The next day his seat was empty, only leaving soft sun in his wake. Leon had been unable to sleep with worry for the boy and sleep wreaked havoc on his body, but still he held up his end of the bargain. He would stay awake in class and the teachers wouldn't bug him, that was the silent deal. He knew that nothing good would come of having a companion for his silence, but somehow he found himself wanting the boy to call and demand a pick up. He was usually so logical, so capable of turning his back and, yet, he had never wanted companionship more.

When he had returned home, he had been able to silently slip past his brother's door without being detected, but he knew better than anyone that he wouldn't be able to go without some reform for long. Sooner or later Yao would loose his temper and something would go horribly wrong. He knew that, he wasn't stupid. He didn't understand why he insisted on being always there. Leon just wanted to be alone every now and then, was that really so much to ask in a world as sociable as this?

That same afternoon Leon stared at his phone, he stared at it with such intensity that it was amazing. His youngest brother was crawling over him, but he barely noticed. He was one of those children that needed to see things upside down to understand them.

"Leon, what are you doing?" The boy had positioned himself on Leon's shoulders so that he could stare at the phone also, but while Leon's stare was fretful and keen the boy's was simply curious.

"I'm thinking" Leon murmured, almost to himself. He was actually consulting whether he should call Emil to make sure the silver haired boy was alright. He figured that he was probably a little fragile, he wasn't very good with other people's emotions, or even his own, but he guessed that loosing a family member was bound to make you feel quite crappy

"What about?" The little boy began playing with Leon's hair, which was a little lighter than his own.

"Nothing in particular… get off, I gotta make a call" He lifted the boy off his head, briefly dropping the phone. "Sod off" the little boy ran out of the room, sensing that something interesting was going on. Leon quickly searched his phone for the smaller boys number and held the technology up to his ear, stuffing his hand into his pocket. After a few rings the phone was answered and Leon's stomach tightened in a way it hadn't in years.

"Hello?" Came that automatic reply. The voice sounded tired and Leon could relate.

"Hey, it's me" Leon couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Leon? Hello, what's up?" He sounded surprised, but then again it was usually him who called Leon, not the other way around.

"Just wondering how you're, like, doing" Leon suddenly found the celling very, very interesting.

"Alright, my brother has already booked flights to Iceland so that we can go to the funeral and deal with the reading of the will and stuff, so I wont be coming to school for a few weeks" He sounded like he wasn't looking forward to it and Leon sympathised as best he could. They talked for a little while longer, until Leon considered his duty fulfilled and he politely hung up. Unbeknownst him his two younger siblings had their ears pressed to the door, giggling to themselves before running off to find Kiku and gossip.

For the next week Emil's seat remained empty and Leon's phone remained devoid of calls. It was only on the last day of the semester did his phone finally ring, though much earlier than he had expected, considering the silver haired boy was meant to be in Iceland for a mouth, not a week. For once he hadn't been "on the town" as he usually was, instead he was sitting on the couch after being hauled back into the house by his oldest brother. It seemed that tonight was the night that the intervention began. Leon arms had been crossed and his expression calmly neutral, not that it ever really changed from that. He had stopped listening to the older man about an hour ago and he knew that Kiku had as well. His second oldest brother sat in the arm chair, his own expression as neutral as Leon's was. He was only present to make sure that Yao didn't say anything too bad.

When his phone had rung unexpectedly he had jumped in surprise, before shoving his hand into his pocket and retrieving the buzzing device. He was surprised to see the contact was Emil's number, wasn't he in Iceland? He spared a glance at his oldest brother, who was now staring at him with a fresh scowl. Just from that look he knew he shouldn't answer it, but he did anyway. He knew he wouldn't be able to go and pick him up, but he might as well give him an explanation.

"Hello?" He asked the phone.

"Hey, it's me, are you busy?" The voice sounded even more exhausted than before and Leon's breath almost stopped.

"Actually, yeah, intervention night" he could practically hear Emil nodding. He hoped that the smaller boy would get it.

"I understand, I'll walk" his voice sounded slightly disappointed, but still understanding. "Good luck" Leon quickly thanked him and hung up. He was so screwed, looking back up at his oldest brother he knew that for a fact.

"And who was that, aru?" His voice was cold and Leon would of flinched had he not had an unmistakable feeling of guilt squirming around his brain. He looked back down at his phone. His chest felt like it was being squeezed. Why was life so unfair? Why did he have to abandon his friend? What had he ever done?

Suddenly the tall boy stood.

"I'm sorry, I, like, gotta go" and with that he left the house, leaving his oldest brother yelling after him.

Emil walked in silence, shivering again at the cool gust of wind that blew from behind him. He could understand perfectly why Leon was incapable of coming that night, he had had his own fair share of brotherly interventions and knew just how horrible they were. He cringed at the thought.

