Parallel Series: Devouring Yren

1

It pissed him off to no end, but Rivaille honestly believed he would never forget that face.

The kind, yet antagonizing smile, circular spectacles that absolutely no one in this current generation wears, blond hair neatly parted in the middle - which was somehow able to maintain its perfect waves even under his helmet - and of course the height and broad chest of a twenty-five year old man, in spite of the fact this boy had to be something like fourteen.

The raven remembered the game like it was yesterday. He was the only freshman in his secondary school's varsity baseball team, and interestingly, so was the other boy. If he wasn't mistaken, Rivaille remembered the exact date as well, primarily because it was the date he could confidently say he began hating Pyri.

Pyri was the star player of the Warriors, a particularly talented student renowned for his pitch in the secondary school baseball world. So, not that big of a deal, but hearing people refer to him as the 'golden boy' of baseball really rubbed Rivaille the wrong way. That probably had something to do with Rivaille's unrecognized talent - for example, Rivaille's team won the game ultimately, yet Pyri got the recognition for putting up such a fierce fight. That and he was so charismatic, everyone fell in love with him at first sight. God, the raven hated try-hards like that, even if those kinds of people were typically not trying hard at all.

Rivaille had a lot of self confidence, he knew he was the best, and he didn't need to go to the lengths that Pyri did to retain his 'golden boy' title.

Done? No, Rivaille was just getting started. The raven didn't think he'd ever be able to look at blond people the same way after that one fucking game. Pyri had been such a cocky asshole, doing his best to attempt to throw off Rivaille throughout the whole event. The snide comments about Rivaille's height, lack of refined skill - telling people that the only reason he won was a result of him simply being a brute - amongst other things, they did get to him.

At the end of the game, Rivaille really didn't want to dwell on it, but he found himself unable to ignore the fact that Pyri very clearly belonged to a loving family. Rivaille watched from his team's dugout as a little chocolate haired boy ran into the tall blond bastard's arms, squealing in glee as Pyri held him in his arms and spun him around. Rivaille also watched as, who he had to assume was his father, congratulated his son for his hard work.

Sure, Rivaille was bitter. And yeah, even though his team won and he was ultimately superior, he didn't have anywhere near that kind of support. His little punk cousin wouldn't show up to one of his games even if someone put a gun to her head, his uncle hardly ever was in their city, and his mother worked full-time, and often on weekends.

He was used to it. Being alone.

And it was particularly painful when it occurred to him: he was jealous.

Whatever, it happens. He's only human.

It's not like Rivaille thought about Pyri often. Nearly four years had passed since that day, and Rivaille was now in his final year of secondary school. His goal was to basically run out the clock until he transitioned into university in the fall, and moreover, he had his own other personal shit to worry about.

The last thing he had expected at this late point in the school year was for Pyri to transfer into his exact class, much less the fact that Pyri now apparently had a little sister, and a fucking cute one at that.

The two siblings clearly had different mothers - there were a number of physical differences the raven could point out, not that he was staring at both of them, examining them as they passed in the halls, definitely not - but they had this very same essence about them. Wholesome. Confident. Try-hard assholes. Rivaille could see right through it.