Gift Fic for spiritdream (1/4)
To: spiritdream
From: bellemelody
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Title: Where we belong…
Pairing/Group: Akame / KAT-TUN, other JE-boys and Kuroki Meisa.
Rating: R
Warnings: extreme AU, fantasy, pirates, magic, wizards, slavery, violence, sparkles, medical terms (I’m not a doctor, so sorry for mistakes).
The world I create in this story is fictional and everything I wrote here possible in this world. I thought about 19 century or maybe even earlier time and remember, that this is fantasy world.
Notes: Dear, Spiritdream ! I tried to consider all your wishes and hope you will like it!
I enjoy writing this fic and my eternal love goes to L, for helping me so much, cheering and talking about every detail.
Thanks to my own Magical Pearl :) Without your wonderful music and advices, it was impossible for me to write this story and find the title and summary xP
Thanks to my wonderful betas for helping me and saving me in the last moment!
Summary: Over the course of only one night, he lost what mattered most in his life. From the moment he set foot on the Island of Sighs, he had to let go of everything: his past, his dreams, his identity, his hopes, his will to live ... until he met Jin. In a world where magic, slavery, half-bloods and pirates don't only exist in books, a new destiny seems to await Kazuya...
Hundreds of years ago, no one can tell exactly when, because the events of those distant times have been erased from the memory of the people and now there are only mentions in legends and ballads. And the ancient legends tell about another time and another world, the beautiful world, where magic existed and life was different and people weren’t alone on their land. Their neighbors were creatures endowed with extraordinary powers; they could read the thoughts of people and create real miracles only with their eyes and with a wave of their hand. In the legends this time is called The Golden Era, where people lived in harmony with magic and their love was enough to bind together people and creatures who knew the magic. These creatures looked the same as people; just a few details in their appearance distinguished them from others. Their hair was long and silky, sometimes shining under the sunlight, and their ears looked a little bit different.
Yet nothing lasts forever on Earth and one day, one of the strongest and most powerful wizards wanted to change the world and destroyed all that had made people happy and content. He had an incredible power to compel the minds of both the people and the creatures endowed with magic. That was the beginning of The Bloody Era.
He used all his power against the people who were defenseless against his magic and made the other sorcerers follow him. He had many followers, possessed by lust for power and greed; they wanted to turn people into slaves, and they took control over their minds and deprived them of their will.
Where men were fighting and dividing the people and the wizards, destroying their families and burning up their happy homes, women, however, craved for peace, and despised the bloodshed and irreparable destruction and death, which inevitably came with war.
Powerful witches and women tried to resist the evil plan of the wily wizard and save their children, half-wizards, and half-people. They gave all their strength, their magic and their energy, creating a powerful shield, which protected their people from the wizarding world. Thus the people and the wizards were finally separated.
The shield hid the people's land from wizard eyes and made it impossible for magicians to find the way to their land, but it cut both ways, the wizard couldn’t find the way to this land, but neither could other magical creatures, because only those who had the blood of the people in their veins could see it. Many families were destroyed, but like this, the people were protected from the Wizard's malicious intentions.
In the country of a now peaceful land, its people lived a quiet life devoid of magic, which over the years they had started to forget. They did not recall even the existence of another world beyond the horizon. Beyond the most powerful shield lived the wizards. The years had erased the details about the war and about the people and the invisible shield from their memories and over time, it completely hid this place inhabited by human beings.
People could not leave this land and go through the border, because during the Great War, in an effort to protect the people, the witches created a powerful spell, which restricted passage through the shield to those beings who possessed magic while the non-magical people would die. Only the wizards in whose veins ran human blood could see the shield and show the path to the Peaceful land to pureblooded wizards.
After the powerful magician was defeated, a quiet time finally descended. Many of the half-bloods attempted to cross the border and there was a threat that the wizards could find this shield and history would repeat itself. At that time, many brave half-blood wizards voluntarily left the Peaceful land to protect the rest of their relatives. They crossed the border on ships and settled on the nearby islands, staying close to the wizarding world. They called themselves the pirates and their purpose was to keep the peace and ensure that the lives of the people living in the Peaceful land was joyful. At last, people no longer believed in magic.
And a new era began, and its name was The Peaceful Era.
* * *
Do you know the feeling of warmth that appears in your heart when you feel the same breeze caressing your face or the same smell that reminds you about something very far away and very dear to your heart? Reminding you about your home? You just need to close your eyes and your memories will flood into your mind, reminding you of the old forgotten places and faces, which you’ve once loved so much.
You can see the house, not a very big one, but large enough for the numerous people who lived there. Your father, who had very rough hands and tired red eyes, from working all the time to feed his family. Your mother, who smelled like baked pie and her hands gently rued your cheek, her patient voice scolded you for the dirt on your face and clothes. You older sister loved singing and she had very beautiful long hair; you made a very clumsy flower wreath and she laughed calling you her little flower dwarf. Your older brother was so strong and brave and your eyes excitedly watched his every move while he helped your father at work, the only wish you have in your little loyal heart was to be the same one day: just like your brother. Your other brother loved playing jokes on you and he laughed when you got into trouble; you can almost hear you mother's voice; that doesn’t bode well for you, and remember how your face was flushed because this was so unfair and you hadn’t done anything wrong, but you obediently followed her and helped in the kitchen. You can see the little twins, your younger brother and sister; they were cute and you loved playing with them, sharing with them something sweet and showing them the frog that you found in a river, wandering there after school.
And then you can see yourself, just as you were. A boy with messy dark hair that covered your eyes. Your mom was too busy with housework to cut your bangs for you. Your bushy eyebrows and dark eyes that looked so curiously and inquisitive at everything around. You wanted to know about everything and the questions flowed from your mouth without a pause: why is the sun so bright and so far away, you wanted to touch it; why do birds disappear in winter and return only after weeks have passed, why does your father work so much and why does he always say that you must fight for your future? So many questions in your little head.
You were not as strong as your brothers, but when they ran to the field where you father is working, you did too. You wanted to believe that one day you would be big and strong enough and your mother wouldn’t look with such worry at your bony hands. Your smile was wide and she smiled back at you.
You keep running and you can see your house, one of many that looked the same: the wooden walls and the red roof, the garden where your mom worked growing vegetables and your sister had a little corner for her flowers. Green, the color that surrounded you in the wide fields and tall trees, with simple flowers and bright clothes. You entered your house; it was plain, but tidy and very cozy. You shared a room with all your brothers and you had a bed with your name on it; you made it yourself and would always proudly touch the dancing letters with your hand.
“Kazu”.
That was how they called you at home and that was how you liked it to be.
Your name is Kamenashi Kazuya, but after so many years of wandering, traveling and mostly running away, you want to cherish the memories of your family calling you “Kazu”. No one will ever call you like this again.
* * *
In the world where Kazu was born people don’t believe in magic and miracles, as they simply don’t exist. All the stories come from fairytales and people must not hope for magic to make their life better. Everything is in your hands and it depends only on human efforts and persistence to obtain something and achieve your dreams. People must make their lives with their own hands, that is what he often heard when he was a child. Being the son of a middle-class family with lots of children in their town meant that he was not sure what future was waiting for him. His parents only had enough money to educate their older children, but no one was sure about his life. So he was the owner of his fate, even in his earlier years.
A lot of adults can’t decide what they want to do with their lives, what direction they find more attractive and interesting. For Kazu, it was different. He was only 13 when he once and for all decided what future was the best for him.
It was a very painful and sad moment in his life, when he sat near his little sister's bed, holding her tiny hand and feeling hopeless and powerless. In the quiet room, only heavy breathing could be heard, escaping painfully from the small child's chest; she held his hand as if clutching to her life, feeling the strength leaving her fragile body. Her little face was covered in strange red macules and no one could say what was wrong with his little sister, why suddenly a little girl full of life was dying and there was not any way to save her life. In the town, no one could help her. The healer had just made a helpless gesture before telling them to pray for her little soul.
Tears fell from his eyes. He saw how she whispered his name without any sounds, just her pale dry lips moving, and he remembered how happy she was when he found a little squirrel in a forest for her.
They were afraid to come near her bed since the healer said that this dangerous unknown disease could be contagious, but Kazu wasn't afraid. He saw the white face of his mother, big eyes already dry: there were no tears left to come, and grey strands had appeared during this night amongst her black hair. Kazuya wanted to ease his little sister’s pain, to show her that she was not alone. A few drops of blood ran from her mouth and Kazu just wiped them and placed a cold hand on her burning forehead.
On that day, when his little sister left the Earth to find a better place, where she would be happy, he made a promise. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, swallowed his tears and saw the grief of his family; he decided that he would never feel so powerless and hopeless again. Kazu believed that there was always a way to do something and if they didn’t know it yet, that didn’t mean that this way did not exist.
Kazu studied very hard, forgot about everything else, and spent hours with books that he found in a little library and were written with very difficult words, and followed healers, trying to learn all he could. His parents wanted to support him, but at the same time, their livelihood became very difficult. They wanted him to find something more practical and forced Kazu to attend fencing and martial arts classes because in their land, strong and skilled fighters could always find work.
Dreaming high can be good, but it was a luxury for most people in their little town, his father repeated, looking disapprovingly at the heavy books in his hands. “My prayers are with you and every dream can became true if you work hard,” whispered his mother, and placed bread with milk on his table and caressed his hair.
Thanks to his everyday training, Kazu became well built and strong. He was working to save up money. His life was a battle with his own body, always on edge, always with dark circles under his eyes, but with a firm determination and iron willpower he woke up every day and made one step after another towards his dream. And one day he left the town, tried his luck in a big city and became a real doctor.
Nothing in Kazu's life was easy. He never waited for a gift from the sky to fall into his hands, everything that he achieved was thanks to his persistence, purposefulness, intellect and the confidence that made him move forward and never look back.
When he entered the University on a full scholarship, his father sent him a short note, saying that his family was proud of him and his mother included a large bag of rice, knowing how everything was expensive in a big city and how hard her son's life was going to be.
They called him Kazuya now, not a boy with a naughty smile, but a student of a medical University, the best one and he was very promising with a very good perspective. In the last year in University, they called his hands golden and offered him a place in a hospital as a surgeon.
After graduation from University and having started his clinical studies, Kazuya worked as a surgeon. With gloves on his hands and with a sharp scalpel in his right hand, he assisted his Professor with surgeries. Now, he knew very well the Latin name of the disease that took his sister's life away. The big city gave him advantages, things that people from a little town so far away from the center could not have, where they could only secretly still hope that magic from legends existed and herbal remedies could help.
To be a doctor, like Kazuya had always dreamed, he must study very hard. He had to pass almost seven years alone, in a city far away from his family. He didn’t have a lot of friends, and he was married to his work, living in a dormitory that the University provided. His life seemed perfect for him.
His best friend, who shared his dormitory room, was Hiroki Uchi. Kazuya met him on the first day of University and this friendship helped him and supported him so much through the hardest moments of his student's life.
