❝His pride is like an ocean
Encircled by a reef
His pride's an hypnotic potion
His memory is a leaf❞

— "Come to Mama" by Pete Townshed

His foot shook. His nostrils flared. He could even feel his brow twitch just a bit. His hardened gaze remained on the painfully obvious couple of the house. Luther and Allison. His jaw clenched as his hands curled into a fist. The knuckles became white from the tightness.

Normally, Five would ignore such cocky words and phrases, especially if it came from either Luther or Diego. They were all muscles and no brains. Which, if he seriously thought about it, was ironic since they were number one and number two of their crime fighting group.

But, right now? No. He couldn't let Luther's actions fade away without any form of consequences. He needed to finally put his idiotic brother in his place. Question was…how? How could he, the self-appointed genius of the house, finally put Luther's ego in check.

Then, as if the Gods graciously granted him a sign, he noticed a familiar set of hair breeze on by the foyer. A faint smile graced his lips as he slowly felt his rage, towards Luther, become replace with this sense of euphoria. He felt the familiar calm that a certain someone would always give him. With just one smile by her, Five would no longer feel irritated—well a lesser amount of it anyway. His heart knew that he could never feel any negative emotions either towards or around her. It was like one of his calculus equations that he worked through constantly. A negative limit did not exist. A negative emotion towards his favorite violinist did not exist.

A fool prove equation that Five had grown to live by.

And so far…it had worked out for him…

Just like it should…

Giving the secret couple one final glare, Five stood up from his seat, ignoring the few curious gazes from his brothers, and ran out of the library. He stood in the middle of the hallway, wondering where his sister had gone. His brain mulled over every possible location that she could be at. He also even took into consideration the current time.

"Let's see…it's a few hours before dinner time…" His thought trailed on as he glanced at every single direction, "If I were Vanya, where would I be?"

A faint hum emitted from his lips as he focused all of his energy into his sense of hearing. He uttered a quick prayer, hoping that in just a few seconds he'd soon begin the beautiful sounds of the violin.

Then, as if he planned it from the beginning, he heard it. A few notes followed by a full progression.

There was his precious Vanya. His violin princess.

Not wasting another moment, he activated his spatial jumping, teleporting himself in the general vicinity of where he pinpointed the music. He quickly glanced in all directions, homing in on to the sound. His ears perked up while his smile grew wide. He had successfully chosen the correct route.

Five teleported once more, appearing right in front of the music room. He barely stopped himself from teleporting right in front of Vanya as she became lost to the music. He didn't want to hurt his poor ears nor frighten her. He only wanted to cause joy within her heart and soul. Never harm them.

He honestly would never forgive himself if he were to inflict either accidental or intentional harm towards her. He shuddered at such a horrendous thought…

Quickly pushing them away, Five distracted his mind with the sight of Vanya. How fortunate she was that she always left the door slightly ajar. Through the small gap, his eyes focused on her gorgeous silhouette. How the sunrays, that peaked through the curtains, would hit her face just right. Then, Five would be able to get a better glimpse at her. He noted how peaceful her faced look as she journeyed further into the sheet music. How her brows drew together as she remained absolutely focused on reading the notes. Sometimes, if he had been lucky, then he'd see a faint smile appear on her face. A smile of complete and utter content. She looked relaxed. But most importantly, she looked happy.

Fortunately, he was indeed lucky. He became practically in awe, once again, from how happy and at peace she was. He'd been almost sorry that he had to disrupt her moment of tranquility, but he had an important request for her. He'd need her assistance if he were to get back at Luther and his never ending arrogance.

Five needed Vanya to propose a little contest. A contest in which he and Luther would have the chance to prove that one of them was the better boyfriend. Even though Five knew that it'd be him, but it didn't hurt to validate his hypothesis. And he'd have the chance to rub it in Luther's face and see Vanya proud of him.

So…it was a win-win for Five…

Slowly exhaling, Five hurriedly straightened out his uniform jacket. He had to look his best whenever he hung around Vanya. He swiftly brushed off any lint that were on his jacket before knocking on the music room, opening it even more as he did so.

Vanya's ears perked up at the sound of someone opening the door. Her attention immediately snapped onto the door. Her eyes beamed with excitement. Five could've sworn he also saw a bit of adoration flash in her eyes as well, but he waved it off. He needed to remain focus on his mission.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets – a certain action that he knew made Vanya blush for some odd reason – Five made his way to his special musician, closing the gap with each step until she's within arm's reach. Once she was, Five wasted no time and pulled her into his warm and loving embrace. He inhaled in her sweet scent, though, the fruity aroma was because of her shampoo, but anyway.

