Chapter 27 - Machiavellian : Part 1

As the event of Family Day went on, the Vergessene family won every game they were in.

For example, Cain just won a game of dodgeball for the dads. The look on Axel's face when he cheered up his pseudo father made the latter's heart warm.

And if he commanded some of the undead to pull the opponent's feet from the ground without anyone noticing it, no one needed to know.

It was Adreanna's turn to impress Axel. The beautiful demon joined a sack race that was scheduled for the women.

You see, being a literal demon who had porcelain wings but could not wage it at all because of the situation she was in, did a lot of disadvantages. Her wing would weigh her down when she jumped while she would struggle to keep the wings down.

So when the bell rang and everyone started to jump with a sack covering their feet, she was left behind. This was a disgrace for her being. Though many men were cheering her up for some reason.

Kiaran who was watching her rolled his eyes, knowing the reason was that every man fell for her beauty. He hoped Adreanna would fall, it would be hilarious.

But her being stoic, cold, and persistent, wanted to win for Axel. She just got her brother back, she never saw that happy face on his before, and she would want that to last.

She would do anything to keep him in her world and made him her brother again.

Adreanna silently let go of her porcelain feathers, making them turn invisible as they flew around. It was part of her power, she could take advantage of the lights around them to make the porcelain feathers went unseen.

She kept her grip on the sack she in as she jumped. The feathers flew around and went to trip the contestants, making them fall one by one.

It was only a matter of time before she was finally beat the first place girl. The girl beside her that she had just beaten gritted her teeth and tried to shove her while getting closer to her line.

She failed when Adreanna darted around easily and made the opponent fall onto the ground.

Kiaran chuckled as he saw Adreanna cross the finish line, knowing that she was the one who made the contestants fall. He rolled his eyes when Axel went running to her and congratulated her happily. The younger was beaming with sparkling eyes and hugged Adreanna out of pure Adrenaline. It was funny how Adreanna stiffened at the movement.

They all ended with many trophies and gifts in their hand when Family Day ended.

Axel held three trophies and gifts, while Kiaran and Cain held four, and Adreanna held a bunch of flowers and chocolates from the men who tried to ask her number.

As they walked to the gate, a certain red-haired girl waved from afar and went running quickly to the human boy. Her red locks bounced around with her white dress. A bright smile etched on her face.

"Axel, congratulation!" Rune exclaimed happily before hugging the boy, almost making the trophies in his hand fell.

She let go of the hug and met face to face with Axel smiling sheepishly at her. She returned the smile and diverted her gaze to the three people behind her best friend.

"Hi, Axel's dad, sister, and brother! I'm Rune, Axel's best friend." Rune kindly greeted, nodding a little at them.

The three demons just stared at her, making Rune's smile waver a little at the awkward atmosphere between them. One second felt like an hour to her as the silence ate her alive.

Cain narrowed her eyes at her, eyes moving from her head to her feet. Adreanna's sharp blood-colored eyes stared coldly right through her soul, making Rune shiver. While Kiaran's lip pulled up a little, wrinkling his nose as he looked at her with a hidden mix of emotions.

Rune scratched the back of her head. "Uh, right, um," She paused, shifting her weight from one foot to another. "Is there something on my face?"

"Ah, no," Kiaran walked closer, separating the two best friends as he showed an obviously fake smile to her. "Axel is busy so he needs to go, goodbye."

Kiaran dragged Axel's hand to the front gate, quickly followed by Cain and Adreanna who gave a cold shoulder at the red-haired girl.

Axel's mouth hung open loosely. Red contact eyes looking back at Rune, yelling an apology before Kiaran tugged him even harder. Rune was left alone with many thoughts swimming over her mind.

Axel's family was kind of scary if she may add.

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"Uh, make yourself at home, I guess," Axel muttered as he led his pseudo-family got in.

Kiaran walked past Axel and threw himself to the couch, letting his wings spread as doing so. He let the trophies in his hand fall down to the floor while he closed his eyes.

Adreanna brought her feet to the nearest table and put all the chocolates and flowers on top of it. She waged her wings, stretching them after holding them for so long.

Axel followed her movement and put the trophies right beside her flowers. He flashed a quick smile at her before taking all the fallen trophies on the floor right beside Kiaran's couch and putting them on the table too.

"Son, follow me." Said the oldest demon while putting the trophies right where Axel put them down. He put a hand on Axel's shoulder and brought him along to the kitchen door.

As they both got in, Cain moved over to the kitchen shelves and searched for a certain hot chocolate powder. He believed his counterpart would at least keep them somewhere. Because his wive loved hot chocolate before she-

Ah, he found it.

The demon tied his wavy-length hair to a bun before starting to boil the water and put some hot chocolate powder into a cup.

Axel stood beside his father, peeking at what Cain was doing with innocent wonder. He rarely saw his real father making a hot chocolate or even wanted to stand in the same room he was in.

"Can you get the spoon over there for me?" The demon looked over to Axel with a warm smile. Some of his black locks were loose on the side of his face.

"Sure." Axel lightheartedly exclaimed before going over and taking a spoon to give it to Cain. The latter poured the water into the cup and began to mix it with the spoon.

The smell of sweet chocolate adorned the air when he finished making the hot chocolate. Cain took the cup and offered it to Axel, making the boy frown in confusion.

"It's for me?" Axel asked softly, voice full of uncertainty. His eyes looked between the cup and the Cain over and over.

