Until You 18

Kunzite walked towards Nephrite’s room quietly. The hour was late and almost everybody had gone home. Everybody except Lita and Rei, who were talking leisurely in the balcony. The sun was beginning to set and Kunzite thought he had given Nephrite enough time to be by himself. It was now time to talk. When they were still in the Ian’s castle, Kunzite had seen the depth of Nephrite’s pain in his eyes and at that time he thought it was because of the wounds on his body. But he had been with the other generals longer than he had been with anyone else. Every of the generals’ gesture, movement, fighting skill and attitude was not an alien thing for him. And Nephrite was the man who would never show his pain to anyone else. That was why when he saw Nephrite’s pain; he knew it wasn’t from the torture. It was something deeper.

Kunzite’s hand was only a few inches away from the doorknob of Nephrite’s door room when he heard footsteps from behind. Without turning around, he smiled a little because if he knew the generals so well, the generals knew him too well too. He knew Jadeite and Zoisite had expected him to go inside Nephrite’s room and started his little talk. He had been doing that forever and that was one of the reasons the bond between them was unbreakable. Behind him, Jadeite and Zoisite stood silently as if waiting him to open the door. “So,” Kunzite said without turning around, breaking the silent atmosphere around them. “You also want to join the talk session?”

“You are so typical, Kunzite,” Zoisite answered with a smile in his voice. “We knew you are going to question Nephrite about what had happened.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Jadeite continued. “Although I have this bad feeling about bringing up that particular subject, but I have to admit that I was as curious as you about what could have hurt Nephrite that bad.”

At that, Kunzite turned around. “So, you are also aware of that?”

Jadeite’s brows drew closed in unconcealed worries. “Who wouldn’t? Nephrite was usually an expert in hiding his pain but this time…” Jadeite ran a nervous hand through the thick golden mane.

Zoisite shoved his hand into his jeans pocket pants and shrugged his shoulders. “It’s going a battle to get information out of Nephrite.”

Kunzite put his hand on the doorknob with a grin on his face. “Are you up to that?” Jadeite and Zoisite exchanged amused glance at each other.

“Sure.”

* * * * * *

Nephrite was struggling to ease his arms into a white shirt. He had just got off from the shower, where he had spent the last hour trying to wash away dried blood from his long hair and his body. Then he took another half an hour to carefully bandaging his ribs and forehead and blew his hair dried. He sorely tempted to tease Lita to do that for him but mercifully decided against it. His legs were still ached and he had limped his way around. That was one of the reasons he would never walk around if Lita was here. As he buttoned a row of buttons in front of him, he winced softly at a look of shackle-bruise on his wrist. Bloody hell! He looked like ex-prisoner. He was about to reach for a comb to tame his wild hair when he heard his doorknob being turned and he thought it was Lita. So, he ignorantly sat of a sofa that was facing from the door and worked the tangles out from his hair.

“Lita,” Nephrite said teasingly, without turning around. “If you have changed your mind about bathing me, I’m afraid you’re too late for that.”

Then, he heard a muffled laughter that sounded very much like Jadeite and a teasing answer from Zoisite. “I doubt that all four of us will fit in that bathtub of yours, Nephrite.” At that all three of them burst out into laughter and Nephrite smiled embarrassedly.

Nephrite let out a mortifying sigh because he sensed his friends had come to start the talk, but he hesitantly stood up, wondering if he dared to limp his way towards his friends. After a quick thinking, Nephrite willed himself to just stood with his hands secretly supporting his weight against the sofa. Jadeite took a quick scan at Nephrite and secretly relieved to find most of his bruises had faded. It only thing that was left to be worried about was the huge bruise on his ribs. And the invincible scars… “If you come here to see if I’m still alive, be rest assured.” Nephrite tried to start the conversation with a very light remark. He knew by the end of this talk, all his friends would know what had happened in last three days.

Kunzite let out a soft chuckle as he walked towards the sofas, followed closely by Zoisite and Jadeite. “I can see that.” Kunzite was totally aware of Nephrite wary gaze as if he expected him to fire the questions any second now. “By the way, Nephrite, you shouldn’t be standing on that legs. We’ve been friends since forever and there’s no need to hide your pain from us.”