Uchi was a golden boy; his family was rich and they wanted him to be a doctor, but he was sometimes too carefree to study properly and Kazuya always helped him if he needed it. Uchi was always so cheerful and bright that Kazuya wanted to smile while listening to his stories about girls from the medical faculty and how every week Uchi fell in love with a different one. Uchi’s family had a big house in the town, but he had decided to live in the Dormitory.
“Too much pressure”, he had said with his usual smile, but Kazuya had seen his father, a very influential politician whose wishes were hanging over the head of his son like a black shadow, demanding that he acted in a way befitting the status and position of their family.
Kazuya loved his friend like his own brother and he felt that they had so many things in common: they both loved medicine and science, they wanted to save people and they had the same dream: to become surgeons.
Maybe by devoting his life to his work, Kazuya was too naïve in his relationships with other people and he didn't notice, that everything had changed between him and Uchi. Kazuya was appointed as a head of department and he had been given permission to lead the surgery. He was so happy, thinking that his dreams were so close and all the years of work, lost sleep and rest weren’t pointless, that he missed the dark heaviness of Uchi's eyes, which were always on him.
Friendship is such a fragile thing because people's natures are so complicated and every soul has so many secrets in it, sometimes so dark that it can destroy a person from the inside. You can be a great friend and nice person, but if in your heart appears the green worm called jealousy, it will eat you up, corroding everything good and making you do something you can regret all your life.
Kazuya was invited to a party with his best friend, Uchi. All his money went t books and medical requirements, so Uchi gave him a nice shirt to wear. He had said with a laugh that all Kazuya's clothes resembled a white doctor’s smock or were so out of fashion that he looked ridiculous. Kazuya wore the green shirt; the expensive soft material cooled his skin nicely. He threw a look in a little mirror near his bed: this shirt made him look different, younger or maybe, he just felt relaxed today and was ready to spend a good time with his friend. Uchi loved to party but every time he had tried to drag Kazuya with him, Kazuya had declined, as work took the biggest place in his life.
He woke up in the morning and looked at the blue sky and he had a feeling that it was going to be a good day and that very soon, all his dreams would come true. Kazuya woke up with this feeling and when he locked the door of the dormitory with his key and followed his best friend’s steps, he had no idea what the future would bring and how fatalistic life could be. It was evening and the round pale moon shone so brightly in the sky; a red circle was wrapped around the moon, and if Kazuya believed in premonition, he would have definitely stayed home this day, but doctors tended to laugh at superstitions because they believed that everything could be explained by science.
When Kazuya found himself at the long-awaited party, with a brief glance at the maroon velvet sofas, heavy chandeliers, at the subdued light and the people dressed elegantly, lazily walking through the rooms with glasses of champagne, he immediately felt uncomfortable. That wasn’t really how he had expected this party to be. He had thought it would be simpler and maybe he would find a familiar face. He tried to call Uchi but he was already laughing with some friends.
Kazuya took a glass of champagne nicely offered by a waiter in a tuxedo and felt awkward and out of place. A young man was playing at the big black piano; Kazuya had never seen such a beautiful instrument and the melody was so beautiful and caressed his ears, making his tense muscles relax. He watched the slender fingers of the musician run over the keys with a light touch; it seemed he almost stroked them to make the music.
Kazuya raised his head, a girl was standing near the piano, looking with a smile and Kazuya had a feeling that maybe she felt the same as he did now, and was enjoying the beautiful melody from the skillful musician. He was deep in his thoughts, and then she raised her eyes and looked at him. She was beautiful, with a bright and garish beauty; when you saw her lovely face, you knew that it would be difficult to forget about it. Her dress was the same green color as his shirt, and there was a thin golden chain with an unusual green stone at her neck. Kazuya wasn’t sure himself why he couldn’t take his eyes away from her face. The melody finished and he could hear the applause praising the musician and people coming to him with compliments and congratulations, but the girl in the green dress had disappeared. Kazuya searched for her, looking around, but he only saw Uchi coming towards him with a smile on his flushed face. Kazuya could smell the alcohol, Uchi was drunk already. Uchi wasn’t the type who drank a lot. It was difficult with their profession, but he always talked a lot when in such state.
“How is the party?” he asked, and leisurely lean against a wall draped with a dark golden material.
“I like the music,” Kazuya said with a smile, and sipped from his glass; he rarely drank and the expensive champagne made him feel warmer and bubbly.
“Feels good, right? You are a lucky bastard.” Uchi started laughing and Kazuya looked at him in surprise.
“Where do you come from? I forgot the name of this little town of yours. Does it even exist on a map?” Kazuya saw how Uchi's words became messier. He had to be drunk enough already.
“I’m not sure if it exists on a map,” Kazuya answered with a chuckle and decided to check it tomorrow, feeling curious.
“You came from this little town and took my place here.” Kazuya's smile faded away as Uchi’s voice was serious and even with accusation.
“What are you talking about?” Kazuya asked seriously.
“You are so smart, such a good surgeon and what about me, I’m nothing.” Uchi drunkenly spat at the expensive wooden patterned parquetry floor. He pointed a finger at Kazuya, pushing against him. “You are nothing and your dirty town, with your dirty family and your dirty success. I hate you and your poor face.”
Kazuya pushed his hand away, and looked at him, there was an expression he had never noticed before on his friend’s face, one filled with hate.
“I didn’t take anyone's place.” His voice was firm.
It hurts, the feeling of losing a person who was the only one close to you for so many years and hid such a feeling deep in his heart. With sadness, Kazuya thought that it must be painful for Uchi too, but now he only wanted to leave the room, this house where he felt suffocated because of the dim light, the luxurious interior and his friend's hatred.
With fast steps, Kazuya left the room.
* * *
Returning to his room with a heavy heart and feeling the weight of the whole world on his shoulders, Kazuya opened the door with a sigh and sat down at his plain wooden table, and switched on the lamp. He opened the book on the table, intending to immerse himself in difficult cardiothoracic surgery to forget about the bitterness of the evening.
Kazuya was used to being alone but he had never felt lonely knowing that his family was healthy and thinking about him even if they lived far away, and thinking about his best friend, who now hated him.
Why? Was Kazuya lucky?
He had never considered himself as a lucky person; every achievement he had made in his life had taken him hours of study, patience and greeted teeth. He saw his face in a little mirror, the bitter fold in the corner of his lips. He looked so pathetic. Kazuya returned to the thick book and its illustration of a human heart, trying to focus on the text.
It was near 3 am when Kazuya heard a loud laugh and noises coming from the corridor. He could clearly make out Uchi’s drunken voice among the other male voices and girly laughs. They would get in trouble if someone heard the noise and found out about the girls in the dormitory, he thought.
It was almost 4:30 am when someone started banging at Kazuya’s door, immediately waking him up. He bumped his head on the lamp, realizing he had fallen asleep while reading. He opened the door, rubbing his eyes sleepily and yawning. Outside stood a student from the last grade who was usually very polite and nice; however, now his face was almost white and eyes big with a bewildered look.
“What’s wrong?” Kazuya voiced sound hoarse.
“I need your help, please.” He spoke fast, tripping over his words.
Kazuya didn’t understand what had happened. He was still in Uchi’s green shirt, but he made to follow the other. The student stopped him.
“Take your instruments!”
Kazuya stood still for a moment. Maybe someone was feeling unwell, but why did they need him in a dormitory full of Medicine students? Maybe it was a serious wound… There were many thoughts spinning in his head. He took the case with his instruments and left the room, following the student’s rushed steps.
They ran to another floor; it was very silent and Kazuya wondered where the loud party was. The student opened the door to one of the rooms and Kazuya followed him inside. The first thing he saw in the crowded room was Uchi’s pale face. A familiar stench assaulted him, making it suddenly difficult to breathe.
“Kazuya!” Uchi said his name hoarsely and moved in Kazuya’s direction, raising his hands, covered in… Blood. Uchi’s hands were red with blood, the metallic smell filling the room.
Kazuya thought that maybe Uchi was wounded and tried to come closer to check on him, but Uchi pointed to the bed with a trembling finger.
Kame took in the green silk first as he rushed to the bed. He felt his blood freezing in his veins as he took in the whole scene. It was that girl from the party with the green dress. The fabric was now covered with blood stains, and her beautiful face was as white as chalk. Her dress was ripped at her waist, revealing the wound. Her eyes were closed, but she was at least breathing. Kazuya looked at the wound closely, and realization gripped his mind with a cold shock. He looked at Uchi. That was not a normal wound; it was a cut opened with a scalpel.
Uchi had sat down on a chair and was hugging himself, tears flowing down his face. He was mumbling in a monotone voice, rocking on the spot.
“I’m a good doctor. She was ill and I just wanted to save her life. It was supposed to be just a simple surgery. I don’t know how this happened. I wanted to save her. I did everything right, but there was so much blood… I don’t know… She can’t die… This is just appendicitis. I can do it, I’m a doctor…”
Kazuya had heard enough and he had no time. He saw the prick of a needle in her arm; she was under anesthesia. With confident movements, Kazuya ordered the other students in the room to assist him and started to close up the wound. He threw a glance at the girl when he felt a slight motion; her eyes were starting to flutter open, and he didn’t know how much anesthesia Uchi had given her, if she was only waking up or if she could feel anything. He finished up quickly and covered the wound with some gauze before taking her hand in his, squeezing her fingers gently.
The blood stained her ripped dress and now his green shirt too, and an awful feeling was making him feel sick.
A loud bang on the door startled Kazuya. Everything followed in a surreal haze for him, like it was happening to someone else instead. This was just a mistake, a nightmare; Kazuya just had to wake up and everything would be ok again. Maybe he had just fallen asleep reading his book and this was just a dream. Wake up, Kazuya, wake up! He tried to say it out loud, but he couldn’t utter a word. He saw Uchi’s face with wide opened eyes and the green color in bloody stains and the moon with a bloody circle around it.
It was 5 am when the heavy handcuffs were closed on his wrists, and all his dreams and future were crushed and shattered into a million pieces. He was arrested.
* * *
Peaceful Land had been named peaceful a few hundred years ago by people and witches who wanted to believe that people would find happiness and peace there. And after many years, the land was still protected by a government, bureaucracy, police and honest politicians who lived for the sake of their land’s prosperity.
No one was sure who informed the police about the crime being committed by students, but they rushed immediately to the address they had been given. The honest politicians in such a situation cared about their good name and the future of their dear kids. After what happened on that fatal night, the people who were tipsy declined every connection with the incident; they weren’t sure what had happened and they weren’t thoroughly interrogated. The son of the honest politician, Uchi Hiroki, was innocent, and the judge didn’t doubt to declare so to win an approving smile from the politician; this young doctor had a bright future and that shouldn’t be taken away from him.
Kazuya appeared in court. He was accused with a criminal negligence and premeditated murder as well as intoxication as aggravating circumstances. The verdict was guilty.
Kamenashi Kazuya wouldn’t be allowed to work as a doctor ever again and he was sentenced to imprisonment for life in a special prison located on an island. Death penalty was forbidden in PeacefulLand, though it was said that maybe a doctor who could ignore all vows deserved the capital punishment.
