A/N:
This takes place in AU, PLANTs and coordinators don't exist, but several wars have taken place across the globe, so the situation is a mess. Also Shinn is the same age as Athrun and Kira here (19). Hope you will like it.
Special thanks to The-Dark-Spirit182 for proof-reading my horrendous writing :P
XOXOXOXOX
Lost dreams
A young man was walking down the street, dressed in a black coat that reached down almost to his knees, hands placed in his pockets. The black pants he wore seemed to be of high quality, as well as his black shoes. It was late autumn and it was pretty cold outside, several brown leaves were flying in the air carried by the chilling breeze that had just risen.
The man stopped and lifted his head, seemingly enjoying the sharp gusts of wind rushing trough his almost shoulder length dark blue hair. He shifted his gaze towards the sea and observed the sunset, which caused the water to light up in a crimson color. His emerald green eyes were hidden behind black sunglasses, which he carried despite it getting dark outside.
A small grin found its way on Athrun's face as he watched the sunset, listening to the hush sound of the waves clashing against the distant shore. He liked this moment of peace. Loud voices coming from the nearby building interrupted his peaceful moment. He slowly turned his head and saw four men dressed in grey suits coming out of a small store, the shopkeeper following them, desperate look on his face.
"Please! I beg of you! Don't take it all, I have a family to feed!"
One of the men turned around and shot a deadly glare at the shopkeeper, making him fall silent. "Shut up old man. You know how it works. You run a shop – you pay the taxes. You are lucky that you had enough money for that. If you want more money you should sell more stuff. Now get away from me!" The man pushed the shopkeeper away with force, causing him to trip and fall down backwards, colliding against his shop door.
"Just remember – you better have the same amount next month if you don't want some accident happening to you or your family" the man announced with evil pleasure in his voice and grinning widely, revealing a row of white teeth. He and his three buddies turned around and left, leaving the now sobbing shopkeeper behind. Athrun's hands clinched in to fists inside his pockets as he watched the scene unfold before him.
His eyes could probably radiate light from the flames that burned inside them if they wouldn't be covered with the black sunglasses. Painful memories of his tragic past flooded his mind.
Flashback
Little Athrun, six years of age, was hiding behind the door and carefully observing the event through a small gap. His mother and father were standing in the room near a table and were talking to some dark figures occupying the same room. His mother was crying and father was franticly trying to explain something to the strangers in a trembling voice.
"Please…we don't have that much. Our shop doesn't bring in that much money, we simply can't pay that much! Why don't you understand?"
One of the people who stood up and stepped closer to Patrick and grinned evilly at him appeared to be a woman with black hair. "You are the one who doesn't understand. If you can't pay the money, then you are not useful to Mr. Azrael. You understand what that means, don't you? You already skipped last month's payment so either you pay up, or…" She reached inside her jacket and pulled out a shiny gun and pointed it towards Patrick.
Athrun's father nervously looked over his shoulder towards his crying wife and quickly looked towards the woman with the gun. "Look, I'm telling you, I simply don't have…"
A loud noise echoed trough the rooms, making little Athrun cover his ears and close his eyes.
"Patrick! PATRICK!"
His mother shrieks drew his attention once again and he saw his father falling to the ground and his mother quickly running to his side, shocked look on her face, kneeling beside him.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Athrun opened the door behind which he was hiding and rushed towards his parents as fast as his little legs could carry him. "Daddy?" He tugged his fathers sleeve, but it caused no reaction from him, only his mothers cries got louder. "Daddy? Daddy?" Tears were starting to fall down Athrun's face as he turned towards his mother. "Mommy, why is daddy sleeping?"
Leonore didn't respond and only pulled her son in to a hug and started to cry even louder, making little Athrun cry even more as well. The woman looked down at the scenery without batting an eye, not even the smallest amount of pity could be seen in her cold, purple eyes as she watched the heart wrenching scene before her.
She turned around and started to walk towards the door. Just before exiting she turned back and looked towards one of the other man accompanying her "Burn this place to the ground" she said in a clod voice before vacating the room.
When Athrun opened his green eyes he could see men in white overcoats leaning over him, sirens could be heard nearby accompanied with flashing blue and red lights. The dark night sky above the city was lit by a bright light coming from one of the houses, a pillar of smoke emerging from it.
