Hinata has known all along that Sousuke would be the one person who he could accept dating her. When they both confessed to loving her, they discussed it at length and realized that they would be comfortable knowing she was in the hands of someone they trusted most. While the news does sting a little, his happiness for them overrides any other feelings he might harbor. Hinata is all hugs and smiles for his brother and new girlfriend. Sousuke might ask in the early stages if Hinata is truly okay with it, and Hinata will patiently answer that all is well - and it’s true. Only rarely does his heart ache for losing her, but he crushes that thought by reminding himself how happy they are together. He values their joy above all.
Sousuke is nothing but happy for Hinata. Even if he loved her, he acknowledges that there is someone who cares about Hinata and wants nothing but the best for their relationship. He promised himself that he would trust Hinata to love and cherish whoever he chose, even if they loved the same girl, so Sousuke never jumps to give advice about how Hinata should act in a relationship. If Hinata’s girlfriend comes to him with questions about to support him properly, Sousuke readily answers and passes on all his advice. In return, both of them attend his archery matches and competitions, cheering him on. Sousuke comes to respect Hinata’s girlfriend as a sister, instead of a crush, and treats her as one of the family.
Hinata has always been a good child, but he mentally broke due to the fact that these twins' mother left them. Imagine Hinata doing his best in school along with Sousuke to make their parents proud, never making any trouble, then one day their mother leaves. Hinata must have thought he had a part for the reason why his mother left, blaming himself.
Skin Ch. 1 - The Third Year Café (Sousuke/Kouhai Fanfic)
Fandom: Notice Me Senpai
Rating: Mature
Summary: Sousuke and Hinata have always been inseparable - as two halves to a whole, they have shared everything - from the grief at their mother's disappearance to the face that belongs to them both. But the two of them are starved for attention and when their elite school opens its gates to the first female student in its history, the two of them are drawn in by her girlish charm. Now piqued against each other, Sousuke is left tormented and grappling with promises he can no longer keep, while Hinata's virtuous facade is slipping, to reveal an increasingly warped mind.
Notes: I’m beginning to realize that the amount of love I have for a character corresponds to how much I want to break them... Ah well. I’m sorry Sousuke. The entire fanfic (so far) has already been uploaded to AO3 if you’d prefer to read it over there. Also I’m looking to commission someone to make me a fan-art to use alongside this fic so if you’re an artist and you wanna make some extra cash or are currently open for commission, please get in touch with me so we can discuss something! I’m a little overwhelmed and have no idea where to look.
Sousuke should have been miserable.
He knew it best himself. Somewhere down the line, he had become so accustomed to the drawn-out stares and hushed voices of his relatives, brimming with all the compassion of a camera crew at a car crash, that he had become gallant, or perceived as such. Little did any of them know, Sousuke was drifting from one day to the next with a sense of detachment towards everything around him, not seeing, hearing or feeling anything at all apart from that which the arrow hitting the target dead on instilled in him. He continued to move like clockwork, with his focus lost to nothing, no one, not even the raucous, carefree laughter making its way down from the third year café on the third floor of the school building, nor the crunch of acorns beneath the marching feet of departing students. Occasionally he would toy with the pendant that hung loosely around his neck, twisting the thin rope around his pale, graceful fingers, but even this was an absent-minded, mechanical action that comforted him, representing that he was one half of a whole.
Sousuke had an inkling that something inside of him was broken. There was a minor cog somewhere in the furthest reaches of his mind that had become jammed or something, upsetting the entire psyche of the shell that was meant to be Sousuke. Even this realization was met with indifference and he had ceased trying to mend it.
The sun was beating down on the outdoor archery range with pulsing rays but he barely acknowledged the beads of sweat that were beginning to form on his brow. With one swift, graceful movement, each part of his disciplined body aligned until he was so still, not even his eyelids dared flutter in the face of the blinding sun. No archer in the world could fault the position of his elbow, raised above his straight shoulders, or the distance between his feet. He stood, tall and heroic, subtly manipulating the arrow into place, letting the ridges and cracks of the school's unworthy equipment roll between his slender fingers as if they were moving of their own free will. His face didn't alter in the tense moments between the formation of his stance and the cracking sound of his arrow splintering the wood, but the atmosphere around him changed. His talents were so primitive, yet he held himself as if it were a timeless art and commanded the respect of anyone who dared to gaze in his direction.