Nephrite let out a soft curses, which brought knowing grins from his friends as all three of them settled themselves on the sofas. Giving up, Nephrite limped his way to the dressing table to put the comb back on its place and reached out for the black rubber band. As he walked back to the sofa, he tied back his hair. The atmosphere was so still as Nephrite endured a very uncomfortable gaze from Kunzite. Kunzite’s eyes were so shrewd and his silver-gray eyes were penetrating his very soul.

“Are you just going to look at me, or are you going to start your talk?” Nephrite tried his very damnest to hide his uneasiness. Sometimes, he hated those soul-penetrating eyes of Kunzite. Kunzite was one of the most concerned leaders he had ever knew even though he tried to hide it from becoming a public knowledge to the outsider.

“We have never hidden anything from each other, so don’t start now, Nephrite.” Kunzite said.

“What? I? Hiding something from you guys? Don’t be ridiculous.” Nephrite scoffed and hoped that it sounded convincing enough. To his dismay, he could see Jadeite’s eyes narrowed in obvious displeasure at his prevarication and Zoisite’s fair eyebrows rose in disbelief. As much as he wanted to fill his friends about his lurid experience, the words seemed to be stuck in his throat. Telling Lita about what had happened was one thing but telling his friends was an entirely different matter.

“Nephrite…” Kunzite let out a tired sigh. “I don’t know what had happened between you and Ian for the last few days, but as far as I can see right now, you think we will not understand, am I right?”

Nephrite looked away. Was he that obvious? He hadn’t shed even a trace of tears for as long as he could remember and right now, in front of his oldest friends who were asking him to at least shared a smallest portion of his pain, Nephrite was on verge of doing so. His childhood was too dark and Ian’s torture had awakened a piece of memory in his mind that he had desperately tried to forget.

Jadeite did not miss even a single painful expression that went across Nephrite’s face. My God… Jadeite thought a mixture of anger and sadness. How hurt was Nephrite?

“Do you remember the first time we met?” Kunzite asked suddenly, which brought all three of them to look at him. Kunzite knew that this time, no authority could force Nephrite to tell them about what had happened, so he decided to use a more subtle way. Somehow, Kunzite had this kind of feeling that Ian’s imprisonment had brought up something in Nephrite. If he said he want to know everything, he meant everything.

Zoisite looked at Kunzite. He didn’t know what would they gain if they started to relive their life in Earth Kingdom, instead of demanding for the answers. But then, if it came to digging out deepest secrets from a person, Kunzite was an expert. Shrugging his shoulders slightly, Zoisite decided to go along with Kunzite. Curving up a small smile, Zoisite said, “How can I forget?”

Flashback

The bailey was full of dozens young men practicing their skills in swords. The sound of clanking swords and shouting filled the evening. From far, a pair of silver-gray eyes observed the scene in front of him with a sudden rush of displeasure. The owner of the startling eyes was no more than sixteen years old; too tall for his own height and eyes too shrewd for his own age. His short silver hair emphasized his youthfulness but no one could ever guess that the innocent looking boy had experienced hardness more than any of older guards around the castle.

“Hn…” Kunzite snorted softly. He knew that the men was not practicing, they were showing off to each other their skills. They were all here with one purpose after all, to be prince of Earth’s guardians. The royal family had attracted many warriors and generals to send their sons to the Earth for a few months under the observation of the King, including his ambitious father. By the end of the year, the four selected guardians would be announced and his father had told him, very firmly, that he must be one of the guardians.

What was his father’s words? Oh yeah. Don’t you dare walk back in this house unless you bring a title with you. Kunzite snorted again, this time a little louder. It wasn’t the first time his father threatened to throw him out of his own soon-to-be house. And Kunzite wasn’t planning to obey his father’s orders anyway. If his father really wanted to throw him out, he was better off without his father or the other way around.

Sixteen years under the domination of his ambitious father, forcing him to excel in everything, always afraid that his own son might shame him. He was forced to beat older warriors in swordplay, excel in his studies and was completely forbidden to cry over the wounds he received. At sixteen years old, his father relentless pressure on him robbed off his optimism, innocent and softness that any sixteen years old boy should have. And now, Kunzite stood, watching young men fought with sheer boredom and disgust for he knew that the men was nothing to compare to warriors his father forced him to win over.

