Silent Resilience

Thunderstorms

"Mooooom, my feet hurt"

"Come on, I'll get you ice cream later okay? Just after I find a shoe store" Mila laughed, tugging Adriel's hand.

Together, they moved through the crowded mall with a slight struggle. Adriel was so tiny, he got practically squished at every corner. He winced, squeezing his mother's hand tighter.

"Why couldn't dad come?"

"I told you sweetie, he's busy at work. Is everything okay?"

"The people here are scary. And tall" he whispered, speaking in his native tongue. It got him a few odd stares from the Japanese shoppers around him, but Adriel didn't notice.

Ever since they moved, just a few weeks ago, the foreign family was always the victim of staring when they went out in public. Mila brushed it off as a shock-factor, although Adriel couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable from the watchful eyes.

It didn't help that Adriel could barely understand Japanese; he had only started lessons a month ago. He wasn't exactly the quickest learner, although the boy was slowly starting to get the hang of it. Still, as they walked through the bustling mall, Adriel wished he could understand what the adults around him were saying.

"The people here are just regular old people, Adriel" Mila gave him a warm smile, replying in Malay. "They stare, and they whisper, and it sucks. But there's no need to be afraid of what they think"

"Easy for you to say" Adriel huffed childishly. "You can understand what they're saying!"

"Not that well" she sheepishly admitted. "But we're both still learning, and that's fine. And even if I didn't know Japanese, I still wouldn't care about what they said"

"Why?"

"Well, there's only one of me, and I'm not going to change that for anything" Mila chuckled. "And if they have something to say about it, I guess I'll just learn how to tune them out"

Adriel looked up at his mother with a frown. "How are you so brave? Everytime I try to do the same, I just get scared"

"Sweetie, I'm still scared even now" she responded. "But I've built up my resilience over the years. It's silent, but stronger than anything else I know"

She looked back with a smile and placed a hand on his head. "And I know someday you'll build up yours too. And you'll be even stronger than me"

That day at the mall, Adriel gripped his mother's hand tighter than he ever did.

"Ow"

"Stop moving"

"But it hurts"

"Didn't you say something about this earlier?" Kyoya sighed, adjusting the damp cotton pad he held against Adriel's face. "Something like 'pain is just a feeling' or whatever"

"A really strong feeling" Adriel cringed. The bite of alcohol seeped into his cut, bringing a cold, stinging sensation to the entire right side of his face.

Luckily, the cut didn't actually go into his eye. It only scratched the corner, done by one of the older boy's fingernails during his punch. Though it was still enough for Adriel to be heavily disoriented; with both eyes damaged in some way, he could barely see two feet in front of him.

"Heh, that's funny" Adriel weakly laughed, eyes glazing over. "Has your hair always looked so dome-like?"

"If that's what you think, you should see the twins' middle school photos" Kyoya snorted. "I have a picture on my laptop. Once you can see again, I'll send it to you"