Hello! I'm an avid Len and Kaho fan, and I've been reading way too many stories with weird plots so...here it is!
Summary: When Len decided to raise orphaned Kahoko as his ward, he never would have known how involved he'd find himself. Or how much he'd come to love her...in more ways than one.
Warning: Loads of fluff. Loads. Also, if you cannot stand huge age differences, please don't read this fanfic (but I'm hoping you do anyways, or at least give it a chance). Thank you!
Disclaimer: Koei is the happy owner of La Corda d'Oro, and as such, anything I use is based on their property. Yes, that does include Len. Even if his shirt's half off :(
Little Cinderella
Chapter One: Night of Tragedy
Skyscrapers scratched at the budding rose sky as the noise and smoke from traffic rose up to beat against concrete and glass valleys. Black spots dotted sparking sidewalks, people rushed from work to home (or from home to work), and the smell of meat from sidewalk vendors mixed in a sea of humanity, whirring past in a carousel of lights and action, more intricate than any staged set of a movie.
But he noticed none of it.
In his panic, he'd forgotten to wear gloves, even though it was the middle of November. It hadn't snowed yet, but the tearing wind of New York in the winter was as harsh and unforgiving as the business end of a rapier. It blew against his unprotected ears and throat, but he didn't care. His coat stretched against long legs as they parted in a hurried rush to the hospital.
Years of performing in front of an audience had taught him that feelings were best left out of a good piece of music, and so his face wore no expression, despite the grinding in his stomach as he rushed past a group of girls bent on reaching their destination for the night. One of them swiveled her head as he passed, but he ignored it in his hurry.
Please, God. Let nothing happen to them.
His breath puffed out in small clouds from the exertion. He was used to occupying a limo, or at least a nice discreet car for his normal activities in New York, but he hadn't wanted to bother with the car service. It was only half a mile or so. After he had caught the phone, he had only paused long enough to throw on his coat and search for his keys, before rushing off.
"…Yes, we're looking for relations to Hamai Misa…her son?...there's been an accident…"
Len gritted his teeth, and lengthened his stride. He'd just reached the hospital.
"Yes?"
Len reached a counter where a large sign bearing the words "Welcome! " hung over it in metal. The receptionist seated beneath it was young, and moderately pretty. She gave him a wide smile and flashed long eyelashes. He completely ignored it.
"Hamai Misa and her husband. Where are they?"
Pouting slightly (she was hoping that her smile worked), the receptionist tapped manicured nails over a keyboard to the side of her. "Are you a relative?"
"Their son".
She was put off by his brevity, and didn't bother to hide it. "Fourth floor, Emergency Internal Injuries at the North building" She said coolly. "They're undergoing surgerical procedures right now, so you might not be able to see them."
"That's fine." He left as stone-faced as he came. The receptionist sighed after him. What a pity. He was pretty cute, despite the poker face.
But at the moment, he couldn't care less how anyone thought of him. He passed by the elevators in favor of the stairs by the side and rushed up, relying on the thrice weekly workouts at the Stairmaster. 3rd floor….4th! He shoved the heavy door open.
And nearly tripped over something.
At that moment, Len couldn't tell who was more shocked. Himself …or the little girl he'd just ran over.
Big golden eyes just shades lighter than his own blinked from between a curtain of the grimiest hair he'd ever seen. But that was all he took in before she took one frightened look at him, and ran off.
He had barely had time to register surprise before two navy blurs ran past him. "Hey kid! Kid! WAIT DAMMIT!"
Thick cop shoes thudded against the bright linoleum of the hospital floor before the bigger of the two managed to outstrip his partner and caught the little girl's arm. She cried out, and started to struggle.
"Hold still! Hold still dammit!" Red faced, the cop tightened his grip, ignoring her whimper of pain.
"Marty!" His partner, a tired looking female wearing the same navy uniform as Marty, wretched the little girl's arm away. "She's a kid! Watch it, would you?"
Len watched the kid try to squirm away from the female cop. "I'm not happy about babysitting either" she continued "but we have to watch over her until the translator comes!"
