Post by Kei on Jul 14, 2005 21:45:20 GMT -5
Here is the second chapter
"Hey ! Kei ! You made it ! Your in !" Shou yelled, waking Kei up from his sleep.
"Hmm? What? I passed ... the test ... thingy?" Kei asked groggily, sitting up.
"Yeah ! They want-" he was cut off as Shinji and Toshi walked into the room.
"Kei ! ... Shou? What are you doing here?" Shinji asked.
"I fell asleep in here by accident. I was just leaving now." Shou said and slunk out of the room.
"So .. he told you that you made it in? Well now we need to know what shift you'd prefer."
"I'd prefer and night shift if that's alright." Kei told Shinji and Toshi.
The two older boys looked at each other. "Yeah .. that should be fine." Shinji told him and turned to Toshi. "I'd like to talk to him for a minute. I'll be out in a second."
Toshi nodded and left the room.
Kei looked at Shinji wondering what he wanted to talk to him about.
"You killed the store keep before right?" He asked.
Kei swallowed. "Yes .. I did." He told Shinji
"How ..? There was no blood or and sign of a physical attack. Only thing was two puncture wounds on the victim's neck. What did you do the old man?"
"Uh .. it's a secret art I was taught before I ran away from my family."
"I see. And your strength is incredible !" Shinji stated looking at his arm in a sling.
"Did I break it !?" Kei asked and jumped off the bed to look at Shin's arm. "Oh God ! I'm soo sorry Shinji !"
"Don't worry about it kid. Hey, how bout you get yourself some more rest. Shou must have kept you up all night-"
"Really, Shou and I were talking, I asked him to stay."
"Okay." Shin said and turned to leave. "You know where the kitchen is when you get hungry. Right?" He turned back to Kei and saw him back in the bed, sleeping. Shin smiled and closed the door.
Toshi ran up to him. "Hey ! Shinji. You going or not?"
"No," he yawned. "I'm going to stay here this time."
"Alright. We'll be back later. Oh ! And Shou is coming with us alright?"
Shinji nodded. "Watch him extra closely."
Toshi and a group of five orphans left the hideout.
Shinji slumped down on the couch and turned on the TV. He flipped the channels and stopped at a horror movie. "Dracula. Awesome !" he said and watched it. Eventually he fell asleep.
Kei came out later, around sundown and looked at the TV. He sighed and shut it off. He looked around the hideout and headed to the spot where the kitchen was. He made himself a few sandwiches and sat on one of the couches in the room. It was silent in the hideout until the morning shift came back.
"Did you see how fast that guy tried to run !" Shou laughed loudly.
Kei looked at them. They all had accomplished looks on their faces. Shinji yawned and sat up. He looked at the TV then to Kei, with a 'Did you turn it off' look. Kei nodded and shrugged. Shinji got up and as the others walked over. "It went well?" he asked.
Shou nodded. "Yeah Shin ! You really should'a been there !"
"With my arm like this I don't think I'm going out very soon."
"We're going to need another man on the night shift then." Toshi told him.
"Find someone. And if you don't," He shrugged. "It really doesn't matter."
"Alright Shin." Toshi turned to Kei. "You ready to leave?"
Kei looked at him. "Uh..." He nodded.
"Alright." Toshi took another small group with him. They all left.
It was this way for the next four years. Shou switched to the night shift. The friendship between Kei and Shou became stronger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 years later
Toshi took Shou to the park while the others were watching a store. "Toshi ... look." Shou pointed out a man with a white suite sitting on one of the benches, reading the newspaper. Beside him, on the ground was a suitcase. "I bet it's full of money !" Shou whispered.
"Only one way to find out. You distract him."
"No ! You !"
"Fine." Toshi walked up to the man. "Um. Mister?"
"Yeah? What is it?" The man looked up from his newspaper.
"Do you know anything about doctor type stuff?" He asked.
"Yeah. I do. Why?"
"Well my friend fell out of that tree there. You think you could go check it out?"
"Sure just show me where." The man stood up and followed Toshi.
While Toshi and the man walked away from the bench Shou walked by and picked up the silver suit case. He just kept walking. He and Toshi agreed to meet back at the hideout. He went in and saw Kei and Shinji talking. "Hey guys !" Shou said and walked up to the table they were sitting at. Kei and Shou were now twelve years old. Shinji was fifteen and Toshi was fourteen.
"What's up? Where is Toshi?" Shinji asked.
"He'll be back soon. But first, Look at what we found." Shou put the suitcase on the table. He opened it slowly.
"Look at all that money !" Shinji cried happily.
"Wow .. That is a lot." Kei said almost uncertain if they should have taken it.
Shinji got up and hugged Shou tightly. "We're rich now!"
