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

Episode 8 ~The chime of memories~

Hyde turned in his bed as he felt the heavier body drop by his side. His face, which a few seconds ago had been deeply sunk between a heap of pillows moved slowly to the right and he gasped for some fresh air.
His whole body was covered by sweat. His and someone else’s: the man gasping by his side’s.
Hyde smiled reluctantly, smiling was part of his job. But his mind was elsewhere.
“Good boy...” the man whispered and extended his hand to let it drop seconds later on Hyde’s buttocks. His still eager fingers feeling the gluey remnants of lubricant on the slippery young skin.
The man removed his condom and tossed it carelessly on the floor.
“No hat, no fuck.” Hyde mumbled rubbing his nose against the pillow.
“I’m gonna take a shower.” The client announced mumbling evenly and got up from the sweat-soaked bed.
“Good man.” Hyde whispered and smirked. He felt in command... somehow. Only because a much older man had obeyed him, even if it was probably just because that man didn’t want to go at him again for a while.
Hyde sat up and stretched his arms. His boss had forgiven him rather easily. He knew he was the best kid he had, but the idea of growing up and losing his youthful allure troubled him sometimes.
“I’m gonna have to shave down there... Tanaka-sensei’s pills are a fraud. He’s a quack... I keep getting this ugly shadow every now and then...” Hyde thought while checking the most intimate parts of his body. The incipient stubble was a dark phantom of menace. “Depilatories... I’ll have to go ask Christina for some.”

The client left the bathroom wrapped in a strawberry pattern towel and drying his hair in swift, rapid movements with a similar smaller cloth. Hyde smiled at him, still naked and sitting on his bed while hugging a huge teddy bear. The pose was of course premeditated, but his theatrical mannerisms had always managed to make him look innocently spontaneous and natural.
“Ya leaving, daddy?” Hyde asked sweetly and pouted from behind the round ears of his teddy bear.
“Yes.” The man answered returning the fake smile. “Here’s something for you to buy sweets.” He added and left a thin roll of bills on the night table. He approached Hyde, who in turn smiled broadly.
“Thankies! Will you come to play with me again, daddy?” Hyde asked softly. He had asked and re-asked that question thousands of times to his every client. He had to make sure to keep his customers coming back. He reinforced his words by unwrapping the towel around the middle-aged man’s waist and rubbing it softly against his “daddy’s” crotch.
“Of course, my pretty boy.” The man smiled back and messed Hyde’s hair lovingly.
“Yatta! I’ll be expecting you...” Hyde giggled. He wouldn’t expect him more than any of the others, but he knew they wanted to hear that.
“Will you miss me, Haido?” The client asked leering and watching the small fingers caress his groin intertwining with the dark pubic hair below his flabby stomach.
“Very...” Hyde lied pouting and looking up.
“I’ll visit you again soon, then...”
“Hai! Hai!” Hyde nodded smiling broadly once more. His cheeks were already tired from so many pretended smiles. But his regular clientele loved that.
The man walked a little apart and started to get dressed. It was time for him to go back to his safe, middle-class job; his safe, middle-class friends; his safe, middle-class wife... the kind of world that knew nothing about his sexual preferences.
In his mind, he was doing nothing wrong... as long as he paid. Any notion of depravation and abuse was quickly erased from his thoughts as soon as he released the money.
“Good bye, sweet Hai-chan.” The man said and walked towards the door. He knew the way pretty well. It was certainly not his first time there.
“Bye-bye!” Hyde waved innocently, sinking part of his face in the furry head of his teddy bear.
As soon as the door was shut Hyde tossed the teddy bear away and turned to the money bill.
“Not much... but all mine to keep.” He smirked and took it to his secret drawer of savings.
Then he pressed the red-painted button of the hands-free phone and asked for cleaning service. He had to take a shower and go on with his day.
And he still had to go visit Christina.

Tetsu was again lurking some supposedly good-charity-source and hungering by himself.
There was a food stand on the opposite corner and the smell of grilled chicken was already numbing his reason.
“I must not steal... not steal... I’m decent... not steal...” Tetsu reminded himself inside his head while gently knocking his forehead with his cold-roughened knuckles. His litany was so opposed to his feelings that it had begun to make him cry silently.
His stomach protested continuously. Tetsu glanced at his almost empty box and sighed in resignation. “I can’t go thinking that I’ll always have something to eat... I must get used to this...”
He tried to concentrate on something other than food, and suddenly the image of Kaori popped in his mind.
She was sure having lunch... and Tetsu thought he would be contented to see her eat happily, even if he was to stay hungry.
Suddenly a heavy hand pressed gently on Tetsu’s head.
“Hungry?” The deep voice asked. Tetsu looked up to meet the preacher’s eyes.
“Ha-hai...”
“Come over, I’ll treat you to lunch.” The preacher answered smiling.
“Thank you!”
“...and we’ll talk about your friend. The boy with a bad mouth.”
“Uh... that jerk?” Tetsu asked feeling rather guilty.
“Yes.”
Tetsu got up rapidly and collected his box. The perspective of lunch could even make the sun shine brighter. For a second he thought he’d be doing the same thing Kaori was probably doing, and he smiled happily. He was not that far from her. Not that different.
Suddenly the image of Hyde replaced that of Kaori in his mind, and Tetsu looked down at the floor perceiving the sunlight dimming. “I hope Hyde is acting decently and just having lunch...” he thought and walked behind the preacher.

