A/N: I need to say thank you to OrdinaryXtreme, who spell checked this for me because my butt was too lazy to do it and because I would have forgotten to repair some horrible mistakes without her. This is not going to be a sad story. I actually want to make it humorous because, really, every time I should be crying because of a dramatic situation, I end up laughing. But expect KaiMei anyway, because I'm a bitch.
Chapter I
Where it is related how the versed Meiko made a new friend and the circumstances attending the beginning of this unexpected and tumultuous friendship.
Somewhere around midnight, Meiko stepped out of the train and inhaled the fresh air of that summer night. A new town, some new struggles for survival. She kept her hands inside her pockets, and, ignoring the people staring at her short skirt, left the train station.
At first, she thought the best was to sleep there, on a bench, or, even better, in the park. But the cold embraced the whole town and it was impossible to fall asleep outside dressed like that. It was a little too cold and rainy for a summer night. Besides, there could be rapers or perverted men waddling around the town at midnight and it would be no pleasure for her to deal with them.
Meiko checked her pockets. Little money was left and singing in the street would be useless at that hour. Even if survival was tough, Meiko had never sold her beloved guitar. Moreover, she was used to carry it everywhere she went because it came handy when being in big cities. She could perform in the street and hope to get some money.
Happily, while travelling, a nice man gave her a bit of bread with butter, and now her stomach wasn't growling that hard. She didn't have money for the train ticket, but somehow managed to arrive there. Of course, they forced her to step out of the train before she could've reached her destination. Not like she had a definite one in mind... Her life was just like a leaf floating in the wind... No home to go, no friends, no family or stuff like that. Travelling from town to town, hoping for luck to bump into her.
At first, she wanted to kill herself, but that idea disappeared from her mind a long time ago. Most of the time her unstable life was exhausting. Sometimes it was fun, because Meiko wasn't that kind of nice girl who wanted to marry and have kids and live happily until the age of 90. Ever since her childhood, she wished to be an artist, to have an exciting life, to travel a lot, to do whatever she wanted.
And it had been two years since she was living like that. She had been abandoned when she was born, and then adopted by a kind woman without any relatives. She lived a good life until a couple of years ago, when that woman killed herself because of a debt. Eventually, the woman's debt had been paid with the money Meiko was supposed to get after her death. So that's how she remained homeless.
Of course, she could become a shopkeeper or a servant, but, seriously, Meiko was too stubborn for that. She had already graduated from high-school when she left home, and, being talented as a musician ever since childhood, decided to travel around the world and spread her songs.
It was very, very hard in the first months. But she learnt to trick life and use every little chance she gets to help herself. It was like a continuous game.
So, she counted her options for that night.
She could sleep outside, in the cold and get a very strong flu the next morning. Or she could go and beg someone for help, but that wasn't exactly what she was used to. A room at the hotel was too expensive for her poor pockets and nothing else was left to sell... She had long ago sold some of her clothes, her wristwatch, even parts of her hair. Now her locks were reaching her shoulders, but they used to be longer when she was younger. However, she cut them short and sold them. And she got a pretty good sum. Bald women surely enjoyed them. And, short hair fitted her better, was easier to care for and didn't need much washing.
We must mention that, during those two years of wandering through the world, Meiko had never stolen anything unless it was necessarily. She survived using fair and intelligent methods like the ones listed above. Of course, those methods included tricking and fooling people, but she had never had problems with the police.
Obviously, she could go sell her body and her sexual services for one night. But that wasn't up to her standards - she was an artist, not a prostitute. And she was able to think of better ideas.
There was nothing left to sell, as we said. So she had to use her mind and invent something.
Some ideas popped into her head: she could go and pretend she is collecting money to help orphan children and then disappear with everything. Or she could try befriend random drunk guys on the street and then ask them to let her sleep at their place.
And while she was wandering through the streets, thinking and thinking what she could do to feed herself that night, she stumbled upon the park of the town and decided to rest there for a brief moment.
The bench she sat on was cold and wet, but there wasn't anything better.
