THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
fraught || five hargreeves x reader

CHAPTER TWELVE: WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS OF MADNESS

Written By: peachyhxlland

°•.☆.•°

Someone you just had a fight with like a few days ago was standing there when the door abruptly opened. Your surprised eyes expanded as the British woman glared at Five. "Hey, are we doing this or not, you little twat?" Lila asked impatiently until she landed her eyes on you and Five. "Oh, wow." She muttered.

Although Five was still lying on top of you, his hands were now wrapping your wrists over your head. Let me explain to you what happened before Lila entered the room abrasively. You and Five ended up tickling each other after making out since you noticed he was ticklish on his side. You had to be restrained by Five in order for you to stop.

"Hi, crazy lady." You greeted back with a smile. "This is not what it looks like."

"I don't even want to know what happened," Lila replied while Five moved away in order for you to sit up. "I hope you're not holding a grudge against me, pretty." Lila winked at you. "Especially after we fought back in the '60s."

"I mean, who wouldn't be angry when you found out this little shit killed your parents, right?" You asked her without batting an eye at Five.

As he was fixing his necktie, Five shot you a quick glare. "I heard that." He hissed.

"Oh, thank God you agree," Lila replied. "And I'm amazed that you can put up with his grouchy little arse."

"Well, that's what you get for spending so much time with him growing up."

When Five went to pick up his black blazer that was lying on the ground, he gave you and Lila a stern look. "You two ladies are aware that I am hearing you two talk trash about me from where I am standing, right?"

You playfully shrugged while Lila snickered. "Oh, you were there? Sorry. Couldn't really see you." Lila teased.

Five huffed at Lila before planting a long kiss on top of your head. "I'll be right back, I promise." Five whispered before giving you a hearty kiss on the top of your head. Lila cracked a sincere smile before chuckling. "This man is a softie for you, (Y/n)."

You chuckled. "I know. I'm his kryptonite." You joked, earning a playful roll of eyes from Five. You instantly called his name, stopping him in his tracks. "And Five?" Just as he was about to open the door, Five whirled around to face you. Using your hands, you formed a heart. "I like your suit. It really suits you." You winked.

In response, Five grinned, and Lila sniggered. "Thanks, (Y/n)." He replied and then closed the door. Five was nudged to the side by Lila. "That little lady will be the death of you."

"Yep." Five exhaled.

You let out a sigh and returned to your bed. You remembered what Luther had said to you the night before as you stared at the ceiling.

"One of the Sparrows said to meet her tomorrow morning at the park."

When you turned to gaze out the window, you could see the buildings displaying posters for Sparrow Academy. On one of the posters, Jeanie was seen standing next to Christopher.

'What the hell do you want from me, Jeanie?'

°•○●○•°

As you waited for Jeanie to arrive, you took a leisurely stroll around the park. You were wearing your grandfather's baseball cap and a red jacket that you had discovered in his box. In case Jeanie was somewhere nearby, you searched the area. You felt a child slightly bump against you as you were looking around the park. "Sorry!" The little kid quickly apologized.

Before you could even inform the kid that it was okay, you saw the child running away from you to embrace an old man—their grandfather. You stood motionless as you saw the child interacting with their grandfather.

"Did you apologize to her?" You heard the grandfather ask.

"Yep!" You heard the kid exclaim with a huge smile on their face.

"Good, good!" The grandfather praised. "You want ice cream?"

"Uh-huh!"

You watched as the grandfather and his grandson strolled off to go up to the nearby ice cream truck. Even though you were attempting to stop yourself from crying, you swallowed deeply despite your throat burning. After the two had left, you were practically surrounded by elderly individuals who were either alone or with company. You occasionally see mothers walking around with their kids.

As you took a step back, you began to breathe heavily, not realizing the dark red veins that were gradually growing around your palms. As the folks around you continued to call their parents or grandparents, your ears began to ring.

"Grandpa!"

"Grammy!"

"Lolo! Lola!"

"Look, grandfather!"

"Meemaw, did you see what I did?"

"Mommy, come with me!"

"Papa!"

"You got yourself a makeover?" You gasped sharply, then swiftly spun around to see Nico standing next to you. "What...?" You asked breathlessly before blinking your eyes to see if Nico was actually there.

Nico vanished and you saw Jeanie walking towards you with a lollipop in her mouth. "I said that you got yourself a makeover. I see you have red highlights in your hair now and have ditched your adorable uniform."

You got your hair trimmed a bit and before leaving, Klaus insisted on tying your hair. You were originally gonna ask Allison to do it for you but Klaus wanted to do it by himself.

