Sooooo a long time ago, I started writing this little story that then ballooned into a not-so-little story. And then life hit me like a truck. I moved out of the country for a new job, got another job, and went back to school. Now, I have a shiny new degree on the wall, a little more free time, and you get a new chapter.
I guess it makes me happy... But more importantly it does give me an idea for a quick Chrono/Carim oneshot.
Really, this is as much as I can manage in half an afternoon... I hope it isn't TOO familiar
Spoiler for Romance between Adults is Complicated:
The Grand Cathedral in Northern Mid-Childa.
Compared to the Cathedrals of old this one is noticeably smaller, but at the same time it's still too big to simply call it a church. The inside of the structure can be considered unimpressive in a certain sense; for the headquarters of the Saint Church religious organization, it lacks a majestic presence- but supposedly the designers didn't want to make visitors feel insecure and overwhelmed by intimidatingly expensive decorations.
Though most likely it's because the church couldn't afford such luxury at the time.
Standing around leisurely in her room was Carim Gracia. As of right now it's 8am, she's inside the church and the candles lights were blown out by the cool morning breeze.
Carim sets a chair in front of the altar and sits on it. She’s wearing a simple nun’s robe that has a pure white base colour, with recognizable coloured threads like black, red, green, purple, gold and silver woven into pictures. Besides that, her clothes are covered in decorative cloth used for higher-order clergymen. This is formal attire worn when she’s visiting other people.
For someone like Carim, who’s different from normal Knights and Nuns, she has to prepare different sets of robes according to the season, time, location, occasion, position on the matter, and ambition. Sometimes she’ll purposely wear clothes that indicate a lower standing in order to raise the status of the guest; sometimes she’ll purposely wear clothes that indicate a higher standing to show her dissatisfaction…there’s a lot of ways to do this that are really complicated and troublesome.
Personally, she feels it's all too troublesome to do all these things, but just as her position provide several privileges, it also comes with several restriction of freedom.
Aside from her unique clothing, the most noticeable thing about Carim is her golden hair that reaches the length of her waist. The fluffy hair hangs over her shoulders and goes all the way down. Carim sits on the chair, places an entire set of gold and silver combs on her legs. She selects one from the pile of combs, which has different teeth length, width and spacing, and carefully lets her hair go past the comb like the strings of a harp. After combing all her hair through once, she changes to another one, and after that’s done, changes to another one. She continues to do this, as if the order of the combs used is very important.
Shining on her hair is the morning sunlight passing through the window.
"What are you doing?"
A displeased voice came from behind.
Chrono Haralown stood in the doorway with an exasperated look.
“Don’t you know? I’m combing my hair. A man shouldn’t be seeing a woman doing make-up.”
Carim chuckles.
“Several centuries ago, among the Belkan Noblewomen, there are methods to scorch their hair by either using the sun or the moon. The best-looking blonde hair is called the ‘Sun’s hair’, and it’s the greatest virtue for one to accomplish this. Isn’t it stylish to do this without the need of dyes? Ohoho~!”
Carim tries to stifle her exaggerated fake laughter as an attempt to further frustrate Chrono, but there’s no response from the man.
She twists her neck and looks at him.
“What’s wrong? What happen to your sarcastic remarks and snide one liners? To remain silent while I'm talking with you… Well, that's something I never thought I would live to see!”
There was still no response from Chrono.
Just when Carim was feeling puzzled...
"No... That's not it... Actually, I've been wanting to ask you something-"
Carim immediately replied him with three sets of two digit numbers.
"No, I don't mean your three sizes... But I appreciate it nonetheless."
"Oh well, those are fake numbers anyway... Then what is it you want to ask?"
"To be honest, your Midchildan sounds really weird. Do you have trouble with the language, or are you just treating me as an idiot? Which one is it?"
Carim stopped what she was doing.
The comb that’s gliding through her hair slightly trembles.
"W-W-W-WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?!"
"It's not that the words are wrong- the meaning is still there, it's just that... Well... Have you ever seen a creature called a platypus? There's nothing wrong with it biologically per say but-"
“You……you……do you know what you’re talking about!? There’s no need to talk about etiquette with a man who is a walking billboard for cardinal desires of every form of complex! Just some simple words is enough for you!”
"Just what are you going on about?" Chrono sighed. "Regardless, if you prefer to use such a special accent, it's alright. What I'm trying to say is that if you're frustrated about this, I can arrange to have you tutored privately myself... I don't want this to become an political incident between our two organizations just because one of our ambassadors couldn't stop laughing at your exotic form of speech."
“Uu! I’m not bothered by it! Why would I bother about a language?! Besides, you're the only TSAB liaison for the Saint Church, if there's any problems I'll just go to you straight away and pour out my troubled heart!"
