"Hi Demetrius…" Damian hung his head low. The teenager walked right past Loid into the home.
"Damian. What on earth are you doing here?!"
"I, uh-"
"Who are you people?! Are you kidnappers?!" Jeered the teenager, positioning his brother behind himself. Yor gasped at the word!
"What! Of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?"
"When I saw my brother with you, you ran! I could barely keep up!"
"Er, we didn't see you…" Loid lied, a sick feeling coming to his stomach. So it was Demetrius who was pursuing them? That likely looked very bad in front of the Desmond's, which could endanger their mission!
"Ah-?! Uh, Anya wanted crepes!" The little telepath explained, trying to help her parents out. "We had to hurry though!"
"If you're not kidnappers, then…" A passing thought trickled through Demetrius's mind, "Is this my baby brother's girlfriend?"
"Gah!" Anya deadpanned. That was not the case!
"My name is Loid Forger, and this is my wife Yor and my daughter Anya. Anya attends Eden Academy."
"Sy-on boy and me are classmates! That's all, you creep!"
"Anya!" Yor gasped before nervously laughing. "Any brother of Anya's friend is always welcome here! Please come in!"
But Demetrius did not budge. His eyes darted judgingly. It was incredibly difficult to read him on expression alone, so Anya ventured into his thoughts.
"Father put me in charge of Damian and I let him out of sight so easily! Father will not be pleased about this. I don't know these people! I can't trust my baby brother with them!" Demetrius turned to look at Damian, a very capable six year old, thinking to himself, "Look at him, he's just a baby!"
Damian suddenly felt the urge to speak for himself. Breaking away from his brother, he stood between him and the Forgers.
"I-I just wanted to hang out with my classmate! You do stuff on your own all the time, but I'm stuck at Eden all day every day!" Complained the young boy.
"I can do what I like because I'm seventeen. I'm an adult." Stoically said Demetrius. And in the recesses of his mind, he thought, "And you're just a baby. So small."
"Sy-on boy is very grownup!" Anya added in her opinion. "He can read street signs and he knows how to buy stuff!"
"Yeah!" Added Damian! What else is there to being a grownup?
Kneeling down to his brother's height, the teenager sighed,
"Damian. You know better than to leave the campus without my or father's permission."
Damian looked conflicted. He did know that but-
"Father is going to be very disappointed in you."
"…"
Disappointed?
Seeing the woeful look splattered on Damian's face, Loid spoke up with a worried tone,
"I'm sure we can talk this over, there's just been a few miscommunications."
"And I don't know who you are, but as the adult in the situation you should have called for my permission for him!" Yelled Demetrius, trying to sound older than he actually was. "For all I know you could be a foreign agent trying to steal information off of my baby brother!"
Wow he was spot on with that conclusion, which was really scary. Loid gulped a lump in his throat. Whatever he said next would have to be carefully calculated…
"Forgive me if we portrayed sinisterly in your eyes. I can assure you, all we wanted was to be a safe place for Anya's friends to come, so that they feel welcome and at home." Explained Loid, lacing his lie with as much truth as possible. "Damian, would you mind explaining to your brother that we had thought you had called him already?"
"Damian, did you say you had called me?" Demetrius growled. "You know how father feels about liars. I know he will be more than disappointed with you."
More than disappointed?
Damian stood between the Forgers and his older brother. He didn't want to be a disappointment. No, he can't have that- father already doesn't like him! All Damian wanted was his dad to like him…
"Sy-on?" Anya peeped, hearing the buzzing of his thoughts. "Please tell the truth."
But Damian didn't dare look into her sparkly green eyes. He didn't need that distraction right now. No, he didn't need that guilt. Grabbing his brother's robe, Damian mumbled,
"But Anya, I thought you said your dad called my brother?"
"…What?"
"Wait. Your little friend lied?" Demetrius turned to the cute little girl, looming over her. His eyes looked tired… and angry.
Loid and Yor gasped! Damian was getting them in huge trouble! But Damian kept going with the tall tale.
"Anya said Mr. Forger called you. Did you not get a phone call?" This was perfect. If Damian blamed Anya, then father wouldn't be more disappointed in him! It was already enough not being an imperial scholar like Demetrius, but to be found out as a liar would cut off any relationship with his father!
"…" Anya couldn't believe what was happening. Damian was turning this all on her? On her family? He… lied. But… she thought they were friends…
"I'm going to call my father." Demetrius scowled with a glare. "He's going to talk to the school directors about your daughter's involvement at Eden Academy going forward."
In just one sentence, three hearts shattered.
No more Eden Academy? If Anya wasn't enrolled at Eden Academy, then they didn't need their family unit! And Operation Strix… would be over. And the lingering hopes of world peace would grow slimmer and slimmer…
All because of Damian.
"Come on Damian, let's go." Snuffed Demetrius as he turned on his heels to leave abruptly. With his head hung low, Damian left with his brother, only looking back once, just to see if—
Tears welled out of emerald green eyes. And there between two consoling parents was his friend with a shattered soul.
"Sy-on…?"
Her eyes welled up, emanating complete, bitter betrayal. And immediately, Damian knew.
He was the worst person to exist. Ever.
