Chapter Text
"Petra.. It's alright! We can get the tickets for her next show!" Shu tried to console his older sister.
"But.. But I've never missed any of her shows.." Petra sniffles, constantly refreshing the website’s page for any updates.
Shu is in a bit of a predicament. It was his fault that this happened after all.
Petra has been a long time fan of Reimu, a well known idol in the industry. She had been there during Reimu's debut when she had an almost non existent fanbase. She had been there during Reimu's boom in popularity. She had been there during any major event that happened to Reimu’s career.
So it wasn’t surprising that Petra was camping her laptop for the entire evening. There is an upcoming concert in a month and she wanted to obviously see it.
However, Shu was unaware about this and had distracted Petra during the most crucial part of the buying process; the release of the tickets. It didn't help that the venue Reimu was going to preform at was smaller than usual, with her tickets selling out in less than a minute.
Shu placed his hand on his chin and started scratching it. Finding a solution for this shouldn't be hard. He doesn't get why Petra is so obsessed with this idol but he knows better than to judge someone else's interests.
"Maybe we can find a ticket that is sold online? People tend to scalp these types of items if I'm not wrong.."
"I would! But I don't want to spend so much on a ticket. If it's close to the original price, I'd definitely buy it!"
“Don’t worry, Petra. It’s my fault after all. I’ll pay the extra amount.” Shu insists.
Petra’s face contorted, “No! Keep your money, Shu! I know you don’t make that much at the moment. I don’t want to waste your money.”
Both siblings bickered for a while, never once suggesting a suggestion that disadvantages the other.
"I'll find another solution myself, Shu!" Petra suddenly said.
Before Shu could get another word in, Petra has already started pushing Shu towards the door, adamant of kicking him out of her room.
Within a few seconds, Shu was already at the entrance of the door. He didn't resist Petra's push at all. Not long after, the door slammed in his face with a small clack sound to accompany it with.
Shu felt that he screwed up big time.
-
“Now Petra would have no choice but to accept this,” Shu grins, holding a ticket in his hands.
After both of them were unable to come to an agreement, Shu decided to take things into his own hands. He can’t bear with the fact that he was the one who caused all this. And he couldn’t bear with the fact that he made Petra sad. He doesn’t mind sacrificing some of his money to make others happy.
He remembered all the times when Petra was unable to get the item she wanted. He remembered her starving to save up the money she has. He remembered offering his own money to Petra but was turned down by her. He knows that Petra can be stubborn in terms of money.
That's why he decided to do this without her knowledge.
He found a person online selling a ticket around the same price as the original ticket to his luck. He reached out to the person and was able to haggle the price down to the original price. He already paid for the ticket and received it by meeting with the person.
With the ticket in his possession, he stopped by the grocery store afterwards to buy some ingredients for this week’s meals. He and Petra take turns to prepare meals every day. However, both will cover for each other if one is unable to cook that day. Today was Shu’s turn to make dinner.
He bought quite the amount, filling two plastic bags worth of ingredients. He went on a bit of a shopping spree with the sales going on in the supermarket. With his incredible arm strength, he did not have any problems holding both bags in one hand. The other non-occupied hand was holding his phone. After checking that everything was there, he then made his way back home.
"What should I cook today.."
While looking at his phone for ideas on what to cook, Shu suddenly tripped out of nowhere. His body comedically launches forward and he loses his footing. His plastic bags full of food flew out of his hands as he braced himself for the impact of the floor.
While his eyes were closed, he noticed that either time was delayed or his fall was delayed as he had not felt any of the impending pain he was expecting at all.
He opened his eyes and looked up, wondering why he had not fallen yet. He noted a blonde man in a very fancy outfit who was preventing his fall by holding his body with an arm. The man has his hair tied into a side ponytail. His eyes were purple, a tad shade darker than Shu's. He was wearing a bright white suit with his black inner clothes that respectfully revealed his pecs that were tattooed on. It was so enticing that Shu had to forcibly look away from the man’s chest.
“Are you alright?” The man spoke with a noticeable accent. His eyes and tone were full of worry.
Shu nodded. In his current position, he didn’t have much trouble standing himself up with the help of the stranger. A steady hand helped him up. He pushed himself away from the man, stabilising himself and hoping that he wouldn't suddenly fall again. He then faced the blonde man to thank him but the man suddenly had an unusual expression on his face.
"Oh god.. Someone saw me.." the blonde man muttered, looking visibly distressed. It was a complete 180 from the face the man had before.
Shu wasn't so sure on how to reply to that.
"Uh.. Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it!" Shu bowed, ignoring the words that were muttered by the man.
Shu squatted down, looking at the mess he made on the pavement. Luckily, no jars were broken and there was no food that strayed too far from where he was. He began collecting his items one by one. Soon after, the man also started helping Shu out, collecting the items that were closer to him than Shu.
The man then gave the items to Shu, which in response, Shu gave an appreciative smile to him. Shu wasn't in a hurry but he'd rather reach home quickly.
Before Shu could leave the area, the blonde stranger reached out to him.
"Wait! Do you- Do you know who I am?" the man asked warily.
Shu paused in his movements. He turned to face the man, looking up and down, observing his face and figure. He tried connecting what he saw to anyone he knew. However, nothing came up.
