Negima: Niisan

In the morning mists a young man ran through the empty Mahora streets. His red hair was flapping in the wind and the sweat poured down his face. He was already late and didn't want to give his boss any more reason to fire him. This was a job he couldn't afford to lose. Too much hung on him to allow a job like this to slip out of his hands. He inwardly cursed the fates for dumping that mess into his lap this morning. Some damn drunk had collapsed outside their door again and he had had to clean up his vomit and the other shit the drunk strew around himself before he could leave for work. This had taken too much time and he now was forced to run the last part of the distance to the job.

Turning right at one of the intersections he felt his stomach growl, there hadn't been any food left this morning, the money that they were supposed to buy food for had been spent during the flu last week. Why did medicine have to be so fucking expensive?

The young man's attempts to quickly bake something with the little flour that was left hadn't been enough for all of them. He gritted his teeth as he realized he had to do without food until he got home. Well… It wasn't like he wasn't used to it. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." and all that.

He looked at the watch and realized that he still had time. All he had to do was to keep running and trying to ignore the numbness in his legs. Still… the worst time would be before lunch. Then his stomach would go nuts before he found some old piece of bread to sate it with.

To his relief he saw the familiar outline of the world tree café in the distance. He did it again. Rushing into the alley beside it he reached the workers entrance and burst into the dressing room. The boss was already there changing into his working clothes. The grey hair partially covered by the cap danced in the air as the young man ran past him and stopped abruptly in front of his locker.

"Running late again I see…" The old man's voice was one of the most irritating noises the young man knew. Some peoples' voices broke when they sung, some broke when they yelled, but this old goat's voice broke as soon as he spoke. And the condescending tone he used only made it all worse. Sometimes he just wanted to cut out the grey-haired man's vocal cords to get him quiet.

"I'm terribly sorry sir." He said starting to grovel. "I'll get to work at once." He started to change immediately before the boss stopped him.

"You're sweaty…" He said; the sinewy hand felt like a claw on his arm. "The customers don't pay for sweat and stench…"

"I'm sorry sir; I'll go and freshen up immediately." He hated this part, now the old coot would demand that he went into the bathroom and cleaned himself up.

I want you behind the cash-register in ten minutes…" Ten minutes to get clean and dressed with only a sink to aid you and god forbid that you used any paper towels to get dry. He flipped the old man as the latter walked outside into the café before hurrying inside and with the aid of toilet-soap, a cloth towel, the sink and a lot of dexterity he got cleaned up in five minutes. Walking outside the day suddenly got worse when he saw one of his co-workers. A fat moron who was the boss's pet since his father was the café's most avid frequenter. He couldn't stand the sniveling fat-ass so he hurriedly put on his work clothes and rushed out side before the fatso had any chance to speak with him.

"Another day with the brats, bitches and bimbos." The young man thought as he gave the customers a forced smile. He hated every single one of the students that came to the café. Sitting there in their pretty uniforms thinking that they were something; he despised them all. However when it was work-time the mask went on and he spent the entire day smiling at the morons that came to the café. The worst part wouldn't come until in a few hours anyway; at three o' clock. Then school would be over and morons would flood the place. Especially the girls of a certain Junior High class came to mind. Loud, ditzy and constantly giggling, he couldn't stand them. The fact that they loved this café didn't help him the least.

He was brought out of his thoughts when another customer came in. This customer turned out to be one of the few people the young man could stand. He was the teacher of the class he had been thinking of and a man that the young man always had seen as an ok guy; mostly because he didn't stuck his nose in other's business.

"Hey man," the young man said, "What can I get you?"

"Just a coffee, I'm in a hurry." The man said. "So… how's life?"

"Oh you know… up and down." The young man poured up the coffee in a plastic cup. "Could be better, could be worse." He put on a lid and walked up to the register.

"That's nice." The older man took out his wallet and paid for the coffee. "Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to come over for dinner sometime this weekend. It's been a while since last time."

"Sorry, too busy this weekend. There's a lot now." He took the cash and put it in the register. "Perhaps some other time."

"Very well…" The man took his coffee and left trying to hide his disappointment. That was the one thing that irritated the young man. He did get why the man tried to invite him but he wished the man could get that he didn't need his help.

