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"i couldn't get any sleep at night." liam rambled, "i was scared the berserkers would get me in my room. everytime i closed my eyes, i would see them."
the two teenagers were in the mccall's living room, moonee was cuddled up on the couch while liam paced in front of the television. the girl placed another spoonful of vanilla bean ice cream in her mouth as liam talked about his feelings. it was clear she was uninterested, but liam didn't stop.
"i-i couldn't even turn the lights off in my room, without seeing them." liam continued, "some nights i would lay in bed with the lights on."
"hmm."
"and-and i would even see them at school. around the corner of the hallways or in the changing room." liam explained, "and sometimes i would just hear them. their growling and heavy breathing."
"yikes."
"how do you do it? how do you fight these monsters, see all these things and still act like nothing's happened." liam questioned.
"i'm use to it." moonee shrugged.
liam could feel himself getting irritated by her blunt replies. "are you even listening to me?"
"oh, i'm listening." she nodded, "ice cream?" she held up the spoon and tub to him.
"do you even care?" liam inquired.
moonee sighed, "honestly?" liam nodded, urging her to continue, "no, dunbar. i don't care. i'm currently planning my dinner outfit in my head."
liam's face fell. he had spent ages talking about his trauma and emotions to moonee, thinking she out of everyone would understand, but she didn't even care.
"i mean, i'm just disinterested in this topic." moonee corrected herself.
"that's just a nicer way of saying you don't care."
"i know." moonee agreed with a mouthful of ice cream, "tried to sugarcoat it."
liam was in disbelief, "what is wrong with you?"
"nothing." moonee raised her eyebrow, "not everyone wants to hear what you have to say, liam."
she said his name with such force that liam was offended. he picked up his backpack and began putting his things into his bag.
"leaving already?" moonee frowned, "i've still got a few hours until i have to go."
liam looked at her in appal and zipped his bag shut. he flung it over his shoulders and went over to the front door. once he was out, he slammed it shut and left the residence.
"weird." moonee hummed as she reached for the tv remote.
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moonee had been sat on the couch all day, but now she was reading a book on physics. after the chaos that happened over the past few weeks, the girl found comfort in studying.
a triple knock on the door was heard, immediately catching moonee's attention. she looked up and called out: "come in, scott."
the door opened, revealing scott. he peeked his head through the door and smiled, "do you have any plans for today?"
"i do actually." moonee said to him, her head still in the book, "with your girlfriend." she smirked while glancing up.
scott raised his eyebrow in confusion, this was the first time he was hearing of moonee and kira's plans. his change of facial expression had made moonee chuckle.
"calm down, i'm not going to steal her from you." moonee shook her head, "her parents invited me over for dinner."
"oh, you'll love it." scott grinned, his full body coming into the frame of the open door, "when i first went over, mr yukimura made me sushi."
"and you hated it?" moonee assumed.
"i wouldn't say hated." scott shook his head, "it was my first time having it and i had too much wassabi."
moonee laughed, loudly. "right, i remember someone telling me that."
"you need a ride?" scott offered.
the girl pouted, "aren't you a good brother?"
"i try."
"you do." moonee nodded, "i uh... a-appreciate it."
a smile formed on scott's face, "i appreciate you too."
"okay, enough of the sappy stuff." moonee put the back of her hand to her forehead, dramatically. "it physically pained me to say that."
"yeah." scott nodded, "i could tell by the way your hands were shaking."
"habit." moonee shrugged, "and about the ride, i'm good, thanks." moonee saluted him.
"one time offer." scott pointed at her before exiting the room. he had left the door open, purposefully annoying his half-sister.
"the door!" moonee spoke out. when she realised the boy wasn't coming back, she could feel herself getting irritated, "the door, scott!"
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moonee stood outside the yukimura's house, the only reason she had declined scott's ride is that brett had already offered the night before.
she turned around and leaned into the open window of brett's car and grinned, her hair all over her face, as it was a windy day. she was wearing a grey, long sleeve sweater with high waisted jeans and some semi-dirty, unbranded shoes.
"how much will it be?" moonee joked, raising her left eyebrow.
"uh... about four dollars." brett shrugged, one of his hands on the wheel and the other on the window switch.
moonee pulled away from the frame and started to pretend to dig into her pockets, "i've only got two dollars."
"you've only got what?" brett questioned,
"two-"
brett had driven off, leaving moonee there in awe. she laughed, shaking her head as she approached the door of the house. the yukimura's had quite a large home and it was very lovely.
moonee approached the door and immediately knocked on it twice. she waited for someone to open the door for her as she swung on her feet. a few moments later, ken yukimura opened the door for her, a wide smile on his face.
