At the end of the day, Kaiser was just an insecure bastard that fed off of people's misfortunes to make himself feel better. The kind of grade A asshole that probably sought attention from his peers because he didn't receive it at home. It was infinitely better to ignore that kind of thing than give it your time of day.

And that's what you did.

Even now, as Kaiser and his court of jocks surrounded you in the dining room and poked fun at you for your supposedly childish packed lunch that was lovingly prepared by your mother, you made a quiet show of plugging your ears shut with your fingers. His words often soured your appetite, and thus, it was vital to take precautions against them. A modern solution to a modern problem. You didn't mean to toot your own horn, but it was quite innovative if you did say so yourself.

Kaiser, on the other hand, didn't find your solution very innovative. If you weren't shaken by his words, than surely there had to be something else that would get under your skin.

And since your hands were so preoccupied with blocking out his words, they wouldn't be fast enough to react to whatever he threw at you.

Without warning, he grabbed your lunch bag from the table and motioned for his goons to stay on guard. Kaiser studied your unfazed expression for a short moment before snooping inside with a thoughtful hum.

"Is it another rocket shaped sandwich, or is star themed one this time?" His voice drawled out with mockery, grating at your nerves that were running haywire.

This… was fine.

As long as he didn't trash the food your mother painstakingly made for you, then it was fine… Even if he mocked you for your childish preferences, it was okay. There was no need to get all defensive. You exhaled softly, unfurling your tight knuckled fists. Hurry up. Make fun of it and just go on about your day. There was no need to cause unnecessary trouble for your mother. The seconds stretched long as he taunted you, but you were used to it. As long as you waited it out like you always did, everything will be—

"Huh? What's this piece of paper?"

Your head snapped towards him— namely the paper in his hands— against your will. The unconscious slip didn't go unnoticed by his sharp eyes, and you knew- you knew with a single glance at the blooming epiphany in his expression that you had dug your own grave. His eyes curved with mirth as his smirk grew infuriatingly large. "Oho? Have I finally managed to ruffle your feathers?"

"Don't—" Your desperate words were cut off when his underlings abruptly held you back from retaliating.

Clearing his throat rather theatrically, the gesture capturing the attention of the gathering crowd, he unfolded the paper with melodrama. "My dearest Y/n…"

You couldn't hear his voice over the relentless pounding of your betrayed heart. Gaze growing blurry with an onslaught of frustrated tears, a single thought occupied your racing mind. How could he be so cruel? What could you have possibly done to deserve his cruelty? You always kept to yourself, you've never once bothered him— nothing. You couldn't recall doing anything to him, so why? Why… was he so cruel?

Dammit! Hot fury crawled up your spine as you watched his mouth blabber thoughtlessly, how the hell were you supposed to remain quiet when he was insulting your mother like that?!

In one swift movement, you stilled in the tight grasp of his lackeys, the ceasing of your squirming had them unconsciously lower their guard and loosen their grip on your arms. In that split second of their misjudgement, you jumped at the opportunity. Teeth bared, you chomped down on the arm of the lackey on your right with the aggression of a feral beast high off of steroids. It was almost satisfying to watch him reel back in agony, but you didn't revel in it, not yet at least.

You wasted no time attacking the other guard-dog who didn't expect his co-worker to go down so pathetically quick. This time, you swung at his head with your freed hand, clawing at his eyes with zero remorse when your palm connected with his surprised face. The gasps of horror from your audience went ignored by you, you weren't finished yet. Not when that bastard was still standing—!

Your ferocious gaze landed on him over on the side of the table. You couldn't make out his expression, not when his hair fell over his face and covered majority of it. Not that you cared, he could be crying for all you care, you still weren't forgiving him. Grabbing the closest thing to you— an opened carton of milk— you held it tightly in your hand as you spoke through clenched teeth. "Give it back."

He flinched briefly hearing the tightness in your tone but collected himself quickly. Holding it high and out of your reach, he dangled the note about as bait and invited you to a challenge. "Come and get it."

You didn't need to be told twice.

Pulling your arm back with surgical precision, you threw the carton without hesitation— confident you wouldn't miss your mark.

Your aim was impeccable, commendable even.

The carton landed right on his head, and the contents comically poured out and streamed down his surprised face with quaint mockery.

The milk bomb was only supposed to catch him off guard. It wasn't aimed to cause any real pain, not when you had another one coming just for that specifically. In his minuscule moment of stupor, you climbed on the table and used it to give you a boost.

Unhesitatingly, you leapt towards him with outstretched hands. He must've not expected your rash movements, you could tell that much from his widened eyes and gaping mouth. Your hands clawed at his shoulders to steady your landing as your legs tightened around his torso to prevent him from shoving you off.

