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Rin Itoshi would describe himself as a dignified non-social person. If he had an aura, it would be dark green to match his hair which he inherited from his father. Hiori on the other hand is like a soft flame. He is bright but not so much that he comes off as an energetic sunshine like Bachira.
Although it’s been many years, Rin can still remember that fateful day when he met Hiori. He was playing on the monkey bars, swinging and swaying on the bars. It was his favourite thing to do, pretending to be one of the kaiju he so deeply revered. One day, I want to be one of them, they’re so cool and determined. But, due to a wild swing he fell onto the ground and grazed his knee and cheek badly.
“Hey, are ya alright?” he heard a soft voice ask. He nodded his head but it was clear this person only said it as a formality and fully intended to bring him to the nurse’s office even if he resisted.
When he finally properly looked up, he saw a pair of round eyes and light blue hair. Like a blue owl Rin thought faintly.
“My name's Yō,” he said with a small smile.
“… Rin.”
“That’s a nice name.”The mysterious cyan-haired boy brought him to the infirmary and called for a teacher to help them.
“Thank you for bringing him here, Hiori,” the nurse said when she arrived. “This one’s always getting hurt, such a nuisance,” she added with a tinge of disdain towards the young Itoshi and an off-handed glance at him. Rin glared right back, she was the reason he said he was fine and tried to stay away from the nurse’s office. It started off with subtle implications that he was unnecessary and she shouldn’t have to help him every time he was injured. But then it turned sour, she would openly say things about him. Although Rin was still young he had already been insulted and talked about behind his back badly. Things like that’s the Itoshi’s younger son right? and I heard he beat up another kid once following him, clinging on and making him feel horrid and dirty.
“I don’ mean to provoke but I think it’s a bit rude of ya to say that about Rin, miss,” Hiori shot back. Rin’s eyes widened. He does not think anyone has ever defended him like that other than his brother, Sae.
“Really? Well I don’t think you should be talking back to your elder,” the nurse replied with gritted teeth.
“Hmm, I wouldn’t want ta assume you’re an elder, ya know?” Hiori replied with just as much passive aggression, his eyes glinting. “It’s rude to judge off ya looks.” It was at this point that Rin had given the verdict. Hiori was a good person, an angelic saviour, just like Sae. After that statement the nurse fell silent and quietly cleaned up Rin’s scrapes and cuts before sending them off all well.
Forward a couple years
It was currently Rin’s birthday month and Hiori knew the guy wouldn’t want much, but he still wanted to think about a gift. He was turning sixteen anyways. Maybe a new game? Too general, he might not like it. Merch of his favourite series? Maybe but there’s always something better to get. He’s racked his brain for a while now, in fact, before August. It was already the 5th and seeing as his birthday was early in the month. Yō wanted to make sure it was special. They had been friends for so long. Ever since that fortunate day of them meeting in the sandpit, they stuck together.
Rin’s birthday was slowly drawing closer and Yō still hadn’t figured out a gift. He’d already gotten a backup but he still wanted to put more thought into the gift. But with his demanding parents and a busy schedule, he hardly had time to stop and think. I should give it to him after the game. Hiori, long ago, had already quit soccer. But, in order to trick his parents, he still had to attend every game and practise. Their coach had already given up on recruiting him and was now helping his scheme fold out. At least he had a plan now all set up.
The plan was to approach him after the game and present the gift. Seeing his best friend (and possibly only) come with a cold drink and a cutely wrapped up gift would surely make him happy. Now, the gift. He’d finally chosen his gift for his friend. It was simple, sure but a well-thought out gift. After endless searching, he had finally found a pristine, signed copy of ‘Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror, Volume 1’. Rin was always gushing about Junji Ito’s work and really enjoyed this one. Now it was wrapped in baby blue paper paired with a smooth navy ribbon. A small card was attached too. He didn’t want to put too many words to overload the message or write too little and sound uncaring. In a small bin in his bedroom lay a small pile of failed attempts, each scratched out in harsh black ink.
Dear To Rin,
I wanted to I wrote this card to I want to wish you a happy birthday.
I really I’m very honoured happy to be your friend.
I hope our your years goes well for us together you.
