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

Episode 16 ~A steamy confession and the vampire zombies from outer space~

Tetsu rested his head backwards trying to relax. He took a deep breath and felt his lungs swelling with steam. He perceived a little itchiness in his eyes, but he was gradually getting used to it. Water was unbelievably warm, and the sensation was priceless.
It had been such a long time since the last relaxation bath he had taken, it almost felt like it had happened in a former life.
Tetsu smiled to himself and closed his eyes trying to relax after an unexpectedly complicated day of labor.
He had already washed himself dutifully, and he would probably be taking pleasure in the joys of a hot bath if it weren’t for minor details...
A major minor detail...
“Resistance is futile!” Hyde screamed again and started kicking water at Tetsu. All other customers had moved into a different bath pool for obvious reasons.
“We are the mighty zombies from outer space and we are here to get you, Tetsuya, and kidnap you, submit you to torture and then liquefy your brains so that we can feed our entire troops on them.”
“I am a moron... coming to a public bath with him... what was I thinking...?” Tetsu trailed off in defeat.
“...And here comes the unbeatable wave of power! Kyaaa~~!” Hyde screamed again swirling and making annoying ripples in the water around him. “Our mighty weapon shall not be surpassed by your dim earthly powers, you weak earthling!”
“...zombies from outer space...” Tetsu mumbled irritated. “...what a retard...”
“Kyaa~~! Kyaa~~! I am the king of vampires!!” Hyde yelled out in a piercing voice.
“Are you a zombie or a vampire? Make up your mind!”
“I’m both.” Hyde answered grinning. It was obvious to him that Tetsu was jealous of his convenient position in his imaginary game.
“You can’t be both!” Tetsu protested.
“Huh? Why not? Is there a law against it? Huh? Huh?” Hyde inquired defiantly while poking Tetsu’s chest with his finger.
“Haido, stop it! I wanna relax! I had a hard day!”
“You are so boring Tet-chan! So serious and boring!” Hyde protested and walked to stand beside Tetsu.
“Well, better boring than vampire zombie from outer space!” Tetsu replied and stuck his tongue out.
“Shut up!”
“No, you shut up!”
“You shut up!”
“You shut up!”
“Make me!”
“Make me make you!”
“Fine!” Hyde yelled and soaked Tetsu with a wave of water.
“OK! That’s it! You earned it!” Tetsu groaned and jumped on Hyde trying to beat him.
“Kya~!” Hyde screamed “The weak earthling is resisting! Call headquarters for reinforcement!!”
“Eh?” Tetsu suddenly grabbed Hyde by the shoulders and forced him to turn around.
“What? What? You got horny?”
“No! You retard! What is this?” Tetsu asked touching the bruises on Hyde’s back softly. They were obviously recent.
“Ouch! What are you doing?” Hyde protested trying to set himself free from Tetsu’s grab.
“What are these bruises?” Tetsu asked alarmed not letting Hyde go.
“Oh... hmm... that... hmmm...”
“Kachou beat you up?”
“No. No, no, no. Nothing like that... hmm... I fell from bed this morning... I had a nightmare and I...”
“The truth, please?” Tetsu interrupted forcefully turning Hyde around and making him face him.
“Uh... well... hmm... I’m learning martial arts.” Hyde answered looking away.
“Eh?”
“Yeah... in my spare time. Now that I have some spare time, I’m...”
“What martial arts?”
“Uh... eto... hmm... Kung-fu.”
“Liar.”
“It’s true.”
“No, it isn’t. You had to think before you answered.”
“Uh... the word is complicated. I was thinking of the kanji for...”
“Haido...”
“Hmm...”
“Who hit you? A client?”
“N-no...”
“Why can’t you tell me?”
“Cuz... cuz... you’ll be mad.”
“Well... by now I think I’ve already heard it all. You can tell me.”
“Uh... well... I... hmmm... I was looking for you earlier today...”
“Go on.”
“And... hmm... I didn’t know where you were, so I asked around...”
“Who did you ask?”
“Hmm... I just asked around... and...”
“And...?”
“...some of your friends really don’t like the idea of you... being my friend.” Hyde relented. “But it’s OK. Really. I kicked his nuts too.”
“Jesus! Who beat you up? Who was it?!”
“Uh... well, I didn’t ask for his business card... Besides, what would it say? “John Doe: bum.” It’d have been stupid. Although I could have given him mine, if I had any... “Hyde: whore. We can discuss the price.” Well, in any case...”
“Stop ranting like an idiot and gimme a description.” Tetsu urged him in a very strict way.
“It was a beggar.” Hyde said and shrugged looking down.
“OK... You don’t want to cooperate. Fine... I’ll find out who it was and...”
“It’s... it’s OK. Really. Don’t get mad. I think... he was trying to protect you, ne. He didn’t mean any wrong... well, he did, but what I mean is...”
“This is unforgivable!”
“Ne... I have forgiven him, OK?” Hyde said and raised his head smiling sweetly at Tetsu. “Let’s just forget about this, Tet-chan...”
“I... I don’t think I...”
“You can forgive him, right? He didn’t mean to wrong you... in fact he just wanted to wrong me, but that’s OK. He’s been probably fed all the “decency-crap” people are usually fed. Don’t worry. And besides, after our argument, he gave me the address of your working place, so see? He can be nice... at gunpoint, OK, but nice nonetheless...”
“Haido... you are so contradictory... so unpredictable... so impossible, so bratty...”
“... and so cute.” Hyde interrupted and leaned over Tetsu to kiss his cheek. “Forget about that incident, ne? Let’s talk about something else.”
Tetsu sighed in uneasiness for all answer, and noticed his cheeks getting warmer. It couldn't be the steam... Could it? Tetsu felt uncomfortable and at the same time, strangely happy.
