Custom Made For You

Chapter 64- No, I'm Not Going To War

  "That sounded like something really urgent," Ceb stated the obvious.

I threw my phone over my shoulder, sinking back down onto the soft bed. "Yeah, it was. I have to go."

"What are you doing right now, then?"

"I really don't want to do this again."

"What is it though?"

I got up, started pacing back and forth in front of the bed, scratching my head, unsure of how I would phrase the situation. "Uh, so, you know who Airi is, right? What am I asking? Of course you do. Anyway, her mother is almost at her place. She needs me to be her pretend boyfriend again."

"Okay, how long has this been going on?"

"Uh, years?"

"Well, how bad could it be? Helping her, I mean."

"It is the absolute worst, alright? For every period Airi is single, she has me as her pretend boyfriend for her mother. So you can imagine how her mother thinks of me. Every time she sees me, she asks when I'll marry her or if we 'broke up' again."

"Oh, damn, that sucks. What happens if you don't go?"

"She gets killed, which is why" ─My jacket rested on my shoulders just before turning the door knob─ "We have to go, now."

"Wait, we?" He stood up too, following my lead.

"Yes, we, as in you and Vastel can either leave or come with me," I said, as I made my way into the living room.

"Sorry, Vastel, but Luz, we gotta go, Ai needs something," I tapped Luzien's shoulder.

He seemed a little dumbfounded, confused, actually. I wasted no time for him to react, immediately asking him for his car keys. Yes, it would be easier if I had just walked, but, a car would be faster. (I'm aware that I literally run to most places, just that this time, I wanted someone to hug right after her mother leaves.)

●◦●◦●◦

"So, uh, why are we here again?" Vastel popped up from behind.

The car stopped in front of Airi's.

"I'm just here to do my thing, you guys can continue what you were doing from before," I messed around with my hair a bit, in hopes that it would look better.

Luzien grabbed my arm before I could reach for the handle. "You're gonna be back soon, right?"

Vastel pulled his grip away from me. "He's not a child. He knows what he's doing, Lulu."

My brother furrowed his eyebrows, pressed Vatel back into his seat with force in annoyance, only to get Vastel commenting, "Ooh, someone's aggressive today."

He rolled his eyes at him, ignoring him afterwards, turning to me, "You've probably done this a lot, huh? Just get in and get out, we have unfinished business ourselves too."

"Yeah, I'll miss you," Luzien patted my head. "Now, go."

I looked at all of them, not knowing to laugh or cry. They treated it like I was going to war. It wasn't much, to be frank, I have done it more times than I could count. Then again, it really felt like I was going into a battle of some sort and my family would be waiting for my return.

Stepping out of the car, the sun shone on me mercilessly, as if to tell me things may not go as smoothly as I hoped it would be. I should have took that as a sign.

●◦●◦●◦

"Hey, Ai," I greeted, stepping through her door once I had unlocked it.

She grabbed me by my wrist, "She's not here yet. Go change and look like you were here all along."

I nodded. "How much time do I have left?"

"Twenty to thirty minutes," she said, throwing a pair of cargo shorts I had not seen in centuries (I'm pretty sure I threw this away) and a rubber band to me. "Tied your hair up, she's probably gonna nag you for that."

I sighed, yet I had no choice but to obey. She knows her mother best, that means she would know what she loves and hate. At least, that's what I think.

A series of frantic knocking on the door added to already floating panic in the air. I was physically ready, with my tied up man-bun and oversized shirt.

"Took you long enough to open the door," I heard the painfully familiar angered shriek.

I really did not want to step out from the closet (Literally).