Kazuya listened to the judge’s words and clenched his fists, his fingernails leaving deep marks on his hands. He didn’t feel the pain; he still remembered how pale the girl in the green dress looked as she squeezed his hand in return with her weak fingers. He was sure she was alive, she had to be. All the witnesses - the student who had called him in the middle of the night and Uchi, who was trembling in horror pleading for Kazuya’s help - pointed their fingers at him. They said it was Kazuya who had decided to make a surgery while drunk and telling that he was the best doctor in that filthy hospital.
It was useless to try to prove that Kazuya hadn’t done anything, that it had been Uchi who had started it and he had just tried to save her life and if she had died, maybe Kame deserved this punishment. .
The last day, when the sentenced was to be announced, Kazuya noticed a familiar face between the journalist and the curious idlers. A face that would burn itself in his heart, making it bleed. His mother, eyes red and full of tears, but at the same time, Kazuya saw as he desperately looked at her, full of faith; she believed that her son could never do something as horrible and cruel as this. He had big dreams, he was very kind and caring; her Kazu was different, and what these people were saying was just a lie. It was the first time during the whole trial that Kazuya had felt the weight of handcuffs and tried to suppress the urge to cry, hopelessly, desolately, desperately, like a baby.
The Peaceful Land still cared about people’s happiness and peace but people who lived there were ordinary human beings with their shortcomings and virtues, highs and lows. They wanted to think about their own good happy lives and if sometimes someone had to suffer and lost their life and all their dreams were crushed, well, it was just an unavoidable sacrifice. The honest politician would shake hands with the honored judge during some family dinner, discuss new equipment for fishing, and Kamenashi Kazuya would be on a boat to leave Peaceful Land, his destination the Island of Sighs, the last home of all criminals.
Life could be unfair, but Kazuya knew about it from long ago and he just had had another confirmation that destroyed his life and made Kamenashi Kazuya disappear from the face of the Earth.
***
They didn’t have a lot of wars in their land, but sometimes, the Peaceful Land wasn’t that peaceful because of criminals. When people live peacefully for a long time, they forget about the values of peace and tranquility and let greed and low desires win over moral ones.
In this land, people knew the value of strong people knowing how to fight and protect their homes from robbers and other criminals. That was why they tried to teach their boys how to fight, because one could easily find a work, helping to protect the land from these dirty people without moral and honor.
The criminals had to be isolated to let people live peacefully without fear. The Island of the Sighs - the last prison of the murderers, thieves, swindlers and other criminals, and people with no future and no hope. Walking on the ground of this island, they sighed and in the same land, they emitted their last sigh.
This Island was the place where people became slaves, because one who despised law and society, human life and morals, had no right or need to be free. This person had to live as a slave, doing heavy physical labor every day and regretting his crimes.
People live waiting for peace and happiness but behind the curtain always remained people who suffered for the others’ peaceful lives, the wheels of the machine called the State moved constantly and sometimes, not only criminals but also unlucky people with broken destinies who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong moment arrived on the island, forced to end their days in slavery. Should we call it unfairness or just the natural balance of life?
***
Inside the ship, you could feel the smell of dampness, dirty human bodies, rotten wood and despair. People were seated on the cold floor leant against the walls, felt the motion of the ship and dressed in the grey shapeless clothes; each of them held a blue paper bag in their hands. Kazuya with surprise noted to himself how this blue paper bag, the color of the sky, was looking out of place in the hands of people who were practically saying farewell to their life. When he left the jail, where he had been waiting for his time to leave, they gave him just this little paper bag with his name written on it.
They all sat in silence, not even looking at each other as they were all lost in their dark thoughts. Only the splashes caused by the waves hitting the sides of the ship were heard, and over it, the sound of the commands given by the Captain of the ship.
Kazuya slowly opened the bag, looking at what he found inside. A bitter smile appeared on his tired lips: it was only Uchi’s green shirt with the blood stains, rumpled and rolled up carelessly. He wanted to put the shirt in the bag again, as he didn’t need it, but something fell from the shirt on his hand. With surprise, he looked at the same green stone that he had seen at the neck of the girl he had tried to save. He had no idea how it had gotten into his clothes, maybe during the surgery it had gotten stuck on the fabric of this shirt, falling from her neck. He touched the smooth stone; it didn’t look like something expensive. But the golden chain had disappeared and the stone was on the plain black ribbon now.
The person who had packed Kazuya’s paper bag had decided that the chain was more valuable and had left only the stone, maybe thinking that it was something important to the owner and that at the isolated Island, Kazuya wouldn’t need something luxurious like a golden chain, but could keep the useless stone as a memory. People’s logic.
Kazuya turned the stone in his hand, thinking about what to do with it. This stone didn’t belong to him, but maybe this was just the game of the destiny; he wasn’t sure and just wore the ribbon around his neck. As the stone touched his skin, a very strange feeling appeared: on the spot where the stone touched his chest, his skin warmed up.
Kazuya was deep in his thoughts when he heard a hiss near him. It was a man with very short hair, almost bald; his face was distorted in a grimace of pain and he was touching his right leg. Kazuya saw what the problem was: his leg was wounded, maybe when they were boarding the ship someone had pushed him and he had cut his leg with something sharp. The wound wasn’t very big, but it was deep. They all had a flask with water, so Kazuya poured a bit on the green shirt and moved to the man’s leg. The man looked startled at him, eyes wide like a wild animal’s, and trying to move from Kazuya’s hands. The latter didn’t pay any attention to the man’s protest and calmly cleaned the wound. He ripped a piece of the soiled shit to bandage it. When he was done, he looked at other man eyes and explained:
“It could get infected if you leave it exposed.”
He looked at Kazuya. He was maybe the same age as him and had very delicate features, full lips and something in his a face that gave out a certain feeling of softness. Appearances could be deceptive, thought Kazuya while looking at his lean and strong body; this man was only comprised of muscles. He didn’t say a word and Kazuya sat back at his place, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. He had the feeling that years had passed since that fateful day at the dormitory, but in fact, only two weeks had gone by; Justice could be fast when needed by certain people. He still wasn’t sure if what was happening was all real or just a nightmare; he had been in this state all the time since the trial; he didn’t want to think about anything, he was too tired of thinking. His eyes closed and Kazuya didn’t even notice when sleep took over him.
He woke up few hours later to someone’s yells, commanding the prisoners to leave the ship. All the condemned rose to their feet and prepared to follow the man in the guards uniform.
Kazuya took his first step onto the Island of Sighs. Maybe this was just the irony of life: the weather was very good, and the sun shone brightly. Kazuya however saw everything differently, maybe darker and gloomier. His steps were a little bit clumsy, since he had slept on the floor and his body was still stiff.
They were led to a table with a man seating behind a mountain of papers, writing something, and made to stand in a queue, waiting for their turn.
“Documents!” Commanded the man in a harsh voice without even raising his head, and took Kazuya’s papers.
“Your name?” the next question came in the same harsh tone.
“Kamenashi Kazuya.” His voice was calm, and a little tired. The man started writing, but stopped abruptly.
“Kame…? What?” he asked again, with a confused face that suggested he had been observing an insect that had suddenly started speaking to him.
“Kamenashi Kazuya,” Kazuya repeated patiently, feeling the sun burning his skin. He saw how the man started chewing his fat lips, dark from tobacco, lazily turning the pen in his hand. He finally looked at Kazuya with a smirk.
“Kame will be enough for you.”
Kazuya felt a cold sweat breaking over his skin as he clenched his fists with rage. They took away everything from him: career, family, reputation, dreams, life and took away his freedom and his name, because this fat idiot didn’t know how to write it properly.
He felt the anger making his blood boil and he felt the urge to punch the worker with all his might to erase that ugly grin from his fat face. The grin became even wider when he noticed Kazuya’s rage and his clenched fists. He stamped the papers and returned one to Kazuya, filled only with the insulting name.
“You are just a slave now and Kame will be enough for you. Next!”
He said the last command louder, but Kazuya couldn’t move from his place; he had never felt so humiliated. He had never hated anything as much as the feeling of powerlessness taking over him, when he knew that no matter what he would say or do, no one would bother to hear him out, much less believed what he had to say.
Someone pushed him, forcing him to leave his spot. Kame was looking at his feet, trying to take his rage under control and with surprise, he noticed the green fabric wrapped around the leg of the person who pushed him. Kazuya raised his head and saw the men from the ship who was now handing in his documents and sending warning looks at him.
Kazuya moved aside. The area was surrounded by guards so he sat down at some stones stairs, covering his face with hands. Five minutes later, he felt someone sitting next to him with a hiss, and a wounded leg was stretched out into his field of vision.
“I heard about your trial.” The other man’s voice was calm and Kazuya noticed the same deceptive softness of his features in it.
Kazuya chuckled bitterly. Who hadn’t heard about his trial? The press had had such a field day with the young, evil doctor who at night killed a young girl in his room with sharp scalpel.
“They made such a circus out of it.” The softness disappeared from this voice and now his eyes looked at Kazuya with another expression; it was acceptance. “Call me Ueda.” He added noticing how Kazuya was so surprised he couldn’t even utter a word. “How should I call you?”
It wasn’t an easy question because now, Kazuya had made a decision. He was a criminal now, he couldn’t be a doctor ever again, and all his dreams were dead and had been buried with his past life, his hopes and his desires. He was going to spend all his life at this damned Island and it only depended on him how it was going to be.
Human beings have evolved so that they can adapt to any conditions. The most important instinct is that of self-preservation, and people don't have intellect for nothing. They can weigh the pros and cons and decide the most favorable path for them. The force that leaded evolution during millennia was the desire to survive no matter what, swallowing pride and reevaluating of values.
“Kame.” He said calmly.
Ueda just nodded.
Maybe the world is unfair and during life, you will face betrayal and some stabs in the back. You can lose everything one day, but when the sun raises again, you are still alive, walking under its warmth, and you want to believe in people and maybe someone will bump shoulders with you, pushing you aside to calm down, even if this someone doesn’t know you at all. You still want to believe in friendship, even if you have lived the worst experience and felt burnt. People cannot live alone; they always need someone to believe in them, to be a friend in whom they can find support.
And so Kame prepared with Ueda to face their new home, with the sun shining brightly on the green silk fabric around Ueda’s legs with every step he took.
***
They were sitting on a ruin of a wooden cart pulled by an old horse. After taking their papers, the slaves were assigned to different jobs and sent to different places. Kame and Ueda shared the same destination. The old cart shook with every bump of the rough road, but at least, the gentle breeze coming from the sea cooled the skin heated by the sun, giving a small comfort.
Kame looked at the landscape as it passed. The Island was unexpectedly green and picturesque. It seemed like time had stopped there, and people lived in their own secluded reality. Different people in light clothes passed by; they all moved with leisure steps that suggested they had no hurry to reach their destinations. There were green fields with people working there, animals at another part of the field eating the grass with the same calm gestures. It wasn’t really how Kame had imagined this place, not like this, making his heart ache painfully with memories from his childhood.
Now, Kame was a slave and he belonged to his owner. Kame had to work for him and for this, the owner would give him a place to sleep and food to eat. He saw faraway a hill with a big white house at its top. The big gates swung open with a heavy sound, but as the cart wasn’t allowed to pass, Kame and Ueda jumped down to follow a guard that leaded them inside.
