Disclaimer: I do not own HYD or any of its characters, but I wish I did cuz
they're all so kawaii.
Chapter 1: A promise made
"Rui-kun!"
A tiny seven year old girl swung her head down calling to the quiet little boy staring up at her with dull eyes. Her pigtails fell down over her shoulders touching her legs and close enough to the boy's head to remind him of the fairytale damsel, Rapunzel. She reached out her tiny hand for his.
"Come on Rui! It's almost time!"
"Tsukushi, you're going to fall."
The little boy looked up at his playmate with his usual deadpan expression not showing the slightest interest in whatever she wanted him to do this time. With a wary look he turned around to return to his open window leading to his welcoming bed.
"Please!" The little girl pleaded. Her glassy eyes as large as saucers began to well up with tears. "I promise you'll see something this time."
He stopped at the sounds of her protests letting his impenetrable mask break for a moment. At such a young age of seven he bore a perpetual expressions that appeared to have seen more of this world than most grown men. It was those eyes that could break his dark, frozen soul. He nodded his head in defeat and took her hand pushing himself up to the large bough of the tree she sat on.
They sat hand in hand in silence looking up at the night sky with their legs dangling a few feet above the ground. Tonight the two small figures sat alone that dark night only to be illuminated by the gentle moonlight. The long bottom of her white nightgown flapped in the wind dancing in the air between her hanging limbs. He dressed in his ghostly attire of a white shirt and bottom. Together they appeared as two waiting angels for the heavens to open up to them once again to return home.
Hanzawa Rui was not an ordinary child at all. From the day he was born, he had the ability to stop grown adults dead in their tracks with his barren face and dead eyes. After many years of failed attempts the Hanazawa family was finally blessed with a son. He was their last chance at having a child at their age and they were more than grateful to be given the miracle of having a child. They held such high expectations for their unborn child. However, the day he was born was not a joyous occasion, but one racked with fear and dreading. His birth had not been an easy procedure. After hours of labor he came into this world blue and almost lifeless. The doctors rushed him away from his frantic mother screaming to see her child. You see, upon leaving his mother the umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck strangling him as he was being pulled out. After performing emergency CPR they had managed to find a faint heart beat out of the small, frail boy. His mother and father stayed by his side weeping and begging to god to spare this little life for weeks. The doctors said that he was teetering on in that thin line between life and death. Nothing more could be done. For now, it was up to him whether or not to stay in this corporeal state. Thankfully, the child chose life over death for reasons that will never be known except by him.
Although he was the pride and joy of his parents, they couldn't help but feel like they had given birth to a complete stranger. He never let anyone into his secret world. He was breathtakingly beautiful with his piercing blue eyes and mousy brown hair, but behind that beauty there lived an inner turmoil no one was ever able to soothe. As a baby, he would drive them insane with worry to be completely silent and unmoving one moment to switch to incessant crying for hours until falling into bouts of vomiting the next. Everyone just assumed he was a very sickly child. He never smiled, nor did he laugh. Servants would whisper amongst themselves with their superstitious beliefs that he was a punishment upon the house. Behind the backs of the parents, they would refer to him as the soulless child or even a devil child. His parents vehemently ignored these whispers and Mrs. Hanazawa guarded over her child with a fierceness like a lioness over her cub. His behavior never bothered them. They loved him nonetheless.
The first years of his life had remained that way with his parents protectively guarding over him watching his every move. They refused to let Rui out of their sights. Therefore, the few friends he did have were selected by his parents. As the heir to one of Japan's richest corporations it was only fitting that he be groomed to enter high society. Thus, his days were spent in planned play dates with the children of the only other three families that compared to their wealth. It's strange how children can see people in a clarity that adults lose along the way in growing older. Nishikado Soujioro, Mimasaka Akira, and Tsukasa Doumyouji were the three young boys who befriended this lonely boy developing their own protectiveness to speak and do the things he would never do.
