Karma kicked the front door open hard that Saturday afternoon. He didn't care that the door had slammed shut behind him, and he certainly didn't care if anyone could hear him storm in. Finding his way into the living room, he flopped down onto the couch with an angry groan and kicked his muddy, shoe-clad feet up on the table.

Fia hesitantly slid out of her room and shut the door as silently as she could manage. She shuffled into the living room, first-aid kit in hand. "Karma?" she called softly as she approached him.

The redhead shot Fia a glare as he sat forward and returned his feet to the floor. "I'm not in the mood to talk."

"I'll be in the mood to listen, whenever you might be in the mood to talk," Fia promised as she tentatively sat down on the table. Placing the first-aid kit in her lap, she popped open the lid and pulled out a pack of cotton swabs and disinfectant.

"I see you're being as stubborn as ever," Karma spat. "How'd you know? You walked out with that damned kit as soon as I got through the door."

Fia was silent as she let the cotton balls soak up the disinfectant alcohol. "Rebecca stopped by to tell me that she saw you outside of the student cafeteria," she explained quietly. "Six against one…?"

The bruised and battered redhead turned to and stared down the auburn-haired girl. "She's such a blabbermouth. So what? You gonna cry again and beg me to stop?" Karma angrily clenched his fists and waited for what he expected to be an emotional outburst from the other girl.

She shook her head and touched the cotton ball to Karma's bruised cheek and then his split lip. Whispering an apology as he hissed at the sharp pain, Fia pulled back for a few moments before dabbing the cotton ball against his bleeding knuckles instead, blowing on them to soothe the pain.

Karma grabbed Fia's wrist roughly and she immediately moved to grab his wrist in-turn with her own free hand. Taken aback, he flinched and she sighed.

"I'm not going to patronize you, or treat you like a little kid," Fia said as she placed her hand on top of his instead. "I'm sure you have a reason for getting into a fight…"

Her companion tightened his grip on her wrist. "What if I told you I didn't? Or that I did it for the hell of it?"

Fia laughed dryly. "First, I would tell you that I don't believe you. Then, I'd tell you that it wouldn't really matter to me anyway. I told you that I'm here to support you, right? I…" she hesitated, "care about you immensely. I appreciate and trust you, and, so, while I would prefer that you come home in one piece… If I have to be here to patch you up, I'll do it every time." Nodding with her own resolution, Fia smiled affectionately up at Karma.

Surprised, Karma released Fia and both of their hands fell slack on their touching knees. Orange eyes searched olive eyes for any excuse to push the other girl away, but they didn't find any. Sighing, Karma hung his head and placed his forehead on Fia's shoulder, allowing her to finish treating his hands.

"You don't have to do this," he muttered. "I don't need you to - I didn't ask you to."

Fia smiled and rested her head against Karma's. "Then let me do this because I want to."

Trying to break the silence again, he asked "Where is everybody…?"

Fia sighed softly. "Angel went out without saying much, and Nagisa is preparing for midterms in the library…"

"That's right," Karma smiled bitterly, "midterms." He sat up and leaned back on the couch as he stretched his arms and locked them behind his head. "Leave the kit here and get back to studying," he said, closing his eyes for some well-needed rest.

Hesitantly, Fia placed the first aid kit on the floor beside Karma's feet and stood. She moved to get a blanket and carefully draped it on her hotheaded housemate. Fia stayed at Karma's side for a few moments more. His features really were handsome, she thought before, believing that he was asleep by then, dropping a whisper of a kiss on his forehead. "Idiota," she mumbled with a slight smile and rosy cheeks as she turned and disappeared down the hall.

Karma opened his eyes and gathered up the first aid kit. He disappeared into the bathroom with it and pulled off his shirt hastily, wincing as he saw the multicolored bruises swelling across his body. He swore at himself and punched the mirror so hard that it fragmented until his image was nothing more than a distorted kaleidoscope of his fierce orange eyes glaring at him from between the lines of his blood running through the cracked glass.

"Dammit!" he shouted as he took a seat on the bathtub ledge and held his head with a hand. Looking down at his body, he felt as if the bruises were more like an infectious, physical manifestation of his own pride, and it made him feel sick. It made him want to ball up his fists and get into another fight, throwing himself into that twisted cycle over and over and over again. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" Karma spat as he hit his bloodied hand against the wall again, and again, and again.

Gently placing her open hand against the cold bathroom door, Fia sighed remorsefully and bit back her tears. She'd give anything for him to just let her in. "Karma…" she cried silently into her own fists.


