𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐄 𝘬. 𝘻𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘺𝘤𝘬

𝟏𝟏. 𝐂𝐀𝐅𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐋

Y/N POV

𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐖𝐄 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐅𝐄, we're met by a lone old woman who looks at us kindly through squinted eyes. 

"Hello, dears," she croaks, putting down her small, velveted book. "Are you alright? You look wet. Would you like some towels?" 

"Yes, please," I manage to say without laughing. Astyrian continues to poke and tickle me in the side. 

We had been wandering Yorknew City hand in hand for some time now. It is quite late, so most cafes were closed. Somehow, though, the pair of us had stumbled across this quaint old cafe. Or really, I had pointed it out and Astyrian had agreed almost immediately.

The whole time, me and Astyrian have been joking around and tickling each other, our laughter merging together into one harmony. 

Soon, the old lady comes back down, two fresh white towels in her grasp. She hands them to us, and we thank her profusely before we start drying each other off. 

"Keep your crown on, m'lady." He takes it off for a second and dries my hair, before putting it crookedly on my head once more.

I smile softly, then smirk. "Anything for you, m'lord."

Astyrian smirks back, then wraps his hands around my waist, hugging me. Butterflies sprout in my stomach. 

We hand the towels back to the kind old woman, who smiles gently at us.

"You can go sit down at that table." She points to a cute little table at the window of the cafe. "I'll go put these away and come get your orders. The menus are already on the table!" 

"Thank you, Granny." Astyrian bows, and I raise an eyebrow slightly. 

Am I going to ask him about this later? Yes.

The said boy tells me to go sit down, while he asks the old woman some things. I nod and pull out a chair, sitting down. As I wait for the brunette, I take in the cafe some more, drinking in the pleasant aesthetic. 

There were many plants around, making the cafe smell great. Soft pastel yellow lights stream through lightbulbs and cast heavenly glows upon each person. It's a wonder that more people haven't discovered this place.

Soon, Astyrian sits down in front of me. I take that as a sign to pick up a menu. I quickly scan it. I'm not that hungry, so I pick out an all-time favourite, Sprite, and a (muffin flavour) muffin.

Astyrian blanches. "That your favourite drink?"

I nod happily, but it's dampered when Astyrian replies with, "That's disgusting. (Disgusting drink) is the best."

My jaw drops. "Excuse me? That's . . . eww!" 

I open my mouth and stick out my tongue, pointing a finger into my mouth. Astyrian laughs lightly, and I blush a little. I instantly cup my cheeks with my hands, leaning my elbows on the small table between us. 

Just then, the old lady comes with over and asks us what we want. We reply, and a few seconds later, she comes over, giving us our food.

I keep my left cheek cupped inside my hand, but with my other, I hold the Sprite can lightly and swirl it around, my eyes never leaving it. 

Astyrian notices, and does the exact same thing, waving around his drink. "Wow," he says dryly. "Doing this is so cool and much more exciting than the hot Astyrian Channing sitting right in front of you."

"The way you just spoke facts." 

"Look at me," Astyrian pouts. 

I look over at him and raise an eyebrow. "What happened to the badass drunk boy I met at the ball? You've switched up personalities so quickly."

Astyrian chuckles. "I'm not drunk anymore, one look from you and I sobered up."

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or not," I reply, taking a sip of my drink.

"Take it as a compliment. And that 'badass boy' just covers up my true, amazing self."

"You act like Shinoa from Owari no Seraph," I comment. 

Astyrian's face twists. "Who?"

My jaw drops for the second time this night. "Just one of my favourite series ever! The new manga chapter is coming out in a month, though. Y'know, we should watch the anime together."

"Is that a date?"

"If you bring (favourite candy)."

"Then it's a date. Meet me here tomorrow."

I nod. "But why here?"

"You see, there are two flats above this cafe, so I'm renting one out for a month. That's literally the only reason I've ever heard of this place."

"Oh. So she's not actually your grandmother?"

"Nah. She just wanted us to call her grandmother."

I nod, taking a bite of my muffin. Chewing, I swallow, then say, "Cool. You have any family?"

Astyrian's face brightens, and I smile softly at the sight. "Actually, yeah! I have two younger, adopted sisters. Mom died, and Dad's about to die."

I lean forward, eyes widening. "You wanna repeat that, pretty boy?"

He does.

"Why are you so excited about your father dying? And how do you know he's going to die soon?"

"You don't seem very scared, but then again, you were at the auction, and mostly dangerous people go there, so I guess I can tell you. I hired the Phantom Troupe to kill my father so I can take over the mafia. Plus, I had just figured out that he was abusing my sisters, so y'know, I told them to torture him. Conveniently, he also doesn't know we're here, in the city. I've made it a point to avoid him at all costs."

So he's the guy who had rang us up for help. Damn it, I knew I should've stayed with Feitan to help him - switch out help for run a knife down his entire body many times and cut off his dick. But if I stayed, I wouldn't have found Astyrian, and then -

I cut off my thinking and frown at the boy. I open my mouth to talk, when Astyrian suddenly butts in. 

"Y'know, now that I think about it, have I ever seen you before? Cause you look familiar."