"It's because I'm the only one for now that's why I want to fix that abnormality of yours so that other people can share my headaches! Hayate and the girls might be too polite to say anything but-"
"Eh? I don't speak like that to them."
"...What?"
"Whenever I talk to the Wolkenritters I use Belkan, when I talk to the other girls I talk like this."
Carim said all that in completely normal Midchildan.
"...I knew it, you're treating me like an idiot aren't you?"
"No I'm not!" Carim protested. "Verossa was the one who told me to use that speech when talking to important men! That's how normal Midchildans do things!"
"Please don't use such a suspicious individual as the basis of 'Normal Midchildan'..."
Wait, what did she mean by important men? Social status?
Chrono wanted to change the topic so he didn't pursuit the matter and said,
"However, why do you want to comb your hair in front of the guest? Shouldn't you have done it before having a conversation? You're the one that invited me over..."
Although she doesn’t like this topic, Carim feels that at least they can break away from the original topic, as her tone and attitude seems calmer than before.
“There’s no time. Actually, night is the time when women are in their bedrooms doing their make-up but I.... Nevermind, please don’t mind me doing this during our conversation.”
"But didn't you just say that a man shouldn’t be seeing a woman doing make-up?”
"If it's you then it okay."
What is that suppose to mean?
"...I knew it, you're treating me like an idiot aren't you?"
"I don't know what you mean."
Chrono signed.
"I guess that’s the result of the ‘Sun’s hair’ that you talked about, right? The myth about the moonlight should be a superstition, but the myth about the sun is actually due to the ultraviolet rays that caused the hair to lose colour pigments. This is probably an idea gained from books fading in colour due to overexposure to the sun. "
Carim looked mildly impressed.
"But I’ll give you some advice……you’ll get hair loss!” Chrono smirked.
“………This is rather rude when we’re still developing our diplomatic relations.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Eh? Chrono-kun has gone to see Carim-san already?" A girl in white military uniform and a long brown hair tied into a side-tail spoke. "Wasn't that suppose to be tomorrow?"
"Chrono said that its better to get an ugly business over and done with early rather than to let it hound you any longer..." A girl with blond hair and black uniform answered. "But still, I wish they would take things ease once in awhile... They said they're still developing diplomatic relations..."
"I wouldn't ponder about it too much," A girl with short brown hair and similar coloured Uniform shook her head sagely. "The romance between adults is a complicating matter... Too much reading in between the lines for my taste..."
"Eh?"
"R-Romance!?!"
Its similar... But I know you also have been dabbling with too much Kamachi lately.
Nice effort. Yes, this is close to what I imagined.
Its similar... But I know you also have been dabbling with too much Kamachi lately.
The man has already published four Light Novels this year, two more confirmed in the up coming month, and possibly another two more by the end of this year
Too much is an understatement At this rate I'll warp my entire style into Kamachi-lite.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MeisterBabylon
Nice effort. Yes, this is close to what I imagined.
Sooooo a long time ago, I started writing this little story that then ballooned into a not-so-little story. And then life hit me like a truck. I moved out of the country for a new job, got another job, and went back to school. Now, I have a shiny new degree on the wall, a little more free time, and you get a new chapter.
“Kyaahh! This isn’t what it looks like! Okay, it might be it, but it isn’t as bad as you think!”
Fate blinked rapidly, trying to understand the sight in front of her. And she’s pretty sure that she was gasping.
Then again, if one were to see an embarrassed Carim Gracia, Director of the Saint Church in her brother’s apartment, dressed only in a white shirt – which she’s certain that belonged to her brother, they would probably have the same reaction.
Slowly, she turned to her brother. Chrono had dropped his head into one hand, sighing loudly. She could’ve sworn he was cursing.
“Chrono…” Fate asked slowly, not quite sure what she just saw was real. “Would you mind explaining to me why is she dressed like that?”
***10 minutes later***
“So you’ve been seeing each other in secret for a few months now?” Fate asked, a bit skeptical.
“Yes.” It was Chrono who replied. Strangely, he was calmly sipping his coffee, as if Fate’s discovery hasn’t disturbed him in the slightest. Then again, he rarely lost composure, so it wasn’t that shocking.
Carim has gone to take a shower, and to change into something more presentable. Privately, Fate thinks that the other blond looks too comfortable wearing that shirt.
The Enforce frowned. Why haven’t they said anything though?
“She’s not ready.” Chrono said quietly. Apparently, Fate had said her thoughts out loud. “She’s afraid of taking things too far”
“And you’ll wait for her.” It wasn’t a question.
