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Chapter 2

The AN I wrote for this chapter had a lot of plot points that answered even some unasked questions, but now I decided to let you continue reading and find out. I will say this, though. . . not AU.

Chapter Two: Rethought Rebrought

Tai didn't know what woke him up first, the sunlight shining through the curtains he didn't close enough, or the alarm that he swore he heard in his dreams before opening his eyes. Damn sun and damn sounds.

He took in a deep breath, and begrudgingly pushed himself into a sitting position on the couch he slept on. And while he's at it, damn Qrow, too.

Right in front of him was a small table, usually empty and clean as it should've been in the living room, but the wicker basket on top of it had him give a deep sigh from the memories that came back to him.

'I thought I'd have to wake up to crying, but the asshole who left him here was right, the kid doesn't make a peep.' Beside the basket was a half-empty baby bottle. The kid was hungry last night, but still didn't cry, really unlike anything a baby was supposed to do.

Tai stood up and stretched, then looked into the basket. Almost like synchronized with him, the baby, Orochimaru, as he was named, opened his eyes and looked at him. Not even a grumble or a sound for attention, which had him make some very saddening, and very infuriating assumptions about the kid's life with whoever had him before.

"Good morning," he greeted, the baby not giving him a response. "You hungry? The other bottle's in the fridge, so it's gonna take a while unless you like it cold." No answer. "I'm serious, I really don't know if you understand or I'm just talking to myself." Still no answer. ". . . I'm just going to get the other bottle."

"Bah."

This kid really knew how to time his gurgling, doesn't he?

Looking to the Scroll, it was seven in the morning, exactly when he wanted to wake up, before Yang or Ruby did to see what he'd have to do, and the services he'd need to approach would be open.

He brought the cold bottle of formula from the fridge and brought it to the baby, the old bottle that sat out the entire night no longer safe for him. Tai half expected the baby to reject the chilled bottle, but he didn't care and just drank anyway.

"You're an interesting kid, you know that?" Still no answer, but he wasn't really expecting one.

"Talking to yourself there, Tai?" someone said when they walked down the stairs. It was Qrow, the early bird waking up to get the worm, so to speak.

He shrugged. "Says the guy who was scared of having the baby in his- no, sorry, my room."

"Oi, I was joking, I just didn't want to deal with any crying. Besides, I thought you could use the company down here." He looked to the kid. "You're going to do it, right?"

Leave it up to Qrow to cut the stalling for jokes to get to the serious part. "Yeah, I am." He sighed. "You know I can't keep him."

He shook his head. "I know, I'm just thinking of how Yang and Ruby are gonna be. I'm sure they'll understand later, but until then. . ." Some somberness, he knew.

Grunting in agreement, he moved to the stairs Qrow came down form. "Watch the kid, I'll be going to clean myself up before I head out with him."

"You're going to leave me here. . . alone. . . with the baby who responds at convenient moments?"

"Bah."

Both adults looked to the baby in the basket. Qrow turned to Tai. "I was joking, but really, the kid creeps me out at times."

"Ruby was right, you are scared of the baby."

"Piss off."

Tai just shrugged with a smirk before going up the stairs. But really, the baby did have convenient timing. Again, what an interesting kid.

"I knew your skin was just naturally white," Tai commented to the baby as he walked to his next spot. After the clinic, a few revelations came to light. "Snake faunus, huh? I see it now."

White skin, oddly shaped eyes, and after the clinic, a mouth that was a little more elastic than a normal human's. When that nurse opened Orochimaru's mouth to check, boy wasn't it a surprise when it stretched a little more than expected. The nurse certainly thought so, even tripped to the floor because of it.

Either way, when he picked himself back up, laughing off the little surprise, he continued the checkup in case of anything. The results? Better than Tai expected of a baby who was ignored. Thankfully, no bruises or signs of abuse, but rather signs of mild malnutrition.

Some unhealthy-looking spots in the rare spot, the eye color being a little off the mark, but nothing some regular formula consumption won't fix. For all the asshole who abandoned him did, it seemed at least he or she tried to be responsible. That doesn't excuse their careless decision in the end, however, not at all.

In the distance, he could see the building he was looking for, one that had him look to the baby with a tinge of guilt. It didn't help the baby looked back at him every time he did that. Orochimaru looked neutral, but to Tai, it was really an idea of what could happen to the kid.