Pushing a lock of silver hair out of his face, Kunzite quickly turned around when his sharp ear heard light footsteps behind him. There stood a boy at his own age, as tall as he was, with his long blond hair casually tied back and his green eyes twinkled mischievously. Kunzite narrowed his eyes at the boy. Ever since he was here, he tried not to make any friends for he knew most of the bloody-rich boys were unbelievably snob. His eyes looked up and down rudely to the boy in front of him, noticing that while he was all cynical and hard, the boy was merry and cheerful. He didn’t look like someone who wanted to be a guardian.

“Are you going to continue to rudely look at me like that or are you going to ask my name?” The boy said lightly, the twinkle never left his eyes.

“Why the hell should I be the one to ask your name?” Kunzite snarled. He was in a very bad mood ever since he got here. And this bloody boy was actually asking him whether he wanted to know his name. Like hell he did! “You’re the one who did the bloody approaching.”

“Well, you are one bad-tempered person.” The boy smiled even wider. Kunzite glanced at him with utter disbelief. By now, most of the people would be angry with him and went off. But this boy actually teased about his foul disposition! “Anyway, to cease your curiosity, I am Zoisite.” Zoisite held out his hand for a handshake.

Kunzite eyed the hand suspiciously. “I didn’t ask.” He glared at Zoisite, who was raising his eyebrows in return. “Give your bloody name to any one who ask.” With that Kunzite walked off.

Zoisite watched the strange looking boy with a surge feeling of curiosity. In just two minutes, the boy had cursed him three times and he didn’t even know his name! Well, this boy was certainly different from the sickly rich and disgustingly snob boys and Zoisite knew that befriended him would be interesting indeed.

Shoving his hands into the pockets, Zoisite looked the same scene Kunzite had been staring for the past few hours until he came to interrupt him. Like Kunzite, Zoisite didn’t care whether he got to be selected as the guardian or not. He didn’t like responsibility and hated to be ordered around like some dog. Most of the boys were noble family and regularity and rules were very important. But to Zoisite, he would tell the boring rules to go hell and frequently broke every single rule.

His father didn’t see that he couldn’t abide being confined under restriction and slowly he came to realize that no matter what he did, he couldn’t please his father. His father hated him and Zoisite gave up on making him to love him even a little. That was why when his father ordered him to dress neatly, Zoisite kept his hair long and left his outer clothes unbuttoned. Why bother? His father would disapprove anyway. Zoisite was too wild, too irresponsible, and too carefree to his father opinion and wanting that he decided to send him here, so his unwanted burden would be out of his sight even for a few months. The only thing that kept his father from disowning him was that he was the only child.

To hell with his father’s thoughts! He acted as if he was such a troublesome and thought that sending him somewhere far away for a few months would gain him some peace. If he failed in every single thing his father ordered him to excel to, Zoisite probably would understand the animosity his father felt towards him. But in his naiveté had driven him to exhaust himself so he would excel in everything. The skill in the swordplay was due to his determination to win his father affection and the depth of his knowledge was due to his will to prove himself. All he ever got was more disapproval and punishment. So, Zoisite kept his hair long as a sign of defiant, challenging his father to cane him for his daringness and stubbornness.

Finally, as if his father thought that Zoisite couldn’t satisfy him, he sent him into this stupid scheme. How absurd could it be for everyone to compete to be the prince’s shield? How spoiled was the prince anyway? “Well…” Zoisite exhaled softly, not bothering to tame his wild gold mane. “I bet His Highness and Almighty is as snob as any of those rich boys.” Curving up a grin, Zoisite turned around. He looked forward for tonight’s dinner. He wanted to meet the irritating silver-haired boy and to catch a glimpse of the precious prince

* * * * * *

The enormous dining hall was already buzzing with people’s talking and laughing. Large tables were groaning over the heavy dishes of foods. Kunzite, with his back leaned boringly against the pillar, again watched the scene with utter distaste. Too many food, too many entertainment and too luxurious for his taste. Sixteen years under strict domination of his father, Kunzite became accustomed to hardship and he didn’t like all these. Silently, he cursed his father. If his father was that ambitious, he should be the one who enter this ridiculous scheme! At the corner of his eyes, he caught a glimpse of a boy who wore expression as same as his. A flick of interest ignited in him. He wanted to get to know him, but that was completely against his principle. Silently, Kunzite turned his gaze reluctantly back to the event in front of him.

