Chapter 2: Lost and found
They had been walking together in silence for a while since. No one talked; the girl just obediently followed Zero. At first, Zero felt relief at that. He did not want to hold any nonsense conversation, especially after what happened earlier, when he made himself a joke for her. He just wanted to find her brother and leave, that was all. But gradually, he felt that there was something wrong. There was no way the girl could be so quiet, that annoying little kid.
"Is anything wrong?" Zero asked, turning around to look at the girl, who was breathless tried to keep up with his long strides.
"I'm… alright…" She panted; her long hair loosely hung down, covering her face. Still Zero could see perspiration formed on her forehead, and even heard the heavy gasps fell from her.
Sighing inwardly, Zero slowed down, still staring at her face veiled behind the fine curtain of brown hair.
"Are you crying, kid?"
"I'm not!" The girl immediately looked up, unknowingly revealing her tearful eyes, "I was perspiring, that's all!"
"Really?" Zero teased, "Then why are your eyes so red?"
"It's not red, it's…" The girl stuttered, not yet coming up with an excuse, "Aha!" she then exclaimed in victory, the usual sly light glinting in her eyes, "It's because dust got in my eyes!"
This time, obviously out of his consent, Zero felt a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but before it could get widened, Zero quickly covered his mouth, pretending to yawn.
"Why so stubborn, to you kids there is nothing wrong with crying," Zero said airily, his lilac eyes hard at the girl, trying to act indifferent for as he thought, the smile that almost crossed his lips earlier nearly destroy his image, "That's all you can do, whining around getting in adut's way and being a real pain in the neck. That's why I hate kids."
"Stop calling me a kid, I tell you! I've got a name too!" The girl indignantly cried out, her lips pouting in an adorably childish manner. Zero could not help noticing she was distracted from crying.
"What's your name anyway, kid?"
"I'm Yuuki," a self-righteous smile on her lips, and the girl straightened up, eyes shining with pride, "Kuran Yuuki. For your information, I'm no longer a kid. I'm eleven!"
This time Zero was quite taken aback. Judging by Yuuki's height, he had previously assumed that the girl was only about eight or even less.
"You? Eleven? You must really be kidding! You're so shorr-"
"Hold it right there! I'll beat you if you dare say the forbidden word!" The girl, now Yuuki, yelled angrily at him, her small fist throwing, "Remember Onii-san is much much taller than you!"
Another twitch of Zero's brows, and he stopped, too emerged in the conversation to even remember their purposes at that moment. And it also seemed that Yuuki had forgotten too, for she stopped almost instantly.
"Stop bringing him up in our conversation! How old is your brother anyway?" Zero asked.
"He's 13," the girl answered, and judging by the proud look in her eyes, one would have thought it was she, not her brother who was thirteen.
"That explains why he's taller than me," Relieved, Zero said somewhat triumphantly, "I'm twelve."
"Ahah!" Yuuki exclaimed, sounded even more triumphant than Zero, "You're only a year older than me, and yet you talked like a real adult!"
"It's because I thought you were eight-"
"Are you trying to make fun of my height, you-"
"Argh! I should never have talked with you! Stop all this nonsense already. Have you seen your brother?" Frustrated, Zero burst out, turning away from the troublesome girl.
"Not yet… Maybe we should keep looking…"
Zero sighed, rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly for he felt he was having a terrible headache. I would not talk to this idiot any longer, he inwardly promised to himself, and resumed walking.
"I'll help you find your brother. But this time," the boy turned around to looked strictly at the girl, "no more talking."
"Alright…"
Unfortunately, when he finally had the silence he so longed for, it did not turn out to be so great as he thought. To say it was utter silence was not all the truth, for occasionally, he could hear muffled sobs and sniffs from behind. Zero sighed heavily; he knew all too well if the girl's mouth did not work, her eyes would, and reverse.
"You seem to love your brother very much, don't you?" Zero reluctantly broke the silence.
At his words Yuuki immediately beamed; light continued to shine in her teary eyes.
"I really do! Kaname-oniisan is the greatest brother in the world!"
"Really? What's he like?"
"He's always so kind to me, always take care of me. He's the only person who let me sit in his lap for hours and is patient enough to read me bedtime stories til I fall asleep. Whenever I'm scared, he is always by my side to comfort me. Onii-san is everything in my world!"
Zero silently turned away, could not bear seeing the radiant light twinkling in her eyes when she talked about her brother. Still not looking at Yuuki, the older child asked quietly.
"What about your parents?"
The girl looked down, quiet for some before she finally spoke again.
"My parents are busy so they aren't usually home, but I always got brother with me, so I'm very happy!" Her face brightened again at the words, "Brother always play with me and comfort me when I'm sad, and never say any mean things to me like you do!" Her eyes got dreamy at the thought of her beloved brother, before a flash of mischief flickered in them at the last words.
Nonetheless, Zero paid no heed to her last remarks. A image was suddenly evoked in his mind: he saw Ichiru's face contorted in agony and his other half's exclamation "You'll never know!"
Would it make any difference if he was beside Ichiru? Could it be possible for him to heal whatever that was broken between Ichiru and his father? Zero knew he had not spent enough time with his own brother and let him endure his agony all along, but would it be too late to fix? If he could, he wanted to pick up all the broken pieces, so his family could have happiness. So his twin Ichiru could smile from the bottom of his heart.
"I love you so much, do you know that, Zero?" Ichiru smiled, his short five-year-old arms hugged around his other half, his eyes closed in contentment.
I love you too, Ichiru.
"Ah, that's my brother! Kaname-oniisan!" Yuuki cried out in delight, dashing forward to embrace a tall brown-haired boy whose face was an identical copy of hers. "Kaname!"
"Yuuki! Where have you been?" Her brother turned around in surprise, and he lifted the little girl up to hold her closer, the tiny form pressed tightly against his.
"It's so good I found you..." The girl murmured into Kaname's ear, her eyes slid close in contentment, her hands wrapping tightly around her brother.
"How could you find me? You was scared wasn't you, Yuuki?" Kaname asked worriedly.
"I was scared at first, but I'm alright. There was a boy who helped me... Huh, where is he?"
When the girl turned around to look for him, Zero was no longer there. His mission had been done; there was no need for him to stay. So he left before he got to saw the smile on the siblings' face, and the happiness the two shared - something had long gone in his life. And he left, because he knew his little brother was waiting for him at home, who was probably worrying about him right now. Yuuki had her brother; she did not need him any more. However, Ichiru had got no one, and so his brother was coming back to him.
'I'll never leave you alone again, Ichiru...'
"That was weird. He was there just a moment ago..." Yuuki murmured, looking at the crowded street, feeling sadness welling up in her chest at their short meeting, "I didn't even get to know his name..."
A/N: That's the end of it! I felt rather sad ending it; it was so much fun writing those cute interactions between Zero and little Yuuki. I'd love it if there was something of this kind in the manga; I kept smiling like a real idiot all the while writing it :D