Tokyo Cowboy 1
Well... I think maybe one person got the pairing right ;)
TITLE: Tokyo Cowboy
CHAPTER: One
PAIRING: Aiba x Matsumoto
RATING: PG13
SUMMARY: “You’d better take your hands off of him,” He said quietly, “He may belong to you, but there is no need to hurt him,”
Aiba spun his gun around once around his finger, before placing it back in the holster.
“This is why I stay out of the towns,” He sighed, glancing at the still body opposite him, before turning tail and striding to his horse, the spurs on his boots clinking the entire way.
He didn’t know why he was classed as an outlaw; he had never broken the law in his entire life. He guessed it was because he would much rather live in the mountains on his own with his horse, than stay in the dirty little towns, visiting the saloons and whore houses every night.
However, he did occasionally need to visit the towns, and when he did, he was treated like an outlaw. He was known for being good with his guns, so would get constantly challenged to duels. If he refused, he would get ridiculed and the small shops would refuse him business. Quite often, men started fights with him for no reason, except to make themselves look good in front of their friends.
Although, this time was different. A young man had stopped him outside of a small shop, asking him questions about his horse. Very rarely did people just want to have a chat with Aiba, so of course, he humoured the younger man, and answered his questions.
This, was the whole reason for the fight. If Aiba would have guessed that a small conversation with a young man would have sparked off such an aggressive reaction, he would have left the boy standing by the side of the road without a single word.
“That there boy belongs to me, stranger,” A large man grumbled, coming up behind the dark haired man and placing a hand possessively on his shoulder, “What gives you the right to talk to him?”
“I was just answering a few questions,” Aiba remarked, tipping his hat to get a better look at the huge, bear-like man, “No harm done,”
“Can’t you see the collar on his neck?” The man said, grabbing the young man by the thin leather strip tied loosely around the slim neck, the knot resting between his collarbones. The man yelped and whimpered as he was dragged around by the collar, and Aiba could feel anger start to bubble up in his stomach.
“You’d better take your hands off of him,” He said quietly, “He may belong to you, but there is no need to hurt him,”
The man laughed, “You thinking of taking my boy from me?”
“If you can’t treat him decently, then I don’t see why you should have him,” Aiba stated.
The man smirked and let go of his hold on the leather strip.
“Then duel me for him,”
---
Aiba swung his legs nimbly over the back of his horse and sighed. Once again, he’d killed a man he didn’t want to even fight, and was having to leave town without any provisions. It was a few days ride to the next town, and he would have to risk going across an area known for the bandits and outlaws.
“S..Sir,” The young man cried, running to the side of Aiba’s horse and placing his hand hesitatingly on Aiba’s strong leg, “You have to take me with you,”
“I don’t have to do no such thing, kid,” Aiba replied, kicking the boys hand from his leg.
The young man held on to him tightly, “But.. You killed my master.. So I belong to you now,”
Aiba snorted, “Let go of me. You don’t belong to anyone, you’re a free man. Go home,”
“I don’t have a home anymore, Mister!” The boy cried, “You killed my master, so everything belongs to you!”
A crowd was starting to gather, and Aiba could sense their hate towards him. He tried to get rid of the boys hand from his leg, but to no avail.
“Do you ride?” He asked, defeated. He needed to leave this town as quickly as he could.
“A little,”
“Where is your old masters horse, kid?”
The dark haired man pointed at a horse, tethered up not too far from where they were. Aiba nodded, “Mount it. We’re leaving,”
Once they had left the town and managed to find their way in through the scattered trees, Aiba tugged gently at his horses reigns and stopped. He leapt from the animals back and led him to the river, so he could drink. He then moved to his new companion and helped him dismount, before taking that horse to the water and they tethering it to a nearby tree.
“You got a name, kid?” Aiba asked, shrugging off his black riding jacket and hanging it on a branch.
“Jun. And I’m not a kid, I’m already twenty years old,”
Aiba hummed as a response and sat down on the floor, folding one leg up to his chest and resting an elbow on his knee as he leant back against the wall.
“Where do you want to go, kid?” He asked, “You can’t stay with me, that’s for sure,”
“Why not? You’re my new Master, it is my duty to stay near you and answer all of your nee-”
“My only need is to get you to a nearby town and then ride off and leave you,” Aiba said, slightly coldly, “I don’t have the time or resources to baby sit you,”
“I’m not a baby” Jun said, “I’m already twenty. You can’t be that much older than me. And aren’t you going to tie up your horse?”
