It had been a long two months for Yukiri. Unfortunately for her, she had to return home to empty halls and the disgusted eyes of her adopted brothers. She grudgingly dragged her luggage across the vast walkway toward the school gates, the tip of her tail giving a low, agitated twitch against her leg with every step.
She had long despised her father for neglecting her. Standing in front of a black minivan was Ren, who had come to take her home for the two-week break. They sat in the comfortable yet suffocatingly quiet car as they made the drive back, her ears flattened just slightly against her hair to tune out the heavy silence.
Yukiri nearly fell asleep just as they pulled into the estate's driveway. The house was dim and quiet. Unfortunately for her, her father was sitting right in the living room, sipping whiskey. At the sound of his glass clinking against ice, her left ear flicked back in reflex, and her tail curled tightly inward. Ren quietly headed up the stairs, leaving her alone with him.
He slowly glanced up at rigid Yukiri, his eyes tired and full of distrust. "So. For the last two months, I have let you stay in that place you call a 'school.' You had better have been doing well there. You should be thankful I even paid your tuition and sent you an allowance. You should be even more thankful that I haven't thrown you to the Guardian Knights already. You cause so much trouble."
Yukiri said nothing at first, her ears pinning back completely as she glared up at the arrogant man, her eyes filled with fury. He was speaking of her education as if it were garbage. In that 2 months, she stopped being the scared little girl.
She stomped over to him, abandoning her luggage right where it stood. "You left me in a shed and starved me, then brought me back just to dress me as a boy and play dress-up! I hate you! It's not like I'm even your actual child! I would rather work to pay off my own tuition than take another cent of your pity money!"