He held the bag of black candy up to his face and capturing one of them between his teeth. His bare feet had begun to hurt and his eyes were tired. They ached whenever he looked at the street lights. All he knew was that coming out had been a mistake and he wanted to go back to bed.

The streets were cold and dark and he couldn't help, but wonder if there was anybody lurking in the dark catacombs of the small city. It would be a little while yet before he would be able to see the suburbs so tall buildings still sprouted around him. They loomed over his head, menace in their shadows and yet he didn't mind. He was still well aware that he owed the night whether it was malice filled or otherwise. They could be loom all they wished, it was only the people taking advantage of the darkness he worried about.

He chewed thoughtfully on the liquorice, hair blowing silently in the cool wind. The only sound he could hear was the sound of his own footsteps and the chilly whistling of the wind, unfortunately just because you don't hear someone doesn't mean they aren't there.

Emil barely even noticed being dragged into the ally, once he did notice of course he let out a hoarse, terrified squeak. He felt a knee dig painfully into his stomach and he suddenly couldn't breath. His vision swayed with shock, but he still somehow managed to focus on his attacker. Tall and… tall. This was all he could gather. He felt hot breath on his face that smelt like vodka and cigarette smoke. He felt hands pat his hips for pockets as he was slammed against a wall, his head bounced back, banging hard against the rough brick.

The air left him.

The assailant realised quickly enough that he was wearing pyjamas and pyjamas didn't have pockets. Emil had left his wallet at home, all he had was a mobile phone that was a good five years old.

He was thrown roughly the ground.

"You fucking brat!" The man seethed with rage. "Why don't you have any fucking money?!" Emil felt a boot slam into him again and again. The pain echoed around his body, jarring what like sanity he had left into oblivion. He would screamed had he not been coughing up blood. He couldn't breath, he was going to die.

Suddenly the kicking stopped and the man let out his own strangled scream. Emil opened his heavy eyelids only because he needed to know if his situation had gotten any worse. The man's scream was overlapped by another, but this one was not out of fear. The new scream was a war cry. Emil watched as another figure leapt across his vision, pouncing on the dark haired man once again. For the first time Leon's face held expression, one of pure unadulterated hatred. He looked brutal. It took a second, but Emil saw how well trained he was. Well, there was a fact he hadn't known before. Leon knew Kung fu. That was bound to come in handy. The world swayed and Emil's eyes closed once again. It was fine, everything was… fine.

Leon was here.

It was fine.

Oh my god!

Jesus fucking Christ on a pogo stick!

Oh my god!

Leon knelt down next to him, his frail body even frailer that usual. Blood dribbled sadly down to the concrete from the corner of his mouth and the back of his silver hair was dotted with red. Leon was sure that he was going to start crying, if he had gotten there any later… he didn't want to think about that.

"Emil? Can you hear me? It's me, Leon" he spoke softly. Emil whimpered and Leon stroked his hair in an effort to sooth him. As soon as he had seen the boy's violet eyes close the rage had melted out of him and only concern and despair was left in its place. He had let the man run, only the silver haired boy holding his attention.

And then Emil began to cry, from either pain or defeat it didn't matter. Leon's heart leapt into his throat as he tried to push the tears away, panic almost over whelming him. He knew that he couldn't just kneel in an ally way, he had to get Emil to safety. Stalling would not do.

"Do you want to go home, qīn ài de nǐ?" Do you want to go home, my dear? Emil coughed a little and nodded weakly. Leon held his face close to Emil's in case he said anything.

"Please"

Fifteen minutes later Emil was no longer lying in a dark ally slowly bleeding, but instead on Leon's back as they trudged through the dark suburban streets. His arms were wrapped around the taller boy neck and his cheek rested on his shoulder. Leon had wrapped his jacket before he had been placed on his back, but he was still cold. He pushed his nose into Leon's soft shirt and tried to remember where his brother was.

A substance that was probably blood was trickling down his back and he knew that he had a scrape on his cheekbone. Everything hurt. Everything screamed for rest, but he couldn't give in just yet. He didn't have the patience for sleep to come. Plus he had to make sure Leon took him to the right house. Leon held his thighs and kept him from slipping. Every now and then he would ask the boy if he was still awake and Emil would sadly nod his head. He was too tired for this crap. He could feel the boy's phone going off in his pocket, but he never moved to answer it. Not once. When Emil inquired quietly about this the delinquent had shaken his head dismissively and replied:

"You, my dear, are more important than anything my brother has to say" Emil immediately felt guilty as he remembered Leon's intervention.

"I'm sorry" Emil muttered sadly, once again taking refuge in Leon's shirt.

"Not your fault" The delinquent answered matter-of-factly. "Sorry I couldn't come earlier" for once he let a little emotion trickle into his voice and he felt Emil's arms tighten around his neck.

"Not your fault"

Author's notes:

alright guys, expect fluff by the bucket load in the next chapter. We are going to have so many confusing feelings you'll cry. I'm seriously loving this, it's just so much fun to write.

Lots of love,

Clementine