A/N: Just a few bits of small information:

-- niisan, niichan and niisama are all names for an older brother. –chan is more childish, and –sama is an ending that sounds more respectful. -san is normal, I guess.

-- Kadaj is around 8 in this fic whilst Yazoo and Loz are around 13 and 14 respectively.

Thanks to those who've reviewed!


Ame ni Matte

Wait in the Rain

Chapter 2: Surname

Yazoo's eyes opened to find another pair – a lot wider – staring back at him. The face grinned its naturally mischievous grin. It seemed that last night's fright and anxiety of the unfathomable General had gone.

"Heh heh, niichan, you're last to wake up." Yazoo blinked, only just aware that Kadaj's face was only inches away from his – proof that he was half-asleep still, he would've created a gap between him and his brother by now. Instead, Kadaj moved away, pointing over to Loz's side of the tent.

"Even the rock woke up before niichan." Yazoo sat up, observing the empty space and the unmade blankets. He could tell that due to his poor visibility, his hair was a state. At least someone found it funny.

"Your hair's real messy, niichan." Kadaj flashed a smile whilst reaching over for some of the silver strands. "It's nice. I wish I had long hair like yours."

"…Thank you, though it's a liability more than anything else," Yazoo found himself answering in his usual vague manner, and moving Kadaj's hand away politely, heaved himself out from the blankets. Without being told to do so, the youngest brother left the tent to give Yazoo privacy. Yazoo got dressed slowly at first, in no hurry at all to continue their aimless trudge in hope of finding a city. Then there was the audible sound of Kadaj laughing raucously and somebody crying.

"Heh heh! Take that! That's what you get for trying to sneak in food without niichan's permission!"

"Brat! Come 'ere you, I'll show you what a real punch is!"

Yazoo stuck his head out the tent, not at all surprised when he saw Kadaj in a headlock, flailing his skinny legs and arms about, powerless against his brother. He sighed, pulled on his mud-spattered trainers and left the tent. He patted Loz's taut shoulder lightly.

"The tent needs to be put away, niisan." He looked over to Kadaj's wildly shaking head. The youngest was still laughing even in a headlock. "Kadaj, you can help me put the blankets away."

"Oh, I would, niichan, but I'm getting strangled at the moment." Yazoo could clearly see a vicious green gaze behind the silver hair. Kadaj gave one final kick hitting Loz squarely on the knee.

"You can't behave like that when we're in the city," said Yazoo as he passed a neatly folded blanket to a now-sulking Kadaj, who never really liked being reprimanded. Loz – as ever – took all Yazoo-Reprimands to heart and would occasionally sniff. Yazoo sighed. "We'd get sent out of wherever we stay if we behave so childishly and cause trouble. We'd get sent back." He paused significantly. A millisecond of fright flashed across all three of their faces, and bitter memories played through their minds painfully. There was a nervous cough from Yazoo, now regretting his mention of where they'd be sent back. "Anyway…you have to act your age, niisan, and Kadaj, although being mischievous is your nature, you have to grow out of it for all our sakes."

"…Kadaj punched me, Yazoo, you know he's the one who always starts it…" Loz wiped his nose, and eyebrows formed a sad expression. "…Don't yell at me."

"I'm not yelling," said Yazoo automatically. He never yelled – he never felt the need to, and all of his points came across easily, no matter what tone of voice.

"It was a playful punch," Kadaj muttered huffily. "Didn't even hurt did it."

Yazoo chose to ignore them and leave the bickering two to it, packing away by himself, and hence, taking three times as long as he had planned. Once setting off for the next city, Loz and Kadaj said nothing to each other and whenever Yazoo tried to start a conversation (which he rarely did), he would be rewarded with two morose glares. It was reaching midday when the customary whining began.

"Yazoo, I'm hungry."

"I'm bored, niichan."

Yazoo set his gaze in front of him rather than behind. "Not long now. Niisan, there's food in your bag. Kadaj, come here with me and I'll think up of a game we can play."

No little brother joined Yazoo though, so it was apparent that he was still in a bad mood. The minutes passed, becoming hours, and the sky clouded quickly, darkening their path and looming over them, threatening to rain once again. It seemed as though that any form of civilisation had disappeared, and they'd have to travel forever to an unattainable goal. Yazoo felt something take hold of his left hand as it began to rain a little. He smiled faintly, and gripped the small hand that was Kadaj's.

"It's okay, Kadaj, we'll be stopping soon. It's very dark all of a sudden."

"Hey, Yazoo, see that?" Loz squinted his eyes searchingly. "Looks like a light or something."

Yazoo looked ahead, and as they walked closer, more and more lights appeared, and with dawning realisation, Kadaj exclaimed, "It's a city!"

Kadaj let go of Yazoo. In the bad light, Yazoo could only see Kadaj for a few seconds before the youngest disappeared from view ahead, leaping in the air and racing down the dirt path.

"Niichan! Hurry up!" the boy's voice rang through the dark. Loz grinned at Yazoo before breaking into a run. Reaching nearer and nearer to the luminosity where it was impossible not to recognise them as house lights, Yazoo saw Loz and Kadaj in a narrow yet welcoming street, the elder one already starting a conversation with a passerby, and the youngest peering into a shop window, exclaiming his excitement.

"Niichan, niichan!" Kadaj ran over to the approaching Yazoo. His arms were outstretched, asking for a hug. "They have food in that shop – really big cakes and everything! Pass me gil!"

