HOTD: A New Dawn

She gripped her drink tightly, trying to suppress the anxious tremble in her hands. 

"What if they just… get worse? What if it backfires?"

Tysone let out a short snort. "If you don't do something now, it's only a matter of time before this goes way beyond the family room."

Miku twisted a lock of hair between her fingers. After a few moments of chewing on the inside of her mouth and playing with a lock of hair, Miku moved as if she was about to stand up.

However, right before she could steel herself, a light rapping on the bedroom door interrupted her. It was soon followed by an annoyed voice calling through the walls.

"It's almost evening." It was Miku's mother, speaking coldly.

And then, after a short pause. "...Have that boy leave."

Miku stiffened, glancing at him, clearly on edge. Tysone just laughed quietly and muttered. "That's the plan anyway."

Miku nervously gripped his shoulder and guided him to the door. "Please wait outside, I'll try to work something out."

"Yeah, you do that."

Opening the door, Tysone was met with the woman. He offered her a smile, though received only a blank stare.

"Please head home."

The woman spoke the moment Tysone stepped out. It appeared like she had been waiting for the opportunity to get rid of him from the get-go.

Tysone wasn't about to step in since that was Miku's job.

As such, he merely shrugged and walked past her.

He didn't have to get far to listen to Mrs. Yuuki's voice growing louder and louder. "What did you two do in here? We allowed you some privacy for a bit, but was it really a good idea letting boys up into your room? As expected, you truly are a slut."

A gasp echoed out, followed by a whimpering.

The father was standing by the wall, watching everything unfold and not interjecting in the slightest. Tysone stopped briefly by him. "It's your daughter, you know? Don't you feel one iota of remorse about abandoning her the way you're doing it now?"

The man scowled. "How I raise my daughter is no concern to anyone else, boy."

Tysone watched the woman rant and Miku cringe every time Mrs. Yuuki's verbal abuse intensified. 

And the man... he couldn't understand how he was able to stand the sight of his own child being abused, and not raise his voice to stop this.

There was no excuse.

Then again, he encouraged this behavior from the start.

"Yeah, you're a great guy. Have a great day, and whatever." Tysone walked down the stairs and towards the entryway. He hoped Miku would break free from that terrible, unhealthy cycle. It had to be something she had to do herself, or she'd never achieve a real, lasting change.

The screams upstairs had escalated even further by the time he finished putting on his shoes.

"I'M DONE!" Then came Miku's thunderous voice from upstairs. Everything descended into deafening silence. Tysone momentarily stopped. "You always treat me like I'm worthless!" Miku's voice broke, echoing through the house. "Like nothing I do is ever enough! You call me names, you spread lies about me, and you think that makes you good parents?!"

Tysone froze at the doorway, his hand hovering over the doorknob. 

"Don't you dare talk back to me like that!" Mrs. Yuuki's sharp retort sliced through the silence. A loud smack followed, and Tysone flinched at the sound. Damn. 

He promised himself he wouldn't intervene, but could he really ignore something like this? With haste, he made his way up, just in time to see a teary-eyed Miku holding her bruised cheek. Her mother was still with her hand raised, a disappointed, vengeful glint in her eyes.

"Why you little ingrate. Do you know how hard we had to work to raise you? To send you to a proper school?! This is the thanks I get?!" The woman looked angrier and angrier by the second. Her raised hand went even higher. "Maybe you need a lesson!"

A firm grip on the mother's arm caught everyone's attention. "And what kind of a 'mother' hits her own kid?"

Her eyes grew wide as she jerked around, meeting a calm Tysone standing right behind her. She seemed momentarily startled. "D-Don't interrupt our parent-child relationship!"

He shoved her aside without a shred of guilt.

"You really think there's something left to save by smacking your crying daughter across the face?" His words were flat and blunt, like a wet slap.

Mrs. Yuuki looked pissed, and Miku surprised.

"You..." Mr. Yuuki's face darkened. "We welcomed you in our home, and this is how you repay us for the hospitality?!" He marched in front of Tysone.

The two stared at each other for a while, but the mother's voice rang out yet again. "And what's going on, huh? Miku, just how far did you go with this boy in our home!"

