Chapter Text
The lamb was tattered, with only patches of wool remaining. The rest exposed the scratchy fabric skin, an ugly beige like off porridge. The joints were fixed by large black buttons, fairly loose so the legs would swing with excessive movement. The eyes were two beads and after a month the left eye fell off and he never found it. The threadbare fabric matched a great deal of Haurno's scant belongings; from his blanket to his oversized clothing, they were all worn and littered with loose threads, washed out and drab. They were things his mother brought at a nearby Op shop with barely any thought.
His mother was different; she always wore bright clothes, fresh and clean while tailored to her body. Her long auburn hair was always immaculate, shiny and with barely a hair out of place via a plethora of expensive treatments. He just had his hair hacked off with a pair of scissors when it got too long, with her just shoving a bowl on his head to make it straight. She didn't bother about being careful around his ears, either. At least the glossiness was something that couldn't be shoved away, even if he only had lukewarm water and odd-smelling soap for his hair. His mother made it very clear she wasn't going to 'baby' him so he learned how to clean himself quickly enough otherwise he'd be left for hours in cold water, shivering and wrinkle skinned.
But the clothes were still warm if he wore enough, even if they swamped his small, underfed body. The lamb was as much a comfort as his blanket especially when it was far more common for his mother to stay out all night than it was for her to be home. Sometimes she'd sleep until noon afterwards before leaving again when evening was approaching. Other times she'd go out and come home with a plethora of shopping bags, usually of expensive designer clothing for herself and lavish jewelry even if she always favoured her heavy golden earrings. He had overheard her once saying they were her mother's but she wore them better so they were hers now. She'd always be bragging on the phone to her friends or gossiping with them in the living room on the rare times they would come over. Haruno was never allowed to meet those friends and the one time his mother caught him trying to peek into the lounge she dragged him by the arm back to his room and locked him inside, long nails leaving bloodied furrows on the skin. She then locked him in his room whenever she brought friends over and hissed at him to 'be quiet or else' before meeting them. He could still hear her voice, bright and cheery, and her occasional laugh. He didn't understand why she never spoke like that to him.
Then that man started to become more and more prominent in her life. Haruno never liked him but he never liked any man his mother brought home but they would usually change weekly. This one though seemed to stick around, just after Haruno turned two before he became a stable fixture in the house.
Even while so young he knew enough. Quickly learned to keep himself as quiet as possible. Half the time it didn't even matter as the man- who insisted Haruno call him 'sir' -seemed to find issue with anything Haruno did. A man who quickly became his stepfather but Haruno still didn't like him. If he clicked the spoon on the side of the bowl too loudly he'd get shouted at. If he shut a door too hard he'd get belted across his hands, leaving ugly red welts on his pale skin. If he had 'that look on his face' he'd get a smack around the head. Haruno never really understood that last one, as he was just sitting there with a neutral face. But he didn't like that man and hated it when he moved in.
Especially since his mother didn't care about it. She would even blatantly ignore it or, if he started crying, screamed at him to stop being annoying.
It made him think about that photograph his mother kept hidden in one of the jeweler boxes in her room. She had shown that to him once, while in one of her better moods, with a picture dark but still showing a man with golden hair and a star shaped mark on his shoulder. It matched the one on Haruno's thin shoulder, a dark blotch of skin that stood out stark against the pale flesh. She said it was his father and she always spoke often of him but when that man moved in she stopped. He decided to steal the photo when he was older.
The library was a place Haruno spent a great deal of his spare time. It was mainly because his mother refused to pay for any type of daycare until he was old enough for public school and she would find any way to get rid of him during the day as she would always hiss he got underfoot. She used to lock him in the backyard until one of the neighbours noticed and spoke to her over it even if they spoke in concern his mother blamed him, convinced he'd spoken to the old man and he got slapped over it. He never did, since he didn't mind the garden even when it got so cold his fingers got numb but after that she kept him locked inside his room for days on end. He missed the garden after that and it missed him. It would bloom regardless of weather under his fussing and after he got barred indoors the flowers wilted and the oak tree didn't blossom with thick fluffy bloom anymore. He never realized oak trees weren't supposed to blossom.
