Chapter 2: Chase through the Market

Wah reviews please!! I can’t live w/o them! plus, i thought i'd leave a chapter for you guys before i went to camp. aren't i loveable? enjoy! ^^

The Orcaa gasped and said,” Beware, your life is in danger.” Just at that moment, a blond man wielding an ornately knife cried,” Michael!” Hiroshi grabbed Michael’s hand and ran, though Michael wanted to stay.

“Wait! Stop!” cried the man. He turned to the Orcaa angrily. His light blond hair was ruffled and his blue eyes gleamed. “What did you say to him, Jara?”

“Simply the truth. Do not blame me.”

He turned abruptly and said,” Jara, do not interfere anymore than you should. It would be in your best interest to keep your mouth shut. It’ll be hard to keep your life at this rate. Many people are already extremely displeased with you, myself included.” Then he pocketed his knife ran off after the two.

She said softly after he left,” Yes, I should not interfere as much as I have…but…”

Many streets away, Michael and Hiroshi stopped to catch their breaths. Michael said in a worried tone,” I wonder if that girl is okay. We should have brought her with us.”

Hiroshi paused and said, “I didn’t have time to think about that. I’m sure she’s alright though. The man was after you, not her. I highly doubt that he would kill her. There hasn’t been any screams nor has anyone talked about anyone dieing yet.”

Michael’s worried expression lightened considerably and he said,” That’s true.” He looked at Hiroshi and noticed that they were still holding hands. Michael’s cheeks turned slightly pink.

Hiroshi noticed and said,” Michael, what’s…”

He suddenly tugged on Michael’s arm and had resumed running again. Michael was bewildered but ran anyways.

----

The man had been looking for Michael. He cursed to himself and was about to give up when he saw the tall, young man that had been with Michael. “There they are,” he thought. He struggled through the crowds to reach them and cursed when the tall, young man had taken notice of him.

----

Hiroshi kept looking back every so often for the blonder haired man. Michael was tired by now and Hiroshi noticed. He slowed down the pace a bit and took one, last glance to see if the man was still pursuing them. He wasn’t. Satisfied, he ran around one last corner before halting to a complete stop. Michael was completely red by now and he took long deep breaths.

“I’ve never ran such a long distance before.” he gasped. The two were completely out of breath.

Hiroshi said,” I think we’ve lost him by now. Let’s go…” He cursed under his breath and lightly pushed Michael behind him as a tall figure, taller than Hiroshi even, emerged from the shadows. The man held a long, thin sword in his right hand and his black hair fell messily over his dark green eyes.

Hiroshi growled at him and narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”

“Give me the boy.”

“No.”

“I’ll repeat this only once more. Give me the boy.”

“No.”

The young man stepped closer to them. Michael held onto Hiroshi’s arm and looked at the man before him. He didn't know why but his life had suddenly got more complicated. He linked this with his constant dreams of lightning and swords.

“What do you want with me?” Michael said. Both Hiroshi and the stranger were surprised to hear him speak.

The man suddenly flared up with passion and said,” Your life is in danger. Do you realize that yet? Do you realize the enormity of the situation you are in? Do you realize how important you are? Do you? I have to protect you. I have to!” His eyes burned bright with determination.

Michael slowly found himself walking over to the young man. Hiroshi made a move to stop him but Michael said, “Don’t worry. He’s not going to hurt me.”

He looked up at the young man’s face closely and felt something familiar about it. His eyes glazed over once more. “Lyle?” he asked softly so that only he and the young man could hear. The young man looked startled for a moment and then smiled softly.

“You remember.”

Suddenly, Lyle tensed up and he looked alert. He pushed Michael back to Hiroshi and whirled around. Several menacing looking men wearing all black crept out of the shadows. They each held long, curved swords. They looked past the tall young man with the sword towards Michael.

One of them grinned sickeningly and said, “There’s the little bugger.” They advanced a step and soon found themselves facing a very angry young man with a sword.

“Out of our way brat! Or we’ll kill you too! We’ve orders from the prince to kill him.”

“How dare you say that!” growled Lyle as he disposed of the man who said that. His sword went straight through the man and he pulled it out. He pointed his blood soaked sword at the others and killed them all swiftly. Hiroshi covered Michael’s eyes when this happened. He didn’t need to see death right now. Michael didn’t say anything as he heard the bodies fall with a soft thud to the ground. He wondered what was happening. No one was saying anything. He grew worried.

When the Lyle was done, he wiped his sword clean of the blood with a handkerchief. He turned around and saw Hiroshi covering Michael’s eyes.

He apologized. “I’m sorry. I forgot…” He trailed off.

He said quietly,” I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…in front of you.”

Hiroshi no longer glared at him nor did he growl. He looked uncertain. The shock of seeing people die before him remained in his body. He said hesitantly,” They were going to kill Michael right? It was self defense. They were going to kill Michael.” Hiroshi felt a bit queasy looking at the dead bodies but he tried his best not to show it. This was the first time he had seen someone die before him.

The young man said,” You two look tired. Let’s go back to the inn that I’m staying at and we’ll discuss this more in depth.” Hiroshi nodded and he turned Michael around before letting go of his eyes. Michael had to wait before his eyes adjusted and he wanted to turn around look but Hiroshi placed a firm hand on his shoulder and marched him forward after Lyle.

They walked in silence and Michael could see that Hiroshi and Lyle were a little too quiet. It wasn’t an angry quiet either. It was an eerie one. He then remembered the candies. He pulled out a bag and opened it.

“Want one?” he chirped happily. He held out a star to Hiroshi.

Hiroshi looked at the star candy, took it, popped it into his mouth, smiled and said,” Yummy.” Michael smiled. He popped a candy into his mouth and nodded. He took a fish candy out and handed it to a surprised Lyle.

“You still like these?”

Michael cocked his head to one side and looked at him questioningly.

Hiroshi said,” He’s got amnesia. He can’t remember anything from the time I found him in the woods.” Lyle looked a little surprised.

“But he remembered my name.” said Lyle. He was confused now. Michael had amnesia?

Hiroshi didn’t doubt his word but the situation was too complicated. The two didn’t say anymore as they reached the Hoshi Inn. “Eh, you’re staying at my inn?” asked Hiroshi. Lyle looked surprised and asked, “Your Inn? So your surname is Adachi. That means,” he paused and looked Hiroshi, “you’re Hiroshi, Odaka’s son.”

Hiroshi blinked and looked at him. He opened his mouth to say something and then shut it when he saw someone familiar out of the corner of his eye.

At that moment the fair haired man that had chased the two earlier cried out happily, “Lyle!” He rushed over and glomped Lyle. He grinned. He was totally different from the serious man giving chase to the two. Lyle broke out into a smile "Hi, Takeshi."

Takeshi said, “Guess who I saw in the marketplace? Guess who? Guess who?”

Lyle said,” Uh, Michael?”

“How’d you know?” Point. Point. Takeshi looked to where Lyle was pointing and his eyes turned to saucers.

“AHHH!!!!! It’s Michael!!! How did you find him Lyle?”

Hiroshi looked at the fair haired man closely and found that he resembled Michael a little. Michael also looked at the young man and as he did, his eyes glazed over once more.

“…Nii-chan?” he asked quietly.

The four boys stood there, each staring at each other. The situation had definitely changed drastically in one day.