Onigiri

Prologue: The Miya Twin Encounter

Summer: A wonderful time for children to be children.

Running around, playing with others of the same age.

Laughter fills the air.

Injuries are ignored- simply being temporary feelings for such young beings.

It was no different back when the Miya twins, and you as well, were around 5 years old....

You had no one.

Not even the faintest trace of a family member within Hyogo.

But no one knew this.

You had no friends.

You lived in an orphanage.

And you watched as many other children got adopted.

All but you.

No matter how many desperate parent applicants there were, none seemed to want you.

You remained at the orphanage.

Alone. All alone.

No one was there for you.

You felt there was something wrong with you.

And maybe, just maybe... there might have been.

Maybe it was your unusually s/t skin, or it could've been the vibrant h/c hair that flowed from your head, maybe it could've been your glowing e/c eyes.

All of which, many people had found unnatural for a child, especially one your age.

And yet, there could possibly be one- and maybe just this one- person that'll find you perfect.

And they'll love you for who you are.

But you had given up on that hope long ago.

And things only progressively got worse.

Then you met them.

You were allowed out of the orphanage by yourself one day, when you were only 5 years old. You smiled slightly when you entered the park, only to find it empty.

Any child would've been sad and/or found it scary. You had, at first, but that was but a fleeting feeling. You've grown used to being alone, what's one more public place in which you'll be all by yourself? It didn't matter to you, not in the slightest.

It was when you had been swinging yourself that you heard children laughing. Without stopping your motion, you turned your head towards the source of the laughter.

There were two boys, seemingly your age. They looked identical, must've been twins, and they both had medium to dark brown hair. At first, it would seem impossible to tell them apart. But you could. One parted their hair to the right, the other parted his hair to the left. You had also noticed within that brief glance that their eye color was different, the shades of their hair were slightly different, and even how neat or messy they kept their hair had been different.

Within time, they both ran over to the swing set where you sat. You had slowed yourself to a stop, looking at the two in anticipation.

The one that parted his hair to the left quickly got onto the only other swing available, right next to you. He laughed and stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"Too bad fer ya, Atsumu. I got here first."

The other boy, who parted his hair to the right and was apparently named Atsumu, frowned. "No fair! Ya cheated, Osamu!"

"Did not."

"Did too!"

You looked between the two before quietly speaking up. "How can you cheat in running?"

Atsumu turned to glare at you. "Ya just can!"

Osamu rolled his eyes and smiled at you. "Don' mind him. He's just mad he lost!"

Atsumu's face grew red from anger. "Shut yer trap! Stupid Osamu!"

Osamu giggled while beginning to swing. "Yer a sore loser, Atsumu."

"Am not!" The hotheaded boy turned to you. "Get off that swing."

"But I got here first...."

In a fit of anger, Atsumu pushed you off the swing. He climbed on himself and began swinging.

You silently curled into a ball on the ground, tears rolling from your eyes. It hurt when you hit the ground. But you weren't gonna say anything. You refused to let anyone see your face, fearing that they'd call you a crybaby.

Osamu, unlike his twin, got off the swing and slowly made his way to you, being very cautious as he did so. He didn't want to risk scaring you. "Are you ok?" He whispered quietly to you.

You didn't answer. You didn't even move.

This only worried the boy more. He carefully moved you away from the swing set, gently setting you under a tree. "Are you ok?" He repeated.

You looked up at him, still crying silently. "Why do you care?" Your voice wasn't harsh, simply just curious and confused.

This made Osamu's eyes widen in shock. "Why wouldn't I care? My brother was being mean to you and you might've gotten hurt."

This made more tears flow from your eyes.

And again, Osamu became even more worried for you. "H-hey! W-wh-what's wrong?!" The boy was nearly panicking from your reaction.

You shook your head, trying to wipe your tears away. "No- no one's ever cared about me enough to see if I was alright." You hiccup through the tears, and your sentence.

Osamu relaxed slightly, tilting his head to the side. "What about your parents?"

You let out a somewhat quiet sob. "I don't have parents."

Without thinking, the young boy wrapped his arms around you and pulled your face against his chest. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"For my brother being mean to you. And for asking about parents when you don't have any."

"It's ok. It's not your fault. You- you didn't know.

"I should've been more sensitive. It's cuz I don't know you that I should be more sensitive and try avoid saying things that might make you upset."

You slowly wrapped your arms around this boy and gripped the back of his shirt tightly, sobbing quietly onto his chest. "Why? Why are you so nice to me when no one else is?"

"Cuz... I don't think anyone should be treated badly. You looked lonely when we first came into the park. I didn't like that."

You froze, moving away to look him in the eyes, seeing how earnest he was. "R-really?"

He nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah. Hey, do you wanna be friends?"

Your tears almost instantly dried up at his words, a light feeling in your chest. Your frown curved upwards into a small smile.

Someone was actually willing to be your friend- your first friend.

Osamu was being sincere. He didn't pity you. He just wanted to help make you happy, since it seemed like you weren't. He's simply doing this out of the goodness of his heart and because he genuinely wants to.

"I'd love to be your friend!"