Love (Ai) – Part 3

Love (Ai) Part 3

Kyo grew up an orphan.  One of the lucky ones. He was placed in a home with an elderly couple who loved children.  He had two older foster siblings, Daisuke and Kaori. When he turned seventeen, he moved to the city to live with Daisuke who got a decent job working as a manager at a communications company.  

Kyo worked a bunch of jobs around the city while trying to win a scholarship into Geidai.

At the time, Daisuke had been going through some self-discovery issues and had put it upon himself to find out where he came from.  Daisuke discovered that his parents had indeed passed away when he was young and his aunt had been too old to take care of him. So she put him up in the orphanage.  Daisuke made peace with his past and with his questions answered, he urged Kyo to do the same.

Kyo slowed down on the street after leaving Park Hyatt Hotel.  

The search for Kyo’s parents started out easy enough.  A few questions here and there, and then the woman with too good a story showed up.  It hadn’t been the best of experiences, having some mad woman keep him in her home for two whole days claiming she really was his son.  

Kyo vowed never to search for his roots ever again.  He was happy living his life this way.  He was a decent artist and made enough from the exhibitions to send to his foster parents and pay rent on his one-bedroom apartment.  What else did he need?  

Wiping a hand down his face, Kyo reached into his pocket for his cell phone. He groaned in frustration when he couldn’t find it.  Kyo remembered he stuck it into his duffel bag so that he wouldn’t be interrupted during the exhibition.  He sighed.  It looked like he was going to have to walk to Harajuku.

It served him right for following a handsome man in a tuxedo for food.  Which he hadn’t even gotten, he thought, pressing his hand on his empty complaining stomach.

“You’re so stubborn,” an annoyed voice said behind Kyo making him jump in surprise.  “I thought you were hungry.  You could have at least stayed long enough to eat.”

“Get away from me,” Kyo said sending Ryuu a mean glance.  

The man actually followed him.  

Kyo continued walking down the street, not caring where he was headed.  A solution was going to present itself soon and he did not want it to have anything to do with Ryuu and that woman.

“I have your bag,” Ryuu said keeping up with him easily.  “You don’t even have a phone. How are you going to get home?”

“I have it,” Kyo protested, refusing to look at him.  “I don’t need you.”

“It’s been ringing for a while now,” Ryuu said, as they walked around other pedestrians. “Some person called Kaori keeps calling you.  Is she your foster sister?”

“Give me the bag,” Kyo stopped abruptly.  

Ryuu extended his right hand and Kyo reached for the blue phone Ryuu held. Ryuu grabbed his arm and pulled him into his arms before he could take it. A strong arm wrapped around his waist and Kyo was suddenly pressed up against Ryuu’s larger frame.  

“What the hell are you doing?”

“You get the phone when you enter my car,” Ryuu said then.  “Is that a deal?”

“No, let me go, and I won’t scream.  We’re in the middle of the street, people are starting to stare.”

“Well, that’s up to you too, the longer you resist me, the longer we’re stuck like this, Kyo.”

Kyo sighed and glanced around just as a woman walked by with a little girl. The little girl pointed at them curiously, and the woman hushed her sternly. Hot flames exploded in his cheeks.

“Fine, you have a deal.”

“In the car first,” Ryuu said releasing him slowly.

Kyo stared at the handsome man who was still in his impeccable tuxedo and sighed. It had felt good to be in the man’s arms. Looking away when a smile formed on those firm lips, Kyo cursed under his breath and focused on the curb of the street.

“Where is the darned car?” Kyo asked frustrated by the whole situation. He couldn’t believe he was willingly being kidnapped. Was he even going to make it to Harajuku? Rubbing his stomach, he turned to frown at Ryuu.

“Right there,” Ryuu said, pointing to the same black car they used earlier.

It had just pulled up to the curb. Kyo walked slowly toward it and slid into the backseat. The driver joined traffic again when Ryuu was seated beside him.

“Please don’t take me back to her,” Kyo said, taking his phone from Ryuu. “I don’t want anything to do with that.”

Ryuu nodded and leaned forward to murmur to the driver. 

Kyo took the opportunity to look at his missed calls.  The phone started ringing. It was Kaori again.  Closing his eyes, he answered the call and had to put it away from his ear when she burst out into a screaming tirade that threatened to rupture his eardrum.  She carried on for almost a minute before she calmed down enough for him to put the phone to his ear.

“Where the hell are you?” she demanded.

“Do you have to go on like that for hours on end?” Kyo asked.

