4

When Fuki came to, he was in an unfamiliar rundown house.

The place didn't seem to have any power. There were several candlesticks placed on the floor, and wavering candlelight lit the dim, dusty room. The now-faded walls had once been crimson, and he could see tattered shoji doors... It was almost like he was in a ruined brothel. The ceiling and walls were covered in water marks, and the entire room gave him an uneasy feeling.

"...Where am I...?"

He tried to get up, only to find he had been bound, and the rope had been secured to a pillar in the corner of the room. And he was lying on an ancient red futon.

Slowly, he started to remember what had happened to him. He had seen Ouichirou to the great gate. And on the way back, someone had assaulted him and given him some strange drug...

"So, you're awake now." The sudden voice made him look up with a start.

When he saw the man sitting next to the broken window, his eyes opened wide.

"Yamafuji-san...!"

Yamafuji had always been impeccably groomed, with an air of cold gallantry, when Fuki had seen him before. This time, it was different. He looked haggard. Not just his body, but his clothes.

It was the first time Fuki had seen him in less than perfect clothing. But despite his worn-out appearance, his eyes gleamed.

Surely he was the one who had grabbed him. But why? Maybe he was mad because Fuki had run away from his debut.

He tried to get up, but the ropes stopped him.

"Please, let me go...!! Where are we...!? Why–"

"This is the second floor of the haunted brothel," he said, cutting in.

"Haunted brothel...?"

"You've heard of it, haven't you? The ruined brothel where a whore once hanged herself."

For sure, he had heard the story of the ruined brothel at the edge of Yoshiwara that was haunted by the ghost of a courtesan who had killed herself. It had been abandoned for years, and no one wanted to go near it. It would be the perfect place to hold someone captive.

"I don't hold anything against you, you know," Yamafuji said. "Well... I suppose I do, but my real target is Ikami Ouichirou-shi (1)."

"Ouichirou...!?"

It didn't make any sense.

Sure, he had gotten the feeling that Ouichirou and Yamafuji didn't care for each other. But was it really enough to make Yamafuji do something like this?

Besides, why would he kidnap Fuki if he was trying to get back at Ouichirou? It wasn't like there was anything special between them. And now they were just an iroko and his customer, nothing more.

As much as he hated to admit it, kidnapping Kichou would have probably been more effective than kidnapping him. Maybe it was just too hard to get his hands on the top keisei, who was almost never alone.

"...If you're trying to get back at Ouichirou, kidnapping me is..."

"Pointless? You think so?"

"...Yeah..."

"I don't. Not after seeing what he did in order to steal your debut out from under me."

"Huh...?"

Fuki grew even more confused. Was Yamafuji really trying to say that Ouichirou took his debut away from him?

"Steal...?"

Ouichirou had been the one to show up the day Fuki redid his debut, not Yamafuji. He had never really understood why.

Could it be that Ouichirou had done something to keep Yamafuji away so he could take his place?

"No way."

After all, hadn't Ouichirou told him that he had only switched to Fuki after being turned down by Kichou?

"And he's always saying things about how wonderful Kichou-san was." Just thinking about it was enough to make his chest ache.

"You see... Ikami-shi turned me in to the police so that I would be unable to complete your debut. And because of that, my career has been ruined.

"He turned you in to the police...!?"

Wasn't Yamafuji a policeman himself? So how could he be turned in in the first place?

"You remember that drug I used on you, don't you? The white one hidden in a lighter?"

"Oh..." A sudden chill ran down Fuki's spine.

Yamafuji had brought a white powder out from the bottom of his lighter during Fuki's first debut. He had smeared that on Fuki's inner walls, and it had immediately caused uncontrollable urges to take over Fuki's mind.

He tried not to remember the incident too much, but even so, there was no way that drug could be legit. Most likely it was hard to get, and quite illegal.

"That lighter was taken from me just outside of the great gate. From what I've heard, someone reported me, and that caused my higher ups to demand an investigation. Not even being an officer myself could save me when they caught me red handed."

"......"

"You see... that was something I took from police custody. My plan should have been perfect. If someone hadn't leaked the information, they would have never known that I took it."

"...So you're saying Ouichirou ratted you out?"

"I wouldn't quite put it that way... More like he has connections in quite a few different places. You might say he spurred the upper ranks into action with a bit of information. ...And thanks to him, my career has been ruined. I managed to use my own connections to get free, but because of this incident, I have no hope of moving up in the ranks anymore.

"B-but..." Fuki shot back desperately. "How do you know that Ouichirou was the one who told them? It could have been someone else."

"It takes a thief to catch a thief. I'm more than capable of finding out who was behind all of this."

"......"

Fuki couldn't believe it. There was no way Ouichirou had done all that for him. Yamafuji had to be mistaken.

"Do you have any idea how infuriating it is to know that my life was ruined for the sake of some whore?"

"But... Ouichirou still doesn't deserve your resentment...!"