"Damn chinks" Marty growled, loud enough for half the hall to hear. Several people glared at him. "Who gives a shit about them? Look at how dirty this kid is!" And indeed, the woman was holding her as far away as possible. "Throw her into the river, that's what I say, and screw that translating crap."
Meanwhile, the girl was crying, her face as red as Marty's from exertion. "Otou-san! Otou-san!"
The cop holding her looked down uncertainly. "We called for a Chinese translator, but Marty, you sure she's Chinese?"
Marty sneered. "Hell, Leanne, you know gooks. They're all the same."
Feeling sorry for the little girl, as well as disgust for the blatant racism the cop was so proud of, Len stalked over to them, and before Leanne could say anything else, wrenched the little girl's arm from her grasp. He gave them a hard look. "You're scaring her."
Marty's red face turned, if anything, even redder. "Hey, pal, this is official police business. P-O-L-I-C-E. Butt out if you know what's good for you."
"I'm surprised a redneck like you even knows how to spell, never mind pass the police examination" Len said coldly. "But if you want to play power games, then give me your badge number, and we'll see just how your superior likes police brutality from his own subordinates. In a hospital, no less." Ignoring Marty's sputter of outrage, Len turned his attention to the little girl he had by the arm.
Shock had momentarily robbed her of speech, but she looked no less apprehensive at this new, strange turn of events. Len bent down so that he was facing her, and said in Japanese, "Crying won't help you, chibi".
She stared at him in shock. Out of the corner of his eye, Len saw Marty step forward and open his mouth, undoubtedly to spew out more bullshit, but Leanne stopped him. He turned his attention back to the little girl.
"But, Kaho is scared" she whispered in response. "Daddy's gone missing. And Kaho doesn't know who these strange people are."
"Then why did you follow them?" Len demanded.
"They dragged Kaho out. In a big car with flashing lights. Kaho doesn't know English" she added, still whispering "So she doesn't know what those mean people are saying."
Len was in a hurry to see how his parents were doing, but he couldn't abandon a little kid with two cops, one with blood in his eye. He stood up and addressed the less idiotic of the two. "She doesn't understand you. This little girl doesn't know English. And she's Japanese, so your Chinese translator won't be able to help you."
Marty snorted.
Apparently, Leanne sensed that Len's boiling point was reaching his peak. She pulled out some change from her pocket. "Marty, go downstairs, and get us some coffee. And a soda" she added, looking at Kaho. "Take your time."
"What? Do I look like a servant, Leanne?"
"You'd make a better one than a cop" Len muttered. Leanne pretended not to hear him.
"Please, Marty. Go take a break." He ambled off, grumbling. "Don't forget my coffee!"
She rubbed at her eyes, before turning back to Len and the little girl. She nodded for them to follow. They walked down the hall, Len dragging Kaho by her hand, before they sat in a sitting area, stacked with hard plastic chairs.
"Sorry about Marty" said Leanne. "You get good cops, and you get bad cops. Marty, he's just…he's just a loser cop. But" she sighed. "It's not like we can pick our own partners." She crossed navy clad legs, short blunt nails tapping at the edge of her seat. Len said nothing.
"Anyways," she continued "There was an accident, and a man got ran over. He's dead. The only identification we could find was a card with his address and name on it. She was the only one we found there, but as we can't understand her, and she can't understand us, we had a hell of a job convincing her to come with us. We don't know if there was anyone else" she added defiantly "or else we would have bought them instead but…but I don't think there is."
Len listened to all this with his customary silence. He looked at the little girl seated beside him. She was looking down, legs swinging.
"Would you like me to act as your translator?" The words were out of his mouth before he even though about it.
"Well, normally we couldn't" said a very harassed looking Leanne "But, seeing as how she responds to you…besides, we'd have a hell of a time explaining why we needed to call up another translator when we already had one." She tried to summon up a smile. "Headquarters aren't very tolerant of mistakes. But" she tapped a small voice recorder pinned to her lapel "we're gonna have to record this." She flicked it on.
