WARNINGS: AU, possible OOCness, violence, gang activity, possible drug use, and smut in later chapters

The beginning is written in first person, but it then switches to third person after the flashback sequence, as it shall stay~
I've decided on making this a more modern time fic, which will certainly be riddled with gang activity and the alike. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Aoba!" Granny called from the door. It was that time of day again. Time for me to come in and have dinner. Time to say goodbye to Noiz. I turned to my friend, four years my junior, with a frown. He beamed at me.

"Tomorrow, then?" asked the younger boy. I nodded my head reluctantly and hugged him before turning to glance at Granny, who was waiting impatiently at the door. Granny was my guardian. My parents were still alive, but, due to work, were never around. That's ok, though. Granny has always taken good care of me. She can be grumpy at times, but I know she really cares about me. When I turned to look back at Noiz, the eight-year-old had already vanished. I looked around in a vain attempt to catch a glance of him leaving. He always did this. Just... vanished.

"Aoba!" I heard the cracked old voice call out again. I shot her a glare before stomping up to the house, passing her, and stepping inside. I hated having to say goodbye to Noiz. We would hang out and play outside my house pretty much everyday. I had another friend, Koujaku, who used to come over too, but he left about a year ago. I met Noiz a month later. Since then, we've been inseparable. It was a bit difficult for me to make friends. I refused to allow my blue hair to be cut above my shoulders, so other kids thought I was weird for it. I often got mistaken for a girl at first glance.

I sit down at the table, a bitter look still stitched across my face. Granny enters the kitchen and begins making my plate.

"Did you wash your hands?" I heard her ask as she continued her work.

"Yes," came my irritable mutter of a reply.

"YOU WOULD SIT THERE AND LIE TO ME AS I PREPARE YOUR DINNER!?" She spun around and glared at me with much hostility. I wince slightly and sink down into my seat.

"Sorry, Granny."

"DON'T APOLOGIZE! GET UP AND DO IT!" I jump up from my chair and run to the bathroom, hastily washing my hands.

After dinner I find myself laying in bed, a small black ball of fur curled up on my chest, fast asleep. Ren had been a gift from my parents. I received him this year for my birthday. Apparently, a puppy was supposed to make up for them not being able to make it themselves this year. Just like every other year. They always send me gifts instead of attempting to come see me in person. Well, I do quite like Ren. His fur is soft against my fingers as I stroke his sleeping form lightly and stare up at my ceiling, wondering for a second what it would be like to have a normal family. I shake the thought from my head. I do have a normal family. Granny and Ren are my family, and they're all I need.

I awake the next morning to the sun shining proudly in through my balcony door. I yawn and sit up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I try to adjust to the light. My body aches slightly as I stretch and I swing my legs over the side of my bed and stand up. I wonder if Noiz is outside yet, I think as I head downstairs. Noiz had a tendency to show up randomly and wait for me outside. He would usually get here before I woke up. When I finally did get up, he would sometimes come in and eat breakfast with me.

I open the door to find that he hadn't arrived quite yet. Closing the door, I make my way into the kitchen where Granny stood, making breakfast. She always seemed to have perfect timing. Breakfast had either just been finished, or she was in the middle of preparing it, every morning when I woke up. Perhaps it was the smell of her amazing cooking that woke me up in the first place.

"Your friend not here yet?" she asked, busy at the stove.

"Nope," I answer drowsily. Granny walks over with my plate and places it in front of me. I stare down at it, salivating a bit. "It looks delicious!" I said as Granny moved to make her own plate. My hands clasp together and I close my eyes. "Thanks for the food!" I say hurriedly, then I begin to dig in. As always, it was very tasty. It didn't seem long before I was leaning back in my chair with a full and content sigh of approval.

After thanking Granny for the awesome meal I go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I check outside again to see if Noiz had arrived. Still nothing. My watch said that it was 11:14 A.M. This is the latest he's been in a while. Come to think of it... Where does Noiz live, anyway? I wondered inwardly. We always hung out over here. I had never been to his house. I didn't even know which direction his house was in, since he always managed to leave when I wasn't paying attention and disappear completely before I could turn to look. The thought was shrugged off as I went to the living room to watch t.v.

For the next couple of hours I got up to check for Noiz about every thirty minutes. After a while I checked every hour. It was now about six in the evening and granny was in the kitchen finishing up dinner. I thought I heard a soft knock at the front door and quickly jumped up to answer it. Excitement rushed into my being as I anticipated answering the door and seeing Noiz. When I opened it, however, no one was there. I frown and step out to look further, feeling something hard under my foot in the process. I pull my foot up to see what it is. Bellow me was a rock with what looked to be a folded up piece of paper attached to it by a rubber-band .

"What the..." I reach down and pick up the rock, detaching the paper. Once it was unfolded I studied it. It appeared to be a note. The writing was rather sloppy, but I could at least make out what it said. I began to read it.

Dear Aoba,

Sorry I didn't make it by to play today. Something came up. I don't think I'll be coming by anymore. I have to leave. I wanted to at least say bye first, which is why I wrote this note. I only had enough time to drop it off and leave right away, though. maybe we'll see each other again some day.

~Noiz

This note is really well written for an eight-year-old, I observe. Then it sinks in, what the note was saying. Something began in the pit of my stomach and in my chest that resembled a fluttering. Not the good kind of fluttering you get when you figure out that you 'like' someone, but the bad kind of fluttering. Like the kind you get when something unexpected and dreadful happens. Like the kind you get when your best friend, your only friend, suddenly says he won't be coming around anymore and you have no way to keep in touch with him. I crumble up the piece of paper and drop it on the ground, leaving it to be forgotten as I slowly turn and walk back inside the house.

