Joshua Akero

[Joshua Akero]

JOSHUA ZANDER AKERO

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&&--You, who shall pull the strings

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Name: Carly
Age: Sixteen
Roleplaying Experience: Awhile.
How you found the site: Heh...

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&&--The character cheat sheet

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Name: Joshua Zander Akero
Gender: Male
Age: Nineteen
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brownish-Red
Skin Tone: Pale White
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 170 lbs
Wealth: Average
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Why they are in La Campana: Joshua's siblings and cousins are, for some odd reason, all at the school. His best friend thought it would be funny to throw him into the mixture. But Joshua had graduated school already with flying colors and, instead, took up the position as Pool Security Guard.[/size]

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&&--What makes the clock tick

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Likes:
- Drawing
- Art
- Male Anatomy
- Photography
- Cameras
- Violence
- Guns
- Water
- Pencils
- Basements
- Nightingales
- Music
- Headphones
- Siblings
- Parents
- Old Movies
- Colors
- Goggles
- Jackets
- Traveling
- Ice Cream
- Really Young Children
- Red
- Foxes
- Pockets
- Quiet
- Marijuana
- Occasional Ecstasy
- Smoking
- Alcohol
- Alone Time
- Chocolate
- Night
- Shadows
- Horror Movies
- Indiana Jones
- Profanity
- Green
- Camouflage
- Shooter Video Games
- Zombies
- Creative Insults
- Pressure Points
- Strategy Games
- His Motorcycle
- Sleeping

Dislikes:
- Frogs
- Reptiles
- Pens
- Cousins
- Silence
- Getting Drunk
- Musicals
- Chick Flicks
- Summer
- Drawing Females
- Hair Dyes/Gel
- Being too Hot or too Cold
- Socks
- Being a Leader
- Facial Hair
- Looking Smart
- Gambling
- Russian Roulette
- Racist/Homosexual/Blond Jokes
- Rape
- Killing for Pleasure or Entertainment
- Having his Sexuality Questioned

Turn Ons:
- Blonds
- Flat Chests
- Silk
- Blue Eyes
- Cheerful and Playful
- Honesty
- When the feelings aren't fake

Turn Offs:
- Big Boobs
- Prostitutes/Whores/Sluts Any other name you have for them
- Quiet People
- Overly Muscular
- Lesbian Sex

Nervous Habits:
- Running hands through his hair
- Tapping his fingers against hard surfaces
- Smoking
- Biting his lip

Fears:
- Making people's lives miserable, particularly people he knows
- Prison
- Growing old
- Car crashes

Goals/Aspirations:
- To visit every country in the world one day
- Maybe be a professional artist one day
- To maybe be heterosexual again or to have the boy he loves love him back.
- To die creatively

Appearance:
Joshua isn't self-righteous though doesn't seem to put his appearance out too bad. He chooses to go around saying that he looks normal. Just a typical teenage look or the look of a young, not quite mature enough adult. Not attractive, but not ugly. Just boring is how he describes himself. Though he clearly is wrong. Joshua doesn't look entirely like other teenagers though. There are many things about him that make him look rather unique. He just doesn't bother noticing any of those things. His eyes are something we could start with. Just a quick look and they could be mistaken for red. Really, they're just brown. A rusty, coppery shade of brown, which is what gets them mistaken for a dark shade of red instead. They say eyes are the windows to the soul but Joshua's eyes always seem rather empty, or more bored would be the better way to describe it. You're not going to get much of his emotion by looking into his eyes. You'd have to view his art to get that.

Naturally, the young man's hair is a jet shade of black. Never has it been dyed or tainted by hair products. Not even gel manages to reach his hair and make it look a bit less, well, messy. Joshua's hair is kind of all over the place. It's very easy to tell that the boy hasn't payed a hairdresser to cut his hair in awhile. If you ever get the chance to touch his hair, you must be rather special. It's not something he feels a need to keep pretty, but he just doesn't like people touching his hair. That's why he cuts it himself. But Joshua isn't a professional. He's not trained to cut hair, especially is own. It never looks perfect but is always cut in a way that he likes. Never does his hair reach past his chin but his bangs are long enough to brush at his nose. Rarely does he even bother combing or brushing his hair. Just a simple run through of a hand satisfies him enough. Anyone else touching his hair would probably result in largely colorful strings of profanity.

Like many of the Akeros seem to be, Joshua is pale. Though he was born in Australia, he doesn't tan well. If he tries, it just leads to burning. Unlike most of his family, Joshua grew up to be rather tall. Definitely the tallest, though he is the oldest. A height of six feet and two inches with a weight around one hundred and seventy pounds. Though it isn't so much fat. In fact, Joshua is incredibly thin and decently muscular. He's not buff. He'd rather be obese than buff. But he has muscles, particularly the ones in his legs from all the constant running he was doing while back in his gang. But Joshua is more quick on his feet than powerful. He finds speed more important than strength. If he's quick enough, he can hit a pressure point on an enemy and take them down soon enough. That's far faster than being slow and trying to beat the enemy's face in.

Joshua clearly dresses in whatever he pulls out of the closet. It tends to be baggy jeans or cargo pants with a t-shirt of some form. Nothing too special unless you include his countless amount of jackets and hoodies, each crafted to fit his needs. By that, it means he hand sews pockets onto the insides of every jacket and hoody he owns. You can never have too many pockets. He needs somewhere to carry his art supplies and gun around with him. Though most of his pencils are carried in pockets that are sewn inside the sleeves of his clothing. Joshua takes his art seriously. He claims to not be the best at it, but it's a hobby. one that he's never stopping. Much of his wardrobe also consists of random gloves which he rarely wears, headphones which he wears about half the time, and even goggles which don't have a purpose. Goggles are sexy. And Joshua explains to people that it means he'll be prepared if the world starts flooding with horrible water that burns your eyes. Don't mess with Joshua. He comes prepared for even the least likely of situations.