He didn't mind the library however, the librarian ladies there were always kind to him and it was quiet. He liked the quiet as it was better than his mother's screaming or stepfather's shouting. Sometimes he'd be left there until it was closing and one of the women would have to call his mother repeatedly or get a patrol officer to drop him off in a common cycle. He also wondered about that, as the television always said police would help but they never seemed to do anything with him or his mother; whenever one, usually a new one, tried to speak to his mother she'd act all strange and touch their arms and flutter her long eyelashes. Sometimes he'd be sent outside to be dragged back in hours later with the police gone. He learned fairly early he couldn't trust them which was strange to know they were liars. He thought they weren't allowed to do that.
But as far as places went the library was nice even if it felt isolated. Haruno read a great deal, usually picture books or watching the television in the playroom. In particular he enjoyed reading ones about fairy tales, magical creatures and monsters. There was also folklore which was more dark but he felt it was more real. Eventually he began to learn how to read short stories, getting some comments about being 'advanced' for his age but Haruno had learned quickly that reading was a good way to stay still and silent, so there was less chance of being screamed at or hit if he remained unobtrusive. Sometimes it wouldn't work but it did enough he tried it whenever he was home. Slipping books into his backpack was a way he took them home even if he learned to be sneaky after being scolded the first time by one of the librarians. Still, he liked them. Their soft scoldings were far better than his mother's screaming.
Sometimes the women would bring him drinks or some of the snacks from the staff room, since it wasn't uncommon for his mother to drop him off early in the morning and not appear again until it was dark. One in particular would try and gently broach the issue about his 'home life' and ask him if he ever felt unsafe- but he remembered the police and how they were liars so he said nothing, only shrugging. Eventually she stopped asking but would bring lunches she made at home for him. He always liked that, since he was fairly used to being hungry, sometimes for days on end, and didn't like the feeling. It made him feel sick.
However as soon as he turned four he was sent to the local public preschool. At first his mother dropped him off but after the first week decided the ten blocks to the preschool was close enough for him to walk to each morning and back in the afternoon. Sometimes it was raining and it would leave his black hair sodden and nose icy. He would use plastic wrap to protect the books inside his school bag when it was raining.
Even in school with other children he was unable to relate to them or find friends; most of the other children through he was creepy or too quiet. Haruno meanwhile liked quiet and the loud, boisterous behaviour of many of the others unsettled him. He was also 'advanced' for his age something the teacher, a kind faced woman with immensely curly hair and a wide crooked smile, praised him about. That put another barrier between him and the other children however considering how easily he figured out the basic questions they were asked or the tests they were given. He was confused moreso as to why the even found such things difficult; he could easily count into the thousands while others struggled to even reach a hundred, he could write all letters of the alphabet in both upper case and lower case, and even understood basic math. For other students they struggled with such things and Haruno wondered why. He didn't exactly realize his solitude in the library and isolation at home fueled a large portion of his already established Independence and advancement, allowing him to comprehend things his peers puzzled over.
Other lessons he enjoyed more, such as when his teacher led them through several classes about identifying living and non living things. She would go through a list, pointing out how things alive differed from objects and how to separate them. He did ask if water was dead since he'd read about how water was needed for life. When the teacher asked him he truthfully said he'd read in it a book which stated if there was no water on Earth there would be no life.
'That's why Mars is dead. They have no sea.' he told her with all the chronic seriousness of a four year old.
They weren't allowed to talk a lot about that since a lot of the other children didn't believe Haruno when he said that. One even started to mock him in the playground during recess when Haruno was sitting at the roots of one of the trees. Haruno just twisted around and bit the other boy's arm, making him cry and run away. He just wanted to be left alone, he liked the tree more than his classmates. He had always liked plants and trees were just very large ones.
