Disclaimer: Many characters belong to Square Enix, as well as many of the place names.
Remember: This story is basically a fanfiction of a fanfiction, based on "Ame ni Matte" by Lily Silver. The story design and set-up is based around that story. Also, her original characters used in this are Lorna Relson and Marshal Gray will be mentioned here and there. I recommend reading her story, for it is very good, and mine would make much more sense if you did.
Ok, guys, this is my first shot at a story, and the only way to get better is to practice. Please, stick with me, and I will do my best to make this story entertaining.
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Chapter 6: Lies
Kadaj and Hana were running around, playing in the front yard as they normally did. Once again, Hana was 'it' in their game of tag. She was about to give up when, out of luck, Kadaj tripped. Hana took the opportunity, and pounced, laughing all the while. Kadaj flipped around just in time to be tackled. He kicked and squirmed until he had pushed Hana away. Brushing himself off, he sat up and glared over at her. "Fine," he mumbled as he crossed his arms. "You win this time."
Hana grinned and jumped up and down. She never won, so this time was special. Collapsing to her knees, she huffed to catch her breath. Her eyes widened in surprise when she heard her stomach rumble with hunger. Kadaj must have heard it too because he giggled quietly. Hana gave a nervous smile before standing up again. The door opened up behind her. Looking over her shoulder curiously, Hana saw Loz watching them.
"Lunch will be ready soon," Loz said briskly. He turned and retreated to the kitchen. Kadaj ran after, eager to help with the cooking.
Hana walked in quietly, shutting the door behind her. She glanced through the door to the living room and saw Yazoo sitting on the mangled couch. He was reading. Hana snuck into the room and pulled herself up onto the cushion beside Yazoo. The silence made Hana nervous. Yazoo was always quiet, not just around her, and Hana knew that. Still, somehow, the silence seemed almost painful when she was there. Determined to make that feeling go away, she cleared her throat. "Um," She stammered. "Y-Yazoo?" No response, but she wasn't really expecting one, either. "Have you ever hurt anyone?"
That did it. Yazoo looked up from the yellowed pages and studied the girl that sat next to him. Her gaze was turned away from him, almost as if she was afraid of him. "Excuse me?" he asked calmly to make sure he had heard correctly.
Hana gave a small cough before repeating her question, "H-have you ever...ever hurt anyone?" She swallowed, still not looking at Yazoo. This was it. Her curiosity and fear had gotten the best of her, but she couldn't stand it any longer. She had to know why there were guns in the house. She had, only two nights ago, proven what she thought was a bad dream, to be real. Now she wanted to know what three boys, not much older than she, owned such dangerous weapons.
Yazoo ran his tongue over his lips in thought. His cold stare continued to look over Hana. Memories of the lab flashed through his mind. He could see the injured researcher, Deanes, on the floor, clamping his hand over a bullet wound. "No," he started slowly. Normally, Yazoo wasn't one to lie, but now was different. A strange girl, living in their house, stealing his brother from him, she didn't deserve to know the truth. "No I haven't." He looked back down at the book in his hands. "Why would you ask such a strange question?"
Hana's heart beat skyrocketed. "Well—I," she stuttered. "J-just curious...yeah...I just...just wanted to know...I guess." She mentally kicked herself for not being able to come up with a better excuse.
Yazoo wasn't satisfied, but decided not to press any further in the matter, and responded with a soft, "Huh."
Hana was relieved when Loz came into the room with a tray that had on it four bowls. He was shortly followed by Kadaj, who bounded into the room with a grin. As the tray was set down on the coffee table, Kadaj picked up one of the bowls and shoved it at Hana's face. The soup that was inside sloshed and some of it splashed out and dribbled to the floor. "Here!" Kadaj said, shaking the bowl a bit more.
Hana took the soup and held it in front of her, staring at it and hiding her disgust. The thick brown broth (although very unappetizing by itself) had little bits of what could have been vegetables, but they were far from recognizable. Han took the spoon that Kadaj was waving in her face, dipped it in the soup, and held it in front of her mouth.
"Go on," whined Kadaj impatiently. "Go on! Eat it! I helped make it, you know!"
Hana nodded and put the spoon in her mouth. Doing her best not to choke, she swallowed the soup quickly. She didn't stop to think about the consequences before asking, "How did you manage to burn soup?" That earned her a nasty glare from Kadaj.
