(no subject)
Title: Right Back to You: Chapter Four [of fourteen?]
Pairing: implied Matusmoto Jun/Aiba Masaki (Matsuba) and Ohno Satoshi/Ninomiya Kazunari (Ohmiya)
Rating: R
Word Count: 5637
Notes: In this chapter there is general OOCness on behalf of Jin, and not in the ... well, there is no 'good' OOC, but this will probably piss off KAT-TUN fans from now 'til Kingdom Come. There is violence and Nino's really gotten the short end of the stick for this chapter. Things get better and Nino becomes more Nino, I promise.
Previous Chapters
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Ohno tried to stay away from Miya after that night.
Neither Jun nor Taichi nor Nagase, nor any of the Kitagawa's made any mention of the Pet having slept in Ohno's room. Then again, Jun hadn't even mentioned that Ohno was still wearing a robe over his sleeping clothes - which meant that he hadn't noticed something that he would have normally picked up on immediately.
So Ohno made no mention of that night, and tried to stay away. The boy had obviously left him early and quickly so they weren't discovered, and if he wanted that night to remain a secret, Ohno didn't want to make his presence a burden.
But trying to stay away from Miya and actually doing it were two completely different things. It seemed everywhere he turned, the boy was there.
Ohno and Jun were given extensive tours of the grounds and the mansion, and the Pets were right there with them, brought along for their walk, as Kitagawa explained. It was hard to concentrate on the tour when his eyes kept circling madly from person to person, always landing back on Miya, and Ohno struggled not to be caught.
Ami - Aiba, his name was Aiba, and now that Ohno knew it, he wondered how the taller boy could answer to anything else - stayed by Jun's side, smiling serenely, occasionally brushing arms with Jun when Kitagawa wasn't looking. Toma and Kame walked on either side of Mary. Miya stayed by the lord's side, staring straight ahead and keeping silent. Ohno never once caught him looking back, and found that he was a little disappointed - a feeling he tried to squash ruthlessly.
He couldn't do this to Saya. It wasn't right.
The Pets also joined Ohno and Jun at every meal, because Kitagawa called for them constantly. After the first night Miya stayed on the opposite side of the table from Ohno, sitting on the floor between Mary and Julie, if the hair over the table was any indication. Aiba sat where he was told to, often on the other side of Mary, but his eyes kept trailing over to Jun.
Ohno knew because he would meet Aiba's eyes when their gazes crossed - his own eyes kept seeking out Miya. Miya studiously never looked back, but Ohno thought the Pet's body tensed in response to his gaze. He wanted to believe that he did.
------
The second night Ohno went out again, back to the same window where they'd met in the dark. He didn't know why he was waiting, or what he thought waiting would accomplish, but Miya wasn't there, and Miya didn't come.
Ohno stood there for uncounted minutes before accepting that Miya didn't even know he was there. With a half-hearted chuckle, Ohno wondered what he was doing and started back towards his room. He had to stop this.
Saya was waiting for him to come home. They'd known each other since they were children. They had a long-standing engagement that was likely his last hope ever to be married. His mother dearly wanted grandchildren, and no other woman would have him - his head was too high in the clouds. Saya indulged in his art, though. Saya let him paint her. Saya had even sat through his brief scandal involving Jun and curious, experimental touches.
Miya surely wasn't interested, and Ohno could do nothing for him.
Miya probably didn't even trust him.
------
Three days after Ohno and Jun arrived at Kitagawa's estate, the negotiations were completed.
A day later, they were preparing to leave, with all the fanfare Kitagawa had never accorded any other guest. (Miya half-wondered if the Borderland men realized that they were being treated in a special way, but the chances were more likely they were just happy to leave.)
And with the guests, Aiba was gone.
The distinct lack of Aiba was the first thing that Miya noticed when he woke up. He shot up, regretting the action for a second as his body twinged, but otherwise not caring - he was mostly healed, anyway. He looked around the whole room twice, as if the taller boy would appear on the second round. Toma was there, curled on his side and whuffling lightly in his sleep as he often did. Kame had been taken by Jin for the night; he'd had Aiba the night before. Aiba wasn't on his sleeping mattress; he wasn't even in the room. Miya frowned.
Aiba had been there and gone to sleep with them, but now Aiba was gone. Where would he have gone? He couldn't have been called by anyone; Miya and Toma would have woken up at the call, too. None of them slept heavily when Kitagawa was in the mansion.
Miya got to his knees in preparation to stand and begin a full out search for his missing friend. As he did so, his hand brushed an object that crinkled when he started to push himself off the mattress. He let himself fall back down, grabbing the object up and almost ripping it in his haste.
It was a piece of paper, with two hastily scrawled words on it: gone free
Miya stared at the paper for a long time, trying to puzzle out what it was supposed to mean, and why he'd gotten it. They were among the few words he knew how to read - Toma had taught them simple things in secret every now and then, telling the others that reading and writing were things people did when they had free time or work - so it had to come from one of the others. Kame wouldn't write to him. It was silly for Toma to have written such things.
Aiba then. Aiba had ...
"Gone free," Miya whispered. The meaning clicked and his face went slack. "The idiot did it."
He didn't know when it happened, or how it happened. (He had an idea, of course - he'd heard nothing but Jun's name for three days since the Border nobles had come to the mansion as guests and Miya'd never seen Aiba glow quite like that before they'd come.)
He didn't know how he felt about it, either. He would love to have been able to say that he was just happy for Aiba, who had finally found his freedom. But a large part of Miya was mostly warring between excitement to learn that it could be done, and abandonment, because Aiba was gone and Miya wasn't going with him. Aiba would be happy, maybe even made a citizen of wherever Jun and Ohno lived, and Miya would continue to live as a Pet.
Idly, he wondered if the Kitagawa's were awake yet. Surely the lord must have been - he would have gone to see off Ohno and Jun if they were gone, or he would be preparing to do so if they hadn't left yet. The Young Master would also likely be awake, because he would have to go as well. Which meant that if they didn't know quite yet, they were going to find out soon, and they were going to be angry. They might search through Jun's and Ohno's things, then, and they might find Aiba there, but they would come to see Miya and Toma first, because Miya and Toma were Pets, and Pets were always the first suspects.
With a frown on determination, Miya quickly tore the note to as many pieces as he could and gathered them into his hands. It was still slow going, getting to his feet. It was slower than it should have been, walking from his mattress to the small fire that was allowed in the cold months for warmth. His lower body was still not pleased with fast movements, and Miya resented the lack of mobility.
It only gave him more reason to keep the Young Master from learning where one of his toys had disappeared to. Jin would without a doubt kill Aiba should they find him trying to escape, and he might even try to have Jun put to death, and Miya couldn't let that happen. Not to Aiba.
