A-chan!
Adaptation from Yo-chan!
By Elise the Writing Desk, Characters by QuinRose
December 14th 2013


Vivaldi's eyes were wide at the sight before here, consisted her irritating, stoic rival, Gray Ringmarc, who was carrying a child in his arms. Her fingers shivered as she picked one to point accusingly at him.

"Ringmarc...d-don't tell me...that's your daughter...?" she was still shocked to see the little girl who seemed to haven't been able to even speak coherently for her age.

He just blinked his bored golden eyes. "I found her in the woods. Because she's so cute, I picked her up..." he rambled on with his trademark neutral face, successfully dropped Vivaldi's jaw.

"Freak! What the hell were you thinking!? She's a human's child, idiot!"

"I'm not that stupid, Crims. Of course she's a human's child, not a monkey's...geez..." he rolled his eyes cynically.

Vivaldi smacked her own forehead, unable to grasp the way of thinking of the young man before her. Gray Ringmarc's head was probably a messy labyrinth. First of all, that's a freaking child he's taking! Secondly, you can't just pick something in the woods just because it's cute! Not to mention that kid's not a cat!

"Now, now, cute one, from now on, I'll call you A-chan. And you call me Mommy, okay?" Gray asked, kneeling to the kid's height, faintly blushing from excitement. Gray's always excited with cute things, and now he just looked like a creepy lolicon.

"Hey! She's not a cat! Lord's sake, let's go report to the Lost and Found Centre..."

"What do you take A-chan for? A luggage...?" Gray sighed, but followed the purplette anyway.

Eventually, Vivaldi reported the little kid, and they were asked to wait until evening. Even so, no one picked up the announcement after hours. It was even more difficult since A-chan was just a toddler, so she couldn't speak well.

"Ah, you there!" one of the station workers approached them. "I don't think her parents would come and pick her up soon. We've been trying to trace the whole station...all we could find was this." he handed a picture to the teens.

Vivaldi and Gray stared at the picture. It was a picture of A-chan and her mother, with Castle Square as the background, which means they were in Lincoln.

Suddenly, Gray had raised A-chan with his hands and turned around happily.

"A-chan~ I think this means we'll be living together from now on~"

SMACK

"Don't be such an idiot...that means we'll have to look for this kid's mother, jeez..." Vivaldi grumbled impatiently, pointing at the woman in the picture.

"Then where's A-chan going to stay...?" Gray tilted his head. "You know yourself what kind of place Shrewsbury is...right?"

England wasn't the safest place. Of course it wasn't like anything horrible that could happen at the borderland of Ireland, but vandalism could happen in small towns. Vivaldi had just moved from Slovakia, so she was quite accustomed to this style, and Gray himself was Irish. Both knew that Europe wasn't so wonderful when it's dark and crowdless.

Vivaldi sighed in defeat. "Well then, we should take her to the dorm, I guess..."

~.X.~

"...Oh, my Gosh, Gray, Vivaldi...YOU HAVE A DAUGHTER!? How long have you married!? Did you even marry each other!?"

"She's not my daughter." Gray said, getting agreeing nods from Vivaldi. "...She's my pet." and this made him got smacked by the purplette.

Their dorm is the co-ed type, girls and boys lived together there. It was expected that they couldn't keep anything a secret in this place. The whole dorm freaked out to see them bringing a little girl out of nowhere.

Vivaldi quickly explained their situation to the dormers, and her brother, Blood, quickly offered suggestions, one of it being hiring a detective. Gray's bestfriend, Nightmare, offered to help with A-chan's living expenses.

"I mean, it's not a trouble to take care of the detective's money...but you need to take care of this kid together..." Nightmare said with a wry smile.

Blood hummed. "But don't you find it strange that they received no call at all after five hours? Shouldn't parents realize at some point that their child is missing, given such a long time?"

"Yeah, well, we've left our number in case anyone called for A-chan." Gray shrugged, and put the kid on his laps. "Besides, what's so hard about taking care of a child...?"

"Ringmarc," Vivaldi called in a dangerous tone. "...she needs to change her diaper."

Gray blinked and finally realized the rotten smell emitted from A-chan. He then lifted the kid and handed it to Vivaldi.

"You do it."