"Quickly, bring the child in to the hospital, he might be poisoned from the smoke!"
"What about the woman that was covering him?"
"…she didn't make it. She died from the burns she received…apparently she tried to cover her child from the flames…"
"I see…"
End Flashback
Athrun was shaking from anger these faint memories of thirteen years ago awoke within the depths of his heart. He slowly resumed his walk, eyeing the city with a depressing look on his face. Ever since the two global wars and the ORB civil war that followed the situation was a complete disaster. The civil war that had ended one year before Athrun's birth had left ORB in a state of chaos.
As a result the leading gangs and criminals had seen the opportunity and mobilized themselves, merging together and forming alliances to increase their effectiveness. As a result the main part of the ORB ended up being controlled by Seirans and Azraels – two bloodthirsty bastards who only cared how to get more benefit from the situation and rake in more money.
The citizens were living in constant fear, uncertain of their future, barely getting on with their lives. The government had little to no power and jurisdiction at all. Police was helpless, Athrun knew that all too well. At the age of 16 he had joined the police only to find that out. He wanted to catch these syndicate leaders, to stop all their activities. He was naïve back then.
There were only a handful of policemen who were interested in stopping the criminals. Most were bribed and worked for either Azrael or Seiran. Athrun conducted investigations, only to have all the evidence lost or rejected in court. He caught numerous culprits only for them to be released the next day. He got shot three times and stabbed even more, he lost a lot of friends who also were good policemen. And in the end it didn't matter at all. Not one bit.
That's why he quit the police. It was useless to struggle that way, since the name "Law" was nothing more than a mocking phrase in the world they lived in, unless it came from one of the gang leaders. But Athrun was sure he will get his revenge one day. Soon... at least he hoped so. The blue haired boy sighed with a heavy heart and looked at his watch.
6.45pm. might as well get going to meet Kira and Shinn. He slowly walked the mostly empty streets, eyeing the surroundings. Disgust entered his heart every time he saw the activities of some gang members. This was the so called 'twilight zone' of the city – neither Azrael nor Seiran had this zone under control. And this made it even worse – both gangs were roaming the area occasionally, bringing even more terror and suffering to the people. As he turned to his right he was met by three men across the corner, who turned their attention to him.
"Look at what we have here guys" one of them exclaimed with a sinister look on his face. Judging from the way he was talking and standing, he was obviously drunk. Athrun examined the three without the least amount of worries in his mind.
"Hmmm… you look pretty wealthy. Care to 'share' something?" The second one laughed at his own joke. The third thug pulled out a knife from the pocket of his dirty coat and pointed it towards Athrun without saying anything, only grinning dimly, with a look in his eyes that made one doubt his sanity.
Suddenly few coughs caught the attention of all four, coming from a man lying on the ground behind those three. The drunken one turned around and glared angrily at the man. "Stay quiet! We are not done with you!" he kicked the man in the stomach, which caused the man turn to his side, wincing in pain. Athrun's eyes were burning with fire again, hidden by the black sunglasses.
XOXOXOXOX
The small stage was located not far from the port, which made it quite vulnerable to the harsh, cold winds that came from the seaside. It was clearly meant to be used at warmer times. At least after the building that once covered it collapsed, but the stage remained. The curtains that the small stage had were torn and covered with patches, reminding the brown haired man of something sad and long forgotten.
But the cold weather didn't stop people from gathering here at this time. And it didn't hold back Kira as well. Honestly he wouldn't care if it would be snowing outside, as long as he would get to listen to her singing. Her name was Lacus. One time Kira was accidentally passing by when she was performing here at other time and he felt fascinated by her singing and her beauty.
From that day forward he had eagerly waited for each time she would perform again, and he had always come to watch and listen. From what he had learned she was a student in the nearby University, and in her spare time she tried her best to help the orphanage and its little inhabitants. She would occasionally perform on this little stage near the port, in hopes to raise some money for the orphanage.
Although the people who came to listen to her singing were poor, the spirit of charity still lived in their hearts, and almost all of them offered some money after the 'concert', however small that amount might be. Kira had watched her face light up with true joy and thankfulness at each little offering the people brought, at which he could only smile.
