Chapter Text
“Hey Samu, do you remember when we were kids?
I try not to remember it much, but lately, I think a lot about those days. It’s weird. I remember it almost fondly,
Do you remember that mom locked herself in her room all the time? I didn't understand why she did that, she preferred to be alone than be with us. No matter how bad things were, I always thought it would be better to be together.
I think I understand her better lately, after all, I also rot in my room instead of going out. Can you believe that?
You know, once she let me into her room, I think it was the only time she let me in with a smile on her face. You were asleep and I was scared. I don't remember why, but at that moment going to Mom was the best idea I had.
When things are bad, I think of that night. I think, for me, that was the beginning...”
"You know, they say people only have 1 heart" long fingers tangled in his hair, gently stroking his head "But I think that's a lie."
"In class, we saw that a body only has one heart. There's no room for another one, Mommy."
The woman laughed, amused by her youngest son's innocence. So much had happened since the last time his mother laughed, that the sound was almost new and strange.
"Maybe, but tell me Atsumu, do you think a single heart can endure so many things?" the woman asked, turning a little to see her son's honey eyes, which were looking at her in confusion.
"I don't know"
"We went through so many things that I think it's impossible just to have one heart"
"I don't understand you, Mamma"
"Mmmh let me think..." The woman placed one of her hands on her chin, grimacing as she pretended to look for an answer. Atsumu laughed, seeing the unusual faces his mother made, "For example, I have a whole heart for you, and a whole heart for Osamu. I couldn't love you both as much as I do if I only had one."
Atsumu exclaimed in surprise, suddenly understanding.
"And a whole heart for Dad too?" the woman wiped away her smile, momentarily stopping the caresses on her son's head. Atsumu snuggled closer to his mother: "Sometimes Dad scares me, I don't think he has a heart just for me…or at all."
"Your father is....he shouldn't scare you, dear," the woman murmured, "Sometimes he may be angry with us, but it's only because he's tired. He loves you... us very much."
"What time does he get here anyway? It's late."
It was past midnight, or so Fukui Kuzunoha thought, and there was no sign of her husband. By then it was normal for her, but not for her youngest son, who had snuck into her bed in the middle of the night, terrified by a nightmare. It was unusual for her children to do that, they knew it was forbidden, but in a moment of tenderness, the woman cuddled her little one, praying inwardly that her husband would take just a little longer.
"You're right, it's too late," the woman straightened up, listening to someone wrestle with the front door. She stretched out her arm to turn off the lamp. Suddenly upset, she grabbed her son a little harder than necessary, upsetting him as well.
"Ma?"
"You must go to sleep now, Atsumu," the woman ordered, getting out of bed and setting her son on the floor.
"But I want to say hello to Dad, I can never see him when he arrives. Maybe if I greet him, he won't be so mad at me when..."
"Atsumu," the woman called, raising her voice just a little. "Go to sleep now! And be quiet"
Atsumu looked at his mother with a new feeling. His stomach felt weird, like someone was churning something inside him and his heart was pounding harder than usual, as it did when Atsumu and Osamu spent hours playing outside.
The woman pointed to the door of her room, pushing her son a little until he started walking. Atsumu heard a door slam, followed by murmurs he couldn't understand. His father's heavy footsteps had never sounded, well, so heavy. Suddenly, Atsumu didn't want to greet his father anymore. He just wanted to cross the hallway, as quietly as possible, until he was in the same room with Osamu. He remembers.
Their room was safe, as long as they stayed quiet.
His mother's gaze did not leave him until she saw her son close the door of his own room. For a few moments, nothing was heard. There was no light on. There was nothing to show that anyone was still awake. Kuzunoha lay back on his bed, trying to calm his heart, which was beating faster with every footstep he heard. First, she heard him in the kitchen, throwing what she could only assume were glass bottles. Then she heard him stumble up the stairs, struggling with his clothes as he climbed.
What was she thinking? Staying up with Atsumu was a stupid decision, a dangerous one. If he noticed that their son was still up…that he was in their bed. God, she could not take any more blows.
When the door to her room opened again, there was no doubt that it was none of her children. Kuzunoha held her breath, squeezing her eyes tightly and biting the inside of her cheeks to prevent any sound from coming out.
Her husband finished taking off his shirt. He muttered complaints the woman didn't understand as he took off his belt. He stumbled as he tried to take off his pants.
"Honey, I'm home!" he sang, plopping himself into bed hard, slamming one of his elbows into his wife's side. Kuzunoha tried not to react, and if she did, she hoped that her husband's drunken state had overlooked the gesture. "Kuzu...., Kuzu I'm home....deaaaar" he continued singing, while he shook the woman with one of his heavy hands.
Kuzunoha slowly opened her eyes, and pretended to yawn, stretching just a little, "Welcome home..." she murmured barely audibly. Her husband sat up with a smile that even in the dark, Kuzunoha could see. She could smell it, particularly stronger than other days.
"You're awake! I'm glad... You know dear, I was hoping you were awake." The man ran his hand all over his wife's torso. "I missed you so much, my dear....mmm" his hand traveled up and down.
Up and down.
“ There is no one like you, I should know haha after all those women, you are still the best fuck…” the man stopped talking, hiccupping and laughing “Ops I should have not told you that. Just forget it, yes dear?”
Kuzunoha once had a heart dedicated to this man. To his dearest, perfect, caring husband, father of her sweet little boys.
That heart broke a long time ago.
“C’mon sweets, I know how much you want this…” his hand keeps traveling up and down.
Up and down.
Down.
Down ….
….in between.
She wanted to scream, but she knew that only made it worse.
"What are you doing? It's late..." The woman grabbed her husband's hand, stopping his curious fingers "Tomorrow will be a long day, we should sleep"
The man frowned, gripping his wife's wrist tightly, pulling just enough to flip her over. With his other hand, he grabbed his wife's chin, forcing her to see him.
"What's wrong with you? You never want to have sex anymore!" the man accused, applying more force to his grip. "You are my wife, you have to do what I want, it’s all you are good for"
Her husband was considered a handsome man. He was tall and had a great physique, the result of years of exercising so much. Mako was never an athlete, but he certainly loved to lie about it. Kuzunoha supposed it was how he impressed the other poor fools who fell into his hands. Gray-Ish hair and honey eyes that at some point in their lives had seen her with such sweetness that it seemed unbelievable.
Now, Kuzunoha couldn't even see him. He was very handsome, alright? But she knew he was a real wolf in sheep's clothing.
“So, be a good wife and stay quiet…” his hand released her chin to start caressing her neck and grasping it.
“Honey, stop”
Kuzunoha thought Atsumu was telling the truth when he said that the man scared him. He scares her, too.
"Since those fucking children arrived, you don't even want to see me anymore! It's all their fault!" the man let go of her, standing up.
"Their fault? They are your sons as well, and you're the one who arrives at dawn hour drunk as fuck!" the woman shouted, immediately receiving a slap.
"Don't yell at me, bitch," the man ordered, spitting out his words. "You fuck with every person who gets in your way. That's why you don't want to me, right?"
They both knew there was some truth in that. He would arrive with lipstick on his clothes and smelling of cheap perfume, she would wait for her children to leave before bringing someone into the house. It doesn’t matter anymore, not when things got to this point. Now those accusations didn't even hurt.
"No! Not at all Mako, please! Just let me go now!"
"You're nobody without me!" said Mako shaking his wife with another slap "Say it!"
"I'm nobody without you"
"You can't do anything without me"
She used to be so beautiful, smart, and funny. She was everything. And then, she got pregnant, and it was all over.
"You… I used to do so many things before! You forced me to quit my job! Before you and those kids arrive, I had a life!" another slap.