Haven sat across the table, sipping her tea.

"So, how is your housemate?" Richard asked to break the silence.

"Which one?" Haven asked as she put down her drink.

"All of them?" Richard paused. "I know we've been meeting up every month, but I know almost nothing about your life," he explained.

"Well, there's Fia. I think she's my best friend," Haven began.

"You think?" Richard quirked an eyebrow.

"I didn't have friends before college. I don't exactly know…"

"Oh," Richard sweatdropped. "I probably didn't help that, did I?" Richard rubbed the back of his head. "Either way, a friendship is what you make of it," he said awkwardly.

"Back to the point, she reconnected with one of her older siblings recently, so she's doing great. Then there's Karma, the redhead," Haven explained. Richard flinched slightly.

"He's not that bad… usually. We don't exactly seem to see eye-to-eye. He acts so irresponsible. Today I saw him get into a fight with six other guys and I want to lecture him about it when I get back," Haven huffed.

"If he's anything like I think he is, it would be best to give him space right now," Richard advised.

"I just want to knock some sense into that guy though. He doesn't seem to care about how his actions affect Fia and Gisa at all," Haven sighed.

"I know it seems that way, but we're not all as logical as you are. Be patient with him, Sis," Richard tried to give her an encouraging smile.

"The 'Sis' sounds weird," Haven cringed slightly. "Don't call me that again."

"Don't you have one more housemate?" Richard asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes," Haven said hesitantly, "There's Gisa. I used to think we were good friends, but now I'm not so sure…"

"What changed?" Richard asked.

"Well, every time I see him, half of me wants to run away while the other half wants to do the exact opposite. And when I look in his eyes and he's looking back in mine... everything... feels... not quite normal. Because I feel stronger and weaker at the same time. I feel excited and at the same time, terrified…" Haven continued.

"Hold up there, you're starting to quote spider man," Richard sighed, "It sounds like you're in love." Haven stared at him blankly. "Seriously, you just quoted Peter Parker's love confession and you had no idea you were in love?"

"Well, how would you know?" Haven replied defensively.

"I have a girlfriend… I think I'm somewhat qualified to tell when other people are in love. Not to mention, the quote made it rather obvious," Richard pointed out.

"You have a girlfriend?!" Haven stared at her brother in shock.

Richard facepalmed, "I've had one for some time. Is it really that unbelievable? Either way, back to the subject at hand."


Nagisa came home to a quiet apartment. Taking off his shoes and coat as he shut the front door, the bluenette looked around. Even if it was getting towards the late evening, his housemates should have been awake.

Meeting Nagisa's gaze for a brief moment as she exited her room, Haven quickly turned her head and walked back into her own room, never interrupting her typing on her laptop.

Confused, Nagisa's gaze met Fia's. The Italian seemed shaken and mumbled something to the effect of "dinner's on the table" and "I'll bring some to Angel." She rose from her spot on the couch and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders as she sluggishly walked into the kitchen to get food for her and Haven.

Nagisa sighed and went to put his backpack down in the room. As he placed the backpack on his desk chair, he turned to greet Karma, only to find that his roommate was spread out on his bed with an angry expression, bloody hands, and his headphones on at full volume.

Knowing that his roommate was not in the mood to be bothered, Nagisa went to wash up before dinner in the bathroom and found himself faced with the carnage of Karma's previous temper tantrum. There was glass and broken tiles scattered across the floor, that was beginning to pool with water dripping from a broken sink and a pipe exposed by a hole in the wall.

Slowly, Nagisa closed the door to the bathroom and went to eat alone at the kitchen table. He stared at the sandwich spread on the table and sweat-dropped. Even the meal today was completely individualistic. Just what was up with his housemates today?


Haven, Fia, and Karma all stared at Nagisa from where their respective seats were situated around the kitchen table.

Glancing between Haven and Karma, Fia smiled wryly and volunteered her voice first. "You called us for something important, Nagisa?"

The bluenette nodded. "I wanted to tell you guys last night but… Karasuma wants us to come in today to headquarters and meet someone important."

Haven and Fia exchanged glances, both interested in the fact that Karma and Nagisa also hadn't met this mysterious person yet. They simultaneously nodded in agreement and moved to get their stuff ready to go.

Once the girls were gone, Nagisa sighed. "Mind telling me what happened to the bathroom?"

