Creature in the Viewfinder
Title: Creature in the Viewfinder
Author: paranoia_woman
Character(s): All the Yamane regulars with only slight differences.
Rating: Varies per chapter PG - XXX You are warned!!!
Warning: Language and Violence. AU
Summary: A combination of Viewfinder and Frankenstein. Creating life and the results thereof with Yamane's characters.
Disclaimer: Ownership of the Viewfinder series and all characters therein belongs to Yamane Ayano, In perpetuity. Frankenstein is not mine either or I'd be rich.
Creature in the Viewfinder
Halloween wasn't one of the holidays that he celebrated normally, it being a Westerner's holiday, but tonight was special. One of his good friends, Kou, had gotten a job in a bar his Uncle just opened and the Grand Opening was set for that night, October 31st.
Dressed all in black with a long silver hair, Takaba stared at the marquee sign outside saying Double Risk, 'What a strange name,' he thought. The place was completely full tonight. Stepping inside he was amazed as a girl dressed like Bo-Peep walked by him with a guy on a leash dressed as a sheep. He turned to admire her as she walked off into the crowd when he felt a hand grab at his waist and pull him back. He turned, getting a face full of beer breath from some guy dressed as Dracula, who began to try to molest him, saying, "Hey Baby. You're cute. Are you all alone tonight? Van'na neck?"
"Hey, Hey, Don't harass the customers," he heard as the drunk was pulled away from him and then led to the door. "Go home and sleep it off," the man said as he pushed the drunk out the door and closed it.
Walking back over to Takaba, he began to apologize. "Sorry Miss, I..."
Laughing, Takaba interrupted, "Not sorry enough. I'm a guy. Name's Takaba."
Embarrassed, the guy didn't even give his name, just turned and headed back into the crowd.
Still laughing, he spotted Kou over beside the bar and walked over to him.
"Hey Kou!" he yelled, trying to be heard over the crowd who surrounded his friend.
"Akihito," he smiled back at him, pushing through the crowd to reach his friend, "Just who I was thinking of." Looking up and down at Takaba, he ask, with a confused look, "Just who are you suppose to be, a transvestite?"
"I'm Sephiroth! You know, the Final Fantasy VII character."
Kou broke down laughing, making Takaba feel irritated.
"I'm suppose to be dangerous looking," he said, pulling out his fake sword, he posed with a look on his face that he thought looked like the character, and doing what he believed to be a good impression of Sephiroth, said, "Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away."
Kou began laughing so hard, he fell back against the man behind him, causing him to spill his drink.
"Sorry, sorry," he said to the patron. "Hey Sai, please get this guy another couple of drinks on me," he said, before the man even had a chance to complain. The bartender sighed and did as requested, but made sure to write the amount on a notepad under the counter as his Uncle had instructed him earlier.
"Thanks man," the guy said, turning his attention back to his lady friend.
Turning back to Takaba who looked not really even angry, only flustered, Kou bit the inside of his cheek to try and get his laughter under control.
"I'm sorry man. It's just with your build, you kinda look a bit feminine in that."
Disgusted, Takaba put away his sword and sat down heavily in an empty space at the bar. "Least I got an original costume, you're just a devil," he said, critiquing his friend's outfit. "Nothing special at all, it's so tacky, just a red suit and horns. You could of gone all out, y'know. It's the opening night."
"Hey, I've been busy, busy, busy, man. Not enough time in the day for all the work I had to get done by today just to help my Uncle here. You've not met him yet though, have you. He had to go down to the warehouse district to clear up some problem about a delivery that was being held by customs. I'll make sure to introduce you to him later. He'll just love you," he said, with a dirty looking smile on his face.
Looking to his side, Kou did a double take and groaned. "Damn, that liquor inspector just came back. He was just here earlier today talking to Uncle. I wonder what he wants now." Kou got the bartender's attention and told him, "Sai, this here is Takaba, my best friend. Give him whatever he wants on the house. Okay?" The bartender rolled his eyes, and then glanced down, eyeing the notepad. Kou didn't notice at all. He just turned back to Takaba, saying, "Sorry Aki, I have to go and take care of that man before he finds something wrong tonight. I'll see you later this evening," he said, already turning to push through the crowd.
Alone in the throng, Takaba ordered a beer. Sai, the bartender, looked at him questioningly and said, "Look, I know you're his friend and all but we don't serve minors. Exasperated, Takaba reached into his pocket and pulled out his I.D., "Look here, I'm 20." Sai took a very close look at it and then laughed, "Sorry man, I just have to keep an eye out for these things. It's my job." Taking his beer, Takaba nodded silently and turned around, looking about the bar. He slowly sipped his beer as he watched the people mull about him.
All his friends seemed to be getting on with life while he seemed to be stuck in time. Who would have thought that Kou would actually end up working in a bar, instead of drinking himself under the table in one, and Takato, he'd gotten a job in a big computer corporation, but where was he? Still doing the same grunt work at the newspaper he'd been working at since he graduated. No one there seemed to take him seriously.
'Damn it. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. If you want something to happen in your life, just do it,' he thought to himself, getting up off the stool to go mingle. Seeing a particularly pretty girl standing alone, he made his way over to her.
"Hello," he said a bit nervously, "Interesting bar, isn't it?"
"Sorry, I’m not interested in women," she replied, walking the other way.
'What the Hell!' he thought to himself, ready to rip the costume off and trash it and he would have if it hadn't been a rental. 'This night couldn't get much worse,' he thought, walking back over to his seat he'd vacated at the bar. By the time he got there, the chair was already occupied by a man twice his size. Takaba decided he'd had enough tonight anyway. A bit of TV and ramen at home was sounding good right now, but he didn't want to just leave without saying bye to Kou. He looked around, trying to find him, but didn't see him anywhere, when someone behind him bumped into him causing him to spill his drink on a couple of guys dressed as pirates. They looked angry, ready for a fight, until they turned and saw him, then they tried to hit on him thinking he was a girl. Disgusted, Takaba thought, 'That's it. I've had enough. I'll just call him tomorrow. He's probably going to be extremely busy for the rest of the night anyway.' He made an excuse of having to go the ladies room and left the two men waiting for his return. They didn't even notice as he walked past the restrooms and out the door.
