I'M ALIVE! I hope you guys had a happy holiday and enjoyed your break if you had one; I know I sure did! And Happy New Years! I hope 2017 is the year of happiness cuz 2016 was complete shit (at least for me)! Be sure to read the bottom for more info on updates and general stuff.

Talk is cheap so to the chapter!

Yuki paces back and forth her room, the soles of her feet practically burning holes into the wooden floor. There was no way she was going to do it. There was no way she could do it. The brown haired girl runs her hands through her brown locks, stopping in her tracks for the time being. She stares at the door for a long moment and back at her feet. Alright, Yuki thinks to herself, you can do this...Just walk out that crummy door and just tell him.

One more look at the door and she's already back to pacing.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. She chants in her head over and over again.

Yuki has been pacing in her room for at least a good hour now. She'd never thought telling her brother the truth was this hard. Yuki stifles a groan and refrains from the punching the wall. The last time she did that, she ended up with a little bit more than a bruised hand.

The brunette tugs on the strands of her hair and shuts her eyes tightly. I'm such an idiot! Yuki reprimands herself in her mind. She throws herself onto her bed, rolling onto her back and stares at the crappy off-white paint job, hoping that in some shape or form, it can give her some type of answer.

To her annoyance, it doesn't. And said paint just makes her more frustrated and anxious than necessary.

Yuki takes a deep breath and tries to rationalize her thoughts. Breath in, breath out. In, out, everything's going to be okay. She didn't think it'd be that hard to tell her brother what was really going on. How hard could it be to tell your older brother, the older brother that you've always looked up to and admired, that you were being abused? Yuki swallowed the lump in her throat and choked out a bitter laugh. Oh yeah, this would be a walk in the park.

She considers, for a very brief moment, to just go back to bed and pretend that everything was fine. That she was fine. What a wonderful lie that would be. When she was a child, Yuki had dreamt of having a life fit for a princess, of course, looking back it was nothing short of chaos and now, it was a nightmare.

The fear clings to her as she forces herself off her bed and puts one foot after the other. Yuki purses her lips into a thin line as she slowly makes her way to her brother's room. Her breath catches as she holds her hand up, ready to knock on his door when it suddenly swings opens.

"Hey," her brother blinks up at her, "did you need anything?"

Cloud leans against the doorframe casually and crosses his arms. Yuki blushes and lowers her gaze, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. Technically, she went in with a plan, albeit definitely not a good plan, but it was a plan! Said plan involved her actually talking to her brother, but once he was in her view, all the words seemed to die on her lips.

"Why don't we go to the kitchen?" he suggested after a few moments of pregnant silence. "I can whip us up a midnight snack, and you can tell me, well, whatever you need to tell me."

Yuki swallows the nervous lump in her throat and nods slowly. Yeah, food sounds good. You can't face your every living fear on a empty stomach. Yuki gnaws on her lower lip in thought as she trails alongside her brother to their kitchen. She wishes she hadn't told Hana to let her handle telling Cloud now, but the guilt would kill her if she had her own little sister do the dirty work.

She frowns as she watches her brother pop in the leftovers from yesterday into the microwave, drumming her fingers along the table in agitation. This talk would definitely be a lot easier if there wasn't a huge gaping silence between them. Cloud grabs the heated taquitos and sets it in the middle of the table.

"So," he starts off, biting into the cheesy morsel. "What's up?" His gaze is nothing short of genuine curiosity and affection, a look that only her brother could pull off. His affectionate gaze does nothing to calm her tense nerves however.

There had to be an easier way to tell her brother, but she already managed to get this far. Yuki shook her head. She wasn't getting anywhere going around in circles.

"So you know how it's generally a known fact that the…" Yuki signed, pausing a moment to think of the proper word to describe her stepfather without using an expletive. She looked up in thought before settling her eyes on something other than her brother's face. "The thing we have to call a stepfather goes out to drink pretty much every other night, right?"

Cloud nods his head in recognition. "Yeah, what about it?" He pauses mid-bite and adds, "Don't tell me asshat over here used up all the money I gave him for this month, or I will personally shove my foot up-"

"It's not that!" She signs quickly, not sure whether to facepalm ironically at his misplaced anger.