They each had their own way of relating to Rui trying to free him from his shell. Akira was the playful one of the group always trying to find little ways to bring a smile out or laughter from Rui. Even though he did not know it, his cheerful attitude was enough to bring Rui out of his dismal world. Soujiro was always the talkative one of the group sweet talking the maids and female servants into getting them extra cookies or ice cream. He was selfless when it came to Rui sneaking extra treats to his friend. It can be argued whether or not a young Tsukasa even like Rui. He was constantly annoyed by Rui's passive behavior. All the fights and bruises he brought upon Rui by his own hands or the stunts he forced the boy to partake in were all in good intention to make him join the living. F4. That was the little family they had formed. Their beauty rivaled only that of flowers, delicate and timeless.
Although Rui found friends close enough to be brothers they were never enough to awaken him fully. By the age of seven, he had yet to have laughed or smiled for the first time. Everyone had given up hope seeing him as incapable of showing any kind of happiness or affection. It wasn't until a chance meeting with a little girl that his world would be changed forever.
Makino Tsukushi, was a little girl filled with more than enough energy and emotion for two people. The Makino's too had been blessed with a child the same year as the Hanzawas. As a young couple she was just an unexpected surprise that had filled their lives with more joy and happiness they ever thought was possible. Although they were relatively poor constantly moving form one place to another never really finding a permanent home, they were happy as long as they had each other. As survivors they made enough to get by. It was by Mr. Makino's good luck to be hired by the Hanazawa corporation that finally brought them stability. Mrs. Makino managed to secure herself a maid position working under Mrs. Hanazawa that gave them a house on the mansion's grounds. Soon they became loyal employees under the Hanazawa name. Little did Mr. and Mrs. Hanzawa know that by welcoming the Makino's into their lives the little five year old girl hiding behind her mother's skirt would give them the greatest gift, finding their son.
It was all a chance meeting that brought the two children together. Tsukushi had snuck out of the house to explore the grounds once again while her parents were both at work. She happily skipped, jumped, and ran across the lawn with her skirt and pigtails flailing behind her like a mad person. It was the faint muffle of a child crying that brought her to a stop.
**** Flashback****
"Why are you crying?" Tsukushi squatted next to the little boy while playing tic tac toe by herself in the dirt with a stick in her hand.
The boy looked up through bleary eyes at the smiling girl next to him. In indifference, he buried his face back into his knees and began to cry again.
"Sometimes its okay to just cry."
Tsukushi was more persistent than he would have imagined. She sat down beside him and placed her head on his shoulder closing her eyes.
Suddenly, his tears stopped and he opened to look at the little girl leaning against him. Never before had anyone ever told him to just cry. His parents, servants, and even F4 had learned to just leave him alone or scolded him to stop when he fell into one of his crying fits. She was different.
"Tsukushi opened her eyes upon hearing the silence. "You look much cuter when you aren't crying. You face gets kinda scrunched up and funny looking like this." She squinted her eyes and contorted her face trying to recreate his solemn crying expression. She struggled to maintain the face before falling over in giggles. She rolled back in forth holding onto her stomach that had begun to ache.
Rui stared at this girl who dared make fun of him. There was something about the way she was so carefree and innocent. Her laughter. Her smile. It was if she knew something the rest of the world didn't know. From inside, he felt something growing that he had never experienced before. As he watched her rolling around the lawn in giggles his lips began to curl. Before he knew it a rumble of laughter erupted from his lips. Her laughter was contagious.
Tsukushi stopped rolling on the ground in shock. She watched the little boy's eyes light up in laughter. Quietly from her pocket she took out the Polaroid camera her father had bought her for her birthday and snapped the picture. When she pulled out the warm piece of paper from the camera she waved it in the air and watched in anticipation as the colors began to slowly appear. She walked up to Rui and held the picture up to his face.
"I like you better this way."
"You're strange," he muttered in a small voice.
He looked down into the picture in disbelief. Could it be the same person he saw everyday in the mirror? He clutched the picture in his hand and looked up at the smiling girl who was now running in circles around him chasing after a butterfly leaping in the air to touch it. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her.
"Tsukushi!"
"Rui!"
The children both turned to look in the direction of where there voices were being called. Fomr the main house a very worried Mrs. Hanazawa ran towards Rui grabbing onto his hand and pulling him up from the ground.
"You had us so worried Rui. We were looking all over for you." She looked down on the ground at the piece of paper that had fallen out of his hand. Her eyes widened in shock and with a trembling hand she picked the photograph up from the ground.