Karma sweat-dropped and looked up at the ceiling. "I called a guy and talked to the res. life coordinator, so it'll be fixed within a couple of days, alright?" he grumbled.

"I mean, I don't really mind, but are you alright, Karma?" Nagisa asked with concern.

The redhead shot his roommate a "it's better if we don't talk about it" look. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he got to his feet and went to lean against the front door. Nagisa shook his head with a silent sigh and joined Karma just as Fia and Haven exited their room in their coats.

It didn't take too long for the housemates to get to their headquarters using the public transportation. They were impressed; no one would ever know that there were officials from all branches of the government intermixing with assassins and other hire-ons just from the building's outward appearance. It appeared to be a stereotypical corporate office. Entering in pairs, guys and girls, the four made their way inside through the revolving doors and found Karasuma waiting in the lobby.

Nodding with his typical stern face, Karasuma greeted his wards and motioned for them to follow him through the crowd. He guided them into an elevator and punched in both the code for an underground floor and his security code. As the elevator doors closed, he shot a questioning look between the awkward girls, sighing Nagisa, and bruised Karma.

Fia stifled a giggle and quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment.

"What is it?" Karasuma asked, somewhat relieved for the break in tense silence.

Shaking her head, Fia admitted, "I was just surprised that a government building would still have elevator music…" She let the others listen and look towards her in realization. Giggling, Fia started quietly singing the lyrics to Natasha Bedingfield's 'Unwritten' in tune with the music.

The elevator dinged and its heavy metal doors retracted slowly to reveal an orange-haired woman with pink eyes, two braids falling in front of her ears, and a stern face greeting them.

"Noriko," Karasuma extended his hand to the woman as he stepped away from the elevator to let his companions off.

"Karasuma," she replied icily, shaking his hand.

"Kids, this is Noriko Tachibana. She is my contact here with the C.I.A. Noriko, these boys are Nagisa Shiota and Karma Akabane. As you've heard, the girls assisting them are Fia Timo and Haven Lee."

"Of course I know who they are. All I want to know is: why it's taken you so long to introduce me to them?" Noriko asked with an accusatory glare directed at her male counterpart. She then turned to the group and formally introduced herself to each one, beginning with Nagisa and ending with Haven.

"And this," Noriko motioned to a man standing off to the side, "is my partner, Kavi."

Fia's blank face acted as a proxy for more than one of her housemates. "Eh?" She immediately looked between the man and Haven. "Ehhh?"

"Not our Kavi, obviously," Haven replied as the tan man with long green hair pulled into a low ponytail approached them. His violet eyes shone with amusement.

Staring up at their new associate, Fia sweat-dropped. "Oh…" she mumbled with pinkening cheeks as she realized her mistake. Still, the men seemed to share a particular type of lopsided smile that came from loving a good laugh.

"Did I get it this time?" Noriko asked the man.

"Not even close," he laughed and headed over to the four college kids. "Nice to meet you. My name is classified, so call me what you like. Just let me know first."

Fia's confused face turned into that of a protesting pout. "Whatever we want? But a name is so important…" she mumbled dejectedly.

"Alright, Classified it is," Haven shook his hand.

Sweat-dropping, Fia pouted slightly. "Are we really calling him that?" The Italian turned back to Classified and shook his hand shyly. "N-Nice to meet you…"

He shook her hand with a grin and moved to shake the hands of both guys before turning back to Noriko. He put a hand on his hip. "We have to talk to them about that big project, right?"

"Right. Now, to go over the final plans. Karasuma, Nagisa, Karma, if you would," Noriko led the males of the group away. A few minutes later, a man in a white lab coat ran down the hall to where the two girls stood.

"There you are!" he grabbed the two by their arms and pulled them down the hall with him. "I found the test subjects!" he called to his co-worker.

"Right, now let's do the procedure before the boss notices we lost two of them."

Fia looked with alarm at the guy who was dragging her by the arm. "H-Hey, wait! W-We aren't y-your test s-subjects! Dio, n-no!"

Haven stared at her friend with an indifferent expression as the heavy doors to the lab swung shut and locked behind them.


"Those weren't the test subjects, morons!" Noriko yelled at them.

"Sorry, boss, we didn't know!" the scientists cowered under their boss's intense anger.

Karasuma sighed and kept his distance from the group as he waited patiently for things to get sorted out. He felt the best thing he could do was supervise; unlike, Classified, who was laughing loudly at the entire situation.