Bracing yourself for the soon-to-come impact, you pulled your head with clenched eyes before abruptly swinging it back down to meet his. You butted heads— quite literally— the noise echoing tumultuously in the hall that fell silent amidst your one-sided brawl.

Before darkness could sweep you into slumber, your fading vision faintly made out the ground that grew close. Ah, you must be falling. Well, it was no surprise really. The impact must've knocked Kaiser off his balance, and now, you were both going to fall head first to the hard ground.

The raging pounding in your head ceased suddenly and was replaced with strange warmth. The adrenaline was covering for the pain it seemed, and it would ultimately cover the pain of the fall to come as it was doing right now.

You closed your eyes, welcoming the darkness with open arms. He'd probably take most of the brunt since he would fall first, well-deserved, you thought.

What you didn't expect, was that he would end up taking the whole brunt of it.

The strange warmth that embraced your head wasn't from the adrenaline. No. It was from his large hands, protectively bracing your head from the impact that was to come— but never came.

Not to you at least.

Kaiser always won.

It wasn't fair, but it was the truth. And the truth always stung.

The boy may have been an asshole, but he was charming— a smooth talker. The type of guy who could turn the tide on you with pretty words and clumsy theatrics. He knew how to cleverly flip a situation on his opponent and avoid accountability.

That's the kind of person he was.

And it was because of that, because of his conniving personality that Kaiser had gotten away with everything he'd done for as long as he did. No peer he harassed could retaliate against him, not when it meant fighting a losing game. Just like that, every witness of his misdeed became a quiet wallflower in his extensive collection. Every teacher turned a blind eye to his wrongdoing and became the bystander they always reprimanded students for being. Everyone was wrapped around his dictating finger, because who in their right mind wanted to fight a losing game against Kaiser?

Nobody.

But then, there was you.

A vindictive rebel in a world that was filled with compliant bastards.

You were unworthy of his attention at first, and yet, had managed to unintentionally pique his interest with your packed lunches.

For some odd reason, the crusts of your sandwiches were cut off. It bothered him, why was the best part of the bread missing? There was another thing as well, the skin of your oranges were always peeled, even the membrane had been carefully removed. Since when did supermarkets start selling pre-peeled fruits?

A quick trip to the supermarket made him confirm that they did not sell pre-peeled oranges.

His dissatisfaction urged him to continue his furtive investigation. Kaiser was determined to get to the bottom of whatever this was. He lurked around you during lunch, watching you with keen but curious eyes as you contently indulged in your packed lunches. They were arranged in those kiddie, compact containers with different compartments that separated everything. The meals themselves were always healthy and balanced, with some of kind of whole grain carb that was the focal point of the picturesque meal as the fruits and vegetables along with the protein accompanied the main dish.

Everything was either shaped or cut into something… cute.

It was organised and meticulous, but undoubtedly childish for someone of your age. It just— didn't make sense.

And that's when he began to notice everything else about you. Your hair that was always neatly done in some kind of style with pretty hair-clips, your uniform that was always crisp and carefully ironed, your loafers that were always polished to perfection— it didn't add up.

You were anything but neat or orderly. If anything, you were clumsy, messy.

When school hours would come to an end, your uniform was always creased, and your hair was always loose and reminiscent of a bird's nest. Even your loafers were always muddy or scuffed. So how?

How was it that the next day you'd come to school all pristine again?

He wasn't the only one buzzing with unsated curiosity, even your peers had found it bizarre. If you were so bad being tidy, who the hell was keeping you all prime and proper?

Kaiser eventually found out. It was your mother...

Your mother was the one responsible for you childish, but undeniably cute packed lunches. She was also responsible for your neat uniform, and your pretty hair, and your lustrous shoes.

For the first time ever, Kaiser had lost... You, won one over him.

That's why, he couldn't stand the mere sight of you. And that's how, you became his prime victim.

It was satisfying, watching you endure it despite the quaint fire in your gaze. For the first time ever, you couldn't run to your mother with your tail tucked between your legs and cry in her embrace about it like the little baby you were.

Well, that's what he originally thought would happen…

You promptly beat that notion out of him.

And in true comedic timing, his concussed head stung with the remembrance of your unprovoked attack. Fuck, you ended up hitting him harder than he imagined you would. Was your forehead built of stone or something? It was fitting, your head was hard and you were just as hard-headed. Who else would be brave enough to lunge at him over the table and knock him down like some wild bull? Well, he did wave your note about like it was some red fabric… so he should've at the very least anticipated it.

