Note: This has a slight first POV and then a third POV kind of thing going so… you'll know which is which by the italics… :D Enjoy!
Another Note: BTW, my Watchmen information is a bit not up to date so if there is some differences between here and the comic/movie, please don't get all angry. Thank you!
Another "another" Note: This is set like almost twenty years before the movie… so yeah… no more notes!
Chapter 1: My First Family… Gone
The first thing I saw was the dark sky and being surrounded by tall apartment buildings that were decaying. The feeling of cold and wet cement spread around my body, which is why I had awoken here of all places.
I don't remember how I got into this dark alley or… hell, I don't even know…
Who the hell am I?
The boy slowly sat up from the puddle he laid in as his head felt like it held a hot boiling soup that swashed around inside it. Holding his forehead, he sat still before he decided that it was safe enough to stand on his two feet. He laid against the brick wall of one of the building for support, rubbing his tired face as he looked around, trying to understand what was going on.
He finally noticed that his attire consisted of just a pair of white sweats that were drenched in whatever he had laid in. Looking down at the puddle he had woken up in, seeing his own reflection as he stared at the Asian man staring back at him. He looked no older than thirteen. The hair was black and his eyes… he couldn't even tell. Groaning slightly as the headache returned, the sound of footsteps heading into the alley caught his attention as he turned to look at who entered.
He saw a male man who was possibly in his late twenties, early thirties. His long blonde hair was braided in one ponytail and had piercing green eyes. He wore a fedora and a black trench coat as he then held out a helping hand towards the boy. The Asian lad glanced between the man and the hand before he hesitantly took it. He was then helped out of the alley and into the bright and busy streets of the city. The smell of sex and death seemed to be hidden by the gasoline and food, but it wasn't concealed hard enough as the boy nearly gagged from the sudden scent overcoming him.
It seemed that the man had noticed this as he handed the boy a handkerchief. The Asian quickly took it and covered his mouth, smelling fresh detergent and clean air. He sighed into the cloth as he felt the man release his gentle grip on him. The Asian looked a bit frightened when the blonde haired man walked away, his braid flowing in the air, as the boy shouted, "Wait!" The man turned to look at him as he replied, "I'm sure you can handle yourself from here, Kuro."
The boy froze at the mention of this name, feeling a twinge in the back of his mind as the man continued to walk away. The boy called out to him, ignoring the awkward stares he was getting from the pair of hookers who were waiting for their customers. "Is that my name?" The man just waved at him before giving him a "thumbs up" before disappearing into the smog from the steam of the sewers. Whispering the name to himself, Kuro turned to the hookers who suddenly looked at him dreamingly as the African woman said, "Well, aren't you a hot piece of Jap?"
Kuro looked at her with a confused look as he just walked past them, the opposite direction of the man as he just wondered the dark streets, ignoring the woman who tried to proposition him. However, he continued to refuse, unsure if he would like this so called "good time" she kept saying she would give him. He didn't know anything as he just walked faster. Thankfully, the woman gave up as she flipped him off behind him, cursing him off as her friend joined in calling him a fucker. He didn't even know what that even meant as he continued to walk the streets, only noticing that he was shivering from the cold.
Looking around, he soon reached some newsstand that had numerous newspapers and magazines. The owner was a large man who turned to see that he was staring down at one of the newspapers. Kuro knew that he was probably a nuisance to the man's eyes as he heard him ask, "You gonna buy that?" Kuro only glanced up at him before returning his gaze back down at the newspaper. It seemed to belong to a "The New Frontiersmen" as he read the date very carefully.
May 12, 1964
He was brought out of his trance state when a hand grabbed one of the newspapers. Kuro looked up to see a male with red hair, looking like he was in his mid-twenties. He dressed a little similar to all the other males he saw when he walked over her, except he held an odd sign that said The End is Nigh. He saw the red haired man look at him, showing a lot of freckles colored his face. It was just a short stare as he then paid for the newspaper and walked away with both paper and sign in hand.
"Are you gonna buy something or just gonna stand there, Jap?" snapped the newsstand owner. Kuro just shook his head as he decided to cross the street and continue walking. The cold air kept blowing against his naked form as he soon realized that he was bare footed. He soon entered an alley where he saw a bunch of old men in tattered attire staring at him in shock. "Whoa, kid," spoke the man with the large beard. It was unkempt to match his whole attire of being poor as Kuro stared at him with a curious look. The man motioned to one of his friends as Kuro watched another elderly man come towards him with a large and ripped up trench coat. The elderly man placed it around him as Kuro stared at it with a slight fascination.