Personality:
People have described Joshua before as being rather boring. He just lounges around, eyes on a wall or a picture that's being drawn. Well, the truth is that, more often than not, Joshua is high. It's not an addiction and it's not all the time. That's what he tells everyone and, for the most of it, it's true. Joshua tends to be a rather calm person. Quite laid back and mellow. He doesn't even seem to react much to a lot of things. You insult him or threaten to him and he'll just nod his head and say okay. You could say anything you want to him. Call him a murderous asshole, a pretty pink pansy or a warthog-faced buffoon and he'll just nod his head and say that you're probably right. So maybe Joshua doesn't have the most self-confidence in himself. You insult him and he agrees. So what does he do when you compliment him? He stares at you as though you've just asked him what two plus two is. It's not that he hates compliments, it's more that they confused him and he doesn't understand why people give them to him of all people.

Joshua likes to try and be a brotherly figure to people. He hadn't been there for his siblings as much as he had wanted to be and he actually feels rather bad about it. So, to make up for it, he tries to be an ideal big brother for children between the ages of being born and twelve. Anyone older too if they can pass as being a little kid. But you don't have to be a child to get him to like you. Joshua gets along with pretty much everyone, even if you hate him. As long as you're not a murderer or a rapist, he shouldn't have a problem. If you beat him up with your fists instead of words, he might not like you much then either. Joshua tends to be more neutral toward everyone though and you'd have to be a real asshole to get on his bad side. You'd have to be pretty forceful to be his friend too. And a relationship? If you're female and ask him for a date, he'll go along. If it works out, you could have yourself a boyfriend. If you're a boy and ask for a date? Joshua would get all flustered and insist that the person was crazy and that he does not swing that way.

One major flaw with Joshua, though he has so many, is that he can't handle making people miserable. If someone hates him, he doesn't care. But if he finds out that he's done something to ruin someone's life, he doesn't know what to do. If it's an enemy, it doesn't matter so much. But a friend or an innocent stranger isn't someone he'd ever purposely make miserable. Joshua would do anything to make it up to the person. He'd pay them if they really wanted him to though it would take him a really long while to get the money. He isn't exactly loaded with cash. If you ask him to kill himself before you'll forgive him, he might not exactly do that. But he'll put himself through excruciating pain if that will be good enough. Joshua has been shot, stabbed, cut and beaten in the past in his business. He's quite willing to take more pain if it's to stop someone from being miserable all because of him. But he won't go far enough to kill himself. Joshua does not fear death though he does hate the idea of dying in a way that is unoriginal. Being shot through the head or stabbed through the heart. He wants something more like being eaten alive by giant Venus fly traps or ripped apart by rabid squirrels.

You could almost say that Joshua wants to live a boring and laid back life. But he wants to travel for all his life. Become something epic like Indiana Jones. Something like that isn't boring though. Joshua's artistic talent isn't quite boring either. He has this tendency to drawn the weirdest things. Meaning more that Joshua draws naked males. He swears he's not gay, yet he draws naked men. Sometimes they're having sex, sometimes they're just posing nude. He's also often caught drawing his enemies in very painful positions that will result in death. Joshua isn't as boring as he makes himself appear. He just keeps his hobbies and past hidden away where no one will find them unless they ask. But few people even bother with talking to him. How will you find out that the man is actually interesting if you won't get to know him? Though some might label him a bad person due to his past and some even label him crazy because of his art. But at least he's interesting. Being sane and having a past full of nothing is not as interesting as being crazy and having a history of equal amounts of craziness.
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&&--A glimpse of the past

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Father:
David Akero - 36 Years Old - Deceased

Mother:
Maria Walker - 40 Years Old - Deceased

Sibling/s:
Brother - Rudolf Akero - 15 Years Old
Sister - Faery Akero - 14 Years Old

Other important relatives:
Aunt - Isabelle Prince - 41 Years Old
Uncle - Riku Akero- 42 Years Old
Cousin - Espionage Akero - 17 Years Old
Cousin - Siri Akero - 12 Years Old
Uncle - Nathaniel Akero- 42 Years Old
Aunt - Clarissa Carmine- 40 Years Old
Cousin - Milachi Akero- 14 Years Old
Foster Cousin - Gemma Akero- 16 Years Old

Pets:
Muse - Red Fox - About A Year Old

History:
It should have been obvious that Joshua wouldn't be the only child. All family friends knew that David and Maria would be wanting as many as they could handle but, as Joshua grew up, he dreamed of being an only child. It's not that he didn't like his siblings. They were quite amazing. But he would have preferred being the only one so that he could have his parents all to himself. But he didn't get his wish. On the ninth day of March, in Sydney, Australia, Joshua was born. Luckily, he was the first child in the family and could at last have hopes that he would also be the last. But he was still so young when the second child was born. He hadn't even reached the age where he started to truly hate the idea of siblings. The age of for and the baby boy who had been named Rudolf was born. At first, Joshua didn't care all that much. Another kid? It could be cool. But all it did was cry and his parents payed more attention to this baby than they did to him. Sometimes, he'd take Rudy away and hide him in the closet, hoping that his parents would forget the baby even existed. Every time his parents tried to get him to hold the baby, he'd try and drop it. And every time he was alone with the baby and it started to cry, he'd try to stab it in the eye with his fingers, hoping that it would shut the hell up. But it only ever cried more.

It got even worse though. About a year later, a second baby was born. A girl this time. They named her Faery. Joshua was almost jealous that she got the unique name and he didn't. But, later in life, Joshua would become rather happy that he didn't have a name that made him stand out. But he never hurt this child. He'd always been taught that you're not supposed to hit a girl. Sure, she was a baby, but she was a girl none the less. Apparently, no one ever taught him not to hit a baby though, even if it is a boy. Joshua would start getting lectured on not hurting his siblings and, soon enough, he stopped. He'd constantly glare at them and tell them how much he hated them. Joshua's had a colorful vocabulary ever since around that age. His parents were never impressed to see their son full out swearing at his baby siblings. They were babies, they didn't need to hear that language. And he was five, he didn't need to know that language yet!

