DISCLAIMER: The following story is based off of Air Gear.
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Akito sat with a smile planted on his face, leftover from the feeling of relief that had rushed through him ten minutes earlier. Across from him, a black haired boy was burying his own face in his knees to hide his look of disgust and embarrassment. Without Elliot's help, such a simple thing as going to the bathroom would have been much more complicated. At least with a dress Akito was able to go easily, but pants cause a slight issue.
Akito smiled as the younger of his cellmates tugged at Elliot's sleeve and hugged him to try to make him feel better. It wasn't really working, but it was the thought that counted.
"You, stop smiling. You're too happy. And I'm not helping you again." Elliot finally said as he glared at Akito. Akito instantly tried to suppress his smirk, but he was doing a poor job of it. The humor in the room vanished instantly as the sound of creaking metal caused all three children to turn their heads. Mouse instantly hid behind Elliot and the two boys stood up to watch the entering guard warily. He left the gate open. Elliot immediately made a move to punch the man with a half thought out plan to take him down and get out of their cage with Mouse… and the new guy. Unfortunately the skinny teenager was no match for the burly adult. Elliot was picked up and thrown off to the side. He was sent crashing into Akito, landing both boys on the ground in a painful pile.
"Calm down you foreign little shit. I'm not here for you." The guard said calmly. Mouse made a movement to run to Elliot's side, but the tiny little girl was grabbed by the guard. His massive hand wrapped around her thin arm and it looked like he could break it with just the most minor of movements.
Elliot rolled off of Akito and was back on his feet in seconds. Akito took a deep breath and was having a slightly tougher time than Elliot to right himself, but adrenaline was slowly starting to course its way through him. That man had Mouse and most likely nothing good was planned for that little girl.
"No! Mouse!" Elliot yelled as he charged again and was yet again thrown backwards. This time Akito purposely put himself between Elliot and the wall, cushioning the hit. Both boys were immediately up on their feet and Akito ran towards the guard as he turned around to leave with Mouse. The tied up blue haired child did the first thing that came to mind and bit down hard onto the man's arm. The guard cursed and tried to throw the kid off, offering Elliot the perfect chance to finally land a blow to the oversized brute. The man cursed even louder, releasing his grip on the little girl to cover the bruise forming on his face.
"You'll pay for that you little shit" He growled as he reached out for Elliot, but Akito pulled back, giving Elliot another opening and Mouse a chance to put some distance between her and the fight. The man gripped Akito's hair and yanked the boy forcefully off his arm. Akito didn't dare whimper. He grit his teeth and ignored the minor bit of pain coming from his pulled hair. He had dealt with far worse this week than that.
The man finally landed a punch on Elliot, sending the scrawny teen straight to the floor. Elliot wiped his mouth and glared at the guard. With one down, the man moved on to take care of the second trouble maker. Akito gasped as he felt a fist hit his stomach. His legs went limp but he was kept upright by the man's grip on his hair. Akito bit his lip to stop from crying out and he could feel his eyes starting to water.
"Leave us alone! And let him go!" Akito heard Elliot growl and looked over to see the black haired boy standing up. The guard laughed and held Akito up just a bit higher so that he wasn't touching the ground anymore.
"Aww, grown attached to this one too?" The man asked with unmasked cruelty in his voice. Akito knew what was coming next and squeezed his eyes shut for impact. Next thing he knew, he heard a small 'oomph' and he was released. He landed on the stone ground with enough force to make his head dizzy.
'Akito, this is our chance. You've got to get up! The gate's still open!'
Akito could hear his other voice and knew Agito was right. They had to move now.
"Akito, come on, move!"
This voice wasn't from his head. Akito blinked his eye open and forced himself to look up. Elliot was pulling at his sleeve with one hand while holding Mouse with his other arm. Mouse had her own arms wrapped around Elliot's neck and looked absolutely terrified. Elliot was looking frantically between the gate and Akito and let out a breath when he noticed Akito was looking at him. With Elliot's help, Akito scrambled to his feet and the three headed towards the open gate, leaving the guard groaning on the ground clutching his stomach. Akito took one step passed the gate when he heard a familiar click of metal and felt something cold press against his cheek. Both he and Elliot froze in their tracks.