Looking at the retreating old man, Kuro spoke, "Thank you." He bowed unconsciously as the first one to speak just waved and said, "It's nothing, kid. Just had a spare and can't have a person so young like you to go walkin' around looking more helpless than us." The man cackled as did his friends before he gagged and cough, causing him to stop laughing. Kuro looked at him worriedly as he suddenly heard the sounds of something wailing as the flashing colors of red and blue passed by them.
Curiosity got the best of him as he ran out of the alley, seeing a vehicle that had a black hood and trunk and the rest was white. The lights came from on top of the vehicle, the lights flashing as it stopped a little far off near another apartment building. He joined the growing crowd of onlookers as he was suddenly pushed aside rather rudely by a man dressed quite similar to the one who he had first seen when he awoken, only this man wore a strange mask with moving blots. He watched as the man only gave him notice for a split second before walking away.
Six Months later…
November 24th, 1964
Kuro… That is my name… That is who I go by…
It's the only thing that seems to fit me…
Bill says that the way I say it, I should as well have been named "Crow"… Like the black bird seen scavenging in the park that I run around in…
The only other place that feels like home to me other than with the bums and World War I rejects that the kids have come to call them… The names that I learned that they go by…
But I don't use those names… I use the names they have introduced themselves to me when I first met them… The first and only kind people I have met since I was awoken…
I still haven't gotten any more than my name…
But I do hope that I can at least learn where I've come from… For I only know that I have been associated with a population that has been discriminated for being related to the ones that attacked this country…
"Yo, Kuro!"
The Asian boy looked up as he pocketed the journal that was the first thing he stole. He saw Bill and Jim come walking into the large alley that was filled with the homeless, holding wrapped bread. "Got a little Thanksgiving present for ya!" said Jim as he tossed the plastic wrapped bread to Kuro who quickly caught it with his hands that wore leather fingerless gloves so it wouldn't hit the ground. He saw the food seemed slightly decayed which he didn't mind. He saw this as food since it was the only kind he had ever seen.
As he eagerly took the plastic off the bread and began to eat, he was joined by the two elderly men as Bill scuffed with the Asian's black short hair. "You sure have become enthusiastic since we first met, right Jimmy?" said Bill as Jimmy replied. "Well, he is still a kid, Bill. Wait until he reaches puberty." The two men laughed aloud as Bill smacked the back of Kuro's back, causing the boy to cough up the bread pieces he hadn't swallowed down. The old man spouted an apology, but Kuro just waved it off as he continued eating.
While he did, he noticed a young girl with a one legged teddy bear in her hand as she sat alone in the far corner near one of the fire barrels. Seeing the scared and loneliness in the child's eyes, he eagerly stood from his seat and walked to the girl. He knew that the child was slightly scared by his sudden appearance until he handed the bread to the girl and said, "Eat up." It became more obvious that the child didn't know complete charity, which was what he had heard a place called church had called it, so he split the bread in half and gave her the bigger piece. It took a couple of minutes before she eagerly took the bread and began gobbled it down like it was her last meal that she would eat in her entire life.
Kuro watched in fascination as how the child consumed it so quickly. He then noticed when the girl was finished that she was eyeing at his piece which he hadn't taken a bite from since the splitting. He eagerly departed with it to her as she finished it just the same way. As she ate, Kuro had introduced himself to her. "I'm called Kuro. What's yours?" The girl looked at him as she wiped the bread crumbs from her face as she stammered, "I-I-I-I'm He-he-he-Helen." The Asian smiled as he then noticed that the girl looked shyly down at her tattered teddy bear.
After that meeting, Helen had become another friend of mine. She had made sure that I pronounced her name correctly since she told me that her stammering wasn't part of her name…
Bill and Jim seemed slightly annoyed that she joined our little part of the alley with all the other homeless, but it seemed to grown to like the girl… I know I have…
She soon began to consider me as an older brother, which was something like some kind of bond between a younger and older person I guess…
Thankfully, these three were teaching me as many things as they had knowledge of… This was really nice… I guess that's why this time of the year was called Thanksgiving…
Three Months later…
February 7th, 1965
It's been nearly nine months since I was "born", which was what Helen had come to call it. I really don't get her idea of me being born. From what I heard, wasn't I supposed to be some kind of small child? Bill and Jim didn't seem to want to go into detail about how this is possible for babies to be born since Helen never leaves my side.
Ever since we met, she always takes me to that newsstand near where I had awoken; always reading just what is in front of the pages.
I only then realize that she couldn't read the words, yet I was only just "born" many months ago… I never understood why I was able to read and write like this since I was "born". I'm still not sure if "Kuro" is my real name… But Helen said if that is what people call you by, then it is your name…
"Come on, Kuro!" shouted Helen as he then placed back the journal in his trench coat, seeing the girl pointing at the man with the sign. He remembered seeing this man when he had first awoken, but he never really understood the words that were written on the sign. Helen suddenly began pulling on the red haired man's coat and asked, "What does 'nigh' mean?" The man just stared down at her with a blank stare, not giving her an answer. Kuro felt slightly protective as he wasn't sure what this man was like since all he did most of the time was stand near this newsstand with his sign.