"...She's your pet, right? Do it yourself!"

"Yeah, but Nightmare said we have to take care of her together..." Gray nodded with a determined face. "I'll take off her diaper, and you clean her up, and I'll put on a new one—wait, we haven't even bought any diaper..."

Ever since that day, Vivaldi and Gray, no matter how much they hated each other, were forced to take care of A-chan together. A-chan slept in Vivaldi's room. The purplette was somewhat happy about it, since A-chan was very cute. However, sometimes she's in a bad mood since her concentration is divided to studying, taking care of A-chan, and nervously expecting a call.

Gray had become a regular in Vivaldi's room. Before Vivaldi would snap at him if he's within her range. She had been so irritated by the guy because he's always so expressionless and nonchalant, and once in the past, Vivaldi got into an accident because she couldn't cross the road on her own, and Gray didn't care. Now, she saw a different side of Gray.

He's very attentive to A-chan, and spoke to the little girl as friends instead of older person, as if he understood what's happening to her. Gray's an oddball that Vivaldi found to be hard to understand, so it was quite a new sight.

The other dormers would just smile everytime they saw the three together; laughing, arguing or taking care of A-chan. Without them realizing it, the two were brought together by a little kid.

Or so they thought. Since Gray fully realized this.

...And he's secretly happy about it.

~.X.~

"Milk." A-chan clapped her hands. It had been a week, and A-chan had learned several words such as; 'beauty', 'ugly', 'hag', 'milk', 'stupid', 'idiot', 'sexy', 'handsome', 'penis', 'vagina', 'ducks'...well, you can say that teenager's dormitory isn't the best place for children's growth.

"Oh, you want milk, A-chan?" Gray smiled gently. "What milk? Do you want cow's milk or mommy's milk?"

"AH-HEM." Vivaldi cleared her throat loudly, feeling embarassed by the guy's antics as usual. The role position was flipped for them; Gray's the mommy, and Vivaldi's the daddy.

"Anyways, it's been a while since we hired the detective, but there's still nothing..." she sighed. "Lincoln isn't somewhere at the other side of the earth or anything..."

Gray kept combing A-chan's thin, soft hair with his long fingers gently.

He suddenly spoke up with a serious tone.

"What do we do...if A-chan is stuck with us forever?"

Vivaldi frowned sadly as she stared at A-chan. A-chan, whose age wasn't confirmed whether she's 2 or 3 years old. A-chan, whose birthday was unknown to them. A-chan, whose father's whereabout was unknown—they didn't even know if he's dead or alive. A-chan...who might have two sad conclusions in her fate.

Her parents might be dead.

Or worse...Vivaldi thought in fear...it was a child's neglect.

"Daddy?" A-chan yelped and crawled away from Gray, asking to sit on Vivaldi's laps. "Dadadadadada!" Vivaldi glanced away shyly, unable to look at Gray.

Gray pursed his lips, irritated. He stared at A-chan straight. "Not Daddy, A-chan. Not Daddy, but Granny."

A vein popped.

"You wanna fight...?" Vivaldi cracked her knuckles.

"Well, I'm her mommy...why would I want you to be her daddy...geez..." Gray said this though blushing faintly. Vivaldi became self-conscious and angry from his words.

A-chan went up again and hugged Gray, who said; "A-chan, if you're going to be my daughter...don't have Vivaldi as your father, please...I can't bear to marry her."

"That's my line, you idiot." Vivaldi deadpanned.

"Crims...?"

"What."

"A-chan is too young to remember her parents." Gray said, patting the little girl's head. "If we do find her parents, A-chan would probably not recognize them...and so, she'll think that we're her real parents, right?"

"So what?" Vivaldi was a bit irritated. "A-chan might cry so loud, but there's nothing we can do about it; she has to go with her real parents...and soon, she'll just forget about us." she ended her words with a little sadness.

"Hmm..." Gray nodded sullenly. "It's already eight...You should take A-chan to bed."

Vivaldi stood up from the lounge and took A-chan into her arms. She left the lounge, while Gray watched them sadly.

What if everything returned to the way it used to be if A-chan is gone?

~.X.~

The morning after, Vivaldi was awakened by A-chan's cry. The toddler tried to shake the teen in her sleep.

