[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 9

“There are still quite a few more places we need to visit today, and quite a few more things we need to do, so it's actually better to hurry a little,” Tetsuya was saying as he led his charge away from the food section of the market and further down until they reached a completely different part of it. First of all, the older man made Hyde wait for him outside a jeweller’s store for a couple of minutes while he went in and quickly got the collar he had ordered to be made and engraved to his specifications yesterday. He quickly paid for his purchase and then stepped out again with the neatly wrapped package without explaining anything to the young slave for now and immediately walked to their next destination which was an apothecary/alchemist's store.

This time, he made Hyde come in together with him as he thought it was only fair the boy already heard what his owner wanted to get for him from here. Not to mention it would save Tetsuya the trouble of explaining it later. With the boy quietly following him into the grim looking shop filled with weird scents but no other people, the slave trainer immediately stepped to the counter and rang the bell once, waiting patiently for the alchemist that ran the shop. Soon, a rather weary-looking middle aged fellow poked out his head from behind a wooden door and smiled when he saw the customer waiting for him.

“Ogawa-kun, wasn't it?” he asked, walking up to the counter from the other side and quite obviously glancing over to the boy that Tetsuya had with him this time, “I assume that a new trainee of yours, so you probably came here for the Hairlessness and the Contraceptive potion? You prefer the reversible kind, if I remember correctly?” the man asked, turning to one of the many shelves behind his back to, presumably, search for the items in question.

“Yes, that's right,” Tetsuya responded calmly, ignoring the way Hyde's eyes widened just a fraction. The boy remained quiet, however, and as by now Tetsuya almost came to expect – understanding soon showed in those young but very intelligent eyes. The first potion was, perhaps, a bit embarrassing to hear about, but not too big of a deal. The second however, probably sounded much more ominously. Nobody wanted to deal with slaves getting pregnant or them knocking someone up so turning to some methods to prevent it from the very start seemed to be the most logical solution. Some people even made the slaves take something that made them permanently unable to conceive, but Tetsuya liked to at least leave the possibility open. The potion he was buying would work for as long as the antidote wasn't administered, thus making sure nobody needed to worry about it anyway. It was a bit more expensive than the permanent solutions, but Tetsuya always thought the extra gold was worth it to give his slaves some piece of mind that their natural right to procreation wasn't being completely taken away from them. Even if it was merely an illusion to most of them.

“Forty-nine pieces of gold,” the shopkeeper then said the usual price after finding the right potions, but when Tetsuya reached for his money pouch to pay up already, the alchemist stopped him for a bit by talking further, “This one's really young, I believe, how old is he? Twelve? Thirteen?” the man asked thoughtfully, his eyes fixed on Hyde as he scratched his thick, auburn beard.

“Recently turned thirteen,” Tetsuya answered, not really blaming the man for guessing a little below the actual age as Hyde was so petite and tiny that he did look even younger than he already was. It was, however, quite unusual for this shopkeeper to ask about such things and Tetsuya was intrigued enough by the reason for it that he patiently waited for the man to continue.

“I suppose you will be largely relying on people with the taste for truly young slaves when selling him later on, won't you?” was the bearded man's next question and this time the slave trainer only nodded in response, “I might have an offer you might be interested in then. It's a rather new concoction of mine, but I assure you – perfectly safe without any lasting side-effects later on, and can be used as a replacement for the Hairlessness potion so although it's also quite a bit more expensive, at least you can stop worrying about renewing that one as well.”

Tetsuya frowned a little, not quite understanding yet what the man was getting at. He also knew it could simply be the man trying to coax him into purchasing something he didn't really need to earn more money, but something to him the alchemist before him held far too much pride in is work to turn to petty schemes like that. Besides, he knew he was intelligent enough not to fall for one if that was the case, so there was no ill in hearing the man's offer out.

“What exactly do you mean?” he asked, and, hearing interest in his voice, the shopkeeper's face brightened with some weird professional excitement as suddenly he turned back to his shelves and returned with another bottle, this one looking quite elaborate and fancy and completely unfamiliar to the young slave maker.