“...like for example... let’s discuss your balls.” Hyde suddenly said.
“Wha--??!!”
“Yeah... you are getting hairy. It’s kinda funny... how much hairier will you get? I can only wonder...”
“Are you out of your mind?! Oh... wait... you are just jealous. You are jealous cuz you are so hairless. I’m a macho man and you are...”
“You are a ‘WHAT??’” Hyde asked and cracked up laughing hysterically.
“Fuck you!” Tetsu protested. All the blush in his cheeks had disappeared.
“You are a complete idiot, Tet-chan... but you’re the kinda idiot that gets hairy down there. It’s cool for you, I suppose.”
“By the way... Why aren’t you getting any hair down there? You’re old enough.”
“Tanaka-sensei takes care of that.” Hyde said and shrugged. “...and of course, I’m a neat boy.”
“He shaves you? Ugh... Poor guy... having gone to college to end up doing that kind of job...”
“No, moron. He gives me these... pills... to slow down my growth. That’s why I look like I’m a lot younger than I really am.”
“Eto... that can’t be good for you...” Tetsu said staring at Hyde with eyes wide open.
“I tell you Tet-chan... it’s fucking good... it means money.”
“Oh... I had forgotten your money-biased way of thinking.”
“Ah... how could you forget my very essence?”
“Shut up, moron.” Tetsu said rather annoyed. All the happiness he had felt a few minutes ago had vanished. “...tell me about your crush. You promised.”
“Eh? I did?”
“Yes, you did!”
“Oh... hmm... well... I think... I can’t tell you who it is.”
“What?! But you promised...!”
“I promised...” Hyde interrupted in a lecturing fashion; both hands on his waist. “...I would tell you about him, not that I would tell you who it is. Now... I hope contact with that bimbo has not rendered your unique functioning neuron inactive... or made you incapable of understanding the undertones of proper language... And going back to the subject of my love: you can guess who it is. I’ll give you a few hints.”
“Listen up, man... why do you always have to insult me?”
“I’m not insulting you.” Hyde replied and shrugged. “You are too touchy.”
“Well... fine. I don’t wanna hear about your crush.”
“What?!”
“I don’t wanna hear about your crush because you insulted me.”
“Ah...” Hyde was speechless.
“So there... learn manners.”
“Tet-chan!!”
“I won’t hear!” Tetsu said covering his ears with his hands and humming loudly.
“Don’t be mean!”
Tetsu kept doing the same and pretending not to hear, while Hyde threw himself around him and started shaking the newly-deaf-by-choice boy.
“OK... fine... I apologize. You are not stupid. You just pretend to be...”
Tetsu rolled his eyes and kept covering his ears.
“You’re a very good actor...” Hyde insisted.
Tetsu motioned towards the end of the bath pool in order to get out of it.
“Matte!! Matte kure!” Hyde screamed alarmed. “I apologize! Please! Listen to me...”
“I shouldn’t.”
“Please...? I apologize...”
“Who is it?”
“It’s... a friend.” Hyde started and looked down blushing. “Someone who is very good looking... someone I love dearly...”
“Someone I know?” Tetsu asked sitting on the rim of the bath pool.
“Y-yeah... I suppose you do. Yeah, you do.” Hyde said nervously and nodded.
“But he doesn’t know... Right?”
“Uh... it’s hard to explain...”
“Oh... You could try... Since you are so smart.” Tetsu replied bitterly.
“I’m trying. Of course I’m smart. You see... I love him deeply... I think I’m in love with... uh... him... but he doesn’t know I feel like that. He doesn’t see me as anything other than a brat... a brat-friend.”
“Ah---...” Tetsu gasped and opened his eyes.
“He... he’s so cute... so sweet to me... I wish I could be his boyfriend, ne? I think... I think we would get along together rather well... And I could be a good boyfriend for him. I could take care of him really well...”
“I know who it is.” Tetsu said smiling broadly and winked at Hyde.
“Eh?”
“Ah... silly Haido...” Tetsu said again and chuckled.
“You... do...?” Hyde, startled, looked at him in awe.
“Of course, silly! Well... let me tell you something: there is no more reason for you to be jealous of Kaori-chan and I. I’ll see that you get what you’ve been dreaming of... but you gotta be a good boy.”
“Hontou?!!” Hyde exclaimed eagerly.
“Yup.” Tetsu answered smiling proudly.
“Ahhh!! Tet-chan!!” Hyde screamed and jumped on Tetsu.
“Give me a couple days...” Tetsu said holding Hyde in his arms. The feeling was strangely sweet... strangely cozy.
“OK! OK! I will. It’s OK... I’m so happy, Tet-chan!!” Hyde bounced eagerly.
“I’m happy too.” Tetsu said smiling and patted Hyde’s head.
“Come to sleep with me tonight!”
“What?!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be a good boy. I’ve always been a good boy with you, ne? Don’t forget that.”
“Well, I remember how you mooned me and half the neighborhood in Christmas...”
“Oh... that is nothing. I can do that again anytime you wish.”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t.”
“Hehehe...” Hyde giggled and rubbed his head against Tetsu’s chest. “Will you come to my place tonight? Please?”
“Ah...” Tetsu sighed. “OK. Sure.”
“Ureshii...”
“You’re getting too weird lately, Hai-chan...”
“I suppose you already know why...” Hyde answered and winked at Tetsu.
“Rabu-rabu? OK... I’ll work on it.”
“Great! You’ll see what a good boy I can be.”
“Why don’t we get going, ne? Unless you wanna keep playing vampire zombie from Mars or something...” Tetsu said and shrugged.
“Uh... it can wait. I’ll kidnap you at some other time.” Hyde replied and crawled out of the pool. He got up and strutted proudly naked, while Tetsu shook his head and wrapped a towel around himself.

