opia | k. hitachiin

10 | mother and wife

Kaoru found her. He found her in the park on their bench with her knees tucked under her chin. Her hair had grown throughout their friendship and it now trailed past her shoulders and brushed against her jeans.

He sighed heavily and sat next to her, noting how she visibly stiffened.

"It's Kaoru," he murmured, quickly sending a text to Kei that he's got it and will bring her home. His grip shifted from his phone to her small frail hand. And she let him hold it like she did an hour ago, not once looking in his direction.

"The library was where mum worked," she finally said, voice coarse after a good cry. "It was her favourite room of all. She'd take me there and play hide and seek. She'd let me pick out a book so she could read it to me at bedtime. This was where she worked and where I bonded with her. She was a writer. And she'd write short stories that she said I inspire. The library basically became her shrine after her death."

A deep breath and a tightened grip later, "She's renovating it. Into what? I have no fucking clue but it can't be worth taking this away from me. She can make us eat vegetables, she can make me stop playing music but this, she can't and won't take away from me."

She started crying again. He pulled her against his chest, wrapped her in his arms, and whispered sweet nothings until she calmed down.

She settled enough to say, "Kaoru, I can't go back there. I yelled at my dad. I never fought with him. But I told him that he might be trying to replace his wife but she'll always be my mother and he has no say in that. He's probably mad at me, he probably hates me. Kaoru, I can't go back there, I can't-"

"Alright, alright." He pulled her back slightly to look into her eyes even though they were directed somewhere else. A twin of deep galaxies, that's what he thought of her eyes. He got so lost in them and at one point, they shifted to meet his and he lost his breath again. "You're coming with me then. I'll tell Kei."

He had no clue what was he going to tell an overprotective brother to convince him to let his sister stay over but he'd damn well try his best.

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So Kei wasn't the most enthusiastic about this whole ordeal then again, nobody is. No, that's a lie. Kaoru, he admitted with pain, had a sick part of him that was pleased of spending more time with Ai despite her distress. After making Kaoru swear and promise that Ai will sleep in another room and that he would not overstep his boundaries, Kei finally sighed heavily and bid him a goodnight—he could've told him that he's going to kill him and he wouldn't sound any different.

But Kei was not what his thoughts should revolve around right then.

He caught his brother before he went inside his room and dragged him noisily to his own.

"Kaoru, what?" Hikaru said, eyebrow twitching.

"Remember when I told you about that friend I made when I went to the park?"

Hikaru nodded, suspicion drawn on his face but not in a bad way. He just seemed like he's trying to tie loose ends yet he still couldn't tell where Kaoru was going with this.

"Well she's going through something right now with her family and she's staying here for tonight." Kaoru peeked at his brother from beneath his eyelashes. As much as he pretended that it shouldn't matter, he even sought his brother's approval for this.

"The blind one? The one that plays the flute? The one that goes to our school now?That one you basically like and won't go for it?" He didn't like the smirk growing on his brother's face. Yes, he spilled the tea a few nights back, he just didn't expect to be rubbed in his face so soon. "You know as soon as she hears me talk, she'll suspect right?"

"I know, that's why I'm locking you in your room."

Hikaru's arguments and noises of indignation went ignored as he pushed back into the hallway, into his room, and closed the doors right as ones, at the end of the hall, swung open.

"Kaoru?"

He took a deep breath and assured himself that it's going to be alright.