Title: Niou Masaharu
Summary: Perhaps somewhere, there was a story behind. Because Niou Masaharu was originally meant to be a girl.
A/N: Okay, I know this is really bad, probably the worst I've written. But this contains a lot of my personal experience and emotions, and I really needed to flush it all out, so bear with me? Review please.
Niou Masaharu
Niou Masaharu was originally meant to be a girl. His parents had wanted a girl. They'd wanted two elder daughters and one younger son, just like their parents had had.
That was the first expectation Niou Masaharu had broken.
Being a child that wasn't meant to be, it was hard. He tried to meet up to every expectation his parents held for him, perhaps desperately trying to suppress his accident of birth. He knew his parents were disappointed, especially his father. Still, they accepted him.
It was a fairly normal family. A normal father, a normal mother, a normal elder sister, and a normal younger brother.
Niou Masayumi took up international chess.
Niou Masaharu played tennis.
Niou Masahiro fenced.
That was when everything went downhill.
Their father, witnessing achievement after achievement from his brilliant children, greedily began to demand more. At first it was easy, and he was proud.
Then, the gaps grew obvious. The tennis world was a large one, and it was not easy to place first every time. Masaharu recognized names in competitions: Tezuka Kunimitsu, Yukimura Seiichi, Sanada Genichirou. The real prodigies that took the light.
On the contrary, Masahiro had just broken through the preliminaries for the Fencing World Junior Championships. Masayumi had also claimed a second place in the All-Japan Chess Competition. He was cast into the shadows.
There was a difference when he went home every day. His father, normally welcoming, no longer smiled at him. It was horribly sickening, seeing how a person could change faces in such a short time.
That was the first lesson Niou Masaharu was given on the art of disguise.
He tried, tried, tried his best to excel. Tears spilled, and sometimes even blood.
His parents only had eyes for his sister and brother.
His father never lost a night's sleep over Masaharu.
That was the first less Niou Masaharu was given on life.
What is the meaning in life? What is the meaning in doing your best? Because there's always someone better than you, and you will not shine forever.
There is no reason fear life, because there is nothing that life could ever offer.
There is no reason to welcome death, because there is nothing death could ever offer as well.
Sandwiched between the excellence of his siblings, he was forced to make a choice.
He would become a person that shattered every expectation.
So that there were no more expectations left to be met.
He would become a person that could change faces in less than a second.
So that he would never be the victim.
He would become a person so untouchable, it was impossible to hurt.
So that there was no need to suffer anymore.
Because that was the only way he could survive in this reality.
Unpredictable, untouchable, fearless.
Who're you trying to fool, son?
End.