"So… Your brothers and your sister-in-law are going to go to foreign country for a week when you're having holidays."

The wavy-haired teen nodded.

"And Karan-san, Agas-san, and Mark-san are joining them."

He answered with a nod again.

"And you're left alone in the house with your beloved nephew."

"…"

"And you're asking Landkarte and me to help you to babysit him for a week."

"…well, that's it."

Ea sighed mentally. /This is going to be a long week…/

Oo—O—oO

Their Daily Lives

Oo—O—oO

Genre: Family – Friendship

Rate: T

Warning: AU, hints of shonen ai everywhere, and grammar mistakes. U-_-)a

Disclaimer: 07-Ghost belongs to Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara

Oo—O—oO

Story 3

~Canon in D~

Oo—O—oO

Landkarte gawked at the sight of the castle in front of him, while Ea just stared it blankly—if he was shocked like the light-haired teen in hooded jacket beside him, he hid it well behind that stoic face of his.

"I do know that you live in a bigger manor than us, just like what Vertrag said to us before. But this…" Landkarte's index finger, which was pointing at the largest building he ever seen in his life, was shaking madly. "…THIS IS MUCH TOO LARGE FOR THREE TEENAGES AND A CHILD TO LIVE IN FOR A WEEK, YOU KNOW?!"

If Ea didn't elbow his waist, he might yell more than that and broke the windows' glass.

.

"Well… Welcome to Raggs Residence, then. Since you'll stay here for a week, I shall warn you about some places that can't be visited because of some reason… shall not I?"

Huge sweats appeared behind Landkarte and Ea's head after that.

"You… Are you really that bad in communicating with other people, Krowell?" The youngest of three siblings huffed softly, and raised his shoulder afterward. "It's not like what you're thinking, Ea. People had different ways to communicate with other people, and this is—"

"LIAR."

Krowell clammed up immediately after that.

.

"By the way, Krowell…"

"What?"

"I haven't see Tiashe-kun since I came here. Where's he? He didn't go with Krom-san and Vertrag, did he?" Landkarte asked curiously, taking a look at the unfamiliar scenery around him while walking behind Ea. Ea blinked his eyes, realizing that he, too, hadn't see the little brunette at the same time. And when they saw the rare expression on Krowell's face, they couldn't help themselves but getting bad feelings for that.

"…um…"

"…"

"…I left him sleeping in his bedroom to pick you up."

His schoolmates' eyes widened in shock. Landkarte immediately ran after he asked about the location of Tiashe's bedroom, while Ea crossed his arms in front of his chest; a gesture that usually appeared when he's about to lecture something to someone. Krowell, who usually had upper hand in a debate, now could just averted his eyes to other place—he didn't dare to look at the dark-haired teen's glaring eyes, which were ready to unleash his anger on him.

"Krowell."

"What."

"I think we need to talk—now."

"And I think living with Kreuz for a long time has made you started to behave like the way he did."

"You should thank God that I wasn't your brother."

"I've done it already—mentally."

"Good. Because if I was your brother—be it younger or older—I wouldn't hesitate to lock you up in your room for a week till they come back to this Castle."

"I know it already."

Ea let out a relieved sigh when he saw Landkarte came with a young boy in his arm. The light-haired teen was hugging him tightly, patting his brown head gently to calm him down, and whispering some words to make the little Raggs stop crying. "Even a moron like him knows that leaving a child in such big Castle is a dangerous thing to do, Krowell."

Landkarte just rolled his eyes when he heard that. If he wasn't calming the crying Tiashe in his arms, he would've been denied that with a yell or even a scream.

#

"What's wrong, Kreuz?"

"…nothing, Brother."

"Well… I will believe your words if you don't wear that gloomy expression on your face, Kreuz."

The only bishop in Raggs Family sighed softly. "I was just thinking about giving punishment to Krowell."

His older brother raised his right eyebrows. "Why?"

"I don't know too, but I just have a feeling that he'd forget small things like 'not to leave children alone in a big place' or something like that…"

"…huh?"

#

"Nee, Landkarte-niichan."

Landkarte smiled gently at the 3-years old boy in front of him, but his expression changed into a worried one when he saw anxiety on that chubby face. "What's wrong, Tiashe-kun? Is there something that bothers you?"

Tiashe shook his head and puffed his cheeks. "It's just… um…"

"Don't be hesitant to talk it with me. I promise I won't speak it to other people if you don't want to."

He bent his head down now. "It's about Uncle Krowell…"

Landkarte had to restrain his laugh when he heard that nickname. 'Uncle' didn't match with that stoic, purple-eyed teen at all—'Grandpa' might suit that person well because of the wrinkles on his face. "Okay… What's wrong with your Uncle, then? Did he do bad things to you other than leaving you alone frequently?" A shook was the answer he got. "Then, what's it? Do you want him to smile a lot like Uncle Zehel?"