"I would have thought it was obvious! They are not dressed in medical prep clothing and one looks like an albino! Who starts testing on people with obviously outlier characteristics?!"

"Noriko, calm down," her partner said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, more to support himself than actually cool the lady's anger.

"Stupid understaffing. I didn't join CIA to head scientific research! Do you know how much paperwork I'll have to fill out because of this?" the orange head ranted.

A small girl with sunkissed skin, pinkish hair, and round peridot eyes flinched back from the yelling woman and her trembling underlings. "Combattere è male! (Fighting is bad!)" she pouted. "Combattere è male! (Fighting is bad!)"

She was followed by a smaller child with pure white hair, pale skin, and round black eyes. "我想要回家(I want to go home),"she yawned and went over to Noriko. "我在那里? (Where am I?)" Not receiving an answer, she went to everyone around the room, asking the same thing. After receiving many blank stares she gave up. "我觉得你们不懂中文所以我会只说中文(I think you guys don't understand Chinese, so I will only speak Chinese)," the child smirked.

Confused, the Italian girl ran and threw her arms around Nagisa. "Dove è la mia famiglia? (Where is my family?)" she asked quietly in hopes that the sweet-looking person would help her.

Nagisa sweat-dropped as he gently placed a hand on the girl's head in a reassuring gesture. "Are you asking where your family is?" he asked.

Not understanding the bluenette's English, she let teary eyes scan the room again. Her gaze landed on a particular redhead and, judging his hair color as the closest thing to her own, Fia ran to Karma and grabbed onto his leg instead. "Parla italiano? (Do you speak Italian?)" She pouted. "Sei la mia famiglia? M-Mio cugino? (Are you my family? M-My cousin?)"

Kneeling down, Karma wiped the tears from the tiny girl's eyes. "No, Fia…" He wracked his brain for any sort of explanation. "Uh, consigliere?"

"Il figlio del consigliere… (The son of the consigliere…)" Fia tilted her head and squished her cheeks into his big, warm palms. "Va bene~! (Alright~!)" she giggled cheerfully. "Come si chiama? (What's your name?)"

Karma stared at the child. "I don't know what you're asking."

Fia pointed to herself. "Sono Fia o Fiammetta. (I'm Fia, or Fiammetta.)" She touched Karma's cheek. "Come si chiama? (What's your name?)"

Taking her hand, Karma smiled. "I think I get it now. Karma."

"Karma?" the girl giggled and moved to kiss Karma on both cheeks. "Piacere di conoscerla, Karma! (Nice to meet you, Karma!)"

Haven ran over to Nagisa. "你是男子, (You are a boy,)" she stared at him intensely, "还是女子 (or a girl?)" Nagisa looked at her blankly and the girl began tapping her foot impatiently.

Noriko walked over to the two girls. "What's done is done," she sighed as she watched the two of them. "I would like to keep them at the lab to monitor their progress. Are there any objections?"

Karma felt that Fia must have read Noriko's tone of voice and body language because she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. She clung close to his body and yet her grasp was gentle. The redhead shot a look at Nagisa that told his roommate he wasn't willing to leave the girls, or at least Fia, here in the lab.

Nagisa sweat-dropped and stepped in front of Haven. "Well, Ms. Noriko - "

"It's Ms. Tachibana to you," Noriko snapped, still irritated by the day's events.

Tentatively, Nagisa continued, "Ms. Tachibana. I would like to request that the girls stay at the apartment with Karma and I. One of us has a background in research and I'm known for avid, meticulous note-taking. I believe that I can complete all of the data observations necessary, especially when your researchers might have difficulties understanding them. About their communication, we're the most familiar with their heritages and the difficulties they've dealt with as children." Nagisa hoped no one could see his sweatdrop.

Seeing Noriko's skeptical face, Karasuma approached his students and stood firmly with them. "I can back that up." He was surprised that Nagisa could bluff with such a straight face, but considering his history, Karasuma supposed he shouldn't have not expected this.

Noriko sighed. "I am so done today. Take the girls and go." The lady turned to her partner, "Stop laughing. This isn't funny!" and then to the two researchers, "And you two… I don't even know what to do with you two."


Haven stuck her tongue out at the redhead and ran out of the apartment.

"Buon viaggio! (Bon voyage!)" Fia called after the white-haired girl.

Nagisa ran after Haven and stopped just short of the doorframe. "Did you have say something like that to her, Karma?!" he demanded as he began his pursuit of the small child again.