"Welcome to hell, enjoy your stay."The after school hours had come and the café had been flooded by idiots as always. A loud smack resounded trough the café as one girl had slapped her palm into the table trying to get her friends' attention. Of course this was the table the young man was heading towards to deliver their sundae.

"Please don't dent the tables miss." He said politely, "Damages to the furniture will come out of my pay." The girl, a blond, tall girl blushed fiercely at this. He recognized her as the class rep of the idiot-class. The other girls sniggered at the girl's embarrassment and he quickly gave them their sundaes before retreating back to the register.

He hated them. He hated those carefree bitches sitting there acting like idiots. They didn't have to worry about getting food on the table. They didn't have to worry about having to clean up vomit before running to work where a sadistic old goat terrorized you every chance he got. They knew nothing about real life. When they finished their studies they would go on to marry some perfect guy and become a perfect housewife and live on in their perfect little fairytale.

He nearly choked on his own bile as he suddenly noticed that a new customer was coming. This one was another of the girls, one of the worst. A bubbly, pink-haired little bitch who constantly flirted with him. He forced another smile onto his face as she came up and, in her usual fashion, added -kun to the end of his name.

"Good afternoon miss." He said with a fake tone of politeness.

"Aaawww…" her voice grated in his ears. "Please, can't you use my name?" She pouted.

"No can do miss." This was one of the parts he could accept with her; by stubbornly refusing to address her in the familiar manner she wanted he knew that he annoyed her, perhaps even hurt her. It was petty but he just didn't give a damn. "Can I get you anything?"

"Hmmm..." the girl said thoughtfully as she looked at the menu, "How about the melon-ice cream?" Surprise! The little twerp ordered the same crap every time. He scooped up a bowl of the gunk for her and took it to the cashier. "Five-hundred yen." The brat paid up and he made a good show out of becoming occupied with the dishes thereby avoiding her suggestions about what to do after work. Only two hours left in this hell.

The young man closed the locker and sighed deeply. The old goat had made him work overtime again. One day he would go insane here. He felt like vomiting from hatred every second at this place. The place was like a little fairy-tale with clean uniforms, happy idiotic smiles and pristine streets. As he left the café to walk home he was waylaid by the pink-haired girl and some of her moronic friends as he exited the alley. He groaned inwardly and forced another smile onto his face. The boss had made it very clear the first day that if he behaved in a way that might in any way destroy the café's reputation he would be fired right away. Pinky pushed up one of her friends, a quiet, gray, little mouse of a girl, to him. Apparently the mouse wanted to ask him something but he didn't give a damn.

"Sorry but I'm in a real hurry here. I got to get home within the hour and I'm living pretty far away. Perhaps some other time." Without waiting for their answers he turned around and started to walk towards the train-station.

Well on the train he sunk down into one of the seats sighing heavily. At last he was on his way home. Away from the nauseatingly happy streets of Mahora. Away from the idiotic bitches that crowded the place. Had he not been so tired he would have chuckled upon realizing that he was longing home to the slums where he lived. He was longing to get back to the worst part of Tokyo. He longed for the streets the police had given up on, the streets the Yakuza saw as breeding ground for new members, the streets where life wasn't worth shit.

As he got off the train at the last stop it had already become dark. The broken streetlights didn't do much to give light to the area, they only served to break up the darkness and create single islands of light where the whores stood. trying to peddle their bodies to by passers. The cold was rolling in and the young man realized that winter was drawing near. Even if it rarely snowed here it would still mean cold nights. He idly wondered if the oil pan in his house had broken down yet as he walked up the stairs to his apartment. Fumbling with his keys in the pitch-black stairwell he opened the door and stepped inside.

The apartment still stunk of vomit. No matter how many times he tried to scrub the floors the fetid reek still remained, fortunately it wasn't nearly as bad in the rest of the apartment. He yawned as he entered the living room before he discovered that he wasn't alone. On one of the worn chairs sat a leather-wearing young man, with black hair and a predatory look on his face, who was fiddling with a stiletto. When he saw the newcomer he looked up and spoke.