“So, ne...” Hyde started, carefully and posing cutely, he served a cup of instant ramen to Tetsu in a much too pompous way. “I hope you enjoyed the sushi... I haven’t made it myself cuz I don’t have much room in the kitchenette... however...”
“Haido... you ain’t no sushi-man. Don’t pretend you could actually make sushi.” Tetsu chuckled.
“Uh... OK... I bought it at ‘Seven-eleven’...” Hyde snorted rather annoyed.
“Yeah... I know. Said so in the wrapping.”
“Ha! You are checking everything I do! OK... I don’t mind. You are probably making sure I’m ready for the position...”
“Eh? What position?”
“The boyfriend position, of course.” Hyde answered matter-of-factly. “I’m oh-so boyfriend material, man... I should be grabbed quickly, before someone else does... cuz chances are...”
“Do you have chopsticks at hand?” Tetsu interrupted, not really paying attention to Hyde’s babble.
“Uh... you are impolite... but I forgive you. After all, you are just a clueless beggar.” Hyde replied scornfully and smirked.
“OK. Itadakimasu!” Tetsu replied focusing on the food.
“Uh... un. Whatever.” Hyde snorted and went at his cup of noodles as if it were a sworn enemy.
The night went by smoothly... and the subject of Hyde’s crush didn’t pop up again, although it was evident it was all they were thinking about.
A few hours after dinner, Tetsu fell asleep curled around one of Hyde’s pillows and sheltered by the boy’s soft, warm duvet. Hyde remained awake. He was too nervous to fall asleep... and he decided to pass his sleepless hours killing zombies from outer space with his playstation. An occupation that had taken most of his free time as of late.
At around five in the morning, he crawled into bed by Tetsu’s side, pressing his naked body against the sleeping boy’s warmth.
“Fool... don’t make me wait so much...” Hyde whispered and rubbed his nose against Tetsu’s shoulder before falling asleep.