"Hmm." Len didn't bother to say anything. He still didn't forget Marty and his nasty generalizations. But he thought, nose wrinkled, that idiot was right about one thing. She needs a bath.
He addressed the limp, oily hair. "Chibi." Her head swung up, and she blinked luminous eyes at him. The effect was startling even with a dirty face. "Got a name?"
"Mou. Haven't you been listening? It's Kaho. Hino Kahoko.". She swung her legs harder against the seat beneath her. Len could see that she was gradually relaxing around him, and for some explicable reason, it pleased him. He didn't let it show though.
"How old are you, Hino Kahoko?"
"Kaho is four. Four!" She stuck up for stubby fingers and waved them around. "Where is Daddy?" she added.
Len looked around at Leanne. "She says her name is Kahoko Hino. That's first name last." Leanne took out a pad and started to scribble. "Four years. She's asking for her father."
Leanne eyed Kaho for a minute. "Four years old only? Ask her if she has any other relatives."
Len conveyed the question. Kaho shook her head. "It's only Kaho and Daddy, even though Daddy isn't around a lot. Daddy said that Mommy's in 'Heaven' and that she isn't coming back. But he said he would be back today. Where is Daddy?"
"No one" said Len "And she claims her father is missing". Leanne pushed back her curtain of black hair. "She's the only one?"
"Isn't that what I just said?"
She shrugged, but before she could say anything, Marty reappeared. "Still at it?" he sneered. "Why don't you just get it over with, Leanne, and tell the brat that her father is dead?"
Leanne struggled against her irritation. "She's four, Marty. How is she supposed to handle that?"
"Her problem." His sneer widened. " You should also tell her that her father killed himself, and took down two others while he was at it! Then again" he said, thoughtfully. "They were both chinks as well, weren't they Leanne? Had some weird ass scribbles for names, and a Mercedes, but that didn't help them when the SOB decided to jump in front of them. Still ended up dying, didn't they?"
"Marty!" Leanne had jumped up, shaking red. "Where is your sensitivity?"
But in contrast to her flushing face, Len's was as pale as paper, and he also sprang up. Beside him, Kaho went still.
"What did you say?" said Len. His voice was quiet, but held tremendous power to it. Marty's sneer slipped off his face.
"What," he said, "d'you have a problem against Mercedes?"
Len rounded onto a startled Leanne. "Those two people in the Mercedes…was the license plate WB4-XT7? New York license plates?"
He watched her riffle up pages , with a sick feeling of dread lying hard as a rock at the pit of his stomach. He saw her hand shake. "Yes…how did you know?"
"And was…" he had to swallow for this one. "Was the woman's name… Hamai Misa?"
Her eyes widened, and Len got his answer. He swiveled back to Marty. "You bastard!"
But before his fist could make contact with Marty's face, two pairs of hands held him back. Leanne had dropped her pad and closed both fists over his collar. "You can't! Cop assault could land you in prison!"
But it wasn't the idea of going into prison that stopped him. It was the other hand that was gripping his coat.
"Onii-chan. You mustn't." Kaho said, her eyes pleading. She had jumped out of her chair the moment she saw Len's coat whip around, and had grabbed the tail end of it. "Okaa-san said that violence is bad."
Marty, his face as white as Len's was, backed away and tripped over a chair.
Len rarely lost control like that, and was shocked that he had. In public no less. But if what the fat idiot said was true…"I want to see my parents."
Leanne nodded. "Of course. We were waiting for you, actually." She looked at Kaho apprehensively. "They're with her dad. We'll need both of you to identify all three victims." She held out a hand, but Kaho must have preferred Len; she stuck to his pants leg like glue. Shrugging, she pulled Marty up and they began to walk.
They followed Leanne into a room. "There was no time to move them to the morgue" she explained. "So this'll have to make do". She gave Kaho that same strangely apprehensive look, and looked as if she was about to say something. But in the end, she pulled up the blinds that blocked the window.
Len stood frozen, his eyes stuck on the forms of his mother and his father, both covered up to their chins with a white sheet. He wasn't fooled; the sheet wasn't just to preserve their modesty. They were there also to hide the extend of the damage the car must have done to their bodies.