Just outside the entrance, he found a line of people waiting for a taxi. Having no other real plans, Takaba stood there waiting. In front of him two guys were talking animatedly to two girls about something that had happened to them about two weeks before. They had been driving around really late at night when their car had suddenly stopped by a large abandoned looking building downtown. As they were checking out what could be wrong, they heard a strange noise around them. The lights on the street dimmed and went out, but not in the building beside them. There, the lights not only still shone, but became brighter and brighter, almost blinding them before dimming back down to normal and then the street lights came back on. Freaked out, they'd jumped back into their car where they desperately tried to start it and luckily, it did, but just before they left, an inhuman scream pierced the night, making their hair stand on end. They continued on with their story, but Takaba tuned them out.
'Just a break, that's all I need,' he stood there thinking. 'If I can get a hold of something no one else has yet, then maybe. But no, that's impossible nowadays. They always give the best leads to the experienced older guys. They still treat me like a newbie.'
Finally, the four in front of him got into their taxi, but the last guy in turned and asked. "Hey, are you alone? You can ride with us if you're going our way. Don't worry, we already have dates," he said laughing, "You'll be safe."
Feeling disgusted with everything, but wanting to get home and change he ask, "Going by the Itabashi Hotel, maybe?" he asked, knowing he could easily walk home from there. If nothing else, maybe he could save some money and get a free ride. With all the money he spent on the rental, something good had to come of it.
Getting into the cab, Takaba squeezed in and closed the door against his hip.
The guys just laughed about the situation, using it to try and get the girls to sit on their laps. Making conversation, the guys kept pointing out what they considered interesting sights.
"Hey, aren't we coming up to that area where that weird thing happened?" one guy said to the other.
"You're right, it was just around here."
"Stop trying to scare us," the girls squealed, when suddenly, the taxi stalled.
The girls screamed and the driver cursed. "Damn it, I just had it in for a tune-up recently. Calm down back there. I'll get it up and running in a moment."
"It's just like before, isn't it?" one guy whispered to the other. "And isn't that the same building too?" the other whispered in reply, just as all the street lights went out, leaving only the light from the building beside them, which seemed to be brightening by the minute.
Looking at the two men, it was clear to him now that the story they told wasn't just something they made up to get into these girl's panties. 'Interesting,' Takaba thought, and opening the door, he stepped out to take a better look.
"Get back in. Aren't you scared?" he heard someone say from the taxi, but he ignored them, stepping over to the sidewalk in front of the building.
Too soon it was all over, the lights in the building faded, the street lights came on and happily for the irate taxi driver, the engine started. He rolled down the window and asked, "Are you going to get back in?"
"Yes, get back in," one of the girls said.
"A cute thing like you, aren't you afraid?" one of the guys asked.
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Takaba turned his back on all of them and proceeded to walk up to the building.
"You want to wait?" the driver asked the other occupants behind him, "It's your dime."
Worried more about the cost of the taxi than the person who was walking away, they told the driver to continue on. Worried, one of the girls looked back, watching till she could no longer see the building anymore.
Finding himself alone, Takaba began going over what he could recalled of the story the two guys were telling the girls. So far, everything was the same except for the scream they'd heard. He walked up to a large dirty window, and wiped away some of the filth, hoping he could see anything interesting inside, but there was too much dirt on the other side of the window preventing him from making out anything within clearly. Startled at the sound of a car approaching, he ducked behind some bushes.
'Huh?' he thought, 'Why am I hiding? No one could even see me here from the street,' but still he crouched, concealed by the foliage, as an expensive looking black car drove up the road, slowed, and stopped in front of the building. A man in a grey suit got out, quickly making his way to the entrance and began beating heavily at the door with his fist.
It wasn't long before the door creaked opened slightly and the man forcefully pushed his way in past whoever had opened it. From where he squatted, Takaba watched as the door slowly began to close, but stopped just before it did. Not even thinking of what he was doing, he moved quickly and went in through the door, quietly pushing the door closed behind him. Just ahead of him he heard a voice yelling angrily.
"Get out of my way, you idiot. Where is he? Fei, I know you're here. Fei en-long, get out here right now and explain all this, brother."
As quietly as he could, Takaba moved forward. He watched as a middle aged man in a suit tried to push by a slightly smaller bushy haired man who blocked his way from climbing the staircase. The smaller man was easily blocking the other man's attempts, but Takaba thought it was odd how he could be so silent while doing it. Takaba thought, 'If it was me, I would be in his face yelling right back at him.'
A door at the top of the stairs opened and a woman, no, not a woman, a man, he corrected himself, stepped out wearing a beautiful blue and gold old style Chinese garment. He cleared his throat to get their attention and when the two below finally noticed him, he spoke.
"Yan, so you finally caught up with me. It's fine, Yoh-gor. Let him by and bring us some tea. Don't forget you've other duties you have to attend to. I'll take care of this myself. Now come, brother, we have much to speak on, don't we?"
The person called Yan wasted no time climbing the stairs and grabbed his brother by his arms, holding him out in front of him, just staring intently at him. "Fei," he whispered, "why did you leave?" and proceeded to wrap his arms around him tightly.
Briskly pushing his brother off him, Fei walked back into the room he had just come out of, not saying a word of invite to the man in the hall, who still followed him in anyway.
Downstairs, Takaba watched as Yoh-gor, as he now knew he was called, left to go get the tea his master had requested.
