“I tried to warn you,” the brunette told him, gathering his things.

Kashi wanted to scream at him. What the hell kind of unintelligible warning was that?

As the group of boys filed into the room, Kashi turned to Fumiki.  “What the hell’s going on?” he asked, unable to hide the panic in his voice.

The blonde scratched his head and smiled weakly.  “Well, it’s sort of an initiation.  We do it with all the freshmen.”

“I’m a sophomore, not a freshman!” he protested.

“But you are new to the school,” Jun chimed in, his fingers tracing the paddle threateningly.  “And, more importantly, new to Dorm D.”

“Where do you think you’re going Mizuto?” a tall boy with brilliant, honey-colored hair asked the brunette as he tried to retreat with his books.  

“I have no interest in this,” the boy replied, but the other refused to let him pass.  

“It’s tradition. All the juniors and seniors take a turn with the paddle.”

“Nao, let me by,” Mizuto insisted.  Though he was thin, the brown-haired Mizuto was nearly as tall as the other boy and looked very determined.  

Still, the other student was undaunted.  “If you don’t take part, then I’ll just have to paddle you instead won’t I?”

There was a perverse gleam in Nao’s eye that made it clear this was no idle threat.  Setting his books back down on one of the tables with a sharp thud, Mizuto crossed his arms and sat down with a huff.  

While the two boys were arguing, Fumiki had slid up beside Kashi and whispered, “Don’t worry, everyone goes through this in the dorm—I did too when I was a freshman.”

Kashi looked at him and gave the blonde a weak laugh, “I thought you were a freshman!”

Fumiki gave a little chuckle, “Yeah, I get that a lot!”

“Ok, enough chit-chat!” Jun called, silencing the group and stepping forward in front of the fire so he had everyone’s attention.  “As the upperclassmen of Dorm D we’re here tonight to break in our new transfer, Kashi.”

The redhead did not like the sound of the term “break in,” and he began to fidget.  

However, the crowd was enjoying every moment, hooting and cheering Jun on.  Desperate, Kashi scanned the room for an escape, but there was no way out.  He prayed that all this would at least be over quickly. He didn’t wish to embarrass himself, but he was already trembling.  Under different circumstances, Kashi would have vehemently protested this entire scenario; he hated letting anyone get the upper hand on him.  But he was already thrown out of sorts by being suddenly placed in an entirely new environment, one that he didn’t yet know how to handle.  Also, the prospect of being publicly paddled was bringing up unpleasant memories he would just as soon forget.  But no matter how much he tried to mentally block out certain incidents in his past, his body would always remember them.

Suddenly, he felt Jun’s hand fall over his shoulders and guide him to the front of the hearth.  “After tonight, you’ll be one of us, Kashi!”

Kashi was not pleased to hear this pronouncement.  

“Now,” Jun said, looking down at him with a wolfish grin, “you’ll learn why they say the ‘D’ for our Dorm stands for ‘Depraved’!  If you’ll just assume the position.”

Kashi felt his face flush at this phrase.  “What do you mean?” he asked in a low voice.  

Rather than explaining, Jun nodded to the blonde boy, Nao, who turned Kashi to face the fire.  Then each boy took a wrist and, wrapping it with a thick cord, bound his hands to the large carved mantelpiece above the blazing hearth.  A few snickers could now be heard behind him as Kashi struggled against the bonds.  He couldn’t believe what was happening to him, it all seemed so surreal.  

Ducking his head to look under one of his arms, he met Fumiki’s eyes.  “You did this too?” he asked, trying to reassure himself.  

“Sure!” the blonde replied brightly.

“Don’t lie to him Fu!” someone called.

Fumiki looked indignant.  “I did get paddled!”

A number of the boys laughed.  “By Tadashi maybe, not by the whole upperclass!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Kashi could just make out the boy who must have been Tadashi.  The young man had his arms crossed over his chest defensively and looked both sullen and annoyed.  Fumiki skipped over to the boy and pouted up at him.  

“It still hurt!” he whined, poking the brooding young man in the stomach.  Kashi couldn’t believe the small blonde would provoke this Tadashi who was almost twice the boy’s size in height and weight and did not look at all pleased by the discussion.  

Even so, when the petite blonde wrapped his arms about the boy’s firm waist, Tadashi did nothing to stop him, and Kashi could have sworn he saw the faintest blush stain his cheeks.  

