ACU PreStory: "Black Honey Ch 2: The Beauty & The Hunter" (Aoi x Uruha)
Title: Black Honey Ch 2: The Beauty & The Hunter
Pairings: Aoi x Uruha
Writer: black_prophet (Midsummer_Slave)
Genre: AU, Sci-Fi with Angst & Smut
Rating: PG13 (Mentioned prostitution; R overall)
Warning: This fic will evolve into R for prostitution, mentioned sex acts, violence and murder, and smut.
Dedication: I’m going to blame this one on onichick, because I know she won’t mind. Aoi & Uruha seem willing to push everyone out of the way and break the rules to entertain her, so here you go Oni-love!
Disclaimer: I do not now, nor will I ever, claim to own The GazettE (though I do have several CDs & Concert DVDs and a LOT of pictures). They belong to themselves and each other. This fic and the world it is set in is completely the product of my imagination. I do all my own stunts writing. Please do not attempt these techniques at home. No Beta (sorry for mistakes, I try to spare you).
Previous Chapters: "Ch 1: Asking"
***
Takashima Kouyou must have been a cat in his previous incarnation. Perhaps a cat that didn’t get a chance to use up his nine lives, because they certainly seemed to have carried over to this existence. It had been pointed out to him by more than a few friends that he had more “past lives” than anyone they’d even heard of. That was true enough, he knew. But Kouyou was also aware of the fact that ill-luck dogged his steps. When things were at their high point, he knew to get nervous. The crash always followed.
And Kouyou had his share of “past lives”, he would admit it in a moment. He’d been a socialite and an art student, a waiter and a musician, a modern geisha, a stripper, an escort and a whore.
Life turned on you quickly, this he had discovered early on. The world changed sharply and with unprecedented savagery, at least in his case. Still, Fate hadn’t been as cruel as he knew she could be, so he was grateful. A whore was much better off than a citizen of The Haven. And that, he would avoid at all costs. Kouyou had long ago vowed he’d slit his own throat before he allowed to take him. He would never, never go through that hell. Never. There were some things beyond enduring, even for the ‘indestructible’ Uruha.
With a faint smile Uruha let his friends make their jokes, never bothering to correct them. There was one thing he knew could destroy him beyond a doubt.
The other he hadn’t met yet.
**
Moving down the hallway at a commanding pace, Takeshi Laila hesitated at the sight of an open door, pausing outside one of the many private rooms on the upper floors. Known simply as “the Madam” to her clients and “Mother” to her flock, the older woman was silver-haired and small, but ruled with absolute finality. In spite of being in charge of all within the building, she hovered just outside the exclusive domain and cast an assessing glance over the room’s occupant.
The honey-haired male ignored her for the moment, wielding a comb and flat-iron to finish off his hairstyle. The pale gold, deeper amber, caramel and shadow strands were arranged with care, some locks curled out and others flat-ironed smooth. Layers of bangs were arranged to hide half of his face, the over all effect alluring and slightly mysterious.
“Going to strut for a bit?” She purred softly, leaning slightly against the frame of the door. “Or lounge?”
“I thought I’d strut awhile for you.” The one called Uruha replied, considering himself in the mirror as he gave his bangs a last brush and fixed one of the silver hoops in his left ear. With a tilt of his head he could see her reflection behind him, noting how she remained just beyond the edge of the room. “You can come in, if you wish.”
“And have you remind me how old I am, Kitten?” She tsked. “No, I shall stay here, where even your beauty is dimmed.”
“I can turn the light up.” He offered with a mischievous smile.
She huffed, shaking her head. “No, no. You go walk around and bring back a string of admirers that will want nothing to do with my girls when they find out you are unavailable, that is fine.”
“Your girls are lovely.” He argued, brushing on the last of his black eye-shadow and checking the affect of his cinnamon-colored contacts against the crystalline darkness. A faint line of silver and lavender against the black finished off the look. The overall appearance pleased him.
Sliding his various brushes and things into the drawers of the vanity and locking them closed, he turned to face her. “I am sure there are many who are more than pleased to pass an evening with them.”
“They come here for you.” She murmured, watching as he picked up the burgundy silk arm warmers and tugged them on as gracefully as any in her stable could put on stockings. He was the pride of her stable, the rarest of her beauties. “Once you’ve strut, they always come for you.”
“I am not for them.” He replied, brushing the crystals that gleamed against the silk into order before drawing the other arm warmer up to his elbow. “They wouldn’t want me if I were. We both know this.”