"hello, mr yukimura." moonee greeted.
"please, call me ken." he shook his head, "only in here though."
moonee put two thumbs up as she entered the house, "got it."
"kira, she's here!" ken announced.
"i feel like a celebrity." moonee hummed.
"we're glad to have you for dinner." ken told her.
kira rushed down the stairs in a skirt and long-sleeved top, her hair flying past her face. "moonee, hi!"
"kira, hey!" moonee echoed as the kitsune pulled her into an embrace.
"kira, please show her to the dining room."
"of course."
as mr yukimura went upstairs, kira lead moonee into the dining room. in there was a large table with pre-setup plates and utensils.
"your house is so pretty." moonee gushed.
kira grinned, "thank you, moon." she sat down in her seat and ushered moonee to her chair, beside her. "how uh, did you get here?"
"scott didn't drop me off, if that's what you're wondering." moonee teased, "he did offer this morning but i came with brett."
"brett from... satomi's pack?" kira inquired.
moonee nodded, "the same."
"that's nice." kira hummed, "are you guys, um..." she trailed off awkwardly.
"dating?" moonee finished off for her, making kira nod. "not really, no. i still like xan."
"alexandra! right, i nearly forgot."
their conversation was quickly cut short when ken and his wife, noshiko yukimura entered the room. the two took their seats, opposite the girls.
"moonee, it's good to see you again." noshiko smiled.
"you too." moonee replied.
"have you ever had ramen?" noshiko interrogated.
"like... pot noddles?" moonee questioned, genuinely.
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it was not like pot noodles. sat in front of moonee was a bowl of noodles topped off with sliced chicken, sweet corn, half a boiled egg and spinach. kira had handed her chopsticks, explaining that's how she was meant to eat the noodles.
moonee hummed and nodded as kira spoke, taking in all the information and instructions.
"place this chopstick between pointer finger and thumb - balance it on ring finger..."
as kira instructed her, ken and noshiko watched in amusement as moonee dropped the chopsticks many times. fortunately, the girl was a quick learner and had managed to get the hang of it after a few more tries.
the four began to eat their food, immediately diving into a conversation. most of the topics were about moonee, as noshiko admitted she was fascinated by her.
"did you inherit the elemental ability?" noshiko questioned the girl.
moonee had just placed quite a lot of noodles in her mouth, meaning kira's mum had to wait a while. once she had slurped, chewed and swallowed, moonee was ready to answer the difficult question.
"no, my mother isn't an elementum." moonee shook her head, "she was a children's nurse at the memorial hospital. she just also happened to be a crazy scientist."
"i'm sorry to hear that, moonee." ken apologised.
"and your father?"
"well i'm still not one hundred percent he's my biological father, but he's just a clueless human that's too nosy." moonee laughed to herself at agent rafael mccall.
kira stifled a laugh, she had met scott's dad and moonee had described him perfectly.
"i'm sorry, but this ramen is amazing." moonee said, unknowingly changing the topic.
"yeah, my dad made it." kira told her, proudly.
"thank you, moonee." ken gave her a curt nod. "i love making traditional dishes when kira's friends come over."
"so... scott and i?" moonee questioned.
ken and noshiko laughed at her cheap joke and even kira couldn't stop herself from cracking a smile.
"exactly."
"you said traditional?" moonee backtracked, "what are you guy's... ethnicities?"
"well, i'm korean." ken told her.
"and i'm japanese." noshiko explained.
"which makes me both." kira added, making her mother smile, "what about you?"
"well, my mother's indonesian." moonee rambled, "and rafael... hmm, i think he's italian? i'm not sure on that."
"indonesia is a beautiful country." noshiko told her.
"you've been?" moonee questioned.
"yes." noshiko nodded, "i've traveled around many places."
"my dream is to travel the world." moonee told them, "i've only been to paris so far, but i've got a whole map in my room, marking off the places i want to go."
"you do?" kira asked, she didn't take moonee for a travelling girl.
"yeah, that's my thing." moonee nodded.
"that's really cool."
"it's a great thing to have hopes, hobbies and dreams, it builds up you're ambition and makes you mentally stronger." noshiko taught.
"i agree." moonee nodded, "kira, i just remembered you missed the last game!" moonee grinned.
"yeah..."
"sorry."
"fill me in." kira suggested.
"oh, you're going to love this." moonee grinned before she began explaining the events of the recent lacrosse game.
⎯ ❃ neens speaks!
okay, so every website i checked said matthew del negro (rafael mccall) was italian, but if i find out he's not, i might have to tweak moonee's story line.
i adore this because it tells you guys about moonee's heritage and who she is deep inside. such a cute chapter and i hope you enjoyed it