Nico: Sorry for skipping a couple weeks. I was busy with getting used to going back to school.

Updates may be a bit shaky the next couple weeks with school and all. I probably won't be allowed to use the computer until the weekends (or if I have a project to work on). Either way, I'll be pretty busy, but I'll try to keep updating once a week, probably on weekends now...

Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!

I STILL DO NOT OWN KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN!

Winds of Change

"Cheer with Fear..."

The night had proven to be short, in my opinion. In what seemed like only five minutes of sleep, the sun rose and everyone in the household had woken up. I can't say it was the best way to wake up. Since there were only three beds, Keith offered to share his, since Xerxes was rather fearful of me, while Vsevolod grumbled something about germs and bacteria. Keith's bed was right by the one window in the room, which just happened to be on the west side of the room. When the sun rose, and entered the pathway of the window, the light bled through and into the room. Even with my eyes closed, the blinding lights clawed through, and a vermilion color irritated my eyes.

I quickly learned that the two brothers were absolutely polar opposites. Vsevolod, the smartass king of the playground,and Xerxes, the uncoordinated, cowardly, whipping-boy of every last kid in said playground. It just made it harder and harder to absorb the fact that they were brothers. Sibling rivalry I can understand, but one-sided sibling rivalry...? It was just plain pathetic to watch Xerxes' head being forced into the sink after he had accidentally got toothpaste on Vsevolod's pajamas.

Luckily, Keith was able to break the two apart. I couldn't bear to imagine what this place would be like without Keith, Xerxes would probably be dead though.

Celeste let me stay for breakfast, which was nice. Not like the usual canned food I was used to, but rather fresh food. Eggs, sunny-side up, with the whites perfectly crisp on the edges, and the yolk still runny. Toast, lightly brown, with smooth melting butter on its crunchy surface. Freshly squeezed orange juice in a mug with a small cartoon frog printed on. I almost gasped in delight when my eyes rolled over to the middle of the plate. Bacon! Actual, crisp yet still chewy, mouthwatering, bacon!

"My, you must be hungry," Celeste said. It was rather true, the last full meal I had was breakfast yesterday, I had a piece of sushi and a small snack in between, but right now, I am starving.

"Ciao? Is anybody home~?" A voice came from the entrance and Keith quickly got out of his seat to answer it. "Ciao, Xetol!"

"Squalo!" Keith quickly came back to the room. Following behind him was a girl with black hair, in a way, she resembled Esther, only a lot younger. She looked to be about Xerxes and Vsevolod's age. "This is Xetol(1). Xetol, this is Squalo."

"Ciao, Squalo," Xetol smiled with a bow. She really did resemble Esther. Her hair was short and cut in a similar fashion. Her irises were the color of dark umber. She was shorter than Keith and I, and slightly taller than Xerxes. Unlike some girls her age, she didn't wear a dress, instead she wore a white blouse, and a pair of durable trousers. She spoke with a strange accent, it wasn't Italian for sure. It was no doubt that she was foreigner.

"Ciao..." I said awkwardly. I felt like I was talking to someone I already knew. She ended staying with us. In a way she was like a female version of Keith. Whenever Vsevolod started teasing his older brother, she was able to stop them. However, it almost seemed like Vsevolod acted more nicely to his brother with Xetol around. The moment she left to use the washroom, he'd dunk his brother's mug of milk over his head, soaking his already pitiful child.

"Hey, Squalo, do you want to go to the park later on with Xetol?" Keith asked me.

"Uh...sure, why not...?"

My mistake...I now know a reason why not.

The park was nice. The sky was cloudless after the storm the the last night. It was summer, and the humidity from the rain didn't help the heat. The park was rather empty since the grassy ground was wet and muddy. There was a "schlop" every time one of took a step onto the gross terrain. Not that I'm complaining. In the park, it was either standing on the mucky ground, or sitting on wet benches.

"Hey, Keith," Xetol said. "Why didn't you tell me you had such a cute friend?" Keith seemed to laugh as I stared at the young girl in a mix of disbelief and disgust. Xetol joined in the laughter than patted my head like I was a puppy to her. "I'm kidding, I just really find your hair really interesting."

"Uh...thanks...?" She was weird. "I was born with this hair..." This hair...

"Wow!" Xetol exclaimed. "That's so cool!"

I shrugged at her compliment. To me this hair was nothing but a problem. This hair was the reason my father hated me. It was so easily seen, if I were walking in the dark or in a crowded hallway, anyone could see me from a mile away. Like I said before, this was the hair of my grandfather. He had treated my father the same way my father had treated me. I once had tried to dye my hair but it never worked. For the most part, it hair dye wasn't free, I wish it were, I'd have died my hair black by now.

