Ch9: A Twisted Father

Shisui watched as her husband stared angrily at the wall, attempting to burn holes into the wall. Although he was far from succeeding, she could certainly feel the air around her was hot and heavy. "Akai," her voice was low, cautious. "He's gone." Her husband's body went rigid with lividness.

"How dare that brat defy me," he hissed. He glanced sharply at her, his dark, malicious eyes glowing darkly. "You didn't help him did you?" She was silent, still as a stone. She was secretly glad that her eldest son escaped, and she regretted never going down the cellar to meet with him.

"…iie," she said softly. "How could you think that? He's nothing but a demon. He never deserved to live. You locking him up in the cellar is considered generous." Her tongue felt numb, speaking those words.

"Mother, I need a little help in my English homework…" Yuuki said, stepping into the room. Shisui opened her mouth in warning as Akai snapped.

"Don'tever mention the word 'English'," he said, dangerously quiet. The baby hairs on Yuuki's neck rose, and she shivered. She wondered if it had anything to do with this afternoon, but chose not to mention it.

"…may I take my leave, milord?" Shisui said. The man nodded and she rose, pulling Yuuki with her out, and closing the screen door behind her. She looked carefully at her daughter. "Do you wish to know what happened this afternoon?" she said seriously in her soft, strong voice. The girl admitted; she was curious, about everything. The boyish screams that often took place when her father was gone, and the one time when her little sister Aoba was with her years ago, mentioning a boy not much older than her down in a cellar.

"Sure, why not?" Shishui sighed; this was going to take awhile.

-----

Lavi sat in the chair, clearly disgruntled as a group of strange, tanned people stared at him. "Play with me!" a girl demanded with a wide smile, holding out an armful of fine quality… He winced. They… were… dresses. He glared up at the man that kidnapped him, frowning deeply.

"Get… me… out… of… here," he grounded out, teeth gritted together tightly. The man, Tyki, pouted.

"But where's the fun in that?" he asked teasingly.

"At least untie me," Lavi demanded hating the way the rope burned into his wrists. Rhode smiled.

"If we untie you, then will you try these on?"

"…maybe…"

-----

Akai dreaded the fact that that boy managed to escape the prison. How did he do it? He was sure he never unlocked the chains, and he had restricted the boy from walking, so ho did he do it? His thoughts became darker. It must've been that meddling pirate king… He should've been glad to be rid of the boy, but he if anything, he was angered that he wouldn't be the one to kill the boy. It annoyed him to no ends, but there was nothing he could do about it. His only comfort was that the boy was probably going to become fish food. He smiled. Or the boy would probably become a rotting corpse on the streets if the pirate king-what was his name? Ah yes- Allen Walker decided to throw him out.

If that was the case, maybe he didn't have to hate that pirate king all that much.

-----

Yu shivered; he was sure someone was thinking about him and not in a pleasant way either. "Are you cold?" Allen said with his concerned, kind grey eyes. Yu smiled faintly, shaking his head. He was used to the cold, since there wasn't much heating down in the basement where he used to live in.

"I'm fine." His breath came out puffy and white from the biting-or not so biting to him-cold air. Allen laughed.

"Lucky! I feel so cold I wish I have an extra coat with me to put on right now," the young captain exclaimed. It was times like these that Yu was easily reminded that the albino was in fact younger than him. Allen glanced down at his hands. "You should really wear gloves, Yu, now that it's winter. It'd be a shame if such nice hands as yours became dry and cracked." Allen pulled his glove a little higher, frowning, along his left arm.

"I don't have any gloves." Allen smiled cockily.

"Then we'll have to get you some later, or you could ask Miranda. She's getting better at knitting. There are less big holes now." Yu smiled a little. Miranda had always been a strange being to him, and so did many others, but she was especially strange though she was kind. "But if you happen to find any, kindly don't mention them." It was an unspoken census that to upset the German would mean meeting Komui's long suppressed wrath and having to deal with awful cuts from the drill while trying to comfort the would-be hysterical woman.

Yu glanced at Allen's calm face, the wind gently blowing his snow white hair awry and into his pale face. He was reallystart noticing people, and by people, Allen Walker in particular. Allen had grown taller over the months up to an inch higher than himself, but by watching most males in society, he had found that most males weren't too happy if someone else was taller.

He found that Linali liked to watch Allen too, mainly because, she was Allen's wife. She was approaching them at the moment with a warm smile, though it didn't seem as friendly when directed at him. Perhaps it was only his imagination. "Tien shin," Linali said sweetly, kissing Allen on his cheek. She glanced over at Yu for a moment, and he thought he saw a strange spark in her dark purple eyes. She smiled again at Allen. "Where are we going?" she asked.

Allen sighed. "Apparently to meet up with Cross, he said he wanted to see me for something… How about we all go down for lunch?"

"Is that all you ever think about, food?" Yu scoffed. It wasn't scornful, rather closer to a childish playfulness. He muttered "glutton" under his breath.

Allen gasped dramatically. "How could you, Yu? I'm no glutton, simply a man with an empty stomach!" Yu smirked, replying back with sarcasm. Allen stared at Yu. It was a little strange for him, seeing that Yu had learned so much since he had taken him in. Hopefully, he wouldn't be corrupted with notions of revenge from anyone. He smiled as Linali led them both downstairs for a bite.