Joshua was six when he began to cherish the siblings he had. There was a car accident. Joshua, Rudy and Faery were left home with the kind girl who was always willing to babysit when David and Maria were going out somewhere. A few days earlier, they had been on their way to visit family and, on the way back is when the car crash happened. Their car was found at the bottom of the cliff, caught between rocks on a beach. The dead corpse of the mother was found just on the sand outside the passenger seat and, on the driver's side with all the water, there was no father. It was thought that, maybe, he could have been washed away by the waves. But his body never turned up. They never found him and they came to the conclusion that he was have to be dead. This left the three children as orphans and the kind babysitter couldn't take care of them forever. Though she cared for them, the children would have to be put in an orphanage or sent to live with family.

It was in Tokyo, Japan that their aunt and uncle lived. Their father was Japanese, so it made sense that he had family living there. They offered to take the children into their custody and treat them as their own. The plane tickets were payed for and the children were sent away to Japan. The kind babysitter had gone along with them, not quite willing to say her goodbyes yet and feeling that they needed someone they knew well to accompany them on the plane ride. But she was sent back on the next plane as soon as they had arrived in Japan and the aunt and uncle were there to pick them up. Unfortunately, no one had informed Joshua that his aunt and uncle had kids of their own. He already hated the fact that these people related to him that he'd never met before were going to act like parental figures to him. But now there would be kids who would act like siblings toward him? Actually, there was only one child when they reached Japan. He was a four year old boy with blond hair that looked almost like it could be white. The hair he'd inherited from his American mother. His eyes were an emerald green and his skin was rather pale. The boy was named Espionage, but no one called him that. He was called Espio. They had a second child too. It wasn't quite born. The aunt was still pregnant with the baby girl. Siri was the unborn baby's name. Little Siri Akero, also known as one of the people who would make Joshua's life a living hell. Of course, Espio would be making life a greater hell for Joshua than she would be.

Upon arrival, Joshua was immediately dropped off into a public school. But it was hard for him. He didn't know Japanese at that point in time. It was all English in his head. His aunt and uncle had to start teaching him this new language and, for his first year of school in Japan, he had so many difficulties. But, after the year and once he'd learned the basics of the language, at least for someone at only age six, everything was simple. He began to learn at the same rate, if not a faster rate, than everyone else. He just seemed to get everything he was taught. It was only when he got older that school caused him some trouble. The whole writing and grammar area. Joshua was an art geek. Even at a young age, he was drawing on everything and getting yelled at for it. He could spell. His grammar was pretty good. Even full sentences were possible. But when he was asked to write stories or essays, he just couldn't do it. He would have an image in his head of what he wanted to write, but he just couldn't possibly put it into words. But, so easily, he could make it into a picture. Multiple pictures if you needed more than a thousand words. Writing teachers didn't seem to accept pictures though.

Joshua had always been intelligent though. To make up for his lack in major English skills, he did extra work in that class, not to mention every class. When he wasn't out with friends, he tended to be locked up in his room doing homework and studying. He tried so hard to pass each class with flying colors and was very often at the very top of his class. It was to the point where his aunt and uncle talked the school into letting him skip his fifth year of elementary school and go right into the sixth. They allowed it. Normally, Josh hated his aunt and uncle. They were always getting in the way and trying to stop him from doing the things he wanted to do. But the fact that he got to be ahead of most kids his age got him really hyped up. He just had to go through that sixth year and he was already in middle school. Though even Joshua would admit that, though excited about it, it wasn't the greatest around the other students. He was smaller and younger, even if intelligent. Everyone made fun of the smart kids anyways so Josh got bullied a lot in middle school by the third years.

There were a lot of past times when Joshua had crushes on girls. He never approached them though. He'd talk to them. Josh, as a child, had always been so talkative and open about his feelings. When he was mad, you'd know. When he was sad, he'd tell you. But so often he would seem so happy and full of life. Though he wasn't brave enough to confess his love, he had lots of crushes around girls close to his age. But that's all they were. Crushes. Once in middle school, he found a female who could make his heart race and face turn red just by being near. He was not far from being twelve and, having hit puberty not long before, was freaking about how he was feeling toward her. She definitely caused him to feel different in many places. But there was a problem. Her name was Ms. Corina Waters. She came from America to study in Japan and took a job as the Physical Education teacher's assistant. Joshua was hardly twelve. Corina was twenty-four. But she was beautiful. Long blond hair. Blue eyes. Pale skin like a porcelain doll. Josh, to put it rather simply, really wanted to touch the woman.

The classes he was best at seemed to have been art and physical education. Sports and running were just his thing. Him and his friends often ended up hanging down at the local pool even. Joshua had a swimming addiction. He just missed the days back in Australia when the ocean was right there for his uses. With Corina as the teacher assistant for PE classes, he gave up on caring about what his marks were. Instead, he used that as his class to show off. Just for her. He never spoke to her unless she asked him a question. Even then it was quick answers so that he could run away before she could see him blush. As long as he didn't speak to her or she didn't touch him, his heart would race but a blush would stay away. At times, she would touch him. You know, adjust his posture in the sport to something that would make it easier for him. He would pretty much melt at every touch.

One day, after much persuasion by the hands of a few friends, Joshua managed to man up and attempt asking the teacher on a date. That had been the plan. So what if Joshua was younger? Obviously, it takes a lot of guts to ask someone older to go out with you. That's what Joshua thinks. While others might think it wrong, Joshua had always found it cute. And then he was in that position himself. PE had been last class and that class had just ended for the day. He'd stopped her to talk, start up a little conversation before asking the question. But he only got two words out. Would you...? And then his voice broke, turning to a much higher and squeakier pitch. Joshua didn't dare try to speak anymore than that. He blushed, clamped his hands over his mouth and ran. Puberty was a bitch and seemed to have the worst timing for breaking a boy's voice.