And, as she was thinking ever deeper, she noticed that the park wasn't completely empty. Of course, you could have sporadically seen drunk men passing by, but the atmosphere was mostly quiet. However, her versed eye spotted a silhouette of a man lying down on a bench. Meiko presumed that he must be very drunk and thus probably forgot his way home, which turned him into the best prey for her.
She stood up and slowly walked towards him, and, when she finally reached him, asked, "Hey, bro, what's up? Are you okay?"
The only reply were some quiet moans of pain and even some... sobs?
"Are you okay, dude?" Meiko inquired again, but no answer was given. She studied the man's features - he couldn't say exactly was color his eyes or hair were, but she noticed that the guy looked like he hadn't eaten anything in days. He seemed to be around her age: twenty or so.
Meiko's gaze went to the lower part of his body. His clothes were very dirty and, in some part, they were torn apart. Even so, they seemed to be warmer than hers, for he had a coat and a long scarf, while she had to deal with her short skirt and shirt which let her stomach be seen.
"L-Leave... m-me alone," an almost indistinguishable answer finally came.
And, all of sudden, Meiko understood everything. Another child of the rain, another leaf floating in the wind. She smirked and put her index finger at her mouth. The boy seemed to be an amateur - he had probably been homeless for a little time. Some memories flowed into Meiko's mind, memories of the days when she was in the same state of him. Once again, this proved that the beginning of everything is always the hardest.
"What do you want...? I told you to leave me alone!" the man yelled again, now looking at Meiko in the eye. She noticed that some tears were rolling down his face. Another memory of hers. Another image so well-known by her.
And, even so, Meiko laughed passionately. "So you're still an amateur, dude. Ya wanna me teach a bit of my knowledge?"
"Just leave! What's your problem with me anyway?! I haven't disturbed you, so leave me alone! Tonight I'm going to die anyway..."
Another laugh came out of Meiko's mouth. "You're going to strangulate yourself with that scarf of yours, bro?" she presumed playfully.
"Leave me alone. I won't say it again. Unless you don't want me to do something very bad to you. I'll kill myself tonight and I don't wanna bedisturbed by stupid people! I don't need any of your help, understand it! I don't need anyone's help!"
Once again, the memories haunted Meiko. She remembered how she would be harsh to anyone who wanted to ruin her pain, to anyone who wanted to help her, even to strangers who offered her some money. She knew the guy for such a little time, yet he seemed to be so much like her. Or maybe that was just the way every homeless person is at the beginning of his unstable life. She knew that well, very well. But eventually, everyone learns that pain and misery are such common things that it's useless to cry over them. It is useless to even think about them, or to even take them seriously.
"Ah, c'mon, Mr. Tough, don't be such a drama queen. I can bet my head that you'll start pick pocketing people before even making courage to kill yourself."
"Oh, really? Wanna see me killing myself?!" the stranger yelled all of sudden and, standing up from the bench, he unwrapped the scarf around his neck. The only reaction Meiko had was to laugh ever harder.
"I knew that you'd use the scarf after all!" she mocked him, without doing anything to stop his tentative. "Now let's see how you're going to do it."
She crossed her arms, sat down on the bench the stranger left empty and began following his movements with her eyes, like watching a movie. And how annoyed she was because she didn't have some popcorn with her! Not like she had ever eaten popcorn since she was homeless...
But his struggles to get the scarf work like a rope failed. He had nothing to stand on so he could tie the scarf by the branch of a tree, and his hands were proven to be too clumsy. All this situation only intensified Meiko's laughter. The stranger was so tall, taller than her, and very, very dumb. Meiko distinguished his stature in the dim light of a streetlight and noticed some big, sparkly eyes. Their color was still undefined because of the semidarkness in which everyone seemed to have black eyes.
"Lame! You're so lame! Now go break a window of a happy and trouble-free citizen to get something to cut your veins with, 'cause the plan with the scarf is surely not going to work!"