Aiba looked up at him in amusement, “He won’t wander. He’s a loyal beast. Which is more than I can say for some others,”
Aiba muttered the last bit, and Jun just about managed to catch what he said. “Is there a reason you don’t want me around you, sir?” He asked.
“I already told you why,” Aiba sighed, getting to his feet, “And don’t call me sir,”
“What can I call you, then?”
“Aiba is fine,”
“Your first name?”
“You don’t need to know that,! Aiba replied, slinging his pack over his shoulder. He whistled once, and his horse trotted up to his side, nudging him slightly with his nose. Aiba patted the horses face before climbing into the saddle.
“I can leave you here, or I can drop you off at the next town. Take your pick,” He said, before touching his heels to his horses flanks and trotting off through the scattered trees.
Jun looked after him for a moment, before rushing to his own horse and quickly following.
Aiba was fed up. He was desperate to head off into the mountains, but there was one thing preventing him from doing so.
Jun wiped at his face, wincing when the horse bounced over a log in it’s path. He whimpered quietly, but kept his face straight.
Aiba sighed and pulled his horse to the side, jumping off and moving to Jun.
“Get off the horse,”
Jun landed on his face as he dismounted. Aiba stepped over him and pulled the horse through the trees towards a tiny clearing, backing onto a sheer rock face, with a clean stream running down one side.
Jun whimpered and got to his feet, hobbling after the older man.
“We’ll make camp here until morning,” Aiba said, glancing up at the sky. It was only around six, if his calculations were right, but he could tell that Jun was suffering.
He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on a branch, before taking the saddles off both of the horses and giving them a quick rub down with a damp blanket, wiping away their sweat. He then moved to the cliff face and glanced at Jun, who was standing by the tree line, his legs wide apart.
“Come here,” He said, waving Jun over.
Jun waddled to him, wincing in pain, and Aiba tugged him forwards by his trousers.
“Take these off,” He ordered.
Jun blushed but did as he was told, dropping the thin material to his ankles and stepping out of them. Aiba pulled him down so he was sitting on a log, and gently spread his legs. The skin on the inside of his thighs were red raw, as Aiba expected them to be, wearing such thin material while riding for so long.
However, what Aiba wasn’t expecting to see, was the small, deep purple finger shaped bruises around the younger man’s thighs, leading up towards his hips.
“These are from your Master?” He asked, brushing a rough finger over one of the marks.
Jun shook his head, “From my old Master. My new Master hasn’t hurt me like this,”
Aiba sighed, “I told you, I’m not your Master,”
Jun ignored the statement and smiled down at him, his face slightly flushed. Aiba sighed again and reached to the side, dropping a clean bit of cloth in a bowl full of clear water, that he had gathered after he had seen to the horses.
“This might sting, but it will help in the long run,” Aiba said, before wringing out the cloth and softly placing it on Jun’s sore legs.
Jun hissed in pain, but otherwise made no noise as Aiba gently rubbed and cleaned the red skin. Soon, the skin wasn’t so painful, and Jun felt much better. However, when he tried to voice his thanks, Aiba interrupted him.
“Don’t thank me yet. Your muscles are so tight, they’re going to cramp up any minute. You need to massage them for a while,”
“Why is this so bad? Riding doesn’t do this to other people,” Jun asked.
“Because you are not used to riding,” Aiba explained, “And you were wearing such flimsy clothes. You can have a pair of my trousers to wear, for the morning,”
Jun nodded and winced as Aiba began to massage his thighs gently, “Why were you wearing such thin clothes anyway?”
Jun shrugged, “Because my old Master wanted me to wear them. Besides, all of us slaves wear clothes like that. It shows that we-”
“Slaves,” Aiba growled, “What gives men the right to own other men? It’s disgusting. How did you end up being owned?”
“I was born into a slave family, and then sold when I was fifteen,” Jun said. It hurt Aiba to hear how calm the younger man was when he was describing his life.
“I was bought by that man you killed, and was with him since. He used me for… various things,” Jun said, his voice breaking very slightly, “I didn’t enjoy a lot of the things he used me for, but I did them otherwise I’d be beaten, or starved, or something like that,”
Jun yelped as Aiba’s fingers dug into his thighs. He pulled away, his face angry, “You’ll need to continue massaging your legs for a while. I’ll start a fire and make us something to eat,”
Without another word, Aiba stood up and stalked off into the trees, his horse following him.
********
TO BE CONTINUED..
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Well, what do you think?
Don't worry, I'll keep posting the crap called "Pretty Face", I haven't forgotten it (unfortunately..)