"You're late…" he said. The young man had recognized his friend instantly. The man that now sat on the chair was the one guy he trusted. A guy he had known forever and considered a brother. They had grown up together and shared everything.

"Yeah the boss was an ass." The young man admitted. "Where's…"

"In th' bedroom. I got 'er here for ya."

"Thanks." The young man started to walk towards the bedroom taking off his jacket as he walked. Opening the door carefully he looked in and saw a little girl lying on one of the beds sleeping soundly. Looking no more than seven years old, her red hair was draped over the pillow and her round face was peaceful. He walked up to her and looked at her sleeping face. She was so beautiful… he reached out a hand towards her and caressed her cheek. One of her eyes popped open when she felt his touch.

"Hi niisan…" She said tiredly.

"Hey princess." The young man said with a gentle voice as he hunched by her side, "Sorry for being so late."

"S'okay… Inu got me hamburger for dinner." Inu was her nickname for the young man that now sat outside the room.

"Again?" The young man asked, "You're going to get fat, you know that?"

"No I won't… I run a lot."

"Perhaps…" The young man caressed her cheek again, "Go back to sleep now princess. Tomorrow is another day."

"Give me a hug first." The little girl said. The young man happily obliged and embraced the little girl. He stroked her hair and put her back in bed.

"Good night princess." The young man got up and walked out of the room.

"G'night niisan." The little girl said before returning to dreamland. He looked at her with happiness in his heart. His little sister… his little angel. The red-headed little girl that he lived for now slept quietly.

When the young man got out of the room he turned to the other.

"I don't want you to feed her burgers all the time;" he said with a serious look on his face, "it's not good for her to live on only that."

"Hey, hey it wasn't my idea." The other man defended himself, "She dragged me to th' hamburger-joint b'fore I got a chance t' find some other place."

"Okay… just think about it in the future."

"Sure, sure…" For a moment the young men were both silent. Then the leather wearing one spoke up. "Want a beer?"

"Why not?" They both moved into the kitchen where the leather wearing young man took up a bag from the floor and took out two bottled from it. Opening them both he gave one to the other. As they both guzzled the contents the boy in leather spoke up again.

"You know…" He said," You ain't havin' t' do this shit man."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean havin' t' go t' th' other end o' Tokyo t' work for some dickwad who treats you like shit."

"What can I do? I need the money."

"Yeah but… shit man, you could work with me. You got what it takes y'know. An' my boss said he'd give you a shot if you wanted to. You'd make fuckin' five times as much as you do now. You'd be able t' get a new apartment an' even pay for her college studies. Hell, you might even be able t' study yourself."

"And if I get caught I'll end up in jail and she in another fucked-up foster family." the young man said, "I can't take that risk."

"Okay, I get what you mean, s'just that… I ain't wantin' t' see you havin' t' deal with this shit."

"Don't worry Kotaro…" The young man smiled. "I'm getting by."

"Barely." Kotaro snorted, "You're too fuckin' proud Negi."

"Guys who work as drug-couriers shouldn't point fingers." Negi pointed out.

"Fuck you…" "Kotaro muttered before swallowing the last of his beer and putting the bottle on the table. "I gotta go. I'll take Asuna t' school tomorrow."

"Only if she wears the helmet while she rides with you."

"Pussy."

"Hey!" Negi snapped, making Kotaro stop, he had been on his way out, and turn to face him. "I'm serious, if she's hurt because of your stupidity I'm going to fucking…"

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Kotaro interrupted, "Chill man, chill! Of course I'm gonna make her wear a helmet. Chill."

"Okay…" Negi took a deep breath and ran a hand through his red hair, "I'm cool; I'm cool." Kotaro looked at him for a while.

"How long have I helped you with Asuna now? It's, what, two years? You really think I would hurt her?"

"You're right… I'm sorry, I… I'm sorry."

"Well." Kotaro said after a while, "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah..." Negi stood silent as his friend left the apartment. He took another sip of his beer and looked out through the window. As he saw one of the whores down on the street leave with a customer the clock showed twelve. Another day had begun. He drained the last of his beer and walked to the bedroom. He had to get up at five if he'd get in time to work. But he didn't complain; his work gave the money that bought Asuna a better future.

