AOI (Art Of Innocence)

Chapter 4

There was a soft knock on Derek's office door. Derek looked up, annoyed, probably guessing that it was Victoria again, trying to soothe him into coming out. He was trying to think of a plan, but he felt helpless, like his brain was refusing to work.

There was another knock, accompanied by, "Boss!"

Derek's eyes widened slightly, before he stood up and opened the door, seeing Aoi in the corridor with that small smile on his face. "But... how did you?" he frowned a bit.

"Cedric saved me. I... I didn't want to be rescued but..."

Derek reached out a hand to touch Aoi's face, who flinched away from instinct, "Boss... don't touch me." He turned away and went to walk off, before Derek clasped his hand. Aoi froze mid-step, his eyes wide. "Geeze, kid. Quit being so paranoid," he smiled just a little as Aoi turned to look at him, pulling his hand away "all my life people have been afraid to touch me. And you were never one of them." he looked down and softly smiled.

And he recalled to that time they met, back in the surface world. Aoi was at home with his mother. She was in the living room, watching the massive 3d television they owned, and by this time it was considered poor to own such a television. It was like owning a 70s TV set in the 2016s. But anyway, as his mother was in the living room, he heard a knock on the door. They never had visitors, so this surprised Aoi. He peeked from the crack between the door and the frame, as his mother let in a stranger. A guy that he never saw before. Which was weird. Usually his mother wouldn't let strangers in.

"He's in the kitchen," his mother whispered cautiously, before noticing Aoi in the doorway.

That's when the guy opened his jacket, revealing a row of combat knives and other weapons. Aoi knew what he was straight away, and he knew why he was here, and he was scared. His mother hired a hitman to kill him. She's been saving up for this. Now he knew. His mother wanted him dead. After all, he killed his own brother when he was only six. He didn't mean to. But he understood that he had to be put down, with this disastrous power that he possessed. But he didn't want to die.

Aoi backed up to the counter, shutting his eyes, as the hitman approached. "I'll make this quick."

That's when Aoi took his chance and ran past him, trying to get out. His mother grabbed him, and he could tell that she was so very upset. That she didn't want this, but she knew she had to, and this frozen Aoi to the spot.

And that's when he killed his own mother. "M- mum..." Aoi grabbed her shoulders, as she collapsed to the ground "mum please, wake up. Say something," he felt tears burn his eyes.

The dark haired guy was behind him, and even behind his own layer of insensitivity and mercilessness, he felt sadness for the boy. He had lost all the appetite he had for killing him, besides, not like the dead mother can pay now. He lifted Aoi up from the ground by his waist, as he covered his face. "come on, kid. Let's get outta here before the investigators arrive."

Aoi remembered that day clearly. The day when he met Derek. When Derek was supposed to kill him, but he didn't. And instead, Aoi murdered his own mother without meaning to, and left with this brutal yet sympathetic stranger. He allowed Derek to take him away, mostly because he didn't care what else happened to him. But Derek gave him a place to stay. He'd feed him and let him sleep on his bed next to him just so he won't have to take up the floor, and maybe Derek took him in to deal with his own crippling loneliness, but none the less Aoi was thankful. He grew so afraid of touching him, that this was probably the first time he touched him in two years. "I'm sure your power only activates when you're afraid. But you trust me, right?"

Aoi looked away, avoiding his eyes. "I don't want to harm you. After everything you did for me. I cannot lose someone like you."

With that Aoi walked away.

~

"Let's celebrate!" Cedric poured himself a drink. "Woah Vicky, he's fourteen, stop flirting with him!"

Victoria smiled a bit, lifting her head up from Ryuu's shoulder "ahaha what?"

Raphael sighed. "Ignore her. She's drunk."

Ryuu pulled on the collar of his shirt, sweating a bit, his cheeks bright red. "Wooh... stop taking advantage of an innocent, pubescent boy!"

Aoi walked in, with a small smile on his face. "Everything okay?"

Ryuu put his thumb up "top notch my friend. I think I may have gotten my first ever boner. Excuse me," he ran past Aoi and out of the theatre room, slamming the door behind him.

Aoi looked back at the crew, and laughed nervously "I see you've been having fun"

"It's not in the it's not like you think it's is..." Victoria stammered, hanging off the bench. Raphael sighed "she's absolutely pissed."

Cedric poured himself another glass. "want some, Aoi?"

Aoi shook his head a bit "no thanks... but anyway, what are we planning to do about this wreck?" he pointed around the theatre with an innocent smile.

The middle aisle was completely obliterated, with the massive crack in the earth, and the benches surrounding it were smashed to pieces. The side bar was untouched, which Cedric was more relieved about. The alcohol was safe.

Victoria smiled "don't you worry your little blond head Derek will sort it all out."

Aoi sighed a bit. "Yeah, surely he'd be happy if none of us did anything to help." He tried to lift one of the broken benches but he wasn't strong enough, "gh... Someone help!"

"Cedric will," Victoria hiccuped.

"This isn't going to solve anything. What we need to do is call the repair services..."

"What repair services? Cedric we're in hell." Raphael poured himself some vodka.

Derek walked in just then, as Victoria peeked up from the seat. "Boss! You're back to normal! Looks like your boy gotcha outta your depression." she giggled manically.

"Victoria please stop" Raphael sighed.

"This may take some time to repair. But if you idiots work together you'll be able to get it done."

"you gotta help too!" Victoria whined.

"No shit," Derek said with a lack of enthusiasm. "So we better get started."