"He doesn't?" Yamafuji stared down at Fuki.

"Well... taking the drug in the first place was a crime, wasn't it...? Even if it wasn't your fault that you got caught, that doesn't give you the right to get mad at him..."

Yamafuji took a step forward and slapped Fuki across the cheek. The sound echoed through the room. Fuki probably would have been sent flying backward had he not been tied up.

Then Yamafuji crouched down next to Fuki and stuck his hand in his pocket. When he pulled it back out, he was holding a dark, shining gun.

Fuki gasped.

"You're quite impertinent, especially for a whore." He pressed the cold barrel of the gun up against Fuki's cheek. "I really was quite fond of you... so much that I might consider becoming your najimi again when everything's taken care of."

Hearing that, Fuki suddenly wished he could back away. But he was bound so tightly he could hardly move, so that was out of the question.

"I was the one who pulled Ikami-shi away from you. I had someone make a call for me. After all, I had no chance to kidnap you while he was spending all his time at the brothel with you.

Then that call had been a fake? Nothing bad had happened between Ouichirou and the police?

"...What do you expect to get... by kidnapping me?"

"You see, I thought long and hard about what I could to in order to do as much damage as possible to him. ...I considered disclosing his crimes to the authorities and getting him arrested. But most likely that would turn out the same as it did before, and he would just be released right away for lack of proof. ...In that case, I decided it would be much more effective to take away that which he holds most dear. ...I wonder just how much it will hurt him... to see you, who he went to such lengths to steal away from me, violated right in front of his eyes?"

"......" A chill ran down Fuki's spin, and he swallowed nervously.

Yamafuji was going to screw him in front of Ouichirou.... He wasn't sure he would be able to live with that.

Seeing the look of fear on Fuki's face, Yamafuji smiled. "Seeing a beautiful face frozen in fear really is the best. It's such a turn on. ...Of course, you're such a slut, so it wouldn't be very interesting if I just fucked you... now would it?"

Fuki shook his head in horror.

"Yes... How about I enter you dry and tear you up as much as I can? And then I can use some toys on you. I managed to hold on to a little more of that drug, too. If I use some of that, you won't care one bit if I rough you up a little. You'll enjoy yourself anyway. If we use that, you'll be much more lost in pleasure than anything he could do to you. Wouldn't you like that...?"

All Fuki could do was keep shaking his head. Yamafuji must have found that amusing, as he smiled happily.

"I've already sent Ikami-shi a picture of you. I told him to come here, and that if he didn't, I'd not only take you, but kill you. I'm sure he's on his way right now. ...And if he does come..."

He mimed pulling the trigger.

Fuki gasped and shrank back. "If he comes, he'll be killed...!"

Yamafuji smiled. "Do you think he'll show up?"

Fuki shook his head. It's not like he and Ouichirou were in love, especially since two years earlier. If anything, Ouichirou probably still resented him for leaving him like that.

He just couldn't believe that Ouichirou had turned Yamafuji in for his sake. Yamafuji had to be mistaken. After all, Ouichirou had only chosen Fuki after being dumped by Kichou.

"I'm sure he won't show up." But just thinking that saddened him. If Ouichirou didn't show up, would Yamafuji really kill him?

But if he did come, Yamafuji would kill him instead. Ouichirou was strong, but there was no way he was a match for a man with a gun. And if that was how things would end up, Fuki would rather he be the one to die.

Besides, if he lived, he'd just end up having to take customers. In that case, he'd rather die having only known Ouichirou's body. ...Or would Yamafuji really take him before killing him?

"...Please don't come," he thought, as if he were praying.

But despite that... when Ouichirou showed up on the other side of the tattered shoji doors, panting heavily, he cried tears of joy.

"Ouichirou...!" Fuki yelled, without really thinking. "Idiot!! What the hell are you doing here, dumbass!?"

Ouichirou sighed heavily. "Would you rather I hadn't come so he could rape you?"

"O-of course not...! But..." His vision started to blur as tears welled up.

Ouichirou turned to Yamafuji. "That enough, isn't it? Let Fuki go."

"Fuki? ...Oh, you mean Hotaru?"

Yamafuji smiled. He put the gun to Fuki's head. Then he pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket and threw them to the floor at Ouichirou's feet.

"First, cuff your right hand to that pillar and sit down. I'm no match for your strength. ...Once that's done, we can talk."

Ouichirou tsked and picked up the handcuffs. Just as Yamafuji had ordered, he cuffed his right hand to the pillar to the side of the door. Then he sat down on the floor.

"...Satisfied?"

Yamafuji nodded. "You've put me through hell. ...Do you have any idea how much I had to do to get myself released?"

"I thought you'd be safely locked away by now."

"I am a member of the police force, you know. I managed to scrounge up some help and get out. However, this has ruined my career. I'll never be able to rise back up in the ranks again. ...And it's all thanks to you."