Well, that was mostly because they only left the alley of their home once a week to go here.
Helen walked over to Kuro and dragged him towards the man. He smiled cheerily at the blank stare the man was giving him as Helen pulled out his trench coat, pointing at the sign and asked, "What does it mean, Kuro?" The Asian shrugged at this and said, "I don't know what it means, Helen. Now come on…" He gently pulled the girl away and said, "It's Jim's… birthday, you call it?" Helen suddenly looked up at him and said, "Oh no! I almost forgot!" She quickly took the lead as she dragged Kuro through the nearby streets of the city, urgently looking for a present.
It didn't take long to find one that was thrown away and at least usable. When we brought it to Bill, he said that it was a smoking pipe that was used by British people, whoever those were. It made Jim happy that we remembered his "birthday".
Helen began to plan my "birthday", which was coming up in a couple of months. I was just happy that the girl was at least cheerful and smiling, a big transformation from the child I had shared bread with the first time during my first Thanksgiving. It's great to live like this… I wouldn't have it any other way…
Three Months later…
May 12, 1965
Helen had specifically told me to sit near the newsstand until the sun falls. I'm not sure what she has planned but it might turn out well since she was rather excited about whatever she had been doing when I returned home from my wandering around the park. Bill and Jim were in on it too. I just know it!
This is the first time I have felt this excited, that's what Helen had called it when someone is waiting for something that makes them happy.
"You sure are smiling brightly, kid."
Kuro looked up as he slammed the journal closed, seeing Bernard leaning against his newsstand. Kuro smiled as he replied, "Helen said that today is supposed to be a great day for me and told me to hang out here until the sun falls." Bernard looked slightly confused for a second before he figured out what the boy meant. The elderly man chuckled and said, "Well, you are a really good kid, for a Jap." This caused the boy to tilt his head in confusion.
It has been nearly a year since he had awoken and he had kept hearing this phrase since then, mostly referred towards him whenever he walked the streets outside of the alley home. He then stood up and looked curiously before asking, "What does this word 'Jap' mean?" Bernard gawked at him in shock as he replied, "You sure are dense in the head, kid." Kuro's face didn't show any joking matter or that he was just acting stupid. Bernard let out a sigh as he said, "It is kinda short for 'Japanese', a group of some Asians who bombed Pearl Harbor a few decades back."
This just made Kuro even more confused as Bernard waved it off and promised not to call him that anymore. The Asian just shrugged as he noticed the sun was now disappearing behind the tall buildings of the city that he had come to know as New York. Placing his journal in his trench coat, he turned to Bernard and said, "See ya lata', Bernard!" He had learned that phrase from some group of gang kids that had ran by the area a few weeks ago. Kuro ran quickly back to the alley home, nearly bumping into a few people which included the man with the sign.
Quickly spouting out an apology, he quickly headed towards the direction of the alley. However, his way was blocked by a rather large group of people. As he tried to push past them, he was just close the edge when he was stopped by the police men, who Bill had told him never to get on the bad side of. "Hey, kid. No going past this line," he said, but all sounds became mute when Kuro looked upon what they were keeping people from seeing.
I saw them… being rolled out in body bags. Lights were flashing from these weird square boxes all these people were holding.
I saw all those people I had come to known as my friends… my family… they were being rolled out as he saw that one of the carts had a small hand hanging out from under the white sheet, holding a bloodied up and already tattered teddy bear.
I tried to push past the uniformed men, screaming that they were my family… that the dead girl was my sister…
That's what she had told me to call her… my sister…
They wouldn't let me get near there. They pushed me back against the crowd, shouting to go crawl back into whatever hole I came from. They used that name that Bernard promised to stop calling me…
Kuro stopped writing as he sat alone in the dark alley, where it used to be filled with the homeless.
Even though they were called the homeless, this was their home. This was their small getaway from all the darkness that pushed them to here. This was where he had found his family… and they are now dead… He hugged the journal close to him, feeling cold tears falling down his face. His body shook as he tried to breath. The only warmth he had as from the barrel he had filled with flames. Looking up, he saw nothing in the dark alley, only emptiness.
Pulling on his trench coat closer to himself, he closed his eyes as he cuddled close to the warm barrel. The fire crackling had lulled him to sleep. He didn't see a man in a trench coat with long braided blonde hair enter the alley, nor did he feel the warm blanket placed upon him before the man walked away, disappearing from his life once again.
To Be Continued