Author Note: I have posted this before in Archive of Our Own on my account there. Thought I'd post this here, too since I've neglected this account for so long. This is based on the Alice Mare novel and edited to add Owari no Seraph (or just Yuu) in it. Hints of MikaYuu.

Chapter 1- The Little Alice

"…You have so little XXXX. But I'm taking it anyways!"

"Yeah, take it! No one would ever give me XXXX anyways so just take it all!"

A car had just stopped after driving through the forest. The man with long black hair and black eyes came out of the driver's seat and opened the door at the back of the car. A young boy with black hair and green eyes wearing a black shirt, white hooded jacket designed with three red slash marks above each sleeve and a pair of pants got out and was led to an old building situated in the middle of a forest. The walls surrounding the building were brown and it had a black roof. It looked pretty old but upon going inside, it looked much better with the wide hallways, white walls and brightly-colored floors.

When they got in, another man greeted them "Hey! You're back. Is this the new kid?"

"Yes." the black-haired man answered and then looked at the boy "This is Mr. Cliff. He's a friend of mine and I asked him to take care of the place while I was gone. So, where are the other kids?"

"I told them to stay in their rooms for now but honestly if I wasn't here, they'd already have come running. They were pretty excited hearing there'd be someone new." Mr. Cliff explained "Well, I'd better go. I had a call from work earlier."

"Alright. Thank you very much for your help." The man said as Mr. Cliff said his goodbyes and left

"Come with me." The man who calls himself 'Teacher' led the young boy to his room. The room was a bit of a mess, with stacks of books and papers on the desk. "Alright, Yuu. This place is where you'll be living in from now on. There are certain rules you must follow so please listen."

The boy called 'Yuu' nodded and the teacher started to tell him these rules:

"There's a schedule we follow for things like eating, studying, and sleeping but the rest is free time. You can go outside but only as far as the garden and there's a library upstairs. You can take books from there to your room but you can't take anything from the store room or other people's rooms. You still follow me?" Yuu just nods

"Alright, other than those: don't break anything and don't open any locked doors. If you broke anything, make sure to tell me. And of course, please don't hit anyone. If you need anything or have any problems, you can tell me. Is that clear?"

"Okay."

"Good!" Teacher smiled "But if you ever forget, I made a note here. Place it on your room, alright?"

Yuu was handed a note containing the rules dictated to him earlier. He folded it up and placed it on his pocket. The teacher took something out and handed it over to him as well: an emerald green notebook. "It's your personal notebook. I gave one to all the kids here. Write whatever you want on it, be it your feelings or if you wanted to draw. I'll check on it from time to time."

Leaving the room, the teacher gestured for Yuu to follow him. Walking through the hallways, he was given a little tour of the area before getting to where the rooms would be. Outside the doors, there were four children- three girls and one boy- around Yuu's age talking to each other. Noticing their presence, the children suddenly ran up to them.

"You're here! We didn't notice you come back and is this the new kid?" the silver-haired boy asked as he looked at Yuu

"Hi! What's your name?" the girl with white-hair with purple-reddish highlights asked excitedly, her words coming out too fast showing how cheerful and hyper she was "Wait, wait! Can you speak English? He came from far away, right teacher?"

Teacher let out a small chuckle and answered "Yes, he could. But it's still not his native language so don't use words that are too complicated, alright?"

"We'll be eating dinner soon so please wait here a while. You can all try to get to know each other while you wait." Then he left, leaving Yuu with the other four children who are still observing him

"Hey! The name's Tommy. What's yours?" asked the silver-haired boy who wore a black knit hat with a silver chain on it. He had olive eyes and wore dark-bluish clothes with silver lines.

Before Yuu could answer, the girl with white hair earlier wearing a small black hat, clothes adorned with ribbons and checkered skirt said "That's not your name! His name is Joshua!"

"Letty!" the silver-haired boy called 'Joshua' exclaimed "Why'd you tell him? You should have waited a while longer!"

"Oh, okay. I'm Yuuichirou."

"It's nice to meet you!" the white haired girl shook his hands "I'm Letty! I hope we can play since you now live here! Oh and you should meet Rick but he's sleeping right now so maybe later!"

"Yuu-ichi-rou? Your name's a mouthful!" Joshua said with a grin "Got a nickname?"

"Yuu…" Yuu said quietly

"You? What do you mean me?" asked the confused boy

"No, Yuu. Y-U-U." the dark haired boy exasperatedly explained

"Oh… oh! I get it… it's Yuu!" Joshua ruffled his hair "Sorry 'bout that!"

