Chapter 3: A New Home?

I was staying with Kaien Cross, the man that was also the adoptive father of Yuki. It was a cozy house, colorful even. Mother always kept the house as neutral of a color as possible. White, Grey, and Black. This house had all sorts of colors. Blues, pinks, reds, blacks, browns, oranges, yellows, greens, a little bit of everything scattered about. It was quite the eyesore. When Kaien showed me the room I would be staying in, I was quite surprised it wasn't as colorful as the rest of the house.

"It was originally a guest room," Kaien sheepishly smiled, "But it's your room now. We could always decorate it later if you would like."

The color scheme followed similarly to that of my mother's. Three colors scheme. White walls, brown carpeted floor, brown wooden dresser with a vanity, brown wooden wardrobe, brown wooden bed headboard with beige covers and white pillows decorating the mattress, white painted wooden small dressers on each side of the bed, beige lamps on top of both. It was quite simple, really. Nothing extravagant. Not too much but minimalistic.

I loved it.

I shook my head at Kaien's suggestion. I didn't plan on staying here too long. Mother would be out soon, wherever they had taken her, and she and I will be home again. I moved towards the bed, dropping my bag of materialistic items on it. Kaien followed my lead and placed my two suitcases of clothes on my bed.

Kaien sighed, "Well, we still have to take you shopping soon anyways. Wouldn't you like some color in your wardrobe?"

It was true, all my clothes were plain white. But having grown so used to it, I don't think I could bare any other color. As if reading my thoughts, Kaien raised an eyebrow, "How about at least a haircut?"

I made a noise of distress, instinctively taking a step back.

Kaien raised his hands in defense, "Okay! Okay! No haircut, got it."

I felt bad as he sighed tiredly, he meant well, I'm sure. I didn't feel any malicious intentions from him. I pursed my lips in thought before taking a cautious step forward. Reaching out, I grasped his long sleeve and gave a small tug to catch his attention. He looked at me, eyes full of warmth.

"Is something the matter?" He asked. I shook my head and gave a small smile, "Thank you for letting me stay here."

Kaien looked surprised for a moment before smiling widely. His sleeve disappeared from my grasp as he moved his arm away from me and suddenly I was enclosed in a warm embrace.

"You're so cute!" He seemed to squeal and I gave a startled squeak. I tensed up for a moment before relaxing. No malicious intent. Pure vibrant warmth and happiness. I tentatively brought my arms up to wrap around him, hugging him back. First physical contact outside my mother. Not counting that officer. It felt nice. A hug. He released me after a few seconds and smiled more calmly and composed. His arms resting on my shoulders, his eyes so bright.

"Welcome to the family, Sincere." The words make my heart swell, both in joy and in fear.

"Well, I shall leave you to sort things out here. At dinner tonight, we shall talk about schooling arrangements. For now, just relax." Kaien's eyes soften, taking a glance at the bruise let by my mother, "You deserve it."

When he shut the door as he left, it seemed any and all energy that resided in me had left and I promptly collapsed on the bed. I released a shaky breath, how long was I going to be here? He made it seem like arrangements were permanent. I fisted the covers under me, feeling a little overwhelmed with it all. God help me, what is happening?

"Forgive me father," I muttered, "For I fear what plans you have set out ahead for me."

My bag of materialistic items fell off the bed, the sound of a metal item tumbling out echoed in this seemingly hollow room. Startled, I shot up from my bed into a seating position. Curiously, I crawled over to attempt to peer down at the ground to see what had fallen out when my door opened. It was that boy, the one with lavender eyes. Such pretty eyes. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, looking torn between disgust and sympathetic.

"What are you doing?" He asked, taking a few steps closer to me. He held a small box in his hand.

"I-I.." I felt embarrassed and a bit shy. It was fine with Kaien, he held an air that was so approachable. But this boy, he confused me. Something about him screamed DANGER but at the same time whispered S-a-f-e. It reminded me a lot of Kaname, actually. But I was used to Kaname.

"Som-something f-fell out of m-my bag…" I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heating up, I averted my eyes from him, "I wan-wanted to see wha-what it..it was…" I trailed off.

The boy snorted, seemingly amused by my inability to respond like a normal human being. I winced at that. Was I even normal? Mother always said…

I heard footsteps draw closer before coming to a stop in front of me. Silence, then, "I think it was this."

I looked towards the sound of his voice and saw him holding out, with his free hand, necklace. A thin silver chain with a simple silver crucifix hanging off. I didn't own much jewelry, only that necklace. I reached out and grasped it, taking it and holding it close to my chest.

"Th-thank you…" I trailed off, not knowing the name of this silver haired boy.

"Zero," He filled in, "My name is Zero."

I gave a small smile to him and the disgust that had once filled his eyes soothed some. With a huff, he gave me the small box he had been holding, "Kaien wanted me to give you this and also to tell you that dinner will be at six. You could just use that clock for time reference."

Zero pointed at the clock that stood beside a lamp. Huh, I hadn't noticed that. I gave a confused sheepishly look at Zero when I noticed it wasn't digital. It had a bunch of lines.

He sighed almost exasperdy, "Please tell me you know how to tell the time."

I felt bad, looking down almost ashamedly. I did not, in fact, know how. Mother never thought it important to teach me. We had digital clocks.

Zero sighed once more, "Look, don't worry about it. You'll just have to learn later. Either Yuki or I will get you for dinner. Okay?"

I nodded. We stayed in silence for a moment before footsteps retreated and the door closed once more. I placed the necklace besides me before cautiously opening the box. Oh. It's a bunch of hair ties and bobby pins. That's sweet.

Except, well…

I don't really know how to tie my hair up.