UNMASKED (mha)

42

Denki sat at the dinner table pushing around his pile of rice absently. The sounds of utensils scraping against plates and bowls echoed through the otherwise quiet dining room.

Until his mom finally decided to try to make conversation.

"So, Denki. Did anything interesting happen at school today?"
She asked. Denki glanced up at her, chewing his food carefully.

"Not really."
He said simply. Taking another bite of food.

More silence.

He glanced around and finally cleared his throat. "I uh... I got a hundred on one of my exams today." He finally said, it was the only notable event of today.

"Oh?"
His step father Ren said, looking over at him.

"That's great Sweetie!"
His mom said with a smile.
"You haven't gotten a grade that good in awhile, have you been studying?"

"Yeah I have."
Denki smiled a little, heart swelling with praise.

"Good, see what you can do when you actually work?" Ren asked.

Denki tried his best to ignore the comment. He'd been working all semester. He'd been working really hard, all while getting the shit beat out of him in training.

But his Step dad didn't seem to understand that. Ren viewed bad grades as him just not trying hard enough, never once thinking that maybe there was something else behind Denki's struggles.

"Yes sir."
Denki said, his smile fading slightly as he took another bite of his food.

"De-ki had a sleep over."
ZuZu said, using her hands to scoop up a pice of rice and put it in his mouth.

'Damn it ZuZu.'
Denki thought, gluing his eyes to his food.

"Really?"
Ren asked, staring the boy down. Denki flinched slightly, fidgeting with his fingers nervously.

"Uh huh."
ZuZu said with a mouthful of Food.

"Zuina, don't talk with your mouth full sweetie." His mother said to the little girl. "So, you had a friend over?"

"And you didn't think to ask us for premission?" Ren asked, narrowing his eyes and Denki.

Denki gulped. It's alright, as long as they don't know it was a girl they won't care too much. He glanced over at his sister, as long as ZuZu doesn't keep talking it would be fine.

"It was a last minute kinda thing. We were studying and it got late. I didn't think you'd mind if they stayed over." He said, glancing in-between his two parents.

"Oh! You were studying together?"
His mother said with a smile. "That's good."
She said, putting a hand on Rens arm. Subtly asking him to back down.

It was a gesture Denki saw a lot between the two. She was asking him to let it go.

'Thank god.'

"She's pretty."
ZuZu said, kicking her legs as she bit down on some of the chicken.

'Damn it! I thought you were on my side God?!'

Ren raised an eyebrow and Denki's mother looked over at him.
"She?"
His mother asked, pressing her lips together.
"You uh... you had a girl over?"
His mom said, in a tone that clearly displayed that she wasn't happy about this.

"Uh... well yeah?"
He cleared his throat.
"It was just my friend, Aiko." He gulped.

"Why did you have a girl over? In my house? When I was away?"
Ren said, clinching his jaw.