Chapter Text
“Koiyo, tell me again what it is you’re doing…?” The teenage girl named Mizuko asked, her left hand on her hip, as her younger brother seemed to find pleasure in blocking the door, making her unable to leave.
“You said you’d wait, you said you’d wait!” Koiyo yelled at her, his cheeks puffed out in frustration as he stood in front of the door with both arms spread out attempting to make a wall of sorts. “You promised you would wait for Daddy to get home! You can’t go back on a promise!”
The girl sighed as she pulled her hand away from her hip and shook her shoulders in a way that made her duffle-bag glide down her arm to her hand, where she then placed it on the wooden floor. She placed her hands upon her knees as support while she crouched down, at this point being just a tiny bit shorter than her younger brother. She gave him a tired smile, releasing her hands from her knees, and extending them towards him as a motion to come closer.
His face was red from anger at this point, but he soon gave in as he waddled closer, allowing her to embrace him. His head was tucked into her neck, and his breathing tickled her scaled ears that made them flinch, wavering back and forth upon Koiyo’s nose. He began to giggle, to which Mizuko quickly noticed and began giggling along with him.
”Sis, your ears! They’re-“ He laughed again, “They’re tickling me!” Her soft chuckles stopped as she pulled away from him, looking into his eyes. Those eyes. Those eyes she was always so envious of. Those golden orbs that reflected nothing but empathy and pure childhood wonder.
”Koiyo,” She began, “Have I ever told you how precious your eyes are?”
He groaned, “have you ever not? I really don’t see whats so special about them.”
”You’ll learn to see as you get older. They’re very unique you know… yellow eyes. And beyond that, it shows how much of her you carry alongside of you everyday, in fact-“ She held her breath before continuing.
”Sometimes when I look at you, I feel like I’m looking into her eyes.”
”’Sometimes when I look at you, I feel like I’m looking into her eyes’.” He spoke with her, having heard of this phrase for practically his whole life. “But don’t change the subject, sis, I’m serious! You promised me you would wait for Daddy to get home so he could wish you good luck on your big test!”
”Instead of big test, you could use the word ‘exam’, it’s much faster.”
”Right! Then, so he could wish you good luck on your exam!” He pumped his fists at the new expansion of his vocabulary. She chuckled once more at his antics. Her eyes softened, reaching out to ruffle his hair.
”I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have promised you such a thing. You know father’s schedule, you never actually know his schedule. In fact, it’s nonexistent.”
“Non-eggsistent?”
”Nonexistent, Koiyo. It does not exist. He comes home whenever he feels satisfied with his work, which is never,” She huffed, “It’s tough being a Pro-Hero, but still… even if he was home. He wouldn’t wish me good luck or anything of the sort. I’m lucky enough as it is just to have you here cheering me on.”
”Why can’t you and Daddy get along?”
Mizuko froze. ‘This topic again, huh.’ The ruffling of Koiyo’s hair ceased as she pulled her arm back and pushed off her knees, standing upwards, reaching down to grab her bag as she hoisted it once more on her shoulder.
“Sometimes, we don’t see eye-to-eye on things, is all. He doesn’t want me to become a hero, and that happens to be my dream. Don’t worry about it, Koiyo,” She gave him that tired smile again, “I’ll become a hero no matter what he says.”
With this, she waved at him, stepping past him as she neared the door. He yelled another praise towards her, which only fueled her passion for success as she thanked him, turning the door handle as the light seeped into the hallway of their home. Her journey was about to start.
She stopped, turning around.
”Koiyo.”
”Huh? Yeah? What is it?”
”Are you sure you’re okay being here for a couple hours? I’ll be back as soon as I can, so please don’t worry! I can also call Mrs. Meda to walk you over to her house if you are worried, though. I still don’t think its such a good idea to leave you home alone. Well, you aren’t really alone. You have Tayo, but still, she can’t really do that much in terms of protection, I mean, she’s a fish, you know? But I seriously think that Mrs. Meda would be a good option for you to stay at, at least for an hour or two… or three… or four, actually I don’t know when I’ll be getting back so maybe I-“
”SIS!” She flinched, looking down at him. His face was as red a tomato, less out of anger and more out of embarrassment. His older sister always looks out for him but sometimes she can just be… way too much.
”I’m old enough to stay home alone for a couple of hours by myself, seriously! I have Mrs. Meda’s number in the kitchen if anything goes wrong, so please just go!” He was practically shoving her out of the door at this point, quite the opposite to what he seemed to be doing ten minutes ago.”You need to go or you’ll be late! It’s 8:30!”
”It’s….” She turned on her phone, screaming in realization as she quickly kissed him on the forehead and ran out of the door. “LOCK THE DOOR! AND DON’T-“
”JUST GO ALREADY!”
The train made a noise as the doors closed. The passengers on the train sent strange looks Mizuko’s way as she gripped onto the grab handle with all of the strength she could muster after quite literally sprinting to the station. She coughed as she regained her composure, straightening herself upwards, inhaling and exhaling at a steady pace. A buzz of her phone made her stop her breathing techniques as she reached for her pocket.
Father
Remember our deal.
It was like all of the happiness she felt from that time with Koiyo suddenly vanished as she read the words. Re-read them. And re-read them again. She snarled, her knuckle turning white as she clenched her fist. ‘This bastard.’
Mizuko
As long as you remember your part in it.