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16.66% (BL)Sekaiichi Hatsukoi: The Peculiar Case of Onodera Haruyuki / Chapter 1: Episode 1: The love of a family is life's greatest blessing
(BL)Sekaiichi Hatsukoi: The Peculiar Case of Onodera Haruyuki (BL)Sekaiichi Hatsukoi: The Peculiar Case of Onodera Haruyuki original

(BL)Sekaiichi Hatsukoi: The Peculiar Case of Onodera Haruyuki

Author: SushiAddictedNeko

© WebNovel

Chapter 1: Episode 1: The love of a family is life's greatest blessing

The love of a family is life's greatest blessing, even when it hurts.

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He remembered waking up startled that one morning.

He failed to get his erratic breathing under control, and it further elevated his panic when he realises he was entangled in sheets on a bed he didn't recognise.

Beginnings of a headache thrummed as flashes of alien images he didn't recognise assaulted his feeble mind with a cruel vengeance.

Fear stricken, he tried shaking off the strange sensation of his brain being engulfed in fire ants.

Two distinct, separate memories trying to dominate the other; a rush of colours blinded his sight.

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A woman and a girl playing in the water laughing, a young male in his early twenties happily snapping photos with his camera while he ( or was it a she?) sat by the beach looking out with a fond smile.

A man was wearing a large knapsack, smiling brightly as he ruffles her raven locks.

A different young man stared into her eyes in a loving gaze, a baby in their embrace.

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Agonising pain flared in his skull, he shut his eyes and clutched desperately onto his head in an attempt to relieve some of the pain. His heart was thudding erratically.

He failed to acknowledge he was screaming, nor did he hear the sound of thundering footsteps followed by a slam of a door opening as another memory forcibly ploughed into his mind once more.

————————————————————————

A little boy with bright green eyes smiled a happy, cheerful smile, running away in glee. An Asian woman knelt at his height, patting his head in comfort—a stiff-looking man in a suit with cold, distant eyes.

————————————————————————

His body flailed and spasm, ignorant of his surroundings. He vaguely heard yelling when his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

And then, he knew no more.

————————————————————————

The next time he was conscious was to the reminisce smell of bleach and disinfectant. Though his mind was still swimming in a hazy fog, the smell brought forth a sense of nostalgia— to a time when he was under hospital care after having his firstborn.

He stops short at that.

Somehow he gained two very different memories, now perfectly converged upon one another.

It was odd knowing he remembered living a life as a woman, happily married to her husband with a wonderful baby boy, a toddler.

At the same time, he still held memories of the present.

He was Onodera Haruyuki, a son to a mother who was prim, strict and proper. And a father who was at times non-existent in his life, an owner to one of the most successful businesses.

And a sibling, a twin in this life.

Did he get himself reincarnated somehow?

But why? He couldn't remember dying.

Worry, sorrow and grief swirled in the pit of his stomach for his family but was brought back from his musings when he sensed a presence by his bedside.

Groggily he opened his eyes and was greeted by the sight of a white ceiling. The rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor was the first to catch his attention. His fingers twitched, still feeling the lingering after pain from the earlier migraine he hopes was the last time he experienced.

"Nii-san?"

Concerned green eyes met his own as if he was staring into a mirror. However, his twin's were slightly bloodshot and puffy from exhaustion. Had he been crying?

"...Ritsu..."

The name had unconsciously spilt out from his lips before he had a chance to comprehend its meaning. For some reason, his instincts automatically drew him to the conclusion that this strange boy was safe.

To add his growing worry, his vision interpreted everything— including the boy in front of him— looking as if they were drawn two-dimensionally, including himself resembling every likeness of exaggerated Japanese anime characters with traditional big expressive eyes. But he was looking at that heart-wrenching expression howeverー it caused guilt to crawl up its way into his subconscious. Knowing that he put this bright little boy he came to care for to this state kicked off his earlier concerns in the afterburner. The now dubbed thirteen-year-old could only give an apologetic smile.

He tried sitting up but was met with gentle resistance to remain in his position. "N-nii-san, you shouldn't move so much!" The boy, Ritsu, cried out in worry.

"You're still recovering from surgery."

