Everything Ends, Chapter 19/??
Title: Everything ends
Author: fffriction1984 [tbsupervillains ]
Chapters: 19/??
Genre: het, AU, historical, action, romance, drama
Warnings: het, un-betaed, English is not my first language, Wikipedia helped me a lot but I’m not sure how accurate this is (I suck when it comes to historical things XD), CHARACTER DEATH!!!
Rating: PG-13/NC-17, depending on the chapters
Pairings: Uruha x Hiko, Aoi x Waka
Characters: All gazemen, Yoshiki [X Japan], Tora, Nao, Hiroto, Shou, Saga [Alice Nine], Hiko (Tomiko), Waka [danger*gang], Sakito [Nightmare], SCREW, some OC’s, more characters to come, this will be an jrock-all-star-cast XD
Disclaimer: Don't own anyone
Comments: None for this chapter. Oh, right, there's sex in this chapter, but that's about it. And a shocking twist at the end. Oh Lord.
Synopsis: Everything he lived for was gone
“Where are those two?” Waka mumbled, tapping her fingers against her knees. “They have just dropped off Uruha’s medicine and left afterwards?”
“Pretty much, yes.” Kazuki nodded and bowed. “And I swear, I have no idea what they’re up to if they are up to anything and knowing them I can already guess that they are up to something…”
Aoi’s left eyebrow jerked up as he heard the young man blabbering away like that. “Things like what?” he asked and Kazuki froze at his question. Somehow it seemed as if Kazuki was a bit afraid of Aoi, for whatever reason.
“Well, Jin and Manabu, they… I can’t tell you that in front of Waka-san…”
“Just pretend I’m not here, lad. It’s alright.” she said, flashing him a fake smile.
“… They… At least they told me that they always wanted to do that, that they… oh my God, this is hard to say, because I’m honestly embarrassed about them doing such things…” Kazuki muttered and blushed such a hot red neither Aoi nor Waka had ever seen on a human being before. “They are most likely at a brothel…”
“That doesn’t shock any of us. Everyone does that once in a while.” Waka replied and giggled a bit. “Well, Aoi doesn’t, but everyone else sure does that.”
“But I did when I was younger, even before I was about your age.” Aoi nodded. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been to a whorehouse, Kazuki-kun…?”
“Oh… Um… I never had the money, so… Practically I’ve never been to a brothel, no…”
“Wanna give it a try?” the raven haired Samurai grinned at him and nudged him in the ribs repeatedly.
“Oh, that’s a good idea! Let’s all go out tonight!” Hiroto chimed in and nodded like a maniac. “I mean, we don’t necessarily have to visit a brothel, but a night out would surely be fun.”
“And Uruha?” Waka asked.
“I think he’ll be just fine and won’t even notice we’re gone. And he’s been okay lately, hasn’t he? So why bother with this dickhead…?” Aoi grumbled in response. Aoi wasn’t exactly angry at Uruha for moping in his room for weeks now, but he wasn’t pleased either, so he decided to put his friend aside for one night. “So, gather round everyone!” he called out. “We’re going to head out tonight. Alright?”
Byou, Kazuki and Yuto nodded their heads while Tora hoisted Suzuka up onto his shoulders - again. Tora really seemed to like the young girl and always offered to carry her around on his shoulders or gave her piggyback rides - he was slowly outstripping the position Uruha had in Suzuka’s life before the blonde one decided to be this depressed tired-of-living man he was now. And Tora had a reason for taking care of her like that: his younger brother he hadn’t seen in a good eleven or maybe even twelve years. He hadn’t seen his brother growing up and he missed not having these memories, therefore Suzuka was kind of a substitute for him now.
“Let’s go then.” Waka said and ushered everyone through the gate and out onto the street.
She felt her heart flutter, then it was like it stopped beating for a few seconds again, followed by that fluttering that started to become painful. Hiko was wrapped in darkness as she hurried through the streets of night-time Kyoto, with Jin and Manabu following close behind.
The three got back to the Suzuki-compound earlier and quicker than expected, yet not a soul was to be seen on the court, no lights inside the rooms except for Uruha’s, but nothing else. As she slid out of her Zori and stepped onto the patio she paused. Somehow she hesitated and didn’t really want to go inside Uruha’s room. Of course she wanted to see him, even though she behaved like she would rather eat a cow’s dropping than ever talk to him again.