He shifted his gaze to the other two who hadn't spoken yet. One is a girl with long black hair and red eyes wearing a black one piece and on her head is a white headdress with wine-red ribbons. She didn't seem to want to talk to him at all and the girl beside her had brown hair tied with two circular hairclips on each side. Her outfit is almost all red from top to bottom: the red poncho and a puffy balloon skirt but the front of the skirt is covered by a frilly white apron.

"H-hi…" said the girl in red. She seemed to be very shy as she barely made any eye contact with him and it took a few seconds before she could continue "M-my name is… Chelsy. It's nice to meet you."

He extended his hand and the girl took it, making a very short handshake before she let go and stepped back. "Aww! Chelsy is very shy!" Letty explained

The girl in black still hadn't spoken. Noticing his gaze, Joshua spoke "This girl's name is Stella. She doesn't talk much or at all, actually so don't mind it. I don't think she has anything against anyone, if that's what you're concerned about."

The days passed by uneventfully. Yuu followed the rules laid out to him by Teacher. He's usually alone in his room to read manga unless one of the other kids dragged him out to play which is usually Joshua or Letty. Joshua likes pulling pranks on others and sometimes invites him if to catch frogs or bugs outside which he would only accept if he was bored. He rarely reads books in the library but when he does, it's about fantasy-related things like mythical creatures and he sometimes catches Stella sitting on a different table but they never talk. Letty drags him and the others to games as well and at night, he gets to see Rick whom shares a room with Letty but only ever appears at night saying "It's because Letty's asleep." which raises questions he never voices out. He rarely talks to Chelsy because of her shyness but there were times he caught her doing chores and sometimes helped her out.

"Know what? You're pretty quiet sometimes." Joshua said as they both walked back after frog-catching "Where were you from before you got here?"

Yuu was quiet for a moment, hesitating on whether he'd answer or not but chose to do so anyways "From an orphanage."

"Really?" Joshua stopped in his tracks and looked at the boy in wonder "If you were living in an orphanage already, why'd Teacher bring you here?"

"I… don't know." Yuu thought about it. Nothing much was said when Teacher asked him to come to the facility with him but the orphanage director said something about it being 'for the best'.

"So, was it fun there?"

Yuu looked away for a moment and remembered his days back at the orphanage and the friends he made and felt sad. Joshua must have noticed the change in his expression because he had suddenly asked if he was alright "It's okay. I just… remembered something. Anyways, the kids there were nice… they were too nice. I had a really good friend there- a best friend. You sort of remind me of him."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he's nice and smiles a lot. He's like everyone's big brother and is responsible but he makes trouble sometimes, too." Yuu said as he looked to the sky. The clear blue color reminds him of that person's eyes.

"You two must have been close." Joshua said as they continued walking

"Yeah…" Yuu muttered "We used to be."

"What?" Joshua looked back, unsure if he heard his companion correctly "Did you say something?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing!" Yuu shook his head changed the subject "So, what kinda prank are we gonna pull today?"

Joshua snickered and patted Yuu on the back "That's the spirit! Well, for starters…"

Months have already passed. Teacher went out on an errand and the other children were talking about how they heard there would be a new kid coming. "I'm not lying this time, okay? I swear I heard Teacher talking on the phone with Mr. Cliff about another kid!" Joshua told them defensively. Joshua likes telling tall tales most of the time so it was hard for them to know what's true and which is false.

"I… I was there with Joshua so I heard it, too." Chelsy adds

Later that afternoon, they heard the sound of a car stopping. They immediately got out of their rooms to check if their teacher did bring home another child. Getting close to Teacher's room, they had just seen it close, meaning that Teacher and the new kid were there.

"What are you guys gonna do?" Yuu asked as they tip-toed their way to the door

"We're gonna check on the new kid of course!" Joshua grinned

"Why don't we just wait 'til they're done talking?"

"Because we're curious and we wanna know who he is now!" Letty told him

Opening the door slightly, the kids took a peek inside. Due to their number, Yuu wasn't able to see much of what's inside except for a bit of teacher's back and he couldn't see much of the new kid except for his clothes which appears to be a white collared shirt, black pants with suspenders, and blue and white striped socks.

Listening in on them, Teacher appears to be telling the new kid the same things he told Yuu about the rules and even gave the boy a notebook of his own. Afterwards, it seems as though the two have noticed their presence as Teacher walked towards the door and flung it open to find the children. Joshua muttered a "Yikes" and tried to run but was caught.

"I told you to stay in your rooms until we were done talking, you know," Teacher sighed

"Telling us not to come see makes us wanna come see. Right?" Joshua asked as he looked at everyone else

"Yeah! I mean, of course we'll be curious. It's exciting hearing there's a new kid coming!" Letty responded with excitement.

