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"𝐇𝐄𝐘, 𝐘/𝐍,"
She looked down from the tree, a smile washing over her face when she laid eyes on the boy below her. She fixed her kimono before hooking her legs over the branch, and hanging upside down. The tips of her hair blew in the breeze as she smiled.
“Hi, Satoru,” She said. “When did you get here?”
“A few minutes ago. My father is talking with your mother,” He said, sitting on the ground in front of her.
“Hmm...why?” She asked, pulling herself up before dropping on the ground, sitting across from him. The white-haired boy shrugged.
“I dunno,”
“Well, if they wanted us to know, they would tell us, right?” She asked, brandishing a bright orange fruit from behind her back. “Want one?”
“Sure. Give me yours too,” He said with a grin. “I know you can’t peel it.”
“Hey! That’s mean, Satoru!” She pouted, softly glaring at him as he peeled the fruit with a laugh.
“Sorry, sorry! I couldn’t help myself,” He chuckled as he handed the fruit back. “You’re just so cute when you get flustered like that.”
“I must be hearing things,”
Both of them looked over to the second boy that approached. Y/n smile faded, her shoulders slumping down. Gojo tsked under his breath. The silver-eyed boy crouched next to Y/n, taking the half-peeled fruit from her hands.
“I could have sworn you called my fiance cute just now,” He said, handing the fruit back to Y/n as he glared at the white-haired boy. She placed her hands in her lap, turning her head away.
“I don’t want it,” She mumbled. He frowned.
“Why not?”
“I just don’t,” She huffed. “Satoru and I were talking, Rokuro.”
“So?” He scoffed.
“So, it’s rude to interrupt other people’s conversations,” Gojo said. “We weren’t talking about you, so it had nothing to do with you.”
“Huh?” The boy cocked his head to the side. “It sure as hell does when you’re sneaking around with Y/n.”
“We’re not sneaking around, Rokuro! Everyone can easily see us,” Y/n frowned, grabbing the boy by his arm. “We always sit here and talk.”
“Yeah, well, not anymore,” He said, roughly grabbing her arm. “Let’s go, Y/n.”
“B-but--Ow! Rokuro, you’re hurting me!” She yelped, the bruising grip on her arm tightening as she tried tugging away from him. The next thing she knows, the black-haired boy is flying back several feet before tumbling on the ground. Something flashed past her, and Gojo was instantly on top of Rokuro, slamming his fist down on the boy’s face. Y/n’s eyes widened when Gojo drew his fist back, and blood dripped from his knuckles.
The girl stumbled back as the two of them broke out in a fight. Satoru would swing and Rokuro would counter. Rokuro would step back and Gojo would trip him. Both of them were bloody, faces and knuckles torn to pieces. Y/n couldn’t do anything but watch, eyes wide with fear and shock. Her mother, who had glanced outside after hearing the commotion, quickly stood and rushed outside.
“Satoru!” “Rokuro!”
The two boys were split with a single wave of the white-haired boy’s father. Both of them hit opposite sides of the fence, making them both wince and groan with pain. Her mother quickly rushed to her, grabbing her hands.
“Are you alright, Lady Y/n?” Rokuro’s father asked, glancing down at her. She nodded.
“Y-yes,”
“Rokuro! What is the meaning of this?” His mother yelled, her eyes widening at the sight of her bloodied son.
“This is your fault!” The child yelled, glaring towards Y/n as he wiped the blood from his broken nose.
“Shut your mouth,” Sho walked from the home, returning the glare to the silver-eyed boy. Being years older than him, Sho was intimidating to them. He stood threateningly, hands shoved deep in his pockets. He then turned to Y/n. “Come on.”
She scampered towards the teen boy, taking his hand as he extended it to her. She glanced back to see her mother walking towards Gojo, taking a handkerchief and grabbing his face as she started wiping the blood from his face. She tore her gaze away from the yard, instead, focusing it on her feet as she walked with her older brother.
“Why are there bruises on your arm, Y/n?” He asked, leading her into the washroom. She shook her arm to let her kimono sleeve fall back down.
“I-I fell-”
“Don’t lie to me,” He said, picking her up and placing her on the sink. He grabbed a rag and wet it with warm water, before wiping the dirt from the bottom of her feet. “It was Rokuro, wasn’t it? That’s why Satoru hit him.”
Y/n looked away guiltily, feeling bad for having lied to her elder sibling. He placed the rag down before drying her feet. He then opened the medicine cabinet and took a bruise ointment.
“Roll your sleeve up,” He said.
“I’m sorry,” She mumbled, wincing as he swiped the cream onto her arm.
“It’s alright,” He said. “But next time, come find me. Just because you’re arranged to marry Rokuro, doesn’t give him the right to grab you like that. You're both still very young. At eleven years old, he should not be controlling you like that.”
“I wanna make sure Satoru is alright,” She said, squirming on the counter.
“Hold on a second,” He said, closing the lid and placing the jar before helping her down. She ran from the room, and down the hall, Sho walking after her with his hands in his pockets. She bounced from room to room, peering inside for the boy. Sho leaned against the wall, watching as she scurried into the tea room. She sat beside the boy, taking a cloth from her mother’s hand, and started wiping the blood from his face.
“Rokuro is not her first love,” Sho said, looking to the girl’s mother as she walked towards him. “Nor is he at all.”
“No,” She sighed. “Y/n’s heart belongs to Satoru.”
“It’s a shame she won’t be able to be with him,” He said. “Her and Satoru…”
“Your father has made the decision. There’s nothing we can do about it now,” She said.
“When I-”
“Even when you take over, Sho, it would be too late. Y/n would already be married off. And if my guess is correct, we won’t see her again. For a very long time,” Her mother frowned, slipping her hands in the arms of her kimono with a sad sigh. “I fear my daughter’s safety with Rokuro.”
“Do you think it’ll awaken in her if she needs it to?” He asked, looking over to the woman.
“Yes. All it takes is a small shove in the wrong direction,” She said, gazing across the room to her daughter, who looked around before smiling and brandishing an orange from her sleeve and offering a piece to Gojo.
