[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 7

When the morning came, Hyde was actually thankful Tetsuya had made him to go to sleep earlier. Even with the extra hour of sleep, he could barely force himself out of the bed when the alarm clock rang. But of course, he would never have dared to be late, not on his first real day there, so he quickly got up, collected his clothes and slipped into the bathroom to wash up before getting clothed. He had a full half-hour after getting up to get to the breakfast, and not much to do, but he still hurried because he had something planned himself. In particular, it was to go down to the foyer and check his own rules, because Tetsuya said they'd be ready by morning.

And they were. Almost hesitantly, Hyde approached the board that now had a fifth page hanging on it, as well as a slip of paper saying “Hyde”. Somehow, his rule list seemed longer than either Tia's or May's looked, but he guessed it was simply because he needed things explained more thoroughly for now. He hoped so at least. Taking a deep breath he started reading:

Speaking/communication:

Proper respect shown to anyone of higher status.

Must address his trainers with “Sir” or “Tetsu-san/Yukihiro-san”

Must always respond when asked something or otherwise prompted by anyone of higher status.

Can talk/ask questions without restrictions, unless specifically told to stay quiet.

Can initiate conversation with other people while out in the city/at work.

Can communicate with his sister (only letters).

May refer to himself in whatever manner he's comfortable with (usage of first person pronouns permitted).

Behaviour

Lights out at 11 PM. Wake up at 7 AM.

Dinner at 7 PM, together with everyone.

Must never question/disobey orders, and must fulfil them as fast/accurately as he is capable of.

Cannot leave the house/its premises on his own.

Must never do something that would offend/show disrespect to someone of higher status.

Must start trying not to look into the eyes/face of people of higher status.

Bow when greeting people of higher status for the first time a day (stand up before bowing, if sitting when the person comes in).

Should never close doors behind himself (including the bathroom ones) or otherwise try to impede the trainer's access to him at any time in any way (does not apply for entrances/exits of houses or the door to his own room when about to sleep).

Training

Must follow the training schedule prepared for him closely.

Any lesson costs covered by Owner.

Any pay received while working must be given to Owner immediately (but may receive pocket money from it afterwards)

Must put conscious effort into learning everything as efficiently as possible.

Must put conscious effort into working as efficiently as possible and if needed do more than necessary without waiting to be asked (helpfulness is the key)

Sex

Masturbation is strictly forbidden.

Can only have sexual relations with people that a trainer instructs him to.

Is encouraged to not restrain any sounds during sexual activities unless told otherwise.

It actually didn't sound too bad at all for now. Hyde understood very well that such relatively free rules won't stay unchanged for long. There was truly barely anything that Hyde wouldn't have done anyway, though the fact alone that those things were defined and limited by words now did affect him slightly. And of course, Hyde never would have actively thought about some of the things. He had... never masturbated for example. He could roughly imagine how one would go about doing that, despite not having much knowledge about sex at all, but he never felt tempted to experiment with it. He thought he was probably too young for it anyway and it was just that he always had worked at the farm a lot, every day, so all his energy was always directed elsewhere. Besides, he and his sister always shared a room, so he never had enough privacy to truly consider such activities.

He also would have never consciously thought about... how was it worded... restraining any sounds during sex? Honestly, that rule rather confused him as he wasn't quite sure what it meant. Was he supposed to make some specific sounds while they... did it? Once again, he only had a very rough understanding of how sex worked, so he could only hope he'd understand better once he reached the point where this rule was relevant. Not that he was eager to reach that point. Quite the opposite, in fact.

He had half a mind to check how his rules compared to the girls', since he only checked the one rule of theirs yesterday because he had been curious. But somehow that didn't feel right. He knew they were hung out for everyone to see here, so he had every right to read them, but it felt a bit like invading their privacy. He also didn't know if he wanted to know what things would be expected from him later on, which was why he didn't read their schedules either. And finally, he didn't read it because he got distracted.

There were voices coming from the side of the dining room, Tetsuya's and Yukihiro's. They were discussing something there already, although a quick glance at the clock confrmed there was at least ten more minutes left until breakfast time.