"I don't like it, but it's going to be okay," he told the kid, ignoring the odd glance sent his way for talking to a newborn. "I'm sure you'll be fine." He hoped.

Eyes at the building, it wasn't the biggest on the block. Patch was a small community, especially when compared to cities like Vale, so that came with a smaller population. And being a relatively safe from Grimm and bandit raids, people losing their lives prematurely wasn't a big issue, which meant orphanages weren't so numerous or large.

Unfortunately, that meant little funding went into them.

Hard to find proper resources for them when so little money went into them. They're acceptable at best, regardless if the person in charge had the good heart to help them even with the subpar pay. Most went into food and schooling, so the ones' managing weren't all that well paid.

He had students who were orphans, fortunate enough to show talents that landed them a scholarship, or unfortunate enough to unlock their Aura due to the circumstances that lead them to be orphans in the first place. They knew what it was like with all the issues they had from it, and as a teacher, he knew as well.

He walked through the door and into a kind of empty entrance hall. It looked very school-like, there were the main stairs that lead to the upper floors, which likely where the rooms were.

'An orphanage is just a boarding house, anyway. Kids sleep here, but don't really live here.' Go to school, come here to eat, survive, then eventually go to sleep, and repeat in the next day. Not exactly a nurturing environment for a young child.

A side door opened. "I swear if you kids ditched class again, you're all in for it." Out stepped a middle-aged man in casual clothes, a little overweight, and rectangular glasses to go with it. He looked like a school teacher if anything, who now looked surprised at the sight of him. "Who are you?" the man asked, but once he saw the basket, it looked like he understood the situation. "Ah, one of those types."

Looks like an excellent start already. "Not my kid," Tai immediately said, though it looked like he didn't really believe it. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

The man grunted and gestured to the room he was just in. "Talk in my office," he answered, then entered back in it and out of sight.

Tai looked to Orochimaru. "He seems nice, right?" No convenient sound to show the baby listened. Somehow, that already felt like an answer.

With taking the baby's opinion into account, he walked into the office, which was a little larger than he expected it to be. There was no computer or anything, but rather several cabinets and shelves, even a few diplomas framed upon the walls.

"Name's Byrnard Ryker, but just call me Byrn, everyone calls me that so might as well, I'm the manager here," he began gruffly. "So, what can I do you for?" His eyes strayed towards the basket in hand. "Or should I say who can I take off of you?"

With a sigh, Tai took a seat across from the man and put Orochimaru on the other seat. "I'm Taiyang Xiao-Long, and I'm here to give this baby into your establishment." Byrn didn't look endearing of the idea, and why would he? "Also, he's not my kid. Someone dropped him onto my doorstep last night, basket bundle and all."

Byrn raised a brow. "Like some drama crap?" Tai nodded. "You know how weird that sounds, right?" The casual tone of his made it oddly more comfortable to be around. He couldn't help but feel it was just his age showing for being on this job for so long.

"That's not all." Tai dug up the note from his pocket. "This came with him in the basket." He handed it over, watching as Byrn's brow raise higher and higher the further he read.

"Who even talks like this?" Byrn asked, setting down the note. "It's written like the asshole's in theatre." His crass tone made Tai reconsider bringing Orochimaru here, but besides that, there weren't really any red flags that popped up just yet. "With the name of the kid, it might actually be."

Now that he thought about it, the language used in the letter was pretty formal. Maybe it was a rich person who didn't want the baby, it certainly sounded like it if the letter was written this classily.

"Listen, I don't want to do this," Tai eventually said with the millionth sigh, earning Byrnard's attention. "I have two kids of my own, and they recently lost their mother and I made a terrible mistake." He felt the pang in his chest, along with the shame that came quickly after. "They need me, and we can't handle another kid. Just tell what I have to do so I can get back to them and fix things."

For what it's worth, the elderly man was surprisingly calm. Maybe he did actually believe him that it wasn't his kid, or maybe that he didn't care. Regardless, he took off his glasses and set it on the table with a loud exhale.

"You don't have to do anything, really," Byrn finally said. "I'll be the one handling most of the paperwork, you just sign a piece of paper for the record. Hell, you did what most pissants don't stick around long enough to do already."

Tai knew the situation was bad, but really that much? "Is that how, just to write my name for the record?"

