"It's not fair that we laugh together and you cry alone, (y/n)."
—~—
Third Person POV
"(Y/n) look at this."
Rindo tilted his flip phone for her to see the text Ran sent as said female glanced away from her notebook to check it out.
"Oh god, who was that?" The (h/c)-haired girl asked in a somewhat lighthearted tone. Rindo picked up that she was trying to appear as her usual self but waved it off for her sake.
"I think that was Mochizuki but I don't know," he shrugged and proceed to type a reply whilst she sweat-dropped, "Isn't it hilarious?"
"More like, 'Is he okay?'," she deadpanned and went right back to work with the nth sigh that day, "He flew off his motorbike into a river."
"He's fine, he's tough," he dismissively waved at her, "Oh, do you want to listen to the mix I made the other day?"
She nodded her head and put down her pencil; however, Rindo noticed that she wouldn't so glance his way. A scowl that he never seemed to get rid of was permanently plastered on her features as she stared at her notebook.
He released an inaudible sigh before pulling the other earbud from her ear so he can prepare the next song on the MP3 player. Once he skipped through all of the songs he downloaded all the way to the recording he made, he placed the earbud back into her ear and pressed play— both enjoying the music through the shared earphones.
The day was by no means normal. The exhausted female woke up thirty minutes later to find a fluffy blanket around her shoulders and Rindo playing games on his phone. They were both drained at the fact that (y/n) might have lost the competition for good, but neither spoke up on that matter. Instead, (y/n) started on her fourth outfit as Rindo did his own thing, sometimes showing her funny things his friends sent him.
That was the least he could do. They both gave up— as much as that sucks to hear, and trust me, he knows— so he'll be the shoulder for her to lean on. There was no longer the rush to finish things so Rindo waited patiently for whatever (y/n) comes up with. That said, his eyes subconsciously trailed over to the trash bag filled with all of her first attempts at the other end of the table.
'She couldn't bring herself to get rid of it... huh?' He blankly thought. No frown, no bitter smile— just a neutral expression that didn't convey pain nor sadness. Bittersweet may be the best word to describe the feeling.
How they accepted her loss so easily was bittersweet.
"Rindo?" The (y/h) girl spoke up with a puzzled look adorning her face. He blinked and turned to look at her, "The song ended. It was really good, by the way, I enjoyed it a lot. You're really creative."
(Y/n) didn't mean anything by her words—anything condescending— that is. Considering her situation, it felt like a punch to the gut seeing the rift of hard word versus talent, and yet, she was being genuine. Rindo saw the opposite, and he was beginning to feel bad showing her his passion when she just lost the meaning to her own. It seems that he is taking this much worse than she is.
The (e/c)-eyed girl sighed seeing him flinch at her words before mustering a small smile, "Rindo... thank you. I know what you're trying to do and I appreciate it. To be honest with you, I'm not okay and I don't think I will be for awhile. But I'll be fine. You'll be there with me, right?"
The blonde faintly scoffed and pushed her head away with a grin, "Of course, dumbass. That's what I promised you, didn't I?"
A light chuckle of her own came about and the duo returned to their own activities, basking in the quiet that came about once more.
'What a shame,' he thought. He laid in the nest of his arms and did not hide the fact that he was staring straight at her, 'I really wanted to see you win, (y/n)...'
There just wasn't enough time.
|—~•~—|
'I did it,' Maya thought and widely grinned at her accomplishment. Her little feet happily scampered towards the apartment complex.
The youngest of the (l/n) family skipped her trumpet lesson for the third time that week. She couldn't use the 'I'm sick' excuse again because the instructor might call her parents, so she opted to never show up in the first place. Maybe that'll be more convincing that she was 'sick'.
But no, she wasn't. Practice, concerts, everything was starting to get to her and music was no longer becoming fun. She couldn't even play with her friends after school since she has to go straight to music practice.
Then she started skipping. At first, she was nervous and didn't think her excuses will work, but it did. She did it once every couple of weeks, to once a week, and now she's pushing her limits to multiple days. It's not like more practice will do anything for her if she could easily sightread the score.
The only problem is that she's usually the first one home whenever she does miss out on her extracurriculars. She even had to walk back to the music school building and wait for (y/n) to pick her up, pretending that she went to her lessons earlier that day. It was just across the street, but her parents insisted having (y/n) walk her home. Currently, she's home whilst she watched TV in the living room for awhile until she glanced at her older sister's sketchbook peeking out from her backpack.