“Kya~~! I’m gonna be late!!” Tetsu screamed and jumped out of bed. “The alarm clock didn’t go off!”
“Huh?” Hyde woke up and rubbed his eyes yawning. “Whazzup?”
“Haido!! I’m gonna be late! I gotta fly!”
“Uh... Poor Tet-chan... he thinks he’s a Boeing...” Hyde mumbled and yawned again.
“I gotta go! See ya later! Kya~~!! Kya~~!! I’m gonna be awfully late!” Tetsu cried and rushed out of the apartment while fighting his coat on.
“Jerk...” Hyde muttered after a few seconds while still staring at his apartment’s door. “...there go my hopes for a romantic breakfast in bed...”
He got out of bed and strolled naked around his small place. He stretched his arms behind his back grinning and went to the bathroom humming.
“Ureshii sa... Tet-chan...” He sighed and giggled.
He washed his face and smile at the mirror happily.
“I’m gonna visit him later. I can’t make it look like I’m stalking him... so I gotta pretend it’s something casual. Like... I happened to be around the neighborhood. Hehe... I could invite him for lunch. Yeah, that’d be great. Besides, I gotta prevent that he goes for lunch with... ugh... her.” Hyde talked to himself in a very serious voice. “What can I wear for the occasion? Something cute, of course... He likes cute stuff... Hmm... I think I have a Doraemon shirt. I’ll wear that.”
Suddenly the telephone rang interrupting Hyde’s course of thinking.
“Huh? Kuri-chan, most likely...” Hyde grinned and, without giving it a second thought, he answered.
“Moshi, moshi...”
“Haido-kun.”
“Kachou...” Hyde gasped opening his eyes wide.
“Where were you yesterday afternoon?”
“I have clients?” Hyde asked eagerly
“Where were you---...”
“I went for a walk.” Hyde replied. “So... Kachou has forgiven me and I have clients again?”
“No. You have dues to pay.”
“Aw, come on, kachou... Can’t you spare a cute, little boy like me from this month’s dues?” Hyde asked childishly.
“No.” His boss replied dryly. “My men will be at your place in an hour.”
“Well... I’ve stuff to do.” Hyde replied in the same tone.
“I hope you are not using my facilities to make money behind my back, you brat...”
“Uh... of course not!” Hyde answered rapidly. The idea was rather good.
“...because the cute, little boy doesn’t want to be disciplined, does he?” Kachou went on.
“Ah... mochiron! I wouldn’t do that, kachou...” Hyde answered rapidly and sat on his bed while holding the phone.
“One hour, Haido-kun. Have the money ready.” The boss snapped and hanged up quickly.
“Fuck...” Hyde snorted and banged the receiver on the table. “He had to call and ruin my day...”

Tetsu walked down the street looking carefully. He had to make haste if he wanted to take advantage of his lunch break... or he would get scolded again.
He went down the stairs at the Shinjuku subway station and headed for a payphone. He had learnt rather fast how to trick station payphones and make free calls... and in addition to that in these few weeks he had collected an impressive amount of small pieces of paper with telephone numbers he never dreamed he would be calling.
He took a deep breath and started dialing.
For a mysterious reason his eyes welled in tears with every button he pressed.
He waited.
And a familiar voice answered.
“Sakura-san?” Tetsu asked nervously.
“Depends... who is it?”
“I’m Tetsu...”
“Tetsu who?”
“Haido’s friend... the beggar boy...”
“Ah! Tetsu! Have you considered my job offer? Good boy!” Sakura’s voice changed in an instant.
“We have to talk, Sakura-san...”
“Good, good, good... I’m glad you finally see how poverty sucks.”
“Where and when can I see you?” Tetsu said gritting his teeth.
“Uhmm... where are you now?”
“I’m at Shinjuku Station, but I don’t have much time. Can I meet you here this afternoon? Say... Half past six...?"
“Good. OK. I’ll be there.”
“Great... Please... it’s important.”
“I know it is. This is the best decision you’ll ever make in your life, boy...” Sakura replied grinning while counting the money a client had just given him.
“I’m not too sure about that. See you later then.”
“See ya, boy.” Sakura replied and hanged up. He raised his eyes to the customer and grinned. “Everything’s here. Are you satisfied?”
“Un.” The young lady in her early twenties answered shyly.
“I’m happy. Contact me whenever you need refills. Have a nice day.” Sakura answered politely and got up. He had to meet another client in Nagano... it was going to be a long day, but the perspective of getting an assistant brightened his mood a lot.

