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- Operation Strix -
"I know who I WAS when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then" - Alice (From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
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Chapter 3 ; Scene 1 - The Reward of their endeavours
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The Forger family walked with a worried and heavy atmosphere, Loid was tense, Yor concerned, Anya worried and Yiro slightly dizzy. Yor let out a small gasp "My bracelet just broke.. Why today of all days?" Loid gave a gentle and reassuring smile "I'm sure it's just a coincidence" he said holding onto his hat.
Yor looked forward, Yiro noticed the black cat as Yor continued worrying about superstitions. Yiro's eyes never left the cat as it pranced across the road, Anya peering a look at her brother's thoughts 'What a pretty creature. I wish I could take them home' Anya's head turned to her dad, only to stop when she looked down "Chichi... Anya stepped in doodoo.." Yiro whipped his head in confusion.
"well isn't this walk lovely-" he muttered as picked Anya up, sat her down and starting taking her shoe off. Loid reaching into his briefcase and pulling out an extra pair of shoes for the little pink angel, the feces' infested shoe was rapidly discarded, not wanting the smell of excretion to be left of them.
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"L-099! Yiro, you passed!!" Yor smiled as she picked up her son and hugged him, Loid smiled at the two as he continued to look for the other number, Anya was bouncing around and congratulating her big brother. As they continued to scan the board, they noticed.. K-212 wasn't on the board.
The mood dropped lower than Yor's ability to cook, slowly, the family walked away from the board. The two adults seemingly in a disarray and an existential crisis, "I failed.." Anya muttered, Loid and Yor snapped out of their trance as they started trying to change the topic. Anya's eyes watered, her voice breaking as she felt the tears ready to flow.
"A moment, Forgers."
Loid observed the document given "what is this?" he questioned, Yor and Anya quietly waiting "Look at the name on the top of that list" Loid read out Anya's name as Master Henderson explained, the paper was the waiting list that held the students who would be accepted if a current student were to drop out.
They chatted about, as Anya looked around, their thoughts and words seeming to match- well minus her mother's violent urges, she failed to notice the lack of thoughts from the one next to her as the silence seemed to be drowned out by the relieved thoughts of her father. Henderson elegantly turned to them "several accepted students withdraw each year. Prepare yourselves accordingly."
..
Three days later, the call was expected to arrive, Anya was dancing about with her plushie, seemingly performing her own version of a rain dance. When the phone rang, Loid was fast to grab it, spinning Anya in the process as Yor was quick to help her stand. Anya's chimera plush flew out of her hand as Yor stabilized her.
Yiro was walking into the living room when a familiar plushie landed in his hands, he looked at Loid who pulled out a party popper out of his pocket and celebrated Anya's acceptance. He smiled and looked at his little sister who jumped for joy as she held a bright smile. Yiro was about to congratulate Anya when the door rang, Loid quickly opening the door, to see his friend.
"Oh! You must be the mother-son duo. Pleasure to meet you, I'm Loid's buddy- Frankie!"
"Good evening" "Booze-" "Afroman!"
"Let's get this party started!! I brought some booze, and food's on the way!" Frankie cheered, Loid rubbing his head as he stared at his friend "who do you think you are to bring alcohol near children-"
The family had already started eating, a bit of chatter and giggles could be heard as Yor and Frankie started getting drunk. Accidentally mistaking his glass, Yiro drank a sip of wine, immediately spitting it out onto a napkin before chugging a lot of water. Anya was eating happily, Yor was swishing around as Frankie and Loid talked.
Yiro could barely make out the conversation in front of him, something about.. a sheet and keeping his mouth shut. Yiro started buzzing out as they continued talking, he was fading slowly but was still able to keep his conscious. He was sure he didn't ingest the alcohol, maybe the mere existence of it had him weak, who knows.
Yiro quickly wanted to excuse himself, hoping that water would fix his issue and as the door bell rang, Loid, being the only sober adult, went to answer it before hearing Frankie's devious scheme, disguised as Anya's reward. On the other side of the door was a burgundy haired man with exquisite blue eyes "ah! Forger household?" Loid nodded as he introduced himself "I'm here to pick up Yiro for a bit?" Loid tilted his head in confusion as Yiro's little footsteps could be heard.
