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Hanging out with his friends was not actually his favorite thing to do. Not talking to fangirls at his school either. Give him a soccer ball and a sunny day and he’d be happy for hours. Sure his friends were cool, and somehow being near them for 2 years made him the cool one? Popularity made no sense in high school.
Popularity in general made no sense to him. Aside from Nii-chan; he was cool and mature and tall and good looking and talented and awesome. Of course he was cool, he was the coolest person ever.
“Dude, you good?” Satomaki asked him.
Jiro blinked. Oh yeah, it was free period. He continued thinking out loud, “Popularity makes no sense to me. Does it mean anything to you?”
“Duh,” Satomaki scoffed. “You’re popular if you’re cool.”
“Yeah!” Jiro agreed. What did the actual logic behind it matter? He was cool, Nii-chan was cool, so they were popular! Not Saburo though. He wasn’t cool so he wasn’t popular. “Thanks, man!” He clapped Satomaki on the back firmly, a normal friendly gesture.
The bell rang, cueing the last class of the day, and the most dreaded subject of them all, science . All other subjects he could guess and check, but not science. Jiro didn’t get any of this molecular structure non-sense! He could clearly see his arm, and it wasn’t mostly empty space, it was solid. None of the neutrons and protons and the electricity ones made sense either! Ugh , he was going to fail the test on friday with a big fat F.
He pulled out an airpod and blocked out all of the lesson, he cared not. The sooner it was over, the better.
Finally! After that glorious end-of-the-day bell rang, he excitedly ran down to the gym for soccer practice, his only joy at school. Always being the first one there, he had some time to fool around before his team mates got there. “Yamada!” His coach called and waved him over to the other side of the field.
“Sup?” Jiro asked once he reached Coach.
“Could you help me gather the equipment and lock them up in the shed?” She answered.
“Sure, but….” Jiro looked at her, puzzled. “Why? Practice hasn’t even started yet.”
“There’s supposed to be a big rain storm tonight,” She explained, “and I don’t want a million things out when it hits; soccer, baseball, tenis, I want it all away.”
“I guess practice is canceled tomorrow?” Jiro sighed, no practice meant more than a depraves, depravate? To be deprived of soccer, but it also meant more time dealing with his little brother at home. Saburo was so annoying, he could deal with being deprived of Saburo for a while. Thankfully, they didn’t share a room anymore, but still.
After practice, one of his friends, Shigure, caught him in the locker room. “Sup Jiro.” He called, slipping his sweat soaked shirt over his head.
“Yo.” Jiro responded, slipping his button up over his bare chest.
“Fun story for ya.” Shigure started, “It’s about the little Yamada.”
“From your sis?” Jiro shot excitedly. Shigure had a little sister in the same class as Saburo, and the two older boys got a surprising kick out of the stories they heard from the opposite’s sibling. All the little embarrassing shit they didn’t see at home they got to hear now. “Spill it!” He got the last button in his shirt and grabbed his tie.
“Yumo was walking in the lunchroom,” Shigure started, “and on her way out, caught Saburo runnin’ to the other building on campus, you know, the third year’s building.”
“The hell?” Jiro grinned. What on earth was Saburo doing?
“I know!” Shigure laughed. “She was curious, so she followed him wondering if he was gonna see a girl, cause he looked all scared and red in the face.”
“Holy shit!” Jiro grinned. Saburo having a crush? On a third year no less? That kid was so lame, just the thought of him asking a girl out was comical. He looked at Shigure expectantly, “and…?”
“It wasn't a girl at all!” Shigure excitedly explained, “It was a couple of third years! They ganged up on him and shook him down for money, then threatened to tell everyone some secret if he didn’t do the same tomorrow. Then they called him a sissy or something and went on their way.” He grinned at Jiro. “The brat’s finally getting what was comin’ for him!”
Jiro didn’t grin. Didn’t laugh at the story. Saburo was getting bullied? Not on his watch. The only one allowed to bully Saburo was him, and not even he could bully Saburo on what he thought these kids might be bullying him for. Without saying anything to Shigure, he saddled his messenger bag over his shoulder and stormed out of the locker room.
Saburo was holed up in his room when Jiro got home, of course he was . That kid was so introverted. He decided not to mention anything until dinner, hanging out with Ichiro instead.
Ichiro was talkative as usual, explaining to Jiro the job he took on today as they made dinner. Something about a lady needing help finding her grand-kid, who was in the back yard the whole time. “Anyway,” He changed the subject when he noticed Jiro seemed distracted, “How was your day?”