For Asuna, he'd gladly slave away at that café his entire life.

Four months later

Negi trudged though the snow, grumbling to himself. Of course the entire bloody city had to be covered in three feet snow just now. It was as if some sadistic god had waited for the moment the heat in their apartment complex finally broke down and then drench them in this white crap.

Some punks had though it would be funny to blow up the oil pan in their house by pouring gas into it and putting it on fire. The fuckers had been standing laughing in one of the corners as the fire-fighters came speeding. The fact that Kotaro had hunted them down and beaten them all within an inch of their lives, landing them all in hospital, did little to help the fact that now Negi froze wherever he was, the only heat that could be found now was in the café.

The streets were nearly deserted. No man in his right mind would go out in minus 20 Celsius to get a hooker and said hookers knew this so they had deserted the streets too, having crawled into whatever holes they used to sleep in, waiting for warmer days. This made a tentative silence blanket the streets.

If is hadn't been for the run-down buildings and the gray, grimy snow the place would almost have looked nice now. Well… that and the dead hobo in the corner. Negi didn't pay the corpse any mind, he had seen too many to give a damn and just stepped over it as he made his way towards his apartment. As he entered the stairwell he sighed upon realizing that the cardboard that covered the broken windows had been torn down and now there was one foot of snow inside the stairwell. What shit would come next, he wondered as he opened the door.

The entire winter had been one hassle after another. First the social services had been mucking around in their life claiming that they were concerned the Asuna's wellbeing. Negi didn't swallow that crap at all; he knew that their only interest was to stop everyone who didn't measure up to their standards from raising kids. They wanted to take away the kids of everyone "less-than-perfect" so they could be put in another, more perfect, family, and be raised to become perfect little members of society, like the idiots who crowded Mahora.

Flashback:

"Those fucking ASSES!" Kotaro snarled, "Who th' fuck do they think they are?"

Negi sighed as he hid his face in his hands. "They are the ones in charge," he said quietly, "they do whatever they want."

"No… no I ain't lettin' them take her, what's th' cunt's name?" The dark-haired young man made a grab for the paper. "I'll fuckin' mark th' cunt!" However Negi tore away the paper from him.

"Don't even think about it you fucking psycho!" He snapped, "Then they'll definitely take her!"

"And it ain't obvious that they'll take her already? The fuck you plannin' t' do? Fuck her?"

"Shut up you inbred fucking moron and let me think!" Negi roared, finally shutting Kotaro up. "Okay… they will only take her if we aren't perfect enough for their standards, that means a clean apartment, nice language ect, ect. We just have to fix the place up."

End flashback:

They had managed to fix up the apartment so that it looked good and invited the social-worker to dinner during which he acted friendly and understanding towards her and he had also pointed out that even if it was a rough neighborhood that wasn't reason enough to take Asuna away from there if the family was good. Kotaro had, in the meantime, watched the woman's car in case anyone tried anything. Eventually Negi had placated the woman enough that she let Asuna remain with her only remaining family.

They got out of that mess just in time for Asuna to catch pneumonia. The little girl had one day woken up trying to cough her lungs out, scaring the life out of both Negi and Kotaro. She had been forced to spend three weeks in bed as the local back-alley doctor, a drunkard who had been fired for malpractice and now made a living working as an underground doctor here, stuffed her with medicine.

Just as she got better the heat broke down and a snowstorm blew in over Tokyo. Negi and Kotaro had been forced to go to the junk-yard and steal an old iron stove which he now kept going with whatever was available. Cardboard, newspaper, if it could burn it went in there. Asuna had said to him that she could start woodworking in school so that they could use what she made as fuel for the fire but Negi had refused to even consider the idea.

Everything he did, every problem he solved, every day he worked at that café, was all for giving her a childhood that didn't suck. A childhood she could remember with some happiness. And that things she had put her soul into making was NOT going to become fuel, he'd rather burn his own clothes than letting that happen. He gathered up the cardboard and carried it up to the apartment. At least they might have some warmth today…

As he stepped into the apartment he noticed something, it was quiet. Too quiet.

"Asuna?" He shouted. "I'm home."

