Chapter Text
[Name] was born to a young and excitable couple. They always imagined having a child would be delightful and enjoyable - they were wrong. Neither of them had the bond nor capacity, barely even any of the same ideology, to raise the girl. Her mother, Milana, insisted on making her proper, polite, innocent, the ideal housewife. Her father, Octavian, disagreed and fought with Milana. He wanted more opportunities for his daughter, perhaps as a lawyer or doctor. "This is a more modern time, Milana! We shouldn't restrict [Name] into being a man's bootlicker!" was his most common argument. As for her, she stuck her chin up and said the same snooty response, "It's how I was raised, so [Name] will be raised as such." Through this, [Name] never had a close relationship with her parents, as a child, she liked to spend time with her grandmother. Her grandmother was a sweet woman - long gray hair tied into a bun and big, soft eyes, similar to [Name]'s, but more faded with age. She taught her grandchild many things: how to write, how to draw, and even how to speak. She was raising their child for a long time. While [Name]'s parents argued, she would spend that time with her grandmother, or Nonna Adie as [Name] called her at a young age. Nonna Adie lived two houses away from her, so whenever her parents fought, she would sneak off down the road until nighttime, sometimes she spent the night. They spent their time drawing pictures of flowers or other scenery and talking about life.
[Name] was happy to have a calm and uneventful life. She had an easier time dealing with the drama of her parents' relationship breaking because Nonna Adie was there for her. Milana, her mother, was a very manipulative woman, sometimes even emotionally unavailable. Octavian was closer to [Name] but was partially absent due to his work - he was a traveling musician. Milana complained that his occupation wasn't making money and that he should go into physical labor. He didn't care, he just wanted to make up for his lack of education by doing something he enjoyed.
The two of them often fought over their lack of wealth or some event that upset the other - sometimes even in front of their daughter. Their quarrels only evolved through her grandmother's illness. No one knew what to do, they were already so poor, there was no way her family could afford treatment. While they fought, [Name] spent her time wisely. She and her grandmother spent a while reading a novel they bought together; it was about a man who saves a girl from poverty by marrying her. "You know [Name], that happened to me too. Your grandfather was a wealthy man, a great lawyer. I was that poor girl." she said with a gentle smile. "Nonno saved you?" the little girl asks in surprise. Nonna Adie chuckled and patted the child's head, "Yes he did, I think I'll get to see him soon too. " [Name] never realized the meaning of those words until she was much older. She never was prepared or knew that her grandmother was aware of her coming demise. "I hope you two will reunite happily, like at the end of the book." she said, ever so yet painfully naive. Her grandmother smiled wider and gave her one last hug before sending her home. [Name] walked into the door and saw that her mother was crying by herself, she tilted her head and approached closer. Smack, "Go away! I don't want to see you!" Milana yelled through sobs. The child held the cheek that was backhanded and proceeded to her room. The reason she didn’t cry on the spot was that her mother often had these outbursts. As for her room, it was empty and dirty except for a single bed on the far right. The little girl laid down and cried quietly, hugging her knees close to her chest. She practiced holding in tears until she was in private. Her tears flowed through the night until she slept. The next morning, she goes to check on her grandmother and discovers that she's still, not breathing, like a perfect doll. The little girl goes into a panic, rocking her and calling out her name, "Nonna! Nonna! Nonna!" She was dead. The only parental figure she had just passed away. The first funeral she attended was when she was nine years old.
[Name] didn't cope well with Nonna Adie's death. She became shut off and completely avoided her parents. She had no reason to interact with them anymore. She spent many years away from them, in her room, either drawing or reading. Octavian was on tour while his mother passed, the following weeks ever since then killed his passion for music, so he gave into the gripes of Milana and went into physical labor. He was severely injured and became crippled from the waist down when [Name] was twelve. They spent years living off of their inherited wealth, like all things good, it ended quickly and they eventually fell into debt to feed their addictions of booze or other substances. Milana complained, complained, and complained, about never having money, so she insisted on prostitution. "What happened to being proper?!" Octavian fought with her. "These are desperate times! Now let go of me!" Milana smacked him away and left to sell herself. [Name] always hated that woman and the traits she inherited from her. After the wench left, she turned to her father and asked, "Father, why is she still in our lives?" The man tensed up and held his daughter close, "I don't know, I feel trapped. Don't worry though, I have means to get you out of here soon." he promised. "What are you going to do?" she asked him, "You'll find out soon." he said.
