of proof. ...In that case, I decided it would be much more effective to take away that which he holds most dear. ...I wonder just how much it will hurt him... to see you, who he went to such lengths to steal away from me, violated right in front of his eyes?"
"......" A chill ran down Fuki's spin, and he swallowed nervously.
Yamafuji was going to screw him in front of Ouichirou.... He wasn't sure he would be able to live with that.
Seeing the look of fear on Fuki's face, Yamafuji smiled. "Seeing a beautiful face frozen in fear really is the best. It's such a turn on. ...Of course, you're such a slut, so it wouldn't be very interesting if I just fucked you... now would it?"
Fuki shook his head in horror.
"Yes... How about I enter you dry and tear you up as much as I can? And then I can use some toys on you. I managed to hold on to a little more of that drug, too. If I use some of that, you won't care one bit if I rough you up a little. You'll enjoy yourself anyway. If we use that, you'll be much more lost in pleasure than anything he could do to you. Wouldn't you like that...?"
All Fuki could do was keep shaking his head. Yamafuji must have found that amusing, as he smiled happily.
"I've already sent Ikami-shi a picture of you. I told him to come here, and that if he didn't, I'd not only take you, but kill you. I'm sure he's on his way right now. ...And if he does come..."
He mimed pulling the trigger.
Fuki gasped and shrank back. "If he comes, he'll be killed...!"
Yamafuji smiled. "Do you think he'll show up?"
Fuki shook his head. It's not like he and Ouichirou were in love, especially since two years earlier. If anything, Ouichirou probably still resented him for leaving him like that.
He just couldn't believe that Ouichirou had turned Yamafuji in for his sake. Yamafuji had to be mistaken. After all, Ouichirou had only chosen Fuki after being dumped by Kichou.
"I'm sure he won't show up." But just thinking that saddened him. If Ouichirou didn't show up, would Yamafuji really kill him?
But if he did come, Yamafuji would kill him instead. Ouichirou was strong, but there was no way he was a match for a man with a gun. And if that was how things would end up, Fuki would rather he be the one to die.
Besides, if he lived, he'd just end up having to take customers. In that case, he'd rather die having only known Ouichirou's body. ...Or would Yamafuji really take him before killing him?
"...Please don't come," he thought, as if he were praying.
But despite that... when Ouichirou showed up on the other side of the tattered shoji doors, panting heavily, he cried tears of joy.
I'm still hoping I might be able to get the book done by the end of the month, though I kinda slacked off for the first half of the month, so that might not happen. But I'll try. Anyway, for now, enjoy your not-so-romantic "Singles Awareness Day" present (I don't do Valentines ^_^; ) of more Hanafurirou!
When Fuki came to, he was in an unfamiliar rundown house.
The place didn't seem to have any power. There were several candlesticks placed on the floor, and wavering candlelight lit the dim, dusty room. The now-faded walls had once been crimson, and he could see tattered shoji doors... It was almost like he was in a ruined brothel. The ceiling and walls were covered in water marks, and the entire room gave him an uneasy feeling.
"...Where am I...?"
He tried to get up, only to find he had been bound, and the rope had been secured to a pillar in the corner of the room. And he was lying on an ancient red futon.
Slowly, he started to remember what had happened to him. He had seen Ouichirou to the great gate. And on the way back, someone had assaulted him and given him some strange drug...
"So, you're awake now." The sudden voice made him look up with a start.
When he saw the man sitting next to the broken window, his eyes opened wide.
"Yamafuji-san...!"
Yamafuji had always been impeccably groomed, with an air of cold gallantry, when Fuki had seen him before. This time, it was different. He looked haggard. Not just his body, but his clothes.
It was the first time Fuki had seen him in less than perfect clothing. But despite his worn-out appearance, his eyes gleamed.
Surely he was the one who had grabbed him. But why? Maybe he was mad because Fuki had run away from his debut.
He tried to get up, but the ropes stopped him.
"Please, let me go...!! Where are we...!? Why-"
"This is the second floor of the haunted brothel," he said, cutting in.
"Haunted brothel...?"
"You've heard of it, haven't you? The ruined brothel where a whore once hanged herself."
For sure, he had heard the story of the ruined brothel at the edge of Yoshiwara that was haunted by the ghost of a courtesan who had killed herself. It had been abandoned for years, and no one wanted to go near it. It would be the perfect place to hold someone captive.
"I don't hold anything against you, you know," Yamafuji said. "Well... I suppose I do, but my real target is Ikami Ouichirou-shi ."
"Ouichirou...!?"
It didn't make any sense.
Sure, he had gotten the feeling that Ouichirou and Yamafuji didn't care for each other. But was it really enough to make Yamafuji do something like this?
Besides, why would he kidnap Fuki if he was trying to get back at Ouichirou? It wasn't like there was anything special between them. And now they were just an iroko and his customer, nothing more.
As much as he hated to admit it, kidnapping Kichou would have probably been more effective than kidnapping him. Maybe it was just too hard to get his hands on the top keisei, who was almost never alone.
"...If you're trying to get back at Ouichirou, kidnapping me is..."
"Pointless? You think so?"
"...Yeah..."
"I don't. Not after seeing what he did in order to steal your debut out from under me."
"Huh...?"
Fuki grew even more confused. Was Yamafuji really trying to say that Ouichirou took his debut away from him?
"Steal...?"
Ouichirou had been the one to show up the day Fuki redid his debut, not Yamafuji. He had never really understood why.
Could it be that Ouichirou had done something to keep Yamafuji away so he could take his place?
"No way."
