𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄

十八 | 𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍
𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

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「 SIX YEARS AGO 」

"Do you have everything, Onii-san?" (Y/N) asked excitedly as a young thirteen year old.

"Of course, (Y/N)," the older man laughed as he ruffled her hair affectionately, his eyes shining with equal excitement.

"Ken," Wayne called from the foyer, (Y/N) watching as her older brother's smile vanished at the voice of their stern father.

"Yes, father?" He gave a polite smile as he turned to walk into the living room, (Y/N) being quick to hide behind the wall so she could listen in, her brows furrowed in concern.

"To-Oh University..." Wayne stated, his eyes sharp as he stared down at his son. "It's an exceptional school, yet you could have done better. I'll accept the work that you put into achieving only this, but I expect that you be at the top of your peers and nothing less. Do you understand?"

"Of course, father," Ken nodded, watching silently as Wayne then slipped on his coat and hat to follow Mio out the door to the car.

Cussing silently under his breath as soon as his parents were gone, Ken pounded his fist against the wall in anger, his expression more wrinkled in disgust and irritation than (Y/N) had ever seen before. Clutching her hands to her chest in apprehension, she slowly approached Ken, flinching when he practically snapped his neck around to face her, his anger quickly melting away into something remorseful when seeing the slight fear present within her wide eyes.

"Sorry, (Y/N)," he exhaled softly, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and pointer finger, making them more red-rimmed than they already were. "I'm just... no, sorry, it's nothing."

"Onii-san..." she trailed off, rubbing her bare arm nervously as she let her gaze fall to the floor while he knelt in front of her. "...why is father being so mean to you?" Looking up to meet his own gaze, she was surprised by the look of regret that he gave her, she continuing by saying, "And... why do you look so mad? And sad? Like... sad-mad?"

At that, he chuckled softly and ruffled her hair once more, a grin crossing her lips when knowing she had said the right things to cheer him up.

"Come on," he chuckled, picking her up and practically swinging her out the door, strong enough to do so since he had recently been going to one of the nearby gyms to get ready for his entrance ceremony, along with wanting to impress a girl that he'd been crushing on lately. "Let's not keep mother and father waiting!"

The car ride was filled with silence, Wayne making sure to keep both the radio and his family silent so that there was no distraction. However, (Y/N) would often get in trouble for making noise or fidgeting, Ken too since he'd always laugh whenever she did something over exaggerated.

That day was different though.

Everyone felt nervous since Ken would be giving a welcoming speech as freshman representative—having studied numerous hours just for the honor—and everyone could feel that tension. It was tangible and in the air, the young man doing everyone in his power to try and keep the facade of being collective when inside he was a nervous wreck, hiding his sweating palms by folding his arms and hoping that his beating heart and butterfly-filled stomach would settle. But the nearer they got, the more those feelings only multiplied.

While it wasn't unusual for families to let their child or children go off on their own to their orientation, there were many mothers and fathers and sisters and brother streaming in and out of the buildings, each with pride and nerves radiating from them, much like the (L/N) family who politely greeted anyone they knew as they filed to their seats, Ken eventually splitting off from them to sit in the front.

"Good luck, Onii-san," (Y/N) whispered, giving him a thumbs up to which he returned with a small grin.

Practically skipping over to her seat, she bounced happily until Wayne whispered harshly for her to stop fidgeting, Mio giving her a loving smile after the fact before turning her attention back to the front, successfully garnering their daughter's attention long enough to make it past the other representative speeches until it was her brother's turn. Watching in awe as Ken proudly and very much confidently spoke his speech, (Y/N) gave him an extra loud applause after he finished, hoping it was enough from both her and Wayne since the latter didn't even unfold his arms from his chest.

After that however, the main event in her opinion, she started getting antsy, eventually having the courage enough to ask to excuse herself to the restroom. Luckily, Wayne obliged, even Mio letting her go off on her own since it was a school and was protected heavily. Quickly hopping up from her seat, thankful that their's was in the aisle and to the back, the front being filled mostly with students and faculty, she used the restroom and was just walking back when something outside caught her eye, the cherry blossoms fluttering softly in the wind and creating little tornadoes and the ground. Finding that much more interesting in her childlike mind, she ventured out and started inspecting the pink petals, the color quite pleasing to her eye.

Spotting some that seemed to be even pinker in color across the street, she safely crossed after looking both ways and started inspecting those petals, unknown to her both parents and her brother searching around with clear distress, more so in the mother and son than in the father. When spotting (Y/N), they tried calling out for her, but she didn't hear them. However, shen she finally did turn around, it was only to spot Wayne shoving Ken into the road to go and fetch her.

Along with the car that crashed into him.

「 PRESENT 」

As Edu stared at (Y/N) who still sat in her chair, a dark shadow now resting over her features, he for once didn't have anything to say back to her after hearing her story.

Instead, he chose silence.

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To be continued...