"Oh," he blinks, slumping back down into his chair. "What is it then?"

She swallows the lump in her throat, wiping her palms on her pants. Now, or never she thinks to herself, inwardly wincing once she notices her hands are shaking. "Sometimes...sometimes he comes back really drunk and he… he hits us."

That seems to finally catch his attention. Cloud stares wide-eyed at her, and the color seems to drain from his face. He swallows noticeably and nods at her to keep going.

Her hands seem to move on their own. "At first, it was just him yelling at us, or he'd slap us, but then it started being closed fists and kicks."

"I tried fighting him off at first, but then if I did he would go after Hana and I didn't want her to get hurt, so I- I just stopped fighting him…" Yuki stops signing and casts a wary look at Cloud, gauging his reaction.

Cloud lets out a harsh, shuddering breath as the sound of his hands slamming down onto to the dining table reverberated across the entire house. Yuki flinched at the sudden movement and stared wide eyed at her older brother as he quickly stood, and walked briskly towards the door.

His lean form shook as he hurriedly put on his coat. The blond haired male cast a pained look at his younger sister. "I-I have to go." he spoke shakily, before slamming the front door behind him.

The silence seemed to envelope her. She stood there for what seemed to be hours, staring at the door in desperation. Yuki wanted to go after her brother, but how could she? The words that she wanted to so desperately to tell him seemed to die on her lips.

Her legs suddenly gave out on her, and she collapsed onto the floor. Part of her wanted to scream out in anger and tear her hair out. She knew this would happen- she knew, and she still went along with it. God, she was such idiot.

Just how naive am I? Yuki mentally berated herself, jaw set and hands balled into fists.

"Alright, you've been glaring at nothingness for like the past 20 minutes," IV states as he slides into the lunch table. "You're scaring the masses."

He gestures to the tables around them cowering in fear. Yuki pays no mind and continues to mope, pushing the food around in her plate sullenly. IV sighs as he rests his cheek onto the palm of his hand before something catches his eye.

Or rather someone. A very pink someone.

IV sports a cheshire grin and waves at his little brother, "Hey Fairy Princess, over here!" he calls out, arms waving like a madman to get his attention.

Mihael feels his cheeks color at the sound of the nickname, lowering his head in embarrassment as he makes his way towards his annoying older brother. "Nii-san, can you please not call me that while we're out in public please?" he pleads, eyes shifting to the other tables silently laughing at pink haired boy's nickname.

"Oh? Then you're fine with me calling you Fairy Princess at home then?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

"No." Mihael stares at his brother with blatant disgust before turning his attention to Yuki. "Is there something wrong Yuki-chan? You look awfully… glum."

Yuki blinks out of her stupor and tries to give an answer to the pinkette, but she just can't find the words. Honestly, if it weren't for Hana, her sweet ball of sunshine, she'd probably never get out of bed today. Or the past week either. She'd much rather stay tucked away under her covers away from people, and definitely away from her brother.

After silently berating herself for the millionth time, Yuki shakes her head. Of course, the two Arclight brothers can't take her simple 'no' for an answer, so they take to burning holes into her head. Yuki bites back the snarl making its way up to her lips and settles to stare right back at them. They'd get the message soon enough.

Or so she thinks.

IV doesn't hesitate to make the situation any more awkward than it already is, his gaze trying to pick her apart like a puzzle. Yuki winces at his gaze, watching his every move as he stares at her, slightly smirking when he catches the small movement.

He grins as he watches her tear away from his visage, squirming a bit in her seat. She sends him the slightest of glares before pulling out her phone. IV gives Mihael a smug look, as if to say, get on my level. Mihael rolls his eyes at his childish older brother, watching him intently before feeling a vibration in his pocket.

Yuki Shiragane 12:34 P.M.

I hate the both of you.

IV Arclight 12:34 P.M.

lol that has to be the best compliment you've ever given me

IV Arclight 12:35 P.M.

consider it my fan service~

Yuki watches the pinkette give her a confused look before typing a reply of his own into the weird group chat he was dragged into.

Mihael Arclight 12:35 P.M.

What are you guys doing?

After a minute of awkward silence, IV leans into his brother's ear, whispering something Yuki can't quite catch, but it doesn't seem like a bad thing as far she can see. Mihael gives a nod- an understanding was made between them, Yuki observes.