He watched her lips part as though she were going to argue… Watched her accept the truth and close her mouth again without a sound. They both knew the truth of his words, it had long ago ceased to hurt. Japanese men weren’t supposed to want other men. And Uruha was known for making even the straightest of heads turn. Even without his artistry.
With it, his beauty was nearly lethal.
His black nails glinted with freshly dried polish as he smoothed his silk tank top, his free hand lifting the sleeveless duster from where it was draped over his chair. Gently sliding into the reversible black velvet and burgundy silk creation, he ignored the soft chiming of the silver chains that came to settle over his shoulders when the garment was in place. Fidgeting with the double belt around his waist and his black slacks, he turned to face her.
“Are you waiting for me to tell you how devastating you look?” She teased. “I haven’t found fault with you in, well, time I’d rather not remember.”
“You are not so old as you like to pretend.” He scolded mildly, pacing across the room toward her with a flowing stride. “Especially to one like me, who knows.”
“Enough talk of my old self. Go strut for a little while, Kitten. Spare my heart the pain of your beauty.” She muttered, kissing his cheek and letting him slip past her into the hallway. “Be careful.”
“I always am.” He promised.
“Don’t leave our Alley.”
“I know how ugly the world can be, Mother.” He murmured, hesitating on the stairs as he offered her the affectionate title. They all referred to the Madam as ‘Mother’, she was the closest thing any of them had to one, after all. “I will stay near.”
“Scat then.” She huffed, waving her hands.
Giving her a final smile Uruha turned and moved quickly down the stairs, threading his way through the tangle of escorts waiting for their assignments. Accepting a few smiles and crooning compliments with a nod and a quick grin, Uruha bid them farewell and then stepped out of the bordello and into the soft glow of the Red Light District.
Lifting his chin and shielding his heart, Uruha altered his stride to a graceful stalk and moved up the street. Time to work.
*
Aoi had sensed the sinner, even from a distance. The sudden knowledge of that soul’s actions had made the Dark-Kin grind his teeth. There was no mistaking that one, it just wasn’t possible. His was the kind of sin that tainted the place it occurred just as thoroughly as it tainted the soul that committed it. An unforgiveable evil. Just the sort a Dark Angel like him was drawn to, the worst of the worst. And the call was strong and sick and close.
The mixed-blood Kin leapt to the hunt without hesitation. Staying to the shadows, ghosting after the other at a distance as they moved down one of the many crowded streets in the Club District. The need for subtlety grated at him, making him grind his teeth and narrow his eyes. He wanted to kill, to purge that sin from the world. But people, there were so many people.
The Arch Angel in him counseled patience, offered a soothing reassurance that the hunt would end in his favor. The Dark Kin in him howled, furious at being restrained. Dual nature locked in a battle of their own, Aoi allowed himself to close the distance between himself and his prey. They were entering the Red Light District now; he doubted it would be noticed.
Patience Aoi… It is only a matter of time now.
Night had long ago fallen, wrapping affectionate wings around him. His graceful stalking remained unaffected by the darkness; the same could not be said for the now-slowed and occasionally stumbling pace of his prey. The bright lights of the Club District gave way to the creeping shadows and sensual glow of red lights, and the Hunter drifted even closer to the human he stalked.
Graceful women paced and posed up and down the street. A sea of short skirts, revealing dresses, graceful curves and pale skin. Some were dressed geisha-style kimonos with full makeup, others like school-girls or Lolitas. An array of costumes and makeup styles, hair colors and body types.
“Good evening.” One woman purred as she strolled toward him, her lithe body encased in clinging silk.
He smiled, shaking his head in faint negation. Her disappointment was instant, a pout of her red lower lip accompanied by a crooning noise. Shaking his head again, Aoi twisted and slipped past her, moving down the center of the street to avoid the woman waiting on either side.
Reassuming his confidant stride, Aoi tilted his chin up slightly and focused ahead. The women lurking along the edges of the street watched him hungrily, but didn’t pursue. With his half-shirt clearly visible beneath his black trench coat and his beautiful features, the Dark Kin blended in easily enough with the other souls wandering the streets. Momentarily distracting and then forgotten as the prostitutes searched for clients and the clients examined their wares. He was simply something elegant and graceful that would be easily explained away and forgotten.
The sinner made a sharp turn, attracting Aoi’s attention as he followed. This particular section of the Red Light district was referred to as Angel’s Alley. A rather upscale corner of this dark world, if there was such a thing. The ones who worked for the Madam were clean and sober, beautiful, well-dressed and discreet. The bordello they worked out of was elegant and somewhat exclusive.
