Title: My Angel, My Savior
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to the amazing Murkami Maki! All praise her like the goddess she is! *bows and grovels* However, the plot is mine and Aya, Mio, Migel...all belongs to me. ;)
Notes from Nori: This chapter is a bit different then the previous ones. More light hearted and happy. Of course, I, Nori-Sama (you didn't know I graduated from chan to sama did you? Hehehe. Just kidding) assure you that the angst will ensue in the next chapter.
_______________________________________________________________
"Home!" Ryuichi cried, flinging the door to his apartment open.
He smiled over his shoulder at Mio and she smiled back a bit, clutching Kumagoro in her arms. Ryuichi entered and set his keys on the coffee table, slipping off his jacket. Looking back at the little girl in his doorway he titled his head.
"Isn't Mio coming inside?"
She nodded, sandy waves bouncing and shut the door behind her quietly. She slid her shoes off and took off her jacket as well, hanging it on a nearby coat holder. The tiny girl looked around the tidy white apartment in awe and stepped forward tentatively. Her bright eyes scanning the home she let out a breath and looked at Ryuichi with confusion.
"This is all yours?" she breathed.
Ryuichi scratched his head, not seeing what was so special about his plain little white apartment, then shrugged.
"Yep, this is mine and Kumagoro's!" he said happily, turning his eyes to the girl with a small smile. "It can be Mio's too if she'd like it to be."
The child said nothing, but walked over to Ryuichi and handed him Kumagoro gently. The man took his bunny friend and watched as the tiny little girl walked to the center of the room and spun around. Elegant waves of sandy hair flowing over her shoulders she gave the tiniest of smiles.
"I might like that..someday." she said quietly, turning to look at her temporary guardian.
She smiled, he smiled and it was an odd lapse where they just seemed to see nothing, but one another. What the young girl was thinking, Ryuichi could not begin to guess, but he was content. Perhaps he'd come to like it too someday. He smiled as Mio continued to poke around the living room. She was like a curious little kitten, so cute and adorable, but of course, kittens were also a big responsibility. That didn't matter though, Ryuichi could handle this. How hard could it possibly be? It would be just like living with Aya again, with the exception that Ryuichi himself was no longer a child and Mio was by far more silent than his little sister had been.
"Sakuma-san?" a tiny voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hai, Mio? Oh, and you can call me Ryuichi na no da!"
Mio nodded weakly and continued, "Where will I sleep?"
Blinking rapidly, Ryuichi paused. How could he have overlooked that? Letting out a small laugh and titling his head sheepishly, Ryuichi stood.
"Uh, sorry Mio-chan!" Ryuichi cried, waving Kumagoro around some. "I forgot about that. I guess you can sleep in Ryuichi's room and I'll just sleep on the couch!"
Beckoning for the girl to follow him Ryuichi lead the way down the hall. Opening the door at the end of the hallway Ryuichi stepped inside. It was a fairly tidy place with just a few clothes here and there, a few CDs spread across the floor. Pushing the clothes under his bed and scooping up the CDs he set them on his dresser where numerous articles of jewelry sat. Mio entered behind him and looked around, picking up one of the CDs he had missed.
"Bad Luck." She said simply, staring at the cover.
Ryuichi turned to look at her and beamed brightly. "Hai! Bad Luck is Ryuichi's favorite band na no da!" he cheered, showing Mio a few of his other Bad Luck CDs.
"Migel and Aya used to talk about music all the time. I've never heard any of their songs, or Nittle Grasper's songs for that matter." She said, looking at his collection
Quite surprised by this Ryuichi blinked at Miyo and bopped her on the head with Kumagoro. Shocked by that simple little action Mio jumped back, blinking her bright green eyes at the man.
"Surely Mio has heard Bad Luck before na no da!" he cried.
In an almost frightened manner Mio shook her head. Having none of this Ryuichi took up the girl's hand and waved Kumagoro in the air with his other hand.
"Ryuichi must do something about this then!" he announced. "We're going to go visit Shu-chan!"