'What am I doing? I don't even have my camera?' he thought, as he kept moving forward, keeping to the walls. Nearing the staircase, he heard footsteps and a squeaking noise coming towards him. Anxious about being caught, he ducked into the nearest room he saw. He watched, hidden in the darkness therein, as the servant pushed a cart through the room he'd just vacated. Takaba nervously waited for him to pass, but was surprised when the squeaking stopped and he heard the rattling of dishes and footsteps that seemed to be getting closer and closer to where he stood. Quickly hiding himself behind a chair, it didn't take long till the lights were turned on and Yoh-gor walked into the room. Carefully peering from behind the chair, Takaba watched as the bushy haired man set a tray on the floor and, lifting a panel on the base of the door, he pushed the tray into the next room, then closed the panel and turned to leave, turning off the lights and continuing with his chore of taking tea up to the men upstairs.
Takaba sat in the darkness, just listening as his heartbeat raced in his ears. It was so loud he was surprised he could still hear the footsteps of the servant walking up the stairs and now he heard another noise, the sound of something vociferously devouring food, coming from behind the closed door. He waited till the door upstairs opened and closed before he stood up and went over to check out the door. Of course it was locked, so he got down on his knees and opened the panel at the base of the door and looked in.
Surprised, he slammed the panel back down and jumped back when he saw a face staring back at him from the other side.
'What the?' he thought, 'Who was that?'
Cautiously he went back and opened it again, looking through. The face was still there. Bits of food still stuck to it from where they'd messily eaten.
Softly, he said, "Hello, my name's Takaba, don't be scared," but the face didn't look like he was scared at all, just curious, golden eyes shining, wide in wonder.
"Who are you? Why are you locked up? Are you being held prisoner?" he paused, taking a deep breath and awaited an answer.
The man behind the door said nothing, only staring back at him and then he smiled. Takaba was taken aback at how innocent he looked, just like an angel. "Girl," the strange man said, reaching his hand through and touching Takaba's hair.
Rolling his eyes, Takaba wondered just why, oh why, did he choose this costume.
"No, boy, I'm a boy, a boy," he said, taking off the wig and then fell back on his butt in surprise as the man reached out and grabbed his wig, pulling it back through the opening.
'Oh no,' he thought, 'I'll lose my deposit if it's not all returned in good shape.' He reopened the panel at the base of the door only to see the man now sitting against the back wall with the wig on his knee brushing it with his hands.
Takaba had to wonder, 'Is this guy a mentally challenged? Doesn't matter, I need that wig back.'
"Hey, hey you, what's your name? Come back over here," he said softly, 'and bring that wig,' he thought to himself.
The sound of a door slamming open startled Takaba into jumping to his feet, followed by the shouting voices of two men which could be distinctly heard coming down the stairs.
"What the Hell did you say? You couldn't have. The company hasn't even gotten that far. What sort of things have you been doing here Fei?"
"Doing, I've been doing things you could only dream about, brother. I've been living and finally doing what I want. Don't bring your morality into this. You haven't any to speak of anyway."
"You will come back home and go back to working for the company. I'll have men come to take care of that thing tomorrow, and then they'll pack up all your stuff and move it to our home," the angry voice of Yan loudly echoed through the building.
Movement on the stairs stopped and Takaba could clearly imagine the elegantly dressed man turning to confront his brother as he heard, "I have been the good child all my life. I've done everything you and the family have asked of me, but I've been used and abused enough… I'm tired of it. Just forget about me and let me go."
The suited man's voice could barely be heard saying, "You know I can't. I've never been able to do that."
"You could, you've just never tried. Anyway, you can't just come in here and force me to leave and you can't get rid of anything this important. That's madness."
"Important?" Yan interrupted, his voice agitated, "What do you mean by important? Come now, let me see it. Where are you keeping it?"
"I can't believe you. You barge in here and spout these meaningless things. Just calm down and I'll show you. Then you'll have to agree to let me continue my work here. You'll see... this discovery is too important to get rid of. Follow me."
Quiet now, only their footsteps echoed down the stairs as Takaba furiously tried to find a better hiding spot other than behind the chair. Shoving himself into an alcove in the corner of the room, he stood as still as a statue, as the lights came on and the two men followed by the servant entered the room.
"Yoh-gor, give me the key and then you may retire for the night. I will see my brother out after this."
Silently, he handed over the key, brushing his fingertips across Fei's palm as he released it, then he bowed before turning to leave.
Not even acknowledging his servant's departure, Fei turned towards his brother saying, "Now you will see something special. This is why I will never return to what I once did. That part of my life is over," Fei proudly said, unlocking the door. "Come and witness the future."
He opened the door and both men entered the room, closing the door behind them.
'What the Hell?' Takaba thought, his mind reeling. Confusion and fear battled within him preventing him from moving. 'Just what was going on and what did the man behind the door have to do with it? Are these people criminals and what if he's discovered by them, what then?'
Behind the door unheard by him the two men argued.
"Physically, I must agree that you did a great job, but something's wrong with it's mind," said Yan sarcastically, walking about the golden eyed man.
"He's not an 'IT' and nothing is wrong with 'HIM'. He's just still a babe," replied Fei, lightly patting his arm to try and comfort him.
Yan's eye's flashed and he roughly grabbed the golden eyed man's arm, pulling him away from his brother.
Looking confused, the golden eyed man looked back towards Fei in search of reassurance.
Worried at what his brother had in mind, Fei cried out, "What are you doing? Let him go, you'll injure him."
Angrily, Yan growled back at him, "What? Do you really care so much for this thing? Maybe I should just get rid of it now. You wouldn't have any reason not to go with me then."
Outside the room, Takaba cautiously snuck over to see if the servant still lingered in the hall and, seeing no one there, he crept up to the door and leaned his ear against it. He quickly realized the door was too thick for him to hear anything clearly, but remembering the slot at the bottom of the door he got down on all fours and opened it a crack so he could hear better. Hearing a scuffling sound, Takaba took a chance, opening the panel wider so he could try and see what was happening. Sadly, all he could make out of the three individuals inside was from their knees down. The two brothers were on either side of the one who was kept in the room. They seemed to be pulling him back and forth.