The man nodded. "That's all, then the kid's the council's ward. He'll be housed in our newborn's holding wing until the council finds a foster home."

"Foster home?" Tai asked confused. "Don't you just house them here?"

Byrn shook his head somberly. "Not at all. We're not funded well enough to provide care for a baby for that long, we're more or less strictly for young kids between the ages of three to sixteen. So what does the council do? Pay some family that's willing to take em per kid per month. Not much, but only just enough to cover for the care."

"You don't seem so keen on that. . ." It worried Tai that this seasoned professional doesn't seem excited at the idea of Orochimaru finding a temporary home, at least for until the end of infancy.

The man grunted again, now with some added sourness. "In my younger days, I've seen a few of those houses. They seem fine at first, but later, when eyes aren't on them anymore, a lot of things happen." Tai's stomach burned. "I took it upon myself for a surprise visit on a few, and while some were fine, the others were in it for the paycheck, and the kids were an inconvenience they had to put up with."

That feeling in his stomach became worse. "What are the chances the foster home Orochimaru will find would be a good one?"

"Don't ask me for numbers, it's hard to say if we even find all the bad ones. Some are good at covering their tracks for those extra few hundred lien a month." Byrn leaned in. "I'll be straight with you, Mr. Xiao-Long, the kid there might find a good home, I've made sure a few homes weren't hidden shit holes for the money and even got a few in prison for it, but it's not up to me anymore to pick out the family that takes him in. Chances, though? Hell if I know."

There were a lot of indirect answers, but maybe it was just that bad. Tai couldn't help but look at Orochimaru again, seeing the boy's yellow eyes stare into his own.

In front of him, he saw Byrn bring out a piece of paper, scribble something onto it, then let it sit on his desk and made to hand Tai a pen. "It's a shitty choice for a good parent, I know that." For the first time, Byrn actually seemed sympathetic. "Sign this here, and the baby will find another home with people to take care of him. It might be a good home, it might not, but it'll be something, at least until he's three, then I take him away and give him what he needs and deserves to grow up properly."

Oddly enough, it actually seemed like a good idea for Byrnard to have the boy. Again, Tai looked at Orochimaru, his gaze neutral as a baby would have. He didn't so much as make a sound during the entire conversation, made it seem like he was listening.

With a heavy sigh, Tai took the paper and read through it. Byrnard wrote how the situation was, how Tai found Orochimaru in a basket at his doorstep late at night, then came the next morning to hand him in. All he had to do was sign the paper to confirm it, then leave the building; simple, sickeningly so.

Tai looked at the pen, and then to Byrn, and sighed. "I have to do this."

Qrow watched as his two nieces ate their poorly-made breakfast slowly, he knew why, of course. When they woke up and saw their dad and the basket gone, they immediately knew what was going on.

Ruby was first to tear up, and just when he thought he'd have to come to comfort her, Yang came in for the rescue. And hugged her, saying how it was for the best, even for the baby.

Damn, Tai fucked up big time if it was his six-year-old that had to take care of his four-year-old. Just like him, he knew that it was for the best, and soon Ruby and Yang would know that, too.

"You guys not hungry?" Qrow asked as he took a seat with his nieces. "C'mon, I didn't burn the toast that badly. And look, most of the egg yolks are still there. No shells this time, I learned the proper way to break open eggs now."

Ruby mumbled something that could've been thanks, but she didn't stop playing with her food. Yang wasn't all that better, but she wasn't crying or anything like that, just saddened by what happened.

"Look, you two," he began, not really getting their attention. "Your dad has you two to think about, a third kid, after what happened, he can't handle that." He put his hand on their shoulders. "It sucks, I get it, but your dad finally snapped out of it. You two deserve his attention, especially after everything." Both of them sniffled, and his heart cracked a bit. "Just give him a chance to prove himself, okay?"

"Uncle Qrow," Yang finally spoke. "Both of us know why he did what he did, it's just that. . . maybe the baby would've helped with everything."

He didn't understand what she meant, and maybe she didn't either, but at least they were understanding of the situation. Ruby didn't look up from her food, but again, at least she didn't shout in denial.

"He's going to get it right this time," he said. "If he turned back to what he was, you two just have to wait for me to knock some sense into him, and I mean that literally." He wasn't joking, either. If Tai regressed after his promise, it was a spit to Summer's and their faces, and he won't leave unbruised. That blonde bastard got his second chance, and for his sake, he shouldn't waste it.

