A Love Stronger Than Whispers

Dreams (Do) Come True

Kiri: So... our families knew all along? They were secretly preparing us for each other?

Ruka: Maybe not consciously, but... in a way, maybe they were. Like, leaving us little clues, hidden in recipes and traditions.

Kiri: This is crazy. And kind of beautiful. Makes you wonder how many other invisible threads connect us across time and space.

(More) Family Ties.....

The bell above the cafe door chimed, announcing the arrival of two new occupants. Mini burst in first, a mischievous glint in her eyes, dragging a slightly bewildered Sasamoto behind her.

"Atsuki, darling," Mini chirped, nudging him with her elbow, "imagine bumping into your long-lost cousin here!"

Sasamoto blinked playfully, taking in the scene. Ruka and Kiri, faces flushed from their conversation, looked like startled deer caught in headlights. Mini's grin widened.

"Oh, right," she said, feigning surprise. "You two haven't met, have you? Ruka, this is Atsuki, my fiancé. And Atsuki, meet your cousin, Kiri Uzaki."

Kiri's jaw dropped. Sasamoto's eyes widened, both sarcastically. The air crackled with the revelation.

"Wait, what?" Kiri sputtered, with sarcastic tone. "Mini-senpai, you mean... you and Sasamoto-san...no, all of US are related?"

Mini threw her head back and laughed, a sound like wind chimes dancing in the breeze. "Yep! Second cousin, twice removed, through my Korean grandma's side. Crazy, right?"

Sasamoto chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, it's a bit of a mind-bender, ya-know. But hey, at least we have something to bond over now, right, Kiri?"

"Bond over?" Kiri echoed, still trying not to process the always-embarrassing information from his older cousin. "Like, what? Sharing another embarrassing childhood stories about Mini-senpai?"

Mini gasped. "Hey! My childhood was perfectly normal, thank you very much."

"Oh, really?" Sasamoto raised an eyebrow. "Then how about that time you-"

Mini cut him off with a playful shove, while closing her embarrassed face. "Silence, Atsuki! Don't spill all my secrets! Anyway," she turned to Ruka, "you guys wouldn't believe the family drama we've been uncovering. Turns out, half of my relatives are secretly working for Manchukuo government."

Ruka laughed, her tension easing. "Manchukuo? I thought you were joking."

"I'm not!" Mini declared, her eyes sparkling. "There's even a hidden document in my grandma's attic that supposedly contains Emperor Pu Yi's secrets."

Kiri snorted. "Bomboclaat, Mini-senpai. You really have a vivid imagination, innit?"

"More vivid than your love life, that's for sure," Mini retorted, her playful smirk aimed at Ruka. "Remember that Kazuya Kinoshita fiasco? You really thought he was the one, didn't you?"

Ruka blushed. "Don't remind me. I was so naive back then."

"At least Kiri was there to catch you when you stumbled," Atsuki said, a playful glint in his eyes. "He certainly played his knight in shining armor, eh? Though I gotta say, your brother-in-law gave me some grief about being Minerva's knight in shining underpants."

Kiri flushed, but a grin tugged at his lips. "Someone had to rescue Ruka from Kazuya's love triangle of doom."

"Dreams do come true," Ruka's voice chimed in, her hand nestled in Kiri's. 

"I'm living mine in Seoul, and Nanami found her happily ever after with that blue-blooded snob, Hakuba. Sakurasawa's found his too, swimming in her hubby's spoiling. Mizuhara and Kinoshita... well, karma's a funny thing, isn't it? As for Shinichi and Hana?" Kiri shrugged, his now-broad shoulders lifting under his shirt. 

"They finally got their act together, just like Dad always said."

Dreams Come True? Not (Yet)

They all erupted in laughter, the tension dissipating like morning mist. The conversation flowed easily, filled with teasing about Mini's  ancestry, Kiri's surprisingly undying devotion to Ruka, and the bizarre love story of Shinichi Sakurai, Sasamoto's former college mate and Kiri's older sister, Hana.

The quartet, who bonded over Kazuya Kinoshita, Ruka's ex-rental boyfriend, reminisced about Hana and Shinichi's unconventional romance, forged in the chaos of Maison Ikkoku.

As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across the cafe floor, they knew it was time to leave. But the chance encounter had woven a new thread into their lives, a connection forged through unexpected family ties and shared laughter. As they hugged goodbye, a promise hung in the air: to continue this newfound kinship, to write their own chapter in the ever-unfolding story of their families and their love.

Mini's connection to both Kiri and Atsuki Sasamoto adds another layer of complexity to their lives. Her shared Korean heritage with Sasamoto allows them to navigate the nuances of Seoul's social scene seamlessly. This was something that  Ruka, with her Japanese upbringing despite being the least "Yamato", sometimes struggles with. This creates a subtle divide, a feeling of "otherness" for Ruka that fuels her insecurity.

The lucky thing is, Atsuki kept reminding Ruka about her ties to the Sasamoto family.

Furthermore, Mini's family ties to the powerful Shirasagi family, while initially reassuring, become a source of pressure for Kiri. As a budding screenwriter, the expectations placed on him as a relative of influential figures become overwhelming. He finds himself questioning his choices, worried about disappointing his family and Mini.

The hidden tensions within their newfound family circle threaten to strain their relationships. Ruka and Kiri need to navigate these sensitive dynamics, learning to communicate openly and support each other through self-doubt and external pressures.

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