But he remained friendless and lonely, sometimes wondering what it would be like to have friends. However he just couldn't understand them and vice versa. It was strange as sometimes when he was in the preschool library another of the children would be quiet, not loud, so he wanted to talk to them. Or even in group projects as the teachers quickly noticed he worked far better with less energetic ones and those that tried to push him around quickly became disturbed by his behaviour or scared of him. But with the ones who liked to read, like himself, he still couldn't befriend them. It was like some mental block that held him back even if he looked enviously on the gaggles of friends. He wanted one but it was harder than he thought to actually make one. They never felt right so he had no friends.
There was also the other parents who would pick up their children after school ended. Some offered him rides home when it was raining; he'd read about not to talk to strangers but a part of him felt even if they did take him away and hurt him it would be less than what his own mother and stepfather did. He wasn't even allowed to refer to his stepfather as such, only 'sir'. To do otherwise would get him smacked by the belt even if the man made sure to not hit him on the face. He stopped hitting Haruno's hands after too many questions and would either smack him around the head, where his thick black hair would hide the bruises, or along his back, forearms and legs where his clothing would cover the red welts. His mother just kept to her screaming even if she still occasionally scratched and clawed him if he didn't get out of the way fast enough or she was trying to drag him somewhere. Or sometimes she was just angry.
He never understood what he'd done wrong to make them hate him but already knew better than to ask.
Bang bang bang
The sharp noise made Haruno tense from where he was settled in a corner of the kitchen, half hidden behind the table. His mother paused in the middle of her phone conversation, painted lips pursed as she glared over to the hallway, aggravated her conversation had been interrupted.
It was one of the rare weekends all three of them were at home, Haruno forgotten and his mother and stepfather preparing to leave for the night. It was barely the afternoon but it usually took his mother an hour before she settled on her desired look, usually swapping out of several outfits. As it was she was in her favoured amethyst coloured dress, with nails the same shade but that would probably change. Of her husband he was upstairs but Haruno could hear the heavy foot falls of him coming down the stairs to answer whoever was banging on the front door. He pressed his face closer to the tattered lamb, a small book clutched in his hands. He hoped whoever at the door had good news as otherwise it would be his fault somehow.
"Is this the Shiobana residence?" a deep voice asked when the door was finally answered.
"It's Giovanna." Haruno's stepfather snapped back.
Haruno wanted to go to the kitchen doorway, so he could look down the hall and see whoever the visitor was and the conversation happening between them. However it was sounded irritated but frightfully cold while Haruno could hear his stepfather's voice raising steadily in anger before it was abruptly choked off with a sharp wheezing noise.
His mother jumped back with a shriek as a huge man suddenly appeared in the doorway, hefting Haruno's stepfather up by a single hand wrapped around his throat. The stranger said something, voice sharp, before twisting his hand. A dull cracking noise sounded and abruptly Haruno's stepfather went limp. The stranger dropped him before turning and saying something to Haruno's mother who was near hysterics but Haruno was transfixed on his stepfather's eyes, empty and staring at nothing. Haruno suddenly knew without a doubt he was dead before his eyes slid up to the man who was speaking to his mother, who was cowering against the kitchen bench.
The man was dark skinned with pale hair of a shade of lilac. He was also the most bizarrely dressed man Haruno had ever seen, making him almost think he was a circus performer; a black leotard, short cape and numerous purple heart accessorizes on his clothes and lopsided golden band across his forehead. Despite his handsome face he had such a cold look in his eyes Haruno thought anyone who made fun of him would end up dead just like Haruno's stepfather. He tugged his lamb and book tight against his chest, knees pulled up against him and eyes focused on the man unblinkingly.
As if feeling Haruno's stare the man turned, looking directly at him. The gaze was cold, calculating, before the man pivoted and walked towards him, easily tossing the table aside with one hand where it broke against the wall before approaching him. Haruno already knew better than to try and run so he just sat there, watching the man carefully; his eyes were pink, almost purple. They were also severely intense and unyielding, as if the man was less a man and more of a machine with no emotion bothering him.
The man crouched in such a swift action it made Haruno flinch but there was none of the fury that would show on his mother or stepfather. Even when the man reached out for him there was no hostile emotion. Then the man carefully hooked his fingers underneath the collar of Haruno's oversized shirt, pulling it down to bare his shoulder. His five pointed star birthmark stood out starkly on the skin and some of the severity vanished from the huge man's face. Haruno just stared at him, still unsure if the man was going to harm him.
