Chapter 4: A Godless Household

(NOte: Words in Italic that are bold are supposed to be in the language of french. I feel it would have been quite troublesome if I had to have everything translated at the end of the chapter so we just gonna use imagination here, lol.)

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"There is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are slaughtering knives; they devour the lowly ones of the earth and the poor from among mankind. The leeches have tw-" I was cut off mid-sentence from reading when the door of my new bedroom cracked opened. Looking up, I gave a small smile when I saw the face of one beautiful Yuki Cross. She smiled back as she entered the room.

"Hey," She spoke, eyes as warm as the Sun.

"Hello," I responded.

Yuki made her way towards me. I sat up and moved into a criss-cross position to make space for her to sit.

"What are you reading?" Yuki asked, looking curiously at the book in my hands. It was in French. Although we spoke mainly Japanese, mother thought it was best to have us study in her native tongue. Sometimes we did study in Japanese but most of the time it was in French. I had a Bible in both of the languages. Though the Japanese one was a bit more of a struggle to read.

I held the book up, showing the grey cover, "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures"

"Uh?" Yuki laughed sheepishly, an awkward smile taking over, "I don't understand what that says."

I blinked in confusion. Did she not know French?, "You do not know French?"

She looked at me with surprise, "You do?"

I nodded, marking my page before closing my Bible. I placed it down with care on my lap, tracing the words on the cover with my index finger, "Yes. Mama is from France, I think. She doesn't talk much about her past but she briefly mentioned before that she had not always lived in Japan. She had met papa in her hometown when he was visiting the church and they liked each other a lot so they stayed together. Papa had to go back to his home back in Japan so mama followed him here and then they got married and had me."

"Where's your papa now?" Yuki asked, head tilted like a curious puppy. How cute.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I've never met him before. Mama doesn't talk about him either, just that he left one day and never came back."

"That's horrible…," Yuki frowned, looking sad. I panicked, I didn't mean to upset her!

"It's okay! Really," I tried to reassure her, "It just means I got to have all of mama's attention to myself." I smiled happily. It did make me happy. How would things have been if he was around?

Yuki didn't say anything at first so my smile faltered. If anything, looked even more upset. Her eyes flickered to the bruise on my face, "You really do love your mama, huh?"

"Of course I do," I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "Why wouldn't I? In Exodus 20:12, It states to honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. It's also the fifth commandment."

Yuki just looked even more confused. Had she not known this? Does she not know her commandments? It was my turn to be confused.

"OH YUUUUKIIII~ MY DARLING DAUGHTER, WHAT'S TAKING SO LONG?"

Yuki and I winced at the volume of the voice that came from across the halls. A whine of an 'ouch' and an incomprehensible sentence followed soon after, almost as if though someone hit the owner of the voice, who I'm assuming is Kaien. Yuki looked both exasperated and amused. I giggled at it all. They were quite an interesting bunch.

"Come on, let's go for dinner before he shouts again and Zero has to beat him into silence." Yuki shook her head fondly before she froze, she looked at me with wide eyes, almost as if though she expected me to break down or freak out at something. I giggled once more, the look of her face, although confusing, was quite hilarious as well. She seemed to relax at that, a sigh of relief escaping her. She gave a soft smile, my goodness was she truly beautiful. Yuki rose up and offered me her hand, to which I gratefully took. I placed my Bible gently down on my nightstand, caressing the cover for a moment before nodding for Yuki to lead the way. She eyed my necklace, the cross that hung around my neck for a moment before taking a glance behind me, assumingly at my Bible. It was almost like she was barely realizing something as her eyes widened.

"Is something the matter?" I asked her, subconsciously bringing a hand up to brush my fingers against the cross. Now that I think about it, this is the first time she has ever seen my necklace. It's usually either safely kept in my room or hidden under my shirt.

She shook her head slowly, eyebrows furrowed in thought, "No, nothing at all." Yuki smiled but for some reason, it looked strained. How odd.

She lead me out the room and down the hallway, taking a turn on the left. I marvelled at all the pictures on the walls, mostly of young Yuki and Kaien with the occasional young Zero and young Kaname. Mother had pictures of me, but not very much. Some days they were up, some days they weren't. I think it varied on her mood. When we entered the dining room, we were greeted with the faces of Zero and Kaien.

Zero looked up at our entrance. His eyes, they were really just so pretty. While Kaname's eyes were the color of wine, red and brown mixed so seemly sinfully, Zero's eyes were a pale lovely lavender. These were eye colors that should not exist but somehow they do.

"Oh! Look, my lovely children are here! Now we can eat!" Kaien cheered, seemingly like a child. It surprised me at how immature an adult could be but I couldn't help but give a laugh at that, the sigh of annoyance escaping Yuki as she took a seat besides Zero. I took a seat besides Kaien, turning towards him to give a grateful smile, "Thank you for having me."

I was promptly hugged by him, tensing for a bit before slowly relaxing and hugging back. It felt nice. Hugs felt nice. I like them.

"My son is so precious, why can't you all be as kind as him?" Kaien both praised and whined.

"He's not your son and neither am I!" Zero huffed in annoyance, "Now can we please just eat?"

I was released as Kaien sat back in his seat properly, pouting at Zero, whom rolled his eyes. Yuki shook her head as she grabbed her fork, I noticed Zero and Kaien doing the same. I felt confused.

"Are we not going to say grace?" I asked, fearing they were going to eat without doing so. I can't recall a time where mother and I ate without giving thanks to our Father first.

Yuki looked at me confusedly and Zero stared at me with slight surprise in his pretty eyes. I turned towards Kaien with a head tilt and he coughed, clearing his throat as he sat up.

"Well, we haven't ever said any grace before a meal before but it's never too late to start, I hope." Kaien gave me an unsure smile, one of which I returned brightly.

"I'm sure it's never too late to start!" I reached my hand out for him to grab, which he accepted, then offered my hand out to Zero. He stared at it for a moment and my smile started to diminish for every second he took.

"Zero," Kaien spoke up, giving the silver haired boy a look. Zero narrowed his eyes at Kaien before returning his gaze to me. His eyes softened and he sighed, grasping my hand in his. I held back gasp, his hand was quite cold. Yuki seemed unsure of what to do, her eyes looked at mine and Zero's connected ones with an unreadable expression.

"Yuki," Kaien drew her attention, holding his hand out, "You're supposed to hold Zero's and my own hands now."

"Oh!" I could have sworn I saw Zero's cheeks flustered slightly when Yuki's hand grabbed his, and I know for a fact that Yuki's cheeks reddened. How odd. Were they sick?

"Do you mind if I say the grace for today?" I asked Kaien. To be honest, I didn't think any of them would say grace right, they seemed unsure of what to do from the very beginning. Mother would have been most displeased.

Kaien seemed to sigh in relief when I asked, smiling and nodding, "Of course not, you may start."

I gave a grateful smile back, closed my eyes, and bowed my head. Hopefully they got the hint to do the same, "Lord, thank you for family and friends. Thank you for times like these where we gather together, share in food, drinks and relax. Please bless this meal and all that it means. May the food nourish us, and the fellowship enrich our lives. Most of all, may we always invite you into our homes and into our hearts. Amen."

I picked my head up, noting the others took a minute before they did as well and I released my hold, grabbing my spoon to scoop up some mashed potatoes. The other followed suit. Oh dear Father, what Godless household have I been thrusted into? Was Kaname like this as well, ignorant of your eternal love? As a matter of fact, where was Kaname?