She was such a kind person, and despite the fact that she obviously wasn't wealthy herself, she did all she could to help the orphans. Kira stood a bit further away from others, closer to the port, enjoying her angelic singing, admiring her beauty. Her long, pink hair and baby blue eyes, coupled with her gentle voice and slim body truly made her look like an angel in Kira's eyes. And her voice and song had the ability to put Kira's mind to rest, like a warm summer wind embracing him.
"Kira….Kira….Kira" the third call woke the said boy up from his daydreaming and he turned his head over his shoulder to see his best friend approaching him.
"Athrun" he nodded his head at his friend and turned his gaze back to his object of admiration. Athrun took a place beside his old friend and looked at his expression, then smiled a bit. He and Kira had been friends since the age of 7, when Kira's parents had adopted him. They were really nice people, despite the times they were living in. These kinds of people made Athrun believe that there still is hope for this world.
But Kira's parents had died three years ago in a car accident, leaving the two boys alone to take care of their lives, which they had managed to do quite well, despite all the sorrow. They shared the pain and hardship they went trough to gain a place in this world, and their friendship during this time had strengthened to one that could not be broken by anything.
Athrun was worried for Kira for a while now. Ever since his parents died it looked like he would never get out of his endless depression, despite the fact that he was managing very well otherwise. But that had changed ever since he had started to come to the concerts of this pink haired girl. At the thought of this Athrun chuckled a bit.
Kira looked at his friend with surprise, "Athrun?"
"Kira, it has been half a year since you are coming here and you still are. I'm not blind enough to think that it is only because of her singing. When are you going to talk to her?"
Kira blushed red and took one step backwards, eyeing his friends face, noticing the little spark of mischief in his emerald eyes. "I…I don't know Athrun. You think I should?"
Athrun sighed and leaned against a pile of crates and looked back in to Kira's purple orbs. "It's obvious you like her. And you even know for yourself that nothing is going to happen if you won't try to talk to her, I don't think she will come here to talk to you."
Kira scratched his head, looking a bit nervous "But, I…" He noticed a small stain on Athrun's sleeve, and his expression changed to a serious one in an instant. "Athrun, that's…?"
He pointed towards Athrun's sleeve. The blue haired boy turned his eyes in the direction Kira was pointing and looked for a second, then noticed the stain of blood on his sleeve and sighed. "Yes" his voice had gained a tone of sadness.
Kira turned his head towards the stage once again, sad expression on his face. "How many ?"
"Three"
"I see". Brunette sighed and placed his hands in his pockets, listening to Lacus singing. "I wonder how it would be…to live without all this… in peace."
Athrun turned his head towards the stage and listened to the singing, his eyes trailing of from reality, blank expression on his face. Peace… He would love that. Not that he was complaining much about his life, no. His life was a pretty good one, but it's the suffering of the other people that plagued his mind.
"Say, Athrun"
Athrun turned his head towards his friend again, slowly exiting the trance he had been in to for a few moments. "Mhmm?"
Kira lowered his head, blank expression on his face. "If all the gangsters would disappear…if Azrael and Seiran would die…could people live normal lives again?"
Athrun looked up in the sky, thinking for a moment about these words. "I don't know. Perhaps. I certainly wouldn't get worse I think. After all that's why people like we…"
Kira nodded and sank in to thought again. Normal life…mother, father…I miss you both…why did you have to leave me…
"Kira, where is Shinn? I though he was with you."
Kira slowly looked over his shoulder and scanned the area behind him. "There. On the container."
Athrun followed his friend's sight and noticed a figure of a man sitting on a container, looking at the sea and nodded his head, before turning to Kira again. "You should go see her"
"Huh?" Kira blinked in surprise then realized the singing had stopped. He turned his head and noticed that almost all the people were going towards the stage and placing some coins in a small, wooden box held by Lacus, at which she smiled a gentle smile and thanked everybody. He nodded at Athrun and rushed towards the stage, leaving a smiling Athrun behind, his black coat flaunting in the wind.
Athrun smiled at his friend as he watched him hurry towards the stage, then turned around and started to walk towards the container on top of which was a figure of a raven-haired boy was sitting, legs over the ledge. The container was about two and a half meters high, but that didn't stop Athrun from easily jumping on it without making a sound, without even removing his hands from his pockets.