The other twin blinked. Then, he consciously raised his hand to feel bandages neatly wrapped around his head. What's even stranger, there was an alarming amount of blanks in his memory—especially the ones leading up to the incident.

"You went to bed early," Ritsu provided.

"You've been complaining about having headaches during dinner." his voice grew quiet, looking down at his hands gripping at the sheets.

"Mother was unhappy that you didn't come in for breakfast because usually, we came in together. I thought you were still sick, so I let you sleep in. That's w-when I heard the noisesー you were screaming so awful…"

Seeing his twin this upset and on the verge of tears weighed heavily on his mind.

'I did this.'

Haruyuki had never meant to cause this much anguish, especially for his brother. The love he felt for him filtered through as if he were the twin of the boy beside him, and it hadn't been anything different.

In his last life, he had been the eldest and had had siblings. Caring for them was his responsibility while his parents were away for work. It also helped that he was a mother. It came naturally to him when he had raised his little one.

The bed-ridden boy gently clasped his brother's shaking hand to rub soothing motions, gradually bringing him back from his blabbering. Then, he sluggishly scooted further into the bed to make room, taking care of the wires and IV drip. Much to his twin's protests, he pulled him along to lay beside him on the comfortable mattress.

"Sleep."

He was tucking his brother under his chin, basically spooning him.

"I know that you're worried," he mumbled with a slow exhale of breath, "but neglecting your body is very bad, and you may very well have gotten sick."

"Did you think I wouldn't get worried too? Always prioritise your health before caring for others."

"You're no use to everyone if you'd collapsed from exhaustion," he added, feeling exhausted himself.

Haruyuki smiled at the blush dusted on his brother's cheeks, ducking in embarrassment. Humming, he absentmindedly played with his brother's brown locks. Before long, he could feel that his strokes had lulled his brother to sleep, but he kept on with his task.

————————————————————————

It had strictly been a month. And it quickly began to irk him.

After two weeks of being in the hospital, the doctors prescribed painkillers, antibiotics and two whole gruelling months of bed rest. He was mortified to learn that he was unconscious for a week, which might have explained Ritsu's anxiety. He would be too if, God forbid, his brother had been rendered into a coma.

His mother had been concerned as well, fussing about his needs, making sure he had taken his medication and his much needed rest. He was beginning to suffocate with all of the unnecessary attention. He was a thirty-year-old woman in a body of a child! Not a disabled person!

To add more salt to the wound, he had to accept he was just that; a child. And not just any child at that; he was a teenager. He could only shiver at the thought of re-experiencing puberty. He might have been female, but he had been on the receiving end of his sibling's mood swings and awkward mornings in his past life, so he knows what is to be expected.

Oh well, at least he was free from bleeding once every other month.

This large amount of extra time allowed him to reflect on his 'other' life. Mostly about the part where he spent as a teenage girl.

She was nothing specialーjust an ordinary girl living out in the suburbs for most of her life, enjoying outings and continuously trying out new things. There were times where she does experienced hardships despite having a relatively supporting family. Her father had an easy-going attitude, but he was controlling and possessed a nasty temper in contrast. Her parents fought often. The man was abusive, and sometimes when their arguments were getting out of hand, he would raise his hand on her mother. It was a blessing in disguise when he was forced to live separately in different states due to his job. Only able to visit once or twice a month.

Now that he thought about it, maybe that was why he was used to the idea of barely having a father figure. Past experiences had taught him not to rely on them, often associating the household's male leads with pain and heartbreak.

Ritsu, in a way like him, didn't have a father figure to look up to. Thankfully, their father was not like his old one, but the man was the type to prioritise his work over family, and there were times they barely even got to see him.

He was currently sitting in his bed, listening to his brother's retelling about his day at school. Haruyuki was aware that his twin was feeling lonely since his sentence to house arrest. He couldn't recall a time where Ritsu mentioned having any close friends besides being acquainted with his classmates. They were always together, but now that he was confined to another month of bed rest, Ritsu was forced to go to school alone.

Though hesitant to fully come to terms with his situation, admittedly, it wasn't all too bad. He had Ritsu and a roof over his head, more than some people in the world.