She turned around and looked at Manabu and Jin. “Give me a minute, will you…?”
“Sure, take all the time you need. We have some other business to attend to anyway.” Jin answered with a subtle bow before grabbing Manabu’s sleeve and pulling the younger one in the opposite direction and right back off the premises.
Hiko waited almost three minutes in front of Uruha’s door, still hesitating, still unsure of what to do until she heard a gagging sound from inside. Uruha was obviously choking, and so Hiko finally opened the door for a bit and peeked inside. What she saw wasn’t pleasant at all: Uruha was crouched down on the floor, choking and sweating. She turned away from the door chink and leaned her back against the wood. “So Jin wasn’t lying as he said Uruha wouldn’t feel well…” she whispered to herself. “Then where is everybody else…?” She heard Uruha cough violently before his voice turned into a pain-stricken moan.
For her and for everybody else this whole thing became really taxing. Although she’s been away for a good two weeks, always worrying about Uruha’s health, checking on him every once in a while even though he didn’t want anyone to check on him and, first and foremost, repeatedly seeing him like that was exhausting, tiring. While she was standing outside, with her back still pressed against the wood, she kept asking herself for how much longer she could bear this. She loved him, yes, but it was hard to see how the man she loved was dying.
The coughing stopped and Hiko went back to peer into the room. Uruha was still crouched down on the floor, his breath fast and heavy. She finally decided to let him know she was there and entered the room. She dropped to her knees beside him and put a hand on his shoulder when she saw a tray with rice, cabbages and fish sitting next to him. Quite obviously he-
“Don’t bother…! I just choke on that goddamn fish…” he muttered under his breath and shoved her hand away, wasn’t really noticing that it was Hiko who sat there.
“Oh really…?” she asked and folded her hands in her lap.
The sound of her voice made him look up at her, he even winced a fair bit at seeing her now. Of all people, it was her! “Where do you come from just now…” he said, pushing himself up on his wrists and grabbing the small ceramic mug that was also sitting on the tray.
“Do you really want to know where I come from and why I am here, Uruha…?”
He sipped his Sake instead of answering. Actually he was pondering how to answer that question because he figured no matter how or what he’d answer, Hiko wouldn’t be too satisfied with his reply. As the seconds ticked by without him saying anything Hiko shook her head and got up. Just now though Uruha decided to become active, grabbed her hand and pulled her down in his lap. She yelped at this sudden intrusion and looked at him with a mix of surprise and anger on her face, but he still didn’t say a thing. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
“Answer me…” Hiko said, but this time her voice wasn’t bristling with anger, she was more or less choking on tears again instead, stiff in his arms.
“I… I’m sorry, Hiko…” he hushed out against her skin and started kissing her neck while pulling her even closer. “I was an idiot… Of course I want to be with you…” Having that said he pushed her down onto the floor and launched his lips on hers; he tasted of Sake for a moment. “Because I need you…” Greedy fingers pulled at the sloppily tied bow of her Obi while Hiko just stared at him in disbelieve, yet she didn’t struggle and let him pull the long sash off. “Because I love you, Hiko… I love you…” Uruha said, dropping her Obi to the floor and leaning over her.
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Uruha…” Hiko shut her eyes in frustration, but her hands in his hair, her thumbs stroking over his cheek, those small actions told Uruha that she wasn’t completely against what he was doing. And so he bent down and captured her lips with his. “Don’t lie to me…”
“I’m not lying…”
She shuddered beneath him and started to literally tremble in delight as she felt one of his hands delving into her Kimono. Of course she had missed this intimacy, his cold hands on her warm flesh, the tenderness of his touch and the sweetness of his kisses, but she wouldn’t admit that fact - at least not now.
In time, while Uruha was still more or less just kissing her, she found her hands sliding to the Obi that held his Yukata together. Her hands were moving on their own accord and before she even realized what happened she had undone his Obi, was pulling and yanking at his Yukata, just so she could feel his skin directly on hers as he lowered himself onto her.
“Please don’t lie to me…” she cried out as tears rolled down her cheeks, landing in her hair that was spread beneath her head like a black veil.