Mrs. Makino ran up to Tsukushi and scooped her into her arms.
"Thank god I found you! You've got to stop running away from the house like that."
Tsukushi touched her mother's face and patted her head. "You shouldn't worry so much Mama. I wasn't alone."
Mrs. Makino laughed in exasperation. No matter how much she tired it was always too difficult to stay mad at her daughter. "Who were you with?"
"That boy over there."
Her mother's mouth dropped open in horror upon seeing Mrs. Hanazawa standing in front of her eyeing them suspiciously.
"I'm so sorry my daughter was bothering you. She slipped out of the house when I wasn't looking." She bowed her head down low in fear knowing very well how protective Mrs. Hanazawa was of her son. She cringed in fear hoping she wouldn't be fired. It was an unspoken rule in the house that only a select few chosen by the Hanzawas were allowed to come in contact with their son.
Mrs. Hanazawa picked looked at the little girl with the camera around her neck and glanced down at the picture. "Did you take this picture?"
Tsukushi's eyes lit up at the mentioning of her piece of art. She scrambled out of her mother's arms and ran up to the older woman grinning from ear to ear. "That's mine!" she screamed waving her hands while jumping up and down in the air.
Mrs. Hanazawa lowered herself onto her knees laughing in amusement by the very energetic girl jumping up and down in front of her. She buried her hands in her face letting the tears drip onto the photograph.
Tsukushi stopped in mid jump and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Did I do something to make you sad?"
She looked up at the little girl with the worries eyes and smiled. She patted her on the head and picked up the photograph hugging it close to her chest. "You didn't do anything wrong. I was just happy. Did you know this is the first time I've ever seen my Rui smile? How did you do it?"
The little girl cocked her head to the side perplexed at such a strange question. "All I did was this." She scrunched up her face once again mimicking Rui before bursting into a big smile and giggles.
Rui's mother stood up from the ground laughing at the little girl's face. "That looks just like my Rui."
Tsukushi took the camera from her neck and placed it in her mother's hands. "Mama can you take a picture of me and my new friend?" She ran next to Rui and placed her arm around his shoulder.
Her smiling mother took the camera and pointed it towards the two children. "Ready! One! Two! Three!" She pulled out the black paper from the camera and handed it to her daughter who frantically waved it in the air. Her eyes lit up as the figures became clearer.
"It's done!" She held up the picture to her face grinning from ear to ear. She turned to Mrs. Hanazawa standing next to her mother. "You can keep that one. I like this one much better." Tsukushi waved her precious photograph of her and her new friend in the air prancing around the adults in circles.
**** End Flashback *****
From that day on they were inseparable. It was always like this. She would crawl into his bedroom in the middle of the night disturbing his peaceful slumber wanting to show him something or another. Usually it would be something silly like the time they stayed up all night looking for the moon goddess by the lake in his gardens. They waited all night by the lake falling asleep on the lawn after a long period of waiting. They weren't found until the next morning when their mothers came running out of the house in a panic upon finding two empty beds. Although they were both severely scolded for sneaking out all night, he always took the blame for it all. She was always caught up in her innocent fantasies of angels and fairies from heaven.
Now sitting in the trees staring up at the sparking stars blasted over the night sky Rui couldn't help but feel at ease with Tsukushi. She incited something in him that no other had ever done. Maybe she was his real life angel.
"Rui, it's almost time," she whispered into his ear. "Mama told me it was going to happen tonight. There's a legend that if two people meet on a night like tonight and see this they will be together forever." She pointed her finger up at the sky. "There it is!"
Rui looked up towards the direction she was pointing in awe. The night sky was illuminated in lights by the meteor shower. "Beautiful," he mumbled to himself.
Tsukushi clapped her hands in glee. Her face remained fixed on the sight in front of her not paying attention to Rui next to her. As she stared forward she asked, "Rui, promise me we'll always be together." She whipped her head to the side looking for an answer, but to her surprise his answer was a rather unexpected one. Her eyes widened in shock. She closed her eyes letting the moment take over feeling his warm lips pressed against hers. Under the watchful eye of the moon and the screeching meteors soaring across the night sky, a pact was made.
