017

The look in Suna's eyes was remarkably skittish. You'd never seen him so visibly nervous like this - it was an odd sight to witness, to say the least.

Turning around, you spot the familiar blonde, pregnant woman that you had just talked to only moments before. She had a complacent look on her face as she waddled over towards your direction.

You knew you had recognized her, though she looked a bit different than the photos displayed in the Suna household. Her long black hair, now chopped into a short blonde bob, was what had thrown you off from properly identifying her. Oh, and the fact that she was pregnant. It was honestly something you weren't expecting at all.

Rin was internally freaking out, desperately trying to hide the fact. Each step his ex-wife took brought her closer and closer, which only made him more and more nervous. He absentmindedly gripped your hand tightly, the sweat from his palm transferring to your own warm skin, causing it to almost slip from his grasp.

"Hello Rin, funny running into you here." She says innocently, as calm as the gentle breeze that wafted around you.

You carefully watch as he grits his teeth, clearly disheveled at how nonchalant her attitude seems to be. How could she just act as if everything was fine between them, as if she's done nothing wrong and they were just old pals who happens to come across each other on a sunny afternoon?

"Hello again, I'm Y/n. We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves earlier." You spoke up, trying to do anything to avert an awkward crisis in the middle of the playground.

"Yes, that's right. Nice to meet you, Y/n. I'm Mei. I had a nice time speaking with you earlier, though I'm a bit surprised to see that you know my Ex-husband." She giggles lightheartedly, which only seems to further infuriate Rin.

"How do you know each other, if you don't mind me asking?" She spoke again, this time with a little more bite.

"Oh, I'm his- "

"Girlfriend." Suna quickly cut you off, finishing your sentence for you. "She's my girlfriend."

The word startled you, it was something you weren't expecting. Then again, you couldn't be too surprised, since you practically gave him the idea in the first place. He was just taking a page out of your own handbook.

Of course, you'd play along for his sake. Pay it forward, right? Atsumu had helped you earlier, so you could do the same for Rin. Not that you even minded it, but of course, you'd never admit that.

Gripping his arm firmly, you pulled yourself in closer, slapping your best lovestruck smile on as you gazed at your second fake boyfriend of the day. You simply nodded, confirming his statement.

"Oh, that's great!" She responds enthusiastically, though her eyes held a hint of sadness within them that was hard for you to ignore.

"While we're all catching up, care to explain why haven't you spent anytime with your kids?" Rin spat, finally finding his nerve to give his ex-wife a piece of his mind.

"I've been meaning to do that... I've just been so busy with work and trying to get things ready for the new baby." She responds, timidly and guilt ridden.

"So you just go off and get knocked up, completely forgetting about your other kids?" He's seething, and now you're becoming more and more uncomfortable as this conversation continues.

"I didn't plan for this to happen!" She shouts, finally reaching her own breaking point. "Not that it's any of your business, anyways!"

"Not my business? We aren't even officially divorced yet, Mei! Do you know how fucking embarrassing this is for me?"

"Of course, as always, IT'S ALL ABOUT YOU!!" She shouts back, her calm composure slipping with each staggered breath she takes.

You're standing there awkwardly, glancing back and forth between the two of them. This obviously is a conversation that you don't need to be here for, deciding that it's time for you to go find the kids and make sure they aren't witnessing this fiasco.

"Uh, I'm gonna go check- "

"No. Stay." Suna barks the order at you, catching your hand as you start to walk off.

You turn around with half a mind to chew him out for speaking to you in such a way, but the look in his eyes damn near knocks the air out of your chest.

Those eyes that typically held such a cold, vacant expression, now exuded nothing but pain and vulnerability. The way that he desperately reached out for you was alarming, in the sense that you had no idea just how deeply his emotional scars had ran.

"Please."

There it was again, that desperation - the overwhelming need for you to stay by his side. It was surprising how his demeanor shifted so suddenly from just moments before when the two of you were alone. All of the confidence that he displayed while he was teasing you had all but disappeared as soon as he caught sight of her.

It made you wonder... what exactly happened between the two of them? It was something you didn't need to think about for very long, you caught on to the answer fairly quickly on your own.

The look in Rin's eyes was all too familiar to you, having met that same gaze in your own reflection whenever you looked into the mirror.

The pain, the sadness, the insecurity...

She must have had an affair, you thought to yourself, the empathy you felt for Suna in that moment was speaking volumes without the need for words. All it took was one last look into the desolate man's eyes for you to come back, taking your spot next to him.

You gave his hand a squeeze - a silent gesture of assurance that he so badly needed, more than you could even realize.

"Of course it's about me!" Suna continues, "You're the one who abandoned me and our kids to go be with some other man!"

She scowled, while her eyes held her own pain of a different kind.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have... done what I did... if you had actually paid attention to me every once in a while." She had ceased the shouting, her voice now almost low enough to be considered a whisper.

Rin stands mute, her words cutting so deep that he's unable to mutter a single word more.

"For her sake, I hope you've changed, Rintarou." She solemnly speaks her parting words, before turning her back to walk away.

She stops dead in her tracks, the sight of a familiar little boy refraining her from taking another step further.

"M-mommy?"

Reiki sputters the word out, almost as if he's forgotten how to say it - The shock of seeing his absent mother so suddenly causing a volcano of emotions bubbling to the surface, ready to erupt.

Tears begin to leak from his eyes, and on instinct you go to reach out to him. Except, it isn't your arms that he falls into. Mei scoops him up instantly, giving him a big hug as she holds him tight against her protruding baby belly.

The jealousy you felt while watching Reiki melt into his mother's arms had taken you by surprise. You had seen it dozens of times with almost every family that you nannied for, so why did this time feel so personal?

Reiko isn't too far behind, immediately jumping into her mother's arms, along side her brother. The three of them look so happy together, you would never know there was anything wrong if you weren't already aware of the situation.

Rin's eyes glaze over, his piercing eyes now soften at the sight before him.

It only take a second - he's letting go of your hand, his long fingers slipping from where they were once tangled with yours. You can only watch as he walks over to the three of them, crouching behind his kids to comfort them during their reunion.

You stand idly by, alone, your heart clenching at the view. You should be happy for them, right? After all, it's not like Rintarou is actually your boyfriend. It's not like these kids are actually your children.

You're just the nanny.

So, why does it hurt so bad?