My Angel in the Dark
Author: Ran Ishikawa
Rating: R (Cos ff.net sucks!)
Summary: Hororen, AU… wee! Ren is a poor boy whose father beat him and sold him to a slave owner. The man he was sold to is no mere human however… He is an angel… and he only has until his last snow white feather falls from his bloody, beat and battered wings… to find and protect a lover…
*
Feather One: And You Are?
"Otousan… Iie!"
Screams, tears. All of this is common in the Tao household…
"'Tousan… please!'
Thrust, pain. Ren's eyes closed tightly. Pain shooting through out his entire body.
"D-Don't! Not there!"
Cries, Darkness. Ren's consciousness was slipping slowly.
"I-Iie… Otousan…"
*
When Ren's eyes finally opened he could barely stand. Locked in his room, again, he pulled himself up onto his poor excuse for a bed. 'This… is the third time this week…' He tried to sit up slowly. Pain shot up through his body again. He lay down again and gasped.
"It…hurts…" He refused to cry, however. He was always taught not to cry. If he cried he would be punished… like he was today… His father had caught the solitary tear he dares to let fall. He had wanted to be free from all of it… all the screaming, all the tears, the pain… all of it, gone…
His bedroom door swung open. "C'mon boy." His father stalked towards him.
He grabbed Ren's arm harshly and pulled him to the living. He was thrown onto a chair (wooden one mind you…) and he immediately turned red.
There was a man sitting strangely stiff on the couch. He glared lightly at Ren's father but it went unnoticed by the tall man. "He is the pretty one I told you about."
The man on the couched smiled. "I'll take him…"
Ren's eyebrow twitched. "N-Nani?"
En turned to Ren and slapped him across the face. "You have been too much of a nuisance to me, boy. I'm selling to this man because he has promised me a hefty sum for my prettiest child… Jun has already gone to live on her own, so I couldn't give her away… I'd say that you're getting the raw end of the deal, Usui-san…"
The man, Usui-san, stood and took Ren's face in his hands. Ren glared at him. "I don't think so… He is… priceless… I'd say I'm paying you to little…"
"Well, my friend I must say, two silver pieces is a lot…" Usui-san held up his hand and reached into his pouch. He handed the contents to Ren's father.
En gasped as he looked at the objects. "Th-Three gold pieces…?"
Usui-san smiled lightly. "It's… all I have…"
Ren's eyes widened. He stood abruptly. "If it's all you have than why are you paying him that?! You could have just paid him the original amount… Because… I'm… I'm not even worth that much!"
En grabbed the boy's collar. "You will NOT talk back to your new master, boy!!!" He raised his hand to slap Ren… But another hand stopped the oncoming blow…
Usui-san glared dangerously at En. "It is also illegal to touch a slave that does not belong to you… Tao En-san…"
En wrenched his hand from Usui-san's grip. "Fine… But I suggest you punish him as you see fit… If he puts one hair out of line… you use this…" He handed the shorter man a whip.
Usui-san took Ren's hand and squeezed it lightly, almost reassuring him that the weapon would never be used… "Arigatou… En-san…" He pulled Ren to the door and let it slam on their way out. About ten feet from the house, Usui-san stopped and stared at En's 'gift'… Ren wanted to shrink. That whip had hit him so many a time that he shivered at the very sight of it… Usui-san unrolled the whip and grasped the handle tightly. He did the same to Ren's hand.
Ren wanted to die… "I-Iie!" Usui-san pulled Ren's hand toward him and Ren's cringed. The waited blow never came. Instead the handle of the weapon was pressed into his hand. He looked up into sincere blue eyes.
"Use it." He said simply.
"N-nani…?"
Usui-san pulled up his jacket and shirt that he had worn. "…On me… It will reassure you… I know it…"
Ren blinked. "J-…Just once… ne?"
"As many times as you need…" Usui-san closed his eyes. Ren stared in at the tall blue haired boy, then glanced down at the whip. He raised the whip… and brought it down on the taller boy's stomach… Usui-san didn't even wince. Ren brought it down again. The sickening smack stayed with the Tongari-sporting child. He continued to whip the older bluenette until he realized…
He was NOT enjoying this at all…
He collapsed slowly in the tears that he had held in for the past few hours. "A-And just w-what was this… act o-of stupidity… s-supposed to reassure me of…?" He said between slightly bitter sobs.
Usui-san pulled his shirt down and took Ren into his arms. "…That you could trust me…" Ren sniffed and buried his face into Usui-san's chest. "I never did ask you… what your name was… Tao-chan"
Ren bristled slightly at the chan Usui-san had tacked to the end of his name. "I-It's Ren… Tao Ren… Don't call me… Tao-chan…"
Usui-san smiled. "Okay… Ren-san… My name is Horokeu Usui… You may either call me HoroHoro or just Horo… Usui-san is way too formal…"
Ren smirked. "May I call you 'Hero'?" He grasped Horo tightly around the waist. "You are my hero after all…"
"If you want…"
*
The next few hours were nothing but walking on the snowy hills. "I hate to ask again Horo-kun, demo… are we THERE YET???"
Horo turned and smiled lightly. "Would you like to get there faster?"
"Hai!" Ren shouted. He was swiftly picked up in a set of warm arms. Horo had pulled a snowboard out of nowhere. Ren squeaked and held on tight to Horo. Speeding through trees and over the ice had done a number on Ren mentally. When they got to the cabin… that was out in the middle of nowhere, no less… Ren had a white-knuckle grip on Horo's shirt.
"Ren-chan… we're here!"
Ren's frozen hands finally let up on Horo's shirt. "Wh…WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???" Not soon after did the tired boy pass out.
*
'Where… am I?' Ren's eyes didn't want to open… he was exhausted… he rolled over… his body suddenly feeling where he was…
'I'm… in a bed???' Ren sat up quickly. He was wearing a pair of pajama's the were far from familiar… he then realized something else…
'Where… is my… underwear?!' Horo then walked into the room.
"Ohayo-hi Ren-chan!" He jumped on the bed and straddled the smaller boy. Ren squeaked as something pressed against his groin. "Gee… That's a fine good morning…" Horo dragged out the word 'fine' and rocked his hips slowly against Ren's. Ren threw his head back and bit his lip.
'Iie… please Kami-sama… not now…'
"Don't!!!" Ren tried to shove Horo away. This only succeeded in making Horo push closer to him.
"Ren… Not today… I won't do it today… but you'll want it soon…" Horo hopped off the bed, but not before kissing Ren on the cheek. Ren blushed and looked down. Strangely there lay a solitary feather where Horo had just sat…
*
To be continued!
-Ran Ishikawa