Amethyst, Tiger's Eye & Jade [NOT FOR PUBLIC!]

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Kojinsei Trying to Stay Awake [Flashback], Age 10 (Image (c) respective owner)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v345/freeflyingluciddreaming/kazuki/kojisleepskid.jpg



Ethan wiped the tears from his face and stood walking over to the man. He didn't care if he was thrown or slapped like the nurse. Grabbing the chair he heaved it all he could until he reached the Don. Setting it down he sniffled again and pointed at it. "You can't help if you're dead or pass out. Please sit and get well yourself; if you don't you'll get sick like Ojisan. If you get sick then I'll have to start visiting two rooms."

One of the guards moved and Ethan slapped at him. He didn't need them and he didn't want them to touch him. "Go away you suck!" He shouted at one before turning back to Kojinsei. Grabbing the man's arm and tugging on him to get him to sit.

A guard leaned over to another and whispered about Ethan taking to the Yakuza Don so fast, then straightened as the Yakuza Don looked at them before they left the room. They were told to leave by the nurses who needed to work and they were just in the way-- the lead guard stepped up and grabbed Ethan but the boy shrieked and grabbed onto Koji.


"Jesus!" Koji barked over the noise and annoyances and the kid pulling on his casted arm. He reached out and cracked the knife edge of his hand against the hand of the guard grabbing the boy who was therefore tugging on Koji, and he broke at least two of the little bones inside the guard's hand, causing him to release Ethan and leave him be. "So much fucking noise!" he snarled, kicking the chair away stubbornly and panting as he leaned a little harder against the bed. "Get out, all of you but those necessary, get out!"

He bared his sharp white teeth until they were all gone then looked down at the runt. "If you so much as mewl louder than a whisper I am kicking your face in," he threatened through clenched teeth.

As time went on Koji's panting became heavier still, until he felt his eyes starting to roll into the back of his head. He teetered a little and reached out with a shaking and unsteady hand, trying to pull the needle out of his arm. When the nurse saw him, she moved quickly and took it out for him, then put a bandage over the needle mark and moved back to Takiyama, waiting for the last of the blood to filter through the machine and into the Don. Koji slumped forward and would normally have fallen to one knee, but the leg in the brace didn't bend thanks to the stiff brace pins, and he toppled forward, gripping a heart monitor tower for dear pride's sake as he shivered and beads of sweat rolled down his face and back. At first he had just planned on donating a little and going on his merry way, but after seeing the child he had donated far more than intended.

Koji shivered as his eyes rolled into the back of his head again, and he growled at himself, uttering, "Stay the fuck awake," in Japanese under his breath.


"You better I owe you a thanks and an apology Don Ono," Takiyama's voice squeezed out from a sore throat. His eyes fluttered open and shut before finally opening; the light blinded him. Jerking his arm up he ripped needles from it as he covered his face. "Close the damned shades!" He bellowed, his throat not so hoarse anymore. When the shades snapped shut he put his arm back down slowly as he was pounced by something.

Looking up into golden eyes he smiled briefly, lifting his other arm and regretting it as pain shot through his shoulder. As the pain slowly subsided, his whole body felt like he was numb again. He wondered if they had given him drugs as he looked over at the nurses. He saw nothing but the standard IVs-- he frowned as he turned amber eyes back to the boy on his chest.

"Ethan go outside this is no place for you. You shouldn't even be here; and you certainly shouldn't be in this room. Now go on the guards will take you home."

Takiyama was going to kill someone in his staff. It didn't matter how much he got hurt; they knew better than to drag the boy out. Turning to watch Ethan leave, he waited till the boy was gone then looked back at the white haired Don.

This teenager now knew what the boy looked like after so much hard work of keeping him secret. "If you want to attack me you come at me-- you leave him out of this. He's just an innocent child who has seen too much horror for his young years already. He's no threat to you even if you kill me; he knows almost nothing about this life."


"I'll..." Koji panted, "kill him if I want to." He swallowed hard and lowered his head, pressing his forehead against his good arm and shivering bodily. One of the nurses came towards him apprehensively, and this time he didn't lash out as he was escorted gingerly into a chair. A blanket was put over Koji's lap and a pillow behind him as his eyes rolled into the back of his head repeatedly. "You couldn't even," he continued breathlessly, "Stop me if you... tried. You're... so full of.... drugs and... booze from my... blood right now... you... probably can't... even get hard."

Kojinsei shuddered. His body was screaming, aching for the release of unconsciousness, but after years of practice with being abused and ruined he had learned how to surpass the pain and keep awake. Falling asleep had often meant worse punishment and so now it was instinct to fight off sleep at every given chance. "He'll be my first... target... when I... declare war on... your sorry ass," Koji mouthed off in a rasping voice.


Takiyama Aikawa looked at the ceiling and smirked before looking at the teenager before him. A boy being a man; doing a great job but he shouldn't have had to. Kojinsei Ono had grown up hard and fast and Takiyama could see it. Some of the pain in the eyes he knew; some he'd gotten over and some he'd buried deep down in his own soul.

