Twins Prequel: Bestfriends
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He's so in love, but she's so dense.
He tries to hide it, but her kindness breaks the fence.
He is willing to do anything for her,
But it hurts the most that she likes his brother.
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Overview: This is a collection of various non-chronologically-arranged Ran-Kaito moments that happened before the Twins proper. It would tell more about their friendship and feelings that would add to what Twins can tell. Having read the said fan fic would, however, give you a better idea about the background of the characters and the AU-ness of this whole thing. :)
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Chapter 1: Just So You Know
(Setting:First Year of High School, Club Recruitment Day)
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The school year has just started and the newbies in Teitan High were busy choosing what clubs to join.
"Why do they have to do make this grand? First year students are old enough to find their clubs of interest anyway," stated the irritable Kaito as he strode heavily against the poor ground, with an arm lazily hanging his bag behind his shoulder.
"Take it easy!" Ran tapped his back. "At least it would save us the time finding out about the different clubs, since they're showing us all of them at once." She grinned, causing his prickly eyes to soften a bit as he rolled them away from her.
"Where did your social-animal spirit go?" Sonoko chuckled. "Aren't you supposed to be enjoying this kind of an event?"
He threw her a glare before facing front and walking ahead of them.
"Do you think the lunch lady gave him fish by mistake, that's why he's ill-tempered now?" Ran was worried but her statement made her chuckle a little.
Sonoko smirked as she replied, "Don't mind that guy. It's normal for him to be weird." She then embraced Ran's arm in excitement as she asked, "So what club are we going to join Ran? I found out that the presidents of these clubs are good-looking guys, wanna check them out?" She showed her cutesy little notepad.
"Sonoko, the club presidents are usually third year students. They will be graduating by the end of the school year. There's no point in joining a club just because of them," she scolded her with a playful tone.
"Oh yeah, you're right." She let go of her friend's arm upon the realization. "We should join the club that has the most ikemen members then! Woooohhh~" and she dragged her cheerfully towards the most crowded area of the school grounds.
Meanwhile...
"Tsk, Shinichi this, Shinichi that... They've been doing that since our first step here," Kaito muttered to himself, ignoring the dreamy gazes the girls he passed by were throwing him.
He mimicked Ran and Sonoko's voices as he recalled what they said,
"I'm sure the soccer club will be scouting him. He was a super cool player in junior high~"
"Why not join the soccer club so you'll be sure to see him everyday?~"
"Aww, too bad you weren't put in the same section as Shinichi-kun~"
"I wonder where Shinichi would hang out most of the time~"
"Hey, Shinichi just passed by the hallway, did you see him?!~"
"I'm so excited, I'll be able to see him five days a week from now on~"
"Sheesh, those two are going crazy." He sighed as he sat on the empty bench he found. It was perfectly situated beneath a tree, providing ample shade and serenity to anyone who would occupy it.
He put his arms behind his head, leaned back and gazed at the soaring clouds. He sighed yet again before letting his mind wander. 'This must be the start of it... My biggest rival is closer now. I didn't realize that I was being too complacent these past three years.'
"There you are!" A familiar voice brought him back to earth and merely hearing it made his lips curve into a smile involuntarily.
He sat up straight and moved to the side to offer a share of the bench. She handed a can of soda to him as she sat down. She offered it together with her best smile and a gentle breeze teamed up with her. As he took the can from her hand, he figured that no drink can remove the remnants of the summer heat like this refreshing view. Her act of drinking her soda gave him the chance to stare at her a few seconds longer.
"Are you okay now?" she started right away after taking a sip. He was startled a bit as he turned away, but she didn't notice anything suspicious.
"Yeah, I think so," he replied as he turned back to cloud-gazing, his voice now gentle as compared to earlier. "Thanks for this." He raised the can a little, without looking at her.
She glanced at him and smiled before imitating his cloud-gazing. "You owe me an ice cream for that. It's a mood-cleanser soda," she stated playfully. He saw her smile mischievously through the corner of his eyes and it made him smile as well.
