affinity. takashi mitsuya.

PROLOGUE

july 1st, 2005.

 hitoka nishimiya heard it before she saw anything. the distressed sound of a little girl crying and another trying to console her while telling the boy to go away. she sighed, suddenly thrown a few years back when she saved takemichi hanagaki from a beating. she quickly formed a friendship with him after. he was currently her junior in middle school, hitoka being in her final year. chuckling at the irony, hitoka started walking towards the scene. she was wondering why it was always her who stumbled upon problematic situations like this.

the boy, who couldn't have been older than ten, was wearing a sinister smile as he turned over the already worn-out bag, making its belongings fall on the ground. a little girl was in the arms of her older sister. both were sitting on the dusty ground.

"hey! what do you think you are doing?"

he instantly froze in his steps, a smirk falling off his face as he gazed up into hitoka's angry eyes. turning around and stuttering out a lame apology, he lowered the bag and ran away. hitoka's petite frame wasn't that scary, but the fire in her eyes was enough to send shivers up anyone's spine.

her maternal instinct was on. hitoka loved kids, and she would rather walk through hell than let little kids get hurt like she had when she was their age.

hitoka then shifted her attention. the kids who were already looking at her in childlike wonder and she smiled gently. setting aside her groceries, she brushed off the dust from the bag and slowly put the belongings inside. hitoka stretched out her arm and handed it to the older girl.

the sisters, she presumed, stood up, with the younger peeking from behind her older sister.

"thank you so much, miss! my name is luna, and this is my little sister, mana. sorry for causing trouble," luna said, looking down at her feet like she was embarrassed and bowing at hitoka.

"it's alright luna-chan, you were brave for protecting your sister, and i promise you haven't caused any trouble. my name is hitoka, by the way. are you hurt?" she asked fondly, already taking a liking to the two seemingly shy girls.

luna shook her head no, and mana stepped from behind her sister to inspect hitoka.

"was someone here with you? i don't want to leave you alone, is there someone i can call?" hitoka asked the two siblings.

mana spoke for the first time in a soft baby voice, "taka-chan was here with us."

"taka-chan?" hitoka inquired. luna continued, "our older brother. we asked him to go buy us some drinks from the vending machine."

"okay then, i am going to wait here with you until he comes back," hitoka said as the lovely girls eagerly nodded, both smiling up at her. she realized they were not as shy as they had first appeared, but quite energetic.

hitoka softly sighed as she picked up from grocery bags and patiently waited for their brother. luna was carrying mana's bag, and mana was insisting on holding hitoka's hand. a few seconds later, she heard a younger male voice call out his sisters' names, "luna-chan! mana-chan!"

as he was approaching, mitsuya saw his sisters flocked around a pretty girl. luna ran at him, and mana pulled the stranger to meet him in the middle. seeing how shy the girl suddenly grew, he concluded she wasn't a threat. mitsuya was about to make conversation with the girl before he saw redness around mana's eyes and realized she was sniffing.

"what happened?" mitsuya crouched down and rubbed mana's back.

"taka-chan, this is hitoka-san. she helped us earlier!" mitsuya suspiciously studied the girl who was standing there sheepishly smiling and looking at her feet. he started opening his mouth, but hitoka beat him to it.

"earlier when i was passing by, i heard some boy bothering luna-chan and mana-chan, so scared him off and helped the girls. i couldn't just stand there and watch."

mitsuya relaxed. she felt anxiety bubbling, scared that she had said something wrong. even though she wouldn't admit it, mitsuya's presence scared her a bit. she could hold her own, but that didn't mean her fight or flight response wasn't on standby, despite her calm demeanor. hitoka was just good at hiding it because if her father taught her anything, it was not to show any weakness.

"sorry for any inconvenience i caused." deciding to cut off her nervous rambling, mitsuya's eyes zeroed in on the bruise peeking out of her sleeve. "how did you get that bruise?" he interrupted and pointed at it.

hitoka saw that her bruise was showing, and she tugged her sleeve down before smiling up at mitsuya.

"oh- it's nothing, just an accident in the kitchen," it hadn't just been an accident. the bruise was one of her father's trophies he gave her so proudly. mitsuya was observant, though, and knew how to catch a lie after dealing with his sisters' antics daily.

he could also sense her panic growing and backed up a bit. mitsuya wondered what the girl was thinking, "thank you for protecting my baby sister toka-chan."

his eyes softened, and he grinned at hitoka, not wanting to stress the jumpy girl any further.

hisoka's eyes went wide at the nickname he gave her. mitsuya noticed she was fiddling with her fingers, and that made him smile wider. an awkward feeling washed over hitoka as she didn't know what to say next. luna and mana were watching the whole exchange from the sidelines, looking at each other mischievously.

because of the commotion, hitoka forgot to check the time. panic flashed in her eyes. she was supposed to be at home already. fearing what her father will do if his lunch is late, she excused herself, "s-sorry, but i have to get going now. it was nice meeting you. take care of each other, okay?" hitoka sent them another smile after she saw the sisters waving at her and waved back while silently cursing at herself for not asking what the boy's name was.

mitsuya also realized he had forgotten to ask her full name or introduce himself to her. hitoka's cute rambling made him forget basic social skills, but somehow, he felt this wasn't the last time they would see each other.

he snapped out of his thoughts when luna poked him in his stomach, "hitoka-san is pretty, isn't she?" mana asked, and mitsuya couldn't do anything but softly hum, not realizing his siblings were teasing him.

author's note – august 3rd

i hope you liked the first chapter! things are going to start escalating next chapter. this book will be quite fast-paced and will mostly focus on mitsuya's and hitoka's relationship. i am eager to post this chapter before writing anything else, but i promised myself i would have a few chapters pre-written. <3