Chapter Twelve

David awoke early in the morning and ate the prepared and brief breakfast that was in the refrigerator with Akira. He then went to Sendai University and the conference site. Since he couldn't call his phone, he told his friend to meet him at the university gate at 12:30 so they could go to Zuihōden Temple and Date Masamune's mausoleum together. He had reminded him several times to take David's tiny bag, lock the door, and give the hostel management the key before leaving.

As he listened to Professor Martinez's speech behind the podium, he looked at his watch every few minutes. Finally, Prof. Takizawa, Dean of Sendai University's Faculty of Science, went behind the podium and proclaimed the conference's end after thanking all of the participating professors and students.

David stood up quickly and proceeded to the part to obtain the certificate of participation in the conference, and after a few minutes, he left the hall without stopping for a souvenir photo and arrived at the university's entrance. He looked at his watch, which read 12:25, sighed, and leaned against the entryway in the shade of the trees, waiting for his friend to arrive.

He looked at the sky and hoped that Akira would come on time and not forget to do what he had said before. Suddenly, a voice from a few steps away said, “Well, well, look who's here. Isn't it our David-chan?” He turned his head in surprise towards the familiar voice and was shocked to see Azuma. After a pause, he bowed his head slightly and said, “Hello, Azuma-san.”

The boy sighed and said, “Come on, David-chan, don't be so formal; call me Riki.” He then pointed to the woman who was with him and said, “This is Keiko-chan, one of my friends.” The woman touched her glasses and said, “Please Don't call me by my name, Azuma; show some respect.” Azuma laughed and said, “Come on, don't be so mean.”

David bowed gently to the woman and said, “I'm David Powell; nice to meet you.” The woman nodded in response and said, “I'm Yukawa Keiko; nice to meet you too, Powell-san.” Azuma rolled his eyes. He turned and said, “Wow, how dry and boringly formal.”

Azuma stepped forward, wrapped his arm around the foreign boy's arm, and said with a charming smile, “It must be fate, David-chan. We met again somewhere far away from Tokyo.” His facial features were charming and seductive. David said as he tried to control his embarrassment, “P-Please let go of my arm, Azuma-san; others might think the wrong way.”

“I don't give a damn what other people think. Say my name if you want me to let you go,” Azuma said as he kept his smile. David took a deep breath and gathered up all his courage, then said, “P-Please Riki, let go of my hand.”

Azuma let go of his arm with a triumphant smile. "See, it wasn't hard." He turned to the woman and added, "It's a shame that I have work; otherwise, I would have liked to have a drink with you and talk more." The woman nodded as she said goodbye to the foreign boy, and Azuma said as he went with her, "If I meet you for the third time by chance, be sure I won't let you go." Then, as he was walking away, he added, "Give my hello to that bad-tempered person too."

***

He was anxious and slept badly all night. In the morning, he ate breakfast in silence, stealing a glance from the foreign boy, and after he left, he threw himself on the bed. He hadn't fallen asleep the night before when the Big Boy voice said, “If my expression of interest in the restaurant was real, would you have accepted it?” He didn't know what to say and pretended to be asleep, but his mind was busy all night and he couldn't sleep properly.

As he felt that his cheeks were hot when he remembered those words, he said, “Idiot Big Boy, you yourself said that it was a verbal mistake.” He put his forearm over his eyes and said, “Why should I be ashamed of such words? What's wrong with you, Akira?” He sighed and felt sorry for his own stupidity. But it didn't take long for last night's lack of sleep to take its toll, and he fell asleep in the same state.

When he woke up, he was a little confused. He sat on the bed and looked at the unfamiliar room. He slowly remembered where he was, looked at the clock, and his eyes widened. The clock showed 11:40. He cursed and immediately got up, hurriedly arranged the bed, checked everything, and left the room.

He cursed again as he was about to shut the door, re-entered the room and picked up David's bag, checked the room again, locked the door, handed over the key, and dashed to Sendai University.

