Aru Shah Oneshots

Hanahaki AU: Chapter 3

Hey guys! Happy Monday! Time for some more updates. Let me know if I should add something, or just general feedback.

Aru stared at Aiden who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and not making eye contact. She felt a tiny spark of hope ignite in her chest at his apology, but it quickly died down when she wondered if Kara had put him up to it.

Aru suspiciously eyed him and hugged her blanket closer to her chest.

"Sorry for...what? Exactly?" Aru inquired. Yeah, she knew what, but she wanted to make sure she hadn't gotten it wrong.

Aiden wrung his hands together, sighing before finally making eye contact with her. Aru felt herself get lost in his beautiful dark eyes, mysterious, with the extra touch of gold. His apsara side always caught her off guard, whether she liked it or not. She mentally shook herself, trying to keep her blush at bay.

"You know...my reaction towards you. Yesterday. I...I was just trying to protect Kara. She's been through a lot and..." Aiden trailed off and glanced at the door, a hint of red visible on his face. Aru narrowed her eyes at him and sat up properly on her bed. Aiden looked up again, his eyes a bit wide, as if Aru was about to hit him. Aru placed her hands on her hips.

"She's my sister! I, of all of you, would know better! I just want you to give me a proper explanation for what you said!" Aru demanded.

Aiden sucked in a breath. After a bit of shuffling, he got up and stood by her bedroom window, staring into the distance.

"When you came back after the Sleeper had kidnapped you with Kara, I couldn't really bring myself to talk to you. I was afraid-"

"Afraid of what?" Aru interrupted, feeling a bit annoyed. Hey, she wasn't the one to blame! Who goes and says sorry about something and then their grand excuse was that they were "afraid"?

Nope. Not happening.

Aiden sighed and moved towards the door, explanation seemingly forgotten. Aru raised her eyebrows at him.

"What? It's a completely relevant question!"

"Yeah, well, you know how your inside voice sometimes becomes your outside voice..."

"Huh? I mean, yeah sometimes, but what does that got- Oh."

Aiden smirked at her, leaning against the doorframe. Aru opened her mouth, shut it again, not quite deciding on what to say. Aiden just chuckled quietly and walked out of her bedroom.

"You still need to answer my question!" Aru yelled at the retreating figure. Aiden paused halfway down the stairs, then half-turned to look back on her.

"Well, you might wanna come downstairs then, Shah...maybe you'll be the one to answer questions."

Aru was sweating bullets. Under her family's scrutinizing gaze, she quickly ran list of possible and believable lies she could, uh, conveniently, spin. Maybe she ran into a rose bush at the park? No, too stupid. Or maybe...

"So," Brynne said, breaking Aru's train of thought. Brynne looked at her decisively, her eyes piercing through her. Aru gulped, but quickly passed it as a cough when Brynne's eyes narrowed.

Clearly, that was a mistake. Aru doubled over yet again, her chest heaving in pain, throwing up the bloodied rose petals all over the wooden floor. She heard an audible gasp rise from everyone and the stunned silence after left Aru panicking. What was could she do? She couldn't lie now, not after they witnessed that. She looked up to the others and tried to stand up, but a wave of dizziness knocked her down, but before she could hit the floor, a pair of strong arms grabbed her shoulders. She looked up to see Aiden's blurry face staring back at her. Her vision started blacking out yet again, only to hear a velvety voice reach out to her before she fell unconscious.

"I got 'chu. Aru."

Aru woke up to Mini and Brynne arguing heatedly over...hospital? And surgery? But as soon as Mini mentioned "hanahaki", her eyes fluttered open, and she sat up ramrod straight. She looked around, finding herself on the couch, on a whole mountain of pillows with tissues and plastic bags on the ground next to her. Their heads snapped her way and before they could put in a word, she was barrelled over by two other girls.

"AAAAHHHH! WhAt ThE hEcK?!" Aru yelped as she looked up to see her twin sister's faces. Sheela threw her arms around her neck once again and squeezed the life out of her. Aru weakly patted her back, before hesitantly hugging her back. Sheela slipped out of her grasp and Aru smiled at her. She glanced over at Nikita, her arms open and ready for another death-gripping hug.

"Aren't you gonna give me a hug?" Aru said, grinning and slightly wheezing from Sheela's embrace. Nikita pouted and stuck her nose in the air.

"And ruin this beauty?" Nikita gestured to her stunning white two-piece suit, embroidered with delicate silver flowers and stars. Aru rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile still present on her face. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Aiden, Rudy, Kara, and her mom had walked and were discussing something with Mini and Brynne, sneaking glances over to her. Aru's smile fell off her face a little, and she turned back to the twins, but they seemed occupied in their own little conversation, the occasional sliver of silver in Sheela's eyes. Feeling lonely, she tapped into the mind link and called out to her sisters.

Helloooo? Anyone home?

No answer.

Aru sighed, the reality of it all sinking in. As she decided to drown in her misery, she felt a tap on her arm. As she looked over her shoulder, she could see all of their eyes focused on her. Aru's eyes widened at their serious faces and she quickly peeked at Aiden, but his eyes only showed hurt and pain and he hurried to look away from her. She forced herself to look back at her mother. Her heart sank a little as Krithika let out a disappointed sigh. Or maybe she was frustrated? She couldn't tell for sure. Krithika looked up and matched Aru's gaze, her voice heavy with resignation.

"We need to talk."

AAAAHHHH! That was the longest chapter yet! What do you guys think will happen? 'Cause I honestly don't even know yet...

Anyways, holidays are coming up, people! Let's get ready to chill!

-tisha