“As long as it takes. Besides” Chrono turns away “The press are going to have a field day with this if they find out.”
Fate sighed. She can’t fault them for not telling.
“Does anyone know about this?”
“No. But I think the ferret do.” The Admiral looks annoyed at that.
“Yuuno?” Fate blinked. “How?”
“Don’t ask me. I just have a hunch that he knows.”
It was then that Carim re-enters the room. She was dressed in her usual uniform, thought it look somewhat wrinkled.
“How are you feeling?” If she wasn’t Chrono’s sister, she would have missed the tenderness in his voice.
“Better” The other woman smiled, sitting down next to him. “Did you explain things to Fate?”
“Of course I did” Chrono rolled his eyes. “What did you think we were doing? Drinking?”
“You don’t have to be so sarcastic.” Carim muttered, before turning to Fate. “And I’m really sorry for not telling you, or anyone for that matter. It’s just…”
“Don’t worry about it.” Fate smiled reassuringly “I understand. Take your time. I’m sure the others will be fine with it.”
Considering the situation, Chrono thought everyone’s responses were not as bad as he expected.
Nanoha dropped Raising Heart’s staff form, while Fate looked like she was going to cry. Arf was visibly saddened, and Yuuno was just shocked silent. The Wolkenritter were like the ferret, speechless, and Hayate looked simply numb. Reinforce as well, standing behind Hayate, frowned mightily at the news, wordlessly accepting the smaller Kansai girl into her embrace.
They had all gotten close these last three months. Fate and Nanoha saw their counterparts as close friends, or even as sisters. Hayate and Diana butted heads frequently, but they never went beyond verbal jabs and backhanded compliments (even if 99% of them came from Diana, much to Vita’s chagrin). They all got along, really, and Yuuno and Arf had helped greatly in teaching them how to live on Earth.
Again, Chrono had to convince himself that their reactions were better than expected. There were no outcries, no angry denials; the quiet acceptance was peaceful, if a bit scary.
He never wanted to see them like that ever again.
Their silence belied their despair. While Shana, Lilia, and Diana still lived, they were still lost to them. And Chrono still had the unfortunate job of informing Kevin of their condition. That brought about a grimace. He was not looking forward to it.
And they still had the second Florian sister to capture and Unbreakable Darkness to defeat.
The Bureau mage pondered if he should take up drinking.
====
Yuuno had to admit, the battle was... spectacular. Together with the youngest yet most powerful mages he had ever known, they had defeated an entity that an entire civilization had cowered from. To sum it up in words... he feared he would do it injustice. All that mattered was that they stood victorious over that terrible energy.
Everyone’s strength, all together, shattered the chains that bound the girl once known as the Unbreakable Darkness. That girl, Yuri Evelvine, now stood among them as a friend.
There had been discussions over what to do with the newly released Yuri, the Florian sisters, and the still amnesiac Materials. To his, and everyone else’s dismay, the winning thought was for them to travel to Amita and Kyrie’s homeworld, as Earth and the Bureau was too... unaccommodating.
This brought a stronger outcry than any of them expected, making even Diana--or should he call her Dearch?--take a step back. Poor Yuri dove behind the Hayate clone, cowering. From his standpoint, she seemed to be little more than a lost and terrified child, a far cry from the nigh-apocalyptic otherworldly entity that nearly crushed them all.
No, it would be in bad taste to continue to think of her like that, a former something. She was--is--Yuri Evelvine. That’s all that mattered now.
But what to do with her and the others? More than one heart would be broken if they were to return to the Florian sisters’ homeworld. They thought this place to be unwelcoming... then, perhaps they would need someone to welcome them instead? Perhaps then, they would be more willing to stay.
“Um... if I may?” Yuuno interrupted the discussion, turning all attention on him. “There’s one other we’re forgetting here. He has as much a stake in this as the rest of us...”
“Hmm? Who could that be?” Kyrie asked, a finger on her chin. “Was it someone we met?”
“I don’t believe so. Before this incident, Diana, Lilia, and Shana---that is, those three,” he gestured to the Materials. “They were under the care of a civilian friend of ours. It would be cruel to leave him out.”
Nanoha’s eyes widened as she remembered, as did Fate and Hayate. They looked to each other, then to Chrono, whom was pressing a finger to his forehead. Right. Right. This needed to happen.
“Okay. I will handle this then. If you please, ladies, I will be getting the last member of this discussion. The others can fill you in on what’s happening.
====
Yeah. Maybe he should take up drinking. He’d be too busy choking on liquor than worrying about the fallout of this Unbreakable Dark incident. Alas, he was not old enough to buy it himself, and what drinks he did have, he didn’t like.