He swore it would've been a perfect moment if he didn't move, but he had to open his drink and so he did. However, sitting up straight did not help him in opening the can; instead, it assisted someone else.
"Hey! There you are!" Sonoko cheerfully greeted, making Ran sit up straight as well. "I didn't recognize you two when you were both looking up." She glanced at the direction of the clouds but shrugged eventually, knowing that she has something far more important to say and do.
"Ran, I have to borrow you for a while from grumpy BaKaito, something Shinichi-urgent is going on!" Her words and grabbing of Ran's arm were both too quick for the latter to process that she was left with the only option to blink and ask, "Huh?"
Sonoko explained as she kept on pulling her, "Shinichi, he's there, getting surrounded by different female club presidents! You have to help him shoo those girls away!"
"Ehh?" Ran flashed a confused smile.
Although already standing, Ran was resisting a bit as she was worried about Kaito. She was actually waiting for him to disclose what was troubling him earlier, but the chance has already slipped away. The confusion made her smile sheepishly at him when their eyes met, but he got the gesture wrongly.
"Tsk, go ahead and do your Shinichi craziness all you want, I don't care. You don't have to ask permission from me," he stated coldly as he stood up. He was about to hand her the can of soda he was holding, but something seemed to have stopped him.
'No, I don't want to hurt you like that... I guess I'll be keeping this,' he thought, grasping the can.
In no time, he was already walking away from them, leaving the two bewildered by his weird attitude.
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Kaito went home and took some time to lie on his bed and to stare alternately at the ceiling and at his phone, before finally deciding to get ready for his gig tonight. Since the start of the year, his band, K.I.D., has been playing every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at a certain bar owned by Kazuha's friend just within town. It was indeed one of the things that kept him busy but for him, it was more like an enjoyable hobby than a part time work.
"Too busy with my twin that you can't even ask me how I'm doing..." he muttered as he grabbed his towel. He gave his phone a final stare before throwing it carelessly onto his bed and heading to the bathroom.
The moment he left, however, his phone rang.
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"Shimatta! I left my phone at home!" It took Kaito an hour-and-a-half before realizing.
"Why, do you have to make a call?" His bandmate, Izumi asked. "Here, use mine."
"No, I was... never mind, thanks anyway." He forced a smile since his bandmates were throwing him worried looks.
"Just tell us if you have a problem, dude!" the cheerful Ichiro stated while fiddling with his base guitar strings.
Just then, their manager, Kazuha, arrived to tell them to get ready. "It's your turn guys." She smiled.
All the K.I.D. guys stood up except for Kaito, who was staring blankly on the floor.
Daigo decided to act like the eldest guy like he usually does and said, "If you have something to say to someone but you don't think you can, then do it through the best thing you can do."
"Say what?" Ichiro raised a brow. "It doesn't make any sense-"
"It doesn't matter, Kaito got it anyway." Izumi smirked at the same time Kaito did. He handed him his phone before they went out of the room.
"Well, goodluck with whatever it is, dude!" Ichiro bid before getting dragged by the other two.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to give this idea a try," Kaito mumbled, smiling with uncertainty.
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"Hey! Are you alright?" Ran's worried voice greeted his phone call. "You weren't answering my calls. If you have a problem, you know you can always tell me." Her tone was brimming with concern.
She then heard him chuckle from the other end of the line. "No, I'm okay. I'm sorry about earlier, sorry for making you worry, Ran." His voice softened at the end of the sentence.
"Are you sure you're alright?" When he didn't answer, she called his name, "Kaito?..."
"Yeah, of course!" His tone became more energetic, as if getting recharged after the two-second silence. "Hey, Ran, listen. Can I ask you a weird favor?"
"Sure," was her quick response. "If it would help cheer you up then I'll do my best."
He could imagine her smiling enthusiastically at the instant.
