Xz0ner

Saturday, July 10, 1999 9:31:51 PM
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Warning: Shounen Ai…

Notes: I don't know what the song "Forbidden Lover" is saying…

The four members are from L'Arc~en~ciel : Hyde, Tetsu, Ken, Yukihiro. And Yukiya was from D=sire, and Hayato, Saki, and Arihito are from Blue. Then, Sakura is from Zigzo, ex Laruku member. Yukiya is NOT Yukihiro… ^^; (I know, both are Yuki-chan…) and yes, I'm obsessed with the name Celeste, if that is any business of yours. It's a nice name. Then, what little whom appears of Kaoru together with some others are my very own self-made characters. Please don't use them anywhere.
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In the deep, dark sea, stood a mighty city. Hidden by the bubbles of an unseen magic, the city flourished even though the sea itself was dying under the hands of humans. Far beyond the bubbles were a raised hell, blackish waters where fishes died and life ceased to exist by itself.

The city was old; not as old as the Sea itself, but older than the city above the sea. There, people lived in bliss; for underneath the Magic nothing could harm them. Yet above, on the land, the sea was devouring it, taking its own revenge on the humans who had so made it suffer.

Though old, the city was not advanced. Though there was no machines, no electricity, the city had no day or night; it was raised in its own time; it was always bright and buzzing with life. Above, on the land, the humans' technology had harmed the Earth, which, in turn, harmed them. The Sun had been fierce while it was watching them; the Moon had taken pity on them and let them rest, but alas, by that time it was freezing cold. And thus, their dependency on their technology continued to grow, in a vicious paradox.

Both on the land, and in that bubble of paradise, lived people. The people were the same on the outside, and yet most different on the inside.

In such a paradise, lived a beautiful young boy named Hyde. His brown hair was long, and it flowed whenever he turned or walked. His eyes were large and innocent; it charmed people out of their wits. His small lips were sexy and sweet, and red as the bloody petals of a rose. Wherever he walked, a certain presence adorned the air around him, for he was like an angel who came down to watch the city. People feared him; yet they admired him. Nobody had thought to mask themselves; they treated him with respect, and he grew to love them, as they had grown to love him in turn.

In the Hell above, lived another beautiful young boy. His hair was short and strikingly red as foxfire; his eyes were large and caring. Despite his lovely personality and attractive appearance, nobody dared to show their true selves to the boy; they masked themselves with either disdain or honeyed sweetness. It was not because of deceit, however, it was simply because he was too different. And the boy, whose name was Tetsu, grew to learn the truth of the world. Slowly, he grew apart from them.

***

It was the usual day for Hyde. He had finished reciting his poems and felt sleepy. Slowly, he stood up from his white marble chair, and walked towards his bed. A simple bed by their standards, white lined with gray, carved out of beautiful marble. The sheets were soft, and comfortable, and everything else were a perfect white, the color of snow. Hyde closed his eyes, but could not sleep. In his place, switching off the light was not necessary, for everything gave out light of their own.

So, Hyde lay there, studying the flawless white of the ceiling, and started singing to himself. Such a ritual usually got him to sleep. Within ten minutes, he was dozing off into a strange dream.

Someone was knocking at his door. Hyde wondered if it came from the dream, or reality, but pretty soon he was awake and went to open the door. "Mom?"

"Hyde, it's time for dinner," his mother replied.

Hyde nodded, and closed the door right after she had left. Slowly, his sleepy head began to clear, and he started reciting his poems again, wondering what they truly meant. A particular poem spoke about lies, and pain, which seemed so unreal to him. He could not understand what was pain, solitude, and lies, and why had everything seemed so bad. He made a mental note to ask his mother later, and quickly went down to the dining room in case he should be late.

***

Tetsu came back from school, only to find the same note on the table which lay there everyday: "Tetsu, I'll be back late again. Get your own dinner."

There was something else which he did not usually see. "P/s: get a pair of the Glay concert tickets which are sold tomorrow. Make sure you get the front seats."

Tetsu sighed, wishing that some day, his father would stay home with him for dinner. Yet he always came back so late; Tetsu understood that he was busy, yet he had such a yearning for more companionship. He sat down for a while, rereading his literature textbook, and managed to laugh at someone's poem about growing up in a happy world, where his parents would always be by their side to guide them, and friends were always sincere and school was bright and cheery. It all seemed so distant to him, as he gazed around his darkening house, hoping to find a bit of warmth floating inside.

It had begun raining outside. He remembered the last time he had queued up for concert tickets with his father for the front seat; they had to go a day earlier before the tickets were actually sold. He shivered as lightning struck. He was not going in that weather. Also, a foreboding sense of dread, as if somehow, there would be a disaster heading his way if he stayed in, overcame him. :.I must be getting paranoid,.: He thought, and decided not to go out.

He decided that he did not need to eat anything anyway, and sat down in the cozy corner of his room to do his work, before retiring to bed.

***

Hyde was feeling perplexed when he first heard of pain and solitude. Indeed, he had never felt such things before, and he hoped never to feel such things ever. It was said that the person who wrote it had been to the Land, and experienced such a thing called love and betrayal. Hyde never thought such a thing was possible, and he swore that he would never go to the Land.

***

"Are you sure we want to, Hayato?" Saki asked, his brows furrowing in concentration.

"We have no choice, Saki! Listen, if we manage to catch one of those fishes, we'll be rich!"

"What if they die?" Came an inevitable question from their youngest brother, Arihito.

"Oh, that's fine. I've knowledge about these beings. According to studies, they have wings, which is what makes them so unique, and they live in the sea. I know, strange combination, but it's really nice. Imagine, a being with glittering translucent wings!" Hayato beamed, and his younger brothers eyed one another doubtfully. "By the way, Arihito, Uncle Yukiya will be helping us!"

"But isn't it illegal?" Saki asked, and Arihito stopped to consider it.

"That's why we earn more, silly!"

"But…"

"No more buts! Uncle Yukiya will be fetching us in his ship tomorrow, and then we'll go to planet Earth, okay?"

Arihito and Saki nodded grudgingly.

***

"Where are you going, Hyde?" His mother asked kindly, sewing a loose button in place on some white shirt.

"I'm going off to learn guitar," He replied, lugging the giant onto his small back. "Then I'll finish learning my poems with Ken and Yukihiro."

"Oh, do come back for dinner," She told him.

Hyde nodded, for he enjoyed his mother's cooking. And this, compared to the solitude above, was a stranger in face of paradise. His guitar teacher taught him patiently, while he expertly fingered his chords, though he wished that he had larger hands like his friend Ken did, his nimbleness made up for the flaw. Soon, he left for Ken's home, still lugging the gigantic lover behind him, wishing it was smaller and was less troublesome than it was. Yet it was worth the trouble, it was his guitar and others would not do.

Yukihiro was there earlier than he was. They recited poems for awhile, and neither Ken nor Yukihiro understood the poem of pain and betrayal, and so Hyde told them what he had heard from his parents.

"How will it be like?" Ken wondered, for once, the words of it drawing a certain sense of mystery to him, to the world he had never seen, of adventure and deceit… He had the curiosity which Hyde gladly lacked. "To feel pain…"

"It's not a good thing," Hyde remarked. "It's something like cutting yourself with a knife, it won't be pleasant."

"But you can always heal it with Magic," Yukihiro pointed out skeptically. "So, why did the author say that it was impossible to get out of the pain?"

No one had an answer for that, so they lapsed into silence. After a while, they flipped to pre-read the next poetry which they were going to learn.

"Why didn't the author enjoy what he was doing?" Ken read aloud, clicking his tongue against his teeth once, "This is easy."

They wrote down the answers, and each of them compared to see the differences. Hyde could not help but connect the present poem to the earlier poem. He suddenly blurted out, "Do you think the earlier guy couldn't stand deceit because it kept happening to him? It's not a good thing, remember?"

"It didn't say so," Ken flipped back to the earlier page. "To repeat again and again, the torture of it all… It only talked about the torture, not the deceit."

"What about the torture of the deceit?" Hyde persisted, hoping that both Ken and Yukihiro would be able to give him some light to the poem which so fascinated him.

"It's possible," Ken nodded, while Yukihiro reread it. "It can also be linked back to solitude."

"And love," Yukihiro chirped in, pointing to a certain line of the poem.

Finally, they gave up discussing it; it was only of a distant world which they did not understand.

***

Tetsu woke up to a knock on his bedroom door. Before he could get up, someone barged in.

"Dad!" He protested, annoyed.

"Where are the concert tickets?" His father demanded, "You didn't go!"

"It was raining," Tetsu reasoned, sitting up. "It was more than raining. It was *storming*."

"I don't care, you're always with so many excuses. I told you to get the tickets, and you should have gotten it! Now look. All due to your stupidity I'm going to lose another client!" He shouted, his arms out flung in an angry gesture.

"Work! All you care about is work!" Tetsu burst out, furious at his unreasonable father. He knew he should have obeyed, but it was not all his fault anyway. "What do you expect me to do, camp out at the ticket booth? Then catch pneumonia and die while you earn your cash?"

He should have known his limits. His father shoved him towards the ground, and pulled him up roughly by the shirt. The buttons popped open, as he was flung to the wall. His head knocked against the hard cement, and he tried not to whimper at the pain. The shock from the impact helped, yet he saw his vision blur. He tried to stand up with the help of the wall, but fell down again, his breathing hard yet nonexistent.

"What do you know?! You're just a kid! You sit at home and enjoy yourself while *I* slave myself for you! What's wrong to do a little bit for your father, you ungrateful brat?! You can catch pneumonia and die for all I care!"

Tetsu heard the door slam shut, and he tried to stand up again. This time, he succeeded, and sat on his bed, rubbing his forehead. For all he knew, his skull could have been cracked. A bump was rising up, and he rubbed gingerly against it. It hurt. :.What happened to the 'caring father who was always there to help me up'?.: He thought bitterly, remembering his English literature poem, and was suddenly aware of the tears overflowing in his eyes. So that was why everything seemed so blur. And it was not only his head which hurt. The way his father said it… He knew his father did not mean all which he said, he had better not, but he was still hurt. And angry.

Perhaps the anger was just something to mask the hurt.

Instinctively, he rubbed at his eyes, and gazed at his book. He wished he could live in the poem, rather than be in that hell. Suddenly, he remembered a certain excerpt. 'A place where there is someone to soothe your pain, in that beautiful season, the sunlight shines in the blue sky and the birds blissfully sing.' Tetsu could not remember who wrote it, but he somehow wished that it would be true, and that he would find that someone soon. Then, perhaps the beautiful season would come, and he could be free of that hell…

He buried his face into the pillow, and fell asleep crying into it.

***

"Stop your oohing and aahing over the city!" Hayato growled, dragging Saki away from the window.

"But I never expected the city to be like this!" Saki glanced outside for yet another moment, stalling for time. "So… So beautiful!"

"And the people's wings!" Arihito commented, pointing to the translucent color shaped like a butterfly's wings. "Oh, my god, that is so beautiful! Uncle Yukiya, do you think we can keep one?"

"What do they eat?" Yukiya wondered, steering the ship so that it landed on top of a white marble building. "Also, I don't think--"

"Please, uncle Yukiya?" Arihito pleaded, tears brimming in his eyes. Yukiya relented; he could never bear it when Arihito started one of his crying fits. "I really want one of those, so beautiful and sweet--"

"Stop crying already, Arihito, I'll get it for you." Yukiya told him, despite his doubts. Firstly, it was hard to treat something which looked not much different from them as a different species, secondly, they had about zero understanding towards the creatures. They seemed like peaceful beings, and Yukiya honestly did not want to disturb them at all, and if not for Hayato's stubbornness, he would have went back home.