“I'm talking about this,” he gestured excitedly, and this was most assuredly the most animated that Tetsuya had ever seen the alchemist, “I am calling it an Immaturity Potion for now, though the name needs rethinking, I admit, sounds a bit too negative... In any case, it only works for children that have yet to go though puberty completely and in essence, it works by stunting their growth and postponing their maturity for a few years. For someone as young as this boy here, it would also reverse some of the things he already went through – he would stop growing hair again and for at least... I'd say two years, for him, he would not look any older than he is now. He would be stuck in the perfect age that most of the people interested in buying him would appreciate the most. However, after those two years have passed, the effects would stop working and his ageing would resume as usual, a bit more rapidly perhaps to catch up with what should have happened normally.”

Tetsuya listened to it all very intently and couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine once he realize the extent of what they were talking about. He glanced at Hyde then, to check how the boy was reacting to the possibility himself but the petite child was not looking too scared. A little resigned, perhaps, but he didn't seem like he was as shocked by the idea as even his owner himself was. But the older man couldn't help it – this was something he had not heard being done before, which made sense since the alchemist said this was a new invention. Of course, he could not deny that in a way this sounded perfect – just a tool to make a slave stay in his most desirable state for as long as possible. But it was so huge, that it made Tetsuya think that it was humans trying to play with things that were not up to them to toy with. And even more – if the potion was new, then how could they be sure it wouldn't have any adverse effects and was safe as the shopkeeper claimed. The thought being his main issue with the potion, he shared it, wanting the alchemist to give him a good enough answer.

“I am nation-wide acknowledged as the best alchemist in this continent, if not the world,” the shopkeeper answered him with a small frown, as if he felt insulted, “I would not risk that reputation, for one, by causing any incidents. Secondly, I did not earn such reputation by selling experimental potions without adequately testing them. I can put my put all my reputation on the line for this – I am sure that the biggest side effect experienced after taking this potion would be increased muscle pain from growing up too fast once the potion wears off. Most teenagers experience such pains during puberty anyway but after this potion stops working, because the body has to catch up with the growth it had missed out on, those pains would become noticeably bigger. However, I dare say even that shouldn't be a big issue in this certain case. From the size of your slave at his age, it would be a reasonable guess to say he is not going to grow tall as an adult, making the strain of growth be almost completely insignificant, even with the potion.”

This time, Hyde did react a bit more than before, making a small noise of protest before catching himself and becoming silent again. But Tetsuya had to catch a small chuckle at that as he realized the boy simply didn't like being called small and petite so much, which was pretty normal for boys of his age that dreamt of growing up to be big and strong.

He himself, however, felt reassured. Despite the fact that he didn't quite like the shopkeeper's tone and the way he just said he wouldn't risk his reputation and not that he would risk damaging a slave (not that this was unusual – most people didn't consider slaves important enough to be considerate of them), Tetsuya felt like he could believe the shopkeeper's words about the safety of the potion at least. Simply because the man did look like someone who treasured pride and reputation above everything else.

“How much is it?” he asked finally.

“Fifty pieces of gold instead of the usual five for the Hairlessness Potion. Which brings up the total to a ninety-four. I should also mention that unlike the Hairlessness potion, this one doesn't need to be taken every nine months. One dose is enough to work for as long as it is possible for the effect to last in general.”

That did sound like a pretty huge sum to the slave trainer regardless, but he knew it was probably worth it if it really worked properly, which he didn't really doubt by now. The calculative man hesitated for one more minute, considering all the sides of the deal and observing his slave at the same time. Hyde still didn't look like he was bothered too much by the idea, and Tetsuya could only imagine what was going on in his head – he was probably thinking that compared to suddenly being sold and becoming a slave, spending a few more years that usual as a pre-pubescent boy didn't sound all that big.

“I'll take it then,” he said finally, feeling, for some reason, a bit like he was giving in. He paid the price, as large as it was (but since it was a long-term investment it was fine anyway), and then quickly left the store, somehow not feeling like staying in it any longer than it was necessary. He then led them both towards the nearest bench and told Hyde to sit down and wait for him after putting down his purchases near the boy, before quickly going to the nearest stand where he could buy a drink and returning again.

