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-Interlude-

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“Your future has already set for you. Your only job is to follow my words to get there.

No Exception”

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The moment tey were born, their future had been determined by their father. Since young, they had learned to obey his every wish and to not question his authority, because they were told it was for their own good. As young boys, they did know what kind of influence their family has over the financial world. Just with their last name, the seven-year-old Akanishi Jin and the four-year-old Akanishi Reio could have their teachers shivering in fear just by their little whimpers. At first the pair of brothers didn’t know why everyone tried to avoid them and rarely spoke to them. The people around them were in fear with them around. As time went on, the older Akanishi learned that people were afraid of their family; the Akanishi last name had gotten them friendless. However, Jin didn’t care much about it, his father had told him that friends are not needed in one’s life if the friend was not beneficial to their family. Jin learned to be indifferent with people around him.

Of course there were a few that had tried to be friends with the infamous brothers but not too long after, those people one by one disappeared from their lives. It hurt Jin a lot but remembering his father’s words, he slowly got himself used to the abandonment. Nevertheless, it was not the same case for the younger Akanishi. Each time, “the friend” left them, Reio would cry for weeks and would sulk alone in his room under the blanket. He blamed himself for the loss of the new friend. He wondered what he did wrong to have his friends leaving him. He couldn’t understand his older brother’s explanation of “friendship is just an imaginary concept”.  He was too young to know what “concept” means or the meaning of “imaginary”. Therefore, he often questioned his brother the same thing every time…

“Onii-chan, why no one likes me?” Little Reio asked his older brother as he cried his eyes out after one of his new friends disappeared without saying anything. The older brother collected little Reio’s small form into a warm hug as he started his usual explanation.

“Maybe we haven’t found the right clique,” the older brother explained as soothing his little brother’s back. Being the older one, the boy understood this scenario. He told himself that less friend means less trouble as his father once explained to him. He believed his father’s words wholeheartedly because it was for their own good as his father added into the explanation. To him, the explanation was as clear as crystal; however, to his younger brother, it was so complicated to understand. He didn’t blame his brother for the boy was too young to get it.

“But…but…they were so nice,” Little Reio tried to choke out between his sobs.

“You can’t judge the book by its cover,” the older brother hugged his little brother tighter and soothed the younger one into sleep. Little Reio was still confused for he just didn’t understand what his brother means.

~*~

Little Reio chased after his older brother as screaming and whining about giving back his toy. The backyard was filled with Little Reio’s high pitch scream as Jin’s laughter began to get louder by seconds. Jin didn’t like it when his little brother was too engrossed in the new toys their mother just got for them and completely ignored him. Being the possessive older brother he was, Jin took the toys away from his little brother and ran away from the whining kid.

“My toy~~” Little Reio whined louder and ran after Jin with his short chubby legs; he hated to be shorter than his older brother.

“Catch me if you want it back,” Jin shouted teasingly to his brother and started to speed up.

“Stop being mean to me~~~” Little Reio called after his brother and began to sob noisily. Seeing his little brother was at the brink of tears, Jin slowed down to let Little Reio catch up to him. Once Little Reio tugged a tight grip on his older brother’s shirt, he violently pulled on it which made Jin fell backward. The older Akanishi scrunched up his nose at the fall and quickly stood up from the ground and dusted the dirt away.

“I’m sorry…” Little Reio’s eyes widened in size when he saw his older brother got dirt on his clothes. Jin hated getting dirt on his clothes. Jin turned his attention to his little brother and quickly dismissed his irritation.

“No biggie,” Jin smiled warmly at his little brother and the boy beamed back brightly. Little Reio stretched out his arms for a hug and Jin immediately fell for the trick.

“Gotcha!” Little Reio shrieked in happiness, “now my toy back!” the boy gripped tightly on Jin’s wrist with one hand while the other hand tried to get the toy from Jin.

“hehehehe…” Jin laughed and let his brother have the toy back. It was fun to play with his little brother even if it was a short time.

“Jin! Reio!” the authoritative tone interrupted the brothers’ laughter and caused them to quiver as they slowly turned around to face their father. “Come here,” the father commanded and they obediently followed.

Jin noticed the numerous bodyguards and heavy aura around them as they entered the living room. They were quickly being ushered towards their father’s side with their heads down, not daring to stare at the man in the eyes without his permission.

“Yamaa-san, these are my sons,” their father introduced them to someone by the name Yamaa. Jin and Reio slowly gazed up from the ground to have a good look at another business leader that their father wants them to get familiar with.

A well built and lean cut man in a perfectly fitted tailor suit stood up from his seat and smiled at them. Jin was mesmerized by the warmness within that smile. Reio tugged on Jin’s shirt to find support in his big brother, he was never good with stranger and especially hated these “meetings” with people with a clear passion.