Mihael Arclight 12:38 P.M.

Nevermind… What's wrong Yuki-chan?

Oh god not this again. Didn't they just go over this? Her gaze catches IV's as he gives her an acknowledging nod in her direction. It couldn't be so bad, she thinks as she gnaws on the inside of her cheek. Some advice is better than no advice after all.

Yuki Shiragane 12:39 P.M.

My brother and I got into a stupid fight as all… He won't talk to me even though it was over a week ago,

Mihael Arclight 12:29 P.M.

Oh, I see. Brother and I get into fights all the time, I could probably help you! What did the two of you argue about?

Yuki coughs into the back of her hand, lowering her gaze onto the gross assortment of lunch food on her tray. She chooses her words carefully, rolling what she thinks look like grapes around her tray with her fork with a thoughtful look on her face.

Yuki Shiragane 12:39 P.M.

Well say two people are really close, but person B is really overprotective because of something that happened to Person A when they were younger. And then something else happens to Person A and they decide to tell Person B about it, but his reaction was something….

Yuki Shiragane 12:40 P.M.

Something that wasn't calculated, and now Person B doesn't want to bring up the problem anymore.

IV Arclight 12:40 P.M.

maybe person b was really hurt by what person a said? I mean person b is overprotective so maybe they think it's their fault.

Mihael Arclight 12:40 P.M.

IV is right. I think you- I mean, Person A is also a bit at fault too. It seems like they told a pretty big white lie to protect Person B. but in the end both of them ended up getting hurt.

Yuki scanned the message thoughtfully, wondering how to reply. It was true that lied to their brother and it made her sick to her stomach every time she thought about it, but every time she wanted to tell the truth, she'd end up dressing it up even more.

Look where it got her now.

Yuki Shiragane 12:41 P.M.

How should Person A do to fix things with Person B then?

IV Arclight 12:41 P.M.

Is there a way person b can communicate with a?

Given the circumstances, she probably could, but the timing always felt off. Cloud practically lived at work nowadays.

Mihael Arclight 12:41 P.M.

Yeah, it would definitely help. Talking is fine and all, but if you wait too long, then you'll never really find the right time to fix things. The idea isn't just fixing this one problem- you have to look at the big picture. If you just fix the problem at hand, the relationship with Person A might still be strained.

Yuki blinked in surprise. Mostly because she'd never thought of it that way and how mature Mihael was when it came to solving problems, or at least her problems. She had been beating her head over this, and IV and Mihael made it seem so easy.

IV Arclight 12:43 P.M.

And make sure person a doesn't take too long. I have a feeling she's the type to over analyze the small stuff.

Yuki Shiragane 12:45 P.M.

...I'll be sure to let them know. I'm sure Person A will greatly appreciate this advice.

Obviously, this had somehow become a more productive chat than Yuki had initially thought it would become. It wasn't her ideal way to patch things up with her brother, but it was something. The muttering voices around her signaled approval of the chat, filling her with a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Well!" Mihael started, clapping his hands together. "As much as productive talk has this been, what should we do now? We have 20 more minutes of lunch left."

"I have the perfect idea!" IV exclaimed proudly, earning confused looks from the other two occupants of the table. He took a quick chug of milk before slowly eyeing the brunette with a smirk. "We could play a game."

"What kind of game?" Yuki asked, bringing out her sketchpad, if only to humor the blond.

IV nudged his younger brother in the ribs, earning a questioning look from the younger boy. "It's the Let's-Make-Yuki-Let-Us-Go-To-Her-House-Game!" He all but shouted, earning looks from the other tables. Yuki resisted the urge to facepalm. Not this shit again, you asshole.

The blond couldn't let it go. Yuki let him go there once, and now he would never go a day without begging her to let him go back. It wasn't even that nice either if she had to be honest with herself.

"Wait, you've actually been to her house?" Mihael asked, looking at his brother in slight shock. "When did this happen?"

IV ticked off the numbers with his fingers, "Hmm...October maybe…? Yeah, it was October," he chewed on his straw with a thoughtful expression, "it was an experience to say the least."

Mihael pouted, "That's not fair!"