He arrived on the street close to the university around 12:40 p.m. He froze in place as soon as he turned around the street to proceed to the university gate. Riki was standing next to David in front of the campus gate, his arm around his arm. Akira quickly hid behind an electric post to avoid being seen. He, too, had no idea why he was hiding. On the one hand, he wanted to rush forward and punch that damn Riki, and on the other, he felt pain. He had no idea why he disliked this scene.

He and David were simply casual friends, but the foreign boy had promised him he wouldn't leave him alone and had even said those things last night before falling asleep, but here he was standing by Riki's side. Why was this scene so upsetting to him? He thought for a moment, then gave himself a bitter grin and was determined to ignore everything and return to Tokyo to end his relationship with this boy forever.

But as soon as he wanted to turn his back on this scene, Riki let go of the foreign boy's arm, went next to the woman who was standing a few steps away, and after saying goodbye, he walked away from David with the woman. Akira paused a bit, and an idea came to his mind; he wanted to give David a chance to see if he would talk about what happened or not.

A few moments after Ricky and the woman completely walked away, Akira walked towards the gate of the university and the foreign boy, and after a few steps, he smiled and said, “How are you, Big boy? You waited too long, didn't you? Sorry, I fell asleep.” David raised his head. He glanced at Riki's gone way and sighed, “I guess it was lucky you were late this time.”

Akira pretended to be surprised and asked, “Why?” The foreign boy hesitated, evidently considering his words. Finally, he said, “Azuma-san was here.” The Japanese boy, surprised by his sincerity, controlled himself and said, “Really? Why? What exactly was he doing here? Did he come to see you?”

- Oh, no. Apparently, he was dating a woman named Yukawa Keiko. He was passing by here when he saw me.

So that woman was Yukawa-san. Akira knew her a little; she was the secretary of the CEO of one of the companies that Yonkiko Group had business relations with. He shook his head and said, “It's strange that he gave up and left you alone so easily; he's not usually like that.”

David remarked shyly, “I guess I was lucky that Yukawa-san was with him; otherwise, he'll be waiting for you to come and fight again, although he said that if he accidentally sees me for the third time, he won't give up.” Hearing this, Akira tightened his grip around the strap of the bag but still tried to control himself and said, “Didn't he say anything else?” After a pause, David said, “No, he just said, Give my hello to that bad-tempered person.” Akira let out a loud breath and cursed at Riki.

David said shyly: “I'm sorry, Akira, it was really an accidently meeting.” The Japanese boy sighed, glad he hadn't left and given him a chance. He smiled and said, “It's okay; don't worry. Don't we want to move? "I'm on fire from the heat.” David smiled, took the bag from his hand, and said, “You're right, let's go so we can get back to the Tokyo Shinkansen on time.” and with that, he started walking ahead of him with the help of the map of Sendai that he bought earlier.

***

Zuihōden Temple was founded by Date Masamune, who was one of the famous generals and daimyos during the Sengoku period. The construction work was completed in 1636 AD, shortly after his death, and his remains were buried there. Since then, this temple has become the burial place of many members of the Date clan. This temple was registered as a national treasure in 1931, and a museum was opened in this place.

David was amazed to see the beauty of the temple buildings. The main building was made with a beautiful combination of black and gold colors, and it was very eye-catching. He could not believe that he had finally achieved one of his dreams and was standing in this temple. He turned to Akira and said, “Isn't it amazing? Its architecture and coloring are very beautiful.”

The Japanese boy said as he took a sip of his newly bought drink, “I think it's nice; of course, you must know, it said on the sign that it was renovated in 2001; that's why it looks so good.” David nodded and said, “Yeah, I've heard about it before. In any case, the restoration of historical monuments is necessary, but I think it's still amazing.” Akira smiled at his interest and taste and said in his heart, “Although he has this big body, he looks like the kids.”

After that, they walked for half an hour to Aobayama Park, which was near the remains of Sendai Castle and the statue of Date Masamune. The statue showed the famous general sitting on a horse and looking down on the city from the top of Aoba Hill. David turned to his friend and asked, “Can we take a picture here?” Akira shrugged and accepted his request with a nod.