As such, a very much sober Chrono Harlaown returned to Earth and knocked on Kevin’s front door. A silly thing, considering he could have teleported straight into the living room or called ahead, but some things demanded he be a little more graceful. The door opened quickly, revealing a somewhat unkempt Kevin.
“Chrono,” the cook greeted with a nod. “Forgive me, but seeing you here doesn’t exactly fill me with good feelings. I’m guessing what news you have for me won’t be good.”
Damn him. This wasn’t making Chrono’s job easier.
“I’m afraid so. I need you to come with me, but before that, I should explain what happened to your daughters.”
“I see. Come in then. You can transport us from the living room, right?” Kevin moved aside to let the boy in.
“Yes...” Chrono nodded. He followed the older man to the living room, hiding a grimace at Kevin’s hurried pace. He was worried, alright, as much as he tried to hide it.
“So. What happened to them?”
Harlaown wished he had someone else here to help him explain, like the ferret boy or even Nanoha. This would make explaining things to Kevin a lot easier. But, explain he did, hiding nothing as he recounted the events of the night: the Florian sisters and their reason to being here; the return of dark fragments, incomplete copies of friends; the strangers from another time, lost in the present; the rise and fall of the Unbreakable Darkness, a cataclysmic power that nearly destroyed them all but stopped in the nick of time; and the three sisters, once friends, but now their original selves and without a single memory of these past months.
Chrono didn’t know how Kevin would react. Would he cry out in anger? Or fall to his knees in sorrow? Instead, Kevin merely blinked.
“I see. That’s... very unfortunate,” he grimaced.
At first, the younger boy thought Kevin was taking it surprisingly well, it not abnormally so. But then he could see the hurt in the man’s eyes, the pain barely hidden by his calm expression. Were it not for the closed fist by the man’s side, Chrono would have thought Kevin to be stone. The news was hard on everyone, but it was even worse for the man that had tried to raise three girls these past months. They had bonded closely, and to be torn apart so easily...
“They are not hurt, right?”
“Nothing a bit of healing magic couldn’t fix. They’re all fine now.”
“That’s good,” Kevin nodded absently. “That’s good.”
He slipped into silence, his eyes closed as he stood there, motionless. Chrono would give him a few minutes before speaking up again.
“Kevin.”
“May I see them? They’re not confined, are they?”
“N-No, of course not. Rather, we felt it best if you were involved in the discussions. You see, the Florian sisters wish to go back to their original time, and the Materials are going with them.”
“So they’re leaving too, huh,” Kevin spoke softly, mostly to himself. He let out a slow, tired breath, his shoulders slumping slightly as he nodded. “Okay. Let’s go see them, then. I can at least say goodbye.”
“Of course...”
===
Ugh. No matter how many times he did it, he would never get used to teleportation. Kevin’s legs felt weak as he and Chrono rematerialized on a Bureau ship, the older man almost dropping to a kneel.
“Still got teleportation sickness?” the boy looked at him.
Kevin nodded as he shook the dizziness out of his head, “Every time.”
“My sympathies.” Everyone suffered with it at least once. The less magically-inclined were more susceptable.
“Let’s get going then.”
“Of course.”
Not two steps off the transporter platform were they greeted by a woman with light green hair.”
“Enforcer Harlaown, Mister Kevin, welcome back to the Arthra. I hope you had a safe trip,” she greeted with a smile, receiving twin salutes in reply.
“Thank you for having me aboard, Admiral Harlaown. I regret to report that teleportation sickness still affects me,” Kevin spoke.
Lindy frowned slightly and asked, “That is unfortunate. Would you like to rest or a drink?”
Kevin shook his head. “That won’t be necessary, but thank you. I would rather get to everyone else.”
“Of course. Chrono here will show you the way.”
“Thank you, Admiral.”
“Let’s talk later,” she waved as they left.
Spotless white walls, just as they always are. Was the meeting room really this far away? Or did it just feel like that? With every step, Kevin felt things himself get more and more anxious. He hadn’t felt this way since getting caught up with unsavory people in a Brazilian favela. Soon enough, they reached the meeting room’s entrance. Waiting for them outside was Yuuno, looking somewhat confused.
“Scrya? What’s going on? Did something happen while I was out?” Chrono asked, jarring the blond boy out of deep thoughts.
“Oh, Chrono! And Kevin, good to see you,” Yuuno nodded in greeting. “And yes, actually. After you left, the Florian sisters decided to send back those teens and two kids. Since they’re displaced out of time, we figured getting them back home as soon as possible was the best choice.”
Chrono looked somewhat annoyed by the new information, but he couldn’t feel too bothered by it. They were just sent home, so nothing outright bad. “There’s more to this, I suspect.”