IV rolled his eyes, "Life isn't fair, get over it."

The pinkette frowned, and turned towards Yuki with a look of seriousness on his face. "Yuki-chan, may I-" he started, turning around to glare at IV before facing her again, "-have the privilege of going to your house at some point?"

Yuki grimaced at Mihael's sudden formality, rubbing her hands on her skirt awkwardly. She didn't know what to do with the sudden attention to her. It sure made her uncomfortable to say the least.

Her answer had been no from the moment IV even mentioned her house. It would be better for the both of them to not see the sorry state it was in.

What was so important about them going to her house, anyways? It didn't seem to really hold any real significance, other than something for sentimental value, but really, it was just her house. It wasn't anything particularly special.

Just as she was going to refuse poor Mihael, he did something Yuki did not expect. He stared up at her wide emerald eyes, lower lip jutting out the slightest bit, pleading "Just this once?"

And in that one moment, it took everything she had to not swoon at how utterly adorable Mihael looked. Her sheer determination cracking with one small look from the pink haired male, cursing silently as gave a small nod in his general direction.

The two brothers high five in triumph. "Geez, if I had known all it took was a pair of puppy dog eyes from this one-" IV says, jerking his thumb at Mihael, "-I would've done that months ago."

Months, huh? Yuki cocks a brow at him, "I invited Mihael, I don't remember inviting any loud mouthed blondie into my house."

IV feigns mock hurt and bring a hand to his heart, "Me? Why, I don't have the slightest idea of who you could possibly mean!"

He ends his performance with a wink and strikes a pose. Yuki chucks her apple into his face. End of discussion.

IV mutters something along the lines of 'rude' and rubs his now sore cheek. "I'm going whether you like it or not."

The finality of his tone catches Yuki off guard, and the mood of the table shifts once more. She thinks back to their earlier conversations. This is a good thing. There's nothing wrong with trusting him.

Trust was the one thing that scared her more than anything though. To trust this person who had only come into her life not even a year ago with her most important secrets.

IV looked at Yuki pensively, squinting a bit as if he really sees her. Her and all of her tightly wound up secrets. "It doesn't even have to be a full day, just a couple of hours." he says patiently, fingers drumming along the tabletop.

It takes her a moment to fully realize what's actually happening, and the thought makes Yuki choke on a laugh.

IV Arclight is fussing over her, or rather he's been fussing over her these past two weeks. She glances up at him, and finds his violet eyes filled with worry. Her shoulders shake with laughter, though she's not sure if this how he wants her to answer him. The idea of IV worrying over her left her both confounded and just a little bit happy. Not that Yuki would ever tell him that.

Taking a quick breath, Yuki lets the laughter fizzle away. "Oh fine, have it your way." Huffing a bit, she takes a bite of the apple she stole off of IV's plate. "What day do you guys wanna go?"

"Let's make it today."

"...Today?" Yuki looks at him incredulously. Out of all the days off from school, national holidays, and weekends in the world, today was his best pick? Seriously?

IV responds with a shrug. "Yeah. You're not busy, I'm not busy, Mihael's not busy." He waves his hand around the table dismissively. "It works out, doesn't it?"

The idea wasn't exactly the best, but he did have a point.

"Yeah and we could help too!" Mihael chimes in eagerly.

That could work out. Either that, or her brother could take IV and Mihael's 'helping' as an insult, which would inadvertently strain her and her brother's relationship even more and they could end up never reconciling ever again. Technically, the worst had already come, and she really didn't have anything left to lose, so might as well take the plunge.

Wow, I'm a wreck.Yuki thinks to herself as she runs a hand through her hair. She gazes at the boys with half lidded eyes before giving a nod. Better to get this over with than to drag it on any longer.

The brothers' victory high fives are interrupted by the chime of the school bell, signaling the end of their lunch period. They filed out, along with the rest of the occupants in the room. Mihael parted ways with the pair to attend to the rest of his afternoon classes on a different floor, and IV and Yuki settled in quiet one-sided small talk- mainly IV complaining about miscellaneous school affairs before being stopped by one of the teachers.

"Shiragane-san, do you have a minute?" the balding old man asked. Yuki and IV glanced at each other before stopping in the middle of the hallway.

