[Laruku] [Tetsuhai] Taste of Love

[radhaj]

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Those people are not mine. I only wish they were
Warnings: All sorts of ickness: slavery, bdsm, bondage, all sorts of kinks, including the fact that Hyde is a minor in this one. Like, really a minor. You have been warned.
Summary: In a country where slavery is the main source of income, Hideto sacrifices his own freedom to protect his sister's. Young and impressionable, he finds himself giving his trust to the kind slave trainer that bought him, but there is no hope anymore for the inexperienced boy to ever experience what love is now that he's no longer in control of his own life... or is there?


Chapter 5

It was only when a knock on his door woke him that Hideto realized just how much he had needed the nap. After the traumatic experience of getting torn away from his sister so suddenly, standing in display in the Market for over a day and then finally being sold as a slave, he had yet to have enough time to get some restful sleep even once, and he had been exhausted. Of course, the few hours of sleep did not mean he completely recovered from that either, but they definitely helped.

The knock on his door had been accompanied by a soft female voice saying it was dinner time, and as he rose from his dreams for a moment he even thought it was his sister talking to him. But then the girl continued saying telling him that “Master Tetsu was expecting him to attend” and the illusion dispersed immediately, making Hideto jolt from his sleep and sit up in his bed. The girl (who he now assumed had been one of the other two slaves that his buyer had mentioned) left after delivering her message without entering his room, and he was left alone to get ready. Not that there was much to do, but somehow, Hideto felt hyper-aware of his appearance now, probably because he knew he would be meeting more people. He got up and walked to the big mirror on the wardrobe door, and quickly ran his fingers through his still a little damp, shoulder-length hair, trying to make it behave a little better though he didn't have a brush to help him.

Now that he actually looked at his reflection, he had to admit his far too large clothes did look ridiculous on him, but there was absolutely nothing he could do other than try to neatly roll up the sleeves of the shirt a bit, as well as his pants, until he was confident he would be able to walk without tripping over them at least. Once that was done, he decided he took enough time already as it was, considering he girl hadn't told him how quickly the dinner would be starting, and carefully left his room.

He hadn't been shown where the kitchen and/or dining room was situated, but he followed the scents and the sounds of cutlery until he found himself in a very well lit room, courtesy of the sunlight coming through the multiple huge windows, with a quite large table in the centre of it, already prepared for the meal. There was another door leading from this room that had to lead into the kitchen, Hideto guessed, as most of the noise as well as the incredible smells were coming from there. However, the boy assumed he was supposed to have come to this room as there were two people already sitting at the table. There was no sight of Tetsuya, but there was a rather pretty girl sitting on one of the chairs, looking and smiling at him gently, as well as a very skinny, but somehow very muscular at the same time man who was concentrated on reading some papers he had in his hands and had obviously yet to notice the new arrival.

Hideto fidgeted on his feet for a second, not quite knowing if he was supposed to say something to greet the man, but soon the problem was taken care of for him. The boy blushed a little when his stomach growled quite audibly, as the scents suddenly reminded him how incredibly hungry he was, and it was apparently loud enough to be heard by the stranger. The man suddenly lifted his eyes away from his papers and looked at him, looking surprised for a moment and then his expression turned into a small frown while he obviously looked the petite man before him over.

“You must be the one Tetsu bought today,” he commented then, his voice sounding very pleasant and kind to Hideto, making the boy relax slightly, “What is your name, boy?” he asked calmly, and Hideto hurried to respond, wanting to make as good an impression as he could.

“I am Hi... Hyde, Sir,” he corrected himself mid-word, fortunately catching his mistake before he made it. Or so he thought.

“You're Hihyde?” the man asked (or rather teased) with amusement, and Hi... Hyde blushed even more brightly.

“I am Hyde, Sir,” he corrected himself more properly, “I am still not quite used to it, Sir, I am sorry,” he explained, somehow assuming the man didn't need to be told what “it” was, and his assumption was confirmed when the man nodded.

“How old are you, Hyde?” The man asked his next question, and Hyde blinked in slight surprise.