Christina was unmistakably gaijin. She was a tall, blond, light-blue-eyed lady in her late twenties, and even if she had learnt Japanese through years of living in Tokyo she had never lost her strong accent.
She lived one floor above Hyde, and, like most everyone in that building, she worked for kachou. She was also a prostitute.
In the depth of her almost transparent eyes the nostalgia of a past time reverberated distantly. Long ago, when she had dreamt of making a difference for her family by travelling abroad to work as a secretary or a receptionist.
She could type, she knew shorthand, and she was eager to learn and accept new challenges. She was in the bloom of youth, like the old cliche would go, and the future was an open field waiting to be taken over.
She had seen an ad in a local newspaper, and it looked like a pretty good opportunity. Japan... it looked like a dream come true, and to make things even better the recruiting office was in her town.
She signed up right away, together with a bunch of other 9 girls of around her age: barely 18.
The job wouldn’t require many skills... she would be able to handle it OK. With her small bag containing the few belongings her impoverished family could afford, and a brand new passport in her hands, she waved goodbye to her loved ones, her spirit full of hopes for better times. She’d come back soon, bringing lots of presents for her parents and little siblings. She’d be able to pay the mortgage, and probably even to buy her parents a better home, and support her little brother’s studies... Her little brother... the one that was almost like a son to her.
Her eyes were full of dreams, her heart full of hopes, her head full of illusions.
A stern lady in her forties escorted her and the other nine girls to the plane... everything was going as she had been told... soon she would soon be able to rescue her family from poverty. She could hardly wait.
She was asked for her documents by the man in charge of the group, and since he was the only person who could speak Japanese, she gave them to him without a doubt. He said he needed those documents in order to fill immigration papers, and of course, just like everyone of the other girls, she thought it was perfectly normal.
The flight was smooth, the landing was perfect... Narita airport was dreamlike. She could feel success at the tip of her fingers... her family would be proud...
As soon as they got into customs the whole group of girls were asked to go into a separate room.
That’s when, like a mirror cracking into pieces, the dream fell apart and the nightmare begun.
Christina and the other nine girls were searched, and soon they found themselves naked, tied together, being yelled at and insulted... accused of having stolen something she never knew what it was.
It was soon evident everything had been a swindle. She was trapped. Trapped in a foreign country which’s language she couldn’t speak. The people in charge told them they would work as prostitutes in order to repay their unfathomable debt. They would only keep 10% of the money they made for everyday needs; and if they tried to escape, tell anyone or even contact their families or any authorities, their families back home would be slain.
They had been contracted by the mob... and she, like everyone else in her country, knew she couldn’t disobey... her country was ruled by the mob.
Christina didn’t have any choice other than to do as she was told. She stopped considering herself a person that day. She had become a toy.

And it was a mere three years ago that she had learnt her family had died in an accident. The details were unclear. Not that she could get much information anyway.
She was overwhelmed by sadness... She cursed heaven and hell for her fate and her family’s, but as she managed to calm down slightly, she realized of something: No fear was constraining her anymore. There was no family waiting, no family menaced... and she wasn’t scared of what could happen to her. She was a little bit more free.
And so she ran away. Something nobody else had done in her group.
A couple had died trying, but she had managed to get away with it.
However, she couldn’t return home.
She escaped her former pimps only to find there was nothing she could do to survive except keep prostituting herself... and so she found kachou.
At least, she could keep 40%... that was a change...
And besides... she had nowhere to go anymore.