“Fine.” Jiro shrugged. All he could think about was Saburo, what was happening to him at school. He was tempted to tell Ichiro, but that would mean he would have to admit he gossips about Saburo with his friends. No, he could take care of this himself, it might give him a chance to act like a real big brother, like Nii-chan.
“Oh, don’t you have a science test on friday?” Ichiro offered.
“Nii-chaaaaaannnnnn” Jiro groaned. “I don’t wanna think about it.”
“Your grades are important!” Ichiro laughed. “Unless you plan to get a scholarship with soccer, you should try to get your grades up.”
“Oh, practice is canceled tomorrow.” Jiro was reminded when Ichiro brought it up, anything to change the subject away from that test.
“Is something wrong?” Ichiro asked, pulling dishes out to set the table.
“Nah, just some rain storm.” Jiro sighed. “The field’s gonna be all fucked up.” He took some dishes from Ichiro to help as he spoke.
“Language…” Ichiro chided with no edge to his voice.
“Yeah, yeah.” Jiro waved him off. Ichiro cursed, so he didn’t see why he couldn’t too.
“What else?” Ichiro asked. “Any interesting conversations?” He turned to call up the stairs to Saburo that dinner was ready.
“Yeah, actually.” Jiro perked up, sitting down at the table. “Me ‘n Sato were talking about what makes you popular or cool.”
“Oh that’s a fascinating concept!” Ichiro grinned, sliding into the chair across from Jiro. “What’d you settle on?”
“Being cool gets you to be popular.”
“Then what makes you cool , dimwit.” Jiro heard from behind him. He scowled as Saburo sat down.
“Well what do you have to say about it?” Jiro shot, rolling his eyes. “Cause as I see it, I’m popular, and you’re not.”
“First, if you’re more extroverted and get along with a lot of people, that’s a big factor.” Saburo started, “Second, you have to be able to keep up with trends and blend in with the crowd. Third, you have to be as dumb as a rock and slower than a toddler.”
“Why you–!!” Jiro yelled.
“It’s true, though!” Saburo grinned. “No popular kids are smart, or have any sense of individuality!”
“Fuck you!” Jiro snarled at him. This kid was so fucking annoying.
“Language, Jiro!” Ichiro broke in, standing up, yelling this time with much more edge. “Never say that to your brother!”
Jiro shut up immediately, looking up at Ichiro, who was now legitimately mad at him. He was silent for a couple seconds. “S-sorry, Nii-chan.” He eventually whispered. Ichiro had only really yelled at him like this a couple times, and the wording of how he yelled this time reminded him of the number one time Ichiro has ever gotten mad with him…
Saburo and him were fighting. They always were. It was like any other fight, starting at basically nothing and escalated to aggressive name calling. Saburo had so many insults for him, it was unfair. Stupid, idiot, dimwit, ugly, the list went on forever. What even was a blockhead?? He was just looking for a comeback. One popped into his mind, and he blurted it out;
“You’re not even a real guy!”
As soon as he said it, he knew that was a mistake. That crossed the line. Jiro didn’t mean it. Ichiro stood up, fuming. Shit. Saburo flinched, tears welling up in his eyes immediately. Double shit. He realized he went too far.
“Do not say that!” Ichiro shouted at him. “You do not say that about your brother!” Jiro shrunk away, remorse clear on his face. He was sorry, he didn’t mean it, it was a mistake. Ichiro went on, “He is just as much of a man as you are, and you. will. NEVER. bag on his gender again!” Ichiro looked down at him, his face contorted with anger.
Jiro teared up right along with Saburo. Ichiro had never been that mad at him before, and disappointing his brother was way more painful than a punch in the face could ever be. “I- I’m sorry.” He whimpered, looking up at Ichiro, “I’m sorry Nii-chan.”
“Don’t tell me, tell it to Saburo.” Ichiro backed up and crossed his arms. Waiting for Jiro to do what he was told.
He turned to Saburo, both their eyes a little teary. “Sorry.” He spat out. Not because it wasn’t genuine, but because he couldn’t get it out fast enough. “I’m really sorry!” He even bowed his head slightly, “Sorry. Sorry. Sorry…”
“Hey!” Saburo called, slightly panicked, not used to seeing Jiro genuine. “It’s okay! I accept your apology!”
Jiro shut up, but stayed down. Saburo eventually grabbed his head, forcing him to stand up straight, looking his little brother in the eyes. “I’m sorry.” He repeated quietly.