Normally, Hyde was truly not the eavesdropping kind. But the men were talking so loud it was hard not to overhear, and that meant the boy heard his name being mentioned, which caught his attention even more and so he found himself walking up closer to the door and listening in to the conversation. Tetsuya hadn't said he wasn't allowed to come down earlier than the designated time, so if they were talking so loud about it, they couldn't possibly be worried that the subject of their discussion would overhear, Hyde reasoned. Which had to mean they shouldn't mind him listening to them in general.

“...heard about those guys before. His sister is not the only one they exploited, and it is exploitation because they only go for the people that they know won't be able to return the money later,” Tetsuya was saying when Hyde came close enough to hear the conversation clearly, and the boy widened his eyes. Were they talking about the people that sold him? “I should go to the police and get them stopped before they put any more helpless common folk on the Market. What they're doing is against the law, and you can't disagree with it.”

“And I don't,” came Yukihiro's voice in response, “I'm just very doubtful anyone will put much effort into stopping it. They'd have to be caught in the act, and the police won't want to bother that much. They just don't care about the poor people. And those men are small nobles, you know, so...”

“Which I am too,” Tetsuya pointed out, interrupting the other man.

“I know, which is all the more reason for the police to think this is just some petty squabble between some small-fry nobles that bumped their heads over something,” the assistant replied, not missing a beat, “No offence intended.”

“None taken,” Tetsuya muttered, though he did sound a bit gruff, “I know I'm not a big deal here. But it does make me at least equal standing with those guys, so the police won't be able to let them go just because of their status, because I am no lower. I need to at least try. There's enough injustice in this country as it is. Some of it I can turn a blind eye upon, but this just disgusts me. It's not like there's a lack of available slaves.”

Hyde by now poked his head out of the doorway so he could see the two men talking. Neither of them were looking that way, however, so he was still left unnoticed. Tetsuya and Yukihiro were sitting in the same places as yesterday at the table, and both seemed very serious and concentrated on the conversation.

“True... Tetsu-kun, I completely understand your reasoning,” Yukihiro spoke up again then, his voice softening compared to earlier in the heat of discussion, “I agree what they're doing is terrible, don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing that at all. I just don't believe it is likely that you can do much about it. Either the police will nod at you, but then turn around and forget all about it, or you'll have to push and put a lot of effort into seeing it through. And you have just acquired a new slave, so you don't have enough time for that.”

Tetsuya frowned, as if taking the comment as a challenge.

“I'll see about that.”

Yukihiro sighed, hearing that, but his eyes looked fond as he looked at the other man. He apparently was used to Tetsuya's stubbornness and probably never even really thought he could talk Tetsuya out of his idea. There was soon even a small, sad smile dancing on his lips.

“This is a little uncharacteristic of you. It's like you're taking Hyde's story more deeply than usual. But Tetsu-kun, you know the thing about sad stories.”

This time, Tetsuya was the one that nodded and sighed, and then leaned back in his chair, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

“Everyone has one,” he said.

Hyde's, who was still peeking into the room from the doorway, head was spinning though. Did he really hear what he thought he heard? Of course, he was not naïve. His fate had been sealed the moment Tetsuya signed the papers buying him, there was absolutely no way for him to get out of being a slave anymore, ever. Even if it was proven that by doing what they did to him the men were acting illegally, there was no going back anymore. And normally he was not a vengeful person, really. But... but the talk was about people who ruined his life, irreversibly. And apparently, they've done it before to other people as well, and would probably do it to someone else in the future. And if Tetsuya was willing to try and stop them, then Hyde would do everything in his power to help him.

A little afraid to reveal that he had been listening, but determined about doing this, the boy then completely stepped into the doorway, although the two men still didn't seem to notice him. They did turn to him, a bit startled, when he spoke up though.

“They told me not to reveal it to whoever would buy me,” he said while looking down, his voice trembling a little. He tried not to think of this “little detail”, as it still scared him to remember how the men threatened him to stay quiet about it. But now that he was here, he knew that they actually wouldn't be able to do anything to him. They just counted on him being too scared. But he wasn't going to be scared, not if this could help.

