Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Something was wrong.

Something was always wrong.

Kite wasn’t sure why, but the feeling of everything just being off in some way never left him.

It had been like that for as long as he could remember. It was the people, Heartland City. Everything.

Kite tried not to show that something was wrong. He was social. He made… friends?

Some days he woke up and did something and felt like he was having perpetual déjà vu.

Other days it felt like he was living in a bad knock off version of his favorite movie.

Other days he just wanted to scream and cry to overwhelmed by longing, grief, anger, other emotions that were just ripping him apart from the inside out.

He wasn’t even sure where those came from. But they hurt. So. Damn. Much. All the fucking time.

The world was right.

The world was never right.

He found her, she took his breath away, the world was right.

It had been raining not an hour before. The world was still tilted. The moon was shining bright.

Nights like these when the moon was full were some of the best, in Kite’s opinion. The streets were empty.

He didn’t feel as alone on nights like these. It was like the moon itself was trying to protect him. He wanted to cry, but it was bearable.

Mr. Beast said that there were going to be some new students moving into the dorm having just moved to the area. Yuto had decided that there needed to be snacks for them as welcome gifts. After (foolishly) betting that Ruri couldn’t do a five minute hand stand, he had to walk all the way to the nearest Attic Light which was a good 15 minutes away from campus.

He had just walked out of the store when he walked right into someone. Both of them crashed to the ground.

Kite sat up groaning, one hand to his now aching head. He opened his eyes. In front of him was girl in a similar predicament.

Though it had been his head he hit, Kite thought his stomach had been punched. The air had just been knocked out of him.

She had dark pink, almost red hair. It was styled in such a way that it stuck out on both sides in a neat way somehow, with two loose locks that framed her face. She was wearing a pink sleeveless top, patterns of both dark and light pink present. A blue zipper ran down the middle of it, stopping at an orange and blue belt buckle. Knee-length black leggings under a white and pink jean skirt Dark red hiking boots.

What caught Kite’s attention the most were her eyes. They were golden, filled with a mixture of wonder, relief, hope, confusion, more Kite couldn’t identify, yet so familiar, because that same look was reflected in his own ocean blue every single time he looked in the mirror.

They stayed there for who knows how long. It could have been centuries and Kite wouldn’t have given a damn.

The only thing that mattered was the sharp feeling of something finally being right.

He cared for the girl in front of him. The girl he didn’t even know the name of.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

…

“I’m Kite.”

“I’m Anna.”

Chapter Text

They stayed there for who knows how long before both were suddenly snapped back to reality by a voice behind them.

“Uh? Sis? What are you doing on the ground?” Allen asked. Allen was Anna’s little brother (well, really half brother as his dad’s family oh-so-loved to remind her). She turned back to look at him with Kite’s gaze following hers.

“Um… I ran into Kite over here. My bad,” Anna said, trying not to show her discomfort around her brother by rubbing the back of her head with one hand and giving him a sheepish grin.

She glanced over to Kite. He seemed extremely uncomfortable. But like Anna, he was trying to hide it.

He reminded her of how she had been when she’d first met Allen.

She loved Allen. He was her little brother, but…

Something had just always felt a little off. It was like she was seeing something that should she SHOULDN’T have. It wasn’t Allen’s fault and she knew that. It wasn’t his fault she was crazy and believed the whole world was wrong. It wasn’t his fault that she’d always wondered why their mother was even alive.

Allen nodded either unaware or just engorging the discomfort he brought the two still on the ground (he was engorging it, he knew very well that Anna had always been uncomfortable around him).

“Okay, so who’s this?” Allen gestured to Kite.

“Hi. I’m Kite. Kite Tenjo. And you are?” Kite got to his feet and helped Anna to a standing position as well.

“Oh. I’m Allen Kozuki. Anna’s little brother.” Allen answered. Kite nodded in greeting.

