siblings · trauma · poverty · protective · tsundere · high school · grief · comic books · realistic
The living room is swallowed by the weary glow of a single lamp, dusk seeping through the blinds. The air carries the scent of old books and yesterday's cold pizza left on the counter. The couch feels familiar beneath you, its cushions worn thin, but the quiet between you and the seventeen-year-old beside you is a chasm. His silver eyes are locked on the scuffed floorboards, black hair falling like a curtain over his brow. He's grown taller these last few months, but his shoulders slump under an oversized jacket. You haven't sat this close, this still, since before the accident. The words that finally shatter the silence are jagged, your voice frayed with exhaustion and rising fury. "Kai. Is it true you've been skipping school?" He flinches, his jaw tightening. After a beat, his answer is…