Hello folks. Those of you who might have read other stories of mine might know that I've been having quite a writer's block this past year. This here is a story that has been in my mind for a while now. I figured I should give it a try. A fresh start, that might even animate me to continue my old fics soon.

The original title was supposed to be 'Kiss ass and act divine', which is what Max will be doing a lot of later on. I had to censor it though.

Warning: There will be a bit of slash, although nothing to major. Not between Max and Ray though. I won't reveal it yet, but no worries, it's not too weird of a pairing. Also, this story takes place in Frankfurt, Germany. I figured I should spice up the usual occasion, because this is fanfiction, so why the hell not?

Happy reading!

- x -

Max was a nice kid actually. Sure, he did have poorly-dyed blond, or rather yellow, hair and dressed in cheap clothes (usually from the second hand shop down the road) but that didn't mean he was on drugs or anything like that (aside from maybe a puff of a joint, here and there). He knew when to raise his voice and when to get more aggressive but everyone growing up in his neighbourhood would learn that at some point in their lives. It was necessary. Imagine being followed, by some random street thug. Typical creeper that makes you shiver just thinking about it. That kind of creeper wouldn't go away if you'd ask him politely. No, there would be a need for a direct and straight forward approach. Offence is the best defence after all.

Still, Max rarely got in trouble. Him and his friends would shoplift close to the end of the month, when they were running out of money, but only from major chains. Yes, he had been caught once, and it had not left a pretty mark on his criminal record. And he'd been caught taking the train without a ticket twice. Those day passes were way too expensive anyways. He didn't drink, -not much at least, and okay he did smoke, but only a few cigs a day. A guy should be allowed to have some flaw, shouldn't he? Nobody is perfect, after all (and don't say your name is 'nobody', that still won't work).

Truth of the matter was, even though he might look a bit rough around the edges, Max was a nice guy. The people in his neighbourhood would even refer to him as some sort of "sweetheart". He was very polite, always greeting his elders in the streets. He was the type that his peers could easily take advantage of, but luckily, he had a best mate, Alan, preventing that from happening. He had been his best friend ever since Max first moved to the area, which was at the age of about 5. Now he was 16, so they had been mates over 10 years. He lived with his Dad in an old apartment building with a broken-down elevator. It had been like that since sometime in the mid-nineties. The owner still hadn't bothered to get fixed. Max was currently unemployed, but he had sent out his job applications. Well, it hadn't been all that long since he graduated year 10 anyways. Only a month. He figured he'd just go back to school if he wouldn't find a job until the start of the new school year. Employers did favour those who had at least started their senior years of high school. Not like he planned on continuing it for long though. School wasn't really his thing. He wasn't exactly ambitious. He was relatively content with what he had. He had never been the type to utter grand or unrealistic wishes. And he wasn't exactly picky either.

Anyways, there had been a whole lot of matters and circumstances occurring, that lead to the fact that Max Mizuhara was now standing in the courtroom, as a convict, accused and certainly guilty of Assault and Battery.

Him and Alan were trialled together. They had both confessed. No point in denying the charges. They had already made their statements and were now waiting for the judge to return to read their verdict. There was an unnerving atmosphere in the court room. Neither Alan nor Max said anything. Alan, somewhat bored, rested his chin in the palm of his hand, his elbow on the desk. Max, rather anxious, was biting his nails.

The judge re-entered the courtroom and everyone arose from their chairs. including Max and Alan. Max sent Alan one last worried look. His friend appeared to be calmer than he was, but Max had known him for long enough. He knew Alan was good at hiding this kind of stuff.

"The court has come to a verdict in the case of Alan Harris and Maxwell Mizuhara vs. the City of Frankfurt."

This was it then, Max thought. What was the worst thing that would happen to him? Community service? That wasn't all that bad! Still, Max couldn't help but feeling nervous.

The judge proceeded in alphabetical order. Alan was first.

'Alan Harris, born February 15th 1995, aged seventeen, you have been found guilty for the crime of Assault and Battery, occurring on May 9th 2012, herby I sentence you to 110 hours of Community Service.'

Alan just gave the judge a cocky grin and sat back down. It was Max's turn now. He flinched when he heard his name being called.