With a self-deprecating sigh, he craned his neck forward to the other two that were a victim of your violent practices. They looked traumatised beyond reasoning, he could tell from the way they shook in their seats, clearly still perturbed with what had conspired earlier. Kaiser didn't blame them, it was the first time anyone had ever retaliated to his bullying, and so aggressively at that... You've never reacted to his taunts before, so seeing you blow up was definitely something. And all for a little note at that?

"Hah—" A noise of amusement slipped past him unrestrained, startling the two lackeys that were the picture definition of mortified. Ignoring the way they flinched at his ludicrous glee, his gaze wandered to the principal's office and beyond its glass windows.

Your figure— slouched with helpless defeat— greeted him.

It was his win.

The sight warmed his heart as he imagined it would, but it was short lived. He couldn't revel in it, not when chaos ensued at the main entrance of the school building.

Casting a mildly irritated, sideway glance towards the interruption that had cut his merriment short, his brows briefly twitched with intrigue when they landed on a woman that stood tall and poised with unwavering determination. An immovable force undeterred by the vice-principal's empty threats.

"Ma'am! You have to follow the Academy's protocols. You can't just appear like this—!" The vice-principal choked on his breaths as he tried to catch up to the unyielding woman. "Please calm down!"

"Calm down?" The mysterious woman finally paused in her furious strides and turned to face the cause of her frustrations, her expression grew with outrage as she mocked the man with a venomous sneer. "You expect me to calm down when my child is concussed?!"

"She's awake and stable, she's fine—" His careless attempt to quell her growing anger was in vein, only fuelling it even more.

"Where is my child..?" Through clenched teeth and trembling fists, her voice echoed in the hallway with quiet clarity. When her questioned was left unanswered by the man, she exhaled deeply to soothe herself— the self-reassurance for nought as the silence stretched. "Where is she?! Where is my—!"

"In the principal's office."

It was almost comical how fast her head snapped towards him when he responded.

It was even more laughable how quick he answered her.

Kaiser didn't tremble under her scepticism like the others did, in fact, he met her hardened stare head on with an amused one of his own. Beneath his mirthful facade, lay a calculatingly cautious boy. It wasn't hard to put two and two together. This mysterious woman— with her fiery gaze that was eerily familiar— it was obvious who she was.

The realisation settled uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach. It couldn't even have been that long since the principal called to inform your mother of your sorry state, just how fast must someone drop whatever they were doing to appear so quickly?

"Not even a 'thank you'?" He leaned his head back hoping to conceal his slipping expression as the taunt fell off his tongue with practised ease. "A bit ungrateful, aren't you?"

The woman payed his words no mind. Instead, she rushed off to the principal's office across the hallway without a moment's hesitation. He could've been lying about your whereabouts, but it seems that desperation made people yield in the face of their foes. Kaiser wasn't too bothered with her lack of gratitude, he wasn't expecting a response, not when he was sure that she figured out who he was from his injuries, but—

"Y/n!"

Kaiser tried to tune out your tearful reunion, he truly did. But his treacherous heart, consumed with envy, urged him to sneak a glance.

A mistake.

The sickening sight that greeted him gnawed at his stomach, filling him with unbridled rage.

"Mama..?"

It was disgusting.

Kaiser may have won the fight or whatever it was, but as your mother ran to you, as she embraced you with gentle hands and kissed your injured head with trembling relief, as she wiped away at your ceaseless tears and whispered her tender words of affection to you, Kaiser knew—

He knew immediately that he— that he lost.

My dearest Y/n, huh...?

Yeah... it really was disgusting.

My dearest Y/n,

Stop being a baby and eat the crust on your bread. I cut it out this time but I won't do it again next time.

angry and fed up, your mother >:(

p.s. being stern really doesn't suit me, does it? i'll probably keep cutting the crust forever. mommy loves you too much to not <3

The lines between his brows creased as he read over the letter— your note— again.

The ink may have been smudged with grease and the paper may have been folded with haste, but the text— the words were written with thought, with affection. They were embedded with your mother's love as were your crust-less, rocket shaped sandwiches.

With a defeated sigh, he smoothed out the creases on the note that were a result of his endless fidgeting. A person like him couldn't comprehend it.

Yeah, a guy like Kaiser wouldn't get it.

He couldn't even define the bizarre emotion that crept up his throat nor did he bother acknowledging it… Well, he may have refused to do so, but with the way his fingers flattened out the sheet with unbelievable softness, every movement mapped out with careful consideration— there was no lie in his actions. Only the undeniable truth.

He may not have realised it yet, or maybe he did and he was just playing the ignorant fool, but Kaiser was coming to terms with his defeat against you.

