"We're so sorry for your loss."

"He's lost his whole family, how pitiful."

"What a shame, such a bright boy as well."

Sora has heard it all before, time and time again.

This little boy was sat in front of a decorated coffin, with a picture of his deceased father staring back at him, a smile on his face. The emotions he felt were muddled and complex, as if they were there, yet not quite.

He remembered getting sent into an orphanage after his death. A small part of him was excited because he was looking forward to making friends his age. However, he was immediately labelled as 'different' and weird, so he didn't get along with any of them.

Death was something that always haunted Yakumo Sora.

Ever since he was born, death lingered over his every breath, waiting for the right time to snatch him away. First, it took his older sister. He was too young to remember anything about her, but it got him thinking and wondering. That's when his father was next.

Death wasn't always a bad thing, Sora thought.

"We're so sorry this happened to you. Surely, their spirit will watch over you forever."

Sora would nod and thank them, even though everything that came out of his mouth was a lie.

Sometimes, Sora would wonder why death came for everyone but himself. His sister and his father were the first ones to go, but his mother may as well be gone along with them, her existence already forgotten to the young boy. Next was the chef at the orphanage, then there was the pastor, and even the stray cat stopped coming by.

Sometimes, he would think it was his fault. His father, who claimed he loved him, yet he treated him like he was anything but a son was the first to be taken by the harsh winds. The pastor always gave him a dirty look, as if he was some kind of bad omen, but then claim he was a gift from God.

What even is love?

Is it love to beat you down to dust, and then claim you're a gift? Is it love to compliment someone on their good looks and then cut up their face as if it was hideous to look at? Is it love to forget you exist and then cry claiming it will never happen again?

Here he was, the same thing happening over and over. This time, he was at Yuzu's aunts funeral.

Oogami Reina.

"We're so sorry for your loss."

"He's lost his whole family, how pitiful."

"What a shame, such a bright boy as well."

This time, it was Yuzu bowing his head in thanks, while Sora, Raiden and Yua watched from the shadows.

It was publicly announced that she died of a sudden heart attack. It wasn't completely out of the question, since she wasn't exactly physically capable, but to Sora it was ridiculous.

The 'heart attack' wasn't a complete lie, there was more to it. Visibly, she had little to no injuries. There were a few light bruises and maybe a scratch or two, but nothing serene enough to cause her death.

Upon closer inspection, her limbs were swollen and her fingertips were almost purple in colour. There was skin found underneath her fingernails, meaning there was some kind of struggle.

To the four of them, it was obvious as to who could do this kind of damage, undetected.

There were blood clots found all over her body, which was what caused the swelling of blood in her limbs, which eventually led to her cardiac arrest.

It was a sadistic death, as if her attacker watched her suffer, slowly clotting more of her blood, and restricting function to all her vital organs as she died a painful death.

"We're so sorry this happened to you. Surely, their spirit will watch over you forever."

It wasn't like she didn't deserve it. No one would mourn her death, certainly not the four of them.

They would probably celebrate.

Yuzu was the first to realise her death.

They were playing Monopoly, and he suddenly stopped. He dropped the die in his hands and blinked a couple of times as if something inside him unravelled. It was the first time Sora had ever seen Yuzu so exposed, open and so off guard.

He composed himself immediately. He covered his face with his hand, and said with a small smile:

"Oogami is dead."

Raiden and Sora immediately glanced at each other, a huge smile spreading on their faces. Yua looked deep in thought, but anyone could see that she was also very happy about it.