"I won't be able to sleep tonight if we have a dispute of some sort – well, even if I would fall asleep, what if I don't get to wake up the next day? I don't want to bring our fight to the afterlife..."
Ran's brow rose, "We did not have a fight... did we?"
"Well, I just feel like I did something bad to you – the way I acted earlier was bad, wasn't it?" He found himself muttering stupidity and so he shook his head, took in a deep breath and revised, "Well, I just wanted to make it up to you. Would ice cream be a nice way?" He smiled at the wonderful idea. "I owe you ice cream for that mood-cleanser drink, right?"
She checked the clock and it indicated a few minutes to nine. "Alright then, you seem to have something bothering you indeed. I know you won't be able to sleep well if you don't spit it out." She chuckled.
"Yoshi~ thanks, Ran! Come here as soon as possible okay?" She could picture how wide his grin probably was. "I hope I'm not demanding too much, though... am I being demanding?"
"Baka, you know minors are not allowed to go there, well except for you guys who are performers," she explained, trying not to sound like making an excuse. "You know Kazuha and your band is my only gate pass there." She chuckled.
"Then bring Sonoko along," was his quick solution. "She knows the owner of this place. I'm sure the guards would let you two pass." He sounded determined.
She didn't want to let that good mood of his go down the drain and so she agreed, "Alright. If they don't let us enter, be there to save us, okay?"
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K.I.D. was able to hype up the crowd with just the first song they played. It was not much of a big deal, though, to the vocalist who seemed anxiously waiting for someone's arrival.
After a few more songs and a few more minutes of waiting, Kaito asked Ichiro to keep the audience busy by talking to them. It wasn't any problem for the latter, and so he took the mic and asked a few "how are you doing?" stuff to the audience who cheered.
Kaito seized the chance to ask Izumi if his phone received a call or mail from Ran.
"No, I won't be singing tonight, I'm not yet ready for that." Ichiro laughed and the crowd cheered louder.
To Kaito's dismay, Izumi shook his head and showed him an idle phone. Just then, Daigo called his attention by hitting the drum sticks onto each other and then pointing them towards the audience.
When he turned around, Kaito even heard Ichiro said, "Oh, Ran-chan! Hi!" as the latter waved childishly.
Seeing a familiar girl from the crowd waving back awkwardly, Kaito's lips curved into a big smile.
He then placed his electric guitar onto a vacant stand at the side and grabbed the acoustic guitar beside it. He plugged the cable on it as he went back to the center of the stage.
"I hope you're all enjoying the night," he said, his right hand resting on the mic stand, as he grinned handsomely at the audience, making the girls cheer and call his name.
"Our last song for tonight is a cover, and I'd like to dedicate it to my friend who gives out mood-cleansing soda to weird people." He laughed a little. "I hope my being weird won't get in your nerves." He paused to look and smile at her. "Alright, here's Just So You Know by Jesse McCartney."
Everyone turned quiet as Kaito started to sing.
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I shouldn't love you but I want to
I just can't turn away
I shouldn't see you but I can't move
I can't look away
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As he strummed, he thought, 'I hope this song can get through you.' He glanced at Ran in between his chord shifts, and he saw how Sonoko was bumping Ran's upper arm, teasing her and squirming with excitement. Ran on the other hand, found her weird but she was smiling.
When Daigo started the drums, the crowd cheered yet again.
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I shouldn't love you but I want to
I just can't turn away
I shouldn't see you but I can't move
I can't look away
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As he sang, he could picture her gentle smiles, her attractive laughter and her cute acts of thoughtfulness.
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And I don't know
How to be fine when I'm not
'Cause I don't know
How to make the feelings stop
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Even her clumsiness, her extreme efforts in everything she does and the times when she cries over trivial things are all cherished by him.
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Just so you know
This feeling's takin' control of me
And I can't help it
I won't sit around
I can't let him win now
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'I absolutely like everything about you, Ran... But being the closest, I never knew that it was also the hardest...'