"You were the one who wanted children, so now you have to stay at home and take care of them! Is the only thing my stupid little wife is good at!" he yelled, getting off of her "I never wanted them! I told you we should just get a fucking abortion. Don’t come blaming me for your shitty decisions when you're the one who ruined everything!"
"You ruined ME!"
This was not unusual in the Fukui household. Every night screams and objects could be heard breaking. However, today was the first of many nights where Fukui Atsumu would listen to his parents fight and understand the things they yelled at each other.
The adults used to say that little kids don't understand grownups things, but Atsumu did. Maybe it was because he never felt like a little kid. His parents for sure didn't treat him like one most of the days.
"You ruined my life!"
"I didn’t want to have children"
"I thought one was enough. How was I supposed to know they were twins?”
"Having two is just too much. And that damn little one is just so fucking problematic, I wish we could just…get rid of him”
“So The other one is fine?”
Atsumu did not want to wake Osamu. If the screams hadn't already made him wake up, it wasn't worth it for Atsumu to interrupt his sleep just because he was scared. Instead, he decided to muffle the sound as much as possible in the best way he could: by placing a blanket around his brother's head and lying down next to the door, preventing the screams from entering through the cracks. Atsumu was little but even he knew that Osamu was better than him. He didn’t wake their mother up and he didn’t get in his father's way at night. He was older, he was the one their parents wanted.
If Osamu didn't wake up, it was worth listening to everything their parents said to each other. Everything they said about them. At some point, both adults would get tired and go to sleep, and Atsumu could go back to bed knowing his brother was safe.
The next morning, when Osamu awoke, he was surprised to see his brother awake, sitting against the door, with both hands on his head.
"Atsumu?" the little boy hurried to his brother, tripping over the blankets.
"Osamu" Atsumu raised his head, "Mom and Dad were being loud again"
Osamu looked at him confused "I didn't hear anything, you're lying"
"I swear I am not!"
"It's normal for adults to argue sometimes, isn't it? That's what Kana-sensei said the other day," Osamu said decisively, taking his brother by the hand to help him up. "What were they being loud about?"
"About us."
"Oh…I think it is normal then. The other day, Kiyota told me that his parents were arguing about what he saw on TV. He says they do it a lot. It must be the same, right? Our parents arguing about us is normal, every parent does it"
Atsumu did not want to tell his brother what he had heard. He didn't want him to feel as sad as Atsumu had felt. "Oh yeah, yeah you are right!"
Osamu frowns, looking at Atsumu’s sad expression. “ You know, I also hear that adults tell a lot of lies when they yell” Atsumu smiled
“ If you say so”.
"Let’s go now, I am hungry!"
Atsumu couldn't shake off the bad taste in his mouth, nor soothe the pain in his chest when he went downstairs and saw his parents. He hadn’t paid much attention to both of them before, captivated more by the food on the table than by the looks of both adults. However, today Atsumu saw how his mother's cheek was a little redder than normal, and how his father had what appeared to be a cut on his arm, knuckles all red.
"Good morning, babies. Eat quickly or we're going to be late!" greeted their mother, smiling at them.
"Thank you for the food, honey," said their father when they were all seated at the table. No one was talking, too focused on their food. You would think they were just a normal family eating their breakfast.
The day went on as if nothing had happened. His father went to work after kissing their mother goodbye. Their mother waited for them as they got ready and walked them to their school. When they returned home, their mother was sitting expressionless on the couch, and next to her, their father was watching some game with a bottle in his hand. Neither of them said hello or even looked at them and that was all the twins needed to know that they should go to their room, do their homework, and stay quiet until they were called for dinner. If they were called for dinner.
And this time when night fell and all the lights were off, it wasn't just Atsumu who heard the screams and the banging. This time, instead of sneaking into bed with his mother, he slipped into bed with his brother, holding his hand tightly, acknowledging the same fear he felt himself in Osamu. Something had changed, the screams were getting louder. It was hard to ignore that something was very wrong in their family.
