Pushover | Aether x Reader

Twenty-One

Lumine Zeus certainly was eye candy. No matter where she went, she seemed to attract attention from both boys and girls.

As the blonde girl strolled through the hospital gardens, her golden eyes searched high and low for her beloved twin, unbeknownst to her all the miserable patients' days she had been making.

"Wahh, I wish I looked like that..."

"After I get out of here, I'll cut my hair to look like hers!"

"She's so pretty, I want to ask her out..."

And so on, so forth.

A part of her knew all these things people whispered about her and it definitely made her smile, but she had a task to which she was dedicated. She wondered why her twin had fled and hidden away from her before they could even have the chance to talk.

"Aether~ I know you're there. Why are you hiding?"

'I seriously thought he would be much more eager to see me. But here he is, hiding,' she thought to herself. 'Did something happen?'

Aether held his breath as Lumine passed by their hiding spot, only breathing once again once she was out of sight. After having spent ten minutes trying to hide from her parents, both his and (Y/n)'s energy was fully spent. To make matters worse, he had almost approached Lumine if it were not for him remembering one crucial detail.

"Sorry for asking, but why are we hiding from Lumine again?" (Y/n) sighed, scratching her cheek. "It's lunchtime and incredibly hot hiding behind this bush you know?"

She was right. At one in the afternoon, the sun shone especially bright and released rays of pure heat which could cause any living being to pass out on the spot.

"I just... Don't want her to see, you know—?" Aether bit his tongue, "—my wound."

"She came because you were admitted to the hospital." (Y/n) deadpanned. "I think she'd know you were hurt."

"No... It's just different." Aether shook his head, pulling his legs to his chest. "When she finds out I had gotten stabbed... She'd go crazy—"

"On you or on Zandik?"

"Both."

"Hm," (Y/n) said. "It sounds like a give-and-take situation to me. Why not?"

"Because she's absolutely scary when she goes crazy! And it just seems so pathetic to have her go all overprotective over me." He sniffed. "I haven't felt like a proper older brother in years."

"Well... At least you have the reassurance that she cares about you."

"True." He nodded. "But that makes it all worse. I feel like I'm not good enough for her. As the older brother, I should be the one protecting her. I should be the one she misses so much she cries herself to sleep every night—"

"For your information, I cry myself to sleep every night too."

Aether let out a terrified squeak, instinctively clinging onto (Y/n)'s arm as he looked in the direction of the voice and came face-to-face with Lumine, herself.

"Must be nice to have someone you can cry over," (Y/n) said bluntly. "Hello, Lumine." She gave her former co-vice president a wave.

"Hello, (Y/n), it's good to see you again." Lumine smiled as she held an arm out to them."I never expected to see you in such a state."

"I never expected to see myself in such a state either." (Y/n) shrugged. "You look especially magnificent today. Why's that?"

Lumine looked away and rubbed her arm sheepishly. "Must be the morning sun," she said. "Or it could also be the fact you're both in hospital gowns, all dirtied up, the complete opposite of me."