Miya threw the pieces into the dying fire and watched the flames spring up, lapping at the new fuel. Watching the pieces burn and disappear. Then he walked back to the mattress and allowed himself to fall next to Toma. The older boy was often warm, even when it was cold, and he obviously liked being warm because even in his sleep he had a habit of wrapping himself around whoever was closest to him. That person was usually Miya, who was always the one sleeping next to the blond. It had annoyed him at first, but as used to sleeping with someone else as he was, Miya hated sleeping alone, and somewhere along the way, that presence wrapped around him had become comforting.
Toma obliged Miya by rolling over seconds later and twining himself around Miya's body. The slighter boy sighed and buried himself as far into the blond's arms as he could. Right now Miya needed this comfort.
Because Aiba was free, and Miya was going to see that he stayed that way.
And if he had his way, Miya would be the only one to suffer for it later.
------
Miya was wide awake and wrapped in Toma's arms when the door opened and Kitagawa stepped in. The lord reached over and rang the bell that woke them every morning. The blond woke immediately, as they'd been trained to do.
He rolled away from Miya and sat up quickly, forcing sleep to subside. When he realized who stood there, he tried to adopt the suitable position of deference. His voice was touching in it's concern. Too bad neither Kitagawa nor Mary would care about it, Miya thought.
"Master? Mary-sama? What is it?"
Miya took a bit more time in getting up, as was his way. He knew what this was about. Kitagawa's face was thunderous. He was clearly straining to hold his temper down. Behind him, Mary stood, looking vaguely frightened. Jin stood there, too, his eyes affixed to Miya's face. He'd already decided that Miya was the culprit, the Pet realized. Good.
"Ami is gone," said Mary.
Her voice was soft and dead, her eyes focused on some point on the wall that only she could see. No Pet had ever gone missing. Toma looked at Miya, wide-eyed, as though looking for instructions. Miya gave him nothing. Toma turned back to the Kitagawa's.
"What? How? Master, is that possible?"
"Where is Ami?" Kitagawa demanded softly.
Toma's features drew together in confusion. Miya's eyes flicked to the hearth, wherein he knew the charred pieces of Aiba's letter lay, and he kept his stare blank as though he was trying to think of something quickly. There was a low clearing of his throat from Kitagawa. Miya looked back and forth from Toma to the Master and Mary and Young Master glowering in the doorway. Kame would be skulking somewhere behind them.
"Ami? Isn't he in the house, Master?" Miya asked dumbly.
"No. We're quite sure he's gone."
"He fell asleep with us."
"And he clearly isn't here now."
Miya shrugged. "I thought he'd woken early. He isn't in the bath? Sometimes he does that."
"You know where he is," Jin burst out angrily, stepping forward. "He was your friend. I saw your eyes go to the fire. What did you do to the evidence? Where is he?"
"Are you sure he's not here? Have you looked?"
"Do not insult him and do not play stupid, Pet," Kitagawa said. His voice was low and warning. "Either Ami has been stolen, or he's run away. Nobody's had the opportunity to steal him - those Borderland idiots have been uncomfortable just looking at you - so he must have run off."
"But - " Toma started, distressed, "But he wouldn't do that!"
"Pets sometimes go astray. He was always prone to fancy," said Mary quickly.
She sounded desperate to diffuse the situation; Miya had never heard that tone in her voice before. Her eyes locked onto Miya's, begging without words for him to give Kitagawa and Jin something. Anything that might end this. Miya almost felt touched. It was funny in its own way. Miya had his suspicions who Aiba'd gone with, and those would be enough to get the Young Master and the Master off his case. Had it been anyone else, he probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. This time he had no intention of saying anything.
Kitagawa continued to stare speculatively at Miya, and the Young Master continued to glare at him. Miya met their eyes calmly, not even attempting confusion. That was all the evidence Kitagawa needed.
He nodded slowly, as if to himself. "Yes, I think Jin is right. You must know something, Miya. He was always closest to you, he must have confided his plans. Come. Tell us where he is. Tell us where he thought he was going, and you'll not be punished."
As though Miya believed that. Even if Kitagawa was telling the truth, Miya shuddered to think what would happen to Aiba if they found him. He'd heard tales all his life. Miya dimly remembered a Pet who'd been with him when he was young - all he remembered of that girl was her voice screaming until it trailed away and the smell of blood. He'd been estimated at six or seven at the time; Aiba had been her replacement.
"I can't," Miya said, letting an edge of anxiety creep into his voice, "I don't know where he is."
"You do," Jin spat, "Tell us!"
"He doe - "
"Silence!" Kitagawa said sharply, "You have not been asked to speak, Tottchi."
"No, I wo - can't. I can't tell you. I really can't. I don't know."
The Young Master came forward and grabbed Miya by the back of his hair. Miya was dragged up to his feet roughly, head pulled back at an angle that made him grimace. He bit on his bottom lip to keep from crying out.
"You won't, you said," Jin hissed.
"I didn't!"
"You stopped yourself. You know where he is. Tell me now."
"I don't know! He never said anything!"
"Father," Jin said, appealing to Kitagawa.
The Lord sighed heavily and nodded. He turned away from Jin and started to the door, speaking over his shoulder. "If he does not tell us, you may bring him to the Post. Perhaps he will speak then."
Jin grinned at Miya. "The Post, boy. Tell us if you don't want to go there. Tell us where Ami is."
"He's gone. That's all I know," Miya whimpered, "He disappeared this morning."
"I don't believe you."
"That's your problem."
Miya was vaguely aware that Toma gasped. It was entirely the wrong answer, and he knew it was the wrong answer, but it was something he'd wanted to say to the Young Master for so long that Miya didn't care.
The hand at the back of his head clenched in his hair. Then it was all Miya could do to keep his feet under him as Jin dragged him from the room, Mary and Toma and Kame following behind. From the corner of his eye saw, Miya noticed Ohno in the hallway as they passed, but he wasn't given time to think what the noble was doing there. If they hadn't left, this would hopefully be enough of an encouragement for them to get moving and get Aiba away.
------
The Post was a familiar place to Miya. He'd been chained to it many times in his life, always at the hands of Jin. It always meant more pain than usual, because it was meant for punishment. Jin cuffed Miya's hands on the other side and disappeared somewhere behind the Pet, taking his time purposefully to allow Miya to wonder what he was doing.
Miya didn't have to wonder. He knew what the Post meant. He knew the procedures that Jin favored the most, and the tools that Jin liked best to use. He almost laughed. The morbidly funny thing was that this time Miya was completely innocent, yet he had no intention of trying to plead his case.
Aiba was gone, and Aiba wasn't coming back, and Miya wanted it to stay that way.
Something sharp stripped skin from his back and sent a burst of fire down his spine. The instrument wasn't a whip so much as it was a riding crop with a sharpened metal edge at the end. He hadn't felt that one in a long time. He'd been too good for it.
"Where is Ami?" Jin growled.
Miya laughed softly. "He's left. You scared him off."