Mio looked at him curiously and Ryuichi began dragging her out the door. He snatched up his keys and out they went. Before the confused little Mio knew what was going on Ryuichi was leading her into an apartment building and up the stairs. The whole time Ryuichi rambled on and on about Shuichi. He told her all about their concert together and how they did fun things together all the time.
At last the duo reached Shuichi and Yuki's apartment and Ryuichi knocked on the door happily. He flashed a bright smile at Mio, who looked a tad frightened. Squeezing her hand he waved Kumagoro in front of her face excitedly.
"Cheer up Mio!" Ryuichi cheered, "Shuichi is always a lot of fun na no da!"
'He's crazy, I'm being adopted by a psychopath.' Mio thought, turning her wide emerald eyes towards the door. Hearing footsteps approach the girl backed up subconsciously, fearing this Shuichi person would be just as childish as Ryuichi. Alas, to the girl's misfortune he was. A pink haired man threw the door open, wide smile on his face and Mio couldn't help, but gasp. He looked a lot like Migel at first, big innocent violet eyes and oddly pinkish hair. Had she not known any better she would have thought them related.
"Ryuichi!" Shuichi cried as he spotted the man.
Ryuichi beamed and let go of Mio's hand to toss his arms around the smaller man before them. With a slight 'oof!' Shuichi was knocked to the floor and returned the hug weakly from under Ryuichi. Mio stared at them for a moment before gently nudging Ryuichi's leg. He turned to look at Mio and then sat up, still smiling brightly.
"Shuichi this is Mio, Mio meet Shuichi."
"It's nice to meet you, Mio-chan!" Shuichi said happily, giving a bright smile.
Staring at him for a moment, brain failing to function a half-rational sentence she nodded and gave a weak smile. Face faltering a bit Shuichi stared at Mio with his wide violet eyes oddly. Mio gulped, staring back.
"Mio is very silent." Ryuichi said announced, breaking the strange silence. "Can we visit Shuichi for a while na no ka?"
Shuichi pulled his gaze from Mio and smiled, nodding his head vigorously. "Yuki is home so we'll have to be kinda quiet, but sure! Come on in."
Ryuichi did a little cheer and stood up, helping Shuichi to his feet too. Leading them inside Shuichi gestured for them to go to the living room and he headed down the hall to Yuki's study. Poking his head in he spoke and there was a low rumble in response. Mio watched him as he pulled his head out looking quite pleased and hopped back to meet them in the living room. Taking a seat beside Ryuichi, who had already made himself comfortable with Kumagoro on the couch, Mio glanced around.
"Yuki says you can stay, but we have to be very quiet, he's finishing up one of his books." Shuichi informed them, taking a seat in front of the couch so he could look at them both,
"Ok." Ryuichi said, his volume turned down considerably. Mio nodded her head, locks of sandy hair bouncing naturally.
Shuichi tilted his head at the pair and continued his warm smile. "So what brings you two over here, huh? "
"I wanted to you to meet Mio! She's never heard any Bad Luck's songs and Ryuichi thought she'd like to meet Shuichi!" Ryuichi informed happily, making Kumagoro nod.
Turning to Mio Shuichi beamed. "So Mio, you've never heard any of Bad Luck's songs, have you heard Nittle Grasper before? They're much better, but we try." Shuichi said giving a goofy smile.
"I've heard of you, but never heard your music." Mio said softly. "My friend, Migel, told me that you guys were really good though and Aya.Aya always told me how much she admired you and Ryuichi."
Ryuichi stopped making Kumagoro dance and looked over at Mio as did Shuichi and there was an awkward silence that hung between them. Thinking that perhaps she did something wrong, Mio bit her lip worriedly, but then Shuichi smiled at her.
"Aya? Isn't that Ryuichi's little sister?" he asked.
Mio frowned and looked down at the floor sadly and Ryuichi sighed. Shuichi looked utterly confused and shifted his gaze back and forth between them. It was at that time that Yuki decided to make his debut and walked in towards the kitchen.