The stranger burst into tears and fell to his knees. The sob sounded so pathetic that it almost scared Meiko and made her heart's rhythm fasten a little. "What do you know anyway?! Who are you to judge me?! It's all my business and I'll do whatever I want with my life! How can you understand my misery so you can speak? You've all of sudden came to me, I don't even know you, I have no idea what you want from me, and you're judging me now!"
Meiko sneered to him. "How can I understand, you ask? Simply. I've been in your situation for two full years by now. And, as you see, I'm not making a nuisance of myself."
"You're lying! I haven't eaten anything in three days, so shut up!"
Meiko couldn't do anything but quickly bring her hand up to her mouth to muffle another laughter. "Man, I must admit: you suck. You could've at least begged for some coins until you made up a plan... I'm starting to think that you actually deserve your fate, whatever that would be."
"What good for?! This cannot be called 'life'! This is... misery. I wanna die."
And the boy put his hand on his head and began pulling it forcefully, tears swelling up his face.
"Do you realize that instead of pulling your hair you could've sell it to get some money and feed yourself? It's true, you don't have as much as I do, but a few locks from the back would have assured you a bit food, my friend."
"I said that I don't care... I want everything to end..."
"You have so many options to feed yourself, dear... First: you can beg for coins, and the best way to get them is pretending you're suffering from autism. Second: you can sell your stuff, including your hair, if you have enough. Third: you can pretend you're from a non-profit organization which helps orphan children and demand money from people and then run away with everything. Fourth: you can trick drunk men to give you money. Fifth: if you see women leaving the shops with heavy stuff, you can help them for a few pennies. Sixth..."
"Shut up!" the boy interrupted, bursting into another sob. "Shut up... Let me die... Why can't I just die...? Am I asking for too much?"
"Ah, dear you, I've never seen a boy to cry that hard in my life... I didn't cry that hard in the first two months, and I'm a girl... How do you do it? There has to be a secret... With this talent of yours, I would have a long time ago started filming commercials about laxatives."
The contrast between Meiko's and the boy's state of mind was surprisingly big for two people who were almost in the same situation. But that was just the human nature. After two years of being homeless, Meiko wasn't crying anymore over anything. She wasn't even sad. Over time, she even began feeling amused because of the circumstances she found herself in. It was just plain funny.
Perhaps you've started to wonder why Meiko was paying attention to that guy when she had to mind her own business. The truth is... She saw something of her interest at that boy.
From the pocket of his coat there could be seen the wires of some headphones slightly protruding out. Hopefully, those weren't very damaged and were just perfect to be sold. And Meiko knew that well. She had to find a way to take the headphones from him. Maybe there was even an mp3. She couldn't believe that the owner was such an idiot and didn't sell them before.
But maybe Meiko remained because she recognized herself in that guy, because so many memories awakened in her mind. She could recall the days or desperation, the days of hunger, and she could as well blame herself for being so dumb back in those days.
"Come with me, child of the wind," she murmured. "Let's share our misery and pain or whatever you call them."
"What?"
The boy raised his confused eyes to Meiko and tears stopped flowing on his face as he was staring at her face.
"If I tell you that I'll share my food with you, will you come with me and not kill yourself anymore?"
"C-Can you g-get food?"
Meiko smirked. It was rather funny how he immediately gave up the thought of killing himself when sensing a small chance of life.
"Of course I can, sweetie. How do you think I've survived these two years? Come with me. I'm going to teach you the basic methods to survive in this cruel world. And if you prove that you're a good student, we'll even go on adventures together. We'll have so much fun, my dear, that you won't even remember the pain your heart and body were drown in today. Oh. You didn't tell me your name. You do have one, I suppose."
The boy kept quiet for some moments, looking at Meiko like she was an angel fell from the heaven or an ancient god or something very, very bright, beautiful and hard to reach. Finally, he mumbled, very lowly, "Kaito. Kaito Shion."
A cunning smile painted Meiko's lips. "Sweet. I'm Meiko Sakine."
She stood up, and, removing the dust on her skirt, signaled her new friend to follow her by bending her index finger.
