Disclaimer: I do not own Owari no Seraph or Seraph of the End, whichever you call it. I also do not own any merchandise nor have any claim at all to the series.
A/N: I literally wrote this entire story in one day. I'm quite happy though, even though the characters are seriously OOC.
I don't really know who's older out of Mika and Yuu, but I found it funny that Mika was the same age as Krul when she was turned. So, I came up with the idea of Krul being Mika's adoptive sister. She was adopted when she was ten and had slowly warmed up to him over time. But she's still having trouble fitting in with her classmates, especially since their jealous that she's so close to him.
I'm probably a bad person for writing this, but I know a thing or two about being bullied. It's not always physical and the words that they use can be worse than any physical hit you could ever take. So I guess this technically also a bully awareness story.
Just know that there is always someone out there who carries scars like these, the kind that can't be seen.
Anyways, let me know how you guys feel about the story and if the characters were too OOC to enjoy. Constructive criticism is always welcome, but no flames, please. If I go to Hell there will be enough of them there for me. I don't need them here.
- Addict
Bubblegum Hair
Krul stood in front of her vanity mirror in her room as she took in her appearance. It was true that she was short, but then again, weren't all twelve year olds usually short? Except for those tall freaks of course. Her red eyes were still normal, her pupils slightly slitted in her growing frustration. The cause of her current frustration?
Her hair.
Even with the two ponytails on the sides, she still had a waterfall of it cascading down her back. It was so long that it almost brushed the ground.
But it wasn't the length that was bothering her.
It was the color.
Her hair was a dark shade of pink, the same shade of bubblegum. She still remembered how she didn't notice anyone had stuck gum in her hair until she had gotten home that afternoon. She had taken a bath and had been brushing her hair when the brush had gotten caught in the gum. She had been furious.
But that had been months ago and her big brother, Mika, had helped her get it out without being forced to cut it. But as she glared at it now in her mirror, she couldn't help but hate it. She wanted to smash her mirror so that she wouldn't have to look at it more. To scream at her reflection and demand to know why she was born with such ugly hair.
Why couldn't she have normal hair?
She could feel it again.
The glares.
However, she didn't care. Why should she? She knew why they were staring, but did it really matter? She was proud of her appearance, of her red eyes, her pink hair, her almost gothic lolita clothing. As far as Krul was concerned, there was nothing wrong with her.
Ignoring the stares, the preeteen turned her attention back to the board. She had no idea what the teacher was saying, but it didn't really matter anyway. Mr. Bathory was a terrible teacher and Krul usually couldn't understand what he was saying anyway. Mika was a much better teacher anyway.
By the time class was finally over and it was time to go home, Krul was more than happy to leave. Packing her things into her school bag, she slung it around her shoulder so that it rested on her hip. As she exited the class, it wasn't hard to still hear the whispers as people talked about her behind her back. They weren't trying very hard to hide it. If they even were at all.
The whispers followed her into the hallway and even towards the shoe lockers. It all honesty, it was starting to get on her nerves. Why did they insist on being so loud when they tried to talk about her behind her back? By the time she had reached her locker, a sudden hush fell upon the crowd.
It was a little unsettling.
Shrugging it off, Krul opened her locker. At least they were being quiet, right?
She was wrong. So very wrong.
All Krul could do was gape as she looked into her locker. There was trash piled into her cubbie as well as dozens of notes stuck to the walls and inside the door.
Freak.
Weirdo.
Monster.
Die.
There was a little envelope sitting in front of the trash addressed to her. With a shaky hand, she took it her grip and, against her better judgement, opened it. She felt her eyes begin to burn as she read the words.
Why do you even keep coming back? No one wants you here. Especially with that weird hair of yours. How can you even call yourself Mikaela-senpai's sister? You look nothing like him! Just go away and never come back!
Those words cut through her like a stake through her heart. The tears seemed to have a mind of their own as they began to spill down her face, even though she tried so hard to keep them in.
A giggle caught her attention as she turned around to look. A girl that she didn't recognize in the far back corner, probably one of the culprits, was standing back with a smug look on her face. She, and everyone else who was a part of this little stunt, knew that they wouldn't get in trouble. Not unless Krul had any proof about who did it.
At first, Krul felt anger begin to boil in her blood. She felt like punching that little brat in the face. She wanted to beat up every single person present just to make sure she got everyone who had done this to her locker. Who wrote this stupid letter.
But then the anger was sapped out of her, replaced with a numb feeling. She couldn't really feel anything. Her will to fight was sucked out of her by the harsh reality of the concequences. Not only would she not know for sure who had defiled her shoe locker, but she knew she would be the only one to get in trouble.
What would Mika do if he found out she had gotten into a fight? He would definitely be disappointed, but would he get angry. Krul had never seen Mika get angry, really. The closest she had seen him to angry was when he argued with his friend Yuu when the raven did something stupid.
And getting into a fight was definitely stupid.
