"Are you okay?"
I looked up to see a teenager with black hair and piercings all over his face. He looked a little scary but the kindness in his eyes and the tone of his voice told me that he wasn't dangerous.
He insisted on getting me home safely, saying that 'he didn't want to leave a kid alone on the street'. As a young impressionable child, I was positively attached. He was just so cool to my innocent eyes.
I led him home and insisted that he stayed for a while, and so my sister, bending to my wide, hopeful eyes, invited him inside for tea.
That was how I met Izumi Miyamura, and how Izumi met my sister. It was really funny to watch them awkwardly converse while sipping tea, and when Izumi dropped the bomb that was the fact that he was Miyamura Izumi, the loner weirdo in Kyouko's class, my sister's expression was priceless. She moped around for the rest of the day and into the next morning. I heard later on that she even moped around in school the next day.
I don't really understand why my sister wanted to hide the fact that she took care of her little brother and did housework from her schoolmates. Izumi I can understand. Tattoos and piercings were against school regulations, but being a good sister? What would the downsides of people knowing that be? Well, there is no point in contemplating it now. Her friends found out eventually and she stopped hiding parts of herself when she went off to college.
As a small boy, whose father's presence was inconsistent, Izumi was basically the only guy I could look up to. He was kind, understanding, and fun to be around. What kind of ten year old wouldn't want an Onii-chan like him? He started coming over often after school at my request and would even make time on weekends to read and play with me.
Part of the reason I was so adamant on having him over was so I could set him up with my sister, and set them up, I did. That was probably the greatest achievement of my life, playing cupid with those two under the guise of a small innocent child.
Kyouko Hori, my sister who basically raised me from diapers. A constant in my life, the one person who I knew would always be there. She was my anchor, my pillar. My invincible, perfect, reliable Onee-chan. She would cook, clean, wash clothes, buy groceries, and do basically every single household chore.
I really admired her, I still do. She's probably the strongest, most dedicated person I know. But she's still human. And no human can carry a burden like that alone. She bottled up her problems inside, holding them in like a water balloon, slowly filling up threatening to pop at any moment.
She, just like any person, had trauma, issues, problems, insecurities and doubts. She just never had anyone to show them to. A perfect sister at home, and a perfect student at school. She always had some kind of front up at all times to protect her from the scrutinizing gaze of her own self-doubt.
Perhaps that's why she connected so deeply to Izumi. Because they shared a twisted image of themselves, a side that they only saw in each other. They gave each other validation and comfort. They became each other's rock. Seeing these things happen and evolve as a ten year old, I didn't really understand the specifics of the events unfolding before me, but now I realize just how much they cared for each other, even before they were officially dating.
Looking back, it was worryingly similar to codependency, and maybe if they didn't have any other friends it would have ended up that way. They had their flaws, like any couple, but they persevered through their rough patches and stayed together through thick and thin. Izumi had self-esteem so low that he would always devalue himself in comparison to others, he felt like he didn't deserve Kyouko sometimes, and would do his best to make her feel loved as best he could. Sometimes, he would pamper Kyouko so much that she needed to tell him off and remind him that he didn't need to do all those things because even if he didn't she would still love him. Kyouko on the other hand, never noticed the things that were bothering Izumi right away, only taking notice after it's been going on for a while. She was insensitive in a way, not selfish, but she just simply couldn't tell when she was disturbing Izumi.
She was masochistic, but Izumi wasn't a sadist. Yet, he tried his best to force himself to verbally abuse his girlfriend that he loved so much. It hurt him, but Kyouko didn't realize it until after they graduated, and either fortunately or unfortunately Izumi became slightly sadistic. That was a situation that could've ended really badly. There were a lot of those while they were dating during their highschool days.
Fortunately, they sorted out all of their more glaring issues right before they started college and began living together in a small apartment. From then on, they were the epitome of cute couples. They went on dates all the time, they cooked and baked together almost every day. Pastries and pasta were a staple in their apartment, never running out. Ever.
