L'Arc en Ciel fanfiction .::. Working the Streets

Episode 13 ~Bad luck~

“I really don’t understand, Hai-chan...” Tetsu started while sitting beside Hyde at the washed-down hospital waiting room. In a while they’d be given the tests’ initial results.
“What is it you don’t understand, Tet-chan?” Hyde asked softly, almost resigned... defeated.
“How could you let him do that to you?!”
“Do what? Fuck me? That’s my job and you know it.” Hyde relented and sighed looking away. “I’m in no mood for your ‘decency’ speech.”
“How could you let him beat you up like that?”
“There was nothing I could do about it. I know the guy, he’s a regular customer and...”
“Regular customer! Listen to yourself! You speak like this is an innocent job and you are a normal worker!”
“Ah, Tet-chan...” Hyde sighed. “I think I just told you I’m in no mood for one of your preachings...”
“He beat you up! He might have even given you a deadly disease!”
“Yeah... I know. I am no moron. But as I told you, he’s a regular customer and he had never been violent before. There was no way I could foresee it.”
“See, Haido? This is what your job brings!”
“Occupational hazards, I guess...”
“Don’t you think your ‘occupational hazards’ are way too high?!”
“And how about yours? If it weren’t for me you’d be dead by now... rotting away by a sewer until the police took your corpse to some common well in the city cemetery or burned it and threw the ashes to the sea. I don’t think you have a cute occupation either... you should keep your stupid mouth shut.”
“I won’t. You see, I won’t. Because I care about you. Because you are my friend, my best friend and whatever happens to you has a big impact on me. How can you not understand it? Dammit!”
“I... I do... I...” Hyde’s words were suddenly interrupted by the ringing of his cell-phone. He took it out of his pocket automatically while looking up towards a nearby window. It was dawn already... he had been in that waiting room for hours.
He lowered his sight to the cell-phone screen and read kachou’s calling ID. He sighed again and answered.
“Moshi, moshi...”
“Haido!”
“Ohayou, kachou...”
“Where the fuck are you?”
“Byoin de. Tanaka-sensei is taking care of this, shimpai shinaide. He’s yours, isn’t he?”
“What are the results?”
“Still waiting, kachou.”
“I want to see you in my office as soon as you get those results, you hear me? We have to talk. You are in deep shit, you, little asshole.”
“It... it wasn’t my fault... the client got rough and...”
“I don’t give a shit about that! You’ve been getting a voyeur behind my back and the client’s back!”
“Chigau yo! Uso da!”
“This will not go unforgiven, Haido-kun. You’re gonna get your punishment this time. And let me warn you... it’s gonna be loooong and painful.”
“Dakara, kachou...!”
“Be here soon.” The boss said and hanged up, leaving Hyde no chance to defend himself.
“What happened?” Tetsu asked in fear of the answer.
“Well... not much. Kachou is concerned, I guess. Nothing relevant.”
“It didn’t sound like that at all, Haido... Why don’t you tell me?”
“I just have.”
“No. You are lying to me.”
“No, I’m not.” Hyde said wearily and sighed. “Kachou wants to see me after I get the results. Listen, Tet-chan. Kachou is not a protector, you know? He’s my boss. He’s not supposed to be sweet to me or anything. He commands, and I obey. That’s all. He’s not my daddy or some mentor. Just my boss. Just my fucking boss. Literally.”
“Hai-chan...” Tetsu wailed in despair.
“I think it’s about time to take the other pill, Tet-chan...” Hyde said distractedly. His gaze fixed upon the rising sun on the other side of the tiny window.
“Yeah... the preventive pills, right? Why are they giving them to you if they don’t even have a result?”
“Duh... for prevention.” Hyde answered and shrugged. “Be a good boy and bring me a cup of water, please.”
“Uh... un...” Tetsu nodded and walked towards the nearest water dispenser.
Hyde gave him a weary smile before he got up. Tetsu felt devastated.
The small-framed beggar walked smoothly in order to bring the cup of water. He didn’t quite understand everything that was going on. He only knew he had witnessed everything from the beginning. How Hyde had hidden him inside the closet, how he had peeped, how he had seen Hyde and his client having sex... how he had gotten horny beyond control upon seeing it... How he had tried to fight it... how suddenly he had realized the situation had gotten out of control and Hyde was being abused... how he had had his doubts... how he felt he should have come out of the closet and helped his friend... how he had been scared of doing so. How Hyde hadn’t even mentioned it... had never blamed him for it... How he couldn’t put up with either his guilt or Hyde’s forbearance.
And why did these tests take so long? Who was this doctor that was obviously under kachou’s service? Who was that ELISA everyone kept naming? What did kachou want from Hyde now? What was going to happen?
Tetsu filled the plastic cup with cold water and pushed his left hand in his ragged coat’s pocket. The hard surface surprised his fingers and he took out its contents a couple seconds after taking the already full plastic cup from under the automatic sensor of the water-dispensing machine.
