A/N: Revamp and hopefully updates!

The Lady and the Lachrymose

Chapter 1: Consequences.

Warm sunlight shown through the window in the Gaia high school principal's office, principle Reeve Tuesti was smiling forgivingly at his newest student, Yuffie Kisaragi, and her parents. Yuffie and her parents had just moved to this town and the young girl was not happy about it or coming to this high school.

"So, you see Mr. and Mrs. Kisaragi, this is not the first time in the month that she's been here or that your daughter has acted out in this matter…" Yuffie was sitting in her chair with arms crossed and pouting as Reeve talked to her shocked parents.

"Just how many times has this happened, Mr. Tuesti?" Her mother's softly whimpered words could barely be heard, the woman gently playing with the strap of her purse at the tension grew in the room. Reeve sighed as he folded his hands on his desk and leaned forward towards his guests.

"Well, it's been happening every couple of days since she started coming here but only recently has she started to add the destruction of school property to her normal mix of pranks…" Reeve could see the anger grow on Mr. Kisaragi's face so he quickly continued, "But I realize that your daughter is probably just going through some things right now so I'm not going to hold it against her, it's obvious that she's just trying to get these things out of her system. But I have an alternative; the school has an after school program that could really use an energetic person like her." He was relieved when he saw the anger subside a tiny bit before the girl's father spoke to him.

"Just what kind of after school program is this, Mr. Tuesti?"

"We assign a student as a part time care taker, I guess you would call them, to people that aren't mentally or physically fit to leave their home." Yuffie looked up at this; if there was one thing she didn't want to do with her precious time, it was take care of some home bound loser. She sneered slightly as she heard her mother ask the nest question.

"Sir, what would be required for this program…?"

"She's required to stay there a minimum of an hour. She'll be required to buy groceries for them, we will pay for them, she will simply have to get them and provide meals for the person she is taking care of. The rest of the time she would be advised to engage them in conversation or a source of entertainment such as a card or board game." Unlike Yuffie, her parents actually seemed to like the idea of the program, "Like I said, she'll go there for at least an hour everyday after school and if you decide on it, she can go on weekend mornings to check up on them."

"Oh! That sounds like a wonderful opportunity for her doesn't it, dear!"

"Yeah, maybe that'll knock some sense into the girl…." Yuffie was horrified that her parents were even considering this as a punishment for her! They never put this much effort into one of her punishments!

"What! You can't make me do this! I am so not gonna be some agoraphobic loser's caretaker!" The young girl growled but this only made Reeve chuckle.

"Lively one, you have there. So, Mr. and Mrs. Kisaragi, shall we try out the program?" The adults completely ignored Yuffie as they continued on.

"Yes, but I am curious, just who will she be taking care of?" Mrs. Kisaragi asked, feeling a little concerned for her daughter's safety.

"Oh, I have the perfect one picked out for her! Vincent Valentine, he has an extremely bad case of depression. So bad actually, that he hasn't left the house in around thirty years! He's extremely quiet and well mannered, I think it will do Yuffie good to talk to him, she may pick up a few things."

"Uhh… I'm not entirely sure I want my baby girl spending a full hour with a strange man everyday…"

"Oh, don't worry; Vincent is completely safe for her to be around. He is a real gentleman and ever since the woman he loved died thirty years ago, he's been celibate and has told me many times that he does not have even the most remote urge to touch another woman in that way ever again. The most she has to worry about with him is getting him to eat or talk; he doesn't do much of either." Yuffie was utterly shocked to hear this to say the least.

'He's been alone all those years just because that lady died? That poor guy, she must have meant the world to him!' She was pulled from her thoughts as she heard Reeve talking again.

"Come, I go take you to meet him right now before your daughter starts working with him tomorrow."

~V*Y~

The Kisaragi's stared in awe as they drove up behind Reeve and looked at the huge, ancient looking mansion. It was incredibly beautiful despite being extremely run down.

'Whoa, this place is huge!' Yuffie's family was rather wealthy but this mansion was in a league all its own, now she was really beginning to wonder what kind of man this Vincent Valentine was. She followed her parents in as Reeve opened the door with a key he had. The inside of the mansion was even more beautiful and eerie than the outside was; the furnishings were rather old looking and the colors consisted mostly of black and different shades of red. Reeve turned to the Kisaragis and scratched his head.

"Wonderful, now that you've seen this part of the house we just have to find Vincent, he tends to blend in. Follow me." He started across the foyer and began heading for the main living room. Yuffie could not stop herself from looking around in wonder at the beautiful place. She gave a small giggle as she mentally commented that it reminded her of something one of those fancy looking vampires in movies might live in.

"Ah, Vincent, there you are!" She heard her principle call to the other man; she looked in their direction, expecting to see a man in his late fifties, early sixties. Needless to say, she was more than shocked to see that the man she would be taking care of didn't look more than twenty-seven or so. She was glad that the shadows of the dark mansion were covering her face as she looked at him, because she was sure she was blushing just seeing him there. He hadn't moved from his place on a black arm chair where he was reading an old leather-bound book but Yuffie could tell what he looked like; he was tall and extremely thin, his skin was almost the color of snow and had long black-colored hair. Though, what really caught her attention was when he looked up to acknowledge Reeve, she could finally see his face; he was absolutely gorgeous! His facial features were soft but well defined, hidden slightly behind wispy raven colored bangs and then there was his eyes; they were dull and beautiful yet eerie and frightening pools of crimson at the same time.

"Vincent, these are the Kisaragis. Their daughter, Yuffie, will be coming to visit you every weekday to see how you are doing, ok?" Vincent didn't say anything but he blinked slowly up at Reeve to show that he understood. Reeve turned to Yuffie and offered her a hand.

"Come here, dear, introduce yourself." The young girl could only nod as she began to walk towards the two men and offered her hand to Vincent, who took it gently in his.

"H-hiya, I'm Y-yuffie Kisarai, nice to meet ya…" She stammered out the words slowly as she felt his hand in hers; it was so soft and slightly cold.

"Greetings Yuffie, I am Vincent Valentine. It is a pleasure to meet you…" Yuffie was pretty sure she was gonna faint right there; his voice was lovely but clearly filled with sorrow, it made her mouth dry and her knees weak.