Kame looked around curiously; this wasn’t the main gate, maybe the special entrance for slaves. Everyone was minding their business, dressed in neat white clothes. Kame wondered if all these people were slaves or no. The guard told them to follow him with a firm voice and they obeyed as he took them to a one-storey house a bit far away from the door they had just closed.
Kame entered the house with Ueda and the guard left hastily. Inside, there was just one long room with plain beds at the sides and nothing else. The house was empty.
The sun was setting over the horizon when the house was filled with people, dressed in the same white robes like those they had seen before; Kame was surprised to note how they moved slowly, sinking into their beds with heavy sighs. Kame was sitting in the last bed of a row since it looked empty and free. Ueda had found another at the other side.
Kame’s neighbor took off his shirt, exposing his chest covered with many tattoos. This guy had a scary aura; he looked like a bandit with heavy eyes that examined Kame’s face.
“Are you new?” His voice sounded hoarse and tired. Kame nodded.
The bronzed face, tanned after long hours spent working under the sun, suddenly showed a bright grin full of white teeth.
“Welcome to Hell.”
His voice sounded amused and for the first time, Kame’s heart sank, and an ugly feeling appeared at the pit of his stomach. He had no idea what the future would bring him.
For the next few hours, Kame sat silently and just watched around, observing the people with whom he was going to live from now on. The man with the tattoos was lying on his bed and had buried his face in his pillow. His strong, muscled hands hung lifelessly at the sides of the bed.
Next to Ueda, there was another man, Kame could see his back and he thought that it was an old man, something in his pose reflecting his exhaustion, like he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. But when he turned his head, Kame realized with surprise that they had to be around the same age. Suddenly, the man took his hand to his mouth and started making strange noises that made the silent crow in the room look at him with fear. The man finally noted something was wrong and stopped abruptly, looking at Ueda with wide eyes as he rubbed his nose nervously.
Ueda was a real mystery for Kame. He wondered why he was there. He had broken the law, but what had he done? Ueda had such aristocratic and very gentle features but at the same time, it was obvious that he was dangerous.
Kame wasn't a good face reader, he couldn’t understand other people well and his current situation was just a confirmation of this inability. But he felt that maybe things were not so bad after all, and he could find a peaceful life there.
”You imagined everything differently, right?" The man with tattoos sat up on his bed and looked straight at Kame. Kame stayed silent; he had really imagined it differently.
”You were waiting to see dirty cages with bunches of people inside?" To be honest that was exactly how Kame had imagined it in his head. The man continued in a lower voice after a chuckle.
“It was like that. People lived in dirty stinky cages, like animals, and they died so often that there weren’t any healthy slaves left to work."
His eyes were dark, almost black, and the bitter line of his lips told Kame that it was true, and it was so horrible that he couldn’t even imagine it.
”Right, Maru?" The man’s voice sounded lighter now and Ueda’s neighbor just nodded.
"This greedy bastard Akanishi is a devil, but he cares about his money and reputation. Even the Government started wondering why his slaves were falling dead like flies in winter, and he constructed these palaces for us." The last words, he said them mockingly, spitting on the floor.
"Akanishi?" asked Kame. The man eyed him amused; he looked like he was enjoying the moment, but then again, maybe that was his usual expression.
“That’s the name of your owner. Remember it and if you happen to be so unlucky to meet him, don't look straight at his eyes or you will pay for it." He made a pause, looking significantly at Kame and then added with a smirk.
“But judging from your luck in choosing your bed, you will definitely meet him.”
So he belonged to Akanishi now. Thinking about himself as an object that belonged to someone was strange, and now he was curious to find out what kind of person Akanishi was. He couldn’t understand the remark about the bed he had chosen at all though.
***
They called him Kame now and he tried to call himself that in his own mind too so he could get used to it. No one started laughing when they heard the guard say his name and give him the set of clothes that all the slaves wore. They all had nicknames. People who found themselves at The Island of Sighs had a reason to be there, and they knew better than to ask questions and try to interfere in the business of other slaves.
The next day, Kame was woken up by the announcement that it was time to go to work. The tattooed man, who had introduced himself as Koki, was right. This was hell in the earth. First, on the long way to their destination, they passed the fields and beautiful green landscape and then headed into the mountains, as they were being sent to work in a mine for the whole day till the sun would hide under the horizon, and after that, the long way back and the obligatory shower.
Kame wasn’t the type who would ask questions even if he was very curious but Koki, who had a very bandit like appearance was very talkative, thought it was his duty to help Kame learn everything about this “damned place, where our bones will rot”.
In truth, slaves were living in cages until just one year ago, but a dangerous and very contagious disease killed a large number of slaves and this “devil in a human body, bloody bastard Akanishi” (as Koki referred to him and spat to emphasis the level of his despite) decided to build wooden houses and make obligatory showers to wash away all traces of the disease.
Kame listened carefully and understood very well the level of medical development on this island, he doubted they had a hospital. He saw these houses; they were placed one after another with almost twenty slaves in every house. Akanishi was a rich man, with a lot of slaves and as Koki said, he was the ruler of this island.
After two weeks of living there, during one rainy night, Kame understood why his bed was unlucky. Honestly, he chose this bed because the only little window at the ceiling was above it and Kame liked falling asleep under a little piece of the sky. That night, he woke up because of heavy drops falling right on his face, the window was leaky and by morning his pillow was wet. Also, the houses were made from a very thin material and during the night, it was so cold due to the wind coming in from the sea.
Every day after returning from work, Kame had only one desire; he wanted to bury his face in his pillow, and just fall asleep. All of his body was sore; every muscle was aching, because of the very hard and long physical work.
After one month of being in this Island, Kame felt more comfortable and thanks to the over talkative Koki, he knew almost everyone in this house.
Even if Koki looked scary and had an intimidating aura, Kame understood that he was a nice man. He repaired the window for Kame, and filled the holes with wooden sticks so Kame could sleep peacefully. He never asked about Kame's past, but he told a lot of stories about himself and others.
Proudly pointing to his chest, he exclaimed that he was a Pirate, when Kame looked doubtful, and asked what Koki meant by that, because he only heard about pirates in adventure books. Koki removed his shirt and showed him the big Tattoo and his shoulder with the word “Joker”.
“I’m a Joker. That's what pirates call me.” He threw a proud look at Kame and waited for his reaction. Kame just nodded, as this nickname suited Koki a lot, because of his facial expression: something between an amusing and a mocking smile.
Koki told Kame about Maru, that sometimes people called him “General”. Maru came from the same land as Kame; he was a very smart person and highly educated. Maru worked as an economist in a very large corporation, but someone made him a scapegoat for an accounting error and left him without work and money. Maru decided to use his brains differently and made a pyramid scheme to take revenge on this company, and he gained a lot of money, but he was caught in the end.
There was also the bunch of young boys, who were very noisy all the time, but in the end Kame noticed that the noise was really produced by just 2 of them. Koki said they were sailors, who dreamed of being pirates and stealing the ship of some serious man.
In their house the background of everyone was mixed, Koki pointed at a short man in his forties with an ugly face and warned Kame not to go near him. He was a dangerous murderer who wanted to rule in this house.
No matter your social circle, hierarchy exists everywhere, especially where someone wants to prove something to others. Some people decide to be silent, hoping that others will forget about their existence. Kame decided to live peacefully, working, sleeping and not messing with people who played dirty games in such a place that was a hell on earth.
One day, a new slave appeared at the door of their house. What Kame noticed straight away was how broken and crushed he looked. He was tall with brown straight hair that covered his face. He looked hesitantly around the room and sat on the bed that turned out to belong to Yazaki, the murderer with a Napoleon complex.
Yazaki immediately attacked him, trying to show who the ruler was here. Kame looked at this disgusting scene and his heart clenched. This new man's absolutely lost expression, like he didn't understand what this was all about, reminded Kame about his own trial, and Kame couldn’t tolerate unfairness and without thinking, he came closer.
“Let him go.” Kame's voice was calm. He tried to control the emotions boiling inside him.
Yazaki was absolutely shocked that someone dared to interfere. His lips curved in some kind of smirk, making him look even more like a bulldog and he hissed, “Make me.”
Kame punched him, hard, but Yazaki didn’t fall and prepared to punch him back. The new slave grabbed Yazaki by the collar and raised him up, his short legs trembled in the air. Kame couldn't believe his eyes, looking at the determined expression on the slave's face. Yazaki tried to free himself, but it was impossible, the grip was iron like.
Someone called out that a guard would be here soon and Kame whispered to the new slave.” Put him down, we must go!”
He put Yazaki down and left with Kame. Koki was shocked by Kame's behavior and with wide eyes, hit his shoulder.
“You are crazy.” It sounded like a compliment.
“I’m Taguchi!” pronounced the new slave and Kame watched in surprise as he smiled with a big sun like smile, that crept him out little bit, because just seconds ago, this man looked like the whole word was crushed.
“I will be happy to be your friend,” he announced with the same smile, placing a hand on Koki's shoulder. The latter froze, hesitantly remembering how Taguchi raised Yazaki up a minute ago, but still added irritably, “Don’t want to be your friend.”
“I will make you smile every day!” Taguchi's words sounded like a lifetime promise and Kame felt how he started to smile, maybe for the first time after that fateful night.
Sometimes, people who have strength in their arms don’t use it for defending themselves, because it’s not important for them, but they will give every drop of this strength to protect the one who shows them some kindness.
***
Kame meets "bloody" Akanishi, his owner, during the second month of living at the Island of Sighs. He was riding a black horse and checking his land.
What Kame noticed immediately was the way he moved. It was obvious that this man was used to having power in his hands. He was sitting straight, head raised proudly with a white fedora hat, protected from the burning sun. He was well built and had a youthful appearance for his age, Kame thought that maybe he was around fifty.
Kame couldn’t see his eyes very well, the fedora casting shadows over his eyes, but he saw perfectly his lips and the semi smile that was playing on them. Something in this smile made shivers run down his spine and a strange cold feeling appeared when he witnessed his sardonic smirk
Kame saw how he turned his head, like something caught his attention. It was a boy who lived in the same house as Kame, one of the sailors who made a lot of noise. The corner of his shirt was caught by the heavy door of the shower house and he was cursing loudly trying to free himself. His back faced Akanishi, so he couldn't see what was coming.
Akanishi help a black whip in his hand and lashed the boy with all his might. Kame heard a scream full of pain.
“Akanishi Miato got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Koki commented in disgust.
“Why he is doing this?" Kame asked, still hearing the screams. The cold smile still played on Akanishi's lips, witnessing the pain of the boy.
“Because this is his slave and he just wants to do it."
The fedora fell from Akanishi's head, showing his dark hair with grey strands.
When you are a slave, your life belongs to your owner, that means that he can take it away any time and this is his legal right. You break the Law, you are a criminal. In the Island of Sighs you were sold to your new owner and if your owner is a devil like Akanishi Miato, that’ means you can’t be sure if you will be alive tomorrow.
