Reincarnated into Madness: Yandere Family's Unwanted Slave

VOLUME 2 Chapter 3: The Rift Between Us.

Aiko stepped back unconsciously, her fingers twitching at her sides. Her expression, normally cool and indifferent wavered for the first time. Something about his voice... about his eyes, the way they trembled... Something about it felt wrong to her. Like looking at an animal that had been tortured in captivity one too many times.

Aiko's lips parted as if she wanted to say something but before she could, her voice was drowned beneath the rising tide of murmurs from the other students and guardians nearby.

"Mother, that boys crying. Right in front of everyone."

"Tch. Uncultured brat..." a tall woman in a flowing sapphire dress murmured behind her lace fan, her eyes narrowing at Hitoshi. "He's sobbing like some back-alley stray. Right in front of the gates no less..."

Her husband, a plump orc with rings on every finger, leaned close and snorted. "What kind of gutter brat cries in public at an academy entrance? Honestly, is this the standard now?"

Nearby, a Lizard man in a pristine emerald waistcoat turned to his equally well-dressed companion, lips curled. "Did you see the carriage they arrived in? That crest, it belongs to the Aoi family, doesn't it?"

"Aoi?" His Salamander man companion blinked. "You mean the ones with that eccentric Countess? I heard she lost her mind after her husband died. So this is what she sends to represent her bloodline?"

A few steps away, a Fox Beast-woman clutching a parasol gave a sharp laugh. "I always suspected they were growing soft. First, they withdrew from the kingdoms royal council, and now this. They send a half-dressed servant boy to cry at the gates of Nightwood Academy?" Her nose crinkled. "What a marvelous way to announce decline."

"Tch. No self-respecting noble would ever allow their child near someone like that," an older Bear Beast man muttered to his daughter, who glanced nervously at the scene. "Scholarship trash, no doubt. Don't look at him, Amane. And gods forbid you ever speak to the Aoi girl. It seems even she consorts with riffraff now."

More murmurs echoed across the courtyard like cold wind through brittle leaves.

"Do you think they adopted him? Maybe an orphan from the slums?"

"Nonsense. Probably a debt payoff gone wrong. House Aoi's wealth isn't what it used to be. Taking in a slave child might be cheaper than hiring real help."

"Well, it's disgraceful," someone whispered harshly, "and incredibly reckless. That boy was clinging to their maid like a dog to its bone. What sort of mental state is that?"

A few parents pulled their children subtly away, offering quiet warnings.

"Avoid that boy. And her." A mother's hand rested on her son's shoulder. "You don't want to be caught in a scandal tied to House Aoi."

Parents continued to pull their children a little closer, cautioning them against associating with such lowly scum. Some shot curious glances toward Eri and Aiko. A few pointed while gossiping. One noblewoman clicked her tongue and whispered something behind her lace fan.

A pale-haired boy near the open entrance gates, paused, frowning. A small goblin girl stopped clutching her book bag to her chest and stared with, confused eyes.

As for Hitoshi? He was still standing there, staring up at Eri like a child about to be abandoned at the side of the road.

"...Please," he whispered. "I'll be good. I won't cause trouble. Just don't leave me." He took a step closer. "I don't want to be like before..."

Eri's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't prepared for this. She had known he would react. Eri knew he was young and fragile. That he'd grown attached to her—but she hadn't expected this level of panic. This raw, ugly desperation.

It pierced straight through the armor she'd built up as the Countess's shadow.

And yet...

She understood that she couldn't fold. Not now anyways. And definitely not in front of everyone here. If the countess were to get wind of it, She worried that Hitoshi would be in grave trouble.

So, with a deep breath, she straightened her back.

' Forgive me but I have to do this....' she thought to herself.

" That's enough..." Eri finally spoke, her voice caused Hitoshi to freeze, his eyes moistening the more, face turning more frightened and grim because her tone was unlike anything she'd used with him before.

Not like her usual maternal voice nor her soft honey tone. Instead it was something he'd only heard her use on the other servants within the manor she had kept at a distance. Her cold and commanding voice.

" Onee-san–?"

