[Arashi] [Sakumiya] Flavour of Love

[radhaj]

Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Those people are not mine. I only wish they were
Warnings: slavery, kinks all around yadda yadda
Summary: In a world where slavery is flourishing, two people are living their lives by exploiting the system. But are they truly as removed from its effects themselves as it seems at first glance?
Note: Set in the same universe as another fic of mine, but completely independent of it. And just like that one, it can be read perfectly well without knowing the characters as it's completely AU.

I should probably mention that while this is obviously Sakumiya for now, there will be complcations later on. And there will be some Ohno involvement. And maybe threesomes. *tries not to completely spoil it* Suffice to say there will later be additions to the tags.

I can also perhaps recommend reading that other fic of mine that first set this universe *shameless plug >_>*. Although there is no need to read it to understand this one, there are some things that are explained more in depth there than in this one. Unlike this fic where I mostly concentrate on the story of these specific characters and where the whole premise is completely different, that one follows a slave/trainer story and slowly reveals the details about the world.

To those who don't want to read it, however, here is the general, simplified idea about the world: obviously, slavery (which is mostly sexual) is legal. Most slaves are born into slavery and, at a certain age, get sold to a slave trainer who takes care of teaching them the skills they need as well as preparing them mentally for serving their future Masters and actually enjoying it. They don't know a different life and the absolute majority don't even think of wanting one. They then get sold to someone who likes them, receive their collar and serve them. They are mostly absolutely adoring and dependent on their Masters, but most get re-sold/re-trained a few times in their lives.

Other important details: all slaves get a very permanent tattoo of their slave number and an entry in the Slave Registry, so there is literally no way for them to ever become a free person after that. Also, the laws about mistreating or failing to take care of a slave are very severe in the country, so there's barely any actual, unlawful abuse. I think that about covers it.

Prologue

The glamour itched.

It never really made sense to Nino that the spell which was completely non-physical had such a tangible and corporeal side effect. On his face it was bearable – that wasn't a specific disguise; it was made vague on purpose to avoid detection. Sho might have been extremely skillful in illusion magic, but attempting anything more than just a generic masking of the most prominent features on something as obvious as a face that was supposed to be scrutinized by everyone around would have been simply asking for trouble.

But his wrist? The slave tattoo illusion that was created had to be very specific, very detailed, and match the number on the fake papers that Sho had created for him. There was nothing vague about it.

And it itched like hell.

But scratching it was strictly forbidden. It would have been too suspicious as it was a well-known side effect of the spell. Not to mention the goddamned shackles would have made it difficult to do so anyway. So here Nino was – standing rigid, gritting his teeth, bearing the itch on top of the discomfort of being stared at by countless pairs of greedy eyes, raking over his body like it was an item on display that they were thinking of buying.

Which he was. For them.

You'd think he'd get used to it after a few dozen times, but here he still was, taking deep breaths, trying to zone all the mutters and discussions about his quality out and just retreat into a deep, quiet place in his head that was reserved for times like this. But it was no use. Sho's voice – as enthusiastic and unperturbed as ever – cut through his defences each time without fail, without even trying.

“Yes, Sir, I assure you he was trained in each of those skills that you inquire about. Most obedient and eager to please. Frankly, I am robbing myself by offering such an essentially flawless slave at such a low price!” the self-proclaimed slave-trainer reassured some middle-aged man who was showing a promising amount of interest, “But I like you so much that I am even willing to take one more hundred off,” Sho promised further, giving that sort of fake laugh that was made to mask the fact that both he and the man he was talking to knew that the discount had nothing to do with liking and everything to do with Sho's desire to just make the sale already. The targeted buyer responded in kind and Nino fought to keep his lunch inside from disgust at the sound of his abnormally screechy cackling. Well, at least this meant that perhaps he'd soon be done standing in the market and be able to just move on with it faster. A lower price would be worth it, since they were already taking a risk by making a second run in the same city. They had to be quick with this.