"I told you he was a trouble maker." The voice was chillingly familiar and Akito glanced sideways to see Kirin's brother holding a gun too close to his face. Nian reminded Akito of his own brother just a little too much…the difference between them was that unlike Kaito, Nian's eyes held loathing in them. Kaito had glared at Akito and Agito many times, but never with such disgust and hatred that was betrayed in Nian's gaze.
"You won't shoot me. You don't get rid of the goose before she lays her golden egg." Akito said quietly as the most innocent of smiles tugged at his lips. Seconds later, Akito's head was ringing and he was back on the floor.
Nian turned the gun towards Elliot, not giving the slightest care in the world that he may have given his own prize a concussion after hitting him in the head with his pistol. While the brat was right that Nian wouldn't kill him since that wouldn't give him any profit, the other kids were a different story. He gave a cruel grin as the black haired boy before him turned himself in a way so as to shield the girl in his arms with his own body. Nian's finger began to tighten around the trigger and the boy closed his eyes tight.
Elliot tensed the instant the strange new guard guy slammed his weapon against Akito's already bandaged head, sending the other boy straight down to the ground. The young British teen felt a chill run down his spine when the psycho turned his gun towards himself and Mouse.
"I'm sorry Mouse" Elliot whispered as he held her tight and turned her away. Maybe his death alone would be enough to satiate the blonde stranger. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth, but the noise he heard was not the loud bang he was expecting.
"Nian. Bad boy. No shooting other people's property. We've been over this."
Elliot's eyes burst open and turned to face the blonde man. Another man had joined them – this one had messy brown hair with goggles hanging around his neck as some sort of fashion statement. He was pushing the blonde one's gun down and the blonde didn't seem pleased at all. They were arguing, but Elliot couldn't be bothered to try to listen. He had to get Mouse away from them.
Slowly, Elliot started to edge away from the scene. His eyes fell on Akito's form, unmoving on the ground, and guilt stabbed at him. He couldn't risk trying to get both Akito and Mouse out of here.
Damn him and his guilt.
Elliot held Mouse close with his one arm, letting the little girl hide her face against his neck, and made a dash for Akito. He reached his arm out to grab the other boy's sleeve, and just as his fingers touched the fabric, a thick, heavy hand gripped his arm. Elliot's head snapped over to his right, locking eyes with the first guard from earlier. The man was holding his stomach and breathing heavy, but he was back on his feet and was in no mood for banter.
Elliot was given no chance to react as the man yanked his arm and shoved him back into the cell. Elliot gripped Mouse against his chest as he fell backwards. He pet her hair when she looked at him with her big, 6 year old eyes and she laid her tiny hand on his shoulder as if she knew he was hurting there. He smiled at her and sat up, whispering for her to go sit in the corner under the blanket. Elliot quickly returned his attention to the three men out in the hallway. The large guard was bending down to grab Akito, picking him up by the neck of his shirt. The man's face looked twisted and tense, though Elliot couldn't tell if that was from anger or from the pain in his gut since the guard was still holding his stomach. Either way, things weren't looking too good for Akito. Elliot stood up and made his way over to the bars as fast as he could. He wasn't sure what he could do to them now that the guard had smartened up enough to close the gate, but something was better than nothing.
"HEY— "
"Woah, hey hey hey. I already have to deal with this loon, I'm not in the mood to deal with you too. You break him, you bought him" Elliot's words were cut off by the brown haired man, who had finally left the blonde and was now pulling Akito away from the big guard. Neither of the other two men seemed to appreciate this goggle wearing brunette's comment, but their glares didn't faze him.
"Hey shortstop. Back up so I can give you your roomie back." The goggle guy said with a smile on his face. As he talked to a kid in a cage. The world was a sick, messed up place.
