Adoption?

It took three days for things to settle down at the orphanage. In those three days Kallous was attacked by Ian's ever so growing attachment.

It started out really simple: a few greetings here and there, handing over gifts—cookies, to be precise. Kallous had a feeling that Ian knew of his weakness for food and took full advantage of it, knowing full well that he wasn't one to reject such gifts.

In the end, it wasn't long before Ian's actions became more.. advanced? He would take his sweet time to wake him up for breakfast. To Kallous' dismay, he was far worse than Allyn's horrible alarm clock, but what could he ever do? Faced with the pink head's blinding smile and Ivan's—who obviously followed his brother for safety reasons—apologetic look, Kallous was forced to get out of bed, dash to the nearest escape room, aka the bathroom, and run away while maintaining his stoic face.

Then, Ian would act like a knight in shining armour whenever the kids tried to 'kidnap' Kallous. Ian took every chance he could find to proclaim his friendship with the silver eye child.

True to Ian's actions so far, he kept his presence known to Kallous anywhere and everywhere he went, be it the dining hall, the garden, and even the playground.

The only positive thing that came from all of this is that the kids didn't disturb him whenever the twins were around.

To simply put it, having the twins around had its pros and cons. Kallous overlooked the cons for the sake of the mare peace he gained when he needed it.

The twins never bothered him when he wanted to rest or be alone. However, they both stayed by his side in silence as if guarding him.

Even Ivan started to warm up to Kallous, even by a little.

In the end they are just kids.

Friendship is just weird sometimes, but that's what makes it special.

Hopefully, Kallous would understand that sooner than later.

✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺✺

The time had finally come, and the kids of all ages chatted inside the hall. As you could somehow guess, our poor main character—don't tell him I said that—was in the center of it all.

"Please pass me the honey; my pancake is almost perfect." A side character with greasy hands asked his group of besties that had the courage to sit at Kal's side of the table, who was followed by the twins.

"Hand me the orange juice and I'll give you the honey." Another side character spoke as she ate her sandwich.

"Hey! That's mine. Give it back!" A side character almost got on the table and attacked his friend for stealing his apple.

'I should've stayed outside.'

Kal's heart was filled with grief as he silently watched a new group disrupt his date with the chocolate pudding he had finally gotten his hands on.

"Settle down sweat hearts, It's time for the main event."

Lucy announced as she stood up followed by the now healthy Cian as she smiled at the crowd of children in front of her.

Today was one of those days where the head of the orphanage arranges for a joined dinner. Of course, unlike the other meals, only the special and unique of the kids are called to participate.

How did Kal get in this situation you may ask?

Well, he wasn't being lazy the past few days and actually did his best to make it on the list. It wasn't that difficult in the first place since, by fate, his name was already on the list.

Kal was both glad and.. concerned? When he found out about it. However, he didn't think much of it as long as it got the task done in the end.

He had previously checked the status of each child here and concluded that none of them were picked for their 'hidden talent'. All of the kids had little to no talent; some had stronger numbers than others, but when compared to him and the two demons, they were basically useless.

Which begs the question...

'How in Allyn's shine did these two end up on the list? I made sure that none of their names were on there.'

"Kal, try this! It's very fresh." Ian quickly handed him a glass of a freshly squeezed orange juice.

"I believe he already had two glasses of this and if you continue to give away more, he might get orange flu." Ivan calmly stated bullshit.

"Ehh?? Is that even a thing?" Ian eyes filled with shock and worry as he looked at his brother and he stopped mid-way from handing over the glass to Kal.

"En." Ivan confirmed.

And with that, Ian gave up feeding Kal any more drinks for fear he would get sick because of him.

Never did he believe that his older brother was deceiving him.

Kal tried to dissociate off this world and only focus on his pudding but someone just had to interrupt him, again.

"Attention kids, lady Lucy would like to make an announcement." Cian spoke through the voice amplifier.

The hall became silent in an instant, signalling the start of the event.

"Thank you." She thanked Cian then started her speech.

"As you all know, every month we choose the most brilliant of you to be taken for adoption by the families all over the continent. The last batch were even lucky enough to get adopted by renewed families across the lands.

Today, I gathered you all to celebrate! You were accepted and chosen to be set up for adoption and will soon join your new families!"

Cheers ran throughout the hall as kids of all ages expressed their happiness in the ways they knew. Of course, some were sad; they haven't seen few of their friends, whom they considered as family in the years they lived at the orphanage, with them. However, that didn't stop them from at least enjoying this rare moment which only happens once in their lifetime.

"All right. Now, listen up! You'll be moving into your new quarters for training at the start of next week, so make sure to pack your belongings and say goodbye to your friends who weren't fortunate enough to be in this hall today.

If you have any questions or need help with packing up, inform the butler and the attendants and they will take care of everything."

Lucy signaled to Cian to hand her a piece of paper as she looked at the crowed of young children and called out the names on the list.

"let us make sure that everyone on the list is present today, starting from the oldest."

"Oscar." A child with fierce red hair stood up and made his presence known.

As far as the Intel that Kal had gathered, this boy was one of the few older generations that stayed at the orphanage and were unlucky enough to not be selected for seven years straight. However, it seems that this time would be different.

Kal didn't know if he should even clap and congratulate the kid since he knew what this adoption was really for.

The kids clapped and smiled as they waited for the next person to be announced.

"Jeremy." The blond boy stood up right after Lucy announced his name. He looked at Oscar and smiled, the other boy's smile brightened even more as they both stood side by side of one another.