"Adults argue. It's normal, right?"
"Yes, it's normal"
Both twins had grown accustomed to hearing their parents argue. Osamu could hold his sleep more easily than Atsumu. While his brother slept, Atsumu listened. And when it was too much for him, he would sneak into his brother's bed to sleep next to him.
Some days it was just screaming, other days they could hear things breaking, other days they couldn't hear anything at all.
It was okay because adults argue and it's normal.
Yes, of course, some days their father couldn't seem to hold back and yelled at them for no particular reason, it was frightening, and they were sure that none of their classmates went through the same thing with their fathers, but they were both used to it by now. His father loved them, he was just tired. That is what their mother said. His father wasn't bad, he just didn't know how to express himself in any other way. If they wanted him to stop yelling at them, they had to pay more attention and behave better. They must obey their mother, and not talk about what was going on in their house with other people, or the punishment would be much worse.
Some days they didn't see their father and their mother didn't get out of bed. Those days were quiet. Atsumu and Osamu went to school and convinced Mrs. Cho to give them just a little more food, as they knew that their mother had not cooked anything at home. When they arrived, it was dark and quiet. They divided the chores and did their best to clean up, and if they managed to keep quiet by the time their mother decided to leave her room, if she did, they would be rewarded, and if they didn't, their father wouldn't be the only one yelling at them.
"Atsumu I'm bored, let's play something."
"I'm bored too Osamu, but mom has already sent us to sleep."
"But it's too early"
"I know, but dad's home."
"Oh"
It was fine. It was known.
However, there was a change in both adults that even the children couldn't ignore. It all started when one day his father came home from work, surprising his wife and children when he said to them with a big smile:
"I got fired!"
Kuzunoha got up from the couch where she was curled up with her children watching a movie.
"It's Not Funny Mako"
"It's not a joke Kuzu," the man brought to his mouth a bottle that Atsumu had seen many times in the garbage, and emptied its contents in one fell swoop, exhaling at the end "This is what you wanted, isn't it? Now I have more time to be with you! Gone are the days when you could bring your little visitors here "
"let's not talk about it in front of them" their mother whispered, although both twins could hear her perfectly "And please, don’t drink this early in front of them"
Their mother was peculiar, she forgets easily. She doesn't remember this is not the first time they had this conversation. Atsumu and Osamu learn that it is best to keep quiet.
"Why, ah?? It's my fucking house, I can drink whenever I want!" To emphasize his point, the man walked to the kitchen, followed by his wife and children. He took out another bottle from the freeze, opened it, and drank it with the same speed as the first one,
"It's my home too"
"Really? Because all this time only I have paid for it! You haven't given a damn penny, you useless slut" The man, in a fit of rage, threw the bottle and smashed it against the wall. A little further to the right, and the bottle would have hit his children.
"Mako! Get out of here!" the woman stood in front of her children, trying to block them from her husband's sight
"You can't kick me out Kuzu! This is my lovely home! All my fucking work went into this damn shithouse!" the man shouted, taking another bottle "All my money went on you, and there's nothing left!"
"Nothing?? What happened to all the savings?"
"We have two damn children Kuzunoha! What savings? It all goes to those... Damn good for nothing spawns" The man focused his gaze on his children, approaching them again. "You....you, you ruined my life"
"Don't you dare touch them," the woman warned, to no avail. Her husband didn't slap her this time. No.
This time the man went very far.
Both twins watched as the man clenched his fists and lunged at the woman, knocking them both to the ground. They heard their mother's scream, and the sound of the fist hitting her face. Atsumu acted first, lunging at his father in an attempt to stop him. Osamu followed the second his father pushed his brother away.
What could two boys do against a violent man? They could ignore the screams, but they could not ignore the blows.
Atsumu and Osamu learned that adults could also argue with children,
It was normal.
Eventually, it didn't have to be nighttime to hear screams.
