Chapter Text
UNDERNEATH THE DROOPING leaves of an imposing willow tree, Y/N sat and ate her lunch in silence. Azumi wasn't in today, and since Y/N had a packed lunch, she decided to take advantage of the warm weather and clear blue sky. It didn't take long for her to finish the rest of her lunch; she spent the rest of break drawing in her notepad.
Since stumbling upon Choso's collection of macabre drawings, the two had the idea to create a comic about his monstrous creations. She was currently sketching more designs, like Choso had asked her, for one of the main villains. The premise of the comic was still being decided, but essentially it'd be about some kid who battled his fears that manifested tangibly. The kid was partly inspired by Yuji, the youngest kid at the care home, whom Y/N and Choso had a soft spot for.
As she began to hatch shade, the brightness in her peripheral vision dimmed, and soon a shadow loomed over her notebook. Y/N snapped her book shut and glanced up at the looming person. Her heart fell when her eyes met cold, amber ones.
"Of course you'd be out here," the newcomer sneered as he put his hands on his hips. "All alone as usual. Pathetic." Y/N discreetly gulped, but she didn't grace him with a reply. His feline eyes fell to her clenched hands before lighting up with curiosity. "Oh? Keeping secrets from me now, L/N?"
"It's none of your business, Naoya," Y/N's lips twisted into a frown. "What do you want?"
His lips perked up at the sound of her exasperated voice. "What, I can't walk outside and enjoy the sun?" he tilted his head. The lack of hostility in his tone made her drop her guard marginally, but that was all he needed. In one fell swoop, the black-haired boy snatched the notebook from her hands. Y/N immediately stood up, clawing at his hand to retrieve her possession, but he held it high above his head and dangled it just out of her reach like some sick mirage.
"Give it back, Naoya!" Y/N seethed. She continued to struggle against him, but he promptly shoulder-checked her and shoved her away. As she regained her footing, he took that window to thumb through the pages. His face was unreadable, which only made her stomach sink deeper. For someone so expressive as Naoya, it was dangerous when he wasn't. "I mean it!!"
At her yell, Naoya blinked before his signature smirk settled on his lips. "Eurgh! What the heck are these drawings?" his laugh betrayed the meaning of his words. "I knew you were weird, but you're a creep too!" Y/N's lips and hands quivered violently as he continued to look through her drawings. He flipped to her most recent page: the monster there was one that fed on chubby babies to retain eternal youth. Y/N had prided herself on drawing that monster with large, sharp fangs and a grotesque, mutilated build.
Naoya's face warped into disgust, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. The girl quickly clamoured to reclaim her book, but he elbowed her again. "Aha! Your secret is out of the bag now, creep," he gloated.
Before she could register anything, he began to rip out the pages of her precious notebook—the one Choso had gifted her for her recent twelfth birthday with his allowance. "What are you doing!?" Y/N cried, practically flying over to save her book from any further violations. But it was too late. Naoya had ripped out all the pages she had drawn on before throwing the crumpled book onto the dry grass below.
"I think I'll hold onto these now," he smirked, eyeing her down. But she wasn't looking at him. Her gaze remained on the abandoned sketchbook on the floor. "And, I'm gonna show everyone in school these pictures. 'Cause keeping secrets isn't very nice, is it?" That made her snap her focus back to him.
"Naoya! Don't—please!" She knew begging was futile, but she had to try. Y/N ran up to him, but he was faster, and had already garnered the attention of some of his friends. Through blurred vision, she could see his friend group crowding around him and doubling over in laughter. No doubt some of them were looking and pointing at her, yet the dishevelled girl couldn't discern between them. She sank to the ground and cradled what remained of her precious book, while Naoya was exposing her drawings to their whole school.
Y/N bolted out of school as soon as the final bell rang. As the care home loomed into view, she could feel her breath coming out shorter and her chest growing heavier. She had to drag her feet for the last few steps before hesitantly knocking on the mint green door. As she fiddled with her backpack straps, the door opened to reveal Aunt Hayami, the head caretaker. "Good afternoon Y/N!" She brought her hand over the girl's shoulders and gently steered her inside. "How was school?"
"It was fine, Auntie," Y/N replied. She didn't look at the woman as she slipped out of her school shoes.
"Come down for snacks after you freshen up, okay?" Hayami ruffled Y/N's hair before walking back to the kitchen. The younger girl ran up to her bedroom, and as soon as the door slammed shut behind her, she slumped to the floor and freely sobbed.
