A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who has taken a look at my fanfiction. It is definitely heartening to see that I have had so many visitors, and to hear back from some of them. And to see those who have favorited!It makes me so happy to hear that people want to read more :D Also makes me jump up and down excitedly to think people actually stopped at my story, however many pages through their search it was XD

I hope the first chapter does justice to your expectations.

Enjoy!

Special Note: Thank you to the following fanfiction members who have reviewed and favorited/ followed my story. Hope to hear more from you!

Shadow of the Fire Bird

Devil ichigo

Lena-luvs-cats

Akiko Uzumaki

deceitful mist

NamikazeMia

The Mad Writing Center

nightmare2001

Edited : 6/20/17

Chapter 1:

"Ellen, I have a job."

The speaker was an older man, maybe early thirties, with shockingly deep red hair, much redder than the teenager he spoke to. For looks, well a lot of women apparently considered him handsome, if the constant attention he received was an accurate indicator of this. The teenage girl really had no opinion; it was kinda creepy to think of the guy who was her guardian as handsome.

An annoyingly self-centered, couth, dangerous guardian. If he rode a motorcycle Ellen would probably be able to write him off as her cool uncle. But just the thought of this man on a motorcycle made her shiver and hope that hell would be cooler than the fires of destruction he would leave behind him.

"And?" keeping her eyes on the page, the young woman in question had to work real hard to seem interested in her old schoolbook. It just couldn't hold the same appeal as the clock and its gradually increasing numbers.

"I'm warding the motel room." The older man barely looked at his charge, tossing keys, cigarettes, lighter and wallet into his pockets. "Don't leave it." he instructed.

"Got it." tipping her head forward slightly gave her a curtain of chestnut hair to watch her guardians actions through. She had to seem engrossed in the history of English politics in the 1800's, and not in the subtle turn of a shoulder that hid his hands as they moved over the wobbly table.

If she appeared to not be working on the pile of books and practice tests spread over her bed, Cross would be suspicious of what she was planning. Not that he didn't always believe his ward was misbehaving. He had taught her to break the rules after all.

"Don't pretend you have too much work to do to listen to me for two minutes." Cross' annoyance was unfounded in Ellen's opinion- when she spoke he didn't drop everything to listen so why should she?

And he wasn't even looking at her to know if she was paying attention; all his attention was on the table before him. A table that was supposed to add to the 'ornate ambiance' of their shadowy-even-in-daylight motel room, but really just made Ellen suspect the room had once been scene to a rather destructive brawl.

But anyway.

"I do have too much work, thanks to someone signing me up for a freaking evaluation in two days."

When Cross continued to hide what he was doing, which was a futile gesture since she already knew that his gun had been sitting on the table waiting to be loaded, Ellen decided to humor herself with more complaining.

"I mean, it's not like we actually have to pretend I'm gonna graduate high school-"

"Don't talk like that." the reprimand was swift and sharp, dark brown eyes staring down gray.

Thin lipped and glaring, Ellen bit back, "Don't you have to go?"

His eyes glanced at the clock before returning to her. He actually did need to leave, since it was already 5 of 6 and he needed to be there on the hour.

"Listening to my phone calls again?" the question was said with a hint of reproach as the older man threw his long black coat on, occupied again with patting his pockets and slipping a holstered gun on his belt.

It wasn't like his job was a secret; Ellen couldn't go far enough in the room to avoid eavesdropping on his phone calls. And she wouldn't have lasted so long with the man if she didn't know how he exorcised demons.

"Just curious who it was this time" Ellen said with an innocent smile and a shrug of her shoulders, wishing he would just get going. She had her own job to do, and from his phone call, her trip would be the longer one to make, which meant she would have to finish twice as fast as he would.

"My jobs are my business, nothing for you to concern yourself with." It was a discarded statement, matter of fact and repeated enough that the older man barely noticed he even said it.

Lips part and words slip out before the teenager can actually consider the repercussions.

"Maybe it should be my concern." Ellen kept her eyes on her book, jaw tight as she waited for the kick back.

