Youth

#33 - All Along

"Wake up," a mostly monotonous voice droned from somewhere awfully close to [Y/n]'s ear. The girl sat up with a start, shuffling back quickly and subsequently managing to fall off the side of Kori's bed. The grey haired male peered over the end and frowned, before reaching out a hand to help her up. [Y/n] didn't take his hand, however, and this caused a even more displeased look to cross his expression.

"How ungrateful," he sighed, shaking his head and revoking the offer to help her. "You planning on just staying there?" he asked, staring down at her from his vantage point on the bed. [Y/n] crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. This earned a laugh from Kori.

"When do I get to leave?" [Y/n] questioned, looking down.

"Did you forget what happened last time you tried to leave?" Kori questioned, gesturing to the burn scar on [Y/n]'s arm. The girl would've responded by telling him that he'd only done that because he kicked him, but knew Kori would remain deliberately obtuse until the end of time if it fit his narrative. So, instead [Y/n] simply hung her head, hoping the childish man would stop staring at her like she was a lost artefact and just let her out.

    "Shouldn't I be going to Draka now?" [Y/n] pressed. She'd much rather be with Draka than Kori. At least with Draka she felt much safer, even if he'd shown just how strong he really was on the day he'd gone to collect her from Nyais' place. Sure, Draka could play games, but no one mentally tortured [Y/n] as well as Kori or Seishin. She loathed the two more than anything else on this planet. More than Dr Rayne, even.

    "Draka... you know, it's kind of hurtful that you talk of Draka as though he's better than me," Kori frowned. "That inept fool is probably the worst of all of us, if you really think about it." What did that even mean? [Y/n] didn't know if she wanted to ask, if only to spare her feelings. Though another question came to her mind, instead.

    "Why are you all like this...? Where did I go wrong?"

    The question was mostly to herself, though she hoped she could gain an answer form Kori as well. He may have been terrifying, but she didn't doubt for a second that he was highly — if not incredibly — intelligent.

    "You didn't," Kori hummed, his expression quizzical. "If you're talking about your methods of raising us, you didn't go wrong. Why would you think that?" he huffed. [Y/n] wondered whether she should just shut up now and pretend it wasn't something that was bothering her, but the question had played in her head more times that she could count and she craved answers.

    "But I did. Nyais said that how I behaved with all of you would change how you treated me, and that trying to act... well, too emotionally attached— um... he said that would be a bad idea. And I see why, because something like this would happen." The look on Kori's face exuded confusion, as though he honestly had no idea what she was upset about. "S-so I made sure you all thought of me as a friend, and I tried to be nice a-and—"

    "Why are you trembling?" Kori questioned, finally sliding himself off the bed to sit on the floor beside [Y/n]. Though she assumed it was supposed to be comforting, her blood ran cold.

    "Are you angry with me?" she asked quietly.

    "Yes," Kori responded simply, and the bluntness of his words instantly made [Y/n] fearful, "I'm angry because you can't seem to trust me. I'm not going to kill you, [Y/n]. I love you."

    It was the most sane way he'd expressed his affections so far, but there was a slight twitch in his eye that [Y/n] couldn't miss.

    "Maybe if you didn't do shit like this," [Y/n] suddenly growled, pointing at her arm, "you'd find someone who loved you, too."