Chapter 27

Hiro felt his blood run cold. He gazed at Raiden, dumbfounded. Only for a year? "What kind of 'partner' do you mean exactly, Raiden?"

Raiden smirked. "What do you think?"

Hiro balled his fists as anger rapidly rose in his heart. So that was what Raiden wanted. A sex toy. Someone he could use until he got tired then discard like some used product. Hiro wanted to yell. He wanted to lash out at him and curse him but he couldn't. All he could picture was his sister on the hospital bed.

Raiden saw that Hiro was taking too long to respond and he didn't like it. Maybe Hiro wasn't desperate enough. He had to show Hiro that he didn't need him. With or without him, he was fine. It was Hiro that needed saving. He sighed. "It seems like you're not ready."

"Why are you doing this, Raiden?" Hiro asked, his voice shaky, like he was about to cry again. He felt hopeless and exhausted. "Is this about what happened in high school? I said I'm sorry. I apologised. What more do you want me to do?"

Raiden suddenly seized Hiro by the collar, startling him. "What did you just say?" He snarled, pinning him with an icy glare. "It seems to me that you do not understand your situation. You need me, Hiro, not the other way around. I do not need you to be my sex partner. I can get anyone to do that. I am merely taking pity on you. If I leave you to pay me back 5 million, we'd both die before you can do that so this is the only way for me to get my money's worth. It is a mere transaction but I can see that you are not ready. The deal is off. See yourself out and never come back here again."

He pushed Hiro away and stood up to leave but Hiro reached out and grasped the edge of Raiden's pants. "Raiden wait, please wait."

Raiden paused, chuckling deeply. It delighted him to see the once great Watanabe Hiro begging like a dog by his feet. Who would think that someone as high and mighty as Hiro would be reduced to a begging pauper one day?

"Are you ready to drop everything and become my mine for a year?" He asked, turning to look down at him. "Know this, Hiro. I will own you completely. Think carefully."

Hiro gazed at Raiden's devilish expression and he almost wanted to decline but then he thought of his parents who were in prison, his brother who was being hunted down by loan sharks and was on the verge of becoming a whore, his sister who had a heart disease, himself who suffered every single day for years and keeps suffering still. Wouldn't it be nice to just sell himself to the man before him and never worry about anything else? Besides, it was just sex and he needed money. Lots of it.

Although Hiro wasn't gay, he felt that it couldn't be too bad. He really didn't want to keep living like a beggar. He wanted a shelter no matter how small. He wanted to eat good food. He wanted to look good. Better than before. He wanted his family around him. He wanted to be happy.

It was just like his best friend said. Why suffer so much when he could just give himself to Raiden and live a life of luxury?

Hiro stared up at Raiden for some seconds then lowered his head as he mumbled softly. "I'll do it. I'll be your yours."

Raiden clicked his tongue in a disapproving tone then raised Hiro's head once more. "That's not what I want to hear, Hiro." He said. "I want to hear you say it with your lips. I want to hear you acknowledge what you will be to me and your status from this day henceforth."

He stared deep into Hiro's beautiful eyes as he spoke; "Say that from this very second, you belong to me. Your body, your soul, your mind, every part of you belongs to me. You will be mine and remain by my side until I decide I do not want you anymore. You will do whatever I ask you to do. Tell me that I own you, Hiro."

Raiden's voice was frighteningly deep and Hiro felt shivers run down his spine. There was nothing he could see but Raiden's smokey grey eyes, his handsome face and that devilish smile that gave him goosebumps and made his heart tremble with fear.

It was weird. It was downright insane. To pledge everything of yours to someone. A man for that matter but Hiro was fed up with his unlucky life. Misfortune met him at every turn. Raiden was his only way out.

With tears running down his cheeks, he balled his fists and spoke softly; "I promise, Raiden, from this very second, I belong to you. Every part of me is yours. My body, my mind, my soul, everything is yours. I will be yours. I will do anything you ask of me. I will give you everything that I am. You own me, Raiden."

Raiden was immensely pleased. So much that he was slightly trembling from the pure joy. To finally have the beautiful Hiro he had coveted since the first time they met. It was the greatest achievement he could ever make in life.

He raised Hiro from the kneeling position and then hugged him. Raiden was a few inches taller than Hiro so Hiro's head rested against his shoulder. He didn't mind at all. In fact, he found it cute.

Hiro wasn't comfortable. It felt weird to be hugged by a man. There was nothing but hard muscles and the scent of wine mixed with musk but there was nothing he could do anymore. He had already sold himself.

Fresh tears gathered in his eyes at the thought of losing his freedom to a man he despised but the thought suddenly disappeared as he heard Raiden speak.

"And I promise, Hiro," he said, gently wrapping his arms around Hiro's slim waist. "I'll protect you. I'll take care of you and your family. Your needs, your wants, your desires, I'll fulfil them all but..."

Hiro quickly stared up at Raiden in shock. There was still a but? He knew it. Raiden was a total scum. "I just gave myself to you. What more do you want?"

Raiden chuckled deeply. "What more do I want? Your sincerity of course."

"My sincerity?" Hiro asked, perplexed. "I literally begged you to have me. Isn't that sincerity? I'm the one who came to you."

"My dear sweet Hiro..." Raiden smiled mischievously, raising a hand to pat the boy's luscious sandy brown locks. "You're already talking back to your owner. This isn't how good pets behave."

Hiro wanted to smack Raiden's hand away but hearing the words 'Owner and 'Pet' made him curb his anger. Those words reminded him that he now belonged to Raiden. He lowered his head and gritted his teeth. "What do you want?"