do i wanna know? - scaramouche

1

you frowned, stuck on a single math problem. it was a sunny vacation summer afternoon in inazuma, perfect for playing outside with friends. yet here you were, focused on schoolwork. you were only in first grade.

you glanced at your window with a pained expression on your face, your blunt pencil lazily hanging on your stubby fingers. your attention was diverted from the advanced 6th grade kumon math problems on your desk to the children happily playing outside.

you stared at the four kids playing outside. they were your former classmates from the kindergarten you went to; kazuha, tomo, lumine, and aether.

you stared at kazuha running around, chasing aether while lumine and tomo laughed at them cheerfully. oh, how you wish you were a part of their friend group.

they ran around, playing tag. aether, who was very agile, dodged kazuha's attempt of catching him. the white-haired boy didn't falter; instead, he reached out farther. maybe a little too far, and fell on his hands and knees.

you lightly gasped, walking towards the window with your nose and hands pressed on the glass. even though you couldn't hear what they were saying, you could tell that his friends panicked.

suddenly, kazuha looked up at your window.

you stared at him worriedly, still not noticing that you had now piqued his attention.

---

"kazuha, i'm so sorry! are you okay?!" little aether screamed, tears coming to his eyes. well, the little child was the biggest empath. he had the biggest heart among the four friends; unlike his twin who was the most rational one.

"he's not okay. he fell and scraped his knees." lumine exclaimed. kazuha sat on the ground, staring at his scraped hand.

"kazuha fell," tomo echoed, worry etched in his voice. "let's call the hospital!"

"no, dad said it's only for serious matters." lumine argued.

"but... but he's hurt," tomo mumbled, kneeling down and patting kazuha's back.

kazuha didn't really mind falling over. while his friends made a fuss about his slightly bleeding hands, he stared up at you with curious, doe eyes.

he always questioned himself, why is my best friend always studying? why is she always just sadly watching us from her bedroom window?

you never went out to play with him. despite calling him your best friend and always partnering up with him in school activities when you were both in kindergarten, little kazuha never understood why you always refused to play with him.

he waved at you timidly, a wide grin on his face.

you waved back, the corners of your lips tugged downward. kazuha noticed this, and he pointed at his smile.

"oh," you mouthed out.

kazuha nodded, and pointed at his smiling lips again.

the action was so silly that it made you smile and giggle, your hands covering your lower face. kazuha's grin grew even wider, feeling accomplished that he made you smile.

while both of you were talking on mute, you both didn't realize that his three friends had stopped fussing over his bruises and now they were all staring at you, too.

"kazu, who's that?" aether asked curiously, moving forward to take a good look of you. his cheeks were tear-stained, and his nose was puffy; it contrasted the curious and bright look on his face.

"my best friend," kazuha answered, a grin on his face.

"huh? i thought i was your best friend?" small tomo sullenly remarked, glaring at you.

his glare scared you a bit since he was a tall one; many of the kids feared him, including you. you lightly gasped and closed your curtains, hiding away from the people below.

"tomo, you scared her away!" kazuha complained, frowning. the tall boy just huffed grumpily.

"good! you're my best friend, not hers,"

"i think you can be both..." lumine commented hesitantly. aether agreed.

"lumine, what happened?"

a tall, blonde man suddenly appeared, walking by.

"dad!" aether ran to dainsleif's leg, hugging his leg. lumine beamed at him, obviously looking pleased to see her dad. "hello. um, kazuha tripped,"

dain bent down to look at kazuha's hands, and sighed. "come with me. i'll treat your wounds, kid."

kazuha reluctantly hid his hands away from dainslef, feeling intimidated. well, who wouldn't be? in his perspective, dainslef was such a grump; and huge, too.

"n-no, i can do it myself." kazuha muttered.

"yeah, he's a big boy now." tomo added proudly. dainsleif sighed, feeling too worn out to deal with other kids today.

"no, you're not a big boy. you're six years old. come here," he held out his arms to kazuha. little kazuha hesitated, and then finally gave in and climbed up to his chest.

aether also clung to him, a smile on his face when his dad also hauled him up. they walked back home, lumine chattering happily while she held onto the hem of dain's shirt.

you peeked outside, trying to see what was happening. pulling your curtains to the side, you only saw tomo wistfully staring in the distance. he was now alone.

he suddenly glanced at your window, an angry expression on his face.

you closed your curtains again. huh, why was he even so mad at you? that you'll never know, unless you go outside to ask.

"(y/n), are you still studying?" your mom called.

frantic, you sat back down to your chair to face the dreaded math problems. "yes, ma!"

just when will this studying cycle end, you thought to yourself gloomily.

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