Remember Me ; Dabi x OC

0: Once Upon a Time

9 years ago...

The color of the sky perfectly matched the gloomy mood that consumed the small space of a sedan type car. Dark gray clouds loomed over the city, rain not quite making an appearance just yet, but from the smell lingering in the air, it was evident the showers were not far out. Lightning could be seen out in the distance, thunder booming over the sky every so often.

A young girl sat in the backseat, her boney knees pressed firmly against her chest while her nose was shoved deep into a book. Each word entranced her bit by bit, sweeping her away into a blissful fantasy of the world that could be, sweet dreams of an escape filling her mind. A beautifully scripted distraction from reality.

The girl's mother sat in the passenger seat while her father was in the driver's seat, both of his hands gripped firmly around the steering wheel as they made their way down the deserted street to their destination. It wasn't until the car came to a complete stop that the girl peeled her pale purple eyes from the pages to look out of the window beside her.

A large house came into view, a house that made the girl feel waves of dread crash over her, eyes now rolling back into her skull in annoyance. The act didn't go unnoticed by her father in the front seat.

"C'mon, Valen. We won't be here for long," His kind voice tried to reason, but his incredibly stubborn daughter wanted nothing to do with it.

Valen let a scoff leave her lips unapologetically. "That's what you always say," She muttered with a hostile tone, barely going unnoticed by her parents.

The woman sat in front of her let out a deep, tired sigh, having no issues in making her frustrations with her daughter eminently clear. "Just get out of the car, Valen. We don't have time for this today."

This time, Valen kept her crude comments to herself, but that didn't stop her from mentally cursing at both of her parents for being so dense. They never have time for her antics, something her mother never fails to remind her of. Folding the corner of her page down, she marked her place in the book and closed it, holding it firmly in her hand as she got out of the car.

Following begrudgingly behind both of her parents, Valen kept her eyes planted to the ground, the long locks of her hair falling in curtains around her face and onto her shoulders. Even when she heard the firm knock of her father's knuckles against the door, she didn't dare look up for a moment.

Eventually, they were greeted at the door by the wife of the house, her white hair beautifully tossed upon her head, a soft smile on her face as she continued her kindness through to her words.

"Welcome back," she started, nodding to both of them as she said their names, "Kylo, Lyric. Nice to see you again."

"Hello Rei, how have you been?" Lyric responded in a way that made her daughter scowl at the ground, her voice heavy with fake friendliness.

Rei shifted back and forth on her feet, giving Valen a clear view of the woman's actual state of mind. The girl saw right through her before she even opened her mouth. "I've been well, thank you. I hope the same goes for you." There was still a smile on the white haired woman's face when Valen finally tore her eyes from the ground to prove her thoughts correctly.

This woman was anything but okay.

This only deepened Valen's impending frustration with people always putting up a front for the sake of appearing pristine in people's presence. She loathed the lack of shame in being nothing more than a hollow shell of a person just to uphold some image that everyone thought so highly of themselves to have. What truly determined if someone was worthy of having one and who's decision was that to make?