Satisfied, Sousuke lowered his bow and let his shoulders relax. He slowly regained his awareness of the world around him, which, up until this point had consisted of the narrow space between himself and the target. Someone was clapping, like the low, rolling beat of a drum, through the fog of the summer heat, and instinctively, he knew who it was.
"Nii-sama," he murmured in acknowledgement, as the boy behind him approached and placed a hand gently on his shoulder.
"I brought you some iced tea," the boy responded, in a soft-spoken lilt, squeezing the neck of the plastic bottle he had raised to Sousuke's eye level with the innocence of a child aggressively clutching a pet rodent.
Gratefully, the younger of the two brothers took the bottle and drank deeply, murmuring his thanks. Like everything else, he had forgotten his own thirst, but his twin was always prepared in his stead.
"How was your club meeting?" Sousuke asked out of habit, twisting the cap back onto the bottle and placing it onto the ground beside him so that he could gather his things.
Hinata's eyes always had a vibrant, mischievous glint to them which persisted even when he was tasked with breaking bad news. It was no surprise then that, as he relayed the minor annoyances faced by the Tea Ceremony Club that afternoon, he continued to swing his arms, a gentle smile etched onto his features, so similar to Sousuke's but brimming with an entirely different energy.
"A first year spilled the entire batch of matcha onto the floor," he said, showing his solemness in a way that no one else but Sousuke would be able to comprehend. "It was terrible."
"What did you do?" the younger twin asked, placing his bow lovingly in its case.
"We had to go over to the third year café to borrow some," Hinata continued, "but it seemed so lively that we decided to stay there for the afternoon instead."
Sousuke raised his sharp, defined eyebrow and his lips twitched upwards ever so slightly.
"Doesn't that defeat the point of the tea ceremony?" he asked with amusement.
Hinata didn't respond. Walking slightly ahead of his brother, he seemed distant and thoughtful all of a sudden. The cuffs of his shirt concealed his knuckles, taut and white from clenching his hands into balls. He still retained that half smile and that mischievous glint, which never faltered, but Sousuke could read his brother's emotions almost as well as he could shoot an arrow.
"Did something else happen?" he asked darkly.
Hinata glanced over his shoulder. "Not really," he outright lied, "although some of the other members drank coffee instead." He chuckled anxiously to himself, maintaining the distance between them.
The creases Sousuke was so used to seeing in the corner of his brother's eyes when his smile was genuine were not there, and before the two of them had reached the changing rooms, a dark fog had begun to infect the channel that connected their minds.
The next day, Sousuke made a decision that startled the other members of the Archery Club into indignation.
"You can't ditch!" they wailed. "We need you in peak condition for the tournament next Sunday!"
"I'll be fine," he growled, and they knew it, but they continued to harangue him nonetheless.
Once he was rid of them all, he made his way back up from the archery range to the cluster of third year classrooms on the top floor of the school building. With the same determination he showed with a bow in his hands, he bypassed the library and every student who glanced in his direction as if to greet him until he reached his destination: the third year café.
Sousuke had never been interested in visiting the café before. He vaguely remembered the excited chatter of the other students when they all became seniors and were finally granted access, but he already knew someone who had mastered the art of making his favourite hot beverages and as far as he was aware, no one else compared. Speaking of which, Hinata had still not recovered himself from whatever had happened at the café the afternoon prior, and Sousuke was becoming agitated by his own failure to register any anxiety in response. He had a fierce desire to protect Hinata, at any cost, but this was marred by his own notion that it was all an act, driven by a previous, more sincere self, as opposed to a feeling that was rooted in the present.
As he composed himself, ready for confrontation, Sousuke remembered the night his mother disappeared; how she had tucked the two of them into their respective beds and pushed back their identical straight hair to kiss their identical, pale foreheads. Sousuke knew instinctively that it was farewell, but Hinata, despite being the older of the two, was too naive to read the situation, so secure in her love and instruction that he was. That was the last night that Sousuke ever allowed himself to live under Hinata's wing, which was left crooked and broken by their mother's betrayal. He was a refined and gracious young man, by all counts, but when it came to Hinata, he felt a deep-seated fury and desperation to protect that would turn him into an ogre.
