"I don't have what it takes for this."

Atsushi stared at the path above him in despair, where several people had already walked by. He fell on his knees to the pavement, his energy fading fast.

"I've got to do something..."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another person walking, a man with a long black coat. "Alright, this time for sure..."

Atsushi pushed himself to his feet, and ran towards the cloaked individual. However, the man heard him coming, and turned sharply on his heel while Atsushi was still several feet away.

His gaze was dark and piercing, and his face was pale in a stark contrast. "What do you want?" He demanded, in a hollow, raspy voice.

Atsushi's expression became one of a timid nature, and he backed away slightly. "Well, I..." he mumbled, but before the boy could speak another word, a growling noise escaped from his midsection.

The dark-haired stranger stared down at Atsushi, and stated, "you're hungry." It wasn't a question, just simple facts.

Atsushi nodded in shame, keeping his eyes averted. "I haven't eaten since-"

"Sorry, but I'm not in the habit of feeding people for free." The stranger interrupted, turning on his heel as quickly as he had before.

"I'll work for it!" Atsushi blurted before he could stop himself. "I'll work to pay you back." For some reason, his mind was screaming "run", but his exhaustion caused him to ignore it.

"You wouldn't like my line of work." The stranger didn't even bother to look back, "I can see in your eyes, you wouldn't last a day."

Atsushi tilted his head in confusion, although doing so made him feel unsteady for a moment. "What kind of work could he possibly..." The teen thought, but quickly pushed away the thought in favor of keeping up with the person in front of him. "I'm sure I could be helpful in some way!" He insisted.

At this, the stranger stopped walking, and made a small noise, not quite a laugh, and barely audible. Only moments later, he began to cough violently, and it seemed as if every reach for breath was a desperate struggle.

Concerned, Atsushi took a few steps closer. But the stranger heard him coming and waved the younger boy away with his hand. "I'm fine," He wheezed, his hand then reached towards his face, and flung away a thick, red substance.

"blood", Atsushi realized, his worry growing quickly. "Umm..."

"It's nothing you should concern yourself with." The taller man asserted, seemingly gaining control of his breathing after a moment.

"Are you sure? Coughing up blood isn't normal..."

"I'm fine. None of your business." The man snapped, turning once more to face Atsushi.

The younger boy took a step back, his heterochromatic eyes gaining a flash of fear. The stranger looked intensely angry, one could say almost bordering on murderous. In automatic self-defense, Atsushi pulled his shoulders back, his arms drawn up to his chest.

But then, only a moment later, the stranger seemed to change his mind, and his face shifted to an expression of indifference, although Atsushi managed to catch a glimpse of what seemed to be shock, but it was gone so quickly that he dismissed it as just his imagination.

"Come with me." The man beckoned, "There's a cafe around the corner."

"But I thought you said-"

"I know what I said." The stranger interrupted, "But I've changed my mind. Just this once."

Confused by the sudden change, Atsushi felt reluctant to follow. But after a moment of mental debate, his hunger won, and he caved. "Alright." He followed beside the black-haired man, and asked, "what's your name?"

The man glanced down at Atsushi, and answered, "Ryu. Yours?" It wasn't a casual sort of question, and instead it seemed as if he was interrogating Atsushi.

"Atsushi. Nakajima Atsushi." He felt uncomfortable under Ryu's gaze, and looked away. "Thank you for helping me, Ryu-san."

Before he could answer, there came a shout behind them. Ryu visibly stiffened, and said, "let's go."

"Maybe we should go back and help?" Atsushi questioned as the yelling got louder.

"No. We're leaving." Ryu insisted firmly, guiding Atsushi away from the noise.

A few minutes later, they were seated at the cafe, and Atsushi was eating as if he were starving, mainly because he really was.

Ryu, on the other hand, was calmly eating a bowl of ramen. He didn't seem fazed at all by Atsushi's behavior. Glancing at the younger boy, he asked, not quite as interrogatively this time, "Why chazuke?"

Atsushi had ordered chazuke, tea over rice. "Because I love chazuke. I would sneak into the kitchen at night to make it."

"You're an orphan, aren't you?" Ryu watched as Atsushi turned to him with a look of surprise.

"How did you know?" Atsushi nearly dropped his chopsticks from shock.

"There were a lot of clues." Ryu shrugged, "You're out alone, with no money, starving, and you're skittish."

"Oh..." Atsushi looked down into his bowl. "Yeah, you're right. I didn't realize it would be that obvious."

"Maybe it wouldn't be to most people," Ryu responded, "It's not noticeable at a first glance after all."

"That's true." Atsushi gained a look of relief, and put down his chopsticks. "Oh man, I'm full. You really saved me there, Ryu-san." He looked down at his lap, and added, "Sorry that I can't pay you for it right now. As soon as I find a job I'll-"

"It's alright. You don't have to worry about that right now." Ryu cut in, pulling out his phone. "I might have found you a job already. My boss wants to meet you."

Atsushi managed to catch a glimpse of the screen, and saw the words "gifted", "teen", and "alone". Before he could ask what that meant, Ryu had already put the phone away, and was paying the tab. A moment later he stood and said, "Let's go."

"A...already?..." Atsushi stammered, clambering to his feet. "But I don't even have a change of clothes..."

"I have that covered. An acquaintance of mine will take you to get some clothes. You will meet back with me later."

"Alright...thank you again, Ryu-san." Atsushi bowed slightly, stepping outside the cafe. A car was parked nearby, and a blonde woman was standing by the door.

"She's over there." Ryu pointed at the blonde woman, and began walking away.

"Umm...thank you again, Ryu-san!" Atsushi called out once more, turning to head towards the car.

A/N: This is my first time writing a true AU, and I had a lot of fun with this! I'm hoping to get another chapter done soon (even though I already have way too many on my plate LOL). I'm leaving the chapter names blank for now, if anyone has any ideas for names, feel free to let me know!