He walked up to the sitting boy without making the slightest of sounds and placed a hand on his shoulder. Shinn startled and momentarily looked over his shoulder, his hand reaching inside his coat. Red eyes met green ones and they stared at each other in silence for a moment. After few seconds Shinn pulled his hand out of his coat and turned his head towards the sea again, without saying a word.
He was dressed just like Athrun and Kira – black coat with black pants and shoes. The sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon and it was getting dark, because there were not many streetlights in the city. At least not working ones.
"We should go soon"
"Sure" Shinn answered, still gazing towards the sea. His face gained a pained expression, increasing his sad look "She…she loved the sea. She liked to play in the water when we went to the beach…" tears were forming in Shinn's red eyes as he was talking, trembling lightly. "She…she loved to collect seashells…to simply stare at ocean…she loved it…" Tears were falling down Shinn's face, as he gripped a pink seashell in his hand.
Athrun stood there in silence, listening to his friend's sorrowful voice. He hated it. It reminded him just how much suffering there was in this world. It reminded him of his family. He sighed and patted his friend on the shoulder. "Don't be like this Shinn. I'm…I'm sure Stellar wouldn't want you to be like this."
Shinn slammed his fist against the container, causing a loud echo fill the silent evening. "How can I know? Now I will never find out what she wanted! Damn it!" He slammed the container again, hugging the seashell close to his heart, tears falling down his cheeks, staining the material of his black trousers.
Athrun just stood behind Shinn in silence, feeling a bit of mist in his eyes as well at the sight of his mourning friend. It has already been almost four years since Stellar passed away, but Shinn could never forget her. He always carried a pink seashell around his neck – the one Stellar had liked the most. He had a picture of the blonde and him celebrating her sixteenth birthday at his home, placed in a frame made from polished ebony. She had loved the sea, and whenever Shinn went over to sea he always got depressed and sad, from the memories of the love he once had.
Shinn slowly stood up and shot a final glare at the ocean before turning his back to it, without even bothering to wipe the tears from his face. "Lets go home" he said in a quiet voice, hanging the seashell around his neck.
Athrun nodded and the two men gracefully jumped down from the container without any problems and started to walk towards the small stage in quiet, but Athrun stopped halfway. "Let's wait for a bit. Maybe Kira will finally gather the courage to speak to her."
Shinn nodded and leaned against a wooden box and turned his gaze towards the darkening sky. Kira…I hope it ends better for you than it did for me and…Stellar. "I will avenge her" he quietly muttered, his red eyes filled with anger and pain, determination in his silent voice. "When I find out who… they will pay. All of them will."
Athrun sighed and pulled out his black sunglasses. He didn't want anyone to see the sadness in his emerald eyes. "Yes…they will. I hope." He leaned against the same crate as Shinn and patiently started to wait for their friend to show up.
XOXOXOXOX
Kira was nervously standing few meters away from the stage, rocking back and forth on his heels, waiting for the majority of people to disappear. He was watching as the pink haired songstress collected the offerings, smiling a true, genuine smile at every person who came to her and slid a coin or two inside the little wooden box she held in her hands. When the last of the people were gone she turned towards a young, brown haired girl who stood behind her, her eyes shining with happiness.
"This was a good day, Milly. I hope we can at least fix the roof in the orphanage with this." The brown haired girl clasped her hand in excitement and bowed her head towards Lacus.
"Oh, Lacus, thank you so much! I don't know what I would do without you. If it were not for your help, the orphanage would have been closed long ago."
Lacus slowly shook her head and looked back at her friend cheerfully. "That's what friends are for right? And the people are also very helpful. We raised a lot of money today, despite it almost being winter. Besides" her tone got sadder "I also want to help all the children that have lost their parents…I also want to do everything I can to help the orphanage…your mother would hate if it would have to be closed."
"Yes…she would" Milly lowered her head, sad look in her blue eyes. Miriallia's mother used to run the orphanage for several years and she always tried her best to improve the lives of the numerous children that relied on her. But she had died in unknown circumstances five years ago, leaving then 14 year old Milly all alone, with the responsibility to take care of the orphans, while being one herself.