But Uruha didn’t answer, he simply shook his head while moving her legs apart beneath him - she still didn’t budge, instead she pulled him down for yet another kiss as he pushed his length inside her. She wrapped her still Kimono-clad arms around his neck and shoulders, unwilling to let him go. “… for you, Hiko… I would’ve left already if it wasn’t for you and that… ah… glimmer of hope that you would come back…” he moaned into her ear, pushing himself in and out of her tight heat.
She wept harder now upon hearing this. “You have hurt me so bad…!”
Another kiss made the room fall silent - silent except for the rustle of hot flesh rubbing against silk and cotton, interrupted by gasps for air or subtle moans, but for a while no word was spoken.
As Uruha poured out his semen inside her the world seemed to stop turning for a moment and they just lay there with their eyes locked, holding their breaths.
“I’m sorry I did this to you…” Uruha spoke after a while and rolled himself off of her, panting, sweating. “I didn’t want to hurt you, that’s why I… why I thought it would be easier if I made you hate me…” He rubbed his face with both hands, he was defeated and he knew it. He had lost against Hiko - this last battle he had fought with himself. “… because I won’t live forever… and when I die… you’ll be alone…”
Hiko sat up, the Kimono slid down her back what exposed an immense amount of pale, ivory coloured skin, partially covered by her long black hair that fell down her back like liquid silk. “I won’t be alone… And even if I have to spend the rest of my life without you, as long as I can spend the next weeks or months with you and… walk your remaining path with you together… then… then I’m happy, Uruha…” she said in a whisper before burying her face in her hands as she began to cry once more. Uruha sat up too and wrapped his arms around her from behind, anything to calm her down and make her stop crying. “Yes, I don’t want you to leave me, you shall never die… and I want to spend so much more time with you… but… this is out of our hands…”
“Just know that… if you… if you want to leave, then leave…”
“What…?” She turned around and looked him in the eye. “Uruha, I have thought about this a lot in the past weeks… I have asked myself if I can really go through with this, until death do us part… and the answer is yes…”
“Yes…?”
With a slow nod she leaned forward and kissed him. “My God, Uruha… I love you… You can’t make me leave… not again…”
“They are going to be hung-over tomorrow.” Aoi chuckled as he watched a fairly drunk Byou bump into an equally drunk Yuto, who in return crashed into Kazuki who splashed a full cup of hot Sake over his lap in the process as he wanted to lift to his lips in that exact same second. “But for now it’s just funny, so I’m perfectly fine with this.”
“You’re a bit too evil tonight.” Waka replied and shook her head before continuing slowly sipping her Sake.
“No. I just enjoy myself. And come on, now answer truthfully; doesn’t this feel like we’re out with a bunch of our own kids?” the Samurai grinned.
“Which is funny, because they aren’t even that young.” she said.
“Right, but they’re obviously not used to drink Sake, so they’re like kids now.”
Tora and Hiroto were talking to some elderly looking man at the neighbouring table. It turned out the man was from Tokyo too, he was having business in Kyoto, and by luck, he even seemed to know the family Tora left many years ago. Of course Tora didn’t reveal his true identity to the stranger yet, there was a reason he had abandoned his family name twelve years back.
“So how are they doing?” Tora asked while stuffing some tobacco into his pipe. “What about their sons?”
“Oh, their sons! That’s quite a story!” the man yelped and banged his hand onto the table once. “It’s been years that their eldest son, Shinji, left the family because he… how do I say that best…? He had joined the Hayashi clan and the Hayashi clan, at that time, was well known for ruthlessly killing people who were in the way of the Emperor. Their son, Shinji, became one of these men and left his family.”
“Why did he do that?” Hiroto asked. “Wasn’t that common back in the days?”
The man nodded. “You could say so, but from what I’ve heard, Shinji’s conscience never really agreed with that whole killing-people-business. But once he was in it, it obviously was hard to get out of that again.” he explained and Tora found it a bit hard not to agree wholeheartedly because what the man had evaluated was extremely right. “So far there wasn’t anything abnormal, one would say. It’s just that Shinji’s younger brother… I forgot his name, something like Ma… was it Masanori…? Like I said, I don’t remember his name, but he was really young back then, I think he was about 6 or 7. Anyway, I heard that a few years after Shinji left, their parents sold their youngest son to slave traders who brought him to the Kansai-area, but that’s pretty much the last they heard of him.”
