Dancing in a Cage (Mafia!Brothers and Sister!Reader)

Chapter 13

The grip that Atsushi had on my lower thigh throughout the performance had grown painful as the conductor and orchestra finished the last piece, keeping me in place as the audience stood to congratulate them while clapping loudly. I clapped from my seat, trying to ignore the unsettling mood of the man next to me. My view of the orchestra was cut off by the people standing in front of me, but the rise in noise level told me that the conductor was being handed bouquets of flowers and took another bow. I was hoping to enjoy the whole performance without interruption, but Atsushi had other plans and kept his hand on me at all times, as if he was threatened by my brothers sitting five seats down from us.

When the crowd finally began to move about -- some mingling with their neighbors and others making their way towards the exits -- Atsushi swiftly moved his hand from my thigh to my left hand, dragging me up as he began to leave. I didn't have time to give my brothers a backward glance as Atsushi pulled me deeper into the crowd and towards one of the further doors, making his way towards the upstairs ballroom by way of a staircase that seemed to be the farthest from the destination.

"Atsushi, what is going on?" I caught myself before I could stumble on the stairway, holding tight to the handrail and completely stopping Atsushi in his tracks.

"Nothing for you to worry about. Keep moving," He tried to drag me up, but I dug my kitten heels into the stair carpet and used the handrail as leverage.

"No! I'm not moving until you tell me what the hell this is all about. I was looking forward to the performance, but you made that really hard for me to enjoy," I glared at him through the mask, "Are my brothers that much of a threat to you?"

Atsushi wheeled around so quickly that I saw his hand milliseconds before I felt it collide with my left cheek, the force behind the blow staggering me sideways into the handrail and knocking the cat mask off completely. I didn't let go of the handrail, despite the awkward posture I was thrown into made it uncomfortable to stand. The sting from the slap swelled into a throb, and I fought back tears as I looked back up at him.

"You are my wife, and you will obey what I tell you to do," He leaned in close while pulling on my left hand, dragging me closer to him, "You don't want your family to suffer, do you?"

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe what this monster was implying, his behavior forming a theory in my head.

"You thought I was just a wallflower -- someone that looked pretty and remained silent when told to," I focused a furious glare into his eyes, "You didn't want me as a wife because of who I was -- you just wanted someone that would just do what she was told!"

My emotions ran hot as I saw his eyes narrow and I let go of the railing, bringing my clenched right hand into his cheek. I knew I didn't have enough strength to hit him hard enough but I managed to pull my left hand out of his grip, picking up my discarded mask from the floor and running back down towards the theater while putting the mask on. The throbbing in my cheek grew as I ran until I slammed into someone, and I looked up to see a pair of dark eyes glancing down at me through a frowning mask.

"I-I'm sorry! I didn't pay attention to where I was going," I took a step away while glancing behind me to see Atsushi slowly making his way over through the crowd.

"It's all right, (y/n). What's going on?" I heard Choromatsu's voice coming through the mask.

"Choro?!" I grabbed his hand with both of mine and started to walk with him, following the flow of the crowd, "Sorry, but I stood up for myself and...punched Atsushi."

"You...did what?" He almost seemed to scoff, barely glancing over his shoulder before pulling out a phone from a pocket.

"I punched him. I couldn't take it anymore," I let Choromatsu take me by the hand and lead me up the busy staircase, barely noticing that he picked a stride that I could keep up with, "I probably ruined things for you guys, but I had to stand up for myself."

"What made you punch him?" He spoke softly, despite his body language being tense and defensive.

"I...uh, I asked him if you all were a threat to him, and he slapped me," I felt his fingers weave between mine and give a gentle squeeze, "After that, he dangled your safety in front of me and I...told him that if he wanted an obedient wife, he chose the wrong person. I hit him after that and ran off."

"You're our little sister, all right. A Matsuno, through and through," Choromatsu chuckled as we walked through the large open double doors, exposing a large ballroom that was full of people that had left the auditorium early.

I saw the other four technicolor suits standing in the ballroom near one of the food tables, with Jyushimatsu gobbling up various samples of what looked like meats and cheeses. Before I could say anything, Choromatsu led me to Ichimatsu, his face hidden behind a more detailed and pronounced cat mask.

"Look after her. (Y/n) may be hurt," I barely heard him mutter into Ichimatsu's ear. The only response was a nod before the purple-suited brother brought my arm under his and led me away from the growing noise of the ballroom, towards one of the many small powder rooms that was meant for women to freshen up their makeup. He closed and locked the door behind him after ushering me in first, producing a small first aid kit from his suit jacket and taking off his mask.

"Where are you hurt?" He asked as he pulled up two stools to face each other.

"Umm...my hand, and--" I slowly took my own mask off to reveal my face, "My left cheek."

The pause in his movements was brief before he opened the kit to take out some antibacterial cream and a few large square band-aids.

"Atsushi hit you."

"...yeah. We had...a small fight before I ran off," I lightly pressed against both of my cheeks and could feel the swelling.

"Hah, I can tell. Did he use an open hand?" He opened a small square pouch and rubbed an alcohol pad over my cheek, letting it dry before applying a little bit of cream.

"Yeah, but I gave him a closed fist in return," I glanced down and noticed that my knuckles were a little torn up, despite there not being any bleeding. I must've hit some part of the ivy mask.

"Good," He applied two of the bandaids before touching his forehead to mine, "I'm glad to see that Atsushi hasn't broken you of your spirit."

I closed my eyes and hummed a little, "It'll take more than what he's done to ruin me forever."