"Yuki?" Ryuichi said suddenly.
The blonde novelist glanced over his shoulder at the normally hyper vocalist and grunted in response.
"Could you take Mio into your study for a moment. I need to talk to Shuichi privately."
Yuki removed a beer from the fridge and looked at the man oddly. However, Ryuichi didn't seem to find this odd at all. Giving an amused snort Yuki opened his beer.
"Fine, but if she bothers me I'm kicking her out." He said coolly, giving the singers a look.
Ryuichi smiled slightly and Mio stood as Yuki gestured for her to follow him. Before she left Ryuichi stopped her and put out Kumagoro for her to take. Ryuichi gave her a sweet smile and Mio returned it half-heartedly as she took the pink toy from him. Following Yuki into his study Mio remained silent, not wanting to be an annoyance to the seemingly grumpy man. The man took a seat in front of his desk and opened his laptop, pulling up a window filled with writing. Finding no place else to sit Mio took up a less comfortable looking seat beside him and looked at the screen the man was going over.
As he read Mio couldn't help, but sigh. Ryuichi was a very odd person indeed. He acted like a child more than the grown man he was. How could he take of her if he acted like he wasn't even old enough to take care of himself?
'If Aya thought he could do this then he can. I trust her judgement.I think.' She thought uncertainly.
"So who are you anyway, kid?" Yuki asked, clicking save on his document and closing the window.
He took a drink of his beer and glanced over at the girl critically. Mio looked up at him, her emerald color eyes filled with confusion.
"My name is Mio."
"That's obvious, but who are you? You related to Sakuma?" he asked agitatedly.
"Oh," Mio said feeling stupid. "No I'm.I'm his daughter, I guess."
Yuki stopped in mid drink and made a slightly choke sound as he coughed. He looked somewhat amused and let his oddly colored eyes examine the girl again.
"You're Sakuma Ryuichi's daughter?" he said, more as a statement than a question.
"Well not legally yet. It's kind of like a trial sort of deal."
Giving the child a puzzled look he turned in his seat to look at her. His eyes dropping onto the stuffed bunny in her lap he raised an eyebrow. Seeing his confused expression Mio sighed.
"Sakuma-san is going to adopt me.maybe." She explained.
"I see." Yuki said, nodding his understanding. "So what do you think of him?"
Mio thought this over for a while, staring off into the space before her in contemplation of her answer. Yuki waited patiently, saying nothing as he watched the girl beside him. Finally Mio looked up to meet Yuki's gaze and spoke quite seriously.
"He's loud." She stated blinking once.
Much to her surprise the man's lip twitched upwards a bit and he raised his eyebrows high. The child fidgeted with Kumagoro's ears idly, waiting for a response and finally Yuki chuckled.
"You'll get used to that." He said quietly, shaking his head.
To her own surprise Mio allowed a small smile as she looked up at the writer. Maybe she would..
~_______________________________~
Ryuichi sighed deeply and blinked back a few tears that threatened to come as he spoke to Shuichi. He hadn't told anybody about his sister's passing yet and he couldn't blame Shuichi for being so oblivious as to bring it up in front of Mio. Honestly though, he wasn't sure if it was Mio or himself that he couldn't trust to be strong about this. Once he finished, his voice becoming softer with each word spoken, Ryuichi finally brought himself to lock gazes with Shuichi.
"Oh Ryuichi," Shuichi said reaching out and putting a hand on his friends' shoulder. "I didn't know. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course," Ryuichi choked, his vision blurring slightly. "I just-"
But his sentence was cut of by a sob and he couldn't help it anymore. He let his tears fall and his body rack with fresh sobs to mourn his sister's loss. Would he ever get over this? It sure didn't seem like it. Aya meant so much to him, he loved her beyond words. Why was she taken away from him so soon? Pulling Ryuichi into a hug Shuichi pet his bag comfortingly.
"It's alright, Ryuichi. Everything is going to be fine." He said soothingly.