Tora’s face dropped. “Why did they do that…?” he asked and balled his right hand into a fist beneath the table.
“Rumour has it they needed money, but I’m not quite sure.”
“What are they doing now…?”
“Well, Amano Shigeo works as a marketer these days, but he has gotten old and he’s sick. He has arthritis and every movement is painful. Amano Etsuko is… um… You see, the family was forced into poverty. They were disowned by the Shogunate, they lost everything they had a few years back, shortly after selling off their son, and the last I heard is that Etsuko actually worked in a whorehouse in Shinbashi, not as a whore, but… well… it’s still a whorehouse.”
“Serves them right…” Tora grumbled as if to himself.
“What was that?” Hiroto queried, intrigued by the sudden odd behaviour of Tora.
“Nothing…”
“So, you are from Tokyo too, Tora-san?”
Byou nudged Kazuki in the ribs and gestured towards the neighbouring table. “Oi…! Did you hear that…?” he asked.
Kazuki nodded and pursed his lips. “That first part of the story sounded a lot like… like what Manabu talks about in his sleep, eh…?”
“Totally…”
“And that other night, when he blabbered away about that brother of his…”
Waka and Aoi looked at the two and squinted. “What was that?” Waka asked.
“Nothing…?” Byou blushed and emptied his cup. “I guess I want more Sake!”
But neither Byou nor Kazuki had to say anything as fragments of the conversation at the neighbouring table started to float over to the table where Waka, Aoi, Kazuki and Byou sat.
“Ne, Tora, why are you so interested in what the Amano’s are doing in Tokyo?” Hiroto asked.
“Well… I am Amano Shinji… And… my younger brother’s name isn’t Masanori but… Manabu…” Tora answered and surely heard the surprised “Oooh!” coming straight out of Waka’s mouth. “Whatever… It’s late… I think I’ll take Suzuka home…”
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a/n: Don’t have much to say this time, I don’t feel so well lately, hence my updates come out like this.
If you spent time to read, plz spend a few more seconds to tell me what you think. That's common courtesy, isn't it?!
Author: fffriction1984 [tbsupervillains ]
Chapters: 19/??
Genre: het, AU, historical, action, romance, drama
Warnings: het, un-betaed, English is not my first language, Wikipedia helped me a lot but I’m not sure how accurate this is (I suck when it comes to historical things XD), CHARACTER DEATH!!!
Rating: PG-13/NC-17, depending on the chapters
Pairings: Uruha x Hiko, Aoi x Waka
Characters: All gazemen, Yoshiki [X Japan], Tora, Nao, Hiroto, Shou, Saga [Alice Nine], Hiko (Tomiko), Waka [danger*gang], Sakito [Nightmare], SCREW, some OC’s, more characters to come, this will be an jrock-all-star-cast XD
Disclaimer: Don't own anyone
Comments: None for this chapter. Oh, right, there's sex in this chapter, but that's about it. And a shocking twist at the end. Oh Lord.
Synopsis: Everything he lived for was gone
“Where are those two?” Waka mumbled, tapping her fingers against her knees. “They have just dropped off Uruha’s medicine and left afterwards?”
“Pretty much, yes.” Kazuki nodded and bowed. “And I swear, I have no idea what they’re up to if they are up to anything and knowing them I can already guess that they are up to something…”
Aoi’s left eyebrow jerked up as he heard the young man blabbering away like that. “Things like what?” he asked and Kazuki froze at his question. Somehow it seemed as if Kazuki was a bit afraid of Aoi, for whatever reason.
“Well, Jin and Manabu, they… I can’t tell you that in front of Waka-san…”
“Just pretend I’m not here, lad. It’s alright.” she said, flashing him a fake smile.
“… They… At least they told me that they always wanted to do that, that they… oh my God, this is hard to say, because I’m honestly embarrassed about them doing such things…” Kazuki muttered and blushed such a hot red neither Aoi nor Waka had ever seen on a human being before. “They are most likely at a brothel…”
“That doesn’t shock any of us. Everyone does that once in a while.” Waka replied and giggled a bit. “Well, Aoi doesn’t, but everyone else sure does that.”
