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Miwaku no Zakuro	By : Tcharlatan Category: > Kyo/Kaoru Views: 2861 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: This is a work of pure fiction. I do not personally know any of the members of Dir en grey, X Japan, or KISAKI, and do not profit from this work.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Kyo could learn to love Saturdays.
Although this one had started out somewhat harrowing. His usual morning routine had been forestalled until almost eleven, and by the time his master had come for him, he’d all-but convinced himself that he was being punished for some slight he couldn’t identify. He realized soon enough, though, that the delay in his daily schedule had been due to Kaoru being intensely hungover, not anything he himself had done, and that helped him relax a bit. His master looked exhausted, caught between a pained grimace and a grumpy scowl, but whenever Kyo glanced up to check his mood – a recurrent habit he was developing – the man would reassure him with a tired smile, so he let it be.
A late breakfast and a hungover master weren’t the only things haunting him that morning, although the other was less worrisome and more disappointing. The sky outside the massive window in the tea room was dark grey, wind whipping sheets of heavy rain against the glass in a relentless torrent. The hope that he would be let outside again had been a lot of what kept him stable in the quieter hours of the week when Kaoru was busy at work, so to be so staunchly denied that freedom by Nature herself was a crushing blow.
Kaoru had caught his forlorn gaze out the window during breakfast and, after brief consideration, had guessed at the source of his pet’s dejection. Amusement had colored the older man’s voice when he asked Kyo, offhandedly, if he enjoyed onsen. Kyo had been somewhat startled by the question, as Kaoru was typically very quiet over breakfast, but had managed an affirmative answer. Of course he did, who didn’t? He’d also noted that he hadn’t been allowed into an onsen since the day he got his first tattoo, thanks to… well, people like Kaoru. He kept that thought to himself, however.
When Kaoru asked whether Kyo enjoyed spending time with his master’s friends, he’d had to consider the question more closely. If he ignored the half-formed memories of that night at Zakuro – which he tried his level best to do – Toshiya, Die, and Shinya had been nothing but kind to him thus far, and had been invaluable in piecing together a mostly workable understanding of his master. He wound up nodding again.
Kaoru had smiled at him then, and assured Kyo that he would like where they were going that afternoon.
And so, walking at Kaoru’s heels as they left the master suite, Kyo found himself almost looking forward to something for the first time since he’d come to this place, even if it was a tentative sort of anticipation. The endless hours he spent locked up and alone while Kaoru worked during the week made any kind of outing a treat to be savored. Die met them in the hall, looking no less hungover than Kaoru but managing to maintain a decidedly more cheerful demeanor. He had his hair down for once, and it seemed to soften the harder angles of his face quite a bit.
“Morning, Die.”
“Hey Kao. All set?” The redhead offered Kyo an affectionate grin as they started down the stairs. “And good morning to you, little brother. It’s good to see you out and about. And look at your fancy new necklace! Very nice.”
Kyo fingered the charm at his throat absently. Thursday morning, Kaoru had noticed the newer scratches on his neck from where he’d spent the day trying to itch away the irritation from his leather choker. His master had asked, in a deadly cold voice, whether Kyo was trying to take the collar off again, or just damaging his property for the hell of it. Fearing retribution, Kyo had been quick to duck his head and murmur timidly that the band had just been bothering him lately. He was expecting to have to Apologize for the affront, but Kaoru said nothing further on the matter until that night after Kyo’s shower. Rather than putting the bark collar back on, he’d pulled out a long jewelry box from a locked drawer and affixed his pet with a thick but lightweight chain collar, its ends held together in the front with a small padlock. The padlock still had Kaoru’s insignia on it, and it was still impossible for him to remove, but it was significantly more comfortable than the old one and didn’t seem to have a vibration sensor. He was infinitely grateful for the gift.
“It looks good on him,” Die continued, speaking over Kyo’s head.
“Most things seem to,” Kaoru agreed, a touch of fondness in his voice. “Toshiya keeps telling me about outfits he’s designing for him. Some of them worry me.”
“I believe it. Keeps him out of my closet, at least.”
