A/N: This is a fic that I've been writing for a while now but I decided to finish off some ongoing fics first before posting it. It might not seem like it at first, but it is a Kei/Sho fic later on. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as my previous works :)

Chapter One: Mikami Shoichi

MALLEPA, 2100

Mikami Shoichi sighed to himself as he took a drag from the cigarette that dangled between his fore and index finger. He was slouched up against the wall of the local Japanese takeaway waiting for his friend, Yamashita Kiyoshi, to finish work. He was supposed to have finished at six and it was nudging on seven now. Shoichi was not known for his patience and had already smoked his way through all but one of his packet of cigarettes that evening. It had been another scorching day in the city and the evening brought only a little relief in the drop of temperature. Shoichi had lived in Mallepa for his entire life and had never known a summer like this one. He was eighteen years old and like most young Japanese his age, he had spent the summer days at the beach and the evenings in various Japanese-run bars. Although segregation was no longer encouraged by the multi-national-run city council, Shoichi, like many Japanese, preferred to drink at a Japanese establishment.

A great many changes had been initiated by the various Governments to turn the city around from ruin and some of these changes appeared to be having an effect already. The streets had been mostly cleaned of graffiti and were more or less safe to walk down, during the daylight hours at least. The struggling economy had been revived and, with the regeneration work that was taking place, a lot of jobs had been created which limited the temptation to turn to crime for income.

Shoichi lived with his stepfather in what was formally known as the Japanese ward, although some Taiwanese and Korean's now populated it also. His mother had died when he was fourteen. He also had an older brother but he had gone off the rails when their mother died. Kazuyuki had gotten into drugs when he was sixteen. He had left the family home after that and Shoichi hadn't heard from him since. Shoichi's stepfather was a decent enough guy but Shoichi only stayed because he didn't have anywhere else to go. His share in his mother's estate would not legally become his until he was twenty-one so he didn't have a choice in the matter. His stepfather had turned to drink after his wife died and spent the days watching television and drinking beers and any other beverage that he could get his hands on. On the rare occasions that he was sober he threatened to kill himself so Shoichi kept him supplied with alcohol; he did not wish to become an orphan.

Due to these events, Shoichi worked also, although his method of making money was more dangerous than Kiyoshi's part time job in the takeaway. There were plenty of jobs for adults now that the regeneration was taking place but for teens work was scarce.

Kazuyuki had some old contacts in one of the remaining Japanese gangs and Shoichi had, had several exchanges with them in the hopes that he might be able to find his brother. This had proved futile but the leader of the gang had offered him good money to help sell their knock-off gear to neighbouring cities. Owing to the crackdown on crime, Shoichi ran the risk of getting caught by the police as well as the rival Chinese gang whom they stole business from. Still the pay was much better than what Kiyoshi was paid to work in the takeaway and it was the money that made it worth the risk at the end of the day. Kiyoshi often spoke out against it but Shoichi wasn't scared of dying. His life had no real meaning and this 'job' added a bit of excitement to it.

"Shoichi-kun!" Kiyoshi's voice broke into his thoughts and Shoichi looked up to see his friend just exiting the takeaway. Another friend of theirs, Jouda Kano, was with him.

Shoichi had known Kiyoshi since they were children. They had lived in the same apartment block for years. Kiyoshi's parents were still together and they now lived in Mallepa's west ward, which was one of the newly regenerated parts of the city. Kiyoshi's father was a doctor and his mother was a nurse. They worked at Mallepa's newly refurbished hospital and were well off enough that Kiyoshi didn't have to work; he only did for he liked his independence and did not want to rely on them for handouts.

Kiyoshi was a good few inches shorter than Shoichi, who was above average height anyway, and used to have very unruly long dark hair until he had cut it earlier in the summer. It now hung just below chin length, although his fringe was still too long and got in his eyes. His teeth were slightly crooked and this gave him an almost goofy appearance when he smiled, which was often. Kiyoshi rarely took anything in life seriously and was always the first to laugh at jokes. When they were younger, Shoichi always used to get the blame for leading Kiyoshi astray.