Shou laughed and looked at Kei. He didn't look happy. He looked almost worried about something. He let go of Shinji and walked to Kei. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing." Kei got up and went into his room, closing the door behind him.
"What's with him?" Shin asked.
Shou shrugged and went after Kei. Shinji grabbed his shoulder. "Just give him a while to himself. Alright?"
Shou nodded.
Toshi ran into the hideout, panting. He walked up to Shou and punched him in the nose. Shou cried out in pain and held his nose.
"What the hell is your problem Toshi! If you broke his nose I'm going to have to break yours!" Shinji yelled moving his brother's hand from his face to look at it.
"That little kid just left me ! He was s'pposed to wait!"
"You said to meet at the hideout !" Shou yelled at him.
"Shou I'll take care of this. Just, go to sleep or see if Kei is alright." Shinji told him.
Shou nodded and walked off to Kei's room. He knocked on the door before opening it. "You all right Kei?" Shou asked quietly.
Kei looked at his friend. "What happened to you?"
"Toshi punched me." He told him and shook his head. "What happened to you out there?" He asked Kei.
"Oh .. I was just .. What did the man look like?" He asked Shou.
"Well he was wearing a white suit-"
"He was !?"
"Yeah ..." Shou still didn't see why his friend got so upset.
"Okay then .. Never, nevermind."
"All right. Mind if I stay here? Shinji is yelling at Toshi. I don't want to go back out there."
"Sure." Kei nodded.
Shou sat on the bed and looked at the bag beside Kei's bed. "Why didn't you unpack the whole time you were here?" He asked carefully
"Because there really isn't anything important in there."
"Oh. I see."
After hours of talking Shinji came into the room. "Lets go you two." He told them and they all left the room going on night shift. Kei started to wander off.
"Where are you going?" Shou asked him, grabbing his arm .
Kei turned. "I'll meet you guys there I've got something I need to take care of."
"Okay." Shou let his friend go and watched him run off.
Half an hour later the group reached a new store that was down the street farther. "Street of Maleppa ..." Shinji whispered.
"The run down street.." Shou added.
They reached the store. "Should we wait for Kei ?" Shinji asked.
"He said he'd meet us here." Shou looked around.
Kei walked out from and alley behind them. "Hi guys. Told ya I'd be here."
The brothers jumped. Kei's sudden appearance startled them. "Okay, lets get this over with."
They walked into the store, Kei breaking off the lock like he did every time they went out. Kei, Shou and Shinji walked to the cash register and pulled it opened, setting off an alarm.
"Shou ! Kei ! Get out of here ! I'll be right behind you !" Shinji ordered, taking the money from the register.
The friends nodded and ran out of the store and back to the hideout. They stopped in an alley to catch their breath. Two cop cars drove by quickly, sirens blaring. "You think-" Kei started and was cut off by Shou.
"He'll be fine. He's escaped the cops more than once. Let's keep going." Shou said and they continued running back to the hideout. They walked in quietly and saw everyone was asleep. Kei and Shou sat on the couch close to the door to wait for Shinji.
They sat there all night and Shou kept falling asleep for seconds only to wake up again. "He's not back yet Shou .."
"He'll be back. I know he will."
The door swung open. "Shinji !" Kei cried happily
"Brother !" Shou jumped off of the couch and ran towards his brother.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Told ya I'd be alright."
Kei smiled and yawned. "I'm going to get some rest." He got off the couch and walked into his room.
"Sleep .. That sounds good." Shinji yawned and looked at Shou who had his arms around him. Shou fell asleep. Shin picked up his brother and put him down on his bed. He left Shou's room and went into his own.
Kei woke up later that day and walked outside his room. He looked around and noticed the whole group was awake and they were all sitting together talking. He walked up to them to see what was going on.
"So what are we going to do with it all?" One kid asked.
"First we are going to fix things up around here." Shinji told the kid. "And were going to see about some new clothes for all of you."
Everyone cheered happily. But was silenced by Kei. "You can't spend that money. You should get rid of it."
They all looked at him. "Are you crazy kid ! We've hit a jackpot !" Toshi stood up and walked over to Kei. Toshi was short for his age and he and Kei stood face to face.
"Yeah, at what cost !?" Kei yelled at him.
All of the other orphans sat and looked at the two as they circled around in each other's faces. Some cheering on Toshi and some for Kei. Shinji stood up. Ready to break up a fight. "No cost, Kid ! It's stolen money !"
"So what !? NOTHING in life is free !" Kei continued to yell.
Toshi pushed Kei to the ground and jumped on top of him, punching him in the face. Kei pushed Toshi off of him and began to punch him back. Shinji and Shou pulled Kei and Toshi apart from each other.
"What do you know kid !? Huh ?" Toshi said angrily.
"I know more about the man you stole the money from than you may think !" Kei yelled and everyone fell silent.