"Right! Nee-san's gift!" The little girl exclaimed in excitement, "I should surprise her. That way, she wouldn't have to worry about picking me up."
It was perfect! Not only would her sister not have to worry herself taking more time out of her day, she would also be surprised seeing the drawing. It was like feeding two birds with one stone— wait, was that the saying?
A blur of short (h/c) hair darted to the sketchbook before bee-lining it straight to the front door. She soon stopped when she reached the end of the street of her apartment.
'Wait,' she paused to think rationally for a second, 'Where's nee-san's school again?'
She used the train station before, but which route should she take? Then after that, where would she go from there?
"Shit, are we actually going through with this?" She heard a male voice asked in a distance and she looked up to see two teenaged boys heading her way.
"We're already here, so might as well," the other responded, "That woman said (l/n) (y/n) lives here. Number 143, right?"
Maya gasped in realization, 'They know nee-san?'
"Um, excuse me," Maya announced and the they turned and rose a quizzical brow at her, "Are you friends with (y/n)-nee?"
The young girl didn't notice, but the two formed a wicked grin. It seems as though the job will be easier than they thought.
"Yes, we are," one replied, "We just have to... give your sister some homework she missed. Is she home?"
"No, but you can come with me," Maya innocently smiled, "I need to give my sister back her sketchbook and I don't know where her school is. You're classmates with her, yeah?"
"Yep, definitely..." one said and eyed the sketchbook the girl was holding before glancing over to his friend with a knowing look.
"Yay!" She exclaimed, "Please lead the way, mister."
"Actually, on second thought," he started, "We can hand the sketchbook and her homework in one trip. We'll kill two birds with one stone."
'Oh, that's how the saying goes,' she thought and sent a dumb, empty look. No thoughts behind those (e/c) eyes.
Meanwhile, the duo were beyond ecstatic at the revelation. That strange, rich lady did say that she'll accept other means as long as (y/n) would no longer be able to participate in the contest or something like that. Maybe they can destroy the sketchbook where she most likely had drawn her ideas, if she hadn't already started. Therefore, they wouldn't have to encounter Haitani Rindo's wrath for hurting his girlfriend.
Overall, it was a win-win scenario. They get a stupid amount of money and don't have to be beaten to a pulp for it.
"You can hand over the sketchbook and we'll make sure to deliver it safely," the other male held out his hand but Maya hesitated and hugged the item closer to her as if protecting it.
"No... I want to give it to nee-san myself..." she trailed off and casted her gaze downwards whilst her eyes warily peered up at them.
"You don't have to worry, we're friends with her," he said and reached his hand out, "So we'll head over there right noOAUGH—!"
Maya straight up bit him. Was it the best decision? No. But she wouldn't let anyone touch her sister's precious sketchbook. She knew how much it meant to her, after all.
"You fucking brat!" He hissed and forcibly tried grabbing the sketchbook, "Grab her! We'll just have to do this the hard way."
"Leave me alone, you weirdos!" Maya screamed and attempted to run back to her apartment.
The male next to him managed to catch the back of her school uniform and roughly pulled her back. She skidded on the pavement and tightly encased the book in her arms; however, one already pulled her arms apart. She quickly grabbed it with her right hand, but let out a cry of pain when the towering individual stepped on her wrist. Normally, the amount of pressure he was applying was rather forceful to anybody else, however, to a child was a bit much.
Crack!
"AGHH!" Maya wailed and desperately clawed at his ankle with her other hand, "Let go! Let go!"
"Just give us the sketchbook already, you damn brat!" The other one yelled and tried to rip it away from her grasp.
"No!" She screamed. The panic in her eyes grew seeing the papers tear and her hold loosening. No... she can't let this happen, "Nee-san—!"
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"
|—~•~—|
It was bittersweet watching her go.
"Do you want to hang out a bit longer?" Rindo questioned and stuffed his hands in his jacket's pockets, "Ran and I don't have any plans so we can hang out in your apartment, if you'd like."
"It's okay I just..." (y/n) started and awkwardly avoided eye contact whilst rubbing her arm, "I want to be alone right now. Sorry..."
The blonde male gave her an understanding smile. He grasped the side of her face and neck— allowing his fingers to be tangled in her hair— and leaned over to kiss her forehead.