Yuuno nodded once. “Yes. When the sisters prepared the time travel magic again, Kyrie found she couldn’t do it.”
“Wait, what? You’re saying she can’t cast the time travel spell again?”
“Correct. And none of them understand why.”
“You’re telling me it just doesn’t work anymore. She cast it once to send those kids back, and then she found she can’t cast it again?”
“Pretty much.”
“That doesn’t make sense!”
“Deus ex machina...” Kevin muttered to himself before looking at Yuuno. ”So now they’re stuck here?”
“For now, it seems. At least, until we can figure out why they can’t activate the magic circuit again,” Yuuno replied. “I’ll have to do some research into their particular type of magic, as well as the spell itself, but as it stands, they’re staying here.”
Chrono blinked. This was... well, he wasn’t sure if he should call it good or bad news. Either way, they’d have to talk to them.
“Well, let’s not keep them waiting then.”
As Kevin stepped into the room, he could feel the grim mood among the gathered. Near the center of the table were two older girls, one with red hair and the other with pink. They seemed the most dejected, sad faces that looked ready to burst into tears at a moment’s notice. Next to them, his adopted daughters. Well, maybe that was incorrect. They no longer saw him as their adopted father, just as they did not see Nanoha and others as friends. And then there was a blonde child, looking as if she were the guiltiest of them all. Everyone looked up as they entered. Kevin had hoped to see at least a flicker of recognition in Shana, Diana, and Lilia, but...
“Hello again, everyone,” Chrono broke the silence. “Allow me to introduce Kevin. He is the person we had mentioned, as well as man in charge of caring for and raising you three.” He looked to the Materials. “In short, he is your adopted father.”
Stern looked curious, tilting her head as she observed the man, “He is... our father?”
“Lies! How can this peasant be Our father? We were created from a grimoire!” Dearch spat, not even deigning to grace him with a look.
Levi was uncharacteristically quiet, opting to stare at the taller man.
“Before this whole incident, you were under his care for several months. You were happy together.”
“And we’re friends!” Nanoha spoke up. “You go to school with us, eat lunch with us, and even help out at my parents’ restaurant! We even come over for dinner some days...!”
Dearche scowled, but she was cut off from saying anything by Stern. “What you tell us, we are not even sure they are true. I do not see any reason for you to lie, but if what you say is true then...”
Stern looked to Kevin, “Perhaps we lost something precious.”
Chrono coughed politely, “I am sorry to interrupt, but I should introduce Kevin to the others. Kevin, you know these girls: Stern, Levi, and Her Majesty, Dearch.”
Stern curtsied in greeting, while Dearch spared Kevin a look. Levi stared on still.
“The two at the table are Kyrie and Amitie Florian. They come from a distant place and a different time, though from what I heard...” Chrono shook his head. He didn’t need to go further. The sisters looked up and smiled sadly in greeting. No one could blame them.
“And the little one is Yuri Evelvine, formerly U-D, the Unbreakable Darkness. She’s no longer any threat to us, so please do not think of her as the enemy.”
Kevin regarded the smaller girl before speaking up for the first time, “Is she the one responsible for the memory loss?”
She flinched. That was enough.
“I see.” Kevin looked to the Materials. They still didn’t seem like they recognized him. “Lilia. Diana. Shana. Do you really not remember me? I’ve been taking care of you three for a while now, you know? There’s an apartment we all live in, on the nineteenth floor. You share a room with each other, and I’m just down the hall. Mornings are hectic, and dinner’s crazy, but we all get along.
“Last week, we went to the local zoo. Diana wanted to see the lions, while Lilia wanted to go to the Reptile exhibit. And Shana... Shana loved the elephants. Do you remember?
“And just the other day, everyone helped me make pizzas for dinner. Nanoha made hers a dessert pizza, while Fate had no idea what to do! It was so messy, heh.”
For their parts, Nanoha smiled at the memory, while Fate blushed.
“Hayate wanted to make an extra large pizza to feed everyone, with sections that had Signum, Shamal, Vita, and Zafira’s favorite toppings. It could barely fit in my oven.”
Hayate chuckled at that.
“Shana made a perfect pizza margharita, while Lilia couldn’t stop throwing all the meat on top of hers. And Diana? She wanted gold on hers, even as it caught on fire. It was like a small mountain of toppings than an actual pizza, calling it the rightful bounty of a king. There was flour and cheese everywhere, and I’m still cleaning up tomato sauce stains off the ceiling!
“And the boys. Those poor boys. We forced Chrono and Yuuno to be the taste testers. Never before had they eaten so much pizza before! But they were troopers, eating every bit we gave them. And it was all pretty good! Remember that?” Said boys sure as heck did. Never again.