"Stop calling me that!" she said, the words firm and final. "Don't you ever call me that again...."

Hitoshi's eyes widened. The sting of her voice felt more harsher than a slap, more like a sledge hammer smashing into his fragile brittle heart.

"Since it looks like you've forgotten, I'll remind you again....., I didn't bring you here to embarrass yourself" she continued, her words crisp. "You're not supposed to be some sniveling child clinging to a dress hem. You're a servant of House Aoi."

His lips parted, but no words came out. Instead his body unconsciously nodded, a rare reaction, one he was too familiar with in his past life.

Eri felt her heart ache when she saw that but she gritted her teeth and followed on "From now on you better act like a proper servant" she finished. "Or go back now and explain to the Countess why you failed."

" And believe me, I don't think the countess will have time to spare for someone like you, rather I think she'd prefer to have you tossed out the instant you arrive at the estate."

Hitoshi's arms dropped limply at his sides. His shoulders rose and fell once... then twice... before he looked away.

Tears clung to his lashes, but none fell.

'So.....it was all pretend," he thought, his chest tight. "She never cared about me. I was just stupid for thinking she did. No one could ever like me...'

He nodded." I understand" he replied meekly and took a small step back.

Aiko stood beside him, unmoving. Her lips parted as though she wanted to say something—but no words formed. She stole one more glance at his eyes, now empty of their usual boyish glow, and looked away.

Eri then turned, and in one elegant motion, bowed low toward Aiko.

"Lady Aiko. I apologize on this one's behalf," she said. Her tone was respectful, but strangely hollow. "I trust you'll forgive his foolishness, and do as you please with him. He should understand his place now so don't hesitate to punish him accordingly if he ever dares to disobey."

Aiko, who had remained oddly quiet the whole time, gave a stiff nod. "Y-Yes... Of course..."

Her eyes found Eri's, and in that fleeting moment, she caught it—the sorrow buried beneath the woman's polished mask. A flicker of anguish, raw yet hidden from the world's prying eyes.

Aiko's chest tightened. A heavy guilt crept in, whispering that Eri hadn't wanted to say those things... that perhaps she only had because of her.

She turned her gaze away, as if to escape the weight of it—but her eyes, by cruel coincidence, met Hitoshi's.

And froze.

His gaze was still. Far too still.

Eyes like dulled sapphire, stripped of light, staring ahead not with anger or tears... but with the empty calm of someone who had stopped hoping. There was no spark, no childish fire, only a haunting quiet—as if he had already accepted that he meant nothing. That he had never meant anything.

Yet beneath that silence, a faint tremor lingered, two clean tear streaks threading down his cheeks. Like a boy trying desperately to appear strong while drowning.

Aiko flinched and looked away. ' What's wrong with me..... why did I look away...' She wondered to herself, feeling vexed at the guilt that kept gnawing at her insides.

She had seen him angry before, stubborn, loud, annoying—but never like this. Never this... empty.

And never had she seen Eri speak to someone she seemingly cherished that way—especially not him. It shook her more than she wanted to admit.

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Eri rose from her bow, then turned back toward the waiting carriage without another glance. Her heels clicked softly on the cobblestone path, each step measured and precise. She walked like a blade in a sheath—perfect and unreadable.

But the moment she closed the carriage door behind her, sealing herself inside the privacy of the carriage...

Her body collapsed against the wall.

She covered her mouth with her gloved hand.

Crystal clear tears, both silent and uncontrollable, slipped down her cheeks. Hot and burning, cutting through the cool mask of her face like molten glass.

She tried to stop it. But she couldn't.

The boy she had comforted... protected... the only one who genuinely looked at her like she was more than just a tool of the Countess—and made her feel alive...She had just crushed with her own hands. The part that pained her the most was that she couldn't even say why.

Back outside, Aiko stared at the carriage for a long time, her arms folded tightly.

She didn't speak.

She just stared in silence, not bothering to pay attention to the other students, their attendants nor their guardians that still gossiped behind her back.

Instead she remembered... vaguely... a conversation from earlier today.

It had been brief. A casual moment in the manor hallway.