Lacus had been Milly's friend since childhood and had tried her best to help out in any way she could. And since many people had told her that she has a beautiful voice she had decided to try to make some money with it, organizing these little concerts of hers every now and then t raise some money for the orphanage. Without it the building would have surely collapsed and the kids would have died from starvation. And Milly was grateful from the depths of her heart for this.
"Milly, cheer up a bit, at least we did well tonight. We collected almost 500$, I'm sure that will be enough to fix the roof for the winter." Lacus smiled her warm smile at her friend and held forward the little wooden box. Milly nodded and smile returned to her face.
Seeing that all people were gone and the only ones that were left was Lacus and another girl that seemed to be her friend, Kira took in a deep breath and was about to step forward, but he stopped when he saw three men in grey suits coming up to the two girls.
"Good evening, ladies" one of them bowed in a sarcastic manner and approached Lacus with a grin on his face. Lacus gasped but stood firm, frightened expression on her face. Milly rushed over to her friends side, hanging on to Lacus shoulder. Tolle…where are you?
"Wha…what do you want?" Lacus tried to ask in a calm voice, yet it trembled a bit, and she took a step back once she saw the man stepping closer.
"My, what a rude young lady" His voice was cold, and his grin grew wider. "A nice, little thing you got going here. However, you forgot to ask Mr. Azrael for a permission to hold a concert here, so…" he took another step closer. Lacus held the little box with both hands close to her chest, fear evident in her eyes. "W…Why should I ask? T…this small stage doesn't belong to anyone."
The grin disappeared from man's face, it was replaced by a stern expression, his voice seemed to have lost the tone of sarcasm it held a moment ago. "Everything here belongs to Mr. Azrael, so..." he quickly reached forward and grabbed the little box from Lacus hands, causing her to scream lightly. He smashed the little lock on the box and looked inside, grin returning to his face.
"Not bad at all. Now then, if you will excuse me" He turned around and started to walk away, signaling his two men to leave as well.
"Please… don't do this…the children need the money…we…" Lacus was begging, her hands held up in a pleading manner.
"I don't care!" the man turned back and yelled, his voice sounding angry, his eyes radiating with anger. "You should be happy you are getting away with just this. If you don't want your precious orphanage burned to the ground you better stay quiet!"
Lacus broke down on her knees, her head bowed down, tears rolling down her cheeks, Milly kneeling beside her, angered look on her face, trying to hold back her tears that were gathering in her blue eyes as well. The man looked at both girls with disgust on his face, then turned around and hissed arrogantly before leaving the small stage, the other two accompanying him.
As Kira watched the three men leave he was lightly shaking from anger, his hand was gripping the gunstock of his pistol inside his pocket. His purple orbs were staring at the backs of the leaving men with a gaze that could kill. He was about to pull the gun out, but the sobs coming from the stage caught his attention and he turned towards the stage, releasing the handle of his gun. Azrael… Kira took in a deep breath to calm down, trying to suppress the urge that told him to take out his gun and end the life of the three bastards that were leaving the scene. He sighed heavily and slowly started to walk towards the two girls.
"Lacus, Lacus… please…calm down…it…it will be alright". Milly was trying to calm the crying pink haired girl, barely holding back her own tears. She placed her hand on Lacus shoulder and felt that she was trembling slightly. Lacus shook her head, trying to stop the tears that couldn't stop forming in her blue eyes.
"No…it won't be alright. It won't! Now we can't even fix the roof for the winter." She slowly lifted her head and looked in to Milly's blue eyes. "What will happen to the children?" Her voice was filled with sadness and helplessness. "Without the money…how will they survive the winter? How?" Milly was about to answer something but was distracted by silent footsteps approaching from behind.
Both she and Lacus turned their heads and gasped as they saw a man dressed in black coming up to them. Milly stood up, facing the new stranger. "Wha…what do you want?" Her voice was trembling, obviously she was scared. Kira sighed and kneeled in front of Lacus, extending his hand towards her. "Please…don't cry." Lacus looked at the young man in front of her with surprise on her face, without knowing what to make out of this.