He stood next to David in front of the statue, and just as the foreign boy was setting up the camera to take a selfie of themselves, Akira suddenly wrapped his arm around his arm and clung to him tighter. David, who was shocked, turned his head and said, “What are you doing?” Akira just frowned and said, “Whatever I want, if you talk, you will be beaten! Hurry up, take your picture; we have to go.” He didn't want to lose to that damn Riki; he didn't even know why he made this embarrassing move; he just felt in his heart that he had to do it.

They arrived on time at the station and boarded the 17:30 train to Tokyo. Shortly after starting, Akira said, “I'm falling asleep, Big Boy. Hold my phone; wake me up if it rings; otherwise, let me sleep until we get to Tokyo.” David nodded, and as the Japanese boy leaned his head against the back of the chair, He took the phone from him. He held the phone for a few minutes, but then he remembered what happened to his own phone. He sighed and put the phone in his pocket so that nothing would happen to it, and as his friend's breathing became heavy, he looked out the window at the scenery.

They arrived at Tokyo Station at around 19:00, and from there they took the Choou Line train to Shinjuku. After getting off at Shinjuku Station, they walked towards David's house and reached the front of the building around 8:00 p.m. David asked with a smile, “Will you stay with me for dinner and the night?” Akira shook his head and said, “I don't mind, but I have work, and I'm already late.”

David half-bowed in shame and said, “I'm sorry; it's my fault I asked you to stay.” Akira patted him on the bowed head and said, “I asked to stay, so don't talk shit,” then added with a sigh, “Well, there's nothing else to say?” David raised his head and said, “Thanks for been with me; take care of yourself on the way.” Akira smiled proudly and said, “Don't worry, no one dares mess with me.” He turned his back to him and said as he left, “See you later. Good night.”

He headed towards the headquarters with his hands in his pockets. On the way, he felt lively and cheerful. Now that he was back in Shinjuku, he thought he had made the right decision to follow the foreign boy to Sendai. If he did not do this, he might lose his connection with him forever. With this thought, he stopped for a moment and shook his head left and right. Even the thought of splitting up with this foreign boy bothered him. but why?

He resumed his walk and thought once more. Why did he care about this boy? Why wouldn't he want to see him with that schoolgirl, Haruka, or Riki? Was he being too harsh on this foreigner? As he walked, he sighed and murmured, "At least I beat him a lot so far." Perhaps he should have been gentler to him. Maybe, just maybe, he should have given more thought to what the boy said last night before they went to sleep. He felt his heart race quicker as he remembered it.

Something was suddenly placed in front of his nose and mouth, and his arms were secured from behind. As he struggled, he felt his arms and legs weaken, and he grew bewildered and dumb. After a few moments, he was no longer focused on anything.

He cautiously opened his eyes after a while, his eyesight was foggy, and it took him a few moments to notice his surroundings. He sat on the floor of an abandoned warehouse, his hands were bound behind his back. Six men with rugged faces and nasty smiles were formed a semi-circle two meters away and stared at him.

He tried to shake his hands and feet and get up, but he felt weak. A voice said, “Don't try for nothing; the medicine was weak and you regained consciousness quickly, but it is effective enough to make you weak for an hour.” The announcer came out from behind the six men. He was a young, four-shouldered man in a purple shirt and white pants. He had a small triangular beard on his chin, and his golden chain necklace was showing off.

Akira said with a heavy tongue, “W-Who... the hell... are you?” The man knelt down in front of him with a grin, then suddenly slapped him hard across the face and said, “You better be polite, little Shinka,” adding mockingly, “Oh, I forgot, you're a little kid running to his boss and reporting.” With this, his companions laughed.

As the blood was flowing from the corner of his lips due to the slap, Akira stared into the man's eyes and angrily said, “You will regret this!” The man gave him another slap, grabbed his hair, pulled his head back, and said, “You better not be silly, little one, because it's not in your best interest!” But Akira ignored the pain in his face and the pulling of his hair and spat the blood collected in his mouth into the man's face.

The man angrily punched Akira in the stomach, causing the air to come out of his mouth with a loud noise. He stood up, wiped his face with a cloth handkerchief, and said violently, “I wanted it to be resolved with the least conflict, but it looks like I need to teach you a lesson!” Then he turned to his men and said, “Sanga, Kenta, take off his pants and hold him; it's time to teach this Yonkiku's puppy a real lesson.” Two men separated from the right side of the semicircle and walked towards Akira with sinister smiles.

