♥♠Ace of hearts【Nichu】♠♥

♠Prologue♥

The silence ruled in that living room. Everyone could feel the tension in the air, nothing but their breaths was heard.

"So... Asexual?" Kiku's father's voice broke the silence, settling discomfort into his son's chest.

"H-Hai," the boy simply replied, fidgeting with his own fingers nervously on his lap, and keeping his head low.

"A late bloomer..." His father sighed. Kiku bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to hear it. "Your cousin Kura was a late bloomer too. You aren't an asexual or something like that, you just haven't started liking women yet."

The young teenager let out a shakily sigh. "Otosan... I really don't like women. I've already hit puberty, I should already like them if I wasn't a-asex..." He couldn't gather enough courage to finish the last word.

His father got up with a tired groan. "Be whatever you are. I don't think such thing actually exists, but I'm not the owner of your life." He walked to his working room again, sliding the bamboo paper door behind himself.

The living room was actually the only traditional-looking room, just to give a pleasing sensation to a cozy place to be in family. Now, the low table right in the middle of the room, the tatami and the paper-like walls were everything but cozy for Kiku.

"O-Okasan?" The boy's voice trembled slightly, in the verge of exploding from holding his reasons and explanations about how he felt and how real asexuality was back.

His mother turned around slightly to stare at him, sighing softly. She was a quiet woman, you couldn't really tell if she was disappointed on her son or just exhausted after a long day of work. "Hai?"

"You... Y-You accept me, right? I-I know Otosan doesn't understand it b-but--" He was cut off by a gentle kiss pressed against his forehead, which gave him a few seconds to blink his tears away.

"I agree with him, Kiku. But I will love and support you no matter what, so don't worry." His mother's words fell on Kiku like a slap, but still managed to smile, ever so slightly, and thank her.

♠~·~♥~·~♠

Some hours had passed, and now it was late at night. Kiku sat in front of his computer, silent tears rolling down his cheeks.

<<Alfred?>> He clicked 'send' on his Skype chat. He hoped that his friend was already awake by now, considering that it'd be around midday at the state Alfred lived in.

Alfred was an American teenager around Kiku's age, 14 years. They had met online, and his parents knew nothing about him. If they knew, they'd probably ban Kiku from the Internet for a while. "No talking to strangers online".

As he waited for his friend's reply, Kiku tortured himself with his most powerful weapon: his own thoughts. He couldn't stop replaying his father's words in his head.

He had found out his sexuality some months ago, thanks to some Tumblr blogs and Alfred. He had always been afraid of telling his parents.

He knew it. He knew that they wouldn't just comprehend. And he felt stupid for giving himself the slightest hope about being accepted and understood.

He felt how tears welled up his eyes, making him start crying again. He covered his mouth to keep his quiet sobs from being heard in the middle of the night.

He had had some hope. He had thought that he had a chance to have a nice coming out. 'It could have been worse, Kiku.' He scolded himself, 'some people get kicked out of their homes, and yet you are whining about an imperfect acceptation.'

He looked down and sniffled, silently wiping his nose and eyes. He had to stay positive, he just couldn't let it bring him down. He put all his effort into a small smile to calm himself down.

<<Yo! Mooornin!>> Kiku sighed in relief and even smiled truly at Alfred's message.
<<Good morning, how are you?>>
<<I'm good! You?>> Kiku was about to reply when another message from the American delivered. <<YOOO HOW WAS YOUR COMING OUT BRO?>>

Kiku frowned a little. He just remembered that he had told Alfred about it.
<<Meh... Accepted, but they think I'm just a "late bloomer". They didn't believe me at all>>
<<Whaaat?! Sorry to hear!! Are you alright?>>
<<Yes, thank you. Just a little upset about it>> He sighed shakily, wiping his eyes.

Kiku looked at the clock. It was later than usual, so he said goodnight to Alfred and turned his computer off, getting ready to sleep.

Soon, he was hugging the covers, too exhausted to even cry. He decided to just let his parents think whatever they wanted to think; they still couldn't erase him. And he promised himself to be truly happy someday.

~~~~~~~~~

Soooo here's my new fanfic! I hope you guys like it :3
I'm so sorry for the touching themes in this prologue, I don't mean to make anyone sad or hurt.

See ya in the first chapter!