Stamping his foot on the ground, and waving his own spoon at Hana, he yelled, "What do you mean burnt? It's good! I did a good job! Didn't I, niisan?" He looked over at Loz, who only looked away nervously. "Didn't I?" insisted Kadaj.
"Don't go getting upset," Hana but in. She smiled weekly.
Kadaj snapped his attention back to Hana. "I'm not upset!"
"But you are yelling," Yazoo said calmly. Both Hana and Kadaj turned to look at him. "Please, quiet down."
Kadaj opened his mouth as if to say something then quickly shoved a spoonful of soup in it. He sat on the floor and went at his lunch moodily. Loz and Yazoo had light conversation about what need to be done around the house, their plans for the next day, et cetera. Hana sat silently, curled up on a corner of the couch, picking out little bits from the soup in her hands.
Everything was quiet as they all finished at different times. All the dishes and silverware had been stacked on the tray. Yazoo made a reach for the tray's handles. Quickly, the tray was whisked out from under his fingertips. "I got it," he heard Hana say before she rushed off to the kitchen. Confused, Yazoo looked at Kadaj, who shrugged and fell backwards to lie on the tattered carpet.
The sound of running water could be heard, along with the clinking of dishes. Hana stood atop a chair, scrubbing away at the four bowls and spoons. When she was done, she set them all to the side to dry. She climbed off the chair, and went back into the living room to find that Kadaj was alone. He was lying on his back, playing with the strands of hair that covered his right eye. Hana crept up, but stayed where she thought he couldn't see her. She crouched down and waited for a second to see if he had noticed her before saying, "Boo!"
Kadaj sat bolt upright, turning and glaring fiercely at Hana. Hana was laughing so hard that she had to hold herself up with one arm while she used the free hand to cover her face. "Stop laughing!" Kadaj yelled furiously. "That wasn't funny!"
Hana dropped her hand from her face to her stomach, still laughing, although not as hard. She leaned forward and rested her forehead on Kadaj's shoulder. "Yes it was," she sighed, finally catching her breath. Kadaj crossed his arms over his chest, turning his glare to the leg of the coffee table by his foot.
The afternoon went by without any problem, although, Yazoo felt as if Hana was avoiding him, and vice versa.
It was night time before Hana's thoughts really had the chance to pester her. She was trying to get to sleep when images of the pearly metal guns came forward. As much as she hated to admit it, they fascinated her. It was late, so she figured everyone else was probably asleep by now. Sliding off the couch, she quickly moved into the kitchen. Eyeing the cupboard, she pulled at the handle, wincing as the door squeaked. She looked around, afraid that she might be being watched. When she had reassured herself that no one was there, she reached her hand in, and pulled out Velvet Nightmare. It was heavy in her small hands, and the metal was cold on her palms. She turned it over and ran a finger along the intricate designs in its handle. She was bringing it up closer to her face, when an earsplitting scream rang through the silence.
The gun clattered to the floor as Hana snapped her head up. She wasn't sure where the scream had come from and was, quite frankly, terrified. She scrambled to pick up the gun and shoved it back in the cabinet, slamming the door and scrambling into the hallway. She tried to think, but nothing sensible came to mind, so she rushed up the stairs, and headed for the bedroom. Hana was just about to throw herself into the room, when she noticed the light was on and shining through where the door hadn't been shut all the way. Clamping her hand over her mouth to silence her harsh breathing, she leaned in to see what was happening. She saw Yazoo sitting up, cradling Kadaj. Loz was sitting next to them, a hand on Kadaj's head, and muttering words of comfort. Hana strained her ears to catch what was being said.
"Was it him again?" Yazoo asked softly, getting a small nod and sniffle from Kadaj. Loz continued to say things like, "It's ok," and "Just try to calm down."
Hana waited for a few more minutes before deciding to enter the room. She cautiously pushed the door back and went inside. Yazoo and Loz both looked up with harsh gazes. Taken aback by the icy looks from the two brothers, Hana looked at the floor and asked, "Is he ok?"
"Bad dream," Loz grunted in reply, knowing that saying anything other than that would raise suspicion, even if Hana was only seven.
"Oh," Hana said. She kept her eyes pointed at the floor as she tugged at the bottom of her tee-shirt. She was completely confused now. She wanted to know what was so horrible that it had made Kadaj scream like that. And, what did it have to do with whoever this 'him' was?
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End note: Hahaha! Hana snoops too much for her own good.