For the next week, Joshua didn't even show up to school. He played the sick card and his aunt allowed him to stay home. One of his friends was kind enough to bring him all the homework so that he could finish it and continue with his good marks. Joshua came to school the week after that. But in PE, he stopped showing off. He did the sports so that he could get good marks, not to impress the teacher's assistant. Every time he made eye contact with the woman though, she'd giggle at him which would only make him blush so much more. Corina would try and talk to him more after that day. Ask how he was and all that. He'd try to answer so simply with a yes or a no. But she started asking things that demanded sentence answers. Joshua was forced to talk to her more and it made his entire body warm. He became so tempted to ask her once more if she'd go out with him some time.

There were a lot of rumors being spread around the school about Ms. Waters. Some of them were ones Joshua really hoped weren't true and some seemed rather cool. But a particular rumor about her being a gun specialist really caught his ear. Joshua, when not with friends or doing school-related work, was stealing Espio's game systems when he's not looking to play the countless shooting games in the house. Joshua loved guns. He could name so many of them because he was so use to using them in games. But he'd never held one in his life. Without even hesitating, he asked the woman if it was true. Turns out that her father owns a gun range back in America. She was raised around guns. The woman could shoot them with accuracy that amazed even Joshua. The boy actually got down on his hands and knees and begged her to teach him. He wanted to know how to shoot. It was simple. Too many video games being played of being a hired marksman. But, when he was younger, Joshua really wanted to grow up to be a hired assassin of some form. It was his dream.

Corina had agreed to take him in under her wing and teach him the art of marksmanship. Rather than going out with his friends after school on most days, he went to Corina's house. She'd bring him into the basement where she had soundproofed the walls and set it up as her own little gun range. She started with the small guns. Once he could hit a target bulls eye with one of those, they had moved on to bigger ones. But Joshua was desperate to learn everything he could from her, so he went over to her house often and spent his time there until very late on some nights. Good thing Joshua tended to be a quick learner and all those gun video games seemed to help at least a little bit on how to aim the gun. The woman seemed to have a knack for cooking as well. Every time he stayed too late, she'd have dinner prepared for him. Why should he ask for a date when he can eat dinner with her just by staying at her house? But it didn't mean the same without asking if it could be a date.

So Joshua finally made that move and asked her if she'd go out with him. She flat out rejected him. Joshua didn't mope off and cry. He stared at her in disbelief and started whining and asking why. She said a teacher's assistant and a student should not date and that they hardly knew each other anyways. He said that shouldn't matter. They could get to know each other and age should never be a problem. So she said he wasn't her type. He told her he'd make himself her type. But she still said no. Over and over, each day he was at her house long enough to have dinner, he'd ask her again. Can't you go out with me now? But she still continued to reject him. But Joshua wasn't giving up on this. He took up that little hobby of his to show off in PE class. He wanted to look good in front of her. He talked a lot more to her. Found himself a few pick-up lines to use that only made her laugh and call him an idiot. Was it so hard to get just one date out of her?

That's when the day came when he had managed to pass out at her house after a long day of shooting targets and dinner. He woke up that night pinned to the floor with a rather annoyed looking Corina over top of him. Joshua was both panicked and confused. Corina's words had been, You're like every other guy, aren't you? You want sex. If it'll shut you up, you can have it. Joshua tried to explain that it wasn't what he wanted from her. Sure, he was a virgin, but he really just wanted to go out with her. But there, on the living room floor, he lost his virginity. Over and over, he told her he loved her though through the whole night. He didn't actually go home and stayed there until the morning after. The first thing Joshua asked when he woke up in the bed with the woman at his side was, Will you go out with me now? Corina gave in. She said yes. During school hours, they were student and teacher, though Joshua would still show off. Outside of school, she would still teach the boy to shoot, but they'd do much more. There would be many dates both to dinner and trips around Tokyo and the woman taught him a lot more than shooting with a gun and a lot about ways to please a woman.

This went on for a few months. Almost a year, even. Corina was supposed to be staying in Tokyo for two years. She had told Joshua that she'd try and find a way to stay longer just for him. But her time there was cut short. It wasn't long after Corina had given him one of her many guns she kept in her house. It was a Kimber Eclipse. A semi-automatic pistol. Now, Joshua had always known Corina was beautiful and a lot of men would attempt touching her. One day, she hadn't come home and he'd gone to visit her. With her not being there, he went on a search. But the time he found her, a gang of males already had their hands on her. From how it looked, it was too late for the woman was left naked and the men were doing up their pants. Joshua was pissed. Without thinking, he pulled the Kimber Ecplise from the inside of his jacket and fired randomly at them. He was in a state of anger where he hit one in the arm, but never managed to get them in a way that would kill them. Though he'd been wanting to kill them all. Though in tears, Joshua helped the woman back into her clothes and managed to get her back home. The whole way, he told her loved her and that he'd never let it happen again. He stayed with her through the night though she never spoke to him again till morning.

Joshua wasn't a bad cook, but he wasn't the best. He made pancakes in the morning for Corina but she didn't eat. She sat at the table and stared at him. When he asked what's wrong, she answered. She told him it wasn't going to work out between them. She said she had to get back home in the next few days. When he asked why they couldn't be together, she gave a rather simple answer. You're too young for me, Joshua. Twelve years couldn't be that big a deal. He tried to convince her that it wasn't that big of an age difference. But she wouldn't change her mind. She told him to leave and she said goodbye. He left. The next day of school, she wasn't there. Day after day and she never showed up. She was gone. Joshua couldn't be the same again. He stopped talking to people and became a lot more silent. He was depressed over her leaving and didn't show it. He would just go quiet. His grades didn't drop. In fact, they got higher because he'd lose himself in his homework. The gun that the woman had given him received a name. He refused to forget the woman, so the gun was labeled as Corina. Corina had been a smoker. She smoked very rarely but, two or three months after she left, Joshua found himself taking up smoking as well. He wasn't going to forget her because he would prove something to her. One day, he would end up in a relationship with someone who wasn't near his age. Younger or older, he didn't care. He was going to prove that age wasn't a matter and that two people with a big age difference really could love each other for a long period of time, if not forever.

