𝑀𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝓇 𝐸𝒶𝒸𝒽 𝒪𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 (Zanechan Oneshots)

Always Understood

It's weird how much time you can spend with someone you're friends with and only after a while, does something inside you change.

When Nana met Zane, he was this weird little kid who refused to say a single word to her, even after they started playing Mario Kart together. He seemed so angry all the time, even when he beat her. Only later did she find out his anger wasn't directed at her, but at the unjust world he was born and raised in.

He was at her house because their mothers were meeting for business matters and Zane was getting over a cold but couldn't be home alone. Nana's mother, upon hearing the young boy would be accompanying Zianna, decided to keep Nana home from school that day to entertain him. Nana didn't mind. She didn't have many friends at her school. Maybe this boy could be her new friend!? That would be awesome! She wouldn't be so lonely anymore.

But he refused to speak to her and they raced their characters along track after track in silence.

As their mothers eventually bonded over their business negotiations, they eventually started catching up just to enjoy each other's company. This, however for Nana, meant more unwilling playdates with a dark-haired, pale skinned, freckly boy who refused to speak. Once he came over in the middle of her favourite show, a Japanese cartoon called My Hero Academia, and her mother asked her to turn it off so as to play with the young Ro'Maeve. Grumbling, Nana reached for the TV remote when she heard a noise behind her. Looking, she realised the noise she'd heard was the delighted squeak of the boy, standing in the doorway like he'd just walked in.

"Do you like this show?" She asked him softly, so as not to scare him back into his grumpy, silent norm.

He nodded eagerly and so she patted down the seat next to her, gesturing for him to join her on the couch. As the intro played, she brought up the courage to ask him his favourite character.

And he told her.

He told her without hesitation and in a high, nasally voice that made Nana desperately want to giggle but she stopped herself because she knew it might make him stop speaking to her. And although he'd only just started, she never wanted him to stop.

Ten years on, in their first year of high school, Zane ignored her. Not because he disliked her, but because he wanted to make his debut as the dark and edgy boy his appearance suggested. Somehow, he didn't feel as though walking in chatting alongside a cute Mei'fwa girl with fluffy pink hair, a cheery face and bright, golden eyes wasn't going to help. Especially if his crush on her was as obvious as he felt it was.

So he ignored her and only messaged her. She never brought it up though and he thought that maybe she was the only one who understood.

That's how it always felt.

When he bit his older brother years and years ago, she was the only one who asked him what was wrong instead of Garroth. She could tell that he hadn't just done it for no reason. Of course, he wasn't gonna tell her that he bit Garroth because the blond boy was making fun of her.