From: bellemelody
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Title: Where we belong…
Pairing/Group: Akame / KAT-TUN, other JE-boys and Kuroki Meisa.
Rating: R
Warnings: extreme AU, fantasy, pirates, magic, wizards, slavery, violence, sparkles, medical terms (I’m not a doctor, so sorry for mistakes).
The world I create in this story is fictional and everything I wrote here possible in this world. I thought about 19 century or maybe even earlier time and remember, that this is fantasy world.
Notes: Dear, Spiritdream ! I tried to consider all your wishes and hope you will like it!
I enjoy writing this fic and my eternal love goes to L, for helping me so much, cheering and talking about every detail.
Thanks to my own Magical Pearl :) Without your wonderful music and advices, it was impossible for me to write this story and find the title and summary xP
Thanks to my wonderful betas for helping me and saving me in the last moment!
Summary: Over the course of only one night, he lost what mattered most in his life. From the moment he set foot on the Island of Sighs, he had to let go of everything: his past, his dreams, his identity, his hopes, his will to live ... until he met Jin. In a world where magic, slavery, half-bloods and pirates don't only exist in books, a new destiny seems to await Kazuya...
Hundreds of years ago, no one can tell exactly when, because the events of those distant times have been erased from the memory of the people and now there are only mentions in legends and ballads. And the ancient legends tell about another time and another world, the beautiful world, where magic existed and life was different and people weren’t alone on their land. Their neighbors were creatures endowed with extraordinary powers; they could read the thoughts of people and create real miracles only with their eyes and with a wave of their hand. In the legends this time is called The Golden Era, where people lived in harmony with magic and their love was enough to bind together people and creatures who knew the magic. These creatures looked the same as people; just a few details in their appearance distinguished them from others. Their hair was long and silky, sometimes shining under the sunlight, and their ears looked a little bit different.
Yet nothing lasts forever on Earth and one day, one of the strongest and most powerful wizards wanted to change the world and destroyed all that had made people happy and content. He had an incredible power to compel the minds of both the people and the creatures endowed with magic. That was the beginning of The Bloody Era.
He used all his power against the people who were defenseless against his magic and made the other sorcerers follow him. He had many followers, possessed by lust for power and greed; they wanted to turn people into slaves, and they took control over their minds and deprived them of their will.
Where men were fighting and dividing the people and the wizards, destroying their families and burning up their happy homes, women, however, craved for peace, and despised the bloodshed and irreparable destruction and death, which inevitably came with war.
Powerful witches and women tried to resist the evil plan of the wily wizard and save their children, half-wizards, and half-people. They gave all their strength, their magic and their energy, creating a powerful shield, which protected their people from the wizarding world. Thus the people and the wizards were finally separated.
The shield hid the people's land from wizard eyes and made it impossible for magicians to find the way to their land, but it cut both ways, the wizard couldn’t find the way to this land, but neither could other magical creatures, because only those who had the blood of the people in their veins could see it. Many families were destroyed, but like this, the people were protected from the Wizard's malicious intentions.
In the country of a now peaceful land, its people lived a quiet life devoid of magic, which over the years they had started to forget. They did not recall even the existence of another world beyond the horizon. Beyond the most powerful shield lived the wizards. The years had erased the details about the war and about the people and the invisible shield from their memories and over time, it completely hid this place inhabited by human beings.
People could not leave this land and go through the border, because during the Great War, in an effort to protect the people, the witches created a powerful spell, which restricted passage through the shield to those beings who possessed magic while the non-magical people would die. Only the wizards in whose veins ran human blood could see the shield and show the path to the Peaceful land to pureblooded wizards.
After the powerful magician was defeated, a quiet time finally descended. Many of the half-bloods attempted to cross the border and there was a threat that the wizards could find this shield and history would repeat itself. At that time, many brave half-blood wizards voluntarily left the Peaceful land to protect the rest of their relatives. They crossed the border on ships and settled on the nearby islands, staying close to the wizarding world. They called themselves the pirates and their purpose was to keep the peace and ensure that the lives of the people living in the Peaceful land was joyful. At last, people no longer believed in magic.
And a new era began, and its name was The Peaceful Era.
* * *
Do you know the feeling of warmth that appears in your heart when you feel the same breeze caressing your face or the same smell that reminds you about something very far away and very dear to your heart? Reminding you about your home? You just need to close your eyes and your memories will flood into your mind, reminding you of the old forgotten places and faces, which you’ve once loved so much.
You can see the house, not a very big one, but large enough for the numerous people who lived there. Your father, who had very rough hands and tired red eyes, from working all the time to feed his family. Your mother, who smelled like baked pie and her hands gently rued your cheek, her patient voice scolded you for the dirt on your face and clothes. You older sister loved singing and she had very beautiful long hair; you made a very clumsy flower wreath and she laughed calling you her little flower dwarf. Your older brother was so strong and brave and your eyes excitedly watched his every move while he helped your father at work, the only wish you have in your little loyal heart was to be the same one day: just like your brother. Your other brother loved playing jokes on you and he laughed when you got into trouble; you can almost hear you mother's voice; that doesn’t bode well for you, and remember how your face was flushed because this was so unfair and you hadn’t done anything wrong, but you obediently followed her and helped in the kitchen. You can see the little twins, your younger brother and sister; they were cute and you loved playing with them, sharing with them something sweet and showing them the frog that you found in a river, wandering there after school.
And then you can see yourself, just as you were. A boy with messy dark hair that covered your eyes. Your mom was too busy with housework to cut your bangs for you. Your bushy eyebrows and dark eyes that looked so curiously and inquisitive at everything around. You wanted to know about everything and the questions flowed from your mouth without a pause: why is the sun so bright and so far away, you wanted to touch it; why do birds disappear in winter and return only after weeks have passed, why does your father work so much and why does he always say that you must fight for your future? So many questions in your little head.
You were not as strong as your brothers, but when they ran to the field where you father is working, you did too. You wanted to believe that one day you would be big and strong enough and your mother wouldn’t look with such worry at your bony hands. Your smile was wide and she smiled back at you.
You keep running and you can see your house, one of many that looked the same: the wooden walls and the red roof, the garden where your mom worked growing vegetables and your sister had a little corner for her flowers. Green, the color that surrounded you in the wide fields and tall trees, with simple flowers and bright clothes. You entered your house; it was plain, but tidy and very cozy. You shared a room with all your brothers and you had a bed with your name on it; you made it yourself and would always proudly touch the dancing letters with your hand.
“Kazu”.
That was how they called you at home and that was how you liked it to be.
Your name is Kamenashi Kazuya, but after so many years of wandering, traveling and mostly running away, you want to cherish the memories of your family calling you “Kazu”. No one will ever call you like this again.
* * *
In the world where Kazu was born people don’t believe in magic and miracles, as they simply don’t exist. All the stories come from fairytales and people must not hope for magic to make their life better. Everything is in your hands and it depends only on human efforts and persistence to obtain something and achieve your dreams. People must make their lives with their own hands, that is what he often heard when he was a child. Being the son of a middle-class family with lots of children in their town meant that he was not sure what future was waiting for him. His parents only had enough money to educate their older children, but no one was sure about his life. So he was the owner of his fate, even in his earlier years.
A lot of adults can’t decide what they want to do with their lives, what direction they find more attractive and interesting. For Kazu, it was different. He was only 13 when he once and for all decided what future was the best for him.
It was a very painful and sad moment in his life, when he sat near his little sister's bed, holding her tiny hand and feeling hopeless and powerless. In the quiet room, only heavy breathing could be heard, escaping painfully from the small child's chest; she held his hand as if clutching to her life, feeling the strength leaving her fragile body. Her little face was covered in strange red macules and no one could say what was wrong with his little sister, why suddenly a little girl full of life was dying and there was not any way to save her life. In the town, no one could help her. The healer had just made a helpless gesture before telling them to pray for her little soul.
Tears fell from his eyes. He saw how she whispered his name without any sounds, just her pale dry lips moving, and he remembered how happy she was when he found a little squirrel in a forest for her.
They were afraid to come near her bed since the healer said that this dangerous unknown disease could be contagious, but Kazu wasn't afraid. He saw the white face of his mother, big eyes already dry: there were no tears left to come, and grey strands had appeared during this night amongst her black hair. Kazuya wanted to ease his little sister’s pain, to show her that she was not alone. A few drops of blood ran from her mouth and Kazu just wiped them and placed a cold hand on her burning forehead.
On that day, when his little sister left the Earth to find a better place, where she would be happy, he made a promise. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, swallowed his tears and saw the grief of his family; he decided that he would never feel so powerless and hopeless again. Kazu believed that there was always a way to do something and if they didn’t know it yet, that didn’t mean that this way did not exist.
Kazu studied very hard, forgot about everything else, and spent hours with books that he found in a little library and were written with very difficult words, and followed healers, trying to learn all he could. His parents wanted to support him, but at the same time, their livelihood became very difficult. They wanted him to find something more practical and forced Kazu to attend fencing and martial arts classes because in their land, strong and skilled fighters could always find work.
Dreaming high can be good, but it was a luxury for most people in their little town, his father repeated, looking disapprovingly at the heavy books in his hands. “My prayers are with you and every dream can became true if you work hard,” whispered his mother, and placed bread with milk on his table and caressed his hair.
Thanks to his everyday training, Kazu became well built and strong. He was working to save up money. His life was a battle with his own body, always on edge, always with dark circles under his eyes, but with a firm determination and iron willpower he woke up every day and made one step after another towards his dream. And one day he left the town, tried his luck in a big city and became a real doctor.
Nothing in Kazu's life was easy. He never waited for a gift from the sky to fall into his hands, everything that he achieved was thanks to his persistence, purposefulness, intellect and the confidence that made him move forward and never look back.
When he entered the University on a full scholarship, his father sent him a short note, saying that his family was proud of him and his mother included a large bag of rice, knowing how everything was expensive in a big city and how hard her son's life was going to be.
They called him Kazuya now, not a boy with a naughty smile, but a student of a medical University, the best one and he was very promising with a very good perspective. In the last year in University, they called his hands golden and offered him a place in a hospital as a surgeon.
After graduation from University and having started his clinical studies, Kazuya worked as a surgeon. With gloves on his hands and with a sharp scalpel in his right hand, he assisted his Professor with surgeries. Now, he knew very well the Latin name of the disease that took his sister's life away. The big city gave him advantages, things that people from a little town so far away from the center could not have, where they could only secretly still hope that magic from legends existed and herbal remedies could help.
To be a doctor, like Kazuya had always dreamed, he must study very hard. He had to pass almost seven years alone, in a city far away from his family. He didn’t have a lot of friends, and he was married to his work, living in a dormitory that the University provided. His life seemed perfect for him.
His best friend, who shared his dormitory room, was Hiroki Uchi. Kazuya met him on the first day of University and this friendship helped him and supported him so much through the hardest moments of his student's life.