"Mike! Let'szs.. go!" He said grabbing Mike's hands as he quickly tried to go, Loid stopped him for a second and called Yor over. As tipsy as she was, she recognized the babysitter "ahhh! Mike-sannn, wut areee you doingg heree?" she stammered, Mike chuckling a bit "please get her sobered up, anyway! I'm here to pick Yiro up for a night out, If you recall?" he asked, hopefully not mistaking the day.
Yor pondered and smiled as she twirled around "ah! yess, please have fun! and don't- don't you lose my baby boy!" she glared as her face was ever so brightly red, quietly returning back to the dining table, Mike nervously smiled "Uhh well yeah, have a good day sir! I'll be back with Yiro before midnight" he said as Yiro looked up at him, ready to leave. Loid looked at Yiro, asking him with his eyes if this was something he was okay with, Yiro nodding and Loid reluctantly let them go.
Frankie stumbled towards his friend as he looked at the retreating back of an excited Yiro who allowed himself to be swung onto Mike's shoulders. "Mike, short of Michaels Schmidt, I believe he's.. a newly graduated civics officer, graduated top of his class, was raised by his mother as his father disappeared with his younger siblings and is your new son's babysitter. I looked hard into him but he's quite clean.. I'm might keep at it, since he's a bit too clean" Frankie said, reliable, even in his tipsy state.
Loid nodded, thankful for the rundown, hearing Frankie mutter about Mike's annoyingly shiny black hair before stumbling back inside, getting ready to put a few little fun ideas into Anya's head to mess with Loid. Loid stood for a bit and looked at Frankie's back "black hair?" he muttered as he figured he must've heard wrong. Mike clearly had burgundy.. hair.
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Mike felt his hair be ruffled as the little boy on his shoulder huffed "jealous buddy?" he smirked, Yiro scoffed a bit before looking down at Mike's hair "I feel bad.. she's my sister but I feel icky about.." "the acceptance?" "I guess.." Mike carefully got Yiro down as he smiled empathetically at the young boy "well, you've always been an only child so sharing the attention must be new?" he questioned, trying to figure out the main issue.
Yiro shook his head "It's been a while already.. I think.. sharing is fine but I felt" he looked around "just a bit left out. I don't know If I should be- since they praised me for getting in!! but.. the past few days have all been just- just.. worrying over her acceptance" he muttered looking down, twiddling his feet. Mike laughed a bit and patted Yiro's head "that's normal buddy, don't say you feel icky." he started, sitting down on the bench as he motioned for Yiro to sit down.
"Express your worries to your mom a bit, It's hard to open up about something you know could be- well, selfish and I know your mom sees you as someone easy to take care of, but you've always been a bit self-sacrificing, huh?" he smiled a bit as Yiro sat down and pouted "give her a bit of leeway buddy, let yourself act out sometimes, you're still six dude-" Mike laughed a bit as he rubbed Yiro's back to reassure him "acting your age isn't a crime and if it was? I'd be in jail by my childish behaviour hehe" Yiro looked up at the man, who he's seen like a brother for years, and nodded.
Yiro carefully leaned his head on Mike's shoulder, the two shared a comfortable silence before Mike's stomach growled "whoops-" Yiro looked up at him and hit his shoulder, getting up and grabbing his hand "let's go get you food and.. buy me some chocolate-" Mike laughed, he knew his pocket would be a bit dry due to Yiro's love for chocolate but that was fine with him.
Yiro looked up at his babysitter as he mumbled, Mike crouching down to listen as Yiro was a bit red, embarrassed to ask "can.. we go to the park-" Mike nodded as they walked their way to the nearest store to get a simple sandwich and some chocolate pastries. Although the six year old's worries weren't fully gone, he at least had someone to let him know his thoughts were valid and that.. that was enough for him to slowly come back to his normal self.