Shoichi had only known Kano about a year now. His brother owned the takeaway and so Shoichi had met him through Kiyoshi. Kano was almost as tall as Shoichi but was more solidly built. He shared Kiyoshi's sense of humour and was very outward going. Kano had been away for most of the summer and had come back with a tan and his brown hair was streaked with blonde from lying on a beach all day. His father was a detective for the local police force and Kano wanted to follow in his footsteps and would be leaving Mallepa in the autumn in order to train for this. Kano was very ambitious and his family had high hopes for his future.

Kiyoshi greeted Shoichi by slapping him heartily on the back, causing his cigarette to fall from his lips and onto the ground.

"Damn it, Kiyoshi, that was my last one," he grumbled good-naturedly.

"I brought dinner though," his friend countered with and held up a plastic bag containing cartons from the takeaway, "does that make any difference?"

"As long as its not ramen again," Shoichi replied and Kiyoshi's face fell. "Why can't you get something different?"

"He looks like a wounded puppy," Kano put in and elbowed Kiyoshi in the side, causing the bag to sway dangerously.

"Oi, watch it!"

"Idiots," Shoichi grinned and slipped his lighter back into his pocket.

"Yeah, yeah," Kiyoshi waved a hand dismissively in his direction, "did you get the car?"

"Of course!" Shoichi often borrowed his stepfather's car whilst the man was in one of his drunken stupors. The three of them often went for a drive in summer evenings after Kiyoshi finished work. The car was a ten-year-old audi that had seen better days. It had deep scratches in the blue paintwork where Shoichi had taken it out for test drives. He didn't have a license but hoped to take his test in the autumn.

"This is different," Kano suddenly stepped up behind him and yanked hard on his hair, causing Shoichi to yell out in some pain. "Why'd you do that? Because it makes you more bad ass?"

He was referring to the fact that Shoichi had spent several hours that morning carefully braiding his long dark hair and then pulling it back in his usual ponytail style. If Shoichi was completely honest, he wasn't sure what had possessed him to do this as he normally didn't spent five minutes on his appearance. He figured he must have seen the hairstyle on TV or something. What did it matter anyway? It looked pretty cool.

"He is a fearsome gangster now," Kiyoshi chimed in as they reached the car. "I guess he wants to look the part."

"I think it just makes him look even cuter," Kano replied to this with a grin. Kano was openly homosexual and had made passes on Shoichi on more than one occasion. This did not bother Shoichi; he himself was bisexual but he didn't think of Kano in that way and his friend was aware of this. His flirting was just another side to his personality. Kano would make a pass at any guy that he considered good looking, regardless of whether they were gay or straight.

In reaction to Kano's statement, Shoichi gently swatted him round the back of the head before opening the driver's side of the car and slipping inside. Kano got into the back and Kiyoshi sat in the front passenger seat.

"TJ's as usual then?" Shoichi asked as he slipped the key into the ignition. There were few bars in Mallepa now that didn't ask for proof of age thanks to the crackdown and the legal drinking age was still twenty-one.

TJ's was a small place on the edge of the city and as Shoichi's stepfather was a family friend, the owner turned a blind eye to their ages.

"Yeah why not," Kiyoshi answered to this and Shoichi smirked as he pulled the car away from the pavement.

"What's with that look?" Kiyoshi demanded.

"Are you hoping that An will be there by any chance?"

"No, that's not it at all," Kiyoshi shook his head, although his expression suggested otherwise. An was the daughter of the one of the most notorious Taiwanese gang leaders in Mallepa. Although her father had been killed several years ago, her brother was still very much a big player in the city hierarchy. He would probably have Kiyoshi beaten up for even looking at his sister if he knew of Kiyoshi's feelings for her. Kiyoshi's interest was risky to say the least but this didn't worry Shoichi as such. It wasn't as if An had ever expressed any interest in his friend after all. If she did then they would be heading for dangerous territory.

"Yeah," Kano laughed and leaned forward through the gap between the passenger and driver's seats to turn the dial on the car radio. "That's why you brought extra ramen?"

"I thought it would be polite to invite her to join us, that's all."

"You do realise that her brother will have your head on a stick if you so much as share her breathing space?"

"He won't be there, he's too busy terrorising the locals."