There was something still nagging at the back of his mind.

For some reason, his brother's name sounded kind of familiar as if he had heard it before, echoing insistently from the very depths of his memories from his 'other' life.

Maybe it was a common one? He couldn't remember being in Japan meeting someone named Ritsu before.

And he barely indulged in bothering with any idols or actors that had the same name.

What is it...?

Ritsu... Onodera....Onodera...Odaー

Instantly, he'd gone entirely rigid.

Ritsu, having noticed the change, stopped in mid chatter to call out to him in concern. "Nii-san? What's wrong?"

Unaware of this sudden turn of events, Haruyuki turned and stared at his brother to really take in his bright green eyes and brown hair as it triggered a long-forgotten memory.

————————————————————————

She was having another stressful day, being pressured to do well at school, getting good grades, to do better. She was running on fumes. As she wandered during lunch, she spotted a group of juniors gathered by the bench, chattering in excitement. Curious, she got closer and introduced herself. They were a bit wary of her at first, but soon she was included in the conversation. They were passing Japanese mangas around when one, in particular, caught her attention. "Hey, I think I got a poster of this from one of the magazines. Is it any good?"

There adorned on the front cover was an illustration of a green-eyed brunette male carrying a bunch of manga along with a tall, dark, handsome man brandishing thick-framed glasses. It didn't look like any of the typical shonen manga she came across before. For one, the book was pink and flowery. It had a white bunny mascot holding a wand. It was new yet peculiar. Shonen-ai?

She raised a brow when she noticed that the majority of them were nervous. "Erm...well, we weren't sure that you'd approve of it if we were to tell you…" one said but was cut off by her friend.

"Since one, you're a senior and two you're a school prefect, you might report on us." she deadpanned.

Staring at the group, who were now in jittery nerves and tense silence said senior blink. Rolling her eyes at the paranoia, she replied with a bland voice,

"If we're playing at the technicalities then, all of you should be aware that the rules dictate against bringing non-educational reading materials to school, and I'm entitled to confiscate these and deduct merit points." she pointed at the impressive collection, causing them to laugh nervously.

"Fortunately…" she continued, waving the book in hand to emphasise a point. "Seeing as I an avid manga fan, I learned to appreciate good manga when I see one. So I'll let it slide just this once." at this, the girls heaved a relieved sigh.

"Just..." she awkwardly added, gesturing to the growing mountain pile of manga. "Don't bring them out in the open if you don't want to get caught. I won't be held accountable the next time someone else reported you and end up losing points."

Needless to say, in just one day, the girls were immensely grateful for her leniency and had excitedly lent her the manga only to discover her budding love for the BL genre.

————————————————————————

Haruyuki blinked. Once. Twice. Oh.

Oh crap.

Still in shock, he hadn't managed a response for a while sporting a vacant expression. He didn't seem to acknowledge that the boy responsible for him experiencing an existential crisis was by his bedside, trying to get his attention, who gradually getting worried by the minute.

Ritsu's nerves eased a little when Haruyuki finally spoke, but he still held on to some of it when he cautiously noted that his twin was sporting a lost expression.

"...Say Ritsu?" came a low, quiet reply.

Attentive, the boy scooted closer to his twin, hoping to give some semblance of comfort. "Yeah?"

"...Did Father own a publishing company by any chance?"

"....yeahhhh?" Ritsu looked at his brother oddly at the question. Was he suffering from amnesia?

Meanwhile, Haruyuki was on the verge of wanting to hyperventilate. Logically, it shouldn't be possible, but somehow he landed himself in a seemingly fictional world.

And not just any fiction.

Sekaiichi Hatsukoi.

He was in a god-forsaken BL manga of all places. And he got himself reincarnated as the protagonist's twin brother that had never existed in the manga nor the anime adaption.

Onodera Ritsu, as he knew, was an only child. Period.

Add to the fact he now felt stupid because it took him a whole month to realise why everything looked so animatedly 2D; he thought it was a side effect of the anaesthesia and whatever possible brain damage he picked up that had somehow affected his vision. If it weren't for that constant self-assurance, he was sure that he was crazy. It didn't once occur to him that he was, in fact, in a fictional comic book. And as an additional side character to boot.

