Grell awoke to two things registering in his senses. A bream of sunlight across his eyes and the smell of something cooking wafting to his nose. He let out a low groan and fumbled for the glasses on his bedside table. He rubbed his eyes before sliding them onto his nose, then looked down at the tiny body next to him. Bella was still sound asleep, clinging to him in her peaceful slumber. He smiled gently and patted her head as he picked up her glasses which had been sitting next to his.

"Bella, wake up, it's morning." Bella sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her fists. She stared sleepily ahead as her older brother slid her glasses onto her nose. "Big sis is home," he whispered as he sat up himself. Bella smiled sleepily at the information.

"Big sis..." she mumbled, sleep heavy in her voice. Grell patted her on the head with a tender expression.

"Go get dressed, then we'll go join her for breakfast." Bella nodded and clambered out of bed, then hurried sleepily to her room, just barely missing knocking her head against the side of the door frame. Grell shook his head with amusement and climbed out of bed himself. He quickly pulled on some casual clothing and socks. It wasn't a school day, so his usual school uniform wasn't required. Once dressed, he went out to their combined dining room/kitchen/living space.

"Good morning, big sis." Mary looked at him sweetly as she entered the room, she had just been sliding some eggs onto three plates.

"Oh, Grell, you're up already. Good. Is Bella up yet?"

"Yeah, she's getting dressed now." He sat himself down at the table and looked at the simple breakfast his sister had prepared. He sat back, though, waiting for both of his sisters to join him at the table before eating. "So, what time did you come in last night? Midnight?" He had guessed correctly, because she nodded. He hardly needed to ask, the dark circles under her eyes explained it all. Mary rubbed her eye and poked a fork at her share of egg.

"Yes, it's been busy this week. A good thing, but it's kept me very busy. More dead souls means more overtime, and overtime work actually pays better than normal hours." Grell was actually glad that so many humans were dying. It might have sounded like a horrible thing to say, but they were Shinigami, not humans. Besides, the more souls his sister reaped, the more she was paid for all her hard work. He started as Mary reached over and brushed aside a particularly long strand of red hair from his face. "Your hair is getting long again, I'm going to have to cut it again," she mumbled. "It grows so fast." Her fingers moved to his nose, and, though he couldn't see it without getting cross-eyes, he could feel her fingers brush the bridge of his glasses. "That's right, your glasses broke again. I wonder if I might be able to get you a new pair with this week's earnings. You need a new coat, too, after the last one tore." Grell brushed his sister's fingers away from his face and held her hand.

"It's fine, big sis. It's only the nose of the glasses that's broken apart. I've gotten them re-attached again. And I've already repaired my coat, I've gotten good at it from fixing Bella's dresses, so there's no need to buy a new coat either. You're doing enough work as it is." Mary nodded and removed her hand from her younger brother's grasp.

"Oh, I know, Grell. You're taking care of yourself and Bella so well. I just... I just wish... I just wish I could do more for you both." Grell panicked as he heard his sister's voice getting choked up. Mary's head was bowed, but he could already tell that tears were filling her eyes. Grell took back her hand and stroked it with his thumb.

"Big sis, you're working hard enough as is." He tried to give her an expression that would ease her mind. "We just want to be able to spend some time with you, we've got plenty enough as is." Mary sniffed, but quickly wiped her tears

"Thank you, Grell. You're just too good." She let out a sad sort of laugh. "Well, just look at me. People call me the craziest Shinigami they know, and here I am crying into my baby brother's shoulder." Grell made a face as he gave her her hand back.

"I'm not a baby anymore, big sis." Mary actually let out a giggle, which helped Grell's mind more than anything.

"What do you mean? You'll always be my sweet, adorable, little baby brother." Grell groaned good-naturedly, glad more than anything that his big sister was smiling again.

"Big sister!" At that moment, he was saved from any bit of awkwardness by Bella running in and hugging Mary around the waist.

"Bella! There you are. We were just waiting for you!" Bella took her place at the table and they all began to eat. It was good, like it always was when Mary made the food. Of course, Grell wasn't half bad a cook himself. As they ate, Bella chattered on and on about her little school-friends and all the things they were doing. Grell was always happy to hear her to carefree. At least he knew that she didn't have to put up with any of the things that he did. Bella had never once complained of children from her school hurting her or calling her names, she was chipper as a bird.

When breakfast was finished, the went about their usual goings-on during the weekend. By this, it is meant that Mary went to her room to sleep most of the day and recover some well-deserved yet unavailable sleep time. Meanwhile, Grell and Bella went about tidying up the house. While Grell scrubbed the windows, Bella washed the laundry in a large, sudsy tub. Grell paused as he was wiping down the window of his sister's room. The curtains were drawn tight, and he knew that Mary was dreaming away.

"Big brother!" Grell paused as he finished up the last window when he heard Bella call. Knowing already what it was she needed, he quickly wiped the last bit of glass and dumped the water from the bucket into the dying grass. He rushed around to the back of the house, where Bella was struggling with a stool to reach the clothes line. With a smile touching his lips, he went over and helped her clip the washed clothes to the line. "Thanks big brother, I couldn't have done it without you." Grell still smiled as he wrung out the shirt of his school uniform. On top of the stool, he could, see a bit into the neighbor's yard. Their yard was so much neater. The garden space in the Spears' yard was used for frivolous things like flowers, not like theirs, which usually filled almost every space with vegetables growing from the earth. Now, though, in winter, the ground was barren and cold.

Grell started, realizing his sister had said something he hadn't caught the first time. "Sorry, Bella, what was that?"

"I said, we've gotta' do a good job. Keep the house nice and neat for big sis, right?" Grell patted her head and ran a finger, almost with a touch of envy, through her black locks.

"Right you are, Bella," he whispered. "Right you are."

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Okay people, first two chapters are an introduction to their everyday life more than anything. The real action will begin next chapter.