𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓 ▸ hitachiin twins

PROLOGUE

· 。ﾟ❁ུ۪: *.☽ ˚ ⋆ ･｡
▎ 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐗𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓    ▎
[prologue] ━━ the beginnings of what?

"i love you not because of who you are,
but because of who i am when i am with you."

- herman hesse

𝐑𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐔𝐊𝐀𝐌𝐈 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑. He was born only weeks before little Haruhi Fujioka, and the two were quickly destined to be together by their very eager parents. He would be the only man that would ever be enough for their little girl, and without knowing it, their parents doomed the influential children for the rest of their lives.

Being alone for most of their childhood, the two relied on each other for everything, forcing the children to close their eyes to everyone else in the world. Others weren't like them, and they didn't need them. After all, other people didn't understand their dreams like they did.

Why would they need anyone else, if it wasn't even necessary?

They were on the perfect track of living a cute, normal life that was destined for them. Ryuu would be the perfect husband, getting a job at the same restaurant his mother slaved away at, and Haruhi being the perfect wife who cooked and cleaned after a hard day's work no matter how tired she was. They were built for one another, working like a well oiled machine. Everyone knew they would eventually fall in love and have children, just like any other family. The two of them had even believed it themselves at one point in their lives.

But there was just one factor that managed to tear it all down.

"Hey, Haru?"

Haruhi hummed from her place on the floor, a book snuggly placed in her lap as she studied. The small Ryuu Marukami shifted onto his side, just barely able to catch Haruhi's figure from where he laid. Since it was the end of their second year of middle school, final exams were taking place, and they were both studying for whatever test they were going to be taking the next day, but the boy could hardly focus. His mind was somewhere else.

"What's up?" Haruhi asked, turning her head towards him, her long hair shifting against her back.

Ryuu looked away, eyes finding the ceiling as he slipped onto his back. "Do you like me?"

Haruhi let out noise of surprise before frowning. "Of course I do, dummy."

"No," Ryuu said strictly, causing Haruhi to tilt her head. Ryuu never got so serious or confrontational, and it was confusing her. "Do you want to be my girlfriend, Haruhi?"

Haruhi froze, her grip on the book going slack once his words processed in her head.

"I-I don't know... That's such a weird question." Haruhi blushed, looking down at her lap.

"Then can I kiss you?"

The two middle schoolers were then caught in silence neither of them looking at each other. It only confused Haruhi more to hear Ryuu say such things so casually, as if it didn't fluster him even a little. He had always been so clumsy; physically and with his words, so it was strange. But it was still Ryuu, her life long best friend, and the only person Haruhi could ever see sharing the rest of her life with. She could trust her Ryuu—she always trusted her Ryuu. He was older, which had to make him smarter, right?

"Okay."

There was silence again, before Ryuu sat up. The boy took his time in shifting closer to his friend, being careful after seeing her begin to grow red. He had been thinking about it all day, but nothing was resolved. Haruhi was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and he knew he wanted to marry her in the future—that was what people who loved each other did, right?

So, he should have really wanted to kiss her, all the guys in his class sure did. Ryuu Marukami was made for Haruhi Fujioka, even their parents said so.

Ryuu leaned forward, his eyes closing after Haruhi squeezed her own shut.

Why did the thought of kissing her not make his stomach flutter? Was he broken?

Connecting their lips, Ryuu frowned. He needed to like it, especially since it was Haruhi—the one girl he knew he loved besides his mother. He pushed forward, drawing a startled gasp from Haruhi, and tried harder. Ryuu was positive it was going to work, it had to just take a little while. Haruhi poked his shoulder, sending Ryuu spiraling out of his thoughts and back to reality.

He pulled away, breathing a little heavier.

"R-Ryuu? Are you okay?"

Ryuu slumped down, his cheeks becoming wet with the sudden flow of tears. He had always been such a crybaby.

"I..." Ryuu sobbed, breaking his sentence. "I-I want to marry you one day, Haru!"

Haruhi blushed, her eyes softly tracing the crying boy. She then smiled, placing a gentle hand on his head and petting him just as his mother did when he was upset. It prompted the boy to cry even more, suddenly flinging himself onto his best friend and sobbing loudly into her shoulder.

Haruhi hummed, wrapping her arms around him. "It's okay, Ryuu. You're okay."

And Ryuu wasn't sure if he understood what she was saying—until he grew up and lost that confusion that he struggled with for years.