Title: My Love Has a Name

Author: Dragonendalia

Rating: PG-13

Inspiration Music: "Mellow Candle" from the Weiss Kreuz OVA.

Title: Thanks to the "Titles Without Stories" website, a god-site for the writers! ";

WARNING: This is YAOI. _ That means ‘guy loving guy/guy flirting with guy/guy screwing guy’, you get the idea. Don’t like it, DON’T BLOODY READ IT! I am not responsible for making sure that you’ll like whatever you’re reading.

Hinode hadn’t expected his friend, the captain of the guard, Jingi to be in his private quarters at this time of day…usually he was off in the sun, drilling the new soldiers… but there he was…standing right by his desk, the boy at his feet. In his hand was a silver chain, thin and delicate looking, but it was more than enough to keep someone in one place… The chain connected at a silver collar around the boy’s neck, giving him the appearance of some kind of helpless animal.

The boy, the king could only guess, was a slave. He wore nothing but a pair of thin, flimsy black pants that rode low on his hips, contrasting like ink next to his skin, which was pale like ivory. His chest was hardly muscled at all, his arms thin and his stomach flat. He looked like a slight breeze may blow him away as he knelt there, long fingers worked within each other as they lay immobile on his lap, perfectly still… Long, silky looking silver hair hung straight down, past his hips and pooling out around him on the floor as he kept his face turned down. Two small, white, cat-like ears were poking out from the silver hair a little above where normal human ears would be, and a soft white tail lay at the legs’ side.

"My lord…" murmured the captain, bowing as according to customs.

Hinode raised an eyebrow as his eyes traveled back and forth between this strange creature and his friend. "Well Jingi, this is certainly a surprise… what brings you here… And what," he asked, nodding to the boy, "brings HIM here?"

Jingi smirked. Formal greetings were over, and he could be open with his friend as long as they were alone. "Well, Hinode, let’s say he’s a gift from Lord Sozoku."

The king noted that, even though he’d been motionless up until that point, the boy’s feline ears had twitched ever so slightly at the mentioned name. "The new lord who has recently given his allegiance to me…? I though a case of jewels was sent already."

His friend shrugged in a dismissing gesture. "That’s true, but this slave was also sent as well. The lord claims he’ll do anything asked of him, and that he’s the best slave in the kingdom."

Hinode ran his eyes over the creature again, deciding that it was a Nekai cat demon, and though beautiful indeed looked weak. "Really…" he murmured. The king didn’t have very many personal slaves himself, though there were hundreds in the palace alone. "Well… have a letter sent to Sozoku and thank him for this…charming gift."

"Yes, my lord…" Jingi replied with a bow, and then he moved forward, placing the end of the long chain in the king’s hand with a wink. "I’ll let you acquaint yourself with your slave…"

Hinode sighed as the captain left his room, closing the door behind him. Jingi was one of the many who made use of the pleasure slaves quite frequently, a more or less hobby of his that seemed to be met every night… And he obviously thought that he would grow to be the same way… Hinode had taken his fair share of women to bed, never once a slave, but it wasn’t something that truly was an enjoyment to him… Jingi was always telling him to try a slave, who would do anything they were ordered to do without hesitation. No slave could deny an official in the palace, and certainly not the king himself!

Turning back to the pale, silver-haired boy, he ran his eyes up the creature’s body again… Body-wise, he looked beautiful… Now if he could only see his face…

"Look at me."

Without hesitation, the slave brought his head up to face the king. A slender face with a dead-center nose, full rosy lips, and dark eyelashes donned his pale face, but the thing that truly caught Hinode’s attentions were the eyes. They were slanted, and very cat-like, with irises the color of a dark emerald and slit pupils. They shone with fear, of nervousness and dread. The boy couldn’t have been older than… fifteen at the most. An unhealthy looking fifteen year old.

The boy blinked slightly, and then lowered his eyes once more in respect. The perfect lips opened and out came a voice that was soft, timid, and bell-like. "My previous master, the Lord Sozoku, wishes you good health and prosperity, my lord."