This conversation went back and forth for a while and Shoichi began to lose interest. Loud rock music blared out from the radio, attracting the disapproving looks of several pedestrians as they stopped at traffic lights.

The roads were quiet for this time of night and they reached TJ's in good time. There were a few cars parked alongside the pavement and several more in the designated car park for the bar and the few shops that surrounded it. Shoichi found a space without too much trouble, noting out of the corner of his eye that there was a newsagent across the street that still appeared open.

"I'm going to go and get some smokes," he muttered as he switched off the engine and opened the car door. "I'll meet you guys inside."

"Yeah, okay," Kiyoshi answered him, "can you pick me up a pack whilst you're at it?"

"Sure," The road was quiet and Shoichi jogged quickly across the street. The door to the newsagent was slightly ajar although the sign had been flicked to 'closed'. There was someone standing at the customer side of the counter though and as the lights were on Shoichi decided to give it a go anyway. The clerk was nowhere in sight and he got into line, absently glancing at the magazine racks that flanked each side of him. A full minute had passed before the clerk, a man in his late fifties with thinning brown hair and numerous tattoos covering his arms, reappeared.

Apparently the man in front of Shoichi was after a nicotine hit too. He was also purchasing a paper and some cans of beer. Shoichi paid him little attention until he had handed over his money and turned to leave. The aisle leading up to the counter was narrow and Shoichi had to move aside slightly in order to let him pass. He appeared to be the same age as Shoichi, although he could easily pass for someone who was younger. His hair was darker than Shoichi's own, almost jet black, and was cut into a feathered style that fell below his ears and almost to the nape of his neck at the back, with shorter strands framing his face. His eyes, in contrast, were almost grey in colour with green flecks. He was wearing a pair of snug fitting black jeans with a white shirt, which was open at the top. His jaw line was slender and his complexion far too pale to be pure Japanese. As he brushed passed he murmured his thanks, his gaze only just flickering to Shoichi's face before he made his leave.

That look was almost… Shoichi couldn't quite put his finger on his reaction at all. Unlike Kano, he did not check other men out so blatantly, but this had to be what he was doing just then didn't it? Very much rattled, Shoichi took another minute before he realised that the clerk was waiting impatiently for him to regain his composure.

"I'm trying to close for the night," he snapped, "you want something or not?"

Shoichi purchased a couple of cans of beer as well as two packets of cigarettes. He stowed the alcohol in the boot of his car before entering TJ's.

Mark, the owner, glanced up as Shoichi stepped inside and jerked his head in the direction of the pool table where Kiyoshi and Kano had already started a game. Mark was one of the few non-Asian foreigners left in Mallepa now. He had originally come from America to work on some construction jobs in the city and had ended up purchasing the bar from its previous owners. Mark was in his early forties and was built like a tank although he was a lot gentler than many of his patrons. He rarely cursed and Shoichi had never seen him lose his temper. Not many things riled him.

Kiyoshi noted that Shoichi had entered the bar and motioned for him to join them. He glanced quickly round the bar and confirmed that the man from the newsagent had not come in here. There was one less car parked in the street so Shoichi figured he must have gone home or whatever. He wondered why he was bothering to care about the whereabouts of a man whom he'd never met.

"What's got you so flustered?" Kiyoshi asked as he handed Shoichi a beer. The ramen cartons were discarded on the table next to the pool table. Shoichi set the beer down and opened the nearest carton. Mark wasn't fussed about them eating in the bar; he was cool like that.

He had eaten ramen for the last two days and it didn't look all that appetising. Nevertheless, he picked up some chopsticks and ate a mouthful before answering Kiyoshi's question.

"Nothing, why'd you ask?"

"You came in here looking as though you'd seen a ghost," Kiyoshi quipped as he waited for Kano to take his shot. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Shoichi frowned at this.

"Sure?" Kano looked up from the table, "You look a little freaked."

"I'm fine," Shoichi muttered as he took another mouthful of ramen.

Thankfully they both had the sense to drop the subject after that, realising that Shoichi didn't wish to elaborate on this. It wasn't just that guy; Shoichi had been feeling restless all summer. He didn't quite understand the reasoning behind this but it had started when he and Kiyoshi had visited the only remaining park in Mallepa.

