Loshin City

By: Destiny's Daughter

If a shadow covers the sun

There will be light,

If it stays till the sun is set

There will be light,

If the sun never shows its face again

There will be light,

No matter how dark this city gets

There will be light.

Chapter One: Prologue

One thing Fai knew for sure as he wandered through the almost deserted streets of his new home was that Loshin City was definitely a very lonely place. As the light rain quietly spat on his leather jacket and made his white shirt go almost see through he found himself making a move to cover himself up. He should have guessed it would hardly make a difference anyways, but he didn't care as he looked up at the sky to the west of him and saw the dark clouds that were threatening a thunder storm. Realizing his pointless attempts to remain dry he shoved his pale hands into the depths of the worn leather he had strewn across his back. He knew he couldn't look more like a drowned white rat if he tried but at that moment he ceased caring.

It was early into the evening, but you could hardly tell since what was left of a sun was hidden behind the smog of the factories to the south of his apartments. The only reason he knew that night was descending is because the streets were deserted. When the last of the honorable working citizens had retired to the warm, comforting homes to have dinner with their families the city's night life started to emerge and run rapid. Right now was the transition point, the time when there was an eerie quiet working its way slowly through the deserted streets as the last few random stragglers hurried back into their homes unless they wanted to get caught in the dark, grim business of Loshin City after dark. Silently Fai worried that if he didn't hurry he would be caught in the middle of something he didn't want to be caught in.

Speeding up his pace he tried to keep his eyes on the sidewalk. As he passed by an alley located between a factory and a local shop he felt his heart lurch uncomfortably. He knew that by the laughter coming from that dark enclosure and the whelps of an animal in pain that a gang had caught another dog to enlist in their pointless, tortuous games. But like usual he found ignoring this to be the hardest part. But there was nothing he could do; by the height of their laughter he knew there were at least ten of them and he was probably no match for two.

Loshin City had no sense of order. Due to the recession brought on by their present so called 'diplomatic' government, most of the city's inhabitants were either poor or homeless. This brought on a lot of trouble; such as gang violence and street fights with bets placed on the winners. Drugs and homelessness was a very popular trend at the time; thanks to the fact that only the lucky ones had a job. What was worse was that no one seemed to want to do anything about it. The blond teen couldn't understand how the police department couldn't care, or more likely wouldn't care, that the world around them was falling to pieces. Not only that, but the city's people refused to rebel against this sorrowful acts and try and act better than the rest.

It had been almost half a year since he had came to this poor, depressing city. It wasn't by choice that he was forced to leave his home in Celes; he liked to believe that this was all for the better but deep down, beyond his optimistic exterior the wounds of the past still stung deep. Although the pain of the past was hard enough to deal with, leaving his twin behind was a whole different story…

"Are you sure you have to do this Fai?" He heard a voice whisper out from the darkness of his room. Fai chose not to respond as he picked up his last few articles of clothing and placed them in his black backpack he had once used for school. Now that he was leaving he was pretty sure that he would never be able to finish high school, but at this point school was the farthest from his mind.

At having his twin ignore him so vividly the younger boy sighed and sat down on his brother's bed. "Fai you don't have to leave, we want to help you, you know that!" He said desperately

The blond boy gave a small smile and turned around to face the distressed boy sitting stone still on his mattress. "No Yuui, you want to help me." He said as he walked to his dresser and shoved his almost empty drawers close. He knew he couldn't keep all of the clothes that used to belong to him, but he felt his heart jolt as he saw all the other things in his room that he would have to leave behind. He would miss his things dearly, especially his white Mokona plushy. As he turned around to face Yuui though he knew nothing else would matter when he left except for how much he would miss the pale boy in front of him.

When he didn't respond Fai moved closer towards him and sat on his twin's bed which was opposite to his own. Folding his hands in front of him he looked down at the blue carpeted floor which shone a bright grey due to the moonlight flooding in from his open window.

"Yuui," He said in a small voice, his eyes never leaving the carpet. "I don't think I can do this anymore. Even with you guys here…staying in this house will just..." his voice trailed off as his eyes swung warily towards the bed his twin was sitting on. The sheets had been cleaned many times since last weeks events but he was still expecting to see his blood staining the creamy folds. Yuui reached out a hand towards his brother and grasped it firmly in his own.