After all, hadn't Ouichirou told him that he had only switched to Fuki after being turned down by Kichou?
"And he's always saying things about how wonderful Kichou-san was." Just thinking about it was enough to make his chest ache.
"You see... Ikami-shi turned me in to the police so that I would be unable to complete your debut. And because of that, my career has been ruined.
"He turned you in to the police...!?"
Wasn't Yamafuji a policeman himself? So how could he be turned in in the first place?
"You remember that drug I used on you, don't you? The white one hidden in a lighter?"
"Oh..." A sudden chill ran down Fuki's spine.
Yamafuji had brought a white powder out from the bottom of his lighter during Fuki's first debut. He had smeared that on Fuki's inner walls, and it had immediately caused uncontrollable urges to take over Fuki's mind.
He tried not to remember the incident too much, but even so, there was no way that drug could be legit. Most likely it was hard to get, and quite illegal.
"That lighter was taken from me just outside of the great gate. From what I've heard, someone reported me, and that caused my higher ups to demand an investigation. Not even being an officer myself could save me when they caught me red handed."
"......"
"You see... that was something I took from police custody. My plan should have been perfect. If someone hadn't leaked the information, they would have never known that I took it."
"...So you're saying Ouichirou ratted you out?"
"I wouldn't quite put it that way... More like he has connections in quite a few different places. You might say he spurred the upper ranks into action with a bit of information. ...And thanks to him, my career has been ruined. I managed to use my own connections to get free, but because of this incident, I have no hope of moving up in the ranks anymore.
"B-but..." Fuki shot back desperately. "How do you know that Ouichirou was the one who told them? It could have been someone else."
"It takes a thief to catch a thief. I'm more than capable of finding out who was behind all of this."
"......"
Fuki couldn't believe it. There was no way Ouichirou had done all that for him. Yamafuji had to be mistaken.
"Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to know that my life was ruined for the sake of some whore?"
"But... Ouichirou still doesn't deserve your resentment...!"
"He doesn't?" Yamafuji stared down at Fuki.
"Well... taking the drug in the first place was a crime, wasn't it...? Even if it wasn't your fault that you got caught, that doesn't give you the right to get mad at him..."
Yamafuji took a step forward and slapped Fuki across the cheek. The sound echoed through the room. Fuki probably would have been sent flying backward had he not been tied up.
Then Yamafuji crouched down next to Fuki and stuck his hand in his pocket. When he pulled it back out, he was holding a dark, shining gun.
Fuki gasped.
"You're quite impertinent, especially for a whore." He pressed the cold barrel of the gun up against Fuki's cheek. "I really was quite fond of you... so much that I might consider becoming your najimi again when everything's taken care of."
Hearing that, Fuki suddenly wished he could back away. But he was bound so tightly he could hardly move, so that was out of the question.
"I was the one who pulled Ikami-shi away from you. I had someone make a call for me. After all, I had no chance to kidnap you while he was spending all his time at the brothel with you.
Then that call had been a fake? Nothing bad had happened between Ouichirou and the police?
"...What do you expect to get... by kidnapping me?"
"You see, I thought long and hard about what I could to in order to do as much damage as possible to him. ...I considered disclosing his crimes to the authorities and getting him arrested. But most likely that would turn out the same as it did before, and he would just be released right away for lack of proof. ...In that case, I decided it would be much more effective to take away that which he holds most dear. ...I wonder just how much it will hurt him... to see you, who he went to such lengths to steal away from me, violated right in front of his eyes?"
"......" A chill ran down Fuki's spin, and he swallowed nervously.
Yamafuji was going to screw him in front of Ouichirou.... He wasn't sure he would be able to live with that.
Seeing the look of fear on Fuki's face, Yamafuji smiled. "Seeing a beautiful face frozen in fear really is the best. It's such a turn on. ...Of course, you're such a slut, so it wouldn't be very interesting if I just fucked you... now would it?"
Fuki shook his head in horror.
"Yes... How about I enter you dry and tear you up as much as I can? And then I can use some toys on you. I managed to hold on to a little more of that drug, too. If I use some of that, you won't care one bit if I rough you up a little. You'll enjoy yourself anyway. If we use that, you'll be much more lost in pleasure than anything he could do to you. Wouldn't you like that...?"
All Fuki could do was keep shaking his head. Yamafuji must have found that amusing, as he smiled happily.
"I've already sent Ikami-shi a picture of you. I told him to come here, and that if he didn't, I'd not only take you, but kill you. I'm sure he's on his way right now. ...And if he does come..."
He mimed pulling the trigger.
Fuki gasped and shrank back. "If he comes, he'll be killed...!"
Yamafuji smiled. "Do you think he'll show up?"
Fuki shook his head. It's not like he and Ouichirou were in love, especially since two years earlier. If anything, Ouichirou probably still resented him for leaving him like that.
He just couldn't believe that Ouichirou had turned Yamafuji in for his sake. Yamafuji had to be mistaken. After all, Ouichirou had only chosen Fuki after being dumped by Kichou.
"I'm sure he won't show up." But just thinking that saddened him. If Ouichirou didn't show up, would Yamafuji really kill him?
But if he did come, Yamafuji would kill him instead. Ouichirou was strong, but there was no way he was a match for a man with a gun. And if that was how things would end up, Fuki would rather he be the one to die.
Besides, if he lived, he'd just end up having to take customers. In that case, he'd rather die having only known Ouichirou's body. ...Or would Yamafuji really take him before killing him?
"...Please don't come," he thought, as if he were praying.
But despite that... when Ouichirou showed up on the other side of the tattered shoji doors, panting heavily, he cried tears of joy.