A whip's crack was the most frightening part of it, the Pet had long decided. Sure it hurt when it came down, but that could be ignored. It was the crack of it that made for anticipation of the pain to come, and that anticipation made the pain seem worse. Once you remembered that you could time it from the crack of the whip to it touching you, you could begin to get used to it.
This didn't have a crack to estimate by. This crop whistled through the air and you couldn't ever be quite certain when it would land on you, so you couldn't get used to it. You couldn't do anything but try not to cry.
"Where is he trying to run to?"
"Not telling," the Pet sing-songed.
Jin didn't have to know that Miya himself really didn't know where Aiba was. Miya had no intention of telling him. The crop came down on his back. Miya giggled. Aiba was gone. Aiba was free. He hoped the older boy lived. He hoped he'd found somewhere good to be. He hoped that Aiba had gone with Jun - Aiba had been so giggle-y after that first night, so happy. He'd slipped into their room that morning and found Miya sitting quietly and had grabbed him and kissed him, and Miya hadn't thought that one person could feel so much joy. Miya hoped he still felt that.
"How did he leave?" Jin asked.
"Dunno," Miya said with relish, "and if I did, I wouldn't tell."
The whip came down again, harder than it had been. He swallowed back a cry of pain.
"You'll scream for mercy if you don't tell me where he is."
"No I won't."
Jin put more force into the next blows, never landing the bladed tip in the same place twice until there was no more new skin to mar. Miya kept his lips pressed stubbornly together. The Young Master liked to hear cries of pain from naughty Pets as much as he liked to hear his lovers in bed. Miya would give him nothing. The crop seared his skin, sharpened metal tip coming down harder and with each blow. Miya bit into his lip and watched the far wall. With a vague sense of alarm, he noted that his vision was blurring. Sweat rolled down his forehead. The air smelled like blood.
"Jin."
How long had he been there, now? His legs were starting to tremble. Someone was making worried, almost panicked noises in the distance. The floor was cold on his knees.
Miya's brow furrowed. He didn't remember kneeling. He blinked, and when his eyes opened again, his sight had dimmed. Someone was in front of him; there was a torso and legs and arms and hands were touching him but he couldn't feel them. The arms shook him - he knew because he watched it happen. Had he been released, then? When? Miya tried to look up, but his whole body felt made of lead.
"Miya!"
The sound came as though through water, but there was a cadence to it that sounded like somebody might have been yelling. His vision was tunneling. Miya dragged his eyes up to meet Toma's. He smiled. Then he fell forward into darkness.
------
Kitagawa berated Jin loudly and without pausing for breath, but Ohno couldn't understand a word of it. Toma was crying over Miya, holding onto the boy and calling his name and shaking him, but Ohno couldn't see the blond. He couldn't think of anything past the abuse he'd just witnessed. He couldn't feel anything but a rage such as he'd never felt before. He couldn't look at anything but Miya's tiny, underfed, bloody body lying limply in Tottchi's - no, his name was Toma, Aiba'd told him - arms.
"Bring him here," Kitagawa snapped.
The Pet was pulled forcefully away from Toma by a large servant. Out of the corner of his eye, Ohno saw the blond try to go after Miya, but Kame stopped him, pulling him back to the floor hurriedly and watching Kitagawa and Jin with scared eyes. Kame hadn't interacted much with Miya during their time here, but Ohno thought he was scared more for Miya's life than for himself. Toma sank backwards and slumped against the other Pet, stunned.
Ohno watched the servant drag Miya to Kitagawa and dump his bleeding body at the man's feet. Jin watched in a corner, looking like a shamed and sullen child caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Kitagawa nudged the bleeding Pet, and Ohno held his breath.
Miya let out a breathy whimper, just barely audible.
"Huh. Still alive." The lord sighed heavily and aimed his next words like a casual barb at Jin, "Well. He'll scar badly, if he even survives, and I can't have that in my house." He waited until Jin looked down apologetically, then turned to his sister. "Mary. You'll take him."
There was something in his tone that Ohno didn't like.
"Yes, Brother," the woman said, her face blank but her voice wavering.
"Where is he going?" Ohno asked. He couldn't stop himself.
"Nowhere of importance," Kitagawa said smoothly.
Miya was going to die.
Ohno knew that then, taking in the slight body and watching Miya's small fingers curling and uncurling - fingers that had curled around his own not too long ago - and his glazed eyes try to find familiar faces from between nearly closed lashes. He knew it looking at the horror on Toma's face. He knew it looking at the grudging worry in Kame's face. Kitagawa was going to let Miya die.
"How much?"
"Eh?"
"How much do you want for him?" Ohno asked, "I want him."
"He's a trouble maker. Don't waste your money."
Ohno didn't know where the words were coming from, and he didn't know what he was going to do if Kitagawa actually agreed to it. He just knew he couldn't let Miya die. "It's my money to waste, and I liked the look of him. How much for him?"
Kitagawa looked at Ohno for a long time, as though appraising him. He nudged Miya absently with his foot again. The Pet whimpered. Ohno flinched ever so slightly at the sound, but his jaw firmed in anger. Nobody had the right to treat a person so carelessly.
"How much do you want?" he repeated.
The lord smiled, only a little coldly. "I'll give him to you. He's useless to me now."
Ohno blinked. Was he supposed to say 'thank you'?
"He won't survive the night," Kitagawa added casually, shrugging and turning away. "Mary, get his papers. Miya's going to a new home. Jin, come with me."
The young man followed his adopted father sullenly out. The room was left silent but for the heavy breaths Miya struggled to take in. Mary bowed shakily and left out of a side door Ohno hadn't noticed before. Toma was on his feet a second later, racing across the room and dropping to his knees by Miya's side.
"Miya?" he murmured, "Miya, can you hear me? Miya?"
"Stop it," Kame said, voice cold and face blank. "He'll be dead soon."
"Shut up!" Toma growled, whipping around, "He will not die!" The Pet turned to Ohno, eyes pleading with him. "Right? He won't die, right?"
"Help me clean the wounds," Ohno said. He felt like he was a million miles away from his body. He didn't know if Miya would survive a trip to the nearest clinic. "Then help me get him out of here. I'll see what I can do to keep him alive."
------
Jin was angrily quiet for all of ten seconds before he stopped and shouted after his adopted father's back, "You're just going to let him go? Let all of them go?"
Kitagawa slowed and stopped at his own pace, then turned. His expression was calm, and Jin shivered in fear. The man took a few paces back towards Jin - the boy found he had to force himself not to run.
"You have no place to be questioning my decisions."
"But - father, I - "
"Don't presume to give me such a title. I should disown you now and seek a more worthy heir. Your actions have just cost me a very valuable piece of merchandise. The value on his head far exceeded the value on yours."
Jin's hands clenched into fists, but he said nothing. Kitagawa glared at him, and Jin raised his head, trying not to let the man intimidate him. "So you're going to let another piece go?"
