Chapter Text
𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘬𝘺 (𝘢𝘥𝘫.) 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦.
—
in which you try to make Megumi Fushiguro fall in love with you.
Eight years ago
"Please, Auntie?"
Your aunt sighed loudly, and you couldn't blame her, because you'd been bugging her for two hours straight. She kept telling you that she was busy, but you badly wanted to go now. You weren't the type to give up easily, especially now that she was giving you 'that' look. Which was a sign that she was about to give in to your puppy eyes and constant nagging.
"Y/N, you can't even use the bike." She rubbed her eyes in a tired manner. "How are you going to go there? I can't drive you because I'm too busy right now." She waved her hands in front of her laptop.
You didn't know what she was doing, but due to the dark circles under her eyes, it must have been work. She had once told you that work was the cause of her misery. You'd laughed at that, but seeing her still sitting in the same spot for half a day... maybe she wasn't joking after all.
"No! I can ride my bicycle! I just learned how to use it properly yesterday." You flashed her a toothy grin, determined to woo her. I did try to learn, but I ended up falling three times, and she didn't have to know that. She raised an eyebrow at you, and you prayed she wouldn't see the band-aid on your scraped knees, the ones you'd stolen from her first-aid kit. It was covered by your knee-high socks, thankfully, but you had to make sure you didn't wince at the pain so she wouldn't notice.
She let out an exasperated sigh. She stared at you for a while. "Are you sure you can ride your bike?"
You hesitated for a moment, and when you opened your mouth, she stood up, leaving her laptop open. "That's it. I'm going to drive you there, you little devil." You giggled at that and cheered, then followed her with a spring in your step. She just can't resist me.
Today was the grand opening of a park that was just around the corner. You wanted to make new friends and try the big slide they'd been working on. Aunt Quinn never let you go out on your own, even if it was just a walking distance from your house. She could be very overprotective sometimes. So you'd tried to practice using your bike, but you always ended up falling on your butt.
Not even five minutes or so later, you arrived at the new park filled with kids. You grinned, watching the kids play with their friends, and some with their parents. Aunt Quinn glanced at you. "I can't go with you today, sunshine. But I'll make sure to pick you up in an hour. Is that good?"
You checked your watch. It was only 4:10 pm. "Sooo... 5:10 pm?" She nodded at that with a soft smile, then you gave her a kiss on the cheek before running towards the playground.
"Be careful! An hour, alright?" You gave her a thumbs up and ran to the swing set. That was enough time for you to look for a friend. The other seat was occupied by a girl with pigtails, wearing a strawberry pink dress. She looked like a real-life Disney princess. You waved at her, and you were surprised when she waved back, smiling.
"Hi. Are you new here?" she asked with curious eyes. She looked older than you.
You shook your head. "No. My house is not that far from here. Are you allergic to peanuts?"
She raised an eyebrow at your random question. "Hmm. I'm not, why do you ask?" You shrugged, pouting. "Nothing. It'll suck if you can't eat peanuts. My aunt makes tasty peanut butter fingers. It's so good that you're going to forget your name." You grinned at her.
Instead of getting weirded out, she smiled. "Cool. I'd love to try that sometime. Wanna play?"
For half an hour, you played with her, playing tag with other kids, and even rode the seesaw with her. You found out she was a year older than you, and was planning to transfer to the school you were going to. She was a Grade five student, and she seemed picky when it came to playing with other kids. You wondered why she stayed with you, though. But you didn't complain. You liked her.
You'd never had so many friends until now that you were ten years old, since you always got called names like 'weirdo' or 'hyper kid'. Being a weirdo meant bad to them, but to you, it wasn't. It sounded cool.
Yeah, it was cool to be different, to be odd, but sometimes... you wanted to be like them. Normal. Boring. Quiet. So kids would play with you.
However, with Keysha, your new friend, it wasn't the same sad scenario. Instead, she was smiling, holding your hand, pulling you to the big slide with her. The one you'd wanted to see ever since you saw a new park near your house was being built. You'd hoped you'd find a friend that would accept you for who you were, and you did. Her curly afro black hair, tied in pigtails, bounced as she climbed the ladder up to the slide.
You peered up at her. "Come on up, Y/N!" She motioned for you to follow her. A smile made its way to your lips, eager to follow her. She offered her hand for you to grab, which you gladly took. Your eyes wandered around the playground set made of wood, then darted to the kids who were screaming and pushing each other. Keysha held your hand, pulling you with her as you crossed the mini bridge.
Some kid bumped into you without even saying sorry, but it didn't matter. What mattered at the moment was that you had a friend by your side, who didn't mind when you talked too much or said the most random things. There were other kids in line for the long slide, and both of you went behind a kid who had braces. You could see her spit flying while she talked, so you scrunched your nose, backing up a bit.
Keysha noticed that and laughed. You laughed with her, holding your stomach. It didn't take long before it was finally your turn. You turned to her. "I want you to go first, but I'd be lying, and I don't want to lie, or my Aunt will hide Lily, my elephant plushie. I want to go first," you told your friend with a straight face. She giggled, rolling her eyes playfully. "Yeah, I know. Wait for me, okay?"
You nodded. "Of course!" Then you turned your head to your front. Your smile fell at the sight before you. Your hands became clammy, and you realized it sure was scary from up here even if it wasn't that high. The slide that wasn't even that scary got scarier as you imagined yourself falling, which sent shivers down your spine.