Takaba winced, hearing a slap, thinking, 'That sounded like it really hurt.'
"I'll kill you first. Get out of here, now. I'm dead to you," Fei en-long said in a deadly tone.
"Dead or not, you're coming back with me," the brother replied back as Takaba heard a loud sound of someone being struck and then watched as the man with long dark hair collapsed to the floor, unmoving.
Takaba dropped the panel and sprinted for his hiding place just moments before the door reopened. The older man in the suit came out with the smaller long haired man draped over his shoulder, not even closing the door behind him. As he walked out, Yan didn't realize that there was someone else following him from out of the room, right on his heels.
Going straight back to where he entered, Yan paused to open the door, when he finally noticed his shadow. Angrily, he turned and said, "Monster, stay the hell away from me."
"Fei," the tall man from the room said, putting his hand out to touch the man being carried.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Yan screamed, slapping his hand away.
Takaba got to the doorway just in time to see the tall golden eyed man from the locked room as he literally threw the other man across the room to slam into the far wall. From there, he slid to the floor, partially hidden behind a couch there, unmoving. The man he had been carrying was being held gently by previously imprisoned man. Takaba went over and checked the man who had been thrown first. He was unconscious, but his pulse and breathing seemed good. He warily went over to the other two, but paused when the golden eyed man glared at him.
"Wait, don't you remember me, from under the door. You took my wig, remember." Seeing no change in expression, he sighed and admitted defeat saying, "Girl," pointing at himself.
"Girl," the man said, his eyes softening and a smile came to his face.
"Please," he asked, "let me check to make sure he's okay." Cautiously, he stepped forward, touching the unconscious man's face. There was a bruise marring the left side of his face where he'd been struck, but other than that he seemed to be okay. "What a beauty," he mumbled.
"What a beauty," he heard repeated back to him in the same tone, startling him. He jumped back, suddenly noticing how close the other man's face was to his.
From somewhere inside, a door opened and the sound of running footsteps began getting nearer to them.
"I better get out of here," Takaba said, opening the door to leave before he was spotted. He didn't get two steps before he noticed the other man was now following him, still holding the unconscious man.
"Wait a minute. You can't go with me, especially not with him. He's injured, see," he said pointing at the bruise on his face. Go back in with him where he can get help." The tall man paused, staring at him. "Go on. It'll be okay."
Takaba waited till they had disappeared inside the door before he took off down the street.
Back inside the room, Yoh-gor was searching about frantically for his master, hearing a noise he knew to be the front door, he ran over to it only to find Fei en-long laying unconscious on the floor just inside the doorway and no one else in sight. Trembling he reached down, afraid of what he might find.
A hand reached up and painfully grabbed his wrist. "Where is he? Where is my boy?" Fei en-long asked worriedly. Yoh-gor could only shake his head.
Unsteadily Dr. Fei en-long stood up and ran back to the room, afraid of what he'd find. Distressed, he found the door open and no one inside. "Where is he? Where?" he yelled, throwing things about the room. Grabbing the pillow off the bed, a silver glint caught his eyes. 'What's this? Hair? No, a wig. How did this get here?' he thought, picking it up and staring at it. Remembering his brother, he went back out and found him still unconscious lying on the floor where he had been thrown.
'I don't know how this happened, but at least I know for certain that he's still alive. I must find him, but first I must get away from here.'
"Yoh-gor, get my things packed quickly. We're leaving. Just the essentials, we're in a hurry. I'll meet you in the car in five minutes."
While Yoh-gor ran off to do his master's bidding, Fei took one last look at his brother, then turned and walked away, hoping never to see him again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A half mile away, Takaba sat on a bench, trying to catch his breath so he could call a cab when he heard a scrapping sound coming from the bushes behind him.
'A cat maybe?' he thought, 'or maybe something more dangerous.' He stood up ready to run off again, when out from the bushes stepped the man from the room.
"What? I thought I told you to go back inside. What are you doing out here?" he asked him.
The man said nothing, only walked over to where Takaba stood and said, "Girl."
"That again," he said, shaking his head in annoyance. "No, I'm a guy, a guy. Get it?"
"Girl," was his only response.
Sighing deeply, Takaba sat back down on the bench and pulled out his cell to call a taxi. After he finished, he looked up, only to see a pair of golden eyes staring down at him.
"Sit down. Come on, sit. Down here," he said, patting the area beside him. The man sat down so close to him that he almost sat on him. The younger man scooted over a little and looked over his new found friend carefully for the first time. He was tall, over 6'2", and if his hair wasn't so messy, he would look much more handsome. As it was, he looked kinda wild with his golden eyes and tousled shoulder length hair. He was dressed in sweatpants and a pullover with no shoes on. "Where're your shoes? Are your feet okay? There's glass and other things that could hurt you around here," he asked, reaching down to try and check them, but the other man just moved them out of his reach. He wondered what he should do next when the taxi he'd called arrived.
"Hey buddy, you call a taxi?" he asked.
"Yes, that was me," he replied standing up. He walked over, opening the door to get in, and looked back. The other man was on his feet, but didn't make a move towards him. He looked anxious about something. What it might be, Takaba wasn't sure, but it made him feel protective of him. He couldn't just leave him there, that late at night, dressed like that. The guy didn't seem quite all there. He made a quick decision that would change his life forever. "Come on, get in, you can sit beside me," he said, patting the seat beside him.
Looking a bit skittish, the barefoot man carefully climbed into the cab and sat down beside him.
"Hey, close the door," the driver said irritatedly.
"Sorry," Takaba said, reaching across the other man's lap to close the door, then off into the night they went.
