An Enigmatic Individual

Tokyo, Japan,

Hayes Residence,

Mei POV,

Mei and Ren sat across from each other in a Victorian Style dining hall, expensive paintings hung from the walls and a fireplace burnt to one of the sides. The massive and ornate windows were open, revealing the dark night sky in all it's starry glory.

"Did you know Samuel came home troubled today?" Mei smiled at her husband, placing the knife she'd been using to cut her steak to the side. The older woman ran a gaze over the hall, an upbeat smile on her face, there was a time where she'd been awed by all this but that was decades ago. Now, now this was normal.

".....Did he say anything?" As always, Ren's way of speaking was stern and distant, the fact that he spoke slowly only served to add to the overall cold demeanour the man possessed.

Still however, Mei knew it to not be the actual case, he was just a really awkward person, "I tried to ask but he ran off." She sighed, slightly depressed, "To think such a time would come. Kids grow up too fast." A nostalgic look formed on her face, there was also a time where Samuel had been a completely distant and detached person... Thankfully, that phase was long over.

"I'll ask myself.." Ren let go of his fork, standing up instantly, he wanted to ask his son if something was worrying him right there and then. Not setting a later time for it, Samuel had the highest priority in the mind of the Hayes Patriarch.

"Stop!" Mei too stood up, stopping her husband with a happy smile on her face, she was proud of his worry but, "He hasn't come out of his room yet. I think we should give him time."

Ren.... sat back down, albeit hesitantly, "Should we, get him a therapist?" The question was more directed towards himself than his wife, he knew Samuel had some sort of problem regarding either self esteem or something closely related but he didn't know or understand why it was so. Killing? That was something Ren had done too. Killing was something necessary, something to be avoided if possible yes but not something that should never be an option. Not in their business.

"I doubt that would work much. Accident or not, it's been years. That's not what's bothering him, I think." Mei placed a hand on her chin, closing her eyes and humming thoughtfully. Yes, she wasn't going to deny or forget it, her son had killed someone but, it wasn't as if it was on purpose... In the first place, she too had already had the necessity of taking lives ingrained into her,

"You think he fell in love and got rejected?" Mei placed her head in a hand, sighing animatedly, the white dress she wore stuck close to her body, highlighting her well built frame.

"....." Ren looked at his wife with a tilted head, "Appearance, money, personality.... I find that doubtable." There was no way anyone could reject someone as amazing as his son! He refused to believe or accept it.

"Umu.." Mei nodded in agreement, there was no way their son would be rejected.

"...Mom, Dad..." A younger monotonous voice, one that belonged to the third person sitting in the hall. Rin, the youngest child of the main Hayes family and the daughter of the two talking individuals, "Nii-sama exhibits traits of self-loathing. The optimal method to deal with his problem is a good talk or, being more forceful, forcing him to confront it directly." Rin spoke bluntly, she wasn't a person who talked much but when she did, it came out as incredibly blunt.

Her brother's cheery disposition and nice guy act may work on most but not on her, Rin noticed his smile falter on several occasions the past few weeks and had come to this conclusion after a fair bit of deliberation on her own part.

"...."

Both parents went silent at her words before, both of them sighed at the same time, "Rin.... You just have to not say certain things." Mei looked at her daughter with a small defeated smile.

Rin however, had her eyes wide at what her father had just done, the expressionless and stern man had just... sighed?! The little girl looked at her father incredulously before rubbing her eyes just to confirm it, "Unbelievable."

Ren froze at his daughter's words, hurt at what she'd thought about him. When did he ever even remotely imply that he didn't care about his children?! A depressed aura seemed to come out of the older suit wearing man.

"Rin, look at what you've done now." Mei giggled, walking over to her husband and patting his back with a bright smile, reactions like these were a part of what made her love this 'cold' man.

".... I apologise." Rin, ever the mature child, bowed her head with closed eyes, it appeared that she'd done something exceptionally rude.

"..." Her formal apology however, completely backfired as the depressed feeling only seemed to increase by many folds right after.

The Hayes Residence was, as often, quite hectic.

-x-X-x-

Tokyo, Japan,

Nishimiya Residence,

Shouko POV,

In a modest apartment, a family of four could be seen sitting around a kotatsu, having an unironically modest dinner of rice, chicken and vegetables. The Nishimiya Family, only consisted of Yaeko (The Mother), Yuzuru (Shouko's younger sister), Ito and Shouko herself. Shouko's father had divorced their mother after continued fighting born from Shouko's hearing impairment which he, blamed Yaeko for.

"You've started smiling a lot more, Shouko." Ito remarked with a wide smile, ruffling her granddaughter's hair, "Is it because of that boy?" The older woman smiled a bit teasingly, she'd often seen the two go out the past days after all. It was to the point where Ito wondered if Samuel had stopped school... It would be understandable with his identity... Which he still insisted she keep to herself.

"Shouko." Yaeko sternly slammed her hand on the table, "Have I not told you to stay away from him?" The mother misunderstood who they were talking about, having told her daughter off about hanging out with the boy that had bullied her. She had a bit of an issue with men after her own experience and worried that her daughter would end up hurt.

"T-Thas ish no-" Shouko hurriedly tried to explain, messing up her words in the process, she'd not spent much time with Ishida at all, not as much as Samuel at least. She was, however, grateful that he didn't show up at her school... The silver haired teenager was a bit too intense towards people that according to him, harboured ill will towards her... She still remembered how he'd smashed someone's head into a wall for trying to touch her.

Ito only giggled, the fact that her granddaughter had thought of the silver haired teenager from her words said a lot.

"Nee-chan, those ikemen types are dangerous! They deceive women!" Yuzuru, who had been silent up till now, spoke out, waving her hand animatedly.

"Fuahh." Shouko looked down embarrassed before a resolute look crossed her face, "Shamuel.... is not like that." Speaking the name, she said the rest using signs. That was one misconception she wasn't going to allow. Samuel was nice!

"....Wait what?" Yaeko physically recoiled, Ishida wasn't exactly someone who could be called good looking so, were they talking about someone else entirely? "Can I meet him?" She looked at her daughter, worried but clearly less than before.

If Shouko was this straightforward with how she perceived him then, either he was a good person or it was too late.

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