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

Episode 6 ~Bad, bad boys~

Tetsu walked into the street rather heavily. The charge of adrenaline in him after the argument with Hyde was partially the cause... because he hated the fact that he hadn’t found the right words to counteract Hyde’s verbal attack.
“Stupid brat...” Tetsu mumbled repeatedly, walking north from Hyde’s apartment. “How can he talk about rejection so flippantly... I’m offering help and he is the one rejecting it. He must think I can’t help him cuz I’m a beggar...”
A few hours later he was resting under the sun at Yoyogi park rather happily. It was chilly... and the sun felt good. He could see the shrine from where he was, and the constant flow of tourists towards it and from it.
Every now and then Hyde’s face would appear in front of his eyes, causing him to frown.
“Maybe I’m too young to think of a way to help him... maybe I should ask the guys... they are older and wiser... they might give me good advice...”

Hyde entered the lavishly decorated apartment with an air of cold detachment tinted by subtle hues of rather well-hidden annoyance.
He plopped onto the victorian loveseat and waited for his boss to meet him.
It was not the first time he came here knowing he would get nagged at, but it was certainly a long time since he had last been put through that kind of situation.
He lit up a cigarette and smoked it slowly, watching the young maid dressed in a western uniform dusting a seemingly old jar.
“This old fart makes big dough...” he thought while blowing the smoke deliberately sluggishly through his nostrils. “...and he doesn’t work his ass off for it...”
“Haido-kun would like a cup of coffee while you wait for kachou?” The maid asked suddenly.
“Uh... yeah, OK. Gimme coffee. Thanks.” Hyde answered distractedly.
“Sugar or sweetener?”
“Both.”
“Both?”
“Yeah, why discriminate?” Hyde said shrugging. It was a stupid joke but it always caught people’s attention.
“As you wish, sir...” the maid answered and left the room.
Hyde leaned over the small coffee table and picked up a magazine. It was about tourism. Discover Morocco.
Hyde flipped through the pages stopping now and then to take a better look at the glossy pictures in it.
That should be a good job. Getting to travel around the world and take pictures. He could have done that... well, if he knew how to operate one of those pro photo cameras. But he fancied it shouldn’t be too hard.
In another reality, he would like to be a singer-idol shooting PV’s in Morocco, he thought for a second and then dismissed the idea. (DH’s note: =P sorry, I couldn’t help it...)
The door opened with a smooth swoosh and a tall, gaijin lady stepped out of his boss’s office.
“Ja, mata.” She said wearily and walked past Hyde without looking at him.
“Kachou...” Hyde snapped getting up from the loveseat and trying to beam his cutest smile.
“Haido-kun... Come in. Now!”
Well... the coffee never arrived...

Tetsu amused himself by throwing little pebbles into the water and watching which one would make the biggest ripple.
He had known times of better entertainment, but he couldn’t afford that now. He would go near the restaurants at about lunch break time, in order to get either some money for a hot-dog, or some charity left over. Either was welcome.
He couldn’t stop thinking of Hyde.
Would Hyde appreciate his powerful ripples? Coming to think of it, he would surely laugh at him.
Hyde had probably got better toys and games... he even had a TV set! Tetsu had started to be amazed at the things some months ago he had considered ordinary.
He got up and walked towards one of the park’s fountains to quench his thirst.
There were a couple kids playing with it, that rapidly ran away upon seeing Tetsu. Not that he inspired respect... it was rather that his rags inspired fear.
Hyde’s words flashed in his mind for a split second. “They are afraid of the reality you live in...”
In any case he approached the fountain taking advantage of the fact that he didn’t have to wait.
The water was fresh and sweet... replenishing the lost moisture in his mouth and throat, and giving it an almost new sensation of satisfaction. Tetsu smiled while drinking eagerly.
After about a minute he raised his eyes and saw a girl standing a few steps away. She was apparently waiting for her turn to drink.
“I’m sorry...” Tetsu said smiling and walked a few steps apart. The girl didn’t move.
“Oh... OK.” Tetsu said nodding knowingly and walked away. She probably wouldn’t approach the fountain if a beggar was standing that close to it.
He sat down under a tree and watched. The girl was gorgeous. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
She had delicately tucked her hair behind her ear and leaned over the fountain. Tetsu couldn’t help but watching in awe, feeling a warm sensation flow in and out of his heart.
“Kirei na...” He sighed. “I wonder what her name is...”
The girl stopped drinking and turned around to wave at some faraway shape.
“Kaori!” A woman’s voice shouted. “I told you not to go too far!”
“Un. Gomen ne...” she replied softly and ran towards the nagging lady.
“Kaori... chan...” Tetsu mumbled and leaned his head to one side. “What a beautiful name... I wonder if I could ever go near her... maybe talk...”

