"Hey Haru," I heard a high-pitched voice call. It took a moment for me to recognize the voice, but once I did I knew the owner wouldn't go away if I ignored them. In fact, said person would probably get louder and more annoying. I paused the video game that I was playing and turned my head slowly from the television screen to the person standing in my doorway, instantly focusing on a pair of big brown eyes. My younger cousin was looking intently at me, wide, innocent eyes fixed on me. He was wearing feminine clothing like always, and, like always, they suited him better, easily complementing his small figure. It was hard to believe that he was the same age as me and he still looked so young, like a ten year old. A hat was perched on the back of his head, letting his golden bangs stick out and frame his delicate, girly face. I knew he wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted, so I put down the controller I was holding and showed him that he had all of my attention, for the moment. I was slightly upset that mercilessly killing zombies would have to wait for a while. And damn it, I was getting into my game too. It was a great way to relax after a hard day of school.
"Yeah, Momiji?" I asked in my normal cool tone, feigning boredom as always. He fidgeted for a moment, looking like he couldn't quite figure out what to say. I almost smirked at him; he always had something to say, even if it didn't make sense or belong in the conversation. This moment of silence was a rarity, one that I'd have to write down and tell others, especially Kyo. I doubt that anyone would believe this event anyway. After a while of the odd silence, he gave me a small, almost shy, smile and asked me a question that I hadn't expected.
"Why do you always act like you're bored and don't care about things?" his innocent voice questioned in a genuinely curious way. I blinked slowly once…twice… 'Why did I always act like that?'
'What if I showed someone how I really was? How would they react? What if they despised how I really am, what I really think? Was I afraid of getting hurt? I don't know if I could bear having people hate me for me. I hide who I really am to protect myself, to avoid getting hurt by someone. I don't let people see the true me out of fear. I act emotionless because I'm afraid of being rejected by others. I put that calm, collected face on because I'm a coward. I wear it until every thing bottles up, becomes too much, and I explode, turn black and harm the nearest thing, whether it's an object or person. I haven't let anyone see the real me since I was with Rin, and I still regret that decision, especially after we broke up. It still hurts, knowing that she was so close to me and then ended our relationship just like that. I am afraid of feeling that pain again.'
I snapped out of my daze after I realized that I hadn't answered my cousin for a while. I give him a small smirk, running a hand through my odd black and white hair. "I act like that because the girls love it," I finally replied, turning back to my game and the undead enemies frozen on the screen, signaling to him that our conversation was over. I was lucky this time and he did drop the subject. Normally the little bugger was so persistent about these things. As I hit the pause button to resume my game, I almost missed the small, sympathetic smile he gave me before closing my door, letting me continue to slice the heads off of the hordes of zombies in peace.
End