The magic stone. Tetsu stared at it and felt tears welling up in his eyes. He could use some magic now. He rubbed the purikura picture stuck to its concave face with his thumb. He felt the glossy surface under his finger, contrasting with the coarseness of the stone. Hyde was smiling so happy in that picture, and so was Tetsu.
Yes, he could do with some magic now... they both could.
“Tet-chan!” Hyde’s voice woke Tetsu up from his painful reverie.
“Coming!”
As Tetsu walked closer to the place where Hyde was, he noticed the boy was standing up and there was a tall figure in front of him.
Tetsu’s shortsightedness didn’t allow him to see who it was in the beginning, but as he approached, he realized it was Tanaka-sensei.
“O---o---ohayo...” Tetsu greeted almost in fear and handed Hyde the cup of water.
“Thanks, Tet-chan.” Hyde said and smiled at him in the same weary fashion he had been smiling ever since they had arrived.
“No... no... no problem.” Tetsu nodded.
The doctor didn’t even look at him. Much less returned his greeting.
“So... as I was telling you...” Tanaka sensei continued. “The condom’s apparently clean of HIV or B-HV. We’ll have to wait another 24 hours for a counter-test though. This doesn’t mean you are clean, Takarai-kun. Even if the counter-tests give a negative result, you must check back in six months. The wounds will heal within three to four weeks. I strongly advise you desist of having sex during that period.
On the other hand, you’ll have to come here every day during the next week in order to attend other implications of this mishap.”
“Huh?”
“You have warts. They are viral, and they are highly contagious. I have already informed kachou about this. You are to follow treatment right away.”
“Warts?” Hyde asked not sure of understanding what he was being told.
“Infectious warts around the anal orifice...”
“You mean bugs in my butt?”
“Hmm... if that helps you grasp the concept of your disease, then let’s say that is it.”
“Disease?!” Tetsu cried in despair.
“Who is this... character?” The doctor asked in contempt.
“My best friend.” Hyde answered without paying my attention. “How are those warts gonna be treated?”
“We’ll burn them. Get your stupid friend out of here.”
“What? Are you crazy?! You are not gonna burn my butt! I need it! I don’t have a replacement one! And by the way, Tet-chan’s staying with me. Daddy couldn’t make it to the party and he trusted me to him.”
“It’s not what you think. The ‘burning’ process will be done with a chemical...”
“What?! You’re gonna put acid in my ass?! What are you?! A torturer?!”
“It won’t hurt... much. It’s the only cure. Kachou won’t let you go on working if you don’t undergo this procedure.”
“Fuck! I gotta get my ass burnt! Tet-chan say something!”
“So... he doesn’t have AIDS?” Tetsu asked the doctor.
“We need a confirmation before we can attest that. The confirmation will be done in a two-stage process, as I explained. First the counter-test whose results we’ll get tomorrow. Then the re-check in six months. If we find no retro-viral activity in six months, and provided that Takarai-kun has been careful within that span of time and not gotten himself into risky situations, we might affirm that he hasn’t contracted HIV.”
“Er...” Tetsu felt lost.
“If I’m still clean in six months, then I don’t have AIDS.” Hyde summarized.
“Why do we have to wait so long?”
“Because it is likely that the virus has not replicated sufficiently to be detected now, but it will have by the time we re-check if it has entered Takarai-kun’s system.”
“Etoo...” Tetsu was speechless again and looked back at Hyde.
“Cuz the virus is hiding now, if I caught it, but it will not be able to hide anymore in six months.”
“Ah.”
“So, if in six months I’m still negative, it means I haven’t caught it.”
“I see... Why can’t they make it come out of its hideaway now?”
“You see, young man... if you have any ideas that could help develop science any further when it comes to the detection of retroviral activity within the human system, I suppose all scientists in the world would like to hear you.” The doctor answered with disdain.
“Yeah... I bet they would.” Tetsu answered in the same fashion. He was already getting annoyed at the doctor’s lack of empathy or consideration.
He supposed it was the doctor’s job and patients only meant another number to him. He also supposed it shouldn’t be so... but there was probably a reason why kachou was controlling him, and he wasn’t sure of wanting to find out.
“So... kachou is already informed?” Hyde interrupted.
“Yes, he is.”
“When should I come back?”
“Tomorrow morning. You have an appointment with me, you should say so at the hospital reception.” The doctor said in a monotonous voice while scribbling on his notepad.
“OK, Tanaka-sensei. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
“Come alone.” The doctor snapped, turned on his heels and walked away.
“Yeah...” Hyde sighed and nodded off to Tetsu, inviting him to follow him on the way out of hospital.

“What are you gonna do, Hai-chan?” Tetsu asked eagerly as they walked down the corridors.
“I have to go see kachou.” Hyde answered emotionlessly.
“Ah... OK. Can I go with you and...?”
“I’d say no, Tet-chan. You better stay out of this.”