Hyde knocked the secret code on Christina’s door. If she was with a client she wouldn’t answer, but she’d call him later.
Christina opened the door smiling broadly.
“Haido-kun... irasshaimase...”
“Kuri-chan!” Hyde smiled at her. “Got a cig?”
“Sure, boy. Come on in.” She answered and nodded inviting him to walk into her apartment.
“Wah... you got those dolls! The ones you told me about!” Hyde exclaimed upon catching sight of a set of dolls on the table.
“Yeah. Do you like them?” Christina asked amused at the boy’s curiosity and offered him a cigarette after taking one for herself.
“Hai! Hai! Utsukushii!” Hyde nodded and took the cigarette. Christina lit both.
The boy sat at the table and pulled the ashtray closer while he examined the set of dolls curiously.
“Are you idle, Hai-chan?” Christina asked sitting by his side. He was the only non-commercial company in weeks.
“Yeah... I came to visit and... for... you know...” Hyde said puffing his cigarette and smiling cutely.
“Depilatories...” Christina winked knowingly.
“Yeah... Can you get me some?”
“Sure. You remember what I told you last time though, don’t you? Depilatories won’t prevent you from eventually turning into a man...”
“Yeah, I know... it’s just for the time being. Tanaka-sensei is just a cheap quack... His pills don’t work. So... How much?”
“The usual.” Christina snapped and let a hazy column of gray smoke leave her perfect, marbre-white nostrils.
“OK. I’ve got the money.” Hyde placed a handful of bills on the table by the dolls.
“Good boy. Want me to apply them?”
“Y-yeah... that’d be cool cuz I’m a little messy...”
“Depilatories are always messy. It’s OK.” She smiled and patted on Hyde’s head. “Go to the bathroom and undress yourself. Then lay yourself on the bed. Put a towel under you. I’ll be right there.”
“Thankies!” Hyde thanked cutely. It never hurt to practice. “Can we go for a walk later, Kuri-chan?”
“Maybe.”
“And we can play mommy and sonny?” Hyde asked eagerly from the bathroom.
“Uh-huh...”
“Great!” Hyde smiled honestly, for a change, upon walking towards the bed. “I wish we could find someone to play daddy too...”
“Yeah...” Christina went towards the bed where Hyde was sitting naked on a blue-green large towel. “Lay yourself back, honey...”
“Yes... mommy.” Hyde smiled broadly. If there was anyone in the world that could possibly fill the void his mother had left... that would be Christina.
“Itches...” Hyde winced and whined.
“Bear it... don’t be a sissy... My boy is a brave boy.”
“But mommy! I’m gonna cry!” Hyde moaned, and Christina leaned on him smiling to kiss his forehead.
“Mommy’s kiss will protect you.”
“Un.” Hyde smiled back.

“Your friend, Tetsu-kun, needs help.” The preacher started for the umpteenth time, again unheard by an eagerly eating Tetsu.
“Un. Un.” Tetsu nodded and kept munching like there was no tomorrow.
“You probably don’t know very well what your friend is doing...”
“No. I’ve no idea.” Tetsu answered without even having paid attention to what the preacher was saying. The food was delicious.
“He’s a prostitute. A seller of sex.” The preacher said suspecting Tetsu was not quite listening.
“Ah... good.” Tetsu nodded and kept eating. He had put his chopsticks aside and was going at the food with his bare hands.
“Tetsu-kun, are you even listening?”
“Yeah, good, good idea...” Tetsu nodded and kept eating like a little piglet.
“Tetsu-kun!” The preacher raised his voice in a reproaching tone.
“Hai!” Tetsu answered startled.
“Your friend Haido-kun is a prostitute!”
“Uh... yeah, I know that.” Tetsu blinked a little puzzled.
“He needs help.” The preacher added in an effort to make his voice soothing.
“Well, he seems to manage quite well at it...” Tetsu answered sarcastically and soon regretted it. “I mean... er... Yeah... he does need help.” Tetsu nodded staring at the food again. His mouth watering. He didn’t dare to go at it once more... at least not right away.
“You are the one who can help him. You are the key to his salvation...”
“Huh? Really?” Those rolls were sticking their imaginary tongues out at him. He just had to eat them.
“Yes.”
“How come? I mean... What do I have to do? I wanna help him.” Tetsu looked up trying to ignore the derisive food.
“Just bring him to me.” The preacher said smiling eerily. “Bring him to the temple one day. Make sure there is no religious service when you bring him, otherwise he’d be scared and reluctant to meet me.”
“And what will happen then...?”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“I’ve already tried that, father...” Tetsu said a little disappointed.
“Tetsu... You cannot help your friend on your own. You are too young to confront the speech of the slanderous beast that has possessed your young friend’s heart. He would destroy your reasons with his wicked logic. There is no way you can face him without proper training. That’s when we come into action, my boy. Your friend needs advice from someone older and wiser. Someone who can guide him away from the clutches of evil.
But don’t feel bad, Tetsu-kun. You have done a wonderful work. You have dug a tiny opening of hope for him. It is through that tiny opening that the light of salvation will reach his heart and warm it. You have managed to do the hardest part... Now, it’s my turn to work on him. Now we’ll save his soul.”
“Oh...” Tetsu was aghast.
“Bring him. Now don’t worry about the meal. It’s already paid.” The preacher said and got up.
Tetsu bowed politely and kept staring through the glass doors as his benefactor walked out of the restaurant.
His mind was still in shock... Hyde... Was Hyde possessed by an evil beast? Adults were puzzling indeed... But then again, maybe what the preacher had meant with all that wordiness was that he would get Hyde a decent job. Maybe.