“I turned thirteen this summer, Sir,” he answered quickly again. He was still very young, but he knew that a lot of slaves were first sold as soon as they hit puberty, which was often even earlier than thirteen, so he did not really expect his age to be surprising at all. Besides, with the life he was born to, working in the fields almost as soon as he could stand, he had grown up very quickly. For people as poor as his family had been, childhood in general was a commodity they couldn't really afford. Everyone always told him what a mature young man he was. And he did consider himself a man, by now, not just a boy.

Then again, the girl sitting at the table (who he again, assumed, to be one of the slaves) looked older than him, possibly fifteen or even sixteen.

“Very young then. Might even be a first for us, and then of course, male as well... Trying out new things, aren't we?” The man commented weirdly, and Hyde felt flustered for half a second as he didn't know what the man expected to hear from him in response, before he noticed that the stranger was no longer looking at him, but at someone behind him, obviously addressing the question to someone else. He looked over his shoulder just in time to realize Tetsuya had followed him into the room at some point before the man spoke up.

“Nothing bad with that,” the tall (at least compared to Hyde) man said, soon stepping past the boy and into the room, taking a seat at the head of the table casually. The girl shot up when he passed her, bowing a little respectfully, before re-taking her seat, “The world is changing, boys are becoming more popular, we need to keep up. I never truly paid that much attention to age, it was just about someone catching my eye in the market, and he did this time. As for the gender... you don't mind, do you?” he finished with a question and the still-unfamiliar man shook his head with a beautiful smile.

“I don't have any issues with him at all, Tetsu-kun, I was just making some observations. It will be interesting,” he answered while Hyde still just listened to everyone quietly. Tetsuya chuckled.

“That was actually exactly what I was thinking when I decided to get him,” he suddenly looked up towards Hyde, and Hyde felt startled as he had felt like he had been pretty much forgotten while the men talked and thus did not expect this, “Come sit close to me, Hyde. The dinner will be served soon,” he indicated the chair on his left, since the other man sat at his right, and Hyde timidly did as told, “Have you even introduced yourself, Yukki?” he suddenly spoke to the other man again, and once he shook his head, continued, “Well then, Hyde, this is Yukihiro. He's the assistant that I have mentioned before, although the title doesn't give him justice – he's much more than that. In any case, you should treat him with as much respect as you show me.”

“Yes, Sir. Nice to meet you, Yukihiro-sama,” Hyde responded as politely as he could, bowing his head a little at the man as he spoke.

“Now, sitting beside you is Tia who, as you, no doubt realize, is your senior here. She and May, who is responsible for dinner tonight, will help you get the hang of things a lot in the beginning,” he continued, and just as Hyde was about to say something to greet the girl, another came from the doorway that Hyde had eyed earlier, carrying two covered trays in each of her hands, “Ah, and here is May now,” Tetsuya said with a smile as the girl came to the table and put the trays onto it, “Girls, this is Hyde, a new trainee. From the day after tomorrow he will frequently join you in your duties so he can watch and learn, and later on help out,” he introduced pleasantly, and Hyde mustered up a small smile having turned his face towards both of the pretty girls.

“I will depend on your guidance,” he spoke politely, and both of the two girls smiled at him brightly in response, but, weirdly, neither said anything. It confused Hyde for a moment, especially when the second girl, whose name was apparently May, simply turned and continued with her work, uncovering the trays to reveal incredibly delicious looking, hot food. But then he realized he won't get an explanation, and it truly didn't seem like he had offended the girls somehow, so he took it as just something that he didn't know about yet and decided to ignore it.

He turned to the table again then and was overwhelmed for a moment again. He felt like he'd never seen this much food in one place before, and certainly not such... fancy food. There was some kind of fish... and then at least three kinds of salads, and soup and... Hyde didn't know the names of any of those things. And then May came back, with... warm wet towels, it seemed, rolled up on plates, and everyone was getting some kind of white cloth over their laps, and Hyde just kept looking around, feeling lost and not knowing if he was allowed to ask... or even what he would ask first. Maybe about the three different forks beside his plate, wasn't one enough? At home, everyone always ate with chopsticks anyway...

“A bit lost, little one?” Hyde was startled out of his thoughts and his head shot up to look at the man sitting opposite of him. Yukihiro was smiling at him kindly, his plate now filled with some food, and he seemed like he stopped mid-motion, just to ask Hyde the question, his attention completely focused on the boy. For some reason, it made Hyde incredibly self conscious but also oddly honoured. He blushed and looked down onto his lap.