“But I did when I was younger, even before I was about your age.” Aoi nodded. “Don’t tell me you’ve never been to a whorehouse, Kazuki-kun…?”
“Oh… Um… I never had the money, so… Practically I’ve never been to a brothel, no…”
“Wanna give it a try?” the raven haired Samurai grinned at him and nudged him in the ribs repeatedly.
“Oh, that’s a good idea! Let’s all go out tonight!” Hiroto chimed in and nodded like a maniac. “I mean, we don’t necessarily have to visit a brothel, but a night out would surely be fun.”
“And Uruha?” Waka asked.
“I think he’ll be just fine and won’t even notice we’re gone. And he’s been okay lately, hasn’t he? So why bother with this dickhead…?” Aoi grumbled in response. Aoi wasn’t exactly angry at Uruha for moping in his room for weeks now, but he wasn’t pleased either, so he decided to put his friend aside for one night. “So, gather round everyone!” he called out. “We’re going to head out tonight. Alright?”
Byou, Kazuki and Yuto nodded their heads while Tora hoisted Suzuka up onto his shoulders - again. Tora really seemed to like the young girl and always offered to carry her around on his shoulders or gave her piggyback rides - he was slowly outstripping the position Uruha had in Suzuka’s life before the blonde one decided to be this depressed tired-of-living man he was now. And Tora had a reason for taking care of her like that: his younger brother he hadn’t seen in a good eleven or maybe even twelve years. He hadn’t seen his brother growing up and he missed not having these memories, therefore Suzuka was kind of a substitute for him now.
“Let’s go then.” Waka said and ushered everyone through the gate and out onto the street.
She felt her heart flutter, then it was like it stopped beating for a few seconds again, followed by that fluttering that started to become painful. Hiko was wrapped in darkness as she hurried through the streets of night-time Kyoto, with Jin and Manabu following close behind.
The three got back to the Suzuki-compound earlier and quicker than expected, yet not a soul was to be seen on the court, no lights inside the rooms except for Uruha’s, but nothing else. As she slid out of her Zori and stepped onto the patio she paused. Somehow she hesitated and didn’t really want to go inside Uruha’s room. Of course she wanted to see him, even though she behaved like she would rather eat a cow’s dropping than ever talk to him again.
She turned around and looked at Manabu and Jin. “Give me a minute, will you…?”
“Sure, take all the time you need. We have some other business to attend to anyway.” Jin answered with a subtle bow before grabbing Manabu’s sleeve and pulling the younger one in the opposite direction and right back off the premises.
Hiko waited almost three minutes in front of Uruha’s door, still hesitating, still unsure of what to do until she heard a gagging sound from inside. Uruha was obviously choking, and so Hiko finally opened the door for a bit and peeked inside. What she saw wasn’t pleasant at all: Uruha was crouched down on the floor, choking and sweating. She turned away from the door chink and leaned her back against the wood. “So Jin wasn’t lying as he said Uruha wouldn’t feel well…” she whispered to herself. “Then where is everybody else…?” She heard Uruha cough violently before his voice turned into a pain-stricken moan.
For her and for everybody else this whole thing became really taxing. Although she’s been away for a good two weeks, always worrying about Uruha’s health, checking on him every once in a while even though he didn’t want anyone to check on him and, first and foremost, repeatedly seeing him like that was exhausting, tiring. While she was standing outside, with her back still pressed against the wood, she kept asking herself for how much longer she could bear this. She loved him, yes, but it was hard to see how the man she loved was dying.
The coughing stopped and Hiko went back to peer into the room. Uruha was still crouched down on the floor, his breath fast and heavy. She finally decided to let him know she was there and entered the room. She dropped to her knees beside him and put a hand on his shoulder when she saw a tray with rice, cabbages and fish sitting next to him. Quite obviously he-
“Don’t bother…! I just choke on that goddamn fish…” he muttered under his breath and shoved her hand away, wasn’t really noticing that it was Hiko who sat there.
“Oh really…?” she asked and folded her hands in her lap.
The sound of her voice made him look up at her, he even winced a fair bit at seeing her now. Of all people, it was her! “Where do you come from just now…” he said, pushing himself up on his wrists and grabbing the small ceramic mug that was also sitting on the tray.
“Do you really want to know where I come from and why I am here, Uruha…?”
