Sanctuary

Chapter 5

Omi and Nagi stepped cautiously out of the bedroom. The living room was
spacious and nicely decorated with plush brown carpet. There was a
grandfather clock in the left corner near an opened window. The three
piece furniture set looked very comfortable with its chenille scroll
design. A cherry oak coffee table sat in front of the sofa with its matching
end tables at either end of the sofa. A 25-inch television rested in front
of the window.

Just then, the girl came out of the next room. She smiled brightly when
she saw the two boys. The girl said something and Nagi followed her
into the other room followed by Omi. Stepping into the kitchen Omi
stared in appreciation at the beautiful table the girl had sat up. The
oval shaped table was set up for six people. The dark skinned girl
motioned to them to take a seat.

Nagi took a seat and started talking to the girl. Now that it was
light, Omi could get a good look at their rescuer. She was quite
pretty. Her dewdrop shaped brown eyes that had flecks of
yellow in them was set in a soft, oval shaped face. The girl
looked to be Nagi's age or maybe she was younger than the
telekinetic. She was about a few inches shorter than Nagi with a
nice figure.

She poured some orange juice for them and placed the glasses
before the two boys. Suddenly there was a knock on the front
door. The girl raced out of the kitchen. Omi became apprehensive
at meeting someone new. Nagi reached a hand out and took
hold of Omi's clenched fist. Nagi smiled and Omi unclenched his
fist.

The girl returned shortly with someone. Both boys stared in
wide-eyed fascination at the tall, slender, handsome young man
that walked in behind her. His long, silky, shiny raven colored
hair hung loosely down his back. His dark eyes were set in a; dare
Omi say it; girlish, delicate, ethereal or elegant face. Or maybe he
was all of the above. Whatever the description, the man was
absolutely beautiful with his pale skin which reminded him of
Aya.

The tall man took a seat across from Omi. Nagi had to turn away
as he felt the heat rise in his face as the crimson color spread
across his cheeks. Damn, the man was too beautiful for his own
good. While the girl and the man whispered to themselves. Omi
took this chance to talk with Nagi.

"Nagi." Omi turned to face the younger teen. As Nagi turned to face
the blond, Omi gritted his teeth in anger to see the blush painting the
younger teen's face. "We should go."

"But why? We could call Bradley and your friends to come get us
here."

"We can call them from a phone booth on the street," said Omi
gritting his teeth.

"And what do you propose we use for money. Encase you have
forgotten, we have no money," said Nagi feeling suddenly angry.
"Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"Why are you in such a hurry to stay?" The two teenagers glared
at each other. Nagi and Omi were so caught up in their argument
that they did not notice that the girl and man had stopped talking
and watched the two of them curiously.

"Omi what is wrong with you?" Nagi frowned irritated. "You were
find up until. . ." Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. Was Omi. . .Is
Omi jealous?

"Until what?" Omi scowled at the younger teen. Nagi just smiled
and shook his head.

"You are so sweet." Forgetting that there were others in the room
with them. The telekinetic threw his arms around Omi and pressed
his lips against the blond's cheek. "Silly monkey, I told you before
that I love you. Just because I think someone else is, cute doesn't
mean I love you any less. I don't want anyone but you."

Feeling silly, Omi smiled and leaned his head against the telekinetic's.
"I love you too, Nagi-kun." He pressed one hand against Nagi's cheek
and was about to kiss his lover when the blond had the feeling they
were being watched.

Oh, shit! He had forgot about the girl and man was still in the room with
them. Omi turned to see both set of eyes were watching the couple
in amusement. Omi began to blush uncontrollably. "Dammit Nagi, I
still say we should leave. We don't know anything about this girl or
him. How do we know they aren't Esset agents seeking
revenge?" said Omi flustered. "Hell, we don't even know their
names. We don't know what kind of freaks they are?"

Suddenly the girl and man burst out laughing. "Now now, is that
anyway, to talk about the person that rescued your cute little butt
from the rain," said the girl smiling at them mischievously.