Uchi was a golden boy; his family was rich and they wanted him to be a doctor, but he was sometimes too carefree to study properly and Kazuya always helped him if he needed it. Uchi was always so cheerful and bright that Kazuya wanted to smile while listening to his stories about girls from the medical faculty and how every week Uchi fell in love with a different one. Uchi’s family had a big house in the town, but he had decided to live in the Dormitory.
“Too much pressure”, he had said with his usual smile, but Kazuya had seen his father, a very influential politician whose wishes were hanging over the head of his son like a black shadow, demanding that he acted in a way befitting the status and position of their family.
Kazuya loved his friend like his own brother and he felt that they had so many things in common: they both loved medicine and science, they wanted to save people and they had the same dream: to become surgeons.
Maybe by devoting his life to his work, Kazuya was too naïve in his relationships with other people and he didn't notice, that everything had changed between him and Uchi. Kazuya was appointed as a head of department and he had been given permission to lead the surgery. He was so happy, thinking that his dreams were so close and all the years of work, lost sleep and rest weren’t pointless, that he missed the dark heaviness of Uchi's eyes, which were always on him.
Friendship is such a fragile thing because people's natures are so complicated and every soul has so many secrets in it, sometimes so dark that it can destroy a person from the inside. You can be a great friend and nice person, but if in your heart appears the green worm called jealousy, it will eat you up, corroding everything good and making you do something you can regret all your life.
Kazuya was invited to a party with his best friend, Uchi. All his money went t books and medical requirements, so Uchi gave him a nice shirt to wear. He had said with a laugh that all Kazuya's clothes resembled a white doctor’s smock or were so out of fashion that he looked ridiculous. Kazuya wore the green shirt; the expensive soft material cooled his skin nicely. He threw a look in a little mirror near his bed: this shirt made him look different, younger or maybe, he just felt relaxed today and was ready to spend a good time with his friend. Uchi loved to party but every time he had tried to drag Kazuya with him, Kazuya had declined, as work took the biggest place in his life.
He woke up in the morning and looked at the blue sky and he had a feeling that it was going to be a good day and that very soon, all his dreams would come true. Kazuya woke up with this feeling and when he locked the door of the dormitory with his key and followed his best friend’s steps, he had no idea what the future would bring and how fatalistic life could be. It was evening and the round pale moon shone so brightly in the sky; a red circle was wrapped around the moon, and if Kazuya believed in premonition, he would have definitely stayed home this day, but doctors tended to laugh at superstitions because they believed that everything could be explained by science.
When Kazuya found himself at the long-awaited party, with a brief glance at the maroon velvet sofas, heavy chandeliers, at the subdued light and the people dressed elegantly, lazily walking through the rooms with glasses of champagne, he immediately felt uncomfortable. That wasn’t really how he had expected this party to be. He had thought it would be simpler and maybe he would find a familiar face. He tried to call Uchi but he was already laughing with some friends.
Kazuya took a glass of champagne nicely offered by a waiter in a tuxedo and felt awkward and out of place. A young man was playing at the big black piano; Kazuya had never seen such a beautiful instrument and the melody was so beautiful and caressed his ears, making his tense muscles relax. He watched the slender fingers of the musician run over the keys with a light touch; it seemed he almost stroked them to make the music.
Kazuya raised his head, a girl was standing near the piano, looking with a smile and Kazuya had a feeling that maybe she felt the same as he did now, and was enjoying the beautiful melody from the skillful musician. He was deep in his thoughts, and then she raised her eyes and looked at him. She was beautiful, with a bright and garish beauty; when you saw her lovely face, you knew that it would be difficult to forget about it. Her dress was the same green color as his shirt, and there was a thin golden chain with an unusual green stone at her neck. Kazuya wasn’t sure himself why he couldn’t take his eyes away from her face. The melody finished and he could hear the applause praising the musician and people coming to him with compliments and congratulations, but the girl in the green dress had disappeared. Kazuya searched for her, looking around, but he only saw Uchi coming towards him with a smile on his flushed face. Kazuya could smell the alcohol, Uchi was drunk already. Uchi wasn’t the type who drank a lot. It was difficult with their profession, but he always talked a lot when in such state.
“How is the party?” he asked, and leisurely lean against a wall draped with a dark golden material.
“I like the music,” Kazuya said with a smile, and sipped from his glass; he rarely drank and the expensive champagne made him feel warmer and bubbly.
“Feels good, right? You are a lucky bastard.” Uchi started laughing and Kazuya looked at him in surprise.
“Where do you come from? I forgot the name of this little town of yours. Does it even exist on a map?” Kazuya saw how Uchi's words became messier. He had to be drunk enough already.
“I’m not sure if it exists on a map,” Kazuya answered with a chuckle and decided to check it tomorrow, feeling curious.
“You came from this little town and took my place here.” Kazuya's smile faded away as Uchi’s voice was serious and even with accusation.
“What are you talking about?” Kazuya asked seriously.
“You are so smart, such a good surgeon and what about me, I’m nothing.” Uchi drunkenly spat at the expensive wooden patterned parquetry floor. He pointed a finger at Kazuya, pushing against him. “You are nothing and your dirty town, with your dirty family and your dirty success. I hate you and your poor face.”
Kazuya pushed his hand away, and looked at him, there was an expression he had never noticed before on his friend’s face, one filled with hate.
“I didn’t take anyone's place.” His voice was firm.
It hurts, the feeling of losing a person who was the only one close to you for so many years and hid such a feeling deep in his heart. With sadness, Kazuya thought that it must be painful for Uchi too, but now he only wanted to leave the room, this house where he felt suffocated because of the dim light, the luxurious interior and his friend's hatred.
With fast steps, Kazuya left the room.
* * *
Returning to his room with a heavy heart and feeling the weight of the whole world on his shoulders, Kazuya opened the door with a sigh and sat down at his plain wooden table, and switched on the lamp. He opened the book on the table, intending to immerse himself in difficult cardiothoracic surgery to forget about the bitterness of the evening.
Kazuya was used to being alone but he had never felt lonely knowing that his family was healthy and thinking about him even if they lived far away, and thinking about his best friend, who now hated him.
Why? Was Kazuya lucky?
He had never considered himself as a lucky person; every achievement he had made in his life had taken him hours of study, patience and greeted teeth. He saw his face in a little mirror, the bitter fold in the corner of his lips. He looked so pathetic. Kazuya returned to the thick book and its illustration of a human heart, trying to focus on the text.
It was near 3 am when Kazuya heard a loud laugh and noises coming from the corridor. He could clearly make out Uchi’s drunken voice among the other male voices and girly laughs. They would get in trouble if someone heard the noise and found out about the girls in the dormitory, he thought.
It was almost 4:30 am when someone started banging at Kazuya’s door, immediately waking him up. He bumped his head on the lamp, realizing he had fallen asleep while reading. He opened the door, rubbing his eyes sleepily and yawning. Outside stood a student from the last grade who was usually very polite and nice; however, now his face was almost white and eyes big with a bewildered look.
“What’s wrong?” Kazuya voiced sound hoarse.
“I need your help, please.” He spoke fast, tripping over his words.
Kazuya didn’t understand what had happened. He was still in Uchi’s green shirt, but he made to follow the other. The student stopped him.
“Take your instruments!”
Kazuya stood still for a moment. Maybe someone was feeling unwell, but why did they need him in a dormitory full of Medicine students? Maybe it was a serious wound… There were many thoughts spinning in his head. He took the case with his instruments and left the room, following the student’s rushed steps.
They ran to another floor; it was very silent and Kazuya wondered where the loud party was. The student opened the door to one of the rooms and Kazuya followed him inside. The first thing he saw in the crowded room was Uchi’s pale face. A familiar stench assaulted him, making it suddenly difficult to breathe.
“Kazuya!” Uchi said his name hoarsely and moved in Kazuya’s direction, raising his hands, covered in… Blood. Uchi’s hands were red with blood, the metallic smell filling the room.
Kazuya thought that maybe Uchi was wounded and tried to come closer to check on him, but Uchi pointed to the bed with a trembling finger.
Kame took in the green silk first as he rushed to the bed. He felt his blood freezing in his veins as he took in the whole scene. It was that girl from the party with the green dress. The fabric was now covered with blood stains, and her beautiful face was as white as chalk. Her dress was ripped at her waist, revealing the wound. Her eyes were closed, but she was at least breathing. Kazuya looked at the wound closely, and realization gripped his mind with a cold shock. He looked at Uchi. That was not a normal wound; it was a cut opened with a scalpel.
Uchi had sat down on a chair and was hugging himself, tears flowing down his face. He was mumbling in a monotone voice, rocking on the spot.
“I’m a good doctor. She was ill and I just wanted to save her life. It was supposed to be just a simple surgery. I don’t know how this happened. I wanted to save her. I did everything right, but there was so much blood… I don’t know… She can’t die… This is just appendicitis. I can do it, I’m a doctor…”
Kazuya had heard enough and he had no time. He saw the prick of a needle in her arm; she was under anesthesia. With confident movements, Kazuya ordered the other students in the room to assist him and started to close up the wound. He threw a glance at the girl when he felt a slight motion; her eyes were starting to flutter open, and he didn’t know how much anesthesia Uchi had given her, if she was only waking up or if she could feel anything. He finished up quickly and covered the wound with some gauze before taking her hand in his, squeezing her fingers gently.
The blood stained her ripped dress and now his green shirt too, and an awful feeling was making him feel sick.
A loud bang on the door startled Kazuya. Everything followed in a surreal haze for him, like it was happening to someone else instead. This was just a mistake, a nightmare; Kazuya just had to wake up and everything would be ok again. Maybe he had just fallen asleep reading his book and this was just a dream. Wake up, Kazuya, wake up! He tried to say it out loud, but he couldn’t utter a word. He saw Uchi’s face with wide opened eyes and the green color in bloody stains and the moon with a bloody circle around it.
It was 5 am when the heavy handcuffs were closed on his wrists, and all his dreams and future were crushed and shattered into a million pieces. He was arrested.
* * *
Peaceful Land had been named peaceful a few hundred years ago by people and witches who wanted to believe that people would find happiness and peace there. And after many years, the land was still protected by a government, bureaucracy, police and honest politicians who lived for the sake of their land’s prosperity.
No one was sure who informed the police about the crime being committed by students, but they rushed immediately to the address they had been given. The honest politicians in such a situation cared about their good name and the future of their dear kids. After what happened on that fatal night, the people who were tipsy declined every connection with the incident; they weren’t sure what had happened and they weren’t thoroughly interrogated. The son of the honest politician, Uchi Hiroki, was innocent, and the judge didn’t doubt to declare so to win an approving smile from the politician; this young doctor had a bright future and that shouldn’t be taken away from him.
Kazuya appeared in court. He was accused with a criminal negligence and premeditated murder as well as intoxication as aggravating circumstances. The verdict was guilty.
Kamenashi Kazuya wouldn’t be allowed to work as a doctor ever again and he was sentenced to imprisonment for life in a special prison located on an island. Death penalty was forbidden in PeacefulLand, though it was said that maybe a doctor who could ignore all vows deserved the capital punishment.
