Summary: His brother is his idol; there's no one else he'd rather be like or follow. Haruichi knows he can't. He's Seen it. He Sees too much. It's why he hides his eyes behind a curtain of pink. You can tell from a look at his eyes that he knows what he shouldn't. It's Haruichi's way of hiding from the world.
Meant To Be (The Boy Who Sees Too Much)
Haruichi thought it was normal. It had never even occurred to him that others didn't see the world as he did - ten steps ahead of the now and aware of the inevitable.
xXx
He first heard about fortunetellers when his family went to a festival. Haruichi doesn't remember how old he was, only that he was chasing after his brother who at that point was still significantly taller than him. He knows there was food, fun games, lots of people in brightly coloured kimonos and pretty fireworks. The thing that most stood out, however, was the fortuneteller. To be honest, he doesn't even remember her all that well, only the awareness he gained after. In his memory, she was a blur of bright robes, tinkling, glittering jewellery and sharp words.
Haruichi's mother was getting her fortune told, a mild smile on her face to hold in the laughter at the faces his father was making at her from behind the fortuneteller's back.
"Aah, yes. I can see here that good things will come your way." She was saying sagely, lightly drawing her finger along the palm of Haruichi's mother's hand. "A long and prosperous life and - oh, see here! - more children, twins, a boy and a girl."
Haruichi listened in excitement but also nervousness. He'd Seen no siblings in the future. He said nothing, just held on to Ryousuke's hand as he had been told while his mother thanked the woman and paid. The Kominato family left the tent, parents laughing while their children stayed silent. But Haruichi wanted to talk to this woman.
"Okaa-san, I think I dropped my coins in there. Can I please go get them?" He asked quietly, eyes hidden. His parents stopped walking, nodding at him.
"Of course, honey. Should Ryousuke go with you?"
Ryousuke had already started moving back toward the tent, used to helping his brother whenever he could. Haruichi was closer to him than his own shadow at times. So he was immensely surprised - and even a little disappointed - when Haruichi vehemently shook his head. "No, I can do it. I'll hurry, I promise."
Without waiting for another word, he turned and quickly slipped into the tent. Inside, another woman was getting her fortune read. Haruichi was small enough that the fortuneteller didn't even notice the tent flap opening and closing.
"Yes, I see only good things. You'll find a husband soon and within your first year you will bear twins, a boy and a girl."
The woman left, overjoyed, and Haruichi stayed hidden until only the fortuneteller was there.
"You lied." he stated. The fortuneteller whirled around at the unexpected voice, clutching her chest when she caught sight of the small, pink haired child from before.
"Jesus Christ, kid. Did no one teach you to knock or something? Coulda given me a heart attack." she mumbled. Straightening up, she drew her shawl around herself, looking down at him haughtily. "What're you doing here anyway?"
"Why did you lie?" Haruichi asked, ignoring the question. The fortuneteller sniffed.
"You're obviously just a pipsqueak, so if you believe in magic I guess that's normal. But we all gotta grow up someday. Magic isn't real." She leaned down, an indulgent smile on her face. "In this business, everyone lies."
Magic?
The fortuneteller laughed and stood, then started coughing. When her fit subsided, she began to make her way into the back. "Everyone lies, kid. Not just people like me, all adults do. And if you say differently, you're a liar too."
Haruichi left the tent, numb. The woman had lied. She wasn't like him. She didn't See the future the way he did, didn't know for certain what would happen.
"Got your coins, son?" his father asked when he came back. Haruichi responded automatically, fishing them out of his back pocket (where they had been all along). Haruichi supposed that it made him a liar, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. The woman said everyone lies. The Kominatos resumed walking, their children trailing behind them. Ryousuke gripped Haruichi's hand, opening his eyes just a slit wide and glancing at him from the side.
"Haruichi? Did something happen?"
Haruichi only shook his head, keeping his eyes hidden. Ryousuke closed his eyes and said nothing.
xXx
"Call the emergency number!"
Lots of screaming.
"Oh god, there's so much blood..."
Bright lights, blue, red, white, flashing, illuminating a dark street and crushed car.
"Quick, she's dying!"
A woman, strangely familiar, unconscious, on the ground and covered in too much blood.
"Initiating in 3, 2, 1 -"
A crowd of people in strange, green clothing gathered around the woman. Her back arches into the air with the force of two, massive, metal thingies on her torso. They make a menacing sizzling sound.
"Her condition is stable, but there's something you should know. We could save her life but not that of the fetus..."
The woman, cleaned up now but still unconscious, lying in a bed. A monitor connected to her beeps regularly while zig-zaggy lines accompany the sound on the black screen.
'Wait, isn't that - Okaa-san...Okaa-san!'
Haruichi woke with a start, his shout still echoing in the dark room. Just a second later, Ryousuke burst into his bedroom, hair in disarray. Haruichi started crying, great wracking sobs that wrenched from his throat. "Okaa-san is dead!"
"No, she isn't." Ryousuke said, trying to placate his younger brother. He reached out and hugged him tightly, rubbing his back in circles. "It was just a dream, okay? A nightmare."
"No, it wasn't. I Saw it. She's going to get really hurt." Haruichi's voice sounded muffled against his older brother's shirt, but he reached around his brother as much as he could. "Our sister is going to die."
Ryousuke stopped rubbing Haruichi's back for a moment but then continued. He hadn't known his mother as pregnant.
"Sshh. It's going to be okay." he said quietly. Haruichi said nothing. They both knew it was a lie.
xXx
About three months after Haruichi Saw his mother's accident, it happened. It had been a late day at work today and it was starting to get dark sooner. She had been fatigued from finishing up a long project, so while she was tired, she was still content, humming along to her favourite CD. Her eyes started to drop.