With the same hand that had brushed away his brother's tears all those years ago, Sousuke grasped the doorknob, and in one swift motion, pushed the door aside and stepped into the warm, welcoming bubble that encapsulated the third year café and everyone within it.
Hinata had been right: it was a lively place. The rattle of computer keys and the sweeping sound of pages turning was drowned out by the clamour made by the students collectively, calling out to each other and chatting across the round tables. He instantly spotted his cousin, hunched over a sketchbook like always, except instead of seeing a page marred by black ink and incredulous beauty, the page was totally blank. He was glancing up at the storeroom door every few seconds, watching it intently from beneath the same thick, black lashes that the twins had. He tools lay forgotten beside him.
"Soujiro," Sousuke called, and extended his hand to wave.
Soujiro glanced up, wearing the expression of a startled animal and automatically reached out to grab one of his pencils. He then paused, and retracted his hand, signalling Sousuke to take a seat.
"Artist's block?" the latter asked, masking his alarm at his cousin's strange reaction with a smile that appeared amused.
Soujiro glowered at him. The two of them were as close as brothers too, and greetings were not necessary, nor were honorifics. Sousuke picked up a laminated menu from the centre of the table and glanced critically at it. The list of items was an extravagant one and left no stone unturned: he barely recognized the names of half the drinks on the page and wasn't entirely sure what differentiated one from the next. He settled on an earl grey tea.
Before Sousuke had even put the menu down, there was commotion at the other side of the café. The school's infamous delinquent, Wakatoshi, seemed to have hurled a cup at the drama club's most hostile thespian, Ryuu, and the two of them were now locked in a furious battle, roaring at each other until the whole café was at a complete standstill, with every student watching, slack-jawed, as the noise developed into an almighty cacophony. Their furious words were so mangled by hatred that Sousuke could barely make them out, but their aggression towards each other was palpable. Besides, he was too distracted by the fact that Wakatoshi had cut his hair, which had made him so distinctive beforehand. The two of them edged closer and closer to each other, stepping over the shards of broken porcelain, when suddenly, and without warning, they were wrenched apart. The two of them fell back, stunned, and stood between them with her arms spread wide to create distance, brows furrowed in frustration and lips taut, stood a girl.
"Now I've told both of you a hundred times, if you feel the need to fight, go and do it somewhere that doesn't inconvenience the rest of us!"
The two of them stared at her wordlessly, like dumb animals, their quarrel fading away like a bruise. Once she was satisfied they weren't going to launch themselves at each other again, she folded her arms and gave them an expectant look. They gained their composure quickly after that.
"Sorry," Wakatoshi muttered, turning his face away from her sheepishly. Pink had blossomed across his chiseled face.
"I'm not saying it was my doing," Ryuu stammered, "but I'm sorry also."
The two of them gave each other a warning glance, and then they headed towards the café's counter where Wakatoshi retrieved a dustpan and brush. They found themselves, once again, locked in a scuffle, both exclaiming that they'd be the one to clean up the mess, until the girl cleared her throat. Wakatoshi took the dustpan while Ryuu took the brush and silently, they cleaned up the mess as allies.
No one seemed particularly alarmed by the episode once the initial shock had passed. Most of the students were now stealing shy or awestruck glances at the girl between exaggerated sips of their drinks. Others were raising their voices to tell their friends how delicious the coffee was, and then looking back expectantly at the girl to see how she would react. Her face did not change however. She watched the two boys in complete silence as they worked together to clean up the mess and once they had dumped the remains of the smashed crockery into the nearest bin, she gave them a bright smile, placing her hands on both of their shoulders.
"The two of you are more alike than you think so please try to get on better, okay?"
With that, she made her way behind the counter and began to fill up the coffee grinder, standing on her tiptoes to pour in the remains of the bag.
"Who is that?" Sousuke asked in disbelief. She'd singlehandedly managed to stun the school's most notorious students into submission.
She was wearing the school's uniform, no doubt about that, except... this was an all boy's school. Instead of the standard straight black trousers, she was wearing a pleated skirt and knee high black socks with cute patent shoes and a clean, cotton apron. Sousuke was sure a little old woman used to run the café and she certainly didn't have to wear the school's uniform. She'd potter around the corridors, greeting every boy by his name and asking them about their parents, grandparents or siblings - even those who weren't seniors yet and weren't even allowed to step foot into her fragrant domain where the coffee seemed to fall endlessly from the spout.