Hyde walked hurriedly towards the train station.
He had never expected that kachou’s men would not only demand the boss’s money but would also choose to party with him beyond Hyde’s consent.
It was no wonder they worked for kachou, Hyde thought; after all, they were perverts too. After over 30 days of inactivity, even walking felt funny now.
The only good thing was that, at least, they used condoms... although that was probably because they had been warned about Hyde’s dubious health.
But in any case, it was too much all of a sudden. Even for him. Hyde rarely took two clients at a time... and the lack of pay after it had gotten him in a very bad mood.
“Those jerks...” He mumbled while marching down the street. “I suppose it takes being a complete asshole to work for kachou... uh... except in my case, of course. And that’s why once I make enough money, I’ll work free-lance. I’ll be my own boss. And one day I’ll be so disgustingly rich I’ll have kachou work for me cleaning the toilets of my huge mansion. These bums are a bunch of useless idiots. They work for kachou cuz they have no brains to do anything else, unlike me.
Tanaka-sensei... I wonder why Tanaka-sensei works for kachou... I mean he’s a doctor... He should be rich...” Hyde entered the train station and took the train to Shinjuku.
His boss’s men had kept him busy all day... and it was almost time for Tetsu to leave work.
For once, he wasn’t too annoyed at the idea of not being able to seat down at the subway.
The thing that bugged him the most, was the notion of not having been able to prevent Tetsu from having lunch with Kaori.
That made Hyde irate.

After arriving at Shinjuku station, he hurried into the streets and walked up to the photo-shop. Once he was there he stormed inside the small store.
He was ready to see the happy face of the girl behind the counter, and he had thought of about one thousand subtle insults he could say to her.
However, the person behind the counter was a skinny, tall man in his forties, and it looked like it wasn’t very likely that Kaori had turned into that... Unless Tetsu’s stone had been really magic, and really listening to his banter...
“Irasshaimase...” The man greeted politely.
“Uh... Tetsu...?” Hyde asked eagerly.
“Oh... Tetsu left already... He had a meeting.”
“A... a... a meeting?!” Hyde gasped.
“Yes. He finished his work faster than ever today, and he asked me to leave earlier. Maybe you can meet him here tomorrow. You are his friend, right?”
“Gee... that bastard!” Hyde screamed in fury. “Yesterday he’s all ‘I’ll make your dream come true’ and today he’s already going on a date with her!”
“Uh... I beg your pardon?” The man asked a little puzzled.
“Nothing... forget it. I’ll kill him when I find him. Don’t worry. Everything’s fine.” Hyde answered rapidly, forcing a smile that came out extremely bitter. “That son of a bitch...”
“Eto...”
“Goodbye.” Hyde finished and, fuming, he turned on his heels and returned home vowing to strangle Tetsu after putting him to all sorts of torture.
He strode down the street in wrath while lighting a cigarette and smoking it furiously.
It would be a long night of killing zombies with his playstation. He decided he would name each and every zombie “Tetsu”.

“Sa---Sakura-san?” Tetsu asked timidly from behind Sakura.
“Huh? Ah! Tetsu-kun!” Sakura turned and greeted smiling.
“Can we go somewhere to talk?” Tetsu asked, his legs shaking.
“Sure. Where would you like to go? I’m a good boss. I’ll treat you to any fast-food chain of your choice.”
“Well... somewhere not too far is OK. I have important things to tell you.” Tetsu said and lowered his head.
“Wakatta, wakatta.” Sakura said smiling. “Cheer up, boy! Begging is a thing of the past. I’m gonna be your mentor and...”
“That’s not it...” Tetsu mumbled and followed Sakura to the closest Mc Donald’s while thinking of the long speech he was about to deliver.

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