Sighing exasperatedly, Karma leaned his head back on the couch. "Well, at least we know she understands English now."

Fia closed the door with the logic that the door would keep stranieri e persone cattive (strangers and bad people) out. Tying a particularly curly lock of her hair into a half-up side ponytail, she bounded up to Karma and crawled onto the couch.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked as she tugged on his shirt to pull herself up.

Squirming in between Karma's arm and his side, Fia nestled into her warm divot and sleepily yawned. Karma winced slightly at the pressure being applied to some of his bruises and sighed. He propped himself up on his arm and Fia tilted her head back to smile up at her companion.

"Che? (What?)" she giggled.

Karma shook his head and began to smile a little. "It's nothing, carina," he replied, hoping he'd used that word correctly.

Verdant eyes widened along with a glittering smile. "Mi piaci! (I like you!)" Fia exclaimed as she wriggled around to throw her arms around Karma again.

He sweat-dropped with a smile. "You really were an affectionate kid, weren't you?"

The child pulled back a little to stare at Karma. Rubbing her nose against his, she laughed. "Non capisco! (I don't understand!)" Fia smiled until her stomach began growling loudly. Blushing, the girl rubbed her stomach. "Affamato…" she pouted.

Karma laughed as he set the girl on her feet. "Now that's something I can understand."


Haven ran next door and knocked on the door.

"Umm… Hello?" Rebecca called into the hallway. She was about to close the door again when she felt something pull on her pant leg. Looking down, she saw a white-haired toddler wearing a pink plaid button-up dress. "Oh, hello," Rebecca leaned down to be eye-level with the girl. "Where did you come from?" The little girl was about to say something when she got scooped up into arms. Rebecca looked up to see her blue-haired neighbor.

"I'm sorry if she caused you any trouble," the guy bowed slightly. "She's Haven's cousin. But she fell asleep, so we're taking care of this one right now."

"She's cute. What's her name?" Rebecca smiled at the girl.

"Ruby Amber Joy Sapphire Pearl Lee," the young girl prattled off a list of names.

"Wow, that's a long name,"Rebecca commented. The young girl just nodded. "Maybe I'll see you some other time. Okay, Ruby?"

"Okay. Bye-bye," Haven waved as Rebeca closed the door. Nagisa began walking back to the apartment with the girl looking over his shoulder.


Karma led Fia into the kitchen and opened the fridge

Poking her head between his legs, Fia scanned the fridge for herself. Eyes glittering, she pointed at a carton of fruit. "Fragole! Fragole~! (Strawberries! Strawberries~!)"

Sitting down at the table with the carton and a knife in hand, Karma watched Fia sing happily as she waited for her favorite fruit.

"Fra' Martino? Is that supposed to be Frere Jacques?" Karma asked Fia as he placed the sliced castle of white, pink, and green in front of her.

She shrugged. "Din don dan~!" she chimed right before popping a strawberry into her mouth. "Delizioso e dolce! (Delicious and sweet!)" she sang. "Omnomnom!"

Karma chuckled and tossed the girl a napkin to wipe at the pink dripping down her chin and hands. She unfolded the napkin and put her entire face in it. Attempting to wipe off the sticky substance resulted in Fia getting napkin strips stuck her hands. She flailed her hands in an attempt to get them off and only ended up looking like a flightless swan. Shaking his head, Karma freed Fia from her sticky death trap and laughed.

"You're a real mess, you know that?"

The pink girl giggled as she continued to pick apart the strawberry mountain. Eventually, she noticed Karma watching her and she held out one to him. "Aperto! (Open!)." She paused. "Aahhhh~!"

He raised his hand to grab the strawberry from Fia but she quickly pulled it away and held it closer to his mouth.

"Aahhhh~!" she called again, more insistently.

"Un-frigging-believable." Swearing under his breath as his cheeks darkened, Karma looked over his shoulder to make sure his other housemates were nowhere to be found. Quickly, he ate the strawberry and embarrassedly look away, just in time for Nagisa to re-enter with Haven.

"Benvenuti! (Welcome!)" Fia called from the kitchen. She grinned, her mouth a pink, painted mess.

Nagisa sweat-dropped. "What happened to Fia?"

"Fragole," Karma smirked as he ruffled the sticky girl's hair.

"Fragole~!" she cheered.

Not sure how to respond, Nagisa turned back to Haven. "I know you can understand me, so would you please speak English? I would really appreciate it," he explained, smiling sweetly.

