Exception

By: Aviantei

68. Weekend Planning

Ari was a pretty cheerful person in general, and she didn't think of herself as someone who hated much. Sure, she was self-aware enough to know that she was spiteful as all get out, capable of holding long-enduring grudges over small things that often resulted in less than desirable outcomes for whomever had incurred her ire (see: Chapter 64)—but hate? No, the list of things that actually fell under the designation of hate in Ari's mind were few and far between. Among said few things included the following:

Corn on the cob (she'd overeaten once as a child, threw up as a result, and had a negative association with the vegetable since).

Birds getting too close (this one she found very unfortunate, as she thought birds were cute as all get out, but allergies were a cruel, cruel mistress).

People hurting her friends.

Though they often played rival to each other and had no qualms whatsoever about taunting each other, Ari and Lenalee were still friends.

Thus seeing Lenalee in a state of distress was enough for Ari to set aside any concerns about her hot cocoa stores getting raided and turn straight to violence. Oh, I'm sorry, did you hurt one of her friends in any way, shape, or form? Get ready for a swift and painful retribution.

Because Ari was certain Lenalee had gotten hurt. Not just because of the new haircut—which looked cute as fuck—but because she was tense in a way most people wouldn't have noticed, the set of her shoulders strained, her eyes looking like they wanted to cry but hadn't yet. Small differences, yes, but easy enough to spot with Ari's very powerful memory.

Threatening to steal the perpetrator's kneecaps seemed fair game at this point.

Upon hearing the offer, though, Lenalee just chuckled, though the sound was nowhere near its proper glory. Lavi patted his friend's back, while Ari waited for an answer. Revenge was sweet and all, but it needed to be developed for the specific target for maximum impact. Lenalee didn't provide a name, though, instead saying, "Please don't."

That told Ari plenty, though it didn't specifically tell her who. Lenalee was not the type to roll over and take being wronged. She, too, could be a petty bitch if the situation called for it. That she was protecting whoever had upset her from Ari meant that the perpetrator was someone close to her that she cared about, narrowing down Lenalee's lengthy list of acquaintances to the much smaller one of her innermost circle.

Ari found this especially unforgivable. You didn't just hurt someone that you'd made a Blood Oath with, dammit! That was so not cool!

But forcing the matter wasn't going to help the situation, either, so Ari decided to let it rest—for now. She could go joint hunting later; now was the time to make sure Lenalee was feeling alright. Ari plopped down onto the couch, tugging Lenalee into a hug that was careful enough not to spill her drink in the process. "Fine, I won't do anything to whoever did this." The yet was left unspoken. They could get into the nitty gritty details later. "Your new haircut looks super cute, by the way."

The compliment was enough to bring a smile to Lenalee's lips, though it wasn't at one-hundred percent power. The Bookman siblings would take that over a faked smile any day, though. "Thanks. Your special hot chocolate is extra tasty, too."

"Isn't it? It's from my favorite café I found in France. I would've brought the whole place back with me if I could!" Lenalee took another sip from her drink, the fantasy of just running off to somewhere far away flitting through her mind for a minute. Black Order had already sent Ari out on a foreign exchange program; maybe Lenalee could just apply and get away for the last few years of high school, make a new life somewhere for college…

Except for the hitch in that plan that permission from one's parent or guardian was needed for such a thing.

Nī-san would never.

The thought and the sensation of defeat it brought along with it was enough to make Lenalee's eyes start to shimmer with tears. It was all so—so—frustrating! Unable to yet read minds of people beyond each other, Ari and Lavi shared a glance, the latter looking askance. He'd been supporting Lenalee all day, yeah, but that had been through her bout of anger, and he was at a little bit more of a loss of what to do once she started crying. After all, he managed Ari's wrath all the time, so he had experience. There was no way his hellion of a little sister would ever show him such obvious weakness!

Said hellion repressed a sigh, instead focusing her energy on rubbing comforting circles into her friend's back. Lenalee was wiping at her eyes, even more upset at herself for reaching a breaking point, but Ari wasn't about to allow any of that self-pity in her house, no way, no how. "I know what you need, Lena-chan," she said, earning a questioning hum. "You need a fluffy movie marathon. Rom coms. Feel good flicks. Those stupid low budget movies that aren't any good but are fun to laugh at anyways." Ari had a stockpile of the things ready to go, a mix of old favorites and recent releases alike. "Nī-chan owes me a movie marathon night anyways. Why don't you join us?"

It was a sweet gesture, but Lavi realized one potential issue with that plan that he couldn't let pass without full context. "Are you sure about that? We're gonna be up all night, and you don't want me driving the Lenalady home whenever I'm keeping awake on pure soda alone." That was just a recipe for disaster, and Lavi had the evidence to prove it. Rest in peace, poor fire hydrant. You will be missed.

