𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐗

𝟎𝟖 | 𝐏𝐈𝐂𝐊𝐔𝐏

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(Y/N) let out a sigh, not believing her bad luck.

Since she had driven with Haru that morning to school, she also relied on him to get her home since she obviously couldn't walk due to her broken leg. But almost as soon as she had exited the building, she saw the boy's now convertible car squeal out of the parking lot with the music blasting and a bunch of girls giggling in the backseat.

Her brow twitched at the sight.

What the hell.

I should have known something like this was gonna happen.

Pulling out her phone, she called her mom.

"Hey, honey," Miranda answered the phone quickly, papers rustling in the background that made the girl assume she was at work. "What's up?"

"Hey, mom, are you able to pick me up from school?" She asked, adjusting her crutches under her arms and watching as everyone else started to leave, her teeth gritting ever so slightly. "Haru is... too busy to drive me."

"Is that so? Well, I'm also kind of busy right now..."

"Oh..."

"I'm so sorry, but I'll call Takeshi, though. Maybe he can pick you up, or one of the other boys can."

"Alright, thanks," (Y/N) sighed as she hung up, sliding her phone back into her pocket and wondering if she should ask Takeshi for his number since it would be inconvenient if she didn't.

He'll be in my life for a while...

It wouldn't hurt.

Waiting outside for a little less than twenty minutes, sitting down now on a nearby bench playing some games on her phone, she glanced up when seeing a car pull up to the curb, the window rolling down to reveal Kai. His hair was wet, as if he had driven there right after a shower, and he wore only a T-shirt and sweats with that same emotionless expression.

"Father... told me to come pick you up," he mumbled, gesturing with his head for her to get in.

"Ah, thanks," (Y/N) stood up and slowly limped to the vehicle, finally relaxing into a nice leather seat instead of the cold bench where her bottom had gone numb. "Sorry if this is an inconvenience."

"It's fine," he said—once again, quietly—dark eyes focused on the road ahead.

She raised a brow at that.

He seems... quiet.

Well, I guess I'm okay with that considering how awful some of his other brothers are.

Instantly, she thought of Ashton and how he had threatened her when first meeting her, Jay who was a delinquent, Haru who was a flirt and had absolutely no attachments to anything responsible, and then Mikael who just straight up hated her. If anything, Kai and Cassius were the best of the brothers, and they were the ones who had barely interacted with her.

It frustrated her to no end.

She wondered if she'd be able to be happy in the Ramone household, knowing that being there was her mother's happiness as well.

Trying not to be too depressed about the whole situation—again—she asked Kai if it was okay to put on some music, and when he said that it was fine, she turned on the radio and leaned against the window, closing her eyes to rest after the rather exhausting day she had. After Davan's rather one-sided fight against Eun-ji and Jay, she still unsure how all three of them were able to skimp past the teachers as they were surprisingly in more than a few of her classes.

It was tiring.

While she was grateful for Eun-ji's enthusiastic personality, combined with Jay's rather destructive one, it became old fast. And when the two weren't in her classes, she had them all with her other new soon-to-be stepbrothers.

    The worst was probably AP U.S. History.

    While she was rather decent in the subject, having to listen to Haru flirt with girls and deal with the withering glares that Mikael sent her made it hard to concentrate, and it wasn't really better in the other classes besides the last one at the end of each day. Thankfully, she was given a Study Hall to relax with no one to bother her, able to get her work done so that she wouldn't have to actually do homework at home.

    I like being productive at school so I can laze around at home.

    Smiling to herself as she thought about it, it wasn't long before (Y/N) drifted off to sleep with the rocking motions of the car, luckily the roads they were traveling along all being well paved. What was more, Kai had noticed her dozing off, so he also made sure to watch his speed.

    Scratching the back of his neck awkwardly, he let out a small sigh before focusing back on the road.

    He didn't really understand.

    It was so sudden when Takeshi announced that he had a girlfriend who was his soon to be fiancée, even more so when it was revealed that the woman had a daughter. While Kai wasn't exactly pleased, he and Ashton having the most memories of their birth mother before she passed, he didn't dismiss the idea since he knew that Takeshi needed someone in his life again.

    And then he saw (Y/N).

    He had seen her in the hospital a couple of times, but she had been wrapped in bandages.

    But there she was.

    He couldn't help but feel a bit worried seeing her walking around with her crutches, knowing that she was still hurting, but he also couldn't help but feel alienated from her at the same time.

    She was a stranger.

    Someone who had suddenly come into his home without any warning.

    But he could see it.

    She was alone.

    Gripping the steering wheel a bit tighter, having felt the same feeling when seeing her sitting outside the school by herself, knowing that Haru had just abandoned her without any reason, Kai wanted to help her, but he could never find the right words.

    It was always a problem he had.

    Exhaling softly through his nose, he just hoped that his actions were enough to show he cared.

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