Very few things came naturally to Haru. In the first place, he didn't know how to register his emotions like other kids and he didn't react well around strangers. Different from others his age, he mostly stuck to himself. Alhough he relied on his parents from time to time, he tried not to. He was very independent that way. No one really understood him, not even when he was diagnosed, but at least he had all the love he could ever want. Still, it wasn't easy.

Haru was subject to all kinds of ridicule. Lots of his relatives mocked him for not understanding when they talked down to him. They gave him lots of smiles when calling him a "retard", so he thought they were being nice and friendly. He didn't get many other cues, so he didn't know they were being cruel. It was only when he saw his parents get mad did he think to ask about it. They were upfront about it, knowing that was the only way he would understand, but he stopped understanding smiles.

In class, when he was playing with other kids, he had to ask people if they were genuinely happy. That made them look at him weird. They felt put off by him, so they stopped playing with him. In truth, he preferred it that way. He had always been made to be alone in school, even in class when they were doing group projects. The brunette was always a bit ostracized, if only because he was very blunt. Even to the teachers, he would ask questions directly, like when he saw one speaking kindly to a child even though the kid was hitting them. He asked if they were happy, but they just said they were, because, obviously, no one would say they weren't to the boss's kid. Soon after that, he learned about lying.

Lying was tough for him. He didn't get how to tell lies apart from the truth, and when it turned out he had believed someone that had lied, he began to develop great anger. There were a lot of fights. He even began to fight with some of his private tutors. Oftentimes, they would lie to him, if only to spare his feelings, but it worked in the reverse with him. He lost all trust in them and began to get violent. Eventually, it all ended the same way with them.

"I'm sorry. You'd be hard pressed to find someone that has the patience to teach him."

"He doesn't even get the basic concepts. No matter how hard I try, he just doesn't want to listen."

"I don't know that I can reach him. Maybe he would be better off with another teacher?"

Overall, Haru wasn't considered smart. He was considered below average in many subjects. Unlike his peers, he didn't know how to spell or read well, and he definitely didn't have the patience for a lot of common puzzles. He failed in every class, including art. The male just didn't see the point in it, nor was he interested in faking it. So, he was pulled out of elementary school and middle school to be homeschooled.

Eloise did her best, but she had never been very smart either. Haru loved his mother, but he still couldn't find it in him to pay attention. So, for the longest time, he had no schooling whatsoever. And then it came to light that Haru was very talented with technology. It took everyone by storm when he began to take apart computers and put them back together. Out of pure shock, his father had tried to learn the same, so that he could try and get through to the brunette. He wanted him to feel supported, but, at the same time, wanted to provide an example for him.

"You're really bad at that, père," was the brunette's only response, to which point the man let him take the reins.

Technology seemed to be the thing that reached him. They used it to encourage him to learn other things, and though he was slower at learning, he did learn. His mother would tell him that math and tech went side by side, along with science. She then attempted to try and get him to spell tech jargon, but he didn't really care. To the current day, Haru still didn't know how to spell a lot of words. Speaking was enough for him. Where it got tricky was getting him to learn Athainian. All his life, he had only spoken Echali, so he didn't see the point in learning another language, nor was he great at it. Then he met his friends.

He didn't really go out of his way to talk to people when he was put back into the tail end of middle school. Going to one of his father's elite private schools, he got to skip classes and use the computer lab whenever he wanted. His parents just wanted him to experience socializing to see if it would help him in any way. Most other students complained about the special treatment and went out of their way to mock him or bully him. At the time, they knew he was an Akahito, but they didn't think the brunette was capable of either recognizing them nor understanding the concept of bullying. They all came to regret it sooner or later.

The only exception were the two boys that defended him. Shota Yasojiro came from a long line of Athainian noble lineage, his family's business revolving around particular technologies. Haru had approached him because of that, wanting to see if anyone else had an interest in the subject. And while the redhead wasn't as knowledgeable as him on the subject, they still talked for long stretches of time. Shota didn't really seem to mind Haru's blunt retorts or questions, a little refreshed by it. That was why Haru liked him.

The redhead had a friend that stuck to him like glue. Takuya Miyahara also came from a prestigious Athainian noble lineage, based in manufacturing and goods. He didn't really talk much. Mostly, he cowered. Haru didn't really care about him at first, but, every now and then, Shota would leave to grab something. That left the two alone, so, when the white-haired boy timidly tried to make conversation, the brunette responded bluntly. Takuya was often very off-put by that, if only because of his very real fear of people. However, unlike other people, he wore his heart on his sleeve, his social cues easy to read, even for Haru. That was why Haru liked him.