His mother chose that moment to try and bolt for the front door but the man intervened so quickly Haruno could barely follow it, getting a handful of her long hair and stopping her mid-stride. She screeched and flailed, trying to dig her nails into his wrist but the man just glared down at her.
"Be quiet," he snapped as if she was an unruly child, ignoring her screaming, "You and your son shall be accompanying me now."
The man cared nothing for their belongings and just dragged Haruno's mother out to an awaiting car by her hair. For Haruno he was treated far more gently, instead carefully lifted up into the crook of the man's arm and carried out. He had dropped his book but kept his tattered lamb close even when they were put in the car, Haruno in the passengers and his mother in the back. It was dark, with tinted windows and black leather seats that smelled wonderful. The man got into the drivers seat and quickly drove off, leaving Haruno's home behind.
Haruno was confused but something deep inside told him it would be stupid to try and run so he didn't. Even after the man killed his stepfather Haruno wasn't afraid of him; he had gotten good at reading people and the man just acted as if it was a job. Also a part of Haruno was glad his stepfather was dead. He couldn't hit him anymore.
His mother was different, near in hysterics. Her mascara was running in black streaks down her cheekbones and she started flailing at the car door, trying fruitlessly to open it while crying and cursing under her breath.
A giant translucent arm suddenly appeared from the man, skin white with long black nails like some kind of malevolent spirit. Haruno stared as the hand reached back and grabbed his mother's shoulder, claws digging into the exposed skin before roughly flinging her back against the opposite side of the back seat where she collided with the door.
"Stop being a nuisance," the man intoned.
It was strange for Haruno to see his mother curled up on the backseat, sniffling and bloodied. Usually that was him. He had never seen her like that and even watching the blood roll from her nose and staining her lips redder he didn't even feel sad. He didn't know if that was normal.
He looked back at the large man driving, staring at his features and the various golden hearts he wore. Haruno guessed the man liked hearts and wondered if he liked Valentines day. He probably did.
"I'm Haruno," Haruno said politely after nearly a minute of silent driving. His teachers always said politeness was a virtue and manners cost nothing.
For a long moment the man didn't respond and Haruno thought he was being ignored before the man abruptly answered, "I am Vanilla Ice."
"Where are you taking us?"
"To see a great man. He has demanded your presence."
"Let me out, you fucking asshole!"
"Be quiet, woman."
They were taken to the airport and Haruno was still quiet and confused. He wasn't sure who this 'great man' Vanilla Ice spoke of was and wondered who it could be. He must've been rich though since they were taken onto a private jet- Haruno carried, his mother bodily dragged -before he was set on one of the luxuriously plush seats. Vanilla Ice was fairly unconcerned about Haruno's mother, instead spending the majority of the trip keeping a very close eye on him. Haruno was confused about it as the man's focus wasn't angry but it was intense enough to make him nervous.
However the stewardess- whose name tag called her Bette -fussed relentlessly over Haruno, offering him food and drinks while, like Vanilla Ice, ignoring his mother completely.
The stewardess was pretty with thick blonde hair coiled up in an elaborate bun, a carefully arranged fringe and wide white teeth. Despite her friendliness Haruno felt like that was something wrong with her, just the way she moved and how her eyes remained as dead as his deceased stepfather's. When she bent down to put a glass of orange juice on his tray he caught a glimpse of some weird growth behind her bangs, like an infected pimple.
He had read it was rude to talk about a girl's looks so he decided not to say anything. She also kept on giving him food and Haruno, being very hungry, happily ate whatever she put in front of him. He liked the beef wellingtons even if he didn't know what a wellington was. It sounded like a town instead of a food.
The flight was long though and he grew sleepy. Bette instantly started fluttering over him, lowering the chair and draping a very fluffy blanket around him and even fetched an extra one for his lamb. He ended up sleeping most of the flight and only woke up when it started to land. Bette fussed over him once again, helping him up and dabbing at his face with a warm towel and cooing. She even did the same for his lamb even though Haruno didn't know why; his lamb wasn't alive but it seemed to make her happy.