It only took one second of inattentiveness, one momentary loss of control over the steering wheel - and she crashed.
Haruichi remembers the night his father was called with startling clarity. The way they had all laughed together before his father's cellphone rang. The way his father's usually cheerful expression was quickly turned into concern and then overwhelming worry. The way he had ushered them into his car without explanation except "Hurry!"
Haruichi had a bad feeling about this. A sense of dark foreboding with a hint of resignation. He held on to Ryousuke's hand tightly.
Neither of them were surprised when they got to the hospital. Ryousuke only gripped Haruichi's hand even tighter as his lower lip began to tremble and tears started to fall. He knew he was the older brother. But right now, he couldn't be strong enough for both of them.
Haruichi stood still as he sensed his older brother start to cry; not ugly, loud, undignified tears like his own, but silent and strong, composed. He admired him for that. He admired him for crying. Because, right now, Haruichi couldn't. He was frozen to the spot, unable to move or say or do anything. His father made them both sit on the provided chairs while he paced up and down the corridor agitatedly. They got the news a few hours later. Haruichi couldn't hear what the doctor was saying in low tones, but he didn't need to. He already knew.
Is it my fault, Okaa-san?
xXx
Ryousuke knew his brother was blaming himself. Did he See it because he could foresee the future? Was Seeing it the cause for the accident in the first place? Could warning their mother have prevented her from getting into the accident? These were the kind of questions that occupied 10 year old Haruichi's mind, questions too heavy for a child or anyone to bear.
Ryousuke didn't know the answer.
The next death Haruichi saw was the neighbour's cat's. It was old and happy and fat and its owners had been saying for years that it was only a matter of time. The cat had a strange growth on its hindleg which the vet had said could cause it to die soon. But it never seemed to bother it, so the warning was forgotten until it did die. Haruichi Saw the cat's death a few weeks before it happened; he knew it would be a sunny day and it would happen in the afternoon while he was in the backyard with Ryousuke, practising his swings. He knew it would happen, but he still cried, though not only out of grief.
"It's not your fault, you know. I don't think it ever is." Ryousuke quietly told him that night before they went to sleep. Haruichi nodded, smiling weakly. It had been 3 years since the accident, and his mother was completely healthy again, but he still had been blaming himself for everything. Ryousuke smiled back and gave him a kiss on the forehead, something he hadn't done since they were both a lot younger. "Sleep well."
Haruichi did.
xXx
It had been a long, hard day of training for Ryousuke. Almost a whole year had passed, and even though he was confident in his skills, he still hadn't made it into the first string. It was immensely frustrating, but he tried not to show it. After all, he wasn't the only first year working hard or not on first string. He only stopped by his room to get a change of clothing and his towel before going to the bath when a low buzzing sound caught his attention. It was his cellphone, purposely set on silent and about to vibrate off the nightstand. He picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Aniki! Congratulations!" Haruichi's voice greeted him excitedly. Ryousuke frowned.
"For what?"
"For making first string! I knew it would happen!"
Ryousuke nearly snapped at that. Taking a deep breath, he only smiled.
"I'm not on first string."
A slight pause.
"You will be." Haruichi suddenly said, sounding fully confident.
Something warm unfurled inside Ryousuke's stomach. He had learned a long time ago not to doubt what his brother Saw. It always came true. What Haruichi sees is fixed, inevitable events. "Number 6. Starting position as second baseman. One of the best batters on the team."
"Are you sure?" he asked, though he knew better. He heard a light, breathless laugh from the other end of the line.
"Yeah."
"Thank you."
Ryousuke had never sounded more heartfelt or been so grateful.
Haruichi couldn't stop grinning after they'd hung up. He jumped up, snatching his trusty wooden bat from the corner in his room and running toward the backyard. He only had about one and a half years before he could join his brother after all.
xXx
Coming to Seido has decidedly been one of the best decisions Haruichi has ever made. Granted, there's tension between is brother and him. But he knows it would happen and he knows they will grow from it. He isn't worried.
When Ryousuke once accidentally lets slip that Haruichi told him he knew he would make first string, the teams starts to crowd around him. Dinner forgotten, they all want to know what will happen, if they will pass their maths test or not, if they will get a chance to play in matches, if they will a have a girlfriend in high school. Haruichi doesn't answer; he's not used to the attention and starts to go red.
"You don't really believe that, do you?"
Everyone is stunned into silence as one of their quietest members speaks up. From beside Haruichi, Satoru doesn't look up from his bowl of rice as he picks at it. "It was a lucky guess. Kominato-senpai is very skilled, after all. Why wouldn't he make first string?"
Haruichi feels just a bit hurt though he really shouldn't. No correction is forthcoming, the third years keeping their mouths tightly shut. The team slowly dissipates, going back to their respective seats. Eijun shifts a little on his other side,
"Hey Harucchi, I believe you." he whispers, surprisingly quiet for him. Haruichi smiles at him, eyes as always hidden.
"Thanks, Ei-chan."
"So," Eijun starts casually. Haruichi almost laughs; it's obvious what he will ask, he doesn't need to have Seen it to know what his question will be, "I'll become the ace, right?"
"Of course not. I will." Satoru says calmly, taking a sip from his soup. "I'm on first string remember?"
"Just you wait! I'll get on first string, just like I'll be the ace!"
Haruichi smiles into his dinner as the familiar squabbling begins. Of course he knows who will become the ace. But for now, he keeps quiet. They all still have a lot to learn, after all.