Then, he saw the annoying boy with green eyes walked in with the same carefree smile. His hair was loosely tied back; making strands of golden hair fell artlessly. His clothes were too casual for the formal event as if he didn’t give a damn about regulation. Kunzite stiffened. Rules and regulation had become a main thing in his life. That was why he always kept his hair short and his clothes neat. He suddenly realized that he and… what was that boy’s name again? Zoisite? Yes, Zoisite. He and Zoisite were as different as night and day.

As if Zoisite sensed he was being observed, he turned his head to Kunzite’s direction and grinned at him. Kunzite snorted, which the only thing he had been doing ever since he got here, and Zoisite grinned even wider. Marching towards Kunzite, Zoisite knew that he was the first person Kunzite had ever known since he arrived here. He felt flattered as hell. “Hi, are you looking for me?” Zoisite greeted. That irritating grin of his never left his face. It made Kunzite annoyed even more.

“Hn…”

“Is that the only word you know, apart from hell and bloody?” Zoisite teased. This boy was so tense!

“No, I also know ‘damn’, ‘fuck’, and other various type of curses,” he snapped back. Kunzite frowned even more, hoping he would shock this bloody snob rich boy with his vile words. To his surprise, which Zoisite managed to draw out from him twice in a day, Zoisite looked thoughtful and said, “That’s interesting. I hope you could enlighten me by your words ‘other various type of curses’ for I would have love to do that to someone.”

Looking totally pissed off, Kunzite’s silver-gray eyes gleamed dangerously. Pushing himself away the pillar, Kunzite said scathingly. “If you don’t cut off you bloody and idiotic words, I swear to your empty-minded head that I shall cut you damned balls before you could even snivel for your mother’s name, you fucking good-for-nothing bastard!” There! Kunzite thought. You asked for it!

Zoisite laughed. Really! Didn’t he say that this boy would be interesting? He had been shocked but refused to show it. He had already lost the counting of curses that this boy had uttered and among all the vile words he had said, he couldn’t even slip in his name. All this time, when he here, he never thought there was a rich boy with a vocabulary that would make adults shook their head and grasped their heart. This was priceless! He saw the boy was bristling and Zoisite laughed again.

“Give me a name of yours, and we’ll call it a truce,” Zoisite said, still breathless from the laughter. Once again, Zoisite held out his hand.

“Like hell it is a truce,” Kunzite muttered and his eyes eyed the hand, again with suspicion. “You’ve been irritating me from the very beginning and all I could draw out from you is amusement.” Zoisite could hear some sting had vanished from the boy’s tone but still angry as hell.

“No, I didn’t irritate you. You’ve been in such a bad mood that even listening to birds singing could piss you off.” Zoisite looked at the boy’s neatly slicked back hair and the unbelievable cleanness of his clothes. He was definitely not Zoisite’s type of friend but there was something about the silver-haired boy that made him wanted to befriend him. The boy grunted softly, couldn’t decide whether he was agreeing or denying. Smiling, Zoisite tried again. “A name, please.”

Kunzite glared, reluctant to give his name.

“I think you owe me that,” Zoisite still held out his hand. “After all, you have called me different type of names even though I have given you my name and I didn’t have any to call you back.”

Kunzite ran his speculative gaze up and down to the boy in front of him. He had never met anyone that was so lighthearted that even his vile words couldn’t wipe that irritating grin off. Usually, he would have said go to hell and walked off. Or did he have already done that to him? But he still had three months to go before the selective guardians were announced and that was quite a long period to spend it with glaring and snorting to other people from far. It would be entertaining enough if he had someone to throw his sharp barb with and never be offended. Zoisite wasn’t his type of friend but what the hell, as if he had any friend to compare him with!

Shrugging his resigned shoulders, Kunzite hesitantly took Zoisite’s hand and said it with a bite. “It’s Kunzite.” Really! He was too accustomed with that kind of tone, it was hard to break. Not that he intended to say his name with that kind of tone. But Zoisite appeared as if the tone didn’t offend him. Hn… as if he could offend Zoisite with merely words. Zoisite grinned at him. Kunzite felt a strange tug in his cheek and he suddenly knew that he was going to smile. He hardly smiled but somehow this boy managed to make him surprised, angry and then smiled in merely one day! Damn it!

Both of them turned their gaze back to bright dining hall. “Too many damn dishes… I wonder how could they endure it every day,” Kunzite muttered under his breath and Zoisite cast a mixture of amuse and surprise glance at Kunzite. “Didn’t you have this kind of dinner back at your home? I thought most of the rich boys did.”