"Has what little brain you possessed when I found you melted through your other head?" the man asked, as though Jin were a slow child.
Jin blinked at him, unable to speak.
"They think they're leaving, but they'll not be beyond my reach for a moment."
"You mean - "
Kitagawa smiled, a chilling sight and a far cry from the practiced, pleasant smile he'd granted the Borderland nobles. "Ueda's not been given a job for a while. It's high time he was let back into the field, don't you think?"
Jin nearly shuddered.
"Tottchi will have to go with him. Should Miya survive, Miya may be able to draw out Ami; but we can't place our hopes in that," Kitagawa said pointedly.
Jin looked down. "Shall I call for him?"
"Yes. Yes do. You might as well make yourself useful as an errand boy; since apparently you can do nothing else."
------
Miya was on his stomach on the bed, face completely slack in unconsciousness and limbs splayed where they'd landed when he'd been placed carefully down. Ohno stood by the door of the inn room, his mouth drawn into a tight line of discontent as he watched Aiba reposition the smaller boy and carefully re-clean and wrap the shreds of his back.
Jun stood at his side, silent and casting worried glances at Ohno every few seconds. Taichi and Nagase had long since withdrawn from the room, going off to do whatever it was they did. Maybe they were keeping an eye out for a sign of Kitagawa. Ohno wouldn't blame them. They'd all been on the edge since this morning.
They weren't out of the Eastlands yet.
Ohno's eyes traced the line from Aiba's hands on Miya's body to Miya's face, wondering what relationship they had that brought such care to the taller boy's touch. He watched Miya's face, looking for signs of life that accompanied sleeping - but Miya's eyes didn't move under his closed lids - trying not to think about the perfect shadowed arcs Miya's eyelashes made on his pale sin.
What had he done?
Standing guard beside Ohno, Jun frowned. He didn't like the look on Ohno's face. He didn't like the self-loathing that was creeping in to Ohno's eyes. He didn't like that it was his fault that it was there. Jun placed a hand on the older man's elbow, gripping it gently to get Ohno's attention. Ohno didn't look at him, but his eyes closed.
"Ohno-kun?"
Ohno shook his head once and swept out of the room. Jun spared a glance over his shoulder at Aiba to make sure the other was okay. Aiba didn't seem to notice anything but his injured friend, treating every cut slowly and carefully. His lips were pressed into a thin line of determination, like he was willing the slight boy to live. It would be fine for Jun to go after Ohno, then.
Jun followed Ohno out of the room, stopping abruptly as he nearly ran into the older man. His friend was pacing the hallway, five steps in either direction. He saw Jun, turned on his heel and stormed off towards their room. Jun sighed and followed him.
Ohno rounded on the younger man as soon as the door was closed. "What the hell did I just do?" he demanded.
"What?" Jun asked intelligently.
But Ohno wasn't really looking for an answer, because he went on to answer himself without missing a beat. "I bought a person, Jun! Bought a person!"
Jun sighed. "You saved him from otherwise certain death, Ohno. That's hardly a crime."
"He's not free from death yet," Ohno said miserably, "We have to get him to a real doctor to make sure the cuts aren't infected and we can't do that here because who knows who will recognize Aiba?"
"You're giving him a chance to live, then, which is more than they would have done."
"And I bought him to do it."
"They gave him to you, actually."
It seemed like a reasonable response, but it only seemed to get Ohno's feathers farther ruffled. He threw his hands up in the air, and Jun ducked one as it came flying down.
"That's even worse! I would have paid for him. I nearly did. They saved me money."
"Ohno - "
"He'll never trust me now. He's just moved on from one master to the next. How can I be any better than them?"
Jun frowned, upset that Ohno would even think something like that about himself. Why couldn't he see that he'd done a good thing? And if he thought this about himself, what could he possibly think about Jun? The thought caused Jun's stomach to knot horribly, but Ohno didn't notice.
"Oh, and what am I going to tell Mother and Father? 'Oh, well, I was going to pay for this human, but they gave him to me instead. He might be a bit broken, but weren't they so kind as to part with him'?" Ohno's voice rose steadily in pitch, growing more desperate, "They'll never speak to me again! And Saya! What will she think of me? Gods, I can't tell them this. What am I supposed to do with him? I can't keep him!"
"So what will you do?"
The older man raked his hands through his hair in agitation. "I ... I don't know! I'll ... I'll have to leave him somewhere."
Jun said nothing. He kept his lips together and kept his face neutral and let Ohno rant. The thought of leaving Miya somewhere was a little appalling, especially given his current injuries. Even if they did find him a doctor and make sure he lived, the thought of leaving the boy didn't sit well with Jun, partially because Miya had gotten those injuries while saving Jun's skin (unintentionally thought it was). Jun waited for Ohno to realize that. The older man didn't take long.
"Oh, what am I saying now?" Ohno groaned. He sat heavily on the inn bed. "He's hurt and alone. I can't leave him."
"Then let him stay with you."
It seemed so easy when Jun said it like that, and he wanted to. The gods knew that Ohno wanted to. He'd wanted that since Miya had taken his hand, as he wanted nothing else. He didn't understand it, the intensity of these feelings, and that scared him.
He'd spoken to the boy twice in three days. He'd seen the boy sleep in his bed once, and now all he could think about was keeping the boy with him. But how could he convince the boy to stay with him? Miya would think that he was nothing more than a master. And what would his mother say to that?
Ohno shook his head violently. "I can't! Mother and Father and Saya would never understand."
"So wait until he's healed."
"I don't know how to take care of someone!"
"Ask for Sho's help. His healers are the best."
"No!" Ohno cried, "Absolutely not! I can't tell him; he'd never look at me again! Miya will have to be a secret."
Jun sighed and fought the urge to let his head meet the wall behind it repeatedly. "You do realize you're proposing to keep him hidden from your parents? The parents in whose house you still live?" he asked. "Another human in the house tends to be noticeable, and your mother is anything but oblivious when it comes to her house."
"She'd find out sooner or later," Ohno agreed with a sigh.
The younger man walked over and put his hand on Ohno's shoulder. "You saved a boy from an abusive master who would have left him to die. Just tell her that. She's not going to turn him away for that. Or you."
"What if she doesn't understand?"
"This is your mother we're talking about. Of course she'll understand. When has she ever not understood you - even when you're not making any sense?"
Finally a tiny twitching-lips smile crossed Ohno's face. He sighed in frustration seconds later.
"I just didn't want it to come to this."
"Neither did I," Jun said quietly.
Ohno shot to his feet, grabbing Jun's wrists and apologizing with wide eyes. "I didn't mean it like that, Jun!"
Jun stared at the older man for a moment. He was conflicted, still sure that he'd brought this situation upon Ohno, but barely able to keep his amusement from showing and touched at the older man's immediate reaction. Then again, sometimes Ohno really was too easy to predict.
"You can make it up to me by taking care of Miya. Aiba-chan will be sad if he dies."
