Chapter 3: So Much Information. Tiny Brain Hurting.

Hello. Yuffie Kisaragi here, and I am not saying my middle name. Anyways, it has been two weeks of school, and my brain is full of information from class to class. I think I am losing two to three hours of normal sleep, and my grades were wavering. I kid you not. Have you seen Aerith, Tifa, and me trying to shove so much homework and projects into the finished pile? They weren't kidding when workload will become a mountain; we actually had around five piles of different subjects and had to skip lunch to lessen the workload.

"If y equals to x to the power of x and x is greater than zero… but there's a cosine, so…" That was Aerith's voice echoing about her calculus class. This was going to be intense year for her.

"So if the mass is ten kilograms and force is one hundred fifteen newtons… then…" That was Tifa, and physics is my second worst subject in school. At least I was passing that class…

"Oh my god! This is brain wreaking." I complained, and guess what? I had English, and I am not happy at all. My hands were already in my hair and messing it up. I really don't care; this was brain damaging!

"Well, what do you expect? Finishing the vocabulary section, typing a story using all ten of them, and studying for a quiz is all in a week. This is my brother's class after all." Tifa stated, and I wanted to die with the overload.

"Not to mention that I had to attend the afterschool class and finish writing keywords in the last five chapters about the Greek Mythology on how it is related to religious times." I dawdled out and slammed my head. Man… I wanna sleep so bad…

"Hey, Yuffie!" Tifa called out, and I looked up from my pitiful state.

"What?" I grounded out, and I know she was rolling her eyes at me.

"We're going to get lunch. Wanna come?" I sighed and shook my head. I had my lunch in my bag from my mom. Since it was going to be one hell of a study time at lunch, might as well eat up and sulk some more.

"I got my lunch. I told my mom that I'm gonna be studying like crazy, so go on ahead." Aerith and Tifa looked at each other and then later me.

"Are you sure?" I'm fine. What? Do I look like I was going to get raped in the library?

"No. It's nothing." Tifa said, and I groaned and slammed my head on the book. I really need to shut my mouth.

"I'm fine, really. Go before I decide to eat you for dinner instead." They laughed at my attempt on a joke and left. I was really happy to have friends like them. Really. I want to marry them and set off for our honeymoon, but sadly, they have boyfriends waiting for them. Aw… maybe I should talk to the guys about letting me marry them first. Heeheehee…

My stomach growled, and I swear to the gods, I think a few people have heard that loud stomach of mine. I swore, quietly since this was a library, and dug my hand into my bag. Now where is that stupid plastic box of a-

Oh.

Uh oh.

I think I forgot it… again! I was twitching all right and wanted to punch the desk and break it in half. Well, not as much as Tifa can, but I really want to crack the motherfu-

"Hey! Yuffie! You got a visitor!" All of the people turned to Reno and shushed him. Reno just glared at them before he spotted me with a big grin. Typical Reno… and…

"Yu-shan!" I think everyone looked down to see my baby brother and gave out the heartfelt coo. They would have shushed him as well, but… he's three years old for gods' sakes. He was holding my lunchbox with so delicately, and my heart grew warm. It was so adorable. I stood up from my seat and jogged to my baby brother. I squat down to his level and allowed him to hug me, minding my lunch as he snuggled on my shoulder.

"Let's go outside, Ryuu." I whispered behind his ear, and I looked up to Reno.

"Watch my stuff." I glared at him when he rolled his eyes, but he knew that this was a brother-sister bonding to the cutest extent. Imagine one of those chibi moments in television involving a kid drawing on tiny Ryuu and tiny me.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll watch over it. Not like there's anything good in there." I picked up Ryuu and stood up, not until I "accidentally" had my foot slamming against his shin. Reno swore loudly, causing the librarian to throw the book at him… literally. Last time, the librarian allowed one of the girls to whack one of their guy friends on the head unconscious and telling him that it was his own fault for pissing people off. Ha! This library is fucking awesome, as long as you follow the librarian's rules on her own terms. After I got Ryuu away from the library and set him down on the bench outside of the school, he gave me this big innocent stare and spoke out.