"He's not here Fai. He's not here." He said as he forced his brother to look in his face, the mirror image of his own. Fai nodded in response. "I know that but...it's just…" he cursed himself as he felt tears well up in his eyes and he felt a hand reach up to wipe them away. He smiled gratefully at the boy in front of him before he stood up, although he still clung to his brother's hand. "No, I have to go."

At this he walked over to the desk they had once shared and threw on his black leather jacket. It was really cold out this evening even though it was the beginning of summer. Even so, he would have taken it anyway; who knew how long he would have to be on the streets.

"Where will you go then?" Yuui said nervously as he stood up to follow him. "Fai you're sixteen, Im not even sure you can get an apartment at that age!"

He shook his head. "No I might not be able to get an apartment, but I'll find somewhere to stay." They both knew this was a lie but the two teens clung desperately to this lie, hoping that by this action they would make the lie truth. "I'll probably make my way to Loshin; they have some cheap places there." He continued but he saw Yuui stiffen as his words. "Don't worry bro, I'll be fine." Fai insisted although they both knew that going to that city meant pure hell.

When Fai said this Yuui slowly pulled his hand away from his brother's. Fai immediately missed the warmth of his brother's against his cold one but watched him curiously as he moved towards his own dresser drawer and began to dig earnestly through its contents.

His brother returned with a wad of folded paper wrapped in an elastic band grasped in his hands. Fai's eyes widened as he approached him and shyly forced the paper into his hands. "Take it." Yuui said quickly as he looked away. "Its not a lot but it should hold you up for a while. Don't you dare Fai!" He said angrily as his twin tried to force the few hundred dollars back in his hands. Ignoring the protests of the teen in front of him he spoke again.

"I don't need it, you do." He said simply.

Fai's fingers froze. Although he hesitated at first, he slowly walked towards his backpack with a sigh and shoved them in the bottom of his bag. He knew Yuui was right; he was definitely going to need it since he himself only had a few hundred saved up in his debit account. He muttered thanks as he zipped his backpack up for a final time. Slowly he twisted the strap and placed it on his back.

"Are you going to say goodbye to mum and dad?" Yuui said in a quiet voice and Fai shook his head. "You know I can't. I want to but…" Yuui nodded, knowing that their parents would try to stop him. They stood a meter apart from each other, silence cloaking the room with a heavy sadness as Fai stepped back towards the window, his front half still facing his twin, leaving his face in shadow due to the moon's rays. By now his heart was lurching painfully and he could tell his face was stained with his tears no matter how he tried to stop them.

Hoping he could make his exit quickly Fai took another step back, now completely in the moonlight. He however didn't make it another step farther. With a little cry his brother shot forward and wrapped his arms tightly around Fai's waist as he buried his own tearful face in his shoulder. Fai pulled him closer as he pressed his nose deep into Yuui's blond hair, insistent on engraving his scent in his memory.

"I want to go with you," Yuui muttered as his tears stained his brother's jacket. At his words Fai shook his head although he didn't think for a moment of pulling out of this hug.

"No," he said as he pulled him closer. "You need to finish school. You still have a life ahead of you Yuui."

"You do to!" He insisted but Fai shook his head.

"Not here. I won't be able to move on here." With one last squeeze he pulled back as his eyes shone with tears. "I have to go." He said for the final time. Slowly the other twin nodded.

"D-do, do you have your cell phone?" He asked.

"And its charger."

Silence resumed then and than Fai turned away and walked out of the open window onto the branch of the tree beside it. Making sure he got his footing Fai turned around and looked at his twin one last time before giving him one last fake smile.

"Guess I'll see you at the trial." He said before he jumped out of the tree and ran into the darkness, tears running down his face as his voice cracked.

He didn't know where he was going, but he just wished that Yuui was able to come with him.

Caught in his thoughts he never realized just how close he had come to his small apartment. He sighed gratefully as the storm had suddenly descended upon the city of sadness. He knew he was getting close due to the cardboard boxes that lined the streets and the people filling them, dreadfully trying to escape from the storm which was being thrust upon them. Fai knew that as long as he lived he would never be able to get used to the sight of those poor people, he wished badly he could help them but he knew that if he could he wouldn't be in a state so close to theirs.

He twitched as he heard a cry coming from behind him. Whipping around, his blond hair sending droplets of rain as the pieces moved, he saw a man holding the hand of a little girl in a pink skirt and ripped grey shirt. Fai frowned, knowing that any sensible parent would never let a child that young be outside at this time of night. The girl pulled at her hand with her free one and Fai froze as he heard her screech when the man pulled at her hair, trying to force her to go into the alley behind him.

