He first met him when he was five years old, in the candy store, a highly unusual place considering their backgrounds and their future. But Kaoru remembered it clearly as if it had been yesterday, saw the rows and shelves of candies that filled the little corner shop, remembered the face of the bored teenager who was sitting by the counter, cracking gum and reading a magazine. Her technicolored hair shone against the bright lights and she wouldn't look at him.

He was standing beside his little sister's stroller. She was sleeping peacefully and he almost resented her for it. The air-conditioner was turned up to let the atmosphere suit the delicate sweets and his suit bothered him so much because it itched.

Kaoru tried to remember what Mama had said. Stay here, I forgot our things... And she had promised them lots of candies. Well, for him, anyway; imouto chan had no teeth yet and this reminder made him smile.

He tried to look inconspicuous, pushing with great effort his little sister's stroller across the aisles, trying to look interested while, without his Mama, it seemed worth nothing. After a while, he found himself and the stroller again before the counter, and this time, the girl was staring at him.

"Ne, kid, ya gonna buy?"

He kind of expected the question before but he was not prepared to answer. His throat felt dry as his mouth opened. "Ah--Mama...she'll come."

"Be snappy."

He nodded, head bobbing up and down and his hair going into his eyes which he dutifully pushed away. In the stroller, young Raia stirred and made a move to cry.

Suddenly, from the back aisles, a boy's voice said to the girl, "That's not the way to talk to customers, ojo san."

The girl's face flushed and Kaoru turned to the direction of the source. A boy of about twelve was leaning against the shelves, one hand reaching behind him to grab a jar. His straight, jet-black hair fell over his eyes; and even from a distance, Kaoru saw the lightness in the violet swirls that stared down the girl.

The boy started to walk towards them. "After all, he's a regular here, ne?" The last syllable was a question sought directly to Kaoru. Speechless, Kaoru could only nod and watch the lithe form reach him. "See? A regular." And before the girl could open her mouth in a heated reply, the boy quickly put the jar on the counter. "I'm taking this," he said.

The girl's mouth dropped open and closed quickly. The boy only shrugged and smiled and she finally punched the codes fiercely before putting it in a brown paper bag and handing him the receipt. "Look around," she told Kaoru gruffly before snatching her magazine and returning to reading.

Kaoru turned to the boy. He was staring at Raia. He smiled. "Looks cute."

And Kaoru finally found a voice. "My sister."

"I know. You look alike." The boy touched Raia's nose gently and she stirred in her slumber. He smiled, a little wistful. "I had a brother."

One could not miss the tense he used but Kaoru had no confidence to ask what happened to this boy's brother. However the boy straightened and turned to his direction. "Kogenai...Kaoru, isn't it?"

Kaoru nodded, transfixed.

"I saw your name in the regulars list," he went on to explain. "I kind of guessed. I have this really great way of guessing."

"You're right," Kaoru told him. "Are you a regular here, too?"

The boy shook his head. "No...only come here when I can. Not like you rich folks."

Kaoru's voice cleared. "It's Sunday. We always go here on Sundays."

The boy shrugged. "Like I said. Rich folks." He turned to go.

Kaoru was startled. There was no word of warning, no words of goodbye. Just the little boy walking away. He suddenly saw the form in multicolored flames. "Wait," he called out without a thought of what to say. He bit his lip and thought hard before finally asking, "Anou-- what's your name?"

The boy quirked him a smile. "Ku--"

"Kaoru!" The door burst open and a woman elaborately dressed entered. Her curls and tendrils fell over her hair and neck and she looked distressed. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry I took so long. The guards had a fit trying to look for my things." She gave him a quick hug before finally taking over before the stroller. "What will you have?" she asked him brightly.

Kaoru turned towards the door. The boy was gone. In the stroller, apparently from the familiar voice of her Mama, Raia began to stir and open her eyes.

~ * ~

"Sundays...sou ka. You tell the truth. But you always come here with a mother." The voice was indescribably flat. Kaoru felt his heartbeat pick up speed at the sound of that voice. "You never go alone. Even last time, you had a sister."

The boy stood by the shelves again, intently watching the mother and daughter pair at the distance where the huge chocolate bars were. Kaoru found reading his violet eyes impossible.

"I always come here with my Mama and imouto," he replied, trying to sound polite as his mother told him to be.

