"No way you actually did that..."
H/n's voice laughed as he covered his mouth with eyes wide as we were walking side by side home, laughing at my stupidity. The two of us were now returning home after spending time with the Sanos and Baji for at least three hours, and on our way home, I told my brother about the encounter I had with the two strangers and how I mistook one of them for a girl... He was laughing hard and making fun of me, but after he stopped laughing, he looked at me with his e/c eyes that were just like mine, as if I was looking in my own eyes from the reflection of a mirror. "Seriously though, you should really be careful.. Don't just approach people like that out of nowhere - strangers, most importantly! No matter how kind you want to be, you never know who you may stumble upon and how someone could take advantage of your kindness... Especially if I'm not there, if anything were to happen to you-"
"Yeah, okay 'MOM'," I rolled my eyes at him. I understood his concern and I appreciated him caring over me... We both loved each other dearly and we had promised to always support each other no matter what and have each other's back no matter the situation. But I could not help but always feel guilty everytime I had someone worrying about me. "I know, I know, I've already learned my lesson..." I said, making my brother chuckle and ruffle my head playfully, messing up my hair as I pulled away my head and attempted to fix my hair quickly.
I heard the sound of a notification on my phone, making me grab my phone from my pocket to check who sent me a message, even though I kind of expected who it would be.
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Pretty girl Yuzuha💖💕
I'll pick you up tomorrow by your house at 6. Brother said he allows you to stay until 10
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I found myself a bit relieved by her message. Four hours were probably enough for us to finish our project, and hopefully even manage to spend time together. I typed back.
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Sure, you don't have to pick me up tho, I can come by your house, don't stress yourself.
No it's fine I'll come pick you up.
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As Yuzuha insisted, I decided to shrug it off and agree, feeling happy that we would be able to meet up and spend time together, even if it was for a project.
I tried to shake this weird feeling however... It felt like Yuzuha's messages were a bit... well, 'dryer' than usual. She was not the type of person to necessarily be all fuzzy and cute and sweet and use cute emojis or whatever, but I could usually feel more excitement by her messages whenever we texted. And we really wanted to meet up together one day at each other's houses and I had expected her to be happier and more enthusiastic over her inviting me over... But her message felt almost robotic in a way.
Well... Maybe it was just me. But... I could not help but link a few things together, and... I had a small feeling that things were not too good at Yuzuha's household. I was worried about her, because she would appear injured often and she would barely talk about her family or parents other than Hakkai. Plus, when Yuzuha talked about Taiju.... Well, even though she did not tell me anything much about Taiju other than the fact that he was her elder brother and taking care of her and Hakkai, I could tell there was much more to that.
Yuzuha would tend not to talk about things that made her uncomfortable most of the time, which included parents, her house situation, family or Taiju. How come she had never mentioned him until now, but only Hakkai?
Maybe... Maybe Taiju was an extremely stern person? Maybe he was not... a very good brother? Or simply just stern and protective and maybe annoying to Yuzuha? Or....
I kept walking as I had finally put my phone back in my pocket, staring at nowhere in particular with a blank face as I was walking, the image of Yuzuha's bandages over her face and arms coming into my mind.
"....."
I flinched a bit when I felt a band on my shoulder. I turned to meet my brother's eyes. "Is everything alright? Who was it?"
I nodded at him, "Yeah, it was my friend, Yuzuha. I'm going by her place tomorrow at six for a science project. I'll probably be back by ten."
"Oh, nice."
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"Wow..."
I muttered under my breath, my eyes widened in wonder as I looked around. "Your house is so beautiful..." I complimented, looking over the beautiful decorations and how spacey and crystal clear the house was. As if the exterior of her house and the entrance were not beautiful themselves, making you feel like you were entering a five star hotel, the inside made you feel like royalty. Was she rich? Just the living room was massive itself. Each corner was shining, even the floor. I could not see a single imperfection or dust in any corner I turned to look at, and I was amazed by how many bookshelves I saw around, filled with infinite almost books. Being in her house made me feel so out of place and almost insecure, as if I would dirty the atmosphere and the house just by being inside, walking or breathing and touching anything.
