*EDIT*

Hello! We decided to edit this story since I couldn't sleep because of typos and things like that. Risies probably agreed to it to end my grumbling.

So we wanted to say:

English isn't our first language so we are very sorry if we made some mistakes, we tried our best.

We really like "Noblesse" and wanted to write this fanfic. We've read some stories about characters finding kids and… well… here we are.

Fran is our OC, but hopefully you will not hate her – she's just a kid. We tried to make characters IC as much as we could.

So read and review, pretty please?

Disclamer: We don't own "Noblesse". Though we are trying to steal the rights. Huehueheue.

~Niniufa~ & ~Risies~

Chapter 1: "Not on my watch!"

~M-21's POV~

It was freaking cold. My breath was turning into clouds of steam in the freezing cold air as I walked home with Tao and Takeo after our job. Tao blew on his hands, muttering something that he should have taken his gloves. I rolled my eyes and shook head a little.

"Just a few more minutes and we will be at home, Tao." Takeo tried to console him.

The street was empty, there was no one around. Just us. Probably everyone was sitting in warmth, drinking hot tea or something, making fun of poor idiots that had to walk in this cold… idiots like us. I sighed and gritted my teeth, quickening my pace and leaving Tao and Takeo a few steps behind me. It wasn't snowing very hard, but there were some snowflakes all over my hair and scarf. As I was shoving them away my eyes fell on something weird.

Near a wall, next to a huge icicle, there was something colorful. That was strange. Although it could be anything, like some paper on an animal, it gave me an odd feeling of anxiety. I wanted to ignore it and just go ahead when Tao approached me. "What are you staring at, M-21?" he asked, glancing in the same direction and gasped. "What is it? Looks like a figure…" Tao's eyes narrowed. "Takeo, can you see what is it?"

The man with long hair nodded. "It's a child. I think it's a girl. But she doesn't move at all… maybe… Do you think that this kid could freeze to death? After all, it's really cold…" he muttered sadly.

I sighed and started to walk toward the small figure. To froze to death… This kind of death was just too cruel for a little kid. Wanting it or not, I started to imagine the last moments of that child, who probably fell asleep with relief, being sure that at some point she would wake up in a warm bed, but… what awaited her was only a cold grave. With this scene in my mind, I was sure I could kill a person who has left her here. It was so much easier to focus on that sudden hatred than to look closer at her. But now that I came closer, I had to do it. I knelt before her, but couldn't look her in the eyes. I took her hand and lifted it slowly, as if she was a delicate doll or something. Then, almost without me noticing, a small smile appeared on my lips. "She's alive." I stated and both of them sighed with relief.

"Who could leave here such a small child?" Tao was observing her carefully. "She looks like she's been here for a quite long time."

Gingerly, I took the girl in my arms as if she was made of porcelain. She weighed as much as a feather. Her eyelids twitched slightly and she slowly opened her eyes – eyes as blue as the sky. "Hey there, kid. I'll take you to a warm place, all right?" I said, holding her tightly.

"U… Uh-huh…" she mumbled absently and I wasn't sure if it was a respond or just some random sound. Her voice was quieter than a snowfall.

After I walked some distance, I realized that my whole body was shaking. I was afraid. Afraid that I would lose her here, that someone would die in my arms just because I wasn't quick enough. Too many people dear to me died. I've felt a fear like this before, but this time it was different. Presumably, that was because in the same moment I was imagining how happy would I be if we do save her in time. Having decided that it would be best to first get her to our home and then let the owner of the house examine her, I've started running. The girl blinked few times and opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but forgot how to do it. Then I occurred to me that maybe she wasn't strong enough to be able to do so. I heard Tao's and Takeo's footsteps behind me as they tried to catch up. Fortunately, after a while, I saw a familiar building. I almost stumbled from the relief that I felt and somehow managed to get close to the door. Holding the child with one arm I opened the door with my free hand and ran inside like a mad man.

"M-21!" the house owner, Frankenstein, showed up in the hall. "What is this noise? Why are you so late?" he frowned with disapproval. "Were there any pro-" he broke off abruptly, noticing the girl in my arms. "Who is she?"

"We found her sitting on the street in this cold. All alone. She wasn't moving and we didn't want her to freeze, so… we took her with us…" intervened Takeo as soon as he closed the door and took off his coat.