"That's.just..it." Ryuichi hiccuped, "I don't know if it will be. I can hardly cope with this myself, how in the world am I going to be of any help to a little girl, Shuichi? How can I raise Mio when I can hardly understand myself sometimes? How?"
Shuichi smiled into Ryuichi's soft brown locks, still patting his back in a supportive manner. Ryuichi's sobs subsided after a minute, occasionally a hiccup breaking through.
"Ryuichi," Shuichi sighed, shaking his head. "You can do this."
"How can you be so sure?" Ryuichi said childishly.
"Because, I have faith in you. I know you could do anything you wanted to and if you really want to make this work with Mio you will. I just know."
Ryuichi sniffled and pulled away from Shuichi, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. Once his tears were gone he looked up at Shuichi with a frown and shook his head.
"I don't want to hurt her, Shuichi. I know what it feels like to have nobody and I can't stand causing somebody else that type of pain. I do want this to work and I think." he said a bit uncertainly. "That if you could help me just a bit, not too much, just a little, that I could do this. Shuichi, I just don't know if I can handle this all by myself. Will you help?"
Shuichi beamed at his friend and ruffled his hair a bit. "Of course I will and you won't ever have to worry about doing this alone. You're sister knew you better than any else in the world, if you thought you could do it than I know you can. And remember, Aya will always be helping you too."
Smiling at his friend Ryuichi nodded his head before turning chibi and glomping him profusely. Shuichi laughed joyously and Ryuichi gave a cheer.
"Shuichi is the bestest friend in all the world." He cheered excitedly.
"Well, if you say so." Shuichi said, giving him a hug.
Ryuichi laughed and stood up, bouncing happily. He did a little dance before tilting his ehad and smiling at Shuichi.
"Thank you a lot, Shuichi! Ryuichi would be lost without you na no da!" he said. "It's getting late so Mio and Ryuichi better go. Would Shuichi like to go shopping with us tomorrow?"
"Sure! I'd love to! I'll go ask Yuki and get Mio for you, ok?"
Nodding vigorously Ryuichi continued to bounce around Shuichi headed for Yuki's study. Outside the door he could hear the sound of voices and he paused for a moment as a low rumble sounded. Could Yuki be.laughing? Shaking his head, Shuichi opened the door and stepped inside. Mio was sitting beside Yuki, turned in her chair face him and Yuki was doing the same. As Shuichi entered their conversations topped and they both looked at him. Feeling like an intruder, Shuichi laughed nervously and sweadropped.
"Uh, Ryuichi is ready to go, Mio-chan." He said nervously.
Mio flashed a smile at Yuki and then stood, making her way over to Shuichi with Kumagoro in hand. She turned back to Yuki and waved.
"Good-bye, Yuki. Thank you for keeping me company!" she said happily and walked out of the room.
Shuichi stared after her for a moment and then looked at Yuki oddly. The blonde frowned and made a 'hn' noise before returning to his work. Shuichi raised an eyebrow and turned to leave.
"Ryuichi and Mio are going to go shopping tomorrow, would it be ok if I went?" he asked by the door.
"Go ahead." Was Yuki's simply response and Shuichi left.
Closing the door behind him Shuichi shook his head. That was odd to say the least. Walking back into the living room her smiled brightly.
"Yuki said I could go." He informed them.
Ryuichi cheered and Mio gave him a smile. They said their good-byes and soon Ryuichi and Mio left. As they walked down the hallway to the stairs Mio looked over at Ryuichi and smiled slightly.
'They have their quirks, but that's what you love about them.' Yuki said in her mind.
She smiled, quite agreeing with this statement and held the pink bunny closer to her chest. Ryuichi had his quirks, but perhaps this is what Mio would grow to love about him.