Frantically, I rack my brain, before calming down. "Nope. I've never seen you before. I would've remembered your handsome face for sure."

He laughs, closing his eyes, before his head whips up, eyes opening. He snaps, before transitioning his hand into a finger gun to point at me. "I remember! You're the girl I saw on tv like three years ago! You crashed the auction! That means you're a part of the Phantom Troupe, and that I hired you guys to kill my father."

I wrinkle my brow, before explaining, "Yeah, that's us. Shalnark and Feitan are doing the dirty work, cause I wanted to come to the ball. But I mean, if I didn't, I doubt I would've met you, so I'm okay with that. I also don't really remember anything from three years ago. I lost my memory from some freak-ass incident where I used too much of my Nen."

Astyrian is silent for a second, before bursting out laughing. "That's so pathetic, don't you know your limits?" he exclaims, clutching his stomach. 

I frown, stomping lightly on the floor. "This is bullying."

Finally, the turquoise-eyed boy falls silent of laughter. He wipes nonexistent tears from his eyes, before getting out his phone. 

Pulling up youtube, he presses play on a video. "Look at this, Y/N."

I lean over the table to get a nice view of the screen. Playing on the phone is a video of the 'dead' Phantom Troupe. Finally, I spot myself. 

Immediately, I close my eyes and sit down. "Ew. Disgusting. Feitan? Really? No. And why did I look so weird back then?"

"You looked, and still look hot," Astyrian says nonchalantly, ignoring my burning cheeks. "Also, put your number in my phone."

I do as he says, before handing it back.

By now, we're done with our drinks and food. We throw it away, the trash inconveniently hitting everything inside. I wince. "That was ear rape."

"That's one way to describe it," Astyrian agrees, before subtly slipping his hand into mine. "Now c'mon. I want you to meet my sisters."

I fall to a scared stop. "Meet your sisters? But you just met me today! What if they don't like me?" 

I start to worry, biting on my thumbnail.

Astyrian gently brings my hand down from my mouth. "Don't worry about it. I want my sisters to see the future Mrs. Channing. Plus, you make good impressions."

"Do you flirt like this with everyone?" I ask teasingly, trying to cover up how different this boy makes me feel. It isn't the feeling that I felt around Feitan, who teased and flirted with me for fun. No, this is a feeling that I had a feeling only comes once or twice in a lifetime.

"Only the ones I'm truly attracted to. Doesn't matter if I've known them for seconds or hours or years."

"You missed months." I punch his arm lightly.

"I missed months." He rolls his eyes playfully. "Seriously, though, let's meet them. Granny!" he softly shouts. "We're going to be going up."

The white-haired woman looks up from her newspaper and nods, giving us a kind smile. "Okay!"

We go to a door at the side of the cafe, but still inside, and open it with a key.

The walk up the spiral staircase is pleasant. The walls echo with our laughs and teasing.

Soon, maybe too soon, we get to the doorway. We fall silent, when I burst out laughing again. 

Astyrian looks at me, kind of annoyed. He huffs, blowing some brown baby hairs out of his eyes. "Well, you put the key inside! It's hard."

I get it on my first attempt. 

"It's just to hard not to be perfect," I joke. 

Astyrian grumbles some more, before opening the door. I gulp.

"Colette! Agnes!" I hear Astyrian call out from inside the flat. I wait patiently outside, my hands fiddling with the fabric I'm wearing. Fabric . . . oh. Oh, yeah. We came from the ball. That does explain why we're wearing a ballgown and suit, though. Not gonna lie, for a second I forgot we came from the ball. 

Astyrian's face pops out from behind the door again, a smile playing on his lips. "You can come in now, Y/N."

I walk in tentatively. Thank the lord that my dress didn't get stuck inside the doorway. 

"Follow me," Astyrian tells me. 

I do, and out of the blue, Astyrian comfortingly grabs ahold of my head, his thumb slowly stroking my own. It was needed, however, because my breathing rate stablises and I can breath more openly now. 

Astyrian walks into a room and pauses. "So, what do you guys think of her?"

I hear another infant's voice. "You're in the way, Big Brother."

Astryian freezes, then starts laughing uncomfortable, making tons of little excuses. I giggle, and then Astyrian walks me in. 

I wave a little at the two little girls I see sitting on the couch. 

They're in each other's embrace. One of them as long blonde hair and piercing emerald eyes, and the other has raven hair and big brown eyes. 

I smile at them, and then I hear the blonde one say, "That's not your wife. That's a princess."

I stiffen, and so does Astryian. I slowly turn to him, and he untangles his hand from mine to raise his arms in protest. "I didn't say that!" he exclaims. 

But instead of pouncing him, I start laughing. 

All three of them pause and watch me lose control of myself. When it's over, the jet-black-haired girl pipes up. "I like her, Big Brother." 

Oh. She's the one who corrected Astyrian earlier. 

"So, what are your names?" I coo.

"Agnes," the small one replies. 

"Colette," the blonde one says. 

"I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you."

Colette beams up at me, and my heart melts as she says, "I hope you stay!" 

𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

so there was something i
wanted to put as the author's
note, but then i fell asleep
at three while writing, so i forgot :)

i'm so good at this

( satire ^ )

word count : 2108