Have one eye open

6| SISTER.2

I had so much school stuff and also my tennis practise every day because of the tryouts so im only getting started on this chapter now- dont hate me..

Coco (NYC)

I still couldn't believe how easy this had been. My family had taken me back without hesitation. My dad, after hearing my story, believed me without a second thought. My mother recognized me with just a glance—nothing but instinct and maternal love—and Kenzo, almost like my twin, knew exactly who I was the second our eyes met. My other brothers needed more explaining, but once I repeated my story, this time for Denzel to hear, they all started to come around.

I found myself in my mother's arms for what felt like hours. She was hysterical for most of that time, and I felt an odd sense of peace in the chaos, grateful that someone was crying over me, grieving for the loss I hadn't even acknowledged yet. Was this what being loved felt like? If so, it was foreign to me, and for the briefest moment, I wanted to hold onto that feeling forever.

But that would be fleeting.

Eventually, I managed to explain everything to my family. It wasn't easy. Denzel, ever practical, had called in the family doctor to confirm my blood relation. At first, it felt unnecessary, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that confirming it for them—solid, undeniable proof—was something they needed. They trusted me, but doubts... well, they lingered. Everyone was reluctant, except Kenzo. Kenzo, still the perceptive one, had convinced them with some psychological argument that I couldn't quite follow.

As I spoke, sharing the horrors of what had happened to me—what I had endured—my brothers couldn't help themselves. They interrupted constantly. I was used to that, the chaotic, overlapping conversation of family, but this felt different. It felt strained. The only one who remained calm was Dad, holding my mother as she cried into his chest. Denzel looked distraught but composed; Ambrose was pacing around the room, shouting curses and threats at anyone who'd listen, probably making plans for revenge even as I spoke. Zee was silent but fuming, the weight of my pain hitting him harder than I'd expected, maybe because he blamed himself for not being able to protect me. Ajax... well, Ajax was already glued to his laptop, rifling through everything I knew about the organization that had taken me. Then there was Kenzo, my Kenzo, silently watching from the sidelines, his eyes cutting through me as though he could see everything beneath the surface.

I couldn't stop hiding. Hiding from them, hiding from myself.

As much as I tried to conceal it, my dark side—the side that didn't care, that felt no empathy or remorse—it would always be with me. It wasn't something I chose; it was ingrained in me, programmed into my bones, my psyche. Indifference was survival. My emotions weren't gone. They just weren't present. I could pretend that I was handling it, playing the part of the daughter who had returned home. But my mind, my heart? They weren't here. Not fully.

The part of me that had lived through hell—the part that had done the impossible, had done what was needed to survive—couldn't just switch off. I had killed. I had tortured. I had seen and done things that would scar most people for lifetimes, and I had to accept it. I didn't feel guilt. Not for any of it.

The question I kept asking myself, though, was how long I could keep up the façade. Would my family be scared of me? Would they fear what I had become?

I had never been afraid of those things, but there was a nagging thought, like a seed buried deep within me. And it was the first time since my return that I let the feeling flood in.

No, I snapped to myself. Do not feel. Do not think. Do not lose control.

This wasn't about me. This wasn't my fight. I had made a promise. I had a plan.

Kenzo, I knew, wasn't fooled. He had been staring at me, his gaze steady, trying to unravel whatever was happening beneath the surface. I didn't need him looking too closely, not now. He'd already realized more than I wanted to admit. Despite everything, he could still read me like no one else. It was no different from when we were kids. But now... it wasn't just the child I had left behind; it was something else entirely. The monster that I had become.

We left the house in silence, but the atmosphere between us was thick with unspoken thoughts. I asked Kenzo to walk me to the car because, I knew, he had something to say—something I didn't think I was ready to hear.

We didn't speak on the way, just the sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel path. I tried to remain composed, focused on getting through the moment. We stood in front of the car, the darkened windows giving nothing away as we awaited the driver. But before I could enter, Kenzo spoke.

"I can't read you anymore." His voice was heavy, almost hesitant. "You're different. You've been different since you walked through the door. And I know you're hiding something. I can see it—this... wall around you, built from all of your pain. You're waking up from it now, but that nightmarish grip, that thing that happened to you, it's still holding you. I can see it. You have to let it go. You need to let it go, Coco."

The words struck hard. Kenzo was usually the quiet one, the one who kept his distance with his words, but now? He was almost pleading.

I didn't say anything right away. I just stood there, letting his words settle, forcing them away. No. This wasn't how it was going to work.

"I'll let it go," I finally replied. My voice was colder than I intended, colder than even I wanted. "But only when the guilty pay."

He froze, processing my words. It was the truth I could never leave behind. This was my redemption, my reckoning.

Kenzo gave me a small nod, his thoughts a tangle I couldn't begin to untangle. Before walking away, he turned back, meeting my eyes one last time, and that was it.

Inside the car, I felt the pull of the mission now more than ever, but my family wasn't far from my thoughts. Kenzo... he was too close, and I could tell that despite the distance I was putting between us, he could still see through it all. His love would be a double-edged sword in this game.

As we pulled away, I saw his figure standing there, staring after me, and I knew: the war had already begun.

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just edited this one, cant wait to write new chapters!