The house looked perfect.
.... a bit too perfect.
Yuzuha smiled at me, covering her lips with her hand, flattered by the compliment. "Haha, you're just exaggerating... But thanks, I'm happy you like it. Come on," She took my hand and started quickly leading me somewhere, "Let's go to my room."
A small smile appeared on my lips as she dragged me somewhere around the house, making me feel amazed at just how many rooms, doors and decors I could see. The house almost felt like a maze and I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed by it's beauty, to the point where I did not notice a pair of flashing, fierce, dangerous amber eyes briefly looking at Yuzuha and I from another room that we passed.
Yuzuha dragged me up some stairs, leading to the second floor that surprised me with even more doors, picking my curiosity and making me feel the need to start wandering around the entire house and exploring every single door, but obviously, that was just plain rude on my part.
She finally led me to a specific door and we stopped right in front of the door. "Here's the door to my room," She said and then pointed at the door right next to hers. "This is Hakkai's room."
I looked at her. "Is he in there right now?"
She shrugged at me. "Mhm, I dunno, maybe. Or he could be outside with friends. Let me see.." She said and walked over his door and immediately knocked, making me stand up straight and hold my breath in slight surprise and anxiety. I was not exactly mentally prepared to introduce myself to Yuzuha's siblings. From what I knew, one was stern and probably scary -from what I could make up with my mastermind- and the other was awkward and shy around girls.
"Hakkai, are you in there?" Yuzuha asked.
Soon, the sounds of someone shifting in a mattress and walking on the ground was heard.
The door opened, to reveal a boy with black hair cut in a buzz cut and big, soft, dark blue eyes. Along with the beautiful blue eyes and the thick, lower eyelashes, I also noticed some small cuts and wounds on his cheek, forehead and chin.
... He was hurt, too. It was not just Yuzuha.
"Yeah, do you need-" The boy spoke, blinking at his sister, before moving his eyes at me, his eyes widening slightly and he tensed up, "-mhm--?!" He muttered out softly, being cut off, obviously NOT expecting to see a stranger in his house, right next to his sister right outside his room.
I swallowed a bit harshly and blinked at him a few times. Thankfully, Yuzuha did the speaking. "This is Y/n, the friend I've told you about. Y/n, this is my brother Hakkai." Yuzuha introduced us to each other. Hakkai has clearly heard a bit about me based on what Yuzuha told him and I had also heard a bit about Hakkai by her.
"Um, hi, nice to meet you..." I greeted Hakkai, giving a small, quick bow at him, feeling myself sweat up a bit.
"...." Hakkai remained there frozen however, his face blank. "..." I could barely make out much emotion out of him, apart from slight surprise. Yuzuha gave me a reassuring smile, "Don't worry about him, he's just not used to having guests over.." She said and then snapped her fingers close to his face, making him blink and flinch slightlt, as if waking up from some kind of daze.
"We'll be right in my room if you need anything." She told her brother, before grabbing my wrist gently and dragging me in her room, leading me away from Hakkai who was standing right in the entrance of his room. "Come on, let's get inside."
---------------------------------
Yuzuha and I were happily chatting and gossiping about whatever topics we could think, sitting on her bed, on top of which were also laying some of her clothes and a few make up products that she was showing me a while ago.
Of course, we had already finished with the school project so we had time to just spend to ourselves. I did feel a bit guilty, cause I felt that Yuzuha had done most of the work, as she had started a bit before I arrived and she had already collected way more information than I did, but after a few hours, we could say we were proud of our work.
Her bedroom was not as big or as luxurious as I expected it to be. Not to shame or anything obviously, it was just surprising to see how big her house was and how many rooms and corners there were. Just by seeing the exterior and some interior parts of her house, I felt like I could safely assume she had a giant room with a queen sized bed or whatever.
We had even put music in her room to listen to, but she made sure the volume was not too loud, saying she didn't want to disturb Hakkai nextdoor or Taiju, who I had no idea where he was, what he was doing or what he even looked like. She also mentioned that there were some rules in the house and that included the hours that Yuzuha was allowed to play music and when not.
