"Yuma!" He heard his name be called out.
That was Papa's voice.
Yuma didn't like it when he called for him.
"Yes, Papa?" He replied, stepping into the living room.
The man was sitting on the couch, his ebony black suit a harsh contrast against the pure white leather of the couch, "I'm leaving on a business trip in a few moments," his silver eyes slid in Yuma's direction, "I hope you'll be on your best behaviour while I'm gone." The man stood up, expensive shoes clicking against the marble floor as he approached Yuma.
"I will." Yuma averted his eyes, choosing to look down at the light grey tiles instead.
A shadow loomed over him, "Look me in the eye when I speak with you," Papa's deep voice resounded through the empty house, causing Yuma to reluctantly look up at him, "That's better."
Yuma didn't like this.
This... forced relationship between them.
He hated it. He despised it. He loathed it.
A sudden pressure on his neck made him wince, "Now, now. There's no need for such emotions between us, Yuma," the man whispered, staring down at him, "Aren't we family?" He asked, leaning down, "What would Kyoya think if he knew what you thought of me?"
Kyoya... Kyoya. Kyoya!
"Let me go." Yuma took a step back, but the grip on his neck didn't go away.
His father's lips pulled back into a smile, "Demanding, aren't we?" His slight accent sent shivers down Yuma's spine.
Let go. That was the only thing on his mind. Let go. The words kept on repeating. Let go.
"Let go."
The pressure on his neck went away as the man's amusement grew, "My, my. You seem oddly defiant these past few days..." Without another word, the man's hand surged forward and Yuma's head whipped to the side.
The slap echoed through the room.
"You should think twice before defying me again," the man bit out, walking past him, "Tell Kyoya to call me when he gets home." With that, he walked away, the front door clicking shut behind him.
Yuma's cheek stung.
_
The bruise had long since appeared before Kyoya got home, "Yuma?! What happened?" The older boy dropped his bag onto the floor and raced towards his younger brother, "Are you all right?"
Yuma didn't answer.
Kyoya knew the answer.
He grabbed the back of Yuma's head and pulled him into his chest, careful not to press onto the bruise, wrapping his arms around him, "It's all right now," he felt Yuma grip onto his uniform, "I'm here."
His heart drummed against his ribs.
_
"Mama died because of me, didn't she?"
Kyoya didn't expect to ever hear a question like that.
"Don't say that," he brushed his hand down Yuma's head, threading his fingers through his hair, "I don't want to hear you say anything like that." He felt Yuma move away, the boy sitting up to look down at him.
"But... If she never had me, then she would still be here, right?" He heard Yuma speak, "Papa seems to think so. Sometimes, he can't even look at me." Kyoya knew why Papa can't bear the sight of Yuma.
Yuma was the spitting image of their mother.
Moss-green eyes. Dark brown hair. Ivory skin. Even the two forsaken beauty marks under his left eye.
"Don't think about it. Mama loved you... Until the end," he sat up, eye-to-eye with his little brother, "Her death was not your fault. Do remember that, please."
Yuma nodded, looking at him with bleary eyes.
He looked tired.
"Now, sleep... You have school in the morning." He moved Yuma's bangs to the side and pressed a light kiss onto his skin.
Yuma sighed, eyes getting a bit unfocused, "You know I don't like school. The other kids don't see me... They only see my last name and the power behind it."
Yeah... Kyoya knew. He knew.
Laurent.
Their last name was quite well-known throughout the whole of France.
The last name was an indicator to their heritage and their bloodline.
Their proud bloodline. As their father would say.
Kyoya was set to join their father in his business, whatever it may be, when he turns eighteen.
Even when that was the last thing he wanted to do.
Yet, he cannot escape it. For crying out loud, he can't even escape his father's reflection each time he looks in the mirror! He couldn't help but think that Yuma was lucky to have gotten their mother's looks.
He didn't even look like he had a drop of French blood in him.
"Ignore them. That's what I did, still do." It was easy for him to say that. Yuma was young, prone to cracking under heavy pressure.
His quirk didn't make things better.
"Their words are annoying, their voices are annoying, their faces are annoying." Yuma forced out, staring down at his own hands.
