The Power of Empathy. (Junjou Romantica)

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  • Dedicated to RikoJasmine
                                    

Just to let you know do not blame me for the uploads and it is a Haruhiko love story!

Chapter 1: The Girl and the Rabbit

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Misaki wasn't sure whether to feel impressed or wary.

She stared up at the large, fancy apartment complex, shifting her backpack on her shoulder and feeling rather uncomfortable with her current situation. A regular middle-class girl holding a pot of pork soup in front of an elegant apartment building would surely look rather out of place in such an upscale part of Tokyo. However, she had sucked up her awkwardness and came to this place to receive tutoring from the famous writer, Akihiko Usami, in exchange for her older brother's cooking.

Really, she should be honored. Usami-sensei was an award-winning novelist, the youngest recipient of the esteemed Naomori award and even valedictorian of the law university he attended. That, and he was super rich, being the second son of the Usami Corporation CEO and from the popularity of his writing, he was a force to be reckoned with. Misaki knew she should be feeling privileged that he'd even accepted her brother's request to tutor her in the first place.

Although, that was exactly the problem. Usami and his relationship with her older brother, Takahiro.

Being the little sister, Takahiro had always warned her about strange men and how she should always be alert. Since it had only been the two of them since their parents died, Takahiro was extremely protective of her; he'd always freak out if a man so much looked at her oddly. While Misaki understood her big brother's reasoning and paranoia—which seemed to have rubbed off on her though the years—he seemed to completely fail at identifying perverts for himself.

She didn't want to come off as disrespectful to the esteemed Akihiko Usami, but after coming home the day earlier to see him practically molesting Takahiro and her brother seeming none the wiser, she had second thoughts about the man. A part of her hoped that they were just really close—they'd been best friends since high school, after all—but the other part was ringing the warning bells in her head.

Not exactly the best first impression he could have had on her. Nothing like making a girl on high alert with her to-be tutor to make her feel comfortable around him.

She sighed, heading into the building and making her way towards an elevator. She was just going to hope for the best.

As the elevator rose to the topmost floor, Misaki turned her head and studied her reflection in the polished golden surface of the wall to make sure she was presentable. Her green eyes were the same as always, and she brushed a brown lock of hair past her shoulder due to its messiness. Her hair had the odd habit of flaring out at the ends, something that constantly bothered her, but Takahiro always said he liked it. She suddenly remembered the dance at the end of her senior year of high school, when she'd been all dolled up for the night out.

"You look so grown-up," her brother had said proudly, smiling but looking very much near tears. "You look so much like Mom, you know..."

It was true. She could recall from both her memory and the pictures from her childhood that she did indeed look like their mother—a stern little woman that always seemed to be working—with her big emerald green eyes and brunette hair, and their slender, petite build was the same. It made her melancholy to know that every time she looked at herself, her mother's reflection stared back at her. It was a heavy feeling, knowing that she had taken her face.

Takahiro, meanwhile, had taken after their father—tall and broad-shouldered with dark hair and dark eyes. Misaki thought that her brother was quite handsome, if a bit oblivious. She was glad that a responsible, level-headed woman like Manami was his girlfriend; if anyone could be trusted with her brother's well-being, it would be her. Plus, she already liked Manami enough to call her a big sister.

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