DISCLAIMER: I don't own Darker Than Black and its sequels. This fanfiction is NOT for profit, only for fun.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, InflatedChimp, tityuio and A.J Sawyer.

InflatedChimp: Sometimes I think your read my mind… Anyway, concerning your question with the study-group: It's yes and no. I'll come to this in Black Dust (since Bai isn't participating, but Yin did in my DTB universe, just in another group in Europe, but the Syndicate has its people everywhere).
Thanks for the corrections.

Ages: Xing/Bai: 9 years; Hei: 12 years

Names: Xing means star; Bai means white; Hei means black; Tian means sky

OC description:

Chiang Linh: middle-aged Chinese woman; long black hair; blue eyes

Chiang Fa: middle-aged Chinese man; brown hair; blue eyes

Chapter 11

Day 23

Today was Xing's ninth birthday and Tian had gotten up an hour earlier to help his mother make a beautiful strawberry-cake with a lot of vanilla-cream as icing. On top of it was a pink wax-cake with nine candles atop. They had placed it onto the low table in the living-room and arranged the colorful wrapped presents around it. The presents had been hard to decide on and Tian knew his parents had bought a Barbie and the newest Sailor Moon 3DS game - both things his sister had wished for before she had changed. But now, he guessed that she wouldn't grace those useless and time-wasting things a second glance. He had tried to talk his parents out of those ideas, but both meant that she was a child and there was enough time to present her with useful things when she was older. So it was on him to find something his little sister would indeed like – as far as her new self could like anything at all. After wandering an entire afternoon through the mall, he had found two things she might find useful.

Like every school-morning, Xing was dressed and combed half an hour before she had to leave the house. When she entered the living-room, anticipating her mother and brother, she was a little surprised to also find her father there. All three sat around the low table and her presents and cake with bright smiles on their features. "Happy birthday, Xing!" They shouted in unison and her parents got up to hug her. The girl only stood there and stared at the cake.

She didn't feel anything, she knew her old self would have felt. This day was nothing special. It was them, who made it something special, but for Xing her pancakes would have been enough. Yet she took in the cake and the candles-cake on top, her father was currently lightening. "A cake on a cake?" She eventually said and let herself being gently pushed towards the table by her mother.

Both parents smiled down at their cold and controlled child, hoping that at least the presents would bring some kind of human reaction onto their child's face. "Blow the candles and make a wish."

"A wish, baba?" Xing muttered after a while – the candles shrinking slowly while the wax threatened to spoil the icing. A wish – she knew the concept of dreams and wishes, yet this entire concept was irrational. A dream was no reality and wouldn't become so just by wishing for it.

"Yep, your heart's desire." Her father repeated with an encouraging smile.

"I don't have one." The girl answered in her even tone.

Tian had seen this coming – or something along the lines. "Simply blow the candles, Xing." The boy hadn't finished his sentence when the angry gazes of both his parents were digging into him. Yeah, fine, he wanted a piece (or three) of the cake, but he also knew that they wouldn't convince his sister so she would make a wish.

Xing's eyes switched from the cake to her brother and then back – blowing the candles.

"So… did you wish for something?" Her mother asked curious while cutting the cake.

"It's irrational to wish for something pointless." She could have answered with a simple 'no', but maybe her parents would finally understand that she didn't rely on her emotions any longer. Why couldn't they be more like her big brother, who wasn't bugging her with this nonsense?

On those words, Linh had almost let go of the knife. What was wrong with her little girl? "Do you want a piece of cake, Xing?" She asked tentatively.

The girl only nodded and took the offered plate. When everyone had a piece, they started to eat and after a few bites Fa lifted up a box with a cute bunny and flowers wrapping. "How about you unwrap your presents while eating. You have to get going soon." Usually their children were allowed to open only one present before school and the rest would have to wait till the late afternoon when all four of them were back home. But today, Fa and Linh would change the tradition in favor to see their daughter smile.

Xing looked at the present with her half-closed eyes before taking it without showing any signs of emotions. Still chewing, she placed her fork away and carelessly ripped the beautiful paper apart – deciding that it was too small to be used again. Before the Gates appeared, Xing would have tried her best to keep the bunny's and flowers intact, even if it was just a scrap of paper – she would have treasured it. But now, neither the cute wrapping nor the 3DS game held any significance to her.