The usually short-tempered, sarcastic teen pulled away from Vanya, still resting his hands on her shoulders. This interesting gleam invaded his eyes as did this unusual smirk.

Uh…oh…

Vanya knew that that was his "scheming" look. He was up to something, and she was almost certain that she'd be dragged into his conniving little plans as well. All she wanted to do was play her violin and perhaps master Antonio Vivaldi's gorgeous piece, "The Four Seasons: Spring" as well. But, Five had other plans for her in mind.

She really needed to learn how to use her backbone when it came to him. At the same, it's because of him that she even had one in the first place.

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place…

Vanya raised a brow and asked,

"What's your devious mind planning now, Five?"

Five chuckled as he shook his head, "Always quick to accuse me of something. I'm hurt, Vanya…"

Now, it was her turn to chuckle. In the beginning, when he said that, she used to genuinely believe him. Her heart tightened, and the air in her lungs suddenly evaporated. While she disliked hurting her siblings feelings, it was Five that she especially despised. He had always been the support system that she desperately needed, so it pained her knowing that she had wounded his feelings. Then, shortly, Five would tell that it was a joke, especially after seeing tear up once or twice. Klaus was right. Vanya was too pure of heart. She cried over fucking ants whenever he or any other siblings accidentally stepped on them.

She definitely needed his protection. A princess and her knight-in-shining armor…

Playfully messing up her hair, Five found her annoyed expression amusing. But before she could ruffle his hair back, messing up his perfectly combed locks, Five guided her over to the coach and thus began discussing his plans to get back at Luther.

At first, Vanya was skeptical. A contest to see which one of them was the better boyfriend? That's stupid. They might as well oust themselves to Reginald. She'd be sure to be shipped off to another boarding school if he were to find out about Five's plan.

She pressed her lips together, trying to find the right combination of words to say next.

Luckily, Five beat her to it. Though, she wouldn't say that his sentence was a good choice of words…

"Come on, Vanya. Wouldn't it be fun to knock Luther back down a peg or two? And you'd be also proving to Allison that you picked wisely while she got stuck with that Neanderthal." He explained; his eyes basically begged her.

Vanya made a face, "Our definition of the word "fun" are totally different," She gently placed a warm hand on top of his, "While, yes, I would love the opportunity to get back at Luther for all the terrible things he's said to me, revenge is never the answer."

"Well…not the exact answer…but one of the answers. Kind of like a multiple-choice test, Vanya."

"I know what a multiple-choice test is, Five. I'm not that stupid."

Five looked taken back. His eyes widened. His mouth slightly ajar. Had he offended her? Slowly, a look of utter and complete panic washed over him. A rare moment for him as he's never one to panic. Klaus? Yes. But him? Never in a million years. Yet here he was panicking over the fact that he had unintentionally offended his beloved. Oh, God. And it didn't help that the more he panicked over it, the more his heart tightened. One of the moments where he despised being a semi-emotional teen boy. Why couldn't he be one of those hormonal teens he had seen a few times? Then, he quickly reminded himself that he's only thirteen. A thirteen-year-old goy who had an insane infatuation on his "sister", but what's the difference?

Vanya, on the other hand, secretly enjoyed making Five incredibly flustered. She had to fight the smile that threatened to form on her precious face. She even bit her bottom lip for added measure as Five continued to look frozen in his place. For a second there, she had almost thought that her smarty pants discovered a new ability to his powers. He could initiate in spatial jumping, already had a rough understanding on the concept of time-travel, so him being able to freeze time would not surprise her.

If anything…she'd feel absolutely proud of him…

Taking a quick glance at the clock, Vanya deemed that Five freaked himself out long enough, she raised her hand and began to wave it sporadically; anything to obtain his attention.

Seconds later, Five snapped out his rather depressing train of thought, and raised his brow.

"Are you mad at me?"

Vanya smiled, "Why would I be mad at you?"

Five wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and pulled her body close. Again, he blamed his hormones. What little hormones he had fully developed.

He quickly pressed a sweet kiss on the side of her face before pulling back.

"Because, Vanya, I had insulted your intelligence."

"No, you didn't." She stated, still innocently smiling at him. "I know you well enough to know when you actually insult someone." She added, creating a sense of curiosity to flow within Five's mind.

"Oh? Do tell."

"You tend to use your more advanced vocabulary when you insult someone because you find it hilarious to see the person's baffled expression. Then, you dumb down your sentences; thus, insulting the person's intelligence even more. If that fails, then you resort to name-calling." Vanya kindly explains with an amused gleam in her eyes. At that moment, she felt proud with herself. All her years of observing her siblings had pay off.