They also had friends outside of the middle school. Takuya's family was close with a well-known yakuza group in Athain, of which had a son their age named Yamato Hisaki. The male was very intimidating to a lot of people because he was strong, carried around a weapon, and was very direct. He and Haru spoke very simply with one another, but the brunette more so saw motherly qualities in him. Yamato often stopped him from accidentally dying, especially when he would stare at his devices and neglect oncoming traffic. The older male would yoink him back and even straighten out his hair for him. That was why Haru liked him.

Though he hadn't tried to remain friends, from a young age, Haru had been an acquaintance of the fourth prince, Rei. (There was much debate over his last name, but he was just Rei to Haru anyway). It was only when Shota was forced to bring the blonde that they were reconnected. The blonde was prideful and arrogant, trying to assure the Akahito that his family was nothing compared to the royal family. They would fight constantly and bicker, hitting one another and throwing insults. But, no matter what, whenever Haru asked, Rei would tell him how he was feeling or if he liked him. That was why Haru liked him.

The fourth prince's playmate, of whom Haru was also vaguely aware of, was also reconnected like that. Along with his title, Akari Otsu was the son of a high-ranking family in Vethela, but was weirdly ostracized nonetheless. He only really associated with the prince, and, like Haru, he would skip out on classes. The blonde would run around on roofs barefoot and do many other strange things there was no explanation for. But, like the brunette, he knew a lot about being called a failure, along with the difficulty of lacking common sense. That was why Haru liked him.

Every single one of them would stick up for the brunette when someone said or did something out of line. Shota would report their petty crimes to faculty. Takuya would have his father cut their family off from high society, sometimes permanently. Yamato would beat the living daylights out of them. Akari would...well he did something. The people he got back at usually came back mute. Even Rei, who used the excuse that they were challenging his taste in company, would torment them one day at a time. One day, they might find a pin on their chair, and the next, maybe a vase falling next to them on their way back home.

Haru liked his friends. They were probably the only people he would ever call his friends in his life. But even they weren't really enough. They defended them as much as they could, but they weren't next to him all the time. The times he had to fight his own battles were where it got tough. In the end, everything accumulated in him. And by the time his last year in middle school came around, it got to be too much for him. He began to realize how much he was damaging his parents' reputations by being himself.

The brunette started to run away. He hid from pretty much everything, especially school. His caretaker couldn't handle him either, so he got away with it. No matter what, he avoided contact with everyone. It was when he even began avoiding his parents did they start to look into the matter. Though it seemed like usual teenager behavior - the constant anger, manic episodes, and a rebellious attitude - on the contrary, it was something much deeper.

And then, one day, his mother decided it would be good for him to get out of the house. He always liked going to the mall and picking out gifts for her, and she thought, while she was at it, they could get him some new games. But, when she approached the door, she paused, hearing what sounded like a whimper coming from the other side.

Haru was always very cautious about his room. It was his own territory, so there was a strict rule in the house that someone would always knock at least three times before entering. Usually, he would ask who it was, and, more often than not, if it was his parents, he would give them permission to come in. When it was someone else, he would probably remain silent, in which case it was taken as rejection. If Haru didn't directly permit someone in his room, they weren't allowed in. It was as simple as that. But his mother chose to forgo those rules at that time, creaking open the door and glancing in horror as Haru pressed a lighter into his skin.

She had to physically wrestle the thing out of his hands, only making him stop when she began crying and shouting for his father. The man came running quickly, his reaction very similar to his wife. He became weak at the sight, falling on his knees and trying not to yell at the boy. Haru didn't respond to whatever they said for quite some time. He hadn't wanted them to find out, but, at the same time, it changed nothing that they did. If anything, he hoped, if he did it more, they would finally give up on him. Maybe they would disown him and everything would be right again.

His plans didn't work. His parents took every step to keep dangerous things out of his reach, including lighters, matches, and even electronics. The male's preferred method of self-harm was burning, so they had no choice. The only way he was able to use electronics was if he was monitored by at least four servants, all of which focused on what he chose to do with them. With nothing else to do and an extreme dislike of being watched, he continued to hide, boredom taking over him.

It was then that his father began reaching out to his friends, asking every question that came to his mind. He wanted to know how he was being treated, what he liked doing at school, what he disliked doing, and even if he looked remotely different on particular days. The information they all had didn't seem to amount to much individually, but, when he put them together along with his own knowledge of his child and his vested interest in his health and happiness, he thought of talking with him again.