Allen had just turned 10 and was just barely 4’3. His messy brown hair looking like a frazzled puppy. There was a line of gold in his bangs that framed his face. His bright blue eyes a contrast to his rosy cheeks. His jacket, blue jeans, and shoes were all old and well worn. His shirt wasn’t, though. That was new.

Kite on the other hand looked to be about Anna’s age, maybe a bit older. His blonde hair standing straight up and coming into a point, giving him a bit more height. His blue bangs circled his face, five main spikes of hair acting as if they were arrows, pointing both up and down. His eyes were silver. They looked like silver coins. They were beautiful and Anna would fight anyone who said otherwise. He was wearing a white button-up dress shirt and a pair of blue jeans held up by black suspenders. He had a pair of black boots on and a card box was tied to his left leg.

A picture of him holding a young boy with blue hair and gold eyes flashed through her mind.

The boy reminded her of someone else. Someone she knows she adores.

Who is it?

The image was gone as soon as it appeared. Leaving behind a pang of grief that made her want to cry.

Anna glanced down and saw a reusable green and white bag on the ground. Some bags of chips, a six pack of diet coke, a can of chicken soup, and a chocolate chip cookie.

“Hey, that yours?” Anna questioned, pointing at the bag.

“Uh?” Kite jumped when he saw the bag on the ground. “Yeah, that’s mine. There’s some new students at my school that are starting tomorrow. A—um… some of the people in the dorm thought it would be a good idea to have some snacks for them. I also lost a bet against someone that I really shouldn’t have bet against so I’m the one doing the errand.”

He bet against someone and lost? That doesn’t sound like him. Which was weird to think, since she just met him.

Anna tilted her head curiously. “Really? What school do you go to?”

Kite was on the ground again, gathering the fallen snacks. He looked up and replied, “Heartland Academy. What about you two?”

Anna grinned. “That’s the same school we’ll be starting at tomorrow!”

Kite’s eyes widened, then he mirrored Anna’s expression. “Wait, you two are the new transfer students? Cool! I guess you’re getting these early then.” He held out the bag of treats that had fallen to the floor. 

Anna took the bag from him and laughed softly. “Thanks. That’s so sweet of you guys.”

“Wait! How are you so sure we’re the transfers that are going into your branch? Couldn’t there be multiple kids starting school? What if these are meant for different kids?” Allen asked quickly.

In response, Kite just chuckled good-naturedly and, oh shit. She’d heard that laughter before.

Images of metal walkways, blinding snow, and a beautiful dragon made of light flashed through her mind.

It left her gasping, tears forming in her eyes. She quickly blinked them away, hoping the boys hadn’t noticed.

They did not, in fact. Allen didn’t notice, too busy being startled by Kite’s outburst, and Kite was kind enough not to bring attention to it.

“Aye! What’s so funny?” Allen sputtered, his ears turning ever so pink.

“I—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just that Mr. Beast had given the announcement to the dorms that we were getting new room mates. He has informed your home rooms that you’ll be there. It’s—well…”

Kite took a moment to get his thoughts back in order before continuing. “The dorms are only split by gender, not branches. Sorry, I guess I kinda assumed you’d be in the dorms. If you’re not then I very much am about to hand these over the wrong people. But it’s also rare that we get transfers from different schools.”

Allen looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite find the words.

“Well, we are moving into the dorms, so you do have the right people!” Anna said.

Kite laughed again. “It looks like the rain’s about to start, so we all better get going now, yes?”

Glancing up, she saw he was right. She ducked her head slightly as she felt rain drops start peppering her face.

When exactly had it started raining?

“Ah! I left my skates out side! Shiiiiit!” Allen exclaimed frantically. “Come on, sis, we need to get home.”

He started pulling her away by the wrist. His grip was surprisingly strong.

She knew they needed to go, but…

Looking over her shoulder, she saw Kite still standing there. His hand partly raised, as if reaching out to stop them from leaving.

All she could do was shout back to him as she was dragged away.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Kite! Have a good rest, alright?”

“Alright! See you tomorrow… Anna.”