There was no answer; then he heard a small sound from that bedroom. It was… sobbing? Negi dropped the bags and hurried over to the bedroom. What had happened? As he opened the door he saw Asuna's little red head stick up behind her bed. He slowly walked in and looked down at her. She sat with her head buried in her knees and clutched her jacket to her chest.

"Hey princess…" Negi said softly, "What's the matter?" He didn't show it but his heart was cold. What had happened? Had her classmates found out about where she lived and started to tease her for it? Had some freak tried to grope her?

Asuna looked up at him, her eyes were filled with tears, her cheeks red and wet and she sniffled.

"I… I'm sorry Niisan." She sniffed, "I didn't mean to…"

"Hey, hey…" Negi sat down and embraced her. "What has happened?"

"I… I broke your jacket." She held, with her arms trembling, out her jacket, an old, worn thing Negi had used when he was a kid and that he had given to her. She hadn't been any happy about having an old and worn thing like that but Negi had told her about how much it meant to him and she had eventually accepted it. And now it had finally broken. Negi embraced his little sister and held her close. Comforting her he gritted his teeth. And now they would have to get a new one… at least the universe had been quick about what new shit would come up. However he smiled at her as he looked into her eyes.

"It's okay princess…" He said gently, "You didn't mean it, did you?" Asuna shook her head, "Then it's all right. We'll just go down to town tomorrow and get you a new jacket."

"I'm sorry." She said again, "I know we don't have any money and…" Negi put a hand over her mouth.

"Don't worry princess…" He said, "I still got some money left since last pay and I get my next pay tomorrow, it's all right." He lied, it would be almost two weeks until he got paid and money was already running low. Still… Asuna came first. He would simply have to get by. "Now, do you want some dinner?" He asked and Asuna nodded. Picking her up, he carried her into the kitchen. Asuna started to squirm in his arms.

"Let me go." She complained, "I can walk myself."

"No can do princess." Negi grinned and started to tickle her.

"No!" Asuna started to squirm even more. "Niisan!" She laughed as he tickled her belly.

"Would you look at that?" Negi exclaimed, "We're already there." He put her down and she spun around trying to look angry but the effect was ruined since she had to fight her laughter. Negi grinned at her and ruffled her hair.

"Stupid niisan." Asuna gave him a playful kick.

The next day

Negi had come to the conclusion that he hated the jacket-designers of Japan. They had been walking around the stores for three hours and hadn't found ONE normal jacket. Every single one seemed like the designer ate LSD like others ate normal food. Still… he had told Asuna that she could choose whichever she wanted. As she walked between the racks he looked at her from a distance trying to figure out how the hell he would pay for this. What would a jacket cost? Probably only around 4000 yen, that wasn't much, he could handle it, he simply had to do a few more overtime shifts at the café. If he groveled enough he could probably get the money straight away. If the old goat didn't do that… Well… he had stolen from the register before.

"Niisan!" Asuna yelled as she came running, "Look!" She held out a jacket towards him. It was a dark green coat, with a foddered inside, that had embroidered patterns on the arms. Surprisingly enough it looked really nice.

"Nice!" Negi said to his little sister, "Come on; let's see how it looks on you." They found a mirror and Asuna hurriedly took it on. It suited her perfectly. She looked really like a little princess in it. Asuna spun around with her arms out, obviously smitten with it. Negi really liked it too. Perhaps it would work out after all…

"Shall we go for that one then?" He asked and Asuna nodded. He took it off and brought it to the check-out, Asuna almost skipping behind him. The shop-worker behind the register turned out to be an old woman with a sour look on her face. She took one look on his worn coat and immediately got the most distasteful look imaginable on her face. When he put the jacket on the counter she took it and held it like it was diseased as she dragged the bar-code over the register.

"7000 Yen." She said with a shrill voice and suddenly Negi's world came crashing down.

"Shit, shit, shit!"He kept smiling as he brought up his credit card and gave it to the woman. It might work anyway… He was sure he had some more money left from the last pay check. As the held his breath and when the machine gave a peep of protest he flinched…

"Sorry," The old woman said, clearly not meaning it, "But your card isn't acceptable."

"Try it again…" Negi said, trying to desperately come up with something. Wasn't there a pawnshop nearby? "I've had some problems with it lately."

