ARGH! I'M SO SORRY ABOUT THE DELAY! I've got personal business to deal with, and my mind is filled with other things... I haven't really had the patience for writing... and writers block has struck, too...

Um... this is still sorta setting up the story. It's not that long... I'm going to try and update a lot more often, and focus on this story... but I'm going through half-yearlys at the moment, and I have to read not one, but TWO books for English... so... ^^;

Oh, and thank you guys so much for the kind reviews. I hope I didn't disappoint...

Warning- There are SWEARS. I don't know if you're uncomfortable reading them, BUT I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WRITING THEM. But as a writer, you have to go outside your comfort zone, right?

Um... ANYWHO. Enjoy~!

Chapter Two

After everything of hers is put away, Lili stretches. She's taken most of her things to this new house, since she'll be here for quite a while. Her half-brother, Vash, is in Switzerland for six months, or maybe even a year, looking after his mother. He didn't want to let her stay by herself, so she asked her 'pen pal', Yekaterina if she could stay with her and her siblings. Yekaterina was happy to have her stay...

On the condition that Lili could help her family.

Lili decides that she should wander around the house, to find out where the bathroom and the kitchen are. She's also curious to see what the rest of the house is like. She exits the room, closing the door behind her. The happy looking pictures on the walls stare down at her, the smiles of children not matching the atmosphere given off by their present-day counterparts.

She stops walking when she almost crashes into a door that opened right in front of her.

"Um... hello...?" she says cautiously, peeking around the wooden door. Ivan is standing in the doorframe, and gives her an awkward, apologetic smile, one hand on the doorknob. "Oh. Hello, Ivan."

He keeps his gaze away from hers, and mouths "Privyet..." before slowly retreating back into his room, closing the door slowly. She swears she could hear a sigh on the other side.

Okay... that was strange... she thinks, turning around to inspect the door on the other side of the hallway. She shouts when she sees Natalya standing there, arms crossed, and glaring.

"He doesn't talk to strangers," Natalya says coldly.

"Well, that makes sense..."

"No it doesn't. He doesn't talk to anyone. Not even me."

"But I saw him speaking to Katyusha..."

Natalya's hands, which were by her sides, clench into fists. "Of course he does. Yekaterina's the only person he talks to. And the cat, but that doesn't count."

"D-do you know why?"

"No... but even if I did, it's none of your business. You know he was just about to come out of his room, right?"

"Oh... s-sorry?" Lili's apology is more of a question. She's sure this is the most awkward and frightening situation she's ever been in. She's confused as Natalya starts counting on her fingers.

"Six years... It's been six years since big brother spoke to me," she says quietly, trying to hide her anger. "Today might've been the day when he did again!" she screams, storming into her room, on the other side of Ivan's.

"S-six years...?" Lili says in shock. As she explores the house, she tries to imagine Vash not talking to her for that long, and wonders why Ivan is so quiet, and why he doesn't even talk to his little sister. B-but he said something to me... She shakes the thoughts out of her head, needing to concentrate on the house.

She stumbles across the kitchen, a fine room with archways leading into what Lili presumes is the dining room, and back into the living room. A set of glass doors leads out into the backyard.

"Oh, hello, Lili. So, you've packed your things?" Yekaterina asks, standing by a large pot on the stove. Lili jumps, not seeing her there.

"Ja. Thank you again."

Yekaterina smiles. "It's no problem. I didn't startle you, did I?" she asks worriedly.

"Just a little. I didn't see you."

"Ah. So, I'm guessing you're exploring the house?"

"Ja. This house is much bigger- and older- than the house my big brother and I share."

"Really?"

"Well, big brother doesn't like to spend money on unnecessary things. And it's only the two of us, so we don't need much room anyway... well... it's mostly me... big brother was always working." She decides to stop talking, and smiles nervously.

Yekaterina has a look of slight horror on her face. "Wait... you were alone all day?"

"Ja..."

"How horrible! I could never do that to Vanya, or Nata! Hmm... but Nata works, so she's the one that leaves the house..."

"Really? What's her career?"

"For the time being, she works at a butcher's." Yekaterina laughs nervously before adding the next sentence. "It's a job where she can... um... use a knife."

"W-was?!" Lili asks, blinking in surprise.

"Nata likes knives almost as much as Vanya likes sunflowers. Don't worry too much. She knows what she's doing- my little sister's not an idiot!" she laughs.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you do?"

"I work from home for a business, for my friend Matthew. I told you, I can't bring myself to leave Vanya by himself. Oh! Can you stir that, please?" she asks, pointing to an electric frying pan with meat and sauce in it. "I hope you like spaghetti... I was going to make something special, but I'm a bit tired, and my back hurts..."

"Oh, it's okay. Spaghetti is one of my favourite meals. My cousin, Ludwig, has an Italian friend, and he'd bring us pasta all the time."

"Dinner's ready!" calls Yekaterina from the kitchen, draining the spaghetti into a large bowl and stirring the meat and sauce one last time. She brings the bowl of pasta to the table, and Lili brings the meat. The two younger siblings exit their rooms and file into the dining room. Natalya takes the seat beside Ivan, who cringes slightly when she says something to him, and shakes his head slowly.

"Natalya... not at the table," Yekaterina says while dishing out everyone's dinner. There's seconds if anyone wants any," she says, before sitting down beside Lili, opposite Natalya.

The spaghetti is mediocre, not nearly as good as Feliciano's had been, but at least it was edible. (Unlike anything made by Lili's partner in cooking class, Arthur Kirkland, who had somehow burnt their spaghetti so badly that it was shrivelled and black.) Lili said nothing, as she was raised to be polite.

"This is shit," Natalya says, pushing her plate away from her.

"Natalya. Language."

"You say you want to make a good impression on her-"

Lili and Ivan eat their meal in silence, trying to block out the two's argument. The only person Lili knows who swears more than Natalya is Feliciano's older brother, Lovino... At one point, Natalya says something, and Ivan scoots his chair as far away from her as possible. Yekaterina sighs.

"What did I say, Natalya...? Switch seats with Lili."

"What?! No!"

"Vanya, bring your plate over here. I'll swap seats with you."

Natalya crosses her arms as Ivan and Yekaterina pick up their plates and swap seats.

"Stop acting like a child, Natalya," Yekaterina warns, before eating a forkful of food.

"Hello again, Ivan," Lili says as he sits down next to her. He keeps his head down to avoid Natalya's glare, and continues eating. Another awkward situation... Lili thinks, avoiding Natalya's icy glare as well.

Natalya is currently thinking back to old conversations with their cousin, Vladimir, and using those to plot over a million ways to murder the girl.

Translations-

Was- 'What' in German

Ja-'Yes' in German. (But we all know this.)

Privyet-'Hello' in Russian. (We all know this, too.)

'Vladimir' is the name my friend and I use for 2P!Russia. That last part, about the conversations, is inspired by conversations with my friend... WE'RE NOT GOING TO GO THROUGH WITH ANYTHING, I SWEAR.

So... was this as bad as I think it was? It's still setting up the story, as I said...

Please leave a review! It really does motivate me to write more! (Also, any ideas/suggestions are more than welcome!)