A/N: I'm a bit nervous about writing this story. It'll probably be the darkest story I ever wrote by the end. I'm planning exactly four chapters, so maybe I'll actually be able to finish it if I have the structure planned out already.

WARNINGS: There will be numerous references to child prostitution and rape in this fic. Nothing "on-screen" will be very explicit, though. I'm not planning on doing any true yaoi, but there will be at least one unrequited male/male crush. Also: language, violence and a couple of references to drug use.

He hadn't been expecting it to be so cold out. It was May after all...almost summer! Still, Crow guessed it made sense, since it was the middle of the night and he'd been standing in this same spot for quite some time.

He tried pulling his vest closer around his body as he looked at the other people on the street. None of them seemed to mind the chilly air. Maybe they were more used to it...or so high that they couldn't even feel it.

Crow knew that he didn't belong with these people; that he shouldn't even be here in the first place. Martha had lectured everyone about it more times than he could count. But Crow didn't need to take her word for it; he had experienced it firsthand when he was very young. He felt bad about going behind Martha's back like this, but he saw no other options. Part of him wanted to go home and sneak into bed like nothing had happened, but he was growing up now. That meant he had responsibilities.

Much to his dismay, though, everyone seemed to be ignoring him. Crow didn't get it...when he'd been on his own, they'd been all over him. Why was it different now? Most of the streetlamps were broken...maybe they couldn't see him in the dark. Or maybe it was due to the competition he had now. He cast a scowl at the group of women across the street from him. They were all wearing garish, revealing clothes and heavy makeup. Needless to say, Crow didn't have anything like that at his disposal.

Perhaps, now that he was older, staying in one spot wouldn't work anymore. He might have to actually walk up to someone to start the transaction.

Crow had started scanning the crowds for likely candidates when he was startled by a very loud laugh. He whipped his head around and saw two people at the end of the block, walking in his direction.

It was a typical middle-aged john with a tall, slender woman accompanying him. The woman was the one who had laughed. She held on to her customer's arm as she daintily picked her way around the piles of garbage on the sidewalk.

Hey, wait a minute...Crow squinted at the woman as they got closer to him. That wasn't a woman at all! Yep, that was a guy all right, albeit one of the most beautiful guys he had ever seen. Even as an objective observer who had seen very few beautiful things in his life, Crow could tell that.

His skin was so pale that it seemed to glow in the dark. He had long arms and legs that were shown off by a black one-piece outfit that left little to the imagination. But most importantly, he seemed to be an expert at this. This boy was beaming up at the customer like he wanted nothing more than to be with him. Even his eyes looked happy.

Maybe he should ask this boy for help, Crow thought. He just wanted to get this over with so he could get the money, go home, and try to put this incident out of his mind. If that meant learning how to flirt, then okay.

Meanwhile, the older boy had gotten his own money. He waved at the customer and cheerfully said, "Come visit me any time!"

Once the john was out of sight, however, the boy's whole demeanor made a drastic change. The smile left his face, his shoulders slumped, and he sat heavily down on the curb. He didn't even notice that Crow was standing just a few feet away from him.

"Fuck..." he muttered as he hid his face in his hands. Crow continued to stand there, watching uncertainly. Should he ask for help now, before another customer showed up? Or should he leave the guy alone and try to do this by himself?

After a couple of minutes, Crow decided to take action. He wasn't the type to avoid confrontations, after all. Unfortunately, he didn't know much about sensitivity. He strode up and gave the guy a sharp poke in the back between the shoulder blades.

He got an instantaneous reaction. The boy's head shot up, and he yelped, "WHAT?"

Crow leaned back reflexively, but he was determined not to get scared off.

"Hi, I'm new here. Do you think you can help me with some things?" he said in a bit of a rush.

The older guy just stared at Crow blankly. Then he asked, "Could you repeat that?"

"I said, I'm new here and I need someone to teach me how to do all this."

"Okay, let me see if I've got this straight. You want me to tell you how to be a better whore, is that it?"

Crow nodded eagerly.

"Well, forget it."

What? But...Crow had been sure he was about to agree!

"I ain't telling you a thing except to get the fuck off the streets," the other boy continued, "You are way, way too young to be out here."

Crow huffed and folded his arms across his chest. He was sick of people treating him like a baby! First Martha, and now this guy.

"But you're out here," he pointed out.

"But I'm older than you are. What are you anyway...around eight?"

"Eleven," Crow ground out through his teeth. That was another one of his pet peeves...everyone seemed to underestimate his age.

"Well, still...my point stands," said the other boy airily. Crow fought the urge to punch him in his haughty face.

"So how old are you?" he demanded rudely.

"Eighteen," was the prompt answer.

When Crow continued to look at him dubiously, he cracked a smile.

"Okay, you got me. I'm fourteen."

"Hey! That's not that much older than me!"

"Yes, but enough to make a difference..." the boy muttered mostly to himself. He looked at the ground, then back up at Crow.

"You don't seem to be a bad kid, though," he mused. He seemed to have forgotten about making Crow go home for now. Crow's legs were getting tired, so he sat down next to this guy. He didn't object.

"I'm Crow!" he said brightly.

"That's a strange name."

"It's not my real name."

"So what is your real name?"

Crow shrugged. He'd wondered about that himself, but he'd been left on his own at such a young age that he didn't remember.

He thought that the other guy would volunteer his name next, but he went back to staring at the pavement. After a minute or so Crow lost his patience.

"Hey come on, I told you my name! It's your turn!" he exclaimed.

The boy looked up and down the street, as if making sure no one else could hear them. Then he said in a low voice, "Kiryu Kyosuke. But everyone just calls me Kiryu."

"How come?"

"Because otherwise I'll kill them!"

He laughed yet again. Crow couldn't quite tell whether he was being serious or not.

Kiryu abruptly stopped laughing and pressed on, "All right, now that we've introduced ourselves and all that, will you please go home like I asked you to?"

Well, it looked like he hadn't forgotten after all. How could he make Kiryu understand that he had to do this?

"Look," Crow started, "I ain't some innocent little kid, okay? Martha doesn't have enough money for groceries, and she doesn't want us to know that. But I figured it out anyway. I mean...I mean, it's not like it really matters. I was doing it for food when I was three, so doing it for money now ain't a big deal or anything.."

He trailed off as he realized what he'd said. He hadn't been planning on telling his whole life story to a near-stranger. He ducked his head so Kiryu couldn't see that he was fighting back tears.

When he sneaked a glance back up, Kiryu was staring at him incredulously.

"...Seriously. You were three?" he asked.

"Yeah. But don't hug me or any of that mushy stuff," Crow snapped.

"I wasn't going to."

"Good." Though, deep down, Crow thought maybe he wouldn't have objected very strongly had Kiryu actually hugged him.

Kiryu's expression softened for a bit, then he sighed and shook his head.

"That's still not an excuse, Crow. You should let this Martha person take care of things. At least you have somewhere to live now."

"I know. I was lucky," mumbled Crow. However, he still didn't make any move to leave.

"It's not fair!" Kiryu declared as he smacked his fist into his palm, "Kids here really only have two choices...join a gang or become a whore. Why won't anyone do anything?"

Crow decided it would be best to keep his mouth shut. Kiryu had listened to him, so he felt he should repay the favor.

"I want to do something...I have all this energy inside me that I want to use, but I'm just...stuck here watching as all this shit happens to little kids! I was sure I could make it out of here when I ran away, but now...I'm like everyone else."

It was as if he had taken the thoughts right out of Crow's head. Sure, Jack complained about this city a lot, and Yusei did join Crow in helping out with the younger children at Martha's, but Kiryu was the first person he knew who had been so...impassioned about the situation.

"We could try fighting them together," Crow offered only half-jokingly. Kiryu snorted.

"Yeah, that would work. An eleven-year-old and a fourteen-year-old, taking down all the bad guys." He laughed again, but this time it was lower and more bitter. Then he reached into a nearly-invisible pocket on his hip.

"I tell you what...if you need money so bad, I'll share mine with you," he said as he separated two thousand-yen notes from the main bundle.

Crow was very affronted.

"I can't take your money!" he sputtered.

"You can and you will," Kiryu insisted. Crow opened his mouth to argue again, but it was obvious he wasn't going to win this. He grudgingly accepted the two notes, then stood up.

"I'll repay you. Someday," he vowed.

"Okay, then," Kiryu replied, but it was clear he didn't believe Crow.

"Uh...so. Bye, I guess," stammered Crow. He didn't wait for Kiryu's response before he turned and ran off to Martha's house.

Now, the trick would be to get back in without her noticing...