Akasan's Story Part One (51)

Arbok City is one of the most prosperous cities in the world.

Kyo and the rest of his crew have only been living in the city for a year now, living it up as they fight their way to the top of the First Order.

But every city has a bad side.

To the furthest west of Arbok City, the city feels much more bleak. The sun doesn't shine as bright here, and sixty percent of the residents in this section are homeless.

This portion of the city is known as Zetsubo, meaning despair, or hopelessness.

A little girl named Kagami, age seven, fair skinned, dark purple hair and dark blue eyes, crept along the wall of a dark back alley.

She peeked around the corner.

A merchant had his shop set up, selling fruits and vegetables that were either too ripe or too misshapen to sell elsewhere.

Kagami scoped the shelves to see what he was selling. Then she spotted them. Potatoes.

Usually potatoes sold in Zetsubo were just so deformed that the nobles or middle class consumers refused to eat them. They were perfectly ripe and healthy, but they costed more than any other food the merchant had. Twenty-five credits each.

The streets were relatively busy right now, but everyone for the most part minded their own business.

Police didn't patrol this part of town. Crime was a normal part of life, murder, rape, trafficking, gambling, you name it.

Even Kagami herself took part in everyday crimes. But she had her own specialty; theft.

She looked around her surroundings in the alley, searching for something that would make noise. She found a empty can, crinkled up with the lid popped open.

"Perfect!" she whispered to herself.

With cat-like sneaky movements of a pro thief, Kagami got low and slid around the corner and under the merchant's shelves. She snuck to the corner of the stand and peered around it.

The merchant was sitting on a stool, watching the streets for customers.

The merchant's shop was set up inside of a high tent.

In the far right corner to the back, there were some clay pots stacked on top of one another.

Kagami aimed her can. She enhanced it with her energy. The can started glowing purple just a little bit.

She flicked her wrist, throwing the can into the middle of the pot stacks, tipping them over and breaking them.

"Oh no!! Not my mother's pots!!" The merchant exclaimed. He rushed over to the mess, trying to savor what was left of his treasured items.

Kagami was wearing a tattered shirt that stretched past her knees. She pulled off her pants and tied the legs together. Then she quickly started stuffing potatoes into the makeshift sack.

She nearly filled it up when the merchant found the can. He whipped around and saw Kagami's hand. He grabbed a bat and chased the girl.

Kagami quickly tossed the sack over her shoulder and ran with it, turning the alley corner.

When the merchant turned the corner, Kagami had already climbed the back wall and hit the rooftops.

The merchant growled in anger. "Arrghh!! I swear... I'm gonna kill one of those worthless god-forsaken kids one day!!!"

Kagami ran and hopped along the rooftops of the slums. She stopped at one of them and climbed down a ladder. Then she ran some more until she was outside of the slums at a grassy hill.

Atop this hill was a red-orange brick building. It was the orphanage. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of Zetsubo.

It was built a long time ago as a way to keep kids off the streets.

Kagami ran around the building to the side. She tied the sack up and tossed it into an open second-story window. She flipped over a wooden water basin and jumped off of it, grabbing the window ledge.

"Hey! Akasan! You there?" she said in a loud whisper.

A young boy in a gray tank top peered out from the window. He was brown skinned, a messy mass of black hair on his head and gray eyes. He reached out his hand and pulled Kagami inside.

She stood up and closed the window.

"Where did you go?" Akasan asked innocently.

"I got us some food." Kagami replied. She opened up the sack of potatoes and gave him and herself one each.

She pushed the bag under one of the beds. There were two in their room.

Akasan smiled at the food. "Thank you!!" He bit into his meal for the day.

Kagami smiled sadly and started eating her own potato.

Akasan was Kagami's best and only friend. They knew each other as far back as they could remember.

Akasan was five years old, two years younger than she was. Kagami knew stealing was wrong, so she never told him where she got the food. Akasan was simply happy to have any.

Even though the orphanage had the best building in Zetsubo, with beds, wooden floors, over thirty rooms, and even running water, they had little to no food.

The two both finished their potatoes. They sat on the floor in silence.

"Kagami..." Akasan said, "We don't have any money right?"

She nodded.

"So our food is stolen, isn't it?" he asked.

Kagami was surprised for a moment, then gave him a slight smile. "So you knew, all this time, huh?"

Akasan nodded.

Outside their room, they heard the sound of heeled boots thumping up the stairs. They stomped to Kagami and Akasan's room and a woman swung the door open. She had a mean look on her face. "What are you two devils doing in here?"

Akasan and Kagami abruptly stood up. "Nothing!" they said in unison.

'Nothing' was the word that they both learned at an early age. It really meant, "something, but we won't tell you what.", and the adults knew that, but without proof, the kids couldn't be punished.

The woman looked around the room. "Nothing, huh?" She looked at Akasan up and down, then Kagami. She pointed at her legs. "Kagami, where are your trousers?"

Kagami tried to make up an excuse. "Uhh... I got hot!" she said.

She couldn't say they got dirty or that would mean she'd been outside. Children were forbidden from leaving the orphanage without permission.

"Oh? You got hot you say? Then where did you leave them?"

She got her there. Kagami was caught.

