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Jyushi walks out of the bathroom and into the mess that is supposed to be the living room of the Yamada house.
They had invited Jyushi and Kuko over for a game night, meaning there are now controllers and board games scattered all about the room. Kuko and Saburo are attempting to clean them up while Ichiro seems to be setting up for them to watch a movie, but... Jiro is nowhere to be found anymore.
“Um.” Jyushi nearly trips over a box of Catan as he re-enters the room, and he leans over to clean up the misplaced pieces. “Where’s Jiro?”
“Went outside,” Kuko says, with a hint of a snicker. Jyushi glances over to find him dropping board game dice into the hood of a mildly irritated Saburo. He shakes his head, mouth curling into a small smile.
“Yeah! He went in the back to get some fresh air,” Ichiro says.
Jyushi pushes away the board game to Saburo, who is organizing them, and sighs. That’s...unlike him, he thinks. No…he’s probably okay.
Ichiro scrolls through a list of movies. “So, what did you guys wanna watch?”
“What was that arson anime thing you kept talkin’ about? Promare or somethin’? Let’s watch that.”
“No, Ichinii we should watch Sailor Moon! Jyushi likes it, and…” Saburo promptly stacks the boxes of games together, quietly adding, “Jiro promised he would watch all of them.”
Jyushi glances at Saburo and realizes he must have been the only one to hear that last part.
“We can always watch Sailor Moon, Saburo. We have the complete series.”
“Yeah, and I wanna watch shit get destroyed!”
“ Well…” Saburo starts going off into a spiel about the villains in Sailor Moon, but Jyushi drowns it out, mind wandering off to Jiro again.
Now that he’s thinking about it, Jiro had seemed kind of off all day, being quieter than usual when they were playing games earlier. Jyushi can’t help but feel like something isn’t right, and he slowly inches towards the back door. Ichiro turns to glance between Saburo and Kuko, the two now arguing over what would be more entertaining to watch, and notices Jyushi retreating.
“Ah, I’m gonna ask Jiro what he wants to watch…!” Jyushi says, before escaping out of the room.
He can’t shake his bad feeling off as he walks down the hall. Jiro is often one of the more chaotic of the bunch, meaning he doesn’t usually leave when there’s fun stuff going on. And even if Jiro has his calm moments, he’s naturally boisterous— it’s one of the things Jyushi likes about him— and he even gets bored somewhat easily by himself, Jyushi’s found out.
He might just be tired from schoolwork, he reminds himself. It’s possible he’s simply overthinking things, which Hitoya says he tends to do, and tries to calm down as he approaches the backdoor. He slowly opens it and finds Jiro sitting on the steps of the back porch.
“Jiro-” Jyushi starts, stepping outside.
Jiro glances back at him, and it’s hard to miss the way he quickly wipes at his face. He caught his eyes for merely a second, but Jyushi definitely noticed a redness to them that hadn’t been there earlier. He can hear the faint sound of Jiro sniffling, and Jyushi starts to think it’s exactly what he feared...he probably didn’t just come out to get fresh air.
Jyushi shifts awkwardly, reaching for the door again. “...Ah, do you wanna be alone?”
Jiro doesn’t answer right away, leaving the both of them there in an abnormally uncomfortable silence. It’s as if time itself has frozen; the only thing breaking the atmosphere is the distant arguing between the three inside. Jyushi nearly starts to step back and rejoin them, assuming Jiro doesn’t want to talk. That is...until he notices the slight shake of Jiro’s head.
He wants Jyushi to stay.
Unsure of how he should go about this, Jyushi hesitates for a moment. Usually, it’s him being the one comforted by Jiro; he’s never really seen Jiro cry before, so he’s not sure what would be the most comfortable or helpful for him. But, fulfilling his wish is probably a good start, he supposes.
As he lets the door shut behind him, everyone’s yelling in the background becomes muffled. He sits down on the porch— kind of next to Jiro, more so behind him. It doesn’t seem like Jiro wants Jyushi to see him crying, and Jyushi isn’t sure he wants to see it either…otherwise he might start crying, too.