Pairing: implied Matusmoto Jun/Aiba Masaki (Matsuba) and Ohno Satoshi/Ninomiya Kazunari (Ohmiya)
Rating: R
Word Count: 5637
Notes: In this chapter there is general OOCness on behalf of Jin, and not in the ... well, there is no 'good' OOC, but this will probably piss off KAT-TUN fans from now 'til Kingdom Come. There is violence and Nino's really gotten the short end of the stick for this chapter. Things get better and Nino becomes more Nino, I promise.
Previous Chapters
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Ohno tried to stay away from Miya after that night.
Neither Jun nor Taichi nor Nagase, nor any of the Kitagawa's made any mention of the Pet having slept in Ohno's room. Then again, Jun hadn't even mentioned that Ohno was still wearing a robe over his sleeping clothes - which meant that he hadn't noticed something that he would have normally picked up on immediately.
So Ohno made no mention of that night, and tried to stay away. The boy had obviously left him early and quickly so they weren't discovered, and if he wanted that night to remain a secret, Ohno didn't want to make his presence a burden.
But trying to stay away from Miya and actually doing it were two completely different things. It seemed everywhere he turned, the boy was there.
Ohno and Jun were given extensive tours of the grounds and the mansion, and the Pets were right there with them, brought along for their walk, as Kitagawa explained. It was hard to concentrate on the tour when his eyes kept circling madly from person to person, always landing back on Miya, and Ohno struggled not to be caught.
Ami - Aiba, his name was Aiba, and now that Ohno knew it, he wondered how the taller boy could answer to anything else - stayed by Jun's side, smiling serenely, occasionally brushing arms with Jun when Kitagawa wasn't looking. Toma and Kame walked on either side of Mary. Miya stayed by the lord's side, staring straight ahead and keeping silent. Ohno never once caught him looking back, and found that he was a little disappointed - a feeling he tried to squash ruthlessly.
He couldn't do this to Saya. It wasn't right.
The Pets also joined Ohno and Jun at every meal, because Kitagawa called for them constantly. After the first night Miya stayed on the opposite side of the table from Ohno, sitting on the floor between Mary and Julie, if the hair over the table was any indication. Aiba sat where he was told to, often on the other side of Mary, but his eyes kept trailing over to Jun.
Ohno knew because he would meet Aiba's eyes when their gazes crossed - his own eyes kept seeking out Miya. Miya studiously never looked back, but Ohno thought the Pet's body tensed in response to his gaze. He wanted to believe that he did.
------
The second night Ohno went out again, back to the same window where they'd met in the dark. He didn't know why he was waiting, or what he thought waiting would accomplish, but Miya wasn't there, and Miya didn't come.
Ohno stood there for uncounted minutes before accepting that Miya didn't even know he was there. With a half-hearted chuckle, Ohno wondered what he was doing and started back towards his room. He had to stop this.
Saya was waiting for him to come home. They'd known each other since they were children. They had a long-standing engagement that was likely his last hope ever to be married. His mother dearly wanted grandchildren, and no other woman would have him - his head was too high in the clouds. Saya indulged in his art, though. Saya let him paint her. Saya had even sat through his brief scandal involving Jun and curious, experimental touches.
Miya surely wasn't interested, and Ohno could do nothing for him.
Miya probably didn't even trust him.
------
Three days after Ohno and Jun arrived at Kitagawa's estate, the negotiations were completed.
A day later, they were preparing to leave, with all the fanfare Kitagawa had never accorded any other guest. (Miya half-wondered if the Borderland men realized that they were being treated in a special way, but the chances were more likely they were just happy to leave.)
And with the guests, Aiba was gone.
The distinct lack of Aiba was the first thing that Miya noticed when he woke up. He shot up, regretting the action for a second as his body twinged, but otherwise not caring - he was mostly healed, anyway. He looked around the whole room twice, as if the taller boy would appear on the second round. Toma was there, curled on his side and whuffling lightly in his sleep as he often did. Kame had been taken by Jin for the night; he'd had Aiba the night before. Aiba wasn't on his sleeping mattress; he wasn't even in the room. Miya frowned.
Aiba had been there and gone to sleep with them, but now Aiba was gone. Where would he have gone? He couldn't have been called by anyone; Miya and Toma would have woken up at the call, too. None of them slept heavily when Kitagawa was in the mansion.
Miya got to his knees in preparation to stand and begin a full out search for his missing friend. As he did so, his hand brushed an object that crinkled when he started to push himself off the mattress. He let himself fall back down, grabbing the object up and almost ripping it in his haste.
It was a piece of paper, with two hastily scrawled words on it: gone free
Miya stared at the paper for a long time, trying to puzzle out what it was supposed to mean, and why he'd gotten it. They were among the few words he knew how to read - Toma had taught them simple things in secret every now and then, telling the others that reading and writing were things people did when they had free time or work - so it had to come from one of the others. Kame wouldn't write to him. It was silly for Toma to have written such things.
Aiba then. Aiba had ...
"Gone free," Miya whispered. The meaning clicked and his face went slack. "The idiot did it."
He didn't know when it happened, or how it happened. (He had an idea, of course - he'd heard nothing but Jun's name for three days since the Border nobles had come to the mansion as guests and Miya'd never seen Aiba glow quite like that before they'd come.)
He didn't know how he felt about it, either. He would love to have been able to say that he was just happy for Aiba, who had finally found his freedom. But a large part of Miya was mostly warring between excitement to learn that it could be done, and abandonment, because Aiba was gone and Miya wasn't going with him. Aiba would be happy, maybe even made a citizen of wherever Jun and Ohno lived, and Miya would continue to live as a Pet.
Idly, he wondered if the Kitagawa's were awake yet. Surely the lord must have been - he would have gone to see off Ohno and Jun if they were gone, or he would be preparing to do so if they hadn't left yet. The Young Master would also likely be awake, because he would have to go as well. Which meant that if they didn't know quite yet, they were going to find out soon, and they were going to be angry. They might search through Jun's and Ohno's things, then, and they might find Aiba there, but they would come to see Miya and Toma first, because Miya and Toma were Pets, and Pets were always the first suspects.
With a frown on determination, Miya quickly tore the note to as many pieces as he could and gathered them into his hands. It was still slow going, getting to his feet. It was slower than it should have been, walking from his mattress to the small fire that was allowed in the cold months for warmth. His lower body was still not pleased with fast movements, and Miya resented the lack of mobility.
It only gave him more reason to keep the Young Master from learning where one of his toys had disappeared to. Jin would without a doubt kill Aiba should they find him trying to escape, and he might even try to have Jun put to death, and Miya couldn't let that happen. Not to Aiba.