“They threatened me about it... But when they put me up for... sale, they sold me for almost twice the price my sister actually owed them. I didn't want to let them, because I thought that if they ask for so much money, there was going to be even less of a chance of someone getting me, but they didn't listen!” He looked up then, staring into Tetsuya's eyes pleadingly, completely not caring at that moment about the rule saying he should try not to do that, “Please, if there is any way you could stop them from doing it to anyone else... or from trying to hurt my sister again somehow...” he trailed off, his petite form tense as it was just so incredibly important to him, “I don't know if what I said helps at all though...”

“Actually, it does help a lot,” Yukihiro spoke up, seemingly getting over his surprise at Hyde joining their conversation so suddenly, “Because it means his offence touches you personally,” he said to Tetsuya, “And that gives you a better reason for why you're interested and want them punished, making the police give the case proper attention,” the skinny man turned to Hyde then and smiled a bit sadly, “Unfortunately, in the world we live in, it's a bigger deal if someone takes a bit more gold from an already rich man than he was supposed to than if he ruins the lives of multiple poor people.”

That was no news to Hyde, of course. He had been dealing with that reality all his live. But it did make him a little relieved to hear that Yukihiro, one of the people that would be completely in control of his life from now on, was at least sympathetic and kind enough to find it wrong as well. After all, from the look of things, he, just like Tetsuya, was in the position of the “rich person” rather than the poor. Which meant he didn't have to care about the situation at all, since it suited him. But he did.

Still, Hyde didn't really know how to respond to it, so he just shrugged helplessly and lowered his head sadly.

“I'm just glad if it would truly help you get them,” he whispered, “I am so afraid they might try to hurt my sister again somehow...”

“It won't happen,” Tetsuya said suddenly, sounding determined, “They wouldn't dare going for the same person twice anyway. And I will make sure they will get consequences for their actions. But now let's eat breakfast. We shouldn't waste too much time today, there's much to do.”

Breakfast turned out to be a far less formal affair in the house than dinner had been. The girls joined them soon after Tetsuya urged them to start eating, and everyone just grabbed whatever they felt like, without some one person having to prepare food for everyone. Yukihiro explained that normally only dinner was always a joined affair here as far as meals went, simply because during other times of the day, the habitants of the house usually were busy with other things anyway, so it was hard to always gather at some agreed upon time.

Hyde just stashed that piece of information in his brain for later, however, as he suddenly felt incredibly hungry again and ate at least two bowls of cereal and three pieces of toast very quickly. Noone commented on it, even though the girls did look at him seeming a bit amused at some point, and Hyde once again appreciated how different the situation with food was here compared to his home.

Once both he and Tetsuya had eaten though, the older man told the boy to come with him and brought him out of the house.

“Since we live so near the centre of the city, most of the places we need to go to are quite nearby, so we walk everywhere,” Tetsuya spoke once they stepped out into the street and Hyde obediently followed the taller man to wherever he was taking him, “It gives at least some work-out. Since you won't be working in the farm anymore, you'll have to make sure to have enough physical activities elsewhere from now on – your appearance is very important in your main duties after all. So we walk.”

“To where?” Hyde couldn't help but ask, and then almost ran into his owner (who had been walking slightly in front of him) as Tetsuya suddenly stopped and looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

“Never ask,” the older man said deeply, “You must show your adherence and complete devotion to your Master by trusting him even when you don't know what he's doing. You must always believe that he would tell you if he thinks you should know. Do you understand?”

Hyde's heartbeat suddenly sped up after Tetsuya started speaking to him like him, as he was so afraid he had said something wrong. And apparently he had, kind of, and the way the taller man spoke to him right now was strict and a bit different from how he spoke yesterday. Less forgiving maybe, but still not in a mean or scary way. It just made Hyde realize that his training now truly started and this was how Tetsuya would train him. And despite being kind and understanding up until now, and despite going slow with things, he sounded like he was actually pretty strict about the things that he did already expect. And so the boy nodded as fast as he could in response.