'Maxwell Mizuhara, born October 5th 1995, aged sixteen, you are found guilty for the crime of Assault and Battery, occurring May 9th 2010, and by the juvenile offence law, I sentence you to 95 hours of Community Service. Case dismissed.'

People were starting to pack up. Their lawyer turned towards them. He was a state employed legal aid. But otherwise, still your typical slime bag, just like any other lawyer. Just with that extra aura of douchebagery that anyone starting out in a new profession had.

"A pretty average result." He announced contently. "I will mail you the contact details of your parole officer, and he will let you know when and where you'll be starting your community service." He stretched out his hand. "Good luck to you, sirs."

Alan gave him a rather tight handshake. Max not so much. He was still in shock from what had happened. He was a convict now. Officially. And there was also that guilt over him having a lesser sentence than his friend did.

Alan put his arm around his shoulder once the lawyer left. "That wasn't too bad, was it? I expected it to be scarier. It didn't even take that long."

Max shrugged. "I guess. Not really fair that I got off better than you, though. You're not that much older." he muttered.

Alan ruffled his hair. "It's cool, man. No hard feelings."

He then proceeded to drag Max out of the courtroom. "Come on, let's get out of here, I can't stand being in this place any longer. Let's grab a beer."

Max smiled, for the first time since entering the Court building two hours prior. "Actually, that does sound good."

But his newfound happiness was short lived.

"Max what are you doing? Where do you think you're going?" that was Max' mother calling. She was an elegantly clad lady, with her blonde hair up in a twisted bun and her blouse tucked into her skirt.

"Oh, Hey Mom." Max replied blushing. He had never been good at conversing with his mother. She was intimidating. "The case is over, we can leave." he timidly explained.

He hadn't really expected his mother to show up for his court date in the first place, in fact, he had hoped she wouldn't. Preferably he would not want her to know about it at all. His mother had that talent to make uncomfortable situations even more uncomfortable. And nothing, Max was sure, could be more uncomfortable than confessing to a crime in front of one's parents. He had never quite been an honest kid, to be frank. Sure, he had been a nice kid and all, but he had soon observed the profits of lying. Lying made life easier. Nobody would get hurt. Hence it didn't happen often that young Max would man up and confess to finishing up all the yogurt, or secretly watching TV while his parents were still at work. And those habits from his childhood didn't just die. In fact, they had gotten worse. Not only did he lie more frequently, he now also planned ahead. He would use lying prophylactically, just in case, to avoid later discomfort.

Judy Tate glanced down at her expensive watch. "The case was supposed to begin at four."

"There was something with another case, the charges were dropped or something, so they moved us in half an hour early."

Judy Tate checked her watch again. Not like it would make any difference now. She had missed her only sons court date. So far it was his only court date too, and she hoped it would stay that way. Well, Judy Tate had a plan, she would reveal it later on, but for now it was important to get Max to come with her.

"Come, get in the car."

Max nodded shyly. Of course, he would prefer to go with Alan, but he had committed a major crime after all. It would be better to play the obedient son for a while. At least until she had gotten a bit more used to the fact. He briefly waved his friend good bye and then took off with his mother. She strutted off with in a confident, upright gait, her heels clacking on the tile floor, with a rather nervous Max slurring behind her. They didn't talk until they reached the car, and even after they sat down inside, there was a moment of intimidating silence. Judy was the first one to say anything.

"Congratulations, you're a real criminal now, Max." she scorned him.

Max sunk his head and looked out of the window to avoid her angry stare. "I'm sorry." he muttered.

"Oh you better be."

"I am." Max insisted. He looked up at her pleadingly. "I mean it."

"Well sorry doesn't exactly make it undone."

Max didn't reply to that. What was there to say anyway?

Judy sighed. and shook her head. "Never would I have believed that I would be the mother of one of those criminals."

"Mom!" Max cried out in protest.

"You can't exactly deny it."

Max nodded. He knew she was right, it still didn't feel that good to hear it, though.

"I shouldn't have allowed you to stay with that good-for-nothing ex-husband of mine. Let the kids choose, that way they'll be happier, oh bullshit!"

"This isn't Dad's fault." He insisted.

