A/N: As promised, here's the next chapter! I'm so sorry for the long delay. Happy new year everyone!

Chapter 4: It's alright now

Ten minutes later, a man appeared. He yawned wearily, tired from putting his naughty children to bed. He was walking on the garden path to his house when he noticed something strange. Two children were lying on the threshold of his house, sleeping peacefully. Surprised, he leaned down to look at them closely. The girl looked quite familiar to him; her long chestnut hair reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago.

He brushed a strand of hair off her face and realization finally hit him. He knew that girl. With a slight smile, he lifted the girl up gently so as not to wake her.

It had been a long time since the last time they met.

A sudden sound of something broken woke Kaname up. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the ceiling tall above him. The dark sky was no longer there. He was lying on something so warm and soft. A couch? He thought he fell asleep on the snow. He was inside… a house?

"Yuuki…!" Kaname exclaimed as he sat up, his hand shooting out as if to grab something invisible there. Kaname looked around; his little sister was out of his sight. Where was she?

"It's still early in the morning. You'd better go back to sleep."

A light-haired man said as he appeared from the kitchen. He was holding a cup of hot chocolate; Kaname noticed one of his fingers was wrapped in a bandage.

"Ah…This?" Having noticed Kaname's stare, he laughed. "Just my clumsiness. I'm sorry, since my cup for guests was broken, you can have this instead."

Kaname took the cup from his hand. There was a little kitten drawn on it. With big brown eyes, the kittens gazed at Kaname innocently. He thought it was weird that cats actually wore bows.

"Cute, isn't it?" The man said with a curious look at the boy, expecting him to say something. Kaname did not answer him.

"Where's Yuuki?" Kaname blurted out.

"She's upstairs. More importantly, I need to know-"

Before the man could finish his words, Kaname was no longer there. Smiling mysteriously, the man followed him upstairs.

Yuuki was lying peacefully on the bed, a soft blanket draping over her. Kaname deliberately walked towards his sister, his eyes stared at her unseeingly. He took her hand in his. It was burning.

"It's just a cold. Don't worry; she'll recover in no time. Now can we go downstairs to have a talk?" The man asked silently.

Kaname was just staring into the empty space for a while. The man watched him worriedly, waiting for him to speak. After a full minute of silence, the boy finally managed to utter.

"Okay," he said.

"Take your time. I'll be waiting down there," the man said as he turned around to leave the room.

Kaname stood quietly by Yuuki's bed. His hand slowly caressed her cheeks; then he leaned down to lay a brief kiss on her forehead.

"I'm sorry, Yuuki. If only I had remembered to bring more warm clothes… I'm sorry…" He murmured. Everything had gone so wrong; despite all his effort not to, he kept messing the whole things up. He promised to protect her, but what had he done so far?

Kaname straightened up. His eyes lingered on his little sister's face for a brief moment before he turned around and left.

"Don't worry, Yuuki. I'll be right back."

When he came down, Kaname found the light-haired man sat casually on the couch.

"Ah, you're finally here. Are you awake? Do you need more sleep?" He asked.

"I've had enough already. Now I just need to talk to you. About… us," Kaname said hesitantly. He sat down beside the man on the coach.

"Good," the man said with an encouraging smile, once again handing out the cup to Kaname. He took it.

"But before that, there are some things I need to know about you. Are you Cross Kaien?" Kaname said.

"Of course I am. I'm a childhood friend of Yuuki's mother, Juuri, though we haven't met for quite a long time. How's she doing?"

"She's doing fine. Is this your school, ?"

Kaien's eyes shone with pride and a huge smile spread over his face.

"Yes, it is. Do you like it?"

Kaname frowned. He did not think that was a proper question in the situation.

"There's only one thing left that I can't understand," Kaname continued, ignored Kaien's frown of disagreement. "Why weren't you home when we came?"

Kaien laughed softly as he answered the boy.