He told the boy directly he loved him. As expected, Haru knew that. He became upset, telling his father he shouldn't care about him. Kazuya told him he didn't care if he was a genius or not. He hugged the boy tightly despite how much he tried to hit him, telling him he was the loveliest, most honest and loyal child he had ever met, and how he wanted to reciprocate that. Again and again, he told him he loved him and wouldn't have traded him for anyone in the world. And then the brunette let it spill that he was destroying their reputation.

Kazuya gave him a strange look. He talked on and on about how he didn't care what other people thought when he was the happiest in his life. The man never gave one care about building up their noble prestige. Most of his successes were accidents, done only out of the love for his family. More so, of the successes that were planned, Haru was by far the best thing he had ever helped make. Haru argued again, saying two people weren't enough. And then the man asked him if three would be better.

During Bastien's time in the womb, Haru wasn't cured. However, he did slowly get better, if only with the help of his family and friends. To make him feel more at ease, Shota confessed to having harmed himself, too. The brunette started realizing he was more cared for than he thought, leading to a slow but steady path back to feeling okay. And through many tears and hardship, when his father put his baby brother in his arms, things started seeming different; like he had an important responsibility.

The brunette continued to be a controversy. Not many people liked him genuinely, especially not the rest of his family who thought he shouldn't be eligible to inherit the title of "head of the family". But, as he now had something to protect, he could find worth in himself as an older brother. That was the reason he had also decided to start his own company. He wanted to leave everything to Bastien to inherit because he was a very special boy. Even when his mother fell ill, he took on the responsibility of caring for him. And though it was an obsessive relationship he had with his baby brother, Haru was either all or nothing. In Bastien's case, it was all.

The same went for (Y/n). They had met in high school after he transferred (mainly due an incident made by Akari Otsu). Despite the fact she came from no money whatsoever, she had been accepted into the private school mostly for martial arts as a prodigy, but had also been proven to be an academic exemplar. She had a full ride to the school, and though many of her peers had unrequited crushes on her, she was somewhat taboo to associate with. There were a few reasons for that. The first was her belonging to a family in poverty. The second was that there were rumors about a lot of her friends reported missing. The third was Narahashi Shiko.

Narahashi Shiko was weird. He fit in too well, the popular student council president that had won despite the fact he never ran for the office and the school's track star, along with one of the best science students. His friend group was large and all over the place. What was odd though was that he was just the son of a local politician. His family was moderately wealthy, but he had no connections in high society whatsoever. More often than not, students that went to Akahito private schools discriminated heavily against people like him, but, instead it was the opposite.

As with all people, Narahashi wasn't universally liked by the school. In fact, when Haru had arrived at the school, the first thing he was told was not to get on his bad side. When he asked what that meant, the boys that relayed the information just winced, one of them motioning to his broken arm. As they walked away, they began asking each other what they thought he was, one of them replying that he had to be a demon. In truth, even to the current day, the brunette didn't know why they warned him against the male. He was definitely annoying - (Y/n)'s childhood friend and the most steadfast obstacle between the brunette and her - but that was it.

When Haru had first met her, it was in calculus. He tried to ignore her, as he did with everyone else, despite his friend's attempt to get him to engage with her. And while she didn't seem very interested after being ignored by him, she definitely didn't like his attitude. As if to punish him for it, she stole his game. As always, since he noticed someone interested in tech, he developed a liking for her, enough to ask for her name, at least. Since it was so hard for him to make friends, he got attached pretty quickly.

The more he got to know her, he realized she could also be blunt and harsh at times. Not only that but she was strong enough to flip Yamato on his back (more than once, at that). She was also smart enough to work around Rei and Shota, patient enough to get Takuya out of his shell, and...well, something with Akari. For him, though, he fell in love with the way she treated him. There were no politics involved in their relationship, nor did she lie to him. She said what she wanted and always, above all else, took her own safety and happiness into consideration. He wasn't an Akahito to her, just Haru. It was nice.

And though it took lots of time, trial and error, they became close enough to be "almost lovers". She still kissed him and told him she loved him, but the title didn't matter because he was the only one she trusted with her safety. Haru was finally content, having a family who loved him, friends that protected him fiercely, and (Y/n), who fulfilled both. But it was short lived. His mother was dying, two of his friends had gone missing, and now, even though he didn't realize it yet, Orion was trying to steal (Y/n). And...well, there was one other thing - a kind of blazing blood-like "A".