Going Through Changes

Understanding

Khione pulled out her phone and looked at the time, it had only been one hour since she had gotten 'home' and was sitting in the small house made for her. Her house was in her new family's old office. She didn't like the feeling of being in a tiny house as big as a dollhouse; the thought itself was just patronizing. Khione flopped onto her new bed, the comforter surrounding her like a friendly cloud. That was it, she realized all she needed was a nap and things would be better...maybe she just wouldn't wake up at all...

Her plans of dying by asphyxiation with a large comforter were very much rudely interrupted as Kane's stupid voice came in the office calling her name. "KHIONNNNE!! DINNER!"

"I just wanna sleep..."

"Comeeee on Khione! We're all hungry and waiting on you!"

"Just eat without me!" She yelled but still muffled a little bit by her pillow.

"Not gonna happen. Get up silly!" Kane pulled off the roof of the house as he spoke, "You wanna miss out on dinner to sit on your phone?"

"Basically--AH no. No grabbing. I can get out of my house just fine." Khione spat as she saw Kane's hand twitching near her.

"I wasn't even going to-"

"Just leave me alone, okay? If my mom gets mad, then I'll deal with it. I'm not your problem!"

"Would you just come out?" Kane stared down, unfazed by Khione's attempt to get him to leave. She wasn't normally like this, but she couldn't handle all of the frustration and stress that had built up over the past couple of days.

"Fine. But I'm not going downstairs. I just want to be alone!" Khione made her way out onto the dark wood desk and stared up at Kane's face. Suddenly he seemed mad, and Khione couldn't help but feel a little nervous with his towering form looming over her tiny body. She realized that all he would have to do is accidentally lose his temper and knock her off the table, killing her. She was completely helpless and at his mercy. She hated it.

Kane's Pov-

Kane glowered down at Khione, feeling fed up with her stand-offish attitude. "You don't talk much, and when you do, you say something rude. I don't get it. I've tried to be nice and welcoming but all I've gotten in return are cold retorts!" His hands shot up in a frustrated attempt to release some of his anger.

He didn't realize how loud he had been until he looked down at her. Khione's good posture seemed to have disappeared, and instead, something close to cowering was in its place. "I just...this is a big change," she said fiddling with the sweater loosely clinging to her thin frame—her confidence completely vanished by now.

Guilt replaced all of his anger. He tried to imagine his life being completely turned upside down because his dad wanted to marry someone new. To be fair, Kane's life had changed too but not to the same extent as Khione's. He contemplated what his reaction would be like, but couldn't fathom what it would be...because he simply just didn't know. But he imagined that it would be something similar to Khione's, if not worse.

"Geez... ah, sorry Khione... I lost my patience for a minute and that wasn't cool." The small girl looked up at him with a confused expression, waiting for him to return to the fuming boy from before. "I didn't mean to scare you."

She still only stared at him, shocked. "I'm sorry too." She hugged herself a little tighter. "When I get stressed, I get snippy or angry, and it just hurts the people around me... it doesn't actually solve anything—obviously."

Kane listened to Khione as her soft voice remained timid, cautiously making sure that Kane wouldn't snap again. "What can I do to make the situation less stressful for you?"

"Uh... I just need a bit more space, I guess. I just need time to process everything right now." Kane's heart sank a bit. He really thought that he would instantly click with his new step-sister, considering that he clicked with almost everyone he'd ever met, but of course, Khione was different, and he needed to respect that.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll bring you dinner up here and we can talk later?" Khione seemed to smile at his suggestion, making him smile back at her.

Khione's POV

Kane had left thirty minutes ago, leaving Khione to watch a movie and eat her salad by herself. She was thankful that Kane was being so understanding, considering things could have ended very differently.

Sliding her dishes into the mini dishwasher, Khione cleaned up and went to her room to get ready for bed. She was tired thanks to her long day, being tiny was exhausting. She slipped into the shower, letting her thoughts consume her. She was terrified about going to school; she knew that it was only going to get more intense after today. Soon she would be surrounded by giants and not all ones who wanted to be around her. The thought of being accidentally stepped on crossed her mind more than she would like to admit.

After her shower, she threw on her oversized t-shirt and pajama shorts, finishing getting ready for bed by braid her hair back to avoid it getting tangled while she slept.

"Khione?" A timid Kane called out, seeming nervous that he would scare her again. "You wanna watch a movie? You don't have to if you're not feeling up for it."

"Yeah, that sounds okay. What movie?" Khione stepped out of her house after sliding on her white fluffy slippers; she was feeling much more relaxed after her shower and alone time.

"Well someone looks cozy," Kane smiled, seeing Khione more relaxed as well. "We were gonna watch Hercules unless you have something else in mind."

"No, Hercules sounds good." Khione smiled up at Kane to make sure he knew that she was truly okay. With that, he put his palm face-up on the desk for her to climb onto. She carefully climbed on, not trying to fall off and go plummeting to her death on the floor.

"Careful Princess," Kane chuckled as he saw her trying extra hard not to lose her balance.

"Shut up, Loser!" She teased back, knowing that the nickname he gave her was already starting to sink in. She held onto his thumb for support as he began moving towards the living room, trying to not focus too much on the ground zooming by below.

"Oh also, I want you to meet my friend Luka tomorrow. I think you might like him." Kane smiled a genuine smile as he saw her flush a little bit at the comment.

"Okay... I guess that's fine." She fiddled with her t-shirt, trying to hide her nervous face, obviously not working though.