***

David watched the Japanese boy leave until he was out of the alley, then sighed and headed up the stairs. He stopped in front of his door, a little unhappy, and reached into his pants pocket to take out his keys, but a rectangular item came under his hand. He cursed as he carefully drew it out. It was Akira's phone, which he had forgotten to return.

He opened the door of the house, threw his bag inside, and after locking the door, he walked towards the path that the Japanese boy had taken. Almost two streets away, he saw him from a distance of 300 meters, but as soon as he wanted to run to him and call him, he froze. Two strong men grabbed his friend's hand and mouth and dragged him into an alley.

David stood motionless for a few moments, as if hit by lightning, then quickly ran to the alley, but the alley was long and no one could be seen in it. What should he have done? He cursed and entered the alley. After a few turns in the alleys, he reached an old structure with high walls and small windows. A warehouse-like structure whose big rail door was slightly open, and a faint light shone through it into the alley.

He approached the door carefully and peered inside. Seven men stood around 20 meters away from the door, staring at something on the ground. He couldn't see much from there, but for a moment, the half circle of men opened, and he could see Akira sitting on the ground. A man in white pants and a purple shirt sat in front of him and slapped him hard.

David controlled himself not to jump inside. He took a deep breath and took out his phone to call the police. In despair, he remembered that his phone could not make calls. He quickly remembered Akira's flip phone, opened it, and was pleased that it was not a password-protected smart phone. He immediately dialed 110 and informed the police operator about the subject and the approximate address of the warehouse.

He returned to the door and took another look, praying that nothing bad would happen to Akira before the cops arrived. But then the man in the purple outfit punched the Japanese boy in the stomach, then yelled and gave an order to the other men, who were presumably his troops, and two men sat down next to Akira. He saw something unbelievable: they were going to rape him!

***

Akira fought with all his strength, but his hands and legs were bound and numb. Two men were pulling down his pants, and he just watched helplessly. As soon as the pants reached his knees, suddenly there was a scream in the warehouse. The men looked behind them in surprise, where a large, bear-like shadow charged towards them.

A young, foreign boy came out of the shadows and hit one of the men hard with a stick in his hand, knocking him to the ground. After a moment of shock, the rest of the men charged at the newcomer with a battle cry.

Akira just watched, dumbfounded, as David moved like a wild creature between the five remaining men, hitting and being hit. The group's leader, who was dissatisfied with the situation, cursed, picked up a stick, and approached Akira, saying, “At least I won't let you get out of here safe, you bastard.” He raised his stick to hit Akira in the head, but as soon as it came down, David stepped in front of him. He knelt, his right forearm covering his head, and attempted to be his friend's shield.

The stick came down with force, hit the foreign boy's forearm and part of his head, and then broke. The leader, who was surprised by this sudden shield, looked at his men, who were fighting this boy. Two of them were lying on the ground, writhing in pain, and three others were coming towards him.

Akira was speechless in shock. He saw the foreign boy remain in the same shield-like position for a moment, then staggered and landed on the Japanese boy's legs from behind. His head was bleeding, and his face and hands were wounded. Akira said fearfully, “H-hey, Big Boy! David! Don't die, damn!”

The leader of the men collected himself, picked up another stick, and said, “So he is your friend, I didn't know you had foreigners in your group, he got a bad chance; now I'll teach you both a good lesson.” He went toward them with an evil smile. But in the meantime, a siren was heard, and one of the men said, “Aniki, the police!” The man cursed, slammed his stick down, and angrily turned to Akira and said, “We're not done, little dog!” And then he ordered to his men “collect the wounded quickly; we shouldn't get caught by the policemen,” and in less than a minute, they all left the warehouse.

A few minutes later, three police officers entered the warehouse. At the end of the warehouse, an unconscious and wounded foreign boy was lying on the feet of a boy whose hands were tied behind his back, and the Japanese boy called a name with a cry.