“I can't really read you right now,” he admitted, as uncomfortable as it made him, “These two potions,” he pointed at the two small bottles one after the other, “What are your thoughts about them? And remember, when I ask you a question you must answer, and you must be honest. I won't punish you now if you say you don't like it, I'd rather you just be truthful,” he urged quite casually. The boy seemed to think about the answer for a bit before shrugging and that motion alone made the slave trainer realize that the boy... truly, honestly didn't mind this.

“I've heard about the... uhm... the contraceptive potion? Before,” he started, wringing his hands in his lap uncomfortably, as was his obvious habit whenever he was nervous, “It always made sense. I wouldn't want to have children as a slave, they would only be taken away and raised into slavery themselves, wouldn't they?” the tiny slave asked insecurely and Tetsuya nodded. That was where most of the “born-slaves” came from, actually, “Even if that wasn't the case, for now, I am far too young and... I wouldn't want... I don't know what your plans for me are but if I am to uhm... sleep with some girl any time soon... Besides as far I understand it is reversible so if the situation ever changed somehow...”

The petite man seemed to have problems talking about this subject any more eloquently and for now, Tetsuya had pity on him.

“And this one?” he pointed at the Immaturity Potion and the boy shrugged again.

“That one I care even less about,” he said easily, and at his owner's raised eyebrow, he elaborated, “It's just my body. It doesn't mean I won't... mature mentally. And if it makes the people that own me like me more, doesn't that make my life only easier? I'm trying to view it like that, mostly...”

That all made sense, Tetsuya decided after listening to the boy's reasoning. Of course, the slave still didn't know everything and didn't take some things into consideration because of that lack of knowledge, but in the essence all he said held true. That was why, finally, the older man gestured at the bottles again.

“Drink them, then,” he ordered quickly, “The Contraceptive potion first, then the other one. A far as I now they don't taste the best so you can drink this after you're done,” he indicated the bottle of ramune that he had bought just then solely for this purpose.

“If the Immaturity potion works anything like the Hairlessness one in regards to body hair, which the alchemist said it would, then we need to make a visit at the hair salon,” the slave trainer continued while the boy quickly downed one potion after the other, grimacing at the taste, before opening the ramune bottle. The sweet drink seemed to give the boy some childish joy again, at least, and Tetsuya had to smile softly as he witnessed how much his slave enjoyed the simple pleasure, “The hair will stop growing, but that doesn't mean that the hair you have now will suddenly all disappear. They're going to start falling out slowly, naturally, and that gets very annoying, very quickly. That's why it is best to get rid of it all at once.”

That made Hyde stop drinking suddenly and look up at the taller man, forgetting again about the rule he had to follow in regards to that.

“Get... rid?” he asked quietly, sounding honestly puzzled.

“Don't look directly at me,” Tetsuya ordered then, reminding the boy of the rule that he was supposed to at least be trying to remember and the tiny man blushed and lowered his eyes again but still obviously waited for an answer, “Let's just go there now, you'll see,” Tetsuya sighed tiredly, getting up. There was no use explaining when he would simply experience it soon. And just like that Hyde was then rushing to gulp down the last few sips of his drink before throwing all the bottles into a nearby recycling bin and following his owner further again. The boy looked a little flustered now, as if not knowing what exactly they were going to do next after getting a slight hint bothered him more than not knowing anything altogether. But Tetsuya stayed quiet all of the two minutes that it took for them to reach their next destination.

Just like in the other places, the person that met them knew who Tetsuya was from his previous visits and what with an obviously new slave accompanying him there was no need for questions about why they came there. The beautiful, elegant woman in charge was a stark contrast to the previous shopkeeper they had dealt with – where the alchemist obviously had only viewed the petite boy as an opportunity to try out his new potion on, the woman treated the slave as a human being and talked to him directly even more than to Tetsuya. The slave trainer didn't mind and just smiled as he actually found it quite adorable how the tiny man gained a look of pleasant surprise at being spoken to so kindly, and even blushed when he took in the beauty of the woman.

