Shadows of our end - KDA x Male Reader (Original)

Act 2 - 023

As the two of us broke apart another person joined the two of us, someone else entirely that I haven't met yet. He stops short of us and shoots a glance at Akali who catches his stare and then gestures at him.

"Matt, this is him," he nods. "And well, (Y/N) this is Matt. He was tenth but has been pushed down to eleven since you came here."

He narrows his eyes before greeting me. "Pleasure to meet you," his voice is soft-yet-deep.

"What do you do?"

He rubs the back of his neck before. "Smoke. Fire. Embers. All of that, I can create and manipulate it." He then gestures at me, "Nothing like yours though, hard enough to keep my smoke in a shape but yours is closer to shadows than mine."

I nod. "It's more shadow than smoke," I inform him, "the misconception comes from the effects."

With another nod, "Juno talked highly of you, oh," he sticks out his hand, "No hard feelings about you kicking me off my place, besides, between all the students out there I think you deserve it more than they do."

Akali chuckles, "Looks like you might actually make a friend without having to walk the miles," she pats my arm. "Uhm," she looks past me only to see Evelyn and she then glances at him, "going to... meet up with the old crew it looks like."

He sticks his hands in his pockets and locks eyes with me. "Take care of her, don't want to deal with her pissed-off ass when she eventually decided to come back here."

She flips him off, "Know that you are allowed to hang out with them, not like I am keeping you on a leash or anything."

He breathes out, "They annoy me anyway," he turns around. "Nice meeting you, (Y/N). Hope to see what you are capable of, at this rate we need the best and a whole lot of them, the rest of us need that hope to become stronger."

I gesture at him as I leave, "You've made a friend that doesn't hate me immediately."

She breathes out. "It's... a bit different than that... actually." I nod slowly.

"Boyfriend?"

"Not like that, not anymore at least," she breathes out as she shoots him a glance. "Never worked out but he's been there for me and I'd like to believe that I've been there for him. That came after that and it didn't work out considering he said no to me," she chuckles.

"To you?" I scoff. "I would never."

She shakes her head at me. "Different people, different tastes."

"Do I need to express that his tastes are shit?"

She rolls her eyes at me and walks past me. "I'd believe you if you made a move on me all those years ago, maybe you are just fascinated with the idea of me. Besides, I changed."

I follow after her as I state, "You have, you are almost a little bit taller."

"Fuck off."

I chuckle. "Missed you."

"Yeah... I did too. It probably looked even worse when my crush was someone who basically almost had the same powers as you... at least you know how to keep the conversation going."

I smile at her, "Are you doing this on purpose so that I don't get the chance to tease you about it?"

Her eyes widen slightly as she quickly shakes her head as she pouts. "No. I am just trying my best to kind of let you know about everything that happened over the years while you were gone..."

I nudge against her. "Thanks for trying."

"Hm mhm." She lifts her gaze as Eve watches the two of us with crossed arms. "Hey... Evelynn. Been a bit."

She nods slowly. "Don't pretend that we don't talk every day, besides," she stretches out her arms, "I don't blame any of you for grieving these past two years. There's been a lot to cry about but I've given you enough time to sulk."

She steps closer to hug her. "You know, I wasn't sulking, you were."

Evelynn breathes out with a heavy sigh. "You don't get to tell me what I did, besides, we were all doing our own thing and it is time we get the group together like always. And I fully intend on using (Y/N) to guilt trip all of you into the same area as me so that we can mend what we lost."

"Fuck yeah," she gives her another hug before breaking apart. "Kai'Sa next? She's just a few blocks way and she's been pretty depressed since yesterday so now's the time to talk to her," Akali looks at me. "Make her happy for me."

I furrow my brow at her. "I can't... magically make people happy-"

"She's upset because she didn't know how to react to you." Akali flashes me a weak smile. "She needs to hear from you, I think. None of us lost someone and ever expected them to come back two years after hell was on earth. She needs this... just go easy on her, she'll blame herself before you get a chance to tell her she isn't in the wrong."

"Aren't we all like that?" Evelynn interrupts her.

"We are," Akali lowers her gaze. "But right now? I think all of us are expecting to hear from you, and they will all need to ask before they are alone... if this is the same person we all knew all those years ago before the Void swallowed you whole."

I ask her, "What do you think, Akali?"

She locks eyes with me. "You look like you've gone through the thick of it, but still... you changed but in the end, you are still (Y/N)... and a large part of him is still there, the one we remember and mourned."

"And cherish," Evelynn winks at me. "Akali's a bit depressy these days."

"Shut up," she shrugs her off before chuckling. "I mean to say that the moment we heard the news that was the first time it looked like we were all seeing some light through all the darkness... funny that it came from the bastard shrouded in it."

I shake my head at her. "Would you have it any other way?"

She nods. "Would have helped if you introduced yourself before attacking the school, but... the outcome matters more to me. And this is fine."

Evelynn then turns around, "Then let's get the girls."

Akali smiles at her. "Yeah... let's."

I side next to Akali who is standing still, I give her a little nudge and flash her a smile. She flashes me the same smile before walking with me after Evelynn. She steps a bit closer with her finger wrapping around my thumb and giving it a squeeze before breaking apart.

"It's... a tad bit late... I don't want you to hold onto it either, I don't want to think about it either." She opens her mouth to say something but stops herself instead, she combs through her words with a sigh whispering something that I can barely make out. She then glances at me with a smile. "I just wanted you to know, that's how I felt. Welcome back, (Y/N)."

She doesn't give me a chance to respond, but instead quickly picks up the pace to side next to Evelynn.

The words are there, I could barely hear them but I still know what she said. She probably doesn't know if I did... maybe a part of her wants me to know, and another hoped that I wouldn't be able to hear her.

I like you.

It sets in like a burning piece of coal in my chest. The reason it could've hurt so much more, so much so that the feelings start to betray their nature. Why everything felt so painful... how did you talk to someone you adored... when they died? When you dug their grave? When you grieve their loss?

Only for him to come back.

I would be happy... but I'd be mourning something else entirely. The time I lost.