Hinode sniffed at the formalities and well-wishes that obviously weren’t sincere. Sozoku was probably just trying to suck up to him with a pleasure slave in order to gain his favor… He didn’t like the man at all and almost didn’t want allegiance with him… but it was never good to make enemies when one held the throne so young. "I’m sure he does…" He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he looked down on the boy. "So, you’re a pleasure slave?"

There was a slight tinge of pink on the boy’s cheeks, but he did not look up, nor did his quiet voice change in the slightest. "I’m any slave you wish me to be, Master."

Hinode raised an eyebrow. Did that mean he could actually make use of the slave then…? "Very well, slave… oh, do you have a name?"

The slave paused, as though deep in thought. It was like he couldn’t even remember that. "…forgive me, Master, but---"

"Look at me when you talk," the king snapped, a little harder than he’d meant to - which he realized too late.

The soft feline ears twinged again, like they’d flatten against the side of his head any second in fear. The boy moved his eyes to tentatively look into his master’s. "I…I’m afraid that I don’t quite remember my name, Sire…"

Hinode raised a slender eyebrow once more, in almost utter disbelief. He forgot? He simply didn’t know his own name? He guessed it may not be too uncommon among slaves, who were rarely regarded as real people, to forget one’s own name… after all… most slaves were just referred to as "Slave" and a variety of worse addresses. "Well, think about it for a moment. You must have a name, so try to recall."

The cat-demon’s eyes lowered again slightly hazed over and lost in complete concentration. After a moment of silence, the soft voice came again from the tenseness. "I’m fairly sure…Majesty, that my name is Koyuki…"

"Koyuki…" Hinode pondered, and nodded. "That seems to fit you… Very well. Koyuki, I’m only here to pick up some documents, as I’m meeting with some men within the hour. While I’m gone I’d like you to straighten things up in here, like the shelves and desk. Do not leave the room or answer the door, is that clear?"

The slave’s eyes had widened slightly, the emerald orbs staring with subtle amazement, but the look was soon replaced once more with the servile, not straight forward look and the soft, humble voice. "Yes, Master."

Nodding, the king strode over to his desk, picked up a stack of scrolls all neatly rolled up all tied with silk ribbons, and left Koyuki alone in the room with a final slam of the heavy oak doors.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Koyuki slumped immediately, staring at the dark doors with the gold and jewel encrusted handles, his breath coming in fast and uneven. His heart was beating a thousand miles per minute as he tried to register exactly what had happened to him in the past few minutes…

The man, the captain of the guard, who’d brought him here had frightened him beyond all belief.

The boy shivered at the memory. The lord he’d lived with previously had been an awful, cruel man who had, indeed, called him to bed almost every night with some new thing in store for him, some new pain technique to try out… He’d been glad to get away from this man, who put him through such hell it made him want to die everyday, but he’d been unsure of whether or not a younger (more energetic…?) master would be worse…

And he still couldn’t tell. From what he’d heard from the few other pleasure slaves he’d come into contact with long enough to talk, the younger and prettier they were the more you were in store for. And his new master was gorgeous!

Smooth, unblemished tan skin with hair that was the very shade of ink, short and roughly cut, and at the same time not looking messy. It was windswept in a kind of elegant fashion. Perfect teeth, straight nose, and thin lips that seemed to fit him nicely; he’d look even better if he might smile. His body was well built, though clothed in simple tunic, shirt, pants and boots with a cloak and few ornamental trinkets. He appeared to be a modest king… and young since he looked to be barely over twenty years. Thin eyebrows and deep brown eyes complimented his slender face, while he stood an imposing height that had to be near six and a half feet…

His personality didn’t seem to be a lust-filled heart of a lecher who would be cruel to him every night and harm him in such ways, but then again, he’d been in a hurry, hadn’t he? Perhaps he was merely waiting for nightfall when his presence was not required elsewhere… And then, at the same time Koyuki sensed that Master Hinode couldn’t be all that bad… how many times had he been asked his name by one of his betters in years? Had ANY of them bothered to ask…? All he could remember being called was "slave", "bitch", "whore", and various other names that he’d began to truly think were his.