'Great.'

He was not looking forward to all the unwanted drama. Back then, he might find them entertaining, hilarious even, but that was not the problem. What threw him for a loop was that his twin was the main protagonist of a BL MANGA.

Meaning, an adult read with practically porno graphical content based plot aimed at the female audience. And this one, in particular, has plenty of it.

He mentally winced. He barely held in a whimper at the image of Ritsu being in a provocative position with a large neon sign that practically yelled 'all you can eat buffet for sex-driven Seme'.

Why couldn't he have been sent to Durarara or Beelzebub?

Believe it or not, he was open about homosexuality. But it didn't mean that he was excited about the prospect of doing a reenactment of a kid catching his parents doing the nasty at every chance they get.

He could feel another headache coming along.

"Um, Nii-san? Are you okay?"

Meanwhile, Ritsu, on the other hand, was beginning to get anxious. His bed-ridden twin was acting strange. He was unresponsive for one minute, and the next was looking as if he was constipated with how twisted his face had turned. He even heard poor Haruyuki gave out a slight whimper.

Was he in pain?

Panicked at the possibility of his brother being sent back to the hospital, he comically jumped from his seat on Haruyuki's bed, almost tripping towards the door.

"I-I'm getting M-mother!"

"N-no, really Ritsu! I'm fine! Just a mild headache."

Haruyuki laughed nervously, fruitlessly trying to calm his brother without revealing that he was internally having a mental breakdown himself.

He finally sighed in resignation.

No use crying over spilt milk. For now, he could try and make the best of his second chance in life and go wherever it takes him.

He'd have to be very careful not to change anything though.

For one, he wasn't supposed to exist. He had no intentions of playing god and end up risking a Butterfly Effect.

Or worse yet, he could accidentally be screwing with Ritsu's character development. As much as he wanted to shelter his new brother from experiencing heartbreak, he knew full well that he couldn't. Perhaps, from time to time, he could try imparting a few words of advice whenever Ritsu needed help figuring some things out. Otherwise, he will be taking the knowledge of the future to his grave.

There wasn't anything for him to do here anyway. This world was relatively peaceful compared to some of the manga he read.

Maybe he could continue being an educator in this life after completing his studies. After all, he did love teaching.

Ah, decisions decisions.


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
SushiAddictedNeko SushiAddictedNeko

This is my first time posting here but I'm not a full time writer. So updates will be slow, the latest might be once or thrice in each month.

Like the manga. Lol.

Just note that this story is based off a BL manga so I wouldn't recommend reading this for those younger than 16 years old.

The original manga updates once in every three months.

Chapter 2: Episode 2: A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step

Two years seemed to have passed at a faster pace much to his surprise.

As anticipated, he didn't enjoy his earlier stages of being a teenager going through the horror that was puberty. If he thought having cramps was terrible, he should reevaluate that statement because getting uncomfortable erections at the most awkward of times was way worse. If it weren't for the fact that it was temporary, he would have opted to convert into a eunuch. He didn't enjoy being uncomfortable with his own body.

There was also the difficult task of accepting his current gender. It was weird. Even though he acknowledged that he had been a male for the rest of this childhood, ever since Haruyuki regained his 'other' memories, he felt uncomfortable like wearing different shoe sizes too big.

Fortunately, his taste wasn't too different when it came to clothes or accessories. Even when he was a girl at this age, he preferred oversized hoodies, baggy t-shirts, and jeans the like; whichever suited him as long it was comfortable. It was disorienting at first, not feeling the familiar weight on his chest and having to deal every time he went to the toilet. The only consolation for this madness was the freedom to be shirtless in their bedroom without feeling overly self-conscious openly. Though sometimes he unconsciously covered his chest much to Ritsu's confusion.

There were moments he would freak out, but Haruyuki relented that he was slowly getting used to dealing with his body during these couple of years. In some ways, it was more comfortable than a females' due to their flexibility. He didn't have to deal with the unpredictable mood swings and feeling as if he was repeatedly stabbed in his stomach every month, but in the same case, he had to deal with the former regularly.

