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fujihara akina's parents had an arranged marriage. they had met on the day of their wedding, a photo of two strangers probably would have held a warmer embrace than the entire album of images between her mother and father.
but they had grown to love each other over their many years of marriage. at least, akina had believed so, for what would be the point of staying together in a loveless commitment?
akina hadn't comprehended the complexity behind the political semantics in the coming together of these two families. she also hadn't been particularly exposed to love outside of her own parents.
"what are you looking at?"
almost at the end of her fourteenth year, akina sat beside toji zenin at the steps of his porch, her feelings of estrangement apparent in her stiff posture, while toji seemed as though he could fall asleep at any given opportunity, indolently leaning back with arms behind him as he asked his question to her.
"huh?"
toji watched the haze clouding her eyes disappear as she shook her head slightly. he leaned towards her while he narrowed his eyes.
"what are you, deaf or something?"
finally comprehending his words, akina chose to look down at her clasped hands instead, her gaze burning holes into the materials of her gloves. she eventually replied after the awkward silence.
"sorry"
his presence was distracting. toji had a way of stealing her attention. from a young age, akina had found herself beguiled with him. she was sure he had only seen her as a helpless child with him being closer to a decade older than her.
still, she had somehow convinced herself that he wasn't completely disinterested in her. his actions led her to think so. he sometimes liked to tuck her hair behind her ears when it fell out of place, though he was usually the one that had tugged at it to pester her.
he'd sometimes hide the clothes she'd kept out for after her shower in obvious places, though toji didn't care for seeing her naked as such, he simply loved to annoy her just to hear her yell at him, rather than her usual complaisance around him.