"Well," he whispered softly, unconsciously afraid that his master may be lurking in the halls listening, and becoming angry. "I’ll find out soon enough…"

Shakily, he pulled himself to his feet and looked around. Plush… everything was dark green and brown, like a forest… upon closer inspection he realized that the walls were painted to look like leaves and fine, tiny emeralds embedded here and there to give it a glittery look. Light beamed in through the clear and green strained glass windows. All the furniture was made of dark, rich wood that was polished till it almost glowed, and the floors were smoothed stone with scores of throw rugs tossed about. The bed had a canopy, large and covered in deep green curtains with golden cords and tassels. All around the room there were tall shelves of books and odd trinkets, while he could make out several hidden doors all around that no doubt led to other rooms.

The desk which he’d been assigned to clean was a jumble of papers, quills, ink, and books. Koyuki allowed himself a small smile with the lack of other presences in the room, amused that the king could find anything at all there when the rest of the room seemed so neat and orderly. Looking around, as if he were afraid something would come out and grab him for having the nerve to move, he paused and then walked over.

It was a mess that was to be sure... Papers littered the entire surface, books were stacked high, some of which were opened to pages that were marked with bent corners. Exotic quills of brilliant colored feathers were tossed about as though they were worth next to nothing, and several bottles of colored ink were open though amazingly enough there was not a spill to be seen. Koyuki snickered softly at how unorganized the leader of a promising empire could be and began to silently pick things up. Under a handkerchief he found a small vase, and seeing no flowers in sight, he filled it with the vast assortment of quills. There was a small stack of book markers, so the demon placed one in each of the books that were opened up before replacing them on the bookshelves, which seemed to be arranged by size rather than content.

Not that Koyuki was supposed to know WHAT the books said... after all, slaves weren’t allowed to know how to read.

He sorted the papers out on one of the soft throw rugs by what had an official seal of some kind on it, what were letters, and ones that didn’t belong to either pile. After stacking them as neatly as he could, he returned them to a gold and emerald-encrusted paper-holder that had been lying sideways on the desk.

Koyuki stopped as he ran across a different looking parchment. He looked around curiously to make sure that no one was within sight. Then, silently chiding himself for thinking such. No one would enter the king’s chambers... and his master couldn’t be back yet... He began to read the strange letter, noting that it smelled faintly of musky body oil. It was from a girl this was for sure, feminine type hand writing. He bit his lower lip as he scanned the letter. This girl was requesting a marriage with the prince... Going back, he started reading more carefully through the letter, taking in every word. It was forbidden, for slaves to read, but he’s learned a very long time ago... and it had been so long since he’d been able to really look at written words...

"Koyuki?"

The Nekai froze, every inch of his skin getting the feeling that it was freezing over and turning into the coldest of ice. His insides twisted and the boy felt sure that he was going to retch. Slowly, he turned his head to where he’s heard the voice coming from.

His master, the King Hinode, was half-standing in a secret passageway that had been hidden by one of the many tapestries, holding the fabric back and staring at him, wide-eyed. "M-Master....!"

"What are you doing!?" the king demanded, stepping out and letting the fabric fall into place, concealing the entrance once more. He stride seemed to be enormous as he became closer and closer to the boy, who in turn was backing up fearfully until his back made contact with the desk. The letter still clutched in his pale fingers, his ears were flat again the top of his head and his tail was twitching nervously. "What were doing?! Were you reading?!"

"I...I..." the younger male found he couldn’t get his mouth to form proper words, let alone a reply. His head was swimming, unable to take his own green eyes off the brown ones. "I wasn’t... I can’t..."

Hinode’s eyes narrowed, suddenly reaching out and grasping the boy’s pale, exposed shoulders. His slave could read... he could read. It violated the laws, and if anyone were to find out about this—

Suddenly his angry expression lessened for an instant as he realized that his slave was trembling uncontrollably in his hands, green eyes wide with terror, and the paper fallen from his hands. He obviously expected to be hit, or worse, and his pale skin was even whiter than before, save for where bruises were already forming under his fingers. Was the boy really that fragile...?