Ari was more than aware of the incident, but she shrugged it off. "So she can just stay here tonight. It's not that big a deal." And the more she was thinking about it, Ari was realizing that she hadn't had a sleepover in ages, and now she super wanted one. Inviting Ivy would've been nice, too—the two had yet to do any super extensive bonding—but Ari wasn't sure just how many people Lenalee wanted to publicize that she was upset, too, so Ari held off on making the suggestion. "Come on, Lena-chan, it'll be super fun! I have a bunch more snacks from France, too; it'll be amazing!"

"I mean, that sounds fun, but…" Lavi was already thinking through the logistics. In most cases, he wouldn't bother dealing with that stuff, instead encouraging this type of plan to go full speed ahead. But the current issue meant that asking for permission to stay over would be a bit more tricky. This hesitation was another vital clue for Ari to understand the situation, but she wasn't about to pry whenever Lenalee was still clearly upset. No, she'd just catch Lavi in a headlock later and make him spill if Lenalee didn't say what was going on herself. "You're super welcome to stay over if you want to, Lenalady, obvs, but if you—"

"Fuck it!"

There was a pause as the Bookman siblings processed who had just spoken. It wasn't that Lenalee never cursed, just that it was a much rarer occurrence than not. And, well, fuck was pretty high up the tier list when it came down to it, meaning that the occasion they were in must be truly special.

Sniff, Ari thought, I'm so proud of her.

But Lenalee wasn't done with her outburst in any sense of the form, no. By now, she was positively worked up, and there was no bringing her back down. "Nī-san thinks I can't handle myself? Wants to make me out as someone who's going to get into trouble the first second he takes his eyes off her? Fine! I—I won't even ask permission to stay out!"

It wasn't that big of a leap, but for Lenalee, who had always been a well-behaved child, it was the first time she'd even considered doing something without permission. And if she'd been with literally anyone else in the Protag Squad, they would've pointed out that doing something like that might just make the situation worse—but Lenalee was with Lavi and Ari, which meant one thing and one thing only:

The Bookman siblings were going to enable the shit out of her.

"Yesss," Ari said, getting dangerously close to letting lose a bout of maniacal laughter. "Join usss. We have fancy hot cocoa and fuzzy blankets. Oh, if we're gonna do this marathon, we should get ready now. Lena-chan, finish your hot cocoa! I'm going to get my shower out of the way and find some clothes that'll fit Lena-chan! Nī-chan, you start consolidating our snacks and be ready to put the pizza in the oven at my signal! Got it? Got it. Teeeaaam, move out!" And with that, she bolted off towards the bathroom, not even waiting for a response.

Lenalee and Lavi exchanged a look and a wry smile, and they settled into their assigned tasks as well.

While the Bookman siblings were all in favor of Lenalee just staying over without asking permission (and, really, it wasn't like she hadn't stayed over before), there was still the issue of Komui more than likely flying into a frenzy if Lenalee didn't come home at all. They'd all been there to witness the devastation that could come from such a scenario before, and Lenalee was enough of a sweetheart to not want her brother's wrath to fall upon Lavi and Ari should Komui find out who was enabling her. Of course, the fact that he'd even pull out the drill in the first place was, in fact, part of the problem that Lenalee had, but that didn't mean she wanted her friends to get caught in the crossfire.

Even so, she was still a bit too pissed off at her brother to even want to deal with his nonsense in the first place. In any other situation, she would've taken advantage of his doting tendencies to get permission—pretty please, Nī-san, I love you, thanks, you're the best—but that just wasn't happening. Maybe, she considered, it was because she did those things half the time that Komui took his doting to the extreme.

So what was a girl to do?

Call Reever instead, of course.

Lenalee was freshly showered and pajamaed in Ari's spare black and white star pjs, the fabric nice and soft as Lenalee toyed with it between her fingers. Her cellphone sat on Ari's bed before her on speakerphone, the rings echoing a few times before the line connected.

Reever, who had been dealing with Komui's tears all day, was almost frantic as he answered. "Lenalee, please tell me you're coming home soon. Your brother's a mess." A disaster, really, and not just in the usual way that Reever would never admit that he found endearing.

In any other situation, Lenalee would have felt bad to leave Komui in such distress, but she couldn't help but think that he deserved it. What was he expecting after so many years? For Lenalee to never change? What about when she graduated? At this rate, she couldn't help but worry that she'd never get out of the house. What if she wanted to go to college somewhere else? What about whenever she eventually found a partner she wanted to settle down with?

The lack of an immediate answer was enough to make a feeling of foreboding start to swirl in Reever's gut. "Lenalee."

"Sorry, Reever," she said, meaning the apology with every ounce of her soul. She was sorry for putting part of the cleanup on him, but not enough to change his mind. "I just…I don't think I can handle going home for tonight."

I don't think I can manage being nice to Nī-san.

