Broken Strings (Len x reader)

Chapter 16

(Y/n)'s POV

~At home~

"What happened? You look pale," exclaimed Haku-nii.
"Nothing, I'm just tired."
"(Y/n), what happened?"
"Nothing."
"What's wrong?-"
"Why do you want to know?! I don't have to tell you everything!"
"Tch, geez."
"...I'm sorry."

I rushed to my room and shut the door. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't exactly talk to my brother about this and there was no guarantee that the people at school wouldn't tell their parents and/or the police.

*sigh* I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes. Was I supposed to help Michiko get back with Haku-nii or not? Both choices weren't exactly good so I wasn't sure. Michiko was definitely going to hurt my brother again but I couldn't let word get out that he dealt with drugs.

Ugh, why was life so hard?! Just when I thought it was starting to get better, something comes along and ruins it. Geez, what did Michiko and Hino have against me so much?

The sound of the thunder followed by the rain hitting the window startled me from my thinking. I looked outside at the pouring rain. It somehow made me calm down a little. This may sound evil but I really hope Hino and Michiko were soaked and caught a cold.

Len: Are you okay?

Me: Why wouldn't I be?

Len: I overheard your conversation with Michiko

Me: And?

Len: Well, I would like to help

Me: What could you possibly help me with?

Len: Come over

Me: In this storm?

Len: I can't exactly go pick you up. You never told me your address

Me: Fine, I'll go over

Len: Why can't you tell me your address?

Me: Because

Len: Don't worry, I heard everything from Shimizu

Me: Eh?! Why did he tell you?!

Len: That doesn't matter right now

Me: ugh, I'll send you the address

Len: Finally

Geez, since when did Keii tell him everything? But why did he tell Len? I was still a little reluctant about him finding out about my family but now it couldn't be helped.

I stuffed all my things into a random bag and headed to the front door to wait for Len. The rain was only getting worse as time went by. It showed no signs of stopping.

"Oi, where the hell are you going?" dad asked.
"Somewhere."
"Who says you can go out?!"
"I don't need your permission."
"Don't talk back to me, you ungrateful kid! You're not going anywhere!"
"Dad, just let me-"
"Shut up! Where's dinner?"
"I haven't made any. If you want some, go buy-"

He raised his hand and slapped me. I held my cheek as I looked at him in fear. This man...no longer looked like the father I once knew. The insanity in his eyes was frightening.

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for him to shout or do something...but nothing happened. Why couldn't I sense anything? I couldn't sense any danger...

"(Y/n), go. He's waiting outside," said Haku-nii.

I opened my eyes to find dad unconscious. Haku-nii was standing behind him with a frown. Wait, did he just knock out dad? Eh?!

"Hurry up. This won't be a problem. He always abuses us so I don't see the problem with me hitting him lightly in the head."

I got up and hesitantly left through the front door. Len was waiting inside the car. I quickly got in and closed the door before any rain could get inside.

The chauffeur started the car. Len was looking at me with a worried expression. He was staring at my cheek, which I was still rubbing. It still stung.

"What?"
"Did...something happen?" he asked.
"No, nothing."
"You do know that there's a red mark on your cheek, right?"
"S-so what?"
"*sigh* Whatever, I won't ask anymore."

I was grateful that he dropped the subject. Even if our friendship was starting to mend itself, there were still a few strings that had not exactly connected. I wasn't ready to tell him everything just yet.

~Some time later~

"Wait, so you're saying you called Keii here as well?!"
"I thought it wouldn't be a problem. He seems to know more about you than me."
"But I don't want to drag other people into my own problem."
"(Y/n), we're friends, aren't we? And friends are supposed to help each other," exclaimed Keii.
"I guess you're right but-"
"Let's get started," Len said, interrupting me.

I simply pouted and sighed. There was no way to convince these two not to help. Keii had started to explain some things to Len, conveniently leaving out the things that had hurt me the most.

He met my eyes and gave me a small smile. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Did he seem reluctant about the whole drug thing?" asked Len.
"Yeah, he seemed really worried about something when he told me about it."
"Wouldn't it be possible that someone forced him to handle drugs?"
"...that does seem likely but who would do that?"
"Does your brother make a lot of 'enemies'?"

Keii and I looked at each other before laughing. Len simply looked at us in confusion. Seriously though, how could he not tell?

"Yes, there are a lot of people that hate him because of his tough personality. He's been like that for as long as I can remember, right Keii?"
"Yeah, it's surprising none of those people have reported him to the police."
"Are you serious?" Len asked, still a little surprised.
"Yeah."

I didn't know what was going through his mind right at that moment but he seemed rather serious. It felt like we were shooting some action/mystery movie.

But what could a couple of high school students do? We lacked in a lot of things and there was almost nothing we could do.

"What do you know about Michiko Ai?" asked Len.