Aeonian - Oikawa Toru x Reader

Ch. 01 - The Beginning of Everything

"I don't know about school or anything like that," Miwa said, gathering my hair into her hands, "but it's been really good to have another girl in the house."

Yes, I'm sure it was. Her words certainly sounded truthful, and I couldn't find a reason why they wouldn't be - even if just a way to make me feel better about the current situation, which was still admittedly so strange and hard to get used to, the way she said it let me believe it.

Besides all that, it made sense she would feel that way. With her and Tobio's parents - my aunt and uncle - staying late at work all the time, our grandfather would often watch them in their stead. Miwa often was the only girl in the house, having to compete with her younger brother and her grandfather at the same time.

But now, I was here to help even it out. Actually, the roles were reversed, now.

I was here, and grandpa was not.

The girls well outnumbered the boys now, but while a more playful me might have pointed it out, it was obvious and right now... I didn't feel like making a joke of it, not with everything still so fresh, the metaphorical wound so raw. I didn't want to upset her and perhaps more than that, I was still so upset myself that I didn't want to make it worse.

So, I took a deep breath in and released it slowly, not wanting to cry again. My breathing was shaky despite my efforts to keep it steady, and Miwa let go of my hair only to lean forward, resting her chin on my shoulder and wrapping her arms around me.

"It's alright," she cooed gently, knowing me well enough by now to know that I was on the verge of tears - though even if she didn't know me as well as she did, it was obvious, both in my body language and recent behavior. "I know it still hurts. We're all sad, (Y/n)."

"I still can't believe it," I managed to stammer out even as a tear rolled down my cheek, and I clutched her forearms in my hands to keep her close.

I'd been kneeling in front of her and she had wanted to braid my hair. With her knelt behind me, she had begun brushing through my hair, and we had gotten to talking. The conversation started off simply enough, and soon turned to how I liked living here, and then, well... it was obvious. It led to how we were right now.

"We all lost a lot recently," Miwa said gently. "You more than anyone. It's alright to cry, (Y/n). I'll be here for you."

My grandfather's illness had taken a toll on everyone in the family, and that went double for his rapid decline. Everyone was hit hard, Miwa and Tobio especially, given how close they were to him. But in saying I had lost more than anyone, I knew what she meant.

My parents had long since split up, far before this all happened. Financial strain, I was told. But even now, I didn't know where my mother was, but my dad had been wonderful to me. That was, of course, until his own father got sick.

My father started to neglect his own well-being and long story short, the entire family thought it was best for me to be here, at least for the time being.

Parting with my father had been difficult. Losing my grandfather had been harder still.

But I was here now, living with my aunt and uncle (when they were home, anyway) and my cousins, too. They had a beautiful home in a peaceful neighborhood, but I found myself wanting to go home. Humble though our furnishings were, simple though the conditions were... it was home.

I remember visiting this house as a child and marveling at everything this part of the family had, all that my father had been unable to provide, but I was never left wanting for anything. No, we had each other, and our company, and my grandfather would visit us often and it was always fun to visit my cousins here.