Chapter Ten- It's Nice To Meet You

Tekuno walked up to the large house in front of him and knocked on the front door. Miku opened it, her eyes widening when she saw the man in front of her.

"Good afternoon, um…" Miku greeted the man.

"Tekuno Hirane," Tekuno replied. "Who is the head of this household now that Gakupo is gone?"

"Well, we don't really have a head of the household yet."

"Well, I guess that means I don't have to do any negotiating. This house is mine now. That means you're my slave from now on. There are other slaves, right?"

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know Master Kamui?"

Tekuno shrugged. "We were good friends. So where are the other slaves?"

Miku sighed and led Tekuno to the basement. "Everyone, meet Tekuno Hirane, your new master," Miku told the slaves, who groaned in synchronicity.

"That's a fine way to treat your new master," Tekuno spat.

Len bowed to Tekuno, who smirked. "I'm sorry, Master Hirane," he said softly.

"Who cooks around here?"

"I do. My name is Len, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

"Cook me something now. I'll be in the living room." Tekuno and Len walked upstairs. The other characters sighed.

"We're never going to be free for long, are we?" Lapis asked. "It's only been a week or two. I may as well go back to my previous master."

Luka shook her head. "How bad could this new master be?"

"He could chop off all our hands."

"Well, hopefully slavery will be banned before that happens."

Meanwhile, Len walked up to Tekuno. "Um… I hope you don't mind me asking this, but…"

Tekuno looked up at Len from the couch. "Whatever. Go on."

"Well, one of the slaves no longer has hands, so I was hoping that we'd be able to buy her robotic hands."

"What, do you expect me to buy something like that for my own slave?"

"Well, it would be hard for her to do work without hands, you see. I'm sorry if I'm asking for too much. I'm really sor-"

"Geez, do you apologise all the time? I'll buy the damn robotic hands. Just cook me my lunch."

"Are you going to run the tobacco company in Gakupo's place?"

Tekuno raised an eyebrow. "Gakupo?" he smiled. "Can you call me by my first name?"

Len winced as he spoke the man's name. "Tekuno, will you run the company?"

"Probably not. I can't be bothered running such a big company. I'll just have the slaves who work on that work on pleasing me. That should be fun."

"So what shall you do for a living?"

"I've already got this huge house so there's no point in doing anything. I don't really do jobs." Tekuno laughed. "You know, I was going to get into the music business but I couldn't be bothered. I mean, what's the point when my parents already give me an allowance? Wow, saying that makes me sound like a child, doesn't it? All well. Get to work. Make me a salad."

Len nodded and hurried to the kitchen. He began preparing a gourmet salad. This particular salad was Gakupo's favourite dish.

An image of Gakupo entered Len's mind, causing him to tear up. Tekuno stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"How long does it take to make a goddamn salad?" Tekuno froze when he saw Len crying. "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm sorry…" Len replied. "…I just… I'm not sure whether to miss Gakupo or be relieved that he's gone. "

Suddenly Tekuno heard a knock on the front door and went to open it. Kaito was there. "Hello," he said.

"Who are you?" Tekuno asked.

"I'm Len's boyfriend." Tekuno refrained from laughing at the overly proud look on Kaito's face. Kaito frowned when he realised what he just said. "Oh man, I probably shouldn't have said that to you, whoever you are. Please don't kill Len or me."

Tekuno chuckled. "Come inside."

"Thank you. So what's your name?"

"Call me Mr Hirane." Tekuno walked back to the kitchen. "I didn't know that Gakupo allowed his slaves to date."

Len's eyes widened as he turned around. "Well, he didn't. That's why he… that's why he killed himself. It's a long story." Len smiled when he saw Kaito. "Can I still date Kaito?"

Tekuno shrugged. "Whatever. It's fine so long as you keep working for me." Len ran up to Kaito and hugged him.

"Oh, so you're okay with touching me now," Kaito commented with a happy sigh.

