Chapter 4

As the four boys entered "Manny's" the closest grocery store to their house, Tsume quickly turned to Hige and Toboe knowing full well that they had a tendency to get in trouble.

"Okay, let's split up. You two go get the milk, cheese and eggs- and only those three specific things, and let's meet back here in 10 minutes." The two younger boys saluted and raced each other to the cereal aisle, which Tsume rolled his eyes at. Kiba simply smirked, and turned to his brother. Kiba just smirked.

"Rough day at work?" He asked, noticing that Tsume's eyes were barely open, and he was slouching more than usual.

"Just mind numbingly dull." Tsume sighed, thinking of the copy center he worked at, and how it was the most repetitive thing in the world. push buttons, put paper in, change the ink cartridge, put paper in, fix the machine, get ink on fingers, put paper in.

"What else am I gonna do? It's not like there are any thriving businesses in this shitty town."

"That's the thing, Tsume, maybe, I don't know, maybe we need to move."

That hit Tsume, It's not like he had some great love for Freeze City, but still, this topic had never come up. He didn't like it.

"And where would we go? Kiba, are you on drugs?"

"Anywhere bro! I'm not saying now; after I graduate, we could all get out of here..." The almost 18 year old sighed, seeing the skepticism on his brother's face, as the reached the frozen meat. "Maybe I just need to sleep it off."

"I'd agree with that, Kiba" Tsume joked, but, the thought stayed with him. He had never thought of leaving the City, he didn't like change, but if this was something his brother was determined to do, well, Tsume would have to consider it.

Hige was pushing the shopping cart that Toboe had found for him, like a child, running and jumping on the bottom bar, so he'd get a free ride. Toboe was frantically getting him to stop, but after a few minutes, he had to try it too.

"I love when you live a little!" The 15 year old exclaimed, as they got to the candy aisle. He pulled up one of the plastic covers, and put a gummy word in to his mouth. He thought his little brother would follow his devious plan, but instead, Toboe freaked out.

"Hige! You can't eat those, you're not supposed to sample the candy!" Toboe yelled as he looked around to see if anyone was looking at them; absolutely no one was paying attention to the two teenagers.

"Really? Where does it say that?"

"Right here" Toboe yelled, pointing to the clear 'Do not sample' sign in front of the candy. "Seriously Hige, you can't just go around breaking rules-" the younger brother tried to lecture, but mid lecture, Hige had taken yet another gummy worm and pushed it into Toboe's mouth.

The boy quickly spit it out, looking around to see if he was being chased by security, Hige laughed at the look of sheer terror.

"Look, I know it's not okay to steal...but don't you wanna live a little? Do something impulsive and crazy?"

"No, no, and no!" Toboe glared, annoyed that his older brother was setting such a poor example, why did he have to be the voice of reason? "Hige, you can't just go around doing whatever you want! Hey, come back here!" He yelled as Hige started rolling the cart away.

"Blah, blah, blah" The boy mocked, as he ran away.

"I can't believe you got us kicked out of the grocery store Hige!" Kiba yelled as all four boys walked over to the car. One of the cashier's had noticed him running around, while Toboe chased him, yelling at him to stop stealing.

"Well, technically, it was Toboe's fault."

"It was not!" The younger boy spoke up, upset that Hige always had to drag him down with him.

"You're the one that was yelling at me to stop stealing!"

"Because you were!"

"It was a gummy worm!"

"So-

"Stop." Tsume finally spoke up, glaring at both before opening the door; promising himself never to take either one of them grocery shopping ever again.

"Why did I pay for 5 boxes of cereal?!" Tsume yelled, to no one in particular, as his brothers had all scattered as soon as they got home. He should have definitely checked the shopping cart, but with the 'excitement' of being rushed out of Manny's, thanks to his younger brothers, he hadn't been paying much attention. He finished putting everything away, and only paused when he heard footsteps coming down the hall of the very small apartment.

It was Kiba, on the phone, and trying to put his running shoes at the same time, he had to pause at the kitchen, prop a shoe on one of the chairs, and then attempt to tie the laces, all while talking on the phone.

"Yes, I'll run by your house. No, don't meet me, It's too dark...yes, we'll run on the tracks...Yes, the track lights will be on. Okay. See you soon."

"You're going running." It wasn't a question. It wasn't an accusation either, no, they'd gone down that road way too many times. Tsume understood the need to run, to feel free, to lose the demons chasing you. It was something he and Kiba had done after their parents died, and even more so when their grandmother, who had taken them in, died 5 months before Tsume turned 18. It was a dark time for them all, being separated had been torturous, what had saved them was the running.

Tsume ran every morning, it gave him the energy to face the day, and he liked feeling like he was looking over his town. Kiba ran at night, because he felt most connected to whatever he wanted to connect with. Tsume understood, but he didn't like it. They didn't live in a safe town. Still, he'd given up the fight. He was also grateful for Cheza, who ran right alongside Kiba most nights.

"I am."

Tsume watched him go, grateful that he had someone to run with. Kiba had been a loner for a long time, he didn't like getting attached to people, but then Cheza came along. A kind, gentle, strong young woman who had clearly captured his heart. Tsume was happy for it, though admittedly slightly envious. He didn't have time to go out, not with friends, not to meet anyone, and even if he did have time, the town was mostly filled with garbage people.

No, he was definitely not going to meet anyone in Freeze City.

To Be Continued….