Anger welling up in him he charged forward towards that bastardly man. This however, he realized, was the wrong approach so pulling on a calm face he slowed as he got closer.

"Excuse me," He called out, the man freezing as he saw the blond teen before him. "I really think she doesn't want to go with you."

The young girl turned around to face him revealing bright green eyes welling with tears. A little mesh of brown hair covered her head and that face pleaded for him to help her.

"This doesn't concern you." The grubby man snarled, his scruffy jaw shaking with anger at being interrupted. Fai shrugged his shoulders in a careless way, that smile still placed on his face. "I guess that's true, however, you're avoiding my point here." Now he opened his eyes and his smile turned slightly dangerous. "Are you going to let her go?"

The man before him spat out a few words Fai chose to ignore, something about his mother and him spending a summer eve together or something. But when he didn't answer his question Fai chose to act on his threat.

Aiming a punch at the man's gut he felt his fist meet this dirty man's torn clothes and quickly raised his other arm to block the incoming fist aimed at his jaw. Grabbing this arm he pulled the man so his back was exposed and aimed a kick at his backside sending the dirty pedophile to the ground as he splashed in a newly made puddle.

Meanwhile Fai turned around and decided this was when they needed to take their leave.

"Quickly!" He said waving the girl towards him. Reluctantly she moved forward but her speed quickened when she heard the swears coming from the quickly rising man.

He heard her soft footfalls as she rushed to catch up with him and Fai looked around earnestly for a place to hide. His eyes widened when he saw what he was looking for, the brightly lit entrance to the underground train system of the city. It shone magnificently in the storm, the only source of light in this dark atmosphere. Fai stopped running when he noticed the drenched girl panting beside him. Whipping around he saw that the man was still in pursuit, obviously quite angry at being kicked to the ground by a skinny drenched boy. Without waiting for permission he scooped the girl up in his arms and made a dash for the subway entrance. More than likely the man would stop chasing them once they were in the middle of a hustling crowd.

The loud pounding of hail like rain in his ears ceased abruptly when they burst through the subway doors. Heart beating wildly beneath his drenched clothes he felt the girl shiver in his arms. Looking around he tried to ignore the surprised looks of the people in front of him as he looked for a place to set the girl down. By now she was rustling earnestly against him, telling him she was obviously not comfortable with this stranger carrying her in such a way. Setting her down he noticed a blue waiting bench far to their right and motioned for her to follow.

Clothes dripping a trail of dirty water he heard her slowly follow him through the quickly moving crowd. He stopped when they reached the bench and with a sigh he flopped lazily down. Eyes closed he waited as he heard the small girl sit gingerly beside him. Opening his eyes with a little smile he gave out a laugh.

"Well that was exciting." He said light heartedly as he pulled a pale hand through his wet hair. The girl with the bright green eyes did not respond. She sat silently on the bench with her hands folded in her lap, her colored orbs staring at her holey shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Looking closer at her now Fai quickly discovered she was much older than he first thought her to be. By her young appearance and her short stature she appeared to be a girl of only ten years until he looked at her cheeks and quickly saw that she was maturing more than a ten year old should. Silently he decided that she had to be at least 12 years of age. All this time she still kept her eyes glued to the floor, whether it was out of shyness or fear Fai never found out. He saw her tiny body heaving up and down much more than his own at the little run they had just participated in. Fai had not contemplated what to do next, actually he was quite sure they would never make it this far. He knew the right thing to do was to try and contact the girl's parents, but against his better judgment he decided against it. Any parent who would let their daughter roam around after the sun went down in Loshin city was obviously not fit to raise children.

But what should he do then? He could call child services but they would probably try and send her back to her family anyways. Out of the corner of his eyes he looked at the panting girl and quickly decided he needed to do something to return the girl's heart rate to normal. Taking off his backpack he put it on top of his lap, digging through its many contents. Instantly the tween's eyes were torn from the ground and she looked ready to jump from her seat and run again.

"Don't worry." He said sending the girl a warm smile. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Although she did not run he could tell she did not trust him. Honestly he didn't blame her, she did just have a run in with a man who at first must have seemed innocent, and than tried to molest her. Finally his hands emerged wrapped around a small plastic bottle. Holding the water out towards her he gave her another one of his goofy grins. Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "You sure?" He offered her again before placing it down on the bench in between them. Before she could even finish nodding he saw her freeze up. Curiously his blue eyes followed hers and saw she was staring at the golden colored apple lying in his bag. Fai laughed slightly; he had forgotten that he had put that in there earlier this morning incase he got caught up in his factory work and had no time to eat. Before he thought he would not need it, now he was glad he had brought it along.