"Thanks, Uncle Qrow," Yang said, with a small smile of her own.

The door opened, and none moved from the table, they knew who it was, and only him, no other person. Again, Ruby went back to playing with her food, and Yang just sighed and put her hand on Ruby's shoulder for support.

"I'm home," Tai shouted, not all the energetic. Both of them knew that it wouldn't be an easy choice, so it was understandable that neither of them were happy about it.

"We're in the kitchen," Qrow shouted back. He turned back to Yang. "I'm serious, Yang. If your dad goes back, I will personally show him what happens when he breaks a promise to you guys."

He actually managed to have her chuckle a bit. "Don't worry, Uncle Qrow, I won't forget that."

The steps sounded they were coming closer, so Qrow turned to see the blonde bastard just come into view. "If you want breakfast, make your own, it's a miracle I made mine even edib-"

"Dad!" both Yang and Ruby shouted at what they saw.

"Tai. . ." He wasn't alone, the basket still in his hand.

The blonde bastard pursed his lips and put the basket on the kitchen counter, and with the other hand, put down three large bags, and Qrow had a good idea on what's inside them.

"Hey, all, I think we gotta talk about something," he said, and Qrow narrowed his eyes. "I think maybe Yang's right, maybe-" He sighed. "- maybe the kid is what we need."

Ruby practically jumped off the chair and ran to hug her dad's leg. "Thank you. Thank you. Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou." It was an adorable scene, one that Qrow would've liked better if he didn't have the questions he had.

"Dad, are you sure about this?" Yang asked, again showing her maturity instead of jumping in joy, though it certainly looked like she wanted to.

A deep breath, exhale, something people did when they made a choice. "I'm sure, Yang. I won't mess this up. I can't mess this up."

"Tai," Qrow said, more of a warning than anything. "What do you think you're doing?"

The man's shoulder sagged and looked to his daughters. "Yang, Ruby, why don't you go upstairs and get dressed, we're going out for a bit, the four of us, and Qrow if he wants to join us."

Ruby's eyes widened "You mean. . ."

Tai nodded. "Orochimaru is a Xiao-Long now. . . At least until after some checking and the paperwork arrives, anyway."

Both his daughters cheered. "I'm going to have a little brother!" Ruby shouted happily, again, an endearing scene if it wasn't for the things going on in Qrow's mind.

Thankfully, Yang dragged Ruby away from the kitchen and to their room, leaving them to talk about what happened, and what's going to happen. If this was Tai going through a midlife crisis, this was the worst thing he could do.

"Now I know what you're going to say, but hear me out," Tai began, a good choice of first words, ones that didn't have him need to punch some sense through his teeth.

"I'm listening, Tai, because believe me, the other thing I want to do isn't going to be pretty for you."

He pulled up a seat beside Qrow. "I went to the orphanage like planned, but they don't take in newborns, they send those to foster care." Qrow didn't see the problem, and it was clear on his confused face because kept going after the little pause. "The foster care houses sometimes aren't great, especially for babies, at least until they reach a certain age where an orphanage takes them in."

"What's the supposed to mean?"

"It means that what I did after Summer died may not have been the worst thing I could've done." Oh. . .

"So that's why you're taking in a third kid, Tai?" he asked, now more understanding. "Maybe the foster care would've been a good one, we both know you just snapped out of being a dumbass."

"I know." He leaned back with a heavy sigh. "Then I tried to convince myself that it couldn't have been that bad, that he'd find a good home. Then I kept thinking about what could, what should, and what I wanted- No, what I needed."

"What you needed? You do know this is another person we're talking about, not some dog."

"I'm the last person you should be telling that to," he answered a little heatedly, then calmed himself. "Sorry, it's just been a surprisingly tiring day." He looked back to Qrow, a little more determined than before. "I can't let this kid go through worse than what Yang and Ruby did, I just can't."

Qrow kept his stare for a few more seconds, waiting for that glimmer that would've gotten him a punch in the face, then relented. "I hope you know what you're doing, Tai."

Xiao-Long nodded with a sigh. "I hope so too, Qrow, really I do."

Would you kindly leave a review? *hypnotism intensifies*