Only of course it also meant that the touching phase came next, and again Nino had to struggle to keep his actual feelings about it from becoming visible. Instead, he smiled happily and did his best to accommodate the physical explorations of his body as a slave would have: lifting his arms and turning around when asked, bucking backwards a bit when rough hands squeezed his ass, tensing his barely-existing abs when the man petted his stomach to get a feel for it... Not flinching back when the man none-too-gently cupped him through the flimsy excuse of pants that he was wearing.

“So are you really as great as your trainer promises you are?” the man actually addressed him after having groped his entire body to his heart's content. Nino brought out his most adoring look as he gazed up at the widely grinning man and then dropped to his knees. The very picture of submission.

“If Sir so desires, this slave would be more than happy to demonstrate,” the now kneeling man suggested earnestly, sounding as if he was truly eager to appear adequately desirable to the potential buyer. The man he was directing this at just chuckled awkwardly, however, obviously in no hurry to actually take up the offer in the middle of the Slave Market at this time of day. Well, Nino had been counting on that after all.

“There's no need for that. I'm convinced. So what was the final price again?” the man decided, turning back to face Sho, and Nino took care to fully enjoy the imaginary sound of a trap snapping shut in his head.

Finally.

Some bureaucracy and some coins exchanging hands later Nino officially had a new owner. For a day at least.

“Come here, pretty, we'll go to your new home now,” the man whispered, already putting a hand around Nino's waist with the supposed purpose of leading him. Nino pretended to be actually joyous of that and leaned more into the touch. His new “owner” seemed even more delighted with his purchase after that, “I can't wait to get to know you better.”

“Yes, Master,” Nino replied, adopting the conditioned responses that slaves would give in these situations. He didn't risk looking back at Sho anymore, but he knew his“trainer” was hurriedly packing up things and would leave the Slave Market within a couple of minutes now that he was “out of wares to sell”.

Nino knew, however, that it would take him much longer than that to make his own leave.

~-*-~

Sho tossed the extinguished butt of the cigarette to the side and rubbed the last of sleep from his eyes before reaching into his pocket for his packet so he could get another smoke. He had taken the opportunity to rest up before what promised to be a long drive and had taken a nap at the back of his car. But evidently he had overslept, and was now nursing a rather annoying headache on top of some extra drowsiness.

He had counted on Nino waking him once he got to their rendezvous place, but apparently the smaller man was taking longer than usual to run away from his newest “owner” unnoticed. It wasn't unusual for it to be late night before Nino got an opportunity to get away, but now it was nearing dawn already. And Sho was starting to think it might be one of those times where something had gone wrong and he'd have to go and help Nino escape.

It was not normally a problem. Slaves running away was such an unheard of thing that noone took precautions – they were all conditioned to the point of being completely dependent on their owners and each of them knew they wouldn't get far even if they did, for some unfathomable reason, want to escape. The magic in the slave tattoo would take care of it: they'd never be able to get a job and make a living by themselves. So mostly that meant the slaves were, theoretically, free to just up and walk out of their home at any time as they weren't ever put under any guard.

Sometimes, of course, the buyers would simply leave the shackles that Sho sold Nino in on him for a bit longer, but even that wasn't a problem. Those were custom-made ones that in reality Nino could take off without a problem himself – he always had been good at these tricks-y sort of things. Thus, in absolute majority of the times they had done this, there had been no problems for Nino to get away on his own and get to their pre-arranged meet-up place.

But it had happened once or twice where people of... more particular taste had him tied up or locked away on the first night already, and that was when Sho's expertise in breaking and entering came in handy. But that was just adding another layer to their crime, and it was understood between them that it was only to be depended upon as an absolutely last resort. Nino was supposed to exhaust all options available to him before he gave up and waited for Sho.

Had something happened today too? Sho frowned as he lighted the cigarette that he had almost forgotten while he got lost in his thoughts. Maybe they had pushed their luck too much this time by hitting the same town twice, someone had caught on to their one-of-a-kind scheme, Nino got arrested and the authorities were just waiting for the other half of their little crew to come and try to help him get away from his fictitious buyer...

