Chapter One

Three Months Ago

Two shadowy figures sat in the upstairs bedroom of small house, situated in the slums of downtown. One was sitting, cross legged, on a lumpy queen-sized, the other standing before the small, gated window. The ladder of the two had his head pressed against the frosted window, breathing shallowly and allowing his breath to ghost over the glass. If one were to look at him now, the only sign of life would be the gentle rise and fall of his chest. His brother was just as stationary.

Then, the atmosphere changed with the younger of the two's body change. He straightened, sitting up with his legs drawn up to his chest and chin resting on his legs. His movement caused his brother to turn his head, so that his cheek and bright red hair stuck to the glass and his eyes were glued to the other.

"Kaoru…" he trailed off, knowing that his brother was about to voice the thing he'd been mentally developing for three hours.

"Hikaru," his twin confirmed. There was silence.

Sighing, Hikaru separated himself completely from the south wall and crossed to sit across from his brother, back against the thin wall. He crossed his legs as well.

Silence. "Kaoru…?"

"Hikaru, we have to do something…" the younger of the Hitachiin twins cried softly, "We can't continue like this!! I mean, mother is too busy working the late shifts for minimum pay and father…"

"Father is a struggling alcoholic," Hikaru finished for his brother, fiddling with a hole in the sole of the shoe. Neither of the two boys wanted to continue, but the atmosphere called for it. "What are you thinking of, Kaoru?"

"We don't…have much of a choice," the red head sighed. He held up a finger, "We could steal," he added another finger. "We could deal," he was referring to drugs as he raised a third finger for the next possible idea. "We could earn a decent living—"

"—like mother does?—"

Hikaru's comment was generally ignored. Kaoru added a fourth and final finger, but remained silent. No verbal communication was needed. The red head with his back pressed to the wall shook his head, allowing the rough texture rub his scalp through his hair.

"No." Was all he said.

But, as mentioned before, there wasn't much of a choice.

A/N: Okay, I think this is alot better than the first one. I shall try to update in the next few...hours (?) because it's so short. Either way, you readers know what I'm asking for.

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