"You got what you deserved. This never would have happened if you hadn't made off with those drugs. Besides, you weren't just using them for yourself, but making a little easy money by selling them off as well, weren't you? Not that I've been able to find proof of that just yet..."

"It's your fault," Yamafuji repeated, sounding annoyed. "I haven't had any troubles until just recently. ...You took me down just so you could get your hands on Hotaru. What if you were to see another man have your precious Hotaru right in front of you...?"

"So that was what you had in mind," Ouichirou said, sighing.

"All you have to do is sit back and watch."

Yamafuji placed his gun to the side and leaned over Fuki. He started to press his lips to Fuki's, but then he stopped to look at Fuki's face and seemed to change his mind.

"Let's do away with the kissing for now. I don't particularly want my tongue to be bitten."

Fuki's eyes opened wide with shock. He had been planning on biting down hard the moment Yamafuji started to kiss him. Frustrated, he just glared at Yamafuji.

"Also, it would probably be better to do it from behind this time. I wouldn't want you kicking me in the groin... I prefer my boys to behave themselves."

That said, Yamafuji grabbed Fuki's ankles and flipped Fuki onto his stomach. Fuki tried to crawl away, but Yamafuji just pulled him right back. He pulled Fuki's hips up into the air and pushed up his juban.

"Your ass is as lovely as ever. It's like a peach..."

As he spoke, he rubbed both of his hands against the mounds of Fuki's ass. Fuki felt goose bumps rise all over at the disgusting feeling.

"Can you see?" Yamafuji asked, turning to Ouichirou.

"Yeah. It's not that bad seeing another guy with my "woman." It's a bit of a turn on."

"Dumbass, don't look!" Tears filled Fuki's eyes as he heard that remark. Maybe Ouichirou really did enjoy seeing him on the verge of being taken by another man. It made him feel pathetic, and he found himself at a loss for words.

Yamafuji smiled. "Don't bother trying to act like it doesn't bother you. It's obvious that it does."

Even though he said that, he was probably mistaken. Ouichirou wasn't pretending to not be bothered, he really wasn't.

Even more tears flowed.

Yamafuji spread the sides of Fuki's ass apart and peered between them. He shoved his finger inward, causing Fuki to gasp.

"...... Ouch...!"

Was Yamafuji really planning on tearing Fuki up as much as he could, as he had mentioned earlier?

"...You're still somewhat wet."

Hearing that, Fuki felt his face heat up. It had been several hours since the last time he and Ouichirou had done it, but apparently he was still wet from that.

"Is this from Ikami-san? And to think, you were still a virgin before... How annoying...."

Suddenly, the feeling of the invading fingers disappeared. When Fuki turned to look back, he saw that Yamafuji had pulled out a handkerchief.

"Let's get you cleaned up a bit," he said, and he then immediately pushed the white cloth inside of Fuki.

"Gah..." Fuki gasped. The finger turned, wiping Fuki's inner walls. The peculiar rasping feeling of cloth inside of him made Fuki's hair stand on end. And the thought of Ouichirou seeing him like this was enough to make him wish he would die right then and there.

"Ugh..."

"There, all clean," Yamafuji said, sounding satisfied. The feeling of the cloth being pulled out caused Fuki to flinch, and then breathe a sigh of relief. But, of course, it didn't stop there.

Fuki's hips were again brought up into the air, and then he felt a throbbing hardness placed just against his behind. He tried to run and struggled as much as he possibly could.

"You don't have to waggle your hips quite so much. I'll enter you soon, I promise."

"No...! Ouichirou...!!" Fuki screamed.

"He's going in...!"

Just then, he heard the sound of something breaking from behind him.

Shards of broken pottery rained down on the futon, and Yamafuji fell to the side with the thud. When Fuki looked back over his shoulder, Ouichirou was standing behind him.

"Ouichirou..."

Ouichirou squatted next to him and untied the ropes that bound him.

"W-what about the handcuffs?"

"I got out of them. Now hurry up, and let's get out of here."

He had gotten out of the handcuffs. Though Fuki had seen several action movies in the past, he never would have imagined that Ouichirou could do something like that.

As soon as he was free of the ropes, Fuki moved to run with Ouichirou. But just before he could get away, something caught at the edge of his kimono. Yamafuji had regained his senses.

Fuki stumbled and fell sprawling on top of the futon.

Yamafuji picked up his gun and pointed it at Ouichirou.

"Ouichirou...!!"

Yamafuji didn't even hesitate in pulling the trigger, but his shot went wide. Ouichirou used that opening to move in and grab Yamafuji. He then clenched at Yamafuji's shirt and punched him in the face.

The gun went flying out of Yamafuji's hand, knocking over a candle as it fell. The flame from the candle then caught at the tattered screen.

"Fuki, run!"

"Ouichirou...!"

Ouichirou and Yamafuji starting throwing punches at each other. Though Yamafuji had said that he would be no match for Ouichirou's strength, they seemed to be fairly evenly matched. The martial arts training he had as a member of the police force must have helped him in this case.