Haven looked at him for a moment, tilted her head and put a finger to her chin as if pondering the question. "Yes, but only to you," Haven agreed.

Karma turned back to Nagisa. "I hate to ask, but how the hell are we supposed to get this girl cleaned? I don't think this is just going to wash out in the sink," he said as he held a lock of Fia's matted hair in his hand.

"Non si preoccupi. Sarà magicamente andare via! (Don't worry. It'll magically go away!)" Fia proclaimed. "Mio fratello è magia! (My brother is magic!)" she grinned.

Haven tugged on Nagisa's sleeve. "I help Earnest all the time," she whispered. "So I could easily help out now as well."


Nagisa knocked tentatively on the door to the bathroom. "Is everything alright?"

"Bolle, bolle, bolle~! (Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles~!)" the Italian sang endearingly.

Suddenly, the bluenette had to jump clear of the bathroom door as it swung open and a sudsy, only-bubble-clad toddler burst from the room and ran around, giggling. Sweat-dropping, Nagisa shut the door to give Haven a few more moments before taking after the runaway with a towel.

"Fia!" he called. "Fia!" Nagisa swept the girl up in a towel and sighed as he wrapped the wriggling girl in it. "Just what were you thinking?"

She giggled with rosy cheeks as Nagisa set her back down on the floor. "Il drenaggio stava andando a mangiare me! (The drain was going to eat me!)" Seeing that the bluenette didn't understand her, she made a swirling-flush-like gesture with her finger and gulped loudly.

"Quite a monster you fought there," Karma rolled his eyes as he placed a shopping bag in front of her. "Here are the clothes you picked out earlier."

Smiling, Fia dug through the bag and pulled out a ruffled, tiered pear-green nightgown with puffy short sleeves and pink ribbon accents. With her eyes sparkling, Fia began to pull the dress on over her head and let her towel drop.

Nagisa covered his eyes with a wry and embarrassed smile. "She's a lot less… shy," he noted.

"Pronto~! (Ready~!)" Fia cheered as she finished pulling on her white baby bloomers. Laughing, she shook her bouncy hair like a wet dog might and thoroughly splashed her male caregivers.

"Could someone give me my clothes?" Shaking, Haven's little hand stuck out from the bathroom door. Nagisa placed a plain white nightgown in the little hand and watched it disappear. A few moments later, Haven walked out in the night gown with a towel around her hair and took a seat on the couch.

Seeing that she was having difficulties, Karma kneeled down and tied the central pink ribbon on Fia's nightgown for her. He disappeared down the hall and quickly came back with a familiar green brush. Handing it to the child, he said "Here."

Fia looked between her brush and Karma. Her face seemed to be asking, "You aren't going to do this for me?"

Sighing, the redhead took it upon himself to dry the bouncy Italian's hair with a towel and brush it all himself. He scowled with a hair tie hanging from his mouth. "Has your hair always been this thick? How the hell have you been taking care of it all this time?"

Nagisa laughed lightly. "I've never heard her complain once about it," he replied, taking a seat next to Haven on the couch. He smiled down at the girl. She stared back up at him with big eyes.

"Can you help me with my hair, Mister?" she asked softly and turned her back towards him.

"Of course I can," Nagisa went to his room and grabbed his brush. A few moments later, he sat down on the couch and unwrapped the towel around Haven's head. The white locks tumbled down to her lower back. "Your hair is very pretty," Nagisa commented as he began untangling it.

"No it's not," Haven sulked. "It's weird. Everyone in my family has black hair and I never see kids my age with white hair either, only old people."

"Well, I think white hair is the most beautiful hair color because the girl I like most has white hair," Nagisa continued to brush the girl's hair gently.

"Is she old?" Haven asked skeptically.

"She's a bit younger than I am," he smiled gently.

"Really?" Haven turned around quickly, "What is she like?" Haven sat facing him, eager to hear about someone else like herself.

"Well, she's-" Nagisa began.

"A bit-" Karma interjected.

"Karma, language," Nagisa shot him a severe look.

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." Karma turned back to the girl sitting in his lap. She giggled when she got his attention and threw her arms around his neck as she affectionately nuzzled him.

"Hey!" he laughed. "That fricking tickles! Cut that out!"

"Anyways," Nagisa turned back to Haven, "She's usually very practical and is almost always thinking about something. Even though she can be petty, she's very loyal. She seems to be better with computers than people, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have friends. She has more of them than I think she realizes and sometimes I'm jealous of them."