Elliot didn't budge and chose to follow his usual routine of staring back defiantly. The man frowned and bent down so that he could look Elliot in the eye.
"Look kid, don't you think it'll be easier for Aki if there's some kind of barrier between him and them?"
The stranger's words held truth to them, but Elliot's pride was a tough thing to suppress. The brunette sighed and straightened up.
"Fine. Then I guess I'll just have to come in there and swap Aki out for the girl hiding in the corner there." He said with a nonchalant shrug.
"You won't touch her" Elliot hissed as he instantly backed up and put himself in the way of the hall's view of Mouse. The goggle guy grinned and opened the gate while holding Akito around the waist with his other arm. Elliot instantly backed up to the corner, hiding Mouse from sight behind him while never dropping his glare aimed at the brunette. The man just put Akito down against the wall and left without another word, closing the gate pretty softly compared to how everyone had closed it lately. The goggle wearing git whispered something to the burly guard, shaking his head, and started helping him walk down the hall towards the exit.
Elliot waited for a few minutes, staring out at the hallway even as the sounds of the men's voices faded, keeping himself lodged in the corner as a human shield for Mouse. He probably would have been content to stay like that for much longer had the object of his protection not squirmed out from behind him. Mouse ran over to Akito and pet his hair like Elliot had done to comfort her just a few minutes earlier. The little girl gently stroked his head where he had been hit, causing him to stir just the tiniest bit.
"uuuh…. I need to stop hitting my head…" Akito mumbled before he felt something warm embracing him. He opened his eye slowly, glancing down to see Mouse's little arms wrapped around him in a tight hug. He smiled at her and would have loved to return the embrace. It was strange. When he lived with Kaito, he never really cared about the straitjacket. Here, however, he just wanted it off. He wanted to be able to hold others again. He wanted to be able to let Agito help everyone.
Akito saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over to see Elliot sitting down beside him. Mouse hopped to her feet and ran over to her corner. She returned with the blanket and squirmed her way between the two boys, spreading out the cloth so it covered their laps. She held Elliot's hand and leaned against Akito's arm.
The boys sat in silence, letting the girl drift to sleep between them. Elliot glanced down at Mouse and then looked at Akito with a half sided smirk.
"And here I thought they were talking about me when they pointed out a trouble maker. They were really talking about you." He said quietly. Akito didn't smile back. He was content to observe the wrinkles on the blanket spread across his lap.
"Seriously Akito, you're stronger than you look. Seeing what just a kick can do, I think I can guess why they tied your arms up." Elliot continued as he leaned his head back against the wall. Akito looked over at the other boy in confusion. Elliot wasn't looking at him anymore, so Akito gave voice to his question.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"You kicked him hard enough to knock him down good. That guard from earlier." Elliot replied smoothly, but Akito didn't remember doing that.
'That bastard had it coming. Akito, they may have stopped us from being able to switch whenever we want, but that won't stop me from protecting you. It was the reason I was born. But I swear, once we get free, I'm going to fucking destroy those assholes.'
Akito smiled and leaned his head back. He sighed and let his eyes close.
The heavy sound of footsteps and laughter caused Akito's eye to flicker open. His head was leaning against Elliot's and Mouse was still snuggled between them. Apparently he and Elliot had fallen asleep, although Akito wasn't sure how long they were out.
The sounds were getting louder, and it took a moment for Akito's sleepy brain to put together exactly what it was he was hearing.
"Elliot" He whispered as he moved his head forward. Elliot started to fall sideways and jerked his head up as he awoke.
"What?" The other hissed indignantly as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. Akito motioned with his head towards the hall and Elliot immediately grew tense. He shifted from his spot and stood, scooping up the still sleeping Mouse. The little girl instinctively reached out for Akito as she was pulled away before rolling over towards Elliot. He took her to the corner and beckoned Akito over. They weren't going to let her get taken by anyone. As they settled down in their new seats, with the two boys sitting like a wall in front of Mouse, the source of the noise and the footsteps stopped. Right outside their cell.
