Runaways [MikaYuu]

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

A/N: Somehow writing this is so effortless for me right now, so enjoy a double update!! This is kind of filler-y but at least we learn a little something special about Yuu-chan ;) 

Also I'm low-key annoyed because we won't get to see Mika for a few more chapters, I'm so sorry I decided to write it this way haha!! I'm slowly regretting the lack of interaction they've had so far...

It's way past a normal time to go to sleep, but Yuu convinced himself that even if he was trying to sleep right now, his insomnia and his current worries would work together to keep him all night anyway.

And so, he sat at his desk. Writing. Something he's always enjoyed, whether it's for a school paper or just to get all the pestering thoughts out of his head and somewhere else for once. He found keeping a journal was therapeutic, because it allowed him to say all the things he wouldn't dare tell another soul. Or maybe it was because he was too afraid to admit them, and convinced himself no one would be willing to listen.

Either way, his journal is what kept him stable. Sometimes he found pleasure in reading the happy moments - limited, but they were still there - in his life, and other times he'd cringe from secondhand embarrassment from times where his past self was complaining, and promptly rip out the page, crumple it, and toss it in the fireplace.

By this point, roughly a third of the pages of his leather-bound notebook (the nicest quality his father could get from trade with the west) have been ripped out. Still, he stayed motivated to keep writing because it was one of the very few things Yuu liked to do that was not forced upon him by his parents.

So far, the list consisted of two things. Writing, and dancing. With Mika, that is.

God, Yuu really needed to pick up a hobby.

The ink from his fountain pen was staining the side of his hand as he wrote his journal entry for the evening. He wished he was in his escape room, as he always found himself to be more inspired while alone in complete silence, but Shiori was reading in the next room and he didn't want to risk her finding out his private space. So as long as she didn't try to peek over his shoulder, he was content with his desk (although the mere light from the nearby candlestick set made it difficult for him to see the pages).

I'm writing this the evening of Shinoa's birthday party, which was, in short, a disaster, he wrote, cringing a bit at his penmanship, which was never as good as his family expected of him. Then again, I didn't expect it to go seamlessly considering how stressed I've been lately.

The party itself was downright strange; nothing like I'd ever seen before. It was filled with gyrating dancers, with girls acting like scandalous whores practically on top of other salivating men. The music was way too loud, and the room was so dark, I could hardly see two feet in front of me.

Shinoa seemed to be enjoying herself, though. Unfortunately, I was attached to her hip throughout her birthday bash, and as the night progressed I realized how uncomfortable I was the entire situation. But for some reason, I couldn't figure out why. It's always been Yuichiro and Shinoa, the power couple of the Royal Academy, and there's never been anything besides it.

It's so obvious Shinoa loves the attention. At heart, she's actually quite down-to-earth, but she totally feeds on the energy she gets from being the popular princess at the Academy. She's totally cut out for the royal life, always saying the right things, and always the epitome of trained perfection.

I, on the other hand, seem to be struggling in that area.

It's becoming quite clear to me that we aren't much of a match at all; whereas Shinoa is at the top of the class, a prodigy at music, equestrian, and perfectly pristine and polite, I'm rude, sloppy, and can't focus. Our relationship seems to falter more every day. We get in arguments over the stupidest of things, she constantly criticizes me, just like my parents. All i want is the freedom to be myself, the freedom to grow up into the person I want to be, not what someone else thinks is best for me.