The resulting silence was terrifying.
“Please don’t say you forgot everything. It’s only been a short time, but we’ve done so much already. You remember some of it, right?”
The three looked at each other, but they shook their heads, almost regretfully. Stern bowed in apology, “I am sorry, we have no recollections of these events.”
Kevin bowed his head sadly and sighed, his shoulders slumping completely. Lost. Lost. All of it lost... He felt so exhausted. Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate, they seemed ready to start crying. Looking back up, he regarded the small girl that seemed to be at the core of it all. He walked over to Yuri.
“Kevin...” Chrono had a warning tone.
“I won’t do anything. I just need to...” he trailed off, his throat painfully tight and dry. He came to a stop in front of Yuri, gazing down at the tiny girl.
Yuri looked up at the towering man with wide, frightened eyes, the top of her head barely passing his waist. Every part of her wanted to scramble away and hide behind something, to get away from this scary person. But she also knew that, in reabsorbing the Materials, she had caused this man great pain. So, she would not run away, even if she was scared. Yet, as Yuri studied the man in front of her, she saw less of a frightening stranger and more of a concerned man. He looked so...
“You are sad,” Yuri spoke, inwardly proud that her voice did not shake. To her surprise, Kevin knelt down to her level. Even while kneeling, he was still a little taller than her.
“I am... sad, yes. I am sad that they don’t remember me, or anything we did. I just lost the past several months with them, and I can never get that back.”
“I know. It’s my fault they are that way...”
“But, it’s okay. They are alive and well.”
“But they forgot you! They forgot everything you did together! And it’s all my fault!” Despite herself, tears welled up.
“And are you sorry?”
“Yes! I’m so sorry I took their memories of you away! I-I...!” Her voice nearly cracked, hysteria threatening to break her. A warm hand patted her on the head, gently brushing down a few stray strands.
“Hey now. You don’t have to cry,” Kevin said soothingly. “You apologized, and that’s all that matters. I’m sure you didn’t mean to take their memories away.”
“But...!”
“Shh. It’s alright,” the cook smiled at Yuri. “All this means is that I have to start over from the beginning. I’ll miss the times we had, but they’re still healthy and strong. That means we can try again, if they want. So, don’t cry now, okay?”
Yuri nodded, sniffling. Argh. Now he wanted to cry too.
“Good girl.”
With a final pat, Kevin stood, taking a deep, shuddering breath before asking, “What now?”
“I suppose it depends on them,” Chrono shrugged, looking at the gathered lost; Amitie and Kyrie Florian, without a way to go home; Yuri Evelvine, without a place to call home; and the Materials, without a memory of their home. It was all so pitiful. “They’ve nowhere to go.”
“So let them come with me,” Kevin said, as if it were the most obvious and natural answer. That got everyone’s head swiveling to stare at him. “What? I’ve got an apartment with an empty room, three beds, and way too many clothes. The sisters can sleep in the master bedroom, and Yuri can go with them or in the other room. I’ll take the couch.”
Again, a simultaneous blink.
“You must all think I’m crazy.”
“You... you don’t hate us?” Kyrie spoke up for the first time since Kevin’s arrival. All the others had some way to fight for what they wanted, but this man? He was a simple victim, a poor soul that got caught up in all this, and now he had suffered great loss. It shamed her to see him, but it also amazed her to see him still standing tall.
“Why would I hate you?” he looked at her. “I’m upset, yes, but it’s not like you did this to purposefully cause harm to me. This was all just an unfortunate accident. I figure it’d be a waste to just wallow in depression. Just get up and try to fix things as best as you can.”
“But--”
“Hey. I’m giving you a place to stay until we can figure out what’s going on. Three meals a day, a warm place to sleep, and I’ve got enough spare cash to do a bit of shopping. I doubt you’ll find a better solution with the Bureau. No offense, Chrono.”
“None taken.”
The sisters looked unsure at the moment, before Amitie looked over to Chrono. “Is he telling the truth?”
The boy shrugged in response. “S’true. The Materials have been under Kevin’s care for a while, and the Bureau watches over them. I’ve never known him to be anything but a fine caretaker. If you choose the Bureau, I’m afraid there’s only some empty four-walled rooms in a military base I can get in short notice, and I can’t guarantee that all of you will be together Plus, the food stinks.”
“And Yuri?”
“I said she’s coming too. She can share a bed with you, or bunk in the other rooms. Couch is mine,” Kevin crossed his arms. “You’re all going to stay together. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Then...” Kyrie looked to her sister, then to the rest of her motley group. Each of them nodded. This could work. “We accept your offer, mister Kevin.”
