"This is it, kiddo."

"T, where are we?"

"K, this is where you're gonna be staying from now on."

"Nuh-uh! I don't like it. I wanna go home."

"K, sweetheart, I need you to listen. This is gonna be your home now."

"What? No, no! I wanna stay with you."

The little boy launched himself into the young lady's arms, nuzzling where his smaller body could reach.

"Kiddo, I know you do, but it's not safe for you at the apartment."

"Why not?"

"Because trouble found it's way in, that's why."

"Do I have to stay here?"

"I wouldn't bring you here if you didn't baby."

"Well, you're gonna visit me, right?"

No answer.

"You are gonna visit, right?"

"I can't."

"Well, why not?"

"Because this place doesn't let strangers visit."

"But you're not a stranger! I know you!"

"But they don't. Sweetie, they don't let people like me visit. They think I'm dangerous."

"But you're not!"

"I know that. But they won't care about me. All they're gonna care about is you."

"…I still have to stay, don't I?"

"Yes."

"…Am I ever gonna see you again?

"I don't know."

"Do you have to leave?"

"I gotta, sweetie. As much as I wish I didn't have to."

"Please don't leave."

V-O-L-T-R-O-N

"Please…"

Keith woke up slowly, the vestiges of his dream pushing him into the waking world. He felt wetness threatening to roll down his cheeks and rubbed his eyes, unwilling to start crying. It would accomplish nothing. He sat up in his bed and stared dazedly at nothing. His thoughts too far away to grasp. He slowly got out of bed and pulled his shoes on and stumbled out his door. He took a few steps past the other rooms and on towards Shiro's door. He knocked twice before the door opened.

"Can't sleep?" Shiro groggily joked.

Keith nodded tiredly. Shiro shook his head good-naturedly and guided Keith inside. They sat on Shiro's bed and Keith flopped onto the elder with exhaustion oozing out of every pore.

"So, I know I saw you go to bed earlier. How come you're awake right now?"

"Bad dream."

Shiro sobered up instantly, the sleep leaving his body and practically knocking him wide awake. He took a deep breath before speaking again.

"What about?"

"The day I got dropped off at the orphanage."

"…Sorry to hear that."

He was. The last time Keith had had that dream was less than a year after Shiro's family took him in. And that was the time Keith first told Shiro about the group that had taken him in off the streets.

"I miss them, sometimes…"

"They took you in off the streets, I can understand the attachment. What I don't understand is why you've never talked much about them."

"There's nothing to tell. They took me in, then they put me in an orphanage. It's not a front page news story."

"Seems pretty important to you."

"It's not."

"Then why lie about it?"

"I'm not-"

"Keith."

The younger pushed himself up and looked up at the elder. His eyes were pained. Shiro hugged him.

"You know, you said that they were some of the coolest people you ever met."

"When I was what, nine?" Keith quipped.

"You were ten," Shiro corrected.

"Oh, right. And what does a ten-year-old know about 'cool'?"

"I don't know, Zoie sounded like a pretty cool gal to me."

Keith froze before untangling himself from Shiro's embrace. Shiro, on the other hand, was avoiding Keith's gaze.

"How do you know about Zoie?"

No answer.

"Shiro, how do you know about Zoie? I only ever mentioned Tina, so how do you know about Zoie?"

"…"

"What was that?"

"I looked for her around town. I found her. She became an assistant teacher at a ballet school."

"Shiro!"

"You didn't give any details! What was I supposed to do? You never want to Mama or Papa."

"And I didn't tell you, specifically so you wouldn't involve yourself in my past!"

"You were ten! What 'past' does a ten-year-old have?"

"Mine!"

"OK, stop!"

Keith was breathing heavily and shaking, and Shiro looked like he was on the brink of a headache.

"We're yelling at each other, aren't we?" Keith finally said.

"…Yeah."

"I'm sorry," Keith murmured.

"I know, I'm sorry too," Shiro said.

They took several more deep breaths before they did anything else. Keith flopped onto his back and sighed.

"All right, what did you do?"

"You said you used to live on Twist Alley, I went there first."

"Yeah, D.I. Apartment Complex, Apartment 404."

"The landlady said that it was empty."

"What?"

"She said it was empty, I went up and checked. No-one was in there. They moved out."

"What?"

"I said-"

"No, Shiro, I know what you said," Keith started, sitting up. "What I mean is that it doesn't make any sense. They weren't afraid to talk money around me. The apartment was leased with Reggie for seven years. When I left, they had only been there for three. I was in that orphanage for two years before you took me in. They should've still been there."

"Well, they weren't," Shiro said finally. "So I asked about Tina, and the landlady said she got a job at a nearby dance school…"

V-O-L-T-R-O-N

Shiro looked at the building. It was designed to look like it was made with old-fashioned bricks. Whoever had done the job could've fooled him. He felt like he had been dropped into a history book.

'Millicent School of Ballet. This is the place.'