As before Vanilla Ice watched him like a hawk- Haruno wasn't even sure if the man had changed positions since Haruno fell asleep -and carried him down the plane steps when it stopped, Haruno's mother following behind sullenly. It was nearing sunset but Haruno still couldn't recognize anything, as even the airport was giant and strange to the point he couldn't help asking the man where they were when he helped Haruno into a sleek black car waiting for them.
"This is Cairo," Vanilla Ice told him.
"That's far." Haruno had only looked at a globe a few times and the world map on the wall of the preschool but he thought Cairo was very far away from where he lived.
"Yes. You should be honoured."
Haruno didn't know he should but he nodded. This time his mother got in the car rather than be thrown in but she looked furious enough Haruno was glad he was sitting up front. She's usually pinch or scratch or scream at him when she looked like that, even if he had nothing to do with what she was angry about. She seemed too scared of Vanilla Ice to do anything about it. Haruno wondered if anyone had found his stepfather's body yet.
The drive was quiet but Haruno liked peering through the tinted window at the foreign infrastructure and people. There were so many people he was fascinated and many of the buildings looked like the ones he'd seen in fantasy books, like curved castles. Behind him his mother tried the doors briefly before throwing up her hands with a curse. Vanilla Ice gave her a sharp look in the rear view mirror but otherwise didn't comment.
When they finally stopped it was night but the sky was clear without a wisp of cloud so he could see so many stars and the sickle of the moon. He nearly forgot where he was until Vanilla Ice took a hold of Haruno's small hand in a careful grip. Haruno's mother attempted to bolt as soon as she was let out and again the strange ghost arm grabbed her, dragging the screeching woman back until Vanilla seized her wrist in a harsh grip and bodily dragged her after him with Haruno being led along obediently into the building they had stopped in front of.
It was a mansion, carved from ancient rock and surrounded by a tall spiked fence. They were walked through a lavish garden, flowers asleep in the moonlight before being escorted through the front door and through numerous winding halls and staircases where the light was the occasional cluster of candles. The only sounds were his mother's cursing and her attempts to claw off Vanilla's iron grip on her, the man not even reacting to the bloody furrows her nails gouged into his dark skin.
The building felt watchful despite them not passing anyone else and Haruno kept casting furtive glances around, expecting to see the shine of monster eyes and teeth in the deep shadows, drawn by the scrabbling noises yet none appeared. They were led up a stairwell lined with tapestries, which Haruno struggled with his short legs, before stopping in front of a huge set of double doors carved from dark wood.
Vanilla Ice knocked once, twice, before a deep voice spoke, "Enter."
The room was dark yet lavish, lit by dozens of candles in golden holders along with various treasures and rugs and elaborate paintings. The air was cold, even with the lone window being drawn shut but the glass still let in the moonlight unopposed. He hugged his lamb tight, nervous and frightened of the stranger sitting cross legged on a large ornate chair at the back of the room. He could barely see the man's features beyond the glint of golden hair, the rest bathed in shadow.
There were two other people in the room, one a bent over wrinkled woman with sagging skin and long white hair. The other was a short blond man, leaning against a vanity and looking a mixture of bored and irritated. The most striking thing about him was the long lizard-like tail coiled around his leg, layered with feathers of blue and greens with a yellow underside. Haruno wondered if it was some kind of costume, as the rest of the man was normal.
"Lord Dio," the lilac haired man bowed low, "I have brought the child as you requested."
Haruno's mother gave a squeal of excitement, all spite and violence vanishing the instant she realized who they were brought before. She immediately reached out to the man seated with imploring arms but he didn't even deigned to look at her, simply waving a hand dismissively in her general direction. Vanilla Ice grabbed her, bodily dragging her from the room while she screamed obscenities at him, trying fruitlessly to claw her way free to reach the man who was solely focused on Haruno. The door slammed shut and his mother's shrieking slowly faded, leaving them in silence.