He sipped his Sake instead of answering. Actually he was pondering how to answer that question because he figured no matter how or what he’d answer, Hiko wouldn’t be too satisfied with his reply. As the seconds ticked by without him saying anything Hiko shook her head and got up. Just now though Uruha decided to become active, grabbed her hand and pulled her down in his lap. She yelped at this sudden intrusion and looked at him with a mix of surprise and anger on her face, but he still didn’t say a thing. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
“Answer me…” Hiko said, but this time her voice wasn’t bristling with anger, she was more or less choking on tears again instead, stiff in his arms.
“I… I’m sorry, Hiko…” he hushed out against her skin and started kissing her neck while pulling her even closer. “I was an idiot… Of course I want to be with you…” Having that said he pushed her down onto the floor and launched his lips on hers; he tasted of Sake for a moment. “Because I need you…” Greedy fingers pulled at the sloppily tied bow of her Obi while Hiko just stared at him in disbelieve, yet she didn’t struggle and let him pull the long sash off. “Because I love you, Hiko… I love you…” Uruha said, dropping her Obi to the floor and leaning over her.
“Don’t say things you don’t mean, Uruha…” Hiko shut her eyes in frustration, but her hands in his hair, her thumbs stroking over his cheek, those small actions told Uruha that she wasn’t completely against what he was doing. And so he bent down and captured her lips with his. “Don’t lie to me…”
“I’m not lying…”
She shuddered beneath him and started to literally tremble in delight as she felt one of his hands delving into her Kimono. Of course she had missed this intimacy, his cold hands on her warm flesh, the tenderness of his touch and the sweetness of his kisses, but she wouldn’t admit that fact - at least not now.
In time, while Uruha was still more or less just kissing her, she found her hands sliding to the Obi that held his Yukata together. Her hands were moving on their own accord and before she even realized what happened she had undone his Obi, was pulling and yanking at his Yukata, just so she could feel his skin directly on hers as he lowered himself onto her.
“Please don’t lie to me…” she cried out as tears rolled down her cheeks, landing in her hair that was spread beneath her head like a black veil.
But Uruha didn’t answer, he simply shook his head while moving her legs apart beneath him - she still didn’t budge, instead she pulled him down for yet another kiss as he pushed his length inside her. She wrapped her still Kimono-clad arms around his neck and shoulders, unwilling to let him go. “… for you, Hiko… I would’ve left already if it wasn’t for you and that… ah… glimmer of hope that you would come back…” he moaned into her ear, pushing himself in and out of her tight heat.
She wept harder now upon hearing this. “You have hurt me so bad…!”
Another kiss made the room fall silent - silent except for the rustle of hot flesh rubbing against silk and cotton, interrupted by gasps for air or subtle moans, but for a while no word was spoken.
As Uruha poured out his semen inside her the world seemed to stop turning for a moment and they just lay there with their eyes locked, holding their breaths.
“I’m sorry I did this to you…” Uruha spoke after a while and rolled himself off of her, panting, sweating. “I didn’t want to hurt you, that’s why I… why I thought it would be easier if I made you hate me…” He rubbed his face with both hands, he was defeated and he knew it. He had lost against Hiko - this last battle he had fought with himself. “… because I won’t live forever… and when I die… you’ll be alone…”
Hiko sat up, the Kimono slid down her back what exposed an immense amount of pale, ivory coloured skin, partially covered by her long black hair that fell down her back like liquid silk. “I won’t be alone… And even if I have to spend the rest of my life without you, as long as I can spend the next weeks or months with you and… walk your remaining path with you together… then… then I’m happy, Uruha…” she said in a whisper before burying her face in her hands as she began to cry once more. Uruha sat up too and wrapped his arms around her from behind, anything to calm her down and make her stop crying. “Yes, I don’t want you to leave me, you shall never die… and I want to spend so much more time with you… but… this is out of our hands…”
“Just know that… if you… if you want to leave, then leave…”
“What…?” She turned around and looked him in the eye. “Uruha, I have thought about this a lot in the past weeks… I have asked myself if I can really go through with this, until death do us part… and the answer is yes…”
“Yes…?”