Author: paranoia_woman
Character(s): All the Yamane regulars with only slight differences.
Rating: Varies per chapter PG - XXX You are warned!!!
Warning: Language and Violence. AU
Summary: A combination of Viewfinder and Frankenstein. Creating life and the results thereof with Yamane's characters.
Disclaimer: Ownership of the Viewfinder series and all characters therein belongs to Yamane Ayano, In perpetuity. Frankenstein is not mine either or I'd be rich.
Creature in the Viewfinder
Halloween wasn't one of the holidays that he celebrated normally, it being a Westerner's holiday, but tonight was special. One of his good friends, Kou, had gotten a job in a bar his Uncle just opened and the Grand Opening was set for that night, October 31st.
Dressed all in black with a long silver hair, Takaba stared at the marquee sign outside saying Double Risk, 'What a strange name,' he thought. The place was completely full tonight. Stepping inside he was amazed as a girl dressed like Bo-Peep walked by him with a guy on a leash dressed as a sheep. He turned to admire her as she walked off into the crowd when he felt a hand grab at his waist and pull him back. He turned, getting a face full of beer breath from some guy dressed as Dracula, who began to try to molest him, saying, "Hey Baby. You're cute. Are you all alone tonight? Van'na neck?"
"Hey, Hey, Don't harass the customers," he heard as the drunk was pulled away from him and then led to the door. "Go home and sleep it off," the man said as he pushed the drunk out the door and closed it.
Walking back over to Takaba, he began to apologize. "Sorry Miss, I..."
Laughing, Takaba interrupted, "Not sorry enough. I'm a guy. Name's Takaba."
Embarrassed, the guy didn't even give his name, just turned and headed back into the crowd.
Still laughing, he spotted Kou over beside the bar and walked over to him.
"Hey Kou!" he yelled, trying to be heard over the crowd who surrounded his friend.
"Akihito," he smiled back at him, pushing through the crowd to reach his friend, "Just who I was thinking of." Looking up and down at Takaba, he ask, with a confused look, "Just who are you suppose to be, a transvestite?"
"I'm Sephiroth! You know, the Final Fantasy VII character."
Kou broke down laughing, making Takaba feel irritated.
"I'm suppose to be dangerous looking," he said, pulling out his fake sword, he posed with a look on his face that he thought looked like the character, and doing what he believed to be a good impression of Sephiroth, said, "Tell me what you cherish most. Give me the pleasure of taking it away."
Kou began laughing so hard, he fell back against the man behind him, causing him to spill his drink.
"Sorry, sorry," he said to the patron. "Hey Sai, please get this guy another couple of drinks on me," he said, before the man even had a chance to complain. The bartender sighed and did as requested, but made sure to write the amount on a notepad under the counter as his Uncle had instructed him earlier.
"Thanks man," the guy said, turning his attention back to his lady friend.
Turning back to Takaba who looked not really even angry, only flustered, Kou bit the inside of his cheek to try and get his laughter under control.
"I'm sorry man. It's just with your build, you kinda look a bit feminine in that."
Disgusted, Takaba put away his sword and sat down heavily in an empty space at the bar. "Least I got an original costume, you're just a devil," he said, critiquing his friend's outfit. "Nothing special at all, it's so tacky, just a red suit and horns. You could of gone all out, y'know. It's the opening night."
"Hey, I've been busy, busy, busy, man. Not enough time in the day for all the work I had to get done by today just to help my Uncle here. You've not met him yet though, have you. He had to go down to the warehouse district to clear up some problem about a delivery that was being held by customs. I'll make sure to introduce you to him later. He'll just love you," he said, with a dirty looking smile on his face.
Looking to his side, Kou did a double take and groaned. "Damn, that liquor inspector just came back. He was just here earlier today talking to Uncle. I wonder what he wants now." Kou got the bartender's attention and told him, "Sai, this here is Takaba, my best friend. Give him whatever he wants on the house. Okay?" The bartender rolled his eyes, and then glanced down, eyeing the notepad. Kou didn't notice at all. He just turned back to Takaba, saying, "Sorry Aki, I have to go and take care of that man before he finds something wrong tonight. I'll see you later this evening," he said, already turning to push through the crowd.
Alone in the throng, Takaba ordered a beer. Sai, the bartender, looked at him questioningly and said, "Look, I know you're his friend and all but we don't serve minors. Exasperated, Takaba reached into his pocket and pulled out his I.D., "Look here, I'm 20." Sai took a very close look at it and then laughed, "Sorry man, I just have to keep an eye out for these things. It's my job." Taking his beer, Takaba nodded silently and turned around, looking about the bar. He slowly sipped his beer as he watched the people mull about him.
All his friends seemed to be getting on with life while he seemed to be stuck in time. Who would have thought that Kou would actually end up working in a bar, instead of drinking himself under the table in one, and Takato, he'd gotten a job in a big computer corporation, but where was he? Still doing the same grunt work at the newspaper he'd been working at since he graduated. No one there seemed to take him seriously.
'Damn it. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. If you want something to happen in your life, just do it,' he thought to himself, getting up off the stool to go mingle. Seeing a particularly pretty girl standing alone, he made his way over to her.
"Hello," he said a bit nervously, "Interesting bar, isn't it?"
"Sorry, I’m not interested in women," she replied, walking the other way.
'What the Hell!' he thought to himself, ready to rip the costume off and trash it and he would have if it hadn't been a rental. 'This night couldn't get much worse,' he thought, walking back over to his seat he'd vacated at the bar. By the time he got there, the chair was already occupied by a man twice his size. Takaba decided he'd had enough tonight anyway. A bit of TV and ramen at home was sounding good right now, but he didn't want to just leave without saying bye to Kou. He looked around, trying to find him, but didn't see him anywhere, when someone behind him bumped into him causing him to spill his drink on a couple of guys dressed as pirates. They looked angry, ready for a fight, until they turned and saw him, then they tried to hit on him thinking he was a girl. Disgusted, Takaba thought, 'That's it. I've had enough. I'll just call him tomorrow. He's probably going to be extremely busy for the rest of the night anyway.' He made an excuse of having to go the ladies room and left the two men waiting for his return. They didn't even notice as he walked past the restrooms and out the door.
