Work Text:
Fumed so badly to the point of wanting to unalive someone. I ambled along the street in Sumeru City aimlessly, attempting to cool my head off. I was thinking about going to the House of Daena to read books and regain my composure, but I didn’t even have the energy to properly look at the direction of the street.
Their voice echoed again inside my brain,
You clearly don’t know how to do this!
You don’t understand!!! Stop underestimating me. I am superior, I am above you and you’re beneath!!!
This one b*tch couldn’t stop patronizing me too. They kept on mansplaining stuff to me as if they’re the most-knowing-all. I was aware of the fact that I’m not the most intelligent or the smartest person on earth. Merely a normal scholar who wants to survive in this society, that’s me. Deep down, I knew the fact that I still have a lot to learn. ‘Yes, I do admit I still have a long way to go…’ I thought to myself. I had a low self-esteem to begin with, and I always tried my best to be humble, not to come off as arrogant, but they didn’t have to constantly mock me and incessantly talk to me in a condescending way! It’s painful!
You didn’t do it earlier than me, but I did! I initially did all of these earlier than you, and my rank is above yours too, that’s a truth you cannot handle!
I was starting to get nauseous over that one particular sentence.
That’s a truth you cannot handle!
That’s a truth ̷y̴o̷u̴ c̶̚͜a̷̲͙̠͋̇̚n̴̻͓͐́ń̶̀ͅo̶̥͔̾̊̈t̸̳̠͛ ̶̜̰̌̌̕ ̴͓̥̈́ͅh̸̗͠ă̶̯̤̜n̶̫̝̹̐d̴̰̟̗̒l̴̯͎̰̑̍e̸͙̱͗̃͗!̷͚̺́͜
‘Shut up. SHUT THE F*CK UP. The truth I couldn’t handle, they say? I could’ve pulled up fact-based arguments against them that are 100% guaranteed to hurt their ego and are accurate to the actual truth that happened, but I couldn’t just because they’re physically abusive and I couldn’t do anything about it.’
Only if they actually wouldn’t always resort to violence when just slightly offended. ‘Do I have to constantly kiss up to their ego just so that they wouldn’t dare to touch my body?’, I delivered a monologue silently to myself.
How pathetic. The moment they ran out of arguments to counter my words, they’d aim at me physically on the spot without any hesitation. They said that I was far under them, right? Then they should’ve been able to think of witty counterarguments. But why couldn’t they, huh? Couldn’t think of any other justifications? They didn’t want to admit that they’re wrong so badly, no, they didn’t even want to hear my explanation in the first place.
“Does… does thinking all of these even have a meaning?”, I mumbled.
When I looked up and slowly shifted my eyesight to left and right, I was beside a cafe near the Adventurer’s Guild.
I contemplated where I should go to cool down my brain. I thought of going to the Grand Bazaar too because the lively atmosphere there would probably distract me. That was what I thought before a soft voice as gentle as still water pulled me out of the trail of thoughts, “...(Name)?”
I looked to my right and caught sight of bright red hair, along with her pretty aqua eyes, the same color as her Vision element. She had both of her hands hidden on her back, her expression looked like she’s concerned. “Nilou…!”, I tried to change my tone so that I wouldn’t come off as rude. I continued, “How are you doing? And how's the Zubayr’s Theater doing, Nilou? I’m glad to see you as wonderful as ever,” I lightly formed a smile and shifted so that my posture was properly facing her.
She took a step closer, “We’re doing fine but…(Name), do you need help? You looked like you’re sad, or stressed… or both…” she lowered her voice, ‘possibly so that she doesn’t intimidate me’, I thought. She’s a kind soul indeed.
I pondered a bit before answering to her, ‘Should I tell her? I… don’t want to become a problematic friend to her, she’s been a great friend to me, I don’t want to make her feel burdened...’
