Ryosei had come outside to attempt to find the ever elusive Eika, only to stumble across her talking to a child whom he didn't know. Seeing her smile happily while talking to the child was unexpected, and curious, he perched in the shadow of a tree, observing the novel interaction.
"Live your life—live it I tell you, and don't just walk around like some zombie, okay?"
Ryosei crouched in the shadow of a tree, his expression mixed as he contemplated her words that had been directed both at him and the kid.
Faint impressions of darkness lurked beneath his pale eyes, and he seemed oddly emotional for his character; usually, he was a fairly stoic man, one who was detached but polite and chivalrous, the type of man who disliked expressing his emotions in public.
He only showed them to people whom had walked through his walls, and ironically enough, the woman whom he should've had the strongest barrier against, had waltzed right in and was proceeding to shake him to his core.
It was annoying, especially with how his eyes began to sting at those words.
Questions like, 'Had he been living his life aside from existing?' and 'Was he actually holding back more than he thought?' introduced themselves and made his head ache as they paraded across his conscious, like Eika did.
Was it the whole "Turner Bond" that made him vulnerable?
Was it because she was unconventional and willful, loud and bursting with color, yet at moments as empty as an abandoned shell?
Was the insomnia getting to him and simply causing his emotions to overflow?
He disliked her; he hated her; she killed him and ended the life he could've had, that he'd tried to have.
Eika was the accident that had barreled into his life, the person whom he'd met at the wrong place and wrong time, and had simultaneously dashed him to pieces and pulled him back together.
And yet he couldn't stop trying to understand that girl.
And sure she was centuries year old and wealthy beyond belief and a prideful asshole who enjoyed tormenting him—but in that end, when midnight hit and the mania of life left her, she was just that: a girl.
A young, confused, shattered girl who seemed as if she would either break at the slightest touch, or lash out with the force of a vindictive disaster.
Like an onion that girl; when he tried peeling back the layers, she hurt him as collateral damage, but he still saw glimpses of her through his watering eyes, glimpses, that reminded him of his dreams.
That small child who seemed broken to everything, both guarded and vulnerable, an open book with blank pages that he couldn't help turning in an attempt to find something to her, only to get papercut's in the end.
He sighed, running his hand through his hair and down his face as he murmured, "What am I doing..."
The insomnia was really getting to him; that's why his eyes stung.
He got up and stalked away, the once sunny sky turning gray as storm clouds rumbled at the horizon, and Ryosei walked faster.
Stupid onion.
———
{"Welcome back, Ryosei-nii!"}
A wry smile and {"I'm home."} greeted the smiling and sweet Fuyumi as she bounced on the tips of her toes, eager to see her brother again. He gently patted her on the head before turning to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
All the while, Eika watched closely, an envious look in her eyes at the interaction between them; she wanted that too... she wanted to greet someone like that, to be given affection that was as natural as it was genuine.
She wanted love.
'But... that'll never happen. After all... to them, I'm...'
A rueful smile crossed her face, and her eyes turned to the table, a certain resigned sadness glimmering in the scarlet and violet beautifully.
"Eto... e-excuse me, Eika-san... are you o-okay?"
Eika's smile grew, and she murmured, "Yeah, I'm fine... just... a little jealous is all..."
"J-jealous? Why?"
"Cause I want that too."
"...Want that too?"
The confused echo of Eika's words prompted an explanation that neither Eika nor the eavesdropping Ryosei expected.
"I have siblings too."
"...!"
"You do?!" exclaimed Fuyumi, her oceanic eyes widening as she lurched forward, eager to learn more about the mysterious woman who had taken her brother captive.
"Yup," she laughed, that same small smile on her face, her eyes still those sad tones as she swung her legs under the table and continued, "and they hate me, just like everyone else."
"W-what?"
Eika turned her gentle gaze towards Fuyumi, and gently stroked her head, eliciting a surprised blush and expression from the girl.
"I'm... what you might call an illegitimate child. My dad technically had me when he was married to Lilith, but he had no love for her or anything like that. His children with her were more so an experiment, though he does care for them to some degree. But my mom... she was..."
She trailed off, a tragic expression crossing her lovely face as she continued with a strained voice, "She was like the stars to him. Beautiful, radiant; she lit up his moonless night, and... he fell in love with her... enough so that when she died..."
A peal of thunder sounded, and a rain of droplets fell from the sky.
"...he neglected his own child."
The only sound was the sizzle of something cooking, and the patter and tap of the rain. The light that streamed through the dining room windows painted rivulets of watery shadows on Eika's smiling face, and with her eyes soft and her smile pained, she quietly murmured, "I'm not all that hungry. I'll be up in my room—have a nice meal you two."
And with that parting, Eika gently scooted out her chair and walked away, the gentle patter of her footfalls blending with the rain as she walked up the aching, creaking wooden stairs and to her room, where the quiet sound of a door closing signalled the end of the conversation.