"Look here!" Hayato pointed down towards a girl who carried what seemed like a classical guitar case on her shoulder. "She's beautiful! I'm sure she'll sell well."

"Wow!" Saki breathed, looking in the direction of the creature. "Can we keep her for ourselves instead?"

"No!" Hayato said firmly, arms akimbo, "That's exactly why we can't keep her. She's too beautiful."

"But why? She's so beautiful!" Arihito pouted at that, then almost burst into tears at Hayato's annoyed stare. Yukiya quickly stood between both of them, while Saki tried to occupy Hayato.

"Don't cry, Arihito, I'll get you another one if you want."

"But I don't want any one else!" Arihito was being childish, and both of them knew it. Still, Yukiya could not help but melt under those beautiful blue tears. "Unc Yukiya!"

Yukiya stole a glance at Saki, who shrugged helplessly. He decided to change the subject. "Let's discuss our poaching plan. First, this is air, not water, unlike what we anticipated."

Hayato thought for a while, and agreed. It was not much of a plan, rather, it was a robbery of the city. They would send a bomb towards the other side, and swoop down in the confusion. Then the beautiful girl would be in their hands. After careful consideration, it was carried out. Once again, Yukiya was uncertain, as he felt bad to destroy the beautiful buildings. Still, he did so; Hayato was insistent. He wondered if the girl had any ties to that world; such a pretty girl most probably had, and how sad she would be when she learnt that she was not going home again. He could not help but pity her, yet he continued on what he did. Without much effort, Saki carried her in his hands and they closed the door immediately. It was a great confusion outside, and Yukiya knew that they had to leave soon. Quickly, the ship swooped up and out of the sea, towards the sky.

"Ow!" Saki exclaimed, as the girl slammed her guitar on his head.

"Let me go!" She cried, raising her guitar for yet another blow. Her face was tear-stricken, and her beautiful hair was messy from the ordeal. Yet she tried to keep her courage in, for she struck again.

"Wait," Arihito shielded his brother from the second blow, and asked, "Are you considered a boy or a girl?"

***

"What are you talking about?" Hyde looked at the blue haired person with suspicion, wiping away his tears of fear. "I'm a boy. Who are you?

"I'm Arihito, and they're my brothers. Except for Uncle Yukiya," He added fondly, "Who's my lover."

"Why did you do this? Just let me go home," Hyde pleaded. "I don't want to be anywhere else."

"But… We can't." Arihito told him softly, glancing at Hayato. "We have our own reasons."

"You're infringing on my rights. I have the right to be where I want to be and I want to be home," Hyde argued, turning towards Hayato, his guitar still raised over his head. "I need to be home."

"I'm sorry." Hayato started, his determination wavering. "We need the money."

"But… This is unfair!" Hyde wailed, throwing his guitar to the ground with a loud bang. "What about me?"

Saki and Yukiya said and did nothing, while Arihito stepped forward to comfort Hyde. Hyde accepted his gesture despite his own anger and frustration, while Hayato thought about it. He had never anticipated the beings to be so alike his own race. So alike, even their outward show of emotions. It was, indeed, unfair, yet he himself had no choice. :.It's not entirely our fault,.: He consoled himself, :.We need to survive… At any cost..:

Yukiya drove the ship on, and they landed on the earth.

***

"Let go of me!" Hyde cried, but Hayato's and Saki's hold on him was firm. He struggled, but the cords were too tightly tied against his wrists, so tightly it hurt. Hyde could not understand why would others bring about such pain to others for their own sake; selfishness was not in his vocabulary. Hayato got fed up at his struggling, and whacked him on the head. "Ouch!"

"Stop it, Hayato…" Arihito started, but was silenced by a glare from Hayato. Unhappily, he glanced at Yukiya, who shrugged helplessly.

They opened the door and stepped through it. They were in a huge room. And Hyde could see many beings of all sorts, of people with ears and tails, people with three eyes, people with tails instead of legs… All tied up and gagged, most with guns to their heads held by humans. He gasped, "What… What is this…?"

"The black market bidder's club. You'll have to go onstage soon and let the others bid for you," Yukiya explained, seeing Hayato's disapproving glance. Hyde gulped, and glanced around nervously.

"It's our turn soon," Hayato said, taking a gun out of his pocket and pointing it to Hyde's head. "Hyde, I want you to behave, or I'll kill you."

"Hayato--" Arihito started, and Saki hushed him quiet.

Hayato paid no attention to them. "I'll unbound you, and both Yukiya and Saki will accompany you onstage. I'll stand by the curtains, and if you happen to so much as try to escape, I'll shoot."

"But…" Hyde protested, "I--"

"Shh. Now, move towards that door."

Hyde obeyed unwillingly. Quickly, Hayato dragged him by his wings towards the entrance, and there they waited for a while. Hyde could hear someone's voice shouting, "Three billion!"

"Three billion one, three billion two, three billion three…. DEAL!"

Hayato glanced towards Hyde.

"Number three hundred and fifty-two… Will you come out now?"

Saki untied the ropes which held Hyde captive. "Let's go," He whispered, and looked at Yukiya, who looked away for a moment, and nodded. Hyde stole a look at Hayato, and was convinced that if he really did move, he would shoot. He followed, and Arihito stood sadly at one side.

They went up the stage. Hyde scanned the audience, as eagerness contorted their faces. "What a beautiful being!" Someone exclaimed, and murmurs of agreement were heard. Hyde suddenly felt scared, under those impatient and ugly faces. He shivered, and continued to walk along with Saki and Yukiya, until they came to the middle of the stage. He clasped his hands tightly, suddenly finding more interest in the floor of the stage than the members of the floor.

"And this, is the legendary being from deep beneath the sea, hidden by magic…." Even his own hearing went berserk, as tears flooded his eyes. Those people were so different from his own people… He could no longer comprehend things. His own people would never have that hungry look in their eyes, as they looked at him. He missed their warmth already.

"Four billion!" Someone shouted.

"Four billion seven million."

The bid went higher and higher. Arihito looked towards Hyde, feeling sorry for him. The butterfly-like creature was so sad, and so scared… He glanced at Hayato. Hayato was still pointing his gun at Hyde, though his expression was one of wavering will, despite the high bids.

"…Deal!"

Hayato did not look any happier. Neither was Saki nor Yukiya. Arihito wished that they had never done that, had never listened to Hayato… Hyde was still crying.

Hyde was led offstage, where Saki and Yukiya took a suitcase of bills, and went away. He was alone. He looked back at the curtains, hoping to steal a glimpse of Arihito, Hayato… Anyone more familiar. No one looked happy, even as they took the money. Hyde suddenly realized, that these captors who so cruelly sold him had been the better ones. He had seen evil smirks on the others' faces, and it had scared him more. Quickly, timidly, he looked towards his new captor, and saw an ugly face of an aged face, a balding head and flabby limbs. He felt a probe against his back, and turned back, with large confused eyes, to see a stern, younger man, holding a gun.

"Move it."

"Don't be that fierce with it," The older man laughed a smile of malicious glee. Hyde began to sob uncontrollably. :.These people….: "See, you made it cry."

"I'm sorry, sir," The younger man replied, and grabbed hold of Hyde's wrist. Hyde was led out of the building. It was dark all around, and he was handcuffed and shoved into a car. It was bright inside, and his vision could hardly adjust-- he had never known darkness existed, and it scared him more. It was a huge vehicle, with plenty of room inside. There was even a bar, a bed, and a door leading to the other room.

"Move to the other side, Zack, and leave us alone." The old man commanded.

"Yes, sir." The door to the other room clicked shut, an Hyde could see the scenery outside move. With a malevolent grin, like one of a lion with a prey just caught, the old man threw the curtains close.

"I can't wait… What's your name?"

"…Hyde…" Hyde whispered, tears forming in his eyes once again.

"Speak up, boy."

"Hyde."

"Hyde," The old man repeated, and shook his head. He tilted Hyde's chin, and puffed his cigarette smoke into Hyde's face. "From now on, your name is Celeste. How do you like it, hmmm…?"

Hyde did not say a thing.

"Hmm… This is fun… You're crying… Don't be scared. I'm very, very gentle… Call me master. Come on. You can speak, can't you?"

Hyde felt his heartbeats race. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. The man burst into laughter, and grabbed him by the wings.

"You are so adorable, my Celeste…"

:.My name is not Celeste….: Hyde wanted to shout, but he could not, as he was pulled towards a cupboard.

"Hm, what do my little Celeste like?" The man threw the cupboard door open, gazing somewhat fondly at the contents. Hyde gasped. In it were all sorts of dresses, whips, torture weapons, ropes, hats, bottles and jars, syringes, makeup kits…

:.He.… Hentai….!.: Hyde recoiled from his touch.

"How would you look like in this dress, I wonder…? Hmm… You can't wear that with those wings, I suppose… Ah well…" He pulled Hyde closer. Hyde was definitely more than scared now. He fondled his wings for a moment. "Pretty wings."

Hyde tried to struggle himself free, but the man's grasp on him was tight. With a cry, he kicked the man in the groin, and ran towards the door, the handcuffs being a nuisance. He wanted to be free of that man. He needed to be.

The man was angered. A shot rang in the air, and Hyde stumbled. His left side burnt, a painful sensation shooting up to torment his senses. He would have concentrated on healing it, but he was so desperate to get out of the car. He fumbled with the doorknob, yet it would not budge.

"I'm really angry now!" The old man shouted, and fired another shot. It pierced his left thigh, making him fall down onto the floor. "Don't move, Celeste. I told you not to. Or you'll die."

"No…" Hyde choked, tears beading down the smooth rise of his cheeks.

"Oh, poor Celeste is crying," The man pretended to coo. He was sweating from the ordeal, and the pain. He came closer, and Hyde knew he would soon be hurt. He slapped Hyde painfully on the cheek. "This'll teach you!"

He dragged Hyde towards the bed.

"I'm tired of this game! You pathetic bitch, you're just another toy for me to play with! After you die, I'll take those wings and sell them! Ah, not forgetting the beautiful head, I'm sure collectors will want it…"

"No, stop it…" Hyde's cries grew weaker, as he was tied to the bedpost. The man took out a knife, and slit Hyde's clothes apart, revealing his body which would have been humanlike if not for his wings, a body small and weak. He bit back a cry as the cigarette butt was snuffed out on his chest. "No…!"

"Heh, this is getting fun… That's it. Scream more, Celeste…"

***

Tetsu woke up to find that his father had gone for work as usual. And definitely not going to forgive him for a long period of time. Tetsu could still remember the last time he made his dad angry. For weeks his father ignored him, much as he tried to apologize, and it was terrible. He crossed his fingers sadly, and reached to pack his books for school.

He took out his diary, and began to write, for fear of forgetting what he had experienced just some time ago. He wrote about what happened last night, his quarrel with his father, how he dreamt he was swimming in a dark pool and drowning. He paused. There was more scenes to the dream than that. He could not remember, nor could he tell which was more horrible, for those scenes were dark and inhuman for as far as he could recall…

Tiredly, he closed his diary, and rested for a moment, listening to his music, reading his literature book again. The poem somehow seemed so fake to him, yet he still had that uncertain hope in his chest.

"I must be going nuts…" He muttered to himself, as he finally stuffed it into his bag and began to walk to school. The dreams continued to bug him, no matter how he tried to forget it, no matter that he could not remember the actual scenes.

*** (gomen, hi no miko…)

The first thing Hyde noticed was that his head was throbbing. Every part of his body ached. His butt felt like someone had shoved a huge stick inside. It hurt. He opened his eyes, and saw those familiar weapons surrounding him, now lying unused, painted blue with blood. Hyde gasped, and quickly shut his eyes, refusing to come back to reality, as memories came rushing back to him all at once. Tears flooded his eyes as he felt his heart tear to pieces, how he felt so despaired and useless.