"I don't have time for this." Her guardian's voice oddly wasn't angry, but if it wasn't anger, Ellen certainly didn't believe it was weariness. Cross Marian may have gotten fed up with the teenager in the past, maybe seemed tired after driving all night that one time, but the sixteen year old had never seen him weary. Weariness denoted apathy, fatigue, weakness; after 6 years together, Ellen still didn't believe the thirty-something year old could ever be weak. He certainly encouraged that opinion anyway.

"Sorry." Ellen muttered, not sure why she was apologizing, but feeling like she owed him that.

Huffing a breath Cross stepped up beside the bed and dropped a hand on her head, mussing her hair.

Scowling Ellen wacked his hand away, but at the amused quirk of his lips the corner of hers turned up as well.

"Let's talk about that later." Cross said, and for a moment his features softened as he looked down at his charge, "Okay?"

With a sigh Ellen agreed, "Okay."

With that Cross Marian moved to the exit, sweeping his car keys into his hand as he passed the table.

Opening the door Cross muttered a word before stepping through the doorway.

"Stay. Here." Cross Marian may have been distracted, but he wasn't oblivious. His steady gaze and expectant silence were testament to that fact as he stood just outside the motel room, waiting for her acknowledgment.

"I will." Ellen said, crossing her fingers under the edge of her book. Technically when you considered all the connotations of the phrase, 'stay here' she wasn't really lying when she agreed with her guardian.

He didn't need to know that her version and his were probably about two hours apart in definition.

Casting one last glance her way Cross unceremoniously closed the door behind him.

Holding her breath Ellen listened intently as the slam of a car door was slowly followed by the loud turnover of a sputtering engine. At least he got the car working on the first try this time.

She knew the minute Cross had driven out of sight by the fading hiccups of the old car, but still she waited until the dull rumble of the engine was completely out of hearing.

Silence.

Finally.

Tossing the book to the side Ellen slipped off the bed and in two bounds was at the poor excuse for a bathroom. Reaching under the sink counter Ellen grabbed her small 'unmentionables' bag, as Cross so maturely referred to it, and tugged out the small notebook hidden under the feminine products.

Shoving the spiral notebook in the back pocket of her jeans as she stood, carelessly tossing the bag back in place, Ellen then leaned on the counter to steady herself as she reached for the mirror.

Hanging over the sink it could barely be considered a reflective surface anymore, cracked and smudged with who knows what, but it did have its uses.

With quick, practiced movements the teenager dug her nails under the frame of the mirror, trying not to think about what may be getting under her nails, and gently teased out the edge of a twenty dollar bill.

It wasn't much, but she went through a good bit of trouble to switch out the twenty with a handful of random bills in Cross' wallet so he wouldn't know.

Her guardian may have been clever, but Ellen was smart enough to use his own misgivings against him.

And one of those was his mistrust of banks and a gambling habit. Extra cash lying around and fights with cheaters were the best circumstances to slip a few extra bucks from his wallet. Hey, two or three bucks could be the difference between catching the bus and flagging down a cab.

Prize in hand Ellen dropped to her knees beside her bed, and snatched her worn down, cheap, black backpack from underneath the bed curtain. Unzipping it with sharp movements she flipped through the pockets, mumbling her way through each item she came across. "Holy water, candles, matches, lighter, water, sand, chicken blood..."

Good thing no one else was in the room to bear witness to her odd assortment of items. It was pure luck she had this job today- she was running low on supplies.

Ellen may have been making extra money off of her side jobs, but they weren't frequent enough, or lucrative enough, to cover travel costs and groceries and her covert supplies.

Well, groceries was a rather generous term for the take out they were forced to order since Cross couldn't be bothered to pay extra for a room with a kitchen, or a hotel with room service.

When he remembered to save money for rent, that is. And no, it didn't all go towards cigarettes and booze- it also went to trinkets, gas, haircuts, and 'school books'. Cross may skimp on clothes money and avoid rent, but he didn't hold back on educational materials. Mostly 'cause it was his fault Ellen wasn't in school, and he had no teaching skills to think of, so homeschooling herself was their only option most of the time.