"Awww, how cute. Angel's playing protector!" One of the people in the hall said, and Akito recognized him by the nickname he used before he even looked at him. It was Gio with Nian and Kirin. The other five guys were miscellaneous guards that patrolled the halls randomly, and the girl was an entirely new face.
"Well, it doesn't really matter she-male. We're not here for your tiny girlfriend" Gio said as he entered the cell.
"We wouldn't let you touch Mouse anyway. You should just leave, you stupid wanker." Elliot, ever the confrontational type, barked as he glared readily at Gio. Unfortunately his insult just made the brunette chuckle.
"Well well Shortstop, I bet watching you and our resident nega-angel get along would have been a fun time." Gio said as he turned his eyes towards Akito with a knowing grin. Elliot didn't quite understand the reference and nobody was going to explain it to him right now.
"Now come here Aki. It's your time to shine." Gio cooed as he gave Akito a friendly smile and motioned with his hand for the boy to come. As if that would actually work. In response, Elliot spread his arm out in front of Akito. Akito blinked in surprise at the gesture. He wasn't sure how long he had been … where ever this was… but he wasn't really expecting Elliot to be this willing to defend him.
"Just let him come, Shortstop. He's one of the lucky few who gets to leave this dump and get a brand new home." Gio was still smiling as a strawberry blonde walked up beside him.
"I'm not stupid, you slimy git. Being sold to be someone's little pet slave isn't exactly a wonderful life" Elliot replied venomously. He was ready to fight if he had too. He watched silently as the new blonde laid a hand on the goggle wearing brunette's shoulder.
"Come on Akito. Come without fuss and nobody will get hurt. You're the only one we can protect." The blonde said as he looked Akito straight in the eye. Akito held his breath a moment as Kirin's words sunk in. His gold gaze instantly flitted to Kirin's brother who was standing, waiting rather impatiently, in the doorway. He had his accursed pistol in his hand again. Akito looked towards Elliot and he thought of Mouse behind him. He wouldn't…
"You're not going to protect him. You don't care a bit about him. Nobody cares about any of us. You just want your profit." Elliot didn't understand the threat. How could he?
"Elliot, stop yelling at them. Please stop." Akito urged as he took a step forward, pushing gently against Elliot's arm barricade. Elliot looked slightly stunned by Akito's words, but he soon put on a determined face.
"Akito, they're lying. They don't really want to help you." Elliot explained and Akito smiled at him.
"I know." He said.
Elliot furrowed his brow and hesitated as Akito stepped passed him. He shook his head, deciding he would talk to Akito about this later after these goons were gone. He reached out and grabbed Akito's sleeve.
"Akito—" Before he could finish his sentence, a shot rang through the air. Akito turned towards Elliot with a wide eye, staring into his shocked expression as he fell backwards.
"Elliot!" Akito yelled. He tried to run towards his roommate and latest friend, but strong arms wrapped around him and lifted him up. He struggled and cried out, determined to reach the other boy whose entire sleeve was already soaked in blood, but Gio did not let go. The brunette just sighed and carried Akito out of the cell, letting the kid cry himself hoarse. His arms were tied anyway, and more importantly his psycho switch was locked in place, so he wasn't all that nervous about handling him. He carried the squirming boy right by Nian who was still holding his smoking gun. He didn't give his accomplice a single glance as he and the bulk of their entourage headed towards the stairs.
The two brothers lagged behind. Kirin walked out of the cell, eyes locked on his older brother. He stared at Nian as Akito's cries slowly disappeared into the distance.
"…you shot him. Why would you do that?" Kirin demanded, keeping his voice level despite the anger that was building in him. Nian stared straight back at his brother. There was no remorse, no sign of regret in his features at all.
"I did these people a service. That kid was just eating a hole in their wallets. There's no point in feeding an unsellable dog." He said as he pocketed his gun. He turned with a light shrug and pulled out a cigarette.
