This fanfiction is kinda confusing, and I'm sorry that there's a good chance that things won't make sense, but characters are still the same and stuff hopefully. :)

I feel like there is a lot of background information in this explaining their situation (?), so please try not to get bored.

Chapter One

Many years ago, earthquakes and fire devastated the world, causing outbreaks among its citizens. In Tokyo, uprisings caused some regions to form and split off. Tension between these regions caused war, and in many places, unmaintained land became overrun with trees and large weeds. Raids began, every region trying to protect themselves, and in order to defend their people from danger, large metal buildings were constructed in every warring region half underground where bombs couldn't reach. The central government, wanting to end the fighting, commanded the leaders of every region to develop a peace agreement. Despite the orders, peace has not yet been reached.

Takahiro smoothed back his little brother's hair. "Don't worry," he soothed, "It was all just a dream."

Misaki turned over in bed facing away from his brother, willing Takahiro to leave the room. Why wouldn't he just leave already? It wasn't as if these nightmares were anything new. He'd been having them for over ten years now, and every time he woke up screaming, his brother rushed into the room to calm him down.

It wasn't that he didn't love Takahiro—he did, a lot— but it was just so embarrassing having to face him with tears running down his face from a stupid dream. He was an adult, an adult that didn't need his older brother comforting him.

"Misaki, look at me." He refused to turn back over. Takahiro sighed before continuing, "It was just a dream… Was this one different than the others?" The hand played in his hair, gripping strands and pulling them off his face, only to have them flop back in position. Why wouldn't Takahiro leave? It was so embarrassing being treated like he was eight again.

"No," he mumbled under the covers.

"Okay, well if you need anything, I'm in the next room."

A kiss landed on Misaki's forehead and then he heard footsteps signaling that Takahiro had left the room.

Finally, he was gone. No longer under the scrutinizing eyes of his brother, Misaki turned on his back and wiped away the wet streaks on his cheek. Feeling trapped and hot under the blankets, he kicked the sheets off, allowing the cool night air to wash over his body.

His brain and limbs were usually restless after one of his nightmares, and tonight was no exception. Feeling the familiar tingling in his legs, he slid off the bed and reached under it to find his running shoes.

After getting dressed, Misaki tiptoed out of his room and shut the door quietly behind him. As he walked past Takahiro's room, he strained to make absolutely no noise whatsoever. If his brother woke up and found Misaki out of bed after hours, he could only imagine the scolding that would befall him.

Takahiro had always been overprotective of Misaki, but it became exponentially worse after their parents were killed in a raid. There were now so many rules: he wasn't allowed to eat sweets, he wasn't allowed to have friends (especially girl friends) in his room with the door closed, and he wasn't allowed outside after dark. The man considered his little brother to be his responsibility, never mind the fact that Misaki was legally an adult.

He contemplated Takahiro's rules while slinking through the halls. There were only a few lights dimming the walkways just enough so that he didn't slip or bump into something. Because he was unlucky enough to live in one of the regions that were in war, the walls were reinforced with metal to protect against bombs and fire. Although Misaki appreciated the safety, he longed for the outdoors, complete with fresh air and green grass. Everything outside was overgrown like a Jurassic Park movie, but overrun plants were better than cold metal…

The only one of Takahiro's rules that made any sense was the last one about not leaving the building after dark. It was dangerous outside at night, especially since the fighting had come to an impasse. All fighting regions refused to budge, progress had stopped, but tension remained. There had been more than a few civilians from every side walking off into the dark never to be seen again. Of course, everyone believed that "the others" were to blame for these disappearances, but Misaki wasn't so sure. He had often been called naïve, and he knew he probably was, but he didn't think that the other regions would snatch civilians like that.

Misaki, young and inexperienced boy that he was, believed himself to be safe. Whenever he went out on one of his nighttime runs, he stayed close to the perimeter of his building and brought a gun. No, he didn't know how to actually use it, but he did know how to point it and look threatening. In his opinion, that was good enough; it wasn't as if he'd actually be able to shoot anybody anyway.

If Takahiro knew that Misaki had a gun, he'd go berserk. Everyone in the warring regions, even the young children, knew how to use the device. Everyone except Misaki. Takahiro hadn't allowed it, hadn't even wanted the boy to touch it. "You'll end up shooting yourself," he had said. It didn't matter that this made Misaki feel like a wimp, what Takahiro wanted was what happened.

Takahiro was, for some odd reason, one of the three leaders of their region. Misaki didn't understand why his brother was such an important person. The man was a huge softy, and although he was intelligent, he had little education and couldn't solve problems. But he had a big heart and was liked and respected, so maybe that was why he was a leader. Ever since the war had started, all regions were required to teach working knowledge of firearms, but Takahiro vehemently protested. His high ranking got him an exemption pass so that his little brother was an exception to the rule.

Sometimes, Takahiro's protective attitude towards the boy made Misaki irritated. He knew it was out of love, but that didn't stop the fact that he was often made ridiculed by his peers. He was already short and skinny; he didn't need to also be the wimp.

As Misaki ran the edge of his building he let out his frustrations. Stupid dreams, stupid classmates, stupid Takahiro.

Soon, an ache settled deeply into his legs, but he continued to ride out the pain. It felt good, much better than lying in bed waiting for morning. Trees and bushes blurred past him, and Misaki felt free. He he was a good runner, if only because he did it more than anyone else he knew.

Suddenly, a noise from the edge stopped him in his tracks. He felt his breath and heart rate speed up drastically as fear grabbed hold of his body.

Looking around frantically in the darkness for the threat, Misaki's eyes located a man illuminated in the moonlight. He was standing next to a tree, one hand reaching out gripping the bark. Misaki stood still, trying not to breathe, thinking that he might not have been seen, but when the man smiled, he knew he was caught.

The stranger took a step forwards, and the boy took one back. Misaki automatically reached one hand behind him and fumbled for the gun tucked into his pants.

"Stop," he cried stronger than he felt, pointing the gun.

"Stop? Why should I stop?"

He was lurking closer now.

"Because I'll shoot!"

He laughed. "No you won't." A smirk covered his lips. "It's so painfully obvious that you've never used that thing in your life."

Misaki scuffled around as he let the gun drop. He looked away and clenched his eyes, waiting for his imminent and painful death. When nothing happened, he opened one eye, only to see the man right in front of him. They were close, too close, their eyes were staring right at each other.

"Hey, I know you," the man mused. "You're that boy I've seen running around the Region Three headquarters."

Misaki's draw dropped as he tried to place the man. He certainly wasn't from his region, and he didn't think he had seen him at a peace meeting. He couldn't be too sure though; whenever there was a peace meeting, Misaki tried to be inconspicuous. He didn't look at anyone, and nobody looked at him.

But he felt that he would have noticed this tall man with such striking silver hair and purple eyes.

"I… ugh…" Misaki stammered.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." He reached out to stroke a lock of Misaki's hair. "It would be a shame to damage a boy as cute as you."

I actually had the video game Falloutin my head as I wrote it. Except in FalloutI doubt that there are any pervy Usagi-sans running around late at night.

I understand that it's confusing, but I don't know if I conveyed everything correctly. Please review and tell me how I did. I will appreciate every single review and update so that I know that people aren't confused. Or, if you are confused, tell me so that I can fix it.