012 :: dead wrong.
Featuring: Rua, Ruka
Rating: K+
Genre(s): Family
Spoilers: none
"You know full well as I do the value of sisters' affections: There is nothing like it in this world."
― Charlotte Brontë, The Professor
"…Wait!"
It was a beautiful spring afternoon, but under the grand cherry blossom tree, Ruka stood in the shadows as she watched her brother excitedly rush off to catch the attention of a pretty blonde passing by. He seemed like he hadn't been listening to what his sister was saying; his mind had been elsewhere all along, maybe on the other girls he had seen over the months.
At times like these, she wanted to disappear. Lately, Rua had been more interested in flirting with other girls that he started to pretend that she wasn't even there anymore. It was like he just upped and left his little sister to stand alone and fend for herself. All on a sudden whim, without warning, just like that.
If he wanted to do that, he never should have made that promise in the first place! For many years, it had been the opposite. Rua was the one trying to pry her away from Lucciano or whoever else she had once shown interest in. But even then, she had always acknowledged her brother's presence. Now her brother was doing the one thing she feared the most: diversion.
In fact, it was enough to think that Rua no longer truly cared for her. Not that she could blame him. They were both turning fifteen soon, and teenage hormones were rapidly catching up. Both were bound to grow up sooner or later, but Rua might take one step further and leave her in the dust.
But she would be the first to confront him about it. It would be later that day, when school let out and the sun would be quietly setting… The two of them would be sitting on the swings and… If she cried, at least no one would be able to see. Then maybe then he would notice her again. He was her twin, after all… would he step into her shoes and read the emotions that were slowly but surely breaking her apart?
"Rua…" she said, mustering up all her courage. "I have something I want to ask you."
"What is it, sis?"
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Do you actually care about me anymore?" Suddenly, the barrier within her broke and she felt anger rise to replace the sorrow that accumulated in the previous months. "It's like I stopped existing to you. Because it's always about those girls now! What about your sister? Hello! I'm still here!" She felt the tears freely pour out of her. "And what… what about our promise?!"
Silence ensued. Then…
"Sis, you were always the intelligent one… you made all the right decisions, you knew when to say all the right words whenever I needed to hear them."
"But now, that's where you're dead wrong." Rua hopped off the swing to stand next to his sister. "No matter what happens, you'll always be my little sister. Whether or not I'm with another girl, I'll always be next to you. That's the promise I made and it's the one I will vow to keep for always."
Ruka gasped quietly, but didn't say anything.
And he needn't say anything more, for in his eyes, she only saw the truth.
She genuinely smiled for the first time in a long time, for she understood better, now. She knew she had been dead wrong in her assumptions. As she took his words to heart, she now believed that he would always be there for her. After all, he was her older brother, and she was his little sister. Between the two, there was an unbreakable bond… and an unforgotten promise.
And nothing could possibly change that.