Saburo pressed his forehead to Jiro’s, “Jiro, it’s o-k-a-y. Just don’t do it again. Okay?”
“Okay.”
He was reminded of that moment. He saw the way Ichiro looked at him, and he knew that he had crossed the line again. However, nowhere near as much as that once. “Sorry.” He muttered, looking down at his lap. Sure, he wasn’t perfect, but it would do Saburo some good to get yelled at, at least once. He didn’t like being called stupid. Even if- Even if it was true.
He went upstairs and immediately flopped down on his bed. He was tired. Dealing with Saburo was such a pain. His phone dinged, and putting all exhaustion aside, he picked it up immediately. Oh, it was Shigure.
-dude whyd u walk out on me earlier-
-i thought youd like the story-
Oh. Right. Someone else was ganging up on Saburo. As much as he’d joked about Saburo getting joked on at school, hearing it actually happening had steam forming under his skin automatically. If those bullies were crossing the line- the line , they deserved to be yelled at by Nii-chan. Deserved to be hated by him. In Jiro’s opinion, only the scum of the earth deserved as much as to be hated by him. The only one he knew of for sure was Samatoki, a guy that Ichiro absolutely despised. He couldn’t bother Ichiro with this though, they’d have to with Jiro’s rage, then.
He closed his eyes, falling asleep to thoughts of how he’d get back at those idiot middle schoolers for messing with his little brother.
This was the best stupid thing he’d ever attempted. Saburo’s lunch period overlapped with his science class! He got to sneak out during free period and completely miss all of the review AND the study guide! Plus, practice was canceled so he didn't need to miss it either! It was a gift from destiny! …Or he finally had a good idea for once? Who knows.
He was perched outside, around the corner from where Saburo and the jerks were probably meeting. He had gone here when he was in secondary school, so he had a pretty good feel for the campus. He was all ready to go, everything would have been perfect if not for the fact that it was pouring down rain.
Not just a drizzle, not just a shower, but water was flooding from the sky in actual sheets of liquid. If the building didn’t have the overly generous awning that it did, he’d be soaked.
There they were. Those assholes that were bullying Saburo. They got dangerously close to the corner Jiro was hiding behind and made no effort to hush their voices. Jiro could just barely hear them over the rain.
“We’re lucky,” The tallest of them started, “Finding out that kid was really a girl, now we just threaten her for cash, or else the whole school finds out.”
“It’s genius!” One of them laughed. “We’re set till the end of the year!”
“Speaking of,” The last one spoke, “Where is Yamada? She’d better get there soon, or-”
The kid didn’t finish his sentence. Most likely he would never finish that sentence because Jiro’s fist had collided with his jaw so harshly it had to have broken. Unfortunately, the same thing happened to his hand.
Jiro yelped, clutching his hand as the excruciating pain began to spread. Shit. Shit. Shit shit shit. That was not what he was planning on. He’d have to get this over with quickly.
“Dude, the fuck are you?” One of the ones with a working jaw exclaimed.
“Does it matter?” The other grinned. “He’s dead meat now!!” He tried to punch Jiro, him just barely able to dodge in time.
“I’m Yamada’s big brother.” Jiro grinned. And he brought his leg up and kicked the one that spoke square in the chest. He stumbled back, hitting his back on the wall, slamming his head on the brick and slipping down the wall, unconscious.
“Holy shit…” With one friend down and the other clutching his jaw in pain, crying, the last kid suddenly looked a lot less confident. “Wait- don’t hurt me.”
“Should’ve thought of that before you disrespected my little brother.” He jumped the kid, shoving him down and planting his shoe on his chest. “Never do that again!”
The kid rasped, trying to squirm out of Jiro’s grasp. “Get off me-”
“Listen to me!” Jiro yelled. “Saburo is my little brother, and you’re gonna fucking clean up your mess and apollogize to him. Pay back what you took from him too.”
The kid coughed, “No.”
Jiro stomped and the kid cried out, writhing in pain.
“Apologize!” He yelled, stomping again, heard the cries of pain.
“Alright, alright! Just get off of me!” Jiro waited, pushing his foot down just a little harder. “Please!” The kid shouted, and Jiro lifted his foot up.
Jiro let go of him, expecting him to fall forward coughing. But instead he immediately jumped up and got a solid punch right in Jiro’s face, just under his eye. “Fuck!” He groaned. Jiro lunged at him, tackling the kid and getting him in a choke hold.