~____________________~
Hm, this chapter s ok I guess, but it could've been better. Too much partying makes you write crappy. Lol. I would like to say thanks to those who've reviewed so far (That would be the fabulous Sachiko, bean and Ru- Chan!) By the way, a special thanks to Ru-Chan who corrected my horrible French. You rock my socks you guys! -NoriChan
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing, it all belongs to the amazing Murkami Maki! All praise her like the goddess she is! *bows and grovels* However, the plot is mine and Aya, Mio, Migel...all belongs to me. ;)
Notes from Nori: This chapter is a bit different then the previous ones. More light hearted and happy. Of course, I, Nori-Sama (you didn't know I graduated from chan to sama did you? Hehehe. Just kidding) assure you that the angst will ensue in the next chapter.
_______________________________________________________________
"Home!" Ryuichi cried, flinging the door to his apartment open.
He smiled over his shoulder at Mio and she smiled back a bit, clutching Kumagoro in her arms. Ryuichi entered and set his keys on the coffee table, slipping off his jacket. Looking back at the little girl in his doorway he titled his head.
"Isn't Mio coming inside?"
She nodded, sandy waves bouncing and shut the door behind her quietly. She slid her shoes off and took off her jacket as well, hanging it on a nearby coat holder. The tiny girl looked around the tidy white apartment in awe and stepped forward tentatively. Her bright eyes scanning the home she let out a breath and looked at Ryuichi with confusion.
"This is all yours?" she breathed.
Ryuichi scratched his head, not seeing what was so special about his plain little white apartment, then shrugged.
"Yep, this is mine and Kumagoro's!" he said happily, turning his eyes to the girl with a small smile. "It can be Mio's too if she'd like it to be."
The child said nothing, but walked over to Ryuichi and handed him Kumagoro gently. The man took his bunny friend and watched as the tiny little girl walked to the center of the room and spun around. Elegant waves of sandy hair flowing over her shoulders she gave the tiniest of smiles.
"I might like that..someday." she said quietly, turning to look at her temporary guardian.
She smiled, he smiled and it was an odd lapse where they just seemed to see nothing, but one another. What the young girl was thinking, Ryuichi could not begin to guess, but he was content. Perhaps he'd come to like it too someday. He smiled as Mio continued to poke around the living room. She was like a curious little kitten, so cute and adorable, but of course, kittens were also a big responsibility. That didn't matter though, Ryuichi could handle this. How hard could it possibly be? It would be just like living with Aya again, with the exception that Ryuichi himself was no longer a child and Mio was by far more silent than his little sister had been.
"Sakuma-san?" a tiny voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Hai, Mio? Oh, and you can call me Ryuichi na no da!"
Mio nodded weakly and continued, "Where will I sleep?"
Blinking rapidly, Ryuichi paused. How could he have overlooked that? Letting out a small laugh and titling his head sheepishly, Ryuichi stood.
"Uh, sorry Mio-chan!" Ryuichi cried, waving Kumagoro around some. "I forgot about that. I guess you can sleep in Ryuichi's room and I'll just sleep on the couch!"
Beckoning for the girl to follow him Ryuichi lead the way down the hall. Opening the door at the end of the hallway Ryuichi stepped inside. It was a fairly tidy place with just a few clothes here and there, a few CDs spread across the floor. Pushing the clothes under his bed and scooping up the CDs he set them on his dresser where numerous articles of jewelry sat. Mio entered behind him and looked around, picking up one of the CDs he had missed.
"Bad Luck." She said simply, staring at the cover.
Ryuichi turned to look at her and beamed brightly. "Hai! Bad Luck is Ryuichi's favorite band na no da!" he cheered, showing Mio a few of his other Bad Luck CDs.
"Migel and Aya used to talk about music all the time. I've never heard any of their songs, or Nittle Grasper's songs for that matter." She said, looking at his collection
Quite surprised by this Ryuichi blinked at Miyo and bopped her on the head with Kumagoro. Shocked by that simple little action Mio jumped back, blinking her bright green eyes at the man.
"Surely Mio has heard Bad Luck before na no da!" he cried.
In an almost frightened manner Mio shook her head. Having none of this Ryuichi took up the girl's hand and waved Kumagoro in the air with his other hand.
"Ryuichi must do something about this then!" he announced. "We're going to go visit Shu-chan!"