Sure, Naoya usually took her things without permission, and he would humiliate her in front of their peers, but never to this degree. The fact that he had ripped out her drawings just like that? How dare he?! What would she tell Choso? Y/N's lips trembled as she cupped her face, wondering how she'd break the news to her friend.
Speaking of the boy, there was a knock at her door. "Hey Y/N? Auntie's asking you to come down," he said. "Oh, and bring your notebook. I wanna see what new drawings you did."
The girl quickly wiped her face and stilled her cries. "Um, I'll-I'll be right down Choso...give me ten minutes!"
"Alright." Until the sound of padding footsteps died down, Y/N didn't dare move from her position. She took another minute to compose herself before changing out of her uniform and walking down to the dining room.
All the other kids—except one—were there too, along with Hayami, and eating and chattering excitedly. "Hello Y/N! Sit down next to Nobara, I made your plate ready," the older woman smiled, ushering the girl to her seat. Y/N exhaled as she lowered herself into the wooden seat beside Nobara, the only other girl in the care home, and sent her a small smile.
"Hi Y/N!!!" the younger girl greeted her immediately. "What took so long? I was so bored talking to those stinky boys." She sent a not-so-discreet look to Yuji and Choso, who were sitting on the opposite side of the dining table. Yuji gasped and refuted her insult, to which Nobara only blew a raspberry.
"Now, now, Nobara. We don't blow raspberries on the dining table or at other people. Okay?" came Auntie's calm voice from the head of the table. After the girl in question mumbled a small yet insincere apology, she turned back to her older friend.
"Anyways Y/N, are we gonna do dress up today? You promised yesterday at dinner!"
Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the eldest boy beat her to it. "Sorry Kugisaki, but Y/N's gonna be with me."
"No fair!" the brunette clutched onto Y/N's arms. "You're always spending time with her. It's my turn today."
"I wanna play with Y/N!" Yuji laughed loudly, wanting to be involved in this discussion. His sudden shriek made him choke on his juice, leading Choso to roll his eyes at the unnecessary excitement and pat his back.
"Guys, guys," Y/N chuckled at her siblings' antics. "You can all hang out with me today. Yes, even you, Yuji." Her words made Nobara and Choso stop their bickering and Yuji's coughing. "Come to my room after snacks, okay?"
"Okay!" they chorused back.
The rest of snack-time was spent in idle chatter amongst the four kids. Hayami observed them all from her spot at the head of the table, before her eyes fell on the vacant seat opposite her, and her mouth pulled into a frown. It was a shame that not everyone was present.
Luckily, Nobara hogged Y/N for the rest of the evening, meaning Choso couldn't properly check out her new monster sketches. It bought the girl a little more time to come up with an excuse as to why her notebook was suddenly ruined and empty. As empathetic as the boy was, she couldn't tell him the truth lest she wanted to open a can of the dirtiest, mankiest worms.
Though Choso and Y/N were the same age, he attended a different middle school due to his gifted abilities, and so he had no idea about Naoya Zenin. And Y/N wanted to keep it that way. In fact, neither of the boys her age at the care home went to her school. She intended to keep Naoya and his torment a secret from them all, even the other pink-haired boy she rarely saw, no matter how bad it got. She couldn't risk them seeing their revered older 'sister' in a different light; she didn't want them to see her as that quiet, pathetic girl that Naoya—and most of her classmates—saw.
Her best friend Azumi, was absent the next day at school, leading Y/N to bear the mocking stares and cruel whispers by herself.
"She's such a freak!"
"It's always the quiet ones..."
"She's so disturbed, I bet that's why she's got no dad."
And amid the cruelty, stood Naoya, flanked by his usual lackeys. His face held pure contempt as his brown eyes sized up Y/N's lonesome figure. She inhaled deeply while beelining for her first class—History with one of the strictest teachers—and prayed that the raven-haired boy wouldn't follow her. He didn't even have any classes on this side, so surely he would leave her alone in the morning, right?
Wrong.
Just as the door materialised in sight, it was blocked by three figures. Y/N gulped and met the malicious eyes of her bully. In that moment, the sneers and scoffs around her ceased as she stared into his irises so devoid of warmth. "I told you, Y/N. It's not good to keep secrets," his mouth stretched into a grin that put the Cheshire cat to shame. "But sharing is caring, right? And now the whole school knows who you really are!" His cronies laughed and bumped fists behind Naoya's head, while the boy himself stared her down. But suddenly all traces of humour vanished from his face, and he reverted to his dangerous, emotionless face. "You're nothing but a creep. No one likes you, not even your friends—oh wait, I meant friend."