He stepped in and looked around. There were pictures of former students, decorations of music notes, and pictures of fancy-looking buildings.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Shiro looked up at the reception desk. A little blonde woman with her hair in a neat bun sat there looking at him with suspicious brown eyes.

"Hi there, sorry. I'm looking for a Tina Dunbar, is she in today?"

The receptionist looked him over then began looking through her computer, likely looking for who he'd mentioned. In less than thirty seconds, she looked back at him with an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, but there's no one here with the last name 'Dunbar'."

"Well, it's possible that she changed her last name, does anyone here have Tina as a first name?"

"There's only one. She's an assistant teacher here. Do you want me to tell her you're here?"

"Yes please."

Shiro took a seat and waited. He waited a half-an-hour before a young woman, a few years his elder came and spoke to the receptionist. They talked quietly for two minutes before the receptionist pointed him out. The other woman looked at him and Shiro pretended to be interested in the magazine he was reading. In reality, Shiro was looking the woman over to see if she fit the description. Dark skin, big brown eyes, and blonde coils for hair.

Match.

The woman said something to the receptionist before walking over to Shiro. She moved very gracefully and here steps were purposeful.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, my name is Takashi Shirogane, you knew my brother?"

"I don't know anyone with that surname, I'm sorry."

"He's not my biological brother. We just took him in several months ago. He mentioned a friend Tina Dunbar, that's why I came to talk to you."

For a split second, Tina's eyes widened in shock, then she turned to the receptionist.

"Ina, I'm gone, I'll be back in about an hour."

With that she grabbed Shiro by the hand and drug him out of the building. She took him a few streets down into a little café. She took him to the nearest booth and sat him down.

"How's he doing?" Tina asked.

"What?"

"Keith, how is he?"

"He's doing fine, great actually."

"That's… That's wonderful… He doesn't talk about us, does he?"

"No, that's why when he mentioned you about two weeks ago, I came looking for you"

"It took you two weeks to find me?"

"It took two weeks to wheedle out your old address from him. After that the landlady said you got a job at Millicent's. Said you were the last one to move out of 404."

"I was. The lease went void, and none of us wanted to stay there after that. But I doubt you came here to talk about me."

"Actually, I did."

Tina looked at the teenager incredulously.

"I'm sorry?"

"I came to ask why you put him in an orphanage."

Tina looked away, thankful when a server strolled up to their table.

"Good afternoon, I'm Luna and I'll be your server today. What'll you have?"

"Can I get coffee — dark roast — with a double, no triple shot of expresso, two creams and a sugar?" Tina asked.

"Our baristas are gonna love you," Luna said. "And you, sir? What will you have?"

"Uh… Can I just get a melya?"

"Coming right up!"

With that, Luna and her cheeriness had gone and Tina was looking at Shiro with downtrodden, guilty eyes. There was a heavy darkness in her countenance.

"We didn't want to do it you know."

"Then why did you?"

"It was the best we could do."

Shiro gave her a disbelieving look as Luna brought their drinks. Tina thanked her before taking a large gulp of hers and sighing. She looked back at Shiro contemplatively before speaking again.

"Aside from Little K, there were six others. Tiny, Frizzy, Euie, Zigzag, Reggie, and myself. Reggie was the leader of our little outfit. He kept us on the straight and narrow... Or as straight and narrow as it gets for three runaways, a couple of orphans, and a street urchin. He kept us out of trouble, and he and I managed the books."

"So what happened?"

"How old are you? Because this story is pretty R rated as far as I'm concerned."

"I'm seventeen," Shiro deadpanned.

"Coulda fooled me, Babyface."

"Just get on with it."

"Zigzag'd gone out to a party. But there were a couple of pins who were gonna be there looking for some new 'workers'. So, Reggie went there to get her home safe."

"I'm sensing a 'however' coming."

"…However, there were also some dealers there trying to pedal some new designer potions. In the end, Zigzag was the one who brought Reggie home."

"A couple of dealers convinced him to try?"

"Naw, Zigzag saw the whole thing. An aggressive seller stuck a needle in his arm and pushed the stuff into his system. You can imagine what happened next."

"He got hooked?"

"Yep. He seemed okay after the initial high, so we didn't really watch him. That was our first mistake. He went back for another fix. Then once a week. We didn't notice until we were short on rent by a couple hundred."

"That much?"

"And that was just the first month. By the second month we tried cutting him off. He got aggressive. He stole money from the pool. Then he started using twice a week. He started forgetting things. Almost got Zigzag into night-walking. That was when I decided Keith wasn't safe anymore."

"Keith wouldn't be safe because Reggie almost prostituted Zigzag?"

"You don't get it, do you Takashi? The streets aren't the nicest place, but sometimes it's worse than you could imagine."

"…What do you mean?"

"There are some sellers who deal in more than just potions and night-walking. Some of them have ties to the Underworld."

"Underworld?"

"I'm talking a lot more than just drug trafficking. There's international smuggling, human trafficking, and bargaining."

"Bargaining?"

"Parts."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow," Shiro said.