"Not that kind of smile, of course—Uncle Zehel often scares me with his smirk."

/Same here, Tiashe-kun./ Landkarte felt like wanted to hug this cute, innocent child as soon as possible as a sign of agreement for his statement. "Well… Then what's your problem with him? Do you want me to hit him so he would apologize to you?"

A shook again.

"Then speak to me. I'm useless for this stuff if you don't tell me your problem."

"…Is he mad at me?"

Landkarte gasped. "Why do you think like that suddenly?"

The boy's eyes became tearful again now. "Because he never talks to me… Not even a word… If I asked something to him, he just replied it with a nod or just go away. He—hic—he didn't like me, did he?"

/And this is the primary reason why I hate stoic people!/ Landkarte screamed in frustration mentally. He tried to keep calm on the outside, but if a hyperactive people like him tried to do that impossible stuff, there's only one thing that came as a result: failure. "Uh, um—I'm sure he didn't hate you or something like that. He just can't express his feeling in right way, that's all! Yes, that's!" Deep, deep in his heart, Landkarte cried happily. /Thank you, Fest, for asking me to help you babysit those orphans several years ago!/

"Is he?"

"Of course he is. Nobody could ever hate a cute, innocent boy like you, Tiashe-kun. Not even me or Ea, or maybe that wrinkled Uncle of yours!"

"But why did he leave me alone…?"

If Landkarte wasn't a patient person, he would've slapped himself right there at once. Or maybe he'd just hit the subject of their conversation later. "Um, well… Maybe he forgot about the rule?"

Wrong answer, Landkarte. You've made the boy cried again now. "S-so that means he forgot that I'm here…?"

If he usually made Ea did the face-palming gesture, it's his turn to do it now. Karma, just like what people usually said.

And if Ea didn't come a moment later, he really would jump from the roof of this castle now.

"What's wrong here, Landkarte? And—whoa, why did you cry, Tiashe-kun?" He picked up the crying boy from the floor he's sitting on. "There, there. Don't cry again. Now, Landkarte—" The mentioned teen winced slightly. Receiving a death glare from his best friend wasn't the one he wanted on his list, anyway. "—would you kindly tell me, why did he cry like this?"

Landkarte sighed heavily. Babysitting a child had never been this annoying before. "Of course I would, my Lord. And this has a connection to the grey-haired man over there, of course."

For the second time in that day, Krowell received another glare from an angry mother-hen whose name was Ea.

.

"Ah. So that's the major problem here."

Tiashe was still hiccupping, Landkarte was still trying not to scream in frustration, and Krowell was still averting his eyes from the little boy on Landkarte's lap beside him.

"Well, then. Now, Krowell, would you tell us what's your reason for leaving Tiashe alone like what happened this morning?"

"…should I?"

"Should I call Vertrag here and made him do the judgment, Ea?" Landkarte asked tiredly, still patting Tiashe's soft hair gently. "I think he's the best judge for this matter, since he's the real brother of this wrinkly Uncle."

A glare from Krowell and a snort from Ea.

"You're right, Ea—this guy is the most annoying person I've meet in my life."

"And you're the most bothersome Uncle I've ever seen in my life too, Krowell. Thank you very much for repeating the praise from my dear best friend."

Ea clapped his hands and the other teens silenced suddenly. "It's okay then, if you don't want to tell us your reason. But as a punishment for you, Krowell…"

Krowell huffed slightly. Before Ea could continue his words, he stood up from his place and walked to the place where the grand piano was located. Not too long after that, a familiar melody can be heard.

Landkarte blinked. "Wait. Since when did you can play a grand piano, Krowell?"

"He's the main pianist in our school, moron."

"WHAT?!"

While Ea and Landkarte were debating again and his Uncle was playing the grand piano as a punishment, Tiashe sat silently on Landkarte's lap. His once tearful eyes were dried now, and his cheeks blushed.

This was the melody he heard when he celebrated his second birthday in his life.

Canon in D was a song that he loved the most since he heard it for the first time.

"…Uncle Krowell?"

Ea and Landkarte stopped their verbal-fight, while Krowell just continued playing the music. But Tiashe knew that his Uncle was listening to him now, so he too continued to speak. "Next year, in my fourth birthday, will you play this music again for me?"

Even if his back was facing them, he knew that they could see his smile; a small, thin smile that made Landkarte gawked again and Ea rubbed his eyes twice to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"Not a problem, then."

And so this pointless story ended with Tiashe laughing happily, Ea sighing tiredly, Landkarte letting out a relieved breathe, and Krowell smiled softly.

.

Far, far away from their place, Kreuz started to change his mind again for the second time in that day.

.

.

#

The end.