Two between six (Diabolik Lovers X Reader)

Flashback (special)

I stood in the crowd, pretending to be just a fan. But I wasn't. It was my mother up on that stage, singing a duet romance song with a random stranger I had never met. Not my father. My father probably wasn't aware of this happening, and it was probably for the best. Because that man. I didn't know him, but mum did. It was her ex.

They were singing 'rewrite the stars'. A song too inappropriate for their situation but also way too appropriate. They broke up after the man's father found out. They were 16 and 17 when the breakup happened. Then my mum found dad, and they had me, but he must have never heard of this ex, because the expression on mum's face was that of relief, but also worry. Worry that dad would find out. Worry that she'd get separated from that man again. She didn't tell me, but I knew. Mum was cheating on dad.

The crowd joined in on the chorus, but their sync was so awful that I could only make out a few words.

"Why don't we... stars?
...the... be ours?"

I stopped trying to make sense of it. Instead, I studied the man. He was tall, his medium length blonde hair ruffled by the wind and his bright blue eyes shining as he held hands with my mother, singing. He was thin and muscular, I could assume that he was somewhere near 6'7.
Before I knew it, the concert was over. I snuck behind the scenes, since that's where my mother asked me to rejoin her.

She found me almost instantly, wrapping me in a bear hug. "Y/N... did you watch your mother perform?" My mother asked. I nodded.

"That was beautiful, mum. You have such a beautiful voice!" I praised her, although my compliments are rehearsed. I never saw how my mother's voice would ever be considered as 'beautiful'. It was like sustained talking. No beauty to it at all. But I couldn't tell her that. "It was so melodic." She smiled at my praise.

"Your voice is so beautiful as well. I bet that when you're older, you'll become a sin-" My money never finished her sentence. She broke off into a series of coughs, curling up into a ball on the ground. But she wasn't just coughing. She was coughing up blood.

"M/N!!!!" A voice screamed. The man she'd been performing with. He ran up to her side and pushed me away. "M/N, are you okay?! Honey, answer me!!" My mother only kept coughing, unable to form words. Time seemed to stop meaning things. One second the man was slapping me, cursing at me but I didn't hear. Another second, I was sitting in the hospital waiting room, a nurse shaking me.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked the nurse. She didn't sigh in exasperation. That shocked me. I would have sighed in exasperation.

"I said, your mother has severely damaged vocal cords." The nurse explained. She seemed to have infinite patience. "She must restrain any speaking, and absolutely cannot sing or her vocal cords will snap." I was stunned. I walked home a bit later.

(Timeskip - a few weeks)

I was at another concert of my mother's. She insisted on having one more, claiming that her lungs wouldn't burst from one song. They did.

She was singing 'I'm still standing', but her voice cracked. I noticed it first. I started pushing through the crowd, trying to get to her, to tell her to stop, to rest, but I didn't make it in time. My mother collapsed, heaving, blood pouring out her mouth. Most of the crowd jerked back in fear, but I kept going. I made it to the stage before I knew it, helping my mother up.

Then, nurses were there, prying my desperate hands off my mother and taking me to the hospital waiting room to wait for news on my mother.

The news came mere hours later. My mother was dead.

My heart broke. I didn't want to believe it, but I knew that I had to. I then swore to myself. I wouldn't become a singer. Ever. I'd keep my beautiful voice away from any sort of music.