"See those people there?" Meiko inquired, pointing towards some men wetting their mouths with alcohol in a bar. "They're drunk. Using drunk people to your advantage is a classic method. You just have to make them laugh or act nicely to them and they'll instantly melt, especially if they have problems in their lives. You can even pretend you're a dog, which would not be a hard task for you. Just watch me."
Meiko entered the restaurant, and, with determined steps, went towards those men, allowing herself to take a seat next to them.
"Hey, guys, how are ya?" she asked bubbly. The men all dumbly laughed and murmured incoherent answers. Meiko just kept her smile on her lips and poured some wine in their cups. "Ya want me to tell you a story about some elephants which were drinking sake?"
The drunk men looked at Meiko with some widened eyes in which you could read ecstasy and excitement.
Kaito kept watching the group with bewildered eyes. Some demonic laughs came out from the mouths of the drunk men. The story about the elephant which was drinking sake must had been successful. Soon, the men began throwing banknotes and coins at Meiko.
She smiled widely, took the money and, saying 'goodnight' to the drunk guys, left the restaurant. She triumphantly held the money up to Kaito's eyes, who studied it like it was gold.
"See how easy it was? Now go do the same thing."
Kaito, even if still being pale and feeling awful from hunger, made himself some courage and entered the bar. Meiko took time to study his appearance better. And, truly, he was proven to be very appealing to Meiko. His clothes were very dirty, but they still seemed to be in a good state, still good to wear in cold nights. He had a blue scarf which could as well be worn in cold nights. So she had two advantages if she took him under her wing. She could've taken the coat and scarf for herself, and besides this, that coat contained some valuable headphones. So three advantages for the versed Meiko.
We won't forget to mention that Kaito Shion was pretty good-looking as well, something which the versed Meiko immediately noticed. He was very tall, with stunning, but wild (probably because of the hunger he endured) blue eyes. His skin even if dirty with mud, was white and beautiful - suitable for his blue eyes and blue locks.
She remarked his deep and metallic voice as well. Very valuable. Good for impressing strangers and convincing them to give more money. She could attract him into music. More money for Meiko's pocket.
That guy offered her lots of advantages. Besides, he seemed dumb as well, so if Meiko gave him a bit of food, he would immediately become devoted to her and wouldn't leave her at any costs. The perfect lackey.
Yes, Meiko felt proud of herself that night. Very proud.
But Kaito's attempt in getting some money kinda failed. His joke wasn't funny at all, but, still he was given some beer in the face and a piece of meat pie. With sparkly eyes, he ate it quickly and left the bar. Little did he care that they all laughed at him. The piece of pie was enough for him and he returned rather happy, but still with a gloomy expression on his face.
Meiko curved her lips in confusion. "Okay, maybe it wasn't the best idea to put you go there while being so hungry. Let's go eat something better, sweetie."
And after they filled their stomachs - Kaito ate like mad and even wanted to take Meiko's food as well - Meiko thought it was the best to ask him how he got in that situation.
"So. You didn't tell me what brings you here," Meiko began. "Do you have friends? Family? Stuff like that?"
Kaito didn't say a thing, but instead put his hands on his head and looked blankly at the table. His face was still very pale - almost yellow. Meiko curved her lips once again. "I guess you need some rest, friend. Three day without food is no joke. But you seemed pretty talkative back in the park."
Meiko quickly guessed what his problem was. She looked in her pockets; figuring out that she had enough money left, she called the waiter and asked for some tea, which soon came.
"Here, take a sip, child of the wind," Meiko offered, pushing the tea cup to him. "Being nauseate is a common thing after three days without food, but it is better to be nauseate because of too much food than being nauseate because of too little food."
"H-How... can you... make j-jokes so easily... a-after... e-everything?" Kaito asked with an affected voice, looking up at Meiko with some tears in his eyes. She stared back with an icy look.
"You'll learn it sooner or later, dude. Now drink your tea before it gets cold. The nausea will stop bothering you afterwards."
Kaito took the cup and drank it all in one sip.