In the meantime, Kashi was waiting in agony for the hazing ritual still to come.  He couldn’t see directly behind him, but he knew Jun was there.  A hot breath stirred the hair near his face as a body suddenly pressed up against him from behind.

“Spread your legs, Kashi,” came Jun’s disturbing, sleek baritone.  But Kashi was quickly becoming incensed by this game and he refused to comply.  After all, he had his pride.  

A reproachful click of the tongue echoed in Kashi’s ear just before one muscular leg slipped between his thighs and forced his legs open.  The poor boy was now spread-eagled in front of the fire, with the heat from the flames and his own humiliation making him sweat.  But Jun had barely begun.

To his astonishment and distress, Kashi felt a pair of hands unbuckling his belt.  Jun proceeded to shove the boy’s pants down his thighs, exposing his smooth, pale flesh to the entire cajoling group behind him.  Closing his eyes, Kashi tried to shut out the overwhelming sense of shame, but the draft of chill air hitting his backside was a constant reminder of his state of undress.  

“How many strikes are you going to give him?” he heard one voice ask.

“Hmm…” Jun pondered the question.  “I don’t know. He is a sophomore, so we’re going to have to make up for lost time.”

This statement was met with laughter and more cheers, urging the President on to action.  

Jun teased the helpless boy by sliding the cool wooden paddle slowly across his cheeks and laying one firm hand along an exposed hip.

“I think I’m going to enjoy this,” he whispered  

Without warning, the older boy let the paddle fly, striking Kashi hard, but not brutally so, and he managed to keep from crying out.  

After two more strikes, the redhead still held silent.  

“So quiet, Kashi?  Perhaps I need to use a bit more force?” Turning to the crowd, he asked, “What do ya think boys?”

A chat went up among them, “Harder! Harder!”

And Jun obliged, his arm seeming to gain strength with every swing. The sight of the beautiful boy tied so vulnerably to the mantle, with his white buttocks turning a delicious red with every hit, was having predictable effects on the President.  Every smack deepened his growing arousal. When Kashi began to whimper, Jun was nearly undone.  By the sixth stroke, he had to pass the paddle on or risk his erection becoming painfully uncomfortable.  

Most of the boys were not particularly vicious with the punishment, and everyone but the President was restricted to only one strike.  Though it was a painful ordeal, no one had ever been seriously hurt during the hazing and most of the students could look back on the memory and laugh about it with their fellow dormmates.  

Jun, however, who stood by Kashi’s side and handed the paddle around, noticed that the slender boy was beginning to tremble violently.  

Holding up his hand, he halted the proceedings.

“Kashi,” he whispered, “are you alright?”

When the boy didn’t answer and Jun saw that his breathing was ragged, he became concerned.  

Turning to the rowdy group, he informed them, “Alright guys!  It’s getting late, we’ll have to stop there.”

This, of course, was followed by several groans and shouts of protest, but Jun had made up his mind.  

“Come on!” one of them whined, “We were just getting started!”

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Jun retorted with uncharacteristic severity.  

The crowd begrudgingly drifted out, murmuring amongst themselves at the President’s abrupt change in mood.  Some of the boys hung back to watch as Jun started to untie the redhead’s bonds, surprised by the gentle manner he took with the newcomer.  

Jun hadn’t expected the paddling to upset the sophomore to such an extent, and he felt an unfamiliar pang of guilt when he saw Kashi’s tear-stained face in the firelight.  Leaning towards him, he wiped away the wet trails on the boy’s cheeks, an uncommonly tender gesture for him. Then he gently helped Kashi pull his trousers up over his punished backside.  

“Can you walk?” Jun asked softly.  

Kashi nodded, not wanting to admit his weakness, but he couldn’t bring himself to move just yet.  Seeing the boy’s hesitation, Jun simply picked him up in his arms, carefully avoiding Kashi’s sore bottom.

Fumiki, who had waited out of concern for his roommate, watched the proceedings with surprise.  Though Jun wasn’t a mean-hearted person, the blonde had never seen him handle anyone with such care.

The President carried Kashi back to his room, with Fumiki following close behind.  He looked down at the redhead with increasing worry; he could feel that the boy’s clothes were damp with sweat, and his body was chilled despite the fact he had been standing in front of the blazing fire.  Moreover, the boy had gone limp in his arms the moment Jun lifted him, much to the upperclassman’s dismay.