He instinctively reaches out and softly rubs circles over Jiro’s back, hoping it’s comforting. Thankfully, it does seem to be as Jiro leans into it, so Jyushi relaxes a bit more himself. He scoots closer, wrapping his arms around Jiro and laying his cheek on his shoulder. Maybe he should see if Jiro feels like talking…
“If you want to...talk about anything, I’m here.” He pauses, waiting for a hint of an answer before continuing. “If not, that’s okay, too.”
Jiro speaks after another quiet moment, voice a little rough from crying. “I’m just...being stupid.”
“No, you’re not.” Jyushi holds him tighter as he feels Jiro’s shoulders shake even more. “Jiro, you’re not stupid.”
“It’s what everyone tells me, though…”
Jyushi furrows his brows. He has noticed after a while that Jiro tends to get defensive when others question his intelligence. Of course, most of the time he’s there to see it, it’s usually heard from Saburo, and Jyushi knows for a fact he never really means it. Maybe Jiro doesn’t realize that…or maybe more people tell him than Jyushi seems to notice...
“Well, they’re wrong. Could someone stupid do all the work you do? You get tough requests sometimes, like finding information on people? But, you do it. You always find a way.”
“I usually...get help from people when I do that...” Jiro sighs, shuddering in Jyushi’s arms. “If I were as tech smart as Saburo, or had Ichiro’s street smarts, I could just…do it myself.”
“There’s nothing wrong with getting a little help— that doesn’t mean you aren’t smart!” Jyushi pauses, wondering what he might want someone to say to him if he were being comforted. “...If nothing else, you’re definitely emotionally intelligent. You always know when other people are sad and how to make them feel better. You help me even when I don’t realize I’m sad.”
“That doesn’t count, though. I mean like...I don’t offer anything. I’m just... useless.”
“Hey, you’re not. Don’t say that...”
Jyushi internally sighs, mostly in frustration with himself. He’s very familiar with this spiraling of negative thoughts, however he’s never had to help someone get out of their own spiral before. If there’s one thing he does know for sure, it’s that your brain is always lying to you when it’s happening. He will just have to prove Jiro wrong...somehow in a way that’s meaningful to him.
“I think...both of us know you would do anything for your brothers,” he tries.
Jiro often talks so proudly of Ichiro and Saburo, and Jyushi can recall multiple stories he’s told about them. It’s obvious how truly he cares for them. If Ichiro passes out on the couch from exhaustion, Jiro will make sure the chores get done, so his big brother can rest. To this day, he’ll even plant himself outside Saburo’s door if he knows he’s locked himself in there crying for whatever reason. Jyushi has stayed over enough times by now to notice it all.
And really, it’s not even just his brothers, he helps anyone. Yeah, he works odd jobs, but he also helps the kids when they fall down and scuff their knees at the skatepark, he shares his lunch with his classmates when they’ve forgotten their own, and he’s usually there when his friends need someone to vent to or help distract them. All he ever wants to do is help.
“I’m not even sure you notice it, but you have a big heart.” Jyushi is suddenly reminded of a certain someone...getting another idea. “You try so hard to help people…and isn’t that what Ichiro does?”
That makes Jiro perk up a bit. Jyushi knows how much he looks up to him, how much he tries to be like him. He clearly sees his older brother as a role model.
“You don’t need to be super book smart to do that, either, so even if you can’t believe that you’re smarter than you think…I definitely wouldn’t say you’re useless. You’re important…especially to me, and your brothers.”
“My brothers…” Jiro snorts, pitifully. “Yeah, right. They probably…hate me.”
“I really doubt that.”
“You didn’t...see our first battle. I was the first to collapse, and it snowballed from there until we lost. Maybe if I hadn’t done things the way I did, we could’ve timed things better. They pro’bly hate me...Saburo always calls me an idiot and shit, anyway. Maybe I just am-”
“Silence!” Jyushi says, voice suddenly much deeper than just a second ago. “Don’t you dare speak that way about my knight. Absolutely none of that was your fault.”
Jiro jumps slightly at Jyushi’s change in voice. He looks at him in surprise with eyes that are (thankfully) less red than a few minutes ago. Jyushi scoots next to him and pulls the sleeve of his sweater down to softly wipe away the remaining wetness on Jiro’s face.