“I'm sorry, Sir,” he said, lowering his head more as he suddenly also remembered all the other rules that he read this morning and his heart started racing even more. He had truly intended to try and be as obedient to them as possible, since he didn't want any trouble and knew that he had no way of avoiding all of this in the end. But he remembered looking up at both Tetsuya and Yukihiro at least a few times this morning already, and he could only hope that the men either didn't notice it or would be lenient on him about it. The rules did only say “try” at this point, didn't they? And he was trying, he just... forgot.

“It is okay, I'm only telling you now so you can remember from now on. I don't, at least yet, expect you to guess what is expected from you without even being told about it beforehand. But as I said,” he then turned again and resumed walking, maybe a bit slower than he had before, “You shouldn't ask things like that, because if I wanted to tell you, I would. And actually, had you waited a minute or so longer, I would have anyway. We're going to the tailor first,” he revealed finally and quickly turned to flash a fast smile at Hyde, making Hyde blush a little as he knew what that little smile was about.

People were staring at him. His clothes didn't fit, and though it wasn't all that unusual for slaves to be wearing cheap or ugly clothes, the way the too big-attire hung on him truly made him look ridiculous and attracted attention. He really needed clothes, so it was no wonder that it was their first stop.

It didn't take long before they actually reached it either, and as soon as they got inside, a man who could only be the owner of the shop greeted Tetsuya quite loudly.

“Tetsu! You didn't call ahead to tell me you were coming!” the rather weirdly and extremely brightly dressed man almost shouted at them, quickly moving towards the entrance of the shop to greet them (or rather, greet Tetsuya) like an old friend. Which the two of the men probably were, Hyde figured from the display, “Oh, and you always only visit when you have to bring another one of yours to me,” the man continued, finally paying some attention to Hyde and the boy flushed a bit uncomfortably under the scrutinizing gaze and bowed his head, “Not that I dislike it when you bring them here, but I wish you'd come by more often and not only on business,” if the man wasn't an adult, Hyde would have called the expression on the man's face a “pout” right then.

“I'm busy a lot, you know that, Yama-chan. But I'm sorry. You know you can always visit too, don't you?” Tetsuya replied, sounding very honest, and Hyde realized that the men were actually truly good friends, not just acquaintances or business-partners. Which felt a bit weird to realize that his owner had a life outside simply spending all his days training people into being mindless body slaves, but then again... Yukihiro didn't quite look like he was barely putting up with his “boss” either. There was actual friendship there as well.

“I'm sure you're busy,” now this Yama-chan was even grinning teasingly, “When you have a new cutie like this to play with. And a boy too, that's very unusual for you, isn't it? Come here then, little one, let's take a look at you shall we?” the man called him over finally, and Hyde stepped forward towards him, a bit shyly and not quite knowing what to expect, “The usual things you order for the new ones won't apply here then, because of the gender. Unless you want him crossdressing too?” he asked, matter-of-factly and Hyde winced. He never thought about that possibility, and Tetsuya never said anything, but he liked being and dressing like a man. But he knew it wasn't up to him to protest if his owner decided otherwise, so he just really hoped that was not the case.

“Oh, no no,” Tetsuya responded, however, and Hyde sighed in relief, “I was hoping you'd think something along the usual lines, just a bit... altered? And he'll need something now already, so we can walk around the city normally. He's attracting a lot of attention like this.”

“Not surprising,” Yama-chan snorted, “Okay then uhm... what is your name?” he asked.

“Hyde, Sir,” Hyde answered politely, and the man nodded.

“And I'm Yamada Hisashi, but everyone calls me Yama-chan. Now come on over there with me and strip out of those horrible things masquerading as clothes that your Master gave you to wear so I can get your measurements. Just down to the underwear will be fine, though I sure won't complain if you take those off too,” he winked playfully and Hyde blushed, embarrassed, again, but followed the man to a slightly raised part at the back of the shop, where he took off his clothes trying not to think about it too much. He left his underwear on, however, to an exaggeratedly disappointed sigh from Yama-chan. The man brought out a measuring tape then and started doing his job, measuring him very thoroughly to the point of it getting very uncomfortable for the boy, since it became kind of invasive and touchy at parts. But Hyde just tried not to react at all, and soon (though not soon enough) it was over, and Yama-chan stepped away from him again.