Much to his amusement, when it came to Ritsu's turn, he was happy to guide him through it; not without snickering at his brother's obvious mortification. The reason for this was because he felt the need to compensate; to act as his brother's emotional support when he realized there was no one for them to depend on emotionally. Since he, himself didn't have anyone to ask, he went through with it alone without too much fuss relying on books for research. He was thankful, in a way, he was already a mentally fully grown adult.

He wasn't that close with his parents. That connection he had with his 'other' family was just wasn't the same. His mother, in some ways, felt cold, but at least she was good at taking care of her children. His father, on the other hand, was a different story. It was like not having one, to begin with. The man was utterly preoccupied with his work and often just cooped himself up in his office at home to pay any attention to his sons. He was practically living with strangers.

Truthfully, his only saving grace was his brother. If it weren't for him, he might have gone off and left without ever as much as looking back.

Overall, it was reasonably peaceful. The Onodera twins started up their fourth year in spring. It was a surprisingly large building with a rather impressive library that soon became his favorite spot to get away. He felt at ease whenever he was with Ritsu. Still, ever since he came back two years ago, Ritsu tended to slip away doing something suspicious, leaving him on his own without clearly giving him a real reason besides blabbering his many apologies and poorly made excuses. Which, according to his memories before he was made aware was not typical for his astray twin. But he could guess why.

He didn't mind it, of course. It was better knowing that his brother was steadily growing out of his shell to be his person; even if he was a stalker.

Frankly, he was more annoyed with what little information he had to work with regarding what he remembered from the manga. It was all vague. It has been a long time, but from what he could gather, Ritsu was supposedly having a severe crush on a senior. Including the significant arcs which will happen in ten years leading up to when Ritsu made the transfer to Marukawa Shoten. And that was a long time. Until then, he will have to roll with it.

Between the two, Ritsu was more open to making friends but was relatively shy when initiating any close bonds. He was slightly clingy and more in tune with his brother. Haruyuki, on the other hand, was a very private yet confident individual. From anyone's perspective, he was oddly mature for a teenager. His charm fancied the teachers and adults, but most teenagers were very wary because they didn't know what to think of him.

Onodera Haruyuki had a sort of a mysterious air about him despite coming off as friendly and polite. Not many acknowledge that he did have a twin in a different homeroom since they never saw them together side-by-side. Often his classmates would mistake them as being the same person even if they happen to pass by each other in the hallway or seen somewhere else separately. Add to the fact he has rarely talked to anyone unless it was Ritsu or partaken to schoolwork; no one knew him aside from being that one guy that was not that bad to work with and could help you score better in a group project.

He wasn't interested in making friends. He much rather be in his own space except for punctually finishing his given assignments and caring for his brother.

Sue him; he was an introvert even when he was a highly stressed, wrung teenage girl in his past life. He was entitled to be a loner because irritably enough he begrudgingly had to attend school for the second time in his life. Even if it was in a different syllabus and education system outlined by the Japanese government, he just wanted to breeze through this phase of his life, get it done and over with.

He could tell that this saddened Ritsu. He had suddenly done a hundred and eighty in his personality. Even though he didn't have any problems when it comes to hanging out with Ritsu, he didn't know how to interact with kids his age. Weirdly enough, for some reason even when they were younger, everyone loved staring at them as if there was some unspoken game that he didn't know about with them always trying to spot the physical differences between them besides their blaring contrasts in personality. Haruyuki didn't like the attention, thus his reason for his frequent visits to the library.

Being siblings meant they could compromise with each other. Like today, Ritsu spent his time with his brother after classes, basking in each other's company in their usual spot amongst the shelves, sheltered from people's view. Haruyuki would write something in his book while Ritsu had his stack to read sitting on the floor.

Today, however, Haruyuki wanted to confirm some things with his brother. He didn't wish to make Ritsu feel insecure. He wanted his brother to feel comfortable enough to be able to open up to him without having felt the need to sneak around and coming up with crackpot excuses. Contradicting this, however, was his logical adult self reprimanding that he shouldn't push his beloved twin. That he also has to ensure he didn't have too much influence on his brother's decisions without heavy consideration of the implications of changing his brother's future. Which he very much dreaded and wanted to avoid.