“He’s still trying to dress you up?”
“Always.”
Kyo kept one ear on the conversation, but most of his attention was diverted to their passing surroundings. He was hoping to one day learn to navigate the sprawling maze that was Kaoru’s home, but he also wanted to watch the other people that lived there. There seemed to be two kinds; very beautiful ones, in expensive looking clothing, and very stoic ones, in simple black suits. Every now and then he also managed to catch a glimpse of what had to be a housekeeper or servant, but they moved very quickly and discretely about their business. Many of those they passed seemed equally curious about him, and he found himself drifting closer to Kaoru’s side to shield himself from their stares. It seemed prudent to avoid the attention of people in his master’s employ.
“Hey, aren’t Totchi and Shinya coming? Should we wait for them?”
“They’re already over there. Toshiya didn’t want to have to get up early to come out to meet us when his rooms are in the courtesan house already, and Shinya’s been up since eight.”
‘Courtesan… house?’ Kyo wondered, cocking his head thoughtfully.
“Eight, really? He never sleeps in, is he sick?” Die seemed only half joking.
“I doubt it. I think he’s been trying to break himself of his schedule, lately.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm… He seems to be having a hard time with it. Must be difficult to give up habits that were enforced so strictly for so long.”
“But it’s been five years since, why try to change it now?”
Kaoru shook his head. “I guess-”
A familiar chime cut the older man off and he sighed, pulling out his phone with a blank stare. After scanning over the screen, he came to a stop, his face shifting into an irritated scowl. Kyo tensed a bit at the sudden decline in his master’s mood and hoped that it wouldn’t be a persistent one. He’d managed to keep Kaoru reasonably happy for three straight days, and though he had developed a fair amount of faith that he would never be punished for his master’s anger so long as he wasn’t the cause of it, he wasn’t yet fully convinced that that was the case.
“I have to make a call. Daisuke, please escort Kyo to the onsen for me? And use the private showers, all these gawkers are beginning to get on my nerves.”
Kyo swallowed, watching his master stalk off in another direction while Die made a soft noise of assent. He spoke up in a low voice, “Is He going to be angry again?”
Die shrugged. “Eh… hard to say for sure, but I doubt it.” He grinned down at his younger companion then. “Whatever you did on Wednesday was fucking magic, you know. I’ve never seen him come out of a fit like that so fast! I hope you got a good reward.”
Kyo certainly thought he had. On top of the new collar, and the overall gentleness with which Kaoru had treated him since that night, Kyo’s leash had also been slackened just a bit. During the day, he was now allowed access to Kaoru’s bedroom and bathroom instead of being penned up in his cell. The exit door was still firmly locked, as were many of the drawers and cabinets the new rooms, but two simple factors made the new freedom a gift to be savored; the large bay window on the far wall, and the alarm clock radio. Curling up on the window’s bench seat, staring outside while music washed over him – poorly rendered music, coming from the clock’s tiny speakers, but music nonetheless – had become a vital part of his daily routine.
“Still, damn shame that work shit had to come up on a Saturday. He just turns it on and off like a switch, doesn’t he? Best friend to boss in half a heartbeat. Poor bastard.”
Kyo frowned a bit, curious. “Is He?”
“What, a poor bastard? Not really, he’s kind of got it made.” Die grinned, gesturing at their lavish surroundings. “Money, power, prestige, you name it! Not that he didn’t earn it of course…”
The blonde shook his head. It was the first time he’d ever heard anyone express sympathy for Kaoru, but that wasn’t what his mind got caught up on. “No… your best friend.”
“Oh that.” The taller man scratched at the back of his head. “Well yeah. Me and Kao go way back.”
Biting his lip, Kyo considered the wisdom of pressing further. He couldn’t help but notice the way people in the halls shrank away from them even after Kaoru had left. They seemed wary, and he could only imagine that it was Die’s presence spooking them; certainly hardened criminals like these had nothing to fear from himself. He had to wonder if they didn't have good cause to fear Die, if they knew something he didn't. It seemed perfectly likely. But the redhead had been kind enough to him so far, and hearing of Toshiya’s history with his master had been such an immense help to settling his soul, so he decided to try his luck.