“Jin and Reio, right?” the man kneeled down to the brothers’ level and looked from Jin to Reio as asked for their names. The brothers nodded their heads shyly as respond and the man smiled upon their politeness. “Nice to meet you, I’m Yamaa Takuya,” the man introduced himself with a smile as turning around and beckoning for someone to come over. Reio curiously tiptoed to look over the man’s shoulder and eyes widened in size when he saw a smiling boy around their age appeared from behind the bodyguards. Jin watched the boy with suspicious eyes as the boy made his way to the man, standing in front of them.

“This is my son, Yamaa Tomohisa,” the man introduced his son to the brothers, “hope you boys can get along,” the man stated and the brothers just nodded their heads while their eyes glued to the smiling boy. Jin felt a bit wary about the new “friend” while Reio were all giddy with this news.

“Let’s go play,” the boy finally spoke up with hand extending out to the brothers. Reio quickly latched his hand in the boy’s offered hand happily while Jin looked back up at their father for permission.

“Go on, play,” their father allowed with that same stoic facial expression and Jin mumbled a “thank you” before taking a hold of Reio’s hand and leading the way out to the backyard.

Once the three of them had reached the backyard, Jin immediately released his hold on Reio and stared annoyingly at Reio’s and Tomohisa’s linked hands before yanking them away.

“What’s your name again?” Jin asked coldly with piercing stare at the boy.

“Pi!” the boy said proudly with a grin while Jin and Reio blinked their eyes at the name.

“Such stupid name,” Jin deadpanned.

“Yours ain’t better!” Pi said grinning at the furious older Akanishi. “Now that’s better~” Pi laughed as he jumped on Jin and rolled the boy on the dirty ground. “That stoic face doesn’t fit you,” Pi added.

“What are you doing?!” Jin shrieked at the sudden attack and was not please to find himself covering in dirt when he finally kicked Pi away from him.

“Playing~” Pi replied leisurely as trying to pull Jin back onto the ground again.

“You weirdo!” Jin shouted and tried to escape the boy’s deadly grip but Pi was quick to straddle Jin under him.

“Nope, you’re the weird one,” Pi pointed his finger at Jin’s nose, “you’re too clean!” he grinned and Jin began to feel irritated at the other’s words. 

“Shut up!” Jin yelled back, “it’s normal to be clean,” he added while shouting at the boy on top of him. After long minutes of struggling, Jin finally freed himself from under Pi.

“Stubborn,” Pi rolled his eyes and kicked sand at Jin who also returned the favor. Reio had been observing the scene displaying in front of him with a wide smile. His eyes sparkled in happiness.

“I like you!” Reio decided with a loud voice and a beam which successfully stopped Jin’s and Pi’s little sand-kicking fight. Reio ran and glomped on Pi who heaved out a huff when landed first on the ground. Jin laughed satisfying at the sight and joined his brother in attacking Pi. The lone boy had had a hard time to get away from the brothers. Their laughter could be heard from outside of the huge mansion.

~*~

“This is the last one this week?” Reio groaned as plopped down on Jin’s bed, kicking his shoes off and pulling out the tie around his neck.

“One more tomorrow,” Jin answered his younger brother with a chuckle when Reio screamed into the pillow. “Com’on it’s not that bad,” Jin ruffled Reio’s hair to ease the teen.

“Of course it’s not that bad, it’s TERRILY bad!” Reio pouted as sitting up on Jin’s bed, watching his brother change into more comfort clothing.

“Think of it as a night at granny’s house,” Jin tried to comfort but it only resulted in Reio’s contort facial at the comparison.

“No better,” Reio laughed and hit Jin’s arm playfully, “I don’t understand why we have to attend those boring banquets when we can ditch it for nightclubs like any other teenagers,” Reio complained waving his hands in the air to exaggerate the situation.

“We are not ‘any other teenagers’, we’re the Akanishi teenagers,” Jin corrected his brother, which had Reio groaning in frustration. Jin chuckled at this and patted his little brother on the shoulder, “we both know what dad will do if we ditch these parties and I don’t think you’re old enough for nightclubs either,” he tried to discourage his brother but the younger Akanishi only pouted at this.

“How do you know I’m not old enough? I’m eighteen for crying out loud,” Reio wailed as shook his brother’s body, “plus dad is going to be out of town tomorrow and only come back two days later, if we just skip one party, the world is not coming to an end,” Reio tried to persuade his brother. Jin looked at his little brother doubtfully, debating to himself if he should give in to his brother’s plead.

He had heard about the night life in Roppongi but he had never actually experienced it for all his time was being occupied by school, private lessons, and business matters. It was his father’s idea to have them both getting used to the high class environment before taking over.

“I know you want to go as much as I do, so why hesitate?” Reio pushed further hoping Jin would change his mind.

“Alright,” Jin sighed in defeat while Reio jumped in happiness. The older Akanishi fished out his phone to dial his best friend’s number.

“Who are you calling?” Reio asked curiously.

“Pi, he knows the area better than us,” Jin answered and Reio nodded in approval. When the other line picked up the call, Jin informed his best friend about their plan. A loud “finally” could be heard from Reio’s spot, the younger boy laughed heartily at his brother’s pout. Finally, they’re living.

