by Lara Yokoshima

Chapter Three - Friends and Enemies

“I’m home!” Kamuro declared loudly as he opened the door of the small apartment. The young man looked around, fully expecting his brother to make himself visible and greet him. Nikolai peered over Kamuro’s shoulder cautiously; he felt a bit uneasy about visiting his best friend’s home for the first time.

“It is alright Nikolai,” Kamuro said in a reassuring voice, “you can come in.”

The blonde boy stepped into the apartment a bit hesitantly. “Are you sure it is okay if I come in? I could always come back some other time…” he suggested softly.

Kamuro smiled warmly and shook his head. “It is okay,” he reassured his somewhat shy friend “ my brother does not mind if I invite friends over after school.”

Nikolai remained still and looked around the room cautiously as he entered.

“Relax,” Kamuro chuckled, “and let me take your school bag for you. Please have a seat and make yourself at home.”

The younger Yokoshima brother watched his friend walking carefully around the room out of the corner of his eye. Nikolai had always been rather shy, but his behavior since they arrived at the apartment seemed a bit odd to Kamuro. He continued to observe his friend, and cannot not help but be reminded of the day when he first met the foreign exchange student…

***

Kamuro had been walking down the hallway during the first day of school, searching for the location of his next class. He had become so preoccupied in looking for the next classroom that he never saw the Russian student right in front of him. Kamuro crashed right into Nikolai, not even aware of what had hit him before it was too late.

“I’m sorry!” Kamuro quickly apologized, looking down at the blonde boy on the floor, “Are you alright?”

The other boy nodded his head shyly and quickly began retrieving his scattered papers and textbooks without even uttering a word.

“I’m really sorry!” Kamuro repeated, “I should have been paying closer attention to where I was going! Here, let me help you…”

He helped the hesitant, blond to his feet and smiled warmly, hoping that the other boy would forgive him for his clumsiness.

“My name is Yokoshima Kamuro,” Kamuro introduced himself politely when exchange student remained silent, “what is your name?”

The other boy’s eyes darted around nervously for a moment, completely caught off guard by the fact that someone had actually acknowledged him. A soft, pink blush crept across his face as he began to speak.

“My… name,” he replied in a quiet voice, “is Nikolai.”

Ever since their chance meeting in the hallway, Kamuro and Nikolai met with each other during lunch and after school. Their friendship quickly blossomed, and soon they became nearly inseparable.

***

Kamuro smiled slightly at the recollection of his first encounter with his best friend; even though they had become good friends, Nikolai was still rather quiet and shy. His friend’s bashful behavior was a bit perplexing to him, but he still found it quite amusing as well.

Kenji stared at the motionless body on the hospital bed, his blue eyes eagerly searching for any sign of movement or awareness.

At least he is sleeping peacefully now, the martial artist thought, and not having a violent tantrum, as he was earlier…

He sat down on the chair next to the bed and took a few moments to observe his surroundings. The white tile floor, the plain concrete walls, and simple blue curtains were typical of most hospitals and not very interesting.

His attention soon returned to the sleeping form on the nearby hospital bed, which he found far more fascinating. The young man on the bed truly intrigued him. Everything that Eiji did, even in his sleep, seemed to captivate and distract Kenji.

He watched Eiji’s chest rise and fall with his every sleeping breath. It was hard to believe that the man resting so peacefully on the bed below him was the same person that he had observed thrashing about his locker room in a fit of rage.

“You have much untapped power,” he whispered, “but you cannot control it yet.”

His gaze traveled lower to Eiji’s abdomen, to his thighs, and eventually to his exposed legs. Kenji studied the bare flesh; Eiji’s legs and feet were smooth and free of any scars, visible veins, or other imperfections.

“As flawless as the rest of you,” Kenji whispered, “a marvel to behold.”

The younger man on the bed, still oblivious in his sleep, ceases his breathing for a moment to run his tongue along his open, dry lips. The single, harmless act did unspeakable things to the blond martial artist who saw it.

Kenji’s control faltered for a brief moment, nearly giving into the urge to caress those remoistened lips with his own. Surprised by his momentary loss of restraint, he withdrew before he could reach Eiji’s face. What am I thinking? he thought, I hardly even know him! How can I feel this way?

“You seem well enough now,” the blond said quietly as he rose from the bedside chair. “I should find your phone number and call your brother.”

Kamuro watched on quietly as Nikolai studied one of the few photographs hanging on the wall. He was pleased that his friend had finally begun to settle down, and he allowed himself to smile slightly when the Russian exchange student drew closer to the picture in order to view it better. “That is a photo of me and my brother.”

