TRAINING WHEELS the prologue: precious child
cw: mentions of child abandonment/neglect, arguments, fighting, just parents not having the best relationship, alot of yapping and backstory.
to a raise a child you need a lot of things. both material and immaterial things. you need love, patience, and the heart to sacrifice your everything for them.
if there's anything a child needs more than a parent, it's a present one. not one who's out all night, or one that leaves when the pressure of being a good parent is too much. a child needs a parent who's willing to sacrifice their time, personal space, money, and personal life for them.
a child doesn't need to grow up and care for themselves or their siblings. they need someone. they don't need to rely on eachother to survive. but unfortunately this is the reality of many children.
when tsumiki fushiguro was eight, she had to step up and become a parent to a seven year old boy named megumi. he wasn't her direct blood sibling but she still cared for him nonetheless. she was young but managed to provide for them the care both the step mother and their father couldn't provide.
make no mistake toji fushiguro didn't run away because he was afraid of being a father or that he held any resentment towards both his biological son and his stepdaughter, he simply thought he couldn't give megumi and tsumiki the proper childhood they deserved. so he left his second wife and left without a trace.
and like the fool their mother was, she ran away but not for the same reasons toji had. to put it shortly, she didn't want anything to do with the two kids anymore. so she packed her things and vanished.
for weeks the two children were confused. where did they go?, why did they go?, will they be back? months went by and they already got their answer to the latter, they weren't going to be back.
this meant one thing: they had to take matters into their own hands.
slowly but surely they learned new skills. they learned to cook and clean before they learned how to multiply, they learned to count money before they learned long division. they didn't need a grown adult to help them, they had each other.
enter you, the strange little girl who never had a curfew. you were seven years old and running around outside. were your parents not concerned about your safety and well being? if they weren't too busy arguing on the phone and working their two underpayment jobs, they would. but they never checked in.
another important thing a child needs is to grow up in a stable environment. they shouldn't grow up in a apartment that's on the verge of collapsing. they shouldn't grow up in a hostile environment where both parents can't keep their feelings from bubbling and spilling everywhere.
sadly that's the reality of many.
megumi and tsumiki grew up in a apartment complex that was already in a terrible condition when they arrived. they stayed there when the pipes weren't working, when the floor boards weren't working, and when the ac stopped working one hot summer day.
you grew up in a apartment complex in the same conditions as their's but it was worse when the home was inhabited by two souls that were meant to be inlove and not constantly at war with each other. every night it seemed like there was new hole in the wall. every night it seemed like the walls of this fragile home were being destroyed by hands that weren't meant to love and not punch the walls.
ofcourse this series of fights that always ended with a broken garbage can came to an end when your father packed his bags and - like toji fushiguro, left you and your mother alone. you didn't know why he left, you just knew that the nights being alone in the dark while the two people you thought were in love fought were finally over.
you thought this would bring you peace but in reality it just meant your mother spent her days out and about. from one job to another, from one bar to another, she was always outside. and just like megumi and tsumiki, you learned to raise yourself.
you met tsumiki when you were ten, the same age as her younger brother. it was a very hot and sunny summer day. to some it was the perfect day to go tanning or go to the beach, but to you guys it was the worst day to be outside or do anything.
the ac was broken in tsumikis house, so her and megumi hung out at the corner store. they found some spare change and decided to use it to buy some ice cream and an excuse to loiter around the frozen section. unfortunately being a child isn't an excuse to loiter so they were kicked out.
"bummer.." tsumiki grumbled, holding megumis hand tightly as they crossed the road on their way home. "let's go home 'gumi." she tells the boy who just keeps eating his already melting icecream, trying to savor the sweetness his ¥1000 bought him.
they make their way towards the park where megumi finds himself a spot on a nearby bench. he already finished his ice cream and really wasn't in the mood to play on the equipment (mostly because he didn't have the energy, who wouldn't have the energy in this heat anyways?). tsumiki on the other hand finished her ice cream quickly and ran to play.
while playing, she runs into you.
oof, "oh sorry!" she exclaims, worried. "are you alright?", she asks extending a hand.
you look up at her and smile, you take her hand and tell her, "all good!"
for the sake of keeping things short, from that moment on the three of you became really close friends. that same night your mom was out again probably drunk somewhere in your small town. so like the child with no survival instincts you were, you invited them to chill at your place since it had an ac.
you didn't really interact with megumi much when you were a child but that was until the summer before middle school when tsumiki found out you guys were going to the same school. she tried to make you guys the closest of friends because she was worried megumi wasn't going to have friends his age (she was right about that). so her plan to make sure you guys were the best of friends until then.
surprisingly she didn't have to struggle as much. sure the two of you were compelte opposites but it seemed that your interests were sort of similar. you both had a love for music and good food, and liked watching t.v. it seemed that the problem was that megumi just needed to talk more.
he needed to put himself more out there but in the end, he ended up getting close to you.
when middle school came around, the two of you were in the same exact class. he sat two rows away from you and something you don't know was that he was watching you the entire time. it seemed that he had this habit of watching over people he loved like a hawk.
he watched you and tsumiki walk ahead as the three of walked to the corner store for snacks with the same intensity as a predator watching its prey. except it was just being protective. however he looked at you differently than he did tsumiki.
sometimes his gaze would soften when his eyes landed on you. sometimes he was extra protective when it came time for gym. sometimes he was looking extra hard when a guy would approach.
he definitely had a crush on you.
it showed in the way he saw you, in the way he treated you like no one else. when you were getting bullied, he made sure to hang those delinquents on a billboard for his school to watch. was it too far? maybe.
but it was worth it because it was all for you.
megumi could deny it all he wants but actions matter more than words. and his actions clearly show signs that he is infact in love with you, yn ln.
but one day.. something changed. he didn't know it until he found your home was put up for rent.
your father had come home but he was a different man. he wasn't the man who punched walls years ago, he was.. calmer, more mature. he dressed nice too.
what was he doing here in this mess?
when your mother - who finally showed up, opened the door, she saw a man who was ready to be a father and a husband. apparently, he regrets everything he did back then and wants to prove that he is a better man. like the fool your mother was, she took him back.
she took him back, packed your bags and you were already on your way to tokyo.
you were on your way to tokyo but you didn't say goodbye. you didn't thank megumi and tsumiki, you didn't tell megumi you knew he was in love and that you felt the same,you didn't get the chance to even say goodbye.
all that megumi knew was that you left the same his father did, you left without a word even with the chemistry you had.
but little did he know you'd return one day and everything would change.
extra, extra read all about it: prologue time! sorry guys but i had to make it real sad
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