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Mike easily celebrated Yiro's acceptance with chocolates, playing in the park and saying hi to the cats walking by. The two caught up a bit, talked about the answers in the notebook Mike brought. Yiro was fascinated by the way Mike's head worked, his answers always seemed so interesting, although Mike never thought of himself as anyone amazing- Yiro had always put him on a high pedestal. Mike pushed Yiro's back softly as Yiro swung on the swing, his small hands carefully grasping the notebook as he read out the answers and spoke his thoughts about them.
Mike would hum and nod, sometimes adding in a few things where his opinion changed from the time he wrote it, a bit of experience coming in to play. As Yiro was busy engrossing himself in the new pages, he hadn't noticed that Mike had stopped pushing his swing to talk to a blond woman, her face icy as she held a firm grip on her drink "what's up Himi?" she rolled her eyes and shoved the pictures in his hand before leaving.
Mike looked down to see a few pictures of a castle, brightly lit up with a lot of people, beautiful fireworks and a large blimp. Mike's eyes hardened as he noticed the small ray of sunshine with her father. He sighed and looked back at the sparkly-eyed boy on the swing who was still busy in his own world. I better leave this alone.. what psychiatrist is able to rent out Newton's castle. Wait. was this tonight?!
Mike stopped dead in his tracks to look at the photo to see the same clothes he saw the man in when he picked up Yiro. The burgundy haired male put his hand through his hair and stared at the photo, he was genuinely at a loss. Of course, through his years of babysitting Yiro, he'd seen a few remarkable situations, especially financially, considering his friend had practically (threatened) urged him to lessen the load of a child on his sister.
He put the photos back in his wallet, making sure to fold it in half and stashing it in his pockets before silently walking back to Yiro who had oddly enough, just finished looking through the written notes. Yiro looked up to see Mike humming his favourite song, the little boy put the notebook down, along with his little bag as he carefully stood on the swing.
Mike watched him cautiously, curious as to the little prince's actions, only to find Yiro putting his favourite red pen on Mike's ear, he always told Mike that this pen's ink looked like his mom's eyes so it was dubbed the best. Mike tilted his head, as if asking why he gave it, Yiro looked away bashfully before answering "thank you.. for listening and bringing me out," Mike's heart melted as he quickly scooped up the boy and hugged him.
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Yiro waved his arms as he said his goodbyes to Mike as he was dropped off on their apartment's unit, Yiro knocked on the door, worried that everyone was asleep since everyone must've been partying for a while. Loid opened the door in mere seconds and breathe a sigh of relief "lord- It's past 12.. thank god you're okay, welcome home Yiro" he said with a tired smile.
Yiro looked up at him, a bit warm in the face as he nodded, walking in as Loid ruffled his hair "so, what'd you guys do?" he asked, giving Yiro a warm cup of milk that he'd prepare, Yiro sat on the couch and slowly drank the milk, looking at Loid and cautiously talking about his day "Mike brought me to the park and I got to pet cats! and and! I also, got to read a bunch of books" he said, smiling unconsciously as he talked about the fun he had.
Yiro continued staring at Loid who was worried, as a spy you would think that he was ready to face any situation with calm composure, but Yiro's silent stare was keeping him tense. Yiro coughed a bit, remembering Mike's words before speaking up "uh.. Loid-san-" "Oh! wait, sorry.. um I may haven't mentioned it but would you like anything..? for you know, getting accepted in Eden. Don't feel pressured! I had to do a bit of house-play, acting as Anya's Bondman" he chuckled, scratching his neck as Yiro was awkwardly looking at him.
"I'd like that.."
He smiled as he quickly put the empty cup onto the counter before rushing off to his room, yelling a quick thank you before slamming the door gently- he was embarrassed. Loid stood in his spot for a second, confused if he messed up but hoping he didn't. He slumped down as he put his hand through his blond locks, he was pretty happy to see Yiro's happy face, the type of happy face that he'd make sure to protect.
He stood up, his eyes grew cold as he looked back at the door "he had black hair. I suppose I was hallucinating" he tried to convince himself as he ignored his head contradicting him. Thank god Yiro was picked up, Loid wasn't sure how he would've pulled off the little castle stunt without giving himself away while also making Anya happy. As he walked into his room, the house almost felt bright, warm even when everything was quiet.
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Chapter 3 ; Scene End
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(does that count as angst? not rlly, just character building)