Hi. Sorry about the slight late update. I have homework. :(

Disclaimer: I do not own D. Gray-man.

Everything in this story is also a work of fiction, and so it does not have any correlation with with real people, places, or etc. though there may be references.

Also, on an added note, as the storyplot of D. Gray-man itself holds some content on religion, there may be mentions of philosophy/ religion within this chapter, but I mean no offense, so I hope people are not offended.

Enjoy!


According to Ms. Mildred Mana's fever had been quite high, and so it was necessary to keep Mana in the infirmary with her for a few weeks. That meant that during the day I stayed hidden within the infirmary that Ms. Mildred presided over and helped her with Maria, who was there to help Ms. Mildred. Some nights, when Maria thought it was safe enough she took me to the Chapel to teach me the piano. I liked Maria. I think she is an exception from the rule Mana always said about adults. She keeps her promises. I trusted Ms. Mildred too. She was loyal in a funny way. When I helped out the chores inside the infirm, I talked to Maria and Ms. Mildred about a lot of things. Mainly Mana. However, I didn't show them my music score. That was for Mana and I alone. I also kept where we came from a secret. Mana told me a long time ago not to do that.

"...and you see, Mana got hurt. Isn't he a blockhead?" I laughed.

"Don't call your own brother a 'blockhead', dear, it's crude. Also, don't laugh about injuries. My goodness, what is the world coming to, when poor little children are no longer taught etiquette, why, in my day..." Ms. Mildred began on her usual rant. According to Maria, when Ms. Mildred was young and an active nun, she apparently did a lot of work with the poor, and so disapproved of the way that the convent closed themselves off to them. I found it amusing, because Ms. Mildred was the only person I ever met who didn't try and put up with the way things were; she openly questioned things about the world, and tried to change it, I guess. "...with the way things are, it would take years to undo. Maria, have you put the parsley up to dry? Good. And have you been properly teaching this child how to learn the piano?"

"Y-yes Sister Mildred." Maria said, wiping her hands on a towel. After we had dressed Mana in clean clothes Maria had tried to explain to me why nuns called each other Sister this and Sister that, but I didn't understand. I found it quite silly. Maria was around Mana's age, so I called her Maria. If I differentiated her from Mana, it would be unfair. Ms. Mildred was different. She was a lot older than me, so I couldn't call her my sister, and so I just called her Ms. Mildred, which was what Mana told me to call women who were not married. Ms. Mildred sniffed.

"In my day and age, if a child from the streets had touched the holy piano there would have been an uproar." She paused, as if contemplating. "Well, I suppose times have changed. The poor have to be educated somehow, I suppose." She sighed, contemplating that, then snapped back into reality. "And you," She said, pointing to me as I stirred the stew meant as dinners for the nuns. "Don't spill any of that on your clothes. I had your other clothes, or what was left of your clothes, get washed, and after that mended, so until then you have to keep those clean. Understand?" I nodded. When Maria had brought us to Ms. Mildred's the first thing Ms. Mildred did was give Mana and I new clothes. Her reasoning was that she couldn't have us 'dirtying the place up', but I think she did it because she pitied us. Mana said that people's pity was worthless, but in this case I think it was ok.

I liked this feeling, of being with people, having a place to stay. I stayed hidden in the infirm with Mana and Ms. Mildred in the day, as Maria had her nun duties during the day and some nights Maria would take me out to the chapel to learn the piano. It felt like Mana and I had a place to be, a ground that we could stand on without that much worry. I think it was because Mana didn't have to be the only one to take responsibility for me, so he didn't have that much stress. I giggled as I stirred the stew. Mana seemed like a different person now that he was sick; he was all dazy and spaced out a lot. I pointed this out to Ms. Mildred one day when we were drying dishes and she tsked.

"It's almost a good thing." She mused. I stared at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" She turned to me and sniffed.

"Your brother acts too much like an adult. Kids should act like kids." Ms. Mildred said. "If one of you youngsters become old at his age, then that would make the adults around him the most worthless adults around." I cocked my head at this. It was all very confusing. She frowned, and she shook the ladle at me, showering me with water specks. I blinked as the water hit me. She did not seem to have noticed.

"You see, when you become old, you start becoming stubborn, like me. But that's all right because I'm old enough to be that stubborn. However," She shook the ladle again. This time she had dried the ladle while she was talking so the amount of water that was showered to me was decreased. "If he at that age becomes stubborn and all that, he'll become a hermit and nothing good will come out of it." This time she shook her head as she put the ladle aside. I listened to her ramble as I took another plate. "People are people because a person needs love to survive. A person can't live by himself all his life without feeling depressed." There was a silence as I took in this information, putting the next plate in a cabinet. I kind of didn't understand it at all as I tried to make sense of the whole matter.

"So...it was a good thing that we met Maria and you." I said aloud. I got showered with water again as Ms. Mildred shook a frying pan in my face.

"Of course, you youngster. Good grief!" Ms. Mildred was scowling, but I was sure that underneath Ms. Mildred's scowl there was a smile. I was sure of it.


During the first week or so Ms. Mildred and Maria limited the number of times I visited Mana to one, saying that I could catch the cold. However, as two weeks passed I was able to visit him as long as I had free time. Mana was rather gaunt and tired, but he seemed to be getting better.

"Hey Mana," I said as I sat on the bed. Mana was reading a book that he found to keep himself from being bored.

"Mm?" He looked up.

"It's good that you got better. I was worried, you know." He smiled rather sheepishly.

"Sorry about that, lil' bro." He reached his hand out and patted my head. I pouted.

"Hey, stop that! I'm not a little kid, you know!" He laughed at this. I grew a little irritated, but tried to brush it off. There was a moment of silence, of tension, a feeling of something that was to come.

"Hey...Mana? Maria...and Ms. Mildred...they're really nice, you know? They're not bad...you know?" Mana's eyes focused back on his book, but I knew that he was thinking. I plowed on, a little scared at the lack of reaction, in a small voice. "Do we have to go away from them when you get better? Can't we just stay? I...like it here, Mana. Let's stay, please?" Mana was still looking at the book, unfocused, thinking. The silence that he created held tension that was so heavy it was suffocating. Mana's eyebrows were creased. He was thinking, and I could see the conflict in his eyes. He was arguing with himself on the odds. I watched him, unknowingly holding my breath. I clenched the almost worn out music score that I always kept with me. If he decides that he'll go, I'm going as well. He pursed his lips finally. A decision.

"We...still have some time before we decide that. I probably would have to stay here for... another two weeks or so, so during that time we can decide." Mana sounded slightly indecisive in stating this, hesitant. I nodded. So I wasn't the only person who wanted to stay. However, a week flew by as quickly as it had come, and Mana was finally able to be let out to see my piano lessons. Although I knew that it was bad to think so, I almost wished that Mana could become sick again so that we could continue to be here. I never wanted to leave.


Note: Andante is a tempo, or the speed that a musician would play at. It is referred to as the 'Walking tempo', so it is relatively relaxed.

Thank you for reading.