"Sure, we may need to pay a little fee for damaging their property, but that thing wasn't worth much. Selling off our bitch will cover the cost easy." He added as he lit his nicotine stick and started to walk.
"NIAN." Kirin's voice echoed in the silent hall, causing his brother to stop and turn to look at him. Kirin marched up to the other blonde, trying to keep his breathing steady.
"what?" Nian narrowed his eyes, clearly disapproving of the tone his little brother was taking with him.
"Stop it. Just stop it. They're human beings, just like you and me. Why don't you learn how to treat them as such?" Kirin said as he grit his teeth. Nian stared his brother down and took a step towards him, eliminating the last inch of distance between them.
"Stop being so fucking soft, Kirin. This ain't a fantasy world you get to live in that has happy endings for everyone. In the real world, shit happens daily. People aren't equal and we don't have to pretend they are. Check your morality at the door and toughen up, or get eaten alive by this thing we call reality."
Nian turned and walked away in silence, leaving his little brother in the hallway, glaring at the back of his head.
Akito sat quietly on the ground in the corner of a large empty room. Chairs were in rows in front of a small stage. The stage floor led to different rooms on either side and curtains hid the various sellable items and the occasional child from view of the chairs. Gio was standing beside the blue haired boy, but Akito didn't give him a single glance. He kept his gaze on the floor, only ever looking up when a man forced his chin up to examine his face. The man stood up and began talking with Gio, leaving Akito to absorb what had just happened. Akito continued to stare aimlessly at the ground, looking a bit shocked. The adults wouldn't expect him to be listening.
"I'm telling ya, you untie the shirt, even less people will want him. He's got a worse mouth than anyone here and he won't just sit still without a fight."
"What do his arms have to do with his mouth? Besides, he looks plenty tame to me. I think you're lucky. He's young, good looking, and easy to control. Ideal for this market. But tying his arms back gives the wrong impression."
"That's what I'm trying to explain to you, he's only tame right now because of the precautions we've taken."
"Then sedate him if you're that worried about it!"
Akito looked up at that sentence, catching the exasperated sigh of the man as he dealt with Gio. He pushed himself to his feet with surprising ease and instantly started racing towards the door. Unfortunately Gio grabbed his shirt before Akito got very far at all. Gio wasn't even looking at Akito when he smirked.
"See? More feisty than he lets on right?" He chuckled as the other man rolled his eyes. He made a gesture with his hand and another guard came over. Gio knelt down beside Akito and started to untie his arms, surprised yet wary that Akito was offering no more resistance than that short dash towards the exit. Of course, the moment his sleeves were loose, Akito's hands flew up to his face and he scrambled to remove the bandages covering his eye.
"Woah woah woah" Gio tried to grab Akito wrists, and after a few tries, managed to stop him from switching personalities which had to be the boy's goal. The last thing he wanted was to deal with Agito.
He stared at the boy as Akito gave the occasional pull as if testing Gio's hold on him. Gio glanced to his side and motioned with his head to the guard. As Gio held Akito's arms out, the guard bent down and pulled Akito's sleeve up. He had a small needle in his hands and Akito could only watch as he injected him with some unknown liquid. Akito's panicked expression soon disappeared as the sedative shot through his bloodstream, and he looked more like he was ready to fall asleep. He couldn't remember why he had been so anxious before, but now everything just felt okay.
'Akito, what did they do to us? Hey! Listen to me'
Akito blinked slowly and slumped against Gio's arms. He could hear people talking again, but this time he didn't bother trying to listen. There was no reason to right? Everything was fine.
Kirin leaned against a post on the stage beside Gio. The seats were full with the wealthy and sick minded. Just watching them bid on children was starting to make Kirin's stomach curl.
"Don't look like that, Kirin. Those people are how we make money." Gio said as he gave a playful nudge to Kirin's shoulder. His antics didn't do much to help Kirin's mood.