Miya threw the pieces into the dying fire and watched the flames spring up, lapping at the new fuel. Watching the pieces burn and disappear. Then he walked back to the mattress and allowed himself to fall next to Toma. The older boy was often warm, even when it was cold, and he obviously liked being warm because even in his sleep he had a habit of wrapping himself around whoever was closest to him. That person was usually Miya, who was always the one sleeping next to the blond. It had annoyed him at first, but as used to sleeping with someone else as he was, Miya hated sleeping alone, and somewhere along the way, that presence wrapped around him had become comforting.
Toma obliged Miya by rolling over seconds later and twining himself around Miya's body. The slighter boy sighed and buried himself as far into the blond's arms as he could. Right now Miya needed this comfort.
Because Aiba was free, and Miya was going to see that he stayed that way.
And if he had his way, Miya would be the only one to suffer for it later.
------
Miya was wide awake and wrapped in Toma's arms when the door opened and Kitagawa stepped in. The lord reached over and rang the bell that woke them every morning. The blond woke immediately, as they'd been trained to do.
He rolled away from Miya and sat up quickly, forcing sleep to subside. When he realized who stood there, he tried to adopt the suitable position of deference. His voice was touching in it's concern. Too bad neither Kitagawa nor Mary would care about it, Miya thought.
"Master? Mary-sama? What is it?"
Miya took a bit more time in getting up, as was his way. He knew what this was about. Kitagawa's face was thunderous. He was clearly straining to hold his temper down. Behind him, Mary stood, looking vaguely frightened. Jin stood there, too, his eyes affixed to Miya's face. He'd already decided that Miya was the culprit, the Pet realized. Good.
"Ami is gone," said Mary.
Her voice was soft and dead, her eyes focused on some point on the wall that only she could see. No Pet had ever gone missing. Toma looked at Miya, wide-eyed, as though looking for instructions. Miya gave him nothing. Toma turned back to the Kitagawa's.
"What? How? Master, is that possible?"
"Where is Ami?" Kitagawa demanded softly.
Toma's features drew together in confusion. Miya's eyes flicked to the hearth, wherein he knew the charred pieces of Aiba's letter lay, and he kept his stare blank as though he was trying to think of something quickly. There was a low clearing of his throat from Kitagawa. Miya looked back and forth from Toma to the Master and Mary and Young Master glowering in the doorway. Kame would be skulking somewhere behind them.
"Ami? Isn't he in the house, Master?" Miya asked dumbly.
"No. We're quite sure he's gone."
"He fell asleep with us."
"And he clearly isn't here now."
Miya shrugged. "I thought he'd woken early. He isn't in the bath? Sometimes he does that."
"You know where he is," Jin burst out angrily, stepping forward. "He was your friend. I saw your eyes go to the fire. What did you do to the evidence? Where is he?"
"Are you sure he's not here? Have you looked?"
"Do not insult him and do not play stupid, Pet," Kitagawa said. His voice was low and warning. "Either Ami has been stolen, or he's run away. Nobody's had the opportunity to steal him - those Borderland idiots have been uncomfortable just looking at you - so he must have run off."
"But - " Toma started, distressed, "But he wouldn't do that!"
"Pets sometimes go astray. He was always prone to fancy," said Mary quickly.
She sounded desperate to diffuse the situation; Miya had never heard that tone in her voice before. Her eyes locked onto Miya's, begging without words for him to give Kitagawa and Jin something. Anything that might end this. Miya almost felt touched. It was funny in its own way. Miya had his suspicions who Aiba'd gone with, and those would be enough to get the Young Master and the Master off his case. Had it been anyone else, he probably wouldn't have thought twice about it. This time he had no intention of saying anything.
Kitagawa continued to stare speculatively at Miya, and the Young Master continued to glare at him. Miya met their eyes calmly, not even attempting confusion. That was all the evidence Kitagawa needed.
He nodded slowly, as if to himself. "Yes, I think Jin is right. You must know something, Miya. He was always closest to you, he must have confided his plans. Come. Tell us where he is. Tell us where he thought he was going, and you'll not be punished."
As though Miya believed that. Even if Kitagawa was telling the truth, Miya shuddered to think what would happen to Aiba if they found him. He'd heard tales all his life. Miya dimly remembered a Pet who'd been with him when he was young - all he remembered of that girl was her voice screaming until it trailed away and the smell of blood. He'd been estimated at six or seven at the time; Aiba had been her replacement.
"I can't," Miya said, letting an edge of anxiety creep into his voice, "I don't know where he is."
"You do," Jin spat, "Tell us!"
"He doe - "
"Silence!" Kitagawa said sharply, "You have not been asked to speak, Tottchi."
"No, I wo - can't. I can't tell you. I really can't. I don't know."
The Young Master came forward and grabbed Miya by the back of his hair. Miya was dragged up to his feet roughly, head pulled back at an angle that made him grimace. He bit on his bottom lip to keep from crying out.
"You won't, you said," Jin hissed.
"I didn't!"
"You stopped yourself. You know where he is. Tell me now."
"I don't know! He never said anything!"
"Father," Jin said, appealing to Kitagawa.
The Lord sighed heavily and nodded. He turned away from Jin and started to the door, speaking over his shoulder. "If he does not tell us, you may bring him to the Post. Perhaps he will speak then."
Jin grinned at Miya. "The Post, boy. Tell us if you don't want to go there. Tell us where Ami is."
"He's gone. That's all I know," Miya whimpered, "He disappeared this morning."
"I don't believe you."
"That's your problem."
Miya was vaguely aware that Toma gasped. It was entirely the wrong answer, and he knew it was the wrong answer, but it was something he'd wanted to say to the Young Master for so long that Miya didn't care.
The hand at the back of his head clenched in his hair. Then it was all Miya could do to keep his feet under him as Jin dragged him from the room, Mary and Toma and Kame following behind. From the corner of his eye saw, Miya noticed Ohno in the hallway as they passed, but he wasn't given time to think what the noble was doing there. If they hadn't left, this would hopefully be enough of an encouragement for them to get moving and get Aiba away.
------
The Post was a familiar place to Miya. He'd been chained to it many times in his life, always at the hands of Jin. It always meant more pain than usual, because it was meant for punishment. Jin cuffed Miya's hands on the other side and disappeared somewhere behind the Pet, taking his time purposefully to allow Miya to wonder what he was doing.
Miya didn't have to wonder. He knew what the Post meant. He knew the procedures that Jin favored the most, and the tools that Jin liked best to use. He almost laughed. The morbidly funny thing was that this time Miya was completely innocent, yet he had no intention of trying to plead his case.
Aiba was gone, and Aiba wasn't coming back, and Miya wanted it to stay that way.
Something sharp stripped skin from his back and sent a burst of fire down his spine. The instrument wasn't a whip so much as it was a riding crop with a sharpened metal edge at the end. He hadn't felt that one in a long time. He'd been too good for it.
"Where is Ami?" Jin growled.
Miya laughed softly. "He's left. You scared him off."
