Private Lessons - Tahno x Reader

Chapter 9

"Stop it! Leave me alone, or else!"  He flinched as the kid tugged at his hair, his nails scratching the skin on his head and creating red lines. Tahno could feel his skin heat up under the pressure of the kid's nails, and with desperate hands he tried to push him away.

He finally led go, but his actions were celebrated with roaring laughter. There was no one who stood up for him, and he couldn't stand up for himself. They were benders, and even if he was too, not even close to their level. They were fully educated by their parents, and praised and loved for their abilities. Tahno practiced, day and night, hours without food or sleep only to hear his father say he improved a little, which was followed by an insult usually.

"Or else what? You'll splash us with a bit of water?" Again, there was laughter. Tahno narrowed his eyes at the guy, stepped forward and gave him a hard push. The kid hadn't been paying close attention, too busy with mocking his bending skills instead of seeing the push coming. He fell back onto the ground with a thud, clearly not hurt. But Tahno had immediately regretted his actions, because before he knew it, there was a wave of heat shot in his direction. 

The flames licked at the side of his arm, and his hand instinctively shot to cover the hurt area, only to be burned by the flames as well. He fell to his knees, tears staining his cheeks as he inspected the burned skin. It hurt, and there were blisters forming onto his skin, both on the palm of his hand and on the side of his arm.

"Don't ever try to do that again. Next time I'll burn your face off." The kid, Kaito, snapped in his direction. The group of friends supporting him just stared at Tahno, eyes filled with empathy, but also fear towards their sadistic natured ally. 

Tahno nodded down at the ground, relieved to hear the sound of footsteps fading. They had finally left him. Alone at the front of the school to suffer from his wounds. Tahno had gotten used to the pain, but never at this level. He had been kicked, hit, stabbed with a pen, but never actually been burned by their bending. And that while he only tried to defend himself.

He managed to cool the damaged skin by bending some water from the little fountain at the side of his school. On his way there he walked into his homeroom teacher. He gave him a disappointed look, telling him he'd call his father and tell him he'd been fighting again.  A shrug came in response, and Tahno ignored him while he continued his way towards the fountain.

He skipped his classes, because what's worse than getting hurt and embarrassing yourself even more by walking around in school with the wounds? He was a hundred percent sure his father or mother had already been contacted, and even though he wished with all his heart that only his mother knew, as he returned him, his father was already standing by the front door waiting for him.

The next morning he woke up in the basement. His wrists were bruised, and the cut under his eye was treated, but continued to sting. He remembered his mother holding him close, whispering sorry before dabbing the wound clean. She told him that his father loved him, and that even behind his insults there was a father who was proud of him.

Tahno  knew that was bullshit.

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"How did the bending tournament go?" 

Tahno looked up from his plate, meeting the eyes of his father. They were dull and contained no sign of disgust or disappointment. He was seated on the opposite side of the table, a fair distance between prodigy and heir. His mother, belly rounded and swollen, looked over as well, a small smirk displayed on her beautiful face.

"We won. This is the 4th time in a row we won the finale." Tahno answered, averting his gaze back down and poking his fork at a piece of chicken on his plate. He used to love the smile his father gave him whenever he spoke about the bending tournaments, but his past had been affecting his views of his father lately. So even when he told Tahno he was proud, that he was happy to call him his son, Tahno wanted to smack that smile off his face.

"Thank you, father."