Nagi and Omi stared at the girl in speechless shock. Omi
could understand her. She had just spoken to them and in Japanese
too.

"You. . .you can speak Japanese." Omi stuttered. Then he realized
something. "You could understand us all along."

"Yup yup." The girl said still holding her smile.

"Why ?" asked Nagi.

"Well, I had to make sure you weren't sent by the police
or the military," said the girl. "They have tried several times to
infiltrate Sanctuary."

"Why you. . ." Omi was about to burst into a tirade of curses when
the sound of Nagi's laughter stopped him.

"It's not funny, Nagi."

"Come on Omi, it is funny. Here we are thinking they were Esset
agents seeking revenge. And they were thinking we were the cops
trying to destroy them," said Nagi wiping tears from his eyes
because he was laughing so hard. "You have to admit that that
is kind of funny."

"Suppose they truly are from the remains of Esset?"

"Esset is dead Omi. We are free from Esset and Kritiker. Just
because we were kidnapped by, Puppet Master doesn't mean
everyone we don't know is out to get us."

"What's an Esset?" asked the man.

"Nothing of importance," said Nagi turning back to the girl and
man. "So, how about an introduction. I am Nagi Naoe."

Omi was reluctant to say until Nagi elbowed him in the ribs. "Ouch!
Okay, you win. Omi Tsukiyono."

"I'm Claudia Grant." She placed her arms around the man's neck
and gave a little squeeze. "And this vision of loveliness is Marron
Glace."

"Please to meet you both," said Marron bowing his head to the
boys. "So, shall we start with breakfast."

"No. What about the others." Claudia yanked a lock of Marron's
hair.

'Asato and Kujaku won't be joining us." Marron took his napkin and
placed it across his lap. "They had an early morning meeting. Tsuzuki
said we should start without them."

Claudia was clearly disappointed. "Oh shoot, I was hoping to have the
company of five cute guys for breakfast," she pouted and turned to
get the food. "Guess I'll have to settle for three, again." She placed
the plate of pancakes on the table and winked at Nagi and Omi. Both
boys blushed. She turned to pick up the plate of eggs, bacon, and
sausage, and placed the plate on the table.

Claudia reached for Nagi's plate and piled on a stack of pancakes,
eggs, bacon and sausage, and handed the plate to Nagi. She did
the same thing three more times. After everyone had their food,
they began to eat.

"So, you could speak Japanese all along," said Omi. "I hope you
enjoyed eavesdropping on our conversation."

"You are mean, Omi." Claudia smiled at him.

"I'm mean? What about you? You pretend not to understand us
making me look like an idiot these few days while Nagi was out of
it," said Omi.

"You're right. It was mean of me to trick you like that. I am very
sorry," said Claudia.

"Well, there was no harm done. So, I guess would could let it
slide," said Nagi smiling. "So, how did you learn Japanese?"

"It is half my native language. My father was Japanese and my mother
was American."

“Wait, if your father is Japanese. Why don’t you have his last name?” asked
Nagi after taking a sip of orange juice.

“Well, my father was a spiritualist. He comes from a very powerful and influential
spiritualist family in Japan,” said Claudia making cryptic designs in the syrup. “They
had wanted him to take the place of the former head after the guy just up and disappeared.”

“What’s the name of this family?” asked Omi.

“You may have heard of them,” said Marron. “Sumeragi.”

Both boys stared at Marron in shock. Then they turned to Claudia. “You mean your
father was a Sumeragi?” said Nagi.

“So, you’ve heard of them,” she said smiling.

“Are you kidding, it is said that the Sumeragi family has protected Japan and its officials
for centuries,” said Omi awed. “But that still doesn’t tell us why you are not using
his name?”

“Well, the Sumeragi are an old family and are very traditional,” said Marron. “Claudia’s
father left the family because they had wanted him to marry someone they felt was proper
for him to marry.”