The blond man didn't answer and was just staring at the little kid. He finally sighed deeply. "Who would leave such a small child outside in this weather? People now are heartless." He shook his head and held out his arms to take her away from me. "Give her to me, I'll examine her quickly."

Suddenly, I felt resentment. I didn't want to give her to him. I found her, I brought her here and I felt responsible for her, yet I knew I should hive her to him for her own good. I forced my hands and the trembling child was in the house owner's embrace. I let out a heavy sigh when he quickly disappeared and walked into my bedroom, hoping that the girl would be all right.

Later, I groaned slightly. What was before my eyes was clearly just a purple blanket, but mentally I was still somewhere in my dream. The dream was kind of silly, there were nothing but… the blinding whiteness and two petite black figures, one of a small girl standing alone and one of a boy who was constantly running toward her, but couldn't reach her. Was this girl… crying? The dream ended there and I couldn't tell for sure if what I saw was a shining tear or maybe a ray of sunshine which just got into my eye. I felt like something was clutching onto my waist, but I ignored it. Then my chaotic thoughts made up a whole.

Oh yeah, we saved that girl from being frozen yesterday. I wonder how she feels now. She's probably happy that she finally got to sleep in a warm place… Good thing that we've had this spare sleeping bag… The house owner said she wasn't ill, just tired and cold so he gave her some warm milk before putting her to sleep…

I felt like something was squeezing me again. I turned around and saw a few blond strands of hair on my sheet. I instantly threw the blanket off. "The hell…!" I said, surprised. Burying her face in my waist, the little girl from yesterday was sleeping peacefully. She had come to me at night? I didn't even notice. Should I move or not? I didn't want to wake her up, but on the other hand… I really had to get up. I sighed and decided to lie down for fem more minutes.

Suddenly, I heard a shout and Tao came running to my room. Tsk, so noisy… "M-21! Our little miss disappeared somewhere, she isn't in…" he paused when he saw the child curled up in a small ball on my bed. "What's she doing here?" he asked, clearly confused.

I carefully shrugged my shoulders. "No idea. Probably she just had come here at night."

"Tao smiled like a Cheshire Cat. "I think this little miss likes you. Just… let her sleep for a little while longer." He said, grinning to himself as he went out of the room.

I shook my head and closed my eyes. This time, I didn't have any visions, I wan only relaxing. I could seal away my thoughts if I want to. I was so calm and comfortable… that is, until I've heard some gurgling sounds. I tried to ignore them, but after few minutes it became just too irritating. I moved here and there, searching for something I could cover my ears with. Then, when I moved the blanket, I saw it. A pair of huge blue eyes staring at my face. Firstly I wanted to avoid eye contact with her, but I just couldn't help but look her in the eyes too. Oh, how I wanted to suddenly cry out "Boo!" or something, it tempted me so much. Just when I was about to do it, another of this grumbling sounds echoed in the room. The girl was still staring at me, sucking her thumb.

Well, might as well feed the child. "Hungry?" I asked, just to be sure. She nodded slightly. Again, her stomach growled loudly. For some reason I chuckled and got out of bed quickly. I looked at her from above. I don't know much about children, but this girl seemed to be even too small for a normal child – as if she didn't eat much or something. "Can you get up?" After a moment of thinking, she slipped out of bed and stood next to me. I opened the door and motioned to her that she had to go with me. The girl was walking so quietly that I didn't even hear her footsteps. We came to the kitchen where the house owner was preparing some tea. "I think she's hungry." I told him, taking a mug and filled it with coffee.

He looked at me from above the teacup he was holding. "Really? And you recognized it after…?"

The girl's stomach growled again and she looked slightly upset.

"Now you know." I chuckled and drunk my coffee then put the empty mug on a countertop. The blond man sighed and took out a frying pan and some eggs. I glanced down to a figure in a way too big black pajamas – it was one of my T-shirts. "Hey, prepare to eat something really delicious. Your breakfast is going to be ready in a minute." I said and then frowned. She clearly wasn't paying attention, instead she tried to climb a chair. I rolled my eyes and was observing her with amusement for a moment. Despite failing a few times she didn't give up. Her attempts were quite amusing, as the chair was really small and ordinary. I approached her, lifted her and placed on the chair. The child looked at me with overjoyed blue eyes and I was already prepared to respond "you're welcome" to her thanks, but she… jumped off the chair. Then, she glanced at me expectantly, holding out her tiny arms. "So that's what it was about." What could I do? I lifted her again, but this time when she was in the air she noticed something on the floor and began to swing her legs. I put her down and she examined the floor carefully, walking on all fours. She found something and was ready to put it in her mouth. "Don't do that!" I exclaimed and took from her something that turned out to be a rubber band. "How is the breakfast?" I asked, trying to stay impassive.

