#also also!

Everything was silent on the other side. The girl pursed her lips, trying to stop another hiccup from coming out.

Why weren’t they awake? She could maybe just quit, but she really really really really didn’t want to go back to sleep. She couldn’t. Maybe she could go to Tati’s room downstairs, since she was always sure to wake up with any noise, but Stella was sleeping there now instead of with their parents and she didn’t want to wake her up. The thought of turning to Luna sent a wave of warm shame up her cheeks, her eyes burning. She wouldn’t even try.

The girl shook her head, trying to muster up some courage. She needed to talk to Mom and Dad, and them only. They were the only ones that could ease her worries right now.

She scrubbed her snotty nose and knocked again, louder.

There was a groan on the other side of the door, and she clinged onto Tanni harder. If the doll was made of something other than rags, he’d have squeaked at that in protest. She heard someone getting up. The doorknob turned and she was left looking up to her dad’s sleepy face.

— D-dad? — The girl called before he could open his mouth. Dad’s eyes seemed a bit startled. Her voice had wavered without her meaning to, strangled, and she dropped the doll on the floor and walked forward to wrap her arms around him. Like this she couldn’t even reach his waist. Her dad was catched off by surprise, kneeling down to pet her head. From a distant corner of her mind, the girl noticed the satin cap Tati had borrowed out to her had freed itself from her hair somewhere between her going to bed and turning around all night. Dad’s big hand felt soothing against it.

— What’s wrong? — He asked, voice laced with tenderness, a hint of exhaustion on the edges of it. — Did you have a nightmare, sweetie? — She shook her head. Well, she did, but she was already big. She didn’t get scared by her nightmares anymore.

She hugged her dad tighter. That hadn’t been what left her afraid.

— Dad? Can you promise me something? — She sobbed into his chest. Dad never stopped caressing her head.

— What is it?

The girl stopped for a second, catching in enough air between her hiccups to speak.

— Do you promise you and Mom ain’t ever separating? — She asked, closing her eyes shut. Please, answer.

Dad didn’t, for what seemed to [redacted] like an entire hour.

— You don’t have to worry about that, honey. — He said at last, using both hands to gently lull the sobbing kid out of his chest and looking straight into her eyes with those light ones of his. It was dark, but she could still see they were a bit red from having just woken up. He smiled, wiping a tear out of her cheek. She tried to keep another sob inside. — Me and your mom love each other and you, a lot, all right? Nothing’s ever gonna change. — He said, shattering the illusions of her dream into very tiny shards of glass, spreading them out on the floor and looking straight at her without the wall blurring the reality over her mind any more. Dad smiled again to her, and the girl tried to reciprocate it, drying her eyes.

It was okay, Dad had said. That had been just a dream. Nothing like that was ever going to happen in real life. She hugged Dad again and asked if she could sleep on their bed. He sighed, with a tired giggle, and carried her inside the room.

Tanni, the doll, laid on the floor, his large button eyes staring at her as she was lifted into the warm comfort of her parents.

--

[Redac-]—no, Kaiki, he corrected his stupid mind—rose his knees up to his chest in the bedroom. It was much bigger than the one at home, but here he had to share it with Luna. He sobbed. He wished to go home. He wished Mom and Dad would solve themselves sooner.

The door on the other side of the room creaked open—his door at home never made that sort of noise—and Auntie Alice’s freckled face popped from behind it. She looked a bit uncomfortable. The light from the hall outside peeked into the darkness Kaiki had let reign free in the room by closing the curtains shut, framing her hair and coy smile from behind. The light didn’t make it past the borders of his mattress, stopping a few centimeters away from his feet. He tucked them closer to himself.

— Honey? — She asked, not daring to open the door any more. Kaiki didn’t look her way. He didn’t want anyone to see his face. — We are talking about getting some pizza downstairs. What do you think? Is there any flavor you’d like?

Kaiki’s mouth went a bit dry. He never knew which to choose. But Mom always chose chicken with olives. He hid his face. Neither Luna nor Stella liked them, so they weren’t gonna ask for that. Nobody really did, to be honest.

He would probably have to say goodbye to the olives.

A hiccup made its way out of his mouth without Kaiki’s permission, and he raised his hand over it to muffle his sounds. He didn’t want Auntie to see him crying.

She seemed unsure at the door frame.

— Do you want me to come and hug you, r—uh—Kai?