“You better fuckin’ take that back.” Jiro growled. “I don’t give a fuck if you go crying to a teacher about this. You stay on my brother’s case and I will fuck you up. Got it?”
The kid was running out of air. He’d better agree, because while these guys were absolute scum, Jiro wasn’t ready to kill him. Knock him out for sure, but not kill him. The boy made one more desperate attempt and breathing, then choked out, “f-fine.”
“You’ll apologize and pay him back?” Jiro asked, growling in the kid’s ear.
The kid did his best to nod.
Jiro released him, ready this time, but no punch came. The kid hunched over coughing, tears brought to his eyes. “Sorry, I’m sorry-”
Jiro found himself smiling then, “ Don’t tell me, tell it to Saburo. ” The kid didn’t know it, but he was quoting Ichiro, the best big brother ever. Jiro would never be able to do the stuff that Ichiro could, but he can still protect his little brother in his own way. He knew that, even if Saburo didn’t.
What he didn’t know, what he didn’t notice were the mismatched green and indigo eyes watching him from around the corner, seeing the whole thing take place.
It was still pouring rain, and the pain in his hand finally set it. It hurt a fuck ton, and he made his way though the storm, clutching his hand on the way home. At least the school was an easy walking distance.
Okay. In his defense, it had been 2 years since he had been in middle school. He told himself that was a good excuse to blame for the fact that he got lost on the way home. It took him almost 2 hours of aimless walking around in the relentless deluge before he found his way home. He was soaked by the time he made it to his own door, the sun dipping below the horizon and the smell of dinner coming through the walls of the house like it had X-ray powers or something.
He attempted to open the door with his right hand out of habit, letting out an audible whimper of pain when his broken knuckles brushed the handle. He switched to his left hand, creaking open the door slowly.
Ichiro was in the kitchen, on the phone with his back turned. He whipped around when he heard the door, worry plain on his face. Relief washed over his features when he saw Jiro though.
“Jiro, oh my god.” Ichiro tossed the phone down and rushed over to him. “Where have you been? We were so worried about you!”
We?
Oh. There was Saburo, at the kitchen table, not meeting Jiro’s eyes. As he watched, Saburo closed his laptop and headed upstairs. Coward. Saburo didn’t know what Jiro did though, so it was to be expected. He brought his focus back to Ichiro. “Oh, um… I got lost on the way home.”
Ichiro frowned, clearly not believing him. Well, he wouldn’t believe himself. If he saw Saburo come home 3 hours late, soaking wet, clutching his hand in pain, he would believe for a second that ‘he just got lost’. Then again, Jiro was much more likely to get lost than Saburo. And, Jiro actually had gotten lost, so he wasn’t really lying.
Ugh, his hand hurt like shit.
Shit, how was he gonna explain his hand!? “Uh- I was working on soccer, and tripped.” He tried.
Ichiro quirked his eyebrow, grabbing a first-aid kit out of one of the kitchen drawers. “I thought practice was canceled today?”
Shit. “Not for practice,” Jiro attempted, “It was just me n’ some friends!”
“Playing in a storm like this? That’s a terrible idea.”
Shit. “Uh, yeah! That’s why I’m so wet!” Jiro hoped his lying was just good enough to slide by. He didn’t want to admit he beat the shit out of some middle schoolers to his mature, older brother, even if his lie made no sense whatsoever.
“Oh, yeah?” Ichiro walked up to Jiro, still standing in the entryway, soaking wet. “And how’d you get punched in the face?”
Jiro brought his hand up to his cheek, feeling what was definitely a nasty bruise that was probably staring Ichiro in the face this whole time. “It’s not a punch! I- uh-”
“Jiro.” Ichiro put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ve been in my share of fights. I know a punch bruise when I see one. You’ve been in a fist fight.”
Jiro bit his lip, looking down at the ground. He had been caught. “Nii-chan, I’m sorry. I was just-”
“Jiro,” Ichiro interrupted him again with his name, this time much more soft and loving. He waited for Jiro to meet his eyes before continuing. “You don’t have to hide anything from me, and you have nothing to apologize for.” He leaned in close to Jiro so only he could hear even if there was someone else downstairs (which there wasn’t). “ Especially if you were being a great big brother.”
