Our World

Prologue

The one who was not Hikaru, was Kaoru.

The one who was not Kaoru, was Hikaru.

They were one and the same, but different.

It made sense to them, yet no one could understand.

Except that person. The one who just came out of nowhere, and opened up a whole other world to them. Suddenly, there was center to their world. A middle person to stand between their left and right. Someone who made their world feel less empty, and made them feel less alone.

"Hey, let's play a game!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's play hide and seek!"

"You're it!"

"You can't start yet! Wait for me!"

The children around them were screaming and squealing in laughter. Snow tossed under their feet as the ran away to hide, while one child was sitting behind a tree, counting, although messing up and having to start all over.

The twins sat on a lone bench. Their feet dangled just above the ground, as their laps getting covered in snow. They were quiet, watching everyone from a distance. No one spared them even a glance, and they had gone completely ignored.

That was okay. They didn't want to play with them anyway.

Hikaru had Kaoru, and Kaoru had Hikaru.

They wanted to go inside, where no one called them weird, or made fun of them for looking so alike, but their teacher wouldn't open the door until break-time was over.

"Go outside and play with the other children." She told them, before shutting the door behind them. "Your parents want you to make friends."

They sat alone, watching everyone else run into the garden maze.

Hikaru squeezed his hand around his brother's, just to make sure he was still there.

Kaoru squeezed back.

They never felt alone. Everyone else always left them behind, but they never left each other's sight.

Wherever Hikaru was, Kaoru was right beside him.

Wherever Kaoru was, Hikaru was, too.

They were exactly the same.

But back then, they saw no difference.

They were one.

Individuality between the two did not exist.

Back then, no one needed to understand, and it didn't hurt when no one did.

Not until...

"Hey, do you wanna make a snowman with me?"

They looked up at a brown haired girl who spoke to them, but Hikaru was the only one who glared.

Kaoru blinked. "...Which one of us are you talking to?"

The girl snickered, brushing away her messy fringe. "To both of you, silly!"

He was confused. "There's nobody here named 'both of you'."

Hikaru looked at him, shocked, as if he was giving away a great big secret that they weren't supposed to tell.

She looked no older than they were, yet there was a mature atmosphere in her tone. "Okay then," she paused to try and remember something she had heard from one of the other kids, "I'm talking to, Hikaru and, Kaoru."

Hikaru... And, Kaoru?

That made no sense to them.

They weren't the same person, of course They were different. There must be something about them that differed them from the other. It was so small, and vague that they hadn't even noticed it themselves.

"Oh really?" they said, "...which of us is Kaoru, and which of us is Hikaru?"

Her hands tightened around her tiny snowball.

"Can you tell?"

The little girl looked long and hard at the two of them, not even contemplating that it would be difficult, considering this is the first time they had actually met.

"Well I think..." she lifted her hand towards the boy on the right. "You're, Hikaru."

That was it.

That was the first time it hurt.

That was when they realized... No one would be able to tell them apart.

That was the beginning.

They looked down at their feet. "...You guessed wrong."

Her snowball fell out of her hands as a heavy pile of snow fell from the tree above them, smashing a snowman that another child had left abandoned.

She frowned, feeling her throat ache as she looked down at their sad eyes, wishing she hadn't said anything at all.

"I... I'm so sorry," she looked away. "Please don't cry."

It was then that they realized... they both had tears in their eyes.

Kaoru gasped as his brother suddenly ripped his hand away. He whirled around, scared that he was going to leave, but he just needed his sleeve to wipe his face. Once he finished, Kaoru grabbed his hand again, holding it tight.

"We're not crying." Hikaru grumbled, alone.

How could they believe in anyone again?

Was this what it felt like... to be disappointed?

"Haruhi?"

All three of them looked up at the sound of a soft voice in the distance. A brown haired woman tromped through the snow, that coaxed the courtyard. The woman looked tired and pale, but she looked down at the little girl with a warm smile.

It made the twins feel colder.

"Don't run off like that," She said, she grabbed her hand. "You'll get lost. C'mon, let's go find your father."

"But, Mommy-"

The girl looked over her shoulder as her mother pulled her away, watching the boys until they were too far way to see, and they watched her, until she vanished around the corner of the school's gate.

The laughter eventually died around the garden, as some children were found, while some got tired of the game and decided to quit. No one ever looked back at them like she did. They pointed their fingers and laughed at the distraught looks on their faces, then ran inside the school. Never looking back. Never bothering to ask what was wrong.

And they didn't want them to.

Now, they just wanted to be left alone.

They'd never let those walls down again.

Later that day, they forgot that little girl's name, and didn't care. Because they knew, they'd never see her again.

But they were grateful to her.

If it wasn't for her... They'd never would have created their world.

AN: I posted this story last year, and It was originally meant to be a One-Shot, but after coming back to it, I have some fun ideas and decided rewrite it, so stay-tuned! Constructive criticism is appreciated.