“It’s uh… Not much of worth to be worried about, Nilou. I’m really happy and touched by the fact that you noticed my sad expression but… I don’t feel like I deserve to complain about it cause it’s such a petty problem to begin with’,”
“Are you sure? Then at least, is there anything else I can help you with? We can go do something to cheer you up!”, Nilou brightly asked me.
“Thank you Nilou. I’m grateful for the feelings. But now… I… Don’t think I have the energy to do anything that requires a lot of physical stamina…”,
“I, I hope this isn’t the case but… This has nothing to do with your boyfriend right? He’s been treating you well, hasn’t he?” Nilou's expression was somewhat more worried now.
“Oh, of course not! I love him, even though he sometimes annoys me or teases me irritatingly, he mostly didn’t mean all of that. He's actually bettering himself day by day these days… I thought of meeting him to calm myself down but… apparently I heard that he’s attending a lecture right now,” I recalled the fact that he’s sitting in Vahumana Darshan.
It seemed like my face gave away the fact that I didn’t want to be around many people in this situation. She took both of my hands and clasped them around hers, “Alright then, you’re always welcome in the Grand Bazaar and you can always come find me when you’re in need, okay? Be careful on your way back!,” she gently responded.
I sauntered and returned to my bedroom. I sat on the bed and covered my head with my blanket while hugging my knees. I scanned the scenery from the window on my left, the sky was painted orange. Sumeru’s landscape was truly breathtaking, both huge and small trees everywhere, lush grasses, colorful flowers and plants growing, rainforests with diverse creatures in it… I would’ve been able to delight in the ethereal scenery if it weren’t from… the intense angry emotion I was still feeling at the time. To my surprise, I heard footsteps and it got closer to my room.
I heard a mention to my name, “Oi, you there?”
‘Kuni!’, I slightly jumped out of surprise and… I felt ecstatic and relieved to see he’s here.
I promptly got up and opened the door, “Kuni!!!”, I couldn’t suppress my excitement when I saw his lovely purple eyes, and I hugged him without asking him first. When I realized what I was doing and I did it without his consent, I backed off immediately, “I-I’m sorry! I’m just so overjoyed to see you…”, I sheepishly apologized. I slowly returned my gaze back at his countenance, I saw that he’s… blushing. He’s so adorable. He probably didn’t expect my behavior to be like that just now.
He covered his face, especially around his nose and mouth out of embarrassment, “It’s not a problem, you want to hug me that much huh?”, he reacted with his handsome voice in a lower tone. “Come in,” I didn’t want to make the scene awkward for both of us. Once I let him in, I closed and locked the door.
“Kuni, I… I need a hug. Can I…?”, I enquired. I fixed my gaze to him to examine his response, avoiding eye contact with me. He just wordlessly opened his arms, and didn't dare to answer me verbally for some reason. ‘Is he embarrassed to say it out loud?’ I thought to myself. I wrapped my arms around him, not long after, I sensed his arms surrounding my back. He tenderly patted my shoulders. I could feel his breath colliding against my neck, it was kind of ticklish but I didn’t mind.
He initiated a conversation, “That one red-haired dancer from the theater told me that you were not feeling well. Probably mentally. She told me that you looked sad. What’s wrong? Did anyone dare to hurt you?”, he grunted at the last question.
“W-well, someone kinda hurt me but… It’s just that, it’s merely a trivial matter so…”, I unhurriedly replied while still relishing in his comfortable embrace.
“...What did they do to you? Who is it?”
—- —- —-
“The audacity…!”, he grumbled, holding my shoulders. “B-but, I didn’t deserve to complain about it, Kuni…I’m… so mad at them but… What can I do about it? ”, I whispered.
“Did anyone tell you that? That isn’t even the first time they did that to you! They had done it for like, countless times! If you’re not allowed to complain regarding his behavior, then I’m going to beat them up myself. Insufferable pests! You shouldn’t think of yourself this lowly compared to that ignorant scum!”