“Hn,” Kunzite snorted. “Not everyone is as lucky as you. Wealth isn’t something that can be spent easily, according to my father. If I wanted it, I have to earn it myself.”

Lucky? Zoisite smiled humorlessly. Me? My father hated me that he couldn’t abide the sight of me. Sending me here is the clearest hint he had ever gave me. For the first time, Kunzite’s shrewd eyes saw the twinkles left Zoisite green eyes and Kunzite wondered if his word ‘lucky’ was the cause of it. But they were gone so fast that Kunzite thought he was imagining things. And he surprised himself when he felt tiny bit regret.

“Look,” Zoisite said and Kunzite looked. It was the boy that Kunzite had wanted to get to know when he first walked in the dining hall. The boy’s blue eyes were frowning in obvious displeasure and to Zoisite’s point of view, the boy looked exactly like Kunzite when he first spotted him outside the bailey. Grinning, Zoisite said, “I think you’ve found your twin.” Kunzite glowered and Zoisite laughed.

“Let’s go and say hello,” Zoisite said with such enthusiast that never ceased to amaze Kunzite. It was as if he had no trouble of life. How did I ever befriend him, I don’t know… Kunzite shook his head as he followed Zoisite reluctantly. After all, he did have the urge to get to know the boy, who Zoisite claimed to be his twin.

The golden haired boy, exactly the same shade of Zoisite’s hair, still looking at the dining hall and still had the expression of curiosity and annoyed. Why every person I meet today is so foul-tempered? Zoisite sighed when he saw the boy’s face. But Zoisite called anyway. “Hey,”

The boy looked at Zoisite and instantly, his expression changed into a pleasant smile. “Hello, I don’t believe I’ve seen you at the bailey today,” he said friendly. Zoisite raised his eyebrows in mild surprised as if he never expected the instant changes in the boy’s expression. He thought this boy was another Kunzite’s clone. Kunzite stepped out from behind Zoisite and the boy suddenly realized of his appearance. “Or you, I guess,” he said again hastily.

“No. That ‘s because we skipped it,” Zoisite said carelessly.

“So, I guess being Prince Endymion’s guardian wasn’t important to both of you?” The boy statement was so true that for that moment Zoisite and Kunzite knew that this boy was as shrewd as both of them. This was no ordinary overly fed, spoiled and cuddled wealthy boy.

“And it is important to you?” Zoisite asked back.

“Answering a question with a question. I don’t think you are being fair.” The boy smiled and Kunzite and Zoisite’s astute eyes saw he was hiding something. So, every one of us has a skeleton in the closet. Kunzite reflected ironically. I wonder if it was a fate that brought us together?

“Okay, how’s this,” Zoisite said instead. “I ask for your name and you answer. Then, you ask for our name and we both answer.”

“I didn’t say I want to give him my name,” Kunzite challenged.

“Why?” Zoisite shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “I thought we’re both in this together.”

“We’re not.”

“Yes, we are.”

“Look,” the boy said laughingly, trying to stop them. Obviously the bickering was meaningless and yet amusing. He knew he had found his place for the next three months and his heart lightened a little bit. Curving up a small grin, he extended his hand. “I’m Jadeite.” He arched his eyebrows and asked them back, like Zoisite had suggested earlier. “And you are?”

“I’m Zoisite and this is…” Zoisite looked at Kunzite meaningfully. Zoisite was respecting his decision about keeping his name, Kunzite realized. That oddly touched him. His father never gave a damn about his decision. To him, Kunzite was just another instrument to realize his ambition.

Kunzite looked at Jadeite and smiled for the first time since Zoisite met him. “It’s Kunzite.”

“So, since we’ve known each other, may I ask you what were you looking that makes you frowned like that?” Zoisite asked.

“Oh that,” Jadeite waved his hand dismissively. “It was nothing… I was just looking at him.” Jadeite pointed at the figure at the end of the dining hall, opposite of them. “He’s just too…um…how should I say this, unsuitable or inappropriate? To be one of candidate, I mean.”

Zoisite and Kunzite looked at the boy and both of them raised their disbelief eyebrows. The boy was as tall as them, tight-muscle, wavy chestnut long hair and incredibly fair. They couldn’t determine the color of eyes though. “I think the word ‘pretty’ is more suitable,” Kunzite corrected, still awed.

“…” Zoisite was speechless.

