The Groom Chooses The Maid Of Honour

With a soft thud, Haru stepped into the apartment and shut the door behind him. It was calm and quiet inside, just the usual quiet comforts of home, now his with just his older brother, Aoi. Their parents had moved to America once Haru had graduated from high school, leaving them to make their own way. Though small, the steady presence of Aoi and the apartment itself was unshakeable—a place where Haru could finally release his breath from the maelstrom that had been his first day at the new college.

Haru kicked off his shoes and wandered into the living room, his bag slung over one shoulder. It had been a long day of new faces, routines, and names upon names. But of it all, it wasn't the lectures or the hallways teeming with people that lingered in his mind.

It was her.

Sakura.

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to shake the thought. There was something about her that stuck with him—her calm demeanor, the warmth in her smile, the flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. It wasn't like him to fixate on someone he had just met, but for some reason, she lingered in his thoughts. Why? It wasn't as if he knew her well enough to feel anything serious about her yet. She was just someone he'd met today, yet here he was, unable to stop thinking about her.

"Snap out of it," he told himself firmly, shaking his head as he dropped his bag on the sofa.

"Back already?"

Aoi's voice carried from the kitchen, light and casual. The faint clink of glassware followed, a familiar sound of Aoi finishing up a quick snack or drink.

"Yeah," Haru replied, stepping further into the room. "Not much going on today."

Aoi entered from the kitchen with a glass of water in his hand, oozing his usual laid-back energy. He looked every bit the responsible older brother: dark hair slightly tousled from a long day of work, dress shirt untucked at the hem. Even after a full day of crunching numbers and managing accounts as an accountant, Aoi still exuded his trademark calm.

"How was your first day?" Aoi asked, plopping down onto the sofa and kicking his feet up onto the coffee table. "Did you get lost on campus, or did you actually figure out where your classes were?"

Haru chuckled, walking over to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of juice and poured himself a glass before sitting down next to Aoi on the sofa. Taking a sip, he leaned back, letting out a long breath. "It was fine. Just the usual first-day stuff—meeting people, finding my way around, all that."

Aoi raised an eyebrow, clearly sensing there was more to the story. "Uh-huh. And?"

Haru hesitated to say anything more that might eventually invite teasing. "Nothing special. Just a lot of new faces."

Aoi watched him for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. Haru couldn't quite hide the small smile that crept up as he thought about Sakura—her smile, the soft way her hair moved when she tucked it behind her ear. It all played back in his mind in flashes, like a picture he couldn't quite shake.

Stop it, Haru said inside his mind, trying to get a hold of his thoughts. You just met her today. This is ridiculous.