The Reckless & The Brave Book 3: Casual Affair [SakuAtsu]

Prologue

The Miya twins are four years old. They wear matching black suits and kneel on the floor, holding onto each other's hand with white knuckled grips. The room is dimly lit and filled with the smell of incense and flowers. Two picture frames sit on the altar in front of them. Their parents are gone. The twins are too young though, they don't understand. A priest watches over them through the night. He expects them to tire, to whine or cry. They don't utter a sound through their vigil. They are parentless, orphans with no relatives to care for them. They are not alone though, they will never be alone as long as they have each other. Osamu is the first to let go as the morning light starts to bleed into the room.

The Miya twins are six years old. They are hungry and tired. It's easy to tell them apart by the large purple bruise covering half of Atsumu's face and the small circular burn on his neck. The room is lit by bright fluorescent lights and ten beds line the walls. They hold on tightly to the hems of each other's shirts as one of the older boys with pretty brown hair flits about the room introducing himself to everyone, his spiky haired friend looks kind of scary. Atsumu wants to keep away from them all. Osamu is the first to let go when the kid with messy black hair offers to teach them a game.

The Miya twins are fifteen years old the first time they attend a real school. They don't need to be identical anymore so they dye their hair in the bathroom of their new home. Their new guardian, Grandma Kita, scolds them for staining her towels with the bleach but just helps them to clean up. They attend Inarizaki high school. Atsumu doesn't do well. He struggles in a life not filled with violence, he is plagued by the memories of blood that stain their childhood. When they join the volleyball team he puts his everything into it, he becomes so focused that he doesn't notice when Osamu drifts from his side to walk with Suna Rintarou. Atsumu does not know which one of them let go first.

Atsumu and Osamu are eighteen years old when they become Thing One and Thing Two again. They've lived a normal life for three years but it's not enough to override their years as agents for Fukurodani. They return to the agency for retraining and then they're put back into the field. Fukurodani takes care of their agents' living expenses. Atsumu suggests that he and Osamu live together still but his brother already has other plans. Osamu is going to live with Rintarou. Atsumu is fine with that. He's happy that his brother is happy. He chooses to live in a dorm at the headquarters. When he finds that he's lonely even there he jumps from teammate to teammate, crashing on their couches or in their guest rooms until he's sure that he's overstayed his welcome.

Atsumu is twenty-seven years old when Osamu chooses Rintarou. There are no more Miya twins. Osamu retires from Fukurodani the day he returns from his honeymoon. He's Suna Osamu now. Atsumu has never felt so alone before.