Second Lead Syndrome || Diluc R. x Reader

Downtime

The cabin door suddenly swings open from beside them. Ida steps in, dressed in a casual beige blouse and denim pants. These are the most casual clothes Y/N has seen her wear in years.

"Y/N, we need to talk."

-----

Y/N glares at her sister. Something's different. Y/N can feel it in the air. Not just her newly-dyed light brown hair and strange attire, but something else Y/N can't place. However, she doesn't care to find out.

"Just fuck off, Ida," Y/N hisses as Diluc ever-so-slightly steps forward protectively. "I don't want to talk to or see you again unless it's at court."

"Okay, I get it," Ida states calmly, causing her sister to blink at her in surprise. Not a hint of malice or mockery in her voice. Silence falls as the sound of the waves accompanying the gentle rocking of the ship fills the air. 

Y/N confusedly stares at her sister, who opens and shuts her mouth as if attempting to start a sentence only to cut herself off. Diluc stands awkwardly beside Y/N, equally as confused as her, if not more, but offering his support nonetheless.

"Are you going to keep opening and closing your mouth like a fish or get out?" Y/N demands, more like a statement than a question.

Ida takes in a deep breath before glancing over to Diluc. "Please, Y/N. Just for a minute?"

Diluc's frown deepens, and Y/N has half a mind to say no but gives in, "Just for a minute."

Diluc opens his mouth to retort, but Y/N meets his eyes and simply shakes her head. "I'll be fine." The redhead sighs but nods and walks past Ida and out the door, glancing back at Y/N reassuringly as the door shuts.

As soon as the door closes, Ida states, "I'm sorry."

"What?" Y/N sputters out, her confusion now too great to be contained silently.

"I said I was sorry!" Ida repeats in a louder voice, the tips of her ears turning dark in embarrassment.

"No, I heard you. I just don't understand. Why are you apologizing? After all of this!" Y/N sputters. "What could you possibly apologize for now? You've already beaten me both in the courtroom and emotionally. I don't need your phony apology!"

Her voice echoes in the hallway of the ship, and Ida stands in silence, taking it.

Y/N marches up to her sister, arms crossed and seething with frustration. "You know who needed your apology? Your little sister four years ago. Even before then! If you could've looked past the fragile facade of our 'perfect family,' maybe you wouldn't have anything to be sorry about!"

"I know. I feel horrible, Y/N. Maybe I just need to relieve my guilty conscience, but I had to tell you." Ida says in a quiet voice. "You made the right choice leaving Fontaine when you did. It was suffocating living in that house every day with all that pressure and those responsibilities. And I'm sure it was just as bad for you, always being compared to me. I was bitter and angry that you were able to leave, and I was still trapped in that prison of an estate. I just wanted to live up to Mother's expectations so badly that I made up this stupid narrative that you single-handedly ruined our family. But our family was never perfect or happy. It was foolish of me to ever think bringing you back would somehow make something so dysfunctional function."

Y/N's glare softens slightly as her feelings all these years are validated. Even so, she can't trust her. "What's the catch?" Y/N demands.

"There's no catch," Ida insists. "I just wanted to tell you that you were right, and you aren't a coward for walking out when you had to. Leaving was by far one of the hardest things I've done. I was the coward for being too afraid to leave before." Ida responds.