“Just the usual sets then, only for a male instead of the usual dresses. I'm glad for the variety, at least. God knows I've become bored making the same clothes year after year for your lot just in different sizes, Tetchan,” the tailor said after finally stepping back from Hyde and going to a rack of clothes at one side of the shop, starting to browse through them as if looking for something specific. Hyde could only awkwardly stand in the same spot, wishing he would finally get the permission to dress himself again, but too afraid to ask for something without reason again, “As always, I'll get it all delivered to you in a day; two maybe, this time, considering I'll have to figure some things out first what with the changes. But for now,” the man suddenly emerged from the rack, with some clothes on a hanger, and brought them back over to Hyde, “Here you go. These should mostly fit, and if not, I can quickly fix them up for you, dear. Now come on, put them on,” he urged nicely, and the boy quickly did as told. In the end, the tailor did have to do some quick corrections, but a few minutes later, Tetsuya was already saying his goodbyes and leaving the shop with Hyde obediently following him out.

The clothes he now wore were nothing special, just some black, rather form-fitting pants and a pale blue shirt that at first had slightly too long sleeves, but Yama-chan had fixed that. And now, Hyde felt much more comfortable, at least because he no longer had people staring at him as he passed them. He got completely different looks now though. The people would glance at him, but only for a second, and then immediately look away again. Some, probably, feeling bad about their society, feeling guilty when they saw him. Some because they pitied him. Some... some looked away with disgust in their eyes, like they couldn't believe they wasted even one second looking at someone as unworthy. Hyde found it surprisingly easy not to be hurt by any of that. He was used to all of these glances. It was just that he was at a different position now. At the receiving end. But at least he had known very well what to expect.

He didn't really know what to expect next from their own little trip now, however. The boy itched to ask where they were going now, but he had learnt from last time so he kept quiet, telling himself that he trusted his owner, and that he didn't really need to know where they were going anyway. He'd get to know once they got there at the very least, and that was enough for... someone like him. For a slave.

“We're here already,” Tetsuya suddenly interrupted his thoughts, not even five minutes after they left Yama-chan's shop and its cheerful owner. Hyde lifted his eyes then to look around himself, and to his confusion found they were standing in front of a tattoo parlour.

“Tattoos?” he asked, sounding as lost as he felt, and Tetsuya looked at him weirdly.

“You must have know we would come here? I said you'd be getting your mark here, haven't I?” he asked, and Hyde's eyes widened.

Oh yes. Now that the taller man mentioned it, Hyde did remember something like that being said before. But he hadn't truly thought about this before, hadn't consciously paid attention to it. Or maybe tried to block it out on purpose. The mark. The slave mark. It was nothing more complicated than a tattoo, one that every slave had. It had to be visible to everyone so the slave wouldn't be able to hide it, but it was also not supposed to be so glaringly obvious that it would “damage the goods”. It was a mark on the body that Masters were supposed to enjoy, after all, so it was necessary for it to not be too big. And thus it had been decided. A slave's registration number, inked onto the inside of their left wrist. Small, but still legible. Noticeable, but not obnoxiously so. Perfectly permanent, with some magic mixed in so it would not ever be removed, not even by surgical means. The last thing to seal his fate.

Having received his answer, Hyde looked at the parlour's sign again. The words looked far more ominous than they had before. His petite body was tense and tears gathered in his eyes, for the first time that day, only to be stubbornly blinked away. He chose this, for himself. He chose this to save his sister. It was all a matter of attitude, of perception. Yes, the mark he would receive here would mean he was a slave, and lower than most people. But to him, it would forever be a sign that he had been brave enough to stand up for what was precious to him. And so, instead of being ashamed of it, he resolved to be proud of it, and stepped into the rather dark building without Tetsuya even having to urge him inside.