She had complained about how annoying the servant boy was, and Eri had said—without turning around to face her—"Then look after him. Just a little. I'm sure he'll do the same for you, in his own way that is."

Aiko had scoffed at the time. "As if a peasant boy could do anything for me."

But now...Watching him stand so still. Watching the last spark threatening to fade from his eyes.While watching Eri disappear without another word.

'This must've been what she meant ' she thought.

The carriage shimmered faintly, then vanished in a pulse of elegant magic.

Aiko took a deep breath before sighing.

She looked back at Hitoshi, who was now wiping away his tears with his left sleeve.

Hitoshi wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, the soft fabric damp against his skin. His eyes were still red, still moistened, but he forced them to stop rippling. The crowd around them had mostly dispersed now, losing interest after Eri's departure, though a few whispers still lingered like gnats.

He sniffed once—quietly. Then again, harder, like he was trying to suck the emotion back down his throat.

Aiko turned to look at him.

Her expression wasn't smug. Or cold. It was instead unreadable... a little worrisome, even.

But the second their eyes met, Hitoshi's jaw clenched. His brows furrowed—not in anger, but frustration. Like a boy desperately holding himself together in front of a class he didn't belong in.

"Don't look at me like that," he muttered, not quite meeting her gaze. "I'm not your problem."

Aiko blinked. "I didn't—"

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"I know I embarrassed you. Big time, huh?" He forced a crooked smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Guess I made you look bad, crying like some dumb mutt in front of everyone."

He turned away, squaring his small shoulders and pulling the spacial pouch strap tighter around his chest. "It won't happen again."

His tone was sharp. Not loud, not bratty. But near calm and placid. Like something he'd said before—to someone else, in another life.

"I'm still useful," he added under his breath. "At least I've got that."

Aiko didn't know what to say. She wanted to say something sharp, something cold to cover the strange feeling curling inside her chest—but nothing came. She watched as Hitoshi moved past her without another word, his short steps firm and deliberate.

' Tsk.... Why did I have to get wrapped up in all of this.' Aiko pit her lower lip in frustration.

Watching Hitoshi walk away, she took a deep breath before calling out "Stop right there!"

Hitoshi paused, barely turning his head to glance back at her.

Aiko huffed, crossing her arms. "A servant must never walk ahead of their master. Are you that lacking in manners?"

He blinked slowly, then gave her a smile. Not the bright, energetic kind he used to wear. This one was dry—mocking.

"Oh, my apologies, Lady Aiko," he said, giving a small exaggerated bow. "I was merely clearing the path for your noble feet, so they wouldn't be sullied by the common dust."

Then he turned back around and kept walking forward.

Aiko's brow twitched. 'What... what was that?!' she thought, internally fuming. 'I was actually trying to be... sympathetic for once! Just for a second! And this is what I get?'

She clenched her fists at her sides, feeling her chest twist with unfamiliar frustration.

'Why did I even think he was pitiful?! He's just a sarcastic, frustrating commoner through and through! Ugh, so irritating!'

"Oi, Ojō-sama," Hitoshi called over his shoulder, his voice sweet with biting sarcasm, "We better hurry. Wouldn't want to taint that pristine noble reputation of yours by being the last one in, now would we?"

' This frustrating swine!.... he's clearly trying to get on my nerves, isn't he!' Aiko's eye twitched again.

" Not so fast!" She stormed forward with a scowl, her heels clicking sharply against the cobblestone.

And all the while, Hitoshi walked just a few steps ahead—his back straight, his head high, and that irritating glint still flickering in the corner of his eye.

No one was aware but as from this very moment, This would be the beginning of the most frustrating duo Nightwood Academy had ever seen.

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(AN: Oi! Could you guys drop some reviews? I'd love to know what you think of Volumes 1 and 2. Your thoughts really help improve the story's appeal, so please, Help an Author out)

(AN: Paragraph and Chapter comments are also super welcome! And if If you've got a power stone to spare, I'd really appreciate them. Sales on the e-book haven't been great....so maybe you guys can lift my spirits with your feedback?)

(HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE)