One: Get in the Car

As much as he was used to being alone, Yuu Kanda found himself very lonely. Rain alternated between bucketing and pouring outside and it pattered against the floor-to-ceiling windows of Yuu's large, penthouse apartment. An old, leather-bound tome rested on his knees as he lounged in his reading chair. The old, faded words would have drawn him in on any other day, but on that cold, wet day, Yuu couldn't help but stare off into nothingness and feel empty.

His long, dark hair pooled around his waist and he twirled some of the soft strands between his fingers. The motion had always calmed and centred him, so he hoped it would bring his mind back into reality. Yet all to no avail, he violently slammed the book he was trying to read on the sturdy wooden table next to his chair and made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. In frustration, he pushed his hair out of his face and began pacing around his apartment.

In something of a frustrated daze, Yuu stormed over to his fridge and pulled it open. Scanning the insides, he sighed gruffly; the fridge was pretty much empty save for an old bowl of stir-fry and a rotten apple right at the back of the fruit drawer. With a new resolve and determination, Kanda slammed the fridge shut, grabbed his keys, jacket and wallet and was out the door before he even thought to turn off the lights and TV.

Thankfully, the elevator didn't pick up any people on the way down to the basement car park, so Kanda was left to his own jumbled thoughts. Mentally, he made a list of things he intended to buy on his outing: noodles, rice, soy sauce, vegetables et cetera and so on. He would be in and out of the supermarket in record time and would be home to make a nice lunch for himself. He wouldn't worry about his lack of cooking skills for the time being, just getting the food. Surely, he would be able to make something edible. He was the great Yuu Kanda – bachelor and young, successful entrepreneur – for Christ sake.

Miraculously, there was barely any traffic on the way to the shopping centre and Kanda weaved through what cars were there in his sporty Audi R8 like a pro. He couldn't say the same for the shopping centre though; it was littered with families shopping for Christmas presents and teenagers wasting their time on buying meaningless 'stuff'. Kanda sighed heavily at his stupid decision to shop on a Saturday as he watched swarms of people moving around the various shops.

I'll be in and out…just get what you need and go, the annoyed older teen thought to himself as he tucked some of his long hair behind his ear demurely. Even with said long, dark hair and his fair skin, Kanda far from lacked masculinity with his tall frame and athletic frame. Lean muscle corded around his arms and made obvious that he obviously worked out to keep his body in shape.

At the supermarket, Kanda expertly grabbed a trolley and manoeuvred around the many people browsing the items on display. He headed straight for the fresh produce and threw various vegetables into his trolley and bypassed the fruit all together; Kanda wasn't fond of sweet things. Next, he moved to the meat section and picked out a few steaks and some chicken for a stir-fry. As he flew through aisle after aisle, Yuu's trolley was filled with all of his favourite foods; soba noodles, tea, eggs, rice… it went on.

Finally, his trolley was full and Kanda was ready to get the hell out of there. He was over the screaming kids and the rude old ladies who expected him to constantly move out of their way. A few times, young women had seen him and did that annoying thing where they blushed and looked away shyly. Any other guy probably would have smiled and winked at them or something, but not Yuu Kanda, no fucking way in Hell would he lower himself to that.

Such was one of the reasons Kanda was so pitifully alone.

After Kanda was out and through the checkout with his groceries, he was rushing out of the shopping centre as if his ass was on fire. He couldn't wait to get home, pack away his groceries, and then get frustrated over trying to cook when he knew he couldn't. Maybe I should consider hiring a housekeeper, he thought absently to himself as he made his way over to his car, praying that no one had damaged it. If they had, he would hunt them down and murder them in the most excruciatingly painful manner he could think of.

When he was a few metres away from his car, he noticed a small group of men had crowded around something a few metres away. Suspicious, Kanda made his way over to his car with his hands curled painfully tight around the handle of the trolley. About a metre and a half away from the group, Yuu observed them with his cold, dark eyes. They seemed to be circling around something on the ground, occasionally kicking and spitting on it.

Torturing an animal? Oh for fuck's sake… Not one to ignore such a cruel act (not that he hadn't been thinking about murdering people just a moment before) Kanda strode purposefully over to the group of men. His heart beat furiously within his chest and rage fuelled its erratic rhythm. Kanda had never really understood the appeal of violence just 'for the sake of it', and so his outrage grew exponentially as he caught ear of the taunts and filthy names they aimed at whatever or whoever they were torturing.