“How can you ignore my calls? I thought something happened to you. Thirty calls, Kyo-chan, check your missed calls and you’ll see it. Don’t you think I worry?”

“I’m sorry,” Kyo said, throwing Ryuu a hateful look. This was his fault for confiscating his bag. He might have gotten the phone before the calls got to thirty. Ten maybe, but not thirty, he sighed. “What’s up Kaori?”

“Where are you?”

“In Shibuya,” Kyo answered. “I don’t know if I can make it to Club Hitoiro yet.”

“Daisuke canceled on us, he’s gone to see that girlfriend of his. You have to show, Kyo.”

“Fine,” Kyo sighed, sliding his gaze back to Ryuu. “I need to talk to you anyway. I’ll call you when I’m on the way.”

“You had better, Kyo. I’m going to pinch you when you get here. I’m just warning you. You don’t need to worry me like that again.”

“I’m sorry, Kaori,” he said.

Giving her a few more appeasing words, he hang up and stuck the phone into his jeans pockets. Taking his duffel bag, he pulled out his wallet as well and stuck that into his other pocket.

“Drop me off at the subway. We don’t have anything more to talk about anymore.”

“I’m not interested in talking,” Ryuu said without looking at him. “But, you do need to eat and rest. We should get you home to get some sleep.”

“I can take care of myself,” Kyo said with a shrug. “Please, let me off here.”

“And then what?” Ryuu asked. “You’ll run and hide from your mother? You’ll return to pretending you don’t know about her? Are you a coward, Kyo?”

“I’m not a coward,” Kyo said with a sneer.

He did not need to listen to this. What the hell did Ryuu know about living? Kyo was happy and that was all he wanted. He did not need a mother who had thrown him away.

“Please stop the car before I start screaming.”

“Don’t be dramatic,” Ryuu said.

Ryuu thrust a red folder before his eyes and Kyo frowned.  

“What now?”

“Read it,” Ryuu ordered.

Rolling his eyes, Kyo took the folder before it could poke his eyes out and laid it out on his lap. Ryuu turned on an overhead light and Kyo looked at him for a second. The expression on Ryuu’s face was incredibly forbidding, so full of determination that it was somewhat scary.

“What are you getting out of this?” Kyo asked.  It didn’t make sense that such a man would be chasing him down like this.  “Are you her personal slave?”

“She’s my boss, that’s all you need to know,” Ryuu said. “Read the file, and then we’re going to take you to eat something.”

Kyo turned the file open and went through the documents on the file. He wasn’t very mathematical and the pages were full of numbers, large numbers that should make anyone happy. It was all so confusing. He frowned when he caught his name and that of Rin at the top of each page when he paid more attention. The frown deepened when he got to explanations that named him some sort of successor. He was supposed to take his position at the head of the foundation and sign documents–

Kyo closed the file and handed it back to Ryuu.

“Stop the car, right now,” he said, his insides shaking.  

Kyo was going to vomit, nausea rolled in his stomach. He leaned forward trying to take deep breaths. The car slowed down, and he was glad when it finally came to a stop. Pushing the door open on his side, he leaned over and the contents left in his stomach came rushing out. He shuddered with every dry heave.

Kyo was suddenly so weak he couldn’t move. The door was open, all he had to do was get out, and he couldn’t. Closing his eyes, he let out a soft sigh.

Ryuu pulled him back in, producing a handkerchief, he pressed it into Kyo’s hands before he closed the door and spoke to the driver.  

Kyo used the handkerchief to wipe his mouth. He couldn’t believe it.  That woman wanted to buy him back, now that she had found him.  She threw him away before and now she wanted to buy him back with obscene amounts of money.  It hurt so much he could barely breathe.  Shaking his head, the tears started falling again and he cursed his weak heart.  Why was he so stupid?  He should just accept the money.  Take it all as she wanted and be happy about it.

Kyo thought of Kaori waiting for him at Club Hitoiro and his dear older brother, who was going to be getting married soon. They were his family now. He would take the money and give it to them. Use it to make their lives better, he should have enough strength to do that, he chastised his heart.

In the end, he wasn’t fit to be loved but to be bought.

The car stopped and he was suddenly pulled out of the car and carried out.

Kyo moved to protest, but Ryuu wouldn’t hear anything of it. He carried him into a very quiet lobby. They went into an elevator and Kyo closed his eyes. He could not help resting his head on Ryuu’s shoulder. The elevator stopped and he wondered if Ryuu came with the deal.  He could use a man like him in his life.

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