“An arranged marriage,” said Nagi.

“Yeah, but my father was not one to be told what to do,” said Claudia smiling. “He left
Japan and came here to Hong Kong where he met my mother and got married. Of
course, when the family heard about this. They struck his name from the family.”

“Wow,” said Omi feeling empathy for the man. “I know how he must have
felt to be abandon by your family.”

“On the contrary, my father was happy not to be associated with them. He told
me that he was happy to use my mother’s name because to be a Sumeragi means
that your life would be filled with tragedy and suffering just like the young head
of the family.”

“What happened?” asked Nagi.

“Well, his sister was killed by an assassin when they were sixteen years old,” said Marron.

Both boys stared at each other in shock. “Do they know . . . who did it?”

“Of course, it was the ancient enemy of the Sumeragi Clan, the Sakurazukamori,” said
Claudia putting a fork full of eggs in her mouth.

“Wow, I’ve heard of them,” said Nagi listening eagerly. “It is said that the Zukamori Clan are
the only ones that can go head to head with the Sumeragi.”

"So, where are your parents?" Omi said with a mouthful of food. "I
would like to meet them."

"Don't talk with your mouth full." She scolded Omi. "My parents are
dead. My mother died shortly after I was born, but my father died
about four years ago."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up unhappy memories." Omi felt like
a real heel. All Claudia has done was try to make him and Nagi feel
comfortable. "And I'm. . .sorry for acting like a suspicious jerk."

"You don't have to apologize. I would probably act the same
way." The girl smiled as she poured more syrup over her pancakes.

"So, you live here alone?" asked Nagi frowning. He stared down at his
plate sighing. The telekinetic knows what it's like to be on your own.
"You must miss your parents?"

"I never knew my mother. So, I don't miss her, but I do miss my
father." She stared wistfully down at her plate as she pushes her
food around on the plate. "There are times I wish the old man was
still here. I don't mind living alone though."

"You're not alone anymore," said the young telekinetic. His heart
ached for her plight. "You have me and Omi. . ."

Omi elbowed Nagi in the side frowning and shaking his head at the
teen. The telekinetic became irritated at his lover when he
suddenly realized why Omi hit him. What a fool! As soon as
Crawford and Aya get to Hong Kong, they would be going home
back to Japan. And Claudia will be left alone once again. Nagi
felt his heart ache because of his carelessness. Claudia frowned
just a little irritated by the sudden sulky mood of Nagi.

"Hey, what's with the face?"

Nagi blushed and looked down at his plate. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Marron turned to Claudia cocking his brow. The girl
just shrugged her shoulders.

"So you boys are Japanese. How long have you been living here in
Hong Kong?" asked Marron.

"We don't live here in Hong Kong," said Omi. "Didn't you hear us when
we said we were kidnapped off the street. We have friends waiting for
us back in Japan."

"Oh no." Claudia said covering her mouth with her hand.

"Claudia Grant what have you done." Marron turned to face her angrily.

Nagi and Omi stared at each other frowning in puzzlement.

"I'm sorry Marron. It just that when I saw them dressed like. .. like
JJ's boys. I just assume. . ."

"Wait," said Omi stopping them. "You know Adams?"

Claudia snorted in disgust. "Know him. Everyone knows that pimp
Adams. We here in Sanctuary have come across lots of boys
that managed to escape."

"That is before he upgraded his security," said Marron. "The last
boy that escaped from there was about two years ago."

"I often talked to Tsuzuki about taking out JJ's dirty little empire,"
said Claudia. "I was so glad to see it burning to the ground."

"But back to you two," said Marron frowning in distress. "Claudia,
you know they should have been put in the temporary apartments
below."

"I know that, but you know how the others treat the boys that escape
from Adams."

"Yes, I know but they would have been safe. Everyone was inside
during the storm," said Marron.

"I don't understand what the problem is," said Omi. "We will leave.
Just let us use your phone to call home."