"Wow! She sounds super cool! Do I get to meet her?" Haven asked, eyes sparkling.

"One day you will," Nagisa replied, blushing. "Now turn around so I can finish brushing your hair.

"Okay," Haven did as she was told and sat quietly while Nagisa finished untangling her white locks. "I don't have many friends, only Earnest," Haven admitted, "I hope I can make new ones when I go to school next year." Haven grabbed two hair ties from a nearby table and put her hair up in two pigtails out of habit.

"I'm sure you will," Nagisa replied reassuringly.

"Hey," Karma called as he shifted Fia from one of his arms to the other. "I'm going to take her back to our room now."

The green-eyed girl shifted her gaze from Karma to her other companions and smiled. "Buona notte~! (Goodnight~!)" she called. "Tempo per le storie~. (Time for stories~.)"

"The hell? I never said I was going to read you a story!" Karma sighed and casually kicked the door to his room shut behind him.


Nagisa woke up to find that the young girl he had been watching was gone. He scrambled out of bed and began searching the room.

"Haven," he called. "Haven, where are you?" Nagisa searched the room. A clap of thunder sounded from outside and Nagisa became aware of the rain pelting the windows. A few moments later, he heard a whimper coming from the closet. Nagisa slowly opened the door to reveal a girl in a white night gown slightly too small for her, her head on her knees.

"Haven, here you are!" Nagisa sighed in relief. "Don't run away again."

"You're angry with me," Haven's muffled, snuffly voice mumbled. "The sky is angry at me as well," Haven whimpered. "Why is everyone so angry with me?"

"Why do you think everyone's angry with you?" Nagisa asked, taken aback.

"None of the other kids at school with talk to me and the teachers are always sighing when they see me and sometimes my mother acts like she doesn't know me and my aunt makes me go away and the only one who tolerates me is Earnest," the girl sniffled. Suddenly, she was pulled into a hug. Haven flinched in surprise before relaxing.

"I'm so scared of being alone," Haven buried her head in his shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm here for you," Nagisa comforted her.


Karma woke up with a start. Struggling to breathe, he clutched at whatever it was strewn across his face. He pushed the heavy form aside and groggily glanced over to find Fia sleeping heavily. Sighing, he gathered the blanket around him and turned his back begrudgingly to the child. Karma let his eyelids fall shut and took a deep breath, only to be rattled awake again by a strangled cry.

"Stop…" the child pleaded in her restless sleep. She thrashed with each resounding clap of thunder.

Karma turned back to Fia and wiped the cold sweat running down her face from her forehead. "Hey, Fia…"

The Italian girl thrashed in her sleep again. "P-Por favore, mio fratello…! (P-Please, my brother!)" she cried as she sat up with a start. "Non voglio farti del male! (I don't want to hurt you!)" Green eyes roamed the room in a panic and settled on the dark figure across from them. "Who?!" Terrified and trembling, Fia tried to back away from the man she didn't recognize in the dark. "Kyah!"

"Hey!" Karma lunged forward to catch the falling girl and cursed as his back hit the floor. "Are you alright?" Wincing, he opened an eye and loosened his grip on the girl. His eyes widened. "You've gotten bigger. Or… Older?"

Fia sat up from where she had landed on Karma's abdomen. "Y-You're not going t-to-a hurt me, r-right?" she asked timidly, her voice trembling.

The redhead slowly pushed himself into an upright position and held his hand out the girl. "No," Karma assured her with a small smile. "I told you, I'm the son of the consigliere. You're safe now, alright?"

Hesitantly, the girl placed her hand in his and let him pull her into a hug. She buried a teary face in his neck. "How do you know…?"

"It was just a nightmare," he murmured. "And you did what you had to when you pulled that trigger."

"Che? (What?)" Fia's heavily-accented voice wavered again. "H-How did you know? It was a segreto - U-um, I mean, it was a secret!"

"I know you," Karma replied simply as he stroked her back. "Your accent used to be this heavy? It's kind of…"

Green eyes found orange in the dim light from the window. "Il mio accento? (My accent?) What about it?" Fia tilted her head curiously. "Oh!" She covered her mouth quickly. "I'm not supposed to speak Italian…" she smiled embarrassedly.

"It's cute…" he muttered. He placed the girl down and looked her over. "You definitely got older. You wouldn't know English otherwise… Isn't that tight?" he asked, referring to the nightgown straining to hold the bigger body.