Sometimes you could hear stuff like:
"Atsumu! I told you that you had to clean up! God how useless you are!"
"I'm sorry Mom"
"Why can't you be like Osamu, huh, he always leaves everything spotless!"
“Sorry, mom”
"Pick up all this fucking mess before your father gets here or you'll see how scary he can really be."
Other times it was more like:
"Osamu, a bad grade again!"
"It's not a bad grade, it's just a B-. I'm having a hard time understanding that one, Mom"
"It's not hard for your brother, he got an A. It shouldn't be hard for you either, you are twins right?".
“Oh…right. Sorry mom”
"Your father works hard to make sure you have everything and that's how you pay him? Your ungrateful child"
And on the really bad days, it was heard as:
"Asshole! Don't yell at them!"
"But it's all their fault!"
"They're just kids!"
"I've told them many times that I don't want them around."
“I don't want them either, but you don't see me complaining, do you?”
“You just fucking did!”
For some reason, Osamu was the favorite. Atsumu thought it was because he had been the eldest, the expected one, while Atsumu had been the surprise. Besides, Osamu was calmer than Atsumu and finished his task faster.
Atsumu asked questions, he stayed awake at night. He asked why they yelled so much, why his father was always late, or why his mother didn't even want to see them. Osamu didn't ask anything. Soon Atsumu learned not to ask anymore, not when he knew what his father's heavy fist or his mother's cold hand felt like on fresh bruises.
Maybe that's why Osamu was the favorite because he didn't know as much as Atsumu.
But it didn't matter, because Osamu was the best Atsumu had and Atsumu never wanted him to know what Atsumu knew. He didn't deserve it.
Atsumu could take the hits, after all, he was growing accustomed. But Osamu didn’t deserve the same.
The worst part was that not even their mother could defend them anymore. At some point she would have been surprised that her husband had gone so far, she would have fought to prevent it. She had never been a particularly loving mother, but she had always put herself in between. She took care, sometimes.
Now they were the ones taking care of her
"You can't tell anyone about this, you hear me?" his mother warned them, sitting on the toilet bowl as she applied ointment to one of the wounds on Atsumu's arm, "Because if anyone finds out, they're going to take you away from me. You don't want that, do you? You want to stay with me, my beautiful sons."
"Yes Mom, we are not going anywhere" replied Osamu hugging his mother. The woman smiled.
"If someone asks, what are you going to say?"
"I tripped while playing"
"Osamu hit me first!"
"Hey Atsumu! It's not fair, last time you said the same thing. It's my turn to say that you started the fight."
"Is better if ….." interjected the woman, "Better if you don’t say that, ok? Just say you were playing and that's it."
"Yes Mom"
"Okay Ma"
The woman smiled, looking at her children with tired eyes.
It's very easy to believe that everything was fine when they were little kids. Atsumu and Osamu could not have been more than 5 years old when they heard the first scream. It was easy to believe that it was normal for their parents to be so upset with them. They didn't know any better
By the time they were 9 years old, the children were no longer so young that they could not understand. They knew that their father would become particularly violent after drinking and that it was best not to cross his path. They knew why their mother no longer raised her voice or stood in the way when their father yelled at them. They knew how to ignore their neighbors, and even some of their classmates and teachers, when they talked about how bad the Fukui were. They knew better than to believe it when their mother told them that everything would be fine as soon as their father found a permanent job. That's what she told them every time no matter how many times the man changed jobs, unable to hold a job for more than a year.
At the age of 9, they learned how to clean and hide wounds. They learned that their mother wouldn’t get up anymore, so they had to take care of the house and themselves. Osamu was much better at cooking than Atsumu, but Atsumu knew how to calculate the money to go to the store to buy what they needed much better. Their mother spoke only wonders about Osamu, but Atsumu was the one who stayed with her when the woman begged not to be alone. She only needed to say his name, and Atsumu would drop everything for her.
