❝ᴏʜ, ᴘʟᴇᴀꜱᴇ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ-❞

╭┈───────
╰┈─➤ 𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒.

[I didn't check to see if i mentioned any of the new characters in this chapter so if I did, no i didn't]

"Wait, what?"

"Let me meet your friends," Scaramouche demanded. "I mean, unless you don't have any-"

"I-I have friends!" She stammered, narrowing her eyes at him. "Why do you wanna meet them, though?"

He rolled his eyes and heaved a sigh, "Do I really need a reason? I just want to make sure they're good enough for you."

She stared at him skeptically while packing her bag with supplies, pondering over whether or not it was a good idea. She knew it was likely going to result in disaster, or endless teasing from her brother, but Makoto still considered it. She took this as an odd approach to become closer, like they used to be.

"Fine," she said. "After my tutoring session, we're going out to Uyuu Restaurant. You can join us if you want."

He wasn't surprised Ei was having her take an extra tutoring session on a Sunday, so he didn't pay mind to it, "Do you want me to drive you there?"

She paused and cringed as she recalled the last time Ei drove her to one of these classes. She was extremely thankful that she had the privilege of riding the bus to school, or else that nightmare would be an everyday occurrence...

"Okay," she nodded.

Ei's footsteps echoed down the stairs as her keys jangled while dangling from her finger, and Makoto froze. However, she promptly forced her body to relax and threw her bag over her shoulder.

"Are you ready to go?" Ei questioned with a hard glare.

"I'm driving her today," Scaramouche stated, crossing his arms over his chest and countering her scowl with a bitter frown.

His mother seemed to contemplate his words before sighing and rolling her eyes, holding out the keys. She only caved because she didn't want to experience the same frustrations as the previous time, and Scaramouche's grades had been steadily improving. Even so, she wasn't impressed. He could've done better.

He snatched the keys from her grasp and sauntered to the door, swiftly pulling it open and nodding for Makoto to follow him out. She did, breathing in fresh air as she left the hellscape that was her own house.

Once they'd both hopped into the car and Scaramouche started it up, he carefully pulled out of the driveway and started the journey after Makoto informed him of where to go. 

"Do you think you guys are ever gonna make up?" Makoto queried suddenly.

Scaramouche glanced in her direction before refocusing on the road, "Honestly, probably not."

She pressed the side of her head against the window and furrowed her brows, "...I wish she was more understanding."

"Yeah, no kidding," he scoffed. "Maybe she'd have actual friends if she wasn't such a bitch all the time."

"Yeah..."

♕︎❯───「♕︎」───❮♕︎

"She's gonna be here soon! I can't wait, Y/n!"

You laughed as Teucer threw himself over your lap, kicking his feet up in the air and grinning happily. You were glad to see him in such a joyous state, after all the recent stress. Part of the reason he was ecstatic was also because you spoke to him about your upcoming visit to your parents' house, where he'd get to reunite with your other siblings.

The other portion of his happiness stemmed from his first playdate with Qiqi, which would be happening soon. He was practically bouncing off the walls first thing in the morning because of it!

"Okay, okay! Let's not break everything in our excitement," you advised.

"I know!" He whined, rolling off your lap and onto the floor, where he jumped to his feet again and ran to the windows that revealed the front lawn. "SHE'S HERE! SHE'S HERE!"

You covered your ears and smiled from his screaming as he hurled himself over the couch and to the door as you stood, walking like a normal person to greet the young girl and her caregiver. Before you knew it, your little brother flung the door open and you saw an oddly familiar face standing beside the girl Teucer had told you about.

"Xiao?" You raised your brows; he was probably the last person you would've expected.

He squinted, as if trying to decipher why you knew his name, but then it clicked, "Oh. Hi."

"Qiqi!" Teucer cheered, dragging her into a hug. "Welcome to our home!"

"Hi...!" She replied, clearly trying to match his enthusiasm.

You allowed them inside and closed the door as Teucer immediately grabbed Qiqi's hand, tugging her upstairs to his room.

"Oh, okay then," you murmured, feeling awkward now that you were alone with Xiao. "Uh, can I get you anything? You can sit down if you want."

He reluctantly took a seat on the sofa, "I'm fine."

"Alrighty..." You smiled uncomfortably and sat down on the floor in front of the coffee table, on the opposite side from the couch. In front of you were a bunch of photos from the previous day, which you spent with Scaramouche. Before your guests arrived, you'd been sorting through them and deciding on which ones to put in the album. Of course, the image on the first page was the photo you snapped of Scaramouche himself.

"Did you take those pictures?" Xiao abruptly asked, startling you out of your focus.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," you stumbled. "They're from yesterday."

"...They look good," he commented. 

You smiled, "Thanks. Qiqi seems like a sweet girl, by the way."

"Yeah," he sighed, leaning back and resting his arms over his lap while his legs spread apart. "She was really excited to come here since she doesn't have many friends."

"Oh... I guess she does seem shy," you hummed.

He nodded, "Her only other friend is a girl who's unusually obsessed with bombs..."

Your head perked up and you looked at him with surprise, "Seriously? Why do kids even know about that stuff these days..."

He shrugged and another silence ensued, but it was more comfortable this time. You proceeded to sort out your photos while Xiao observed, hearing the faint sound of children's laughter emitting from upstairs. You were thankful Teucer finally found a friend.

♕︎❯───「♕︎」───❮♕︎

When Makoto exited the building, she immediately found herself staring at the familiar car with her brother inside, scrolling on his phone. She'd been half-expecting him to be gone, since she knew it was unfavorable to just sit in the car for over an hour, but she appreciated his unusual patience.

Prying open the car door, she leaped into the passenger seat and clicked the seatbelt into place. Startled by her sudden intrusion, Scaramouche lifted his head and looked over at her, now stuffing his phone in his pocket and starting up the vehicle.

