"How did you find me?!" Keith spat when he saw Shiro. "When I didn't come to the address, I thought you would have given up on me." Keith simply stated, looking him up and down. "I stold you car for crying out loud! And then when Mr. Universe said that YOU had come, I...I..."

"I'm glad to see you, Keith." Shiro quirked an eyebrow curiously at him. "It's been a while." Shiro stuck out his hand before realizing that his words might offend Keiht, for the kid obviously did NOT want to see him.

Keith, however, hesitated but reluctantly shook his hand. "Toss me that knife, will ya?" Keith pointed at the knife in the target, blinking at Shiro.

Shiro picked up the blade, but, instead of tossing the knife like the kid requested, he walked to the bed and handed it to Keith.

Keith blinked at him, rolling onto his stomach as he tossed the knife. It struck the exact center of the target with the sound of creaking wood.

"It's a nice room, Keith." Shiro told him, glancing around. "Tell me about yourself."

"First off, I'm not a demon." Keith grunted.

Shiro laughed slightly. "That much I figured out on my own."

"There's nothing else to really say except I like knives." Keith mumbled, probably embarrassed by his lack of interests.

"Well," Shiro felt his confidence grow with every word, "I don't see anything particularly wrong with that. You just need to be careful."

"Yeah, whatever."

"You're also a gifted pilot." Shiro pointed out.

Keith just grunted.

"So…the Universes said I can take you somewhere just as long as I return you by five-thirty. Do you like going out to eat, or home cooked meals?"

Keith looked very confused, as if it was a trick. "Um…I think going out is really fun…"

"Which restaurant do you prefer?"

"Why are you asking me all this?"

"I'll be buying you some food while we're out. Gotta make sure we have what you like."

"Oh. I like McDonalds."

"Drive through or going inside?"

"Drive through. I always feel pressure to go on the Play Ground when I go in, and there's nothing fun about those things."

"Ah." Shiro felt a flicker of confusion. When he originally came to America he had been immediately impressed by the large structures built inside the restaurants, and used to love playing in them. He reminded himself, rather harshly, that Keith was born an American so was probably a normal USA child. "I'm also thinking about bringing you somewhere fun. Any suggestions."

Keith looked thoughtful, staring up at Shiro. "There is ONE place, but it doesn't really classify as 'fun'. More of interesting."

"Really? What is it?"

Keith frowned at him, squinting. "It's the house I used to live in with my dad. And my mother, when she was with us."

"'With us'?" Shiro asked. That made it sound like she had left them, like a divorce or something.

"Yeah." Keith didn't seem like he wanted to talk about it, so Shiro didn't push it.

"Wait." The older man hesitated. "Wouldn't your old house be owned by someone else?"

"No. It was in Dad's will that I keep all his possessions."

"Okay. Do you know where your old house is?"

"Yep." Keith didn't say anything more about the subject, sliding his knife into a hilt that hung on the wall. "Anyway, when are we going?"

"Now is as good as time as ever." Shiro shrugged. "I mean, if you want to."

"Okay." Keith pulled on a red and white jacket and smirked. "Well? What are we waiting for?"

Shiro started, unsure if Keith ACTUALLY wanted to go at that moment. "You sure?"

"Duh!" Keith snorted, giving him a look like he was stupid. "Let's GO."

Shiro nodded, and the two left the room, Keith frowning to himself as he crossed his arms.

Connie raised her head as they entered, her short, black hair bobbing. Steven glanced up and nodded at them, his face breaking into a smile.

"We're heading out, Mr. and Mrs. Universe!" Shiro told them, letting his hand fall on Keith's shoulder.

"Have fun you two!" Steven beamed, his dark eyes lighting up with warmth.

"Be back by five-thirty for dinner!" Connie ordered, cocking one eyebrow. "And, Keith, behave yourself."

"I'm not a demon." Keith snorted, glowering. "Of COURSE I'll behave myself."

"I just…I worry, m'okay?"

"Whatever."

Shiro didn't say anything about Keith's mood, though he did feel that this boy that God wanted him to adopt was a bit too sassy.

They climbed into Shiro's car, Keith clambering into the back seat as he glanced around.

"So, Keith." Shiro began as he started the engine. "What do you do in your off time?"

"Homework." Keith grunted, his face scrunching up. "Mrs. Universe says I have to. I also practice with my knives, and Mr. Universe has me take sparing lessons with one of his weird friends."

"Homework is important, Keith."

"Except I don't HAVE to do homework. I pay attention, even though I don't act the part. In fact, even if I never studied again, I'd still ace pretty much every test thrown my way." Keith grunted, glancing out the window as they sped past a playground.

"Well, the sword lessons sound interesting."

"I'm not supposed to talk about them."

"Then I won't press." Shiro nodded, and the two fell into a deep silence.

They were almost to McDonalds when Shiro decided to try to bring up a topic to talk about. "McDonalds, right?"

"Yeah."

Geez, why didn't anyone tell him that this kid was impossible to talk to?!

"Okay. What do you want?"

"Um…Chicken McNuggets and chocolate milk."

"Do you want French fries with that?"

"Naw. My mutation makes it impossible for me to digest French fries or any other potato without be getting deadly sick."

"That's interesting. How do you know?"

"Happened once when I was living with Dad. And again with a foster family. Besides, the doctors drew a lot of blood and studied it a lot."

"How many foster families?"

"Thirty-three. And I've had seventy-nine adoption interviews."

"That's…" Shiro added it up in his mind quickly. "One-hundred and six altogether."

"Yeah. I know." Keith blinked. "So I don't care if you don't like spending time with me. You can leave at any time. I won't judge."

"Keith, don't talk like that! You seem like a good kid."

"To monsters, maybe." Keith huffed under his breath, but Shiro heard.

"Maybe God was holding off until the right person came around."

"God?" Keith perked up, his eyes alighting with a fire. "Wait…which God?"

"The Christian one."

"Oh! Dad had a Bible, and it's really cool. There's so many fights with swords…"

"You like swords, huh?"

"Yeah! There's this one story in Judges where there was this left-handed guy who stabbed a king in the gut! He was so fat, even the hilt disappeared into his folds of fat!"

"Interesting!" Shiro meant it, he really did. This kid was a good kid. He'd be a fine warrior for God's army when the time came.