If possible, things got worse. It might have only been a month later that Joshua came home one day after spending time with his friends that he learned an accident had happened at him. His dear little sister Faery was in the hospital. He didn't go to see her. He stayed at home and waited. If she were dead, he didn't want to be there. After seeing his ex-girlfriend broken and then leave him, he couldn't bear seeing his little sister broken and then dead. Josh waited and waited and was pleased to see that, though in tears, Rudy came to him happily to say that Faery was okay. But she wouldn't be the same after that. No longer would she have the ability to walk. She would be in a wheelchair for what would most likely be the rest of her life. At such a young age too. Really, Joshua did take a little bit more time away from friends and homework so that he could spend time with Faery. He wanted to make sure that she could stay happy even after losing her leg power.

Not long after that incident, Joshua started finding out lots of secrets. Like the fact that no one in his family seemed to be heterosexual. Faery was a lesbian. Rudy's secret of being a closet homosexual was let out as well. Joshua had always suspected it but one of Espio's little homophobic outbursts made it clear in the end that Rudy really was gay. At least he stopped hiding it after the rest of his family knew for sure. Though Espio only seemed to get pissed off at Rudy because of it. Joshua tried to spend more time with his brother so that Espio couldn't do anything stupid to the boy. Of course, Joshua only ever made it worse by accusing Espio of being gay as well. Josh had never been homophobic. He never would be. He just didn't care all that much for such a thing. People should be able to love who they wished to whether they be the same gender, same blood or a different species. Though Joshua wasn't about to fall for another male, a family member or an animal. If other people got off on it, then that was fine by him. But it wasn't his style.

It was probably a year after losing Corina that Joshua took up dating again. Once he'd lost his cheerful personality and grown into his body a bit more, he seemed to have quite a few girls wanting him. But Joshua just wanted to be a typical teenage boy. Nothing special. Not attractive, but not ugly. Not unique in personality but not lacking a personality. But he didn't look all that bad and he was himself and that made his personality unique no matter how much he would deny it. So Joshua got girlfriends. They always seemed to be the pretty girls who got hyped up on drugs and went out to parties every weekend to get wasted. Joshua was fourteen at the time when one of his girlfriends managed to drag him along. It was his first time having more than a sip of alcohol. The next day was also his first hangover. Joshua hated the hangovers. He hated the fact that people took advantage of him in the drunken state. He just hated that he ended up in someone's bed any night he was drunk. Thankfully, it always seemed to be his girlfriend's bed. Or someone else's bed with his girlfriend in it along with possible other females in the bed as well. Joshua stopped getting drunk. Maybe once every few months as an accident. He tried to stick to small amounts that might get him tipsy, but leaving him with memory and control. People have their own opinions on what's worse. Alcohol or drugs. Josh ended up doing both of them. It wasn't some drug that would kill him quickly. One of his girlfriends merely introduced him to Marijuana. It wasn't an addiction, but it was so calming. He didn't smoke the drug often, just when he was in a state of panic and nervousness.

Even though Corina was gone, Joshua didn't stop his gun training. In his aunt and uncle's house, he lived in the basement. The entire basement belonged to him. He set up soundproof padding on the walls and ceiling of one of the rooms and set up his own little shooting range in there. Anytime he went anywhere that wasn't school, he had a gun on hand. Better safe than sorry, he tried to tell himself. It was a way of self-defense though even he knew that he'd be completely screwed over if he was ever caught carrying the gun in his jacket. Since the day he tried to save Corina, Joshua hadn't needed to pull out a gun on anyone. He was fifteen when that changed completely. He was walking through the streets of Tokyo when he heard a scream and, immediately, he booked it down the first alley he found to find it. From how it looked, it was a kidnapping. Three men stealing away one woman. There was a forth man though. This one had a knife and seemed to be after the others. He was a lot bigger and slower than the guys he was up against. He seemed to be built to fight, not to run. Joshua was sure the man wouldn't catch the others so Joshua stepped in. He pulled his gun from the inside pocket of his sweater.

Maybe helping had been a big mistaken. Joshua could hit any target that wasn't moving. He could throw something through the air and he could shoot it. But he hadn't tried shooting something that could dart around in any direction it would choose. Joshua fired the gun and missed what he was really aiming for. He wanted to shoot one of the men in the arm at least to make them drop the woman. If he shot one in the head, that could work too. They were horrible kidnappers and Joshua didn't care that much if they were to die. But he didn't hit either of those targets. Instead, he shot the woman right through the neck. She was a deadweight to the men now and they dropped her to run. Joshua never got his hands on them. He was in tears and at the point where he was about to swear off shooting for the rest of eternity. But the other man, the one who had been helping in the first place, changed Joshua's mind. They called him Singer. Maldukes was his real name, but no one ever called him that. Though Joshua was in tears, Singer tried to assure him with short sentences that it was okay and at least he tried. Singer wasn't the most talkative man, but he seemed to be a kind man. A big softy. Over six and a half feet tall, built like a tank, yet dressed like he's some important business man.

Joshua couldn't get home after what he'd done. He'd go back another day but, until that day, Singer took him back to another place. He had originally thought it was Singer's home but there were so many people there. It was a large house that Joshua quickly learned was used as a home base to a gang. Singer's gang. Things were explained rather quickly. He found the history of the gang and what the gang was around to do. Every person in the gang, there were between twenty and thirty members, were people who had done wrong and wished for a second chance. Could you even call them a gang when they were fighting for good? They would play Robin Hood at times. Not exactly play, it was real. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. They would stop kidnappers, rapists and murderers. They were the good guys with lots of enemies. All the opposing gangs that didn't support what they do. But it didn't matter. Singer didn't support what they did either. All their killings and beatings. The feelings of the other gangs toward Singer's gang were mutual.