"Oh yes, it is. Had you stayed with me, you would have gone to nice private schools and had polite, intelligent friends from good families, not this ghetto scum."

"They're not ghetto scum. Alan is my best friend."

Max knew that it would involve quite some effort to convince his judgemental mother that his partner in crime was not a bad person. As expected, his protests did not impress Judy.

"I'm going to have some serious talk with your father over the next few days, concerning your upbringing and the people you associate with."

"Mom you don't even know them!"

"I've seen enough of them to make an adequate judgement."

Max figured it was best, to maybe just go with it. His mother had every right to be angry after all. So, he nodded in defeat and straightened out the creases in his dress shirt with his hands. A pointless attempt of making himself seem a little more "proper" in this situation. It was a suit he had borrowed from his father. He wasn't quite as tall and muscular as him, so the suit was dangling sloppily of his scrawny body. It looked pathetic on him. Just as pathetic as he felt at that moment.

Judy continued to yell at him during the entire trip. And he knew she wouldn't stop once they got home. Maybe after his Dad would return home from work. But that was still two long hours away.

- x -

Ray Kon was possibly every father's far-fetched, dreamy example of a perfect son-in-law. He attended a fancy private school, with an exquisite German Literature department and a somewhat mediocre array of other departments. He was smart, but not smart enough to be cocky or geeky. His appearance was always clean, with a well-trimmed haircut and high-quality branded clothes. He possessed adequate skills in the sports typically played and enjoyed by the local country club community, meaning golf, tennis and polo. His nickname, Ray, was short for a name he despised but nonetheless sounded classy and sophisticated. He was the oldest child and only son of a well-respected upper-middle class family, from the good part of town. His cultural background was diverse but not too unconventional, conveniently making his physical appearance not too exotic. His speech was always polished and tasteful, his manners perfect and his record flawless.

All in all, to summon it up, he was one hell of a boring guy!

There could not possibly be a way that a pubescent boy could be this dull, or could there? A guy his age had hormones after all, right? Well, as a matter of fact, young Ray wasn't all perfect, but he kept that to himself, together with all his other desires, that might negatively alter his reputation. His twin sister however, was not at all that subtle. Mariah had always been a rather strong, but narrow minded girl. Spoiled one may say, used to getting her way. But she actually wasn't that bad, the way she was. Unlike Ray, who would obediently bow under the pressures induced by their parents, Mariah would rebel. And that played a very important role in the tale of Ray Kon's teenage life. She was like a constant reminder of his very own failure. Ray was unable to express himself, he was too scared of the reactions. It involved minor things, like parting his hair on the other side or wearing any bright colours. He did however relish his brief moments of rebellion, for example when eating Nutella with a spoon or when he'd wear a bandana (only inside the house of course, and when his father wasn't around). There was something about that hairstyle that he really enjoyed. Maybe it was the fact that it made him look "wilder", that would explain his other secret fancy: growing his hair out. Of course, that was just another empty day dream of his, he knew that he'd never have the courage to actually do so.

So, this rather perfect but uninteresting boy was currently walking back from the shops. He was carrying a brown paper bag from the local Deli, that, unlike for most boys his age, did not contain alcohol but instead: salmon tartar, Chèvre cheese imported from France, and a jar of sun dried tomatoes. His parents were quite fond of the Mediterranean cuisine, partially because of its delicate and exquisite flavours, but mostly because of its rather elevated cost. Yes, the Kons loved everything high-class and expensive. It repeatedly reminded them of their wealth and status.

Anyway, young Ray was walking home through the dreary rain. It wasn't raining very much, it was more of a rhythmic, dull drizzle, but combined with the gloomy, grey sky it did its job at putting him in a melancholic mood. The rain flushed down the sides of the road in a constant stream, it had an almost hypnotic effect on Ray, as he couldn't keep his eyes off it as he dreamt of a better future. Maybe you suspected it already: yes, Ray Kon was somewhat upset with the direction his life was heading. And nobody knew. Mariah had noticed the signs, but never actually added them all together, and his parents were blissfully ignorant of anything going on. Ray was left to deal with it alone, and he dealt with it by sulking in self-pity and regret. What kind of regret? The most nerve wrecking one of them all: what if…