Len stepped back. "I think I might need some more time to get over Gakupo, but surely that doesn't mean that I can't be close to you, right?"

Kaito kissed Len's forehead, causing Len to blush. Tekuno chuckled for the second time that day. "So how about we go to Café Chat-Chat tonight?" Kaito suggested. Len nodded. "Can we go, Mr Hirane?" Tekuno nodded.

"Just make sure you make dinner for me beforehand, Len," he ordered. Len nodded before giving Kaito another hug. "I have a feeling that masters aren't supposed to let their slaves do whatever they want, but who cares?"

Len prepared Tekuno's dinner. When he finished serving his new master, he walked outside with Kaito, smiling as he held Kaito's hand.

Len frowned when he saw Wil, who snickered when he saw the couple in front of him. "Oh, so you decided to date that little rat, huh?" Wil asked Kaito, who narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't do things like that, you know. This boy probably has some sort of disease."

"Do you really want to repeat that fight we had a little while ago?" Kaito replied. Wil snorted. Kaito looked down. "Not that I'm threatening you, of course. You're still my friend, but could you stop making fun of Len?"

Wil smirked. "Why would I want to be friends with a weakling like you? You know, you and the slave you're with are actually perfect for each other."

Len ran up to Wil and punched him in the face. Wil wiped his cheek and glared daggers at Len, who gave him an apologetic look.

"I… I promise I won't do something like that again," Len said quietly. He took a deep breath before continuing. "That being said, don't insult Kaito like that. He's stronger than you think. I'm stronger than you think. I've had to put up with more in a few minutes than you have in your whole life."

"Do you like making pretentious speeches like that all the time?" Wil asked mockingly.

Len closed his eyes and breathed slowly. "I don't have to listen to this from you. Let's go, Kaito. Have a nice night, Wil. Sorry for using your first name."

Kaito and Len walked to the café. Kaito smiled at Len. "You're really brave, you know that?"

Len shrugged. The two sat outside, where they enjoyed the cool breeze and full moon. A waiter took their orders and left the two alone.

Len's hand rested on the table. Kaito put his hand on Len's. "Where are you going to go when you become free?" he inquired.

"I don't know," Len admitted. "I'll probably continue cooking, this time for a fee, but I have nowhere to live."

"You could always stay with me."

Len's eyes widened. "I don't want to be a burden."

"It's okay. My parents are pretty generous. They're always letting homeless people stay at their place for a while."

"I guess it wouldn't be a problem if I stayed there for a little bit. Then again, I'm not even sure if slavery will be banned. Maybe I'll never be free."

Kaito shook his head. "I know it sounds cliché to say this, but you have to have hope. If you can live after all that's happened to you, anything's possible. Is it wrong to think that?"

"Of course not." Len gently kissed Kaito's lips.

The rest of the week passed by quicker than a cheetah. "Okay, okay, I'll put the damn news on," Tekuno said in resignation. "Why do you all want to watch it so badly anyway?"

"Today's a very important day," Merli replied. The other slaves nodded. Kaito grabbed Len's hand and gave him a look that made everyone else look calm in comparison.

"I can't believe you're about to be released," Kaito said.

Tekuno's eyebrow raised. "What did you say? Are they getting rid of slavery or something? I can't have that. It's not fair. Damn it, just when I was getting used to being pampered…. My parents gave me allowances but never my own servants. This is so unfair!"

A man on the television spoke in front of the House of Parliament. "Slavery has just been abolished. Slave owners are required to free their slaves by tomorrow."

"Damn it!" Tekuno yelled.

Len took a step closer to Tekuno. "I could always work for you still. I just want to be payed and treated well."

"How much do you want?"

"Not much."

"Okay, then. I'll let you work for me. You've all already proven that you can work well."

Len smiled. Despite doing the same thing he'd been doing for years, being treated like a human made him feel like he had every opportunity in the world. He was no longer limited.