Mio looked at him curiously and Ryuichi began dragging her out the door. He snatched up his keys and out they went. Before the confused little Mio knew what was going on Ryuichi was leading her into an apartment building and up the stairs. The whole time Ryuichi rambled on and on about Shuichi. He told her all about their concert together and how they did fun things together all the time.
At last the duo reached Shuichi and Yuki's apartment and Ryuichi knocked on the door happily. He flashed a bright smile at Mio, who looked a tad frightened. Squeezing her hand he waved Kumagoro in front of her face excitedly.
"Cheer up Mio!" Ryuichi cheered, "Shuichi is always a lot of fun na no da!"
'He's crazy, I'm being adopted by a psychopath.' Mio thought, turning her wide emerald eyes towards the door. Hearing footsteps approach the girl backed up subconsciously, fearing this Shuichi person would be just as childish as Ryuichi. Alas, to the girl's misfortune he was. A pink haired man threw the door open, wide smile on his face and Mio couldn't help, but gasp. He looked a lot like Migel at first, big innocent violet eyes and oddly pinkish hair. Had she not known any better she would have thought them related.
"Ryuichi!" Shuichi cried as he spotted the man.
Ryuichi beamed and let go of Mio's hand to toss his arms around the smaller man before them. With a slight 'oof!' Shuichi was knocked to the floor and returned the hug weakly from under Ryuichi. Mio stared at them for a moment before gently nudging Ryuichi's leg. He turned to look at Mio and then sat up, still smiling brightly.
"Shuichi this is Mio, Mio meet Shuichi."
"It's nice to meet you, Mio-chan!" Shuichi said happily, giving a bright smile.
Staring at him for a moment, brain failing to function a half-rational sentence she nodded and gave a weak smile. Face faltering a bit Shuichi stared at Mio with his wide violet eyes oddly. Mio gulped, staring back.
"Mio is very silent." Ryuichi said announced, breaking the strange silence. "Can we visit Shuichi for a while na no ka?"
Shuichi pulled his gaze from Mio and smiled, nodding his head vigorously. "Yuki is home so we'll have to be kinda quiet, but sure! Come on in."
Ryuichi did a little cheer and stood up, helping Shuichi to his feet too. Leading them inside Shuichi gestured for them to go to the living room and he headed down the hall to Yuki's study. Poking his head in he spoke and there was a low rumble in response. Mio watched him as he pulled his head out looking quite pleased and hopped back to meet them in the living room. Taking a seat beside Ryuichi, who had already made himself comfortable with Kumagoro on the couch, Mio glanced around.
"Yuki says you can stay, but we have to be very quiet, he's finishing up one of his books." Shuichi informed them, taking a seat in front of the couch so he could look at them both,
"Ok." Ryuichi said, his volume turned down considerably. Mio nodded her head, locks of sandy hair bouncing naturally.
Shuichi tilted his head at the pair and continued his warm smile. "So what brings you two over here, huh? "
"I wanted to you to meet Mio! She's never heard any Bad Luck's songs and Ryuichi thought she'd like to meet Shuichi!" Ryuichi informed happily, making Kumagoro nod.
Turning to Mio Shuichi beamed. "So Mio, you've never heard any of Bad Luck's songs, have you heard Nittle Grasper before? They're much better, but we try." Shuichi said giving a goofy smile.
"I've heard of you, but never heard your music." Mio said softly. "My friend, Migel, told me that you guys were really good though and Aya.Aya always told me how much she admired you and Ryuichi."
Ryuichi stopped making Kumagoro dance and looked over at Mio as did Shuichi and there was an awkward silence that hung between them. Thinking that perhaps she did something wrong, Mio bit her lip worriedly, but then Shuichi smiled at her.
"Aya? Isn't that Ryuichi's little sister?" he asked.
Mio frowned and looked down at the floor sadly and Ryuichi sighed. Shuichi looked utterly confused and shifted his gaze back and forth between them. It was at that time that Yuki decided to make his debut and walked in towards the kitchen.
