One time when I was younger, a robber broke into my house.

At least that's what Akki and Kousuke tried to convince me, but I knew otherwise.

Looking back on it, it was rather strange. It wasn't a typical robbery. First of all, nothing was stolen. The house wasn't damaged in any way, and the 'robber' didn't touch a single thing. You would think that if a 'robber' broke in, they would be looking for something, and the house would look ransacked, but that wasn't the case. Nothing was out of place.

Second of all, Akki and Kousuke were very weird about it. When they caught the 'robber', they made them a chocolate milkshake and fed them macaroons. At first, I thought it was someone they knew because you wouldn't just serve a random person that broke into your house, right?

But it wasn't, because after this person left, they 'snapped out of it'. Kousuke immediately tried to run after them, and Akki called Izaya over. I knew something was wrong because the entire time they were feeding this weirdo, they didn't notice me sat on the top stair, just watching and listening.

Kousuke always noticed these things, Akki not so much.

Even Izaya couldn't find them using his Clairvoyance quirk, and that was a big deal. After that, he stayed with me for the rest of the night. Akki and Kousuke didn't return until a week later.

They were frustrated because this 'robber' left behind clues on purpose, but not enough to get caught, as if they were taunting them and showing them just how powerless they are.

Well, actually, Akki didn't mind so much, he was actually really excited about the whole thing. He kept on going on and on about how he wants to meet this person again. You should've seen the way his eyes sparkled when he realised he couldn't remember the conversation they had or even anything about this mystery person.

Kousuke was angry. No, it was as if he was offended. It was as if he felt like he had to prove his strength by finding this person and dealing with them. He was angry about it for weeks. I think if I brought it up now, he would still be holding a grudge. The only thing I remember him figuring out was something about black and red hair.

He burst into the house and started screaming about all the different quirks he had researched. Maybe he was drunk, or perhaps he reached a new level of insanity, or he was possibly trying to convince himself he wasn't worthless. Either way, little me was happy he was stressing over it. I didn't like to be left out.

I think Izaya was secretly frustrated too. He was disappointed that Akki was taking the situation so lightly.

I was just confused.

Whenever I tried to ask about what happened, they would always tell me the same fabricated lie. A robber broke in but didn't have time to take anything before getting caught. Akki fed them because he felt sorry for them.

I would try and tell them that they're clearly lying because I saw the whole thing and they weren't the best and keeping it a secret, but they would say I was just tired and saw wrong.

Years later, the same thing was happening again. Except for this time, I was wide awake, there was no trickster-voodoo crap going on, and this intruder was hostile.

Kousuke immediately knew something was up. We had just left school, and he said the 'air was different'. I thought he was crazy, but, somehow, he was right.

He slowly opened the door, and his skin began to crackle. Carbon slowly snaked up his arm and covered his entire body. I sucked in a deep breath and followed him inside.

He shook his head and pointed back outside.

I shook my head and made a cross with my fingers.

He just stared at me and gave up, letting me follow him into the house.

There were no physical signs that someone had broken in, but you could just feel it in the air. An unwanted presence was lurking in the shadows, waiting for us to let out guard down and strike. It was hard to explain how we knew, I guess it was just instinct. So that's what we did.

I threw my bag on the couch and plopped down, exhausted, "Can I just take a nap here?"

"Come on now," Kousuke went over to the fridge and started taking food out, "You have your training today, you can't be slacking off now."

"But, Kousuke, you're busy making food, right? You have your hands full, we can do this training thing another time."

"Who said I was making the food?"

I glared at him, and he winked at me, at least I think he did. I started to retie my hair, making sure all my hair was out of my face. I knew what he was trying to do, but I still didn't like it, "Fine, fine, fine. We're both tired today so we can do it together. By the way, why do you have your quirk activated?"

"Ah," He smiled, realising what I was trying to do. At least I think he smiled, I really can't tell, "It's surprisingly heavy when I do the full-body like this, so I'm trying to get used to it."

"So, if I pull a sneak attack..." I harmlessly jabbed his side, and he faked being hurt even though I knew he didn't feel a thing. If anything, it stung my finger.

"Hey, now," He nudged my shoulder, "Don't get distracted now, you never know what'll happen."

Quicker than I saw coming, he picked up a knife and whipped around, blocking an incoming attack. Reflexively, I jumped out the way, hating the idea of being a burden on him. My heart was beating very loudly, and a sickening feeling came over me as I realised something.

I was excited.

This was exciting.