"You don't have to apologize for that," he said and she tugged her lips upward before it fell back down into a frown, "I'll see you Monday, (y/n). Text me when you get home."
With his routine ruffle of her hair, Rindo let (y/n) head inside her designated train cart. She curtly smiled and waved back as she entered and took the closest seat to the window. There was a brief moment where they shared a reassuring look towards the other until the announcement was heard and the train soon departed— a faint memory of sorrowful violet and (e/c) eyes imprinted in their minds was all that was left.
'Ah, that's right,' (y/n) thought, 'Rindo wanted to show me something.'
Back at the station, Rindo had given her his MP3 player and headphones, and all he said was 'Listen to the last song'. Thus, she did exactly that as she placed the earphones in her ear and skipped through the songs until she reached the final one on the small window screen. It was titled, 'Someone to Stay'.
'Ah...' she pressed her lips together in a smile. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back to fully enrapture how nice the music sounded, 'How sweet of him...'
She bit the inside of her lip to stop herself from crying. Her body was so tired... she couldn't handle another one. In fact, she cried so much the past two weeks that it probably ran out of tears by now.
So, she held herself together and replayed the song once more as it was long enough to reach her destination. As soon as the train stopped and announced the preparation for drop off, (y/n) packed away the supplies in her bag and went straight home; however, as she got to her street, a realization came to her.
"Wait, Maya," she spoke out loud, "Is she done with practice—?"
"AGHH!" A scream rang through the neighborhood and caught the teen's attention, "Let go! Let go!"
The (e/c)-eyed girl widened her eyes at the familiar voice, "Maya!"
'Shit, shit, shit—!' She thought and unhesitantly darted towards the sound— her feet pouding down the pavement and her mind running a million miles an hour. That was Maya, right?! She didn't hallucinate her voice, right?!
She immediately was at the steps of her apartment building where two teenaged males towered over her younger sister. Anger boiled over her and the next thing she knew, she already shoved the one stepping on top of Maya's hand.
"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" (Y/n) shouted with so much murderous intent that her tired (e/c) eyes switched to a piercing, cold glare. She was ready to kill a man right then and there.
"Shit!" The other one exclaimed, "Quick! Break her arms and I'll rip the sketchbook!"
As (y/n) went to tackle the guy trying to pry Maya's hand open, the one she shoved to the ground stood back up and immediately grabbed her right arm. Twisting it to the point where the bone might pop out, the (h/c)-nette shrieked in agony before taking the opportunity to kick the male in the groin. Maya also took their distracted state to bite the other man's ankle, to which he released his hold and allowed (y/n) to tackle him to the floor. Maya quickly crawled towards the sketchbook and took it with her good hand.
Although, with a last attempt to fight back, he managed to tear half the notebook and Maya widened her eyes, "No!"
"This is good enough, let's go!" He shouted, wrapped his friend's arm around his shoulders, and scurried away.
(Y/n) wanted to chase them down since they were right there— she really did— however Maya was her main priority. The older (l/n) instantly knelt down, gingerly held her younger sister in her arms and scanned her body for injuries. She didn't even know if she was thinking coherent thoughts. All that played in her mind was panic. Complete, utter panic.
'Her hand's messed up,' she thought as the other wept into her shirt, her other hand tightly gripping onto the torn up sketchbook.
"Shh, it's okay. I'll bring you help right now, Maya," (y/n) cooed, carried the little girl in her arms, and ran to the nearest hospital.
"I'm sorry, nee-san..." Maya weakly cried. Other than her wrist, the damage she took was very minimal; however, to a child's body that never experienced that level of pain before, it was intense.
So, with that, the younger (l/n) sibling fainted— leaving the older one screaming her name.
|—~•~—|
Tick
Tock
Tick—
"Where..." a meek voice started as they were greeted by a white wall, "Where am I? Nee-san...?"
"Maya, you're awake!" The (y/h) female stood up from her seat and approached the hospital bed where her sister resided in, "Don't worry, they patched up your wrist but you may have to undergo surgery if you want to play music again. You'll be better in no time... Mom and dad should be here soon so—"
"Nee-san, I'm sorry," Maya choked back an incoming sob, "I'm sorry I disappointed you."
"It's not your fault—"
"I don't want to play music anymore."
—~—
Author's note: 🙂
Anyways, take care and see you in the next chapter :)