Holiday [Izaya x Violet/Everyone Else?]

Explanation (Izaya Is Amused By Your Familial Bond)

        At six, the pair joined their (enormous) family at the kitchen table. The Kabras sat at one end next to the Fowls, who had Mom and Dad Gropius on their other side. Mom’s twin had finally decided to show up and settled next to Ian, while Izaya stayed by the cop. Violet sat between he and her sister.

        There were fourteen people seated in all. Violet could feel all their eyes on her, and it filled her with a nameless sort of dread that she wished desperately she could dispel with a wave of her hand.

        They watched.

        They stared.

        She wanted to run, to hide, to find somewhere she could escape from those piercing gazes, but she was trapped.

        With a shaky breath and a prompt from her sister, she stood and tried for a little smile. “H-hey, everyone. It’s...been a while. I know that...you’re all probably confused as to...why I’m alive. Well...I’m not sure whether or not I actually died in the first place. Either way I don’t think it really matters, since I’m here now and stuff. So...what’s really important is...why I stayed away. For one thing? I...I was just scared. I didn’t want to find out what’d happen if you all saw me, after what happened. I thought you’d hate me, or something. Then there was the fact that you all had already started to reshape your lives around my absence, and I didn’t want to screw that up. You guys deserve better than that...as for why I’m here now...this guy, Izaya, he wanted to meet you. And besides, it’s our dinner...I wouldn’t want to break tradition. We do this every year. This is what’s always brought us together, and now our family is starting to grow even more than it did with all you grown-ups getting married. That’s a good thing, right? We...we all...uh…” Her cheeks grew hot when she realized that the others had mostly turned to one another and begun to talk amongst themselves, and so she shrunk back onto her chair. The only exceptions were her sister and Izaya, who were smiling sympathetically and delightedly smirking, respectively.

        “My, what an eloquent speech~ Such a shame that they didn’t listen…”

        Azure turned to glare at the man, scoffing softly. “You don’t know anything about our family, do you? They listened...they just accepted it all instantly. That’s what a family really is, actually. You wouldn’t happen to know...what it feels like. That’s my guess.”

        Izaya scowled and kept his attention on his meal for the rest of the night. Family...such a silly concept.