The same Madam that ruled Angel’s Alley with her exceptionally beautiful ‘Angels’ also provided an escort service that catered to the highest of the high. She was a woman who selected her stock well and trained them to fit in at even the most elegant of black-tie affairs. Aoi knew this, because once -when he’d still cared about social appearances- he’d hired a girl to be his date for the evening.
Once upon a time, keeping up social appearances had been important to him. The woman recommended by the Madam had been a pleasant companion, beautiful, intelligent and discreet. A pity he had little interest in females, he supposed. It was still fairly early in the evening when he returned the woman to the bordello and paid the Madam the compliments that were her due.
“If you ever want a true companion, darling.” She had purred with a smile at him. “You come back to me. I have just the one for you, I guarantee it.”
“I thought you said Hannah was the best you had?” He questioned, surprised not at the initial lie but the fact that she was contradicting it to his face.
“As my socialite-females go, Hannah is the best.” The Madam replied, her smile widening slightly. “But we both know that is not what you would want in a companion, darling. No, my Beauty would be perfect for you, but he does not do Black-Tie events… And you two would cause quite a scandal if he did.”
‘Beauty?’ Aoi wondered. ‘He?’
“Yes, he.” She waved him out the door. “It is late, and I am a tired, old woman. Be gone with your beautiful self before I start to cry over how striking you are. Moreso than I or my girls cold ever hope to be. Go now, but remember what I have said.”
Even now he remembered, though he wasn’t sure why. Shaking it off, Aoi turned his attentions back to the one he hunted, wondering what brought the man to this alley.
“Why are you coming here?” The Dark Kin murmured. “Your kind are not wanted here…”
Growling as his prey disappeared into what he knew to be a crowded building; Aoi planted a shoulder against the nearest brick wall and crossed his arms over his chest. Very well then, he would merely wait. His prey couldn’t hide forever.
And he was a very patient hunter.
***
Next Chapter: "Ch 3: First Sight"
Hello again my darlings! Look, more "Black Honey" for you! And "Playing God" is now available in a PDF Format! I will most likely wait until a couple more of the "PreStories" are done and then consolidate them into one PDF for the ACU. And then of course, Games Without End! Until then, enjoy.
Pairings: Aoi x Uruha
Writer: black_prophet (Midsummer_Slave)
Genre: AU, Sci-Fi with Angst & Smut
Rating: PG13 (Mentioned prostitution; R overall)
Warning: This fic will evolve into R for prostitution, mentioned sex acts, violence and murder, and smut.
Dedication: I’m going to blame this one on onichick, because I know she won’t mind. Aoi & Uruha seem willing to push everyone out of the way and break the rules to entertain her, so here you go Oni-love!
Disclaimer: I do not now, nor will I ever, claim to own The GazettE (though I do have several CDs & Concert DVDs and a LOT of pictures). They belong to themselves and each other. This fic and the world it is set in is completely the product of my imagination. I do all my own stunts writing. Please do not attempt these techniques at home. No Beta (sorry for mistakes, I try to spare you).
Previous Chapters: "Ch 1: Asking"
***
Takashima Kouyou must have been a cat in his previous incarnation. Perhaps a cat that didn’t get a chance to use up his nine lives, because they certainly seemed to have carried over to this existence. It had been pointed out to him by more than a few friends that he had more “past lives” than anyone they’d even heard of. That was true enough, he knew. But Kouyou was also aware of the fact that ill-luck dogged his steps. When things were at their high point, he knew to get nervous. The crash always followed.
And Kouyou had his share of “past lives”, he would admit it in a moment. He’d been a socialite and an art student, a waiter and a musician, a modern geisha, a stripper, an escort and a whore.
Life turned on you quickly, this he had discovered early on. The world changed sharply and with unprecedented savagery, at least in his case. Still, Fate hadn’t been as cruel as he knew she could be, so he was grateful. A whore was much better off than a citizen of The Haven. And that, he would avoid at all costs. Kouyou had long ago vowed he’d slit his own throat before he allowed to take him. He would never, never go through that hell. Never. There were some things beyond enduring, even for the ‘indestructible’ Uruha.
With a faint smile Uruha let his friends make their jokes, never bothering to correct them. There was one thing he knew could destroy him beyond a doubt.
The other he hadn’t met yet.