Ellen couldn't complain really, at least she was still getting some kind of education. Not that she was the most focused of students, but it was something to do while spending hours alone in their hotel room whenever Cross was on a job.

And clothes money wasn't that important to Ellen anyway, not like books; she would gladly wear the same three outfits if it meant she didn't have to try and borrow books from nearby schools that would question her educational status.

Zip up hoodie on, bag over her shoulder, Ellen was about to step out the door when she froze, foot raised. The wards- she forgot to open the wards, and Cross would definitely notice. Scrambling to remember the pronunciation Ellen gave that up as her balance shifted and she had the choice to put her sneaker down or fall ungraciously out of the motel doorway.

"Patefacio."

Bracing herself against the frame to keep from falling, Ellen looked down at the edge of the worn rug beneath her back foot. Since she could still see the line of ash, unbroken and unchanged, she must have opened the ward in time.

Good thing latin was a dead language and didn't need to be said correctly to work.

/

It was typical for Ellen to find herself in churches or old houses for her jobs, but being inside a pastors house was a first for her. The poor young man was more worried about his scared parishioners than the rather unfortunate fate that could befall him if he tried blessing the house one more time. Generally blessings worked, but when it wasn't someone of their faith, it worked a lot less effectively.

At least, that was how Ellen explained it to the young man.

She didn't really have the heart to tell him that the 'ghost' he thought was haunting his house was actually a little more angry and a lot less sentient. Some referred to them as poltergeist, others demonic spirits, but Cross just called them akuma, the Japanese identifier. It made his experience seem more extensive and exotic. In reality it was just the name that had stuck with the group he trained with, but after a few jobs of her own Ellen had to agree it worked pretty well to inspire confidence in her clients.

That confidence actually got her an audience today, which was not something she wanted to encourage, but she couldn't really discourage. If the guy wanted to stay in the room where an active exorcism was in process, that was his choice. Really it just meant she had to make more of a show out of the exorcism, which was a pain but was better than having the client doubt the effectiveness of her methods.

Pulling back her hair into an untidy ponytail, Ellen crouched down by her bag. She had already moved the furniture out of the center of the room, and sprinkled holy water into the four corners, as well as the compass points for good measure. Now she dug in her bag and pulled out a stubby piece of chalk, rolling up the right sleeve of her hoodie as she kneeled on the floor and sketched out a rough circle on the hardwood.

"Do you have all the supplies you need? Do you need more space, cause we can move out some of the furniture if you need us to. I've heard these exorcisms can be messy, so it would probably be a good idea to move the furniture anyway, what do you think?" the young man kept chattering on, occasionally throwing out questions, though he wasn't leaving much time for Ellen to answer them.

Not that she was really planning to answer. But if he kept this up Ellen was going to have to say something; she needed all her concentration to recite the prayers for protection, if she wanted to be sure it worked for them both. She didn't want to encourage more questions though; if the Father knew that most exorcisms were more words and less action...well let's just say she wouldn't be able to afford a taxi ride back.

He continued to rattle off questions as Ellen wiped the chalk dust off her hands onto her jeans, dug out her lighter and candles and begun to lay them around the circle.

"Is the ghost in here now? Is he all right? Are there any family member he wishes to speak to? Though I guess it could be a she-"

"Father, this might be easier if you weren't asking so many questions." Ellen finally said, turning away from the last few candles she had to light to give the Father her full attention.

"Oh sorry, have you begun already? How are you going to exorcise it? Does it begin as soon as the candles are lit?"

Well; maybe the young father didn't know what an exorcism looked like, which meant she was safe to use her own exorcism techniques.

But since she already had the props set up she might as well go through with the charade. And if someone else came in, it would be best to throw in some elements of a Portuguese exorcism. It may not have been a church ordained method, but at least it was recognized by the church.

Heaving a sigh Ellen let him rattle off a few more questions before she interrupted. "I have a bit more to set up before I begin, so if I could have silence." being straight forward rather than polite was easier at the moment.

"Yes, yes of course, excuse me." his quick apology was accompanied by a slight bow which made Ellen feel like she was too harsh.