"I didn't-" Miku tried to speak, but was drowned out by the older woman's wrathful bellowing.

"Jesus fucking Christ, woman. You're loud." Tysone sounded out a frustrated scoff, one finger digging into his ear canal. "Goddamn, when will you stop interrupting your daughter, you hysterical bitch?"

A fierce snarl erupted from the woman. She looked ready to pounce, but it was her husband who stepped in first. He pushed Tysone's chest in his best effort at intimidating him, but the difference in height and build was too glaring for it to have much effect.

Still, that didn't mean it didn't piss Tysone off.

Tysone roughly grabbed the older man's wrinkled, alcohol-reeking collar and threw him towards the wall. Mr. Yuuki tripped forward, only barely avoiding the painful impact when his face was met with Tysone's firm, open palm. "Learn your place and don't get involved unless invited."

It was so laughably easy that Tysone was momentarily surprised. He almost felt like he could crush the man's face if he gripped too tightly. 

Mrs. Yuuki watched on with horrified eyes as Tysone grabbed Miku's wrist and dragged her along. "W-Where are you taking my daughter?!" She screeched, stumbling after them. 

"Oh yes." He rolled his eyes. "Now you want to act all parental."

Miku was quick to hide behind the protective, black-clothed wall he provided. "I can't stand you." She was glaring daggers at her parents, her eyes stinging with tears. "Both of you."

Mrs. Yuuki ground her teeth in outrage. "You listen here, wench. If you leave this house, you'll never be welcomed here again! You hear me?!"

"Can it!" Tysone yelled out, shutting her up effectively as the woman fell onto her butt, trembling in fear.

She really was scared shitless, no wonder she hit her own kid.

She was the perfect example of someone with a superiority complex and delusions of authority.

"This is your final warning. Say something untoward again, and I won't hesitate to teach you some proper parenting the way I learned them from my dad."

"I-" The woman scrambled away in fright.

Miku's voice snapped him out of his fury. "Come on, let's leave."

Tysone glanced at the pair one more time, and it filled him with fury how her mother was dragging herself behind a coward who was still reeling from the hit.

With a deep sigh, he exhaled and closed his eyes to calm down, slowly allowing the cold, piercing sensation in his chest to ebb away.

They left the house and exited into a cold, rainy evening. It had become darker, so it would seem this part of the city lacked lamp posts along the footpaths and the only lights he could rely on were from the buildings' windows and the faint illumination from the sky.

As the cool, wet drops of rain splattered against his skin, he saw Miku's trembling form standing next to him.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry about what happened." Tysone said genuinely. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to put my foot down so violently. That could've ended badly if I hadn't been around."

Miku stayed silent.

Tysone turned toward her, though it was hard to make out her features in the dark.

"It's fine." She breathed out, looking up at him, so vulnerable. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Thank you... for protecting me. No one's ever done that before." She shifted her gaze, giving the streetlights a brief, forlorn stare. "I'm glad I've gotten rid of them. Though..." She lifted a hand to wipe her eyes. "What am I supposed to do now? Where am I supposed to go?"

Tysone stared at her shivering form, her puffy nose, and her wet eyes. "I guess you could crash at my place for the time being." He rubbed the back of his neck with a sigh—how unbelievably cliché could this situation even be? "Until you get back on your feet."

Which wouldn't happen anytime soon, considering the apocalypse could happen any day now. 

Miku blinked.

"But… wouldn't I be a burden?"

"You think a little extra laundry and some shared groceries are going to take a toll on me? Look. There are going to be a lot of tough times ahead. Why not just cut the drama and take advantage of it while the offer is still on the table? At least that way I know you have someone looking out for you while we sort through this Puberty Syndrome stuff."

Miku stood there for a long moment, the rain soaking her from head to toe. He was staring at him for so long that it began to unnerve him—and then she cracked up. A slow fitful of giggles that devolved into full-fledged laughter.

"You know... you're going to make me fall hard for you if you say stuff like this."

She snorted. He did the same.

"As if you haven't already."

Author's Note:

If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead or support my work, you can check out my P@treon at [email protected]/LordCampione. But don't worry—all chapters will eventually be public. Just being here and reading means the world to me. Thank you for your time and support