Even the usual crowd that flocked to him were evidently avoidant. They watched him from afar with pointed judgement, sharing hushed murmurs amongst themselves that reached his ears despite their pathetic attempt at quiet whispers.

What a spectacle it must be.

His lone figure had replaced yours at the dining table that seemed to stretch longer than he remembered. A sick twist in fate truly.

It was nothing though.

Kaiser was familiar with silence. The boy was no stranger to solitude.

Silence was his father's mercy.

It was a blessing he cherished with gratitude. This was truly nothin—

A dull thump put a pause to his ceaseless thoughts. The noise was followed by his pained grunt, a result of the sharp ache that shot up his temple— the same spot that was still sore from when he'd taken the impact of the fall earlier that week. Gasps of horror surrounded him, the expressions they sported was a familiar sight. One he couldn't just forget, not when it was the same as the time he'd been attacked with no remorse.

There was only one person bold enough to attack him with no fear. Only one brave fool amidst these cowards that rebelled against his absoluteness— you.

His hand that carefully cradled your note scrunched with instinct, a poor attempt at concealing his uncharacteristic longing. Pursing his lips to school his expression into one of indifference, he cast you a sideway glance to gauge your reaction. "Was a week of suspension not enough for you?"

You didn't rise to the bait, not that he expected you to, he knew first hand the length of your patience— and it was long. Instead, you casually took a seat beside him with unneeded sauce and carelessly threw something in his vague direction. He could only blink at your impudence, since when were the two of you buddy-buddy like this? The questions he wished to inquire fell short on his tongue however, the disbelief from your laid-back nature silencing his usually snarky comments.

"…."

When you made no move to explain yourself, Kaiser's shoulders remained tense with guarded caution. Quaint excitement crawled up his spine as his gaze fell from your indifferent expression to the lunchbox before you. He peeked over your shoulder with bated breaths as you busied yourself with opening Pandora's box. What would it be this time? Last time it was a constellation inspired Michelin-star deserving lunch, would it be a spring flower garden inspired one this time?

"So, are you… uh— gonna give it back or what..?" You finally spoke, expression contorting to one of hesitance as you stumbled on your words, an unbecoming sight that visibly stunned to him. When he responded with feigned ignorance in the form of more silence, you begrudgingly gestured to what you slapped him with earlier— a suspiciously lumpy-shaped, black plastic bag— and let out a melodramatic huff. "There's one in there for you so give back mine."

You weren't an idiot, nor were you blind.

Sure, there was a time you'd been blinded by rage not too long ago, but that day— that day when your mother embraced you tightly, when she cradled your face with delicate reverence and whispered words of consolation, even if your gaze had been blurry with the manifestation of your relief, you didn't miss it. You couldn't miss it. The way his stare had lingered on you both, quiet envy glinting in his intense gaze as he physically tore his gaze away from the emotional reunion.

Kaiser didn't have that. He didn't have what you had.

You figured that out when the principal's attempts to contact his parents were unsuccessful.

That's why, you took it upon yourself to give him that.

"Oh, wow."

Your head snapped up from your lunch to see what had caused such a dumbfounded response from him.

"It's like, playing spot the difference or something. On extreme difficulty at that..." He muttered with confused hesitance as he peeked inside the contents of the black plastic bag and then looked over to your pretty pink lunch bag, the note written for him held carefully in his hand.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Completely missing the sarcasm in his tone, your face twitched comically with unbridled puzzlement. "There is a clear difference."

"Oh, yeah? Pray, do tell me this clear difference you're seeing." He drawled out with mock encouragement, mildly amused by your insistence to correct him.

"Mine's made with love," you pointed to your perfectly packed lunch and then gestured towards the pathetic excuse of a 'lunch' he had, "and yours is—"

"Let me guess, mine's made with hatred?" He interrupted with a matter of fact tone, waving about the piece of paper that was addressed to him with unbelievable amount of spite. It was nothing like your mother’s affectionate letters, the one you wrote for him was one born from the hatred you harboured for him.

You fucking insecure bastard,

I hope you rot in hell you unwanted piece of shit. I don’t care if you don’t have a mother, stop being a fucking cunt to others who do have one. I hope you choke on the worst part of the bread, the fucking crust, and I hope you get poisoning from the pesticide residue on the orange peels.

Disrespectfully, with the most unkindest regard ever, Y/n. 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸

p.s. i’ll give you the crust of my bread forever from now on because my mom thinks i outgrew my dislike for them… can’t disappoint her (╥_╥)

His heart hammered in his throat, that meant more lunches and notes for him, right?