Ding, dong, the witch is dead.

~~~

"This doesn't make any sense."

Yua was staring at the ground, trying to organise her thoughts. "She was so well protected. She always has been. She's careful as well. No matter how crazy she was, she was careful and never ever put herself in harm's way."

Yuzu scratched the back of his neck, "She's always been erratic."

Sora shuddered and rubbed his arms that were now covered in goosebumps.

"There was meant to be a huge shipment of supplies from the Tsukiyama family, right? There was a huge landslide and they were exposed. Oogami had to give up an entire branch from the North to avoid it being traced."

"That's not enough to set her off." Sora hesitantly spoke up. He glanced at Yua, "Is it?"

She shook her head and sighed, even so, there was a gleam in her eyes. "Who cares? She's dead!"

Raiden was staring at Yua, with sweat tickling his back. He hated keeping things from Yuzu. He hated doing things behind his back. He hated the idea of not having his support behind him.

As time went by, he couldn't help but think about it constantly, and the consequences when Yuzu finds out. However, for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to tell Yuzu.

It was tearing him apart.

He hated lying to him. So he came to a conclusion. If Yuzu asked him, he has nothing to hide.

"You're right," Yuzu said, his hand still covering his mouth. "Something doesn't add up."

He was smiling.

Seeing Yuzu so happy automatically made Raiden ecstatic, but so incredibly guilty at the same time.

Yuzu then glanced at him. It may have sen like the usual glance, but to Raiden, it meant that his cover was blown.

Immediately, his mind began to rush towards the worst possible conclusion. All sense of reason and logic was abandoned and Raiden felt like he was being sucked into a tornado of his own mind.

Suddenly, he was a small child again, afraid of being thrown out because he wasn't a good boy. He was in the closet again, chanting self-empowering words over and over again, convincing himself that he still had something useful to do.

His throat went dry as if it was just scratched up sandpaper. It was like all the oxygen was sucked out of his lungs and there was nothing left to breathe in. This is it, he thought, I'm useless to him.

Like an umbrella on a sunny day.

All the colour was erased from the air as if someone had opened a drain and all signs of life flowed out, and all that was left was Yuzu's green eyes staring at him.

"I'm sorry!" He cried, almost breaking down into tears from the immense amount of guilt he felt.

Yuzu cocked his head, "What for?"

Raiden blinked, tears already formed in his eyes. His voice came out small and frail, like he was so close to breaking, "Huh?"

"I don't think you have anything to be sorry for," Yuzu casually said, running a hand through his hair. "Don't you think, Yua?"

Yua snickered.

Just like that, everything that had built up within him was about to explode. He dry heaved, trying his best to not explode as he ran out of the building with Sora hot on his tail, complaining under his breath.

Raidan threw his body against the door of the warehouse and crashed onto the grass outside.

For some reason, the air didn't seem to go into his lungs.

Sora peacefully sat down next to Raiden, dusting off his trousers. Then, he began to draw the air towards Raiden, increasing the concentration so he could hopefully breathe better.

Eventually, his raspy quickened breathing began to slow down until he fell asleep.

Sora threw his head back and sighed, and closed his eyes as the wind tousled his hair.

He stayed like that for about ten minutes until he kicked Raiden awake.

~~~

"So, what do we do now?" Sora asked.

"Something fun?" Raiden suggested, very helpfully.

Sora glared at him, a part of him wishing that he just left him there, gasping for breath and suffering all alone, "I meant that since she's dead we don't have to spend time making sure the..." He hesitated, "Drugs... and stuff are good."

Raiden snickered.

"He has a point," Yua pointed out, her eyes closed and her head tilted back over the chair so that her long hair was touching the ground. "We can do whatever we want." Her voice sounded like she was floating.

Yuzu smiled, "How about we travel then?"

That got the three of them very interested, "Travel??"

"Why not? We don't have to go to school anymore since we all technically graduated already except..."

They all looked at Sora, and he moaned.

"I don't want to stay here all alone and go to school!"

"No, you don't have to," Yuzu said. "But I think it's still important to learn all you can, don't you guys agree?"

Sora cringed.

"So it'll be up to us to teach you everything. Me, Yua, and Raiden."

Sora's first instinct was to complain. To whine and spot out harsh words for no good reason, but then he thought back to Raiden. The smiley Raiden who was wheezing and choking only a few moments again, Raiden who hasn't spouted a single complaint.

So he bit his tongue back and sunk back into his seat, not saying a word.

It's fine, he told himself, finally, he could see with his own eyes what Yuzu wants to do.

"But I think we should finish this term of school first."

With that, they all groaned, Sora's voice being the loudest. Still, he held his tongue and began to complain and complain ever so loudly in his head.

Everything seemed to be going as usual until Yua grabbed Sora's arm and whisked him away.

"So," She started, a gleam in her eyes. "Aren't you curious?"

"About?" Sora yawned, already bored and wanting nothing more than to take a nap.

She tilted her head and placed a finger on her lip, s devilish smirk spreading across her face, "You know who!"

"Voldemort?"

She lightly smacked the back of his head, "You know who I'm talking about, don't pretend."

This mysterious girl that Yuzu has never talked about was hated already. Sora couldn't help it. Yuzu never spoke so highly of anyone or valued anyone as must as he did her. He used to talk about her a lot when they were younger, but never any more.

Still, Sora hated her.

They were the same age, and she had done nothing while Sora has got all kind of dirt on his hands, yet she was praised simply for existing. Yakumo Sora has worked hard to not let anyone else be raised the way he was.

Now that he was given the opportunity to meet her, how could he possible decline the offer the size up his competition?

~~~

Raiden is a golden retriever and I just wanna pat his head and floof him up and just call him a good boy

God I don't think I have a single oc that does have some kind of

✨trauma✨

I don't know why I do this

But it's just so much fun and idk why. Maybe one day I shall create an oc that is of sound mind and is mentally stable with a great outlook on life

Don't quote me on that