"You any smarter yet?" He asked.

She playfully punched him in the shoulder, "Yeah, I guess... Are you sure you wanna meet my friends?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He scoffed.

She shrugged, "I dunno, you'll probably feel like our old-man chaperone."

"...Did you just call me old?" He questioned as he exited the parking lot, transferring onto the roads.

"Maybe I did."

"Pfft, you're a pain in the ass."

They continued conversating until eventually, they arrived at Uyuu Restaurant. Makoto was surprisingly nervous to introduce her friends to her older brother, but she tried to reassure herself that things would go well.

They pushed open the doors of the restaurant and she hastily glanced around until her eyes landed on her familiar friend group. Eyes lighting up, she rushed over and Scaramouche hesitantly followed, dumbfounded by her excited behavior.

"Yoyoyo, Makoto has arrived! The party can now commence!" Itto yelled dramatically before proceeding to beatbox.

Baffled by this odd entrance, Scaramouche stood behind his sister and squinted with confusion. Meanwhile, she grinned and placed her hands on her hips as she stepped to the side, fully revealing the boy behind her.

"I brought another buzzkill!" She declared, slapping her hand on her brother's shoulder.

Scaramouche narrowed his eyes at her, "What is going on?"

"See?" She said, turning back to her friends. "This is my brother, Kuni."

"Don't call me that," he added, speaking more to her friends than her.

"Scaramouche," she corrected, rolling her eyes and outstretching her arm toward her friends as they sat in the booth. "These are my friends: Sara, Shinobu, Itto, and Takuya."

He gave a half-hearted wave and without missing a beat, Makoto slid into one side of the booth, seating herself next to Sara. She scooted to make room and patted the spot on her other side, motioning for Scaramouche to sit. Though he was very tempted to retreat to the car, he sighed and occupied the space, which landed him across from Itto.

"He looks pretty grumpy. Did you get enough sleep, my dude?" Itto questioned, narrowing his eyes. "Also, what's with that haircut? You should pay for some tips on-"

"Itto, I swear to god, no one's gonna pay for a class on how to be an 'alpha'," Shinobu said, using air quotes.

"No, you'd be surprised!" He replied. "I see these dudes all the time who get rich and stuff!"

Makoto laughed, "I'm sure you'll get clients someday."

"Yeah, right!" Takuya snorted.

Itto huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, "Whatever, you guys are lame. Except Makoto, she's a total alpha."

"Pfft, thanks," she responded before looking over at Sara and holding her hand, which was resting on the table. "You've been weirdly quiet, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Sara stated in an oddly soft voice.

"She's been quiet ever since we got here," Itto said. "I dunno what's goin' on!"

"I'm just mentally exhausted from you being an idiot on the ride over," she retorted.

Itto gasped and slowly brought his hands up to his mouth, using the slow timing for comedic effect.

"Oh, please don't-"

Of course, he began beatboxing (in a slow and very sad way) and pretty much everyone at the table facepalmed, aside from Makoto. She swayed her head from side to side, wiping fake tears from her eyes to accentuate the true emotion of the performance. Unfortunately, it came to an end as Shinobu grabbed his hands, forcing them down to his lap while shaking her head at him.

"Fineeee!" He groaned. "How come Makoto is the only one who knows how to have fun here!? We need more members for our group, I swear."

Scaramouche simply watched them interact, shocked by how outgoing Makoto was when with her friends. He'd never seen this side to her before, and it suddenly brought down a massive amount of shame once he realized just how distant he was from her. Still, he enjoyed seeing her smile after mainly witnessing her hiding from their mother.

After everyone finished their meals and it was time to leave, Scaramouche leaned against his mother's car and checked the notifications on his phone to find a few image attachments sent by you. Meanwhile, Makoto and her friend group said their goodbyes.

Y/n📸💕

The pictures were of your notebook, which you finished organizing with all the photos from the previous day. Most were scenic shots, and they all seemed... very you. It took him a moment to think of how to respond, but he decided he didn't want to be too obvious about his own feelings.

Me
I'm glad too

Suddenly, he heard chimes of laughter and his head perked up so he could look away from his device. Shutting it off, he dropped the phone in his pocket and returned his attention to the outside world, noticing that Makoto was speaking to Sara, since they were the only ones left.

"No, I know, but- Pfft!" Makoto laughed, bending over with her arms wrapped over her stomach. "That was incredible, honestly!"

"I don't know why you're laughing, it wasn't that bad..." Sara responded, cringing.

"No, no!" Makoto exhaled heavily, trying to catch her breath as she stood up straight. "You have a lovely singing voice, don't worry. I'm just surprised you actually agreed to do karaoke with Itto!"

She leaned forward and pressed her forehead onto Sara's shoulder while recovering from her fit of laughter.

"Wow, don't die on me now," Sara said. "I only agreed because he wouldn't shut up."

"So worth it, though," Makoto giggled, pushing herself off. "Oh, I should probably go so I can hear Kuni complain about how awful that was."

Sara's lips curled up slightly, "Alright. It was nice to see you again after so long."

"You, too," Makoto smiled. "I missed you."

"...I missed you too."

Makoto beamed, "I'll see you next time, then!"

"Yeah."

Makoto excitedly grasped Sara's hands and squeezed them tightly before letting go, sending her a wave and turning to walk toward Scaramouche. Meanwhile, he pondered over what he observed as he unlocked the car, seating himself on the driver's side. Makoto promptly got into the passenger's seat and buckled up, glancing out the window while Sara hopped into her father's vehicle.

They drove away and, puzzled by the lack of movement, Makoto looked back to Scaramouche to see him in deep thought.

"Something wrong?" She queried.

"...It's nothing."