Chapter Text
He didn't know where he was headed, he just knew he had to get away. Far away from them. He was starting to run out of breath and the tears wouldn't stop falling but he couldn't care less. He just kept on running, ignoring all of the stares that he was getting, and didn't stop until he reached a dark alley where he immediately let out his broken sobs.
>>>
A few weeks have passed and the Eighth could still remember that awful feeling, the feeling of his heart shattering into millions of pieces the second he accidentally spotted them, kissing in broad daylight while he was on his way to the Alicein mansion after being invited by the Seventh to celebrate Christmas with him and the others, which he was generally happy about. He had tried his best to hold back the tears that built up, not wanting to let them fall in front of the butterfly, who had just smiled softly and wiped the tears away. Tsubaki also still remembered exactly what Lily had said as he embraced him when the tears had stopped.
"You won't ever be alone again, little brother... You have us now and your subclasses as well. None of us will ever leave your side and regardless of what happened in the past, you're still family and we've all forgiven you... Don't you ever forget that, okay?"
Oh, how he wished those words were true, specifically the last part. If he was really forgiven by a certain black cat and a simple-minded brunette, then why?
Why had they played such a cruel joke on him? Why did they wait for the one day he was leaving his apartment after such a long time? Why were they so close to it in the first place? Could that really have just been nothing but a coincidence or did they know about how he felt and decided to mess with him?
Despite the indirect humiliation that he had just gone through, Tsubaki ended up still going to the mansion after having gone back home to wash his face and cover up the redness under his eyes but he had such a hard time keeping the mask up when either the Eldest or his Eve started to talk to him with either their usual smile or bored and neutral facial expression. It hurt just to even be near them for longer than a second but he didn't want them to suspect something was wrong.
On the outside, he had his usual smile and joked around with the other siblings but on the inside, he was struggling not to break down into tears and right when he thought that things couldn't have possibly gotten worse, he was wrong.
The Sloth pair had ended up coming clean with the Servamps and other Eves and announced that they were going out and had been for a while in secret. Just like that, the Eighth made the sad realization that what he saw earlier that day was not a sick joke but reality.
Biting his lip so he wouldn't break down, he congratulated them before excusing himself and saying that he wasn't feeling well but not before subtly grabbing a lovely bouquet from the table, a present that he had planned to give to the Eldest after confessing his feelings but now knowing that Ash's heart belonged to another, he decided to spare himself the extra humiliation and heartbreak by taking it before the cat or anyone else noticed that it was even there.
That same exact bouquet was on the table in the fox's room, slowly withering away since it had been left untouched and didn't bother placing the flowers in a vase filled with water. He turns towards the bouquet slowly, a sad smile on his face.
"They look just as dead as me... Well, me and my heart... The same heart that wasn't able to feel for centuries but broke in less than a second..."
Tears slowly fall down his cheeks and he forces himself to look away from the flowers, clutching his chest tightly and covering his mouth with his other hand, muffling the sobs that threatened to escape .
"Deep down I knew... knew that Nii san wouldn't be mine but... why does it still hurt so much?"
After some time had passed, he no longer wanted to stay indoors. He wiped away his tears roughly before getting off his bed and heading out of his room. He was in no mood to fix up his appearance. He just wanted to get away from the deafening silence that filled the apartment. He slipped on his camellia robe and his wooden sandals and immediately walked out the front door, not bothering to close it.
>>>
After what seems like hours, Tsubaki comes to a stop by a roadside, not realizing the rain soaking him from head to toe. However, what caught his eye was a single cyclamen, how fitting, isn't it? Nonetheless, he bent over to pick the lonely flower, holding it gently between his nimble fingers. It looked sad, just like him. Two lonely flowers beneath this feeling of melancholy could only become closer, more understanding to one another, isn't that right?
"How lonely you must be....That's funny, so am I. How about we walk together? I wonder if that would help ease the pain, even just a little bit." Tsubaki spoke lowly, voice drowned out by the heavy sound of rain pattering the ground. People might think he's insane for talking to flowers, but really, all he wanted was to be able to talk to someone. Unfortunately, that wish would never come true.
"Oh well... what good would that do?" The lonely fox said aloud with a sad smile.
Tsubaki looks at the other side of the street and spots an alleyway. Looking back down at the cyclamen, he says, "Let's get out of the rain for a bit. You're soaked." Keeping his eyes on the lone flower in his hand, he slowly starts crossing the street.
Though, maybe he should've been looking up rather than on the flower, because those screeching tires would be the last thing he would hear.
CRASH!
As his body hit the ground and his vision was slowly fading, he shed one last tear... the cyclamen still in his hand.
"Sayonara... Nii san..."