"It could get a bit, well, dangerous in here." Ellen intoned, glancing one last time over her almost prepared circle as she fidgeted with the glove on her left hand. "You probably should leave the room-"

"You're the one who needs to be leaving." surprised both priest and freelance exorcist turned towards the main parlor doors to see two black clothed figures enter. Long hair was all Ellen noticed before her gaze centered on the silver rose star on the boys long buttoned up jacket. The girl beside him had the same emblem, but her cropped jacket was more ornate and showed off her black jeans and gray top.

The two were about Ellen's age, but she was less concerned with their similarities and more concerned with the differences she was sure they would expound upon. Namely, that she wasn't a Black Order exorcist. Never mind that if Komui got his way, she would be joining these teenagers in classes soon; her clothes didn't have the rose cross, and that would be enough, now and in the future.

Tightening her glove, Ellen snatched her bag up off the floor.

She was done here.

As long as members of the Black Order were around, she couldn't be.

"But the exorcism has already begun." the priests confusion was made more evident as he continued to glance back and forth between the advancing party and his previous companion who has begun gathering together her supplies.

At least she hadn't finished lighting the candles yet. It was a lot harder to stop an exorcism when you were in the middle of it. It invited too many trouble makers into your circle.

Not that ending it before you finished setting up was any better, but if the Black Order wanted to kick her out, Ellen would let them deal with the mess.

"This moyashi hasn't done anything but light a few candles. I bet hes never performed an exorcism before." With her back to the new party Ellen felt safe enough to roll her eyes at this statement. What did he know about real exorcisms? Though at least she knew her preference for baggy clothes was still enough of a disguise at first glance; meant she wouldn't have to worry too much about drawing unwanted attention.

"Kanda really!" the girl with him exclaimed, drawing Ellen's surprised attention back to the newcomer with this familiar voice. All Ellen needed to see was dark green-black hair falling in pigtails to confirm who it was, and she knows this girl can't see her face. There were few people who would knew who Ellen was in the Order, and it was very likely this girl was one of them. And being caught in the middle of an active exorcism would make it harder to keep this from Cross and the Black Order.

Seeing that she had Ellen's attention, the young woman stepped towards her but Ellen was quick to turn her face away in the guise of gathering up more of her things. "I'm sorry that Kanda said that, we don't know you so we can't make judgments like that."

Shaking her head rather than speak Ellen dumped the still melted wax into one of her ceremonial bowls. She'd have to scour it later, but it was better than waiting for the candles to cool down fully and be subjected to this girls curiosity.

"But Kanda is right," The young woman said, crouching down to help Ellen gather her things together. Pulling her hood up Ellen tried to discourage the teenagers help with a quick swipe of any materials within the young woman's reach. The teenager was apparently unfazed that Ellen wasn't being very pleasant; the red head could still see a smile from the corner of her eye.

"The Black Order was called and since it is church property we are obligated to handle the matter." the female exorcist continued with her apology, still kneeling down beside the red headed freelancer.

"It's fine." her low words were hopefully enough to keep up a charade of being male. She didn't need two order exorcists asking questions about a female exorcist.

"I don't know why you bother Lenalee." The young man took a few steps past Ellen, not even looking her way. Though Ellen took the chance to look his way; a quick glance showed hair too long for a guy, a sword sheath strapped to his back, and a vague impression of Asian features. "The moyashi can go, the Black Order has precedence."

"But this-" The pastor looked at her confused, and Ellen shook her head subtly as she stood, the last bowl in her hands and her bag on her shoulder. It was asking for trouble to argue with Black Order exorcists in their own city. The priest frowned, another emotion in his eyes that Ellen wasn't too sure she wanted directed at her, being a bit too close to pity but on the border with sympathy.

"I hope we can work with you in the future." the girl said, and Ellen departure was abruptly halted by a hand in her way. Her first instinct was to raise her hand as well to exchange pleasantries, but the light glancing off the rose cross on the girl's jacket reminded Ellen that this wouldn't be her best course of action. An active exorcist touching her left hand would bring too many questions.

Exchanging the polite gesture for a move to hide her face, tugging her hood down further, Ellen took a step back.