He glanced at me. "Well, I should end in few minutes. Try to keep an eye on her so she won't swallow anything. She could choke." He said, turning his back to me.

I shrugged my shoulders. And what was I doing? Tsk… Meanwhile, the girl laughed softly and ran out of the kitchen. "Hey, get back here!" I shouted and rushed after her. She ran into the living room where Tao, Takeo and He were. As soon as Tao and Takeo saw the girl, they threw amused looks at me. He just calmly sipped his tea, not paying attention to anything. And the little kid rushed toward Takeo, smiling widely.

"Well, what do you want?" he leaned over to her, smiling slightly. His hair fell over his face and I think she liked it, because she touched it gently and laughed again.

"I think she likes your hair, Takeo." Giggled Tao, clapping his hands. "Aw, she's adorable."

Then, she started playing under the table. I was ready to jump after her, but I managed to stop myself from doing that and shook my head in disbelief. Sure, everything must be new to her and she could easily hurt herself… but that doesn't change the fact that I, M-21, was being overprotective of some little child I barely knew. Come to think about it, we didn't even know her name… Just what were we supposed to call her? "Hey, kiddo!" I leaned and looked under the table. "What's your name?"

"Don't have any." She said without looking at me, too busy with playing.

"What? Well… everybody has a name." Tao stopped smiling and narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Hym…" I muttered.

"Oh… Sorry." He turned back to me, looking a bit embarrassed.

"I don't mind, but maybe we could make up something for this girl." I was surprised how determinate I sounded. So confident. How it could be heard that it was an important matter. "I mean… I… Something temporary. For the time she stays with us. Until we… find her parents." Did kid's eyes got a little bit darker as I said it or was it just my feel? Anyway, Tao seemed to be very excited with the idea.

"Oh yeah! I've always loved making up names! We should call her something… princess-like, 'cause she is like out little princess, right? Maybe Arabella or Claudetta or Charlotte or…"

"No way!" I shouted immediately.

"Not on my watch." Takeo rolled his eyes. The girl just smiled brightly, but she seemed a bit confused.

Tao pouted and folded his arms on his torso. "So, what are your ideas?" he demanded to know.

"Hm… It should be short."

"And why's that?"

"Short names are cute."

The hacker frowned. "For example?"

The long-haired man just shook his head. "Maybe… Rue or Kea…? These names are pretty cute, I think."

"Kea? It's a parrot!"

"So what? I like parrots and it sounds cute!"

"Parrots suck! We're not going to call out little miss after some bird!"

I sighed. "Oh, come on. Why don't we just call her some regular, pretty name, like…" "Ann or Kate" I wanted to finish, but I wouldn't be heard anyway. Tao and Takeo started a riot for good and were in the middle of scratching each other.

"Frankenstein" He suddenly said and they silenced in an instant. "More tea."

Silence filled the room.

"Oh, of course, I'll make you another one at once." The blond man answered from the kitchen.

The black-haired man looked at the child, who was nor rolling on the carpet in all possible directions.

"Wait. Wait!" Tao jumped up and snapped his fingers. "What did he said?"

"What? That thing about his tea?" Takeo cocked his head to the side.

"No, before that!"

Now all of us, minus the man who was patiently waiting for his new cup of tea, were looking completely puzzled.

"He didn't say anything."

"No, he said! It was… it was…"

"Well, he called out to Frankenstein."

"YEEEES! That's it!" Tao pointed a finger at the girl with a wide grin on his face. "Fran! That will be her name! Fran!"

"Fine with me." Said Takeo while smiling.

"Sounds nice." The house owner smirked slightly when he entered the room with a new cup of tea for Him. "I approve."

"Hn." He closed his eyes, but somehow I could feel that he was agreeing too.

"Quite good." I nodded. "What do you think, Fran?"

Suddenly, we heard a loud grumbling. Takeo frowned and looked around. "What was that? A Godzilla?"

"Oh right… you're hungry…"

So this is the first chapter. R&R, please~!