Prologue

Summer, 2nd Year Junior High

The sōzu* looked uglier today... Or maybe it's because I am 'excused' from observing the tea ceremony in order to babysit my ugly twin. Seriously, I am merely thirteen years old and I have better things to do than seethe in disgust at the sight of the boy I hated most.

A repetitive sound of a ball, hitting the surface of the rocky pathway in the gardens, irked my nerves. My hand immediately turned into a fist. It is a habit that I often found completely useless when confronted by the fact that the boy in front of me is a complete moron.

I glared at Tobio with passionate hatred that will put… someone else's hate to shame. "You're annoying." I hear myself say in a strained voice. I can't help it. The sōzu has been tapping away in the past hour now and he's adding to the noise that's getting on my nerves.

He turned his head towards me uninterestedly. Tobio's dark blue irises, that mirrored my own, glazed with boredom while he proceeded to stare at me. 'Shut up' were the only words he retorted…

Yet it added so much fuel to my current fiery rage. If I were in an anime, a vein or two could probably be visible around my temple. I took a moment to inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Mother will scold me once again if I started shouting at my 'older brother'. I closed my eyes shut in attempt to vanish any negative thoughts about Tobio and his annoying ball.

To my surprise, there was silence in the garden. The constant tap of the sōzu and the running water were the only things I can hear.

I sighed in relief. Good riddance—

Domuuuu. Domuuuu. Domuuu. Domuuu.

Oh, freaking Kami-sama, help me! My mind internally groaned. Stupid Tobio's at it again. "You're really annoying..." I gritted my teeth as he was slapping the ball downwards, making that ridiculously annoying sound once again.

His focus was towards the ball, not even taking a second to look back at me. "Shut up." He said.

"Stop that!" I ordered.

"Shut up." He said.

"Argh!" I can't take it anymore! Stomping towards him, I shouted, "I said stop it, Tobio!" With my current height of one hundred and seventy-seven, I easily over-towered him by ten centimeters. What with his lack of height, he's better off not playing volleyball at all. Even his senpai, Oikawa-san, said that a midget like him won't survive as a member, much less a setter, for the volleyball team. "Give me that ball!" I snatched the ball from his grasp but Tobio gripped the said object with a surprisingly inhuman strength.

A dark and ominous aura surrounded my twin in a matter of seconds. "Let go." He commanded.

"Kiku!" My head spun towards the shrill voice, my hold of Tobio's ball loosened and I eventually let go of it. "That is not the way to treat your older brother!"

I hid my hands behind my back, afraid that she'll start whipping me again with those pesky thin bamboo sticks that hurt for hours on end. I can feel Tobio's eyes staring at me. Despite his usual poker-face façade, I can tell that he's amused at the scene unfolding in front of his very eyes a.k.a. the time where he'll get to see me being punished again. Pouting, I mumbled softly, "He's only older by a few minutes."

"He's still older than you." Our mother said sharply, her hands on her hips. "Bow your head and ask for forgiveness."

I bowed shallowly, inwardly rolling my eyes in the process and said a brief 'gomen, Tobio.'

My mother gasped. She hit the back of my head with the wooden fan she magically produced. "That is utterly disrespectful, young lady! Rephrase your words and bow lower!" She ordered me, obviously offended at my attitude towards my twin.

"Psh…" Knowing that my mother wouldn't be happy if I gave Tobio a measly fourty-five degrees bow, I sank to my knees - hiding the fact that the small sharp rocks in between the pathways in the garden hurt like hell. I curled up into the most respectful bow and enunciated each syllable of my apology with dripping sarcasm. "Hontouni gomenasai, Tobio-nii-sama." Why do I have to swallow my pride again? Oh yeah. Because having a twin brother, in the name of Kageyama Tobio, is anything but fair.

Waiting for an okay signal from my mother, I stayed in that horrifying position for more than a few minutes. Mother gave out a long disappointed sigh, "I do not like your tone, Kiku, but I suppose that will be suffice for you, Tobio?"

"Yes, mother. I forgive Kiku." Tobio said in the most monotonous (or was that sincere) way possible.

"That's a good boy." Seems that mother took it as a sincere reply, patting Tobio's mass of black hair. I stood up, a frown gracing my face and a glare shot towards my identical twin. My mother ruffled my hair and said, "Play nice and no shouting, Kiku." She retreated back to the house, leaving me alone with Tobio in the gardens.

He picked up his ball.

To my utter horror and annoyance, he started bouncing the ball with more force that the sound was thrice louder than earlier. I grunted at his obvious tease, "I hate you so much, Tobio."

"Shut up."

A/N:

*Sōzu: is a type of water fountain. This noise is intended to startle any herbivores such as deer or boars which may be grazing on the plants in the garden.

Hi guys! Me again! This is just going to be a short drabble series because I needed to get this out of my system… and random thoughts about Tobio having a twin is frequently in my mind right now. This is somewhat an AU where Tobio have an identical twin... because who knows what kind of families our precious crows have.

A short introduction about my OC, Kageyama Kiku (影山 菊): Kiku is a girl born in the shadow of her twin. This resulted in her being aloof, silent and observant but also short-tempered, pessimistic and cold. Kiku is often insulted as 'mute' yet when it comes to speaking her mind, her words can be sharp and direct – sometimes, pretty vulgar, too (she blames Tobio). Unlike her twin, Kiku have no passion for sports; she can be a decent player if she wanted to but she really doesn't want to, much to the disappointment of her parents.