Who…who is he? What does he want with us? Is he also from…? No, he didn't seem like the men from before. There was something in his purple eyes that caught her attention. They seemed sad, just like his voice. She didn't know why, but she felt like she could trust this young man with brown hair, dressed in black clothes. She slowly took Kira's arm and the young man helped her on his feet, a slight shade of pink appearing on his face.
"Thank you" Lacus nodded her head, and then looked in to his purple eyes with her blue ones. "Who…who are you?"
Kira scratched his head with his left hand, extending his right one towards the beautiful girl in front of him. "I…I'm Kira. Nice to meet you".
Lacus shook his hand, nodding her head. "I'm Lacus. Nice to meet you, Kira." Then she turned towards Milly. "And this is my best friend – Miriallia". Kira shook hands with the said girl, and noticed she was staring at him with disbelief, which made him feel uncomfortable.
Kira turned his gaze towards Lacus again. "I…I saw what happened here. Is…is there anything I can help with?" Lacus looked down, sad expression on her face, slightly shaking her head. "We…we were collecting money for the orphanage, it needs to be fixed for the winter. But now…" A single tear rolled down her beautiful face again. Kira smiled sadly, then slid his hand inside his coat and when he pulled it out again he held a white, thick envelope in his fingers.
"Here" he took Lacus hand, pressing the envelope in to her hands. Lacus looked at the brown haired boy with surprise, not understanding what this was about. Kira turned his head away, looking a bit embarrassed. "I…I should go now. It was nice meeting you, Lacus. I…I hope to see you again." He turned around and slowly walked away, looking over his shoulder, admiring the beauty of the pink haired girl, slowly disappearing in the darkness of night.
Milly watched the strange boy leave as came up to Lacus. Is it really him? No… it couldn't be. Why would a person like that be out here? Talking to some like us? Her attention was drawn by the envelope in Lacus hands. "Lacus?" she tugged her friend by her sleeve to get her attention.
"Mhmm?" Lacus slowly turned her head towards her friend, trying to push the thoughts of Kira out of her mind.
"Will you open it?"
Lacus stared at Milly for a few seconds before she realized what her friend is talking about. "Oh…" she had completely forgotten about the envelope, she was too busy thinking about the brown haired boy. She slowly opened the envelope and looked inside, Milly staring over Lacus shoulder. Her blue eyes widened and the hand holding the envelope started to shake lightly. Milly looked like she was struck by a lightning.
"Wha…why…?" Lacus shook her head in disbelief, watching the bundle of green bills inside the envelope. She lifted her eyes and looked in to the darkness where the strange, young man had disappeared, then turned her gaze back to the envelope. Her fingers slid trough the bills and her eyes widened even more, and she turned towards Milly who looked just as surprised.
"It…there must be at least twenty thousand in there" she quietly whispered. Milly nodded her head in disbelief, trying to gather her thoughts, which wasn't easy. Neither of them had ever seen such money in their entire lives, and now some man just simply walks up to them and simply gives such an amount away.
Milly looked at the darkness of night where the man had disappeared, worries evident in her eyes. "Lacus…I don't know if we should take it. I don't like it one bit, this might be some trick, or… I mean people don't give that kind of money away for nothing, I…"
"What do you mean by that kind of money?"
Both girls were startled and turned around frightened, to see who it was standing behind them. After few moments Milly calmed down and let out a loud sigh and walked forward the orange haired man and lightly punched his arm. "Don't scare us like that, Heine"
Said man smiled at her and bowed his head towards Lacus, who returned the gesture. "Sorry."
Lacus only shook her head, feeling happy to see a friendly face. "Good evening, Heine-san. Where is Tolle?"
Orange haired man shrugged and turned towards Milly. "Tolle said he had some important business, so he asked me to come and pick you two up, since he can't come. Don't worry, he is ok" he quickly added as he saw the worried expression on Milly's face.
Heine was the local police chief, one of the few policemen who really tried to make things better for the people. Tolle was his subordinate and best friend, and Milly's boyfriend, and he knew just how much the brown haired girl worried about her lover.
"More importantly" His gaze turned serious as he looked towards Lacus "what money were you two talking about?"
"Um…well…" Lacus started to tell her about the strange boy they had just met moments ago, and the strange envelope he had left them."
Heine's eye's narrowed as he heard about the unbelievable amount of money that some stranger had left behind him.