A long whistle emitted from Five's lips as he slowly nodded. Damn. She had gotten him down quite well.

He faintly chuckled as he complimented Vanya's observation skills.

"Well since you made me believe that you were mad at me, now you have to participate in this little contest!"

Vanya groaned, "Fine…but if dad finds out about this, I better not be the scapegoat…"

"Trust me, Vanya, I'd never use you as a scapegoat, but if our oh so wonderful siblings do, then they'll have to answer to me."

"Has ever one told you that you look scary when you smirk and have this conniving little gleam in your eyes?"

A few days later, both the resident couples agreed to meet in the foyer an hour after Reginald had left for his business trip. Both Five and Luther had gotten lucky when their loving "father" had announced that there could be more recruits for the Umbrella Academy, so he and Pogo had ventured off to see if these candidates were indeed worthy to be a part of the academy. The "siblings" had prayed that they would receive new candidates. That way maybe – just maybe – they'd each have a chance of normalcy. To be normal teens with normal problems.

Wishful thinking…

Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, Five absentmindedly played with Vanya's hair. He loved how soft her locks felt against the tips of his fingers. Vanya watched Luther and Allison; her lip thinned as she did. Up until this point, Five had won a majority of the tasks. Honestly, she firmly believed that Five rigged this competition because he took advantage of Luther not being incredibly smart.

And Luther had the same conclusion…

Allowing his anger to consume him, he banged his fist against the wall. The loud bang caused all the siblings, minus Five, to become startled. Seeing Vanya flinched out of the corner of his eyes angered Five, however, he quickly silenced his rage as he had one more task before he could dub him the better protector. He's mentally counting down until he could brag about it.

Ah…sweet victory…he could taste it…

Turning his head towards Vanya, Five then lifted one arm, reaching towards her face. He cupped one of her cheeks and softly caressed before directing his attention on to the fuming Luther.

"Alright, Luther, I'll tell you what," He pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning against, "Seeing how I annihilated your sorry ass so far in this competition, I'll let you pick the final task. How does that sound?" He suggested, smirking.

Luther narrowed his eyes onto his cocky sibling. Funny. It's usually Diego that challenged him, so this was a nice change of scenery.

The self-appointed leader, as he had been dubbed, "number one", by Reginald, thought about any possible tasks that he could challenge Five too. Then, as if someone listened to his pleas, a light bulb went off in Luther's head.

While, Five did have the ability to jump through space, Luther noticed that it took some time for him to go from one spot to another. Yes. That should bruise Five's ego and deflate it just a bit.

With a determined grin, Luther looked straight at Five and said,

"Let's see who's faster at deflecting."

Five raised a brow, almost looking offended by Luther's suggestion.

"Deflection? Seriously, Luther? That's the best that you can think of?"

"Deflecting Diego's knives."

Both Allison and Vanya became wide-eyed. Fear slowly entered through their bodies. He's kidding, right? Then, the two girls turned their heads towards Diego, who's currently minding his own business and polishing his knives.

The girls' mouths dropped; their jaws almost landed on the ground. They liked their respective men but not enough for the two girls to be Diego's knife throwing dummy—especially Vanya. She knew that Five had gotten quick at jumping through space but not enough to stop a dagger that headed straight towards her.

A look of dread completely took over Vanya's face as she directed her gaze towards Five, who looked absolutely livid.

Luther had managed to do the two things that angered Five to no end. Outsmart him and put Vanya in harm's way.

But knowing him, Five would not back down. His pride wouldn't allow him.

God help her…

"Five…?" Vanya called out; her voice soft as a mouse.

Too agitated to verbally answer, Five merely hummed in response. Vanya didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of his wrath. Luther did.

"We can just let them win this one. It's fine with me."

"Yeah, listen to our sister. She's actually being useful to us for once."

That did it.

Without a second thought, Five activated his spatial jump ability and reappeared right in front of Luther. No sign of fear visible on the boy's face. Five would teleport somewhere else before Luther even had the chance to grab him.

"We are going through with this idiotic task of yours," He stepped closer to Luther, "And when we win, you'll apologize to Vanya and leave her the fuck alone. Understand?" He declared; venom dripped down every word.

Luther, on the other hand, scoffed. He's not afraid of Five nor his empty threats.

"The courtyard. Now."

Both Allison and Vanya sighed in defeat, while the sisters never saw eye-to-eye, they did have at least a mutual understanding. Even though Allison rarely showed it, she both envied and respected Vanya. It took a strong person to handle six egos, especially Five's.

Now standing in the middle of the courtyard – as the sun lowered itself behind the skyline – the couples stood face-to-face. While, with Diego, stood off to the side. One of the joys of his ability. He could control the direction of his knives.