"I was snuggling down under the bedclothes when a teacher came and told me four kids were missing. You see, having a good night sleep is too much of an implausible idea when you have little kids run around causing troubles. Especially that child, Ichijou Takuma."

Kaname showed no signs of recognition as he stared apathetically at Kaien, waiting for him to continue.

"He's a great kid, though somehow I always found him getting into mischief. He's full of the weirdest ideas that no one can ever imagine. Last week, Takuma said summer was too hot to set off fireworks, so he wanted to watch fireworks in the winter. He almost set the dorm on fire then."

Having realized Kaname's silence, the principal paused to ask him:

"Sorry, I wandered off the subject again. Is there anything else you want to know about me?"

"No, actually…" Kaname said, averting his eyes from the older man's intense gaze.

"So this will be my turn," the man said with a gentle smile, "Are you gonna tell me who you are and why Yuuki and you suddenly have the urge to pay a visit to my house?"

"Yes…" Kaname said, hesitantly, "I'm Kuran Kaname, the son of Hiou Shizuka and…"

Kaname gulped. The mere sound of his father's name was enough to disgust him; along with it was his father's cruel laugh echoing in his head. Kaname breathed out.

"Kuran Rido."

"Rido? He's Juuri's cousin, isn't he?"

"Yes, and now he's her husband. They married a year ago, after Yuuki's father passed away."

Kaien's eyes widened in shock, his voice barely a whisper:

"What did you say? Haruka… died?"

Kaname knew Kaien had not contacted with his childhood friend for long, but he did not expect that Kaien did not know about Haruka's death.

"He died of cancer… two years ago."

"I see… I'm very sorry to hear that." Kaien said, his eyes remaining unseeing.

Kaname silently gazed at the man. He lifted his cup to take a sip while still being careful not to make any sudden sound. The warmth that the brown liquid brought gradually spread through his body.

It was so soothing.

"Alright, Kaname. Now can you tell me why you two came here?" Kaien asked; his voice softened. His eyes were filled with so much tenderness when they turned to look at the boy, waiting for him to continue.

This was the moment Kaname feared the most. But he had to face it. There was no way back.

Kaien needed to know.

"It was because of Rido. He's… not so good of a father," Kaname hesitated, avoiding Kaien's intense gaze.

"What did he do to you two?" Kaien asked quietly.

"Normally he just ignores us. But at nights when he got drunk, he hit me," noticing the gloomy look on the other man's face, Kaname added hastily, "It doesn't hurt much; I'm used to that. It's not why we left."

Kaname paused once more. He returned his attention to the small cup in his hand, and just then he realized his hands were trembling.

"At times Rido gets so drunk he doesn't even recognize us. He mistakes Yuuki for Juuri. Yuuki's just a small girl. If I hadn't come in time I don't know what he might've done to her…" Kaname trailed off. He recalled his father's husky voice as he repeated over and over again before the bewildered Yuuki: "Juuri…"

Kaname closed his eyes tightly.

"I understand…" Kaien said soothingly, patting the brown head next to him, "You two may remain here with me."

"Are you sure?" Kaname asked in bewilderment.

"Sure, everything's gonna be just fine. Ah, I assume you didn't tell Juuri about all these, right?"

"Yes, we were in haste and too confused to think about that," answered Kaname.

"So I'll tell her later in the morning. Don't worry, I won't talk about your father. Now come back to sleep, Kaname. You look quite weary still," Kaien said with a reassuring smile, his hand lightly pushing Kaname's head, "Go upstairs. You can sleep in my bedroom."

Kaname stood up, looking at Kaien with wordless gratitude.

"Thank you, sir. I can't tell you how much we appreciate your kindness."

"Nah, it's nothing." Kaien smiled in replied.

Looking at the profile of the small boy, a tender feeling gradually overwhelmed Kaien. He never was a father, but he had helped raise thousands of children in his academy.

"You know… you can stay as long as want," he said gently.

The boy stopped shortly in the middle of the stairs, hesitant, and then answered without looking back at Kaien.

"Thank you."