𝑺𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒅

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟛𝟙 - 𝕌𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕆𝕦𝕥𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖

As Manjiro was seething with rage, (Y/n) breathed out to prevent herself from tensing her muscles due to nervousness. She felt intimidated by his gaze since she was never used to seeing the hatred in his eyes that were directly pointing at her. He assumed she had hurt Haruko by bruising him and causing him to topple to the ground. Perhaps they have the assumption that she called him names, letting him recall the past of him being a poor child sitting on the streets.

She would never inflict such mental trauma on his poor heart. She believes that she is not heartless and that she would simply trample others' traumas and feelings to manipulate them as she wishes to inflict fear on others. Manjiro's daunting gaze had conveyed everything that she only frowned upon internally.

The wounds that Haruko received, she never did it herself.

×××××××××~ A Few Hours ago~×××××××××

"Nee-chan!" Haruko yelled from the balcony. (Y/n) ambled briskly towards Haruko, whose voice radiated excitement. "Hit me Nee-chan," Haruko beamed as he swung his fist to mimic a punch. When Haruko executed it, he was oddly enthusiastic and his eyes had the unceasing radiance of glee. (Y/n) went dumbfounded as her expression turned blank, her eyes incontinently directed towards the neighboring building, with her head swerving along with it.

"Have you suddenly decided to be a masochist?" She blankly said, still dumbfounded at the thought.

She then heard Haruko cackling as he lifted his hands to shake them continuously as a response to her question. "You've got it all wrong." He said this between laughs as he placed one arm on his abdomen. He continued to laugh for a couple of seconds more before his laughter subsided and he exhaled exhaustedly and chuckled once more.

"I want you to hit me so that the plan will undoubtedly succeed." He explained with a solemn expression that (Y/n) had already predicted her conclusion since the beginning of their conversation.

(Y/n) simply arched her brow and gazed at him blankly, then immediately shook her head in response. "Ehh?! Why not?" He exclaimed in distress. She sighed. What he was scheming was something she never took delight in. She crossed her arms whilst gazing directly into his deep oceanic eyes sternly.

"Rendering yourself injured for this bet would cause your regret, Haru," she stated, using the nickname she gave her, as she would often speak that nickname that he wanted to hear again from her lips. "I'll do it myself." He confidently protested her statement as he ran outside at a fast pace, while (Y/n) sighed as she followed with an amble.

Upon arriving at the location from where Haruko fled, which is behind the apartment building, what she saw made her blink her eyes from being bewildered. Haruko toppled himself to the ground, rolling down on the dirt until he became filthy. She wanted to stop him, yet she knew that he was stubborn enough to even listen to her. She was surprised. However, she decided to not let any emotion be evident on her face. Haruko then punched his cheek, yet he winced by his own doing as the impact of that punch caused his cheek to darken, forming the bruise that he wanted. Haruko was satisfied by this as (Y/n) only looked from afar with concern.

She was thankful that there weren't many people who passed by, yet she looked at the neighboring building that was built behind theirs. She was worried that they would unexpectedly open their doors and notice Haruko inflicting harm on himself, making him seem like an insane young boy who perhaps liked the thought of hurting himself.