Obligation ( Tendou x Reader - Mafia AU)

Part 9

Tendou stood in place, staring ahead at the door you had vanished behind. Despite the lingering feelings of anger he had, confusion started to bubble up as his irritation at you turned on himself. You had looked absolutely crushed by his words and, though he should feel vindicated, he felt disgusted by the things he had said to you. Watching you bow before him and the formal way you had spoken, his surname dropping from your lips like a rock, it had felt almost humiliating for him to witness. Even with all that he had been able to stand strong, the thing that nearly broke him was watching the tears begin to fall as you left.

He didn't understand why had you looked so shattered, why his words had affected you so. Weren't you here just to satisfy your own self interests? So why did it matter what he thought of you? Why were you crying? He wanted to tell himself it was from guilt but he knew better. You had looked devastated after his little tirade, after he'd made it clear you held no significance to him. It was a lie, a fabrication created from his own broken heart. Part of him wanted to go back, to unhear the words that had pulverized his growing feelings for you. He wanted to stay in that happy little paradise with you just a little longer.

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..

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Emptiness.

That was what Yua saw when she looked in your eyes now. It had been several hours since you had spoken with Tendou. It felt like an eternity had passed since then. You had retreated to your room, you needed to hide, to gather yourself back together as much as you could before you faced anyone. She hadn't seen you since the afternoon and was curious to know what had happened. Yua had been trying to find you for the last twenty minutes, expectant to see a smile back on your face. So upon finding you, she was distressed at your condition. You were sitting on the floor of your darkening room, it had been light when you'd entered the room but the sun had started to set and you were far too gone to care about turning a light on. You were sat under the window against the far wall, red-rimmed eyes vacant and staring ahead.

"Y/N?" She called out your name gently and you slowly turned your eyes up at her. "What happened?" Worry manifested on her gentle face as you stared up at her in silence. When you did finally speak, your voice came out crackly and thick from all the crying you had done.

"Tendou...made his feelings for me quite clear...." You drop your gaze, averting your eyes from the shock and concern on Yua's face. Since you hadn't outright said it, she could only assume based on your appearance at the moment that, whatever had been said, had not been what she expected. She has seen the two of you occasionally around the manor and it was clear even to her old eyes that the you were, at the very least, fond of each other. Though to her it went beyond just a fondness, to her it looked like the beginnings of love. So to see you in this state after speaking with him, well she was bewildered. Before she could try and pry further you spoke up again.

"Thank you for checking in on me Yua. I'm a little tired now. So, if you'll excuse me I'd like to go to bed." It was an excuse made up of facts. You were grateful for her thoughtfulness to look in on you but you couldn't bear to talk to anyone about it, not right now. You were tired. Honestly, you were more than just tired, you felt exhausted both mentally and physically and just wanted to be alone. Yua wanted to stay with you, to talk with you and comfort you but she also knew now was not the right time to do that. She knew you would need a little space and time to yourself before you might be ready to share more. Though that wasn't to say she was going to just let this go, no way. In fact, as she offers you a little bow and wishes you a good night, she decides to take some initiative of her own. It had been her that had urged you to go speak to him and because of that you were worse off than you had been this afternoon. So as she retreated from your room, moving down the hallway, she had her eyes and ears peeled. She was going to find Tendou and have a little talk.

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..

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Tendou was still in his office, the meetings long since over with. He'd felt uneasy all day, something just felt wrong but he couldn't figure out what. There was something about the way your face had crumbled, the way you'd reacted, it didn't feel like it fit together. If you were just here for your own greediness, then why did you seem so heartbroken? A series of quick sharp knocks at his office door diverted his thoughts but before he could get up, a wrinkly little face peered into the room.

"Evening Yua. What...are you doing here?" He eyed her suspiciously as she quietly moved into the room, closing the door behind her. Yua and Tendou had always been on good terms, it was one of the reasons he had asked her to show you around. He trusted her more than any of the other staff members. She was always kind and generous and not afraid to be honest with him.

"Satori..." She crossed into the room and sat in one of the office chairs in front of his desk, behind which he was currently seated. He watched her carefully pull up the seat and sit down, his nervousness building by the moment as she settled in and finally turned her gaze on him. "What the HELL did you say to Y/N?" Yua even try to hold back as she dove right into the reason for her visit.

"What? Why?" Tendou found himself recoiling away as she barked out her question.

"Why?! What do you mean why?! You listen up here boy, I just saw her and all I know is that whatever you said to her has taken the life right out of her." As the elderly woman spoke, her expression shifting from anger to concern, Tendou felt the uncertainty he had been feeling earlier start to resurface. The questions and thoughts that had been repeating in his mind all day surfaced again and without thinking, he started to speak them out loud.

"She was only pretending to like me so why does it matter what I said? Why does she care what I think about her?" He looked to Yua, desperation in his eyes. He waited to hear her reply, as if she could answer his questions, as if she could be the one to quell the turmoil in his heart. Yua squinted up at him, a look on her face as if asking whether or not he was serious.

"What are you even talking about? Pretending to like you? You really are an idiot." She scoffed at him, a the ridiculousness of what he'd just said, but he seemed serious.

"No! I heard some people talking..." Tendou recalls what he had over heard a few nights ago, while Yua listens with barely contained patience. This kid was going to be the death of her. Once he finished, she just stared up at him, finally giving her head a shake as she leaned into the back of the chair.

"I take it back you're not an idiot...you're a total fool." He opened his mouth to rebuttal but Yua held up a hand to silence him.

"Did you hear them say it was Y/N? No. Did you bother to talk to her about it? Also, no. Instead you let some staff gossip get into that little brain of yours and without even checking to see if it was true, you just accepted it to be so. You've let what others have said about you in the past color how you see that poor girl." She leaned forward, gaze locked on his. "You need to fix this and you need to do it quickly." Yua paused a moment, the image of you from earlier in her mind. "I've never seen anyone look so broken, so...lost."