"Maybe, sure." she said, feeling slightly guilty for her rude actions as the poor girl seemed crestfallen, pulling her hand back quickly.

"Leave the moyashi alone Lenalee, we have work to do." this statement was followed by a slight scratching sound that made Ellen want to turn and see what kind of weapon this boy just drew, but she needed to get out of there.

"Oh um, okay, it was nice to meet you." the pigtailed girl said, stepping out of Ellen's way.

"You too." she muttered as she passed, nodding a goodbye to the pastor as she skirted by him out the living room.

"Moyashi? What does that even mean?" Ellen muttered as she stalked out the door.

/

As if it wasn't bad enough that she was kicked out of her job, she used a good chunk of her money on a taxi to try and make it back before Cross and it wasn't even worth it.

Walking up the block from the corner the taxi dropped her off at, Ellen took one glance over the parking lot and kept going.

Cross' car was already parked outside their motel room.

Keeping her head down she skirted the edge of their side of the motel, cutting through the generic line of bushes and the unsanitary pool area to avoid being seen through the front office. She didn't know if Cross had managed to piss off the manager yet and she didn't want to risk any questions. Once free of the motel grounds Ellen booked it down the sidewalk- she probably had less than ten minutes to create her alibi, less if Cross had been back for awhile. Her only feasible excuse was a feminine emergency, but she would need a receipt and merchandise to make that believable.

There was no way to judge how long he had been back, and though she was sure she didn't leave anything incriminating out, there was always the chance he would look under the bed and notice her bag gone. Well, realistically he would never stoop down to look under the bed, but if one of his cigarettes or his lighter fell... she was pretty sure he would have questions about the absence of her emergency bag. If he did notice and didn't ask, she would be worried about what was on his mind.

When she walks in late all Cross had to say was her name and she knew he was going to scold her.

Waving the plastic bag around Ellen immediately started with "I ran out of pads and had to run down the road,"

It's almost comical how fast Cross mouth closed and his eyes moved from the bag, to her face, and then to the TV, dismissing the conversation.

"Yah, well, remember to close the wards behind you next time."

Feeling herself tense up Ellen forced herself to keep her countenance relaxed and casual, even while a slew of swears runs across her mind. She couldn't believe she forgot to shut the wards again!

"Even if no one is in the hotel you can't leave the wards down." Cross said as she made her way across the room.

"Got it." Ellen confirmed, holding up the bag, "Can I?" she asked, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from showing her amusement. He didn't even look at her, frowning at the TV as he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.

Sometimes the p word was as useful as it was annoying. Especially with self-centered men.

Closing the bathroom door behind her, Ellen thought it was a good thing Cross didn't care to know when her period was. She used the same excuse last time he beat her back, just last week.

Since she had technically broken curfew the other night, Cross had been even more attentive to her movements than usual. Most of the time he didn't care how she occupied herself while he was working as long as she did her school assignments and stayed out of trouble. But now he had to actually act parental and 'ground' her. Honestly Ellen knew she had worried him, mostly because she hadn't even tried to contact him when it got late. And since this summer she always called him when she was out late.

Though, she still couldn't remember how she even got to the cemetery, not to mention why she stopped there. Ellen just remembered being tired after her job and wanting to rest. With so little practice in using her abilities, it was hard to judge when she had reached her physical and spiritual limit, especially combined with regular use of her innocence.

At least that day she was able to go with the lesser of two evils and say she met someone new at the mall who took her to a family party. It started out bad, but when Cross saw that her new friend was such an innocent looking girl who was considerate enough to make sure Ellen got home, he cooled down. There was no way to argue with the cute and determined teenager, especially when she got her angelic mother on the phone. Honestly, Mrs. Kamelot sounded like a saint, and her worry over a stranger was touching. All Rhode had to say was she drove a new friend home from the twins party because she was sick, and Mrs. Kamelot was asking if Ellen was okay.

The only reason her grounding didn't include actual guard dogs was because Cross wouldn't waste the money on them. Though she would prefer that to having Cross questioning her every move.

Scowling at that thought Ellen finally emerged from the bathroom, steam escaping into the stuffy room.