Hyde entered his appartment giggling and bouncing. He had had a wonderful afternoon with Christina, and she had even made tea for both of them and let him draw with colorful markers.
They had talked, and she had depilated him, which was fun but a little embarrassing... They had played family for a while, she had cuddled him... spoiled him... tickled him and played gameboy against him. And yes, they had both enjoyed it.
And even if Christina always seemed to be halfway somewhere else, Hyde managed to get a little happiness by goofing around her for a while.
Yes, he had had a wonderful time... and he had left right after the “client notice” on the phone. Christina would be busy. They couldn’t go for a walk together like mother and son, the roleplaying game he loved the most. Fun was soon over.
He felt juvenile and clean in his depilated state. He closed the door and played with the keys spinning around his finger.
“Kuri-chan... Kuri-chan...” He sang playfully. “...and... and... me.” Hyde sighed tiredly. Happiness seemed to have stayed at the other side of the door. Suddenly, reality loomed over him slapping him back from the dreamy realm he had been in.
“Kuri-chan can’t be with me as much as I’d want her to... and Tet-chan hates me... Saku-chan is just a transaction guy... And soon... soon I’ll be out of business.” Hyde plopped down on his bed and stared at his chest of drawers bitterly.
“What am I gonna do? I haven’t even finished elementary school... If I go into adult services my pay will be cut down to at least half... Adults’ fee is consistently lower... There are lots of adults in this business, kids are DA demand. Besides, the kink of “illegality” will be gone... What am I gonna do?” Hyde thought biting his lower lip in preoccupation.
He sighed and kept staring at the chest of drawers, as if engaging in a silent conversation wit it. For a moment he began thinking of his initiation as a prostitute... The pain, the solitude, the anguish... How he had been able to cope with everything and keep himself alive. How he had managed to contradict his family’s wishes of death to him... How he had challenged them and his own fate by staying alive and getting all the attention he considered well deserved.
“I guess I just want to find my place... but at some point hunger became more important... fear became more important... security became more important... survival became everything.” Hyde thought and stared blankly at the curved wooden doors of his chest of drawers, in search of an answer that would never come.
“I wonder if this is what happens to people when they lose their childhood dreams... they stare blindly and look for something they don’t know quite what it is. I wonder if that is why Christina has that aura of loss around her. Have I lost mine? I don’t remember much beyond wanting to stay alive...” He stayed silent for a while, his eyes fixed on the curved, dark wood.
“Adults keep talking about childhood dreams like it’s a place they used to go to years ago. A place that no longer exists. Is it what happens when body needs cloud the needs of the heart?” Hyde opened the door and pulled out a mousy gray bag from it.
“Daddy used to say that when you become an adult you lose the largest part of your childhood dreams and you replace them with adulthood ones.” He sighed and opening the bag he pulled out a deteriorated music box in dirty white and a marble pattern. The plastic ends were chipped and dented at the sides.
“He said adults remember childhood dreams because they are pure like beautiful flowers blooming in the morning glow...” He winded up the music box and put it on the surface of the chest of drawers.
“Like a mirage of purity and beauty that is never to be reached...” He opened the soiled lid of the music box and a soft melody started chiming while a tiny ballerina whirled dancing in circles on the diminutive imaginary stage.
“I don’t remember much, except that I used to dream of the beach... I still do... The beach. I can close my eyes and imagine the beach... Imagine myself running towards the sea between mommy and daddy...” Hyde evoked the image closing his eyes, and taunting inside the bag he pulled out a dirty doll in soiled clothes of faded gray and green.
“Does it mean I’ll become an adult when I stop dreaming of you, mommy, daddy? Can you answer me, please? I have stopped asking you two to come back for me... I know you can’t... but please, tell me... please... Can I still see you in my dreams? Please? You are the only ones who ever loved me... Nobody here likes me like you did...” Hyde sobbed as a lonely tear run slowly down his cheek.
“I thought I could make friends with Tet-chan... I really thought I could...” He sobbed again and buried his face in the soft body of the old doll. “Why do I try to fool myself? Nobody can truly love me.”

You can print this page!