Grasping it gingerly in his pale hands he held it out towards her. This time her resistance crumbled quicker her and he was not surprised when she grabbed it from him and began eating it ravenously. He knew the pangs of hunger were strong, especially on a body as young as hers. She finished it in no time and shyly looked at him with large green eyes begging for more.

He was slightly shocked when he saw the intensity of those bright jade colored orbs and felt a pang of guilt at having nothing else to give her. His smile dampered as he shook his head but her smile didn't change and Fai could tell that this was indeed a very warm hearted child.

"May I?" She asked politely pointing to the water. Nodding his head Fai saw her drink deeply from the crumbling plastic container and when she had had her fill she set it down on her lap and put the lid back on. "Thanks," She said shyly and then she was smiling up at him again. "For the food and for saving me as well."

Fai found it hard to smile back at this statement because he felt his insides boil with rage. How could someone want to hurt this child in anyway? Suddenly he wished he had done more than just push the guy in a puddle of street water. "Your welcome," was all he said as he zipped his backpack closed again. "What are you doing out so late at night?" he inquired. It was only then that her smile wavered and he instantly missed the warmth it brought with it.

"My mom woke me up really early this morning saying we were going somewhere today. I was surprised I have been…" her voice trailed off and Fai waited for her to continue. "…sick lately, so we had not gone anywhere in a while. But when she stopped the car and told me to get out we were in the middle of the city. Mommy didn't follow me out." His heart sank at these words; he knew where this was going. "Before I could even close the door she had driven off." By now her voice had started to crack and she was crying openly. At first Fai didn't know what he should do. Back home he never had any younger siblings and he had never babysat in his life. He was not used to dealing with small children crying but his instincts quickly took over him. When she continued to cry softly he felt his hand rest itself on her shoulder and she tensed up slightly before turning to smile up at him. This smile did not light up her entire face like the first one did.

"Do you have any family other then your mom? Is there anyone I can call for you?" She shook once more. "It was always only me and my mom." She responded.

They stopped talking after that as Fai realized that he had no idea what to do with her. All he knew was that he could not leave her alone. But he was quickly running out of options on what to do.

"What is your name?" she suddenly asked, her shy smile creeping back onto her face.

He smiled back at her and he felt his eyes sparkle. "Fai D. Flowright at your service!" he said with a small bow causing her to giggle.

"Fai-san?" she asked, "Could I come home with you?"

Instantly he froze, his mouth opening but words refusing to come out. Left speechless his immediate answer was going to be a no. He could hardly support himself, let alone a child! …But he was starting to see that there was nothing else he could do at the time. He couldn't leave her alone in the subway station to be picked up five minutes later by another pedophile. Yet, he couldn't afford to keep her. At least if she stayed with him for the night he might be able to find a suitable shelter for her the next day so she could get adopted by a nice family.

Sighing he let out a little laugh, his smile never leaving his face. "Looks like we're stuck together!" he said cheerfully and instantly her entire body brightened. He was surprised when she threw her little arms around his waist and surrounded him in a huge, warm hug. "Oh thank you Fai-san! Thank you thank you thank you!" He laughed at her eagerness and patted her on the head. Already he was getting attached to this adorable kid.

Standing up he held is backpack in one hand looking at her as she held out her left hand expectantly. Slowly he took his small hand in his pale one and they walked back towards the subway entrance. Once they were there Fai notice it was still raining quite violently. Letting go of her hand he placed his backpack down and took his leather jacket off of his shoulders, knelling down next to her.

"We have quite a ways left to go, and we are going to have to run. Do you want me to carry you?" He asked her quietly with that same comforting smile gracing his features. She nodded quietly and he saw her let out a yawn. Wrapping the jacket over her body he put his backpack on and picked the girl up, placing her head against his shoulder. Making sure his jacket would protect her little face from the rain he made a move to step outside again before he felt a little tug on his ear.

"Fai-san?" she whispered. "I think you should know that my name is Sakura." Fai felt himself smile.

"Well Miss Sakura-chan, are you ready to depart?" She giggled at him once before nodding. "Alright." He said as he walked out into the pouring rain, oblivious to how it was staining his clothes. The only thing that mattered to him right now was the little girl wrapped in his jacket. "Looks like we're homeward bound."

So what do you think? Review please!