“Would you prefer a male or female beautician?” the woman asked after exchanging a few pleasantries and leading them to a small room at the back of the shop, and Tetsuya finally had to speak up again as there was suddenly confusion on Hyde's face again.

“You'll have to get naked in front of them for this,” he whispered after bending down towards the boy's ear, explaining why he was being given the choice. The words made the blush bloom over the pretty boy's face full force and he obviously had trouble answering the question.

“Uhm...” he stuttered a little, obviously thinking intensively. Tetsuya could once again guess what was going through his mind – getting naked in front of members of the same gender was usually more comfortable. But right now, Hyde also knew that by the end of his training he would mostly be serving men, which meant he actually would feel more like a sexual object in front of males even now already. That made the choice a bit less straightforward, especially as women in general usually felt... safe and motherly even.

“They... if it's for hair removal they'd actually touch... there... right?” the boy asked finally, very quietly, looking up at his owner questioningly and Tetsuya nodded in response, “Male then, please?” he made his choice and the woman that had waited very patiently and indulgently for him to decide, nodded with a soft smile.

“I'll send someone over in a minute then,” she said before turning towards Tetsuya finally, “He's a sweetie, Ogawa-kun, I hope you'll be sending him to my courses at some point?” she asked a bit mischievously, making Hyde probably beat some kind of blushing record with how red his face had become at hearing that. Tetsuya sighed, faking exasperation, but the smile that stayed on his face gave his actual amusement away. Even though he was partly serious. He didn't actually need the problems that his slave getting an obvious crush on one of his future tutors would bring. And at this point it looked almost inevitable that he would. But then again, didn't every boy get a crush on an older woman sometime in their lifetime? It was better to get that (and the just as inevitable heartbreak) over when Tetsuya knew it was going on

“Of course, Megumi-san,” he answered and the woman finally left after chuckling lightly at his expression.

“Her courses?” came a curious and a bit too hopeful for Tetsuya's liking question from the boy.

“I told you, didn't I? In time you'll get to improve your skills by working at different places and also by attending some special courses. Like the etiquette ones I already mentioned yesterday. Oishi Megumi offers to teach the basics of caring for your body in general as well as make-up, hair care and so on. All of which you'll have to know just in case.”

His explanation and Hyde's further questions were cut short at that point as a man came into the small room then, introducing himself as the beautician that “Madam Megumi” had sent over. Hyde was then asked to take off his clothes and the boy obeyed, even though he was slow with embarrassment as he had to do it with two other people watching. The beautician did look away at least, but Tetsuya kept on obviously staring on purpose – Hyde had to get used to doing this, the faster the better.

Once he was nude completely, Hyde had to lie down on a table in the middle of the small room and closed his eyes so he would not have to see it when the worker looked over him so obviously. The young man brushed fingertips over the boy' calves, looked as emotionlessly and professionally as possible at the thin bush around his genitals and raised his arms to inspect his armpits.

“He almost doesn't have any hair on his legs to speak about, but I suppose you still want it removed?” he asked, and Tetsuya just nodded, looking down at the boy who still had his eyes stubbornly shut. On an impulse, the older man stepped forward and reached for Hyde's hand, holding it in his own tightly. That made the boy startle slightly, but his eyes remained closed. His hand, however, squeezed Tetsuya's in return as if appreciating the gesture. It was obvious the boy was a little scared and more than a little uncomfortable.

“Then we will start from there, go to his groin area and then armpits, and finally he'll have to turn over so we can take care of his backside,” the man spoke casually and soon turned away to some shelves on the side of the room to prepare the tools he would need. Sensing that the man had gone away, Hyde carefully opened one eye first, checking around himself, and once he saw he was right looked up at Tetsuya instead. This time, the slave trainer didn't have the heart to remind the boy he was supposed to look down.