At the age of 9, they learned that they could only depend on each other to take care of themselves.
At the age of 10, Osamu struck his first blow.
"Don't touch her again!" shouted the older twin in front of his father. The man looked at him in surprise, caressing his cheek with his hand, "Get out of here!!"
"Osamu.!" murmured his mother from the floor. Atsumu took her in his arms gently.
"It's okay Ma. Don't worry. It's okay."
"You've got a mean punch, son," the man said, moving closer to his son.” I am proud of you! Turns out the apple doesn't fall far from the fucking rotten tree”
"I will never be like you, Dad. I promise"
"It’s a little late for that, don’t ya think?" the man replied, spitting on his children's shoes as he caressed his injured cheek. Osamu bit his lips harder trying to silence his sobs, and his body trembled.
Atsumu's blood burned so hot in his veins that he felt he would explode at any moment. It hurt, everything hurt.
"Get Out!!" Atsumu shouted, throwing an empty bottle at his father from his position, and hitting him in the abdomen. He didn't throw it hard enough to break it, not like when his father threw bottles at him.
"Now you too? Don't make me laugh," the twins held their ground.
His mother murmured for them to stop, but she didn't move a finger, retreating behind Atsumu's slender body.
His father saw them and something in him changed. A realization. ” It's not worth it.”
He first saw the woman he used to love, pathetic, lying on the floor sheltered behind a child.
Then he saw Osamu, his fist red and clenched. Determined eyes filled with hatred
He didn't even glimpse at Atsumu.
" You are not even a shadow of the woman you were. And you ...why are you supposed to be something to me? " turning around, the man finally left the house.
It was silent.
"Don't raise your voice to your father, boys" said the woman without energy. "If he leaves and doesn't come back, I wouldn't know what to do..."
"It's okay Mom, it's okay," Atsumu said, trying to incorporate his mother. Osamu did not move from his position, looking at the door cautiously. "Let's go to bed mom"
"If he doesn't come back, it's going to be your fault," the woman repeated without energy, barely getting up to follow her youngest son up the stairs.
"Don't worry, Mom, he`ll be back" Atsumu took it upon himself to put his mother to bed and clean the cut on her cheek as best he could. "He always does."
Atsumu stayed with his mother until the woman fell asleep. When he came back downstairs, his brother was in the kitchen cleaning up all the mess his parents had left behind. The front door was covered by one of the armchairs.
"I don't want him to come back"
"I know. Me neither."
Atsumu helped his brother clean up, and when they were done, the two went upstairs to their room. As was customary, Atsumu helped clean his brother's wounds, taking special care when he cleaned the injured knuckles on his hand.
"Atsumu…?"
"Yes, Osamu"
"You don't think....you don't think I'm like him, do you?"
Atsumu looked up, watching the gray eyes fill with tears. Osamu had a small cut on his forehead and a bruise on his arm. Atsumu knew that his wounds were not so different from his wounds.
Osamu never hit him, even when Atsumu was annoying. He stays with him during lunch break at school when everybody else ignores him, saying he is too much. He had not left him alone like his mother. He stayed.
"No. You are and will never be like him."
Osamu nodded, letting his tears flow.
Unbeknownst to them, that was the last time they saw their father. While the twins were at school, the man went home for the last time to collect all his things and vanished from their lives. Neither Atsumu nor Osamu had any idea why he had just decided to leave, but they also didn't plan to go looking for him to ask him.
Things didn't get any better.
Their father was gone, there was no one to shout or raise his hand against them. But years of constant abuse had left a wound that could never heal. Behaviors that couldn't be corrected and thoughts that couldn't be changed.
And their mother….
"It's your fault, it's all your fault…" the woman sobbed, pointing to her children from the couch." He left me because of you two! I hate you both!! Hate you so much!"
There were days, most days, where she was just...there.