I was having a lot of fun with Yuzuha. We were having a great time. Especially considering how we had never been to each other's house before. We did hung out together, but that was mostly around school and even outside in cafeterias, parks and other places, but it was nice to relax at home. She was quite happy to show me some of her stuff and I felt that being in her house and room helped me learn more about my friend and bond with her.
But there was still this kind of.. weird, nagging feeling and slightly uncomfortable aura at times.
It did not have to do with the fact that it was my first time in the house and it was not the fact that Hakkai next door could probably have been listening to our conversations.
Some things just felt off.
The house was big and a bit too perfect. Not as if to say perfection is a bad thing, but... There was this wrong feeling of safety at times.
Hearing Yuzuha's voice talk to me about stuff or looking at her pretty eyes or whenever her fingers ran through her hair, twirling around it, playing and combing her hair was making me feel really comfortable and relaxed.
But then looking at her face, the little bandages and the small wounds and scratches on her face was a rather common sight. I was sure that I could remember her with even minor wounds more than I could remember her with a clean and healthy skin free of any signs of pain or .... well, abuse.
When I first met her, I assumed that she was extremely clumsy and one of those people who would always find silly ways to get themselves in trouble and hurt..
But her brother's face was more or less the same.
Although we only had a small interaction, apart from his blue eyes, I could vividly remember that he was also wounded, but he did not use any sort of bandages or cute little bandaids on his face like Yuzuha did. When I asked Yuzuha about it, she shrugged it, "He's a boy. Boys are stupid. They like to play fight all the time and he does that a lot with his friends. He's alright..." She told me, looking down at her feet before smiling at me a bit. "My brother can be a bit careless, at times."
Sure. As if I never noticed the worried, anxious and uncomfortable look in her eyes or the tone of her voice that clearly screamed that she was hiding something.
Even her movements, her words and tone in her house almost had a robotic manner in them. And the way she constantly watched out for noises or whenever her pretty brown eyes would occasionally swift over the clock and acting like she was trying to... perhaps watch out for things, be careful or follow some kind of schedule or whatever.
And then to top it off... No mentions of her parents and aparently, their elder brother, Taiju was currently in the same house with us, roaming or hiding somewhere, existing.
So far within these few hours in her house, I kept getting this eerie feeling, and I figured that it could be due to the fact that I knew that there was another person present in this house, but one that so far I had not seen or heard. Which could mean that he was either busy, sleeping or on the first floor or something, meaning that he was not nearby.
But then why did Yuzuha look tense everytime a single noise was heard? Why did she look so stiff and robotic with her movements and the way she walked or talked?
It almost felt like he was some kind of ghost in the house, not being physically here but his spirit and 'presence' somewhere in the house causing Yuzuha to feel so tense and wary.
Yuzuha was never like that when we were in school. She was always so relaxed and more carefree. When we hung out, she would always check her phone for messages and announce that she had to leave in very specific times.
This was my first time being in her house and the first time I had seen her act so wary, worried and anxious.
But she kept trying to mask it with her cute smiles and the conversations she had going on.
I was this close to asking her about some personal things regarding... Her household and her elder brother and about if she was truly okay, but it felt too intrusive and very wrong to ask yet.
It felt as if I could not even physically open my mouth and ask some specific things.
It was as if saying or asking the wrong thing could cause some kind of monster to appear from the walls and consume me whole. As if something was observing me, waiting to attack during the right moment.
So in return, for Yuzuha's sake and my sanity, I myself pretended that I was fully calm and pretended to pay all of my attention on the things she told me.
This kind of nagging feeling, fear and worry was occasional. One minute I felt completely relaxed and carefree with Yuzuha, having fun and talking unstoppably almost, giggling and snorting about situations and peoole, and the next minute I found myself silently thinking and being curious about Yuzuha's family situation and this 'Taiju' brother she seemed to pale whenever she mentioned whenever she had, and getting myself a bit anxious and creeped out.