The second in command to the gang was a man they called Skylark. Really, his name was Absolon. He was the flight specialist of the gang. Not that they traveled a lot. But, if they ever needed to get somewhere, he could hijack a plane or get his own to get others where they needed to be. In fact, he owned a helicopter. One that was bought by his fiancee's father. Joshua quickly learned about this Skylark character because he just happened to be the fiancee to Singer. The fact that everyone in that gang was willing to follow the orders of a homosexual couple should show that all were loyal. Really, Joshua was impressed. Joshua didn't get close to a lot of the members. But there were a few he talked to more often than others. Punch, the martial arts specialist. Access the system software specialist or, in everyone else's words, the hacker. Surge, who was the boy who handled all the explosives. Hint was like some sort of information handler who seemed to know everything we needed to know. Then there was Persuade, who we normally called Percy, and we left all the sweet talk and persuasion to him.

Though Joshua would need a bit of work on aiming at moving objects, he was labeled Sniper. With his knowledge of guns and soon to be amazing accuracy, Singer had dragged Joshua into the gang as their gun specialist after only days. He started spending a whole lot less time at home at this point. He'd go to school, come home and do his homework and then be off the the gang hideout to just either sit around or be told important jobs they'd have to do. Josh rarely had to do much. He was more sent out for assassination jobs or just as a form of bodyguard in case something bad happened to one of the others. After a few months, Josh could hit moving targets and, after joining the gang, he shot, wounded and killed quite a large amount of people. He tries to not keep count. It was all for good causes though. They were criminals. Rapists, kidnappers and murderers who attacked the innocent. Joshua told himself that in an attempt to make himself feel better about killing. It hurt him inside to do it but, with the mask he put up, everyone else in the gang seriously thought that he had no problem with killing at all. He started getting more into his drawing around this point as well. He would draw the deaths in his mind onto a paper. Though he only ever seemed to draw males. One day, he got curious about how much drawing talent he had. He began to draw a picture of a boy, no one in particular, only left the clothes off. He found himself drawing this sort of thing out a lot until it turned into not just one male but full out sex on a paper. But, always, it was between men. Joshua claimed to be unable to draw females. He says he was completely straight but liked to draw the male anatomy. When labeled gay for what he drew, he said the people were wrong. You could draw gay sex and be straight, couldn't you? That's what Josh was trying to make everyone believe.

Joshua was around fifteen years old when they brought a new member into the gang. The boy was in the gang due to, like many of those in the gang, murder. But the boy claimed that the murder wasn't his sin. It was the fact that his lack of promise breaking is what caused him to do such a sin. Westley Spooner was the child's name. He was only about twelve or thirteen years old. They labeled him as Promise because he refused to ever break a promise that he's made. But he would manage to word the promise in a way that there could be possible ways to get out of it depending on who he's making the promise to. Joshua hadn't cared much at first that there was a new member. The only time he showed any interest in Promise was the moment he found out that Promise was stalking him. The boy would follow him home and often ask to go on special tasks with just him. Promise would often follow Josh around the hideout and ask random questions about rather personal things and things that shouldn't even matter. Joshua had managed to, unknowingly, get himself a fanboy. Really, Promise just got on his nerves and Joshua wanted him to go away.

There were some days on weekends when Joshua would stay overnight at the hideout. Some others did it at times, but it was mostly Joshua or Skylark that ended up staying there. In fact, it was Skylark's house so he was always there. There was one night where he was walking by and Promise had decided to stay the night. He heard Promise and Skylark talking. Now, even though Skylark was engaged, he frequently flirted. The man was in the gang because he use to be a prostitute. Not because he wanted money, but because he enjoyed sex that much. It hadn't bothered Joshua that much at other times. He heard Skylark trying to persuade Promise into sex with him. Promise was heterosexual. He liked women only and he was the kind of guy who would never probably be interested in his own gender, no matter how hard he tried or anyone else tried. Joshua just brushed it off and left. But when he walked by that room again, he was set into a state of panic. He could hear too many noises that he didn't want to hear. Crying, screams, begging to stop and soft coos about how it would all be okay. Joshua couldn't help but look into the room. Sure enough, both Skylark and Promise were there lacking all clothing and going through with that sex Skylark had been asking for. Joshua had always heard that Skylark was a bottom with Singer, yet he was there topping Promise and the younger boy seemed to really hate this fact. Joshua didn't stop them. He just clapped his hand over his mouth and ran. He never told a soul. He could never look at Skylark without wanting to punch him. He couldn't look at Promise without actually wanting to hug him.

For a long while, Rudy had loved a boy by the name of Noah. But Noah had been straight and the boy had moved back to America. This had left Rudy in depression. Without thinking, Joshua broke into Rudy's room, grabbed the boy's hand and dragged him away to meet the gang. Rather than hanging out with his own friends, Rudy started hanging out a lot with Joshua and the gang, though still with his sister a lot. He quickly learned what the gang did for a living and was able to easily keep it all a secret. Joshua was rather shocked to know that Singer decided he wanted Rudy in the gang. Joshua wasn't sure it was safe but his brother seemed so happy with the idea. They gave him the codename Swift. Rudy was quick on his feet and they used him for theft. Stealing from rich people and acting as a distraction. Rudy was one of the few people in the gang who hadn't sin and then joined. Rudy had never done anything wrong before.

