THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY
fractured || five hargreeves x reader

CHAPTER TWELVE: I'M NOT THE FAVORITE KID

Written By: peachyhxlland

°•.☆.•°

"Wait, you stayed with Dad, and you still have your powers?" Luther asked as he was appalled by your story. "And he kept you in his home, then he gave you more powers by making you consume more marigold, and he took some of it anyway, which is in Five's hand right now?"

You chewed on your sushi roll and nodded. "You pretty much summed up my story quite well."

You and the others decided to have dinner at a nearby Japanese restaurant after deciding to spend some time together and discuss what had happened back at the washing shop.

"I can't tell if you're the favorite kid or not," Viktor commented with a stifled laugh. "I mean, he always seemed to prefer you over all of us but manages to screw up your life and mental health over and over again."

Casting a glance at Viktor, you knitted your brows. "I'm not the favorite kid."

Luther laughed. "Are you kidding me?" He chuckled, earning your attention. "Remember when he only allowed you to have stuffed toys when we were super young? He only allowed Allison to have some stuffed toys when we were seven. Not to mention, he acted more like a father figure to you than to all of us. And here I thought I was the favorite!"

With a shake of your head, you laughed uncertainly. "Well, a father wouldn't conduct experiments on his favorite child," You stated. "Come on, people! Did you all forget how he screwed my life over the first time? When he froze me for years? And add the fact he ordered Allison to rumor my memories away because I killed some people by accident? And the list goes on."

You sighed and shrugged. "He may seem to favor me, but he is still the worst father of all time. You guys were also victims of his abuse."

"Well..." Five cleared his throat as he stared at the jar of marigolds in his hand. "What I'd like to know is how the daughter of some random dry cleaner ends up with a jar of marigold in the trunk of her car." In an attempt to change the topic of conversation, he asked everyone.

"How do we know that's not just a jar of glow stick juice?" Diego asked as he stared at the jar of marigold.

"Why don't you take a sip and find out, tough guy?" Ben told Diego as he gave him a mischievous smile.

"I will if you will."

"Don't even think about it." Diego received a warning from Lila as she munched on her own sushi.

"Okay, does anyone here want their power back?" Five asked everyone.

Ben raised his finger. "Yeah." But his reply was overshadowed by Klaus' response. "No, siree, Bob." Klaus stared nowhere as he continued to talk. "For the first time in my life, I'm sober. A-And... happy. But most importantly, 100% poltergeist-free."

"Free?" Allison questioned. "You rarely leave the house. And when you do or when Ray encourages you to go outside, you're wearing surgical gloves in public."

Klaus frowned. "Yeah, well, at least I'm in control." He remarked, glancing down at his gloved hands.

Five hastily hid the marigold jar somewhere in the box when the chef entered just in time to perform some tricks. "Showtime." As the chef proudly demonstrated his abilities in front of everyone, Diego cast a judgemental stare at the chef's hands. He leaned closer to whisper to Lila. "Look at this chump. Angle's wrong. Sloppy form."

Lila mustered a grin but then sent him a worn and annoyed side-eye.

You and the others gave the chef a round of applause after he finished his performance. "Good job, sir." Five praised as he clapped.

"Nice." Viktor smiled while he clapped as well.

Luther grinned widely as he clapped the loudest. "He is so good." He turned to tell Ben; however, Diego heard it and gave him an offended look.

After the chef left, Viktor sighed. "Look, guys, it's a hard no for me too," He confessed. "I've got a bar to run, friends. Like, a real life."

You gazed at what you were eating with a gloomy expression. 'A real life...' You gripped your chopsticks.

"Did you really think you had the worst life out of all of us? That you had the worst past and experiences?"

"You're all nuts, alright?" Ben groaned. "We should be mainlining this shit right now." Ben looked up at Luther and gave him a pat on the chest. "Look, come on, big guy. I know you want it."

Luther smiled uneasily. "Wait!" He stifled a chuckle. "I mean, that's a tough one."

"Come on!" Klaus exclaimed. "You don't need that, Luther. Your life is fantastic."

With a creased brow, Luther cast an uncertain glance toward Klaus. "I don't know about fantastic, but you know, I... I'm managing."

"Is that where the bar is set these days?" Ben questioned. "Managing?"

Luther sighed. "I'll do whatever the group decides. How's that?"

"Yeah, I'm with Luther." Diego chimed in and glanced at Lila, who gave him a nod. "Majority rules."

"Yeah, right!" Luther cheered.

Klaus turned to face Allison, who seemed to be thinking carefully. "You're not actually considering this, are you?" He asked softly.

While Allison thought of an answer, Ben sneakily took the jar from the box below between him and Five and slipped the jar of marigolds from the box into his pocket as he made sure everyone wasn't looking, especially Five. Allison haltingly answered Klaus. "N-No. No, my life is great. I have my daughter and my husband. I have everything I need."

"Yup," Lila said out loud with an unsure smile. "Me too."

"Same." Klaus chimed as he timidly raised his hand.

As their words continued to echo in your mind, you used your chopsticks to move your sushi around the platter. 'They... have their normal lives. The kind of normal life I also wanted.' You took deep breaths and looked around at everyone. 'Why. Can't. I. Have. One?'

"Alright, then. Motion fails. We don't drink the mystery juice." Five announced. "So we don't get our powers back."

"Oh, thank God." Klaus sighed in relief.

Ben scoffed as he stood up from his seat. "Seriously, people?" He asked everyone. "So all of you are okay with no powers, and yet (Y/n) over here is the only one who gets to keep hers?"

"It's not like (Y/n) had lost her powers and took them back again. She's not like us." Viktor defended you.