Chapter 1: A promise made
"Rui-kun!"
A tiny seven year old girl swung her head down calling to the quiet little boy staring up at her with dull eyes. Her pigtails fell down over her shoulders touching her legs and close enough to the boy's head to remind him of the fairytale damsel, Rapunzel. She reached out her tiny hand for his.
"Come on Rui! It's almost time!"
"Tsukushi, you're going to fall."
The little boy looked up at his playmate with his usual deadpan expression not showing the slightest interest in whatever she wanted him to do this time. With a wary look he turned around to return to his open window leading to his welcoming bed.
"Please!" The little girl pleaded. Her glassy eyes as large as saucers began to well up with tears. "I promise you'll see something this time."
He stopped at the sounds of her protests letting his impenetrable mask break for a moment. At such a young age of seven he bore a perpetual expressions that appeared to have seen more of this world than most grown men. It was those eyes that could break his dark, frozen soul. He nodded his head in defeat and took her hand pushing himself up to the large bough of the tree she sat on.
They sat hand in hand in silence looking up at the night sky with their legs dangling a few feet above the ground. Tonight the two small figures sat alone that dark night only to be illuminated by the gentle moonlight. The long bottom of her white nightgown flapped in the wind dancing in the air between her hanging limbs. He dressed in his ghostly attire of a white shirt and bottom. Together they appeared as two waiting angels for the heavens to open up to them once again to return home.
Hanzawa Rui was not an ordinary child at all. From the day he was born, he had the ability to stop grown adults dead in their tracks with his barren face and dead eyes. After many years of failed attempts the Hanazawa family was finally blessed with a son. He was their last chance at having a child at their age and they were more than grateful to be given the miracle of having a child. They held such high expectations for their unborn child. However, the day he was born was not a joyous occasion, but one racked with fear and dreading. His birth had not been an easy procedure. After hours of labor he came into this world blue and almost lifeless. The doctors rushed him away from his frantic mother screaming to see her child. You see, upon leaving his mother the umbilical cord had wrapped around his neck strangling him as he was being pulled out. After performing emergency CPR they had managed to find a faint heart beat out of the small, frail boy. His mother and father stayed by his side weeping and begging to god to spare this little life for weeks. The doctors said that he was teetering on in that thin line between life and death. Nothing more could be done. For now, it was up to him whether or not to stay in this corporeal state. Thankfully, the child chose life over death for reasons that will never be known except by him.
Although he was the pride and joy of his parents, they couldn't help but feel like they had given birth to a complete stranger. He never let anyone into his secret world. He was breathtakingly beautiful with his piercing blue eyes and mousy brown hair, but behind that beauty there lived an inner turmoil no one was ever able to soothe. As a baby, he would drive them insane with worry to be completely silent and unmoving one moment to switch to incessant crying for hours until falling into bouts of vomiting the next. Everyone just assumed he was a very sickly child. He never smiled, nor did he laugh. Servants would whisper amongst themselves with their superstitious beliefs that he was a punishment upon the house. Behind the backs of the parents, they would refer to him as the soulless child or even a devil child. His parents vehemently ignored these whispers and Mrs. Hanazawa guarded over her child with a fierceness like a lioness over her cub. His behavior never bothered them. They loved him nonetheless.
The first years of his life had remained that way with his parents protectively guarding over him watching his every move. They refused to let Rui out of their sights. Therefore, the few friends he did have were selected by his parents. As the heir to one of Japan's richest corporations it was only fitting that he be groomed to enter high society. Thus, his days were spent in planned play dates with the children of the only other three families that compared to their wealth. It's strange how children can see people in a clarity that adults lose along the way in growing older. Nishikado Soujioro, Mimasaka Akira, and Tsukasa Doumyouji were the three young boys who befriended this lonely boy developing their own protectiveness to speak and do the things he would never do.
