Chapter Text
Your Grandfather soiled your family name, while you pay the price.
Kiyotaka Ishimaru had no idea how this stupid bear found out his most closely guarded secret, but the kid was scared out of his wits. How did he know? Lord knows his entire family had kept it hush-hush for the longest time.
He stuffed the slip with his deepest secret into his pocket, turned, and fled the room, trying his best not to sprint off through the hallway.
The panic set in, and the small boy with the spiky black hair and piercing red eyes ran. Said hair became a tangled mess, ruffled time and time again by his fingers, and the piercing red eyes started to cloud over with memories of his home life.
He managed to make it to his door before he collapsed, sinking to his knees in a manner of utter defeat. The tears began to flow, but he didn’t feel them. He didn’t feel much of anything really.
He knew that he was overreacting, because in all actuality it was unlikely that his darkest secret would ever be found out, but that didn’t stop the bad feeling that permeated his entire body.
All at once, the energy left him, and he just leaned his head against the back of the door.
The first time Kiyotaka hadn’t seen it coming. He was eight, for crying out loud. He didn’t expect his friend to react so strongly when he said that he wanted to be the prime minister.
“That’s stupid! There’s no way you’ll ever get to be prime minister after what your grandpa did.”
That was the not the first time that Kiyotaka saw the implications of what his family had done, but it was far from the last, and one of the more memorable. The second time, he was his first year of middle school, and no one knew who he was. He had made sure that he was the only person from his elementary school to come here, because of how he’d been treated.
He’d been so excited to be able to learn again, with a fresh start and people who didn’t know him well enough to judge him.
“My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru,” he’d said, “and I look forward to learning with all of you.” No one had recognized him, and he felt so free.
He was nominated to be a member of the disciplinary committee two weeks later, and had accepted the badge with honor. When a kid that he reported tried to beat him up behind a building after school, while he didn’t throw any punches, he didn’t take too many either.
He had coughed blood for a bit after that, but he reported the kid again for violence. The taste of copper and salt, that reminded him an awful lot of tears, and Ishimaru had been so tired of crying.
He was still taken out behind the school sometimes, but he would just report the kids again, and eventually people learned that it wasn’t worth it.
But then, someone had gotten the idea to dig through his family history to find ammunition against him, and the terrible things that his grandfather did once again reared their ugly head. Kids would tease him in the hallway, ask if he was a genius too when his grade was anything less than one hundred percent.
Kiyotaka didn’t have any friends he could go to, (nobody liked him, which was understandable given his strict nature and reputation as the number one stickler for the rules), and his family wasn’t a help, (his mother and father were almost never home because they were so busy working). It had left the poor kid with only himself.
By the time he was in high school, he had managed to hide the bruises rather well. He used cheap makeup to hide the scratches, and the bruises around his chest were hidden by bandages. He didn’t expect now to be any different. It was hard to be friends with someone who was obligated to rat you out, and so dead set on taking the high road that he would report anyone.
No one was the wiser, until now at least. If his secret got out, his whole family’s honor would be at stake.
Kiyotaka didn’t even hear his classmate coming down the hallway until it was too late.
“Hey. Kiyotaka, is it? What’s the matter?”
The boy looked up, tears streaming down his face, and realizing that this was the first time anyone had asked him, (and also that he was crying).
“O-Owada-kun? I am fine. Nothing is the matter. You are free to continue on your way.” The words burned his throat, which was more dry than usual.
“Hey, no need to be so formal. Mondo is fine. And people don’t cry for no reason, so something is clearly “the matter” here.” The taller boy’s voice was laced with sarcasm, but also curiousity.Curiousity that Ishimaru didn’t want to sate.
“W-Well, Mondo-kun, I have sensitive tear ducts. I suppose that is all that is the matter.”
“Bullshit.” Mondo didn’t even wait a full second before replying in a deadpan voice. Years of being around people who lied all the time was excellent training for learning how to spot them, although in all honesty a reasonably perceptive toddler could figure out that something was amiss.
Ishimaru winced. “Please do not use such abrasive language, Oowada-kun.”
“Hey” he shrugged. “I live how I want.”
“Not in a school environment you don’t.” Ishimaru stood up, looking his classmate in the eye. He really wasn’t feeling up for this argument, but he could tell that it was coming anyways. Duty was calling, and Ishimaru always answered.
Mondo sneered at him. “Do you wanna go, punk?”
“I am not a punk!” Kiyotaka’s voice was starting to escalate, genuine anger radiating from him. He wasn’t a genius, or a punk, or his grandfather, or someone like Mondo.
“If you’re telling me what to do, then you’re a punk.” Mondo was grinding his teeth now, and Ishimaru was reminded of when those thugs used to do that. Always. Before the hit, there was that tightening of the jaw, and the grinding of the teeth, and then the hit. Usually to the gut.
The smaller of the two grimaced and shut his eyes, lost in the memory. “Please.” He managed to squeak out.
Mondo leaned in closer. “Eh? What was that?”
“P-P-Please don’t hit me!” Ishimaru ground out, the sentence bitter in his mouth.
Mondo was taken aback, not sure how to respond to this kid. “Whaddya mean ‘Please don’t hit me’ I wasn’t gonna hit ya unless ya wanted to go. Which ya clearly don’t. Well probaby. I mean, I hit Naegi, but he was really getting on my nerves.”
Ishimaru opened his eyes in a panic, terrified by the information he just gave away.
“Please ignore that last statement. It was a habit.” Ishimaru opened his door, now totally uncomfortable.
