Pain of Discovery (BoyxBoy) [The Pain series Book 1]

Awakening

[A/N - Another chapter for you guys, and here you'll meet a new character who will play a massive part in this story. Just a quick warning that there is some fairly explicit boyxboy sexual content in this one, so if that sort of thing isn't your bag, why the heck are you reading this? Naaah, just winding you up, but maybe give this one a miss if you don't like that sorta thing. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it - please leave comments and feedback below and follow me if you're not already :)]

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His name was Aki. He had been assigned as our backstage assistant upon our arrival in Tokyo two days ago, and we had hit it off straight away, bonding over a shared love of J-pop music and noodles. He was a little shorter than me, but fairly well-built thanks to daily visits to the gym. He was a black-belt in karate - an achievement that had showered his family with pride after his father had died before he could reach the same milestone. His eyes were a dazzling emerald green - a gift from the Irish descendants in his mother's bloodline - and they shone like precious gems against his olive complexion. His jet black hair radiated around his head in jagged spears earning him the pet-name of "pineapple head" from the girls. I thought it was cute - in fact, I thought Aki was cute.

All of his beauty and perfection were now at the forefront of my mind as I stared out of the van window at the gleaming skyscrapers sprouting from a sea of men in suits and neon lights. We had been given most of the day off since our choreography and staging didn't really change with each venue. It was always the same rectangular podium, the same three mic stands with the colour-coded bases and the same two people standing on my left.

Those same two people who I thought I knew so well; who I would've trusted with my life if I had to. Or at least I would have until I had learned of their filthy little secret. I couldn't even bring myself to look at their lying faces as our driver beared left on to the slipway heading for the arena. I had to remain composed and resolute as they didn't deserve any more of my tears for what they had done.

"Jase, are you okay?" Laura whispered in a shaky voice, clearly being pulled apart by the silence inside our van. "Look, we can't go on like this. We need to talk things over," she continued, now with a little more presence to her tone.

I kept my eyes stubbornly fixed on the bustling twilight city outside, just wishing that I could run away into the night. Somewhere no-one knew me and where I had no chance of being exposed to the heartache that my own friends had unleashed on me. But no, I wasn't going to let them off so easily.

Zak sighed like a moody teenager before chipping in. "C'mon Jase, throw us a bone here! You can't stay silent forever." He paused before his next sentence, almost like he was considering whether to continue or not. "And anyway, we haven't done anything wrong."

My head shot around so quickly that I made myself momentarily dizzy. My mouth fell open as my brain struggled to understand just exactly what he had said. I was dumbfounded, but didn't want to crack so soon after his betrayal and give him the upper-hand once again. I forced my lips closed and inhaled deeply before calmly responding.

"Do I really have to answer that? Is your short-term memory really that bad?" I seethed, my voice more venomous than even I had expected.

Zak sighed and threw his arms towards the roof of the luxury minivan. "Yeah, yeah, I get it Jason. You're hurting, and I'm sorry for that, but I really don't think you should be taking it out on us. Like I said, I don't see how we've done anything wrong."

His eyes were sure and as cold as steel. He really believed what he was saying - like he was some saint that was being wrongly accused of a crime he didn't commit. But his fingerprints were all over Laura and my blood was all over the knife that he had stabbed into my back.