𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 | 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞 | 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

𝙽𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝙾𝚗𝚎 | 𝙻𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 | 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢

^^^
17 years before...

Eight shot out of her room at light speed. The girl's (H/C) hair, braided in two braids, bounced over her shoulders as she ran through the mansion's hallway. Her dark blue tracksuit, made to measure and of the finest fabric, now felt like a ball and chain to her feet. It always meant trouble. Eight heard the patter of other feet behind her so she sped up. Suddenly she felt someone grab her arm and push her back.

"Damn it!"

Eight stumbled and landed on the floor, a puff of blue smoke flashed in front of her eyes. She slammed her fist against the wall.

"FIVE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

She jumped up from the floor and ran towards the training room. She can't be late. Dad hated latecomers.

She ran into a huge, paneled room. The only source of light was the sun, entering through the large windows. The entire room looked like a karate or taekwondo gym. Eight stood in the doorway. Her siblings were already standing on the black line painted on the panels. Everyone except Vanya. Opposite the children, in a plain chair, sat Sir Reginald Hargreeves. He had a small notebook in his hand and was writing something that Eight, standing a few meters behind him, couldn't read.

"Number Eight, you're late. Number One will inform you of the consequences of your insubordination. Now get in line."

(Y/N) clenched her hands into fists and glanced at Five, who was standing a little further away from the rest of her siblings. A triumphant smile appeared on his face. The girl's jaw clenched.

"Yes, Father," she said through gritted teeth.

She stepped into the line, standing between Luther and Diego. The former nudged her shoulder and gave her a knowing look, which she ignored. She never had a good relationship with Number One, mostly because she didn't want to get in her sister's way. However, when she found out that Luther was responsible for picking her punishment, she grew even more resentful of him.

Father began to write something in his notebook again. After a few seconds of absolute silence, his voice echoed through the nearly empty room.

"Number Two with Number Five. Number Three with Number Four. Number One with Number Eight. Number Six, it's your turn to run around the neighborhood today. I expect you to return in exactly 54 minutes. Set, Go."

Ben ran out of the room at full speed. Eight pursed her lips into a thin line and sighed.

"Okay, let's start with Number One and Eight duel. Come on, children, make a room for them, quickly!"

The girl stepped out of line; she heard Five snort. She ignored it and concentrated on training. She stood in the middle of the room, facing her only blond-haired brother. She focused her gaze on his hands and legs, since they were the most dangerous body parts of him. She enjoyed the fact that she had an advantage in long-range attacks. But what could she lift with telekinesis since the room was completely empty?

Maybe she could throw Five at Luther, just like some big rock?

Yes, it was possible.

"Begin," Reginald muttered, and took a seat to watch their duel.

The girl bowed stiffly to the boy, showing him a respect, she didn't really have for him. A second after she straightened up, Luther landed the first punch. The girl deflected his attack, kicked him in the side and dodged his leg. She was aware that any accurate blow delivered by the boy would be strong enough to knock her off her feet. She knew from experience that Luther preferred to fight on the ground because then his opponent, pinned to the floor, couldn't move.

She narrowly dodged another blow aimed at her face, almost losing her balance. She leaned back a little but didn't fall. The boy was attacking harder and harder, and the girl was struggling to protect herself from his attacks. She finally got a safe distance from him to use her power effectively. She stretched out her hands, accumulated the energy into one big ball and threw it at the boy. The force with which her power pushed him away was enough to send him to the other end of the designated dueling field. Out of the corner of her eye, the girl noticed her father nodding and writing something in a notebook.

Eight took advantage of the situation and ran to Luther who getting up from the ground. She lifted her foot and measured a perfect kick to his head. Unfortunately, she underestimated her brother. He grabbed her calf and pulled her towards him. The girl fell to the ground, hitting her head on the panels. She moaned, and before she could even move her hand, she felt Luther pressing her wrists to the ground, and his torso effectively preventing her legs from any attack. She struggled, desperately trying to get out of the boy's strong grip, but he wouldn't let her. Instead, he looked her straight in the eye and blinked three times.

Eight knew what the three blinks meant.
She looked back at him, and after a few seconds, she heard his voice in her head.

'I'll let you win today.'

'W-what? Why would you do that?'

'Simply because I don't want you to get punished from Dad even more.'

'But—But then you'll get punished! Besides, he'd never believe that I 'accidentally' won against you.'

'I don't give a shit, just head me in the nose. It's gonna be more believable that way.'

'But—'

'Damn it, just do it already!'

He broke eye contact and nodded almost imperceptibly. Eight jerked up and with the last of her strength slammed her forehead into his nose. Blood spurted onto her face, she felt the grip on her wrists loosen, and the weight on her legs disappeared. She shuffled her legs and jumped off the floor. She landed the final punch on his cheek.

Luther fell to the ground clutching his nose. The girl straddled him and pressed him to the ground. She heard a countdown.

"—three, two, one! STOP! Number Eight wins!"

The girl sighed and got up from the ground. She stood over Luther and held out her hand. Her brother leaned against her shoulder and they walked down the training ground together. Ignoring their father's suspicious glances, they made their way to the bench and sat down. Five and Diego were just coming to the center of the room.

Five was no longer smiling and Eight noticed that. She turned to her brother.

"You know, you didn't have to do that. I'd get over Dad's punishment."

Luther smirked mischievously, still holding his nose.

"But where's the fun in that?" He asked in a hushed tone. "Besides, it will keep me from having to duel tomorrow. I got a day off."
Eight chuckled to herself.

"You're a fucking smartass, you knew that Number One?"

^^^

author's note: basically this is the first chapter of a special ive prepared, im gonna do three chapters such as this one, each a bit different from another and uh ill probably focus on Number One, Three and obv a special SPECIAL chapter abt Number Five (i just feel like Klaus and Diego are already appearing a lot in this book so please forgive me yall for not doing any special wth them, just didnt have any specific idea😩)

anyways, the chapter wth Allison is gonna appear probably next week if i have enough time to write it tho bahshah and with Five probaby the week after (yall know im on holidays rn)

please forgive me for not posting any chapters connected to the actual story, promise when i come back ill do everything to recompense everything ❤️

have a great weekend babes