Nikolai turned to face his friend for a moment, and then looked at the photograph again. “Yes,” he answered softly, “you two look a lot alike. But…”

“But?” Kamuro asked, raising an eyebrow. “You can tell me, its okay.”

“But even though you two are smiling you still look…” the blonde boy fumbled for the right word, his voice still a bit uneasy as he explained. “You both still look… kind of sad.”

A heavy silence filled the air between them, and despite his best efforts Kamuro cannot find an answer to the other boy’s comment within himself.

“I’m sorry!” Nikolai apologized; desperately hoping his friend would forgive him making such a comment. “It is not my place to say such things!”

Kamuro forced himself to smile. “It is alright,” he replied calmly, “Its just that I don’t really have an answer for that.”

The younger Yokoshima brother walked to Nikolai’s side and stared up at the picture with his friend. “It was my birthday when we got this picture taken,” he began in a soft voice, “and my brother took the day off work to take me to the carnival…”

Nikolai remained silent, and turned his head to look at his friend’s face as he continued his story. He dared not speak, for he feared that it might ruin this opportunity to learn more about his only friend.

“I was not going to tell you this just yet,” Kamuro continued, still staring at the photo, “but my brother and I have no mother or father to care for us. I often try to remember our parents, but it never works; It just seems like they never existed.”

Nikolai swallowed nervously when his friend turned to meet his gaze.

Kamuro sighed softly as he looked into the other boy’s eyes. Although he felt that he could trust Nikolai, he still found it difficult talking to anyone about his relationship with his brother.

“My brother does the best that he can,” he finally added, “to act as my guardian. He works long, hard hours, and makes enough for us to get by. But because of that, we hardly ever get to spend any time together and I am usually left here… alone. I am here by myself so often, that I have actually gotten used to it… but that does not make it any easier.”

Nikolai’s eyes were transfixed to his friend. He never would have imagined that Kamuro was an orphan, or that he trusted him enough to tell him.

Silence filled the small living room once again, forcing Kamuro to speak before things became awkward. He could not help but feel soothed after his confession; he had never spoken of his brother or his personal life to anyone else before, and it felt as though a tremendous burden had been lifted from his conscious.

“But now that you’re here,” he said while forcing himself to smile “we can have fun, and do stuff after school whenever we feel like it!” Kamuro paused for moment, debating on whether or not to mention something else that had recently occurred to him. His curiosity won out, and he decided to risk asking his friend a potentially sensitive question.

“Nikolai,” he said in a gentle voice, “I have noticed recently that I am not the only one who has a sad look in his eyes…”

The other boy’s eyes went wide when his friend’s statement reached his ears. He gazed at the floor, too afraid to look upon his friend as he weighed the risk of discussing his personal life with Kamuro. “I can trust him…” Nikolai rationalized in his thoughts, “after what he told me… I know I can.”

“When I was young,” he began nervously, “I… would never invite friends over to my house. I feared that my father would treat them the same way that he treated me.”

Kamuro gave his friend a puzzled look, but remained silent.

“When I was born,” Nikolai continued, “my mother became very ill. Eventually, she became so weak that she was unable to leave her bed.”

Nikolai paused, doing his best to fight off the tears that were beginning to well up in his eyes from the mere mention of his mother. “My father,” he said, his voice becoming somewhat hoarse, “became irate when her condition worsened, and he blamed me for her failing health.”

The blond looked to floor, ashamed of the tear that descended down his cheek. He did not want to show such weakness in front of his best friend, and with a great deal of effort he forced himself to continue. “One evening, when I was six years old, my father came home drunk and angry. I looked up at him fearfully; frightened by the way he slammed the door and stumbled into the house.”

“Nikolai,” Kamuro said softly as he took a step closer to his friend, “its alright, if you don’t…”

“He looked down at me,” Nikolai continued before Kamuro could finish, “anger and hatred burning in his eyes as he asked me what I was staring at. I told him I was sorry, but that only seemed to enrage him more. He… he pushed me to the floor, and before I could even try to get up, I could feel the sting of his leather belt on my back.”

Kamuro felt the sting of pity in his heart as he looked at his sobbing friend. He could not imagine the betrayal and suffering that Nikolai had to endure in his childhood.

“It happened every week after that,” Nikolai sobbed, “and when my mother finally found out, she blamed herself because she was too weak to protect me. It was her idea to send me here through a foreign exchange student program. My father had to tear me a…a-away from her arms when it was time for me to leave.”

Kamuro placed his hand on Nikolai’s shoulder, hoping that his friend would be comforted by the gesture.