“As far back as Him and Toshiya?”
Die winked. “Farther. I don’t think anyone alive has known our dear beloved leader as long as I have.”
Kyo’s mind stuttered a bit over the word ‘alive.’
“We met… hell, it must be thirteen years ago, now? Mm… it was right before my sixteenth birthday so, yeah, it’ll thirteen years in December.”
“Did you… go to the same school?”
The redhead’s laugh was smooth and sweet as warm caramel. “You could say that! No, we um… we shared a room in juvenile detention facility. Ah, so embarrassing! I got caught so easy. Oh man, haha, I remember the day he got there!”
They passed down a long hallway with windows on either side, stretching between the main mansion and a smaller building, into the most lavishly-appointed space Kyo had ever seen. Graceful statues of bronze and lacquered wood, massive potted plants flourishing under countless skylights, and more of those almost-painfully beautiful people colored elegant spaces made cozy by carefully-arranged screens and dividers. Die seemed unaffected by their surroundings – if not almost irritated at the clusters of people who watched them so closely in passing – leading Kyo deftly towards the back of the building and into a secluded washroom.
“I had already been there for a month or so, and I thought I was tough fuckin’ shit, you know? So one night, this scrawny kid with a crazy purple hair gets tossed into my room, soaked to the bone, and I get it in my head that I don’t want to share my little cracker box with some damn street punk. He’s trying to put his shit away and I just march right up to him, tap him on the shoulder, and tell him to ‘get the fuck out!’”
Kyo absently accepted bathing supplies from the older man, listening attentively as he stripped out of his hakama and set it out of harm’s way. Somehow, he had trouble reconciling himself to the idea of his poised, immaculately-dressed master having once been a ‘scrawny street punk.' It was easier to see Die that way, particularly now that the redhead was undressed. Under his clothes, Die was far past rangy, with whipcord muscles traced around long bones and hardly a trace of fat, making Kyo think of nothing so much as a desert coyote. A lean, powerful predator. The older man wasn’t scrawny now, but he was thin enough that Kyo could easily imagine a teenage version of him with gangly limbs and that cocksure grin.
“He turns around and… man, I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on his face. He’s a drowned rat in clothes two sizes too big, and with one fucking look, I couldn’t sleep for a week, I was so sure he was going to stab me the second my back was turned!” Die chuckled fondly, shaking his head.
Kyo frowned as he unwound the bandages from his right hand. The wounds still hurt, but he was sure they were sealed enough for bathing. “But then… how did you become friends?”
“He got himself into a fight in the cafeteria. I don’t know what started it, it could have been his fault for all I knew, but I jumped in to help him anyways ‘cause… well, he was my roommate, you know? I can’t let a bunch of bullies gang up on him, even if he is a spooky bastard.”
Kyo bit his tongue, feeling an ache in his chest unfurl just a bit. Die was that devoted to someone he hardly even knew? The more he got to know the redhead, the more he saw the fierce streak of loyalty woven through his personality, and he wondered…
‘Would he do the same for me?’
‘My… brother?’
“We stuck together after that. He has a great sense of humor, you know, so we always got along really well. We even gave each other tattoos.” Die grinned, splaying one hand and flashing the ink scales streaking across the back of it. “I did flames on him, but I’m not as much of an artist as he is, and our black pen ran out on mine, so his is all in blue. Totally doesn’t match anything else on him, but he’s never gotten it covered up. Oh, the counselor was so pissed when he saw them! Ah, it was good times…”
“How long were you there?”
“A little over a year. He got out two weeks before I did, and I thought I was never going to see him again. When they finally let me go… well, my family had written me off when I first got sentenced, so they sure as hell weren’t at the gates waiting for me.”
Kyo wrapped a towel around his waist, following Die out of the showers. “But… He was there? At the gates?”
Die grinned down at him. “You bet your ass he was.”
- 17
- 18
- 19
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Miwaku no Zakuro