Oh wow. I almost forgot to update this. -_-; this is what happens when homework comes into my life(It takes over). Anyways, enough of the author's boring personal life...

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!


Plink-Plink. Plunk. My little brother's fingers flew over multitudes of keys as I listened, head nodding. I pushed my ponytail back as I sat, deep in thought. Although we had decided to stay, this wasn't the ideal situation either. We were still currently 'under the protection' of Sister Maria and Sister Mildred. I trusted them without question, but if we were to be known by the whole convent there would be uproar. Even they may not be able to protect us then. I needed to come up with a plan, a way for us to be safe. I glanced over at my brother. Maybe they would allow him to be the pianist here. I shook my head. No, they would already have a pianist, and probably a concertmaster at that. Had we not been orphans it would have been a possible thing, but it was out of our reach. What else? We couldn't live our lives hiding within that infirmary forever.

Plo-nk. Plink, plong! My brother finished off his song with a flourish. I clapped absently as Sister Maria went forward to tell him what she thought about his song. He'd been doing that a lot, making up new songs on the spot. He didn't put his songs in the strange fashion that he did the first time, but put it on the standard music paper that Sister Maria smuggled into the infirmary. Perhaps he could become a composer? No, the pianist or whoever would do that themselves. What would make us significant, what would make us be wanted at this convent? I fidgeted a bit, pulling at the ribbon on my shirt.

Klang.

"Whoops." I whipped my head around to face my little brother, who was looking at a golden vase on the altar that had fallen on the ground as he had been flailing about, giving grandeur bows to nonexistent audiences. Thankfully it hadn't broken, but it made a noise that echoed through the walls. Quickly Sister Maria and I tried to hide, but steps were already heard outside of the door, as if it were waiting for this moment. As much as we tried to move, to hide, it was as if we were frozen with fear. There was no time react.

"What is going on here?" A man came in, and Sister Maria's face became filled with fear. I darted over to my little brother, never taking my eyes off of the man. The man was well-fed, as he was slightly stout although he towered above us. The man also wore a white robe with a hat to match, with a silver cross around his neck and a book. A pastor. Perhaps a Father. His face froze as he saw Sister Maria. "Sister Maria? What is this? I was patrolling and thought burglars had come to steal the Lord's treasures, but what is this?"

"F-father Luke!" Sister Maria stuttered out. "Uh, this is...what I mean is...um..." Darn. I creased my eyebrows. Sister Maria was too nervous to answer. Father Luke smiled, and strode closer, putting a hand to Sister Maria's shoulder. I continued to glare at him. There was something wrong with that man, in the way which his expression changed from that of a forbidding tyrant to those of an angel.

"Sister Maria?" He said kindly. "Can you tell me what happened here?"

"This is my fault! These children had nothing to do with it!" Sister Maria blurted out.

"What is your fault? What happened?" Father Luke said gently. "Calm down and tell me, Sister Maria, and I can promise that these children won't come to any harm." Sister Maria relaxed. I tensed, ready to strike.

"I found these children just outside of the gates when I was gardening, and they were listening to Sister Helena and the choir practicing for Mass. They expressed interest in wanting to learn how to play the piano, so I offered, knowing that it would desecrate the piano. I'm truly sorry, but please, as the fault is my own, do not punish these children." She had been looking down as she had said all this, but after finishing, she looked up, as if looking for mercy in the Father's eyes. Father Luke smiled once again.

"Why of course, Sister Maria. Caring for the impoverished is one of the Church's teachings, you know that very well." A ray of hope dawned on Sister Maria's face. Father Luke coughed. I scowled. Although I was very well aware of who he was by this time, what gave him the right to call my little brother and I 'impoverished'? Unaware, he kept going on with his eloquent speech. "However, Mother Superior may not like the fact that 'street vagrants' are running around loose in the Chapel, so we'll keep this from her. You may come here to teach them at this hour as long as you do not neglect your day to day duties. I will make sure no one will come at this hour also."

"Th-thank you, Father!" Sister Maria's face radiated with joy.

"No no, it is all good and well. Now," He turned towards us. "Who are you two?" I glared up at him.

"Mana." I stated, relentlessly glaring. Father Luke smiled and shook my hand before moving on to talk to my little brother.

"But really, I'm glad that it was Father Luke who had found us." Sister Maria said, relieved.

"Sister Maria." I said, narrowing my eyes. Did she set us up? Noticing this change, she rectified her meaning quickly.

"No no, I don't mean that I wanted us to get caught, but it's good that Father Luke was the one that caught us. He is very trustworthy, and very understanding of others." I looked over to where Father Luke and my brother were conversing.

"...What's your name?" "...Oh, what a wonderful name!.." "...and your older brother is Mana?" "...ah, I see, you want to learn the piano?" I heard tidbits of their conversation. My little brother, who had looked glum over the past few months, was smiling.

"You can trust him." Sister Maria said with confidence. I answered her with a grunt. Truly, this was not a bad thing. With the influence of a Father, my brother and I would be able to stay here. We could do odd jobs for him and stay here. But what was this uneasiness?


The following day my little brother and I started to help Father Luke out, doing little chores for him and such. I never liked to talk with people very much, so when we helped him carry books from the library to his study, I just listened to the chatter between Father Luke and my brother.

"Oh my, what a hard life you've been living. For how long did you stay with Sister Mildred and Maria?"

"Uh, about three months." He glanced back at me. "Right, Mana?" I nodded curtly. Father Luke glanced at me.

"You're really close to your brother, aren't you?" He said conversationally. My little brother smiled.

"Yup! My brother's the most amazing older brother in the world! And if Maria was related to me she'd be the best sister in the world!" I let a smug little smile creep up my face.

"How about me, I wonder?" Father Luke said offhandedly, laughing. I snapped back into attention again.

"I don't know you, so I don't know." My little brother replied bluntly, picking a flower. The Father merely smiled. Perhaps I'm just getting paranoid about this, and there isn't anything. Sister Maria and Sister Mildred were good examples of that, after all. I looked at my little brother happily chatting away. Yes, it must be nothing. Nothing but me being paranoid.


Note: 'Penseroso' means to play musically in a way that is meditative and thoughtful.