“But I’m your friend, I want to be with you and...”
“You’ve already done a lot, Tet-chan. Thanks.”
“No... no... I haven’t done nearly enough.”
Hyde smiled sympathetically. “It’s OK, Tet-chan. Shimpai shinaide. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
“But... but... Hai-chan...”
“I’m gonna be alright. The initial tests were negative, which is good. Now I only gotta get my butt burnt, which is not so good, but well... I’ll bear it.”
“Is your boss going to be mad at you?”
“Well... maybe. I don’t know.” Hyde said and smiled sadly.
“Listen... I want to help you, Haido... really, I...”
“As I said...” Hyde interrupted and pushed the hospital exit door open. “You’ve already done a lot, Tet-chan. It would have scared me so much to have to put up with all of this on my own, but you were there by my side all the time. I appreciate it. You dunno how.”
“I... I’m your friend, Hai-chan. Of course I would...”
“Thanks, Tet-chan.” Hyde interrupted again and smiled. “Now go to check in with your bum friends. They must be worried about you. I’m gonna see kachou and then I think I’ll go home for a rest. I really need a rest, and so do you.”
“Want me to meet you later?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“The doctor said I have something contagious in my butt.”
“Doesn’t matter, I’m not getting close to your butt.”
“A-ha... yeah... it seems the price on my ass has dropped... but you still can’t afford it.” Hyde tried to joke.
“You always have to be a moron, don’t you?”
“Yeah. Keeps it being fun to stick around me. Anyway, Tet-chan. Go do your business. I seriously need rest.”
“I can... I can go and... well, help you with anything you might need... or...”
“Sa... don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” Hyde answered in resignation and smiled tiredly. He nodded and waved goodbye before turning and walking away into the crowd, before Tetsu’s perplexed eyes.
“He wants to look strong... he wants to look so strong and mature... He’s a perfect idiot. And I’m a perfect idiot too... crying like this for him.” Tetsu muttered watching the first tears that had rolled down his cheek hit the surface of the magic stone that showed both of their smiling faces.

Hyde remained seated, sinking in the dark depth of the green couch at kachou’s waiting room. He didn’t browse through magazines this time, neither did he contemplate the lavish and tacky decoration of the place. He just lied there, defeated and tense, with his eyes staring fixedly at his toes. His mind was an agitated blank, and he strained himself to go over the events that had led him to the situation he was presently in. Every image that assaulted his mind replenished his soul with more angst and despair. What was he going to tell kachou? How was he going to explain to him what had happened? Hyde had been sure of his innocence until then, but now doubts were starting to loom over him.
What would happen if kachou kicked him out to the streets? He wouldn’t be able to support himself for long, and most likely he would end up following Tetsu’s way.
The sole idea distressed him, making him wince in his place feeling miserable.
“Why me...?” He wondered in silence; and repressed with all the might of a 13-year-old the tears pounding behind his eyelids fighting to run freely. “Why am I so unlucky?”
Hyde breathed intermittently and raised his eyes shyly towards kachou’s office door. He couldn’t overhear much. Generally he would be able to hear the coarse, deep voice of the portentous boss telling someone off; or the moans the man would give when one of his employees was called to “entertain kachou”. Hyde himself had been called sometimes, and suddenly the rapid memory made the acrid taste of his procurer return to his mouth for a brief moment, conjuring a grimace of disgust... almost hidden, halfway through his mind and his face. Hyde was so tired, so defeated, that he couldn’t even pretend.
He lowered his sight again in silence, and kept watching the tip of his toes. His white socks, almost immaculate. The shooting memory of Tetsu and his bare feet, bruised and dirty, burnt by the cold... almost numbed by it, crossed his mind for an instant making him cringe and then sigh. He had to avoid, by any means, no matter how, to end up living a life like Tetsu’s. He had fought to avoid it all his life... he couldn’t lose now. He couldn’t allow himself to. He had worked too hard to prevent it.
He clenched his toes, almost like unconsciously trying to form a fist with them, like wanting with all his body to start punching life; and once again, his small-framed body shivered for an instant when the accumulated tension in him became excessive.
“They won’t see me dead... no... they won’t celebrate my death. They won’t defeat me. I’m gonna live. And it is by living that I am going to challenge them, I’m going to slap them and I’m gonna have my revenge...” Hyde reassured himself in silence, fighting against the tears that once again crawled up the back of his eyes, pushing to come out.
“I’m glad they died... those two shitty hippies...” Hyde’s uncle’s voice echoed inside his head. He remembered himself as a kid... a younger kid, listening behind a door, holding tight the only doll he kept as witness of his former life... his old life with mom and dad... the doll mommy had given him.
“I’m glad they died...” The cruel sentence echoed inside his head filling him with bitterness. “I wish they had taken the brat with them. That short waste of human flesh. Sons of a bitch... even after death they keep throwing their garbage at us to handle it. Damned hippies. Why didn’t they take the fucking brat with them to hell? Now he have to take care of him... as if we were rich...”