Nodding, Kyoya leaned forward, pressing their foreheads together, "True, but you mustn't let their words and actions get to you," he looked into Yuma's bright eyes, "For your sake and their own."
Yuma averted his eyes, breathing out through his nose, "I understand that."
"I know you do, you're a smart boy~" Kyoya brushed their noses together, eliciting a small smile from Yuma, "A very smart boy~" he slotted their bodies together, pressing a light kiss beneath his eye, over the beauty marks, "My little, cute brother!"
Yuma laughed and wrapped his arms around him.
He needed to protect that bright smile of his.
No matter the cost.
_
Yuma pulled the bag over his shoulder and hurried out of the classroom. He ignored the voices calling out behind him. That was what Kyoya told him to do.
Just ignore them and they will go away.
He tried. He really did.
But what was he supposed to do when he found himself forced into a wall?
"You should turn around when someone calls for you," a boy said, leaning over him, "It's common courtesy."
Common courtesy? "Is this also common courtesy? Forcing me into a wall like this?" He really couldn't keep his mouth shut, could he? Talking back only made things worse.
"Oh? So the little mouse can talk back?" Another boy laughed from the side, stepping closer to him, "How... unexpected." He sneered, eyes lit up with mirth.
Yuma averted his eyes, pulling his bag closer to his chest, "May I leave? I'm in a hurry to go home."
He hated this situation. Why was he picked on? By older boys nonetheless. They were almost a full head taller than he was! Was this amusing to them? "Little mousy~ You're not going anywhere." One of the boys took hold of his bag and ripped it out of his arms, tossing it away as if it was some piece of trash.
"So? Is there a reason for me to be here?" He leaned his head onto the wall, a sigh leaving his lips, "I'm in a serious hurry."
He found himself on his knees, the breath knocked out of him, a moment later, "Come on~ Why are you like that? Is it in your blood to act all high and mighty?" He dry-heaved, tears collecting in the corners of his eyes.
Why was he in this situation?
Oh, yeah... His father.
A cough ripped out of his throat as he tried to breathe in, "Marcus, he can't breathe, stop it." A moment later, Yuma took in a much needed breathe of air.
"You... do realise that quirks are forbidden on school grounds?" He looked up at the boy directly above him.
His cerulean eyes glinted at the mention of quirks, "Hmm? I do... Now that you mention that... What is your quirk, huh?" The boy grabbed Yuma by the hair and pulled him up, "I've never seen you use it. Are you perhaps... quirkless?"
If only...
"That might be the case. What do you think, Louis?" Marcus asked, glancing at Louis, "Might he be quirkless?"
Louis leaned onto the wall, nonchalance radiating off him, "That would be an interesting thing... A Laurent without a quirk." He shook his head at the thought.
"That would explain why he never used his quirk... Hey, why don't you use it now?" Marcus pushed him back into the wall, fingers digging into his shoulders, "Let us see what it is... If you have it."
Yuma blinked, clearing the dampness away. He felt a drop slide down his cheek. Great...
"Oh? You're crying already?" Marcus grinned, leaning closer, "We haven't even started yet... and you turned into a crybaby five minutes in."
Yuma averted his eyes at the mention of the word 'crybaby'. It brought back memories he'd rather not see again.
"Marcus, quit screwing around. Do it or don't do it," Louis scoffed from the side, clearly annoyed by how long it was taking them, "I don't have time to waste."
Marcus laughed, leaning away from Yuma, "Yeah, yeah," he waved the other boy off, before he looked back at Yuma, "This won't take long." His tone went low and before Yuma could even say a word, his throat constricted.
He couldn't breathe.
No words left his lips as he reached a hand towards Marcus. He didn't even get to touch him, before he was forced back into the wall, "Use your quirk." Marcus ordered.
Yuma shook his head, closing his eyes when his vision started going blurry.
Static filled his ears.
"Just use your quirk and it'll all be over." Louis whispered from next to him, fingers trailing down his cheek.
Yuma shook his head once again, pain flashing behind his eyelids. It felt like his head was being split open.