With a slow nod she leaned forward and kissed him. “My God, Uruha… I love you… You can’t make me leave… not again…”
“They are going to be hung-over tomorrow.” Aoi chuckled as he watched a fairly drunk Byou bump into an equally drunk Yuto, who in return crashed into Kazuki who splashed a full cup of hot Sake over his lap in the process as he wanted to lift to his lips in that exact same second. “But for now it’s just funny, so I’m perfectly fine with this.”
“You’re a bit too evil tonight.” Waka replied and shook her head before continuing slowly sipping her Sake.
“No. I just enjoy myself. And come on, now answer truthfully; doesn’t this feel like we’re out with a bunch of our own kids?” the Samurai grinned.
“Which is funny, because they aren’t even that young.” she said.
“Right, but they’re obviously not used to drink Sake, so they’re like kids now.”
Tora and Hiroto were talking to some elderly looking man at the neighbouring table. It turned out the man was from Tokyo too, he was having business in Kyoto, and by luck, he even seemed to know the family Tora left many years ago. Of course Tora didn’t reveal his true identity to the stranger yet, there was a reason he had abandoned his family name twelve years back.
“So how are they doing?” Tora asked while stuffing some tobacco into his pipe. “What about their sons?”
“Oh, their sons! That’s quite a story!” the man yelped and banged his hand onto the table once. “It’s been years that their eldest son, Shinji, left the family because he… how do I say that best…? He had joined the Hayashi clan and the Hayashi clan, at that time, was well known for ruthlessly killing people who were in the way of the Emperor. Their son, Shinji, became one of these men and left his family.”
“Why did he do that?” Hiroto asked. “Wasn’t that common back in the days?”
The man nodded. “You could say so, but from what I’ve heard, Shinji’s conscience never really agreed with that whole killing-people-business. But once he was in it, it obviously was hard to get out of that again.” he explained and Tora found it a bit hard not to agree wholeheartedly because what the man had evaluated was extremely right. “So far there wasn’t anything abnormal, one would say. It’s just that Shinji’s younger brother… I forgot his name, something like Ma… was it Masanori…? Like I said, I don’t remember his name, but he was really young back then, I think he was about 6 or 7. Anyway, I heard that a few years after Shinji left, their parents sold their youngest son to slave traders who brought him to the Kansai-area, but that’s pretty much the last they heard of him.”
Tora’s face dropped. “Why did they do that…?” he asked and balled his right hand into a fist beneath the table.
“Rumour has it they needed money, but I’m not quite sure.”
“What are they doing now…?”
“Well, Amano Shigeo works as a marketer these days, but he has gotten old and he’s sick. He has arthritis and every movement is painful. Amano Etsuko is… um… You see, the family was forced into poverty. They were disowned by the Shogunate, they lost everything they had a few years back, shortly after selling off their son, and the last I heard is that Etsuko actually worked in a whorehouse in Shinbashi, not as a whore, but… well… it’s still a whorehouse.”
“Serves them right…” Tora grumbled as if to himself.
“What was that?” Hiroto queried, intrigued by the sudden odd behaviour of Tora.
“Nothing…”
“So, you are from Tokyo too, Tora-san?”
Byou nudged Kazuki in the ribs and gestured towards the neighbouring table. “Oi…! Did you hear that…?” he asked.
Kazuki nodded and pursed his lips. “That first part of the story sounded a lot like… like what Manabu talks about in his sleep, eh…?”
“Totally…”
“And that other night, when he blabbered away about that brother of his…”
Waka and Aoi looked at the two and squinted. “What was that?” Waka asked.
“Nothing…?” Byou blushed and emptied his cup. “I guess I want more Sake!”
But neither Byou nor Kazuki had to say anything as fragments of the conversation at the neighbouring table started to float over to the table where Waka, Aoi, Kazuki and Byou sat.
“Ne, Tora, why are you so interested in what the Amano’s are doing in Tokyo?” Hiroto asked.
“Well… I am Amano Shinji… And… my younger brother’s name isn’t Masanori but… Manabu…” Tora answered and surely heard the surprised “Oooh!” coming straight out of Waka’s mouth. “Whatever… It’s late… I think I’ll take Suzuka home…”
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a/n: Don’t have much to say this time, I don’t feel so well lately, hence my updates come out like this.
If you spent time to read, plz spend a few more seconds to tell me what you think. That's common courtesy, isn't it?!