丅ᕼᑌǤ ᒪIᖴᗴ 【toĸyo reveɴɢerѕ х feм!reαder】

13

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Ｒｉｓｅ　ｕｐ
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You had always been happy, even as a kid.

Pearly whites displayed with pride, eyes crinkling with mirth, and a wide crescent shape pasted on a [s/t] countenance. You've always been the typical class clown, specialized in lifting the class' mood.

Despite being such an open book, nobody could seem to figure out why you're always smiling.

Some thought you were just an outgoing, lively kid as a product of a harmonious, loving household.

Others were unnerved by the permanent smile carved on your face and thought you were just pretending to be friendly.

A handful few were convinced that you were acting in some sort of a toothpaste commercial, and you were just practicing your smile.

But those arbitrary speculations never bothered you. You were content with the way things were.

Everyone smiles just from seeing your smile. Everyone laughs just from hearing your laugh.

It was such a perfect disguise.

Kids are gullible and naive. When they see you, they won't think twice about what truly happened to you and will assume everything's alright.

Even when you show up with fresh bruises, all you have to do was say that you fell, crack a joke and laugh, and the kids will believe it right away.

The adults, however, were harder to fool. But fortunately for you, despite being perceptive and possessing the ability to take legal actions, adults don't give a shit. They know exactly the situation you were in, but they never bothered interfering. Just leave her be, they would whisper. It isn't our business, they would clarify.

You knew your attempt at keeping your home life a secret was crappy, but what could you do? You were just a kid. You weren't a genius – formulating a well-crafted lie that could deceive even adults was not something you could do. And so, you did the only thing you're good at.

Smiling.

Keep smiling. Let them think you're happy.

Even when your body hurts, or when you feel like bursting into tears, don't ever let your smile falter.

If it does, they might see through your disguise.

No matter what, your home life should be kept hidden. It doesn't matter how long; if you don't want your family to fall apart and see your mom sad, you should stay resilient and keep smiling.

But really, should you be doing all of this in the first place?

Sometimes, you wondered where you went wrong. What did you do to deserve your dad's hatred?

You would sacrifice your favorite toys, shoes and clothing if it means winning your dad's love and affection.

And yet, regardless of what you do, it doesn't make a difference. Your dad just hates you so much, and you don't even know why.

You'd create handicrafts just for him, study rigorously to get good grades, fixed all your bad manners just to gain even a sliver of his approval. You'd go above and beyond just to see your dad's lips curve up with pure love the same way your mom does to you.

But one day, you realized the day that your dad starts giving you the love you yearned for will be the day hell freezes over. And you're certain that hell would freeze over sooner than your dad having a change of heart.