I still remember the first time I met him.

Dressed in a light pink summer dress, I nervously hid behind my mom as soon as we exited the car. The stones of their driveway were crunching beneath my sandalled feet, the wind sweeping my hair backwards off my face – apart from a few strands that were stuck to my face. I knew what was happening, it had been explained to me over and over again. My parents had to make sure I understood the situation truly. The boy I was about to meet? Would be my future husband.

I didn't really understand it. I was only five, as was he. My older brother, Mitsuki, was eighteen. I failed to understand why he wasn't married or engaged. Then, he explained it to me one day over lunch.
"This is what rich families do with their daughters" he explained, stuffing a salmon roll into his mouth, "it's okay, Ko. You'll be fine. Shoto is a nice boy."
"You've met him?" I questioned, tilting my head to the side at my elder brother. He nodded.
"I did. When mom and dad went to meet with his father."

I felt better knowing Mitsuki had met him. He wasn't one to lie or anything. Nevertheless, I was nervous as I approached him. He was a cute boy, and I instantly developed a crush on him. He seemed disinterested, not even looking in our direction. His father gave him a gentle nudge, but he didn't budge. His eyes remained on the ground.
Mom pulled me out from behind her, and placed me in front, hands on my shoulders. I bowed, like they had told me to.

"Good morning" I said quietly. My voice was quiet, yet high-pitched like any other young girl.
"Good morning" his mom smiled, "I am Rei. It's lovely to meet you at last, Koyuki."
"And I am Enji" his father said, bowing respectfully. I thought he was nice at that point, but I know better now.
I nodded a little bit, then looked to the boy. My…future husband. Most girls dream of their wedding day. They imagine the dress and the veil, the bride and groom on top of the cake. Their first dance. The daddy-daughter dance. The usual. However, this didn't feel like something that happened often. Especially since he refused to even look at me, obviously he didn't find it normal.

"Shoto…" his father snarled, nudging him a little harder this time. Shoto seemed to know he had to give it up and look at me.
"I'm Shoto" he said to me, bowing slightly, "It's nice to meet you, Koyuki."
"It's lovely to meet you, Shoto" I said, a little smile forming on my face at last. He seemed to smile back, but only half so.

"Shall we head inside?" his father asked my parents, who happily agreed.
"Shoto, why don't you and Koyuki go play for a while?" Rei suggested. Shoto hesitated, before motioning to me with his hand.
"Let's go. I've got some really cool toys."
"Awesome" I said, following him up the stairs.
He wasn't lying. Inside his bedroom, was boxes and boxes of toys. Even more toys than I had.
"Ooh!" I exclaimed, pointing towards his figurines, "you were right!"
"This is the best one of all" he chuckled, pulling a figurine out from underneath his bed and showing it to her. A figurine of All Might – the most famous hero of all.

"He's awesome!" I giggled, sitting down on his bed. He sat beside me.
"Want to hold him?"
"Okay!" I nodded, gently taking the figurine from him. I could tell at the time that he liked it a lot.
"Why did you hide it?" I asked him, to which he shook his head.
"Dad doesn't like All Might. He's his rival."
"I see" I said, observing the figurine, "it's super cool!"
"Thanks" he smiled, taking it back from me and placing it back under his bed. There was a few seconds silence.

"Mom and dad said we're going to get married someday" he said suddenly, "do you know that?"
"I do" I replied, jumping down off his bed and approaching him, "but my big brother said it will be okay."
"He did?" Shoto blinked at me, "how does he know that?"
I could tell he was frightened too; I wasn't an oblivious child.
"I don't know," I said truthfully, "but I think you're…cute."
I blushed deeply, hiding my face behind my long, flowing hair. He reached a warm hand out, gently pushing my hair out of my face.

"That's not fair" he huffed, "how can I see your pretty face when you hide it behind all that hair?"
I gasped, blushing even deeper.
"Promise me something" he said, "you won't hide your face like that again."
"Why not?" I whispered shyly.
"Because you're beautiful!" he said, "and beautiful people don't have to hide. Bad people do."
I giggled a little bit, "thank you."
"Promise me" he huffed, to which I held out my pinky finger.
"I pinky promise. They can never be broken."
He smiled, holding out his pinky and tangling it with mine tightly, as if sealing it.

"Let's play" he said, pulling his hand away, "pick something and we'll play with it together."
Hmm…" I looked around the room, then pointed to a race car set, "I wanna play with that!"
"Okay! Let's have All Might save them from a car crash!" he suggested.
"Good idea!" I exclaimed, sitting down on the wooden floor beside the race car track, complete with all cars. He pulled All Might out from under the bed – and we played together all evening until it was time to go home. Saying goodbye to him that day was painful. I was afraid I'd never see him again, that I'd never get to play with him again.

As it turned out, we played together every weekend, our parents' way of sealing our engagement and to make sure we got on. Not that his dad cared, but my parents did. Meeting him that day was the best day of my life…he quickly became my best friend.

So how on earth did we end up here?