The girl held the game in her hands for a moment, before looking up to her parents while placing the present to the floor next to her. "Thank you." Her brother had explained to her the former day that you say 'thank you' in exchange for a present or pleasantry, no matter if you like the thing you got or not. She remembered her mother had told her something similar when she was still really small. This made some sense whatsoever. If you cast the emotions aside, then those two words would still be a hollow reward, yet better than nothing.

Linh tried to hide her disappointment about the missing positive reaction and offered her a larger present. "Here's another one. From your baba and me."

Xing just ate another bite of her birthday cake, before taking this larger box and opened it – carefully this time. But as soon as one corner of the box scratched the wrapping paper open when she tried to slide it carefully out, Xing tore the rest of the paper off – it was now damaged and of no further use. Without gracing the fairy Barbie a closer look, Xing placed it next to the DS game. "Thank you." She said emotionlessly and got back to her sweet breakfast.

Tian noticed the sad faces of his parents. It hurt him that they had tried so hard – his father surely was tired to death after working the entire night at the observatory, yet had helped to set the table. The boy gazed at his sister and retrieved a small present from behind his back. "I know you think celebrating a birthday irrational, but I still got you something."

Xing had really thought that at least her brother had understood that 'nothing' meant 'nothing'. But since it was already bought, she might as well take it. After finishing her cake the girl unwrapped the last present, the one by her big brother. Inside were two things: a blue scrunchy and a small box. The girl looked up to her brother's smiling face.

"You said you wanted to let your hair grow a little longer, so I thought you might want to make a pony-tail on hot days." Until now, her mother had mainly decided about her daughter's haircut and so the girl always had chin-long hair.

The little brunette took in her brother's smiling face for a moment. He had a point, she hadn't thought about. This scrunchy might indeed come in handy. "Thank you, oniichan." Then her gaze travelled over to the small box. She carefully opened it to reveal a rather large silver watch. Her former self had always worn an old and already broken Hello Kitty watch she had gotten for her seventh birthday – she had only kept on wearing it because she had loved the watch so much. But now the damaged item was useless for the girl and she had thrown it away weeks ago.

Xing carefully lifted the watch up. Her fingertips brushed against its back and some engraving, so she turned it around. "May your star never fall." The kanji for 'star' was the same one as for 'Xing', giving the sentence a double-meaning – although no one of the four knew how accurate this sentence described the girl's situation.

Before she could say anything about how irrational it was that he had spent money onto those words, the boy turned the watch around in her small hands and pointed onto the tiny buttons beyond the digital display. "This is no normal watch, Xing. You have a countdown, three different alarms to set, the date displayed and you can even use it as a calculator, so don't let anyone at school have a closer look at the watch." With every word he had said, her ocean-blue eyes grew larger and she eventually slipped the watch on. "The strap can be shortened." He said with a bright smile as he watched his sister inspect the watch.

Xing was indeed surprised about the thought behind this present. This was indeed something she could use for many years to come. She guessed that her brother was solely reacting onto his emotions for her, he knew she thought of as irrational and a hindrance, yet she was glad about his effort to make her happy. It was a good thing she had her big brother, she realized this not for the first time, but now this realization was somehow stronger.

She remembered like her old self would have reacted and how other people react in situations like this one, so she leaned forward to hug her brother. "Thank you, oniichan." He really deserved this.

Tian had spent his allowance for almost two months, but it was worth to have this reaction of his little sister. He held her close and smiled brightly from ear to ear while he saw his mother shed tears of happiness about this small, yet for Xing big emotional display.

A/N: I hope you liked it.

You may wonder why I mention Sailor Moon again, but apparently there is currently a new season in the making (I so hope there's a lot of Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru in it) and I grew up with this show (there was no way you could completely ignore that hype - I had tried) and at the moment they dug that show up and are airing it again on pay-tv (nostalgia), so I thought (since DTB takes place in a 'not so distant future') that the kids might also like that ridicules brain-wash-show…