“Can I have one of those too?” a slightly hoarse voice suddenly startled Sho from his doomsday-scenario musings just as the pretend-slaver was about to get ready to go and find his partner in crime. The man glanced up and saw the person he had just been thinking about gingerly stepping out from the nearby woods, coming up to stand next to the parked car that Sho was leaning against, “Could sure as hell use a smoke right about now, if you don't mind.”

Sho lifted an eyebrow as he took in the sight of the smaller man, not missing his slightly puffy, swollen lips, nor the fact that Nino seemed to have only hastily dressed himself back into his “market-attire” before setting out to their meeting point. It must have been one of those buyers then. Mutely, Sho threw his cigarette pack at the tired-looking man who still managed to catch it deftly.

“Thanks,” was the muttered reply to the action as Nino joined him by leaning on the car as well, wincing slightly as he did.

“Dare I ask what took you so long?” Sho asked casually and lighted the cigarette that Nino put between his lips. The other man puffed on the nicotine stick once before replying exhaustedly.

“Just more of the usual crap,” he voiced out grudgingly.

“Nothing out of the ordinary then, noone getting suspicious or anything?” Sho pressed for more, not satisfied, his earlier worries still plaguing his mind. Nino just looked at him as if he were crazy.

“Suspicious? That dumb sack of shit?” he laughed, but it sounded forced, “He was so concentrated on getting his needs sated he wouldn't have even noticed had my disguise failed right in front of him. Speaking of which,” the smaller man grimaced, “Can you get rid of it, it itches like fuck.”

Sho simply waved his hand and felt the thread connecting his magic to the intricate spell changing Nino's appearance sever. The effect was immediate, the illusion melting, and Nino let out a small sigh of relief before using his unoccupied hand to rub over his face, as if to clean away the remnants of the spell. He didn't as much as glance at his wrist though.

“So it was yet another successful sale with a generous payout of easy money,” Sho sighed out, feeling some tension leave his body. He was so relieved that he didn't even mind Nino's language. But his words caused Nino to look up for some reason and stare at him for a few seconds with an unreadable look in his eyes.

“Yeah,” he agreed after a while though, glancing away again, “Easy.”

There was something weird in his tone of voice as he said that, but Sho didn't have time to wonder about it and just shrugged it away. Nino was just obviously tired.

“We should get going though. You can finish that in the car,” the taller man continued without a pause, chucking his second cigarette away in the same direction as he had his first, already getting up and going to the driver's side of the car, “You should probably try to sleep in the back while I drive,” he suggested, sitting down.

Nino followed his example without a comment, getting in in the back and immediately rolling one of the windows open so the smoke could escape. The silence stretched as Sho started the engine and steered the car to drive out onto the road, heading for their next destination.

“Can we stop in a motel or something? I could really use a shower. And a change of clothes,” Nino did speak up again after a little bit, but Sho just shook his head.

“After making two hits in the same town, I want to get as far away from it as possible, as fast as possible. Nothing but pit stops until we get were we're heading,” he said decidedly, “I don't want us taking any more risks,” he explained, glancing at Nino through the rear-view mirror and trying to flash a mildly apologetic smile, “I get what you mean though... Spending half a day in the heat of that market and then sleeping at the back of the car, I'm dying for a shower myself,” he laughed, but not for long as there it was again, that unreadable look in Nino's eyes that were staring right at him from the mirror.

“Something wrong?” Sho asked, sobering abruptly. He couldn't just brush it off twice. But Nino did it for him this time.

“Nothing,” he said, averting his eyes and discarding his own cigarette, “I'll just sleep now, then,” the tiny man announced after closing the window and just curled up on the back seat. For a second, Sho was about to reprimand him for not using the seat-belt, but ended up letting it go. Like this, curled into a small ball, with his eyes closed and his guard down, Nino seemed so massively exhausted that Sho couldn't bring himself to nag at him.

Instead, he sighed, and concentrated back on the road. There was a very long journey ahead of them.