The two highly prideful teenage boys turned their bodies towards their respective woman. Both Luther and Five offered words of comfort and reassurance as they each vowed that no harm would come to them.

Five, gently rubbed Vanya's bare arms, having taken off her jacket because of the summer breeze.

"You trust me, right?"

"With my life."

Hearing her say that caused Five's heart to flutter just a bit.

With the biggest smile, Five said, "Good."

He kissed Vanya's forehead sweetly before shouting at Luther that he was ready.

Luther nodded, interlacing his fingers with Allison's, before walking them over to Five and Vanya.

"Okay, how do you want to do this?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

Five scoffed, "You're asking me? This stupid ass task was your idea."

Luther growled, narrowing his eyes onto the annoying pain in the ass that called himself, "Five".

"How about we flip a coin, and whoever get's heads can go first?" Vanya suggested, acting as the peacemaker between the two – currently – hot-tempered brothers of hers. Allison, nodded her head, agreeing to Vanya's idea. They shouldn't entrust their lives to two teenage boys who currently thought with their emotions instead with a rational mind.

Both Five and Luther reluctantly went along with their idea. They just wanted to get this over with. Not only because it would end this competition, but the girls would no longer be in harm's way.

Luther called over Ben and then handed him a coin. Ben's eyes flickered to Luther and Allison and then over to Five and Vanya. He shook his head, fully aware that this was a horrendous idea, and someone would get injured. He better grab their mother, "Grace", since she always administered them first-aid.

With this feeling of anticipation surging throughout the boys' veins. Five and Luther's gaze remained on to each other's. They swiftly prepared themselves just as Ben flipped the coin high in the air. Each boy quickly called out their chosen side and eagerly watched the coin slowly fall down.

In a matter of seconds, Ben caught it in his left hand and then flipped it over to his right hand, shielding the results from their eyes.

Little by little, Ben lifted up his hand, exposing the results. Each boy were on the edge of their seats; both of them uttered a quick prayer as they hoped the coin toss would be in their respective favor.

"So?" Vanya questioned, standing on the tips of her toes, hoping to catch a glimpse of the results. But alas…she couldn't. She's too short.

Luther's look of anticipation faded away but swiftly replaced with a look of irritation. Of course fucking Five would also get first dibs on initiating in the task. Fuck. But, not wanting to think negatively, Luther thought that it would be better for him and Allison to observe how Five and Vanya do and then plan for their victory.

Gently grasping her hand, Luther guided Allison over to the fountain and away from the area of attack. They were far enough to be out of Diego's view but still able to see how their resident knife thrower moves. Luther whispered to Allison, instructing that she should keep an eye on any repeating actions. That'd be how they'd win.

Meanwhile, with Five and Vanya, the poor violinist tried everything and anything to calm her beating heart. She could practically hear it. That's how loud it pounded against her chest. It also didn't help that her breathing slowly became sporadic. She knew her fear kicked in as her entire body trembled from watching Diego take his place.

A faint groan escaped her lips as Vanya looked to Five, who positioned himself a little off to the side. But not too far that it'd take him a few spatial jumps to appear right in front or near Vanya.

Her life's on the line. There's no way in Hell that he'd make the tiniest mistake.

"Are you guys ready?!" yelled Diego, taking out one knife. For the tasked, he had purposely dulled them as he did not want to be the reason why his sister's were dead. While, yes, he could be heartless towards Vanya, he still cared for her enough to not want to accidentally kill her. But, he'd never verbally say it.

Five looked to Vanya, waiting to get the okay from her.

Taking one final deep breath, Vanya nodded her head. This look of dread visible in her face yet her eyes burned with absolute trust in Five. She just had to.

A confident smile graced his face as Five then shouted Diego to begin.

Not wasting a moment, Diego threw the first knife at Vanya. Out of instinct, Vanya instantly shut her eyes. Her lips tightened as her mind became flooded with nervous thoughts. Her entire body tensed as the poor girl waited for the dull knife to impale her arm or something.

Luckily, it never came…

"I told you that I'd protect you!" She heard Five shout. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open; her body relaxed. But that became short-lived as Vanya saw not one…not two…not three…but four knives heading straight towards her.

Fortunately for her, Five saw them too.

With a determined smirk, he teleported after dagger, barely grabbing the last one before it had hit Vanya in the shoulder.

"Low blow Diego…" He angrily thought as he noticed that the dagger would've hit the shoulder that Vanya rested her violin on. He then took mental note to punch Diego in his dominant arm as tiny act of revenge.

"Are we done?" Vanya asked, letting out a small whine.

