Hunted

Why the hell did everyone stick up for that rodent? Even Takuya? But nobody liked Takuya, and it should stay that way! Nele was so frustrated and angry. The rodent wasn't even all that cute! He'd seen cuter! Rex was cuter. Kiyoshi was the cutest. If the rat didn't belong to Kyun, he was sure he would have skinned it alive. How could that guy be so cool and have such bad taste in boys?

Well it didn't matter anymore. He was outside with his favourite man and his favourite dog going to get food and litter for his favourite kittens. The neighbourhood was fairly new to him, but he had been in the area enough to know where the nearest pet store was. The tiny brown and black dog trotted along in front of them, much more confident and comfortable compared to the day they found him. Nele couldn't blame him. It was a good day so far. He woke up a bit worried about his friend Leandor, but he had doubts any evil bigass stalkers could find that rooftop self-pity haven.

Nele could feel his blood boiling at the thought of that giant, but there was nothing he could do. All he cared about was that the ones that mattered were there with him. Hopefully he'd get back to the apartment before Luo woke up though, so he could get the kittens into the safety of the bedroom. "... I'm sorry, Kiyoshi. Maybe I shouldn't have freaked out like that, but he just fucking pushes my buttons. I hate it when people tell me what to do."

The Japanese smiled lightly. "I hate that too." He paused, then added in a friendly tone, "it takes some time to get used to him. As I said, he's good deep down, but he hides it well. Don't worry. I hope you'll get along with him, but it's up to both of you to make it work."

"I can tolerate him, I guess." The dog barked and whined at something, but Nele figured it was just a squirrel or some other random thing that would catch a dog's attention. He took ahold of Kiyoshi's arm as they continued walking, gazing ahead at the approaching street sign. Looked like they were headed in the right direction. That was always good. "As unbelievable as this is, I'm used to not getting along with people."

With a lazy smirk, Kiyoshi wrapped the arm around Nele's back. "I used to have that problem, until I started hanging in the arcades... which reminds me... I hope there's an arcade around here somewhere."

"Could ask Lea later. I'm sure he knows all sorts of things about the area from banging our new landlord." He frowned at the man, paying no attention to the schoolgirl walking quickly past them. He was worried about the Japanese after that fire the previous night. Couldn't tell how the guy was coping, or maybe it hadn't really sunk in yet? "You know I'll be here if you need me, right?"

"Great stuff." Kiyoshi glanced momentarily after the young girl, then turned to give Nele a quick kiss on the cheek. "Why... Anything on your mind?" He gazed with slight confusion at Nele.

It was hard to focus on what he had wanted to say when his mind was wandering to other things. How he wished he were taller so it'd be easier to follow that peck with a real kiss. "No, I was just thinking about -"

"Oh wow!" The schoolgirl interrupted, coming back around to them. She offered a friendly smile and crouched down in front of them to pet the dog. "This dog is just too cute! Sweet little fella too, isn't he? I've always wanted a Dachshund, but my parents don't like dogs. Though you two are rather cute yourselves. What's this pup's name?"

They stopped. Nele didn't like girls, and he looked over at Kiyoshi, who returned the gaze. Probably expected him to say something. After a few seconds, the Japanese turned to her with a smirk. "Rex..." he said casually, then cast a glance towards the street. Maybe wondering whether to walk around her; she was in practice blocking the entire sidewalk.

She looked at the street too, but didn't take the hint. Instead, the girl scooped the dog up in her arms and straightened up. When Nele scowled and moved forward to stop her, a switchblade snapped open in her hand and was waved in front of the dog's nose. "That's such a sickeningly overused name for a dog. Don't you queers have any originality at all?" What was once a friendly smile had turned to a hideously ridiculing smirk. "I thought you guys were smart to get away before your house burnt down, and somehow that flamer survived the explosion, but here you are being just about as stupid as you can get walking around like this by yourselves."

"What the..." Nele's mouth dropped over in confusion. Who was she? He had never seen her before in his life, but it was very alarming to hear that she knew what happened to their places. "You... You bitch..."

Kiyoshi immediately turned around, and the redhead saw that huge asshole from earlier grab him. The Japanese gazed quickly around them, then spoke insistently. "Run. You can get past her."

Was he insane? There was no way he'd abandon them. Panicked, but somehow resisting the urge to freak out, Nele turned in a complete circle, spotting the scrawny sidekick coming out of the bushes nearby. Three against two. They were at a disadvantage all around. "What do you want, Ramesh?"

"Oh just because I'm a girl you automatically think the big guy is in charge?" That annoying schoolgirl was yapping again. "I'll tell you what we want, little red riding hood. We want to remind you that you can't escape us. Not after what you did, fucker. I'm not going to kill you just yet though." She shoved the dog roughly into the scrawny guy's hands and then walked forward to stand next to Nele. She stood there doing nothing for a moment and just studying the big guy's prisoner before speaking again. "Maybe I should make you kill your boyfriend."

"Why are you making this big a deal about me not wanting to get mugged? Most of the time people are able to let things like that go..." Kiyoshi gave a disbelieving frown at the girl.

She laughed loudly and shook her head. "Mugged? Yeah right! I don't know or care what you're talking about, but that's not what this is about. This is far more personal." Her eyes went over Kiyoshi once more before she reached up and ran a hand through Nele's red hair. When he flinched, she just laughed louder. "Let's get right down to it, okay? You have a decision to make, little guy. You can run away now and hope we don't kill your two friends here, you could refuse to do anything and we'll just kill you too, or you can choose either the dog or the boyfriend and leave the other with us."

From what was said, there was only one real choice. The only option was right in front of him. But he couldn't say it for awhile, the lump rising in his throat. He knew his choice could ultimately lead to the death of that poor innocent dog, and it was too hard to say something that could end a life. He stepped forward and stared pleadingly at Ramesh. "Please, let Kiyoshi go."

"That your choice?" Ramesh was obviously greatly enjoying the whole situation. When the redhead nodded and the schoolgirl shrugged, he spun Kiyoshi around. Just as he was going to let go, the brute suddenly lashed out, nailing the Japanese in the gut with a fist. Even the noise it made sounded more than painful. He then roughly shoved the prisoner to the pavement and turned to walk away, the girl and the scrawny sidekick following close behind.

~~~~~

This is a collab, written together with Chlover. You can find her author profile here: http://original.adult-fanfiction.org/authors.php?no=26260