Just outside the entrance, he found a line of people waiting for a taxi. Having no other real plans, Takaba stood there waiting. In front of him two guys were talking animatedly to two girls about something that had happened to them about two weeks before. They had been driving around really late at night when their car had suddenly stopped by a large abandoned looking building downtown. As they were checking out what could be wrong, they heard a strange noise around them. The lights on the street dimmed and went out, but not in the building beside them. There, the lights not only still shone, but became brighter and brighter, almost blinding them before dimming back down to normal and then the street lights came back on. Freaked out, they'd jumped back into their car where they desperately tried to start it and luckily, it did, but just before they left, an inhuman scream pierced the night, making their hair stand on end. They continued on with their story, but Takaba tuned them out.
'Just a break, that's all I need,' he stood there thinking. 'If I can get a hold of something no one else has yet, then maybe. But no, that's impossible nowadays. They always give the best leads to the experienced older guys. They still treat me like a newbie.'
Finally, the four in front of him got into their taxi, but the last guy in turned and asked. "Hey, are you alone? You can ride with us if you're going our way. Don't worry, we already have dates," he said laughing, "You'll be safe."
Feeling disgusted with everything, but wanting to get home and change he ask, "Going by the Itabashi Hotel, maybe?" he asked, knowing he could easily walk home from there. If nothing else, maybe he could save some money and get a free ride. With all the money he spent on the rental, something good had to come of it.
Getting into the cab, Takaba squeezed in and closed the door against his hip.
The guys just laughed about the situation, using it to try and get the girls to sit on their laps. Making conversation, the guys kept pointing out what they considered interesting sights.
"Hey, aren't we coming up to that area where that weird thing happened?" one guy said to the other.
"You're right, it was just around here."
"Stop trying to scare us," the girls squealed, when suddenly, the taxi stalled.
The girls screamed and the driver cursed. "Damn it, I just had it in for a tune-up recently. Calm down back there. I'll get it up and running in a moment."
"It's just like before, isn't it?" one guy whispered to the other. "And isn't that the same building too?" the other whispered in reply, just as all the street lights went out, leaving only the light from the building beside them, which seemed to be brightening by the minute.
Looking at the two men, it was clear to him now that the story they told wasn't just something they made up to get into these girl's panties. 'Interesting,' Takaba thought, and opening the door, he stepped out to take a better look.
"Get back in. Aren't you scared?" he heard someone say from the taxi, but he ignored them, stepping over to the sidewalk in front of the building.
Too soon it was all over, the lights in the building faded, the street lights came on and happily for the irate taxi driver, the engine started. He rolled down the window and asked, "Are you going to get back in?"
"Yes, get back in," one of the girls said.
"A cute thing like you, aren't you afraid?" one of the guys asked.
Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Takaba turned his back on all of them and proceeded to walk up to the building.
"You want to wait?" the driver asked the other occupants behind him, "It's your dime."
Worried more about the cost of the taxi than the person who was walking away, they told the driver to continue on. Worried, one of the girls looked back, watching till she could no longer see the building anymore.
Finding himself alone, Takaba began going over what he could recalled of the story the two guys were telling the girls. So far, everything was the same except for the scream they'd heard. He walked up to a large dirty window, and wiped away some of the filth, hoping he could see anything interesting inside, but there was too much dirt on the other side of the window preventing him from making out anything within clearly. Startled at the sound of a car approaching, he ducked behind some bushes.
'Huh?' he thought, 'Why am I hiding? No one could even see me here from the street,' but still he crouched, concealed by the foliage, as an expensive looking black car drove up the road, slowed, and stopped in front of the building. A man in a grey suit got out, quickly making his way to the entrance and began beating heavily at the door with his fist.
It wasn't long before the door creaked opened slightly and the man forcefully pushed his way in past whoever had opened it. From where he squatted, Takaba watched as the door slowly began to close, but stopped just before it did. Not even thinking of what he was doing, he moved quickly and went in through the door, quietly pushing the door closed behind him. Just ahead of him he heard a voice yelling angrily.
"Get out of my way, you idiot. Where is he? Fei, I know you're here. Fei en-long, get out here right now and explain all this, brother."
As quietly as he could, Takaba moved forward. He watched as a middle aged man in a suit tried to push by a slightly smaller bushy haired man who blocked his way from climbing the staircase. The smaller man was easily blocking the other man's attempts, but Takaba thought it was odd how he could be so silent while doing it. Takaba thought, 'If it was me, I would be in his face yelling right back at him.'
A door at the top of the stairs opened and a woman, no, not a woman, a man, he corrected himself, stepped out wearing a beautiful blue and gold old style Chinese garment. He cleared his throat to get their attention and when the two below finally noticed him, he spoke.
"Yan, so you finally caught up with me. It's fine, Yoh-gor. Let him by and bring us some tea. Don't forget you've other duties you have to attend to. I'll take care of this myself. Now come, brother, we have much to speak on, don't we?"
The person called Yan wasted no time climbing the stairs and grabbed his brother by his arms, holding him out in front of him, just staring intently at him. "Fei," he whispered, "why did you leave?" and proceeded to wrap his arms around him tightly.
Briskly pushing his brother off him, Fei walked back into the room he had just come out of, not saying a word of invite to the man in the hall, who still followed him in anyway.
Downstairs, Takaba watched as Yoh-gor, as he now knew he was called, left to go get the tea his master had requested.