"You know about the white suits?" Shou asked him.
Kei nodded.
"Hey ! Kei ! You made it ! Your in !" Shou yelled, waking Kei up from his sleep.
"Hmm? What? I passed ... the test ... thingy?" Kei asked groggily, sitting up.
"Yeah ! They want-" he was cut off as Shinji and Toshi walked into the room.
"Kei ! ... Shou? What are you doing here?" Shinji asked.
"I fell asleep in here by accident. I was just leaving now." Shou said and slunk out of the room.
"So .. he told you that you made it in? Well now we need to know what shift you'd prefer."
"I'd prefer and night shift if that's alright." Kei told Shinji and Toshi.
The two older boys looked at each other. "Yeah .. that should be fine." Shinji told him and turned to Toshi. "I'd like to talk to him for a minute. I'll be out in a second."
Toshi nodded and left the room.
Kei looked at Shinji wondering what he wanted to talk to him about.
"You killed the store keep before right?" He asked.
Kei swallowed. "Yes .. I did." He told Shinji
"How ..? There was no blood or and sign of a physical attack. Only thing was two puncture wounds on the victim's neck. What did you do the old man?"
"Uh .. it's a secret art I was taught before I ran away from my family."
"I see. And your strength is incredible !" Shinji stated looking at his arm in a sling.
"Did I break it !?" Kei asked and jumped off the bed to look at Shin's arm. "Oh God ! I'm soo sorry Shinji !"
"Don't worry about it kid. Hey, how bout you get yourself some more rest. Shou must have kept you up all night-"
"Really, Shou and I were talking, I asked him to stay."
"Okay." Shin said and turned to leave. "You know where the kitchen is when you get hungry. Right?" He turned back to Kei and saw him back in the bed, sleeping. Shin smiled and closed the door.
Toshi ran up to him. "Hey ! Shinji. You going or not?"
"No," he yawned. "I'm going to stay here this time."
"Alright. We'll be back later. Oh ! And Shou is coming with us alright?"
Shinji nodded. "Watch him extra closely."
Toshi and a group of five orphans left the hideout.
Shinji slumped down on the couch and turned on the TV. He flipped the channels and stopped at a horror movie. "Dracula. Awesome !" he said and watched it. Eventually he fell asleep.
Kei came out later, around sundown and looked at the TV. He sighed and shut it off. He looked around the hideout and headed to the spot where the kitchen was. He made himself a few sandwiches and sat on one of the couches in the room. It was silent in the hideout until the morning shift came back.
"Did you see how fast that guy tried to run !" Shou laughed loudly.
Kei looked at them. They all had accomplished looks on their faces. Shinji yawned and sat up. He looked at the TV then to Kei, with a 'Did you turn it off' look. Kei nodded and shrugged. Shinji got up and as the others walked over. "It went well?" he asked.
Shou nodded. "Yeah Shin ! You really should'a been there !"
"With my arm like this I don't think I'm going out very soon."
"We're going to need another man on the night shift then." Toshi told him.
"Find someone. And if you don't," He shrugged. "It really doesn't matter."
"Alright Shin." Toshi turned to Kei. "You ready to leave?"
Kei looked at him. "Uh..." He nodded.
"Alright." Toshi took another small group with him. They all left.
It was this way for the next four years. Shou switched to the night shift. The friendship between Kei and Shou became stronger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4 years later
Toshi took Shou to the park while the others were watching a store. "Toshi ... look." Shou pointed out a man with a white suite sitting on one of the benches, reading the newspaper. Beside him, on the ground was a suitcase. "I bet it's full of money !" Shou whispered.
"Only one way to find out. You distract him."
"No ! You !"
"Fine." Toshi walked up to the man. "Um. Mister?"
"Yeah? What is it?" The man looked up from his newspaper.
"Do you know anything about doctor type stuff?" He asked.
"Yeah. I do. Why?"
"Well my friend fell out of that tree there. You think you could go check it out?"
"Sure just show me where." The man stood up and followed Toshi.
While Toshi and the man walked away from the bench Shou walked by and picked up the silver suit case. He just kept walking. He and Toshi agreed to meet back at the hideout. He went in and saw Kei and Shinji talking. "Hey guys !" Shou said and walked up to the table they were sitting at. Kei and Shou were now twelve years old. Shinji was fifteen and Toshi was fourteen.
"What's up? Where is Toshi?" Shinji asked.
"He'll be back soon. But first, Look at what we found." Shou put the suitcase on the table. He opened it slowly.
"Look at all that money !" Shinji cried happily.
"Wow .. That is a lot." Kei said almost uncertain if they should have taken it.
Shinji got up and hugged Shou tightly. "We're rich now!"
Shou laughed and looked at Kei. He didn't look happy. He looked almost worried about something. He let go of Shinji and walked to Kei. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing." Kei got up and went into his room, closing the door behind him.