“My moonlight, your presence is special; you are a gift. You needn’t change or compare yourself to others. You will always be good enough to me.”
“Y-You…you can’t j-just...” Jiro’s eyes widen before he pointedly looks away and stares at the ground, pulling Jyushi’s hand away from his face but firmly holding it in his own.
Jyushi’s heart races as he lets what he just told Jiro sink in for himself . He still gets so nervous, he couldn’t help slipping into his stage voice. It’s always been easier for him to say things that way, whenever he’s nervous or upset. He’s sure his face is warmer than it was before, and he notices a pink tinging Jiro’s ears— at least, he’s not alone, he guesses. He pulls Jiro into a side hug, letting him rest against his shoulder.
“Jyushi…” Jiro says, after a moment.
“Yeah?”
“...Thank you.”
Jyushi hopes Jiro can’t hear his heart loudly beating as he continues speaking normally. “Of course...I really do mean what I said, by the way.”
“I...I appreciate it...a lot. I’m sorry for bein’...difficult.”
“Don’t be…! I know what it’s like...”
He doesn’t have to finish; Jiro squeezes his hand. Jyushi suddenly remembers they’re supposed to be inside and watching a movie. Now that he’s paying attention, it seems to sound like they’ve started without them. Jyushi hears the distinct, muffled sound of fire truck sirens, telling him what movie they must have gone with. Saburo must be annoyed…
“You know…” Jyushi starts. “Saburo and I have talks sometimes. I don’t think he really means a lot of the stuff he says to you.”
“Huh?”
“Ah, earlier, I meant to come out and ask you which movie you wanted to watch. Before I left...Saburo seemed like he really wanted to watch Sailor Moon with you.”
“...Really?” Jiro says, not too surprised.
“Mhm! If you’re ready to go back inside, we should go upstairs and watch it with him.”
“Yeah…” Jiro’s face softens a bit. “Yeah, we should.”
They stand, each not letting go of the other’s hand as they walk back inside.
“Hey wait, do my eyes look...fucked up still?”
Jyushi looks at him and shakes his head. “I don’t think anyone will know.”
Jiro visibly relaxes, and the two walk back into the living room. The other three are sitting on the couch, well into the beginning of the movie, but Saburo seems particularly bored.
Kuko is still somehow the first to notice them. “You guys were takin’ your sweet time. What, were you making out or-”
Jiro quickly grabs one of the throw pillows and literally throws it in Kuko’s face. “Shut it, nasty.”
Jyushi once again feels his face get warm, covering half of it with his hand. Ichiro seems to have found the whole thing comical, and he laughs as Kuko tears the pillow away from his face with an “Oi!”. Saburo rolls his eyes at them.
“Niichan, we’ve gone to the theater like ten times to see this movie. Aren’t ya tired of it?”
“I know I am,” Saburo says.
“How could you get tired-”
“Yo!” Kuko throws the pillow back at Jiro, but he swerves his body out of the way. “ I’ve never seen it, and I’m trying to watch!”
“Tch, anyway...” Jiro loudly says before punching Saburo’s shoulder. “Hey, nerd.”
“What do you want?” Saburo smacks his hand away.
“Wanna watch Sailor Moon with me and Jyushi instead?”
Saburo glances at Jyushi, who gives him a warm smile. His face softens, and he sighs before getting off the couch.
“I guess that’s better than this…” Saburo crosses his arms. “We can watch it in my room, but you better not touch any of my stuff.”
Jiro ruffles Saburo’s hair, much to the latter’s disgust. “Okay, lil bro.”
Saburo pushes him away again and stalks off to his room. Jiro glances at Jyushi with a satisfied grin, and the two follow him upstairs.
The three sit happily on Saburo’s bed, watching the series on one of Saburo’s big computer screens, and Jyushi is surprised to find Saburo showing him his figure collection of the Sailor Scouts— yes, the collection that Jiro is not allowed to touch, but he lets Jyushi hold them anyway, of course. Jiro seems genuinely interested, asking questions here and there to which Saburo quickly responds. Jyushi smiles at their banter, somehow feeling really nostalgic.