The fire crept from the screen to the futon, and then to the shoji doors. It licked at the ancient tatami mats, and it was only a matter of time before the wooden frame of the building itself caught on fire as well.

"The fire's spreading...! Go on ahead of me and get out of here!!" Ouichirou yelled, but Fuki couldn't move.

The two men, still locked together, tumbled into the hallway.

Ouichirou seemed to have the upper hand. He sent Yamafuji flying with a punch, shoving the other man up against the hall windows. A huge crashing sound filled the air as the glass shattered.

Yamafuji picked up a shard of broken glass and rose to his feet. He then rushed at Ouichirou, glass in hand. Ouichirou dodged twice, then three times, but the tip of the glass sliced through his shirt. Ouichirou then shoved his fist into Yamafuji's stomach. Yamafuji fell to the ground, but he got to his feet almost immediately, again grabbing for Ouichirou.

And then...

There came the sound of cracking wood, and Yamafuji's foot went through one of the floorboards. Suddenly Fuki remembered seeing several spots where rain had left its mark on the dilapidated building.

"Wah...!" Moments later, Yamafuji let out a dreadful scream and fell down to the floor below. As he fell, his hand caught at the loose end of Fuki's obi.

"Aieee...!"

He was going to pull Fuki down with him. If Ouichirou hadn't caught his hand, that most likely would have been the case. Instead, Fuki's obi fell away from his body and was dragged down along with Yamafuji.

Ouichirou hauled Fuki up from the hole in the floor by their joined hands.

"...Ouichirou...!"

Between the fright and the sudden relief, Fuki could do nothing but cling to Ouichirou. He was terrified. He had honestly afraid he was about to die.

"W-what happened to Yamafuji-san...?"

Fuki moved to look down into the hole, but Ouichirou held him back. "You don't want to look."

Ouichirou pulled up him to his feet. Then the two of them ran through the flames. They dashed through the hall and down the stairs.

"Waaah...!" Fuki yelled as a burning timber fell toward them, but Ouichirou knocked it away with a sweep of his arm. The building was starting to collapse, and more bits of wood and old decorations began to catch ablaze and then fall. They had several more close calls as they made their way downward, but somehow they managed to make it to the entrance intact. There they crashed through the glass door and finally emerged onto the street.

The moment they were out, Fuki's legs gave way.

"O-Ouichirou, you're bleeding..." It was then that he finally realized that the hand holding his own was covered in blood.

"It's nothing," Ouichirou said casually.

Despite that, they continued to hold each other as they watched the old brothel collapse upon itself, its days finally at an end. The area grew noisy as a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch as well. And then, the sirens of the fire engines began to wail in the distance.

It was morning by the time the police and firefighters finally left the scene.

Fuki and Ouichirou returned to Hanafurirou, explained what had happened, and then finally retired to Fuki's room to relax. And, Fuki gave Ouichirou some first aid. Ouichirou's arms were covered in bruises and burns from knocking away the burning timbers before they could fall on Fuki, as well as the cuts from the glass Yamafuji had wielded against him.

"Make sure you go to the hospital later today, okay?" Fuki urged over and over again, since Ouichirou had insisted that his injuries weren't serious enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room. Fuki couldn't leave Yoshiwara, so he couldn't drag Ouichirou to a hospital on the other side of the gate.

"You're making too much out of this."

"But... this is all my fault... What if you end up with lockjaw?" Fuki said, almost in tears.

"I won't," Ouichirou replied immediately. "Besides, it wasn't your fault. ...Sorry for getting you caught up in all this. The things that could have happened if I had slipped up... The things he could have been planning to do... I should have thought it about it more seriously."

"...Ouichirou..."

Then Fuki remembered something Yamafuji had told him, and hesitantly, he brought forth a question that had been bugging him ever since. "Umm... Is it true? ...Did you really bring him down...?"

"Yeah."

"Is it true you did it to keep him from getting my debut?"

"...Yeah."

He could hardly believe it after hearing Ouichirou's short responses. He could hardly believe that Ouichirou had gone so far just for him.

"Why'd you do that just for me...!? You... with Kichou-san... You said you took my debut after he turned you down...!"

Ouichirou stared off into the distance and sighed deeply. "How long are you going to keep believing that?"

"Huh...?"

"The stuff about Kichou turning me down was a lie... Well, not really, but the truth is I was never his customer in the first place. I approached Kichou for a completely different reason. So when I came here the second time, I didn't become his najimi. And the third time he agreed to refuse me... so of course I didn't fuck him either."

"......" Fuki was speechless. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He hadn't slept with Kichou? ...He really hadn't?

"...T-then why did you lie like that...? I..."

Tears welled up in his eyes. He had been mistaken the entire time. He had been jealous of Kichou. And it had hurt him so much each time Ouichirou slept with him.