"Ah, ah, you're awake."

Hyde refused to open his eyes, squeezing them shut, as the tears started making their way down. He said nothing; nothing could so much as help him, nothing could express his feelings. He hated Hayato, hated those people who brought him down. He hated this disgusting old man, and the things he used on him to inflict pain. He hated his fake laughter, his voice, the way he spoke. He hated everything.

Most of all, he wanted to be home. :.If only… If only I possess greater magic… I would be able to zap myself home… But now… Out of the dome… I'm having trouble to even heal myself….:

"Come on, you're awake, aren't you?"

Hyde whimpered, as he was probed with hard rough fingers in the ribs. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw the familiar mocking face. :.I hate you!.:

"What a nice morning, isn't it…?" He laughed, "What a nice night we've spent in this car, didn't we. I gotta show you my room today, if not for the stocks…. Ah, well. We'll have enough time, won't we… Celeste… Hmm…?"

Hyde lowered his gaze, not wanting to see this dirty ugly image in front of him. He could never have imagined himself to be tortured by such a degrading creature. He would never have thought of it if it had never happened to him… :.Why me…?.: A small voice within him cried. :.Of all people… Why me…?.:

"What a beautiful body," The man grinned, letting his fingers trace Hyde's chest, taking care to avoid the wounds. "Dyed blue with your special blood…"

Suddenly, his fingers pressed hard against the gun wound which Hyde had taken yesterday in the abdomen. Hyde cried out in pain, and the man withdrew his touch.

"If you so much as try to escape again, Celeste, I'll hunt you down, and it will be the end of you. I promise."

Hyde swallowed thickly, wishing he was stronger than he was… If, he was to remain a prisoner to that man forever, and suffer from the same thing again… "……Kill me then…"

"Oh, has Celeste made up his mind?" The man mocked, pressing closer, and slapped Hyde angrily. "Not a chance! Why did you think I'd pay this much for a butterfly? Just to kill it? No! Of course not. I have more in store for you…"

Hyde suddenly wished he could die.

***

"Arihito…" Yukiya entered the dark hotel room, to find it in a mess. "Are you okay?"

"Yuki-chan…" A weak trembling voice whispered, and Yukiya was afraid that something had happened to his lover.

"……Where's Hayato and Saki?"

"They've gone buy gold so that we can use the money," Yukiya explained, turning the lights on. Arihito was cuddled in a ball at a corner of the bed, his face buried in his embrace. "Are you okay…? Tell me. Did anything happen to you…?"

"I…" Arihito looked up, revealing a swollen face stricken with tears. "I've been having nightmares…"

"Arihito…" Yukiya heaved a sigh of relief, and sat down beside Arihito. He brushed the stray strands of hair sticking to his face away, and Arihito hugged him tightly, refusing to let go. "You're a wee bit too old to be frightened by the grim reaper, aren't you?"

Arihito had to laugh, despite his tears. "No… I'm… I was dreaming of Hyde…"

"Oh," Yukiya could not say anything. He himself felt guilty simply looking at Hyde's face as the being was dragged away by some disgusting man. He knew what those people did to the things they got, and it made him sick just at the thought of it. The man was popular for his stories with his pets. "Don't worry, he'll be fine…"

"He won't…" Arihito stifled a cry, as he buried his face into Yukiya's warm chest. "In my dream… He was screaming… And crying… Because of us… I'm guilty, Yuki! If only I hadn't listened to Hayato and had helped him to escape…"

Yukiya gulped. Arihito was known to inherit his parent's predicting ability. Such cases took place in either his dreams, or would flash across his mind sometimes. Yukiya was not sure why Hayato had not gotten the ability instead of Arihito, since Hayato was the eldest brother in their family, and Arihito was the youngest. ……Anyway, it meant that Hyde would definitely suffer a lot.

"…We shouldn’t have done this just for our own sake… It's not fair…" Arihito was blaming himself entirely, and Yukiya felt bad to see Arihito so sad. "It's my fault… I…"

"Hush now, silly," Yukiya soothed in his calming deep voice, and Arihito looked up, his brows furrowed, his eyes waiting for Yukiya to say something. "It's not all your fault, is it?"

"It *is* my fault," Arihito stated stubbornly, shaking his head. "I could at least have tried--"

"And would it have been of use? We all know how stubborn Hayato can be, nee?" At this, Arihito started crying again, and Yukiya's heart ached more. "Please don't cry… Arihito. If someday you and Hayato were fighting, and in the confusion, you people threw a television down from the tenth floor and hit someone on his head, would you blame yourself entirely, when in truth you don't even know if it's you who threw it down? Or Hayato? You can't just blame someone for something you're not sure of, right? And if I was the one who was fighting with Hayato, would you hate me for it?"

Arihito shook his head, "I can't hate Yuki-chan… I can't hate Hayato either."

"But you can't put all the blame on yourself, Arihito. All of us had a part in it, and all of us had a chance to stop Hayato, but all of us didn't. Even though I know all of us wanted to. You can't hate yourself for it! Listen, Arihito…" Yukiya took a deep breath, "Because you're hurting me."

"…I am?"

Yukiya nodded earnestly, and caressed Arihito's cheek. "Because I love you, Arihito. I hate to see you in such pain."

"But… We…" Arihito nodded slightly, tears flowing down his cheeks onto Yukiya's hand, wetting his fingers. "I can't just pretend it didn't happen!"

Yukiya sighed helplessly. "Then, what do you think is right?"

"We need to stop Hyde's suffering," Arihito replied, "Since we're the ones who caused it."

"But…" Yukiya stopped before he tried to wipe out Arihito's idea. If Arihito simply did nothing, he would be hurt for the rest of his life. "Alright. Do whatever you think is right, and I'll help you."

"Thanks…" Arihito smiled gratefully, and Yukiya hugged him tightly.

*** (oops, I forgot Yukihiro has 'yuki' in it… :p Oh. Gomen, I don't know how Hyde's parents look like.)

"Hyde what?!" Yukihiro gasped, almost dropping the teacup he was holding. Ken did drop his fork, and was too shocked to bend down to clean up the cake.

"He's been captured by some alien ship," The messenger told them, and Yukihiro eyed Ken nervously.

"What can we do?" Yukihiro gasped, putting the teacup down; his hand was shaking far too much to keep on holding it. "Hyde…"

"He… He's been wanting to go to the land, hasn't he?" Ken asked suddenly, and the messenger's eyes widened in shock. "He was curious…"

"But Hyde wouldn't go up for such silly things, right?" Yukihiro protested.

"If it's been arranged beforehand, I don’t think he'll drop his hat then," The messenger told them, holding Hyde's favorite hat.

"He would never have left it here," Ken nodded. "But we shouldn’t trouble them yet. Why don't we check about Hyde, and then if it isn't serious, we'll bring him back ourselves? After all, he could have dropped it in his haste to catch up with the ship."

"No, stupid! Yesterday an explosion took place, and someone saw Hyde being caught by a ship swooping down. He was grabbed by the guitar strapped on his back."

Yukihiro sighed nervously, and threw a look at Ken. "What shall we do?"

"The towns police are out on a vacation, and he won't be back for another two week," The messenger informed them.

"Isn't there any other police around here?" Ken demanded, exasperated. "For emergencies?"

"No, it's been so peaceful around here that we've been thinking of getting him a new job," The messenger lowered his head apologetically. "Sorry."

"So, we'll have to wait for two weeks…?" Yukihiro asked. "Is there any other way?"

"I don't know," The messenger replied, shrugging, "I don't know anyone else who can do these kind of summon spells outside of the Great Dome above our heads."

Ken and Yukihiro looked at each other doubtfully, and the messenger waved them goodbye. He had his own jobs. Ken finally wiped the cream cake from the table and dumped his fork onto the plate, half annoyed. "What can we do? Does Hyde's parents know about this?"

"I think so," Yukihiro replied, looking down into the peaceful surface of the tea. "The messenger most probably informed them first."

"Shall we go up and look for him ourselves, since we can't perform that kind of higher spells?" Ken suggested, pointing above. Yukihiro gulped in shock, and shook his head.

"How could we do that? We don't have the power, do we? Besides, once we're out of the dome, we'll be weaker, too. We wouldn't be able to find Hyde that easily then!"

"I know Hyde's father. If he isn't the town doctor, he would have went to look for Hyde himself. We could get him to send us towards the surface. And why wouldn't he help, since Hyde is his son?" Ken beamed, poking Yukihiro's nose lightly. "See?"

"Oh…" Yukihiro nodded doubtfully, jerking his head from Ken's finger. "Okay…"

They quickly went away, leaving the dishes for Yukihiro's mother to clean. They came to Hyde's father's office, where he was resurrecting some dead politician. It was a spacious room inside a white building, with little gadgets floating around. Ken had went there for the interesting gadgets since young, together with Hyde, who always cried whenever he was caught sneaking in. Ken could still remember what a baby Hyde was, even until they met Yukihiro at the age of ten. And four years later, he still had not changed. He tried to imagine Hyde being tortured as the poem described, repeatedly, and the more he thought about it, the more he saw Hyde's tears, all the more he wanted to bring Hyde back.

"Uncle Takarai…" He called, and a squatted figure turned to greet them with a friendly smile.

"Why, if it's not you kids! What are you doing here?"

"What are we doing here?!" Ken exclaimed incredulously. "You ask us what we're doing here?"

"Um, what's wrong? Should I ask?"

"Calm down, Ken…" Yukihiro smiled awkwardly at Hyde's father. "Don't you know Hyde has been kidnapped to the surface…?"

"WHAT?!" Hyde's father yelled, so loudly that Yukihiro thought he was surely going to be deaf. "Hyde?! Kidnapped?! Why didn't I know?!"

"We just got told by the messenger too," Yukihiro explained patiently, while Ken rubbed his ears delicately. "So we thought if you could send us to the surface, we'd be able to look for Hyde ourselves."

"Why? Where's the town police?"

"Uh… He went away and won't be coming back for two weeks…"

"This is terrible," The older man put his wand down onto the dead politician's stomach, and whammed his fist down, indenting the corpse. "It's horrible above the sea… Hyde… What's more, Hyde's such a crybaby! So girl-like… What if something happens to him?!"

"Not what if, but most probably, sir," The messenger suddenly appeared, and Hyde's father tumbled off the platform and landed on Ken's foot. "Are you okay, sir?"

"Ouch!" Moaned Ken, hugging his foot, while Yukihiro helped Mr. Takarai up.

"I'm fine… What do you mean, most probably?" He demanded, throwing his arms up in the air. "I know it's my fault for bringing him up like a girl, but he should have been more boyish! If he was, then he most probably wouldn't have been caught…"

"Yes, sir, but my present idea is that you send these two kids to the surface to look for Hyde. You know how bad things could get if we get help any later."

"But… These two are only kids, what can they do?" Hyde's father eyed the two teenagers dubiously, making Ken's blood boil.

"Well, you certainly can't go, sir. What's most important to a man is his job. Besides, with your help, these two will be able to go to the surface, and they'll be able to look for Hyde then. I'm sure you have studied well in school, yes?" The messenger nudged Ken. He had obviously thought of the same idea as they did.

"Actually we fa---" Yukihiro was about to say the truth: They failed their magic courses. Ken kicked Yukihiro's leg, making him howl in pain, "Owww!"

"Actually, we're found to be the best students in class. We did very well, really. We got positive A's in all aspects," Ken told the two adults with a convincing beatific smile on his face. "*Neeeeeee*, Yukihiro?"

"Uh, yeah!" Yukihiro said dumbly, upon hearing the threatening note in Ken's voice. "Yes, uncle, all A's."

