Y/N had just come back from her match with her little brother Naib Subedar. It was successful with a four-person escape and the hunter was the UWu Chungus, who was kited by Naib for four ciphers. Y/N was proud of her little brother for his skills, which unfortunately came from his days as a mercenary, but they sure were helpful.
"What's for dinner, Emily? I'm really hungry right now," the mercenary leaned on the kitchen counter and speared an apple with his blade. Y/N gave him a sideway glance and rolled her eyes, "When were you not hungry? You came in my room asking for snacks at 2 am last night!" Naib choked on a chunk of apple and punched her, "I thought you said you wouldn't tell!! I feel betrayal!" Y/N snickered and Emily tried very hard to maintain her composure and not laugh.
Y/N had joined the manor before Naib and during that time she had no idea about Naib's whereabouts. She thought he'd simply moved on after their mother's death and lost contact. So when he came to the Oletus Manor and was introduced as a mercenary, she was very surprised. The last time she saw him he was a small, cheerful boy. Now he was all grown up and aware of his surroundings, not to mention scarred by all the battles he's been in as a mercenary. To this day he gets nightmares of screams from the people he killed mercilessly, and still has regrets that he had chosen the wrong path to walk down. Y/N tries her best to comfort him and always encourages him whenever he feels down. He doesn't open up to people about his past, Y/N is the only person he trusts completely and can make him feel better about his past.
After dinner Naib decided he'd play another match before going back and calling it a day. Y/N decided to join in the fun and attempt a five-cipher kite. Unlike her younger brother, she preferred decoding to kiting despite being a contain type. She can decode quite fast whenever their teammates are injured, incapacitated or eliminated due to her external traits. The survivors often liked it when Y/N and Naib were in a match together, whereas the hunters would feel like surrendering the moment they step foot in the match, knowing they'd probably get a five-cipher kite. This time, they were matched with the 'night owl' William Ellis and Tracy Reznik. Two kiters and two decoder.
Nothing could go wrong with this match!!
It was Lakeside River, which provided darkness that could help Y/N as she went into the cover of the shadows. Her heart glowed purple for a short while and she looked up from her hiding spot to see who the hunter could be. Of course, it was Smiley Face—Michiko would never stay up late and the black and white guards were probably hanging out with the others. William dashed to where the Joker was and the kiting process began. Y/N came out and began to decode the cipher machine once the two of them were a safe range away.
||*A short while later...*||
The exit gate could be opened and Tracy used her robot to rescue Naib, who had been downed while kiting the hunter with detention. He used the last elbow pad and dashed out the gate with his middle fingers in the air for all to see. Y/N slapped him over the head before following him out the gate. They were all tired after the match, especially the two kiters, so everyone called it a night and head to bed. Y/N's room was right next to Naib's, so they could call each other easily in case anything happened to either one of them. She didn't bother to arrange her things and flopped onto her bed immediately. She fell into slumber really soon, while in the next room, Naib was tossing and turning.
The officer stands in front of the crowd, addressing everyone happily with hand shakes and greetings. Naib was silently looking around the crowd, seemingly the only one that wasn't so happy amidst the crowd of chatting people. A comrade of his was surrounded by a group of females with large amounts of jewellery and accessories. Naib could've sworn that was a chandelier and not an earring. The officer had stood up on the podium and was about to begin his speech. Suddenly, the whole hall became eerily silent as everyone listened, causing Naib to snap to attention. He finally looked around and he saw a lot of familiar faces, a few comrades and...
This isn't right...
The comrades he just saw died a few weeks ago in a fight...Didn't that officer get killed with a shot to his head?
Naib's heart started to pound as his thoughts raced around in his head. Suddenly, everyone in the hall see,Ed to turn their attention to Naib. He looked up, heart pounding, and had to suppress the urge to scream—all of their faces were bloodied, bodies mangled in various ways. But the most horrific part was that they were smiling with those mangled faces, smiling at Naib, smiling at their killer. He looked to the officer, and all he saw was a bloodied face, a bullet hole visible at the side of his head. The smell of blood rushes into Naib's nostrils as replays of the incidents where he killed those people mercilessly played and jeering laughter and shrill screams were heard all around him. They started to close in around him and push him around, making him nauseous. He just wanted this to end! Why won't it end?!
"Naib!! Naib wake up! Now!!" Y/N slapped his face gently and shook him to wake him up. She'd heard soft whimpers from his room while she was getting up to get some water and decided to check on him. He was tangled in his blankets, curled in a ball and whimpering softly. Y/N decided to wake up up but the moment she touched him he started screaming the word 'stop', but Y/N didn't.
Naib finally woke up with a jolt and stopped screaming words that could never be heard in his nightmares. He had tears in his eyes, which streaked down his face when he realised it was all a nightmare. He buried his face into Y/N's shoulder as she patted his small back and cried his eyes out. Y/N understood that it was hard for him, so she didn't mind the damp patch forming on her shirts and hugged him, rocking him until he fell back asleep. She straightened the sheets and gently laid him back on and tucking him in. She stayed beside him all night, making sure he was alright until she couldn't keep herself awake anymore.
She knew Naib hates it when she keeps herself awake and not get any rest just to take care of him. But if anyone ever made a deal with her that Naib could get a peaceful life, she would give her everything, just so her little brother wouldn't have to go through all those nightmares.