"This is very troubling indeed." He agreed, eyeing the envelope with suspicion "Did he mention his name?"
Lacus blushed slightly. "Um, yes. He was very kind towards me…he said his name is Kira." Lacus startled as she saw the expression of surprise on Heine's face. It troubled her. "Um…Heine-san, is there something wrong?" She extended her hand with the envelope towards Heine. "I…I shouldn't have taken it, right? Please, take…"
She was stopped by the sudden laugh coming from the orange haired boy. He looked back at Lacus and confused Milly with a smile on his face. "Don't worry, you should feel very lucky today, Lacus. Keep the money. I'm sure you will find a good use for it."
Lacus looked surprised then turned her gaze towards the envelope again. Milly looked in to Heine's eyes with disbelief. "You know this Kira person?"
Heine shook his head. "No, but I know a friend of his. Want to hear about him?" Both Lacus and Milly nodded instantly, a spark of excitement in their eyes. Who wouldn't be excited to find out something about a man that walks up to you and simply leaves abundant amounts of money?
Heine smiled at both girls and looked around to see if no one is listening. "You both know about the company 'Gundam OS', right?" Both girls nodded. Everyone knew about it. It was the leading (and only) company which developed a state of the art defensive system based on completely new technology and weaponry, as well as various other electronic devices. A lot of rumors were associated with that place, but no one knew anything for certain, because a lot of things about it were kept in secret. It was a company that had emerged only two years ago out of nowhere.
"Well then, you know what is the company owner's name?" Lacus shook her head, Milly looked like she was thinking about something. "Kira Yamato. He is only 19 years old" Both girls looked towards the police chief with widened eyes. Lacus was the first one to break the silence.
"You mean…the man just now was…?"
Heine nodded his head, placing his hands in his pockets, brief smile on his face. "Most likely"
Lacus was shocked, she stood there watching the envelope, thoughts rushing trough her head. Why…why would someone like him extend a hand to me? Why would the owner of one of the largest companies give all this money to me? Why…"
"But doesn't that mean he is involved with one of the gangs? Milly asked with suspicion "I mean, we all know that all companies and stores are paying taxes are providing other sort of things to them, so wouldn't that make him…"
Heine shook his head. "No. As strange as it might sound, this company is not involved with anyone and doesn't pay any taxes or anything of that sort to anyone".
Milly stared with disbelief "But how do they manage to avoid paying to Seiran or to Azrael?"
Heine shrugged his shoulders, looking back at the brunette. "I don't know. All I know is that they are not involved with the gangs in any way. They might be purchasing some equipment from them, but that is as far as it goes." Actually Heine knew more about this. It was not like the gangs didn't try to force their taxes on the company. But it never succeeded.
As far as he knew all the 'delegates' that either Seiran or Azrael sent to the place never returned. Alive anyway. Once he even saw himself a group of 20 people walking towards the 'Gundam OS' building at night, dressed in Striped black suits – the ones that Seiran's gang members wore. Heine was just passing by, so he had stopped and observed.
Much to his surprise a few minutes later three men in black coats had appeared in front of the building. One of them left and a few minutes later returned with a truck and the three started to load something that seemed like bodies in to the car with unbelievable ease – carrying two at once, one in each hand. When they had loaded about 20 bodies they all got on the truck and drove in to the darkness of night.
The next morning Heine got to work he learned that Seiran's summer house was wrecked by a truck that had crushed in to it, demolishing the larger part of the house. Ever since this incident he hadn't heard of any attempts from either gangs to 'collect taxes' from the said company. They were obviously frightened by the happenings. But this was not something Heine would tell to the girls.
Heine placed his hand on Lacus shoulder and smiled at her. "I suggest you hide that money and make sure no one else finds about it, ok? And don't spend too much at once, otherwise it could get suspicious. I assure you, you don't need to be afraid of the man that gave you this money, ok?" Actually he wasn't sure about this. But anyone that opposed the gangs was good in his book.
"Ok" Lacus exclaimed and looked at Milly with happiness in her face, though obviously still shocked from the recent events. "Milly, you understand right? We can actually fix the orphanage with this." I wonder…is that what this Kira wanted me to do with the money? The thought of the brown haired boy made her blush slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Milly.