"Just shut up and get some sleep; you can kill me when you're better. I'm thankful for the blood even if it's filled with crap and I can't get hard. But for once relax and realize I'm not trying to kill you. If I wanted you dead you'd be fucking dead just like I'm sure I would be. Besides if you're not convinced that I don't want to kill you then you're free to leave when you are truly capable. I won't dare to stop you but I also have no cause to fight you anymore."


"Let me break out... the champagne," Koji said dryly, before pushing himself up onto his good leg with a struggle. He shuddered and hobbled towards the door, pausing and leaning against the frame, panting heavily and shivering. Stubborn mule that he was, he picked up moving as soon as he was able to, limping out the door and down the hall, leaning against the wall most of the way and snarling loudly whenever somebody tried to get close to him. He hobbled back into his own room and onto his own bed, where he finally allowed himself to collapse, passing out face down and only halfway on the bed, one of his legs and arms dangling over the edge.

Even in his sleep there was a pained and angry expression on his face, and he clenched his teeth tightly as he dreamed, his good hand fisted and his head moving in a quick jerk every once in a while as though his body was remembering past instances of being slapped while sleeping. Every few minutes a soft mewl of pain escaped the boy, and he slowly began to curl in on himself into the childish fetal position to try and protect all the vulnerable areas of his body-- groin, stomach, arms, face.


After awhile he sat up and pushed himself to his feet despite the doctor's protest. He felt perfectly fine except that nagging feeling that reminded him of being drunk. Making his way down to Kojinsei's room he pushed the door open and shut it behind himself. The teenager in the bed lay curled and when the mewl escaped from him Takiyama's face softened. He seemed like he wasn't too much older than Ethan at the moment and he almost slept the same as the boy too.

Slipping into the bed he knew what to do after months of dealing with Ethan. Pulling the boy against him he held the teenaged Don in his arms, rubbing his back and trying to soothe whatever horrible nightmares he was having. He knew Koji didn't have a family and so he had no one to take care of him or mourn him if he was hurt or died.

Takiyama sat there in silence hoping he was helping the teenager some. He had too much on his plate for such a young man and Takiyama hadn't helped any. He was wrong not to help at the airport and he was wrong to test the Don in the first place. As he sat there looking down at the white haired teen he sighed softly.


Startling awake once more, this time Koji remembered that he was in the hospital, and he wigged out for several reasons when he felt somebody behind him and touching him. Roaring like a beast, he thrashed and kicked out, grabbing one of the loose IV tubes hanging nearby and whipping around, winding it round his assaulter's throat several times and pulling hard on both ends with intent to strangle and kill... He paused when he saw it was Takiyama, then frowned deeper and pulled harder, snarling. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!" he raged, yanking on the tube one last time before letting it go and smacking the man in the forehead.


Takiyama grabbed his throat, coughing a few times before turning it from side to side. "I was trying to comfort you; you didn't seem to be sleeping well. I know you're not a child but sometimes even adults need that comfort. Can't you at least take one act of kindness for what it is? No strings attached no intentions or motives just pure kindness." He coughed a few more times before taking his hand away from his neck. He'd been expecting the thrashing and getting kicked but the IV was a new one; he'd have to remember that for the future.


"Stupid shitty assface," Koji growled under his breath, glaring daggers at the man. "Don't ever touch me like that. You're my nemesis; you're the biggest fucking roadblock in my life."

It was true. Koji had only assumed the Yakuza throne a few months ago, and none of the Dons really respected him at all. Some pretended to but they were just trying to get on Koji's good side so they could come and rape and pillage Japan after back-stabbing him. Even his own bodyguards were against him; there were three or four he trusted but the rest he wouldn't ever turn his back to, and several times already many of them had tried to kill him. He needed to earn respect and fear and become a real standing Don but his age and his heritage were his two biggest problems. For all the rest of the world the Dons hated him for being fifteen and running a Mafia empire; from within Japan he was hated so passionately because he was so obviously a gaijin halfling with his Japanese face and hair and his bright green eyes that no Japanese person has.

Koji made a buzzing noise and waved his hand in a shooing motion. "Nice try Howdy Doody; get the fuck out of my bed."

On top of all of that, America and Japan's black market trades and gangs had all been fighting for years now-- and Koji had lived through countless assassination attempts put out by this man laying across from him. If Koji could just kill this man off he could take over the American trades and his life would be so much easier... and also, he would earn instant respect for pegging off one of the most notoriously powerful Mafia Dons. However, after months of trying and failure, he had agreed to this peace treaty to try and assassinate the man himself. ...That wasn't going so well.

"Do I have to choke you till you pass out?" Koji asked sweetly when the man didn't move. "I really will."


"You're a bigger fool than Don Shiro. I wanted to try peace between us to get past all the bloodshed on both sides. I didn't even give a shit where you came from or who you were. I was tired of my people dying and us getting nowhere. I was tired of looking over my shoulder waiting for the sniper to kill me and then Ethan. I was hoping we could pool our resources and make us strong and powerful, so no one would come after either of us and if they did they'd regret it."

