Chapter Text
Everything seems to be coming to a stop…a close.
I hardly feel happy anymore. I miss my friends…ever since HERO took me to the LAST RESORT, and pursued his job as a boss, I haven't seen them. Not once.
ORANGE HALL isn't fun without anyone here. All I have is me, myself, and my thoughts. All alone. Never again would I see SUNNY's occasional laughs…nor AUBREY's smile. Not even MARI's cheerful twirls that she used to do whenever we would lay in the meadows, as a happy group.
I continued to lay there with my eyes shut, not wanting to ever face the outside ever again…but I knew that staying in ORANGE HALL forever wasn't an option. I always had work to do. Never got any breaks…unless I was in trouble.
Small sounds from around the room were all occurring at once, a few small barks coming from my dog…and the sound of my computer (that no longer works) rebooting for the millionth time.
I slightly rolled over, still having my eyes shut, and felt the floor against my face. It felt…cold…but it didn't really bug me…considering how rarely I actually cared about anything at all anymore. Not even my own emotions. All I felt lately was emptiness. All I've felt for years…is emptiness.
"Oh GENJI…!" I could hear a bittersweet voice coming from outside my door. It sounded exactly like my horrid brother….HERO….he was most likely calling me about work. I hated work. Work made me hate myself.
I slowly opened my eyes, and got off of the cold hard black floors. I looked around, and saw my loving dog, HECTOR, sleeping peacefully in his dog bed across the room. I could feel a very soft smile form on my face. He always made me feel warm inside, even if it was only for small moments like this…
The entirety of the ORANGE HALL still was as familiar as ever. But my small amounts of memories sneaking back into my brain were interrupted by yet another 'GENJI…!' from my brother.
I slowly walked over to the door all the way across from where I usually lay…just staring at the ceiling. Whenever I stood in front of the door, there was a small yellow glow coming from under it. I could hear a small amount of music playing from behind the door.
My hand creeped up onto the door handle, before turning it and opening it. As I did, a large amount of light hit my eyes, seemingly blinding me. The sound of music also ringed in my ears.
"Ah, there you are, my dear brother!" I saw HERO standing right in front of the door, with a fake smile plastered across his face.
"Hello…HENRY," I muttered, trying to hold back how pissed off I was purely by him being there. Using his real name was a good way to get under his skin…maybe I could get out of doing my work…
"What….DID YOU JUST CALL ME?! YOU LITTLE BRAT…!" I could hear my brother jumping off of his chair and storming straight over to me, grabbing me by the ear. "YOU DON'T EVER….EVER... CALL ME THAT. YOU CALL ME BOSS, AND BOSS ONLY. DO YOU HEAR ME?!" I could tell how angry he was, because the grip on my ear was getting much tighter. He continued to scream in my face, even slightly holding me up in the air.
"Yes." I replied in a very monotone voice, not even glancing at his face, even though my brain would've blanked it out anyways. I never seem to notice anyone's full faces anymore,…only their body language and voices…occasionally their… horrid smiles..
HERO threw me down on the ground, brushing his hands off on his suit. He then scowled in anger and disgust, before marching back over to his chair.
I laid there for a moment, still in a large amount of pain, yet I didn't show it for some reason. I figured HERO seeing me in pain would give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he could hurt me. Even though he probably already knew that.
"Ahem…forgive me for losing my cool, but I need you to go help out with construction. No ifs or buts about it as well, or…" HERO points to one of the rooms in the corner of his office, "you'll be in there for another week." His voice became a lot darker than how it was before, seeming that he was still really mad.
I picked myself up off the ground, staying silent, and slowly walked off to the elevator across from my brother's desk and entered it. As the door closed, the only thing I could see was HERO, and his evil smile, waving slyly.