A little ray of sunshine beamed somewhere in his chest at the name, but he still didn’t want to let her in. Kaiki shook his head, more tears falling down his cheeks for some reason, and tried to make out between sobs that he didn’t mind whatever flavors they chose.

Auntie Alice nodded, a bit hesitant, and asked if she should close the door back. After she left, the darkness once again engulfing all of his—no, not his, auntie’s—room, Kaiki allowed himself to fall on his side down on the bed and grab the pillow to muffle his sobs instead of the palm of his hand.

Gosh, a sob rose from deep inside him, making his whole body shake. He just wanted to go home. He hoped this all would end soon.

--

Kaiki was scrolling down his contact list—wondering if his girlfriend would be too mad at him if he didn’t save her number with a bunch of heart emojis—when he stumbled over the name “Mom” under Mali (gf).

His fingers stopped over the screen of his phone. Just out of curiosity, he clicked on the name—her picture was still the same—and saw their last exchange had been three months ago, when he’d asked her if she would come over for Luna's birthday.

His mother had asked if Dad would go. When he considered lying, having ended up with telling her the truth, she said she didn’t want to see him and would drop by the following day to give Luna her gift.

Kaiki stared at the message, numb. The morning sun hit him from above the sports court and glowed down on his uniform shirt, not helping with that goddamn thin and see-through fabric, while the other students chattered and yelled during lunchbreak. He hadn’t even seen her that day. She had come—or Luna had told him so, at least—very early in the morning, and he’d still been sleeping. Staring at the cheerful smile of her profile picture, dark sunglasses mixing up with her dark hair tied in the bun she always wore when they went to the beach, Kaiki felt the taste of ashes fill his mouth.

He remembered the whole picture of that profile, even if he himself didn’t have it on his phone. They had gone travelling that summer, before Stella had even been born. He still was called a girl back then.

Before he could stop himself, Kaiki started scrolling up their messaging history. Most messages were from him. Anytime Mom replied he’d answer with happy stickers. They would not talk for another month. One missed call from him. An emoji from her. Rinse and repeat.

The corners of his eyes started to ache, and Kaiki scrolled up further. One year ago. Two years ago. The silly little sticker he’d sent her as a way of coming out. She had answered with a thumbs up emoji with dark skin. He scrolled higher, but his phone didn’t let him, stopping to process the messages above when Kai’s rapid pace overwhelmed it. He pursed his lips and turned his phone off, hiding his face in his hands.

The alarm rang, calling in everybody for the next class.

--

The girl was mad at Dad. And Mom. She stared at the wall in her room, angry tears biting at the corners of her eyes. She’d barely listened to their voices when they called in her, Luna and Tatiana for a “talk”. They’d sat everyone on the couple's bed, Stella sleeping soundly on mom’s lap, and their serious tone had made her tense up. Tatiana had stayed silent for the whole ordeal. Luna had hid the welling up on her eyes. Dad and Mom hadn’t even looked at each other.

They would need some time to cool off, they said. They were just having a few troubles in their marriage. Sometimes, people fell out of love, they said.

So Dad was going away. For a while, [redacted] repeated in her head.

So, for a while, he was gonna stay at a friend’s house to give each other some space.

But it would not last long, Mom and Dad reassured.

Later, with her door locked—her parents didn’t like it when she locked herself in her own room because they said the old and worn door could get stuck, but she didn’t care—the kid felt her heart tightening up inside her chest.

She hadn’t let out a single wail until then, but now she couldn't help but cry.

A hiccup came out of her.

It was all gonna pass, she told herself. It was gonna be okay. She looked at Tanni—an eye of his had gone missing—laid out on her bed, the green sheets too messy since she hadn’t bothered to tidy them up that morning.

She breathed in deep.

It was gonna be okay.

She faintly remembered a day where she tried to reassure herself of the same thing, wrapped around soft red blankets and reaching out to her parents. The ghost of a hand petted her hair, and she breathed out.

A promise was a promise, she thought.

So it was gonna be okay.

Her parents loved each other. And loved all of them back.

And that wasn’t ever gonna change.

I think that if Konoe and Ubukata were on good terms Ubukata would have the million mile stare of ‘I am going to die soon. Why don't you believe me?’

And to they who asked:

Yes, Ubukata really needs that snickers.. like desprately

Also holy shit thank you so much for the support?!!??

It really means the world to me to see that people like the things i make!!!

Love you all!!!