The boy shrugged, eyes finally leaving the two figures and returning to Kaoru. "Like I said, regulars."

"I know."

"What kind of candy do you like?"

Kaoru tried to remember the jar the boy had bought the last time. "Aa...caramel."

The boy made a face. "You like those? Get into your teeth and gums, ne? I like those chocolate bars. They're thick and you feel like your teeth's gonna crack just biting into one of them." He grinned. "Your mom and sis have good taste."

Without helping himself, Kaoru burst out, "Then why did you buy them last time?"

The boy looked surprised and, curiously, a little pleased. "It was the first time I tried it. I wanted something new. It was delicious but I don't want to taste it again, thanks."

Kaoru felt ashamed. Somehow, he wanted to please the boy.

"Someday, come here alone and we'll buy the whole place," the boy told him. "Then we'll get that silly ahou outta that counter and into the streets, ne? Don't know why such a bitter woman got this sweet job." And he laughed at his pun.

"And buy all the chocolate bars?"

"And those caramels. You like 'em, dontcha?"

Kaoru smiled. He didn't but he let the boy think he did. "Yeah."

"Come here and we'll conquer the world." Suddenly, the boy's eyes turned glazed and he looked away. "Conquer everything, you think?"

Kaoru thought the boy had been playing too much wooden soldiers. But he liked the way the boy said it, the way the words rolled off his tongue and caught his ears. It was a wonderful dream; a big dream, but a wonderful dream nonetheless. The way the boy said it, he believed him.

"With my Mama and imouto?"

The boy shot him a curious glance. "Dontcha think we should only get our share?"

"But why?"

"Because--" The boy stopped. "Because if I shared it with others, it wouldn't be 'mine'. And I would like it to be 'mine'. Or at least 'ours', right?" And he grinned again.

"I don't want to leave them behind," Kaoru said softly.

The boy shrugged again and took a step forward, away from him. "Wakatta. If you can leave them behind, tell me and we'll conquer this candy world." He gave another laugh and he waved. "Ja!" And with the chimes of the door, he had already left.

Mama came up next to Kaoru. "You know that boy?" she asked him curiously.

Kaoru looked up and nodded, eyes shining. "Yeah. Pretty much."

"I'm glad." She smiled down at him. "I'm so glad for you, Kaoru-chan." She picked Raia up and began to rock her. The little girl waved her arms around as she stared down at Kaoru. Kaoru smiled. "Pick your candy, Kaoru. We should go soon, really. It looks like rain."

~ * ~

All that was left of the candy shop was a little building with neon sign that doesn't work. It was raining and the wild drops disturbed his vision; he could hardly read the notice of eviction on the door.

He shivered involuntarily, his clothes clinging to his skin like a frantic drowning swimmer clung to a bank. He wanted so much to push the door open and scream. Yes, screaming would make him feel a lot better. He wanted to throw his gold necklace, the one Papa gave him as a gift. He wanted to rip off his gold Cross necklace which was Raia's. He had unrightfully taken Raia's necklace, Papa's gift to her, from her neck. He didn't think the priest would mind. He hoped not.

In his mind, he remembered the boy--

--the dead bodies--

--Raia's scream and his Mama's sobs and his Papa's anguish--

--and that small smile--

--of a boy, long ago--

A hand was on his shoulder. Somehow, he knew the touch; did not even turn around. It was a familiar gesture, as if it had happened before. Despite the splatter of the rain on the gray cement, he could hear the swish of wet clothing that he knew wasn't his.

"You came back," a deep voice told him. His eyes filled again with tears. Not anymore twelve years old, the boy. Not anymore five years old, him. And his family was dead.

"I'm alone," he told him loudly.

A soft chuckle. "So I see." The body moved behind him and long arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Kogenai...are you ready to take what's 'ours'?"

"I've been ready for a long time," Kaoru replied softly so only the boy could hear it.

No...not 'boy'. He had ceased to be 'a boy' long ago, too.

"What's your name?" he asked, remembering that time, long ago, inside this particular candy store, of a boy with an infectious grin and a radiant face that was now marred by an ugly scar on his left part of the face.

"Kurei."

"Kurei," Kaoru repeated, memorizing the name, letting it roll in his tongue. It felt right. Quietly, they turned and walked out of the rain.