He slipped from the bed and stood, golden eyes staring at the boy before turning away. "Go home then or stay; the ball is in your court as they say. I wanted this peace but I see I won't get it from yet another Japanese Don. I offered Shiro the same thing and he stabbed me in the back-- literally. I forgot how stubborn they breed men in Japan."


Koji said nothing. His pride pleaded for him to speak up and tell this moron off-- what possible act was there that one could perform for another greater than saving a person's life... twice! If he really wanted the man dead at this point Takiyama would have been dead ages ago and Koji would never have wasted his own blood. What did he have to do, come outright and say that he wanted the goddamn treaty? Did he have to suck this man off and plead with him and thank him ever so much for agreeing to peace!? Fat fucking chance.

Koji snarled bitterly and kept it to himself, his forced adult side telling him to be mature and just be the bigger man, letting Takiyama say what he wanted and not stooping to his level.

He rolled onto his stomach and pressed his face into the pillow, wanting the man to leave and biting his own tongue to keep quiet. But when Takiyama was still in the room a minute later, Koji whipped around and his discipline broke. "If I didn't want the fucking treaty I would have killed Ethan the instant I saw him, murdered you while you were in your coma and cut off the heads of every one of your guards then played in their blood! If I didn't want the treaty I wouldn't have saved your sorry ass twice and I sure as fuck wouldn't have stopped choking you just now after waking up with you in my bed! Go on and sulk because your crappy affections were shattered, fine, but to throw away a treaty over it is something only a fool would do! I never said I didn't want it Takiyama, I just said that you're my nemesis. Even if we went into the treaty that wouldn't change; you're the shadow looming over my life and increasing how brutally hard it is for me to claw my way to power. When I sliced Shiro open like a bloated fish he didn't even stand a chance and when I was dancing around in his guts, draped around me like a sun dress, had I realized that killing him wouldn't even change much I wouldn't have bothered! If you're walking out on the treaty here and now then save yourself some fucking time and take me out Takiyama!" Koji reached out and grabbed a scalpel from a metal tray near the bed, throwing it at the wall just beside the Mafia Don's head and causing it to stay embedded in the drywall. "There, there it is! Take it and slice me open like I did Shiro! Come on, do it, you know you hate me too; I'll rip little Ethan's head off his shoulders with my teeth if you let me live past today. Kill me now or kill me never you cum-sucking waste of flesh!"


"I'm tired of this crap-- stop treating me like I'm better than you. I clawed my own way to the top also Don Ono. Do you think it was easy for a Japanese kid to become Don in an American city? No it was almost as impossible as it was for you. Granted I was older than you but I still worked my fingers to the bone... I bled and I lost parts of myself that I'll never regain. So yes I want this god damned treaty but I'm sick of the attitude!"

Grabbing the scalpel Takiyama slammed it back down on the tray hard. "I don't hate you I never have. The only reason I went after you was because I thought you came after me first. But I found out only recently that the men who started our war were the Russians. They wanted us to kill each other so they could have both America and Japan. I was too full of myself and you were too new to realize these things. Call me all the names you want Kojinsei Ono it's not going to change how I feel. Say what you want about Ethan or my men. It's not going to change how I look at you. You're a damned fine Yakuza Don; one of the best I've ever met. I don't care if you're a teenager and I don't care that you're gaijin. What I care about is this treaty and for our damned war to stop."


He was speechless.

Nobody had ever said anything even relatively close to that to Koji before. There seemed to be respect and honesty in Takiyama's face as he spoke, and Koji couldn't detect any lies or deceit. He pursed his lips and frowned. Others had certainly sweet talked him but they had never said anything like this and that speech sounded like it had come from the heart. He sat back slightly in the bed and folded his arms, frowning at nothing and silent for a while before speaking up. "Then a treaty is forged," he growled. "Between Japan and America for the first time." Jade eyes flicked up to look at the Mafia Don, and they became stubborn again as he added, "Let the record show that I could have taken you out and I didn't-- let the record show that I saved your life more than once. Let the record show that I still don't like you, and let it show that you owe me two of the biggest fucking favours you've ever given out."

Koji nodded and frowned with finality. "Your first huge act for me will be paying for the hospital bills, putting me up in one of the best bedrooms of your house, keeping that loud little brat away from me unless he has a muzzle on, and never, never getting in a bed with me when I'm already asleep and don't know it's you, ever again. You're lucky this time it was just an IV; I've killed dozens of street walkers without intending to because they decided to risk one last cuddle and instead got a bullet in the heart."

He fell silent as they stared at each other... two Generals standing at arms face to face, wounded, scarred, aching, sore and tired. They were bloodied and bandaged and weary of each other and the battlefield, but for the moment, they could at least stop looking over their shoulders in fear of the other quite as often as before.

So that was it... The treaty was complete.




*Gaijin = halfling/half-breed etc


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