A whip's crack was the most frightening part of it, the Pet had long decided. Sure it hurt when it came down, but that could be ignored. It was the crack of it that made for anticipation of the pain to come, and that anticipation made the pain seem worse. Once you remembered that you could time it from the crack of the whip to it touching you, you could begin to get used to it.
This didn't have a crack to estimate by. This crop whistled through the air and you couldn't ever be quite certain when it would land on you, so you couldn't get used to it. You couldn't do anything but try not to cry.
"Where is he trying to run to?"
"Not telling," the Pet sing-songed.
Jin didn't have to know that Miya himself really didn't know where Aiba was. Miya had no intention of telling him. The crop came down on his back. Miya giggled. Aiba was gone. Aiba was free. He hoped the older boy lived. He hoped he'd found somewhere good to be. He hoped that Aiba had gone with Jun - Aiba had been so giggle-y after that first night, so happy. He'd slipped into their room that morning and found Miya sitting quietly and had grabbed him and kissed him, and Miya hadn't thought that one person could feel so much joy. Miya hoped he still felt that.
"How did he leave?" Jin asked.
"Dunno," Miya said with relish, "and if I did, I wouldn't tell."
The whip came down again, harder than it had been. He swallowed back a cry of pain.
"You'll scream for mercy if you don't tell me where he is."
"No I won't."
Jin put more force into the next blows, never landing the bladed tip in the same place twice until there was no more new skin to mar. Miya kept his lips pressed stubbornly together. The Young Master liked to hear cries of pain from naughty Pets as much as he liked to hear his lovers in bed. Miya would give him nothing. The crop seared his skin, sharpened metal tip coming down harder and with each blow. Miya bit into his lip and watched the far wall. With a vague sense of alarm, he noted that his vision was blurring. Sweat rolled down his forehead. The air smelled like blood.
"Jin."
How long had he been there, now? His legs were starting to tremble. Someone was making worried, almost panicked noises in the distance. The floor was cold on his knees.
Miya's brow furrowed. He didn't remember kneeling. He blinked, and when his eyes opened again, his sight had dimmed. Someone was in front of him; there was a torso and legs and arms and hands were touching him but he couldn't feel them. The arms shook him - he knew because he watched it happen. Had he been released, then? When? Miya tried to look up, but his whole body felt made of lead.
"Miya!"
The sound came as though through water, but there was a cadence to it that sounded like somebody might have been yelling. His vision was tunneling. Miya dragged his eyes up to meet Toma's. He smiled. Then he fell forward into darkness.
------
Kitagawa berated Jin loudly and without pausing for breath, but Ohno couldn't understand a word of it. Toma was crying over Miya, holding onto the boy and calling his name and shaking him, but Ohno couldn't see the blond. He couldn't think of anything past the abuse he'd just witnessed. He couldn't feel anything but a rage such as he'd never felt before. He couldn't look at anything but Miya's tiny, underfed, bloody body lying limply in Tottchi's - no, his name was Toma, Aiba'd told him - arms.
"Bring him here," Kitagawa snapped.
The Pet was pulled forcefully away from Toma by a large servant. Out of the corner of his eye, Ohno saw the blond try to go after Miya, but Kame stopped him, pulling him back to the floor hurriedly and watching Kitagawa and Jin with scared eyes. Kame hadn't interacted much with Miya during their time here, but Ohno thought he was scared more for Miya's life than for himself. Toma sank backwards and slumped against the other Pet, stunned.
Ohno watched the servant drag Miya to Kitagawa and dump his bleeding body at the man's feet. Jin watched in a corner, looking like a shamed and sullen child caught with his hand in a cookie jar. Kitagawa nudged the bleeding Pet, and Ohno held his breath.
Miya let out a breathy whimper, just barely audible.
"Huh. Still alive." The lord sighed heavily and aimed his next words like a casual barb at Jin, "Well. He'll scar badly, if he even survives, and I can't have that in my house." He waited until Jin looked down apologetically, then turned to his sister. "Mary. You'll take him."
There was something in his tone that Ohno didn't like.
"Yes, Brother," the woman said, her face blank but her voice wavering.
"Where is he going?" Ohno asked. He couldn't stop himself.
"Nowhere of importance," Kitagawa said smoothly.
Miya was going to die.
Ohno knew that then, taking in the slight body and watching Miya's small fingers curling and uncurling - fingers that had curled around his own not too long ago - and his glazed eyes try to find familiar faces from between nearly closed lashes. He knew it looking at the horror on Toma's face. He knew it looking at the grudging worry in Kame's face. Kitagawa was going to let Miya die.
"How much?"
"Eh?"
"How much do you want for him?" Ohno asked, "I want him."
"He's a trouble maker. Don't waste your money."
Ohno didn't know where the words were coming from, and he didn't know what he was going to do if Kitagawa actually agreed to it. He just knew he couldn't let Miya die. "It's my money to waste, and I liked the look of him. How much for him?"
Kitagawa looked at Ohno for a long time, as though appraising him. He nudged Miya absently with his foot again. The Pet whimpered. Ohno flinched ever so slightly at the sound, but his jaw firmed in anger. Nobody had the right to treat a person so carelessly.
"How much do you want?" he repeated.
The lord smiled, only a little coldly. "I'll give him to you. He's useless to me now."
Ohno blinked. Was he supposed to say 'thank you'?
"He won't survive the night," Kitagawa added casually, shrugging and turning away. "Mary, get his papers. Miya's going to a new home. Jin, come with me."
The young man followed his adopted father sullenly out. The room was left silent but for the heavy breaths Miya struggled to take in. Mary bowed shakily and left out of a side door Ohno hadn't noticed before. Toma was on his feet a second later, racing across the room and dropping to his knees by Miya's side.
"Miya?" he murmured, "Miya, can you hear me? Miya?"
"Stop it," Kame said, voice cold and face blank. "He'll be dead soon."
"Shut up!" Toma growled, whipping around, "He will not die!" The Pet turned to Ohno, eyes pleading with him. "Right? He won't die, right?"
"Help me clean the wounds," Ohno said. He felt like he was a million miles away from his body. He didn't know if Miya would survive a trip to the nearest clinic. "Then help me get him out of here. I'll see what I can do to keep him alive."
------
Jin was angrily quiet for all of ten seconds before he stopped and shouted after his adopted father's back, "You're just going to let him go? Let all of them go?"
Kitagawa slowed and stopped at his own pace, then turned. His expression was calm, and Jin shivered in fear. The man took a few paces back towards Jin - the boy found he had to force himself not to run.
"You have no place to be questioning my decisions."
"But - father, I - "
"Don't presume to give me such a title. I should disown you now and seek a more worthy heir. Your actions have just cost me a very valuable piece of merchandise. The value on his head far exceeded the value on yours."
Jin's hands clenched into fists, but he said nothing. Kitagawa glared at him, and Jin raised his head, trying not to let the man intimidate him. "So you're going to let another piece go?"