Hyde bit his lower lip and breathed heavily. “I don’t know... I don’t know what’s gonna happen to me, but I’m not gonna die... I’m not gonna die not because I’m scared of death, not because I think life is beautiful, not because I have anything to thank it or anything important to do here... Just... only... I’m not gonna die because I will not please them. I will not give them the happiness of seeing me dead. I’m not gonna die before you, uncle, aunt, cousin... I’m gonna make sure you all die first. I’m gonna visit your graves... and I’m gonna pee on them.”
A delicate voice partially woke Hyde up from his personal nightmare. (And maybe it was impossible for him to wake up from it completely.)
“Haido-kun? Would you like a cup of coffee?” The charming voice asked sweetly in a melodious high pitch, inviting him politely. It was like a warm balm to his mind, compared to the repugnant echo of the infernal memories inside his head.
“Un, doumo.” Hyde mumbled nodding, without taking his eyes off his tense toes.
“Sugar and sweetener, right?” The kind voice asked again.
Hyde chuckled with some reluctance. “Thanks for remembering.”

Tetsu struggled to walk straight, but more than ever the burden of everything that had happened weighed on him to the extent of showing physically, once it had surpassed every psychological barrier without finding much resistance.
He felt his head would be about to explode should he keep thinking and raking his brains about all the recent events.
Hyde couldn’t die, right? He was only a kid! Don’t people say angels always protect kids? And where was Hyde’s angel? Maybe he was lost?
Tetsu suddenly stopped, shocked, in front of a newspaper vending machine. The titles of a yellow-press rag had called his attention to the brims of horror.

“Three kids die in home accident.”
But... Angels protect kids...
Tetsu felt defeated... there had to be an explanation... kids couldn’t die like this... maybe... maybe kids’ angels were also kids... and could get lost...
That sounded like a good explanation to Tetsu.
Maybe kid angels got distracted watching the flowers or playing, and got lost. Like human kids. Maybe those three kids’ angels, and Hyde’s angel were somewhere out there. Lost... looking for their kids, calling them and crying because they couldn’t find them.
Then suddenly the idea crossed his mind for a split second.
Did he have an angel too?
The answer would maybe lie in finding those lost angels. Those child angels playing like children. Those who had lost track of the kids they were looking after.
Looking for those child angels who, at the same time, searched frantically for their little humans, crying and calling in vain... because humans cannot listen to angels.
Tetsu sat under the shadow of an old maple tree at Yoyogi park, and took the magic stone out of his pocket.
Hyde’s face, right next to his own, smiled from the sticker firmly adhering to the coarse surface of the stone.
“Where are our angels, Hai-chan? Where did they get lost? Did they get lost among the crowds at Shibuya station? Or maybe they are here, at Yoyogi park, looking for us...? Or maybe they got lost long ago... who knows where... who knows how to find them now.”
Tetsu thought of how convenient it would be if there was a newspaper for angels, where one could place a classified ad.
“Tetsu looks for lost angel. Please, Tenshi-san, meet Tetsu at Shibuya Station. I will be waiting for you at 4PM today next to Hachiko’s statue.”
Of course, one should consider how much those classifieds would cost. In this world, the most useful services always come along with an obscenely high price... and were always at the disposition of those who could afford that price... not necessarily those who might need the service.
And besides... How could one realize if one’s angel was lost? How could one realize that the angel was back?
Suddenly Tetsu thought that maybe he knew someone who might help him find Hyde’s lost angel. He knew Hyde wouldn’t approve of it, but it was a measure of extreme necessity. Finding the lost angel was an urgent matter, because only he could help Hyde. There was no other option. And so, Tetsu got up nodding to himself, and started walking decidedly towards the temple.
The preacher was his only hope.

The dark and heavy wooden door opened lazily and unexpectedly, letting out a skinny sixteen-year-old girl in clothes and makeup for someone three times her age. She looked like a bird escaping a cage. Hyde couldn’t help the comparison.
He took the last sip of coffee before his stomach became tied, and pinned his eyes to the door, ignoring the co-worker passing just by him, who in turn also ignored his presence.
“Haido!” The coarse voice reverberated like a thousand-year sentence over him, and Hyde instinctively got up. He nodded to the emptiness around him, and walked straight into the office.
“Here I am, kachou.” Hyde whispered insecurely.
“Damned son of a bitch! Here you are!” The voluminous man spat his words coated with venom.
“Uh... hai... uh... kachou, ore ha...” Hyde stammered nervously, before being interrupted by the thunder-like voice of his employer.
“Why are you always giving me trouble, kusogakki!? Are you trying to ruin me, bastard?! Traitor! I took you out of the streets! I saved you from a lifetime of mendicancy! How can you do this to me, fuck it!?” The sturdy, middle-aged man screamed with all his might and hit the thick oak table with his angry fists. The veins in his neck and forehead protruding and throbbing as if they were about to jump out of his body and flood the place like firemen hoses of blood.
