Dear Akane,
You sweet, sweet girl. I hope you have been feeling accustomed to your new lifestyle? Sara and I, as well as the others here, miss you dearly.
It's not the same without you and Tsukiya always bickering and playing with the kids. Sara especially, she's trying to act strong, always offering to help with the dishes, set up the dinner table, seek to the younger ones needs. It's like she's becoming a mini you! Maybe sometime in the future you can come visit us!
Tsukiya is holding up well I hope? You and him better look out for each other! Make sure none of you get hurt and always watch each other's backs, okay?
Well, on another note, someone came by earlier asking for you. He seemed to be quite concerned and devastated when he heard you weren't here anymore. After that, I invited him in for tea, but when I went back, he was gone! I don't know what that was about, but be careful!
It's quite late, I suppose I should let you go now. Please keep in contact! We all love you so much!

Sincerely,
Hiyori, Sara and the Orphanage.

P.S. Akane!! It's me, Sara! I waited until Mom was asleep till I wrote this... I LOVE you! Don't forget about me! If you do, I'll come and knock some sense into you! We made a promise, so if you break it...! You'll regret it!

Tears stained the yellow tinted paper, slowly rolling off to the cold floor. With everything happening, Akane was too worried about her brothers to cry about her departure.  She kept her head low to hide the flushed cheeks and puffy eyes.

One thought that disturbed her, was the man who came asking for her.

Who was he? What did he know about her and what did he want?

Taking a minute to breath and take control of her emotions again, she gathered the strength to face reality once more. Eventually, she would pass on the letter to Tsukiya... After making some edits with the mysterious man part.

~~~
The ride home was short and mostly pre-occupied. Yui was being harrassed again, Kanato was with his Teddy, Reiji reading a book, and Tsukiya talking to Akane about his day.

As soon as the car stopped, everyone seemed to teleport out and into their own routine.

Yui glanced over at us, "You'll get use to it."

The walk back was cold and breezy. Snow lightly fell against the fabric of our clothes and seeped in. The small patches of snow on the statues, stone fountain and garden truly showed the holiday season.

In thought, Akane realized something. She stopped in her tracks, causing Yui and Tsukiya to do the same, and stated, "It's almost Christmas time."

The whistle of the snowy wind was almost deafening, until their wide and bright grins spoke a million words. "Geez Akane, you scared me for a second there..." Tsukiya muttered under his breath with a hidden smile.

"I nearly forgot about Christmas! It's been so long since I last celebrated..." Yui laughed and seemed to reminisce to her past.

"You don't celebrate here?"

"Well, we are in a home full of vampires."

"Yeah Akane, way to make Yui state the obvious," Tsukiya sarcastically said.

"Oh shut up."

The trio exchanged brief glances before the same idea crossed their mind.
1-
2-..
3-...
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

Each of them gathered snow together and launched it, hoping to hit someone, whilst dodging any coming their way. The sky was filled with giggles and a feeling of innocence.

That is-... Until a snowball hit a certain someone.

The pure splash of white against the vibrant tomato head's hair seemed to freeze time itself. The once cheerful air, dulled to an icy feeling.

"A..Ayato..." Yui was ready to take the blame.

"I'm.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you, we we're pla-"

"What are you guys doing?"

"We're having a snowball fight, Tomato. Isn't it obvious?" Tsukiya stepped forward.

The mood dimmed as Ayato moved towards Tsukiya.

"Hey, guys..!"

In the blink of an eye, Ayato slammed a pile of snow against Tsukiya's cheek.
.
..
...
Well. After that, it was absolute madness. Tsukiya went into "Blood Lust Tsukiya" and pelted as many snowballs at Ayato as he could. Yui and Akane laughed as the reckless boys threw snowballs simultaneously in each other's face.

"Well well well~... What do we have here?" A familiar auburn haired, fedora wearing Sakamaki came into the picture. Ayato directly hit Laito's face with a pile of snow, wiping the previous grin off his face. "You did not just throw snow on my-"

"Oh shut up you prostitute," Ayato half-yelled while making more snowballs.

"..." Laito kept a forced grin on his face as he pelted Ayato. "At least I'm not a lovesick tomato."

Now instead of 2 boys at war, it was 3.

Although if it's 3, of course it's going to turn into 4, then 5, then 6. Subaru entered the picture with an irked mood as he suddenly was hit in the face multiple times, turning him into "hulk" Subaru. Kanato didn't participate as much, afraid his little Teddy would get messy, but when it came down to it... Teddy did in fact get hit. Thus, unleashing the wrathful Kanato. Reiji came out unwillingly, more due to the fact of everyone's clothes becoming dirty and more trouble for him. It's bad enough Karl let go of the servants, he certainly doesn't want everyone to show up to school the next day like wet dog.

And finally.... Shu came quietly, suddenly leaning his head on Akane's while muttering, "These idiots. Going to end up catching a cold," yawning soon after. Due to the surprise, she didn't move a muscle and tensed very noticeable underneath him. "Hmm..."

He left and sat on a nearby bench and half-watched his brothers and Tsukiya make a fool out of themselves.

"Akane, are you okay? You've been spaced out for a bit now..." Yui worried whilst waving a hand.
"O..oh, yeah, I'm fine."

The battle of the snow continued on for another good 30 minutes, but after that, everyone grew tired and bored from the activity.

Once inside the security of warmth(mostly for Yui and Tsukiya's benefit), the so called family went about their own business, doing whatever vampires and humans do.

Akane had planned on showing Tsukiya the letter, but one brother had something else in mind. In a swift movement, Kanato stealthily grabbed Akane's wrist and began running with her down the hallway. She stumbled a bit in shock, but eventually had the same place as him. "Ka...nato? Is there... Is there something wrong?"

"Hahaha, Teddy wants to play!"

His childish laugh made ran a cold, sharp shiver down her spine. "Pl-...play?"

"It'll be so fun!" He stopped abrubtly. "Unless... You don't want to play."

"O-oh, no... Nononono! I'm sorry, no I didn't mean it like th-that!"

"Oh, hehe," he glanced down at Teddy, "I thought she didn't like you Teddy. That would've been rude."

In an ambiguous encounter, Shu walked around the corner just as Kanato was dragging Akane off to wherever. It stopped everyone in their tracks. Shu gave a brief glance at the situation, also noticing the fear and tension in Akane's eyes.

He sighed. "Kanato, Teddy's belongings are downstairs on the couch. I suggest you get them before someone makes a thievery attempt."

The bear-wielding boy tsked. "Guess we'll have to have fun later..." He disappeared a moment later.

With that, Shu walked past nonchalantly. Akane was felt a burden lifted from her shoulders, but tensed as Shu walked by.

"Thank...you..."

She didn't look back at him, and neither did he answer. Discreetly, he only smirked and went on with his leisure as Akane rushed back to the safety of her room.

I guess I'll just tell Tsukiya tomorrow... Or whenever I can.

~end.~
Thank you for reading!(and being patient with me!)
I enjoy every comment, so make sure to comment on whatever~
Ohh, and even though it's March, I made this in December, hence the Christmas theme.
Christmas time is all the time.
Your writer,
Hope.