He slammed the door, completely unaware that a certain slip of paper had fallen out of his pocket, leaving Mondo to wonder what conditions you had to live in for that phrase to become a habit.
Mondo Oowada was not sure what to do with the new information. First, the kid had been a crying mess, then he was trying to boss him around, and then, he was spouting nonsense. After that, he tried to dismiss the whole conversation, and walk away. But he dropped the slip, and...
Mondo knew that he should just give it back to the kid, but his curiosity got the better of him. He flipped it over, and started to get angry.
It made sense, even to Mondo. He was no stranger to people messing things up for themselves, but to be born into the shame of a family member’s actions... His heart went out to the kid, and against every shred of common sense, Mondo Oowada knocked on Kiyotaka’s door.
The fact that said kid answered surprised him.
Mondo stood there rather awkwardly, because he hadn’t thought of anything to say before he arrived. He could sense that the smaller boy was tense, but it didn’t really seem to matter. Mondo didn’t know why, but he wanted this boy to feel better. Like he was worth something. Both of them stood like that, silent, Mondo sending out all available comfort to Kiyotaka telepathically.
Ishimaru’s eyes moved to the paper in Mondo’s hand, and his eyes widened in a mixture of shock and horror. Eventually, he broke the silence. “An explanation is probably in order.” He started to move in the direction of the sauna.
Mondo was a little taken aback, because Kiyotaka didn’t owe him anything, but he went off in the direction of the bathhouse nonetheless. The boys went off to the sauna together, to say what one of them felt needed to be said.
It turns out the two had more in common than they thought. Both of them had felt loss, and had to pick up the pieces of their families. Mondo was more hardworking than Ishimaru had given him credit for, and Ishimaru was more relaxed than Mondo had first thought. He just didn’t like lazy people.
“When I was little, my father taught me to be hardworking, and to bring home excellent grades, and to treat people well. If I didn’t, the family name would suffer. At school, people punished me, and I accepted my punishment. I didn’t learn until later that that was not the way to punish children, especially not for crimes that weren’t their own.” Kiyotaka told Mondo of his struggle, and how he had learned to hide the bruises, and Mondo waited patiently until he was finished.
“If I ever meet people from your old school...” Mondo ground his teeth together, stopping immediately when he saw that it was putting Kiyotaka on edge. “Sorry, Kiyo. I just think you deserve a whole lot better than that. Kids shouldn’t gang up on others unless the kid did stuff himself. Ever.”
“It’s fine, Oowa- Mondo. I just figured that you deserved an explanation.”
Mondo looked away, and at first, Kiyotaka thought he did something wrong. “Mondo? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I just... I know your secret, but you don’t know mine.”
“I’m fine with that. You will tell me when you are ready, and when you do I will listen and comfort you accordingly.” Kiyotaka was determined in this. He would not push his... friend? No. Brother. He would not push his brother into telling him something he did not need to know.
“Yeah... But still. You deserve to know. I. I-I. Ugh. I... Ididsomethingdumbandmybrogothurt.”
“Um... Come again?”
“I... well, I hurt my brother.” Mondo seemed to drag the words out of himself.
Kiyotaka Ishimaru was a passionate man. He cared about many things, and when he met people he made an impression. He also cared about people, even if they didn’t return the sentiment. So even when he saw this punk, who had walked into this godless school sporting a biker jacket and a ridiculous pompadour, he had already been willing to protect him. This proved it.
Kiyotaka moved over next to Mondo, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Is that so.”
And so, Mondo began to tell the tale of Diaya Oowada. How his brother had gotten hurt so that Mondo would be fine.
Ishimaru listened, and when Mondo was done, he comforted him. “I don’t think your brother would want you to be sad, though. I think that he wants you to forgive yourself.”
The use of present tense didn’t seem to escape Mondo. “Well, it doesn’t change the fact that he got injured, and that it was my fault!”
“That’s just it, brother, it wasn’t your fault!” Kiyotaka wanted to comfort Mondo, and he hadn’t even noticed what he’d said.
“Did you just... call me brother?” Mondo looked confused, and Kiyo blushed.
“AH! I didn’t mean to! Please excuse me!” Ishimaru tried to stand up, ready to get out of the sauna, but he moved too quickly and burned his skin. After a few more seconds, he passed out, and hit his face on the sauna floor, and his nose started to bleed.
“KIYO! I’ve gotcha! Don’t die on me now!” Mondo yelled, but Ishimaru barely heard the yelling over the sound of blood pounding in his ears.
When Kiyotaka woke up, he didn’t expect to be in his room, or to have Mondo Oowada at his side. But, nonetheless, when he woke up, there he was.
Mondo replied, his voice nonchalant but belied with tension. “Hey. You’re finally awake.”
Ishimaru shook his head, still a little confused. “I am sorry to inconvenience you. How long was I unconscious?”
“About an hour. You passed out in the sauna after calling me brother.” Mondo looked nonchalant, but Kiyotaka could tell he was curious.
Ishimaru frowned at the memory. “Yes. I am sorry. I just... I grew up an only child, so I always wanted a sibling. I didn’t really have friends either, so I guess I sort of mentally thought of you as a brother? Anyways, ignore that. If you don’t mind, I’d like to get some sleep.”
Mondo chuckled. “I mean you just got some, but okay. And don’t worry about the brother thing, bro.”
Ishimaru’s eyes widened slightly, but he smiled widely at Mondo.
Mondo did dismiss himself, but not before giving Ishimaru a final pat on the back, and a reminder to take it easy.