The Cloud's Anchor

La Casa Orfana

Hello minna-san! i am SO sorry for the late update. I got caught up in school. Anyways here is the third chapter of A Cloud's Anchor, hope you enjoy!

By the way the picture is not at all relevant to the chapter. It's just sooooooo cute I decided to use it.

Disclaimer: I do not own KHr.......yet ;P kidding......or am I?

Alaude felt his blood boil with the same rage that had led him to join Giotto's little vigilante group. The mafia was like a plague, spreading slowly and killing thousands in its wake. He felt his hostility towards the mafia returning in full force, seeing the children's torn clothes and grim attitude. His eyes travelled back to Stella, who was watching the children with a hint of nostalgia amidst a sea of determination. "Why don't you ask for legal help?" The raven haired girl laughed humourlessly at him and said while still looking away. "We are the children of terrorists, murderers and tyrants. Our parents have committed crimes that most people can't even imagine of committing. Between their wars, thousands of innocent bystanders have been killed. No, Signor Investigatore, they see us as monsters, unworthy of pity or sympathy and rightly so. The sins of our fathers are to be carried by us." The last part was whispered softly as if she was quoting something.

The blond was about to respond when a figure came crashing into him. It was a girl of about ten with choppy and uneven light brown hair. She was tightly clutching a doll which had one eye missing and had a tear in its leg. She looked up at the skylark and her pale green eyes widened. Then she smiled widely, showing a missing tooth and said, "Signor! Come play with me!" startled the Cloud Guardian could only stare while the little girl pulled him along and introduce him to some of the others. Within minutes he was playing tag with the kids, who were all happy to play with a stranger. When he came across Stella he shot a glare at her telling her to get him out of this mess. The brown-eyed girl simply looked on in amusement and loudly announced that this very pale gentleman had come especially to spend the day with them and they should not hesitate in asking him anything. The aforementioned pale gentleman shot her a look which could have frozen a volcano and only got a small wave in return.

So, for the next few hours, Alaude was surrounded by kids asking him to play with them. They seemed to have noticed that he didn't like crowding so they approached him few at a time. Although he was grateful for this, it meant that he had more groups to attend to and that gratefulness dissipated quickly. Stella occasionally joined in a game, but mostly she watched from the side-lines.

When dinner time began to approach, Alaude said his goodbyes to the disappointment of the inmates and was escorted outside the building by Stella. "By the way, I'll be coming back tomorrow, with food and other supplies, of course." The raven haired girl looked at him sharply. "You are under no obligation to do that." The blond smirked. "Maybe, but I'm doing it anyways. Our family simply does not overlook anything like this." The young orphan hung her head at this, ashamed for asking a stranger to look after her and hers.

Just then, she felt something warm and soft around her shoulder. She looked up to see that the handsome stranger had draped the coat he had been wearing around her shoulders. Underneath he wore a simple grey-purple shirt with a black tie. The shirt's colour set off the blue colour of his eyes and the dark shades drew attention to his lemon-coloured hair. At that moment, Stella realized that the man she had spent the whole afternoon with was in fact, very good-looking. He had a pale complexion which suited him quite well. He had high cheekbones and an angular face. His gaze seemed to pierce your soul but there was kindness in them. A blush crept onto her face as she realized she was staring and moreover, the skylark was staring back.

She met his questioning look with a shy one and the Cloud Guardian chuckled at her suddenly timid behaviour. 'Really, this girl is too interesting.' He thought and turned to walk away. Suddenly a devious idea worthy of Daemon Spade crossed his mind. He turned back and stepped closer to the girl, invading her personal bubble. He leaned into her and saw that she was blushing delectably. Putting his mouth close to her ear he whispered. "À bientôt, jolie fille" And went on his way.

Stella stood there for a minute, shocked, and then blushed even harder than before. She went inside and was greeted by Guilia- the girl who had dragged the Cloud guardian to play. The younger girl eyed the trench coat in amusement and went to stand nonchalantly beside her sister. Offhandedly she started, "Sorella, that man was prestante, wasn't he?" Glancing at her side she was not disappointed when colour rose to the older girl's face. "Yes, he was." Came the quiet reply and the speaker rushed off. Guilia just hummed cheerfully and spent the rest of the night pestering her sister about the coat she wearing.

It was a fun night.

À bientôt, jolie fille = See you soon, pretty girl

Prestante = Handsome

And that's it for today, folks. See you next update!

Ciao.