You make me feel like I’m alive really warm and weirdly fuzzy
You’re a wonderful friend.
Love, well wishes, from Hiori, your loving, yours truly yours one of your friends.
In the end the finished product came out like this;
To Rin,
I want to wish you a happy birthday,
I’m very happy to be your friend.
I hope your years go well for you.
Being with you makes me feel very
warm and happy. You’re a wonderful
friend.
From Hiori, one of your friends <3
It was the day of the game and Yō was certainly scared. Nervous wouldn’t even cover the shaking, sweaty mess that he was at the game. The gift was in his hands and he had already gotten a perfectly chilled can of yuzu tea sitting to the side of his seat with a small bouquet. Rin, as usual, was playing perfectly. Every kick, every move he made was perfect. From his excellent posture to his striking face, Hiori could find no flaw. Finally, the game reached the last ten minutes. The referee blew the whistle. The teams shook hands. Yō, however, was numb. The game ended in a clear victory, 8-3 in their team's favour. When he peeked out of his hands covering his face, he saw Rin. Their eyes met for a moment then he hurriedly looked away to not strike up his nerves again.When he looked out of his hands a second time, Rin was still looking over at him. This time, Rin was wearing a small smile, “Yō! Come down here!”
Come on! This is your chance to give the gift and say a few words!
“Y-yeah! I’ll get down there!” Hiori hastily picked up the can of chilled tea and the blue-wrapped gift that was sitting snugly in his arms. With a few ‘sorry!’ and ‘excuse me, coming through!’s, he made it down to the field to greet Rin.
“Hey! Ya played really well today!” He said shakily, “Here, this is your birthday gift.”
Rin gingerly accepts the drink and the small wrapped gift, staring at the gathering of flowers also in Hiori’s hands.
“Really? You didn’t need to get me flowers..?”
“Well I wanted ta, okay? This year is a special one, we’ve gotta make it count, right?” Yō grins at Rin.
“Should we go to my house to open the gift then?” Rin asked. Hiori’s parents, being the maniacal people they are, only ever allowed Yō to go to Karasu and Rin’s houses. Karasu because they trusted him and thought he was a good influence and Rin because of his ‘Soccer prodigy’ status.
Gradually on the walk home, it started raining lightly. Yō edged a bit closer to Rin because he was the one holding the umbrella they had grabbed at a small convenience store. Once they made it to the house, they stopped sticking to each other to take off their shoes. Yō greeted Rin’s parents quite cheerfully and they returned the fanfare. These days, Hiori came over quite a bit and Rin’s parents liked him for his politeness. Hiori, on the other hand, was always very nervous around them. The younger Itoshi would speak of how his parents were both very expecting of the pair.
“Whew, inside the house!” Hiori sighed as he climbed the stairs to Rin’s room.
“It was pretty wet, do you wanna take a shower?” Rin offered.
“Oh yeah, that’d be great. I hope you don’t mind if I borrow your clothes for today,” Yō replied cheerfully.
“It’s all good, I’ll bring your clothes down to the laundry.”
After taking turns to shower, Hiori slumped down onto Rin’s bed and lay down, clearly tired.
“Weren’t you the one sitting in the stands? How come you’re so tired?”
Hiori merely smiled. He didn’t want to tell Rin he spent half an hour running around every flower shop in the area to find a nice bouquet of gardenias where the owner wasn’t questioning him about “the nice girl” he’s giving it to. They lived in a very nosy city.
“Don’t worry about it, watching you guys run around made me feel tired too,” he deflected, his face flushing. Rin hums and leaves the topic alone. Now he starts examining his present. It looked so delicate with the way he held it. After a few minutes of scrutiny, he started to tear open the paper to reveal the rare copy of one of his favorites.
“Wow…” He breathes, taking in the limited edition copy, “Yō, you didn’t have to..”
“As I said, I wanted to,” Yō grins and relishes the wondrous look in Rin’s eyes. They’d stayed friends ever since preschool and always stuck together. Hiori really enjoyed his time with Rin. The late nights they’d spend on call, chatting about the latest horror release and shouting about the monsters they’d encounter in games. He really liked Rin. Suddenly, with this thrown in thought, his cheeks flushed pink again. Maybe he should get himself to a doctor about this.