But, boy, would it have made her feel better.
With a defeated sigh, Krul turned back to her locker and grabbed her shoes from under the piles of trash. Making sure that nothing nasty was inside of them, she slipped them on and silently walked out of the school. She held her tear streamed face high as she used every bit of dignity she had left not to collapse and scream.
The second she was around the corner, she broke into a run, not stopping nor slowing down until she was back home.
And now all she could was glare at her reflection, her eyes still bloodshot and her head pounding from crying so hard. She hadn't cried this hard since she was eight and had been separated from Ashura back at the orphanage.
It was no secret that she was adopted.
Krul had known that she wasn't related to Mika by blood. But this cursed hair only made that fact more obvious. Her long pink a complete contrast with the elder's shoulder-length golden blonde. She used to not care about her appearance. She used to proud.
But now...
How can you even call yourself Mikaela-senpai's sister?
Krul flinched when she remembered that letter. The one sentence that had effected her more than anything. Her appearance was the barrier between her and Mika, the one thing that kept people from acknowledging her as Mika's family. But...
Did Mika even see her as his sister?
The thought would have brought more tears to her eyes if it weren't for her having already crying herself dry. She couldn't muster up the strenghth to cry anymore.
Suddenly, her hair felt too heavy. Too outlandish. Too wrong.
With sure footsteps, Krul marched towards the bathroom and snatched a large pair of scissors off the sink counter. Mika had kept them there so that he could trim his hair in case he had felt it was getting too long.
Walking back to her vanity, she stood in front of it and glared defiantly back at her reflection. If the only way to make people see her as Mika's family was to...
Grabbing almost a fistfull of hair that fell near her shoulders, she raised the scissors until they were halfway between the blades. Her hands shook as she hesitated.
Why couldn't she do it?
With a cry of frustrated anguish, she threw the scissors at the mirror. The reflective glass shattered on contact, causing a spiderweb-like effect as the cracks spread across where her face had been staring back at her. It seemed to taunt her as her own red eyes accused her.
Loser.
Freak.
Weak.
She was too weak.
Suddenly, her eyesight was full of gray. She could feel the cloth against her cheek, still soft from having just been washed not even fourty-eight hours ago. She could hear the soft voice above her, whispering reassurances and that large hand running through her ugly hair. It both relieved her and made her feel sick. Was that even possible?
All she could do was hold on, as tight as her weakened arms would let her, tears she thought had dried out spilling anew down her face.
Mika only kept holding her close.
Krul woke up the next morning with the biggest headache she had ever had in her life. It was even worse than those brain-freezes she would get when she tried to finish her milkshake faster than Mika.
Mika...
...
...
Crap.
Mika had seen her. Mika had watched her break down. He had seen her mirror. He had probably even found his scissors. Krul could only pray she hadn't broken them, seeing as she didn't have the money to get him a new pair.
He was probably furious.
Getting ready to face her doom, Krul dressed herself in her school uniform, a simple black sailer's blouse and skirt with a red bow.
At least it wasn't white.
Walking slowly down the stairs, Krul couldn't help but think of the worst case scenario. Just how mad was Mika? Was he going to kick her out? Was he going to send her back? She didn't want to ever go back to that terrible orphanage. She had hated the place more than anything after that Shintama Goji guy, or whatever, had adopted her brother and stolen him from her.
And now, she was going to lose another brother.
When she finally reached the kitchen, she was slightly surprised to see that a bigger breakfast had been prepared than usual. Sometimes, they barely had enough to have rice in the mornings. But now, there was rice as well as toast, eggs, bacon, and even a tub of ice cream still on the counter.
But what had suprised her the most was Mika.
He was at his usual place in the morning, at the stove cooking. He appeared to be cooking pancakes, another addition to the large breakfast they would be having today. He had on his usual gray uniform that was still flawlessly ironed and as upkept as always.
But what had her jaw hitting the floor was his hair.
Mika had dyed his hair...
...pink.
What the-?!
At that moment, Mika noticed her and turned to face her. She almost fell over at the sight that greeted her. The older teen had put in red contacts that looked so realistic, that had you not seen his usual blue, you would have thought it his natural eye color.
Suddenly, Mika's usual stoic face adopted a softer look as a small smile quirked up. It was look he usually had when he thought she was being silly. Maybe her face did look silly at that moment. However, it didn't stop the horrified fury that filled her when she realized what he had done.
"What have you done?!"
Her voice wasn't high like most people would have thought. She didn't squeal or have a high pitched tone when she yelled like most girls her age (another oddity about her). Her voice actually got deeper, going into a sound that was scarily close to a growl.
How could Mika have done this to his himself?!
If it were possible, the smile on Mika's face seemed to actually get bigger, if only by a centimeter. Moving the pan off the fire and walking over to the doorway to the kitchen, the boy crouched in front of her until he was looking into her furiously cunfused eyes. He reached out a hand and proceeded to stroke her hair, much like he did last night. His eyes seemed to swirl with understanding as their now identical irises settled on each other.