He was very sure he would recognise the man if he had ever met him before. He has a very unforgettable face and figure Shu had ever seen. A good looking face and especially those pecs that were made to be seen. Who wouldn't remember that?
"No? Am I supposed to?" Shu cluelessly answers.
Without breaking a sweat, the man immediately reassures Shu as he waves his hands," No! No. It's okay."
The man then sighed a sigh of relief. Shu could feel as though a huge chunk of worry has been lifted on the man.
It was an odd question and answer that the man had in Shu's opinion. However, Shu paid no mind to the behaviour of the man. Perhaps he was running from someone. Maybe a stalker or something. Who was Shu to butt into someone else’s business?
"Anyways.." Shu says while looking at his watch to avoid awkward eye contact. The man had been awfully quiet after he said that and it was quite deafening.
Incidentally, he noticed that he was going to be late for dinner if he spent any more time interacting with this person. Petra might give him an earful again for making dinner late. “I gotta be going now. Thanks once again!”
Shu waves at the blonde man, giving him a smile. He received it back, with the man repeating the same gesture and smiling, looking much livelier than before. The man was definitely going through something rough beforehand, Shu thought.
Blonde hair. Rough day.
“..Maybe I’ll make spaghetti for dinner..” Shu softly muttered, placing his finger on his cheek, while making his way back home.
Unbeknownst to Shu, the man was still standing there, gazing at Shu until he left his field of vision.
"That might be the first person to ever.. say that to me.."
-
Shu has been acting awfully suspicious.
Or what Shu would say, in Petra's opinion, 'sus'.
He usually never jumps whenever Petra approaches him. He would usually initiate the conversation between the both of them instead of her. He rarely spaces out when Petra asks him a question.
Shu is definitely hiding something.
Petra knows that Shu can't lie well. Ever since they were small, Shu would always get caught whenever he tried to lie.
Well, technically he doesn't get caught since he didn't do anything bad. Shu's a good kid. He instead gets caught lying for trying to cover Petra.
Petra always felt guilty for that since both of them got punished.
Nowadays, Shu shouldn't have any reason to hide anything from Petra. Unless it's something really personal, Shu wouldn't keep anything from her.
Or maybe Shu still feels bad for that incident. Of course she would be upset over that. However, it was a mistake. He didn’t mean any harm. She can’t get mad at Shu over that.
Petra needs to make peace with Shu. Her life currently depends on it!
At the moment, Petra is making her way to her favourite pastry shop. She had been buying sweets from this shop for years, ever since they opened. She knows that there is a certain chocolate pastry from this place that Shu really likes. She planned on giving this pastry to Shu as amendments to their little fight the other day.
She opens her wallet, checking if the money she prepared at home is in there. Fifteen dollars should be enough, right?
While she was keeping her wallet in her purse, she was suddenly pushed to the side. A hand grabbed her shoulder, pushing her back to a wall with a loud thud. Petra could feel the stinging pain on the back of her head. All the while, her eyes were closed out of reflex from being handled roughly.
"Hey! What was that for!" Petra shouts as she opens her eyes, wanting to see who was the culprit that shoved her to the nearest wall.
The culprit was in front of her, facing their head to the side as if trying to find someone. They are wearing a black cap and sunglasses to pair with it. She can't really make out more details as the person's shadow looms over Petra, making it hard to see.
"Hello?" Petra raised her voice, trying to grab the attention of the person in front of her.
The person that was currently pinning Petra to the wall only responded with a loud hush noise. This only fueled Petra's annoyance towards this situation. Why hush her if she hasn't done anything to be at fault? If anything, she should be shushing at them.
"If you're not moving, I'll move you myself!" Petra huffed, preparing herself to tackle the person in front of her.
The person faced Petra without breaking a sweat after she said that.
"Sorry! Sorry. I'm so sorry. I just.. I just need some help," the person responded with a surprisingly familiar voice.
That voice sounded familiar. Too familiar. However, Petra can’t really put her finger on it. Maybe an old acquaintance? One of Shu’s friends? She has definitely heard it before from somewhere but nothing was clicking in her head.
Anyways, Petra can’t excuse the person for what they did.
“This isn’t how you should ask for help! My back hurts..” Petra whines, rubbing her back.
The person flinched at Petra’s words and actions.
“I’m really, really sorry. I just need you to act out as something for me.” the person apologises, placing their hands together in a pleading expression.
They sounded too genuine for Petra not to help them out. The person seemed to be terribly distressed over whatever that was bothering them.
“..Okay. Sure. But please get off of me first!” Petra agreed. She’s been cramped against the wall for far too long in her opinion. She needs to get a breather.
The person nodded and moved to the side, bringing their shadow with them as Petra gets blinded by the sudden exposure to sunlight. She slowly opens her eyes as her eyes adjust to help her see again. Once her eyesight was back, she could finally get a proper view of the person that suddenly pinned her against the wall.
And that was the biggest shock Petra had in her life.
Her mouth went agape as she observed the features the person had. All too familiar features to Petra. The distinctively stylized grey hair hidden under the cap and the faint bright pink eyes behind the sunglasses. The familiar voice that the person came with now made sense.
“Reimu.. Endou?” she muttered unknowingly, still in shock.