“Is he going to shave it? I could shave it myself. I mean, I've never had to do it before, but...” the tiny man asked hopefully in a whisper, though the beautician could probably hear perfectly well anyway and just ignored it, and Tetsuya was once again reminded just how young and innocent and, well, how much still of a child the person before him was.

“No, not shaving... he's going to wax it off,” he explained smoothly, his voice low, and the androgynous boy grimaced.

“Is it.. it's going to hurt, isn't it?” he asked weakly, and Tetsuya squeezed the hand that he held reassuringly.

“Yes it will. But nothing you can't take, I'm sure. You did so well while getting the tattoo, it won't be any worse,” he tried to smile encouragingly, but the reminder of the mark probably didn't really help Hyde relax. The boy looked at the bandage around his left wrist, as if trying to make it go away, “Hey,” Tetsuya spoke again, in a whisper, squatting down so he would be more or less at the same level a the boy who turned back to face him at the prompt, “I'll be here the whole time and it will be done before you even know it, okay? No need to be afraid at all.”

He wasn't sure if the reassurance of “I'm here” would work with the boy as they barely knew each other yet and Hyde probably had yet to learn to trust him. But it did, somehow, and Hyde relaxed again, lying down properly just in time as the worker returned a second or so later, stripes of wax ready in his hands.

Just like at the tattoo parlour, Hyde proved to do very well when dealing with pain. He did seem to grit his teeth a little, and he held onto Tetsuya's hand for his dear life while the beautician worked on his legs, but he didn't let even one sound escape his lips. It was only when the time came to deal with his crotch and the man lifted his penis a little to get to where he needed that the boy suddenly squeezed his owner's hand more tightly, his breathing hitching a little. The man was acting as professionally as possible, not touching the boy's genitals any more than absolutely necessary, but it was obvious how uncomfortable it made Hyde regardless. Tetsuya filed it away in his brain as relevant information, even if it was just further confirmation of observations he had made earlier already – the boy had huge problems with being touched. That meant Tetsuya would have to go slow and considerately when trying to make Hyde get used to it all later on. It probably meant that Hyde's training would take longer than previously expected, but for some reason Tetsuya didn't mind. Each slave he trained was different, and Tetsuya prided himself in doing it properly for each of them.

Regardless, other than Tetsuya losing feeling in the tip of his fingers by the time it was done, Hyde somehow managed to get through getting his groin hairless without any further complications. His armpits, in comparison, were much easier than that and when he turned over and the beautician got to work with removing the hair around his anus, it was mostly a problem of taking it mentally than suffering through the pain, which, though for a second Tetsuya had feared the boy had stopped breathing, went over pretty much fine as well. The slave trader actually barely even glanced away from Hyde's face through the whole process, however, too intent on making sure the boy was alright so he didn't even actually look at Hyde, despite what the tiny man thought.

The beautician quickly left then to give them privacy for getting ready to leave and Hyde slid off the table to start dressing himself, without Tetsuya even ordering him to. This would change in time, the taller man would make sure that the boy would quickly know better than to act on his own volition. This time, however, it was just one more thing that the the older man let slide almost completely, or at least without punishment. But he did speak up, making Hyde freeze just as he was about to a little shakily start putting on his boxers.

“Wait, stay as you are,” Tetsuya said calmly, but quite strictly. The boy glanced up at his, surprised, and wavered, obviously wanting to hide his body away as quickly as possible. But in the end his hands, one of which clutched the hunched up underwear, fell to his sides. The taller man nodded approvingly at the obedience and then stepped a little closer, looking over the petite body before him, seeing it shiver under his scrutinizing gaze. He had made the tiny man strip before him yesterday already, of course, and he had inspected his figure earlier in the market, but neither of those times did he actually just took in what he saw. In the market he just looked so he could verify the body's value, and in the evening he was proving a point to the boy about him not having any reason to be afraid.

