He smiled as He saw her pass by him though she seemed to be in a hurry, almost dragging the pink haired child behind her. "Serena," He called to her. She stopped reluctantly and turned to Him. When she realized who had called her, her worried frown turned into a smile that warmed his blood.
"Hi-" she stopped short when she realized that she still didn't know His name.
"Friend?" He supplied with a crooked smile. She laughed but the pink haired child and that guardian of hers glared at him. He would really have to kill that cat.
"Or you could give me a name," she said with mock frustration.
"I could give you many names Serena," He said, purposely misunderstanding. She laughed again, her perfect bell like voice a balm to his battered soul.
"What can I do for you, Friend?" she said with a smile. He held out his hand, her broach in his palm. She visibly paled, her hand going to her chest where the broach was usually secured on a bow on her uniform. He heard the child gasp and saw the cat bristle.
"You dropped this." He chuckled inwardly knowing that she would never realize that he had stolen it from her just seconds before revealing himself.
"Ohmigod! Thank you! You have no idea how important that is to me," she exclaimed while rushing forward to take it from Him. He smiled at her.
"Then I'm glad that I could return it to you. I would hate to see a moment's sadness on your beautiful face." She blushed and He chuckled. "Where were you headed?" He asked suddenly but with an open expression that screamed "You can trust me. I'm only here to help." The effect was intensified by the fact that he had saved her once before and that he had just saved her broach. She seemed to answer without thinking.
"We were just heading home."
"Serena!" The child hissed. "You don't tell strangers that!"
"He's not a stranger Rini," she said with a long-suffering look at him. He smiled.
"You don't even know his name!" The cat chose that moment to meow as if agreeing with the child's statement.
"He saved me and returned my broach. I think that qualifies him as a friend you little brat so be nice!"
"I would walk you home but your sister so obviously doesn't like me so..." He let the sentence trail off.
"No, no!" She said after a slight pause. "She's just being a brat. Don't worry about her. We would love for you to walk us home." He smiled again and they started to walk again, His hands casually in His pockets.
"Why would you want to walk us home anyway?" The child asked when they had walked about a block. He smiled down at her.
"Who knows what could happen to two lovely young ladies walking alone. I'm only worried about your well being." He said earnestly. "Plus Serena can be a bit of a klutz," He said that in a loud whisper as if sharing a secret. A smile spread over the child's face and she giggled.
"Hey!" Serena said, offended. He just chuckled and winked at the child. They finally got to her house and He stopped at the front door and smiled at them.
"Here we are then," He said.
"Thanks for walking us here," she said with a smile. He turned to leave. "Name?" she asked. He hesitated.
"Kyoufuu," He said over His shoulder.
Written by: Kyoufuu (Iketeru--dohai)