“I... I... it wasn’t my fault, kachou...” Hyde whispered almost intimidated. It wasn’t usual in him to feel that way.
“Yes!! Yes, it was your fault!! Are you making extra profit behind my back, you fucker? Kisama, fucking traitor! You think you are gonna smart up on me, asshole?! You think you are gonna use me, of all people, only to get richer?! You little son of a bitch!!”
“It’s not like that kachou, let me explain...” Hyde tried in vain to keep the argument within the boundaries of reason.
“I don’t need your fucking explanations, you moron! I know perfectly well what happened! The client told me everything!”
“No! Don’t believe him! He got it all wrong!” Hyde howled in despair.
“Haido-kun...” The fifty-something procurer hissed like a snake, narrowing his eyes. “I’ve told you a thousand times. The paying party is always right... and you don’t pay.” He hit his fist again on the desk making it shake. “He does, not you! So he’ll always be right and you’ll always be wrong! Have you understood? He pays to be right, fucking dammit! If you want me to even listen to you, then start working for free!”
“But... but... that’s not fair!” Hyde protested, his voice faulting.
“What the fuck do I care about fair?! Who the hell do you fucking think I am? Kamen Rider? This is business, Haido, and you are my employee!”
“I know that, kachou, but...”
“You are a damned traitor, bastard, and you are gonna pay a high price for this! Nobody betrays me! You are not going to have a single client until the counter-test results are done in six months. And you better be negative. You won’t get not even one client, bastard! But you’ll still have to pay your monthly dues. Got that? You’ll be owing me $600 a month, and you better pay before deadline, or you’ll be on the dead-line.”
“That’s not fair! You said my savings were mine to keep!”
“Well, welcome to reality! Your savings just got a one-way ticket into kachou’s pocket thanks to your ineptitude! And if you can’t pay, I’ll make sure I’ll cash it anyway... anyhow, you got that? And don’t even try to run away from me! You know you can’t survive without my help, and you also know I’m gonna find you anywhere you go! I’ve got informants all over Tokyo. You can’t do nothing but get fucked for money because you are absolutely useless! As soon as a dick hits your tight little asshole, I’m gonna get you! My hounds will get you and bring you to me! And my hounds will not be as merciful as I am.”
“But... but... kachou...” Hyde broke down in tears.
“Don’t cry to me, fag! Do you have any idea of how many idiots like you come to me with the very same cocodrile tears? Do you think I’d have kept myself doing business if I were stupid enough to mind about those weeping jerks?!”
“I don’t care how others cry! I cry because I’m right and you don’t listen to me! I’ve always been a good employee! I always did things right! I don’t wanna die! And that son of a bitch... that son of a bitch beat me up, raped me, and left a torn rubber up my ass! All because he thought I had a voyeur inside the closet.”
“Uruse, baka! Don’t try to deny it now!”
“Yes there was somebody inside the closet! Yes there was! But it wasn’t a voyeur! It was a friend of mine that had come over for a visit! He didn’t know I had a client and I pushed him inside so that the client wouldn’t get the weird idea of pulling out a threesome with him! Because he’s just an innocent boy, and he doesn’t deserve such a shitty fate!”
“Uruse yo!! Shitty brat! I don’t give a damn about you or your stupid friend! You moron! The only reason why I hope you didn’t catch any deadly disease is because I want to keep exploiting your tight, little butt! That soft, pink, juvenile asshole of yours that has known more dick than anyone twice your age! And it’s no use to me if you are coughing blood while you are being fucked! Your butt is too cute and tight to let it go! But if it weren’t so, if your butt didn’t fill my pockets with cash... I’d wish you’d pay your idiocy with your life! Traitor! Fucking traitor! Get out of my sight!”
“Kachou!” Hyde gasped in disbelief.
“Get out of my site and don’t forget it... by the end of the month my men will visit you to get the pay. Be good to them... but don’t fuck them.”
“Kachou...”
“I said out!!”

Tetsu sat down shyly in front of the preacher, almost like apologizing for bringing his filthy self into such an immaculate place.
Everything shone, extremely polished... and Tetsu felt he was the only opaque thing in that place. The feeling of awkwardness took over him, and he started considering the idea of running away.
The preacher smiled coldly. It was evident that the incident that had taken place a few days before was nowhere near forgiven or even forgotten.
Tetsu sat down gauntly, with his thin legs clinging to each other... looking for protection in their twin’s company; and his dirty hands rested nervously on his thighs. His stare was down, all of his self apologized for being there.
“Well, Tetsu-kun? What did you want to talk to me about?”
“It’s... it’s rather complicated, father. I’ll try to explain...”
“I’m listening.”
Tetsu tried to defeat the discomfort creeping up to his voice, and after an intermittent sigh, he spat the first question rapidly.
“Angels can get lost, father?”
“Hm?”
“Angels... angels taking care of people... Do they get lost...?”
