Bonded By Love

Choice of Fate!

"Momma, momma! Is there a letter from Rin?" A young Airi asked ecstatically.

Airi's mother looked at her sadly. "No sweetie. There's no letter from Rin."

Airi's expression fell. "Oh..."

"Don't worry. I'm sure he's just busy. He'll send a letter soon! Or it could be that there's been some issues with the mailing system in Australia." She tried to reassure her daughter.

"B-but...it's been two months. I keep sending him letters, but he hasn't sent one back. He's never going to reply!" Airi aggressively threw her schoolbag on the floor and ran to her room.

"Airi!"

"Rin you idiot. You said you wouldn't leave me alone."

~

"Airi, I'm going to go to America with Aniki. I want to get stronger and stronger. To do that, I'll train with Aniki." Ikuya informed her.

Airi looked down. 'Ikuya is leaving too? Rin never wrote back. Haru left the swim club, and so did Makoto. Asahi moved away. The team broke off, leaving us all alone. I don't want to end up all alone. Maybe...I need a new change of scenery. Natsuya-san won't always be there. Ikuya will be alone too in a foreign country.'

Airi raised her head back up and smiled. "I'll go with you."

He looked at her, confused. "Huh? Why?"

"Where you go, I go. We're in this together! And besides...I need a change of scenery."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing, forget it."

'I won't leave you alone, Ikuya.' She thought to herself.

~

"Airi-chan, you know we're a lot alike." A young boy with brown hair and black glasses said.

"Hm? How so?" Airi asked.

"We both care about Ikuya a lot and want him to become the best." He answered.

She smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm glad he has a good friend like you to look after him."

He blushed. "You think so?"

"Mhm"

"Then..." The boy grabbed a hold of her hands.

"Hiyori-kun?" The girl was suddenly flustered by his actions.

"Let's protect Ikuya together and help him become the strongest. Nothing will get in his way. We'll make sure of that." He vowed.

Airi nodded. "Yeah"

~

I opened my eyes and sat up, panting.

I looked down at my hand. "A dream...past memories"

The same sentence repeated throughout my mind. 'Let's protect Ikuya together.'

"How can I if he acts so cold towards me." I mumbled.

My phone buzzed.

I reached over the drawer and grabbed my phone to see the message.

To: Airi

From: Rin

I'm going to pack my stuff from the dorms today if you want to help. We could go to my house together. What do you say?