Now, however, he just looked, and it was the first time he saw Hyde in the proper condition too – hairless and smooth, like he would always be from now on. Starting from his pretty face, down his long neck and prominent collar-bones, his boyish chest with perky, pink nipples that looked like they would be so much fun to tease. Then down his arms to those tiny hands with short but somehow cute fingers, and the stomach that was flat and yet already had some lovely muscle-definition. Here, Tetsuya reached out to trace the outlines of those muscles with his fingers, hearing the boy gasp and automatically try to somehow avoid the touch – this time by sucking in his belly which of course didn't really work.

The older man chuckled, however, and finally looked further down to the part that had changed the most, perhaps, after the hair removal. They boy's penis hung innocently between his legs – not small, not for the tiny man's size, but not bigger than the average either. But, most likely, it was still not completely developed. Just like the rest of the boy's body, of course, considering his age, but somehow for Tetsuya it was the most apparent when it came to this part.

“Is... Is something wrong, Sir?” Hyde finally couldn't help but speak up after all. Tetsuya had guessed that it was coming – the moment Hyde saw his owner focus on his crotch he had noticeably flinched and looked to the side, biting on his bottom lip nervously. It was probably something that was the hardest for the boy to simply let the other man do without a single complaint, especially since Tetsuya had already been taking a while simply staring.

“Shh, don't,” the older man whispered warningly, “Don't speak, I just wish to look,” he explained. But after his gaze quickly slid further down to appraise Hyde's lean, smooth legs for a second, he felt like he had had enough for now anyway. Or perhaps that was not entirely true – he would have loved to look at that body for even longer, and touch it more as well, but he feared that then he'd start craving to do even more things to the boy already. And this was not the time to even dream about such things. Not yet. The slave trainer stepped back again.

“Now you can dress,” he ordered in that same calm-but-strict voice as before and then just stood on the side, silently observing while the boy put on his clothes.

The last part of their trip went quite uneventfully. Tetsuya paid for the waxing and they left the salon to go further into the market and buy some other items that Hyde would need since he came into Tetsuya's possession with literally nothing in his. Toothbrush, shampoo, nail clippers, hair-brush (as they bought that the slaver even thought that maybe they should go back to the salon and get Hyde a haircut, since he had kind of forgot about the boy's longer hair earlier. But after considering it for a moment longer he decided he rather liked the style on the petite slave, at least for now) and various other items that made sure all of Hyde's daily needs would be taken care of. And then they were done.

Tetsuya turned to walk home without actually saying anything to Hyde and silently observed how the boy would react and if he would remember how earlier in the day Tetsuya told him not to ask, to trust and not question. At first the tiny man just followed him like before, probably thinking they were going to yet another shop or so. Then, once they entered the streets where the shuffling crowd started thinning out a little, the boy at some point seemed to startle out of his thoughts, looked around curiously and even glanced at Tetsuya who pretended to be looking at something else. The older man waited for the boy to ask then, but seconds passed and they were still walking in silence. The slave still looked a bit confused but didn't dare speak up. Once he was satisfied that Hyde had apparently learned this lesson already, Tetsuya smiled (not that the boy could see it since the taller man was walking half a step in front of him). This was good. Hyde was showing to be a clever boy who was willing to listen to the advice that would make his life easier. And he was attentive. Maybe his training would go along much more smoothly than Tetsuya had anticipated in the beginning when he first judged his character. Slowly (considering his strong problems at being touched), but smoothly.

“We're going home,” he finally said then and could almost laugh when he saw how first the confusion disappeared from Hyde's face, and then the slave's expression brightened up greatly, “Did you dislike the day?” he asked out of curiosity of what the tiny man would say, “You can speak openly, I won't get mad,” he added the permission as well.

“I...” the boy started but then trailed off, grimacing as if he was trying to think of a good enough answer, “Some parts were not... very pleasant,” he finally said, and Tetsuya nodded understandingly, as he was sure Hyde had the tattoo and the waxing in mind, “I actually quite liked spending the time with you, though you're... kind. Not like I expected,” Hyde continued, blushing a little as he admitted that part, “I am glad to know we're going home now, however. But that's not because I disliked it all, simply because... shopping is tiring,” he finished finally and Tetsuya had to wholeheartedly agree with that.