~ … ~

It was a relatively easy day at the shop. Not particularly busy, but not slow either. It was now time for Aoba to be getting off. Haga, his boss, asked him to make a quick delivery to the post office on his way out. Aoba was twenty-three and had been working at this parts shop, Heibon, for a few years now. They sold all sorts of parts. Parts for cars, bikes, electronics, and even had a few miscellaneous tool kits as well. They would occasionally make repairs if something broken was brought in and the issue was simple enough to diagnose and correct.

The young man waved to his elderly boss as he took his leave of the shop, a box of assorted parts in hand. Ren, who was now the ripe old age of ten, but still barely larger than a chihuahua, scurried behind him as he walked to the post office. The fluffy little dog was with Aoba always. Even at work. The post office was just around the corner from the shop, and on the way to Aoba's house, so he certainly had no issue dropping things off there on his way out. The blue-haired male was greeted at the door by an ecstatic older woman and her Shih Tzu, Clara.

"Oh! Aoba! I was just about to lock up for the day," she said. Clara runs over and begins sniffing Ren, yipping happily. Ren backs away with a small whimper. Aoba chuckled and turned his attention back to Yoshie. Yoshie was in her late fifties, with shirt brown hair, glasses over her light brown eyes, and was a bit on the bulky side. She always wore clothes that looked too stuffy, in Aoba's opinion, but she was still always very neat and tidy. She also kept Clara's sand colored coat well groomed, with a pink bow holding up a tuft of fur at the hop of her head.

"Oh... I'm sorry. I got off a bit late today. If it wouldn't be too much trouble, would you mind taking this package and sending it out tomorrow?" He asked, holding the small box up with an apologetic smile. Yoshie nodded and took the box. She was usually much more talkative, but it was apparent that she was a bit tired that day.

"That won't be a problem. You have a safe walk home, dear," said the woman with a soft smile as she opened the door to the post office and went inside. She waved to Aoba as the male and his dog began to walk away. Clara sat on the sidewalk and tilted her head, looking a bit sad. Ren hurried to walk beside his owner, seemingly glad to leave the female dog behind.

"You know, Ren... You're getting pretty old. I think it's a bit sad you haven't found a single mate all this time. I mean, Clara's a nice enough dog, right? And she's pretty cute." A small snort of distaste escaped the dog, making Aoba laugh. On their way home, they pass by Koujaku's shop. The man had come back to town when Aoba was in his late teens. It had been quite the shock, to say the least. Aoba was both happy and irritated to see him again.

Koujaku always liked to tease Aoba about his hair, and constantly begged him to let him cut it. Aoba continued to refuse he offer. He liked his hair long. By the time Koujaku had returned to the town, Aoba had managed to make another great friend, Mizuki, who happened to be in a gang. Mizuki's gang wasn't as violent as most of the other gangs around the area, and simply acted like one big family.

Needless to say, even though Aoba had been quite lonely after Noiz left, with this rather large group of friends he no longer had to deal with loneliness. Koujaku had also formed a nonviolent gang. This sort of thing was common in this town. It wasn't the safest area to live in, so people had a tendency to team up and protect each other.

Aoba had planned on stepping in to at least say a quick 'hello' to his friend, but the hairdresser appeared to be preoccupied by a small group of swooning ladies, who the blue-haired man assumed were some of Koujaku's patients. He couldn't blame them. Despite his body being littered with scars, the man was extremely attractive. Hell, the scars might have even added on to his appeal. Koujaku also kept his his hair long, keeping the navy strands pulled back in a ponytail. He was known for wearing a red kimono, along with quite a few accessories, and a pet red bird named 'Beni' that remained perched on his shoulder the majority of the time. The kimono, which he kept open over his torso, revealed a few scars along his chest, as well as a small glimpse of a tattoo on the left side of his chest that bloomed to his shoulder and down his arm. Yes, Koujaku was attractive. Even Aoba could see that. The male sighed and shook his head as he passed the shop and continued home.

Aoba was beginning to feel hungry and swore he could almost smell Granny's cooking now that he was just a block away. As he turned the last corner and his house came into view, however, his appetite shrank to nothingness and slight nausea began to build in its place. There, a few feet away from his house, was a man laying on the ground who appeared to have been beaten to a bloody pulp. Ren took of towards the body and sniffed at it, Aoba following cautiously. The dog looked up at his owner and whined. They lived in a small subdivision, a tad safer than other places within the town, and everyone basically knew each other, so Aoba wasn't used to seeing this sort of thing so close to home and worried that the injured person might be one of his neighbors.

"Who is it, boy?" Though, as he drew closer to the person and a heavily pierced face came into view, the answer struck him like a bag of bricks falling from the sky and his heart felt as though it had stopped, his breath catching in his throat. His hazel eyes were wide as he took in the sight before him. The unconscious male had short blond hair, currently drenched in blood which was also streaming down his face. The white part of his shirt was also blood-soaked, the black and green short sleeves, as well as his black pants were hopelessly shredded. Beside and under him lay what looked to be belts, a matching toboggan, and other accessories. Though his appearance had changed a fair bit, Aoba could still recognize his old friend. "Is that... Noiz?"

Author's note:

I do hope at least someone finds this fic to their liking! I haven't earned much confidence in my works quite yet. This isn't my first fic, but it's literally been years since I've written one, and it was in a whole different category. I've never uploaded a fic to FF, so if I've done something wrong please forgive/correct me.

Constructive criticism is always welcome!

Peace, love, and gore

~Tobe