"Daddy! Daaddy!" she cried.

Vivaldi shot up awake. "Wh-What is it, A-chan?" she gasped.

"Mommy, mommy, momomomomom!" A-chan whined, asking to go to Gray with teary face. Vivaldi sighed in relief—it'd be worse if the kid got hungry or had to change diaper, so she gladly brought A-chan out.

They found Gray in the lounge with Blood and Nightmare. He quickly noticed them, and stood up, approaching them and picked A-chan into his arms.

"Let's go to Lincoln." he said, holding a piece of paper. "We're going to look for A-chan's mother."

Vivaldi frowned in confuse. "Huh...? Are you for serious?" she wasn't sure if she's prepared for this.

Blood called Gray again. "Ringmarc, have you considered the mother's feelings?"

Gray stared at A-chan for a while. "Don't worry." he smiled to Blood, and turned to Vivaldi. "Let's go right away."

"Okay...Let me wash my face a bit."

That morning, they bought a ticket for a train that departs one hour later. Vivaldi bought sandwiches and some coffee, while Gray reserved a bench as he fed A-chan with bottle milk. Vivaldi began to eat her sandwich for a while, and then handed it to Gray.

"Here, have breakfast..." she said, and Gray bit her sandwich casually.

Vivaldi might not realize this, but Gray was fully aware that they looked like a family. They had gotten used to eat while taking care of A-chan, and Vivaldi would always feed Gray while Gray feeds A-chan.

Gray smiled sadly at the thought that; once A-chan is gone, Vivaldi wouldn't feed him like this anymore.

"Jesus Christ...how old are they?"

"...Having a baby in such a young age...hm, what a silly generation..."

Vivaldi laughed nervously. "Ha ha, since A-chan comes, our relationship becomes weirder, huh?"

Gray scoffed. "Do we even have a relationship?" he said out of denial, but it stung Vivaldi right away. "Anyway, the detective had found her address. The mother couldn't come here, so we have to bring A-chan there instead."

A-chan struggled out of Gray's arms, making her bottle fall.

"Oh, okay..." Vivaldi shrugged, catching the bottle in reflex. "Should I clean her a little?" she asked.

Gray shook his head. "No, just use the baby powder..."

Finally their train departed to Lincoln. Gray played around with A-chan as usual, but Vivaldi was restless. She was confused. Gray didn't seem like he wanted to be apart from A-chan, and vice versa...but then, why would he be the one so eager to return the girl to her mother?

Is there a reward? Money? Car? Jetplane?

As they arrived, Gray pulled out the paper from earlier, which showed the mother's address. They followed it, and was led to an old, creaky apartment. Vivaldi and Gray felt uneasy about entering when the apartment owner let them in. They went to A-chan's mother's door, and hesitated.

"Should I...?" Vivaldi asked, and Gray nodded. She knocked the door.

"Who...?" the door was opened a little, and a woman appeared. The same woman from the picture! A-chan's mother!

"Um, madam, we have your daughter." Vivaldi waved her hand to A-chan who was holding Gray's hand tightly, staring at her own mother with a neutral face since she didn't recognize her. "Yes, you must be. You're the same from the picture."

Suddenly, the door was slammed close, and they could hear that woman screamed; "What on the bloody hell is wrong with you!? I left her at Shrewsbury! Don't take that bastard's child back to me!"

Vivaldi's heart fell. If A-chan was old enough, she couldn't imagine how hurt the girl would be, hearing such things from her own mother. She then knocked the door angrily.

"You can't possibly do that! I can report this to police! She's your responsibility!"

"Mind your own business!" the woman yelled back, locking her door. "Take Alice to an orphanage then! Or wherever you want her, just not me! I don't care!"

"Ma'am, we're trying to be kind here—"

"Sure, be kind by leaving me the hell alone!"

Angrily, Vivaldi kicked the door, then picked A-chan—or Alice, into her arms and stomped out of the apartment. They walked to the Castle Square in silence and sat on a bench. Gray hadn't said anything, and Vivaldi finally realized why.

"You know this would happen, didn't you?" she sharply said to him. "You know she neglected A-chan—I mean, Alice...then...why'd you come this far!?"

Gray smiled sadly and looked down at the little girl between them.