“Well, you’ll see, according to the holy scriptures, many years ago, a group of angels rebelled against God’s will and lost their...”
“Lost their way...?” Tetsu interrupted eagerly. “Where did they go next?”
“They went to the infinitely dark abysses of...”
“Ack! Why? Cuz they couldn’t find the way back to Heaven?”
“Because they disobeyed God’s will and they lost their pureness...”
“No... ah.... I understand. But that’s not what I wanted to know...”
“Of course... sometimes, one thinks it’s better not to know. But that is not a good thing, because...”
“No... I mean... Can the angels that take care of people get... say... distracted... and lose sight of that person... I mean... not being able to find the person they have to protect anymore?”
“No, Tetsu. That’s impossible. Angels don’t get distracted.”
“Really?”
“So it is.”
“Then... Why are there bad things happening to some people?”
“Because unfortunately, in this world, evil prevails. Because we humans have forgotten the mercy of the Lord, and thus have turned to evil. Look, for example, your little friend Haido.”
“Haido isn’t bad! Don’t say bad things about Haido-kun!” Tetsu pleaded almost crying. “Haido-kun is good! I know some days ago he behaved rather rudely, and he kicked up a scene here. I know he does things he shouldn’t do, and says things he shouldn’t say, but he’s not bad! He isn’t!”
“Tetsu-kun... your friend is...”
“My friend is a good boy! You don’t know him as well as I do, father! All I know is Haido-kun needs a guardian angel! Haido-kun is in trouble!”
“But of course your friend is in trouble! Obviously he is! Just consider his occupation! Do you know what will happen to him on doomsday? He will be called to the left of God, and he will be condemned, with the black sheep that lost the way...!”
“Father! Don’t give me that! You know nothing about Haido! And it’s not good of you to speak like that about someone you don’t know! I heard you once when you were preaching... You were telling everyone about being good to others. But know you are badmouthing my friend who is in disgrace! Didn’t you say that time that the Lord was merciful? Do you know why I brought him here some days ago? Because I had heard you once... in your preaching... talking about how the Lord was in the company of poor people, people in disgrace and also prostitutes... and you said he didn’t discriminate, so I thought you wouldn’t discriminate either. But maybe I was wrong... Of course I was wrong. You are not God. You are simply his representative in Shibuya... his advertising agent, right? You tell people what to do, but that doesn’t mean you will do it... Now I understand Haido-kun a little more...” Tetsu concluded sadly.
“Tetsu...”
“I only wanna help Haido! Haido might die! And I don’t want my friend to die! You say he’s bad, but I know he’s good! He’s nothing like you say! He isn’t possessed by any evil force or monster! He’s very good! And very kind too. He helped me when I was on the street, lying there, freezing and starving. He fed me, he made me warm. He’s my friend! He plays with me, he tells me about his stuff, and he always wants to help me. Even if he’s stubborn and conceited and weird! Even if he’s a jerk, he always wants to help me! And now... now he needs me. He needs my help! What kind of a bastard would I be if I denied him my help? He needs his angel to protect him and save him!”
“Tetsu... Tetsu, you are a very good boy...”
“Thanks, but praise isn’t gonna help me.”
“Tetsu-kun... Maybe... maybe I can’t... help.”
“Eh?”
“Maybe you are the only one who can help.”
“But... but... I?”
“You tell me Haido-kun has lost his guardian angle... and basically, you came here because you want me to help you find that angel... You see, Tetsu-kun... angels don’t get lost in that way. But also, angels cannot force people into doing something people don’t want to do. Angels watch over us, but they can’t meddle in our actions... or at least, not to a point where it would be noticed. I think... Maybe, Haido-kun’s angel wants you to be his assistant, Tetsu.”
“Eh...?”
“It’s a way to put it. For now, I think you should be near Haido-kun. Support him... teach him with your example. Maybe in that way your friend will be able to listen to the sweet words his angel speaks softly to his ear... the sweet words that will lead him back to the good track... and away from the dark path he has taken.”
“But father... you don’t understand...”
“Yes, Tetsu... I understand. You are a very pure soul. You have a very pure heart. And let me tell you, I never thought I’d see the day in which a little street-boy would teach me a lesson.” The preacher said and sighed, raising his eyes to the crucifix hanging in front of him.
“Maybe... maybe you are right, Tetsu. I made a mistake. I thought I had been given a power that is not mine... And in that mirage of power I pushed him and you even further away from the path I was supposed to attract you to. I’ve been stupid and blind.” He smiled bitterly and lowered his head shaking it softly. “Tetsu... we all bear a cross in this world. We all bear a burden. Your burden is poverty, Haido-kun’s burden is prostitution... and my burden is having a blind heart.
But you see... maybe the reason why we are all here in this world is to help each other with our burdens.
Just like you have opened my eyes a little with your frank speech, and lightened my burden, just like Haido-kun helped you and fed you lightening your burden.
Do you understand, Tetsu?”