'What am I doing? I don't even have my camera?' he thought, as he kept moving forward, keeping to the walls. Nearing the staircase, he heard footsteps and a squeaking noise coming towards him. Anxious about being caught, he ducked into the nearest room he saw. He watched, hidden in the darkness therein, as the servant pushed a cart through the room he'd just vacated. Takaba nervously waited for him to pass, but was surprised when the squeaking stopped and he heard the rattling of dishes and footsteps that seemed to be getting closer and closer to where he stood. Quickly hiding himself behind a chair, it didn't take long till the lights were turned on and Yoh-gor walked into the room. Carefully peering from behind the chair, Takaba watched as the bushy haired man set a tray on the floor and, lifting a panel on the base of the door, he pushed the tray into the next room, then closed the panel and turned to leave, turning off the lights and continuing with his chore of taking tea up to the men upstairs.
Takaba sat in the darkness, just listening as his heartbeat raced in his ears. It was so loud he was surprised he could still hear the footsteps of the servant walking up the stairs and now he heard another noise, the sound of something vociferously devouring food, coming from behind the closed door. He waited till the door upstairs opened and closed before he stood up and went over to check out the door. Of course it was locked, so he got down on his knees and opened the panel at the base of the door and looked in.
Surprised, he slammed the panel back down and jumped back when he saw a face staring back at him from the other side.
'What the?' he thought, 'Who was that?'
Cautiously he went back and opened it again, looking through. The face was still there. Bits of food still stuck to it from where they'd messily eaten.
Softly, he said, "Hello, my name's Takaba, don't be scared," but the face didn't look like he was scared at all, just curious, golden eyes shining, wide in wonder.
"Who are you? Why are you locked up? Are you being held prisoner?" he paused, taking a deep breath and awaited an answer.
The man behind the door said nothing, only staring back at him and then he smiled. Takaba was taken aback at how innocent he looked, just like an angel. "Girl," the strange man said, reaching his hand through and touching Takaba's hair.
Rolling his eyes, Takaba wondered just why, oh why, did he choose this costume.
"No, boy, I'm a boy, a boy," he said, taking off the wig and then fell back on his butt in surprise as the man reached out and grabbed his wig, pulling it back through the opening.
'Oh no,' he thought, 'I'll lose my deposit if it's not all returned in good shape.' He reopened the panel at the base of the door only to see the man now sitting against the back wall with the wig on his knee brushing it with his hands.
Takaba had to wonder, 'Is this guy a mentally challenged? Doesn't matter, I need that wig back.'
"Hey, hey you, what's your name? Come back over here," he said softly, 'and bring that wig,' he thought to himself.
The sound of a door slamming open startled Takaba into jumping to his feet, followed by the shouting voices of two men which could be distinctly heard coming down the stairs.
"What the Hell did you say? You couldn't have. The company hasn't even gotten that far. What sort of things have you been doing here Fei?"
"Doing, I've been doing things you could only dream about, brother. I've been living and finally doing what I want. Don't bring your morality into this. You haven't any to speak of anyway."
"You will come back home and go back to working for the company. I'll have men come to take care of that thing tomorrow, and then they'll pack up all your stuff and move it to our home," the angry voice of Yan loudly echoed through the building.
Movement on the stairs stopped and Takaba could clearly imagine the elegantly dressed man turning to confront his brother as he heard, "I have been the good child all my life. I've done everything you and the family have asked of me, but I've been used and abused enough… I'm tired of it. Just forget about me and let me go."
The suited man's voice could barely be heard saying, "You know I can't. I've never been able to do that."
"You could, you've just never tried. Anyway, you can't just come in here and force me to leave and you can't get rid of anything this important. That's madness."
"Important?" Yan interrupted, his voice agitated, "What do you mean by important? Come now, let me see it. Where are you keeping it?"
"I can't believe you. You barge in here and spout these meaningless things. Just calm down and I'll show you. Then you'll have to agree to let me continue my work here. You'll see... this discovery is too important to get rid of. Follow me."
Quiet now, only their footsteps echoed down the stairs as Takaba furiously tried to find a better hiding spot other than behind the chair. Shoving himself into an alcove in the corner of the room, he stood as still as a statue, as the lights came on and the two men followed by the servant entered the room.
"Yoh-gor, give me the key and then you may retire for the night. I will see my brother out after this."
Silently, he handed over the key, brushing his fingertips across Fei's palm as he released it, then he bowed before turning to leave.
Not even acknowledging his servant's departure, Fei turned towards his brother saying, "Now you will see something special. This is why I will never return to what I once did. That part of my life is over," Fei proudly said, unlocking the door. "Come and witness the future."
He opened the door and both men entered the room, closing the door behind them.
'What the Hell?' Takaba thought, his mind reeling. Confusion and fear battled within him preventing him from moving. 'Just what was going on and what did the man behind the door have to do with it? Are these people criminals and what if he's discovered by them, what then?'
Behind the door unheard by him the two men argued.
"Physically, I must agree that you did a great job, but something's wrong with it's mind," said Yan sarcastically, walking about the golden eyed man.
"He's not an 'IT' and nothing is wrong with 'HIM'. He's just still a babe," replied Fei, lightly patting his arm to try and comfort him.
Yan's eye's flashed and he roughly grabbed the golden eyed man's arm, pulling him away from his brother.
Looking confused, the golden eyed man looked back towards Fei in search of reassurance.
Worried at what his brother had in mind, Fei cried out, "What are you doing? Let him go, you'll injure him."
Angrily, Yan growled back at him, "What? Do you really care so much for this thing? Maybe I should just get rid of it now. You wouldn't have any reason not to go with me then."
Outside the room, Takaba cautiously snuck over to see if the servant still lingered in the hall and, seeing no one there, he crept up to the door and leaned his ear against it. He quickly realized the door was too thick for him to hear anything clearly, but remembering the slot at the bottom of the door he got down on all fours and opened it a crack so he could hear better. Hearing a scuffling sound, Takaba took a chance, opening the panel wider so he could try and see what was happening. Sadly, all he could make out of the three individuals inside was from their knees down. The two brothers were on either side of the one who was kept in the room. They seemed to be pulling him back and forth.
