Disclaimer: I do not own OHSHC.

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This is a rewrite of Complications, or rather more of a revamp so expect lots of changes to be thrown your way. I'm sorry about discontinuing Complications but I just really lost all direction for it. Hence I'm starting up this rewrite, and I hope you'll like it.

Enjoy.


Prologue:


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School used to be fun, carefree and innocent. Little kids used to be cute.

What changed, you ask?

Well, it's simple. You see, they grew up.

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Six year-olds bantered about in the snow, and not knowing any better, she crawled after them in a mess of over-sized mittens and a poofy overcoat she uncovered in her Aunt Fumiko's room. Said six year-olds were intimidated by her overly-intense enthusiasm. So they did the natural thing, which was to intimidate the cause for said intimidation.

"You look 'tupid."

(And so she did, with chopped black hair and mismatching clothes, but six year-olds judging? Tsk tsk.)

The insult didn't work, but the prods and tugs did. She slinked away like a deflated balloon, one mitten and shawl missing, and shivered from the cold. While some of her winter accessories were missing, one would think that the same would apply to her enthusiasm but no, missing mittens and shawls did not curb her excitement, apparently.

Of course, it was because of the snow. It piled and piled on the ground in a mass of white, looking deceptively fluffy until one got hit in the face with it or had it poured down a loose shirt.

(But yeah. Somehow, she loved it like it was her element even though it clearly wasn't, considering that she slipped and fell on the dang ice every five minutes.)

After getting rejected by the other kids, she ducked behind a tree and watched on with wistful eyes as the other kids assaulted each other with snow balls. It soon became evident that the kids did not have good aiming skills or hand-eye coordination, for a snowball soared her direction and splattered in her face.

Now that was a wake-up call she didn't ask for.

Yelping, she hastily took a step backwards and shook off the half-melted snow on her face. Somehow, as she squeezed her eyes shut, she managed to step onto a patch of ice and slip backwards. The pain stung her for a few minutes before she blinked and proceeded to roll around in the snow. Then covered in snow and the occasional blade of grass, she sat up to find herself in front of a bench.

One-no, two pairs of golden eyes stared down at her. She blinked and her eyes darted from left to right multiple times, taking in striking auburn hair and the prettiest golden eyes. Was she seeing doubles? Had getting assaulted with snowballs ruined her eyes forever? Oh, the agony.

Glancing up at them and focusing, she decided that she wasn't delirious or blind and stuck out both her hands in their mismatched glory.

"'Ello. I'm Misaki. Who are you?"

They looked at her like she was crazy, and she grinned. Two of her front teeth was missing and there was probably grass stuck to her hair. She never was good with first impressions, considering that she might have puked on her mother the first time she came back in years. Aunt Fumiko was so mortified that she lectured the young four-year old Misaki on how to warn others that she needed to vomit other than gagging and saying "Ack."

(But she digressed.)

After a few awkward moments, the one on the right shifted in his seat slightly.

"Hikaru."

"Kaoru." Said the one on the left.

After a while, she realized that she didn't know how to continue the conversation after they shook hands, so instead she patted at the thin layer of snow beneath them. They hesitantly joined later, after Misaki convinced them that she wouldn't splatter them in the face like the mean kids.

(This went on for a while.)


During the time they were allowed to go outside, she always found them together at the bench. It wasn't a friendship but more of a one-sided tolerance on the twin's part. She simply viewed them as company that she was grateful for, but there wasn't much emotional attachment involved. They were playmates, nothing more, nothing less, and as a child she had neglected to go out of her way to search for more deeper relationships.

Misaki changed schools three weeks later without a word, not because she was afraid to bring up the news but because it slipped her mind that she should tell her not-friends. On the other hand, the twins merely noticed the significant lack of noise and choppy black hair about two days later, but they shrugged it off as quickly as snowflakes melted in their palm.

Kaoru was the one who brought up her absence.

"Where do you think she went?"

"Dunno." Hikaru shrugged.

For a brief moment, nothing was heard as they sat on alone on the bench. The snow on the ground was thinning and winter would soon fade with the snow.

Kaoru broke the silence a moment later with a suggestion.

"Let's play the 'Which one is Hikaru?' game with Fumio-san later. Maybe she'll get it right today."

Hikaru thought about their maid at home with a sort of soft fondness in his eyes. She was intelligent and not unkind. They liked her.

"Yeah, maybe she will."

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That night, alarms rang and the twins woke up. Kaoru noted the bright lights flashing outside but Hikaru noticed their broken piggy bank.

They walked outside to find Fumio-san escaping, the wind whipping her hair and crumpling her uniform, as if it was calling her out for lying. Kaoru watched as she left.

(She didn't win the game, but as they watched the bittersweet expression form on her face as she bid them farewell, they began to wonder if their game would ever have a victor. Kaoru thought of mismatched mittens and messy hair, and wondered if the girl called Misaki would have won if she had stayed.)

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But in the end, faces become blurred from time and eventually stop surfacing in one's mind. Even the most vivid of pictures lose their charm when old and yellowed.

(Three years. Before they knew it, three years had flown past before they knew it and they were already in middle school, with no one else but each other. Which was obvious, because they didn't need anybody else.)

When she came back, he only recognized her one day during lunch. Hikaru and himself sat at a bunch, eating their lunch when a figure with short black hair passed by them, searching for something in her bag. For a moment, she looked up to take a quick glance from the clock, but their presence remained undetected.

Kaoru tried to place her name, but failed.

"Hikaru, do you...?"

His brother regarded the figure with squinted eyes and ill-disguised interest.

"What was her name again?" He replied. Golden eyes followed her as she eventually made her way into the school building and disappeared behind a pillar. Out of sight, out of mind.

Kaoru shrugged, and their not-friend for three weeks went forgotten until lunch ended. For some reason, today the class was more noisy than usual, and their classmates of 2A tittered and gossiped a tad bit louder than usual.

"Did you hear? There's this new girl in class 2B!"

(And so they remembered the existence of Shinozaki Misaki. Not that it changed anything, because it really didn't. )