Despite Vanilla Ice's cold and fairly hostile demeanor Haruno felt panicked at his sudden disappearance. Despite that he couldn't muster up the energy to run and instead frozen, half hiding his face behind the tattered head of his lamb. Neither of the three adults in the room spoke, instead just stared at him. The tailed man was glaring, nostrils flaring as his head bobbed up and down in an oddly animalistic gesture. The old woman who looked like the evil witch from one of Haruno's story books was scratching at her wrinkled jowls, head titled to the side. Of the heavily muscled man hidden in the shadows he made no movement, to the point Haruno wondered if he was even alive.
Then abruptly the man, Dio Vanilla Ice had called him, rose to his feet in such a sharp movement Haruno twitched; he knew better than to flinch or made noise, as it only called attention to himself, even when the man approached him. He was huge, even taller than Vanilla Ice and wearing trousers with bells attached to long ribbons which jingled with each stride. Otherwise he was bare. Haruno remained quiet, still and compliant as the man reached him, the adult having to stoop down to study his features.
Despite the sharp black fingernails of his hand, the man's movements were gentle and controlled when he tipped up Haruno's head. Haruno kept himself silent despite how his heart beat like a panicked hummingbird in his breast, knowing there was something wrong with the towering stranger but unable to figure out what. It could be that his fingers were room temperature, no self heat whatsoever or the unnatural golden gleam to his iris which flashed in the candle light when he bent his head down to stare intently at Haruno's face. Carefully he titled Haruno's head from side to side, points of his nails brushing against the delicate skin of the underside of Haruno's throat and he clutched the tattered lamb plushie against his chest until his fingers ached.
"...You have his eyes." Dio finally said after a long moment of contemplative silence. He sounded oddly wistful.
"Care to explain?" the man with the long tail said suddenly from where he was leaning against the vanity, "Why is this child even here? Is he another Stand user that Enya rounded up? You usually don't bother with this ceremony."
"He is your nephew," straightening up the golden-eyed man looked at other blond. Haruno was confused but they had a matching lilt to their voice and blond hair that made him think they were family. He wondered what their accent was.
The other man said nothing but Haruno noticed with fascination at how his tail flexed and coiled, as if it were alive. He'd read stories about werewolves, shape shifters, spirits and fairies, and sometimes in the dead of night after being punched by his stepfather or screamed at by his mother he'd wish a fae would steal him away to their magical courts to stay there forever. Was that man one?
When the short man moved forward to jab at Dio's chest Haruno became more certain that the man was indeed a fae, having long teeth and sharp claws with golden scaled hands like a fish. Or is he a kitsune? He had read of the trickster spirits, taking the forms of humans but if were startled would show glimpses of their fox forms. He thought foxes had tails like paintbrushes but maybe the books were wrong about that part.
"My nephew," the man sneered, "Really? I guess he's one of the spawn you decided to fuck in one of those bileful screeching women you favoured for years. You said it yourself you didn't care about them, you didn't care if the women aborted them or what-have-you. So why is he even here?"
"Obviously for you."
The words clearly weren't what the short man was expected and Haruno shyed away from the sudden rage that stiffened the blond's frame, pressing his face into the scratchy fabric of his lamb. Even if the man was small Haruno had seen the long sharp nails on his hands like some kind of beast.
"Are you- are you fucking kidding me?" the short man finally managed to say, his mouth splitting even further.
"No. You made your quarrel abundantly clear and I, Dio, am rectifying that."
"So you what, figured giving me a four year old would fix everything? Do I sound like some lonely suburban housewife who has a hole that needs to be filled with children that magically makes everything better? Are you serious? When the fuck have I given the impression I ever want a child-"
Dio simply looked at the man coolly, "You were blatant in your desire for family, Diego, and he is your nephew by blood through myself and Jojo."
The small man, Diego, looked stricken at that comment. His long tail coiled at his back like a feathered snake even as his clawed hands curled into fists as his voice suddenly became eerily calm and soft "Is that seriously what you thought?"
"You were clearly vexed with the lack thereof of family, so here is one," Dio gestured towards Haruno, who dug his nails into the scratchy fabric of his lamb.
"How...how did you even find him?" Diego seemed to twitch between hurt and absolute fury.