"Fingers, toes, eyeballs, human livers? That sort of thing?"

"Please tell me you're joking," Shiro begged, looking a little green.

"I wish I was. Money isn't the only form of currency if that's the case. Reggie's dealer wanted primarily cash, but was willing to accept things that could be sold to other 'Street Merchants'. And around that time, there was a trafficker looking for a certain kind of 'merchandise.'"

"What kind of merchandise?"

"Children. Between the ages of five and twelve."

Shiro looked less green and far more pale. He felt himself beginning to swoon. Tina reached over and gently fanned him with a menu.

"Easy there Shirogane, I can't have you passing out on me."

Shiro took a swig of his drink hoping the warmth would sooth his suddenly hyperactive nerves. It worked, if only slightly.

"You don't think he actually would have…?"

"Addiction changes people, Takashi," Tina said. "And after the Zigzag scare, we didn't want to find out. I had Tiny check out all the orphanages and foster care facilities in the area and find the best one. St. Anthony's Home for Children; that was the best she could find. Not over-filled, decent staff, no illegal child labor, it even had a playground and classrooms… Was her screening accurate?"

"My parents had no complaints."

"Oh, thank goodness," Tina sighed in relief.

"If you don't mind my asking… What happened to Reggie?"

"You really wanna know?"

"Is it really that bad?"

"Yes," Tina answered, her eyes beginning to water.

"Tina…"

"Sorry, I'm sorry," She said, wiping her eyes. "Reggie… Reggie got clean almost a year after we had to give Keith away. He'd been off the stuff for about one hundred and eighty-three days. We went to a party, him Euie and me. It wasn't a street party. It was a kid from one of the good neighborhoods having a house party."

"You though it was safe."

"Yeah… We thought. We were wrong. Someone at the party invited a couple of peddlers to it, and one of them…"

The realization hit Shiro like a ton of bricks.

"…Reggie's old dealer?"

"Yeah… She showed up, saw him and… I don't know. She must've lost more business than just him because she tried to convince him to buy."

"It didn't work, I hope."

"No. But she was desperate. Started showing him needles to try and tempt him. …The proudest moment was when he looked her dead in the eye and told her: 'I lost most of my life to you and this stuff. The answer is no.' …But that's when she lost it. She took a needle and shoved it into his neck."

"Please no."

"I wish I was lying. Problem was, it was an empty needle."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"You would think. But she pushed the plunger and he started convulsing. He collapsed before I could get the needle out. He was dead before I could try to call an ambulance."

"I… I'm so sorry."

"Not your fault. The coroner told us he died of an 'air embolism'. From what I understood, the air in the empty needle wound up getting too much oxygen to his brain. Then again, I don't know much about biology so don't quote me on it."

"I won't… He doesn't talk about you, you know."

"That's a good thing. The less he talks about us, the better."

"Do… you miss him?"

"…Every single day," she confessed. "Sometimes… Sometimes I can't help but wonder if we did the right thing. Bringing him to an orphanage. I can still remember the way he looked at me just before I started walking away."

Tina's eyes began watering and tears began to fall.

"He looked like we just abandoned him. I didn't want to do it."

"Tina, look at me," Shiro said, taking hold of one of her hands. "You made the best decision you could."

Tina took an offered napkin and wiped the tears off her face. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to settle herself and only succeeded in making more tears fall.

"I'm sorry, I must look like a mess."

"You have every right to cry. You've been through things I can't even imagine."

Shiro reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He searched through it until he found exactly what he was looking for.

"Let me show you something."

He handed her the device and Tina stared at the screen. The young woman was utterly awestruck. There was Keith, her Keith, smiling and holding his old teddy bear with his face cherry red.

"He's so big now."

Shiro smiled.

"Yeah, that picture is from last week."

"He's happy, right?"

"We try our best."

Tina looked back down at the picture, a small smile gracing her features. Shiro looked down as another idea.

"You know if you want, I could come by the school next month and show you how he's doing… If you want."

"You're not serious, are you?"

V-O-L-T-R-O-N

Keith stared at Shiro with tears welling up. He tried to stop them before they fell, but with very little success.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked with a shove.

Shiro barely flinched.

"She begged me not to. She thought you'd be better off not knowing."

And with that admittance, the dam broke. Keith cried. He cried until his face turned red and his nose was runny. Shiro wrapped the younger in his arms and held him close. Kieth tried to push him away, but his efforts were half-hearted.

"Keith, it's okay. You're okay."

Eventually Keith stopped fighting it and clung to Shiro for dear life. His sobs wracking his whole body and his tears wetting the fabric of Shiro's nightclothes. Shiro put a hand on the younger's head, carding his fingers through dark locks soothingly. He placed a kiss on Keith's temple and rested his chin on his head, still holding on.

"I'm still mad at you," Keith sniffed.

"I know."

"I'm gonna kill you."

"No you won't."

"Yeah, I won't… Still mad."

"We've covered that."

"We're talking about this."

"Tomorrow, I promise. Right now you need to sleep."

"Fine."