"Our next item is a young male with golden eyes and naturally dark hair. He has a slender build, a good, submissive temperament, and a pretty face. Bidding will start at five hundred dollars."
Kirin looked up to see Akito on the stage, sitting on a plush purple pillow with his legs chained together. He didn't look like he was mentally there.
"What's wrong with him?" Kirin mumbled as bid after bid was shouted and Akito's price began to rise.
"He's just sedated." Gio shrugged as he watched the bidding without much interest. The price for Akito was already in the 2 thousands and Kirin had to look away. He turned and prepared to leave the room when a boom echoed in his ears and smoke filled the air. The bidders began to panic in their scramble to escape and Kirin shielded his eyes as lights shined in through a brand new hole in the wall.
"This is the police! Everyone stop where you are."
Nobody even hesitated as they continued to push and shove to escape. Kirin looked at Akito, still sitting without a care on the pillow, staring into nothingness while people stampeded around him. Kirin started towards him. He was just a few steps away when Gio grabbed his arm.
"You want to get arrested? Move it Kirin." Gio barked as he dragged Kirin towards the back exit. The police were pouring in now, and the one female who had announced their arrival stopped beside Akito. Kirin watched as she lifted his face up and recognition shined in her eyes.
"Wait a minute… I know you. You're the younger Wanijima. Kaito's little brother. How in the world did you end up here?"
Gio pushed Kirin out of the room and they fled into the casino.
Hours after the police busted into the underground market, Gio was sitting across from Kirin in one of the many rooms in the casino hotel. The brunette casually sipped a can of beer as he lounged on the couch, apparently non-pulsed about the situation. They both looked up as the door opened and Nian entered the room.
"The cops barely caught anyone… but they got about half of the items up for sale." Nian walked over to the mini fridge and pulled out a drink for himself. Kirin looked at his brother carefully.
"And Akito?"
"It's fine. Tianlu grabbed him so we can still sell him." Nian stuck his hand in his pocket and sipped his beer. He leaned against the wall and looked at his younger brother. Kirin didn't seem pleased that they still had their little meal ticket.
"What?" Nian demanded as he narrowed his eyes at his younger brother. Kirin looked up and sighed.
"Tianlu. She didn't hurt him right?" He asked. Tianlu was a girl the boss often kept close to him. She was hired for her fighting expertise and it didn't take long for the guys in their group to learn not to hit on her. She didn't talk much, but she didn't need to say anything to let them know she wasn't interested.
"He didn't fight her, so she didn't have to do anything to him" Nian replied with a tone of disappointment in his voice.
"She did take out all the cops that had surrounded him though. I'm glad she's on our team." Nian chuckled. There were few in the world that Nian respected, but Tianlu was one of them. Maybe it was because she was a hit first ask later type of person like him.
Nian looked over his brother. Kirin was staring at the ground and looked a little lost in thought.
"What now?" He groaned as he crossed his arms.
"Nothing, I just… heard one of the cops say something when she saw Akito" Kirin began. Both Gio and Nian looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"She called him 'the younger Wanijima'. She knew who he was right away and said he was the brother of someone named Kaito." Kirin looked at Gio and Nian, waiting for their response. Nian didn't seem to care about this new turn of events and was back to drinking his beer. Gio looked more thoughtful.
"You did say you thought he had a brother. I wonder why he never looked for little Aki. It's not like Aki is old enough to live on his own." Gio noted as he finished up his own beer. He crushed the can and tossed it in the general direction of the trash can, watching as it bounce off the rim and clatter to the floor.
"But you know… now we know his full name. Akito Wanijima. To top that off, we know people in the police can recognize him with a single glance. We can ask our informants if they can get any information about him now that we've got his last name." Gio yawned and stretched his arms as he lounged on the red velvet couch.
"Why bother? People were bidding quite a bit for him. We might be able to get more just selling him here." Nian said with a smile.
"If he's got family, we should stick with the original ransom plan." Kirin looked at his brother, who just scoffed in return.
"We'll do what rakes in more cash"