"What's with him?" Shin asked.
Shou shrugged and went after Kei. Shinji grabbed his shoulder. "Just give him a while to himself. Alright?"
Shou nodded.
Toshi ran into the hideout, panting. He walked up to Shou and punched him in the nose. Shou cried out in pain and held his nose.
"What the hell is your problem Toshi! If you broke his nose I'm going to have to break yours!" Shinji yelled moving his brother's hand from his face to look at it.
"That little kid just left me ! He was s'pposed to wait!"
"You said to meet at the hideout !" Shou yelled at him.
"Shou I'll take care of this. Just, go to sleep or see if Kei is alright." Shinji told him.
Shou nodded and walked off to Kei's room. He knocked on the door before opening it. "You all right Kei?" Shou asked quietly.
Kei looked at his friend. "What happened to you?"
"Toshi punched me." He told him and shook his head. "What happened to you out there?" He asked Kei.
"Oh .. I was just .. What did the man look like?" He asked Shou.
"Well he was wearing a white suit-"
"He was !?"
"Yeah ..." Shou still didn't see why his friend got so upset.
"Okay then .. Never, nevermind."
"All right. Mind if I stay here? Shinji is yelling at Toshi. I don't want to go back out there."
"Sure." Kei nodded.
Shou sat on the bed and looked at the bag beside Kei's bed. "Why didn't you unpack the whole time you were here?" He asked carefully
"Because there really isn't anything important in there."
"Oh. I see."
After hours of talking Shinji came into the room. "Lets go you two." He told them and they all left the room going on night shift. Kei started to wander off.
"Where are you going?" Shou asked him, grabbing his arm .
Kei turned. "I'll meet you guys there I've got something I need to take care of."
"Okay." Shou let his friend go and watched him run off.
Half an hour later the group reached a new store that was down the street farther. "Street of Maleppa ..." Shinji whispered.
"The run down street.." Shou added.
They reached the store. "Should we wait for Kei ?" Shinji asked.
"He said he'd meet us here." Shou looked around.
Kei walked out from and alley behind them. "Hi guys. Told ya I'd be here."
The brothers jumped. Kei's sudden appearance startled them. "Okay, lets get this over with."
They walked into the store, Kei breaking off the lock like he did every time they went out. Kei, Shou and Shinji walked to the cash register and pulled it opened, setting off an alarm.
"Shou ! Kei ! Get out of here ! I'll be right behind you !" Shinji ordered, taking the money from the register.
The friends nodded and ran out of the store and back to the hideout. They stopped in an alley to catch their breath. Two cop cars drove by quickly, sirens blaring. "You think-" Kei started and was cut off by Shou.
"He'll be fine. He's escaped the cops more than once. Let's keep going." Shou said and they continued running back to the hideout. They walked in quietly and saw everyone was asleep. Kei and Shou sat on the couch close to the door to wait for Shinji.
They sat there all night and Shou kept falling asleep for seconds only to wake up again. "He's not back yet Shou .."
"He'll be back. I know he will."
The door swung open. "Shinji !" Kei cried happily
"Brother !" Shou jumped off of the couch and ran towards his brother.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Told ya I'd be alright."
Kei smiled and yawned. "I'm going to get some rest." He got off the couch and walked into his room.
"Sleep .. That sounds good." Shinji yawned and looked at Shou who had his arms around him. Shou fell asleep. Shin picked up his brother and put him down on his bed. He left Shou's room and went into his own.
Kei woke up later that day and walked outside his room. He looked around and noticed the whole group was awake and they were all sitting together talking. He walked up to them to see what was going on.
"So what are we going to do with it all?" One kid asked.
"First we are going to fix things up around here." Shinji told the kid. "And were going to see about some new clothes for all of you."
Everyone cheered happily. But was silenced by Kei. "You can't spend that money. You should get rid of it."
They all looked at him. "Are you crazy kid ! We've hit a jackpot !" Toshi stood up and walked over to Kei. Toshi was short for his age and he and Kei stood face to face.
"Yeah, at what cost !?" Kei yelled at him.
All of the other orphans sat and looked at the two as they circled around in each other's faces. Some cheering on Toshi and some for Kei. Shinji stood up. Ready to break up a fight. "No cost, Kid ! It's stolen money !"
"So what !? NOTHING in life is free !" Kei continued to yell.
Toshi pushed Kei to the ground and jumped on top of him, punching him in the face. Kei pushed Toshi off of him and began to punch him back. Shinji and Shou pulled Kei and Toshi apart from each other.
"What do you know kid !? Huh ?" Toshi said angrily.
"I know more about the man you stole the money from than you may think !" Kei yelled and everyone fell silent.
"You know about the white suits?" Shou asked him.
Kei nodded.