Nodding slowly, her wavy shoulder-length hair bobbing as she did so, Fia curled up and leaned against the bed.

Karma rose to his feet and found his way to his closet. He pulled out a large t-shirt and threw it to the girl. "There. Put that on." Rubbing the back of his head, the redhead turned to face the wall to let her change. After he heard the shuffling stop, Karma turned around and smiled at the girl.

Fia was flailing her arms with a blushing, pouty face as the oversized sleeves flapped around her.

Laughing, Karma scooped her up and put her on his bed. He plopped down beside her and patted her head. "You going to be able to sleep okay now?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders slowly, forcing Karma to re-situate the collar of the shirt back on her shoulders. She looked up at him as she pulled the blanket back over her legs. "You're going to, um, what's la parola inglese? (what's the English word?) Protect me?"

He pulled open a drawer. "I will."

Fia flinched back as soon as she saw the gun in his nightstand. "W-Why do you have that?"

Karma didn't answer her, but pulled out a flashlight.

The Italian scooted closer to Karma and peered under his arm. "Che cos'è questo? (What is this?)" She pointed to a dagger charm attached to the gun.

"Something someone special gave me," he replied as he shut the drawer, hiding its contents from Fia's sight. Karma changed the batteries in the flashlight and handed the metal object to the girl beside him. "There. Would that make you feel better?"

Smiling, Fia turned on the flashlight with a click. "Ahh!" She flinched and covered her eyes. "Bright!" she whined.

Karma gingerly wiped the tears forming in the child's eyes. He aimed the flashlight for the ceiling and laid back down on his bed.

Fia pulled the covers up to her chin and snuggled up next to him. "What are you doing?" she asked quietly.

The redhead sighed, forcing the cheesy words out of his mouth for the girl's sake. "Chasing away the darkness," he groaned.

"Oh!" the child smiled. She giggled and placed her tiny hand in front of the beam of light. Curling her hand into a fist, she propped up her index and middle fingers to form the shadow of a rabbit on the ceiling. She used her second hand to form its plump body and tail.

Karma smiled slightly and stuck out a finger. Fia's shadow rabbit hopped over and nibbled on his finger's shadow like a rabbit might a carrot. The redhead shifted his fingers and created a wolf with his free hand. Giggling, Fia had her rabbit hop over to the wolf and bow its head in greeting. Karma snickered as the rabbit's ears flopped energetically with each hop.

"Your rabbit isn't scared of the wolf?" he asked, eyeing the small child.

"No," she replied simply. "Should she be? Not everything with fangs and claws will hurt you." Smiling, Fia poked one of Karma's canine teeth with a finger for emphasis.

"Hey!" he scowled at her.

Fia smiled sadly. "And not everything that looks happy is happy… So, no, my rabbit isn't scared of the wolf. I'm not scared either, because you're here for me…"

Karma's wolf nuzzled the rabbit with its muzzle before Karma's hand took the smaller child's within its grasp. The flashlight fell sideways as the redhead sleepily lost grip on the device. It illuminated the shadow of clasped hands for a brief moment before flickering once, twice, and going out, the light fading from the bulb as darkness and heavy sleep overtook the pair.


Haven: (Sarcastically) Ah, isn't that cute.

Karma: Can I strangle her, NOW?

Nagisa: No!

Karma: (Red faced and fangs bared) She's such a little bit-

Fia: Combattere è male! (pouting profusely) No fighting!

Left Brain: …Where were we going with this commentary?

Right Brain: Wasn't it about how snarky Haven is? (\ ("o 3 o) /)

Left Brain: That's right!

Karma: (Sarcastically) Great. Just what we need.

Haven: (Sarcastically) We need it more than we need you right now!

Karma: Why you -

Fia: Combattere è male! (Clinging to Karma's leg as if that will stop him)

Karma: What the hell? (Tries shaking her off) How the hell did you get so damn heavy?!

Fia: (Blushing) Gelato…

Karma: That explains that.

Haven: Wow! She's been stuck to you all chapter. Can't get more lovey-dovey than that.

Karma: …

Fia: But of course! I love Karma~! (Giggling happily)

Nagisa: Do you understand what you're implying, Haven? Fia?

Haven: Of course. (Shrugs and shakes head)

Fia: (Her usual blank face) … Um, love means I get to marry him and be with him forever, right? Hehe~! We should all get married!

Nagisa: She's really different as a little kid.

Karma: Which one?

Narrator: Well, to be continued on the next chapter!