He had forgotten a coat; shivering, he wrapped his arms around himself. His tears felt warm as they slid down his cheeks, he quickly brushed them away with the back of his hand.

Walking a few feet, he collapsed down onto a bench, that was just in front of the koi pond. He reached his hand into the frozen koi food, kept in an un-used vase as the side of the pond. Throwing some into the water he watched the large fish swim up to quickly devour the food. He felt the koi were very lucky, what did they have to worry about?

Hakuei looked around numbly, the snow was gone but everything was still frozen, and in the night the frost would come back. He couldn’t let Kaoru stay out in that cold… he would freeze to death!

"I’ll find him, Hakuei."

Hakuei stood and turned around to see Taizo standing stiffly on the stone steps leading to the back of the house.

"I’ll find him, I’m the one who made him run off…"

"Don’t blame yourself for this, you couldn’t determine the course of his life leading up to this… You’ll never survive out in those woods in this weather, and neither will he. I can find him faster, I’ll go."

Hakuei looked at the ground, a single tear falling to the ground. "Thank you."

"Don’t you think it’s time for you to leave, Yuki?"

Yuki swung his cane around in circles and eyed Kozi. "It seems you have developed a bit of nerve while you were away from me, I’ll be happy to rid you of that."

Kozi looked surprisingly calm. "Do you actually think you could make me leave here? Hakuei won’t throw his lover’s brother out, and I’m stronger than you – I always have been, but I was afraid of you before; I’m not afraid now."

Yuki smirked. "That’s a nice speech but I don’t care if you’re afraid of me or not. I have the papers that prove I own you. If you don’t come with me I’ll have you and you bastard brother drug from the house by the police and right back to my plantation."

Kozi walked slowly up to Yuki, and when Yuki smirked at him he drew back his fist and slammed it into Yuki’s face.

Kaoru ran until his lungs felt ready to collapse in on themselves. He fell back against a tree as he trembled and continued to sob. He looked around at his surroundings, he was in the woods; the treetops swung in the wind and shook the rain onto his head.

He didn’t care. Hakuei would never want him now! He knew Yuki, he hated him and now he knew what Yuki had done to him… done with him!

It started to rain harder. He started to cry again and sank to the forest floor and laid his cheek against the cold, wet mulch. He could never go back…

"Well, it looks like I came at an awkward time." Nao dropped his bag in the doorway. Kyo peered around his shoulder and growled at the unconscious Yuki on the floor.

"Nao!" Kozi called, "What are you doing here?"

"I had a feeling…" He eyed Yuki. "He’s going to be a real pain when he wakes up. Tie him up."

Ten minutes later Yuki was tied to a wooden chair in an empty room upstairs that was cold, the wind blew in through a broken window.

Hakuei walked in, he was stiff and his eyes were red from crying, he wasn’t crying now. Now, he looked hard as stone. "Kozi, come out into the hall. You too, Nao."

When they got out there Hakuei stood with his hands at his sides and wouldn’t look at either of them. "I’ve had it with this, I want the whole story! Everything either of you know about Kozi, about my Kaoru." He looked at Kozi, "Since you’re his brother you start."

Kozi sighed. "Where can I start? Well, okay, I’ll start when we were kids. Our mother never wanted us, she was fifteen years old when we were born and she didn’t even know who our father was…. Her father, our grandfather, didn’t have enough money to support his family so he made her sell herself… to anyone who would pay. When she got pregnant with me, he wanted her to take some herbs or something that would kill me so she could keep working.

"She ran away and started working as a maid for Yuki’s mother. Yuki’s mother didn’t want her there because she was pregnant, but she promised that once I was born she would… own me and could have me as a slave. She agreed. A few years later Kaoru was born… I don’t know who his father is… I remember my mother used to like a stable hand, it might be him. Our mother made the same agreement with Yuki’s mother as before.

"She died giving birth to Kaoru." Kozi paused as a tear went down his cheek. "We grew up there, Yuki is older than both of us and we were his personal slaves. He used to have us beaten regularly and something he would make us… do things to him, but he mostly made Kaoru. One time when he made me I exploded and gave him a black eye. He beat me so badly I couldn’t walk. After he realized how strong I am, he would send me to hurt or get rid of people he didn’t like… he never made me do anything again.

"But Kaoru was not as strong as me, Yuki liked when he cried. He liked having Kaoru around so much that he was never allowed to leave Yuki’s room! When his mother died he inheritted everything and became a tyrant! Kaoru was made to go with him all the time, always at his side…

"A few years ago, Yuki met some man at a party and fell completely in love with him and practically became a slave himself. He called himself the man’s concubine and would laugh everytime he said it." Yuki glanced at Nao. "You’ll have to ask Nao about the rest… I really don’t know it… and I don’t know who the man was…"

Hakuei flinched. "It was me…"

It was Yuki’s turn to flinch, then he eyes turned huge.

"I… I never knew about Kaoru, or you… we were just lovers." Hakuei looked at Nao, I loved both of you, you know?"

Nao nodded. "I know, and now I have my Kyo." He remembered how gentle Hakuei was, never mean to them. Then, when he found Kyo running after he had commited that crime, so far behind them. He hugged Kyo to his side, who had been leaning against the wall listening.

"Go on, Kozi." Hakuei said quietly.

"About a month ago Yuki became very drunk one night. He tried to rape Kaoru but when Kaoru wouldn’t let him he beat him and then passed out. Kaoru ran away! About a week later we found out about him heading in this direction. Yuki had a feeling you would find him and told me if I killed you and Kaoru and everyone I found here that I would be free and he would tear up my slave papers! I don’t know what I was thinking… but now I would never do anything like that!"

Hakuei closed his eyes, he was shaking and remembered first seeing the bruises on his Kaoru as he undressed him out of his dirty clothes that first night. "I believe you." He looked at Nao.

"I don’t know anything about Kaoru, I never met him. I only heard things Yuki told me about him. Horrible things, he told me he was weak and very stupid and would do whatever he said because he was afraid of him. He told me horrible things he used to do to him… The only thing I know about him is that he loves you Hakuei! He really does!"

Hakuei was crying into his hands. His shoulders shook as he wondered if he would ever see him again.

Kozi held his shoulder. "My Taizo will find him."

Just then they heard a groan from the room as Yuki started to wake up.

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