do i wanna know? - scaramouche

2

"kazuha, hi!"

you ran after him, lugging your little backpack behind you. he glanced at you, a smile on his face because he heard your voice.

"(n/n)! it's been so long,"

"oh." tomo snarkily remarked upon seeing you tag along beside kazuha. he shot you his usual 'tall' boy glare. "go away, shoo,"

you glanced at him momentarily, not intimidated now that kazuha was here. you decided to ignore him, happily walking beside kazuha who was now sandwiched between the two of you while walking.

on your way to inazuma elementary, you could sense that kazuha was excited for his first day of school. a few other children around were walking with their parents to the said school too.

but your parents weren't around because they were far too busy to help you go to school, and so were kazuha's.

"we're first graders now," the red-eyed boy exclaimed.

"not me. i'm in second grade," tomo proudly annouced; yet sadly, he was ignored. again.

"i know, right?! kazuha, i hope we're seatmates,"

"me too!"

"you know, we were seatmates back in pre-school. we even shared our lunch together." tomo boasted, trying to make you jealous. he wanted to show you that kazuha was his best friend, and not yours.

but, your pure soul who was so isolated from making friends, suddenly felt a rush of excitement. sharing lunches? playing together? after so long, you could do that again?

"really, tomo?! we can do that?"

taken aback, he glanced at you weirdly. "um... uh, yes. that was what i did with kazuha. we played after school, too!"

kazuha hummed cheerfully, as if he was reminiscing the happy times he had with tomo. based on the look of his face, it really seemed that he had so much fun back then.

"woah, really? you can play after school?"

the three of you just kept chatting on the way to school. even if it wasn't tomo's intention, he was now somehow friends with you; he kinda saw you as a little sister, despite the really small age gap. you weren't socially inept like him and kazuha, and that fact made him think that he absolutely had to teach you how to do it properly.

---

the three of you became a friend group. you made lots of new friends (thanks to tomo, who taught you how to socialize) and you were having fun. but you still couldn't play much after school.

your brother mostly picked you up on time, not giving you even a few minutes of playtime unless he was busy doing student council work.

just as you got out of the room, getting ready to sprint, you heard the same calm cold voice that you always dreaded.

"(y/n), time to go home." ayato would say.

despite wanting to resist, you'd always oblige. you liked the praises your family gave you when you went along with their wishes, even if you didn't want to. the praises made you feel imporant and loved.

"it's the tall guy again! HEY, YOU TOWER! GIVE BACK (Y/N)- anwkdjdmmph!"

"tomo, shh! (y/n) has to study. besides, that's her older brother."

tomo forcefully pried off kazuha's hand that was silencing him, a frown on his face. "but he keeps taking her away. she's already top one, she doesn't need to study."

"yes... but..." kazuha mumbled in dismay, voice trailing off as he watched you walk away with your big brother.

scenarios like that weren't rare. tomo would often try to fight ayato for taking you away, while kazuha would restrain his friend's rude, rowdy behavior. ayato didn't really mind. a four feet seven tall second grader's threats didn't really affect him.