Hello my beloved readers! I know that I keep on saying I'll try to update more frequently, and I'm sorry that hasn't been panning out. I've been pretty busy with life, and even though I love to write and have a decent plotline in my head, I can't seem to sit my ass down and type away. I know you all are wondering what the heck is going on in terms of the plot and who Asami is, but rest assured these questions will be answered when I have more chapters up. Plus, there's no fun in having it all laid out for everyone at the beginning, right? I wouldn't want to be predictable or anything haha.

Hope you enjoy it! Feedback and comments are always welcomed.

Akihito had been woken up much earlier than usual that day.

Actually, he had never been woken up before ever since he began living outside the brothels. Usually, he would just wake up naturally, and then lazed around in bed for as long as he wanted, at least until his stomach growled that is. But being woken up wasn't the only thing different today. The man who held him to sleep every night was usually always gone when Akihito finally managed to roll out of bed. However, the boy had still felt the familiar large body cocooning his own. He sensed large, calloused fingers patting his cheek in his sleep. Then, those hands gently shook his shoulders. Finally, the covers were lifted and awareness started seeping in as he was picked up and carried in those strong arms.

He was left with his caretaker to bathe, and then was helped to dress in his usual t-shirt and shorts. He got to eat breakfast in the man's lap, and then was whisked away again by his caretaker whom helped him get cleaned up. Afterwards, Akihito was riding in a car, something he had only done a few times in his life.

He didn't like the feeling of being in a car, but the interior had been very spacious and plush, not cramped like the ones he's been in the past. From the few times he had been in a moving vehicle in the past, he could vaguely remember being encased in some type of box or container, or with several other boys squished together inside of a tight area. He remembered that it was usually hard to breathe and he got dizzy many times during the ride. He started to tremble at that memory and sucked in large gulps of air, fingers tightly gripping the leather seats underneath him. Then, he immediately let go suddenly realizing that whoever this car belonged to wouldn't have liked it if Akihito had accidentally messed up the seats. Akihito didn't know how long he sat there, but he found himself dozing off until he felt his caretaker tapping him lightly on the shoulder, signaling that they had arrived at wherever it was.

She gripped him by the hand and led him into some sort of house.

Akihito stayed there with her for the remainder of the day, and it wasn't until well into the night after their second day that once again, he was escorted into a car, and was driven back to the Asami estate.

He figured that maybe something exciting was going to happen when he was woken up that day, but then the two days outside his usual abode proved to be rather dull. However, once he was ushered out of the car and was walking through the familiar gardens of the estate, he noticed that things had definitely changed while he was away.

The changes weren't something he could immediately pinpoint, but there was something about the tension in the air that made him nervous. He definitely sensed the tension before after the passing of his first caretaker, but this was a different tension. This tension was much closer and made his lower spine prickle. It was the same feeling he felt when he could sense that someone was watching him. He fidgeted nervously and kept his head low the entire walk back to his quarters.

Akihito didn't breathe out a sigh of relief until after the shoji doors were slid shut.

When Asami entered the bedroom, fresh from a quick shower with a towel around his hips, the hands on the antique grandfather clock in the center of the room was already ticking past four in the morning. The room was pitched dark, with heavy drapes shielding even the moon and stars, but Asami could still make out every sight as if everything was alit. He sighed as he spotted the time. It was a reminder that he would have to get up in less than two hours.

Nevertheless, he was still looking forward to laying down for a quiet repose. He quickly dried his hair, threw the damp towel in the hamper, and slid into bed wrapping his arms around a fast-asleep Akihito.

It still surprised him just how he got so used to this…child now. This was especially apparent in the two days since the boy had been gone. It had barely been half a year since Akihito had been found, yet already Asami was getting used to holding him while the boy slept. He didn't require sleep himself at night, but ever since he had established this sort of habit, he found himself wandering into the bedroom the first night Akihito was gone, only to remember that the boy had been sent into hiding when he found the bed to be empty.

Smelling the heady fragrant of Akihito's soft skin and threading his hands into golden locks, Asami relished in the feel of the child's body heat, separated only by Akihito's thin cotton pajamas. Akihito smelled so sweet and he was so warm. And in the two days that the boy was gone, he had smelt even sweeter to Asami now.

Asami resisted laying a small kiss on the boy's temple.

It simply wouldn't do to accidentally bite him.

The doctors started coming about a month after.

And by that, Akihito meant more doctors. He felt like he already had a little army of doctors and nurses fussing over him every time of every day. There were all those annoying physicals and pills he had to take and physical therapy sessions scheduled every day. After his legs had healed and he had gotten much better, he decided to mischievously make a game out of it and ran as soon as breakfast was over. Breakfast was always followed by a check-up, and those were seriously the worst. He loved to play hide-and-seek with them after he began remembering where everything was in his surroundings. Sometimes, it even took them hours to find him! Recalling those times always made him want to giggle.

But he wasn't giggling now. Because there were more doctors, and this time, when they got a hold of him, there were so many tests and physical exams his free time had dwindled down to nearly non-existent.

Akihito realized that he was pouting. But he couldn't help it. Day in and out, someone always kept on prodding his skin to draw blood, and while he was used to pain, it didn't mean he liked the queasy feeling that accompanied it. There were also people who kept on checking his eyes and sticking something in his ears. They had him do a bunch of other things too, and then one day they slid him into some sort of loose robe that tied in the back and laid him on a strange moving bed. They stuck needles in his arms and hands, and had tubes in his nose.

Akihito started to get scared when someone was hovering something close to his face. He began to thrash for surely that person was going to suffocate him when calloused hands encircled his moving arms and restrained them down to the bed.

Just from the feel of them Akihito knew it was the man that always held him. He immediately tried to calm down, but still trembled when whatever had been close to his face earlier was some sort of a mask that went over his nose and mouth.

He felt some sort of cloth being draped over him, and then tightly clutched at the man's arms when he felt a cold metal device encircled his head and secured it in place.

Akihito sensed many people moving close around him, looking over him. Even though blind, he could unconsciously feel the bright lights overhead that zoomed at his face, and then, very slowly, he felt the brightness fade into black as he slowly but surely slipped into unconsciousness.