“What?” Kunzite said in mock disbelief. “The ‘great’ Zoisite was finally rendered wordless? Has the world come to its end?”

“…” Zoisite shook his head.

“His body shows that he had practiced hard but how in the world did he keep his face that fair, it still amazes me,” Jadeite voiced out his amazement.

“…” Zoisite shook his head again.

Kunzite snorted at Zoisite’s still unblinking eyes and turned his face toward Jadeite, who was laughing at Zoisite. “How about some wager, Jadeite?”

“Wager? What kind of wager?” Jadeite asked.

“Of what color his eyes are.”

“What?” Zoisite imitated Kunzite’s mocking disbelief. “The ‘anti-social’ Kunzite was finally decided to make new friends? Has the world come to its end?”

Kunzite glared at his irritating new friend. Sometimes, he really wanted to punch some senses to Zoisite’s head. “Oh, shut up. Are you in or out?”

“Of course,” Zoisite declared and Jadeite nodded his head.

“I think it’s brown,” Kunzite predicted. Zoisite gave him a slight nudge. “Hey, I am about to say brown.” Kunzite glowered. “Pick something else, then.”

“Fine, I’d say…umm… it’s definitely gold.” Zoisite nodded his head confidently. Kunzite stared at him. “Gold? Are you nuts?” Zoisite shrugged artlessly and grinned. “Hey, it’s my wager. Don’t I have the right to say anything I want?” He laughed when he heard the familiar sound of Kunzite’s snort.

“I think it’s green,” Jadeite said and looked at Zoisite. “Exactly the same shade of yours.”

“Shall we found out?” Zoisite looked back the boy and dismally found he was gone. “Perhaps not right now.”

“What? Why?” Jadeite frowned.

“He had gone just as the dinner is about to start.” Kunzite realized. Another boy with skeleton in his closet.

* * * * * *

The next morning, Jadeite waited patiently for two of his new friends with his long sword stuck into the ground. They had agreed to practice together at the open field in the Royal Garden for they were, as Zoisite had mockingly said, afraid to break any of those wealthy boys limbs. Throughout the dinner, Jadeite had found them utterly refreshing and easy to speak to about anything, from the most general subject to the deepest matter. The only thing that was totally differed him from them was that they didn’t care whether they got the position or not. But he, on the other hand, needed the position.

His home was no longer a place where he could go back if he failed. Ever since, his mother’s death five years ago, his father animosity towards him was so obvious that a blind man could see. It was a year after his mother’s death did Jadeite knew his mother had spent her whole life to protect her only son from her husband’s wrath. And it killed her. It was then he knew that his father was actually questioning his legitimacy ever since he came into this world. The whispers through the servant and his father men-at-arm about his right to stay in his father’s house were too vile for a twelve-year-old to bear. For next four years of his life, Jadeite had known true hell. The only thing that kept his sanity at bay was his passion for historical things and he had vent his anger and frustration through his sword.

But when his father announced he wanted to remarry, Jadeite had known true panic. Who wouldn’t? His father loathed him so much that he could not utter his name. Always with that ‘come here, boy’ or ‘hey, you’ or sometimes, when his father was so angry with him, ‘you little bastard’ came out. The household ignored him since there was no point to even pretend to be nice for he had no special place in the lord’s heart. And people around him ridiculed him for the taint of bastardy in his blood. If his father remarried and sire a son, without a doubt, his father would disown him on spot. Where would he go, then? Being a prince’s guardian was his last option.

Penniless and homeless. With a bastard title to go with it. Jadeite thought bitterly as he tightened his grip to his sword. My life couldn’t get any worse than this. But when Kunzite and Zoisite arrived, Jadeite’s sour face quickly changed into smile. If both of them knew about him being illegitimate, he wondered whether if Zoisite would continue to grin like this and Kunzite to smile like that. Probably not. Jadeite’s jaded mind thought.

“You’re late,” Jadeite remarked.

“No, you’re early,” Zoisite corrected.

When they arrived at the open field, all three of them stopped short when they saw the ‘pretty’ boy that they was discussing yesterday at dinner, was already there and started his practice. Judging from his flush face and the way his white shirt glued to his sweaty body, Jadeite estimated that he had been here an hour or two earlier than them. Even the white scarf he wore around his neck was dripping wet. Jadeite shook his head, still awed at the boy. He is so unbelievably fair. “It’s him,” Zoisite whispered.

