✰♡✰ Beautiful Boy ✰♡✰

❅❢ Chapter 9 ❢❅

"Well then, let's go! Neo Edo is that-a way!" Leo started walking towards the direction of the city before Yuichi held him back. "W-wait, I can't go down there! The Shogun will throw me in jail if he sees me, and I ain't talking CoryxKenshin-"

"Who's that?" Usagi shrugged. "Nobody, all I'm saying is that I can't go anywhere near my friends without a disguise or something." Leo thought carefully for a moment. "I think we can buy ourselves some time if we went down there now, but only if you take that off." He said, pointing to his shirt.

Usagi tilted his head to the side. "W-why do you want my shirt off...?"

Leo felt heat rise to his face and shook his head violently. "NO NO, I MEANT LIKE, THE VEST BECAUSE OF THE FAMILY SYMBOL SHOWING AND STUFF-!!"

"Ah." The rabbit giggled and took the vest off and hid it behind a bush nearby. Meanwhile Leo was mentally scolding himself. 'Don't ever do that again....' He thought. Knowing him, he was going to do it again at some point in the future.

~

Peeking around the corner of a building, Usagi and Leo tip-toed their way through the dark corners and shadows. "Okay, there's a clothing store nearby that we could get something from-" Leo whispered. "What? Why can't we just get something from the dumpster?"

The turtle drew back and gasped. "Excuse me? A dumpster??" Usagi shrugged. "Well I just thought that it'd be more subtle! Aren't you supposed to be a ninja? Y'know, stealthy and quiet?"

"W-well you're supposed to be a samurai! Samurais don't typically mistake a dumpster for a wardrobe, if you ask me..."

Usagi frowned and crossed his arms. "I-I'm just training to be one, and Miyamoto Usagi would try to avoid conflict too! S-so yeah, dumpster clothes, it is!" He whisper shouted and walked away, quite literally reaching into the garbage behind them. Leo gagged and followed him.

Usagi came back up with a dirty cloak. "See? Useful." He wrapped it around himself and turned around. "Boom! I'm practically a different person."

Leo smirked and shook his head. "Not yet. I can still see your face, and your ears are poking in the back of the hood. Here..." He pulled the hood back and took the tie off of his ears, letting them down. Usagi looked up at him expectantly. His ears hung low on the sides of his head, making him look adorable. "So? Is that better?"

The turtle smiled and blushed at the sight. "A-almost." He reached around and untied his mask, handing it to Yuichi. "This'd hide your face, too."

He gave him a thankful smile and tied it around his face. Leo could barely hold back the urge to kiss the boy's face, his heart feeling like a rising helium balloon. Usagi paused as he put it on and put up his hood, staring up at Leo. "Your face must be really warm."

He giggled and walked away, leaving Leo standing there in shock. 'Does he know I've been blushing....?'

He shook it off and followed him. The city was crazy busy, it was quite similar to New York. But there were certain writings on the side of buildings and food stands that he didn't know how to read. "Hey, what's that say?" He asked, pointing to the same writing on a table. "Oh, it's Japanese kanji. It says 'Property of Neo Edo's FMA'."

"FMA??"

"Farmers Market Agency! My Auntie's farm grows the same crops that they put in food stands and food tents every Saturday! Unfortunately, we don't do that much anymore." Usagi replied.

Leo nodded and gasped loudly. "What is that!?" He pointed again to a stand that was making expensive looking drinks in teacups. Usagi giggled. "Royal milk tea! Ever had any?" Leo shook his head. "Nope, sounds expensive and fancy."

"Oh, it's not that pricey! Ikuzo!" He took Leo by the hand and led him to where the tea was being made. A young lady looked up at them and they paused, worried that she might've recognized the rabbit. But instead she just smiled and handed them a smaller teacup. "Sample?"

Leo stared at it in amazement and took a sip. "WOAHHHH!"

Usagi smiled and thanked her. Leo tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey hey, how do you say thank you in Japanese?!"

"Uhh I'm pretty sure she just spoke English..."

"SO?? I NEED TO THANK HER IN JAPANESE! NOW!"

"Okay okay! Just say 'arigato', I guess..." Leo took a step forward and bowed to her. "Arigato!" She smiled awkwardly and nodded. "Uh you're welcome, sir."

He smiled big and his eyes sparkled with excitement, walking away. "What a rush! Maybe my dad should teach me some Japanese!" Yuichi rolled his eyes and kept going with him, deciding not to let go of Leo's hand. "Come on, my friends should be at the Ki-Stone temple right now."

~

Usagi banged on the door of the temple. "Chizu? Tetsujin? You guys in there?!" He took off Leo's mask and handed it back to him as the door flung open, a tall cat lady was standing there. Yuichi pulled down his hood and showed that it was him. "Usagi? You're back?" She turned and looked at Leo with a frown. "Who is this guy?"

He was about to introduce him when Leo cleared his throat and stepped forward confidently. "Leonardo of the Hamato Yoshi household, the pleasure is all yours~"

Chizu stared at him unimpressed, and sighed. "Tetsujin? There's two of them now..."

She stepped aside to let them in, stopping Leo at the last second. "Just don't cause trouble in here, okay? Nobody knows who you are." Leo looked her up and down and tilted his chin up, walking past her.

'Nobody knows who I am...Me and my bros only SAVED THE WORLD, NO BIGGIE-'

He gasped when he saw the huge Ki-stone in the middle of the room. "Wooowww...." Tetsujin waved to him, and Leo barely flinched when he saw that he was some glowing, floaty figure.

'I've seen weirder...'

"Hey!" Leo jumped when he heard a small voice and felt his foot kick something. He looked down and saw a fox girl. "Hey...You know you're like, pretty short, right?"

Usagi chuckled and covered his mouth. "That's Kitsune, we kinda don't call her that. In front of her, at least." She put her hands on her hips and frowned. "And who exactly are you, baldy?"

He smirked and leaned down, putting his hand out to her. "Leonardo of the Hamato clan." She hesitated but took his hand and shook it. "Alright. You seem okay."

Usagi giggled and latched onto Leo's arm. "C'mon, this is my other friend, Gen!" Leo turned around and gasped, looking up at the rhino man slowly. "Hello." Gen said. Leo's eyes sparkled with admiration. "Geez, what do they feed you here?"

Gen smiled and patted his shoulder. "Nice to meet you, too."

"Hold it!" Chizu shouted. "Why are you back here? As worried about you as we were, you shouldn't be here! It's dangerous, and in case you forgot, everyone still hates Miyamoto Usagi. And, well...You."

Usagi sighed. "I-I know that. But Leo's helping me now, his family were allies of the Usagi family for years, and we didn't know until recently! I thought that maybe if we looked into each other's history, we could find something to convince you all how bad he wasn't! Or is it how not bad he was?...not...was not..."

Leo took a step forward to save his friend while he stuttered over his words. "If my family is related to Miyamoto Usagi in any way, it's practically my business, too. But first things first-"
He sat down and crossed his legs in front of them. "I've heard Usagi's side of the story. I'm ready to hear the story that you all were told."