You could hear Keysha talking, but you couldn't focus on whatever she was saying. A deep inhale. Then exhale. You shut your eyes for a moment, calming your nerves and shaky figure. Heights weren't listed as one of your fears. Bats and lizards were. So why were you hesitating to go down the chute you'd been wanting to slide on since you'd caught a glimpse of it?
A few minutes later, a light push woke you up from your mini panic moment. "What's taking you so long, scaredy cat? Get your butt on the slide." The annoying voice came from a boy with blonde hair. You drew your brows together, realizing that Keysha was nowhere to be seen. Had she run off, too? Behind him, a black-haired boy with freckles tried to scare you off by stepping forward. You held onto the railings, and glared at them.
"There's a line here, stupid bitch! Are you just gonna stand there, or what?" The blonde guy was too close, and you were afraid he might push you and you'd fall off the slide backwards. You gulped, but didn't show them you were scared. Stupid boys.
"Y/N!" You heard Keysha call somewhere. You tried to find where she was, but your view was blocked by a big kid with a big scowl on his face. "Hey, stop messing with Y/N!" Then, you found your friend's hand, waving at the back. You frowned at the realization. They cut in line. These jerks.
"I'm okay, Keysha!" you shouted, then winced when the blonde kid pushed you a bit. I hope Keysha is okay. To be safe, you sat on the top of the slide carefully and continued throwing daggers at him. You didn't care if he was a boy or he was bigger than you. You were going to fight back if he ever hit you. He clearly didn't like that, giving his friends a knowing look.
Before you could push yourself off, you felt someone kick your back, making you go down the slide faster than you should have. You screamed your lungs out and closed your eyes, hoping you wouldn't hurt yourself. When you finally reached the end, you tried to stand and jump instead of falling face forward, but you failed.
Your knees hit the ground, then you tumbled forward from the force of it. You hissed at the pain, checking your scraped knees to see if they were bleeding. "Oh, no." Tears pooled in your eyes when you saw blood staining your white knee socks. I don't want to cry, you said to yourself. But you couldn't help but sob when you felt the sharp pain in your knees.
Too busy staring at your injuries in despair, you didn't notice the shoes in front of you. You sniffed, then slowly glanced up at whoever it was.
You stared at the hand being offered to you. You couldn't see the face of the person since they were blocking the sun, so you accepted their hand as they pulled you up to your feet. "Aw," you whined. You couldn't stand straight because of your wounds, so the person held both of your arms to help you. Since you had no choice, you relied all your weight on them.
"T-thank you..." your voice shook.
You finally had a clearer view of the person who helped you, and you couldn't help but be surprised. It was a boy. He looked like he was just your age, or a year older. He had black hair, green eyes, and a frown etched on his face. He wasn't looking at you, though. He was looking at your bloody knees, his forehead creased.
Looking at his frown, you didn't know why you felt the need to not make him worry. "I'm fine," you tried to smile widely at him despite the pain.
Finally, his gaze met yours. You blinked when you felt like you were about to combust any moment, feeling the blood rushing through your fingers, up to your fingertips. He was staring at you, and the feeling of being praised by your Aunt Quinn was similar to this. Your cheeks heated along with the tips of your ears.
Oh, boy.
He stared right past you, and you realized he was still holding you. You fluttered your eyes, suddenly embarrassed and conscious that he'd seen you tumble from the slide. His face was void of any emotion, just looking at something behind you.
"Y/N!" You heard your friend, so you turned your head to see her.
You smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Keysha." She was frowning, and concern was plastered on her face. "Are you okay?" And when she saw your wounds, she gasped. "We have to get you to the hospital!" That made you laugh. "I'm fine. My Aunt can handle this."
I forgot about Aunt Quinn! You groaned, squeezing your eyes shut. She would be mad if she saw the blood gushing down your legs. The boy tightened his hold on you when you tried to move. Once again, your eyes lifted to meet his gaze.
The booming of your heart was furious but you ignored it. His eyes are beautiful. His lashes are so long. He still didn't say anything before he darted his eyes behind you. You didn't get to look behind you when Keysha took you away from the boy.
No!
She was scowling at the boy, but you squeezed her arm reassuringly. You threw the green-eyed boy a sweet smile. "Thank you for helping me," your eyes softening at him. You wanted him to hold you again.
For a moment, you saw his eyes flash an emotion that was quick to vanish before you could figure it out. He dragged his eyes behind you, scowling, then turned his back on you without a word. While Keysha was inspecting your knees, your eyes stayed on the boy's retreating back. He never said a single word, yet he'd left you speechless.
He was finally out of sight when you decided to follow his gaze. You realized he was actually glaring at the boys who'd pushed you down the slide, who were now standing by the monkey bars. He's mad at them for pushing me. You felt a flush of happiness inside you, despite your wounded knees and blood-stained socks.
As Keysha helped you stand properly, your mind was elsewhere. Specifically on a pair of mysterious green eyes. The eyes that were blank, but could be so beautiful when you stared longer at them. You bit your lip, containing your smile. Keysha didn't miss that. "What are you smiling about, you crazy girl?"
You shook your head, your cheeks hurting by how wide your smile was. "Nothing."
I hope I can see him again.