That was when he recalled a conversation he had overhead in class about a female student - the first in the school's history. He had pitied her back then for having to deal with the testosterone and aggression which had infected the walls of the school like asbestos, but clearly she was managing just fine.
"Everyone calls her Kouhai-chan," Soujiro murmured, "she's a first year. Her grandmother used to run the café but passed away over summer break, so she works here now."
"Oh, right," Sousuke responded. He wasn't really sure how react - it all seemed a bit strange to him that she was attending the school but he could at least accept that she was the barista. "I guess I'll go order my drink then."
Soujiro's face lit up suddenly. "Do you want me to go for you?"
The realization hit Sousuke then in waves - Soujiro, Hinata, hell, most of the guys around him... That sexual frustration all had to accumulate, right? Especially in an all boy's school. He looked down at his cousin with a smirk on his face, and awash in relief realizing that Hinata's strange behavior was nothing but a crush, he found himself shrugging and once again took his seat. "An earl grey then, if you don't mind."
Soujiro darted over to the counter, his intentions as clear as if he had painted calligraphy on his own face. The girl met him by the till with a look of astonishment.
"Soujiro-senpai, you want another coffee?" she asked.
"Ah, no, this time I'm here for my cousin. He'd like an earl grey tea, please."
She blinked at him, and glanced around the room in confusion. "Hinata-senpai's here?"
Soujiro shook his head, the dark curls which had been swept up into a ponytail bouncing wildly off his shoulders almost comically. "No, no, my other cousin. Sousuke."
Across the room, Sousuke met the girl's eyes. A look of recognition and then realization flickered over her pretty features, something he was used to whenever he was being introduced to someone who already knew Hinata - they were almost identical, after all. However, this soon faded and she gave him a warm, welcoming smile. He responded with a courteous nod, but was reeling inside from the knot that had formed in his stomach when their eyes had met. Her gaze was startling. It was faint but unmistakable - desire was culminating in the pit of his stomach and he realized too late that he was exactly the same as everyone else seated in the café - just another horny teenage boy.
It stunned him. He was exactly the same as Wakatoshi and Ryuu, dancing for her like puppets. Exactly the same as Soujiro, who could pour his heart out onto any page but right now, was too awestruck to care. His whole life, he had been cast in the same mold as no one but his twin brother, but with one glance she had stripped him down to his most basic, primal form. When Soujiro returned with the tea - piping hot and sitting in pretty little teacup - he was shaken out of his thoughts and regained the parts of himself that he had lost in their wordless encounter. He still felt, however, that somewhere in the back of his mind he had just learnt a lesson more important than anything conveyed to him in a classroom.
"Do you take milk?" Soujiro asked, passing him a little jug.
Sousuke stirred the milk into his tea in silence, and raised the cup to his lips. The subtle hint of lemon was the first to claim his senses, and he let himself sink into the café's cosy atmosphere, breathing steadily and letting his mind clear. No wonder Hinata's mind had been so occupied. No doubt he had experienced the same shock as him. He'd never responded like that to any other woman, but seeing her in his uniform made him acutely aware of the differences between men and women. The way her breasts filled the shirt where he expected there to be nothing and the the creamy coloured smooth skin of her legs were incredibly distracting. Meeting her eyes had made her human - living, breathing and touchable.
He watched her as she cleaned down the counter with a damp dishcloth, humming to herself. Every once in a while another student would catch her attention, and she would serve them their drinks, or run over to chastise them, while all Sousuke could think about was her arms, covered by the long sleeves of her blouse. He imagined the skin around her muscles tightening as she raised them, the bow in her hands and the arrow between her fingers. In his head he was embracing her from behind, steadying her, arranging her and manipulating her aim. He realized then that he had no hope - not with all these suitors. There was one of each of them and two of him. When she hit the target and cried out in delight, he heard that slow clapping - rumbling like a drum in the distance. He turned, still holding on to her, and there behind him was Hinata, with that mischievous glint in his eyes. For the first time in his life, in that little scene that played out in his head, he was scared of his brother.