They still had little lover's quarrels, but never anything bad enough for either of them to consider breaking up. The worst that happened was Izumi slept on the couch for two nights when he wore all his piercings during Kyouko's job's christmas party. "I wanted to scare them away" he said. And it worked. No one ever flirted with Kyouko after he arrived looking like a yakuza boss bringing a three layer red and green frosted cake.
Izumi proposed two years after they graduated college. It took him way too long in my opinion. He didn't do anything super special according to them. He just gave her the box while they were sitting on a park bench on new year's day. He thought it fitted them. Soon after, they moved into Izumi's apartment back near their old highschool. The Miyamura parents moved out and into a house in the countryside, retiring at sixty after saving enough money to take care of them for the rest of their life, and then some. Izumi continued his family bakeshop, and Kyouko became a house-soon-to-be-wife.
The wedding was small. Really small. Only immediate family and their closest friends from highschool and college. It was nice, seeing them all talk and joke with each other. I never got to see them have fun with other people before that day, and it brought tears to my eyes. I was so happy that they were happy. They both had difficult lives, and they definitely deserved to live a simple, enjoyable future.
It was around that time that Izumi started saying "so?" often enough to be called a habit. Kyouko, being annoyed with it, started saying "and?" but that just made it worse. Spending time with them was like sitting in between an extremely sassy old couple, even though they were only 27. I ended up picking up Izumi's habit of saying "so?" and for a time, I regretted it. But eventually I just said "So what if I'm saying 'so?'" and began following in my brother-in-law's footsteps.
They had their first child when they were 28, though I'm surprised they didn't have one sooner considering how often they did the baby making process, but I digress. She was the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Her name was Kyouka. Very creative. She looked like gyoza in human form. It was adorable. I became her godfather, and because of that I spoiled her so much, just like a godfather should.
Life started to slow down from there. They turned Izumi's bakeshop into a franchise and retired at forty. Who the heck retires at forty with only a bakeshop franchise keeping you afloat? But they made it work. I don't know how, but they did. They had another kid, a boy, and named him Izuku. Seriously, did they have problems naming their kids or something?
Their children grew up to be forces of nature, harbingers of destruction, and the living manifestations of chaos. They were exactly like each other. Cheerful and kind, but had a sadistic and mischievous side that no one except their family knew about. Only a year and a half apart in age, Kyouko and Izuku were extremely close. Sure they argued and fought sometimes, but something neither of them could possibly do, was hold a grudge. They would be screaming and crying, then 10 minutes later they would be laughing and hugging. It was confusing, but welcome all the same.
I don't know where I would be if not for the two most important people in my life, excluding my wife and child. They practically raised me, supporting me throughout the years. They always welcomed me into their homes, they always cared for me, always listened to my woes, my problems, and always offered to help. They were there for me every step of the way, my uncracking, unfaltering pillars. My light whenever it was too dark. My heroes who taught me the proper way to live and to love. I don't think I could ever thank them enough for all that they have done for me, and all that they have taught me.
I made my way down the street, the frigid air burned my lips as the gentle snowfall covered my hair. The street lamps reflected softly against frozen puddles as Christmas lights blinked and twitched around me. I see a familiar house, sitting stubbornly on the snow-covered ground. I could see myself, 30 years ago, standing on that porch, holding a teenager's hand as my nose bled. I could imagine the worried expression of my sister as she wiped my face with a handkerchief. I could picture the day it all began perfectly. Like a photograph, a moment caught in time. Vivid and colorful.
I walked towards the door, letting out a long breath. I knocked.
The door opens to the smiling face of Kyouko Miyamura, hair grey, skin wrinkled, but as beautiful as ever. She exclaimed with a warmth only she could muster: "Sota! Come in, come in! Welcome home, have some cake and cookies!"
Sota smiled. It was good to be home.
Yo. Idk if you can notice it, but I vented out some of my gripes with Horimiya as a story, and the missed opportunities for character development for Hori. I originally had this idea to practice writing fluff, but I somehow ended up writing from Sota's POV instead. I'm pretty happy with this as a one-shot I wrote in 2 hours, but perhaps I'll add more chapters that are more crack-ish later on. But for now, this is complete. Check out my profile if you like my writing style with way too many commas. Peace.