“I can’t even bare the thought of it,” Nikolai whimpered as he looked up at his friend, “the thought that I will probably never see my mother again.”

Kamuro did his best to hold his tears back, fighting to appear strong in his friend’s eyes. Not knowing what to say, he drew his friend in closer and slowly began to wrap his arms around Nikolai’s trembling form.

Nikolai leaned into the embrace, sobbing quietly against Kamuro’s chest as they held each other. The pain and emotional trauma inside of him seemed to diminish somewhat as he felt the other boy’s heart beating against his cheek.

Kamuro stroked the back of Nikolai’s head, petting the blonde hair beneath his fingertips as he too found a certain comfort in the embrace. As he held his weeping friend close to him his lingering doubts about his life and feelings of loneliness seemed to melt away. He looked down at the young man in his arms, his eyes immediately falling on Nikolai’s flushed face. There is a silent understanding between them as they look at each other and both of them know what to expect next.

Nikolai closed his eyes shyly when his friend leaned closer to him. The feeling of Kamuro’s hot breath on his skin made him tremble a bit as their lips drew closer together. The other boy loosened his grip, offering him a chance to move away if he wish, but Nikolai stood his ground, feeling that what was about to happen was right.

*** RINNGGG! ***

The loud sound of the telephone ringing shattered the moment. Kamuro gasped, his heart nearly stopping when he was caught completely off guard by the sudden noise.

“W… wait here,” Kamuro muttered quickly, his voice little more than a breathless whisper, “it may be my brother calling from work.”

Nikolai remained frozen; appearing to be trapped in the moment before the telephone had rang. He did his best to steady his breathing and compose himself as Kamuro ran off to the telephone. He listened curiously as his friend’s casual phone conversation seemed to quickly turn serious.

Kenji set the phone back on the receiver and pushed the now useless telephone directory aside. Eiji is fortunate, he thought as he recalled the young, concerned voice of Eiji’s brother, to have someone that cares about him so much… to have someone that worries about him when he is ill…

He leaned forward onto the table and propped his head up with his hands. No one in recent memory had showed that kind of genuine concern for him, at least not since his master.

The blond martial artist could still easily picture his master in his mind: a tall, handsome man with long, dark hair and small round eyeglasses. It was the same man who had taken pity on him years ago, and looked after his every need. It was the same man who had saved him from a miserable existence and had shown him that even in his darkest hours, Kenji could still find beauty in life. But now he was alone again, and it was unlikely that he would ever see his master again.

Kenji turned his attention once again to the young man sleeping peacefully at the other corner of the room on the hospital bed.

“But perhaps,” he whispered to himself, his eyes studying Eiji’s face as he approached the bed, “things are not so hopeless after all…”

Although Kenji had taken advantage of Eiji’s unconscious state and spent a great deal of the evening just staring at the young man, he had not noticed the small, dim markings on Eiji’s lower cheek until now.

An eerie sense of familiarity filled his mind as he studied the strange body art, and he could not resist the temptation to trace the small markings with his fingertips.

***

Darkness seemed to fall upon the room when he moved to touch Eiji’s skin, and for a moment Kenji feels disoriented.

A soft, pleasant melody echoed in the dark room, a melody that Kenji immediately recognized. He knew he was not mistaken, for it was the same simple lullaby that had fallen from his master’s lips years ago. He spun around in the darkness, desperately searching for the source of the quiet tune. His wide blue eyes quickly discover a figure sitting alone in corner on the room, almost completely concealed by the shadows.

The hidden figure stared back at Kenji for a moment before stepping forward and revealing himself to the blond.

Kenji froze when his eyes fell on the face of man in front of him, completely unprepared for the sight. Aside from the paler complexion and the thick head of silver hair, the face that stared back at him mirrored Eiji’s in nearly every way. His platinum colored, almost metallic looking irises studied Kenji carefully for a moment before taking a step closer.

“Stay away from him…” the silver-haired creature warned, “he is mine…”

Kenji backed away, preparing to defend himself as the young man suddenly lunged towards him with his hands reaching for his throat.

“MINE!!”

***

Kenji fell to the floor, completely overpowered by the uncanny speed and strength of his attacker. He hurried to his feet, backing into the wall behind him and searching around the room for his assailant. His frantic breathing slowly returned to normal as he realized he was still standing in the hospital room at Eiji’s side.

He slid down the plain, concrete wall to sit on the floor and did his best to relax his body and stop the rush of adrenaline that was racing through his system. But despite his mastery of martial arts and mediation, Kenji cannot help but feel the burden of fear in his heart.