Joshua was about seventeen, almost eighteen when they got another new member. Nightingale Zohar. Quickly nicknamed Moonshine for his cheerful behavior that often got people asking if he were drunk or not. Not to mention that a name such as Moonshine should go well with a name such as Night. But Night did have his uses. He possessed an almost photographic memory and they would send him away on tasks that was more observing rather than stealing or killing. Like Promise, Joshua had planned to ignore this new member too. But Night started talking to him. He would talk a lot and Josh would listen, replying only occasionally to him. Everyone but Joshua could easily see that Night was panting at his feet. Then there was a mistake where the gang went out drinking one day. Joshua drank a little too much and woke up today finding himself not alone. He was naked along with the body next to him. The warm and thankfully still breathing body of Night. Instantly, Joshua flipped. He was not gay. He was so definitely straight, yet he'd gotten drunk to the point where he had sex with another man. He yelled at Nightingale when he woke up and the boy just laughed. Night was only fourteen at that point too. Eighteen year old Josh had slept with a fourteen year old boy. Age difference wasn't a problem for him at most times, but only if the two people loved each other. He didn't love Night! And surely Night didn't love him. But he was wrong.

Within the next two weeks, it happened again. There was no alcohol involved but Night had slipped ecstasy pills into his drink that morning. The other boy took complete advantage of the state Joshua was in and got him into sex again. Josh was getting pissed off. Especially because, when drunk, he'd remember bits and pieces of it, but not all of it. When high, he tended to remember most of it afterward. Thankfully, Josh wasn't the one being screwed up the ass. Nightingale seemed to be quite the power bottom. Joshua was about to start another verbal outburst toward Nightingale but the boy kissed him. Josh pretty much stopped moving and breathing and listened as the boy cooed soft words to him. I love you. You're beautiful. You're cute when you're angry. I want you. We could be perfect together. If you were willing, we wouldn't have to use the drugs. But Joshua punched him in the face and broke his nose after realizing that he could move. That should have been a good enough rejection. He didn't love Night. He didn't ever plan to. But Joshua took him to the hospital and that should have been a good enough sign that they were still friends.

Night had only been part of the gang and, already, he left. But he took Joshua with him. It had always been Joshua's dream to travel just as his parents had done before him and it was Nightingale who managed to convince him into it. Without a word of goodbye to anyone, they were gone. No goodbye to friends or even family. Rudy would worry. Faery would worry. His aunt and uncle would worry. But he left and promised himself that he would come back another time. He would see them again because they were his family and he wouldn't be able to handle losing them forever just as he had with his parents. It was thoughts of his parents that made him decide on his first stop for travels. They were on their way to Australia. Joshua wanted to visit home but he realized that someone was living in his old house. He didn't realize it until he made the mistake of trying to get through the window. A man inside the house, rather calmly, asked him what he was doing and it scared the crap out of Joshua. The man seemed so calm about it. He was thin, pale, shorter and looked almost sickly. If the man attacked him, Josh was sure he could take him on. But he was afraid that the man would call the police, so he dropped from the windowsill, grabbed Night's arm and ran.

It was three or four months spent in Australia before they moved on to the place Nightingale had come from. They took a trip to New York. At first, they didn't quite have the money to stay in a hotel. They ended up camping out one night only to wake up in the morning and find out that their lunch for the day was gone. Joshua was pissed at that fact and even angrier when he found a fox chewing on the remnants of the lunch bag. He would throw things at the creature and yell really random and weird things at it like how it deserves to die and would make a better meal than whatever they were having anyways. Every day they'd buy new lunch and bring it back to their campsite. Every morning, it would be gone. Stolen by the little fox. They would hide the food away and the creature would still find it. Joshua started making little traps to catch the bugger but they never seemed to work. He even reached a point where he would just go right on ahead and chase it. There were nights when the fox would not steal their food because Josh would stay up and watch. But Night convinced him that staying up like that isn't healthy, even if it was for their food. So Joshua gave up for awhile.

Instead, Night started telling Joshua all about New York and his life there. He learned a lot about the other boy that he didn't know. Nightingale had been somewhat of an assassin in the past with his twin brother, Zander. They worked for their father and went after criminals. Their dad had been an ex-cop who had moved on to working with others who believed that some criminals were dangerous enough that they should be dead, not in jail. But Nightingale told him of an incident gone wrong where his brother had thought he'd killed a few children. In fact, Night had been trying to save the children from a man who had been killing them. His brother hadn't realized that and thought Night had killed him and instinctively shot Night. Joshua learned that Night was supposed to be dead in his family's eyes and that he'd barely survived. None of his family knew he was alive because he had fled to Japan. And now there they were back in New York. The story ended with Night asking for pity sex. Joshua was sure he could never sleep with a male when he was sober or not high. So after a few drinks, Nightingale got his wish. It started happening more often too. Not normally the drinking, but more Night slipping ecstasy into Josh's drink for fun. Joshua hated it. Night was his best friend though and he tried not to get too mad.

They had gone back to the campsite later that day and Joshua was rather amused to find the fox there asleep. Not only was it asleep, but it was curled in his sleeping back. He immediately zipped up the sleeping back and tied up the top so that the creature could not escape. Joshua laughed at the fox a lot telling it that he wins and that it is the loser now. The fox seemed quite pissed off at this and managed to chew its way out of the sleeping bag and end up attempting to chew of Josh's arm as well. Rather than run away, the fox stayed at Josh's heels and frequently attacked him when he wasn't looking. Each day was like a battle with that furry creature. It would stay at the campsite though and slept when Josh slept. Which meant no unfair attacks during sleep. He ended up naming it Muse. He had started drawing a lot more since he found the creature. When the left New York to go to London, they stuffed the fox in a bag to bring it along with them. But they hadn't been in London all that long before they had moved to Spain.

Joshua hadn't known why they were going to Spain of all places. Apparently, it was because Night had found out something that Josh didn't know. Apparently, Josh's family members were there. Espio had been sent there for reasons Josh didn't know. Though he was pleased to find out he was right about the boy's homosexuality that had been there all along. But apparently Rudy was there too. Not because he was gay, but as some form of vacation. He probably chose to go there of all places because it was where Espio was. Joshua was more shocked to see that Faery and Siri were there as well. He was happy to see Faery. But seeing Siri made him die a little inside. Apparently, the whole time he was gone, she had been claiming that she had killed him. Josh did not like the thought of being labeled decease and his hatred for the little girl only seemed to burn so much more.