"I found the letter." he said quietly. It was a low murmur, not really spoken up or even very loud. Mika had always had a habit of talking in a low - almost monotone - voice. The only time Krul had ever really heard any real emotion in his voice was when he was either talking to her or to Yuu. It was then that what he said actually caught up with her.
Krul felt herself flinch. He had seen it?!
"I have to say that I'm quite disappointed in you, Krul."
She felt like she had been slapped in the face and dropped her head as shame seemed to try to consume her. Was this really it? Was Mika sick of having her around? But then, why would he change his appearance like this?
"Why didn't you tell me you were being bullied?"
His words made her head snap back up. He was looking at her pleadingly. His eyes were very sincere, they way they were when he was upset over Yuu getting himself hurt doing one of his stupid stunts.
Even still, she couldn't seem to find the words. She had never seen Mika get this upset about her. She had never seen show this much emotion except towards Yuuichirou. The two of them had known each other since they were eight, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. They were both sixteen now and going to high school together.
But Krul...?
She had only known Mika for two years, barely a chip in the time he had known Yuu. So why was he looking at her like that?
"Please, answer me-"
"I'M NOT YOUR SISTER!"
Before she could stop herself, the words just seemed to pour out. She screamed them as if they would make the aching in her chest stop. As if she could make him see the truth. That she could never truly be a part of his family.
For what felt like forever, silence reigned in the kitchen. Mika actually looked surprised by her outburst. Sure she had gotten angry before, she had thrown temper tantrums and screamed before. But never had her voice sounded so broken.
"Who says your not?"
Snapping her head up, all she could do was stare in disbelief as Mika brought his hands up to cup her face.
"We watch movies together, don't we?"
Krul opened her mouth to protest before he cut her off.
"We go to the park together, don't we?
When you can't sleep, we stay up together, don't we?
We love to go to the ice cream shop across town together, don't we?
We love being together, don't we?"
He began to softly run his thumb over her damp cheek. When had she started crying again? Why was she being such a crybaby?
"So who says that we can't be siblings?"
With that final sentence, she threw herself once again into Mika's arms. She couldn't believe he had actually said it. He had called them siblings. Mika had called her his family!
The two of them stayed that way for a while before Mika had to pull away.
"We had better get eating before the food gets cold. We still have to be at school in an hour."
"Well, maybe if you hadn't cooked as though Yuuichirou were eating with us, maybe we could have a better chance of finishing in time."
Her reply was all show, no bite. Nothing could drag her down from the cloud nine she was riding. All of a sudden, all the words meant nothing as long as she could be this happy for the rest of her life.
And as she settled across the table from Mika, she realized that she just might be.
When Mikaela arrived at school that morning after dropping Krul off at school, he noticed the bewildered stares he received. No doubt that a lot of them were probably wondering if he had lost his mind.
Entering his classroom, he ignored Guren-sensei as the man fell backwards in his chair and marched straight over to his best friend's desk. Yuu seemed shocked when he took in his friend's appearance. What on earth had possessed him to do that?
"Yuu-chan, I need you help with something serious."
Yuu almost snickered. Almost. Mika had a certain undertone of anger to his voice that spoke of bloodshed and torture. And quite frankly, Yuu didn't feel like dying today.
"Need my help with what?"
"Someone's been bullying Krul."
"WHAT?!"
Yuu had shot up in his seat, forcefully shoving his chair backwards into the desk behind him. He heard a sound of protest that sounded an awful lot like the telephone pole's voice, but he ignored it as he watched Mika's face darken.
"I need you to come with me on a little hunting trip."
The grin the two of them shared in that moment was something feral. They both a had a little visit to make the next time they were near Krul's school. Yuu knew how protective Mika was when it came to Krul and he had to admit he had also gotten a little attached to the brat.
The next day at school, Krul was surprised to find out that most of her classmates (along with some students from other classes) had transferred to a new school. Not that she minded.
She had her confidence back.
And she was never going to let anyone take it away from her again.
A/N: Like I said, OOC! We all know that Krul could defend herself, but for the sake of the story, I made her a little insecure. Everyone has moments where they doubt themselves, right? If you haven't ever doubted yourself even one, then can I borrow some of your confidence?
I always wondered what children who were adopted would think when they looked completely different from their adoptive family. This was the closest I could think of at the time, but I know that it can run even deeper than this. And I, for one, hate it when people reject or treat someone horribly just because of what they look like. Bu let me shut up before I start ranting.
Let me know what you guys think in the reviews and help me spot anything that throws the story off. It's you guys' job as readers to help us writers become better.
Much love, fam!
P.S. I'm uploading this on this site from my AO3. After I started out on this site and transferred over to AO3, I have a couple of stories over there that I haven't put over here yet. I guess it's just a New Years resolution of sorts.
- Addict