Kazuya listened to the judge’s words and clenched his fists, his fingernails leaving deep marks on his hands. He didn’t feel the pain; he still remembered how pale the girl in the green dress looked as she squeezed his hand in return with her weak fingers. He was sure she was alive, she had to be. All the witnesses - the student who had called him in the middle of the night and Uchi, who was trembling in horror pleading for Kazuya’s help - pointed their fingers at him. They said it was Kazuya who had decided to make a surgery while drunk and telling that he was the best doctor in that filthy hospital.
It was useless to try to prove that Kazuya hadn’t done anything, that it had been Uchi who had started it and he had just tried to save her life and if she had died, maybe Kame deserved this punishment. .
The last day, when the sentenced was to be announced, Kazuya noticed a familiar face between the journalist and the curious idlers. A face that would burn itself in his heart, making it bleed. His mother, eyes red and full of tears, but at the same time, Kazuya saw as he desperately looked at her, full of faith; she believed that her son could never do something as horrible and cruel as this. He had big dreams, he was very kind and caring; her Kazu was different, and what these people were saying was just a lie. It was the first time during the whole trial that Kazuya had felt the weight of handcuffs and tried to suppress the urge to cry, hopelessly, desolately, desperately, like a baby.
The Peaceful Land still cared about people’s happiness and peace but people who lived there were ordinary human beings with their shortcomings and virtues, highs and lows. They wanted to think about their own good happy lives and if sometimes someone had to suffer and lost their life and all their dreams were crushed, well, it was just an unavoidable sacrifice. The honest politician would shake hands with the honored judge during some family dinner, discuss new equipment for fishing, and Kamenashi Kazuya would be on a boat to leave Peaceful Land, his destination the Island of Sighs, the last home of all criminals.
Life could be unfair, but Kazuya knew about it from long ago and he just had had another confirmation that destroyed his life and made Kamenashi Kazuya disappear from the face of the Earth.
***
They didn’t have a lot of wars in their land, but sometimes, the Peaceful Land wasn’t that peaceful because of criminals. When people live peacefully for a long time, they forget about the values of peace and tranquility and let greed and low desires win over moral ones.
In this land, people knew the value of strong people knowing how to fight and protect their homes from robbers and other criminals. That was why they tried to teach their boys how to fight, because one could easily find a work, helping to protect the land from these dirty people without moral and honor.
The criminals had to be isolated to let people live peacefully without fear. The Island of the Sighs - the last prison of the murderers, thieves, swindlers and other criminals, and people with no future and no hope. Walking on the ground of this island, they sighed and in the same land, they emitted their last sigh.
This Island was the place where people became slaves, because one who despised law and society, human life and morals, had no right or need to be free. This person had to live as a slave, doing heavy physical labor every day and regretting his crimes.
People live waiting for peace and happiness but behind the curtain always remained people who suffered for the others’ peaceful lives, the wheels of the machine called the State moved constantly and sometimes, not only criminals but also unlucky people with broken destinies who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong moment arrived on the island, forced to end their days in slavery. Should we call it unfairness or just the natural balance of life?
***
Inside the ship, you could feel the smell of dampness, dirty human bodies, rotten wood and despair. People were seated on the cold floor leant against the walls, felt the motion of the ship and dressed in the grey shapeless clothes; each of them held a blue paper bag in their hands. Kazuya with surprise noted to himself how this blue paper bag, the color of the sky, was looking out of place in the hands of people who were practically saying farewell to their life. When he left the jail, where he had been waiting for his time to leave, they gave him just this little paper bag with his name written on it.
They all sat in silence, not even looking at each other as they were all lost in their dark thoughts. Only the splashes caused by the waves hitting the sides of the ship were heard, and over it, the sound of the commands given by the Captain of the ship.
Kazuya slowly opened the bag, looking at what he found inside. A bitter smile appeared on his tired lips: it was only Uchi’s green shirt with the blood stains, rumpled and rolled up carelessly. He wanted to put the shirt in the bag again, as he didn’t need it, but something fell from the shirt on his hand. With surprise, he looked at the same green stone that he had seen at the neck of the girl he had tried to save. He had no idea how it had gotten into his clothes, maybe during the surgery it had gotten stuck on the fabric of this shirt, falling from her neck. He touched the smooth stone; it didn’t look like something expensive. But the golden chain had disappeared and the stone was on the plain black ribbon now.
The person who had packed Kazuya’s paper bag had decided that the chain was more valuable and had left only the stone, maybe thinking that it was something important to the owner and that at the isolated Island, Kazuya wouldn’t need something luxurious like a golden chain, but could keep the useless stone as a memory. People’s logic.
Kazuya turned the stone in his hand, thinking about what to do with it. This stone didn’t belong to him, but maybe this was just the game of the destiny; he wasn’t sure and just wore the ribbon around his neck. As the stone touched his skin, a very strange feeling appeared: on the spot where the stone touched his chest, his skin warmed up.
Kazuya was deep in his thoughts when he heard a hiss near him. It was a man with very short hair, almost bald; his face was distorted in a grimace of pain and he was touching his right leg. Kazuya saw what the problem was: his leg was wounded, maybe when they were boarding the ship someone had pushed him and he had cut his leg with something sharp. The wound wasn’t very big, but it was deep. They all had a flask with water, so Kazuya poured a bit on the green shirt and moved to the man’s leg. The man looked startled at him, eyes wide like a wild animal’s, and trying to move from Kazuya’s hands. The latter didn’t pay any attention to the man’s protest and calmly cleaned the wound. He ripped a piece of the soiled shit to bandage it. When he was done, he looked at other man eyes and explained:
“It could get infected if you leave it exposed.”
He looked at Kazuya. He was maybe the same age as him and had very delicate features, full lips and something in his a face that gave out a certain feeling of softness. Appearances could be deceptive, thought Kazuya while looking at his lean and strong body; this man was only comprised of muscles. He didn’t say a word and Kazuya sat back at his place, leaning against the wall and closing his eyes. He had the feeling that years had passed since that fateful day at the dormitory, but in fact, only two weeks had gone by; Justice could be fast when needed by certain people. He still wasn’t sure if what was happening was all real or just a nightmare; he had been in this state all the time since the trial; he didn’t want to think about anything, he was too tired of thinking. His eyes closed and Kazuya didn’t even notice when sleep took over him.
He woke up few hours later to someone’s yells, commanding the prisoners to leave the ship. All the condemned rose to their feet and prepared to follow the man in the guards uniform.
Kazuya took his first step onto the Island of Sighs. Maybe this was just the irony of life: the weather was very good, and the sun shone brightly. Kazuya however saw everything differently, maybe darker and gloomier. His steps were a little bit clumsy, since he had slept on the floor and his body was still stiff.
They were led to a table with a man seating behind a mountain of papers, writing something, and made to stand in a queue, waiting for their turn.
“Documents!” Commanded the man in a harsh voice without even raising his head, and took Kazuya’s papers.
“Your name?” the next question came in the same harsh tone.
“Kamenashi Kazuya.” His voice was calm, and a little tired. The man started writing, but stopped abruptly.
“Kame…? What?” he asked again, with a confused face that suggested he had been observing an insect that had suddenly started speaking to him.
“Kamenashi Kazuya,” Kazuya repeated patiently, feeling the sun burning his skin. He saw how the man started chewing his fat lips, dark from tobacco, lazily turning the pen in his hand. He finally looked at Kazuya with a smirk.
“Kame will be enough for you.”
Kazuya felt a cold sweat breaking over his skin as he clenched his fists with rage. They took away everything from him: career, family, reputation, dreams, life and took away his freedom and his name, because this fat idiot didn’t know how to write it properly.
He felt the anger making his blood boil and he felt the urge to punch the worker with all his might to erase that ugly grin from his fat face. The grin became even wider when he noticed Kazuya’s rage and his clenched fists. He stamped the papers and returned one to Kazuya, filled only with the insulting name.
“You are just a slave now and Kame will be enough for you. Next!”
He said the last command louder, but Kazuya couldn’t move from his place; he had never felt so humiliated. He had never hated anything as much as the feeling of powerlessness taking over him, when he knew that no matter what he would say or do, no one would bother to hear him out, much less believed what he had to say.
Someone pushed him, forcing him to leave his spot. Kame was looking at his feet, trying to take his rage under control and with surprise, he noticed the green fabric wrapped around the leg of the person who pushed him. Kazuya raised his head and saw the men from the ship who was now handing in his documents and sending warning looks at him.
Kazuya moved aside. The area was surrounded by guards so he sat down at some stones stairs, covering his face with hands. Five minutes later, he felt someone sitting next to him with a hiss, and a wounded leg was stretched out into his field of vision.
“I heard about your trial.” The other man’s voice was calm and Kazuya noticed the same deceptive softness of his features in it.
Kazuya chuckled bitterly. Who hadn’t heard about his trial? The press had had such a field day with the young, evil doctor who at night killed a young girl in his room with sharp scalpel.
“They made such a circus out of it.” The softness disappeared from this voice and now his eyes looked at Kazuya with another expression; it was acceptance. “Call me Ueda.” He added noticing how Kazuya was so surprised he couldn’t even utter a word. “How should I call you?”
It wasn’t an easy question because now, Kazuya had made a decision. He was a criminal now, he couldn’t be a doctor ever again, and all his dreams were dead and had been buried with his past life, his hopes and his desires. He was going to spend all his life at this damned Island and it only depended on him how it was going to be.
Human beings have evolved so that they can adapt to any conditions. The most important instinct is that of self-preservation, and people don't have intellect for nothing. They can weigh the pros and cons and decide the most favorable path for them. The force that leaded evolution during millennia was the desire to survive no matter what, swallowing pride and reevaluating of values.
“Kame.” He said calmly.
Ueda just nodded.
Maybe the world is unfair and during life, you will face betrayal and some stabs in the back. You can lose everything one day, but when the sun raises again, you are still alive, walking under its warmth, and you want to believe in people and maybe someone will bump shoulders with you, pushing you aside to calm down, even if this someone doesn’t know you at all. You still want to believe in friendship, even if you have lived the worst experience and felt burnt. People cannot live alone; they always need someone to believe in them, to be a friend in whom they can find support.
And so Kame prepared with Ueda to face their new home, with the sun shining brightly on the green silk fabric around Ueda’s legs with every step he took.
***
They were sitting on a ruin of a wooden cart pulled by an old horse. After taking their papers, the slaves were assigned to different jobs and sent to different places. Kame and Ueda shared the same destination. The old cart shook with every bump of the rough road, but at least, the gentle breeze coming from the sea cooled the skin heated by the sun, giving a small comfort.
Kame looked at the landscape as it passed. The Island was unexpectedly green and picturesque. It seemed like time had stopped there, and people lived in their own secluded reality. Different people in light clothes passed by; they all moved with leisure steps that suggested they had no hurry to reach their destinations. There were green fields with people working there, animals at another part of the field eating the grass with the same calm gestures. It wasn’t really how Kame had imagined this place, not like this, making his heart ache painfully with memories from his childhood.
Now, Kame was a slave and he belonged to his owner. Kame had to work for him and for this, the owner would give him a place to sleep and food to eat. He saw faraway a hill with a big white house at its top. The big gates swung open with a heavy sound, but as the cart wasn’t allowed to pass, Kame and Ueda jumped down to follow a guard that leaded them inside.