Luther, having heard Vanya's question, piped in,

"Yeah! Are you guys done!? Allison and I would like to show you guys how it's done!"

Allison, fed up with Luther's ego, smacked him in the arm, causing the poor boy to yelp.

"What was that for?" He angrily asked, rubbing his arm.

Allison gave him look, "For being a jerk. I'm tired and rather not put myself in harm's way when I can easily rumor all of you guys, especially you Luther." She answered, threatening her secret boyfriend near the end. Honestly, she should've used her ability earlier. This whole competition wouldn't even be a thing if she told both Luther and Five,

"I heard a rumor that you guys have forgotten all about your little competition…"

Seriously…

Why didn't she…?

Pursing his lips, Luther knew that Allison's power was quite deadly. She had rumored a gunman to shoot his friend in the foot a few weeks ago. His body tensed at the thought of being the receiving end of Allison's ability.

Not wanting to find out what it'd feel like, Luther begrudgingly allowed Five and Vanya as he and Allison forfeited.

Allison smiled; admiration glowed in her eyes. She's proud of Luther. Maybe there's hope for him yet.

She then intertwined their hands and headed back inside, inciting him with the possibility of going to their special place for a few sodas. Luther smiled warmly at her as he agreed with her plan.

Shortly, after Allison and Luther disappeared back inside the manor, Ben, Klaus, and Diego trailed behind them, leaving Vanya and Five out in the courtyard alone.

Five, stuffing his hands into his pockets, walked up to Vanya and stood next to her. The two heard the sounds of nature, especially during the summertime. They heard cars passing by, some crickets, and the soft summer breeze. The moon, currently in its crescent form, shone brightly in the night sky as the million of starts took turns twinkling.

Honestly, this was the perfect summer night.

Drinking in the peaceful atmosphere, Vanya found herself closing her eyes as the wind lightly fanned her face. A faint moan escaped her lips as she inhaled the strong natural aroma that Mother Nature offered her.

While, with Five, he found himself staring at Vanya, silently falling in love with how at peace she was. If he could, he'd teleport them to a cabin in the woods where she could enjoy nature and play her violin without interruptions.

Maybe when they were older, he'd do that for their first official date. Just the two of them. Alone.

Boy…he loved the sound of that…

"So…are you proud of me…?" Five playfully asked, displaying his boyish charm.

Vanya, opening her eyes, gave him a look that showed quite the opposite. Though – deep down – she's glad that he had won. Not because it proved that he's the better protector but because she didn't want to hear his angry rants if he lost. He had the habit of cursing after every other sentence. That's one tiny pet-peeve of hers, but she chose to ignore it since it helped him release his pent-up frustrations.

She should invest in making a swear jar for him someday…

Letting out a sigh, the corners of her mouth turned upwards as Vanya playfully shook her head.

"I wouldn't really say that I'm proud…but I am happy that you kept me out of harm's way." She replied, giving him a thumb's up.

Five chuckled as he wrapped a warm arm around Vanya's shoulders.

"I told you, Vanya Hargreeves, I will always protect you, making sure that nothing and no one hurts you."

"Even if you're one of the reasons why I'm in that little predicament in the first place?"

Five playfully shook his head before kissing Vanya's temple sweetly.

"Especially, if I'm the reason why you're in harm's way."

"Just making sure, Five… just making sure…"

A/N: So...I know I said in the comments that I'll released this over the weekend, but I just couldn't wait! What do you guys think, especially of the first chapter? Each chapter would be either a request that you guys commented or an idea that's floating in my mind and then the chapter would hint at the theme of the it! And yes, as you see in the tags, you are welcome to request for SMUT or implied-SMUT since I, personally, see Five & Vanya as characters. I do not picture the actor & actress playing them when it comes to writing the more mature/explicit content. They are just face-claims if that makes sense? In no way am I personally sexualizing Aidan and T.J (the actress of young Vanya) whatsoever when I write the more intimate scenes. After all, they (Vanya & Five) are teens (13 but I will do like time-skips to when they are like 16, 17, and 18 when they do finally become intimate with each other) and can become easily aroused.

disclaimer: Now, I'm fully aware of the discourse between whether the Hargreeves are considered to be engaging in incestuous relationships or not (I especially acknowledge the arguments coming from people who are indeed from adopted families). I also know that the fandom will always be divided because of it so please do not send any hate comments on this story. If it is not your cup of tea, then do not read it. Simple as that. Anyway, I hope you guys like this!

Don't forget to hit that follow/favorite button and/or leave a review on your thoughts! I love hearing them! :) Also feel free to request something if you'd like! I'm always up for writing cute moments with Five x Vanya!

- Kim