wait for me [illumi zoldyck]

Chapter 2

(updated: Jan 13, 2021)

Mia

I take Illumi home. Holding his hand the entire way, like we were still the little children from many years ago.

We sit facing each other in the manor's main foyer. The house is exactly the way it was before, considering he last visited over a year ago. The lounge area used to be one of the areas in the house that we'd spent a lot of time in. Of course, always supervised by one of the Hano stewards.

The white walls, which encompass the room, emphasize the iridescent gleaming windows which allow an immeasurable amount of light to come pouring into the large room. The couches, in the far center of the room, overlook the massive fireplace which spans to the size of almost four full-sized men in height. The wood we use to light the chimney is specifically collected from the fallen or weak branches of the World Tree.

My mother always liked it when the fireplace was lit. She said it made this house feel more like home. So my father made sure to have it lit all hours of the day, every day. Even now that she's gone.

Illumi looks around, quietly observing the room. The fireplace emanates a humming glow against his pale skin. His mouth rests in a flat line, calmly. He hasn't spoken a word since we arrived.

"Illumi, why are you here?" I ask absentmindedly, staring into the flames.

A silence fills the room, once again.

I refuse to bring myself to look at him. However, after a few moments of mortifying silence, I drag my eyes to meet his own. They stare at me, from where he sits, lacking any ounce of emotion. Our eyes meet, and a shiver runs down my spine. As much as we try to avoid it, there are questions that must be posed. A year's worth of questions. Loss. Pain. Neither of us wants to bring it up.

Why did you leave?

I can't bring myself to mutter the question. There is anger within me, for the pain he inflicted. The calamity of his actions leaving a lasting sadness. Even now that he has returned, I fear the hope within me will deplete as soon as I let the words fall out. We look at each other, with knowing eyes. No words are shared, for a moment too long. He slowly opens his mouth, about to speak. My breathe hitches.

However, before he can speak, the thick tension is cut in half by the distant muffled wailing of a child. Matsu must have woken from her evening nap. I breathe deeply, quickly standing from my seated position. I am thankful for the interruption, having more time to collect my thoughts. I've had over a year's worth of time, but it wasn't enough.

"Madame." A young stewardess enters the room quietly, looking down at her feet nervously. "Your sister has woken, she had a dream."

My ears perk up at the mention of dreams. Matsu has the special nen ability to predict the future. It's surprising that at her age she was able to develop such a skill. It became evident the moment she began to speak. She'd announce an odd dream that she could remember and it would happen in the near future.

Her ability quickly spread to nearby towns and cities and many people would request their future to be told. In the beginning, the stewards would have to turn away random people who would show up at our gates. However, as more people learned of her ability, the more they began to amass at our manor and so father chose to take matters into his own hands. To this day, nobody knows what he did or said, but people stopped talking about Matsu and nobody tried to come to see her.

When I return to the foyer with my younger sister, Illumi eyes the small child. He hasn't moved from where he sits, since I left to collect her. Instead, he sits uprightly with his hands resting robotically onto his lap. He has the same look in his eyes but I know he won't speak until we are alone once more.