"As I said your card doesn't pass." The woman sneered, "Our equipment isn't faulty."

"No but the card is kinda…. You know."

"No I do not know what you are trying to tell me, if you cannot pay please vacate the store. I do not wish to waste time on people who cannot pay."

"Niisan…" Asuna whispered with a sad voice, "It's all right… I can get another jacket…"

Negi suppressed the voice in him that told him to smash the hag's face in. He turned to Asuna quickly and ruffled her hair, "Don't worry." He assured her with a smile, "It'll work out." He then turned back to the woman "Please!" He begged; how he hated this. "Just give it one more shot, I promise the card will pass. And it isn't like there are any customers behind us in the line." Negi gestured at the empty space behind him.

The woman eventually, after much begging from Negi's side, pulled the card through the register again. Yet again the machine beeped and Negi clenched his fists.

"As before, your card doesn't work." The entire woman looked like one big sneer to him. "I think you should leave this store."

"Okay… its okay…" Negi said, internally raging, it had all gone so well, she had loved that thing! "I'll just return this to the rack then…" Negi made a grab for the coat when suddenly he fell; face first, into the floor. A burly pair of hands pushed him down and Asuna shrieked.

"What the fuck!" Negi yelled as the hands grabbed his and pushed them together. "I didn't do anything!"

"Attempted stealing is something, you little street-rat." A hoarse voice growled, "And don't think you can worm your way out of this one."

"I didn't fucking do anything!" Negi yelled, Those asses; just because he wore worn clothes they though he was a thief! He kicked backwards trying to get out of the grip when suddenly a calm, strong voice rang out.

"Enough!" Negi felt the man above him stop struggling with him and he looked to the side. The first thing he saw was a pair of black shoes; looking further upwards he saw that said shoes belonged to a man in a light blue suit, with red eyes and white hair, both of these things clear signs of him being an albino. The figure didn't stand too tall; however the twin beefy men flanking him more than made up for it and the piercing look in his eyes gave him a powerful presence. Negi couldn't help but curse internally. Of all the possible people it had to be him…

"What is going on here?" The man asked the shop-worker, who had shrunk to half her normal size upon his arrival. His soft tenor rung clearly, but the undertone of steel in it was unmistakable.

"I-I'm terribly sorry sir," The hag whined "This hoodlum attempted to steal one of the articles. We will dispense of him immediately."

"A shoplifter?" The albino looked at Negi with cold eyes. "I see…"

"Yes sir…" The woman continued, "We'll call the police at this instant." She made a grab for the phone but the albino stopped her.

"Wait." Was all he said as he walked up to the counter and took up the jacket. "This was what he tried to steal?"

"I didn't try to steal it, are you deaf…?" Negi didn't have time to say anything more before the guard put a sweaty hand over his mouth.

"A fine coat…" the albino said, "He has good taste. I suppose it was for you?" he turned to look at Asuna, who had hidden behind one of the clothes racks and was now looking out at them. The pale man looked from the coat to the girl several times before he gestured for Asuna to come closer. "Come over here, little one."

Asuna stood still, refusing to approach, until one of the bulky men who had accompanied the albino came up behind her and grabbed her before pulling her up to the man. The albino held out the coat towards the girl.

"Put it on." He said; ignoring Negi's choked mumbling in the background. Asuna stood still but eventually faltered under the man's glare. She reached out and took the jacket, putting it on. The albino looked at her for a few seconds before smiling, a smile that looked out of place in his harsh face. He rose to his feet and walked up to the register, taking out his wallet. Seven one-thousand Yen notes landed on the table.

"There, paid." The albino said. The woman stared at him in shock and for a few seconds the entire store was silent. "Is my money not acceptable?" The albino said, making the woman immediately take the bills and clearing the purchase. "Good." The albino turned to the guard, who was still holding Negi down, and spoke up again. "Let him go, now." The guard immediately got off him and rose to his feet. "Now, next time my associates come here to make purchases I'd appreciate if they weren't harassed," He said to them both. Both the guard and the woman seemed to shrink as the malice in the man's voice filled the room. Before either of them could answer, however, the albino spun around and smiled at Asuna again.

