𝗢𝗢𝗚𝗢𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗────── k. aren x original character

𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

there is a reason why kotoe liked her mother better.

there is a reason why kotoe and kusuo liked their mother better.

her mother was silent the whole time the group of five entered the house, welcoming every one of her children's friend with open arms. she only spoke what was necessary, though kotoe could see that she was deeply intrigued with which one of the boys was this "kuboyasu" person.

her father must have been expressing his worries concerning kotoe all night.

kotoe kept her distant from kuboyasu once she entered the house, eyes averting from the back of her mother's head to kusuo. she was panicking—the thought of her father suddenly slamming open the house door haunting her mind.

any normal person wouldn't confront this situation as dramatic as what she had imagined, it was too bad that her father was far from normal.

"i cooked enough food if anyone ends up staying for dinner!" saiki kurumi clapped her hands, breaking kotoe's thoughts. she lead them to the kitchen area that seemed to be cleaner than usual. sparkling, even. "there are snacks in the fridge, so don't be shy, okay?"

a murmurs of "thank you"s spread around the room, kaidou's eyes shining particularly bright at the mention of snacks.

kotoe waddled towards her mother. "mom," she whispered, tugging the back of her mother's shirt when she felt kusuo tugging on her uniform.

as she turned back with eyebrows wrinkling, she was greeted with the sight of kusuo's face, looking like he was in absolute discomfort as he pointed his thumb up the stairs.

"i'm gonna be taking these two idiots upstairs," the pain in his voice was almost funny. kotoe and kurumi shared a glance before nodding their heads.

before kusuo could turn, kurumi pulled both him and kotoe in. "those two. . . so the one with the purple hair is kuboyasu-kun, right?"

at her mother's teasing, accusing voice, kotoe shrieked. she covered her increasingly reddening face as a funny feeling started fluttering in her chest; "mom!"

her shrieking caused the three guests to turn their heads toward the huddled saiki on the kitchen floor, kotoe peeked from her fingers only to catch kuboyasu's eyes. she turned away.

"it's just a group project!"

"if it's just a group project," kurumi's voice started slow before eventually, she broke into a grin. "then why are you overreacting?"

before kotoe could let another word of complain, hot face still buried on her hands, kurumi lifted her hand to pat her head, slowly rubbing her hair. "i'm just kidding, ko-chan."

a comforting voice, soft and lovely, like a warm blanket on a stormy night. she turned towards kusuo to give him the same treatment that she gave kotoe.

there's a reason why they liked their mother better.

"i went to the bakery down the steet and bought some slices of blueberry cheesecakes—" at the mention of her favourite desert, kotoe snapped her head, eyes wide and mouth pursing into an excited smile "—share them with your friends, okay?"

kurumi slanted her eyes, playfully nodding her head at kotoe. "okay, ko-chan?"

"okay okay!" she whined, pouting. "one slice for kusuo, one for nendou-kun, one for kaidou-kun, one for kuboyasu-kun, and. . ." she paused, looking at her mother with a hopeful stare. ". . .two slices for kotoe?"

"you can ask kuboyasu-kun for your second slice," kurumi chuckled and kotoe gasped.

"if you keep on teasing kotoe, i think she'll explode," kusuo finally commented, his mouth straight as a line. kotoe smacked his shoulders lightly before standing up, eyes crossed over her chest to glare at him.

"go go!" she pushed her twin to the direction of the stairs; catching the attention of nendou, kaidou, and kuboyasu who busied themselves by peering over their father's gundam collection on the glass cupboard.

kusuo had a look in his eyes that told kotoe that he was teasing her as well, in his own way. the reddening flush on her cheeks had died down and she watched quietly as the other three boys climbed up the stairs, kaidou excitedly inquiring saiki about the gundam models. she then turned towards her mother who disappeared, following kusuo quietly to go to her shared room with tmher father.

it was rather quiet, now.

"gundams," kotoe almost forgot that kuboyasu was in the same room with her. she jumped slightly, placing a hand on her chest. kuboyasu was standing with one hand slipped in his pocket, school bag thrown over his shoulder.

okay.

he looked cool.

kinda.

"gundams," kotoe repeated, eyes traveling to the largest one they have, trying hard not to stare at him. "my father loves them."

"yeah?" he took a step closer and bent his upper body, eyes mindfully judging the figurine, though kotoe had the feeling that he wanted to fluster her a little. gauge her reaction. "your scary father?"

she scoffed at that, though when she recalled her zombified father from that morning, she paused. "but he is scary," her voice came out like a whine, and kuboyasu turned to look at her with an eyebrow raised.

"i'd love to meet him," he said, after a while of peering into her. there was something in his eyes, like he was daring kotoe, or kuniharu. either one of them.

she shook her head, "no. you're going home before he arrives here, no matter what."

the thought of her father having to meet kuboyasu muddled her mind, she watched as he straightened his posture with a chuckle. "ah, i don't think we'll be able to finish the assignment before that," he mused, watching her.

"then, we'll continue tomorrow," she playfully rolled her eyes, turning to walk to the dining room table, dragging one chair out. "then the next day, and the next, and the next."

kuboyasu followed her lead and took out the chair right beside her, "and what if we're not done by then?"

kotoe took her seat, pouting. she placed her chin on her hand, looking away. "why do you want to meet him so bad?"

kuboyasu shrugged, placing his bag on the table. "he seemed like a cool guy for you to be calling scary."

kotoe could tell that the silly reason was the first thing that he could come up with in his head. she placed her bag on the table as well, opening it to grab some of the print outs that she had prepared the night before.

"let's stop talking about my father," she suggested, laying out files on the table.

"hmm," kuboyasu murmured. "well, let's talk about those blueberry cheesecakes."

at that, kotoe paused. it was like someone pressed pause on her body, her breath hitched as her eyes widened ever so slightly. her head slowly turned towards kuboyasu, who had a winning smirk on his face, temple resting against his balled up fist.

"you—" she couldn't stop her mouth from gaping. "—you were listening to our conversation, were you!?"

the memories of her recent conversation with her mother and kusuo came flooding back to her; most prominently, the ones where her mother kept on teasing her about kuboyasu.

kotoe turned into the shade of ruby that she was before, as if steam was rushing out her ears.

"what conversation?" he blinked innocently, tilting his head. and kotoe almost fell for it. she almost did. "I wasn't listening to anything, ko-chan."

kotoe wanted to scream.