-
Now at 16 years old, [Name] is doing fairly well for herself. She has short, shaggy hair and messy bangs, wears a striped black and turquoise sweater she inherited from her grandmother, denim shorts, simple black stockings, and even simpler shoes. She has the same eye color as her grandmother and is short in size. In her town, she’s a small artist and makes more money than her mother does. Milana despises this and is bitter about her daughter’s success. “I just have to remind myself, no matter how often she hits me or belittles me, I’m doing much better than her.” [Name] often reassures herself. Octavian is doing fairly well for himself, he became sober and even plays music in the center of town while the others watch his daughter draw. Together, they raise enough money for [Name] to go to night school, even a scout for the school advertised to them! “You know ma’am, with skill like that, you’d be perfect for our school!” he announces as [Name] helps her father clean up. She turns her head to look at the scout, “I assume you’re a talent scout for Peak Emperor Academy, or whatever the name for it is…” she densely states. The eccentric man takes a bow and confirms his occupation, “Guilty as charged.” Octavian looks over at the scout and recognizes him as a former classmate. “You see, your father and I were classmates. I can make preparations for you like a quick snap of the fingers!” he offers. [Name] looks at her father for confirmation, and he nods, “The school is really nice, I think you should go because it could turn your insomnia into a benefit.” Octavian insists. The girl just blankly looks at the two of them and replies an empty, “Sure.”
Milana isn't happy with this, she usually never is happy when her daughter achieves more than her. "Well if you really want to go, you must cross-dress so the boys don't get funny ideas!" she demands. [Name]'s eyes widen as she stares at her father, "I don't think that's necessary, they allow girls at the school." Octavian says. "She either cross-dresses or I'll tell that scout to forget it! You know how much I hate, hate, hate having a daughter!" she shouts and walks off. Her father notices how shaken she is, he sighs and hugs his daughter. "I'm sorry [Name], but if this is what it takes to get you away from her, then I'll take that risk." [Name] notices the tears in her father's eyes - for years she's known that this man isn't easy to break. When it comes to his daughter, that's what really hits him emotionally. "And you're just going to stay here, with her?" she asks with concern. "My only goal is to get you away from her. I'll take my chances." he hugs her one last time before she leaves.
Just like that, the scout, whose name she later finds out to be Akito, makes arrangements for her to leave town and stay in one of the school’s dorms. During the trip, she learns from him that her father used to be top of the class in the foreign exchange program. Since he runs that program now, he decided to pay his old friend a visit, and to his luck, found a new student. [Name] shyly sits there and nods or gives two-word responses. “Do you know what happened to him? He used to be able to stand up just fine!” he asks. [Name] becomes unresponsive and looks out of the car window. “Oh, touchy subject? I’m sorry [Alias].” She grits her teeth and corrects him, “It’s [Name], definitely not [Alias].” Akito apologizes and [Name] thinks to herself, “How was father even friends with this man? He can’t stand people like this.” After the rest of the car ride in silence, [Name] and Akito finally arrive at the dorms down the road for foreign exchange. She notices several students of different backgrounds … French, English, even American … and she realizes that she’s the only Italian by the time she walks into her dorm room. The dorm itself appears simple: simple beige paint coat, burgundy carpet, and white bedspread. The girl sets her belongings by the door and sits on the bed. Right next to her are her uniform and textbooks. Her student identification is different from what the other students receive, hers looks more like a multi-paged passport instead of a license. The girl picks it up and reads it: [Alias] Carroza. Sixteen years old. Italian. She grits her teeth and sets the ID down, quietly cursing her mother. After unpacking everything in her room and neatly setting things up, she gets out her sketchbook and starts to draw the scenery she saw outside.
The next morning - well night - is rocky for [Name] yet relieving at the same time. She wakes up as normal - no yelling, no glass breaking - completely quiet except for the sounds of her music box Nonna Adie gave her and the furnace. She’s in a new environment and couldn’t be more thankful to get away from her awful mother, but she fears for her crippled father. Aside from her mind being riddled with anxiety, [Name] has a normal and ideal morning. The girl puts on her uniform and grabs her textbooks, her sketchbook, and two pencils, then proceeds to walk out of the dorms and into the schoolyard. She stands in front of the courtyard and sees everyone mingle through a cynical view. She observes an unavailable spot and quickly rushes to it, she sits under a tree and starts to draw the landscape again until she hears the chimes. Everyone moves into a cluster and proceeds to their classes while gossiping and chatting - [Name] is caught in the middle of it until she bumps into someone, the impact of the crowd causes her to fall over and almost get trampled. The guy she bumped into turns around to look at her, he wears a hat with near-shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes. They lock eyes for a brief moment until he goes in for closer inspection. [Name] gets nervous as he smiles at her and whispers, “You smell very sweet.” he hums, she backs away in disgust and tries to get up. The pervert holds her down and lightly chuckles while trying to remain casual despite the perversion. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before, are you a part of the foreign exchange program?” he asks as he licks her cheek. “Get off of me-” [Name] tries to shove, but he holds her down harder. “My assumption was correct then, you taste different.” She struggles some more and he refuses to get off of her, then you hear a stern voice call out, “Laito, get off of him. It's not appropriate to horseplay on school grounds.” Laito turns to his apparent brother, from what [Name] is picking up, and gets up. “You’re no fun.” he says while he walks away. Another guy stands before her - tall, somewhat dark purple hair, glasses, and a singular white glove on his hand. “I apologize for his behavior, you should take proper precautions so this doesn’t happen again.” [Name] scowls as he helps her up and gives her things.