Eventually, the woman was lucid enough to behave and even got a job helping out in a shoe store. However, at the end of the day, Osamu and Atsumu would hear their mother crying herself to sleep, missing the man who had brought them so much suffering. In the morning, the woman avoided looking them in the eye, harboring a resentment that none of her children deserved.
"Do you think ma will get better someday "
"I... I don't know."
"Do you think....that she still loves us?"
Atsumu bites his lip, tears rolling out of his eyes.
He remembers what his mother said when Osamu was asleep.
" I wish he was still here. I can’t do it alone, you are too much. You…you should trade places with him. Bring him back Atsumu, and then….get lost"
“You are just like him. Golden eyes. As long as you live, he will be hunting me”
"I think..." he began, trying not to sob, "I think it's just you and me, Osamu."
Osamu got up from his bed to go to his brother's bed, lying down next to him." You and me Atsumu"
"As soon as we can, I promise we'll both get out of here."
"Maybe go to the city. Start from scratch there."
"There you can open a food store, with how much you like to cook, I'm sure you'll do well."
"Doesn't sound bad but what will you do?"
"Be by your side, obviously. I can't cook but I'll find some other way to be useful, as long as I stay away from here I'll be fine."
"Sounds nice."
"Yeah maybe one day"
One day, on their way home from school, there was an ambulance outside their house. Both twins ran to see what was going on, scurrying through the sea of gossiping neighbors and paramedics who had flooded their home.
"Mom!"
"Ma!"
Everything happened very quickly. Suddenly some men asked them to leave the house and go with them to the nearest police station. There, they were given food and hot chocolate and asked to wait while their next of kin arrived to explain the situation. They did not have to wait long when a woman appeared in front of them.
"Atsumu, Osamu!" called a woman with an undeniable resemblance to their mother. She looked like them, they definitely knew her, but they couldn't remember who she was. Her eyes were grayish, like Osamu's, and her hair was brown like Atsumu's. She was shorter than their mother, and she seemed to be much younger as well. The woman smiled almost relieved at the sight of them, approaching them to wrap them in a hug. The twins tensed, immediately pulling away. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, gosh, you must be very confused."
"Who are you? What's going on?" asked Osamu defensively, standing in front of Atsumu
"Where's Ma?"
"She's fine, I promise! Only... Right now, the doctors want to take her away."
"Take her where? They can't do that!" the woman sighed sadly, placing a hand on each child's shoulder.
"Your mother told us what happened with your father," she said in a lower tone. The twins looked at each other, clutching their hands for some comfort "And she... Right now, she doesn't feel fine to take care of you, so she …..Well, what matters is that now she is going to get the help she needs. She will be fine"
At 10 years old, almost 11, the twins understood more than other children their age did.
"Where shall we go now?"
"I don't want to go to an orphanage or something."
The woman smiled even though her heart broke at the ease with which the children understood their situation. The ease with which they had accepted that they would be better off away.
"My husband and I live in Kobe, and we would like it if you guys wanted to stay with us! We have a big house, you could have a room each and we have 2 dogs and a cat."
"I don't want a separate room," Atsumu said, gutting his brother's hand. Osamu didn't say anything but agreed with Atsumu
"Okay, we can accommodate you as you feel most comfortable"
“Bunk beds!” said Osamu “And new shoes”
“We can go shopping for new clothes, sure. I love shopping!”
The twins looked at each other, silently agreeing that this was it, their only chance.
"Okay?” She asked, carefully.
Their way out. No more blows, no more yells. Ha, they will even get new clothes.
“Okay but..”
"You still haven't told us who you are"
"Oh, I'm sorry! Maybe you don't remember me, but I am your mother's cousin, when you were little you visited us a lot," explained the woman making a small bow in the introduction "My name is Miya Noriko"
"Hey Samu, I know that Noriko did what mom never did, but do you remember our birth mother? I really miss her, even though I think she broke my first heart.
That's fucked up, huh.
But that`s ok because I still have more hearts to break”