They each had their own way of relating to Rui trying to free him from his shell. Akira was the playful one of the group always trying to find little ways to bring a smile out or laughter from Rui. Even though he did not know it, his cheerful attitude was enough to bring Rui out of his dismal world. Soujiro was always the talkative one of the group sweet talking the maids and female servants into getting them extra cookies or ice cream. He was selfless when it came to Rui sneaking extra treats to his friend. It can be argued whether or not a young Tsukasa even like Rui. He was constantly annoyed by Rui's passive behavior. All the fights and bruises he brought upon Rui by his own hands or the stunts he forced the boy to partake in were all in good intention to make him join the living. F4. That was the little family they had formed. Their beauty rivaled only that of flowers, delicate and timeless.
Although Rui found friends close enough to be brothers they were never enough to awaken him fully. By the age of seven, he had yet to have laughed or smiled for the first time. Everyone had given up hope seeing him as incapable of showing any kind of happiness or affection. It wasn't until a chance meeting with a little girl that his world would be changed forever.
Makino Tsukushi, was a little girl filled with more than enough energy and emotion for two people. The Makino's too had been blessed with a child the same year as the Hanzawas. As a young couple she was just an unexpected surprise that had filled their lives with more joy and happiness they ever thought was possible. Although they were relatively poor constantly moving form one place to another never really finding a permanent home, they were happy as long as they had each other. As survivors they made enough to get by. It was by Mr. Makino's good luck to be hired by the Hanazawa corporation that finally brought them stability. Mrs. Makino managed to secure herself a maid position working under Mrs. Hanazawa that gave them a house on the mansion's grounds. Soon they became loyal employees under the Hanazawa name. Little did Mr. and Mrs. Hanzawa know that by welcoming the Makino's into their lives the little five year old girl hiding behind her mother's skirt would give them the greatest gift, finding their son.
It was all a chance meeting that brought the two children together. Tsukushi had snuck out of the house to explore the grounds once again while her parents were both at work. She happily skipped, jumped, and ran across the lawn with her skirt and pigtails flailing behind her like a mad person. It was the faint muffle of a child crying that brought her to a stop.
**** Flashback****
"Why are you crying?" Tsukushi squatted next to the little boy while playing tic tac toe by herself in the dirt with a stick in her hand.
The boy looked up through bleary eyes at the smiling girl next to him. In indifference, he buried his face back into his knees and began to cry again.
"Sometimes its okay to just cry."
Tsukushi was more persistent than he would have imagined. She sat down beside him and placed her head on his shoulder closing her eyes.
Suddenly, his tears stopped and he opened to look at the little girl leaning against him. Never before had anyone ever told him to just cry. His parents, servants, and even F4 had learned to just leave him alone or scolded him to stop when he fell into one of his crying fits. She was different.
"Tsukushi opened her eyes upon hearing the silence. "You look much cuter when you aren't crying. You face gets kinda scrunched up and funny looking like this." She squinted her eyes and contorted her face trying to recreate his solemn crying expression. She struggled to maintain the face before falling over in giggles. She rolled back in forth holding onto her stomach that had begun to ache.
Rui stared at this girl who dared make fun of him. There was something about the way she was so carefree and innocent. Her laughter. Her smile. It was if she knew something the rest of the world didn't know. From inside, he felt something growing that he had never experienced before. As he watched her rolling around the lawn in giggles his lips began to curl. Before he knew it a rumble of laughter erupted from his lips. Her laughter was contagious.
Tsukushi stopped rolling on the ground in shock. She watched the little boy's eyes light up in laughter. Quietly from her pocket she took out the Polaroid camera her father had bought her for her birthday and snapped the picture. When she pulled out the warm piece of paper from the camera she waved it in the air and watched in anticipation as the colors began to slowly appear. She walked up to Rui and held the picture up to his face.
"I like you better this way."
"You're strange," he muttered in a small voice.
He looked down into the picture in disbelief. Could it be the same person he saw everyday in the mirror? He clutched the picture in his hand and looked up at the smiling girl who was now running in circles around him chasing after a butterfly leaping in the air to touch it. He couldn't help but smile at the sight of her.
"Tsukushi!"
"Rui!"
The children both turned to look in the direction of where there voices were being called. Fomr the main house a very worried Mrs. Hanazawa ran towards Rui grabbing onto his hand and pulling him up from the ground.
"You had us so worried Rui. We were looking all over for you." She looked down on the ground at the piece of paper that had fallen out of his hand. Her eyes widened in shock and with a trembling hand she picked the photograph up from the ground.