Taking a deep breath, his grip became less painful for the cat demon, but still firm enough to hold him in place. "Koyuki... don’t be afraid, but I want you to tell me the complete truth. Can you read?"

‘I’m done for,’ the boy thought, his head dropping in shame and waiting for the order that would seal his fate. ‘I’m going to die...’ "...Yes..." His voice was quiet and shaky as he felt tears gather underneath his eyelids. "I can..."

Hinode took another deep breath, closing his brown eyes and frowned a little bit. This was bad. His slave had somehow learned to read, only the gods knew where, and according to the law he was to see that he was promptly executed. Educated slaves had the potential to become very dangerous, some in the past had even been known to overthrow lords and masters. However, as he opened his eyes and gazed at the delicate demon, tears now streaming down his face, he hardly believed that could be true... at least not in the case of this slave. This boy...? A threat...? Impossible!

"Where did you learn? You taught you?"

The reply was near silent, sorrow-filled and helpless. "I... I u-used to be free..." he whispered. "I was enslaved when I was s-s-small... but I’d been taught before then..."

The prince stared at the boy in amazement. Certainly he could not punish the boy for something that he’d been taught to do so young... It wasn’t his fault that he knew his letters. Sometimes, when he thought about the slave-reading law, he wondered how knowledge could be a crime at all.

"Why were you reading the letter?"

"I-It looked different..." he said, his voice sounding at though it was about to crack, and his body like it would fall had he not been holding him upright. "And... and it’s been so long since I read something... I was curious, I’m sorry...!"

Hinode smiled a little, releasing one of his shoulders to push some tears away as they slipped down Koyuki's cheek. "Sh… I'll let it go this time…" Hinode’s mind screamed at him, shocked by his own words that just seemed to flow out of his mouth. "But you’ll have to promise me that you won’t read again, or I’ll have to..." The young king trailed off, looking a bit sympathetic as the helpless cat-demon’s eyes widened and he looked up at him through the silvery white bangs.

"W-what...?" The cat-demon was in shock. Could he have heard right...?

"I’m sparing you," said the king, "from death because of knowledge. But you must promise me."

He still trembled in the king's grip. "N-no… I won't! Please… don't hurt me…" Averting his eyes once more, closing them tight, the cat demon’s head was spinning. ‘Can this be true? Will... will he really...?’

Something inside the king’s chest twisted painfully, a cold, numb feeling spreading slowly. To think that one creature, one person, could be so timid and frightened of one person was more a crime than the ability to read could ever be. Terrified, even of his savior.

"Dry your eyes," he said, taking out a black handkerchief from a pocket of his tunic and gently wiping the tears away. "I’m not going to hurt you."

Koyuki almost gasped as the king handed him the silky black handkerchief and folded his fingers around it before taking removing his other hand from his shoulder. Quickly, he wiped all traces of the tears he could from his face and then tried to hand it back, nearly fainting when the king told him he could keep it before he picked up the fallen letter from the floor. His brown eyes skimmed it before rolling, as though annoyed, ripping the paper to shreds before tossing them into a golden waist basket under the desk. Fishing through a few more papers on the desk before extracting a few, he turned back towards the slave.

"I came back to get some things I misplaced... The meetings will take several more hours, so you should sleep or something. Do NOT read."

Swallowing hard, Koyuki nodded. "Yes, Master."

Turning, Hinode exited the way he came in, through the secret passageway, wondering what on Earth he’d just done. It was hi duty to uphold the laws, since he was king after all, and he’d just violated it and let the matter go! Just because he wasn’t fond of the law didn’t make it right for him to just up and leave a slave who could read alive!

"Then again," he muttered to himself, pressing another opening in the wall that led him into a hallway just outside the meeting room. "That boy, whether he can read or not, could never be a threat..."

He was too frightened to be a threat... too weak.

But gods, he was beautiful.

And that’s the end of chapter one! :D What cha think? ;-; PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT NEEDS TO BE BETTER!!!!!