Mr. Takarai raised an eyebrow, and finally nodded, "Alright. I'm too busy to go up myself… Then… Hyde's safety is in your hands."

*** (I know this is supposed to be paradise, but if no one gets faulty it won't be fun ne!)

"Ouch!" Hyde cried, as he was thrown not so gently onto the soft bed, his wings knocking against the bedpost.

"You shall stay here, Celeste, in your own little suite," The old man told Hyde, grinning, pointing to a camera. "Your actions are monitored, so don't try to escape."

Hyde choked back a sob, and turned to look at the hard unfeeling young man beside the old one, both of them clad in black tuxedoes. He nodded pathetically.

"Be glad that I've prepared all these for you, you've even got your own bathroom, your own television, your own plushy--" He threw a huge Doraemon stuffed toy at Hyde, who felt the soft thing hit against himself with a dull thud. Hyde picked it up, and gazed into its large cheerful face. He smiled consciously, and touched its face. "What? Hahaha, Celeste, it's not real!"

Hyde looked carefully at it again, and saw that its face was, indeed, unmoving. He touched it again, and picked it up. It was still unmoving. Hyde felt the tears flow faster; he had never felt so alone.

"Oh, and shuin *is* allowed, but limited to twice a day. Haha!"

:.Why ever would I shuin, unlike you?!.: Hyde wanted to yell, but kept silent, knowing that he would receive a cuff on the head if he ever said anything wrong. He nodded timidly, gazing into Doraemon's face-- its tag said "Doraemon"-- and saw that his tears had wetted its cheerful toothless mouth, which was wide like a slice of watermelon. "Gomen nasai, Doraemon-san!"

The door clicked shut, with some jeering laughter which echoed in the silent room. Hyde felt so lonely, simply gazing into Doraemon's cheery grin, its happiness a stark contrast to his own sorrow.

"…May I call you Dora-chan?"

He pretended that it was grinning at him, and the notion cheered him up somewhat. He found himself smiling back, and caressed Doraemon's flat and wide face sadly. He buried his face into its rotund stomach, and cried uncontrollably for quite some time. When he finally felt tired, he drifted off to sleep again, a shallow dreamless sleep. Finally, the sleeping gave him a headache, so he woke up, and saw that Doraemon's stomach was drenched.

"Gomen, Dora-chan… I…" Hyde whispered, wiping it on the belly. He looked into its face again, and its warm happy face seemed to be comforting him, and almost beckoned for him to tell it about his problems. The bitterness built up in his stomach, so much that it hurt. He had to let it out. "Dora-chan… You know what…? I had a happy life… I never intended to leave it… Until this strange craft swept down and this baka man grabbed me by my guitar strap, then… I told them to let me go, but they won't… Now… I… I want to be home, Dora-chan… I… I'm so lonely… There's no one for me here!"

Tears flooded his eyes again; he was sure it would never stop this time. Submissively, he allowed himself to cry, in the presence of his inanimate friend. He hugged it tightly, refusing to let go, almost afraid that this last comfort would be taken away from him soon. Its softness somewhat soothed him down, and he finally stopped crying. Perhaps, if he tried, he could heal himself first, then look around and try to escape. He had to escape.

With the stuffed toy still held tightly in his arms, he concentrated on his wounds, wincing slightly as the stuffed toy pressed against a bandaged gun wound on his abdomen. He remembered being treated that morning, but it still hurt. Reluctantly setting it aside, he pulled the shirt from his wounded body, and set it down beside Doraemon. The bandage was painted blue, just as his healing wounds were. He had to unravel the bandage and see the wound before he could heal it. Taking in a deep breath, he slowly pulled it away, his body racking with pain as he peeled it away from his stomach.

The wound was hideous. He gasped, and closed his eyes for a moment before looking back at it. He had more than that wound to heal, and he knew he had not much magic to do even that. An energy gathered in his forehead, as he concentrated on his hand, the energy was passed to the wound which his palm was hovering over. It took a lot of concentration, and pretty soon he was thoroughly exhausted.

Tiredly, he withdrew his hand, and was relieved to see that the wound had at least been sealed. It no longer hurt as much as it did, unlike his thigh. He was tired, and hungry. After breakfast, he had not eaten anything. There had to be something around, he thought, knowing the old man, who so carefully provided everything just so he could get the most fun out of torturing him physically when the time came. Hyde could not imagine himself being tortured as he was last night. He shivered at the thought, tears looming in his eyes again, but this time he blinked them away.

He took Doraemon by its miso-ball (white and circular) like hand, and carefully, he crawled off the bed. Doraemon lagged after him lifelessly, and Hyde opened every cupboard he could find. He was glad to have come across no weapons which he had seen yesterday, just some dresses, hats, shoes, books, pens and pencils. He saw a small white box at a corner, and he opened it for find strange-looking cans, dorayaki and okonomiyaki in containers, and strange food he had never seen before. He had known about dorayaki and okonomiyaki because it was popular in his home as well. He loved azuki dorayaki.

"Hmm, I've heard that these came from the land, but…" Hyde frowned, and ate three dorayaki anyway. It tasted the same as home made ones, just that it was freezing cold. Hyde had never been used to this abnormal coldness except for his ice cream. "Would you like some, Dora-chan? Wait, your name is Doraemon…"

He laughed, because of the coincidence, and because he felt silly speaking to an inanimate object. Despite his loneliness, he began to felt as if there really was someone by his side. Perhaps that was why many kids loved their toys, they treated them as the real thing. :.Aren't I a bit old for this?.:

Now that he felt full enough, he found a Pokka™ canned ocha. He was not sure how it would taste like, nor was he sure what it was, but decided that it was worth a try anyway. He took a sip, and, finding it somewhat satisfying, finished the whole can. Now that he was refreshed, he could concentrate on healing the wound in his thigh. Dragging Doraemon back to the bed, he lifted the long skirt to reveal the blue bandage, unraveled it, and began to do his job.

***

"What… What is this…?" Ken gasped, as a bubble covered him. Yukihiro was soon covered by the same transparent bubble, and Mr. Takarai seemed satisfied with his handiwork.

"There you go, kids! Make sure you find Hyde!"

"Wait, how do we come back?" Ken asked suddenly.

"Oh, yeah… I can think of nothing though." Mr. Takarai shrugged, and pointed to the messenger. "Can you tell the towns police to fetch them when he comes back in two week's time? You kids can stay on earth for two week's time, then you'll be entirely safe."

"But…" Ken started to say something, and stopped. "Okay."

"Whoa! We're going to where no other kid has been to!" Yukihiro exclaimed excitedly, as Mr. Takarai kicked the bubbles, and they rose into the air. "Yeow!" The boys exclaimed, as they knocked against the hard walls of the bubbles, and Yukihiro wondered if he had cracked his skull. They were rising swiftly, far too swiftly for their own liking, and Yukihiro felt a bit scared, while Ken was amazed by the speed of it. It burst out of the Great Dome, temporarily leaving two openings before shutting entirely.

Outside of the Dome was a scary sight. They could hardly see a thing, and when their vision adjusted, they saw scary fishes with lamps outside. Yukihiro was shocked at the sight; they had never seen fishes before. Ken became more fascinated, and wondered how it would be like above on the land. It was not long later that his wondering was fulfilled, for the bubbles came to a lighter region, with dead fishes and seabirds, and a layer of oil above. Both of them were shocked by the dark blackish liquid in the water, and the amount of death in it.

When they came to the surface finally, they were speechless, as the bubbles burst through the surface of the water, and fell towards the land.

***

Hyde was fairly glad that the business had taken too much out of his master, and that he had not stopped by that night. Hyde intended to get out before he was hurt ever again, and he had surveyed the whole room by pretending that he was playing with Doraemon. Though innocent, he was not stupid, and he did so since he knew that his actions were being monitored. Much to his surprise, he found a black box sitting in front of his bed, which seemed to have endless things inside it. Hyde named it 'the magic box', and when he grew tired, he would start watching it.

There were a variety of shows, and Hyde watched plenty of it, since he had nothing much to do after healing his wounds and waiting for the right moment. He had just found a window, and he wanted to ensure the best he could that no one was suspecting him, and probably loosened their guard while he rested his body.

Doraemon became an indispensable friend, he grew so lonely as he had no one to talk to. The black box showed different incidents inside, and so he and Doraemon watched it together. He had found a little bar with buttons on it which turned it on and off whenever he wished, and it allowed him to view plenty of different things. Hyde was fascinated by the way it worked. He started channel surfing, which was basically fun when there was nothing good on. He found himself watching soap operas and things like that, where fate twisted the lives of people. It made him cry; it was so sad. He suddenly understood what the poem meant, 'to be tortured again and again, the wheels of time turning on the same route of deceit'.

From the little black box, Hyde also saw the love which the writer of the poem so looked forward to, and he wished that he could touch it, too. No wonder, because it was so beautiful, yet still so sad. He wondered what love was, why it brought people such happiness and such pain, but it baffled him; in his peaceful world, Love never truly existed. This was because everyone lived in peace, and had treated everyone the same.

Hyde felt perplexed, as he cried his eyes out, simply staring at the screen. Wiping his tears away, one thing became obvious to him. He had to escape it soon. And since he was crying like that, he would never be suspected. Quickly, he grabbed Doraemon, and pretended that he was playing with Doraemon again. It was the first time, that in two days he had not sang for once, and not read a poem for once. Suddenly those routines became very important to him, something which he had missed dearly, and was about to get back into.

While he had been making his observations the day before, he had noticed a window, the only window, yet it could not be opened. It was rather big, and allowed him to see through things beneath, even though he could never have a whiff of the fresh air outside. Hyde had carefully thought about it; it seemed that the reason the old man had not put any of his torture weapons there was in caution that Hyde used any of those heavier tools to break that certain window.

And there was only one thing which Hyde was able to carry, that was strong enough to smash through the glass window, and it was the black box. Hyde felt bad to destroy it, yet he knew it was the only way out. Slowly, he unplugged it, carried it up, and pretended to dance with it. He felt silly doing so, and set it down again. :.Whoever's monitoring my actions probably laughed himself to death,.: Hyde thought, wishing he did not have to do that. He took Doraemon, and set it by the window, faking his play for a while, before picking the television set up again, and sent it flying through the window. It was not that big, but at least it was big enough for him, when curled up, to pass through.

An alarm, damaging to the ears, sounded, and Hyde grabbed Doraemon hastily. He passed through the window easily, yet he had forgotten about his wings. Those translucent wings crumpled and folded under the intense pressure, and Hyde could not help but bite his lips in pain as he flapped them and attempted to fly away.

Gun shots fired in the air in a desperate attempt to stop him, and three struck their targets.

Injured, Hyde bit his lips in a will to sustain and he did fly for some distance, and finally reached the sea. The people who were after him on the ground had lost him quite some time ago. Hyde heaved a sigh of relief, yet he knew he was not yet thoroughly safe. He needed to get back to the dome, to his friends as quickly as possible, and it was no doubt about it that if he stayed there any longer, the old man would hunt him down and rip him into pieces.

Yet before he could get far enough into the sea, his crumpled wings began to give way to its injuries which hurt combined with the wounds which Hyde's body suffered from. And Hyde, like a falling feather, fell towards the earth.

***

"Take a rest, Arihito," Yukiya told the boy concernedly, yet he was waved off. He sighed, knowing that Arihito had dedicated himself to finding methods to help Hyde, but his lover had not been sleeping for the last thirty-nine hours, and it started to show on his face. Yukiya felt bad enough that Arihito was doing it alone; he was stuck with the chores Hayato and Saki had given him, and he could not stay by Arihito's side to take care of him as Arihito slaved himself to death.