It was clear by the way she talked about Hakkai and to him face to face that she had a great relationship with him and she felt completely comfortable around him. But whenever she talked about Taiju, she would always appear a bit anxious, whisper his name quietly and always look wary and anxious, saying things like, 'Keeping things tidy cause Taiju doesn't like this,' 'Keeping it down after this specific hour because Taiju that,', 'Taking care of this cause Taiju said so,' and a few other 'innocent' examples that clearly kept the poor girl on edge.
Her elder brother seemed to put serious limits in a lot of situations.
Somethings were understandable. Someone responsible over their children or younger siblings would definitely need to put limits in situations and keep situations and things at bay. Obviously, my fathers also raised us with rules to follow and taught us what limits not to cross. But my brother and I had never found ourselves to the point where we felt so anxious and stressed out over doing one tiny wrong thing, in comparison to the way Yuzuha seemed to feel.
The difference between the way she spoke and felt between her two brothers was crystal clear, and it had be wondering and fearing that some of my suspicious about her brother were right.
"I'm going to the bathroom for a bit, okay? I won't take long." Yuzuha told me and got out of the bed, stumbling a bit in process as she headed to her door. "Okay," I nodded to her quickly, still sitting cross legged on her her bed as I watched my friend close to door behind her as she stepped outside.
And that was when there was pure silence. I just remained frozen for a bit, unblinking as Yuzuha's soft steps faded away the further she walked to the point where there was not a single sound coming. I simply stared around the room every corner of her room, observing mindlessly.
With a silent sigh, I got up and leaned over Yuzuha's table to look at our cups. While we had been working on our project, she made sure to serve us some snacks and some delicious juice to enjoy and make the experience more fun. But both of our cups were mostly empty.
"Hmm..." I hummed to myself as I stared at them for a minute, before my eyes shifted towards the door skeptically.
After a little while of hesitation, I grabbed sboth of our cups and headed towards the exit door of her room to get our cups refilled. There were still a few snacks left in our bowls, so we did not need anything from that.
I opened the door and was met with silence, obviously. I looked both right and round to see if there was anyone but of course, nobody. Yuzuha was in the bathroom. Hakkai was most likely in his room. As for their other brother....
I slowly stepped outside and slowly started heading down the stairs with slow steps, watching each step carefully and holding my breath.
I found myself quietly enjoying the beauty of the house as I walked slowly, taking everything I could get in, the beautiful decor, the paintings, the furniture, the carpets... Yuzuha was so lucky to live in such a house. I could only imagine myself running all over the house playing tag with H/n if I lived there and constantly prank each other in such a maze.
Walking in the kitchen, I blinked when I noticed that right next to it was another living room. There were at least two living rooms so far in this house and I had barely explored anything in this house.
I walked to the kitchen and gently opened the fridge, looking around. The fridge was loaded with lots of food and goods I found myself salivating. I could not help but feel the urge to just grab everything from it and devour all I could find, but let's not get too silly here.
I grabbed some more juice in the fridge that I found, before I started pouring and filling both our cups watching as the cup was being filled and enjoying the sound it made, before I put the juice back in the fridge and closed it.
I proceeded to grab the two cups and turned around-
"Haah--?!"
I let out a brief yelp and flinched, almost spilling the juice on my hands and remained frozen at the sight of another person standing right in the entrance of the kitchen.
I found myself silent and frozen by the narrowed, fierce amber eyes that I could feel penetrating right through my soul. I swallowed a bit hard and slowly blinked, observing him.
"Um... Hi..." I greeted the tall black haired boy in front of me. "I'm... I'm Y/n. I'm Yuzuha's friend. I... I came over for-for a school project..." I introduced myself. Damn it, why did I have to sound so awkward and why did my voice crack so much as I spoke?
"..." The angry and serious boy kept glaring down at me. I could not help but feel like a pest, like I was being judged by these two amber eyes that were almost making me dizzy the more I stared at them. It looked like he was looking down upon me and not just judging me, but staring at me as if he could attack me all of a sudden, making me suddenly feel really unwelcome in this house, like an outsider. I even felt the need to excuse my presence to him and clearly show that I was merely a guest here who had no ill intentions in this house, but he probably knew that already. Probably...