“I... I think so... father... But... you see, it sounds like something I already said, only worded up differently.”
“Yes...” The preacher nodded. “You are even that ahead of me...”
“Eto... Actually, more than anything, what I need is someone who helps me find the way to help Haido. if I don’t do it, if I don’t find the miracle to help him, he might die. And it isn’t fair. It’s just not fair that he dies. He’s too young, he’s gone through too much. Trust me... I know. Just like I know he’s a good boy. A good boy trying to do what he can.” Tetsu murmured almost crying.
“Yes... I understand...” The preacher nodded again, defeated and embarrassed.
“Father, I can’t abandon him.” Tetsu began between sobs. “I don’t know how to lighten his burden, like you say, all I know is that I have to help him... I don’t know if my help will stop him from prostituting himself, maybe that’s important but now it’s on second place... There are more urgent matters. I just don’t want him to die.
Listen, father, it’s not like I approve of his job. I hate it. But when his life is at stake, his occupation is the thing that least matters to me.
He needs help... now... right now.”
“Tetsu... I... Well, I don’t know what to advise...”
“What should I do?”
“Go with him. Stay with him. Stay close to him. You are definitely the key, my boy. You are the person that will drag Haido-kun back to the good path. The one that will definitely save him from a horrible fate. You see, his angel isn’t lost... no... it’s just that... his angel is asking you to back him up. Don’t ignore him.”
“I see...” Tetsu sighed and lowered his eyes. He remained silent for a few seconds, and impassively watched tears, his very own, dropping one by one on the ragged and dirty pants he was wearing. “One more question, father... Do I have an angel? What about my angel?”
“Your angel and his want to team up, Tetsu-kun.”
“Are you sure, father?”
“Almost... almost... sure.”

Haido stormed to the other side of the door holding back tears in a grimace that took so much effort it was almost extenuating. He passed the entry way, and without saying goodbye to the maid looking at him, already used to these scenes, he left.”
“Damned old fart!” Hyde hissed between his teeth in fury. “I’m busting my butt working; literally, and he wants to keep it all! He wants it all! Even what he promised would be mine!”
Looking for a stone to kick and release his fury, he found himself close to kicking an old lady’s Pomeranian, a younger kid’s rajicon truck, the street notice of a flower shop and a couple passer-bys.
He decided to sit down on one of the Ginza Station benches and let a couple trains go by until his mind was clearer. After all, it didn’t look like he’d be in the hurry to meet a client for a long time. This time kachou had really sounded uncompromising.
His mind went around the issue. How could he get the money without touching his “reserves”? Street prostitution? Was he going to work the streets? It was an option, but also a great risk. After all, he wouldn’t count on the protection kachou’s closed circle gave him... and what was worse, if kachou learnt he was using the facilities given by him in order to bring outside clients, private clients... clients kachou wouldn’t benefit from, Haido would most likely undergo slow and painful torture.
Maybe it’d be a good idea to consult Christina. She was older, and she always knew what to do in sticky situations.
Haido winced on his bench when the idea of mendicancy side by side with Tetsu crossed his mind for a second.
“Dammit! I’m not resorting to that!” He protested between clenched teeth and took a cigarette out of the cigarette case in his pocket. “Besides, tomorrow I have to go get the warts in my butt burnt.”
The image of Tanaka-sensei popped up in his mind for a split second.
“Tanaka-sensei...” he murmured, letting the gray, gossamer smoke leave his nostrils. “One would think someone with a college degree wouldn’t need to work for a creep like kachou... What could have made him work for such a pig? He thought maybe Tanaka-sensei had killed someone. “He probably screwed up big time.” He pondered. “...and kachou spared him from jail. What a shitty fate. Kachou only saves you to make you sink even deeper. Damned chauvinist, traitor, son of a bitch. He deserves my getting private clients behind his back... yeah... he fucking deserves it. I’m not gonna touch my reserves. My reserves are mine. I’ll save them for the time when I’m older. I’m gonna be rich and famous and successful. Yeah, I will. I will be so disgustingly rich that kachou will have to work for me... cleaning my toilet. I’ll make him clean the toilets of my mansion. Yeah... that’ll suit him.” Hyde smirked in silence finishing his cigarette while he imagined the situation. “I’ll make him clean the toilet with his bare hands and tongue... and then, after washing his hands with chlorine, I’ll make him jerk me off every day. Ha!
But first I gotta get my ass burnt by Tanaka-sensei.
If it hurts... if it hurts... I’m gonna cry so hard, everyone’s gonna end up deaf.”
Hyde nodded to himself, and got up to walk into the inviting train wagon that would take him back to Shibuya.

Tetsu leaned over the door once again, and repeated his speech. That he was Haido’s friend, he was the boy who was there when everything happened. That he hadn’t been sent by kachou, he didn’t know kachou, he didn’t want to use any service, he didn’t want to ask indiscrete questions... he wasn’t... he didn’t... he wouldn’t...