"I'll do it later, Yuki-chan… You deserve the rest more than me… I'm sorry Hayato made you do so much work which I'm supposed to do," Arihito looked up, his pupils dilated and his eyes watery from the lack of sleep.

"It's okay," Yukiya stifled a yawn, and set a mug of coffee down. He had heard that this Earth beverage helped humans to stay awake. "Remember to drink your coffee."

"Un," Arihito looked back into the book, worn out, and took a sip. "Tastes good. Thanks, Yuki-chan…"

"Welcome."

They lapsed into silence. Yukiya watched tiredly from aside, and soon drifted off to sleep. Arihito continued working, sipping the coffee which Yukiya gave him. Yet it must have had a different effect on Arihito's body, for no matter how hard Arihito tried, he could not stay awake after drinking it.

***

Tetsu walked briskly along the long road. It was a relatively crowded road, where shopping centers lined the sides. Tetsu never bothered to look at any of the stores; all of them bored him, and he simply needed a place to go to. He had exactly the place in mind; it was not the road itself, of course, but the place which he would reach right after he crossed the road.

His combat boots clinked absentmindedly against the asphalt, as he looked ahead, the sunset a different color from what he had usually seen. It helped cheer him up somewhat. It was a light purplish red, yet it was not as red as usual. It seemed almost diluted, yet so dreamy and beautiful. Tetsu loved to see things which people did not normally see, and for that he was glad that he had never been too busy to look at these (things), which calmed him down when he was flustered.

By the time he reached the destination, the sunset had already gone, and what replaced the light beauty was a pitch black darkness, where nothing could disturb it. Tetsu could not tell whether he himself loved it; it was both scary yet peaceful at the same time. It always reminded him of himself, somehow.

The sea was a moving monster beneath his feet, and the railing prevented him from jumping into it. Tetsu always felt the urge to, however, he was not sure if he had the courage to had the railing not been there. So what if it was? He could easily climb over it.

"I'm a coward, nothing more…" He muttered, silently reprimanding himself. No matter how much he wished to die, he always lived. It would have been so easy to just end his own life, yet though he did try, he never died.

The silvery moonlight glinted off the dark thundering waves. All of a sudden, Tetsu thought he saw a wounded butterfly washed up the sand beneath. It should have been an illusion, he told himself, and blinked again to make sure. Yet it remained there, beautifully hurt and solemn under the moonlight. Tetsu never thought such a large butterfly existed. On impulse, he climbed over the railing, jumped down, and somehow managed to land on his feet. On careful examination, it was not a butterfly, but a young girl with crumpled butterfly's wings.

"Are you okay…"

No answer, not that he expected one. It struck him how beautiful under the pale moonlight the girl looked, but upon seeing her shivering at the wild wind, Tetsu decided to hurry up. He took his jacket off, and threw it over her. She seemed to be holding on to a dirty and sandy Doraemon stuffed toy. Tetsu sighed, and took it in his hands. He examined it, and decided that if he was to save the girl, he would have to take the toy too, as it was most probably important to her. He shivered, as a gust of wind blew.

"Ah… Ah… AHCHOO!" He sneezed, feeling as if his body was chilled solid, and started to carry the girl effortlessly. He was lucky that by then there was fewer people on the streets, and they took no notice of him, perhaps thinking that the wings of the girl were fake (Tetsu thought so too).

He managed to reach home some time later, glad that he had not been frozen to death. He kicked the door open, revealing a dark and empty apartment. His father was not going to come back for the night again, what with so much work. Tetsu felt kind of lonely, but he supposed that the girl was more important than his loneliness right at that time. Not allowing himself to dawdle too much, he carried her over to his bed, and set her down there. He dug up all the blankets he could find, and switched the heater to its highest. Finally, after a few moments, the girl's color returned.

Tetsu smiled, satisfied, despite the fact that he himself was shivering, and wiped the girl's face for her, seeing the blue patches on her face. Yet no matter how he rubbed, it would not come off, and the girl only served to wince in pain at each touch, so Tetsu gave up, and he finally fell asleep watching her beautiful features.

***

The sunlight poured through the window, illuminating an unfamiliar room with bleak grayish blue walls. A strange machine sat at one corner of the room, covered with a layer of dust, and there was a bookshelf on the other. Models of racing cars and Ferraris sat in display shelves high up the walls. A smaller guitar case sat by the other corner, and Hyde remember that he had smashed his own classical guitar. Those were the first things Hyde noticed. The next thing which he noticed next was pain racking his body as he tried to sit up. There were scratches all over his skin, and his gun wounds had barely healed, yet they were never enough to kill him. He wished they were, though. Living in such cruelty made him feel drained.

He took care not to lay his weight on the wounds, and finally sat up on the bed. He needed to heal himself first. Groggily, he wondered where he was, and it suddenly occurred to him that he might have been caught by some other people instead. Ignoring his wounds, he tried to stand up, but fell down again with a thud. The floor was hard, especially to his useless arm.

He let out a cry, and burst into tears. He felt so useless, so isolated. And there was no grinning Doraemon by his side to cheer him up.

"What… What happened?" Came a flustered voice from outside the room, and a boy burst into the room, carrying a dripping wet Doraemon.

"You… You are…?" Hyde was suddenly confused. The last thing he could remember was that he had fallen down from high in the air.

"Are you alright?" The other boy set the Doraemon down with a look of shock and realization, then tried to help Hyde up. He only managed to touch Hyde's wounds, making him cringe in pain. "What's wrong?"

"Please don't touch my wounds…" Hyde begged, tears flowing freely, having confused kindness with evilness. "Dora-chan…"

"Dora-chan? Wounds? You mean Doraemon?" The boy's mind was clearly jumbled up. He picked up the soft toy, which was still dripping with soap water. "It's still wet."

Hyde did not care, he crawled towards the boy, and reached for the toy. It had a hole on its head, and Hyde decided that he could do nothing about it, not even heal it.

"I washed it for you. It was soiled badly yesterday. I'm sorry about the tear…" The boy seemed apologetic for his actions, making Hyde feel an element of surprise. "Uh, I'll sew it up later…"

"Who… Who are you?" Asked Hyde, now less frightened.

"I'm Tetsu," The boy replied. Hyde studied his face for a moment. The boy suddenly seemed beautiful in the pale light coming from the window, with his beautiful red hair and brownish eyes. His lips were twisted in a wistful line, adding to the look of compassion about him. But what struck Hyde most was his eyes, so beautiful and humane. There was a certain loneliness, a certain hurt amidst the care, a burning desire to live and strive on despite sadness. Hyde could suddenly see all these at once, and he smiled somewhat unconsciously.

"I… I'm Hyde."

"What happened?" Tetsu asked, reaching out for Hyde to take his hand. Hyde did so, and managed to pull himself up after some effort. "Why are you so badly hurt?"

"I…" Tears welled up his eyes again. "I miss my home…"

"Home?"

Hyde nodded. "I used to have this home… But… Now, someone took me away, and sold me to this evil man… He tortured me… So I escaped. I tried… But I'm just hurt by it… I can't stand this hell…"

Tetsu nodded sympathetically. Hyde was crying again, and Tetsu smiled gently. "Don't cry. I'll help you go back to your home one day. Where do you live?"

"I live…" Hyde suddenly realized that there was not a name for his home. He sat dazed for a moment. Tetsu sighed, and wiped his tears from his face. Hyde gasped as Tetsu's fingers touched his scratches, "Ouch!"

Tetsu quickly withdrew his hand, right after knowing that he should not have done it. "What's wrong?"

"It hurts." Hyde chewed on his lower lip, hoping to distract himself from the pain. "I'll need to heal myself soon…"

Tetsu's eyes widened, as he leapt back, frightened all of a sudden. "Wait. Heal…? Those… Those are wounds?"

Hyde nodded. "Why? What's wrong?"

"You… You have blue blood…" Tetsu gasped, his hand reaching up to cup his mouth. "And… And… Are those wings real?"

Hyde nodded sadly, seeing them so crumpled.

"Oh god. This can't be real."

It must have been too much of even an illusory, for Tetsu simply sagged to the ground, his eyes closed. Hyde gasped, worried, and rushed forward, despite his own pain. "Tetsu! Are you okay?"

He wiped Tetsu's forehead fervently, hoping that Tetsu was alright. Tetsu opened his eyes after some time, his smile breaking the ice. "I'm fine, really."

Hyde was so relieved that he burst out into tears once again, much to Tetsu's shock, and Hyde buried his face into Tetsu's shoulder, still sobbing. Perhaps, Hyde could finally be safe from the evil old man.

***

Ken looked at the area around him. It was people, people, and nothing but people. "How are we going to find Hyde?" He wondered, hands on his hips, surveying the city beneath him. "Yukihiro, didn't they teach us the spell to find someone?"

"Yes, but I forgot all about it right after the exam," Yukihiro replied, scratching his head helplessly. There was not a single other being with wings. "Are we going to fly over the city?"

"What's the use of learning something only to forget it?" Ken grumbled, despite himself. Yukihiro made a face at him. Ken thought for some time, and replied, "Let's fly for a while…"

"Un," Yukihiro nodded, and they flew for a while, studying every single person which they came across. No matter how far they flew, there was no Hyde. The entire country was simply too big.

"We're never going to find anyone at this rate," Ken sighed.

"If we manage to find Hyde in the two weeks given, I swear to learn my spells properly!" Yukihiro joked, "Let's go down. Maybe we'll meet up with Hyde, also, I want to know how it's like there!"

"Okay!" Ken agreed, and they swooped down to the streets, and looked around. Screams were heard, and people cuddled away from them in fear. "Why are they so flustered?"

"These people are so hard to understand," Yukihiro remarked, and they started to walk down the streets. When they finally reached a part of the city, where plenty of people had butterfly wings of all sorts on them and not to mention huge hair and thick makeup, they were finally blissfully ignored.

Suddenly, someone yelled aloud, and Yukihiro turned to see men in black suits coming after them with black shiny metals. "Get them! Quick!"

Loud shots rang in the air, and Ken dragged Yukihiro away. People scattered, screaming, and everywhere was a confusion. Ken rose into the air, with Yukihiro dangling from his hand. Shots rang again, and Ken felt something pass through his hand. Blue blood spurted out, and seemed to dye his vision blue. Before he noticed it, Yukihiro had fallen to the ground.

"Fly, Yuki!" Ken jostled, but Yukihiro seemed to have forgotten how to do so in his moment of shock. Cursing, he flew down after Yukihiro, biting back the pain in his hand. Yukihiro had been caught by those infernal blackguards. "Curse it!"

"Hyde!" Called an unfamiliar voice, and Ken crashed into a person with long bluish black hair. He was not even sure if it was his own blood which made him see it so; it was all so blue. "Wait… You're not Hyde!"

"Quick! After them!" Ken shouted, his voice hoarse from the pain, and yet another person whom he had not noticed earlier ran towards the van with some bigger blacker machine, and fired some louder and more explosive shots. Ken heard men's voice screaming in agony, and many gunshots were fired.

"What are you all doing!" Someone yelled. It was the police. No one had noticed them approaching in the commotion.

"Scram!"

The unknown man came emerging amongst the cloud of smoke, pulling Yukihiro after him. In the despair of the gloom, Ken almost saw him as a savior, complete with wings and a halo. "Can you still fly?" He asked in a deep pleasant voice, and both Yukihiro and Ken nodded.

"Let's go, before you get into trouble!" The blue-haired boy hissed, and started to run away. "Yuki-chan!"

"Yuki-chan?" Yukihiro repeated, confused, and grabbed both of their hands. "Let's go."

They rose into the air, and landed onto the top of a building nearby. Yukihiro almost thought his arms had dislocated by then, and their saviors were grateful. Ken suddenly remembered, "Weren't you calling me Hyde just now?"