"Marcus, stop it," Louis said, leaning away from Yuma, "He's either quirkless or really determined to not use his quirk."
Yet, Marcus didn't stop, "It won't take long for him to use it, you'll see." He stared down at Yuma with glinting eyes.
"Marcus!" Louis took a step towards him, but also found himself unable to breathe.
Marcus laughed, "Don't worry about him, I won't kill him."
Louis coughed, breathing in when Marcus stopped using his quirk on him, "Marcus! It has been too long! That can have permanent consequences on him!"
Yuma could no longer hear their voices, just as he could no longer see properly.
Stop. He wanted to say. Stop. No words left his lips. Stop. Nobody heard him.
Mahiru flashed behind his closed eyelids and he shook his head. He can't do the same thing! But he couldn't breathe! He just wanted to breathe! But how?! Marcus had no intentions of stopping his quirk...
There was only one way for him to stop, and Yuma hoped he wouldn't end up like Mahiru.
Slowly, he flicked his wrists.
And then he collapsed onto his knees, hungrily taking in air through his mouth. He leaned onto his elbows, face almost touching the dirty ground underneath him. He wiped the wetness from around his mouth on his shoulder, feeling tears slide down his cheeks.
"What the hell...?" Yuma heard Marcus's voice.
He didn't look in front, too tired to even raise his head.
"Marcus? What's wrong?" That was Louis.
Yuma looked up and was met with Marcus's still figure. The boy was looking down at him with wide eyes, as if he couldn't believe what was currently going on.
Slowly leaning onto his hands, Yuma pushed himself up, knees almost buckling under his weight.
His head throbbed.
"Why are you standing still?" Louis asked, taping Marcus on the shoulder, "Marcus?"
Yuma's throat constricted, causing him to cough. That drew Louis's attention to him, "What did you do?" He demanded, staring at him with a confused expression.
"I can't move..." Marcus bit out through clenched teeth.
A light 'huh?' left Louis's lips.
"Be glad I held back." Yuma forced out, feeling like sandpaper was dragged along the inside of his throat. It hurt to even speak at that point.
Why were these things happening to him?
"Your... quirk? What the hell is your quirk?!" Marcus demanded, still rooted to the ground.
Louis stepped closer to Yuma, slightly crowding him, "You better release him now, or bad things will happen." The boy threatened, looming over Yuma, glowering at him.
"Bad things? Like what?" Yuma tilted his head.
He shouldn't have taunted him.
It was lights out when a fist collided with his nose.
_
His head whipped to the side from the strength of the slap, "Must you always get in trouble?!" Papa's voice resounded through the room, "I looked past it the first time, but you just keep on screwing up!"
Yuma stood still, staring at the floor.
"Papa, he didn't me-!" Kyoya stepped forward, but was silenced with one look.
"Don't speak unless spoken to!" The man yelled, causing Kyoya to flinch back as if he was the one who got hit, "I gave him everything! The best house! The best clothes! The best school!" His voice kept on getting louder and louder, "And this is how he repays me?!"
Kyoya went to speak up, but once another wave of his father's quirk washed over him, his lips pressed shut.
He was completely and utterly powerless against it.
Fear coursed through his veins instead of blood.
"If this continues on, my whole reputation will be ruined! It wasn't enough that I had to move back to France after the first incident!" The man's fists clenched at his sides, "The news will spread through the whole of France by tonight! Gabriel Laurent's son can't keep his quirk to himself!" He exclaimed.
Yuma looked back at him, "I didn't start it!" He yelled, defiantly staring at him.
Gabriel laughed, unblinkingly looking down at Yuma, "Of course you didn't! You never do anything wrong, do you?!"
Yuma grit his teeth as he tore his gaze away from his father, "I hate this," he forced out, "I really hate this." The stinging in his cheek increased, but he paid it no mind.
"You should!" Gabriel grabbed him by his collar, "Remember my words! The next time something like this happens, you're gonna wish you ended up brain-dead along with that kid back in Japan!" He pushed him away, making him stumble back.
Without another word, the man left the house, slamming the door behind himself.
Yuma wished his mother was there.