"Yuki?" Ryuichi said suddenly.
The blonde novelist glanced over his shoulder at the normally hyper vocalist and grunted in response.
"Could you take Mio into your study for a moment. I need to talk to Shuichi privately."
Yuki removed a beer from the fridge and looked at the man oddly. However, Ryuichi didn't seem to find this odd at all. Giving an amused snort Yuki opened his beer.
"Fine, but if she bothers me I'm kicking her out." He said coolly, giving the singers a look.
Ryuichi smiled slightly and Mio stood as Yuki gestured for her to follow him. Before she left Ryuichi stopped her and put out Kumagoro for her to take. Ryuichi gave her a sweet smile and Mio returned it half-heartedly as she took the pink toy from him. Following Yuki into his study Mio remained silent, not wanting to be an annoyance to the seemingly grumpy man. The man took a seat in front of his desk and opened his laptop, pulling up a window filled with writing. Finding no place else to sit Mio took up a less comfortable looking seat beside him and looked at the screen the man was going over.
As he read Mio couldn't help, but sigh. Ryuichi was a very odd person indeed. He acted like a child more than the grown man he was. How could he take of her if he acted like he wasn't even old enough to take care of himself?
'If Aya thought he could do this then he can. I trust her judgement.I think.' She thought uncertainly.
"So who are you anyway, kid?" Yuki asked, clicking save on his document and closing the window.
He took a drink of his beer and glanced over at the girl critically. Mio looked up at him, her emerald color eyes filled with confusion.
"My name is Mio."
"That's obvious, but who are you? You related to Sakuma?" he asked agitatedly.
"Oh," Mio said feeling stupid. "No I'm.I'm his daughter, I guess."
Yuki stopped in mid drink and made a slightly choke sound as he coughed. He looked somewhat amused and let his oddly colored eyes examine the girl again.
"You're Sakuma Ryuichi's daughter?" he said, more as a statement than a question.
"Well not legally yet. It's kind of like a trial sort of deal."
Giving the child a puzzled look he turned in his seat to look at her. His eyes dropping onto the stuffed bunny in her lap he raised an eyebrow. Seeing his confused expression Mio sighed.
"Sakuma-san is going to adopt me.maybe." She explained.
"I see." Yuki said, nodding his understanding. "So what do you think of him?"
Mio thought this over for a while, staring off into the space before her in contemplation of her answer. Yuki waited patiently, saying nothing as he watched the girl beside him. Finally Mio looked up to meet Yuki's gaze and spoke quite seriously.
"He's loud." She stated blinking once.
Much to her surprise the man's lip twitched upwards a bit and he raised his eyebrows high. The child fidgeted with Kumagoro's ears idly, waiting for a response and finally Yuki chuckled.
"You'll get used to that." He said quietly, shaking his head.
To her own surprise Mio allowed a small smile as she looked up at the writer. Maybe she would..
~_______________________________~
Ryuichi sighed deeply and blinked back a few tears that threatened to come as he spoke to Shuichi. He hadn't told anybody about his sister's passing yet and he couldn't blame Shuichi for being so oblivious as to bring it up in front of Mio. Honestly though, he wasn't sure if it was Mio or himself that he couldn't trust to be strong about this. Once he finished, his voice becoming softer with each word spoken, Ryuichi finally brought himself to lock gazes with Shuichi.
"Oh Ryuichi," Shuichi said reaching out and putting a hand on his friends' shoulder. "I didn't know. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course," Ryuichi choked, his vision blurring slightly. "I just-"
But his sentence was cut of by a sob and he couldn't help it anymore. He let his tears fall and his body rack with fresh sobs to mourn his sister's loss. Would he ever get over this? It sure didn't seem like it. Aya meant so much to him, he loved her beyond words. Why was she taken away from him so soon? Pulling Ryuichi into a hug Shuichi pet his bag comfortingly.
"It's alright, Ryuichi. Everything is going to be fine." He said soothingly.