The youth seemed surprised, and nodded awkwardly. "I thought you were Hyde… He has wings like these too. Oh, do you know where he is?"

Ken shook his head, and looked towards Yukihiro questioningly. Yukihiro shrugged. "What's your names? How do you know Hyde?"

"Well…" The youth glanced towards the older man, as if he required his permission to speak. Under the bright sunlight, the youth's hair seemed bluer, and it was long and soft, framing a mature yet boyish face perfectly. His dressing reminded Ken of Hyde's, all white. The other man's hair looked messy, and he had yellowish skin. Ken thought he was cute, though not really attractive, in some sense. He wore a slim black jacket with black trousers. The man nodded. "I'm Arihito, and he's Yukiya."

"Oh! No wonder! Yuki-chan!" Yukihiro could not resist cutting in, pointing at the embarrassed Yukiya with his index finger. "I'm Yukihiro! Hyde always called me Yuki-chan!"

"So, Hyde… You know this Hyde?" Arihito asked worriedly. Ken decided that he did not seem bad, after all.

"Un."

"I… I'm looking for him. I need to save him…" Arihito started, and fell silent. Yukiya glanced at Arihito with concern, but Arihito shook his head and smiled gently, sadly. "He's safe for now, but there's others after him. I think you were attacked because of your wings. You can hide your wings… No, you MUST hide your wings."

"But… Why?" Yukihiro could not resist asking. "We've seen people with wings too."

"They're fake," Yukiya cut in, "Your wings are natural. They recognize Hyde by his wings, and they mistook you for Hyde."

"But… What happened?" Ken could not help asking, and, felt perplexed. "Why do they want to get at Hyde?"

Arihito seemed sad, almost as if he was blaming himself. He looked up towards Yukiya for assurance, and Yukiya patted him on the shoulder, with that warm smile on his lips. Arihito's face seemed to lighten up for a second, and started his tale," It's all my fault…"

When he was finished, Ken and Yukihiro could finally understand why Arihito and Yukiya were going after Hyde. Having grown up in a world where there was no deceit, they believed it entirely, and decided to help Arihito and Yukiya. Besides, Arihito was the one with predicting powers, and by staying with them, they could probably find Hyde faster.

"Tell me, how do I hide my wings?" Ken suddenly asked.

"You have the magical abilities, yes?" Arihito asked, running his fingers gently on the translucent surface of Ken's wings. "Just as you are healing yourself, pretend that these wings never existed. Focus on it until it doesn't exist, then, focus on it again when you want it to appear. It's just like a sword being sheathed and unsheathed for use."

Ken nodded, "But my hand hurts a lot. I'll need to heal it before I can try that."

"Let's fly home," Yukihiro suggested, "You guys can go first, then we'll follow."

Arihito hesitated, but Yukiya nodded, and so he relented. "Okay."

***

"I… I can't seem to heal Doraemon…" Hyde cried, hugging the stuffed toy in his arms, and buried his face into its tummy. He started sobbing uncontrollably again, and finally fell asleep in the soft sheets.

Tetsu came in a few minutes later, and saw Hyde curled up in a ball with Doraemon in his arms, on the bed. "Hyde…" He started, but decided that he did not want to disturb the latter, and gently pulled the stuffed toy out of his arms. Hyde had loosened his grip easily, and seemed to hug himself instead. Tetsu could not help smiling at the childlike gesture, and at the beauty of the mother-of-pearl eyelids framed with long black lashes in that angelic face. He pulled the covers up over the small quivering body, and went out of the room to sew up Doraemon, making holes in his fingers in the process.

When he was done, he looked at the toy again. It looked perfect as ever; he had used small stitches so as not to leave a scar. Yet there was a small dot of red near the stitch, and Tetsu felt guilty to dirty the clean object. Perhaps Hyde would get angry for that, he thought, sighing. He proceeded to surf the channels on television, since it was Sunday and he had relatively nothing to do.

Hyde came ambling out of the room, rubbing his eyes. "Tet-chan…"

"What?!" Tetsu exclaimed; he was not used to this term. Even his father called him by his real name. Yet he could not help but feel happy, for it was a sign of closeness that none around him bore.

"Can I call you Tet-chan?" Hyde smiled innocently, and sat down beside him on the couch.

"Un…" Tetsu blushed at the pureness of the butterfly.

"Whoa, you have the magic box too!" Hyde suddenly exclaimed, pointing towards the television. "There's some great things in it, nee!"

Tetsu nodded awkwardly, and Hyde enthusiastically followed every moment on the screen. Sheepishly, he looked down at the stuffed toy, and saw that Hyde was crying at a soap opera. Tetsu found himself grinning, as he stuffed the Doraemon into Hyde's arms. "Hey, relax, it's all fake."

"But… This is the saddest thing I've ever seen!" Hyde whispered, hugging the Doraemon tightly. Suddenly, he looked down at it to notice a series of stitches on its head, where there had been a wound. Surprised, he glanced up at Tetsu, who smiled gently at him. "But… I couldn't heal it! How did you do it?"

"Eh?" Tetsu was surprised that Hyde would say such a thing. :.Heal….: "I sewed it up."

"Ara, arigatou gozaimasu!!" Hyde beamed happily, clutching the stuffed toy to his chest. The smile illuminated his face with a distant beauty, reminding Tetsu of a paradise he had never seen before perhaps as a certain poem described. "You've done so much for me…"

Tetsu shook his head gently, smiling.

"How did you do it?" Hyde asked, pushing Doraemon in front of Tetsu.

"Aa," Tetsu picked up a sewing basket somewhere by the table. It was not what a man would be proud to do, he thought, but pulled out a needle and a thread anyway. "By using these."

"Wow!" Hyde exclaimed, his eyes wide with interest. "How amazing!"

Tetsu served to blush further; he did not think getting his fingers poked ten zillion times for one cloth was *that* bizarre. Still, seeing Hyde's happy face, he decided it was worth it. "It's nothing, really…"

"But… I can't even heal it!"

Tetsu laughed. :.Surely, the place where he comes from must be of magic….: "Where were you from?"

Hyde stopped smiling suddenly, and Tetsu remembered what he had been told the night before. Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut after all. Hyde lowered his face into the stuffed toy, then looked up again, tears shimmering in his eyes. Those tears were really despairing, unlike when Hyde had watched soap opera. "Home…"

"Hyde, I… I'm sorry."

Silence. Both of them said nothing, and watched the television, though Hyde could not cry at the television any more. Finally, Tetsu broke the coldness of the silence, "Weren't you living here?"

"Iie," Hyde said, "I wish I've never came here…"

Yet more silence. Tetsu racked his brains for something more intelligent, and finally came up with one, "I'm sorry my people did such things to you, really…"

"No, you shouldn't be…" Hyde forced a grin at Tetsu, his hands fingering with Doraemon's stitches. "I… There's great things here, too! Really! Yeah, like Doraemon, that magic box, dorayaki, and of course you!"

Tetsu blushed at that. "Demo… I'm not…"

"Why not?" Hyde looked up Tetsu's face, making him blush further.

"Datte. Dake datte," Tetsu could not explain further; he did not want to talk about his own self. He knew he had to say something else, anything, so he said the first thing which came to his mind, "Wanna go out later?"

"Kyaaa!" Hyde beamed, and pounced onto Tetsu happily like a cat, only to wince at some of the unhealed wounds. "Ariiii~gaaaaaaaatouu~"

Tetsu smiled happily, all traces of sadness gone with that gesture of Hyde's. "I'll need to get changed first."

***

"Aa…!" Hyde gasped, pointing to the whole shelves of Doraemon stuffed toys, complete with Hello Kitty and some others. "Kawaii!"

Tetsu grinned as he watched Hyde dance towards the huge shelves, and embrace the multiple Doraemons. He finally stopped, and turned around with a foolish grin. "Gomen! I got a little carried away. Besides, Dora-chan would be jealous, nee?"

Tetsu laughed at the phrase, and Hyde followed him around. There were many great things to be seen, from the beautiful birds outside to glass bottles filled with paper stars in stationery shops. Hyde had never seen most of the things on Earth, and he was most fascinated when he saw them. Under the sea, in Paradise, Hyde had never seen such things. Indeed, it was more beautiful under the sea, but things were colored beautiful only when ugliness was realized. Hyde never thought that such things could have existed when he was trapped in that room before.

Now, with Tetsu, he had felt exactly the opposite. A smile graced his lips as he fingered a little chain, and set it back again. He had been happy to have visited the Land, though he missed his home, but he realized that there was something which his home had; ignorance. When one was contented, they would be ignorant and not notice the truly beautiful things. Hyde could not remember having noticed a single bird in the sky, nor the flowers and the buildings, nor the wings of others'. Yet, now, as Hyde glanced at all around him with a new sense of curiosity, he realized that it was what people lacked.

"Wow… You have wings here too?" Hyde could not help asking, as he saw the multi colored wings on the others, as some of them posed for pictures. "Kirei na tsubasa!"

Tetsu swallowed awkwardly as he noticed some others glaring at them.

"Kawaii otokonoko!"

"Hoeeee!" Hyde exclaimed, jumping backwards in shock. Standing in front of him was a man with long black hair, dressed in a sexy black simple jacket, and tight leather pants which showed off his legs. Hyde could not help but find him appealing though he did mind being scared like that. Tears flooded his eyes, as he leaned backwards in case their faces touched. "Geee… Hen… Hentai…"

"Ossu! Ore wa Sakura desu! Namae ha?" He asked, poking his face close to Hyde's, scaring the latter more. "Douzo yoroshiku! Hajimemashite?"

"Wu…"

"Nandayo," Tetsu could not resist saying, half annoyed at the rude gesture of the guy. Hyde was clinging to him like a baby, and he protectively put his arm around him.

Sakura glared at Tetsu, as if he only just noticed his presence. "Who exactly are you? His boyfriend? Well, if so, he doesn't deserve you!"

"Don't… Don't speak to Tet-chan that way," Hyde spoke up, despite his own fear. He felt offended that his only true friend was jeered by someone else, and anyway that tone reminded him of the old revolting man. "He's the bestest person you can ever find!"

Sakura seemed surprised that Hyde would speak for Tetsu, and turned to glare at Tetsu with a disgusted look. "What's the matter, can't speak up for yourself? Even your boyfriend speaks for you!"

"Did you brush your teeth this morning? Your breath stinks!" Tetsu retorted, and grabbed Hyde's hand. He dragged him away in fast big steps, and Sakura had to jog after them to keep up. :.Whatever made him think that we're… We're….: He thought angrily.

"So, what's your name, boy?" Sakura could not seem to be discouraged.

"Haido…" Hyde glanced at Tetsu uncertainly.

"So, Haido-kun, would you go out with me? Huh?" Sakura pestered, "I promise you'll have a fun time. At least better than this guy here!"

Hyde glanced up at Tetsu again, as if asking him what to do.

"Ignore him, Hyde," Tetsu said, not slowing down. Hyde looked back at Sakura uncertainly, and decided to listen to Tetsu. Tetsu and Sakura did not seem to get along anyway, and yet he thought Sakura seemed like a nice person.

***

"What's this?" Ken asked, pointing to the kettle.

"A kettle. We use this to boil water," Yukiya explained patiently. Hayato glanced at them with an irritated look on his face, and went back to his writing. Saki smiled with a pitying look, and turned back to drawing. They were authors for children's books in their homeland, writing and illustrating about outer space encounters, and how people were. It was an important job, yet the competition was getting higher, and it took real talent to surface as a popular children's writer.