"Uh, I was gonna say pity, y'know, because you don't have a loving and caring and present mother, or father, like I do."

"…."

What a way to leave him speechless, you really did have a way with words that was similar to rubbing salt on an open wound, didn’t you?

"Why?" You leaned towards him with delighted eyes, a big grin on your face as your voice rose with a lilt of hope. "You're not happy with it?"

"The contrary actually." He met your simper with a tight smile of his own, taking a bite of the insulting 'lunch' you so lovingly, prepared for him. It was satisfying to see how you immediately deflated when he didn't fall for your pathetic bait.

"Tch."

"Disappointed?"

"Pissed off actually." You corrected him with no shame.

It sucked he didn't like the scraps you gave him, especially after everything you went through to acquire them. Your mother, ever so emotional, almost shed tears when you told her she didn't need to cut the crust of your lunch or peel the skin of your tangerines, something about her baby growing up too fast.

The truth was, you needed the crust of the bread and the orange peels to feed Kaiser...

"I like bread crusts." He spoke reverently in the midst of devouring the so-called lunch you brought him.

It was new, all of this, was new to him. Even if you had brought him a pile of dog shit, he probably would've eaten it with zero complaints— actually, wait no.

"And the orange peels?"

"They're a bit bitter."

You reeled back with a mildly disturbed expression as he chewed on the tangerine skin you added simply for the joke of it. He was more pitiful than you initially thought, yikes. Your gaze drifted off to his loose tie and his untucked shirt, if he had a present mother like you did, she wouldn't let him reach this state of untidiness.

Without warning, you grabbed a hold of his tie and yanked on it tight, pulling him close and shortening the distance of your proximity. Choking from the sudden tugging, his eyes grew wide as your nose brushed against his. You paid it no mind, not when his lopsided tie took up most of your attention to. Your attempts to 'fix it' weren't very successful, something Kaiser decided to give his two cents on.

"You’ve made it worse."

Your levelled gaze flew up to meet his intense one, the retort you planned to voice out dying on your tongue when you noticed stray strands of his unkept hair obstruct his annoyingly pretty face. Overrun with impulse, you let out a deep puff of air, the wind of your breath blowing away the strands that prevented you from seeing his face fully.

With clumsy and rough hands, you pushed the hair out of his face, tucking the frizzy strands behind his flushing ears. Your effort to tidy his hair in vein, for all you achieved was an even bigger mess that he didn't bother pointing out this time.

Not this time.

If anything, he seemed pretty pleased to be at the mercy of your ministrations, you could see that much when he visibly slumped in your hold.

Kaiser chased the lingering warmth of your calloused hands as he nuzzled into your palms much like a touch starved stray. He blinked slowly, taking in your arguably endearing expression, your eyes concentrated but earnest and he thought back on it, on everything you've done for him. You fed him, though they were scarps you foraged out of pity, it was still something. You even wrote him a note! Though it looked more like a death threat rather than the encouraging ones your mother gave you… But you still did that for him- for him... His first ever handwritten note.

And now, you tried to fix his uniform and neaten his hair, and even though it wasn’t really great, he still leaned into it nonetheless.

It was like, like you were ticking off some sort of mental checklist.

You were showing him the joy of the things he previously picked on you for having. They were all small acts of service your mother did to express her love for you, and now, you were doing them all for him. Him. Granted, you both weren't exactly buddies, so they weren't done to such a high standard, but it was still- it was still something.

Then, did that mean you would also— his eyes fluttered close much like a dainty maiden as he rather eagerly pointed to the bruising on his forehead.

"Go ahead and kiss my injuries better."

"…."

It was almost offensive how your face scrunched with unbridled disgust. Rather than being met with the sensation of a soft peck that was rumoured to be an all-healing panacea, he was met with a harsh forehead flick that rebooted his faltering nervous system into overdrive.

"I only kiss those I like. You're not one of them if you haven't realised that yet."

“Ah, and you make lunch for those you love?” He perked up with hope. This had to be a roundabout way of saying you loved him!

“That’s not even what I—! Ugh! You’re so insufferable!” You crossed your arms and turned away from him. “Keep that up and there really will be no more lunches.”

“How come? Is your love for me seriously that fickle?” He whined, toying with the ends of your hair, not quite pulling on it, not this time, just— just twirling the lock around his finger subconsciously.

“No. It’s not because of that, it’s because I’ll hit you again and get expelled this time round.”

“So you’re saying your love for me isn’t fickle?”

“Oh my God! You’re seriously… impossible.”

Yeah, you seriously were going to get yourself expelled if he kept this up.

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