"I... forgot?"

The woman's eyes narrowed. She walked around the room, looking through drawers, closets, and then, under the beds.

Kagami closed her eyes. It was up.

The woman held up the pants full of potatoes. "So we're stealing food now?! Not only did you *steal* these potatoes, but you also left the building without consent?!"

The woman started laughing. "Oh... I'll teach you two a lesson. Right now!!"

She pulled a whip off of her waist and started lashing out.

"Run!!" Kagami yelled.

Akasan immediately sprinted out of the room.

"You're not getting away!!" The woman lunged at Kagami, but she slid between her legs and ran as well.

The woman ran out of the room and jumped down the stairs.

A loud thud echoed through the building.

The other children opened their doors to see what was happening.

"Get back here you damned monkeys!!" She swung her whip at Kagami.

It caught her leg and lashed it, leaving a wound.

Kagami fell to the ground with a scream.

Akasan ran over to her. "Kagami!! Come on!! We gotta go!" He saw her bleeding.

Akasan got scared. He started tearing up.

"No... don't cry, I'm okay!" Kagami said.

The woman stomped up to them. "I'm gonna make sure that when I'm through with you two, you won't even *WANT* food anymore." She reached her hand out to grab Akasan.

He turned around and screamed, crying. He hit her hand away with his own.

The woman made a grimacing, disgusted face. "Why you little-" She raised her hand ready to unleash another lashing.

Akasan screamed again, this time black tribal markings like tattoos appeared on his arm from his shoulder to his wrist.

A crescent shape enclosing a circle was on his shoulder. The markings glowed red for a moment and a wild flare of crimson fire emitted from his body.

The woman jumped back. "What in the devil's name was that?"

Akasan was crying silently now.

The woman scowled at him. "You're a demon!! That's what you are!! Forget about punishment! You can die for all I care!!" She raised her whip once more.

Kagami quickly got up, almost tripping, and pulled Akasan's arm. "Come on!! Quick!" She ran out of the building, wincing from the pain as she ran, with Akasan trailing behind.

The woman chased them out of the orphanage.

"She's still running!! Come on!" Kagami led Akasan into the slums. They started climbing the ladder to the rooftops, knocking the ladder over after getting to the top. They started running and jumping across the rooftops.

Kagami brought him to the alley she was at earlier.

There weren't many people on the streets, as it was nighttime now.

"Akasan! This way!" Akasan followed Kagami down the street and then made a left into another alley that led them to an abandoned clay house.

"In here!!" Kagami said in a rushed whisper.

They went inside and closed the broken wooden plank of a door and hid below the bare front window opening. They sat there for what felt like an hour before peeking over the top.

"I think we got away." Kagami said.

Akasan took a deep breath. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Kagami held her leg. "Yeah, it's just a scrape." She scraped some dirt off the ground and packed it into the wound. She tore off part of her shirt and wrapped it around her leg. "See? All better! Just have to rest a few days."

Akasan was scared. "A few days? What are we gonna eat?"

Kagami limped to the back of the house. She saw a square table and a dirty table cloth. She laid the cloth out over the table. She then limped towards an old couch and took off its cushions. She placed them on the table. "There! We have a bed now." She hopped on it and laid back.

Akasan repeated his question. "But what about food? Our potatoes are gone."

Kagami looked up at the ceiling. "I guess you'll have to learn how to steal."

"But what if they catch me?"

"Then you'll have to learn how to fight for yourself."

Kagami hopped off the table, landing on her good leg. "Here, I'll show you." She held her hands out. "Now hit me."

Akasan threw a weak jab. "What was that? No. Here, like this."

Kagami showed Akasan a proper fighting stance. "I saw a boxing match on the street one time, they fought like this."

She held her hands up like a real boxer and started punching the air. "You keep your hands up at all times to protect your face, and then you twist your body like this to punch. I'd show you how to kick too, but my leg hurts."

Akasan started imitating Kagami's demonstration. "Yeah, you got it!" she said. "Just practice that and you'll be fine!"

Akasan stopped. "But adults are big and strong. I'm small."

Kagami hopped on the table and laid back down. "You don't fight adults unless you absolutely have to. Only fight people your own size. By the way, what was that red fire you did back then?"

Akasan looked puzzled. "Huh? What fire?"

Kagami looked at him, then looked back up at the ceiling. "Nothing. Nevermind. Get some sleep."

For the next few weeks, Akasan went out every morning to learn how to steal from others. He succeeded some, and he failed some. Sometimes he got beat up too. But over time he learned how to steal and fight just as good as Kagami could.

One night Akasan and Kagami were on their table-bed eating overripe apples.

Kagami looked at her fruit. "One day, I wanna eat fresh fruit. I bet it tastes amazing."

Akasan felt bad. For the last few weeks they'd been stealing from others and living in an abandoned clay house that was barely serviceable. He put down his apple. "Kagami. One day we'll be able to leave this place. I'll get strong enough to protect you!"

Kagami chuckled. "You're acting like a superhero." She kissed him on the cheek.

Akasan froze. "What was that about?" he said, blushing with embarrassment.

Kagami shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. Just felt like it." she said with a smile on her face.