Tangent | Soukoku; AU [✔]

39 ➳ hiding eyes // d.o

no matter how stoic a person seems to be, what i've learned from some book i've read in the past is that the eyes of a person can never lie. it shows a sea of truth that not even body language can compete with.

while the woman in front of me appears level-headed on the surface but dead beneath her person, i firmly believe that this is just some facade that she wanted people to see. i just know, somewhere deep inside her persona was a bunch of skeletons that she'd rather keep hidden in the closet.

i completely respect that; no woman is without her secrets, after all. however, at some point, the skeleton peeks from the closet, or the closet becomes so full that it could barely hide anymore bones. i just want to know about what happened during the game and that's it.

i gently held her from the chin to face back at me. her frizzy black bangs covers her eyes from my angle. curiosity got the best of me as i brushed some of her hair to the side, revealing her dark crimson eyes - more than of what i already know of them.

xyren's red orbs were that of bright hue, but it was full of grim; lifeless, hopeless, and everything that i could think of with 'less' at the end. it looked strained and devoid of light, but most importantly, something that i didn't expect to see from a person of her character.

tears.

it wasn't long enough that the woman retracted her face away from my hands, as expected of a challenger player with reflexes that's unpredictable for a normal person to follow. she took a deep breath, but nothing follows afterwards.

"oh, i'm sorry," i spoke, still trying to enlighten the mood as much as i can. "i just got curious, is all. i'm still willing to listen though."

i consider this interaction something that of a date, so i would rather not ruin the moment. i don't think i'll ever get this same chance again in the future.

our food came shortly after, and xyren has been quiet that entire time. the waitress placed the food on our table and bowed before leaving. i said my thanks, and a bit later, xyren spoke again.

"well, what did you think?" she said in a voice that i've never heard her speak before. it was hoarse and raspy, but still dead and monotonous.

"about what?"

"m-my eyes... you're the first person apart from myself who has seen it for all these years," and then i saw a stream of tears roll down her face. "i've been hiding them because, here, it's obvious that i have so much to carry. i don't want anyone seeing that."

i took a sip from my tea and gave it some thought; i did say i was going to listen to her, and i will.

"yes, you do," shoot! wait, i need to think of a come back real fast! "did anything happen in particular today?"

again, i received no immediate reply from her. i didn't force it anymore and i just let ourselves eat within the silence. later on, xyren returned my question as another question, which had finally caught me off-guard.

"what do you think of nakahara? not as your adc, but as a person in general?"

i almost choked on my tea. luckily, i gathered my composure as soon as i can, and i answered her query as honest as i could.

"i don't like him. that's it."