"If you weren't his customer, then why did you come? What was this other reason...!?"

"I needed to get in contact with Shirayuri."

"Shirayuri...!?" Fuki repeated, shocked by the sudden mention of a name he hadn't expected to come up. He had no clue what Ouichirou was getting at.

Sure, Shirayuri had been in Kichou's care from his time as a kamuro until the end of his time as a shinzou. He was like a younger brother to Kichou, and they had been close until Shirayuri left. Fuki could even imagine Kichou pressing someone to help him get contact with him. Still...

"...I had heard the rumors saying that Yamafuji was using the illegal aphrodisiacs he had taken from the police stores. I wanted to get in contact with Shirayuri so I could get some proof to back up the rumor."

"Was it because Yamafuji was Shirayuri's najimi...?"

"Yeah. From what I could tell, Yamafuji had used that drug on Shirayuri. I thought he might know something about it. I tried going straight to the house that took him in, but they turned me away at the gate. So instead, I asked Kichou to help me get in touch with him. It was all because I couldn't find anyone from the outside world who could convince Shirayuri. His master probably could have, but it was fairly obvious that he would have nothing to do with me."

"Ouichirou..." Fuki was finally starting to see where it was all leading.

"...I wanted to get rid of Yamafuji," Ouichirou said. "That time at the flower banquet when you told me you were going to have your debut, it was like someone had punched me right in the face. I had thought I was going to make it in time, if just barely. It felt too early. Normally your partner shouldn't have been decided by the time, right?"

Normally the partner for an iroko's debut would be decided upon after his eighteen birthday. At any rate, the debut happened within a month after the iroko's birthday. Still, at that time, Fuki had only been seventeen.

"I was hoping to get the decision overthrown somehow and buy you back before your debut could happen. I approached the owner with piles of money."

But the owner hadn't agreed to an iroko being bought away from him before he could even debut.

"A brothel is a flower garden, and gardens need flowers. It wouldn't do to give over a boy who hadn't even had his debut yet. This isn't just a matter of cost."

That had been his reply.

Ouichirou had asked for the debut to be transferred to him, but the owner had be stubborn and refused.

Perhaps if he had come before it was decided, but now that the decision had been made, he just couldn't do anything about it.

"It's a matter of our customers' trust in Hanafurirou."

He had even tried to negotiate direction with Yamafuji, but to no avail.

"So, I figured I had no choice but to remove him from the picture by force."

Ouichirou had devised a plan with an acquaintance in the upper ranks of the police force. Then he had had Kichou write him a letter to Shirayuri promising that he would make sure Shirayuri would have nothing to fear from the law. With that letter in hand, he had gone to meet Shirayuri, and Shirayuri had given him the information about Yamafuji that he had needed.

"But it was too late."

"Huh...?"

"By that time, your debut was over and done with."

The day he went to Kichou the second time, to thank him, they had told him that Hotaru's debut had happened that very night.

"Oh..."

That meant that was the very same night Fuki ran away from his debut with Yamafuji.

Fuki had seen Ouichirou on the veranda outside of Kichou's room that night, and he had felt a devastating despair that almost made him faint. But even though Ouichirou was there for his second time with Kichou, he had only been there to thank him.

"Um, but..." In the end, he hadn't actually had his debut that night. He opened his mouth to tell Ouichirou that he hadn't been too late.

But Ouichirou was even faster. "...That bastard was trying to make a fool of me."

"Huh...?"

"The date the owner told me you were having your debut was a week after that day."

"I couldn't have you doing anything to interfere. And after seeing how you were acting earlier..." had been the owner's reply when Ouichirou asked him about it.

Having Yamafuji take Fuki from him in that way had caused Ouichirou's blood to boil. The way he saw it, if things were just going to end up like that, he should have just taken Fuki and ran.

"But even so, you can't change the past. The only choice I had left was to take you back."

Ouichirou had told the police to set up a stakeout just outside the great gate of Yoshiwara.

Yamafuji carried around the illegal drug in his lighter. And he was even more likely to have it on the days he visited the brothels. ...That was what Shirayuri had told him.

Yamafuji had, as usual, gotten out of a taxi just in front of the great gate and taken out his lighter to light up a cigarette. When he stepped toward the gate, the cigarette in his mouth, the police had surrounded him.

"Excuse me. Could you please show me that lighter?"

And they had caught him red handed with the drug.

When Ouichirou saw the unmarked cruiser leave with Yamafuji inside of it, he had presented himself at Hanafurirou in his place.

He hadn't been looking for a replacement for Kichou, but for Fuki himself.

"...Why didn't you say so?" Fuki yelled. "You should have just told me...! You should have said that I wasn't a replacement for Kichou. That you did all sorts of things for me... I was under the wrong impression... It hurt..."

"...I was being stubborn," Ouichirou replied. "Besides, I was kinda glad that you were mistaken, since that made you jealous... I'm such an idiot. Sorry."