Kiyoshi had been given the day off from work and they were killing time more than anything else and after drinking a couple of cans of beer they had made their way to the park.

Most of the green space in Mallepa had long since been built over but this park was being preserved and was currently undergoing some regeneration also. There were some workmen digging out a shallow pit that was going to be a pond that day. Shoichi and Kiyoshi had passed them and made their way to the centre of the park.

Kiyoshi had sat down on one of the wooden benches whilst Shoichi had taken an interest in the old mural that had been a centrepiece in the park for many decades now. It was supposed to represent hope but it was so badly faded that you could hardly tell what it was anymore. It was going to replaced any day too now and for some reason Shoichi felt some sadness at that. He didn't know why for he wasn't one to be sentimental but gazing upon the mural chilled him in a way that he'd never felt before and he had been unable to get these feelings out of his mind since then. Seeing that guy had given him the same kind of reaction and Shoichi didn't know what to make of it at all.

He could tell that his change in mood had his friends concerned and he tried to put these thoughts to the back of his mind for the rest of the evening.

They played pool, ate and drank for an hour or so before leaving. TJ's was pretty dead during the week and as much as he tried to enjoy the evening, Shoichi still found his mind wandering. He was actually glad when they decided to call it a night.

He dropped Kiyoshi and Kano off first before setting out for the two-bed apartment that was his home.

The apartment actually belonged to Shoichi's stepfather and he, his mother and Kazuyuki had moved into it when his mother and Ryuji were married. They had kept the apartment that they had lived in before and had rented it out. The income from that currently went on paying the mortgage for Ryuji's home; Shoichi's mother had owned their old home outright.

Shoichi would be lying if he said that life was easy because it wasn't and were it not for his own 'job' they would have been out on the streets long ago. The thing that saddened him most about the entire situation was that there had been a time when Ryuji would have taken an interest, even been concerned about where the extra money was coming from. Nowadays he didn't care as long as there was booze in the apartment.

They lived on the second floor and Shoichi took the stairs rather than the elevator. The block was pretty dingy and several light bulbs in the hallway had been out for months and had not been replaced. There was some graffiti made by kids on the walls too. It was a grim place some of the time but Shoichi didn't care; after his mother died and Kazuyuki left he didn't feel much like caring about anything anymore.

The apartment was, as always, unlocked and he walked right in. Ryuji was asleep on the sofa and various empty cans surrounded him. The television had been left on and Shoichi switched this off before setting the beers that he had bought earlier in the evening down on the coffee table. He then collected up the empties and threw them in the trash.

When his mother was alive the apartment had been nice inside. The walls of the living room were painted a pale shade of lavender and the carpet was cream and soft underfoot. Now the walls had scuffmarks and chips in them and the carpet was dirty and had several cigarette burns. The sofa was worn and needed a good clean, as did the rest of the apartment. Shoichi had wanted to get a cleaner in for a while but Ryuji had protested. Everything was to be left the way it was since his mother died. Ryuji hadn't even slept in their bed since then; she had made it that morning and he couldn't bear to disturb it. Her clothes were still in the wardrobe and her bathrobe was still hung behind the door in the bathroom. It was more than Shoichi could stand at times. A part of him hated Ryuji for making him live like this, but Ryuji was still grieving.

Leaving his stepfather to his own devices, Shoichi went through into his bedroom. When Kazuyuki had lived here they had shared one room and it had previously housed two single beds. However, when he left, Shoichi had the second moved into the dinning room for Ryuji to sleep in.

His room was painted green, with the same carpet as in the living room. There was a bookcase in one corner and a chest of drawers next to it. The bed was pushed up against the opposite wall. The window was opposite but the drapes were rarely pulled back. There was a wardrobe backed against the other wall.

Shoichi slumped down onto his bed and plucked the packet of cigarettes and lighter from the pocket of his shirt. After a few minutes of toying with the lighter, he set them both down beside him. He still felt restless and Shoichi didn't like feeling this way at all. Life was usually pretty straightforward for him; he would hang out with his friends, pull some jobs, look after Ryuji… it was all mundane and hardly changed. Now he felt as though something was going to happen and that this stemmed from his uneasiness and Shoichi wasn't sure that he liked these feelings at all.