Disclaimer: Do. Not. Own.

Warnings: Nothing much right now, but it's going to get creepy soon. AU, drastically different course of events.

The next morning, Father took them to school in his car and he went with Sena to the principal's office. When Sena met his homeroom teacher, he bowed and said, very correctly, "Hello, I'm Kongo Sena."

He was introduced to the class as a new student and his face flushed as the other children stared at him. He wondered if they could tell that everything he was wearing was slightly too big for him, that Unsui had helped him label all of his things only that morning, that his black backpack was one that Agon had bought for himself only a month ago and gotten tired of since.

"Sena-kun...Sena-chan? Hey, Sena-chan, where did you move here from? Hey, Sena, you're too short, are you sure you're six?"

They stood around his desk at lunch, a few girls and some boys. None of them looked mean. They examined him with friendly eyes, glancing over the new clothes, the new bag, the new shoes.

"Um," said Sena shyly, "I—"

The door to the classroom banged open.

"Oh, Sena," said Agon, "here you are."

The children at his desk scattered. Agon walked over without looking at them and Sena's eyes widened at the warm smile Agon gave him.

"I just came to make sure you were doing all right," said Agon, but his voice was loud and confident and Sena couldn't tell who Agon was talking to, even if Agon seemed to be looking at him. "Little brother."

Unsui, thought Sena, but he didn't know why. Then, Mommy.

"It's so hard being new," said Agon, looking at Sena but not quite speaking to him. "I know. You need time." A sharp, sharp smile. "I know everyone's going to leave you alone until I say it's okay. Because I'm your big brother."

That smile, full of teeth and a sort of meanness that Sena could see but not understand. The other children were staring, at Agon, at him, and then Agon glanced around the classroom, almost happily, and then he left, banging the door closed as he did.

Sena started breathing again.

The classroom was quiet. No one spoke. Some of the girls were whispering in the back. When Sena looked at a few of the nearer boys, the same ones who had come over to introduce themselves earlier, none of them would meet his eyes.

He's that Kongo, he heard someone hiss.

But several of the girls were looking at him sympathetically, and one even smiled when their eyes met. Hope filled Sena's heart.

At dismissal, Sena was at the cubbyholes changing his shoes when he heard someone say His mom ran away, he's not even really related to them.

Sena's stomach clenched horribly, and he thought he was going to throw up. He looked over, and several of the boys were staring at him, and only a few of them turned away, embarrassed.

The girls were whispering. Sena couldn't bring himself to look at them.

"Sena," called Unsui, and Sena hurried to him where he was waiting at the front doors. Agon wasn't there, and Unsui offered no explanation.

The walk home was longer than Sena was used to, and there were many turns and crosswalks. Sena wished Unsui would give him his hand, but Unsui didn't, not even when crossing the street. After ten minutes, Sena fell back a few steps and this made Unsui stop and wait for him to catch up. "Are you tired?"

"I'm sorry."

Unsui looked at him for several seconds, saying nothing. Sena looked at the ground.

"Did Agon do something?" asked Unsui.

Sena shook his head.

Another few seconds passed in silence, Sena looking at the sidewalk and Unsui looking at Sena, and then Unsui turned and started walking again. Sena followed.

Unsui's backpack was black, too, but the buckles were scratched and worn. Sena kept his eyes on those buckles as they walked, and the bright yellow hat on Unsui's head, a bigger version of the one Sena was wearing.

Two more crosswalks later, when they turned down a residential street that was mostly empty, Sena took a breath and said, "Um, Un-Unsui-san?"

Unsui stopped and turned. He was frowning. "You shouldn't call me that."

Sena stared at him, at a loss. What else could he call him?

A sigh, then, and Unsui shook his head. "What is it?"

Sena pulled his shoulders back and tried to keep his head up. He couldn't back down now. "I was...I was just wondering..."

Unsui waited.

"Do you...do you think Mommy and Daddy will come get me soon?"

He said it almost under his breath, with trepidation, his head lowering almost despite himself. Would Unsui get angry, like Father did? Sena knew he wasn't supposed to talk about Mommy and Daddy, but—he had to know. And Unsui was the only one who hadn't hurt him or yelled at him or had been mean to him yet. Maybe Unsui would tell him and not shout or get angry.

Except Unsui was just standing there, looking at him, with the strangest expression on his face, even stranger than the one on Agon's when Sena had used his old name without knowing he couldn't.

Sena bit his lip, nervous. Unsui wasn't answering. "Unsui-san...?"

Unsui blinked, and then his mouth pressed into a line. "Sena..."

Sena's eyes widened.

"Sena..." Unsui shifted his weight from foot to foot. "What do you think happened to Mom and...I mean, what do you think happened to your parents?"

Mom? But why should Unsui call Sena's Mommy his Mom? Sena's eyebrows lowered as he tried to think. "Um...there was a car accident, and...and..." Sena frowned. "Granny said they went away...Father said they...died. But..."

Sena hesitated again, to see if Unsui was getting mad. But Unsui didn't say anything.

There was an aching place in Sena's stomach. He was ashamed to feel the tears filling his eyes, and misery made him whimper, "I don't know why they haven't come to get me."

Nothing. Unsui said nothing and they stood there, Sena with his eyes on the street under his new shoes, under Unsui's. He wanted to look at Unsui but he was afraid that if he lifted his face, the tears would come spilling out, and Unsui always got very quiet when Sena cried. Sena didn't want Unsui to get quiet now, not when he was about to tell him when Mommy and Daddy would come to take him home.

What if Unsui was upset? What if he told Father that Sena had been talking about Mommy and Daddy, and Father got angry, and then he would yell at Sena so loudly. Sena almost wished he hadn't said anything. What if Unsui stopped being nice to him? Unsui, who was the only one who didn't seem to think that everything Sena said and did was wrong, who didn't shout at Sena and didn't tell him mean things and didn't kick him under the table and didn't push him into the wall as he passed...

Someone took Sena's hand.

"Sena," said Unsui, and it was Unsui's hand, it was Unsui holding his hand, "Sena, listen. I think...I think you're not going to see your parents for a while. Okay? I think...it might be a really long while."

A clenched, awful feeling made Sena's chest hurt. He clung to Unsui's hand without meaning to. "I won't?"

"No." Unsui was looking straight at him, his gray eyes calm. "They would if they could, but...but they can't."

Sena couldn't breathe. He wanted to wail. He wanted to put his head under a pillow and cry as loud as he wanted. He wanted to hide somewhere, or just disappear. But none of it would come out, because he couldn't breathe.

"But," said Unsui, "don't be scared, okay? I'm here."

The tears made it hard to see. Sena struggled not to sob. "You are?"

"Yeah." The hand tightened around Sena's. "I'm your big brother. I'll take care of you."

Something soft touched Sena's face, rubbed at his eyes. Unsui had taken the end of one sleeve in his free hand and was carefully wiping Sena's eyes where they were wet.

He had never had anyone but Mommy do that for him before. And for Unsui to tell him that he wasn't alone, that there was someone there who would help him, to have someone hold his hand and tell him not to be scared—

Sena looked up at Unsui with his heart in his eyes, and didn't move while Unsui wiped away the rest of his tears.