"You're right. You are an idiot! ...But..." Fuki grabbed Ouichirou's shirt and buried his face in his chest. "...But, I'm glad."

Ouichirou had gone that far just for him. And it didn't really seem like anything simple.

Ouichirou wrapped his arms around Fuki.

"...It's not really that impressive. ...Ever since that day two years ago when you left me in that park, I've been planning on buying you back. ...I'd earn enough money to pile up over my head and then buy you back, whether you wanted it or not. Then I'd buy a house and have you live there, just for me. ...That was the plan."

"Ouichirou..."

"...If we run away like this, how are we gonna make a living?" As Ouichirou spoke, Fuki remembered the things he had told him two years earlier before leaving him in that park. "I've never been poor, and I'd rather sell my body than have to live like that. It's not that big of a deal, really... sex... Everyone does it, and maybe some rich guy will come along and take me in."

"...If it bugs you that much, finish school and get rich. You're a hundred years too early to even think about running away with me right now...!"

He had said some horrible things. Simply remembering them made him want to cover his ears. But no matter how much he tried to block it out, he couldn't erase his memories.

Just how much had those words hurt Ouichirou?

Most likely Ouichirou wouldn't have been able to run off with him a second time, even if it had been remotely possible in the first place. Not without actually buying him.

How difficult must it have been for Ouichirou, who had never had much money, to build up the fortune he had amassed in just two years' time?

He couldn't have had the leisure to pick and choose his methods. He must have made quite a name for himself, of the not-so-pleasant kind. Maybe he had even threatened and conned people.

The amount of money needed to take in a Hanafurirou keisei was unbelievably high. Besides that, just getting into Hanafurirou in the first place required some help. He might have even had to threaten one of the keisei's najimi to get that very help.

And all of that was just for Fuki. Even though Ouichirou was not cut out for such villainous work in the first place.

"Sorry..." Fuki said.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"'Cause that time... I said some pretty awful things."

"It's a little late for that now."

"Yeah, but..."

If he had been honest that time, Ouichirou probably would have stayed to face the others with him. He had realized then that Ouichirou would have never left his side. And because of that, he had had no other choice than to say those things. But, if he had been a little smarter, he would have been able to come up with a better way to say it.

"Sorry... I didn't mean it like that. I just didn't know how else to put it."

"...What do you mean by that?" Ouichirou asked, his brows drawing together ever so slightly.

Fuki gasped as he realized just what he had said and then shook his head. At this point, he didn't want to give Ouichirou any excuses. No matter what feelings had prompted the words, it didn't change the fact that he hadn't meant to say it in the first place.

"Fuki...!" Ouichirou pressed. "Please, tell me the truth. If you had some reason for that... Otherwise, I..."

Silently, Fuki shook his head, and Ouichirou grabbed him by the shoulders.

"If you didn't have any other reason, that's good too. Just tell me that. But if there was something else, please tell me. Otherwise, I'm gonna be hung up on that day forever...!"

"Ouichirou..."

The things Fuki had done to try and save Ouichirou had apparently shown him a completely different sort of hell. To Ouichirou, it was like Fuki had betrayed him. Then he had been forced to quit school and lie low to avoid the yakuza family. In the end, wasn't that even more cruel than what Fuki was trying to avoid?

Ouichirou had said he was going to buy Fuki back. That might have been just so he could get revenge on him. But still, Fuki didn't think he would have come up with the plan had there not been some spark of affection left in him.

"...That time..." Fuki stared back at the face that was seriously begging him for a response. "That time, Nii-san called my cell phone."

"He told you to come back?"

Fuki nodded.

"And so you just decided to go back? You preferred that to running away with me?"

"No...!!" Fuki shook his head violently. "It was because of what Nii-san said. He said if we kept running, you'd be throwing away your future. ...The yakuza wouldn't leave any stone unturned searching for you. Even though you finally had your chance to become a doctor, you'd never be able to get a decent job and would have to spend the rest of your life taking temporary jobs and living in fear. He asked me if I was really worth that much to you to make you do that..."

And Fuki didn't think he was.

"...It's always been me going after you. And he said you'd regret running away in the end, since even if you felt sorry for me in the beginning, it wasn't really love. ...I just wanted you to be happy."

Somewhere in the middle of his speech, the tears had threatened to overflow, and Fuki had buried his head in Ouichirou's chest. When he had heard it put that like that, there just hadn't been any way he could have kept running.

Ouichirou wrapped his arms around Fuki and hugged him tightly.

"...Sorry."

"Huh...?" Fuki looked up at Ouichirou, confused at the unexpected reply. "Why're you apologizing?"

"I should have realized it. I should have realized that something like that had happened... I'm such an idiot. ...I didn't have enough faith in myself."

"Faith...?"

"I figured the feelings weren't mutual, and that I was dragging you off against your will. ...That you had never felt anything for me in the first place... That now that we were running away together, you had decided that you didn't really want to do it. I didn't really think you had betrayed me, just decided that you hated me, so I tried to keep myself from blaming you for it. ...But I just couldn't bring myself to forgive you."