Not that Hayato and Saki did not have the talents. They did, but it was hardly noticeable in the sea of writers in their homeland, and they hardly earned enough for the family. If not for Yukiya, their house would have been mortgaged, having not paid their bills for so long. Yet Yukiya's help alone was not enough for the huge sum of money needed to actually buy the house from the government so that they would have it safely for a year or two. It was due to the crowded conditions back in their home. The problem of overpopulation was so serious, even more than Japan or Singapore or Netherlands, or some overcrowded countries on Earth.

What’s more, their house actually had history, which meant rich asses would actually pay a lot for it. Yet, it was their house, a house they had meant to keep, for it was the only thing which their parents left them. Arihito, being the youngest, had no idea of what his parents were like, yet, he could remember, when he was much younger, Hayato and Saki would tuck him in bed. And, in a low, confident and soothing voice, they would tell him of his parents, how they treated the kids. From there, Arihito liked his parents very much, and he understood why the two, especially Hayato, were so devoted to saving the house.

"Wow, you actually boil water with this? We have to, you know, use our magic. Mom always taught me to warm my own water for bathing and things like that…" Ken grinned cheerfully, as he told his tales with hand gestures. Arihito smiled forcefully, and ushered him out of the room back into their room, with Yukiya and Yukihiro tagging behind them. "Wow! What's this?"

"It's a CD player," Arihito explained, taking out a compact disc and putting it in the player. "We listen to music with this."

"This… This is amazing," Even Yukihiro gasped at that. From a mere black box emerged a beautiful ballad! Ken nodded, and started pressing all the buttons.

"Uh…" Yukiya tiredly gestured for Arihito to go out for a moment. Arihito nodded, and followed him to the corridor. "How long are they going to keep here?"

Arihito shrugged helplessly, staring at the floor. He knew Hayato and Saki hated to be disturbed when they were doing their work. And he, Arihito, basically did nothing but annoy them and be a burden. Now, he brought two beings who were full of questions. If they made one more noise, Hayato was simply going to explode. They opened the door to the other hotel room where Hayato and Saki were working again. Arihito stepped in, while Yukiya waited tolerantly outside.

"Eeto…" Arihito started quietly, while Hayato set his pen down and looked up expectantly. Saki was inking a part of the picture, but Arihito knew that he was listening. "I… I'm very sorry for the trouble…"

"It's okay," Hayato brushed his fringe from his forehead, rubbing away sweat stains which were there despite the coolness of the air conditioner. He seemed to be thinking his brains out for an idea, which it had to be miraculously adequate, for Arihito saw frustrated cancellations on the piece of paper. "Just… Keep them out of the way, and do whatever you have to do."

"Un," Arihito decided to say no more, and walked back to the room. Tears flooded his eyes as soon as he saw Yukiya, and the latter wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"They didn't scold you, nee?" He said soothingly, and Arihito shook his head slowly. "Dajoubu da…"

"Goshinpainaku…" Arihito blinked his tears away quickly, not wanting to cry, yet there was a depressive heavy feeling surging up his chest, which he could not put aside. He knew nobody blamed him; he knew that he did not mean it, yet he could not help but feel the other way. He loved the people around him. And he felt hurt just to see himself bring others trouble.

Perhaps, it was just a defective part of him. It brought about the most headaches to Yukiya. Yet it was what Yukiya liked most about Arihito-- He was such a beautiful soul, unaffected by the world. Yukiya smiled gently, and caressed Arihito's cheek lovingly. He was greeted with Arihito's beautiful and grateful smile, and his heart lighted up a million times brighter. "Let's go back. Hopefully they didn't spoil the stereo."

"Un," Arihito replied cheerfully. Ken and Yukihiro had abandoned the CD player, and had turned to the telephone instead.

"What's this? You can make your own tune with this!" Ken asked, and Yukiya kindly told him what it was. He did not, however, explain that it was not a musical instrument.

"Don't play with it," Yukiya said tiredly.

"Why not?" Beep boop beep boop.

"Because," Yukiya did not explain further.

"Hey, that's not an answer," Ken remarked brightly, but set the phone down anyway. Yukihiro stood up, and sat onto the bed. They waited quietly, sensing Arihito's silent figure somewhere in the room.

"… I saw Hyde today. I mean, with my vision."

"No kidding!" Ken exclaimed happily. Yukiya could hardly believe that Arihito had actually seen Hyde and not tell him so. Yet Arihito did not seem to want to elaborate on it; he even seemed reluctant to find Hyde now.

"But I haven't head or tail of where he is, so when I see him again, I'll tell you, okay? Meanwhile, would you like to go out and play? I'll bring you out." :.You're making too much noise here, and if you make anymore noise, I'm going to go insane from blaming myself,.: He thought. "There's more things out there, just promise me you won't touch it."

"We promise," Ken said quickly, nudging Yukihiro, who nodded hastily.

"Oh. How's your hand?"

"Much better," Ken replied cheerfully, flicking his wrist. A blue stain was still there, but otherwise it looked okay. Yukihiro poked it lightly, and Ken howled in pain. "YUKI!"

Yukiya and Arihito laughed. The atmosphere was getting much better, and more natural. Yet the two still felt tired. "Remember to hide your wings, okay? Uh…. Also, you'll have to change into some other clothes."

"That's fine, nee, Yuki?"

Yukihiro nodded without thinking.

Arihito grinned, and he and Yukiya dug out some clothes from the wardrobe which would suit Ken and Yukihiro.

***

"Aa, the treat is on me," Sakura hurriedly said to the waitress, who smiled in turn and nodded.

"Iya!" Tetsu frowned, and Hyde glanced questioningly at both of them.

"What's the matter, Tet-chan…? Sakura-chan is a nice person…" Hyde started, confused, and turned those large eyes at Sakura. "Ano, ano… Doumo arigatou!"

"It's nothing," Sakura waved his hand happily, and held out a pen. "Just tell me your telephone number--"

"He's staying with me," Tetsu told Sakura matter-of-factly, stuffing the piece of cake in his mouth. Surprised, Sakura stared at Tetsu, then at Hyde again.

"Hoe! You…" Sakura pouted unhappily. "You're… staying together?"

"Un," Hyde replied, grinning cheerfully, much to the shock of Sakura. His frown deepened, but Hyde did not seem to notice.

"Never mind," He buried his face in his hands for a brief moment, and lifted his head to face Hyde. He smiled sadly, and Hyde looked up at him innocently.

"What's wrong?" Hyde asked, serving to make Sugizo more uncomfortable.

"No… Nothing," Sakura forced a smile on his face, a bright one. Yet he did not go away. "Aa…"

"Un…?" Hyde's smile did not change, it grew more caring. Sakura could not shake that sadness away, and grabbed hold of his hand.

"Eeto.. .Can… I mean… Just go out with me, this once. I promise I wouldn't pester you again…"

Hyde glanced worriedly at Tetsu; he could not make up his mind. He could not resist the Sakura with those sexy eyes pleading. Tetsu shrugged, as if he didn't care. "Anou… I'll go out with you… Tet-chan…?"

Tetsu nodded, not looking up from his cake. Sakura grinned, jumped up from his seat, dragging Hyde along, and stuffed a five thousand yen bill into the waitress's hand without even looking back. They ran on. Hyde, who could not keep up with Sakura's fast big steps, tripped and fell.

"Are you okay?!" Sakura immediately bent down, his brows furrowed with concern, as he picked Hyde up. Hyde gasped in pain, and tried to stand up properly.

"I'm fine," Hyde replied with a flippant smirk, and dusted himself carefully. A burning sensation was at his knee, so he lifted the leg of the pants to reveal a bluish patch where the skin had came off. "Ouch…"

"Omigod! You're hurt…? Wait. You're not human!" Sakura exclaimed, looking up at Hyde in surprise.

"Un…" Hyde nodded, not too sure of the differences himself. Sakura only smiled sadly, as if something from the past was nagging at him, trying to drive his heart insane. Hyde placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder, and he looked up, his self back to the old Sakura.

" I'll heal you," Sakura said, and took hold of Hyde's hand. A warmth pulsated through Hyde's veins, almost as if a portion of Sakura had entered into Hyde's bloodstream. Hyde gasped again, this time, it was because of the warmth. Hyde's wounds sealed immediately, and regretfully too soon, Sakura let go. "You okay?"

"Un!" Hyde grinned cheerfully, and they sat down onto the staircase for a moment, watching as people passed by. Finally, Sakura hopped up, stretching himself, and grinned, pointing to a building, "How would you like to go to the suizuokan? There's lots of beautiful fishes inside."

"Fishes?" Hyde asked. He might have been living in the sea all his life, he had been inside the great dome, and were no fishes there whatsoever. Hyde followed Sakura in anticipation, as they approached the entrance of the aquarium.

***

Tetsu sat all alone in the café, wondering what was it which made him so unhappy. He had only been with Hyde for less than twenty four hours, and he was starting to feel as if he had just lost something valuable. He set the cup down thoughtfully, and walked away.

"Arihito, what is that?" Tetsu heard an impertinently loud voice ask. It sounded as if it came from a child, yet the voice was of a teenager, probably the same age as he. Half annoyed, he turned his head to see who was talking, and to his surprise, he saw people with similar wings to Hyde's.

:.Are they… Are they his friends?.: He thought, as his eyes followed them as they walked past him. :.Hyde has talked about a home… What was it like?.:

"That's a bird…" Arihito seemed particularly tired, and his voice was hoarse, probably from all that explaining. Tetsu grinned at that, but the grin disappeared as soon as he remembered Hyde, and he turned his head away.

"Ara, I'm tired. Let's go and get some water…" Arihito suggested to Yukiya, who nodded. Their hands were held, loosely, yet neither were tired of it. Ken and Yukihiro had not noticed at all; they were too busy playing around with things.

They turned, calling for Yukihiro and Ken to follow. Arihito stopped as soon as he saw a long haired figure walking away from them in the crowd, and he called out, "Tetsu."

The figure whirled. He was a boy of perhaps the same age as Arihito was, with beautiful double lidded eyes. His brows were twisted in a melancholic expression… Exactly the same as Arihito had seen last night, in his dream. "Who are you?"

"I… I'm Arihito." Arihito replied with a small smile and a bow, and gestured to Yukiya. "He's Yukiya, and they're Ken and Yukihiro."

Tetsu nodded, still looking suspicious. "Do I know you?"

"Eeto…" Arihito started, glancing at Yukiya, who's presence seemed to encourage him to speak. "No…. Do you know Hyde?"

"Un," Tetsu paused, and a glimpse of sadness flashed across his eyes again. He shook it away, and looked at Yukihiro and Ken again. "And they… Are you his friends?"

"...They are."

"How do you know me?"

"Never mind about that," Yukiya cut in, knowing what Arihito told would be the truth and the truth would not help matters at the present. "You know Hyde, yes? They're Hyde's friend, and they're bringing Hyde home."

"Sou ka…" Tetsu smiled, and looked to the floor. "Hyde's just went away with another guy. I don't know where he is now."

"Soshite--" Arihito nudged Yukiya, making him fall silent.

"Um…. Do you think we can go along?" Arihito seemed to be at a loss for words. "I mean…"

Tetsu stopped before he decided to refuse the request. "Well… Okay. But…"

"Huh?" Arihito seemed worried.

"Nothing."

"Thank you, Tetsu-chan," Ken finally looked up at Tetsu and grinned; he and Yukihiro had been fussing around the glass door while they were talking.

"Yeah," Yukihiro said with a nod. "We were worrying about how we were going to look for Hyde!"

"Welcome," Tetsu smiled, and slowed down his pace as he walked along with them.

***

"These… These fishes are beautiful…" Hyde said, smiling happily, as he looked at the angel fishes.

Sakura smiled. "They're so much like you."