'Not like them...' You thought to yourself.

"You don't belong here. You're useless."

"The world would be better if you were gone."

"Shouldn't it be fair?" Ben queried. "We have no powers, and so should she."

Five glared at Ben. "What? Do you plan to take the marigold out of my girlfriend? Are you trying to be like Reginald 2.0?"

Ben put up his hands in defeat. "You know what? I tried. You're all morons." He began to walk away, but Luther called him out. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"To take a piss!" Ben exclaimed in annoyance. "Is that okay, Luther? Or do you need to run that by my parole officer too?" Ben proceeded to turn to leave the room, and Luther started to freak out. "Oh, shit! I was supposed to call him at 6:00!"

You remained silent and gazed at the fire where the chef was cooking while the others carried on their conversation. You focused on the flames in front of you, your hands getting increasingly tightened, and your eyes showed the reflection of the fire.

"An abomination."

"You're not an Umbrella, (Y/n). You're not a part of this family. You're an outsider. A nobody."

"(Y/n)?" Your name was called, and you flinched so much that you accidentally knocked your chopsticks to the ground. You turned to face Five, who was already getting up from his chair. "Ready to go?"

You fixed your gaze on Five and then turned to look at your chopsticks on the floor. You turned to face Five again. "We're leaving?"

Five nodded. "Yeah. Viktor is coming back to Canada, Allison has an audition, and the rest are going home. So, come on, I'll take you to Danielle's apartment."

"Woah, woah, woah!" Ben exclaimed when he returned to the room and saw that you were still seated while everyone else was standing. "Hey, hey! Where's everyone going? We haven't even gotten to the steak yet!"

"Party's over." Viktor replied.

"No! No!" Ben shook his head while a waiter came into the room to set down some drinks. "Okay. One last shot, on me. For old-time's sake. Please!" He turned around to face Klaus. "Klaus, please!"

"No!" Five scolded Ben, knowing how well Klaus was doing so well in his sobriety. He remembered the conversation he had with Klaus back at Grace's birthday party.

"Klaus?"

"Oh, hey! Five. How's it going?"

"So, how long have you been sober now?"

"Oh, uh, coming up on three years on January 15th, but who's counting, right?"

"That's amazing. Really, good for you."

"Thanks, Five. Appreciate it."

Klaus may have claimed you as his very own baby sister, but Five claimed him like a baby brother. You and Five both cared for Klaus very much. He liked how Klaus was the complete opposite of him, but he and Five managed to get along quite well.

Despite the protests from the others and attempts to protect him, Klaus tried to come up with an excuse. "Sake doesn't count."

Ben nodded. "Exactly." He smiled and offered Klaus the shot glass.

Allison, though, shot Klaus a stern glare since she was not pleased that he gave in. Luther took a moment to think and looked up at the ceiling. "It doesn't?" He wondered.

"Hey, dude's sober." Diego tried to defend Klaus' decision.

You looked at the eight shot glasses left on the table. "No, I-I can't," You said softly. "I haven't had a drink in a long time either."

Ben took a shot glass and leaned it closer to you, earning a skeptical glare from Five as he watched Ben drape his arms around your shoulders. "It's on me, (Y/n)," Ben whispered. "Besides, it's only for today. Consider it a chance to celebrate your sobriety and that of Klaus. You and Klaus are both very good boys and girls for staying away from alcohol for a long period of time."

Ben was ripped away from you by Five as he rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. Ben, though, slipped the shot glass into your hand before he was dragged away. Five gave Ben an aggressive push and clenched his jaw. "When she says no, it means no. Read the room, asshole."

"Five." To keep him from beating Ben up, you held Five's hand and smiled reassuringly at him. "It's okay. It's just one drink."

Five gave you a worrisome gaze and then shot an irritated glance at Ben, who gave him a wry smile and shrugged. Five took your shot glass and moved over to you with a sigh. "Okay, but just drink a small amount." In order to prevent you from having too many, he filled his shot glass more. Five returned your shot glass to you and assisted you in moving out of your chair.

Ben raised his hands in the air with his shot glass. "Here's to the nonexistent Umbrella Academy! Kanpai!"

You and others raised their glasses as well. "Kanpai!" You all took a sip of your drinks. After you'd had a drink, you scrunched your nose, which made the others chuckle a little bit while Five cracked a smile and tucked a stray hair behind your ear. Five picked up your shot glass and set it down on the table, and the others did the same. Five grabbed the box as the others departed, and you followed him out of the room.

Meanwhile, Ben sat back down in his seat, which Luther noticed since everyone had left. "Hey, you comin'?"

As he continued to eat his sushi, Ben shook his head. "I'm gonna savor my last minutes of freedom and finish this shrimp if you don't mind."

After clearing his throat, Luther moved next to Ben's ear. "What about curfew?"

Ben smirked as he looked at Luther. "Relax, Captain Tight-ass. I'll meet you back at your shithole later." He gave Luther his word and returned to his dinner.

Luther furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he straightened up. "Captain Tight-ass?" He asked quietly, then turned to walk away, patting his bum.

Ben proceeded to verify if Luther and the others were gone and took out the jar filled with marigolds, smirking to find that there was less of it inside. Ben tossed a little of it into his shot glass. "See ya on the other side, fuckfaces."

The chopsticks you dropped and abandoned on the floor were still there while Ben finished his drink and consumed his meal.

-•-°-•-°-☆

Finally, episode 1 done! I also had to put that deleted scene from s4 in this chapter. I'm quite mad because they had to delete a Klaus and Five moment scene but kept the Five and Lila scenes >:'(

Fun fact: According to my research, dropping your chopsticks is an omen of bad luck.