Rengoku
#1 of Rengoku
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Stumbling Through Purgatory Chapter
Toshio walked into the pool house and turned towards the next available chair. He felt uncomfortable just walking into his best friend's pool house without asking. Toshio sat down and pulled a box out of his pocket, the gift his grandfather got him for his 18th birthday. Toshio didn't like the feel of the box, something wasn't right about it. It made his skin crawl and his birthmark itch. Toshio was a tall wolf, about 6'5". He had White and gray fur with a birthmark on his hand. When Toshio was born, the priest (His uncle) told him he was a gifted child and marked the Japanese symbol for Solutions on his hand and said, "This child has the gift to separate truth from lie."
Toshio knew this not to be completely untrue, He could always tell when his friends where lying to him, the scent, the feel of the air, and their body movements. Though he had this ability, he knew many people also possess it, People who work in the government and such. And on top of that he was far from anything special. You see, Toshio is bisexual, and that means life can be kind of rough. But he has never had a severe problem with it. Toshio is on the baseball team, he has many friends, and he's very social. Most people would label him as popular (Which sadly isn't the case for most bisexuals) and his friends' number somewhere in the 30s. But Toshio had an inner ring of his best friends, two of which he has a crush on. A bear named Erik, and a husky named Adam. He tried to recall his visit to Erik's when he had waited outside for thirty minutes outside in the thirty four degree weather, only to figure out he could have waited in the pool house which most of his best friends do. Still, this felt like trespassing
Toshio got up to stretch his legs and walked around the pool, the chlorine smelled unnatural and foreign, he had always been used to swimming in the ocean, and this was far from it. Toshio remembered his first year in an American school, the homework was simple and the teachers imbeciles. Toshio broke a kids nose for calling him a fag, and flattened three others along with him. Toshio mostly had a Devil May Care attitude, but when it came to love and other things, he was arrogant and rash (Even took to cussing Erik out to hide his feelings.)
Toshio turned the tight corner and stopped. His ear flicked rapidly, ears picking up a foreign noise. The sound was water, and the smell of pheromones being released into the air, someone was sweating. The source became instantly known... it was Erik. He pivoted and leaned forward, heart thumping and mind racing through all the possibilities why the smell was so strong. He instantly hit a wall, or so he thought. The wall was soft, but wet and tough. He was sent sprawling across the floor and recovery was not so easy. Not because the blow had caused physical harm, but because he realized what caused the blow. It was Erik, and he was naked.
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"You Asshole!" here it came, the cursing. Toshio's face bright red, Erik's stunned, still trying to figure out what had happened. Toshio couldn't help but take in his entire form. The towel not fully around the waist showed to round cheeks sticking above the rim, his muscles flexed in strain in case if to flee, his upper back well muscled, and his chest the same, his only flaw was the small paunch of a stomach (Which all bears naturally have). Toshio began on his tirade again, "You tell me I can just come in 'whenever' and this shit happens, You could have given me a warning or something, dammit!" Toshio waited for some form of rebuttal, but instead got a barrage of apologies, "Oh god, I'm so so.. its just, damn what did I just do..." Toshio felt terrible. Instead of an argument, he got apologies and pleas of forgiveness. Toshio tried to turn his look into something sincere, "Look. Just....forget it ever happened." Erik nodded his head weakly. Toshio walked toward the house with a swift pace, fearing if he looked back he would die of embarrassment.
Toshio walked into the kitchen and was taken by surprise. He saw a tawny brown wolf working diligently on the party goods. Her outfit said simple and clean, her face lined with exertion. She was about 5'8", she was about seventeen years of age, and she hated the color red (Just a random piece of information that might help later.).
Toshio hugged her from behind and ruffled the hem of her skirt, "Sicily, its good to see you!" Sicily was Toshio's old girlfriend, she broke up with him not because she didn't love him, but because her ex boyfriend had died. She was under so much stress it had caused depression. she patted his head with a flowery paw, "Great, I guess its not a secret anymore." Toshio immediately knew what she meant, the smell of cake hit his nose and he let out a sigh of pleasure, "Chocolate.".
