Hexed (Vi x POC! Reader)

Fragile Minds Break like Glass

"Ekko!" You squeal as your brother sprays you with a can of red paint. He laughs and dodges your feeble attempt at grabbing the can from him. You groan when you look down at your clothes and see that they're ruined.

"Why?!" You whine as you sneakily pick up a can.

"Honestly?" Ekko chuckles, "I did it on a whim. I wanted to so I DID- AAHH!" He shouts in alarm as you laugh and cover him in orange paint. Ekko runs away and you chase after him with a grin on your face, "Not so fun when it's you, huh?!" You laugh. Your brother whirls around and sprays you with the red paint again. Soon, you're both covered in paint and giggling on the floor of the art wall.

"See? I know how to have fun!" Ekko snickers.

"I knew that already, Kiko!" You hit him lightly on the head, "You didn't have to prove that to me!"

"I know." Ekko sighs happily, "I just wanted to make you smile. You looked too focused."

***

"ZeZe, look out!" You shout as he steps out of the shop. You're sitting on top of the awning as Ekko shows off the new device he created from scrap in the junkyard. It's a giant wheel that he calls a Monocycle. You're in awe of your brother's ability to make something out of nothing. He didn't even ask you for any help! Now that you were giving him space, he was really showing off his talents. Benzo said he thinks Ekko's trying to impress you.

"AAAHH!" You hear your brother shout and flinch as he crashes into Benzo. The two of them go flying, which you thought would be impossible for a man like Benzo.

"Ekko! ZeZe!" You slide down and rush over to them only to discover they're laughing. A snort leaves your lips before you erupt into laughter. Ekko was hanging from a pipe by his shirt while Benzo was upside down over the Monocycle.

"Hey...uh...a little help?" Ekko smiles sheepishly.

"I ought to keep you away from that junkyard!" Benzo complains with a huge grin on his face, "You're going to be the death of me, kid." You hop up on a couple of boxes by Ekko and wrap your arms around his waist. You lift him off of the pipe and then let him go. Ekko yells as he falls to the ground with a thump. You laugh and jump off of the boxes while Benzo shakes his head at you two.

"Why'd you do that?!" Ekko whines.

"That was for pushing me off the roof yesterday." You shrug, "You fell a shorter distance than I did."

"I wish I was an only child." Ekko groans.

"What was that?!" You gasp in shock, "Come here, you!" You lunge at him. Ekko yelps and skitters to his feet, running down the street as you chase after him.

"Take that back!" You yell.

"Never!" Ekko laughs.

***

"Ekko?" You call out to your brother as you head back to your home. He ran out of Benzo's before you were done locking up. You hear shouting and run towards the street it's coming from. Your eyes widen in shock as you see three guys from a rival gang of Vi's kicking your brother. You growl in anger, grabbing the brass knuckles out of your pocket, "HEY!" You scream. They stop and sneer at you.

"Get the fuck away from my brother!" You snarl and race towards them. Ekko scrambles out from under them as they run at you. The leader shouts as your fist sinks into his stomach. His friend grabs you and slams you into the wall. You grunt in pain, punching him in the throat and knock him over with your shoulder. He falls to the ground, clutching his neck as he struggles to breathe.

You duck under a swing, circling behind the second guy, and shove him forward. He shouts as he staggers into his friend and catches them off guard. You lunge forward, tightly grabbing them both by the hair, and slam their faces into the brick wall. A sharp pain grazes your shoulder and you hiss. You glance back to see a knife in the other guy's hand. 'That fucker!' You snarl, slamming the guys into the wall again. 'Vi is really rubbing off on me.'

The third guy manages to deck you across the face as you turn around. You fall to the ground, disoriented, and he grabs your shirt. He lifts you off of the ground, brandishing the knife, and goes to stab you when a pipe hits his head. You wince at the loud noise it makes as he shouts and staggers away from you. Breathing heavily, you tighten your fist and catch Ekko glaring in the corner of your eye. His grip on the pipe is so tight that his knuckles are white.

You step in front of your brother and glare, "My brother has no beef with your gang. Get the fuck out of here before I lay into your ass out like I did your friends over there!" You roughly indicate with your head. A thin line of blood trails down your chin from the split in your lip.

"Anyone who associates with that bitch, Vi, has beef with our gang!" He hisses, "Especially her girlfriend's nerdy little brother!" He moves forward. You growl, too pissed off with his words to say anything more. You whirl around and with a roundhouse kick to the face, knock him unconscious. He hits the ground heavily and doesn't move.

"You should've run when you realized I was Vi's girl." You spit at him. You look back at your brother and notice the shock in his eyes.

"Woah..." Ekko breathes out.

"Are you okay?!" You worriedly check him over and frown at the bruise forming on his neck. The throbbing in your jaw and pain in your shoulder comes secondary to him.

"Sissy! I'm okay." Ekko grabs your wrists, "You stopped them right after they started. But, you totally kicked their asses!" He cheers and starts rambling about your moves. You blink and sigh fondly at your little brother. 'Is he really that unbothered about getting jumped?' You flinch in surprise as he suddenly hugs you.

"Thanks for saving me." Ekko's voice is muffled as he hugs you tightly, "You're the best sister I could ask for." You hug him back just as tightly, "Ditto, little man."

***

"I know how you feel about it, sis, but if this is our one bargaining chip to get help... I have to take it. You know that." Ekko's eyes are pleading with you to accept it.

"I understand." You say reassuringly, "It doesn't help my anxiety about the situation, but we have no other choice." You sigh, "This is our one shot. If anything goes wrong with this... anything at all..."

"We proceed forward with the original plan." Ekko finishes, "You have everything in place? Already?" He tilts his head in curiosity.

"Three pieces left." You wink at him and Ekko grins.

"There are still three pieces left, my little firelight." You whisper and pull the black card out of your pocket. In gold filigree, is today's date and the usual time you meet with the Chem-Baroness. You bite your lip and stare at it. 'This is important... Do I really do this?'

'Hexxit... You can't give up, my child.' Umbra says softly.

"I'm not giving up." You scoff, offended, and sit up, "I can't. Ekko kept going when I died. He kept going when he wasn't sure I'd ever open my eyes again." You play with the card in your hand.

'So what are you going to do?' Umbra hums curiously.

"I'm going to continue with the plan. I'll be damned if I let my brother's death be in vain. I'm going to complete the final steps and bring Piltover to their knees." You growl fiercely. There's a flux of magic in front of you as five bright blue flames flare into existence. You snatch the cards out of the air and inspect them. Each one has a neatly penned response to the request you sent yesterday. Each one was signed and stamped properly, "Well, would you look at that..." You hum in interest, "Things are progressing a lot faster than intended." You smile darkly and watch the cards turn to ashes in your hand.

'Well, there's only one thing to do now.'

"It's time I go pay the Baroness a visit." You stand up and stretch. There's a newfound energy pumping through you, "I can grieve when Piltover is nothing but ashes at my feet." You declare to yourself.