"Brat sit down, we need to talk."

Surprised the young woman sat on the closest bed, absentmindedly drying her hair as she eyed her guardian; usually he just told her how things were going to go and she argued from there. He didn't often request she sit down for a talk.

"About what?" she ventured, vigorously rubbing the ends of her hair with the cheap motel towel.

"Komui want's you to take the test tomorrow."

"What?" throwing the towel down she faced the red head with a look of disbelief, "Why the sudden rush?"

"Doesn't matter." He said dismissively, "You're going to the school for 8."

"But I barely started studying today." she whined

"Stop the whining, you agreed to go to school again,"

"Agreed my ass," Ellen muttered, glaring down at her towel as if it was responsible for this injustice; it was either agree or be suffocated by the overly affectionate lab coat wearing principal, Komui.

He was a friend of Cross' so they had met a few times, but Ellen barely remembered his name. She did however, unfortunately or fortunately, remember his sisters name; Lenalee, her new best friend if Komui Lee had anything to say about it. And he had a lot to say about it. And a lot to share, including buckets of pictures and long winded stories.

Ellen couldn't speak for Komui's sister but Ellen wasn't too confident about them being 'best friends.' As it was, they had yet to properly meet- if you didn't count running into each other at the pastors house just hours earlier (cause really, how likely was it that there was another Lenalee in the Black Order?)

"Shut it." Cross snapped, "You are going to take the test, and if you don't pass you're still going so don't screw it up."

"Ugh," with that perfectly literate response Ellen fell back on the bed, throwing her arms over her eyes to block out the cheap motel lights. "I can't stand school."

"Too bad," Frowning at this Ellen was tempted to lie there and contemplate her sad fate all night, but Cross wouldn't have that and began to nettle her.

"Unless you want to be in all the freshman classes-"

"Hell no." Ellen's adamant statement barely registered with Cross, the red head continuing to calmly drink his beer and click through the channels as if she hadn't just interrupted him, "I'm a junior, taking mostly senior level courses. I am not going to share classes with immature brats."

"Then start studying. You have 12 hours." The amusement behind the advice rubbed at her already thin patience, so Ellen did the only reasonable thing she could think of: She rolled over and screamed into her pillow.

/

A crackling fire lit up a small parlor, illuminating the two occupants, who were both preoccupied by their own thoughts.

A pre-teen girl in her school uniform kicked her mary janes in the air as she lay on her stomach beside a chair. Her dyed blue hair was an oddity, but for anyone who knew her it surprisingly suited her character. It gave an extra layer to her image of an excitable and outgoing child.

Seated in the chair was a young man; casual in jeans and a loose white shirt, feet tucked under him, slippers abandoned on the floor before him, and a glass of wine on the table beside him. His good looks made him popular with men and women alike, and his foreign appearance of tanned skin and a Portuguese accent, caught most others attention.

For once Tyki Mikk had conceded in joining Rhode to work on their schoolwork. Really, he figured if she was asking then she needed the extra motivation as much as he did. After all, it was a lot easier to keep oneself focused on homework if you weren't the only one suffering through it. So here Tyki was, actually spending time at Sheryl's, though luckily the man of the house wasn't home. Tyki did not need any more of his brothers stifling hugs.

Though it seemed the younger girl still wasn't concentrating on the papers and books spread out before her. Sprawled out beside Tyki's chair, she was leaning on her elbows, staring down at one of her history books. The older boy had thought she was answering the questions at the end of the chapter, but now he was sure she was just staring at the page, as she tapped her pencil against the book repetitively.

"Rhode, really, could you stop that?" Tyki said, exasperated as he looked up. His brow furrowed as he realized the younger girl didn't even hear him, her eyes on the fire. "Rhode?" he called, and when that didn't work he reached down, laying his hand on her head.

She jumped at the touch, turning her head up to look at him, dark eyes curious. "What is it Tyki?" Rhode asked, though she still seemed distracted.

"What's on your mind querida?" he asked, his voice softening as her lips dropped into a worried frown at the question, "Is something bothering you?"