Marron looked away. Claudia bit her bottom lip. Nagi saw how
nervous they were and sighed. "So, you're going to keep us here as
prisoners." It was not a question. “So, was Omi right? Are you a part
of Esset seeking revenge on us?"

"Why do you keep saying that?" Claudia asked frowning. "What is an
ss-set anyway?"

"It is or was an evil criminal organization that turned ordinary people into
assassins," said Omi pushing his plate away glaring at them angrily.

"Shen Me!. . .Oh God no." Claudia stared at them appalled. "See, here
in Sanctuary, the rule is that anyone that comes here for temporary
lodgings stays in the apartments underground. I should have asked
you more. People like you two would have been taken below, because
then you could leave whenever your family came for you."

"But. . ."Omi urged her not liking what is about to come.

"But by my bringing you here to the upper levels. You won't be able to
call anyone for a while," said Claudia sadly.

"WHAT!" Omi jumped up slamming his fist on the table. "So, we are
your prisoners."

"No. No. I just mean you can't leave Sanctuary or walk around
unescorted for a few days." Tears trickled down her face. "I'm sorry. I
wasn't thinking. I just assumed. . ."

Omi felt his anger drain out of him as he watched the girl sob
helplessly in her hands. Omi plopped down in his chair and sighed.

"I'm sorry. You can't be expected to be perfect," said Omi. "You're
only what. . . 13 years old."

"I'm 15 you prick," Claudia snapped glaring at the blond.

Omi smiled. "Gotcha!" She stared at him, and then all four of
them burst out laughing.

"Seriously, you can leave, but it would mean that Claudia will have
to be penalized for her blunder," said Marron.

"How so?" asked Nagi.

"At the lest, she could have her freedom restricted to remaining here at
Sanctuary. At the most, she could be banished from here for up to a
month."

"Damn, that's a bit extreme isn't it?" asked Omi.

"Maybe but it is our law. The last time this happened. The person was
a policeman trying to infiltrate our home," said Marron.

"What happened?" asked Nagi.

"They didn't kill him if that's what you are thinking." Claudia speared some
eggs and a piece of bacon with her fork. "Although some of the residents
did think we should have killed him."

"We just stripped the cop of his clothes and tossed him out on the
street. Now, if he got himself killed by some of the gangs that stay
in the surrounding area around Sanctuary that would be his bad luck,"
said Marron.

"We are not cops neither are we working for them. Believe me, you
can trust us on that." Nagi smiled at them. "But we don't want to get
Claudia into trouble. Especially if it means she will be kicked out of
her home."

"Nagi's right. We'll just stay here and not cause any trouble until it is
all right for us to call home," said Omi.

"You needn't worry. I'm sure Tsuzuki isn't going to hold it against you
because I messed up," said Claudia smiling reassuring to them. "If
I ask. I'm sure he will let you go. I will probably have to clean every
room in the building as my punishment."

"Are you sure?" asked Nagi. "Because. . ."

"Yes, I'm sure. Here, have some food." Claudia piled more pancakes,
eggs, bacon and sausage on the two boys’ plate. "I'm sure you two must
be starving especially you Nagi. You haven't eaten since you got here."

"Thanks, I am starving." Nagi took the plate from her and began woofing
the food down.

"So, when do we get to see this Tsuzuki, Claudia talked about?" asked
Omi eating some bacon.

"It might be a while because you boys have showed up at the perfect
time," said Claudia excited. She got up and took her plate to the sink
to be cleaned.

"Why is that?" asked Nagi. When his plate was empty, Nagi took it to
the sink where he helped Claudia to clean up the dishes. She washed
while he dried.

"Well, for an entire week, starting tomorrow, Sanctuary will be celebrating
its Founder's Day." She took the plates that Omi and Marron handed to
her. Scrapping off the leftovers into the disposal, she dunked the dishes
into the soapy water. "When we're finished here, Marron and I will show
you around."
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Shen Me-------What