Hyde lit up another cigarette and nodded automatically at his boss’s nagging.
“And why on earth did you do that, Haido-kun!?”
“Uh... I don’t dig violent dudes, kachou. He knocked a boy down and kicked him to the curb...” Hyde repeated tiredly, for the umpteenth time.
“Fuck that ridiculous story! Were you high again? Were you high on your punk friend’s stuff again?!” His boss angrily demanded to know.
“No, kachou. That only happened once. I rarely do stuff now, and the only time I did, I didn’t know much about it. I told you it wouldn’t happen again and it hasn’t! Besides, I haven’t seen Sakura around for a month or so...”
“If I catch you doing your friend’s stuff while on duty...”
“I’m always on duty, kachou.” Hyde interrupted.
“Right. If I ever catch you doing your friend’s stuff again...”
“You introduced me to him, kachou.”
“Yes, of course! But it’s not for your personal use! It’s for the clients!”
“Well... that time I wanted to know what it felt like. Now I know it.” Hyde shrugged. “And I wasn’t high last night. Shit! I couldn’t even take a smoke!”
“Don’t try to act smart on me!”
“The truth is he could have gotten into trouble for knocking down that kid, and I didn’t want to be involved with it. What if the cops broke into his apartment in the middle of a smooth fucking round?”
“It is not your place to judge that!”
“Well, you always tell me to act wisely...”
“Insulting the client is certainly not wise!”
“Oops... I got carried away... hehehe...”
“I’m gonna punish you Haido! You are behaving like you need a beat-up!”
“Gee... I thought I was past that...” Hyde mumbled pouting sweetly. “I’m a grown up boy now... a few nights back I even came when I jerked off!”
“And you think that gives you permission to do anything you like?!” Hyde’s boss yelled in irritation banging his fists on the table.
“No...”
“In truth, it only means you will soon be out of the child services and into the adult ones... that pay consistently less.”
“So... I’m grounded...” Hyde sighed.
“Yes! You are! You are not getting any clients until mid January, yet you still have to pay your dues!”
“What?! That is not fair!”
“You think you’re gonna live on me, punk? No way. I’m your boss, not your benefactor!”
“But! But! How am I gonna pay!?” Hyde protested worriedly.
“Use your savings.”
“Come on! You said those are mine to keep!”
“Are you stupid or what, Haido?!”
“Spare me the duties!”
“No way... You are getting punishment, not vacation.”
“Come on, kachou...”
The telephone ringing interrupted the heated argument, much to Hyde’s relief.
“Uh... tell him he’s unavailable...” Hyde’s boss answered directing a stern stare at the boy who kept banging his fist on the chair’s armrest.
“No... wait a second... Who did you say?” Hyde’s boss stared fixedly at Hyde.
“What?” Hyde asked pouting defiantly.
“OK. I’ll send him in an hour. Yeah, the fee is $500.- plus the toy fee... another $100. Hmm... Yeah, Haido will keep $200...”
“I got forgiven?” Hyde asked giggling.
“You shut up!” His boss warned and returned to his phone conversation. “OK, OK. He can pay you $200 in advance, give the $200 to Haido and the rest in bank draft to my name... That is correct. It’s settled then. Haido will be there in an hour.” The boss said and hanged up.
“Haido, get ready and be at this address in one hour.” The man spoke monochordly while scribbling on a piece of paper.
“Yes, sir!” Hyde answered standing up and mocking a respectful pose.
“Don’t act stupid again or I’ll seriously have you beaten up!”
“I’ll be a good boy, sir!” Hyde said scornfully.
“Bring the apparel.”
“Uh... toys?”
“Yes...”
“I mean... you know which toys...”
“Yes.”
“Not a teddy bear...” Hyde taunted knowing exactly what both he and his boss meant.
“You may bring it along, but make sure you take the sex toys too.”
“Wakatta.” Hyde nodded and took the scribbled piece of paper. He had work to do. He was a busy guy. Who could afford to dream of shooting PV’s in Morocco? Certainly not him.