Rhode nodded, her gaze returning to the fire, and there was silence as she seemed to roll the words around in her mouth.

"I don't really know how to talk about it." the blue haired girl finally said with a frustrated sigh, rolling over onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

"Well is it a person, or a thing?" Tyki asked, and Rhode shook her head, so he added, "Is it a boy?" a bit of his usual cheeky tone in his voice, earning a slight glare from his niece.

"No it's not a boy." She said, annoyed, but that annoyance quickly faded as she stared blankly up at the ceiling. "It's a girl," she said after another moment.

Oh?

Bookmarking his page Tyki laid his course book on the side table, propping his elbows on his knees as he studied his niece. She wasn't alluding to a crush, was she? It would be kind of odd for her to have met someone, since she was usually at home for her homeschooling, or here at the Earls.

"Do I know them?" Tyki decided that was the best place to start

"No." was the frank response, then Rhode added, "the twins have met her though."

"Okay," Tyki put that aside for now, wondering how to narrow down the problem, "So what is going on?" he asked, deciding to go with a direct approach. "How is this girl a problem?"

"She isn't a problem, per say…"

"And that means?"

"I can't say." Tyki frowned at this, studying his nieces expression for any clue of what she meant.

"Why can't you say?"

"Cause it's not my problem to share, and I'm not even fully sure what the problem is." She seemed adamant about this at least, so Tyki let that topic go, moving on to his next concern.

"So why are you getting involved?"

"I want to help her." Well that was a surprise. Rhode didn't often want to meddle in the affairs of others, unless she was out to make their day worse.

"Why do you have to help her?"

"She doesn't have anyone else." The unexpected reason the pre-teen gave definitely perked his interest now.

"I don't know if I can help her though," Rhode said, worried frustration evident in her voice again, fists clenching at her sides.

"What does she need help with?" Tyki asked, curious now about who this girl was, "And how do you know her?" he added off hand.

"Well, I just met her the other day actually." Rhode said, chipper once again as she sat up, crossing her legs and rocking about happily.

"You just met her." Tyki deadpanned, and the younger girl nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep, shes so adorable and lost, like a little puppy, though I guess a kitten would suit her better cause she is so self-reliant, or rather you could call it individuality 'cause I haven't met anyone like her. Though she does remind me of someone..." as the pre-teen continued to chatter on Tyki couldn't help but stare incredulously at her.

For all the years he had known his niece, she hadn't seemed so... enamored with someone that she just met, who wasn't family. Though this level of crazy far exceeded her reaction to the twins. Though Tyki liked to think he was still the little girls favorite relatives, sans the Earl, since he always won.

"Tyki, Tyki, Tyki, Tyki," the pointed reiteration of his name probably meant he should show he had heard the younger girl.

"What?" he drawled, rolling his eyes.

"Did you hear me?" she asked, hands on her hips as she glowered at him.

"If you already know that answer, why ask the question?" he quipped, grinning as Rhode gave an exaggerated sigh, flopping back onto the floor.

"You are hopeless Tyki, hopeless." Rhode announced.

Hiding a grin behind his newly picked up textbook the young man nonchalantly returned to his coursework, since it seemed Rhode was in a better mood. He had a test tomorrow in his morning class, and then he had to get to his TA position before B period.

Just thinking about his teaching internship was tiring; if it wasn't for the Earl's directive, Tyki would have quit his position long before this point. Even so...a different kind of grin pulled at his lips, smug and cold.

Tyki was nothing if not a faithful actor to the Earls play. And the whole world was his stage, Black Order High included.

Alas, what would a play be without its knavery and secrets.

8*8*8

END CHAPTER

A/N:This ending was edited 5/22/16 to include more Tyki, as asked for :) I always liked this studious college student image of Tyki :D Since most fanfics portray him often with a book in hand during quiet moments, I found it was only natural to have Tyki be reading for classes or doing homework in modern au's lol.

There won't be love at first site- I'm practicing developing relationships between characters. Stay tuned for more!

BTW I am always looking for new suggestions for good Tyki/FemAllen fanfics so PM me your favorites!

Thank you again for taking time to read my story!