“I partly expected that... since I'm a slave... I would be expected to eat leftovers. On the floor. From a bowl. Or something. And now,” he faltered a little, looking all over the food before him again, “I never ate this well before in my life, and I probably will end up not eating now either, because I don't know what most of this stuff,” he pointed at all the different cutlery, “is for!”

Once he had started speaking, he didn't even notice as his voice got a bit louder and his emotions got through more clearly, and by the end he was almost crying again simply because all of it burst out so suddenly from him. But then he looked up again, and Yukihiro was still smiling such a kind smile at him that he suddenly calmed down again.

“Well, first of all,” surprisingly, it was Tetsuya that spoke up to answer him, not the man that asked the question in the first place, and Hyde snapped his head to look at him and to his surprise saw that Tetsuya was looking at him just as gently, “I cannot promise you that it will be the same all the time. When you're with your actual Master, he might end up treating you exactly as you said you expected to be treated here. And during our training, we'll address that as well, since you have to be used to everything. However, even if that happens, you will still be expected to at least know how to eat in official occasions, if for no other reason than to know how to serve the food right. We'll sign you up for some etiquette lessons quite early on. Second of all, that is the irony of becoming a slave. For many, that means actually starting to live in conditions they could only have dreamt of during their old lives. As I told you before, it is a much easier life. Many end up enjoying it and even become thankful for it. But it does mean giving up your free will.”

“And finally,” Yukihiro took over then, “For tonight, and the next few evenings, just try to copy what others are doing. Look at May,” he indicated, as the girl chose that moment to come into the room and sit down after, apparently, finally being finished with serving them, “or anyone else, really, it's fine to stare. And if you can't keep up with everything even then, it's fine to just eat as you want as well. As long as you're not shovelling food into your mouth with your bare hands, nobody here will get offended or angry. It's okay.”

Hyde nodded then, to show he understood, but inside he felt overwhelmed again. Everyone was being so nice to him. But then again, he also knew he was a slave, and the harsh parts of it that he had learned of today were still looming over him as well, and he just didn't know how he was supposed to feel anymore. But then May moved and, not wanting to be left behind and miss something important, he looked at what she was doing, pushing all thoughts away for now. He was so so hungry. So he copied her when she reached for the wet towel (which was apparently just there to clean their hands with) or put the white cloth over her lap, and continued to do the exact same as the girl further, finally starting to eat the food that almost made him moan from how delicious it was.

And apparently, it really was okay. It was okay to stare, it was okay when he mixed some forks up, and it was okay to eat as much as he wanted and even to take seconds. He didn't have to feel guilty for eating as much as he did, or to wonder if they'll have any food next week.

He found himself wishing he could bring his sister some of it. Or that she were simply here, able to enjoy the same things he did. And then he found himself wondering if he truly did the right thing “saving” her from this luxury. But then he caught the ridiculous thought and pushed it away. He would still rather be back at their tiny home eating a handful of bland rice, but free and with his beloved sister than enjoy all of this, but knowing he was a slave and would soon be doing everything he could just to please some person that paid for him in gold coins and thought him to be lower than himself. And he was sure his sister thought the same.

The thoughts did curb his eagerness to eat, however, and he slowed down noticeably with time, soon noticing he was getting quite full already anyway. He did still try the dessert though, barely remembering the last time he had proper sweets, and of course remembered to thank for the meal once he was finished. Only he didn't know what he was supposed to do next, so he just continued sitting on his chair quietly for a while longer, waiting for all others to finish as well so that hopefully someone would tell him what was expected of him now.

“Tia, help May with cleaning up,” Tetsuya said sort of absent-mindedly once he and all the others caught up with Hyde who had, after all, eaten very fast and rather greedily in the beginning.

“Yes, Master,” the girl answered and soon stood up with the other one, starting to gather up the dishes. Now that he finally heard and saw her talk, Hyde could recognize that she had to be the one to call him to dinner, which made sense since May must have been busy preparing all this food, “Now come with me, Hyde, a few more things I need to show you,” the man then spoke to him, and Hyde hurriedly got up as well, bowing his head slightly to Yukihiro when he went away and followed him through the door.