"Sorry...I did something bad..." he sighed. "I was just making sure that she didn't want her daughter anymore...because I don't want to give A-chan...I mean...Alice away." the teen hugged the little girl affectionately.

Vivaldi frowned as she saw Gray looked lonely. "Gray..."

Gray stared at the castle before them. "Because...I was the same with Alice." his hand ruffled the dark blonde's hair. "But when my mother left me...I was a big enough to remember everything. I was taken to the orphanage, because I was left at the airport or a week...they even hired a detective too...but then the nurse said that I'll have to stay with them for a while..."

He chuckled and glanced to Vivaldi with a mischievous stare.

"That woman's apartment is so horrible, isn't it? That woman seems unhealthy...she's probably hasn't eaten for days. I think she left Alice because she can't take care of her and couldn't bear to see her suffer."

Vivaldi listened with mixed feelings; she's in disbelief, anger and sadness. She never knew that Gray had been an oddball, unable to communicate and a loner because he was neglected and had been living in the orphanage.

Alice crawled to Vivaldi's laps and pointed at her. "Beauty!" Gray chuckled and began to speak again.

"The nurse in the orphanage said to me...my mom did a horrible thing for my own good...because she wanted me to be happy. It's the same with Alice's mother." he beamed at Vivaldi.

"Only, we have to make sure that she's happy."

Vivaldi giggled and smiled at Gray. "Okay, then! I'm sure Alice would be happy to have you as a father, right Alice?"

Alice giggled and jumped off the bench to run around on the square. Gray scoffed and stood up to follow the girl, but then loudly said;

"Obviously...A-chan is must be happy to have us as mommy and daddy...right, A-chan?"

"Sexy!" Alice yelped, and Vivaldi laughed.

And then, stopped. Suddenly, her face felt hot.

"Wait...Gray, what did you just say...?"

"Look, Alice, a goat." Gray randomly said, pointing somewhere, despite there couldn't possibly any goat in a square.

"Handsome!" Alice exclaimed excitedly.

"Idiot..." Vivaldi smiled shyly.

In the end, they're stuck with Alice. However, Vivaldi learned precious lessons from Alice's presence. Sometimes, we had to do horrible things to make others happy. And it wasn't something easy to do. But of course...doing something good to make others happy...is much more fun.

~.X.~

"Mooom!" Alice whined, running to the kitchen. "Can you believe what's dad got for me?"

"But, Alice, this is for your own good. I really can't trust you with that Ace guy. Really, Blood likes you, and he's better, you know? ...But no, he's still a bastard. Nightmare is better. He's kind and weak, so he probably can't do anything...but then he's probably going to die next week. Actually, I don't want you to date anyone after all." Gray rambled as he held panties with lockpad.

Vivaldi facepalmed. "Gray, I'm happy that you're so worried about Alice's well being, but...she's seventeen now...it's not like she'll off to date a guy and marry him..."

"And why are you trying to set me up with your friends!? They're fourteen years older than me..." Alice huffed. "Oh, look, worms." she happily scooped the spaghetti into her mouth. "Mm, they're still alive..."

"Here, the bat's blood will make them tastier..." Vivaldi said with a horror face as she poured the bolognaisse sauce to the spaghetti.

Gray joined and picked up some meatballs. "And have some eyeballs too. They're good for you."

"So," Vivaldi asked, taking their dinner to the table, and the two followed her. "Who lost last night's UNO game?"

"Al—"

"Dad did."

"Alice, what did I told you about lying?"

"I didn't lie!"

"Gray, that means you're sleeping on the couch again."

"Mom, why can't you and dad sleep together anyway?"

Gray and Vivaldi exchanged stares, and then, laughed.

"Well..."

"We're not married."

"...Yet."


I hope I won't get bashed for this crack. Let me give you a history lesson here. The reason why I have Gray x Vivaldi pairings in most of my story, can be blamed to FatePwnsYou. (lol) Okay, kind of exagerating, but I got inspired by her fanfic, a simple scene where Gray and Vivaldi (as kids) drank tea together in peace while the other role holders messed up the manor.

Hope you like it...a bit sad story of child-neglect. I really wish this won't happen so much. That's just beyond cruel. Kindly review if you have the time.