"Lacus, are you ok?"
"Um…yes, I'm fine" she exclaimed, feeling a bit embarrassed. But he was kind of cute.
"Anyway, we should get out of here, it's almost pitch black outside already. Come on you two, I'll drive you home." Both girls nodded and started to walk after Heine towards his car, one thinking about the strange happenings and the large amount of money they had so awkwardly gained, other thinking of one brown haired boy with purple eyes.
XOXOXOXOX
Athrun was leaning against the box, observing the happenings on the stage, and the two girls leaving with the orange haired man. Heine…I'm glad you are still ok. Athrun was glad to see the man accompanying both girls. He had become friends with the police chief during his two years of service. He was surprised that a man loyal to the country and not the gang leaders could remain in this position for so long. But Athrun was glad that he did.
He felt someone watching him and turned his head towards the dark figure beside him. "Kira…you think it was wise to give them so much money? I bet you gave them at least twenty thousand." Despite it being pitch black he could see Kira turning red.
"W…why not? I mean…they need it for the orphanage, isn't that a good cause?" Athrun sighed and turned his head towards the now empty stage and watched the lights in it being turned off.
"It's not that, Kira. I just hope they don't get in to trouble because of it" he turned his emerald eyes towards his friend. It seemed like the darkness is not bothering the two men at all. "You understand that, right?"
Kira nervously scratched his head and looked up at the dark sky. There was no moon tonight, dark clouds were preventing it from shedding its light down on this miserable city. "I…I just wanted to do something for them…for her…" he looked back at his friend "You…you think I shouldn't have?" there were doubts in his voice.
Athrun sighed again and raised his head, enjoying the cold breeze that had risen again rushing trough his dark blue hair. "Not really. Just make sure you keep a close eye on her just in case." A small grin appeared on his face "I'm sure you won't mind that."
Despite it being dark he could see his friend turning red as a boiled beet. Kira was about to answer but then he noticed something. "Athrun, where is Shinn?"
"Right here" a cold voice answered him from above. Both boys looked up and saw Shinn standing on the crate Athrun was leaning against. He jumped down silently and walked up to Kira and pressed a small wooden box in to his hands. Kira widened his eyes.
"This is…"
"Give it back to her next time you go to see her. You will do that, right? You better keep her safe with that money you gave her. It was quite careless of you. But it can't be helped now, right?"
Kira slowly nodded and kept staring at the little box that was taken by those three men from Lacus. He slowly raised his eyes and looked at Shinn's red eyes, which seemed to be almost glowing with anger. "Did you…?"
"Those bastards deserved it" Shinn announced with a cold voice.
Kira sighed and lowered his gaze. "Perhaps, but we agreed not to interfere directly, right?"
Shinn shrugged and looked towards Athrun who was just standing there silently. "I don't care. There are things I will not tolerate. Don't tell me you actually care what happens to these bastards that have led this country to the state it is in now?"
Athrun stood up and placed a hand on Shinn's shoulder "We understand. You know that, right? I'm not complaining about what you did, they deserved it. Right, Kira?"
The brunette sighed and looked at the small wooden box in his hands. "I guess so. But I don't like to handle things this way, you know that.
Shinn raised an eyebrow. "But that's exactly what you wanted to do when you saw them take away this box, right?" His hand clenched in to a fist, memories flooding his mind. "These bastards don't deserve anything better and you know that."
Kira couldn't help but agree with Shinn's words, no matter how cold and merciless they were. "I guess you are right. We all know that" Kira sighed and looked over his shoulder towards the dark city. Yes, they indeed deserve that. "Shall we go home?"
Athrun and Kira nodded, all three put on their sunglasses despite it being as dark as it can get and started to walk towards the city in the same rhythm, side by side, each resembling a shadow of another. Only thing that was different about the three was their hair, otherwise they looked exactly the same with the glasses covering their eyes. Darkness of night engulfed the three dark silhouettes as they swiftly marched towards the dark city, matching each others steps.
A/N:
So, what do you guys think about this, how does it look so far? I hope at least someone liked it. To those who are reading Follow Your Heart – don't worry, I'm not forgetting about it by no means :) Please R&R and forgive me about any grammar mistakes that I know are somewhere in there :P