But, damn it, sometimes it was hard suppressing the child-like aspect of his personality. He may have a mind of an adult, but his heart still followed his youthful appearance.

His gaze lingered on Ritsu's form, whose back slightly hunched against the shelves, head still buried in a book unaware of his brother's inner conflict whether or not he should say something.

'I'm not having abandonment issues. I want to address the matter as a concerned family member that he shouldn'- oh who was he kidding; he was having abandonment issues.

'Damn it all!'

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, slowly exhaling he had enough to gather his wits.

"Hey, Ritsu."

He called out to him who was sitting on the opposite side facing his direction with only silence greeted him. His twin's attention was still in the book in his lap as if he hadn't heard him calling in the first place.

Worried that they could get into trouble if he raised his voice any louder, Haruyuki still proceeded in calling out his name in a normal tone several times with little to no result until finally he had enough and just kicked at his brother's feet.

The effect was instantaneous; Ritsu jumped, reminisce that of a tightly coiled spring accompanied with ridiculously exuberant flailing and splutteringーcausing him to knock over some of the books behind him.

Haruyuki only watches in amusement as his brother had toppled over, buried alive in a pile of fallen books. Thankfully, he noted that there weren't any thick volumes. Ritsu's flustered state sparked an image of an adorable little chick flailing his wings wanting to fly away from being swallowed by a pile of gathered leaves.

He couldn't help it, he just laughed. It had been a while since he last felt this good. To openly show his real emotions like this. With everyone else, his default expression would be a polite smile and formally addressing his peers and parents.

It was different when it came to Ritsu. As much as he wanted to, he just couldn't. He didn't want to. Ritsu was his anchor in this lonely world, and he wanted to treasure his time with his precious brother as long as he remained here by his side.

—————————————————

"Ehhh...Nii-san! That wasn't funny at all!"

Ritsu all but pouted at Haruyuki's snickering. His brother could be mean sometimes. Both of them had left the library after they cleaned up the mess they had unintentionally caused. Fortunately, their spectacle hadn't earned them being thrown out from their sanctuary. Currently, the twins were walking towards their shoe lockers, ready to head home for the day.

"Ah...sorry, sorry." Said brother replied, trying to keep his poking at bay, he turned to the boy beside him.

"My bad. I should've known by now that I mustn't come in between you and your reading." He continued saying this while he was opening his locker.

"But you ought to try paying a little bit more attention to your surroundings Ritsu. You'd never know, it might save you from a lot of trouble these days." At this, said twin could only rub at the nape of his neck feeling abashed as if he had been caught stealing from the cookie jar.

"Sorry, Nii-san."

"No worries." Haruyuki smiled at his brother before getting the contents of his locker only to stop short and frown. Inside, sticking out on top of his shoes was an envelope. Warily, he grabbed his shoes while examining the parchment. The letter was pink, and his name was displayed in neat and carefully handwritten calligraphy. It was addressed to him, so it couldn't be a mistake.

He looked to be uncertain whilst Ritsu was sporting a dumbfounded expression by the unexpected turn of events.

Since when did his life had turned into a start scene of a shoujo manga?

But then again, anything can happen to him at this point. This is a romance manga, after all.

—————————————————

Haruyuki had no idea how he should act given his current position. He had never been given a love letter before, much less being confessed to.

Though he was curious when he read the letter, why would anyone be interested in him? Honestly, he didn't even remember interacting that much with other people other than Ritsu. He wasn't that...approachable?

'Socially awkward is more like it.' He thought with a grumble.

He didn't even give much thought of his sexuality. Again, he was a woman in another life, heck he was married and had a child for God's sake! He only ever been with men. He wasn't going to start the possibility of dating a female anytime soon. That could get real ugly fast.

Could that translate him to being gay then?

He mentally pinned that thought and shove it as far back into his mind. He would mull over it for later.

He wasn't looking for a relationship right now. For one, he was still in high school anyways. He was much too concern with his studies and looking out for his twin. Besides, it was way too soon to start over and committing himself to a relationship. Why add more to his growing list?

'The woes of being a teenager.'

