𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐗

𝟏𝟐 | 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

꧁꧂

    Eating a bowl of cereal whilst staring at her phone, already having said goodbye to Takeshi and Miranda who had left for work, (Y/N) was just about to put her dish in the sink and—unfortunately—call up to Haru to see if he would drive her. This was only because Ashton and Mikael were not options, Jay and Cassius had already left for school, and because Kai had night shifts at his bar, she assumed he was still sleeping.

    So that left only Haru.

    But imagine her surprise when Kai stumbled down the stairs rubbing the back of his neck sleepily, his bleary eyes meeting hers for a second before they immediately widened.

    "What are you still doing here?" He questioned, glancing up at the clock.

    "Oh, I was just waiting for Haru," she cringed just when saying his name, the boy opposite her instantly picking up on that fact. "He's... basically my designated driver..."

    "And where is he now?"

    "Not down here, that's for sure," she grumbled with annoyance.

    Kai hummed at her answer as he placed a pop tart in the toaster and waited for it to spring up, tapping his finger against the countertop as he watched (Y/N) wait for his brother. He couldn't help but feel his brows twitch when seeing that, having noticed the weird tension between them last night and finding such a sight odd. Of course, he knew that she must still be getting used to suddenly having so many men in the house, but last night it was different.

    Haru's smirk.

    (Y/N)'s unease.

    Kai knew that something had happened between them, and he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

    But one thing was certain: he didn't want (Y/N) to be alone with Haru. This thought glanced through his mind just as his brother waltzed down the stairs with a swagger that proclaimed he had all the time in the world even though he didn't.

    "Hey, Haru," Kai stepped between the other boy and (Y/N) before they could interact. "(Y/N) told me that you were going to drive her today, but I already offered to do so, so you don't have to bother." Giving him a smile—the look only making Haru's smirk disappear into a deep frown—he then placed his hand on the small of (Y/N)'s back as he said, "Alright, come on. I'll help you to my car."

Haru stared after them.

He had been so looking forward to the alone time he could have spent with (Y/N) in his car watching her squirm.

But that was taken away from him.

Gripping his keys tightly in his hand, the jagged metal digging into his palm painfully whilst his silver eyes flashed with both hatred and loathing, he was quick to whip the door open and bound down the front steps to follow after the two, wanting to make sure that Kai was doing what he said he was doing. While (Y/N) had only just met Kai, Haru had known him for his entire life—no one changed as easily or as drastically as he did.

While he was no saint either, he practically looked like an angel compared to how Kai used to be.

As Haru drove after them, Kai glanced in his rearview mirror and saw his brother's familiar car, his brows cinching in annoyance at the fact. But he didn't care at all since he was able to protect (Y/N) from the other boy. While he was still a bit wary around her, he knew that she was going to be around for quite some time, and wanted to at least be on more friendly terms with her.

Especially after seeing how most of his brothers didn't take too kindly to her sudden appearance.

"So..." he started softly in an attempt to break the silence and the soft lull from the car's radio. "...is school... going okay for you? I bet it's hard, though... with the move and your... accident..."

He cursed internally.

Did he really have to bring up that memory?

He knew he was no good with really conversing with someone, and this sorry attempt proved it. But then something really unexpected happened: she turned toward him with a smile, though it was more sad than happy.

"It has been hard," she said as her fingers grazed against her cast. "It's not easy to need... help, all the time. It's especially not easy when you're thrown into a new house and new school with new family members." She remembered the first day she had arrived at the Ramone mansion, remembered when the brothers greeted her, and remembered when Ashton threatened her, exclaiming softly, "But... I'll be able to get through it. And... you've also helped me a bit too, you know?"

"I... have?" Kai was surprised.

Usually everyone felt awkward around him.

That, or he had known them from his school days and they feared him.

But he didn't think about that anymore.

"Yes," (Y/N) nodded with a small laugh, the look so unrestrained and carefree that it made Kai's hands tremble since she always seemed to look gloomy or disheartened. "When you picked me up last time even though you had work. And even just earlier this morning when you helped me out of that situation with Haru. You're kind. And... I really need that right now. So, thank you."

Kai couldn't believe it.

Here he thought that he had messed up by bringing up her past accident, but he hadn't.

Her response was positive.

She had even thanked him.

It was honestly so unexpected that his heart was racing and the pounding was heard so clearly in his ears, when pulling up to her school finally having the nerve to exclaim, "(Y/N)... I think... I think it would be best if I be the one to pick you up and drop you off to and from school. Is that... okay?"

(Y/N) blinked at him.

He waited, anxious.

Then she smiled again, replying with a positive, 'Yes!' before walking away.

He drove off.

A warmth spread through him.

The rest of that day, he could only remember the way she smiled at him so lovingly and knew that he was starting to like the idea of a little sister.

꧁꧂