Finally Christina opened the door.
“Well... what do you know... the little beggar that almost gets Hai-chan killed...”
“No... no... it’s not like that.” Tetsu began by apologizing. “May I come in? I would like to have a few words with you.”
“No, you can’t.” Christina answered laconically. “What do you want?”
“Well... Haido isn’t at home. I came to see him... came to see how he’s doing... but he isn’t at home... and since you are his friend... I thought maybe you’d know....”
“I know nothing.” Christina answered in the same previous tone and turned on her heels about to close the door.
“Please... please... I never meant to hurt him. I had just come for a visit... because we are friends. And he pushed me inside the closet. I didn’t want to hurt him. I had no choice... I didn’t even have time to think of...”
“Next time speed up the grinds in your head, boy. Or more people will get hurt.”
“I wanna help him... he’s my best friend. And I think... I think I’m his best friend too. I think he needs me, and I also need him. Please... please, help me find him.”
“Look boy. Cut it out already... I mean... stop being a nuisance, OK? You have already caused enough damage. You are cute and young. Get yourself another friend. Haido can’t be anybody’s friend, got it? Not yours, not mine, not anyone’s. That’s the way this job is. When you are into this, you know you can’t trust anyone, because when you do, these things happen. When you grow fond of someone, these things happen. You don’t know because you have never been into anything like this, so better shut up and go back to the hole you crept out of.”
“Please...” Tetsu insisted stopping the door with his skinny hand. “Please... I gotta see him... I gotta help him. He saved my life, and I... I need to help him.”
“Ah...” Christina sighed annoyed. “I suppose he went to talk to kachou. Wait for him at his door. I don’t think he’ll take long.”
“Ah... OK... I’ll do that! I’ll do just that! Thanks! Thanks for believing me...”
“Who said I believe you? You are simply too annoying.” Christina answered and slammed the door shut.
Deep inside Christina didn’t dislike Tetsu. But life had toughened her, and she couldn’t trust anyone any more.

Tetsu sat down on the floor in front of Haido’s door and took out his magic stone.
“Hai-chan... we’re gonna wait for you. Me and the stone. We’ll wait for you patiently... And when you’re back, I’m gonna invite you to the park. We’ll talk, and I’m always gonna be with you. Every day from now on. Because we are friends, because we have a magic stone and because our angels want to team up... Hehe...”
“Hey! Ya speaking to yourself?” The sudden voice startled Tetsu, and the little kick on his left leg ended up by piquing him.
“Haido!”
“That is correct. We got a winner!” Hyde exclaimed sarcastically. “What are you doing here, man?”
“Was waiting for you.” Tetsu replied smiling broadly.
“Ah... good. I thought you were begging at my door. You’d do something like that.” Hyde answered narrowing his eyes.
“Don’t be stupid!”
“You know my clients have plenty of cash...” Hyde said and shrugged, putting his key to the lock while Tetsu stood up.
“I came to be with you because...”
“Go away.” Hyde interrupted him.
“Eh?”
“Go away and don’t come back.” Hyde snapped again.
“Hey! Come on...” Tetsu protested.
“I wanna be alone, got it? Alone. I got a lot to do and a lot to think about. I’ve got work. Life goes on, sex too, and sex is my business. You go take care of yours, or maybe another cute kid will take you place and gather all your charities.”
“Haido!” Tetsu was aghast.
“Go away. Leave me alone. I wanna be alone. I’m not blaming you for anything. I know it’s not your fault. But I want to be alone. I wanna lie in bed and smoke... and read manga... and watch TV.”
“I can keep you company.”
“No. I want to be alone. Go away and don’t come back asking about me.”
“But... but... we are friends...” Tetsu wailed.
“OK. But the time to play friends is over. Now I wanna be alone.”
“But... Hai-chan... I wanna be with you.”
“Well, you got any money? My company costs money. If you don’t have any just go away and leave me alone.”
“Are you going to hospital tomorrow?”
“If you show up at the hospital, I swear I’ll beat the crap out of you.” Hyde warned pointing at Tetsu with an angry finger.
“You are so mean! I’m worried about you!” Tetsu kept protesting.
“Worry about yourself. You have more problems than I do. At least I have food and a warm bed. You don’t even have a place to go pee in private.”
“I have one. The station’s restrooms.”
“Well... go live in the station’s restrooms and leave me to shit happily at home. Goodbye, Tetsu.”
“Haido... Will I see you again?”
“Maybe... I don’t know.” Hyde answered and shrugged. “Hey, do beggars go to hell?”
“I don’t know.”
“If you ever go there... ask around about me. I’ll most likely be giving the devil a blowjob.” Hyde closed the door in Tetsu’s face, and with these words he considered their conversation ended. He had a lot to think about... too much to think about... and he was feeling vulnerable... too vulnerable to allow anyone, even Tetsu, see it.
Without turning on the lights, he crawled onto his bed, and began weeping in silence

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