Disclaimer: No matter how much she wants to, PL does not own FFU. Damn.
Response to reviewers:
RobinIV - welcome to the fold. Thank you for reviewing.
MlK - Baby photos? Really? (PL is happy!)
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"I'm worried Sora, if Kumo doesn't change soon …" Kiri listened to his father speak as he played a game of the floor with his two-year-old brother. The house had been uneasy since Kumo's second birthday and threatened to become more prominent as the days passed.
"Ra ra. DA!"
The building block hit Kiri in the nose and Kumo giggled happily, kicking his feet in delight. "Ow," Kiri whined, not being entirely serious that it had hurt. "Mum and dad are really worried about you," He muttered, the curious child fell silent. "You're supposed to have changed colour by now, not be white any more." Kumo cocked his head to one side with a small sound of bafflement. "I did it before my birthday," Kiri told him, pride clear in his voice and expression.
Then it drew his gaze, the pale figure before him looked directly into his eyes and burbled contentedly. "You already did!" Kiri exclaimed as he leapt up, upsetting Kumo's building blocks, which just made the child laugh. "Mum! Dad!" He yelled, running through the house to find them; he thundered down the steps into his mother's workshop. Sora was a master craftswoman and her shop was always busy. "Mum, you've got to come!" Kiri insisted, tugging on her cape.
Sora looked up from the sword she was creating, placing a tool delicately on the bench that a Maken sword rested on. "What's wrong Kiri?" She asked him, her tones mild and loving. "Is your brother alright?" No hint of worry bit into her words, Sora was seldom one to show worry.
"Mum, he's changed!"
He did not wait to see what her reaction was to this startling revelation, running back to his brother, who was still playing happily on the floor. Their parents soon arrived; Kumo looked up as they entered before returning to one of his favourite games, throwing blocks at Kiri. Seeing that their son was still white haired, Aki picked him up. "Kiri, how could you lie to us like that?" He queried as Kumo giggled, curling his fingers around the rose coloured hair.
"I didn't lie!" Kiri insisted, he sounded wounded by the implication; Kumo tugged his fingers free, his small face wrinkling in a frown and he started to whine. This whine was soon joined by a quivering lower lip and he started to wail; impulsively, Aki started to bounce Kumo in his arms, soothing him with little noises.
"Kiri," Sora's tones held a disappointed scold and the seven year old took a series of very deep breaths. "You shouldn't lie like that; you know how worried we are about your little brother."
A sob started to rise in Kiri's throat and he fought it back, "I know!" The sob bit into his tones but not his eyes. "I know," Kumo's sobbing receded slowly with his fathers comfort and Kiri had an idea; he would show them Kumo had changed so that they would believe him. "Dad, put him down," The baffled swordsman looked towards Sora who nodded before setting Kumo on the floor again; reaching deep into his cape, Kiri pulled out a red stone Ittouju pendant and dangled it just outside his reach. It took a little while for the teary-eyed child to react but he was soon fascinated, reaching for the pendant. "Look,"
Aki raised a hand to his mouth and Sora laughed to herself, "He's white," Aki managed to murmur, every child on Misteria started with white hair and eyes, adopting a new colour on their second birthday, Sora and Aki had been worried that Kumo had failed to change. What Kiri had been so desperate to show them was that his little brother had light green eyes now, "Our little Shiroi Kumo."
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A Misterian breeze ruffled at his cape and hair, invigorating his soul as he sat down a little way from Kiri's broken Maken. It looked so small and broken, reminding Kumo of his first true childhood memory.
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End of part two - Part three to follow.