**
Moving down the hallway at a commanding pace, Takeshi Laila hesitated at the sight of an open door, pausing outside one of the many private rooms on the upper floors. Known simply as “the Madam” to her clients and “Mother” to her flock, the older woman was silver-haired and small, but ruled with absolute finality. In spite of being in charge of all within the building, she hovered just outside the exclusive domain and cast an assessing glance over the room’s occupant.
The honey-haired male ignored her for the moment, wielding a comb and flat-iron to finish off his hairstyle. The pale gold, deeper amber, caramel and shadow strands were arranged with care, some locks curled out and others flat-ironed smooth. Layers of bangs were arranged to hide half of his face, the over all effect alluring and slightly mysterious.
“Going to strut for a bit?” She purred softly, leaning slightly against the frame of the door. “Or lounge?”
“I thought I’d strut awhile for you.” The one called Uruha replied, considering himself in the mirror as he gave his bangs a last brush and fixed one of the silver hoops in his left ear. With a tilt of his head he could see her reflection behind him, noting how she remained just beyond the edge of the room. “You can come in, if you wish.”
“And have you remind me how old I am, Kitten?” She tsked. “No, I shall stay here, where even your beauty is dimmed.”
“I can turn the light up.” He offered with a mischievous smile.
She huffed, shaking her head. “No, no. You go walk around and bring back a string of admirers that will want nothing to do with my girls when they find out you are unavailable, that is fine.”
“Your girls are lovely.” He argued, brushing on the last of his black eye-shadow and checking the affect of his cinnamon-colored contacts against the crystalline darkness. A faint line of silver and lavender against the black finished off the look. The overall appearance pleased him.
Sliding his various brushes and things into the drawers of the vanity and locking them closed, he turned to face her. “I am sure there are many who are more than pleased to pass an evening with them.”
“They come here for you.” She murmured, watching as he picked up the burgundy silk arm warmers and tugged them on as gracefully as any in her stable could put on stockings. He was the pride of her stable, the rarest of her beauties. “Once you’ve strut, they always come for you.”
“I am not for them.” He replied, brushing the crystals that gleamed against the silk into order before drawing the other arm warmer up to his elbow. “They wouldn’t want me if I were. We both know this.”
He watched her lips part as though she were going to argue… Watched her accept the truth and close her mouth again without a sound. They both knew the truth of his words, it had long ago ceased to hurt. Japanese men weren’t supposed to want other men. And Uruha was known for making even the straightest of heads turn. Even without his artistry.
With it, his beauty was nearly lethal.
His black nails glinted with freshly dried polish as he smoothed his silk tank top, his free hand lifting the sleeveless duster from where it was draped over his chair. Gently sliding into the reversible black velvet and burgundy silk creation, he ignored the soft chiming of the silver chains that came to settle over his shoulders when the garment was in place. Fidgeting with the double belt around his waist and his black slacks, he turned to face her.
“Are you waiting for me to tell you how devastating you look?” She teased. “I haven’t found fault with you in, well, time I’d rather not remember.”
“You are not so old as you like to pretend.” He scolded mildly, pacing across the room toward her with a flowing stride. “Especially to one like me, who knows.”
“Enough talk of my old self. Go strut for a little while, Kitten. Spare my heart the pain of your beauty.” She muttered, kissing his cheek and letting him slip past her into the hallway. “Be careful.”
“I always am.” He promised.
“Don’t leave our Alley.”
“I know how ugly the world can be, Mother.” He murmured, hesitating on the stairs as he offered her the affectionate title. They all referred to the Madam as ‘Mother’, she was the closest thing any of them had to one, after all. “I will stay near.”
“Scat then.” She huffed, waving her hands.
Giving her a final smile Uruha turned and moved quickly down the stairs, threading his way through the tangle of escorts waiting for their assignments. Accepting a few smiles and crooning compliments with a nod and a quick grin, Uruha bid them farewell and then stepped out of the bordello and into the soft glow of the Red Light District.
Lifting his chin and shielding his heart, Uruha altered his stride to a graceful stalk and moved up the street. Time to work.
*
Aoi had sensed the sinner, even from a distance. The sudden knowledge of that soul’s actions had made the Dark-Kin grind his teeth. There was no mistaking that one, it just wasn’t possible. His was the kind of sin that tainted the place it occurred just as thoroughly as it tainted the soul that committed it. An unforgiveable evil. Just the sort a Dark Angel like him was drawn to, the worst of the worst. And the call was strong and sick and close.