“I can see that, Zoisite,” Kunzite said.

“Let’s see who had won the wager,” Zoisite said and he stepped forward. “You still care about that stupid wager?” Kunzite demanded as he followed Zoisite’s steps. “Hey, it’s your idea.” Zoisite argued back.

They were making so much noise that the boy abruptly stopped his practices as if he was caught while doing something wrong. His feet were already prepared to run when his eyes caught the sight of them. For a while, he just stared at the three of them, wide-eyes and the sword was still in his hand. The atmosphere was so still when as usual, it was Zoisite who always the one to break the ice, said, “Hey.”

Zoisite had never seen that kind of expression on anyone’s face before. It was as if the boy couldn’t decide whether to feel sad, irritating, acquiesce or defiant. His long brown haired was tied back and strands of soft hair fall artlessly. And his eyes were the color of blue. Sapphire blue. Cold and lifeless. None of us won the wager… Zoisite realized. The boy opened his mouth hesitantly, not sure whether he should answer Zoisite’s greeting or not.

“How long have you been practiced?” Jadeite asked curiously.

Taking a deep breath, the boy answered and his voice wasn’t as soft as Kunzite and Zoisite had expected. It was strong but lack of confidence and definitely wasn’t suitable for a boy with a face like that. “Two and a half hour. I thought nobody would be up yet at this hour.”

“You’re right. But we are not the ‘nobody’. Couldn’t stand practicing with others at the bailey.” Kunzite stepped into the conversation.

And the boy smiled softly or perhaps…sadly? Kunzite couldn’t decide. The smile only emphasized his fairness and the effect was dazzling. “Me too.”

“So, what’s your name?” Zoisite relaxed a little when the boy smiled. Usually if one smiled, he had accepted your presence. “I’m Zoisite, Jadeite and…” Again Zoisite raised his eyebrows.

“Go ahead, say it,” Kunzite said wearily. When he first arrived, he hardly say his name unless it was necessary, but after knowing Zoisite, he had utter his name twice already in a day. “This sour face boy is Kunzite.” Zoisite grinned.

“I’m…” The boy said hastily as if he was contemplating whether it was wise to tell them his name. He wanted to say his name, make new friends and to show himself in the public. He was sick of hiding. But if he did that… the boy shuddered invisibly when he thought of the consequences. Oh… what the hell! This was maybe his last chance to meet people outside his world. “I can tell you all my name but pleased don’t tell anybody that I’m on the list of prince’s guardians.”

“Huh?” Jadeite frowned. “Why?”

The boy smiled guiltily. “My guardian doesn’t allow me to enter this scheme…” He doesn’t even allow me to go even outside his house! “But I defy him.” Which it was the first time. “He’s one of the King Endymion’s advisors and he is here in the castle.” And the risk of getting caught is getting bigger every second. “So, you must understand he cannot know that I’m one of the candidates.”

“Your guardian doesn’t you to have one of the highest post on Earth?” Zoisite asked with disbelief. “A guardian like that actually exists?”

The boy just shrugged his shoulders, though he couldn’t understand what did Zoisite mean by that. His eyes looked worriedly at the rising sun. As if Kunzite sensed the boy was anxious to run away, he quickly said. “We promise we will not tell anybody about you. So, how about a name before you go?”

A smile appeared again. “You’re persistent, do you know that?” Slowly, the sunlight gently touched his face and the boy quickly stepped into a more shade spot. Seeing their questioning faces, he hastily explained. “My face tanned quite fast. If my guardian saw it, he would demand about my whereabouts.” He also will be so furious if my face wasn’t pretty anymore. His thought became bitter and bitter every second.

“Well, that’s ridiculous,” Zoisite scoffed. “He sounds like a guardian who never let you out of the house and it is mightily important to him for you to keep your face.” The boy kept silent. You don’t know how important it is or how true you are. They were close to truth and somehow, it scared him. He felt filthy and unworthy but he knew he didn’t want to lose his newly acquaintances. The only way to avoid any of those shrewd eyes of his friends, the boy decided to retreat.

“I’ve got to go. My guardian will be up in an hour,” he said as he reached out for his leather belt and discarded black vest. Before he left, the boy said, “By the way, my name is Nephrite.”

End Flashback

“We are so different back then,” Kunzite smiled as he remembered.