Tetsu reached the train station walking heavily. His mind was running fast like the shinkansen. Images of Kaori and images of Hyde paraded rapidly in front of his eyes, motion-blurred yet clearly distinguishable. Like the landscape one sees from the train window. In half an hour he would be at home... his ad-hoc home... Tokyo Station.

He got out of the train almost dragged by the herd of annonymous people a few centimeters away from him and walked silently merging in the crowd along the gray platform.
A couple turns here and there and he’d be at the refuge. The gears in his head turned fast, throwing random images of Hyde and Kaori.
“Where were you last night?” A raspy voice tinted of concern asked him as a big arm rounded his shoulders startling him out of his abstraction.
“Ah, Chiyo-san... bikkuri shita na.” Tetsu answered stammering.
“Sorry... You seem to be in deep thought.”
“Er... well... nothing relevant...” Tetsu smiled at him wearily.
“That’s not the cheerful smile of the cutest boy in Tokyo Station... come on... tell me what’s happened last night. Why didn’t you come to celebrate with us?”
“Well... I made a friend last night...” Tetsu said smiling. “He invited me to his home and he gave me dinner... we watched the fireworks together...”
Tetsu thought he didn’t need to file everyone on the full details of the previous night.
“Oh, I see. And who was that person?”
“A boy. About my age. He was really nice and...”
“A boy? Just a boy?” The older man in ragged clothes asked furrowing his eyebrows.
“Yeah... we met... by chance...”
“What do you mean “a boy” “we met by chance”?”
“Etoo... well... he was...”
“You go to anyone’s home just like that? Tetsu... I thought you were smarter than that.” The smooth reprimand floated in the air, and Tetsu’s brain made an effort to think fast of a good answer.
“Uh... he looked kind and...”
“How can you be so careless? Haven’t I told you you can’t trust anyone? You are a beggar, and a kid. Some people might want to take advantage of you!”
“But he was a boy around my age and...!”
“So what, Tetsu?” The older man stood in front of Tetsu and shook him mildly by the shoulders. “You just can’t go anywhere with anyone you don’t know! Something awful might happen to you!”
“Well... I thought it would be pointless of him to try to mug me, you know?” Tetsu tried to defend himself against the scolding. Deep inside, he knew his friend and mentor was right.
“Sa... don’t get smart on me, twit.” The older man gently patted him on the back of his head. “You know what I mean.”
“He saved my life. He couldn’t be a bad person...”
“What?! He did what...?!”
Tetsu suddenly realized of how wrong his choice of words had been. Saying someone had saved his life meant he had been in great danger, and his mentor would of course be alarmed by that. For a second he wished his parents had ever been alarmed about something in his life... but he had to concentrate on giving a believable explanation.
“I was knocked down by a car and he saved me...” Tetsu relented. He was already regretting having told that as the words came out of his lips.
“I told you to come here before sunset! Tetsu! You and your silly illusions of Christmas and miracles and fireworks...”
“But... I wanted to see those fireworks...” Tetsu protested sorely while they slowly approached the group of beggars near the station.
“What did his family say?”
“Oh... Nothing. He’s an orphan.”
“Really? How come an orphan kid lives all by himself and can afford to invite you for dinner?”
“He... hmm... has a job...”
“What job...?”
“He... is... a... hooker.”

It had been a long time since Tetsu had had to hear such a heated scolding. And quite especially such a long one. It was a tough speech, and Tetsu nodded unable to object to anything.
“A hooker! Tetsu, you are an idiot! You are an idiot lucky enough to be able to tell the story! He probably wanted to kidnap you and make you work for his pimp!”
“No... he...”
“Do you realize in what danger you’ve been!? Do you have the faintest idea of what could have happened to you?!”
“He’s harmless... he just felt lonely and...”
“If he feels lonely he better give up that kind of activity! There are thousands of kids like him in Tokyo! Prostituting themselves in order to buy fashionable clothes and gadgets! He has no pride or--!”
“He’s not doing it for cloth--...”
“Uruse! You are too innocent! You just buy anything anyone feeds you, Tetsu!”
“De... demo...”
“I don’t want you to ever see that boy again! He’s a bad influence on you! He will drag you down the path of sloth and prostitution! You are an honest boy and I’ll see that you turn into an honest, decent man! Don’t let his filth stain your pure heart! Did you hear me?” The older man screamed shaking Tetsu by the shoulders while the other beggars agreed nodding and grumbling words of reproach.
“Yes... yes, sir...” Tetsu nodded and lowered his sight. He hoped Hyde would show up and prove himself a good boy. But the day went by... and Hyde never appeared...

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