“Fu, go stay with Tadashi tonight. I’ll take care of Kashi,” Jun announced once they had reached his room and laid Kashi on his bed.  

“But, I’m his roommate, I can take ca-“

“Fumiki, just let me handle this!” Jun snapped.

Pouting as he gathered a few things, the blonde reluctantly left the two alone.  Although he had only just met Kashi, Fumiki felt a certain responsibility towards him since they were roommates.  But Jun was extremely stubborn and there was no point in arguing with him, though he was intrigued to see him fretting so much over the new boy.  Fu assumed that Jun was probably concerned he would be held accountable if anything happened to Kashi.  After all, he was the President, and even if the faculty looked the other way when it came to hazing, they wouldn’t stand for any student getting injured.

“Kashi,” Jun said after the door had shut, “look at me.”

But the boy had turned away from him, curling up defensively in a tight ball.  “Kashi!” he coaxed more insistently, placing a hand on the redhead’s shoulder.  “I need to know what’s wrong!”

Kashi flinched at the touch, but Jun was more determined than ever to find out what was going on. The boy was trembling uncontrollably now and Jun knew his damp clothes were not helping the chill.  

“Listen,” Jun said firmly, “you’ve got to change your clothes or you’ll never get warm.”

No reply.  The boy seemed to be in a daze or a state of shock and Jun shook his head, bewildered that the paddling had brought about such an extreme reaction.  

Deciding to take action, the dark-haired boy slowly pulled Kashi up and leaned his rigid body against him.  Offering soothing words of reassurance, he slowly began to peel his jacket and shirt off, both nearly soaked to the skin with sweat.

As he pushed the garment off the boy’s shoulders, Jun’s eyes fell on a large, angry bruise coloring Kashi’s upper back.  Unconsciously, he sucked in his breath at the terrible sight; it was a livid purple color, fresh and angry.  And it wasn’t the only bruise exposed to his view.

Kashi stirred when he felt Jun pause, trying urgently to bring his mind back to the present after he had fallen into painful memories during the paddling.  Glancing up, he saw the look of mingled pity and anguish in the other boy’s eyes and suddenly realized with alarm that Jun had seen his bruises.

Quickly, he clutched his clothing back around his body and tried frantically to move out of the other’s embrace.  “What are you doing?” he cried, “Get out!  Leave me alone!”

But Jun wasn’t going anywhere.  He was disturbed by the obvious evidence that Kashi had recently endured a bad beating, as well as consumed by guilt that he had inadvertently exacerbated the memory of it by striking him with the paddle.  Repeatedly.  

“No, Kashi.  Tell me what happened!”

Jun held the other boy’s shoulders in a tight grip as he riled and shoved against him.  Weak as Kashi was, he fought the upperclassman with a surprising vehemence.  

“No!” he protested, “Get out! It’s not your business!  What the hell do you care anyway? You even don’t know me!”

But Jun found he did care, that he couldn’t help but care as he gazed into those heartbroken, haunted blue eyes.  Kashi was not making things easy though; he was quickly working himself into a frenzy.

“I want to help you, Kashi, please!  Calm down!”

The redhead was too worked up, however, to let go now.  He had been through too much that day, his emotional reserves depleted and his nerves worn.

As words were of no avail, Jun grabbed Kashi’s arms and pinned him to the bed.  “Take it easy, I’m not going to hurt you.”  Anymore, he added in his mind, recalling with regret the thrill he had taken in paddling him.  

When Kashi continued to fight, pushing himself near exhaustion, Jun climbed onto the bed and pressed his muscular body down over Kashi’s lithe frame, effectively ceasing the boy’s struggles.

“What happened to you?  How did you get those bruises?” he demanded, now that Kashi could no longer fight him.

“Nothing!  I fell!”

“Bullshit!  Tell me!”

The last of his strength leaving him, Kashi finally gave in.  Swallowing his tears, he confessed, “It was my father, alright? Satisfied! Now let me go!”

Jun eased up on him, but kept him held to the bed.  He gave a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry, I wouldn’t have gone through with the hazing if I had known.”

Though his words sounded heartfelt, Kashi rejected them.  He was mortified by the events he had endured.  The beating would have been bad enough, but to have shown such weakness in front of the older students and then to be forced to admit the shameful family secret he had kept close to him for so many years, it was too much.  He had tried so hard to be strong, but when the first strikes of the paddle had hit him, images of his father, and the man’s vicious verbal and physical assaults, had broken him. At least when his father beat him he only had to face the scrutiny of one man, but being humiliated before an entire group of upperclassman had shattered his pride.  

