Under The Lamppost

"It's alright to cry..."

**Under The Lamppost** is the 3-star card of the Passing White Butterflies event. It is centered around Yuzuki Katō from first-generation group Re'verse.

The card art features Ophelia Minh Huynh.

The card story features Ophelia Minh Huynh.

## Card Story

After a long day out, Yuzuki finally returned to her dorm. No one else was there, surprisingly. Aspen and Rukia were blabbering about a cafe they wanted to visit and Ophelia mentioned that she was visiting her family. She left her bag and jacket outside and wanted to crash on her bed but she heard the door being opened and slammed shut… Did Aspen and Rukia finish their cafe business? No, it was far too early for that. And besides, the two of them were not ones to go back to their dorms quietly. Those two always had at least 3 debates in each conversation. So the only one left is Ophelia… But she usually shuts the door very quietly as Aspen is not fond of loud noises. Ophelia is always attentive to things like this… Yuzuki decided to see what was wrong.

There, she saw Ophelia curled against the front door. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. Ophelia muttered something. It seemed that she hadn't noticed Yuzuki yet.

“...No, no, no no no no no-”

Yuzuki rushed out of her room and knelt beside her. She tapped Ophelia’s shoulder, her face full of worry. Ophelia turned to face her, a bit panicked as she wiped her face and tried to force a smile.

“Y-yuzuki! I didn’t know you were home… Sorry I startled you, a-are you hungry? I can make something for you if you want-”

“Ophelia… What happened at your family’s house?”

Ophelia went quiet. Suddenly, the floor looked much more interesting than her conversation.

"It's nothing, really! Now about the food-"

Ophelia tried to change the topic as she stood up. Patting her now wrinkled dress down and averting her gaze from Yuzuki in the process.

"Ophelia, don't try to change the topic… What happened?"

Yuzuki was legitimately worried. At the time she didn't realize it but that was the first time she's ever seen Ophelia look sad. She looked like she was carrying a burden no normal person could have handled. If she's been feeling like that all this time… Has she been penting up her emotions and hiding it?

"It's nothing! Just a little argument that happened… Nothing much…"

Ophelia faltered slightly. Perhaps from the pressure of answering. Perhaps from the pressure inside of her, begging to be unleashed as an ugly wave of emotions.

"An argument. With who? Your father? Sheesh, that guy… Don't listen to him he-"

"It wasn't my dad. It was Linh…"

Ophelia’s father was probably in the list of "Top 5 People to Hate" in Yuzuki's book. He didn't view Ophelia as a daughter and he didn't view Linh as his son. He treats both of them like robots. He expects Ophelia to act like the mother of the household. He expects her to do chores while also balancing school and her personal life. He also expects Linh to be perfect at anything and everything he does. Seems like a bad guy? Wait, it gets worse. He still holds true to his beliefs that women should stay in the kitchen and men should go out and work. Which means he believes men are of higher value than women. Disgusting, right? Yeah. He's horrible.

"Then… It's not that bad right? I mean, you've been taking care of him so I'm sure he'll forgive you-"

Unlike their father, Linh actually has a brain and logical reasoning. So, at least there is hope in that factor. It shouldn't be that bad… Right?

"You don't understand, Yuzuki! W-what if he hates me?"

Ophelia finally snapped. Yuzuki was caught off guard. She had never seen Ophelia so angry before. All this time, Ophelia has been… So calm and understanding.

“I-I can’t… I can’t lose him! He- He’s the only thing I have left… Linh is… All that I’ve ever stood for…”

Ophelia paused, realizing that her words slipped out of her mouth. She did it again. Her words slipped during their argument, it’s the same here too.

‘I hate this…’

Ophelia thought as she opened the door and ran out of the dorm. Where was she heading to? It’s pitch black outside and it’s probably rude to keep Yuzuki hanging. But, at this point she just wants to run away. Run away from all of her problems, all her worries, all of her burdens. Ophelia… She’s tired. She ran down the stairs, nearly tripping once or twice. She ran until she reached the campus' big open garden. There, she sat at a bench, underneath a lamppost. She was trying to calm herself down. Her logical reasoning started working again, \*how will she explain this to Yuzuki? Will Yuzuki believe her lies?\* But, before she could think more about it, she saw Yuzuki run after her.

‘Seriously… How is this girl so fast…?’ is what Yuzuki would have said if it was within normal circumstances. However, even though Ophelia noticed her, she refused to look Yuzuki in the eye. After catching her breath, she slowly walked towards the bench Ophelia was sitting on.

“Lia… Uh, are you okay?”

Yuzuki wasn’t the best at social interactions, even more so in comforting. But, this was Ophelia they were talking about. She had to repay her one way or another, right?

Ophelia didn’t say anything. She only clenched her skirt and looked at the ground, desperately trying not to cry.

So, Yuzuki made a rational decision to kneel in front of Ophelia and say…

**“It’s alright to cry…”**