I thought up this idea last year but I wanted to finish at least one of my series fan fics before putting up another one. This is AU so if any of the characters is OOC, please forgive me? *kira kira* Anyway, I hope you guys like what I came up with. Bedmates is well on it's way to being updated so keep an eye out for updates. So, let me know what you think? Many, many thanks.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own KHR nor do I claim any rights to it or any of the characters in this fan fiction story with the exception of some OC's. Otherwise, I own the plot and nothing else.
If only she hadn't woken up late that day.
If only she hadn't let her guard down in the market.
If only she had been content with the pilfered food Basco nii-chan had brought home.
If only she had been looking the right way.
Either way you looked at it, there were a lot of things she had done wrong. Ultimately, the biggest worst thing she could have done was to get caught.
As a personal rule, Haru never got caught. What had happened this time? She could say she had been too tired. She looked up at the guards at her sides and thought that maybe they were a little more skilled than she. Perhaps it was because her stomach growled as it did again right then reminding her for the umpteenth time that she needed sustenance.
She didn't have to be told twice. She was ravenous.
Pride was what had kept her from enjoying the "spoils of war" that Basco-nii-san had brought from the market. That and her sudden show of courage. He and some of the others sometimes went on a raid and came back to dump it all in a secret hideaway while they collected more. At the end of the day, they would carry it back to their den and have a feast. This was the way it worked.
But Haru had chosen that as the day she crossed his path. Basco was in charge and nobody questioned him. What had bothered her was the fact that little Fuuta who didn't have anyone to defend him was being picked on. She didn't take kindly to bullies and Basco had gone far enough. She had stood up to him and nobody ever did that.
That night, he had declared that she was not to be fed and anyone caught giving her any of the spoils would be exiled from the pack, the worst punishment possible. She would be gone already if she wasn't such a good pick-pocket. She never took too much so people hardly thought anything was missing. More often than not, if she got caught, she could hand back the "coin that had dropped" and be out of trouble, probably with a reward in her hands. It was the perfect scam and one only she could pull off.
In a huff, Haru had climbed her favourite tree and plotted how she would take care of herself when, not if, she left the pack. She didn't need Basco. He could rot for all she cared. At least he had stopped bullying Fuuta.
"Haru-nii?" she heard from the darkness below her.
"What is it Fuuta?" she asked, her voice immediately becoming softer and a smile forming on her lips. She was rather fond of the little guy.
"Will Basco make you leave?" he asked. She helped him up onto her branch and lit the lantern she kept hanging there. She smiled when she finally met his gaze and ruffled his tousled brown hair.
"No, he wouldn't dare, the big bully. Did he disturb you again? I'll make him pay if he's done anything to you..."
"No, he hasn't done anything. He gave me a warning, but that was it. I... I stole this from the table. I don't think anyone saw me." He produced a shiny apple from somewhere under his sweater and held it up to her. She couldn't hide her surprise. Fuuta was hardly the thieving type but that was the way of life on the streets. It was either survive or die so he had been under Haru's tutelage. Apparently he had learned one or two things.
She wasn't going to eat anything of Basco's initially, but Fuuta had gone through the trouble of getting it for her so she had accepted it and that had been her last meal.
"You'll see Fuuta," she said pulling him into a hug and kissing the boy's forehead then wiping it off as was custom, "I'll make it so we can survive without Basco and he won't have to bother you ever again." The child had cuddled up to her and fallen asleep.
As she had done so many times before, she carried the sleeping child down to the others and lay him on his sleeping spot. She gave herself a moment and no more to watch him as he slept. Her spot was right next to his and she would naturally have gone right to sleep, but she had had enough of having to run under Basco's rule. She was going to make it.
She was going to come back for Fuuta and she would make sure that he never had to be bullied again. She would take care of him like she had since he had come at the tender age of five to their gang.
"I swear to you, Fuuta, I''ll make it. Do you hear me God? I'm going to make it this time," she said. She herself had been raised in a church parish part way but when the sisters had begun turning nasty and beating her every which way, she had had enough. She ran away and met Basco as she tried to rob a man. She had succeeded, but he had seen and then had blackmailed her and thus had she become one of them.
Now she was going to need all her strength for the task ahead.
