BUTTERFLIES - READER INSERT

03. The Lies x The Truths x The Resolves

LEORIO BREATHED IN AS HE THOUGHT ABOUT THE PAST. The night was stormy in Meteor City, and trash was piled everywhere(like always), but the rainy weather made it stink just as bad as the summer weather does. People were in the streets screaming about the Phantom Troupe hunting for something— for someone.

He remembers a swarm of butterflies entering his makeshift house, his only cover at the time as a bloodied woman stands before him, a plea in her [E/color] eyes as she begs for him to take you. "Please." she starts, putting a small baby in his arms, "don't let them find them. My [Name], I cannot bear for them to be lost. My nen beasts will stay with you, but they'll eventually fade. I'm sorry, please..." she starts as Leorio holds you close to his chest.

"I'll do it," he says, holding the woman's hand as he cradles a baby you with one arm. "[Name], I'll care for them. Do not worry," he promises as the woman slowly starts to fall apart, a smile on her face as she lets go of his hand and caresses his face.

"Thank you, my kind boy," she says and with her final words, she had evaporated into thin air.

"That was your first and only time meeting them?" you asked as Leorio nodded.

"Her uhm, nen beast— I'm not sure what they were— stuck around for a while. Until you were four, they eventually faded out of existence," he says and something weird climbs into your chest as you nod.

"Was it the day I remembered my past life?" you asked as Leorio looked at you like you said something weird, but then he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Past life, huh? It explains why the ten-year-old I take care of is so mature." he says, running a free hand through his hair, "what is it like? Your past life?" he asks as you twirl with your thumbs.

"I was your biggest fan," you tell him with a bitter laugh in your voice. "You're a hunter in the future and you made— make, you make me wanna be one too." you tell him as you bite your lip, "but I couldn't be one in the past."

"Why not?" he asks as you fold your knees into your chest.

"My mom, the one in my past life, was a hunter." you tell Leorio bluntly, "she died giving birth to me, and my dad, from my first life, had resented me for it. My siblings didn't care or maybe they hated me too. I tried to stay out of the spotlight, to escape by marrying, but... I sacrificed myself for this girl who was traveling with her brother." you say and you didn't expect that even talking about your past life to fill your chest with such extreme pain. You thought that all that had happened was done and over with. You thought you had washed it all away.

"I don't regret it though. If-if I didn't die then everything you experienced, you would have been alone!" you sobbed, "I-I wished I was your family. I wished I was loved. And-and-and I am, I am so loved!" you sob, wiping away your tears as your eyes burn. "I'm still so mad about everything. Even though I try to not think about it. I'm angry with my shitty old man, with my siblings— why can you love me, who isn't even your blood!?" you scream in frustration.

You could feel Leorio bringing you in for another hug as his hand ran through your hair and clung onto his shirt, "why couldn't they love me too?" you asked as Leorio sighed.

"I don't know how they couldn't," he says, kissing the top of your head affectionately. "Even if this [Name] I love is fake. I will always love [Name], no matter who they are. Because I'm their big brother, no matter what." he says, and when you close your eyes you find yourself asleep.

Just like how a child would after they had thrown a fit.

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