“Wonderful,” Kevin smiled. He stepped over to the three Materials, each of them looking up to him with wary eyes. He knelt down again.
“So, let me start from the beginning again,” he sighed, but he smiled at the three. “I’m happy to meet you, Dearche, Stern, and Levi. My name is Kevin, and I will be your new guardian. I might not be rich or powerful, but I can promise you that I will not leave you. I will do everything in my power to keep the three of you together, to make sure none of you are ever lonely again. I will do my best to give you the best quality of life possible, and, if you’ll let me, we can be a family. You are not alone, not anymore, and never again.” There was an odd sense of deja vu.
There was a moment of worrisome silence, before Stern finally spoke up.
“There is something I must admit,” Stern said, her sea-blue eyes meeting with Kevin’s brown. “You... are not unfamiliar. I do not know why, but I feel like I should know you. That you are someone I can trust. Is that why you called me Shana?”
“Yes. I gave you the name Shana the first time we met.”
“Levi, you named Lilia. And Her Majesty, you called her Diana.”
“Yes. At time, you were only called Material-S, L, and D. I felt those names were too artificial. So, I gave you real names.”
“Shana.” she tested it out. Stern smiled. “I like that name.”
“I suppose I could accept the name Diana,” Deache frowned, but without any true displeasure. “You had better be an able servant!”
Levi had the simplest response, walking up to Kevin and hugging him around the waist, “You smell good! I like you!”
“Really? Just like that?” Diana questioned with a flat look. “Of course you’d be the simplest.”
“I just have this gut feeling, ya know? Like I’ve always known him! Plus, he smells like the best curry ever. Were you making curry?”
“Yesterday.”
“Booya! Can we have curry? With eggs? And chicken?”
“I think I can manage that.”
“Aww yeah!” Lilia pumped a fist. “I know how to pick ‘em!”
“You’ve always been the instinctual type,” Kevin chuckled, patting Lilia on the head. “Good girl.”
“Eh heh~”
The cook turned to the sisters next, despite still being captured by an exuberant Lilia. Even as she sang a little diddy about curry, Kevin greeted the two time travelers. “Kyrie, Amitie, I would like to welcome you to my home. It isn’t much, but it’s comfortable.”
Before Kyrie could say anything, however, Amitie cut in with a stern look of her own. “Just so you know, we cannot bring ourselves to call you ‘father.’ There is another man who holds that honor, and we refuse to change that.”
Kevin shrugged. “Good. You shouldn’t see me as a surrogate or as a replacement. It would be best to keep your real father in mind. Just think of me as... I don’t know, an uncle, maybe?”
Kyrie and Amitie smiled in relief. That was a concern they didn’t have to worry about anymore. “I think we can handle that. Just don’t go lusting after your newfound nieces~!” Kyrie winked coyly.
As Kevin arched a brow, the others felt a sense of relief. A worried and anxious Kyrie did not seem to match the girl’s personality at all. A gentle tug on the cook’s shirt brought his attention downwards, to the tiny blonde girl Yuri.
“Um...” Yuri started, gazing up at Kevin with large, deep, soulful eyes. “Should... Should I call you... Papa?”
The concentrated adorableness oozing from the girl threatened to take down almost everyone in the room.
“Well...” Kevin started.
“You can’t!” A sudden shout interrupted all talk in the room, pulling everyone’s attention to the shout’s source: Diana. With all the inquisitive looks, the smaller girl started to glow a healthy shade of red, reaching all the way to her ears. “Erm...W-we mean...”
“Ahem,” Diana coughed into her fist, trying in vain to fight down the raging blush. “T-that is, you shouldn’t be calling Our newfound fath--- subject that just yet. He’s not earned the right to any titles, for now. Know your place, Evelvine.”
“Y-yes, your majesty...”
“Well! This is wonderful news!” a newly arrived Lindy smiled and clapped her hands together. She had heard everything. “Hmm. If we’re going to make this work, we’ll need to expand your living quarters. Time to call those contractors again.”
Chrono nodded in approval, “I’ll see if I can allocate a larger monthly stipend for them.”
“Then, let’s get to work!”
====
Spoiler for This might or might not have happened.:
TWO WEEKS LATER
Kevin stared at the quaint little home that would be his newly expanded family’s temporary housing until the renovations on the apartment were complete. It would be at least a three month wait, but at least this house had just enough room to fit them all. For a two-story house that had a small front yard, a backyard, a security gate, and even an open porch, the rent was ridiculously cheap. Suspiciously so. The cook would’ve thought about it more had he been the one responsible for paying. But, he wasn’t -- the Bureau was covering that, thankfully.