The first thing she would do was amass a wealth in coins and save up for as long as she could. She would still steal for the gang, but she would keep some for herself. Her scam would have to change so she could take more without being branded a thief in the gang. That was the highest form of betrayal after all. Nobody was to steal from the pack either. Failure to do this would bring down the 'great shame' on one's head. Nobody fully understood what that meant, but it kept everyone in line and maintained happiness so it was accepted as punishment.
She would do her duty and still manage to save up to get her and Fuuta out of there. Now it was just a matter of putting her plan into action.
She sighed and looked up at the glaring sun. It was barely noon and already she had gotten into more trouble than she ever had in all her six years of picking pockets. She had lost her breakfast, had to run herself breathless and lost two targets. The third had eventually caught her, but someone had seen her and alerted him. She must be getting sloppy, and no wonder with her stomach growling like that.
She was hungry and these maze-like hallways didn't seem to be coming to a head any time soon.
"Can I at least get something to eat? I'm no good if I starve for picking pockets..." she said striking up a conversation with the guards. Of course they said nothing.
"I suppose not," she decided and kept quiet though her stomach didn't. Well, prison couldn't be so bad, could it? One of her friends had slept in a cell and he was fine if only a little bruised. She fought as well as any boy so she was sure she could give as much as she got. No, prison wouldn't be such a bad place and when she got out, she could be a step closer to Basco in rank. Only dangerous people went to prison. She would be a gang leader overnight!
Well, she didn't want to take that away from him, though he probably deserved to be put in his place. All she wanted was for Fuuta to be able to live happily unlike she had. She smirked and followed the guards' steady footsteps as she daydreamed for a moment about all the fun they would have when her plans succeeded.
She looked outside one of the numerous windows they passed and saw a beautiful garden with some tittering maids. They giggled and pointed to a man with dark hair somewhere on the other side of the garden. He was too far away for her to see him properly. He wasn't so important anyway, she was sure.
Now, the question was where she was headed. She didn't particularly think that this great big place with all its grandeur and high class architecture would count as a prison. She reasoned that maybe petty thieving was not regarded so important after all. Still, where were these guys taking her? She heard no instructions from the other side of the door of the little room where she had been kept.
Hime-chan would have found her way out. The little seven year old was a master at getting away. She had gotten the whole gang out of scrapes before and she was almost as valuable as Haru if not more. Still, that was besides the point. Where in the blazes was she headed?
*.*.*.*.*.*.*
It had been another listless morning. Hibari stared at the papers on his desk and leaned back rubbing his neck. He would have to get a massage one of these days. It had been a while since he had let himself really relax. What with crime being on the rise and his stepfather having so much to take care of and with his younger and more carefree step-brother, well...
Yamamoto Takeshi was not the brightest bulb for sure, but he did have a lot to offer in the way of a fight should Hibari be craving one. It was good exercise and on these terms, they had created a sort of bond with each other. It was hard to separate them now. Still, he did have his annoying points.
Being step-brothers was an interesting experience, the details of which few people really knew. The rumours that flew around were that Hibari was a love child of the former mistress and the current master, Takeshi's father. Another was that his father had died while his mother was pregnant with him and she had married another man to curb the loneliness. A third claimed that he had been adopted. Some were half truths, others whole lies, but there was really no difference so he didn't bother himself with it so much.
What interested him now was the girl who had been caught stealing in the marketplace from one of his maids. The girl was to be brought to him since he disapproved of the current authorities and their twisted version of justice. If it weren't for his late father installing that rule when he had been alive, that all cases were to be brought to him, then the girl would probably have lost her life or worse. He rose from his seat and went to the window.
A maid brought him some tea, curtsied and left. They knew better than to stick around. They would be flayed by his attitude or his words. Somehow, they would suffer so they stayed carefully out of his way, though some couldn't really help liking the dark brooding master. He was handsome and very kind to animals, as they had heard tell.
Hibari went to the table and picked up the cup that the maid had poured then returned to his seat. Before he could sit, however, the guards came in with the girl behind them. He paused to regard her for a moment. Her big brown eyes met his and her whole face changed from quiet, fascinated curiosity to instant animosity and outright defiance. She would be a hard one to deal with.
Waving the guards away, he leaned back in his chair and looked her over once more. This was going to be more fun than he had intended!