"Has what little brain you possessed when I found you melted through your other head?" the man asked, as though Jin were a slow child.
Jin blinked at him, unable to speak.
"They think they're leaving, but they'll not be beyond my reach for a moment."
"You mean - "
Kitagawa smiled, a chilling sight and a far cry from the practiced, pleasant smile he'd granted the Borderland nobles. "Ueda's not been given a job for a while. It's high time he was let back into the field, don't you think?"
Jin nearly shuddered.
"Tottchi will have to go with him. Should Miya survive, Miya may be able to draw out Ami; but we can't place our hopes in that," Kitagawa said pointedly.
Jin looked down. "Shall I call for him?"
"Yes. Yes do. You might as well make yourself useful as an errand boy; since apparently you can do nothing else."
------
Miya was on his stomach on the bed, face completely slack in unconsciousness and limbs splayed where they'd landed when he'd been placed carefully down. Ohno stood by the door of the inn room, his mouth drawn into a tight line of discontent as he watched Aiba reposition the smaller boy and carefully re-clean and wrap the shreds of his back.
Jun stood at his side, silent and casting worried glances at Ohno every few seconds. Taichi and Nagase had long since withdrawn from the room, going off to do whatever it was they did. Maybe they were keeping an eye out for a sign of Kitagawa. Ohno wouldn't blame them. They'd all been on the edge since this morning.
They weren't out of the Eastlands yet.
Ohno's eyes traced the line from Aiba's hands on Miya's body to Miya's face, wondering what relationship they had that brought such care to the taller boy's touch. He watched Miya's face, looking for signs of life that accompanied sleeping - but Miya's eyes didn't move under his closed lids - trying not to think about the perfect shadowed arcs Miya's eyelashes made on his pale sin.
What had he done?
Standing guard beside Ohno, Jun frowned. He didn't like the look on Ohno's face. He didn't like the self-loathing that was creeping in to Ohno's eyes. He didn't like that it was his fault that it was there. Jun placed a hand on the older man's elbow, gripping it gently to get Ohno's attention. Ohno didn't look at him, but his eyes closed.
"Ohno-kun?"
Ohno shook his head once and swept out of the room. Jun spared a glance over his shoulder at Aiba to make sure the other was okay. Aiba didn't seem to notice anything but his injured friend, treating every cut slowly and carefully. His lips were pressed into a thin line of determination, like he was willing the slight boy to live. It would be fine for Jun to go after Ohno, then.
Jun followed Ohno out of the room, stopping abruptly as he nearly ran into the older man. His friend was pacing the hallway, five steps in either direction. He saw Jun, turned on his heel and stormed off towards their room. Jun sighed and followed him.
Ohno rounded on the younger man as soon as the door was closed. "What the hell did I just do?" he demanded.
"What?" Jun asked intelligently.
But Ohno wasn't really looking for an answer, because he went on to answer himself without missing a beat. "I bought a person, Jun! Bought a person!"
Jun sighed. "You saved him from otherwise certain death, Ohno. That's hardly a crime."
"He's not free from death yet," Ohno said miserably, "We have to get him to a real doctor to make sure the cuts aren't infected and we can't do that here because who knows who will recognize Aiba?"
"You're giving him a chance to live, then, which is more than they would have done."
"And I bought him to do it."
"They gave him to you, actually."
It seemed like a reasonable response, but it only seemed to get Ohno's feathers farther ruffled. He threw his hands up in the air, and Jun ducked one as it came flying down.
"That's even worse! I would have paid for him. I nearly did. They saved me money."
"Ohno - "
"He'll never trust me now. He's just moved on from one master to the next. How can I be any better than them?"
Jun frowned, upset that Ohno would even think something like that about himself. Why couldn't he see that he'd done a good thing? And if he thought this about himself, what could he possibly think about Jun? The thought caused Jun's stomach to knot horribly, but Ohno didn't notice.
"Oh, and what am I going to tell Mother and Father? 'Oh, well, I was going to pay for this human, but they gave him to me instead. He might be a bit broken, but weren't they so kind as to part with him'?" Ohno's voice rose steadily in pitch, growing more desperate, "They'll never speak to me again! And Saya! What will she think of me? Gods, I can't tell them this. What am I supposed to do with him? I can't keep him!"
"So what will you do?"
The older man raked his hands through his hair in agitation. "I ... I don't know! I'll ... I'll have to leave him somewhere."
Jun said nothing. He kept his lips together and kept his face neutral and let Ohno rant. The thought of leaving Miya somewhere was a little appalling, especially given his current injuries. Even if they did find him a doctor and make sure he lived, the thought of leaving the boy didn't sit well with Jun, partially because Miya had gotten those injuries while saving Jun's skin (unintentionally thought it was). Jun waited for Ohno to realize that. The older man didn't take long.
"Oh, what am I saying now?" Ohno groaned. He sat heavily on the inn bed. "He's hurt and alone. I can't leave him."
"Then let him stay with you."
It seemed so easy when Jun said it like that, and he wanted to. The gods knew that Ohno wanted to. He'd wanted that since Miya had taken his hand, as he wanted nothing else. He didn't understand it, the intensity of these feelings, and that scared him.
He'd spoken to the boy twice in three days. He'd seen the boy sleep in his bed once, and now all he could think about was keeping the boy with him. But how could he convince the boy to stay with him? Miya would think that he was nothing more than a master. And what would his mother say to that?
Ohno shook his head violently. "I can't! Mother and Father and Saya would never understand."
"So wait until he's healed."
"I don't know how to take care of someone!"
"Ask for Sho's help. His healers are the best."
"No!" Ohno cried, "Absolutely not! I can't tell him; he'd never look at me again! Miya will have to be a secret."
Jun sighed and fought the urge to let his head meet the wall behind it repeatedly. "You do realize you're proposing to keep him hidden from your parents? The parents in whose house you still live?" he asked. "Another human in the house tends to be noticeable, and your mother is anything but oblivious when it comes to her house."
"She'd find out sooner or later," Ohno agreed with a sigh.
The younger man walked over and put his hand on Ohno's shoulder. "You saved a boy from an abusive master who would have left him to die. Just tell her that. She's not going to turn him away for that. Or you."
"What if she doesn't understand?"
"This is your mother we're talking about. Of course she'll understand. When has she ever not understood you - even when you're not making any sense?"
Finally a tiny twitching-lips smile crossed Ohno's face. He sighed in frustration seconds later.
"I just didn't want it to come to this."
"Neither did I," Jun said quietly.
Ohno shot to his feet, grabbing Jun's wrists and apologizing with wide eyes. "I didn't mean it like that, Jun!"
Jun stared at the older man for a moment. He was conflicted, still sure that he'd brought this situation upon Ohno, but barely able to keep his amusement from showing and touched at the older man's immediate reaction. Then again, sometimes Ohno really was too easy to predict.
"You can make it up to me by taking care of Miya. Aiba-chan will be sad if he dies."