The air felt cool on Adam's face, walking to Erik's house was more relaxing than driving. He sighed and pulled a pill bottle out of his hoodie pocket, the pills shone pearl white in the dim light of the moon. He popped the cap off and put one in his mouth, he hated the taste, smell, and the residual effect. The pills took off the edge of insanity, but replaced it with a lethargic, non caring persona. It wasn't him, it wasn't who he wanted to be. He swallowed the first and began on the second, but the minute he felt his mind start slipping back into the numbness the medicine conveyed, he spit it out and stomped on it until it was nothing but dust on the empty pavement.
He started on trying to retrieve his sincere personality by recalling precious memories. He remembered Toshio's reaction to have fallen on him, his face in complete shock. To make matters worse, his hand was positioned directly on Adam's crotch. The memories where always about Toshio, and today Toshio was gonna get his best birthday present.
The knock at the door rebounded and echoed off the walls, Toshio walked to the door and put his door on the handle. Putrid smells where being emitted from his pocket that caused him to shutter, the smell of death. He wanted to run, to flee. Toshio swung the door open and the putrid smell released itself into the outside world. He caught himself in time to say a friendly hello to the guests outside. The guests consisted of two animals, a golden retriever named Gio (Giovanni), and a husky (obviously Adam). "Hey Adam, what the hell took you guys so long?" Giovanni answered in a tenor voice, "Fucking Train caused us to wait like, twenty minutes." Toshio walked them in and closed the door.
At about 9:30 pm they where all siting around the coffee table, staring at the cards laying on the table. "This is what your grandpa got you for your birthday?" Erik asked with a quizzical 'What the fuck' face, "Well, its an antique, I'm guessing its around 200 years old....so yeah, it's my present." Toshio collected Edo period artifacts, his grandfather found this one in a flee market located in Okinawa. Toshio pushed back the rope weaving around the parchment, when a note fell out from the middle of the deck.
He picked the note up and read the message. A long pause filtered the room with anticipation, he drew a breath and read it out loud, "Whomever enters this game shall be sentenced to walk through purgatory." As the stillness clears the room, a bass laugh breaks through the silence, "Hahahaha. oh...oh come on! Do you really think were going to be cursed if we play this game?" Toshio cast a severe look at Erik. Erik took this as a challenge and went to draw the first card, but Toshio was faster, he grabbed the deck and pulled the first card. The words where written in full Japanese, 'To lie is to cut the pinkie, but to mythomanius this is to bring death tenfold.' Toshio looked up at Erik with anger and fear... mythomania is compulsive lying, and Erik fit the bill perfectly.
The smell of rotting flesh and death curled around him, the air itself thrumming. Red haze poured malice into the room, and visions of flies and mosquitoes clouded his vision. Erik stood up and a vision of an ax spattered with blood and mosquitoes came in place, along with a psychotic representation of Erik "Toshio? Toshio!" The next to come to mind was Adam, the sweet husky that he once knew was replaced by a machete wielding genocide addict. Erik ran to his side to check what was wrong, which caused Toshio to cringe. Toshio started convulsing and screaming, "URUSAI URUSAI URUSAI URUSAI!!" Insane cackling echoed through his mind, it was so loud he couldn't hear what Erik was screaming about.
'Anata wa shi o osorete imasu ka?'
Erik picked up Toshio and carried him up to the guest bedroom, Toshio then vomited on Erik. Erik exclaimed, "Shit!" Toshio snapped out of it long enough to hear it, but he couldn't tell if it was because because he had vomited all over him, or if he was genuinely worried about him. The question echoed over and over through his mind so he was forced to give an answer, "Iya, watashi wa taizai shitai... Eien ni kono.... No y? ni." he whispered almost inaudibly, Erik wondered what he was mumbling about.
Erik laid Toshio carefully on the bed and began stripping him of his shirt. Erik's face became scarlet at the sight if Toshio's muscular half naked body. Toshio began mumbling to himself so Erik got in closer to listen, "Watashi... Watashi wa kare ga son'nani.... Wa ch?do kare ga watashi o hoji shitaiga daisukidesu" Erik was now sweating and completely red, he only understood half, after all, Toshio had been teaching him Japanese for 2 years. He leaned over and kissed him, it was bittersweet because he knew once he woke up, he wouldn't even remember the kiss. Toshio's lips where soft and tasted like plums and sake, (Toshio was a very big sake drinker, although he's never been drunk.) The scent made his body shutter.... It was too cruel, he pulled away. The scent left and he was filled with longing, a longing that was driving him mad.