I didn’t have any energy left to give him a reply. I fumbled at his clothes, indirectly asking him for another hug. He took the hint and he enfolded me in his embrace once again.
“(Name)… you’re worth more than that,” he murmured, nearly inaudible, but he positioned his lips near my ear so I could still hear him. It took me off guard, he rarely ever uses my name to call me directly like this. I felt my cheeks heating up, I felt elated hearing him saying such words.
“Kuni… can you keep me company for tonight? I… want to be with you now,” I requested meekly.
“Fine. Hmph, why didn’t you tell me earlier? I wouldn’t know that you’re in such a horrible state if that theater kid didn’t mention it to me…”, he sulked.
I genuinely had no idea on how to respond to that. “My bad…,” I uttered while I lightly pulled on his loose white garment, “I… am hungry. I haven’t eaten since morning. Attempted to eat breakfast but… I couldn’t finish it. Heartburn. My eating schedule has been inconsistent these days,”
“... I’ll go cook you something light. You better eat it later,” he made his way towards the small kitchen connected to my personal room, he closed the door to my bedroom just to open it again in less than a minute, “You can come follow me if you want to. Not a problem if you stay here too, I don’t mind.”
— — —
The next day, in Akademiya.
I was supposed to have classes today starting in an hour, and I was planning to go to the class in about 15 minutes. Also to mention I still had materials to revise, I should enter the classroom early in order to do that.
The air temperature around me was pretty warm, the clock hasn’t hit 12 yet, and the sun’s already out. I was walking to the House of Daena with my significant other on my left. I had the intention of returning a book I borrowed last week. I had finished it just this morning in the meantime waiting for my lover to wake up. I didn’t want to disturb his slumber, he looked so peaceful, so I sat up and read the book till he was awake. After finishing my business in the House of Daena, I had a conversation with him as we ambled through the Akademiya corridors. He told me stories about what he had been up to these days, and I told him about my plans for today. We also planned for a date in the evening! We met some of our friends too on the way, we met Layla from Rtawahist Darshan, waved hands at one another as she was in a hurry for a lecture. I briefly greeted some of my friends from [Your Darshan] as well. There were people that Kuni knew from Vahumana, however… he didn’t seem to bother to even say hello to them. We parted ways as I had lessons soon.
— — —
Third person POV
(You can choose the one who hurted you to be one person only, or more. I used they/them pronouns here so you can either insert whatever gender here or it can be plural/a group of people.)
“The vermin’s finally awake,” the man with indigo hair remarked menacingly.
“Huh? Who are yo—”, a terrified scream could be heard following up right after they couldn’t finish their sentence.
He couldn’t hold back his laughter seeing their grim expression on their face(s). “You dared to mess up with (Name)… I have to make sure you learn your lesson,” he grinned, “I’m gonna get rid of you for (Name).”
“I-I’m s-sorry! Forgi-” they shivered in extreme distress, feeling threatened. Their life was in danger.
The man in the garb resembling an ascetic smirked, “There’s no point in begging to me for forgiveness. You shouldn’t have done that to them in the first place,”
They winced out of fear, “I’ll beg on my knees if you’d let me go, plea- AAH!,” they shrieked as a high pitched piercing-like sound could be heard.
“And then what? You’re going to repeat it again, am I right? Not only you had hurt them physically, you proceeded to torture (Name) mentally, not even thinking of breaking off from such of worthless behavior, you still used them to your advantage. If (Name)’s too merciful for you, then I am going to dispose you myself,” he got a glimpse of their face of grimace, the Inazuman man sneered, “This world has no need for such an insect who could do nothing but bring suffering to my beloved, such as you,”
…
A chain of painful screeches could be heard for a few minutes in that desolate place.
…
The Wanderer’s now clad in red, feeling disgust having wretched creature’s liquid on his outfit. He sighed, “Well, at least it’s worth it,” he giggled, “Had to deal with the annoying nuisance anyway, sooner or later.”