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Thought you should know
I've tried my best to let go of you
But I don't want to
I just gotta say it all before I go
Just so you know
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'I've been telling myself to move on, but I always falter. I'm just too weak against you...'
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It's I' hard to
Be around you
There's so much I can't say
And do you want me to hide the feelings
And look away
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'Now, we're on the same school as my brother.' He recalled how excited she gets whenever it's about Shinichi just like earlier this day.
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And I don't know
How to be fine when I'm not
'Cause I don't know
How to make the feelings stop
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'And I'm sure more of those Shinichi-craziness will happen from now on.' He smiled faintly at the idea.
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Just so you know
This feeling's takin' control
Of me and I can't help it
I won't sit around
I can't let him win now
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'It's my fault, I didn't focus on forgetting you. I just settled with this so-called unrequited love…'
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Thought you should know
I've tried my best to let go of you
But I don't want to
I just gotta say it all before I go
Just so you know
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'…too complacent at the fact that you're always with me, while he's the distant dream guy.'
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This emptiness is killin' me
And I'm wonderin' why I've waited so long
Lookin' back I realize it was always there just never spoken
Now i'm waitin here
Been waitin here
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'I guess no one else could know better than I do about how much you like my brother. And I don't want to risk our friendship, knowing that I don't stand a chance at all…'
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Just so you know
This feeling's takin' control
Of me and I can't help it
I won't sit around
I can't let him win now
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'But I hope you won't get mad at your bestfriend for keeping this big secret from you...'
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Thought you should know
I've tried my best to let go of you
But I don't want to
I just gotta say it all before I go
Just so you know
Just so you know
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He stared at her eyes longer than before. 'I love you, Ran.'
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Thought you should know
I've tried my best to let go of you
But I don't want to
I just gotta say it all before I go
Just so you know
Just so you know
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'But if you still don't sense anything after this... I guess I really have to move on for real.'
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"How was the performance?" was Kaito's greeting upon arriving beside Ran and Sonoko.
"You dare to ask that when we've only seen your last song," Sonoko stated matter-of-factly. An evil smirk then formed on her face when she said, "But I like that one! Very well said, Kaito!" She slapped his shoulder.
Kaito just scowled, trying to hide the blush that was starting to form. He then looked at Ran, waiting for her comment. "What do you think about it, Ran?"
"You were great," she started. "It's really cool how you manage to sing a song and convey the song's emotion to the listener smoothly." She smiled, proud of her friend. "I guess you should record that song and put it on your site with all of your other covers."
He smiled faintly at her comments.
"I totally agree with that!" Kazuha's voice made them turn around. "You're ideas for the band are always helpful, Ran-chan." And the girls started talking about their things that Kaito didn't bother to listen to.
'Well, I guess that's just how deep it can get through you...' He chuckled weakly to himself before following the three towards the exit.
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Someone who gave you a foolishly sweet indirect confession, best friend or best love?
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Rei-chu: Hello everyone! ^.^ As you can see, I am still forbidden to update Twins (who said so? Grrrr~) because of my really really big big exam, but I just couldn't stop myself from sneaking out with this one... ^_^;; So here you go! :p I didn't know that it feels really nice to be able to finish a chapter this fast (well, fast enough compared to my previous records) ^o^ I hope I can also do this in Twins hehehe :p
"What do you think about it?" Kaito asked that, remember?~ I hope you answer him through uhm, let's see... a review? =P (pretty please~ you wouldn't want him to be sad, right? XD) I hope you enjoyed this! ^_^ I was searching for the right song before but when I encountered that song in such a fateful way, I couldn't let the inspiration pass ^_^ Thanks, Jesse McCartney-san for the song that I don't own, which you own, which is a really good song, hehehe XD (disclaiming, copyright respect, dontwannagotojail, hehehe =P) and thank you, yes You, for reading this! :D