"Man, that was some storm the other day!" Keith said, inspecting a small tree was that was bent in two ways; curved like it was dancing(2).

I then heard a chirping sound off in the distance. I turned away from the small tree, not too far away, was another tree. It somewhat thicker and taller than the curved tree, and something was calling out. Leaving Keith and Xetol to stare at the curved tree, I headed over to the calling tree. Most of it's leaves were blown off, similar to all the other trees in the park, leaving it's long branches bare. I looked down to the muddy ground, and a few feet away from the tree was a small nest of twigs entwined tightly. In the next were four dark feathered birds, their feathers.

"Squalo! Why'd you just suddenly run off?" I heard Keith call and then I realized the two had joined me. It didn't take them long to realize what I was staring at.

"Baby Blackbirds!" Xetol said crouching down, carefully making sure she didn't touch the muddy ground, for a better look. "The poor things, their parents must have flown away from the storm!"

"Oh, I wish there was some way we could help..." Keith said.

"Voi, maybe..." I spoke out without thinking and hesitated to continue. However when I noticed that the two were now staring at me, waiting for me to continue, I realized there was no point in chickening out now. "How about we bring them home and take care of them? They're only going to get worse if we keep them out here."

"That's a great idea, Squalo!" Xetol said. I swear, her eyes seemed to shine like the sun was in them.

"Only one problem," Keith said. "Vsevolod hates animals...he has many allergies and he's always weary of germs..."

"What about you, Xetol?"

"I'm fine with taking care of them," Xetol smiled happily. I stared at her shining face, then down to the blackbirds. I didn't want to leave them. Xetol may have been alright with it but she was very young. She couldn't possibly be able to take care of four birds.

"Mm...How about...Keith and I watch over them in the morning, when we're not at home, and you can watch over them at night? That way, we can pitch in too."

"Sounds awesome! I totally agree!" Keith smiled.

"Okay," Xetol said. After carefully setting the nest on one of the wet benches we divided up the blackbirds. Keith and I both had one, and Xetol took care of two. I noticed my blackbird's beak was chipped on the left side, Keith's was the largest of the four, and Xetol's two were the smallest.

"I'm going to name mine Ucello and Nero," Xetol giggled, holding them in her hands.

"This little guy is going to be Amico," Keith smiled as Amico chirped in response to his new name. "What about you, Squalo?"

"Uh..." I looked at the small bird in my hand. It stared back at me, as if saying, "Yes, sir, what is my name?" I kept staring at the chip in his beak as I scratched my head. "Uh...Chip."

"Chip? Aw, that's cute!" Xetol said.

That's what happened. We ended up taking care of the blackbirds, for the day. Chip was a bit of a brat. He often jumped out of my hands and clumsily flew away. One of these times, he actually flew far, and I had to chase after him. I only heard Keith telling me to meet us back at the park over the sound of my heavy breathing. It was the freaking twentieth time he's flown off!

"Why do you care so much about a blackbird?" I heard Esther's voice.

"Didn't you see, Esther?" I said. "They were all alone! Their parents are gone. They're like me. All alone. Like Hell I'm going to allow them to end up like me!" I took a sharp turn, following the sound of chirping.

"You don't get it do you," Esther said. "A blackbird's call is a warning of danger." I didn't hear Esther, I just kept running. All that mattered now was getting Chip, I had all the time in the world to listen to her...

Finally Chip landed on the stone ground. I quickly bent down and scooped him up.

"Voi, you've really got to stop doing that," I said holding Chip in my hands. He seemed frantic, he kept chirping.

"Are you the son of Adamo?" I heard a voice from behind me.

Suddenly I felt hands all around me. I panicked and, thinking only of Chip, held the bird close to me as I felt something forced down my mouth.

All I heard was a chirping as everything went black.

"Cheer with Fear,"

"When all is unclear,"

"Sincere yet Severe,"

"That's the future near."

Nico: And that's chapter five! The next chapter will be the start of a new era of Squalo's life, and thus, this story will probably be rated M for the use of swearing because of Squalo.

A couple notes:

1. Xetol - if anyone read my "Et Cetera" fanfic on Enma, there was a girl named Xetol. The two aren't the same people, I just really like the name Xetol.

2. There's a tree like that outside my school, it's really amusing to see. (I have really no idea why it's curved though.)

Please watch out for the next chapter, probably uploaded next week, I'll do my best!

Please Read and Review!