Chapter Text
[Y/N-centered]
"I'm home!" Your voice echoed through the empty halls, followed by the banging of the door that had just closed behind you. The living room, as far as you can see, was still the same as it was when you got out of the house this morning.
They still haven't gone home yet... for who-knows-how-long this month. You sighed, taking a brief glance at the clock across you.
7:38 pm. Any parent would've either locked their kid out or chased their kid with a belt if the latter went home this late, especially with no academic reasons. Well for you? Everyone would say you're lucky because you've never experienced it. But really, it was just another reason to do something worse.
Carrying yourself into the unnecessarily wide living room that doesn’t even serve its purpose, you spotted a small figure peeking from the unnecessarily huge long stairs. By then, a series of predictions had taken over your mind.
Your parents are home, and something bad is about to happen...again.
The absence of the maids in the first place was already a bad start. And before you knew it, you were already a foot close to the stairs, and a few steps to your bedroom, located beside an unnecessarily huge painting of your father's face.
"Y/N" A stern voice consumed the whole room. It echoed a few times before gradually subsiding, making it harder to determine the direction of the voice. However, you knew exactly where it came from...again.
Your body moved awfully slow across the room, the hall just getting longer and longer in your sight the more you moved forward. Finally seeing the legs of the unnecessarily long table which has never been occupied by the four members of your family at a single dinner, you stopped, eyes unmoving.
Bham!
Your sight moved from your feet up to a familiar card that you still despised to this day. Your report card just got slammed down the table, visible signs of crumples on its edge. You carefully slid forward to take a peek, although knowing what to expect. And as you have pictured in your mind, a bunch of Fs were lined up. Though they technically should’ve been blank at this point.
"And you still have the guts to come home in your school uniform?" He hissed between his gritted teeth. It seems like he had just discovered that you were not going to school for the past 2 or 3 months, however long it was.
You were hoping that he'd realize it himself though, and not from someone else.
This had also happened numerous times before, but it started off with averageness. Well, who would expect that the eldest daughter of Japan's no.1 richest businessman is just.. "mid"? Not only in terms of grades, but in general. However, the mere punishment system and determination to improve you only lasted until elementary.
When you moved up to middle school, you got thrown away to the ordinary people, “where you belonged”. That was the time that they lost their hopes and expectations.
"Go back to school tomorrow. You can still improve... before you turn 18, right?" Your mom spoke up with a forced calm voice laced with shakiness, perhaps trying to fix the heavy atmosphere dawned upon the room.
However, her statement only made the mood tenser. You know that you'll most likely be disowned by your own family once you hit adulthood, since your father has never failed to mention it over and over again. Realizing that you only have a year left before you get completely neglected, you felt an unpleasant stir in your stomach along with an internal sigh of relief.
As much as you wanted to leave the unnecessarily huge mansion that no one in your family even finds happiness in, you also wanted your parents to at least scold and criticize you properly like most parents do. Making them proud with high achievements and medals, is no longer in your reach. So the least you want is for them to treat you like a real daughter and give you a lifetime scolding as parents. But it seems like they can't even do that.
A few minutes of silence after, your father stood up. The chair as it got pushed backwards created a screeching noise. It continued to ring nonstop in your ears while you watched your mother's awkward side glances before she stood up to trail the old man into their room.
You remained frozen there for a few more minutes, peering down at the card laid down the table. You decided to take it, finally swallowing the lump of saliva that's been stuck in your throat for the past half-hour.
With this, you carefully went on your way back to the stairs, spotting a purple strand of hair peeking from the top. You swiftly made your way up to catch the back of your little sister, who's engulfing her small stuffed dog in a tight hug, audible sobs coming from her. You pursed your lips into a thin line before silently walking away from the sitting figure and entering your room.
You immediately threw yourself into the bed, which felt stiffer and harder than it was supposed to be.
Will I really be an adult next year..? All alone, that is. You rolled over and faced the wall, your right arm serving as a pillow while the other reaching for the blanket that was pushed down to the bottom. Will I be able to understand why my parents neglected me, if I experience being an adult..?
You pulled the blanket over your head and closed your eyes, expecting a few tears to caress your cheeks. However, no tears fell. Instead, a soft sweet melody took over your ears, cancelling all sorts of noise. Your once tensed up body unconsciously softened as you got indulged in the song, despite hearing this for the first time.
And before you knew it, you drifted off to your sweet wonderland and found yourself gracefully dancing with your sister, as if you two were the main characters in a children's book having the best moment in their life.
---
What a way to ruin someone else's night. A certain strawberryhead sighed as he planted a pillow onto his face, waiting for the whole neighborhood to fall asleep to the lullaby that he telepathically sent to everyone. God, why did I not think of this before?
He could’ve simply worn his ring, though.