The mixed-blood Kin leapt to the hunt without hesitation. Staying to the shadows, ghosting after the other at a distance as they moved down one of the many crowded streets in the Club District. The need for subtlety grated at him, making him grind his teeth and narrow his eyes. He wanted to kill, to purge that sin from the world. But people, there were so many people.
The Arch Angel in him counseled patience, offered a soothing reassurance that the hunt would end in his favor. The Dark Kin in him howled, furious at being restrained. Dual nature locked in a battle of their own, Aoi allowed himself to close the distance between himself and his prey. They were entering the Red Light District now; he doubted it would be noticed.
Patience Aoi… It is only a matter of time now.
Night had long ago fallen, wrapping affectionate wings around him. His graceful stalking remained unaffected by the darkness; the same could not be said for the now-slowed and occasionally stumbling pace of his prey. The bright lights of the Club District gave way to the creeping shadows and sensual glow of red lights, and the Hunter drifted even closer to the human he stalked.
Graceful women paced and posed up and down the street. A sea of short skirts, revealing dresses, graceful curves and pale skin. Some were dressed geisha-style kimonos with full makeup, others like school-girls or Lolitas. An array of costumes and makeup styles, hair colors and body types.
“Good evening.” One woman purred as she strolled toward him, her lithe body encased in clinging silk.
He smiled, shaking his head in faint negation. Her disappointment was instant, a pout of her red lower lip accompanied by a crooning noise. Shaking his head again, Aoi twisted and slipped past her, moving down the center of the street to avoid the woman waiting on either side.
Reassuming his confidant stride, Aoi tilted his chin up slightly and focused ahead. The women lurking along the edges of the street watched him hungrily, but didn’t pursue. With his half-shirt clearly visible beneath his black trench coat and his beautiful features, the Dark Kin blended in easily enough with the other souls wandering the streets. Momentarily distracting and then forgotten as the prostitutes searched for clients and the clients examined their wares. He was simply something elegant and graceful that would be easily explained away and forgotten.
The sinner made a sharp turn, attracting Aoi’s attention as he followed. This particular section of the Red Light district was referred to as Angel’s Alley. A rather upscale corner of this dark world, if there was such a thing. The ones who worked for the Madam were clean and sober, beautiful, well-dressed and discreet. The bordello they worked out of was elegant and somewhat exclusive.
The same Madam that ruled Angel’s Alley with her exceptionally beautiful ‘Angels’ also provided an escort service that catered to the highest of the high. She was a woman who selected her stock well and trained them to fit in at even the most elegant of black-tie affairs. Aoi knew this, because once -when he’d still cared about social appearances- he’d hired a girl to be his date for the evening.
Once upon a time, keeping up social appearances had been important to him. The woman recommended by the Madam had been a pleasant companion, beautiful, intelligent and discreet. A pity he had little interest in females, he supposed. It was still fairly early in the evening when he returned the woman to the bordello and paid the Madam the compliments that were her due.
“If you ever want a true companion, darling.” She had purred with a smile at him. “You come back to me. I have just the one for you, I guarantee it.”
“I thought you said Hannah was the best you had?” He questioned, surprised not at the initial lie but the fact that she was contradicting it to his face.
“As my socialite-females go, Hannah is the best.” The Madam replied, her smile widening slightly. “But we both know that is not what you would want in a companion, darling. No, my Beauty would be perfect for you, but he does not do Black-Tie events… And you two would cause quite a scandal if he did.”
‘Beauty?’ Aoi wondered. ‘He?’
“Yes, he.” She waved him out the door. “It is late, and I am a tired, old woman. Be gone with your beautiful self before I start to cry over how striking you are. Moreso than I or my girls cold ever hope to be. Go now, but remember what I have said.”
Even now he remembered, though he wasn’t sure why. Shaking it off, Aoi turned his attentions back to the one he hunted, wondering what brought the man to this alley.
“Why are you coming here?” The Dark Kin murmured. “Your kind are not wanted here…”
Growling as his prey disappeared into what he knew to be a crowded building; Aoi planted a shoulder against the nearest brick wall and crossed his arms over his chest. Very well then, he would merely wait. His prey couldn’t hide forever.
And he was a very patient hunter.
***
Next Chapter: "Ch 3: First Sight"
Hello again my darlings! Look, more "Black Honey" for you! And "Playing God" is now available in a PDF Format! I will most likely wait until a couple more of the "PreStories" are done and then consolidate them into one PDF for the ACU. And then of course, Games Without End! Until then, enjoy.