"We-shan say bad worsh?" I smiled and nodded.

"Reno-chan say bad word. Don't copy him." He had this horrified look and shook his head.

"Wyuu no copy! Wyuu no copy!" He seemed to stop for a bit and later held out my lunch to me.

"Wunsh!" Okay. We so need a fanclub for this kid. He's the essence of cuteness to the tenth degree, and I fear that the girls in this school are going to eat him up. I smiled and held my hands out to hold his hands.

"Thank you, Ryuu." … did I just hear a tiny growl? Wait… I think that was Ryuu's stomach.

"Ryuu? Did you eat your lunch today?" Ryuu began whimpering and had tears in his eyes, and I was panicking. Mom was used to, in fact very good, on comforting him on times like crying, and I was the one who makes him laugh since I voluntarily decided to become the "Friendly Idiot" just for Ryuu. I cradled his face when I cup his cheeks and whispered.

"Shush, now. Don't cry. I'm not mad." I think mom and I should be twins because Ryuu stopped sniffling and stared at me with bright, shiny eyes. Mental picture taken.

"I just want to know why didn't you eat lunch today?" He gave me this big grin that I would have grinned back if it wasn't for those words out of his mouth.

"Nanashi hunwie! Ryuu give Nanashi wunsh." I groaned and slapped my forehead.

Red. You stupid… cat… dog… whatever!

That big, stupid feline-mutt Nanaki had to give Ryuu the puppy eyes and eat the freakin' food. Nanaki, or Red since I own him, is this big… Tibetan Mastiff that has a red fur and looks like a lion because of his fur. I owned that dog when I found him around seven years ago when he was an injured puppy, and my parents allowed me to take care of him if I did all of the chores involving Nanaki. He was a cute red puppy with one eye, but when he grew, he grew. I couldn't sit on him at all since I was always bigger than him, but Nanaki allowed Ryuu to ride on him when my baby brother was still in diapers. He was always reliable when it was just Ryuu and me, and he is a loyal dog when I set out the commands. There was one time that someone tried to kidnap me for ransom money from my dad, and I fainted because I got knocked out. When I woke up, I was in the hospital and was told that Nanaki saved me. I don't know how, but I loved that mutt to death… even if he was the pain in the ass and sheds all over the carpet.

Oh well. Might as well not each lunch and let Ryuu eat mine.

"You know, I can share with you. Is that okay?" His smile was so wide that I was worried that it might freeze or split his face in half. I just laughed and sat beside him. It was a bento box since my parents came from Wutai, and I didn't mind bringing it with me. I would have shared him my lunch if there were two chopsticks, but since there is only a pair I can give him my lunch.

"Miss Kisaragi. What are you doing?" I just froze and looked behind Ryuu, almost half way finishing my lunch. Great. Mr. Valentine was standing there with one of his eyebrows raised, and my brother turned around after swallowing the piece of chicken I gave him. He had a few pieces of rice stuck on his tiny jaw and had this observant face to try to understand the stranger in front of him. Mr. Valentine looked like he had his eyes narrowed at him, and I wondered if he did not like children at all. Well, he is the teacher from hell, so I am thinking that he really does not like kids. Ryuu pointed at him and spoke out.

"Ah! Miwster Vampi-" I had my hand on his mouth and took over.

"Sorry! This is my baby brother, Ryuu, and he came over to give me my lunch!" I knew that I shouldn't influence him with stuff from my room. I can't blame Denzel, who is Cloud's little brother, for introducing me to vampire and monster comics since I have a little brother of my own, but I now know that my mouth can run into trouble, especially through Ryuu. I sighed in relief when I saw that angered look disappear into one of surprise. I tried to explain to him about why my baby brother is around and eating my lunch.

"Problem is that Nanaki, my dog, had eaten Ryuu's lunch, making him lunchless and hungry, and I am currently giving up my lunch to make him grow." Mr. Valentine had this neutral face and nodded, and he walked up to me… well… to us since Ryuu almost send me to detention. He crouched down to his level and removed my hand from the tiny mouth. Something on the back of my head was bumping, but I ignored it. However, the touch felt like soft electricity was flowing through me… literally.