She knew that she should, that she should treat him well for taking care of her. Even in the past, their arguments had been minor, and she'd always had it in her to forgive him. And while she knew she'd get to that point eventually, going back home would feel like a compromise she wasn't willing to make.

Reever let out a sigh that could only be made by someone whose suffering knew no bounds. "Do you wanna talk about any of the reasons why, or are you just gonna turn on the charm to convince me to see things your way?" As someone who had known Lenalee since she was young, both options were pretty likely, and he was trying to prepare himself for what excuse he was gonna have to give Komui for this. "I know he's a lot, but he does care." Hence why Komui had been a depressed mess after fighting with Lenalee.

"…I know," Lenalee said, which was a hopeful sign if nothing else. "I'm not saying that he doesn't care. But I almost can't take any of this anymore, and if I go home, nothing's going to change." Realizing she was getting pretty close to spilling the beans, Lenalee traced the star patterns on her borrowed pajamas. "Plus I'm still mad! If I go home, I'll just say something nasty, and that's not what I wanna do, so can you please make sure Nī-san doesn't go on a complete rampage? Please?"

Even when talking over the phone, Lenalee was more than capable of being compelling. It was all too easy for Reever to imagine her pleading expression that no one ever stood a chance against, and that was just a fraction of her power! "Fine," Reever said, unable to resist either of the Lee siblings in any capacity. "But just for the weekend, okay? If you're gone any longer than that, I don't think I'll be able to hold him back at all." Just imagining the potential carnage was enough to make the man shudder. "You're somewhere safe, right?" he asked, just to make sure.

"Mmhmm." There was no safer place she could think of than with some of her closest friends. "I'm not gonna say where—" and she didn't even have to explain why since Reever knew just what Komui would do if he found out where she was saying, so no questions asked! "—but I'm at a friend's house, and they said it's okay for me to be over. We're gonna watch movies, and I'll probably cry and complain later, but I think I should be okay." Which just meant that if Reever could hold out through Komui's own waterworks for the evening, they'd be home free, and the whole incident would be over without issue.

"Got it. If anything happens, though, you can call me." Reever trusted Lenalee's judgement on who she'd be safe with, but there was always a chance of an emergency, and he'd be there if she needed it. Lenalee hummed her agreement. "Alright, we'll call that enough for today, then. Thanks for at least checking in with me, Lenalee. I'll do my best to keep Komui from causing mass destruction." Something Reever seemed to be doing a lot of lately.

Is it kinda sad that I'm used to it by now?

While Reever was questioning his tolerance for such nonsense, Lenalee was feeling relieved that the conversation had gone well. Really, where would any of them be without Reever? "Thank you. I appreciate it." From Reever's side of the phone, there was a muffled voice that he couldn't make out. "Okay, I'm gonna go. It sounds like the popcorn's ready."

"Wouldn't want to let that go to waste," Reever said, and Lenalee let herself smile. "Take care of yourself, okay? I'll see you by Monday, alright?" He, like everyone else involved, hoped that would be more than enough time to sort things out.

"Okay. By Monday," Lenalee said, trying not to sound too excited by the prospect of not going home for the weekend without explicit permission. Sure, she was gonna have to go without her phone, because there was no doubt that Komui was going to attempt to blow it up the moment he got wind of what was happening, but with her friends around that wouldn't be the biggest deal. "Thanks a lot, Reever! I super appreciate you!"

And without even waiting for a complete response, she'd hung up, leaving Reever alone with his thoughts for a moment. It wasn't to say he'd had the most exciting plans for the weekend—mostly catching up on some reading he wanted to do and maybe going out for coffee or something—but it seemed he had new plans now. Man, the things he did to mitigate impending disaster. He should earn a medal or something.

So he took a few moments to think over a game plan, during which time he attempted to tidy up some of the mess he'd left unattended over the week. Of course, there wasn't enough leeway to take care of all of it, but he did manage to bundle together some laundry in the proper basket as he packed up a duffel bag.

If Lenalee was going to be gone for the weekend, Reever needed to be able to do the same. Except instead of frozen pizzas and popcorn, he was probably going to need to pick up some alcohol first.

Already forming a shopping list in his mind, Reever sent Komui a text to let the other man know he was coming over.

And so, weekend plans were set for the time being, with plenty of prayers that everyone in the immediate vicinity of the Lee siblings would be able to make it out alive.

[Author's Notes]

Ari going wild is super fun to write, as is Lenalee throwing caution to the wind. We're moving along here. Plus I got to play around with Reever and Komui in the background, so it was an enjoyable chapter. I hope you all feel the same!

April is always a hectic month for me at work, so here's hoping we make it through in one piece! Even so, I'll keep up the posting progress here, so you can look forward to a certain nice chapter in two weeks.

Next Time: "69. How Hard Could Compromise Be?" Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[13 April 2024]