".... I'm aware." He suddenly spoke. I found myself internally shiver at the deep, low, cold and unfriendly voice of his. "Did you two finish with it?" He asked. Taiju did not even introduce himself. He did not show any kindness, he did not greet me or say something like 'Nice to meet you' or whatever things any person says when meeting someone.
The way he spoke to me made it clear to me that I was nothing but a lowlife pest and outsider to him. He barely acknowledged me as a person or a guest. Just with the tone of his voice and the way he spoke to me made me feel inferior to him.
Although his question was supposed to be innocent and not threatening, the way he stared and narrowed his angry gaze and eyebrows right at me clearly showed that there could be consequences based on my words with him. Although I was an innocent guest who already had finished the project with Yuzuha, I still felt the need to watch my words around him.
"Yes, yes of course..." I trailed of, averting my gaze for a few seconds, trying to stand my ground and not appear scared or threatened, but also remain respectful and relaxed.
He kept glaring right at me, staring deeply and intensely for a few seconds I felt that his gaze was strong enough to rip my throat open with simply his stare.
"... Good." He huffed lowly, before he took his gaze away from me and angrily walked right past me, making me hold my breath the moment he did, almost brushing his side and shoulder against mine. I clenched onto the cups a bit tighter, as I remained frozen while he walked right to the kitchen and started preparing himself something to eat, turning his back towards me.
I hesitantly turned and looked at him through my side, looking at the back of his head as he proceeded to do his thing and ignore me completely.
I should have been feeling relieved to be standing in once piece and unharmed. Him not looking at me anymore made me feel as if suddenly, I could breathe just a bit better again from an invisible, suffocating grip on my neck.
Thinking about it, it was silly of me to be afraid of him in a way.
Taiju clearly seemed like a cold, angry, short-tempered and intimidating person. It wasn't like he verbally threatened me, spoke down upon me or made any movement to scare or attack me. Maybe not purposely.
But I still felt unsafe. I still felt uncomfortable and heavy on my feet. I still felt some kind of... fear.
Despite him not having the right to do anything against me for no reason and despite me being a guest who simply came over for a project and to hang out with a friend, I couldn't help but feel that one wrong movement or word from me could result me hurt.
Kind of in ways Yuzuha and Hakkai's face were.
I bit my lips and slowly, hesitantly made my way out of the kitchen, too timid all of a sudden to mutter any other word to him. I silently prayed that he would not actually be this kind of psychopath and attack me from the back for no reason. After all, he was probably preparing a sandwich for himself, but he seriously gave me these strong vibes that he could hurt me if he wanted to.
As I was walking up the stairs, getting closer to Yuzuha's room, I couldn't help but feel that my horrible theories about Yuzuha, Hakkai and Taiju were correct.
What else would explain their injuries, Yuzuha's discomfort in the house and mentioning Taiju and to top it off, Taiju's intimidating, terrifying and dangerous gaze and angry frown?
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Please make sure to leave your comments, thoughts and feelings for this story so far! Comments really motivate me and help me feel more eager to write and do my best, as well as fix mistakes and errors!
For the next many chapters -around up until chapter 15-, Y/n's age will be around 12-14 until a four-year time time-skip in which the ages of all characters is going to increase around 16-18 years old. So, no, Y/n will not remain the age of 12-14 for the rest of the story, these chapters are dedicated to some of Y/n's memories of Y/n's childhood with her friends. After that, we'll be getting onto the story with Y/n and everyone else being around the ages of 16, 17 or 18, depending on you. But even these age changes of the characters won't matter in the story or change anything.
The following chapters will contain scenes, days and moments of the main character building trust and her friendship with some of the characters she will meet during her childhood before the 'main story plot' starts to roll -where the Moebius arc and the next will follow-, so the character will not remain at this age for the rest of the story as I mentioned. These chapters are parts of Y/n's childhood, so that you will get a taste of her bond and relationship with people and some memories that she will create with certain characters that may or may not be extremely important for the story after the four-year timeskip.
NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE PUBLISHED ON: March 6th