But Hino wasn't as lucky.
He too had a white sheet pulled up to his neck, but there, the resemblance ended. His nose was a mess of shattered cartridge, and half of his face was crushed in. The medics tried to clean off the blood, but traces of it lingered, and his mouth was opened so that half of his teeth was visible. The other half was missing, and the gums were bloody and scratched.
Kaho gave a low moan of horror. "Otou-san!"
"We couldn't have covered his face" Leanne said miserably. "We needed someone to identify him."
Len was sickened, but he imagined that it was nowhere near what Kaho felt. Her face was completely bleached underneath the dirt, and her eyes were so wide, they looked as if they'd fall out of her face in a moment. "Well" he said "You've got it." He hoisted Kaho up, and, ignoring the dirt, pressed her face against his shoulder. "Don't look" he told her. He felt her nod, arms creeping around his neck in a stranglehold. They filed outside, Len still holding Kaho.
"When will their bodies be released?"
"A couple of weeks. We have to finish up some paperwork and then…we'll released them."
"Right." Len felt the hard lump explode into hot lava in his stomach. "Well then. Are we still required to stay?"
"We still need you to answer a couple of questions. We'll make it fast" Leanne said bracingly. "We're sorry for your loss."
Len looked at Marty, slouched against the wall, mouth wide open in a yawn. "I'm sure you are."
Half an hour later, they wrapped up the interview. Len was thoroughly drained, and wanted nothing more than to go back home, and wallow. Although no one could see it, the loss of his parents hit him hard.
Throughout the interview, Kaho had kept herself wrapped around Len like an ivy, and Len hadn't wanted to let her go in any case. It came as a complete surprise, but having something tangible to hold in his arms while going through Leanne's probing made it easier for him.
He was told that witnesses who saw the crash saw a man suddenly run out into the crowded traffic area, and that his parents had tried to swerve, but had hit another car instead. It was the car behind theirs that had ran over Hino. In effect, Leanne said, Hamai Misa and her husband was indirectly killed by the father of the girl he held in his lap. But still, Len felt no disgust or hatred towards little Kahoko.
If anything, he felt even sorrier for her.
As they stood up to leave, Leanne peered at Len's face. From the time he'd arrived to now, he had only shown indifference or disgust. Not your business Leanne she thought to herself. She felt dog tired, dealing with the crash and Marty, not to mention the paperwork that's going to follow.
Marty, meanwhile, made as if to pull Kaho off of Len. "Ok kid, you're coming with us".
"Excuse me?" Len pulled out of Marty's reach. Kaho clung tighter to Len's neck. "What exactly do you mean?"
"Party's over" Marty said roughly. "Now you've gotta give the kid to us."
Despite her limited proficiently at English, Kaho must have guessed what Marty wanted. "No, Kaho don't want to! Kaho don't want to! Kaho wants to stay with Onii-chan!"
Len hesitated. "Where are you going to take her?" he asked.
It was Leanne who answered. "That kid? She's an orphan now. We'll have to call up Child Services, and one of their representatives will come pick her up. She'll be a ward of the state. They'll place her with a foster home if there's one open, but it's most likely an orphanage" She gave Kaho an apologetic look. "She's young, but most like to adopt babies."
"An orphanage?" Len looked down at Kaho.
Marty snorted. "Yeah, send the little missy to an orphanage, where she'll suck money out of hard working tax payers. Damn immigrants. They oughta stay in their own country instead of bothering ours."
"Marty!"
"What? It's the truth. You think she'd last a second in an American orphanage? She doesn't even know English, fer crying out loud!"
Kaho felt Len's arms tighten around her, and burrowed her head against his neck in response. As much as Len doesn't want to agree with Marty, he was right. Kaho had lost her mother and father, just like he did. It didn't sit right with him to send her off to an orphanage, where she'd be alone, understanding no one.
But, what else could they do? She had no one to take care of her.
But…
And for the second time that night, almost as if the words were bursting from a stranger's lip, Len felt his mouth move of its own accord.
"I'll take her."