The twins hadn't spoken a word to each other since the love letter debacle. It was an awkward walk they had to endure on the way home; Ritsu looked conflicted while Haruyuki opted to be unnaturally calm and silent. It was even more uncomfortable during dinner. His mother had frown knowing that something must have happened at school to cause such a stiff atmosphere. When she asked, she was answered with Ritsu looking pointedly at his silent twin.

"Just a personal matter that needed to be settled. Nothing serious, I assure you, Mother." Was his explanation.

Right now, the two had retreated into their room and minded their work. Haruyuki had done he's during his time at the library, so he decided to do his reading. Haruyuki didn't have a particular preference like his brother, who wholly loves literature. He's ranged from books to encyclopedias and manga. He loves illustrated books and manga best because he was an artistic person at heart; He did a little sketching whenever he felt inspired or bored.

Haruyuki was reading one of his brother's books he had checked out from the library when the silent spell between the two was finally broken by none other than his brother himself.

"...What are you going to do about the letter Nii-san?" It was tentative. A seemingly innocent question, yet a difficult one to answer. It took a while for him to contemplate as he stared blankly at the passage he was currently on.

"..."

Haruyuki turned his attention from the page he was reading, eyes meeting with his twin looking expectant from his seat at his desk before turning back to the book.

"I won't meet up with them."

"?!"

Ritsu was shocked by this revelation, staring at the apathetic twin.

'But why??' he thought. What could be the reason for his brother's avoidance of confronting his supposed admirer?

"B-but can't you give them a reply at least?"

Haruyuki closed his eyes in exasperation and sighed. Giving up in continuing with the book, he marked down the page and sealed it with a thud.

Sitting up from his bed to face his brother, he elaborated, "I have no intention of getting their hopes up."

"So it's better if I don't. Honestly, I don't even know them that much, to begin with. It's ridiculous." He shook his head at this, muttering the last part.

"Most of the time, I kept myself occupied at the library. Only a few knew that you have a twin brother, Ritsu." he pointed this fact out to his frowning brother.

'And I like to keep it that way.' he mentally added.

"Besides, what's there to like about me? " he snorted. He was quite content with being just a side character who also happened to be the twin brother of the protagonist that never made an appearance in the main canon thank you very much.

There was a pause after that sentence. Haruyuki never thought that he admitted he had low self-esteem when it comes to expressing himself.

He was afraid that if he let himself get attached to anyone other than Ritsu, he might suffer the consequences of losing them in the end.

And he was dangerously too attached to his brother as it is.

He was cut out from his inner musings when Ritsu clumsily shoved the pink envelope he planned to throw out into his face. He was startled by the action, so he had little choice but to take it back from his brother.

"Nii-san...someone put in a lot into making this letter." Ritsu insisted with a painfully pleading expression.

"Even if...even if you don't reciprocate their feelings, please don't disregard it!"

Determine to get his brother to see reason; he continued with his spoken words. "You might not understand but sometimes having feelings for someone can become difficult to deal with, especially when the person you love doesn't know how you feel about them..." Haruyuki watched his brother flushed at those words.

"But....they took the chance and sent you that letter knowing the possibility of being rejected. This person poured everything, the feelings they had into this letter. So please reconsider meeting them Nii-san even if you want to turn them down. At the very least, they deserved to know that from you in person."

"..."

Haruyuki was speechless and wide-eyed by the end of it. Ritsu was very passionate when he wanted to make his point across. Unlike him, his twin was very honest and straightforward when it came to his feelings despite having a touch of a shy demeanor to him. But he did wonder.

Was it indeed his brother speaking those words? Or was it the words of a love-struck teenager?

Haruyuki smiled with fondness, sighed defeated. He already knew the answer to that question.

It couldn't be helped.

"Ma, sometimes I couldn't help but wonder Ritsu, whose the mature one in this relationship." was his teasing response.

"E-eh?! What do you mean by that Nii-san?"

Said brother just laughed, earning him a pillow to his face for his troubles, courtesy of a red-faced Ritsu.

Moments like these, he treasured. Knowing that the peacefulness of his days are nearing to an end, he will make the most of it.

But one thing was sure, Haruyuki would do his best to support his brother and be the shelter he needed.

Always.


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