"There…" He said kindly, "It's yours now." Asuna looked at him for a few seconds before she bowed to him.

"Thank you." She said politely but the man waved his hand.

"Do not thank me." He said, "It was my pleasure."

"Yeah sure…" Negi said as he came up beside Asuna, "Thanks but we got to go now. Come on Asuna." He took her hand and was about to drag her away when suddenly one of the bodyguards blocked the path.

"Please…" The albino said, "Let me buy you dinner as compensation for this incident."

"That won't be needed." Negi said and tried to get past the guard, not wanting to be near this guy a second more than he needed to.

"I apologize…" The albino laid a hand on his shoulder and Negi looked back into his ice-cold eyes, "but I must insist." It wasn't a request… it was a threat. Negi realized that he was trapped.

"Fine…" He said with a forced smile.

The albino held true to his words of dinner and took them to a fancy restaurant near the clothing store. It was the type of restaurant that you needed a reservation to even approach. The albino, however, walked straight in and stopped in front of the waiter at the entrance.

"Table for three." He said calmly and the waiter immediately scurried off to procure one for them. While he did Negi and Asuna was waiting at the entrance. Asuna was staring, wide-eyed, at the interior. This place was so different from their run-down home and the burger joints where she went with inu. The red carpet…the curtains that hung everywhere, the paintings on the walls… it was like a dream.

Negi shared that opinion; however he considered the situation more of a nightmare than a normal dream. The albino was an acquaintance all right. But not one he liked to talk about. His name was Fate Averruncus, a foreigner who had, despite his foreign heritage, managed to be adopted into one of the Yakuza families. He was nowadays one of the Yakuza oyabun's lieutenants. The reason he knew Negi, though, was that Kotaro was his underling. Negi's oldest and only friend had, since he was thirteen, been mixed up in the albino's drug operations. The albino that now stood only a few feet from them was one of Tokyo's greatest drug-lords.

Negi was quite familiar with how the pale-faced man worked; he always made use of whatever resources that already existed. If you wanted to get a spy, bribe one of the people already there, if you wanted to kill someone, support their enemies… if you wanted to sell drugs somewhere, find someone who has a reason to be there in the first place. The last thing was why Negi was here now. Fate had once offered Negi a chance to sell drugs at Mahora, the fact that he worked there would make him less suspicious to the police.

Negi had however vehemently refused the very idea and stormed out of the house when the albino had suggested it. The thing was that he had also thrown about every insult he knew after the man. To his surprise he hadn't ended up in some alley with a broken skull for insulting the albino. The man hadn't done anything at all… until today.

"If you would please come with me here." They suddenly heard the waiter say and Fate looked back at them. Asuna was overjoyed and hurried into the restaurant, Negi following her with notably lesser enthusiasm. As they sat down by the tables a waiter came out with the menu. Fate played the part of a graceful host flawlessly and entertained Asuna with small anecdotes about the food and the guests. Within a minute the little girl was spellbound by him.

However Negi sat quietly and refused to even look at the man. His mind was sorely focused on how to get out of there but no openings could be seen. Even when the food came in he just couldn't enjoy the taste of it.

It was after the dinner that Fate noticed how Asuna looked in the direction of the large aquarium that made up an entire wall. He made a gesture for one of his guards to come up.

"If you'd like to take a closer look Hiroshi here can accompany you." He said kindly to her. Asuna's eyes sparkled for a moment before she looked at Negi.

"Can I go niisan?" She asked him breathlessly. Negi couldn't possibly say no to her and nodded. The little girl squealed with joy and darted away. Fate looked after her for a second before he turned to Negi, his face having reverted to its usual ice-cold expression.

"She is a beautiful child." He said, "One day she will become a beautiful woman."

"Can it Fate." Negi growled, "You really think a fancy dinner's gonna make me your dog?"

"No," Fate replied as he took a sip of his wine. "I'm not naive."

"Good, then perhaps we can stop this shit." Negi got up and was about to leave when Fate spoke up.

"How many times have you stolen from the register now?" Negi froze in his steps and felt cold sweat starting to appear on his forehead. "Please sit down and let us discuss this as civilized beings." Negi was forced back into his seat by Fate's other guard and the albino looked intently at him.