"That's.just..it." Ryuichi hiccuped, "I don't know if it will be. I can hardly cope with this myself, how in the world am I going to be of any help to a little girl, Shuichi? How can I raise Mio when I can hardly understand myself sometimes? How?"
Shuichi smiled into Ryuichi's soft brown locks, still patting his back in a supportive manner. Ryuichi's sobs subsided after a minute, occasionally a hiccup breaking through.
"Ryuichi," Shuichi sighed, shaking his head. "You can do this."
"How can you be so sure?" Ryuichi said childishly.
"Because, I have faith in you. I know you could do anything you wanted to and if you really want to make this work with Mio you will. I just know."
Ryuichi sniffled and pulled away from Shuichi, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands. Once his tears were gone he looked up at Shuichi with a frown and shook his head.
"I don't want to hurt her, Shuichi. I know what it feels like to have nobody and I can't stand causing somebody else that type of pain. I do want this to work and I think." he said a bit uncertainly. "That if you could help me just a bit, not too much, just a little, that I could do this. Shuichi, I just don't know if I can handle this all by myself. Will you help?"
Shuichi beamed at his friend and ruffled his hair a bit. "Of course I will and you won't ever have to worry about doing this alone. You're sister knew you better than any else in the world, if you thought you could do it than I know you can. And remember, Aya will always be helping you too."
Smiling at his friend Ryuichi nodded his head before turning chibi and glomping him profusely. Shuichi laughed joyously and Ryuichi gave a cheer.
"Shuichi is the bestest friend in all the world." He cheered excitedly.
"Well, if you say so." Shuichi said, giving him a hug.
Ryuichi laughed and stood up, bouncing happily. He did a little dance before tilting his ehad and smiling at Shuichi.
"Thank you a lot, Shuichi! Ryuichi would be lost without you na no da!" he said. "It's getting late so Mio and Ryuichi better go. Would Shuichi like to go shopping with us tomorrow?"
"Sure! I'd love to! I'll go ask Yuki and get Mio for you, ok?"
Nodding vigorously Ryuichi continued to bounce around Shuichi headed for Yuki's study. Outside the door he could hear the sound of voices and he paused for a moment as a low rumble sounded. Could Yuki be.laughing? Shaking his head, Shuichi opened the door and stepped inside. Mio was sitting beside Yuki, turned in her chair face him and Yuki was doing the same. As Shuichi entered their conversations topped and they both looked at him. Feeling like an intruder, Shuichi laughed nervously and sweadropped.
"Uh, Ryuichi is ready to go, Mio-chan." He said nervously.
Mio flashed a smile at Yuki and then stood, making her way over to Shuichi with Kumagoro in hand. She turned back to Yuki and waved.
"Good-bye, Yuki. Thank you for keeping me company!" she said happily and walked out of the room.
Shuichi stared after her for a moment and then looked at Yuki oddly. The blonde frowned and made a 'hn' noise before returning to his work. Shuichi raised an eyebrow and turned to leave.
"Ryuichi and Mio are going to go shopping tomorrow, would it be ok if I went?" he asked by the door.
"Go ahead." Was Yuki's simply response and Shuichi left.
Closing the door behind him Shuichi shook his head. That was odd to say the least. Walking back into the living room her smiled brightly.
"Yuki said I could go." He informed them.
Ryuichi cheered and Mio gave him a smile. They said their good-byes and soon Ryuichi and Mio left. As they walked down the hallway to the stairs Mio looked over at Ryuichi and smiled slightly.
'They have their quirks, but that's what you love about them.' Yuki said in her mind.
She smiled, quite agreeing with this statement and held the pink bunny closer to her chest. Ryuichi had his quirks, but perhaps this is what Mio would grow to love about him.
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Hm, this chapter s ok I guess, but it could've been better. Too much partying makes you write crappy. Lol. I would like to say thanks to those who've reviewed so far (That would be the fabulous Sachiko, bean and Ru- Chan!) By the way, a special thanks to Ru-Chan who corrected my horrible French. You rock my socks you guys! -NoriChan