“Yeah, who would’ve thought you would keep your hair long?” Zoisite joked which brought laughter to Jadeite and Nephrite. For a moment, Nephrite forgot all his painful memories as he recalled the most important moment of his life. The moment that changed his life forever. He looked at his friends and smiled. That particular moment changed their life too. Being Prince Endymion’s guardians had made them to be the very best and for that, Nephrite wouldn’t want to trade his responsibilities with any other.

“We all have painful childhood buried at the corner of our mind,” Jadeite said softly. “Sometimes, I thought I had totally overcome it but the painful reminiscences come to me once and a while.”

Kunzite was glad Jadeite said that. It was the cue that he had been waiting. “And sometimes, it just takes a similar experience to trigger the nightmare.” At that, Kunzite looked at Nephrite meaningfully. “I know Ian did something to trigger the nightmare. We all know each other’s childhood, so you don’t have to hide anything from us.”

Nephrite let out a resigned sigh, knowing that Kunzite could be so persistent sometimes. He learned that on the very day he met them. Running his hand through his thick long hair, Nephrite gave in reluctantly. “It’s the shackles…” Nephrite’s voice was almost inaudible but they all heard it. “I know it’s totally ridiculous but… there’s something about being chained up against the wall. Well it… it makes me remembered my guardian.” He tried to sound as if didn’t matter to him anymore. The other three guardians knew exactly what Nephrite was saying. His words answered everything that they wanted to know.

Jadeite had questioned himself the first time he met Nephrite of the reasons Nephrite kept his face so fair… so pretty. What puzzled him more, his skills matched theirs. It was obvious he had practiced often and somehow managed to kept his face and body from being tanned. But then, neither any of them trusted each other enough to confide their childhood and Nephrite’s childhood remained a mystery to Jadeite. It took more than dozens of years before their past was catching on, revealing their painful tale of life. Kunzite’s father, ambitious as ever, tried to gain the benefits from his son’s high position, Zoisite’s father showed Zoisite the depth of his hatred by naming his newly adopted son as his heir and arrogantly flaunted the news to Zoisite, Jadeite’s father disowned him and revealed the secret he was a bastard, which nearly caused him to resign from his guardian’s post and Nephrite’s guardian tried to have Nephrite back in his possession. Incident after incident happened and truth after truth revealed. And it made them as closer as ever. Prince Endymion received their undying loyalty for all the thing he done to keep them as his guardians.

Jadeite still remembered the shock he felt when he discovered Nephrite’s guardian had used his ward in his bed. Nephrite’s father was dead when he was still a young boy at six and named Nephrite’s guardian as his protector. In return, he got a large portion of his wealth. Nephrite had been a very pretty and fair boy when he was young. No woman or man could resist to smile at the six-year-old boy with his large blue eyes. Even his guardian managed to restrain his sick lust for only four years before lust took control him. For next six years of his miserable life, his guardian had grown possessive of him and forbade him to go outside, even to bailey. He ordered him to keep his face as fair as possible, so his ward’s beauty would not fade as he grew up.

Nephrite closed his eyes, as his mind opened one by one the painful memories he had tried so hard to forget. He was so young, so vulnerable at that time. He also had been so dependable to his guardian that it took every ounce of his determination to change his life when he participate the scheme. Among wealthy and some with noble titled kids, Nephrite felt so defiled and unworthy. He felt different, both his background and his incredibly fair face. Sometimes, he had this strong urge to mar his face or to cut his hair short, so his guardian would lose all his disgusting lust toward him.

What made him so anxious about his guardian was when he shackled him to wall and started to do all those painful and sick things. He had so exposed and defenseless. That was how he felt throughout his imprisonment only this time he had felt the anger, which he had never felt when he was with his guardian. He had grown strong then. He thought he had overcome it. And he was wrong.

“Some things are totally unforgettable no matter how hard you struggled to forget the,” Zoisite said softly. “We just have to learn to bear and to live with it.” Then, Zoisite curved up a smile. “Do you remember King Endymion’s words when we asked him why he put up with all the troubles we’d caused him?”

Smiles hovered on Nephrite’s lips as he said. “Because a boy who is strong enough to stand up against his dark past and still manages to lift his head proudly, will be a man that is strong enough to protect his son.”

“And strong we are.” Kunzite said.

* * * * * *

Phew! Now that is one long chapter. Hope it didn’t bore you. Tell me if you want me to write a special story that elaborates everything that happens after the guardian met each other!