Kame looked around curiously; this wasn’t the main gate, maybe the special entrance for slaves. Everyone was minding their business, dressed in neat white clothes. Kame wondered if all these people were slaves or no. The guard told them to follow him with a firm voice and they obeyed as he took them to a one-storey house a bit far away from the door they had just closed.
Kame entered the house with Ueda and the guard left hastily. Inside, there was just one long room with plain beds at the sides and nothing else. The house was empty.
The sun was setting over the horizon when the house was filled with people, dressed in the same white robes like those they had seen before; Kame was surprised to note how they moved slowly, sinking into their beds with heavy sighs. Kame was sitting in the last bed of a row since it looked empty and free. Ueda had found another at the other side.
Kame’s neighbor took off his shirt, exposing his chest covered with many tattoos. This guy had a scary aura; he looked like a bandit with heavy eyes that examined Kame’s face.
“Are you new?” His voice sounded hoarse and tired. Kame nodded.
The bronzed face, tanned after long hours spent working under the sun, suddenly showed a bright grin full of white teeth.
“Welcome to Hell.”
His voice sounded amused and for the first time, Kame’s heart sank, and an ugly feeling appeared at the pit of his stomach. He had no idea what the future would bring him.
For the next few hours, Kame sat silently and just watched around, observing the people with whom he was going to live from now on. The man with the tattoos was lying on his bed and had buried his face in his pillow. His strong, muscled hands hung lifelessly at the sides of the bed.
Next to Ueda, there was another man, Kame could see his back and he thought that it was an old man, something in his pose reflecting his exhaustion, like he was carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. But when he turned his head, Kame realized with surprise that they had to be around the same age. Suddenly, the man took his hand to his mouth and started making strange noises that made the silent crow in the room look at him with fear. The man finally noted something was wrong and stopped abruptly, looking at Ueda with wide eyes as he rubbed his nose nervously.
Ueda was a real mystery for Kame. He wondered why he was there. He had broken the law, but what had he done? Ueda had such aristocratic and very gentle features but at the same time, it was obvious that he was dangerous.
Kame wasn't a good face reader, he couldn’t understand other people well and his current situation was just a confirmation of this inability. But he felt that maybe things were not so bad after all, and he could find a peaceful life there.
”You imagined everything differently, right?" The man with tattoos sat up on his bed and looked straight at Kame. Kame stayed silent; he had really imagined it differently.
”You were waiting to see dirty cages with bunches of people inside?" To be honest that was exactly how Kame had imagined it in his head. The man continued in a lower voice after a chuckle.
“It was like that. People lived in dirty stinky cages, like animals, and they died so often that there weren’t any healthy slaves left to work."
His eyes were dark, almost black, and the bitter line of his lips told Kame that it was true, and it was so horrible that he couldn’t even imagine it.
”Right, Maru?" The man’s voice sounded lighter now and Ueda’s neighbor just nodded.
"This greedy bastard Akanishi is a devil, but he cares about his money and reputation. Even the Government started wondering why his slaves were falling dead like flies in winter, and he constructed these palaces for us." The last words, he said them mockingly, spitting on the floor.
"Akanishi?" asked Kame. The man eyed him amused; he looked like he was enjoying the moment, but then again, maybe that was his usual expression.
“That’s the name of your owner. Remember it and if you happen to be so unlucky to meet him, don't look straight at his eyes or you will pay for it." He made a pause, looking significantly at Kame and then added with a smirk.
“But judging from your luck in choosing your bed, you will definitely meet him.”
So he belonged to Akanishi now. Thinking about himself as an object that belonged to someone was strange, and now he was curious to find out what kind of person Akanishi was. He couldn’t understand the remark about the bed he had chosen at all though.
***
They called him Kame now and he tried to call himself that in his own mind too so he could get used to it. No one started laughing when they heard the guard say his name and give him the set of clothes that all the slaves wore. They all had nicknames. People who found themselves at The Island of Sighs had a reason to be there, and they knew better than to ask questions and try to interfere in the business of other slaves.
The next day, Kame was woken up by the announcement that it was time to go to work. The tattooed man, who had introduced himself as Koki, was right. This was hell in the earth. First, on the long way to their destination, they passed the fields and beautiful green landscape and then headed into the mountains, as they were being sent to work in a mine for the whole day till the sun would hide under the horizon, and after that, the long way back and the obligatory shower.
Kame wasn’t the type who would ask questions even if he was very curious but Koki, who had a very bandit like appearance was very talkative, thought it was his duty to help Kame learn everything about this “damned place, where our bones will rot”.
In truth, slaves were living in cages until just one year ago, but a dangerous and very contagious disease killed a large number of slaves and this “devil in a human body, bloody bastard Akanishi” (as Koki referred to him and spat to emphasis the level of his despite) decided to build wooden houses and make obligatory showers to wash away all traces of the disease.
Kame listened carefully and understood very well the level of medical development on this island, he doubted they had a hospital. He saw these houses; they were placed one after another with almost twenty slaves in every house. Akanishi was a rich man, with a lot of slaves and as Koki said, he was the ruler of this island.
After two weeks of living there, during one rainy night, Kame understood why his bed was unlucky. Honestly, he chose this bed because the only little window at the ceiling was above it and Kame liked falling asleep under a little piece of the sky. That night, he woke up because of heavy drops falling right on his face, the window was leaky and by morning his pillow was wet. Also, the houses were made from a very thin material and during the night, it was so cold due to the wind coming in from the sea.
Every day after returning from work, Kame had only one desire; he wanted to bury his face in his pillow, and just fall asleep. All of his body was sore; every muscle was aching, because of the very hard and long physical work.
After one month of being in this Island, Kame felt more comfortable and thanks to the over talkative Koki, he knew almost everyone in this house.
Even if Koki looked scary and had an intimidating aura, Kame understood that he was a nice man. He repaired the window for Kame, and filled the holes with wooden sticks so Kame could sleep peacefully. He never asked about Kame's past, but he told a lot of stories about himself and others.
Proudly pointing to his chest, he exclaimed that he was a Pirate, when Kame looked doubtful, and asked what Koki meant by that, because he only heard about pirates in adventure books. Koki removed his shirt and showed him the big Tattoo and his shoulder with the word “Joker”.
“I’m a Joker. That's what pirates call me.” He threw a proud look at Kame and waited for his reaction. Kame just nodded, as this nickname suited Koki a lot, because of his facial expression: something between an amusing and a mocking smile.
Koki told Kame about Maru, that sometimes people called him “General”. Maru came from the same land as Kame; he was a very smart person and highly educated. Maru worked as an economist in a very large corporation, but someone made him a scapegoat for an accounting error and left him without work and money. Maru decided to use his brains differently and made a pyramid scheme to take revenge on this company, and he gained a lot of money, but he was caught in the end.
There was also the bunch of young boys, who were very noisy all the time, but in the end Kame noticed that the noise was really produced by just 2 of them. Koki said they were sailors, who dreamed of being pirates and stealing the ship of some serious man.
In their house the background of everyone was mixed, Koki pointed at a short man in his forties with an ugly face and warned Kame not to go near him. He was a dangerous murderer who wanted to rule in this house.
No matter your social circle, hierarchy exists everywhere, especially where someone wants to prove something to others. Some people decide to be silent, hoping that others will forget about their existence. Kame decided to live peacefully, working, sleeping and not messing with people who played dirty games in such a place that was a hell on earth.
One day, a new slave appeared at the door of their house. What Kame noticed straight away was how broken and crushed he looked. He was tall with brown straight hair that covered his face. He looked hesitantly around the room and sat on the bed that turned out to belong to Yazaki, the murderer with a Napoleon complex.
Yazaki immediately attacked him, trying to show who the ruler was here. Kame looked at this disgusting scene and his heart clenched. This new man's absolutely lost expression, like he didn't understand what this was all about, reminded Kame about his own trial, and Kame couldn’t tolerate unfairness and without thinking, he came closer.
“Let him go.” Kame's voice was calm. He tried to control the emotions boiling inside him.
Yazaki was absolutely shocked that someone dared to interfere. His lips curved in some kind of smirk, making him look even more like a bulldog and he hissed, “Make me.”
Kame punched him, hard, but Yazaki didn’t fall and prepared to punch him back. The new slave grabbed Yazaki by the collar and raised him up, his short legs trembled in the air. Kame couldn't believe his eyes, looking at the determined expression on the slave's face. Yazaki tried to free himself, but it was impossible, the grip was iron like.
Someone called out that a guard would be here soon and Kame whispered to the new slave.” Put him down, we must go!”
He put Yazaki down and left with Kame. Koki was shocked by Kame's behavior and with wide eyes, hit his shoulder.
“You are crazy.” It sounded like a compliment.
“I’m Taguchi!” pronounced the new slave and Kame watched in surprise as he smiled with a big sun like smile, that crept him out little bit, because just seconds ago, this man looked like the whole word was crushed.
“I will be happy to be your friend,” he announced with the same smile, placing a hand on Koki's shoulder. The latter froze, hesitantly remembering how Taguchi raised Yazaki up a minute ago, but still added irritably, “Don’t want to be your friend.”
“I will make you smile every day!” Taguchi's words sounded like a lifetime promise and Kame felt how he started to smile, maybe for the first time after that fateful night.
Sometimes, people who have strength in their arms don’t use it for defending themselves, because it’s not important for them, but they will give every drop of this strength to protect the one who shows them some kindness.
***
Kame meets "bloody" Akanishi, his owner, during the second month of living at the Island of Sighs. He was riding a black horse and checking his land.
What Kame noticed immediately was the way he moved. It was obvious that this man was used to having power in his hands. He was sitting straight, head raised proudly with a white fedora hat, protected from the burning sun. He was well built and had a youthful appearance for his age, Kame thought that maybe he was around fifty.
Kame couldn’t see his eyes very well, the fedora casting shadows over his eyes, but he saw perfectly his lips and the semi smile that was playing on them. Something in this smile made shivers run down his spine and a strange cold feeling appeared when he witnessed his sardonic smirk
Kame saw how he turned his head, like something caught his attention. It was a boy who lived in the same house as Kame, one of the sailors who made a lot of noise. The corner of his shirt was caught by the heavy door of the shower house and he was cursing loudly trying to free himself. His back faced Akanishi, so he couldn't see what was coming.
Akanishi help a black whip in his hand and lashed the boy with all his might. Kame heard a scream full of pain.
“Akanishi Miato got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Koki commented in disgust.
“Why he is doing this?" Kame asked, still hearing the screams. The cold smile still played on Akanishi's lips, witnessing the pain of the boy.
“Because this is his slave and he just wants to do it."
The fedora fell from Akanishi's head, showing his dark hair with grey strands.
When you are a slave, your life belongs to your owner, that means that he can take it away any time and this is his legal right. You break the Law, you are a criminal. In the Island of Sighs you were sold to your new owner and if your owner is a devil like Akanishi Miato, that’ means you can’t be sure if you will be alive tomorrow.