A

Anger.

That's—that's her default response to anything that goes wrong. Papa—lots of people tell her it's a bad thing, but it's not. They just don't understand.

Right now, sitting on an uncomfortable plastic chair and squinting under the bright LED lights, she's angry. That's right. She's angry. She's uncomfortable and tired and angry.

Elfnein comes back from the restroom, her face still a blotchy red and her little hand clutching the police officer's hand like it's a life line. Elfnein is upset, a sad mess, but Carol?

Carol is angry.

"You okay there, kiddo?" the police officer asks her, coaxing Elfnein into the seat beside her.

She glares at the ground, gritting out, "Yeah." Of course she's okay. There's nothing wrong with her. She's angry, and that's good. That means she's not a blubbery mess like Elfnein is. It means no one will take advantage of her, because she's on hyper-alert and more than willing to defend herself.

Unfortunately, Elfnein is basically dead weight, but it doesn't matter.

Carol can be angry enough for both of them.

"I mean, heck," the officer sighs, shaking his head, "what a mess it is, don'tcha think? Your old man had a will, but he also had a criminal record, and it came back to bite him in the a—"

"Shut up!"

The officer blinks, taken aback, but Elfnein whimpers, "Papa…."

"There, there, kiddo." The officer tries to reassure Elfnein with a pathetic head pat and a handkerchief, which, granted, Elfnein definitely needs right about now. "It's going to be okay, just you wait and see," he adds, smiling at Carol.

Just her luck to be stuck with the stupidest police officer!

As if a measly smile and a pat on the head and a handkerchief will fix anything.

Papa is dead. Nothing can possibly bring him back and nothing will ever be okay without him.

"Gunther." A head pokes out of the door across from them; it's the detective that's supposedly figuring out the story of what happened to Papa. He doesn't even look at her and Elfnein, or even the police officer, as he says, "Come here for a moment." His eyes are stuck on some portfolio, like it is going to give him any answers.

Her teeth grind in her mouth.

She'd already tried telling the big idiot what had happened, but he—they all brushed her off, as if Papa's murder is nothing important.

"Yes, sir," the officer replies. He gives them a sympathetic look and follows the detective into the office.

"Tch. No-good adults."

Elfnein pulls her face out of the handkerchief long enough to softly reprimand her, "That's n-not nice, Carol."

Carol, however, has fixated on the barely-open door of the office. Maybe, if she scoots a little closer, she'll be able to hear what they're saying.

Absentmindedly, she mutters, "Quiet."

Voices, murmurs, indistinct words; she eases the chair just a little closer.

"—and they have no living relatives, unless we look for far-off relatives. Aside from that, only one other person is mentioned on his will: a former colleague, Dr. Ryouko Sakurai. We have word from the Japanese embassy that Sakurai is also missing and wanted for classified reasons—"

"Carol? It's not nice to eavesdrop," Elfnein says, tugging on her sleeve and disrupting her concentration.

"Sh." She waves a hand, vaguely in Elfnein's direction.

The officer hums—in agreement, possibly, to something she missed—and, after a pause, says, "The preliminary report, sir, suggests foul play. Should we…?"

"Yes, yes," the detective snaps, "but first we have a couple of orphans we have to accommodate someplace safe. We wouldn't want Malus Dienheim's enemies gunning after the kids.

"All they have left is the clothes on their backs. The sooner we find them a home, the better."

Her fists clench.

"Sir… the cleanup team picked up a few things… may we—may the girls take the artefacts? I think it'd be good for their morale. It's… it's all they have left of their father, sir."

The detective sighs.

Elfnein's breath hitches; great, now they've gone and upset Elfnein all over again.

"Alright, yes, I'll write a note so you can get the things out of the evidence locker."

"Thank you, sir."

No, she snarls to herself. Her teeth clench.

Thanks for nothing. I'm not going to say thank-you when you've done nothing for my papa!

Her thoughts are so loud that she doesn't notice the officer and detective step out of the office until the officer says, "Hey, kiddo, don't cry. C'mon, smile for me?"

"Yeah, Elfnein," she snaps at Elfnein, who only whimpers further in response. "Stop being such a crybaby all the time."

Anger, white-hot in her stomach and throat and hands, is what's making her lash out at Elfnein. She doesn't really mean it, but Elfnein makes it so easy, the way she curls into herself.

"Such an angry child. That temper is bound to get you into trouble sooner or later. I would be careful if I were you," the detective remarks. He looks at her for the first time since they arrived at this police station.

For a moment, she forgets to breathe.

He's frowning at her.

Admonishing her with his cold blue eyes.

Maybe, if she hadn't been so reckless, if she had been able to control her anger, Papa would still be alive.

"Shut up," she mutters, sullen now.

"Ah, well, I'll bet you girls are tired now," the officer cuts in with a faint smile.

Looking down at the omnipresent portfolio in his hands, the detective tells them, "The Kaname Institute for Children has space for the two of you. Officer Gunther will take you there to stay until further notice." He snaps the portfolio closed and leaves with a swish of his duster and without a goodbye.

Good riddance.

"There, there," Officer Gunther whispers. He strokes Elfnein's hair, a sad look on his face.

Carol has to wrench her eyes away, because—big hands, sad blue eyes, messy blonde hair—he reminds her too much of Papa.

And that's what she hates most about him: he isn't Papa.

It's not going to be okay. Whoever says it will be is a liar.

A damned liar.

a/n:

Hello! I am back. I spent an hour cutting down the original summary to size, haha; full summary can be found on my profile.

To all my continuing readers: thank you, from the very middle of my heart, for your continued support.

To my new readers: hi! Thank you for giving me a chance ^^

Now, I must point out a few things:

1. The tone of this particular story is... heavier than the previous two, partly because Carol is such a violent character and partly because there are some serious issues involved.

2. My funny bone is broken and I have all the tact of a bull in a china shop when it comes to sensitive topics. I hope to improve in this particular aspect over the course of the story. Please do tell me if something is off.

3. This is 26 chapters long; far shorter than the previous two stories, but I will try to make the length of the chapters make up for it.

...I think that's it. I really, really appreciate reviews (even if I take forever to reply to them), so do feel free to leave a comment!