Ray had never been the one to take chances, and it was wearing him out. Sometimes he did wish that he wasn't all that boring. As chance had it, he happened to be confronted with an opportunity to rebel: There was an open field in between his neighbourhood and where he stood now. If he'd cut through the field, it would take him maybe 5 minutes to get home, if he stayed on the road and went path around the field, it would take him 10 minutes. As always, Ray choose the longer path. He was too scared that anyone might see him. He himself, however, did indeed see someone cutting through the field. It was Kai Hiwatari, a classmate of his. Known to Ray to be cocky, rebellious and generally a nuisance. He usually wore clothes that had gone out of fashion for many years, and usually stuff that didn't fit the season either. He would wear scarves in summer, and short sleeved shirts in winter (underneath his heavy coat of course).

"His hair had gotten even longer" Ray thought in a way that he believed was condescending (though in reality, there was a tinge of jealousy hiding behind his pride and satisfaction). He had known Kai all his life. Their parents were tight.

Ray decided to do something he did rather frequently, he hid behind a bush and spied at Kai. Sure, it was extremely pathetic, but Ray was just too nosy for his own good. Kai was coming closer, so Ray decided to move a bit more towards the shrubs. Suddenly his left hand touched something gooey. He thought it was mud at first but upon further inspection…

"Ewww!"

He jumped up in disgust. "Gross, gross, gross."

He ripped some leaves of a bush and used it to wipe the dog poop off his hand. This was so disgusting! And smelly as well. Ray couldn't believe it. Why did this kind of stuff always happen to him? And why him of all the people. Always him.

"What the hell is up with you, Konny?"

That was Kai's voice. Oh bagga, he had noticed him. Ray froze and slowly turned around to face Kai. Hopefully he wouldn't add two and two together and realise what he had been up to.

"Um, hi there…"

"Is that dog shit?" Kai asked with disgust.

"Um, yea…"

Nasty. How did you get it on your hand?"

Ray was hastily searching for words. He had never been a good conversationalist. "Sitting… I was sitting, you see."

Against Ray's hopes and pleas, Kai was being surprisingly sharp in this situation and he managed to draw the correct conclusion: "Were you spying on me?"

Of course, Ray denied the allegations. "What? No, I have a life you know."

Luckily Kai didn't know he was lying. Or so Ray hoped.

"Well, what were you doing here then?"

"Thinking and so. Just stuff that's none of your business, alright?"

Kai shrugged and reached into his pants. He got out a pack of paper towels. He plucked out the already used ones and stuffed them into his pockets before handing Ray the package.

"I had a cold earlier this week." he explained. He shrugged again. "But here, better than nothing."

It was kinda gross, but Ray thankfully accepted it, even though he was careful not to touch the top sheet that had been in contact with Kai's snotty ones.

Kai watched him do it but didn't comment on it. "He probably thinks that I cannot handle the germs" Ray thought. For some reason he felt ashamed of just that. "How embarrassing, after all, I'm the one with the shit on his hands."

He considered reaching for the top paper towel after all but as he looked up to check if Kai was still watching he realised, he had already walked off. "He probably doesn't even care, he has a life.

Ray sighted. "Why do I even care?" he muttered.

The last few words he said so quietly, he himself had issues hearing them. Oh well, it didn't matter, it was him thinking them after all.

- x -

Ray returned home to a very usual, and increasingly frequent scene. His sister had gotten into yet another fight with their father. Something about the clothes she was wearing. Ray didn't bother staying around for long. He placed the groceries in the fridge then went up to his room. He shared it with Mariah, but she was out most of the time anyway. He didn't know what she was up to. She had stopped telling him. She probably didn't trust him anymore. Ray went to his bookshelf and pulled out a novel. He enjoyed reading. It was the only thing that made him happy lately. His father had noticed his passion for it and promptly decided for him to "at least learn something from it", so for the past few years Ray was "encouraged" to read mostly non-fiction books. It did open up new horizons and gave him insights into topics he wouldn't normally learn in detail about. Still, kept safely under his mattress was his all-time favourite fiction novel. One his father didn't even want him to own. "The catcher in the Rye". He too felt like the main character, Holden, at times. A loner who didn't fit in anywhere.