"Technology now days makes it far harder to hide," the man said in his deep voice, "Job applications, loans, child support, police charges, arrests; so much easier to track down someone especially if they aren't making any effort to hide themselves. As such I simply needed to tell Vanilla where I last met the woman and her name. I had indeed thought it would take him longer to locate one of my offspring, as I had intended for him to go through the list of all women whom I could remember the names of and who were still living, then he would locate them, check to see if they had children who carried mine and Jonathan's blood. But as luck would have it the very first one had my child."
Haruno was confused by the whole conversation. He was fairly sure the tall man before him was his father, and the blond hair matched the photograph his mother hid in her room, but he was frightened and unsure so he stayed silent.
"Fuck you," the short man abruptly said, harsh and cold. He turned around and jumped through the window, completely uncaring it was shut and sending glass crashing onto the floor in such a burst of noise Haruno flinched.
There was a fairly long silence but the tall man, Dio, seemed very unconcerned with Diego's violent exit. Haruno looked at the glass shards all over the floor; they looked sharp. Someone could cut themselves.
The old woman cleared her throat, an ugly sound akin to scraping sandpaper, before she rasped, "Lord Dio...Your brother is getting more willful and spiteful. Perhaps it would be best if you fle-"
"Do not finish that sentence if you value your life," Dio said. His tone was mild but Haruno flinched all the same.
Nodding quickly the woman bowed, muttering apologies under her breath. Haruno just stood there awkwardly, uncomfortable and still very confused. He knew better than to say anything or cry so he remained mute when the tall man looked him up and down. Haruno had never seen anyone with gold eyes before.
"Vanilla Ice."
The lilac haired man appeared in the doorway at the soft summon, hand across his sternum and features stern.
"Yes, Lord Dio?"
"Take him back to the bedroom, with his mother. He must be...tired, after such a long trip. Take care that he is to remained unharmed," Dio said before turning and walking back across the room without a backwards glance.
"As you command, Lord Dio," Vanilla Ice bowed low before taking Haruno's diminutive hand that wasn't clutching the lamb and leading him out the room. Haruno tossed a quick look at the man's retreating back, eyes widening when he caught a glimpse of the dark splotch of skin on the man's shoulder in the shape of a star which matched his own before the door shut behind them.
The walk down the hallway was slow due to Haruno's short legs but he kept a tight grip on Vanilla's hand. It was so dark he felt like he would get lost if he let go. He also didn't get the impression the man would hurt him and he bowed to Dio; it made Haruno think of reading books where there were knights who fought dragons and noblemen who slayed witches and wondered if that was who Dio was. Vanilla and the old woman bowed and obeyed Dio as if he was.
"You will be behaved," Vanilla Ice told him sternly, leading him up a flight of stairs, "You will stay in this mansion and will not attempt to leave. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
"Lord Dio has also ordered you to be unharmed. You must show him appropriate respect if he blesses you with his presence again. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
The man seemed satisfied with that and Haruno wanted him to ask where his pants were. He figured that might be rude though so he didn't. Same with wanting to ask about the man's strange ghost demon friend.
When Vanilla open a door to a bedroom- more richly lavished to the point Haruno thought it was one of those museum exhibits -his mother was already there. slumped in a chair. She jumped up when the door opened, only to have her pretty face twist up into something ugly when she realized who it was.
"You will stay here," Vanilla Ice told him. Then he fixed his glare on Haruno's mother, "You will not attempt to escape."
She flipped him off, to which he just stared levelly at her until she sullenly sat down. Her face was still bloodied.
"Act as befitting of your blood," Vanilla Ice said to Haruno. He nodded, even though he was confused by the words.
The man seemed satisfied however and picked Haruno up and placed him on the edge of the bed. Briefly the glowing eyed spirit rose from the man's back, peering around the room even as Vanilla checked the windows which seemed to be bolted shut. Vanilla also said something in low tones to Haruno's mother which made her flinch but he couldn't overhear it.
Then the ghost vanished and Vanilla Ice left, shutting the door quietly behind him but it had the finality of a slam.