"What is your name?" Ryuu looked surprised and later smiled. The smile really runs through the Kisaragi family.

"Me? I wham the Gweatest Ni… Ni…Ninja Hewo, Wyuu Kisawagi! I wham goin' to… uh… de… de… beat weevil with Yu-shan!" Insert ultimate face-palm of the century here. He has to stop watching those Ultimate Fighter's shows. Well… one of us has to…

"I… see." He was smiling, and I watched his eyes danced in amusement and laughter. Whoa! Two weeks of tortured hell, and this guy was smiling and making me hallucinating! Shit! Did something happen on the way? No wait. Ryuu! I love you, kid! I knew that you could break the iciest block in school.

"I will be going now." He tried to stand up, but somehow, he couldn't. I looked at his hand that was still holding, and… am I holding his hand too?

"Ah!" He began pointing at Mr. Valentine again, and this time I couldn't stop him because my hand was still held by him. I withdrew my hand away from his grip this time and blushed. Oh gods, I'm blushing. Why is this happening? Before my thoughts can be processed, I heard the words coming from Ryuu's mouth.

"I knows wou! Vis't Nanashi an' Wyuu… again?"

Wait… what?

Mr. Valentine just smiled and patted my brother's head. I didn't get to turn around to ask Mr. Valentine nor will I care about Buttface. However, I need facts straight from my brother. He is my precious brother, and all I could know is that Mr. Valentine knows where I live. Having a teacher from hell in school is better than having a neighbor from hell, and I know that throwing eggs at the new grouchy neighbor will get me in big, big trouble. I sent the old neighbor packing because he called me a little hellion, and plus, he's just a grouchy old man who didn't like kids around his lawn. That was years ago when I was ten.

"Ryuu?" He turned to me with his big eyes. No matter how much I love him and am willingly go melt under his eyes, I need to protect him from Mr. Soon-to-be-Stalker. God… isn't that… pedophile or something?

"How does he know you and Nanaki? What do you mean visit?" He tilted his head and pondered. I know he was wondering why I asked, and he shrugged.

"He a new fwiend. He wive… uh… next to us." I groaned.

Mr. Valentine was living next to us. Fuck. I think Reno just might keel over and die when I tell him this.

"Persephone…"

I turned to see who called me. It wasn't the creepy voice, but it sounded… familiar. Something like similar to my voice but… deeper? There stood a man, and he didn't look like me. Well… he did, but I would say I would have been looking at an alternative me who became a guy. You know… cross-dressing or gender bendering? He seemed like… he was from the skies, but he was… transparent but not. This… other me… was in a form of… wind. No… I can see him, but he had wings. I cannot see the rest of him, but his face was there. He… looks like…

"What are you doing here?" I asked, and he seemed sad. I do not know this guy, and I wanted to say that. However, my mouth was moving on my own, and it wasn't my voice. Well, it is my voice, but it was slightly deeper. He almost looked reluctant and lost.

"I… have heard about your request." I didn't say anything and just sighed.

"I see… mother has spoken to you as well…"

"Is… there any way? Any other way?" Any other… way? To what?

"I have spoken and requested to the King. Do not make this difficult." I glared at him, and he cringed. I lessened my glare and sighed.

"He hurt you. It's not the end." I don't know why, but I… feel like crying.

"It ended when he-"

"Persephone!"

"Enough!" I inhaled for a bit and later exhaled a shaky sigh.

"I do not want to have my final goodbye with so much rage. Please…" Final... goodbye? What happened? I walked up to him, and we were standing face to face. He was looking down a bit, but he later collapsed in the process. I was alarmed and went down to him, holding his shoulder blades where his wings were. They were huge… like an angel, but I can sense that he was like a little brother to me…

Just like Ryuu…

"I must go now. I will see you again… much later…" His whole body was shaking, but I felt like I was leaving… disappearing…

"Triptolemus… thank you… take care… of mother…" I whispered as I disappeared.