There was something about a battle or being in danger, or maybe it was the adrenaline rush that gets me excited. I don't know what it was, but at the moment, I wanted to sink my claws in his shoulders and prove myself. But why?

Sure, frightening felt great. It was fun to go all out and have the adrenaline rush through your body. It felt like you could do anything.

But I didn't want to just fight. I wanted to see this person bleed. I wanted to really beat the crap out of them for no reason.

Naturally, I didn't.

It was over pretty quickly. Kousuke dislocated their shoulder, probably cracked a few ribs and knocked them out almost instantly. He sat on top of their back and took out his phone and made a quick phone call.

I inched closer, wanting to take a closer look at this mystery person, for obvious reasons. Before I could get close enough, Kousuke swatted my hand away, "What do you think you're doing?"

I stared at him, "A stranger just broke into our house and tried to attack us! I think I deserve to know a little more."

"No, you don't."

I couldn't believe him, "Yes, I do."

He stared back at me, a look of irritation on his face, "Ryuuko. This isn't something to take lightly. You can't just poke around where you see fit. This is serious. Just go and sit down, I'll take care of this. You're still a student, so you shouldn't be worrying about..."

As he was talking, something caught my eye. Quicker than Kousuke saw coming, I grabbed the material of the clothing around the neck, and pulled, exposing the nape.

I didn't care who this person was.

I didn't care why they broke in or tried to attack us.

I didn't care where they came from.

I didn't care how they got in, or what they wanted.

All I cared about was the tattoo of a black star. It wasn't too flashy, or big, or eye-catching, but it clearly got the message across. It was in the space between the shoulder and the neck. Just as quick as I saw it, Kousuke covered it up.

I always think back to this moment, and I don't know how I felt.

It was the one thing I trusted them with. The one thing I thought we were all in together, was the find out the mystery behind my amnesia. There wasn't a single shred of doubt in my mind that I would be betrayed, and I didn't think anything would be hidden from me, because we're all in the dark together, right?

Kousuke trying to cover the tattoo proved all my suspicious to be correct, and I was shattered.

Maybe Kousuke was saying something, and perhaps he wasn't.

I was glad I didn't tell anybody about the dream I had.

If Kousuke was being like this, was it the same with everyone else? Of course, it was. Because in their eyes, I'm always going to be that frail, weak, seven-year-old that needs protecting from the realities of the harsh, cruel world.

I'm going to find out myself. I'm going to find out everything that's being hidden from me.

I started heading upstairs, strangely levelheaded, when Kousuke called out to me, worry evident in his voice, "W-Wait! Are you hungry? I can make the food today!"

"No need. I'm going to be studying, we have a test coming up soon."

"If you need anything-"

I slammed my door shut before he would finish his sentence, not wanting to hear another word out of this mouth. I couldn't trust anything he said anymore. I didn't know how many lies he has told me with a smile on his face.

Kousuke. My sincere, reliable, dependable Kousuke.

Silently, I began to change my clothes. I wasn't really thinking about anything, which is very unlike me because I'm usually always thinking about something. I was surprisingly very, calm.

I changed out of my clothes. Instead, wearing an oversized hoodie and leggings. I traced my newest notebook, wondering how many doodles I had drawn over the years. Wondering how many times Kousuke, or Akki, or whoever saw me colour them, and kept silent. Wondering if all those years, those useless drawing meant something, as if it was some kind of clue.

I don't know how long I just sat there, but a knock on my door snapped me out of it.

"I'll just leave your food here."

"Yeah, thanks."

I shook my head and tried to think in another way. This was a good thing, right? I finally have a clue. I don't know what it meant, or where to go with this, but it was a start. The only difference is I was doing this alone.

I ate the food he made, plain chicken and a salad.

As soon as I was done eating, I positioned my blanket and pillows to make it look like I was sleeping.

I hopped out of the window as quietly as possible.

~~~

It was hard to believe there was a break-in.

The neighbourhood was as peaceful as always, at least that's how it looked on the outside. What a facade, just like everything else. There was hardly anybody outside. It was just me, and a few other people here and there, otherwise, it was empty. Just how I liked it.

Just how the world used to be through my eyes.

Is that why everyone treats me like this?

I sat down on a bench and then went to lie on my back, to stare at the sky, waiting for time to pass.

Waiting for something to change.

~~~

I'm beginning to realise how slow paced the story is rn but I pinky promise it's gonna speed up and you'll blink and his 2937 things AJSHSJAJSJS

I hope you all have an idea about her character I'm worried she's really inconsistent and everywhere reassure me plz thank you

I love you

Now say it back 🙈