"Kadaj, we've only just got here," Yazoo laughed, catching his brother and swinging him round lightly. "We don't have much money, and we need to find a place to stay first."

Loz rolled his eyes at the sight of Kadaj hopping from foot to foot animatedly. "Oy, stop with that dance. Yazoo, we're in a place called Kalm, and there's an inn not too far from here – I just asked, and once you've stopped wetting yourself with the sight of food, brat, we might as well go check in there. It's not too late."

"I'm not wetting myself," Kadaj snapped back, trailing after Yazoo as he began to walk. "I'm hungry, I'm sleepy, my feet hurt."

Kadaj continued to moan and complain to himself (since he knew that nothing would change until they reached the inn), and Loz, throwing disgruntled glances at the youngest every now and then, prided himself in taking the lead for once, refusing to tell Yazoo the directions to the inn.

"See? Kalm Ounty Inn."

"Ounty?" Yazoo blinked, and looked up at the peeling letters above the dusty window. "It's missing a few letters I think." He made out some lightened parts of the wooden frame. "A C and an R."

"Kalm Country Inn." Kadaj nodded smugly, sticking his tongue out at Loz. Yazoo pretended not to notice. He had lectured and tried to intervene too many times today, he just wanted a warm bath and go to sleep.

"Kalm Country Inn sounds quite nice and cosy," he remarked, aware that in his eyes stood a small shabby building that looked ready to crumble any minute. "Let's see if there are any spare rooms."

Yazoo waited for Loz to reply, but the eldest was tearing after Kadaj, who Yazoo had only just noticed to have waltzed into the inn confidently.

"Hello!"

Yazoo raced in after his brothers, catching Kadaj's jacket sleeve, slipping through his fingers only split-seconds afterwards from a bad grip. He stumbled into Loz, who was in the doorway, looking sheepish as Kadaj waved to a friendly-looking middle-aged woman behind a tatty brown desk.

"Would you look at that, Dominic," the woman said, "there's two little children here. Perhaps they're lost?"

A tall man with a goatee came out from a door behind the desk, blinking and leaning over the desk somewhat intimidatingly.

"…I seem to be able to see three, Evangeline." The woman's dark eyes rested on Yazoo, who was only just visible behind the large frame of Loz. She smiled.

"So there is. Can I help you children? It's a bit late to be playing outside…"

Kadaj marched up to the desk, proving to be shorter than it, but Loz got there first.

"We need a room to stay in for a few nights," he said.

The woman named Evangeline blinked, and the stern looking man Yazoo assumed to be her husband was frowning suspiciously. Stumbling down the stairs to the right of the lobby was a small boy around the same age as Kadaj, clutching what looked like a very mangled cuddly doll. A tubby, round faced woman with a purple dress that made her look like – in Yazoo's secret opinion – an oversized plum, ran after her son, taking one pudgy hand without caring that it was gooey and dirty.

"Don't run ahead. We have to wait for your father before we can go out for dinner." She looked at the three silver haired boys with a warm look, almost apologetically, as if she knew that the three were motherless. Yazoo looked over to see that Kadaj was staring after the little boy, his green gaze unblinking and seemingly emotionless – Yazoo knew that look, but his attention was diverted to his other brother.

Loz was sniffing a little, and though Yazoo never really minded his older brother being such a crybaby, suddenly felt embarrassed for it in the company of other people. He kicked his brother's ankle tactfully as Evangeline and Dominic waved goodbye to the plum-woman and her son.

"Stop crying, Loz," Yazoo hissed. "Keep it together for a minute." He strode over to Evangeline's desk, taking Kadaj's wrist as the youngest one attempted to run up the shabby green carpet of the stairs.

"Do you have a spare room we could have for around three nights?"

Evangeline looked more than happy to provide them with a room, flicking through a big book in front her quickly and pulling a key off its hook behind her, however, Dominic, who had done nothing but stare at the three moodily, spoke up.

"…Shouldn't your mother or someone be accompanying you?"

Yazoo stopped counting his money, Kadaj's singing to himself faltering with a rather out-of-tune ending, and Loz, forgetting that he was supposed to be 'keeping it together', began to cry. Yazoo resisted the urge to treat Loz to a piercing look.

"Actually, that's why we need to stay a few nights here – we're travelling quite far to find her."

Dominic looked down at Loz's worn shoes, over to Yazoo's tired face and at the small boy squatting down on his heels, rocking back and forth with his face hidden.

"…Hmm," was all the man said before heading into the room where he was originally. Evangeline's warm gaze softened more as she saw Loz standing by the corner, wiping his eyes and sniffing.

"We have a room. If you'd just write your name here." She placed the book in front of Yazoo, who, taking the pen and pondering for a moment, scrawled down the name 'Yazoo', and handed the pen back.

"Your surname too, please." Evangeline watched curiously as Yazoo took the pen again, and looked at his brothers for the tiniest bit of help. They weren't exactly cooperating, with one curled up on the floor in exhaustion and the other blubbering by the door with bloodshot eyes. Yazoo sighed, thought for a few moments knowing that every second was making him look more and more suspicious, and next to 'Yazoo', wrote 'Gast'.

He looked at what he had just written. It didn't sound too bad, Yazoo Gast.


A/N: Okay, I said that this chapter would be Loz finding his job, but I didn't think that writing about finding a place to stay would take so long…oh well, Loz's job is for the next chapter. Stay tuned, and don't forget to review!