Urgh… my head is throbbing… and I'm feeling pressure on my chest. I looked down to see my shirt being drooled on with a tiny mouth from a baby brother. How did I get here in my room again? On my bed as well? Wait… I think I remember. I think I got back home and decided to finish the rest of the damn homework. Somehow, I fell asleep and wondered if there was a time that Ryuu fell asleep too. Never mind, I probably need to finish the damn homework since I got news from Ryuu that Mr. Valentine is our next-door neighbor. My friends feel sympathy toward me when I had to tell them through Ryuu's explanation, and Reno just keeled over and laughed so hard that I thought he was going to pop a blood vessel. Oh well. It was close to making him die.

"What the fu- fudge was that about?" Almost got my ass on the pan. Mom would have my hide if Ryuu asked her what I said. As I try to get up and try not to wake up Ryuu, the door burst open and in-came the large red Mastiff that looked like it was crossbred with a lion with one eye, Nanaki. God, I love that mutt to death, but…

"ARGH! Red! Quit it! Stop slobbering me!" Well, the large dog decided to wake me up by licking me, and I woke up Ryuu from his nap.

"Mmmmeh? Yu-shan?" When Nanaki licked him, Ryuu giggled when he got a face full of saliva. Great… another shower for both of us…

"Nanashi!" … Okay. Now that is too cute and funny: Ryuu hugging Red on the chest, and I thought he's going to be swallowed whole by the biggest fluff-ball of the world. Well, his face in Red's fur when I can't see his face looked like he was swallowed up if it weren't his arms being visible. I could imagine a sound effect for this: FOOF! I sighed and gently pulled the kid away from Red. Sheesh. Now he has fur and saliva on his face.

"C'mon kid. Let's go shower. Red, stay here." I commanded, but Red whined and wanted to go with us. Good gods, he was giving me that big puppy eye look with only one eye.

"No." I commanded, but the dumb dog wasn't listening. He was wagging his long tail and was pouncing on the carpet floor. Shit, I think I should groom him and cut his fur a bit.

"No, Nanaki. Sit." I sternly, or with most of the sternness I have in my tired body, commanded, but he was not listening. He was still looking at me with this happy panting and patted on my knees. Ow! Crap! I think his claw has grown again. I hissed in pain and covered my knee. I checked it and saw the claw mark was there. I think it drew blood a bit, and it was time for him to go through a full groom.

"Yu-shan hurt?" Ryuu ask so innocently and had big sad eyes with a whimper. I grinned and kissed his cheek.

"I'm fine. Yu-shan is fine." I said until I felt a cold chill in the air. Strange. Was the air conditioner on? I think one of the maids turned it on since it was slightly too warm outside. I heard a whimper and looked at Red. He had his ears down and bowing down to me, and I was concerned. What's wrong with him?

"Red? It's okay. I'm fine." I bent down to his level and beckoned him closer.

"Come here, Reddy. See? Mommy's fine!" He shook his head and back away. Holy… I haven't seen him scared or like this ever. No. I have never seen him like this since I found him as a puppy. Mom and dad usually do the scolding, but I never done this to him. Call me a doormat for both Ryuu and Red since I was the mommy and sister to them, but I never did scare them. Ever.

"It's okay! Don't be scared!" I let Ryuu hang onto my back as I shuffled toward him. I had my arms open to him and patted my good knee gently.

"Come here, Reddy. Give mommy and Ryuu a big hug." It seemed to work. He looked up and walked his way here with his four feet. He did seem hesitant until I reached forward and gave him a big hug with my arms around him. Ryuu giggled and hugged his nuzzle, and Red seemed to calm down. He gave me a big slobber kiss on my cheek and another on Ryuu's giggling face. I laughed and pulled away.

"Okay, boys. You, two, are going to take a bath. I need a bath too, and I have to give Red a haircut." I heard a whimper and slightly glared at Red.

"Red. You're shedding. You're up after I get out of the shower, and don't run around the house this time." Gods, I need a vacation somewhere during the Winter Break.