"Yes, who else?" The demon answered right away.

Axel took the cup and smiled awkwardly at Cain. "I thought you were making it for Adreanna. You- I mean," Axel cleared his throat, "-my father never made a hot chocolate for me before."

"Well," Cain leaned on the kitchen counter, watching Axel drinking his hot chocolate slowly. "I did make you a hot chocolate a few days ago when you are injured. I don't see why I shouldn't make one for you again."

Axel finished his hot chocolate and quickly put it away after hearing Cain's statement. "Oh, right. I never get to thank you before."

The human boy awkwardly bowed a little. "Thank you so much for helping me and offering me a place to stay. Also, thanks for today." He politely thanked before finally looking at the warm red eyes.

"I've sensed some favoritism here." A voice suddenly chimed in, causing Axel to snap his head over to the source.

A messy black-haired demon walked slowly to Axel with all his glory steps. "I'm the one who found you, you know. I think the credit should go to me."

"Ah-" Axel rubbed his own neck as his red contact eyes met with the real red one.

Before Axel could answer Kiaran, Adreanna was already standing beside him and cut off the human boy. "You're just whining, Kiaran."

"Adreanna, please shut the fuck up." Kiaran smiled through his gritting teeth while Adreana's unwavering eyes stared at him.

"Okay you two, stop being childish in front of your little brother." Cain separated both of them before looking back at Axel again.

"Axel, we have a gift for you." Cain took out a red box from his pocket and handed it over to the human boy.

Kiaran and Adreanna stood behind their father with contained emotions. They stared at the box with hidden darkness behind their red eyes. The wings behind Kiaran stiffened when Axel opened the box, patiently waiting and watching the human.

A necklace was shown and Axel took it with bright eyes. He could not contain his smile as he looked over to the red emerald that was tied with the black necklace. His face brightened up when he finally looked over to the three demons.

"This is perfect, thank you so much, guys." The boy quickly wore the necklace. It went over his head before finally finding its place on Axel's flawless neck. The black necklace with the bright red emerald looked beautiful when the boy held it.

"We're glad that you like it." Cain walked over to Axel, touching the emerald with gentleness. "Make sure to never take it off, okay? We really worked hard to get it." He moved his hand to his head and ruffled the boy's fluffy hair.

Axel opened his mouth to answer the demon, though it quickly snapped shut when he heard the front door open.

The boy widened his eyes and quickly shoved the three demons to the corner of the room. He looked at the three of them with panicked eyes.

"I think it's my Kiaran." He whispered at them.

"Axel? Who's there?" A familiar voice called. Axel's heart beat fast as he ran to the kitchen door and stumbled over to his real brother after slamming the door behind him.

Kiaran looked down at his brother and opened the mask that was covering half of his face. "Axel? Who was with you?"

"Uh, no one?" Axel coughed as he stiffly answered.

The mercenary narrowed his eyes and looked over to the closed kitchen door. He looked back at Axel's nervous eyes and raised an eyebrow.

The older brother quickly made his way to the kitchen door, letting his black trench coat swirl around behind him. He slammed open the door and quickly walked inside the kitchen.

Axel tried to catch up with Kiaran from behind, reaching out his hand as he tried to hold Kiaran's back. "W-wait!"

He could not explain how relieved he was when he saw the three demons were already gone. He actually did not know why he kept it from Kiaran too. Maybe he just did not want to get yelled at or punished-

Axel automatically shoved the thoughts away like he always did. Kiaran knew what's best for him and if he was wrong he deserved the consequences.

Kiaran's deep blue eyes scanned the room skeptically and caught the window that was opened. He looked back at Axel and stared at him a bit longer, trying to see the lies between his eyes.

The messy-haired teen sighed. "Why are there chocolates, trophies, and flowers in the living room?"

"Today is Family Day and I won some of the competitions," Axel answered almost too quick, hiding the anxiety behind his voice.

Kiaran tilted his head back at him. "The rewards were flowers and chocolates too?"

"Yup. You're right." Axel smiled robotically, wrinkling the bridge of his nose.

"And you won them by yourself?"

Axel fiddled with his fingers, avoiding Kiaran's cautious gaze. "Some of them is a group thing. I joined another family to win it."

There was a beat of silence between them. The younger one was looking anywhere but the older one while Kiaran stared at Axel with calculating eyes.

"Alright then." Kiaran shrugged before throwing a gun at the younger boy that caught it with ease.

"Go change your-" The mercenary moved his hand, pointing to the costume he was wearing with a wrinkled nose. "-ugly clothes. We have a place to go." The 18-year-old put on his mask again, turning his back on the 16-year-old.

Axel looked over to his costume before looking back to his brother. He tilted his head at Kiaran after tucking away the gun. "Where?"

Kiaran stopped his movement. He turned his head slowly to Axel. His lips slowly formed a mad grin as he stared at Axel's red contact eyes.

"We're going to watch the world burn."

Axel bit his lips when he saw the insane look on Kiaran's face. The boy diverted his gaze to his feet, swaying slightly where he was standing.

With a heavy heart, the boy quickly changed his clothes to his criminal ones, throwing away the red contact lenses and the made-up wings into the trash. He kept the necklace tucked underneath his white hoodie, smiling right before he kept it hidden away.

And if the necklace was shining bright- too bright while the red color slowly faded away little by little to Axel's heart, it went unnoticed by the boy.