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❝ WHAT A SIGHT FOR SORE EYES! ❞
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ♡︎♡︎♡︎ MIDDLE SCHOOL WAS never boring with Ryuhei. Everyday, he'd drag me to some wild event, usually just the two of us now that I'm old enough to wander outside without my caretaker. There were only two results whenever we're together: Ryuhei would do something stupid that could get us in trouble then I'd have to get us out through reasoning with the people that were unfortunate enough to get involved or I'd somehow get hurt badly and Ryuhei has to take care of me by scolding my ears off while bandaging whatever part of me that was scratched, bitten, snipped, cut, etcetera.
I've told him time and time again that he need not take care of me, I'm older than ten now, I can handle whatever is thrown at me unless it's triple my weight or height. But Ryuhei has always been persistent, it's what I like about him if I'm being honest, he kept insisting that even when we're old and greying, he'd be the one to put my bandages on me and protect me from danger.
Promises like that has always been ridiculous, yet here we are, seven years into our friendship and Ryuhei has yet to let go of me. He reminds me of a dog, to be blunt. Once he bites onto something (or someone, rather) he never lets go of it. What a mad dog, he is. But if we put it into perspective, it would mean I'm either another animal he has latched himself onto, or the human that's keeping him from growling, barking, and biting others.
What animal am I even supposed to be?
"To me, you're like an anti-social cat."
In my surprised state, I had dropped the stick I was using to draw on the sand. Ryuhei chuckled behind me as he walked closer, squatting beside me then picking up the fallen stick, drawing a two little stickmen.
Did he just hear me talk in my head or is this one of his soulmate bullshit?
"Look, [M.Name]."
"This is me," he said, pointing at the stickman with angry eyebrows and an evil smile. I chuckled at this and pointed at the other stick figure, looking at Ryuhei with a small, barely noticeable smile. "And who's this?"
"You," he answered, drawing cat ears on the figure and a cat tail. "I think you're a cat because in my experiences with handling cats, they're not overly affectionate even with the humans they like, they're quiet and mostly keeps to themselves, unlike dogs who bark when they're excited. You're just like a cat, and I like it."
"That's a good point," I said to no one in particular, standing up and dusting my hands on my kimono. Until now, I keep wearing the traditional clothes laid out for me by my caretaker, it was always the same shade but there were rare occasions where I'd wear white or maybe even red.
My mother hated the colour red just because it was my father's favourite. Everywhere she looked, there was red. The curtains were red, the pillows were red, the carpets were red, and the blood that dripped from my father's neck was red. I guess that's why she hates it, yet forces me to wear red during specific dates.
And while she despised red, I've always liked the colour white. It was a colour that symbolizes a lot of things, such as purity, innocence, hope, faith, holiness, and many more. None of those apply to me, which is why I like it even more. White is the shade I could never be, for white had no flaws, and I am a flaw.
"You're thinking too deeply again." Ryuhei's hand slipped in mine as he led me away from the playground, I've just now realized that he, too, was wearing a traditional kimono in the colour white. "This might sound selfish but even though I like looking at you whenever you're staring at something and thinking deeply, I'd like it more if your attention and focus was on me and nothing else."
"Sorry, I was just thinking about kimonos and colours." I bowed as an additional apology to him though he couldn't see it, he squeezed my hand gently and sighed. It was deep and seemed to be carrying a lot of emotions in them.
Am I too much for him to handle?
"Whenever we're together, my eyes won't leave you unless my back is turned to you, did you know that?" Ryuhei asked me without looking back at me, so I couldn't just shake my head as an answer. I cleared my throat and squeezed his hand, preparing my short and blunt answer.
"No, I didn't," I said, and I could tell he visibly made a face of sadness with the way his jaw clenched and unclenched from my view behind him. I didn't know where we were going but I assume it was somewhere near the place we bought the lobster we played with a few years back.
"I love you, [M.Name]," he said, which nearly made me stop in my tracks and ultimately made his hand lose contact of mine, but I carried on walking and pretended as if I didn't feel anything in my chest when I heard him say that.
"You say that as if it's so easy to do." I looked away from the back of his head, digging my nails into my palms as if it would make me physically feel anything. Ryuhei looked over his shoulder for a split second, an emotion unclear to me flashing in his eyes in those milliseconds.
"Because it is, [M.Name]," he countered, "it's so easy to love you because I know you deserve so much love. I want to be the one to give you all that love."
Then, Ryuhei finally stopped and turned around with a grin on his lips, taking a step closer to me and holding my face with his hands. He looked so radiant and charming, and I only had to look away from how bright he looked. He was blinding and my eyes couldn't handle that much light. He shined brighter than the sun, and I was the moon that would shy away whenever he radiated his warmth.
"But what if I can't return your love?" I asked like a child asking his mother a ridiculous question about Easter bunnies and tooth fairies. Ryuhei took this as an invitation to laugh softly, the twinkles in his crescent eyes nearly making my heart stop beating.
Stop looking so beautiful whenever you're hurting me.
"Don't worry about that, you don't have to do anything, just let me love you. You know my heart is big enough for the two of us."
