ᴛʜᴇ ᴜᴍʙʀᴇʟʟᴀ ᴀᴄᴀᴅᴇᴍʏ

ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏʀᴅ ᴏF ᴛʜᴇ FʟɪᴇS (ʙᴇɴ)

(This is an AU where Reginald doesn't exist but instead the kids were adopted by Grace and Pogo. Ben didn't die, The Umbrella Academy is super close, and everyone is happy :) This is my first time writing a third-person narrative so sorry if it kinda sucks. Also, gender-neutral pronouns and consent because Y E S)

Ben started at Y/N, his eyes locked on their hunched figure.

"Ben." Klaus whisper-yelled in his ear. The teen jumped, nearly falling over.

"Jesus Klaus." Ben sighed while re-positioning himself in the chair. Five sent them both estranged looks. The Umbrella Academy was at their favourite coffee shop, and Ben had his eyes set on a beautiful person.

That person was Y/N. They were applying for an English scholarship and had to write 10 chapters of an original story. Currently, they were attempting to connect the plot points of said story. Key-word is attempted. They smacked their head against the table with a loud groan. Vanya glanced over and saw Y/N's notebook full of scribbles.

"Whatcha looking at Benny Boy?"

"Nothing..." Ben grumbled while taking a bite out of his apple fritter. The reason he was so interested in Y/N was that they had his favourite book on their table: The Lord of the Flies.

Y/N got into the book because they read it for a class project. They ended up really liking it and got into other books too. That's what started their writing obsession. That's why they were so devoted to creating the perfect story and getting this scholarship.

It didn't help that they could feel someone watching them creepily.

As Y/N turned to see who it was, Ben hid his face in his hoodie. They examined the Umbrella Academy but eventually turned away. Diego noticed why Ben was acting so strangely and laughed.

When Y/N got up, so did Diego. They were going to put their coffee cup away when they accidentally rammed into Diego. He did that on purpose, of course, to mess with Ben.

Y/N let out a yell of surprise and immediately started muttering apologies.

The cup slipped out of their hands, but Diego caught it before it hit the floor. Diego's chest was covered in drops of coffee. They were what was left of Y/N's drink.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry!" Y/N told Diego while taking the cup from his hands.

"No worries," Diego smirked as he walked back to his family.

Ben sent his brother a nasty glare. "What was that?!" He whisper-yelled.

"What was what?" Diego asked nonchalantly. Ben angrily motioned to Y/N, who was setting their empty cup down at a counter.

"I'll have an apple fritter, please." They smiled warmly at the cashier.

"Why do you care about them?" Five questioned, raising an eyebrow at Ben.

"I just..." Ben sighed, exasperated with his family. Allison laughed at her sibling. She could tell he had a bit of a crush on Y/N.

"You should go talk to them." Allison encouraged Ben.

"They have your favourite book," Vanya mentioned. Ben shushed his family as Y/N sat back down.

They took a bite from her dessert an examined the sheet. Their story was going nowhere. Y/N considered scrapping it but soon realized that doing that would result in a lot of wasted time. They would have to come up with a brand new concept. Their current one involved a dull murder mystery, but she wanted to put a unique spin on it.

Placing their apple fritter back on its plate, they were struck with an idea.

The person feverishly scrawled down their plan. It was a genius story, a murder mystery in the 20s. A time-traveller who wasn't supposed to be in that decade was on the run from a world-renowned detective.