𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐔𝐬

♡︎36♡︎

"Don't even think about it," I told Katsuki, whose eyes lit up when he saw what was on television.

"Where have you been, Y/N?" my dad asked. "You're supposed to be grounded.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot."

"You're grounded?" Katsuki asked. His eyes seemed to say If you're already grounded, maybe we should tell him later.

I felt the opposite- if I was already grounded, might as well get this out too. I couldn't get in any more trouble.

"Can we talk?" I asked.

My father's eyes darted to Katsuki as if searching for clues to what I was about to say. He wasn't going to find his answers from Katsuki this time.

"Maybe we should get everyone in here," I said.

"Everyone?" Katsuki asked. "Right now? Don't you just want to talk to your dad first?"

"No. Might as well talk to them all at once."

"This sounds serious," my dad said, finally using the remote to turn off the game.

"It is serious. But good serious."

He narrowed his eyes. "Okay."

I yelled up the stairs to my brothers and soon the three of them, plus my dad, were crammed on our long couch. They barely fit shoulder to shoulder. I stood in front of them with Katsuki behind me.

I cracked my knuckles and took a deep breath. "Okay. So. . ." I had no idea where to begin. I felt like it needed a lead-in, but what could I tell them that they didn't already know?

Wait. Eijiro already knew how Katsuki felt. Had he told the others? I eyed Eiji, and he gave me a rare hard look, daring me to confess to the whole family what he already knew.

My mouth went dry and I tried to swallow. My tongue felt twice as big as it should. Finally, I squeezed my eyes shut and spit out, "I love him." I pointed over my shoulder and opened my eyes at the same time.

Eijiro's jaw tightened. So he still hadn't gotten used to the idea. Everyone else just stared at me like they were waiting for me to finish my point. They all loved Katsuki. They didn't understand what I meant.

I reached behind me blindly, hoping he'd help me out. It didn't take him more than a second to put his hand in mine. "We're together," I said.

I wasn't sure who started the outburst, but soon they were all talking at once and it wasn't to congratulate us. Sero was the first on his feet, and he said, "How dare you take advantage of her right now?" His cold stare was on Katsuki. They all seemed to stand up in unison after that.

I held up my hand before someone else said something hurtful. "Stop. He is the only one who had the guts to even hint that something more happened with Mom. So don't you dare act like he is taking advantage of me."

Sero fisted his hands. "It sure seems that way."

"I'm not breakable. Don't you all get that? I can handle things. I can make my own decisions. This didn't happen today. I've liked him for a while, We just admitted it today."

"I love her, you shits," Katsuki said.

Denki stepped forward like he was going to give Katsuki's black eye a match. My dad grabbed him by the arm. "That's enough, problem children," he said and everyone went quiet. "I've asked this young man to keep an eye on Y/N on numerous occasions. How is it fair to now say I don't trust him?"

I could feel the tension drain from Katsuki next to me.

My father looked at Katuski and in a chilling voice said, "You better not betray my trust, kid."

"No, sir."

"Then it's settled. But you're still grounded until the party. Y/N." He looked at Katsuki. "So get out of here."

Katsuki had never been kicked out when I was grounded before. But he'd never been mine before, either. I squeezed his hand and he left. As soon as the door shut, my brothers' smiles were back.

"I wondered when he's say something."

"It was so obvious."

"But, Y/N," Eijiro said, "I had no idea you felt the same."

I nodded, and they continued to talk about who knew what and when. Then one by one they all went quiet. It was the first time we'd all been in the same place at the same time since I found out about my mom. I had been avoiding this.

I looked at my dad. "I think it's time we all talked about Mom. Together." I grabbed the box full of pictures from beneath the table. I was still beyond angry with her, but I knew the first step to getting through that was to learn more about her from the people who knew her better than I did.

I sat on the couch and opened the box. They all still stood there, staring, like I had asked them who wrote Pride and Prejudice. Then Eiji snatched a picture from the box and held it up. "This was the day that Denki pushed me into a tree because he said I was cheating at hide-and-seek. Mom totally took my side, by the way."

"You were cheating. You always cheat," Denki said, sitting next to me and reaching in for a stack of pictures. My brothers all had their hands in the box now and were talking over one another again. I looked up and saw my dad standing there, staring at the pile of pictures on the table. She was in most of them. His expression was hard and it seemed he too was still angry with my mom. But then he met my eyes and his whole aura lightened with a smile. It seemed to say She gave me you, Y/N, and I'll always love her for that. That was a lot for an aura to say, but I was sure Nemuri would've agreed.