Yuri's POV:
We were having fun, enjoying ourselves as if there was no tomorrow.
"Mr Sass! Stop stealing my ice cream! Eat your plain vanilla!" April exaggerated.
"Crazy, crazy, I want chocolate ice cream!" Keifer muttered.
"Dramatic. Only one spoon!" April retorted.
"Tss." Keifer tsked and took a spoonful of her ice cream.
"TSS! THAT'S TOO MUCH FOR ONE SPOON! GIVE ME ONE SPOON OF YOURS," April dramatically retorted, tsked back at Keifer.
She took a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and mixed it into her chocolate.
"EH? How does that taste, ate?!" Ci-N chimed.
"Aah.. 5/10, because.. it tastes Keifer. Plus his choices in food are bad everytime, anyways!"
"Like yours is the best.. crazy woman."
"CRAZY KEIFER!"
Ci-N laughed out loud, all restraints to hold it back, at the dustbin.
"STOP!" Jayjay burst out, like a judge determined to solve a conflict.
She didn't notice a familiar person standing in the doorway.
But, I did.
And we heard a voice. Sharp, cold and authoritative.
"April Delos Reyes."
"KEIFER! AY. AT IKAW? You take his side? Betrayers.." April screeched.
"APRIL DELOS REYES!"
There she stood, Evelyn Delos Reyes. April's mother, the one who controls April's life as if she were an asset. Not like a daughter.
April turned to look at her. She hesitated first, then she spoke:
"What?" April looked at her deadpan. "Why did you come back from the US?"
"Watch your tone." Her mom said, "And your words, miss I-don't-care-about-family-and-life"
"Like you know that I don't." April retorted.
"Stand up first. Didn't I teach you respect when you were 5?"
She did not stand. Just sat, eating a spoonful of Ice cream.
"Influenced."
Influenced? As in, brainwashed?
Her eyes met mine, flickered towards Keifer.
She spoke with her eyes. A silent 'She's wrong, don't take anything to your heart.'
She knew we wouldn't. But her overthinking mind, which was influenced by her mother, would.
"We will talk."
"Nope." April bellowed, "You don't get to decide my life! Whatever you have done already has left enough scars, no thanks. I live better by myself."
No replies. For once, April's mom was silent. This was new.
April laughed. Humorless. Sharp. "So? This is where and when you show up? When I'm with my people who consider me as their actual family? With Section E? What a way to make a scene."
"Could you shut up for-"
"Dad is better." April retorted. "Dad was WAY better than you. All you consider me as is a person who can talk to people, convince them, follow your orders, and be under your control. At least dad cares for me."
"Do not drag your dad into this." Her mom said, calmly. "You embarrass yourself when you speak emotionally."
"Emotionally?" Keifer repeated, finally looking up, lips curling into that infuriating half-smirk he only wore when he was done being polite. "She's being honest."
April's mother turned her gaze on him. Slow. Assessing.
"And you are.. Mark Keifer Watson"
Keifer leaned back. Relaxed. Dangerous. "Still Keifer Watson. Still not impressed."
I shifted.
Not dramatically.
Just enough to place myself beside April.
"She won't be speaking to you like before," I said evenly. "Not scared. Not soft. Not anymore."
"Ah, Hanamitchi.. I will talk to Mr Hanamitchi and Mr Watson. Today." She stated, normally. "This behaviour ends today."
Keifer chuckled. Actually chuckled.
"Good luck," he said. "Our parents stopped deciding our lives years ago."
"SAME DIALOGUE, AGAIN?" Ci-N dramatically whispered. "At this point, Yuri and Keifer's dads are tired. Also, us."
"The audacity to speak up?" She said, calmly.
"COULD YOU F LEAVE?" April shouted; she was no longer calm. Not anymore.
The shop went silent.
Even the freezer hum felt loud.
April's breath rose and fell, fast. Angry. Real.
Her mother looked at her the way people look at something they think they own.. and are shocked to see resisting.
Keifer stood.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
That was when I knew. This wasn't going to stay controlled. I stood too.
Keifer said calmly. Too calmly. "You don't get to speak to her like that."
Evelyn's gaze snapped to him. Sharp. Warning.
"You're overstepping, Keifer."
He smiled.
Not friendly. Not joking.
"That's funny," he said. "Because you walked into a public place, tried to humiliate her in front of her friends, and thought no one would say anything."
He stepped forward. Just one step.
"But sure. We're the ones overstepping." He looked at me.
April looked at him then.
Keifer didn't look back.
"She's not your project," I said. "She's not an investment. And she's definitely not some extension of your reputation."
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
"You children think freedom means disrespect."
"No," Keifer shot back. "Freedom means she finally stopped being afraid of you."
That landed.
I felt it.
April felt it.
Her mother did too, because her jaw tightened just a fraction.
"You think you know her?" her mom asked coldly.
Keifer shrugged. "I know enough to know she survived you."
April's hands clenched.
I placed my hand over hers.
She didn't pull away.
"This conversation is over," I said quietly. Final. "If you have something to say, you can say it without attacking her."
"And if you can't," Keifer added, smirk returning, "there's the door. Ice cream melts. So does patience."
For a moment, Evelyn Delos Reyes said nothing.
Then she turned, heels sharp against the floor and walked out.
The bell above the door rang.
Too loud.
Too final.
April exhaled.
Long. Shaky.
"…Keifer. Yuri." she murmured, barely audible.
Keifer sat back down like nothing had happened. "Anytime."
Ci-N wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead. "Wow. Family drama with free dessert."
Jayjay nodded solemnly. "Ten out of ten confrontation."
April went to Keifer.
And all she did?
She handed him her ice cream.
"You know," she said quietly, "you don't need to steal it now."
Keifer blinked.
Once.
Then he scoffed, taking it like it was the most normal thing in the world. "I prefer it voluntarily surrendered."
She smiled at him, small, and then turned to me.
She walked over and sat beside me.
Her fingers slipped into mine, tentative at first, like she was asking permission without words.
I squeezed back.
She exhaled.
A sound like she'd been holding her breath for years.
Then, no warning. She leaned in.
Buried her face against my shoulder.
Hugged me.
Not dramatic.
Not desperate.
Just real.
My arms came up around her instinctively, like my body already knew what to do before my mind caught up.
For a moment, everything else faded. The shop, the people, the tension still clinging to the air.
It was just her heartbeat against mine.
Still racing.
Still here.
"I'm okay," she whispered. Not to us. To herself.
She is okay always, until she is Section E.