It took a day to get everything moved in and everyone settled. He would take the master bedroom, while Shana, Lilia, Diana, and Yuri share the second largest. Amitie and Kyrie would share the last bedroom and a bathroom with the previous four. A little cramped, yes, but they were seven people trying to live in a single-family home. There was a weird croaking sound, sometimes, but it was probably the house’s age.
And so, a week passed. Despite the memory difficulties, the girls returned to school -- Yuri was to be a new transfer. The Florian sisters took to finding part time jobs to help pay for the increased expenses. Kevin spent a full week off to help facilitate moving and adjusting to the family’s new surroundings, and was now returning home from the market.
What strange gossip he had heard. Apparently, the entire house was haunted by a terrible spirit. Anyone that tried to move in either moved out at the end of the week or met with a terrible fate. The latter part disturbed him. Ghost stories, no matter how spooky, shouldn’t be involving terrible things happening to people. He would have to look further into that...
At the house’s threshold, he found the house empty and dark. Hmm. Certainly a spooky feel, with the age of the house and the dark corners everywhere. Despite there still being sunlight out, it strangely did not penetrate deep.
Just as Kevin slipped off his loafers, he felt a chill pass by, as if someone were staring at him. A quiet creaking noise upstairs startled him, causing him to drop his groceries. Kevin swore he could hear footsteps above.
There was that damn croaking sound again; a cold feeling washed over his body, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water right over him. A thump upstairs caused him to look at the second floor’s landing. At first, there was nothing. Then, a bloodied hand slinked out from around the corner. Inch by inch, it revealed itself. A black-haired woman, as pale as death, her white cloths stained with fresh red and her limbs and neck twisted unnaturally. Her head snapped up, staring at Kevin with an empty, yet hateful stare. From its gaping mouth, that croaking gargle.
Like some demonic cat on the prowl, it crawled down each step with careful, graceless horror. Kevin, for his part, was frozen stock still, his mind a blank as he attempted to understand just what the hell he was seeing. A tiny voice in the back of his head, muted by terror, whispered that he shouldn’t be so surprised, considering what his friends and daughters could do. Instead, Kevin found breathing difficult and movement impossible. He was just too damn horrified at what he was seeing.
The creature flopped clumsily onto the landing, its neck cracking as its head strained to look up at him. It hissed that croaking noise, as its body seemed to straighten up to standing bone by bone. It reached out to his face.
Ahh. He remembered now. Onryou. A vengeful ghost. Having died amidst great rage and intense wrath, those negative feelings manifested to seek out and kill others.
Kill others. This ghost wanted to kill him. It wanted to kill his daughters. They were all going to die.
Hah. Haha.
Something snapped within him.
What impudence.
Her hand was inches from his face, pale white, bony, and crooked. It reached out for him, to crush his eyes; to tear out his tongue; to choke him on his own blood. She reached out to kill him.
Suddenly, it found itself sprawling to the ground, its head snapped back from a powerful strike. Kevin pulled his fist back to his side, glaring at the fallen spirit.
“If this is supposed to be some kind of tasteless joke, then you’ve picked the worst time to be doing it. I never thought I could be this angry before.”
The onryou croaked in response, raising her hand up to grab at Kevin’s face. Her arm was wrenched aside by a grip like steel.
“I don’t think I have ever hated anything as much as you right now.”
A onryou’s purpose is to act upon it’s insatiable grudge against the living, to seek out and kill others out of vengeance. What would happen, though, if it met something of even greater hate and fury?
Kevin’s blood boiled as he struggled to keep it all contained. His mind was burning white hot, almost blinding in its utter contempt and indignation for the monster. Every muscle was taut, almost trembling with restrained hate. It took all his self-control to push back this strange berserk rage. Explode. He just wanted to explode.
“I don’t give a damn what your story is. You have no right to threaten any of us. We will not be victims again.”
He threw her with more force than he expected, sending the ghost sprawling again. However, instead of attacking a second time, it scrambled onto its back and backpedaled into a corner.
“They will not be taken away from me by something like you. I refuse to let that happen a second time.”
Kevin took a single step forward. It flinched.
“Get out.”
Dead, black eyes stared into brown. Though the man’s face was one of stone, his eyes burned with a rage greater than anything he had ever felt. It shrank back against his glare, curling into a ball in futile effort.
“Get out!” he hissed, looming over the onryou like an Enma judging the guilty. “Get out, and never bother us again.”
The others would comment later that the house seemed a little brighter. Kevin just shrugged and said he got rid of some extra trash.
2012-08-19, 02:37
Author
At this rate I'll warp my entire style into Kamachi-lite. 