'They must be friends.' Kal thought as he glanced at the two.

Ian, who was keeping his attention at both Lucy and Kal, noticed Kal's somewhat lost expression when he looked at the two boys and was confused by it.

Ian felt responsible for his newly acquired friend and looked at his older brother for help. Ivan quickly knew why his twin was staring at him with such eyes and could only sigh and point at the untouched chocolate pudding in front of Kal, trying to signal that maybe it will help make the boy pay attention to other things.

Ian's eyes lit up and smiled and gave Kal a little push, just a little to not hurt him by accident, and as soon as he felt Kal's eyes were on him, he pointed at the pudding while maintaining his smile.

The two saw how Kal's expression eased and ate the pudding in pure bless. Ian knew that he succeeded with his task and giggled, feeling accomplished by what he had done.

Ivan simply stared at the two and shook his head.

Truth be told, seeing Kal's blissful expression did make him feel a little bit happy. This must be what his little brother felt and Ivan didn't mind this feeling every once in a while.

Everything came to a halt when they heard their names being called.

"Ivan and Ian." The twins had no choice but to stand up amidst the now gasps and low murmurs of the kids around them.

"Someone actually wanted those freaks??!" A side character, who was standing with the rest of the chosen, voiced his thoughts.

"Heh, even creeps like them are wanted these days. Bet their future family had some mental problems to choose these two." A not so angelic white lotus said gaining nods from the rest of the kids.

Ivan and Ian turned a deaf ear to all of them but still noted down the ones who cursed at them with an innocent face.

They will take revenge later.

If a body or two were found, no one will suspect them and blame it on the jealousy of the unfortunate kids who weren't chosen.

Finally, Lucy called out the last name on the list with a smile gracing her slighty ugly face.

"Kallous."

Kal stood up calmly as everyone in the hall looked at him while holding a breath.

He glanced up at Lucy and Cian and saw the evil smirk they tried to hide as they both clapped which was followed by loud congratulations and praises.

"You go brother!"

"Sniff. I never been so happy in my life."

"Congratulations youngest!"

"Yeah!!!"

As the crowed tried to take this chance to 'hug' Kal, they were stopped by the two young demon twins who stuck right by Kal's side.

"You are quite popular." Ian whispered while glaring at the kids who tried to get close.

Kal flashed a side glance at him which spoke plenty and made one of the twins who saw it, laugh while the other simply smiled.

"I guess your plan worked, congrats on being chosen." Ivan maintained his smile as he looked at Kal.

Kal, who finally figured out how these two ended up on the list with him, looked at both of them and questioned in a low voice.

"you followed me?"

It was more of a statement than a question but it still had that questioning tone at the end of it.

Ian shook his head trying to hide that fact only to be betrayed by his brother who was nodding. Ian knew that it was useless to hide it anymore so he quickly nodded while feeling sad that he had been caught.

Allyn who watched this scene couldn't help but comment on it.

✿ 'These two boys genuinely seem innocent, can we keep them forever?'

─ 'It's useless. They already have someone looking for them and waiting for their return, keeping them will only lead to unnecessary trouble.

As long as their deaths are prevented and they return safely, we will be able to stop a future calamity and gain a potential ally.'

Kal knew that there was more to gain if these two were returned to their family as soon as possible.

However, Allyn had other ideas in mind.

✿ 'What if...I mean...let's just say that our plans succeeded and we were able to stop one of the biggest catastrophes in this century and all that. However, what if these two decline your offer to return to their families and instead stay with you?'

Kal fell silent and looked up at the twins who were chatting and sneaking glances at him, mostly Ian as he felt quite guilty, while the rest of the kids were eating in the background.

He looked down and clinched his fists.

─ 'That won't happen. No one would deny meeting their own family, especially these two, so stop having ideas that have zero to no chance of happening.'

Kal sighed which was noticed by the twins. They both looked at each other and gave him a cookie each, as if this cookie would get him out of the state he was in,

"Sorry." Ian quietly apologized which was followed by Ivan who only silently looked everywhere but at Kal's eyes.

Hearing no reply, Ian took this chance and explained.

"We.., I was worried so I followed you. I didn't mean to witness the whole ordeal but since you wanted to take part in this so bad, I.. No, we thought that it was best to join in as well."

They both looked at Kal and saw him, after what felt like an hour, take the cookies they offered and ate them in silence.

This, by default, was like an instant sign that he wasn't mad, which made Ian sigh in relief as Ivan patted his back.

Ivan still felt a bit wary of Kal, still thinking that he was related to the beings he had In mind. However, as days went by, he grew a tiny bit attached to the kid, especially since he means no harm to his twin nor him.

That alone made Ivan see him in a different light.

Yes, he might be dangerous but he is still a child.

Much younger than him and his brother.

It made Ivan wonder what kind of life he lived before he came to the orphanage.

Kal felt eyes on him and was shook to see that it was Ivan,

'I'm not even interested in finding out what's going through his mind, given those sympathetic eyes..' Kal knew that it was best to turn a blind eye to such matters.

He was never a fan of dramas anyways.

Totally ignoring Ivan's pierce gaze, he looked up and saw the old hag and her minions chatting happy as they ate.

Kal couldn't wait to wipe out that smile from her face.

'It's only a matter of time.' He assured himself as he smiled and finished off his snacks that the twins gracefully filled his plate with.

They both knew that something was up when they saw the smile on Kal's face, and they knew best not to question it.

However, One thing was certain.

Chaos will reign.

The shadows never lie after all.