~*~

“What did I say about not going against the order?” The meticulous voice boomed throughout the family room made Reio wince in fear. The man turned around facing Reio as his stare pierced into the teenager’s soul.

“I’m…sorry…sir,” Reio stuttered, trying to find an answer to please the anger of the other.

“Sorry is not enough, have I taught you nothing?!” the man shrieked loudly, voice penetrating the fear teen’s conscience.

“It won’t happen again,” Reio tried to plead for forgiveness.

“Again?” the man scoffed, “there is NEVER a again,” his voice hardened, “I’ll assign you bodyguards starting tomorrow, think of it as a light punishment,” the man concluded and left the room, making a signal for his secretary to jot down his new order on the teen. Once the man was out of the door, Reio slumped lifelessly down on his spot, completely dzed and out. He lifted up his head in alert when the door burst open and a relieved sigh left him when Jin entered through the door.

“Are you ok?” Jin hurrily asked, helping his little brother off the floor.

“yea, at least I didn’t get hit, just gain some human surveillance,” Reio replied sarcastically with a wide grin.

“Maybe we should stop our nightly activities,” Jin suggested concerning his brother.

“Maybe just this week, we know we have been addicted,” Reio laughed and beamed at his brother who only shook his head at the teen. Recently they have been spending most of their time wandering around Roppongi clubs for entertainment than spending it at some superficial parties. Jin had noticed that Reio was slowly drifting away from the high class society and starting to live a life of his own. Somehow this made Jin feel a tingle of jealousy. He could feel liveliness aura coming from his brother.

~*~

Jin closed his eyes, trying to block away the scene in front of him. He wished that he had some magical ability to blind everyone in this place from watching the two kissing people in front of him. The person he wanted most to turn blind would be his father, the man standing next to him, also witnessing his little brother kissing another guy lovingly. He knew this was going to be hell night for Reio but why this place out of all places?

Everything happened so fast that Jin didn’t get to accustom his situation. One second, his brother was being yanked from kissing the other guy, the next second Reio was being thrown into the car unwillingly while screaming his lungs out as the car drove off, while Jin stood there watching as the guy who Reio had kissed being beaten to the point of disfigure as his father watched with indifferent expression. This was the price one had to pay to disobey the order as Jin had learned since long ago.

“Get in the car,” his father ordered and Jin followed without a doubt, entering the limousine and letting the chauffer driving him to their next destination. They didn’t get far when he heard a loud “BANG” of the gunshot, he knew at that moment that Reio was going to turn into a dishonor child in his father’s eyes. 

Just as Jin had been expecting, few days later, there were shouting and screaming in his father’s study, shattering sounds could be heard from the outside. Standing in outside of the study, Jin had this urge to burst into the room to stop the arguments and the beating, if there was anything. However, his hand started to shake as he took a hold of the handle, his father’s words rushing into his mind, making him unable to go against the man’s order. For years now, he had been trained to obey; to disobey seemed harder than one thought.

Later that night, Jin sneaked into his brother’s room and was surprised to see the younger Akanishi in the middle of stuffing his clothes into the duffle bag.

“What are you doing?” Jin asked horrified, one hand held tightly on his brother’s wrist.

“Leaving,” Reio replied, yanking Jin’s hand from his wrist and continued.

“Why?” the question was unnecessary but there was nothing that he could ask.

“You’re asking me why?” Reio stopped his packing and turned completely to face Jin, stream of tears rolling down the younger boy. “THAT ING MOSNTER OF A FATHER KILLED MY BOYFRIEND!” Reio shouted in frustration, unable to control the tears pooling out of his eyes. “I’m sick and tired of this called ‘Akanishi child’! What’s the good in it? We’re like prisoners, being brainwashed by that monster to obey his every wish! We have no freedom! We are the puppets in his hand!” Reio shouted in agony, falling down on his knees as feeling weak.

Jin was speechless, not that Reio was wrong and not that he was blind, he had seen it and he knew it. But to take action on the matter, he had never thought of it. Maybe he had been seriously brainwashed by his father. The thought of escape and run away didn’t cross his mind until today.

“I’ve made my decision,” Reio wiped his tears as standing up, “I don’t need this last name sticking in my name, it’s not something to be honor or proud of,” zipping up the duffle bag, Reio turned to his brother to seek for any words from the older boy.

“I…this…this…”

“I don’t know what is on your mind right now, but if you choose to stay, please take care of yourself, I can’t be here to keep your sanity in check, I’ll find a way to contact you once I have settled down,” Reio smiled softly at his brother as patting Jin on the shoulder and brushed passed the older Akanishi, a soft ‘goodbye’ was left for Jin, who watched Reio leaving his side and this golden cellar.

Maybe his brother was right, the luxury he having now was actually the chain that tie him down in this golden cage. To get out of here, he had to fluster his wings and fly as far away as he can.

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Spreading out his arms, Kame collected Jin’s shaking form into his arms and soothing the sulking man. Everyone has a past they want to forget, he understands that much because he does have a past that he had learned to forget. It was better that way than to keep everything as a memory. Some memories are meant to be forgotten.