"Hey!" He growled as he neared the group of men. They all looked to be a little bit older than him and had muscles to match their inflated egos. Sure, they probably had brute strength, but when it came down to it, Kanda had speed and skill which would save him if it came to a fight. Most men underestimated him when it came to fights, but they had no idea the amount of time Kanda had put into training himself in all forms of martial arts when he was growing up.

The group turned around and huddled close together; keeping the thing they'd been beating hidden behind their beefy legs. Kanda glared at them from behind his bangs and repeatedly curled and uncurled his hands into fists. The group of guys – who looked to be about university age – smirked at Kanda and puffed out their chests stupidly. What a group of jerk-offs…

"Whaddya want faggot?" The tallest of the group sneered, eyeing Kanda's lean frame and long hair disdainfully. He was ripped to the point of looking stupid and had floppy blonde hair that fell into squinty brown eyes. Not the sharpest-looking knife in the drawer, he flipped Kanda off and bumped into his friends suggestively. The silence stretched out and the leader of the gang guffawed, "You okay faggot?"

"My name is not faggot, asshole," Kanda explained, as if speaking to a small child. Even so, his hands twitched and trembled with suppressed rage. He'd successfully distracted the group and hoped that whatever they'd been terrorising at least had the brains to run away.

The group of guys blinked at Kanda for a second, and then leaped at him like angry bears. Wearing his trademark scowl, Kanda shifted and slithered away from each of their attacks expertly. As the group of men looked around in confusion, Kanda started to attack them one by one, either pushing them to the ground or knocking them unconscious. When all but one of the meatheads remained, Kanda stalked him like the predator he was. With a squeal, the last guy grabbed one of his friends and ran off, the rest following soon after.

Finally, Yuu turned his attention to the bundle on the ground the gang had been terrorising, admittedly curious. The first thing Kanda noticed was a head of startlingly white hair. Is it a dog? Kanda crouched next to the bundle of rags and reached out a hand. Just as he was about to rest his hand on the mass of white hair, a small hand darted out and latched onto Kanda's wrist.

Startled, Kanda tried to pull his hand away, but the thing had a strong grip and wouldn't let go. So it's a human, he thought to himself as he cleared his throat and tried once more to tear his hand from the person's grip.

"Uh – " He cleared his throat when his voice came out soft, "are you okay?" Not usually one to be concerned about complete strangers, Kanda fidgeted a little and used his free hand to push his hair out of his face. The person among the rags moved a little, but kept his face hidden. Softly, the person murmured something that Kanda couldn't hear. "What?"

The person lifted their head off the ground and turned to look at Kanda. As the white hair was pushed out of the way by a gloved hand, Kanda saw that the person was actually an adolescent boy that couldn't have been any older than sixteen at the most. He had wide, grey eyes and a strange, red scar that ran from above his eyebrow and then followed down onto his cheek. He had pale skin that looked even paler with his white hair and a cute face. Kanda sucked in a breath and instantly dropped his gaze when he caught himself staring at the teen.

"I'm hungry," the boy whined, his voice soft and shy. Slowly, he lowered his head so he could peer up into Kanda's dark eyes and gave him the best puppy-dog face he'd ever seen in his life. Obviously, the kid expected Kanda to get him food. Even after he'd so heroically saved him! The rudeness grated at Yuu, but he brushed it off.

Not really thinking straight, Kanda grabbed the boy's arm and lifted him off of the ground without much strain at all and started to walk back over to his car. "Stand there while I pack the groceries, okay beansprout?" The teen opened his mouth to protest at the nickname, but shut it again at the glare Kanda gave him.

So, the teen stood there quietly and watched his saviour neatly (almost too neatly) pack his groceries into the boot of his sports car. Trying to keep as much out of the way as he could, the teen tried to peer into the many grocery bags to see what his protector had bought. He was not surprised to see the bags full of vegetables and other healthy foods. The teen would never turn down food, even vegetables, but he was sad to see that the older teen who had saved him didn't even have a morsel of something sweet.

When Kanda had finished packing the groceries and walking the trolley to the nearest trolley bay, he sauntered up to the younger teen and stared at him. His resolve wavering, Kanda put his hand on the shoulder of the white-haired boy and led him around to the passenger side of his car. Even opening the door for him, Kanda grit his teeth and shoved the teen toward the door.

"Okay, get in the – " in a flicker of motion, two large, white cat ears suddenly stood to attention on the younger teen's head and he squeaked in surprise, "…car?"