Everyone was fussing over the new kid and blocking his view that, from where he was standing, Yuu still couldn't see the boy. When Teacher had told them that they'd be helping take care of the new addition to their group, Joshua gave a small complaint but quickly changed his attitude when he was told that it's their job as the new boy's - whom the teacher called 'Allen'- older brothers and sisters. Teacher left and said he'd call them when dinner was ready.

When Teacher left, Yuu made his way inside. He froze in place, eyes widened, as he saw what Allen looked like- frizzy blonde hair and blue eyes. The boy reminded Yuu of something or rather someone he knew. The other kids sat on the floor in the middle of the room and surrounded Allen, observing him and pulling on his clothes as if they were examining him. Allen didn't complain and let them do as they please and soon, they started their introductions with Joshua introducing himself as 'Marcus' but like last time, someone broke the truth rather quickly to the new kid but this time, it was Chelsy who as usual was too shy to talk to the new kid herself.

Letty was hyper as usual and had no problem talking to Allen who might have been too overwhelmed by her actions that he seemed to have lost energy at the end of their short conversation. Allen looked over at Stella who hadn't spoken yet. Joshua told him that it was rather normal of her to be that way and when the blonde asked her name, to everyone's surprise, she spoke "… Stella."

Joshua of course, responded with "Did you just talk?" and stared at her confused. Yuu, who had been here for months and hadn't really heard the quiet girl speak much, was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard her voice. Then the new kid's gaze shifted onto Yuu.

Yuu hesitated for a moment before speaking "Hey, uh. I'm Yuuichirou."

"Yuu…ichi-" Allen tried to say Yuu's name with a bit of difficulty. Joshua snickered and Letty placed her arms around the blonde's shoulders as she points her hand at Yuu

"His name is too long so we just call him 'Yuu'!" she says cheerfully

"It's Yuu as in Y-U-U. Not 'you'." Joshua explains

"Nice to meet you, Yuu."

After introductions, Joshua offered to give the new kid a tour of the facility and later on, Teacher called them for dinner.

In the months that Allen was there, Yuu was able to talk to him or hang out with him. He and Allen usually accompany Joshua on his games. When Yuu goes to the library on occasion, he usually sees Allen reading books.

He stared at the blonde as the latter flipped a page. He couldn't help but be reminded of that person from the orphanage.

"You should really read more books! They're good for you, Yuu-chan." A young blonde boy with wavy hair said as he showed Yuu the cover of a novel

"But they're boring!"

The boy sighed "Only because you haven't tried them yet. Come on, let's read together!"

"Excuse me!" A voice snapped Yuu out of reminiscing. In front of him was Allen, staring at him with worry and confusion "Are you okay? Did you need something?"

"Huh? What?" was the only thing Yuu could say after being asked all of a sudden.

"You've been staring. Did you need this book?" Allen asked, holding up the thick novel he was reading earlier.

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. It's just…" Yuu paused for a bit "You reminded me of someone."

"Oh, okay. You don't mind me sitting here, right?" Allen asked as he gestured to the chair next to Yuu. After the raven-haired boy shook his head, Allen sat down and continued reading. Moments passed by with them both reading the books they chose.

"What are you reading?" Yuu asked Allen who seem to have been too immersed on his reading that he was startled by Yuu's sudden question "I'm sorry, did I bother you? Didn't mean to."

Allen shook his head and held up his book "It's alright. I'm reading a novel. How about you?"

Yuu showed him the cover of the book he had in front of him and said "Stuff about vampires and other strange creatures. Say, I almost always see you here reading. Do you like books?"

"I guess I do. I don't remember much about myself but I think I used to, even back then."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot you had amnesia."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize."Allen said, reassuring him that he didn't take offense to anything

"Um, Does it bother you? You know… not remembering anything."

"Yeah, it does sometimes. I ask myself what my life was like before or what my parents were like… those things." Allen placed a bookmark where he left off and closed the book "Sometimes I feel like I'm missing something."

"I see." then Yuu muttered "I wish I could forget things though."

Before Allen could ask, Teacher came inside the library and told them it was time for bed.

Allen got sick one day and Teacher visits him in his room to take care of him. Everyone was told not to bother the blonde not only cause he was sick but also to avoid anyone else getting the sickness. Yuu walked by in time to see Teacher get out of Allen's room and of course, curious as he was, he decided to take a peek inside. As soon as he opened the door, the boy on the bed immediately looked his way. "Sorry, Allen. Did I wake you?"

Allen shook his head "No. I was awake. Teacher checked on me earlier."

Yuu got inside but kept his distance from the sick boy "How are you?"

"I still feel kinda dizzy and weak." Allen answered as he lay on his side "But its fine."

"I see. Sorry for bothering you." Yuu then walked towards the door, with his hand hovering above the doorknob "You probably need your rest so I'm going."