"Should I go back to class without you?" IV shifted the two bags on his shoulder before posing the question to Yuki. The girl shook her head before turning to the teacher.

"You see, you haven't attended any after school activities these past few months, so the rest of the faculty members are beginning to worry about you." he drawled on, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. "We've decided to have you help clean up a few of the classrooms today after classes end."

Yuki reluctantly nodded. While she did want to refuse the man's order, Yuki felt that it was unfair that she already got away with so much special treatment from the school.

The man spoke to her for another brief moment before letting IV and her go. The blond began to walk away from her when she tugged on his sleeve. IV quirked an eyebrow at Yuki as he turned back to look at her.

"Hmm?"

"What about Hana?" Yuki jerked her head to the window where the building that Hana resided lay just below.

"Why don't you let her walk home, she's not a kid."

Yuki glared at him. Let her walk home? By herself? Was IV crazy? Of course he was if he proposed such an idiotic idea! The thought made Yuki want to keel over in disgust.

"Okay, okay. I get it." IV put his hands up in surrender, practically waving a white flag at the sight of her fierce, protective gaze. "You're worried. I get it. But Hana's not a baby, she can take care of herself. You'll be here for what? Probably an hour tops! Plenty of students from here walk in the same general direction as your place, so she won't be really be walking alone. And your house is like 10 minutes away!"

Yuki narrowed her eyes and took a step towards IV. And another. And another before she was very much invading his personal space. She gripped him by the shoulders and forced him to meet her at eye level before heaving a defeated sigh. Yuki shot him another glare before signing, "I hate it when you logic me."

IV snickered at the comment, turning away to cover his laughter. Yuki faintly blushed in embarrassment before stomping away from the blond.

"I'll tell Hana your plan for today!" IV called after he had finished his fit of laughter, quickly catching up to the smaller brunette.

Yuki groaned, leaning against the wall as she stretched her tired muscles. Luckily, she wasn't alone in her endeavor as many other students also had to stay to finish cleaning up the classrooms too. And like IV had said, she finished her task in practically a hour.

True to his word, IV had dutifully went off to tell Hana how she would have to walk home by herself today, much to the younger girl's delight. Yuki, in turn, made sure her sister would definitely, without a doubt go straight home, and nowhere else. Hana nodded at Yuki's instructions, gleefully skipping out the school gates and toward the direction of their house.

Now Yuki practically raced back to the house after giving herself a few minutes of rest. Normally she would enjoy the peace and quiet of walking without Hana, but it felt discomforting without her younger sister by her side talking her ear off.

Yuki blew out a puff of air as she caught sight of the familiar building, slowing her pace to a walk. She squinted, nothing seemed off, but Yuki couldn't shake the awful feeling forming in her stomach as she neared the house.

She felt her heart freeze with panic as she noticed the front door ajar. Yuki shook her head- maybe Hana had forgotten to lock the door? The door, however, was not only unlocked but slightly open. Yuki gripped the knob before walking in the house.

Every part of her seem to freeze as arm wrapped around her shoulder, and Yuki felt the cold, unmistakable steel of a gun press against her head.

"Welcome home."

Heeeey guys! Been a while, hasn't it? 2016 has been kicking my butt which why the updates kinda just...stopped. BUT! I have risen back from the dead once again, so fear not! I will finish this story even if it kills me! I can't promise anything anymore (if you couldn't tell from my shitty upload schedule) but updates will be more frequent- not once a week frequent, but maybe like every 3 months because I need to make sure I get into college and not die. Also, if you couldn't tell there wasn't really a AN at the top because I... I'm just really lazy. I have no excuse, I just didn't know what to write.

ANYWAYS! The plot finally thickens, and I ended the chapter with a cliffhanger. Hopefully the chapter wasn't too weird in its holy, unedited glory (thanks, mr. cool, thanks. hope you had fun at the party tho). If I did leave something out make sure too PM me or leave a review so I can fix it too. I wanted to try something different which is why I wrote in 3rd person, but if you liked it in Yuki's POV make sure to tell me so I'll make it happen for the next chapter.

As always, make sure to leave a review and possibly a favorite? You get a free cookie if you do! C: I shall see you in the next update!