"You are currently working for a man who pays you about a third of what you should make," He said impassively, "he forces you to work overtime for far too small sums and you hardly have time to see young younger sister any more. In order to make things go around you have to steal from the register and hope that your co-worker won't notice it when he handles the tallies. Thus far it has worked thanks to his abysmal grades in maths but tell me this. Do you really think your luck will hold?"

Negi's hands shook as the albino tore up all his dirty secrets and laid them bare for the world to see. However he was still defiant.

"No matter what you're saying, you won't make me your subordinate. I'm not doing that shit."

"What is more dishonorable?" Fate mused as he took another sip, "To do a "dishonest" work "honestly", or to do an "honest" work "dishonestly"? You are just as bound for jail for this you know."

Negi just looked away, refusing to even look at the man.

"Perhaps I'm doing a mistake here." Fate said as he reached for his wallet, "Rhetoric might not be something you put an emphasis on. Solid facts might be better." Fate took out a ten-thousand Yen bill and put it in front of him.

"This is for the jacket." He said, Negi stared at the large bill, more money that he'd ever had at one time, before Fate took up two more, "This is in order to fill the fridge for the rest of the month." Another two bills landed beside the first three and Negi swallowed, could that much money exist? "This is for a full set of new clothes for her." Fate said before yet again a ten-thousand Yen bill came up. "This is for Christmas, so she can have some real Christmas presents." Two more bills landed on the table. "And finally, for all eventualities."

Eighty thousand Yen now lay in front of Negi, who couldn't help but stare at them.

"You'll have to make a choice." Fate said to the young man, who now had lost all signs of defiance, "What is more important to you? From what I've heard it's Asuna. You can't take care of her as it is and you know it. Any day now you'll be fired if you keep this up. Either you try to find a paying job in this recession, or you make, at the very least, eighty thousand every month for a few hours job every week. That's an hourly salary on perhaps ten-thousand. What do you have now? Three hundred?"

Negi looked at the money, uncertainty and fear written all over him, he looked from the money to Asuna and back again. His breathing was labored and he blinked repeatedly. In the end his shoulders slumped together and he nodded.

"I'll do it." He whispered. "I'll… I'll fucking do it." Fate smiled at him, a grim and superior smile.

"Good." was all the albino said as the gathered up seven of the bills and put them back in his wallet. "Kotaro-san will give you the details. Eighty percent of whatever you make is mine. Mahora is yours." With that, the albino got up from the table and left Negi staring into the table.

"Fuck…"was the word that went through Negi's head as he and Asuna took the commuter home. That was it…. He had thrown his lot in with Satan. He was a fucking drug dealer. Negi looked out through the window and saw in front of him how the cops slammed him into the wall and how Asuna was dragged away. Was this how he would raise her, with filthy drug money? He shook his head and felt disgust rise in him. It was then that he felt Asuna pull at his arm. He looked at his little sister and saw her worried expression.

"What's the matter niisan?" She asked. The little girl looked afraid, uncertain. "You look like you're sad."

Her worried expression made it snap for Negi. He grabbed her and held her tightly as he felt the tears begin to rise. Asuna yelped at the sudden move and Negi sobbed as he tightly hugged his little sister.

"I want you to know something Asuna." He said with a choked voice, "I love you. More than anything else… Never forget that." The little girl looked at her big brother before she hugged him back.

"I love you too niisan." She whispered into his ear.

In one moment Negi's hesitation was gone. He had to do it, for Asuna. He had said so many times that he'd do anything for her. If he backed out of this opportunity to give her a decent life he'd be the worst scum on earth.

For Asuna, he'd gladly even sell drugs.

A/N: I think the tone for this story has been quite firmly established and I want to drive that point home. This fic is very AU, it will be a very dark thing, people will suffer, cruelty will be overt and morals mean little. The rating and the genres are there for a reason so please do not read this if you are a sensitive person, you'll just feel bad about it. What more, this will not give an accurate depiction of the Japanese crime world, I am aware of that. Yet, that was not and will not be my goal.

Lastly, one great thanks goes out to Sweet Heavens, my co-author and advisor during this fic. Without him this would never have grown to this level.