“[Alias] Carroza, 16 years old and a part of the foreign exchange program, I see.” he reads her ID to her. “Well, yeah, that’s me.” [Name] says sarcastically, which he doesn’t take kindly to. “Watch your tone.” he scolds. [Name] stares unfazed, she’s used to this from her mother’s constant bitching. “Where are your manners? Has your mother taught you nothing?” he asks. “You’re spot on. My mother has taught me nothing, now please excuse me, I have to go to class.” She returns his aggression and leaves. He watches her leave and cleans his glasses, he follows her to his class since he’s late because of her. [Name] turns around and asks with annoyance, “Why are you following me? ” The man clasps her mouth with his gloved hand and quietly yet angrily responds, “Keep your voice down. We’re in the hallway and we are permitted not to yell. If you must know, my class is right here.” He gestures to the door in front of them and she sighs. “Looks like we’re in the same class.” she whispers. “Your volume, that's much better.” he praises and opens the door for her. “Reiji, you’re late, this is very unlike you!” the teacher exclaims in surprise. She nervously stands next to him as he begins to apologize, “Forgive me for my lateness, not to be making excuses, but this boy here is from the exchange program and got lost. I was simply leading him to our class. Any punishment shall be met without hesitation.” The girl just stares at Reiji in as much surprise as everyone else in the room. The teacher dismisses him and sets [Name] next to … of course, Reiji, since they were late to complete the seating chart. She continues throughout the rest of the class - referred to as a boy and he.
While going through the night, getting used to the school, [Name] is sort of bitter about having more than one class with Reiji, she has all of her classes with him. Her personality doesn’t match his structure and politeness. “I swear, who even gave him the authority to boss me around like this?” she thinks to herself while sketching a vase during the break. However, his structure and sense of authority is what she’s attracted to, she doesn’t want to admit that she even likes him at all. Is this just physical attraction, god, [Name] sure does hope so. As she fills in the details and shadow of the vase, she looks up and sees Reiji in the distance with Laito, that damned pervert, and two of his other brothers: Ayato and Kanato. They are preparing to leave when the school session is finished. [Name] closes her sketchbook and quickly gets up to leave. As she walks past, Laito licks his lips. “Who is that, Laito?” Kanato asks, he’s the smaller one with light purple hair and bags under his eyes, he also carries around a bear who he calls Teddy. “New flesh, he’s from Europe too from what his ID said.” Laito replies. Ayato stands there, uninterested, mostly because Laito does this to every woman he encounters, yet this is the first time he's checked out a guy. “It looks like he acts almost like Subaru, are you sure you really like him?” Kanato asks. Before the one in the hat could answer, Reiji corrects his younger half-brother, “He acts nothing like Subaru, he’s more feisty and awkward.” he describes. “You always seem to pick up the awkward ones, Reiji. Yet something doesn't feel right about him.” Ayato replies snarkily. “With manners like his?” Reiji questions as [Name] walks past the four of them. He excuses himself and approaches [Name], grabbing her arm from behind, and pulling her to face him. She doesn’t have time to react but stares at Reiji with widened eyes and a light blush. “I wanted to catch you before the chime. I have to apologize for my behavior earlier, how improper of me.” he says. [Name] stares up at him and replies, “I’d like to apologize for my rudeness too.” she says, feeling helpless and trapped by his stare - literally trapped by his grip on her arm. After staring deeply into each other’s eyes for a brief while, he starts to feel a sensation. Something about her scent felt arousing to his hunger, however, he must maintain self-control around his brothers. He lets her go and she travels back to the dorms.
The triplets continue to stand back and stare until Reiji returns. “What was that about? I thought you didn’t care about him. Why did you grab him like that?” Laito teasingly asks, his brother sighs and pushes his glasses back onto his face. “Just because I apologized to him for earlier behaviors doesn’t mean I like him. There’s a difference, Laito.” Ayato looks off to the side and mutters, "Still. There's something off here. His scent is unique." Kanato looks over and agrees, "Yeah! He smells like he's hiding something, like blood." Reiji too recognizes the scent but doesn't want to give in to his brothers pestering him. When [Name] returns to her dorm, she notices blood staining the pants of her uniform, upon noticing, she groans loudly. "I did not just start my period while I'm supposed to be cross-dressing…"