Mrs. Makino ran up to Tsukushi and scooped her into her arms.
"Thank god I found you! You've got to stop running away from the house like that."
Tsukushi touched her mother's face and patted her head. "You shouldn't worry so much Mama. I wasn't alone."
Mrs. Makino laughed in exasperation. No matter how much she tired it was always too difficult to stay mad at her daughter. "Who were you with?"
"That boy over there."
Her mother's mouth dropped open in horror upon seeing Mrs. Hanazawa standing in front of her eyeing them suspiciously.
"I'm so sorry my daughter was bothering you. She slipped out of the house when I wasn't looking." She bowed her head down low in fear knowing very well how protective Mrs. Hanazawa was of her son. She cringed in fear hoping she wouldn't be fired. It was an unspoken rule in the house that only a select few chosen by the Hanzawas were allowed to come in contact with their son.
Mrs. Hanazawa picked looked at the little girl with the camera around her neck and glanced down at the picture. "Did you take this picture?"
Tsukushi's eyes lit up at the mentioning of her piece of art. She scrambled out of her mother's arms and ran up to the older woman grinning from ear to ear. "That's mine!" she screamed waving her hands while jumping up and down in the air.
Mrs. Hanazawa lowered herself onto her knees laughing in amusement by the very energetic girl jumping up and down in front of her. She buried her hands in her face letting the tears drip onto the photograph.
Tsukushi stopped in mid jump and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "Did I do something to make you sad?"
She looked up at the little girl with the worries eyes and smiled. She patted her on the head and picked up the photograph hugging it close to her chest. "You didn't do anything wrong. I was just happy. Did you know this is the first time I've ever seen my Rui smile? How did you do it?"
The little girl cocked her head to the side perplexed at such a strange question. "All I did was this." She scrunched up her face once again mimicking Rui before bursting into a big smile and giggles.
Rui's mother stood up from the ground laughing at the little girl's face. "That looks just like my Rui."
Tsukushi took the camera from her neck and placed it in her mother's hands. "Mama can you take a picture of me and my new friend?" She ran next to Rui and placed her arm around his shoulder.
Her smiling mother took the camera and pointed it towards the two children. "Ready! One! Two! Three!" She pulled out the black paper from the camera and handed it to her daughter who frantically waved it in the air. Her eyes lit up as the figures became clearer.
"It's done!" She held up the picture to her face grinning from ear to ear. She turned to Mrs. Hanazawa standing next to her mother. "You can keep that one. I like this one much better." Tsukushi waved her precious photograph of her and her new friend in the air prancing around the adults in circles.
**** End Flashback *****
From that day on they were inseparable. It was always like this. She would crawl into his bedroom in the middle of the night disturbing his peaceful slumber wanting to show him something or another. Usually it would be something silly like the time they stayed up all night looking for the moon goddess by the lake in his gardens. They waited all night by the lake falling asleep on the lawn after a long period of waiting. They weren't found until the next morning when their mothers came running out of the house in a panic upon finding two empty beds. Although they were both severely scolded for sneaking out all night, he always took the blame for it all. She was always caught up in her innocent fantasies of angels and fairies from heaven.
Now sitting in the trees staring up at the sparking stars blasted over the night sky Rui couldn't help but feel at ease with Tsukushi. She incited something in him that no other had ever done. Maybe she was his real life angel.
"Rui, it's almost time," she whispered into his ear. "Mama told me it was going to happen tonight. There's a legend that if two people meet on a night like tonight and see this they will be together forever." She pointed her finger up at the sky. "There it is!"
Rui looked up towards the direction she was pointing in awe. The night sky was illuminated in lights by the meteor shower. "Beautiful," he mumbled to himself.
Tsukushi clapped her hands in glee. Her face remained fixed on the sight in front of her not paying attention to Rui next to her. As she stared forward she asked, "Rui, promise me we'll always be together." She whipped her head to the side looking for an answer, but to her surprise his answer was a rather unexpected one. Her eyes widened in shock. She closed her eyes letting the moment take over feeling his warm lips pressed against hers. Under the watchful eye of the moon and the screeching meteors soaring across the night sky, a pact was made.