Another Life
----------------------------------------------
Comments: Although I only have a vague idea of where this story is heading inside my head, I do know that it's going to get violent and extremely dark. It's also going to become pretty graphic and extremely detailed. Because I'm very much on crack, some random romance or unnecessary fluff might be thrown in the middle of bloody chaos. Be warned. If you don't care for such things, then I advise you to read something else. Future shounen-ai. Again, if that offends you, then don't read it. ----gure
----------------------------------------------
Prologue I: Survival
The sound of sirens pierced the air. Ambulances and police cars could be heard screeching their way through traffic and into the deeper confines of the city. This was not an unusual occurrence in the poorer dumps of Domino, Japan. Beside a nondescript abandoned warehouse, two bodies could be seen sprawled side by side on the cement sidewalk. No other living being could be seen anywhere within the vicinity.
Over the years, the poor residents had learned to turn a blind eye to crimes and murders occurring in their side of town. It wasn't unusual for some poor fool on the cleaner side of the city to wander in and get mugged and beaten within an inch of their lives. Why anyone would want to wander into the slums of Domino city was a mystery, but it happened quite often.
The residents knew how to stay alive, to survive the harsh living conditions. They knew when and how to hide and become sparse when shootings happened. They understood and made use of the many alleyways when they had a reason to flee a scene. They knew how the minds of the local gangs worked and how to ignore them as effectively as they could. Everyone in this part of town knew that in order to survive, they needed to know how to take care of their own asses first. It was every man and every woman and child for themselves.
In one of the many dark alleys half a mile away from the two corpses, a boy with dirty blond hair knelt against the wall, hidden by huge wooden crates. The boy was painfully skinny. Living off the streets, he had learned to live without eating for days or even weeks on end. At the same time, however, his tanned body was toned with lean muscle from street fighting and the wary after-effects of fending for himself. He was no weakling.
Jounouchi Katsuya gave his bloody arm a glance-over and got up, leaning against the dirty alley wall. He had to take care of the wound soon, or it would become infected. The closest route back to his current residence would lead him back to the corpses, but he also wanted to clean his wound as quickly as possible. After weighing the two choices, Jounouchi decided to take the longer way back to where he was staying. He was no retard. Going back was too risky, and even though his arm hurt like hell, he knew when to back out and when to take risks.
With the silent prowess of a panther, he headed home, tired and worn out.