"Ouichirou..." Fuki shook his head, desperately trying to find the right words. There was no way he would have hated Ouichirou. He had thought that he was the one with the one-sided feelings.

"I was so mad that time... No, I wasn't really mad... just sad."

"Idiot..."

Fuki had had no idea that that had been going through Ouichirou's head back then. He had had no idea that... the thing he thought he was doing for Ouichirou had hurt him so much.

Ouichirou really did see him as special, and that was why he had asked him to run away with him.

"Idiot! I'm the one who always loved you...!" Fuki pounded on Ouichirou's chest. "Just as Nii-san said... I was always following you around and bugging you...!"

"That was just childish affection. It's not the same sort of love."

"But it was, dumbass!! I told you to come here, didn't I...!?" He wrapped his arms around Ouichirou's neck and hugged him.

And then...

"I'm sorry... There's one other thing I lied to you about."

"Lied...?"

"I didn't really have my debut with Yamafuji-san."

"Wha?" Ouichirou blurted out, shocked. "You didn't?"

"That time, he drugged me and played with me... But halfway through I just couldn't stand it anymore, and I ran. The marks were from..."

Fuki loosened his clothes and showed Ouichirou where the lash marks had been all over his back. Though the marks had completely disappeared at that point.

"Those weren't from what Yamafuji-san did to me, but from when they caught me and locked me up."

"...Then why did you tell me it was him...?" Ouichirou asked, shocked. "I treated you so badly because of that... I would have been nicer had I known."

"I thought you had slept with Kichou-san... That pissed me off. I just—"

Ouichirou pressed his lips to Fuki's, cutting of his words, and proceeded to kiss him. He pushed Fuki down onto the futon, Fuki's arms still wrapped around his neck. Then he kissed the now-faded marks on Fuki's wrists, almost as if they were something sacred.

"...You okay?"

Having Ouichirou peer down at him, worry about him, like that made Fuki happy.

"I'm fine... More..."

In response to his invitation, Ouichirou hugged him tightly, causing him to slide even deeper inside of Fuki. Ouichirou had filled his body completely. It hurt, but it was an extremely sweet sort of pain.

"Nnn..."

As Fuki's body clenched around him, Ouichirou whispered right into his ear. "...Idiot."

Fuki glared up at him. "You've turned into such a pervert... You never used to be like that."

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't... Back then you turned me down when I invited you to a hotel..."

As they spoke, it was like the vibrations echoed deep within him, carried by the object currently buried in his body. It made his words come out with the slightest hint of a moan mixed in.

"When did you do that?"

"When we... ran off. I said I wouldn't mind staying at a love hotel..."

"...You meant it that way?" It seemed Ouichirou had at least remembered the conversation. In shock, he fell down on top of Fuki. "You should have said it a little more directly."

It was almost cute that he looked truly regretful so long after it was all done with. Then, when he laughed, the sound echoed deep in his belly again.

"Nnn..."

Nuzzling at Fuki's neck, Ouichirou started to move at a leisurely pace.

"...I've wanted to do this... for such a long time."

"A long... time...?"

The kisses shifted from his collarbone down to his chest.

"Since you were little."

"Nn...!" Fuki gasped sharply as Ouichirou licked at his nipple.

"L-Little...?"

"Back when we slept in the same bed."

"Aaahh... nnn..."

As he spoke, Ouichirou started to slide himself in and out ever so slightly, Fuki could feel that the member buried inside of him wasn't done growing larger yet.

"Did you do something... ahh... when we slept together...?"

"Not really. You just looked really cute while you were sleeping."

The way he said it, Fuki was sure he had done something. He should have been angry, but instead he was just disappointed that it had happened while he was asleep.

"Uh... aaaahh..."

Slowly, Ouichirou's member searched for something deep inside Fuki.

"...Nnn... Gaaahhh.."

He gave some shallow thrusts, pressing up against Fuki's inner walls. It made an incredibly lewd wet, squelching sound. It was enough to send shudders down Fuki's spine.

"Aaahhh...!" Then, suddenly, the tip hit that one spot. "...Uh... Aaaahhh..."

"Here?" Ouichirou pressed himself into the spot, as if he were trying knead Fuki's flesh from the inside.

"Nnngh..." Having Ouichirou press up against that place sent waves of pleasure so strong they almost hurt coursing through him hard enough that he thought he might lose himself.

"...You like it here, don't you?" Ouichirou leaned over him, and the words came out, barely more than a breath. "You just can't help yourself when I do this... can you?"

"Aaahhh...!"

The thrusts continued, rubbing against that spot again and again. Having him slide so deep within him made Fuki feel like his body was about to melt. Then Ouichirou pulled out almost all the way and slammed home in one swift motion. Anchored by the hands on his hips, Fuki's body shook with the force.