“You’ve done enough, please leave,” Kashi whispered miserably.  

But Jun could not leave him, not yet.  He could see that the boy was still angry and unnerved and the slender body still shook beneath his hands.

Without thinking, the dark-haired young man slowly bent down and covered Kashi’s lips with his own.  He kissed him with a soft, warm slowness, both seductive and gentle.  Though Jun had considerable confidence in his skills, he was surprised that the other boy, who so stubbornly refused his help just a moment ago, now accepted his kiss without dispute.  

This was not the first time Kashi had been kissed by another man, he realized.

For some reason, the idea nagged at Jun’s pride, though why it should bother him that he was not the first to kiss the boy he couldn’t say.  What he did know was that it had been just the right thing to do to calm him.  As he continued to move his lips with skillful purpose, Kashi’s trembling ebbed away.  

The redhead had been taken off-guard by Jun’s kiss, but it was strangely comforting.  Immediately his mind had thought of Enji, of their first kiss, and the sanctuary he had taken in the boy’s embrace.  He didn’t want to face the present, so Kashi fell into the past, imagining he was with his old friend and pushing aside the difficulties he had faced when they had parted ways.  

Enji.

Had it really been two years since he had last looked into his eyes?  Before he met him, Kashi had been solely dedicated to his duties, trying day after day to win his father’s approval, but Enji had taken him away from all that, if only for a time.  He still remembered the boy’s deep brown hair, his smile.  If only it were those lips that were pressing against his now.  Of course, the boy had been careless too, always a hive of endless energy and irresponsibility.  Yet Kashi had also admired that side of him, since it was so different from himself.  

He could forget his pain when he was with Enji and even if this was some stranger holding him now, at least he could pretend.  Even that small shelter was some consolation after the trauma of the day’s events.  

So he let himself go, and Jun’s control began to slip as Kashi submitted to him.  His mouth became more insistent, teasing the boy’s lips apart with his tongue to gain admittance and then ruthlessly exploiting his advantage, plunging his tongue inside to taste him.  Resettling himself on his elbows, Jun released the other boy’s wrists and Kashi quickly brought his arms up to hold him close, encouraging him.  

Jun pushed Kashi’s jacket off his shoulders, without resistance.  The redhead’s body was warming rapidly beneath his touch, just as he had hoped.  Wanting to feel his naked skin, the older boy tugged at Kashi’s shirt, working the buttons with eager hands.  He was quickly losing himself in his explorations of the boy.  Shifting his hips, he nudged Kashi’s legs open and settled between them before moving one hand down to run along the redhead’s body.  His other hand caressed Kashi’s side, tweaking one nipple into hardness as his lips broke away to concentrate his attention the hollow of the boy’s neck.  

Only half-aware of what was happening to him, Kashi struggled to stay afloat, lost to his daydreams of Enji.  When Jun cupped his ass and began to rock his hips into him in a blatantly suggestive rhythm, the boy moaned aloud despite himself.

His vocalizations did wicked things to Jun’s resolve.  He’d had no intention of taking things very far, but damn if this little sophomore didn’t feel exquisite writhing beneath him! And if the boy was willing…

Replacing his fingers with his tongue, Jun lapped at the taut nipple and squeezed it between his teeth.  Then, abruptly, he stopped.

In his dazed ecstasy, Kashi had cried out: “Enji!”

Kashi opened his eyes, blinking up at the image before him, almost startled to see the upperclassman with his dark locks instead of his friend’s chestnut hair.  The boy suddenly realized he had called his name and blushed furiously, chagrined.  At the same time, he knew things had been going too far, too fast. He silently breathed a sigh of relief that his slip-up had halted the episode, although he didn’t think Jun felt the same.

The other boy’s dark eyes stirred with confusion and he moved away from Kashi, sitting up without a word.  No one—no one—had ever called out someone else’s name when he was with them.  Jun had always prided himself on his skill as a lover and never had any complaints.  He looked down at the boy with the fiery red hair thoughtfully.  

Kashi watched as Jun stood up and tossed him a blanket from under the bed.  

“You better change your clothes or you’ll catch a chill again,” was all he said before turning and walking out the door.