Takaba winced, hearing a slap, thinking, 'That sounded like it really hurt.'
"I'll kill you first. Get out of here, now. I'm dead to you," Fei en-long said in a deadly tone.
"Dead or not, you're coming back with me," the brother replied back as Takaba heard a loud sound of someone being struck and then watched as the man with long dark hair collapsed to the floor, unmoving.
Takaba dropped the panel and sprinted for his hiding place just moments before the door reopened. The older man in the suit came out with the smaller long haired man draped over his shoulder, not even closing the door behind him. As he walked out, Yan didn't realize that there was someone else following him from out of the room, right on his heels.
Going straight back to where he entered, Yan paused to open the door, when he finally noticed his shadow. Angrily, he turned and said, "Monster, stay the hell away from me."
"Fei," the tall man from the room said, putting his hand out to touch the man being carried.
"Don't you dare touch him!" Yan screamed, slapping his hand away.
Takaba got to the doorway just in time to see the tall golden eyed man from the locked room as he literally threw the other man across the room to slam into the far wall. From there, he slid to the floor, partially hidden behind a couch there, unmoving. The man he had been carrying was being held gently by previously imprisoned man. Takaba went over and checked the man who had been thrown first. He was unconscious, but his pulse and breathing seemed good. He warily went over to the other two, but paused when the golden eyed man glared at him.
"Wait, don't you remember me, from under the door. You took my wig, remember." Seeing no change in expression, he sighed and admitted defeat saying, "Girl," pointing at himself.
"Girl," the man said, his eyes softening and a smile came to his face.
"Please," he asked, "let me check to make sure he's okay." Cautiously, he stepped forward, touching the unconscious man's face. There was a bruise marring the left side of his face where he'd been struck, but other than that he seemed to be okay. "What a beauty," he mumbled.
"What a beauty," he heard repeated back to him in the same tone, startling him. He jumped back, suddenly noticing how close the other man's face was to his.
From somewhere inside, a door opened and the sound of running footsteps began getting nearer to them.
"I better get out of here," Takaba said, opening the door to leave before he was spotted. He didn't get two steps before he noticed the other man was now following him, still holding the unconscious man.
"Wait a minute. You can't go with me, especially not with him. He's injured, see," he said pointing at the bruise on his face. Go back in with him where he can get help." The tall man paused, staring at him. "Go on. It'll be okay."
Takaba waited till they had disappeared inside the door before he took off down the street.
Back inside the room, Yoh-gor was searching about frantically for his master, hearing a noise he knew to be the front door, he ran over to it only to find Fei en-long laying unconscious on the floor just inside the doorway and no one else in sight. Trembling he reached down, afraid of what he might find.
A hand reached up and painfully grabbed his wrist. "Where is he? Where is my boy?" Fei en-long asked worriedly. Yoh-gor could only shake his head.
Unsteadily Dr. Fei en-long stood up and ran back to the room, afraid of what he'd find. Distressed, he found the door open and no one inside. "Where is he? Where?" he yelled, throwing things about the room. Grabbing the pillow off the bed, a silver glint caught his eyes. 'What's this? Hair? No, a wig. How did this get here?' he thought, picking it up and staring at it. Remembering his brother, he went back out and found him still unconscious lying on the floor where he had been thrown.
'I don't know how this happened, but at least I know for certain that he's still alive. I must find him, but first I must get away from here.'
"Yoh-gor, get my things packed quickly. We're leaving. Just the essentials, we're in a hurry. I'll meet you in the car in five minutes."
While Yoh-gor ran off to do his master's bidding, Fei took one last look at his brother, then turned and walked away, hoping never to see him again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*****~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A half mile away, Takaba sat on a bench, trying to catch his breath so he could call a cab when he heard a scrapping sound coming from the bushes behind him.
'A cat maybe?' he thought, 'or maybe something more dangerous.' He stood up ready to run off again, when out from the bushes stepped the man from the room.
"What? I thought I told you to go back inside. What are you doing out here?" he asked him.
The man said nothing, only walked over to where Takaba stood and said, "Girl."
"That again," he said, shaking his head in annoyance. "No, I'm a guy, a guy. Get it?"
"Girl," was his only response.
Sighing deeply, Takaba sat back down on the bench and pulled out his cell to call a taxi. After he finished, he looked up, only to see a pair of golden eyes staring down at him.
"Sit down. Come on, sit. Down here," he said, patting the area beside him. The man sat down so close to him that he almost sat on him. The younger man scooted over a little and looked over his new found friend carefully for the first time. He was tall, over 6'2", and if his hair wasn't so messy, he would look much more handsome. As it was, he looked kinda wild with his golden eyes and tousled shoulder length hair. He was dressed in sweatpants and a pullover with no shoes on. "Where're your shoes? Are your feet okay? There's glass and other things that could hurt you around here," he asked, reaching down to try and check them, but the other man just moved them out of his reach. He wondered what he should do next when the taxi he'd called arrived.
"Hey buddy, you call a taxi?" he asked.
"Yes, that was me," he replied standing up. He walked over, opening the door to get in, and looked back. The other man was on his feet, but didn't make a move towards him. He looked anxious about something. What it might be, Takaba wasn't sure, but it made him feel protective of him. He couldn't just leave him there, that late at night, dressed like that. The guy didn't seem quite all there. He made a quick decision that would change his life forever. "Come on, get in, you can sit beside me," he said, patting the seat beside him.
Looking a bit skittish, the barefoot man carefully climbed into the cab and sat down beside him.
"Hey, close the door," the driver said irritatedly.
"Sorry," Takaba said, reaching across the other man's lap to close the door, then off into the night they went.