"They are?" Hyde grinned questioningly, and turned back as a small swarm of blue fishes swam by, their scales gleaming beautifully. "Wow…"

Sakura turned Hyde around, and looked down deep into his eyes warmly. "Anou, how would you like to swim beside them?"

"Really? I can?" Hyde exclaimed, glancing longingly at the beautiful fishes.

"Un," Sakura closed his eyes, and put his hands onto Hyde's shoulders. "Let's go."

Hyde closed his eyes, in response to Sakura's gesture, and all of a sudden, Hyde found himself submerged with water. The fishes swam past them, some bumping them in the process. Hyde laughed, beautiful tinkles echoing through the underwater float. Sakura blushed slightly, enchanted by Hyde's innocence and happiness.

The fishes began to gather around them, almost as if making friends with them. Hyde could not help but notice how Sakura seemed accustomed with those fishes, how they seemed to like him a lot. A fish swam into his head, making him yelp in surprise. "Hey, you did this on purpose, nee!"

Sakura laughed at that, "He likes you!"

Hyde grinned, and fingered the fish lightly, feeling it caress his fingers, before bursting into laughter.

***

"So, how was it?" Sakura asked, dragging Hyde along with him.

"I sure had a great time… Arigato gozaimasu, Sakura-chan…" Hyde looked up at him innocently, holding onto Sakura's hands tightly, unaware of passer-by's (jealous) stares.

"Where would you like to go next?" Sakura looked up at the sky, at the dimly lit streets. "It's getting late."

"It is?" Hyde gasped, suddenly noticing the flow of time too. Worriedly, he cupped his face with his hands. "Aa, I need to go back to Tetsu… He must have been waiting for a long time by now…"

"Sou ka..." Sakura looked away unhappily; the deep red of the sky faraway was so beautiful it hurt. "Let's go then. Where do you stay?"

"Uh oh…" Hyde gasped again, suddenly remembering that he had forgotten where he lived. Tears came to his eyes, as he remembered how reluctant Tetsu seemed to be when he had wanted to go with Sakura. :.If I weren't so stubborn… Eh… Tet-chan must be very angry with me by now….: Those tears brimmed and fell out onto his face, dripping down on the beatific curve of his cheeks.

Sakura turned back to study Hyde's face, sadly, and hugged him with that sudden urge which came. Hyde's eyes widened in surprise, and closed his eyes, before resuming to sob in his arms. "Don't cry… Do you really, really wanna go back…?"

"Un."

"I'll bring you," Sakura finally let go, and gazed into his eyes gently. Hyde's regretful expression immediately turned into a assured grin, and he took hold of Sakura's bigger hand.

"Thank you…"

***

"Where were you? Out for the whole day, not doing your homework! And now you bring home these strange people!" His father burst out, slamming the suitcase onto the floor. "Boys with long hair! You know how much I disapprove of your long hair already, so that's why you've been having long hair! All these furyou! And those wings! Who do they think they are, superstars or something?!"

"Have… Have you said enough?!" Tetsu retorted, tears once again brimming his eyes. "I just met them today!"

"So, you're this prone to these furyou! I should just lock you in a room! I've been too loose on you!"

"But…"

"Quit arguing, Tetsu! If you say another word, I'll hit you! How dare you reply to me like that!"

Without a word, Tetsu whirled away with a start, trying to hide his already flowing tears, and Arihito, Ken, Yukihiro and Yukiya ran after him quietly. They followed him down the stairs, out of the building, and to a nearby playground. The sky was dark, so was everywhere. Tetsu sat down onto a swing, his head hung low, his hands wiping furiously at those angry tears. Angry that he was so useless, and angry that his father was so unreasonable. All he did was just to bring his friends home-- He was sure there was no way these people could be furyou! He trusted his own judgement, and wished his father would too… He did not even really belong to them for godsakes! :.I'm just all alone! What does he know, about the solitude?! Work, all he cares about is work!.:

"It's all your fault, Yuki! You forgot that we should hide our wings--" Ken started.

"Well, *you* could remember for once!" Yukihiro retorted, annoyed. "Besides, didn't you say it'd take up too much energy for the present us?!"

"Shh," Arihito hissed. Ken glanced at Yukihiro quietly, and looked towards Tetsu's quiet figure which Arihito had beckoned to. He spoke up, "Tetsu…"

"Leave me alone," Tetsu managed to choke out, "Please. Just leave me alone."

"Alright then…" Ken began to walk away, followed by Yukihiro.

Arihito glanced at them both worriedly, and finally said, "I'll look for you after school tomorrow then. You study at Kagerou High, right…? I'll wait for you at the main gates, okay?"

Tetsu nodded without raising his head. Arihito could see those teardrops dropping down onto Tetsu's thighs, wetting the fabric of the pants. Sighing, he patted Tetsu on the back, and looked up at Yukiya. Yukiya smiled his reassuring smile, though somewhat tired, and they went away, leaving Tetsu all alone at the playground. Now that he was alone, the silence was suffocating. He wished that they had insisted to stay. Or perhaps, he wished that he had never requested for them to go away at all.

:.If only… If only Hyde is here… What am I thinking? He won't be… He can't possibly be….:

He shivered as a gust of wind blew its way across the isolated playground. Small drops of rain pelted down onto his back, small needles stabbing at his heart, soaking it in tears. He choked back a slight sob, and finally raised his head. There was no one to see his crying face anyway.

***

"Don't be so sad, Arihito…"

"Yuki-chan…" He smiled, at the gentleness of those beautiful eyes which were always there for him. He felt grateful, for he had such a wonderful lover. Yet, Tetsu… He had never expected Tetsu to have such a family. He had never seen humans as bad as the man before, either. Tetsu had no one, to be precise, while Arihito had Yukiya, and even Hayato and Saki. "Un…"

Yukiya smiled, and placed his arm across his shoulders, leaning down to plant a kiss on his cheek. Arihito smiled happily, his heart beating faster again, and a redness rose to his cheeks. He glanced at Ken and Yukihiro. They were asleep in their own seats, and there were not really many people in the carriage of the train. Yukiya's eyes were so beautiful… He leaned forward, his eyes closing blissfully.

Arihito stopped short as an image flashed across his mind. An image of Hyde, in the rain, walking towards Tetsu, and comforting him… Perhaps, in a different way from Yukiya… Yet, so beautiful, and so warm. Arihito smiled suddenly; Tetsu was not alone after all.

"What's wrong?" Yukiya asked worriedly, brushing the messy fringe from Arihito's forehead.

"Nothing," Arihito replied, and kissed Yukiya. They embraced for a moment, before Arihito finally let go reluctantly.

"How's Hyde, and Tetsu?" Yukiya asked, and Arihito shook his head, still smiling.

"They… They're fine."

"What about them?" Yukiya obviously had deduced that Hyde was back at Tetsu's place already. He pointed at the sleeping figures of Ken and Yukihiro.

"We'll see them tomorrow, nee?" Arihito grinned, wrapping his arms around Yukiya's waist, and leaned onto Yukiya's chest. Yukiya shrugged, his eyelids growing heavier with sleep, and hugged Arihito in turn.

***

"Don't cry, Tet-chan…" A quiet voice spoke up. Tetsu raised his head towards the direction of the voice, somehow knowing that it was just a dream, that it was just an image coming from his own wishes. His eyes focused, as he blinked again, and there Hyde was, standing alone, his image blurred and dreamy in the rain. "Please don't cry…"

"Hyde. What are you doing here?" Tetsu finally asked, finding himself sounding strange, and so unlike himself.

"I couldn't find you at your house," Hyde replied, walking yet closer towards Tetsu. "The man seemed really mad. He chased us away from the house."

"Gomen kudasai," Tetsu mumbled, not taking his eyes away from the dreamy person in front of him. Hyde came nearer, nearer, until he was able to reach out and touch Tetsu's forehead, brushing away the fringes, and traced down to his cheeks, wiping away the raindrops and the tears. Tetsu did not smile; he could not. Instead, he burst out into sobs again, but stopped himself.

"Dajoubu da," Hyde said in a soothing voice, squatting down. He looked up just so that he could see Tetsu's face. Tetsu looked away, not wanting Hyde to see his tears…. Or was it just the raindrops…?

"Un," Tetsu uttered, wiping hard at his face, trying to produce a smile for Hyde, only to seem even sadder. He stood up, shaking not only from the cold of the rain, but something else. Hyde followed, as he walked away from the playground, towards the void deck of the building. "I think I'll be able to get Dad to allow you to stay. He's somewhat upset, you know, or just paranoid… I'll try…"

"Thank you," Hyde said truthfully, and followed Tetsu into the lift. Just then, Tetsu caught sight of a figure holding an umbrella, walking away, seeming somewhat desolate in the rain. He seemed to glimmer with a light. It was Sakura. He wasn't sure, perhaps, though unrelated, because of the courage he had just gotten to go back home and face that unreasonable adult. And that was usually hard to come by. Was it Hyde who gave him the courage…? He suddenly wondered how Hyde was able to find his way back home, but soon the thought was gone from his mind.

And he was not even sure right then. The door closed, and the lift elevated. Ninth. Tenth… Eleven. Finally. The door opened, and Tetsu groped for Hyde's hand, for assurance. The arm seemed sleek and unmaterialistic at his touch, yet so warm. They came to the door.

Tetsu let go; he knew he had to. He did not look at Hyde anymore, instead, a change within his heart was taking place. His brows furrowed a bit, as he pressed the doorbell, and waited. The man came opening the door, and got ready to burst into scolding again. Yet Tetsu did not waver; he just stood there, studying the man who was his father, almost like a stranger, almost pitying the man. He stopped short, and opened the door.

"Come in," He said gruffly. Tetsu walked in, and grasped at Hyde's hand. "Wait, what's he doing here?"

"Please let him come in," Tetsu said sincerely, crossing the fingers of the other hand, while his grip on Hyde remained, and got tighter. "Please. He's my friend."

"You youngsters nowadays!" His father fumed, but stopped once he looked into Tetsu's eyes, and saw a different, stronger, unwavering child in front of him, whom he once saw as a curse, but now he seemed like an angel. He turned away hurriedly, and walked into the kitchen.

"Hyde…" Tetsu turned, and finally smiled; it was a true smile. "Thank you…"

Hyde returned that smile, and, as Tetsu let go of his arm, he took hold of Tetsu's hand with both of his own. They walked into Tetsu's room, without hindrance.

*** (This is my favorite part, because it's a real lot like me.)

~End of part 1~
__________________________________________________________________________________________

~Forbidden Lover Part 2: Coming soon~

Xz0ner

Tuesday, August 17, 1999 8:51:14 PM

Author's notes: Ahem. I finally finished with this part… (Yippee!) I hadn't intended for it to be this long (and didn't intend for Yukihiro and Ken to even appear!)… Gomen nasai… T_T Anyway, I've finally developed more than just relationship building, also a plot! ^^ (Yay!) Eeto… The self made characters will be appearing somewhere in the next fic, particularly Kaoru (I've just designed his looks. Really normal looking guy, with a totally 'bo chup' face, (but I think he's cute!). And this other one… Bidanshi! ^^ Okay, I can't reveal anymore…) Anyway, I hope you liked the fic. As for X Japan fics… Eeto… Gomen! I haven't come up with anything yet. There *is* this idea forming in my head about vampires (Since reading Vampire Hunter… ^^;), but it came up with Tetsu and Hyde and Ken as the characters, sou… T-T (Gomen, Yochan! Hide!) Anyway…. Hope you'll read Part 2 when it comes out too! T-T

Comments PLEASE email. T_T (Wu! Wu! I need encouragement to live! Even if it means groveling… Haha… Okay, cyu!)

http://xz0ne.cjb.net
voidmatsumoto@yahoo.co.uk