"Okay. Thanks for visiting." Allen said but as Yuu opened the door, the blonde suddenly asked "Yuu…"

"What?" Yuu turned around to look at the other boy

"Do you know what XXXX is?"

Yuu's eyes widened as he heard those words. He didn't know what it was and hearing Allen, the words just ended up sounding like static "XXXX… I don't know. But I think I knew before, but I don't remember."

"I see, okay."

Leaving the room, Yuu closed the door and leaned on it. He tried saying those words again "XXXX" but like before, it sounded like static. He doesn't recognize the words he just said and it confused and frustrated him a little.

Yuu walked along the hallway of their rooms when he saw Allen, Chelsy and Rick talking to each other. He walked up to them and noticed that Chelsy looked kind of pale. "Allen, you're up! You okay now? And what's with Chelsy?"

Allen turned to look at him and said "Yeah. I'm okay now. Oh, have you been hearing voices? Chelsy said Joshua has and we heard a creaking noise earlier."

"Seriously though, Joshua probably made that up." Rick said "But if you do want to know more, you can just ask Joshua. He's in his room."

Rick and Chelsy said their 'Goodnights' and went back to their rooms leaving just Allen and Yuu on the hallway. Curious about the earlier conversation, Yuu decided to go with Allen in asking Joshua and both went to the other boy's room. Before Allen could knock however, Joshua had opened the door. The silver-haired boy asked Allen how he was and soon, their conversation drifted to that of the voices upstairs. Joshua told them that he does hear them but never checked because he said it's stupid (although seeing his legs shake a little, he probably was scared). They soon headed to the second floor.

They passed by Stella on the way. She was carrying books so she probably came from the library. Stella stared at Allen for a while, making him back away. Suddenly, she spoke "...Yes, you're very strange. Because... you can speak." She continued "Probably because you don't really feel like you're alive. It's the case with everyone here, but you most of all."

Those words left both boys confused. Neither he nor Allen said anything. She added "No... Actually, you're slightly different." She nods slightly and told them both that Teacher wasn't upstairs and that if they had any business, they'd have to finish quickly. Waiting until she was out of sight, Allen and Yuu tried to make their way to the storeroom through the rather dark hallway.

"Hey, isn't this door locked? We aren't supposed to be here…" Yuu mentioned as they stood in front of the door to the storeroom. Allen turned the knob and surprisingly, it opened.

Taking a few steps inside, Allen asked Yuu to keep silent as he tried to listen to any strange sounds. After a while with nothing, the two had given up and was ready to leave when all of a sudden, Allen froze in his tracks. "What's wrong, Allen?"

"Shh! I can hear something." Allen said as he tried listening to the voice calling out to him. Yuu tried to listen in as well but could hear nothing but the wind. The blonde walked further in the room to find the source of the sound and Yuu watched. When Allen finally stopped, Yuu ran up to him to see what the other boy was looking at.

"A butterfly?" Yuu curiously stared at what seemed to be a butterfly model. It was a bit high up but Allen tried to reach it by standing on his tiptoes. When he finally reached it, it slipped in his hands and a loud crash could be heard making the two children nervous. There were shards of broken glass at their feet and the butterfly model alongside the mess.

Moments later, they saw the door open and heard someone shout "Who's there?!". The lights turned on to reveal that it was their teacher. The boys went pale, in their minds they knew they were in trouble for what they did. The man approached them cautiously and asked what had happened.

Ashamed at what he had just done, Allen mumbled "The butterfly… said 'Help me'."

"...I see. Well, while that butterfly may be pretty enough to look alive, it's long since died. Something without a soul can't speak, can it?" Teacher said

"The model is all busted..." Allen said as he was on the verge of crying.

Yuu, who hadn't said a word in a while spoke up "We're sorry, Teacher. We didn't mean to make a mess."

Teacher took their hands and checked if they were alright. He then told them he'd clean up and they were told to go back to their rooms. Allen, still feeling a pang of guilt apologized once more. Teacher only said " No need to apologize, really. Just don't do it again. There there, there there, there, there... It's okay." as he held the boy's hand. He then ushered the two boys out of the room when he stopped. Allen asked if he was alright and the teacher answered with "I'm fine."

The first floor hallway was already dark as well when the two boys got back to their rooms. Yuu bid Allen goodnight before going back to his room and Allen did the same. When Allen was about to open the closet to get his pajamas, he heard a cat meow. He couldn't see it clearly and was unsure if it was a cat. It beckoned him to open the closet door. "Won't you open it, Alice?"

The cat had spoken and had called him 'Alice'. Allen was in disbelief and thought that he might have been in a dream. After much hesitation, he did as was told and opened the door.

"The front cover is open! Welcome, Alice. Time for a fun dream to begin!"