Jiro grinned then. Ichiro wasn’t mad. He was proud of him for protecting Saburo, for… being a great big brother . How Ichiro figured that out was beyond him, but he honestly didn’t care at that moment. “Thank you, Nii-chan!” Okay, maybe his voice cracked a little there, just got a bit shaky. It was because of the pain in his hand. He held up his mangled hand to Ichiro. “Um, could you please help me fix this?”
“Absolutely!” Ichiro beamed at him. “Sit down and we’ll get you situated.”
The next day, Friday.
Test day! UGH. Jiro dragged his feet the whole day, especially during the transition to science. He had done no studying and never understood the material in the first place. Writing was also quite the challenge with his hand wrapped in bandages. People also asked him about the nasty bruise on his face all class. Not ideal for focusing, not that he even wanted to. He was pulling at his hair in frustration so much that he felt bald by the time class ended. He turned in the half finished packet and headed to his next class as fast as possible. He wanted to be done with today. At some point on his way home, it occurred to him that Ichiro would have checked his grade by the time he got home, and that only made it worse.
Once he got home, Ichiro didn’t say anything about it. Reluctantly, he checked the grade book on his phone, sighing with relief when he saw grades weren’t in yet.
He was in the kitchen, cutting up some chicken for dinner, left handed , preparing it by himself tonight since Ichiro was on a job. His tousled hair was tied back in a small ponytail, one he threw together on a whim just to try to keep his hair out of his face while he worked. Saburo walked by, shamelessly hooking his finger around the hair tie and pulling it out as he stepped away. Jiro spat, his hair suddenly and unexpectedly in his face. “Bro-” He complained. Since his hands were occupied, he couldn’t do so much as to tuck his bangs behind his ear. “Do you mind?”
Suddenly, Jiro felt Saburo’s fingers running through his hair behind him. “You did a really bad job with this ponytail.” He stated, no ill intent meant by the statement.
Jiro decided not to turn this into a fight. “Probably.” He agreed. “I’m not used to having hair this long, so I’d say I did okay.” He continued cutting up the chicken, letting Saburo re-do the ponytail.
“That’s fine. I fixed it.” Saburo stepped back and looked at Jiro to see if it fit his satisfaction. “Hmph. You don’t look stupid with it.” Then he broke into a grin. “Well, not any more stupid-”
Jiro normally would start something, but he really did need to get dinner underway. He simply rolled his eyes and let out a small breath that was somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle.
Saburo suddenly stood up a little straighter. “Um, could I help with anything?” He asked in a small voice.
Jiro looked at him, surprised. “Uh- sure.” He wiped his hands on his apron and moved to the sink to wash his hands. “You sure?”
“Well, since you don’t have Ichi-nii to help you…” Then Saburo glanced at his hand. “Plus, you’re injured.”
“I’m not gonna tell you no!” Jiro smiled. “Could you start some boiling water for the rice?”
“Sure!” But before Saburo moved to the pots, he leaped toward Jiro and stuck his hands in the sink, shoving Jiro’s hand out of the way. L
“Dude!” Jiro called.
“What?” Saburo giggled. “You have to wash your hands before cooking.”
“Yeah, but I was still using it!” Jiro bumped into Saburo, trying to steal the small stream of water back from him. Saburo ended up splashing water up into Jiro’s face. They both ended up laughing. It had been so long since they had had a moment like this, acting like brothers that actually enjoyed one another’s company.
As they set the table, Saburo spoke, “Thank you for yesterday, Jiro.”
Jiro smirked. “You saw?”
“...Yeah.”
Jiro was going to say more, how Saburo could always come to him if something was bothering him, that he didn’t want them to be so uptight all the time, but Ichiro opened the door right then, a giant grin on his face. “Jiro!” He sang immediately.
“Yeah?” Jiro asked. What would have Nii-chan in such a good mood?
Ichiro ran into the house and stuffed his phone in Jiro’s face. “91 percent!” He laughed. “That’s the highest grade you’ve gotten all year!”
Jiro stared at the phone, the number that was very clearly typed there. “...Wow.” There was no way, he only answered like half the questions. There was no way on earth… wait a second.
Ichiro sighed contentedly. “Great job, Jiro. I’m gonna use the bathroom, then let’s eat!”
“A-Alright!” Jiro answered. As soon as Ichiro stepped into the bathroom, Jiro turned towards Saburo. “Was that you? Cause there’s no way I-”
“Teacher’s accounts are surprisingly easy to break into.” Saburo shrugged, “Call it a thank you present.”
“Present accepted!” Jiro exclaimed excitedly. “Thanks, bro!”
Saburo smiled at him. “Thank you.”