“You've been to the dining room and the living room already, and you saw where the kitchen is,” the man talked while they walked into the grand foyer, where there was a huge staircase in the centre of it, leading up to the second floor, “The only places you still don't know on the first floor are down this corridor behind the stairs. On the right side of it, the first door leads to Yukki's room, the second – to mine. Remember that, because at some point you will be asked to just go there during the night instead of staying in your room, waiting for us. On the left, the door leads to the main bathroom and sauna. Finally, at the end of it there is the door to the veranda and the back garden. Then, on the second floor, aside from your own room and the two bathrooms I showed you before there are four more rooms, either May's or Tia's or unoccupied for now. There is also the cellar, but it has a separate entrance from outside. That's all as far as the house goes, but I brought you over here now to show you this,” he gestured to one of the walls in the foyer, leading them closer to what looked a bit like a notice board, with something pinned on it. Hyde looked at it curiously once they got close and saw slips of paper with “Tia” and “May” written on them, and then two sheets of paper below each of them.

“I mentioned to you that you'd be given a schedule for each day, and this is where it will be,” Tetsuya started explaining, “We usually make them for a whole week for everyone, so you can know what to expect, more or less, but there might be changes made at any time if there is a need. However, it won't change anymore after the morning of that day comes. Also, note that night plans are almost never written. Sometimes, there might be a note for someone if there's is something special planned, but only rarely. Also, if you see that you have a lot of free time left for you during the day, you can take it probably means you should rest, because there will be a long night ahead. Is everything clear so far?”

Hyde had been listening as attentively as he could, since he did not want to miss something that was, most likely, incredibly important, and he nodded hastily in response. It seemed simple enough. He'd just have to make sure to read it right every morning and do what it said.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Okay,” Tetsuya approved, pointing at the second set of papers on the board, “Then the other thing which is just as important. There is a set of basic rules that slaves have to follow,” he explained and Hyde winced. No matter what, when the s-word was mentioned outright, his heart still gave an unpleasant lurch. But he continued listening, trying to ignore it, “They cover the main aspects of your duties and life in general. Rules concerning how you're supposed speak, how to act, defining the limits of your freedom and so on. As you get used to living here, those rules will keep gtting adjusted for you until you're exactly as a well-trained slave is supposed to be. For example, for now, you are still allowed to speak with anyone and at any time. You are also allowed to just call me Sir, or Tetsu-san. Same with Yukki.”

Hyde quickly glanced through both the girls' rule lists and noticed that the “Speech” rule for both of them read: “Only when prompted/asked something by someone of higher status. Also free to speak when noone of higher status is in the same room.” Which, he supposed, explained very well why they hadn't answered him when he greeted them. He was of the same status as them, after all. Maybe even lower, actually, considering he was not trained at all yet. They were his seniors.

In the meantime, Tetsuya still continued.

“Your rules have yet to be written up, of course, but they should be there by tomorrow morning. Yukihiro is working on them right now. They will be hung up here as well, and note that there's a reason why they're here beside your schedule. It's so you would look at them each day as well, first – to see if anything changed, and also – so you would repeat them to yourself each morning and memorize them better. As far as today goes, though, you're actually done,” Tetsuya finished unexpectedly, smiling down at the startled boy, “Usually, we always eat dinner together, and then you have some free time during which you can do what you want – within the rules of course – or finish up your extra tasks. And I do have one of those for you today. Go to the living-room. I don't know if you noticed, but there are a few bookshelves there. Find one called “Table Etiquette” by Laura Atkins, if I'm not much mistaken. Read it at your speed, learn what you can. You can go now,” he dismissed the slave then, gesturing towards the right side of the house, and Hyde nodded and started walking towards it. He was already opening the door when he heard his owners voice calling out to him again.

“By the way, Hyde. There is one more rule in particular that you might find interesting right now. The one concerning communication with any remaining family,” the boy rapidly turned around to stare at the taller man again, his heart suddenly beating impossibly fast and hard against his ribcage, “For you, it is allowed, at least for now. Only mail, since visits might be hard to arrange and phone-calls are deemed to be too distracting, but still. You can find some paper, pens and envelopes in the cabinet in the living-room,” he said, and then turned around and left heading for his room, leaving Hyde with a gaping mouth.