"Aaah, aaahhh. –chiro–"

Fuki moved his hips as well, his body begging for more. He tangled their legs together and reached up to throw his arms around Ouichirou's neck.

"......"

Ouichirou responded to his eagerness with softly whispered teasing words. Oddly enough, even that sounded sweet to him.

The short, shallow thrusts started to lengthen, like Ouichirou was trying to push himself through to the other side.

"Nnnn... aaahhh..."

Ouichirou pulled him close and pressed their lips together. Fuki melted into the kiss.

Then, the moment he felt Ouichirou's seed spill out deep within him, Fuki's happiness brought him to his own climax.

The day that Ouichirou came to take him away from Yoshiwara, Kichou and all of the rest of Hanafurirou came out to the front of the building to see him off.

"Take care."

"I will. Thank you for everything." Fuki bowed his head.

He had cut his hair and changed out of the colorful kimonos into a more "normal" shirt and a pair of pants. It had been two years since the last time he had worn modern clothing. It felt strange, like he wasn't quite wearing enough, and he still wasn't quite used to it.

"Take care of Hotaru," Kichou told Ouichirou.

"I'll make him happy," Ouichirou replied, looking slightly embarrassed.

Kichou smiled.

"Ah, well, it was best for him to get away from this place as soon as he could. If only he could have been as well suited for this job as me."

Now that he mentioned it, as popular as Kichou was, he had obviously gotten several offers to take him in. He had turned them all down. Fuki couldn't help but wonder why.

Fuki tilted his head to the side.

Then, his gaze wandered up to the second floor hallway, where he could see Kagerou's figure. He was, as usual, almost scarily beautiful. Apparently he was going to see Fuki off from there, even though they had never really been close.

The thought that he would never be able to see him fighting with Kichou again sent a momentary pang of sadness through him.

"Hotaru...!"

Someone thrust a large bouquet of flowers at him.

"Karin."

"You take care."

Karin, who was a year younger than Fuki, was still one of Kichou's attendants and had just become a shinzou. Fuki felt conflicted when he remembered the things that Karin had to look forward to in the future. It almost didn't seem fair for him to escape by himself.

"I'll write to you once things settle down. I promise, I'll come back to see you."

"Okay...!"

Fuki took the bouquet and hugged Karin, tears welling up in his eyes.

Before long, it was time for him to go.

"You have to stop eventually, you know," Kichou said softly, and Fuki nodded.

He bowed his head once more and waved. Then he and Ouichirou set out for the great gate, leaving Hanafurirou behind him.

"I never thought I'd be leaving so soon," Fuki murmured. "Sorry you had to spend so much money. The "congratulations from the garden"... cost a lot, didn't it?"

The banquet that was part of the ritual of taking someone in cost unbelievable amount of money.

"It wasn't that much compared to everything up to now."

Ouichirou smiled. Between the debut, and staying over, and taking him in... He wondered how much it had cost in the bend. And not just that. Fuki had the feeling the person who had paid to have his father put in a home had been Ouichirou, not one of his relatives.

"But I've just about run out now," Ouichirou said. "And here I had been planning on picking you up in a limousine..."

Apparently Yamafuji hadn't been bluffing about everything. The police had started to look into the shady lending business Ouichirou had set up, and he had been forced to break it up.

"Why don't you stop it with the illegal stuff?" Fuki had begged upon hearing that, figuring this was a good opportunity. Ouichirou had told him he already planned on doing just that.

"We can just earn it back again. I can work! I'll get a job and put you through college myself!"

When he said that, Ouichirou smiled.

It turned out that Ouichirou's father had arranged for him to just take some time off from school when he wasn't looking. He could go back whenever he felt like it.

Even though Ouichirou wasn't taking him seriously, Fuki meant what he had said. If he could manage it, he wanted to work at a ryokan. Even though Nagatsuma had been sold, he still loved the ryokan. And he was pretty confident that he had learned something about dealing with people in his two years at a brothel. Besides, if he ever had the money to spare, he wanted to bring his father home.

"I really wanted to build you a separate house and keep you there..." Ouichirou said, his tone not making it clear whether he was serious, or just joking.

"I'd rather live in an apartment, just the two of us, than be kept in some big house."

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, nodding.

"And I'd really rather walk than ride in a limousine."

"Yeah." Ouichirou smiled and nodded. Then he took Fuki's hand and squeezed it.

Hand in hand, they passed through the great gate, together.

"By the way, what do we do now?" Fuki asked, looking up at Ouichirou?

"Hmm? ...Oh, I figured we'd head over to Nagatsuma."

"Huh? Why?" Fuki cocked his head in confusion. Nagatsuma had been sold. Not that he didn't want to see it again...

Ouichirou laughed. "I'm the one who bought Nagatsuma."

Hearing that, Fuki's eyes opened wide with shock.

His view of Ouichirou's smiling face wavered ever so slightly from behind his tears.