Nightingale just dropped him off in Barcelona though and went off on his way to travel Spain some more. Joshua was supposed to get a job and raise more money for their traveling. There was a lot of complaining on Joshua's end, but he ended up working at the school his siblings were at. One that was meant to reform gay children. He wasn't gay, but his family was there so he might as well show up. Joshua, though intelligent, was lazy and didn't take up a teaching job. The school had a pool that was in need of protection. But Joshua quickly realized that no one ever breaks into the pool. He signed up as the security guard anyways. He did learn rather quickly though that it was a hot spot for sex. No one ever seemed to have sex there when he was on duty though and that did disappoint him. He was hoping for new models for his art but he never caught sight of anyone.

Joshua made the mistake of drinking too much one night when he went to a bar. He drank far too much and a cute little student just happened to be there the day Joshua was drunk. The next morning, he remembered most of it. He remembered asking the boy to come home with him. He remembered some girl telling them to go off and have fun. Joshua remembered the bad things. He remembered being yelled at to stop. The boy hadn't wanted any of it yet, in his drunken state, he'd gone right ahead and took the boy. He hated himself for it in the morning and hated himself so much more when he realized that the boy was at La Campana. It was supposed to be just a visit. But the boy stayed at the school and became a student. Though Joshua hated the fact that he raped the boy, there was a chance that there was something he hated himself for more. Joshua was in love. He had raped a student and then fallen so hard for him. He immediately labeled himself a monster and wanted to get far away. But he couldn't leave the boy. Joshua was afraid of making people miserable and he was scaring the boy. So he had to make the choice of being with the boy and scaring him or to give up his love, go away and never have to cause a problem. Joshua didn't know what to do. He tried to put it out of mind. He tried so hard to just distract himself with his pool duties and large amounts of drawing. But, whenever he draws, he finds himself drawing that boy. It didn't help. So badly he wanted to leave La Campana. But here he is, still at the school. He just can't bring himself to leave to just yet.

Roleplaying Sample:

This would take his greatest effort. So rarely was Joshua ever caught drawing himself. But, this time, it was for a good cause. He would draw himself right. Every other time in the many years of Joshua's life, if he were asked to draw himself, he'd make himself thinner than he's supposed to be with funny looking hair and big hands or feet. Really, he drew himself far worse than he actually looked. Many people felt a need to tell him that he was attractive. But they told everyone that, ugly or not. Joshua refused to believe that he was any different than one of those not-so-pretty looking people who everyone wanted to make feel good by calling them beautiful. But Joshua would suck it up and draw himself right this time. It's not like anyone else would ever see this picture. It was personal. Maybe he'd hide it under his bed. Maybe put it on his wall? But then company would see. Not like he ever had company. So under the bed it would go where only he would find it and stare at it for however long he chose to. Joshua knew the picture wouldn't look bad. His art wasn't half bad. In fact, he'd spent many years mastering it, yet didn't give himself enough credit for how beautiful it really was.

Joshua tried to do most of his drawing at home in his room. If any unexpected company came over, then he wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up his art. Beside his bed was an easel and on that easel was a completely blank white canvas. Untouched and untainted by pencil, pens or color of any shade. The young man sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the blank canvas and wondering where to start. He had the entire image pictured in his head. It would be colored. Of course it would be. The image was just that important to him. But he still had some decisions to make. The tree. There was a tree in the picture. But what kind would it be? A maple tree? A birch? A Sakura? No! That would be too corny. No, too late. Joshua already had the sakura tree pictured in his mind. It would be spring. Sakura blossoms in full bloom. Early morning. Not sunrise, but early enough for the sky to be a clear and cloudless blue. The grass would be a healthy green and there would be critters in the tree. No. No, animals. That would draw eyes from the important parts of the pictures. The tree and the people beneath it.

The people would be the easiest part because people were what Joshua drew best. It was only two, which made it easier. But the fact that one of the boy's under the tree was himself complicated it. But the other boy? Joshua had drawn him enough times to be able to get him to look perfect in the picture with enough effort. But he'd have to find the right green. A perfect green for the boy's hair and for his eyes. A bright emerald green. That's what he'd use. He'd have to search for his pencil crayons. No paint would touch his picture. Joshua didn't handle paint. The image would be colored gently with pencil crayons. He'd have to find a brownish-red color for his own eyes but Joshua didn't care much about making himself look perfect. It was the other male who he had to perfect in the picture. But there were so many other questions he had to ask himself about the picture. What were they wearing? Something simple. Light. Nothing too bring and colorful that will draw eyes to the clothing.

Joshua let out a deep sigh, lowering his head as he stared down at his bare feet on the floor. He knew that he should at least start sketching it out. He could decide on the clothes when sketching. Or wait till he reaches that point and draw whatever feels right. All he knew was that he had to draw clothes on them. Joshua was very use to drawing nude pictures but that wasn't happening here. This wasn't going to be some erotic image of himself and another male that would end up rather sexual. He wanted it to be simple and sweet. Like the image in his head. The image where the green haired boy laying against his shoulder while he held the boy's hands, lips pressed to the younger's fingertips. Joshua felt a fluttering in his stomach just thinking of the image. He never knew that he could get like this before. He didn't know that he could get so corny. Was this corny? Was this romantic? Or was it just sweet? No no, no! Joshua refused to believe it was any of that. He didn't know what it was. All that mattered is that he had to get this picture done. He'd perfect it and hide it away to be treasured always, seen only by his eyes. Though maybe, just maybe, he'd be one day be willing to share the picture with the beautiful, emerald-haired boy who sat beneath the tree with him.

[Kohaku LeBara]

This application is due in two weeks, on April 2nd, please and thank you