Little Boy

Chapter 16 ~ Revelations and Punishment

Ren stumbled backwards as Yoh punched him as hard as possible in the stomach.

“You sick, sick bastard!” Yoh yelled at the Tao. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“What the hell are you talking about, Asakura?” he snapped.

“I know what you did to my little Manta-chan, and because of you he’s suffering more than he was before!”

“Oh? And what did I do?”

“First of all, you raped him! Then you made him scared so that he wouldn’t ask for help! How dare you toy with him like that after all he’s done for us?!”

“You mean the way you toy with him?” Ren asked with a smirk.

“Huh?”

“Did you ever stop and ask if he wanted to do things with you?” Ren continued to smirk. “Admit it. You like having control of that little thing you call a boyfriend, don’t you?”

Yoh glared at the Tao. “Ren, my relationship with Manta is irrelevant at the moment! And for your information, I do love him! Manta is ill, and all you can do is torture him! Make him afraid! Jesus Christ, Ren! What if Manta tries to hurt himself?! What if he... If he...”

“Tries to kill himself?” Ren asked with a smirk. “He wouldn’t. He’s not smart enough. He’d probably go curl up in some little corner and wait to serve you whenever you tell him, just like a little puppy.”

“Don’t speak so slanderously about Manta!” Yoh yelled, then punched the Tao again, sending him flying against the tree, then he shot forward and pinned Ren’s shoulders against the tree.

“Hey! Let me go!”

“I don’t know what Horo sees in you,” Yoh growled.

Ren looked up with a smirk. “I make him happy, of course. He’s just like Manta. A helpless little puppy under his mask. I make him feel happy and loved when he is in pain.”

Yoh glared at the Tao. “You speak even of the one who loves you with such thoughtlessness?”

“You’re too soft,” Ren replied as he brought his feet up and slammed them against Yoh’s ribs, knocking the shaman backwards. “Yoh, in a relationship, one dominates while the other submits. It’s up to the dominator to keep the one who submits in line. That way they are trained properly.”

“I don’t want Manta to train! I want Manta to be happy when he’s with his friends! I want Manta to tell me what’s wrong when he’s hurt! I want Manta to feel safe with me! Instead he’s scared and can’t even protect himself! How long until you were going to take him again?!”

Ren smirked. “The first moment possible.”

Yoh’s eyes dilated, then he drew Harasume. “Ren, do not push me.”

Once again the younger shaman smirked. “You’re jealous. Jealous that I got to take his innocence.”

Yoh’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t take anything.”

“Oh yes. How could I have forgotten? There was somebody else, but I can’t quite remembered.” He smirked. “Oh I remember, now. It was your own brother who took and broke Manta.”

Yoh looked at him shakily. “What? How would you know?!”

Ren smirked. “Perhaps it’s because I was there.”

Yoh looked at Ren, his expression becoming a mix of shock and misery. “You... were there?”

Ren stepped back and leaned against the tree, chuckling. “Yes. It was quite amusing watching. He kept crying for his hero, but he never came.”

“Why... didn’t you stop him?” Yoh whispered.

“Now why would I stop him when I was the one who delivered the little brat to him?”

Yoh becamgry.gry. “Why would you ever do that to Manta?!”

Ren looked at him twisted amusement. “He was in the way of my goal before I discovered how... intriguing Horo truly is. Things didn’t work out the way they should have, though.”

“And how is that?!”

“The overall plan was for him to detach himself from shamans. Diminish his trust of them, including one who mirrored the one who hurt him. Instead he had to be stubborn and pretend it was fine. Pretend that you would never touch him. But he also knew from Hao’s ‘training’ that if he ever said no, he would be hurt again. Thus, he developed a fear that forced him to love you and never disobey.” Ren smirked. “That fear, however, has made him quite talented with the mouth, however.”

Yoh stared shakily, then growled. “Kisama,” he whispered, then he shot towards Ren and slashed Harasume across his midriff, though not so that it would kill him.

Ren growled in pain, then looked up to the shaman. “What are you so angry about? You know you love controlling that weak mind. Touching that tiny body. Listening to him whimper like a helpless puppy. You’re just like me.”

“I am not like you! I care that Manta is suffering! Unlike you, I actually love the one who loves me! Perhaps like any person there is a bit of attractiveness in his weakness, but it doesn’t change that I want Manta-chan to be strong and healthy again!”

“Is that so?”

The two stared silently at each other for a long time. The resident spirits watched the them silently, anticipating a fight. Much to their relief, however, Yoh sheathed Harasume.

“Ren... I don’t want to ever see you. Don’t ever come near Manta or me or the hotel again. Understand?”

“Or you’ll what?”

“Remember the first time Amidamaru and I reached 100% integration? Double that,” he said icily, then tu and and walked away.

Manta cried out as Mansumi threw him against the cellar wall, then collapsed, trembling.

“Get up!” Mansumi said angrily.

Slowly Manta tried to get up, then collapsed, crying softly.

“I said get up!” he yelled as he walked over and kicked the smaller blonde’s ribs.

“I... I’m sorry,” he whimpered.

“Sir, please. He isn’t well,” Tamura said nervously.

“Tamura, do you want to keep you job?!” Mansumi snapped.

Tamura stared at the short yet intimidating man. “Gomen, Oyamada-san.”

Mansumi looked back angrily at Manta. “Now tell me, Manta. What did you do last night?”

“N-Nothing,” he whimpered. “I only came home and went to bed.”

“Is that so?” He took a whip from the wall, and uncoiled the leather end while looking at his son. “What did you do last night?”

Manta looked up with shakey eyes. “N-Nothing.”

“Hmph. Little liar,” Mansumi spat, then snapped the whip across Manta’s bare chest. He smirked when his son cried out, then readied the whip again. “What did you do last night?”

Tamura watched in silent despair as Manta continued to deny, only to be struck again with the whip. “Manta,” he whispered quietly, then looked over his shoulder. “Integrate with him,” he said in a soft voice.

Mosuke quickly turned to the caretaker. “What? You can see me?”

“I always have. Please help Manta.”

“What was that?” Mansumi demanded as he turned and faced Tamura.

He cleared his throat. “I said, please tell him, Manta.”

Manta lay on his side, gasping between sobs. “Please... stop...”

“Oh?” Mansumi looked at his son. “If you want me to stop, you are going to tell me the truth. Now what was the Asakura brat doing here last night?”

Manta whimpered softly as his eyes fluttered shut. “He... brought me home.”

“And after you came home, what did you two do?”

“We... went to bed...”

“And what did you do last night?”

“We... we... we...” He began to sob harder.

Mansumi growled softly, then walked over and crouched next to his son while running a hand through the limp blonde hair. “Did you two have sex? Just tell me,” he said with gentleness Manta had never known him for.

“Yes,” Manta said weakly, then took a shaky breath and felt himself slipping into darkness again.

“That wasn’t so hard to say, now was it?” Mansumi asked as he stroked Manta’s hair with uncharacteristic gentleness. “However...”

Tamura and Mosuke watched nervously as Mansumi stood, his gaze becoming cold and hard.

“It will not save you from punishment.” Mansumi lifted the whip again. “You lied right in my face. You dishonored our family name. You have become a sniveling baby.”

Manta looked up, his eyes barely open, then he closed them again as his father flicked his wrist in an all-too-familiar form.