When Jeanie noticed your frazzled posture and fearful expression, her eyes narrowed. "Chill, dude. I'm not gonna hurt you, I just wanna talk."

"What's with the cube then?"

Christopher was entertaining some kids behind Jeanie when she turned her head to look at him. "Oh! Chris?" Jeanie chuckled and looked back at you. "He's just keeping me company. He's not going to listen to us, don't worry." Jeanie raised an eyebrow when she saw that you were still a little shaky. "Um, hello?"

After clearing your throat, you shook your head and turned your head away. "I-I... sorry. I'm... tired, I think."

"You're unsure if you're tired or not?"

"Look, Jeanie, it's really nice to see you again, but what do you want?"

"Okay, do you got a busy schedule or something? Sounds like you're in a hurry." After chuckling, Jeanie took a moment to take a big breath and straighten her posture. "See, I wanna know exactly why you know me."

You sighed. "I told you already, you were my roommate."

"Which is impossible because I never met a kid like you."

"Well, we know each other in the original timeline."

Unconvinced by your words, Jeanie crossed her arms and held her head high as she gazed down at you. "Fine. If you know me, then when's my birthday?"

"September 30, 1989."

Jeanie furrowed her brows just a little. "Wrong. It's October 1st, 1989."

You shook your head. "Nope. It's September 30, 1989. Jeanie, I've known you for like years, okay? I always remember whenever you throw birthday parties on September 30 every 3:00 PM until 11:59 PM. You make sure you don't hit 12:00 AM because—"

"That's when parties end." Jeanie finished the sentence. You gave her a look while Jeanie sighed. "I always throw parties at the house or at any bars. And yeah, I schedule them 3:00 PM till 11:59 PM..."

You cast a weak smile on her while Jeanie glared at you. "What sick twisted mind games are you doing, huh? Is this some sort of witchcraft?"

"What?"

"I have never even met you, so I don't understand how you could possibly know everything about that."

"Jeanie, we're just going in circles." You sighed heavily. "I know you before all of this. You were my roommate and closest friend back in the old timeline."

Jeanie stared at you for a moment before taking out Reginald's journal and flipping through the pages to locate the notes he had made about you. "Why does Reginald want to adopt you?" She questioned as she showed you the notes that Reginald had written on the pages.

To get a better look at Reginald's notes, you moved closer. "I don't even know. I've always thought that he just wanted seven super-powered infants." You scoffed. "Seriously, that man forced us to be heroes because we have powers like he's initiating child labo—"

"You're getting off the topic, little girl." Jeanie hissed.

You looked back at her and frowned. "You're much more hostile than the Jeanie I knew. I kind of miss the old Jeanie." When you received no response from Jeanie, you sighed. "Listen, I have no idea why he felt the need to adopt me. I'm not even sure why dad decided to adopt you, to be honest."

Snapping her fingers, Jeanie created two replicas of herself. "Does that answers your question?"

You shrugged. "That even raises more questions, Jeanie. You have no powers, and I am positive that you were born before the rest of us, yet he adopted you." When you noticed that Jeanie wasn't sure if she should believe what you were saying, you sighed for the umpteenth time. "Just look for your file or something. And if I'm right, that pompous old man has some explaining to do. If I'm wrong, well... welcome to the circus of madness."

You left Jeanie alone as you walked away while pulling your hood up. Without realizing Christopher was coming up behind her, Jeanie just stared in your direction. "Are you okay?" Jeanie heard Christopher ask worriedly.

Jeanie disregarded Christopher, cast her duplicates off, and then brought out her file to see whether you were telling the truth while opening it.

"Jeanie?" When Christopher saw Jeanie's hands trembling in rage, he spoke out in concern. Jeanie turned her head away from the file and peered back at you from where she had last seen you. "We need to go back to the house now, Chris. I have a few things to say to our old man."

-•-°-•-°-☆

I am so grateful for the love and support I'm getting from this book and the series. I love you all so much, I really do, but please stop asking as to when I'll release the next chapter. I update whenever I want, but I normally publish a chapter on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (Philippine Time and Schedule). And yes, there is no longer a specific time, but once again, I update around 6 PM (Philippine Time). If I update earlier than usual, it's because I feel like it.

I'm not trying to be rude or send hate, or anything like that. Receiving questions about when I'll post a chapter in messages or comments is just a little tiring.

Just because I haven't updated in days doesn't mean I've given up on the book. Sometimes, because I experience writer's block occasionally, I just want to rest. You'll get your regular updates soon. While I am aware that you are all eager to know what will happen next, please be patient and refrain from asking when I will provide an update. It's quite annoying and pressuring :(

I promise I'm not mad! 😅🤍